Category Archives: Spiritual Beings

Jesus, Spiritual Beings, Spiritual Instruction, Visions

When God Appeared to an Eleven Year Old

As a nurse, I work with a lot of people, and now that I’m in the float pool, I work with different people on different nursing units every day. While it has its upsides and downsides, I’ve met some really cool people over the years, and while I can count the number of patients I have ended up knowing long-term on one hand, the few who have chosen to stay connected with me after their hospital stay have become treasured relationships.

Recently, I was working with a woman who, at the end of our day together, let me pray for her, and then she told me a story. When she was eleven years old, her family was having difficulty. Her mom and dad were getting a divorce, and her life hadn’t been that rosy up to that point either. Well, things were about to change.

One night, she remembered this large being descending through the ceiling and speaking to her. She couldn’t see his figure clearly, but she was very clear on one point—this figure was God and He had come to visit her. The visitation wasn’t long, but God spoke a message to her, saying:

“You’re going to go through problems, but it’s all gonna be okay. Take heart.”

This eleven year-old probably didn’t realize that this visitor was practically quoting what He said to the disciples in John 16:33, saying ““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In the subsequent years, that family went through major turmoil. The domestic violence and abuse came to a head one day and the mother had planned to murder the father to make it all stop. A pastor stopped by the house, something he never did, saying “The Lord would not let me alone until I came to see you today.” As a result the mother did not harm the father in spite of his many transgressions against the family, and God spared both his life and protected the children from what would otherwise have thrown them into the foster system.

As this woman told me this story of how God visited her and spoke to her words of peace and strength so many years before, she was still very excited about it. After all, it’s not every day that one has a visitation from God, and it’s not every day that you can share it with a stranger and have them not just believe you, but share in your excitement.

Furthermore, that message is a good message for us all to remember, regardless of the situations we find ourselves in. Take heart! He has overcome the world!

Demons, Discernment, Spiritual Beings, Spiritual Warfare

Restoring the Ministry of Deliverance to the Church by Jake Kail

 

“And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.” (Mark 1:39 NASB)

You don’t have to dig very deep into the New Testament to discover that casting out demons was a normal practice for both Jesus and His followers. The above verse puts deliverance side-by-side with preaching. Think about that: It was as common for Jesus to cast out a demon as it was for Him to preach a sermon.

In stark contrast, you often have to search far and wide to find Christians, churches, or ministries that believe in and actively practice the ministry of deliverance. Even many churches or ministries that affirm the reality of evil spirits and how they can influence people, often do not openly teach about or minister in this area. Why is this the case?

Removing the Obstacles

There is a great need to restore the ministry of deliverance to the church today. If Jesus spent such a great deal of time and energy freeing people from demons, why does it seem so uncommon in much of the church today? If it was basic training for the disciples of Jesus, why is it so rarely talked about and practiced in modern Christianity?

I have found that the need for deliverance is much greater than many people suspect. But there are some roadblocks that keep us from recognizing this need or actively engaging in casting out evil spirits. In my book Keys for Deliverance, I outlined three obstacles that must be removed in order to see deliverance restored to the church.

1. Ignorance

The Bible says that God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (see Hosea 4:6). This is certainly true when it comes to the reality of demonic influence and the need for deliverance. Many believers have simply never received any solid teaching in this area. Time and time again I hear people say that they have never heard the topic of evil spirits or deliverance taught in their church. At the same time, people have been exposed to extreme and disturbing Hollywood portrayals. And on top of that, some ministers practice bizarre and unbiblical methods in the name of deliverance. This all leads to much confusion, misunderstanding, and ignorance in the area of deliverance from demons.

In 2 Corinthians 2:11 the apostle Paul says, “…lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his de-vices.” We are not to be obsessed with learning about the kingdom of darkness; our primary aim should be knowing God and walking with Him. But neither are we to be unaware of the devil and his workings in the world. The point is clear: if we are ignorant of Satan’s devices, he will take advantage of us.

Proverbs 11:9 says that “through knowledge the righteous will be delivered” (emphasis added). Many people remain under demonic influence, captive in certain areas of their lives, simply because they do not realize the truth that what they are dealing with has a spiritual root or element to it. They have simply never learned about demons and deliverance and how understanding these realities is relevant to their lives. And especially in the Western culture, there tends to be a worldview that denies spiritual

realities, only looking at things from a logical, medical, or scientific perspective. While certainly not all problems are demonic in nature, in many cases there is a need for deliverance that must be discerned and dealt with.

2. Fear

On the opposite side of ignorance is fear. For some, the topic of demons and deliverance conjures up nightmarish images. We might think of horror movies, ghosts, wild demonic possession, or other frightful scenarios. It seems easier to put our heads in the sand than face the reality of an active kingdom of darkness and evil spirits that need to be driven out. Or, fear of the spiritual realm can push some people not to ignore the demonic, but to become overly obsessed with it. Instead of making Jesus the primary focus, we can take on a paranoia about evil spirits and give them too much attention and power. This fear of evil spirits comes from the kingdom of darkness itself, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

We need to take on a healthy and balanced approach to spiritual warfare and deliverance, where we are aware but not afraid. We must not be ignorant of the works of the enemy and our need to destroy them, but we must keep intimacy with God as the highest priority. We must be open and ready to receive deliverance, and equipped to minister it to others, without allowing it to make us paranoid or afraid. This is not always an easy balance to walk in, but with the help of the Holy Spirit and instruction of the Scriptures we can maintain it.

James 4:7-8 gives us some great wisdom in this regard: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Notice that two out of the three commands are God-focused while one is focused on resisting the devil. That is a good ratio. We focus on submitting to God, drawing near to Him in relationship, and fulfilling our purpose in His kingdom; all the while ready to resist the devil so that he will flee. And notice it does not say “ignore the devil and he will flee” but “resist the devil and he will flee.” There is a responsibility to take an active stand against the devil and his demons.

3. Stigma

Another obstacle to seeing the ministry of deliverance fully restored and active in the church is that there is often an unnecessary stigma associated with it. Because of misunderstanding and fear, the thought of needing deliverance from an evil spirit sounds alarming, embarrassing, or shameful. And if you come from a background that inclines toward skepticism and resistance to anything supernatural, the concept of deliverance from demons can easily be seen as primitive, foolish, or superstitious. Without proper understanding, to suggest that a person might need to be set free from the influence of an evil spirit seems insulting or downright crazy!

But this stigma need not be the case. In the New Testament, deliverance from evil spirits was practiced and spoken about openly and plainly. Consider Luke 8:2: “and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons.” Notice first that being freed from evil spirits is paired side-by-side with being healed of infirmities. This is often the case in the New Testament (see for example Matthew 8:16-17, Luke 6:17-19, and Acts 5:16). There is no need to be ashamed if you need healing from the flu, the common cold, cancer, or some other disease. In the same way, there is no shame in needing deliverance from evil spirits. Mary Magdalene was

identified as someone “out of whom had come seven demons.” This was spoken of matter-of-factly, and not something that needed to be kept secret or hidden.

Needing deliverance from evil spirits is much more common than you might suspect. And it does not make you an evil person to need freedom from the torment or oppression of a demon. Jesus ministered deliverance to everyday, synagogue-attending Jews like a man in Mark chapter one and like the woman He called a “daughter of Abraham” in Luke 13:10-17. Even children needed to be delivered from evil spirits (see Mark 7:24-30 and Mark 9:14-29). There is no need to be ashamed if you need deliverance.

Let’s remove the ignorance, fear, and stigma that is often associated with the topic of deliverance from demons. As we do this, we will pave the way for many more captives to be set free!

https://amzn.to/367DEn8

About Jake Kail:

Jake Kail was called to ministry in college after a life-changing encounter with God. He is the author of multiple books, and he speaks at churches, conferences, retreats, and other events. His ministry is often marked by encounters with God, healing, and deliverance from demonic oppression. Jake lives with his wife and family in Lancaster, PA where he serves as the lead pastor of Threshold Church. Check out his books, blog, and podcast at www.jakekail.com.

