Is it God's will or a religious spirit?
by Lance Wallnau
IT's 11:11 - time for this EVENING"S PROPHETIC WORD!
Balance - so hard to achieve. Those who are driven by a perpetual thirst for success, wealth and significance, seldom hear or heed the summons to serve, write big checks and pray for others.
Those who swing to the polar opposite, perpetually seek God (so it seems)... but their spirituality is linked to poverty, social ineffectiveness and toxicity. Especially in their criticism of all those who believe in "prosperity."
In the middle of these extremes are those who balance on the razor's edge of real SPIRITUALITY and SUCCESS. I have fallen into both ditches. (The one without money was worse.)
A religious spirit is subtle because it occupies you with "God thought's" all day long. But the religious spirit tells you that you need to pray more, fast more, do more....you never quite feel right unless somehow you are suffering.
This belief sets you up to sabotage any opportunity that comes your way to prosper and have social status. It feels unclean.
HERE IS THE KEY TO DISCERNING A RELIGIOUS SPIRIT
The supreme measure of true spirituality, the highest objective God has for man is "obedience" not suffering. The Prophet Samuel rebuked King Saul when he confused the issue of obedience and sacrifice, saying: "To OBEY is better than sacrifice"
Here's a thought that flips my mind...
To SACRIFICE when obedience requires you to prosper is the height of disobedience!
To turn down a promotion in order to better serve God, when God sent that promotion, is disobedience.
To be sad when God say's to be happy is disobedience. To fast on a feast day is disobedience.
The nature of a religious spirit is to make you feel guilty for pleasure - at all times. Thus robbing God of the joy of blessing you.
What was the CUP Jesus had to drink? Was it the cup of sacrifice? No, I think it was the cup of OBEDIENCE. Before the will of the Father was absolutely revealed the cup and God's revealed will were two separate things. Jesus prayed earnestly to know the Fathers will. He did not say " I want to be crucified, I must drink the cup" rather he prays in consecration to find the Father's will. As Jesus sees the cup of obedience becoming the cup of suffering, he says, "If it be possible take this cup away...yet not my will but thine be done." The will of God - obedience is the issue, not suffering.
In obedience he drinks the cup of suffering, and turn's it into the cup of blessing for us.
To serve God we are not called to chose sacrifice, rather we are called to chose the WILL OF GOD. If the will of God is sacrifice, then let us do so like soldiers. The crossroad's of life are not a choice between the cross and compromise with the devil. We don't come up to a cross at any crossroad - we CARRY a cross up to the crossroad! It is the instrument of judgement that enables us to practice self denial to stay true to the PURPOSE OF GOD! The cross we carry keeps us true to the purpose.
The cross is self denial. We deny ourself whenever temptation solicits us to detour from the path of purpose. At other times the cross enables us to judge the religious spirit, because above all, the cross of Jesus is the only sacrifice that counts with God. Your sacrifice is not needed. All our suffering does not add a thing to His perfectly finished work, and that's the scariest subtlety of all about a religious spirit - it is rooted in a "self righteous spirit." A spirit that substitute's our suffering for FAITH and GRACE, two gifts made available through HIS sacrifice, not ours.
IT's 11:11 - time for this EVENING"S PROPHETIC WORD!
Balance - so hard to achieve. Those who are driven by a perpetual thirst for success, wealth and significance, seldom hear or heed the summons to serve, write big checks and pray for others.
Those who swing to the polar opposite, perpetually seek God (so it seems)... but their spirituality is linked to poverty, social ineffectiveness and toxicity. Especially in their criticism of all those who believe in "prosperity."
In the middle of these extremes are those who balance on the razor's edge of real SPIRITUALITY and SUCCESS. I have fallen into both ditches. (The one without money was worse.)
A religious spirit is subtle because it occupies you with "God thought's" all day long. But the religious spirit tells you that you need to pray more, fast more, do more....you never quite feel right unless somehow you are suffering.
This belief sets you up to sabotage any opportunity that comes your way to prosper and have social status. It feels unclean.
HERE IS THE KEY TO DISCERNING A RELIGIOUS SPIRIT
The supreme measure of true spirituality, the highest objective God has for man is "obedience" not suffering. The Prophet Samuel rebuked King Saul when he confused the issue of obedience and sacrifice, saying: "To OBEY is better than sacrifice"
Here's a thought that flips my mind...
