The same Christians who hold the second view claim that sicknesses are part of the chastening of God. In other words, God is teaching us many lessons for our spiritual good. Which earthly father will teach a child by making a child sick? In fact by natural and social laws, any human being, who goes about putting sicknesses on people trying to teach them something, will probably be put in jail. Which earthly father will teach a child the danger of fire by burning their child? No doubt the child will certainly know the danger of fire if they get burnt a few times, but is it a sound method to use in educating the child?

Some claim that being sick has brought them closer to God. Then why aren’t all the sick people in hospitals closer to God? In fact, many have gone further away from God because they thought that it was God who did it to them. How is it that Jesus did not get sick to be close to God? Why then was sickness classified as a curse and not as a blessing? (Deut. 28:15, 58-61).

The word ‘chasten’ is the Greek word ‘paideuo.’ God does chasten us (Heb. 12:6,7, 10; Rev. 3:19). However, the instrument of His chastening is not sicknesses but His Word (Ps. 94:12). Paul said to Timothy that the Word of God was profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction or chastening (2 Tim. 3:16 instruct – paideuo). Paul brought correction to the Corinthian church not by praying for them to be sick but by sound teaching from the Word of God through his letters (2 Cor. 7:8-11).

~ ~ ~

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
… and “to guide our feet in the way of peace.”

And they that have believing masters, let them not despise [them], because they are brethren; but rather do [them] service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.
Note 3 at 1 Tim. 6:2: Paul never used his influence for social change, even in this appalling situation of slavery (see note 6 at 1 Cor. 7:21, p. 894). Some might argue that he couldn’t have changed the practice of slavery so what would have been the use of trying. It’s true that Paul might not have been able to change the whole Roman world, but he certainly had the power to stop, or at least limit slavery among the Christians.

Paul’s passiveness toward slavery and social change would be offensive to many Christians today. It is popular in our day and age to preach social change as an obligation and duty of every Christian. That was not Paul’s approach.

Paul didn’t outlaw slavery but rather told the Christian slaves to honor their masters. In the case where a Christian slave had a Christian master, Paul told him to serve his master all the more because they were brethren. This would infuriate social activists today. They would see that as approval of the situation.

The Bible and Paul didn’t approve of slavery or any other wrong of man toward man, but the true power of Christianity is not mobilizing its members to political action. The power of the Gospel changes the hearts of men, one at a time. If every Christian was an activist in sharing the good news with everyone he came in contact with, then hearts would change. When that happened in enough people, political and social change would follow.

Our preoccupation with our physical situations speaks volumes. Those who crusade for physical justice over spiritual justice and freedom miss the point. Those who are free in spirit are free indeed (Jn. 8:36), regardless of their physical circumstances. Our primary purpose always has been and always should be, to share the good news of our freedom in Christ with others.

Note 4 at 1 Tim. 6:2: The question is asked, “What about slaves that have believing masters?” Since all believers are one in Christ, a slave could reason that his master should no longer treat him as a slave, he should have special treatment. Paul said that instead of getting favors, the slave should serve the master all the better, since the master is a believer and beloved.

We should never use Christianity for our own advantage. As brothers in Christ we should try to out do one another in blessing and courtesy toward our brethren and others. These things we are to teach and exhort one another to do.

Once again, this is a foreign way of thinking to modern Christians because they have a love for self that is usually greater than their love for God and other people. However, Paul is the one who had it right. We should love God first, others second and ourselves last. It’s in losing our lives that we really find life (Mt. 10:39; 16:25). It’s only when we die to our selves that we really live (Jn. 12:25). Wommack

