He Never Forced Anyone

Badger, lure, scare, beg, embarrass, or force--these are often ministry strategies the modern church uses to draw or keep people--but all of which Jesus never did. God invites everyone to come to a knowledge of the truth while freewill remains--freewill that leaves you alone, with all the relevant facts, to decide for yourself. You're invited but you choose to go or not. And God wants us to do the same--not force anyone into or anything but wait. There's power in waiting.

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Circumstances won't be arranged or set up so you'd later find yourself with no choice but to give in. Things like that are "arranged" only for God's select servants who have totally surrendered to his will. His will is not forced on them though, but simply laid out, because these servants have, on their own, determined to fully surrender to God, "urging" HIM to do as HE pleases. But that again is a choice. You see, nothing is forced. Everything is by choice. And yet, on the other hand, if you dig deeper into God's will, intimacy with Him eventually negates freewill. No more choice. No more freewill. 

The Majority Chooses

But to the majority, he allows freewill. You have to come to Jesus if you want rest and prefer easy burdens to carry. Rest isn't automatic. God won't just change your situation; you have to decide to come to him and ask. And yes, he won't come to you. While he's just there around somewhere (he won't leave nor forsake you, and he's everywhere), you still need to decide to get his help, ask it and do what he says. If you don't come to him, you don't rest.

God "so loved" the world that he gave Jesus to die for our sins, but salvation doesn't come automatic. It's not whether you like it or not. You have to decide to "believe in him" so you won't perish "but have everlasting life." And "believe" here is not just reading the bible, getting bible facts and going to church each Sunday. More importantly, it's obeying. Accepting his love and believing in him are personal decisions we must make. God never forces them on us. He leaves us to ourselves to choose. No one is forced.

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He Invites

Jesus did invite some to his discipleship, but they were asked just once, without stubborn, pestering insistence to join him or attend his "church." God sometimes does that--invite. But with no follow-ups, harassments, hypes or hard-selling. He invites once and leaves you to decide. They were told once to "come follow me," and had to immediately leave everything behind them and follow. They were not asked again.

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. [Matthew 4.19]

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. [Matthew 9.9]

The rich, young ruler was also issued the invitation but backed off. Nothing is forced but offered, though it sounds compelling like a command. "Come follow me." We would say it differently today, like "Would you like to come?" Or, "You may follow me if you want to." Or, if we tried to compel people, it would sound more like desperation than Kingdomly--because we'd do it not for the Kingdom but to increase church membership and income. 

Churches today desperately pursue after people unlike how people literally ran after Jesus. That desperate pursuit is what makes them short of "forcing" people to join them. 

Even today, if you hear God's voice, it sounds compelling and commanding (but not desperate), because such is the King's voice--gentle yet emphatic--though your choice to obey or not remains intact. He won't force or corner you into joining Him. Disobedience or distancing from Him is always an option but there are consequences. And it's not a threat. It's what naturally happens if you keep away from safety. You oppose how things naturally work. God's work has been finished since the 7th day of creation. Everything has been set up--his Word is the manual on how things work--and if you go against it you suffer the results.

Like, if doctors tell you how not breathing will kill you, they're stating a fact, not a threat. Or if a gadget manual tells you how not to be electrocuted and doing otherwise can kill you, it's not a threat. It's a fact and warning. Threat intends harm. Warning keeps from harm. See? 

He Never Pesters

You never see Jesus following up or doing visitations to make people come to his bible studies or prayer meetings. Again, people had to "come" to his meetings on their own volition, and even after hearing him preach, his policy was that "whoever has ears to hear, let him hear." He didn't make altar calls or invite them to his local church or get their names and addresses for later follow ups. He simply left. People decided on their own to follow him or not, to remain in the sidelights or come closer.

Yet, the mystery here is, only those the Father draws to Jesus are able to go close to him [John 6.44]. You're not forced to go closer, but you are drawn closer if the Father chooses to. To "draw" you closer hints at a revelatory work done exclusively to your spirit so you see the beauty in Christ which others can't. Others see a poor carpenter's son. You see the Messiah. You're not forced but your eyes are opened to see the revelation. Then you decide, led by the Holy Spirit (not forced), to draw nearer.

He Never Lures

Jesus' ministry had the least attractions the modern church enjoys today--sound system, musical instruments, nice altar and building, impressive facilities, cute programs and activities, titled and degreed preachers. Jesus had nothing except his radically simple self (very repugnant to the sophisticated) and his down-to-earth disciples, a ragtag band of wanderers who just lost their jobs, roamers who seemed aimless about life. They didn't look attractive (but not without a purpose). So didn't John the Baptist. They were nobodies. 

But mind you, money was never a problem to them. They never begged or solicited for "church projects" because they didn't think these were important. 

Church projects are tools for luring people to church to up membership and income. Our strategy today is to attract people with nice things pleasing to the eyes and exciting to the flesh. But Jesus did signs and wonders that made people decide to either radically give up all (especially the ego), lose importance in men's religious circles, and follow him---or just play religion. At first glance, there wasn't anything impressive about Jesus. Or even if you gave him a second or third look. Pilate wasn't impressed at all. 

Pilate said, “So you are a king?”

It reeked of all arrogance and condescension. The bible doesn't exactly say it, but you'd discern a belittling sizing up of Jesus. But Jesus didn't do anything to impress him one bit, as if to say, "So what?" Jesus never attracts or lures people. He intentionally appears lowly and unimpressive--lackluster--to reveal people's hearts. That's what we should do today. If your ministry got rid of its sound systems, stage, facilities, nice programs and activities, elaborate altar, and church building--if you do nothing else but share Jesus Christ and not force anyone--would people come to you? Would your members stay--or would they look for another church, one that is impressive?

How much do we trust the Holy Spirit to do the promotion for us?

Jesus Seldom Scares

Except for warning people of the consequences of sin and hell, Jesus didn't scare people to make them stay or do things for him. When a lot of his disciples left because of his teaching on eating his flesh and drinking his blood, he didn't scare them to change their minds. Neither did he talk them out of it or counsel or explain things further for clarification, hinting on an impending punishment if they left. He just let them leave. The important Kingdom principle here is you either come to him or you don't. And God will leave you to your decision.

No scare tactics. Just the Truth.

The Holy Spirit is around to convict and convince about sin, but he also won't force anyone to make decisions. Pastors scare people about losing their blessing if they don't give their tithes, or suffer wrath if they miss church on a Sunday or if they don't worship lively. Some preachers scare you if you don't keep saying amen to every sentence they utter. Jesus never did them. He trusted the Holy Spirit to do his work.

He Never Begs

Can you imagine Jesus soliciting for money? Or pleading people to come back next Sunday? Or sharing testimonies about how hard ministry life is (or how important a church project is) to draw pity and inspire people to give? Begging is not part of Kingdom building, so if you use it in ministry, you're not in God's Kingdom building--you're building man's empire--a Babel tower where man's ways and efforts are used. 

