Spiritual Warfare, Part II; The Elijah Experiment
“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For our army is bigger than theirs!” 2 Kings 6:16
“He is sending us a Mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David (Jesus, Yeshua), just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago–someone to save us from our enemeies, from all who hate us.” Luke 1:69-71
We concluded in our last article with trusting God, and how God has to let us take the initiative in our steps toward faith. But in this article, I want to focus more on the actual scriptures of Ephesians chapter 6:10-20; our God-given spiritual armor.
I would like to take a moment to go over this with you here, if you would take the time to do this with me, so that together, you and I may gain a better understanding. I would like to say in all of this, because I can’t stand hypocrisy, that I also struggle just as much as you; yet I know firsthand what the Father would have us to do.
Let’s take a quick glance at Ephesians 6:10-11. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles (schemings) of the devil.”
First, we are told to be strong IN the Lord, and IN the power of His strength. The keyword here is IN. We are to live in Christ, and we do this by accepting Him as our Savior and by following in His footsteps in every area of our lives. We are to consider God in ALL things; not some things, but ALL things…even the seemingly simple things. So, the first thing we must do in order to truly be covered in His spiritual armor is to be strong IN Him, and in the divine power of God’s strength…and that person is the Holy Spirit…He is the power of God’s divine strength because the Holy Spirit is the hands of God. He gets things done.
01. Be one with God by having Jesus as your Savior, therefore having the Holy Spirit inside of your spirit with you at all times.
He then tells usto put on the WHOLE armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wicked schemes, or plans, of Satan. Notice, please, it does not say to put on some of the armor, it says the WHOLE armor so that we may be able to stand against the wicked plans of Satan. So, in our spiritual battle, we must have the entire armor, not just part of it.
02. To successfully defeat the enemy, we must be cloaked in the WHOLE armor of God or else we may be triumphed over (defeated) by the armies of hell.
The next verse we’re going to go over now is verse 12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
I could write an entire book on this passage. This verse is telling us that the things we’re going through may seem like flesh and blood battles—when you’re at odds with someone, when your bills are out of control, you disagree with a new law that has been passed, your fight against abortion and child abuse seems pointless, your anger with your spouse, your frustration with your child, the disagreement you had with a friend, etc. For everything you go through, you are not truly fighting the physical realms as you believe. Remember I had said everything happens in the spiritual realms first. Secondly, faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things NOT SEEN. Are you trying to solve these problems on your own by physical means? Are you living in strife and unforgiveness with someone?
What this verse is saying, simply put, is that our fight may seem like a flesh and blood battle, but it’s not. Your enemy is the invisible hosts of enemy troops waging war against you through people and through circumstances. This is their job, and they are specifically commanded to keep on and on at you until you are defeated and give in. Note that not only does it say principalities and powers of darkness, but even higher ranking demons than this; the rulers. And believe it or not, they are everywhere in the atmosphere around us. As a matter of fact, if our eyes were opened to the spiritual places, we would probably have a heart attack and die from fear.
So, we’ve got Privates, Sergeants, Captains, Lieutenants, Commanders, Generals, and then of course, the Leader, or President if you will, Satan, and thousands of them, running to and fro throughout the world constantly dropping bombs, planting mines, and lying in wait for us at our every turn. Spiritual warfare is just as real, if not more, than physical war. If you never believed or thought Satan had an army, you’d better think again. He’s a professional devil, that’s for certain, and he knows his stuff.
But thank God, because God’s also got an army, and His army is ready to defeat our enemy if we allow them. One of my favorite Bible stories is the story of Elijah and the young servant boy. Elijah has no fear because he knows God has an invisible army lined up and ready to take out their enemy. He prays for the Lord to open the eyes of the boy so that he may see, and God does just that. Behold, he is amazed as he looks and sees thousands of heavenly warriors mounted on horses.
Now, we are given specific instructions on how to do these overwhelmingly, seemingly impossible things called spiritual warfare.
