Words are more powerful than we could ever imagine. There are some keys to keep in mind when moving under the spirit of prophecy. 1 Corinthians 14:3 says “But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.” Although some words that come through can seem harsh, everything should be filtered through the lens of love. God’s heart is always for restoration. Many times we miss the mark or get off the path and it is His love that draws us back to him.
1 Corinthians 14:24 lets us know the reasoning behind the use of the prophetic utterance ”But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
The chapter goes on the say that we may ALL prophesy and encourages us to be eager to do so.
God has given each one of his children spiritual giftings and abilities that we are able to use to bring healing to the nations and make his name known in the Earth. Each of these specific gifts is for us to share his heart with the world. These gifts and abilities were used as tools in the Bible to communicate the gospel to people and act as signs and wonders. These gifts were used to let people know that God had not forgotten about them. The prophetic giftings let people know that God knows their past, present and future. At times God will share information with the believer to convey these messages. The more we use them the better we get at being able to sense the way that God is speaking. We have physical senses and those senses are
Part 15 Spiritual Giftings and Psychic Abilities W
mirrored in the spirit and we are able to see, hear and feel impressions from the other realms. These are tools that one can use for good or bad. There is a variety of beings that are trying to communicate with us from the other side. Just as we are able to use the tools to connect with our Heavenly Father and beings within the angelic orders, we are also subjected to lower spirits according to the vibrational density that one is walking in. If you choose the wide path of drunkenness, debauchery, lying and deceiving you will attract the same type of beings that are tied to those behaviors. If you choose the narrow path of love, light and forgiveness you will likewise entertain the beings upon that level of density as well.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. | 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
All through the Bible we read about normal people doing the miraculous. We read about them interacting with angels, spirits and ghosts by the way of hearing voices, seeing prophetic visions in the dream and waking states, etc. We also read about them performing mighty miracles to accomplish the will of God on the Earth and to give glory back to the Father. Everyone from the Old Testament prophets and seers to the New Testament disciples, apostles and even Jesus operated in spiritual giftings and supernatural encounters were very much at work in their lives. When studying the gifts of the spirit mentioned in 1 Conrinthians 12, it helps to look into the psychic abilities and ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) practiced in many spiritual circles.
Many in Christendom get scared when we mention terms and phrases like ESP or Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Claircognizance and Clairsentience. It might be because these terms aren’t actually in the Bible by these names, but many Christian leaders within the prophetic ministry are teaching these techniques with a Biblical approach. The Bible is full of mysticism and ecstatic encounters with Jesus, ghosts, angels and divine beings and for Christians to deny this aspect of their faith is denying a part of the Godhead itself. Every faith likes to pretend that they own exclusivity to spiritual terms and ideas. They like to claim that their approach is the only way that things can be done, yet this is not the case at all. Syncretism allows us to look at all religions and ideas and be able to see the similarities within the very fabric of the faiths. Doing this allows us to see that we are not so different after all. Spiritual gifts and psychic abilities is the perfect concept to bring to this discussion, especially when we see Jesus and the disciples practicing the techniques listed above. They didn’t use the same terms in the Bible today so the wording is a bit different. The Bible uses terms like prophesy, word of wisdom, word of knowledge and quickening to name a few. The Bible even talks about going into trances and receiving visions from the spirit world. It also talks about out of body experiences and astral projection but uses terms like rapture or “being caught up”. The apostle Paul even shares about an experience where he traveled to heaven. He states that the experience was so beautiful and real that he did not know if he went there in the spirit as in “leaving his body” or if he was “translated” with his body and all. There are even more similarities between Christianity and what is deemed New Age than commonly thought.
Jesus went out performing many miracles and making decisions based upon following the flow or unction of the Holy Spirit, which spoke to him in many different ways. God uses the miraculous as an open door to share His love with mankind. There are many examples in the scripture where Jesus used his spiritual giftings as an open door as well. The miracles and supernatural encounters act as a bridge and at times reveal the inner secrets of the heart that only God knows.
