If you are a person that must be liked or approved of by others, you will have to refuse your flesh in order overcome churchianity. If you can answer an emphatic “yes,” to the following statements as conditions of your own flesh, refusal will eventually be in order, if you are going to effectively resist the devil:

• I try to avoid being alone

• I let other people decide what to do.

• I get upset when people don’t include me in their activities;

• I am stressed if I don’t include other people in my plans;

• I am easily led;

• I hate any form of confrontation;

• I can’t stand being left out of things;

• I am emotionally dependent upon people.

So one way to crucify your flesh is by refusing to act out its nature. Besides refusing your former nature without Christ, there are times when you also have to refuse your former perception or understanding as it relates to spiritual and religious matters. In fact, refusal is one of the ways that we cast down our imaginations, and every thought that is contrary to our obedience to the inner leadings of the Holy Ghost.

For example, if you have assumed that God would not allow the enemy to deceive you under any circumstances, to resist the devil that is assigned to you, you will have to refuse every thought connected to this false assumption.

Here is a personal example—just one of many.

It was revealed in 2008, that in 1996, when I founded a church, my decision was not led of the spirit but it was a walk in the flesh, coupled with the leading of a religious fallen angel assigned to me. As is the nature of deception, I personally believed that I was led by God at the time. However, with the discernment and the enlightenment that I have received over time, I can look back now with clear, objective understanding. For what  was confusing and complicated in 1996 is both obvious and simple today.

Consequently, once my eyes were fully opened in 2008, I had to exercise refusal by closing the church doors. It should be pointed out that the Lord did not tell me to close the church. Yet His revelation to me was so clear, that this was the action that must be taken, for if He did not cause me to open this church, it followed that i needed to cut off a bad decision at its root and close it down.

Certainly I had to face strong opposition to closing it. Even though I closed down the building, members continued to attend worship services re-located to my daughter’s home until God opened her eyes as well. So in 2008, doors of the church i founded and pastored for 12 years were permanently shut, never to open again.

The crucial point to observe in this example is that as soon as I took the first step of refusal,  two important events occurred: I resisted the devil and the next revelation followed. The Lord made it quite clear to me that since the enemy was the secret force that led me to start this church in the first place, it logically and spiritually followed that other than my family members, each and every person who played a significant role in its operation was sent by the enemy also.

In 12 years, several people were involved. Out of all of them, today, I have contact with three adults from the former church: My daughter, my son-in-law, and his stepfather. For one by one, even the most committed members were progressively proven to be hypocrites. So my word to people pleasers is simply to “let go and let God!!!”

If you would like to learn more of how to walk in the spirit, help is available. 888-818-1117, getreadyforthelord@gmail.com