It's been a while since I've sat down and blogged. I've been quite preoccupied but this was on my mind earlier this week so I thought I'd share it. It's a touchy subject but I believe that it is important to address, especially in the time that we live in today. Some might agree, some might disagree...just keep in mind this particular thought is based on what I read in scripture and believe, not Charlotte's words. :) Let me ask this question... how often have your heard or known a God-fearing person, who clearly has the ability or has learned what it means to hear what God says to them, say they made a certain decision based on what a prophet, minister, pastor, or other "seasoned" believer told them God said to do INSPITE OF them KNOWING or STRONGLY BELIEVING for themselves God told them to do differently? You probably have heard or seen this quite often right? Maybe you were that person who did differently from what God clearly instructed you to do? I've been there and done that. Let me point out that we are not above receiving direction from others especially those we consider our spiritual guides but it is so important to note that if you consider yourself a spirit led person (and I am talking about God the father Spirit here) you better be VERY SURE you're doing what someone else tells you to do because YOU KNOW it's God. It hasn't happened to me a lot but I cringe when I think of the times I followed someone else's instruction because I THOUGHT they heard from God (even though in my spirit it didn't feel right). I hadn't learned how to discern when God was telling me something and when He wasn't; so I fail prey to someone WHO SAID God told them a particular thing. Read I Kings 13 - the whole chapter. It's very intriguing but also very relevant to those of us who live spirit led lives today. It tells of this "man of God" which the Bible does not give his name but he was instructed to go give words to this King regarding his ways of running the Israelite kingdom; God wasn't pleased at all! Well, this King was so impressed with all that occurred in his encounter with this "man of God" that the King invited him to come home so he could be given a reward. Well the "man of God" made it unequivocally clear that he could not because God had already instructed him what his purpose was and he was to leave the King after he'd fulfilled the purpose for which he was sent. HOWEVER, there was an "old prophet" (that's what the Bible calls him) that caught wind of this "man of God" so the "old prophet" tracked him down and invited him to come eat with him. Now I'm going to detour here a bit and give my thoughts (or questions) regarding this "old prophet". Again, read I Kings 13 and you'll get a better picture of why I'm saying these things. Seeing that the "man of God" was sent to Bethel to confront the King and the Bible says the "old prophet" lived in Bethel it makes me wonder WHY wasn't he instructed to confront the King? Was the prophet old in age or was it that he'd become complacent or was it both? Was he just so honestly intrigued with this "man of God" that he just wanted to be in his presence because of his BOLDNESS? Perhaps the "old prophet" wished he had the boldness to confront the King as the "man of God" had? Getting back to the story.... So, the "old prohet" tracks down the "man of God" and invites him back to his house to eat. Again, the "man of God" clearly states what God told him to do after confronting the King in Bethel...LEAVE! But you know what the "old prophet" did? He LIED! Yep, that's right he told the truth about being a prophet but he lied about an angel telling him to have the "man of God" return with him. Now you see why I have all these questions in my mind about the "old prophet"? So, anyway the "man of God" follows the "old prophet" back and guess what happens...God tells the "old prophet" to tell the "man of God" his fate for his disobedience (if you want to know what it was you need to go read I Kings 13...ha ha ha!). I'm telling you this is something!! Reading that I was thinking what a horrible feeling for that "old prophet" to know that he LIED and then God waits until after the "man of God" is at home eating with him before instructing the "old prophet" to actually tell the "man of God" his fate for disobedience. This just confirms that the person who leads another person astray doesn't go without punishment. In my eyes that had to be punishment for the "old prophet" having to live the rest of his days with the consequences of that "man of God" for his lie. Did that make the "old prophet" a bad person? I wouldn't say that...we don't know from scripture enough about his life. And did the "man of God's" fate seem harsh? Maybe it would appear that way but again we don't know enough about his life. Had he been given guidance by God time after time after time?? We're not God and we don't have the answers. But I do know that we are responsible for our own obedience or disobedience to God. Those who lead us astray will not escape but when we KNOW God has given us instruction we're accountable first-hand.
Sometimes we can feel like the other person who is telling us God gave them specific instruction on something for us would be telling us right because they've had more experience in spiritual matters, they have been saved longer than we have, they pastor a church...whatever the case may be. Perhaps that was the case with the "man of God" in I Kings 13 we were previously talking about. Perhaps he thought this "old prophet" has more experience than I do...maybe I heard God wrong. AGAIN...this is not to say that God NEVER EVER gives other people instruction for us or that WE ARE NEVER WRONG in what WE THINK God is telling us to do. The only way to know is to LEARN TO DISCERN God's voice and PRAYERFULLY consider every guidance AND PRAY for God's direction to you directly or through the source of another. Remember, it's difficult to KNOW what God is telling you if you're not living a God-filled, spirt-led life.
