Let's talk about prophecy.

[Ryukil]

Hey guys, how's it hanging?
I'd like to talk about prophecy. My mother has prayed for me and my sister many times in a prophetic manner. This started maybe five years ago at a church we were going to. The church wasn't exactly Pentacostal, but it had some mild elements of that.
I'm just wondering how you guys feel about prophecy. I'm skeptical of it sometimes, mostly because I'm skeptical of religion in general. There was another guy at the church who was probably one of the most sincere Christians I have ever met who prayed with me occasionally in the same prophetic manner.
Anyway, some of the prophecies I have gotten over the years have been pretty grandiose. My mom always impressed me with the idea that I would be some kind of a leader in the future. Once she had a vision of me flying above a canyon in the form of an eagle, and she said God was going to give me "dominion over a land." Interestingly the whole thing was confirmed later when some other girl was praying for me and said something like "I keep getting 'eagle'." Once a guy said to me that "if God revealed my destiny to me now I wouldn't be able to handle it."
But sometimes the things my mom prophecies for me sound like things she would say, not things God would say. Not that I think it's a scam. She sincerely believes that she's hearing from God, and she's definitely not insane or anything like that.

 

[Inkachu]

Remember this one thing: If God said it to someone else, he'll say it to YOU as well. If you don't get a firm, undeniable, clear confirmation that is between you and Him alone, I would always take what others say with a grain of salt. There is a huuuuuge trend of people claiming God gives them "words" right now. I've had it said to me many, many times, and 99% of them never come to pass. There are only two explanations: God lies, or these people are well-meaning, but misled.

Don't look for emotional high's from these things. The Christian walk is a slow, steady, day-by-day journey. Find your identity and value in the truths you already have in God's Word. Yes, there are times when something amazing or miraculous will happen in a Christian's life; but the day-to-day stuff is much more quiet, subtle, and steady.

 

[Max Shade]

Really solid advice!

Don't look for emotional high's from these things. The Christian walk is a slow, steady, day-by-day journey. Find your identity and value in the truths you already have in God's Word. Yes, there are times when something amazing or miraculous will happen in a Christian's life; but the day-to-day stuff is much more quiet, subtle, and steady.

Yeah, my wife woke up. . . a hard morning. She works a hard job, by hard I mean being kind yet creating results with felons in a dangerous setting in the most criminally violent demographic. She is making a difference and shining a light where anyone sane without full confidence in God's call would fear to tread & wisely. So she cried, we talked and prayed through it. Something wonky is going to go down with her co-workers today and she is going to need to step up extra. What it is, I don't know . . . she dreamed and I have intuition regarding an event today. These aren't emotional high type events, more like God saying "brace yourself" and "choose to find your rest in Me" and that is totally consistent with what Inkachu has said. God has prepared His people for trials & by focusing on serving Him through it, I and she, have absolute confidence that God will see her through whatever.

The walk involves little steps, being daily in tune to the will and whim of God. Prophecy involves a LOT more listening than speaking.

 

[aiki]

The "word of prophecy" stuff seems pretty hokey to me. God isn't interested in keeping His will for you a vague mystery. "God is not the author of confusion," the Bible says. So, when someone gives you an obscure prophecy about you flying like an eagle over a canyon, it sounds more like a native Indian spirit vision than something coming from the God of all Truth.

As I'm sure you know, sincerity is not the acid test of truth. A person can be very sincere in their belief and completely wrong about it at the same time. Just because these people who are prophesying over you think they've heard from God, you aren't obliged to think so, too. I would be hugely skeptical of what they are saying to you.

It is so easy for the devil to work through this word-of-prophecy business. There appears to be no means by which to test the true origin of the prophetic word people give to you. THis should raise a big red flag for you.

If you want God's direction for your life, read your Bible.

Selah.

 

[Quasicentennial]

The Word of God is a book that goes beyond our understanding on how Christ's wisdom is able to transfer to the soul, to create a shield of protection, to prevent the demonic spirit of Satan to cause atheist logic to be sound, precise and indisputable - such as: if you were born intellectually disabled, it is very unlikely that as a mentally-disabled Christian who has no understanding of Christ's wisdom, would definitely end up in hell, and therefore, believing in God becomes a waste of time because of this classic prophetic anomaly for those who are severely [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]:.
Jesus is our invisible spiritual presence who is super-gifted not only with the wisdom of God, but also our future-coming perfection in mind and body transformation and even our planet Earth's environmentally peaceful transformation, where deadly natural disasters such as earthquakes and tornadoes have robbed innocent lives:.
So it should be obvious that Jesus being the transformation expert on everyone who accepts Jesus, also includes those born with genetic disorders that affect not just the mind but the body as well, such as those who were born with no arms and/or legs - and every other disability from severe burns to amputees .;'*';.
Only then will Jesus transfer the Word of God supernaturally in all of our hearts so that we will love and live each other forever, more than ever, compared to our past learning struggles with our present earth-born limited intelligent minds .;'*';. Rev 21:2

