Most mainline churches in America today still seem to fear an over-emphasis on the Holy Spirit. They certainly believe in the Holy Spirit as that part of God or that part of the Trinity that resides in God’s children, gives life to the spirit of man, and who shapes our character as Christians (fruit of the Spirit). However, the idea of power, revelation, prophetic words, words of knowledge, gifts of healing, visions, dreams, etc. are not on the menu in these churches. They seem to believe that if Christians pursue these supernatural manifestations of the Spirit, they will be led astray by the enemy into all kinds of deception and a faith focused on miracles rather than Jesus.

At the same time, there is a frustration in these churches, or at least among some of the people and leaders, that what we have in our faith is insufficient to truly meet the needs and challenges of the day. What do you do when your members suffer for years with depression, anxiety, fear, suicidal thoughts, addictions, doubts, gender confusion, or vaguely diagnosed illnesses and your prayers and Bible study only seem to give them temporary relief but no real victory?

Typically, churches that do not operate in the “supernatural” gifts of the Spirit, either conclude that these people have insufficient faith to be set free or send them out to secular doctors and psychologist for treatment. Even if they go to Christian counselors or therapists, most of them have been trained in secular approaches to treatment…so our people only get what the world offers with the simple addition of a prayer and a scripture. A theology then arises from our inability to help our people that declares that it is God’s will for his people to suffer in this fallen world, just as those who have no faith but the promised healing and freedom will come as we enter the presence of Jesus in heaven.

At the same time, we have the presence of Jesus within us already here on earth. Why shouldn’t that presence (the Holy Spirit) provide healing and freedom here as well as in heaven? In addition, Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 10, that we are not to wage war as the world wages war, but are to use divine weapons to pull down strongholds. He states this need for divine weapons because he also declares that our real struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers in heavenly realms. What doesn’t touch the spiritual realm will not set us free, if there is a spiritual component to our physical illness or emotional torment. And Paul suggests that most of the time, there is a spiritual component. Churches who don’t want to “over-emphasize” the Holy Spirit leave their people in the grasp of dark spiritual forces because secular treatment doesn’t touch the spiritual realm.

Of course, all churches pray for the healing of physical illnesses and emotional torment. Typically, however, the prayer is more of a wish than an expectation because if God doesn’t operate supernaturally in his church any more, then we can’t really expect more than secular doctors, science, and therapy can deliver. More than that, if God has provided solutions for infirmity and emotional distress through supernatural gifts of the Spirit, then he expects us to exercise those gifts as his primary source of healing and freedom and not just keep calling on him to do what he has equipped his church to do.

Sometimes we act like a policeman who has graduated from the academy and has been given authority and power to go make arrests and bring criminals to justice, but every time he sees a crime in progress, he calls the chief of police to come and do something. The chief will say, “ You have authority and power. You make the arrest. That is your job. If you can’t, then resign from the force.” If we keep calling on God to do what he has anointed and appointed us to do, then much will go undone. A heavy and healthy emphasis on the Holy Spirit in the church that stays consistent with biblical guidelines is the answer.

Before you push back, think about what an emphasis the first century church placed on the Holy Spirit beginning with Jesus himself. Jesus declared that the Holy Spirit would live in us, counsel us, teach us, lead us into all truth, reveal the heart and mind of God to us, heal us, free us, shape us, and give us power for ministry…to do what he had been doing. He didn’t tell the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit shaped their character or delivered sound doctrine so they could be effective witnesses. He commanded them to wait for power, which immediately manifested in tongues, revelation, and boldness. Can “supernatural” spiritual gifts be abused? Sure. They were widely abused in Corinth. Paul, however, did not tell them to quit exercising the gifts but to exercise them with love and a sense of order. When the church was looking for qualified leaders, they did not search for seminary graduates or successful businessmen, but looked for those who were full of the Spirit…which also manifested in miraculous works. The church was ordered to be filled with the Spirit at all times and to pray in the Spirit at all times. They were to earnestly desire spiritual gifts and to bear the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. When Ananias and Sapphira were disciplined unto death in Acts 5, it was because they had lied to the Holy Spirit. That suggests the prominence the Holy Spirit held in the church.

We could go on, but it would be heard to emphasize the Spirit more than the early church did or the New Testament does. I believe there is more danger in under-emphasizing the Spirit rather than over-emphasizing him. The truth is that the church needs much more of the Spirit rather than less if we are to fulfill our mandate of discipling nations and bringing heaven to earth.

We need to live with the understanding that as followers of Christ our primary role in the kingdom is to represent Him. Paul declared that we are ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor.5:20).  We represent heaven on earth and speak for our king. The key to understanding our role as representatives is simply to understand the word. We are to re-present Jesus. We are to fully present him again to the world by doing what he did, saying what he would say, and displaying the same heart he displayed when he was on the earth. We are to live and serve in such a way that people see him accurately in each of us.

Jesus represented the Father when he walked the earth. In the Gospel of John he says, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say” (Jn.12:44-50).

Notice the phrases taken from the text. “When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me…For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it…So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” These words echo what Jesus told Phillip shortly afterwards when he said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn.14:9) and “The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father living in me who is doing his work” (Jn.14:10).

