Does He Know You?

Matthew 7:18-23 “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'”

Around the world people are doing the work of ministry. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, preaching to people, visiting those in the hospital, evangelizing the lost, and a whole host of other things. People have gotten really good at doing the ministry, so good that others daily are desiring to leave their jobs and be “in the ministry”. From the outside, from the fruit, it looks glamorous, it sounds exciting, it is enticing in many ways, for those that love God activity. But the question arises, how many people that are “in the ministry” are “in a relationship with the Lord?”

Ministry has become professional, financially prosperous, in some ways made people famous, and has done so many good things for people, it is no wonder it is so attractive to Christians, that want to be a part of the ministry action. Yet, the other side of ministry, of which so many people are affected by, but so few are aware of, is how many of these people that are in the ministry, are truly in a relationship with the Father?

The church as a whole world wide is weak, immature and commercial. We love the music, but we don’t know how to worship; we love the teachings, but we don’t change anything we do in our lives; we love the miracles, but we have a hard time believing. What I have noticed is that people all over the world are in the ministry, but they are not in a relationship with the Father. We hang on to the first part of this verse in Matthew 7 that says, you will know a tree by its fruit, but Jesus continues this thought with, there is fruit, but there is no relationship.

One thing that has happened in the church, in ministry, in the lives of Christian leaders, is that we have spent so much time and energy in the ministry, that we have neglected the relationship. But Jesus, who was in a relationship, may not have done as much as we do, but he did do something we don’t do, he stayed in a relationship with His Father. From the virgin birth to the final appearing before the disciples on the beach, He only did what He saw His Father doing, because for Him, being in relationship was more important than being in ministry.

When the leaders of the church value being in relationship with the Father over being in the ministry, we will see the Bride arise out of the Body and the King will get the glory. I believe it is critical for us to take time to know with certainty, through soul searching, through listening to instruction from others, to find out Does He Know You?

Different View on Discerning of Spirits

“What if the discerning of spirits was more about discerning your spirit, rather than discerning someone else’s?” – Danny Silk (Bethel Church, Redding, CA)

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brothers eye but do not notice or consider the beam (of timber) that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, allow me to take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the beam that is in your own eye?” – Jesus the Christ (Luke 6:41-42 AMP)

Being in the church for over 20 years now, I have never heard anyone even question what the discerning of spirits meant, so when I was posed with this question by Danny Silk, it caused me to stop and think about it. After pondering the idea, I agree with what Danny is proposing that we need to discern our own spirit, before we can even begin to think we have the ability to discern the spirit in someone else.

People have claimed to discern spirits in other people for years and even to this day they are doing it to people in their congregations, family and even friendships. Some believe they are so good at this discerning of spirits in others that they keep you out of ministry positions, stop you from speaking truth into their lives and even push others away so they are contaminated by the spirit you carry. Unfortunately, these same people are not able to discern the spirit they are of.

Another way of saying the discerning of your own spirit is being self-aware. When we are self-aware, we slow down and think about our motive behind what we say and said; we evaluate how others perceive us; we look at things through the eyes of others, knowing that measuring ourselves by ourselves is not wise. Before we confront someone on their actions, we ask ourselves why does what they said or did bother me? We search our hearts and seek to discover if what I want to say is for their building up or their tearing down? Discerning our own spirit, will help us to pay more attention to the plank in our own eye, so that when we are given the opportunity to speak to the speck in our brother or sister’s eye, we do it out of love, grace and truth.

Discerning our own spirit puts the responsibility back on us to manage our own life well, so we can lead from love; we can pray from faith; we can worship from authenticity; we can preach from purity; and we can give from abundance. Whether we realize it or not, there is a lot of work to be done in our own lives and if we would be courageous enough to discern our own spirit, we would be less critical, less judgmental, less offended, and more loving, more truthful, more accepting of correction and more alive.

Being presented with a different view on discerning of spirits, has opened my eyes, slowed down my speech and taught me to keep my love on, even when others are not wanting or willing to do the same. Discerning my own spirit reminds me, that I cannot control anyone but myself.

What do you think about this view of the discerning of spirits?

What have you understood discerning of spirits to be?

Can you see the freedom in this definition?

What would you add to this conversation?

I hope you wrestle with this thought as I have and that it challenges you to consider a new view on the discerning of spirits.

Lisa

Increasing Value

Matthew 13:45-46 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!”

