Freedom Guns and Jesus

I visited L and N pods two nights ago.

First stop was a guy in a wheel-chair in the rec-area.  Prayed for his knee.  He has been shot by the police.  He was reluctant to receive healing for the knee, asked that I instead pray for him in terms of his spiritual condition and favor.

Next, I played chess and got beat (barely) with a crowd watching.  Sat down with 3 other guys, and has some breakthrough with them in terms of helping them support and encourage each other.  One guy said “now I know why I was here today, it’s all coming together”.  That was encouraging.

Left L, passed by M and walked into N.  Met about 5 guys from my Thursday class, and met a new guy in there, he was in for breaking parole.  Funny thing is, 6 days earlier I met him in McDonalds, we spoke, and I had invited him to church.  He told me he would be there, and I believed him.  He was arrested before Sunday, but God saw fit to put us together again.

An old guy hobbled up and I asked him if he was in pain.  He said he ALWAYS is in pain.  He was also reluctant to have me pray for him, but I asked him to show me what hurt, something he couldn’t do without pain.  He tried to touch his toes, and couldn’t.  Prayed for him, some pain left, and he easily touched his toes.  Prayed for him again, and all the pain left and he was able to easily touch the floor.  The other guys thought that was cool.  I did too.

Question:  Are we to walk like Jesus and do what He did?

Question: Does that apply to you?

Most agree in theory, but are totally lacking in experience.

Matthew 9 (NIV)

I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷ Then the man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

John 20:21   Then said Jesus to them again, Peace [be] unto you: as [my] Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

John 20:22   And when he had said this, he breathed on [them], and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

John 20:23   Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; [and] whose soever [sins] ye retain, they are retained.

As I write, I often wonder about what others would say if I allowed them to comment.

I source the Bible, Webster, and Wiki.

“Why Wiki” for example:

Wikipedia is founded on the opposite of this blog, the rule that “anyone can edit”

I find that a refreshing concept.  It is a democratic opinion of the truth, it seems to operate on the verifiable opinions and historical views of the general public.  This is an opposing viewpoint, or at least an opposite source from the Bible, and truth can be found in it, because God is big enough to defend his own truth.  He works among his people, even among unbelievers, to not let error overtake truth.

He who seeks will find [truth], it was true in Solomon’s day…

2 Chron 9:23  And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.

and it is true today, the truth will be found by men who are humble and honest enough to search until they find it.

While Satan may be the god of this age, “the Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (1Co 10:28; Exo 19:5; Deu 10:14; Job 41:11; Psa 24:1; Psa 50:12; 1Ti 6:17).  Ultimately, the source of all truth is the Creator.

So to encourage my two readers, keep searching for the truth.  Pray for Discernment, and be humble enough to admit that you are not the holder of all truth, you may be wrong, you are definitely wrong about some things, and ask the Lord to show you the absolute truth about something.  He instructs us to pray for wisdom and to seek knowledge.

When the search is over, the importance of all truth and knowledge will pale in comparison to the relationship that it leads to.

Title Study

How many times do I come across new truth that has always been there?  After all these years in the Bible, I still continue to find new revelation, confirmation, and correction to my convictions, doctrine and opinion.

Today it came in the form of confirmation. (see Family Lost post from May 26, 2010).

1 Cor 10:20-21 says:

what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.

See for yourself:

Are “Idols” not the same thing as other gods?  Take Buddha for example.  He is used as an example of an avatar (embodiment of God) in Eastern religion, and people sacrifice food to his image.

This is settled for me.  I thought I learned it through personal experience;  I went through reading the Upanishads, and struggling through the claim that they are ancient scriptures, older than our Christian Bible.  When I realized the truth of the source of these false “deities”, along with my uncle’s declaration that Christ was the most recent avatar, I formed my own conviction about this as posted in the previous posts, but this scripture puts this issue to bed.

I can preach it, I can teach it, and I can shine the light boldly as Christ did when he said, “all who came before me were liars and thieves” and “there is no other way to the Father, except through me”.

Today was Church landscaping day… and I missed it.

However, I decided to begin the removal of about a dozen large holly bushes that line my driveway.  It started to rain about the time I started, but I decided that working hard in the rain wouldn’t kill me.  The area under the bushes was infested with virgina creeper.  After I got the large limbs off, I started to rake the leaves from around the stumps, and couldn’t easily do it because of all the vines.  I realized that these vines would totally prevent me from being able to pull out the stumps with my truck, so I began the task of pulling them all out.

While pulling, the Lord started dialoging with me about deliverance.  First thought: “Bad Root, Bad Fruit”… then it got deeper.

