1. What is the spirit of familiarity?
2. How does the spirit of familiarity relate to Mark 6:1 – 6? (No less than 2 paragraphs)
3. Find an article on the spirit of familiarity and post a copy of the link in your post. Share what you learned from the article in no less than 3 paragraphs.
Each paragraph is to be at less seven sentences.
Due: No later than Thursday, August 31, 2016
Familiarity is when an individual has an acquaintance with or knowledge of something.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Mark 6:1-6, familiarity caused these individuals to miss out on what Jesus was trying to teach them. Even though He had great knowledge, they neglected to see the spiritual side of the man and saw the man who was in the natural. They were confident that they already knew who he was due to the fact that he was born in the same place that they dwelled. Therefore, they were not able to receive the spiritually blessing that Jesus was trying to give them. Often times when people have knowledge of you, they are not really receptive. They allowed themselves to be close minded and did not take the chance to have a new experience. I can say that this is still something that occurs.
There are many people who are stuck in tradition. They are so used to things getting done a certain way that when God says, “how about you try this”, they are at a standstill. We all have to learn how to become unfamiliar at some point. If we do not we will miss out on the lesson that the Lord is trying to teach us. I have found that when I chose to stay comfortable, I often face similar things until I adjust and learn of God from a different perspective. God does not change, yes, but this does not mean that He is done enlightening us and taking us to a newer level.
By taking on the spirit of familiarity we allow ourselves to become spiritually barren. By having a hardened heart and not allowing our minds to be open to what God is trying to get through to us, it limits our ability to produce fruit. It also causes us to be unproductive or slothful. As we know from previous passages it is a sin to be unproductive. When God noticed that the fig tree had no fruit to offer, He cursed it and it withered or died. We must make a decision as to rather we will produce or not. Yes, at times we may face difficulties or what have you but it is important to ask God for strength.
The spirit of familiarity also blocks us from receiving the anointing. This could be a transfer of anointing from our Leaders or from God. God has given those who lead us the ability to speak life into us rather it is healing, deliverance, or what have you. However, if we allow ourselves to become too familiar this can limit our chances of it being manifested in our lives. When it comes to the anointing that God gives, being familiar could limit us from gaining more faith, more power, and everything that the Lord tries to instill into us to be effective. If we are not able to be empowered than this can cause us to stay in the same mindset or continue the same habits. It pretty much impedes our growth which can cause us to miss out on the things that God has for us in the future.
Last but not least, it destroys or prevents relationship growth. By becoming too familiar it can cause you not to appreciate or respect the individual as much. It can even at times cause you to speak out of place which is not good at all. This also makes a person less willing to share things with you. They may feel underappreciated or feel as though they are wasting their breath and so on. So if you truly appreciate an individual and even your relationship with God, it is important to show honor and prove that they are needed. It is important to not become so familiar that you are no longer able to relate.
I can say that at moments, I have become too familiar but this is something that must be destroyed in order to move forward in the things that God has for me. By no means do I want to be displeasing or not accomplish the things that God would have me to do. It is important to recognize the signs and change what we can and ask God for help with the rest. Do not stay stuck but confess so that you can be delivered. I find that it is also good to ask for help in these times, we have each other for a reason. This is something that has snuck into many of our churches and even though my case or your case may not be that bad, it is good to deal with it when it arises.
article retrieved from http://restorationnations.com/wp/en/the-spirit-of-familiarity/
DeleteWOW! Absolutely wonderful. I TRULY enjoyed reading your comments. I love how you covered the spirit of familiarity from the perspective of being to familiar with your leader(s) and with God. The dangers associated with this spirit and the limits it places on a successful relationship between a mentor and mentee. Great job!
DeleteThank you. Doing this blog made it more clear as to why it is so dangerous to get to familiar. It is my prayer that God will help me in the areas that I struggle with.
DeleteFamiliarity is having a thorough knowledge or mastery of a thing, subject, etc. It is a state of being familiar being a close acquaintance with someone which makes you comfortable or free to behave in ways you would not normally with those you do not know. Familiarity amongst friends is a good thing but when we become too familiar with something or someone we tend to devalue it. We no longer appreciate it as much or take pleasure in what we have and who we have. For example, you get something you really want and at first you spend a lot of time with it, you cherish it, but over time it begins to lose its value. Your excitement for it, little by little begins to fade. This same principle applies in relationships with friends, family, leaders and the like. Unfortunately, many of us can say we have experienced some form of familiarity.
