THE INTEGRITY OF GOD, or THE HONESTY OF LOVE

And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Gen 3:1 NKJV

The Lord is not ‘politically correct.’ I’m amazed, but not surprised, at how people seek to shape the gospel to their own prejudices. Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” That is not politically correct, but that is the gospel. When I witness, I don’t witness because I need the exercise, but I witness out of love because someone else desperately needs to hear what I have to say. And, it is a privilege for them to hear it, just as it is a privilege for me to speak it.

What we have today in much of the world is a Christ-less ‘christianity’ of ‘social justice’ that is neither just, nor sociable ( see ANTIFA riots ), that glorifies the ego of man rather than the name of the Lord. The best response to it all is to bring the genuine gospel of Jesus Christ to the forefront in the power of the Holy Spirit. Whose world is it, anyways?

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'” Isa 37:33 NKJV

One of my favorite healing stories involves a woman with breast cancer. She apparently was being prepared for surgery when the Lord spoke to her and told her if she went through with the operation she would die, but if she went home and came to the seminar He would heal her at the seminar, which is exactly what happened. What astonishes me is that you just don’t say to a person about to go into surgery that “You will die in surgery!” You don’t say it unless you know that you know that you are right, and that you have an alternative for them. The Lord was right, and did have an alternative for her.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6 NKJV

Jesus either lied or He told the truth. If He lied to us here in the word of God, when He said that no one comes to the Father but through Him, then you can’t trust His words anywhere else. You can’t trust that you have eternal life through Him, or anything else. But if He told the truth – if He meant what He said, and said what He meant – then you have the absolute foundation that Jesus, on His terms, is the only way to the Father, to Heaven and that every other way (Buddha, Allah, secular humanism, ‘good works’, political correctness, etc.) is a brutal, catastrophic dead end.

Now, we’ve seen the honesty of love in the written word. Let’s take the honesty of love and apply it to revelation.

The key word in deliverance ministry is honesty. If someone won’t get honest with you, you cannot help them get free. One time I laid hands on a guy and saw him dressed in womens clothes. I asked him about it, and his head dropped in shame. Another time I was laying hands on a pastor, and I got the words ‘charmer spirit.’ I knew the pastor didn’t have a charmer spirit, so I looked around to see about whom I was getting revelation. Close by some ladies were praying for a woman. I knew it was her! I walked over and commanded that thing to come out of her. She convulsed, and it came out. Later she confessed that she had had that spirit since she was a little girl. The honesty of love in a healing situation is crucial!

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; Acts 16:6-7 ASV

As young believers we tend to think that God says YES to everything, that we have the ‘freedom’ to do whatever we want. No so, as servants! In fact, the NO’s of God are there to keep you out of trouble, and from missing opportunities. The Lord will throw up STOP signs to warn us, to help us avoid disaster. Sometimes we will have ‘real good religious reasons’ for what we want to do, but God still says NO. Paul wanted to go to Jerusalem. He had good reason to go to Jerusalem. But did God want him to go?

And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. Acts 20:22-24 NKJV

Paul was bound in the spirit, meaning he knew within his own heart that God was saying NO. But sometimes we get influenced by a martyr spirit from hell to try to be the Savior, instead of just being His assistant. I think this kid who was just killed off the Indian island was influenced by this spirit. If you read the news report, you’ll also see that he, the kid, was bound by the Holy Spirit as well, but he chose to do it anyway, perhaps because he wanted to be a hero, and he died. Pride will get you killed, even if its religious pride…

And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. Acts 21:4-5 NKJV

The Lord is merciful, so He gives multiple warnings. I have run through God’s STOP signs at times. At the very least you get little to no fruit out of the situation. At the worst, God is dishonored and people die. Paul didn’t heed the direct revelation he was getting, so when he got with believers, prophecy came forth that was directed at Paul’s heart, just like all good, anointed prophecy does.

And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you. 1 Cor 14:25 NKJV

Paul still didn’t heed the warning, so the Lord sent a top-notch prophet to get in his face. You start to understand some of the personality characteristics that made Paul, Paul. He who was the least of the disciples had a steely commitment to doing whatever he set his mind to do, which is probably why he got to write most of the New Testament, but here it was wrong. You have to love Paul…he’s the kind of leader you could march through hell with, knowing he would have your six!

“Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'” Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. Acts 21:11-13 NKJV

Did Paul go to Jerusalem? Yes, he did. Did he almost lose his life? Yes. Was there any good fruit that came out of the whole thing? Not that we know of. In fact, he was imprisoned for two years without any fruit before he finally appealed to Caesar, and was sent to Rome. The closest he got to winning anyone was that he ‘almost’ persuaded Agrippa to be a Christian. Then he almost died going to Rome! Rough season for Paul…all of which could have been avoided if he had listened to the honesty of love manifested in revelation.

Dear ones, we don’t need ‘heros.’ We need solid believers who listen to God and minister in the honesty of the love of God in Christ Jesus. Amen? Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…