Removing layers of demonic strongholds in an individual’s life is like this job (roots=strongholds),   First, these things weren’t moving without getting rid of the roots at the foundation of each plant, but the roots were covered with leaves.  Leaves = circumstances and events.  The busy-ness of our life makes us look functional and normal, but they are dead, insulating cover.  So in a deliverance session, getting the circumstances (life story) out of the way lets you see where the roots are.

So you see a root, and you start to pull, but with all the intersecting roots, you quickly realize that one usually leads to ten!  You quickly realize that you’re not going to get the one out without dealing with all of them!  Authorized demonic strongholds (we’ll call them “demons”) have blockers which are smaller issues and authorizations, untruths, unforgiveness, lies of the heart–“the sin that so easily entangles”.  Each one of these must be dealt with.  (Hebrews 12:1, NIV)

Pull or cut?  Yes and yes–both.  Pulling is done in your own power.  You can eliminate minor lies and reason and council away many things that simply need some truth applied, which is really no more than clearing up spiritual misunderstandings.  Cutting is using the sword of the Spirit, the Word, (Jesus); or in this case, 1-1/2 inch, 3x leveraged root cutters.  Sure there are many we can pull in our own strength, but with the bigger ones we risk personal injury–especially when the root is secured on both sides and only the middle is exposed (symptoms of strongholds in life that are authorized in more than one place).

Occasionally, I ran across a root that crossed over into the neighbor’s parallel line of holly bushes.  They were usually large and rubbery, and really difficult to pull (and I’d have hurt myself if I tried).  What the Lord told me was to stick to what I was called to.  I cannot remove someone else’s (third party) issue, and some roots are going to have to stay in the ground until a later time when the owner tends his own garden.  There are issues I’m sure, where deliverance is not accomplished because the root is buried on both sides of a relationship.  We can only take care of our half (how many times have I said that?!).

About this time, my lovely wife brought me a much-appreciated drink and the discussion with God was over, but as is often the case, I realized again the truth of Romans 1:20, and thought to myself two things:  1. God likes it when we garden, it’s almost like that’s what we were made to do, and 2. Usually, the deeper revelation comes in time of greater sacrifice.  Those who do what others won’t (work hard in the rain) get what others don’t–a really fun discussion with my Dad.

Dream Log 10/31/2013 just before alarm.

I was out driving, looking for a place to spend time with the Lord.

I came up a long road, up, up, up to a beautiful countryside farm at the top of a hill, and stopped in front of a farmhouse that I recognized it as Bobby Fowler’s house.

A woman (I think it was his wife) was outside the house, and looked at me, then walked the other way, seemingly not bothered by my being there, in the car, with the car running.

I backed the car up a bit, so as not to disturb them, and intended to park there.

All of a sudden, the car started sliding backwards down the hill.  I tried to control it at first, my foot was on the brake and all wheels were locked up, as my truck slid backwards.

The road (I hadn’t seen this coming up) was EXTREMELY steep and very windy (lots of turns).  I has absolutely no control, and suddenly I was in the back seat, thanking the Lord for obviously being in control, as the truck successfully navigated every sharp turn–backwards, sliding down a dirt road.  I could not see behind, there was dust all around the car, and I felt the car and saw the wheel turn by itself every time it came to the edge of the road (big drop if I went over), but the car stayed on the road all the way down.  I didn’t have my seat belt on, and though I was praising and thanking the Lord with my heart and my lips I was thinking with my mind that I could die any moment, if someone else was coming up the road, or if I went over the edge, or if I hit whatever was at the bottom.  I was surprised that I had time to put on my seat belt, so I did it (fighting the G-forces to get it done), while thanking the Lord for everything in my life.  I reached the bottom safely.

Next Scene:

I was walking behind my wife.  I know Kati was there, because I had discussed the incident in the dream with her.  My wife was walking with another woman, who was older and more experienced.  My wife looked GOOD, and in very tight skimpy clothing (a little inappropriate).  They were discussing business, and I was content to walk behind.  I remember being confused that I was so at peace.

My alarm went off, and I woke up to Jonathan Helser singing “your eyes”.

[End of dream]

I was in the shower thinking about the dream and at first was thinking negative, because the idea of the dream is very uncomfortable.  I asked the Lord what it all meant.
1. The road I have been on has been much steeper than I have realized.  I didn’t know how bad it was, because I have been seeking the Lord through it all.  I asked the lord what the road was, and the answer was “your career and life path”.
2. When I think of Bobby Fowler, I think of missions, and the incredible things he has done overseas.  My own journey started with going to Bible college to be a missionary.  I believe this is a view of my lost desire to return to missions as being part of my near future.
3. The slide down the hill, though it looked dangerous, was totally controlled by God the whole way, and I knew it, so I was totally at peace during the process.  This may mean a few things:

•  disasterous event (not likely)
•  the end of my career, return to the beginning
•  the end of me being in control of my path

4. I didn’t think there would be time to prepare for the crash, but there was, and I did, though I did not end up using needing the seat belt.  God telling me I could put it on if I wanted showed me that He is concerned about my desires, even when they are not part of his intended process.

