Warfare portals pt6

Dear beloved: We are talking about cleansing ourselves of sin not associated with generation curses. If you listed all of the sins you have committed over the years, you probably have a fairly long list, as I do also. The next step is to confess and repent of each of the sins, go down the list one by one. Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whosoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy. ...We receive compassion and mercy from the Lord when we get down before Him and confess our sins to Him; of coarse, He already knows about them as He watched us commit them, but it is all about us getting back in right standing, in righteousness, with him.

The greatest chapter in the Bible dealing with confession and repentance is Psalm 51, in which King David's sin with Bathsheba had been exposed and David knew he had to get his heart right with God. Psalm 51:1 Be gracious to me, oh God, according to Thy lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgression. Notice that David acknowledges the compassion, mercy, and lovingkindness of God before he starts his confession. God is merciful and kind, slow to anger, but we cannot take his grace and compassion for granted, that it will always automatically be there for us every time we sin. In some cases God's anger is kindled and people leave this earth in a hurry. In Acts 4:3, Peter said to Ananias " Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land?" v4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God" v5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came upon all who heard of it. ..And so as we confess and repent, acknowledge to God that you are dependent upon His mercy, and thankful that He allows you to live another day. As I think back upon my life of sin, of the times I was really trapped in it and sowing seeds of great corruption to the flesh every day, I am so grateful to God and to my family who, unknown to me, was interceeding for me day and night before the throne of God. God heard their prayers and did not allow this prodigal son to die in the hog pen, but rather He wooed me back into His fold by the gentle calling of the Holy Spirit. The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is exactly my story, and you will notice when the prodigal realized his state of affairs, first he confesses his sin against his heavenly Father, then against his earthly father. Luke 15:21 "And the son said to him, ' Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But of coarse we know that the father was merciful, for he says in verse 23 " bring the fatted calf and, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; v24 for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found." And they began to be merry.

The key to victory in the spiritual battle is to sever all ties and agreements with the enemy, once and for all. It is sin and sin alone that separates us from God. Isaiah 59:1 Behold the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor His ear so dull that it cannot hear. v2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear. v3 For your hands are filled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness. v9 Therefore, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, but behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom. v10 We grope along the wall like blind men, we grope along like those who have no eyes; we stumble at midday as in the twilight, among those who are vigorous we are like dead men. v12 For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities. v13 Transgressing and denying the Lord, and turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.

Do not rush through this step of confession and repentance. Ask the Lord to reveal to you all the ways in which you have transgressed and denied Him, and get to the core of it. Break all ties and agreement with the enemy. Praise the Lord that we have Jesus blood to pay the price for our sin, in Him there is cleansing and victory. Isaiah 59:16 And He (God) saw that there was no man, and He was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him; and His righteousness upheld Him. Tomorrow we will look closer at David's confession as we cleanse our way to victory. May God bless you this day as you walk in victory, in Christ, Jim

Warfare portals pt5

Dear beloved: In our study of spiritual warfare we will next consider cleansing of sin that is not related to generational sin and curses. In order to understand the nature of sin and our part in choosing it, we have to go back and look at the oringinal sin and the fall of mankind. God had created man (Adam) and had put him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. Genesis 2:15. Then the Lord gave Adam his instructions concerning the trees of the garden. Gen.2:16 And the Lord commanded the man saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; v17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die." Of all the instructions given to mankind, only this last aroused curiosity in him; there was something about the friut of that tree that crossed his will and made him curious. Satan (the serpent) knew that also, and so in Genesis chapter 3:4 comes the first recorded lie in the Bible, when Satan directly lies to Eve and counters God's word. v4 And the serpent said to the woman,"you surely shall not die! v5 For God knows that in the day that you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." v6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desireable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her and he ate.

Satan always comes to us and tries to get us to believe that God is a liar, and that we don't need God because we can be just like Him. What an effective stategy. In Isaiah 14, we see the character of Satan come forth as he declared his will for himself to take over the throne of God. Isa. 14:13 'But you said in your heart (shining one, Lucifer), I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. v14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' And so as Satan attempted to ascend to the throne of God, the great rebellion began that led to his being thrown down out of heaven. Luke 10:17 And the seventy disciples returned with joy saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." v18, and He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. v19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you."...And so the battle lines were drawn, God's desire for fellowship and rule in our life, verses the desire of Satan to tear us away from the kingdom through lies and deceit.

