Reflection by Joy Gegeleso on Chapter 25&26 of the book How to be Led by the Spirit- Kenneth Hagin
Guidance through prophecy and visions.
1 Corinthians 14 vs 1. Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts rather that you may prophesy.
It is good and important we desire the gift of prophecy. It enables us to speak what God is saying. God is so interested in us, talking to us and listening to us too. He doesn't want us to live confused and scattered lives. Thus, He has made various avenues for us to follow him. We can't follow if we don't know how He speaks. Prophesy and visions are just another route He could use to speak to us. Ephesians 1 vs 17 and 18, shows us that having God's Spirit will make us wise and reveal God to us so we will KNOW Him, His plans, purposes, and promises.
Ephesians 1:17-18
17I keep asking that the God of our LORD Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.
Prophets and prophecies are people and words who should speak what God is saying always! Not their experiences, ideologies or interpretations of God's Word thus we are called to validate every prophecy using the Word of God especially since the vessels through which the Word flows through are imperfect. God's Word is perfect and if we have His Spirit we will be able to test every word or vision. A lot of people are living confused and scattered lives and marriages simply because they obeyed an invalidated prophesy or vision of one prophet. Furthermore, any word of prophecy that doesn't agree with what is in your spirit and causes you to lose your peace or causes fear should really be double-checked for consistency with God’s Word. God has not given us the Spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. The office of the prophet has been greatly abused by many and that's why we can't afford to be ignorant of God's Word and how He leads us. We ought to get to the point where we don't make any decision until we have gotten a go-ahead from God Himself through His Word and His Spirit within us.
Guidance through visions.
Vision is also a way of getting guidance from God. There are different kinds of visions.
*spiritual visions, *open visions, *trances.
Acts 10:1-3 English Standard Version (ESV) 10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3 About the ninth hour of the day [ a ] he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.”
Sometimes, visions are not as clear as "ABC"
Acts 10:19 King James Version (KJV) 19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. King James Version (KJV)
So, we should not jump and act over any vision we have until we have gotten clarity by praying in the Holy Spirit, searching God's Word and meditating in order to receive from the Holy Spirit. Visions are simply tools so we shouldn't wait for a vision before we obey God. It's His Word that we need, we should train our spirit to know when He speaks. Since I won't speak to my daughter in Chinese simply because she won't understand a sound of it, so God won't speak to us in a way He knows we won’t understand. He wants to lead us throughout life.