In an exclusive beyond the article interview with Charisma magazine, pastor Todd Coconato shared how God miraculously showed him through an angelic encounter why consecration is vital to the life of a believer.
“It’s kind of like in the Bible where every time pretty much where somebody saw an angel they got paralyzed with fear so I felt like that at first,” Coconato said of his angelic encounter that God used to tell him the message he has for the church today. “[The angel] basically said two things: ‘Come out from among them and be consecrated.’ And it shook me to the core and then as quick as it came it was gone.”
As Coconato pondered on what this meant, he saw that God wasn’t only sending him a message for his own personal life, but for the church at large. He pointed out that one of the main issues with ministries today is thinking that there is a place of arrival, believing that you have it made. Instead, it is key for Christians to be teachable, responsible and focused on the person of the Holy Spirit.
“We need to be teachable, we need to have mentors, we need to have elders, but we also need to hear from the Holy Spirit that’s the most important thing…we take advice. It’s good to be teachable and to be under the leadership of elders and mentors but we also need to hear from the Lord and know what the Scripture says,” Coconato said.
Without conviction, the following of the Holy Spirit and time spent in the Word of God, many modern churches today have instead receded to what Coconato considers a “microwave church” of seeking out instant faith and actions.
“I don’t believe in prophecy on demand,” Coconato said. “I’m not going to make up a word and get into my flesh just because somebody wants that. That’s prophecy on demand…But because we’re in a microwave church era you know where people want—everything in our society we can get real fast. You know you order things online, they come in a couple of days, some overnight, you go to a drive thru, you get a meal, I mean you know everything is very fast and that’s happened in the church now. It’s microwave Christianity where we want everything right now.”
One of the problems with demanding to have prophetic words when you want is that it no longer respects the person of the Holy Spirit. Instead, it treats the omnipotent, omnipresent God, the creator of heaven and earth as nothing more than a vending machine to gain what one would like.
“And so people have now gone to a lot of these folks, it’s almost like how they go to a psychic or a medium, and this is where we have to be extremely careful. They have to get a word for today; let me go to their website, and this is where I don’t believe that it’s all from God. I believe some of it could be from God, yeah, but this is where we have to have discernment. So the best thing that a Christian can do is just know the word, be in prayer, you know, hear from the Holy Spirit,” Coconato said.
For God’s anointing to overflow on His church, Christians must not only heed these warnings about becoming more hungry for the prophetic than for Jesus, but Coconato says that discipleship is also key for believers to consecrate themselves and grow in their faith.
“There’s not a lot of discipleship happening right now,” Coconato said. “There’s two reasons. One: people don’t want to be discipled, and two, people don’t want to disciple.”
While discipleship may be lacking in the church currently, Coconato says this is pivotal for the strength of believers’ faith, for tearing down pride, so that we may be more like Christ.
“We’ve walked away from discipleship and mentorship, and this once again has to be a major priority in the church,” Coconato said.
God is not looking for us to stay trapped in the bondages of this world. Instead, He’s looking for humble and committed hearts to seek Him and live for Him. To protect the anointing and to use it for the purposes God has intended it to be used for, we must place Him first before all other things.
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
Stephen Strang