How did you meet Jesus?

“I met him on a bridge…it was the place I was going to leap off of in despair, and He, that man from Nazareth, turned it into the place that I crossed over to the promised land”

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How I Met Jesus…

A while back I began e-mailing a new friend I met while speaking at a conference at a drug and alcohol recovery centre. I started thinking about how many people I have met over the years who I developed an instant connection with, like this woman, and began some great friendships.

So, while e-mailing my new friend, I started thinking how cool it would be if all of the people I’ve met through the years could have met each other, and could somehow participate in the amazing e-mail conversations I’ve been a part of.

So, I prayed, asking Jesus how I could connect with all of the people I’ve met who want to pursue a friendship, and how to be able to SHARE! That is so important to me, how can we share our walk? Because you see, it’s in the walk that I’ve been transformed. It’s in the miles long walk, through muddy trails and rainstorms, and beautiful sunny paths that I have been transformed. In the walk with Jesus Christ.

And the truth is, I want to “walk” with these people that I’ve met, who live in different parts of the world and so we can’t “physically” walk together. God gave me the green light. To invite you, to invite others to join me…in this path that REALLY goes somewhere! To a happy destinty!!

So…this is a place we can share prayers, Bible study, problems, fears, shames, joys, and most of all, a place where we can share the Truth. The truth about who we are, our walk with God, the truth in God’s word, the Bible…and our experiences with the Truth Himself, Jesus Christ.

I’ll share with you my experiences on how I met Jesus, on my walk with Him, on my talks at conferences, and all the things I learn and teach. I’ll share with you my private life which is not a secret, my amazing revelations as I get deeper and deeper in living the Bible’s way of life. The struggles and blessings of taking a purity vow, and my experience in Deliverance from the Power of Satan into the living reality of freedom and redemption through Jesus Christ.

He really is The Man!!

You are more than welcome to respond to me, and send me your own stories/prayers/ideas and I’ll post them here, or you can just read and research without participating.

How I met Jesus:

I had such an awesome recovery and a great life with God for many years sober and clean, helping people and growing in my spiritual life, I got very deep in emotional work with a wonderful mentor who really helped me to get to a place where I could unreservedly ask God to remove from me everything that was sabotoging my willingness to have a Deep and Effective Relationship with God and others – wow!

Some things started happening to me (good and bad) that started to challenge my deepest beliefs and understandings about God – these experiences didn’t change the “Truth” of my experience – that I had been rescued and recovered by an all powerful and loving God as I understood Him at the time, but all the conclusions and assumptions I had developed about God began to be stripped away – when I started SINCERELY asking God:

“Who are you?”

“Who are you really? Show me the Truth. God, what do you want to say to me? Anything at all?”

Through some hardcore rude awakenings, intense spiritual experiences (sometimes walking in the process of not having immediate answers – in the ‘desert’) my entire worldview changed. My entire spiritual and religious beliefs changed. I KNEW things that I never could grasp or believe before.

And the joy and ecstasy of walking with the GREAT ROMANCER is beyond anything I could ever describe to you – it started with this:

Pick a place (out with the trees) or in your favourite chair, and be quiet…feel your hair on your face, the butterflies in your stomach, just BE where you are. DO NOT EMPTY your mind. No. Please don’t! Instead, ask God this, in your own words:

“Dear God, please pray with me right now. Hear me God, and answer me. Please Reveal yourself to me. Who are you? Who are you really? Give me the willingness and the power and the faith to keep asking this question no matter how much it’s going to turn my life and beliefs upside down. I want to know the Truth. You are the Truth, and all Truth comes from you. Please reveal it to me. And I ask you God to protect me from all other influences that will try to seduce me with counterfeit light. I seal my mind shut with the Light of God. I will hear and obey only the voice of God. Amen.”

And if you’re feeling particularily wild and bold, or just plain weary from the world, try what I did:

“Dear God, start a fire inside me. Reach into me and into my life and bypass all of my bullshit, all of my “issues” and bring me to life. Fill me with your fire, and your life God. So much so, that the blaze of your Love consumes every desire that I have until it unifies my desires/will/emotions into a single pure flame of Love for you. Let your Will and only your Will be done in and through me. I call to you, The Father of Jesus Christ to grab hold of me and do with me what you Will. Amen.”

I was hard core anti-Christian, and when I say anti-Christian – I mean that sincerely. I 100% believed it was bullshit – and I couldn’t stand the language, the book, and especially the people!! If anyone even mentioned Jesus’ name in passing, I dismissed them as foolish pheasants, and I would have to leave the room! Strange, because I grew up in a moslem home that respected Christians and I had never had many interactions with them or any negative experiences. But the whole thing infuriated me! I stayed away from them and religion for many recovered spiritual sober years!!