 

Spiritual Warfare, Visions

The Boy and His Sword–Freedom From Addiction

This is an article reposted from Mystic Mama Storm, a good friend who tends to write a lot about her visions, dreams, and other spiritual encounters with Jesus and various aspects of the heavenly realms.  This article is a testimony of Jesus setting someone free from addiction.  Read on and be encouraged!

 

The Boy and His Sword

There were approximately 20.6 million people who suffer from addiction in the United States over the age of 12 in 2011. Addiction can be such a large hurdle to cross. Countless people in this world have grown up with a mindset that they are going to hell, because of their continued struggles with addiction. What is not realized by most is that often addiction goes hand and hand with Mental Illness or some trauma that occurred in the person’s life. Addiction frequently is passed down a family line.

As a child, I saw first hand the effects of addiction. There was a constant cycle of trying to get free, feeling better, getting worse, relapse, and rehab or hospital stays. This often left my family feeling hopeless and longing to find freedom from the effects of it. I have also seen people with this struggle in the church being shamed and pushed out because of their failures and relapses. Often these people are blamed for being weak and in some cases pushed out of the church until they repent. They walk away with shame feeling like they are hellbound or disqualified to be loved by God. These situations cause my heart to cry out for justice and healing for these people. The enemy cannot have them anymore. These agreements and mindsets have them in prisons and bondage. I say no more!

Although overcoming the addiction is a big part of the being healed. I believe that the healing goes much deeper. Trauma and wounds from a person’s past or even present situation can be a big part of what causes this addiction to have such a hold in a person’s life. This also can attribute to pain and sickness. Sometimes the solution is much deeper. Sometimes healing needs to take place on a deeper level at the root of what is causing this struggle in a person’s life.

Here is an example of a recent breakthrough with someone struggling with addiction (I am sharing this with permission):

A friend of mine called and asked that I pray for her brother and his wife. Just to be clear, her brother asked us to pray and gave us permission to see what was happening around him and remove anything demonic. To protect the identity of this couple and their circumstances, I will not go into the details of what was happening in their life. However, I will say that a heroin addiction and violence were involved.

As my friend and I prayed, I saw a picture of my friend’s brother; we will call Judah. He had this large demon that was attached to his back. The demon had his claws in his neck his left shoulder, and his mouth was right at Judah’s ear. When we saw him, I asked Papa what we should do. He said, “Ask his name and assignment?”

I asked him these questions, and the demon became very angry that we were there. He wouldn’t respond but rather decided to get bigger and was hissing and seething with anger. He grew in size trying to look like a threat. The entire time I felt a complete peace and confidence that he had no ability to hurt us. As he continued his fury and showing off, I again commanded him to reveal his name and assignment. I also threatened that if he didn’t cooperate there would be consequences. With this, he revealed his name as Volatility and that he was assigned to bring threats, addiction, and violence to the mind and soul of Judah.

Normally, my response would be to bind and restrain the demonic and cast it out of Judah, but I felt the prompting of the Lord to do something I have only done a few times. I spoke to him and said, “Volatility, I remind you of who you are, and you were created to be.” As I said these words, I saw him stumble backward and saw him transform. The transformation was only temporary, but he was a glimmer of a redeemed form of an Angel. At this moment, I heard the Lord say his name, and I began to speak to him, “Your name is Cadence, not Volatility. You were created to speak life to people. Your words and assignment were not meant to corrupt but to bring healing and life. I remind you of who you are!” As I said this, he was very disoriented and completely left go of Judah.

To be honest, because of my lack of understanding, I was a little taken back by what was happening, but yet I knew that God has a reason for this. I would love your thoughts on this.

As this happened, I knew there was nothing more God wanted me to do with this demon so one of my angels removed him from where Judah was, and we placed a wall of fire around him that no harm could come to anyone. I believe Volatility/Cadence was left somewhere safe to sort out what he had just experienced. It was time to get back to ministering to Judah and his wife.

We began ministering to his wife whom I will call Ann. Although she was not healed completely, we worked with several areas in her life and ministered to a young fractured part of her that had struggled with potential child abuse and deep trauma. We worked with this younger part and brought her to Jesus and left her with Him in the garden of her heart. Although this was a wonderful story, I want to concentrate on Judah’s story.

Then we saw a little boy who was a fractured part of Judah that was watching what was happening. He had been peeking around a corner watching intently as we ministered to Ann. We sensed that he wanted to have the same freedom. Then I saw two smaller demonic bullies, and he was afraid of them. Once we removed the bullies who were demons, we began ministering to this little boy. Removing fear, pain, and other strong, painful emotions and we watched as these painful emotions were replaced with joy, courage, and peace. He had a wooden sword, and he wanted to just play with us. It was like he had been so shut down by fear and intimidation that suddenly he came alive with this new ability to have fun.

First, we removed him from the room he was in and collapsed the old room and placed him in the garden of his heart. There were cool rock formations that he was able to climb on and explore and just be a kid. Although some parts of his garden still needed work, the area we went to was full of life and provision. For a little while, we played back and forth with swords as well as a game of hide and seek. It was a lot of fun. Who knew healing could include playing in the spirit.

After a few minutes, I asked him if he would like to meet Jesus as He could play with him and hang out with him. He did, and Jesus came. Out of safety from a potential false Jesus, I asked him to check Jesus’ eyes to make sure it was filled with Love.

Jesus got down on His knees in front of him. Little Judah in a very curious and in an innocent manner got face to face with Jesus and looked closely. Then taking his fingers, carefully played with Jesus’ eyelids, pulling them up the whole way and looked super closely as Jesus smiled big. Then Judah responded, “Nope, I don’t see anything bad. All I see love!” With a lot of laughter, Jesus hugged him, and Judah hugged him back, and we knew he was at a great place to allow Jesus to minister and play with him until we could pray again.

The Boy and His Sword

THE FRUIT/TESTIMONY:

We are not done praying for Judah or his wife. However, from this prayer session, He has seen significant change, and His Mother even reported a big change. I received this message from his sister two days after our session:

Hey Susan, so I talked to my mom yesterday. She said that Judah is doing really good. He was saying things like even the trees seem different and food tastes different. He said he doesn’t have any cravings and that he can’t believe he’s wasted so much time on drugs. He’s been arrested before, and he has never said anything like this. Mom said that they have laughed like they haven’t done since he was a kid. I’m like oh my goodness. Pinch me. It’s one of those things that seems too good to be true. It really is amazing. Like major miracle! My mom wanted me to tell you thank you so much for your help. She just cried when I told what the Lord had shown us. I think just having someone else helping is such a relief. She’s carried a heavy burden for Judah. Anyway, it’s going really good for them. Thank you so much!!

I then received this message a few days later:

Just got off the phone with Mom. Judah told her that something profound is happening with him. He can’t explain it. He said that even time has stopped or something like that. That he looks 10 years younger from when he went into jail until now. He has been an addict since 18. He’s 33 now. This is a huge miracle! That boy is set free. Papa is so good.

I don’t know about you, but I am so excited to see how simply following God’s leading can bring such healing. I am so excited to see more breakthroughs like this.

 

 

About Mystic Mama Storm:

My name is Susan Melanie Storm. I am a mother of two beautiful girls and a wife to a handsome tall husband who proudly considers himself a computer/Star Wars/superhero geek.

Along with being Mystic Mama Storm (my pen name), I am also a musician who loves to write and worship. I have a degree in graphic design and a heart for the creative arts.

