"God told me..."
- Thread starter 1stCenturyLady
- Start date
-
Welcome to Christian Forums, a Christian Forum that recognizes that all Christians are a work in progress.
You will need to register to be able to join in fellowship with Christians all over the world.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!
It is really hard for people to accept reproof! I know that is true with me. Yet is that old friend really your enemy? We don't battle with flesh and blood, but rather those dark spiritual forces.
I know it is harder to tell people about Jesus Christ when they think they have it all figured out - but I hope you don't fully give up on that friend. I mean she already has ears to hear in the spiritual realm, so the couldn't it just be possible that you might be able to say something that gets her to actually seek Jesus Christ and His voice which comes via the Holy Spirit??
I have often found it much easier to have a frank and honest conversation about Jesus with people like that, than with quote "Christians" who don't have ears to hear. I can think of a number of times He had me working with people who heard with their spiritual ears, but they didn't hear Him.
There was the man at Jack in the Box who was scarring everyone there but yelling over and over that he was going to kill him. The Lord had me go over and talk to him, while he explained that he had 6,000 friends. He appeared to be a homeless man, so the friends he had were spirits. I had to bind them up in the name of Jesus so i could calm him down and get to the man who was sitting in front of me. I then explained that there are two sides of the spirit realm and Jesus Christ was there to help him. All he had to do was just seek Jesus Christ and His voice, instead of those others he was hearing from. I saw the man twice later. The next time he was still connected to those 'friends of his' and was seen dancing in front of cars in a busy intersection. Yet after that I found in calm, quite, and in his right mind at that same place. The Lord had me get him something to eat. It was obvious that the Lord had started doing a work in him.
Then there was the employee who looked in the spiritual realm to hear from her dead mom. She had not had her period for 8 months and was seeing a doctor, but it wasn't helping. Since she could hear with her spiritual ears, I simply had her trying seeking Jesus Christ and He healed her that very night! She was amazed at our Lord Jesus Christ. The interesting but sad part was that her father was a Christian and musician, who help lead praise at a Christian church. Now, she had not like Him, but after finding Jesus she went looking for Him. This was right before Easter. She was so excited and wanted go to church with her dad on Easter. Sadly, it turned out that he had plans and turned his daughter down. Her very own father, instead of being excited that his lost daughter had found Jesus, turn her away, and she appeared to turn back away from Jesus because of him.
And then there was the Jewish girl from Russia, who was doing tarot cards and casting spells. You know - it was far easier to talk to her about the spiritual realm around us that most Christians I talk to. That is not to say that I have not meet many Christians who don't fully understand, but we are called to preach the Word of God, and that does not mean their Bible, it means Jesus Christ wants to talk to us personally via His Holy Spirit!!
The Holy Spirit once told me, "We don't use the Lord to preach the Scriptures. We use the Scriptures to preach the Lord!"
So use your Bible to tell people about Jesus Christ - that He wants to talk to them personally!!
REv 3:20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
That "anyone" would include someone who was only hearing from evil spirits!! And since they already have some understanding of hearing with their spiritual ears, it might just be easier to get through to them!!!
There is another aspect of the gift of discernment of spirits. Actually seeing them.
My best friend can see them. Sometimes what they actually look like - some kind of monkey like creature. And other times like a dark shadowy haze around a person.
She never speaks of this unless asked. I just remember the conversation of many years ago about the monkey like creature. But recently I asked her again and found out about the dark shadowy haze, and that she never saw them before becoming filled with the Spirit, and that's been decades, around the same time I did - 45 years now. She's 81 and I am 75. We are both very, very mature in the Spirit. She is an amazing person, and I am so fortunate to have her in my life. She agrees with me about our friend. She has noticed her lack of fruit also. She told me our friend searches the scriptures for promises of riches she can stand on. They just don't work for her. She will only give to the poor when she needs something herself to get a hundred fold. In the past I tried to share the truth in scripture that would correct her prosperity theories. Now she won't discuss scripture at all with me. "God" has told her not to...
amigo de christo
Well-Known Member
THAT IS SOLID PROOF this friend does not KNOW CHRIST .
