This past year has been the hardest year of my life. Confronting tormenting spirits due to curses and witchcraft, I was almost taken out by the enemy this past spring. The warfare for my deliverance was not overnight, but it eventually yielded complete victory, praise be to God. The remaining battle with Tinnitus and other related health issues has been long and tedious. My faith has been sorely tested as my expectations for a quick recovery were soon replaced with calls to endure and remain steadfast in my faith for healing. The call to simply stand has been my anchor.
In my weakness, surrender was the only option. And yet, it was in the valleys I experienced some of the most powerful spiritual encounters of my life. Even as the enemy continued to harass me throughout this year and challenge my faith, I was overshadowed by a holy presence and an unexpected fire from the throne. I experienced angelic protection and ministry like never before. A baptism of fire began to sanctify my faith and purify it from my own expectations and desires. In the process, I learned to wait with a God-given anticipation of what is to come.
It has also been in this process that I’ve had to assess where my confidence has been. In years past, I have been blessed with many prophetic dreams and spiritual intel to help and encourage others. But this past year has yielded few dreams and even less intel. I initially felt demoted and wondered what I had done to cause this lack. Yet, the Lord assured me there was a sovereign work taking place that I must allow if I am to receive all that He has in store. He has confirmed over and over again that great testing usually yields great blessings and rewards. It’s in the standing that promises come true.
As I look at the lessons I’ve learned and see the current state of the Church – especially the prophetic movement – I believe there may be a message for all of us. People with prophetic gifts tend to find their confidence in the wrong thing. Receiving information from higher spiritual realms can certainly boost our sense of worth and value. But they should not be the core of our identity or spiritual authority. Our confidence must rest in Christ alone. It is only through the power of the cross and His gift of grace that we have anything to offer. It is only through His indwelling Spirit that we have any ability to speak life and see things change.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
The Father wants us to have the kind of confidence that does not rest on temporary gifts or talents. Our greatest confidence will come when we’ve been stripped of our gifts and forced to rely on Him alone for direction and the strength to overcome. He longs for us to know the endless power within us that comes, not from spiritual gifts or supernatural encounters, but from His abiding presence within.
This is why He tests us as prophetic vessels. This is why He allows us to feel weak and void of anything to offer. It is only in this place of surrender that He can fill the gap and demonstrate our true strength which comes from Him alone. We must be convinced that He comes with power, not because we’ve earned it or have the gifts to validate it. He empowers us because He loves us. And because we’ve been faithful to His Word. We’ve been willing to stand, regardless of the conflicts and challenges, simply because we trust Him.
I believe this is why we are seeing the prophetic movement as a whole going through a severe testing. Exposures of compromise, immorality, and even corruption in our movement are shining a light on this issue. Too much emphasis has been placed on spiritual gifts as qualifiers for ministry. Too much attention has been given to those who receive these gifts and they have become idols instead of pathways to God’s heart and ways. We must be reminded from whence our strength and power comes.
The coming demonstrations of power upon the earth will not come as a result of great prophetic activations, words of knowledge, or even angelic visitations. They will not necessarily come through great prophets or seers or those with large followings. They will come through those whose hearts have recognized the power of Christ within and have fully surrendered to the work of the cross. Idolizing prophetic gifts and ministers must be replaced with personal pursuits of holiness and revelation from His Word. Supernatural experiences cannot be the measure of one’s maturity or authority, but merely a demonstration of God’s grace for all to learn from.
Though it has been painful and uncomfortable, my own journey through the fire has produced a deeper awareness of Christ within. It has not been due to prophetic insight or spiritual gifts. My confidence has been secured in the work of the cross and rests in the power of His resurrection. Period.
For those who have felt targeted by the enemy, I believe it is because God has chosen you. He has chosen to reveal Himself to you in deep and profound ways. Regardless of how long the journey or how painful the process is, He is imparting a steadfast endurance that will defy your enemies. You are not only learning to outlast them but overwhelm them with power from on high.
He is producing in all of us an unshakeable faith that does not rely on temporary gifts or strategic spiritual intel but on the unchanging power of Christ. He is purifying our hearts unto holiness, for it is a holy people that will ultimately overpower and displace the devils and demons that assail us.
Because of His great love and desire, He will draw it out of us – one way or another. It is during these times of testing and pruning that He prepares us for the greater things. As we persevere and keep standing in hope, He is positioning us to receive a fresh outpouring of His power and presence. Though we can rejoice in the gifts He provides and delight in the encounters we experience, our ultimate confidence must come from abiding in Him. He alone will receive the glory and He alone will be our reward.
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