He Never Embarrasses 

People embarrassed themselves for failing to follow him, not Jesus. They presented themselves, expressed their willingness to follow, but later backed down, like the rich, young ruler. Jesus never puts you in the limelight to roast you there. Yourself, your deeds, other people or circumstances will, but not God. I've heard preachers publicly insinuate the shortcomings of people they know about--embarrass and shame them--to make them realize their sin and repent, or to make them do something. They claim the Holy Spirit made them do it. 

Well, God sometimes puts the godless to shame when they go beyond the limit but he often uses circumstances to do it instead of directly himself. The extremely arrogant Sennacherib of Assyria discovered too late that it was stupid to mock the God of Israel. He told the Israelites:

Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”

16 Sennacherib’s officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. [2 Chronicles 32]

Later however, God made him eat his words.

20 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. 21 And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace.

Ministers should learn how to be led solely by the Holy Spirit and not by what they know or what they have formulated. Intentionally and directly embarrassing people can produce some results but not what God had in mind. Learning how to rely on the Holy Spirit and understanding how he works is the key to doing God's will on earth as it is in heaven, exactly the way Jesus did it.

"...he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;" [Isaiah 11.3]

You don't have to embarrass erring people to make them do things. Let the Spirit of God do his work. Man's deeds or sins will find him out. God assures us that, "If you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out," [Numbers 32.23]

Prophetic Ministry

There are people who, under grace, enjoy an intimate relationship with God and trust him to the max that they have decided to forego of their freewill and fully surrendered everything to God. God tells them what to say or do and they execute accordingly--to the letter of God's spoken Word. God gives them the ability to release His Word with power and command and yet leave a person's freewill intact. 

These are God's prophets and apostles. They may release God's utterance to make people decide or tell them exactly what to do. The utterance has nothing to do with what they know about people or what they think is right or doctrinally sound. They just utter exactly what they hear from God, or what HE impresses in their hearts. 

For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. [2 Peter 1.21]

Then again, even prophecy is not forced, even prophecies designed to tell an individual exactly what he must do. A prophecy aimed at a man of God tells him accurate instructions and minute details about a matter. Although he is fully surrendered and have relinquished his own will, God still gives him a choice, although it's not really a choice between doing or not doing, because God honors your word about totally giving up your freewill to get His will alone. 

But then, it's still a choice, first, to make the prophet see what's in his own heart. Second, to make the Word or prophecy unforced on the prophet--although it is really a mandate. Under normal conditions, this presents no problem for the prophet--unless the prophet backslides and begins to entertain his own will and carnal desires. Like a lot of prophetic and apostolic ministers do.

Judas Iscariot, though personally handpicked by Jesus to be his apostle, was given a choice which Judas used carnally. He wasn't forced to betray. He chose to do it. Jesus said, the person who'd be given the morsel dipped in the bowl of water was the betrayer. That was the choice. He could've continued obeying Jesus by not taking the bread. In fact, it was a chance to make him do right. But he was determined to take it when Jesus handed it to him (when Jesus handed it to him, it was not a command. He had the choice not to take it). He had decided to betray. Jesus never forced him to do anything. He was left to himself to decide whether to take the bread or not. When he had decided, Jesus said, "What you have to do, do it fast."

He didn't counsel Judas or explain things to him for clarification. He didn't invite Judas for prayer. He just let him. He didn't force him nor dissuade him.

This is How We Should Do Ministry

How Jesus did ministry is how we should do ministry. Exactly. We cannot add anything or choose what and what not to adopt. If he didn't force anyone--or used the carnal ways mentioned here--we likewise shouldn't. If we do it any other way (any other principles), then we're not building God's Kingdom. We're building men's empires.

The key is clear. As Jesus was led solely by the Holy Spirit and what the Father instructed him through the spoken Word, so should we.

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. 

In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

He's Sure to Find Something Else

But I'm sure it won't shock Him.

I often spend time at my porch looking afar, sipping coffee, wondering about the Lord's sudden trumpet call, specifically in Luke 18.8. He asked a curious question, probably wondering about the state of faith so-called "believers" would have at the time, though I'm quite sure he knew exactly what it will be. It was more a question to make us re-think what we have now and call "faith."

"However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

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He'll find lots of church denominations and doctrines, for sure. Lots of mega ministries, impressive religious buildings and church accomplishments. But will he find faith--the very faith that he himself introduced? The Gospel of the Kingdom? The way and truth he embodied in his person as the sole Way and the sole Truth? The quality of relationship with him that is so vital in the faith he's looking for?

Luke 18 is about the faith and prayer of a widow, mercy and humility, kids and the Kingdom, material riches, losing one's life for Jesus, and the healed blind man. Before this, Jesus had talked about the Rapture and how to be part of it, hinting that "whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it."  

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The Rapture, by the way, is when Jesus suddenly comes back to "snatch" true believers from this world and spare them from the coming terrible global disasters and extreme hardships the world hasn't seen or ever heard of. It's God's provision for an "escape." The term "rapture" is not in the bible but the idea is there:

"Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” [Luke 21.36]

To me, Luke 18's context is everything mentioned above, even after chapter 18 where Jesus entered Jericho to dine at Zacchaeus' house. In fact, in a broader sense, the whole book of Luke and the 4 Gospel versions (the entire New testament even) should be included in the scope, and in a much broader sense, the whole bible. But for simplification, I take the immediate context (the widow's story) and see what faith Jesus is looking for--which is persistent faith.

Persistent about what?

Persistent about getting what you're asking for--a definite, specific answer straight from God. What was the widow's plea? "Grant me justice against my adversary." And she expected getting nothing less than justice. She didn't settle for something close to justice, or anything that looked or sounded like it. She didn't settle for a no answer either, or a maybe answer, or thought that if she didn't get what she asked for, maybe it wasn't the judge's will, and fall back to her Plan B or C. 

Do you get what you ask for, or do you often change topic with your prayers and settle for lesser options because your first option remains unheeded?

Jesus wants faith to be persistent about getting only what we specifically ask from God, not making religious excuses if we don't get them. "Probably it's not God's will" or "perhaps it's not yet time" or "God will give it in his time." The widow believed she had to get it then and insisted on it, getting no less than what she asked for, and at that very time--not next month or next year.

Persistent about Jesus' Faith

When Jesus prayed, he got exactly what he asked for and got it right there and then. That's the faith he introduced and demonstrated in the Gospel, it's the faith he expects to find when he returns. He didn't settle for anything else. When he needed a few loaves of bread and fish to feed 5,000 men, he asked exactly that and got exactly the same, right there and then. 

There's no record in the bible of Jesus asking the Father for multiplied bread and fish, but it's safe to assume that Jesus did a mental prayer like he did when he resurrected Lazarus. But this is for another blog post. Watch for it.

When Jesus needed to resurrect the dead or heal the sick, it was exactly what the Father gave him. He never deviated from his prayer goal. No backup Plan B or C. There was no such thing as God's second best. Whatever Jesus asked for was automatically God's best for him.

