The Wrong Spirit

"God is never the one in error. It is us."

A SINGLE WORD becomes a rabbit trail. Becomes a negative of what is meant to be encouraging. Becomes great misunderstanding. Give in an inch and that inch soon is a mile.

There is a huge gap between the King James Bible and our modern language. There is a gap between the original Hebrew and Greek and the King James Bible. Add in now words used continually in the Christian church, and some of our thinking has gotten askew.

One example: We read where the Word says the devil and his works have been destroyed (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8), yet I hear people say, “That was devil speaking” or “The enemy said to me” in some variation, all the time. Many refer to him as being defeated but with their talk, make him very active.

Another example: There is much teaching on the atmospheres of nations and of “spirits” supposedly “in control” of them. The word “spirit” itself is usually pictured as a devil of a certain authority and strength. This is so many ways wrong.

A wonderful minister preached a series of sermons on the “spirit of faith” and took that word and used it as a football game. He is a huge fan of a particular college team and talked about “spirit” as ENTHUSIASM and ARDOR. How this has set me free.

The world’s attempts at picturing devils has leaked into the congregation. In our thinking, they are red with pitchforks or these dark, shadowy beasts with huge teeth. We picture them as powerful and with the strength to go against the work of the cross. This is a HUGE ERROR in spiritual maturity.

Another minister spoke correctly in this same way of the condemnation of some Christians against Israel. If you allow that thinking in, he said, it will poison you against most of God’s Truth. The Truth is that Jesus the Christ is the King of Israel, the King of the Jews, and He has their blessing and salvation in His care. Notice I said in His care and NOT “in His heart.” It isn’t that He desires their salvation, but that hope may be in vain. That’s how many think. No, it is that from their formation in Abraham and Isaac, Jacob, and his sons, the twelve tribes of Israel, He’s had their salvation covenant fulfilled.

It is better, I will even say, IT IS NEEDED for us to constantly admit we don’t know everything. God is never the one in error. It is us. When we get angry at Him because it looks like He isn’t helping us, it looks like He isn’t answering our prayer, we must turn our pointed fingers toward ourselves instead. That is the moment when peace comes, us realizing we LACK KNOWLEDGE.

Hating Israel or blaming Israel, even speaking of the Jews as bound for hell’s torments, will walk you out from under the goodness of God. Not that He will turn His back. That is the wrong thought. But instead, it is that we allow in the wrong spirit.

See there, you just pictured that as a devilish being. But the WRONG SPIRIT is the wrong attitude, the wrong reaction. It is being angry at Israel, being critical of people, showing hate. It’s elevating yourself above others, and the apostle Paul, a Pharisee and a Jew, warned against this. Describing Jews and Gentiles as branches and Jesus as the Vine, he said the Gentiles were grafted in, but NOT TO REPLACE THE JEWS. God could and would graft them in again and how much greater would this be. In another location, Paul said “the doers of the law shall be justified (Romans 2:13).” SHALL BE is definite.

Heaven is full of Jews.

There are unclean spirits roaming this earth. Jesus said so (Matthew 12:43). But they have no authority over us (Luke 10:19) and no power because the power of the Resurrection (Philippians 3:10), who is the Holy Spirit, lives within God’s children. The Spirit of God who is the peace of God, the wisdom of God, the Truth of the Word of God, and the righteousness or holiness of God, is our protection. God’s peace is greater than any doubt, any pressure of darkness. Devils do speak but are not speaking to you as is talked of and sung about in the church. That thought you had was just a thought, and God in you will renew your mind and strengthen you to overcome it when you meditate in God’s Word and spend time in His Presence.

There are no levels of spirits. This hair was swallowed by some when reading Ephesians 6:12. They reasoned the terms in the verse are types of devils. No, they are like the word “spirits”, thought patterns which grow into rulers of our thinking and then something we worship as they did false gods at high places in the Old Testament. There can be high places in nations, where an error is taught and believed by most. There can be high places in individuals. But a high place, a common term in the Old Testament, always means worship. Some worship abortion, but that is wrong.

Paul, again, has words which must be said here. He very pointedly said he would do nothing to cause a weaker Christian (he was not using that word to slander) to feel like they’d sinned (1 Corinthians 10:32, EasyEnglish). He used food offered to idols as an example. Though the idol is nothing but wood or stone and all food is God’s, though he could eat such and not sin, to do so in front of another who’s gasping in disbelief is wrong on every level. He would never eat meat if that was the case, even though he knew it was safe to do (1 Corinthians 8:13, EasyEnglish).

This should be our response ALWAYS. We must guard against wrong ideas and continually soak in the Word, learning truth at the Savior’s feet. This is how we stay wise. But where we see it in others, we pray for them peacefully, in love, and leave the words of correction up to God. We live in the Spirit, walking with the Spirit, being taught of Him and so show love to all men, regardless of our differences.

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com