In resuming from the last post of this series, our ultimate source of everything we need is God. Having a steadfast relationship with Him involves an exchange where He gives us things such as revelations and authority to pray and advance in our calling, healing, and energy to fulfill His purpose, provision from where we give back to Him and have our needs met. These and other things He does should drive us to live full of gratitude and with a song of praise to Him in our mouth. We cannot out-give our God, but what He wants is our heart sold out to Him.
Therefore, another proof of our contamination with the spiritual leprosy of this world, is that it makes us think that we own everything we possess or have accomplished on this earth. Not only does God own the whole earth and everything in it, but the inhabitants of the world are also His. For this reason, He gives us the wisdom and power to accomplish what we’re created to do in partnership with Him. But when we employ the wisdom of this world to create or succeed, those possessions and accomplishments are eventually taken away.
Ecclesiastes 2:21
“Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.” NLT
Daniel 4:30-32
“the king uttered foolish words:...Isn’t Babylon a great city? I have built this royal residence from the ground up with my own might and ingenuity to honor my own majesty. The words had scarcely left his lips when another voice thundered from heaven...King Nebuchadnezzar, these solemn words are for you. The kingdom has been taken away from you. You will be driven away from all that is human, and you will live in the company of wild animals. You will be forced to eat grass like oxen. Seven times will pass until you learn your lesson and acknowledge that it is the High God, and no other, who is the true sovereign over all kingdoms on earth, and He grants authority to anyone He wishes.” VOICE
As the Scripture highlights, King Nebuchadnezzar was forced to spend seven seasons in the wilderness of testing designed to remove his contamination with the leprosy of the world. He was no longer allowed by God to rule in his condition. The decisions he was making before this were turning the people in his kingdom away from the Lord, and those who chose to remain faithful to God’s rulership over their lives were thrown into a fiery furnace. But God intervened and saved their lives at the same time that He proved that only He is God and not a golden statue.
Once the King’s contamination was removed, he was restored to his position of power to rule over Babylon, but this time with his eyes open to the truth and reality that God is the only One who rules, and none can compare to Him. He does what He wishes in Heaven and on earth. By the test the king endured, he learned that no one can stop God’s hand from acting, and no one can question what He does. After this realization, Daniel 4:37 tells us how Nebuchadnezzar’s view of God and His ways changed.
“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, acknowledge the true King of heaven. I praise, lift up, and glorify Him because all He does is true, all His ways are just, and He is able to cut down those who strut about in their pride.” VOICE
Another common aspect of a person contaminated with the leprosy of this world is that although they love the Lord and want to serve Him with all their heart, and go beyond seeking restoration and freedom from oppression for themselves, yet their contaminated state keeps them from seeing their bondage. In this position, they’re not able to cast out of others the very thing that also has them bound.
Matthew 7:3-5
“‘And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” NLT
It is easy for them to see where others are struggling, but they don’t realize that they too are oppressed. There are times when this is not that obvious, especially with people who are constantly helping others and pouring unto them. Their continual drive to give to others causes them to forget many times that they too need to take breaks and allow the Lord to minister healing and deliverance to them. When this is not done, they open the way to contamination.
Then, what starts happening is that, when they’re trying to speak a word of deliverance or to lay hands on others, what they’re doing is transmitting their contamination. In other words, instead of setting them free, the spirit they’re now of is released unto those they’re trying to help. This makes things worse for them and also for the person on the receiving end. Sadly, what has transpired many times is that not until God brings their contaminated state to their attention, sometimes publicly, do they will seek the help they need.
Luke 9:55-56
“But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them...” NKJV
I have seen this happening several times and it has even happened to me when someone, even people in leadership, laid hands on me and I ended up having to spend time getting rid of the demonic cloud I sensed around me after that person touched me. I learned some important lessons from those experiences. Things like not allowing just anyone to lay hands on me, and that as we mature, we can receive what God is doing during a service right where we are without having to go forward for prayer.
Another way this shows is when people do things in the name of God but outside of their sphere of influence and authority, or out of the timing of the Lord. Many zealous people ignore their call to process before they can go and serve Him according to His purpose. Those times of process are designed to remove contamination and to develop the anointing necessary to break the yoke of oppression of those we’re called to serve. Not completing our process, and even worse, not allowing God to process us leaves us without the necessary ingredients that make our calling effective and without being able to cast out of others what still has us bound.
Acts 19:13-16
“A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.” NLT
Why did this happen? because they were still under the influence of the very thing they were trying to remove from another. As long as we’re still under the influence of the spirit of this world, we don’t have the authority or legal right to tell it to go and it won’t go. What we need is to be processed out of our contamination. Being processed should not make us afraid since we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. The danger for us and others is when we ignore the call to enter in. And as we saw with King Nebuchadnezzar, what resulted is that the season to be processed out of contamination overtook him with force.
Likewise, an even greater loss can come to those who refuse to be processed by the Lord. Things like what happened to King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. During their rulership, the hearts of the people of Israel turned away from God. They also killed many of God’s prophets and oppressed the people by stealing their possessions for their pleasures. In their contaminated state, they thought they would never see the consequences of their corrupt ways until the Lord rose to defend their victims. In the end, the two rulers and their entire house died.
Many say they’re waiting on God to heal and deliver them, others devise futile plans to escape their process (See Psalm 2), but God’s waiting on them to step in and allow His fire to burn them out of contamination. The Bible says that the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to Him (See 2 Chronicles 16:9). This Scripture also refers to those who choose to take His hand to come out of the captivity, bondage, and oppression of the leprosy of the world caused by Satan who rules it.
In all these cases, our battle is against the spirit of fear which is the door to contamination. There is fear of the unknown when we’re trying to obey what God tells us to do, but we can still do it afraid. In this case, our trust in Him overpowers fear, and we see the reward of our trust: His faithfulness to guide us and let us know that He’s right there for us. But we succumb to the spirit of fear when we think we’re going to lose or miss out on life or when we care more about our reputation than God’s will for us. But God, in His love and mercy, is calling us to die to the desires of our flesh and be counted among those described in Revelation 12:1
“And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” NLT
2 Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” NLT
To God alone be all the glory. *
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