05&06 Understanding Kingdom Authority: How to Become a Person of Influence and Impact with Craig

Hill prepared by Pauline Burthwick info@releasingdestinyworldwide.org

For 26 Dec 2022 (+1.701.371.7720 WhatsApp only) print pages 1-12 for all necessary information.

The message is a bit long, please read to the end to find out a personal testimony from me related to the
teaching.

L ES S O N 5 Qualifications for Godly Spiritual Authority

Craig Hill: What would be the qualifications to choose a spiritual leader? How would you know who is a
person under whose authority I would submit? How do I decide, “is this a good person? Is this a person
that will hurt me? Is this a good pastor whose church I should go to?” What are the answers to that?

Do you know that there are some qualifications in the Bible that tell us exactly what are the
qualifications of a good spiritual leader to whom I want to submit? That's what we’re going to talk about
on the broadcast today. Don't go away.

We're continuing our series talking about authority, proper submission to authority, how God uses
people in places of authority to release us into the next phase of our destiny. And many people, again,
don’t understand that. They rebel against authority and miss what God had in mind for them. We're
going to talk on this broadcast today about what are the qualifications for choosing a spiritual authority.

If you're going to submit yourself in a place, a church in part of the Body of Christ, how do you find out
whether that's an authority you would want to submit to? That's what we’re going to talk about today.
And so many people in their hearts have been so wounded and hurt, they just resist all authority. They
remain on the outside. They never come inside. But I believe in these last days, it’s going to be critical to
be part of a Body of believers, and the Bible says, “Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together.”
I think there’s a reason for that, because in this last day God is putting together an army of people that
He is going to use to accomplish His purpose. And we certainly know that the enemy is raising up armies
of his people to accomplish demonic purposes, to accomplish purposes that are evil, to destroy families,
to destroy society. So, we want to be a part of God's army that He's raising up in this time. And in order
to do that, we’re going to have to learn how to submit to authority. But if I want to submit to authority, I
want to make sure the authority I submit to is qualified.

How do I appropriately submit to authority? What would be the qualifications for a spiritual leader,
somebody under whose authority I would want to come? Let's start in 1 Thessalonians 5. I have an
Amplified Bible with me today just because I like a couple of these passages that we will look at, which
are done really well in the Amplified Bible.

So, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 12. “Now, also we beseech you, brethren, get to know those who labor
among you. Recognize them for what they are. Acknowledge and appreciate and respect them all, your
leaders who are over you in the Lord, and those who warn and kindly reprove and exhort you and hold
them in very high and most affectionate esteem in intelligent and sympathetic appreciation of their
work. Be at peace among yourselves.”

So, the very first thing that we see here in 1 Thessalonians 5:12, it says, “Get to know those who labor
among you.” So what I would say is when we’re looking at qualifications for a spiritual authority,
somebody under whose ministry you're willing to come and submit and be a part, the very first thing is
get to know that person. Find out who they are, watch their life.

And that word, “get to know,” is the Greek word oida. We spell it in English translation, O-I-D-A, and it
implies having a fullness of knowledge. It means to see or know from observation, to gaze at with wide
open eyes. What it means is “to watch that life and get to know that person over a period of time.” It's
similar to the Greek word from which we get our English word, “video.”

So, I would say it this way. Here's the very first qualification for submitting yourself under a spiritual
leader. Watch the video of the person’s life. Watch their life over a period of time. Over some weeks,
over a few months, watch their life. What are you looking for? Character. And I would look especially in
three areas: Is that person submitted to authority? Do they themselves submit to authority?
Is there anybody who can tell them no, and make it stick? Or are they their own authority? "Nobody tells
me what to do, I listen to God only and no man." Well, if the person is like that, I wouldn't suggest
submitting yourself under that man's ministry because that person is a cult leader.

Some people that set themselves up as their own authority, they have no authority over them—nobody
that can tell them “No” in their lives. And if you ever challenge them or say anything, they will use that
scripture that says, “touch not the Lord's anointed.” And if you hear somebody say something like that,
they have nobody that they submit to; there's no board that they submit to; no apostolic covering that
they submit to; that person is dangerous. Don't bring yourself under that spiritual leadership. So run the
video over a period of time. Watch three-character qualities.

Number one, is that person himself submitted to authority? Because Jesus, remember Him dealing with
the centurion? Jesus said, “I will go and heal your servant.” The man said, “You don't need to even come
to my house. Merely speak the word and he will be healed, because I understand authority. I say to one
‘go,’ and he goes. And to another

‘Come,’ and he comes. And so, I understand if you just send the word, it will heal my servant.’ And Jesus
said, ‘Never in all of Israel have I seen such great faith.’”

Very interesting that Jesus equated faith with understanding of authority, submission to proper
authority. This man had great faith because he understood authority. He was under authority, and he
had authority. And that actually is how we gain authority, is by being submitted to authority. So, when
you’re considering submitting yourself to a spiritual authority, make sure that person abides under
authority.