To SACRIFICE when obedience requires you to prosper is the height of disobedience!
To turn down a promotion in order to better serve God, when God sent that promotion, is disobedience.
To be sad when God say's to be happy is disobedience. To fast on a feast day is disobedience.
The nature of a religious spirit is to make you feel guilty for pleasure - at all times. Thus robbing God of the joy of blessing you.
What was the CUP Jesus had to drink? Was it the cup of sacrifice? No, I think it was the cup of OBEDIENCE. Before the will of the Father was absolutely revealed the cup and God's revealed will were two separate things. Jesus prayed earnestly to know the Fathers will. He did not say " I want to be crucified, I must drink the cup" rather he prays in consecration to find the Father's will. As Jesus sees the cup of obedience becoming the cup of suffering, he says, "If it be possible take this cup away...yet not my will but thine be done." The will of God - obedience is the issue, not suffering.
In obedience he drinks the cup of suffering, and turn's it into the cup of blessing for us.
To serve God we are not called to chose sacrifice, rather we are called to chose the WILL OF GOD. If the will of God is sacrifice, then let us do so like soldiers. The crossroad's of life are not a choice between the cross and compromise with the devil. We don't come up to a cross at any crossroad - we CARRY a cross up to the crossroad! It is the instrument of judgement that enables us to practice self denial to stay true to the PURPOSE OF GOD! The cross we carry keeps us true to the purpose.
The cross is self denial. We deny ourself whenever temptation solicits us to detour from the path of purpose. At other times the cross enables us to judge the religious spirit, because above all, the cross of Jesus is the only sacrifice that counts with God. Your sacrifice is not needed. All our suffering does not add a thing to His perfectly finished work, and that's the scariest subtlety of all about a religious spirit - it is rooted in a "self righteous spirit." A spirit that substitute's our suffering for FAITH and GRACE, two gifts made available through HIS sacrifice, not ours.
Leap of faith
And there again, He is teaching me another chapter about faith.
You know, insecurity always sucks. It's the sign of lack of faith, lack of trust. It means to look through the lenses of doubtfulness and fear.
After a few years of waiting, again, He said, "wait for another 3-4 years." It requires great patience and firm faith in waiting for something without solid evidence of it happening after all those delays. Honestly, I am not a very patient person. And I am definitely not the one with greater faith than the others. But I know, God gave me dream and made me ask someone (of higher authority) so that I'll have confirmation that this is the season I must learn to obey and practice self-control. I like how my friend puts it, "Patience is bitter, but it's fruit is sweet." God is a faithful Gardener.
It's a long long journey and it's definitely not an easy one. But in Him I put my trust.
His grace is suffice for me to keep moving.
You know, insecurity always sucks. It's the sign of lack of faith, lack of trust. It means to look through the lenses of doubtfulness and fear.
After a few years of waiting, again, He said, "wait for another 3-4 years." It requires great patience and firm faith in waiting for something without solid evidence of it happening after all those delays. Honestly, I am not a very patient person. And I am definitely not the one with greater faith than the others. But I know, God gave me dream and made me ask someone (of higher authority) so that I'll have confirmation that this is the season I must learn to obey and practice self-control. I like how my friend puts it, "Patience is bitter, but it's fruit is sweet." God is a faithful Gardener.
It's a long long journey and it's definitely not an easy one. But in Him I put my trust.
His grace is suffice for me to keep moving.
No regrets.
See through Him
A lot of times we choose what we hear and see what we see. Most probably that is why we are so anxious and fearful of the future. Choose everyday to align your heart and mind with God's. You will see great transformations in yourself and also how people and your surrounding react back to you as you do all things according to His will.
Does Happiness Really Matter?
Came across a line while listening to a song,
In actual fact, God's main purpose is not that we'd be the happiest beings alive. Happiness is not so much His concern compared to His will for us - that we'd be holy, obedient and righteous before Him. That we'd strive to accomplish His missions for us. Of course, this does not mean that He doesn't care about our well-being at all. He has plans for all of us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hopes and a future. He cares.
In Him we find joy which differs from happiness. It's a state where we rejoice and be grateful in all circumstances, positive or otherwise. It is the engine that keeps us moving especially when everything seems bleak, for it is the joy of the Lord that gives us strength.
Coming back to happiness.
