Is Your Gift from God or the Devil? - Part 2
Should we seek spiritual gifts?
Yes! We are urged to earnestly desire spiritual gifts!
“But earnestly desire and strive for the greater gifts”—1 Corinthians 12:31 (AMP)
“Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”—1 Corinthians 14:1 (NASB)
But if we seek spiritual gifts from God, could we receive gifts from the devil instead?
If we ask God to give us revelation, could we receive revelation from the devil instead?
If we ask God to speak to us, how do we know that we won’t hear the voice of the devil instead?
This question came up during a course that we were teaching in an eastern European country. We were actually teaching a course about learning to hear God’s voice to a group of about 200 people or so.
But a controversy arose after the first night of teaching. Some of the people in the class misunderstood some of the concepts that were presented. They became convinced that we were teaching psychic principles, rather than Biblical truth. They thought that when we were asking them to try different activities to practice hearing God’s voice, we were actually teaching them to tap into psychic powers. That wasn’t true, of course, but that was their impression.
Things got a bit ugly as they protested to the pastor who was hosting the class. They accused us of being false teachers presenting false concepts. Some wanted the pastor to stop the class and not allow us to continue.
The next night, it would be my turn to teach. It would be my job to try to ease those concerns, silence the critics, and restore confidence in the teaching. What I needed to do was to prove, without a doubt, that God speaks to people today, and that He will speak to anyone who truly seeks to hear his voice with a sincere heart.
When the prophets of Baal (so to speak) rise up to challenge the Truth of Scripture, arguing with them will not put that controversy to rest, because people are hearing both sides claim that they represent the One True God, and they are waiting to see proof before they will decide who they will follow. This is what Elijah experienced in his confrontation with the prophets of Baal. He said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21 NIV).
The only way to quiet those doubts is with demonstrations of power and love. People in this generation need to see demonstrations of God’s power in order to believe. Jesus even said that to a man who begged Him to come and heal his son in John 4:48:
Jesus said to him, “You people must see signs and miracles before you will believe in me.” (ICB)
That is not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. It’s just the way things are. If we cannot demonstrate the power of God to this generation, we might as well stop talking and go home, because we’ve got nothing to offer this generation that’s going to make a difference in their lives. That’s why Jesus told His disciples that before they could be His witnesses, they must wait in Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Spirit. *Then *they could be His witnesses.
When I got up to teach on the second night of our class, I first addressed the concerns that had been raised by clarifying the differences between people who speak under psychic influences and people who speak genuine prophetic words from God. Then I tried to assure the students that we were not asking them to do anything that would open them up to evil influences. I explained that if we ask God to speak to us, he’s not going to send the devil to speak to us instead. I reminded them of the message of Luke 11:9-12, where Jesus said this:
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?”—Luke 11:9-12 (NKJV)
Finally, I felt comfortable that these students were ready to hear God’s voice, so I asked the whole class, “Would you like for us to ask God to speak to us right now?” Many nodded their heads to say “Yes”. So, I focused on God to hear what He might be saying. I believed that He would give an individual prophetic word as described by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14.
In situations like this I usually get messages from God in the form of pictures, or “visions”, rather than hearing a voice. I believe that’s because I’m a visual person. I learn best visually, and I remember things that I see better than things that I hear.
This time a woman in the room was highlighted to me. There seemed to be a light around her or over her head. I asked her to stand. Then, over her head, I saw a birthday cake. That was a symbol that could have meant many things, so I waited for an explanation—or an interpretation—of what I’d seen.
The interpretation came to me in an instant, and it came to me differently than the vision of the birthday cake. It did not come as a vision at all. I just knew instantly what the cake meant. That knowledge was just given to me. So, I said to the lady, “You have not felt valued or appreciated on your birthday, but God wants you to know that He has valued every birthday that you’ve had. He always values you on your birthday.”
As soon as she heard that, she got very excited and loudly confirmed to everyone in the room that what I had said was true. I’m not sure exactly what she said, because she was speaking very excitedly, and my translator was struggling to keep up. Later, the whole story was explained to me.
Many of the people in this class were from the same church. In that church, they had a practice of posting the birthdays of church members each month on some kind of bulletin board or announcement board. It just happened that this lady’s birthday had been overlooked this year. Her birthday had not been posted, and this had upset her. She had let people know that she was upset about it, so several people in the church were aware of this situation. So, when I gave that message to the lady, telling her that she had not felt valued or appreciated on her birthday, many people in the audience could confirm that it was true. God had chosen the perfect person and the perfect message to demonstrate to everyone in this class that He still speaks to people who really want to hear His voice.
No one protested our teaching after that night. That quieted all of the critics.
When we seek God with a sincere heart and good intentions, He will protect us from the interference of the devil. He will not allow the devil to speak to us instead. We can safely pursue spiritual gifts from God without fear that we might receive something from “that old serpent” instead. Jesus assured us of this in His Sermon on the Mount:
“Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”—Matthew 7:9-11 (NKJV)
Guiding Principles
So, there is no cause to worry about the devil speaking to you if you are sincerely desiring to hear God’s voice. God will protect you from that. But Scripture does lay out some helpful principles that we need to pay attention to as we speak God’s messages to others, so that God’s messages are not distorted by our own opinions and feelings.
First, when God speaks there will be harmony with Scriptural Truth. God’s spoken words will never contradict His written words in the Bible.
Also, in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that we would know false messengers by their fruit. So, pay attention to the fruit of a message. What effect does the message have on the one who receives it? A message from God will impart faith rather than fear, peace rather than anxiety, love rather than condemnation, hope rather than despair.
In Colossians 4:6, Paul writes, “Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt” (AMP).
Paul also told us in 1 Corinthians 14:3 that prophecy should always build people up, giving them encouragement and comfort.
A true message from God may challenge the hearer, but it will *feel *right. It will *feel *true. There will be a sense of peace that comes with the message; a sense of assurance. It won’t clash with your spirit or feel wrong. You shouldn’t feel a “check” in your spirit after hearing a true message from God.
One word of caution: if I am not in a position of authority over the person I am speaking to, then I should refrain from giving them words of correction or direction in the name of the Lord. If I am not their spiritual leader, their parent, their boss, or their counselor, I have no business giving them unsolicited counsel or advice in the name of the Lord, or telling them how to live their lives. My job is limited to encouraging them, comforting them, and building them up.
And every word should always be delivered with a motivation of sincere love for the person. Remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:2:
“though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (NKJV)
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