Spirits Rising
There
are probably thousands of views on the spirit world ranging from outright
unbelief in any kind of spirit to the very word ‘spirit’ instilling terror into
the hearer. There are those who believe that a Christian cannot possibly have an
evil spirit or demon and there are others whose entire ministry is the
discernment and deliverance from such spirits. It all goes to show that we
cannot all agree on all things all the time. In fact we seem to take a perverse
delight in disagreements – a sort of “spirit of devil’s advocacy” so to speak.
However,
I don’t want to get too trite or flippant about this as I feel there is a
rising expectancy in the air – spirits are definitely ‘on the up’ and rising
right now.
There
is a great Spirit of Optimism around the
subject of revival. So many signs
mentioned in scripture and spoken of by the prophets are becoming so very
obvious to us all. Signs in the weather, in natural phenomena, in the political
arena, and in our everyday lives are leading more and more people to pray
fervently for a revival. The prophets are also virtually of one accord in
proclaiming the approach of the “End-Time Revival” to end all revivals. The
Spirit of Optimism is rising daily that such an event will occur very soon.
There
is a great Spirit of Hope that the coming revival will herald a new and
wonderful church age – however short-lived it may be before Jesus returns to
collect His Bride. This hope is hand in hand with optimism for revival and for
the Rapture. Optimism is the expectancy
– Hope is looking for the reality.
There
is a Spirit of Healing hovering in our midst. Never before has there been so
much faith for healing as there is now. As the various cancers and other
dreadful diseases strike at our lives and our families, there is a belief in
and faith for miraculous healings. This Spirit of Healing is not just the
possession of the adult either. It is the manifestation of Holy Spirit in the
young too. In our own church we recently had a 4 year old pray for her pre-school
teacher’s x-rayed and provably broken arm. Two days later, the hospital was
amazed to find no sign of a break on x-ray or when bending and exercising the
arm. The Spirit of Healing is on the march right now in your village, town, or
city.
There
is a revived Spirit of Love beginning to invade our churches and our personal
lives. Not just love for those who love us, but a profound love for the lost
and unsaved, for the downtrodden, for addicts, for those of other faiths. I am
not talking about love as the world talks about it, I am talking about a
God-given love for people we may not normally even look at, let alone stop to
talk to or help in any way. I call it a “revived Spirit of Love” because for
decades, with only very few exceptions, love was a very rare commodity to find
in any church and in very many Christians. It is now replacing the old ‘holier
than thou’ attitude that was so prevalent in the last century. I suppose it
went along with the rather stiff formality of church in those days. With the advent
of ‘touchy feely’ church where hugging and kissing is much more the norm, there
is a new found freedom to love our neighbours and our fellow Christians too.
These
are all God-given ‘spirits’; given to the saints in order that they may love
the sinners in the way Jesus loved them. Yet there is one last spirit rising in
the church today. I jokingly call it the “Spirit of Slap”. It is a spirit of
righteous anger at injustice, lies, deceit, law-breaking, and dishonesty. I
feel that Jesus equated to this Spirit of Slap when He made a whip and drove
the money lenders and traders out of the temple saying, “You have made My
Father’s house a den of thieves and iniquity.”
Brothers
and Sisters in Christ, I urge you and I exhort you to
Allow
the Spirit of Optimism to invade your thinking and your prayers
Allow
the Spirit of Hope to have full rein and full reign in your life
Allow
the Spirit of Healing to govern every ailment or illness you come across
including in yourself
Allow
the Spirit of Love to invade and inhabit your very soul. Love for Jesus and
love for every human being whose path crosses yours from home, school, office,
and supermarket, to peoples you meet around the world or from the world. Let
the light of love shine throughout your life.
Allow
the Spirit of Righteous Anger help you deal with anything that goes against
Biblical principles – but only as Jesus used it to deal with a situation. As
soon as it was dealt with He returned to His teaching.
Perhaps
I shouldn’t call these manifestations of God spirits of anything. They are
precious gifts from our loving Father but I don’t know of any other way to
describe them. On the other hand they are manifestations of Holy Spirit –
aren’t they??
No comments:
Post a Comment