Jesus came to show us the Father. He did what the Father would do if he were physically present on the earth. He said what the Father would say in the way he would say it. That is representation. When Jesus left the earth, there should have been no question about what the Father was like. If you wanted to know the Father, you simply had to look at the Son.

We are to represent Jesus by living in the same way he modeled life for us. That doesn’t mean we all become itinerant preachers – although he may call some to do that. It means that we display Him in whatever context we are in. He lives in us by his Spirit just as the Father lived in him. The Holy Spirit is present within us to lead us, remind us of his words, empower us for miracles, and reproduce the heart of Jesus in us so that we can accurately re-present him to the people around us.

Representing Jesus is the function of the church. We cannot display only a part of Jesus and accurately re-present him to the world. If we preach the gospel but do not heal the sick we have not done what he did. If we heal the sick and cast out demons but do not love the broken and the sinful, we have not fully displayed Jesus. If we do not confront legalism and hypocrisy in religious leaders we have not duplicated him or his ministry. If we do not live and love sacrificially, then people cannot see Jesus in us.

I know that is a tall order but that is the goal and it cannot be done in our own strength but only by the power of the Spirit. If our heart is to fully represent Jesus in every setting, the Holy Spirit will certainly empower us to do so because that is the heart of the Spirit as well. He came that he might show Jesus to the world and is quite willing and even excited to do that through us.

Just a few years ago, the fad in Christian circles was WWJD – what would Jesus do? It was on bracelets, tee shirts, coffee mugs, etc. I haven’t heard that so much lately but it truly is the heart of the mission and should be written on our hearts not just on our coffee cups. When that truly becomes our heart’s desire, then I believe we will see the power and the impact of Jesus like never before. As “charismatic” we talk a lot about being “Spirit-filled.” Too often we think of that as simply being filled with the power of the Spirit to fuel our spiritual gifts.  But to be Spirit-filled would actually be a life  filled with Jesus and to be fully like him in every way.

If I’m honest, there are too many times when I am wanting Jesus to represent my agenda rather than me representing his. I am wanting him to make me look good rather that me making him shine. When my motive is me, then I will never see Jesus nor his power manifested in me as he desires and as I desire in my best moments. May the Spirit of God enable us all to re-present the risen Lord in every way and in every circumstance in which we find ourselves. Be blessed in serving Him today.

This is one of those “food for thought” blogs….something for you to consider. I was listening to a Bill Johnson sermon on YouTube a week or so ago, and he said something that resonated with me and that I have been mulling over since then. He said that whenever there is a prevailing spirit (demonic) over a people group, a city, or a nation, the church is either in active opposition to that spirit or is being influenced by that spirit. There is no middle ground.

I believe that is a true statement and, if it is true, there are a number of implications. First of all, there are certainly spirits assigned to nations, cultures, people groups, and individuals to promote evil there and oppose the works of God. In the Book of Daniel, we see demonic spirits referred to as the prince of Persia (Dan.10:13) and the prince of Greece (Dan.10:20). These were spirits of significant authority that were warring against Michael, the archangel, in order to hinder the work of God and to further the purposes of Satan in those nations. In the Book of Revelation, John wrote to the church at Pergamum and spoke of the city as a place where Satan had his throne (Rev.2:13), which speaks of a city over which Satan had great influence and spiritual authority.

In our own times, we clearly sense the influence of prevailing spirits in the Middle East that oppose Christ, his people, Israel, and life in genral. The unrelenting hatred and extremism of some groups there can only be understood by the influence of demonic spirits. When you look at Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany and other places where millions died in concentration camps and mass graves, only a powerful demonic influence can account for such atrocities. We see the same level of influence now in Isis.

Even in America there are the prevailing spirits of Anti-Christ, anti-Semitism, sexual immorality, perversion, violence, and abortion that are having their way in our culture. The rapid acceleration of cultural decline in a once Christian nation is a clear indicator of demonic influence. For the past 50 years, most of the American church has been in passive opposition to these prevailing spirits rather than in active opposition. We have moaned about the decline of the church and our culture but have done so quietly over coffee or while cocooned in Sunday School classes. By and large, the result is that the church has been influenced by these spirits rather than these spirits being pushed back by the church.

How can any Christian church approve of abortion, active homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and the idea that Jesus is a Savior but not the only Savior? And yet many churches in America and many individual’s who identify themselves as Christians hold those cultural views. We have become toxically politically correct which is another way of saying that we don’t want to offend anyone by suggesting that they may be wrong or that their actions might be unacceptable. In that environment there can be no call to repentance. This political spirit is also a prevailing and highly manipulative spirit. Try running a household full of kids that way and see how well it goes. Running a nation that way has even greater repercussions. In recent decades, we have not shaped the culture but the culture has been busy shaping us. I believe it is because we have not actively opposed the prevailing spirits that have been and continue to influence America.

Lets transfer the principle from a national grid to a personal grid. Whatever prevailing spirits in our culture are doing to influence us individually, if we are not actively opposing them, then they are likely influencing us. Most believers are passive in much of their own spiritual lives. We hear cultural input day after day justifying and rationalizing unbiblical and ungodly values and lifestyles. We are likely to absorb the value only minutely day after day, but the accumulation effect impacts us as the months and years pass. Television and movies normalize sinful and perverse lifestyles so that we are no longer shocked or offended when we encounter those things. We hear proponents of abortion and same sex marriage offer their arguments day after day on talk shows and never hear a sermon or a teaching at church that pushes back against those arguments. Our kids hear those values promoted at school and see those who oppose them demonized. Unless we recognize the devil’s agenda and actively oppose those values in our minds, our prayers, and our actions, we will slowly be coopted into a mindset of excusing those behaviors or assigning them to moral gray areas.

