Photo courtesy of vagawi.

We hope you enjoy this re-post from May 3, 2013. Be blessed! The Today’s Quote From God Team

And the man of God said to the king…For I was commanded by the word of the Lord… – 1 Kings 13:8-9, Amplified Bible

In 1 Kings 13 an unnamed prophet of God met Jeroboam, King of Israel, at Bethel to chastise him for turning his back on The Lord. As part of the chastisement, God dried up one of Jeroboam’s hands. The prophet entreated The Lord to heal Jeroboam’s withered hand, and after God answered his prayer, Jeroboam invited the prophet to his home for dinner and for a reward. The prophet, in response to Jeroboam’s invitation, said:

8 …If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you, and I will not eat bread or drink water in this place.

9 For I was commanded by the word of the Lord, You shall eat no bread or drink water or return by the way you came.

After leaving Bethel, the prophet was chased down by an old prophet from Bethel who invited him to come to his home to eat. The prophet answered the old prophet in the same manner that he had answered Jeroboam, but then the old prophet said this:

18 …I am a prophet also, as you are. And an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied to him.

On this testimony, the prophet followed the old prophet home, ate a meal, and then was told by God that He would die that night as a result of his disobedience. On his way home after dinner, the disobedient prophet was slain by a lion.

The lesson is clear: when you have a direct revelation from God, do NOT turn aside from it, even when the person urging you to turn is a Christian brother or sister. Jesus taught us in John 10:27 that His sheep hear his voice and that His sheep can tell when it is God who is speaking to them (for more details, click here.). The ability to discern The Lord’s voice improves as we age in The Lord, but there will still be times of confusion when our willingness to obey will be clouded by our desire to do something else. No doubt, the prophet was hungry and thirsty, and it wasn’t a hard sell for the old prophet to convince him it was God’s will that he eat.

There will be times in our lives when we, too, will desire something contrary to the path we’ve been shown by God. Someone will say something that will sound of heavenly origin, and we’ll pounce on that counsel to justify going down the road we want to travel. But remember, God never contradicts Himself, and we should be wary of any counsel that turns us aside from the path that God has clearly shown us.

Never shun the input of others, but check the input of others the same way that the Bereans (Acts 17:10-12) checked the words of Paul and Silas – by searching the scriptures daily. God will use His Word to communicate with the Holy Spirit that dwells within you. When He does, your heart will burn within you, and you’ll know exactly what it is that you must do. Follow the burning, follow it faithfully, and beware of any counsel that takes your focus off of the burning and puts it on the pursuit of your own lusts.