Today, we pray a lot--we even use grand terminology and choice of words--but often get nothing. Then we invent excuses to save face. "It's not God's will" or "It's not yet the right time." You never heard Jesus say that. Remember, HE is the only Way. Everything ought to be done HIS way. His results should also be our results, because we are connected to him. We are attached directly to him. He is the Vine, we are the branches. This faith is what he wants to find when he comes back. 

The kind of faith that backs up our prayer is crucial in the Kingdom. God looks for it more than anything else. And it should be Jesus' faith or nothing. It's not a creed embellished in a garland of human theology and religious titles and degrees. It's faith that really works supernaturally and backed up all the way by Kingdom power. Sadly, faith today is just scholarly and intellectual but utterly powerless. That's the "faith" Jesus will be finding in the last days. 

"...always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." [2 Timothy 3.7]

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God Won't Keep Putting You Off

For a while, the unjust judge kept putting her off. It wasn't because justice wasn't the judge's will. IT WAS, of course. And she got it. Persistence is proof of our surefire and unwavering faith and Jesus used this parable to show it. Don't change course with your prayer. That's NOT faith. The Holy Spirit puts in your heart the desire and you have to pursue it in prayer. Don't change course--unless, if you don't really know how the Spirit works, leads and reveals and you're just led by the flesh (and your human theology).

Abraham gave up expecting to have a biological son because of his age and Sarah's almost dead womb. He changed course and got an Ishmael. They were led by the flesh. Thank God he later pursued the original vision God gave him and got an Isaac. Make sure to see what God has put in your heart and pursue that in prayer no matter what. Don't change course.

The widow could have just settled for another option if her first option didn't seem to push through--like forgetting about her adversary and going far away instead to start a new peaceful life. After all, the bible does say to pursue after peace, right? Nope. She insisted on getting justice. She stuck with that. That's the faith Jesus looks for. Faith that gets a sure leading from the Holy Spirit and sticks confidently with it. Anyway, the bible says justice is also God's will, not just peace. This takes supernatural guidance from the Holy Spirit to decide.

Sometimes, too, God would "put us off" for a while, not because our prayer isn't his will, but to make us see the quality of our faith--our persistence. Persistence is belief that God can and will do what he said he'll do--the desire he has put in our hearts. Backing down and settling for another option is another form of doubt. It's rejecting what God wants for you. It's like Satan telling Jesus a seemingly smarter option--turning stones into bread--instead of starving pointlessly (pointless, that is, to Satan). But Jesus persisted even if it seemed pointless. He knew the Father's will.

God Will Put You Off but Also Answer You Quickly

Jesus said: "Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. God will delay you somewhat but also give what you ask for QUICKLY. It's another Kingdom reversal or paradox. We won't fully understand this, but we have to take it by faith--the same faith that Jesus had. Even with seeming delays, God has heard our prayers and "will see that they get justice." In short, GOD will make sure we get exactly what we're asking for, no more or less. 

If we ask the Father for instant cancer healing--on the spot--and ask persistently without wavering even one bit (I mean, without a shadow of a doubt, not taking no for an answer, or any alternative), God will "see to it that we get" what we ask for, in Jesus' Name. And quickly! Sadly, what the modern church and man's theology have been enforcing is DOUBT about these things, not genuine faith. And then formulating logical explanations and philosophies to make excuses. No wonder Jesus asked, will he find faith on the earth?

Not My Will But Your Will

Jesus asked the Father that, if possible, the cross be bypassed. But he quickly added, "Not my will but your will." Why? Did he waver in faith? Truth is, he knew the Father intimately and the Father's will. He knew there was no way bypassing could be possible. But why pray thus anyway? Well, he showed how human nature is (even godly human nature) and how it should submit to God nonetheless. Being perfect God and perfect man at the same time, Jesus was inclined to take the easy way out--as man normally would (nothing wrong with this)--but had the godly discipline, as the Son, to obey the Father's will and ignore his own will.

In the parable, the widow knew the will of the judge, though he was "unjust." His will was to provide justice. She was certain about that. So she insisted and persisted. She asked for justice and was sure she would get it. Jesus, too knew the Father's will, which was to provide salvation through His Son's sacrificial death on the cross. He hinted on skipping the cross to show the natural tendency of the human nature, but he knew he had to die to provide salvation--though he struggled and felt sorrow submitting to the will and opting for the cross. He demonstrated how a godly human nature submits to God. He is the Way.

In the same way, true believers know what God's will is because they know God intimately. God reveals to them through Christ. Thus, no sense in praying without being sure whether God would approve it or not. The thing is, if you really know God and believe in him (you treasure His Word because you realize God's Word is Jesus), God will put in your heart what you feel you should ask for, so that whatever you ask for in Jesus' Name is God's will, and Jesus will do it. 

"You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

John 14.14

This is the faith Jesus wants and will look for when he comes back--a persistent and confident faith based purely on what he taught in his Gospel of the Kingdom. No more, no less.

If It's God's Will or If It's His Time?

I've heard a lot of believers say, God will answer our prayers if it's his will and his perfect time. It's found in 1 John 5.14. But instead of giving them "confidence" about this, smart church Alecks twist this around to make us doubt whether what we ask for is God's will or not. So they keep saying, "If it's God's will." 

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

The passage aims to give us confidence, not make us unsure if things are God's will or not. Get it? In fact, verse 15 of the passage tells us how we must believe that we've already received what we asked for. See that faith confidence? That's Jesus' faith. He didn't wonder if his prayer was according to God's will or not--because his prayers were always God's will. If you live in the center of God's will, everything you ask for is according to God's will. Automatically. As simple as that. You don't keep on wondering if it's God's will or not.

If you live in the center of God's will, everything you ask for is according to God's will. Automatically. As simple as that.

If you are steeped in God's spoken Word, meditating the bible day and night, and you are supernaturally led by the Holy Spirit, everything you ask for is God's will. Why? Because it's God who puts everything there in your heart and mind. He gives you the desires of your heart [Psalm 37.4]. You don't have a mind or will of your own anymore. You have died with Christ. It's no longer you who live but HIM. See?

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. [John 15.7]

Ask whatever you wish! Do you know what "wish" is? Your fancy, nonessential desires. Spiritual smart Alecks will tell you you shouldn't make a "wish," or prayer is not making a wish. But Jesus said even your "wishes" will come true. Even nonessentials that you ask for. Is Jesus a fairy? Nope. Only God can bless people, not fairies. No demon can give you anything because the devil owns nothing. They can only have permission from GOD to use HIS creation to reward folks they have deceived. 

Still bothered about how your prayer will get a yes or if it's God's will or if it's his time? Don't bother asking this anymore if you're genuinely in Christ. Because it's HE who moves and reigns in you through His Holy Spirit. 

And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. [Ezekiel 36.27]

...by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. [2 Thessalonians 1.11]

...equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ. [Hebrews 13.21]

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: 

“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

Understandable Only by Doing God's Will

By this you know you're on the right track.

