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DaneClark
Guest
What’s the best way to discern weather a sudden, spontaneous thought came from the holy spirit or weather it came from your own head?
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ProVobis
Guest
Everything comes from God.
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Crumpy
Guest
I have been given many insights into scripture, by praying and spending time with the verses. It often helps me in a bible study simply to listen to others read the scripture, relieving myself of everything but pure absorption of the message.
Well, to use the phrase that has been popular for a number of years, I think an insight into scripture is most inspired when it enables me to “connect the dots” in a way that I could not in the past.
In the last six months or so, I have been very inspired by the letter of James in the New Testament. And, even then, just the first two chapters are very inspiring.
Even Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is a very thought-provoking verse. more generally, we should meditate on it as
____________, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ
and see if we could honestly put our own name in the blank spot.
Crumpy, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Would and could we have the courage to say that of ourselves, and would other people see those qualities in us, that we are servants of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And, then, going further in Chap 1 of James, reading about trials and temptations. Trials and temptations are different, and it’s good to take a good close look at that, to begin with.
Person X might come at us in some way, to bother us, to create a trial for us, for the waste of time or the threat or whatever. And, that trial might give us various temptations to sin. etc.
So, when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to this teaching and those verses, things like this, we should take these as the gifts of the Spirit that they are. Inspirational gifts will not be temptations, even to pride.
And, towards the end of chap 1 of James, he tells us to pray for the gift of understanding and wisdom, which would be the real gift of God, that the original post is talking about.
Well, to use the phrase that has been popular for a number of years, I think an insight into scripture is most inspired when it enables me to “connect the dots” in a way that I could not in the past.
In the last six months or so, I have been very inspired by the letter of James in the New Testament. And, even then, just the first two chapters are very inspiring.
Even Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is a very thought-provoking verse. more generally, we should meditate on it as
____________, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ
and see if we could honestly put our own name in the blank spot.
Crumpy, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Would and could we have the courage to say that of ourselves, and would other people see those qualities in us, that we are servants of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And, then, going further in Chap 1 of James, reading about trials and temptations. Trials and temptations are different, and it’s good to take a good close look at that, to begin with.
Person X might come at us in some way, to bother us, to create a trial for us, for the waste of time or the threat or whatever. And, that trial might give us various temptations to sin. etc.
So, when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to this teaching and those verses, things like this, we should take these as the gifts of the Spirit that they are. Inspirational gifts will not be temptations, even to pride.
And, towards the end of chap 1 of James, he tells us to pray for the gift of understanding and wisdom, which would be the real gift of God, that the original post is talking about.
po18guy
Well-known member
Well,we will know all things by their fruits. If this thought originated with the Holy Spirit, then it must lead to the fruits of the Spirit. From the catechism: CCC 1832 The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity."112
112 Gal 5:22-23 (Vulg.).
112 Gal 5:22-23 (Vulg.).
- Certainly, not all things come from God. We have been given capabilities that God Himself does not possess: Disobedience and the evil that comes from it.
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bkayw
Guest
Ask if the statements match up with the ten commandments, the two great commandments, the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, the Our Father, Sacred Scripture, Church doctrine, etc.
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Crumpy
Guest
To add to my previous post.
I don’t want to burst anybody’s bubble, but I don’t take my own sudden inspirations as messages from God. Yes, sometimes I do have an idea and I don’t know where it came from.
I prefer to let time take care of those kinds of ideas. They don’t come with postmarks that we can read, that they are from God.
If we study the Bible to know God’s will, then we can test our ideas against that. But, even still many people including saints have had spiritual advisors to assist them with just such sudden ideas.
There are saints in the Church who have*** desired ***martyrdom or so it has been said of them. That’s a big decision to make. Sometimes they didn’t have any time to think it over and sometimes they did.
Even if we conclude that something is from the Holy Spirit, we must not become proud of that. The more unusual the idea, the more we should suspect that it is not from the spirit.
