Let me first explain what familiarity is: To be "familiar" with someone, means you are acquainted with, close to, buddies with, casual with, attached to, comfortable with. It means that they are your friend. This message is not saying you shouldn't have friends, but it is teaching you something to be weary of: satan uses those closest to us to attack us, too! We are familiar with those closest to us, it is why it hurts so much when the people who should have your back, turn their backs on you. Job had those closest to him, turn on him - his friends, even his wife! The comments they made, the "advice" they were giving him, was going to cost him his salvation in his most difficult time. He had a choice to make. He did not allow the familiarity to his friends and wife, to affect his walk of obedience to God. And that is what I am teaching you in this message.
2 Corinthians 4:4 states that Satan, the god of this world blinds the minds of the unbelieving to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This verse proves that satan wants us to be spiritually blind. What does spiritual blindness look like? * being rebellious * lacking in discernment * hardness of heart * religiousness * pride When we don't deal with the above mentioned, we become spiritually blind. We struggle to see what is really going on in our hearts and lives. When we are spiritually blind, we don't have understanding and revelation. We may have knowledge, but there is no wisdom.
None of us are excluded from this. Because none of us don't have rebellion. We have a sinful nature and that sinful nature, no matter how hard we try, sometimes still gets the better of us and those closest to us get the brunt of it - like our spouses. What is rebellion? Rebellion is everything we do that is opposite to the fruit of the Holy Spirit: hardness of heart, pride, stubbornness, anger, frustration, bitterness, anxiety, controlling behavior, selfishness and the like. All those behaviors that do not resemble Jesus' character, is our rebellious, sinful nature. Our actions, words and behaviors, affect our spouse. When we stress, when fear is in control, we say and do things in haste - Prov 19:2 warns us that when we act in haste, we will make mistakes. How many of your decisions made in haste did not affect your spouse negatively? Of course it did! What affects you, affects your spouse! What about going to be in anger? Eph 4:26-27 teaches us not to go to bed angry and hold on to anger and offense because we give the enemy an access point to our lives when we do that! How many times did you not forgive and went to bed angry?
How much is fear affecting your actions and behavior right now? Fear is a filter. It affects how your brain perceives, how it receives messages, handles situations and circumstances. According to 1 John 4:18, fear is a mindset, we expect punishment and we can't understand God's love for us when we are consumed with fear. According to Rom12:2 our minds should be renewed so that we can discern God's will. But when we are consumed in our thoughts by fear, that's not possible. Phil 4:6-7 shows how fear and the mind affect one another: "do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything by prayer, continue to make your requests know to God. And the peace of God, will guard over your heart and MINDS." We should not be having fear control our minds. Fear should not be the deciding factor in making decisions. Fear should not be the driving force behind your functioning, strategizing, planning, discerning and executing instructions.
An alabaster jar was made of the alabaster stone to keep ointments, oils and perfumes in. It kept the oils and perfumes pure and unspoiled. In Matt 26:6-13 a woman anointed Jesus with perfume that was kept in such a jar. She had to break it. It was filled with very expensive perfume, equivalent to a year's wages. What happened? She got rebuked for doing it! In the most holy and vulnerable moment, she was being rebuked, not by unbelievers, but by the disciples themselves! But she did something that they did not understand. It took TOTAL commitment for her to have broken that jar with all that perfume inside, not knowing how Jesus would respond. But Jesus saw her heart. She gave her all, no matter what others would say. It pleased Jesus.
Things don't just happen. We must not just accept things in life. We have to ask questions, we have to investigate. Many believers today blame God for their problems because they don't understand what is really going on. But with understanding there is clarity and wisdom. The Bible makes it clear to us that most of our troubles are actually spiritually rooted! That means that most of your current problems are actually because of sin, because of the evil that is stealing, killing and destroying. But we find ourselves trying to solve spiritual problems in the flesh and we wonder why they problem doesn't go away?! We wonder why our prayers have no effect. That's because we don't pray the ROOT of the problem.
