The anointing aggresses

 

Mat 8:28-29, “And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"

Jesus had barely stepped out of a boat and treaded on the land of the Gadarenes when He was greeted like this. He had not even said a word yet. This scene reminds me of another one, in Capernaum. Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on a Sabbath day, when a man started shouting: "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God." Like the two demon-possessed men mentioned before, this guy also had an unclean spirit (Mk 1:23-24).

Jesus was simply teaching; however, something obviously managed to disturb this synagogue-goer. Up until then, the messages and exhortations of the Scribes, the then so-called masters of the Law, had never done anything to him because they spoke of things that they did not understand. But this new guy was making every word read in the Scriptures, His. He was teaching with an authority which was enough for the demon to feel very uncomfortable. The anointing aggresses.

As Paul says, there is no partnership between righteousness and lawlessness; no fellowship between light and darkness; and no accord between Christ with Belial (2Cor 6:14-15). Jesus came to destroy the works of darkness and demons are aware of this. When they see HIM – through us –, they know that their time is up and their business in danger; so, they attack. The anointing aggresses.

Sometimes, you go somewhere and some people start to have a go at you. It is their way of saying: “What are you doing here? What business is there between you and us? Have you come to torment or destroy us? We know who you are: you are a Christian. We don’t want a Holy-Spirit-filled Christian mopping around. We don’t want a preacher.” People do not have a problem as long as our Christianity is only on the paper and we do not understand the power of the Gospel. But they will not let anyone come in, in the power of the Holy Ghost, to expose or destroy their evil deeds. They will either attack them frontally or do it indirectly. Remember, the anointing aggresses.

Lk 6:22-23, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”

I just felt like reminding someone that, if you are not living in sin, your anointing may just be the reason why you are under spiritual stress and persecutions. Do not back off; persevere; keep pressing on; the enemy is in trouble.

Have a victorious week, in CHRIST JESUS, the LORD.

How is your sight (II)

 

Not so long ago, I greeted a young sister saying: “Hello, Mrs!” She is not married yet, so I did not call any specific name; but as I pray and believe GOD for her marriage, I know it is on its way. She did not shout back: “Amen! I receive it in Jesus Name.” On the contrary, she immediately responded, shaking her head from left to right, “No! No! Miss, please.” I repeated, “Mrs”, pointing the fact that I deliberately did not add any name to it. I got the same reaction. She said: “Mrs some day, but just Miss for now.” So, I asked her:

• - Tell me, when GOD looks at you, what does He see? A spinster or the finished product which is you with your husband, children, the dream job you are called to do etc.? Does He see you at this period of your life or He sees you as you have finished running the race that He sent you here to run?
• - I think He sees me as a finished product, she answered after thinking about it for a short while.

I nodded and continued:

• - When Abraham won the war against a coalition of kings, in order to free Lot, and when he gave the tithe of the spoils to Melchizedek, he was still childless (Gen 14:20). However, Heb 7:9-10 tells us that Levi – his great grandson, who was still in his father’s loins – also tithed with him on that occasion. Now, tell me: how can the great grandson of a man, do something when the son of that man is not even born yet? Moreover, when GOD changed his name, from Abram (exalted father) to Abraham (father of a multitude), was he already a father of many children? He only had one child then, born out of wedlock on top of all!

She now smiled and said: “Ok, Mrs.” I hope it has really sunk in her spirit (and in yours as well) for good.

I believed, and so I spoke (2Cor 4.13). I had seen something in the spirit and I spoke by faith. I called what is not there yet, Mrs, as if it already exists (Rom 4:17). Indeed, faith is the substance (assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence (conviction) of things not seen. There is a clear link between faith and sight; thence my question: How is your sight?

Have a great week in HIM.

How is your sight?

 

Lk 11:34-35, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness.”

A guy who is colour-blind will think that the traffic light is green whereas it is red, with consequences that we can easily imagine. Apart from other factors like temperature for instance, a blind will have a hard time telling between the day and the night. The same goes with spiritual sight which is equally (or even more) important than the physical, especially in three areas.

Seeing ourselves well. This will help us know whether we are still walking in the light or not, and make the necessary adjustments, eventually. But that is not all. The LORD rebuked a church – Christians –, saying: For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see (Rev 3:17-18). These brethren were not looking at themselves properly. Their eyes were sick and their sight was distorted, but they were not aware of it. Lastly, seeing ourselves well will help us to know our spiritual identity and thus, avoid fighting for things or going to places, which have nothing to do with our destiny.