As a newcomer in recovery I had a couple of experiences that made Christians I knew smile, because although I vehemently resisted it, I seemed to have a connection with Jesus. I was watching a movie about him once in 2000 when I was newly sober and struggling to make some hard amends, in the movie’s adaptation of Jesus’ life, an evil tax collector who was considered scum by his village approaches Jesus and asks Him

“Look at me! People hate me, how could I possibly make right what I’ve done, and follow you??”

I was so curious about what this “Jesus” would say – he turns to the man and says:

“It’s simple. Stop. Give back everything. And follow me.”

He pretty much described the entire ‘recovery process’ that I was involved with, in one sentence! Something happened to me inside – a chill that leapt into my throat, but I resisted it, because that experience didn’t match my prejudice!

Another time I prayed so deeply for God to show Himself to me, where I least expected it – and soon afterwards I was approached by a very scary dirty homeless man in my city. He was filthy and insane. When I reached into my pocket to get out some money for him, I glanced back at him, and in a split second I saw something, that to this day I have not been able to see again. I saw a man, who was so bright that he looked like he was on fire, his face was almost brilliant gold, his hair was like fire, his eyes were sparkling, exploding blue jewels – this was no imagination or “aura” it was HIM! God! the One! And He was so beautiful, my instant reaction was this urge to fall to my knees, and what pierced my heart and stayed with me long after the experience, was the way He looked at me – like I was the Love of His life, in an instant every defense and fear dropped from me. I saw Him, and I gasped, and then bam, it was gone. It was just the homeless guy!!

For many years I was a seeker. Reading many books, trying many spiritual practices, helping many people get right with God, praying, meditating, seeking, seeking, yet somehow never fully committing to letting God consistently lead me to where HE wanted to take me.

I literally became a new age guru, go to girl! I was heavily involved in “Conversations with God” “A course in miracles” “Ekhart Tolle”, trance like meditations, etc. I started a meditation group in my home, I practiced Eastern techniques/out of body astral travel/hypnosis/crystals/energy work - you name it! I was fully immersed in the occult, sincerely “looking” for God.

What captured my heart and soul in these books and “practices” were a couple of sentences here and there that were ripped off from the Bible. What I didn’t know, couldn’t know, is that they were mixing the truth with lies. They were taking a couple of kernels of Truth from the Bible (which is what won my trust) and then building an entire FALSE religion around it. Stealing from the Bible and denying the Bible – all in one breath!

I even accepted “Jesus”…as a beautiful teacher, part of the EVERYTHING…I thought people were just too hung up on the “label”, I REFUSED to respect authentic Christianity which to be fair, is not just a different “label”! It’s actually very specific that Jesus Christ is the ONLY Savior! That sin is something very real that we need to be “saved” from and that Good and Evil are Real!

Well – you could just forget it!! Not because I wanted to be a brat – but because in my core, I simply just didn’t believe that! I could grasp that the evils of the world were caused by our “egos”, that Jesus was a part of God’s plan, that we were all “one”….but my own experience that I had recovered without Christ was proof to me that He was NOT the “only way”, which is the basic Christian faith. So I made up my own!

The main thing is this: I SOUGHT HIM. I said (secretly – as I didn’t want anyone to know)

“Jesus: if you are who they (The Bible people) say you are, the ONE – please reveal yourself to me”

Well – let’s just say that the next 2 years were the most incredible, out of this world, painful yet amazing times I’ve had so far. Everything I ever believed was flipped upside down! You see – maybe that’s not necessary for some people, but I needed to SEE with my own eyes and heart what the TRUTH is – and no one could convince me, or read it to me – I had to find out for myself. All of the pain/hurt/disappointment/confusion that I’d experienced were explained and healed! Yes, my recovery had helped alot – but where people had taught me to “just accept what happens without question” or to just “create my own reality” I decided to ask God directly – and he showed me.

He opened my eyes to what is really going on behind the scenes in the world and in the universe – and I came under extreme spiritual attack for it. It was very difficult for me to deal with – because: how do you deal with something that your mind refuses to believe is real? I was so brainwashed by this world that I could not accept my OWN experience. I kept denying, rationalizing, dismissing what was happening to me and others around me!

Accepting The Truth was tough – especially while surrounded by many well meaning people who gave me their “new age” philosophy opinions, which were actually not “new”, but rather repackaged old deception. This deception includes many forms of self-worship, under the cover of more benign terminology of course. Things such as the “law of attraction” “co-creating with God” “creating our own reality” etc. All grossly out of context of the original plan of God to create us in the image and likeness of Himself and Christ! Seemingly harmless and spiritually earnest stuff - yet unveiled it is repackaged satanism. The worship of oneself, and the denial of God as the Supreme Personality of all the heavens and earth, with His own mind and Will!  I was surrounded by these people as well as many more people who were being attracted to my “light” who I didn’t know what to do with, some of who were begging me to perform “exorcism” on them! At that time I was as non believing as you can get about the Bible and everything that goes with it!!!!!!!!!!!

