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The Gift of Prophecy: 15

I can’t count the number of times in the past 20 years when people asked the question, “How can I tell if it’s me, the Lord, or the enemy when I’m moving in prophecy?” This is, of course, a legitimate question. We are human beings, subject to pain, disillusionment, hurts, dreams, aspirations, longings and desires. All of these can conspire against us and color the prophetic word in a different way than God intended. It is possible for a frustrated person to speak their own thoughts and opinions, which mix with the words that God is really speaking to the situation.

We are capable of hearing words from other people, angels, demons, God, or self. – Kris Vallotton

1 Thess. 5: 19-20 – Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good

1 John 4:1 – Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God

~Developing Your Prophetic Gifting, by Graham Cooke ~

We know when a prophecy is from God, because the words He speaks will line up with scripture, and His character as outlined in scripture. God’s Holy Spirit will only reveal His good plans for you–plans that bring an abundant life.

This is one of the biggest differences between prophecy through the Holy Spirit and working with tarot cards, ouija boards, or other dark arts. All the dark arts are driven by demonic spirits which can only speak death over you, or direct you toward the enemies plan for your life. Some have received words from fortune-tellers that have come true, but this wasn’t God’s good, pleasing, and perfect plan for their lives; instead it was a settling for a less abundant life than God had for them. The Bible is clear that the dark arts have power, and advises us not to seek after them.

Deuteronomy 18:9-15 – When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, don’t learn to do the hateful things the other nations do. Don’t let anyone among you offer a son or daughter as a sacrifice in the fire. Don’t let anyone use magic or witchcraft, or try to explain the meaning of signs. Don’t let anyone try to control others with magic, and don’t let them be mediums or try to talk with the spirits of dead people… The nations you will force out listen to people who use magic and witchcraft, but the Lord your God will not let you do those things. The Lord your God will give you a prophet like me (Moses), who is one of your own people. Listen to him.

The Bible calls this divination. This is not what the Bible would consider a False Prophet, which will be another topic of discussion in an upcoming blog. Notice that although God tells us not to use diviners, He also tells us that He wants us to consult Him through prophets:

Isaiah 8:19 – When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

God is more powerful than anything else though. Christ drove out demons with merely the finger of God and He gave us the ability to do the same. If you’ve been to a fortune-teller and are afraid of what was spoken over you, you don’t have to be. You have the choice to cooperate with God’s plan for you instead, and watch His power overcome the enemy. Your first step should be to ask Jesus to come into your life and guide you.

1 John 4:4 – You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because the One in you is greater than the one in the world.

Below is one instance where the Bible talks about the power of the dark arts. Notice that the Spirit that rises from the dead only speaks death over Saul, and leaves him with no strength; whereas the Bible says prophecy through God’s Holy Spirit will strengthen, encourage, and comfort us (1Cor.14:3):

1 Sam. 28:7-20 – Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her… “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”… “Bring up Samuel,” he said. When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.”…  (David said:) “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.” Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.” Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel’s words. His strength was gone…

This scripture is meaty. If you go read the full passage you’ll notice that Saul says, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’, meaning knew God was alive, but still chose to consult the dead instead of the living God. Saul also mentions, ‘God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams’. Since God hadn’t spoken through a live prophet, Saul now sought a dead prophet. Saul had become so disobedient to God that he could no longer hear His voice. God had nothing extra to say to him since Saul had ignored His previous messages.

Samuel was a true prophet while alive. However, demons watch us on earth. It’s not hard for demons to portray what they’ve seen and know about us. They are not all-knowing like God, but they can observe the present and remember the past. They knew what Samuel looked like, what he wore, and what he’d said while on earth, so they disguised themselves to look like Samuel. In this way, they were able to deceive Saul. The spirit, disguised as Samuel, told Saul that the Lord was his enemy and would kill him tomorrow. While this could be true of the Lord’s plans, it only spoke death over Saul. This word did not empower him, strengthen him, or comfort him that he was still able to change because of the Lord’s compassion. In this passage Saul wants to fast and pray for the Lord’s forgiveness, and if he had indeed done that and turned away from his sin, the Lord would’ve saved him from dieing in battle. Saul could’ve crowned David as king to cooperate with the Lord’s will, instead of continuing in his position as an enemy of the Lord, thwarting His plans. Saul was an enemy of the Lord, not because of the Lord, but because of his own choices to disobey God. Had he turned from his wickedness, instead of turning toward even more sin, God would have saved him from the Philistines and death, and spoken to Him again through prophets and dreams.

In short, yes, demons have power, but God’s power is greater. God is love and life and will speak love and life over you. The power God wants to give you is released through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Demonic powers bring death or will try to get you to settle for less than God’s best for you, so don’t go seeking them out through fortune telling, ouija boards, automatic writings, readings (tarot cards, palms, rocks), etc.

