SPIRITUAL TRACTION

“You enlarged my path under me; so my feet did not slip.” 2 Sam 22:37

In approaching the Isaiah 60 shift-of-all-ages, there has come a manifestation of seducing, lying religious spirits. The potency resulting from the distraction, confusion and uncertainty they generate is masking realities on which major Kingdom decisions are being made.

The impact is assailing many modern-day Josephs and Daniels at the point when strategic agendas are being released. The result is "choking up," "stalling out" and creating slippage of these efforts. Those with callings tied to the creation of resources seem to be especially targeted. Restoring the momentum, which in some cases follows extremely long-term efforts, will require the release of “something more, “ a dimension extending beyond natural abilities and human effort.

Long before becoming king, against all odds, David challenged and defeated the giant Goliath. In so doing, David stepped into a realm beyond his natural abilities. With his life and the future of Israel on the line, David entered an arena of oneness with the Lord that pierced the spiritual veil. He turned what seemed a hopeless situation into a gateway of opportunity for all of Israel, as well as himself.

Years later, after many feats in battle as king, in 2 Samuel 21:15 David and his men were again fighting giants among the Philistines. During one particular clash, the scripture tells us that David grew faint with one of the sons of the giants moving in to kill him. At that critical point, Abishai came to David’s aid, killing the Philistine giant. Then David’s men admonished him, saying, "You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."

In this encounter, David was enticed into presuming on the success he had previously wielded against the Philistines. He overlooked getting his direction and strategy afresh from the Lord. The result was that he was overwhelmed and apart from the valiant intervention of Abishai, his future as king, along with Israel’s destiny would have been short-circuited.

The Seduction
Religious spirits specialize in infiltrating the ranks of the successful among God’s people to undermine and derail. Their modus operandi carries a potent seductiveness. They impersonate and mimic the Spirit’s intentions, but like David’s near fatal skirmish with the giants, they provoke myopic exertions that divert, counterfeit and fall short of the Spirit’s big-picture intentions.

The current plague of distracting religious spirits appeals to a “purist” expectation of perfection, when reality calls for simplicity and movement, which will bring forth the alignment required for the impending birthing.

Sophisticated Snares
The schemes that entrap, trip up and create slippage to those stewarding strategic agendas are subtle. They mask an almost indiscernible fine line between soul and Spirit. The seduction of the soul in these instances goes beyond basic issues of righteousness, targeting the wisdom needed to clearly discern the Spirit’s guidance.

At the forefront of these schemes are obsessive principles, positional pride, fear of humiliation and illusions of reality. In short, religious spirits bring distortion and perversion into what should otherwise be strengths within a mature believer.

One of my primary mentors used to say that if the devil can't entice you to become lukewarm; he'll get you so red-hot that you're no earthly good. Either way, you've slipped off the narrow path. The quest we each spend a lifetime developing, of doing the right thing right, can become an obsession that distorts ones balance and perceptions in a way that results in “ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of truth.”

A man I worked with some years ago embraced some of the highest principles I have ever seen. Together with his sense of excellence, he demonstrated, through his ministry, a dimension of biblical operations few have ever broached. Yet, the extreme nature of his principles was accompanied by an equal level of blind spots that eventually began undermining the core and essence of the significant impact he had developed. The scheme is one of being entrapped in a delusion of self-righteousness, as was evidenced by the oppressive mandates of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.
“Hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” Matt 23:14

Overlapping this stratagem is one reflected by a ministry associate I heard described as belonging to a "tribe of peacocks." The description of this "tribe" of leaders reflected ones "who have been groomed to be peacocks; and when they come out ‘among us,’ they preen themselves to display their peacock splendor; and in so doing let you know that they deserve to be peacocks." This ministry associate is incredibly accomplished in the work of his calling. However this perversion of positional pride represents a serious weakness in the infrastructure of his accomplishments. The seduction is in “thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought.”
“Then I will take away those who rejoice in pride and I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.”
Zeph 3:11-12

Strongly related to these snares is the fear of humiliation. This devious fear creates behavior that distorts and destabilizes the foundations of what might otherwise become a great work for the Lord. At its center is the concern with the approval of men rather than giving prime focus to God’s approval. True humility is based on one flowing within a foundation of it “no longer being us, but Christ who lives within us.” Avoiding this subtle scheme represents a deep and abiding trust in the Lord.
“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.” John 7:18-19

Obsessive principles, positional pride and fear of humiliation are each examples of diabolical traps used to seduce the soul of the mature. Jesus warned that in the last days, the enemy’s schemes would be designed to deceive even the very elect. They entail pushing what is good to extremes and making it perverse. Applied against ones wielding the mantles birthing strategic agendas, they involve riding the wave of past successes; creating increasingly greater pressures against the soul, until the mind and emotions are overwhelmed.

These and other such schemes lead into distortions of reality that gradually diminish the operation of the Spirit because of being overwhelmed. The result is in crossing a fine line into being dominated by the subtle entrapments of the soul.