My heart is for people to experience God in a real way daily as a Father, Savior, Friend, and Bridegroom. I am a spirit-filled Christian Mystic. I use the term mystic because my relationship with God is based on complete union and intimacy with Jesus, the Father, and Holy Spirit and my desire is to bring healing, life, restoration, and love to others through an intimate relationship with God and to inspire others into a similar relationship.

Check out and like my Facebook page:  Mystic Mama on Facebook

Check out and subscribe to my YouTube:  Mystic Mama Storm YouTube Channel

 

Angels, Visions

The Golden Passage

This article is a prophetic encounter experienced and shared by  Margie Moormann, prophetic speaker, author, and visionary of Still Waters Ministries:

 

I gaze at the stately, distinctive, green trees lining either side of the path I am on. I’m not able to identify what type of trees they are. Each branch is vibrant and alive. A delightful, sweet fragrance emitted from the trees fills my nostrils, suggesting what the aroma of heaven might be.

Visible on the path is a fountain of crystalline, sparkling, water. As the water dances in the fountain, it appears to be smiling with delight. What am I seeing?  Where am I? I try to grasp all that I am viewing, but I know I need to move on and discover what is ahead.

The path is red cobblestone. Each stone is outlined in a thick gold rim. As I step forward, rings of gold from my feet form a ripple pattern, pushing more gold out onto the path. This path is a wondrous, golden passage to somewhere unknown.

The path turns and I see an angel sitting on a bench of gold. Gold is everywhere! I’ve seen this angel before. The dress she is wearing is exquisite. The jewels, the fabric, the style has been designed specifically for her alone. She rises. Her white dress reminds me of a Viennese waltz dress. Every movement causes the dress to flow in splendor. She approaches me, smiling a familiar smile. It feels good to be close to her again. She brushes the train of her dress across me and I am enveloped in the most glorious, swirling array of fluorescent colors reflecting a Holy Light. The angel is with me. Has there been a sharp change in elevation? My shoulders and knees become weakened. I’m wondering if I will fall. She reaches out to steady me.

 

The sheets of colors continue to move in a whirling motion above and around me until they become mixed together as one lustrous, undiluted, incandescent color. I have never seen this color before. I cannot identify it. I’ve read there are over 5000 colors we see, but this is something new. The color whirls close, capturing me, and I am embedded into the vortex of this vibrantly ablaze coloration. With a shortened breath I ask her “What color is this?”

Truth tenderly flows from her lips “This is the true color of I AM.  All visible and invisible colors, all hues, all color values, all things perfectly completed together as one in His Glory is what you are experiencing.”

The color has substance. I am curious and touch the substance surrounding me. My body becomes entirely transformed into this undefinable color.

“This is who you are. This color is called The Bride of Christ.”

I am thinking how difficult it often is for the majority of His sons and daughters to see ourselves as Papa God sees us.

“We don’t seem to have the full understanding of being perfectly complete in Him. There’s always something we want to change about ourselves.”

“Watch what happens,” she replies.

With the train of her dress in hand, she pirouettes as a ballet dancer, creating an opening in the atmosphere for men, women and children to come into the perfect color of the Bride of Christ. Coming through this entrance are thousands upon thousands of persons colored in blue, followed by multitudes in yellow, countless numbers in green. Masses of people in orange and red are entering. Incalculable numbers in purple, in gold, in silver, in a polychrome of colors move in through the opening.

“These are those that see themselves with one or more characteristics of I AM. Jesus delights in their passion of co-laboring with Him. They are pleased to be operating and sharing in the characteristics they recognize. With His hand of love extended to each one, Jesus continuously desires to draw all even deeper into the knowledge of Him.”

“Will we ever realize we are capable of being the color of the completed Bride of Christ?”

“Watch again and see what transpires.” She moves the people together. Their colors begin swirling. The colors attract each other and they become One. “You need each other. As you come together, receiving insight and understanding from each other, you blend and unify, becoming the confluence of all that I AM is. You become the color of Jesus Himself. The Bride of Christ.is your color.”

Colossians 2:10  And our own completeness is now found in Him. We are completely filled with God as Christ’s fullness overflows within us. He is the Head of every kingdom and authority in the universe! (TPT)

Each person looks at themselves and weeps, discovering they are the new color of the strikingly beautiful Bride. Many fall prostrate on the ground. I deeply take in the sight of the completed Bride of Christ and begin weeping uncontrollably. What a glorious display of the heart of Papa God. As one voice, we break out in praise and thanksgiving to Him Who was, Who is, and Who is to come! We are divinely connected. We are so diverse, yet so One in Him.

“This is how Jesus sees His Bride. Not fragmented, but wholly, securely interlinked and interlocked. Now come with me to the Fountain” she says, leading us all on the path to the dancing waters.

“Jump in.”

We hesitate. “Don’t be afraid. Your identity in Him does not change. The water is sweetest in the fountain. The abundant Love of I AM is without interruption or cessation. Immerse yourselves in His Light of revelation, in His covenant relationship with you. Ask Him for comprehension of all the great subjects in His books. And as you receive freely from Him, give freely what you learn.”

Proverbs 13:14  When the lovers of God teach you truth, a fountain of life opens up within you. (TPT)

Psalm 36:9  To know You is to experience a flowing fountain, drinking in Your life, springing up to satisfy. In the light of Your holiness, we receive the light of revelation. (TPT)

We splash in the fountain. We laugh. We embrace each other. We join hands. LOVE binds us together. We need one another. Sitting in the pool of water, we begin sharing our experiences in Jesus. Eyes are opened. Revelation is flowing. Eagerness to know, understand and experience more is increasing. The color of the Bride of Christ is dazzling in the Fountain of Life!

The angel has been observing us as we draw closer to each other and to Him. She nods as if hearing something. Holding the train of her dress once again, she pirouettes over us and we find ourselves standing together on the cobblestone path. As we move, gold from our feet ripples out onto the path.

She waves a banner over us. It reads: Joshua 1:3. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 

Together we raise our hands high in excitement as the banner confirms our heart’s cry for Holy Spirit to move through us, calling the earth into true relationship with Jesus. Does the angel see our reaction to the banner? We all look for her as the banner sweeps over us, but she is gone.

The wholeness I feel being one with Him and one with the Body of Christ is blissful and euphoric. None of us is called to be alone. There is coming a day when the Bride of Christ color permeates the earth. Our senses are becoming heightened and aware of this extraordinary, magnificent, awesome color beginning to settle on Papa God’s people.

I saw a television commercial by The Ford Motor Company. “Together we are better than we are alone.” I wonder if the company realizes they are professing Papa God’s heart.

Romans 12: 4-5  For as in one body we have many members and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (TPT)

1 Corinthians 12:27  You are the body of the Anointed One, and each of you is a unique and vital part of it. (TPT)

Romans 12:5  So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (NIV)

 dress picture credit: TangoRouge.com

 

Margie Moormann is an ordained, godly, energetic international speaker and teacher with a prophetic voice engaging audiences world wide with her sensitivity to Holy Spirit’s leading.  Rooted and grounded in Jesus the Vine, Margie’s Spirit-led words come with compassion and power releasing encouragement, victory and the immeasurable love of Jesus Christ.

She loves sharing experiences she’s had—Supernatural Holy Spirit encounters abound. Her delightful sense of humor will have you laughing in the joy of the Lord.  She releases an expectation of being transformed as we are immersed in the still waters of Jesus’ love. You will Be blessed, refreshed, restored, renewed and released as you hear God’s voice speaking to you through Margie.

Still Waters Ministries
www.stillwatersministries.net

Angels

Are Those Orbs Really Angels?

The following is a guest post by missionary and author Jonathan Brenneman.  His website is Go To Heaven Now, and you can read more about him here.

