Jonathan Brenneman's Blog, page 20

God’s Seven Redemptive Names And The Seven Colors Of The Rainbow

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Last week we talked about God’s name “The Lord Is My Banner.” We discussed using banners to proclaim God’s dominion and his name, “The Lord Our Peace.”

I take doctrine and scripture seriously. What I’m about to share, I’m not sharing as doctrine. It’s a bit of speculation. I don’t like when people teach subjective things as as if they were doctrine, without solid scriptural support. I’m going to compare God’s “seven redemptive names” with the colors of the rainbow.  Although this shouldn’t be taken dogmatically, it may be encouraging and useful to you as you practice non-verbal proclamation.

I talked about non-verbal proclamation in . I mentioned this, but I didn’t get into how the colors might correlate with different aspects of God’s nature. I wanted to keep it to the most essential and necessary truths in that book. But after writing about white banners last week, I thought it might make an interesting blog post to talk about God’s names and the colors of the rainbow. I shared this in Russia years ago. My dad makes worship flags. I took a bunch of his flags to Russia and did a seminar on using colors and banners to proclaim God’s glory.

God’s Seven Spirits And Many-Colored Wisdom

I first read about in F.F. Bosworth’s book . I later learned that C.I. Scofield talked about the same thing.

Names are very significant in scripture. God’s names tell us about his character. God’s “seven redemptive names” describe seven redemptive aspects of his character. They are:

Jehovah-Raah—The Lord Our Shepherd

Jehovah-Jirah—The Lord Sees And Provides

Jehovah-Rapha—The Lord Our Healer

Jehovah-Tsidkenu—The Lord Our Righteousness

Jehovah-Shalom—The Lord Our Peace

Jehovah-Shamma—The Lord Is Present

Jehovah-Nissi—The Lord Our Banner

Learning about God’s seven redemptive names led me into an interesting train of thought. I read in Revelation about the “seven spirits” or as is sometimes translated, “sevenfold Spirit” of the Lord. (For example, Revelation 3:1, 4:5, and 5:6) Scripture also says that God is light (1 John 1:5). There are seven colors in a rainbow. Just as God is one, but his nature is multi-faceted, light is one but we can see different facets of it in a rainbow.

We also know that a rainbow is symbolic of God’s promise. We take each of God’s redemptive names as promises. Could it be that there is some correlation between these seven aspects of God’s nature, and the seven colors of the rainbow? Revelation says that there’s a rainbow around God’s throne.

Ephesians 3:10 talks about the manifold, or multi-faceted wisdom of God. This passage becomes really interesting when we check out what Vincent’s Word Studies says about the word “manifold” as used here. (See the notes on verse 10 here)

“Manifold wisdom (πολυποίκιλος σοφία)

A very striking phrase. The adjective occurs only here, and means variegated. It is applied to pictures, flowers, garments. Ποίκιλον is used in the Septuagint of Joseph’s coat, Gen_37:3. Through the Church God’s wisdom in its infinite variety is to be displayed – the many-tinted wisdom of God – in different modes of power, different characters, methods of training, providences, forms of organization, etc.

So we could read Ephesians 3:10 as saying “His intent was that now, through the church, God’s many-colored wisdom should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.” Wow![image error]

 

We know that different colors have different psychological effects. It’s quite an interesting topic to read about. So I don’t think it’s a stretch to think of different colors representing different aspects of God’s nature. Of course, colors can mean different things to different people. Again, this isn’t something I treat dogmatically.

One of the most important things to understand in  is that the earth is presently full of God’s glory, but it will be filled with the knowledge of his glory. We need to become aware of God’s glory which fills the earth and which all of creation proclaims. Considering what the colors around us are declaring about God can help us to become more aware of his goodness filling the earth. So here’s what I think of when I see different colors…

What Could Colors Be Declaring About God?

This is just my theory, based on what I know about color symbolism. It’s not set in stone. For example, in last week’s post, we talked about using white to declare “The God Of Peace,” but in this spectrum, it is green.

1) Red—Righteousness; Blood of Jesus: Jehovah-Tsidkenu

The Lord Our Righteousness ( Jeremiah 23:6 NRSV In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.)

 

2) Orange—Praise; Harvest; Warfare: Jehovah-Nissi

The Lord Our Banner (Exodus 17:8-15 NRSV vs. 15  And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner.) The story implies that we can also understand this as “The Lord is my victory.”

Note this is between righteousness and God’s presence.

 

3) Yellow—Presence; Council of God: Jehovah-Shammah

The Lord Is Present (Ezekiel 48:35 NRSV The circumference of the city shall be eighteen thousand cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord is There.) This name signifies God’s presence which is not only with us, but fills the whole earth. The artist Van Gogh used yellow to represent God’s presence.

 

4) Green—Peace; Life; Mercy: Jehovah-Shalom

The Lord Our Peace (Judges 6:24 NRSV Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it, The Lord is peace.)

The Old Testament uses the word “peace” in very practical ways, applying to every area of our lives. The meaning is close to that of the Greek word “sozo” for salvation. We understand that it includes deliverance, preservation, soundness, prosperity, happiness, rescue, and general well – being. It’s used in both the spiritual and physical senses.

Therapists use green to calm people.

Note this is between God’s presence and healing.

 

5) Blue—Healing: Jehovah-Rapha

The Lord Our Healer (Exodus 15:26 NRSV I am the Lord who heals you.)

I’ve heard of people seeing blue light during creative miracles when missing limbs are growing back. Some people have seen healing angels as emitting blue light. I once came back from a conference where it seemed that God sent a healing angel back with me. I experienced an increase in healing miracles after that time. A lady in the church said that when she looked at me that Sunday, she saw blue light emitting from my body.

 

6) Indigo—Shepherd: Jehovah-Ra-ah

The Lord Our Shepherd (Psalm 23:1 NRSV  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.) Jesus is the good shepherd, and he cares for God’s flock. Notice that it’s on the spectrum between healing and provision.

 

7) Violet—Wealth, Provision: Jehovah-Jireh

The Lord Our Provider (Genesis 22:13,14 NRSV And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.  So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”)

 

 Note the relationship of the expression of each color and how it functions out of relationship to the colors beside it. You can go in a circle with the colors in that red follows purple and the entire spectrum continues.

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Raising God’s Banner Of Peace

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The White Flag

I go to a prayer group on Monday nights. It’s at the school across the street. A few weeks ago, they asked me to pray for our neighborhood. Scripture says Jesus’ government and peace will increase continually, so I declared God’s peace dominating my neighborhood. I prayed that people’s eyes here would be opened to see the light of God’s glory in Jesus’ face.

I felt the rivers of God’s love pouring through my soul. I’ve had a glimpse of God touching a region before, and I know so much more is possible! I’ve heard of what God has done at other times and in other places, but I want to see it now, in my life! Scripture says the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God’s glory. God was stirring up my zeal to see my city become like heaven.