 

[SharonL]

I have friends that always have a Word from God. I don't really pay any attention to them, just put it on the shelf - if it comes true fine, if it doesn't I don't give it another thought. I have one friend that gets words from different people and she trys to fit her life into those words. She drives herself crazy - trying to see if she should move to where they say she will minister or buy what they say to buy - I've talked and talked to her about it, but she just constantly plays the prophecies on her tape player and constantly tries to make things happen. That is not what God want's of us. I know they are trying to do right and it is only because they want to feel close to God and not done in any way to harm.

 

[parsley]

she dreamed and I have intuition regarding an event today. These aren't emotional high type events, more like God saying "brace yourself" and "choose to find your rest in Me"

I get those. The dream symbols usually seem clear once I take time to look at them. When they have related to jobs like that, the fulfillment has made sense within the week. Communication is not much different from "still small voice" but more cryptic. It causes more thinking and research, and there isn't the same right/wrong decision-making.

Hearing prophetic information from others always comes with a risk. You don't know if a person has selfish intents, is misinformed/misguided, is telling you their own judgments /wishes for you, wants to seem important, or really is hearing something from God. As said above, it needs to resonate in you too -- if God wants to tell you something, He should be able to tell you directly too.

If you want God's direction for your life, read your Bible.

Notice how Joseph interpreted a dream about a drought and famine... but it did not come with instructions. He used hunches about information to make wise preparations, which could be useful whether the dream scenarios came to pass or not.

(Don't declare yourself king-- just be open to leadership opportunities)

There are some people who believe that declaring something has power in the statement. This doctrine comes in increments and levels, where most of us believe that simple faith is a trigger to getting prayers, answered, while others see words as holding creative power.

There are Jewish traditions of declaring blessings over children, and that is not so far off from what your mom seems to be doing.

 

[parsley]

plays the prophecies on her tape player and constantly tries to make things happen. That is not what God want's of us. I know they are trying to do right and it is only because they want to feel close to God and not done in any way to harm.

Then it can turn into depending on the prophecies and handling them correctly, as though they are incantations.

 

[Albion]

Hey guys, how's it hanging?
I'd like to talk about prophecy. My mother has prayed for me and my sister many times in a prophetic manner. This started maybe five years ago at a church we were going to. The church wasn't exactly Pentacostal, but it had some mild elements of that.
I'm just wondering how you guys feel about prophecy. I'm skeptical of it sometimes, mostly because I'm skeptical of religion in general. There was another guy at the church who was probably one of the most sincere Christians I have ever met who prayed with me occasionally in the same prophetic manner.
Anyway, some of the prophecies I have gotten over the years have been pretty grandiose. My mom always impressed me with the idea that I would be some kind of a leader in the future. Once she had a vision of me flying above a canyon in the form of an eagle, and she said God was going to give me "dominion over a land." Interestingly the whole thing was confirmed later when some other girl was praying for me and said something like "I keep getting 'eagle'." Once a guy said to me that "if God revealed my destiny to me now I wouldn't be able to handle it."
But sometimes the things my mom prophecies for me sound like things she would say, not things God would say. Not that I think it's a scam. She sincerely believes that she's hearing from God, and she's definitely not insane or anything like that.

Praying 'in a prophetic manner' isn't prophesy. Neither are dreams. And any prophesy that has relevance to only a single individual has to be taken with extreme caution.

Besides, these visualizations, or whatever they might be called, could also mean that you are to be a successful football player in Philadelphia or a skilled fisherman, so keep in mind that one problem we always have with prophesy is interpretation.

 

[miss-a]

I don't think any of us should think prophecy that could happen is grandiose. You could be a great leader someday. God can do anything He wants with a willing heart. I think the key is to stay willing.

Now, I'm a 5'3' slim female with zero interest in football (though if I know someone else is enjoying it I can watch with them), so if someone prophesies that I'm going to be the next quarterback for the next superbowl's winning team, that's over the edge. So there is a level of reality that needs to be taken into consideration. But there is a difference between taking reality into consideration and believing God for mediocrity. It would be hard to make a biblical case for mediocrity. It certainly isn't the example that Jesus set for us. He will allow it, if we insist, but He invites us to abundant life. We can miss it, however, choose to believe for mediocrity, the crumbs from the Masters table, so to speak. And, sadly, many well meaning people encourage us to not believe for more. But that's not what God says.