The biggest thing satan bargains on, is that we are passive spiritually. As long as we are spiritually passive, we just take whatever comes, believing it's God, when it was not and we were meant to fight it, resist it, stand firm against it. This is why spiritual passivity is so dangerous - the enemy can do with us whatever he wants to! We must learn and practice the weapons Jesus gave us so that we are worthy opponents and cause the devil's schemes to fail against us! The Bible tells us that satan and his demons are always scheming against us! Eph 6:11 and 2 Cor 2:11 "don't be ignorant of his schemes". Your enemy is always looking for opportunity to make us fail - 1 Peter 5:8. A scheme can be anything from depression, bloodline curses that have destroyed your family, sickness, constant setback, cycle of bad relationships, constant rejection. Is this what God says about you? Is this what God wants for you? Of course not! But we have our part to play!
Each and everyone of us have the right to hear God through visions! If you accepted Jesus into your life, His Holy Spirit is in you, and He is the One who gives visions! You can see visions, understand them and respond to them because as God's sheep, we hear His voice and follow His instructions! Visions are not only in the form of pictures, did you know that? Visions can come in various forms because God speaks to all of us in a different way. My husband sees pictures all the time, whereas me, I get the impression of an image, meaning, I don't actually see a picture, but rather, have the thought of something which I know to be a vision. Let's look at some of the types of visions: - Thoughts: if I told you to envision a juicy, beautifully red strawberry, that is a form of vision! The thought came to you - Images: so clear and vivid as if you're seeing a picture in front of you - Moving Images: like a movie! - Trance: through a dream or even an out of body experience! (2 Cor 12:1-4 / Acts 10:11-15) - Hearing: just like young Samuel hearing the voice of God so vividly, he thought Eli was calling him!
This is such an important topic to me as a minister of the Gospel, because I have seen this too many times: people want to hear from God through people and not for themselves. There should be a balance! God should always be the first One you run to before you run to people for advice. To use people, is just ONE of the methods God uses to speak to you and me. And it is so special when it happens! But make sure it is not the only way you "hear" God for your life! Don't run after events or personal prayer from another - there's so much you are missing out on because God speaks to us in so many ways! This, being just one of them: through wise counsel.
To hear God, is to have a personal relationship with His Holy Spirit. Did you know that God is speaking to you constantly about what you are facing? He never leaves us where we are at! In fact, He even uses your current situation to speak to you, train you for your calling and to prepare you for the great future He planned for you! There is something to learn, to reflect upon, through your circumstance. When things get tough, we want to pray them away, but this is not Biblical! Jesus said we would face troubles but to take heart! The life of a believer is one of prayer! We cannot go through what we're going through successfully, without prayer! Phil 4 says we must pray over everything! This way, we will be ready for anything and we'll be able to hear God in the midst of challenges. Isn't that what we want? We read about the "tent of meeting" in Ex 33:7-11. Did you know that this tent wasn't only for Moses? Anyone could go there and meet with the Lord (verse 7). But the people chose to watch Moses enter the tent, waiting for him to hear on their behalf! What a waste!
Kindness Over Discernment
Evelyn Monteiro • August 23, 2023
I think it's safe to say, we've all stepped into this trap far too many times! Perhaps you don't realize it yet, but after this message, you will come to the realization that many of your problems came about because you acted in kindness (out of the flesh) without discernment (out of the spirit) and you got yourself into great trouble this way. Just because it's good, doesn't mean it's God! Just because it seems to be the "right" thing to do doesn't mean you should be doing it! Just because you're expected to do it, or because you were asked, doesn't mean you should do it!
We have an enemy, who will use anything and anyone to manipulate us into doing things, get involved in things we were never supposed to get involved with! There's a verse in Proverbs 22 which is hard to hear, but so accurate in describing this principle: "the naïve continue on and are punished by suffering the consequences of sin." Do you know what it means to be naïve? It means to show a lack of judgment, you are unsuspecting. It's the opposite of what the Bible says we should be: "vigilant & alert" because the devil is looking for opportunities to steal, kill and destroy in your life.
