PAM CLARK TODAY .COM

HOLY VERSUS WORLDLY by Pam Clark

Christians are supposed to learn to be aware of the works of the devil, our enemy. And they have to learn how to discern the correct way, without hate for people, but with discerning the enemy forces. Yes, that can make us a little salty, especially to people in the world! We have the gift of the Holy Spirit when we are born again, and even more if we have submitted to the baptism of the Holy Spirit and are given a prayer language. That gift only makes you stronger, if you WANT to be! If you have received the Lord, what Jesus calls being “born again,” we know that He does change our lives. But sadly many do not all get the teachings we need for the next level and there are MANY levels. God goes deep and wide and even high. No human has “a handle” on God and what He wants. We serve Him as the greater. And we will be judged on how we treat others and the things of God! I have to make that preface because many are being led to believe that it doesn’t matter, when it matters a lot! Because of some failures, the enemy works to make us think that the enemy has overcome us, so what is the use? Well, lesson one here, the enemy lies! He lied to Eve in the Garden because she was close to Adam. He (the devil) was after their faith in God. He was after their blessing! He lost his and thought he would pass that evil on. And we are still in that battle, but our mindsets through our faith CAN overcome. God loves people so much that He sent the sacrifice of His Son Jesus to redeem them. He paid the price on the Cross, and died in their place, and then God sent the Holy Spirit to raise Him from the dead! Then everyone who would believe in that, could be born again with their confession of that, and an eternal New Life (through Jesus) would receive them and they can learn to walk in that. I really think Jesus can discern and determine who is real and who is not, don’t you? I think we need to look for Jesus’ fruit to find and keep the truth! But as I just shared, there is a devil we have to resist too. Learning His Spirit will make us stronger and overcomers of many things. It will make us better companions of God since we are going to be with Him eternally. But if the devil can distort that, he will and he will rob us of everything good that we have, but God… When we know God, we can learn that lesson from the Garden, and we will know what Adam and Eve wanted to know: that there is good AND evil. But when we learn that enough to want only good, we have overcome and are ready for fellowship. Jesus taught us that God is only good! He wants us to learn that discernment! God is more concerned with our spirit than our minds. He cares about both, but we communicate in the spirit realm first and foremost. There is a communication there than can be stronger than just the intelligence of our minds. In fact, Jesus healed MANY people of their weaknesses! (Read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible for that good news!) This is important for A LOT of reasons, but my point today is that there is a difference between the world and Holiness of God. Many feel they can mix the two, but it can be a defiling mixture. When corruption comes in, the substance can be spoiled. I’m not saying it’s easy to learn and discern all this, but if we don’t understand it, we can miss out on many good things! God loves every part of us and has a victory for our defiled places, but we have to submit them to Him. We can’t look at this as a bad thing, but as a path for more good! We might be surprised at the power of it! When we think of “worldly” we most often think of the business world. When Satan tempted Jesus, he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor and said, “I’ll give this all to you, without resistance, if you will come and follow me.” (my paraphrase in there) and Jesus said NO. He knew a better and stronger and overcoming way! Most of us learn some things the hard way, but are delighted to find the better ways! God will prove Himself faithful! We just have to remember we are not Him! But He will live in our body, soul and spirit, and help us! He just won’t (ever) let you take over Him. You couldn’t if you tried! Instead, He will hold up a mirror to let you see who is leading. We may not like what we see, or we may see that we have submitted to God’s ways. Have you ever seen a magnifying glass start a fire? The light comes through it and the focus can create a fire! We are not dead rocks but alive spirits! We want to go the better way. I am bringing up a lot of this because God is speaking about the “mammon” spirit, or our failure sometimes to discern the holy from the profane, or the world, flesh and the devil from the Kingdom of God. Mammon is a love of the world, or all those “kingdoms” that the devil showed Jesus. It can seem attractive but it will destroy our spirit and set it up for a judgment. Whom did it serve? The Everlasting God, or the prince of darkness who was cast out of Heaven who is angry, even enough to kill us! We ALL need resources to live, and when we share and intermingle, that can be joy. But if we don’t know HOW to give our offerings, then we can sometimes give in ways that miss the mark. We can sow into wrong spirits. God wants to be first! He requires it. (The devil wants that too! But when we mingle our gifts, then God can’t bless it! What we sow, we reap. Do you want a rotten apple or a fresh one? Do you want spoiled food or healthy fresh food? When we compete with that fruit (Spirit) in the Garden, God has to judge us! We are not God and most everyone knows that. But if we defile our offerings, God cannot and will not bless us! God has much grace for those who are willing to learn. When we sow, whatever we sow in the spirit realm, we can expect a good return to come to us. God has made many ways for us to put Him first! And then we can live off of the other portion. The stronger we grow, the more we can give and increase our blessings. Sometimes it is not money that He wants, but a pure heart! Sometimes He wants us to give love that we have or sometimes it may be good will. Sometimes it may be extra that we have, or maybe even strength of mind. WE can make a difference AND get a blessing! It’s not that hard! WHAT we give, He will bless. But if we MINGLE it with bad fruit, we will get some more bad fruit! It is our choice. The thing to realize is that The Plan is His (not ours). He wants to gather a Body to reflect out His Love! And He wants to do that in Love and Glory! We can do this! Don’t limit things, but let God show you how your spirit can grow in Him and overcome all things. He just has to lead the way, and giving, even in the little things, will teach you the way. What you sow, you reap! So be blessed! When you give, whether it is your time, your goods, your good will, whatever, pay attention to the response. You will begin to see patterns. When you release your flesh and your will to His, things will start making more sense! You will find yourself growing in your inner man. This will also give you discernment. Do you want some thing, or do you want or need favor? Make an offering. Let God teach you His Personality! He will correct you but sees that you want to learn and He will bless you too. But when it is time to fully honor Him as your God, make it holy. The denial of self makes the difference and says to Him that you mean business. When you mix offerings with selfishness, you will reap more selfishness and it can become a force against you. And this can apply to much more than just your tithe or honoring gifts. Just because His Name is on it, does not mean the spirit of it is right or holy. That mixture can work against you. Not only that, but God wants to work with your mind and spirit in your personal growth. He will widen your boundaries and show you how to “adjust” them! Like many of you can say, God changed my life. And it can be a sure thing, if we honor Him first. I wish you all His Best!