There are two authorities in the Invisible Spiritual Realm. (1) God -- the all existing One -- is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. (2) Satan is a created angel who tried to usurp God's kingdom from Him -- and failed. He can only be at one place at a time, although, he has millions of demons who are stationed all over the planet to do his bidding. Jesus, when He paid the price for the sins of mankind, destroyed the power of death Satan wielded over men since the Garden of Eden.
Jesus gave us spiritual weapons to use against the attacks of Satan and his hordes, but if we don't use them Satan will neutralize the authority of Christ followers, preventing them from setting the captives free. Unbelievers will be subject to possession by demons to accomplish the work of Satan on the earth. What is his work? To kidnap every human being from God and take them to Hell with him.
Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught...and they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes...now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit...and he cried out, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are---the Holy One of God." But, Jesus rebuked him, saying, be quiet and come out of him! And when the unclean spirit had convulsed the man and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.
An unclean spirit is impure, foul and lewd. As the demon departed, the man convulsed. This means that the unclean spirit was dawn out -- the man gasped with spasms -- much like an epileptic episode, and the man was set free from demonic possession.
We can see by this text that Jesus demonstrated boldly His authority given to Him by God, while He lived as a man on the earth. Even before Jesus died and rose from the dead, he told His disciples...I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven...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...Luke 10:18-19. Jesus has given His blood-bought followers His power and authority -- why aren't we using it? We can't exercise knowledge we don't have, so we better find it!
What did the religious leaders in the synagogue think about this demonstration of power and authority by Jesus? They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him...Luke 1:27. Sadly, the majority of religious leaders today won't even discuss this topic -- invisible spiritual realm -- keeping their flock uninformed about the power and authority in the Name of Jesus. Ignorance of what Jesus has done for us is a major tool of Satan and his demons.
While we study what the Bible says about the invisible spiritual realm, I have also been sharing some of my experiences in this realm. When we were last together, I said that I had been asked by a friend to ask God what was terrorizing her friend in the night, preventing her from sleeping. This elderly lady could no longer speak, and was too weak to write about her night visitors. I got to work seeking God, standing in the gap for Beth, so we could help her.
A few nights later, I was awakened from a deep sleep gasping for breath -- someone had their hands around my neck choking the life out of me. I was alone and it was very dark. I immediately thrust my hands to my neck, trying to remove the pressure because I couldn't speak. But I had trained myself to speak scripture without using my lips, which came in handy during this terrifying event. I began to say in my mind, "I bind your power Satan, in the Name of Jesus, leave me now!" Still struggling for air I said it again in my mind. Immediately my eyes popped open, as the pressure on my throat suddenly stopped, and I blurted out, "In the Name of Jesus!" Just below the ceiling of my bedroom, I saw about a dozen skeletal figures dressed in shrouds, laughing, taunting and condemning me.
Whew! I was wide awake by now, realizing what horrific torment Beth had been experiencing night after night. I continued speaking scripture and praising Jesus until the apparitions disappeared. The next time my friend visited Beth she found out that she no longer was tormented in the night, yet, we continued to stand in the gap for Beth until God took her home.
Is your church teaching you about the invisible spiritual realm? If not, why not? Are you studying the Bible to see for yourself what Jesus clearly demonstrated to you about the invisible spiritual realm? If not, why not?
Surely you have seen some criminals interviewed that said, "I don't know what caused me to do that -- something just took over that enraged me---I couldn't stop myself." Something -- someone -- did over power that criminal, possessing them, to enact evil crimes against humanity. We see people on the nightly news, enraged with hatred with the desire to kill the person who dares to have an opposing opinion. What causes this? Stay tuned...
