Below is a message Holy Spirit brought to me for my own life close to 9 years ago. It took close to a year for Holy Spirit to wear down a very prideful and stubborn heart in me. Thus it took time for me to realize the message was intended for, me! Once I realized it and confessed my secret sins to Him, I was led into a season of personal reflection on my whole life.
During this time (close to a year), the enemy took full advantage of the roots of rejection, bitterness, and unforgiveness that he had planted in my life from a young age, to torment me with a mountain load of shame and guilt. I was literally walking through a spiritual wilderness that I found was etched into my life, a divide between my past, the present, and the future.
Notice I said the enemy, not the LORD.
In reality, this was a divine intervention from Holy Spirit. As my reputation as a preacher was growing, my inner world was falling apart. I had become a master of living two lives – Righteous in public (self-righteous) yet leading a very dark life of personal sin-filled deception in secret.
I attempted to use all the “religious” weapons I had learned, yet they had little effect on staving off the devil’s attacks against me. This was especially true in regard to seeing what the Father’s loving heart opinion of me was. In fact, the spirit of religion was my main tormentor.
Then, it was several months after having laid everything on the altar, that I had a powerful life-changing Spiritual encounter with Him in a little Inn in Saluda North Carolina…..I came out of that encounter with absolutely zero doubts as to the Father’s love for me.
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Then Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory now to the LORD God of Israel and give him praise; and tell me now what thou hast done; do not hide it from me. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. (Joshua 7:19-21,JUB)
It is one of the trappings of a prideful heart, to desire fame and fortune over intimacy with the Lord. For such are the snares of the devil, who seeks to defraud the faith community by allowing you to advance in the kingdom while living in sin so that when you fall, not only will your life will be destroyed, but also the lives of those who are connected to you, from your family to a whole congregation.
He loves to cause as much damage as possible, so the more successful you become while living in secret sin, the more damage you will cause to yourself and those connected to you. If you fall from a footstool, you will likely not die. However, if you fall from a highrise building, you will meet a tragic fate. Take heed, the longer you keep hidden your gold, silver, and Babylonian lifestyle, the more it will hurt you and the people around you.
Just because miracles may be happening through you and or your ministry, just because you have crowds gathering at your meetings or you lead a large church, none of these represent the favor of God in your life, if you have secret sins in private. They are momentary trinkets of the deceiver.
Let us remember what the Lord said:
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in the heavens. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-23, JUB)
It is not the works we do that are pleasing to the Lord, it is the position of our hearts. For he who has clean hands (free of sin) and a pure heart (unto God alone) can ascend unto His throne room (Psalm 24:4-5).
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I felt led by Holy Spirit to share this today as I know there are some out there that need the hope this story contains. It is part of my story yet not mine alone. It is the story also of the Father’s love and how Holy Spirit graciously spared me from what could have been a fateful end. That two-minute encounter with Jesus back 0n March 28, 2016, was as real as the air we breathe. Thus it is a weapon to the enemy as well (Rev 12:11).
Let us confess our sins before the Lord today, asking Holy Spirit to remove everything that is not of the Father’s will in our lives so that we may in all we do and say bring Glory to His Holy Name (Psalm 51:10-17).
~Russ G. Welch
A.K.A. WindWalker
Radical Disciples - A Remnant Revolution 