So I had to experience what I had to experience – until I asked Jesus Himself:

“WHO ARE YOU?”

He showed me who He was – and He also showed me how the Devil runs “interference”, to influence me to resist Christ as the Truth, to resist the whole story of the Bible. To resist the centrality of the CROSS and its meaning, to twist and warp the absolute reality of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, to me back then, there was no other “force” other than God, there was no such thing as Evil, everything and everyone was just part of the great “Oneness” right? Maybe my own ego or our collective egos were running interference. Evil was just the absence of light and love right? Evil was just real to people who believed it to be real right? But as for an intelligent, real, diabolical eternal being that exists whether you believe in him or not called the Devil – no such thing right? Oh boy did the idea of a real Satan offend my pretentious new agey mind.

So God SHOWED me. With my own eyes, my own ears and my own experience, interpreted by His Holy Spirit and lining up with the entirety of the Bible,  He showed me, that there are forces at work much greater than myself. That I had been blinded. That I had accepted without question that entrance into the Spirit world and all resulting spiritual experiences and inspiration were of God. Biggest mistake ever made by honest seekers! I had accepted without question that everything I think and feel is mine – so arrogant I was! I could not believe that I could be influenced so subtley. Until He showed me.

The Enemy is an extremely cunning and subtle foe! Insidious and powerful.

But I could not accept the truth about the reality of good and evil, the reality of sin and salvation, the reality of the war on earth against humanity by the Devil and demons, until I experienced it face to face. And began to experience freedom from a bondage I did not know even existed! Despite my disbelief, despite my deepest convictons, it was all true! Despite my “feelings” and the hundreds of people and hundreds of books that supported my rejection of the Bible, it is THE TRUTH. I sincerely set out to prove that the Bible is wrong, and in my sincere and honest research and study, and through God’s grace and wisdom, it has been thoroughly revealed to me, in the deepest part of my cellular existance that the word of God in the entirety of the Holy Scriptures of the Holy Bible is indeed The Truth! Though I was blind and incapable of “seeing” what the Bible simply and clearly spells out – God’s power called Light out of darkness.

I could see.

I could undertsand.

I could comprehend what was so out of reach before.

That the world view and perception of the Bible is the Truth.

I recovered many years ago from the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction, and all its lying insanity. For a VERY long time, I stayed in that place, afraid that if I truely pursued this relationship with Jesus, I would become one of those people who forgot where they came from. Who became hypocrytes who don’t help their own kind, but by my personal relationship with HIM, I have come to truely understand what ”The Good Samaritan” really means. I through Jesus Christ have also recovered from the world, and its lying insanity. He SAVED me. Literally. I remember how much my perception changed about life in general when I recovered. Multiply that by 10,000 when God recovered me (saved me from Sin and Death) from this world! By the co-operation of my spirit with God’s and his constant light shining on my own mental faculties I still live in this world, and serve its people, and go out for dinner and movies  – but I am recovered from the deception of this world. Evil was de-cloaked. Unveiled. Plain as day!

I had the experience that Jesus Christ of the Bible is the Only way to the Father, not because my belief is “correct” (which it is) but because he is the only one who came to this planet to Die for me to be free. How else could I be so free from just making amends? I paid maybe 5% of the “spiritual debt” yet I experienced 100% of the debt forgiven! How is this possible? I was 6 years recovered and came to a place where nothing I believed “in” could move me forward. 11 years ago when I recovered from alcoholism and drug addiction, it was He who helped me even in my disbelief, even in my quite loud put downs of him and the Bible- He HEALED ME ANYWAY!!!! He did it on faith, knowing that I would one day come to know that it was Him who healed me, it was him who rescued me. No one but Him could have known that I would one day, turn around COMPLETELY, and become a great champion for his Name! Who could’ve known? The Christians I mocked?

Ya right! I went out of my way to turn shaky Christians away from their Christian walk, I belittled and attacked Christianity as much as I could. I became everything the Bible warns against – and He, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of the Living God, used all of that to bring me to Him. Wow! Bam! Yeehaw! Let’s pause for a moment and feel the power of God in this!

Only God can “convert” a person’s heart by opening their eyes to the truth, I undertsand why people don’t want me to talk about it – because I was ‘allowed’ to have my own experience when I was a ‘non-christian’…when really I was an anti-christian, defending my right to be wrong…and people allowed me to do that – but it NEVER stopped them from sharing the truth.

I couldn’t ignore the fact, that I had never met anyone who was truly ‘clean’ and living a life of power who wasn’t a follower of Jesus Christ. Reading all of the first hand experiences of the people who started the recovery fellowships showed me by their own words how each and every single one of them suffered horribly and could never retain their state of grace when they pursued their own conception of God. I have never met anyone in recovery who had lasting peace, emotional recovery and the Spirit of God dwelling in them who were not SAVED.