THINK about WHY she is giving . JESUS said to GIVE EXPECTING NOTHING and GREAT shall your reward be IN HEAVEN .
I can ask the most greedy satanic child this question and get the same response .
Listen to this.
Imagine if the most greedy child came into a store . He buys two candy bars .
THEN i tell him , Give to that poor kid over there who has nothing . He is gonna tell me , YEAH RIGHT .
BUT , BUT if i then tell him , IF YOU GIVE that other candy bar to that kid i will give you ten more bars .
I BET ANYTHING HE IS GONNA GIVE TO THAT KID . BUT THE POINT IS , WHY DID HE GIVE
was it cause that kid lacked or did he give cause he LOVED THE CANDY and KNEW HE WOULD GET MORE .
EXACTLY . HE gives cause he LOVES MONEY , NOT THE PERSON .
Oh my! I KNOW that sense of humor! Yes, He can be so funny! And that correction lasts because you receive it, not shun away from it!
amigo de christo
Well-Known Member
WHY WE DO as WE DO matters as much as what we DO . fact .
One time it was miserably rainy and windy. I was trying to get across a parking lot with an umbrella. I said, Lord, not so great a day you made here. I think You could have done better! Just then, a huge gust of rain and wind came at me sideways and hit my face and body like an ocean wave and yanked my umbrella right out of my hands! I was a soaked and laughing mess.
ROFL That'll teach ya!
LearningToLetGo
Well-Known Member
Your point is valid. We must define virtues such as love and compassion before we can properly discuss them.
amigo de christo
Well-Known Member
Very good my friend . I will try and see if my sister in the UK wont send the post i made about what Charity is and what it aint .
YES!
The Lord gets on to me often about using my spiritual eyes more, but for me it gets weird. And it is not just seeing and hear, though they are the major senses we operate with. God made the heavens and the earth - so just like we have five physical senses we have five spiritual senses.
And the use of them is important for discernment.
Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
So it is not just by hearing, nor even just by seeing, but like we use multiple senses to get around in this physical world and understand what is going on, we should also use our spiritual senses to do the same.
Of course the spiritual is not the physical. Spirit don't have a physical appearance!!
Now above we read a testimony about "some kind of monkey like creature". Yes - I have had spirits appear like the to me also. Still, we need to use all our senses. And it is from His mouth that we get understanding and knowledge!
Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
One day while driving to work, the Lord told me that He was going to show me what we going on in the spiritual realm around me, but not as it actually is. Then when I came to the next stop sign I saw in the car opposite me a large Gorilla looking creature next to the driver. It was dress like in cute monkey outfit with a red vest and a funny little red hat. It appeared to be playing with the drivers hair, until I looked closer. It wasn't the drivers hair, but rather his mind. The fingers of the gorilla were going into the top of the mans head.
As I continued to drive on, every care I saw had a gorllla in it, and many had little bat like creatures flying in, through, and around the cars. I was told that those demons were messing with the automobiles. Then every quarter mile there was a large prehistoric looking flying dinosaur on a telephone pole just starring down at what we going on. It continued this way for a number of miles until a small pickup truck slowly drove passed me on the freeway. To my astonishment, there was not a gorilla next to that man. And as I wonder about that the truck went by and I saw three angels in white in the back of the pickup. It looked like they were playing cards or something, like nothing I was seeing bothered them. Then the vision went away.
So we get a vision and what are we to do with it?
Again, the Lord gives Wisdom (the Holy Spirit) and from His mouth come understanding and knowledge. The thing is that we are driving through a spiritual realm every day, even on our way to work. Yet we are not paying any attention, are we? So even if we have angels with us, there are just sitting there by themselves. Do we loose angels and bind up the powers. Do we even see them? And further more do we even seek the understanding and knowledge which comes from His mouth (The Holy Spirit speaking to us)? The answer is most likely, No, No, and No!
