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God's Holy Spirit is moving upon the earth in a supernatural way giving us insight and revelations about how much He really loves us, and what real love means. God is Love. To know God is to know love. Copyright © 1998 Seek God Ministries
All rights reserved. KNOWING
GOD
Suzzhette and I were married in the fall of 1998 in a small ceremony. We
had decided to go back to the Philippines at Christmas time where we would
repeat our vows and have a large wedding there so that her family could attend.
We had learned that Anthony had run away from the children’s home where we had
left him, so we also planned to look for him on the streets in Manila while we
there. We continued to pray for Anthony often, he is always in our hearts. We
also planned to do street ministry again while we were in Manila. I once again
ordered Bibles and tracts to be waiting for us when we got to Manila to be used
for ministry there.
Before we left the Lord began to give me a supernatural compassion for
Anthony’s mother. So we also planned to try and find her while in Manila. As I
mentioned before Manila is a very large city with over 12 million people in it.
We would definitely need God’s help to find Anthony and his mother. We prayed
that God would lead us to them and we also had people in our church praying for
them and us.
We did not know very much about Anthony’s mother except what we had
been told by some people when we first met Anthony. They told us that his mother
was a prostitute and a drug addict and could be in jail at that time. The only
other thing that we knew was that Anthony was scared of her. After we met
Anthony I asked him about finding his mother and he said, “If you take me
there I will run away and you will never see me again”. He had obviously been
hurt very deeply by his mother he told us that she had beaten him. But I
suspected that his scars were much deeper than physical wounds. Being a
prostitute, his mother could have exposed him to some very terrible situations.
Not knowing where Anthony was or what he was going through had us very
concerned for him. We wanted to adopt Anthony but the Philippine laws were
making it very difficult to do so. But in our hearts he was already adopted.
When we first brought Anthony to the children’s home they asked us if we would
be interested in adopting him and I said, “YES”, without any hesitation.
Anthony was delighted with this new hope of being a part of a real family. He
asked me, “You be my papa, I be your son?” I said yes, and he was so happy
that he started jumping with elation.
No one from the children’s home went out to look for Anthony. They had
many children to take care of, and there were many more still on the streets.
Anthony was only one of the many. He had run away once before with some other
boys, they were gone for a day or two and then returned. When we asked Anthony
why he decided to come back he said because he did not want to miss church. But
this time he had not come back. I thought how sad, 12 million people in Manila
and not one person that cares enough about Anthony to even look for him. We
contacted the children’s home several times to see if he came back, or if they
had heard anything about him but they were never able to tell us anything.
We continued to pray for Anthony and his mother as we were making
preparations to go to Manila for Christmas 1998. I always went to my pastor and
his wife to pray for me before traveling to Manila and I did this time also. The
prayers and the blessings that they spoke always bore much fruit on my trips.
One night while praying for Anthony I told our pastors wife that I believed that
it was going to be so easy to find Anthony that I would be tempted to think that
it was a coincidence.
We arrived in Manila December 19 1998. The next
day we went to the children’s home to see if some of the kids there might be
able to tell us where to look for Anthony. We met a boy there who told us that
he was in a Catholic institution. We went to the institution and entered the
building through the gymnasium. There were many boys playing basketball inside,
we asked a boy there if he knew Anthony, but before he could direct us Anthony
appeared in front of us.
We hugged Anthony and spent some time talking to him there. We then went
to talk to the head priest to see if Anthony would be allowed to come with us,
which they did allow. I talked to a social worker there that told us they had
asked Anthony what was his Christmas wish. He told them about us, and how we had
found him living in the park the previous Christmas, and about the experiences
he had with us. He then told them that his Christmas wish and prayer was that we
would come back. They did not believe him, they thought he was making the story
up, but they said now we know it is true.
One Sunday morning while in Manila the Lord woke me up at about 5:00 AM
and I began to have the most intense compassion for Anthony’s mother. I had
never experienced this kind of compassion before; I knew that it was coming from
the heart of God. I thought that this must be the kind of compassion that Jesus
had for prostitutes when He walked the earth. For about an hour I wept, sobbing
for her and her condition. Even though I did not know her and had never even met
her.
This overwhelming intense compassion was a very painful feeling, but yet
it was also very good. I wanted it to continue because I knew that I was
experiencing God’s heart for her, I was experiencing God’s compassion. As
always experiencing God’s love flow through me made me feel the most intimate
relationship with my creator. Feeling God’s love for other people always
caused me to know God more intimately. I also knew that I could only endure a
small amount or it would kill me. God was only giving me small portion of His
compassion for her because as a human that was all I could endure. But even this
portion consumed my entire spirit, soul, and body.
