Tag Archives: Gifts of the Spirit

September 16, 2015 · 2:58 pm

Do We Still Cast Out Demons? (Part 9)

dolly sad

A pastor friend felt frustrated in his calling. So, he fasted and prayed, crying out to God, “Lord, I need Your power to do miracles and deliver people from demons.”

He continued in this fashion for days until he felt the Lord had whispered to his heart this message: “If I had what you have right now, I’d go out and do miracles.”

This was not what the pastor expected. He thought he’d receive a new Acts 2 experience from heaven with a mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire. He sat down and thought about what he had in his divine arsenal.

“I have Jesus living inside me, the Holy Spirit as my helper, and a Bible. That must be enough to do miracles,” he said aloud.

Okay, was my pastor friend’s revelation scriptural? 

But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. (Luke 11:20-22)

Before Jesus arrived on earth, nobody – including anointed prophets, priests, or kings – could defeat Satan in a head-on spiritual battle. He was the god of this world and headed the kingdom of darkness. But Jesus is our stronger one who appeared on earth to destroy the works of the devil.

The Apostle John wrote:

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

Jesus went a step further when he commissioned us as His disciples:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations… (Matthew 28:18-19)

As we can readily see, we have the Greater One living in us who is stronger than Satan – and – we have authority through Jesus to walk on earth as He walked during His earthly ministry.

I believe the pastor’s revelation is accurate. We have everything that’s needed to do miracles and cast out demons.

So, if we’re not casting out demons right now, the fault must on our end and not the Lord’s. We can either change our thinking and walk in scriptural faith to defeat the god of this world or continue in our powerlessness.

(Conclusion For Now…if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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September 12, 2015 · 9:37 am

“Are We There Yet?” (Part 1)

My son Scott learned early on how to travel four hundred mile trips to his grandparents’ house. He took his favorite pillow and blanket along with him and slept for at least half the trip. The long trip then became a much shorter one for him.

On the other hand, my daughter Susan was the exact opposite. She was always so excited about seeing her grandparents that she would never fall asleep. It didn’t matter what time we started out, early morning or late at night, she was wide awake the whole trip.

Twenty-five miles into the journey, she would ask, “Are we there yet?” She would then repeat this question for the next three hundred and seventy-five miles until we finally arrived at the grandparents’ home.

This still makes me laugh because it’s sort of the way I’ve acted during my whole Christian walk.

When I began my Christian journey on May 20, 1985, I listened and read hundreds of messages from the Word of Faith movement. I devoured teachings by Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Charles Capps, Marilyn Hickey, and so forth.

“Lord, am I there yet?” 

Yet, just when I was ready to take a front row faith seat, I received a powerful revelation on grace, which forced me to prune back some of the faith teachings I had learned.

Then, I jumped on the Prophetic Movement and Spiritual Warfare movement bandwagon. Once again, I listened and read hundreds of teachings by Roberts Lardon, William Branham, Bill Hamon, Cindy Jacobs, and so forth.

“Lord, am I there yet?” 

But when I went through the worst trial of my life in Ames, Iowa, I discovered some of their teachings did not work, which once again forced me to do some more pruning.

This has happened in every step of my journey so far.

Okay, guess what?

Carol and I are now joining the Hebraic Roots movement, but this time, I’m not looking to arrive at some endpoint where I will wear a prayer shawl with a talis bag, blow a shofar, and make aliyah.

You see, this time I’m looking for the revelation of Jesus in this movement and how it will help me fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith for the rest of my life.

So, I won’t be asking: “Lord, am I there yet?”

(Continued in Part 2)

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September 10, 2015 · 9:43 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (9/10/2015)

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This time I saw words streaming through the ceiling on what looked like hologram ticker tapes carried on laser beams. These words flowed to the ears of the creatures, the supervisors, and everyone in the room. I read them: “Alternative life style.” “Pro-choice.” “Gay pride.” “Toleration.” “Christians are bigots.” “Abortion is a woman’s right.” “Separation of church and state.” “San Francisco Pride.”

With each new message, the creatures spoke into the ears of supervisors. A source from above orchestrated everything.

The angel pointed up.