Marvelloustime
Well-Known Member
With pleasure.
@LearningToLetGo @amigo de christo
Here, my brother in Christ explains the definition of God’s love, (charity in our KJV bibles).
“Let us understand the love that comes From God .
For GOD is love and love comes from God .
If we have not charity then it profits us nothing .
So let us examine well for ourselves what charity truly is according to God . According to the truth .
For if we have not charity , i warn us all it profits us nothing .
Many can claim to KNOW GOD , yet if they have not charity , they lie and walk in darkness .
So its very important that we truly do have charity .
For our source i shall take us to the bible . To show us what the true version of charity truly is and what it entails .
If i came hollering GOD is love yet i shot up a building , would anyone believe that i knew GOD or truly had love . OF course not . Murder is evil . its not love .
Now let us examine the charity that the true church knew and taught .
Open bibles to corinthians chapter thirteen .
As we see paul is busy writing to the corinthain church to express the dire importance of having charity .
Let us examine a few things .
IF we read , we notice that paul says that even if i gave my BODY to be burned and had not Charityit would profit me nothing .
SO having CHARITY is a dire needful thing . Lets look again at what He says .
Even if i gave ALL OF MY GOODS TO THE POOR , yet had not charity it profits me nothing .
So lets examine this as well . EVEN IF gave all of my goods , ALL of them , YET had not charityit profits me nothing .
Notice he said ALL of my goods . SO is it possible to be a giver to the poor and yet not have charity . YES IT IS . I was in boyscouts once
we were well taught to do good to people , to give to others . YET i was a pagan lost in my sin who knew not GOD and had not charity .
YES one can have charitable acts and yet STILL not have charity .
SO we better dig in real deep to what CHARITY TRULY IS . CAUSE If we do not have it , WE DO NOT KNOW GOD .
Ever wonder why JESUS said , that many will say , BUT LORD didnt we do many good works in your name , YET HE STILL says I NEVER KNEW YOU ...................YE who worked what .......................INQUITY .
SO lets continue on . Paul says very clear what CHARITY IS and what it IS NOT .
Charity LOVETH TRUTH . TRUTH . IT REJOICES IN TRUTH . TRUTH .
Charity does NOT , however REJOICE IN INQUITY . As we see that is the reason JESUS said DEPART FROM ME , YE WHO WORKED INQUITY .
But let us continue . It goes on to say that charity does not behave itself UNSEEMINGLY .
SO if we behave unseeminly ITS PROOF we do NOT have charity .
NOW GOD IS LOVE . WE better KNOW that we have HIS LOVE , HIS CHARITY UPON OUR HEARTS .
FOR if we love not , IF we have not charity , IT wont matter if i gave all my goods to the poor . IT PROFITS ME NOTHING .
SO let us examine to see what things are unseemingly .
For that i invite us to read romans chapter one .
Notice it says back biters , haters of God
Let me quoate something .
And likewise even the men gave up the natural use of the woman and burned in their lust one towards another
Working that WHICH IS UNSEEMINGLY .
OH dear . That means it wont matter if folks gave all the goods they had to the poor , IF THEY behave UNSEEMINGLY , THEY AINT GOT CHARITY .
Now let that sink in . I LOVE FOLKS . ITS WHY I WARN any who calls themselves christain to repent of inquity .
I mean if we do not have charity , WE DOOMED . WE are not of GOD . And do remember that charity REJOICES ONLY IN THE TRUTH
NOT in inquity . IT DONT HONOR SIN . IT DONT call sin good . It dont allow sin upon its brothers . IT warns folks .
I allow my near and dear sister to post the verses to all from corinithains chapter thirteen and romans chapter one .
