Prophecy in Action

My friend Linda posted this comment on my last blog post:

I’m suspicious of prophets because of all the creepy stuff I see on TV. How can a person know if the word they are receiving is real?

I went to a really lame church for awhile, and this woman was constantly telling me she had a “word” for me from the Lord. It was always something she wanted me to do (to humiliate me) but she swore she was a prophet.

So now I’m skeptical… not of you Rob, but of the gift itself. Would you please help me understand this gifting better?

So I promised her I’d email her.  I started to wax poetic on one of my favourite topics, so I decided I would edit my answer to her and post it here for all to see.  It has some links into the archives of my blog – and this post goes back to the original intent of this blog called the Hand of God – to document and testify to the awesome hand of God working in my and others lives as He interacts with us right here on Earth!  Here goes…

One of the things I wanted to tell you? Prophecy isn’t scary – much. LOL

Seriously. You said in your comment that you had some awesome times with the Lord where you wrote what he said and knew that you knew it was him, and looking back you could see how he led you, right? Well, prophecy is getting one of those same kinds of messages – but for someone else. That’s it in a nutshell.

I post about some of it on my blog: Thoughts on Prophecy

Here’s a link to one of my first prophetic experiences:  First Prophetic Word

And here’s a practical example of prophecy in action: Prophetic Word Leads to Re-commitment!

I can totally understand why what you see on tv freaks you out. It isn’t all true, although some is. And how do you know? Really, I believe that the Holy Spirit lets you know. Put another way – how do bank tellers know counterfeit money? True they are trained in what to look for and stuff, but take it from me – they know the false because they handle the authentic on an ongoing basis.

I will post one more… it is the first time I was exposed to the gift of tongues, but it has a deeper meaning. God was showing me that any gift (Tongues, Prophecy or any other) HAS to come out of LOVE – or else it is no use. THAT is the real test. Do you sense love or manipulation when you watch or interact with a person who claims to be prophetic?  For example, in your comment you spoke of the fact that this lady was saying she had a prophetic word for you – but the goal and motivation wasn’t love, but manipulation and humiliation.  That’s not true prophecy. That is witchcraft!

So what are your thoughts after reading this post and reading the testimonies linked here?