Jeremiah 23:29
"Is not My word like fire?" declares the LORD, and like a hammer which shatters a rock?"
If you attend a Christian fellowship where prophecies are part of public worship, I wonder if we should expect from God generic messages like, "I love you, My children" or "I'm coming soon." These statements are certainly true, but why would they need to be prophesied, since the Bible already clearly asserts God's love and Christ's imminent return? I have heard "prophecies" like these given in churches where many people were living in sin, lulling them into an unrighteous complacency.
The voice of a prophet is a consuming fire and a shattering hammer. A prophetic message should motivate people to righteousness, not placate them in their sin (1 Peter 4:17). God is more concerned about church purity than about church growth. Comfort only comes to those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake by allowing God's Word to purge their sin and shatter their self-centeredness.
Jeremiah relates two other evidences of false prophets: "'Behold, I am against the prophets,' declares the LORD, 'who steal My words from each other'" (23:30). That's plagiarism: taking what God gave someone else and using it as if it were your own. "'I am against the prophets,' declares the LORD, 'who use their tongues and declare, "the Lord declares"'" (verse 31).
Declaring that what you are saying is directly from the Lord when it isn't is an incredible offense to God. If God wants me to know something He will tell me directly. I believe in the priesthood of believers; however, God can and will encourage us and confirm His Word to us through others. "There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). If someone says to you "God told me to tell you . . ." that person may be functioning as a medium. The gift of prophecy should reveal the secrets of the heart so people will fall on their faces and worship God (1 Corinthians 14:25). Then God will guide them by His Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Lord, teach me not to quench Your Spirit nor to despise prophetic utterances but to examine everything and hold fast to what is good.
Courtesy of: http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/dailyinchrist/
I have to admit there are two things that God does not go
into details with me and He gave me very limited knowledge of them. One is the
gift of prophecy and the other one is about claiming a title like “apostle.” The
reason these two came about, is because for a few months I was inundated with
titles coming from other Christians. They either felt I was a prophet or an
apostle. I have to confess, for a brief period of time, I wanted God to confirm
what I was exactly in His sight. He did not want me to take a title, however He
confirmed to me that I was His servant, and this was enough for me. The more I
grow in the Lord, the more my focus is on being a servant and knowing that in
heaven the angels along with the triune God would rejoice because I can be referred
to as someone who walk with God. THIS IS MY SOLE AMBITION.
One Church that I like attending for the past few years, is
a Pentecostal Church nearby. The only reason I like it is that the Pastor is
truly a man of God and for the past few years, I am watching him grow in the
Lord continually. Oftentimes, when there
is some sort of prophetic utterance, message, the Holy Spirit of God would show
me how this person is not talking through Him at all. I do believe the reason
the Spirit witness to me has a lot to do with the fact that I live and walk in
the Spirit, so, He is doing His job. I am totally indifferent about the rest and
truly feel that each of us who has appropriated a title or a gift, would have to answer to God, if
indeed it was not His doing. One thing
that He went over with me is that He does not take lightly the appropriation of titles and the showing of Spiritual gifts that have not even been assigned by Him, especially when the life of
the person doing the appropriation, is not even up to par with His requirements
of the Christian life.
My point here, is that I did not post this devotion from
Neil Anderson to hurt anyone of my followers in any shape or form. If you feel somewhat offended by the devotion, then, it is one more reason to deal with God directly. I
certainly felt led by the Spirit to post this devotion and tell about my
limitations.