I DO THIS OUT OF LOVE FOR ALL PEOPLES . EVEN THOSE WHO HATE ME MOST . MY DESIRE IS LIFE FOR EVEN THOSE WHO WISH MY DEATH .
WE better KNOW we have CHARITY . OR WE DONT KNOW GOD . Its just another jesus and another gosple and that cannot save . “
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
Romans 1:26-32 KJV
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
1 Corinthians 13:1-7 KJV
amigo de christo
Well-Known Member
I took just the first part of the post, because there are things that I see get missed at times.
First - it is very important to understand that indeed - GOD IS LOVE!!!
That is the first thing that sooooo often gets missed!! Even as some people say it they also miss it!!
If God is indeed love then seek Jesus Christ the Lord our God is "THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW THE LOVING THING TO DO!!"
Therefore the thing that profits us is to actually seek the Lord and do what He says - that as opposed to seeking to lean on our own understanding!!
And look what happens in the post above - right after it is stated the God is love and love come from God so that if we don't have charity it doesn't profit us - the writer instantly want us to turn back to "examining ourselves"!
Now to be fair there are statement like "according to God, and According to the truth - which I like. The reason I like them is because they again turn us away from our understanding back to the Lord's understanding. Yet why turn back to examining yourself if the intention was to turn to the Lord??? Is it not just flip flopping around -
We look to God because He is love, then we look to ourselves whom we know is not Love because God is love, then we look back to God for the truth. It is just nothing more than going back and forth between leaning on our understanding to leaning on the Lords - if indeed we are actually doing what we say we are and not just pretending obedience to Him.
Now if fact, we people who do actually know Him do actually do that!! That is what you find out if we did truly examine ourselves!! It is just the way we are, and so the best I can do is to remember to turn back to my Lord Jesus Christ and listen to Him as much as I can.
Which brings me to the last part of the section above - "Many can claim to KNOW GOD, yet if they have not charity , they lie and walk in darkness . So its very important that we truly do have charity"
This is a very poor understand of what Paul was trying to explain to the Corinthians!!
The Church at Corinth was a Christian church!! They knew the Lord, and had the gift of the Spirit which proved it!! However, like too many of us they were not actually seeking what the Lord had to say to them, and listening to the Lord. In other words, they too often did not actually turn to the Lord to listen to Him!!
Therefore, though they were Christians and had some knowledge of the Lord, they did not know His will because they too often were looking to themselves instead of Him who is love. Still - there are those "whitewashed" leaders like the Pharisees, who were not born again Christians, who felt that looking inside themselves to find love as how they find charity/love!
Think!! God is Love - not you!! So to do the loving thing you must listen to Him who is love and not go back to looking inside yourself to instructions and understanding!! Knowing the Lord means you walk and talk with Him like a friend and your Lord. Yeah, He is going to tell you to do the right and loving things, always!! So to know Him is not just to pretend obedience to Him but to actually listen to Him! And when you do He also sends His Holy Spirit with His words - and also gifts for you. Let us not forget that after this advice about charity/love to the Christian church at Corinth, Paul then went back to commanding them to desire the Spiritual gifts!! Or did we not come to know the value the gifts of the Spirit have for accomplishing the instructions He (Love) will ask you to do?
1 Cor 14:1 (KJV) Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
Too often I find quote "Christians" who say they know the Lord and follow His instructions, but the don't have the 'spiritual gifts'. People - you need to follow after Jesus Christ our Lord and God (charity/love) and also desire the spiritual gifts!! And since we are told to desire the gifts is He not going for give them to you??? Of course He is - He who is Love is not going to tell you to desire something and not have a plan to give it to you! That wouldn't be loving!
Rev 3:1-,20 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
The above is the "Gospel" (Good News) in a nut shell!!
Jesus Christ is the living Word of God. He is called "The Word of God" (Rev 19:13) because He has the words of God, and He sends His Holy Spirit to speak His words to your spirit!! So we need to hear from Him - period!!