We have often heard the maxim that if we are not growing spiritually we are actually loosing ground in the same way that if we stop exercising we don’t stay at the same level of fitness but rather lose strength and endurance. I know that to be true by personal experience. You probably do as well. In reflection, it might be a very good thing to begin to identify the prevailing spirits in our culture, our community, or our families and encourage our churches to actively oppose those spirits while we do the same in our personal lives.

I’m not speaking primarily of picketing, demonstrating, or writing blazing op-eds, although there may be times for that. But where there is a prevailing spirit of divorce in a family or community, the church should be actively providing ministries that strengthen marriages and families. Where teen suicide is on the rise, the church should be finding ways to connect with teens at risk and infusing hope into that segment of the community. If a spirit of poverty seems to prevail in a community or over a people group, the church might be working to provide pathways out of poverty for that group. Where abortion thrives, funding abortion alternatives, volunteering at Life Centers, and promoting adoption would be an active way to oppose those spirits. For every strategy of Satan, God has a powerful and creative answer. Doing similar things in our own lives would be helpful. Although spiritual warfare begins with massive amounts of prayer, spiritual warfare can have a very practical side that goes beyond prayer and deliverance and that takes territory back in whole communities.

Let me encourage you to consider what prevailing spirits might be having the most influence in your community, your church, or your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you discernment to identify those spirits, and then pray for creative ways to actively oppose those spirits in your own life and your community.   To take a passive approach might mean you are actually losing ground. Just….food for thought. Blessings today in Him.

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” 

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

In his gospel, Mark ties two supernatural events together that we often miss because they are separated by chapter breaks and so, in our minds, they are often viewed as unrelated incidents. But…let’s review. Toward the end of Chapter 4, Jesus told his disciples that he wanted to get in a boat and sail across the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. He calls on them to make the journey in the evening so it will be night before reaching the other side. Being on a large body of water at night on a lake subject to sudden storms always presents some concerns. In the middle of this night we are told that a “furious squall” came up suddenly and threatened to swamp the boat. The disciples, afraid for their lives, woke Jesus with the question, “Don’t you care that we drown?” There may have been a bit of accusation present in the statement suggesting that Jesus should never have insisted on crossing Galilee in the night. Of course, you know the story. Jesus got up, verbally rebuked the storm, and the winds and waves immediately subsided. The response of his disciples is interesting. Mark says, “They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’”

As frightened as they were of the storm, it seems that they were more upset by an encounter with the supernatural power of Jesus. They had already seen Jesus heal lepers, heal paralytics, cast our numerous demons, and raise the dead. Yet, at this moment they asked, “Who is this?”   As they tried to get their minds around what has just happened, they beached their boat in the area of the Gerasenes (Gadarenes) and immediately faced an even stranger situation.

Suddenly, out of the dark comes a man who is, by all definitions, demon possessed. Luke tells us he was naked (not the first thing you want to see after an already disturbing cruise); he came from a stretch of tombs that were probably carved into a bluff along the coast. He was a man who cut himself with stones and cried out in torment night and day. He was a violent man with pieces of broken chain swinging from his wrists and ankles and undoubtedly had the classic look of a madman with deranged hair and a ragged beard. He was most likely smeared with mud and smelled of everything dead or rotting.

It must have been disturbing enough to see this man in the distance, but in this case he ran straight at them. Just as they prepared themselves for a vicious attack, he fell on his knees before Jesus and began to shout at the top of his voice, “Want do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God. Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” How’s that for a greeting from a naked madman? Mark focuses our attention here on the demonized man but I would have loved to see the eyes of the disciples who must really be thinking now, “Who is this?” The wind and waves obey him and demons beg him not to torture them as they call him Son of the Most High God. Then the demon begins to bargain with Jesus. I’ve heard numerous demons speak and it’s never a nice, soothing, human voice but a hissing, growling, threatening or arrogant tone. But this time it is a fearful, pleading tone.

You know the rest of the story. Jesus allows the demons to leave this man and enter a herd of pigs nearby which immediately runs into the Sea of Galilee and drowns. That has to be another disturbing sight for these disciples – to hear the squealing of two hundred (just guessing) tormented hogs rushing to the water and then the thrashing of drowning swine and then their bodies floating out to sea. Witnesses to the event ran into town and told everyone what had happened. When they came out, they saw the man who had become an icon of demonization and insanity sitting with Jesus, clothed and perfectly sane. Luke tells us, “Then all the people of the region…asked Jesus to leave them because they were overcome with fear” (Lk.8:37).

From our perspective, the stilling of a storm and the deliverance of a severely demonized man would be good news and something to celebrate. But in the unrenewed mind, the evidence of the presence of God is a fearful thing. Perhaps, it is fearful because something unexplainable just occurred and we fear what we don’t understand. That was the normal response to God throughout the scriptures which called for the most frequent command in the Bible – “Don’t be afraid.”