 

Orbs And Angels

I can’t remember when somebody first showed me a picture of an “orb.” “Orbs” are spheres of light that sometimes show up in photos. Many people told me they were angels. I wasn’t so sure. How could I be sure they weren’t just specks of dust or something else like that?
I wasn’t a total skeptic. I just wasn’t sure what to think. I’d been experiencing more and more angelic activity. I often prayed for people without touching them, yet they felt a hand on their body. I knew that the Bible says angels are ministering spirits, sent by God to serve us. But it seemed like there could easily be a natural explanation for the orbs as well.

 

Doing Experiments With Orbs

By the time of my first trip to Russia, I had become heavily involved in healing ministry. I wanted to see God’s glory manifested on this trip! I’d spent quite a while praying for the upcoming time in Russia. This was a youth group trip. I was one of the leaders, only a few years older than most of the youth. Many friends were also praying for our group.

We started noticing the orbs in photos on our first night in Russia. They only showed up in pictures. Were these really angels, or just something else?

I decided we should try experimenting. If these were specks up dust on the lens of the camera, they should show up in about the same place in different pictures. So we took different pictures in different places and compared them. The orbs showed up in different parts of the pictures.

But what if they were just something in the air? We started praying and declaring praise to God, then taking pictures to see where the orbs showed up. And yes, it seemed like they were concentrated around the people who were praying! I began to take the possibility that they might be angels more seriously.

 

Ministering To Russian Grandmothers

We soon got the chance to minister to a group of Russian “babushki.” “Babushki” are grandmothers. Many of these senior ladies had lived through World War Two and Hitler’s siege on Leningrad. (Now St. Petersburg.)

I was excited for the chance to share a testimony. Not so long before this trip to Russia, I’d prayed for an 86-year old lady in the United States whom the doctor had given 6 weeks to live. God healed her of multiple problems. It was a perfect testimony to share with these Russian grandmothers! I shared this testimony and a few scriptures like Psalm 103:2-5

Psalm 103:2-5 (NRSV) Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Then we began ministering to the old ladies. I laid my hands on a lady who was deaf in one ear. Her hearing returned in that ear! What joy!
The youth began ministering to other ladies. A young girl in our group laid her hands on one of the grandmother’s knees. Soon the old lady, in her 80’s, was jumping up and down. She was waving her hands in the air, and shouting “Glory to God!” (Slava Bogu!) in Russian. (Wow, I just felt my knees get all tingly as I am writing.) She had barely been able to walk because her knees were so bad. When the young girl laid hands on her knees, they got really hot and all the pain left.

The love of God that we felt on that trip was probably greater than most of us had ever experienced before. It felt like the air was thick with God’s love. And guess what we found in the pictures? Orbs, which seemed to be in the middle of all the spiritual activity.
The top picture is of our translator who ministered regularly to these grandmothers. You can see a ball of light in the picture, just above her forehead. The picture underneath is the young girl praying with the grandmother whose knees were healed and with another old lady. They were weeping because of the love they felt. You can see a ball of light right above the young girl’s head.

 

The picture below is from another one of my trips to Russia. I spoke and shared testimonies in different house meetings around St. Petersburg on that trip. This was one of those meetings. On all three of my trips to Russia, I was so aware of God’s presence that I often physically sensed it as a current of love flowing through my body. These trips were bathed in prayer. You can see all the orbs in the air at this meeting in a Russian apartment. I’m the dude with the orange shirt.

Why Talk So Much About Angels?

Maybe you think the orbs in these pictures are angels. Maybe you’re not quite convinced yet. I can’t completely prove it, but by now I’m pretty sure that the ones in these pictures were some kind of angelic manifestation showing up.

So what’s the big deal? After all, we shouldn’t worship angels.
Of course we shouldn’t worship angels! But we do talk about them, because the Bible talks about them. The Bible teaches that God has chosen to have angels partner with him to do his work, just as he has also chosen to have people partner with him.

God sends angels to minister to us, and that should encourage us! When we realize that God sends angels in response to our prayers and when we speak or act in faith, we will pray so much more. This encourages us to act and to share God’s love with people. The Bible says that even Jesus received angelic ministry after his temptation in the wilderness and in the garden of Gethsemane. How much more should we also thank God for sending angels to minister to us?
You can read more testimonies of angels, healing, and other miracles in the Heaven Now Trilogy:  Present Access to Heaven, I Will Awaken the Dawn, and Jesus Has Come in the Flesh. Learn how to partner with God to experience heaven now and manifest heaven’s reality on earth!

Angels, Jesus, Prophecy, Visions

Could These Be Bread Lines Again?

The following is a guest post from Margie Moorman, sharing a visionary experience she had on January 12th, 2017.  It originally aired on Facebook here.  I hope this blesses and speaks to you as it did to myself and others whom she shared it with.

 

I was in my kitchen this morning and unexpectedly an angel picked me up and took me by the hand. We ‘flew’ together to a part of the city which I was not familiar with. Suddenly we descended and were on top of a large cliff overlooking thousands of people lined up. Eight across, twelve across, thousands of people. I was puzzled at what I saw. I stared at the mass of people and the angel asked me. “What do you see?” I’m not sure if it was my spirit, or my carnal mind but I thought “is this a question like Jesus asked the man at Bethsaida?” (Mark 8:23-25)

Then in a moment we were in a different city with the same sight. “What do you see?” He questioned me. I didn’t answer because instantly He lifted me up and we were suddenly hovering over one more massive group of people in yet another city.

This went on for quite some time. We traveled to so many cities, seeing the same sight. The angel and I did not stay only in the United States and North America. We flew on. He brought me to cliffs above cities to see the same sights in Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, then Central America. It seemed a whirlwind, but the angel took me around the world, pointing out the same enormous types of gatherings of people. I was confused. I wanted to know why he had me see all these people.

We ended up on a cliff overlooking an ocean. It was a very calming sight at first, but viewing the ocean and hearing the thunder of the crashing waves caused me to think of the nations and groups of people we had seen. I’m not sure where we were, which ocean I was enjoying with this angel. It didn’t really matter. We were silent for some time. Then the angel asked me the same question again. “What did you see”

I responded to the angel saying “I saw so many people lined up, waiting. What are they waiting for?” I felt foolish answering him in this way, but I continued “it almost looked like I saw the bread lines of times past.” He grinned and then quizzed me “tell me what you know about bread lines”.

I told him I knew that the bread lines in the United States were during the 1930’s. He asked me what that particular time in history was called. I said “The Great Depression” He then put this question out to me. “What else do you know concerning bread lines?”. “I’ve read that there were so many homeless people and they were desperate to survive” I replied.

Suddenly I felt Jesus put His hands on my eyes. My eyes were opened to see what the angel was showing me, and I saw everything clearly. (Mark 8:25)

I exclaimed in a loud voice “Countless numbers of people in this world are desperate! Countless are homeless! Countless are depressed! Countless want to survive! Countless want to be healed and whole!”. Then I gasped “It IS a Bread Line!!!! They are in line for the Bread of Life! JESUS!”

John 6:35 (NIV) “Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.”

I knew seeing the places the angel had taken me to were an indication of the many who are waiting for a touch from Jesus, Our Provider. Many have heard of Him and are telling others there is LIFE in Jesus. He sustains us. He frees us from depression. He provides for the destitute. He is the Healer. He calls us to His Home. We are one in Jesus. One with the Triune God. Many have not heard the good news of Jesus, but are seeking and have heard these ‘bread lines’ have the answer. They have come longing to hang on to hope. Longing to hang on to a relationship which is unending. God will never forget the needy.

I was overwhelmed. I asked the angel his name. He answered “Elyacaph”. I started weeping. I asked Elyacaph what I can do. He smiled and said “You have seen. Pray for those you have seen to receive the Bread which came down from heaven. Pray that you step out in the love of Jesus when you see people in the ‘bread lines’. Introduce them to the One who loves them unconditionally, just as they are.’

