SPIRITUAL EVALUATIONS

• Signs of the Kingdom, Part XVIII
  Rick Joyner

         Last week we addressed the importance of spiritual evaluations. Like taking an annual physical to evaluate whether our bodies are healthy or not, we should take spiritual evaluations three times a year, like the people in the Old Testament were required to appear before the Lord three times a year. We should not do this too often, since it could lead to self-focus and self-centeredness. However, we should do it often enough to catch potential problems before they become serious ones. 

         Similarly, we need to evaluate the body of believers to which we are joined. As with our spiritual evaluations, people may consider some things more important than others. I will share some points that I think are important, but you are free to esteem other things as more important.

         I consider the following important barometers of spiritual health for a body of believers:

1. Do we have the Lord’s manifest presence? What good is the most glorious temple if the Lord is not in it? If the Lord is in the temple, people will care much more about the Lord than the temple itself, even if it is a great one. Do people leave our gatherings having been drawn closer to the Lord or to the temple, to a particular truth or person, or to something else that may be from God but notGod. It is not wrong for people to be drawn to other things, but nothing should eclipse our devotion to the Lord.

2. Are people being drawn to the Lord on all levels? In a healthy body that is abiding in the Vine, fruit should be sprouting and maturing, new believers should be born again regularly, and all should be maturing in their faith, calling, and relationship to God.

3. Are the members equipped to do the work of the ministry? Are a few doing all the ministry and the rest only spectating? That is not operating according to the Ephesians 4 model. 

4. Are the members being built together as living stones into the temple of the Lord? (see I Peter 2:5) Most church bodies are more like piles of living stones than a house in which the Lord can dwell. If they are not joined together, they can easily be lost or stolen. However, if they have been properly joined, like cemented stones, they will be difficult to separate.

5. Are the people growing in their love for the Lord? The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing, and this is the “main thing” for which we were created. To love God and to bring Him pleasure are the two main reasons for which we were created; therefore, these are the “main things” that determine our success as human beings.

6. Is our love for one another growing? Biology teaches us that when any living thing stops growing, it starts dying. After our love for God, our love for one another is the second most important thing for which we were created. 

7. Do we love the truth? We may want the truth for many reasons other than love (fear, ambition, etc.). However, it is not those who have the truth who will not be deceived in the end times, but those who have “the love of the truth” (see II Thessalonians 2:10).

         Other important things may be added, but it is best not to get too complicated. All the above may be used for our personal spiritual evaluations as well.

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