The goods news is the He is just standing there as the omni-present God just trying to get our attention - and this applies to "anyone"!!
Now His Holy Spirit is not the only spirit, so a person can get hooked up with wrong spirits. Yet it is written that all those who seek find! So if we seek Him we will find Him, because He is just standing there speaking with His voice. Still, some people look to just any spirit, and not Him. And other people think they have found Him, but they are not hearing words from Him. They are just thinking that they are good people so they figure they know Him. Well it just doesn't work like that, because as seen in the above verses, He reproves those He loves!!!
Now He can be extremely nice and creative with how He reproves us, if He wants to. But if the right thing to do is not to be so nice about how He reproves us, He can and does that also, because He doesn't want anyone to perish!!! It is not hard to find examples of how He let people really have it, so He might get their attention!!
So it is that He sends people who listen to Him trying to get people to actually listen to Him. But listening to Him means getting reproof, both so you will become a better person, but also to show you that He is God - not you!! Therefore, actually coming to know Him means coming to know that it is not you who is love, but Him!! And you also come to know that having Him is having Love/Charity. Having Love is not you leaning on your understanding of what love is - Operating in Love is listening to Him and obeying Him!! And even when you do that you will come to understand that you are not Him.
Among the many things He had had me do for Him over the last 20 plus years with Him, was working in a Christian healing ministry. I tried hard to listen to Him and do what He asked while working in that ministry for Him, and I saw hundreds of miracles. Yet afterward He would usually have me go get something to eat and talk to Him. There I found out how I could have done things better. OH YEAH, He also told me how much He appreciated me helping Him, but He would always show me how I got things wrong. How else are you going to improve unless you have a good Teacher, to show you how to do things better!
So it is that the quote "Christians" who don't know Him are those who think they don't make mistakes!
1 Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
So the person walking in darkness is the person thinking that charity/love is leaning on their understanding instead of seeking Him! Yet they deceive themselves!
1 Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
The truth (Him) reproves you. So walking in the light (Him) means understanding that you are not love/Charity, but rather He is. Yes - He can be found in you, because that is where we find the Word of God (Him) which we preach. (Rom 10)
So thinking a real Christian is the person that doesn't do anything wrong, is wrong thinking! The real Christian understands they need Him to help them, because they don't get everything right!!
Real Christians tend to have license plates and bumper stickers with things like, "Not perfect, just forgiven" It is that attitude and realization which helps a person understand other people when they make mistakes. It helps us be understanding when we find out someone doesn't know Him and is hearing from the wrong spirits. Yet Him being forgiving and just standing there for anyone, also makes us want to make it clear that anyone can open up to Him!! He is there for you!! That doesn't make you perfect, but it does get you to know Him who is!!
The above is the "Gospel" (Good News) in a nut shell!!
Jesus Christ is the living Word of God. He is called "The Word of God" (Rev 19:13) because He has the words of God, and He sends His Holy Spirit to speak His words to your spirit!! So we need to hear from Him - period!!
The goods news is the He is just standing there as the omni-present God just trying to get our attention - and this applies to "anyone"!!
Now His Holy Spirit is not the only spirit, so a person can get hooked up with wrong spirits. Yet it is written that all those who seek find! So if we seek Him we will find Him, because He is just standing there speaking with His voice. Still, some people look to just any spirit, and not Him. And other people think they have found Him, but they are not hearing words from Him. They are just thinking that they are good people so they figure they know Him. Well it just doesn't work like that, because as seen in the above verses, He reproves those He loves!!!
Now He can be extremely nice and creative with how He reproves us, if He wants to. But if the right thing to do is not to be so nice about how He reproves us, He can and does that also, because He doesn't want anyone to perish!!! It is not hard to find examples of how He let people really have it, so He might get their attention!!
