In the Spirit of the Mind

Dynamics of Spiritual Warfare

[inthespiritofthemind]

#51 It's About What You Put in Your Soul

I have been in the deliverance ministry for many years.  The primary emphasis has been the renewing of my own mind, but I have also helped others to achieve freedom.  I will go over a few basic details which will help you understand what I am writing about.

Every person on the earth is born spiritually alive until they sin the first time and the spirit dies.  The soul (mind, emotions and will) takes over.  There are two spiritual kingdoms.  One is the kingdom of God and the other is the kingdom of Satan and demons.  When we believe in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross, we accept Him as our Savior and are born again.  At that time we become alive in the spirit and one with God.  We, the new creations in the spirit, are holy, righteous and light.  There is no darkness in us.  Our souls do have darkness in them.  The soul needs help from the Holy Spirit to be set free from demons who have taken up residence.  The demons act as though they are us and will stay and run our lives as long as we do not know they are there or we don’t actively cast them out.  As long as they are there they are doing something evil because that is their nature. All of this has been explained in earlier posts and is substantiated throughout the Bible.

Getting demons out of our souls is God’s desire so that He may use us on the earth by being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Cleaning out and protecting the soul is what this is all about.  On to my story.

Not too long ago I experienced a troubling, sudden and complete “memory loss” or “blank out” while with a friend.  My friend was talking about someone I should have known, but I had a complete blank on the person and all details. It was excruciating as I tried to remember and there was a complete void of  any details.  Forgetting something for a second is nowhere near as frightening as what I was experiencing.  And I knew demons were causing the issue.

My friend very calmly and kindly spoke details to jog my memory including showing a picture.  Nothing came to mind.  Instead, I “felt” the shame, fear, guilt, condemnation, frustration and embarrassment of knowing I should be able to remember.  I also discerned the stronghold called performance -  getting my self worth and value based on my performance, behavior and how I looked to myself and others, including God. I was struggling and not wanting to look like a fool in front of my friend.  

I calmly left my friend and traveled home doing warfare, praying in the spirit, rebuking every common “memory loss” demon, and declaring whichever scriptures I could remember at the time.  Still feeling frustrated, I got ready for bed and climbed in with no relief before falling into a troubled sleep.  

I have written in previous posts that one common method of knowing when a demon leaves is for the person to yawn.  Up to this point, I had not yawned once and I thought of that as I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, the first thought that went through my mind was the memory of a movie I had watched the week before about a man who had lost his memory and how that had played out in his life.  Then I yawned.  Then another memory came of a movie I had watched the week before the previous one with the same theme.  I began to yawn and yawn.  As the Lord told me truth and I began to yawn myself to freedom, I realized that watching two movies about memory loss, even spread out over two weeks time, had been a detriment to me.  Demons used movies to enter my mind and set up housekeeping.  Thoughts I entertained, without discerning the spirits behind them, caused a major disruption in my soul and made me fearful for my cognitive ability.

The Lord dispelled every fear when He said, “You don’t have a problem with Alzheimer's or Dementia.  (Both of my parents have been afflicted with one or both.)  Then He said, “It’s about what you put in your soul!”

By opening my soul up to two movies which focused on loss of memory from different causes, the enemy was able to trigger an ungodly blockage of my memory.  One movie had very little that would make me cautious about watching it. The other had some military battles and deception, but little else to make it seem really bad.  It seemed to me that both passed the “OK to watch test .”  But I didn’t ask the Lord.  Nor did I think about how the predominant theme of memory loss would affect my soul.  I won’t do that again.  

Talk with the Lord every day about His will for the day.  What does He want to do?  Would He like to use me in some way to accomplish His desired agendas?  Submit to Him, to be His hands, feet and mouthpiece led by His will.  It’s not about what He wants us to do.  It’s about what He wants to do through us.  

Ask the Holy Spirit what deliverance you need.  The Holy Spirit helps us in renewing our minds to cast out lying demons and strongholds still in our souls.  Our goal is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and He helps us to do that.  

God loves you. Submit to Him and let Him help set your soul free.

Be prayerful about what you let into your soul!

[inthespiritofthemind]

#50 We are Spiritually Alive at Birth

Many believers think that after Adam and Woman (later called Eve after the Fall) first sinned in the Garden of Eden and died spiritually, all mankind was fallen when they were born into the world.  However, there are scriptures which tell us that is not so.  In John 1:9 we read, “There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”  In the accompanying references for each verse, we can see another option for this verse which could read, “There was the true light which enlightens every man coming into the world.”  The true light is God.  Every man coming into the world would be every baby born.  Simply put, God lives in every baby born into the world.  The truth is that God created mankind and loves us.  Every person born into the world is unfallen until sin occurs.  

