Most of us have experienced it.<\/p>\n
Either:<\/p>\n
\u2022 being touched and lifted by a prophetic word<\/p>\n
or<\/p>\n
\u2022 being confused, wounded or pressured by it<\/p>\n
The prophetic stirs up both longing and unease. Because deep down we long for God to speak. But we're also afraid of what happens when people get involved. So some shut the door completely. Others leave it wide open \u2013 without any filter.<\/p>\n
The Bible invites us to a third way.<\/p>\n
God is a speaking God. Right from the beginning we meet a God who speaks.<\/p>\n
\u2022 God speaks the world into being<\/p>\n
\u2022 God speaks to people<\/p>\n
\u2022 God speaks in order to create, shape and save<\/p>\n
About Jesus: \"The Word became flesh\" (John 1:14)<\/p>\n
The prophetic is therefore not first about predictions. It's about relationship. God wants to communicate with his children.<\/p>\n
The prophetic in the New Testament<\/p>\n
In the New Testament an important shift takes place. Prophecy is no longer reserved for a few \"special\" people.<\/p>\n
Paul writes:<\/p>\n
'Pursue love and desire the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.' 1 Corinthians 14:1<\/p>\n
And again:<\/p>\n
\"You can all prophesy, one after another, so that everyone can learn something and be encouraged and helped.\" 1 Corinthians 14:31<\/p>\n
That doesn't mean everyone is a prophet. But it means the prophetic is given to the church.<\/p>\n
What is the purpose of prophecy?<\/p>\n
Paul makes it very clear:<\/p>\n
\"But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.\" 1 Corinthians 14:3<\/p>\n
The prophetic is meant to:<\/p>\n
\u2022 build up \u2013 not tear down<\/p>\n
\u2022 encourage \u2013 not manipulate<\/p>\n
\u2022 comfort \u2013 not control<\/p>\n
If a prophetic word creates:<\/p>\n
\u2022 fear<\/p>\n
\u2022 pressure<\/p>\n
\u2022 dependence<\/p>\n
\u2022 shame<\/p>\n
then something has gone wrong \u2013 no matter how \"spiritual\" it sounds.<\/p>\n
Prophecy is not infallible \u2013 and that's biblical<\/p>\n
Here is a crucial but often overlooked point:<\/p>\n
Prophetic words in the new covenant are not infallible.<\/p>\n
Paul writes:<\/p>\n
\"If there are some present with the gift of prophecy, let two or three of them bring their messages, and the others are to weigh what is said.\" 1 Corinthians 14:29<\/p>\n
If prophecy were infallible, there would be no need to weigh it.<\/p>\n
It means:<\/p>\n
\u2022 prophecy can be imprecise<\/p>\n
\u2022 prophecy can be colored by the person<\/p>\n
And that's not heresy.<\/p>\n
It's New Testament realism.<\/p>\n
The prophetic requires maturity \u2013 not perfection<\/p>\n
That's why Paul doesn't say:<\/p>\n
Stop the prophetic.<\/p>\n
He says:<\/p>\n
\"Do not quench the Spirit, and do not despise prophetic messages, but weigh it all. Hold on to what is good\" 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21<\/p>\n
We should neither:<\/p>\n
\u2022 swallow everything whole<\/p>\n
\u2022 nor reject everything by reflex<\/p>\n
Maturity lies in weighing\/testing \u2013 and keeping what is good.<\/p>\n
Prophecy must never replace relationship and responsibility<\/p>\n
A prophetic word must never:<\/p>\n
\u2022 steer other people's lives<\/p>\n
\u2022 make decisions on other people's behalf<\/p>\n
\u2022 replace wisdom, community and responsibility<\/p>\n
God uses prophecy to confirm, not to control. The Holy Spirit speaks first and foremost to people \u2013 not over their heads.<\/p>\n
The prophetic in a healthy community<\/p>\n
A healthy prophetic culture is marked by:<\/p>\n
\u2022 humility rather than authority<\/p>\n
\u2022 dialogue rather than pressure<\/p>\n
\u2022 love rather than correctness<\/p>\n
\u2022 accountability rather than mystique<\/p>\n
Here it's allowed, as the one receiving the prophetic, to say:<\/p>\n
This resonates and speaks into something God is already pointing to \u2013 and this I'll set aside.<\/p>\n
Without fear.<\/p>\n
Without guilt.<\/p>\n
When the prophetic points to Jesus<\/p>\n
Revelation says:<\/p>\n
the prophetic Spirit tells about Jesus and exalts him.<\/p>\n
Revelation 19:10<\/p>\n
That's the litmus test.<\/p>\n
If prophecy doesn't:<\/p>\n
\u2022 bring us closer to Jesus<\/p>\n
\u2022 make us more dependent on him<\/p>\n
\u2022 and more loving toward people<\/p>\n
then it has lost its center.<\/p>\n
A question for reflection<\/p>\n
Have your experiences with the prophetic made you:<\/p>\n
\u2022 more free?<\/p>\n
\u2022 or more cautious?<\/p>\n
Maybe the next step isn't to open or close the door completely,<\/p>\n
but to let God heal our understanding of how he speaks.<\/p>\n
Because God is still a speaking God. And his voice is still marked by truth, love and grace.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Being lifted by a prophetic word \u2014 or confused and pressured by it. Most of us know both.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fredagsartikler"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2811"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2853,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2811\/revisions\/2853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aabenkirkekbh.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}