The "Fruit" of the Flesh

"BY FAITH, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, MOVED with fear, PREPARED an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."         Hebrews 11: 7

Faith and obedience cannot be separated. One should not profess to have faith in Jesus and at the same time not obey Jesus. The Lord will perfect those who faithfully obey Him. How do we obey Him? We must be led of His Holy Spirit.

"But if ye be LED of the Spirit, ye are NOT under the law. Now the works of the FLESH are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and SUCH LIKE: of the which I tell you before, as I have told YOU in time past, that THEY WHICH DO SUCH THINGS shall NOT INHERIT the Kingdom of God." Galatians 5: 18-22

If a person is not led of the Spirit, then the person is LED OF THE FLESH, which will bear the fleshly fruit listed above. When Paul says that those who are led of the Spirit are NOT UNDER THE LAW, then it stands to reason that those who are led of the flesh ARE UNDER THE LAW. And we know that no man can be saved under the law.

Lesson: Allow the Spirit of God to lead you. The Spirit of God will never lead you to SIN. If a person is practicing sin, that person must repent and be led of the Lord. He is our only rescue. Those who are born again are no longer in bondage to commit sin but are instead able to be taught of the Holy Spirit. the Grace of God serves as a teacher:
"For the GRACE of God that bringeth SALVATION hath appeared to all men, TEACHING US that, DENYING UNgodliness and WORLDLY LUSTS, we SHOULD LIVE soberly, righteously, and godly, in this PRESENT world;" Titus 2: 11-12

I say this sincerely - God help those who refuse to open their hearts to the Lord during these wicked and deceptive times.

A Call to Anguish

If you seek me, you will find me

Strength is Made Perfect

Power.  

Recently, the Lord, after seeking Him wholeheartedly, revealed His Truth to me.  After the Truth was revealed, I shared it with a group of believers.  His Truth revealed an error in two particular practices or beliefs with that particular congregation of believers (serpent handling and fire handling).  

I shared what the Lord revealed in a letter and forwarded the revelation with confirmation through the Word to many of them.  The letter was sent with love and sincerity to a group of people I have truly been blessed to know and have grown to love in Christ.  But my words were rejected by many of them - if not all of them.  

One person in particular addressed my letter.  The person’s response did not seem to have an angry tone to it, but the person’s words were a complete rejection of what I had shared regarding the two areas of errors.  There was one particular area mentioned in this person’s response that caught my attention.  Since then, the devil has really sought to destroy me in that area. 

 Before I discuss that area, I have included portions of the letter I sent to them.  Where I have included [brackets], I have purposefully included words while typing this blog in order to clarify or shorten ideas.

 For without reading portions of the original letter, God’s complete revelation may not  be apparent:

For the last few months and especially the last few weeks, I have sought the Lord on whether He calls His people to [take part in these two practices of actual serpent handling and fire handling].

I have prayed in earnest to Him.  He knows that I desire His Truth above all.  I have prayed to Him reminding Him that I truly believe He showed me a few years ago that your church is a pillar and a ground of the truth.  

Back in April, the Lord led me to Acts 16:  16-18:  

In Acts, Paul encounters what "appears" to be a godly woman based on her profession or witness, but Paul, who has the Holy Spirit and knows the Word of God, understands that the damsel's words are fueled by the wrong spirit -- a spirit of divination.

Acts 16:

16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:

17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

Although the girl is speaking the truth regarding Paul, she is being led by the wrong spirit.  

18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

Two important areas are demonstrated here.  Paul, who is led of the Holy Spirit, performed a sign and wonder when he casts the unclean spirit OUT of this girl. The Lord performs great signs and wonders through His true children, even today.  However, where there is Truth, there is also a false imitation.  What is the difference?  Paul works by the power of God.  The girl was working by the power of darkness.  Paul set the girl free from her bondage to the dark spirit.  The girl's masters had her imprisoned by and through the wrong spirit.  

______________________________________________________

After seeking Him very specifically and repeatedly during the week of May 19th, He brought me to another layer of His Truth in His Word.  The Damsel with the spirit of divination was far from my mind as I sought the Lord during the May 19th week for an answer to my questions regarding the oil lamp/fire and picking up serpents, yet after praying on this specific matter, He, like only He  can, brought me to a knowledge that I did not have.  By using another vessel (someone who knew nothing about my prayers to the Lord and someone who doesn't even know me), the Lord worked through that person to show me the word divination in the phrase "damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us" (Acts 16:16).  

Through this unexpected vessel, the Lord taught me that the original Greek of the word divination is Puthon, which means PYTHON.  A python is a serpent; it is a snake, but we must notice that there is not an actual, physical snake in front of Paul.  It is a woman with a spirit of imitation, deception, and cunning. This woman speaking by the spirit of a python/serpent "appears" to be speaking the truth, but Paul, by the Holy Spirit, knows that something is amiss - something is false.  He knows that the spirit of a python/serpent/divination is using her.  What does Paul do?  He casts this divination(python) spirit out of her.  "For these signs shall follow those who believe..."

