What Does It Mean to Operate out of the Opposite Spirit?

One of the outcomes of operating out of the opposite spirit is staying in alignment with the Lord. But what does it mean to “operate out of the opposite spirit”?

In short, it means you operate out of the spirit rather than the flesh. If your flesh says doubt, you choose to operate out of the spirit of belief.

Our fleshly nature wants to operate out of and agree with what we see, feel, and understand in the physical. However, when operating out of the opposite spirit, you come to see, feel, and know what is actually happening in the spirit realm, and you allow God to guide you rather than your flesh.

Join Rabbi Curt Landry as he…

• Gives examples of operating out of the opposite spirit
• Shares the cost of being in conflict
• Tells you how to walk in forgiveness and stay in alignment with God

Transcription from Podcast (Revised for Readability)

Shalom, welcome to Ancient Principles, Kingdom Authority. 

I want to talk to you about operating in the opposite spirit. One of the keys to operating in the opposite spirit is an ability to align with and stay in alignment with God. The key is to stay in alignment. 

So, anytime you have conflict in a situation, body, soul, spirit, people, place, or thing, you must adopt a faith mindset and align with God, and operate out of the opposite spirit of conflict. So then, operate out of the spirit of peace. 

Operating Out of the Opposite Spirit Is Like Marital Arts

It’s like martial arts. You’re taking power coming at you and using it against the enemy. And the way we do that in the spirit is by battling in the opposite spirit. 

• If someone comes at you with hate, then you come at them with love. 
• If someone comes at you with doubt, then you come at them with faith. 
• If someone comes at you with fear, then you come at them with the truth and with love. 

This is what it looks like to battle in the opposite spirit. 

So, the key to staying in alignment is, first, to make a choice saying, “I will, I must stay in alignment.” 

Part of my value system is to stay in alignment with God. I don’t have to think about it, but you got to realize I’ve been doing this for 30 years. That’s why I’m sharing it with you. It’s a 30-year testimony. 

Do I get out of alignment? Yes, I do, and I repent. But I’ll just give you an example, and some of you’ve heard this story before.

An Example of Getting in Alignment

I have had difficulty traveling, which is not an excuse, but it’s better if Christy and I always travel together. If we’re having an issue at the ticket counter, it’s better if she goes and deals with the agent and at the counter versus myself because I just don’t have the patience and the love that she has. She is much more patient and loving. So, what happens is we’re battling in the opposite spirit.

Yes, we’ve run into some agents that have done some crazy stuff and didn’t like us and attacked us, but that’s very rare. Most of the time, they deal with situations that have trickled down to where they’re standing at the counter. But my point is this: I have to stay in alignment. 

We’re usually traveling someplace to minister, and so, in our ministry, we say, “Protect the asset.” That’s the rabbi, not Curt Landry, but we protect my soul because I don’t need to have an upsetting situation and then say that night at seven o’clock, I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit speaking of the Lord.

So, I realize I can’t afford a conflict, so I stay out of it. I have to keep in alignment and walk in forgiveness in the love of God.

But what I’m saying is, you’re in the same place. You may not do what I do, but it’s the same principle where you have to say, “I cannot operate out of conflict and negativity. I have to stay in alignment with God no matter what.” And then, if you fall out of alignment, you repent and get back into alignment, okay?

Think of Alignment Like a Train

Just think of it like a train. You’re going down two tracks. You got to walk in love, and you got to walk in faith. You are justified by faith, by keeping your train on that track. You’re not a free-will agent. You’re not like an impala animal where you can run and jump all over Africa and out in the field. No, you’re on a track, and narrow is the way, pressured is the gate. And few find it. 

That’s where most people are. They allow their free will to be able to twist God’s grace to like, “Oh, I can just run off and do whatever I want. I would get out of that mindset, and this isn’t legalism,” but just say, “Listen, I cannot afford in my life to be out of alignment with God.”

How to Stay in Alignment

So, how do I stay in alignment? You adopt habits and patterns and a choice of saying, “I’m going to battle in the opposite spirit.”