Are there others in that ministry who can tell him no, and make it stick, to whom he's willing to submit?
The second area is his moral life, his sexual behavior, his family. Is his family in order? Is his sexual
behavior and sexual life in order? Or is the man immoral? Don't submit yourself to an immoral person.

The third thing would be how he uses money, how he uses finances. Again, the three temptations that
the enemy puts in the lives of many, many leaders are abuse of power, abuse of money, and immorality
—sexual immorality. So, watch the video in those three areas. See what the man's life looks like over a
period of time. This is the first thing that Paul suggests in 1 Thessalonians 5:12, Get to know those that
labor among you. Recognize them. Run the video of the person's life over a period of time. That's how
you will get to know them.

Now, turn with me over to Hebrews 13. Here's another key in here, verse 7. “Remember your leaders
and superiors in authority, for it was they who brought to you the Word of God. Observe attentively.”

So, that's that same thing: Run the video, observe attentively, watch for a period of time, and consider
their manner of living, the outcome of their well-spent lives. And imitate their faith, their conviction that
God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things; the provider and bestower of eternal salvation
through Christ, and their leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and
confidence in His power, wisdom and goodness.

The second thing it says, “Consider their well-spent lives.” I looked that one up in Greek and that is the
word, anatheoreo. What that literally means is to repeatedly look at over and over and over again, so
you're going to watch the video. You're going to repeatedly look at the person's life over and over
again.

Ana-, in Greek, means repetition, or to do it over and over again with intensity. Theoreo is to behold or
to discern, so you're going to discern again and again—not just one time, not just a little snapshot, but
you're going to watch over a period of time this person's life, to discern and be a spectator of what?
What are you looking for? Their character, their conduct, the result of the person’s life. So, observe and
consider, the Amplified says, their manner of living.

Again, I encourage you to look in three areas: How they handle money; how they handle their sexuality
and sexual relationships—their marriage, their family, their children; and thirdly, how do they use
authority? Are they abusive? Are they submitted to authority? These are questions to ask.

So, this is what we want to look at over a period of time. Run the video, watch how the person handles
adversity. Does he bail out? Does he get angry? Does he accuse God? These would all be disqualifiers. I
wouldn't want to submit to somebody that regularly behaves in that way. Are their finances an open
book, or is everything closed and everything secret and they protect everything? I would not
recommend submitting under the authority of a person like that. Let's look in Luke 7:6, in that I just
want to read you the story of the centurion. This is just a great example and a powerful statement that
Jesus makes here. Luke 7:6–10, this is the story of the centurion:
This is what Jesus said, here in verse 6, “Jesus started on His way with them. And when He was not far
from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself further, for I'm
not worthy for you to come under my roof. For this reason, I did not even consider myself worthy to
come to You, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under
authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘come,’ and
he comes. And to my slave, ‘do this,’ and he does it.’ And now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at
him. And He turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, ‘I say to you, not even in Israel have I
found such great faith.’”

So, Jesus equates great faith to being under authority and having great authority. This man had great
authority and great faith, because he knew how to abide under authority. And that's very, very
interesting, that submission to authority is equated with great faith, in Jesus' eyes.

So, when you’re looking at a person who does this, to consider him as a spiritual leader, does the person
have appropriate spiritual boundaries? It’s a very interesting thing also in Matthew 7, and we’ll cover
this in a later broadcast. But in Matthew 7:21–23, that's the one where Jesus said, “The gate is narrow,
and many go through the broad gate.” And then He said, “Many will come to Me in that day, and they
will say, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not cast out demons and do miracles and prophesy?’ And Jesus will say,
‘Depart from Me, for I never knew you.’”

And it's very interesting what He calls them, “You workers of lawlessness.” It’s very interesting that the
problem Jesus identifies in the last days will not be legalism. The problem Jesus identifies in the last days
is lawlessness. And I hear a lot of people preaching against legalism, very concerned with legalism,
wanting to avoid legalism.

There's no doubt that is a problem. And remember, truth is always like a road, there's a ditch on either
side. Well, certainly one ditch on the side of the road is legalism, which is trying to use all kinds of rules
to gain favor with God, thinking that God loves me if I obey rules, which is not true. That's the opposite
of the truth, which is that God loves me because Jesus died, paying the penalty that I might be forgiven.
But over here on the other side is lawlessness.
There are many people who think that they can just operate with no boundaries whatsoever in their life,
and everything’s going to be fine. The problem is, God will still love you, God will forgive you, but you’ll
destroy your life. You'll destroy other people.

Just think about this area of society. What if we had no traffic laws? What if somebody from England
came here to the United States and said, “In my culture we drive on the left, and I prefer to drive on the
left, and I don't think anybody should confront me about that. I think I should just be allowed to drive
on the left here because it's offensive to me that you try to force me to drive on the right." What would
you say to a person like that? That person is lawless. That's the one that Jesus is talking about here—
somebody who has no appropriate boundaries in their life.

