Good Thoughts Can Change The World

I have run my own businesses for most of my adult life. Also much of the time I spent in church ministry was in the "prophetic and discerning of spirits” gifting.  Simply put, this means I could often tell if someone’s motivation was their own idea or God’s leading.  At times I could tell what kind of spirit was active in a person’s life.  Dark spirits can be incredible deceivers. They drive people to an inner torment and must be removed. You would be very surprised how at home manipulating spirits have made themselves hidden within the church. 

​One of our businesses was running a home for mentally ill adults.  For five years in our home, we provided an environment and life skills that enabled up to eight individuals to have a better life than they had at the psychiatric hospital.  First hand, we saw what God had originally created perfect as man and woman could be so deeply and sadly marred.  Also, we experienced the power the inner being has to exert control into their surroundings.  Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, emanating from within us is the ability to establish an external and invisible environment that fits our comfort zone, even if it controls someone else.

This is just a little but important aside. Unfortunately, the church has a history of insecure leaders taking very wrong control of private aspects of peoples lives. There are many true servants and there are many charlatans.  When assessing a pastor or leader, which you must do, here are just a few life saving points.  These will help you discern what lies within the 90% you can’t see:  

1] Does he\she lead like they know where they are going or are they just involved in maintaining the church where it’s at.   2] Don’t rock the boat syndrome.  Boats in the water naturally rock back and forth, especially if they are moving. Make sure they honestly value other opinions, even if it means trying out a new experience that will rock the boat.  
3] Make sure they do not have a love of money or material possessions to an excess.  Some leaders do not give as much as they ask the church to.  
4] Has the leader got a true Father\Shepherd heart or are they simply hirelings waiting for a better position somewhere else. 5] If you feel a sexual sense of lust rise up in you that is new to you it could very well be resident in him\her. Do not take ownership of this feeling!  Confide in your spouse. If you are alone and no one to confide in, the Lord will help you. At the first sign or major feeling of lust, leave.  You should feel a safe Father's love from the leader.
6] Read my post called “A Manifesto on Leadership.” This is found here on my website.
 
My main business placed me in hundreds of homes. Knowing how to understand and educate clients came slowly at first because I was shy and lacked confidence. After much stretching, relating to people became easier. Often I had to put aside the inner things I saw and the atmosphere I felt to do my job.  It was similar in the church.  To see hidden things and be faithful, I learned the wisdom of keeping my mouth shut.  At times, emotion had to be painfully hidden and other times unwanted truth had to be expressed.

Life experiences prove what Jesus said was right,  ”As a person thinks so he is.” 

Often we are like the iceberg. Ten percent of us is shown to the world around us but ninety percent is hidden in deep waters. To be able to see into the ninety percent of someone’s inner being is the gifting of some.  Mostly however, one judges if one is good or not on the ten percent shown.  This is where a true seer is the best friend of an honest leader. They will be as loyal a servant as one can be. A true pastor is a place of safety for a true seer. The gift can “read” the congregation without personal judgement. This gives the pastor a greater ability to hit the target in counselling and deliverance.  Also, the wolves in sheep clothing can be discerned, making the church safe.  With all my heart I wish this was the normal church. Some day the parameters of the church will be the safest place on earth.

The goal for all of us is to be on this road to transparency. It is a “must walk.”  Interesting, the streets of the New Jerusalem are made of transparent gold.  Will I fit in?  Yes, only if I too am transparent.      
                                                                               
Don’t be discouraged.  The truth is we really don’t know what lies beneath. It’s a hidden world with the accumulation of our own life experiences as well as a history that can go back three to four generations, in some cases even longer.  You can challenge yourself to be real and you deserve credit for the effort.  In the end, Shakespeare sums up life, even much of church life by these famous words;  “Life’s a stage and and all the men and women are mere players.”  One part of us longs to be real but the other is an actor with a very large shadow casting a darkness we don’t want.

Only one man could be 100% real.  This of course is the Lord. He is the only one who can say, ”what you see is what you get.” Over and over in scripture, He filled the atmosphere with His inner being.  Love, revelation, healing, deliverance and the true essence of the Father was imprinted upon all creation.

If you have been captivated by His love, you can think His thoughts and fill your world with a wonderful experience.  Yes, it will come from within YOU.  He will be your ability, if you have the desire.  He will sort out your 90%.  Good, positive thoughts will rise up from within. Can you imagine if everyone in the church seriously apprehended this dynamic truth? 

We could change the world and we WILL!
             
Love You….Dan.