03. Realize that our battle is in the spiritual realms first. Whatever things we are experiencing in the physical are merely a manifestation of the spiritual battle taking place that our eyes are blinded from.
From here on out, we’re going to call this the “Elijah Experiment.” By the time we’re done, we’re going to have the expertise, strength, and faith of the prophet Elijah. But you must put these things to use in your life for it to work. Make it simple by choosing one area in your life that’s a little rough, and use the Elijah technique to overcome your strongholds.
Verse 13 reiterates, once again, the importance of the whole armor. “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.”
The WHOLE armor must be in place if you do not want to be knocked down to the dirt and trampled on; by this, you will have done all to stand your ground firmly without wavering.
04. Be completely covered from head to toe in His armor so that you will not be defeated or lose your foothold.
Verse 14-15, “Stand therefore, having girded (restrained, bind, tightened) your waist with truth (certainty, genuineness, precision), having put on the breastplate of righteousness (virtuous, moral, blameless), and having shod (clothed) your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”
Now begins the spiritual armor of a fully equipped warrior ready for battle. Notice that we keep seeing the word stand. To stand is the opposite of move, to be still…unwavering. So we are being told not to waver or surrender in defeat—STAND! And stand with the truth bound tightly around your waist.
Think about the human body for a moment. Our waist area is the center of our body. If we have toned abdominals, we have a better chance of not hurting our backs when we lift something heavy. This would be the centermost point of our bodies…the waist area. It is also the place where we secure a belt. Sometimes we wear a belt because our pants are a little too loose, and sometimes we wear it to look nice, or make a fashion statement. So lets use the fact that this is the center of our body, securing our slacks, and making a fashion statement all three together in a spiritual sense.
The truth secured tightly around our waist gives us the ability to carry a heavy load without harming us; the truth around our waist secures our heavenly cloak in place to prevent it from slipping or coming off; and, the truth around our waist can be seen by the enemy, which inflicts fear in them. In a sense, we’re making a spiritually profound fashion statement!
According to the notes in the ESV study Bible on this particular verse, these are aspects of God’s and the Messiah’s (Jesus’) own character—truth, righteousness, and the gospel of peace, (which is God’s Word).
05. Make truthfulness the center of your walk with God; not only are you to be truthful with others, but with yourself, as well as the Lord. Although God knows everything, He expects us to kneel before Him daily and own up to our mistakes as we repent of them.
Next is the breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate protects your heart, making it hard for any weapon to penetrate there. Our heart is the focal point of our physical body here on earth; it’s the muscle that makes our blood flow throughout our veins and arteries.
In the spiritual realms, righteousness protects our heart (spirit) from penetration by the weapons of the enemy. Blameless, virtuous, or moral before God in obedience protects our spirits from lethal damages from advances made toward us from the kingdom of hell.
06. Cover your spirit with God’s protection by living your life in obedience to God’s will.
“…and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace…” What exactly does it mean to shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace? We know that shod means to clothe, or cover; but what is the PREPARATION of the gospel of peace? Synonyms for preparation include training, groundwork, research, and homework. And what do our feet do? They move us, carry us, and get us to where we are going. Now that we have a better idea of what this means, let’s put it in proper perspective.
We are to mediate, or study, our Bible constantly—do our homework! Just as a soldier trains for battle, or a football player trains for the big event, we are to train for battle against the kingdom of hell daily by constantly feeding on the living words of God. I find the word groundwork here quite interesting, and that feet are also mentioned. I’ve already explained that our feet get us where we’re going. What we’re being instructed to do here is clear—train hard by consistently staying in God’s Word, and put it into action. This could be taken two ways—get out and spread the gospel to others, and put to use what we’re reading in the Bible. Don’t just read it, but do it!
