What Prepares You for Giants

Pondering how God prepares leaders for their next levels, I was awakened by a night vision in which I saw David’s arm, extended high and about to bring down Goliath’s sword in order to cut off the giant’s head. I was surprised by the thought that God doesn’t train giant-killers by having them face giants.

David had never used a sword. When Saul offered the use of his sword, David was quick to let him know that this was not his weapon of choice or training. And no wonder, for no one in all Israel possessed a sword except King Saul and his son! David had been trained to face giants by learning to win battles with what was in his hand. Roar of lion and bear prepared him for Goliath’s roar: David was the only person in the camp without fear.

Writing a script for a David movie, we would include scenes of a younger David swinging swords in obscurity for several years before using one to awaken a generation. We would depict him studying with a master swordsman, emerging with skills and experience, prepared in secret for the day of great victory.

However, God didn’t prepare David to face giants by having him face giants. He didn’t prepare David to shepherd a nation by learning to get along with his arrogant brothers. He didn’t teach him to author psalms by listening to the classics from Prophet Samuel’s IHOP even though he did attend some sessions. All of these legitimate preparation methods were not used to prepare David.

Then I realized something that I have known, was obvious to me, and vital to this generation: I realized that preparing David for what he would do by the power of the Spirit was not as necessary as preparing David. For him to learn faithfulness, integrity, and dependency upon God was much more important than the rather effortless activation of his spiritual gifts and anointing. Seems God thinks the rest comes easily to a man with God’s heart.

You probably stopped reading after that line if you were hoping for a magic wand touch from God to make you a spiritual superstar, ready to audition at the next “Heavenly Idol” search for ‘the bestest one in the kingdom.’ You probably didn’t keep reading this paragraph unless you were interested in knowing how God prepares generation-awakening champions. Many people are interested in King Saul’s rise to fame and position more than David’s pain-staking preparation for giant killing. Like Saul, they were rather pay peasants to exterminate their giants.

Bloody Yet?

Some folks never advance past the “getting bloody” stage. They just don’t want to get their hands that dirty. They are content to allow bear or lion a lamb or two along the way, thinking, “No one really expects me to face death over a lamb or two, do they?” Aren’t shepherds worth more than sheep? They don’t pay me to get bloody.” Bears and lions like that kind of thinking!

Most people are content to IPod themselves to sleep, turning up the volume to drown out the bleating lambs. They would never consider singing a song of comfort over the sheep because they need their rest. They are waiting for their day off, away from those stupid sheep, instead of practicing for hours throwing creek stones at a tree trunk until they can hit a fly at fifty meters.

David did those things that most people don’t think of doing, and those things prepared him to face a giant, sing to a king, and postpone dinner until a prophet could anointing his head with oil. David didn’t build character facing a giant; he revealed the character he had developed watching his father’s sheep.

Since God isn’t having David face giants to prepare him to kill Goliath, and we still wish to know how God prepares a man to face giants, we must think about the activities that did prepare David. What produces a man with the courage to enter the camp of Israel and immediately volunteer to kill the giant? What rises up in one man to do what a whole army was willing to watch him do? What is missing in a generation that is willing to listen to a giant roar and do nothing? What kind of leader sits in his tent, surrounded by armor and weapons, yet refuses to respond in the day of battle?

The easy answer that most will offer is that “God was with David from the moment Samuel anointed him.” So, you say, “Well, that’s it, then. Just get an anointing and giants will fall!

The problem with that thinking is that King Saul had the same anointing as David. King Saul had the same life-changing experience as David: God made a new person. Yet he sat in his tent surrounded by his armor while the giant raged day after day. King Saul was afraid of the giant even though he was “head and shoulders” taller than anyone else in his generation. King Saul looked the part and had the same anointing. King Saul had a sword and spear, but he was ill prepared to face the Goliath of his generation. King Saul even had the titled position people seek to define their level of success. King Saul had what man expects a champion to possess, but none of this preparation gave him what David had.

The principles that caused David to kill lion and bear to protect someone else’s sheep were the principles that caused David to enter the camp of Israel ready to die before a heathen cursed God and lived! David killed Goliath on principle, empowered by the anointing of his personal destiny, and positioned by faithfulness to someone else’s possessions. David got bloody defending little lambs because they were his assignment. He didn’t hesitate when his principles demanded that a giant’s mouth be shut in defense of God’s little lambs. David got bloody defending his father’s sheep, and he was ready to get bloody defending His Father’s sheep. So, David preparation was more about David’s character than David’s anointing.

So, you ask, “You mean to say that getting bloody builds character?” More accurately, making the decision to get bloody when getting bloody is required builds character. More accurately, the attention to detail in little prepares us for the attention of destiny in much. More accurately, learning to be faithful with another man’s sheep prepares us to be faithful with God’s sheep.

God has used FreedomMinistry to bring true life-change to tens of thousands of people in the nations, helping them get free of root issues. The preparation for this ministry came in my life when I spent eleven months pulling weeds in the hot Floridian sun. Although I had one doctorate and decades of ministry experience, experienced personal transformation in a great revival atmosphere, what I learned in the flowerbeds got my hands dirty. I learned spiritual warfare in the same way David did. I learned to face principalities working on someone else’s flowers and shrubs.

I have noticed that the road past our homebase ministry leads many people to our door. They walk in ready to shake nations with a resume in their hands of great experiences, anointing, gifts, insights, how-to pamphlets, and big dreams. It doesn’t take long to discover if they have gotten their hands dirty pulling weeds or bloody facing bears and lions. They fail to realize that getting gifts and anointing is the easy part. Getting God’s life is a gift. Living the life is difficult.

Most people who don’t have bloody hands would fall for any of the temptations of Jesus because they offer them an easier way of being famous, successful, and maintaining appearances. They would turn stones to bread for their own benefit, fall into angel’s arms for a circus-show ministry moment, and give the devil his due for a chance at ruling the world. They would say, “Lord, Lord, look what great things I have done in Your Name.” He would say, “Who are you and how did you get in here?”

The name, position, weapons, appearance, and anointing are not the preparation. Jesus spent three years working His guys over. One was a traitor, and the rest forsook Him. His best guy cussed Him out to save himself from a little servant girl! He knew they weren’t ready for the kingdom until they were as crucified as He was.