Some consider it a travesty that the New Testament does not take a decisive stand against some of the greatest moral evils of the times in which it was written, such as slavery, abortion, and infanticide (the practice of killing babies if they were not the desired sex or had defects). It is true that the first-century leaders of the church did not begin frontal assaults against these great evils. However, it was not because of negligence or irresponsibility—they had a higher strategy and a greater power than confrontation. They did not just flail at the branches of human depravity—they put the ax to the root of the tree. With focused, unyielding concentration, the apostles to the early church maintained their frontal assault on sin. They drove back the spirit of death by lifting up the Prince of Life. When the issue of slavery did arise in his letter to Philemon, Paul did not attack the issue of
slavery directly, but rose above it by appealing to love and the fact that Onesimus was a brother. This tactic may offend the penchant for militancy that issue-oriented activists usually have, but it is the way of the Spirit. As even the secular historian Will Durant understood it, “Caesar tried to change men by changing institutions. Christ changed institutions by changing men.” The way of the Spirit is to penetrate beyond what a frontal assault on issues can usually accomplish. There are times for bold confrontations, but usually the Lord works much slower than we are willing to accept. This is because He is working toward a much deeper, more complete change—working from the inside out, not the outside in

~ ~ ~

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
… and “to guide our feet in the way of peace.”

The Jezebel spirit releases witchcraft against your mind and emotions. The purpose of the witchcraft is to wear you down little by little in an effort to control your life. Witchcraft is one of the demon spirits in Jezebel’s network.
When you first meet Jezebel she is kind, flattering, and ministered to something inside you. She solved problems, came up with ideas and offered valuable insight. You felt that finally someone really understood you. You found a friend and companion. As time went by something happened, Jezebel changed. She turned on you with cold shoulder instead of a warm smile. Imaginations ran wild and you wondered what you did. Rejection, hurt, puzzlement, and pain surface from within. You are now ready for Phase Two of Jezebel’s control.

For a person to be overcome by the Jezebel spirit they must fulfill certain conditions. Through witchcraft the Jezebel spirit wants you to “give ground”. That means you slowly but surely give way to Jezebel’s influence.

The Jezebel spirit wants to steal your will to make decisions on your own. This is a “process” that takes time to accomplish. First, Jezebel uses seduction. Seduction most always comes through some form of flattery. Flattery is a complement or something that makes you feel good about yourself. Everyone likes a pat on the back for a job well done but it’s the motive behind Jezebel’s complement we must discern.

Jezebel’s witchcraft is looking for “something in you” to grab hold of. In the process of time Jezebel becomes someone you admire and a companion that you look to for counsel. Little by little she becomes your teacher and instructor while helping you make decisions. You see her as offering spiritual insight, counsel, wisdom, direction, and security. She may even give prophetic words of confirmation and direction. But, as already said, then one day something changes and confusion hits your mind, condemnation begins to set in, you feel insecure, tired, emotionally drained and ready to give up. You stop making decisions on your own and look to Jezebel to make decisions for you. Something is happening to you. You notice Jezebel has replaced all other authority figures in your life including friends, parents, spouse and pastor. Bit by bit you feel the strength drained out of you, everything is your fault. Jezebel wants to know everything. She calls, she doesn’t call. You text her but she doesn’t respond. Information that once fueled her to help is now used to beat you up until finally you give up and surrender your will. Jezebel’s witchcraft has finished its job. You are now Jezebel’s eunuch. Your life is not your own.

Jezebel’s eunuchs want to be controlled. Eunuchs don’t want godly counsel or wisdom they want someone to make decisions for them. This is the fruit of Jezebel’s witchcraft because eunuchs have given up their wills to the Jezebel long ago. Eunuchs just look for another controller.

Eunuchs surrender their will to Jezebel and allow her to make final decisions. As the witchcraft beats you down you slowly give ground. A Christian should surrender only to Christ not to Jezebel. Jezebel’s witchcraft releases confusion, loss of personal identity, and emotional dullness. The dullness is similar to a drunken stupor.

STAY OR LEAVE THE CHURCH

Some ask if they should stay in a church when the leadership has a Jezebel spirit. Let’s ask some practical questions. Why should someone stay? Why should someone leave? What would be the result if you left or if you left and a family member stayed? Here are some testimonies from those that struggled with the decision.

Patricia wrote that her “family left a church that had the Jezebel spirit in leadership. We confronted it but it was always swept under the rug so we left after much prayer. Since then the family has grown spiritually and is being used mightily!”