Paul writes in Romans 7:9, “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came (the Law), sin came alive, and I died.”  We are spiritually alive as babies and when we reach what some call “the age of accountability,” we make a decision to follow the leading of evil speaking into our thoughts.  We choose to disobey the Law of God and we sin.  At that point we die spiritually and our souls take over running our lives.  That is when we need Jesus, our Redeemer.  

Another compelling affirmation that babies are spiritually alive and not born fallen is found in Luke 1:26-55.  In this blog, if you go to post #33 God’s Take on When Life Begins, you will find an explanation of this truth in detail.  In short, we find Mary has received the word of God that she will bear a child who is the Son of God.  She accepts the Word from the angel Gabriel, the Holy Spirit comes upon her and she conceives.  She is pregnant with an embryo.  She then travels to visit her pregnant relative, Elizabeth.  She enters the house and says a greeting.  The fetus in Elizabeth jumps for joy, the Holy Spirit comes on her and she calls Mary “The Mother of my Lord.”  

Jesus was an embryo.  John the Baptist was a fetus.  Mary was already a mother and Jesus was already the Lord.   John was already capable of expressing emotion and reaction to sound when it reached the ears of his mother.  Wow!  That is amazing!  It is clear that these babies were connected spiritually to the Creator.  The babies were covered by the Holy Spirit during their time in the womb.  And when born they were spiritually alive.  Jesus was the only person on earth who never fell into sin and was spiritually alive and one with the Father until the cross.  Pregnancy is a blessed and holy time for every mother.    

There are multiple stories of infants and toddlers who seem to be watching some unseen entity and delighting in what they are seeing.  All smiles.  Looking at a place in the room where no one is visibly standing or sitting.  Speaking out in what seems to be a rebuke in some unknown language while pointing and frowning.  

 Babies are spiritually alive, not fallen. They see angels and demons. Sometimes they have not yet acquired fears (spirits of evil) influencing their souls. They talk to the angels and they cast out demons.  Praise God for His wisdom and we thank Him for giving us life, mercy, and grace.  Babies are spiritually alive when born.  Lord, teach us discernment so we may teach our children how to walk with You for their whole lives and how to fight the battle against darkness with courage! Thank you, Lord!  

[inthespiritofthemind]

#49 God's Take on Abortion

Did you know that babies are spiritually alive?  Did you know that their bodies are created by the hand of God?  Did you know they are meant by God to be a beautiful blessing from the joining together of a man and woman to have children?  Did you know that families were God’s will for the earth?

Think about this.  God created man and woman to love each other and put a desire in them to join their bodies together in a very special way which allows the conception of a new life to begin.  This is all from God  according to His will.  That means we need to know God’s will.   

Now every part of a man’s body and a woman’s body is alive.  When the man joins with the woman as husband and wife according to God’s will, the sperm which is alive enters the woman’s body and travels to unite with an egg which is also alive.  To this point everything is alive.  

The egg becomes fertilized and becomes an embryo.  The embryo attaches to the lining of the uterus and is supplied with nourishment, and blood flow and oxygen from the mother.  As the embryo changes and grows into the form of a baby, we begin to recognize this little human, our child, our baby.  

In Psalm 139: 13-16, David writes, “For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb.  I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from Thee, When I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.  Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written.  The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

God is totally involved in the creation of the baby.  The organs or inward parts are created.  David likens his body forming to God weaving him together in his mother’s womb.  Fearfully and wonderfully made.  And even before his features become recognizable he has a soul.  He is hidden and secreted in the womb.  His time on earth is ordained already by God even though none has happened outside the womb yet.  What an amazing and wonderful picture of the creation of the baby in the womb.  That child is real, alive spiritually and physically, with a life already ordained by God before being born.  Only an evil presence would deny this truth.

In the world today there are actually women and men who think it is permissible for someone to invade the bodies of mothers and forcibly tear apart, suction, and remove the child who was created by God.  Or the mother can be given a pill with deadly chemicals to kill and abort the baby from the mother in a dangerous painful process for both.   They don’t see the child as a creation of God or a viable living human being.  They are living by their desires and perhaps do not want the responsibility of raising a child.  Perhaps they do not have the support of a husband and are fearful of raising a child alone.  They may have been raped or have an illness which threatens their lives if they continue the pregnancy.  They may already have more children than they can care for.   All of these considerations are real. But they are influenced by evil and against God’s will.

In Exodus 20:13 God says, “Thou shalt not kill” in the King James Version of the Bible.  The New American Standard says, “You shall not murder.”  The demons who want to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) every human being on the earth use all manner of lies to convince mankind that unborn babies are not actually alive, that they are a mass of tissue without value, and are not able to care for themselves if born prematurely so they are not viable. The demons convince people that unborn babies are not as important as the mother and can easily be disposed of.  These lies are believed and massive numbers of unborn babies have been aborted every second of every day.  There are even new laws in some places which allow the killing of the babies up to 28 days after they are born. That is murder and the taking of a life.  Since the overturning of Roe vs Wade and assigning the question of abortion to be decided in each individual state there has been a change in the numbers of babies killed. But in the last 50 years millions of babies have been murdered.