He spent a great deal of time with them, and they never seemed to get what He was up to. All their strategies for Messiah-ship were inconsistent with the life of the Messiah! What they were sure He would do first, He didn’t do at all. The people they thought He would impress, He condemned in public. The people who didn’t matter at all seemed to be the focus of His time and teaching. He noticed a widow woman giving pennies. He blessed screaming babies because that was kingdom. He washed their feet! He picked Galileans for disciples and invaded Jerusalem with fishermen, a tax collector, and a zealot. He said, “If you can fish for fish, then I can teach you to fish for people.”

From One Conquered Territory to Another

In order to function at the next level, you need to finish well at the level you’re on. Bruising bears and badgering lions won’t get you ready to face giants! They don’t go down without a knockout punch. You can’t just stand back and throw rocks at them. You most certainly can’t ignore them and hope they go away when you are the one responsible to keep your territory free of bear and lion!

David cleaned up his territory! He had a handle on the lions and bears in his area. They only approached his camp out of desperation and deep hunger! They would walk around David’s territory to get the lambs from some of those other shepherds. David slept on a bear rug and covered himself with lion linens against the cool Bethlehem nights.

How many times have I thought of leaders with a call to shake nations: “You want to go take a nation but your eight-year old runs your house!” Or, “You wonder when God is going to send you out to shake a city but you don’t show up to prayer meeting.” Or, “You are certain that your worship songs will be sung around the world, but you sit on your hands when some else is leading worship.”

You cannot move to conquer another territory until you have conquered the territory where you are, the territory of your present assignment. Facing down the lions and bears of your father’s meadows prepares you to walk the valley of giants!

At some point, after facing down the lions and bears, you come to understand that this preparation is for greater victories. It is this confidence that carries you on, not the shallow boast of “when I get my day on stage” fantasies.

Until David showed up, every Israel boy wanted to be like Saul and Jonathan, played with sticks as if they were swords so they would be ready someday when they magical moment arrived that a sword was given to them. David kinda blew up that dream! All the Saul boggle headed dolls were left unsold after David blasted Goliath with a sling. Every Wal-Mart kid’s department ordered a new stock of slings after that hit the papers!

If you can’t take lions and bears in stride, you won’t have the proper pacing for a Goliath. Little successes build big men. Not empty victories on video games, but real blood and some wounds healed into scars, the real-life marks of taking and keeping territory.

Giant Killing is Contagious

Until you have a shout, you are just a spectator. I’m not talking about the cheer of watching someone else do what you are supposed to do. I’m talking about the shout that rose in the camp when the army of Israel saw David holding up a giant’s head! “They rose with a shout,” and they ran down to chase the enemy. They all wanted a sword and the only swords around were with the Philistines. Only place to get a sword was off an enemy, so they rose up when they saw David with Goliath’s sword! They stopped dreaming about the day someone would give them a sword, and a shout of territory-taking terror escaped their lips. They said, “I want my own sword, and I’ll fight a Philistine to get it, like David did.”

That shout is a new sound for most folks! The cheer of watching someone else do something great is common, but the shout of taking and keeping territory with the weapons of your present enemy is different sound! If can convince people to shout that shout, you will arm a nation in a day! If a sword of a giant in your hand awakens your generation, then you have earned the leadership you know you are called to. If you can take the giant of your generation because you were prepared by the lions and bears of your past victories, you will know how to teach your generation to be mighty men and women!

The sound is already in the army of God, but the leadership spirit of Saul will never release it. The shout of taking territory gurgles in the bellies of the brightest and best among us, but they await a champion. They know that giants shouldn’t be bellowing. They know that giants shouldn’t be given forty days of front-page blasphemy. They know that the army of God shouldn’t be without weapons. They know that God has something better for them. However, when their king is in his tent trembling with fear, promising his daughter and half the kingdom to anyone who will fight so he won’t have to, the army waits and wanders.

David arrived with no sword, passed on Saul’s sword, and picked up Goliath’s sword. In my estimation, Saul’s sword was probably not enough weapon to cut off a giant’s head anyway. Seems to me you need a giant’s sword to cut off a giant’s head.

Ready to Shout?

Intercessors often pray in waiting. Prophets often prophesy in waiting. Even apostles lay foundation in waiting. Worshippers worship in waiting. Like Israel waiting for a champion, facing down their enemies with farm tools, they all appear to be waiting.

I believe there are David’s in this generation whose narrative includes some bears and lions killed to protect their father’s sheep. I believe there must be some champions among us who have learned to live by principle. I believe that all this present generation lacks is the David spirit of leadership, action that will release the shout of taking territory that gurgles in their bellies. I believe when David’s lift the giant’s sword, a whole nation will arise to get a sword for themselves!

Is there a better day to shout than now?

Tearing Down What Jesus is Building?

If we do not properly define “ekklesia,” we may be tearing down what Jesus is building. We may also allow the gate of hell to stand against our substitute.

In the US, a greater movement is in full swing for Christians to follow Jesus but not be part of church. I fully identify with the valid sentiment that following Jesus would be much better than sacrificing my life to institutionalized church-anity. However, Jesus hasn’t been, isn’t now, nor planning tomorrow to build church-anity. He is building His ecclesia, a called together assembly from within the kingdom of God on earth to legislate heaven’s authorizations and release heaven’s power on earth.

Oddly, this comes as big surprise to most people, especially Christians. The substitutes for ecclesia have worn them down, made them sick, built their cynicism, and hollowed their hearts. They want out of the political atmosphere, the leadership dynamics of manmade religion and institutionalization. They want out now.

Sadly, they are turning away from what Jesus didn’t built with little direction of where to go or what to do now that they have turned. They aren’t turning away from Jesus! They, in fact, demand that they be “followers of Jesus.” They are adamant about that. Yet, without a proper understanding of what Jesus is building, they may be as guilty of tearing down what Jesus is building as the substitutes for ecclesia that drove them away.

Leadership Dynamics

First, what I call “the Great Walkaway” has properly identified leadership as a focal point of failure for church defined and dominated by man. Yet, a greater sophistication may be needed to uncover the cause of this debilitating symptom. Leaders in a church built by man answer to man; they become leaders more interested in reacting to the demands of people than the desires of God. The definition of church that builds on “the accumulation of believers” demands leaders who lead with this goal as the highest value. Such leaders become politicized very easily because they must be political animals to lead in the first place.

Certainly this leadership dynamic robs church of a necessary foundation upon Jesus actively and personally involved in His ecclesia, but the definition of church is the problem and the leadership failure is a symptom.