As for the Garasenes, it seems that the wildly demonic had been with them so long that it had become the norm. Instead of being afraid of the destructive presence of Satan, they were terrified by the healing presence of God and essentially demanded that the Son of God leave them…even though they must have had their own sons and daughters in need of healing and deliverance.

Apparently, the only two men standing there that were not afraid was Jesus and the man who had just been delivered. The Gerasenes wanted Jesus as far away as possible. The former demoniac and nudist wanted to be as close to Jesus as possible.

Personal experience is often the catalyst for real paradigm shifts in the way we view reality. The apostles had seen Jesus heal and deliver others but had not experienced that themselves as far as we know. In all three gospels, the quieting of the storm and the deliverance of this radically demonized man occurred before Jesus sent the twelve out to heal and deliver on their own. After God worked powerfully through them on their mission trip, they too had a paradigm shift. They didn’t seem to be afraid of the presence of God anymore.

What this tells me is that personal experiences with God are catalysts for the renewed mind that Paul speaks of in Romans 12:1-2. Most believers have not had profound spiritual experiences with the Father, Son or Spirit. They believe they are saved by faith and do see the goodness of God and his blessings in ordinary ways in their lives. But if you asked them if he will heal them miraculously or raise a loved one from the dead they would not even entertain the possibility. They distrust spiritual experiences in general and shy away from them as a potential source of deception. They will live saved but powerless lives for the most part.

But a believer who has had a radical spiritual experience with God wants more. He or she does not fear it or avoid it but seeks it out. They run toward miracles, not away from them. Like the demonized man who was delivered, they want more. Those who have been insulated from those experiences will, like the disciples in Mark 4-5, typically feel fear as they see a supernatural move of God and move away from it.

The difference in believers can be marked. When the city folks asked Jesus to leave, the demonized man wanted nothing more that to follow Jesus wherever he went. But Jesus told him to stay in the area and simply tell people what God had done for him. When Jesus later returned to the area, crowds were waiting to hear his every word. The man with a God experience had done the job.

Supernatural encounters are good for the soul. When we begin to desire them rather than fear them because we know we can find more of Jesus there, we can know we are well on our way to a renewed mind. Paul says that when our mind has been renewed then we will be transformed. For some, even that prospect is fearful. They think that to be transformed is to lose yourself, yet the opposite is true. It is in transformation that we find the person we were always meant to be and experiencing a few weird nights or Sunday mornings is worth it to find the you that God intended.

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:17-20)

The gospel of Luke gives us insight into the mindset of the Pharisees regarding Jesus. Jesus did not match their preconception of what the Messiah would look like. Jesus was not raised in a noble family; he was not educated at the feet of great Rabbi’s; he had not presented himself to the Sanhedrin or the Pharisees asking for their seal of approval; and he did not covet their favor at all. In fact, rather than courting their support he had confronted them on numerous occasions about their religious hypocrisy. As a result, they rejected him as the Messiah. They did have a major problem, however, in their attempts to discredit Jesus. His miracles were extreme, public, numerous, and undeniable.

Their final ploy was simply to ascribe his miraculous works to the power of Satan. They were most clear about their accusations when Jesus was casting out demons. Jesus’ response was simple. Why would Satan (Beelzebub) cast out his own minions who were doing his work? Wouldn’t that kind of contradiction undermine the kingdom of darkness? And…if demons are only cast out by the power of Satan, then how did they explain their own exorcists who cast out demons?

Ultimately, his response came down to a declaration regarding the kingdom of God. The Jewish leaders were very keen on the Messianic kingdom being established in their own day. They anticipated that it would be a kingdom of politics and military might backed up by the power of God. They had thought that they would all be given positions of power and influence in that kingdom. Jesus’ disdain for them and his disinterest in a political or military solution did not “fit their theology.”

Jesus, however, made a definitive statement about the nature of the kingdom of God as proof that he was a bona fide representative of that kingdom. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you (Lk.11:20). A mark of the true kingdom was to be supernatural power. It was not power to be used politically or militarily but to destroy the works of the devil. The mark of kingdom would be the preaching of the good news, healing, casting out demons, raising the dead, etc. It still is.

Jesus declared that the kingdom the Pharisees would have ushered in was not the kingdom of God but rather another earthly kingdom devised by men. The question arises – does any view of the kingdom of God that does not claim and demonstrate supernatural power correctly represent God’s kingdom? In his letter to the Galatians, Paul expressed a great concern about the so-called gospel that was being preached. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned” (Gal.1:6-8)!

Paul’s primary concern in this text was a gospel that included works for salvation and not grace alone. But the warning is not to change or pervert the gospel that was declared by Jesus and taught by the apostles. Throughout his letters, Paul frequently talked about the power of the kingdom of God and demonstrated it time and again. Is a gospel without power, a true gospel at all? Is a miracle drug that is eventually dispensed with only part of the formula, still the solution that was promised or is it something else? The gospel is not only the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus but also the promises attached to what Jesus did. Without those promises the gospel is no good news at all. The forgiveness of sin, rebirth into God’s family, the indwelling Holy Spirit and the power of the Spirit in our lives is all part of the package. To leave out any of those components makes the gospel less than it is meant to be.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” (Eph.1:17-20).