God hates the slaughter of the babies.  In the Old Testament there are many references to the Israelites giving their children as sacrifices to “walk through the fire” before the gods called Baal and Molech.  There are many scriptures in the Old Testament addressing these acts of defiance to God.  

It is important to note that the word abortion is not in the Bible. There are references to causing the death of a baby which is punishable by death.  But it must be noted that the killing of a baby during pregnancy is not even mentioned.  Demons have made that an acceptable practice in more recent centuries.  

Demons hate God and people.  We were created by God for Himself for fellowship with Him.  He loves us.  He gave His Son that we might have forgiveness.  Demons are intent on doing every evil thing towards our destruction that we will permit or receive.  

Thoughts in the mind are the battleground.  We must learn to discern whether the thoughts we have are from God or demons.  Then we learn how to fight the spiritual battle needed.  We are urged to renew our minds and be transformed spiritually by the Holy Spirit. We are the warriors the demons fear.   Demons will flee from people as we fight for their freedom, including those deceived into thinking abortion is acceptable.  

Another effect of abortion through which the demons work to hurt humans, is the shame and regret felt afterwards by the father and the mother.  I have known people who have been totally devastated and hurt by guilt when they realize that the baby they just killed was an actual child, their child, and its death cannot be undone. I knew a mother who was tormented by a spirit of death after an abortion.  She did receive deliverance of that spirit and was set free. They all must know that there is forgiveness from God. He has already provided for that forgiveness and loves them so much.  He has that baby in His arms in heaven and still wants the parents free from demonic oppression. Turn to Him and receive His love and forgiveness.  

There are real and excellent solutions for mothers and fathers who are facing difficulty with pregnancy issues.  As God leads, those answers can be received and implemented.  Adoption is a very desirable solution and can be such a blessing for the birth mother and father and for the adoptive parents.  I have seen this firsthand in my family.

Every person has value to God.  Each baby conceived has been blessed and given a specific purpose for his or her life by Father God. The parents have a God given purpose as well. It is His will for all of us to fulfill that divine purpose. Please talk to the Lord and receive His blessing in your life and for your child. Choose life! 

[inthespiritofthemind]

#48 God's Take on Homo-Sex

The spiritual atmosphere in the world is increasingly filled with satanic forces perpetrating every evil practice with which they can influence the minds of God’s most beloved creation, mankind.  Satan and the demonic hoards are not introducing anything new to steal, kill and destroy mankind (John 10:10).  They are merely using the same tactics which have worked for thousands of years to cause our destruction and separation from God.  Sin is breaking God’s Law which is His Word.  God’s Word may be read in the Bible as the Holy Spirit leads, or heard as the Holy Spirit speaks directly to us.  We must practice listening.  The mind of the soul is the battleground.  The soul is the mind, emotions and will.  Please pray right now for eyes to see and ears to hear the truth as you read this post.

Genesis 1: 27-28a says, “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  And God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; ”

Genesis 2:22-24 says, “And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and He brought her to the man.  And the man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh;   she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.’  For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

God created man and woman, two separate sexes, and He told them to be fruitful and multiply.  There was no sin in the world yet.  Man and Woman, later called Adam and Eve, were still spiritually alive.  The words Adam spoke were from God and were His declaration for marriage between a man and a woman.  Adam and Woman and God were still one in the spirit until man sinned, and he and Woman died spiritually.  Sin occurred when Woman was deceived by the serpent, Satan, and Man disobeyed what God had spoken to him by eating  from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.  

Satan and demons know God’s most beloved creation and will stop at nothing to destroy everything He loves so much. We read of Satan’s evil effect on men in Genesis 13:13.  “Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.”  The actual term “homo-sex” is not in the Bible, but the description of the sin is explained in the account of Abraham’s nephew Lot in Genesis 19.  Two angels had visited Abraham and Sarah and delivered the Word of the Lord concerning their son Issac who would be born to them soon.  Then the angels traveled to Sodom where Lot had chosen to live with his family.  Lot met the two angels in the city square and invited them to come to his home to stay as he recognized what they were.  After they accepted his offer, the men from the city surrounded Lot’s house and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight?  Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.” (Genesis 19:5)  

In Genesis 19: 12-13, the angels told Lot to get his family and leave “for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”  God hated the evil and destroyed both Sodom and Gomorrah by raining down fire from heaven. They sinned against the Lord and He destroyed two cities of people who were exceedingly wicked.

