The “Law of Undulation,” or the Way of the Wilderness

“We didn’t count on suffering…we didn’t count on pain…but if the blessing’s in the valley…then in the river I will wait…” – Delirious

            Christians often speak of “seasons.”  Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…”  One of these seasons is what Screwtape calls the “trough.”  In letters eight and nine of The Screwtape Letters, the elder demon, Screwtape, writes to his nephew, a novice demon, about “The Law of Undulation.”  This law is a major principle in the Christian walk.  While Wormwood, the novice, is thrilled about this condition of spiritual dryness, the trough, Screwtape is much more cautious, and writes at great length about how God (The Enemy) uses the trough to His advantage.  Screwtape’s terminology is of “troughs and peaks,” but Christians often refer to “wilderness” or “desert” seasons, and to “hills and valleys.”  It’s all the same concept.  All Christians, at some point, go through these ups and downs.

            While Wormwood is eagerly planning the ways he can use his “patient’s” trough to his advantage – and in fact, the demonic can use troughs to their benefit – he gets a stern correction from his uncle:  “Now it may surprise you to learn that in His [The Enemy’s] efforts to get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than the peaks; some of His special favorites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else.”  Consider Moses, who spent 40 years in the wilderness with the Israelites, but who remained faithful throughout.  Or Job, who had all kinds of horrible things happen to him, but still declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 15:1).   Or David, who often felt abandoned by God, and did not hesitate in saying so.  In Psalm 22, he cries out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?  Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; and in the night season, and am not silent…” Perhaps even Jesus was in this trough, when he echoed David’s words on the cross.  Certainly these are good examples of God’s beloved experiencing deep valleys, or troughs, as Screwtape calls them.   Screwtape also says “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”  All of the aforementioned people prove Screwtape’s point.  Despite their trials, their pain, or what seems like God’s absence, they ultimately remained faithful, and what’s more, they remained obedient.

            Troughs, or valleys, or wilderness seasons, generally do not constitute the fun part of being in relationship with God.  In these seasons, it is harder to hear God’s voice, feel His presence, or even see evidence of it anywhere.  Doubt and depression often enter in.  Screwtape harps on this when he encourages Wormword to get his patient to think in terms of “phases.”  We wonder if we ever heard God, if He was ever there, if we really witnessed those miracles.  We can even begin to wonder if we are really “saved.”  These are the times where we must rely on what we know to be true, not what we feel is true.  It doesn’t matter what the trial is.  What matters is our response.  Are we going to give up on God, write our whole relationship off as simply a “religious phase,” as Screwtape would like? Or are we going to take advantage of what God has for us in the wilderness?

            Looking through the Scriptures, it is interesting to note how often those in the wilderness are led there.  They didn’t just find themselves there, completely by accident.  The Israelites were led out of Egypt into the wilderness.  Not only were they brought out of slavery, but they witnessed miracle after miracle, like the parting of the Red Sea, bitter waters made sweet, manna sent from heaven, and water brought from the rock.  It might be safe to assume that God was with them.  And indeed He says “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand.  He knows your trudging through this great wilderness.  These 40 years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked for nothing” (Deut. 2:7).  Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where He countered satan’s tempting with the Word (Matt. 4, and a good lesson for us).  And then there is Hosea 2:14-16, which is perhaps the most moving passage about the wilderness in the Bible. 

14)”Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

Will bring her into the wilderness,

And speak comfort to her.

15)I will give her vineyards from there,

And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.

She shall sing there,

As in the days of her youth,

As in the days when she came up from the land of Egypt.

16)”And it shall be, in that day,”

Says the Lord,

“That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’

And no longer call Me ‘My Master.’”

           

While we may not see, hear or feel God in the wilderness, in the trough, in the valley, it is in this place that we are schooled in His grace, His provision, and His love.  The Israelites – though they complained bitterly – lacked for nothing, with all the miracles they witnessed and lived on. Job had everything restored to him.  David continued to offer that “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15,) and was considered “a man after God’s own heart.”  And I don’t need to describe what Jesus did.  In the trough, we have to walk by faith, and not by sight, which we as Christians are called to do, anyway. (2 Cor. 5:7).  We have to trust that God is with us, even if we can’t hear or feel Him.  And we know that He’s with us, because He promises to never leave or forsake us. While we may enjoy the mountaintop experiences, or the peaks, we grow in the wilderness, in the troughs.  Screwtape himself says, “It is during such trough periods, that it [the human] is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be.  Hence the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best.”  In the trough we learn to rely on God and on His promises.  We learn to seek more diligently after Him, and in doing so, can be rewarded with the some of our most intimate and rich moments with Him.  Look at what He says in Hosea:  He will “allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her.”  Comfort in the wilderness?  Yes, it is possible.  And in verse 16, He says “You will call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master.’”  What a picture of intimacy!  On the mountaintop, or on the peak, to use Screwtape’s word, we tend to become self-sufficient.  In the trough, we are unable to be self-sufficient.  We may find ourselves stripped of all that we once relied on, meaning that we must depend solely on God.  In this time, it helps to remember that His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).  And in the trough, we are indeed quite weak.