It is usually through a deep experience with God, and True repentance (which is what the recovery ‘steps’ really are) that they are set on a path that if they truly follow through with earnestly seeking The Truth about God – always find Jesus.

You can believe in whatever you want – I won’t stop you or argue with you, or refuse you my friendship, but does that mean if I am asked point blank what I believe is the Truth I would deny Him, in the hopes of winning someone over? No. Never. Those games people play are evil. Alot of people have tried doing that to me. They want what I have, they want to work with me, but they don’t really want to change. They don’t follow through with the real work of repentance (Being HONEST, taking inventory, making amends, helping others, seeking God) instead they want to feed off of me, and when they can’t they turn on us and accuse us of trying to convert them! LOL.

You can have what I had before I knew Jesus Christ. I had true repentance, I recovered. I changed. I was healed, and set free from addiction. I had an experience with God, the Father. And I was given hope of something greater to come. That is all we have as non Christians. But people are not satified with that, not for very long. They want the LIGHT that they see in me now. And the Truth is, 100%, that the Light that is in me now, the power and authority that I have, is the Light of Christ. The Son of The Father. The Truth.

100%  no matter who you are, or what you believe, if you consistently ask God to Reveal the Truth to you, unadulterated, you will come to know it!

That is one of the reasons people approach me. When I’m “speaking” I have the authority to speak to you without the Interference. From my own heart, where God and His Son now live, to yours. You can “sense” the Truth. And the reason why I’m in touch with the Truth, is simply because the false (the interference) has been dispelled, because I pray first and DISMISS all other influences and interference. I own my inheritance.

That’s the Truth! That’s my experience! I share this with you, not in the hope you’ll go “wow ya! ok, I’ll believe like this too!” because anything I can talk you into, someone else can talk you out of. But what God “talks you into” – what He REVEALS to you, no one can EVER EVER talk you out of.

I share this with you, to bear witness to you, like a witness would in a court of law. I am just bearing witness to you of what HE Can Do. Of What He Has Done In Me.

I also share this to strengthen those who do believe. To remind you that your problems and struggles may have been partially created by you and some by the Devil, but the Truth is, ALL of your problems can be solved by Jesus. I am here to remind you to keep walking with Him, together. Let’s go!

As well, I share this – because Jesus did something to my heart that cannot be undone. He captured it. He owns it. Not because He has the power to command my devotion (which he could do) but because he exposed His most intimate self to me. He bared his heart and soul to me – and I fell in love with Him. I’m still falling. He invited me into His heart and shows me the world through it. He touched my spirit with such tenderness and understanding, that he COMPLETELY disarmed me. He won me over. He brought me to life. I only thought I knew what being “alive” was. I only thought I knew what “love” was. They were shadows compared to the Love, Power and Light that live in me now, and it’s because of Jesus Christ. I follow Him and share Him, because I recognize his voice. He is my Shepherd. The Good Shepherd.

As a result and continuation of my conversion, I am always being put in a position to help people come to know that Jesus really does want them for Himself, that he can heal anything. That His friendship is the most incredible and satisfying gift that will rock their world!

I teach people about Deliverance – from all the oppression and slavery that Satan inflicts on them, that are hidden behind dysfunction, addiction, all kinds of disorders, and “new age” spirituality.

I teach people what I learned the hard way with my own blood sweat and tears mixed in with Jesus’ – that the Bible in its entirety, interpreted and applied by the Holy Spirit of God living inside a born again follower of Christ – is the most dangerous weapon against the forces of darkness and hell that a believer has!

He disarmed them and made a spectacle of them -

I am living proof of that – and so could you be!

I really look forward to hearing about your thoughts and experiences on
your walk with Jesus Christ.

Love

Your sister and friend                                                                                                                       Layla                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        (Ishiswomen Blog Creator)

P.S I will only post things from you that you give me specific permission to share openly on this blog. To send me your material, or if you need to share with me privately, e-mail me at ishiwoman@hotmail.com

To connect with other women AND men, and to see what we are up to as a Deliverance and Street Ministry Church, please visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/?react=AQDcLM1rjQ2ywWTi#!/pages/Church-Of-The-Royal-Love/265949530135463?sk=wall

War On The Saints: The Defeated Prince Of The World

Thank you for the hundreds of e-mails and texts supporting this and for sharing your heart with me!!!