Later that day at the right time I talked to Anthony about his mother. I
knew for the sake of his spiritual development and healing he needed to forgive
his mother. So I made eye contact with him and I said, “You still care about
your mother.” He nodded yes he did. We talked about some of the hurt in his
heart that his mother had caused and then he agreed with me to pray for her. I
prayed that God would help Anthony forgive his mother and I prayed that God
would also forgive his mother for the pain that she had caused Anthony. We
prayed for her salvation, and that God would change her and set her free from
drugs.
A few days later we found Anthony’s mother, just as with Anthony it was
supernaturally easy. Anthony was not with us that day but a man from the
children’s home went with us his name was Jeffery. He knew where to look for
her but had never found her before. Anthony’s mother’s name was Marlene. She
lived in an alley under a blanket that was attached to a building on one side
and it sloped down to the ground on the other making a kind of lean-to. Inside
she had all that she owned, which was very little but she did have a makeshift
bed.
When we first met Marlene she was sitting on the sidewalk. She was in her
thirties but looked much older because of her hard life. At first she told us
that she did not care if she ever saw Anthony again, she was angry with him for
always running away from her. When we talked about God she said that God did not
care about her and He never answered her prayers. Suzzhette and Jeffery
ministered to her and learned more information about Anthony. They would
interpret what she was saying to me in English. It became clear to me that she
had a very hard heart.
But because of the burden and compassion God had put in my heart for her
I knew that I had a mandate from God to bring His love to her. It did not matter
what she said, and it did not matter how hard her heart was. I had Suzzhette
tell her about how God woke me up at 5:00 AM with a burden in my heart for her,
and how I wept for her for an hour. Then I looked into her eyes and declared
with all boldness that, “GOD SENT ME FROM AMERICA TO COME AND TELL YOU THAT HE
LOVES YOU!” I saw in her eyes that this revelation of God’s love for her
scored a direct hit to her heart and there was now a crack in her hard armor.
Speaking truth in love, (which means with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of love), causes a great boldness and a spiritual maturing in Christ as
we experience God’s heart. (Ephesians 4:15 NKJV)… speaking the truth in
love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ.
We asked if we could pray for her and she humbly said yes. I could see
that she was beginning to sense God’s presence, His love. We prayed an
anointed prayer for her and Anthony for healing and forgiveness. When we
finished I saw a tears in her eyes and she said that she wanted to see Anthony.
We continued to visit Marlene in the few days that we had left in the
Philippines. We brought her food and gave her a Bible. She showed great
appreciation and could feel God’s love for her through us. We were not able to
take Anthony to see her because he had left with the institution for a Christmas
vacation. But we know that God made an impact on her the short time that we were
there. We continue to pray for her and Anthony.
I love times of praise and worship and feeling the presence of God in
church services. But I had never experienced the presence of God in me before
the way that I did in Manila when I felt God’s compassionate love flowing
through me. I felt that my whole being was full of God’s love.
(Ephesians 3:19 KJV) And to know
the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all
the fullness of God. In
this verse the word “to know”,
is the Greek word “ginosko”,
which means to perceive, feel, and understand. The word “knowledge” is the
Greek word “gnosis”, which means mental knowledge, or science.
God’s love is beyond “head knowledge”; it is the heart felt
presence of God. Perceiving and feeling God’s love, experiencing the Holy
Spirit of God’s love, is being filled with the fullness of God. (1
Corinthians 2:14 KJV) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. Experiencing
God’s love flowing through me to the people caused me to know God in the most
intimate way I have ever experienced in my life. As we open our hearts to allow
God’s love to touch the people that He wants to love through us we come to
know God. (Jeremiah 22:16 NLT) He
made sure that justice and help were given to the poor and needy, and everything
went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me?" asks the LORD. This
revelation of knowing God intimately through experiencing His love has changed
my perception of God. It has also changed my perception of all of God’s creations, and
especially of those who are created in His image.
For those who have Christ living in their heart they also have access to
the heart of God. The Bible says that we have “the mind of Christ”,
(1Corinthians 2:16). The word mind is the Greek word “nous” which means
intellect, or the thoughts, feelings, and will. So Christians have access to the
thoughts, feelings, and will of God, through His Holy Spirit that is in us. (1
Corinthians 2:9-12 KJV) But as it
is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. {10}
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. … {12} Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God.
Because we have access to God’s words, God’s feelings, and God’s
will inside us through the Holy Spirit we need to seek and do God’s will.
