Neil Anderson Devotional for Thursday, November 22, 2001 ,
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N E I L   A N D E R S O N   D A I L Y   D E V O T I O N A L
             from Freedom in Christ Ministries

November 22

PROPHETIC MESSAGES

"Is not My word like fire?" declares the LORD, and like a hammer
which shatters a rock?" (Jeremiah 23:29).

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.

Lord, teach me not to quench Your Spirit nor to despise prophetic
utterances but to examine everything and hold fast to what is
good.


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