Their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:14) It is no small thing to have true spiritual sight. It represents a mighty victory. It is not going to come to you by just sitting passively and opening your mouths for it to arrive. There has to be exercise about this matter. You are right up against the full force of the god of this age when you are really out for spiritual understanding. It is a supernatural battle.
God formed you in your mother's womb to be alive at this very time. I am always amazed when I think about the depths of God's creativity. He could have chosen you to be born to other parents in another country in a different time era, but He created and formed you in your mother's womb for such a time as this! Years ago, the Lord told me something would happen in the world and I would need to root out all fear so when everyone else was in fear, I could be in faith. I believe that prophecy manifested through 2019-2021 and what happened with sickness attacking the worldwide population. At that time, I saw a principality of fear over the earth.
Humility is such a rare quality in our current culture. We are encouraged to rise in power, be the first and achieve the most success. And there is a part of our human soul that screams to be important. The problem is that God values humility. This is seen so clearly in the Christmas story. Jesus arrived on the scene with humility. Jesus took on human form as a baby and was born in Bethlehem. The prophet Micah wrote about Bethlehem: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (Mic. 5:2, NIV).
We all want to ask the Lord for revelation, understanding, provisions, and physical manifestations. But most of us have had an experience with suffering that made God feel distant or moral failures that made us feel distant. Those experiences left our hearts with a conclusion, God has abandoned me, and I'm on my own. The religious spirit enters at this stage and invites us into his orphanage to help cement the stronghold. We're supposed to serve a God who is distant. Others hear, have seer gifts, prophecy, and experience Father's fellowship, but I don't.
Freedom in the Spirit is a wonderful thing. It allows you to explore HIM. And when you explore you learn things, new things, that you have not known or heard before! It was fun being a kid and exploring, but you also know there were times when your parents or caregivers said, "Wait a minute! Watch out over there! Be aware of this or that, or Don't do this or that." They meant all that for your good! They were delighted when you matured and you learned now to cross the street safely, or later when you could run to the store for them. If you kept your boundaries right, they could give you more and more freedom.
Do you ever feel like you're just checking off your to-do list? I know that I did for much of my life, and it made me totally miserable. I frustrated myself trying to do lots of good things in hopes that I might feel better about myself, but it was never a permanent solution. We all have a deep need to feel alright about ourselves. And we can spend a lot of time and energy trying to do things that make us feel like we're okay—okay with ourselves, with others and even with God. But we don't need to wear ourselves out trying to be right with God through our own effort. The truth is we can't make our lives right on our own—we need God.
Last week was tough. One of my best friends, Doug, died unexpectedly, and the tragedy shook me to the core. Doug's death also shook my friend Jeff, a pastor who looked up to Doug as a mentor. Before and after the funeral, Jeff and I cried together. We shared our memories of Doug and processed our feelings as honestly as possible. At one point Jeff admitted that the loss made him want to run away and hide. He was halfway joking when he said: "I'd like to just move to the beach and forget everything." I knew he wasn't serious.
There is tremendous power in believing. Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15) God doesn't just tell us to believe, but His Word explains specifically what and how we are to believe. Mark 9 records the story of a young boy with an evil spirit who was brought to Jesus. After describing his son's condition, the boy's father said, "…if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." (Mark 9:22) Notice he said "if" you can do anything. His knowledge of Christ's abilities limited his belief.
Some trust in their own righteousness whether they are doing enough for The Kingdom, but God wants us to take off the filthy rags of our own self-righteousness to put on the royal robe of His righteousness that He is giving us. Yes, we are royalty when we walk in His Will and Ways. Even when we die to our own will, enabling His will to be done, we are releasing garments of death to put on garments of resurrection power, His light and glory. Jesus wants to live His Life through us — but all we must do is disrobe who we are, to put on who He is.
The word "agent" is defined as "a person who acts on behalf of another person or group" and "a person or thing that takes an active role or produces a specified effect" (such as an agent of change). There are agents representing two different kingdoms at work in this world. Whether we realize it or not, there is constant conflict between the kingdom of God and Satan's kingdom, and we are caught in the middle. We may not see the actual spiritual forces battling and competing for the lives of people, but we can see the results. And it is becoming more and more apparent that the forces of evil are controlling more and more people who are yielding to darkness.
Follow Up