It is to our Father's glory that we bear much fruit. And He gets to define what much means.

It's not online yet, but I'll try to get back here and post it. Just yesterday Andy stanley spoke on this very topic, asking the question, "Do you want to be ordinary, or extraordinary? " And he gave good biblical support for the fact that God has extraordinary plans for each of us.

 

[Ryukil]

You guys did read that another person said something about the eagle as well, right? Independent of my mother? How can you explain that?
You guys say God is not the author of confusion. Some of those visions in the Bible are pretty damn confusing. Take, for instance, Revelation. An "Indian spirit vision"? An "acid trip", perhaps? I have heard many people say "obviously John was on drugs when he wrote Revelation." Hehe.

 

[Albion]

You guys did read that another person said something about the eagle as well, right? Independent of my mother? How can you explain that?
You guys say God is not the author of confusion. Some of those visions in the Bible are pretty damn confusing. Take, for instance, Revelation. An "Indian spirit vision"? An "acid trip", perhaps? I have heard many people say "obviously John was on drugs when he wrote Revelation." Hehe.

Very well. Let's follow that trail. Biblical prophesy strikes you as laughable and confusing, but you're pretty sure that two personal acquaintances who had dreams (or whatever) involving an eagle and yourself have described your future as a great leader. Want to dwell on that for awhile before deciding how compelling it is?

 

[Saucy]

It depends. People who try to predict your life and events are really trying to be Christian 'psychics' and play on emotions. You need to decide if it's from God based upon the content of the prophecy. Some people will even say, "God told me to tell you..." because they want to control you. If God has something He wants to say to you, why would He tell someone else? No, He would tell you Himself.

Sometimes people always think "God wants me to..." but it's their own will and use God. I think God has given all the prophecies he's going to give in His word until the end times (which I believe are right now) but they will be more about world events then what to do in your own personal life.

 

[paul becke]

I don't think any of us should think prophecy that could happen is grandiose. You could be a great leader someday. God can do anything He wants with a willing heart. I think the key is to stay willing.

Now, I'm a 5'3' slim female with zero interest in football (though if I know someone else is enjoying it I can watch with them), so if someone prophesies that I'm going to be the next quarterback for the next superbowl's winning team, that's over the edge. So there is a level of reality that needs to be taken into consideration. But there is a difference between taking reality into consideration and believing God for mediocrity. It would be hard to make a biblical case for mediocrity. It certainly isn't the example that Jesus set for us. He will allow it, if we insist, but He invites us to abundant life. We can miss it, however, choose to believe for mediocrity, the crumbs from the Masters table, so to speak. And, sadly, many well meaning people encourage us to not believe for more. But that's not what God says.

It is to our Father's glory that we bear much fruit. And He gets to define what much means.

It's not online yet, but I'll try to get back here and post it. Just yesterday Andy stanley spoke on this very topic, asking the question, "Do you want to be ordinary, or extraordinary? " And he gave good biblical support for the fact that God has extraordinary plans for each of us.

I think your understanding of the term 'mediocrity' equates with that term of disparagement, 'a loser', which seems to be unique to the lexicon of the extreme Mammon-worship of US culture, miss-A. You seem to have a very carnal, worldly understanding of 'mediocrity'.

The only reference I can think of in Scripture to something approximating 'mediocrity' is the luke-warmness of the Christians in the church at Sardis. In Christian terms it has nothing at all to do with worldly success; indeed quite the opposite.

The Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, universally held to be among the most beautiful speeches ever made or passages ever written, seem to have been delivered by Jesus to a crowd largely consisting of Anawim. They were people whom your culture would write off as bums, welfare-scroungers and what your egregiously materialistic culture dismisses as 'losers'.

Yet reading that passage, one is struck by an overwhelming sense of gratitude on the part of Jesus towards these 'nobodies', from whom Jesus being fully human as well as fully divine, had evidently learnt as he grew up, the true spiritual priorities; not by their words, but by the example they would have given in the extremely difficult circumstances of their daily lives, to anyone who paid attention.