For example, many people leaving church-anity still desire to give money, time, and talent to the cause of Jesus. They search out “worthy” enterprises to which to donate, to do good in Jesus’ Name, to make a difference. Without a proper ecclesia, they are left to give to charities that give material things, human wisdom and strength. Without the ecclesia, there is nothing else…

So, they do the very thing they hate. They invest themselves and their money and time in things that will cause people to believe in people instead of Jesus. Paul says, “I did not come to you in Corinth with human wisdom and strength. I determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I did not want to frustrate or limit the Power of the Cross. The power of the Cross is the power of God.”

When we substitute what good people-Christian people-can do, we build people’s faith in people, not the Cross. Oh, I know we pray for them as we are doing so, but we are no better than the institutionalized church-anity we couldn’t wait to leave behind when we do not demonstrate the power of God instead of the power of man. As much as a strong ecclesia may be part of changing the culture and the economics of a region, the dominate effort of the ecclesia is not to exhibit a “Christian wisdom or strength” to a needy world. We are called together to demonstrate something totally unavailable to man through any other means.

Yes, that’s right! When we substitute other definitions for church, we are tearing down what Jesus is building, for what He is building is a demonstration of His authority and power on earth. Only in this way will people put their faith in God, according to Paul, so “their faith does not rest in man but the power of God.”

Leadership is the source of this process of power. Jesus designed a life-changing strategy for His ecclesia within His kingdom on earth that requires the ecclesia to be led by discipling leaders that produce mature disciples. Jesus left and went to heaven; He sat down. So, if you are hoping to leave church-anity and follow Jesus, you have a problem. Jesus isn’t going anywhere. He is seated at the Father’s right sending the leaders of His ecclesia.

You see, you cannot be a disciple without following a discipling leader. You must follow to be discipled. Jesus called people to follow Him so He could disciple them. If they didn’t leave and follow, they could not be discipled. Discipling isn’t following, but following is necessary to discipling. You gotta be there with the discipling leader to be matured, share spiritual experiences, and gain teaching, correction, and discipline, making yourself available, and putting yourself at the disposal of the leader who is discipling you.

You can’t be discipled directly by Jesus because you can’t follow Him. He isn’t going anywhere. He is sending His kingdom leaders, and you will be assigned to follow those leaders. That means you gotta be there so you can be discipled.

Here is the “tearing down” of which I speak. The rush away from manmade substitutes is not creating a greater desire for strong, discipling leadership in many of those involved in the Great Walkaway. They are ready to tailor-make a “following of Jesus” that fits their own style and values. They are happier putting their money where they want it, giving their time to things they are interested in, and investing themselves in activities that will help them “be all they can be.”

Such a thing is foreign to the mind of God, Scripture, and the kingdom. Humanized church-anity has programmed people to expect God to be an after-market add-on to their little American lives, a spiritual career consultant on how to reach their potential. That is not discipleship. It is, in fact, the very thing that needs to die so you can be what God wants instead of what you want.

Leadership is the empty place on the front row of our kingdom culture because we redefined discipleship along the lines of our previous definition of church. We determined to help people feel better about themselves, fit into the accumulation of believers scenario, and provide a broad range of “be all you can be” resources for the people Jesus called us to disciple.

When Jesus says “disciple,” He includes other words we forget like “cross, die, sacrifice, lay down your life, obey, continue in My Words, and go disciple nations.” He doesn’t include the words we love like “potential, happy, talent, ability, excellence, and success.”

I was reading a testimony of someone in the Great Walkaway talking about how she had rearranged her life to fit her new “living for Jesus but not going to church” lifestyle. She said that she stopped tithing and giving offerings and started supporting doctors who volunteer to do medicine on people in the nations where medical help isn’t immediately available.

Now, I thought that was noble and human, and I don’t want to say anything negative about doctors who do this nor people who give them money to do this. It is even something Jesus would smile about as noble and kingdom. It is not a substitute for the ecclesia however. It is not giving God His tithe and offering. It is not discipling, Gospel, or missional. It is good people doing good things for people.

For example, the ecclesia will have doctors and medicine within it, but the ecclesia isn’t about sending medical help to people so they can believe in medicine, science, skilled professionals, and sacrificial behavior of these good people. The ecclesia is about “Be healed in the Name of Jesus!” in a way that leaves no doubt that only the power of Jesus Christ did what happened through those words. Certainly, doctors and medicine will be available, and should be, but that effort is subsequent in spiritual priority to leaders who have the spiritual authority and power to release Gospel.

So, the idea that the Great Walkaway opens to door to a new spirituality that will replace bad leadership with no leadership is so anti-Jesus and opposed to Scripture that the Great Walkaway will need a new Bible to read. The idea that discipling is just “me and Jesus” living out my little life together, enjoying sunny days and enduring rainy ones together, meeting in add-on sessions of spiritual consultation so I can get my potential into place is so foreign to the kingdom Jesus asks us to establish that the ecclesia that is called together to assemble will look like more like spiritual-ed Boy and Girl Scouts than an army of the mighty who can take nations.

Tearing down Bible leadership, redefining discipling, and substituting our “modified, appropriated, and adapted” definitions for ecclesia isn’t going to accomplish the goals of God, get God what He wants, or establish kingdom. It is going to encourage a substitution for the Gospel, a rewrite of the Message that will be more gnostic than godly.

Preaching – a Unique Mode of Communication

I’ve noticed a trend in Christian television away from preaching as the mode of communication. I think that is good. Yes, I think that discovering, uncovering, producing and perfecting other ways of communicating the message of the kingdom is beneficial to our calling and commission to “disciple nations.” We should be producing excellent media presentations that inspire, influence, and impact our culture.

What I am not happy about is the trend to replace preaching with other modes of communication. I am concerned that we are a generation who does not fully grasp the uniqueness of preaching as a means and mode of communication.

Charisma magazine interviewed a media leader on the subject, and I thought the interview was very helpful. However, I remain concerned. Here is a quote I would like to analyze:

“There are many, but probably the most important is the understanding of the media itself. The first generation of Christian media leaders were mostly pastors or evangelists. As a result, they saw everything through the lens of preaching. That’s why for decades, preaching programs dominated religious media—both radio and TV. I love great preaching, but when it comes to the media, it’s not always the best method of sharing our message. That’s why I’ve spent my life educating pastors and ministry leaders about media platforms and how they work. As a result, today we’re seeing more Christians producing feature films, documentaries, music programs, short films and more. Plus, many Christian organizations are doing remarkable things online through websites, short videos and social media.”

