When God Speaks to You
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 Don't stop the work of the Holy Spirit. Don't treat prophecy like something that is not important. But test everything.
Every now and then God speaks to us in ways that we don’t expect. In fact He speaks quite a lot, if only we’ll be still and listen. The question is, when He does speak, what do you do with that?
Have you ever felt that gentle nudge from God in your spirit? It happens in all sorts of different ways. Perhaps it’s in something someone else said to you, or in something you read, or you’re watching a movie, or you’re just sitting quietly, daydreaming … and all of a sudden you get the distinct impression that God just spoke to you.
No, you’re not going crazy. That’s often how God speaks to us. Just that … gentle nudge.
For me, it was a humble man whom I’d never met before. He came up to me at a conference way back in 2003 and he said something that touched me deeply. He encouraged me to produce more radio programs, and although he said it in a quiet, ordinary, unassuming way, I just knew that on that day, over that cup of coffee, God had just spoken to me. So I left my secure and pretty lucrative consulting career to be here today, sharing God’s love with you and many others. It was a huge decision in my life … but in hindsight, ignoring it would have been the biggest mistake of my life.
Don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit. Don’t treat prophecy like something that is not important. But test everything. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22)
These days there are a good many Christians who aren’t comfortable with that verse. The idea that God can speak to you through someone else can be unsettling. What if that person has it wrong? What if that person, instead of being guided by the Holy Spirit, is just telling you what they think?
Well, that’s why God tells us, right there, to test everything. If someone comes along and tells you something that you think might be from God, you need to think it through, to seek wise counsel. And if it seems wrong to you, reject it.
But if in your heart of hearts, you know that it’s God speaking to you, then:
Don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit. Don’t treat prophecy – God speaking to you through someone else – like something that isn’t important.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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