Jesus always sought to do the will of the Father (John 5:30 NKJV)
"I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is
righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent
Me. Jesus always said what He heard the Father say, and He always did what
He saw the Father Do. (John 14:10 NKJV) "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the
Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority;
but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
The same is true for us, without Jesus we can do nothing, but with Him He
can do all things through us. (John 15:5 NKJV)
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in
him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
The War for Knowledge
The god of this world blinds people's minds against the knowledge of God
and especially that Jesus Christ is God. Satan's greatest deception and
controlling power over people is to keep them ignorant about God, the greater
their revelation of God the greater the threat to him. Even after they become
Christians he works hard to keep them from getting greater knowledge of God. (Hosea 4:6 NKJV) My people
are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Satan also works to confuse the knowledge of God mixing lies with truth;
Satan is the author of confusion. This is why there are false churches some are
even very similar to the truth of the gospel but will lead people to hell just
as well as Satan worship. (2Corinthians
4:3-4 KJV) But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: {4} In
whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them.
Every evil demon spirit works continuously to keep us
from gaining knowledge of God. They fight against us reading the Word, they
battle us in prayer time, they strive to keep us from church and being taught
the knowledge of God. They war against pastors and teachers, evangelist and all
who bring the knowledge of God. They attack Christians causing disunity and
mistrust against each other and against godly spiritual leaders to keep us from
being able to receive the knowledge of God. We are in a spiritual war to learn
the knowledge of God, and to reach a lost world with the knowledge of God.
(2 Corinthians 10:3-5 KJV)
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: {4} (For
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strong holds;) {5} Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of
God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Of course God is in ultimate control
He could bind the evil forces at any time and open our eyes of understanding to
know Him and His compassionate love for us. The reason He does not is because
there is a spiritual law that you get what you seek for, seek and you shall
find. God will not interfere with our freewill. (John
3:19 KJV) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. People
that seek darkness get darkness; people that seek light find God. (Deuteronomy
4:29 NKJV) "But from there you
will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your
heart and with all your soul.
Anything that is exalted against the knowledge of God is evil. Anything
that keeps us from the knowledge, anything that perverts and corrupts the
knowledge and anything that comes against the knowledge of God. Jesus told a
parable about a farmer sowing seed; the seed represents the Word of God, which
is knowledge of God, the Word is God revealed. When the word of God is planted
in the soil of your heart there are four possible heart conditions with
different outcomes.
(Mark 4:3-9 & 14-20 NIV) "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his
seed. {4} As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds
came and ate it up. {5} Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much
soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. {6} But when the sun
came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
{7} Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that
they did not bear grain. {8} Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up,
grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred
times." {9} Then Jesus says, "He who has ears to hear, let him
hear."…{14} The farmer sows the word. {15} Some people are like seed
along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and
takes away the word that was sown in them. {16} Others, like seed sown on rocky
places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. {17} But since they have
no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because
of the word, they quickly fall away. {18} Still others, like seed sown among
thorns, hear the word; {19} but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of
wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it
unfruitful. {20} Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it,
and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."
Jesus is called The Word, The Word is also the spoken Word from God, and
is in written form in the Holy Bible. The
Word is God revealed to man in any form; it is the knowledge of God. The
first thing that will happen when you receive the word of God is Satan will come
and try to steal it, keeping you from knowing God and His power of Love. This
seems to be a principle every time someone receives Jesus. It also happens to
Christians when they receive a Word of revelation from the Lord, or they
experience a new spiritual gift, or the Lord gives them a word to share with
their brothers and sisters; immediately Satan comes to still the Word. Satan's
main tool for stealing the word seems to be the spirit of fear, which is also
doubt. Fear and doubt are the opposite of Love and faith. (2 Timothy 1:6-7 NIV) For
this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you
through the laying on of my hands. {7} For God did not give us a spirit of
timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
The second heart condition is when people will quickly receive the word
but it did not get deep into their heart and take root so when Satan comes with
trouble and persecution they fall away. (Hosea
10:12 NKJV) Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up
your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains
righteousness on you. We must prepare our heart to be sensitive and tender
to the voice of the Lord so that when we receive the word it falls on soft
ground and gets deep inside our heart where it can grow strong roots. Jesus, The
Word, must be our source of love, peace, joy, and strength, when we depend on
anyone else for these things we will fall, only Jesus can we trust fully which
gives us stability no matter what trouble comes. (2 Timothy 1:13-14 NLT) Hold
on to the pattern of right teaching you learned from me. And remember to live in
the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. {14} With the help of the Holy
Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard what has been entrusted to you.
