A Stubborn Spirit

We must not be stubborn as mules.
We must submit our stubborn spirits
to God.

One of the things that I believe is grieving the heart of the Father and the Son is the stubbornness of His people. Too many believers that genuinely love the Lord are restricting their spiritual growth and progress in Christ because they refuse to release and relinquish that spirit of stubbornness. 

This is not pleasing to God. There are areas in all of our lives that require our complete submission and surrender to God. If we do not release this spirit of stubbornness and learn how to completely yield to the Divine will of God for our lives, we're going to miss the blessing that God has prepared for us as His people.

One of the areas for which a stubborn spirit manifests itself is a lack of obedience. The Bible is clear when it says that "all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God" (Romans 3). So we're not talking about a state of sinlessness. What we're talking about is being obedient to the revealed will of God for our lives. 

There are things that God has told some of us to do, and we still haven't done it! And not only have we "not" done it, we "won't" do it. This is not of God. This is a Stubborn Spirit. When God tells you to do something, the appropriate response is "Yes Sir." All this hemming and hawing, and "I don't want to do it"....stop that! As a child of God your responsibility is to be obedient to the will of the Father! End of discussion. Any posture or disposition contrary to that is a stubborn spirit. Now you may have challenges "executing" the Divine Will of God for your life. God has Grace for that (Ephesians 2). But when you make up your mind that you "ain't" gonna do what God tells you to do, that is a Stubborn Spirit and commensurate with Witchcraft (1Samuel 15).

Another area for which a spirit of stubbornness manifests itself is a lack of submission to spiritual leadership. God has placed Spiritual Leadership in place for a reason. It represents the Divine Order and Government of God (Ephesians 4). Therefore, when you refuse to follow the leadership that God has "Sovereignly placed you under", then you're rebelling against the Order of God and demonstrating a stubborn spirit. There's too much rebellion in the Body of Christ. People just want to do their own thing, in the church! This is not the will of God. You don't do your own thing on your job, do you? Well if you do, you certainly shouldn't be doing it in the House of God. People say, "well, I don't agree with the pastor". Your job's not to agree, your job is to submit! (Hebrews 13). "Well what if they're wrong?" Then have enough faith in God to get'em right. But know your place and stay in your lane. We must learn to honor the Leadership that God has given to us rather than to continue to resist it. This is the manifestation of a Stubborn Spirit.

The last area of stubbornness that I'm witnessing in the Body of Christ is the unwillingness to admit when we're wrong. Saints, all of us make mistakes, ALL OF US. None of us get it right 100% of the time. So, be humble enough to admit that you might be wrong. Have a spirit and a posture that is "open" to correction. There are some people that love instruction but hate correction. They love to learn, but hate to be told "they're wrong." Saints, this spirit is not of God. Develop a posture that says you're open to be corrected, even when you think you're right. This way, when God does send you a word that might be "contrary" to your spirit, you won't be so swift to just write it off; but because you know there's a "possibility" that you could be wrong, you might be more apt to consider that what you're receiving is right.

We need deliverance, Saints. There are places God is ready to take us that, to our natural senses and limited spiritual experience, is going to seem wrong. We've got to grow out of this. We've got to make sure that we're open to the "new" that God wants to introduce us to. We have to ensure that we're no longer bound by a stubborn spirit.