(John 6:51 NIV) “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’

Elyacaph continued. “Pray the answer is simple and understood by the ones who come longing and asking questions.”

[Paul and Silas] replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Acts 16:31 (NIV)

The angel went on instructing me. “Pray for the new addition to the family of God to be nurtured and nourished. Pray that the family of God supports each other, adds their strength to these new ones, and loves as God loves”. And he added “I’m here to help”.

I then saw the ‘bread lines’ changing, becoming lines of joy and celebration. I think I squealed with delight. These lines were so long that they intertwined from city to city, nation to nation, tribe to tribe. The family of God was uniting. There were no oceans or seas separating us. We were one in Jesus. We were holding each other. We were taking care of each other. We were loving each other. There was no condemnation. The family of God was rejoicing!

I broke out in songs of thanksgiving. I bowed my head and raised my hands. “My Papa God! This is what You are longing for!”

The angel named Elyacaph patted me on the back and said “you have seen well”. I was immediately back in my home, standing alone in my kitchen. I believe I was transported forward in time, seeing the Bride of Christ coming together, manifesting in wholeness and love.

Note: I later had to look up the spelling of Elyacaph’s name. I was hoping I had heard and pronounced it correctly when he told me. It means “God increases the family”. My God will gather in those that seek Him!

John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (NIV)

2 Peter 3:9 (The Message) “ Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with His promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining Himself on account of you, holding back the End because He doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.”

-Margie Moorman-

Creation Miracles, Miracles, Virgin Mary

Weeping Statues – An Uncommon Miracle

This post is about weeping statues.  Some cry tears that have a fragrance with them–roses or other flowers.  Others cry oil or even blood.  While some might say this is demonic in some way as many of the statues that have miracle-tears are of Mary, Jesus’ mother,  I suggest another perspective.  Those who have statues of Mary do so because they venerate her in a place of honor as Jesus’ mother, and she is an integral part of their prayer life and relationship with God.  While Virgin Mary doesn’t play a role in my own prayers, God is kind and good and chooses to visit people in ways that speak to them, not in ways that always might speak to me.  As we enter this Christmas season, consider that all of us have been blessed in some way by Mary’s role in Jesus’ life, and that God may still choose to honor her by revealing His miracles to people through her in these days.  The purpose of this site is to look at and honor heavenly miracles wherever they may be found and whatever they might look like, even if it offends our own understanding of what we believe God will and will not do.  Watch the videos below with an open mind and see the wonders of God.

Virgin Mary Statues Weeps Fragrant Tears

The video below is a “Beyond Science” documentary short looking at whether this is real or not, and it’s a reasonable question.  I personally believe that each of us must decide and discern individually what we believe is and is not real, and that which is or is not from God, and regardless of what the anyone else says or beleives.  We are to pray and ask God what He says about it.

Statue of Virgin Mary Cries Tears of Oil

Angels, Uncategorized

Angels Appear!

It is always encouraging when we see visible signs of the invisible realm around us.  The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:3 that, “by faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible”.  These angels caught on camera are a visible reminder to us that God has invisible servants all around us that minister to us, protect us, and even bring healing from His throne in heaven.  Be blessed and encouraged as you watch these videos where Angels Appear!

 

5 Amazing Angels Caught on Tape

*Note: Please keep in mind that the footage of the being who teleports the man in a cart out of harm’s way from a truck is a video game advertisement for a game released in China a few years back, but because the footage is so realistic it has fooled people for years.

 

 

Shepherd Bushiri prays for his congregation to have their eyes opened to the angelic realms, and as the crowd gets touched by heaven, the cameras show angels caught on film standing in a line, as well as a few other ones dotted throughout the congregation.  The visitation starts at around 2:32.

Angels Appear in a Church During a Live Service

 

 

 

Discernment, Gold Miracles, Healing, Jesus, Miracles, Revelation, Revivals, Spiritual Instruction

Spiritual Discernment according to the Bible while Keeping the Unity of the Believers

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As Christians, we are called to love one another and build one another up in the faith. Jesus prayed concerning all believers: “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17: 23)

Unfortunately, as I research what God is doing in our day I come across too many Christians sitting around criticizing and condemning their brothers and sisters in Christ instead of building them up. This saddens me and I pray that the body of believers will come to love one another as Jesus desired. Only then will the world truly see Jesus in us.

There is a deep division in the body of Christ. Jesus warned that a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe that there is room for disagreement and alternate perspectives within the body of Christ; but what worries me is when portions of the body begin attacking other portions of the body. These attacks come from deep-rooted misunderstanding of what the other members of the body stand for and confusion regarding how we are to discern whether a movement or a miracle is from God or not. My hope is that this article can bring understanding and ultimately unity to the body of Christ.

Two Perspectives

At issue here are two perspectives within Christianity:

On the one hand, there are the charismatic-leaning Christians who believe that supernatural giftings [Greek: khárisma] of the Holy Spirit as described in I Corinthians 12 and other places are still an important and valid part of the Christian life today . The charismatics believe that God is still speaking to his children and that God has empowered us to supernaturally do his work in the earth.

On the other hand, there are the cessationist-leaning Christians who tend to believe that after the canon of scripture was sealed God no longer needed to endow his church with miraculous supernatural giftings — that those giftings of the Holy Spirit have ceased to be a part of Christian life today. These brothers and sisters in Christ explain that those giftings were only meant to confirm the word of God as preached by the apostles and now that we have the full canon of scriptures there is no need for revelation of God’s truth and there is no need to confirm the revelation of God’s truth with signs and wonders.

seeing

Many cessationists are dedicated to protecting the Bible’s authority in the Christian’s life and are anxious to keep people from being misled by miracle working teachers who might lead people into false doctrine. They fear that people may trust the miracles as evidence of the teacher’s authority instead of relying on the Bible for that authority in a Christian’s life.

Some cessationists spend much time trying to cast doubt on miracles and when the miracles are convincing they argue that the source of the miracle-working power is demonic. They also like to discredit charismatic Christian men and women whose ministries are supernaturally empowered. They consider these Christian men and women to be dangerous to the faith.

I know that these people – who consider themselves to be apologists for the faith – sincerely believe that the charismatic Christians are in error. I pray that this article will help bring a better understanding of who the charismatics are and why they value the supernatural, miraculous power of God in their lives.  I also pray that all Christians – whether cessationist-leaning or charismatic-leaning – will give themselves over to the great command of Jesus to love one another.

Condemning and criticizing brothers and sisters in the faith does not display God’s love in our lives. We should love all of our brothers and sisters whether we agree with their theology or not. That means that charismatics should love even the brothers and sisters in Christ who criticize and attack our spiritual brothers and sisters. That means that cessationists should love the men and women who rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to share God’s good news with the hurting people of the world.

Furthermore, loving one another means that when any of our brothers or sisters – even one of our pastors or leaders of the faith – are caught in a sin we should not cast stones but we should seek true restoration for that person (Galations 6:1). We should follow Jesus’ example. He has never turned his back on us even though we have often let him down and fallen into sins. He has always been eager to embrace us and restore us and build us up.

Understanding These Two Perspectives

Having said that, let me shed some light on these two dominant perspectives found in Christianity. Let us seek understanding and come to love the hearts of our brothers and sisters – whether we agree with them or not.

perspective

Both charismatics and cessationists believe the Bible reliably reveals God, God’s love, and God’s way of salvation. Charismatics and cessationists trust the Bible to be our invaluable source of sound doctrine.

The cessationist might complain that charismatics allow for additional revelations besides the Bible. But to be fair we should point out that, although charismatics allow for the Holy Spirit to reveal truth and give guidance, they believe that any true revelation from God will not contradict what God has already revealed in scripture. In fact, charismatics teach that any true revelation from God will be supported and confirmed by scripture and will be consistent with what has already been revealed in scripture.

