If they [the prophets] had stood in My council, then they would have
announced My words to My people, and would have turned them back from
their evil way and from the evil of their deeds (Jeremiah 23:22).

Every true prophet of God in the Old Testament was an evangelist.
His ministry drew people back to God and His Word. The call to
righteousness was the standard which separated the genuine prophet from
the imitation, as the prophet Jeremiah wrote. If you come across someone
who claims to be a prophet, but who is not involved in calling people to
a righteous walk with God, you may be dealing with a counterfeit.

In the New Testament, the gift of prophecy has one primary purpose:
to reveal unrighteousness and bring conviction. Paul wrote that, as a
result of prophecy, "The secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so
he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is
certainly among you" (1 Corinthians 14:25).

The Lord revealed through Jeremiah another criterion for
distinguishing a true prophet from a false prophet: "I have heard
what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I
had a dream, I had a dream!’ . . . The prophet who has a dream may
relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth.
What does straw have in common with grain?" (23:25, 28). God is
warning His people against prophets who value their dreams above His
Word.

God is not saying that dreams are unimportant. Indeed, He often
spoke to people in the Bible through dreams before the full revelation
of Scripture was complete. But in comparison to the nutritious grain of
His Word, dreams are mere straw. If you feed straw to cattle, they’ll
die. They will sleep on it, but they won’t eat it because it has no
nutrients. Similarly, dreams may be of some value, but they are never to
be equated with God’s Word as the basis for our faith or our walk.

Thank You, Lord, for the power of Your Word, which cuts through
falsehood and brings to light everything hidden in darkness.

This daily devotional is published and distributed by
http://www.GOSHEN.net/ . It is written by Neil Anderson at
http://www.freedominchrist.com/ .