ReplyDeleteFamiliarity according to Mark 6:1-6 shows us just how we can become familiar with leaders in our life. This is an example of how familiarity can negatively affect a relationship between people and Jesus. Here we have Jesus returning to his hometown and on the Sabbath He began to teach the people in the synagogues and they were amazed at his teachings! They wondered in their minds where did Jesus get such knowledge? After recalling where he came from they said, “Isn’t he the carpenter? Isn’t Mary his mother? They thought about who and where he came from and did not believe in Him and His ministry and as a result t Jesus could not do any miracles there. They could not simply get out their carnal minds who Jesus was in the natural, he did not seem like the messiah but He was in indeed.
Today we can find many people including myself in churches today that have become too comfortable with their leaders to honor them and support them the way that they deserve. Moses was another leader who was not received nor honored by his brother and sister they did not understand the call on Moses life, that God chose to speak to Moses face to face because he was faithful. God defended Moses and his sister was struck with leprosy and surly it was the prayers of Moses that healed her. We cannot dishonor the leaders that God has given us, for it is the will of God to use whom every He sees fit. We have to remember that it is God who speaks through them, instructing and leading them as they humbly submit to Him. When we do we will experience the gifts and words God has given him to serve us.
Kazu points out another form of familiarity and that is becoming too familiar with God. Now we might think how can this be. When we first become saved we may have been passionate and enjoyed being in God’s perfect will. However, latter you began to slack off on your prayer life and studying God’s word. The more and more we starve spiritually, the more and more resistant we are to obey God. We neglect giving God what is due to him. Kazu uses the story of Aaron’s sons who did evil in the sight of God thinking they could create a counterfeit sacrifice only to sacrifice their lives and lose them because they did not reverence God. They did not live nor remain holy to God but defiled the offering and themselves by having sex with the women. God was not pleased with them living a life of constant evil and disobedience which, surly lead to spiritual dead and possibly even physically.
ReplyDeleteIn our churches today we can see the love for God is fading from the hearts of people. They no longer value nor honor the word of God nor the man of God. They attend a church service and are amazed at the Pastors teachings. They are receptive to the words of the pastor and growing spiritually. Along the way they join the ministry within the church and get closer to the Pastor and so you get to know him better outside of church. They learn his flaws and began to question His authority and no longer honor him the way they use to. We have got to be careful of walking in the path of familiarity. It is detrimental and will restrict the blessing that God has given your pastor to be at work in our lives and it can also cause a curse to come upon you for disobeying and dishonoring the man or women of God just like Moses sister Mariam. This includes honoring and respecting His messengers whom He speaks through.
How can we prevent ourselves from walking in this way? We must ask God to humbly submit to God. Secondly, we must stay connected to God and walk in obedience with his word. Always guard our hearts and minds with the word of God that tells us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. We must always keep a tight rein on our tongues, being careful not to speak negatively against the messenger of God. Familiarity, again is one spirit that can lead to an ineffective relationship with members and stop the flow of God power and miracles through the man or women of God. If we are operating in the spirit of familiarity, we a trending thin waters. We should repent and return to our first love and ask God to help us to submit totally to him and to those over us and God will help us do just that.
http://bibletopix.blogspot.com/2012/06/familiarity.html
http://www.kazumbacharles.com/apps/blog/show/7558657-avoiding-the-spirit-of-familiarity-with-god
Great job! I'm really impressed with what you shared. I like how you related this spirit to the relationship of Mose and his sister. It's important to separate the calling of God on a persons life and the physical relationship you have with a person. Jesus was the son of Mary, but more importantly, He was the Son of God, our Messiah. The people couldn't separate the two. Truly, the more familiar we become with someone or something you will began to devalue it.
DeleteThanks Pastor! I was reminded that we cannot lose our respect towards anyone, but always give honor where honor is due!
ReplyDeleteThe Spirit of familiarity is a very dangerous spirit in can because you to take advantage of the leaders that God has appointed to be over you by showing them lack of honor. Lack of honor can be display in many ways by forgetting to give them honor when you are called to speak or preach. Another way is not listening or willing to hear advice. Another way is not offering gifts to them as you did before and looking for ways to bless them not just with money but with prayer as well as offering your time. The Spirit of familiarity can be a blessing blocker if we are not careful. In Mark chapter 6 verse 1 is a perfect example of the Spirit of familiarity and even worst the spirit of familiarity was display towards the King of kings. After all the great signs and wonders that Jesus performed in front of them and they still couldn’t get past the fact that he was from where they lived. They keep saying isn’t he the son of Mary and they took offense to him even after being amazed by him and all he had done up to that point. They were in the presence of Jesus and failed to honor him because of their spirit of familiarity. Because of their lack of faith he wasn’t able to do miracles in his own hometown besides laying his hands on a few sick people and healing them. If they would have honored him for who he is then he would have been able to do great things like he wanted to.