I don’t mean to paint such a glorified picture of the trough.  It is not an easy season to be in, and we can be quick to resent it, and resent God for it.  But as I said before, it is not simply our being in the wilderness that matters; it is what we do with our time in it that makes the difference (and often determines how long we remain there).  It can be a time of real intimacy with God and tremendous growth in our faith.  It can also be a time of depression, doubt, and even worse, self-pity.  This is when Screwtape and company can really enter in and rob us of what God has for us.  Doubt can destroy all the good God had planned for us.  Wormwood is advised about this:  “Do not let him [the human] suspect the law of undulation.  Let him assume that the first ardours of his conversion might have been expected to last, and ought to have lasted, forever, and that his present dryness is an equally permanent condition.”  It is easy, when in the trough, to see it as permanent, and lose hope, and even worse, lose faith.  Screwtape continues:  “When you have caused him to assume that the trough is permanent, can you not persuade him that his ‘religious phase’ is just going to die away like all the previous phases?”  We need to be like Jesus in the wilderness, responding to the devil’s taunting with the truth, the way Jesus responded with “for it is written…” each time the devil tempted Him.  And the truth is that the trough is not permanent; God’s love is.

We cannot reason our way out of the wilderness, the valley, the trough.  We may remember with longing the joyous feeling of being on that mountaintop, and work our hardest to get back up there.  But if we don’t pause, seek God and see what He has for us, we miss the potential for so much.  We might miss blessings, miracles, opportunity for growth, and worst of all, true intimacy with God.  Though it may be dark, the fire by night will guide us, and we will lack for nothing.  God will be with us, even if His presence is not as readily apparent as it once was.  It may seem like He’s gone silent, or even worse, left us.  It may seem like we are being punished for something.  This is not the truth.  The truth is that the wilderness – though difficult and often painful – is when we get to mature as followers of Christ, to learn to rely on God rather than people or things, to stand on His promises and not be swayed, no matter what may come against us, and above all, to really draw near to Him, knowing that He never has and never will leave us.  In the trough, if we respond well, Screwtape’s fears will be justified, and we will become just the sort of “creature” God wants us to be. 

by Kim Mitman

Dealing With A Religious Spirit

by Rick Joyner

Loving God is the greatest commandment, and the greatest gift that we can possess. The Second great commandment is to love our neighbor. As the Lord affirmed, the whole Law is fulfilled by keeping these two commandments. That is, if we keep these two commandments, we will keep the whole Law. If we love the Lord we will not worship idols. If we love our neighbors we will not envy them, steal from them, murder them, etc. Therefore, keeping these two positive commandments to love will enable us to fulfill all of the negative "do nots" of the Law.

Simple love for God will overcome most of the evil in our hearts, and is the most powerful weapon against evil in the world. Because loving God is our highest goal, it must be the primary focus of our lives. That is why one of the enemy's most deceptive and deadly attacks upon the church is meant to divert us from this ultimate quest. It is his strategy to keep us focused on the evil in our lives, knowing that we will become what we are beholding (see 2 Cor 3:18). As long as we keep looking at the evil, it will continue to have dominion over us. When we look to the Lord and behold His glory, we will be changed into His image.

This is not to imply that we excuse and overlook the sin and error that is now in our lives. In fact, the Scriptures command us to examine ourselves and test ourselves to be sure that we are still in the faith (see 2 Cor 13:5). The issue is--what do we do after the iniquity is discovered? Do we turn to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, or to the Tree of Life? Do we try to make ourselves better so that we will then be acceptable to God, or do we turn to the cross of Jesus to find both the forgiveness and the power to overcome the sin?

A primary strategy of the enemy is intended to keep us focused on the evil, partaking of the Tree of Knowledge, and away from the glory of the Lord and the Cross. This tactic comes in the form of a religious spirit. This spirit is the counterfeit to the true love of God, and true worship. This evil spirit has probably done far more damage to the church than the New Age movement and all other cults combined.

THE NATURE OF A RELIGIOUS SPIRIT
A religious spirit is a demon which seeks to substitute religious activity for the power of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life. Its primary objective is to have the church "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power" (2 Tim 3:5). The apostle Paul completed his exhortation with "avoid such men as these." This religious spirit is the "leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees" (Matthew 16:6) of which the Lord warned His disciples to beware.

When the Lord used metaphors it was because they characterized the object of the lesson. The religious spirit operates like the leaven in bread. It does not add substance or nutritional value to the bread, it only inflates it. Such is the result of the religious spirit. It does not add to the life and power of the church. It feeds the very pride of man which caused the first fall, and almost every fall since. Satan seems to understand even better than the church that "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6 NKJV). He knows very well that God will not inhabit any work that he can inflate through pride, and that God Himself will even resist it. So Satan's strategy is to make us proud, even proud of good things, such as how much we read our Bibles, or witness, or feed the poor. He knows well that even if we do the will of God in pride, it will be counter-productive and can even ultimately work toward our fall.