Satan uses our kindness against us. Ever heard of the saying "no good deed goes unpunished"? That comes from people who did not discern before they acted and out of their naivety, they got themselves into trouble and because they got hurt, they stopped doing good. Isn't that exactly what the devil wants?
You and I, as children of God, have the ability to discern! We don't have to be naïve! We can be kind AND alert! We can be generous AND vigilant! You don't have to say yes to everything. People (family included) may think you are rude. However, who are you here to please: God or man? Pleasing man will always lead to destruction and disappointment. Pleasing God will lead to life in abundance.
Let's not be ignorant about this any longer: discernment before kindness and never kindness before discernment. This can become a cage in your life if not dealt with. This cage kept me silent when I should have spoken up, it suppressed me when I was meant to stand out, it hid me away when I was meant to lead. Don't let this destroy you.
Holy Spirit, forgive me for allowing kindness over discernment. Give me the courage to speak up, say no when I have to and not allow kindness to get me into trouble. Help me Holy Spirit to discern more accurately, to read my situations and know when it's the enemy at play. Help me to not give in to manipulation and help me to act by the Spirit and not in the flesh, in Jesus Name. Amen
Evelyn Monteiro
Let me first explain what familiarity is: To be "familiar" with someone, means you are acquainted with, close to, buddies with, casual with, attached to, comfortable with. It means that they are your friend. This message is not saying you shouldn't have friends, but it is teaching you something to be weary of: satan uses those closest to us to attack us, too! We are familiar with those closest to us, it is why it hurts so much when the people who should have your back, turn their backs on you. Job had those closest to him, turn on him - his friends, even his wife! The comments they made, the "advice" they were giving him, was going to cost him his salvation in his most difficult time. He had a choice to make. He did not allow the familiarity to his friends and wife, to affect his walk of obedience to God. And that is what I am teaching you in this message.
2 Corinthians 4:4 states that Satan, the god of this world blinds the minds of the unbelieving to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This verse proves that satan wants us to be spiritually blind. What does spiritual blindness look like? * being rebellious * lacking in discernment * hardness of heart * religiousness * pride When we don't deal with the above mentioned, we become spiritually blind. We struggle to see what is really going on in our hearts and lives. When we are spiritually blind, we don't have understanding and revelation. We may have knowledge, but there is no wisdom.
None of us are excluded from this. Because none of us don't have rebellion. We have a sinful nature and that sinful nature, no matter how hard we try, sometimes still gets the better of us and those closest to us get the brunt of it - like our spouses. What is rebellion? Rebellion is everything we do that is opposite to the fruit of the Holy Spirit: hardness of heart, pride, stubbornness, anger, frustration, bitterness, anxiety, controlling behavior, selfishness and the like. All those behaviors that do not resemble Jesus' character, is our rebellious, sinful nature. Our actions, words and behaviors, affect our spouse. When we stress, when fear is in control, we say and do things in haste - Prov 19:2 warns us that when we act in haste, we will make mistakes. How many of your decisions made in haste did not affect your spouse negatively? Of course it did! What affects you, affects your spouse! What about going to be in anger? Eph 4:26-27 teaches us not to go to bed angry and hold on to anger and offense because we give the enemy an access point to our lives when we do that! How many times did you not forgive and went to bed angry?
How much is fear affecting your actions and behavior right now? Fear is a filter. It affects how your brain perceives, how it receives messages, handles situations and circumstances. According to 1 John 4:18, fear is a mindset, we expect punishment and we can't understand God's love for us when we are consumed with fear. According to Rom12:2 our minds should be renewed so that we can discern God's will. But when we are consumed in our thoughts by fear, that's not possible. Phil 4:6-7 shows how fear and the mind affect one another: "do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything by prayer, continue to make your requests know to God. And the peace of God, will guard over your heart and MINDS." We should not be having fear control our minds. Fear should not be the deciding factor in making decisions. Fear should not be the driving force behind your functioning, strategizing, planning, discerning and executing instructions.