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question~~~
The purpose of this series - Invisible Spiritual Realm - is to inform the reader that this realm is of much greater importance than the earthly realm, because the invisible spiritual beings - good and bad - influence the happenings in the earthly realm. Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and Satan and his demons, seek to indwell human beings in order to fulfill their plans - the final eternal destination - for mankind. Jesus desires for mankind to dwell with Him forever in Paradise, while Satan desires for mankind to reject Jesus, and follow him into his final eternal destination -- the Lake of Fire.
Once we see clearly the happenings of the invisible spiritual realm, the more likely we will choose to follow Jesus and His Holy Spirit. So obviously Satan will throw up strongholds against this knowledge, so he can use IGNORANCE to hold us captive to unbelief. If Christian leaders don't spend precious time and energy informing their flock, we still have no excuse, because all of this information is recorded in the Bible.
When we were last together, I began to tell you a personal experience I had with the invisible spiritual realm. One night about 1973, the kids and I were alone, sound asleep, when I was awakened by a voice calling my name out of the darkness -- a voice of someone whom I hadn't seen since 1959. Who was it?
All I heard was "Mary Ann." I jumped out of bed and walked throughout the dark house quietly looking in each room via moonlight. I looked in the girls room, but they were still sound asleep. I knew this rented home had no lock on the back door, so I looked carefully in the screened porch and scanned the back yard. I couldn't see anyone.
I went back to bed, thinking I must be looney, and snuggled back onto my stomach, my favorite sleep position. Just as I began to doze off, I clearly heard again - Mary Ann. I was awake this time, even though drowsy, so jumped out of bed and scanned the house again -- nothing! Now I know I am not looney, but who said my name so clearly -- I didn't recognize the voice?
Strangely I wasn't fearful, just perplexed since I couldn't explain this phenomenon. So this time when I went to bed I decided to lay on my back, so when I heard the voice again in the area of the room it previously came from, I could open my eyes immediately, and maybe see something. By this time I was very awake, but snuggled into the pillow and closed my eyes anyway. As soon as I closed my eyes I heard - Mary Ann - very clearly. Ahh...this time my eyes popped open and I saw a man manifested in a vision, situated just below the ceiling of my bedroom.
There were flames engulfing him, a man who had dark sunken eyes of anguish and pain. His hand was extended toward me, while his index finger gestured for me to come, to follow him. My heart broke at the sorrowful sight of this man from my past, who had been unfaithful, and so unkind to my grandmother - her second husband. She died in this man's home when her easy chair, with her in it, burned up. He wouldn't give my mother any mementos of my grandmothers' and he immediately married his paramour. I never knew what happened to him, and my mother never talked about him after her mother's tragic death.
I immediately began to pray for this man, but the Holy Spirit said, "It is too late." What lesson did I learn from this particular vision? I learned the importance of praying for anyone God puts on my heart while he/she is still alive on the earth, so he/she will make the choice to follow Jesus Christ. His eternal destination is decided while he lives on the earth. Once he leaves the earth, there is no opportunity to change his mind...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment...Heb. 9:27.
The Bible records an incident in the invisible spiritual realm, where Jesus testifies about a certain rich man who had lived in luxury all his life. A beggar, unkempt and full of sores, ate only what was thrown away by the rich man. Both died -- the beggar joined Abraham in the eternal realm of peace and love, while the rich man found himself in Hades where he was tormented in flames.
The rich man asked Abraham if Lazarus could dip his finger in water and cool his tongue. Abraham said...Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented...and besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there to us...Luke 16:19-31.
One evening in 1974, after the kids had gone to bed, I was studying Ezekiel 22, when I came to verse 30-31...and I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none...therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.
I was shocked that God could find no one that cared enough for other people to plead with Him for mercy and forgiveness. I asked the Holy Spirit if this scripture meant that I could stand in the gap for my parents, who hated God, so judgment wouldn't come upon them? I wanted time extended to them to hear the true gospel and be saved. That night I was called to be an Intercessor!