There is a fundamental difference in the way charismatics and cessationists approach the Bible. Charismatics notice that throughout the Bible people are having direct encounters with God. They see frequent miracles throughout the Old and New Testaments, they see personal guidance given to God’s people by God himself (for example see Acts 18:9 where the Lord spoke encouraging words to Paul in a vision), and they see verses seeming to indicate that all believers should function in the supernatural (see the last words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel According to Mark where he says believers will drive out demons, speak in new tongues, heal the sick by laying on of hands and so forth and see Jesus’ words recorded in John 14 where he says anyone who has faith in him will do what he has been doing and even greater things). Charismatics also see that Paul set a pattern for sharing the Gospel that worked very well for him: “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” These words are found in I Corinthians 2. And again in Romans 15 he said “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done – by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.” (also see I Corinthians 4:20 and I Thessalonians 1:4-5 for similar statements from Paul).

Charismatics see the Bible as a window into what Christians are to be like. They see people who experience God’s love in a personal and real way (Jesus said, “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” John 14:21). These people in the Bible experience God’s love and healing and are set free from Satan’s kingdom of darkness. They are empowered to share Jesus’ love and grace with the world.

For charismatics it is not enough to know the stories and the truths of the Bible – they want to also live like the heroes of the faith, whom they see as biblical examples of what our relationship with God can be like.

Meanwhile some Christians (especially cessationists) treat the Bible as more of a history book that documents some unchanging truths. These Christians focus on believing the truths of the Bible but have trouble letting the supernatural experiences of the Bible off the pages into their own lives.

The 72 disciples found in the Bible who went out and healed people and cast out demons in Jesus’ name are not seen by cessationists as a model for today’s Christians. Instead, they are seen as a one-time, special-case, historical event. These Christians prefer to focus on theological truths regarding the process of salvation. They shy away from modern-day Christians with gifts of healing and prophecy for fear that these modern-day events and practices might get more attention than the historical events and teachings found in the Bible.

Some even go so far as to take scriptures out of context in an attempt to prove that these modern-day practicing Christians are illegitimate. An example of this is when they quote I Corinthians 13:8 – “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.” – and say that this shows that prophecy and tongues were meant to cease in the church. They sidestep the problem that if this verse means what they say it does then knowledge should have also ceased in the church. Knowledge is of course very important to them. Meanwhile, knowledge joined with practice and experience are important to the charismatics.

To put things into perspective, consider two students of biology. They have both thoroughly studied the chapter of their textbook on animal dissection. One of the students does not get to have the experience of dissecting an animal but the other does. The student who dissects the pig finds it to be a messy, fascinating experience. He finds the experience much different than he had imagined it to be while he was studying the textbook. Not to say that the textbook was in error in any way. He simply found that the study joined with the experience led to the fullest and most meaningful education. One student can parrot the explanation from the textbook and has a very pristine and orderly view of dissection. The other student benefits from the raw experience of actually dissecting a pig according to the instructions found in the textbook.

How Big is that Box?

Whether cessationist-leaning OR charismatic-leaning Christians, believers nearly always have God inside a box. Some allow for bigger boxes for God than others but they have him in a box all the same. Many Christians feel like they know about God and they have him figured out. They feel qualified to determine if a message or a miracle came from God or not because they know what kinds of things God does and what he says.

Interestingly, these Christians usually do not have such a box for Satan. So, when something happens outside of their God-box, they say it couldn’t have been God and must have been the Devil.

boxes

One of the boxes that Christians have God in is no bigger than their pocket-sized Bibles. They have decided that God only does the things that were specifically recorded in the Bible.

For example, these Christians see people miraculously receiving gold fillings in their teeth and say that it couldn’t have been from God since that particular miracle was never recorded in the Bible.

Ironically this idea that God can only do the things that were written about in the canon of scripture is not taught anywhere in the Bible. God never put such a restraint on himself.

The scriptures were never intended to exhaustively reveal everything that our all-powerful, eternal God has done and will do. In fact, the Gospel of John concludes with this statement: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

This verse of scripture clearly indicates that the Bible is not intended to tell us everything that God has done. Furthermore, like I said before, there is no scripture that says that God will not do a new thing or that he is limited by what has been included in the canon of scriptures.

In fact, Psalm 115:3 puts it bluntly: “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”

Also, notice that in John 14:12 Jesus says that his followers will do even greater things than he ever did during his ministry. So, Christians are not limited by what Jesus did. What he did was meant to be a foundation for us to build upon through our faith and reliance on God’s power and the Holy Spirit imparted to us.

Sadly, many Christians are experts in Biblical scholarship and know all the things in the Bible but when God does something in their lives they miss it because it doesn’t fit into their framework. To such people Jesus spoke this warning in John 5:39: “You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me.”

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were very well studied scholars of scripture but they misunderstood what God was doing in their own day. They missed out on Jesus. They condemned him and accused him of doing miracles by Satan’s power because what Jesus was doing didn’t fit into their understanding of the scriptures. They had a chance to be intimately familiar with God in the flesh but they totally misunderstood him and plotted his destruction.

Let us discern correctly the moves of God in our day and be careful to not miss out on what God is doing now. God is active and anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear and understands what God is doing has the opportunity to join God in the mighty work he is doing in our generation!

Discerning the Genuine from the Counterfeit

We are commanded in scripture to be on guard against false teachings and are warned that just because miracles are performed does not necessarily mean the teacher is from God or is speaking the truth. In fact, we are told that the beast’s false prophet will perform great miraculous signs including calling down fire from heaven (Revelation 13:13 and 19:20). Jesus also warned that false messiahs and false prophets will come who will perform great signs and miracles to deceive God’s chosen people (Matthew 24:24).

So, what are we to do? Should we reject every wondrous sign and miracle and assume that all such things are from the enemy? Should we bury our heads in the pages of the Bible where we know the miracles and teachings are safe and reliable?

counterfeit

But don’t those very same pages in the Bible tell us that anyone who believes in Jesus will do the miracles that Jesus did and even greater ones? (John 14:12) Doesn’t Paul the Apostle instruct the believers to eagerly desire spiritual gifts? (1 Corinthians 14:1)

Is it right to ignore the parts of scripture that don’t match our personal experiences? Should we discourage Christians who are walking out spiritual truths that we are uncomfortable with? Should we reject anything supernatural for fear that it may come from evil spirits instead of the Holy Spirit and God’s holy angels?

In their eagerness to avoid being misled, some Christians tend to label every supernatural miracle as being a counterfeit miracle. And, in fact, there may very well be counterfeit miracles as scripture clearly warns us: ‘The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.’ (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

But, please keep in mind that for there to be a counterfeit there must also be the real thing that the counterfeit is modeled after. God is the creator; not Satan.

God is the creator. God specializes in creating. That is what comes naturally to him.

Satan, on the other hand, can steal what God created, he can kill what God created, and he can destroy what God created (John 10:10). He can even counterfeit God’s creations. But let’s not give Satan credit for creating a new miracle. God is the creator. Satan is the thief.

God created every kind of miracle and supernatural wonder. Satan is not creative at all. He can only produce weak forgeries of the true wonders of God. Name any supernatural work that devils do and I can point to the real thing in Jesus. Psychic readings? Those are cheap counterfeits of true prophecy. The beast’s false prophet calling fire down from heaven? That is just a copy of what God already did numerous times in the Old Testament. Levitating a few feet of the ground by demonic power? That is wimpy compared to Jesus walking on water and ascending all the way up into the clouds to return to heaven. Every counterfeit miracle and sign and wonder demonically produced has a very real counterpart with its origins in God’s power.