ReplyDeleteIn this article he uses the same scripture that was in our assignment mark chapter 6 verse 1-6. He has a lot of topics he talks about one of them being one of the greatest gifts God has given to the church is a Pastor not just any pastor but a God fearing pastor that is filled with a fire for God that nothing can change that becomes contagious to the people he is over. Then he quotes the scripture Jeremiah 3:15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. So in knowing this God had no intent for the shepherds of the flocks to lead his people astray. So with that being said we have a great pastor and I feel we have to be careful not to have a spirit of familiarity without realizing it or even worst realizing it and not changing it. Andrew also states that pride is the root of familarity. That can be dangerous because even if you realize that you are operating in the spirit of familiarity you will be to prideful to address it the pride Proverbs 16:18 pride comes before destruction a haughty spirit before the fall. Pride will cause you to stay in the spirit of familiarity a lot longer then you should. The honor that the Man or woman of God should receive they don’t get. There are steps to get rid of the spirit of familiarity first you most realize where it change when you started to stray away from the Man of God. Then begin to make the changes to correct where you were wrong. It could be easy to take our Pastors for granted with how close everybody is but it’s our job to make sure we never get to that point and if it ever does that we make the efforts to change it.
Nice write up! It seems like this study has really impacted you. I love the scripture you gave (Jeremiah 3:15). I totally agree that a person can be withheld from the honor they should receive when the spirit of familiarity exist in the relationship. That spirit must die or the relationship will die overtime.
DeleteAlso, you forgot number 3 of this assignment.
DeleteThat's very true and the link from my article didn't get sent
DeleteWhat is the spirit of familiarity?
ReplyDeleteThe spirit of familiarity is a spirit that causes a person or persons to not see someone for who they are in God and instead only see them as who they’ve always known them to be in the natural. This spirit hinders the blessings of God in a person’s life because they refuse to honor and acknowledge the anointing, gift or calling that God has placed on someone’s life to bless them. For example, your pastor maybe your son, brother, sibling etc. and you may have a very close and fun relationship with them in the natural; you may have done many sinful things in the past together or know your pastor as someone who used to live a life of sin and enjoyed it or maybe you even know their parents as sinners. However, this can turn into the spirit of familiarity because of your lack of spiritual growth and insight of how the power of God works in a person’s life. You will not be able to see beyond who your pastor used to be and deny the power and anointing that God has placed on your son, brother or sibling. This will cause you to miss out on the blessings that God has for you through the man or women of God. You will always think a word from God is a word from them.
How does the spirit of familiarity relate to Mark 6:1 – 6?
The spirit of familiarity is made plain in the following text as Jesus visits His hometown. The people in Jesus hometown began to immediately question who He has become in the Spirit because they could not get over who they’ve known Him to be in the natural. The people made comments such as isn’t he “the carpenter”, “isn’t this Mary’s son”, etc. They were wondering who does Jesus think he is speaking with such wisdom and performing miracles. They even became offended because they saw him as just a man who was no better or different than them, speaking on His own, with His own purpose to gratify Himself. The spirit of familiarity caused the people to limit God’s abilities in their minds. The spirit of familiarity caused them to live by sight and not by faith.
They failed to realize that they were witnessing God in the flesh, God’s one and only son. Even though the evidence, the demonstration of the Spirits power was before their very eyes the spirit of familiarity prevented them from believing. The spirit of familiarity hindered the miracles and blessings that Jesus would have so loved to perform among His family members and friends, however it could not happen. Jesus linked a lack of faith with the spirit of familiarity. The lack of faith results from the lack of spiritual growth and insight of God’s word and His presence and power. They could not comprehend and understand how God could use someone insignificant in their eyes to do great things for His glory and purpose. The spirit of familiarity causes you to be blind to the fact that God’s blessings can be connected to the man or women of God that He decides to use.
Find an article on the spirit of familiarity and post a copy of the link in your post. Share what you learned from the article in no less than 3 paragraphs.
ReplyDeletehttp://restorationnations.com/wp/en/the-spirit-of-familiarity/
I learned that familiarity is the greatest block to the anointing. The article explains how Jesus was the greatest teacher, greatest healer, and the most anointed but He was still unable to perform the abundance of miracles he desired to perform. I believe this further shows us how God is a gentlemen and won’t force Himself on no one even when it’s for their good. I agree with the declaration made in the article stating that it doesn’t matter how great the gift of God is, if the spirit of familiarity is in the midst then it will neutralize the anointing. The article talks about how when you know someone very well you lose your admiration, respect and sense of awe.