Wisdom, revelation, spiritual eyes, hope, inheritance, and incomparable power are key words that he prayed over and over again for the church in Ephesus. Without a demonstration of power, Christianity will be viewed, by most, as just another philosophy of life. But…we teach peace and love. So do Eastern religions. The historical fact of Jesus’ resurrection sets us apart but the power of the gospel is what confirms that resurrection. The psalmist declares that God forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases (Ps. 103). When Jesus was questioned about his authority to forgive sins on the earth, he simply healed the man as proof that the man’s sins were forgiven. Matthew records the moment when Jesus said, “For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic—‘Rise, pick up your bed and go home’” (Mt.9:5-6). A demonstration of power, governed by love, confirmed the reality of forgiveness.

We need those same demonstrations today. A gospel that preaches forgiveness without demonstrating the goodness of God through the supernatural intervention of his Spirit falls short. The charisms or supernatural, spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit are not just power but expressions of God’s love for people. That is why Paul devoted a whole chapter to love in the middle of his discussion on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

I am still frustrated that so many Christian churches today continue to deny, teach against, and even forbid the exercise of spiritual gifts such as healing, deliverance, prophecy, tongues, and so forth. Like the Pharisees, many still argue that the exercise of those gifts is satanic deceptions. The real deception is found in the prohibition of their exercise. Paul declared, “Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues” (1 Cor.14:39). He also charged, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt” (1 Thess.5:19-20).

I am not saying that the churches that deny the full ministry of the Holy Spirit do not love Jesus. I’m not saying that they do not do good. I am saying that they operate with an incomplete gospel because the promises attached to his good news are incomplete. Trying to push back the powers of darkness without the manifest power of the Holy Spirit is like hunting with a gun that is not loaded. That was never the Lord’s intent. Regardless of where you attend church, I hope that you will pursue everything the Spirit promises because those promises validate the resurrection of Jesus and the presence of his kingdom. They are continuing expressions of God’s love in a dark world. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you (Luke 11:17-20). Be blessed.

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”          Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled.    The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath.    But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. (Luke 6:1-11)

There are some who take offense at the move of the Holy Spirit and the miracles of God. They immediately reject what God is doing when the Spirit moves in ways not specifically seen in the Bible, or when He moves in ways that do not fit an individual’s theology, or when he moves at all. That individual would admit that God once worked in those ways but would assert that God no longer does such things. Each of these individuals would claim scriptural authority for his or her view. How we approach scripture makes a huge difference in our faith. Luke’s account is instructive in our approach to scripture.

The Pharisees were great students of the Torah. They had memorized most, if not all, of the Old Testament – certainly the first five books. They spent their days dissecting and debating the texts, trying to determine all things lawful and unlawful. They viewed scripture as a rulebook. Their approach was simply to determine what was permitted and what was prohibited in life and assign every nuance of life to one of those categories. When there was an infraction, their job was to throw and flag and assess a penalty.

The Torah said that man should do no work on the Sabbath. God, however, deleted the footnote that defined what constituted “work.” So the Pharisees and other religious leaders took on the task of defining the word for Him. Their scholars produced a definitive list of activities that constituted work and over time their definitions carried as much weight as scripture. Of the hundreds of activities prohibited, harvesting grain and healing on the Sabbath made the “prohibited” list. Jesus violated the list! In their minds, that marked Jesus as a sinner.

That would have been an easy label to hang on Jesus except for the fact that he performed numerous certifiable miracles that were far beyond the reach of any ordinary man. In fact, they seemed to be the marks of a true prophet in the order of Elijah or Elisha. But, by their definition of sin, Jesus was a sinner. So they simply declared his miracles to be works of the devil designed to deceive.

Their mistake was in their view of scripture. They knew the two greatest commandments: Love God and love your neighbor. What they didn’t understand was that God’s love had to be reflected in the interpretation of the scriptures. What they didn’t understand was that God was revealing himself in the scriptures as not only a holy God, but also a loving and merciful God who wanted to show them his goodness and kindness at every turn.

Even on Sinai, as God was giving the Law, Moses asked to see God’s glory. The Lord replied that he would cause all of his “goodness” to pass in front of Moses and that he would proclaim his name to the prophet (Ex.33:19). The first thing God wanted to reveal was his goodness so that the Law would be understood through that filter. The “Thou shalt not’s” of the Law were not laws to restrict the blessings or even the freedom of man, but rather warning signs to avoid danger. They were safety signs and doors to blessings from a loving God rather than a set of rules from a harsh judge.

Jesus, who came to show us the Father, understood that. When man was hungry, even on the Sabbath, God blessed him to find food. When a man was crippled, even on the Sabbath, God healed the man. Both of those acts reveal the nature and goodness of God. The Pharisees thought that man was made to serve the Law and the Sabbath. Jesus showed us that the Sabbath and the Law were made to serve man. How much more are the gospel and the New Covenant made to serve and bless us?

