"If I had not come
and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no
cloak (covering) for their sin. He that hateth Me hateth My Father
also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man
did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both
Me and My Father." ~John 15: 22-24
Have you ever been
in a situation, where you were having a conversation with someone,
and someone else happened to be nearby and overheard what you were
talking about? The conversation happened to be about Jesus, the
bible, scriptures, etc… And because the person who overheard the
conversation was a none-believer or atheist, even though you were not
talking to them or about them, their whole demeanor changed and they
became offended?
You ever wonder how
people can use profanity and very abusive language in a public place
or even in a group setting and no one seem to get offended- at least
no one had the nerve to say anything? ...Maybe because of freedom of
speech? However, take that same scenario, along with freedom of
speech, and strike up a conversation about God or the bible and watch
how quickly people will become uneasy and agitated? But no one seemed
to get offended and refrained to mumble one word when a profane
conversation was going on? As a matter of fact, most had a lot to
add. But when the word of God came forth, red flags flew up
EVERYWHERE? All of a sudden political correctness was being violated,
biblical beliefs were being forced down throats, and it was not the
proper time or place to talk about Jesus or the bible? ...But these
same individuals have no problem listening to or using profanity
while not caring or being cognizant of their surroundings and who is
sharing it? In some cases, if you happen to be there holding a bible
and they recognize that you are a Christian, the behavior could have
the potential to become even more intensified. And yeah, I get that
it depends upon the type of setting or situation. People within that
particular setting may share the same culture and background and that
is why the use of language is acceptable. You may be the one out of
place and so you can choose to stay or remove yourself from the
situation. But what if it is a public place where a diverse group of
people are sharing the same space? For example a movie theater, a bus
or train, a restaurant or even work?
I worked at a place
where this happened to me once. This particular day, very early in
the morning. Only three of us was at work at the time; my co-worker,
our supervisor, and me. The supervisor was in his office with the
door open; which happened to be nearby. My co-worker and me, (the
co-worker happened to be Jewish) had gotten into a conversation about
the return of Jesus Christ and what would happen on the day of the
rapture with the trumpets sounding and who would be caught up in the
air first, etc… We had gotten so engrossed in the conversation that
we had forgotten we were at work. But again, no one was around but
the two of us and the supervisor who was in his office. We weren’t
speaking loudly. It was just that the room was empty and so our
voices carried easily. Well, after about twenty to twenty-five
minutes into the conversation, surprisingly, our supervisor came
rushing out of his office, face all flushed red, and trembling with
anger. Speaking sternly, he immediately ordered us to discontinue our
conversation, saying it was not appropriate for the work place. He
also added that he was offended and he’d had and heard enough!
Wow... and we weren't even talking to him? And even though it was at
the work place, it was a mutually shared conversation. No one was
preaching, or having bible study, or coming up with ways on how to
get people at work saved? This was a conversation held between two
people about a subject they agreed upon- just like any other type of
conversation between people.
My co-worker and I
exchanged bewildered glances; but respectfully adhered. However,
now…we were offended. But what could we do? I was even more
heated, because just the day before in the same office, FILLED
with employees, another co-worker sat at a table with a few other
employees sharing an incident that happened to her and spoke loudly
enough for everyone to hear- including employees not sitting at the
table. She carried on the conversation as if her vocabulary mainly
consisted of three and four letter words. I don't recall the topic of
the conversation, but with no respect or consideration for the work
place, the co-workers, or management -three to be exact stood by-
including the one who reprimanded me and the Jewish co-worker, this
employee boldly and fearlessly used profanity- all while offering no
apologies. No one, not one manager, not one supervisor said anything?
This employee received no threats or warnings to be written up or
sent home for inappropriate behavior in the work place? I was a-stounded?! It was as if her conversation was the accepted norm?
After something like that, a conversation about Jesus should have been OKAY??