Monday, March 19th, 2012

DISTINCTION BETWEEN SATAN AND EVIL SPIRITS

“The distinction between the workings of Satan as prince of demons, and his evil spirits, should specially be noted, so as to understand their methods at the present day; for to many the adversary is merely a tempter, whilst they little dream of his power as a deceiver (Rev. 12: 9), hinderer (1 Thess. 2: 18), murderer (John 8: 44), liar (John 8: 44), accuser (Rev. 12: 10), and a false angel of light; and still less of the hosts of spirits under his command, constantly besetting their path, bent upon deceiving, hindering, and prompting to sin. A vast host wholly given up to wickedness (Matt. 12: 43-45), delighting to do evil, to slay (Mark 5: 2-5), to deceive, to destroy (Mark 9: 20); and having access to men of every grade, prompting them to all kinds of wickedness, and satisfied only when success accompanies their wicked plans to ruin the children of men (Matt. 27: 3-5).

SATAN’S CHALLENGE OF CHRIST IN THE WILDERNESS

This distinction between Satan, the prince of the demons (Matt. 9: 34), and his legion of wicked spirits, is clearly recognized by Christ, and may be noted in many parts of the Gospels (Matt. 25: 41). We find Satan in person challenging the Lord in the wilderness temptation, and Christ answering him as a person, word for word, and thought for thought, until he retires, foiled by the keen recognition of his tactics, by the Son of God (Luke 4: 1-13).

We read of the Lord describing him as the “prince of the world” (John 14: 30); recognizing him as ruling over a kingdom (Matt. 12: 26); using imperative language to him as a person, saying; “Get thee hence”; while to the Jews He describes his character as “sinning from the beginning,” and being a “murderer,” and a “liar,” the “father of lies,” who “abode not in the truth” (John 8: 44) which once he held as a great archangel of God. He is called, also, “that wicked one” (1 John 3: 12, A.V.), the “Adversary,” and that “old serpent” (Rev. 12: 9).

In respect of his method of working, the Lord speaks of him as sowing “tares,” which are “sons of the evil one,” among the wheat–the “sons” of God (Matt. 13: 38, 39); thus revealing the Adversary as possessing the skill of a master mind, directing, with executive ability, his work as “prince of the world,” in the whole inhabited earth, and with power to place the men, who are called his “sons,” wherever he wills.

We read also, of Satan watching to snatch away the seed of the Word of God from all who hear it, this again indicating his executive power in the world- wide direction of his agents, whom the Lord describes as “fowls of the air”; in His own interpretation of the parable (Matt. 13: 3, 4, 13, 19; Mark 4: 3, 4, 14, 15; Luke 8: 5, 11, 12); plainly saying that He meant by these “fowls” the “evil one” (Gr. Poneros, Matt. 13: 19); “Satan” (Gr. Satana, Mark 4: 15); or “Devil” (Gr. Diabolus, Luke 8: 12); whom we know, from the general teaching of other parts of the Scriptures, does his work through the wicked spirits he has at his command; Satan himself not being omnipresent, although able to transpose himself with lightning velocity to any part of his world-wide dominions.” – Jessie Penn-Lewis; War On The Saints, Chapter 2

Dear God, through prayer we have come to know you better, through prayer, you have revealed your character to us and your heart and Spirit. Through prayer is the Bible opened – truly opened. Through prayer have you removed the veil of ignorance and the bedazzlement of Satan – to see him for who he really is. Through prayer have our hearts become aligned with yours. Through prayer; humble, honest prayer have vast armies of the Enemy been destroyed, strongholds torn down and deliverance won. Through prayer is your power and love and mercy unleashed through us. Help us Jesus, have mercy on us and help us to keep praying with you, in all things. Unceasingly. Amen.

War On The Saints: Walking In Living and Vital Union With Christ

Thank you for the hundreds of e-mails and texts supporting this and for sharing your heart with me!!!

Sunday, March 18th, 2012

BELIEVERS MAY RECEIVE EQUIPMENT TO DEAL WITH SATANIC POWERS

“The hour of need always brings the corresponding measure of power from God to meet that need. The Church of Christ must lay hold of the equipment of the apostolic period, for dealing with the influx of the evil spirit hosts among her members. That all believers may receive the equipment of the Holy Spirit, whereby the authority of Christ over the demon hosts of Satan is manifested, is proved not only by the instance of Philip the deacon in the Acts of the Apostles, but also by the writings of the “Fathers” in the early centuries of the Christian era, which show that the Christians of that time (1) recognized the existence of evil spirits, (2) that they influenced, deceived and possessed men, and (3) that Christ gave His followers authority over them through His Name. That this authority through the Name of Christ, wielded by the believer walking in living and vital union with Christ, is available for the servants of God at the close of the age, the Spirit of God is making known in many and diverse ways. God gives an object lesson, through a native Christian like Pastor Hsi,  in China, who acted upon the Word of God in simple faith, without the questioning caused by the mental difficulties of Western Christendom; or He awakens the Church in the West, as in the Revival in Wales, by an outpouring of the Spirit of God; which not only manifested the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the twentieth century, as in the days of Pentecost; but also unveiled the reality of Satanic powers in active opposition to God and His people, and the need among the Spirit-filled children of God, for equipment for dealing with them. Incidentally, too, the Revival in Wales threw light upon the Scripture records, showing that the highest points of God’s manifested power among men, is invariably the occasion for concurrent manifestations of the working of Satan. It was so when the Son of God came forth from the wilderness conflict with the prince of darkness, and found the hidden demons in many lives aroused to malignant activity, so that from all parts of Palestine crowds of victims came to the Man, before whom the possessing spirits trembled in impotent rage.