Satan also knows that once leaven gets into the bread, it is most difficult to remove. Pride, by its very nature, is the most difficult stronghold to correct or remove. A religious spirit keeps us from hearing the voice of God by encouraging us to assume that we already know God's opinion, what He is saying and what pleases Him. This delusion is the result of believing that God is just like us. This will cause even the rationalization of Scripture, having us believe that rebukes, exhortations and words of correction are for other people, but not for us.

If this is a problem in your life, you have probably already begun to think about how badly someone you know needs to read this. It may not even have occurred to you that God put this into your hands because you need it. In fact, we all need it. This is one enemy that all of us are probably battling to some degree. It is imperative that we get free of this devastating deception, and stay free. We will not be able to worship the Lord in Spirit and truth until we do.

The degree to which we have been delivered from this powerful deception will directly effect the degree to which we will be able to preach the true gospel in true power. The church's confrontation with the religious spirit will be one of the epic battles of the last days. Everyone will be fighting in this battle. The only issue to be determined is on which side we will be during this battle.

We will not have the authority to deliver others from darkness if we are not free from it ourselves. To begin taking ground from this vast enemy, we must ask the Lord to shine His light on us, showing how this applies to us personally. As the Lord's continuos confrontations with the Pharisees were an example, the church's most desperate fight from the very beginning has been with this spirit. Just as the primary characteristic of the Pharisees was their tendency to focus on what was wrong with others, while being blind to their own faults, the religious spirit tries to make us more prone to seeing what is wrong with others than the need for our own correction.

THE GREAT DECEPTION
One of the most deceptive characteristics about the religious spirit is that it is founded upon zeal for God. We tend to think that zeal for God cannot be evil, but that depends on why we are zealous for Him. Paul wrote of his Jewish brethren in Romans 10:2 "For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge." No one on earth prayed more, fasted more, read the Bible more, had a greater hope in the coming of the Messiah, or had more zeal for the things of God than the Pharisees. Yet, they were the greatest resisters of God and His Messiah when He came.

The young Saul of Tarsus accurately called himself "the Pharisee of Pharisees"; he was motivated by zeal for God while he was persecuting His church. Zeal for God is one of the most desperately needed characteristics of the church today, which is bound by a terrible Laodicean lukewarmness. The Lord commanded the church to "be zealous therefore, and repent" (Rev 3:19b). The truly zealous are the most difficult to stop, so the enemy's strategy against those that he cannot stop is to push them too far. His first step is to get them to glory in their own zeal. Regardless of how important a gift or characteristic is that we have, if the enemy can get us to take pride in it he will have us in his snare and will use that gift for evil.

The Lord had little trouble with demons while He walked the earth. They quickly bowed the knee to Him, begging for mercy. It was the conservative, zealous, religious community that immediately became His greatest enemy. Those who were the most zealous for the Word of God crucified the Word Himself when He became flesh to walk among them. The same is still true. All of the cults and false religions combined have not done as much damage to the moves of God as the opposition, or infiltration, of the religious spirit in the church. Cults and false religions are easily discerned, but the religious spirit has thwarted or diverted possibly every revival or movement to date, and it still retains a seat of honor throughout most of the visible church.
It is a manifestation of the religious spirit that will take its seat in the very temple of God declaring himself to be God. This man of sin will take his seat in the church. Unfortunately, it will obviously be the church that allows him to do this.

THE TWO FOUNDATIONS
Like most of the enemy's strongholds, the religious spirit builds its work on two basic foundations--fear and pride. the religious spirit seeks to have us serve the Lord in order to gain His approval, rather than from a position of having received our approval through the cross of Jesus. Therefore the religious spirit bases relationship to God on personal discipline rather than the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ. The motivation for doing this can be either fear of pride, or a combination of both.

Fear and pride are the two basic results of the Fall, and our deliverance from them is usually a long process. That is why the Lord even gave Jezebel "time to repent" (see Rev 2:20-21). The biblical Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab and a very religious woman, but she was given to false religion. The Lord gave her time to repent because the roots of this spirit go so deep that time is required to fully repent, and to be delivered from it.

However, even though the Lord gave Jezebel time to repent, He rebuked the church of Thyatira for "tolerating" her (v. 20). We can be patient with people who have religious spirits, but we must not tolerate their ministry in our midst while we are waiting! If this spirit is not confronted quickly it will do more damage to the church, our ministries, our families, and our lives, than possibly any other assault that we may suffer.