We're talking about choosing a spiritual authority. What's the first thing you want to discover? Is the
person lawless? Are they boundaryless? Does the person have no appropriate sexual boundaries, no
appropriate boundaries in their usage of money, no appropriate boundaries in their usage of authority?
That's what you want to check. That's what you need to consider.

So, we read in Hebrews 13 that we’re to observe and attentively consider their life, so watch these
things. See, what I find is many people, because they're focused on the short term, they’re just excited
about the fact that a man preaches well, or perhaps he has a powerful anointing. Maybe people are
healed under his ministry, but that's not the qualification for submitting under authority. Why? Because
Jesus said there will be people in the last days who heal the sick, prophesy, speak in tongues, do
miracles. And in the end, Jesus will say to them, “Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.” Why?
Because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. The anointing continues to work even in a
lawless person. And so yes, miracles can take place, but that person is not a qualified spiritual leader
under whom you’d want to submit your life. Why? Because their life is out of order. There are no
boundaries. They’re living a lawless life, a life without boundaries. And really, that’s a good way to think
of lawlessness. It is inappropriate boundaries.

Somebody that doesn't have appropriate sexual boundaries, for example. Are we supposed to have
sexual boundaries? The Bible tells us yes, a sexual relationship should be conducted with one person
and one person only: Your wife, your husband, a person with whom you’re in a covenant relationship for
life, a marriage. A sexual relationship is right, good, holy, pure, appropriate within those boundaries.
Outside of those boundaries that person is lawless. Now, I know I probably just offended some people
right there, but that is the truth. That's what the Bible says. And the Bible is our standard of conduct and
behavior, not society around us—not what people think or say.
So, when we’re observing the life of a person under whom we may want to submit to as an authority,
let's look at some of those areas of their life. Are they lawless, or do they have appropriate boundaries?
Do they meet the biblical qualifications for a Bishop in 1 Timothy 3:1–7? Let's just read those, because
again, these would be some qualities that you’d want to consider when you’re thinking of, "Should I
submit myself under the authority or the ministry of this particular person?"

1 Timothy 3, “It's a trustworthy statement, if any man aspires to the office of an overseer,” or another
version uses the word bishop, “it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer then must be above
reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not
addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one
who manages his own household well, keeping his children under authority with all dignity. But if a man
does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God? Not a
new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.
He must have a good reputation with those outside the congregation or the church, so that he will not
fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

These are some qualifications that you’d want to consider. And then before you submit yourself under
authority in a particular local congregation, pray. Ask God if this is the appropriate place that you are to
come, that you should participate.

And again, I think a lot of times today people have a shopper's mentality, or consumer mentality. They
look at churches, rather than like an army that I'm going to join to accomplish a purpose, it's just like
shopping at Walmart or Kmart or somewhere. “I just want to know what they have to offer. I'll take
what I need and go home.” And people certainly can do that. But I believe in this last day, God is raising
up an army, and He is going to use local churches, local fellowships, house churches. He's going to use
people that are meeting together that become a part of His army under His direction to accomplish His
purpose in these last days.

Now it says that we’re to imitate their faith. Hebrew 13 let's look back in verse 7 again. It says,
“Remember your leaders and superiors and authority who brought you the Word of God. Observe
attentively. Consider their manner of living, the outcome of their well-spent lives.”

So, we’re to run the video, we’re to watch them. Then how do we treat them? We're to honor them.
Remember, 1 Thessalonians 5:13 told us, once you choose a spiritual authority, how do you relate to
them? “Honor them. Treat them with respect, treat them with honor. Don't gossip about them. Don't
judge them. Don't criticize them, honor them.”

Now we see some very interesting things in Hebrews 13:17, and I think this gets into some of the most
interesting parts of this because there are some very interesting Greek words here that I just want to
unpack. Take a look at what's actually said, Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your spiritual leaders and submit to
them, continually recognizing their authority over you. For they are constantly keeping watch over your
souls and guarding your spiritual welfare, as men who will have to render an account of their trust. Do
your part to let them do this with gladness, not with sighing and groaning, for that would not be
profitable to either of you.”

So, obey your spiritual leaders and submit to them, continually recognizing their authority. That Greek
word for “obey” is the word peitho, P-E-I-T-H-O. Here's what it means. It means “to trust in, to have
confidence in, and to let yourself be persuaded by.” That is a powerful statement. What does it mean to
obey? To allow yourself to be persuaded by those in authority over you.

Here's another interesting word that is similar to that word, peitho. It's the word for faith, which is the
Greek word pistis, or the verb is pisteuo. It means to trust, to have faith and observable submissive
conduct emanating from faith. So pistis is faith. Peitho is obey, and here’s what God began to show me.
If you don't have a faith and trust toward God in your heart, that God is more powerful than a spiritual
authority over you, then you will put, in place of God, that authority, and you will put your faith in the
leader instead of putting your faith in God to use the leader.

