Posted on 09/07/2017 12:34:17 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I have been in the Baptist Ministry for going on 40 years. I have a standard response to the statement “God told me...” I always begin by getting the details, i.e. “Did you hear an actual voice?” “Well no,” they always say. And so continuing: “Where were you exactly? What time of day? Were you alone? What did he say exactly? How did you know it was Him and not some demon?”
I have never received a straight answer to these questions. Instead the normal reaction is anger and an attack on my Christianity. The line, though sure there are some few who are perfectly sincere using it, is actually intended to intimidate people may otherwise question the conclusion which it justifies.
“Well yes,” I might say if we ever got so far in the conversation, “He probably is telling you to do that so you can suffer His judgement and chastisement. But don’t worry. If you repent, I am sure He will forgive you!”
One woman told me, “God told me to get a divorce.” “What about when Jesus said it was wrong?” I asked. “She replied, “He does not want me to be unhappy!” End of conversation.
God has “spoken to my heart” many times. I was taught, and I believe it to be true, that anytime anyone hears a word from God, it must line up with scripture. I have no problem with that. None whatsoever. Prayer is not a one way street. God answers prayer, and sometimes He also confirms His WORD, scripture, in dealing with us. Not usually in an audible voice, but in “a still small voice” in our spirit. But then, not all people believe that we are spirit soul and body. Some denominations teach that the soul and the spirit are the same. They are not. “The Word of God is alive...rightly dividing the soul and spirit”. It is the spirit part of us that communicates with God. He does so by His Holy Spirit. The idea that once all the first century apostles and disciples died off, God no longer communicates with us except through the letters they wrote and the O.T., is a man made construct. God said, “the same yesterday, today, and forever”. And, “I AM the LORD. I change not.
Yes, when we see Him face to face.
ping
Big turn off is when there is postings about dates given in regards to the end of the age and the rapture. There is a verse in Mathew that says only the Heavenly Father knows.
Show them Psalm 33:3.
God the Holy Spirit still indwells every believer during the Church Age.
We are not to deny the Holy Spirit.
We as believers have spiritual gifts, though not the same for all believers.
If one ‘hears’ a spirit, they are to discern by testing the spirit. When in fellowship with God, ,He does, by His volition, answer prayer.
No question, but if that voice doesn’t jibe with Scripture, the voice was not God.
In my experience, people who say “God told me” to do something are often not the most stable individuals and most often what they are now doing goes against scripture.
That’s how you end up with preachers who are more interested in social justice, churches with a preponderance of unwed mothers etc. God told them it was OK to shack up etc. It’s a slippery slope and one that believers should never go down.
Mathew 24:36.
quote-Big turn off is when there is postings about dates given in regards to the end of the age and the rapture. There is a verse in Mathew that says only the Heavenly Father knows.
Biggirl, it’s found in Mark too.. not found in Luke, though.
Since Luke is one of those Synoptic gospels, maybe He is telling people, with eyes to see and ears to hear, something by that omission in the 3rd of the synoptic gospels.
Like when He gives the number ‘about 2,000 swine’ only in Mark. And not in Mathew or Luke.
Since we’ve had ‘about 2,000’ years since His resurrection, maybe He is telling us something with that detailed amount in only one of the synoptic gospels.
Only something that could be seen for those who were born and lived ‘about 2,000’ years after His resurrection.
Not surprised in regards to Mark’s Gospel having passages very close to almost the same. Mathew’s and Mark’s Gospels being the first Gospels with Mark’s as the oldest.
If you want to be good at what you do someday, you’ll listen to her more and complaint less”.
Just don’t blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
The best way to check if somebody is following a flase spirit is to compare what that person says with Scripture.
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