THE FOUNDATION OF GUILT
Eli, the priest who raised Samuel, is a good biblical example of someone who ministers in a religious spirit founded upon guilt. Eli had so much zeal for the Lord that when he heard that the Ark had been captured by the Philistines he fell over and died. He had spent his life trying to serve the Lord as the High Priest, but the very first word given to Samuel was one of the most frightening rebukes given in the Scriptures--for Eli!
"For I have told him that I Am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever" (1 Sam 3:13-14).

Eli's zeal for the Lord was based on sacrifices and offerings intended to compensate for his irresponsibility as a father. Guilt in our lives can spur us on to great zeal for the Lord, which usually results in our using our sacrifices and offerings as an attempt to atone for our failures. This is an affront to the cross, which alone can atone for our guilt. Such zeal will never be acceptable to the Lord, even if we could make sacrifices forever.
We should note here that the Lord did not say that Eli's sin could not be forgiven. He just said that Eli's attempts to atone for sin by sacrifice and offering would never atone for it. There are multitudes of men and women whose zeal for the Lord is likewise based on an attempt to atone for sin, failure, or irresponsibility in other areas of their lives. But all of the sacrifices in the world will not atone for even our smallest failure. Even the attempt to try is an insult to the cross of Jesus, Which alone is an acceptable sacrifice to the Father for sin.

The attempt to gain God's approval by our own sacrifice opens the door wide for a religious spirit because the service is not based on the blood of Jesus and the power of the cross, but on an attempt to make our own atonement for sin. This does not imply that we should not do things to please the Lord, but we must keep our motive to be pleasing to the Lord for His joy, not for our acceptance. One is God-centered; the other is self-centered, and that of the most destructive kind--an attempt to circumvent the cross.

It is also noteworthy that one of the sins of Eli's sons was that they "despised the offering of the Lord" (1 Sam 2:17). They appropriated the sacrifices and offerings brought to the Lord for their own selfish use. Those who are gripped by this form of a religious spirit will often be the most zealous to preach the cross, but herein is the perversion--it emphasizes their cross more than the cross of Jesus. Their delight really is more in self-abasement, than in the cross of Christ which alone makes us righteous and acceptable to God.

THE FOUNDATION OF PRIDE
Idealism is one of the most deceptive and destructive disguises of the religious spirit. Idealism is of human origin and is a form of humanism. It has the appearance of only seeking the highest standards and the preservation of God's glory. However, idealism is possibly the most deadly enemy of true revelation and true grace. It is deadly because it does not allow for growing up into grace and wisdom, but attacks and destroys the foundation of those who are in pursuit of God's glory, but are not yet there.

Idealism makes us try to impose standards on others that are beyond what God has required, or has given the grace for at that time. For example, men controlled by this kind of religious spirit may condemn those who are not praying two hours a day as they are. The truth is that it may be God's will for us to be praying that much, but how we get there is crucial. The grace of God will first call us to pray maybe just ten minutes a day. Then, as we become so blessed by His presence, we will want to spend more and more time with Him until we will not want to quit after ten minutes, then an hour, then two. Then, when we are praying two hours a day it is because of our love for prayer and the presence of the Lord, not out of fear or pride.

A religious spirit based on idealism will usually be seeking the perfect church and will refuse to be a part of anything less. Those led by the Holy Spirit may have hopes for a church that are just as high, but will still be able to give themselves in service to even some of the most lowly works, in order to help those works grow in vision and maturity. The Holy Spirit is called "the Helper," and those who are truly led by the Spirit will always be looking for ways to help, not just to stand aloof and criticize.

When a religious spirit is founded upon pride, it is evidenced by perfectionism. The perfectionist sees everything as black or white. This develops into extremes as it requires that everyone and every teaching be judged as either 100% right or 100% wrong. This is a standard with which only Jesus could comply; it will lead to a serious delusion when we impose it on ourselves or others. True grace imparts a truth that sets people free, showing them the way out of their sin, or to higher levels of spiritual maturity.

One with a religious spirit can usually point to problems with great accuracy, but seldom has solutions, except to tear down what has already been built. This is the strategy of the enemy to nullify progress that is being made, and to sow a discouragement that will limit future progress. This produces the mentality that, if we cannot go straight to the top of the mountain, we should not climb at all, but just "die to self.' This is a death that God has not required, and it is a perversion of the exhortation for us to take up our crosses daily.

The perfectionist both imposes and tries to live by standards that stifle true maturity and growth. The grace of God will lead us up the mountain step by step. The Lord does not condemn us because we may trip a few times while trying to climb. He graciously picks us up with the encouragement that we can make it. We must have vision of making it to the top, and should never condemn ourselves for not being there yet, as long as we are still climbing.

James said, "we all stumble in many ways" (James 3:2). If we had to wait until we were perfect before we could minister, no one would ever qualify for the ministry. Perfect obedience and understanding should always be our goal; such will never be found within ourselves, but only as we come to perfectly abide in the Perfect One.

