Number One Sin In The Church

I don’t know what is happening lately but the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me in the wee hours of the morning causing me to become restless in my sleep.  The Holy Spirit asked me a question, “Do you know what the number one sin in my church is?”  I rolled around a few thoughts but honestly could not think of anything because I was still in the daze.  I heard the word “reviling.”  Over and over again the word reviling kept tumbling around in my spirit until I got out of bed to look it up. 

Revile – Synonyms: rant, rail

To use abusive or scornful language against (someone or something)

To assail with contemptuous or opprobrious language;
Address or speak of abusively.

I was surprised because this was totally unexpected.  What is even more shocking that Jesus said that it could send us to hell!!!

Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

Matthew 12:36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

Wow.  Who doesn’t call people names on the freeway or say things about others in frustration.  Have you ever called someone and idiot or a jerk?  This is not any better than calling someone a fool.  God’s word says that we will give an account for every idle word.  We need to repent of our slip ups too!  I started to really feel convicted and the fear of the Lord took over when I read the following:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

That’s right you read it.  You will not inherit God’s kingdom if you habitually call people names, curse, tell people off and verbally abuse others.  They put this sin in the same list of sins as adultery and homosexuality.  Why is reviling so bad?  It violates the second commandment of loving others as you would love yourself.  I told this to someone and they responded to this by saying, “How in the world can we live up to this standard?”  Note the following scripture.

^{1 Peter 2:21-23} For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:²² “Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; ²³ who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;

Jesus was our perfect example.  He was abused the Roman government and Jews.  He did not retaliate.  He did not open his mouth to defend himself.  He did not argue.  He did not give them a piece of His mind.  This can only happen if we walk in humility.  If we walk in pride then we will stir up strife. 

There will be Christians reading this who have made it a habit to abuse their spouses and children with their words.  You may also be guilty of abusing others at work or on the road. According to God’s word you are a reviler and cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.  You need to repent.  Jesus said, “You are in danger of hell fire!”  I could tone this down but we need to grasp the gravity of the consequences of living this way.  In God’s mind verbal abuse and name calling is injuring someone else’s spirit.  Some of you be struggling being in the presence of God not really knowing that this being caused by this sin.  I’m not saying this is easy but God’s standards are clear:

Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

This is when true grace comes in and helps us become Holy.  Some may confuse grace as an excuse to sin but true grace helps you live for God.  There is a blessing for those who allow themselves to be persecuted and reviled. 
(1) They inherit the kingdom of heaven.
(2) They receive a great reward in heaven
(3) They shall take their place alongside the prophets were persecuted for righteousness sake.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12)

Let’s pray:
Dear Jesus, we ask you to forgive us for using our mouth as a weapon and hurting others with it.  We understand this violates the second commandment of loving others as ourselves.  We repent of being a reviler and ask that you would help us by putting a guard over our mouths.  Please change our hearts.  Your Word says that whatever comes out of our mouths, comes out our hearts and is defiling us.  Cleanse us from all defilement and heal all those we have hurt with our words by being careless. Forgive us for every idle word.  We are asking that your Holy Spirit bring to mind the things we may be doing and help us change them.  In Jesus Name. Amen.

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Jaziz Gutierrez
http://www.loverevivalrevolution.com
Facebook: School Of Impartation and Living

Seduction Exposed!

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;...1 Timothy 4:1 KJV

In letter to Timothy, Apostle Paul warns of a time in the future when people were going to depart from the faith for two key reasons. First, they would depart because they gave heed to seducing spirits, and secondly because they gave heed to doctrines of devils. Our focus will be the seducing spirits or the spirit of seduction. When you look at the word seducing in the Greek it means exactly what it says. Seduction or seducing is the persuasion to disobedience or disloyalty, to be led away by false promises, to be enticed to sexual desire by arousing hope or desire by artful attraction. To bait, allure, tempt, betray, and finally trap you.

You may ask yourself so what does this have to do with me? Without even knowing it most Christians expose themselves to this spirit on a daily basis. Seduction is a spirit. On a daily basis whenever you listen to music, TV, drive down the freeway, walk down the street, and go shopping it is there.  While you watch TV you are bombarded with commercials that seduce you to eat, spend, drink, go to parties, and arouse lustful thoughts as they show sensual scenes or make provocative gestures.  Just go anywhere, and there is music playing in the background that is planting seeds of sensuality, violence and temptation. If you are driving down the freeway there are signs to come visit the nearest strip joint, go to the casinos, eat, and buy things you can't afford. Then you go to the store, and the aisles are lined up with the latest gossip, with seductive women or men on the front cover; complete with tips on how to become a more sensual person yourself. Then there is TV shows that encourage adultery, fornication, witchcraft, violence, and every other sin known to man. What we don't realize is that by watching, reading, or looking at these things we are giving heed (paying attention) to these seducing spirits.

