Judging Prophecy; 2nd Edition

We started looking at a corporate word that raised some controversy on the prophetic school list back in August of 2000. We spent the last lesson evaluating the message contained in the word. Now we want to go back and look at the same word again, but this time we will examine the "delivery" of the message. Delivery is more important than many of us realize, because it will effect how the message is perceived and understood.

Here is the prophetic word in question:

Mind Me More

I cannot over emphasize that you must test and double test every belief and teaching against the Truth of My Word. The Deceiver is on loose reigns and he is creating havoc upon the spirits of all who do not know the Truth. He is conquering with false miracles, visions and teachings that are very close to the Truth; he might even try to use some of you for his evil purposes. Even some well known writers and teachers are his targets because he knows that once a teacher is accepted, all his teachings are also accepted - even that one thought that the Deceiver has slipped in.

Come My Beloved Ones, come sit and reason with Me. Bring all the teachings you hear, hear of and read about to Me and let's discuss it. Bring that book you are reading into My Presence and I will show you any error. I am not just Lord and King, but I am also Wisdom. Those who fully abide in Me, will not be fooled by the enemy's devices. Here in My Presence you are one with Me, our minds are entwined; My mind becomes your mind and by My Spirit I will hi-light the Deceiver's traps. Prayerfully look for Me and My Truth in what you hear and read. If, by My Spirit, you do not find Me or My Truth there, then I am not there and what you hear and read does not come from Me but from the Deceiver.

Discard that which is not from Me and lovingly and by My Spirit, warn your brethren about the trap.

Put your mind and your focus on Me, lift your eyes and look into Mine. I am the Light and the Giver of light. Yes, mind the Deceiver, but mind Me more!

Wisdom

In the last lesson, I listed three areas where delivery can go wrong in a written word. They were:

1. Did the person giving the word communicate it in a manner where the meaning/message is clearly and easily understood?

2. Did they deliver the word to the correct audience?

3. Did they add their own interpretation or insights to the word?

Let's briefly look at them, and apply them to this word.

WAS IT CLEAR AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND?

The question we are trying to answer is:

Did the person giving the word communicate it in a manner where the meaning/message is clearly and easily understood?

We know for a fact this did not happen, because the author did a follow-on post apologizing for the earlier confusion. The author used the phrase "Mind the deceiver, but mind me more." In her local area and culture, that would be understood to mean 'be aware of the deceiver's schemes, but be more aware of God and of His ability to communicate His truth.'

Yet we know (due to private emails sent to me) that some people interpreted that phrase to mean, "obey the deceiver." That was not at all what the word was attempting to communicate, but that is how some took it. (No wonder those people had problems with the word...any rational believer would have problems with a word admonishing us to honor or obey the devil!)

Thus the author of this word found a way to express it that was misinterpreted by some. It was not clearly and easily understood.

Also, I would say the tone of the word was alarming to some. It gave them the impression that the enemy had a lot of power (the "big devil, little God" orientation). The mood of this word could be considered fear-inducing to some. That was clearly not the intent of the word. In fact, the closing phrase was meant to convey an assurance that God has a lot more power than the enemy, and that the enemy could not deceive those who sought God for His truth. It wanted to encourage us to be wise and cautious but not to be afraid or crippled.

Unfortunately, that meaning was obscured for some, because of way in which the message was comprised and worded. Some people took out of it the exact opposite of what the word was really trying to communicate. This is an indication that the delivery was a bit weak on this word and could have been improved to communicate the message more clearly.

DID THE WORD GO TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE?

The question we are trying to evaluate here is:

Did the prophet deliver their word to the correct audience?

Some words are general, and applicable to vast portions of the body of Christ. Other words are very specific and targeted to a certain group or target.

In general, corrective and/or warning words are usually applied to a specific audience, not to the church at large. This is because there is a lot of variety in the state of the body of Christ in different churches and in different areas. Typically correction and warning, or even direction, are not a "one size fits all" type of word.

A word does not have to be corrective or warning for it to be tailored to a specific target audience. God will frequently customize words for specific groups of people, or for specific churches or specific denominations or specific cities or sometimes for specific nations.

We see that Jesus Himself did that in the book of Revelation. He had specific words for each of the seven churches, and He addressed each word to the church for which it was intended. For instance, the corrective word for Thyatira (the corrupt church) in Rev 2:18-29 did not apply at all to the Ephesean church, which was doing all the right things but had lost their first love (Rev 2:1-7). Likewise, His words of encouragement to the persecuted Symrnian church (Rev 2:8-11) was not to fear the things they must suffer because they will receive the crown of life. That word did not apply at all to the lukewarm (and unpersecuted) church of the Laodiceans in Rev 3:14-22.