When someone today objects to miraculous moves of the Spirit, they end up objecting to men and women being healed, tormenting spirits being cast out of suffering individuals, the dead being raised, the blind receiving their sight and so forth.   If you ask them why they object, they will refer to scripture and argue that in the last days there will be counterfeit miracles and that God no longer operates in that way. My response would be, “So God no longer cares about the suffering of people enough to act supernaturally on their behalf? What about the goodness of God?” They might say that they don’t see the Spirit falling on people in scripture and making them laugh or cry or fall backwards and lie on the ground and convulse for hours. When Jesus came he acted in ways that Pharisees had never seen before. He associated with sinners, let harlots rub perfume on his feet, touched unclean lepers, walked on water, commanded storms, returned sanity to the demonized, and raised the dead over and over.

He then gave the same power and authority to others and declared that anyone who had faith in him would do even greater things. I’m certain that if the Pharisees had seen him walk on water or command storms they would have branded him a sorcerer. Why? Because they didn’t have a clear command or precedent in the Torah for such things. He was acting in new ways, just as the Spirit is acting in new ways today.

Does that mean anything goes? No, it doesn’t. We must still test the spirits. We need to ask if something actually violates a clear scripture (rather than a “reasoned argument” from men) or if it violates the nature of God and the Spirit of Christ. Healing does not violate the spirit of Christ, but opposing healing does. The Spirit falling on men with power does not violate scripture or the nature of God but denying the power of the Spirit does. Miracles of all kinds do not violate scripture or the nature of God, but assigning those miracles to demonic activity does.

Unfortunately, we still have the spirit of the Pharisees operating through men in our churches today. For the sake of their reasoned understanding of scripture, these men would forbid healing services, would be outraged if someone commanded the dead to rise at a funeral home, and would never allow anyone to minister deliverance to a member of their congregation.

Do they know that Jesus is Lord? Probably. Do they know Jesus? Probably not. When we approach scripture, we should see it through the lens of God’s goodness and his relentless desire to bless people rather than a rulebook that looks to penalize every infraction. We need to enjoy God and expect expressions of his goodness and power as we go through the day. Those who walked with Jesus, experienced that day by day and we walk with him now! So enjoy.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Phil.4:8)

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul encourages us to evaluate and choose what we think about, what we ponder, and what we entertain on the big screen of our imagination.  In other words, be intentional about everything…even your thought life. Everything we think about, focus on, or entertain in our minds leaves an impression on our brain and in our soul. The theological term for intentional or prolonged thinking about an issue, a principle, or an experience is meditation. Scripture mentions that process frequently.

Speaking of Isaac, the son of Abraham, we are told, “He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching” (Gen.24:63). Isaac had intentionally set time aside in the evening to meditate, to think about things, to mentally process his day and his relationships. After the death of Moses, the Lord spoke to Joshua and commanded him, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Jos.1:8). David prayed, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Ps.19:44; See also Ps.1:2, 48:9, 63:6, 77:12, 119:5, 143:5).

Meditation is a way to intentionally understand experiences, expand our understanding of people and events, reinforce positive thoughts, grasp biblical truths, establish God-directed goals, and deepen relational values in our heart and mind. For the believer, it is a time set aside to hear the Holy Spirit lead him into truth and shape his life and character. It is also a great way to detox spiritually, at the end of a day, after you have encountered hurtful people and slogged through a sin-soaked culture. What you think about most often, what you reflect on frequently, what you consider and process in your mind will rule the day in your heart.

The psalmists mention several things about which they frequently meditated: God’s creation, God’s wonderful and miraculous acts, their personal history with God – his blessings and faithfulness, the Word of God, and God himself. The apostle Paul would add, “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8). He also tells us, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col.3:1-2). The writer of Hebrews layers on another dimension. “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess” (Heb.3:1).

There may be more, but that is plenty to reflect on. Again, meditation is simply the act of intentionally thinking about, chewing on, reflecting, studying, talking about, praying about, etc. certain things you want to understand and get in your heart.

For us it is a dialogue with the Spirit, asking him to give us understanding, insight, revelation, and reinforcement of his truths and values in our life. In scripture, meditation seems to occur most often in the evening or during the “watches of the night.”   I tend to believe that the last things we focus on before falling asleep get the attention of our subconscious which continues to process those things during the night. When we invite the Holy Spirit to be involved in our sleep, we may receive truth we had never recognized before. “For God does speak—now one way, now another— though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds” (Job. 33:14-15).

Spending time in the evening reflecting on God, his truth, the goodness of Christ, his Word, etc. seems like a God-given way to detox spiritually from all the contaminates we have encountered during the day. Satan spends the day trying to pull us away from the truth of God, twisting it, and enticing us to agree with him rather than the Father. Meditation helps to realign our thoughts and feelings with the Lord and in doing so takes away places where the enemy might find a foothold. So much around us that we hear, see, and read – even unintentionally – defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit. An evening scrub with meditation will help to keep that temple a place where the Spirit can rest without offense.

As I examine the life of Jesus, everything seems so intentional. I suffer from being right-brained. Structure and concrete goals are not my style. Intentionality gives way to random responses to things I encounter during the day. I want to “get in the mood” before doing anything introspective and the mood is elusive. I’m working on consistent meditation. Writing this blog is a form of that but I want to lay in a godly habit of detoxing at the end of the day and inviting the Spirit to rule over my dreams and even the thoughts churned up by my subconscious. I believe meditation is one of God’s great divine weapons (2 Cor.10:4) and can make a huge difference as we follow Him. Perhaps, you’ll join me. Blessings in Him today.