07. Spend time studying/meditating in God’s Word, and do it, or better, live it!
Verse 16, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
We all know that a shield blocks the enemy’s arrows from hitting us anywhere on the body from the waist up. A person using a shield has to be fully trained and quick to maneuver it or the arrow (dart) will pierce the skin of the opponent. Once again, faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, and the evidence of things NOT seen. So we have to be quick to have faith; not doubting for even a moment. If the person holding the shield was blocking an arrow, they would fall in defeat if they hesitated for even a moment. We can’t allow unbelief or doubt in anything God’s Word promises to creep into our minds. Any doubt or unbelief has to be dealt with immediately by rebuking it (in the name of Jesus, I rebuke the spirit of doubt and unbelief!), then confessing it, (Lord, for a moment there, I called You a liar because I did not trust in Your Word.”), and repenting, (“Father, in the name of Jesus, help me to be strong against my enemy, Satan, and his spiritual hosts of wickedness! For it is written, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper!”)
Also, please note that it doesn’t just say ‘darts’, it says, ‘fiery darts’! So these aren’t just your average bows and arrows, they’re covered with fire so that they don’t just pierce and sting, they burn. If you’re covered with fiery arrows sent from the enemy’s bow, take a moment to pull them out. At first it’s going to hurt horribly, and you’ll be covered in OPEN wounds..open wounds that the enemy can slip right back into. But go to the Lord in repentance and take your stand against the kingdom of hell as you and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, wage heavenly war against them.
08. Be quick to extinguish the enemy’s artillery with faith. Think it, speak it, believe it—rebuke, confess, and repent of any doubt and unbelief at once.
Verse 17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
A helmet is used to cover and protect the head of one’s body. Remember that God is the head of the trinity; Jesus the voice, the Holy Spirit the hands. Head wounds can oftentimes be fatal or serious; thus, salvation is a serious thing. Your head is not protected if you are not saved; anything can happen to you. If your head is covered, your chances are better of coming out alive and well. So what is the helmet of our salvation? The Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, who is our spiritual covering, shrouding our heads constantly with His light in the spiritual places. The more time you spend with God, and the more you devote your life to Him, the brighter your light; and when demons see that bright, effervescent light of the Holy Spirit gleaming around your head, they’ll flee.
09. Repent of all of your sins and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart to be your Savior. Don’t waste another minute because tomorrow, even a few minutes from now, could be too late. He doesn’t want you to spend your eternity away from His glorious presence; nor does He want you suffering in a lake of fire forever—hell was not made for us, it was made for Satan and His minions..and Satan wants to take as many of us to hell with him as he can. He is well aware of his end, although he is so full of pride that he even lies to himself, trying to convince himself that it won’t happen.
Verse 18, “…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints…”
This verse speaks for itself—prayer! Pray, pray, and pray some more. I am aware that the next thing I am going to say is a hot topic, but if you study the New Testament fully, there were two types of tongues—the ones of other earthly languages, and of the angels. When people got saved, Paul laid hands on them and they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in the Spirit. We are to pray in our language, and also in the Spirit, because the Spirit makes utterances for things for us that we know not, and Satan hates it because he cannot understand it. Of course you don’t have to believe in praying in the Spirit, but it is definitely something that will improve your life and the outcomes of things in it. I am going to reiterate, it is the Holy Spirit praying to the Father for you, for what you know not! Satan would have us think that it’s not true, or it’s mumbo jumbo because He doesn’t like us to speak in the Spirit. When we pray to the Father, he hears our prayers and can begin making plans in order to try and defeat whatever we are praying for. However, when he can’t understand or make sense of what we’re saying, he doesn’t know what to do.
Think of prayer like this: if your child didn’t call you up for a long time to speak with you, and constantly forgot about you—your birthday, holidays, any old day—just plain out forgot to talk to you, and only called you once in a blue moon when they needed something from you, it would hurt your feelings. And then even more so after they got what they wanted, and then once again, you didn’t hear from them for a while. That’s what we do, myself included; we get caught up in things in our lives and we forget to talk to God. We forget to thank Him for our food, our money, whether we have a lot or not, our car, whether it’s a hunk of junk or not, our clothing, our health (even if we have problems, there’s always someone worse off than us), the roof over our head, and so much more.