Because we now "see through a glass darkly," or in part, we are compelled to always be open to greater accuracy in our beliefs and teachings. One of the greatest delusions of all is that we are already complete in our understanding, or 100% accurate in our perceptions or actions. Those with a religious spirit will usually both teach and claim to be open to more understanding, but most of the time this is done to get everyone else to be open to what they teach, while they remain steadfastly closed to others.

Jesus blessed Peter and turned the keys of the Kingdom over to him just before He had to rebuke him by calling him "Satan" (see Matt 16:23). Right after this greatest of blessings the enemy deceived him, yet the Lord did not take the keys away from Peter. Jesus knew when He gave the keys to Peter that he was soon to deny that he even knew Him. Many years after Peter used the keys to open the door of faith for both the Jews and Gentiles, the youngest of the apostles, Paul, had to rebuke him publicly because of his hypocrisy. Even so, Peter was promised that he would sit on one of the twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. The Lord has proven that He will commission and use men long before most of us would tend to do it, and He knows all of the mistakes that we will make when He calls us!

It seems that the Lord's leadership style was to provide a place where His followers could make mistakes and learn from them. If we required our children to be perfectly mature while they were still children it would actually stifle their growth and maturity. The same is true in the church . We must correct mistakes, because that is how we learn, but it must be a correction that encourages and frees, not one that condemns and crushes initiative.

THE DEADLY COMBINATION
One of the most powerful and deceptive forms of the religious spirit is built upon the foundations of both fear and pride. Those who are bound in this way go through periods of deep anguish and remorse at their failures, which results in a repentance that is just more self-abasement, and further attempts to make sacrifices that will appease the Lord. Then they flip to the other side, where they become so convinced that they are superior to other Christians, other groups, movements, etcetera, that they become unteachable and unable to receive reproof. The foundation that they stand on at any given time will be dictated more by external pressure than by true conviction.

Such a religious spirit is so slippery that it will wiggle out of almost any attempt to confront it. If you address the pride, the fears and insecurities will rise up to attract sympathy. If you confront the fear, it will then change into religious pride masquerading as faith. This type of spirit will drive individuals or congregations to such extremes that they will inevitably disintegrate.

THE COUNTERFEIT GIFT OF DISCERNMENT
A religious spirit will usually give a counterfeit gift of discernment of spirits. The counterfeit gift thrives on seeing what is wrong with others rather than seeing what God is doing in order to help them along. It is here that this spirit does some of its greatest damage to the church. Its ministry will almost always leave more damage and division than healing and reconciliation. Its wisdom is rooted in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and though the truth may be accurate, it is ministered in a spirit that kills.

This counterfeit gift of discernment is motivated by suspicion and fear. The suspicion is rooted in such things as rejection, territorial preservation, or general insecurity. The true gift of discernment can only function with love. Any other motive than love will distort spiritual perception. Whenever someone submits a judgment or criticism about another person or group, we should disregard it unless we know that the one bringing it truly loves that person or group, and has an "investment" of service to them.

ANGELS OF LIGHT
When Paul warned the Corinthians about those who ministered in a religious spirit, which sought to bring a yoke of legalism upon the young church, he explained that, "Such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness (2 Cor 11:13-15).

 This phrase "angel of light" could be interpreted as a "messenger of truth." Satan's most deceptive and deadly disguise is to come as a servant of righteousness, using truths for the purpose of destruction. He is quite skillful at quoting Scripture, and using wisdom, but it is the wisdom of the Tree of Knowledge that kills. He can accurately point out what is wrong with someone else, but he always does it in such a way that tears down, not offering solutions that lead to deliverance and life.

 "Angels of light" who are empowered by a religious spirit, will first look for what is wrong with someone rather than for what is right. The guise will usually be the protection of the sheep, truth, or the Lord's glory, but a critical spirit is an evil spirit and will always end up causing division and destruction. Criticism holds forth an appearance of wisdom, but it is pride in one of its most base forms. When we criticize someone else we are by that declaring ourselves to be better than they are. We may be better than others in some areas, but if we are, it is only by grace. Believers know the true grace of God never looks at how to put others down, but how to build them up, imparting the same grace upon which they have built their lives. As an old proverb declares, "Any jackass can kick a barn down, but it requires a skillful carpenter to build one."

THE RELIGIOUS SPIRIT AND MURDER
When Adam and Eve determined to live by the Knowledge of Good and Evil they were partaking of the religious spirit. The first result of this was self-centeredness--they looked at themselves. The first child born to them after partaking of this fruit was Cain, who is the first biblical model of a man controlled by the religious spirit.

 Cain was "a tiller of the ground," or earthly minded. The religious spirit will always seek to have us focused on the earthly realm rather than the heavenly realm. This "seed of Cain" judges by what is seen, and cannot understand those who "endure by seeing Him Who is unseen." In Revelation we see the second beast "coming up out of the earth" (Rev 13:11); this is because the spiritual seed of Cain are tillers of the ground. This earthly-mindedness has produced one of the most evil beasts the world will ever know.