Here's a big difference: We're not called to put our faith in leaders, we’re called to put our faith in God.
What we do is obey the leader, which is to allow the leader to persuade me. Now again, does that mean
I obey anything he tells me to do? No. If a leader tells me something to violate my conscience, if a leader
tells me to lie, to kill, to steal, to violate my conscience, I'm not going to do that. Why? Because I'm
going to appeal to a higher authority, and we’ll talk in another broadcast about levels of authority. But
God is the highest authority.

I'm not going to allow a leader to persuade me to disobey God, but what I am going to do is I'm going to
honor the authority of that leader. I'm going to submit to him, which means I'm going to continue in an
attitude that grants him the right to govern in my life, even when he’s wrong.
Now, let's look in verse 18, “Keep praying for us, for we are convinced that we have a good, clear
conscience and we want to walk uprightly and live a noble life, acting honorably and completely
honestly in all things.”

So, what are we called to do? We're called to pray for our leaders. Now let's look back in Hebrews 3, and
this is coming to a really, really exciting part. When I got this revelation, it changed a lot for me in
understanding leadership, both as a leader and in submitting to leaders, because it makes a connection
between faith and submission to authority and unbelief and disobedience.

Now we're going to look at these two key words, and this is the most exciting part when we get to
this, if you understand the connection between faith and trust in God and submission to the authority
of a leader that will launch you into your destiny, to the next thing that God has in mind for you. This
is a powerful understanding that we need to grab hold of, and a revelation that I got from Hebrews 3.

L ES S O N 6 Authority Busters: Unbelief, Idolatry, and Rebellion

Craig Hill: Here's the very first qualification for submitting yourself under a spiritual leader: Watch the
video of the person's life. There are many people who think that they can just operate with no
boundaries whatsoever in their life, and everything’s going to be fine. The problem is, God will still love
you, God will forgive you, but you'll destroy your life. Let's look back in Hebrews 3, and this is coming to
a really, really exciting part. When I got this revelation, it changed a lot for me in understanding
leadership.

So, let's look in verse 18, and this is talking about ancient Israel when they were wandering in the
wilderness for 40 years. They were getting ready to come into the Promised Land, and verse 18 says,
"And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed, who had
not listened to His Word, and who refused to be compliant or be persuaded." That’s very interesting,
“they refused to be persuaded.” Verse 19, "So we see that they were not able to enter into His rest
because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God. Unbelief had shut them out."

What shut out the people who died in the wilderness so they couldn't go into the Promised

Land? Unbelief is what it said.

Now, here's a very interesting thing: Disobedience and unbelief are connected together. I looked those
words up in the Greek, and the word disobedience is that word, Apeitheo. So, the word for obedience is
Peitheo. How do you nullify something in Greek? Well, you put in “a” in the front of it. So, for example, a
theist is somebody who believes in God. What's an atheist or an atheist? Somebody who has no belief in
God. A moral person, what's the opposite? Amoral—a person who has no morality.

So, here's an interesting thing. Obedience is Peitheo. What’s the opposite of Peitheo? What's the
opposite of obedience? Apeitheo. Does that sound like any English word we have? Of course, it does. It
sounds like apathy.

Here was a very interesting thing. I could see apathy is directly related to disobedience. Apathy is a lack
of faith. When a person is apathetic, they're walking in disobedience, because in their heart is a lack of
faith and trust in God. So, what happened to those in ancient Israel? They were unpersuadable. They
were not able to enter into the land because of the disobedience. The disobedience was toward whom?
Disobedience is toward men, so disobedience is toward their leaders.

Where does disobedience come from? Where does rebellion come from, where does disobedience
come from? Apeitheo. Where does it come from? It comes from Apistia. What is Apistia? Apistia is lack
of faith in my heart toward God. So, disobedience, Apeitheo, toward men, is always rooted in Apistia, or
unbelief toward God.

Here's what happens. If I get wounded and hurt because of a leader, I begin to rebel against that leader.
Why will I rebel against the leader? Because in my heart I don't trust that God is bigger than that leader.
I've actually placed my destiny in the hands of the leader rather than placing my destiny in the hands of
God.

If my faith is in God as my ultimate authority, I can allow an unjust leader to function in my life, knowing
God will redeem the circumstance, knowing God will use that person even in his own disobedience. In
his wickedness, God will use him in the end to benefit me if I understand God, is the ultimate authority.
My life is not in the hands of my boss at work. My life is not in the hands of my pastor. My life is in the
hands of God Almighty. Therefore, if somebody treats me with injustice, I don't have to run.
In pastoring a church, I've found so many times people would run at the smallest offense. For example,
how long should you stay in a church? Do you know what a lot of people's answer is? Until somebody
offends me--until a pastor offends me, until somebody tells me no, until somebody doesn't release me
in my gifting. Then I run away. Do you know if you do that, you'll run from church to church to church?
You may run from job to job to job. You never allow God to establish the character boundaries, and you
block and hinder yourself. You're never released into the destiny that God has for you. So, obedience is
allowing yourself to be persuaded by leaders, keeping a submissive attitude, and it comes from faith in
your heart toward God.