The third possible heart condition is that the people receive the Word
but they have other distractions that they have allowed to also grow up in their
heart. Eventually these worries and desires for things of this world choke the
Word, so they do not grow and produce spiritual fruit. The best cure for this is
to plant more of the Word and hide it deep in your heart, this will produce an
abundance of good fruit and faith; thus choking out the weeds of this life.
Absorbing four hours of secular television every night will produce many weeds
of distraction. We must seek God with our whole heart, and feed our spirit with
the Word of life; listening to, and reading the Word will produce good fruit. (Psalms
119:10-11 NKJV) With my whole heart
I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! {11} Your word
I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You! The fourth possibility is a heart
that seeks God and Truth the good soil of their heart produces a good crop of
spiritual fruit. To have good success
and prosperity both spiritual and physical you need to keep the soil of your
heart guarded against worldly influence and distractions. A good way to do this
is to mediate on God's Word day and night. (Joshua
1:8 NKJV) "This Book of the
Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and
night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For
then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
God's Word, The Holy Bible gives us knowledge of God. What a treasure a
Bible is and so many people take it for granted. If they knew God they would not
take His word so lightly, their Bible would not be gathering dust on the shelf.
It is the most precious thing we own. It is a priceless treasure of Wisdom,
knowledge, and revelations of knowing God, indeed it is the written form of God.
Jesus says, (John 6:63 NKJV)
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The
words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. Jesus is the Word
so the Bible is Jesus revealed unto us. (John
1:1 NKJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The Holy Bible is God in written form.
The worldview of a good life is to pursue wealth and pleasure, wealth so
we can have more pleasure. (Proverbs
21:16-17 NKJV) A man who wanders from the way of understanding Will rest in the
assembly of the dead. {17} He who loves pleasure will be a poor man...
Seeking pleasure will make you poor financially and even more important, poor
spiritually. When we seek to know God and seek His presence then we find true
pleasure. (Psalms 16:11 NKJV)
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
In the modern world we have so many distractions even many more than in
Jesus time but they all still fit the basic categories that He described. The worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires
for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. The cares
of this life compete with the knowledge of God. Basically it gets down to how
you spend your time. We are all given a certain amount of time on this earth and
none of us knows how much. In the modern world we have much more "free
time" because of modern conveniences and less work time. The more modern
the culture the more free time, we no longer have to spend all day from sunup to
sundown working to get enough food for each day.
Because we have so much free time we have invented a new distraction
called entertainment. My definition of entertainment is wasting time through
distractions. Entertainment is often a distraction from spending time with God
and His word, keeping us from the knowledge of God. But because entertainment is
controlled mostly from worldly people it has also become a main tool of
education for the worldview and various religions. I saw this in the
Philippines, the very poor who did not have a TV had a wonderful innocence about
them. The ones who had a TV you could see they were trying to imitate what they
thought was American culture, the worst of American culture that is.
Media in itself is not evil in fact I believe that the reason for modern
media technology such as radio, TV, movies, and even the Internet is to spread
the gospel. But as with everything Satan quickly rushes in to steal the word and
pervert the word and the tools that communicate the knowledge of God. These
tools are not evil but if they keep you from the knowledge of God or pervert and
confuse the truth about God for you, then to you they have become evil. Sin is
anything that separates you from God. The arts are forms of communication so the
message in the art determines weather it is good or evil. Good if it presents
pure truth; or evil if it presents a false message, or has part truth which
causes confusion as to what truth is.
If we really knew that we only had a short time on earth how much time
would we give to entertainment and other distractions that keep us from the
knowledge of God? (Psalms 90:12 KJV)
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
If we could see the counter with the number of days we had left on earth and
realized that today we have one less than yesterday, would it change our
perspective on how to spend time? Yes, Most definitely.
In March of 1990 my mother was diagnosed with cancer in her liver. The
doctors told her she would have less than six months to live. That kind of
information greatly changes your perspective of life and your view as to what
things are really important. One time I asked her if there was anything she
would have done differently with her life if she could do it over. Immediately
as if she had been dealing with the question she said, "I would have stayed
closer to the Lord". That answer shocked me because she was one of the most
godly women I have ever known.
My mother use to enjoy old movies, what she considered to be innocent
ones, and compared to today's movies they would seem so. But after her diagnosis
I don't remember her even watching TV. She spent her remaining time listening to
the Bible on tape and Christian music and time with her family. I know that she
also spent much of her time praying for us, her family. Knowing that her prayers
would live on and be accomplished even though she might not see it happen on
earth, she would see the results when we met her in heaven.