What happens if someone attacks me with adversity? Then I slow down, back up, and I start asking questions. And that diffuses the fight and the anger. And then you have to obey God’s Word. 

What does it mean to obey God’s Word? The person’s attacking you verbally or whatever, and you must forgive 70 times seven. And so, that’s the plan.

As long as you choose to walk in the opposite spirit and forgive, then the fiery darts are quenched by the  shield of faith. You need to create habits and patterns that help you stay firm.

So then… 

1. Adopt habits and patterns, choosing to battle any adversity in the opposite spirit. 
2. Obey God’s Word.
3. Forgive

A Situation of Battling in the Opposite Spirit

I had a friend of mine in a situation, and he was in a sales situation inside a corporation. Somebody else wanted to do something else for more profit, but it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do. 

And so, the gentleman who put together the first sale was upset. His natural instinct was (and this is a somebody that has sat under my teaching for years, a disciple) to get upset.  He was sharing with me and said, “Rabbi, it was amazing because what happened is I created a habit and a pattern that helped me stand firm.” So, a new guy came into the corporation, came from another company, doesn’t operate in  same value system as this company, and what he wanted to do is he wanted to jack the price up on this contract.

A Reason to Get Angry

And now, the salesperson that had put the deal together and already shook hands on it was like flipping out, saying, “I can’t believe it. That this guy, this is unethical, we’ve already given our word. We’ve signed the contract. I gave him my word.” This is the disciple that has been with me for years. And he said, “Okay, I had a choice.” He said, “My soul wanted to pick up the phone to my friends who are the long-termers in the corporation, and say, ‘Hey, you know that new guy? That new guy, man, he’s sitting there jacking the price up on this. He’s making us look bad.’” And he said, “Then I wanted to do this and that.” 

He Battled in the Opposite Spirit and Gave It to God

And he said…

“No, it’s not what I did. I called my wife, and I took the principles from this teaching and literally out of our spiritual warfare book and said, ‘Lord, we choose to forgive this new guy for trying to bring inequity into the corporation by not making our ESBS. And that, Lord, Your Word says that You love balance scales. So, Lord, let the balance scales of the fair deal that was done, let that stand. And Lord, we choose to forgive this new person, and Lord, we’re not going to pick up the phone. We’re not going to call anybody. We’re not going to multiply the bitter root. We’re not going to try to manipulate the situation. We’re going to leave it alone. And I choose to forgive him.” 

God Took Care of the Outcome

Then he said he dropped it and went to bed. The next day, he got a call, and the guy called, and the new guy and he didn’t approach them. He said, “Hey, you know what, I’ve been thinking about it. We’re going to leave the price at what you closed the deal at.” So, he never had to confront it.

It Was the Habit and Pattern of Standing Firm, Battling in the Opposite Spirit, That Brought Victory! 

So, what was happening is he had a habit and a pattern that stood firm. And versus if he would’ve made a couple of calls to, then all of a sudden, he would’ve had two or three or five employees in this group coming against the new guy saying, “Oh, man, this guy is a liar, robber, all the stuff that people do.”

With all the bitterness, the only one that would’ve won was the enemy. It would’ve caused disruption in the team, maybe got the guy fired, maybe not. But I guarantee you one thing, it would’ve stopped the profitability, and the confusion would’ve set in, and maybe the deal would’ve been lost. And this was a really big multimillion-dollar deal. 

Sometimes it takes the wisdom of that apostolic leader in one of the mountains to say, “You know what?…

• We’re going to operate out of the opposite spirit. 
• We’re going to trust God.
• We’re going to obey His Word. 
• We’re going to have habits and patterns where we actually put the word of God of forgiveness to work. 

And that’s what happened in this.

Applying the Principles of Operating in the Opposite Spirit

So, when you’re going to apply the principles of God, you need to…

• Stand firm and fast
• Apply them quickly

The scripture says in Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast, therefore in the liberty of which you are in Christ Jesus, that made you free and do not get entangled to the yoke of bondage.”

