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Well so what happened to the Podcast Preacher, I mean we haven’t had such a gap in messages for quite a long while. I was in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) at Enloe Hospital in Chico for eight days.

Hey Mr. Podcast Preacher don’t you preach on divine healing and didn’t you get healed of a pile of illnesses a couple of years back? So, what are you doing back at the hospital?

I intend on answering those questions using this season of my life to further discuss divine healing and but also mixing it with wisdom, not fear or a lack of faith but wisdom (Heb 11:6). And but also I feel that in some of my previous healing or miracles, signs, and wonder messages, I may have come off too one sided, which is to say or imply that if you didn’t get healed then it is all on you. That way of preaching is too God-in-a-box and can come off as judgmental and even be wrapped up in this idea that I am more spiritual than you because I got or get healed and you may not have. No, I still believe in a God who has already healed us and does indeed still perform miracles, signs, and wonders, but for the journey that each of us takes to receive and to give out I believe it is here that God works distinctly and uniquely with each of us (Acts 2:22, Heb2:4, Mark 11:22-24, James 5:14-15, Mark 16:17, 1 Cor chapter 12). I would not want anyone to ever go away from one of my messages feeling like they don’t measure up to any sort of religious qualification for God to move in their life. Please forgive me if I have been the source of any spiritual frustration or discouragement to you.

Be very encouraged That God meets you where you are at, and as long as you stay away from comparisons with others, you will be on the straight and narrow path (Matt 7:13-14). Maybe in this season God is just showing me that He is not a formula to understand in order for us to get what He Himself has promised whenever we want it. He is ever so deeply committed to us that we would simply become as children who could enter His kingdom as I am sure that otherwise in any other condition we cannot enter (Matt 18:3, Mark 10:15). Testimonies are not challenges directed at us. It is not a measuring bar insofar as to gauge our spiritual maturity. Every Christian is uniquely called and equipped to do what God has called them to do (1 Cor chapter 12). So, stay away from spiritual works competitiveness and trying to one-up someone on testimonies, they are destructive and very relational harmful thus turning God into nothing more than a spiritual miracle, signs, and wonders slot machine. And well besides it has been my experience that we have way too many of us sharing testimonies that elevate or glorify us and not God. God testimonies should reveal the workings of the supernatural, not efforts that you made to bring about something. Again, this happens when we have fallen into a spiritual competitiveness instead of really being grounded in our relational personal walk with the all-ever-living God of everything (Acts 8:18-20, 1 Tim 3:1-10, Titus 1:5-9).

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Well, so well, well, this is not going to be a feel-good message, but one that is necessary for continued growth. I was reading the final book in a four-book series titled the Ethiopian Bible and I was noticing how authentically born Christians really rub against the religious mindsetted peeps. Meaning those who think that God approves of their lifestyle regardless of what they do, because after all they have been in church their whole life. Oftentimes these types are simply minded in that they believe if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord you will be saved, no additional action items necessary.

Rom 10:9 - that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

You see it says it so it must be true. Well let’s look at some other samples and see if we can see a pattern or way of thinking that is expressed in the bible:

God said:

Gen 2:16-17 - 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Gen 3:1-5 - 3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

Watch the twixy-conundrum. God said, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. But satan repeated it back in a weird sort of way right: “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Look if you had to listen to that again, that is the catch or hook that satan intended to use. Verse 2 - let’s see if we can see the author of confusion’s plan at work (1 Cor 14:33):

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

Ok so like satan she did not quote God accurately and that is what created the crack so to speak. “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. In Gen 2:16-17 God didn’t say, “nor shall you touch it.” And but now before you say awe that is just being semantical, listen again to the words and how each time God is quoted they move away from what He originally stated. Hey look, she ate it and we are, all of humanity, born into sin, so I cannot be too far off of this point right?

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Ok so wow, I didn’t see that coming you might say when all of a sudden you are challenged by a brother or sister in your church, ministry, family or friends so abruptly that the communication sits the Holy Spirit right down and you seem to be the only one that is aware that it has happened.

Allow me to try and unpack this end-time ever increasing behavior as it is complex involving a wide range of emotions, spirits sometimes, and even revealing cracks in our spiritual foundation.

James tells us in an entire chapter the primary communication problem that we have. Let’s see if we can pick it up along with some other communication issues.

James 3 - My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 4 Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. 5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

Ok so right away we see that we are cautioned not to let, or you could say, “allow” many of us to be teachers? Why? Because a teacher needs to be accurate, publicly observable, able to teach, emotionally mature, confident in their calling and craft, humble, able to teach from the anointing and the Holy Spirits leading, able to teach on the whole bible especially on difficult subject matter. And but then we have two issues in todays Christian world or maybe three. We have people trying to teach from a lack of knowledge of the bible, we have others who are unable or unwilling to teach because they do not read their bible, and we have an open willingness for the spiritually proud to try and teach over one called and assigned to teach. In a strange way it is like some sort of knowledge competition and it usually comes from insecurity.

Now to help out a minute there are two levels of teaching, the first is that we are all supposed to be able to teach others even if it is at a milk level with baby Christians. The other is the office of a teacher which is usually someone who is at a higher level spiritually speaking. When I say level I mean that they simply exhibit an insatiable appetite to read, study, do research, and to read their bibles usually with lots of cover-to-cover reading journeys. Now within these two groups there are also differing levels or expertise’s so to speak. I could not teach a college course that is pre-scripted as that is not my preferred teaching style. I really rely on the holy Spirit to bring scripture into remembrance so that I can go and flow. Others are the opposite and that is just fine.

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