Last night I had a brief, and simple, dream. I believe this dream is a message that someone needs to hear.
I was praying for an ethnic woman, probably Hispanic, and had a word of knowledge for her: ‘God is pleased with your faithfulness.’
Another man who was also laying hands on her immediately told me to stop. When I asked why, they said that she had received a prophecy in the past stating that she would marry a certain man and that the marriage turned out to be disastrous.
After an awkward moment I was filled with the Holy Spirit and turning to the man, I exclaimed, “If you want power then you must embrace the Holy Spirit!”
My thoughts are simply:
1. Some have been burned by false prophecy and thereby shun prophecy altogether.
2. Or, some have observed false and seemingly false manifestations of the Holy Spirit and thereby shun all manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
3. These will need to embrace the Holy Spirit—namely true prophecy as well as the other gifts—in order to receive God’s power.
4. Also, it is important to be very careful when criticizing and condemning any manifestation that is claimed to come from the Holy Spirit, because: Jesus says, “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. (Mark Ch. 3 vs. 29: NAS). The context of this passage is simply that some were accusing Jesus of operating under the influence of a demon, when in reality He was acting under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
A similar mentality exists today, not only with those who hold a dispensationalist view (the gifts, and manifestations, of the Holy Spirit are not for today), but also with many in the charismatic circles, who accept some gifts and manifestations, but claim some others to either stem from sensationalism or the Devil!
My advice is to refrain at all cost from judging or criticizing anyone who may or may not be ‘manifesting’, or ‘operating’ under the influence of the Holy Spirit. This is predominantly an issue that is between them, God, and their spiritual leadership (it's their leadership's responsibility to provide accountability).
With reference to prophecy, my advice is to ‘test all things’ especially when the prophecy is given to you personally. There are true, and false, prophetic words flittering about. To complicate things further, there is also frequently a blend of true and false within the same prophetic utterance—discernment and wisdom are a must.
Posts
