2004.09.1.12 Fresh Fire The Essence Of Seeking And Serving The Almighty Created by James3 on 8/24/2019 8:29:26 PM Fresh Fire The Essence Of Seeking And Serving The Almighty
Useful Resources
Greetings
Attached and following please find an article on seeking valid signs from the Almighty.
Warm regards and blessings
>>> DOCUMENT FOLLOWS <<<
Many people ask for signs from the Almighty to guide them yet many take wrong turnings because they do not know how to ask for a sign or what to ask for.
Alternatively people ask for a sign and the sign they ask for cannot be given and they assume that they have an answer or else they receive an answer and misinterpret it.
I have repeatedly seen people given clear signs and then miss them and I have done this myself.
After over eleven years of actively seeking for signs and leading by the Almighty in every area of my life I have concluded that there are a number of essential principles that apply to asking for signs that work.
Understanding these principles can help one to avoid mistakes which will carry a high cost in our daily lives or on the Day of Judgment. They are also applicable in seeking guidance with regard to the many controversial and challenging issues that are published on the ETI lists.
Very simple signs MAY be given in response to sincere requests for guidance and leading in small matters on a day to day basis. This is NOT the subject of this article although the basic principles still apply.
This article is focused on signs with regard to life changing directional matters such as "should I marry this man / woman", "is my belief in ... fundamentally incorrect" (in the context of something that could adversely affect you on the Day of Judgment), etc.
The example of marriage is used frequently in this article as a decision to have sexual intercourse resulting in life partnership {marriage} is one of the hardest decisions to reverse and carries very severe consequences in this life and the life to come. It is also an area where I have found people raising objections with regard to the question of the verses on submission in everything touched on yesterday and previously.
Many people say that it is unjust for a woman to submit to her husband in everything. The Almighty's response to that is "then do NOT marry a man (i.e. have sex with him) until you are absolutely certain it is My (the Almighty's) will". Accordingly, asking for signs is particularly important in this case.
Following are the principles. They are offered for guidance, ultimately YOU are responsible for what you do, what you ask for and how you interpret and act:
The word "sign" often takes on some religious significance and this results in misunderstanding, asking for inappropriate signs or missing signs when they are given.
A sign is just what the word says -- a sign like the sign on a door, the sign on the side of the road or the traffic lights at an intersection.
A sign is a "yes" / "no" answer. Anything more than this is NOT a sign.
The sign may be a complex event but its message is always a simple yes or no.
Gideon asked for a sign -- either the fleece was wet and the ground dry or the ground was wet and the fleece dry and the question was "go" or "no go". That is the ideal form of sign provided you have faith for that level of supernatural event.
A sign is unambiguous and its interpretation is not capable of uncertainty, either it happened or it did not.
In order to achieve complete certainty through a sign it is necessary to ask the right question.
If one asks a loosely worded or ambiguous question the Almighty is unlikely to answer and one will not know if He has with the result that one will probably get the "answer" that one wants.
If the situation is complex you may need to ask several questions in stages.
Such as "Father is it your will for me to marry this person?", IF the answer is "yes" then "Father when do you want me to marry them?" might be a suitable next question. In each case formulate a sign that you will understand to be "yes" and an opposite that you will understand to be "no".
If the situation is complex you might ask for several signs with distinct questions over a period of time.
The air around us is filled with demons and messengers {angels} serving Satan. If one talks about a request for a sign before hand then the forces of darkness are at liberty to counterfeit or interfere with your sign.
Therefore, to be certain of a clear and reliable sign do NOT discuss it with anyone and do not speak it out before you ask and do not discuss it with anyone UNTIL you are quite certain you have the sign -- i.e. that you have a "yes" or a "no".
If you are quite certain that you have not spoken out your question out loud then in some cases a valid sign could be for someone to tell you your question AND the answer. In such cases that person is a prophet since only the Almighty knows your thoughts and can communicate them to another person.
In all cases make sure that the question was one that YOU thought up and was not one that was injected into your spirit or mind by a demon or Satanic messenger.
The nature of a sign should be that IF it is given then an independent third party observer who observes the outcome or who hears of it should be able to agree on the outcome once they know what you asked.
If an experienced person challenges your question or your sign pay attention to what they say and consider the possibility that there was an error in the way you formulated your request.
In Gideon's case anyone could observe that the fleece was wet or dry.
A reliable sign should involve something that cannot happen randomly. It is something where the Almighty intervenes sovereignly to bring about an event that could not have happened any other way.
Accordingly signs are NOT to be asked for lightly and not to be taken lightly when they are granted.
Silence or NO sign is NOT a sign, only an actual event is a sign.
If you ask for something that is ambiguous the Almighty is unlikely to answer you, the non-occurrence of the sign proves nothing.
If you ask something contrary to the clear commandments of the Almighty He is unlikely to answer you unless there is some communication that He has given you around it.
For example, Hosea was commanded to marry a prostitute, in such a case one would be advised to ask for clear signs even though in principle the proposed action is contrary to the commandment.
It is vital to ask your question in faith and in humility.
Asking in presumption is sin. Asking the Almighty to confirm clear authoritative writings in the bible is unlikely to produce any response UNLESS you are asking about something which seems clear to you and yet is contrary to what the majority are teaching.
