HOW can you tell IF a FAMILIAR SPIRIT is in Operation ?

[PROPHECYKID]

What are the signs ?????

I have a friend who has a very strong prophetic gifting, (Can be spot on)but THEN he tends to go on and on and on and on.........to the point he leaves everyone feeling over powered, dis-armed, and with a roaring headache LOL !

All jokes aside, COULD he be moving via a "false anointing" at some point, cause from being edified, you end up feeling like your mind has been a victim of "A CONTROLLING SPIRIT". It is an odd feeling, like a trance.

I notice this only ever happens around people he is looking for APPROVAL from.

This is a tricky one, so I'm just throwing it out there......Cheers

PS: He has a reputation as a self appointed Prophet of doom wherever he goes, but often he is RIGHT, just his delivery could be a bit smoother.....

Its not tricky at all. Prophecy is a gift of the spirit and the spirit gives these gifts to help convert, preach, strengthen and teach folks about God. The holy spirit doesn't aid people in showing off and ingratiating themselves. The holy spirit acts in folks who are humble. Also the results of this gift would not constantly leave folks in the state you described. Clearly, this is not from God.

 

[mrhappy3]

thanks PK

 

[K2K]

Can we go to the Lord and get an answer from Him?

When someone tells me something "Prophetic", I turn and talk to My Lord and expect to get an answer. Most of the time I find out the message was from Him, yet many times I didn't understand how it could be until after I talked to Him.

Sometime I found out the person did get a message from Him but just kept going on in their own flesh. He sorted it out for me. This is so often true with sermons from the pulpit also.

A few times He told me that the person didn't check the spirit. We should know how to check the spirits (See 1 Jn 4: 1-3) Discernment is important, but is it leaning on our understanding of the Scriptures that give us discernment of spirits? The Pharasees studied the Scriptures but they didn't listen to the voice of the Lord and seek Him for advice.

Jn 5:30 I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

If Jesus isn't judging anyone according to His will and is not taking action according to His own initiative, should we take heart to the example He set for us and seek God and listen to what His says?

Ok - none of us here are Jesus Christ - none of us here are only saying what they heard the Father tell them. So which one of us here is going to judge another person without first listening to what the Lord says about it.

If the Lord told someone to do or say something, and I judge them for doing it by leaning on my understanding (even my understanding of the Scriptures) and get it wrong, who have I judged? Not the person doing what the Lord asked them to do, but I have come into judgement of God Himself. WE HAD BETTER SEEK THE LORD IN ALL THINGS AND CHECK THE SPIRITS FOR OURSELVES.

 

[tturt]

I Thess 5:20-21 - 20 "Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

Not that the one speaking prophetically doesn't have responsibility but being given a prophetic word is just the beginning of a process.

-Foremost, as already stated, it has to line up with Scriptures. Plus we have The Holy Spirit, prayer, hearing God’s voice, spiritual discernment, and confirmation to help us. Once we have proven all things , we hold fast to that which is good (Jeremiah 10:23, Psa 37:23; Prov 3:5-6; Acts 9:9-19 especially v 10-12; II Cor 13:1).

Then in I Tim 1:18, Apostle Paul told Timothy to make good warfare over the prophetic words he had received.

Agree that unfortunately what hasn't been taken care of will show up in our ministries not just in the prophetic. Ever listening to a teaching or sermon and the speaker is being led by The Holy Spirit and then it goes on into the flesh? Same with praying or anything else. It's very easy for all of us to do.

In regards to some sub-topics within the thread, it doesn't take a lot for anyone to be offended including us - Christians.

 

[lismore]

Also is there ANY place for prophesies THAT make us feel CONVICTED to the point of condemnation ??? Or is that a fine line......I mean how HARD can a prophetic word or Prophet be or allowed to be ......

God's words always leave hope. God can rebuke harshly, but there is grace and mercy there too often in greater measure than the rebuke. If a prophecy has left you feeling condemned, depressed or hopeless then it's not from God.

God's words encourage, convict and uplift, they never tear his sheep.

I also think that the gifts of the Spirit must be used in conjuction with the fruit of the Spirit. If someone claims to be operating in a gift, but does not have the fruit........love, joy, peace etc......then be wary.

 

[TRUEPeace]

I have Before I became a Christian worked witchcraft( I was a Muslim before that by birth) and once you start calling up spirits things can get nasty. Believe me you can prophecise many things under what seem to harmless entities. However they will ALWAYS expect something in return, something small, like incense burning, as they give you more power, then they may want you to sign a blood pact with them, the person craving the power of the supernatural WILL do anything to attain this power.

Witchcraft is like a drug it's addictive and overwhelming...but at what cost?
A fortune teller will contact a spirit bound to her soul when giving a reading, the spirit she contacts will make contact with a entity that is connected to the person getting the reading. That spirit will then tell the fortunes tellers spirit what the fortune teller wants to know and the fortune tellers spirit will give her the information who will then inform the one getting the reading giving the illusion that the fortune teller is psychic.

These spirits are incredibly intelligent and if you study deep Into occult work as I did you will realize the dangers of the occult. Knowing this gave me real insight into why God has strictly forbidden such things.

 

[tturt]

TRUEPeace, glad you're a believer in Yeshua now. That's great!