Posted by Bob - the Alien on December 05, 2003 at 10:20:30:
In Reply to: Direct revelation posted by PS on December 04, 2003 at 19:37:38:
(I thought I was not posting anymore, but I must respond to your direct questions.)
Well, the reason I did not mention these things is that I do not consider them to be relevant to other people. My revelations are my own, and I only share them when directly asked.
As to the form they take -- Yes, they do take on the form of feelings and intuition. You are right that these can also come of man, and to be wary of them. But certainly they can come of God as well. How do we tell the difference? Well, that is a question that we discuss with each other, because we are very concerned to be sure that we know the difference between revelation and our own thoughts.
For each person it is different. But some answers that have been given --
1) What did you feel when you were baptized? What do you feel when you recive a blessing? That feeling is the Spirit. Any revelation you get will be paired with that feeling. For me, this takes the form of light. I see it emanating from people, and things around me. I see it in the dark. I cannot explain it, as the light is not really there, it is not even really light. But I see it at the same time. When the spirit is with someone, I see it from them. When it is with me, I see it in everything. I have followed this guidance and it has been proven correct to me.
2) Know thyself. I am well versed enough with my own thoughts processes to know when something came out of left field and is something I never would have thought of. Then I need to decide if it is revelation from God, or from another source. Go back to answer #1, and pray, and the answer will come.
3) Know what topics you will receive revelation for. God does not give revelation to us unless we are responsible for the topic of that revelation. I will not receive revelation about any of you. I may receive it for myself or my family. My family may receive it for me, and my bishop my receive it for me or anyone in our community. If you receive revelation that is out of your responsibility, or goes against Gods' teachings, than it is false.
Other people have other answers. These are the ones that I use. And it has worked for me.
And FYI, once... only once... I did hear a voice. I had climbed one of the really tall mountains out here, and I sat in a field near the top, and I prayed for guidance on whether or not to get baptized into my church and follow this path. My answer came as a voice. And it did not give a pat answer, but gave a way to make the decision.
You are correct that revelation does not give pat answers. I hope I did not imply that they did. Answers come from study, discussions, scriptures, etc. But once you have an answer, how do you know that it is true? You pray. That is when you receive revelation guiding you on whether or not you are on track. After this, you have your answers. I hope I did not imply that they are handed to you on a platter.
All visions and revelations may come from a variety of sources. Your more potent revelations as well. The key is to challenge them. Look to how they came to you, look to whether or not they were true, and learn what they are. And just because your last revelation was true does not mean that the next one taking the same form is true. You need to look deeper than the form of the revelations to know its source.
Now... I hope you were not implying that because my revelations were different than yours, they are not of God. You seem to be implying that the Holy has to slap you in the face with its power to be a revelation. I respectfully disagree. Everyone is different. God will communicate to all of us differently. Moses had a burning bush. Jesus did not. You cannot say that because he communicated differently, the communication was not of God. Is it an awesome encounter with the holy? Yes. But it can be so while still being subtle.
And you are correct -- I have received feelings and intuitions that were not of God. You are quite correct in that. But I have learned how to tell the difference.
With Love,
Bob - the Alien