Habakkuk 3:2 (NIV) Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known…

The next week, one of the ladies had a vision of a white flag. She said she didn’t know what it meant.[image error]

The message was as clear as possible to me! We often think of a white flag as a symbol of surrender. But this wasn’t! Flags are symbols of government. They are standards of dominion. This white flag declared the dominion of God’s peace. The Lord was telling us to raise the white flag and declare his dominion and his peace advancing in our city.

The Lord Is Our Banner

 I continued to think about this. One of God’s  is The Lord Our Banner. (Jehova-Nissi) I decided to teach on this the next time we had our prayer meeting. We find it in Exodus 17.

Exodus 17:8-15 (NIV) The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner…

 This is a story about proclamation. The staff in Moses’ hands symbolizes authority. Moses proclaimed God’s dominion by raising his hands. As long as he did, the Israelites won. When Moses lowered his hands (got tired and stopped proclaiming God’s dominion) the Amalekites won.

This showed me that we must persevere. We must not let discouragement or tiredness stop us from proclaiming God’s dominion. The context shows us that declaring “The Lord Is My Banner” is like saying “The Lord Is My Victory.” This story also points to the connection between raising our hands in prayer and declaring God’s victory/dominion.

1 Timothy 2:8 (NIV) Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.

Lifting God’s Banner Over Brazil

I take proclamation seriously. I’ve learned that the spiritual realm works through proclamation. I’ve seen angels move and things happen as I declared God’s word. I wrote scriptures and prayers on the walls of my houses in my early twenties, and people began to encounter angels in them.  So after the vision, I began to consider getting a large white banner with the words “The God Of Peace” in Portuguese, and raising it over our neighborhood. By the way, “The Lord Our Peace” is another one of God’s “redemptive names.” The white banners proclaim two of God’s names— Jehovah-Shalom (The Lord Our Peace) and Jehovah-Nissi (The Lord Our Banner).

[image error]The state to the north of Rio de Janeiro is called “Espirito Santo” (Holy Spirit) and the capital is named “Victoria” (Victory). Recently, the Civil Police in Espirito Santo went on strike. They hadn’t received their salaries for several months because the corrupt governors stole and wasted the money. Since there were no police, criminals took advantage of the opportunity to riot, loot, and kill people. They shot people randomly and set buses on fire. It was chaos, and many citizens didn’t leave their homes or go to work.

The same thing then happened in Rio de Janeiro one day last week. My wife called saying she didn’t know if she would get home alive. Her employer sent everybody home early because of the situation. She got home fine, just nervous. The situation calmed down and didn’t escalate nearly as much as it did in Espirito Santo.

The government sent Federal Troops to restore the order in Espirito Santo. Then on Sunday, I saw footage on the news of people marching for peace in Vitoria. They were carrying white banners. It was such a confirmation of what we’ve been sensing God saying since December!

God’s kingdom and his peace will continue to advance, but we must not lower our hands or stop proclaiming his dominion! We must not let discouragement stop us.

Thank God that order is being restored in Victoria and Espirito Santo! Yet God’s peace isn’t only about stopping rioting and looting. It’s salvation! It’s heaven’s order being established in every area of society.

This Is My Territory!

Some years ago, gangs tried to move in to my dad’s neighborhood in Lancaster, PA. They spray-painted their graffiti on his back fence, with the word “revolution.”

My dad felt the Holy Spirit springing up in his heart, and he declared “There’s going to be no revolution here except for God’s kingdom coming!” The next time he went out back, there was no sign of the graffiti. Nobody know what happened. It doesn’t even look like it could have been scrubbed away. My dad used his God-given authority and stopped the demonic “revolution” of the gangs. He acted in the spirit-realm.

Don’t buy the lie that Satan’s purposes will prevail in your neighborhood. Raise the banner of peace and declare “This is my territory, and God’s kingdom and peace are advancing here!”

 

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Speaking To Jehovah’s Witnesses With Authority Because Jesus Came In The Flesh

Photo credit: hoveringdog via Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

Have you ever argued with a Jehovah’s witness who came to your door? Or maybe someone from another fringe religious group?

I used to spend so much time doing that. Many of them are more familiar with the Bible than a lot of Christians are. I knew the Bible really well too! However, the arguments never led anywhere. We spent hours going back and forth. Sometimes the other people were impressed and told me I knew so much more than most people they argued with, but they still disagreed.

That began to change when I learned about healing the sick. Here’s my most recent experience talking with Jehovah’s Witnesses. And they didn’t come knocking on my door. I went to them.

“Hey, Can I Pray For You?”

 I was taking my little girl to buy popsicles, and I saw a heavy man in a wheelchair across the street. I’d seen him before, but never talked to him. I thought “Since Jesus lives in me, I have what he needs. I should go minister to him.” He was sitting and talking with a younger guy, who was about 30 years old.

 I walked up to the two and I asked the man “Hey, will you let me pray for you. A long time ago my back was injured, somebody prayed for me, and God healed me. I felt something like a ball of energy rolling up and down my spine, and the pain melted away. Now, I’m always looking for opportunities to pray for other people who need to be healed.”

He responded “Oh, we pray…” and then asked about my denomination and several other things. In several other posts, such as 3 Ways An Antichrist Spirit Tries To Get The Focus Off Jesus, I shared how an antichrist spirit tries to create distractions. I’ve learned to be assertive and get to point, not letting the spirit do all the talking. An antichrist spirit was trying to keep me from praying for him. I said “You pray, but your body still needs to be healed. So will you let me pray for you?” 

He asked me if I know what God’s name is. I said “God has many names which we can find in scripture.”  

“Do you know what name is in Psalm 83:18?” 

“Yes, Jehovah, that’s one of the names of God in the Bible.” I wasn’t going to get into an argument with him about that.

“We’re Jehovah’s witnesses…” He proceeded to ask if I’d talked with Jehovah’s witnesses before and encouraged me to learn the doctrine that the Jehovah’s witnesses teach. He continued to tell me that Jesus did his miracles to show us what God will do when he brings his kingdom. He believed God’s kingdom wasn’t here now—it’s only future…

Slippery Doctrine

Since an antichrist spirit tries to distract people from Jesus and change the subject, I didn’t want to get into long arguments. So I didn’t tell him that I already know what Jehovah’s witnesses teach and I disagree with it. Instead, I had to be assertive and get to the point—Jesus has come in the flesh.

I’ve read Jehovah’s Witness literature. Most of the error is quite subtle. They don’t believe that Jesus is really God, but you don’t see that clearly in their evangelistic literature. They teach that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and resurrected. Many of the things they teach are true and seem quite orthodox.

Yet there’s one error in their literature that’s blatant and easy to see, and many Christians don’t recognize it. Why? Because many Christians have fallen into the same kind of thinking.

That error is that Jehovah’s witnesses  believe we are waiting for God’s kingdom to come in the future. They believe Jesus came and left, and so is no longer with us. This is the lie of an antichrist spirit. An antichrist spirit denies Jesus has come in the flesh, so it denies that the Spirit of Christ lives in his body, the church. Jesus did leave, but he didn’t leave us alone! He left, but said “I am with you always.” He put his spirit in our bodies and commissioned us to do the same works. (John 14:12) The kingdom of heaven is still at hand! We can reach out and lay hold of it.