Another writes, “It depends on the circumstances. In my experience our pastors were under the influence of Jezebel and had many eunuchs. The Holy Spirit revealed truth to me. My husband was seeing things but was not able to accept it and put it all together so I had to stand in battle for two years praying for God to reveal truth to him. I could not leave because Jezebel had already tried to interfere in our marriage and if I had left who knows what would have happened to our marriage and family. So I dug in my heels, stood and fought because this demonic wicked spirit was not getting my husband and it wasn’t getting my family. I kept my kids with me on the pew out of their reach and stood in battle during every church service praying for my husband and others in the congregation. This is a short version but there are cases when you have to stand and fight because if you walk away then you leave those who do not see the truth in the hands of the wicked.”

Jamie said, “I left a church that had a spirit of control. You felt the life sucked out of you but I also knew I needed to be led by the Holy Ghost to leave. God did lead and amazing doors opened for me. I needed to be led by Holy Spirit to leave, just to know I was in the will of God and not be tormented after. David served Saul even when Saul was under the influence of an evil spirit. Having that said, Jesus taught not to tolerate the Jezebel spirit.”

Some won’t confront the Jezebel spirit because they don’t like confrontation. That’s normal because no one does but you can’t ignore this spirit. Sometimes it takes confrontation to get free. No one should let devils control their lives. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Don’t take this the wrong way but staying in a church with Jezebel leadership is a spiritual death sentence. Life is too short to put up with spiritual abuse. If you are in a church controlled by the Jezebel spirit get out now and don’t look back.
JEZEBEL AND THE LONELY

The Jezebel spirit will target the lonely. Helping people is a Christian trait. Reaching out to the lonely with the wrong motive is not. Every minister should point people to Christ, the author and the finisher of their faith. Jezebel creates codependent followers through emotional manipulation. Emotional manipulation is witchcraft in operation. Jezebel doesn’t point people to Jesus, she talks about Jesus. She points people to herself. Here are testimonies of lonely people that have met a Jezebel spirit.

“I met a gal during one of the worst times in my life that helped me tremendously. Over time I felt controlled and saw how she used helping me as a way to make her feel good. Her temperament at first was meek and kind. Underneath, however, she was passive aggressive.

As time went by I started to become confused, angry and frustrated from her mixed messages. I could feel her control. At one point I told her she had a religious sprit, was anorexic, and needed help. I pulled away. Even now it is difficult cutting away because she was so kind. I have a hard time saying she had this spirit but she was so calculating. Even writing this I’m feeling frustrated and angered again. I told her we could not fellowship unless she got some professional help. She has brain knowledge without spiritual freedom. I don’t think she tries to control me deliberately. She was sexually abused and hates herself. She was also raised in religion.”

Feeling sorry for people can be a trap so can loneliness. Minister to people as “unto the Lord.” Again, motive is important. Keep it pure. Point people to Jesus as “author and finisher of their faith.”

“I was lonely and Jezebel beat me down emotionally. I am a firm believer that people need people. But the Jezebel spirit wants to control and create codependency. When control entangles a relationship you have to pull away. You can tell something is wrong when you start feeling drained. Jezebel will zap the energy right out of you. I have moved to another city and feel lonelier than ever. This is a trap for me because I need a friend.”

The witchcraft control from the Jezebel spirit lingers. Use your spiritual authority to use the Name of Jesus and break the influence. Jezebel has several faces. When she manifest you need to leave the relationship.

“When I was at a low point in my life and feeling lonely that’s when Jezebel entered my life. At first she seemed like the perfect friend and an answer to prayer. As time went by she slowly changed and started putting me down and being cold with me. She was warm one day and cold and witchy the next. She was kind of like Jekyll and Hyde. I don’t think she deliberately set out to hurt me. I just think it was the spirit controlling her and I know she had issues such as being sexually and possibly emotionally and physically abused as a child. I still pray for her that she finds freedom.”

If you are the sort of person who does not make friends easily and struggles with rejection you are vulnerable to people who carry the Jezebel spirit. Stay away from this “witchy” spirit.

“I have had the same experience even to the point where this person wanted control of my finances and would abuse me and my children. It took me years to recover from the hurt and pain of that situation. I had to ask the Lord to help me forgive this person for what it did to me and my family. The list goes on and on.”

It’s clear that the Jezebel spirit releases witchcraft against your mind and emotions. Don’t give into this spirits manipulation. Stay away from Jezebel’s network.

