It makes me laugh…and want to cry!
Posted by Melinda | Filed under Uncategorized
Sometimes I just have to laugh. I’ve been doing a lot of “spiritual digging” lately. Picking the brains of other christians both who I know personally, spent a little time in some books and on-line. Some of the things I have seen and some of the things I have read have made me laugh. But man…it almost makes me cry, too. There are so many christians out there who bring that stereotype to reality to the point that they really are defeating God’s purpose by misusing their faith. It can be comical at times…it’s spoofed all over youtube. And perhaps that’s why it makes you want to cry. Those spoofs are the very seed the devil has planted by using the spiritual pride of others to turn those most open to influence so far in the other direction that the Kingdom of God will be less full than intended.
I was sitting discussing this subject with a christian friend not long ago. We were trying to decipher when to differentiate when God is actually telling us something or when we are letting our own thoughts and desires dictate our actions and words and use God as an “excuse” for them or to make them more “credible” so to speak by saying he told us to say or do something. We were discussing how many christians abuse the “God told me card” attempting to use it to their own advantage to get a point across or cause a reaction. It’s the “God told me” freaks (sorry if I offend) that add to that negative christian stereotype that put a bad taste in the mouths of those who still need to accept and build a relationship with God. I’m not talking about our pastors and leaders…I’m just talking about our every day christian brothers and sisters who take things overboard trying to manipulate others around them.
It was a good discussion…but neither of us really knew the answer to it. So I got to browsing around for some answers and found some pretty funny stuff about it (hence Youtube) and some pretty serious stuff. I read a lot of blog posts on the issue (seems to be a soapbox for a lot of christions. But I found some interesting stuff on the “God told me” card. Check this out:
The phrase, “God told me to tell you,” is perhaps one of the most overused, misused, and abused phrases in the Christian world. Other phrases such as “God gave me a vision for you . . .,” “I have a prophecy about you . . .,” or “I have a message from the Lord for you . . .,” are equally popular misused ones. These are a few of the phrases used by many zealous pastors and often church members to control or mislead others. The truth is the persons using them are not deliberately misleading or trying to control. They honestly believe that their “visions” or “messages” are from the Lord, when in reality they are a result of a toxic faith and misguided understanding of how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of individuals.
One article I found was about the subject of lying. But it had this to say on the subject:
Another form of lying takes place among “professing Christians.” You may say, “God told me to tell you this”; yet what you say contradicts the Bible. God never told you to tell them that at all. It was your own emotions, prompted by Satan. You may say, “God told me to tell you to close your business, to go here or there, to divorce your wife, or to leave your husband. God told me to tell you not to go to a certain (born-again) church or Bible study.” Lies, lies, and God hates it. “God told me to tell you, they don’t know what they’re talking about.” All are lies and forms of deceiving people, and God hates it all.
Here’s part of one of my favorite posts on the subject by a guy named Lance:
Does God speak to His people today? I believe so.
And I hope what I’m about to say does not come across as unspiritual, but here goes:
If you feel as if God has told you something specific and time-sensitive, assume that He hasn’t———–then question it; test it; assume it to be false until it has passed mircroscopic scrutiny. Pry deeply into it and seek to discern whether it is of God or of your flesh. If you still sense that God has spoken to you specifically, take some time to grasp the gravity of it—–you have received a Word from the Lord outside of Scripture! The weight of such a thought is too much for me to grasp; and frankly, it terrifies me. Does it, you?
If you are certain that He really has spoken to you specifically, there is really no need to broadcast it (unless you’re Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc). Why? Because if God has indeed told you to do something, stop at nothing to do it, and let no one stand in your way. Having to play the “God told me” card is an almost certain sign of doubt (I’m amazed at how often people play the “God told me” card to justify what they wanted to do in the first place).
Finally, if you sense that God has specifically spoken to you, and you just have to tell somebody, there’s nothing unChristian about prefacing it with, “I may be wrong, but . . .”
The brutal truth is that our hearts are deceitful (Jer. 17:9), and the tool God has given us to distinguish His voice from our desires is His Word, which (upon meditation) digs deep into the intent of our hearts (Heb. 4:12), distinguishing the hidden desires of our flesh from the heavenly desires of God. May we seek to listen to the Voice that spoke 2000+ years ago and humbly question the thousands of voices (inside and out) that speak to us today.
Lord, speak to us through your Word. Reveal to us what is hidden from plain sight. Keep us from putting a religious face on selfish desires. Rebuke us when we play the “God told me” card to get our way. Teach us what Abraham had to learn the hard way—that when You have made a declaration, You do not need our help in bringing it to pass.
Well…what do YOU think? I think it’s best summed up like this:
1 Corinthians 4:3-5
If it’s God, it will be proven to be so. If it is not, well . . . it’s far better to just say it in your own words without having to add a Divine banner to it and making God responsible.
Maybe God told me to write this post!
Greetings from the end of the earth…
Posted by Melinda | Filed under Uncategorized
But no- really! I have no real excuse for not blogging in the past 10 days other than sheer laziness. Okay- well I won’t say I have been too lazy to blog so much as just too busy. Busy living a little. Hey - I have friends, family, love, my horses, a job, a roof over my head and am just enjoying a little bit of peace and happiness. But here I am now…blogging on a friday. I’ve been doing the same ol’ basics of every day life - eating (probably too much), sleeping (probably too little), working (but at least I have a job), playing (when time permits) and serving (at NHC).
Speaking of serving - I hope you’ll be at FUSION this Sunday. It’s going to be an awesomely motivational event for ALL of the serving volunteers. It is said to be the place to be THIS Sunday from 5:00PM to 7:00PM at NHC. Food, fellowship, fun, worship, message and motivation! BE THERE! Need some more motivation to check it out….check out posts about FUSION on Dave’s Blog, Leahs Blog (and HERE) and Jamie’s Blog. And make sure you register HERE (if you haven’t already clicked on the word FUSION and done it!).
Oh - look what time it is. Okay I PROMISE I will blog again later…but I have an engagement at NHC I have got to get out the door for in 4 minutes so I gotta cut this overdue blog short.
LOVE YA!!...