God Almighty has great power, but God is not the only who has power. The most beautiful angel Satan, knows scripture and he still desires to rule the earth. Satan’s power is not diminished just because you don’t want to believe God’s warning that evil is out to steal, kill, and destroy your trust in Jesus.  Evil power is always at work to mislead. The devil and his swindlers possess power, but the kingdom of God is not just a matter of talk, but of greater power. Some churches today don’t talk about spiritual warfare. They are seeker friendly and they insist on not offending anyone. They may promote the emotional high of a sign or a wonder by dripping gold glitter on the congregation, with lights flashing, dogs barking, and people laughing hysterically. This is offensive to our holy God. Manipulating the emotions of people with such displays of manufactured power will mislead even the elect. Truthfully, God’s mightest power is experienced silently by reading His living and active Word.

The book of Acts records the story of Peter’s invite to preach the gospel in a place where he meets a guy nicknamed Simon the Sorcerer. This man impressed everybody with magic shows of power until the convicting, transforming power of God showed up. Many people then and now seek displays of power. They  run to event after event to momentarily fascinate over wonders, not God. Sadly, people of all generations hunger for mystical experiences. They desire to have their emotions soar, but they depart the show without any lasting change or soul transformation. “Even the elect will be deceived.” This Scripture is silent in the church today. Paul wrote to believers in Corinth “I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have?”  Simon the Sorcerer had the power to deceive, but GOD shows up to reveal the master manipulator. “For the kingdom of God is NOT a matter of talk, but of power.” 1 Corin 4:20 The swindlers in the church are the deceived. Satan infiltrated the early church and the Deceiver is still mesmerizing millions. The fiery arrows still target those who attend church.

Evil has the cunning ability to twist the Word of God and manipulate people.  Satan never ceases in his plot to kill and destroy. It is sad to watch many church hop in their search of an emotional high rather than being satisfied by the Word preached. Where is the Holy Spirit?  He is everywhere you are and He never departs.  “The kingdom of God is not just a matter of talk, but of power.” The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and the power to discern.

The kingdom of Satan also operates in this world with immense power to persuade people, to attract attention, and deceive many. God’s holy Presence is present in the reading of scripture. In the middle of suffering, if you study the Word of God, you will be comforted, guided, reminded, and quietly transformed. Call out the name of Jesus, and let that be sufficient for your holy encounter. Acts 2:1-4 “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.”  A definite sign of God’s power. However, what happens when a sign is made manifest in church? People run out and say,  God is over here! “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” Were these tongues of fire God’s forerunners? The fire was not the actual presence of God, or they all would have been consumed. Read the entire book of Acts, and discover that everybody else that was baptized in the Holy Spirit did not experience wind, fire, or earthquakes. Did you? The tongues of fire were heralds, signs sent from heaven of the Holy Spirit soon appearing. For sure speaking in a heavenly language is the expected manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power. We do not wait for a wind, or expect to feel the shaking of an earthquake with each new born saint that is filled by the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts teaches us that God is consistently faithful and that the Holy Spirit comes and we are gifted a heavenly language outside of our limited intellectual reasoning.  A lot of believers get distracted with a manufactured wind, smoke, or gold flecks that are used to cause an experience at church. In a quiet place, when we are still, and seeking God, He answers our prayers with an infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Elijah’s encounter with God reveals that God’s presence is found not in powerful displays but in a gentle whisper. In first Kings, the prophet Elijah faced down hundreds of false prophets.  He set up a test to prove Baal had no power. Elijah proposed to set up two altars and the god who responds by fire, that’s the real God. The prophets of Baal jump around all day long cutting themselves without response from their idol. Elijah makes fun of them, telling them that maybe it’s because Baal is currently asleep or on vacation, maybe in the bathroom. At the time of the afternoon sacrifice, Elijah steps forward and he rebuilds the altar with 12 stones and he lays the sacrifice and calls for water to be brought in after a trench is dug. The prayer of Elijah is that all watching would know that the Lord is God. Not that all would see His power, but that all would know that the Lord is God. The one true God responds by fire, consuming the sacrifice, the altar, the stones, the water, everything. And everyone declares, the Lord, He is God. And they put their hearts looking toward God. All of the false prophets are killed and then Elijah gets a message from the queen to kill Elijah. He is filled with fear and runs for his life. He  runs for 40 days until he gets to the mountain. “There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the WORD of the LORD came to him. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected Your covenant, torn down Your altars and put Your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me too.”  NOTE that this is all emotion, not facts. The ones killed are the false prophets. The whole nation declared, the Lord, He is God. The only one that sent the message is the queen. “The Lord said, go and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord. And notice what it says, for the Lord is about to pass by.” When you hear God clearly speak to you, hopefully you will recognize His voice, like Elijah does. “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord.” In Acts chapter 2, there was wind. If wind made rocks fly apart would you shudder? “But the Lord was not in the wind!” The Word  tells us, God was not in the wind. It says, after the wind, there was an earthquake. God told Moses take off your sandals, this is holy ground. God passed by Moses as His hand protected him as His glory passed by which was pretty much more than the physical mortal body of Moses could handle. The church that prays for God’s power and glory is asking to be consumed. In Acts we read about tongues of fire, but in Kings we are told the Lord was not in the fire, the violent wind, or in the earthquake. The Word says, “after the fire came a gentle whisper and when Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face. Elijah wasn’t fooled by the power of the wind, fire, or the earthquake. He stood there, face uncovered until He heard God’s whispering voice. He had already heard the voice of God. He spent time in the word and it had transformed him, had renewed him. His mind was different. Elijah wasn’t going to be fooled by something that wasn’t God. Seek the quiet Kingdom of God where the slain Lamb rules with a whisper.