The crowd marveled at his words. How could he have come up with teachings like that without having studied in legit learning institutions? Their religious leaders graduated from the finest seminaries of the time, but none (not even their topnotch scholars) could produce anything close to what Jesus had. Jesus demonstrated how wisdom coming supernaturally straight from the Holy Spirit was unique and radical.

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It was not something their religious and theology authorities recognized or accepted. His teaching was rejected, deemed unsound, even if his detractors were solid bible believers. They believed the same God and eagerly waited for the Messiah, but rejected Jesus.

But Jesus didn't bother to explain or enlighten the authorities to earn their acceptance or respect. He didn't care. He ignored them and said the teaching was actually not his. It was the Father's. So if they had any questions, ask the Father. And anyway, no explication or theologizing could clarify the teaching except that a true seeker actually do God's will. Doing it will reveal everything and confirm Jesus' Word.

17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. [John 7]

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Doers of God's will get sharp spiritual discernment. They easily distinguish between genuine Word from God and men's word. They won't look at your religious educational background or titles or degrees to see if what you say comes from God. They don't weigh your words with their theology. They discern things by doing God's will. 

And I don't mean being active in church or doing what we call "church ministries" today. Coming from Jesus and seeing what things he did to do God's will, he surely meant God's supernatural will--preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom with signs and wonders, healing and miracles, and discipling believers using his discipleship model.

That's what "God's will" is to Jesus.

Do God's will as Jesus did and you'll see what Jesus' teaching is all about. You will find out that it comes supernaturally from God, not from men or their institutions or theology. Not from their religious traditions. In fact, Jesus, as model Servant, made sure his teaching was also not his own, though he could've done so because he is the Truth. But his teaching was from the Father. He did this to demonstrate his total obedience and submission to the Father and serve as an example we should follow. 

"...what I have heard from him I tell the world.” [John 8.26]

We should teach or preach as we hear from the Father through Christ in us. This happens when we rely totally on the Holy Spirit as Jesus did. Men's theologies and philosophies had not use for him. Everything was supernaturally from the Father so that the Son was in perfect harmony with the Father, doing things as One. 

28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” [John 8]

Personal Glory

Everybody in church claims everything done in ministry is "for God's glory," but Jesus thought otherwise. Some "speak on their own" because their teaching does not come straight from God's mouth. It comes from their human theology and sermon outline. It's precast material, everything decided by the mind trained in human methods, though prayed for. Jesus never used them. He never prepared an outline and prayed for it. Neither did the apostles in Acts. Jesus spoke as he heard from the Father. 

I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. [John 12.49 NLT]

And if you speak on your own, you're after personal glory, not God's, said Jesus--even if you keep claiming it's for God's glory. Saying only what God tells you makes you a man of truth, he said. And this is how you keep yourself truthful because, Jesus pointed out, nothing will be false about you. So you need to be able to really hear God's voice.

18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. [7.18]

It all starts with the desire to do God's will, not man's will, in church or ministry. And this means doing the very things that Jesus did. It's HIS church and ministry, after all, and we should continue exactly as he did, as he modelled, and not do our own version of things. 

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is:

“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

God's Finger--and Armors and Plunders

This continues my previous discussion of Jesus' use of God's finger. Jesus drove out a mute demon and some smart Alecks attributed the power to some devil. These smart Alecks had a lot to say about what they didn't understand even if they had never driven out a demon in their lives. But Jesus did, just like that, like a simple snap of his fingers. So he likened it to God's finger. They were amazed at his power to command demons, and yet that was just God's finger he demonstrated.

Photo by Elia Pellegrini on Unsplash.

What about if he used God's whole body? I mean the body of Christ.

But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. [Luke 11.20]

The main thing here is, make sure it's really God in you doing the ministry, not you, not your own efforts or understanding, not your knowhow from bible school or seminary, especially not your human theology or denominational doctrine. Make sure it's Christ in you doing everything. CHRIST in you the hope of glory. And if it's God doing everything (and you're just resting in Him), then simply using His finger would solve everything.

Just His finger will release God's tremendous supernatural power.

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Problem is, church doesn't use even God's finger for ministry today, so on-the-spot supernatural signs and wonders are nowhere in church. It uses what it understands through human theology. So it doesn't know anything about God's finger or His supernatural power. Jesus' critics then thought it was demonic. The same with church today--anything it does not understand or doesn't agree with its denominational doctrine is demonic, or at least it keeps a safe distance from.

The Lord's Hand and Arm

In the Old Testament, we see passages referring to God's use of his hand and arm that worked supernatural things. Often we just read past them and take for granted. But they're powerful Kingdom concepts. We should look at them closer.

Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

[Deuteronomy 4.34]

 A mighty and hand and outstretched arm. Why did the bible describe what God did this way? Why did Jesus have to mention about the finger of God? These were all for a vital reason. God does not just say things out of whim or fancy. Every word of God from his mouth teaches a powerful Kingdom principle. It's "bread" meant for us to live on.

When God did signs and wonders to redeem a nation within another nation, fought wars and used great terrors, he did it himself, but he also used his servants. Often, he refers to this as the work of his hands and outstretched arms. For instance, he split the Red Sea himself, but used Moses with his raised hand holding his wooden staff, the "staff of God." 

Specifically, the bible says:

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. [Exodus 15]

You see how it works?

When you understand and take faith in how it is God who does everything but he does it in you and through you, you become part of God, being his finger or arm. More so in Christ because we are in him. Thus, Jesus often says "Your faith has healed you." It means you believed the supernatural faith process. You ate it and swallowed it. God did a mighty work, and it was through you. 

Often, our attitude is to pray and see what happens--if something happens. If nothing happens, we say it's not God's will, to save face. Jesus never said that. He never prayed and said "it's not God's will." Everything in Jesus is a YES [2 Corinthians 1.20]. He often said "Your faith has healed you," emphasizing that, yes it's God who does it but it's also you how does it--especially now that you are in Christ.

You have to believe you are that finger or arm, or at least believe you're using God's finger or arm. And God's finger or hand or arm cannot fail! It cannot come up with a NO answer from God. Jesus always got a YES. He believed he was using God's finger to work a miracle. Jesus did that to teach and show us how to operate in the supernatural and the miraculous. Any believer in Christ (a radical believer) can be God's finger or arm (or use God's finger and arm) to perform signs and wonders and display God's power and splendor.

How much more if all believers do this as one body? If the hand or arm can defeat devils, how much more the entire body? That is, if the body unites as one in believing they can do supernatural things I Jesus did them.

Take Away the Enemy's Armor

This is exactly how we take away or confiscate the enemy's armor. The enemy has an armor or defense or protection he trusts in, just like we have God's spiritual armor. When the Israelites were afraid to attack Canaan, Joshua and Caleb revealed how the enemy had lost his "protection" and this made him vulnerable to Israel's attack. 

"Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” [Numbers 14]

Israel had a physical enemy then, but this shows us what happens during spiritual warfare in our time. The things in the Old Testament (OT) are shadows of the realities in Christ (Colossians 2.17]. Things in the OT teach us principles about spiritual warfare, among other things. They're not just stories and history. We can extract powerful Kingdom principles from them that serve relevantly today.

Before you attempt to plunge headlong into rebuking devils or doing signs and wonders, understand the spiritual workings of using God's finger and arm. Then you confiscate the enemy's armor and take plunder from him.

Taking Plunder from the Enemy

What's the enemy's plunder? These are spiritual things that should be yours but which the devil stole from you. He plundered you when you were in sin. It doesn't matter if you're active in church, support it and participate in all the ministries (or worship with tears, say Amen as loud as you can, or post nothing on your FB wall but bible verses). The enemy can still plunder you if you refuse to believe and surrender to everything God says in His Word. I mean EVERYTHING. This is the reason why Christians pray or claim bible promises but have nothing happen. The devil has plundered them and taken the armor they trust in.

You have to take them all back. It's yours. You have to plunder the enemy. You cannot plunder the enemy of anything else except what he stole from you, because the devil owns nothing but what he steals. And you cannot plunder him except with the finger of God (or his hand or arm), NOT your human theology or title or degree. They are garbage in the spiritual realms.

And anything you plunder from the enemy, the Lord will double. The Lord will multiply it by two. That's powerful!

Instead of your shame (when you lived in sin)
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours. [Isaiah 61.7]

Taking plunder is often spiritual, though it can be physical, material or financial because nothing is impossible with God. It can mean physical healing or financial blessings but often it's added revelation of God's Word because knowing God and his Word more deeply means access to His spiritual riches that mightily sustain you even in your spiritual wilderness and give you abundant spiritual supplies in dry and barren places--in "wastelands." It means more spiritual power that nonbelievers and the enemy have not yet seen or known.

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him—" [1 Corinthians 2.9]

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland. [Isaiah 43.19]

But everything starts with total surrender to Jesus. 

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. 

In Jesus alone is salvation. Jesus is:

“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

HE Used the Finger of God

As I've said in a previous article, Jesus didn't say or do anything that was optional for his followers. Everything he said and did must be taken seriously--and applied in real life and ministry. Like his use of God's finger in ministry. According to him, it's one proof that you are a genuine Kingdom person and what you bring people is God's Kingdom, not man's. 

So, if you're in ministry, are you using "the finger of God"?

But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. [Luke 11.20]

Photo by Pars Sahin on Unsplash. 

Proof of Kingdom Citizenship

One proof that someone is really from God's Kingdom is his use of God's finger in ministry. That's clear in the passage above. You may try to hide or deny the fact with your theological manipulation, but if you're honest you'd easily see it. Because Jesus drove out demons by God's finger, "then the Kingdom of God has come..." he concluded. Unless ministries use God's finger, it cannot represent God's true kingdom. Man's "Christian" empire probably, but not God's kingdom.  

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The Pharisees and their followers could not drive out demons. They didn't know how. They could not represent God's kingdom and yet had the temerity to say that Jesus (because he drove out demons) was using Satan's power in ministry. A true ministry from God knows the difference between God's finger and Satan's tricks. Most churches today cannot discern what is of the kingdom. Anything they cannot understand or does not agree with their doctrines they label as demonic. 

Proof of Authenticity

A lot of religions and churches preach the Gospel, but is it the genuine Gospel of the Kingdom? Or is it bible passages filtered to the designs of their denominations? There's one proof that it's the true (unadulterated) Kingdom of God that has been brought to people--if it's through the finger of God. If it's through God's supernatural move.

Traits of God's Finger

How do you use God's finger in ministry? First, know how to identify it and it's solely through the Word and revelation of the Holy Spirit. If you do not have the spiritual gift of discernment to differentiate what is and what's not of God, you cannot use God's finger in ministry. 

The apostle Paul was highly commended as a servant "of the most high God!" by a slave girl in Acts 16 but he wasn't flattered one bit. Paul knew it was the demon in the girl giving the commendation. He rebuked the demon using the finger of God. Then the Kingdom of God came in the midst of the jail where he and Silas were thrown.

The slave girls' praise seemed okay. It appreciated the evangelism efforts of Paul and company. We often get commendations like that and we think that as long as it's about God's work we're being appreciated, it's good. Anything that sounds spiritual and tickles the flesh is good to us. If so, you cannot use the finger of God because you lack discernment. 

Even Jesus turned away from the crowd when people appreciated his ministry and "believed" in him. Physically, having crowds join you looks good. But Jesus had spiritual discernment. And this enabled him to use God's finger when needed. 

24But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all. 25 He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man. [John 2]

Genuine spiritual discernment is a requisite to using the finger of God in ministry, as reflected from the context of Luke 11. Remember, the Pharisees and their followers could not drive out demons (the finger of God alone can) because they could not discern what spiritual power Jesus was operating in.

Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

In other words, if the Pharisees claimed they derived power from God when driving out demons (but they couldn't), are they saying that Satan's power was better, since Jesus was able to drive out demons and they say he was using Satan's power? You see how lost the Pharisees were? 

Second is seeing Satan defeated. People see with their very eyes how the kingdom of darkness is defeated. It's not just a hyped claim of a bible verse or whatnot, but supernatural things happen right before their eyes. 

"I drive out demons by the finger of God," said Jesus.

It's not just "I teach you how demons are shooed off by the finger of God." An actual demo happens. Church today has had too much of seminars and lectures on philosophies, formulas, strategies and theologies but no demonstration of supernatural power.

4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. [1 Corinthians 2]

When God's supernatural power is displayed, it means his finger is at work, and his Kingdom is brought in people's midst, It's not the presence of a denominational church with its nice programs that is brought to the people but God's Kingdom with supernatural power. Satan is defeated.

17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” [Luke 10]

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

He Didn't Invite People to His Bible Studies

No one outside the discipleship was invited. 
Outsiders had to make effort to pursue him.

His Sermon on the Mount was well attended by "multitudes," says the KJV, numbering some 5,000 men, probably 20K if we include the women and children. Yet none of them were invited to this famous "bible study." These multitudes went after Jesus on their own. The Beatitudes and his other "bible studies" were intended only for his disciples.

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash.

That element of pursuit is vital in a real Jesus ministry. People should pursue Jesus and His Word, not be invited to bible studies, especially if they're obviously reluctant. You never see Jesus doing that--asking or inviting people to attend his "church" or come back next Sunday. Why? It will break a Kingdom principle:

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them. [John 6.44]

Drawn Not Invited

Here's the principle: people should be drawn to you by the Father. The words "no one can come to me," means it will not work any other way. The Father should draw people to you. It's useless to think of clever things to lure or encourage people to attend your church or bible study because in the passage, Jesus said the LIFE will be given only to those the Father Himself draws. 

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up (give them life) at the last day. "

Yes, you can do gimmicks and nice programs to fill up your church and up your membership, but they will all be carnal church attenders if they're not the people the Father is drawing to you. They'll never really grow and mature spiritually because only those with life can grow. They may become so active in ministry, "faithful" tithers and supporters, doing grand works for the Lord, saying nice testimonies and all, but still immature in the spiritual realms. 

