OPEN HEAVEN DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY
REJECTING NEGATIVE PROPHECIES 1
MEMORISE: "Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because
many false prophets are gone out into the world". 1 John
4:1
READ:
Ezekiel 13:1-9 (KJV)
1 And the word of the Lord
came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against
the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out
of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord;
3 Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the
foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in
the deserts.
5
Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of
Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.
6 They have seen vanity and
lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and
they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
7 Have ye not seen a vain
vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord
saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord
God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am
against you, saith the Lord God.
9
And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies:
they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written
in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land
of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord God.
BIBLE
IN ONE YEAR:
Daniel 1-3
MESSAGE:
There are all kinds of
‘prophets’ these days.While there are genuine ones, many are false and
give false prophesies that are sponsored by the devil. When a negative
prophecy is from a prophet who genuinely hears from God, the fellow involved
can cry to God like Hezekiah did in 2 Kings 20:1-11, and God can decide to
change it.
Tomorrow,
I will discuss more about what you can do concerning negative prophecies but
the discussion today will be centred on false prophecies. We don’t have
many accounts of false prophets in the Bible because God said in Ezekiel 13:9
that they will not be in the assembly of Israel or written about in the books
of Israel.
These days, false prophets try to plant fear in people with their prophecies. If these people allow fear to take root in their hearts, they have given those prophecies the power and permission they need to be accomplished. This is because what a person fears is likely to come upon him or her (Job 3:25-26).
As a Christian, when such
prophecies come your way, don’t allow fear into your heart; God has not given
us the spirit of fear, but of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Rather than
being afraid, meditate on the word of God that negates the false prophecy and pray
to God about it. Many false prophets have told me, “Thus saith the
Lord.” However, God would always tell me,
“Don’t mind that fellow; that message is not from Me.”
Not long after the great
Archbishop Benson Idahosa went to be with the Lord, some investors opened a
bank and invited me to pray before they commenced operations. After
praying, they asked me to open an account with them so that I will be their
first customer. I told them that I didn’t have money to open the
account, so they opened it for me with N50,000 of their money. Shortly
after that, some newspapers reported that I had started a bank with
N50,000,000; the news was everywhere.
We
had a meeting of Pentecostal pastors in Nigeria just after that, and one
‘prophet’, misled by the newspaper reports, prophesied that I would soon be
called home just like the archbishop. Others at the meeting urged me to
react, but I stayed quiet because I know what the word of God says about my
life. The man who made that prophecy is no more today, and I am still
here by God’s grace.
KEY POINT
Fear will give room for false
prophecies to be fulfilled. Believe only in God’s word concerning you.
© 2024 Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons
was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Churches in the world,
and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.