TRUE PRIESTHOOD 3 by Don Rogers
(Thirty plus years ago God put Don Rogers in my life. He trained and mentored me in spiritual ministry. When he was no longer able to minister, I had the privilege of taking over his “Spiritual Warfare Ministries.” He wrote many fine articles about spiritual warfare. I have edited and printed one below.)
This is blog 3 in a series on True Priesthood through Intercessory Repentance. The previous blog was about the model of forgiveness and love. This is about the model of burden bearing.
THE MODEL OF BURDEN BEARING
In Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, he says, “My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.” (Gal 6:1 NRSV) He goes on to say in the next verse, “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (6:2 NRSV)
I cannot think of a better way to restore people and bear the burden of those who are sinning than to repent for their sins which are grieving God, so that His grace, through the Holy Spirit, may bring conviction in the area of the sin and hopefully repentance will follow. Often people have blind spots concerning their own sin. Sometimes they do not want to acknowledge them. Through intercessory repentance we help fan the fires of conviction as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, because God will honor our priestly work. After a time, a softening and a change of attitude is often detected; an opening is provided in which we will be able to speak to the person in a loving and gentle way concerning the sin.
We have encouraged many parents with rebellious children to undertake a campaign of intercessory repentance for them. They begin confessing daily the sins that manifested in the home and then take authority over any spirit that was working on their children in -their home. Often a spirit can be identified by the sin that is constantly manifesting. Remember, if the parents are Christians and their home is dedicated to God, they have great authority before God to nurture their children in this spiritual way and resist an enemy that is trying to gain power in their lives.
Children are often extremely vulnerable. They usually act based upon how they feel. It is relatively easy for a spirit to influence a child to feel miserable so they will act miserably. They are often exploited in order to bring divisiveness and chaos into the family. Christian parents need to be discerning; careful not to over-react. Using these spiritual countermeasures will often bring surprising results.
To be a burden bearer requires an ability to empathize with a person, to put yourself in their place. To do this, you must first be willing to love them and then you will begin seeing people as God sees them. If you seek God sincerely on this issue, you truly will begin seeing people in a new light and be able to understand them better. Be aware that the other side of burden bearing is experiencing the pain that others are going through. Do not let this deter you, for God will supply the grace to minister to those who are hurting. (Continued in next blog.)
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