When the Jewish
co-worker and I got into a conversation about Jesus, we were
practically written up. We were given a warning that if the
conversation continued, we would be written up and sent home without
pay for the day! …For talking about Jesus!? And we weren’t even
talking to him! At that moment, I was overcome by the spirit of
Peter. You know Peter- radical Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples; the
one who was the first to stand up for Jesus in any question or
conflict, always the first to speak out... The one...when they came
to arrest Jesus, he cut a man’s ear off in protest? Jesus had to
put the man’s ear back on, because retaliation was not a part of
the plan nor the will of God, at the time. …Well, that's how I
felt. I felt like a Peter… I felt radical! I wanted to jump up and
blurt out, “Well, write me up then! You don’t have a right to
tell me to be quiet when I am speaking about my Jesus! …When I’m
talking about my God… When I'm not even talking to you, you
heathen! Write me up!” Compared to the day before, I was livid?
However, that was truly the flesh aching to take the lead, but thank
God for the Holy Spirit in me who restrained me and kept the spirit in
charge. Through the grace of God and being spirit led, I kept my
mouth shut, held my anger and kept my body under subjection. By
behaving like the supervisor, God would not have gotten the glory.
Satan would have taken that opportunity and ran with it. The devil
covets the opportunity to cause mayhem for the people of God and then
rushes up to heaven to become an accuser of the brethren before
Christ (Revelation 12:10). The Holy Spirit immediately told me,
before I spoke my thoughts to, “BE SILENT. Peace... be still.”
When we are in Christ Jesus, submitted unto the Holy Spirit, He will
keep us in His order and His peace. After about a moment, I was able
to let it go, move on, and get paid for the day. Amen? God knew I
needed that days’ pay AND
my job.
So what actually
happened? What was it that had taken place?
I believe it was not
so much of what we talked about that was inappropriate for the work
place as it was more from where it came. …The Bible, the word of
God... the Spirit of God. It did not matter from where in the bible…
what parable or scripture. It was simply the word of God. The
Supervisor became offended by the mere fact that it was the word;
even though the conversation had nothing to do with him. The living
word of God pierced his insides and stirred his unsaved spirit-
causing him a great dis-ease and discomfort. The word of God
spiritually pulled the cloak from him and exposed his sins. How?
Because his spirit was out of alignment with the Spirit of God. The
supervisor not born-again and in rebellion against the things of God.
He was an unbeliever and sinner under bondage belonging to darkness.
In Romans 6:16 it says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey;
whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
With the supervisor not being saved, not accepting Christ into his
life, he was a servant yielding unto sin and death. ...Not
necessarily a physical death (at least not at the time, but certain
consequences of sin can lead to a physical death), but a spiritual
death, separated from Christ. Simply put... he was a child of the
devil.
John 8:42-44 says,
“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye wold love Me:
for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself,
but He sent Me. Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye
cannot hear (understand) My word. Ye are of your father the devil,
and the desires of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and stands not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it.” The word continues to tell us in 1
John 3:7-10, “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that
doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that
committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He
might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God do not
commit (practice) sin; for His seed remaineth in him; and he (the
renewed/born-again spirit man) cannot sin, because he is born of God.
In this the children of God are known, and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loveth not his brother.”