They remain carnal, not understanding the things of the Holy Spirit.

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Zacchaeus was Invited to Dinner

When Jesus fed the 5,000 and the 4,000, Jesus did not invite anybody to them. The disciples didn't need invitation because they were personally chosen by Jesus to follow him and they desperately pursued him everyday. The rest were just curious audience. Everybody was welcome but they were mere attenders. There were no "members" in Jesus' ministry. To be inside the Jesus discipleship circle, they had to radically give up all and follow him. 

Many are called but few are chosen.

When Jesus healed the paralytic lowered from the roof, there were no ads or promotions or door-to-door invitations for people to come. A big crowd gathered the moment they heard that Jesus was around. No gimmicks, lures, giveaways, dole outs, or free this and that just to make people come. People were excited to go and see. Here's what happened.

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. [Mark 2]

One day, while passing by Jericho, Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus' house, not for bible study, but for a place to stay. That is clear in Scriptures. And I can imagine how Jesus and Zacchaeus and company were in the house talking lightly and informally (not really a bible study) with Jesus inserting the Gospel casually now and then. That's when the topic on giving up possessions to follow Jesus came up, and Zacchaeus did not just say Amen. He was radically transformed. Why? Because he was drawn to Jesus by the Father. Here's the hint:

He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him.

Can you imagine a rich guy climbing up a tree just to see Jesus? And then giving up half of his possessions and paying back 4 times what he owed anyone? That cannot happen unless the guy was touched by the Father and drawn to Jesus. What we see in church today are active members, most of whom want to be seen performing on stage and being applauded.

But no radical transformation and giving up possessions. If ever they give money, they expect something in return--like influence over the pastor or expecting the pastor to fulfill their expectations. Why? Because they were lured to the church as members. The Father never drew them there. This is why a lot of churches are carnal.

Rat Race

Nobody will follow Jesus' example today because of the rat race the church is in. The mad scramble to get as many people in. They invite, visit and follow up--things Jesus never did. Neither did the apostles. Because truth is, even ministry should be done by faith, not by works. We should believe what Jesus taught about doing ministry. Otherwise, we will be growing plants the Father has not planted.

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots." [Matthew 15.13]

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: 

“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4]

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

He Wasn't Happy with Mere Amen

 Amen is good but HE wants obedience.

Amen is how we get our agreement to a prayer counted or validated or transmitted to the heavenly realms, because it's also one of Jesus' other names [Rev.3.14]. Jesus alone, the Amen, is the Way to the Father, so we say "Amen" to a prayer we make or agree with. 

But to Jesus, that's not enough.

Photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash.

Because a lot of people can easily agree on anything spiritual or biblical that sounds good to their ears. We agree on prayers that ask for more blessings or on bible passages that promise solutions to our problems, and that's really good. Question is, are we willing to have a radically changed life? Because "Amen" means total submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

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Jesus' Truth Expects Radical Transformation

Can we give up totally our man-made religions and man-invented "biblical" doctrines and be radically transformed by His Word? Nope we don't. We just say amen to everything nice but stick to our man-authored religious beliefs right after. This can't work with Jesus. Watch this passage.

27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”

28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” [Luke 11]

In effect, the woman was saying "Amen!" to all that Jesus was teaching. The context shows he was teaching the crowd about the Kingdom, demon possession, impure spirits and Satan. But his intent was to show people the difference between him and their religious leaders--because their leaders accused him of performing miracles with demonic power.

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And he wanted them to decide radically, not just watch and be blessed and say Amen. Would they continue following their leaders or would they go all out for him?

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."

In effect, Jesus was telling them: 

Your religious leaders think they know better, but look at how they are lost in their understanding about the spiritual realms. All they know are their rotten human theology and philosophies but know nothing about what's really happening spiritually. 

But look. I drive out demons with God's finger! Can they do that? And why am I able to do that? Because God's Kingdom is backing me up. Exactly why God's Kingdom has come upon you.

At least that's how I read what he said.

Jesus further explained that spiritual power is all that mattered in his ministry. It's useless to be doing a lot of "effective" and popular ministries if you cannot defeat the strong man Satan and confiscate his armor. And how on earth do you confiscate the devil's armor? Human theology can't teach you that. Systematic theology can't give you that. It's through the "finger of God" alone. Obviously, only the Holy Spirit can teach you that supernaturally.

Now, how many in church knows the Kingdom principles on using "the finger of God" to drive out demons? Why aren't they teaching this to believers in church? They just say "amen" to sermons about this passage, but forget all about it right after. It's like the woman mentioned above saying, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”

But Jesus wants total obedience.

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder."

Divides Up the Plunder 

What did Jesus mean by "divides up his plunder"? First, you confiscate the demon's armor (demons have so much confidence on their armors) and then you divide up the plunder. How do you do this? Are Christians familiar with this Kingdom warfare principle? Jesus won't be talking about this if this was optional or unimportant or if it doesn't concern us much. No Word of Jesus is optional. It's not something we can do without.

Problem is, we're introduced to church ministry without understanding that everything is spiritual and we need to understand the spirit world and our spiritual weapons. They just make us teach kids' Sunday school or join the choir and worship team or lead bible studies or join outreach ministries. Or have fellowship. We don't understand that there's an invisible enemy out there who aims to overpower us and take our armor away.

So we end up like the 7 sons of Sceva, though we never see this due to spiritual blindness. What we appreciate are the "achievements" in the physical realms.

Spiritual Armors

Taking away the enemy's armor was what Caleb mentioned about to convince the Israelites to attack Canaan. He knew that the enemy had protection, but that protection (shield, defense or armor) was now gone due solely to God's go signal. When you operate in the NOW WORD of God (you have God's go signal), you have protection and God (Jesus in you) confiscates the armor of the enemy, leaving him vulnerable. Once God says "go" it means the enemy's protection is gone.

But the Israelites belittled this spiritual knowledge. They stuck to their own understanding and refused to enter Canaan. So God punished those who didn't believe with a plague. But early the next morning, the Israelites decided to enter Canaan because the way they saw it, it was what God wanted. It was. Yesterday, yes, but today was different. God's Word this day was "don't go." God's decision didn't change though. He still wanted Canaan conquered, but not at that time when doubt was still fresh in their hearts and their minds understood nothing about what was happening. But they went anyway, and this was what Moses said.

41 But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed! 42 Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, 43 for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”

44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah. [Numbers 14]

We plunge headlong to ministry often out of "presumption" not realizing we have no protection. If the Lord's not with us (though we're doing his will, but at the wrong time and with the wrong heart), we lose our spiritual protection. The strong man has become the devil and he takes away the armor in which we trusted and divides up the plunder he took from us.

How do we turn the table against the enemy? How do we keep our armors secure and confiscate that of the enemy's? Moses said obedience was the answer in verse 41. Jesus said it's being solidly all out for him, a radical decision 100 percent for Christ. 

