What Manner of Spirit?

What Manner of Spirit?

The first time I heard the story of the wedding ceremony where the declaration, "I am joining two people in Holy Matrimony and not three" was made and the consequences that followed, I was shocked to the marrow

If you have not heard the story before, this is it:

It happened in Ibadan in 2007

A pastor in Ibadan was told by one of the church officials or a relative of the couple that the bride was pregnant

The couple had been having sex and when they discovered they had gotten pregnant, they quickly rushed to get married before everybody knew they were already having sex before marriage

They got a date for the wedding and escaped the scrutiny of all the marriage counselors and church leaders

On the wedding day, the pastor while joining them took the microphone and said "I am joining two people in Holy Matrimony and not three"

The lady immediately started bleeding as a result of a miscarriage and the marriage was canceled

The couple never had another pregnancy until they parted ways and got remarried to other people

My former boss used to tell that story with a mischievous glint in his eyes

The story disturbed my peace in many ways

My uncle was a catholic and no catholic priest would do that to a member of his parish

No Pastor from the Baptist Church would do something like that

No Pastor from the Anglican church would do that

It is always the Pentecostal pastors who use the anointing to prove strange points

God does not delight in such pronouncements or abuse of spiritual authority

I can say this very boldly

If you want to prove you are anointed, please make the sun stand still or command the rain to fall on Lake Chad nonstop for a month so that it will save Nigeria a lot of money meant to recharge the lake

Christians are not meant to be used to demonstrate negative stuff

I have seen Pastors cursing church members on camera because they left their churches or did something they didn't agree with

What manner of spirit resides in these pastors?

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Blessed one

He takes no part in curses and afflictions

John the Beloved once asked Jesus if he could bring down fire upon a community in Samaria Jesus rebuked him for having such an idea

Jesus said, "You know not what manner of Spirit you are of"

This means the Holy Spirit is not the kind of Spirit one engages in hurting, cursing, or afflicting others

Why then do pastors do things like this nowadays? Most of them cannot just sort scriptures properly

They saw that Elijah made Gehazi a leper, Elisha commanded bears to kill 39 children

Elijah commanded fire and fire came down and consumed soldiers

Peter commanded a sorcerer to lose his sight for a season

A prophet commanded a lion to kill a man who refused to slap him and many more instances of such in the Bible

They feed off these examples

They forget they belong to Jesus and the Spirit of Jesus cannot be led to follow men into error

There is a big difference between leading the Spirit and being led by the Spirit Men who lead the Spirit usually assume that it is the Holy Spirit that they are using to achieve all the negative things they are doing using the name of Jesus

They forget that the name of Jesus has been given the power to rule over all things from every realm Philippians 2:9 says "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The name of Jesus in the mouth of a man or woman who is full of the Holy Spirit is an automatic wand of rulership

Whoever waves the wand will get the response of every Spirit subjected to the wand

The name of Jesus moves angels and ministering Spirits to do benevolent acts of the Spirit in the church and on behalf of the church

The name of Jesus moves men and women to act as instructed by the Spirit

The name of Jesus also moves demons and malevolent spirits underneath the earth into action

All those who will use the name of Jesus to lay curses and all sorts of affliction of people are putting demons to work

John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

The mandate of demons and their master is to Kill, Steal, and Destroy If you desire to do any of these things as a born-again Christian, just know that angels are not the ones you will be working with on such an assignment; you will be working with the experts at manipulating curses and afflictions- you will be working with demons!

As a believer, you must not abuse the grace of God upon your life by employing the devil and his minions in the name of proving a point or proving you are anointed

You are to bless and curse not! Romans 12:14, Luke 6:28

This was a direct commandment of Jesus regardless of how you feel or what happened or who did what

There are many believers today all over the church of Jesus Christ who are languishing in affliction and bondage simply because their spiritual father or pastor cursed them

They did not consider the fact that the moment a believer becomes a born-again Christian who is full of the Holy Spirit, he or she has become blessed of the Lord And whom God has blessed, no man can curse!

Can God be cursed? Can the Holy Spirit be cursed? If the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you, how can you then be accursed?

Even when the curse is deserved as was the case with Jacob, Simeon, Reuben, and Levi, the curse was broken effortlessly

There is a standing order of blessing upon every believer

No other believer has the authority to put in bondage anyone that the Son has set free! He or she is forever free

The story of Balak, king of Moab, and Balaam, the sorcerer who was employed to curse Israel should teach us all a great lesson

Balak wanted Balaam to curse Israel but God refused to permit it not because Israel was fasting and praying or begging God for mercy

The word of God cannot be broken

It was because Adam sinned and became accursed that he was denied access to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden

The Born-again Christian already has eternal life in Christ Jesus and therefore he or she is not subject to the curse or any curse whatsoever

He or she should also not place a curse on anyone or anything

The children of the blessed one must bless

The children of the accursed one must curse

Wisdom is known by her children

The Spirit at work in the Born-again Christian is not subject to human feelings, whims, and caprices

This is why the Believer is better off being moved by the Spirit

When we do this, we allow the Spirit to gain ascendancy or transcendence over us and we do His will

Whosoever does the will of the Spirit cannot grieve the Spirit

However, if we are the ones gaining ascendancy or mastery over the Holy Spirit, there is a tendency for us to get provoked, injured, or angered and we will most likely respond by using the power at our disposal to say things or do things that the Holy Spirit naturally would not be a part of

When we do this, we end up like Moses, Aaron, Elisha, and other ministers of God who subjected their supernatural abilities in the Spirit of God to the weaknesses of their flesh

It didn't augur well for all of them!

When you are full of a Spirit that blesses, you must be moved at all times to bless You are a blessing!

-GSW-