Couched within these statements is a subtle thinking that media without preaching is an improvement on the delivery system of the message. I’m certain that isn’t what this man wants to say, but the thinking bleeds into these statements nonetheless. All these other ways of communicating are excellent. They reveal that the preaching has been successful! They do not reveal that the preaching requires better modes or methods: rather, that successful preaching produces additional, expanded, varied, and creative way of communicating the message that are not preaching.

He says that preaching is not always the best method of sharing the message. Yes, it is! It is God’s chosen way of communicating the Gospel, a method that is foolishness to the world, but a method that demonstrates the power of God.

God is anointing music, movies, dance, literature, poetry, and art of the whole spectrum of creativity. God is anointing communication methods and means of communication. Yes, I mean to use the word “anointing,” and I am doing so on purpose.

However, preaching is a unique mode of communication that demonstrates the power of God and should remain at the breakthrough point of our communication of the message. Preaching cannot be replaced or improved by other forms of communication.

In the article, a special consideration is given to Joyce Meyer for adapting her presentations of the message. I would applaud that consideration, but I would also point out that Joyce Meyer hasn’t stopped preaching, nor has her anointing teaching and writing replaced her preaching. Certainly, she teaches at times in a way that is different from preaching, talks and discusses issues and answers questions in a way that is different from teaching, but in the end the power of God uniques demonstrates when she is preaching even when people cannot tell the difference between this mode of communication and other methods.

Preaching Producers Influential Leaders

Good preaching should produce a generation that goes after every form of communication as a means of speaking the message. Good preaching should produce leaders in every area of culture, every mountain of culture as some describe the  major influencers of any society. Good preaching should produce a spiritual generation that is dominated by the Word of the Lord.

However, all of this is a by-product of good preaching, not an improvement or replacement for it. The invasion of culture with influencers who impact that culture with kingdom principles is the result of God’s strategy of message communication. Preaching is unique and cannot be categorized with the activities of other communication methods for education, medicine, the arts and entertainment, sports, law and government, or family, for example.

For some of the leaders this article promotes as good examples, I would step back with hesitation because the trend toward replacing preaching with other modes of communication should not be seen or measured as an improvement on the communication of the message. They should be distinctly identified as valid ways of communicating the message to the culture because of the success of preaching. They should be anointed. They should produce influence, even the influence of winning souls, improving families and marriages, and benefitting people physically. But they shouldn’t be seen as improvements on preaching.

In other words, being a “motivation speaker” is fine, noble, helpful, valid, and consistent with the goal of God to touch every area of human life. It is not an improved communication style for preaching, however, and should not be confused with this unique mode of communication.

The Next Generation of Preaching

The next generation of preaching should not lose the fundamentals infused in it by Jesus and the first generation of the ecclesia. We haven’t outgrown preaching. We haven’t moved past this method in history. We haven’t found better way. We haven’t stopped looking and sounding odd because we speak truth in a conversational manner or give great speeches and motivational talks.

Preaching must remain the fountainhead of apostolic declaration and didache. Preaching must remain the first voice of the Gospel. Preaching must demonstrate the power of God in a unique way that produces faith in the power of God, not the wisdom and strength of man. Preaching must remain the strongest, most respected voice of the ecclesia.

Having said that, many ways of improving the presentation of preaching are available. Certainly, this generation has attention span issues because it was conditioned by television’s rhythms of commercial breaks, media presentations of movie pacing – conclusion of conflict and resolution of that conflict – an hour and a half church service forced into the same ebb and flow as the cinema. Taking these things into consideration isn’t wicked nor does it detract from the anointing of God.

However, a subtle substitution of media slickness in broadcasted ministry messages for the rawness of radical preaching will not give us an end result of greater impact on our culture. We need to vastly expand our message through every means while maintaining the ever-increasing presentation of God’s unique communication method. Preaching that demonstrates the power of God is still the best possible presentation of the Message.

America’s Redemptive Purpose Restored

Recently, an American Supreme Court Justice visited Egypt, and stated she would not look to the US Constitution if formulating a new constitution in 2012. One wouldn’t have to strain or stretch far to identify this as a violation of her oath “to defend the constitution against all enemies.” I stop short of calling her an enemy, but the thought does enter my mind.

The presuppositions of liberty that made our constitutional government work and sustained it as one of the oldest constitutions on earth are unique to and consistent with the redemptive purpose of these United States.

That is, a belief system underneath the Constitution defines its phrasing and message, and a different belief system alters the significant conclusions the Constitution presumes. Philosophical presuppositions produced the principles which this Republic’s documents champion personal liberty, and these principles also presume God created individuals with destiny and established nations with purpose.

These presuppositions were declared by the founding generation, as the genius of our founding documents derived from their understanding of Divine Providence; they heard a call to establish a nation that would allow for personal destiny and Divine purpose to be fulfilled in a social context filled with unprecedented personal freedom.

What makes the statements of Justice Ginsburg more reprehensible is her reference to constitutions that do not have the same presuppositions of liberty, exposing her decision-making double-mindedness. She seems to say that she wants constitutions to ensure that government is the source of rights, not God.

Her presuppositions of liberty differ from those of our founding fathers’ in that she presupposes that human rights come from government when our fathers presupposes human rights come from God. The Constitution restrains government with regards these rights because they are God-given, not government-given. They are “inalienable” because men are created by God.

Our Constitution is difficult to modify because such a process endangers the inalienable, immutable, and opens the door to the fashionable. The opinions of this Supreme Court judge reveals why it should be difficult to amend.

“The spirit of liberty,” she continued, “has to be in the population.” It appears that she based much of her thought about our Constitution upon the fact that it did not properly address the rights of women and slaves. We would certainly agree that these issues were compromised in the process of establishing the Constitution, but the fact remains that the problem of rights for women and slaves was not a Constitutional problem or deficiency because the Constitution was not designed to make the federal government the source of rights. The Constitution limits government. She misses this point altogether.

The constitution of the USSR had powerful language about the rights: free speech, assembly, and religion. What a joke! With that constitution in force, that nation became a horrible blight on history, a mockery of human rights! How? The rights were sourced with the government, not inalienable rights given by God that government was forbidden to trample upon.

Constitutions that the Justice sited as good examples provided “the right to” education, healthcare, and work. She makes government the source of these rights in her advice to Egypt.

Government cannot be the source these rights, if these rights exist at all. The very reason that many rights were not enumerated by the Constitution was to avoid the impression that government was the source of them. The original Bill of Rights was added to get suspicious states to agree to the Constitution.

Redemptive Purpose

When the writers of the Declaration debated the wording, great consideration was given to the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Of special of concern was the phrase “the pursuit of happiness” because these men were attempting to describe the presuppositions of liberty and inalienable rights in a way that protected the pursuit and fulfillment of personal destiny and Divine purpose by limiting government.