“Look.”

The ceiling and roof opened up, allowing me to see into the second heaven. My eyes took a few moments adjusting to the spirit realm, but then, I saw a creature sitting on a large brass throne, blocking a portal coming out of the third heaven. Light rays attempted to flow through the portal, but only a few rays were able to pass by the large creature.

The creature’s appearance alternated between looking like a beautiful angel dressed in white and that of a gigantic monster version of the dingy, gray gargoyles, sitting on the supervisors’ shoulders. Like the smaller demons, the creature never rested. It caused fear in the hierarchy of demons below it and, at the same time, seemed fearful of its own cruel masters in the ranks above it.

The words I saw, streaming through the ceiling like hologram ticker tapes, emanated from this creature. I saw additional word streams coming out of the creature’s mouth, heading toward Sacramento, Hollywood, Washington, D. C., New York City, newspapers, television networks, movie studios, publishers, corporations, and thousands of other places.

The angel interrupted my thoughts.

“What you are seeing is the spirit of depravity. It is a ruling principality over San Francisco and guards a gate of Hell over the city. So powerful is this spirit that its wickedness is spread throughout the nation.

“The reason the spirit switches back and forth between appearances is it is creating confusion by this maneuver in the minds of people, whereby good is called evil and evil good.”

(Excerpt from my novel, Jonah, by Larry Nevenhoven, 2012, Amazon eBook)

I’ve included the above comic book-like illustration of Ephesians 6:12 from my eBook to underline a major point: almost all newspapers, television networks, and movie studios are a part of the world system and under the influence of Satan and his demonic horde.

So, why do we believers continue to put much trust in what they say?

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray that we American believers are no longer captured by empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that comes from world system organizations and Satan and his demonic horde, without first filtering it through His Word and the Holy Spirit. (Based on Colossians 2:8 NLT)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.

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September 4, 2015 · 8:48 am

Do We Still Cast Out Demons? (Part 8)

dolly sad

 

Early one morning, Smith Wigglesworth was awakened in his Yorkshire, England, home by a rustling sound in his bedroom. He rolled over and saw someone sitting in the chair at the foot of his bed. He squinted his near-sighted eyes and then recognized who it was.

“Oh, it’s just you, Satan,” said Wigglesworth as he rolled over and went back to sleep.

Wigglesworth told this story at one of his meetings, but what do you think?

(An excerpt from Storming the Kingdom by Larry Nevenhoven, 2014, an Amazon eBook.)

It’s easy for us modern skeptics to look at Wigglesworth (1859 – 1947) and consider him, his ministry, and his visions to be nothing more than ridiculous Pentecostal fantasies from the past. But the nation of Sweden and its king, Gustaf V, did not think of Wiggleworth as a tongue-talking charlatan. They took him seriously.

In 1921, Smith Wigglesworth held healing meetings throughout Scandinavia. Thousands were healed and saved. His success prompted Swedish doctors to convince authorities that Wigglesworth practiced medicine without a license when he laid hands on the sick. Thus, the authorities notified Wigglesworth that he was not allowed to lay his hands on the sick when he visited Stockholm. If he refused to obey the law, he would be arrested and sent to jail.

King Gustaf heard about the new law and wrote Wiggleswoth a note asking him to find a way around the city ordinance so that the evangelist could minister healing to the Swedish people.

What did Smith Wigglesworth do?

Wigglesworth arrived on schedule and preached a faith message from the Bible. When he finished preaching, he asked the sick people to lay their own hands on themselves. He prayed a short healing prayer for everyone. As soon as he finished, miracles happened throughout the auditorium. The people who were healed jumped up and shouted with joy, which stirred up the faith of others to believe for their own healing.

The Sweden healing crusade turned out to be one of Wigglesworth most successful ones.

There’s no doubt that Smith Wigglesworth was a unique man, but he never considered his ministry unique. He believed that every Christian could do the same things he did, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons.

Okay, how could Wigglesworth think this way? And what was his secret?

(Continued in Part 9…if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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September 3, 2015 · 9:28 am

Thursday’s Prayers for America (9/3/2015)

How many of us think it’s a cosmic coincidence that the top two movies in America right now – War Room and Straight Outta Compton – are stories about African-Americans and mainly acted by African-Americans?