When you give something to someone, how would it feel if they never even acknowledged that you did anything for them at all to begin with—no thank you, no expression, no emotion, no nothing? Sure, when we do things, we aren’t seeking recognition necessarily, but it’s nice to know we’ve made someone happy. Or worse, what if you did something nice for someone and it just wasn’t good enough; the person sat down and complained about it the entire time. We also do this to God on a regular basis.
Try to remember to talk with God; not to Him or at Him. Talk with Him regularly. Start your day talking with Him, and end your day talking with Him. The more the better. Give Him time to talk to you by listening for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit within your heart.
Print this up if you have to. Pick one small thing out of your life and step by step follow Yahweh’s plan for defeating the enemy in your life. It’s not the simple do it yourself kit, nor is it rocket science; with the help of God, you’ll get through it. Next time you’re feeling negative or hopeless, say out loud, “Shut up devil, in the name of Jesus, you sack of lies! I refuse to listen to your hogwash!”
So, will you pick up your cross and carry it with me? I will be with you in spirit and in truth, your friend; rest assured, I’m doing it to, and it’s not always easy. Even better, Jesus will be with us in Spirit and in divine truth, holding our hands every step of the way. Allow the Lord today to come into your life and defeat your stumbling blocks and strongholds.
Elijah did it, and he was not afraid. He trusted in God’s truth, and in the invisible army of our Lord to come quickly to his aid. Don’t be afraid! Step out in faith and try it. Let’s do this experiment together and see what happens. This empty life might be full of hope and joy for all we know!
Reblogged this on Lyn Leahz and commented:
Spiritual Warfare Part II
Thank you Lyn for this post…I will use it as inspiration and motivation often. God bless!
Praise to our Lord for this article; I am always so happy anytime my Lord and Savior has use for me; whether it is taking out someone’s garbage, cleaning their toilet, mopping their floor on my hands and knees, or writing something and witnessing..no matter what it is…I am happy to serve Him. When I do work, I do it for the Lord.
That is the way it is supposed to be for every Believer but it does not seem to be so. Keep being a living, breathing example of our Savior to a world that need Him desperately!
Silly me! I must look like an idiot sometimes..LOL I had forgotten that I had that same video by Ludy at the bottom of that page you just read too…add to that, I had already told you about the video, and you had just commented on “both” videos you saw! LOL Don’t mind me…I haven’t had much sleep lately since the power had gone out last Friday. My allergies have been horrible…so combine lack of sleep and Benadryl and you have one scatter-brained person! Praise God Benadryl does not make me sleepy though..or I’d really be a mess.
Something else… Someday I will have to tell you about my late friend… Who is a close relative to Oral Roberts. A very real person who was an active member of the OR ministry, as a pastor. He was turned away by the hypocrisy of those who posed as holy. He turned away from God and became active in the underworld, as a hustler, strong-arm, extortionist, drug dealer and even a pimp. You would have adored talking/listening to him… and he would have adored you aswell.
Did he come back to the Lord and utilize this happening in his life to reach out to others? I sure hope he didn’t die in these sins without repentance.
He reached out to me and opened my mind to amazing revelations. Ron had an unbelievable life… He was from Hazard KY, He had been on his own since he was 15. He grew up having to hustle to survive. But along the lines… he became a preacher and toured with OR. Before I met him at the age of 61… He had a major heart attach, and died more than ones before they got him started again. He claimed to have seen the other side… He would not go into detail… But he seemed to know for himself… exactly where he was going. He had given up the criminal life by the time I got to know him… He spoke of hypocrisy allot. He has walked the earth in many different forms… so to speak. He had 1st hand knowledge on an amazing spectrum. He knew every page in the bible by the #s. He made me realize… That righteousness comes from what appears to be the darkest form. And darkness comes from what appears to be the lightest form(nothing is ever what it seems). He had friends in all places, and only saw the person underneath the outside. He took great joy in revealing posers for what they were, and showing those who were mocked and judged to be more righteous than those who passed the judgment… I do not know where he went… But near the end… He asked that I not come to him… Maybe he did not want me to see him that way… He was the most interesting man in the world!