It's useless to agree or say Amen without a changed life, a radical transformation following it, a radical decision to leave the rotting Pharisaical religion and its doctrines and join Jesus all the way, embracing only his radical teachings in the bible as his Holy Spirit reveals them to you. This was how Jesus put it:

43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” [Matthew 12]

Simply put, he said that being swept clean and in order is nothing if you remain empty or unoccupied. You have zero gains even if you've been blessed by a sermon, felt good and inspired and said "Amen" a lot of times, if you just go back to your old religion afterwards and never leave man's religion and radically change. You can be fully agreeing with what Jesus says and still be fully against him, too.

“Whoever is not with me is against me."

Dividing the Plunder

Then we divide the plunder we get from the enemy. Yup, there's such thing as spiritual plunder, and we have to know how to get it. Remember David when God enabled him to recover everything the Amalekites stole--his wives, the women and children, and huge plunder? It happened after God told him the NOW WORD: 

7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” GOD answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” [1 Samuel 30]

Plundering the enemy starts with desperately seeking the Word from God. A wholehearted quiet time with HIM seeking for a sign or go signal. 

David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.

When God reveals the go signal, we have to apply whatever he says to us. Here is where binding and releasing comes. What we bind or release on earth will be so in heaven. We got heaven's backing. But many do not believe this. They say it's out of context to see the passage this way. So no plundering the enemy happens. But the bible says:

3 God, your God, will restore everything you lost; he'll have compassion on you; he'll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered.
4 No matter how far away you end up, God, your God, will get you out of there
5 and bring you back to the land your ancestors once possessed. It will be yours again. He will give you a good life and make you more numerous than your ancestors.

6 God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children's hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live. [Deuteronomy 30]

If you want to be with Jesus 100 percent and be radically changed into his image, the first step is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ right now. 

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. 

In Jesus alone is salvation. Jesus is: 

“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

It was Still Dark When He Went Out

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. [Mark 1.35]

I wonder why he had to go out of the house and go to a remote place. "Solitary place," says the NIV, which means secluded or unfrequented. No people there except Jesus. Waking up early and praying while it's still dark is understandable. A lot of us do that. But why go out? What's wrong with praying in the house?

Photo by Carolina Pimenta on Unsplash.

And why did the Holy Spirit move Mark, the Gospel writer, to record that in his Gospel? Why have it written for generations to read? Everything that happens--or God does or allows--is for a purpose, and this scenario is no exception. I believe it's important to note--and to see--how Jesus went out and looked for a solitary place to pray. He could've just stayed in the house to pray but he didn't. 

He Went Out

Jesus literally went out. We don't have to literally do so, too. But we need to "go out" in the spirit and leave behind all concerns "at home," getting away from it all. We have to be lost to the world and escape headlong to the throne room of God, into His darkness, deep into His quiet presence. We need to learn how to turn off everything in the earthly realm (without having to really leave our house at dawn, especially not in this pandemic) and be in His hiding place all at once.

“The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;" [1 Kings 8.12]

My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one." [Song of Solomon 2.10]

Solitary Place 

The Father loves to watch everything done for him in secret. Exclusively for his eyes. He is jealous when you parade it in public for everyone to see. And he wants you all to himself without interruption. I once failed to pay attention to what God was telling me. So he sent me a "thorn in the flesh" to keep me glued to my bed, unable to move a single inch without getting dizzy, weak and gasping for air. It was a mysterious illness that puzzled even doctors because all my test results came out normal.

When finally the Lord had me all to himself (imprisoned in my bed and room), he pointed to an old book gathering dust in my bookshelf. He'd been wanting me to read it. So I had ample time reading the book slowly but surely, seeing things he'd been wanting me to see, sealed words and "inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell." I lay in my bed "sick" for some 6 months, and all I could do was read the book and hear him speak.

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Where He Prayed

In another scene, we see Jesus excited to send the disciples ahead to the other side by boat and went up a mountain by himself. Again, in a solitary place. He had just performed an astounding miracle of feeding 5,000 men out of a few small bread and fish--which no doubt was super exciting to see. But Jesus appeared more excited in what was about to take place--he'd take a break with his Father.

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. [Matthew 14]

There's tremendous power when you pray in private, doing it in secret with the Father, as Jesus taught his disciples to "go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." He made it so private that he had to get rid of all the people and his disciples and climb up a mountainside and there pray.

How He Prayed

And there, he just relaxed and talked with the Father casually. Orderly, patterned and programmed prayer is for the religious (especially one that is read from a paper), designed for ritualistic worship and pleasing people--because you're being watched in public. It is impressive but zero in spiritual power. "They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners to be seen by people." It's also what they teach about prayer following the acronym ACTS--Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Religion is fond of doing that. 

When Jesus needed a miracle to feed the 5,000, all he did was look up and say "Thanks!" No ACTS prayer. And so with his other prayers for miracles. Publicly, he simply gave the Father short "signal" prayers, cues that motioned the timing  or commencement of a miracle. But in his quiet times with HIM, Jesus spent hours and even whole nights just enjoying talking with his Father. And he made sure that it was without interruption.

In the Spirit

Today, we can even do more than what Jesus did, "because I go to the Father," he said once. Moreover, true worshipers (and prayerful individuals) worship God in spirit and in truth (place is irrelevant, Jesus added). So, anywhere you are, you can enjoy "solitary places" you can go out to and talk with the Father at length--even if you're stuck in traffic, busy at the office, talking with someone, cooking, doing laundry or doing anything. While busy in the earthly realm, you can "come away" with the King to his Kingdom orchards and gardens, and then in his throne room, spending grand times with HIM in eternity.

You want to experience this? First, you need to surrender your life totally to HIM.

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

What is God Doing While Covid Variants Mutate?

The mu variant started in Colombia but WHO says it's now in 39 other countries. While variants keep spreading around the world, what has God been doing so far? 

Photo by Benjamin Thomas on Unsplash.

It's probably everybody's secret inquiry--what's God doing in all this? What does he plan to do about it? Honestly, sometimes it looks like God isn't up to anything about it because it just keeps getting worse. It seems the more we pray the more nothing happens. Worse, even Christian ministers are affected and some have even died of Covid. 

Why GOD seems Silent

Even in Scriptures, God sometimes seems too silent while evil or hopelessness reigns, until just before the end comes when he starts judgment and rescue. In fact, even amid his "silence," God has surely been doing things--particularly preparing people for his next move. Some are being prepared for judgment, others for rescue.

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In another sense, he allows commitment of sins to reach its peak. Or, until the total number of repented people is completed. Why? To give us all a chance to repent. 

16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” [Genesis 15]

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, [Romans 11.25]

During the "lull" is when he actively (though quietly) convicts the world of sin through the Holy Spirit and through messages he sends via angels as believers preach the Gospel or pray for the situation, as in the case of Daniel the prophet. When the right time comes, he judges the unrepentant and unsurrendered and rescues believers.