Our sin involves our will and choice. John tells us in 1 John 2:15, Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. v16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. v17 And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever. And so Satan attacks us in those three ways: lust of eyes, lust of flesh, and the pride of life. Start your cleansing process by listing all your sin, past and present, focusing on the sins that are not necessarily associated with family iniquity, the ones where you just succumbed to the lies and deceit of the deceiver. Go ahead and list them, and also include the sins of omission, the sins where you have backed away from the callings and commands of the Lord. Also include sins like quenching of the Holy Spirit, and religious spirits that are built around a form of religion with no power. List all of them and get it all out before the Lord. The next teaching we will then go on to the second step in the cleansing after we have acknowledged all our sin. God bless you this day as you are sanctified before the Lord, in Christ, Jim.

Warfare portals pt4

Dear beloved: We are ready to look at step four in the cleansing process of ridding ourselves of generational sin. Step four in the process is to renounce the particular sin you have been in agreement with. This differs somewhat from confession, which involves acknowledging your participation, and repentance, which is a declaration by you with the intent to turn from your wicked ways. According to Webster's dictionary, to renounce is to refuse further to follow, obey, or recognize; to repudiate. This is an important step to take for any sin, not just generational sin, but it is particularly important in this regard because it removes you from the place of passive consent or acquiescence to actively speaking against (repudiating) the sin, to intentionally making a declaration of freedom from the sin and iniquity from this day forth and forevermore.

In Isaiah 58:5, God speaks through the prophet Isaiah concerning fasting. Is this not the fast that I have chosen? To loosen the bands of wickedness, to undue the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? And then again in Isaiah 61:1, the prophet declares His ministry (He declared it in Luke 4:18), by saying "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners; v2 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, v3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified....So we can see from this that Jesus died on the cross to allow us to break the yoke of every agreement with the demonic realm. So when we renounce every sin and agreement with that demonic realm, we are coming into agreement with the will of God; God has declared His will for us in heaven, and He wants us to come into alignment with that will by our declarations and then actions of fruits of righteousness. Matthew 6:10, in the Lord's prayer, Jesus prayed "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." And in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. v12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. v13 And you will seek Me, and you will find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

While you are renouncing the sins you have participated in passively or actively, at the same time renounce word curses spoken knowingly or unknowingly over you. In many families people regularly speak word curses over each other; parents over children, grandparents over grandchildren, and siblings over each other. These curses have the effect of putting water on our fire, and are little arrows and barbs that constantly stick to our armor and spread satanic slime on us. Start agreeing with what God says about you, and not what your family tree has spoken about you! Again in Isaiah 61:6 But you will be called the priests of the Lord; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, in their riches you will boast. v7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.

If you will go through these steps with each of the sins you have acknowledged, you will find freedom. Jesus blood breaks every yoke! I took about 100 men at the prison through these steps two years ago in two marathon sessions, and as we got into confession, repentance, and renunciation I could just feel and see in the Spirit the demons were fleeing. I've never seen the guys drink so much water, the old bands of wickedness were being broken. Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set you free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Tomorrow we will look at how to hold onto our new found freedom and seal it up for all time. God bless each of you as you walk out the steps to freedom in your life, in Christ, Jim

Warfare portals pt3

Dear beloved: We are looking at the iniquity of our fathers and how that relates to our own vulnerability to generation curses. Step three in the cleansing process is to confess any agreement you have personally with the sins of your fathers. Daniel 9:4 "And I prayed to the Lord My God and confessed and said,"Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, v5 we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from They commandments and ordinances. v6 Moreover, we have not listened to Thy servants the prophets, who spoke in Thy name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land." Daniel goes on to say in verse 11, "Indeed all Israel has transgressed Thy law and turned aside, not obeying Thy voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath that is written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, for we have sinned against him." And in verse 18 "O my God, incline Thy ear and hear! Open Thine eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Thy name; for we are not presenting our supplications before Thee on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Thy great compassion."