I had a very interesting experience some years ago. I was involved in volunteer counseling at a particular
church, I think it was two days a week. I took time off from my job, and I went down, and I would do
volunteer counseling in a counseling department. I had gone through training and gone through the
Bible school at that church. I’d gone through counseling training.

I was doing prayer counseling in the church for people that had difficulties, two or three days a week.
One of the other counselors had a particular client, a person that she was counseling, whose problem
was anorexia. And because this anorexic woman was coming regularly to the counseling center, meeting
with another woman who was somebody I knew, I got to know the woman with anorexia quite well. And
I thought, “you know, she just needs a friend. Not only counselor, but she also needs a friend.” So, I
invited her to come to my home a couple times to help me and my wife with some projects, organizing
some cassette tapes. That was back in the days of cassette tapes, that sort of thing, and just showed her
love and kindness and friendship. That was all. [Note inserted by Pauline – this is not something one
should do without being sure it is God putting the idea in your heart and mind. Many times it is our
human compassion (not direction from God) that moves us to want to help someone.]

One night at about 4:00 in the morning, this woman who had struggled with anorexia called me on the
phone, she had my phone number and, of course, woke me up at 4:00 in the morning. I was trying to
listen to her and respond to her, and she told me some things, and I just blessed her and told her that
we loved her, and was kind to her, and I hung up and went back to sleep. Later that day discovered
that was her last day on earth. She had chosen to commit suicide that day. And it turned out that I was
the last person that had spoken to her, and I didn't recognize the cry for help. I didn't realize that she
was calling me just before she was planning to commit suicide. It was the middle of the night. I didn't
pick it up. Well, needless to say it was a great concern to the church. They were potentially fearful of
being sued by the family of this woman, and I was in big trouble.
So I got called into my supervisor's office and was rebuked for basically befriending this woman—that I
should not have done that, because I should have kept it on a completely professional basis since she
had come there for counseling.[Note: that is usually the directions and guidelines given in the
counseling training.] I understood that. I realized that. They suspended me for 30 days, but really in
essence communicated to me that they were blaming me for the death of this woman. I just felt
horrible. I mean, what can you do? I said, "God, please forgive me."

And then I realized that the leader of the counseling center, my supervisor, had taken this to the
pastoral staff meeting. It was a large church. All the pastors on staff knew this woman had died; knew
that I had been the last one that had spoken with her. And I thought, they told all those pastors that I'm
the person that's responsible for the death of this girl.

I just felt horrible. I just wanted to run away. Well, it came time to go to church that weekend. Do you
think I wanted to go to church? No way. I wanted to run away, because you know what I felt like.
“Everybody in this whole church knows I killed that girl.” It was my responsibility. I'm the person, and I
felt also a little bit of injustice. I felt like the leader of the counseling center was blaming me quite a bit
more than I really deserved, and I felt like it was unjust. I'm not the only one that had relationship with
her. She had a person that was counseling her, and it’s not 100% my fault. I felt like they were blaming
me. I didn't want to go to church. Because you know what I felt like. All those pastors are going to look
at me and say, “there's that guy that murdered that woman. He's responsible for her suicide.” [The
accuser of the brethren was having a great time flooding his mind with these thoughts.]

I felt like everybody in the whole church knew that, and everything within me wanted to run out from
under that authority, leave that church, just come up with some excuse and say, "Well, you know, I just
feel led by the Lord to go somewhere else now. I just don't feel like this church is meeting my needs," or
"God is just leading me somewhere else." My wife Jan had the wisdom to say, “this is not the time to
leave.” She said, “Craig, we need to stay. You need to walk through this." She reminded me of some of
my own teaching. If you don't remain under authority when God has set some external boundaries
around you, let God form your character, He'll just have to use a different circumstance, a different
authority somewhere else to establish what He needs to establish in your life.

That was the hardest thing I think I ever had to do was go to that church that day, feeling like
everybody's looking at me, everybody knows that I’m the person responsible for that girl's death, but I
went anyway. And of course, it wasn't that way. Hardly anybody knew. Only pastoral leadership knew,
and they were not judging me, but I had to walk through that time of discipline. And for that whole
month it was so difficult to go to church. I just wanted to run away and thank God I didn't. I remained
there and I allowed God to establish character boundaries. I allowed God to heal me. The biggest
question was this. This was the thing the Lord said to me, "What defines your identity? The fact that that
girl killed herself and you were the last one she talked to? Or who I've called you to be?"

