Tonight as we had corporate prayer for the VT victims as well as another shooting of a police officer not too far from where I live, God spoke to me and said that the dream I had previously was now manifesting. Then he gave me a different outlook on the spiritual things we as believers do. Do not get me wrong, I believe in every spiritual gift that the Bible declares, but I think that some things we take too far. I have seen a lot of laying hands on recently, and some of the “signs” that surround them, and I have to say that we must be careful of being overly spiritual. Truthfully, people experience the spirit by the Holy Spirit’s choosing, not by our spiritual acts.

We have to be careful when dealing with differing spirits as well. I recall a story where several guys thought that they could just use the name of Jesus and get results without believing in their hearts that he is the savoir. That demon they were talking to came out and beat them up! In basic terms, if we aren’t careful, some of the people we are so gun-ho to lay hands on may show a demon that takes hold of us. Though we cannot be possessed by it, we can be tormented and tempted by it’s attachment to us.

Most importantly, we have to remember, not everything is spiritual. We take things to extremes often times, either we rebuke the gifts of the spirit or try to make up our own. Either way, we need discernment and understanding of what God has established and purposed each person, gift and church to do.

1 Timothy 5:22 (NIV)

“Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands…”

He said to me “I sent my son down there too.” It hit me, Jesus was sent to a place that He wasn’t really used to. He was familiar with Heaven so coming here had to be like hell to some degree in terms of the conditions of the people’s hearts and how they treated Him. He came nicely and stearnly and yet was rejected harshly. Then God reminded me of my favorite Scripture and pointed out that I may be in a “state of hell but Christ has already conquered the world.” You see that?! And on top of that, we have to remember that He was sent not for himself, but for the sake of others. Sometimes when we ask to be like Christ, we forget all of the trials he faced are now going to knock on our doors as well.

We may be in a state of not so good, but the world has been conquered. So that “state” is nothing for Christ. Not only that, but last I checked, we too are more than conquerors! I know that God is about to elevate me beyond whats evident even now, and there are some great things in store. However, like Christ, we have to drink from His cup and keep pushing till the end. And as always, He told us ahead of time!

“I have (already) told you all of this so that trusting in me you will be unshakeable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world” John 16:33

Last week I did something that I didn’t really care to do. I still don’t really like it too much but I’m getting beyond it. God knows exactly what He is doing and it’s up to us to follow allowing with His movement. Last Sunday I announced that I am called and chosed to the five fold to my church. I have been called to preach and teach the Word of God. Now, it was already pretty much known by a few others, and the past two years that I have been blogging I have said it in a roundabout way (I may have actually said it straight forward), but there it is. I got up, spoke it and was recieved. Now the real process begins. Just as Jesus was recieved one day and killed a few days later, I am sure that I will be loved one minute and as I am obedient to God I will be hated the next.

I knew it would soon come out as I was lead to a church I really didnt want to go to but had seen in a dream a year ago. Mind you I didnt physically see the church until this year. Either way, I am relieved! The pressure I was feeling from God was overwhelmingly strong and now that I have made known that I am serious not only before people, but before God and the devil, I am certain that this is going to be an exciting growing experience. Im right where I should be with an interesting task at hand: breaking tradition and being a catalyst for real-life application.

As I was reading a scripture tonight, God added on to something He has been speaking to me about for over a year now. This one sparked up a new look on the unexpected. God is truly a god of order, there are systematic things that happen at apointed times and God knows the reasoning behind it. Before He does anything (and before He allows anything), He gives out a word. It may be a warning, it may be encouraging, it could be a vision of things to come. Its in His word that He is not limited to how He gives out his information according to Job 33:14. Another example would be when dating the wrong person, God surely will tell you thank God!

The thing is, God tells us because He loves us, and because he isn’t going to have us going around trying to give the honor of God’s foreword to anyone (or thing) else. He doesn’t like to hurt us, and because we are heirs to His throne, we are priveledged like close friends to private information. Why don’t we always hear? Sometimes we don’t want to hear it, as it can be emotionally too much. We put off dreams as just dreams,  confirmational words and songs as coincidence and feelings as just, well, feelings. Its time to listen to the truth and not fear it. The two don’t work together. The Lord has told us to be ready at all times!

Isaiah 48:5 – “Therefore I told you these things long ago, befroe they happened I announced them to you”

Amos 3:7 – “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”

Isaiah 42:9 – “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being, I announce them to you.”

Job 33:14 – “For God does speak — now one way, now another — though man may not percieve it…”

Last year God told me to tell the people to “forget the former things” and that He is about to do a new thing, with a few other things to go along with that. I always felt like there was more to the “former things” part than just not worrying about the past. Today God showed me a group of people that came into a new land and knew nothing of God. When they learned, they worshipped Him BUT they also continued to worship their previous gods as well. It struck me that this is an issue in the church. Many are being saved and have been in church for years, but are still holding on to their former way of life!

God has commanded us to have no one nor thing above Him. Yet many Christians are in the pulpits preaching about loving God while showing affection to their bank accounts. Many deacons are supporting God’s vision for the church but are worshiping the building. Many people are showing up on Sunday to pay God their “dues” while freely giving to the ABC store and porn sites. Truth is, some of us were taught the things of God but never taught to renew our minds. Its about that time now though, its time to forget the former things and move forward to what God really has for us!