When a person is not
saved unto righteousness, then they are a sinner (having a sin-nature), a servant and child
of the devil- children of darkness. They can be a good person living a
law abiding life... but unsaved and not born-again, they are still a
sinner- no matter how good of a person they are. As long as a person is not born-again nothing they do will ever make
them righteous. They can be the nicest, sweetest,
kindest person in the world, but still a sinner having a sin nature without being born-again. Just as nothing a born-again Christian, having received righteousness, cannot take on the cloak of
being a sinner again. Once saved by grace through faith, receiving the free gift of righteousness through Christ (having a renewed spirit and taking on God's divine nature 2 Corinthians 5:17), nothing a born-again believer will do, as
the righteousness of God, will ever make them unrighteous again. However, as the
righteousness of God, the righteous can choose to sin, although they are no longer bondage to sin. "For sin shall not have dominion (control) over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. ~Romans 6:14
The bible also tells us in Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned...” ~Romans 5:17-21 continues to tell us, “For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The bible also tells us in Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned...” ~Romans 5:17-21 continues to tell us, “For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Whenever there is a
situation where there is darkness and the true light of Christ enters
that space, it automatically forces the darkness out. The
darkness must move and submit to the light. Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time. The light takes precedence. The darkness; however, is rebellious of the Light-
the Light being Jesus our Lord and Savior. The AMP Bible says, “The
[basis of the] judgment (indictment, the test by which men are
judged, the ground for the sentence) lies in this: the Light has come
into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than and
more than the Light, (the Light being Jesus) for their works (deeds)
were evil. For every wrongdoer hates (loathes, detests) the Light,
and will not come out into the Light but shrinks from it, lest his
works (his deeds, his activities, his conduct) be exposed and
reproved. But he who practices truth [who does what is right] comes
out into the Light; so that his works may be plainly shown to be what
they are- wrought with God [divinely prompted, done with God’s
help, in independence upon Him].” ~ John 3:19-22
People who are not saved, rebellious against God, who are permissively disobedient walking in
the flesh, become offended by the word of God, because of
the darkness that dwells in them. “For they that are after the
flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the
Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally (worldly) minded
is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the
carnal mind is enmity (hostile) against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh (controlled by the world) cannot please God." ~Romans 8:6-8
…To live a life in unrighteousness, separated from God, automatically enables a sinful nature. Having a sin
nature opens the door for the ability to become rebellious
against God. It is easy and natural to sin having a sin nature. Why? Because sin, is the nature. Sin appeases and pampers wrong
doing and wrong living. It agrees with disobedience. ...It’s bad,
but it feels good, because there is no conviction unto righteousness.
There is the absence of the Holy Spirit inside of them to guide them
to do what is right. They are led by their flesh and the spirit of
rebellion and disobedience says, “I like what I’m doing and see
nothing wrong with my living. So don’t come in here talking about
all that God stuff, and all that Jesus stuff. I don’t want to hear
it. As long as I am not lectured about what a sinful lifestyle (Which
it don't matter anyway, because I'm grown), I can’t be judged for
not knowing what is right! Furthermore, I don’t appreciate you
talking anything about the bible around me, anyway! There is a time
and a place for that. The bible, is private. Prayer, is private.
Talking about Jesus is a personal thing and should not be shared in
public! You offend people who don’t believe in that stuff and who
may have some different kinds of beliefs. You need to keep that stuff
at church or in the privacy of your own home! Besides, who are you to
judge others, anyway?!... Or better yet, how about this... how about
I just don't believe Jesus existed all together. There is no God!
That stuff ain't real. The bible... just fables and fairy tales?!
Who ever heard of a man going in the belly of a fish... for THREE
DAYS?! ...And lived to tell about it? And what about the ARK! Ain't
no one man built no big boat big enough to hold EVERY animal species
in the world ALL by himself?! ...Annnd he was old!!? ...Like
eight-hundred, nine-hundred something years old!? That's just FOOLERY and Nonsense!”
What
a deception from the enemy! The first thing I would like to point out
is, just because an unbeliever profess to not know Christ or the
things of the Lord or don't want to know as to not be held
accountable for their sins, doesn't matter. The unbeliever will be
held accountable unto God for how they lived this life here on earth,
regardless. We will all have to stand before God and give an account
for our time here on this earth. Luke 12:47,48 tells us, “And the
servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself,
neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall
be beaten with few stripes...” The word also tells us in Hebrews
9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this
the judgment.” Regardless of what a non-believer know, refuse to
know, or refuse to accept, does not matter. All will stand before
Jesus and give an account.
The
unbeliever, in rebellion will quite often throw the judgment
scripture saying,“You ought not to judge, lest ye be judged…”
Now, they feel they are being judged; which spiritually they are…
by the word of God and that is why they have a problem with the word
being spoken in their presence. The judgment scripture seems to be
the most accepted scripture in the bible used by unbelievers where it
is okay to challenge the righteous. It is a tactic used by the enemy
to possibly shut down the believer. It only works when a believer is
not well informed and well equipped with the word of God and lacks
identity of who they are in Christ. The enemy operates to plant
doubt.
