ROOTED RENEGADE

The message of unworthiness or “your stupid” or shut up gets instilled or placed on many of us while we are growing up, either by parents, spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends. The more we accept these messages the more we loose not only our natural voice, but our spiritual voice gets stifled as well. Often a person who hears the consistent message to “shut up” will have a hard time speaking up for themselves as they get older. They tend to become a people pleaser and not advocate when something hurts their feelings or is wrong because that message they heard as a child replays in their head. Maybe they heard it from someone they loved who emotionally abused them and it is stuck on repeat. Now it causes feelings of unworthiness because not being able to advocate for oneself in a time of need can cause emotional unrest.

The effect on your spiritual voice is also significant. The enemy wants nothing more than to keep you from playing and from using your spiritual gifts of prophecy and the gift of tongues. One way is to have you believe you aren’t good enough for the gifts by making you think that your natural voice cannot be used. If you can’t use that voice then certainly you cannot oeprate in your spiritual gifts. Another is by making you believe spiritual gifts are false due to interpretations of scripture. The enemy loves nothing more than to twist scripture and have you thinking that the spiritual gifts of tongues and prophecy died with the early church. Hmm. The Bible doesn’t say anything about spiritual gifts ever having an expiration date. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, the infamous scripture that describes the gifts, and the ones to follow, never gave a cut off date or a who could and who could not operate with the gifts of the Spirit. For it reads: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” While it states that the Spirit does “distribute to each one individually as He wills” it never says that the gifts die out, expire, stop, run dry, are only for Old Testament or Bible day disciples. Actually NO WHERE in scripture are those words when it comes to the gifts. If it were so then Jesus would have never charged with the Great Commission. He would have never given us instructions all throughout the New Testament, including the Book of Revelation to prepare the church for His return. We need the gifts to do that. Otherwise we are just flailing about like fish out of water.

Another way the enemy tries to make you believe you either don’t have a spiritual voice or cannot use your spiritual voice is when you try to operate with it and you don’t seem to “do it right”. Their is no “science” to operating in the gifts that God has given you. There is however understanding your gifts which belong to God and allowing yourself to be yielded to the Holy Spirit so that you can be used as a vessel for the good work of the Lord to bring about the purposes and plans of Heaven, not self. Once you get self out of the way, you begin operating in your gifts more. Fasting and seeking the face of the Father and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through you will bring about an increase in your spiritual gifts. You can stifle them by a lack of faith, and by trying to operate solely out of your flesh. We each operate differently, so just allow the Holy Spirit to flow through you so that you are the vessel for the Lord. Where the student is ready, the teacher will most certainly appear, time and time again.

When you first start using your natural voice, especially after anything detrimental that may have occurred, there was a period where it was shaky and you may have struggled for a bit to find your confidence. The same applies to your spiritual voice. So relax and remember the the enemy cannot steal something that does not belong to Him. Your gifts will make room for you as they belong to the Lord (Proverbs 18:16)! All good gifts come from God (James 1:17)!!! Your voice is a powerful tool that is used to stop the plans of the enemy. Remember that your worship, your prayers, your warfare are all things that the enemy hates. So of course he will do what ever he can do to steal the one thing he knows will stop him – YOUR VOICE! So remember friends, it is the voice that can cause destruction. The Word of God – is alive and sharper than any double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). When it leaves the mouth of the servant of God, it pierces the enemy.

Find your voice today and allow it to rise high into the heavens! You got this! I am rooting for you and praying for you!

Faythe