From the desk of Steve Shultz:
Many of you may remember that I've known Kent Simpson for 23 years now. Not only is he a very accurate prophet, but he's quite the student of the Word of God. And...
...Here is what you're just about to discover... Kent NEVER teaches when he doesn't challenge some of yours and my traditional beliefs about some passage of Scripture. He's totally into the Bible and its inerrant nature. But he will dig into the real meaning, over and over, and you'll be left saying, "Oh, I never thought of it like that before."
Well, with that in mind, you are not going to be disappointed here. Prepare to have your insights into the Written Revealed Word of God Challenged! You're going to love this article!
Bless you!
Steve
Note from Steve: By the way, to have daily, encouraging prophetic emails from The Elijah List sent to your inbox, just CLICK HERE.
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"Angelic Enforcers of Spiritual Law"
Kent Simpson, Gainesville, TX
There are many spiritual laws that affect our lives, just as natural laws affect our physical world. We cannot see the law of gravity, but if we stand under a falling boulder, we will feel its full effect. Spiritual laws, when misused, can have the same aftermath as the law of physics. It does not take faith to cause spiritual laws to manifest in our presence.
The one thing that does differ is that spiritual laws are not controlled by time. The effects, good or bad, can come quickly or take years. On the other hand, nature's laws are time controlled and are more easily understood. This is why it is hard for some Christians to understand why a heathen can seemingly go unpunished. However, Scripture promises that judgment day will eventually come to all.
"Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later. Likewise, the good works of some are clearly evident, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden." 1 Timothy 5:24-25
Another spiritual law that has a profound ability to return to its creator (like a boomerang) is the Law of Judgments. We begin to form judgments which affect our lives from day one. Judgments that we make in life can be good and return blessing back to us, or they can be bad and carry curses. We can make critical judgments of others and are guaranteed to receive the same in return. The criticism we receive usually comes from someone other than the person we have judged. It is also a law within the spirit realm that by the same measure of the infraction, we are guaranteed to have it come back on us in equal force.
Always keep this one spiritual law in your forethoughts before speaking evil about anyone. You are accountable for every word you speak. If you want to stand under the Master's gavel, then foolishly speak evil, and you will experience firsthand the power of His arch angel.
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." Matthew 7:1-2
The Spiritual Law of "Giving"
Something material for something spiritual is also a spiritual law that carries blessings and curses. In this law, we find that it is not 'how much you give' but 'who you give it to' that is important. You can give a psychic a twenty-dollar bill for a reading and receive a curse. On the other hand, you can give to God's ministers and be blessed.
Let us not stop there. We must also understand that this spiritual law is only in effect if the one ministering accepts your monetary gift. Apostle Paul goes into great length explaining to the saints in Corinth about this spiritual law. At the end of his message he robs them of their blessing by not accepting their offering (Ref. 1 Corinthians 9:12).
"Whoever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?" 1 Corinthians 9:7
The boundaries for giving that have been set by many Christians today do not line up with Scripture. In fact, there is a large number of Christians who believe that if you minister, you should do it without any monetary return. It appears that the Church at Corinth, in Apostle Paul's day, had the same problem. This is why he goes into such great length to bring the Church back in line with Scripture. He is basically saying that if one plants wheat, does he not eat of the wheat, or if he raises sheep does he not eat of its meat, or if he has goats does he not drink of their milk?
It costs a lot of money to fight back the spirit of darkness. The cost of publishing, materials, postage, travelling, and Internet expenses are tremendous. The last thing we need is to waste time and finances trying to convince Christians of this spiritual truth.
"Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the (spiritual) law say the same also? For it is written in the Law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope." 1 Corinthians 9:8-10
You do not have to be a prophet (or spiritual) to understand this law of exchange. If you have an ox that labors to grind out the seed for your bread, would you keep all of the grain for yourself? No! Any halfway intelligent person would know that if you do not share the seed of the grain with the oxen, he will starve to death. Then you would not have oxen to tread out the grain for you.
Unfortunately, even at the closing of the 20th century, we still have Christians who want to starve those who are grinding out the Word and revelation of God. Without the bread of life we will become spiritual beggars falling to the ground, dry and hungry for God and His Word. It seems to be no problem for the majority of people to live under the monetary rule of exchange when it comes to receiving food, entertainment and other earthly pleasures. They think nothing of giving their hard-earned money for food, pills or even a movie, but struggle when giving to the ministers of the Gospel.
Some say they cannot trust the ministers with their money. Does this mean they can trust the grocer, the doctor, the lawyer and everyone else but God's ministers? What a minister offers cannot always be seen in the same manner as what you brought home in the grocery bag or the pharmacist's bottle. Do not be fooled by what you cannot see, for what is spiritual is eternal and you cannot purchase it; you can only support it.
"If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the Gospel of Christ." 1 Corinthians 9:11-12
The Bible Does Not Stutter
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you are to give all your tithes to one local church or ministry. What the Bible does say is to give unto God what is rightfully HIS! (Ref. Malachi 3:8). How do you do that? It is easy! If you are receiving revelation from God through a ministry or church, then you have found His Spirit and that is where He wants you to sow your tithes and offerings.