Koran’s Jesus

What does the Koran have to say about Jesus? This muslim did his homework. Watch to find out what he found, or read the story below:

Who is Jesus?

While I was working in a muslim mosque as an imam, as a parish priest, I preach in my parish that Jesus Christ is not God, for me, God was only Allah, and I believed Allah never got married, so no sons for Allah. So I preached there that Jesus is not God. Then somebody ask me, ‘Who is Jesus?’ from the crowd. Maybe a muslim, but he asked me, ‘Who is Jesus?’ I was preaching he is not God, but the question is who is he? To know who is Jesus? I read the entire Koran once again: 114 chapters, 6666 words in the Koran when I read it. The name of prophet Muhammad, I found it in Koran 4 places, but the name of Jesus I found in 25 places. There itself, I was a little confused. Why does the Koran give more preference to Jesus? And second thing, I could not see any woman’s name in Koran: the Prophet Muhammad’s mother’s name, or wife’s name, no, in the Koran, there is only one woman’s name that i found is Mariam, the mother of Jesus no other woman’s name. And in the holy Koran chapter 3, the name of the chapter is family of ‘Mariam,’ and holy Koran chapter 19, the name of the chapter itself is ‘MARIAM’ one chapter is ‘MARIAM’ so I was very curious to know why does Koran says all these things about MARIAM, holy Koran chapter 3 verse 34 onwards says that Mary was born without original sin, she never committed any sin in her life, she was ever virgin.

Koran chapter 50 verses 23 say that she went to heaven with her physical body. Even the assumption is writing in the holy Koran and then about Jesus, when I read chapter 3 verses 45 to 55 verses, there is 10 point which the Koran makes about Jesus. The first thing Koran says kallimatulli, the arabic word which means the word of God, and second thing is ahimokuli which mean spirit of God and the third isa masi which means Jesus Christ, so Koran give the name for Jesus Word of God, Spirit of God, Jesus Christ. And then Koran says that Jesus spoke when he was very small, like 2 days old; after his birth he began to speak. Koran says that Jesus created a live bird with mud. He took some mud, he formed a bird; when breathed into it, it became a live bird. So I think Jesus can give life because he gave life to mud, clay. Then Koran says that Jesus cured a man born blind and a man with leprosy, etc.

Curiously, the Koran says that Jesus gave life to dead people; Jesus went to heaven; he is still alive and he will come again. When I saw all these things in the Koran, I taught of what Koran says about Muhammad, according to the Koran, prophet Muhammad is not the word of God, not spirit of God he never spoke when he was 2 days old, he never created any bird with mud, he never cure any sick people, he never raised any dead people, he himself died, and according to Islam he is not alive and he will not come back. So there is a lot of different between these two prophets. I didn’t call Jesus, God, you know my idea was ‘He is a prophet but he is a prophet greater than Muhammad’; so one day I went to my teacher, the one who taught me 10 years in Arabic college, and I ask him, teacher, how did God created the universe? Then he said God created the universe through the ‘word,’ THROUGH THE WORD. Then my question is: ‘WORD’ is creator or creation? He must clear this, my question is whether the WORD of God is creator or creation. Koran says Jesus is WORD of God. If my teacher says word of God is creator, which means Jesus is the creator, then muslim must become Christian suppose if he says the word is creation he will be trapped. You know why? He said everything was created through the word. Suppose if he said the word is creation, then how did God created the word? So he cannot say that the word is creator, or creation, so he was quite angry he push me out of his room and said, ‘Word is not God, not creator, or the creation; you get out of here,’ he said.

The reason why Muslim doesn’t accept to be Christian is because they are blinded with the wrong teaching of their priest, Imam. They said that the word is creation they try to prove it wrongly… they say the word is not creator, not the creation, but not God. They don’t equal with God; that all their problem. So when he said that, I told my teacher, word is not the creator or the creation, so that is why Christian says the word is son of God. Then he told me if there is son for God, I must show him the wife of God. That without wife, no chance of having a son. Then I showed him a portion from the Koran. Koran says that God can see without eyes, God can talk without tongue, God can hear without ears; it is written in the Koran. I said if that is the case, God can have a child without a wife. I took my Koran, I put it on my chest, and I said ‘Allah, tell me what I should do because your Koran says Jesus is still alive, and Mohammad is no more. Tell me whom should I accept.’ after my prayer I opened the Koran, I didn’t asked anyone, I asked only my Allah. When I opened Koran, I saw chapter 10 verses 94. You know what Koran says? It says if you have any doubt in this Koran which I give to you, go and read the Bible, or ask the people, those who read the Bible. The truth is already revealing that.

