Prophesy

[Christ's Free Servant]

How did the Lord tell you?? Do you actually hear the voice of God?? I honestly dont know if I could handle something like that. I know how I get when I see someone famous, my heart races for days. If I was in the presence of God, forget about it, I would die. If you do hear him, what does he sound like?? I am not making fun of you, I know that God can talk to anyone, I am just curious as to what occurs. Do you go in to a trance? Is it in a dream?? The only way I hear from God is in His word. Out of his word, I have a tough time believing that it is God. How do yoou know that this is God, if it doesn't come true, will you question that voice next time it comes?? God is never wrong, and for this prophecy to be wrong you would have to question the source of your prophecy. Just curious, I know a few people in here claim to be prophets, I am just wondering what occurs. Shalom

Aaron

Well, that's a tough question, but I will try to answer as best I know how. I appreciate your sincerity. For a starter, I've known the Lord for 50 years. I've always had a strong faith. I can remember as a teenager in youth group that the leader said "well, we're supposed to do this, but ofcourse none of us do." I sat there in my chair thinking, "but I do." With all my heart I was as sincere as anyone can possibly be. I have always had a child-like faith, and I still do. If God's word said it, I believed it. Now, with years behind me I have learned it is not as simplistic as that, because I had to learn interpretation of scripture, but I still maintained my child-like faith.

My father was a big bully. Yes, this is important to the story. He abused me, my mother, my two sisters and my two brothers in many, many ways. My mother was a battered woman. She retreated into her own world. She was brought up that marriage was forever and she believed in submission. She taught us to listen to our father and never to challenge him, even though she knew he was an abuser. She did not say "I love you," she did not hug me, she did not listen to me, she did not praise me and neither did my father, except for my singing ability, but she did things for me. I had this big hole in my heart. I needed to be loved. I needed a father and a mother to love me, to care about me, to listen to me. So, God became my mother and my father. I found in him what I did not find in them. So, we developed a very close relationship.

When I was in my late 20's we had a missionary stay at our home for two weeks. She introduced me to a Bible study guide. I also had just switched from the KJV to the NASV. So, I was reading a Bible I could understand now and she was teaching me how to ask who, what, where, when, etc. questions in order to gain understanding from what I was reading. The Bible says "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." It also says that the Lord confides in those who fear him. He says he counsels us even while we sleep. I think the key here is that they "follow him." God is speaking all the time through his word to those who will listen and who will obey, and the more we obey, the more he speaks to us. The Bible talks about the parable of the talents and how to those who had been given much they invested the talents and thus they were given more. The more we listen, the more we obey, the more he speaks.

Have you ever read a story in the Bible and it just came alive to you? I mean, suppose you were reading the story of David & Goliath. Do you read it merely for the historical significance of it? Is it merely an example of how we should all respond? Or has God ever just reached down inside the depths of your soul and said "this one is for you"? Have you ever read the story of the rich young ruler and God spoke to your heart and said "you are making money your god." Have you ever read the story of Moses and how when his arms grew tired and he had to have friends hold his arms up to win the battle - did that ever speak personally to your heart at a time in your life when you felt you were losing the battle and God said you needed people to come along side you to lift you up? This is how God speaks. He takes what is already divinely inspired and he makes it alive to us and our life situations. He has been doing that in my life for years, and he has never failed me yet. I admit, I haven't always gotten it right, but even then he was there to comfort me and to pick me back up and put me back on the road again.

Have you ever just had an urge to pray for someone but you didn't know why? Has God ever woken you up in the middle of the night with someone on your heart? Have you ever felt the urge to speak to someone or to share a particular passage of scripture with someone, but you didn't know why? And, if so, did you find out that the person you prayed for needed that prayer right at the time you prayed for him/her? Or, did you find that the scripture was just what the person needed to hear at that time? That is the Holy Spirit within us. He is our counselor. He speaks to our hearts. He takes the truths of God's word and applies them to the real situations of our lives. He is speaking. The question is, are we listening? So many people are afraid of his voice. They are afraid they will be made a fool of. Well, I would rather be a fool for Jesus than anything else. I have seen God use me in people's lives over and over again because I was not afraid to hear his voice and to do what he said. He has never failed me!

Now, November of 2004 was the first time in my life that I had visions of future events. I guess the Lord saw that he could speak to me and that I would follow him. I had proven myself to be a servant of his. So, he decided to give me more responsibility. He decided to invite me to hear from him about our future. He did a new thing in my life. I was not looking for this, I was not particularly in to prophecy, in fact. I did not even like studying end times because I found it too confusing, with all the different theories and stuff. I was just reading my Bible as I do each day, and all of a sudden he began making the words alive and applicable to our present situation. I remember going to my husband and my daughter and telling them, "I think God is telling me..." It was like WOW every time he showed me something else. But, I knew it was his voice, because I had been listening to him and following him for a very long time. He took the prophecies of scripture and even some of the stories from the OT and said "this is coming." It was a very humbling experience, because God was showing me the future. But, it did not come all in one setting and it did not come in a sequence of events, either. It was like snapshots of the future. I just knew that for some reason he was letting me in on this. Eventually I learned that he wanted me to tell others, but I did not even know how to do that. So, I just communicated what I believe God said to me the best way I knew how, which was in the form of a journal or a letter.

I know this is long, and I'm sorry for the length, and I still don't know if I have answered your question. All I can tell you is that if you hear God speaking and you obey, he will speak again, and if you obey, he will keep speaking and you will, over time, learn his voice, learn to know him and what kinds of things he would or would not say, etc. I also ask for confirmations. If he says it once, I ask for him to say it again in another way. If he continues to confirm it through other people, through sermons, through songs, through his word and through the witness of his Holy Spirit within me, then I know for sure it is his voice speaking. He has confirmed this coming devastation a hundred times over. I have no doubt it is coming and that it is soon. I don't understand everything about it, but I do know he wanted me to tell people it was coming and to warn them to repent of their sin and to turn to him. That is scriptural. That fits his nature. That fits prophecy historically. What he tells you must be supported through scripture as far as how God works. Obviously America is not named in scripture, so you aren't going to find that specific reference to the devastation of America in scripture, though you may, because there are a lot of prophecies of scripture that are open to interpretation, so America could be there by another name. We could be Mystery Babylon. It is possible. Or, we could be one of the kingdoms mentioned in Revelation.

I guess the bottom line is that whenever you hear anyone speak of anything that is not specifically referred to in scripture, you should check it out with God. But, then you have to know how to hear his voice so he can tell you if it is of him or not.

[Christ's Free Servant]

P.S. to what I just said. Let me add this, because if I don't, someone else will. You must test everything against scripture. If something does not contradict scripture, that does not necessarily mean it is from God. But, then it does not mean it isn't, either. Some things will be obvious. God does not contradict his nature, so if someone comes proclaiming something that is in direct contrast to God's nature, then I would believe that is not from God. But, if it is supported scripturally by who God is and by how God has worked in the past, and by how he has predicted our future to be, then that is when you need discernment to hear his voice so that he can say "yes" or "no" about whether or not this is of him. Sometimes he just answers with "wait." I guess the most important thing, no matter what, is to be in a right relationship with him so that he can speak to you.

[Christ's Free Servant]

You can pray for me about that!

Will do!

Thanks! Even old people are still learning, you know. I look forward to the day when I reach perfection, but alas, that will not be until I reach heaven.

[felix]

Hello Aaron,

Sue stated it very well...Prophecy is done through the leading of the Holy Spirit. We can predict future events based on the leading of the Holy Spirit. There is a thread here "Prophecy: the meaning of prophecy" which can give you more info.