The main plot in War Room revolves around an African-American women named Miss Clara who teaches Elizabeth Jordan (Priscilla C. Shirer) how to handle her anger and marital problems through prayer. The whole emphasis is focused on trusting God and His redeeming grace to change the husband, Tony Jordan (T. C. Stallings), and their hopeless family situations.

The story line for Straight Outta Compton deals with the rise and fall of the hip hop group N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitudes), which includes the gangsta rappers Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Easy-E, DJ Yella, and MC Ren. The group’s music reflects the youths’ anger and frustration through its X-rated lyrics, which glorified drugs and crime, put down women, and revealed a deep hatred of police.

Only the Lord could schedule two such contrasting movies to appear on the movie scene right now in America.

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I ask that You move in the inner cities of America so that people’s minds are no longer controlled by their sinful natures, which leads to death, but are controlled by Your Spirit, which brings life and peace. (Based on Romans 8:6 NLT)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.

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July 27, 2015 · 10:50 am

Do We Still Cast Out Demons? (Part 7)

dolly sad

 

We Evangelicals major on talking about “being born again,” but do you know how many times our Lord spoke on this issue? Just one time. Period.

Yet, there are more than thirty instances in the four Gospels where Jesus cast out demons, gave power to His disciples to cast out demons, or taught about casting out demons.

Now, how is it that we Evangelicals can talk for hours about the importance of being “born again,” but yet, we draw blanks when it comes to casting out demons?

So that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:11)

Paul wrote the above verse in reference to a man who had committed sexual immorality with his father’s wife. The apostle recommended that the man be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the man’s flesh. Then, the man repented and Paul recommended the man should be accepted back into the fellowship.

But the important point is this: Satan has schemes and plans to destroy the effectiveness of us believers.

Okay, who benefits the most by us believers not being able to cast out demons? The Kingdom of God? Or the kingdom of darkness?

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Matthew 12:28)

It’s obvious that if we believers do not understand how to cast out demons, the kingdom of darkness rejoices at our ignorance. Why? Because our power and authority in Jesus’ name bows impotent before the god of this world: Satan.

Oh dear! What should we do?

(Continued in Part 8…if you’re interested, the full series to date can be seen here.)

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July 20, 2015 · 10:01 am

Do We Still Cast Out Demons? (Part 6)

dolly sad

 

If you are like me, you read the Old Testament and are amazed at the prophets’  exploits.

Moses parted the Red Sea, produced water from a rock, and spoke words which opened up the earth to swallow Korah and his family. Joshua prayed that the sun would stand still and it obeyed him for a whole day.

King David, along with three men, stood in the middle of a field and defeated a whole army of Philistines. Elijah prophesied so it did not rain for three years; the prophet prayed fire down from heaven for a sacrifice and slew four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal; he killed two fifty-men groups of soldiers with fire from heaven; and he was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire.

Yet, Jesus said that John was greater than all of these prophets, but then He added:

“…but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John.” (Luke 7:28-b)

You see, unlike the Old Testament where the Holy Spirit came upon the prophets so they could do exploits and speak anointed words, the Holy Spirit lives in believers 100% of the time. The Helper never takes a vacation and is always ready to assist us. And unlike the Old Testament where the prophets had to obey the Law as subjects living in a theocracy ruled by God, we are born again as sons and daughters of the King who rules over the Kingdom of God.

As royal sons and daughters, we have all of the privileges of our King. In fact, the things He did, we can do, and even greater things than He did while He walked here on earth.

Jesus said that the least person in the kingdom of heaven has more royal privileges and power than all of the prophets in the Old Testament. What a powerful statement for us to believe and walk in today.

(Continued in Part 7…if you’re interested the full series to date can be seen here.)

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July 17, 2015 · 10:30 am

Was That the Voice of God or Daffy Duck? (Part 5)

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Yesterday, I saw a photo on Facebook from a progressive website, showing eight potential Republican presidential candidates – Santorum, Cain, Kasich, Huckabee, Perry, Walker, Jindal, and Carson – with these words written in bold script over the photo: “Any politician who declares, ‘God told me to run for President,’ should have to prove it in court.”