So, this disciple who is part of our team, that’s what happened to him. He made a decision not to get entangled by the enemy through bitterness. Even though he experienced anger, he experienced the whole thing. It’s not that you’re not feeling. It’s just that you’re choosing, please hear me, you’re just choosing not to get involved with it.

So, when you notice the enemy is trying to take over your mind, will, and emotions, as soon as you start to feel that…

• Declare the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Tell the enemy by the authority of Yeshua that he must back up.
• Operate out of the spirit of love, kindness, gentleness, patience, goodness, and faithfulness. 

The only way to do this is to lean into Jesus and know the Word, declaring it over your situation. 

Let Me Talk to You as a Spiritual Father

But here, I want to speak to you as a spiritual father to many of you. But let me talk to you as a mature older man, and let me talk to you as a businessman.

If you’re really going to be successful in your business life, you’ll have to learn how to say less and act more. And I’m saying you’ve got to, even with your family. When things go wrong, it’s better. Listen, you’re feeling it. 

Don’t try to go out and recruit others and build a team around your bitterness, anger, or frustration. 

Take it to the Lord in prayer. 

And the thing in business is this, if you meditate on that which is good and pure and holy and of good report, then the God of peace will protect you and trust God in your battles that I just read Galatians 5 here out of our book. 

If you choose to develop a spiritual life where you’re Christ-centered…

• Your identity is in Christ
• Your character is in Christ
• You are in that Galatians fruit: love, peace, joy, long-suffering, temperance, kindness of which such there is no law, 

… then the contribution, the three Cs: Christ’s likeness, Christ’s character, and Christ’s contribution, if you’ll focus on that contribution, your contribution just isn’t your money.

Think about this disciple I just used as an example. He basically saved this company potentially millions of dollars because I really think if he would’ve said something, the new guy probably would’ve blown the deal up, and they would’ve lost it. And not to mention, it’s this company’s largest customer, and the enemy was after it.

The enemy’s always trying to steal your prosperity. He’s always trying to steal your networks, so don’t let him in. He’s the fiery dart that came in, but don’t give it any fuel. Don’t water the seeds of bitterness.

Calling Joshuas and Calebs

So, when you’re operating in the opposite spirit, you can do it biblically. There were two servants of the Lord, and they went out to look at an opportunity, they went out with a consulting crew, and they went out to check out things and growing and the opportunity for some business, and these two executives that worked for Moses, this one name was Joshua, the other was Caleb, and they went with 10 others to spy out the Promised  Land. And those 10 spies spoke out about the giants and the dangers, and Joshua and Caleb stood up on God’s promise and believed that they were able to take the land. 

So, that’s battling in the opposite spirit. It’s like there are always going to be problems. It doesn’t take a genius or even somebody very smart to point out the problems, but it takes a spiritual person who is wise to point out the solution and the promises of God.

Calling Daniels and Hannahs

Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den and could have been operating out of fear. Instead, he trusted God, and God saved him in a lion’s den.

Hannah, the prophet Samuel’s mother, could have operated out of doubt and discouragement when she was unable to conceive. Instead, she trusted God. And look what God provided. One of the greatest prophets, Samuel. I know we all talk about Elisha and Elijah, but Samuel was huge. I mean, he was just so on target his whole life. He just was not swayed by these kings or men. He was just a godly man. And you know what? His mother was a godly woman.

Fight with Faith

So, if you’re in a battle of fear, fight with faith. 

If you’re in a battle with sadness, fight with joy.

If you’re in a battle with self-doubt, fight with God’s truth. 

If you’re in a battle of confusion, fight with God’s Word, which will bring clarity and peace. 

And if you’re in a battle of a judging spirit, fight with the love of the Father. 

“Father God, I release the most powerful thing you’ve ever given me, and that is the love of the Father. I ask right now on this podcast, Lord, that each person take time in this season to receive the love of Father God, in Yeshua’s name.”

God bless. We’ll see you in the next session.

Bio

Curt Landry, founder of Curt Landry Ministries, and his wife, Christie, travel extensively, preaching and teaching about the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. Together, their passion is to empower families to live and leave Kingdom legacies and understand their own personal heritage.