Jehovah’s witnesses teach as if God is currently far-away and inaccessible until he comes and brings his kingdom. The incarnation shows us that the kingdom of God is within us. The incarnation says “Immanuel,” God is with us. If you understand the incarnation, the error of the Jehovah’s witnesses becomes blatant.

Don’t Get Distracted—Proclaim That Jesus Has Come In The Flesh

I told these guys, “There’s something I didn’t see in the Bible for many years, but it really amazed me when I finally saw it…” I went on to explain from Hebrews 9 and 10 that Jesus’ death makes the way for us to enter heaven now. Since I have access to heaven now, I can experience the joy, peace, and love that are in heaven right now. I can share heaven’s reality with other people.

“I’ve seen so many people get free from chronic pain when God’s peace filled their bodies. Jesus sent his disciples to heal the sick and do the same things that he did, and then he passed that commission on to future disciples. He said anyone who believed in him would do greater works. The church is Christ’s body, and we need to grow up in all things in him and do the same works as he did.” I was proclaiming Christ come in the flesh, by telling him that the church is the body of Christ and that God is with us. He tried to interrupt a few times, but I was assertive. I felt God’s glory flooding through my soul as I spoke about having access to God now.

He continued to suggest I go to the Jehovah’s Witnesses site and learn about their doctrine. I asked “Do Jehovah’s witnesses practice healing ministry?”

“No.”

“So why would I want to learn from someone who says God’s kingdom and healing are only for the future, when God has healed me and I’ve seen him heal so many other people when I pray? Why would I want to listen to someone who says that what I know by experience isn’t valid?”

“But what matters, your experience or the Bible?”

“My experience lines up with what the Bible teaches. Jesus went through all the towns and villages, healing every sickness and disease, and he taught his disciples to do the same. If the Jehovah’s witnesses aren’t doing what Jesus did, why would I want to listen to their religious theories?”  If I’m going to learn something, I want to learn from somebody who’s doing it, not from someone with lots of theories but no experience.

He had nothing to say to that. I had silenced the antichrist spirit which was speaking through him.

“The Bible says Jesus’ name is ‘Immanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us.’ The apostle John said that any spirit that denies Jesus came in the flesh is antichrist. And so an antichrist spirit says God is far away. We can touch God, because Jesus came in the flesh. But an antichrist spirit makes God out to be only a theory, not tangible. Healing the sick like Jesus did shows that God is tangible and his kingdom is at hand. He’s not just a theory, and we can touch him. I have to take my little girl to get her popsicle, but will you let me pray for you first?”

He finally let me pray! “In Jesus’ name, I bless you and I release God’s peace and goodness on your life and in your body. I agree with everything the Holy Spirit is doing in your life. Body, be whole!” We said goodbye, and I took Rebekah to get her popsicle.

 The Difference Between This Exchange And The Arguments I Used To Have

When I share these situations, it often sounds like I was a bit harsh because I spoke so forcefully. The truth is, if you’d seen the situation,  you’d have seen that we were quite friendly with each other. I had to be forceful because I was confronting the lies of a spirit when I was talking to these people. The force in my words was directed towards the lying spirit, not towards these people. The Holy Spirit helped me to say the truth directly without unnecessary offence.

This was so different than the arguments I used to have long ago with Jehovah’s witnesses and people from other religious sects. Unlike the religious leaders of his day, Jesus spoke with authority. He spoke with authority because he wasn’t just rattling off religious theories. He demonstrated God’s reality to people.

I spoke with authority to the Jehovah’s witnesses when I started talking about Jesus come in the flesh. They couldn’t contradict what I said. I was in charge of the situation. I felt God’s glory surging through my soul as I talked about Jesus coming in the flesh and the accessing heaven now through Jesus’ body that was torn for us. I felt the atmosphere become charged with the weight of God’s glory as I spoke. We left on friendly terms, and it looked like the younger man was thinking a lot about what I said.

 

The name “Christ” means “The anointed one.” An antichrist spirit opposes the anointing by denying Jesus has come in the flesh. The truths you must understand to walk in the anointing are summed up in the incarnation—Jesus coming in a human body.

If you understand the incarnation, it will be easy to recognize the lies of an antichrist spirit. Wherever the church is lacking in power, the influence of an antichrist spirit can be found. The doctrine of a spirit denying the incarnation influenced the early church fathers through Gnosticism and Greek philosophy, and it has crippled much of the church throughout history. We can trace every major problem in today’s societies back to the lie of a spirit that denies the incarnation.

Understanding the incarnation took me from a place of frustration and powerlessness to a life of miracles. I’ve just published the third book in the “Heaven Now” series, “Jesus Has Come In The Flesh.” It clearly lays out the implications of the incarnation versus the lies of an antichrist spirit. It’s also full of true stories of God’s power touching people and of confronting (overrunning) antichrist influence within and outside the church.

Purchase “Jesus Has Come In The Flesh”

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God’s Just Judgement

Last week we talked about Ungodly Judgement In Prophecy. I made the point that God is not holding men’s sins against them. So does that preclude judgement? Since I’m not just selectively choosing certain passages of scripture and ignoring others, here are my thoughts on God’s just judgement. This is where my understanding is at right now. I’d love to hear your comments!

God’s Just Judgement

 Sometimes when people reject a wrong teaching or worldview, the pendulum swings the other way and they adopt an equally erroneous belief. Some, rightly rejecting the worldview which says God is counting men’s sins against them, have gone on to argue that there is no judgement remaining.

 Being a just judge is part of God’s nature. I sometimes think that people who oppose any doctrine of judgement must have never come face to face with much evil or oppression! The truth that God is a just judge is good news for the oppressed. Judgement is dividing between right and wrong. It’s not necessarily the same as vengeance or retribution.

I welcome God’s judgement in my life. I’m not talking about lightning from heaven! I’m talking about dividing between right and wrong—between what hurts me and what helps me. Judgement isn’t always negative. It can be favorable!

Many people say “The bible says don’t judge,” but that’s a very simplistic view of what the scriptures says. It tells us not to judge in the context of condemning people and holding their sins against them, (Matthew 7:1), but it also tells us to judge in the context of dividing between right and wrong. (1 Corinthians 6:2-5) This includes judging teaching and prophecy. (1 Corinthians 14:20) Jesus said that he judged no one in the sense of condemnation (John 12:47), but he also said that it was for judgement that he came into the world (John 9:39) in the sense of dividing between truth and lies, light and darkness.

Telling a friend that their actions are harmful or stating that a certain teaching is unbiblical is the type of judgement scripture encourages. Scripture discourages us from judging people in the sense of holding their sins against them.

But what do we do with stories in the New Testament like that of God striking Herod?

Counting Men’s Sins Against Them, Or Protecting Others?

 When I talk about God’s attitude of “not counting men’s sins against them,” many readers might ask “What about Ananias and Saphira? What about an angel of the Lord striking Herod down? What about Paul’s pronouncement of temporary blindness on the sorcerer Bar-Jesus?”

