God is not talking to you

By Elizabeth Prata

Many professing Christian ladies these days claim that God talks to them, some even say they write down what ‘he’ says and turn them into books or ‘Bible’ lessons or devotionals. The Spirit is not giving additional scripture. Therefore these women are either lying or spiritually deceived. Since either one is certainly the case, actual Christian ladies should avoid this kind of material.

It is getting kind of hard to avoid it. William Young’s The Shack was delivered to the author by a spirit, so was Beth Moore’s When Godly People do Ungodly Things, Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling, Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations with God, Helen Schucman and her book A Course in Miracles, and many others masquerading as Christian(ish) material.

“God told me” and ‘automatic writing’ are ancient issues, they’re not new, but they both were revived and revamped in modern times. In the 1930s Lutheran preacher Dr. Frank Buchman (1878–1961) formed the Oxford Group and one of his teachings involved a “spiritual solution” of automatic writing. He called it “guidance” and taught how to wait with pen in hand for the spirit(s) to endow the devotee’s mind with words they then automatically (like an automaton) wrote down.

Here is a warning from author J. C. Brown from his book The Oxford Group Movement: is it of God or of Satan?, rebutting the Oxford Group’s notion that we can receive dictation from spirits.

“He teaches his votaries to wait upon God with paper and pencil in hand each morning in this relaxed and inert condition, and to write down whatever guidance they get. This, however, is just the very condition required by Spiritist mediums to enable them to receive impressions from evil spin and it is a path which, by abandoning the Scripture-instructed judgment (which God always demands) for the purely occult and the psychic, has again and again led over the precipice. The soul that reduces itself to an automaton may at any moment be set spinning by a Demon.”

Indeed! Any person who opens herself up to this kind of activity is by definition opening herself up to malevolent spirits to rush in.

This ‘God told me’ practice was again remarked upon rebutted by J.C. Brown in his book The Oxford Group Movement: is it of God or of Satan?

“One more word about Dr. Buchman. It is said by those who know him (and I, too, have had the same experience when corresponding with him), that most of those who come into contact with him feel a definite magnetic influence. This is often indicative of demon-possession, though the demon may be transformed like his master Satan into an angel of light.”

Th above is how cult leaders become popular. You’ve often heard people remark that he or she ‘is so charismatic!’ Or he or she ‘is so magnetic! I couldn’t stop listening! I couldn’t take my eyes off him!’ Brown continues with comparing a a demon-possessed man with a true man of God-

“A true man of God, who is filled with the Spirit, exhibits a power over the world, the flesh, and the Devil, but not over the person with whom he comes into contact. One feels in his presence the very atmosphere of Heaven, and the heart is drawn out in love and desire not so much to the man as to the Lord Jesus Christ, his Heavenly Saviour and Lord, Whose he is and Whom he serves.” ~JC Brown

A demon-possessed or oppressed spiritist will draw you to himself. A true man of God will draw you to God. In this way, we know that NO person who ever said in modern times “God told me!” is actually drawing you to God. Too many women reject such warnings by saying that they were drawn to God. But if they examined themselves clear-eyed, they would find that were really drawn to the person ‘teaching’ these practices, not to the Redeemer. To the deceived person, it’s hard to untangle, but the best clue is when a teacher starts saying “GOD TOLD ME!” No, He didn’t. Avoid such people.

You may be wondering then, is God involved in our lives? To what extent? And how will we know, or have assurance, that He is? Phil Johnson explains in his great sermon, Providence IS Remarkable:

When the Lord wants to reassure the Apostles that Almighty God is directly and personally and lovingly involved in their experience, and not only in their triumphs and successes, but also in their trials and sufferings.  Jesus doesn’t point them to the miracles.  He doesn’t talk about dreams and visions, or other mystical phenomena.  He doesn’t tell them to listen for a still small voice inside their own heads, and He certainly doesn’t tell them that their words have creative power, so, you know, when you encounter opposition, just go ahead and make a positive confession.

Instead, Jesus teaches them a truth we know as the doctrine of providence.  He stresses the fact that God is intimately involved in all the details of our lives, even when we can’t consciously sense His presence, even when we don’t understand what He’s doing or why He’s doing it. ~Phil Johnson

Here is another resource for you. I have not read this book but it’s on my way to my mailbox now. It’s called:

Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation, New Prophets, and New Age Practices in the Church by Holly Pivec  (Author), R. Douglas Geivett  (Author).

The blurb describes it:

Is there a new reformation happening in the church? It depends on who you ask. The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a popular and fast-growing new movement of Christians who emphasize signs and wonders, and teach that God is giving new revelation through new apostles and prophets. But is this biblical Christianity?

In Counterfeit Kingdom, apologists and NAR experts Holly Pivec and Douglas Geivett show how the NAR’s key tenets distort the gospel, twist the Scriptures, are influenced by New Age practices, and lead faithful Christians to shipwreck their faith. They also offer practical suggestions for readers who are already influenced by the NAR, curious about it, or concerned about loved ones who have been swept up in the movement. What used to be on the fringes of the church is now mainstream, and many are being influenced by it unaware. This book is a wake-up call.

If you are a true believer, sister, be assured, God is involved in your life. The Spirit indwells you. Jesus intercedes for you. No matter the circumstances, He is. It’s where faith comes in. You just have to trust that He is.

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Further Resources

Doren Virtue & Jenn Nizza discuss automatic writing/channeling. https://youtu.be/6ReM8OxwXJ0