In most cases, when
an unbeliever uses the judgment scripture against a believer,
whenever they are bringing forth the word of God, it is an attempt to
plant condemnation and doubt in the believer. They are in rebellion
and condemnation themselves and need to be set free with the
spiritual cleansing by the blood of Jesus. To look further into their
life -pass the mask- you will probably find something out of order in
their living, some skeletons in the closet: A woman having a man that
is not her husband, a man with a married woman that is not his wife;
Some kind of sexual immorality; maybe some unscrupulous dealings with
money, because of lust; every time they open their mouth it's more
normal to tell a lie- even when they don't have to. There is usually
something that does not line up with holiness and the word of God. So
they attempt to reverse the role and bring condemnation on the
righteous, by using the word of God against them.
But the devil is a
liar. You’ve got to put the word right back on them, know who you
are in Christ and say, “There is no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” ~Romans 8:1 …And know that you have been delivered from that when
you became the righteousness of God and keep on keeping on with the
Lord in His word, in holiness and love without fear.
The bible which is the final authority for the life of a believer
says to, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers.” ~Ephesians 4:29. The AMP bible reads, “Let
no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or
worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech]
as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is
fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and
give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.” It is being led
by the Spirit of God, through His word this is achieved.
I was on a blog site
one day, soon after it was reported on the news that a man had
committed suicide by flying an aircraft into a building. He had been
dealing with various life disappointments; including issues with the
I.R.S. Not being able to deal with what was going on in his life, he
just gave up and decided that he would leave a suicide note and
commit suicide by retaliating against the government and fly an
aircraft into a government building that held the office of the
I.R.S.
Someone decided to
post the suicide note on the blog site. Instantly, bloggers fed into
the sadness and the anger. Comments in agreement in with what the man
had done poured in one after another about how they could understand
and relate to the man’s anger and frustration; how they agreed with
what he'd done. They expressed disagreement with the government; writing flammable posts fueled with anger saying how more people
should do something like this to teach them a lesson, etc. This anger
raged on and on one after another. The board was rampant. As I
read on, the negativity really stirred my spirit. I felt I had a
choice to make. Of course, I could leave the blog site and forget
about it. After all, it was only a blog. I didn't know anybody
personally? Or, I could log in and post something encouraging amidst
all the anger to hopefully calm the madness being fed. …Riding in
on courage, I chose to log in. I don't recall exactly word from word
what I posted, but it was something very heartfelt and in opposition
to death and suicide. My post, however, did bring a sudden halt to
all the madness. It was as if EF Hutton had logged onto the board.
Many minutes passed, it seemed, and no one had anything else negative
to post about the incident. After several more minutes passed, I
checked the blog and several people had posted a reply to my comment
thanking me for such a heartfelt post and reminder of the good.
...Okay, that was good. Thank you Jesus. Several more minutes passed
and I checked the blog again and, eventually, one blogger decided to challenge my post along with accusing me of being judgmental and a
know it all. It went something to the sort, “You don’t understand
or don’t know what people are experiencing in their lives and how
it affects them… You don't know everything... You have no idea...
yada, yada, yada.” And then they went on to add, “Judge not,
lest ye be judged.” Staring unbelievably at the post, frozen in
action for what seemed like forever. The good in me was urging me to
ignore and move on. "You don't want to make vain what you just said.
You want to give God the glory." The flesh had me thinking, “Oh, no
they DIDN'T?!” The spirit of Peter was trying to rise up again...
but God. I did respond, but only after blinking, coming to myself,
and holding on to my peace. I replied something of a sort, “There
is no judgment here, it is what it is. You seem to feed on and enjoy
promoting negativity. Negativity that is not love nor life and helps
no one. There should be encouragement for something like this. And
since you want to quote scripture, then you should also know that
Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly -John
10:10. Not death." ...Then I waited.
That blogger was the
only blogger that responded to my post negatively in an attempt to
challenge my stand on the word and reverse the role by using the word
of God against me. But I, through the grace of God, took the word,
stood firmly on it, and put it back on the blogger. And that spirit,
not only did it back down, it went away.