Seeing others well. We also need to know how to appraise relationships and encounters. A good spiritual eye will discern whether it is GOD, the flesh or devil who is sending someone your way or drawing you to them. Mistakes here can be fatal. The sheep that has failed to spot the wolf under its guise will be feasted upon. Peter’s spiritual eyes saw that Jesus was the Christ; for others, He was Elijah, and for some others, he was only the carpenter’s son; and they all experienced different degrees of miracles, based on their revelation.

Seeing GOD well. All things work together for good to those who love GOD. In other words, His hand writes something in every circumstance of life. If our spiritual eyes are bad, we will not be able to read that message and might thus, misjudge the LORD. We might think He is unjust, severe, cruel or insensitive, while He is simply telling us, ‘Wait’ or ‘It’s going to destroy you’ or again, ‘I have better for you.’ We might even say, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan’, whereas He is the One at work. Indeed, some people did accuse Jesus to cast out demons by the power of Beezebul, the prince of demons! Seeing GOD well is, having His love, goodness, mercy, faithfulness, greatness, omniscience, omnipotence and sovereignty before us at all times; and it is looking at every event of our life from that angle.

May the LORD, GOD Almighty, preserve our sight forever, if it is good; and anoint our bad eyes with divine salve – or give us spiritual spectacles .

Have a great week in HIM.

No more embarrassing the LORD (II)

 

This article follows last week’s. Jesus told the disciples that it was because of their unbelief that they were not able to cast the demon out of the epileptic child and stop his suffering. This means that He accused them for not believing. They must have been very surprised, or even shocked, to hear this; just as we would, if such a reproach was made to us. We are all convinced to have a certain degree of faith which we believe to be bigger than a sesame or millet seed. Indeed, unbelief is usually very subtle amongst Christians. Here are some of the masks behind which it can hide.

Fear – Some people do not engage in spiritual warfare because they are afraid of demons. They are afraid to disturb or anger them; afraid that they will turn against them afterwards. So, they avoid the confrontation. Let’s then remember that He has given us authority over serpents, scorpions, and ALL the power of the enemy and NOTHING can harm us.

Pride – Others do not dare because they are too mindful of their reputation. They are more concerned about the shame which will be theirs if it fails, than the glory which the LORD will get if it works. Those who really have faith do not even think for one second that it may not work. Therefore, shame is never their problem. A king prepared a feast to celebrate his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to invite specific guests; but they refused to come and turned the invitation down (Mat 22). Whose shame was it? Certainly not the servants’; it was the king’s. We tend to forget that it’s not US, but GOD, who does the miracle and who is therefore responsible for it. We are only serving the King of kings. Our duty is simply to execute His orders and pass His message. If nothing happens after we have faithfully done our part, it is HIS problem.

Ignorance – My people are destroyed from/for lack of knowledge – i.e. by ignorance -, says the LORD in Hosea 4:6. There are two types of knowledge: the intellectual and the spiritual one. The first does not necessarily imply the second. We can know everything that Jesus has done intellectually, without fully realising it in our spirit. When it finally clicks in our spirit, we gain in assurance and confidence immediately. We need to know in the spirit. However, since spiritual knowledge usually comes on top of, or grafts itself on, intellectual knowledge, we must first expose ourselves to the WORD as much as possible, in order to discover all that the Bible says GOD can do through us – faith comes from what we hear, and what we hear from the Word of Christ (Rom 10:17). The second thing to do is to pray for the Holy Spirit to light up the Scriptures while we read: it is the illumination.

Inexperience – even when we know, sometimes, the lack of experience in the domain can make us lack the required confidence needed to dare. Let’s not forget that we are not alone and, for any art which is mastered, there was a first, second, third and nth ‘failed’ attempts. The LORD has promised to be with us till the end of times. We are the trainees, He is the Master. He will perfect our technique with time, but we must first try.

Hesitation and procrastination. “If you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen” (Mat 21.21). The French versions say, “If you have faith and do not hesitate.” Elements, demons and even death, all obeyed to the LORD’s orders instantly. Why then are we taking our time? If we keep on dragging our feet all the time, GOD will end up not doing anything when we will eventually decide to do what He initially requested from us. He called Peter and Peter followed Him at once. He told someone, who legitimately wanted to go and bury his dad first, to go with Him immediately and let the (spiritually) dead bury the (physically) dead! The window of opportunity and favour which was opened in heaven can easily be closed while we hesitate or procrastinate. There is a time for everything under the sun, and a time for the miracle. Let us seize it.

Once again, let’s pray: “LORD, I understand that I am your limbs, your eyes and your mouth. I will not fear. I will study the Scriptures and learn. I will develop my gifts and faith through exercise and I will not hesitate or procrastinate. Use me, LORD.”

Have an exploits-filled week in Jesus’ Name!