5. After the wild ride, Kati was the one out front, exposed, and doing business, and it was OK with me.  I believe that she will find something passionate to do business or ministry-wise, and I will be content to support her (emotionally) and will not have to financially.

6. the words of the song it me along with the image of a REAR-VIEW mirror; “I want your eyes to be my mirror”!  We are not to forget to look to Jesus to see where we are going, even though they may appear backwards, and “closer than they appear”.

This morning I was reading Rick Joiner’s “Overcoming the Spirit of Poverty”.   I ran across this truth:

“Strongholds are maintianed by what the Scriptures call principalities.  We can cast out demons, but we must wrestle against principalities (See Eph 6:12)… Principalities will not flee just because we command them to.  We must push them out by walking in the light…”

I then began praying agains the principalities in my life, since immediately following the above quote was the statement, “Truth, spoken by the annointing is the most powerful weapon there is, and we have been entrusted with it.”

So while praying, a common housefly was buzzing around my feet.  I tried to shew it out the open window which was about 2 feet to my left, and it would not go.  I watched as the fly came up and landed on the front of my right shoulder, right next to my face.  I turned my head, and it did not move.  I looked at the fly, and said out loud “You demon creature, I command you to leave this house right now in the name of Jesus.”  About one second later, the fly flew straight out the window.

Big deal, right?  Maybe, if you believe the natural is just that… natural.  But if you believe in the prophetic, and that the natural is under the authority of the spiritual, it takes on a whole new meaning.  I said to God, “Really?  A fly?  I’ve been asking you for a face-to-face encounter, to reveal your widom to me, and you send me a fly?”  You know what he said? “Selah”

• check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selah for wiki’s meaning
• and http://biblestudyplanet.com/what-does-selah-mean/ for another

So what about the fly? Yes, to me, flies, spiders and snakes, wasps, scorpions and the like represent creatures on earth that are evil, and I think that if the devil ever had any creative ability, these would be his handiwork.  There are plenty of first-hand accounts of people going to hell and finding lots of these creatures there.  So for me, the fly clearly represented a demon, and was used to demonstrate that my own physical attempt to get it to fly out the window was useless.  The fly, while being smaller than me, is quicker.  You can argue whether it is smarter, but in general, we have the power to kill them, and not the other way around.  However, it would have taken great effort on my part to get up and chase that sucker down and swat it dead, and there’s about a 70% chance that it would have left on it’s own if I had tried.

But when I used the “weapon I have been entrusted with”, the annoyance was instantly removed.  This fly didn’t move when I spoke, and it didn’t take a curved or indirect route out the window.  It paused, and flew straight out.  How many times do we fail to use the weapons entrusted to us to remove evil influences in our spiritual lives?

I look forward to the revelation that is coming about principalities.

The current struggle:  Self-conscious light-shining.

I am completely rocked by Pete Cabrera Jr.’s teachings and healings on YouTube.  First hurtle of “is this real” was easily cleared because I have been blessed to see many miracles, some outwardly and plainly visible and some at my own hand (Jesus’ power through my prayer.)  I have learned a proper perspective on healing, and releasing the power that God has placed inside me since the moment of my salvation (Ephesians 1 – pointed out by Pete’s video, What you already have in Christ.)

I put it into practice last week.  Here are the facts:

Brian:  One of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet, a good friend of the family, 20-something, analytic non-believer.  We have talked about God and the need for him to “get saved” many times, and he describes himself as being on the edge of the decision.  We spent some time visiting, walked down to the doc, got into some Faith discussion, and were walking home, and I saw that he was in pain and asked him about his limp.  He was injured and had an ongoing problem that was keeping him from sleeping and affecting his mobility.   I had him show me what he couldn’t do, because he was stopped by pain.   I offered to pray for him and he accepted, but this time, I didn’t just do a quick prayer and tell him to accept his healing that would probably come in the morning.  I took the time to explain that God does heal those he loves.  I prayed the scripture that came to mind, and stopped talking, kept my hand on his back and waited.  He stood motionless, it seemed like time stood still.  He just stared down at the ground while the healing happened.  I asked him what was going on, he reported feeling a heat in his back.  I had him test out his back by bending , doing everything he couldn’t do before.  It was hilarious.  He looked all confused as he found that there was no pain.  He was completely healed.

