Test the Spirit

A long time ago, someone called me asking for money. So I asked why she suddenly needed  the money urgently. She said she had been asked to buy a coffin and a cow and bring them to the church because the spirit of death was hovering.

Considering this kind of situation, the Apostle John admonishes us to test the spirits.

It is no longer news that African traditional practices are being introduced into the church. We see churches using calabashes and fire, kneeling down and making incantations, which they claim to be speaking in tongues, thereby polluting the atmosphere of the church environment. But the Apostle John said, “Test the spirits.”

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

We also see the Apostle Paul admonishing us about Jesus giving Himself for the present evil age, but he did not stop there. He also admonished us concerning how the gospel should be preached. It should not be contrary to what we have already received.

Scripture says in Galatians 1 (ESV):

8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.

9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.»

This gospel that we see creeping into the church atmosphere— is it the gospel that we received? Is it the gospel that the Apostles died for?

The gospel of bringing burning calabashes into a church, dancing with fire in our hands, and mind-bending practices that condition people to do things that are not normal to them—is this the gospel, the Fathers hustled to send to us?

Today, I want to remind you: test every prophecy. Test every word. Test the spirit. Be sure that you are not practising African traditional religion in the name of the prophetic.

No message or act carried out in the name of God should contradict Scripture. Scripture is the unified Word of God. These are holy words inspired by God and written by men.

So, test. Check every word. Examine everything through the lens of the Spirit and the physical evidence before you. Bear in mind that Scripture does not contradict itself.

Before acting on a prophetic word or admonition you receive, test it with the Word of God.

Stay Revived!

Suffering That Produces Hope

Oftentimes, we tend to look for a way out of every challenge that comes our way. We feel that it is not God’s desire for us to go through pain, so we tell ourselves, “Perhaps this is not God. God would not allow me to go through this, He is not that wicked, but who are we to judge God.”

But let us not forget God’s faithful act in the life of Job. God remained faithful and kind to Job even in his suffering. Sometimes, the very things we desperately want to escape are the things God is using to produce something valuable in us.

Romans 5:3–5 says:

«“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”»

The goal of suffering is not simply the pain itself. Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. These are qualities that are essential for Christian living, even when we are waiting on the Lord for something.

You can be asking God for something, but if your character has not been developed to sustain what you are asking for, you may lose it when it comes.

This is why the Apostle Paul admonished us to glory even in our sufferings. Our suffering is not  evidence that God has abandoned us. Sometimes, it is part of the process through which God develops the perseverance, character, and hope that we need for what He is preparing to bring us into.

So today, I want you to know this: the suffering you are experiencing at work, at home, in church, or in any other area of your life may be producing something in you that you will need for your next phase.

Do not be so focused on escaping the process that you miss what God is building in you through it.

Cheer up and judge God faithful.

He is still working, even in the uncomfortable seasons.

Stay Revived!

THE SEASON OF RELEASE

To release is to set free, to let go, and to allow something to be made known or brought into the open.

This word came to my mind as I studied the Scriptures in Leviticus 25:28:

“But if he is unable to redeem it, it shall remain in the buyer’s possession until the Year of Jubilee, when it shall be released and he may return to it.”

As I studied this Scripture, I began to see the significance of release.

In the season that is shortly to come upon us, for many of us, the Lord will be releasing that which has been withheld from us—both legally as a result of error on our part and illegally. Things that were forcefully taken from us will be restored, and the Lord is calling us to take a posture of preparedness through communion with Him and genuine relationship with our neighbours.

For many of us, there will be a release from strongholds in the mind, workplaces, families, and environments—strongholds that have limited our knowledge of who God is and prevented us from walking into the fullness of His light.

So, what do you do?

Take a posture of prayer, communion with God, genuine love, and care for your neighbours.

This release will not always happen in secret. For some, it will be loud enough for people to see and people who you thoughtwere not relevantwill be used in this process. For others, it may happen quietly, but the evidence will be tangible. It will bring about a drastic change in the lives of those who experience it.

There will be a release from the strongholds of limitation that have kept people trapped in cycles of stagnation.

A release from the slavery of working and having nothing to show for it.

A release from patterns that have kept generations of families bound in certain areas, patterns that have been accepted as normal: “This is just how we behave in my family.”

A release is coming.

The season of JUBILEE is upon us.

And for those who have been sowing—in prayer, in charity, in obedience, in wisdom, and in strategy the cloud is full.

There will be a release.

It is time to prepare your heart. Take a posture of consistent communion with God. Love your neighbours and continuous sowing for a release only comes when your seed, time is complete.

For when the appointed time comes, what has been withheld will be released, what has been bound will be set free, and what has remained hidden will become evident.

The season of Jubilee is upon us.

Stay Revived!

Letting Go and Holding On to the One Thing That Truly Matters — God

Not attachment to the things of this world. And if there must be an attachment, let it be to the things of God.

1 Corinthians 7:29–30 (NLT)

“Now let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short, so husbands should not let marriage be their major concern. Happiness or sadness or wealth should not keep anyone from doing God’s work.”

Have you ever wanted a miracle from the Lord so deeply, only for Him to give you a prophetic word concerning it, and then you find yourself in a waiting season? Months turn into years, weeks turn into months, and yet you still haven’t seen the word manifest.

Along the way, a certain kind of doubt can begin to creep in. It may not necessarily be unbelief in God, but it can become something that keeps us from serving Him. It becomes the reason we begin to stray, to look elsewhere, to seek another truth, or even to desire something other than what God has spoken.

Yes, that can be part of the enemy’s strategy.

As long as he can keep us distracted, discouraged, disappointed, or consumed with what we are waiting for—anything that keeps us from serving the Lord—he is satisfied.

Financial struggles, childlessness, business challenges, health difficulties, and other painful circumstances can become mechanisms through which the enemy tries to attack our heart posture toward God.

As I read these words from Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Christians today, I understand more clearly that this is a warfare believers will continually face: the fight for our heart posture toward God.

Happiness or sadness or wealth should not keep anyone from doing God’s work.

Let nothing keep us from doing God’s work.

Even when our emotions become overwhelming, I have chosen to bring my weary heart back to the One who made me the promises and gave me His Word.

Can I share the words I have anchored my heart in over these past few weeks?

I choose to judge God faithful.

It might not look like what I desire. It might not happen according to my timeline. But God is good to me, and He always will be.

Dear friend, can you take a deep breath today and say these words to yourself?

“God is good to me, and He always will be.”

Anchor yourself in these words today.

Let go of whatever is competing for your heart, and hold on to the One thing that truly matters: God.

Stay Revived.