As a prophet I have learned to steer clear of these traps. I no longer will live by what I feel, sense or think. In fact, many times the prophetic pushes me into places I didn't want to go. Recently I prophesied to a major national leader by mail. I didn't want to. BUT.... Mandates are Mandates. I won't risk the gift to disobedience.
When in the past I have been asked of people what I thought or what I was feeling or was I sensing anything I was uncomfortable. I am not wired that way. If I don't get a direct word from the throne I won't speak it out. I could publish more words of the lord if I didn't require that kind of integrity.
Going by feelings is fraught with danger. Smith Wigglesworth said, "I'm not moved by what I see, I'm not moved by what I feel, but I'm moved by the mighty word of God". Here is a good teaching on the dangers of Feelings.
Feelings is why many weak Christians are falling into the trap of embracing same sex marriage. It just Feels so right. Sounds like an old country song.
How can something so wrong?Equally important is the idea of walking by sight, one of your five senses. It's a place of deception.
Feel so right all along
Catch me I'm falling for you
Here's a pretty good essay on that topic.
The last danger is Thinking Wrong. The bible tells us to cast down vain imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God in us. It means that when a thought comes to your mind about anything depressing or other things recognize that the devil is at work and is whispering in your ear to get you to respond. He does not want you to pray, he wants to bring to your mind all kinds of things to distract you and make you not want to read the Bible or pray.
Never, Never, NEVER trust your own judgment. When common sense says that a course is right, lift your heart to God, for the path of faith and the path of blessing may be in a direction completely opposite to that which you call common sense. When voices tell you that action is urgent, that something must be done immediately, refer everything to the tribunal of heaven. Then, if you are still in doubt, dare to stand still. If you are called on to act and you have no time to pray, don’t act. If you are called on to move in a certain direction and cannot wait until you have peace with God about it, don’t move. Be strong enough and brave enough to dare to stand and wait on God, for none of them that wait on him shall ever be ashamed. That is the only way to outmatch the devil
The place where the devil connects to us is in our thoughts. Be ready to stop the thoughts as they come. Out loud say this I plead the blood of Jesus around my mind and my thoughts. If you will do that each time the thought comes he will think twice about bringing negative thoughts to plant them in your mind. Just know that the the blood of Jesus puts a barrier between you and the wrong thoughts.It works. I have to do it too about any of the thoughts the devil tries to put in my mind.
Just do not feel badly about yourself. It is not you that thought up those lies it is the devil. And the Lord does not hold these thoughts against you personally. Just do not act on them.Tell them to go in the name of Jesus. The battlefield is our minds.
For all of the above reasons I must NOT respond to any idea that my feelings, thoughts or senses have any validity over the voice of God.
That does and must remain supreme. So if I ever bring a word...and I will, it must come not by feelings, senses and thoughts.
I must only be moved by the Word of God spoken into my spirit by the Father.
2 comments:
Gene,
Have you ever heard of Paul Cox's ministry Aslan's place? His ministry is in the area of discernment. Here's the link:
http://aslansplace.com/
Here are some of the classes, which is interactive that is available on replay currently.
http://vimeo.com/channels/discernmentexploration
Check it out!
Juanita
I understand what you are saying, but the way you have expressed it could cause confusion. Prophets are not automatons. God speaks to a prophet as a whole person. A vision from God has to be perceived in the prophet’s imagination. Words from God have to pass into the mind, because that where humans process all information. These words from God have to pass into the memory, so the prophet can write them down or speak them later. The prophet must judge with their will whether the word is from the Spirit and chose whether they will speak it. Some prophets actually feel what God is feeling (Jer 9:1).
Therefore, it is not at matter of rejecting thoughts, feeling and imagination, as that would be impossible. Feelings, thoughts and imaginations are not bad, per se. It is an issue of avoiding my thoughts, my feeling, my imaginations and accepting God’s thoughts, God’s feelings and Gods imaginations.
The flesh is the part of our mind, memory, emotions and imagination that is still corrupted by sin. The problems is that the flesh is not in a separate box, distict from the part of the mind, memory, and emotions that have been made new in Jesus by the Spirit. They are intertwined.
I think what you are saying is that you have learned to distinguish between thoughts and feelings that come from the Spirit and those that from you flesh (corrupted mind, emotions, etc.) That is the key to being a reliable prophet. The issue is not whether we have received a feeling or a thought, but whether it comes from God. That is much harder than just rejecting all thoughts and feelings.
Some will say that they will only receive things that come through their spirit, but that is easier said than done. The human spirit is neutral like an antennae. If it is born again it can receive the Spirit of God, but if corrupted, it can pick up the activity of demons, so the fact that something comes through our spirit, does not mean it is from the Holy Spirit. The human spirit is part of the human, so it cannot be discerned. What we can discern is the Spirit of God speaking. The renewed spirit loves to hear his voice and hums when it hears it.
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