So we must confess and repent of any agreement we have had with the sins or iniquities of our fathers. In my case one of the sins I had to confess and repent of was alcohol abuse; it was a big problem in one side of my family, and it became a big problem with me also. When I started to drink beer at the age of 18, I had no idea that the stronghold of alcohol in my family would overwhelm me like a flood. What started out as a "going along with the crowd" kind of activity became an uncontrollable and deadly thirst. Little did I know the demonic power and nature of the generation curse behind it! Worse yet for me was that alcohol became an entry point for drug use as is common for many, as often the social gatherings where alcohol is present, drugs also are in use. And so alcohol led to pot smoking, which led to other drug use, and eventually it was all like an avalanche that was racing down the hill. The only thing that stopped it in my case was the grace of God; as He let me get to my end without dying in my misery, but I knew after some overdoses and passout sessions that my physical end was precariously near. God was going to take me home so I would not bring any more shame to his name, as I was a born again believer at the time this was going on.

Look at your life and the sins you have committed and those that have been in agreement with the sins of your fathers. You will find that many if not most fall into that category, certain strongholds run in families as we talked in yesterday's teaching. Ask God to forgive you as He is gracious to do. Repent, renounce, and ask God to forgive each individual sin, all the ways that you have hurt the heart of God. Matthew 6:9 " Pray then in this way, Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name, v10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. v11 Give us this day our daily bread, v12 And forgive us our debts (trespasses, ways we have crossed over the boundaries), as we also have forgiven our debtors. v13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, Amen."

Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well being fell on Him, and by His scourging we are healed...Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe, sin had left a crimsom stain, He washed it white as snow. As I write this today, I cannot keep from crying, His mercy is so great! When the immoral woman came and anointed and kissed Jesus feet, and wiped her tears with her hair, Jesus said of her, Luke 7:47 "For this reason I (Jesus) say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." v48 And He said to her " Your sins have been forgiven." Rejoice in His great love and mercy for us, He was bruised, crushed, pierced, scourged, and hung on the cross so we could know the righteousness of God. Tomorrow we will look at step four in the cleansing process. May God bless you and keep you this day, in Christ, Jim

Warfare portals pt2

Dear beloved: We all know of the damaging effect that generation curses have had on our own lives, and we can look around and see the effect it has on others we know, and the implications for this nation are very profound. The devil is making great inroads into the moral foundations of this nation; what started out as small leaks in the dike are now pouring through and across the top of the dam in a raging flood. Isaiah 59:18 says, When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And then in Isaiah 59:21 "As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, henceforth and forever."

Step one in the battle against generation curses in our life is to take responsibility and acknowledge the sins of our forefathers. We can start by listing all of our ancestors that we know about, usually that means going back to grandparents and maybe greatgrandparents, then also listing the sins that we know cropped up in the family tree. List all that you have heard about or know first hand; adultery, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, occult practices, false religions, lying, cheating, stealing, and anything else you know is a deviation of God's will. This can be very painful in some families! Then do as Nehemiah did in Neh. 1:6 Let Thine ear now be attentive, and Thine eyes open to hear the prayer of Thy servant which I am praying before Thee now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Thy servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against Thee; I and my father's house have sinned. v7 We have acted corruptly against Thee and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which Thou didst command Thy servant Moses.

Ezra did the same thing when he found out the sons of Israel had taken foreign wives for themselves so that the holy race was intermingled with the people of the lands. Ezra 9:3 And when I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard, and sat down appalled. v6 and I said"O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to thee, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads, and our guilt has grown even to the heavens. v7 Since the days of our fathers we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder and to open shame, as it is this day. v8 But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage." So Ezra and Nehemiah both took responsibility for the iniquities of their fathers, even though they were both righteous men, living lives that most would say were worthy of high esteem.

A look at the consequences that Ezra cited is a picture of what is happening here in America; we are being given into the hands of our enemies (through mountains of debt), to the sword (terrorist attack), to captivity (internment in persecution camps is looming on the horizon for Christians), and to plunder (our gold, and dollars, and manufacturing base), and open shame (the shame of exportation of pornography and Hollywood filth, the shame of abortion, of homosexuals clamoring for marriage). And in many families the devastation is immense, men in prison (there are now 2 million people incarcerated in jails and prisons in America), many more in bondage to drug and alcohol addiction, many more sick and ailing and taken out before their time.