The awakened part of the Church of to-day, has now no doubt of the real existence of the spirit beings of evil, and that there is an organized monarchy of supernatural powers, set up in opposition to Christ, and His kingdom, bent upon the eternal ruin of every member of the human race; and these believers know that God is calling them to seek the fullest equipment obtainable for withstanding, and resisting these enemies of Christ and His Church.

In order to understand the working of the deceiver-prince of this power of the air, and become acute to discern his tactics, and his methods of deceiving men, such believers should search the Scriptures thoroughly, to obtain a knowledge of his character, and how spirits of evil are able to possess, and use the bodies of men.” – Jessie Penn-Lewis; War On The Saints, chapter 2

Dear God, wow!! Thank you for giving us such a gifted and humble teacher in this writer, Jessie Penn-Lewis. Thank you God for confirming what you showed us and what you provided for us in the Bible. Thank you God for removing the veil through Christ so that we can see the truth, and discern concurrent manifestations of the working of Satan when there is an outpouring of your Spirit. And thank you so much God for the truth in what she says!!! That this authority through the Name of Christ, wielded by the believer (us) walking in living and vital union with Christ, is available for the servants of God!!!! YES! YES! YES! Amen! 

Descendant Of A Wild Donkey!!

Thank you for the hundreds of e-mails and texts supporting this and for sharing your heart with me!!! Here is my prayer today that came from meditating on the Bible!

Sunday, March 18th, 2012

Descendant Of A wild Donkey!

Do you know how beautfiful God is? How long suffering He is? He knows what we are like – and yet is UNWAVERING in his determination to make us His sons and daughters. My DNA is stamped with Ishmaels’s rebellion – the father of the Arab tribe! And yet God went after Hagar – twice! An unchosen slave – and her son who God knew would be the ancestor of those who OPPOSE Him and his Son! And yet blessed them both!

Who on this planet could even come close to understanding the depth of God’s love and patience. Who?

He could have spared Himself and the world centuries of rebellion and disobediance and war by snuffing them out in that desert. But instead he chased after her into that desert and blessed her. He could have just let them die – the unchosen slave and her “wild donkey” son – but the angel said that God heard the boy’s voice and God Himself then showed her the well.

You see, the child he had chosen to become the ancestor of The One, was not chosen to be the leader of a superior race, he was chosen to be bring forth the descendant who would one day die on a cross to save that “wild donkey” and his descendants, as well as every single human being who puts his trust in Him, Jesus Christ.

Let’s be quiet today and think with our spiritual minds on the millions of moments and details that God has maneuvered through without overriding humanity’s free will to bring about this Plan Of Redemption. The more I think about it with my spirit, the less that I can speak – except to say, thank you God for your mercy and your love. Thank you for hearing our voice and for coming into the desert and showing us the well that has become rivers of living water pouring out of our hearts. Amen

“Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37)

Genesis: God and Hagar

Ch.16: v7 But the *angel of the *Lord found Hagar in the  desert. Hagar was near a well that gave water. That well was on the way to Shur. v8 The *angel said, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from? And  where are you going to?’ Hagar replied, ‘I am running away from my boss Sarai.’v9 The *angel of the *Lord said this to her. ‘Return  to your boss and obey her.’ v10 The *angel of the *Lord also said, ‘I  will give many *descendants to you. Nobody will be able to count them.’ v11 The *angel of the *Lord then said this to  Sarai. ‘You are now *pregnant and you will have a baby son. The  *Lord has heard that you are suffering. So you will name your son Ishmael. v12 Ishmael will be a man that is like a wild *donkey. He will oppose  everyone, and everyone will oppose him. He will always fight against his  relatives.’v13 Hagar called the *Lord, who spoke to her, this  name. ‘You are God, who sees me.’ She said, ‘Here I have seen God, who cares  about me.’ v14 That well is called Beer Lahai Roi. (Its name means ‘the  well of the Person who lives, who sees me’.) Hagar called it that because there,  God saw her. The well is between Kadesh and Bered. v15 Hagar had a baby  son for Abram. Abram named his son Ishmael. v16 Abram was 86 years old  when Hagar had Ishmael