I also learned that your blessing is not only hindered but curses can come along with the spirit of familiarity. The article brings light to the Old Testament and how Michal suffered from familiarity towards David and in result she became barren. Michal could not break out of the spirit of familiarity and it resulted in her being barren unto the day of her death. The article also brings up Moses sister Miriam who operated in the spirit of familiarity as he was being used by God. All Miriam could think of was Moses problems and the article states she criticized him about his marriage and in result Miriam suffered for it. The article also talked about how the spirit of familiarity causes you to say things about a man or women of God that shouldn’t be said or thought of. It mentioned that Michal uttered words against David and opposed him. Although God say David as a man after His heart, the wife could only despise him and see him as a man, human being with faults that cannot be ignored.
I enjoyed how the article talked about the groups of people that often struggle with the spirit of familiarity. The first group the article mentions is Minter’s wives/husbands. The article mentions that wives or husbands remain not impressed like everyone else saying things like “I know you” etc. The second group the article mentions is relatives. Relatives struggle with familiarity because as the article mentions they knew the lifestyle of the man or women of God before they became a preacher or child of God. Relatives tend to hold that against them and deny that it is truly the power of God that has changed them. The third group is close friends and associates. The article states close friends and associates have been around you and know your weaknesses; therefore, they can’t see beyond your weakness when declaring something so power and strong such as the word of God.
Good job! I believe people need to understand that it's possible to be flawed but called to do an extraordinary work for God. If all we ever do is focus on a persons flaws we will never benefit from that persons calling. Relatives do struggle with this spirit. I'm witnessing it firsthand with my family on my moms and dads side not to mention cousins. When we honor a person for who God has called them to be we release the anointing.
Delete1. The spirit of familiarity is a spirit that causes people who are close to someone to become lax and depreciative of a connection or relationship someone. It often comes into play with people who are close to those around them who have great anointing. People may be close to their Pastor or mentor so much so that they see their flaws. As a result of this they stop seeing the anointing on their lives and being to look at them as an equal and not a leader. This cause the mentee or follower of that leader to miss out of the benefits of the relationship. Many people who operate under the spirit of familiarity are not where they could be because they have chosen not to take advantage of what God has blessed them with. They also miss the potential anointing they can receive from that person that they follow.
ReplyDelete2. In this passage it relates to the spirit of familiarity because the some of the listeners looked down on Jesus. They began to look at His natural title but did not look at His spiritual authority. This can become a problem with many of us. When we choose to look to at someone from their natural state and not their spiritual position we can miss what God can bring to us through them. When Jesus taught the people where amazed indicating His teaching was anointed. Yet when they started picking apart His natural position they lost sight of who He really was to them. We must be careful not to pick apart the flaws in the lives of our leaders and mentors so that we don't miss what they can pour into us.
Jesus goes on to talk about how a prophet is without honor in His own home. This can be the case with Pastors in churches and with mentor among the young. When people get close to leaders they begin to lose reverence for the anointing God has placed on them. If you remember people like Elisha who, even though he was close to his mentor never lost sight of Elijah's anointing. Elisha received a double portion because he was a good follower and listener. He rejected Elijah and the call on His life and in the end the benefit was great for Elisha. If we do like Elisha many of us could be better off in end because we honor the anointing.
3. http://restorationnations.com/wp/en/the-spirit-of-familiarity/
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I feel like there are a lot of good takeaways for me personally. It started by saying, "Familiarity is the greatest block to the anointing. Familiarity is the greatest block to receiving God’s power from God’s men. No matter how great the gift of God, it is neutralized by the spirit of familiarity." I totally agree because I have found myself doing this in my own life. I have be given great advise and been pour into. Yet because I may have a close relationship with my leaders I have lost on the benefit of listening. Many times it becomes so easy to look at someone you know for what you have seen them do that is flawed or down to earth but not understand the power of God in their life. We often do realize the delay this can place on our lives and place God want to take us. We must allow God to use our leaders to impart into us.
I also like the three main relationships that were pointed out. We realize it can happen with Minister’s wives/husbands, relatives and close friends and associates. We often have strong relationships with all of these kinds of people. They articles teach us that these relationship suffer the most because of it. I am familiar with the example for relatives. One thing that is important is We must learn to separate the two titles and roles in our lives. If we don't we will forever be hindering from growing in our own anointing.
Finally a key point that were hit home for me was that "When you become familiar, you no longer relate with a man of God spiritually." I think this is true because we may begin to see that leader as someone who is off track and not hearing from God. One example of someone who was in tune with their leader with Jonathans armor bearer. He was committed to do whatever the man of God had in mind. regardless of how well he knew him he has respect for the anointing on Jonathans life. Because if that he walked into victory with Jonathan. He benefited from being committed to follow his leader and received victory from his anointing.
Well said! What you stated about Johnathan's armour bearer was enlightening. No matter how well you know a person, serve that person for who God has called them to be in your life. I appreciate you sharing your own struggles with this spirit and your fight to overcome it. Great job!
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