Rob
It sounds like he was a pretty extraordianary guy with an extraordinary story to win people over to Christ. Did he actually work with these people at ORU before his fall? Or after? I think I’m understanding that it was before, and some hypocrisy in his life is what caused the fall regarding other Christian people. It is sad. Finding out a Christian figure who’s a role model is not what you think they are is similar to when we’re children and we find out our parents are perfect. Our mouths drop open in disbelief. I am not implying this about Oral Roberts whatsoever; only God knows our hearts and who’s who. I am speaking in an overall generalization about Christian people….all of us… Unfortunately, some people fall harder as a result than others. I think what people should remember is that these ‘role’ models are people too, and they make mistakes. What’s worse is when you’re actively doing it, and cheating people of the anointing of God by giving everyone a facade of something you are not. We must always remember that God is the true judge, and, “In righteousness He judges and makes war.” A verse from Revelation…I don’t have my Bible handy right now, so I can’t tell you the exact first. Everyone….and I mean everyone….both good and bad alike must one day stand before God, our Creator, and give account for all that we’ve done..good and bad. How many of us will be thinking, as we’re standing there, “How I wish I could go back and do it all over!” How wonderful is God’s presence, but oh how terrifying and mighty for those wicked people who have committed wickedness and corruption against His people!
I agree… Hypocrisy is the most effective way to turn good people away from God. I believe that church is meant to be a hospital for the lost… Not a museum of the holy. I have grown very weary and I need to re unite with God… Now more than ever… I have always had social anxiety… Issues from growing up, trusting and having a normal fellowship with my peers has always been hard for me. It is what it is… Thank You for the story… It was enlightening.
Rob
I agree. Church is for both those who are in love with the Lord and want to come and spend time with Him in His house and worship Him, as well as for the lost, and the sick (backslidden/unrepentant Christians.) Did you know that it is more dangerous for a backslidden Christian living in unrepentance than an unbeliever? We are held more accountable before God because we have tasted the the bread of truth, and shared in the blood of Christ’s suffering; we know better! For example, if your 12-year-old child does something wrong, you’re going to get more angry with him than you would your 2-year-old child who didn’t know better. Your 2-year-old will get scolded and told it’s bad; while your 12-year-old will probably get grounded, or have to be repromanded in sort of a way for doing something he knew better than to do in the first place. That is what I’m trying to say. As Christians, we know better. In some aspect of our lives, we’ve seen the hand of God in action. Here, I’ll tell you something I’ve never told you before.
You’re aware that as a teenager, I almost died of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. I had been saved as a child, but as the years passed by, I became very rebellious and walked away from God. One night, on two different occasions the same evening, I had what spiritualists would call an out of body experience; and sure was out of body, but not in that way. I believe I died. I was at my worst with the eating dissorders. The first time it happened, I heard loud noises like a million semi’s crashing through my bedroom window..and I felt nauseous; my ears were ringing. It felt like I was being pulled out of myself through my feet, and then it stopped. A few hours later I was awakened once again by the most frightening, hideous image I’ve ever seen in my life! Worse than anything any mind could imagine, and worse than anything in a movie. It was standing next to my bed looking down at me. It was grayish-white..but not a good pure white..a deathly white. It looked like the color of a dead person..and I’ve seen plenty of dead people working in nursing.