Still don't think this is a problem let's look at the life of Samson the strongest man that ever lived.

Let's read on to Judges 16:4 Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. ⁵ And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”

Here is Samson a strong man who was supposed to be consecrated or separated to God for the purpose of serving Him but lived his life unchecked from temptation. Unfortunately, he comes upon a woman who becomes his downfall. Delilah is symbolic of a spirit of seduction. Her mission is to entice, find out what your weaknesses are, so that you can be overcome, be bound and afflicted. Delilah can also be a man because it is a spirit working through a person. As I mentioned before it works even through media. If you read the rest of Judges 16 you will see that Delilah continues to ask Samson over and over again what the source of his strength is until she finally wears him down.

Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” ¹⁶ And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, ¹⁷ that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”
(Judges 16:15-17)
As you can see from the above scripture the spirit of seduction will use loyalty or love as a reason for you to give into it. This spirit likes to wear you down until you become weary, and weak in your heart. Delilah is always after our consecration because consecration is the source of God's power in our lives. When Samson gave into seduction he lost all his strength.
When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. ¹⁹ Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. ²⁰ And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. (Judges 16:18-20)

Not only is the spirit of seduction after your consecration it is after your whole heart. It will not stop until you give in to it fully. Without knowing it many Christians have been lulled to sleep while being stroked by this spirit with promises of better times if only we will succumb to it.  The next thing you know the devil ambushes you. The biggest mistake we can make is to think we can shake off the temptation after flirting with it. This is dangerous my friend. No matter how strong you think you are; one day you will not be able to shake yourself free from the bondage the enemy lured you into. Just like Samson you will realize not only is your strength gone so is your relationship with God. God is the source of our strength. I have seen many warriors once strong in the Lord succumb to this seducing spirit, and lose their vision.  They become captives of the enemy, and some of them never return from the enemy's prison camp. I believe this warning is for everyone. We can never play with the idea that we are above temptation or too strong to be seduced. This is a life lesson from the bible.

If we are being seduced the bible gives us the key to getting free from it. We need to stop giving our attention to it. We cut off the cable TV and internet if necessary. We stop looking at the magazines, reading the romance novels, and watching the shows that arouse us to sin. We stop conversing with people who entice us to return to our former party lifestyle, and we cut off all means of communication with people who will not respect our boundaries. We stay away from people who carry a seducing presence on them.  You know who they are. They like to flaunt their body. They like to show a little too much, and like to flatter you. Flattery is hidden hostility. Desperate housewives isn't just a show it is a reality. There is also desperate office guys too. Don't be afraid to rebuke someone who is clearly disrespecting you. I once had to tell a Christian that his lustful conversations were inappropriate, and I had to cut off the communication because he was defiling me with his words. It is with words that this seducing spirit enters the lives of many men, and women. Also be careful who, and how someone touches you. I once had someone hug me at church, and a seducing spirit tried to jump on me. Years later I found out this person ran off with someone, and left their wife. You can be sure that seduction, and lust work hand in hand. Seduction works externally, and lust works inwardly but God's Word destroys both.

I was sitting at Jack and the Box on my laptop the other day when a man asked me if "I was reading nasty e-mails." I told him that, "I ignore those kind of e-mails." Conversation over. People will even use jokes to get you to entertain a seducing or lustful spirit. Don't give it a chance. Walk away. You are in charge of what you see, hear or pay attention to. You have authority to tell it to go. In the name of Jesus I command the spirit of seduction to go! It might stubbornly try to resist you but it has no authority or dominion and it must obey the name of Jesus!

Let's pray. Father, I repent for giving in and paying attention to a seducing spirit. Forgive me and release me from its power and hold over my life. Show me the areas in which I can cut it off and consecrate myself more fully to you. I don't want to be like Samson and end up a prisoner with my vision taken from me. Open my eyes to be more sensitive to this and give me the strength to shut it down immediately. Let your kingdom come into my life and deliver me from temptation. In Jesus name. Amen.

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Jaziz Gutierrez

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Why People Burn Out On Ministry

    I was looking today for a way to become fully ordained outside of making payments to an organization. I have worked in church for the last five years as a lay minister or assistant pastor. I ran across this website for burned out Pastors and started reading these sad stories. Wow. I think that many of us have gotten ministry confused with the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not the kingdom of men. Many ministries are just part of the machine that builds the kingdoms of men. This is what sucks the life out of the pastor and congregation. God’s kingdom is not a place here on earth. It is a place in men’s hearts where God has set up His throne and is made Lord over our lives.

    Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”   The Kingdom is within our reach all of the time.  Also, we can see from scripture that the Kingdom is demonstrated in power, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:7-8 Therefore, God’s Kingdom is mobile and transferable.

The problem here is that our eyes come off of doing the above and the focus shifts to building projects, raising money, programs, advertising instead of protecting the presence of God in our lives. We stop seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness first. We get careless with our salvation because now we stop being concerned about our standards and allowing things to slip by us by making small compromises in our faith.  Holiness gets thrown to the wayside as we focus more on service, recognition and position in church.  Our passion to be right with God gets diminished in light of people’s admiration of our gifts and talents.  The next thing we know, our Christian example has become a mockery before the world. This should not be.

     The ministry is not really the problem it is our heart. More specifically the attitudes and motives of our hearts that have been polluted by our need to be recognized and admired. The gospel message becomes laced with covetousness and greed.  It is our ill financial planning that causes many ministers to start to manipulate people from the pulpit. The next thing you know you are threatening people by telling them that God will curse them if they do not give. This is legalism and extortion my friends. Especially if you feel like you are entitled to indulge yourself on the hard earned money of God's people. We are not entitled to anything! You will not find anywhere in Jesus ministry where he demanded a salary from his followers.  On the other hand if you have the means and are withholding  money from God's harvesters then you will have to explain why you built bigger barns instead of sending people into the harvest fields of souls. Jesus was not hung up on titles. He made his life and ministry about serving others. He went about setting people free, healing them and forgiving them.  He did not sit at an office taking calls. He demonstrated the kingdom and lived his life as an example.

     "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken"; "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame." Hebrews 12:1-2 If you have found any of the above wrong attitudes and motives in your heart I encourage to repent and come back to the true ministry of Christ. If you are under a ministry that is has lost its way I encourage you to build His Kingdom instead of building men's kingdoms. May the Lord guide you by the Spirit of Truth and help you find the true ministry of Christ. 

If you find this article helpful or would like to leave a comment or visit our website:
Jaziz Gutierrez
http://www.loverevivalrevolution.com
Facebook: School Of Impartation and Living

Trampling Unbelief In The Gate

Prophetic Word:
For years men and women who have sat in the gate of influence in the church have kept back the move of God! They have questioned my ability to open the windows of heaven over them and refused to believe the Word of the Lord through His servants. As a result the people of God have starved behind four walls. They have fearfully stayed within the walls of containment and mediocrity. For years they have missed out on the harvest which also holds prosperity for God's people. In this next season unbelief  will be trampled down in the gate and the outcasts of society or the unknown, unsung heroes will lead the way into plundering the enemy's camp! They will realize that all that the people of God have needed was just outside the walls all along! This new discovery will cause a movement that the church has not seen in a long time. Their hunger will drive them to follow those whose testimonies declare victory in the most dire of circumstances. No one will be able to stop this forward motion and those who doubted will not partake of the plunder.  I will cause my people to move into enemy territory and the footsteps of a few will sound like many. They will learn to share with one another the things that I give them. Great boldness and courage will be the mark of these End Time Saints! They will not fear what the enemy can do because I will walk with them in even a greater dimension. They will no longer consider the weakness of the flesh but the strength of their God!

2 Kings 7: 3-4 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also.

In this next season it will be the outcasts that will lead the way out of containment and famine. It will not be the church superstars but the unknown men and women who have spent time like Esther preparing themselves in the oil of My presence not considering their weaknesses; boldly moving towards the promises of God. They will see no other option than to plunder the enemy's camp. Have you ever felt like these lepers in this passage. Like no matter which way you go there is no positive outcome to your circumstance. There they were sitting at the gate of indecision, going hungry when they come to the conclusion that doing nothing will get them no where. Then they come up with a dangerous proposition. "Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die." Their solution was to go to the enemy's camp. I don't know about you but if I'm going hungry my first thought would not be to go and raid the enemy's camp. Yet they took the risk of going anyways.

2 Kings 7:5-6 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. ⁶ For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!”
Earlier in the chapter Elisha had prophesied about the turnaround of events that were about to take place and a guard had mocked him. He was trampled underfoot for not believing the Word of the Lord by the people who were running to their new found provision.

Like all prophetic words in order to activate them one must step out in faith to receive them.  It's going to require that we take some risks. We can not allow ourselves to be immobilized by fear or indecision. We must step out into the realm of faith to gain access to God's blessing. If God give us something and we don't act on it someone else will. In this next move, God will use whoever is bold enough to believe Him! He does care about degrees or ordinations or the approval of men. His kingdom is not run that way. He will take two loaves and five fish to feed the masses. He will use what little you have and bring multiplication to much needed provision if you will just be concerned with feeding God's sheep who are faint from following Him. God will even use your own brokenness to pour you out and distribute you that you might become bread to the hungry. Don't count yourself out. The four lepers didn't. All they knew was that they were hungry and knew they had nothing to lose. Some of us need to stop making excuses and consider not the weakness of the flesh but the strength of our God. It's time to plunder the enemy's camp!