If human rights come from government, they are part of a political purpose. If rights come from God, they are part of Divine purpose.

Our founding fathers believed, stated specifically, and wrote with a mind to communicate to all who witnessed, that the United States should exist to fulfill a Divine purpose and provide protection for individuals to pursue and fulfill personal destiny. To them, any source for human rights but God would make the source of those rights the source of life’s purpose.

Thomas Paine: “Rights are not gifts from one man to another, nor from one class of men to another… It is impossible to discover any origin of rights otherwise than in the origin of man.” The origin of man is the Creator, so the origin of rights was God.

To discover how the phrase “the pursuit of happiness” became the summary third phrase mentioned in the Declaration requires some extensive reading of Jefferson and Madison. Keep in mind that a meshing of ideas concludes that individuals shouldn’t have government limiting their God-given rights to pursue the highest of their created destinies. The destiny of the individual is God-given, and the individual must pursue it in God-given ways.

Government cannot provide the highest for man nor be the source of this destiny; therefore, individuals must have the liberty to respond to God without interference from government so people can experience personal happiness, their definition of the highest expression and fulfillment of God’s purpose.

These men believed that the Constitution was the best way to limit government so it couldn’t interfere with the fulfillment of Divine purpose for the nation and personal destiny in the individual. In this way, the redemptive purpose of this land could be fulfilled in a way consistent with God’s will on earth.

God’s Kingdom Ecclesia

The redemptive purpose of any nation can only be fulfilled through the ecclesia. God hasn’t given governments of man, kingdoms of this world the spiritual power and spiritual authority to do so. He has created these governments; they are His servants. They are legitimate even when they lack justice and righteousness: the ecclesia isn’t called to overthrow them.

Kingdom people live under the protection of civil governments, but governments do not fulfill the purposes of God. Governments protect the society from anarchy, chaos, and evil so that individuals within them can pursue God’s highest for their personal lives and God’s redemptive purpose for the land. Within the kingdom, Jesus calls together in assembly His ecclesia to provide spiritual, kingdom governmental authority on earth to fulfill the redemptive purpose of a nation.

America has enjoyed one of the best opportunities to pursue God’s highest, and that opportunity is a door closing before our eyes. Yet, the Source of our rights remains committed to redeeming this land and people! The warfare is not carnal – we don’t need to have bigger guns – it is spiritual and our weapons of prayer and spiritual power and authority are no match for the strongholds that capture men’s minds. These strongholds attempt to remove the presuppositions of liberty in order to enslave men philosophies of bondage and weakness, despair and disobedience. When a nation isn’t fulfilling its redemptive purpose, that nation is in disobedience. If hell cannot keep a nation from fulfilling redemptive purpose, hell will work to limit the fulfilling of redemptive purpose.

As long as the church makes “the accumulation of believers” our highest measure of success, we fail to alter the spiritual atmosphere and effect change in the social landscape. Buying into the idea that the ecclesia is called out of the world when the ecclesia is called together from within the kingdom, we ten to think that if we built the church, God would take care of the kingdom. In truth, we establish the kingdom so Jesus could build His church.

The church as “the accumulation of believers” seems a plastic model of what ecclesia should be, especially when God people are not fully engaged in establishing His kingdom. The ecclesia is the legislative assembly of called together kingdom citizens who can exercise spiritual power and authority to govern the spiritual atmosphere and alter the spiritual landscape.

Accumulated believers generally do not know what they believe, often fail to practice kingdom living, and have little concept of taking the land – all this in a nation specifically given to history as a city set upon a hill with a Constitutional basis for redeeming the land!

The good news is: one spiritual generation can still achieve this goal! At least, we can recover kingdom authority and power to affect America’s spiritual atmosphere and landscape; we could restore the foundations upon which a faithful generation can begin to fulfill God’s purpose for this nation. The more we are engaged in fulfilling purpose, the more God invests authority and power in our activities; perhaps this is the source of revival momentum we are missing to turn the moment into momentum to turn momentum into movement, to turn revival into awakening.

Divine Disruption

I’ve always had a hesitant about the adjective, “supernatural.” I have always felt like the word was implying that “natural” was the norm, the frame of reference, the “way things really are.” That is simply untrue. Of course, the term is not a bad word. I’m just referring to the background noise I have when I hear it.

What is spiritual is more real than what is natural. It would seem more accurate to refer to natural reality as “sub-spiritual” than to refer to spiritual things as “supernatural.” We tend to begin with the natural and observe the spiritual because we tend to be more natural than spiritual; yet, we were created to live spirit-first, to bring the spiritual into the natural because we are the spiritual part of Creation.

Of course, the word comes from terms that mean “above nature.” Supernatural refers to beings, powers, and realities above the natural world. When supernatural enters natural, there is a disruption.

Adam and Eve were assigned to dominate the natural order of things with their spiritual nature. God gave Creation a spirit-first order, but Adam and Eve failed to keep that order of dominion. God was there with them, but Adam and Eve were obvious. They were responsible for Creation.

People often miss God because He is not more obvious. They tend to think, “If God was all that, He wouldn’t be so mysterious.”

Divine Disruptions

One of the reasons God is not as obvious as people demand is that manifestations of God are disruptive. What I mean is that humans often desire and demand that God make Himself more obvious, simplify His message and manifestations, and remove the mystery of the Divine so humans can grasp hold of Him more easily. Yet, for God to do so would require a total disruption of the order He established in Creation.

They lack the proper understanding of God. When God demonstrates and manifests in the natural, a Divine disruption occurs. Instead of people welcoming this disruptions, they demand that God make the disruption the norm when the purpose of the disruption is to reset spirit-first dominion, to reset the order God gave to Creation.

God isn’t going to become more obvious right now because He already has a strategy for how the natural should operate. Divine disruptions reinforce the order He gave to Creation. Otherwise, God stepping into the natural wouldn’t be a disruption at all.

God isn’t trying to take dominion of the earth Himself or that would be over before it started. He’s God! If He wanted to take dominion of earth Himself, He would just do it! He has been doing something else with Creation since the beginning: God has been establishing His dominion in Creation through man. God made man obvious and left Himself mysterious.

For example, when the Bible speaks of someone releasing a miracle or healing, prophecy or revelation, preaching and power demonstrations, the Bible always refers to the healing being done by the person: to say “the apostles healed them” really bothers us because we want to say “God healed them through the apostles.” Of course, it is His power and authority being demonstrated, but the norm is not God doing it but God’s people doing it. That is, God uses people because it is less disruptive for them to touch, speak, act, and release than for God to do it Himself, and it is more consistent with the order He established in Creation.

