KEEP AN ATTITUDE THAT HONORS GOD

Another attitude that invites the presence of God into our
atmosphere is one that honors Him above all others. We
need to have an attitude that says, “God, no matter what
anybody else is telling me, no matter what I think myself,
no matter what my own plan is, if I clearly hear You say
something to me, and I know it’s You, I am going to honor
You and what You say above anything else.”
Sometimes we give more consideration to what people tell
us than to what God has said to us. If we pray diligently,
hear from God, but then start asking everybody else what
they think, we are honoring people’s opinions above the
Word of God. This attitude will prevent us from
developing a relationship in which we consistently hear
from God.

The Word confirms that we can trust God to instruct us
without needing constant reassurance from others: “But
as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the
unction) which you received from Him abides
[permanently] in you; [so] then you have no need that
anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing
teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no
falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart
from) Him [being rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His
anointing] has taught you [to do]” (1 John 2:27).
This verse isn’t saying that we don’t need anybody to
teach us the Word. Otherwise, God wouldn’t appoint some
to teach in the body of Christ. But it does say that if we are
in Christ, we have an anointing that abides on the inside
of us to guide and direct our lives. We might occasionally
ask somebody for their wisdom, but we need not go
constantly to other people to ask them about decisions we
need to make for our lives.
When our staff members ask me, “What do you think I
ought to do?” I tell them, “You have to hear from God.”
If we are ever going to develop an ability to hear from
God and be led by His Spirit, we have to start making our
own decisions and trust the wisdom God has deposited in
our own heart.

God is the only One who can minister life to us.
The devil wants us to think we are not capable of hearing
from God, but the Word says that’s not true. The Holy
Spirit dwells inside of us because God wants us to be
individually led by His Spirit. We are not living under the
old covenant in which we have to run to the priest to find
out what we ought to be doing all the time.
In Jeremiah 17:5-7 the prophet tells us:
Thus says the Lord: Cursed [with great evil] is the
strong man who trusts in and relies on frail man,
making weak [human] flesh his arm, and whose mind
and heart turn aside from the Lord. For he shall be
like a shrub or a person naked and destitute in the
desert; and he shall not see any good come, but shall
dwell in the parched places in the wilderness, in an
uninhabited salt land. [Most] blessed is the man who
believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and
whose hope and confidence the Lord is.
The Lord is clearly saying not to make human flesh our
strength. Severe consequences happen to those who trust
in the frailty of people. Blessed are those who trust and
honor the anointing from God that abides within them.
Good things happen if we listen to God. He wants to be
our right arm and our strength. God is the only One who
can minister life to us.

Jesus heard clearly from His Father that He needed to go
to the cross. In Mark 8:31 Jesus told the disciples that it
was necessary for Him to suffer many things, be tested,
approved, rejected by the elders and the chief priests and
scribes, and be put to death; but, after three days, He
would rise again from the dead. Verse 32 says that Peter
“took Him by the hand and led Him aside and then [facing
Him] began to rebuke Him.”
But Jesus didn’t consider the direction of frail men, like
Peter, and “turning around [His back to Peter] and seeing
His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get behind Me,
Satan! For you do not have a mind intent on promoting
what God wills, but what pleases men [you are not on
God’s side, but that of men]” (v. 33).
Jesus honored whatever His Father said, no matter what
the personal cost to Himself. Sometimes we only listen to
God if what He says isn’t going to cost us anything, or if He
tells us what we want to hear. Most of the time, if we
receive a discomforting word, we act like Peter and say,
“Oh no, this can’t be God!” But if we want to have ears that
hear God’s voice, we must honour His words above all
others.