I’ve heard people argue that that Peter was wrong to confront Ananias the way he did, and that it wasn’t really God who struck Herod. I think such arguments are weak. So how do we reconcile those stories with God “not counting men’s sins against them?” 

In each of these cases, it seems that it was really about protecting others. I remember the story of a woman who shot and killed a madman wielding a gun. He was shooting at the crowd and trying to kill as many people as possible. After she killed him, she met his parents. She saw pictures of him as a little boy.

She grieved that she had to shoot him, but she hadn’t shot him because she was “holding his sins against him.” She had nothing against the man. She was just doing what she needed to do to protect as many people as possible.

That’s how I see these three instances of God’s judgement in the New Testament. It wasn’t that God was holding their sins against them. He was doing what was necessary to protect others. Ananias and Saphira’s sin might seem like a little thing at first, but they had thought about this before and agreed together to lie for the sake of pride. The spirit of deceit that they were walking in could have been a deadly influence on the church. It seems the results of them being struck dead were positive for the church.

I think we should note that Peter never told Ananias he would die. He only confronted his dishonesty, and Ananias died. It was only when Ananias’ wife also lied that Peter pronounced the same thing would happen to her. Peter didn’t even initiate the death of Ananias and Saphira. I that makes the arguments that Peter was “wrongly using his authority,” or “didn’t have a revelation of grace” quite weak.

Did Peter not have Paul’s revelation of grace? We should remember that in First Corinthians, Paul told the church to hand a certain man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit would be saved.

The other two cases, Herod and Bar-Jesus, were both instances of people exercising satanic influence over entire regions. Bar-Jesus was trying to turn a government official away from the faith. The result of his temporary blindness was that the official turned to the Lord, and door were opened to the gospel in that region. Note that Paul, who pronounced this sentence, had himself been struck with temporary blindness as he crusaded against the Christians. I don’t believe a case can be made that Paul “wasn’t acting in love.”

Herod was also fiercely opposing the gospel and killing Christians. He had the apostle James killed, and also tried to kill Peter. Then he accepted praise as a god, without giving glory to the true God. That was why he was struck down. His death probably saved the lives of many people whom he would have killed. It also sent a powerful message to the people who were blinding by Satan and worshiping Herod as a god. I don’t think God struck Herod down because he was “counting his sins against him.” Like the woman who shot the madman spraying bullets into the crowd, God struck Herod down to protect others. He was stopping a madman.

Do We See The Same Thing Today?

So do we see the same thing today? In Rescue Through Supernatural Transportation I shared the story of two Christians who were kidnapped by terrorists and sitting in a cave, about to be executed if they didn’t disclose the location of another Christian.

The mountain began to shake as they prayed for deliverance. Suddenly, a bright light shone in the cave and blinded the twenty men who were guarding them. He took their hands, their shackles fell off, and the angel whisked them to safety. And what happened to more than twenty terrorists who had been guarding them in the cave? The cave collapsed, and they died. Was God holding the sins of these terrorists against them? I don’t believe he was.

2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

God loves and wants to save even the worst of men. So why would he rescue the Christians but kill the terrorists in a supernatural earthquake? I think that again, it was about protecting others. These men were bent on destruction. Like Herod, they had already killed innocent people, and they were absolutely opposed to the advance of the gospel in that region. God stopped them.

Another outstanding story is the horrible death of the high priestess of  “San La Muerte” (Saint Death) in Resistencia, Argentina. Worship of this demon was prevalent in Resistencia, and there was a monument to him in the central place of the city. People believed that “Saint Death” would give them a good death in exchange for their worship.

The church was praying to reach the city of Resistencia for Christ. They “served an eviction notice” to “St. Death” in the central plaza of the city. The priests of this demon responding with witchcraft against the church.

In the middle of it all, the high priestess of “St. Death” died a terrible death. Her mattress caught fire and she burned to death. The only things that burned were her, the bed, and the idol of San La Muerte in the next room!*

What do I make of this? God wanted her to be saved, but she refused to repent. Like Herod and Bar-Jesus the sorcerer, she was a key figure in opposing the spread of the gospel in a geographical region. Thousands of people were blinded and in bondage to the spirit of death because of her influence. It seems that God gave her over to what she worshiped. The true nature of “St. Death” was revealed, and this demon lost it’s influence in Resistencia. The result was that many people came to Christ.

Was this about God “holding her sins against her?” I don’t think so. It was about a stopping a person gone mad by finally handing her over to the demon that she worshipped, so that a city could be saved. It was about protecting and saving as many people as possible.

Conclusion

As I shared in last week’s post, Jesus has atoned for the sin of the world and God is not counting men’s sins against them. I don’t believe that earthquakes and natural disasters are God’s vengeance for the sins of nations. It hurts our ability to minister to others if we wrongly act as if God were counting their sins against them.

However, I do believe God sometimes acts to stop a very wicked person who is bent on causing destruction all around. Most of the time, this individual is opposing the spread of the gospel in a geographical region and either heavily involved in witchcraft, or killing and persecuting Christians. It grieves God’s heart that any should perish, but it’s better to shoot a madman than to let the madman massacre everyone around him.

*The story of “San La Muerte” can be found in Peter Wagner’s book Warfare Prayer and Ed Silvoso’s book That None Should Perish.

 

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Ungodly Judgement In Prophecy

Two weeks ago, we talked about Dealing With Unintentional Witchcraft In Prophecy. I said “I can think of three things which make people susceptible to operating in witchcraft when they prophesy. The first is an unhealthy obsession with what the devil is doing. The second is a spirit of control. The third is ungodly judgement.”

In that first article, we talked about how an unhealthy obsession with the devil’s work can influence prophecy. Then last week, we dealt with Recognizing A Controlling Spirit In Prophecy. Today we’ll take a look at the issue of ungodly judgement.

What Attitude Should We Take Towards Wrongdoers?

A person recently told me God gave her a prophecy of judgement against a certain leader. She warned this leader of God’s judgement if there was no repentance.

I don’t believe the word was from the Lord. While this leader was wrong on some counts, the whole issue was loaded with personal offence between the two. When we “hold people’s sins against them” we often want the Lord to do the same! But what is God’s attitude towards wrongdoers and towards this world? He is reconciling the world to himself, and not counting people’s sins against them!

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NIV) All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

When I was a teenager, some of my favorite preachers majored on God’s judgement. I sincerely thought disaster was going to happen any time. Some of these preachers gave very specific prophecies, including time frames, for impending judgement on America and other nations. They said that things had gotten so bad that these disasters couldn’t be averted by any amount of prayer or repentance. They were inevitable.

Now I’ve lived long enough to see their prophecies fail. There was one good thing about the time frames of the prophesies and the statement that these disasters were inevitable. They made it easy to judge, in a concrete way, whether the prophecies were true or false. Time would clearly tell if they were false. And it has.

Many of these preachers were quite sincere. But they were sincerely wrong. They viewed the world as if God were counting men’s sins against them. It hurt their ministries.

The Wrong Spirit

A culture of racial enmity influenced Jesus’ disciples. Instead of walking in the ministry of reconciliation, they began to operate in the wrong spirit.