On August 31, 1997 Princess Diana, the Princess of Wales, and her
millionaire boyfriend Emad Fayed were killed in a car accident. They were in
Paris after vacationing in the French Riviera. They had just had dinner at the
Ritz Hotel in Paris, owned by the Fayed family and were on their way to Fayed's
apartment. A few minutes after leaving the hotel they and their driver lay dying
in their mangled Mercedes; Fayed was buried a few hours later. The world was
shocked, night after night the headlines on all the major networks carried the
story over and over as if to say Princes Diana is still dead, and no one can
believe it. We were stunned that she was mortal and could die at such a young
age, with so much beauty, with so much wealth and splendor and time left to
enjoy "the good life". If they would have known a week before that the
next week was their last on earth would they have lived differently, would it
have changed their priorities, would they have given God more consideration?
Would they have sought the God of eternity? Knowing that your days are numbered
gives you a better perspective of life and eternity, and what is really
important and what is not.
When you move into the revelation of knowing God through compassionate
love, this world and the things that are in it seem unimportant and unappealing.
The pleasures of this world are not fun anymore; they can not compare to the
exhilaration of the presence of God flowing through you in a river of
compassion. (1 John 2:15-17 NKJV)
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. {16} For all that is in the world;
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of
the Father but is of the world. {17} And the world is passing away, and the lust
of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
The god of this world has blinded the minds of them, which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. We have all seen examples of this, sometimes daily. It is
difficult for us to understand how can people ignore such evidence of the Truth
of God's Word. Only supernatural blindness can explain it. I sat next to a
Jewish College student on a flight from Spokane to Seattle on my way to Manila.
He was on his way to Israel for the Christmas holiday. I asked him if he
believed that Jesus was his Messiah, he said, "No, I see no evidence that
there is a God." I replied, "The history of your people, as predicted
in the Bible is proof." He could not see it. The amazing thing was his
faith in his beliefs seemed stronger than mine, at that time I was terrified of
flying. He comforted me through the trip telling me that the engines always make
noise like that, and he assured me that the plane would not rattle apart. I was
glad to hear that.
One of the greatest examples of spiritual blindness in recent history is
recorded in a book called, "The Bible Code", by Michael Drosnin. It is
about the mathematical Bible codes they are discovering contained in the Bible.
They convert the original Hebrew text into the corresponding numbers of the
letters and then do computer searches to find words in precise patterns. Many
events of history including names, places, and dates are recorded encoded in the
text. Government intelligence agencies are currently looking into the
information to predict the future. Many people believe that this is the
beginning of what was prophesied by the prophet Daniel (Daniel
12:4 NKJV) "But you, Daniel,
shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run
to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
Christians know that the Word of God is infinite in revelations, because
God wrote it. We know the Bible is true just by what is clearly written in it,
because the eyes of our understanding are open. But being spiritually blind the
author of the Bible Code states, "indeed everyone I met with seemed to
assume that if the code was real it must be from God. I did not. I could easily
believe that it was from someone good, who wanted to save us, but was not our
Creator. Clearly it was not someone omnipotent, or he would simply prevent the
danger, instead of encoding a warning." He also suggests the possibility of
aliens or a super computer being the author of the Bible; he does have
tremendous faith, but does not know, in who, or what.
The author of the, "Bible Code", makes the mistake of assuming
that God should think like him. But our God says in (Isaiah
55:8-9 NKJV) "For My thoughts
are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. {9}
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than
your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. These codes in the Bible give
mathematical scientific proof that the Bible is supernaturally inspired, as if
there is not enough evidence in the plain written Word already to prove it. But
no amount of proof and evidence can make someone see if they are spiritually
blinded.
All Christians have an inner desire to reach lost people and bring them
into the Kingdom of God. There are two kinds of non-Christians, one type is
seeking to know Truth and wants to know God. Because they are seeking they will
find, and Jesus has a right to reveal the light of the glorious gospel unto
them. For these people all we have to do is present the gospel and the Word of
God and they are ready and willing and anxious to receive.
The other type is seeking darkness, they avoid God through distractions,
and they accept deception from the father of all lies. Because God will not
violate their power to choose the light of the glorious gospel is hid from them by the
god of this world. These people are quite deceived believing that they are
happier without God than they ever could be with Him. Some of these people are
our family members, our friends, and others that we know about.
If we have compassion for someone that is spiritually blinded then we
have an obligation to intercede and do spiritual warfare on behalf of that
person. (Isaiah 58:6-7 NKJV)
"Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of
wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that
you break every yoke? {7} Is it not to share your bread with the hungry…We
share the bread of life with the spiritually hungry, the seekers of Truth, we
introduce them to Jesus because He is Truth; that part is easy. The people that
are not seeking truth and are bound in wickedness, and oppressed by Satan, we
have to loose them from everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of
God, so the light of the glorious gospel can get through to them. Of course we
can not force them to accept Jesus, but we can set them free so they can see the
light, making it easier for them to choose Jesus.
