Spiritual Pride~

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:5

It seems as if many in the Church these days feel very rejected by others and for this reason I set out on a quest with the Lord as to why this would be so?  This question itself brings much complexity and yet the answer is simple… Spiritual pride.  Attempting to accomplish anything outside of Jesus is pride based and will eventually fail and be brought to nothing.  The Lord has been exposing so much within us lately that we have been doing and that is quite opposite of His ways.  Whether that be deliverance, healing or even preaching the Gospel.  Anything done APART from Him will not bring forth His fruit.

This is such a touchy subject, because many ministries have been built on deliverance and healing and to avoid stepping on too many toes, I will try to tread lightly…  In the laying down of all pride, we begin to have clarity on the truth that the Lord does not NEED us, He just LOVES us.  Once we grasp this confidence in Him, we have understanding beyond compare of what we thought to be the truth of us before.  To some degree, this somewhat knocks the proverbial wind out of our sails, in order we can more smoothly step out on water to walk with Him, no longer sinking in self.

Take deliverance, for example.  No where in the Bible did it say to name demons and cast them out.  Why do we continually go against the instructions given to us in such a way?  Spiritual pride.  Somehow, the enemy has tricked us into lifting ourselves up above another as the solution to their problem.  Since it is inevitable that fiery darts do come, we must go to the Word to KNOW THE SOLUTION, rather than men.

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Ephesians 6:16

?Above all…  Did you see this?  Above all else, complete,  total, finished – We are to have FAITH, in order to quench all fiery darts coming at us.

Just simple FAITH IN JESUS is all we need to extinguish the enemy’s attacks.

And just in case that is not enough proof for you, here is another perfect instruction given for when we are being oppressed.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

SUBMIT to God, RESIST the enemy and he will flee.  

Who flees?  The enemy.  Glory!?  We never knew it would be so simple.  Thank You Jesus for teaching us today.

No fancy prayers and certainly NO SELF is involved when one SUBMITS TO GOD.  Self is made null and void at this point and it is all Him and none of us.  Truly apart from Him we can do nothing.  It is time for us to forget every single thing we have been told, every doctrine of man we have learned and convinced ourselves that works.  Because if we are truly honest with ourselves, it isn’t working and hasn’t worked in a very long time.  Do you know how I know this?  Because, we are not bringing forth much fruit.  Oh sure, people get healed temporarily and find some relief for the short term, but lasting and complete deliverance is almost non-existent in the Church today.

The Lord will NOT share HIS GLORY with another.  Thankfully, this is for our own protection, lest we be so puffed up in Spiritual Pride, we would self destruct.   I used to be involved with a Church that would go to extremes to cast out devils through deliverance ministry, of which I was even involved to some degree.  But, it never quite set right with me in my Spirit.  Oh sure, I must admit I acted the part, mainly on the basis of LOVE, but there was always something nagging at me and leading me into the truth that something was just not quite right.

Now I know…  Spiritual Pride, was operating through instruction of man, rather than the freedom of Jesus.  The Lord has begin showing me there is no formula to His ways and sadly, we have began to believe the more far out there we push ourselves the more hyper Spiritual we are.  Jesus was not like that, He was very simple and spoke so plainly even a child could understand.

My prayer is that for today we begin to let go of all preconceived doctrines of men and focus totally on the Lord Jesus, as He instructs us HOW to follow in His footsteps.  The first step in the right direction is one taken WITH HIM, ABOUT HIM and FOR HIM.  Just like the Word says… FIRST SUBMIT UNTO GOD.

Thank You Jesus for leading us in the way that we should go with You and not against You.  Help us to lay down all desire to instruct and deliver others from bondage, when we ourselves are under the worse bondage of Spiritual Pride.  May we continue to do all things according to Your will and Your way, fully stepping out of any rebellion that ties us to our flesh. 

In Jesus’s Mighty Name. Amen

God Bless You In His Love,

?Angela~Marked By Heaven