When Jesus spoke to
to His disciples in John 6:63 concerning the word, He said, “It is
the Spirit that quickeneth (give life); the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
No matter how boisterous the enemy may seem, it is all an act to get
you, the believer afraid, to plant doubt and unbelief, to destroy and
steal away confidence… immobilize faith, get you to question your
identity and force you to throw down your weapon; which is the word
of God! In doing this, you will be left vulnerable and powerless
against him and defenseless to his tactics. For God’s word is
quick. It is living, it is powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of joints and marrow, and is a discerner (judge), of thoughts and
intents of the heart! God’s word- the bible, is not only for
instruction, direction, and order in the lives of the believer, but
it is also a believer's weapon! The bible is, also, a powerful mind
regulator for the believer. “For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal (worldly), but mighty through God to the pulling down of
strongholds…” The weapons of our warfare is the word of God. The
word word also tells us to keep our minds stayed on Him and He will
keep us in a perfect peace. For a believer, this is only
accomplished by keeping your mind on God's word.
Many unbelievers in
rebellion against God and His word, feel that 'it doesn't take all
that!' are quick to attempt to shame believers for operating
in the word of God. They usually refer to believers as, 'bible
thumpers' while referring to the bible as a fairytale or an
out-of-date myth saying things like, “You can never just talk to
them without them quoting scriptures, without them being so
spiritual.” “Here come those holier than thou know it all with
their bibles.” “Why can’t they just talk straight, like
everybody else?”
How many know that
is just the spirit of the enemy, AGAIN, in operation, retaliating
against the word of God? The word of God, the Spirit of God, is as straight as it gets! And if you, as believers, are not prepared
to apply the word of God to an everyday situation that you may
encounter, the enemy will walk all over you. Do a dance, even. The
word of God, because it is the Spirit of God, is the only thing that
will bind the enemy and send Him running! Now, he may come back and
may bring several more other spirits with him? But that should'nt matter. Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the WORLD!
With every encounter with the devil, a believer (knowing their
identity and authority in Christ Jesus) being steadfast and unmovable
will let the devil know who he's dealing with. The next time he comes
your way, he will have full knowledge that you are not the one to
fool with! Praise God! You are well equipped with the sword of the Spirit
and will beat him all over the top of his head with it! He'll come your way and immediately pass you right on by; deciding to shoot those fiery darts at somebody else- not as locked and loaded with the word of God! The bible says, “In the beginning was the Word
(Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” ~John 1:
1. So let the naysayers talk, because the sword of the Spirit will
finish the conversation! Amen?!
As believes in Christ Jesus, the word of God is our lifeline for survival on this earth
and in this life. Until Jesus' return, we will always encounter some
kind of fight with the enemy. God's word tells us to be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour -1 Peter 5:8. The enemy
doesn’t care how tough we seem by rolling our necks or sticking that one finger up in the air and putting our hands
on our hips when dealing with him. He doesn't care how much rebuking we do, if there is
no word behind it- by faith! He doesn't even care how nice we are or how holy
we dress, or how much we cry and hope he goes away, if there is no
word rooted down on the inside. The devil don't care how much
dancing, praising, shouting, and throwing up of our hands, and
running around the church we do, if there is no word rooted down on the
inside? Without God’s word, he’s just going to wait patiently until all the shouting and emotionalism is over and then he’ll move to have his way. If the word is not rooted and you're not prepared to fight the good fight of faith, he will successfully steal your joy.
Without God’s
knowledge, His WORD, God says His people are destroyed. Hosea 3: 6
says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”
Whenever Jesus had an encounter with Satan, He put the word of God on
him and told him, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceed out of the mouth of God.” Amen?
