Continuing where we left off paying for access to a heavenly blessing;

When Jesus ordained the twelve on their first mission trip, they were under orders but it came with a stipulation.

Matthew 10:5-8. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.  

Then in Romans 8:32  He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?

Why would you think you need to pay for more God, if God sacrificed his own son, raised Him from the dead for us. Apart from a promise of a newly resurrected body, forgiven of our sins and a promise of eternal life with Him: What else do you want???

I forgot we want to control the outcome, maybe part the Red Sea at your beckoning, heal at your beckoning or if God is not imparting  fast enough maybe you can get it from somewhere else in the name of the Father , Son and Holy Ghost.  If you go get it that way it’s probably OK.

Jesus please give just one more sign and I will believe.

Even secular people will ride the bus if they see an act of God.  Let’s go to Numbers 22 7-13. Where the Elders of Moab wanted to pay for Balaam to curse the Israelites.

So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

10 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’”

12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.”

The point here is many want the fruits of labor not the fruits of our labor.

Blessings should be born of God.  Balaam talked to God about it. He did not ponder it he asked for permission because of his relationship with God. God dictates the terms.

Revelation 21:6  And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

 I REPENT LORD FOR TRADING ON UNHOLY ALTARS MEANT TO WORSHIP MAMMON OR OTHER ENTITIES.

God’s Kingdom is not about e-trading, investing capital to ensure a greater return. Every time you trade into something questionable,  your spiritual investment is at risk.  

This is not spiritual room service, where the size of the tip is based on what you want to hear or want!!!!

Some ask for donations as you light a little candle or to be added to the prayer list so someone can intercede for you while you keep carrying on.  Don’t laugh many kings looked to the church to pray for them to ensure their place in Heaven.

But wait there is more.  I go no further than a few years back.  I am trying to sell my house and I am told that if I want my house to sell, I need to go the Christian bookstore and get a St. Joseph figurine home sale kit to bury in my yard.  I did it. Who doesn’t want their house to sell, plus I got this at a Christian Store what could be bad about that.

About three  days into this affair, I was getting convicted of the spirit that I was placing my faith in an idol.  I was attempting to conjure a blessing.  However my heart was more aligned with God’s will instead of my own, I was able to work past the fear of not selling my house.

I dug up the statue, and low and behold a lizard was wrapped around it.  We smashed it, we prayed for repentance.  We then prayed with our realtor to discern what price to sell the house moving forward at God’s guidance.  We made changes to our HOME to make it more sales worthy and on the last day, in the eleventh hour the offer came in very close to our asking price.

You see many times through my life, I had to walk out my faith believing it would not go my way in the end.  I surrendered the issue to the Lord and when my spirit was resolved to God’s will in the purest form, it was always there in that moment, we saw God at work in our lives.

That was the blessing, to understand that Jehovah Jira was my provider!!!!

Our faith needs to be sharpened and strengthened.  It’s the part of us that should never get complacent. But when we practice a faith that searches for results which are  contrary to what God’s Perfect Will is for our lives, it is witchcraft.

How about St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers. Buy his medallion and wear it for protection, place it on the dashboard of your car.    We assume he will grant our wish like a genie, two clicks of the heel, a snap of the finger and off to Heaven we shall go.

Then we have the folks that have taken angels to a whole new level.  Angels serve God not us.

Revelation 22:8-9, “And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 And he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God.”

If an angel in the service of God,  understands that he is to serve God and not to be worshiped or used for personal means,  WHO DO YOU THINK WILL ANSWER WHEN WE COMMUNICATE WITH ANGELS TO FULFILL WISHES?  A FALLEN ONE!!!!

 18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. Colossians 2:18

Sounds like we need to keep our feet planted and not in the clouds as God intended.

FYI, When I bought into this malarkey only wanting to serve God better,  I WOULD PUT OUT A LETTER FOR SPIRIT GUIDES, I WAS TOLD WERE HEAVENLY ANGELS, TO READ AT NIGHT TO FULFILL MY DESIRES ON “MY WORLD” COLLAGE.

We have to look no further than Jesus himself to give us the answer on how to interact with Angels.

Remember the tempter after 40 days in Matthew 4:6-7

6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written:

‘He will command his angels concerning you’

and ‘with their hands they will support you,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”

We are supposed to follow the Lord at His Direction, not call down spirits, angels or the power of God as a means to an end by how we feel, the knowledge we possess or our selfish wishful thinking.  Angels were sent to care for Jesus at God’s direction not ordered to serve Him at his desire.

With faith born of this, we go into situations hoping God will show up, and then Satan or one of his minions will certainly make us doubt our faith as Satan tried with Jesus.

Satan wanted Jesus to commit suicide and have Jesus prove scripture true hoping angels would save him.

All Jesus had to do was stand firm, “He didn’t yell give me a sign Father so I will believe then I’ll stand firm.

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.  Colossians 2:6-8

Conferring of the Spirit through the laying of hands is about gaining wisdom.  Wisdom is not a feeling and sensation.  When we look for a feeling or some knowledge to amaze us, we look to be awed by men.

Why do you think the biggest baited hook Satan has in the world is secret information that no else has.

This is where Jesus warned us it would be worse for you than it  was for Sodom and the millstone around our neck would be appropriate if we are to lead his children astray.  We need to be obedient to God on this and work in His time-frame.

You see as we mature the risk becomes greater and we need to be more careful.  No one is safe, if we allow our spirit to be tainted.  Satan needs us to be taken out of kingdom work and he will dress up like a little girl in a Sunday school dress just so we can say.  “Oh look how cute she is.” just to get us focused elsewhere.

With all of the best intentions we start looking for blessings, try to manufacture them or seek a word of knowledge.  God warned us about that in the Old Testament about divination.

Zechariah 10:2

For the idols speak falsehood,

and the diviners see illusions;

they relate empty dreams

and offer empty comfort.

Therefore the people wander like sheep;

they suffer affliction because there is no shepherd.

Many of us want to ride the coat tails of those who have done the hard work or sound like they have.

Many of us are actually chasing better blessings and miss the ones from our invisible Christian brethren.  Yes, the people we won’t look good around, because they are a little different, their background is not like ours.  Now we will run from person to person in hopes to glimpse something more wonderful.  But the one we ignore is the one that usually has the wealth we desperately seek.

But we have been trained by Satan to want more at the expense of others. We rush to the stage, asking for the best seats, trampling over people, throwing dollars on the floor  yelling, “Yes give me more, I want to trade on that, because you believe you won’t get nothin’ unless you give something.  Your faith is built on a sensation that you feel blessed.

As my buddy Oswald Chamber said on June 15 from My Utmost for His Highest, titled “Get Moving.”

We are not meant to be illuminated versions, but the common stuff of ordinary life exhibiting the marvel of the grace of God……..The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we will look for big things to do. “Jesus…took a towel,…and began to wash the disciples’ feet.”

There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God’s way of saving us between our times of inspiration. Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling minutes, but learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God.

If you find yourself in a place of Holy Desperation and you are trying to force or receive a spiritual manifestation to prove that everything is OK around you or you need a cheap thrill, DON’T.

If you want a blessing then be a blessing, work with your hands and bless someone with your time.

Jesus did not say freely give then you will freely receive. No he said, “Freely you have received; freely give.”

We are here today because one man, I met only once in my life, listened to Holy Spirit and blessed me and didn’t try to impress me.  God told Him to lay his hands on me to fashion me better for Christ. After all these years, I tell you this story so you will be fashioned better for Christ as well.

God Loves you, I love you and there is nothing you can do about it.