So it is that He sends people who listen to Him trying to get people to actually listen to Him. But listening to Him means getting reproof, both so you will become a better person, but also to show you that He is God - not you!! Therefore, actually coming to know Him means coming to know that it is not you who is love, but Him!! And you also come to know that having Him is having Love/Charity. Having Love is not you leaning on your understanding of what love is - Operating in Love is listening to Him and obeying Him!! And even when you do that you will come to understand that you are not Him.
Among the many things He had had me do for Him over the last 20 plus years with Him, was working in a Christian healing ministry. I tried hard to listen to Him and do what He asked while working in that ministry for Him, and I saw hundreds of miracles. Yet afterward He would usually have me go get something to eat and talk to Him. There I found out how I could have done things better. OH YEAH, He also told me how much He appreciated me helping Him, but He would always show me how I got things wrong. How else are you going to improve unless you have a good Teacher, to show you how to do things better!
So it is that the quote "Christians" who don't know Him are those who think they don't make mistakes!
1 Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
So the person walking in darkness is the person thinking that charity/love is leaning on their understanding instead of seeking Him! Yet they deceive themselves!
1 Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
The truth (Him) reproves you. So walking in the light (Him) means understanding that you are not love/Charity, but rather He is. Yes - He can be found in you, because that is where we find the Word of God (Him) which we preach. (Rom 10)
So thinking a real Christian is the person that doesn't do anything wrong, is wrong thinking! The real Christian understands they need Him to help them, because they don't get everything right!!
Real Christians tend to have license plates and bumper stickers with things like, "Not perfect, just forgiven" It is that attitude and realization which helps a person understand other people when they make mistakes. It helps us be understanding when we find out someone doesn't know Him and is hearing from the wrong spirits. Yet Him being forgiving and just standing there for anyone, also makes us want to make it clear that anyone can open up to Him!! He is there for you!! That doesn't make you perfect, but it does get you to know Him who is!!
Dropship
Well-Known Member
I knew a young woman like that in an internet religious chat room who used to think she had a direct line to God who was telling her to pronounce judgement on us, calling us (including me) "phoney christians" and such, but we eventually made her see sense and she mellowed a bit and admitted that it might not have been God talking to her after all.
Shakespeare's Macbeth also eventually realised that the witches had led him up the garden path, and said-
"..oftentimes to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles, to betray us In deepest consequence.....And be these juggling fiends no more believed, that palter with us in a double sense; That keep the word of promise to our ear, and break it to our hope."
I like the above post because it is important to test the spirits! Still, if we are indeed Christians - we should know that His sheep hear His voice, so we do have a "direct line to God"! We just need to make sure it is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jn 10:4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
Jn 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
1 Cor 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except [fn]by the Holy Spirit.
1 Jn 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
There are two basic mistake a person can make! One is to think that every spirit is from God. The other is to think that there isn't a Spirit from God.
Now I don't know about the lady in the above post. Was she hearing from the Lord. BTW, In the Bible we see that He did have people pronounce judgements in His name. He once had me go into a bookstore that was selling crystal balls and other magic stuff in the front of their store, and He had me buy some bookshelves they had for sale, and then tell them that He was closing the store. He was taking the shelves first and if anyone wanted to follow He was happy to take them too. A month later that store was closed.
I also once came across a lady who did the Lord, but didn't check the spirit she heard from before making statements. She always said, "Thus saith the Lord" before she said something. Not surprisingly she told me that it upset a lot of people at her church. It didn't upset me, because I just always asked the Lord about what she said and He would tell me what we from Him and what wasn't. I once asked Him if He wanted me to take this up with her. He told me not to, because He was planning to handle it Himself. I talked to her one day and she told me that the Lord was going to put her into a deliverance ministry. So I asked the Lord, "Are you going to put her into a deliverance ministry. She doesn't even know to test the spirits!" He instantly responded with the calm quiet voice of His saying, "She'll learn."
Honestly, people who hear with their spiritual ears but don't test the spirits don't bother me as much as those who don't hear with their spiritual ears. If they don't hear, what change to they have of testing the spirits that are influencing them? None - that is what chance a person who doesn't hear have of understanding what is going on around them in the heavenlies!
