Many people, particularly those with lives disrupted by chaos and trauma, have experienced spiritual encounters that invoked fear and confusion. Neither fear nor confusion are from the Lord.
There are three spiritual entities one must learn to discern…. Holy Spirit, unholy spirit, and human spirit.
Over the last 30 years the Lord God has been training and equipping me in discernment of the three, first in my own life, then in the lives of others who have had unsettling spiritual experiences.
It has been increasingly evident within the Christian church and beyond it in the culture at large that such discernment is greatly needed. Too many have discounted the truth of demonic reality, have dismissed spiritual realm existence entirely, or have naively assumed anything spiritual is innocent, holy, and good. Almost two years ago, as the Lord God was moving me to downsize the time-and-resource-heavy demands of residential recovery ministry, I realized more and more how spiritual identity, spiritual education and formation, spiritual discernment, and spiritual deliverance and freedom are needed. Resources were made available to me in a natural, organic, timely, understandable and confirming way by God. I knew that my ministry with Titus 2 was taking on a more defined focus around the issue of discernment, deliverance, and healing.
This relocation is, it appears, all a part of what I have understood as God enlarging my territory and narrowing my focus. As in the past when this first began to be a conscious awareness of where the Lord God was leading, I believed it might require yet another round of advanced education courses, certifications, and supervised practice.
However, in a prayer workshop this past February, we were given a visioning prayer assignment in response to the way in which we felt God guiding us after the workshop. In the process I imagined Jesus Christ coming to the altar to address the obstacles and opportunities I placed before Him that I could identify in moving forward with the direction He seemed to be guiding me.
The response I felt from the Lord God as I waited at the altar was two-fold. With regard to the obstacles His surprising response was, “You already have everything you need.” Regarding the opportunities, His Word was, “I’ll be right there with you!”
My spirit was lifted and I arose from there ready for whatever He would do with me.
More and more the Lord God has been presenting me with opportunities to discuss spirituality that draws out information from people about their personal stories of experiencing supernatural spiritual phenomena and how they have been led to understand it, interpret it, and move forward from it. Many times it arises at the point of an emotional emergency. It has long been my observation and subsequent conviction that emotional emergency can be the initiator of spiritual emergence. How one integrate the events of the emotional emergency can set them on a path of relying on personal relationship with the Lord God Jesus Christ to understand and guide their life journey.
Be it unto me, Lord, as you desire.
I have taught spiritual gifts classes and used spiritual gifts assessments since 2002. Something the Word tells us is that every believer is given at least one spiritual gift for the edification of the church, i.e., the community of faith or what is called “ the Body of Christ.” A question that comes us regularly is, “ Can one’s spiritual gift change.” My response has been to ask, “ Whichbspiritual gifts did Jesus have?” Most people eventually reply, “All?” Exactly. If the Spirit of God in Christ bears the spiritual DNA for all gifts, doesn’t it make sense that the Lord God could call forth any one of them in His servants, as might be needed? So, it is not so much a matter of one’s gift(s) being changed as much as additional gifts being added as one matures in faith and spirituality, gives more of one’s self to being consecrated for the Lord God’s purpose and saying “yes” to God’s desire to exercise that gift through you. As an emerging gift takes root in the soul’s soil, another gift may be less visibly expressed. The thing about the gift of teaching in the kingdom is that often one with that gift will be given opportunities to experience how various gifts operate so that they may better recognize, describe and nurture it in others without it being particularly a regular part of their own gifting’s expression.
The prayer workshop I attended last February where much of what the Lord God had been doing in subtle ways came clear is coming up again this February. The theme, I’ve been told is “Even Greater Things.” It will concentrate on healing, deliverance, and spiritual gifts.
I don’t have any special wisdom, insights, or gifts that are not already available to any other Christ-follower who is seeking to be attentive to God’s Word, leaning into His Holy Spirit, and obedient to His guidance.