Discerning of spirits, spiritual matters
Herod murders babies in Jerusalem, Pharoah orders the murder of all the male Hebrew children in Egypt. When God is about to send deliverers, Satan motivates worldly powers to destroy that generation. We are living in a time such as this when the shedding of innocent blood is considered a good thing, and corrupt rulers and perverted courts oppress the people. How should we respond? Praise God (Anyhow).
Pastors indulge sin with false grace that confuses license with love, endorses sin as it was actually helping rather than bringing harm. It is a Spiritual War over the truthfulness of God’s Word.
If Jesus were here today in this room, how many of you would doubt that you could go up to him and he would heal you? You believe he would because that is what he did when he was on the earth. Did he ever turn anyone down who came to him? No. It says “he healed them all…”
There is a Gospel of Prosperity is unbalanced when there is no recognition of the role of suffering in God’s plan for our lives. Even Jesus, though having never sinned, was made perfect through suffering. If he was perfected by suffering, can we expect any less for ourselves?
For too long, we have preached a half gospel: the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of your soul, which has only to do with the spiritual. That is true enough, but Jesus also died to heal us of all our diseases and infirmities. His death on the cross was the atonement for our sins and broke the power of Satan over our souls and bodies
Pardoned or Paroled?: Escaping a Prison of Guilt to Find Freedom in Christ, Kindle Edition by Jefferis Peterson (Author) 5.0 out of 5 stars 1 customer review Do you feel sad, guilty, unworthy, or ashamed? Does it seem that no matter what you do, you can’t live up to God’s standards? Are you always trying to be on your best behavior, but still feel like you aren’t being good enough? If you always have the feeling you are being watched and judged, then you know what it means to be living on parole. God does not want you to live that way. He wants you to know his love. He wants you to feel freedom and joy. See all 3 formats and editions Kindle $0.00 kindle unlimited logo Read with Kindle Unlimited to also enjoy access to over 1 million more titles$0.00 to buy Paperback $15.00
Do you feel sad, guilty, unworthy, or ashamed? Does it seem that no matter what you do, you can’t live up to God’s standards? Are you always trying to be on your best behavior, but still feel like you aren’t being good enough? If you always have the feeling you are being watched and judged, then you know what it means to be living on parole. God does not want you to live that way. He wants you to know his love. He wants you to feel freedom and joy.
“Judge not, lest you be judged” has been misinterpreted to mean that no matter what anyone does, we should not judge the behavior. He pointed out that we are not to condemn someone for their sins, lest we get condemned for ours, but that does NOT mean we are not to discern what is right and wrong, or identify certain behaviors as sin.Grace does not mean there is no law and we are free to behave any way we wish. Grace is to lead us to holiness, which is the walking in the presence of God and reflecting his character.
It is evident that God, in his Word, wants us to prosper, but what does that mean? The word in Greek for prosperity also means “to be successful.” Does that mean riches? Finances? Fruitfulness in the Spirit? Fame?
God’s definition of prosperity: That you have everything you need to do what God has called you to do.
A lot of preachers talk about prosperity and they imply that it is all about money. They imply that if you give especially to their ministries, that you will receive an hundred fold return. The problem with that mentality is that it is giving to get.
I learned this from a Christian business woman who was approached by 2 men who were Christians with a business deal. Everything seemed right, but in the end the deal turned out to be a scam. She asked the Lord why she had not seen this coming, and the Lord taught her about testing the spirits. When someone approaches you with any matter, although it can be a ministry situation, ministry opportunity, business offer, sales offer, or anything, you can test the spirit motivating that person to see if it is originating in God. You speak to the spirit ( you can do this under your breath when people are around, or you can speak it out loud if you are considering this situation when alone), and say, " I command you to confess that Jesus Christ came by the water and the blood and that Jesus is the Son of God." If the spirit is not of God, you will sense resistance and a lack of peace. If it is just something like a human idea, you may not feel anything and it be neutral. But if the Spirit motivating this situation is the Lord, you will experience … Read more