Let’s also consider that only truly valuable things are counterfeited. For example, do we have a problem with forgeries of pennies? No! We have forgeries of $100 bills. Do we have counterfeits of brown paper bags? No! We have forgeries of masterpiece paintings. If it is truly valuable then you can expect someone to try to counterfeit it. The fact that signs and wonders are counterfeited tells me that the real thing is valuable. And of course it is valuable because the real thing points to the power and presence of God in the lives of people on earth. Now, because there is forged money out there, will I reject all money? Of course not! Instead, if I don’t want to be deceived, I will learn how to discern if the money is real or counterfeit.

The Biblical Discernment Test

Now, in regards to discerning the current moves of God, the Bible gives us some clear instructions.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that we can judge whether a tree is good or bad by its fruit. So, true teachers and miracles from God should cause people to have positively changed lives given over to the fruit of the Holy Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Furthermore, in I John 4 we are told that we can know if a spirit (and incidentally a prophet) is from God or not by whether the spirit honors Jesus for who he really is or not.

Also remember what Jesus said when he was accused of doing miracles by the power of demons. He explained in Mark 3 that there are two kingdoms at war and that we can know which kingdom is sponsoring a move by determining which kingdom is being attacked. So, in the case of Jesus driving out demons, it is evident that the kingdom being attacked is Satan’s kingdom which would indicate that God’s kingdom is sponsoring the attack.

From this teaching we can learn if a movement is from God or from Satan by determining which side is taking a hit from the movement.

Jesus also warns us in this passage not to blaspheme the movement of God’s Spirit by giving Satan credit for what God is doing.

Often I hear my brothers and sisters giving credit to Satan’s minions for signs and wonders that are causing thousands of people to wholeheartedly give their lives to Jesus. Can I just point out that if demons are doing those miracles that they must be the stupidest demons ever?!? Why would a demon do a miracle that will cause people to stand in awe of God Almighty and to give praise to God Almighty and to commit their lives to God Almighty and to have increased faith in God Almighty?

Demons do not work to glorify God and lift up the name of Jesus Christ. But the Holy Spirit and God’s angels ARE working to glorify Jesus.

So, after looking at these scriptures, we can see that we can clearly discern the source of a spiritual movement or a miracle by asking a series of questions:

What is the fruit like? (Matthew 7:15-23)

Is Jesus honored for all that he is? (1 John 4:1-3)

Is Satan’s kingdom losing ground? (Mark 3:22-30)

Is Jesus’ kingdom gaining ground? (Mark 3:22-30)

And as we have already discussed, we can discern whether a teaching or revelation is from God by going back to scripture to check if the teaching or revelation is consistent with scripture. So, we will add one more question:

Is it consistent with scripture? (2 Timothy 3:16)

Now, let’s take a look at a particular Student Awakening that occurred on a campus several years ago. The primary theme of the Student Awakening was hearts being healed and discovering the love of Jesus in a very personal, real way. There were physical healings and students were set free from addictions. The net result was students falling in love with Jesus.

Now let’s apply the Bible’s discernment test…

Fruit of the Tree Good: YES

Jesus Honored for All  that He Is: YES

Satan’s Kingdom Losing Ground:  YES

Jesus’ Kingdom Gaining Ground: YES

Consistent with what is Revealed in Scripture: YES
(In scripture, God is revealed as a Healer who Loves Us)

That was fun. Now, let’s use our discernment test on a supernatural phenomenon occurring in modern times.

We will take a look at the manifestation of gold fillings as well as gold crowns. These are signs and wonders putting God’s mark on people in a way that can only be explained by the supernatural. These are very personal manifestations that tell the people to whom they occur that God is real and that God cares about them. In this way, God becomes a very real, powerful being in the lives of these people instead of an abstract idea somewhere up there in heaven. People are giving their lives over to God as they realize that He is extremely real and cares about them. Each time they look in the mirror and see the gold filling they remember that God does miracles in their life and they worship him and give Him all their worries.

Now let’s apply the Bible’s discernment test to these miracles…

Fruit of the Tree Good: YES

Jesus Honored for All  that He Is: YES

Satan’s Kingdom Losing Ground:  YES

Jesus’ Kingdom Gaining Ground: YES

Consistent with what is Revealed in Scripture: YES
(In scripture, God is revealed as a Healer who Cares about Each of Us)

Now, let’s look at one more spiritual movement.

There is a man in Florida named Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda who claims to be the modern-day manifestation of Jesus Christ. He also claims the title of Antichrist. He discourages anyone from worshiping the Jesus that most Christians worship since he believes that he is Jesus’ replacement and claims to be even better than Jesus. Furthermore, he teaches that there is no devil, no hell, and no sin – even murder is not a sin according to this man’s teaching. He encourages his followers to put away all feelings of guilt and to enjoy every pleasure that life has to offer including gluttony, satisfying all sexual appetites, and so on. He also teaches that there is no point in praying to God. His followers are encouraged to demonstrate against Christian churches and whole Christian denominations because they are classified by him as false religions.

Now, let’s apply the Bible’s discernment test to this movement:

Fruit of the Tree Good: NO

Jesus Honored for All  that He Is: NO

Satan’s Kingdom Losing Ground:  NO

Jesus’ Kingdom Gaining Ground: NO

Consistent with what is Revealed in Scripture: NO
(In scripture, there is only one Jesus Christ and his true followers live lives of love and holiness)

This test can be easily applied to any supernatural or prophetic movement. Just be careful to look at the evidence without your personal theology and biases coloring your perspective.

Examine scripture to see if a movement or a message clearly contradicts the teachings of Jesus Christ and the early apostles or not. While you are studying the scriptures, remember to be open to seeing the scriptures in a fresh light and be careful to comprehend the point of what the writer of the scripture was really trying to say.

Jose Miranda, mentioned above, tries to confuse people by quoting from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians where it says “everything is permissible.” He takes these words out of context to scripturally support his teaching that there is no sin. He conveniently ignores that Paul is actually quoting other people in that verse and he ignores the many verses warning against immoral living — even in the same chapter.

We can also see that Jose’s claims directly contradict Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24: “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

 Can You Recognize the Children of God?

Our biases and personal experiences often cause us to make wrong judgments. For example, imagine you are worshiping in your usual spot in your church one Sunday morning when you see a man fall to his knees and begin shaking and crying and then laughing. We can only see in the natural realm and too often we make spiritual judgments based on our five natural senses. We might even throw in some scripture to justify our judgments. We might think to ourselves, “That man is not being self-controlled and he is not worshiping in an orderly fashion.” In this way, we stand in judgment over that man based on our superficial understanding of what is happening. We can only see what is happening on the outside in the realm of nature. What we don’t know is that this man is having a supernatural encounter with Jesus. If we saw Jesus like this man was seeing him and if we were being radically set free from the wounds of past trauma like this man, we would understand how appropriate it is to be on our knees shaking with strong emotions before the feet of the Living God who created the universe and has poured out his life on the cross to rescue us into his heavenly kingdom.

Please beware of nitpicking a true work of God. Don’t miss out on supporting a genuine move of God in our day.

The Bible encourages us to discern, but we need to be able to discern correctly. We should follow the biblical discernment test outlined above so we don’t fall into the trap of the Pharisees who called the true work of God in their day the work of Satan and became guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, they rejected Jesus Christ the Son of God. How many children of God have we rejected and criticized because we were judging them by our personal standards instead of following the Bible’s discernment test?

I love all of my brothers and sisters in Christ and plead with each one of you to be slow to condemn the men and women who are trying to serve God. No one except Jesus is perfect. But isn’t the Good News that we are loved and accepted by God through Christ’s finished work on the cross despite our imperfections? Isn’t it wonderful that God has chosen to use imperfect jars of clay to carry his treasures? (2 Corinthians 4:7)

children

Let us carry in our lives the attitude of Christ who looked down from the cross to those mocking him and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

I am so glad that we serve a merciful God who is eager to forgive us of all our sins. He knows our hearts and understands our motives, but he wants to give us his heart and he wants his goals to be what drives us. Let’s put away our divisive attitudes and truly love and lift one another up in the spirit of humility and grace.

