Many of us, were told a lot of things, in the years gone by; sometimes, we trusted too much in people. There was a time, when we would have asked ourselves, where did they get all of this information; who gave it to them. We were once taught order. It was well understood, that things in the church, were to be done decently, and also in order. It was in order once, to raise your hand during any sermon, and say, would you mind giving us chapter and verse, for what you just said.

As a youngster, I never knew that some people made up things, as they went along. Or, they preached their own particular interpretation of what they thought the word actually said. When a lot of churches and a lot of preachers, did not agree on the same thing, or see it the same way, we should have realized, that something was out of sync. No one can tell me, that everyone always preached their own personal convictions, as doctrine. Even new and unlearned folk, knew that didn’t seem right; and it wasn’t.

One of the worst things you might have said about someone, in yonder day, was that they were “in the flesh.” It’s because, one of the very first things the Spirit taught, was this verse: “That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit.” Pure and simple; easy to understand. Of course, it was a time, when people were encouraged to grow in the Spirit. We were all eager, to learn more of what the Spirit had to teach us; how He operated. It was a thrill, to see the Holy Ghost work.

It doesn’t take a great deal of discernment, to see that some things, are not of the Spirit. They don’t act like the Spirit, and they do not sound like the Spirit either. They may look and appear like at times, but to the trained ear, it’s not even close. It might sound trite or mundane to some, but you have to be in the Spirit, to know when someone is operating, in the flesh. And it just never occurred to many of us, that some of what we were taught, just came from someone else. We often never really studied it for ourselves.

If some of what we see today, is not from God, then where did it come from. We often made the mistake of thinking, that if it did not come from God, it came from the devil. Too often, not. It came from the flesh . It was men and women, acting on their own. God’s word, does not say what some people say it does; and the Spirit, has too often, not given people, some of the things they say it has. Flesh, or self, doesn’t know the Spirit; and it never will. Only the Spirit, knows our spirit; and only the Spirit, truly knows other spirits. Whatever someone may manifest, where, did it come from.

~ Robert Blackburn

Robert Blackburn