So many confuse a soulful life for a spiritual life because the outpouring of the soul can match what we think the spiritual life must look like. We will see someone in some state that pours from their soul to their body, and we think it is something spiritual to be admired.
Being soulful is an outward expression for men to see. Being spiritual is an inward expression seen only by God. The result of soulfulness is the praise of men. The result of being spiritual is that all praise is to the Lord Jesus. “…I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!’” (Revelation 19:1 NKJV).
So many seek after spiritual gifts with a fleshly appetite to prop themselves up before others. They will have seemingly good intentions and be convinced they will be honored by both men and God. Yet their motives and their goals prove them wrong and are a hindrance to all God might do through them.
We aren’t supposed to chase spiritual gifts but to walk in them. “So it is with you, since you are so very eager to have spiritual gifts and manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in ways that will build up the church [spiritually]” (1 Corinthians 14:12 AMP).
The devil always counterfeits the authentic in order to deceive the elect. However, often the elect will become so afraid of the counterfeit that they will reject the authentic. What we need to have is an understanding of the authentic that we can separate out and reject only the counterfeit.
We are so afraid to be united to what is wrong that we are separated from what is right. “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10 NKJV).
If we avoid authentic spirituality to avoid errors in our faith, we limit all that the Lord would do through us. We set our boundaries on the natural and set the limits on what we can do. God never intended for the church to operate apart from the Holy Spirit. We were meant to live a spiritually rich life.
Stop organizing the Holy Spirit out of your services. If you never leave room for Him, don’t be surprised when He doesn’t show up. “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. …And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:2,4 NKJV).
Authentic spirituality will be aligned with the Word of God and not be concerned with the traditions of man. It will not rely upon the wisdom of man or the power within oneself but the divine inspiration and outpouring of power from heaven.
Don’t preach to be popular lest the power of God be diluted by the opinions of man. Jesus schooled the religious of His day, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition …making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down” (Mark 7:9,13 NKJV).
Authentic spirituality will never promote the person but the Lord to whom they serve. It will be more concerned with honoring God than being honored by men. It will be more interested in living doctrines than arguing over them with others who only debate to puff up their pride in parading about their knowledge.
When you promote yourself, you demote yourself, in all that God might do through you. “Whoever exalts himself [with haughtiness and empty pride] shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be raised to honor” (Matthew 23:12 AMPC).
Authentic spirituality does not seek gifts to be displayed before men but seeks to serve in however the Lord would use them. To the degree you want to be seen by men, the Holy Spirit is not effectively working in you. It takes a surrendered person for the Lord to be victorious through them.
The greater your surrender to Christ, the greater His victory will be in you. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20 NKJV).
Authentic spirituality waits for God and listens for all He will say. It doesn’t rely on the power of man but seeks the provisions that come from heaven. It doesn’t look at the natural limits but trusts in the spiritual abundance, which has no end.
Scarcity is a natural problem, whereas abundance is a spiritual reality. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8 NKJV).
Authentic spirituality knows that the real power is in prayer because it is in prayer that we reach into the resources of heaven. The highest peak in the life of authentic spirituality is kneeling low in private and speaking humbly with the Father.
When you have nothing but a prayer, you have everything that you need. “Yahweh is near to everyone who prays to him, to every faithful person who prays to him. He fills the needs of those who fear him. He hears their cries for help and saves them” (Psalm 145:18-19 NOG).
You can have an authentic spiritual life if only you would ask Him. When you ask Him for something He wants, be sure He will most certainly give it to you. He can take you higher as much as you are willing to go lower before Him in humility and adoration for who He is.
If the prayer is right, the answer is coming. “You ask [God for something] and do not receive it, because you ask with wrong motives [out of selfishness or with an unrighteous agenda], so that [when you get what you want] you may spend it on your [hedonistic] desires” (James 4:3 AMP).
Blessings to you,
Paul Balius