Randy was in his 30’s and had been struggling with homosexuality off and on since high school. In the past three years his desires toward men had been obsessive. He was married with children but had been arranging clandestine meetings with men he met online and his shame and feelings of helplessness had become overwhelming. In my last blog I talked about his encounter with Jesus that had opened the door for hope again and the realization that he was still loved by his Heavenly Father.

After Randy had felt the arms of Jesus around him, his determination to resist the powerful temptations toward homosexual encounters was renewed. But the battle seemed constant and inevitably unwinnable. I began to speak to him about spiritual realities and spiritual warfare since Paul clearly states that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces in the heavenly realms (Eph.6:12). Randy had not heard much about that side of our faith in the denomination in which he had grown up yet his “supernatural” encounter with Jesus had opened him up to new possibilities.

One of Satan’s most destructive strategies is to assign demonic spirits to whisper thoughts that we experience as temptations and then to convince us that those thoughts are our own and that those thoughts define us. That was certainly true with Randy. I began to encourage him not to receive those thoughts as his own but as temptations or whispers from the enemy. His response should be to treat the thought as one being whispered by a spirit and to command the spirit to leave him in the name and authority of Jesus. That seemed a bit “out there” to Randy but he began to verbally command tempting spirits to leave him and the obsessive and oppressive nature of the temptations began to decrease but the voice was still a constant companion.

At that point I began to suggest deliverance from spirits of sexual perversion and homosexuality that were not just passing by but that had attached themselves to him. That thought was a profound jump for him and one he wasn’t immediately willing to receive.   However, he was determined to overcome this issue that had defined his life for years and so one day Randy, out of fear that he would eventually regress, consented.

And so, one afternoon in my office, a member of our congregation named James Morris, who had a great deal of experience in deliverance, and I prayed with Randy. We had him not only confess his sins but renounce them as well and forgive the man who had molested him years earlier. Then in the name and authority of Jesus, we began to command these spirits to release their hold on him and to leave him immediately. For the first few minutes we saw little happen but then Randy began to cough and gag. As we pressed in, Randy left his chair, hit the floor and began to crawl around with the spirits shouting, “No!” each time we commanded them to stop afflicting Randy and to leave. After a half hour of resisting, these spirits departed. Randy was absolutely sure that something had left him and although he was exhausted he was also at peace. James and I prayed for God to fill Randy with his Spirit, to grant him sexual holiness, and to restore his masculine soul. We told him to treat any further temptations as a spirit and to command them to leave.

Randy left my office that day and told me three months later that his love for his wife and sexual desires for her had returned. He was serving in his church again. Temptations from his past arose from time to time but without the power they once possessed. Randy wasn’t just managing his homosexual impulses but was free from them. The last I heard from Randy was about three years after his deliverance and he was still walking in freedom. I believe a demonic spirit had entered John through the molestation he had experienced as a child and as his confusion grew about his own masculinity and sexuality other spirits joined the first to create the shame and compulsions that ruled Randy for years. As the song declares, “There is power in the name of Jesus.”

Is every person involved in homosexuality ruled by demonic spirits? Probably not, but I believe many are and could be set free just as Randy was. I also know a young woman who was content to be single, serve the Lord, and live the busy life of a social worker. One day she met an older woman and developed a friendship with her but the friendship soon developed into a lesbian relationship with the two living together. That went on for a year with her concerned family praying for her each day. One day she simply walked away from the relationship and later said that she could pinpoint the moment when a spirit entered her and she could pinpoint the day it left. When it left, so did her desires for any sexual encounters with women. Again, a strong spirit had been at play in this woman’s life. Jesus has an answer for that.

In my next blog, we’ll talk about genetic propensities toward homosexuality and how some believers have dealt with that issue in their own lives. Blessings in Him.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.             Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Eph.6:13-18)

As Paul works through the panoply of weapons and armor the Christian is to strap on each day, he calls us to put on the helmet of salvation. In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul told them to put on the hope of salvation as a helmet (1 Thess.5:8). Figuratively, the function of a helmet is to guard our minds. Again, this language reveals that the greatest part of spiritual warfare lies in our thought life. In 2 Corinthians 10, where Paul discuss “divine weapons,” he explains that the key to tearing down strongholds is to bring every thought we have captive to Jesus Christ (2 Cor.10:5). In other words, when we align our thinking with the truths of Jesus, strongholds begin to crumble.

The reality is, however, that we can believe one thing in our minds and something else in our hearts. We have all had the experience of saying,” Part of me thinks this, but another part of me thinks that.” James talks about this experience as a “double-minded” man who follows the Lord only half-heartedly. I ran across a concept at a conference in Chicago that speaks to this (I can’t remember who the speaker was). The speaker spoke about “aspirational values” versus “actual values.” Aspirational values are values or beliefs we aspire to hold because we know we should. Actual values, on the other hand, are the ones we live by. We often say one thing and do another. Our actual values can be determined by seeing what we do rather than by what we say.

For instance, a man can say that his family is the most important thing in his life yet never spend any time with them because of the immense number of hours he puts in at work or pursuing another interest. If you ask him, he will always says that his family comes first (aspirational value) but if you watch him you will know that his job, golf, hunting, etc. come first because that is what gets his quality time and effort year after year. Because of that we need to examine our own lives often to see if our actual values and beliefs are lining up with Christ. Anything less gives the enemy a foothold in our mind and then in our life.