(Revelation 12:9-12 NKJV) So
the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan,
who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him. {10} Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now
salvation, and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ
have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day
and night, has been cast down. {11} "And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives
to the death. {12} "Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in
them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come
down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short
time."
When Jesus came to earth and paid the price for our redemption He brought
to us salvation, power, and the Kingdom of God. Salvation is only the beginning
of our adventurous new life in Christ. Jesus has given us power and authority
over Satan and all of his evil works. When Jesus sent out the seventy to go into
cities before He would come He told them (Luke
10:3 NKJV) "Go your way;
behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. How often we feel like lambs
among wolves, but remember Jesus is the Lamb of God and He has been given all
power and all authority, which we also share with Him as part of His body. He
also commanded them to; (Luke 10:9 NKJV)
"heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come
near to you.' First they were to set the people free from the works of Satan
and then preach the good news of the Kingdom.
When the seventy returned they were very happy because of the awesome
power and authority that had been given to them. (Luke
10:17-20 NKJV) Then the seventy
returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your
name." {18} And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven. {19} "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means
hurt you. {20} "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are
subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in
heaven."
This same power is given to us as believers in Jesus Christ. Verse 20 is
very important because as we begin to walk in a new realm of power that we have
previously ignored, we will be tempted to focus on and rejoice in the works
rather than on the Worker that is Jesus in us. Rejoicing in our salvation keeps
us level, in bad times it lifts us up, and in good times it keeps us from
getting prideful, as God begins to use us in a mighty way. That is one reason
salvation is called a helmet; always protecting our mind so we can keep our
focus on seeking God.
The battle strategy for reaching a spiritually blind person must be to
first cast down everything that is exalting itself against the person knowing
God, and the gospel. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our
testimony of Jesus. Our testimony is us speaking the Word in the authority given
to us in the name of Jesus Christ. (2
Corinthians 10:3-5 KJV) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the
flesh: {4} (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strong holds;) {5} Casting down imaginations, and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
It seems that Satan has access to people through their imagination, evil
imaginations give Satan an open door. When you are talking to someone in a
casual conversation and you bring up God or a Bible verse and you see a change
in the person, maybe an immediate yawn, looking at their watch, or just looking
away, that is a sign. It could also be anything else that tells you that
something in this person does not want to hear about God. They have left you;
they just rode away on their imagination, to avoid the knowledge of God. Those
are the people you can only reach by first casting down strong holds,
imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of
God. There is something that is blocking them from receiving the light of the
glorious gospel. The same way dark clouds block our view of the night sky
preventing us from seeing the heavens that declare the glory of God.
We have the power and authority in Jesus name to cast those things down,
speak to them and pull down the strongholds, principalities, and powers,
everything that is exalting itself against the knowledge of God, in the name of
Jesus Christ. Plead the blood of Jesus over the person and over their
imagination and their thoughts. (Mark 3:27
NKJV) "No one can enter a
strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.
And then he will plunder his house. Bind the strong man then you can bring
the Word of God to them and it will get through. The person will feel a peace
but not know why. They may receive the Word or not, they still have the power to
choose but you have taken away the spiritual resistance in their life that was
preventing the word from even getting to their heart. They may receive for a
moment and then quickly fall away, this time they will be deeper into
strongholds and more miserable. Fight the battle again do not give up. Each time
the person is going to contrast the peace in their heart with their normal
misery, eventually they are going to want to hang on to peace.
Compassion does not give up. If you have compassion for the person then
Jesus has greater compassion for them; He died so that person could live. Pray
in the Spirit for the person that God will cause circumstances in the persons
life that will cause them to come to Jesus. Pray that God will put other
Christians in their path, with the right message. Pray that whatever they do and
wherever they go they will run into Jesus. One time I picked up a hitchhiker
that had traveled across the country I asked him who usually picked him up he
said, "moral majority types". That was a sign to me that God was
working on this person.
(Ephesians 6:10-18 NKJV)
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His
might. {11} Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil. {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. {13}
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
{14} Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, (Truth guards our waist against sexual immorality),
having put on the breastplate of righteousness (Righteousness guards our
heart that we may have confidence before God which enables us to ask and receive
from Him). {15} And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of
peace; (Being prepared to proclaim the gospel protects our feet as we
venture into enemy territory treading upon serpents and scorpions).
