Seeking Guidance III – Judging by the Word

Ps. 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness (KJV)

Prov. 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly (KJV)

This is the final part of this series on seeking guidance, and I will like to start by sharing an experience that my wife once had. She had been spending time in prayer on a particular day, and something dropped in her mind, it was not something good. Her initial confusion was that since it dropped in her mind while she was praying, then it probably was from God. When she narrated the experience to me, I immediately remembered the story of Kenneth E. Hagin on the bed of affliction as a young boy, believing God for his healing. The devil had come to whisper to him that he was going to die, and given him a scripture out of context to back it up. Thank God, for the sweet calm voice of the Holy Spirit that rose from deep within him to counter the devil’s thought with scriptures that aligned with long life and health.

I narrated that experience just to make a point on the importance of judging the leadings you receive by the word. I cannot over emphasize this point enough, if you ever desire to stay away from error. There will be times that the devil will plant thoughts in your mind, and attempt to masquerade those thoughts as being from God, in order to mislead you. The easiest and surest way to navigate out of such is to judge whatever leading you think you may have received by the word.

Let me make a quick and important point here; when I talk about judging by the word, I am not simply saying to find a scripture that agrees or disagrees with the leading you have received. That is good on one hand, but you must go beyond that to check if the leading you have received is consistent with the character and principles of God as set forth in His word. This really is the key to judging by the word.

Back to my earlier story, the thought of death that came to him was backed up by a scriptural verse, but as he pondered over the thought, and sought to judge it by the word, he found it not to be consistent with the character and principles of God. At that point, he immediately knew the thought was not of God, and he rebuked it. The same thing happened in the case of my wife, after she told me of her experience, we simply judged it by the word, and finding it not consistent, we set it aside.

I encourage you to always to judge whatever leading you receive by the word. When you receive a leading from other individuals, make sure it agrees with the dealings of God with you, and subject it to the word test.

Note that for you to be able to effectively judge by the word, you must be dwelling in the word, and allowing the word to dwell richly in you (Col. 3:16). You cannot be a casual student of the word in this regard. You may not be there yet, but I encourage you to start from where you are now, and with persistence and commitment, you will grow.

Remember again that God’s design for the new creation is to have a close personal relationship with you, as with all His children, so that he can provide you with unique and customized guidance suitable for you.

Shalom!