How much dominion a man can exercise in Creation depends upon how much dominion God can exercise in that man.

God created man in His own image. In this way, God was most obvious in Creation in man. God walked with man, not Creation, “in the cool of the day.” God wasn’t revealing Himself to trees, birds, and fish. God was revealing Himself to man so man could reveal God to Creation. God wanted to be obvious in the world by making Himself obvious to man.

So, God doesn’t paint pictures of Himself on the clouds, announce His words out loud with a trumpet voice, or appear on city streets before cameras so people will believe in Him. God reveals Himself to people. God reveals His Word to people. God reveals His will to people. God makes Himself obvious the world by making Himself obvious to His people.

How Long, Lord?

Just heard this week that a friend is getting married. Also heard of another friend who is pregnant. Then, talked with someone who is getting out of debt and experiencing some real financial breakthrough.

Years ago, each of these people received prophetic words that promised what they are experiencing. Each of them experienced seasons when they questioned God, with tears, frustration, and despair, about why what was promised wasn’t happening. Some of them waited more than decade for the promise.

I have had several discussions lately about waiting a long time for prophetic promises to come to pass. A couple of people were of the opinion that the prophetic word they received just wasn’t any good – bad prophet or bad word. One person was of the opinion that God wasn’t doing a very good job of being God – forgetful God or judgmental God. One person was certain they were not good enough to receive what God wanted them to have – bad or unworthy person.

Bad Words

We have all seen poor prophetic performances in which people quote verse from Scripture at people as if quoting them was prophetic and the fact that they “prophesied” these verses God would be obligated to respond. This is not even prophecy; it is not predictive.

Of course, true and pure prophecy will often quote Scripture verses in prophetic simile: “Just as God blessed Abraham, he will bless you” or “Like God dealt with Hannah, He will deal with you.” Certainly, I have had God speak to me and through me in such a manner legitimately and accurately.

However, prophecy and faith statement are not the same. Some prophetic words sound more like cheerleading angels and heaven to make a big score. Some prophetic words predict people will be rich, have babies, become famous, and be elected President in the same context that they will win the lottery and pay off the national debt.

It is rare that I prophesy that someone will be rich or pregnant or famous, and I do so reluctantly because I know such a prophetic word is a call for that person to be prepared for what is coming more than what is coming. In other words, they need to hear a strong prophetic word to endure what is between them and its fulfillment.

Leaders need to instruct those who would prophesy about bad words of a spectacular nature, words that sound like prophetic competitions – “now, I will prophesy something better than anyone has ever prophesied to you before, then you will want me to be the one who prophesies, then the crowd will applaud and hope I prophesy to them, words that make me needed and important as a source of releasing the blessings of heaven upon people, for I am the great source of heavenly benevolence upon the earth in my generation…”

“Sit down and shut up” would be appropriate to this silliness and infantile cry for attention in the name of speaking the oracle of God. Enough of this immaturity. Set some protocols and make certain the word of the Lord doesn’t become morning game show performance of words that never come true with a “come on down!” atmosphere that when prophecy is occurring you may be the one who gets what’s behind door number 2.

How Long?

I am not saying that all prophetic predictions require decades for fulfillment, or that suddenlies will not occur through the creative power of God’s words. I am saying that Scripture and history speak are rich with details of prophetic predictions that test the souls of those walking into the fulfillment of those predictions.

I am saying that Abraham and Sarah waited until it was impossible for Isaac to be anything but a miracle, Moses arrived at the beginning of his life’s work eighty years old, “now” can mean forty years or more in prophetic timing, and the Glory Jesus received came through the Cross. It took Noah 120 years to build and prepare before he felt one drop of rain.

A prophetic word is a call to prepare yourself to be the person who can walk in its fullness and fulfillment. The prophetic word is not about God getting ready, but God getting you ready. The prophetic word redefines your priorities and puts pressure on the distractions hell is bringing to steer you into a different destiny destination.

The promise has a purpose, and you must be prepared to receive and fulfill the purpose lest you forget that purpose once you’ve received your promise.

Rebuilding Wounded Altars

You cannot curse the wounded altars if you wish to rebuild them and offer upon them the sacrifice that calls down God’s fire.

Recall how Elijah repaired the broken altar on Mount Carmel, “The altar of the Lord that was broken down.” The Hebrew is “rapha,” and depicted Elijah’s repairs as “healing and wholeness.” The idea of healing the wounded altars stirs my spirit man!

However, we must avoid cursing the altars because they are broken, and some of us are cursing the altars as if they are not the altars of the Lord. We are attempting to build new altars where God intends His broken altars to be healed.

To separate from these altars is to leave behind what they have given us; to separate to the restoration and revolutionary revival that is here will mean to carry with us what these altars provided the kingdom for this generation.

Isaiah 61 speaks of rebuilding the ruins as well, and God says that those who reestablish will receive a double portion “in their land.” Not in another land because we ran from the place of God’s apppointment, disgusted with the treachery of previous doctrinal, divisive, and denominational idolatries. Surely the altar of the Lord will be broken when that altar is divided with demons, but that altar can be restored!

In Isaiah 61:8, God promises to pay their back wages on time, a double portion inheritance awaiting those who possess their land. In other words, when this generation restores the ruins, they have some back wages coming, an inheritance previous generations could not receive, preserved and reserved for the restorers! We receive this inheritance portion because we possess the very land they left in ruins, not by cursing the ruins and the land!

Some of us have come to hate old wineskins when God is preserving them. Old wineskins are supposed to be empty at some point, because God stops putting wine into them. However, Jesus makes it clear that He does this to preserve both the old wineskin and the new wine – else they are both destroyed.

I am watching some leaders cursing the very altars they should be healing as if they are called to build new ones. Perhaps they will become bitter when God does not send fire on the new altar because He is waiting for someone to rebuild the altar of the Lord that has been wounded.

God is healing the wounded worship of nations. Only after healing the wounded altar can be hack the Baal priests to pieces. The contrast must be carried through to the moment of God’s answer, not the processing of our bitterness. The fire isn’t falling on our contrast with empty wineskins, but our contrast with priests of Baal.