 Cain also tried to make an offering to the Lord from his own labors. God rejected that sacrifice, but accepted Abel's sacrifice of the blood. The fruit of our labors will never be an acceptable offering to the Lord. This was a statement from the beginning that God would only accept the blood of the Lamb. Instead of receiving this correction and repenting, Cain became jealous of his brother, and slew him. Those who attempt to live by their own works will often become enraged at those who take their stand on the righteousness of the Lamb.

 That is why Saul of Tarsus, the "Pharisee of Pharisees," was so enraged against Christians. They represented the greatest threat to what the Pharisees had built their whole lives on. Their very existence could not be endured. Religions that are based on works will become violent very easily. This includes "Christian" sects where a doctrine of works has supplanted the cross of Christ.

 The Lord said that if a man just hates his brother he is guilty of murder. Those who are driven by religious spirits try to destroy by means other than physically taking lives. Many of the onslaughts of slander instigated against churches and ministries are the ragings of this same religious spirit that caused Cain to slay his brother.

TEST OF A TRUE MESSENGER
In Ezekiel 37 the prophet was taken to a valley full of dry bones and asked if they could live. The Lord then commanded him to "prophesy to the bones." As he prophesied they came together, came to life, and then became a great army. This is a test which every true ministry must pass. The true prophet can see a great army in even the driest of bones. He will prophesy life to those bones until they come to life, and then become an army. A false prophet with a religious spirit will do little more than just tell the bones how dry they are, heaping discouragement and condemnation on them, but giving no life or power to overcome their circumstances.

 Apostles and prophets are given authority to build up and tear down, but we have no right to tear down if we have not first built up. We should give no one the authority to bring correction to the people under our care unless they have a history of feeding them and building them up. Some may say that this eliminates the ministry of the "prophets," but I say that those are "prophets" I would like to eliminate from ministry. As Jude said of them, "These are grumblers, fault finders ..." who are "hidden reefs in your love feasts" (see Jude 11-16).

Even so, as Eli gave us an example, woe to the shepherds who feed and care for the sheep, but fail to correct them. The true grace of God is found between the extremes of unrighteous fault finding and unsanctified mercy (showing mercy to the things that God disapproves of). Either extreme can be the result of a religious spirit.

by Rick Joyner, Chapter 7, Epic Battles of the Last Days
MorningStar Publications, 16000 Lancaster Highway
Charlotte, North Carolina 28277-2061
http://morningstarministries.org/

The Sword that Divides

Kriston Couchey

DIVIDING SOUL AND SPIRIT
A friend of mine invited me to go to a men's camping retreat where we would spend the weekend fasting, praying, and repenting. When we arrived I was impressed by the level of maturity and fervency for the Lord. The leader of these men had a vision that was national in scope. I could see that with the men he had with him He could very well start a movement that could sweep the nation. I also discerned the heart idols of works of the flesh, and nationalistic pride that kept them from discerning between the kingdom of God and the soulish works of men. These Idols held by the leader tainted his God given vision, and affected all of the men he was leading. I had seen this idolatry in the hearts of many Americans and it did not surprise me.

When the leader said to split up into pairs he quickly pointed to me and said "I want to go with you." I shared a couple things the Lord had been saying to me about Abraham laying down Isaac (our destiny, purpose, and vision) in faith that God could raise up Isaac as He desires. He then announced that I was to be the speaker at the main gathering the next day. I did not maneuver this, God set me up again. After the usual nighttime demonic attack when about to face a stronghold, the next day I prayed about what to share and to my dislike the Spirit of the Lord told me to confront the idolatry. I did NOT want to do this, I did not come to confront this thing and knew from experience it would not be a joyous event.

At the meeting, I shared about sacrificing Isaac and laying down our God given vision in order to receive an even larger purified vision from God. I shared kingdom truth; confronting the specific idolatry birthed in the souls of men. I did not expect what happened. The leader ended up hiding in his tent crying and unresponsive. I went to his tent and ministered to him, showing him God's love and told him that he needed to lay down his vision into the hands of the Lord so the Lord could raise it up again as He desired. He would not accept what I had to share with him and was unable to lead the rest of the day. The weekend fell apart at that point and I prodded him to get up and lead these men. He got up in the closing morning and closed the weekend. He completely shut down spiritually, and later when I emailed him one of his men answered it because he still was unresponsive. The people were exasperated. Yet there were those that received what was shared with joy. Sadly, what I shared at that meeting was a judgment to this man, and the vision and plans God had given Him ended up coming to nothing.

