Tommy Tenney came out with a book some time ago that swept the hearts of many in the Church into a new desire for God. He called it “God Chasers”. He was able to provide a beach-head for the truth the Lord is after in this hour. Yet for all that the book accomplished there is still a stronghold in the Church that has not yielded. That stronghold is the idea that we can continue to chase those things that are not the character and nature of Jesus Christ and continue to have His divine favor and anointing at the same time. In other words, we still believe the Lord will accept a faith that has “mixture”.
The challenge of being a prophetic or apostolic voice is to present the truth in such a way that we can clearly see what is wrong, and at the same time never forget what is right. We must both sound the alarm without fear or favor and still declare the goodness and faithfulness of God. The rebuke to the Laodicean Church could not have been stronger. Paraphrased – “You make me sick”, yet, the word goes on to say, “I am still standing at the door ready to come in”. What is the difference between the term “mixture” and the twin truths of scripture is of the utmost importance, and it will take great wisdom and discernment to know the difference. The clearest way to detect mixture is to look for “motive”. The motive of why we do something will clearly reveal whether we are operating in “mixture” or presenting the twin truths of scripture in power and balance. To know who we are trying to please will reveal the motive. To please myself or to impress others will always bring an unholy mixture. The scripture says it like this: God said the end-time Church would be so filled with this “mixture” that He was about to spew it out of His mouth. Mixture creates Luke warmness. If we start with something that is piping hot and continue to add tap water to it, that drink will become “lukewarm”. Our faith can never be lukewarm. It cost the Father and His Son to much to ever be allowed to be tepid. The Father, through His Holy Spirit, will not permit it. Yet it seems the attitude of much of the Church today is how much mixture of things that are not Christ-like can I have, and still walk in the anointing?
Oh, we would never consciously think or say that yet, our actions and words confess it nearly every day. Perhaps someone needs to put it into the kind of clear words that reveal just how carnal we can be without ever realizing it.
One of the ways that the quality of gold is determined is the application of acid. This acid will reveal what kind of mixture is in the gold and just how pure it is. We need some teaching that is not afraid to apply a little acid to reveal just what we are practicing. Once revealed, we then need to cry out for the fire that will burn out any mixture in our faith. We need to cry out until the pure nature and character of Jesus Christ is all that is left. Our Lord said we would have to buy this gold —-
Rev 3:18-19 NKJV
18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
The question remains, “With what currency will we buy this gold”? We may all have different ideas as what is required and I am sure there would be some truth in all of our thoughts. Yet, the one pattern I see in the word of God is “holy desire”. Passionate, constant, burning, red hot desire will always gain the ear of the Father.
Jer 29:13 KJV
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
We find when young David cried out, “Is there not a cause”, when Isaiah said, “Here am I send me”, when Elijah said, “The zeal of the Lord has eaten me up”, when Nehemiah said:
Neh 1:2-11 KJV
2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. 8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
Nehemiah was broken and crushed when he heard an accurate report of the condition of God’s house and His children. He was so moved he could barely function. He fell on his face in prayer and fasting for several days.
What we need, perhaps more than anything else in the Church today, is someone who can give an accurate report. That might sound a little strange to you, yet, I see that the failure to declare in clear terms the situation we are in has led us into a blinding deception. The truth is, 1,600 ministers a month are quitting ministry in the United States. The ministry has become a graveyard for gifted, talented and loving men and women of God. We are closing more Churches than we are starting. Everywhere we look there are wounded bruised and bleeding Church members. The fastest growing churches are often those with the most hospital beds.
The sooner we can give an accurate report the sooner we will have men with the Nehemiah anointing pouring out their broken heart to God. And because of their persistent passion the Lord will both anoint and send them into the humanly impossible task of rebuilding the Kingdom.
I heard a man of God that I both love and admire say that the way to promotion in the movement is “not to rock the boat. Don’t stir up anything and don’t ever send in a report that shows declining numbers.” The sad thing was that this formula worked for him. Over a forty year period he was consistently promoted to ever higher positions of influence. Of course, this course of action was passed down to all the young ministers he led. The result was, lukewarm young leaders who neither had the desire nor the courage to be bold or creative. To exaggerate, slant, or bend is still deception and God cannot bless deception.
What he said made a certain kind of sense. After all, are we not men and women of faith? Are we not supposed to always give the best “slant” on things? Would it not be disloyal too disagree? As these thoughts began to go through my mind the word of the Lord came with clarity and power and said, “Son, what this man told you is the perfect formula for “Lukewarmness”. We have an example of this when all the prophets were giving good reports and Jehosophat asked this question:
1 Kings 22:6-8 NKJV
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?”
So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
7 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”
8 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.”
And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”
We need to ask God, “Are there any other prophets we can inquire from”? The question is will we hear them?
Leave a comment