Ch. 21 v14 So, early in the morning, Abraham gave bread to  Hagar. And he gave to her a bottle that someone had made out of skin. The bottle  had water in it. He put those onto her shoulder and he sent her off with the  child. She left. And she wandered in the desert near Beersheba. v15 When they had drunk all the water from the bottle,  she put her son under one of the bushes there. v16 She went and she sat  down by herself. She did not want to see her child die. So she sat a little  distance away, about as far as an *arrow goes. She sat there and she began to  cry loudly. v17 But God heard the boy’s voice. So the *angel of  God called from heaven. The *angel called to Hagar and he said this to her: ‘You  need not be upset, Hagar. Do not be afraid, because God has heard the boy’s  voice. He has heard the boy there where he is. v18 Go and get the boy up.  Hold him firmly with your hand. I will make him into a great nation.’ v19 Then God showed to her a well with water. She had  not seen the well before. So she went. And she took the bottle that someone had  made out of skin. She filled it with water and she gave a drink to the boy. v20 So God was with the boy. The boy grew up and he  lived in the desert. He became skilful with a bow and *arrows. v21 He  lived in the desert called Paran, and his mother chose an *Egyptian wife for  him. (Chapters 16 & 21: Genesis)

An Army Of Servants

Thank you for the hundreds of e-mails and texts supporting this and for sharing your heart with me!!! Here is a  prayer today that came from one of my closest friends – the most solid Christian man I know, Chris P.

Lord,

Please equip me so that I can resist all temptation from evil. Enable me to be prepared before temptation, before I enter into my own thoughts, before the earth has its way with me. Before I accept the advice from the world, that I am in, but not a part of, so that I see the enemy’s tactics from the moment they start to manifest. Give me the strength to resist entertaining temptation for even a second, so that I can still turn to you while there is still time, so that I can endure it. Give me the passion that I need to have for your word. Help me to memorize your word so that it is in every fiber of my heart, so I can shout it out loud when I am awake and meditate on it when I sleep. Lord show me that to protect my heart and soul, I need you, desperately.

Lord – I do not want to give birth to my sin, because when I do it’s too late to turn back, and I fall without protection, back into the flesh. Father, I so long to be with you, but it is not my time yet. More than anything I want your will to be done, not mine. But often I want you to take away my suffering and my pain, more than I want your blessings. Lord – your glory is my only desire, so help me to find real believers, so that we can be an army of servants for your kingdom – Lord, you have said that if any two of us on earth agree about anything we ask for, it will be done for us – by you. You are the father of all good things, the alpha and the omega, I lay on my face and worship you my loving father and as I fear and love you my God – how sweet it is to know that you will conquer all that oppose you. Use me as you see fit my Lord, to open up the eyes and the hearts of those that are still immersed in the dark.

Your loving servant,

Chris

Amen!

Prayer

Thank you for the hundreds of e-mails and texts supporting this and for sharing your heart with me!!! Here is my prayer today that came from meditating on the Bible!

Saturday, March 17th, 2012

“In the war upon the powers of darkness, prayer is the primary and mightiest weapon, both in aggressive war upon them and their works; in the deliverance of men from their power; and against them as a hierarchy of powers opposed to Christ and His Church.” -Jessie Penn-Lewis

Dear God, 
Teach us how to pray. Reveal to us what to pray. Help us not to give up on prayer, not to listen to the words of the Enemy who says that some prayer goes unheard or unanswered by you. Give us the courage and willingness to simply pray at all times and in all things. Thank you Jesus that you are our prayer leader – you are our High Priest. Let every person reading this believe your prayer and be quickened by your living words:

The High Priestly Prayer

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.

I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify themin the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctifiedin truth.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Amen.

Spiritual Progress

Spiritual Progress without Jesus Christ is like pumping weights on death row.

War On The Saints: Opening The Eyes Of Those In Bondage

Thank you for the hundreds of e-mails and texts supporting this and for sharing your heart with me!!!

Friday, March 16th, 2012

CHAPTER 2.
The Satanic confederacy of wicked spirits.

A perspective view of the ages covered by the history in Bible records, shows that the rise and fall in spiritual power of the people of God, was marked by the recognition of the existence of the demoniacal hosts of evil. When the Church of God in the old and new dispensations was at the highest point of spiritual power, the leaders recognized, and drastically dealt with, the invisible forces of Satan; and when at the lowest they were ignored, or allowed to have free course among the people.