When the word of the Lord comes to a church it can be the greatest blessing or greatest danger because just like this city that was under captivity and famine; the word always brings two choices…to believe or not to believe…to act or not to act.

    The prophetic promise that came to bring a breakthrough can be stopped through unbelief. What if they would have hesitated, procrastinated in believing? Unbelief is disobedience to the Word of the Lord to your life. Be bold and step over into your time of fulfillment!

     Miracles are always released by acting upon faith.  Jesus said, “Come” and Peter got out of the boat.  Jesus said, stretch out your hand and the withered hand was healed.  Go wash in the pool of Siloam and the man did and he could see. Pick up your mat and the man got up.  The point is there has to be a corresponding action to the word of the Lord in faith for a miracle. So the city had a choice to believe the word of the Lord or continue in famine and accept their captivity.

          
My friends there is a gate that everyone stands at daily and we are the gatekeepers. Let's look at the gate.

     Psalm 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
         Keep watch over the door of my lips.

    
Proverbs 21:22-23 A wise man scales the city of the mighty, 
      And brings down the trusted stronghold. 
       ²³ Whoever guards his mouth and tongue 
      Keeps his soul from troubles.

In the old times keeping the gates guarded was important part of keeping the city fortified. It may seem that our gate is very small compared to the size of that city; but in the book of James it gives this perspective.

James 3:3-5 "Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. ⁴ Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. ⁵ Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.: We will either boast in the greatness of our God or talk about the greatness of our circumstances.

Faith will not consider the circumstance it is experiencing, the personal limitation its dealing with or the physical condition its facing. It will believe contrary to what is sees.

Romans 4:18-22 Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. ²² And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

    
Ecclesiastes 11:4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

Scripture: 2 Kings 7: 19-20 Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, “Now look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” 
And he had said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” ²⁰ And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

      

    What is the word that stands at the gate of your mouth? 

Mark 11:23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. By his confession of unbelief he slammed the windows of heaven shut over his life. Understand if you choose not to believe it will not keep others from receiving. Will we trample underfoot the words of unbelief or stay in a fortified city of famine and captivity? Who’s the gatekeeper in your life?  Is it your friends, your kids, your unbelief, your spouse, your circumstances or your own confession? Trample underfoot unbelief by confessing, agreeing and acting in faith with God’s promises.

Scripture: 2 Kings 4:8-37

Has your prophetic dream died?

    The Shunammite woman received her prophetic promise because she made place for the Lord in her life through inviting the man of God to stay with her. Prophetic destiny is birthed in the place where we have made room for God and it is sustained by intimacy. Sometimes it seems that we don’t even ask for a word from God or a dream when all of the sudden it seems that dream has died. The woman was wise in being a doorkeeper and saying, “It is well.”  Elisha did not allow Gehazi to speak to anyone on to restore the promise so that no one could speak into the situation.

    If we allow ourselves to go back into the bedchamber and put our eyes to God’s eyes, our mouth to His mouth, and allow his hands to be our hands we will see our promise came back to life again.  It will only happen in a place of intimacy and prayer.

2 Kings 7:5-6 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. ⁶ For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!”

Earlier in the chapter Elisha had prophesied about the turnaround of events that were about to take place and a guard had mocked him. He was trampled underfoot for not believing the Word of the Lord by the people who were running to their new found provision.

Like all prophetic words in order to activate them one must step out in faith to receive them.  It's going to require that we take some risks. We cannot allow ourselves to be immobilized by fear or indecision. We must step out into the realm of faith to gain access to God's blessing. If God give us something and we don't act on it someone else will. In this next move, God will use whoever is bold enough to believe Him! He does care about degrees or ordinations or the approval of men. His kingdom is not run that way. He will take two loaves and five fish to feed the masses. He will use what little you have and bring multiplication to much needed provision if you will just be concerned with feeding God's sheep who are faint from following Him. God will even use your own brokenness to pour you out and distribute you that you might become bread to the hungry. Don't count yourself out. The four lepers didn't. All they knew was that they were hungry and knew they had nothing to lose. Some of us need to stop making excuses and consider not the weakness of the flesh but the strength of our God. It's time to plunder the enemy's camp!

If you find this article helpful or would like to leave a comment or visit our website:
Jaziz Gutierrez
http://www.loverevivalrevolution.com
Facebook: School Of Impartation and Living