Your partner,

Jonas Clark
www.jonasclark.com

–

Yes, I Believe

http://www.prophets-call.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eagleway/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/swordandspirit/

There are basically two channels for receiving healing in the New Covenant. One is by personal faith; the other is by the anointing. It is God’s Will that we be healed. It is God’s prerogative how we are healed. God’s prerogative is also determined by His ultimate purpose in our lives.

Human beings are interested in the immediate. We want to get rid of all of our symptoms and sicknesses instantly. God is interested not only in our symptoms but also in our total life and future. For example, if God wants a person to minister healing to others in the future, He may choose to bring healing to that person through personal faith and not through the anointing.

…

Healing by personal faith involves spending time in the Word and acting by faith that the healing has been completed even though the symptoms are still there. Normally, for children and new Christians, God allows them to be healed by the faith of others; but as they grow spiritually, God expects them to exercise their own faith.

When a child is young or still an infant, we carry him about from place. As the child grows older and learns to walk, we allow the child to walk for longer periods until the child can walk independently. By doing this we ensure that the child develops his muscles and matures physically.

Our faith muscles, too, need to grow and be developed. If we depend on others to do the praying for us, we may never develop our prayer life. If we depend on others to read the Bible for us, we may never develop our Word life. If we depend on others to hear from God for us, we may never develop an intimate personal relationship with God. However, at the early stages of our Christian life, we do need others to pray for us, read and explain the Bible to us and teach us the voice of the Holy Spirit.

It is always easier to depend on others than to do things ourselves. In like manner, it is easier to receive healing by the anointing than it is by personal faith. It takes faithful daily application of the Word to receive healing by personal faith. Sometimes when symptoms persist, we have to learn to consider not the symptoms but rather consider the Word of God (Rom. 4:19, 20).

Healing by personal faith involves all the basic fundamentals of faith: visualizing, meditation, confession and acting on the Word. Basically, our hearts, our thoughts, our vision, our words and our actions must all be in line with the Word of God. The following are some of the principles and methods involved in receiving healing by personal faith:

1. Meditating and digesting the Word into our lives (Pro. 4:20-23). All the principles taught in meditation are applicable here. The Word, literally, becomes health and life to our flesh.

2. Praising and thanking God before the manifestation of healing is seen. Abraham gave glory to God before the fulfilment of the promises (Rom. 4:20).

3. Fasting and spending time in the presence of God (Isa. 58:6-8). A correct fast with the proper attitudes will cause our healing to spring forth speedily.

4. Praying in the spirit to build ourselves on the faith (Jude 20). Praying in tongues also helps us in our infirmities (Rom. 8:26).

5. Acting on the Word of God. It was only after Peter lifted the lame man that his ankle bones received strength (Acts 3:7). The lame man in Acts chapter fourteen had faith but was not healed until he acted on the Word (Acts 14:10). In acting on the Word, we must make very sure that faith is truly in our hearts (the conscience will bear witness). All the other steps must be taken to impart and generate faith in the heart before the acting comes forth. It would be disastrous to act without faith in the heart. Listen to the conscience within so that you will not have a spiritual shipwreck.

~ ~ ~

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
… and “to guide our feet in the way of peace.”
__._,_.___

Annotation summary:

— page 3 —

Look at Heb. 11:1 Now faith is the assurance (substantiating) of things hoped for, the conviction (rebuttal) of things not seen. In other words the spiritual realm, which is the invisible realm moves into the natural realm and it rebukes the things that are. It places a rebuttal against the things that are seen and the things that are temporal. The existence of things that are touchable, feel-able and see-able. It crushes against all these things and tear them down. It rebukes all those things that are against God’s Word. It comes from the spirit realm. It is a rebuttal of or from the spiritual world. And it moves into the natural world with great force and authority tearing down things that are seen, replacing them with the truth and with the things that are not seen. So to exercise faith is a position of being or it is an active move of flowing along with the things of God. It is not just a dormant substance that comes into the heart, which you may have received by just reading that verse on the surface.

