Scripture reading: James 4:6
Let me state one thing very clearly: God does not want proud people. If His blessing you is going to make you proud, then God’s blessing would become a curse to you. I have known most of these miracle workers, mighty men of God; and I have seen many of them fall from grace, one by one, because of the very miracles that they have worked. We are called to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our main thrust is the saving of the souls of men. Miracles will come wherever the Gospel is preached as God has promised to send signs and wonders. If, however, the focal point of a ministry is miracles, then that ministry is off-center, and pride generally develops. So then, when the miracles do not come, there will be the temptation to make them happen. If you are looking for miracles, you are in the wrong place; but if you, yourself, are a miracle, then you are in the right place. We are all God’s miracles here. We have no goodness in ourselves. If God should let us go, we would be wretched and awful.
I have seen how God watches over us over the years. I grew up in an environment where violence and machismo were the order of the day. You dared not look like a wimp—they would beat you to a pulp. In this environment, we got to the point where violence became a part of our nature; violence became a part of the soul. When I got saved, Jesus Christ quickened me and delivered me, but I still had spirits of violence which followed me. Spirits, like hound dogs, will follow you year after year. They never give up. However, if you walk with God, He will defeat them.
I have told the story many times of the man who beat upon me, and how by the grace of God I was able to not hit back at him; and how, at that moment of victory, the spirits of violence left me. One might think that they would leave it there, but not so. They contemplate that if they cannot get you there to do active violence, then they will work to get you to be interested in violence, and then to do it by proxy (that is, to watch other people do it). They will make you like the violent sports—boxing, wrestling, etc. They will make you read the newspaper and find news of violence, and you find yourself agreeing or sympathizing with certain violent actions. Like, for instance, the case in the news of the man whose child was abducted by a homosexual man and held for years until the police found them. The father stood by as the police brought the man in with handcuffs. He shot the man dead, right there handcuffed to the police officer. Many people justified the killer and agreed with his violence. There are many stories of this kind daily, and the violence of our time finds many sympathizers among people who think themselves not to be violent. The spirits of violence feed upon the people in this manner.
We are showing to you now more than ever before that God has to cleanse the temple and He is doing it. He is doing it by the hook or by the crook. In this hour, we have no place of hiding—except one; and I am advising you to run into God, because otherwise you are going to be zapped. One way or the other God is going to get you to keep your covenant with Him. You had better run God’s way, rather than to let Him put the whip to your back. He said, “I must have my church without spot, without blemish, without wrinkle, or any such thing” (Ref. Ephesians 5:27). I am being impressed by the Spirit to tell you that we are not talking about tomorrow. We are talking about a PRESENT condition that the people of God must NOW move into God.
(Excerpt from The Omega Message, April 1997, pg. 16-17)
Thought for today: Let God cleanse your temple today, tomorrow, and every day that is to come. It is the only way how you can become part of His glorious church – without spot or wrinkle.
Sonlight Devotional 
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