Think about it: if God has chosen to speak to you through that person, do you suppose that this might be where He would want you to give of your material things? If the minister is good enough for God, how much more should we be willing to bless him/her?
"Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel." 1 Corinthians 9:13-14
Here we find another commandment of the Lord that we can obey or disobey. If the Lord has commanded those who preach the Gospel to live from the Gospel, then we need to support those who labor in this Good News. What could be the punishment for not taking care of those who are laboring for God's Word? Have you ever tried to find God after He has hidden Himself so well that you feel abandoned? In the day of the prophet Amos a famine existed, but the famine was not of food or water but of the Word of the Lord (Ref. Amos 8:11-12).
"Your words have been harsh against Me," says the LORD. Yet you say, "What have we spoken against You?" You have said, "It is useless to serve God; what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked as mourners before the LORD of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free." Malachi 3:13-15
The day the Lord had me start asking people to give something of value for a prophecy, seemed to be the same day that I started fighting my flesh and the devil. You see, I was proud and I did not want to be supported by God's people. It made me feel out of control to depend on the people for my needs. I would rather paint houses or work at the grocery store than take money for preaching and prophesying.
I have really experienced the power in this verse of Scripture that says, "It is better to give than to receive" (Ref. Acts 20:35). Believe me, it is much easier to do physical labor and receive a regular paycheck than to earn your wages from spiritual labor.
These attacks are not our battles to fight, because God defends His own. My wife and I have tried very hard to do only what God has told us to do, and that is not always what others want us to do. I asked the Lord over and over again, "Why do we have to ask the people to give in order to receive?"
He has responded many ways, but each time He has not wavered in His reasoning. He once said, "Son, the Gospel is not free; it cost Me My life!" Another time He responded to my plea with these words, "Son if they have nothing invested in the word they receive, it will be worthless to them." On another occasion the Lord said, "The Gospel is not free; it will cost you this life in exchange for life eternal."
One time when I became very stressed over finances the Lord said to me, "Son, do not take this life too seriously, for this is not it!" After hearing the Lord's words so many times, I have learned to become very firm in the way we handle things in this ministry, for it is His ministry we are entrusted with.
Now when we receive hate mail or rebukes for asking for financial support, it just makes me more determined to preach the truth about the spiritual law of giving and receiving. In the exchange of spiritual things for monetary gifts, the devil has worked overtime on a large portion of God's people.
The fact is the Bible is not a book of lies. It fully supports the spiritual law of exchange, although we need to make sure that we are supporting the church or ministry that is producing God's Word and blessings. To 'give' just to be 'giving' does not always produce God's rewards and blessing.
Angels Perform the Will of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the presiding ruler of God's Kingdom on earth and is making judgments daily about who will be rewarded and who will not. If He can trust you to give when He sends an Angel of the Lord (who prompts you to give), then He is faithful to reward you. However, if you have the unction of the Holy Spirit come upon you to give, and you reason away why you shouldn't give, then the Holy Spirit cannot trust you. (Photo by Marybeth Stafford "Fear Not" via elijahshopper.com)
Therefore, you cannot expect Him to bless you just because you have people praying in agreement with you or claiming promises from the Holy Scripture. Blessings only come by the grace of God and your obedience to His desires. The Bible is not some book of incantations where you can just chant whatever you want and expect the Holy Spirit to hop up and down, and do whatever you say. No!
You must establish a relationship with Him that is based upon you doing whatever the Holy Spirit asks of you, before you can expect Him to do something for you. The spiritual laws of exchange go much deeper than just memorizing a few Scriptures from the Bible. It's not about just quoting verses and believing for the promise to come your way if you willing fail to obey the Holy Spirit's request. It might sound odd to you, but the Holy Spirit will even use a heathen to give if He cannot find a loyal Believer.
And that is why you see the Spiritual Law of Exchange working even for those who do not regularly attend church or mention God's name with praises upon their lips. Even a heathen can explain when he has been graced with what he may call a gut feeling, a hunch, or just something inside that simply, "Told me to give, and I did," and he will say, "Here I am, a blessed man."
Pray, Hear and Obey! It is the only way to have the blessing of the Lord move into your life.
"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 28:1-2
Kent Simpson, Prophetic Pastor
Prophetic Ministries Today
Email: PMT@propheticministries.org
Website: propheticministries.org
Kent Simpson is a prophetic pastor and is the founder and senior pastor of Prophetic Ministries Tabernacle – a gathering place for the prophetic people of God to unite for the sole purpose of being used as vessels for the Holy Spirit to speak through. Prophetic Ministries Today is devoted to the truth that Jesus is not dead but alive and He speaks if you have an ear to hear the Spirit. His website is filled with prophetic teachings which will help you understand the process of "hearing" God for yourself as well as others. The Lord wants you to pray, hear, and obey Him because the Holy Spirit is the only One who can truthfully lead you into the abundant life Jesus promised us.
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