Isaiah 43:18-19

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

2 Kings 17:24-40 (some Scriptures omitted for space)

The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

To this day they persist in their former practices.

They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.

Monday while at work,  a minister’s wife came through to make some deposits. She had the most rude attitude I had seen all day. ANybody noticing how those two sentences don’t seem to work together? Minister’s wife + rude = what? Not only that, but the minister himself, whom I see smiling often on billboards around where I travel and shop, is too, often rude. Once again, I get troubled in my heart.

Today, I get an email from the head of Psychology at my school Regent University. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has a doctoral student who is studying the affects of conflict in the congregation of churches and has called all Christian churches in the commonwealth to participate in a survey about it. This is what sparked my mind to write about this topic.

How aften are we as Christians already facing enough persecution from the world, and then come home to persecution in the church? Not to say this is everywhere, as it is not by all means. Also, I consider the fact that while we are there to praise God, we are still dealing with people just like ourselves who have problems and “not so great” days as well. But when the church becomes your enemy, what do you do? Christians, brothers, sisters, we have to remember that we are not here to please others, we are here to represent Jesus on Earth in love, patience, kindness and so many other things. Yet we miss the mark because of church politics. Then when we enter the world, we forget our home training but it appears that the training at home has gone out of the window.

True Christian character is evident not in the pulpit but in our everyday interactions with those that we have never even met. Its not about keeping a church face but its about keeping the image of Jesus before the world. Politics in the church hinder the spiritual growth as people focus too much on self and doctrinal motives versus Godly movements. Lets be mindful of the apostasy, and not continue to fall all of these traditions of men.

“Mark 7:6-8 NIV

He replied,
“Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

“I can almost tell you each time I’m gonna fall
Devil always paint the same picture, sweet frame and all
I wanna change
And you would think by now I’d catch the scenario
yes iknow im saved but sometimes i get really comfortable, OH Lord
Sorta like a old sitcom playing the same show
I wanna change
I’m sick of my own ways
End up in the same place
Gotta set my affection
For my own protection
I can’t go on the same way Lord so

Chorus:
I lift my hands to you
You’re my only help

Verse #2:
I’m sick of living life so predictable, yes I know
I’m saved but sometimes I get really comfortable, Oh Lord
I wanna change
I’m sick of all the ups and downs I want consistency
Tired of all the shaky ground give me stability, Oh Lord
I wanna change
I cast out all pronography uproot that thing up out of me
Devil you no longer have any control over me
While I bare adultery
Looking at my sister lustfully
In Jesus’ name you gotta leave, Lord

Chorus (repeat until end with ad-libs)

To get there, however, required me to take a road that is infested with toll booths. Of course, this is not my first time going to the headquarters (more like my fifth time), so this time, I already had my money ready and the time it would take me to get there mapped out in my mind. Naturally, with God, no day can ever be expected to be a normal day, and this drive was no different.

When I got to the first toll, I pulled out my .70 cents, threw it in, and drove off. As I continued driving, I started noticing how the rest of the tolls that lead to off ramps had much lower amounts to pass through. .20 cents, .25 cents, .30 cents, all much lower than what I had to pay. I started to think “I could get off at one of these exists, take the long way, and pay less money”. It was right then the Holy Spirit started talking. “Stick to the path, just because these look cheaper, don’t mean that they are better”.

Wow.

I thought, how can they not be better, they’re so much cheaper?! Then God revealed to me something profound yet simple: we often miss the fact that on our journey, our set course from God, there is a higher cost. Even though I wanted to take the cheaper route, I would have been pushed further away from my destination (<- you catch that?), it would have taken longer to get there due to traffic, red lights and slower speed limits, and it would have ended up costing me more in gas than in the money I used for the toll. The toll that I needed to pass through was the highest, yet it was also the last and was about a half mile away from my destination.

Following Jesus and His set plan always costs us, not monetarily but in the since of life. That’s the higher cost of living. It costs more to follow Him yet in the end we gain life. Sure it may seem easier to take the cheaper route, but in the end, if you plan on getting to the same destination, it will cost you more and delay you from getting there on time.

Matt. 16:24- Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

Psalm 49:8-  For the redemption of their souls is costly,

That’s the simplicity of the Gospel. Jesus is so over complicated often times that we miss the whole point and move of God. The elaborate words, the over reaching thoughts to perfection, and the in-Biblical bars set in churches to achieve “Holy sanctification have nothing to do with the love of Christ. We put so much on ourselves and blame God when we can’t measure up to high expectations of people. Then we turn away from church I.e. stop going to visit God at his house, then slack on calling Him and next thing you know, the relationship is on pins and needles.

Simply, He came, He died, He got back up, He conquered. The end.

John 16:33 – …”I’ve conquered the world.”

I have always been an introvert by nature but can surely act as an extrovert when needed. Today, and just over the past few months in general I’ve been learning about myself. I’ve learn that I have church hurt and recent developed animosity towards my last pastor and church situation. I learned how much I’ve relied on my friends to be there with ne. I learned how much patience I still lack. It’s so much, but I think now is a “Jesus left his disciples and went up the mountain by himself”