Our government has a system of checks and balances designed to keep the Legislative: Congress, Executive: President, or Judicial: Supreme Court branch from exercising undue power over one another or over the people. The system was designed as a fail-safe to keep any one branch from gaining or exercising too much power! Well, did you know that there is a system of checks and balances in the Kingdom of God?

When we first moved to the Atlanta area, I didn’t know if it was the location or the time, but it seemed as if everybody and their momma had a “word” from the Lord for me! I mean, I’m not perfect, but the Lord and I are on speaking terms: We talk everyday! So I couldn’t understand why he would tell somebody to tell me something and yet not mention it to me in our daily conversations! Well, I came to the conclusion that it was not so much that these people had a “word” for me as it was their attempt to impress me with their super-pseudo-spirituality! But, just in case you encounter some of these people, you need to know that there are some principles (a system of checks and balances) that govern a “word” from the Lord.

First of all, as a rule of thumb, the Lord will usually never tell anybody (not even the preacher!) to tell you anything that he hasn’t already told you! In other words, he usually doesn’t give other people a “new” word for you; he usually uses other people to confirm the word he has already spoken to you! He doesn’t use them for a “fresh” word, he uses them to say “Amen” to the word he has already spoken and revealed to you! (You need to make sure you have “ears to hear” as the Lord speaks! We talk to God through prayer; God talks to us, primarily through his written word! But, if you don’t read, study and meditate on the written word, you leave yourself open to deception because God has spoken, but you didn’t hear and you weren’t listening!)

Secondly, not only whenever someone claims to have a word from the Lord, will their word confirm what God has already told you, but their spoken word will also agree with God’s written word! I have heard of people today who are claiming that they are so spiritual that they have a revelation that is so fresh (a “rhema word”) that it is not even in the Bible! Well, they are more spiritual than Jesus or any of the prophets! For Jesus only spoke what the Father told him (See John 12:49) and what the Father told him was really not anything new, but rather the Father used Jesus to confirm the word he had spoken to the Prophets of the Old Testament! So whatever anyone tells you, if it is really from God, it will confirm what God has already told you and it will agree with the written word; the Bible!

And then thirdly, it will settle and resonate in your spirit! You will not have to wonder; you will know it is from God because the Holy Spirit will confirm it within your spirit! Whenever you hear a sermon and it seems like the preacher is talking to nobody but you; that’s the Holy Spirit confirming that word in your spirit! When something is said in the sermon and you think that surely your wife, your husband or somebody must have had a private conversation with the Pastor about you; that’s the Holy Spirit confirming the word in your spirit! So don’t get mad at the preacher or look cross-eyed at your spouse or the people around you! Just thank God that his word is a Living Word!

All three of these principles will come into play: confirmation of an already given word, agreement with the written word, and a spirit/Spirit agreement, whenever someone says they have a word from the Lord for you! Don’t be fooled by pseudo-prophets looking for a profit! Don’t be impressed by people trying to impress you with their super spirituality! If it is really from God, it will pass all three tests! Thank God for this system of spiritual checks and balances and remember the words of the Apostle John: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1John 4:1 KJV)