A few days after, the Lord showed me this - I was listening to a brother in the Lord speak, and  something he said caught my attention, and within a day, the Lord brought me to the very same verse and point that he was making:

Matthew 23:

33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Jesus is speaking to men who are driven by that which is false!  

Even though these "serpents" and "vipers" believe themselves to be justified in their actions, Jesus addresses them for who they are. Again, the Lord is directly “taking up” serpents, but these serpents are men filled with the wrong spirit.  The Lord is not actually handling  a physical animal -- He is handling and rebuking the wrong spirit in these men.

I continued to pray and seek Him.  I never want to presume that I know the Truth without His Spirit confirming or redirecting me.  In the end, I realize that I cannot "save me".  Only He can save us, but a "partial" belief in Him or a flawed perception of Him won't do.  Do we believe in Jesus, the Word made flesh, if we reject parts of His Truth or turn a blind eye to His Truth?  I know that deception is everywhere; that is why I seek Him so carefully on His Truth.  My thoughts mean nothing.  His thoughts matter to me.  I realize that if I or another person distort who He is, then we do not follow Him, but instead, we follow ourselves.  We must never forget that in Revelation, many of those churches were obedient in certain areas to the Lord, but in other areas, He called them to repent.  And HE followed up those requests with consequences resulting in eternal separation from His presence.

A little over a week ago, I continued to seek the Lord on these two issues.  [My son] had been sick, but I continued to pray.  I had been seeking the Lord all day, in prayer, in song, in praise.  I didn’t stop tugging His robe.  After placing [him] in his crib for a nap, I prayed earnestly. During the day, I had prayed a very specific prayer to the Lord.  I told Him that I believed He truly had shown me 1 Timothy 3:15 a few years before and that it applied specifically to your Church of the Living God.  I also said that I didn’t understand how He would have shown me that, but how He would be also showing me that [these two practices/beliefs held by your church] were wrong.  I asked Him for His revelation on the matter.  Throughout the day, my prayers were humble.  God knows that I just want His Truth.

Within minutes after laying my son down for a nap, I was led to a sermon.  It is very important to understand that I didn't seek it out; the sermon presented itself with God orchestrating the events as only He can.  A person who knew nothing about my prayers and who really knows nothing about me suggested a recorded sermon.    

I listened to a few minutes of the sermon and then removed the earphones to do something else while the sermon continued to play.  A few minutes later, I placed the earphone back in my ear.  At that precise moment the preacher mentioned the "damsel" in Acts and her words while she followed Paul.  

Below are the points the Holy Spirit made through this preacher’s sermon:

The preacher stated that the devil had possession of this damsel with the spirit of divination. He said the next words: "There is combativeness coming in [into the church].  Wherever that which is representative of Christ or that which is Christ ... the plan is not only to drive Him [Christ] out, but to corrupt that vehicle that is manifest to Him.  And we know that to be the church of the living God."<-- [He actually provided a very specific title/name.  The title he gave is the actual word for word name of this church.]

 [The Holy Spirit went on to confirm through this preacher the following ideas. All listed below offer a confirmation of what the Lord has been revealing these last weeks through this preacher and two other vessels of the Lord.]

He went on to [confirm] that we are witnessing this today.  The devil/python spirit is "preaching" the "gospel", using all of the right phrases to deceive many.  Satan's plan is not to bring glory to the Lord, but to subtly draw believers away from the True Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The woman with the spirit of divination (he called her a priestess of Satan) "appeared" to be glorifying Jesus Christ, but there was a subtle difference.  The wrong spirit was driving her for the purpose of bringing about corruption to the Body of Christ.  Paul discerned the false spirit of python/divination driving her and casts out that spirit.  The plan of Satan is to deceive - to bring in false teaching in order to taint that which is pure.  There are many things that have been imposed upon Christianity today that do not represent CHRIST.  And many in the church have allowed such false teachings that are led by a serpent spirit.  We must ask ourselves "IS THIS CHRIST?"  about everything that we allow INSIDE the church.  The main point of attack from this python spirit is to take something that is of Christ and replace it with something that is not of Christ - and the change is subtle.  Will the church call out and cast out the true python spirit or allow that spirit to remain while, unfortunately, chasing after things that can be seen or touched.  It's the unseen darkness infiltrating the church, and many are not willing to discern the real enemy and how he presents himself.