Luke 9:51-56 (NKJV) Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,  and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

One of the biggest things that hinders Christians from being effective in healing ministry is thinking as if God is counting men’s sins against them. How can we believe for a sinner to be healed of AIDS if we think God is counting his sins against him? How can we believe for an alcoholic to be healed of kidney disease? 

God gave authority on earth to mankind. God is looking for men and women to agree with him. That’s why prophecy is so powerful. Satan tries to deceive mankind, even Christians, into agreeing with him. When we are of the wrong spirit, as Jesus’ disciples were, and ungodly judgement influences our prophecies, it’s a form of “unintentional witchcraft.” We can actually empower evil spirits by agreeing with them.

I’ve seen Christians so angry at what they’ve seen going on in their cities and countries, that they wished God would send a tsunami and wipe everyone out. Evil should make us angry. Yet when our anger is directed as a vengeful spirit against the people Jesus died to save, we are of the wrong spirit. Jesus shed his blood not just to redeem people, but to atone for nations.

Isaiah 52:14 (NIV) …so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him.

1 John 2:2 (NIV) He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

God has already forgiven men’s sins and the sins of nations. He is not counting men’s sins against them, and he is holding out the offer of salvation. Yet salvation only comes when we respond to his forgiveness with faith and repentance. Jesus said there was one sin which would not be forgiven, and I believe that sin amounts to rejecting God’s gift of salvation.

“Show Me A Storm That Jesus Blessed.”

As I once heard Bill Johnson say, “Show me a storm that Jesus blessed.” I’ve no longer see tornadoes and earthquakes as “God’s judgement” on nations today. They are disasters. In the Old Testament, God looked for a man to stand in the gap and prevent judgement, but he found nobody.  God couldn’t find a righteous man to intervene, so he sent Jesus as a man. And Jesus stood in the gap and made atonement for the sins of the whole word. God’s isn’t counting men’s sins against them, and he isn’t behind every tornado and earthquake shaking his angry fist.

Paul said that where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. Why? Because God didn’t send Jesus to condemn the world, but to save it.  And God has the grace necessary to accomplish his salvation in the worst of messes! The law was given through Moses, and it brought wrath, but grace and truth came through Jesus. 

Some readers may ask right now, “What about Ananias and Saphira? What about an angel of the Lord striking Herod down? What about Paul’s pronouncement of temporary blindness on the sorcerer Bar-Jesus? Isn’t ‘eternal judgement’ one of the foundations of our faith?” These are common questions, and legitimate ones. I’ve heard some people try to explain them away, but their arguments weren’t satisfactory to me. I’ll share my view on them next week as we talk about God’s righteous judgement.

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Recognizing A Controlling Spirit In Prophecy

Pulling People’s Strings

Last week, we began to look at some examples of “unintentional witchcraft” coming through prophesy. I said “I can think of three things which make people susceptible to operating in witchcraft when they prophesy. The first is an unhealthy obsession with what the devil is doing. The second is a spirit of control. The third is ungodly judgement.”

Let’s look at the second of those—a spirit of control.

Control and Legalism

The spirit of control is closely connected to the spirit of legalism. The gospel teaches that we receive the “blessing of Abraham” through faith. It teaches that we relate to God by faith in Jesus, and not through works. Legalism teaches us to relate to God through works. It also teaches that you receive the “blessing of Abraham” through tithing, “submission” to the next level in a hierarchy of authority between you and God, or other works.

Paul dealt forcefully with legalism in the book of Galatians. He called it “witchcraft.”

Galatians 3:1-5 (NRSV) You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing. Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

(Check out my post The Law And Witchcraft)

“Your Breakthrough Is Coming”

I shared this story in the post How Do You Measure Your Blessing? A person I know got involved in a legalistic church. She’s the girl who led one of my close friends to the Lord. Let’s call her Anna.

I don’t think they were legalistic in the sense of having a lot of rules. They were legalists because they talked a lot about “God’s blessing” and “breakthrough,” but the way to receive it was through them. You could supposedly receive “your breakthrough” and blessing in every area of your life by tithing to them and submitting to them as “God’s authority” over your life. That was how they manifested the spirit of control. And they emphasized prophecy. A controlling spirit and prophecy are a dangerous combination!

Anna took my friend to this church. My friend wasn’t into it, but Anna loved it! She didn’t stop talking about all the “breakthroughs” that people experienced when they got involved with this church.

After the service, Anna received a “personal prophecy.” The minister told her that God was bringing a wealthy man into her life. Her “breakthrough” was coming.

The Wrong Kind Of “Breakthrough”

 Anna followed the prophecy. Her boss began to show her special attention at work. She soon got into a relationship with him.

She got her “breakthrough!” Her boss promoted her and gave her a big raise. She bought a new car. Everything started to “go right” in her life. And she tells everybody about the breakthrough she received at that prophetic church.

There’s a problem. He was a married man. And he still is. She has been in a long-term sexual relationship with a married man for years now. She thinks she is living under God’s blessing.

It’s sad. It’s deception. She got the wrong kind of “breakthrough.”

We should desire financial abundance and seek to prosper. But financial abundance can’t be equated to God’s blessing. Recognize a spirit of witchcraft at work when any person or group implies that they are the middlemen, or brokers of God’s blessing. Jesus is the only mediator between us and the Father.

(Check out the post Righteousness, Blessing, Salvation for more.)

Unintentional witchcraft operates through prophecy when prophecy encourages us to relate to God through a mediator other than Jesus. It may seem like blessing comes out of it, but it leads to deception. Many have observed that a controlling spirit ends up leading to adultery. This is because leaders who try to control God’s flock are committing spiritual adultery by usurping Christ’s place as the head (and not the figurehead) of his bride the church.

No Hierarchy Of Authority Between You And God

There is no hierarchy of authority between the individual believer and God. No member of the body of Christ has authority over the lives of other Christians. Does that sound like a strong statement? Do you have questions? I made a strong case for this in my book I Am Persuaded. I discovered that so much confusion over this results from a heavy authoritarian bias in scripture translation, even arbitrarily adding words not found in the original text.

I know a guy who for decades felt unsure about if he married the right woman. We couldn’t imagine a better wife for him. But he had been taught that he needed his leaders’ approval and confirmation on who he would marry. The woman he married wasn’t the girl they prophesied to him about.

Many others have felt confusion and even mental torment over decisions encouraged by someone who fancied themselves to be the individual’s “spiritual covering.” Why do I call this “unintentional witchcraft?” A lot of it was unintentional, coming from leaders who really wanted to help. It was the result of some very bad teaching. The combination of bad teaching and “wanting to help” make place for a spirit of control. The aftermath can be devastating.

I’ve experienced this “unintentional witchcraft” related to church leaders interfering in relationships, even though it was much more subtle than them telling me who to marry! I’ve also experienced “unintentional witchcraft” through prophecy which told me I needed man’s special approval to do the things Jesus commanded his disciples to do in scripture. They were prophesying out of bad doctrine.