We made expending too much energy attempting to show ourselves right when God is asking us to worship Him in such a way that His people recognize that He is right. The fire doesn’t come to confirm us, but to confirm Him. In the process, healing the wounded altar of the Lord confirms our leadership authority to deal with false priests and Jezebels. Once the people turn to Jehovah, our authority to release rain is activated. Once the people turn to Jehovah, our authority to mantle new kings and prophetic leaders is activated. One the people turn to Jehovah, we not only take the land but have what is necessary to possess it.

The double portion inheritance is the portion of the first born. The double portion of restoration represents what God has preserved and reserved for the restorers! I want to be a restorer of the wounded altar of the Lord more than a builder of new altars because I want to carry with me into the new era all that He has given us in previous spiritual generations. I want to inherit unfinished spiritual assignments and the authority to fulfill them. I want to inherit the wages withheld to previous generations that come to a faithful generation!

Avoiding Repentance

Jesus has a specific procedure for personal transformation. He has provided everything you need to so radically changed, inside out, that your destiny can be fully restored: you can be the person God created you to be. He is not turning you into someone else. He is restoring you along the lines of what He had in mind when He created you at the moment of your conception.

Transformation is required for restoration. You require radical change. Repentance appropriates the power of the Cross and the life of the Resurrection.

Jesus provided the spiritual power for radical change at the Cross. The Bible says, “The power of the Cross is the power of God.” In the Resurrection, Jesus conquered the ultimate enemy: death. The Bible says “The power that raised Jesus from among the dead is in you.” In the Ascension, Jesus returned to heaven with “all authority in heaven and earth” and is fully engaged in intercession there at the right of the Father “restoring all.” So, Jesus is working full-time to bring radical change to you, to the world, to all!

Jesus has a specific procedure for transformation that makes the power of the Cross, Resurrection, Ascension authority, and heavenly intercession available to your life: repentance.

Confession and Repentance

We confess to be forgiven. We repent to be changed. When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us. Many people stop right there and make a lifestyle of confession the basis for their Christian living. Yet, Jesus is after radical life-change!

Repentance means a change of direction. Repentance means a change of behavior. Repentance means that the motivations that produce behavior are altered fundamentally. Repentance is our part that opens our lives to God’s part. Repentance means “I change to be changed.”

Confession as a lifestyle assumes that I will remain the victim of a repeating cycle of sinful behaviors that will be covered up by the Blood. Repentance as a lifestyle assumes that the power of sin will be broken by the power of the Cross and a new life and living will be established by the power of the Resurrection!

Avoiding Repentance

“Godly sorrow operates in a way that leads to repentance.” In other words, it is possible to be sorry for missing it, but not change in a fundamental way. This sorrow is real and sincere, but the sorrow does not produce change. Repentance produces change.

Perhaps you have seen this cycle of repentance avoidance in your own or someone else’s life. The person is a good person, loves God, but continues to live a cycle of behavior that reveals a lack of lasting transformation. Instead of repentance, this person justifies their behavior in such a way that avoids repentance. The end result is that the person asks everyone else, including God, to “love me the way I am.”

No problem with loving you the way you are, honey, but that is not the issue. The issue is getting the power of the Cross and the Resurrection into your life. Repentance does that!

Whenever I see a person avoiding repentance, I see a person with a ready justification for their behavior. Some people become experts running a loop of lies, first lying to themselves. The drunk says, “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Take me back. Forgive me. I am weak, helpless, and my past excuses me. Love me anyway.”

The issue isn’t about loving the drunk. The issue is getting the drunk free from the cycle. Jesus loves the drunk but His love says, “I want you set free of this cycle of lies and destruction.”

Many behavioral patterns go through cycles. Higher sentiments and motivations operate for a time and the person does better. Things seem to normalize, even improve, but a crouching panther waits! At some point the cycle kicks in with the same old lie. If you understand the cycle you can actually see the cycle kick in long before the addiction takes over. The internals have not been changed. The person has bought the lie that they have the behavior under control.

The word “repentance” has within it the word “mind” in the original language. Something is altered inside so that outward behavior is based upon a different thinking that appropriates spiritual power. The change is not, however, mind power. Repentance opens up the life of that person to the power of God.

I know Christian that cycle through friends, churches, relationships, and destiny resets for decades stuck in repentance avoidance. You can see it coming. I can say, “You are starting the cycle again.” Here it comes. Oops, there it is! The cycle begins long before the drinking, the anger, the strife, the fear, the destructive behavior. The cycle begins with the fundamental lie they refuse to reject that triggers and justifies the cycle of out of control behavior.

At the point where the cycle begins, they embrace the deception that justifies their behavior pattern. As the cycle begins, they are not listening to pleas for repentance. During the cycle they are operating on the “unreal as if it is real” lie, and their family and friends who can see the cycle are thinking, “Here we go again.” The person will usually close themselves off from help. The deception says, “I’ve got this.” But they don’t got it!

Repentance Substitutes

If you have out of control spending habits, for example, you have a great justification in your own mind about how “this is gonna work out” that defies the principles of finance. Somehow your mind tells you that spending more than you have or will have will not mean that you cannot pay your bills. You repeat this process consistently so that you live with increasing debt. You have a mechanism in your mind that avoids reality. You don’t have a simple comparison of money coming in and money going out. Then, when you cannot pay the bills, you have a irrational anger and cry of injustice about “banks, companies, rich people, the government, and your friends and family who have money” that substitutes for repentance. It is a sorrow of your plight that anger or fear blames on everything and everybody else. You justify your behavior in a way that makes sense to you because you are operating with a deception, a lie.

If you have out of control relationship conflicts, you have a practiced justification in your own mind about how people need to change if they want to get along with you that defies the principles of marriage, friendship, and the operations of the Body of Christ. Somehow your mind tells you that everyone else should change to fit your feelings and thinking and behavior. “People don’t understand me! Why don’t they listen?” you think.

This thinking is based upon some level of deception that you know what other people should do or say if they were right or had the right motivations. You are an offense waiting to happen. hell puts traps in your pathway, and you run right into them because you think you can walk that mine field with impunity. “I never step on the mines!” When you do step on the mines, “people just move them around to fool me. I was set up. People need to stop moving the mines around!” Then, when you blow up in anger, fear, rejection, depression, and ugly, you blame people, leaders, witchcraft, and demons for pushing you over the edge. You tell yourself, “I refuse to be treated this way, be abused, be a victim.” You have a well-versed justification for your out of control behavior.

Every gossip has a set of excellent reasons why their discussions are not gossip. Every addict has a lie that opens the door to the hit, the fix, the drink, the smoke, the abuse, the porn, etc. Every rebel believes his rebellion is justified. Every person who splits a ministry believes he is doing God a favor or “has no other choice.” Every thief has an over-developed sense of optimism that he won’t get caught.