This revelation was precisely on time after seeking His face with such urgency these last weeks and especially that particular day.  He has been showing me the truth in small doses for over a month.  In true fashion, He is a gentle teacher and will reveal to those who are willing to hear.  What timing of the Lord.  Who can orchestrate such events and such timing?  Only He can.  Only He.  We battle not against objects, or people, or animals, or anything else that can be seen.  This warfare is spiritual.  We battle a viper spirit that appears to be speaking truth, but is driven by none other than a principality of darkness. We are not battling the flesh in any form.  The powers of darkness have confused many who are otherwise completely devoted to the Lord.

I want to say that the devil is very deceptive and also has signs and wonders that accompany him.  The Bible speaks of this being true.  We can't afford to be confused, and we can't afford to take part in practices that are not of God.  We simply can't.  

Please, please know that I am in no way saying there are false teachers at The Church of the Living God.   The Lord has not shown me that, nor have I sought Him on that.  I respect all who preach there.  However, the Lord has shown me that [these two practices/beliefs] are not from Him.  Instead, Satan has crept in unaware in these practices, and Satan intends to corrupt "the church of the living God" with those practices.

 Do you see how the Lord confirmed to  me that your church is the pillar of Truth as He showed me a few years ago, but do you also see how He showed me that Satan hopes to destroy your pillar and ground of truth by infiltrating with two false practices.  

I want to share this with you, brothers and sisters.  That same day that I sought the Lord all day and just before being led to that sermon, I spoke to the Lord regarding what I believe my thorn in the flesh to be.  I have never shared this with anyone, but I will with you- I believe my thorn in the flesh to be the tremendous anguish that I experience when I am seeking the Lord on His Truth.  That anguish “breaks me down.”  I weep alone in His presence because of the battle that rages in me on such occasions.  There is so much mental anguish during those battles for Truth that I wonder if I will make it through.  I spoke to Him and said that I believe those mind battles are allowed by Him so that I will never think too highly of myself and will always fall at His feet broken in order for the Lord Jesus to reveal His Truth to me.  I shared that in order to share this:   Do you know that at the end of the sermon I listened to, the preacher spoke about the very same thorn in the flesh using Paul's thorn in the flesh as the example....  Only God can speak in such a timely manner.  Only God.

Brothers and sisters who I have grown to love and appreciate, I ask that you seek His face.  I would never expect anyone to take my word simply because I said it.  Instead, I pray that you will go to the throne of Grace and stay there as long as necessary until He responds to your requests. Eternity is at stake.  For you and for me.  We are to drop our customs.  We are to drop our traditions.  We are to drop our preconceived notions and stay at His Feet.

I included these portions of the letter in order to go back to a statement that was made by the individual I mentioned previously.  A specific portion of the person's response indicated that I knew the scriptures but not the power of God and that those who partook in one of the "practices" truly knew the power of God.  

As I have always in moments of opposition after a revelation, I stopped and truly questioned my understanding.  Maybe I did "know" scriptures but did not "know" the POWER of GOD.   In all honesty, I questioned everything.  My walk with the Lord.  Him speaking to me.  Because there is so much man-made error present everywhere and especially by those who profess Christianity, I thought, "Have I erred, Lord?"  

In that time and in the following days, Satan reared his face.  Almost 6 years ago, I encountered an unmasked Satan - the Satan whose sole goal is to destroy.  That unmasked face visited me again a few nights ago.  In the late night hours, he surfaced.  When my home was quiet and while everyone slept, he attempted to infiltrate my temple for the Lord. I was awakened by him at 3 a.m.  He brings such darkness with him.  Such gloom.  Such fear.  Such torment.  He brings death.  I went to the bathroom, knowing he was near.  Hearing his lies each step to the bathroom and each step back to the bed.  I tell you he camouflages himself to so many.  They never see him coming.  God help those who don't see Satan coming.  But at other times, like this one, he removes all remnants of disguise and presents himself in full form to the one he hopes to destroy.

Surrounded by his demonic presence, I returned to my bed and started to pray:  "The Lord is my Shepherd" over  and over again.  It was all I could think.  Satan had such a vice grip on me in that moment.  I started to shake.  My heart rate increased.  Satan's words breathed heavily on me in those moments.  I grabbed my Bible and continued to pray.  Satan makes every attempt to bombard a person with fiery dart after fiery dart, but I tell you, the power of God that night was strong, and the peace that surpasses all understanding engulfed my bedroom, and Satan departed.  Left the premises.  He did not stand a chance against Almighty God. 

Satan attempted to stifle me back during the winter months with what I call a night terror.  The Lord confirmed to me back in the winter and again with this most recent night attack that Satan does this after I have spoken a Truth for the Lord to the body of Christ.  For lack of a better description, Satan is angry.  Wrath-filled.

Yesterday, God brought all full circle.  He who carries the world in the palm of His mighty hand silenced Satan's attempts at destroying me. Destruction means silence.  Satan wants to silence all who are led of the Lord and who have a heart to seek out the Truth from God and not from man or from man-made tradition.  

