Looking for Light
I got involved in a Facebook thread the other day that quickly turned into an ugly mess. At issue was an article written by a friend who lives her life with Jesus about as far outside the box as you can go. And she’s not trying to hide it. She knows her antics make her appear to be a heretic to most people, which is probably why she chose the name “The Daily Heretic” for her blog. Not surprisingly, when a friend posted an article she wrote, a few people showed up on the thread with torches and pitchforks in hand.
The article was about her experiences on Halloween, where she dressed up in a costume for work and posed as a psychic who gave people their fortune through rolling dice. In reality, she’s a prophetic healer, who does her work to advance God’s kingdom undercover. My friend happens to be on a mission to see if God can redeem some things the enemy has polluted and corrupted. She believes He can do anything He wants. And that includes redeeming things like yoga, tarot cards, Halloween costumes, and I dunno… maybe even Ouija boards. My friend believes that all these things have both the potential to be used for good as well as evil. She thinks it’s a matter of which source you’re operating under, and since her source is Jesus, she goes about it with confidence.
So she wrote this article about her experiences with this stuff. And some of the people who showed up to leave comments had a field day with it. That evening I was reading Blake Healy’s book The Veil when I ran across this little gem:
“Without the Holy Spirit, anything can be perverted. With the Holy Spirit, anything can be redeemed.”
My friend believes that God is in the redemption business and she believes He’s working through her to redeem everything the enemy has perverted.
So here’s what happened next: I left a few comments on the thread supporting my friend’s boldness, her child-like faith, and her trust in God’s ability to lead her – in spite of the fact that a lot of this stuff makes her pretty uncomfortable. Then I received a message from a friend who rebuked me for supporting her. He felt like she was in complete deception, she was listening to demons and needed someone to correct her.
In the opening chapter of Healy’s book, he encourages people to “look for the good” when reading his book. He did so because he reveals a lot about the kingdom of darkness. He knows it’s easy for most of us to see darkness and focus on it. His instruction anticipates the fact that many of us have been trained to look for darkness and deception in the things we read. He knows that we must be intentional if we’re going to see the good in his writings.
The people who criticized my friend were people accustomed to looking for darkness. There was plenty of darkness mentioned in her article. And since they were looking for darkness—that’s what they saw, and they had no trouble chucking a few stones at her. Of course, there was also plenty of light, life, and love in her article. When I read the article, I noticed the darkness that was there, but I didn’t focus on it. I was looking for life and love and that’s what I found. And that’s what left the greatest impression in my spirit.
When we look for the presence of good or evil in something, we are not evaluating it, spiritually. Looking for good or evil is a process that uses the mind and intellect—not the spirit. The standard used by our intellect to judge or evaluate things is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Spiritual discernment uses a different standard— the tree of life. If something produces life or love, it is recognized by our spirit as being from God. The kingdom of darkness cannot produce them. John Paul Jackson said:
“Spiritual insight goes from the eye to the heart without passing through the roadblock of analysis.”
We discern spiritual light from darkness not by the thought it leaves in our head, but the impression it leaves in our spirit.
Every one of us has a mixture of light and dark influences pulling and tugging at us, continually. We are soldiers on a battlefield where evil is trying to steal, kill and destroy us while the hosts of heaven are warring to drag us ever onward into our divine destiny. There is not one of us who is not influenced, oppressed, or tempted by darkness in one way or another. It’s easy to see the effects of darkness in another person’s life if that’s what you’re accustomed to looking for. What is far more difficult to discern is the good in them, in spite of the darkness that is evident all around them. Perhaps it’s time for us to begin seeing people with a different set of eyes.
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I liked this article. I like your blog. Awhile back I was on
some woman’s blog, cannot remember the name now.
But she was outside on her deck I think it was and she
was noticing, or maybe God brought it to her attention, of how dark it became when the sun went behind the clouds and how brilliant the colors of the grass, trees, flowers, and everything was went the sun came back out. The other day while at my Mother-in-law’s I was watching the play of sunlight and shadows on her 40 year old couch, and I remembered that blog about sunlight and shadows.
God is everywhere and I love to learn from nature, and the people around me. Alot of times something someone said can be very significant later, but not right at the time. God is truly amazing. I’m so glad you took up for The Daily
Heretic. Today I also discovered this blog by Mark Wilson
and I am lovin’ it. http://achristian.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/7-things-ive-learned-about-christianity/ He has been thru alot to get where he is at now. He said being a Christian is like learning to ride a bicycle. Also last nite
I was listening to a video on youtube with Bob Jones
called A Hearing Ear Part 1 of 5, great words and he was talking about people with pure spirits, good spirits, and critical spirits that criticize everything, they, the critical, cannot receive anything. That is an excellent message. Thank you Praying Medic for all you do. I am so thankful for all believers in Jesus Christ and all the good they do in this world. Amen.
Hmmmm.. Gotta chew it thru….