Salvation or the hope of salvation guards our minds with the truth of who we are and what we have in Christ and motivates us to stay true to the values and actions Christ calls us to hold in our minds and hearts. The enemy nearly always attacks our thought processes first with doubt, accusation, or condemnation and we need to actively push back against these false beliefs. Too many times, the whispers of the enemy go unnoticed or unchallenged or we believe that those thoughts come from us so we don’t know what to do with them. I always encourage believers to pay attention to their thoughts and if any are contrary to God’s word then we should first assume that a spirit is tempting us, renounce those thoughts, declare what is true, and command any unclean spirit to leave us immediately and never return.

In many cases, the thought ceases immediately and does not return. If the thought actually originated with us and not a spirit, then we have lost nothing and have still spoken truth over the lie even if it came from us and have reinforced God’s word in our hearts and mind.

Salvation, biblically, is not just the forgiveness of sin and eventual life in heaven but it is the promise that God meets our every need in this world as well as the world to come – every need, not every want. Satan’s biggest lie is that we have desires which are “needs” that God won’t provide so we need to search outside of God and his will to have our “needs” met. That was the lie in the Garden and is still his favorite. Our understanding of salvation and God’s promises guards our minds against those lies. Paul said that he had learned to be content with seasons of plenty and seasons of little because he believed in each season God would still meet his essential needs. Salvation gives us that assurance and is a great safeguard for our minds. It is indeed our helmet.

Ask yourself where your thinking is about God’s care and promises for you. You may need to realign some thoughts yourself as I often do and remember to differentiate between your actual values and beliefs and those you aspire to as a believer. Where there is a contradiction renounce it and declare God’s truth over the lie. Be blessed.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  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 firm. (Eph.6:10-13)

In this section of scripture and others, Paul paints a picture of unseen spiritual warfare that is going on all around us. A legitimate question is whether or not we play a role in that warfare or if God is simply orchestrating things in the spiritual realm that we have no particular part in.

To begin with, let’s go back to Daniel 10, which we referenced in the last blog. Daniel prayed. An angel was sent. War broke out in the spiritual realm. Even an archangel got involved in the ongoing battle. It all began when Daniel prayed and continued to pray. I believe Daniel’s persistence in prayer for twenty-one days is what prompted God to release Michael to go to the aid of the first angel. If he had stopped praying, he may never have realized the answer he needed. There is resistance in the spiritual realm to our prayers being answered.

In 2 Kings 6, we see Elisha surrounded by the armies of Aram and trapped in the small town of Dothan. His servant panics when he sees the army encamped around the town. However, Elisha, who knew he was a hunted man, must have prayed daily for protection and when his servant alerted him he was essentially unconcerned. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked” (2 Kings 6:16-18). Our prayers put the armies of heaven into play to fight against the enemy as he comes against the people or the will of God. It may be one angel or a company of angels but much more is going on in the spiritual realm on our behalf than we can imagine.

When we command demons to relinquish their hold on another human-being, angels are there to enforce our commands as we represent the commander of the armies of heaven and command in his authority. In one sense, angels were created to minister to us (Heb.1:14) but in many cases they minister with us. While John was receiving the vision we call the Book of Revelation, he was so overcome by the presence of a great angel that he forgot himself and almost worshipped the angel who corrected him immediately. “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” (Rev.19:10). As fellow servants, we and the angels both are sometimes involved in accomplishing the will of God on the earth – we labor in the seen realm while they labor in the unseen realm on the same heavenly mission.

What we fail to realize is that we live and operate in both the natural and the spiritual realm as those who are already seated in heavenly places, who already possess eternal life spiritually, and whose prayers, commands, and declarations set the armies and the Spirit of God into motion. John Wesley said, “God does nothing except in response to believing prayer.” But when we pray in alignment with God’s will, our prayers shake the heavenlies. God intends to rule the earth through his people. Spiritual warfare is just that – letting God push back the dominion of darkness through us as we pray, command, declare his word over situations, share the gospel, and do as Jesus would do – healing the sick, casting out demons, cleansing the lepers and even raising the dead. In doing so, we join Jesus in destroying the works of the devil (1 Jn.3:8).

The real work and the real enemy lie in the spiritual realm. We cannot conquer forces in the spiritual realm with weapons of the world but only with divine weapons that launch the power and authority of Jesus into hearts and into situations. If we are going to be angry, offended, or resentful those emotions should be directed toward Satan not toward the people he manipulates. Couples who fight, should start fighting the devil, not one another. Even when we stand against a force consumed by evil such as ISIS, we must remember that there are spiritual realities behind the movement that must be defeated through prayer, fasting, and other divine weapons or after ISIS that spirit will simply raise up another group filled with violence and hatred.

The church is focused too much on this world and approaches too many issues with weapons of the world rather than weapons that wield spiritual power. State-of-the-art buildings, celebrity guests, political clout, light shows, smoke machines, sports programs, and coffee bars are not wrong in themselves but these are weapons and tools used even by Vegas casinos. Holiness, prayer, love, authority, and the declared Word of God are the weapons that will win the world and the day for our struggle is not against flesh and blood. That is not only true for the church as a whole but for us as individuals as well.