Our Motives Matter

I visited a church this morning and the Pastor asked a Question in her message about motives. It is one that I have often thought about. She was speaking in the context of doing supernatural signs or moving in the manifestation gifts of the Spirit. My similar thought has been: Why do we want to do these things?

Is it so people will look at us? Is it to draw attention to us? Do we want folks to see how spiritual we are? I can assure you the answer to these improper motives is clearly NO! There are only two reasons that I can find Scripturally for moving in these manifestations:

1. That people may believe on Jesus.

2. To minister to and meet the Needs of the People.

Apart from these two, anything and everything else will have some element of pride in them, and we all know what that leads to.

Jesus was clear in John 14 that we should believe the He was in the Father, and that the Father was in Him, or else, we should just believe because of the works that He did. If His word wasn't enough for someone to believe, then what He manifested would verify what He said so folks might believe.

Repeatedly we find Gospel accounts where Jesus was moved with compassion and healed their sick. It had nothing to do with Him, it had everything to do with the compassion that moved Him.

One of the prayers that I regularly pray before going out to minister is: “Lord, meet the needs of the people!” That is really the crux of what we do and why we do it! So that people might believe and that they might have their needs met. Anything else is suspect and needs to be questioned. Face it folks, Our Motives Matter!

He Who Has An Ear…Let Him Hear

Jesus spoke to seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 & 3. To every one of the seven he had the same admonition: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” New American Standard Bible This would indicate that we can hear what the Spirit is saying to the church, but that it is also possible that we would not hear what the Spirit is saying.

Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians tells us: “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without meaning.” 1 Corinthians 14:10 King James 2000 Bible We must have ears to ear His Voice! Notice Jesus said: “Let Him”. We must allow ourselves to hear what the Spirit is saying. Are we hearing the Spirit or are we hearing one of the many other voices that is speaking?

Jesus also said: “Take heed how you hear…” Luke 8:18 New King James Version as well as: “Take heed what you hear…” Mark 4:24 New King James Version.

Again, I ask whose voice are we hearing? Is it what the Spirit is saying to the Church, or is it one of the many other voices of significance? If there was ever a time to fine-tune our spiritual hearing…it is now! Based on some of things that we see and hear being released in Ecclesia, it is evident…we are not all listening to the same Spirit!

How can I make such a statement? Just look at some of the posts that we see on Social Media and it is evident. I often say that the Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and with Social Media, out of the abundance of the heart the fingers type. If you want to know what people are hearing…just look at what they are typing!

This one thing I do know…there is one message that seems to be a hot button that Holy Spirit is speaking right now! It was confirmed to me again just yesterday at a Regional Conference while talking to some other Leaders I did not really know. What I am hearing, they are hearing. It is being echoed all over the Body: “That They May Be One!” Are you Hearing It? That is the cry in the Spirit!

It is time we come together regardless of Race, Gender, Generation, Doctrinal Stream or Doctrinal Camp. It is time for Cross-Pollination in Ecclesia! It is time for the Body of Christ to be the Body of Christ! Not a Fragmented, Divided Body; But a Whole, United Body!

He Who Has An Ear…Let Him Hear!