As you think about your family tree and list the iniquity of your forefathers, then step two is to forgive them of their trespasses, as our Heavenly Father has forgiven us of our trespasses. Do this even for your mother and father, sister and brother, even though they may have sinned greviously against you. Matthew 6:14 "For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. v15 But if you do not forgive men, the your Father in heaven will not forgive your transgressions." Remember what we are doing here is starting at the roots of the family tree and trying to clease it of all unrighteousness, cleansing by the blood of Jesus from the ground up. John the Baptist told the multitudes, in Luke 3:8 "Therefore bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'we have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." v9 "And also the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." ....We want to cleanse and chop off that which is not bearing good fruit in our life. Tomorrow we'll continue this cleansing process as we look at step three. God bless you as you go into battle this day, in Christ, Jim

Warfare portals

Dear beloved: Now that we have looked at the spiritual armor we are to put on, we will look at the portals of entry, or the pathways by which satan and his demonic kingdom gain entry into our lives. In knowing the common paths of entry, we can be on the alert and therefore better defend ourselves against the flaming missles of the evil one.

There are two broad general categories through which demonic presence may come or attempt to come into our life. First, generation curses that we are born with and we had no part in choosing or bringing upon ourself, and second, sins that we choose through either commission or omission and that we are responsible for. There are also seven basic areas of manifestation where these demonic powers then manifest and make their presence known in our life and in our behavior. The seven areas are: 1. Emotional problems, such as anger, fear, hatred, self pity, rejection, jealousy, depression, worry, and insecurity. 2. Mental problems, such as mental torment, procrastination, indecision, confusion, doubt, rationalization, loss of memory. 3. Speech problems, such as uncontolled use of the tongue, lying, cursing, blasphemy, criticism, mockery, railing, and gossip. 4. Sexual problems, such as fantasy sex, masturbation, lust, homosexuality, perversion, fornication, adultery, incest, provocativeness, and harlotry. 5. Addictions, such as tobacco, alcohol, drugs, medicines, caffeine, and food. 6. Physical infirmities, many diseases, whether of an acute or chronic nature, are due to spirits of infirmity. Other diseases may be the result of sin in our life, such as hepatitis as a result of drug addiction. 7. Religious error and occult practice. This can be further broken down into four basic categories, 1. false religions, such as Hindu, Islam, Buddhism, pagan religions, Scientology, mind sciences. 2. Christian cults, such as Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, Christian Science, Rosacrucian, Theosophy, Unity, Freemasonry and other lodge secret societies, and many more, all of which deny or confuse the atonement of Christ's blood as the way to salvation and healing. 3.Occult and spiritism, including witchcraft, magic, ouija boards, astrology, hypnosis, palm reading, divination, necromancy, spiritists and mediums and many others. 4. False doctrine, doctrines within the Christian faith that are heresy and dilute, add to, or divide the word of God in a way that brings division and heresy into the body. All of these categories are discussed in more detail in a book called " Pigs in the Parlor, a Practical Guide to Deliverance" by Frank and Ida Mae Hammond.

Beloved, it is important that we cover ourself each and every day with all the gospel armor. Many Christians are taken out prematurely (die before their time), are rendered sick, helpless, ineffective, stripped of their gifts and callings, and some even walk away from their faith due to the demonic presence in their life. It is vital that we learn to recognize it and deal with it. John says in 1 John 3:8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. v9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. v10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious; anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

I'm going to close with a story from the 1 Kings 22:34 that is a good illustration of how holes or gaps in the armor can be fatal to us. v34 Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king (King Ahab) of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of the chariot, "Turn around, and take me out of the fight, for I am severly wounded."v35 and the battle raged that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Arameans, and died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot. v36 Then a cry passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, "Every man to his city and every man to his country."...They were defeated and scattered. That is a picture of many Christians, many families, many churches. We are wounded in battle due to holes in the armor, we get propped up in our chariots so we can make it appear we are still in the fight, but in reality we are defeated and do not walk in the victory that God has declared for us. The next teaching we will start to take a closer look at each of the entry pathways and how we can seal them up. God bless you this day as you go into battle, in Christ, Jim

Spiritual Warfare pt11

Dear beloved: Paul wraps up his discussion of the spiritual armor with an instruction, or statement of encouragement in Ephesians 6:18 With all prayer and petiton pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, v19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel v20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. We see from this statement that warfare is directly tied to prayer and petition, not only for ourself and our situation, but also for others that are in the battle. Paul tells us to pray at all times in the Spirit- what exactly does he mean by that? He uses that term in other places in the letters, primarily in 1 Corinthians 14:14, where he says, For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. v15 What is the outcome then? I shall pray with (in) the Spirit, and I shall pray with the mind also; I shall sing with (in) the Spirit, I shall sing with the mind also. So we can see from this that praying and singing in the Spirit, or in other words praying and singing in tongues, is directly tied to spiritual warfare, it is the intercessors weapon to break through the demonic realm of interference.

