Last week I met a lot of people, established some new acquaintances and friendships and I was so blessed by everyone I had an encounter with, however long or brief. It was a great time to learn and experience new people and the different dimensions in which God is using them. Each hug, each smile, each kind word and trickles of honor was more than I could have ever asked for.
I was intrigued however by the behavior of one in particular who felt the need to tell me how powerful or prophetic she was. I’ve learned from experience and sound mentorship not to engage in baseless competition or conversations so I listened and smiled through my encounters with her which was the whole week. Don’t get me wrong, she seems like a nice lady but I could just see the restlessness in her spirit – all over the place. The grace and gifts of God are not for bragging or showmanship – they are to edify the body, encourage and bless people. Besides, I went to that conference not for anyone but for the audience of Jesus and myself – I went with a hunger and an expectation and I had been prepping my mind, body and spirit to receive and no one was going to distract me from receiving what God had ordained for me to have in that conference.
I immediately sensed some insecurity with this lady because she couldn’t understand the attention and love I was receiving from many people whom I have never met. To confirm what I felt in my spirit about her, she went as far as trying to sow a seed of envy in my best friend, making her feel as if she’s walking in my shadows. I thank God for my best friend because she put this lady in her place immediately. We are not friends, we are sisters who have travailed together since 2008, so imagine someone we meet in just three days trying to make such a negative impact on our friendship – all this after the Lord has given me a remarkable testimony. I rebuked her spirit in the spirit realm and when I do these things, the Holy Spirit immediately shields my spirit from such a person and she can never access anything about me. In other words, I bless God that she says she operates in the prophetic but God will not reveal anything about me to her, because of the heart she’s operating from. Oh yes – we do not claim or brag on what we carry but we have seen Jesus and we know how He deals with us. We are not empty – we carry the atmosphere of Christ.
There was a moment when we were starving so much that we decided to find a home cooked meal and the Indian restaurant seemed like a great place to find such food. This lady, who carpooled with us for the most part declined our choice because she wouldn’t walk into such a restaurant as it did not align with her christian beliefs or impartation she had just received. Respectfully, I honored her choice of restaurant but it was what happened on the way that made the Holy Spirit refer me to Mark 7:1-20. Please read when you get a moment. She was having conversations with other ladies in the car about flirting with a guy in her past life and all, this is just after we had left an atmosphere of impartation which made her decline going into an Indian restaurant to eat but she was comfortable using the same mouth and heart to reflect on a past fling or whatever that was. Well, I guess we all operate from our place of spiritual knowledge because no restaurant will overshadow my atmosphere and I don’t care what statutes they have in there or who they worship. My spiritual atmosphere, which is the atmosphere of Jesus, will always control that space.
Two days later, my best friend and I decided to go and find some food at that Indian restaurant which the lady had declined earlier and do you know what God had planned for us in that restaurant? The owner and his wife literally honored us like we were angels sent by God. The wife insisted on making our food from scratch, gave us a vegetable pattie as we waited and she will then go on and share her life with us and how business is going and all. We talked about God (they are muslims), I learned she has no children and was content if that’s what God wants for her. I asked her a couple of times if she wanted children because I knew the Lord will release unto her anything I asked for her because of the honor she had shown us. Yes, there are people whom the Lord has used us, as simple as we look, to do things in their lives because God had given us the anointing to release it in the moment He authorized us to. She responded that she was content with the life God has given her so I asked God to bless her and her family in anyway they desire according to His will for them. Her countenance and kindness encouraged my friend and I and we left that restaurant feeling like we made a new Indian family.
That, my dear friends and readers, is what the atmosphere of Jesus does. Remember this scripture this week and never again live your Christian life on fear of what you eat or where you are placed. If truly the Holy Spirit is with you, He will always use your presence to create a shift in someone’s life.
Mark 7:20-23 NIV
He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
I pray for you this week that the atmosphere of Jesus will continue to surround your life and speak for you everywhere you go.
XOXO,
Lady Abena.