The very POWER of God that Satan insisted I did not "know" had already rested upon me by the Lord's strength.  Here is one of the last points I made to those to whom I wrote recently:

That same day that I sought the Lord all day and just before being led to that sermon, I spoke to the Lord regarding what I believe my thorn in the flesh to be.  I have never shared this with anyone, but I will with you- I believe my thorn in the flesh to be the tremendous anguish that I experience when I am seeking the Lord on His Truth.  That anguish “breaks me down.”  I weep alone in His presence because of the battle that rages in me on such occasions.  There is so much mental anguish during those battles for Truth that I wonder if I will make it through.  I spoke to Him and said that I believe those mind battles are allowed by Him so that I will never think too highly of myself and will always fall at His feet broken in order for the Lord Jesus to reveal His Truth to me.  I shared that in order to share this:   Do you know that at the end of the sermon I listened to, the preacher spoke about the very same thorn in the flesh using Paul's thorn in the flesh as the example....  Only God can speak in such a timely manner.  Only God.

The above, excerpt, is again one of the last points I made before ending my letter.  Through another vessel of the Lord, yesterday, the Lord revealed the full Truth of the thorn in the flesh scripture in the Bible.  As indicated above in the letter, I had prayed alone in a dark bedroom when I was seeking the Lord on the Truth of the practices/beliefs at this church.  While praying, I had innocently stated what I believed my thorn in the flesh to be and how that thorn is used for God's glorification.

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." II Corinthians 12:9

Yesterday, while reading a sister's blog and not searching for anything related to the scripture above or God's recent confirmation to me, I found myself reading a blog entry where the word strength in the verse above is examined.  Again, like only God can, it was revealed in the blog that the word "strength" in 2 Corinthians 12: 9 is the Greek word  dynamis/dunamis.  The Lord has brought me to this Greek word on numerous occasions when seeking Him over the last year. 

 In the Strong's Concordance that I keep in my home, the word dynamis/dunamis means "force; specifically miraculous power."

I was immediately reminded of the person who suggested that I knew the scriptures but not the power of God and that those who partook in one of the "practices" truly knew the power of God.   

Isn't it just like Satan to make every attempt to shut the Truth down by infiltrating with his lies?  The devil fought hard to silence me when the individual indicated that I did not "know the Power of God" by suggesting things like, "You didn't hear from the Lord this time, nor have you the other times."  

But, isn't it just like God to have already provided the answer? The Lord had already provided the answer in that I did know the POWER of God and that His power is manifested when I am in a humble and broken state - when a messenger of Satan has attempted to buffet me.  At the end of the very sermon the Lord had led me to during this time of searching Him, He confirmed my thorn in the flesh, but He also confirmed that His Strength (dynamis/dunamis) is present during such times.  It is then, in those moments, with great anguish and in great weakness that I seek HIS FACE, and His STRENGTH (Dynamis/dunamis - miraculous power) is made "perfect" (telioo - to complete, i.e. accomplish, or consummate (in character) to me.  

I can look back over my life and see that every masterful and liberty-giving Truth has been revealed only after I have suffered and wept at His Feet.  

The Lord has led me down the same narrow and afflicted path of humility every time in order to show me His Glorious Truth and Power.  Satan knew that and was attempting to convince me to never accept those types of revelations.

We must seek the Lord in these last days wholeheartedly and wait for Him to reveal His Truth -His entire Truth- to us.  I love those to whom I sent the letter.  I genuinely pray that they receive a revelation from the Lord on this matter.  

As a sister in Christ once told me- we must not judge a spirit by that same spirit.  Instead, a spirit is discerned by that spirit's obedience to the Word of God.   In addition, we sometimes ( and  God has truly taught me this as well) want to assume that the Truth is being brought forth because the person who brings it forth is kind or has proven to speak the truth in times past.  That cannot be our gauge for "truth."  We must seek the Lord for Truth, and He will reveal it through His Power and His Word.  The true Spirit of God will never contradict the Word of God.  The two will never be in opposition to one another.  Never.  That would be confusion, and confusion is of the devil.

 The verses are too numerous to list that use the same dynamis/dunamis word, but below I have listed some:

Mat 6:13

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, G1411 and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Mat 11:21

Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, G1411 which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Mat 22:29

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power G1411 of God.

Mat 25:15

And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; G1411 and straightway took his journey.

Mar 5:30

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue G1411 had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

Mar 9:1

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. G1411

Luk 4:36

And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power G1411 he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

Luk 9:1

Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power G1411 and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

Act 1:8

But ye shall receive power, G1411 after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

1Pe 1:5

Who are kept by the power G1411 of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Heb 6:5

And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers G1411 of the world to come,

2Ti 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, G1411 and of love, and of a sound mind.

Rev 3:8

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, G1411 and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

2Ti 3:5

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power G1411 thereof: from such turn away.