It's merely emotion that we are experiencing. People putting so much emphasis on it which, I believe, has led to the degradation of their moral standing and also their discernment regarding issues in life.
If we concentrate too much and solely on our emotions, we tend to lose focus of His Word. His Word should always be the foundation we are standing on. This simply means that we should act based on the Word, not on our emotions. Some of the influence and exposure have caused us to believe that what we want is really what matters most. But I say, it's the least importance of all.
Have faith in God, focus on His promises, function to fulfill your calling.
The Joy of the Lord is your strength. Not happiness, it's only temporal. But the joy is for eternal.
Choose what is better and persevere without giving into hope deferred.
“ 沒有什麼事比快樂重要Immediately I am reminded of something I have heard awhile ago.
(nothing is more important than happiness)”
In actual fact, God's main purpose is not that we'd be the happiest beings alive. Happiness is not so much His concern compared to His will for us - that we'd be holy, obedient and righteous before Him. That we'd strive to accomplish His missions for us. Of course, this does not mean that He doesn't care about our well-being at all. He has plans for all of us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hopes and a future. He cares.
In Him we find joy which differs from happiness. It's a state where we rejoice and be grateful in all circumstances, positive or otherwise. It is the engine that keeps us moving especially when everything seems bleak, for it is the joy of the Lord that gives us strength.
Coming back to happiness.
It's merely emotion that we are experiencing. People putting so much emphasis on it which, I believe, has led to the degradation of their moral standing and also their discernment regarding issues in life.
"I am not happy being with him. I want a divorce/breakup."Bla bla bla. And the list goes on.
"This child in my womb will make my life miserable. I want an abortion."
"My parents cannot give me what I want. They don't care about my happiness. Therefore I don't feel the need to honour them."
"That lecturer is giving me so much assignments. I don't have time for fun. Curse him."
If we concentrate too much and solely on our emotions, we tend to lose focus of His Word. His Word should always be the foundation we are standing on. This simply means that we should act based on the Word, not on our emotions. Some of the influence and exposure have caused us to believe that what we want is really what matters most. But I say, it's the least importance of all.
Have faith in God, focus on His promises, function to fulfill your calling.
The Joy of the Lord is your strength. Not happiness, it's only temporal. But the joy is for eternal.
Choose what is better and persevere without giving into hope deferred.
Giving up to Him
And tears were brought to the eyes
Not knowing why and what to do
In desperation
Crying out
"Lord, teach me!"
And for that instance
Something within starts changing
In Him I hope
N-th day of my semester break.
I have so much to tell but I don't know where to begin with or should I even blog them.
All I can say is throughout, His faithfulness remains and in Him I'll persevere.
Talked a lot about the future lately. It's exciting.
So much lesser fear compared to few years ago. I'm not alone.
Yes, it's time to move on and I believe God is accelerating most of us into the future in this season.
And I definitely believe He has plans to prosper us and to bring us high and far.
I have dreams and as I go from one phase to another, my dreams expand.
I know I can dream bigger dreams each time I passed a test/trial because His faithfulness manifests in a greater degree in each next test/trial. And it simply brings your faith to a whole new level.
Because He is faithful, I am faith-full.
Candidly speaking, the timetable for next semester sucks.
But who knows what God can do through it to mold us into people with better characters and skills.
He is a creative God. And we are made in His image.
So we are His creative people - We have creative solutions to solve whatever lie ahead of us.
So, cheers.
I have so much to tell but I don't know where to begin with or should I even blog them.
All I can say is throughout, His faithfulness remains and in Him I'll persevere.
Talked a lot about the future lately. It's exciting.
So much lesser fear compared to few years ago. I'm not alone.
Yes, it's time to move on and I believe God is accelerating most of us into the future in this season.
And I definitely believe He has plans to prosper us and to bring us high and far.
I have dreams and as I go from one phase to another, my dreams expand.
I know I can dream bigger dreams each time I passed a test/trial because His faithfulness manifests in a greater degree in each next test/trial. And it simply brings your faith to a whole new level.
Because He is faithful, I am faith-full.
Candidly speaking, the timetable for next semester sucks.
But who knows what God can do through it to mold us into people with better characters and skills.
He is a creative God. And we are made in His image.
So we are His creative people - We have creative solutions to solve whatever lie ahead of us.
So, cheers.
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