We don’t need to look far before we see how much pain is in the world we live in. Sickness, death, joblessness, divorces, pain, abuse and the list is endless. As pain is on the rise, so also is the quest for knowledge. The answers to many questions is the tap of a finger away. We tap and speak to our gadgets and answers pop up. Information is sought for in a level it has not been in previous years and generations.
We want answers. We want to be kept in the know. We don’t want life taking us unaware. The if, when and how questions all needs answers. The hunger for knowledge has created a vacuum for answers.
Prophecy is a beautiful gift which i sincerely desire to work more in. I believe is a gift we should desire as believers because it helps us to be aware of what is happening and what will happen. God promised us in Joel that we will prophecy by His Spirit.
“Then, after doing all those things,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions. John 2:28 NLT
In a previous post, i explained what prophecy is as a gift of the spirit and why it is needed in the church. I will encourage you to read the post here.
As believers, we have been forewarned that not all prophecies are from God. The quest for knowing what God is saying have exposed many to receiving “prophecies” from the spirit of divination. We are quick to tag every passionate voice as prophetic without taking a moment to question the source. It is true doesn’t always mean it is from God. Many are unable to discern the truth of Christ because we have allowed emotions to mask our views about Christ. Being passionate doesn’t always mean what is being said is true.
Spirit of divination is from the devil. It is the evil spirit behind fortune telling, horoscope, astrology and star signs. As a believer i refuse to associate myself with any star sign. The only sign i cling to is the sign of heaven which tells me that i am a child of God. Instead of reading horoscope to find out what my future holds, i read the bible where my identity is revealed.
Zodiac signs, horoscopes and the likes are masked with fear and manipulation. The lure you into the kingdom of darkness and this spirit starts controlling you by pulling you to itself with a force that you easily cannot say no to.
In Acts 16:16-19, we see a clear case where the spirit of divination was in operation. 
What the slave girl said was true. However the source from where that revelation came was wrong. This grieved the spirit of Paul and he rebuked her.
We need to test all spirits to know whether they are of God. We shouldn’t be so comfortable with anyone to the point where we don’t carry out checks to verify the prophecy they give us.
When we expose ourselves to receiving prophecies from spirit of divination, we open up ourselves to spirits of fear, anger, pride and self awareness.
So how do we differentiate between prophecy and the spirit of divination? I have created a table below that helps with this.
|
Differences Between Prophecy and Spirit of Divination |
|
| Prophecy |
Spirit of Divination |
| Heavenly driven | Money and worldly driven |
| God takes the glory | The ‘prophet’ takes the glory |
| Stirs up a hunger for Christ | Manipulative. Makes you become clingy to the ‘prophet’ |
| Encourages forgiveness | Creates enmity, hatred and division |
| Clear | No clarity |
| Reveals extraordinary truth | Always ‘prophecies’ the obvious |
| Always in line with the bible | Doesn’t always tie in with the bible |
| Aids spiritual growth | Doesn’t pay attention to spiritual growth |
| Promotes things of the spirit | Promotes self |
| Restores you to fellowship with God | Leaves you in condemnation |
| Gives you peace | Grieves the spirit of God in you |
I would encourage you to use the above table as a check for any prophetic word that someone says to you.
May we be wise.
Grace Over Pain 
Yup, I agree.
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🙌🏾
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Yes!!! And always listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling us.
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Oh yes! He never goes wrong
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Thank you Efua for the table summary on difference between Prophecy and spirit of divination. This is very helpful, God bless you writing this post. It is really needed in our churches today.
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Really glad you liked it. God bless you too and I hope you have a lovely Christmas
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Amen! Efua, this is so good and so needed in the church. Thank you so much.
“Many are unable to discern the truth of Christ because we have allowed emotions to mask our views about Christ.”
Oh, Amen to that, too. So much in Christianity today is driven by the flesh and not by the Spirit. So much is feelings oriented and not of God, but so many people are flocking to what feels good while they reject the truth. And so many are willfully blinding themselves to this reality because the lies make them feel better, or so they convince themselves.
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Yes sis. Many of what is displayed in churches these days is emotionalism. Expressing our emotions in worship is not wrong at all but when we allow it blind us or when we believe the lie that that is what the Holy Spirit is all about, we are allowing ourselves to be deceived.
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I so agree.
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True prophecy always points back to the one who wrote it: Jesus. It must be
A. Motivated by love
B. For the edification of all
C. Under control
D. In order
And of course, again, always lead the person back to the source, which is Jesus. There is an awesome book/workbook you may enjoy reading called “God’s Airwaves”. It talks about this subject and it’s a quick read.
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All great points. Thanks for adding depth to this post. I have never heard of that book. It sounds like a great read. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Great post, Efua. The spirit of divination also likes to prophesy excessive wealth on your life. It is always all about money or witchcraft on your life. I once heard a prophet in church prophesied to someone that he will not just be a millionaire, but a billionaire in a few months time. I don’t think that this prophet even know how much is a billion dollar. It is outrageous! I will share your post on my Facebook.
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I so agree sis. I have heard similar prophecy so many times and it truly saddens my heart to see how much believers can be gullible. Thanks for sharing. Hoping it helps someone
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I sincerely hope it does.
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Also, just this morning I heard a prophet on the radio prophesing with long eloquent speech of all the great and wonderful things that are going to happen in the country that I live. I do not know who she is, but immediately the Lord placed in my spirit that we are living in the days of Jeremiah. I have decided to do a little study on Jeremiah. God bless you Efua.
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That is another one I hear often. People who only prophecy with regards to a new year and political election🤦🏾♀️. They are very many these days and many of the prophecies are false
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I always suspect those prophecies.
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Same sis. We thank God for discernment
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May we sincerely desire this gift. Thanks Efua 🙏
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Yes sis!
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I totally love this you are on point about everything. I could say you are like me. I am completely against horoscope. Jesus told us that by their fruit we shall know them and the table you create signifies the fruit of a true prophet and the fruit of the false prophet. Also we must also know how to try the spirit. The Holy Spirit in us will bear witness plus the word of God will help us to know the truth.
Another thing you wrote that is very important to talk about is that a lot of people are emotional than spiritual and that really gives room for error and demonic manipulation even with the church. Christ gives us wisdom to know truth and escape the wiles of the devil.
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Very well said. Amen. May we be led by the spirit and not by emotions. Thanks Maurice
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You are welcome
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Powerful!!!
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Praise God!
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Ezekiel 13 comes to mind!!!
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I will be studying that. Thanks
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