Likewise today, when a person gives a prophetic word, they need to understand God's intended target for that word. Let me give you an example from the United States. There are a lot of excellent churches in many different parts of the states. But when a church "falls into error," different geographic areas tend to have different characteristics of "error" for that area. For instance, the churches in the deep south tend to be more prone towards legalism and/or a religious spirit. Churches in California and the west are more likely to error towards over-tolerance of sin or towards new age philosophy.

So if I live in the West, and God wants to speak a corrective or warning word, He will probably call the churches in my area to walk in personal holiness and obedience to Him. That word may not apply at all to the churches in the deep south. Perhaps there, He wants to deal with legalism and calling them back to a deep and intimate walk with Him. A word that is "right" for certain California churches would be "in left field" for many churches in the deep south.

I believe we are seeing this dynamic operating on this word. Some denominations tend towards experiencing God and moving in His power and anointing. They tend to error on the side of sound doctrine and a solid knowledge of Scripture, but walk in close relationship with God and are getting to know Him intimately. Other denominations are very solid in their doctrines and the members tend to know their bibles well. Their weaknesses tend to be in the area of experiencing God (as opposed to head knowledge about him) and in the area of moving in God's power and anointing.

Of course, God's desire for all of His children is a balance of these two areas. But if a group is strong in one area and weak in another, then He will bring correction in the area of their weakness.

Thus a word like this one (Mind Me More) might minister deeply to certain churches or denominations where they need to be more firmly rooted in doctrine and theology and knowing the word. However, people from churches that are deeply rooted in these areas may not relate at all to this word because it is not an area that God wants to address in their lives. He may have a totally different concern that He wants to address for them.

The prophetic-school list spans a wide scope of nations, cultures and denominations. The thing we share in common is a commitment to God and a desire to know His voice more clearly and to understand how to move effectively with His Holy Spirit in the prophetic. There will be times when some of the words released on this list simply won't be targeted at everyone on the list. The Lord will quicken the word to some because He is addressing it to them. But He may not quicken it to those who are not a part of the intended audience.

I believe we saw this dynamic on this word, where the Holy Spirit quickened the word to some but gave checks to others on the same word. That was because some were in the intended audience and others were not.

Sometimes the question is not "is this a word from God?" but "Is this a word that God is speaking to me?"

DID THEY ADD TO THE WORD?

The question we are asking here is:

Did the prophet add their own interpretation or insights to the word?

I am not reviewing the word (Mind Me More) in this area, as it is pretty clear that the prophet did not add her own theology to it.

But I wanted to throw this in because it is a common mistake and needs to be discussed. For instance, one time a prophetic trainee at Christian International (CI) was ministering on a team to a couple in their fifties. The couple had come for ministry because they desired to know God's will for a business venture, whether or not to start this new business. This young man had not been told why they were coming. He heard the Lord say that they were pregnant and were about to give birth. If he had simply shared this, it would have been an encouragement to them. They would have understood that to be figurative for this business venture.

But the young man felt a need to put the word in context, so he told the woman that she was going to have another child. You could hear the couple gasp; this was not good news at all for a couple in their fifties who had already raised their family and did not yearn to do so again. It was also not correct.

He had taken a good word he had heard from the Lord and changed it to make it "fit" into his context or frame work. So he added to it instead of simply delivering it. In the process, the meaning and blessing of the word were lost. He had heard right, but because he tried to put his own interpretation on it, he delivered a bad word.

Many who are younger in the prophetic will sometimes make this mistake.. where they will hear God correctly, but will flavor the meaning of the message as they try to understand or interpret it.

Closing Thoughts

I know the author of the word in question, and overall I think highly of her. I have seen her walk in great integrity in some previous situations. At the time of the first edition, she was one of my personal intercessors. From time to time has shared insights with me that were very much the Lord and an indication of her ability to hear God clearly and well. She has posted corporate words to the list in the past that have been very anointed and have ministered to many. I do not consider her a beginner in the prophetic.

Yet in this case, which I think God orchestrated on purpose, she made some delivery mistakes. I believe the message of the word was a God-message, but that the manner in which it was delivered caused there to be confusion and misunderstanding of what the word was communicating.

I think God did this on purpose to give us "hands on" practice and expertise in judging words. In fact I do believe God's sense of humor is shining through on this one--since the gist of the word itself is about bringing things to God to judge them! It looks like the prophet here is not only delivering a word, but is being given the opportunity to be the vehicle through which many of us walk out the message God was intending to communicate through that word.

Remember, when we judge a word (the content and the delivery of the word), we are not judging the person who gave the word. We are just judging the word itself. We must always have grace for those willing to serve as God's messengers, and we must be careful not to judge them. In short, we must not reject the person who gave the word when we reject the word itself.