How to Know if a Prophesy is Really from God

And My Review of Premeditated Serendipity

Ok. So let’s talk about a book that made me laugh and cheer and maybe even feel a little righteous anger. And all in a hundred pages or so. That’s par for the course for Chautona Havig (she did, after all, write the funniest book I read last year). But Premeditated Serendipity will also make you think. It stirred up a question that wasn’t new territory for me. In this story, a character gives a new believer a prophecy that might change the course of his life. Prophecy is a hot topic in the Pentecostal tradition, but many believers, from many traditions, don’t know really know what to do with it. Some assume prophecies today are just fake, and others assume that a prophecy should always be trusted and followed, especially if spoken by someone they love and respect. So how do you know if a prophecy is really from God?

This post was originally shared on the Real World Bible Study Blog

This page contains affiliate links – they don’t cost you a penny, but they sure help to pay off those student loans! For more information, please see my disclosure page. Also, I received a review copy of Premeditated Serendipity as part of the Out of the Blue Bouquet collection. All opinions are my own.

How do you know if a prophecy is really from God?

#1 Pray Early and Often

My friend Joey told me a long time ago to “to take everything with a grain of salt, and season heavily with prayer.” He was talking about seminary books, but the advice stands here too. It’s great to hear God’s word from someone else, but train yourself also to hearing his word for yourself by spending time in prayer and reading the Bible. As you learn to hear God’s voice in prayer, the Holy Spirit will assure you if a prophecy is really from God and is something you should pay attention to, and alert you if something is not quite right.

#2 Test it With Scripture

If a prophecy is really from God, it will line up with Scripture, and it won’t contradict God’s own Word. 1 John 4:1 reminds us to test the spirits and not believe everything we hear. John tells his readers that any spirit that does not confess Christ is not from God. It follows that the same goes for anything that is in contradiction to what is clearly taught in Scripture.

Another note here that Chautona brings out in Premeditated Serendipity: if you have to take Scripture out of context, make it mean something it never meant, in order to make it “work with Scripture,” that’s no good. God is never going to ask us to misinterpret his word.

#3 Seek Wise Counsel

If you want to know if a prophecy is really from God, seek wise counsel, from folks who have been doing a lot of #1 and #2. In a multitude of counselors, there is safety (Proverbs 11:14).

Would I Recommend Premeditated Serendipity?

Yes! This book, part of the Out of the Blue Bouquet collection on Amazon, is a sweet, funny romance that will make you think about more than fluttery hearts, the meaning of flowers, or even whether a prophecy is really from God.

Premeditated Serendipity is on tour with Celebrate Lit!

About the Book

Title: Premeditated Serendipity

Author: Chautona Havig

Genre: Christian romance

Release date: November 16, 2017

…make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you. ~ I Thessalonians 4:11

That’s all Reid wanted to do–just serve the Lord for a year before concerning himself with anything else. Yeah, the idea came from an odd “prophesy” one of the watchmen of Fairbury’s new Prayer Room spoke over him. Sure, he didn’t know if such “prophecies” were even Biblical–arguments on that score abounded. But since the words she spoke were pure Scripture, and since yielding to them couldn’t be wrong, he thought, “Why not?”

Was it always easy? No. People made judgments about him that weren’t accurate. Shy? Nope. Stuck up? Not hardly. Committed to a celibate life?

Good news, girls–just for the year.

But when the local florist hears Reid’s story and sees a few things that give him a glimpse into the man’s heart, he decides on a little premeditated serendipity to move things along, unaware of the serious havoc he’s about to wreak.

Premeditated Serendipity

Take a few Bible verses, stir in a little godly interference, give a pinch of meddling, and mix well. Bake in the oven of misunderstanding until true feelings rise and come out clean.

Part of the Out of the Blue Bouquet Collection

Click here to purchase your copy of the Out of the Blue Bouquet Collection

About the Author

Author of the Amazon bestselling Aggie and Past Forward series, Chautona Havig lives and writes in an oxymoron where she uses story to connect readers with the Master Storyteller.

Guest Post from Chautona

What Important Life Lesson Do Simple Daisies Teach Us?

It all began with a barrel of daisies. There I was, writing a simple scene with a character walking up the street of my fictional town of Fairbury, and this man appeared in front of a florist’s shop—The Pettler. He handed my character a daisy, and I soon learned that he did this for everyone—handed out a free daisy to anyone who passed.

Since then, in almost any book that takes place in Fairbury, someone receives one of those daisies. So, when Amanda Tru told me about a collection featuring novellas about floral fiascoes, I knew it was time for Wayne Farrell of The Pettler to make a solid showing in a book.

I just wasn’t ready for it to be his story.

However, as I wrote about Reid and Kelsey, Wayne kept creeping in more and more. A backstory emerged. His faith bloomed. Yes, his heart has a few weeds that need to be pulled, but those weeds provided the conflict for this story.

And one thing that happened is he planted a seed in my own heart. I sat there thinking about what those daisies meant to him when the old “He loves me, he loves me not” ditty came to mind. I imagined that a florist would likely love or hate that. I mean, you don’t want people to have negative connotations with flowers, but on the other hand, people buying daisies to pluck… that’s good business.

Thinking of it in terms of Jesus changed everything, though. Suddenly, I had his story. Because, like Wayne shares with Reid in Premeditated Serendipity. When you pluck a daisy thinking of the Lord, there is no not. It’s just, “He loves me. He loves me. He loves me.” You can cross out every not. (I even have a short video on this.)

Because, as John 3:16 reminds us, “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

He loves us. Period.

Note: for Wayne’s full story, check out Tangoed in Tinsel, part of the Under the Christmas Star set—the CrossRoads Collection 3.