Who’s Way - Man’s or God’s?
As I awoke this morning I was thinking about the things the Lord has placed on my heart to do. I was also thinking of the spiritual atmosphere which seems to be so thick with oppression and depression, seeing so many walking in overwhelming situations. There is no doubt that darkness is hovering over us and around us. Nor is there any doubt that greater is He that is in us than he who is in the world. So I was questioning the Lord about our present situation as I made my way into the bathroom. Once there I glanced over to a set of papers I have sitting in the book/magazine rack that was about spiritual mapping. The Lord has said that He has given me authority over the Middlesex County in our state and I have been seeking Him and other resources as to what that means and what is to be done. But as I looked at that paper this morning I felt no solace, no peace as to that was what the Lord wanted me to do in regards to Middlesex County. In my heart I knew God had promised us that we have the victory in Christ Jesus and that we are ‘to take the land’ but we weren’t seeing much success in that regards. I questioned the Lord about that and I heard in my spirit, "Why do you follow after strategies of man when you have not done that which I have told you to do? Have I not said that the battle is mine?(a) Yet you think your strategic moves will overcome the enemy. If your prayers are lifted from disobedient vessels, I have no obligation to hear them and respond to them from heaven." Whoa! Those were some pretty heavy words, spoken to me but meant for all who say they follow after Him.
Immediately my mind went to Scripture and I could not remember anywhere that Jesus sat with His disciples or even spoke to the crowds about spiritual mapping or planning. Now, omission of this being written down for us doesn’t mean that it never took place. It just means that there are some "definites" that God wanted to make plain before all men. And it was those things that the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance, flowing like a spring of water, "be ye holy as I am holy,"(b) "love the Lord they God with all they heart, soul, mind and strength,"(c) "love thy neighbor as yourself,(d) "preach the gospel to all the nations,"(e) "seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,"(f) "forgive that you may be forgiven"(g), "turn your other cheek,"(h) ", "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils:"(i) "be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,"(j) "fear not,"(k) "lift one another in prayer,"(i) "consider another higher than yourself."(m) Surely the list can go on and on as I think of more as I type this. But the point is evident. Until we begin to do that which the Lord has told us to do He is under no obligation to back what we are doing, amen? Once we become more aware and involved with the battle that is taking place on in our own lives and submit our will to God’s will, no amount of prayers or planning or warring by tactics we believe to be spiritual will have any effect on the earth. We must yield our souls/our wills and mind to the Lord. The cross gave us victory over sin and salvation of our spirit man and enabled us to be born again to our heavenly Father’s family. Through Jesus our man spirit’s were born again in Holy Spirit and opened a world of possibilities to us. It did not guarantee all of these possibilities but it made them available to us. Being born into a family of doctor’s doesn’t guarantee that one will become a doctor. It does, however, give you the awareness that these possibilities are available to you. But in order to accomplish them you must go through the training, schooling and dedication achieved through sacrifice that makes it a reality. So it is in the spiritual realm. In order for us to be like Jesus we must go through the training, learning, dedication and sacrifice that brought His destiny into fulfillment. Coming into alignment with God’s Word is a necessity for every believer. Loving the Lord our God with all that we are must be a priority in our lives. And we come to know the Father through the Son. Hallelujah! If we do not do this first, we will come into the battlefield ill-equipped and easy prey for the enemy and will make little, if any progress.
The Holy Spirit is taking us to a period of training, if you will. In the natural, when one joins an army they first have to go through a physical to see if they are accepted in. In the spiritual realm, the only thing that qualifies us is having Jesus as our Lord. It is His life, death and resurrection that qualifies us into the door. Once we are admitted in we must go through training. No one goes into the battlefield without some short of training in the natural. So it must be for us in the spiritual as well. In the natural there is a Sergeant who will take us through the drills we need to go through to build up our physical and emotional strength. In the spirit realm it is the job of the Holy Spirit to do this. Now there are many who do not hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, still being babes in the Lord. So the Holy Spirit can either speak directly to us or He can speak to us through apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers who God has set in place for the equipping of the saints (Ephesians 4:11-13). In the natural army the Sergeant brings forth the instructions of the Company Commander to the new recruits and those under his command. In the spiritual the Holy Spirit hears from the Company Commander, Christ Jesus, and brings forth that instruction to those who are under His leadership. Also in the natural, there is the Commander-in-Chief who is over all the armies and it is from him that the Company Commander and the Sergeant and others in leadership receive their instructions. In the Spiritual Army it is God Almighty, our heavenly Father, who is the Commander-in-Chief and He has given leadership and authority to others through our Lord, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. So, to try and enter spiritual battle without this leadership set in place in our lives and like committing suicide. We become open targets for the enemy to shot at. Is there any wonder that there are so many casualties in the body of Christ. So many don’t want to go through the training, the refining that is needed so that we will become productive and worthy opponents against the enemy camp.
Sometimes the poor equipping of the saints does not rest in those who come to leadership for training. Unfortunately, there are many in leadership position who are like rogues, trying to do things their own way without the leadership of the Holy Spirit directing them. Those like this are a dangerous commodity bringing hardship not only to themselves but to those who are under them. They bear no fruit for the kingdom of God and wound many innocent saints. But that is not to excuse those who are found under their false leadership. We are living in a day of great accountability before our God. Each one must know our God and our Lord through His Word, both written and revealed. Each one who becomes a child of God has the opportunities to do the things that Jesus did while He was on the earth and more. But they must follow the order and the direction of the Lord, doing His will and not our own. We must allow the Holy Spirit to direct us and teach us that which we are to know and do. The Holy Spirit will direct us to the will of our Company Commander, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us in an unprecedented way, not only through the written word but through revelation. Without coming to know our Lord Who saved us and loved us enough to die for us we will be poor soldiers in this battle. And it is our Company Commander Who gets His instructions from the Commander-in-Chief, our heavenly Father. They are One so to know Jesus is to know our heavenly Father. Hallelujah! It is through this line of command that we become equipped to be in the Army of God. To just try and enter the battlefield without going through this process will make us ineffective or worse, casualties.. Just following after man’s revelation will not bring us the victory. What God might desire to speak to us could be different than what He has spoken to others.
That is not to say that spiritual mapping is not God’s will. I am seeking Him on that. But what is essential to all believers is to go through the process that will then qualify us to enter into the throne room where strategies for warfare is revealed. Just as the question was posed to me this morning, I present it for your consideration as well, ""Why do you follow after strategies of man when you have not done that which I have told you to do?…" Let us consider that question today and be honest with our answer as we think upon whose way or will we are doing, God’s or man’s?
So many are weary of the battle we are in, myself included. We must remember that the battle belongs to the Lord. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of the battlefield. But in order to see the victory take place we must become like Him our Lord, transformed into His image by our thoughts, words and actions being in alignment with His. Hallelujah! Let the training commence, in Jesus’ name!
Praying to be in His Army, Joan Bowe
Footnotes:
(a) -1 Samuel 17:47(b) - 1 Peter 1:16(c) - Luke 10:27(d) - Luke 10:27 (e) - Matthew 28:19(f) - Matthew 6:33(g) - Matthew 6:15(h) - Matthew 5:39(i) - Matthew 10:8(j) - Romans 12:2(k) - Matt. 10:31, Luke 2:10, Luke 12:7,32, Romans 8:15, 2 Timothy 1:7, Hebrews 13:6, 1 John 4:18, Revelation 1:17(l) - James 5:16(m) - Philippians 2:3
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