Let’s face it, we do stupid stuff. We all make senseless mistakes. I believe one of the marks of Kingdom people will be those who use their mistakes as an academic proving ground. They come away from bad experiences with some good stuff.
You need to pay attention to your past. There are vital lessons that I believe God wants us to know. You also need to learn how to rebuke the fool that is inside of you. The carnal you that wants to do whatever it wants to do no matter what. The fool inside of us (and we all have one) thinks that it’s right all the time. Newsflash—nobody is right all the time. We need each other and we need to stay before the throne of God.
If we are not humble, we will not hear what God is trying to tell us. Sensitivity before God is very important. We all will make mistakes—that’s inevitable. We will do things that are wrong because of our attitude, lack of spirituality, fear and insecurities—that’s unfortunate. But the good news is we can recover. We can be foolish but we don’t have to be a fool. Everybody plays the fool—sometimes.
I have found that God’s power works and that His favor is real. If you follow God’s plan long enough, you will inevitably end up being successful. Psalm 84:11:
“…no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Success will happen. With success, there are more things you must deal with—things you did not have to deal with before. The new success environment presents new challenges: temptation in the areas of pride, money, power, lust and the companions to all.
The more successful you become, the more of a “fight” you have to put up to maintain your focus on what God called you to do. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, He had been baptized by John and was fasting. That was a temptation that dealt with being successful.
Don’t let the success of your ministry change you. Have you ever seen people promoted to supervisor on their job and they become a very different person? You cannot let money, power or even a promotion change who you are.
There are changes and adjustments that you need to make at the new level. It should not affect your level of spirituality, your humility or drive. Many people reach a certain degree of success then fall apart. God did not do it. The individuals did it to themselves.
Take the challenge, embrace God’s promotion, but understand that new levels bring new devils. Every time you get ready to shift into a new dimension just know that the devil is not far behind. Just as he was watching Jesus, he will be watching you.
A chapter from “Possessing the Kingdom Anointing” by Lyle Dukes, pgs. 96-97
