may sometimes lose our strength
and fall to the ground, if standing in
the presence of God. She pointed
out that there were a few occasions
where this happened in Scriptures.
She told me not to fight it but to
just rest in the presence of God and
soon
I would regain my
strength. I had
to lay there
for
about
10 minutes
before
I
began
to
regain
my
strength.
I was quite a
young
believer
when this happened
so for years that
followed I had no concern
when others would fall to the
ground in like manner. No less than
ten years after this happened I had
changed Church to become part
of a charismatic fellowship where
spiritual worship and activities
(like prophecy in tongues with
interpretation etc.) were much
more commonplace and accepted.
As time went on however, some of
these ‘spiritual’ activities became
questionable. Something wasn’t
right. How people were being ‘slain
in the Spirit’ seemed a bit different
from my experience.
I noted that people were falling
after someone, the preacher
maybe, had placed their hand on
their forehead. This didn’t happen
in an isolated case but was in fact
quite fashionable. Everyone was
doing it. What I was seeing did
not fit my experience or any of the
Biblical accounts. To make things
worse, the few times I went forward
to be prayed for ended up with
the minister placing their hand on
my forehead and gently pressing
my head backwards as if to put
me off balance and cause me to
fall backwards. Another few years
would eventually pass with me
struggling to come to grips wi th
what I was seeing and experiencing.
Was there need for concern or
was I being a bit too sensitive?
I was frightened of losing touch
with reality as I saw happening
with others around me, I therefore
decided that I had to differentiate
between that which was real versus
that which was contrived and
performed. Was it the presence
and power of God that was causing
these people to fall over or was
it psychology (people knew they
were expected to fall) with the help
of a gentle push? The distinction
between real and false was
becoming very blurry and for the
sake of my soul and others, I had to
regain clarity.
As I became a minister myself and
began to have more insight into
what was happening I realised
that what used to be the move of
the Holy Spirit was now replaced
with a show, a performance. In an
effort to prove their power and
spirituality insincere men were
putting on a performance to make
it look as if they were moving in the
power of God. Their Churches and
Ministries would expand rapidly as
unsuspecting glory seekers would
flock to them convinced that the
power of God was with them.
By this time I had had enough of this
lie. I experienced being pushed and
saw others who were being pushed.
If one refused to fall over they would
be pushed to the point of having to
take steps back to remain upright.
Church had become a mockery, a
man powered theatre where being
slain in the Spirit along with other
Spiritual experiences were faked
to give a false impression that God
was at work.
I have experienced the genuine.
Over time however, I have seen
the work of the Spirit subtly
overshadowed and blurred by the
works of men. Before anyone could
realise it, the truth was turned
into a lie and was fully accepted.
I understand now how the man
of perdition could infiltrate God’s
people and, without anyone
noticing, fully replace the true
Christ. The Lie, fully accepted and
receiving worship in place of The
Truth.
Give diligence to sharpening
your perception of what is truth
as against what is not. Beware
of blurred lines, be sure that
everything you believe and practice
is clearly and manifestly endorsed
by Scriptures! These are the days of
deception therefore, today, more
than any other time in history, we
must always be ready to boldly
insist that doctrines and acts done
in the name of God be proven from
Scripture before accepting them. p
Further Reading
These are the biblical accounts
of people involuntarily falling
as they encountered heavenly
presence. You will notice that
there was no human contact in
any of these accounts. Daniel
8:17-18 & 10:8-9, John 18:6,
Revelation 1:17 & 1 Kings 8:11
(Though the 1 Kings passage did
not actually mention the priests
involuntarily falling to the ground
most translation says they ‘could
not stand to minister’. It could
mean that the glory of the Lord
took their strength away making
them unable to stand upright.
There was no facility in the
tabernacle for priests to sit and
no doubt Solomon’s temple was
similar. With this in mind I could
imagine the priests without
strength and prostrate before
God as His glory filled the house.)
January - March 2018
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