Crosslines

Here’s a puzzle that will rattle your theology. Picture a man so close to God that miracles followed him around like stray puppies but couldn’t spot a wolf in the pulpit if it wore a name tag. He had a good heart, but he either had no discernment or left it unused. Now his wife was controlling, cruel, with no sign of knowing the Lord. She discerned the collapse of two major ministries years before the headlines did. He had the power. She had the discernment. Explain that one?

Sometimes the best way to understand a gift is by contrast. Let's go searching for truth among some of the oddest characters in Scripture. Firstly, every mature believer needs: God, character, and skill. Put God and skill together without character, and you get what this teaching affectionately calls “freaks,” people who get an astonishing amount done for the Kingdom and leave a trail of question marks behind them: Balaam, the hired curser who delivered one of the most beautiful Messianic prophecies in the Bible (Numbers 24:17). Gehazi, the servant who saw what the prophet missed in the Shunammite woman, then chased Naaman’s silver and came home a leper (2 Kings 4, 5, 8). And Joab, the general who told David the truth when no one else dared, and also stabbed the wrong man (2 Samuel 3, 19, 24).

From there, you’ll learn to separate the true gift of discernment (1 Corinthians 12:8–10) from its look-alikes: worldly wisdom (James 3:15), plain shrewdness about human nature (Luke 16), being “familiar with the spirit” from years in the trenches, and the double-mindedness that makes a person impossible to read (James 1:8). Then comes the question: is it that you can’t discern, or that you just don’t want to know?

The truth is, spirits must be tested, not trusted. (1 John 4:1). Come, let's go deeper. God is wanting to show you more than you know. 

What is going on between your ears? Are you thinking about the thoughts running through your head? The enemy's primary weapon is thoughts. A thought from the enemy can become the root of your problems and ruin any area of your life. But a truth received from God's Word can dismantle the assignment of the enemy and restore your life. Take every thought captive and exchange the lies of the enemy for the truth from God's Word.

"I HAVE A COVENANT!" Do you enter into fights with your covenant? Our covenant with God is built on the blood of Jesus, the names of God, and the promises in the covenant. God wants to establish His covenant promise with us on earth, but there are demonic things that try to keep the covenant from being established. You don't have to beg and plead with God as if it's not His will to do what He has already promised, but you do have to drive away the vultures and partner with God to see His covenant truly established. 

It's important to understand that much of your Bible is set up like a courtroom. So you need a defense attorney. Jesus is most definitely our defense, but there may come a time when you need to defend yourself with your own mouth. You need to plead your case between you and God. I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together. State your cause, that you may be proved right. Isaiah 43:25-26. Can we argue our case with God and be proved right? God is our Promiser, and our Guarannteer. Don't argue based on your own merit. Argue your case based on the promise and character of who God is.

People say, "I'll believe it when I see it," but in God's Kingdom, you don't see until you believe. Receiving comes from believing and speaking. Believing is what you are doing now, in the present, to receive from God later, in the future. Jesus isn't asking you to learn to live with the problems in your life. He said to speak to the mountain to be removed. Miracles start in the unseen realm. They start in a heart that is believing God. Believing always precedes receiving.

If we hear God's voice and then let reasoning talk us out of it, what good is it? We must remember the enemy tempts us with reasoning. When reasoning speaks, there is a motive and a thought against the character of God intertwined with his words. When your mind demands control, it is difficult to hear God's voice. We have to be sure we want God's voice more than our own opinions. Christianity is not a mental religion. It is a deep connection to God with your heart. Hungering for God means you are searching for what He has to say more than what the world and the experts have to say. Even facts can lead you astray. God considered facts evil when the children of Israel refused to confront the giants in the Promised Land. They believed in the reality of the giants more than the reality of their God. Facts without faith are dead works. God is not impressed with the facts of our current reality. He is wanting His Voice to create a new reality in our lives. 

The expert's voice is rarely God's voice. In John 10, Jesus speaks of the stranger's voice and God's voice. The stranger's voice can sound very reasonable and logical, even "smarter" than what God is speaking. But remember, God uses the foolish things to confound the wise. Often, there is a level of foolishness in what God is asking you to do, but when you obey, the results are better than those of the experts. Reasoning and fear demand to be heard, but God's voice is waiting for us to listen. 

God is speaking to us—for a reason. We can doubt or reason away God's voice. Some Christians believe God no longer speaks, but John 10 reassures us, "My sheep hear My voice." As a believer, it is not a matter of whether God is speaking but a question of whether we are listening. Can you tell the difference between God's voice and the enemy's? Between God's voice and your own? God's voice is a gift. We are to seek, listen, and train ourselves to hear His voice.

Rebellion is disobedience with an attitude. Our culture is full of rebellion because we have forgotten that God is truly working for our good and to remove destruction from our lives. Is God's Word your final authority? God's Word gives us general commands, and good leadership is the blessing of specific commands for your life. God speaks through prophets, good leadership, and His voice to give you the exact direction and correction you need. Give God your willingness, your joyful obedience. His commands are for your good. Obedience is truly better than sacrifice because sacrifice is what you have to give up when you don't obey God the first time. It is the willing and the obedient who will eat the good of the land. - Isaiah 1:19-20. Complete obedience to God is the greatest adventure in life. 

God desperately wants us to obey so He can bless us. He is working to lead us away from traps and rebellion because He cares for us more than we currently see. We must get rid of overt and covert rebellion in our lives. Drive out the generational curses and the demonic spirits in your life so it becomes easy to obey God. His ways are truly higher than our ways, and His blessings are on the other side of obedience.