I was watching a video clip from Perry Stone, and he was talking about how he thinks that one of the most troubling sins in America is unbelief. I just started looking at his website, so I can’t say I agree with everything that he says, but I did enjoy this particular message.
I don’t think our sins look any different to God, but I know they look different to humans. For instance, murder does not have the same earthly punishment as lying. Now, he says that unbelief is a sin, but I’m going to take it farther and say that it is a spirit; the spirit of unbelief.
The spirit of unbelief penetrates the surface of our body in a very sneaky way. It usually comes in through the ears from others who are spewing words inspired by these little devils. Once in the body, it travels to the heart. It travels quickly, but what it does when it gets there is a slow process that can lead to death.
It begins to harden a persons heart by building little calluses over the surface. The calluses then grow roots and they take over the entire heart, pushing out Truth and replacing it with lies. The heart is then hardened and quite possibly might never recover.
Yes, I believe the spirit of unbelief is a great threat to America, and to Christians all over the world. Legalism, and discrediting the works of God is one way to let this spirit in. Sometimes, we know more when we know less.
This spirit actually came into me within the last few months, and I didn’t even realize the calluses it was building. For a Christian, we have one antidote, and it’s not penicillin. It’s only our Lord Jesus Christ that can rescue us. His Spirit pushes out the calluses and the demon and renews the mind.
Recently, I said to myself, “I heard from God more, and had more fruit when I had less knowledge.” Think about it! Why do people in third world countries have all the miracles happening? Because they don’t have science, media, and legalistic Christians to shut down the things of God. They simply believe. If someone in their tribe is raised from the dead by a man of God using the name of Jesus, they don’t sit around and debate whether it was a true or false miracle, and if it lines up with scriptures.
God opened the eyes of my heart, and I was able to see clearly how the spirit of unbelief had begun to do its dirty work. I put an end to it, and made some promises to myself (and God).
- I will give no more of my time to blogs, websites, or people that discredit the works of God out of ignorance.
- I will not judge any testimony, sign, wonder, or miracle that points to Jesus, but rather praise God for everything that is from Him.
- I will seek the Spirit of Truth regarding all things, and trust that He who has started a good work will finish it!
So, did I rub some of your calluses the wrong way?
I agree completely with the last three points you made, thats the reason why I stopped visiting some blogs recently. And I will stop visiting some others if they speak ill of the works of God based on the fakes and unbelief of man.
When people dont see results their natural tendency is to blame Gods work. “God does not heal like He once did”, “God does not confirm His word with sign and wonders”….replace that with “You aren’t believing as the disciples once believed”.
One guy asks: “Have you cast out demons?”. Its obvious he hasn’t seen demons being cast out. Has God changed? Have demons changed? Or is it our belief system that has changed?
David says, “Bless the Lord O my soul, who forgives ALL my sins and heals ALL my diseases”. People don’t see that these two have always come together. Look at James 5:14-15, sin and sickness are both included. Isa 53:5 includes them both too. Its the spirit of unbelief…
Oh they will debate doctrine [spiritual healing!]….how many of them have spiritual healing? They hate, they slander, they speak lies…..is that spiritual healing? Do you realize what these guys are doing? They are reducing God to nothing!
Sidharth
Comment Submitted: April 3rd, 2008 at 1:47 am
I don’t think knowledge necessarily hinders faith, but requiring understanding will. We won’t always understand what God is doing. This is why Jesus told us to be like little children — to trust our Father, even if we don’t understand what’s going on.
It’s difficult to maintain that faith / trust, especially when we become adults. Like you said, we have to be careful with what we listen to. Not only do we have to keep doubt out, but we must keep feeding ourselves with God’s promises.
It’s so sad that there are people within the Church who are spreading doubt. These people surely don’t realize what they are doing (if they’re Christians).
Comment Submitted: April 6th, 2008 at 12:10 am