Originally posted by Isaac Tanner Madsen
Lol! I've never been called that before! Could you tell me more about these validation tests?
Whoa, I'm slow getting back to this question, I apologize. Certainly, whenever something happens to a believer that seems beyond the normal laws of
physics/biology or such, the first thing we try to do is explain why it wasn't real. We use excuses such as: 1.) I was really tired at the time 2.)
I must have been stressed and hallucinating 3.) Maybe I wanted something to happen subconciously therefore I saw it, etc.
Paul tells us to "Test everything". ATS is a good grounds for doing so because it gets scrutinized from many sides. People will throw out "what
if's" others will question and finally you have hecklers who don't believe anything anyone says thereby finding joy in tearing other people down to
make themselves feel better about whatever troubled situation their life is in. I'm making generalizations of course as we have a piece of these in
all of ourselves at times.
How then do you litmus test? There are many different ways, but here are a few that have helped me:
1.) "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into
the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but
every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is
already in the world." - 1 John 4:1-3
It's a hard read and took me some time to make sense of it, but it does in fact work.
2.) Ask "Does the information you've received contadict scripture?" You're answer will be either - yes, no or I don't know. If yes, you're
being misled. If no or I don't know, then you have to do further digging.
3.) Prayer. Ask God to validate what happened, help see it for what it is or help understand. He will. He's the God of clarity, not a deceiver who
delights in our sufferings.
4.) Fellowship. A bit of what you're doing here. Asking others about their experiences as believers to see if it verifies. I know your experiences
were valid because they match my own before you knew what mine were.
5.) Experience. Does this information match what you've come to know and feel as a believer?
6.) New info. Have you learned something you could not have possibly "taught yourself"? Have you realized a good that you were previously blind
to?
Hope this helps, feel free to ask if I should clarify or even answer the questions here. It may be of help to others as well.
