WHEAT AND TARES IN THE SAME FIELD OF SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA IN 2008!

by Patricia King

In Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43, Jesus describes two great harvests. One, a harvest of wheat that had been sown by the Son of Man and the other, a harvest of tares that had been sown in the same field by the devil. The tares became evident in the field as soon as the wheat had sprouted…

A great increase of supernatural phenomena will be evidenced in 2008

In the last 7 years there has been accelerated manifestations of supernatural phenomena. Healings, deliverances, manifestations of glitter, feathers, gemstones, various heavenly fragrances, visions, angelic visitations and heavenly encounters are a few. In 2008, the Lord will increase the amount and the intensity of true supernatural phenomena in His church. It is going to be both glorious and necessary for the Body of Christ as we grow in understanding of the power of the invisible Kingdom of God being made manifest in the earth. While the true manifestations of the Kingdom accelerate, so also will the false --both in the church and in the world.

What will the false look like?

The false looks very much like the true for a season even though it has a different source. Source is the main difference between the true and the false. Wheat and tares come from different seed and they look very different at harvest. During harvest season, the wheat matures and gets a full, golden head on its stalk. The weight of the mature head causes it to bow or bend. Tares are not so.

In the early stages, the tares look very similar to the wheat, but at harvest they are seen for what they are. The head of the tare, instead of golden is somewhat grey and it doesn’t bow. It stands erect above the bowed over wheat heads and is easy to identify.

False phenomena will look very similar to the true for a season and will show up within the same field of holy phenomena as well as in worldly, occult and new age environments. This will be a great opportunity for the church to grow in discernment. (Note, I said discernment” and not “suspicion”).

When will the false phenomena appear?

Matthew 13:26 offers us the answer to this question. “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.” (emphasis mine). When you see true supernatural phenomena begin to manifest, you will also find the false. Again note: in the same field! Do not be surprised when this happens. Jesus declared it to be so. Do not lose your faith. The emerging of both will actually serve to identify the true for the Body.

In the parable of the wheat and the tares, the slave asked the landowner if they should uproot the tares when they became evident. The answer was “No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.” (verse 29). We must be very careful not to “throw the baby out with the bathwater”, so-to-speak. The Lord will teach us how to respond to this WHEN it happens (note: not “if” it happens).

How to posture yourself to receive the true supernatural phenomena from God?

Jesus teaches in Matthew 18:3 that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must come as a child. Without child-like faith we cannot experience the Kingdom. Children naturally trust and believe easily unless they have been hurt or abused. It is tragic to find a fearful, non-trusting, and suspicious child. These are symptoms of emotional damage.

In order to embrace the supernatural there needs to be the presence of a child-like trust in God (not in man but in God). This kind of faith and trust makes one very vulnerable. On one hand, we must believe and trust, but on the other hand we need to discern.

I have personally determined to live as a believer and not a doubter. I would rather believe than doubt and I always choose belief before doubt as I know that God loves and adores faith. I want to please Him with a child-like heart. I always want to protect the innocence and the purity of that heart, as it is all I have to offer Him. Everything I do, everything I speak, flows from the abundance of my heart.

I have been disappointed in my walk with the Lord on a few occasions when I have chosen to believe someone and then discovered that they lied to me or walked in deceptive acts. This is always difficult as it jars the child-like innocence of your believing heart. I have been tempted at those times to put a wall of skepticism and mistrust around my life so that I am not deceived again, but the Lord has helped me to continue to remain child-like and to remain in His perfect love. He has protected that innocence. I have seen many skeptics and it is sad… the lack of trust keeps them from all that God has for them. The walls around the heart thicken. We must protect our child-like heart.

How to respond to false manifestations?

As I am writing this article, I am dealing with a situation where someone in our meetings manifested some “mixture” in the area of signs and wonders. They were helping God out. They had experienced the true phenomena of God in the past many times and yet gave into the temptation of the enemy to fabricate a sign. In this case, it was the planting of gemstones in a meeting that were not given by God. There was mixture. The true and the false can operate through the same person.

When the Lord revealed this to our team, of course we were devastated. The initial reaction was shock, pain, and in some of our team, anger. We had trusted and now felt deceived. We went back and forth at first with doubt that this could even be happening. We did not want to believe that someone had violated our trust. What about the people who came to the meetings trusting and believing? What about their innocence and the violation of that? How are we to handle situations like this? How are we to respond?

The Lord helped us through with the following insights:

1. Confrontation. We had to lovingly but firmly confront the offender. They denied it at first. We continued to pray for the Lord to give us the Word of the Lord on the situation and to give us more “evidence”. He did! The main goal in confrontation is to bring a brother (or sister) to repentance so they can be restored. This is part of the LOVE WAR the Body is in. Oftentimes individuals get hurt when they confront and the response is denial. This can produce more pain and more uncertainty. It is important to rest in the love of God in the midst of confrontation. Let His peace fill you. Never confront when you are angry for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. It is important not to jump to conclusions but to wait until you have the facts completely in place.

2. Admit Pain. We cannot deny our pain, anger, and disappointment, but we cannot let these things build walls around our hearts. I cried before God bringing my pain to Him and asking Him to keep me strong so that I could help heal the offender and the Body.

3. Rightly Discern between the True and False. We did not want to throw out the true due to seeing a manifestation of the false. We have seen the true many times over. We have had credible ministries like Joshua and Janet Mills and many others labor with us in the area of supernatural manifestations. They have been real valid experiences flowing through pure hearts. The minister who manifested the lying signs had also manifested the true. We must keep our faith strong in times like these and discern objectively.

4. Don’t over-react. It is easy at this point to want to shut down everything – especially your heart. Jesus taught us in the parable of the wheat and the tares not to react in fear or in haste. He assured us that HE will take care of it and will send angels to remove all stumbling blocks out of His Kingdom. In the meantime, we must not lose faith or trust in Him.

5. Wisdom. Wisdom from above is: pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (James 3:17) If we ask for wisdom, God will give it. (James 1:5). Wisdom is very important. It is vital that we only proceed as the Father directs. We need to know what steps to take, what to share and what not to share, how to approach the situation, and how to respond. The Lord will instruct us if we WAIT on Him. God showed us how we could walk in love for this individual, to help them get restored and also to help the Body process. He gave us wisdom on how to uphold righteousness in the midst of an unrighteous act. He is so good and His wisdom is perfect.

6. Exposure. We are going to see exposure of the false in 2008. Jesus warns us that the things done in secret will be shouted from the rooftops. Great wisdom is needed in how things are exposed, but there will be increased exposure coming. We must not cover things up even though we want to cover each other during a time of healing and restoration. We cover in love, but we expose in truth with sensitivity. We need to walk in the integrity of the truth. We must not compromise.

7. Keep faith. The enemy desires to produce doubt in our hearts. If he can do this, he has won his battle. When the Lord exposes the false in 2008, many will fall away due to disillusionment. Beware of this. Do not close the door of your heart. Remember, the exposure of tares is inevitable. Jesus told us that wheat and tares would grow up together in the same field. Learn to rightly divide but keep your faith strong. Do not shrink back.

8. Press on. I always like to make the devil sorry he ever tried! Press on for more of God. We are pressing on for more of all that He desires to reveal. If it is of Him, we want it! Allow your love for Jesus and His Kingdom rise up in you like never before. 2008 is going to be amazing!

As I conclude, I would like to issue a strong warning for 2008 from Matthew 18:6. This warning is for anyone who exaggerates or deceives in the area of supernatural phenomena:

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."

BEWARE
Lord, Help us.
Lord, Keep us.
In Truth.