I read that article, and saw both the light and the dark, and was unsure of the balance of truth in her actions, but open to put it on the shelf until the spirit of truth can unravel my questions. Over the years, I found that jumping in too quickly on opposing thoughts can end up in such emotional rants. I thought the point was to hear people’s opinions, the opposing ones, later being deleted. I can handle the difference in opinions, Unless they say something to criticize my Lord directly, let’s listen, it shows respect, and may promote a door to open their eyes. I want to read them, so I can divide truth from error from my lens. We all sensed the upset in those opposing, and in the one coming to the rescue from the affirming side. Sometmes I get opposing comments about the stones I have received, and if I feel led to help another understand, I will answer their questions. I “liked” one ladies comment on Nor’s post that was respectful in her questioning of this. I was showing that I understood her approach, not shooting the author down. It was so out there for what the leaders of our era have founded on the slab of truth for our generation. We so want to walk in truth, we so love God. What do you (all) expect? We are travelling new ground, I will not accept an another’s opinion just because it seems to come from someone with the loudest voice, on either side. A “more enlightened than thou” attitude is not going to cause my ear to want to hear. A humble spirit will. I recogonize His peace in opinions. I want the freedom to be exposed to new things, and let Holy Spirit work it in me as he can. Down the line, as I clean my gateways, I will see clearer, and any error or hindrance will be uprooted. But to shoot down the “older ones” in criticism was just as shocking. He knew she loved God, Well so do I, deeply, eternally. Speaking with grace seasons a person’s words. I’m “older”, but we are prophesied as ushering in the new by Bob Jones. We have paid dues with what revelation was released in our season, and believe me, we were walking a harder road, not from the position of being in heavenly places which is a breeze compared to warfare from the old standing position, our rooms on earth. It reminded me of a disrespectful teen talking. The artilce pulled some do- do from both sides, mostly the ones whose bellies were upset. So, I’m not fully persuaded, but not bothered either. My issue is seasoning your (all commentators) reactions with grace, you do it for unbelievers, do it for (believing) temporary unbelievers so we will all unify by Spirit’s working in us as he sees fit..
I did not read the controversial post but it sounds like it evoked response based on the perceptions of “Big Devil vs. Little God” or “Big God vs. Little Devil”!
I agree with Kathy Allen’s comment, about being respectful and listening. This is another subject but it is about listening and not jumping in emotionally and heatedly making comments because we have to answer to God for every word. A couple of weeks or so ago I listened to a video Rick Joyner made and he was talking about Todd Bentley, and I liked his comments. He said that God told him that He was sending him some Jacobs. We know about Jacob.
And he brought up this scripture: King James Bible◄ Galatians 6:1 ►Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
mmmmmmm?!!!!!
And he was telling how Todd (a Jacob) was devastated and in despair. And Rick Joyner really made me think.
I was not raised in church, I got saved at age 28 (now 58) at home. I prayed and God heard, and I was truly born again, I saw the light. Anyway, when I was listening to Rick saying he was standing with Todd Bentley, I thought if I could have been raised in church I would have liked a Pastor like that.
One who sticks with his sheep. Jesus left the 99 to go after the 1 lost sheep.
People can jump in, especially on the internet and some say scathing things. Wow. Gotta watch that, because it can come back and bite you on the rear end. And as a co-worker once told me, you can get 2 bites. Mark Wilson on his site that I was reading today, telling about so many without fathers in this generation and how for years he felt like he had this hole in him and how hungry for love he had been and his blog is about his Christian Journey. He really made me think, too. About so many kids and people that are hungry for love. What would Love do?
Do ALL things in Love. That is something to think about.
Do ALL THINGS in Love. In one of Jon Courson’s devotional books I have, I remember he wrote that if he had to correct someone in his church he said he would wash their feet first. That is the example Jesus set. He was God in the flesh and washed his disciples feet and called them friends. The Creator washing his creations feet. The other day I was watching a Bobby Conner video and he had this woman tell him she was a Christian witch; she used witchcraft on other people and God to protect herself. She wanted power. And Bobby asks God what do you want me to do? God picks her up off the ground. And she starts screaming for help. God showed her who had all the Power. Bobby did it in a loving way. He did not jump all over her for the witchcraft. God took care of it. Praise God.
Great article. I have posted it on my facebook to see how my religious friends will react. This concept has been coming home to me in a very real way over the past several months. We have light to shed in the dark places. That is where we are supposed to be going! A suit, tie and Bible are not going to win these people- it is power… on Jesus has that to offer!
“The people who criticized my friend were people accustomed to looking for darkness.”
I believe that when you walk in the gift of “Seer” (or see in the spirit realm as Blake) you wont look for the darkness.. Heaven and Earth have become one and you will SEE darkness ~ and SEE Light all in the same arena! It becomes less of law, less of who is right or wrong and more of setting ALL that is captive free. It becomes less and less about who is cheering you on or who is criticizing the way you’ve been called to live it out. (honestly,..how many of us would cook with human Dung as Jeremiah?) it becomes more and more about completing the mission the King has sent us on and less about how he chooses to clean the fish.
..just my two cents..
This post brings out an issue I recently spent some time thinking about concerning how conservative vs liberal we are when it comes to interpretation of the scripture and when it comes to doing something that is ‘Spirit led’.
It started when I was watching the Elijah Challenge training videos on healing. Pastor William emphasizes that he tries his best to heal based strictly on scripture. He also alluded to (I don’t think in a malicious or critical manner) how there are teachings out there that don’t adhere as much to the scripture. I guess what he really meant (even though I guess he didn’t use these words ) was the interpretation he had on scripture (and application ) was of a conservative kind and there are teachers out there that are more liberal.
The analogy I gave myself is the following :
Imagine there’s a bunch of apple trees. There are apples on the ground and you need to decide whether they fell from this one particular tree. Let’s just say for simplicity sake the only way you get to measure is how far the apple is from the tree of interest (kinda like the saying the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree). Then all you can really say is that an apple that’s only a few inches from the tree has a higher probability than another apple that’s several feet from the tree.
The apple experts out there would certainly object to this simplicity approach. They would probably say there are far more superior ways, ranging from examining the colors of the apples to doing DNA testing.
There lies the real issue. The issue is how good a person can hear God’s voice.
For the moment I recognize I am still hard of hearing. Therefore for me, and perhaps other brothers and sisters like me it is advisable to stay on the conservative side.
I just pray that if I got misled (hopefully the word ‘if’ is used correctly here as opposed to ‘when’) and started walking down the wrong path, Jesus will have mercy on me and grab my feet and pull me back onto His path. But if I still couldn’t hear Him then how would I know? Ooops….