— Page 5 —

Faith means that I position myself, I lock myself to only look into the spirit world and bring it into the natural world. See the bringing it into the natural world is like taking it from the spirit realm and speaking it as a rebuttal to the things that are. This is why we confess what we believe and not what we see. The confession becomes a rebuttal to the things that are. The things around you may say you got problems, you got sicknesses but the things of the spirit says you are healed by His stripes; every mountain shall move, all things are possible to those who believe. And you come into this realm and you speak to the mountain is like a rebuttal to the things that are in existence. To exercise faith you must never be moved by things that are seen. The moment you move out of the position you consider it little faith or sometimes no faith.

…
At one time the disciples had no faith. Mark chapter 4:36 onwards And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him. And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” And He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” See faith is a position that is inside. You have taken and locked yourself into that position. And from that position seeing the things that are in the spirit world you turn around to the things that are seen and you rebuke it because its not in line with the spirit world. Notice that when Jesus turned around at the storm He did not say what He saw. He said what He wanted. Jesus did not look around and say this is a great storm. He didn’t confess what He saw. He turned around and said what He wanted. He saw in the spirit realm, peace and calmness. So He rebuked it because it was not in line with what He saw. Faith is a rebuttal from the spirit realm. Jesus is definitely one who looks at circumstances. Then He said to His disciples in verse 40 how is it that you have no faith. They were not even in the position to contact the spirit realm.

Imagine that this is in the spirit realm and this is a boundary line between the spirit realm and the natural realm. Faith moves into the position in between. This is possible for man was created with the ability to move in the spirit and the natural. So faith positions itself in between. It touches the spirit realm and begins to form and move the natural realm according to the spirit realm. Faith is the mediation factor. Substantiating of the things of the spirit into the natural realm. The disciples didn’t position themselves here. The disciples moved out of this line and on this side where there is no faith. Sometimes they position themselves on this section of faith very weakly. You could grab this state of believing weakly or you could grab it strongly. As a result of that little faith, you can’t solve or overcome the circumstances. In this particular case in Mark 4 the disciples were completely on this side of no faith.

— Page 6 —

The problem is that Christians were not taught the Word of God and the concept of faith. They were also people who live in this realm. In this realm you are subject to the things around you. The things around you will affect you. You are a victim of circumstances. You go by what you see. It’s a very sad state of being. The disciples in the boat saw the storm, saw the wind, saw the waters coming into the boat. They were completely subjected to circumstances and they were victims of circumstances. Sometimes Christians think that they have gone through the foundation of faith. Then they forget it and they began to go back to the natural. You see the world is pulling you to see things that are in the natural. When you start moving in that natural realm your faith began to weaken.

This is why when we fellowship together I am very careful in what I say. For example we knew that God is going to cause this church to grow. But we have been going steady for the past 3 years. Sometimes people will come and say well there doesn’t seem to be that amount of people yet. When we moved into the Federal Hotel a bunch of us moved in with about three quarters of the room still empty. The church members can say what they want but if the leaders start talking the same way – finish. But I have to keep seeing in the spirit world. We were reaching into the spirit world and confessing ourselves in. For one moment I cannot even come down into the natural and see and speak about it. We do not deny the facts but we are denying the right of the facts to continue to exist, and that’s the world of a difference. Christian Science denies the existence of material form. For example Christians Science tells you that sickness must not exist. It’s only in the mind. That’s the wrong doctrine. We don’t deny the sicknesses. But we deny the right of sicknesses and diseases to continue to exist in our bodies. That’s the difference.

So we need to train a group of people. Think about the impact that we will have if we get into unity in the spirit world. When we move into the spirit world and we say thank God we got a hundred thousand souls. What are we doing? We are substantiating souls. But the moment you move out of that position and start talking in the natural you have cut off that substantiating. So we need to train ourselves in that area. It is the same with finances. It is the same with winning souls. It is also the same with building a ministry of God. If we have ever done with what we see we would have never done anything. Each step takes faith. Each step takes a view of the spirit world. The most important is that you must see the spirit world correctly. Get into that realm and know what God’s plan is. Then come into the natural world and go ahead. God will back it up with all of His resources.

