DEMONSTRATION- Underground Leadership Training

When our Underground group finished our 'Leadership Principles of the Holy Spirit' teachings with Pastor Rocky we decided to divide up our key topics and each write a blog on them. Since I put this together I got whatever was left over. However, three months later as I am sitting down to write this blog I see that it was no mistake that I ended up with this word.

At first thought, most of us have a basic understanding of what DEMONSTRATION means. I think of someone standing up giving and example of how to do something. The definition is, 'Something that proves or makes evident'. I could have written a decent blog based on this one angle of the word, but I wanted more. I wanted to say something more meaningful. As I continued readying I came across this definition, 'the action or process of showing the existence or truth of something by giving proof or evidence'. While readying, I began to feel the importance of this topic in terms of the Holy Spirit and the type of character He has called His leaders to.

Individually and corporately we, the body of Christ, are the DEMONSTRATION of who Jesus is. If we equal DEMONSTRATION, then our lives and actions are what shows the world the existence or truth of Jesus. This is a costly responsibility and unfortunately judging by the state of the body of Christ is is not a principle that we truly understand. It's not enough to understand something with your mind, you must also know something in your heart, to be effective. I took a step back today and really inspect if I know this with my heart.

I wish a line could be drawn separating those who have chosen to live a life that DEMONSTRATES who Jesus is from those who do not chose to. However, no matter where you are at today you are a living DEMONSTRATION of who Jesus is. So if you are like me you will take a time out and consider what exactly you are demonstrating. Is is a fleshly lifestyle, is a selfish, judgmental or overly-religious attitude? If we are honest with ourselves most of us are not properly DEMONSTRATING the nature of Jesus Christ.

We are called to be the mirror that reflects Jesus to the world. A mirror is never the exact true image. There are always scratches, smears, and slight distortions because we are not called to be perfect. However, we are called to SEEK the character of God for our own lives. When we seek His nature, it will become part of us, it'll be something that transfers from our head to our heart and then and only then will we be DEMONSTRATING a true picture of Jesus.

We are called to greatness in Him. It's time that we stand up to the challenge, pick up our cross and follow Him! Jesus doesn't expect more than we are capable of but He won't stand for our laziness and lack of respect! So if you are like me and you realize that some area's need to be tweaked, then stop and take an inventory of your heart. Ask Jesus to forgive you and get back to it!

-Rachel Veach

INSTRUCTION - Underground Leadership Training

Instruction: to teach, to educate, and to instruct. There are many ways that the Spirit of God is a Spirit of instruction. Of course, number one, the Holy Spirit is the Chief Instructor. God also uses many men and woman of God to speak into and give instruction in our lives.

First, we have the Holy Spirit. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit it is like getting a download of information from your own personal professor. He will not only teach, lead, and guide you through everyday decisions, but He will help to reveal the written word of God in your life. The Holy Spirit is the still small voice that will say turn here or go there, often saving us from some sort of calamity.

One obvious way that God uses His Holy Spirit to speak to you, is through your local pastor. God has placed these men in our lives to be able to teach us His word and implement it into our lives. One thing we must remember is that an instructor can stand there and talk all day long and it can be amazing revelation but it will not take root in our hearts unless we choose to be teachable. If we are not coming to church willing and expecting for God to speak into our lives then it is like trying to take a drink from a bottle with the lid still on. You can't drink just like your heart can't receive revelation knowledge. Your pastor is there willing to teach but you have to be preparied and ready to learn. Think of it like school, in order to learn you are required to participate on some level.  If the student is to understand what is being taught he or she must have their books, pens, and papers ready!

Another way that God uses his Spirit to instruct us is through His prophets. Many times God will speak into your life and situation by sending His prophet to speak a word of knowledge, instruction or confirmation. Instruction is not always what we want to hear and is often challenging. God is usually asking us to do something that we don't want to do. Sometimes it may seem easy to hear instruction until you are required to DO. God always has a plan and purpose for what He asks of us. Prophets will often times speak something seemingly cutting or abrasive over you, but you must be willing to open your heart to Jesus and accept instruction and do whatever God is asking of you.

No matter what form or way God uses to send instruction into your life you have to be willing to receive it. Instruction requires action. We can no longer sit back and just listen in class we have to put things into action. God wants to teach and lead us but we must take the steps to follow him.

Justin Duncan

COMMUNION - Underground Leadership Training

Spirit of Communion:

God intimately associating with you.
“The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.] Judas, not Iscariot, asked Him, Lord, how is it that You will reveal Yourself [make Yourself real] to us and not to the world? Jesus answered, If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him.”        (John 14:21-23 Amp)

“Come close to God and He will come close to you.” (James 4:8 Amp)

Communion translated in greek is skenoo (skay-no'-o) meaning: to tent or encamp, i.e. (figuratively) to occupy (as a mansion) or (specially), to reside (as God did in the Tabernacle of old, a symbol of protection and communion):-- dwell.

As communion is translated, we see, it is a continual, not just momentary.  A tent is a physical dwelling place that we reside in and must be continually seeking God to obtain.  It isn’t one sided and cannot happen unless two(or more) parties participate.  I know I want God to make His home/abode in me.  I want Him to have a special dwelling place in me, with me.  I must first make my home in Him, continually dwelling in Him and in the Spirit. 

When I think of the lyrics from the song, Wrap Me In Your Arms I think of communion.