Raising Up Servants

Basing on what God did in the bible, he always has something in store in his plan. Always. Often, it has to do with extending his grace and mercy to everyone. It also has to do with preparing his remnant for action. During times when God seems too quiet, he equips saints and helps them go deep into His Word and in the Spirit. I liken it to how army special forces are trained secretly and then released for powerful action at the right moment. In the case of believers, they're trained for God's Next supernatural move.

At present, Covid variants cause havoc in unmitigated persistence around the world, more speedily spreading the infection. It seems unstoppable. Medical science merely watches the development helplessly. Vaccines help a lot, but talks go around about the mu variant being resistant to any vaccine, but which still needs confirmation. Churches pray but nothing seems to be happening. Even church people suffer deadly infection.

It seems God is not planning to do anything.

But don't let the seeming "silence" mislead you. He is presently at work, though his work has all been done and perfected since the 7th day when he rested after creation. The work he finished then has been activated to implementation through history according to his "time table." And this pandemic is no exception. He has his plans set in position at each phase, ready to "go off" at the right moment. All we have to do is trust him and wait.

The Real Question Is..

Yes, God is doing something powerful now though we see nothing (but which becomes visibly obvious in the spirit realm), and he's up to something grand and dramatic, both for judgment and rescue. No question about it--GOD is active today. Don't worry. Rescue is coming soon. Just wait, trust and obey. In the meantime, the real question is, what actions are you doing while waiting for God's next move? Are you for him or against him? If you are for him, then you must totally surrendered to him. How? Read below.

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

"Nothing Will be Impossible for You"

The disciples saw how Jesus simply rebuked the demon to get rid of it, because they could not. Then he said every believer should easily do this even with seed-size faith. And do more. 

"Nothing will be impossible for you."

Photo by Jill Heyer on Unsplash. 

Nothing will be impossible for you! Do you understand what this means? Because no less than the Lord Jesus Christ declared it, it's permanently established in the spiritual realm. And nothing--not even demons, principalities or church smart Alecks--can change it. It's one thing to say that nothing is impossible to God, but quite another thing to say, nothing is impossible for you.

Two Things About Spiritual Warfare

Fresh from an awesome supernatural experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples Peter, James and John, along with Jesus, were greeted by a crowd around a demon-possessed boy with the rest of the disciples who failed to drive the demon out. I saw the look of disappointment on the disciples' faces. Yup, I was "there" as I meditated that portion of the Gospel. I saw the scene like I was in it.

I know the disciples tried their best to "heal" the kid (demon possession sometimes takes the form of an illness), to no avail. I can imagine how they tried to rebuke it with heavy, high-sounding spiritual words you usually hear in spiritual warfare. Or spoke words with an authoritative, majestic voice. But nothing happened. With disappointment, the boy's dad told Jesus: "I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

The thing is, it's not enough to "try." Jesus never "tried" to do miracles, see if they would work. He performed them. Demonstrated. He showed them how the power of the Kingdom worked. The wrong attitude is to "consider" miracles among other solutions to remedy a situation. If trying miracles doesn't work, then we have Plan B and C ready. This is why miracles never work today--we're never dead serious about them. Miracles are just one of our options, often our last. Then we conclude that miracles are already obsolete because they don't happen anymore.

Another worse thing we do is hear God's Word but do things our own way. This is far from being faith. It was how the disciples probably did it, so Jesus said they were "unbelieving." Believing without putting it to work is unbelief.

Why couldn't the disciples drive the demon out?

“'You unbelieving and perverse generation,' Jesus replied."

 

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Unbelieving

Driving out demons is not through some formula or steps or procedures or words uttered. Or voice tone. Or prayer warriors. Definitely not through denominational titles or degrees. A lot of spiritual warfare seminars teach you methods and formulas as if demons are scared of them. Jesus said it plainly in the Matthew 17 passage--nothing but your faith will make it work. And faith comes only by "hearing" the Word, said Romans 10--not reading or being learned in Sunday school or sermons. 

Real faith comes by hearing God Himself speak his Word in the bible to you. Specifically to you. I heard Jesus say it like this:

"Man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that comes out of the mouth of God." [Matthew 4.4] and...

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. [Matthew16]

About his Word and healing, the bible says:

He sent out his word and healed them. [Psalm 107.21]

God sends out his rhema healing Word from his own mouth. We have to believe it and really do it. And there are dozens of promises in the bible released for our use. We have to meditate them, put them to heart, and really apply them. It's no use learning about miracles just to know how Jesus healed people in the bible. Jesus demonstrated them so we can do them correctly. It all starts with serious meditation.

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. [Joshua 1.8]

As you meditate the Word, the experience is that you hear it straight from God's mouth and hear it in your heart. Bible studies, Sunday schools and sermons are good, but they are mere "snacks" compared to the grand, filling "feast" you get from meditating God's rhema (spoken) Word in your quiet times with HIM. This is what feeds your faith to believe God's signs and wonders and miracles. This has been my experience, enabling me to operate in signs and wonders (though the consistency is not yet enough).

Perverse

It's quite clear. If your faith cannot command demons, you are "perverse" or wayward or unyielding (insubmissive), even "villainous" said one dictionary. That's how God sees you, no matter if you're a bible school or seminary graduate or super active in church or in the ministry. Remember, the disciples were with Jesus in person, no less, learning straight from him and active in his ministry. But they were "perverse" because their faith couldn't drive out demons or move mountains.

Yes, they heard Jesus' Word straight from his mouth but failed to combine it with genuine faith--faith that actually applies, demonstrates and performs God's signs and wonders to actual situations. Doing it precisely according to His Word. Faith without doing is dead. It's one thing to know that a medicine works and you can even buy it and have it in your possession. But unless you actually take it, it won't work for you either.

Or if the meds should be taken orally but you use it topically. It won't work. You have to do it as prescribed, not in your own ways or how you see it fit.

Perverse Generation

Yup, the church mostly still belongs to the perverse generation. Most church folks don't know about rebuking demons, much less commanding them out. Most of us cannot even command headaches, colds, cough and fever--or toothache--to leave. Church does not prioritize the supernatural things God has given it, although Jesus has given the hint that God's supernatural is the key to prevent the church from being "perverse."

If you are perverse, then everything about the supernatural becomes impossible to you. But if you're not perverse, Jesus promises that "nothing will be impossible for you." Everything in the supernatural will work for you, 100 percent. Your imagination will be your limit. If you have God's imagination, then "nothing will be impossible for you." It's important, then, for faith to radically grow. And it does not grow except by hearing the Word of God, straight from HIS mouth, and believing and doing it.

It All Starts with Surrendering

All this may sound overwhelming to you. Well, don't let it. God's Word and promises are really very simple. They're about faith, the same as Jesus had. No rituals, membership, sacrifices, hardships, self-punishment or anything like that. No pledge or vow to go to church on Sundays from now on. Just genuinely believe. And part of it is surrendering your life to Jesus Christ. It all starts there.

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4]

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.