A friend called me to intercede for a lady named Beth, who was being tormented in the night, but due to her illness, she couldn't speak - couldn't verbalize what was terrorizing her at night. My friend wanted me to ask God to should me what was going on -- so I did. A few nights later, I was jolted awake to a terrorizing experience in the invisible spiritual realm. Who visited me? Stay tuned...
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question~~~
In this series - Who is Satan - I am revealing the reality of the invisible spiritual realm -- who resides there, and what is their purpose in God's grand plan for human beings in the earthly realm. The Bible gives examples of God's angelic beings and how they are sent to help guide men safely into the Kingdom of Heaven. It also gives us examples of the reality of Satan and his demons, who desire to possess men in order to create chaos, anarchy, hatred and violence on the earth.
Since I became an intercessor in 1974 I have been well aware of the invisible spiritual world, and the power and authority given to believers in Christ Jesus to bring down Satanic strongholds placed against human beings, cities, nations and empires, in order to kill, steal from, and destroy them -- to take them to Hell, far away from God's heavenly kingdom. We are the target of Satan!
When we were last together I asked, "How do you think he (pastor) responded to my revolutionary idea?" The pastor looked at me like I had two heads! While we do need Bible studies and discipleship training, all I was proposing was that the Church get serious about pulling down the strongholds placed on us, and our communities, from the invisible demonic spirits. We must know who our enemy is so we can be victorious in our efforts to expose him and his deeds.
The Apostle Paul said...for the weapons of are warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ...II Cor. 10:4-5. First we must surrender our allegiance, our will, to Jesus Christ. Then we must cast away human arguments that attempt to prove 'there is no God,' and that Satan and demons are not real. Anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, or the reality of the invisible spiritual realm, must be cast away. If we do not follow these directions, we will succumb to the wiles of the devil.
Jesus encountered people who were demon possessed, recorded in the Bible, so we can understand the happenings in the invisible spiritual realm, and how these demonic beings cause great harm to His beloved human beings. In Luke 8:26-39, Jesus reveals how He encountered a demon-possessed man who lived in Gadara, near the Sea of Galilee, showing His followers how to deal with the demonic beings who live in the invisible realm.
When Jesus stepped out of the boat onto the land of Gadara...there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time...and he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs...when he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!" Religious leaders refused to recognize that Jesus was the Son of God, yet, the demons who possessed this man's spirit knew Him and trembled in fear.
Jesus...commanded the unclean sprit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles, and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. What would the Church do today if they encountered this situation? With few exceptions, the demonic man of Gadara would be immediately referred to a psychiatrist and drugged -- probably for the rest of his life -- considered an incurable schizophrenic.
What did Jesus do? He simply cast the demon(s) out of the man. Then Jesus asked the demon...what is your name? The demon said...Legion -- because many demons had entered him. Then the demons begged Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss.
In order to illustrate to the onlookers the violence embodied in the legion of demons that possessed the man of Gadara, Jesus allowed these demons to enter a herd of swine. As soon as the demons entered the herd of swine their violent power plunged the herd down the mountain and into the lake where they drowned. Think about it --- these violent demons lived in a human being, destroying his life!
When the onlookers fled to the city to tell what they saw, those in the city rushed back to check out the deliverance of the very well known demoniac of Gadara. What did they see? They...found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind...and they were afraid.
After he was delivered from the demons, the man of Gadara became a mighty witness for the power and authority of Jesus Christ. 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...Rev. 12:11. The man of Gadara lived the rest of his life testifying to all who would listen that the blood - power & authority - of Jesus Christ set him free from the demons who dwell in the invisible spiritual realm.
The world is looking for something "real" out of the religious community -- if they don't find it, Satan and his demons can offer them his spooky supernatural experiences for a price. What is the price? They only have to give their allegiance to him by disavowing Jesus Christ and the Bible.
One night about 1973, the kids and I were alone, sound asleep, when I was awakened by a voice calling my name out of the darkness -- a voice of someone whom I hadn't seen since 1959. Who was it? Stay tuned...
