Happy International Family Day HeartChurch
If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there.
Did you know about a certain virtuous woman in the scriptures called Lydia? Maybe you know of someone with that name but can’t really connect the dots about the name. She was a purple seller and a believer in the testimony of Christ in the land of Thyatira.
The lord opened her eyes of understanding to the gospel that apostle Paul preached, leading her and her family to be baptized for the forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection.
There’s something significant about this woman and her attention to the Spirit of adoption; her eyes opened to understand that apostle Paul and his companion was coming from the right source and she was led to care for apostles, look at her words to apostle Paul:
If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there.
God made her receptive to spiritual matters and the kingdom business, of course the apostles enjoyed their staying and the hospitality from Lydia and her household.
The ability to discern is an active gift operational in each of us that are led by the spirit, and of course Paul himself was able to discern and know that Lydia was prompted by God to host them.
Many at times people are being carried away by these so called good but careless to understand the deepest motivation behind the whole scene, gifts spoils the heart says the wise king!
Of course we’ll not round up the discussion without seeing the other side of the story.
The power of discernment and actions according to the leading of the Spirit in the body of Christ
As their custom was, the apostles left sister Lydia’s house to an isolated place for prayers, and on their way, a certain damsel possessed with spirit of divination met them. Wait a minute, a spirit of divination? Divination is the ability to see and to revealed secrets about someone, this is the same spirit that many ministers of darkness are using to operate, they often masquerade themselves as ministers of righteousness, don’t get it wrong, these people does good, says the truth from the spirit of divination but the summary of it all is that, if it’s not from the Holy Spirit of God, it’s evil, deceitful, and sinful.
I’ve seen many people being carried away by these men, they receive counsel and revelation from them and attribute their work to God.
The Bible made us to know that this damsel brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. Same girl approached the apostles and said to the public:
These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
Her words indeed was a true and a faithful description of apostle Paul and his companion’s itinerant ministry, no doubt; but it originated from a demon, that’s is the wrong. The big question remained, who amongst the hearers knew that such truth were coming from an evil source? How many were and are willing to denounce and to reject these so called gifts from evil sources?
Thankfully, by the Holy Spirit of God, apostle Paul discerned that she was being guided by a demon despite the accuracy of her testimony and pronouncements. Paul having the spirit of discernment helped the damsel by rebuking the unclean spirit, and she was free from the shackles of satanic influence that day on!
Dear parishioners of Heartchurch International Ministry, we shouldn’t be carried away by what is said or how it is said, no matter how accurate or eloquent; our earnest concern should focus on the source of the statements or actions, and on the final motives for a such actions. Is it of the Lord, is it genuine or for a filthy lucre? And the only possible way to know is through spiritual discernment, and the ability to set our affections in Christ and his provision for our needs alone. Otherwise, one may find oneselve cheering the work of the devil and attributing them to the Most High.
Let’s conclude with these verses of the scriptures:
Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:20-24 (ESV)
Build a godly Family today!
Truly, as Christians we need the spirit of discernment. I read the verse and at a time said, "but the spirit was right and probably preaching Christ to be accepted because they are from God" but I failed to understand that the spirit within her was the wrong spirit. Thanks for the word. I got to understand any spirit that is not the manifestation of the Holy spirit is a wrong spirit. I pray God grant us the spirit of discernment and also a heart of Lydia