— Page 7 —

Think about man of God who had lived in the bible times, Noah. Nobody had seen rain up to that time and yet Noah was building a big project an ark. Think about the mockery people have made about him. Spending his whole life building the ark while the others were doing other things. Hebrews 11 tells us he was warned of things to come things that are not seen and he moved. See faith is a movement. He was moved by what he saw in the spirit world. Whether it is your finances or any areas, we must go on to despise to reject all evidences in the natural realm that are against God’s Word. If you want to exercise perfect faith it’s a position of being. You maintain your position. Come what may you maintain the position. If you maintain that position some thing has to break through.

(report generated by GoodReader)

~ ~ ~

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
… and “to guide our feet in the way of peace.”

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

We are looking at some principles of the Lord Jesus Christ that He practiced in
His life. We have taught on the first lesson, going the second mile and how
that there is something for those who go for the second mile that make them
excel above all the others, both in this life and in the next life to come.
There are many principles but we just want to highlight some. Another principle
that we want to touch on is in Matthew 5: 43 onwards. We were looking at verse
38-42. This time we are going to look from verse 43 onwards. Listen very
carefully because these are the words of Jesus Christ. The one who died on the
cross for us, shed His precious Blood, left His glory in heaven to come for us.
May it never be that when we read God’s Word we get dull of hearing. But as we
hear these words we must always let them refresh our lives. Especially bearing
in mind that these are the words of the Savior whom we confess and profess to
love. We need to put into practice not only some of His commandments but all
His commandments. And here is a passage that is well known but seldom
practiced.

Jesus said in verse 43, “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those
who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully
use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He
makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and
on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do
not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only,
what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

If you have been a Christian long enough, at some point of time, you will
need these verses. If you have not come to the place where you need these
verses, blessed are you, for He is coming soon. Practically every one of you in
this Christian life has a need to practice these verses at some point or other,
some in a wider situation and some in a personal situation. We have seen how
many times when Christians have problems with one another, even if they see one
another in the supermarket, they will go the other way. It happens all the
time. And here we are bible carrying; tongues talking, demon casting and we say
we are Christians. There is something that is so true out there in the church
and sometimes we look at ourselves we say, “Lord, when will your people be
perfected?” I mean it’s happening right now all the time in various churches
and various places. Everywhere in this planet earth, you will find brethren not
walking in unity. To change the world, we must change first. Before we talk
about changing the world, we are already speaking negatively about the church
and each other. Have you forgotten that you are the church? That you are the
brethren? It starts with one person. The flame of love will go to all. It
only takes a spark to get the fire going. Will you be the spark? Will you be
the spark Christian? Will you be the spark that will be different from the
rest? Maybe 99%, of you are not practicing that. But lets not say the church
didn’t practice that. We are part of the church. Lets learn to do it first in
our lives.

In his book, Authority and Submission, Watchmen Nee says:

The kind of person who can serve as God’s deputy authority is one who
represents God on the one hand and cares for and bears God’s children up on his shoulders
on the other hand.

God’s deputy authority cares for God’s people. He must bear not only the obedient ones on his
shoulders but also the rebellious ones. If he cares only for himself, minding how others treat him,
and if he constantly complains that he cannot stand this one or that one, he is not qualified to be
a deputy authority. When God looks for a deputy authority, He considers not only a person’s individual
submission to him, but also at his reaction to others’ opposition in his service as a deputy authority

~ ~ ~

Ever have someone you can not stand to be around? Boy, I have. More than one or two. I know that I am not one
to fall into this category quickly. It usually takes a lot of time and a lot of constant dealing with them on a day to day
basis before I finally succumb to a final confession that ‘I do not like them.’ I have learned to make the decision
to be kind to them anyway, be encouraging, be a light, be cheerful, and so on. That is my decision, and it does empower me
beyond being overtaken with a nasty disposition just because a certain person walks in the room. But it disqualifies me
from being of a pure mind, yielded and flattened before the Lord in order to hear His Voice concerning a person. If I am able
to hear the Lord at all, it is very difficult and takes a lot of prayer, testing, and confirming.

