12/21/07 - Life Journal - Discerning His will, not mine

Now he did not say this on his initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that he might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
John 11:51,52

Caiaphas thought the word of God he had received was an end to all his problems, a reuniting of all the Jews of the Diaspora and the continuance of his political power. In reality he foretold of the self sacrifice of Jesus, the uniting of believers around the world and the end of Caiaphas' system under the old covenant.

Man, was that a bad example of discernment, or what? I'd say from this example the first requirement when interpretting the word of God, whether through prophecy, dreams or scripture, is to take my personal agenda out of the equation. I can get His word to say what I want to hear if I try hard enough. A good way to tell if this might be happening is when you see a ... before and after a little clip of a verse. when I've already made up my mind to what the answer should be I can use the Bible to prove anything by taking His word out of context.

Father, You speak to me everyday. If I ever slow down enough to hear Your word or see Your hand working in my life let me digest it with Your will in mind and not mine.