The War We Must Win!

"Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." Isaiah 58:5-11

 The following is an important message from Min. B.H. Clendennen entitled, "The War We Must Win."

• Let God deal with ourselves before we ever go pointing fingers at anyone else.
• When a man is born again, he is a new creation; but there is still that old man to be dealt with.
• The flesh - the old nature - is the body of the devil just like the spiritual born again man is the body of Christ.
• The warfare we are up against is the warring of the flesh against the spirit; and it has to be won on an individual basis.
• There must be a burnt offering to bring about the death of the old man in order for Christ to increase within us.  This is the purpose of the fast.

The Power of the Secret Place

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation." Psalm 91

Fool Hardy

"We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised." I Corinthians 4:10

Some weeks ago, I asked the Lord, "When are you going to bring about a change?  When are you going to stand up and let your power be seen to put down all the mockers, for your name's sake?"

He then asked me, "Is it truly my name that you want vindicated or your own?"

That really made me to stop and think.  I realized that there was truth in what God said (of course).

I truly desire to see God's name glorified and to have His power seen because He is worthy of all praise.  I also realize that this is the only way in which souls will be saved (I Corinthians 2:4-5).  Yet, a part of me was also tired of looking like a fool to others.  This - being concerned with how others see you - is an example of pride and I had to repent.     

One of the most viscous type of minds which adamantly stands against Christ is the Greek "educated" mind.  This is in part why I think Jesus tells us that we must become as little children in order to receive His kingdom (Matthew 18:4; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:16-17).  The education systems of this world raise people to be humanists.  Unless the hand of God is upon you to safeguard your mind, you will graduate from these institutions as an educated fool, believing that man himself has become a god by obtaining knowledge (Genesis 3:5). To such persons, the very idea of faith in God and obedience to His word is ludicrous.  We can see this as evident even in the days of Jesus.  It was the educated religious leaders who sought to persecute & silence the "unlearned" disciples of Christ.

In recent years, I have spoken with numerous professionals - the top in their fields - as they looked down upon me and chastised my professed faith in Christ.  "How foolish", they have told me, "to ignore their expert advise and choose instead to be led by this God."  Yet, it is not the anti-christ mind in these individuals which concerned me, but any remnants of that mind in myself.  Why would I care what these individuals thought unless that spirit still had some influence over me?

Operating in the Spirit Realm

The following is a series from Pastor John S. Torell and is entitled "Operating in the Spirit Realm". 

"The purpose of this series is to mentally prepare you to face the antichrist régime and damage it with the spiritual weapons that have been provided by God.

If you live during the reign of the Antichrist, it is because God has selected you to live during this time period and be a soldier for Him. If you understand this truth and start to think in the supernatural, you will be a shining light in a dark world!"

I believe this is a message which needs to be heard.  When you have some quiet time, take time to listen to each video, which includes the following titles:

1. Supernatural Intervention
2. Satan's Final Shots
3. The Modern Church vs. Jesus
4. Despair to Victory
5. Fire From Above
6. Holy Ghost Power
7. The Story of Pentecost
8. What is Holy Ghost Power?
9. The Mystery of Iniquity
10. The Dawn of the Antichrist
11. Manna in the End Times
12. Protection from the Antichrist
13. Thinking Supernaturally
14. Keeping the Faith

Key Points in the Series

• We are living in the physical world, but the time has come where we need to break into the spiritual world.  Not by the power of Satan, but through access to the power of God via the Holy Spirit.
• Demons cannot be cast out unless you enter the spirit world and attack them by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Put Me In My Place

As I prayed the other morning, I said, "I don't care what anyone else is doing or not doing.  It doesn't matter.  Lord, put me in my place."

As soon as those last words were out of my mouth, I thought, "Where did that come from?".  I then began to contemplate what that could mean.

"Our Place in Relation to God"

To the world, somebody being "put in their place" references a person being knocked down a peg or two after being perceived to be too lofty.  Certainly God also warns us against thinking too highly of ourselves.

