3 Doors to Shut!

There has been a spirit of "deception" that has been running rampant in our world for quite a few years and it has opened a door for its partner, "fear", to come in and operate through the Corona Pandemic. That spirit of "fear" that has entered across the Earth has opened the door for other spirits to be loosed now also. A spirit of "hatred" has now come in through the open door.
We can see that people that don't know the Lord can be susceptible to these spirits, but as God's body we are not to be! We are the watchers on the wall! We are to rebuke these spirits and close the doors and gates!
How do we do this? To remove deception seek and share only the truth, that will battle "deception". If you share things on social media make certain that you are remembering to share "truth". Yes, that means you have to research it before you share it. Scripture tells us we will be held accountable for careless words and if you share things that are not true you have left a door open in your world for "deception" to enter freely. Spoken words and electronic messages have to be examined carefully, let your words be "Truth and Truth only". We have also been given the authority to bind and remove the spirits of the enemy, this authority was given to us from Jesus our Lord! So deal with the spirit of deception in this way. "Spirit of deception I bind you from manifesting in my life! I send you to the foot of the cross! In Jesus' name and through His blood. Go Now!"
Next, we have to deal with the spirit of "fear". You don't have to listen long to hear it speaking through so many people today! Especially our News sources. Do not give in to "fear", it is a bully that plays on even the smallest fear you may show. The Lord has spoken to us directly about this spirit! He tells us He has not given us a spirit of fear! You need to realize that you can not walk in faith if you are giving in to fear, they are in direct opposition for your attention and soul. Kick this spirit out now! "Spirit of fear, I bind you from manifesting in my life! I send you to the foot of the cross! In Jesus' name and through His blood. Go Now!" Trust the authority the Lord has given you and stand on it!
Now it is easy to see the growth of hate in society, the only tolerance that is encouraged is for the things that are on the agenda of our spiritual enemy. Tolerance for morals given by the Lord, integrity, holiness, purity, righteousness, and devotion to God are not encouraged. The enemy hates these things! When he sees you carrying the attributes of the Lord and a devotion to Yahweh he wants to destroy them and you. The way to defeat this spirit is through the love of our Creator, it is not a love that we can stir up only by ourselves we have to ask the Lord to strengthen it! It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit so it can grow in us! Love covers a multitude of sins. Love never gives up. We have to walk in love, always and in all ways. Leave no room for hate to enter our thoughts or our hearts. If we have any unforgiveness it must be routed out that we have no footholds for hate to enter in. Then we go through the same declaration as for the first two spirits. "Spirit of hate, I bind you from manifesting in my life! I send you to the foot of the cross! In Jesus' name and through His blood. Go Now!"
We have to deal directly with these spirits and remember, they will try to sneak back in, so stay on guard constantly! Close any doors or gates in your life that the enemy would enter and refuse him entrance!



Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 1 Timothy 1:7

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

Make Straight the Path of the Lord

     

There are scriptures that speak of making the path straight for the Lord, lately, they have demanded my attention!

A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3


He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ John 1:23

Sing unto God, sing praises to his name:
Cast up a highway for him that rideth through the deserts; Psalm 68:4

     In having my attention demanded I had to ask, "What does it mean to make straight the path for the Lord? To Clear the way? To Cast up a highway?"

     I searched it out and found that in Isaiah 40:9, it says to 
  'Go up on a high mountain, you joyful messengers of Zion, (this means you and me! and the high mountain part for Oklahoma just means not hidden away) and lift up your voices with power(Be bold!). You who proclaim joyous news to Jerusalem, shout it out and don’t be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”' (Tell people who God is! The Great Creator of all things!)

     

     We can see here that witnessing to the truth and goodness of God is one way to make His highway smooth! Shouting it out even!

     Then in John 1, John the Baptist was testifying of Jesus and baptizing people for the repentance of sin. "but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” So, again we have testifying and here we add repentance makes the way straight for the Lord! 

     And in Psalm 68 where it talks about casting up a highway for the Lord, it is done through praise! 

  Sing to God, sing praises to His name, cast up a highway for Him Who rides through the deserts—His name is the Lord—be in high spirits and glory before Him! (Praise!)Psalm 68:4

     This gives us 3 ways right off to be able to make the Lord's path straight or to create a smooth highway! There may be more, I will be looking for them! But this is a good way to start using your life to make the path of the Lord straight!

•      Witness and Testify Boldly!
•      Walk in Repentance!
•      Praise the Lord!

     (The scriptures have promises from the Lord of how He will make your paths straight also, but I'll save that for next time!) 

Ministering To Yourself

I heard a teaching from Bill Johnson, Pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California.
     He was teaching about learning to minister to ourselves. This is something I have needed to hear for a long time! I have wondered how people who are in ministry are nurtured in the things of the Lord and refilled after pouring out for others. I'm talking about bigger things than daily problems or events. 
     Everyone runs into BIG things in life at times that seem to knock them about, they can be hurt, disappointed, betrayed, challenged....but in a ministry, it's not always easy to turn to someone else for an encouraging word. So this teaching was answered prayer! Thank You, Father!
     It is a blessing to have a ministry that feeds people, but how are the ministers fed, built up, refreshed? How do they care for themselves? I believe this would also be good for anyone that does not have a close companion to share your situations with that can speak godly things into your life. So while it helps ministers, it also helps anyone that wants to put it into practice! 
     Bill Johnson shared that he reads the Psalms out loud and he keeps going until he can hear the cry of his heart in the words. That is really good advice for me, I love Psalms and the Lord has had me read through it many, many times. I had not realized that He was using it to minister to me until now though, yes, that does sound kind of like I'm slow on the uptake, doesn't it? Now I recognize it and now I will use it as the tool the Lord has given me to minister to myself! There are many tools for us to use, praise, prayer, scripture, and each one will help but if we know the one that especially touches our spirit we will be able to know what to do when we are needing special ministering for the difficult times we walk through in our lives. 
     This was something that was very helpful to me, so I wanted to share it with you! ~ Lorna