That is why the
unrighteous, the ungodly, the unsaved, the sinner get lividly upset
and offended when the word of God is spoken in their presence;
because the word judges on its own. The word of God judges the rebellious spirit
and all a believer is doing is speaking it. So, SPEAK THE WORD! Don't
be ashamed of the gospel in the presence of the unbeliever-
especially a rebellious unbeliever. The word of God will even sift
out the pretenders in the Lord- the tares. Pretenders are those
professing to be Christians lacking a renewed mind in the word of God. Having never
ceased from pleasing the world and lust after what the world has
while knowing how to look holy, while knowing how to do and say all
the right "churchy" things to get over: "Praaaise, the Lord." 1 Peter 4:17&18 says, “For the
time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it
first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the
gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall
the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Pretenders may become shifty or
turn stone face when the word is brought forth; as to appear as if
they are not being affected by the living word. Remember the word of
God is a discerner of the spirit. It does the work and exposes the
truth! So the word will cause the pretenders to get stone faced and
the the rebellious to go on the attack. Either way, it will bring what
is in darkness to the light. As ambassadors for Christ Jesus, keep
standing! Being steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in God's
word! Before a word of God is spoken, they may be unsaved, rebellious
and condemned unto death; however, after a spoken word of God, they
can be instantly saved. God knows! Jesus, says my sheep hear my voice
and they come to me. So whoever belongs to Him, no matter where they
are in life or what type of life they are living, they will eventually
come to know Christ through the speaking of His word.
When people go on the offense and attack Christians for speaking the word of God, it is not them attacking, but the unrenewed
spirit within them. They are not attacking the people of God, they
are retaliating against the word of God- God’s Spirit. The word is
the Spirit of God chastening and convicting the
disobedient/rebellious spirit in the flesh. …That is just how
powerful the spirit realm is. When the word of God is spoken by a
believer in the presence of an unbeliever rebellious against God, the
spirits within the vessels face off. Good vs. evil. …The light
pricks the darkness. The disobedient spirit becomes offended at the
mention of anything to do with Jesus and His word. Through the
speaking of God's word, the atmosphere quickly SHIFTS from the
natural realm to the spirit realm. The spirits take over and it is
now a spiritual battle through natural existence! Have you ever
encountered a situation where you came across someone you did not
know, never met them before a day in your life, but for some reason,
unbeknownst to you, they have an extreme dislike for you? And you are
like, “I've never met that person before in my life? What's wrong
with them??” Well, this is that! A spirit recognizing another
spirit unlike them- the darkness encountering a run-in with the
light. Don't feel bad or ashamed, if this happens. It's just an
indication that the Glory is on you! Praise God!
Whenever a believer
speaks or shares the word of God, even if not directly speaking to
a rebellious unbeliever, the unbeliever gets offended and goes on the
defense about the word of God being spoken in their presence. When
people are offended because of the word of God, it is not them that
becomes offended but rather, the spirit of disobedience and rebellion
that dwells in them. That rebellious spirit is being chastened by God
through His word! God is speaking His word through the believer to
the unrenewed spirit.
That is why it is so
important that believers have a daily intimate relationship with God,
that believers get into His presence every opportunity possible. That
we wake up in the morning saying, “Good morning, Jesus,” and
invite the Holy Spirit to walk with us throughout the day. That we pray, we
meditate on Him and His word, praise and worship in song and hymns, in our hearts. Through His word, we come into agreement with Him
having our thoughts line up with His thoughts. By Worshiping Him in
spirit and truth, God's light shines through the believer. Through a
Holy Spirit filled believer rooted and grounded in the word of God,
God's Spirit will speak to and minister to the unbelieving rebellious
spirit. In 1 Peter 4:11 says, “If any man speak, let him speak as
the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the
ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified
through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen.”
As a Christian,
having a sound foundation of God's word in you, the Holy Spirit moves
and brings to remembrance that which is necessary for the time at
hand; so that when you speak, it is not you who speaks, but the Holy
Spirit leads you. And that is why people who are living in
ungodliness or are not born-again having a sin nature, attack or get
offended- even when you are not directly speaking to them. It is
God’s word speaking to their spirit! As believers, when speaking
the word of God and sharing amongst each other and a none-believer is
nearby gets offended, even when we are not speaking to them, and most
times we are not even aware of their spiritual disposition, here is
the kicker!… God knows! He knows the needs! He knows what is
necessary. He. Knows! So no matter what… Don't be moved and don't be
shakened by negativity against the word of God! Walk in love and
STAND! You never know whose soul God is speaking to! SO SPEAK THE WORD in love and with the leading of the Spirit! Amen?!
In His Service
Yvonne M. Bennett