The standard for our unity is the unity between the Son and the Father in the holy trinity. Hear Jesus’ words: “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their [the apostle’s] message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21) Now, Jesus and God the Father enjoy complete harmony and unity and share a single purpose. Jesus desires that we all get along with one another and support one another just as Jesus and the Father are completely unified. Furthermore, we are meant to be completely unified with Jesus and the Father. All of us – Jesus, the Father, you, and me – share the same Spirit and should be completely unified. When this happens, the world will truly see the body of Christ in the earth.

Demons, Spiritual Beings, Spiritual Instruction

The Truth about Religious Spirits and How to Deal with Them

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It is commonly believed that religious spirits are demons that promote the following characteristics in people: Judgementalism, Sel-Righteousness, Criticism of Others, Legalism, Divisiveness, Being Argumentative, Condemning of Others, and Intolerance of Differences. The favorite pastimes for afflicted individuals are Witch Hunts, Witch Burnings, and — when no witches can be found — Making Witches.

Monty Python witch hunt mob
Monty Python witch hunt mob

People who have discovered the amazing grace and unconditional love of God find the above attitudes to be very disturbing. One of my friends became so frustrated with these attitudes that he posted in exasperation:

DOES ANYONE HERE HAVE AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO DEAL WITH RELIGOUS SPIRIT DEMONS?????

If you are a Christian who finds yourself bothered by the judgmentalism and divisiveness of religious spirits, then you’ll want to read on. Here are some thoughts that may be helpful to you.

The Grace-Centered, Free Christian

You likely find judgmentalism, divisiveness, and anti-grace messages to be so repulsive because you have found the freedom that is found in Christ. You have discovered God’s unconditional and wonderful love and you have found out that nothing matters except Christ and your relationship to him. It is only in and through Christ that you have perfect relationship with God. There is nothing you can add to it or take from it. You know that all your righteous practices are like filthy rags. You know that it is Christ alone who makes you righteous.

Moreover, you have discovered just how completely righteous and holy and godly Christ has made you. You have discovered your sonship, your priesthood, that you are a co-heir with Christ and that you have the Holy Trinity in all their glory and power filling you and surrounding you. All of this gives you incredible freedom, joy, life, peace, and love – you have taken on the character of Christ and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is exhibited in your life: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.

Like a man freed from years of slavery, you absolutely hate and despise the chains that used to bind you and still bind much of your universal family. You know that those chains have no power for anyone who receives the freedom and life that God offers them through Christ Jesus so it pains you to see your family members continuing to be held back by relatively powerless chains. You want them free and cannot understand why they don’t call out to God and shake loose from the chains.

ball-and-chain

You are like the Apostle Paul in Galatians exasperated to see people who should be living as free men still living like slaves to rules of dos and dont’s–touch and don’t touch, associate and don’t associate, eat this and don’t eat that.

The Root of the Religious Mindset

People bound to religious rules of dos and don’ts are relying on their rules to connect to God. They only feel made worthy to be connected to God BY spending X number of hours praying and reading the Bible, BY going to church service, BY wearing the right clothes, BY confessing the proper doctrines with their mouths, BY doing the right charitable acts, BY tithing X dollars, BY so many things instead of BY CHRIST ALONE.

Moreover, these people continuously strive to maintain or achieve a connection with God BY condemning other people who have different ways of living their lives and different ways of connecting to God.

The very nature of the religious mindset you are finding troublesome is that these people have to believe that they have THE RIGHT beliefs and practices that ensure connection with God.

To prop up their belief that they have THE RIGHT beliefs and practices, they must insulate themselves from those with different beliefs and practices who are equally confident that they have THE RIGHT beliefs and practices connecting them to God. When they encounter someone with a different set of beliefs and practices who also claims to have a connection with God, they feel compelled to tear down the one who is different until that person also accepts what they consider to be THE RIGHT set of beliefs and practices. Their confidence is in their unique set of beliefs and practices and when others claim to be achieving the same goal with a different set of beliefs and practices it creates a conflict in their mind and brings out insecurities and they feel that they must resolve the difference by either coming into agreement on what THE RIGHT beliefs and practices are or to decide that one of the two parties has not actually received God’s approval and is to be condemned.

The Nature of the Religious Mindset

The religious, rule-oriented mindset is what you are confronting when you encounter a person who is divisive and judgmental in the religious realm. When you encounter someone saying that such and such is required to be godly, you naturally want to say NO IT ISN’T because your confidence is that it is Christ who connects us to God not any righteous acts of our own, which you know to be filthy rags in God’s sight. You put your confidence in Christ in you for salvation – not outward things like religious duties kept and right practices and rightly expressed words.

But when you suggest that there may be another way, the person caught in a religious mindset instantly becomes defensive. They feel that they must protect their set of right beliefs and practices and connection with God by condemning yours or condemning your relationship with God.

You tried to help them but then you just end up butting heads and feelings are hurt and no one is really helped.

You are fighting against a human mindset – the mindset of people who have been bound and blinded by the foolish doctrines and principles of this world.

I wish it was as easy as just casting the demons out. But it is a mindset problem and there is much human will and control there. Demons certainly promote the ideas that result in these mindsets, but the mindsets themselves are rooted in the mind, not in demons. If it was as easy as casting out demons, then Jesus could have changed the mindsets of all the Pharisees and Sadducees with one command. But most of them never changed and their confrontation with the freeing message of Christ only resulted in them hardening their hearts and becoming more and more offended, insulting, and murderous until Jesus and many of his followers – even to this day – were and still are being hung on a cross by offended religious people.

Christ Confronts the Religious Mindset

The Pharisees and Sadducees worked to have Jesus Christ crucified because Jesus was a threat to their religious rules and their religious mindsets. Jesus was constantly making People and Love a priority over Rules and Regulations. When Jesus saw religious rules that were not helpful in particular situations, he dismissed the rules and helped the people. His priority was always people and individual needs. Picking grain on the Sabbath, healing on the Sabbath, coming in contact with a leper and woman with issues of blood, rescuing a woman from her penalty of being stoned to death for adultery are some examples of Jesus’s priority of people coming in conflict with the religious folks’ priority of rule keeping.

In Matthew 23 we can read a sermon by Jesus in which he calls out the Pharisees and Sadducees on their messed up priority of putting rules above people.

Why did Jesus confront the Pharisees and Sadducees, anyway?

Was it to change them?

I don’t think so. Jesus knew better.

It was because those religious leaders were the guards to the chains, so to speak. They were enforcing and promoting the religious do-this-and-don’t-do-that-to-be-loved-by-God mindset among the people at large.

By confronting the religious leaders, Jesus revealed to the general public the foolishness of the religious rule-oriented mindset and revealed to people the true loving heart of God the Father. Many people were set free in this way.

How to Deal with the Religious Mindset

If you are intent on changing those committed to the religious mindset, you are likely to wear yourself out and your joy in the Lord will likely be overshadowed by the constant discussions and debates you will be having.

To anyone willing to receive freedom, reveal to them the unconditional love and grace and blessing of God available to all of us – not because of our right set of beliefs and practices but because of Jesus Christ in whom alone we put our confidence.

It is the message of unconditional love of Father God that is most likely to undermine the religious performance oriented mindset – but it must be done in a way of sharing and revealing God’s love for the individual, not engaging in debate with them.

Trying to prove your point will only put them into a defensive posture and wear you out and put you in a position of being subjected to their attacks.

Share God’s love and freedom and blessing in Christ to all who are willing to hear it. Toss the seed on the ground and leave it to God as to which seed will sprout on good receptive ground and which will not.