{16} Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Faith is confidence and trust in God
that protects our whole body, mind, and soul against everything that exalts
itself against the knowledge of God. {17}
And take the helmet of salvation, Hope and trust in salvation, knowing that
we are citizens of heaven, guards our minds against pride and despair, keeping
us level headed, and gives us perseverance to endure to the end. And
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (The Word of God is the
power to defeat Satan and all the works of darkness),
{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; Your armor is not complete without prayer, prayer
for yourself, and prayer for other saints. Praying for others causes compassion
to flow from you to the people you pray for. Compassion makes you invincible to
all evil forces, it is the power of love giving you all faith, truth, and
righteousness. All Christians need the prayers of their brothers and sisters no
matter how saintly they seem to us. When they fall we must share the
responsibility of their failure because we did not pray with all perseverance
for them. The word watchful means to be sleepless, if you are awakened in the
night it could mean that you are supposedto pray for someone, ask the Lord who
to pray for.
When our brother or sister falls, we fall. We must come into full unity
being joined by compassion for one another, feeling the pain of each other, and
rejoicing with each other's success. When we come into full unity praying with
all perseverance for each other Satan will not be able to get an opening to hurt
anyone of us. Prayer is an offensive and defensive weapon; prayer makes our
armor complete.
Pray with all perseverance. Though we are in spiritual war, the battle is
the Lord's, we must never forget that it is not by our own strength that we can
do anything. (John 15:5 NKJV) "I am
the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much
fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. The key is to always stay close to
Jesus, without Him we are helpless.
When
Jesus won the victory over Satan at the cross, Satan was cast out of heaven. (Ephesians
4:8 NKJV) Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity
captive, And gave gifts to men." The
gifts to men are salvation, strength, and citizenship in heaven. (Revelation 12:10-11 NKJV) Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
"Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of
His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before
our God day and night, has been cast down. {11} "And they overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love
their lives to the death. Notice that the gifts to men are the very things
that we need to be overcomers. Salvation is through the shed blood of Jesus, the
Lamb of God. The word of our testimony, Jesus Christ and Him crucified; is
power, and all strength to defeat the works of darkness. The ability to
preserver to the point of death is because we know our names are written in
heaven, we have a place to go from here and it is glorious.
The three keys to victory are mentioned here, the first is the blood of
Jesus. The precious blood is what redeems us into Jesus and in Him we have all
authority and power, and giving us the right to use the name of Jesus. The blood
makes us righteous giving us the right to come before the throne of God our
Father, who is full of compassion, and ask for help. (Hebrews
4:16 NKJV) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy (compassion) and find grace to help in time of need.
The second key is the word of our testimony, our testimony is Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. It was at the cross of Jesus that we received
salvation, and power, and the kingdom of our God. We are to speak our testimony,
the testimony of what Jesus has done for us. The testimony of Jesus and Him
crucified gives us authority and power over every demon, principality, and
stronghold that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and over all the
works of Satan. The devil needs to be reminded of this, the one event that has
defeated him forever, Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
When Jesus accomplished His mission of compassion upon the cross, Michael
and other Holy angels cast Satan and his demon angels out of heaven. The Holy
angel's authority to defeat Satan and cast him out of heaven came from the
testimony of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That same authority and power that
cast Satan out of heaven dwells in you, the testimony of Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. When we use the name of Jesus to destroy the works of darkness, we
are proclaiming the power of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (Revelation 19:10 NIV) At
this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I
am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of
Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
The angel's power and authority over Satan is the testimony of Jesus. Your power
and authority over Satan is the testimony of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The third key is perseverance. They loved not their lives unto
death, meaning that they loved Jesus more than their own life. The armor God
provides for us is to protect us against Satan' attacks so that we can keep on
standing and not fall to defeat. The Lord has given us all that we need to
defeat the enemy. What He requires us to contribute is all of our perseverance,
all of our strength, all of our heart seeking God in prayer and supplication.
When He knows that we have given all of our strength He will add enough of His
strength to always guarantee our victory. Take up the whole armor of God, that
you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, keep on
standing.
We often fail to recognize how are lives are impacted by the spirit
realm. As I mentioned earlier I had a tremendous fear of flying and heights in
general. My flight from Spokane to Seattle only lasted about fifty minutes but
for me it was a terrifying experience. The thought of two more flights and
another sixteen hours in the air was not an experience I was looking forward to,
From Seattle their would be a long flight over the ocean to Osaka, Japan and
then another five hour flight to finally reach Manila, Philippines. By the time
I got to Seattle I was seriously contemplating getting on a bus and heading
home.
