Tuesday, May 19, 2009

5-19 Prophets wanted… apply here!

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It’s good to have friends. I am blessed with lots of people who care about me! Thanks. Like yesterday when Kyle and Marcia helped me unload a TON of pellets. (They were a ton of help… really!) It sure was better when there were two of us carrying bags of pellets to my basement store room! Or last week when Carl brought over some old 2X6 material for raised garden beds. He drove them to my house and helped me unload them. Or Dave who called last week and asked if the church needed a shed. Or Ken who is chasing down a rear end for our Explorer. Or… well the list goes on. Thanks so much for good people who care! How blessed we are!

Today’s Scripture reading is 1 Samuel 23; Hosea 12; Mark 4

To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.podbean.com - Archives can be found at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com

Today’s thought comes from Deuteronomy 13:1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 “and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’ —which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3 “you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

“Prophets wanted! Lousy pay… usually in sheep or chickens, if you get paid at all! Long hours… always on call or on the run from angry kings, governors or religious leaders. Difficult conditions… you may be subject to stoning, name calling, being burned at the stake, beheading, crucifixion etc. Job description? You get to say things like “Thus saith the Lord, yet forty days and __________ (name of city) will be destroyed.” Most of your news will be bad news. You won’t have many friends especially after you deliver your message of judgment upon them. Bad things always seem to happen after you speak like fire and brimstone, earthquakes, famine and pestilence. You will have the added bonus of dreams and visions, but if you should ever get the message wrong, even one time, “You’re fired!” Or should I say, “you’re stoned!” To apply, look for a burning bush in the desert (may take 40 years) or some other dramatic sign that God is hiring! And then you get to wear sackcloth and ashes and eat locusts and honey. Fashionable! It is amazing that there have ever been any applicants at all! Yet, despite all the negatives, someone is always dying to be a prophet! God has some very strict ideals about who his prophets should be. The first one is that they had better have a clean doctrinal résumé. That is one of the top tests of prophecy: all prophecy must harmonize with God’s previously revealed Truth. If the message contradicts Scripture… it’s not Scripture. If a prophet suggests that the True God is not the one we know from Scripture… don’t believe him. Most people who have claimed the prophetic gift throughout history where not true prophets, they were charlatans out for personal profit, or they were just plain deluded. One of the amazing characteristics of the Bible is that after 1500 years of prophesy by 40 different individuals, we got 66 books that incredibly harmonize with each other. Their message is clearly Divine! Dozens, perhaps hundreds or thousands of other prophetic messages just didn’t cut it! The book we have is the best that there is, there is nothing else like the Bible on the face of the earth… that’s because it’s from God

Dear Holy Spirit. Thank You for inspiring holy men to speak and write Your message to us, despite the price they had to pay! Thank You for the clear direction and truth we find in Your word. We would be lost without it. We are blessed because of it!

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 11:48 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

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