And I thought, “God, am I in idolatry again? I'm empowering a person or a circumstance to tell me who I
am instead of looking to You.” And I realized, “Yes, I'm in idolatry again.” The other thing I had done is I
had placed the pastoral staff in that church in a place of idolatry. I so cared what they thought about me
that it was way more important what they thought than what God thought. And when I said, “Lord,
what do You say about me," He said, "I love you. I forgive you. Your calling has not changed. Your
destiny has not changed. Who you are has not changed. You are still the same person you were before
that thing happened, before that girl committed suicide. You're not a different person now, you're still
the same person that you were before." [Note: This is the importance of ASKING GOD and GETTING
YOUR IDENTITY FROM HIM.]

And I thought, “God, thank You,” because I felt like everything had changed because of what people
were saying, what people were thinking. And now that really is idolatry, and idolatry is the root of
unbelief. Unbelief is the root of rebellion against authority. Many, many times people rebel against
authority because they don't trust God. And the reason they don't trust God is because they're in
unbelief. And the reason they're in unbelief is because they're in idolatry in their heart. God is not God,
but someone has exalted a leader or an authority into that place of God. Well, I remained in that church
for that month. And at the end of that month, then I was invited to come back and begin to do volunteer
counseling.

Now, remember I was not being paid for this. This was a volunteer position, and everything within me
wanted to say, "I'm not going back. I'm not going to do that again. Why should I give up my time and
energy to be accused of things like this and blamed for things? And maybe if it was my fault, maybe I'll
do something worse. I don't even want to do that." And the Lord said, “Have I called you to that?" And
then when I sought God, yeah, God had called me to that. "Then why is it that you're resisting the call of
God just because of a circumstance?" And I realized that's idolatry again. I'm letting a circumstance
control my life rather than asking God, “what is my calling?” So, I went back, and I began to do the
volunteer counseling again. I submitted myself back under the authority of the leader in that counseling
center, and God continued training me and teaching me.

And, you know, the ministry that we function in today—seminars all around the world, Ancient Path
seminars in 48 different countries—a lot of the anointing and the teaching in those seminars that's
changing the lives of many people all around the world, thousands of people literally, is coming from
the character that I allowed God to build in my life during that time.

I believe if I would've run away from that church, I would not have allowed God to complete the work
He needed to do in my life at that time to prepare me for the next season in my life. And you know, that
may be true for you. You may find yourself in a very difficult situation right now. Maybe you're abiding
under a leader that you feel is unjust. Maybe you're in a circumstance where you’ve been blamed for
things that are not your fault, and everything within you wants to run. And you know what God showed
me in my circumstance? This was not the time to run. It was the time to remain in that place. And I think
it may be for you, as well. This is not the time to run. This is the time to remain in that place. Let God
continue to build character. [Note: the way to know this is to seek God – do not listen to the voice of the
enemy that wants your destiny to be aborted.]

Now, I'm not talking about a situation of abuse. If you're in physical danger, no, that's not the correct
thing. to just remain in that place and be physically abused. But I'm talking about maybe there's
somebody telling you no; maybe your gift isn't recognized. Maybe you're not being promoted at work or
promoted in ministry or promoted at church the way that you think you should. This is not the time to
run. Let God build that character.

And that's what I did. I remained in that circumstance and allowed God to build character. Do you know,
I stayed at that church another two-and-a-half years, and then God did call us to leave and to go to
another place, which was the next phase of what God was calling me to and preparing me to pastor, to
be the senior pastor of a church myself.

You know, I believe if I would've run during that time, I would've never been prepared and able to enter
into the next phase of what God had called me to because of rebellion, because of leaving and running
when God had not completed the work. And so, I stayed another two years. When Jan and I did leave
that church, we did that in the right way. We went to the leaders of the church, and we told them we
felt like God was calling us to another place. They weren't manipulative. They weren't controlling. They
didn't say, "If you leave, God will curse you," or something like some leaders say, they blessed us. They
prayed for us. They launched us, and they prayed that God would send seven other couples to replace
us in their congregation. They were blessed, we were blessed.

And you know, to this day I have good relationship with the leadership of that church. I have a good
relationship with that congregation. I am comfortable to go anytime to that church, to those leaders.
And you know, if I would've run away during that time of crisis, I don't think it would be the same. I
wouldn't have the same kind of relationship that I do now. And I would've completely missed out on
something, so it was critical for me to learn that lesson.

One man I heard, he defined success this way, and I think this is a powerful definition. He defined
success as the ability to bear pain. Let me say that again. Success is the ability to bear pain. Do you
know some people, because of wounding, the way they've been hurt, have no ability to bear pain? They
have no ability to allow character to be established. The moment any confrontation comes in a church
or in a workplace, they run, they quit, they go to another place. If that happens, they never learn the
strength of character that God was wanting to establish in order for them to fulfill a destiny, in order for
them to fulfill the purpose that God had in mind for them.

[Note: All throughout this he keeps talking about the problem of woundedness yet he never really deals
with in full how to allow Jesus to deal with the woundedness. There was a start in an earlier lesson
about forgiveness and that is KEY, but there is more God wants to do in your heart to bring deep
healing. At the end of this series more information will be given – some of it briefly identified by one of
his other teachings and more of it that I will share.]