I arrived in Seattle late for my flight to Japan. The man at the ticket
counter said "Oh you are in luck, your flight is taxing back for a
maintenance problem". When I got to the gate all of the passenger were
coming off the plane back into the terminal. Some of them told me what had
happened. As they were taxing for take-off electrical smoke came into the cabin,
some of them said it hurt their lungs. All I could think of was the recent Value
Jet crash and some of the pilots last words before they dove into the Florida
everglades killing everyone, he said, "we have smoke in the cabin, smoke in
the cockpit". And this was the plane that I was about to spend the next
eleven hours in, over the ocean.
Knowing that my fiancée was waiting to meet me in the Philippines made
the risk worth the anxiety. Besides the airline people were handing out coupons
for free air miles, so I stayed. Then after a couple of phone calls I made to
get some encouragement from other people, I decided to stick it out, in spite of
the fear. After a long wait they decided to take us to a hotel and then we would
catch an early flight the next morning. Because now the pilots had to get some
rest so they could legally fly the hours required to Japan. So they loaded us in
big busses and headed for the hotel.
On the way to the hotel the same terrifying fear came over me as in the
plane. Even though the bus was big and safe and going slow, and on the ground, I
had fear. The fear of flying had now become fear of any transportation. This was
very bizarre to me; I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles on the ground,
many times on glare ice in the winter. I had ridden my motorcycle like a maniac
while growing up with many close calls and some accidents. But I had never
experienced this kind of fear with ground transportation. I was faced with the
realization that what the Bible says is true, fear is a spirit.
That night I prayed for help from God, and I did some spiritual warfare
commanding that spirit to leave me. It did. But I did not know for sure until
the flight the next morning, I had no fear on the plane. I actually enjoyed the
flight; I enjoyed looking out the window at the beautiful views. I even slept on
that flight. Before this I never would have believed that I could be so relaxed
as to sleep on a plane. At one point I did have a little apprehension when I saw
a streak of light. I thought great now a missile is going to shoot us down. This
was just after flight 800, the TWA Boeing 747, that went down off the coast of
New York and there were many rumors that a missile had shot it down. But I
quickly realized that we were above a lightening storm, and not a missile
attack.
From then on I enjoyed all the flights, and now when I see a plane go
over me I wish I were on it. It was a good thing that I got rid of my
transportation fear before I got to the Philippines because I think the taxi
drivers would have given me a nervous break down. They use all lanes of traffic
including the oncoming ones, weaving in and out, never signaling except to honk.
One time in Manila I looked up to see an oncoming bus almost on top of us,
somehow it got by us, if the paint were any thicker on the car we would have
sideswiped it. I asked the driver if we were going the wrong way on a one-way
street, his only reply was a hearty laugh. On a trip through some mountains the
driver was often in the wrong lane on blind corners, while he was practicing to
be a road rally racecar driver. Even this did not scare me; I just considered it
like a carnival ride. Although I was often thankful that they were driving their
own car, and not mine. Surprisingly they seem to have many close calls but few
accidents, even less than in the US where we have road rules and much more
uniformity in our driving.
I heard someone say one time that demons are like dogs, they can sense
fear. I believe it. When the spirit of fear comes in, and we allow it to stay,
evil spirits, like attack dogs come with wrath upon us they bring more and
greater fear, and it is an open door for other evil influences in the spirit
realm. Fear, unbelief, and doubt are an opening for Satanic control in a
person's life. Fear is the opposite of faith, without faith we are helpless to
Satan's dominion. Fear comes from not trusting God. Fear comes from not knowing
God. Fear means you don't love God. People that are in fear say, "I have a
hard time believing that God could love me". A statement like that means
you don't know Him, which means you don't trust Him, and you don't love Him.
Now that you are insulted, let me also give you something to really be
afraid of, hell. (Revelation 21:7-9 KJV)
He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he
shall be my son. {8} But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their
part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Fear does not come from God; it comes from not knowing God. (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV) For
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind. Our God, the God of compassion, gives us the Spirit of Power, the
Spirit of Love, and the Spirit of peace, and they are all the same Spirit, the
Holy Spirit, the one who comforts us, the one who guides us into all truth. The
prescription to cure fear is the Word of God. The more of the Word in your
heart, the more faith in your heart, the Word is faith. The more of the Word in
your heart, the more of Jesus in your heart, Jesus is the Word. The more of the
Word in your heart the more you will know God, the more you will see how much
God really loves you, and that is what makes you love Him. (1 John 4:18-19 NKJV) {18} There is no fear in love; but perfect love
casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been
made perfect in love. {19} We love Him because He first loved us. You have
to know that God loves you, before you can love Him, and trust Him. Copyright © 1997 Seek God Ministries All rights reserved. Copyright © 1998 Seek God Ministries
All rights reserved. Chapter 4 of the book Seeking God Finding Love |
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