Many who we regard as heroes of the faith would never have changed nations and brought people groups to Christ if they had considered their leader’s approval to be a requirement. In fact, probably most of them faced opposition from within the established church leadership. They had to obey God and not men. One of the best examples of this is the story of Bruce Olson.

Witchcraft feels like a dark cloud of confusion and negativity coming against you. It can be targeted in a specific area, or general. The biggest aspect of overcoming it is to recognize it as a lie. In order to overcome “unintentional witchcraft” manifested through a control spirit, we need to work through the confusion. If you feel confused about the concepts of “spiritual covering” and “authority,” or the way words such as “rule,” “obey,” and “submit” are used in scripture, I encourage you to check out I Am Persuaded. 

Accurate Personal Prophecy

Accurate personal prophecy should confirm what you already sense God speaking to your heart, or it should light a fire in you for something new! It doesn’t manipulate you. It encourages you and highlights what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life.

I remember when a prophet (who didn’t know me very well personally) prophesied at my wedding that my wife and I would care for street children. I wept, because I had  been praying for children and volunteering at children’s homes for years. He didn’t know that, but the prophecy encouraged me and confirmed a desire of my heart. He also prophesied about us providing for people like Milton Hershey did. He didn’t know that Milton Hershey is one of my distant relatives, and a big inspiration to me.

I recently prayed for a girl and shared that I saw a mental picture of her going in a boat to reach people for Jesus. I didn’t understand it, but I asked if it meant anything to her. She was considering applying for Mercy Ships!

Prophecy is such a blessing that I would cross the world to visit a Christian group operating in God’s grace to prophesy! We needn’t be afraid of it, but we do need to learn to test it. Missing it on a prophetic word isn’t the same as operating in witchcraft. It’s just missing it! We can step out and grow in spiritual gifts.

Avoid an unhealthy focus on the devil, a spirit of control, and ungodly judgement, and you will avoid operating in “unintentional witchcraft.”  Be humble, willing to let your words be tested, and willing to hear if your word speaks to the heart of the person you’re prophesying to. If you want to grow in the “spiritual gift” of prophecy, I highly recommend taking classes at the Inside Out Training And Equipping School. 

Next week we’ll talk about the third factor which makes people susceptible to operating in “unintentional witchcraft” when they prophesy—ungodly judgement.

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Dealing With Unintentional Witchcraft In Prophecy

[image error]The Gift Of Prophecy

Thank God for the gift of prophecy! Scripture calls it the greatest of the gifts. Time after time, prophesy from God’s heart has encouraged me, revealed the desires of my heart, and confirmed what I believed God was saying to me. It has even uncovered what I was ashamed of in order to set me free from the shame.

However, scripture also teaches that we are to judge prophecy. Prophecy must come out of a pure heart of worshiping the Lord, focusing on who He is and what He is doing.

These stories help illustrate how we can judge prophecy. Maybe some of my readers have been hurt by personal prophecy gone wrong. Maybe someone gave you a prophecy and you felt a heaviness come over you. I’ve sometimes had to tell people “That word was not from God” so they could recognize the heaviness that came over them as a lie.

“You Have A Spirit Of Suicide…”

I was in a meeting where someone prophesied to a girl close to me “You have a spirit of suicide.” She had struggled with depression and suicide in the past. When she heard the prophecy, she immediately felt a dark cloud descend over her. She felt despondent, and the thoughts of killing herself returned.

I told her “That word wasn’t from God. When God reveals a problem, it’s to deal with it—not just to tell you what’s wrong with you!” I prayed, releasing God’s goodness and rebuking the spirit of suicide. She tangibly felt the weight of oppression lift off of her.

Some people get a false sense of spirituality from seeing demons and talking about what the devil is doing. Yes, the Lord can show us demons so we can deal with them. But these people are obsessed with what the devil is doing. Be wary of the discernment of anybody who often sees demons, but rarely angels.

Such people give the devil the attention God deserves. The more catastrophic the prophecy, the more spiritual they feel. God does often reveal problems, but be wary of any prophesy or “word of knowledge” that doesn’t point out what God is doing. Be wary of “revelation” that focuses primarily on what the devil is doing.

“I See That You Have A Serious Illness. I Need To Pray To See What It Is, But It’s Really Bad…”

My mother-in-law received a “word of knowledge” like this a few years ago at a church in Brazil. When the lady told her she had a serious illness, she immediately felt sick. Poor old lady! She didn’t know well enough to realize that it wasn’t from God.

I told her “This word was not from God,” and explained that if God reveals a problem, it’s always to deal with it. Besides that, if a person is seeing a disease from God’s perspective, it looks pitifully small! I laid hands on her, released God’s peace, and rebuked the spirit of sickness. The oppression lifted, and she felt so much better!

These stories illustrate that this is serious business. In both cases, the “word of knowledge” which wasn’t from God, released a demon to oppress the individuals.

Of course, God does reveal problems. The Holy Spirit has often revealed people’s problems to me. When I asked about it, they already know they had the issue! And I told them “Jesus is healing your back…” of “God is setting you free from that depression right now.” Prophecy should focus on what God is doing. A person who is obsessed with the devil and wants to prophesy is like a maniac with a firebrand.

Unintentional Witchcraft Through Prophecy

The spiritual realm works through proclamation. Angels proclaim God’s truth, and demons proclaim lies. God-inspired prophecy can release angels, and prophecy gone wrong can empower demons. Proclamation can be both verbal and nonverbal. It can be expressed in the arts and music, or released through the expression on our face. It can emit from our beings like light, based on the thoughts of our hearts and what we are dwelling on.

Releasing proclamation which empowers demons is like witchcraft. It works in the same way that witchcraft does. The heaviness that came over the people in the stories above was like an attack from witchcraft.

Some people do witchcraft intentionally. Most of us have done it unintentionally, at some time or another. We were acting under deception, and partnering with the wrong spirit.

I can think of three things which make people susceptible to operating in witchcraft when they prophesy. The first is an unhealthy obsession with what the devil is doing. The second is a spirit of control. The third is ungodly judgement.

The church has all too often failed to judge prophecy. It’s understandable that saying “That word isn’t from God”  sometimes makes us uncomfortable. But I hope this post helps to point out why we sometimes need to say “That’s not God.” 

We will continue to talk about unintentional witchcraft, and how to recognize and overcome witchcraft. Meanwhile, if you’ve found yourself oppressed or hurting after a “prophetic word” that confused you, recognize it as a lie! The first thing that’s important is that you know it wasn’t from the Lord. In Jesus’ name, heaviness and oppression, go! Be filled with God’s peace now.

 

 

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God Turned The Rock Into Springs Of Water

God turns the rock into springs of water

Psalm 114

I recently read Psalm 114, and I felt the words strengthening and encouraging my spirit. I’ve been meditating on it ever since.

Psalm 114 (NRSV)

When Israel went out from Egypt,

    the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

 Judah became God’s  sanctuary,

    Israel his dominion.

The sea looked and fled;

    Jordan turned back.

The mountains skipped like rams,

    the hills like lambs.

Why is it, O sea, that you flee?