"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Romans 12:3

One common way in which people think more highly of themselves is to disregard God's ways in favor of their own understanding (Isaiah 55:9; Proverbs 3:5).  When you see someone who justifies disobedience to God's word, then you are looking at the fruit of pride.

Being high-minded may also cause you to become impatient with God, taking matters into your own hands and creating an Ishmael instead of waiting for God's promises to be revealed.  God had promised Abram that He would provide him a son.  Yet not waiting for God to bring this to pass, Sarai had Abram conceive a son through her handmaid Haggar (Genesis 16:1- 18:15).  Yet, Ishmael was not the son God promised.  From then to this day, the family feud which resulted continues to plague God's people.

At times, God may need to remind us that He alone is God and He alone knows what is best for us. Gd is not looking for man's ability, but is looking for vessels through which He can do even the impossible.  Just as we should not think too highly of ourselves, we should also not think too lowly.

Being "in my place" means that I am a redeemed child of the Most High God and a member of the Body of Christ.  It means I should be able to speak to a mountain and by faith have it moved and cast into the sea (Matthew 21:21).  It means I have been given authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).  It means that the power of God is available to flow through me, casting out devils, healing the sick, and showing forth miraculous signs and wonders to confirm His word (Mark 16:17-18).

Yes Lord, put me in my place.

Wicked Counselors

"Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me." Job 21:16

"Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity." Psalm 64:2

"The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit." Proverbs 12:5

"Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city." Ezekiel 11:2

"There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor." Nahum 1:11

The following message from Omega Ministries is entitled, "I Am Possessed".

When you think of demon possession, you will often think the most far out, bizarre, and fringe types of personalities.  However, some of the most demon-possessed persons look extremely normal to the naked eye.  They may even appear to be humble, charitable, pious, and holy as they move in religious circles. 

Satan sets up his ministers in the so-called churches for the express purpose of ensnaring the people and filling them with unclean spirits as a way to keep them from Christ.  Such persons actually become anti-christ in their thinking, all while falsely believing that they are serving the Lord.

• Our minds need to be anchored to the Lord.  In a storm, this is the only anchor who can keep us.
• People will be terrified as they realize that they have imagined being saved, but never really knew the Lord Jesus.
• Fearfulness will overtake the hypocrites (Isaiah 33:14).
• We are in the middle of a supernatural, metaphysical war.
• Demons are insatiable.
• Deliverance is good news and the children's bread (Matthew 15:26; Mark 7:27).
• Satan sends the spirit of anti-Christ into man's souls as a preparation for receiving the the Anti-Christ to come.  He sends you a wicked counselor to yoke you to itself, advise you, and lead you astray (Nahum 1:11).  The anointing from Jesus Christ can break this yoke, but you still must separate from the lies and the liars which had you bound.

Lord, What Are You Doing?

I had a conversation with the Lord last week about some situations with which we are dealing in our lives.  I asked the Lord, "God, I just don't understand the purpose behind all of this and why they seem to be dragging on so."

At that point, He asked me,"With all of these situations you are raising to me, which one would you have me to take away if I gave you that choice?"

Well, I really thought about that...I mean I thought about it long and hard.  There were many possibilities which came to mind, and I was initially excited about being able to tell the Lord which one burden I wanted Him to immediately remove.  Yet, the more I considered the question, the more trepidatious I became.  Which one would I choose??  I realized that attempting to do so would have me playing with fire.

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Romans 5:3-5

"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." James 1:3-4

You see, what if I chose the wrong thing?  What if I chose a situation that God was using to perfect me?  Was I willing to forgo being perfected in order to have some momentary comfort in the flesh? Yes, it might make my current days on this earth a little easier, but what if the resulting ease meant that I would fall short of the glory of God and not become what He has proclaimed that I should?  Did I want a trouble-free life or did I want to made perfect and entire, wanting nothing?  I could not have both.