At work the next day (my biggest and most important client) one of the workers was hobbling around, not moving his back, bracing himself on a desk in back pain.  I felt the Spirit urge me to pray for him, but we were in a room with two other guys, and people coming and going.  I waited.  Frankly, I forgot.  I finished up the job and headed for the door, and he was walking out at just the same time, so I let him go first.  We came out into an area where there was no one around, and I realized that this was the God-appointment.  I asked him if he would let me pray for his back.  He told me that he just got prayer last night at his church.  I told him that that didn’t matter, and that I just saw a back healed the day before.  He reluctantly agreed to have me pray, and the same thing happened.  He stared straight and down and just waited while his healing came.  I asked him how he felt, he said good, and wanted to be done, but I said “Don’t lie to make me feel good, test it out!”  He moved, bent, squatted, twisted, all with a really confused look on his face.  It was obvious that he was at least mostly better, and I asked him if there was any more pain.  He could not find any pain, just tightness, so I prayed for him again, and we parted ways.

I record these like I record my dreams and convictions, for the following reasons:

• That I won’t forget.
• To remind me that it’s real.
• To bring God Glory
• To encourage others

This is not to glorify myself.  This is not to say, “I have arrived” because I’m painfully aware of my short-comings and downright hypocritical in some areas.

This is to testify that anyone can do this.  If you believe that you’re a child of the King, then why dwell outside the Kingdom???  If Jesus wants to love and heal people through me, who am I to pursue selfish desires and live life for my own benefit?

As I focus on what I want, it becomes reality.  I want to love people.  I want to heal them.  I want to break the lies of their hart that has them bound up in emotional hell.  I want to teach them that they have power over darkness, over sickness, and that they do not have to live powerless lives.

My reality is fun.  We are spiritual beings, and while I find myself still working a normal (self-employed) job, I am learning to walk in the Kingdom of God at the same time.

I feared Facebook.  It is such a worldly system.  It’s all about what “face” you put out there for others to see.  People judge.  People have opinions.  Those opinions have no bearing on who I am called to be.  I just opened a Facebook account again, and I feel weird putting forward that spiritual face–but it’s not a facade.  It’s Jesus being given the permission of my choice to live through me.  I feel like I need to let my light shine to give others hope.  I’m not perfect, but my Lord is.  I can’t heal, but He can.  I will testify of his supernatural works in my life, because I am commanded to:

^{Matt 5:16} In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

When: This past Saturday

What: Family time on the back deck

Activity: Drinking piña coladas

My youngest daughter (age 6) asks me why my drink looks different from hers, so I tell her that mine has rum.  She says, “I’m not ever going to drink alcohol, because I don’t want to be sick, and I want to be as healthy as I can be” [or something very close to that]

I say:  That’s great sweetheart, but moderation is good to.  It’s OK to know what something is like, and not do too much of it.  Taste it.”

She says “No thanks.”

Ironically, my wife puts a similar offer out to our older daughter (age 10)  she also refuses.

So I then announce, “Lots of people comment on how awesome you girls are, and I think it’s just cool that your own parents can’t corrupt you!”  [we laugh]

Then I went in and got the rest of what’s in the blender and the bottle of rum and add about a half an ounce to my glass after topping it off [heavy drinker… i know].

Not 10 minutes later, I get a flash of nausea, increasing pain in my chest, and I end up doubled up with my head in the bath tub crying and holding my breath because it felt like I was dying from ingesting rat poison.  I’ve had alcohol poisoning before, but this was ridiculous!

I was in this condition for about 10 minutes before anyone came up to find me.  During that time when I couldn’t open my eyes, could barely breathe or think, I “heard” the voice of the Lord say, “Don’t tell MY daughters about YOUR idea of moderation!  I place convictions directly in their hearts for MY purposes!”  I was quick to repent, wondering if I’d still have to go to the hospital.   I honestly thought I might die, the pain was so bad.  My wife came in and asked me what I needed, and I replied,  “Prayer…. and time”

My youngest came in, and started to pray for me:

“Please, Lord Jesus, heal my daddy right now!  I command all pain to leave his body in Jesus name.  Take all the hurt out of my daddy now, God….” for about a minute.

The first wave of healing hit me like a giant scoop of ice cream being lifted off her and plopped on me.  About 80% of my pain melted away immediately.

She looked at me, and asked, “How do you feel now, Daddy?”  I told her I was feeling better, she asked if there was still any pain and I told her there was, just glad for the relief that I already had.  She continued to pray: “Thank you God for healing my daddy.  I command this body to be totally healed right NOW in Jesus’ name…. God take all the pain away….”

Like a second scoop, I felt a wave of relief as the rest of the pain left my body over a period of time that took about 2 seconds.

Completely relieved, completely healed, completely awed by the power of God being doled out by my daughter, I went downstairs with my family and sat down for dinner.