    O Jordan, that you turn back?

 O mountains, that you skip like rams?

    O hills, like lambs?

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,

    at the presence of the God of Jacob,

 who turns the rock into a pool of water,

    the flint into a spring of water.

The Mountains Skipped Like Rams, The Hills Like Lambs

Sometimes I read a passage of scripture and it’s just so good, but I don’t know why. That is, it feels like it’s feeding my spirit, but I don’t necessarily understand it intellectually at first. Or I don’t understand why it is so encouraging.

The heart understanding comes first, and then my mind usually processes it later.

I didn’t initially understand why “the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs” felt so encouraging. But then I thought about it some more.

The context is God going with Judah and Israel. The sea didn’t just flee the presence of the Lord, but it fled before the presence of the Lord going with God’s people. The sea, the mountains, and the hills were all things that stood in Israel’s way on their journey.

In the same way, we have become God’s habitation if we have received God’s Spirit. We should expect everything to change because of the Lord’s presence which we carry with us. Every obstacle that is before us will be laid low.

We may not always be aware of what’s changing around us as we carry God’s presence. The Israelites often lost the awareness that the Lord was with them on their way out of Egypt. They faced difficulties. Yet miracles happened the whole way.

God Turns The Rock Into A Pool Of Water

This verse caught my attention the most. God turns the rock into a spring of water.

The rock symbolizes hardship. The Israelites were thirsty in the desert, without water. (Exodus 17:2) Imagine a dry desert, with nothing but rocks all around. But God brought water out of the rock for them! (Exodus 17:5-6) 

God brings life out of the hardest things that we face. Our greatest difficulties are opportunities for the Spirit of Christ to be released through us. They are opportunities for us to grow in the Lord.

The apostle Paul was hard-pressed, “between a rock and a hard place.” Yet God brought water out of the rock for him—and also for many others.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11 (NRSV) We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Whatever hardships you may be facing, let Psalm 114 encourage you. Become aware of how the Holy Spirit is working to bring life and provision not only to you, but to others, through those difficulties. Remind yourself how God has brought life and deliverance out of places of hardship in your life before. He continues to be the God who raises the dead!

For one story of how God brought life to me out of a difficult time in my life, check out Oil of Kindness. You might also want to read Make the Valley of Weeping a Place of Springs and Experiencing God’s Goodness In The Midst Of Tragedy.

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Explaining The Gospel With Signs And Wonders

Initiating Gospel Encounters With Signs And Wonders

Signs and wonders are a powerful tool that we can use to demonstrate God’s goodness to people and to explain the gospel. Scripture speaks of God confirming his word through signs and wonders.

Acts 14:3  (NIV) So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

Not only can signs and wonders confirm God’s word to people, but they can also initiate sharing the gospel. Here’s one sign that I’ve used many times to share the gospel message with people. I used to have such difficulty sharing the gospel, and signs like this made it so much easier.

Weight On The Hands

8 years ago, a person prayed for me and I tangibly felt God’s presence as a weight in the palms of my hands. This manifestation took on a lot of significance to me when I though about it in the light of my Bible studies.

The word for “glory” in the Old Testament means “a weight.” When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God showed Moses his goodness and character. And the New Testament teaches us that God has revealed his glory to us through Jesus.

1 John 1:1 (NRSV) We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—

The Word of Life that John was talking about is Jesus. Because Jesus came in the flesh, we can touch God. John touched God’s word with his hands, because he touched Jesus.

God is no longer an intangible theory. Jesus has made him real to us. 

God’s glory is his goodness and nature that is so tangible that we can touch it. It has weight. It has substance.

I want to touch God right now. I want you to touch God. And we can touch God, because Jesus came in the flesh. We can touch God if we come to him through Jesus, because Jesus took all our sin on himself and removed everything that would separate us from God’s presence.

Ever since that person prayed for me, I’ve prayed for many other people to experience the same thing. When I do this, most people feel something. Some people feel weight, others tingling or heat, or something touching them.

Demonstrating The Weight Of God’s Glory To A Connoisseur Of Religions

I met a lady who was into all different kinds of religions on my last trip to the United States. People who know her told me that she figures she might as well have a little of every religion, “just to be safe.” I had met her briefly before, at an event where I prayed for people, but I didn’t get a chance to pray for her before she left.

Then later, I met her on the street. I asked her to hold out her hands, saying “Let me show you something.”

She felt the weight of God’s glory in her hands. She said “Wow! You really have a lot of power! Many people must have been healed when you prayed for them the other night.”

I said “What you are feeling is God’s goodness. It’s not just a theory, but it’s tangible. The reason you feel this when I pray for you, is that I come to God through Jesus. Jesus dealt with my sin and guilt when he died, and now there is nothing to come between me and God. I have full access to God’s presence, and I have access to everything in heaven, because of what Jesus did for me. The Bible teaches that when we put our faith in Jesus’  sacrifice for our sins, we die with Jesus to sin and then we are resurrected with him, so that we have a new life and new heart. That’s why I can do the works that Jesus did. I can come to God just like Jesus does.”

She replied “I’m working on improving my works of righteousness…”

I responded “Did you know that the Bible says our own righteous acts are like filthy rags? If we are trying to do righteous works to get closer to God, it never works. What we need to do is to receive God’s free gift of righteousness, which only comes by putting faith in Jesus’ death as a sacrifice for our sins. Then we do works of righteousness as the fruit of righteousness, and not as a way to try to get closer to God. We already have complete access to him if we receive God’s righteousness!”

“Hmmm…”

The Difference Between The Truth And Every Other Religion

I’ve heard it said that the difference between Christianity and every other religion is that that we don’t earn our salvation or access to God by our own works, but by faith in Jesus’  sacrifice. This conversation was a classic example of that.

This lady was very religious and believed in the supernatural and the spiritual realm. She incorporated aspects of many religions into her beliefs. She thought she could have a little bit of everything, as if even though some religions might end up being wrong, she would be safe because one of the other religions she drew from must be right. But by trying to advance through her own works of self-righteousness, she didn’t turn to God and receive his righteousness and transformation.

I often talk to people who are very religious and have spiritual beliefs. They talk about lots of nice things. They talk about spiritual principles. But they don’t understand Jesus is the only way to the Father. Only God’s free gift of righteousness will ever be sufficient. Only God’s free gift of righteousness through Christ is able to transform the human heart and make us participants in his divine nature!

You Can Do It Too!

All of the “gifts of the Spirit,” including “sign gifts” work through faith. The gifts of the Spirit have helped me to initiate sharing the gospel more than anything else. I hope this story encourages you and inspires you by demonstrating how exercising spiritual gifts can lead into sharing the gospel.

Would you like to try the same thing? Hold out your hands with your palms up, and thank God for the weight of his presence that rests on you. Thank him that you have full access to his glory (the weight of his goodness) because Jesus has made the way for you to approach him.

Many people, when they try this the first time, feel weight, tingling, or something else in their hands. Others don’t feel it the first time. If you don’t, keep going for it! Remember, we don’t base our faith on what we feel or don’t feel, or on signs such as these. Experiencing the physical sensation isn’t a measure of your righteousness or closeness to God, either. Rather, the feeling and the sign are a manifestation of what we already know to be true. The sign is useful for demonstrating truth to others.