Jesus is Alive!

If you believe Jesus is alive today, then you have to believe that He is still healing and raising the dead today. Otherwise, you believe that His character is inconsistent, and you’ve rejected the Word that says: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever (Heb.13:8).”

The Bible says we are the body of Christ, and the Spirit of Jesus lives in us. If you believe these scriptures, then you should understand that the gifts of the Spirit (1Cor.12) are still active today. Otherwise the Spirit, who is God, is inconsistent as well.

“God is Spirit (John4:24)” and He is our “Father, who does not change (James1:17).” “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you (1 Cor.3:16)?” “To each person has been given the ability to manifest the Spirit for the common good (1Cor.12:7).”

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things (John 14:12).” Not because we are greater than Jesus, but because He is alive inside of each of us, instead of being constrained to just one physical body.

Look closer. He lives in you. – Rafiki

He Lives In You // Lion King

Reflection - Lion King

– 1 Cor. 13:12 – Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

The gifts are our puzzling reflection of Christ. The gifts exist until His return when we see him with perfect clarity.

You are Dead

– Rom. 6:5-14 – Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God… offer every part of yourself to God as an instrument of righteousness

– 1 Cor. 6:14-17,19 – By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own

– Acts 1:8 – you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you

– John 14:12 – Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

How can we do the works Jesus did? Because we died and we were born a new creation by the Holy Spirit. It was when Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit that He started working in the gifts of the Spirit. It is when His followers are baptized in the Spirit that they begin working in the gifts of the Spirit.

How can we do greater works than Jesus? Jesus was still part man. 6 Billion people cannot see one physical person at one time, but since Jesus now lives in us, He is in multiple places at one time! That’s why He said it was better for Him to go and send us the Spirit. The Spirit is Him without the limitations of a single physical body. Now, we are each a part His body, physically in different places but unified by the Spirit.

Jesus said the baptism that He would bring would be greater than the water baptism of John. That’s why when the day of Pentecost came, they were ‘fire’ baptized with the Holy Spirit and with power! We need to be baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit as well. The gifts of the Spirit are for everyman (1 Cor. 12:7). Our God is a consuming fire. Let Him fill you with passion for His name.

Since we are dead. Let us stay dead! We now belong to the Spirit of Jesus that lives inside of us. The Spirit gives us 3 lists of things: new mindsets, new abilities, and new works. These are all done by the Spirits power and not our own.

9 fruits (or mindsets) of the Spirit: 1)love, 2)joy, 3)peace, 4)patience, 5)kindness, 6)goodness, 7)faithfulness, 8)gentleness, 9)self-control

9 gifts (or abilities) of the Spirit: 1)ability to work miracles, 2)to speak in unknown tongues, 3)to interpretation unknown tongues, 4)to discernment between good and evil, 5)gifts of healing, 6)prophecy, 7)word of wisdom, 8)word of knowledge, 9)faith

9 beattitudes (or works) of the Spirit:
1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
2) Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
3) Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
4) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
5) Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
6) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
7) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
8) Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
9) Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Let the Spirit live in you!

John 6:63 – The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.

I need the fruit, gifts, and works of the Holy Spirit to be able to operate in love.

Example: One evening I was mad at a friend. I had every intention on waking up the next morning and cussing them out. When I woke up, I had repeated a phrase in tongues 3 times before I realized I had been talking. I woke up enough to realize what I had said. I didn’t know what it meant, but later at work I tried to look it up and it meant ‘no anger’. Freaked me out a little. I’d never had tongues work in that way before, but it kept me from acting in anger. A week later that friend came to know Christ. The gift of the Spirit produced the fruit of the Spirit, and the Spirit did the work in the life of my friend. Hell, the Spirit did the work in me too; I pretty much need a miracle every time I need to produce patience.

In fact, just last night someone prophesied over me about my own generation. The gift of prophesy called up some unforgiveness in me that I needed to let go of, and called me forward to operate in the fruits toward my generation.

Those are 2 examples of how gifts produced fruit in my life, but Jesus shows us that fruit can produce gifts as well:

– Matt. 14:14 – When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Do you remember when Jesus went into the temple and flipped the tables (Matt. 21:12)? Jesus says we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says He is the Spirit. So, when Jesus comes into us, He flips the tables. That’s how the BeAtitudes work; those who mourn will be comforted. Jesus takes the bad things that happened in your life and turns them around to bless you with a double portion! Those who faced rejection will get a double portion of acceptance when Jesus comes into their lives. Those who were suicidal get a double portion of crazy joy. Those who were confused get a double portion of revelation. Those all happened for me; that’s how I made the connection ;). And the friend that brought me anger, brought me great joy, but only because the gifts produced the fruit, and the Spirit did all the work!