I was raised in a particular denomination that tries to keep an old anointing alive. They built an entire denomination on the belief that there is only one way to prove that you are filled with the Spirit.

However, this cannot be an accurate belief, because I see people who don't do that particular thing pray for the sick, and the sick are healed. If these people of faith aren't truly filled with the Spirit, then who healed the sick people--the devil?

How do you know when you are trying to keep an old anointing alive? Simply, you can tell when you find yourself thinking that you are as far in the Spirit as you can go. If you have fallen into this trap, then you assume things such as: "There is no higher plane than where I am today. This is the epitome of what God can do! I am the prime example of the perfect Christian life."

Revival Killer
Every revival ends because of this belief. It is subtle, yet once it's planted, it's hard to remove. "This is the epitome of what God can do!" is rooted in two things: a narrow mindset, which firmly believes that God can be contained, and pride. Instead, when we experience great things in God, we should say, "This is the mere threshold to a whole new adventure in what God wants to do!"

Allowing the Adventure to Happen
We have to change our thought processes. We have to stop limiting God. Yes, this might be the grandest experience we've ever had, but it surely isn't all that God can do.

However, each of us has a hard time with this admission, and great men and women of God have built denominations on what they thought was the root of Christianity. When we have this mindset and God goes beyond the boundaries we have set, we don't advance in His plan because we are trying to keep the old anointing alive. When we do this, we are agreeing with the Pharisees: "The old wine skin is good enough. This is supposed to be new wine? It couldn't be! It's too bitter to really be wine! It's not as sweet as what we have!"

This could happen to anyone. It could happen in my church, and it could happen in yours. God could move, and we could think, This is all there is. The buck stops here.

I don't want God to move in my church and for us to say, "We have arrived!" I don't want that to happen! I am praying that God moves, and I am also praying that we will have the heart and mind to not say, "This is all there is. Everybody should come here because we have it and nobody else does." What a tragedy that would be!

Stop Cutting God Short
Whatever God chooses to do in my life and in yours, it will be at the threshold--and only the threshold--of what He could do! It is the entry point. How we respond will determine what He is going to do in the future. We don't want to cut Him short because we thought we had the best.

From a slightly different perspective, when you are having your quiet time with Jesus, don't assume that you've gone as far as you can go. God is always so much more, and no matter how far we go in Him--the roads we travel, the heights we traverse--we will have only scratched the surface. And that is the true adventure.

John Paul Jackson
Streams Ministries International
www.streamsministries.com
Email: information@streamsministries.com

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