Thus, to ask, "Father if it really is true that you still permit a man to marry more than one woman today please ...", IF it comes from humility and a genuine desire to know His will with an INTENTION of accepting and acting on the answer even if you get the answer you did not want, then you are likely to get a reply.
However, asking the same question when you have had exposure to teachings on the subject, have had time to read your bible and time to consider the subject and you are asking because you don't like the idea, then you may not get an answer and you should ask yourself where the question is originating from, both in terms of your motive and external spiritual sources.
A faith filled humble heart attitude is essential to asking for a sign.
It IS possible for the Almighty to give you a sign through a third party, such as for example managing things in such a way that a meeting takes place that could not have happened otherwise.
However, this will involve the Almighty moving by His Spirit and His messengers to cause something to happen in that person's life that would not otherwise happen. There is a degree of over-riding of their will involved.
This MAY happen if the person is directly involved, thus, once more using the question of marriage, if you ask "Father when I next speak to him let the first words he utters be '...'" where those words are unlikely in another context then that can be a valid sign.
Asking for such a sign from somebody who is not involved and not interested may frequently NOT produce an answer. It is not reasonable to expect someone who has no interest in your situation to have their life changed to accommodate you.
However, IF you ask for a prophet to speak to you, then the job of a prophet is to go where ever they are sent and then the Almighty MAY answer your request. However, it may take much longer than you would like before the prophet gets to you because of logistical and other constraints and YOU may need to go to strange places in order to meet the prophet. Are you willing to listen to a man in rags preaching on a street corner in the back end of town?
Asking for a prophet to phone you in the next five minutes is presumption -- it requires the Father to disrupt a person's life to a significant extent and it assumes that someone has your phone number or hears the Father clearly enough for Him to tell them. This is unlikely to happen except in exceptional circumstances.
A valid sign does NOT rely on your judgment or opinion.
Particularly a sign in which YOU judge whether it happened or not or judge others is invalid.
Asking something like "when I please meet these people please show me if they are happy or not" is not valid -- why should they be happy when they meet with you? Any number of things can be going on.
It is one thing for the Almighty to arrange a meeting that is supernatural when the person was going to be there anyway -- for example, when you know someone is attending a meeting with say 3,000 other people in a large auditorium where they will sit in one seat for the meeting and they don't know that you will be there, it is reasonable to ask that if the answer is "yes" you meet them in such a way that both know it is supernatural and if the answer is "no" that you don't meet them. Then be obedient to the leading of the Spirit of the Almighty.
If you walk in and START looking for them then you invalidate the sign yourself IF you find them.
If the person decides not to attend the meeting after you have prayed that MAY be a sign but does NOT have to be.
Once you have asked for a sign you have asked the Almighty to invest time, effort and resources to give you the answer. A supernatural sign may be a small thing for the Almighty but it IS significant.
Be certain BEFORE you ask for a sign that you are willing to carry out the actions that the answer requires.
IF you ask whether to marry someone or not and you get a clear, unambiguous "yes" then the Almighty knows EVERYTHING about that person and finding out the next day that they have some habit or belief or sexual preference or disease or whatever that you do not like does NOT invalidate the sign. The Almighty expects you to act responsibly and to carry out what is inherent in the sign.
This is particularly important for women since they are commanded to submit in EVERYTHING (Ephesians 5, 1 Peter 3, etc). It is not possible to find out all there is to know about a man before you marry him. Find out the will of the Almighty and then choose to WILLINGLY submit in everything no matter how many surprises you get.
IF something comes up that causes you to question whether you really did get the sign or understood it correctly or other wise causes you to SINCERELY doubt then if you ask in HUMILITY and faith recognizing YOUR fallibility you may receive another sign, just as Gideon did when he asked twice for the opposite outcomes with the fleece and the ground.
After that if you fail to be obedient your disobedience will count against you on the Day of Judgment unless you repent and, if possible, do what was required in the first place IF your error can be reversed.
Repeatedly asking for signs and then refusing to do what you asked about will incur the wrath of the Almighty and is rebellion.
The type of sign that you are able to ask for and receive will depend on your maturity.
If you are an inexperienced believer who has only been a believer for a short while and know little about the things of the Almighty you can expect a large measure of grace and mercy and potentially can expect more clear and more supernatural signs in most areas that are really important.
If you are a mature believer, have had signs before, have a collection of bibles and have read or could have read the bible repeatedly and your question is about a clear matter that you are entirely capable of resolving yourself then the Almighty is likely to say to you "you know the answer, figure this out yourself" -- you may not HEAR Him say that but, in my experience, He does. In such a case you will receive no sign OR if you persist you may open the door to demonic and Satanic attack.
Thus, if you hear for the first time that the Almighty permits more than one woman to marry the same man and you ask in faith you may get a sign. However, if you have years of experience, numerous bibles, etc and have access to detailed teachings on the matter you are quite capable of checking it out yourself without a sign.
Signs are not things to be requested lightly.
However, in my own experience the Father is gracious and WILL give signs quite frequently if one is asking from a place of sincerity about doing His Will.
Warm regards and blessings
[MAKERATING]
The comment feature is locked by administrator.
Return