My mind has been in a whirlwind lately. I've been busy with work, with the kids, with helping for Leah's party and coming back home from a ministry weekend in NY. I always struggle when I get home from events and traveling. I love having that community feeling, that every moment dedicated to the Lord feeling. When I get back home, isolated and thrown back into the world of working and life in general, it's like a crash of loneliness and isolation. It's like I don't belong here and the more I try to fit in, the more I desire to break away and live out of a backpack on a beach somewhere. The enemy has a way of making us feel as if we need to fit in with this world. To blend in and not make waves. To stand idly by while the world crashes and burns, while peoples homes are on hell fire, and we stand outside looking in the windows waiting for them to wake up and walk out of the burning flames. Kevin used that analogy in one of his teachings on evangelism and it hit home with me. If you walked by a person's home and it was on literal fire, would you let them burn; or would you do everything you could to get their attention and to get them out safely? What if they wanted to stay in the home as it burned to the ground? Would you neglect to warn them and let them simply because they wanted to? Free will is a slippery slope.
I was recently led to some videos that Isaiah did with John Ramirez. Now, I haven't been led to John Ramirez until now but his background in Satanism was intriguing to me. What stuck with me the most were his comments on the demonic churches. They hold all night vigils. Prayer all night, lockdowns, they go over their spells, they practice actively their witchcraft, they drink animal blood, they sacrifice and they are relentless in wanting to spread demonic garbage through this world. Can we say the same as Christians? Are we dedicated in our prayer life? Have you ever been to an all night prayer vigil? Do you read your Bible and practice scripture with the same level of dedication, wanting to get it right? Do you desire to spread Jesus the same way they desire to spread witchcraft? Most of us can say, probably not.
He mentioned how easy it was to "take Christians out" how it was fun for them to destroy the lives of Christians, not to sever them from Christ, but because they were already severed by their flesh. They were easy targets. Spending 30 mins in church on a Sunday and the rest of the week living in the world doesn't make us strong. It makes us lukewarm and even scripture itself says that the Lord would rather us be hot or cold but because we are lukewarm, He will spit us out. Nothing scares me more than hearing the Lord possibly say, depart from me I never knew you. Do you know Him?
I have been led to a time of reading the word more, of worshiping more, of listening to my audio bible every night as we fall asleep. I can tell you from experience, that I feel much better. My mind is clear, my heart feels full, and the distractions of the world seem to bother me much less than they would otherwise. At the end of that video Isaiah and John were praying for the believers to rise up, to be dedicated to our faith the way the disciples were. To be spiritual snipers, having precision, having the ability to focus, having a desire to take out the enemy. They likened it to Jesus sending out the 72. He didn't wait for demons to come to them, they went out. They were sent out in warfare mode, to heal the sick, to cast out devils and to share the gospel truth with POWER. You can be pitiful and passive, or you can be powerful and aggressive.
Choose this day who you will serve. Choose to go to battle against the enemy. This world is crashing and burning, our houses are on fire, what are you going to do about it? It's time to rise up as warriors for Christ. It's time to rise up in power, equipped with the same Holy Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead. That same Spirit of the Lord is in YOU if you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. You need this. It's what changed my life. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Deliverance. Those two things led to the truth of the word being written on my heart as I read the word. Those two things opened up a world of miracles, signs and wonders. They're called the gifts of the Spirit, not the gifts of believing in Jesus. You can believe in Jesus and the Father until you are blue in the face but without the Holy Spirit in your life, you will be another powerless Christian that will be numbed to lukewam by the world, to be eaten alive by the devil and to be spit out by the Lord when you meet Him face to face.
Wake up lukewarm believers, catch fire for the Lord. Walk in power the way the Lord designed us to. Do you know what attracts people to witchcraft? The results they get. The power of the demonic. The ability to manipulate their fate and the world with their actions, words and mind. We as believers can do so much more than that. We have the Spirit of the Lord, how can we back down to the evil all around us? How can we not take a stand against it? We can defeat every demon, every attack, and to be honest, if you have a relationship with the Lord, you aren't able to be attacked, unless your mind is open to the destruction of the enemy. Don't dabble in this world. Don't be doubleminded. Rise up and deliver yourself, so you can deliver others. Be the fire that Jesus designed us to be. The Lord says blessed are the eyes that see what we see as disciples. See the truth of the situation that we are in. Rise up!
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
2 Timothy 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Acts 1:8 - But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Luke 10:19 - Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
1 Corinthians 4:20 - For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
Ephesians 6:10-20
The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Jeremiah 33:3 - Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Mark 16:15-18 -15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Romans 12:12 - Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer
Revelation 3:15-22 15 I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Luke 10:1-23 Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two
10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
Woe to Unrepentant Cities
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
The Return of the Seventy-Two
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Rejoices in the Father's Will
21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!
awesome!!!
ReplyDelete