It’s eye’s were hideous..black with slits and reddish pink. It was gnarled and ugly…had arms and legs like a person, but very skinny and skeletal. I believe it was the spirit of death. It reached out to me, and suddenly, I could see it no more. Instead, I was above myself looking down at the impression of my legs in the blanket, and I could see my cat lying on my lap. I reached out to touch the cat, but my hand went through. I was not permitted to see my face. I could not speak, though I tried with all of my might. My ears were again ringing, and I wanted to vomit. Since I could not speak (it was like trying to talk with your lips sewn shut and your voice cut off. The muscles were still there, but you couldn’t do anything. I was straining, but nothing. So I thought, “In the name of Jesus help me! In the name of Jesus help me!” Before I knew it, I was in my bed looking around as though nothing happened.I believe wholeheartedly death had come for me. I had been saved as a child, but I walked in disobedience and rebellion–rebellion is the same as witchcraft according to the Bible. Had the Lord not rescued me, I’d be in hell right now in the lake of fire. No angel of the Lord came for me; but the angel of death.
I had similar experiences throughout my life, but God never allowed it to happen. It happened again in 2000 at 1 a.m. This time, I saw nothing, but something was wrestling with me. My body was still, but my spirit was being pulled up into a sitting position, same as your body would, and I would throw myself back down away from it. I cried out to God in my mind, because once again, I could not speak. Suddenly, my voice began to sing, “I have the power in Jesus, Jesus. I have the power in Jesus, Jesus!” I’m getting goosebumps as i write this. Whatever it was released its hold from me at this point, and i called my grandma because I was scared. At this point, I had long given up eating dissorders, so I’m not sure why it was coming after me..
I’ve had many good and bad spiritual experiences alike, and no one will ever convince me that God is not real. I know He is. I’ve seen things with my very own eyes, I’ve had dreams of things before they happened, and off and on at times, God also gives me visions. I’ll be lying there awake, and when I close my eyes it’s as if I’m watching a movie. I’ll see a simple image, and it usually replays itself.
Shortly before Hurricane Katrina, I saw a vision of a pile of colors..hundreds of colors. Each time it replayed, it was closer; the vision became clear….it was a pile of dead bodies. A few nights later, I had a vision of a tavern/restaurant, and I knew it was in the south somehwere…you know, the old sawdust on the floor tavern/restaurant. I saw a mass of people running in all directions, most of them black. A little dark skinned boy was standing there in the middle of the chaos crying, calling out for his parents as everyone panicked.
Then I had one before my grandma died. Eight months before she died, I had a very real dream that I was in a kitchen with my deceased grandpa. The kitchen was beautiful, and one I’d never seen before. He was hugging me to give me comfort, and I was crying hysterically because my grandma was dead. But then I realized grandma wasn’t dead, grandpa was. I stepped back, and he was smiling lovingly and compassionately because he k new he was going to get to see her. I said, “Grandpa, you’re dead..grandma is alive.” But then the dream ended.
About a month before my grandma fell, I had a dream, once again, with my grandpa. It was his reflection in the mirror in their old house. He was dressed handsomely in something you’d imagine the Captain of a fancy, expensive ship wearing…he always loved boats and ships. He had on a dark blue dress jacket, cream pants, a matching navy blue hat, and a blue and white silk scarf with red in it wrapped decoratively around his kneck and tucked into his jacket. The song “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” was playing in the background. His lips did not move, but he spoke. He said, “I have come to take grandma home for my birthday.”
I told my mom and my boyfriend about the dream. Sure enough, the day after Christmas she fell and broke her hip. When she went to the hospital, she found out her iron levels were dangerously low. They also found out she had colon cancer, and not too long to live. She died the day before my grandpa’s birthday.
Sometimes I have visions that don’t mean anything to me. Like a little boy in the country riding a bike past a red barn. It replayed itself four times..the same thing. It looked like a scene from the 30′s or 40′s. Another time I saw a vision of a young baby crying, and a woman leaning over yelling at it to be quiet in frustration. I don’t understand them, but for some reason, God gives them to me. I don’t believe in witchcraft or white magic…they’re all evil. They are all from the powers of hell. I believe in prophecy, and people who are utilizing witchcraft were really given the gift of prophecy by God..but Satan got a hold of them and used their God-given gift for evil.