And so when we go back here to Hebrews 3 again, we find that Israel was not able to accomplish, the
people that were in the wilderness never fulfilled their destiny. They didn't get released into the next
phase of their destiny because of the unbelief.

Let's look back in Numbers 14. I want to just show you what happened to these people, how a whole
group of people completely missed their destiny because of a lack of submission to authority, not
understanding that they were called to walk under authority. And you know, as you're turning to
Numbers 14, another example comes to mind, and we’ll look at it in a later broadcast.

Do you remember the situation where David one day got the brilliant idea to take the Ark of the
Covenant and put it on an oxcart? Instead of being carried on the shoulders of the Kohathite priests as
God had ordained, he put the Ark on an oxcart. Only certain people were qualified to touch that Ark.
There was power in those days. The only people that were anointed to touch the Ark were a certain
group of priests called Kohathites, sons of Kohath. They could touch that Ark with no consequence. If
anybody else touched it, because of the power, the power killed them.
Well, David made a mistake. It wasn't wise for David to put the Ark on an oxcart, but he did. And as the
oxcart was going along, it may be hit some mud or some ruts, and the Ark was about to fall off into the
mud. A man called Uzzah, who was not a Kohathite—he was not one of the sons of Kohath, not a priest
—reached his hand out to steady the Ark to keep it from falling in the mud, and the power from that Ark
hit him and killed him. He was killed. Why? Because he tried to steady the Ark.

Now, who made the mistake? The Ark wasn't even supposed to be carried on an oxcart at all. It should
have been carried on the shoulders of the priest. David made the mistake. Uzzah was just trying to
correct something because of a mistake David made and ended up losing his life. You know what he
would've been way better off doing? Just let the Ark fall off in the mud. Why? Because it wasn't his
responsibility to keep the Ark on the oxcart.

He stepped outside of the realm of responsibility and authority that he had and lost his life as a result of
it—just a simple example that he would've been way better off to just let David deal with that because it
was David's responsibility. We'll look more into that. There's some more insight as to why he lost his life
that I think is critical. We'll look at that in another broadcast. Let's look here in Numbers 14. Let's read
verses 1 through 10, "Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept
that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron." So, there's that fault-finding spirit,
gossip, grumbling against their leaders. "And the whole congregation said to them, 'Would that we had
died in the land of Egypt or would that we had died in this wilderness. Why is the Lord bringing us into
this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder. Would it not be better
for us to return to Egypt?' So, they said to one another, 'Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.'"

So now they're going to come out from under the legitimate authority that God has established, which is
Moses and Aaron. In rebellion, they're going to establish their own leader. Why? Because they're
trusting in Moses and Aaron. That’s idolatry. They need to be trusting in Yahweh, the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, that He will use the leadership even when the leadership is foolish. But their trust is in
the leaders, not in God. And so, when there's Apistia, lack of faith, unbelief in your heart toward God, it
always leads to Apeitheo, which is disobedience toward the leaders. That’s what we read about in
Hebrews 3.

"Then Moses," verse 5, "and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the
congregation of the sons of Israel. Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of those
who had spied out the land, tore their clothes. And they spoke to all the congregations of the sons of
Israel saying, 'The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is
pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and
honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. Do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey;
their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.' But all the
congregation set to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting
to all the sons of Israel."

It's amazing. God was so annoyed He wanted to eliminate the entire nation of Israel and start over with
Moses, and it was Moses’ intercession before the Lord that spared the whole nation of Israel. Moses
appealed before God and said, “No, God. Don't wipe them out and start over with me. Forgive them."
And Moses’ intercession prevailed, and God spared the nation of Israel.

But you see where this rebellion came from? We read about it. What we just read about is what's
described here in Hebrews 3:18, "And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest but to
those who disobeyed, rebelled, would not submit to authority?" Why? Because they were full of
unbelief in their hearts, and they were not able to enter into the land because of their unbelief.

So, then unbelief in your heart toward God always creates rebellion and lack of submission toward men,
and that is so critical to understand. When you find yourself in a difficult situation under a leader that's
very, very difficult to walk with, what's critical to understand, you need to realize, “my trust is in God.
Can I trust God more than this leader? God could remove the leader if he needs to and make me the
leader. God can bring a different leader if He needs to. God maybe will use that leader to establish
character boundaries for my future.”

I'd just like to pray for you. If you find yourself in a difficult situation right now, just receive this prayer.
Father, I pray for every one of my brothers and sisters right now who find themselves under an unjust
leader, somebody that's not letting them progress, not letting them move forward. Father, I pray that
You'd just, right now, give my brother, my sister, a supernatural faith and trust in You. That, God, you
are greater than that leader. And Father, that the destiny of my brother, my sister is in your hands, not
the hands of that leader, and that God, you will do miracles.