Did you know that you have the ability to increase or decrease the value of something? Not the intrinsic value of the thing, but the value of it in your eyes. Diamonds have a very high value and people pay a lot of money for them, because they realize the value of it. Pearls are the same way. People have the highest values of anything created, and God, He is the definition of value, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that has more value than God Himself. Yet, as people we have the ability to increase or decrease the value of something in our own eyes.

I was in church yesterday, worshipping with all of my heart, sensing the presence of God, enjoying Him and hearing His voice, it was so powerful for me. Then right in front of me was a man talking to His wife, not singing, from an external perspective, totally not engaged at all. There I was one row behind Him increasing the value of God in my eyes through worship and he was not seeing value in Him at all. How does that work, how can two different people, have two completely different experiences, yet they are in the same setting? It is because we have been given the ability to increase or decrease value in our own eyes. For me the presence of God is the most valuable thing in my life, and for this other man, he did not have the same value system.

Everyday, we are increasing the value of something in our eyes or decreasing it. Relationships are a great example of this. Whether living under the same roof, or living in another country, we choose to increase the value of people or decrease their value. For me, my husband lives in Malaysia and my son and I live in the US, but daily my son and I increase the value of our daddy in our eyes, but talking about him highly. Then d street there is a family that is going through a divorce and we listen to one partner talk about the other partner, and daily they are decreasing the value of that person in their own eyes.

It is an incredible power we have been given as it pertains to value. When we value something, we treat it with respect, we make sacrifices for it, we speak highly of it and we look forward to being near it. How much do you value your family? Your friends? Your possessions? Your God?

Last night I spoke to someone on Facebook and they told me how the worship leader in their church increased the value of God in the service, but how the people did not do the same. She was obviously frustrated and troubled by this, but realized she has no control over the value people place on worship. It is a very challenging job to teach people how to increase the value of something that already is of such a high value. Part of us believes they should understand the value of it and treat it accordingly, but churches all over the world have people singing songs, but not increasing the value of the One to whom they are singing.

We cannot control what anyone else does, but we can control what we do. I choose to value the kingdom of God, the presence of God and the people of God. I will continue to increase my value of these things in worship, prayer, words of encouragement and any other way I can. I have met the Creator of all things and so it is an honor to be able to increase His value in my eyes daily. What about you? Have you seen how valuable He really is, for without a revelation (vision), the people cast off restraint (Proverbs 29:18).

My prayer is that we as people that claim the name of Jesus, would increase the value of Him in our lives, starting today.

Grasping Grace Gradually

Psalm 18:19 says, He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.” (NIV)

Grace is word everyone has heard, but very few, myself included has ever fully grasped. We know the definitions of grace, we say grace, we believe in grace, we accept grace, but do we grasp what grace really is? The challenge with grace is that there is nothing we can do to get it. We live in a work, earn wages world, so our system of thinking is based on receiving based on doing. I am not even sure we fully comprehend how deeply ingrained this works and rewards thing is in us. We breathe it everyday, we see it everywhere, we hear it in so many different places, it is so much a part of our cultural DNA, that we do not even recognize it anymore. This, I believe is why it is so difficult to grasp grace. However, there is a shift in the spirit, there are people speaking out, and as believers, we are gradually starting to engage with this reality of grace.

The Father has been revealing, by His spirit, that grace is not a cover up for our sin; not a license to act however we want; not a reason why we can just consume and expect to receive, just so we can consume some more. Grace is as we all have heard, unmerited favor, but what exactly does that mean and what does that look like in our daily lives. This is what I am learning. Grace is the cognitive realization, that God does not bless me; speak to me; deliver me; redeem me; teach me; train me; or equip me; because I am so wonderful. He does it because He delights in me. Grace is God’s character, it is rooted in His generosity, it is who He is. John 3:16 says, for God so loved (graced) the world, that He gave (graced) His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes (receives grace), shall not perish, but have eternal (grace) life.” We didn’t merit Christ coming to the earth to save us from our sin. We do not get eternal life, because we are able to believe on our own, it is all by grace. His grace (His nature, character, power) working in us is what gives us the want to, to believe and receive.

Grace is a challenge for us, because when we work for something we can take ownership and “glory” in our rewards, because we did something to get what we got. It is a subtle deception, but deep down inside the human psyche, there is such a need for significance, that we use our works to affirm our worth. Our identity is so wrapped up in what we do, that we cannot cease from doing, henceforth, why so many do not remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, by resting one whole day a week.