An alabaster jar was made of the alabaster stone to keep ointments, oils and perfumes in. It kept the oils and perfumes pure and unspoiled. In Matt 26:6-13 a woman anointed Jesus with perfume that was kept in such a jar. She had to break it. It was filled with very expensive perfume, equivalent to a year's wages. What happened? She got rebuked for doing it! In the most holy and vulnerable moment, she was being rebuked, not by unbelievers, but by the disciples themselves! But she did something that they did not understand. It took TOTAL commitment for her to have broken that jar with all that perfume inside, not knowing how Jesus would respond. But Jesus saw her heart. She gave her all, no matter what others would say. It pleased Jesus.
Things don't just happen. We must not just accept things in life. We have to ask questions, we have to investigate. Many believers today blame God for their problems because they don't understand what is really going on. But with understanding there is clarity and wisdom. The Bible makes it clear to us that most of our troubles are actually spiritually rooted! That means that most of your current problems are actually because of sin, because of the evil that is stealing, killing and destroying. But we find ourselves trying to solve spiritual problems in the flesh and we wonder why they problem doesn't go away?! We wonder why our prayers have no effect. That's because we don't pray the ROOT of the problem.
The biggest thing satan bargains on, is that we are passive spiritually. As long as we are spiritually passive, we just take whatever comes, believing it's God, when it was not and we were meant to fight it, resist it, stand firm against it. This is why spiritual passivity is so dangerous - the enemy can do with us whatever he wants to! We must learn and practice the weapons Jesus gave us so that we are worthy opponents and cause the devil's schemes to fail against us! The Bible tells us that satan and his demons are always scheming against us! Eph 6:11 and 2 Cor 2:11 "don't be ignorant of his schemes". Your enemy is always looking for opportunity to make us fail - 1 Peter 5:8. A scheme can be anything from depression, bloodline curses that have destroyed your family, sickness, constant setback, cycle of bad relationships, constant rejection. Is this what God says about you? Is this what God wants for you? Of course not! But we have our part to play!
Each and everyone of us have the right to hear God through visions! If you accepted Jesus into your life, His Holy Spirit is in you, and He is the One who gives visions! You can see visions, understand them and respond to them because as God's sheep, we hear His voice and follow His instructions! Visions are not only in the form of pictures, did you know that? Visions can come in various forms because God speaks to all of us in a different way. My husband sees pictures all the time, whereas me, I get the impression of an image, meaning, I don't actually see a picture, but rather, have the thought of something which I know to be a vision. Let's look at some of the types of visions: - Thoughts: if I told you to envision a juicy, beautifully red strawberry, that is a form of vision! The thought came to you - Images: so clear and vivid as if you're seeing a picture in front of you - Moving Images: like a movie! - Trance: through a dream or even an out of body experience! (2 Cor 12:1-4 / Acts 10:11-15) - Hearing: just like young Samuel hearing the voice of God so vividly, he thought Eli was calling him!
This is such an important topic to me as a minister of the Gospel, because I have seen this too many times: people want to hear from God through people and not for themselves. There should be a balance! God should always be the first One you run to before you run to people for advice. To use people, is just ONE of the methods God uses to speak to you and me. And it is so special when it happens! But make sure it is not the only way you "hear" God for your life! Don't run after events or personal prayer from another - there's so much you are missing out on because God speaks to us in so many ways! This, being just one of them: through wise counsel.
To hear God, is to have a personal relationship with His Holy Spirit. Did you know that God is speaking to you constantly about what you are facing? He never leaves us where we are at! In fact, He even uses your current situation to speak to you, train you for your calling and to prepare you for the great future He planned for you! There is something to learn, to reflect upon, through your circumstance. When things get tough, we want to pray them away, but this is not Biblical! Jesus said we would face troubles but to take heart! The life of a believer is one of prayer! We cannot go through what we're going through successfully, without prayer! Phil 4 says we must pray over everything! This way, we will be ready for anything and we'll be able to hear God in the midst of challenges. Isn't that what we want? We read about the "tent of meeting" in Ex 33:7-11. Did you know that this tent wasn't only for Moses? Anyone could go there and meet with the Lord (verse 7). But the people chose to watch Moses enter the tent, waiting for him to hear on their behalf! What a waste!
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