The comments for the photo included the following:

“Fortunately, God isn’t telling us to elect them.”

“God is sure hedging His bets.”

“I think the only thing they need to prove is their sanity.”

“Some of these idiots truly believe God spoke to them.”

“God said that. She’s just messing with y’all.”

“God seems confused.”

“God likes the clown bus to be full.”

“They’re nuts and it’s actually their dogs who are telling them to run for President.”

“It’s not God they hear, it’s the man under the ground: Satan.”

(These were some of the reasonable comments, but there were many foul ones, too.)

If we think that we’ve heard the voice of God and then decide to tell everyone that God has said something to us, we had better prepare ourselves ahead of time. Because once we open our mouths, everyone will become a judge.

And this is actually scriptural.

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. (1 Corinthians 14:29)

The Lord encourages us to seek Him to hear His voice, but at the same time, let’s also seek Him for His wisdom, too. You see, once we hear His voice, then we have to make decisions on what to do with what we’ve heard.

Do we keep His words to ourselves? Do we tell others? If we decide to tell others, how do we tell them? Do we say, “Thus saith the Lord?” And so forth.

My advice is to pray something like this ahead of time:

Lord, give me Your wisdom because it is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality or hypocrisy so that I know what to do with Your words. (Based on James 3:17)

(Continued in Part 6)

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July 14, 2015 · 8:35 am

Tuesday’s Prayers for Prisoners (7/14/2015)

http://www.markpedder.wordpress.com

If you watch the above video which shows the Don Bosco slum in Manila, you’ll soon learn that not every prison is made of steel bars and jail cells. Some are built out of poverty and garbage.

Without ever hearing about the King and His kingdom, these slum dwellers will live their whole lives as prisoners to poverty and the kingdom of darkness. Then, they will die and – most likely – go to Hell.

Do we even care?

Today, I prayed:

Lord, destroy my apathy and help me to share freely and give generously to the poor. (Based on 2 Corinthians 9:9)

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for prisoners in Asia, according to Hebrews 13:3.

Why Asia?

1. 4.4 billion people live in Asia.

2.. 85.4% of world’s unevangelized people live in Asia. (Unevangelized means they may have heard the gospel but have no understanding on how to respond.)

3. The world’s three largest non-Christian religions – Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhists – are based in Asia.

4. Of the 37 countries of the world that are less than 10% Christian, 32 are in Asia. Of the 14 countries, that are less than 2% Christian, 12 are in Asia.

5. 85-90% of unreached people live in Asia. (Unreached means that they have never heard the name of Jesus.) (Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation)

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July 13, 2015 · 9:00 am

Do We Still Cast Out Demons? (Part 5)

dolly sad

 

John the Baptist languished in prison and his spirit was at its lowest ebb. He sent two of his disciples to Jesus to inquire if Jesus was truly the Christ. Jesus answered by saying:

Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. (Luke 7:22)

Jesus did not give a four-point sermon on why He was the Christ, but instead, He pointed to His acts, demonstrating that the kingdom of God had arrived on earth. He was the King of Kings and the Head of the kingdom of God on earth.

The two disciples of John the Baptist were satisfied with Jesus’ answer and departed.

Jesus then spoke about John the Baptist and his ministry. He stated that John was the messenger who prepared the way for Jesus and He added:

“For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist…” (Luke 7:28-a)

You have to remember that Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, and all of the prophets were revered by the Jews. Thus, when Jesus ranked John the Baptist at the top of the list, His words flabbergasted and astounded every listener.

Yet, the second part of Jesus statement was even more amazing –

“…but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John.” (Luke 7:28-b)

When Jesus stated that the lowest member of the kingdom of God – the one who got in by the skin of his teeth – was greater than John, Jesus was not referring to a person’s eternal rank or position. This could not be the case because all of the Old Covenant’s prophets’ positions for all of eternity were already set in place by God’s word. No one can ever usurp their positions in the kingdom of God.

So, what was Jesus referring to when He spoke Luke 7:28-b?

(Continued in Part 6)

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