He goes on to say in verse 22 that tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. Who could be considered more of an unbeliever than the demons and powers and principalities of the demonic kingdom? They are the ones who control the behavior of the unbelieving world, for Satan is the ruler of this world. When you pray in tongues, what exactly happens in the Spirit realm? Tongues are the language of the Holy Spirit, the voice of the living God. Psalm 29:3 the voice of the Lord is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, the Lord is over many waters. v4 the voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic, v5 the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, Yes the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. v7 the voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire. v8 the voice of the Lord shakes (causes to whirl) the wilderness.

The demons flee when they hear the voice of the Lord, they cannot stand before it, because they know they are going to get broken like the cedars, struck with flames of fire, and shook like the wilderness. Hebrews 10:31 says it this way, It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The voice of the Lord is so terrifying that the children of Israel could not stand to hear it anymore. Deuteronomy 18:16 This is all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, "Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, lest I die."

Jesus went among the multitudes casting out demons with a word. Luke 4:41 And demons also were coming out of many, crying out and saying, "you are the Son of God!" And rebuking them, he would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ. ... And again in Matthew 10:7 As you go preach, saying, "the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give." Beloved, this is spiritual warfare-go into the enemy territory and take back what he has stolen from you, your family, and nation.

If you do not have the gift of tongues, pray to receive it; wait patiently and God will give you that which you desire. If you do have the gift, start utilizing it more in intercessory prayer for all the saints, and in every situation where you are in a battle with the demonic realm. We want to get to the point where the demons shudder when we walk into the room, or when we begin to pray, because they know the kingdom of God is among them. Mark 1:24 a man with an unclean spirit cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who You are- the Holy One of God!" Beloved, as warriors in the kingdom, that is our battle cry, to destroy the works of the devil. Prepare for battle! God bless you this day, in Christ, Jim

Delivered by the Blood of Jesus

Dear beloved:
A man I prayed for recently got set free by the delivering power of Jesus Christ though the Holy Spirit. The man gave a testimony regarding the shame and humiliation he had carried all his life; his family and parents had heaped shame upon him for causing an accident in which the life of a person was lost. The young man was carrying so much shame that he was tormented to the point of pulling out his fingernails, a painful self inflicted handicap. After hearing his testimony, I was reminded of the scripture in Mark 5:4-5, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the shackles torn in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. v5 And constantly night and day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and gashing himself with stones.

After hearing his testimony and watching his demeanor, I asked to pray for him and began to cast the demons out of him that had him in bondage and torment. Demons of hatred, anger, bitterness, rage, unforgiveness, and rebellion and came under the authority and power of the Holy Spirit. Within a few minutes that man fell back into the waiting arms of others and was resting in the arms of Jesus. What sweet deliverance. He sat down, and was ministered to and prayed for some more and got up with a big smile on his face, a free man.

Paul says in Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Jesus blood paid the price for our freedom, and He declared in Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are downtrodden, v19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. This passage was taken from Isaiah 61 and where Isaiah prophesied that all these manifestations would follow the Anointed One.

Isaiah 60:7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.
The Lord delights in breaking every demonic yoke, in seeing the prisoners go free. Trust the Lord to be with you as you pray for others that are bound up by yokes of demonic agreement. Start looking for people to pray for and be ready to answer the call when it comes. Ask the Holy Spirit for the words to speak and for wisdom in deliverance sessions and He will give it to you. Then proceed boldly as you know that victory will be the Lords. May God bless you as you go into battle this day, in Christ, Jim

Spiritual Warfare pt10

Dear beloved: The last piece of gospel armor that we put on is the sword of the Spirit, the only offensive piece to be carried or strapped to the girdle over the loins. Ephesians 6:17b, and the sword (gr.machaira) of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The sword obviously is very sharp and is used to pierce and cut the enemy. The best description of the sword is given in Hebrews 4:12, for the word of God is living and active (KJ quick and powerful) and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of the soul and the spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge (discern) the thoughts and intents of the heart. And so we see that the sword is used to pierce, to cut, to separate, and that it is powerful, quick, and sharp; with a weapon as mighty as that we should definitely keep it with us at all times.

