WHO DO MEN SAY I AM?

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13-16)

I know some of you have been in relationship that you thought ended on a good note.  One or both of you decided that the relationship should end, but at the end you were still civil to each other.  At least that's what you thought.  I'm not sure what it is that goes through the minds of some but, breaking up some how shifts them into thinking that you are like their last girl friend that slashed their tires, showed up wherever they were, and threw eggs at their windshield.  The person kind of begins to treat you like you're that girl.  You end up thinking it's you or that you've done something wrong.  The reality is you've never shown any signs of that behavior and thought you could still have a civil relationship.  After all, you both are adults and christians. 

I thought it rather odd that a christian man would exhibit these characteristics and treat a woman of God worse than a man who does not know God or profess to be a seasoned christian.  They walk by you in church and won't speak, can't bring themselves to pray for you, you reach out to ask a question about a scripture and they won't respond.  My first response was, "what kind of demon is this?"  Okay, I know some of you have probably encountered this behavior.  I am watcher.  I watch people to see if what they say lines up with who they say they are.  If their behavior doesn't line up with their profession then there is something wrong with their character.  At the end of the day, we are supposed to be people of God, right? But really, who told you he was the person you perceived him to be?  Did the Holyghost tell you that?

Let's look at the term seasoned.  I like words.  Seasoned is defined as: rendered competent through trial and experience.  We toss that word around alot but never grasping the full understanding of its meaning.  The word compotent strikes me in this definition because it implies that you are capable through your experience to handle situations with some level of maturity.  The definition of competent is having the necessary ability, knowledge, or skill to do something successfully.  Why, because you have grown to be compotent by going through some things yourself.  Trial has taught you what works and what does not work.  It has taught you how to successfuly handle something with greater accuracy and skill.  It has caused you to grow up and operate in a manner befitting an adult.  I spoke of connecting to seasoned women in times past because it is beneficial to our development as women of God to learn from those who are walking in the full counsel of God's word and have grown to a level where they can sow fruitful seeds into our lives.  Let's look at men who are seasoned and why we want to be engaged in a relationship with a man who is seasoned.

We want a man who is seasoned for one very simple reason, he is capable.  He has grown to be capable from his experience as a man and a man of God. When you become a man you put away childish things and handle things as a man would.  A compotent man is capable of seeking out God for answers.  He is capable of searching the scripture for a relevant word.  He is capable of speaking over us wisdom from God's mouth.  He is capable of listening and discerning.  He is capable of praying relevant powerful and accurate prayers.  His experience has taught him that his source is at God's feet.  A seasoned man knows how to treat a blessing and will not mishandled it because he understands that doing so puts him in jeopardy of God dealing with him.  A seasoned man of God understands that he is still a man of God whether he is in your life or not and still must operate as such when dealing with you or any other member of the body of Christ.  A perpertraitor will neither understand any of this and will operate beneath the will and word of God in his treatment, behavior, and conduct toward you.

We do want a man in our lives that can pour into us.  Watching the fruit of one's behavior will show you whether or not they are who they say they are.  My daughter said to me the other day, "people are not who they say they are".  I examined those words because we tend to give people the benefit of more respect than they've earned when we don't really know if they are who they say they are.  Jesus asked the question, Who do men say that I am?  Had the people around him caught the revelation of who he was?  He had never said who he was because he didn't need to throw a title around to impress anybody, he just produced the fruit of who he was and let them discern it in the spirit.  He didn't have to say I'm the apostle, I'm the pastor, I'm the evangelist, I'm the prophet, and I'm the teacher.  If you are all that, all you need to do is do it.  People will see who you are.  Which is why Peter spoke up saying, you're the Christ.  Peter did not know this because he was told this, but his spirit bore witness by the life of Christ.  The residue that Jesus left behind spoke of who he was.

But we bow to titles giving unearned respect just for the titles sake, when we have not seen the fruit of the gifting they claim to possess.  We jump at the chance to date a pastor simply because he said he's a pastor, but never finding out, "if he's really who he says he is".  A pastor (a gift to the body) is more than just the title, but it is a responsibility to the body of Christ which includes you.  A responsibility to pour into the body of Christ that which will edify it, mature it, and build it up.  You get what I'm saying.  The word says in Matthew 7:16, that we will know them by their fruit.  Fruit is produced in more than just one place.  Just because the ministry is big, it does not mean that every barrell of apples is good.  You need the check the life of the individual and residue that is left behind from their past relationships.  If the seeds they are dropping all over the place are leaving a string of hurt, confused, and distraught women, then as they say something in the milk aint clean. That is not what a gift to the body of Christ is called to walk in.  Looking at Eph 4:11-12 which states, And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.  Knowing this, does what this person does line up with what God's word says a gift to the body of Christ should be to the church?  If so, why is he walking by you at church without speaking?  Why can't he speak into your life?  It can't be because you're no longer dating.  Did he stop being who he said he was when you stop dating?   If his ex walked up to him and asked for prayer, would he try to avoid her?  I'm just saying. This will help you know if you are spending time with someone whose possessing what he is professing. 

When we come into the church, I think we forget some of things that helped us in the world.  I'm not telling you to lean on your flesh.  In the world, we let our street intelligence speak to how we deal with people.  But the bottom line is, we are discerning and weighing out what we see and hear.  But when we come into the church and begin to operate in the spirit, we block what God is saying in the spirit because traditon and religion has taught us to be accepting of certain things so we ignore what the Holyghost is trying to tell us.  I'm saying the giftings that are in you are there for a reason.  Don't ignore what you hear in your spirit.  Don't be so willing to accept people at face value.  When we come into the church we are more trusting of people when we should be more discerning.  That's why people in the world can come into the church and see right away if the preacher is running game on the congregation and pimping the people.  They are operating with a familiar spirit.  Should we not be more discerning when we should be led by the Holyghost? We have to be as discerning to what our spirit man is telling us about people and less what somebody is telling us about them.  The Holyghost does not lie, but a man will deceive.