GOD LEGISLATING FOR DANGERS FROM EVIL SPIRITS

The reality of the existence of wicked spirits by whom Satan, their prince, carried out his work in the fallen world of men, cannot be more strongly proved, than by the fact that the statutes given by Jehovah to Moses in the fiery mount, embodied stringent measures for dealing with the attempts of evil spirit beings to find entry to the people of God. Moses was instructed by Jehovah to keep the camp of Israel free from their inroads, by the drastic penalty of death for all who had dealings with them. The very fact of Jehovah thus giving statutes in connection with such a subject, and the extreme penalty enforced for disobedience to His law, shows in itself (1) the existence of evil spirits, (2) their wickedness, (3) their ability to communicate with, and influence human beings, and (4) the necessity for uncompromising hostility to them, and their works. God would not legislate for dangers which had no real existence, nor would He command the extreme penalty of death, if the contact of the people with evil spirit beings of the unseen world, did not necessitate such drastic dealing.

The severity of the penalty obviously implies, also, that the leaders of Israel must have been given acute “discerning of spirits,” so sure and so clear, that they could have no doubt in deciding cases brought before them.

Whilst Moses and Joshua lived, and enforced the strong measures decreed by God to keep His people free from the inroads of Satanic power, Israel remained in allegiance to God, at the highest point of its history; but when these leaders died, the nation sank into darkness, brought about by evil spirit powers, drawing the people into idolatry and sin; the condition of the nation in after years, rising and falling (see Judges 2: 19, 1 Kings 14: 22-24; compare 2 Chron. 33: 2-5, 34: 2-7) into (1) allegiance to God, or (2) idolatrous worship of idols, and all the sins resulting from the substitution of the worship of Satan–which idolatry really meant–in the place of Jehovah.

When the new dispensation opens with the advent of Christ, we find Him–the God-Man–recognising the existence of the Satanic powers of evil, and manifesting uncompromising hostility toward them, and their works–Moses in the Old Testament, Christ in the New. Moses, the man who knew God face to face. Christ, the Only Begotten Son of the Father, sent from God to the world of men. Each recognizing the existence of Satan and the evil spirit beings; each drastically dealing with them as entering and possessing men, and each waging war against them, as actively opposed to God.

Taking a perspective view, from the time of Christ on throughout the early history of the Church, up to the giving of the Apocalypse, and the death of the Apostle John, the manifested power of God wrought (in varying degrees) among His people, and the leaders recognized and dealt with the spirits of evil–a period corresponding to the Mosaic period in the old dispensation.

THE CHURCH IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Then the forces of darkness gained, and, with intermittent intervals and exceptions, the Church of Christ sank down under their power, until, in the darkest hour, which we call the Middle Ages, all the sins having their rise through the deceptive workings of the evil spirits of Satan, were as rife as in the time of Moses, when he wrote by the command of God, “There shall not be found with thee . . one that useth divination, or that practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer” (Deut. 18: 10-11).

Now, at the close of the dispensation, and on the eve of the millennial age, the Church of Christ will again arise, and reach God’s purposed power, only when the leaders recognize, as Moses did in the Old Testament Church, and Christ and His apostles did in the New, the existence of evil spirit powers of darkness, and take towards them and their works, the same uncompromising attitude of hostility, and aggressive warfare.

THE CHURCH OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Why the Church in the twentieth century has not recognized the existence, and workings, of evil supernatural forces, can only be attributed to its low condition of spiritual life and power. Even at the present time, when the existence of evil spirits is recognized by the heathen, it is generally looked upon by the missionary as “superstition” and ignorance; whereas the ignorance is often on the part of the missionary, who is blinded by the prince of the power of the air to the revelation given in the Scriptures, concerning the Satanic powers.

The “ignorance” on the part of the heathen is in their propitiatory attitude to evil spirits, because of their ignorance of the gospel message of a Deliverer and a Saviour sent to “proclaim release to the captives” (Luke 4: 18), and Who, when He was on earth, went about healing all who were “oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10: 38), and sent His messengers to open the eyes of the bound ones, that they might “turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26: 18).

If missionaries to the heathen recognized the existence of evil spirits, and that the darkness in heathen lands was caused by the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2: 2; 4: 18 ; 1 John 5: 19; 2 Cor. 4: 4), and proclaimed to the heathen the message of deliverance from the evil hosts, they know so well to be real, and malignant, foes; as well as remission of sin, and victory over sin through the atoning sacrifice of Calvary; a vast change would come over the mission field in a few brief years.

But the Holy Spirit is already at work, opening the eyes of the people of God, and many of the leaders in the Church are beginning to recognize the real existence of Satanic powers, and are seeking to know how to discern their workings, and how to deal with them in the power of God. (Jessie Penn Lewis; War On The Saints, Chapter 2)

Dear God, thank you for opening our eyes so that we could turn from darkness to light, so that we could turn from the power of satan to you! Thank you that we did not settle for half truths, that you have given us a humble and obedient spirit to receive the gospel in its fullness. Help us to continue in this humble spirit and make us careful not to slip in conceit of our own knowledge and efforts. We seek to know how to discern the workings of evil spirits and how to deal with them in the power of God. We ask for this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.