And I release my faith. I join my faith right now with yours, that God will do a miracle in your
circumstance, in your situation. Expect God to do powerful, miraculous things. If you will abide under
the authority where God has put you, God will work on your behalf, and you will see miracles this very
week.
Remember, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is and walk in
it, and you will find rest for your soul.”

End of Craig Hill’s message

I want to share about my own experience with a counseling ministry in a church. Pastor Cliff and I were
part of a church that believed that God no longer speaks – this was at the time that God had started
speaking to us and several others who were part of the churches small group ministry. God actually
moved on four different people, some in the group we were with and others we knew were not in the
group. God spoke to us all to bring into the church teachings by Neil T. Anderson called The Bondage
Breaker and Victory over Darkness. Eventually two groups were formed as some of them joined
together.

In these study groups we began to learn about demons and how they operated subjects that had never
been taught in this church. It was miraculous that God opened the door for this. After that certain
things happened which led to us getting further training in inner healing and deliverance. Eventually the
church approved for us to start a counseling ministry. In that ministry, we would facilitate Jesus
revealing the root causes of peoples problems and as they were willing He would enter their pain, help
them forgive, identify the unholy vows or decisions they made and the lies they believed that allowed
demons to access and torment them or cause problems in their life.

It is my belief that the pastors thought this ministry was a good way to have a place to send people who
were “problematic” or “deeply wounded” not realizing that most of us are having deep hidden wounds.
When we set up the ministry, Pastor Cliff who was the main leader in the eyes of the church guaranteed
the leaders that if they ever felt this ministry should stop in the church, we would comply with that.
What happened was that not only were deeply troubled people ministered to but also worship leaders
and Sunday school teachers. These people were set free, started hearing God’s Voice and wanting to do
what they saw and heard the Father doing. Unfortunately, that did not sit well with the theological
belief the church had that God does not speak to people any longer except what was written in the
Bible.

It had been going on for some time and we even had trainings to train others in the ministry. We
submitted a request to the church for funding for further training (up to now we had paid for our own
training and one of the wealthy staunch church members also had paid for some). Several long-term
church members rose up and said if the church supported this ministry financially they would stand up
in the church annual meeting and speak against it. What I found to be very interesting is that that
church meeting had to be cancelled that night because of a HUGE DARK THUNDERSTORM. Because of
these issue a committee formed to decide the fate of the ministry.

Additionally, one of the people we ministered to was a relative of this wealthy staunch member of the
church, but it seems this person was one of the deeply troubled people and was likely a high priestess in
satanism. Problems developed and the church became afraid that she might try to sue the church (we
did have appropriate insurance if that would happen). This incident did not come to pass but because of
that fear and the belief that God no longer speaks to people, the church asked us to stop this ministry
which we did. Over 30 of the people who had deep healings wrote testimonies on behalf of continuing
the ministry in the church; their voices made no difference.

Now one thing that could have happened is we could have become offended (a sinful response) and in
our offense left the church or even tried to take those 30 members and others away from the church
and start another ministry. We stayed in the church for quite some time. One thing that happened is
that two weeks after the church decision was made, we were invited to go to our first international
ministry trip to do training in the very ministry we had been doing. God showed me that the church we
had been in BIRTHED us into our INTERNATIONAL CALLING through the TRAVAIL (BIRTH PANGS) we
suffered.

Eventually I did leave the church and some of the others did too only it was at various times and for
various reasons. For me it was that God commanded me to teach everyone, every where I go to hear
His voice. I informed the pastors of this and gave them my teaching materials to review. They spoke
that I could not do that in the church. I knew then I had to obey God and not man so using proper
respectful procedures I met with the pastor to inform of my decision and thank them. I left the church
on good terms.

I do believe this is an example of what Craig Hill is speaking about that our obedience catapulted us into
the next level of our calling and destiny.

Prayer – God may you speak to your people to help them sort through these complex issues they face
and let them come into position that will allow you to release them into their destiny. If they have
placed themselves into their own ministry because they left another place offended, help them to
repent, go back to the place where they left offended and ask for forgiveness, thanking them for the role
they did play in their life and asking for a blessing. Whether the blessing is given or not, they will be at
peace as far as they are able. Then give them a mentor that will mentor them in the areas where You
still want to firm up their boundaries. AMEN

Pauline Burthwick, Minister of Gospel of the Kingdom to the Nations, Teaching, Counseling, Inner
Healing & Deliverance Ministry, Certified Communion with God Facilitator Releasing Destiny Worldwide,
WhatsApp only +17013717720

www.releasingdestinyworldwide.org www.cwgministries.org/certified/facilitators.htm

You are currently subscribed to releasingdestinyworldwide as: globalawakening2@gmail.com

Add info@releasingdestinyworldwide.org to your email address book to ensure delivery.

Forward to a Friend | Manage Subscription | Subscribe | Unsubscribe

InJesus