This works mentality plays out in our prayers, our worship, our giving, our spiritual disciplines, our everything. Many people approach their relationship with God based on working in order to earn a wage (ex. praying a certain way or length, in order to get an answer), rather than from a place of grace, which is rooted in a relationship, because they know the character of whom to which they do these things for. An example of this is praying for something and sharing with God all the reasons they deserve what they are praying for. This is not malicious or intentional, its natural, because we live in a world of work to get wages. But, the Lord is inviting us to the realization that we don’t deserve anything, yet he delights in everything we are.

The Lord is inviting us deeper into His heart, not because we have earned this invitation, but because He is so generous. Grace is grabbing the generosity of God with gratitude and going wherever He may lead. Once the body of Christ grasps the reality of grace, the need to perform, the striving, the working for, rather than working from mentality will cease, and will we will see the increase we have and continue to long for.

I, like you, am grasping grace gradually.

I see a bride i…

I see a bride in the body and I am going to speak to set her free.

Inspired by Michaelangelo who said, I see an angel in the marble and I carved to set her free.

Knowing What God Gives

II Timothy 1:7 says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” (AMP)

While meditating on this verse this morning, the Lord began to highlight to me the words, for God did not give us a spirit of…but He has given us a spirit of. I started thinking about the many spirits that we encounter in a day and I was reminded of the truth that God is a spirit and so is the devil, therefore, both spirits are active in our world. If we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, do not stop and seek to discern the source of the spirit we may be believing spirits that are not of God.

I was speaking with my Pastor, Frank King yesterday and he encouraged me to get to know American culture again, as it has changed a lot over the past 9 years that I have been living in Malaysia. He said, it would be advantageous for me to observe the changes in order to speak into the culture more accurately. He went on to add that it has gotten worst, and that the church has absorbed some beliefs that are anti-Christ and they do not even realize it. So, this post is inspired by that conversation as the Lord highlighted this verse to me.

I John 4:1 says, “Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God…” As followers of Christ we have a responsibility to test every spirit, so that we can discern the source of the spirit. Our world operates by spirits, we speak of the spirit of the world, the spirit of God, the spirit of the age, the spirit of America and so the idea of living in a spirit world is not foreign to us. The challenge is, many of us are not testing the spirits that we are believing and receiving. Did you know that every television show you watch, every article, book, or newspaper you read, anything that is sending a message, verbally or visually has a spirit behind it?

I learned yesterday that our education system, is teaching our children about homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle choice, beginning in Kindergarten. Then I heard that on the radio people were calling in saying, that Prince William and Kate’s baby should not be called a boy, because the child is too young to know what sex they are. I was stupefied. Homosexuality is a spirit and we need to discern whether its source is from God or from somewhere else. Once we discern its source, we need to choose whether we will receive it or not.

God, our Father does not give us a spirit of timidity, we cannot be afraid to speak out about spirits that are not of God, but are being brought into the church, into our school systems, into our homes. We need to be able to discern the spirit of timidity as having its source in fear, which is not of God. Once we discern it is not of God, we are not to submit to that spirit.

In addition, we need to discern what spirits are of God, many people, unknowingly come into church and reject the spirits that have their source in God, and miss out on a life of blessing, favor, peace, and truth. God is a spirit and He releases spirits into our lives that he is inviting us to receive. God gives power, power to heal the sick, power to renew the mind, power to bind up the broken hearted. Some people have rejected the power of God, because they do not realize the source is God. God uses doctors, counselors, people who carry the spirit of power to help us. Once you discern the source is God, welcome it, receive it, believe it with open hearts and minds.

One final thought, God is spirit and His spirit is love and the bible says, perfect love casts out all fear. The spirit of fear is more rampant in our lives than many want to admit and the Lord is calling His followers to embrace His love, for unless we have intimate knowing of the love of God, we will never be able to live fearless lives. The spirit of the world, is a spirit of fear, if they can make you afraid, they can control you. God’s love is liberating, not controlling, my prayer is that we would discern the source of real love, which is God and not be afraid to let go of control, fear and every spirit that is not of God and enter freely into the immensely deep and wide love of God.

It is high time we start knowing what God gives.

Many only learn…

Many only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.

– Will Rogers