How on earth did I get to here from what we were originally discussing? LOL! Oh well, I’m sorry.
I am so happy that you are choosing to repent and to get close to God again. Maybe we could go to church together one sunday soon! You’re my friend, and I’ve missed you over the years! You’ve always been a blessing, and a wonderful person. God has His hands on you, Rob. There is something great He has for you to do, this is why Satan keeps trying to hassle you, to keep you from it. Search deep, Rob…with God. Keep searching and waiting and He will be sure to lead you to whatever it is. It’s important!
I am humbled by your story, and your complements…thank you so much Rob. I don’t know what to say. I do not think so much of myself. I don’t like hypocrisy at all, so I am quick to let everyone know that the many things I write about (not necessarily all, of course) are things that I either have struggled with, or still struggle with from time to time. None of us, not even the most Christian person are exempt from sin as long as we live in this nasty, corrupted, mortal body called the flesh. Walking with God is so hard, and sometimes we want answers so badly, yet we don’t hear Him giving us those answers. He has His ways of telling us things. The way He speaks to me the most is by what I like to call Mirror Imagry..my own made up thing. When there is a situation in my life I look at in a spiritual perspective to see if maybe God is trying to tell me something. For example, someone I know is a very selfish natured person; he never gives, is always thinking of himself first. At one point in His life he was giving God his time; waking early in the morning to pray, being considerate of God, etc. But this only lasted for about a month or two before it dwindled away. Not too long thereafter his life became filled with so much stress…his days off from work were scattered, he never seemed to have anytime to himself, things kept happening to him in which he had to keep shelling out money to where none was left for personal expendiatures..and so forth. I told him, “Don’t you see what’s happening? God is trying to speak to you!”
When I shared with him my opinion, he became defensive, as we all sometimes do, and didn’t want to hear it. I told him in the kindest, most non-offensive way that I could that because he wasn’t giving God anymore time, and because he was too busy taking and not giving, that God was allowing (not making) these things happen in an effort to relay this. In other words, he wasn’t giving God time, so there was no time for himself. He wasn’t giving of himself (not necessarily physical things, emotional as well), so he wasn’t receiving anything..in fact, everything was being removed.
There was also a situation where his daughter was angry with him and didn’t see him for several months. Once again, I pointed out to him why. I said, “The reason you’re not seeing your child is because you are God’s child, and you’re not seeing HIm. He wants you to know how much it hurts Him when you neglect your visits with Him. Everything we feel and experience, God feels and experiences ten-fold. We are made in His likeness, therefore God has feelings. His love is more than we can imagine, and His anger is more than we can imagine; so also is His sadness.”
I continued, “So you might want to talk with God and ask Him to forgive you for this thing; tell Him that you will spend more time with Him (and do exactly as you say of course). Stop neglecting God, your heavenly Father, and your daughter will stop neglecting you. Call Him up on the heavenly phone daily, several times a day if possible, and let Him know you’re thinking of Him. But don’t just stop there, sit back and be silent as you clear your mind and see if He’s got anything He wants to share with you. You’ll know because thoughts that make too much sense that you wouldn’t have thought of will pop into your head.”
Eventually, he tried what I said, and sure enough, his daughter began coming back around. Unfortunately, he didn’t continue doing as God had wanted, and so although He still sees his daughter, it’s not enough as what it should be.
I would like to make one thing clear; God doesn’t do bad things to us. Rather, He simply allows them to be done to teach us something, to help us, or simply because we’re being so negative, our spiritual forces in the heavenlies can’t help us out..we won’t let them with all of the doubt, unbelief, and negativity flowing from out of our mouths. James chapter three speaks about the power of the tongue.
I’m sorry about your friend you mentioned above, Pastor King. We don’t understand death sometimes, and it hurts so much. All we know is that God’s Word tells us to mourn at birth and rejoice at death when a loved one goes home to the Lord. Apparently he was needed in heaven for something important and he was done living out his earthly life here.