Fr. Mitch Pacwa from EWTN is putting together a series of DVD’s on the errors of the Protestant Reformation. It’s going to take 10 years and a lot of money for the high quality production that he and his organization wants to do You can probably learn about this at his website, fathermitchpacwa.com or .org. I don’t know if he had the inspiration for this or somebody else. This is someone who is already a well-known personality taking a leap of faith into “an idea” that seems to resonate with his priesthood and ministry. And, he is going ahead with it.
Now, if I had such an idea, it would never get off the ground. I don’t think the Holy Spirit would think of choosing a klutz like me for such a big project. My life is simply not on that trajectory.
I happen to think that homosexuality is not normal, it is, as the Church says, a disorder or whatever word they use. I think that there is a physical basis for it such that it is not silly to pray for a cure for it, and so I do. And, I have mentioned this prayer cause a number of times in these forums.
So, you have to take a prayerful look at whatever idea that you seem to have.
If someone has told you to transfer all your wealth to them, that’s probably not the Holy Spirit – don’t do it!
I don’t want to burst anybody’s bubble, but I don’t take my own sudden inspirations as messages from God. Yes, sometimes I do have an idea and I don’t know where it came from.
I prefer to let time take care of those kinds of ideas. They don’t come with postmarks that we can read, that they are from God.
If we study the Bible to know God’s will, then we can test our ideas against that. But, even still many people including saints have had spiritual advisors to assist them with just such sudden ideas.
There are saints in the Church who have*** desired ***martyrdom or so it has been said of them. That’s a big decision to make. Sometimes they didn’t have any time to think it over and sometimes they did.
Even if we conclude that something is from the Holy Spirit, we must not become proud of that. The more unusual the idea, the more we should suspect that it is not from the spirit.
Fr. Mitch Pacwa from EWTN is putting together a series of DVD’s on the errors of the Protestant Reformation. It’s going to take 10 years and a lot of money for the high quality production that he and his organization wants to do You can probably learn about this at his website, fathermitchpacwa.com or .org. I don’t know if he had the inspiration for this or somebody else. This is someone who is already a well-known personality taking a leap of faith into “an idea” that seems to resonate with his priesthood and ministry. And, he is going ahead with it.
Now, if I had such an idea, it would never get off the ground. I don’t think the Holy Spirit would think of choosing a klutz like me for such a big project. My life is simply not on that trajectory.
I happen to think that homosexuality is not normal, it is, as the Church says, a disorder or whatever word they use. I think that there is a physical basis for it such that it is not silly to pray for a cure for it, and so I do. And, I have mentioned this prayer cause a number of times in these forums.
So, you have to take a prayerful look at whatever idea that you seem to have.
If someone has told you to transfer all your wealth to them, that’s probably not the Holy Spirit – don’t do it!
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2doves
Guest
Read 1 John 4:1-3…A thought may appear to come out of nowhere but discern the nature of the thought. If it is against the Word of Jesus Christ than it is obviously not from the Holy Spirit. Us humans are capable of inspiration which help us to create. Divine inspiration helps us to know that the “Bible” and the Catholic Church are from God. If your thoughts upset you…maybe you should seek counsel from your parish priest,minister,or a mental health counselor. God be with you !
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Jesness
Guest
What about people who have OCD? It’s not uncommon for them to have violent thoughts against people they love. Do you suppose those thoughts are from God and should be acted upon?Everything comes from God.
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2doves
Guest
Never should an act of violence be carried out stemming from a thought within the mind of anyone ! OCD is an unfortunate mental illness and can be treated with medications today. It is a physical unbalance of the vital neurotransmitters within the brain. As for the potential implications…persons with OCD should always be under the care of a psychiatrist. As for the nature of the thoughts origin…violence is never from the Holy Spirit. There are medications to help control the unwanted thoughts of those afflicted with OCD. They are indeed a gift of Divine Intervation to help alleviate the mental anguish of those who suffer with any mental illness. The spiritual angst which arises from those violent kind of thoughts should also be dealt with the help of a spiritual advisor. I do not believe myself that mental illness is the devil at play. A biological reason does exist…
God Bless You !
God Bless You !
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