Just as maturity is progressive, so stewarding the mantle of one’s calling evolves with the bar becoming increasingly higher. The narrow path of the Kingdom takes its practitioners into new levels, as the Spirit leads from faith to faith. It is at these transitions that the impossible become possible. However, these transitions will not succeed through increasing the complexities of human effort or the repetition of past achievements, but by the simplicity defined by the order demonstrated by the Spirit.

Approaching the Gateway
The approach to these new levels will contain a unique “key” or strategy from the Lord; designed not only to open the gateway, but meant to sustain the next level of the pathway. Obtaining this key will require the fine-line discerning and avoidance of the enticements, along with clarity in ascertaining the Lord’s strategy.

Not unlike the exhaustion and sense of being overwhelmed that hit David at a critical point in his effort against the son of the Philistine giant, so today many of the ones entrusted with vital initiatives are facing weariness in their well-doing. Preventing the sense of being overwhelmed calls for a special wisdom the Lord spoke to me many years ago: "Whatever sphere you begin walking into; immediately begin looking beyond it, lest it overwhelm you."

New arenas demand something fresh and something more, to not only navigate the transition, but to eventually sustain "the new thing." The crucible for release will entail an approach that has already begun reaching beyond the challenges at hand.

In the passageway from faith to faith, just repeating what worked in the past may prove to be a snare. In Jesus’ earthly ministry, there was a progressive nature to the miracles He performed in raising the dead. From the daughter of the ruler who had just died, to Lazarus who had been buried four days, to His own resurrection, each reflected a unique response along with an increase of its link to the Spirit’s power.

Careful discerning of spiritual cycles provides wisdom for avoiding these traps. As there are cycles in the times and seasons, so there are cycles in the realm of the spirit. Defining the boundaries of ones calling within the parameters of the spiritual cycle will release an authority that moves mountains.

The reality is that those with the callings of modern-day Josephs and Daniels need to be operating beyond themselves. Yet too often the inclination, like David’s near-fatal encounter with the son of the giant, is to be snagged on the wrong side of the "dividing asunder between soul and spirit." That’s not to suggest a backslidden state, but rather an increasingly higher standard, along with the need for realistic priorities and balance to release God’s intervention. It calls for spiritual traction that conforms with the progressive nature of our callings from faith to faith.

Penetrating the Threshold
The sophistication of the devil’s schemes against the mature will be outclassed by God’s supernatural strategies. However, that supernatural dimension will only manifest by what was begun in the spirit seeing its conclusion being brought about by the Spirit, rather than by human effort. This means reestablishing the spiritual traction needed to pierce the veil in the realm of the spirit.

Deuteronomy 17: 18-20 represents apt guidance needed for leaders and those entrusted with high-level agendas. It tells us that the one who sits on the throne, the one wielding God’s authority, must copy for himself the words in the Scripture. He must keep this copy of the Word close at hand and read it daily as long as he lives. It’s not a head-thing. It’s a practice that brings the soul into subjection to the spirit. Tradition holds that the original requirement for the rulers of Israel was to memorize the Books of Moses.

Those anointed, called and entrusted with Joseph-Daniel agendas can do no less. Memorizing and rehearsing key segments of God’s Word represents the catalyst that will bridge the gap of the well-intentioned operation of the soul to release the fire of the supernatural power of the Spirit.

It is the brand mark of those anointed to be priestly-kings. Its practice differentiated those kings who would be remembered for good in the generations to come from those who fell short. It is the foundation to the subtle distinction between what we try to do for God and what He allows us to do through Him. It reflects a constant inquiring of the Lord, along with the practice of consecration and a willingness to wait upon the Lord before traction is gained into the new levels of the pathway.
“You’ve not passed this way before, so consecrate yourselves, for the Lord is about to do wonders among you.” Joshua 3:5

This pathway takes a special measure of anointed, Word-washed self control combined with obedient faith to bypass the sophisticated schemes and distance its practitioners from the illusions of reality planted by the enemy of our souls.
“Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Rom 12:2

Word-washed self control maintains the fine-line pathway between soul and spirit which displays the reality of God operating in our midst that the world longs to see. It is the radar in the spiritual guidance system designed to alert and evade the seductive entrapments of the soul bearing on past victories; impulses that play into the devil’s array of sophisticated schemes; preliminary impressions of the heart that haven’t been sufficiently prayed through; or simply giving heed to perceptions that play into soul-level feelings and ego.

David’s encounter with the son of the giant followed all the confusion and disorder of Absalom’s unsuccessful overthrow of his throne. David was still overwhelmed and falling short of the mantle of his calling. The skirmish bordered so closely on losing it all for all Israel that his men rightly counseled him on the current priorities of his kingship. The result was the “something more” that pierced the spiritual veil to regain the focus for what lay ahead. From David’s response of a listening and humble heart, came repentance and the spiritual traction that released him into the final steps whereby the throne of David was to become a light to the nations and the one on which the Messiah will reign over His Kingdom.
“You are my lamp, O LORD. The LORD will enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in him.”
2 Sam 22:29-31

SPIRITUAL TRACTION © Morris E. Ruddick