By Deborah Bell
(Lead Apostle DGAN Global Network and DGFC churches)
The Bible says that the Spirit of God departed from Saul when a spirit of jealousy entered him!
Today the Spirit of God will not depart from a believer when jealousy enters, but that spirit
will blind us and cause us to stumble.
“Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD
tormented him.” – 1 Samuel
We need to be careful that a spirit of jealousy does not take hold of us and put out the
Spirit’s fire on the inside of us!- You don’t want the ‘wrong’ kind of fire to consume you; it
can, if you let the spirit of jealousy in.
Rather the word of God says, that we must be consumed by the presence of the LORD and the deep things of God!
Heb. 12:29 “for our God is a consuming fire.”
There can be much unspoken jealousy in the Body of Christ. Jealousy brings division.
Even Fivefold ministers can struggle with this, but perhaps very few might admit it.
For a simple example, someone gets a promotion in the church before you do. You see it as unfair and it escalates from there.
God has made everything beautiful in its right season so don’t worry, your time will come
when you are ready and the time is right.
The seasons and times belong to God alone.
1. Jealousy is a devouring spirit.
It will feed insecurity.
It is the opposite of faith, because by being jealous of what someone else has, people stop believing in their own destiny that God has purposefully set up for every believer uniquely.
2. Jealousy causes us to envy.
Envy can cause us to covet things that really are not part of our “spiritual makeup”. For
example specific gifts or positions.
Deal with insecurity, deal with issues that cause jealousy get healing and move forward. –
All those things that are meant for us, will come as the Spirit leads in God’s time. Never try
to be something or someone you are not! It will always be a struggle!
3. Jealousy closes us off to God’s truth.
If jealousy is inside of us, it closes us off to truth. We cannot receive from those over us in
the LORD because we will refuse to hear & see them as mentors, but rather we will always be looking to “compete” instead of receiving.
Be sure you are first receiving and standing in agreement with those joined to your
ministry, before you draw off or acknowledge voices on the outside.
When we start acknowledging everyone on the ‘outside’ before those we are joined in
covenant with, and then rarely seem to acknowledge those we are joined to; this is the
start of a jealous spirit which leads to a religious spirit because it causes us to be ‘selective’, picking and choosing what we want to accept or receive including what the Word of God says.
4. Jealousy hardens the heart.
Jealousy has devoured and hardened people’s hearts, it causes them to leave churches, it causes leaders, to fragment, it causes churches to split, because its root is pride and
insecurity.
It distorts perceptions of self and others.
It creates spiritual blindness in not honouring those God has put in our midst to guide and
help us.
We cannot honour those we envy, or are jealous of, it is a paradox! It is a constant struggle.
5. Jealousy is a sign of spiritual immaturity.
Jealousy is a sign of spiritual immaturity because with jealousy we are still seeing things
from a worldly perspective.
When we are are looking from this perspective we see the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ and we
are draw conclusions about how God sees us and loves us from circumstances, not from a point of faith. When we look from a carnal perspective it kills vision.
6. Walk by faith and not by sight.
Being able to receive word, and acknowledge where it comes from is a sign of spiritual
maturity. We must walk by faith and not by sight.
Release it to the LORD, repent, and ask the LORD to give you eyes to see.
Jesus said love one another, and LEARN from each other. The more comfortable we are
with ourselves, the more we desire to give recognition and honour to the LORD and other
people. God will take care of us, there are no favourites!
(Read Acts 5:17 & 1 Cor. 3:3)
Blessings
Apostle Deborah Bell
DGAN Network/DGFC
www.dgfc.org.za
#JustSaying #ILoveDGFC #Grateful #GraftedIn #BelongingWhereAllAreWelcomeAndHolySpiritMoves! #lgbtchristian #affirmingchurch #affirmingapostle