“Take me to that place Lord
To that secret place where
I can be with You
You can make me like You”

We are all capable of having a secret place with God, a place of communion, where we are made like Him.  Look at how Enoch walked in habitual fellowship or communion with God and where it led him.

“And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him].”                  
(Genesis 5:24 Amp)

While we are on this earth, let’s make it a habit to continually commune with our awesome God, so we may spend eternity with Him. 

Lisa Duncan

CONSOLATION - Underground Leadership Training

Ps 46:1-3 –God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah

Heb  13:5-6 – Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Jn 14:16-18 & 26-27  –And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 

26But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Jn 15:26-27  – But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

 Jn 16:7 - 7Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 

Have you ever felt lonely, overwhelmed, worried, anxious or afraid?  I know I have experienced each of these to the point where I didn’t feel like I couldn’t handle any more.  These experiences in my life remind me of Hosea 4:6 where it says, ‘My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge’, and for many years of my life, though I was not ‘destroyed’ I lived quite defeated because of a lack of knowledge about what I would like to present to you today.

In 2 Cor. 2:11, the apostle Paul uses the statement ‘… lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices’.  This phrase helps us by way of reminder that our enemy in this life, Satan, seeks to keep us ignorant for the purpose of taking advantage of us, and the primary place he seeks to keep us ignorant is in knowing who our God is.  But thank God, He gives us His word so that we can know who He is, and if that isn’t enough He has made it so that His very own Spirit dwells in us!

One of the roles the Holy Spirit plays in our lives, that reveals the Father, is that He is a comforter (see John chapter 14-16), or in other words the Spirit of consolation.  Consolation is to comfort, and as some translations say ‘Helper’ instead of ‘Comforter’, so they are one in the same.  I want you to notice some recurring thoughts that are included in our scripture references above:  Comforter/Helper, the picture of God with us or being present, and a call to not fear or worry.  This is the role of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Consolation.  

Starting with Adam and Eve, when sin entered this world, there became a separation between God and man, and with it fear.  Then Jesus came to earth and was ‘Emmanuel’, God with us.  So we can imagine that when He is telling them He must go away to be with the Father, the normal reaction was to again fear.  However, as Jesus told them, in God’s plan it was better that He go away to the Father, so that the Holy Spirit could come to us and be with us all.  Therefore, Jesus encourages us that there is no need to fear, because the Holy Spirit is with us and He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13)!

God has used this truth in amazing ways in the last few months to help me with those areas of struggle I mentioned above.  In my life there were a number of factors that the enemy would repeatedly use in my life to make me feel isolated, lonely, overwhelmed and afraid, and though I knew about many of these truths from the word about the Holy Spirits role, there were place I needed to apply and believe this truth that God is with me!  

Did you know that one of the covenant, redemptive names of God is ‘Jehovah-Shammah’?  Jehovah-Shammah means the Lord is present, this is a truth just as much as God is love and some of the other more talked about and widely accepted descriptions of God.  God is present!!  That is why we do not need to be anxious, worry, fear, be overwhelmed, or feel lonely… God is present with us in the person of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Consolation!

I’ll close by briefly sharing a personal story.  For the longest time I would encounter cycles in my life where certain circumstances would mount up together, and I would be overcome by strong feelings of anxiousness and feel helpless, hopeless, and alone.  This went on and on since I was a young teenager, so needless to say every time it would be more and more discouraging feeling like it would never change.  Then in January the Lord revealed to me that there was a spirit of loneliness that the enemy was using against me, and what I mean by that is there was a spiritual attack the enemy was using normal everyday situations to mount up in ways to where I would view things improperly and feel the ways I mentioned before.  This revelation was the breakthrough I needed all these years, and it was the revelation of the Spirit of Consolation, my very present Helper!  

Since then I have been able to overcome what I now recognize as a trap, by remembering that God is with me, He is the Spirit of comfort and consolation.  And He is the same for you too!
 
Blessings to you In Him,

Nate Wilda

CONFIRMATION - Underground Leadership Training

When talking about salvation and “winning souls” the focus tends to be on getting the potential someone to pray the prayer of salvation for the bible says “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 However, I believe sometimes we can prematurely convince or pressure people to say the prayer of salvation in a way that lacks genuine confession instead of giving God the time to witness or confirm with that person’s spirit.

In essence I feel like sometimes we try too hard and in doing so, we halt the natural work that God is already doing. I personally believe we need to focus less on the “confess with your mouth” and more on the “believe in your heart.” You might say “Well Matt, we don’t know what’s in a person’s heart, and whether they believe in their heart is between them and God”, which is true, but there are things we can do as believers to give God an avenue to do a work in someone’s heart. This is where confirmation comes into play.

Confirmation can also mean to validate, reinforce, witness, and testify. I truly believe that we cannot be saved until God confirms or witnesses to our spirit that He is in fact God. The first day I attended Connections my life turned around because God confirmed with my spirit through the prophetic words of Pastor Rocky that he knows who I am, he knows my struggles, and has an awesome plan for my life. What happened to me is illustrated in 1 Cor. 14:24-25 “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.”

When I believe for someone’s salvation I don’t pray that I will have the courage or opportunity to ask them if they want to accept Christ as their savior, but I pray that God would confirm with their spirit as He did mine, and I envision them experiencing the same thing I did when God bore witness with my spirit. I look at ways to get the person to a similar environment where God can reveal the secrets of their heart and leave them no choice but to be filled with repentance and excitement because God has a wondrous journey in store for them.

Matt Marino