As you begin to physically sense the Lord’s presence, you can grow in faith to demonstrate the same thing to other people by having them hold out their hands and praying that they would tangibly feel the Lord’s glory resting on them! If you find it difficult sometimes to share the gospel, maybe this sign will help you as much as it helped me to explain the way of salvation to people.

For a story of how healing ministry helped me to share the gospel with someone, check out Healing And Salvation In The Middle Of The World.

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Awakening The Dawn In Orange Walk Town

Isaiah 60:1-3 (NRSV) Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Guys, today we have an excerpt from my new book, I Will Awaken The Dawn. This is the second book in the Heaven Now trilogy. All three books are a game plan for experiencing heaven right now and making everything around us like heaven. As scripture says, the kingdoms of the world are becoming the kingdom of our God!

I dedicated my life to missions when I was a teenager, and I immersed myself in books about prayer and spiritual warfare. Some of the things I learned helped me, but I had to un-learn other things.

My first solo missions trip was to Belize, when I was 18 years old. The Lord had showed me that the whole earth is full of his glory, but it will be full of the “knowledge of his glory.”  As I read scripture, I realized that being filled with the “knowledge of God’s glory” corresponds to being like heaven. Praise, thanksgiving, and proclamation play a big part in bringing this about. When I connected the dawn of Isaiah 60 to Psalm 108, so many things in scripture started to come together in my understanding!

Psalm 108:1-4 (NRSV) My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;

    I will sing and make melody.

    Awake, my soul!

 Awake, O harp and lyre!

    I will awake the dawn.

 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples,

    and I will sing praises to you among the nations.

 For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,

    and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

This is what happened when I put the truths God was teaching me into practice. I visited a small town in Belize called “Orange Walk.” I declared God’s praise until Orange Walk became heaven to me. I declared what I saw, and heaven manifested in Orange Walk.

Orange Walk Town

I remember riding from the west part of the country to the northern part in the back of a pickup truck. The pastor who invited me had recently planted a church in a town called Orange Walk.

I’d heard about Orange Walk. People told me it was dangerous. A lot of gang members operated there. To a person seeing with only human eyes, it looked like a dark place.

I met a young man whose upper body was covered with scars. He had been walking in Orange Walk and met some guys who made fun of his girlfriend. When he said “Hey guys, leave her alone,” they attacked him with knives and machetes. They stabbed him multiple times, and he had slash marks from machetes going all the way across his back.

He was left on the ground and cried out to God to help him and save his life. He told the Lord that if his life was saved, he would repent from his rebellion and stop using drugs. Then, finding strength to get to someone who could help him, he collapsed on the ground in front of their door.

Within three days he had recovered enough strength to play volleyball. I was amazed! I saw the scars covering his back and stomach. Such a recovery could be nothing less than miraculous!

Orange Walk seemed like a dark and dangerous place, but I knew it was filled with God’s glory. The back of the pickup truck was a great place to pray and sing to the Lord. Going 60 miles an hour down the highway, the wind was so loud that nobody heard me.

I remembered every time the Lord had saved me, helped me, and delivered me. I wept as I began to thank him, and truly began to feel like I was in heaven. My heart was bursting with power. I wanted to shout. I felt like rivers of God’s love were flowing through me, and that love was so powerful that nothing was impossible.

When I arrived at Orange Walk, I had a good time hanging out and talking with people. Yet I felt that I couldn’t stop thanking the Lord. The whole time, I quietly gave thanks and praise to God. I was singing in tongues without even thinking about it.

Psalm 34:1 (NRSV) I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

The love I felt for everybody around me overwhelmed me. I didn’t just love the people, but I even loved the trees and everything else. It felt like everything around me was vibrating with God’s goodness.

A Heavenly Perspective

There was a church meeting that night, under a tarp in the open air. About 30 people gathered. As the worship team practiced, I sat in the back singing to the Lord and talking to people. I felt like my face had become radiant, glowing with the light of the Lord’s glory which I saw.

As we sang and gave thanks to God during the meeting, I began to shout. It was almost involuntary, coming from the very depths of my being. The joy and thankfulness I felt towards the Lord for saving me could not be expressed in words.

  Psalm 32:7 (NRSV) You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah

Psalm 32:11 (NRSV) Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

 I knew about the drug dealing, the violence, and the crime in Orange Walk. But I now saw that it was filled with the glory of God, and it was heaven. As I came into the knowledge of the Lord’s glory, I began to feel my body physically vibrating with God’s goodness. It felt like a weight over me and a love so strong it was tangible. I could barely stand on my feet.

In that moment, I realized that nothing was impossible. I saw the Lord, and he was so much bigger than anything else that had captured my attention. He was so much more impressive than any evil spirit which had caused destruction in Orange Walk.

I began to declare what I saw. I proclaimed that the people in Orange Walk would encounter God and be delivered. I pronounced that the veil which kept people from seeing the glory of God in the face of Christ, would be removed. Orange Walk would no longer be covered in thick darkness, but the people would sing God’s praise on the streets! Orange Walk and Belize would be filled with shouts of joy and glad cries of deliverance!

By the end of that meeting, I had a radically different perspective. I couldn’t see any difference from a natural viewpoint, but the eyes of my heart had been opened and Orange Walk was now heaven to me. I saw that Orange Walk was filled with God’s glory. I knew it.

Revival In Orange Walk!

About two months after I returned from that trip to Belize, I talked with a pastor who had just returned from his own trip there. He told me “Revival broke out in Orange Walk! The church has more than doubled, and it’s almost all people who just got saved!”

This was what had happened since my experience in Orange Walk! I couldn’t prove this had anything to do with my experience. But I was convinced that truths which I felt the Lord was showing me in scripture, about praise and thanksgiving, had just been practically demonstrated. Orange Walk began to be filled with the knowledge of God’s glory.

Most of these new believers in Orange Walk were teenagers or young adults in their twenties. I got to know many of them during later trips to Belize. They were so new to the Lord, and in need of discipleship! But they were so passionate! Since then, many of them have become evangelists, sharing the gospel in different parts of their country with evangelistic skits, Christian rap, dance, and other means.

All of Belize, and all of the earth, is filled with the glory of the Lord. Many people are still blind to that fact. But Belize, and every nation, will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory, as the waters cover the seas! The veil, the thick darkness that has covered the nations, is being removed!

More

I believe that cities and nations can be saved! Present Access To Heaven is full of revelation on praise, thanksgiving, and proclamation. It also includes many more testimonies, including the story of my grandmother’s trip to heaven, various healing testimonies,  experiences with angels, supernatural rain in my house, and stories of supernatural multiplication, provision, and deliverance. I believe it will encourage you and help you to grow in faith and in God’s grace.

Kindle version

Paper version

 

Meanwhile, for more of the principles highlighted in I Will Awaken The Dawn, check out my article I Will Sing Your Praise Before The “Gods”

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