To Read or Not to Read: Filled with the Spirit

Alright, so this has been a long time coming, this post. I have yet to read a book (since starting this blog) that I really had an issue with. You know what I mean right? A book that does not sit well with you, you don’t agree with it, you start to wonder why you are reading it. In the past I would have stopped reading it, but now I thought maybe I would be doing  a disservice to this community if I didn’t put up with a book that I didn’t agree with.
My thoughts are that maybe someone else has already read this book, and she understands it and can explain to me that I didn’t read it right, and what I missed. I can admit I am wrong sometimes! Or I will be helping someone else who isn’t sure about this book – I mean if someone had told me this book wasn’t great I wouldn’t have read it.
So here’s the first not super flattering review – please don’t take offense as these are my personal opinions.

Filled with the Spirit: Understanding God’s Power in Your Life
By Joyce Meyer
I picked up this book as part of my search for more information on the Gifts of the Spirit. I am sad to say that this book did not sit well with me. I really wanted to stop reading, but at the same time I feel that if this blog were full of positive reviews I wouldn’t be true to myself. I mean if I were talking to girlfriends I would say when I came across a book that I completely disagreed with – right?

So here are some reasons that this book didn’t jive with me.

Meyer’s major point was that the gift of tongues is still a gift that every one receives from the Spirit. All we have to do is ask for it. Now mind you, I believe that the gift of tongues might have a great use, but I don’t agree with her reasoning (she says we need a special language to pray to God so Satan won’t hear (p 121) which I have never heard before, and can’t find in scripture). My thoughts on the gift of tongues are that the Spirit will use this power when God needs to touch someone and His servant doesn’t speak the same language – meaning the language is one that used vernacularly – like Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese. Meyer tells us that she received the language of Latin. Last time I checked there isn’t a country that speaks Latin and only Latin. Why would such a language bring any glory to His Kingdom?

Now if this was just an issue with a difference of opinion no biggie, the book has some nice little lines about turning to God during life’s struggles and enjoying the baptism of the Holy Spirit. However the next reason is why I felt I needed to write this post.

I do not agree with the way Meyer treated her Biblical quotes. She gives tons of scripture as she discusses the gift of tongues, but she also uses brackets and parenthesis to change words and add in extra words so that the scripture would better fit her point. My faith is based on the concept that the Bible is God’s word and it is perfect and infallible. So there is no need to adding extra words into scripture. But I do not think it is alright to tweak scripture to make your own point.

Sure as humans we are prone to misunderstanding, and that is where discussion of scripture comes in as we try to completely understand the intricacies of God’s word, but we don’t have to add anything as we do this. I believe that is part of the gifts of the Holy Spirit – the knowledge of believers to grasp all the points God made in His Word.

Here is a sample of this addition/change to scripture:

From Meyer – page 56:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions (divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [divinely suggest] dreams.
Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to God’s kingdom].
And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath…   (Acts 2:17-19)

From BibleGateway.com NIV

¹⁷ “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.        (Acts 2:17-19 NIV)

Notice that in the quote from Filled with the Spirit there is no mention of which version of the Bible was used. If you look at the copyright page five different version were mentioned as being used - the Amplified is credited with most... which might be the root of my issue...


Now please understand I don’t mean to tear down Joyce Meyer at all as a person, I might just not have the clarity to truly understand this book yet. Or she could have been misled when she wrote this book. Or the Lord has put us on such different paths we won’t truly understand the other’s views while in this skin. I just disagreed so much with the points in this book and felt I had to be honest on here. So please no hate comments. Like I said in the beginning if you have read this book and it hit you as great, please share with me what I might have missed.