In case you are unfamiliar with the term, Anawim, here is a definition with a link to the source below it:

'Mary and Joseph of Nazareth, Mahatma Gandhi
The anawim of the Old Testament were the poor of every sort: the vulnerable, the marginalized, and socio-economically oppressed, those of lowly status without earthly power. In fact, they depended totally on God for whatever they owned. The Hebrew word anawim (inwetan) means those who are bowed down.
Mahatma Gandhi understood inwetan as the way of bhakti, that is, loving devotion and surrender to God. In times of suffering, the anawim remained faithful and awaited the good things of the Lord to fill their emptiness, as the Lucan gospel tells us in (Lk 1:53). They delighted in the Lord because they were rooted in him.'


The Anawim: who are they? - By Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.


To 'have life to the full', is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, not feted by an admiring public as a 'star'. Although that has happened to canonized saints towards the end of their life, despite their best efforts to avoid its ever occurring.

 

[miss-a]

I think your understanding of the term 'mediocrity' equates with that term of disparagement, 'a loser', which seems to be unique to the lexicon of the extreme Mammon-worship of US culture, miss-A. You seem to have a very carnal, worldly understanding of 'mediocrity'.

The only reference I can think of in Scripture to something approximating 'mediocrity' is the luke-warmness of the Christians in the church at Sardis. In Christian terms it has nothing at all to do with worldly success; indeed quite the opposite.

The Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, universally held to be among the most beautiful speeches ever made or passages ever written, seem to have been delivered by Jesus to a crowd largely consisting of Anawim. They were people whom your culture would write off as bums, welfare-scroungers and what your egregiously materialistic culture dismisses as 'losers'.

Yet reading that passage, one is struck by an overwhelming sense of gratitude on the part of Jesus towards these 'nobodies', from whom Jesus being fully human as well as fully divine, had evidently learnt as he grew up, the true spiritual priorities; not by their words, but by the example they would have given in the extremely difficult circumstances of their daily lives, to anyone who paid attention.

In case you are unfamiliar with the term, Anawim, here is a definition with a link to the source below it:

'Mary and Joseph of Nazareth, Mahatma Gandhi
The anawim of the Old Testament were the poor of every sort: the vulnerable, the marginalized, and socio-economically oppressed, those of lowly status without earthly power. In fact, they depended totally on God for whatever they owned. The Hebrew word anawim (inwetan) means those who are bowed down.
Mahatma Gandhi understood inwetan as the way of bhakti, that is, loving devotion and surrender to God. In times of suffering, the anawim remained faithful and awaited the good things of the Lord to fill their emptiness, as the Lucan gospel tells us in (Lk 1:53). They delighted in the Lord because they were rooted in him.'


The Anawim: who are they? - By Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.


To 'have life to the full', is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, not feted by an admiring public as a 'star'. Although that has happened to canonized saints towards the end of their life, despite their best efforts to avoid its ever occurring.

Sorry for the confusion. I'm not sure what I said to cause you to think I was suggesting the name it and claim it carnal gospel. Actually the Stanley teaching I spoke of was about being all that Jesus says we can be. No more, no less. It was not against those who have less.

I just checked and the teaching has been posted. It should help clear things up. Here's the link: http://northpoint.org/messages/right-in-the-eye/#extraordinary/ You may have to scroll down to the one called Extraordinary.

Blessings,
a

 

[Autumnleaf]

You guys did read that another person said something about the eagle as well, right? Independent of my mother? How can you explain that?
You guys say God is not the author of confusion. Some of those visions in the Bible are pretty damn confusing. Take, for instance, Revelation. An "Indian spirit vision"? An "acid trip", perhaps? I have heard many people say "obviously John was on drugs when he wrote Revelation." Hehe.

Prophecy is one of those things that is easy to explain after something happens. Maybe you should wait until you are a leader and then you can look back at how the prophecy predicted it.

 

[Ryukil]

I think you all are a little too skeptical. I mean, Pentecost was after Jesus died. What has changed between now and then? I can understand your skepticism. I'm sure there are a lot of phonies out there. But...surely some of the time God can use people in the manner he used people on Pentecost.

 

[Ryukil]

Prophecy is one of those things that is easy to explain after something happens. Maybe you should wait until you are a leader and then you can look back at how the prophecy predicted it.

Very good point.

 

[Albion]

I think you all are a little too skeptical. I mean, Pentecost was after Jesus died. What has changed between now and then? I can understand your skepticism. I'm sure there are a lot of phonies out there. But...surely some of the time God can use people in the manner he used people on Pentecost.

"Can" and "Is doing it right now with me" are two quite different things.

 

[Ryukil]

"Can" and "Is doing it right now with me" are two quite different things.

What's the difference my friend? If he can do it, why wouldn't he be doing it right now with me? Hmmm?