Testing Spirits and KINGS

Testing the spirits is a complicated issue and one I am no expert on. Here are a few tips that I use in trying to understand what God is telling me:

1) God does not contradict Himself. If you believe God is telling you to do something His word forbids then you need to realize you are hearing from a false spirit (or even your own imagination trying to get what you want)

2) Your own imagination will tend to tell you what you want to hear. If your hearing what you already wanted it’s time to lay a fleece before God and/or study more in the bible to find God’s will.

3) False spirits (ungodly spirits trying to influence you) will not recognize Jesus as the Son of God and God incarnate. The answer to “Who is Jesus?” Should be an immediate “the Christ”, “The Messiah”, “The Son of God”. If there is any doubt whatsoever the question should be “I Jesus God?”. The answer should be “He is Lord”, “He is God”, “He is divine” or something similar. If you believe this is answered then the spirit is true. Ask God to block out the voice of any spirit but His and test the spirits. Then you may trust what you hear if it is not in contradiction with the Bible.

4) God isn’t big on repeating Himself. If the answer you seek could be easily found by reading the bible you are not likely to hear it in a disembodied voice. If you do it will probably be more like one of those nagging songs you can’t get out of your head. You will simply hear the verse that applies going over and over again in your memory until you are willing to comply with it.

5) Laying a fleece before God: This is taken from the story of Gideon and is a basic principle of finding truth. When faced with a big decision and you truly desire to find God’s will in the matter, test Him. Pray earnestly and believing that God will give you his sign. Be specific about the sign and do not make it something that would randomly happen. The example of Gideon is perfect. The dew would naturally be on everything on the ground so he asked that it be on the ground and not the fleece. The be sure he asked again that it be on the fleece but not the ground. Nature would put it on both but God could choose what stayed dry. Remember that Gideon was triple sure. His first test was to lay a sacrifice before the Angel of the Lord and he saw that the Angel brought fire out of the rock to consume the sacrifice supernaturally.

Endless testing while refusing to comply is sin. Testing to certainty is not. Once God has made His will clear it would be sin not to comply with it. If you have asked His guidance and tested His will you must comply with what He made clear or face the penalty of disobeying a direct order from God.

KINGS: For those who might be following the show notice a few things. The events take place in Shiloh, which is the city where the Tabernacle of Meeting was set up before Israel had kings. The Preacher who inaugurated the current king is Rev Samuels. Rev Samuels anointed David in the garage after he fixed the Reverends car. David killed a Goliath tank from the enemy nation of Gath. David gained position in the kings court because of his heroism. David is in love with the kings daughter. The king has an unreasoning hatred of David building after learning from Rev Samuels that the Lord has ceased to bless his house and that another will replace him as king that is not one of his children. These are all elements of the story of king David and King Saul. I’ll be watching to see how closely the story follows the bible and I’m sure many of you will too.

It is interesting to me that God leads me to things in perfect timing. The series began last week and this Sunday is the second episode. It’s Saturday morning and we are beginning our study of the books of Samuel which is the beginning of the study of the first kings of Israel. Over the next several weeks wee wil learn all about that time in history with 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles. I hop that you will join me in taking notes as you go along to keep the timeline in Chronological order. Each of these books tells parts of the story and you will find they retell the same stories from different views and with different details. Keeping notes will help you get the whole story and refresh the information you may be comparing to the TV Series.

Genesis Chapters 24-25

I have to admit, this passage leaves you hanging. I got my answers to the questions because I know what happens next. What did you get as answers to the questions?

God's message to me: God has His plan. Yours only matters if it matches.

Promises: What God says will happen is going to happen.

Commands: Ask and you will receive. Issac asked for his wife to be blessed with a child as she had been barren. She had twins.

Timeless principles: Test the spirits. If you need to know something from God set a test of the question and accept the answer. If the answer doesn't match the test you got it wrong. More below...

How can I apply what I've learned: Ask God for answers. Most of the answers of life can be found in the pages of the bible but, what if I need to decide which job to take, even if one is service in the church and the other isn't the bible is unclear as to personal choice. Test the Lord. Set a test to answer the question and obey the answer when you get it.

If I'm supposed to take the ministry job then my windshield won't get frosted for the next 3 days. An OK test if you are near winter and frost is expected for the next 3 days but not really useful in Florida during early July. Just one example. God will help you find a viable test if you ask.

More to learn: This is leading to the story of how Jacob got the birthright and what happened as a result. Keep reading to see the details, and after that the birth of a nation.

Testing the spirits: Some pastors call this placing a fleece before God because of a later story in the book of Judges. If you need to know something from God you set a reasonable test. The basic is a yes and no question.

You set a condition for God to meet in a short time. Ex. put a sock on the lawn and tell God that a wet sock on a dry lawn means yes and a dry sock on a wet lawn means no and you will check the sock at dawn. Get up early and check the sock.

Second is the example here. The servant needed to choose a wife for his master's son. He set a test to show which person should be the choice. I don't know the exact figures but I've heard a description of what camels drink. For Rachel to offer to water the camels for a stranger was incredible. She committed herself to hours of hard work drawing water for the camels until they drank their fill and she followed through. It wasn't difficult to know God's decision.

The fleece test is a bit less precise which is probably why it was repeated with varying conditions a couple times before it was believed.

Regardless of the test stick to it. Even if you don't like the answer you can depend on God to give you the answer He wants. If you don't get a clear answer consider whether you asked an appropriate question. Better yet consider whether he has already answered it in the bible. God never commands something he previously outlawed so if the bible condemns a course of action you don't need to ask.

What's an unclear answer? Dry sock and dry grass, wet sock and wet grass, Ask for wet sock 2 days in a row and you get a dry sock one day. Whatever the problem, consider the question. If the question is sound God will give an answer clearly.

Finally, always question the source of answers, especially if their so clear that it's practically hearing voices. Satan cannot accept that Jesus is God. He will never admit that fact. Ask God to block all answers but His and He will.