“Pastor, how do you authenticate a man of God’s story. Do you just expect us to believe a man that says he drank tea with God without trying to verify it? Why can’t believers use their common sense?”

One of the beautiful things about a believer in Christ is that he has an inner witness that verifies everything he hears, whether through the Word of God or testimonies. Unlike what the world thinks, believers were not designed to be daft people, but people who can discern spiritual things. If you find a man who claims to be a believer and was deceived, he’s most likely a natural man who’s looking for miracles that can only be discerned as a spirit man.

One of the challenges Jesus had with the disciples during his earthly ministry was that they were not quick to discern spiritual things. For instance, Jesus had dealth with insufficiency twice right with their partipation. He fed a group of five thousand people and another group of four thousand people at different times with insufficient resources. One would think that the disciples would immediately understand that insufficiency could be spiritually tackled, unfortunately, it wasn’t long before they began to think like natural men again. They were worried that they only had one loaf of bread for their journey. If they could spiritually discern, they would have known that Jesus could multiply that one loaf.

The scripture is clear on how a natural man processes spiritual things. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”. Look at that, he cannot know a spiritual thing even when he witnesses it. He may witness it, but doesn’t have the capacity to receive it except the Holy Spirit opens his eyes. This reminds me of when Jesus appeared to two disciples after His resurrection. Their heart was burning as Jesus was speaking with them, yet they didn’t know it was Jesus that was speaking with them until He opened their eyes. Let’s see how scriptures put it:

Luke 24:
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

Jesus met them on the way and joined their conversation. Their heart was burning as He spoke with them, but they lacked the spirituality to know that it was Jesus, until He opened their eyes. If you’ve gone out for evangelism before, then you must have noticed this mystery. The people you’re preaching to may feel the things you’re saying to them, but if the Holy Spirit does not convict their heart by making them see their need for Jesus, that flame in their heart will fade after a while. A little distraction will erase everything you’ve said from their heart. This is why the ministry of the Holy Spirit will remain ever relevant.

So as Jesus spoke with them both in words and opening of the scriptures, their heart burned, but they never knew it was Jesus until their eyes were opened. This already implies that when a natural man starts arguing about spiritual things, it’s absolutely normal. A believer on the other hand can receive validations by the Spirit of God of both words and testimonies. Jesus particularly told his disciples that we have the right to know the things of the Spirit. Spiritual things should not be strange to us at all, neither should we be in doubt of them, because we have what it takes to discern words, scriptures, and all actions.

This is one area a spiritual man will continue to have problems with a theologian. Theology doesn’t teach you spirituality, and that’s why a theologist would often argue with spiritual interpretations to scriptures. Spiritual men depend on the witness of the Spirit to validate and expand scriptures, while theologians validate and expands scriptures with scriptures. This is also why the result of a spiritual man can never be compared to the result of a theologian. The frustration of the average theologian today is their inability to interpret scriptures through the Spirit. No wonder Apostle Paul said “the letter killeth, the Spirit makes alive”. Let’s see how scriptures put it:

2 Corinthians 3:
3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Notice verse 6, we’re not ministers of the letter, but of the spirit. If I wrote this article to you mixing scriptures with scriptures, you would have gotten bored and probably stopped half way; but if you’ve read till this point, then it’s because you can feel the presence of the Spirit as you’re reading it. You’ve read such a long post, yet you didn’t even notice. That’s how powerful spiritual things are.

Now to the issue of drinking tea with God. If I recall Daddy G.O’s message, he didn’t exactly say God drank tea with him. He said he asked the Lord to join him while he was having his breakfast, and to his amazement, the jug was empty when I tried to fetch some coffee into his tea cup. And while he wondered what could have happened, he heard the Lord say “Didn’t you invite Me to join you?”. That’s how he ended it. So the argument as to whether God drank the tea is unnecessary, seeing that God responded in a way that makes Him responsible for the empty jug. Why are some people bent on putting God in a box? If God decides to drink tea, who can challenge Him?

I don’t doubt a single word from Daddy G.O’s encounter because the Spirit of God validates it in my spirit. Then again, if you’re unable to comprehend it, I can’t fault you, because a natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit.

I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.

Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!

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