I think the thing Jesus said the most was asking about having ears to hear!! You have to start hearing with your spiritual ears before you can use the test above. And if you don't hear with your spiritual ears, you certainly are not practicing using your spiritual sense!!
Heb 5: 112,12 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
Oracles of God are something you hear with your spiritual ears! So the elementary principle of the oracles of God means hearing what He says through that direct line to Him!
LearningToLetGo
Well-Known Member
Good point!
My takeaway here is we need to orient ourselves towards God within the context of love. Does this sound correct?
You mention spiritual gifts but I don't see the connection to love or to charity. Could you explain how the two are connected?
I agree that God is love. My experience of this is that God loves all humanity (indeed all creation) infinitely. He desperately wants his creations to obey him and to walk in union with him, which is the ultimate expression of love. That said, God's mind is 'higher than ours' and his ways are 'higher than' our ways. This means that God's expression of love might not make sense to us. In fact, that's pretty much a guarantee. But, we have the gift of faith which means that even though we can't understand why something is an expression of perfect love we can trust that it is and accept it as such.
How does knowing that God is love and trusting in God to always express his ultimate vision of love for us change us in our daily lives? Simple, it frees us to relax a bit and sort of let go. 'My yolk is easy and my burden is light', in other words; It also softens our hearts, for if God gives you infinite love (since you are one of his creations) and if God likewise gives me infinite love (for the same reason) then it makes sense that I should give you as much love as I can muster, and vice versa, since we are siblings in Christ; Lastly this means we should each love ourselves as God loves us, since to do anything less is to demean the love that God has for us by implying that we know our true value whereas God does not (and that's hogwash, as they say).
If we truly understand that God is love, and only God is good, then the obvious thing we need to do is seek Him for our instructions! Learning on our understanding, even our understanding of love is not love.
How do we know what the best and most loving thing to do is?? We don't but He does!
I remember one time the Lord told me to give a homeless man 5 dollars. I responded by telling the Lord that I had a twenty on me and I could give that to the man. He responded by telling me that if the man had 5 dollars he would get himself something to eat, but if I gave him the twenty he would get drunk. Honestly, by leaning on my own selfish nature I would not have given the man a cent. If I tried to think about needing to help a homeless man I would have given the man the twenty. Neither would have been the right thing to do. Jesus Christ is God and He is love, so listen to Him was the right and loving thing to do.
Now concerning the gifts of the spirit and them being connected to serving the Lord who is love - let me ask if you know what to pray for a person???
It is written that we don't know how to pray, and let me tell you - after spending five years serving the Lord in a healing ministry I can surely tell you I don't know what to pray when a person came to the healing ministry. People come in and they say they want prayer for this or that, but rarely do they even know what we need to do.
Now if I pray in tongue I use the Holy Spirit to pray, and He knows what needs to be prayed for even if I don't understand what I am praying. And honestly, I don't need to know what I am praying for. What if a woman needs prayer because they are not having that time of the month. I don't need to know that if I pray in tongues, and I doubt the person wants me to know either. And note: you don't pray out loud do you. And you don't need to pray in tongues out loud either!
Often people who came into the healing ministry wouldn't tell you things. I did it for five years, and I got so used to listening to the Lord for what to pray for that we wound up praying for more healing because the Lord told us the person needed it and we did because they people told us they had a problem they needed prayer for. I can even begin to tell you all the times the Lord would tell me the person in front of us had pain that they needed prayer for; and I would ask the person something like, "Are you feeling pain in your stomach", and they say they did. They we would ask them what the level of pain was on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being them most; and they would tell us that they were really hurting and rate the pain at an either or nine. So many people got healed because He gave us words of knowledge via His Holy Spirit!! To this day I am still amazed how Christians would regularly come to the healing ministry in pain and would not think to mention is to us!!
Similar threads