Seek the kingdom of God in the quiet place of your soul. At times the most powerful thing God does is nothing. In His Holy Presence we are stilled by the quiet air He fills us with. His Word swirls silently and we know His Way is love. A love that conquers all confusion is the peace that surpasses all that humanity hopes for. Oh sweet Jesus, I surrender all my heart.  I bathe my soul in the living water of the ever present Holy Spirit. Your ever flowing, fresh fountain of grace never ceases. I plunge my heart into the river of life. All bitterness, regret and sorrows are washed away —in the wave of His mercy. Have you cried out to Holy Spirit? Have you received His holy Presence?  Oh Holy Spirit, teach us, give us words to encourage and cause hearts to surrender to Jesus now.

We are taught in scripture to discern the spirit that is talking through the vessel. There is the spirit of religion, the familiar spirit, the spirit of divination, and the spirit of delusion. Sometimes the enemy imitates God to get you to trust the WRONG VOICE. The DEVIL knows scripture and he twists it. 1) The spirit of religion. This spirit sounds like conviction, but it produces shame instead of repentance. The religious spirit  makes a person obsess over performance and it never draws them into a relationship with Jesus. A defensive voice will insist that their understanding is correct. They argue to squash the full counsel of the Word. This is a voice influenced by a religious spirit, a voice not of God. 2) The familiar spirit knows your history and it predicts a future that God never promised. It mimics God’s tone, but the goal of this spirit is deception, not direction. When God calls you forward, the familiar spirit reminds you of the past, which is not the Holy Spirit’s way.  A familiar spirit will always try to take you back.
3) The spirit of divination. This spirit loves to give you information without transformation. It reveals secrets, but it never points you to the cross. If the supernatural replaces scripture, that is your sign to run as far away from that teaching as possible. 4) is the spirit of delusion. This spirit whispers comfort while you’re in rebellion. It tells you, oh, God understands, just keep rejecting the spirit of truth. The spirit of delusion makes sin feel safe. Time to suit up with a helmet and shield. The enemy of our salvation never rests. Satan is out to kill and destroy and he doesn’t need to silence you if he can simply mislead you. Spiritual discernment is a must so we ask God for wisdom.  If you’ve ever prayed, fasted, and waited on God, only to come out feeling confused, frustrated or misled, then you already know the cost of listening to the wrong voice.