After the dust settles and the smoke clears, sorrow may even produce confession, but avoiding repentance means that the fundamentals have not been changed, that the cycle only requires a trigger to start again.

Many people are so predictable that you can see the moment they return to their justification. You say, “Here we go again with Rupert.” As a leader you try to short-circuit the cycle and get some repentance going that will help them experience lasting life-change. But repentance is a decision. Repentance means you gotta say something. You gotta say, “I repent for anger” in order to appropriate spiritual power that breaks the power of anger off your life.

Right now, the kingdom of God suffers with spiritual ghettos filled with people who refuse to repent for their out of control behaviors: anger, rebellion, depression, fear, witchcraft, pornography, addiction, gossip, fear of man, a political spirit, worldliness, pride, and religion. They are like the mighty men David found in the wilderness disenfranchised from the kingdom because their personal behaviors disqualify them from full participation in kingdom function.

We have lost the discipline of repentance and embraced substitutes that limit the power of the Cross and the life of the Resurrection!

Self-justification and Righteousness

The Bible says that when we justify ourselves, we establish our own righteousness. In this way, we determine that we are right. Often the justification fills our minds with injustices against us, real or perceived, that make a case for our innocence or justification. “I am like this because of what happened to me, what I did to myself, or what hell has done to me,” we think.

If counseling only helps you understand this justification, understand yourself, or helps someone else understand why you have out of control behaviors, you aren’t changed as much as you become more of an expert about your justifications. If you are Christian, you will join the choir that sings, “Christian ain’t perfect, just forgiven,” meaning “love me the way I am. God does.” And, you will be joining a pretty big choir!

God will not be singing this song with you, however, because Jesus didn’t die on the Cross and conquer death and hell so you can be forgiven. Complete pardon is certainly available: “all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven; if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins.” However, many Christians never seem to understand that there is more to being saved than just having your sins forgiven.

The power of the Cross is more than a provision for a great Divine cover up. God isn’t really interested in covering your sins. He is interested in you not sinning anymore! God is not interested in you becoming a sinning Christian. He is interested in you being completely transformed! God isn’t dressing up your sinfulness with different clothes, educating you to learn to live with it. He is killing you, resurrecting you, and transforming you into the person He created you to be.

The basis for our justification of our behavior is the very reason for that behavior in the first place. If we could control the problem, we wouldn’t need the Cross. If we could solve the problem on our own, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to die for us. When we say, “Jesus died for our sins,” we are speaking of more than forgiveness. Jesus died to do more than pardon; He died to break sin’s power so that it is no longer in control of our behavior!

Once Jesus Speaks, Everything Changes

The words of Jesus may be familiar to us: “Anyone who hears My words and practices them is like a man who built his house on rock. Anyone who hears My words but does not practice them is like a man who built his house on sand.”

What we may miss the reality that once Jesus speaks, everything changes. That is, once Jesus speaks, we either do what He says, a radical lifestyle change, or we aren’t ready for the radical climate change His words create.

He says, “Winds blow. Rain falls. Floods rise. Doing what I say puts you in readiness for the radical climate change. Either way, the climate has changed.”

This aspect of a move of God eludes our minds sometimes. We tend to think Jesus arrives to speak and we can either listen or just go back to our lives. Nope. Once He speaks, everything changes. The only way to be prepared for the radical climate shift is to radically alter our lives.

Understanding this principle will help us understand why Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead. In a new spiritual climate, radical spiritual weather patterns emerge, strong winds meet strong contrary winds, cold fronts meet hot air rising, storms forms, floods rise. Not only is the ground saturated but the air is saturated. Winds blow. Rains fall. Floods rise. “They beat upon the house.”

Once Jesus speaks, His words challenge everything! There is no “Well, that was nice. Can we all go back to our normal lives now, please?” Answer: “No!”

Once Jesus speak, everything changes.

The Fear of Man

Pleasing people is based upon fear of man. Being motivated by fear of man displeases God, and disqualifies us for leadership in His kingdom.

1 S 13:7 But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.

10 As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came ; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. 11 But Samuel said, “What have you done ?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, 12 therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” 13 Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

14 “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

Seeking to please people comes from wrong motives of the heart, valuing the way people see us, approve of us, and reward us more than the approval and reward of God.
We must examine our motives – ask why am I doing this with revelation-based insight.
We cannot live in bondage to other people’s emotions, demands, expectations, and desires if we intend to lead in God’s kingdom where we must keep the King happy.

J 12:42-43, Many people, including some of the Jewish leaders, believed in him. But they wouldn’t admit it to anyone because of their fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. 43 For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.

I spent a great deal of time considering whether or not to speak in tongues because of the nearly overwhelming sense I had of what people would think of me, how it would image my ministry, and what I would look like “babbling,” etc. the basis for my difficulty was a fear of man bondage.

Who are you trying to impress? You may be expending tremendous energy and paying a high priced to impress people you don’t even like, who certainly couldn’t care less about your destiny.

J 5:43
For I have come to you representing my Father, and you refuse to welcome me, even though you readily accept others who represent only themselves. 44 No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from God alone.

• You may be abusing your own destiny to please people. You feel guilty when you feel you aren’t pleasing people.
• You feel that people are talking about you behind your back.
• You measure your value in other people’s eyes and what they say. You attempt to deal with things that are not your responsibility because if anything is wrong you may get the blame.
• You allow others to take advantage of you trying to find approval you can’t receive.
• You push yourself to performance that is beyond your reach or inconsistent with your priorities.
• You worry about what is wrong, what needs to be done, what people think, because you trust yourself to fix things more than God.

Because you cannot get approval, you refuse to approve anyone else. You blame others for your sense of guilt and falling short. You criticize leaders, bring them down to your level, in a vain attempt to feel better about your own sense of failure.

God’s approval is never enough for you, and He won’t jump to your conclusions about approval. In other words, you look to others to give you what you can only get from God, and God will continue to force you back to His approval since you are a leader in His kingdom.

To lead, you must be content with God’s approval or you will never make it in His kingdom leadership. You cannot please people.

Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted.

When you seek the approval of man because you fear man, the snare makes your leadership insecure and you fail to be decisive and proactive.

Leaders make decisions and solve problems and fear of man hesitancy will make your leadership ineffective; full of self-doubt you will step back when you should step up.

You need God’s favor, not man’s. If you seek the approval of man, you will disqualify yourself for the favor of God.