The need to be liked

 

The need to be liked, the Lord told me, is one of the greatest hindrances to a successful ministry.  The need to be liked is rooted in the flesh. Our spirits, consecrated to Him and holy, do not crave people's approval and praise - they crave the Lord's.  Having to be liked can derail our ministry by causing us to become man-pleasers. We seek the honor and praise that comes from men because it's public, while God's praise and honor is most often private (public in the realm of the Spirit but private in the earthly realm. Those walking, or flying, in the Spirit will immediately know upon meeting you what your standing with God is - but carnal men and women won't have a clue). The root of wanting to be publicly recognized and praised and adored by people is pride. Flesh loves to be exalted by (other) flesh! A humble and contrite heart seeks to go lower, not higher - being highly esteemed by God and despised by men is perfectly acceptable.  Those who need to be liked end up sacrificing the anointing,  God's presence, because they turn from Him to men. Paul said "follow me as i follow Christ" - Paul's focus was on Christ with his back to his followers! This is the kind of leadership we need - men whose focus is entirely on Christ, not us - then, Jesus can use them to bless us because they aren't seeking our approval or adulation.  If we focus on garnering people's approval, we become susceptible to flattery - a deadly dart from the enemy if there ever was one! We like being liked - I get that. It's ok for people to like us - as long as we don't focus on it or need it - needing it comes from ego - from undead self - that likes to be stroked with praise and approval from men. We should spend our heart's energy on pleasing God, not man. Are we in lockstep with His agenda for our lives? Are we seeking His pleasure? What makes Him smile, not men? What draws Him to us? What makes us attractive to Him?

"I don't need to be liked but i like to be needed"

Oh Lord,

You're more,

than just words upon my lips.

You're more,

than a prayer or a song of worshio -

You're the reason i'm alive,

You're the answer to my every "why"

You're sweeter than the air i breathe -

You are my destiny. 

Oh Lord,

You and i were meant to be

together throughout eternity, 

and my heart is Yours

to adore

to treasure forevermore. 

And I -

I cannot conceive 

of a life apart from Thee...

You're the cause

of my every heartbeat,

My every cell testifies loudly  -

Trinity! Trinity! Trinity!

My God loves me! 

 Often when we eat, we eat fast. Maybe it's really delicious  - so we stuff in a bite before the last one is finished. Maybe we're in a hurry. We should slow down. Stop and savor each bite. Enjoy the flavor, the sheer joy of it's taste and marvel at the great variety of flavors available to us and thank Him for skilled cooks who prepare it for us.

Likewise,  spiritual food is the same. We often indulge in "fast food". We sit and listen to a sermon or teaching, crammed with one thought after another - usually for an hour or less, but listen - we should chew spiritual revelation slowly - take one thought, one scripture, and chew it slowly and carefully  - meditate on it for awhile before digesting it. The word "Selah" in Scripture literally means "pause". Stop and give serious thought and consideration to what you've just read, or heard. Don't just rush on to the next verse or thought. Good advice for us all, as we live our sometimes busy lives. Take time to pause and savor the moment for each one is a precious gift from God.

 The Prophets prophecy falsely -

   very few represent Me.

The pastors rule on their own authority  -

   and My people love to have it so. 

They're lazy and content with the Status Quo.

They perish because My knowledge they do not know.

They have grown fat on the lusts of their flesh,

they overlook and even celebrate the deeds of the wicked. 

They care not for the widows or the fatherless 

while they themselves prosper and are blessed  -

yet the plight of the needy they ignore -

all the while they consume more and more and more -

well, MY SOUL HAS HAD ENOUGH!

Shall I not visit them?

Am I not Just?

I shall visit them!

Are they any better than My people Israel were?

I shall plead the cause of the orphans and the needy -

I shall be avenged on the wicked and the greedy,

And who then shall stand in the Day of My Visitation?

Those who with a humble and contrite heart

serve Me without hesitation. 

Be thou instructed, oh My people, lest My soul depart from thee -  lest I make thee desolate,  a land not inhabited,  to whom shall I speak and give warning?

Behold - their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold the Word of the Lord is to them a reproach, they have no delight in it - so I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord - for from the least of them even unto the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetuosness, anf from the prophet even unto the pastor, everyone dealeth falsely. Yes - I have decreed seven years of plenty. Yes, I have withheld My judgements upon thee, oh Laodicea, but as surely as the eagle snatches his prey - and the prey knew not till the moment of it's demise - so shall seven years of famine follow the years of plenty. I have raised up and set forth watchmen over you oh America, America,  land that I love - they have said "hearken to the sound of the Trump" - but you said "we will not hearken". I said stand  in the ways, the old paths to dwell in, where is the good way - walk therein and find rest for your souls, but you said "we will not walk therein" - forsake your religion and embrace Me and you shall live, saith The Lord- yet, you will not - oh, but a remnant will - oh, but a few will not forsake Me -  yet the rest shall men call reprobate silver - because I have rejected them. Look upon your denominations, America, and amend your ways and your doings - trust not in lying words - saying, the Temple of the Lord,  the Temple of the Lord,  the Temple of the Lord are these - behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit! Will ye oppress the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, will ye steal, murder and committ adultery and swear falsely and burn incense unto Baal and walk after other gods whom ye know not and come and stand before Me  in this house, which is called by My name, and say we are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house which is called by My name,  which calls itself "Christian" become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold -even I have seen it, saith The Lord -  I have seen the greed and corruption of the flesh exalted above My Name - I have seen My Name used to feed their lusts - to heap to themselves worldly wisdom and wealth and I shall even vomit it out of My mouth. I shall even cease to speak to them - and I will cause My prophets to turn from them and they shall become as the blind stumbling in the dark, crying out for mercy, but gnashing their teeth when they find none, saith The Lord.  Obey My voice and I shall be your God - and you shall be My people  - or perish.

Apostle Christopher 

 One of the problems (among many) facing churches who do not welcome the Holy Spirit's presence is this: when preachers or teachers share - when people hear wisdom or (hopefully) revelation from anyone  - if the Holy Spirit isn't present when it's shared - if He isn't the one who is sharing  - it avails us nothing.

He is the one (the only one) who can impregnate us with THE WORD - planted deep in the soil of our hearts. Without Him, it won't take root inside us and bear fruit  - it will merely pass through our minds. Oh, we may remember some of it. It may be delivered to us with polish and style. Our favorite speaker may do a wonderful job - but if it only impacts our minds and not our hearts - it avails us nothing (eternally). 

We become parrots of our favorite preacher or teacher until we let the Holy Spirit, deep within, he can't expound upon and expand what is being shared, and he can't weed out what is not of Him thereby protecting us from false doctrines and the pet traditions of men  -  revealing to us God's heart and His ways instead, which are usually the complete opposite of man's.  

Much of the teaching from pulpits around the world are teachings swallowed in a Bible school or Seminary, then regurgitated for the masses. It's too often pap - prepared for babies, which is what the people often are. Men are instructed by other men, then they in turn instruct others, on and on, until Christ returns. Without the Holy Spirit the cycle never ends  - he alone can seperate falsehoods from truth, he alone can "lead us and guide us into all truth" and prevent us from making clones of one another. 

Apostle Chris