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question~~~
When we were last together we were discussing the reality of the invisible spiritual realm and how those who reside in this realm affect the lives of human beings on the earth. God's angels desire to influence us to do good that honors Jesus Christ, while Satan's angels desire to influence us to do evil -- chaos, anarchy, death, destruction -- to honor Lucifer, the fallen arch angel. We refuse to learn about this invisible activity to our own peril.
The Apostle Paul delineates the whole spiritual armor of God that a Christian must wear at all times in Ephesians 6:10-20, which we previously discussed in this series. We learned in the last blog that one of Satan's most effective fiery darts is the tongue of a human being -- lies and deception. Paul admonished us to use our shield of faith to quench all of the fiery darts spoken against us. What is faith?
The Bible defines faith as...now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen...Heb. 11:1. When God created the world He first saw it in His mind, spoke the words 'let there be' and it manifested into a physical world. Every human being has been endowed with this same authority. If a human being believes what he is speaking with his tongue -- spoken desire -- believing becomes the substance of his desire until it is manifested in the physical realm. He is exercising his faith until what he is believing for comes to pass in the physical realm.
This authority is inherent is every human being. God also gave to each human being a will -- authority to make choices for himself. He can choose to use his authority to do good to honor his Lord & Savior Jesus Christ or he can choose to use his authority to do evil and honor Satan. Nonetheless, this invisible spiritual authority will create into the physical realm what is spoken by the tongue in the invisible spiritual realm. Words will become material when spoken by faith.
So fiery darts are the spoken words of a human being, whose tongue is surrendered to Satan in the invisible realm, for the purpose of perpetrating evil upon another human being. If you are a Christian and another human being speaks evil words against you -- lies, half-truths, death, calamity -- stand behind your shield of faith, so those fiery darts will not penetrate your life and do any damage. What happens to the rejected fiery darts?
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit...Proverbs 18:21. This proverb explains clearly the power that is in the tongue. Our spoken words will produce death or life. The words we choose to speak will produce - create - something! But...we must understand -- we will eat the fruit of our words. In other words, the words we speak will bring back to us death or life -- this is the spiritual principle.
I want you visualize this spiritual principle. The fiery darts of evil spoken against you will bounce off of your shield of faith and, according to the proverb, will return to the sender, who will eat the fruit of his own evil words.
Did you ever find it impossible to obey some of the commands of Jesus because they just didn't make sense -- so you ignored them? Jesus said...but I say unto you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven...Matt. 5:44-45. Wow...so how are we considered sons of our Father in Heaven? By praying for our enemy first! This is our shield of faith!
That's impossible you say indignantly, they don't deserve blessings for injustice - I won't do it! Ahh...you reveal by your words you have not been taught that there is the power of life or death in the tongue. When we chose to obey the command of Jesus Christ and speak words of blessing to those who speak evil against us, those who gossip the condemning words or opinions of others, those blessings will return to us -- we will eat the fruit of the words of life we have spoken. This act of obedience puts all things into the hands of our Lord for Him to deal justly in any given situation. We humans cannot deal with most situations justly -- our own prejudices get in the way -- so God has supplied us with this powerful spiritual principle.
The majority of church leaders have neglected to teach clearly, and daily over and over again, about the happenings in the spiritual realm, and the fact that all evil is being perpetrated against humanity by Satan and his demons. So it is no wonder that God is being blamed, even by people who don't believe in God. They say, "If there is a God, and He is a God of love, why doesn't He stop the abuse of children, and all the chaos and wars? I can't believe in a God who would allow all of this hate & violence to continue!"
I remember presenting to a pastor years ago, how there should be no pews in the church building - except for the disabled. Rather than being entertained, we should be coming together to walk and pray down the strongholds that Satan & his demons have placed against our community, while collectively praising & worshipping our Lord to fill our community with His glory! How do you think he responded to my revolutionary idea? Stay tuned...
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question~~~
