Kent Simpson: "How to Know the Signs from God"

From the desk of Steve Shultz:

God is systematically going through our theology and our lives, rewriting on our hearts and minds many of the false teachings we have believed.

And in many cases, God is simply taking us "BACK to the future," reminding us of the simple instructions He's given to us.

The Church has gotten away from the simplicity of the Gospel and the instructions from God as to how to fight in spiritual warfare.

We cannot continue to fight as the world fights. Love must be key in our battles because our fight is NOT against human beings but against spiritual forces from the devil.

Dig into this article by Kent Simpson and allow your mind to be renewed into the Ways of God!

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"The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from Heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly" (1 Cor. 15:47-48).

Looking at what has happened on Earth in the past, we find evidence that many times a prophetic prelude will show how the natural world is paralleling the spiritual realm, thus the prelude creates a manifesto for the Church. There are valuable prophetic signs to be gained through these natural events. The Holy Scriptures have revealed to us a way to read the signs, forecasting what is ahead of us: "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual" (1 Cor. 15:46).

There have been hundreds of thousands of young men and women who have signed their names on the dotted line to fight in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of them signed up for the opportunity to obtain a higher education or receive an income that they could not make in the civilian world.

Many members of our military found themselves in the midst of something they did not think they had signed up for, yet they served with all that was within them. Still, others signed up just to fight for what they believed in.

As these wars begin to fade away, we can see through our nation's rear-view mirror that very little was accomplished, if anything at all. What we do see is a massive loss of life and property and the demise of our way of life. Pondering the peak of our nation's pain, it is clear that we became highly motivated by anger, fear, vengeance, and greed. All of these emotions were triggered by 9/11.

So what have we learned, and what could we have done differently in order to turn tragedy into a positive mark in our nation's history? Is it possible that we could have handled this event with a heart of love rather than of hate, and had victory without the loss of lives, limbs, and minds? All without sacrificing our best, bravest, and brightest? We now have before us a chance to redirect the destiny of all godly nations in the world. However, we must first look deeper into the sign that has been played out since 2001 in order to properly forecast what direction the Holy Spirit wants to take God's people.

Now, the people of God whose names have been written into the Book of Life are being called up to fight a different kind of war: a spiritual war. When we stood up for Jesus we may have thought we were going to get a free ride. Not so! We are now being called upon to serve in His supernatural force, fighting a much different kind of foe. (Photo via Pixabay)

For many years prior to 9/11, we experienced peace and prosperity. We enjoyed the preaching and being caught up in the praise and worship, and the fellowship at all the potlucks and other such events. Now we are at a place and time where God is calling His people to unify into an army, joined together and empowered by His love. We are already seeing a manifestation of His power. There are signs that reveal we are gaining forces from within through laying down our old traditions and fears and welcoming the Holy Spirit to come in and lead His Church into this new approach to spiritual warfare.

If you are in this movement of God, you can easily see a surge of power being released from the Holy Spirit as it is being poured into the followers of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In the natural, we are seeing a mass exodus from non-spiritual church groups. People are being led by the Holy Spirit into the baptism of Jesus, as spoken of in Acts 19:1-7. Those who have been ministering for a number of years are experiencing a huge increase in miracles, healings, revelations of knowledge, and shocking responses to our prayers.

The Church and its leaders are not the only ones who will be on the front lines in this spiritual war. From the newly born-again child of God, to the oldest and most mature godly leaders, we will be mixing it up with the enemy; however, our weapons are not of this world. Like I have mentioned-this is a new approach to dealing with spiritual warfare. Looking at the errors made in the natural war, we can learn from this sign from God as to how to obtain victory in this spiritual war against our enemies.

In a natural war, you look at everything with your natural eye. It is much different when you are involved in spiritual wars. To be honest, most of the past spiritual battles the Church has been through have not been so successful, and I am about to tell you why. Our enemy cannot be viewed as a human or a nation. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). (Photo via youtube)

There is one reason why so many of the Church's battles never seem to be victorious. Some battles have been over such topics as abortion, same sex marriage, serving in the military, violence on television and video games, and a number of other saber-rattling convictions the Church has cried out against. I could take them one by one and go into great detail, but let me just try to give you the gist of why our methods have not worked.

First and foremost, the greatest problem within the Church is that the mainstream, or majority of the Body of Christ, does not believe anyone can really talk to God and receive a clear answer or direction. This ignorance says to me that many within the mainstream do not believe what is written in the Bible, for everything in the Bible is about hearing God. Without consulting our Heavenly Father about what we should do, someone starts a battle cry against a group or issue. They get the idea that all Christians don't like what is happening in the world and they decide to declare war on their own. If you are not going to seek God for His approval to go to war on an issue, you will always lose!

It's All About the Attitude

The second thing that has kept the Body of Christ from being victors in the eyes of the world and our Heavenly Father is our attitude. The Church should not be the manic macho group that goes around condemning and judging the world. We are NOT called to judge the ways of the world.