I am thankful that now, finally, I can see the value of withholding any type of personal judgement as to whether or not I like a
person or not. I can sense in my heart that I have stepped down from walking high and seeing a person from the Lord’s eyes to becoming
no different than a common man. I see someone as rude, God sees the reason and cure for the root of rudeness. I see a belligerent person, and God sees
the root and cure to their belligerence. I am, we are, needed to be intercessors for them, to be different to them, and to represent our Lord’s love for
them. Real love, not just a kindness towards them. Our hearts need to swell with a great compassion for them, for their pain, and yearn for them
to be made whole in Christ. Failure to do so might result in their final decision to reject the Lord or accept Him as their Lord and Savior.

So, as I said, I am thankful that now, finally, I can see the value of withholding judgement.. now to yield to the Lord’s desire to fill my heart
with His love for all.

Practice makes perfect.

Personal experience: Ijust knew I was called deep down inside myself. How? By an inward intuition. It was always with me. It was as much a part of me on the inside as my ears were a part of me on the outside .

2 . God deals with man’s spirit .

3 . Learn to listen to your spirit .

a . Learn to listen down on the inside of you and you will know many things you don’t otherwise know .

b . But if you are just messing along in the world, about half-dedicated, half-in and half-out because you are living too much in the carnal realm, car-nality will dominate you, and you won’t be conscious of your spirit .

c . If you are fully dedicated and consecrated to God to do anything He wants you to do, you will become conscious of that something inside you .

d . There will be a divine compulsion on the inside of you .

By Kenneth Hagin
The Ministry Gifts
Kenneth-E-Hagin-The-Ministry-Gifts.pdf

If a so-called prophecy does not confirm what you have in your own spirit, forget it .

Seeing a need is not a call to the ministry.

1 . If we are not careful, we slip into the attitude of the Church in general that seeing a need is a call. This is not scriptural . There is a divine call, given by God alone .

2 . Naturally, as Christians, anytime we see a need, we are concerned about that need and will endeavor with all the ability we have to minister to that need . That is scripturally correct . But it is not to be confused with the divine call to the ministry.

An anointing evidences a divine call .

Personal experience : Many years ago I heard a man preach at a great convention of 5,000 people or more. “Seeing a need is a call,” he stated. Although he was in the ministry, he said, “If I have ever been called to the ministry, I don’t know it .” I thought to myself, Ifhe hadn’t told us, all of us would have known it in 15 min-utes anyway. There was no anointing on him . When a person is called to the ministry, there is an anointing that just comes upon him or her to stand in an office. Otherwise the person would just stand up and talk. It’s good to talk and share whatever you have, but that’s different from being called to a ministry and being set in the Church .

I . If God didn’t call you to full-time ministry, don’t try to get into it ; you will be a mis-fit .

J . Knowing that you know you are divinely called settles the matter once and for all . There should be no confusion on the subject .

Personal experience: As I said, I entered the ministry without any kind of supernat-ural visitation. I just went by the inward intuition – the inward witness. And I have never been confused on the subject . Yet through the years, especially during the 12 years I pastored, I’ve seen many ministers who were up and down, even wondering whether or not they were called.

And I can tell you why they were . It was because they were living by flesh and in the mental realm instead of in the spiritual realm . If Sunday School was down, they were down . Their faces were long. If finances were down, they were down . You’d hear them talk like this: “I don’t know whether God called me to preach or not anyway. If I can ever get the Sunday School back up where it was . . .” “If I can get the finances back where they were . . .” “I think I’ll just leave .”

Some of them asked me, “Brother Hagin, don’t you ever get down?” I said, “No, I stay up all the time. If we just have a half a crowd, I’m up just as much as when we have a big crowd . You see, I know God called me. And I know He called me to come here. So I will stay until He tells me to leave . If no one shows up but two snaggle-toothed old women, I’ll give them my best and stay faithful . “I never even think about: ‘ I might be out of the will of God.’ Because I know God said, `Go .’

He’s an intelligent Being . I’m an intelligent being. He will communicate with me and tell me when to leave .” You see, you can worry and bother yourself and open the door for the devil to have a field day in you . This was my motto before I ever read that Wigglesworth said it . I guess any per-son of faith would say it .

I am not moved by what I see .
I am not moved by what I feel .
I am moved only by what I believe .

Learn that spiritual things are more real than natural things .
Learn to look to your spirit .
Your spirit will tell you .
Your spirit knows things your head doesn’t know .

~ ~ I Believe! ~ ~