For centuries, true God seekers have been at war in the Spirit with this spirit. It has injured many people. It can come under many names but ultimately it comes from the root of pride.

As I describe this spirit, some will see it operating under different guises or aspects, but the negative results are still the same. Until the true Church is willing to take on these offenders, with Love, many will continue to be snared by them.

The devil is the king of pride. He claims to be self-sufficient, not needing God. The whole agenda is separation from God, which of course can only lead to death. This makes him the king of rejection as well, and fear is the first weapon of choice to enforce that.

I hope you will see how what seems to have a good "appearance" can be very destructive. We are told that in the last days especially, that many will be intrigued and will fall by flattery. This article is not an attack on ANY movement or man - it is about getting free of a subtle deception that has long reaching tentacles.

Many who have shared the essence of this have really meant to come from loving spirit but have been weakened through an unintended open door. As I have said, you can see different angles and aspects of this, and you may give it different names or see it working in a different "form" but the ultimate pride behind it is still the same.

I must ask you to hear this by the Spirit and not in the natural. Many, if they hear it in the natural, WILL be offended because they will hear it through the spirit of rejection or fear. But I will not only explain the problem, but also the solution.

There is a themed teaching going around that we are God's "favorite." Dictionary definitions I have found state this:

Favorite \Fa"vor*ite\, n. [OF. favorit favored, F. favori, fem. favorite
1. A person or thing regarded with peculiar favor; one treated with partiality; one preferred above others; especially, one unduly loved, trusted, and enriched with favors by a person of high rank or authority.

favorite
adj 1: appealing to the general public; "a favorite tourist attraction" [syn: favourite]
2: preferred above all others and treated with partiality; "the favored child" [syn: favored, favorite, favourite, pet, preferred]
n 1: something regarded with special favor or liking; "that book is one of my favorites" [syn: favourite]
2: a special loved one [syn: darling, favourite, pet, dearie, deary, ducky]
3: a competitor thought likely to win [syn: front-runner, favourite]

The bottom line is that we all want to be loved and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is very right! But how we define that love does make a difference.

We are God's chosen one(s), we are His Beloved(s). We are His Bride ultimately with the implication of open communication, trust and full heart shared, life shared, intimacy. There are many "love words" spoken in this interchange of affections.

But if we want to know the security of this great divine Affection, we must know it in a true Spirit, for true Love is without hypocrisy.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NKJ)
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil...

Anytime something leads us to compare ourselves with others and the others have less - such as "the heathen" or "the gentiles" (which really means "the nations"), if our spirit takes on the prideful spirit of having it better, we have ceased to operate in the love of God.

God does not want to provoke sibling rivalry. This may be "cute" in some families but it is not healthy. Some are seen as "gifted" but if we do not discern the true purpose of the "gift", then we fail to connect with the Spirit of God, but the deceiver will tell us that we have.

If anyone had "favor" with God, it was Jesus. If anyone was His Favorite, it was Him. But favor is not the approach or foundation that Jesus laid down for us to follow. Favor followed but favor did not lead.

Jesus came to say that there was enough of the Father's Love to go around for all of us.

Jesus came to say that there was enough of the Father's Love to go around for all of us. Jesus is our Elder Brother but He did not evoke "favoritism" as the First Born. He established order by that but He did not lay the foundation of "favoritism."

Jesus laid down His life to say that all that was His was ours. That should really undo us if we ponder that! He did not come to exercise authority OVER us - first of all, He had it already. But He came to give us His authority - even authority that had been stolen through deception - but now restored with the potential of greater things to come.

People who want to play down this concept as if it does not matter are wrong. It does matter. If we are communicating value to another person, which I think is how many really want to use these terms, then that is sweet and loving.

But if we do in such a way that a stronghold of pride and manipulation sets in - which is often defined as a Jezebellion spirit - then that seduction will take people down a path of destruction. In order for Jezebel, or the Snake in the Garden, or the spirit of Pride to gain entrance, there is often a subtle inflation of ego. This inflation of ego leads to challenging God and/or others who potentially love God.

It is most often done by flattery, finding something right and loving and needful, and exploiting it. God made people to have a "weakness" which is an interdependency. This is the connect where every joint supplies, and when joined, makes not only a beautiful "symphony" but also gives a corporate strength for power. But if the power is skewed and used for the wrong motives, it can be very harmful.

The thing is that many do not even know that they have fallen victim to this in many situations. It could be in the work place or the home place, at school or in different group settings. If that ugly insidious spirit of pride creeps in, it can defile everything around it.

We all love heros, we want heros, but if our heros are not pure, they will not take us where we NEED to go. The Church is polluted today for exalting others above measure. When the Church fails to properly understand the gifts, including those who seem more gifted, then our activities become wrong because we exalt the gift and not the Giver and we misalign the intent of that gift and thus the result of our activities take us down a path we never meant to go.

We are always impressed with "what we do not know." But it is imperative that we discern the nature of "what we do not know"! Is the purpose of this information to glorify God or us? God does not "need" us to glorify Him. He can hold His own without us. It is by His MERCIES that we are not consumed!

God is not looking for a vote or for a friend out of His need or weakness. God created us for fellowship. That was His desire. We can get into idol worship if we fail to understand the Spirit of our Creator and Designer and there are serious consequences to that.

Many people do not understand what is "wrong" in the Church today. They do not understand why it is not working and is not being effective salt and light to the world when they have the purest of intents. What they do not realize that a spirit of competitiveness has set in and all the drama is much ado about nothing.

So much of the drama today is not accomplishing anything but is only making a noise. The spirit of the world has crept in, but we can't hide ourselves from the world, we must engage it. We can't hide from what is not right, we must confront it and fix it with the understanding of pure Love.

We must show what is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We must offer the true Life, for so many are suffering and even dying because they don't know True and Healing Love. True Love is not about being "favored." True Love is about being loved unconditionally. And this Love carries a life giving force of healing regenerative restoring power that some call favor.

This force carries a kinetic energy which means that one thing prompts another then another and then another. In our weak places, we start circling around ourselves instead of giving out to others.

There is a beautiful submission in the Spirit that brings us need fulfillment. This truly is where Heaven touches Earth. But if we submit to the wrong spirit(s), the fruit will not be so pleasant. We can conquer this subtle defiling entrance by knowing that God loves us all equally. And then we will see true need and be able to respond correctly to it.

It can "seem" that God loves others more, but that declaration is a lie. And if you get in a group or corporate setting where it seems He loves others more, it will eat your lunch with unpleasant emotions! As hard as you try to "fix it", you will only become more rejected and snared by that fear that God does not love you, when He does, very much.

You are not His Favorite, but you are favored when you do it His way and that favor is the power to bless others. Anytime you start circling yourself, you have gotten off track. You can feel, and will be, highly favored if you love others as Jesus did and does.

Jesus came to show us the Father's great Love. When He spoke of His relationship with the Father, it was understood that it was special (or set apart) and great, but never did it exalt itself over others. It was set apart from that which did not love.

It is up to us to follow the true Holy Spirit. The world cannot see the Spirit but we as His Children can.

The Spirit is wooing, saying "Who so ever will, come and drink of the water of Life freely." If we follow Him then we are part of that group or company, and then "the Spirit and the Bride" say "Come."