THE WORD THAT JUDGES (DISCERNS AND DIVIDES)
For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two–edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern (JUDGE) the thoughts and intents of the heart.! ~The Writer of Hebrews~

If you have learned to speak by the Spirit of God, you probably recognize that what you release to others can be blessing for some, and like a spiritual roadblock to those who reject your words. The implanted Word (Christ) within you judges (discerns) or clarifies the true condition of the hearts of men. When the Word Himself is speaking through you, your very Words become a sword that divides soul and spirit; clarifying that which is from the soulish realm of man from that which is birthed in the realm of the Spirit. Jesus said, "I do not judge you, the words I speak to you judge, you." Men are judged by their willingness to repent and believe the living Word; which is the voice of God to men through whatever vessel He chooses to speak through. We do NOT make our own judgments. We must discern and come into active agreement with the judgments of God.

For every one instance of rejection and judgment there may be ninety nine instances of blessing and joy from those receiving the Word. 99% of kingdom work is not negative in nature but building up and releasing blessing and life. Paul said it well, "should I use my authority to tear you down or build you up?" There is more tearing down work in the church that must be done in this day then in Paul's day, and there will be times of confrontation. God's purpose in this hour is to redeem mankind in His mercy and love, and we should always have the mind and attitude of Christ to redeem and reach people. Nevertheless, men are judged by their willingness to repent and believe. In this new day we will be speaking Words that will be both blessing and judgment; blessing to those that respond, and judgment to those who reject. The heavens will open for those who receive the Word, and be closed for those who do not. If you are speaking the Word Himself, It is not you they reject, it is the Word of God, Jesus Christ. This is not about cursing anyone. It is the nature of Divine Authority entrusted to men that naturally judges iniquity. It is a work of HIS justice, not ours. It is the Lord's decision to judge people, but it is our responsibility to agree with and carry out His judgments.

I had a similar experience with a friend when God showed up in our home group in the mid nineties. While we ministered to, and shared the Word of the Lord with this man, there came a time when the Lord spoke clearly to me and said "Stop praying for him!" His rejection of the Living Word and His work among us had cut off the flow of blessing that others were receiving from the throne. It may well be that at a later time he will be able to receive, but for the time being He was judged by the Lord as not able to receive His blessing.

In our own spheres of influence or authority, we are to be in agreement with the judgments of God, and at times be the mouth that speaks forth God's judgments, be they for good or for the detriment of the others. Empowered by the Spirit, Peter pronounced judgment on Ananias and Syphyra and they died, Paul pronounced the blindness of Elymus the sorcerer who opposed the Word through Paul, and he was lead away because of his blindness. Paul told him he was "...full of all guile and all mischief, you child of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?"

Stumbling blocks and those that draw others into error are what gets the swift justice of God when the glory has landed. Even Jesus pronounced woe on the Pharisees who were leading people astray and keeping people from entering the kingdom. God is jealous for His people, and stumbling blocks can die for the sake of offending one of these little ones. And yet, thankfully Father has a long-suffering mercy and desire for all men to repent.

FALSE JUDGMENTS
The problem in the church is not judgment; judgment is good, the problem is FALSE judgments made from the SOUL of men. These judgments come from those who are not pure in heart, and their judgments destroy and defile people. People whose hearts have idols bless what should not be blessed, and curse what should not be cursed. What has passed for prophetic judgment today is a pitiful thing formed in the hearts of insecure deceived men and women. Those who have idols, offense, and judgment in their hearts will not be allowed to enter into what God is doing in this day. Many would use the authority of God to destroy anyone who opposes them or their personal agenda. They are not in submission to the will of Father and dead to themselves.

HOPE FOR THE CHURCH
The apostles James and John showed their nationalistic pride and prejudice towards the Samaritans with their desire to call down fire from heaven to destroy them. Their lack of discernment as to the reality of the kingdom and the merciful nature of God shows there is hope for the church that is willing to go through a death and resurrection experience. After the church has laid it's Isaac (destiny, purpose and vision) down on the altar to die, God will raise it up with His greater destiny, purpose and vision, which is the gospel of the kingdom untainted by the soulish imaginations of men.

In His Love
Kriston Couchey
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http://my.opera.com/Boanerges/blog/

Speak The Truth In Love

Earlier this year, I had the following dream:

In the dream I was an observer. I watched as the Commander of the Lord’s army came to inspect His troops. He evaluated many things, then had a word with His leaders and left. There was a staff meeting afterward. The leaders discussed the only deficiency found by the Lord’s Commander – it was our conversation. We were giving away things to the enemy that they didn’t know, which was then used it against us. An order went out to reign in all conversations that weren’t beneficial or that were critical of others.

I wrote about the strategic implications of the dream previously. That message can be found here.

The dream left me confused and dismayed for a while. How could I have gotten things so wrong?

If I had to pick the things I wanted to see corrected in the church, I would have come up with a different list.

What about holiness?

What about prayer?

What about giving?

What about evangelism?

What about truth?

Didn’t any of these things matter to God?

How could the words we speak be of such great importance?

His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts.