Psalm 119:49 Remember the word to Thy servant, in which Thou hast made me hope. v50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that Thy word has revived me. v103 How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! v104 From Thy precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way. v105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto Thy path... When Satan came to tempt Jesus and tear the kingdom of God away from Him as recorded in Matthew chapter 4, three times Satan tempted Him and three times Jesus replied, it is written, it is written, it is written, and then Jesus quoted the old Testament scripture that would counter that temptation. Jesus defeated Satan with the word of God, and that is the example for us in our daily battle with the enemy; pull out some verses of scripture and recite them back to the enemy and watch him flee! In every situation, start agreeing with what God's word says about the situation, and not what the enemy is saying. Speak to the enemy of your family, your health, your children's salvation, your freedom from addictions, your finances, speak the word of God and watch; the enemy of our soul has no weapon that can defeat the word of God, so therefore, he has to go!

The enemy has a sword also, but it is nothing compared to the word of God. Psalm 37:12 The wicked plots against the righteous, and gnashes at him with his teeth. 13 The Lord laughs at him; For He sees his day coming. v14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slay those who are upright in conduct. v15 Their sword will enter their own heart, and their bows will be broken. Beloved, we are in battle. Please read today the tenth chapter of Joshua. Joshua goes up against the five kings of the Amorites, they are all representatives of the demonic kingdoms that we fight against every day. But in Joshua 10:8 The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you." v28 Now Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Thus he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho. ....and then Joshua went on to strike down all the kings of the Amorites, and their people, and he left no survivors. That is our example of warfare; strike the enemy, and leave no survivors.

Beloved, in the days ahead there will be attempts to separate the children of God from the word. Already in some places in America persecution is arising because of the word of God, note the "hate crimes" legislation which is intent on silencing the truth of the gospel. Also there are attempts being made to zone out church construction, home based bible studies or church meetings. This is just a foretaste of what is to come. Hide the word in your heart, study it, memorize it, quote it to yourself, to your children, to your friends, and to your enemies. Keep it handy so you can slice up the enemy with it whenever he comes to defeat you. Paul sums it up in Romans 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. We are conquerors, rejoice! Our weapons are mighty! God bless you as you go into battle this day, in Christ, Jim

Spiritual Warfare pt9

Dear beloved: The fifth piece of armor that we put on is the helmet of salvation, Ephesians 6:17 says to take, or put on the helmet (gr. perikephalaia) of salvation. The battlefield for a person's soul and spirit takes place first in the mind, that is where the temptations and evil thoughts and desires originate and from there eventually become acted out in the flesh. So it stands to reason that if we can protect our minds from being taken over by demonic thoughts, we will have victory on the battlefield.
In Romans 12:2 Paul tells us, And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.... God wants us to prove His perfect will in our life, and it starts by renewing our mind to conform to Him and to the image of His Son. Paul goes on to say in Romans 8:29, those that God foreknew(that would be each of us), He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Jesus admonished us to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind (Matthew 22:37), so He knew the mind was at the point of the battle.

So how do we go about protecting our minds, or putting on the helmet? Paul tells in 2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh; v4 for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for pulling down strongholds, v5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. There it is: pull down strongholds, cast down imaginations, and take every thought captive! Sounds kind of like a wrestling match, a battle royal!

Paul goes on to give Timothy some good instruction in 2 Timothy 2:15, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who is not ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God. So we need to study God's word, line upon line, precept upon precept, a little here and a little there, until we
immediately know when Satan is trying to get into it with his lies and deceiving thoughts.

In closing, keep in your mind beloved that we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16, Paul tells us, For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. If we have the mind of Christ, we should be thinking like him. Phillipians 4:8 Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. v9 Those things, which you have both learned, received, and heard, and seen in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you. May God bless you and guard you this day, in Christ, Jim