Fruit II

 Poverty in the eyes of the world and poverty in the sight of God are two wholly different things. How the world perceives poverty, and how it defines someone as being poor is markedly different than how God defines them. Although in the eyes of the world, someone might be perceived as having reached the heights of success, in reality, they are no more than an empty husk trying to fill the void with excess and self-destructive habits. You don’t gnaw on the wrong end of a double-barreled shotgun out of too much happiness.

The world can look at someone who is well-to-do and conclude that they are rich, while God can look at the same individual and conclude that they are poor, miserable, and wretched. Tragically, it’s not just the world that improperly defines rich and poor, but more often than not, the church does as well.

Among the seven churches of Revelation, there was one who said she was rich and had become wealthy and in need of nothing when what God saw was something miserable, poor, blind, and naked that He was getting ready to spew out of His mouth. Whether the church of Laodicea was just putting on a front or really believed it was rich and wealthy is something the text does not flesh out, but one thing is certain: God saw them as wretched.

The church had adopted the world’s definition of what it is to be rich, and they reveled in their earthly accomplishments. They were rich in material goods and had grown wealthy, yet here God was looking down and passing sentence on them for having abandoned the way of righteousness. If you have to choose between spiritual riches or material ones, the former is preferable to the latter every time.

How you see yourself, assess yourself, and define success is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is how God defines these things. The Laodiceans had stopped looking to God for approval and decided that as long as they approved of each other, it was good enough.

It’s similar to these prophetic roundtables where six or seven guys pat themselves on the back and confirm prophetic mantles for each other. There’s a difference between peer-reviewed callings and God-sanctioned ones.

But brother so and so said I had a prophetic mantle, and I was supposed to be a prophet to the nations, and I prophesied the same over him. But did you ever inquire of the Lord if it was He who spoke these things? Did you ever once consider testing the spirits to see if they were of God, or was the message just too good? I mean, prophet to the nations!

The devil knows your aspirations and the vain desires of your heart. Your singular desire, first and foremost, must be to serve and faithfully obey. He will call you when He needs you, and in such a way that you’ll know it’s him.

If you desire to be a prophet to the nations rather than a servant of God, then the enemy will bring people in your path who will talk you into wasting years of your life chasing something God never intended you to have rather than building up your most holy faith and learning to walk in obedience.

Between people who say they’ve always wanted to prophesy and those who say it was something they never aspired to, I have more respect for those who never actively sought whatever calling they were called to. Yes, the word says we are to desire spiritual gifts, and especially that we might prophesy, but that’s after we’ve come to a place of maturity in our spiritual walk where greater responsibilities can be placed upon our shoulders. A baby does not come out of the womb desiring to run a marathon. When a baby is born, the only thing it’s concerned with is that it gets fed, and if you miss their feeding window, they’ll let you know about it.

If you desire to prophesy over having a relationship with Jesus, you’re in the wrong, and there are no two ways about it. We love to take the verses we like out of context and not consider the message in its entirety. It’s like the guy who shows up for a job interview, and while the interviewer was quick to point out that after a decade of seniority and if they prove their worth to the company, they can make upwards of six figures, all they hear is that they’ll be making six figures. They leave the interview, and for the next month, they’re bragging to anyone who will listen that they’re going to be making six figures a year until they get their first paycheck, and after all the withholding, they barely have enough for a box of Ramen and a bag of Funyuns. That’s when the anger and frustration kick in, wholly targeted toward their employer rather than themselves for not listening to what they were told.

Don’t go bragging to people about how you’re going to be the prophetic voice of your generation and the messenger that will warn the world. It’s not as exciting a calling as it sounds, anyway. Desire a relationship first. Desire obedience first. Desire the presence of God in your life first before you start daydreaming about being a prophet to the nations and ruling with a rod of iron.

Is having the title more important than doing the work? Is being seen by others as a prophet, an apostle, evangelist, pastor, or teacher more important to you than walking in obedience? I’m not trying to pick on anybody. I’m just pointing out the obvious. There are people who live for titles, and then there are people who live to obey. Be one who lives to obey, and you will know what it is to walk in His authority rather than the authority of a particular calling. Yes, there’s a difference.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.