The apostle John said that he rejoiced when he found some of the brethren walking in the truth (2 John 1:4). Paul had words of correction for the churches of Corinth and Galatia. The epistles are a mixture of words affirming the positive and correcting the negative things found in the church. We don’t question whether the apostles had the authority to correct others.

Why not?

They were given their positions by God, being personally picked and discipled by Jesus. They were directed by the Holy Spirit how and where to build fellowships. They labored for years at great cost to themselves, suffering persecution and poverty for the sake of nurturing their fellowships. The revelation of truth they taught came directly from the Holy Spirit. And they developed personal relationships with the ones they instructed. Through all these things, the apostles earned the right to admonish the ones they saw in error. That’s the New Testament model for giving correction.

How many of us are following it today?

Correction in the modern church doesn’t resemble this model. Words of correction come from anyone on any subject. Nothing is off limits and no one needs to earn the right to speak a word of correction. We see ourselves as guardians of the truth; valiant soldiers of God wielding the sword against lies and deception. But something is terribly wrong here.

We often quote the phrase, “speak the truth in love”. Search your heart and you may realize that we seldom use it except when giving a word of correction. Often the only reason we use it is to show biblical grounds for correcting someone we think is in error. Something in our soul knows that correction done the wrong way is damaging, but something else in us loves correcting the wrong thinking of others. If we correct and throw in the required verse, it appears to justify our action.

Does it really?

A Facebook friend posted something to this effect after a recent heated disagreement: “This isn’t me talking, it’s the word of God. People should just read their bibles. There’s so much wrong teaching going on.”

This was posted by a believer who reads her bible. She was arguing with other believers who read the same bible. The argument was over different methods of healing. It’s typical of the kind of problem most of us deal with.

Many of our disagreements are over things of minor importance. Methods of healing may be important to some, but they’re not foundational to Christianity. It’s not worth losing a friend over nor is it worthy of heated debate. Yet we start blogs and groups for the purpose of debating and arguing trivial matters. Part of the problem is that we have things prioritized incorrectly. We yell what God whispers and whisper what He yells.

Another problem is pride.

There’s a need inside many of us to be publicly justified. Being right isn’t enough; we need to be right publicly. Give a man some knowledge and a gift and he’ll build an empire around them. One way for us to be seen as right is to prove our opponents wrong. Facebook, for example has become an ocean of self-appointed experts on religion; a watering hole for insecure souls in desperate need of public justification.

The believer who needs to correct employs diversions to keep a clear conscience. The most common is to cite scripture then claim the argument isn’t with them, but with God. As my friend did, we avoid taking personal responsibility for the damage by saying, “That’s not me, it’s the bible.”

This tactic leaves us thinking God is on our side. Unfortunately, our opponent usually has a handful of bible verses backing up their argument. All we’re doing is arguing our experiences and interpretations against theirs. We are responsible for the damage inflicted, though we pretend to be innocent. What the Lord pointed out in the dream was that our criticism of others gives the enemy information they don’t have. By correcting others in this way, we’re actually helping the enemy.

How then do we correct others?

In love

Speaking the truth in love is not sharing our understanding of the truth to a stranger, believing we are showing them love by telling them the truth. That’s how it looked to me before I had the dream.

Speaking the truth in love means that love is present in our heart before correction is given. Love must precede any correction of others. Like the apostles, having a heart of love qualifies us and insures that our words come from the right heart. You may have suffered persecution for the gospel. You may have given up all you possessed for the kingdom. But none of this earns you the right to correct another, unless you first demonstrate love toward them in a personal way.

If we love someone, we have their best interest in mind, always. If we love them we sacrifice for them; love does not seek its own. If we love others we’re willing to give up our pride and humble ourselves to win them as friends; love is not puffed up. If we love others we’ll take the time to build a relationship of trust before trying to correct them, even if it takes years; love suffers long.

If we meditate on what it is to love others, it may change how we do things. Pastors, apostles, prophets and all in church leadership may have a bit of soul searching to do, if we’re going to reign in speech that is damaging the flock of God.

How has this been worked out in my own life?

I’ve found myself overlooking a lot of conversations I would have commented on a year ago. I now realize I’m not the truth police. It isn’t my job to correct every weird opinion or erroneous statement someone makes. I see a lot of posts that seem to be a bit "off". Instead of reading and correcting, I ignore them. If I have no relationship with the one who wrote it, I usually let it go. If I want to help someone, I take a few weeks or months getting to know them before challenging or teaching them. That takes time and I'm a busy person. It's cut down on the time I would have wasted correcting someone who wouldn't hear me anyway.

There are exceptions. Some friends have read my posts for a while and learned enough about me to ask for advice on something. In most cases I had no idea that I was gaining trust with them until they sent me an e-mail. Sometimes we’re given the right to speak into a stranger's life by virtue of a position we have, but it’s always extended by the one seeking advice. Hard as this may be for some of us to swallow, our title doesn’t give us the right to correct someone we have no relationship with. It must always be earned.