At our church, we have been considering the gifts of the spirit for the last few weeks. If you want to know what the gifts of the spirit are - try HERE.
In the Bible, noteably in 1 Corinthians 12, it states clearly that these gifts are there to build people up, and yet they so often end up dividing the church - particularly the gifts of prophesy, knowledge and discernment.
Why? I think it is because a certain type of person discovers that to express themselves in spiritual terms, as if inspired by God, lends a weight and validity to their feelings. So, if they are concerned about someone, they "receive a word of knowledge" about them. After all, it's pretty hard to ignore something direct from God.
Bolstered by this success, it's time for a bit of prophesy - often of the "doom and gloom" variety. The rhetoric tends to flow along the lines of God weeping at our lack of obedience and longing for us to turn once more to Him and follow more closely, lest we slip away etc. etc. It may even target, quite openly, certain people in the church or group.



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