Sunday, June 29, 2008

How Do We Know God Told You?

How many times have many of us heard a pastor say from the pulpit,"God woke me up in the night and told me...." or "God told me this....." or "I know this is God"? I am wondering how we know this is actually God these people are hearing.

I believe we should judge everything we hear from the pulpit by scripture. So where are the scriptures that prove to us that all these things they are saying are actually spoken to them by God. I have heard pastors tell people to buy houses, that they were going to get houses, that they were going to get money, no..don't go this direction, yes...go that direction, sow this seed and you will receive what you are believing for etc. Yet I have found no scriptures confirming these things. Furthermore, I have found no place in the New Testament where Jesus ever ministered along these lines. He ministered about how to be a servant, loving people, obedience to the Father, forgiveness, not giving to get, not doing things to be seen by men, humbleness, faithfulness, treating others right, living an honorable life and things like that. He ministered on how to live not how to get.

I began to look back on decisions made by some of these people who say they hear from God. How their decisions have affected ministry and people's lives. How many of their choices that "God told them to make" had very bad effects on a great number of people.

I also looked back on times I trusted their judgement, took their advice or overlooked my better judgement and it was definitely not God.

I have decided that I don't need someone else to hear from God for me. I am His sheep and I hear His voice and I am through following the voice of another who has their own best interest at heart.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also trusted someone like that and have now realized that I should have listened to my own heart and followed God. I would be much better off now. I won't ever find myself in that situation again!!!

BJBH1945 said...

You have expressed so eloquently what many of us have felt.
I think perhaps what has happened is that Christians were so excited to learn that God wants his people to live in victory that we lost our first calling of "Go ye into all the world---".
I believe that our Heavenly Father is drawing us back to our first love of seeing people saved and discipled in "His way of doing and being right."

Anonymous said...

I know God told me to go because He could not possibly expect me to stay where I was.

Anonymous said...

To the one that God told to go...it is good that you listened to God and not a pastor telling you that if you left you were wrong. More people need to learn to listen to God and not look to their pastor to do that for them.