I have a personal theory, and I can’t prove it…I can only go by Jeremiah where it says that before we were crafted in our mother’s womb, God knew us. The other reason is because hell is also referred to as, “eternal separation from God.” how can that be hellish if we never knew Him to begin with? So we’ve had to have experienced heaven, and His glorious, magnificent presence in order to know what it would be like without it..forever!
I sometimes wonder if our spirits were all in heaven first… There we stood at the docks ready to board the ship, so to speak, in a long line. God looked at us with a tear in His eye, and we looked at Him teary-eyed as well. “Don’t worry my child, this life will only seem long once you are in the flesh. You will forget all about me, but it will remain in your spirit; but your brain will not be able to retreive the information from your spirit. You must have faith and find me once again, and then tell the other spirits, your sisters and brothers whom you know now, but won’t on earth. Tell them so thaty they too shall remember!”
You wrap your arms around Him with tears, “Oh Father! I will never forget you, and I will be back! And I will make sure no one gets lost along the way! i promise!”
God nods his head as you board the ship, wiping one more tear from His eye, because he knows that once you are on earth, you will forget all about Him, and you will never live out your goal..to return to Him. You will be a stubborn person, filled with sinfulness, corruption, and pride. He will send many to you, yet you shall deny Him. He knows you will never return to heaven, rather, you will spend eternity in the lake of fire.
The you above, by the way, is not you personally…but you in a broad sense…meaning, people who never find him. This is my feeling. Our goal is to come here, find Him again, tell others so they will return to Him also, and then return. Unfortunately, many of us lose our way, never really find Him, get lost, and never make it back. The sad part is that once we die, our spirit at that exact moment remembers everything! Suddenly, fear and panic fill us, realizing we have made a grave mistake, but that it’s too late.
My brother, let us not allow this to happen to us. Where one can’t lose his/her salvation except for blaspheme/unpardonable sin, one can think he/she is saved and not be because they have not truly given up their life for Him. They are still lugging that shameful person around without ever changing. Please don’t believe me to be saying that we must be sin-free, we can’t be sin-free in this body, only Jesus could. I am referring to actually living in sin constantly without repentance. Part of salvation is repentance and separation from the world’s ways.
Several Months ago… My beloved Pastor; Rev Gregory King was killed in a car crash, in SD. He was one of very few men that I trusted. He earned my trust not because he was a preacher… But he earned my trust the hard way. He was a very humble person… He was gifted in reaching those who felt very ashamed (ME). He always approached me on ground level, as my peer. He never judged or stood on a pedistal before anyone. He gave his service as a guilty party, and never on authority. He was one of my very few friends. I have not been back to church since.
Long story short. Several years back… My church joined an organized church. United Methodist- Yada… Yada. This was the begining of the end. This was the one thing that Rev King and the church body struggled with more that the finacial whoes that prompted the merger. Eventually during a youth trip (un known by Rev King or any other member). The youth were being preached to about the tolerance of homosexuality. Rev King had no idea, or would he have ever taken part in such blasphemy. The parents came down on Greg as if he were responsible. This is how Greg eventually accepted a transfer to a church in SD. He was not there 3 month before he was killed.
I admire the way you write… you remind me of Greg. He could reach the most JADED of us. You have that gift. Humble, No ego, false pride, or act as if it is just a way to make a living. No one has been more jaded by holy rollers than me.
Jus sayin
Robert
I posted the first message below, but forgot to say this…Rejoice for your friend…you will one day see him again! Know that he is in heaven praying for you; God’s word says that all the saints in heaven pray for us. As your friend, he does not want you sad or hurt. If he could say one thing to you now it would be, “Man, it’s cool! Don’t be sad for me! I’m alive! It is you people who live on earth who are dead because of sin! Make sure your life is right before God..wash your hands and be clean, because the time is near, and I want to laugh with you again, see you again, and rejoice in heaven…together!” This is what I imagine he would say to you.
Don’t forget to read the other message, my reply to your note above, directly below this one….thanks!