06/06/2019
6) Blessed art thou or Get thee behind me Satan?
In Matthew 16: 13 to 28 is the passage were Jesus asks His disciples the question as to who He is. Simeon Peter answers that He is ‘Christ the Son of the living God ‘! Jesus blesses Simeon as a result and then tells His disciples that He must suffer and die. Peter then takes Jesus aside rebuking Him that it should not be so. Jesus rebukes him back calling him an adversary.
Peter had just spoken under divine inspiration that Jesus was the Christ but then the next moment He was called the devil for what he said by Jesus Himself. There is a valuable lesson to be learnt here!
Even though Peter had a revelation of Christ he wasn’t yielded to Christ completely. His thoughts and desires weren’t in total subjection to Christ. His desires that the Messiah should not suffer arose out of his own desires to not suffer and hence in that moment he gave place to the flesh (devil).
One moment he was inspired by God ; the other moment he was inspired by the flesh (devil).
One other example is of Saul who had disobeyed God and was tormented by an evil spirit and prophesied from that spirit but when he came into association with Samuel and the prophets; he prophesied by the Spirit of God.
Now, one might argue that these events were before salvation and the Spirit of God coming to reside in a person.
While it is true that when a truly repentant person is saved and baptized he is set free totally; the choice to follow Christ is an everyday exercise.
Regardless of our salvation and baptism in the Spirit; our will and desires must be in subjection to the Spirit always. Surrender is not a onetime choice but a continual walk. We are called to deny ourselves daily.
The moment we lose our commitment we get into the flesh and when the flesh matures; demons enter in.
This is an important truth we must learn from. Even though we might have had many revelations of Christ and might have prophesied on Him, if we are not living lives totally yielded to God; we could start prophesying our own desires and wants. Eventually, we are in danger of allowing the enemy to take control of that area in our lives and then speaking his thoughts and desires that he gives us.
If it is that the church in India must be refined; then we must submit ourselves in the hands of the potter! The question to ask in light of the recent events is , are we as a church submitted totally to God’s working in our lives however difficult it might be ? If not then aren’t we prophesying our own desires to be free from persecution?
While God will judge those who stand in opposition to Him and that time is not far away; our part is to pray for God to prevent them from being judged by His great mercy and bring them to repentance.
7) Discernment or just plain critical?
Today a lot of what we call discernment is simply being critical and judgmental! While we need to address the wrongs as and when needed in the realms of authority given to us, it must be done with wisdom, love and the Spirit’s leading.
The standard for proper discernment has its foundations is love. It is inspired to speak forth by the Fear of God!
When we feel we can speak about anyone and everyone and are quite careless with our words; it shows we need to mature in that area.
The Spirit of Christ is a Spirit of intercession! Have I interceded for the person whose wrong I’m addressing? Have I travailed for their repentance? Samuel mourned for a long time after Saul was rejected by God. Such is the heart of a mature child of God.
Intercession is mainly borne only out of God’s love for people! If we don’t have love and start addressing peoples wrongs, eventually we will give place to a critical and judgmental spirit fulfilling the role of the accuser of our brethren. We will not be able to see and prophesy mercy when God wants mercy!!
In the story of Jonah, the people of Nineveh were very wicked. They actually harassed the people of Israel a lot during those times. They were ruthless in their dealings with others. Jonah’s critical attitude towards the people of Nineveh was most likely from the way the people of Nineveh tortured Israel during his time. It is natural to expect such a reaction but then it was not according to God’s heart.
Jonah also had a revelation of a merciful God. He knew that God would forgive people of their sins and remove the consequences of their actions if they truly repented. However he didn’t deal with the attitude of His heart and surrender it to God. That is why he ran away to Tarshish and that is why he was very angry when God forgave them in the end.
Jonah had a revelation of a loving God and so he didn’t end up being deceived but a very angry and grumpy prophet in the end. If we don’t have the revelation Jonah had on God’s love then we will end up waiting for and prophesying destruction when God wants to reveal Himself as merciful. We could end up being completely deceived.
Love is the basis for proper discernment. Do I have it towards my enemies? Then i am right in my heart to communicate the word of the Lord!
LESSONS FROM INDIAN ELECTIONS – PART 3
