Prophecy

There are so many people that claim that “God spoke to me,” “I was visited by God,” or “God gave me a dream.”  I don’t have a problem with this.  God has done this in the past, and I don’t see why God would not continue to communicate with us like this today.  There are at least a couple of Scriptures that suggest that God still works in this way, one of them being, “do not treat prophecies with contempt” (I Thessalonians 5:20).

This is not to suggest that I accept all prophetic claims as being from God, but in the verses that surround I Thessalonians 5:20, Paul says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire” and “Test everything.  Hold on to the good.”

With these verses in mind, I listen to the prophet’s assertion.  Ironically, there are times when I come to the conclusion that the “prophet’s” experience may be true, but their emphasis or their interpretation of their experience is wrong.

The reason why I come to this conclusion is because I ask myself a couple of questions about the prophet’s testimony.  They are, “Where did their experience lead them?” and “Does the experience lead to the foot of the cross or does it lead somewhere else?”

Jesus said, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32).  In its context, Jesus was speaking of His resurrection from the dead.  However, in a larger sense, God is telling us that Jesus will be the focus and foundation of our relationship with Him and should lead us to ask another question.  And that is, “If He is not raised up, who or what is being exalted?”