Jesus commands His Church, "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven" (Luke 6:36-37). We are not called to judge the world; however, we are to hold those of us in the Church accountable to what is right and just in the eyes of God, according to His word.

"And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world" (John 12:47). It pays to obey the convictions within our heart, even when we do not think we have done anything wrong, for it is the Holy Spirit who is judging us. Therefore, we need to pray the prayer of forgiveness. "When we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" (1 Cor. 11:32).

On the other hand, we are to judge ourselves as well as those who are in the Body of Christ. The protocol for how to judge other Believers is very clear. The Biblical order for having someone's inappropriate lifestyles or heinous actions judged and dealt with can be found in Matthew 18:15-20. There are leaders within the Body of Christ who are anointed and chosen by our Lord, who have the power to make final judgments within the Body of Christ.

Jesus commissioned His disciples in John 20:21-23, "'Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'"

We even see in 1 Timothy 1:15-18 where God empowered leaders who demonstrated their power by enforcing the commandment on Earth as it was declared in Heaven. There are proper settings for governing the Church that is established and ordained by God. There is an order for handling individuals or groups of Believers according to these Scriptures and their examples.

Terrestrial Christians vs. Celestial Christians

ID of a Terrestrial Christian: one who is born-again and saved from eternal damnation and baptized in the baptism of repentance. They have a form of godliness but are "unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power" (2 Tim. 3:3-4). They don't believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or that spiritual gifts are for today. These types of Christians rarely help the Church and seem to enjoy coming against everyone outside of their own congregations.

ID of a Celestial Christian: Christians who have been born-again, saved from eternal damnation, baptized in water, the baptism of repentance (also known as the baptism of John the Baptist). These Christians have also been empowered by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, also known as the baptism of Jesus Christ.

Not all Christians are the same and we are not all equal. How could we think that we all have received from God the same blessings, beauty, intelligence, humor, talents, and even spiritual gifts? Life is not fair and we are not all equal. Although, it sounds good to tell everyone they are all equal, and you have been told at some point that God has no favorites. Then what about King David, a man after God's own heart? His son Solomon, the richest man in the world in his day and forevermore, as recorded in the Bible? What matters to God is what you do with all that He has given you in this life.

You may be living the most horrible life one can imagine. If so, I encourage you to be an overcomer and stretch yourself to do more than anyone expects you to do. Then even God will notice and reward you. We are rewarded by what we do, not by who we are. Your eternal blessing could be the greatest in all of Heaven, depending on what you do with what God gave you while you were on this Earth. Jesus has told us, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given" (Mark 4:24).

You see, it's easy to begin climbing out of your slump, depression, financial problems, health problems, or whatever else is holding you down. All you have to do is pray, hear, and obey. With this one principle you will receive life more abundant, as Jesus promised us in this life as well as in the life to come (see John 10:10b). If you do all that the Lord asks of you, He will continue to reward you even when all others reject you.

"There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory" (1 Cor. 15:40-41).

No matter how small or insignificant you might think of yourself, remember that you are a very important part of God's plan for His Church. If you are a Celestial Christian, you will follow the call of God upon your life and the Church will prosper because of you. The Body is only functioning at 100% when all the members are operating in unity, synced together by the power of God's love for this lost and self-destructing world.

Our Weapons for Spiritual Warfare

Maybe you remember the day in Iraq when our troops and allies entered Baghdad. It was considered a major victory. In the natural realm this would be true. However, looking at the spiritual side, the victory came when our troops tied a cable around the statue of Saddam Hussein and toppled it to the ground. This was a sign from God that we too will be taking down idols and major strongholds that stand against the Son of God. The Holy Spirit is increasing our power and distributing His weapons of warfare to knock down wicked idols, and not just in the natural. He is going to start knocking down idols even in your own homes.

Our weapons are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, the nine spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, and in Romans 12:3-8, which lists various ministries afforded to us to accomplish God's will, to win the battle against the devil who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). We sharpen our weapons and train daily to perfect a LOVE for the lost souls by practicing these nine acts of God, which give us the power of the Holy Spirit to win the sinner. The sinner will always be controlled by the devil and will win in any conflict when you try to use their weapons of warfare. We can never win any battle when we try to use the devil's weapons: anger, vengeance, boasting, fighting, swearing, killing, destroying, mocking, or murdering.

These are the weapons of a Celestial Christian: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law and those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:22-24). With the gifts, power, fruit, and calling upon our individual lives, we can turn this old world back to its rightful owners, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

What Will God Do for You?

We are now going into a new time of life in America, changed forever by the war that began September 11, 2001. Things are going to change even more in the market place, in business, governments, and education. The Church must change too. At present, our Lord has our prophetic elders busy writing a new course of direction for the Church's protocol and code of ethics. In accordance with what the Lord has revealed through His prophets, an effort is being made to revitalize the direction of the Church to protect the Body of Believers and empower the Body to overcome their enemies.

(Stories & Excerpts from Kent's new book, What's Your Angel's Name?)

Kent Simpson, Apostolic Prophet
Prophetic Ministries Today
Email: PMT@propheticministries.org
Website: www.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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