Intro from Julie A. Smith:
Tawny Shultz is truly a blessing to be around. The sweetness and purity of God's presence wraps around her and anyone near her can not only feel it, but see it. Her countenance reflects God's radiance inside and out.
It was prophesied that Tawny would have great wisdom to share amongst the younger generation, yet I know it's for all the generations. From time to time, we receive many questions from our readers and Tawny tackles two great questions below. You'll be blessed and encouraged by her answers which truly come from her heart.
First, here are a couple of great prophetic resources and by purchasing them, you'll be sowing into this ministry:
"Ask Tawny" - Questions and Answers with Tawny Shultz
Q: What's a good way to make New Year's Resolutions inspired by prophetic revelation?
A: For whatever reason, I have never been one to make New Year's Resolutions, but I like this idea! Looking at my own life, personal prophetic words, and how I should respond to prophetic words given for the whole Body of Christ, such as what goes out on The ElijahList daily, I think this is what I would do, based on what the Lord has recently been doing in my heart, that could apply to anyone, at any age, regarding any prophecy:
Resolution 1: Trust Christ—It's not about your performance and how great and big you can get your faith to be, but about faith as a mustard seed, trusting God's answer and His goodness (Luke 17:5-6).
For much of the past few years, I thought if I could have the "perfect" faith and expectation, that God would do just what I wanted Him to do, even in regards to prophecy, when I wanted Him to do it. Then I struggled to believe God's goodness towards me when He didn't do what I wanted, nor when I wanted. Faith isn't just having faith for what you want, when you want it, but it is trusting God's answer and God's timing, and His goodness above your desires…He has good reasons for a yes, no, or wait...and it's for your benefit. Trust Him, and you'll be surprised at the good things that come your way as God's gift to you that you hadn't even considered before.
Resolution 2: Be open!
Be open to new ideas God might want to give you. Be open to change, even if it's not what you expected. God is a creative God!
Resolution 3: Obey God: Step out!
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.—James 2:21-24
Abraham's faith prompted him to action in obedience to God's word (see also Hebrews 11), and it was accounted to Him as righteousness. The same is true for you today. If you will believe God and step out to do what He says to do, even when it seems scary, you will find yourself in a whole heap of blessings in the New Year!
Q: I've heard of everywhere from little girls to old men tell stories of being caught up to Heaven, even Jesus or angels visiting them in their rooms. I've asked God for that, but nothing like that has happened to me. Is God just waiting for me to get holier before letting that happen to me?
A: I think any one of us who love God would love to have these same experiences, just as you desire to. I'm certain that God loves to hear you ask Him, as you have been provoked to a holy jealousy to seek God more personally for yourself than maybe you had been before. God loves it when we pursue Him and the things of God, and when we ask, seek and knock for Him (see Hebrews 11:6; Matthew 7:7-12; Luke 11:5-11 and 1 Corinthians 14:1).
While I can't say if God chooses to give "caught up" to Heaven experiences or visible visitations of angels often or not because of one's will or desire for them, I have heard of increasing visitations by Jesus, face to face. Just recently, at our ElijahList Conference this January, I heard of many of these encounters and it was prophesied that Jesus would be visiting many face to face in the coming year, even in dreams at night. Receive this in faith for yourself!
I don't know all the "whys" of waiting…none of us can understand God's ways. Sometimes He wants our faith to grow and for us to keep believing Him even when we can't see, because it is impossible to please God without faith (read Hebrews 11). But if we keep believing Him, He will reward us. Sometimes there is a timing we need to wait for, while God is aligning up circumstances and people and seasons. And certainly there are times that He brings us to a certain level of maturity and faith before we can be entrusted with the larger responsibilities and weightier messages that often accompany those stories of being caught up.
God doesn't want those responsibilities to destroy us, so He makes sure we are prepared for them by building us up with a strong foundation, strengthening our faith, growing us, and teaching us obedience through His Word, daily life, trials and testing (Romans 5:1-5). He often starts with much smaller things to see if we will be faithful with what He has given us before He gives us more (see Matthew 25:14-30; Mark 8:5-9; Luke 19:11-26 and John 6:5-13). While you ask, seek and knock, enjoy being faithful even in the "small" things, like giving a cold cup of water to someone who is thirsty (Matthew 10:42)—and know that you are very important to God no matter what your life on this earth looks like!
Tawny Shultz,
Assistant Editor
The ElijahList
Email: info@elijahlist.net
