Wednesday 6 January 2010

Sanctified Common Sense

I am reading the book 'Just Do Something' by Kevin DeYoung. In it he quotes Assemblies of God writer Donald Gee:

[There are] grave problems raised by the habit of giving and receiving personal "messages" of guidance through the gifts of the Spirit ... The Bible gives a place for such direction from the Holy Spirit ... But it must be kept in proportion. An examination of the Scriptures will show us that as a matter of fact the early Christians did not continually receive such voices from heaven. In most cases they made their decisions by the use of what we often call "sanctified common sense" and lived quite normal lives. Many of our errors where spiritual gifts are concerned arise when we want to make the extraordinary and exceptional to be made frequent and habitual. Let all who develop excessive desire for "messages" through the gifts take warning from the wreckage of past generations as well as contemporaries ... The Holy Scriptures are a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

6 comments:

Mister Spence said...

And what do you think of that comment?

To whom it may concern said...

I think that we should not deny that God can guide through vision etc. but I think that we should see these as the exception rather than the rule.

Mister Spence said...

I think we have all witnessed situations where people are waiting for a lightning bolt, when really they are ready to just get on with it.
I disagree, though, that God's guidance is the exception.
Surely the practise of discernment is an everyday occurrence?

To whom it may concern said...

It is not that God's guiding is the exception, but that spectacular acts of guidance, like dreams, words and visions are the exception.

Rhonda B said...

Agreed! I believe that we should always seek God for advise, but don't expect visions and answers to come daily.

It is awesome that I found this post around the same time I was coming to this conclusion through my own experiences.

To whom it may concern said...

Rhonda
I am really glad this was helpful for you.
Paul