There is a specific addressing of the sexual relations between a man with a man in Leviticus 18: 22,  “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female, it is an abomination.”  In verse 24 God says, “Do not defile yourselves by any of these things (other acts listed in the chapter); for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.”  By practicing these actions, the men became defiled.    This lifestyle, which so many want to be judged as "normal" in our world today, causes the desecration and profaning of a sacred gift from God. Remember God said to be fruitful and multiply  through the gift of procreation between a man and a woman.  Satan manipulated God’s intention for sexual union for an abnormal sexual occurrence which defiles the people.   

The final passage of scripture I would like to share with you is from Romans 1:18, 26-32.  Verse 18 speaks of the wrath of God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.  Later he states that even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God.  Their foolish hearts were darkened (Romans 1:21).    

Romans 1:26-28 says,  “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged their natural function for that which is unnatural.  And in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.”  Then follows a long list of evil existing in their lives which are worthy of death.  They have done these evil deeds and heartily approve them in others as well.

It is easily understood from the scriptures that the acts of homo-sex between two men or two women are not according to the will of God.  What most people do not know is that the reason the leading or desire is even present in the persons who entertain these actions is because there are demons of lust who have interjected thoughts into the mind of each individual.  Those thoughts have been accepted into their minds as their own thoughts. They have believed that is who they are and were just born that way.

Homo-sex is a spirit of lust that enters a man and causes him to lust for a man.  In the same way a spirit of lust enters a woman and causes her to lust for another woman. These are demons that oppose God’s created design.  Demons of lust are still demons and God did not intend for them to enter the soul of a man or a woman.

 Demons have been around since fallen angels lost their heavenly home by choosing evil instead of God.  They hate God’s creation and want to destroy mankind completely.

 God began by telling man and woman to be fruitful and multiply.  Homo-sex does not procreate.  The intent of the Homo-sex agenda is death. Homo-sex ends procreation and therefore could eventually end the human race. That is not acceptable to God.

The physical act of homo-sex carries a “due penalty of their error” which will be received by each person (Romans 1:27).  Participating in the unnatural acts of Homo-sex can have devastating effects on the mind and body.  Shame and condemnation are just two of the demons who torment these participants.  The desire to be accepted as "normal" in this lifestyle is most revealing.  The mental anguish they suffer from the presence of the demons is massive.  The blood of Jesus has been shed for healing, forgiveness and sanctification and is available to those who believe through the cross.   

There is also a movement which encourages children to question their sexuality and offers the unnatural and ungodly evil of “transgenderism.”  This is depravity and pure evil.  God does not create a girl in a boy’s body or a boy in a girl’s body.  He is not the author of confusion.  And the parents and other adults who enable this evil have much responsibility in this travesty.  Remember in Romans 1:28 that “…God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.”

God did not create us for either of these sexual aberrations.  He knew that these would happen and that the evil must be stopped by His church through spiritual warfare. He has provided the knowledge needed for us to fight the war for spiritual freedom from darkness in His Bible.  Many churches have not sought the filling of the Holy Spirit for demonstrations of warfare and power, nor have they received the truth of the demonic presence in our souls.

When God says for us to renew our minds, He is telling us to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the demons in our souls who have entered through our thoughts.  He helps us to discern the origin of each thought, be it holy or unholy.  Then we can take authority over them and command the evil spirits to leave.  As the demons leave, we can ask the Holy Spirit to fill that place in our souls.  

Homo-sex and Transgender are demons. They are not the people.  These spirits enter the souls of believers and non-believers alike  because people are ignorant of spiritual dynamics and how demons operate. They hide themselves in our personalities and we think they are us. We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit for our freedom and that of others as He leads. We must never allow spirits of judgment or criticism against anyone for the actions of the demons.  As the Holy Spirit leads, God can use us to help them be set free from this bondage.  We must know that we are so loved by our God and He cares so much that He provided a way for our redemption and reconciliation through Jesus.  We have already been reconciled to God.  Our sin has been paid for by the blood of Jesus.  He just asks us to receive that reconciliation.

Deliverance is available.  He has asked us to “renew our minds and not be conformed to the world, but be transformed so that we may know the good, acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).   He loves us with a pure love, holding no evil thing against us when we repent and turn to Him.  He does not even remember our sin.  We have become righteous and holy and one with Him in the spirit.  

God made you.  Talk to Him. Let Him touch your life and set you free.  He loves you so much.  Receive that love.   

[inthespiritofthemind]

Signs and Wonders and Miracles

Signs and Wonders and Miracles, Holy Spirit flowing.

Signs and Wonders and Miracles, From the heart of God.

He is our Creator, And His will is pure.

Signs and Wonders and Miracles, Like Jesus did and more.

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry,    October, 2021

[inthespiritofthemind]

This Day! This Hour!!

Chorus:

This day! This hour! This is the moment of God’s Pow’r!

Battles fought! Warfare done! Holy Spirit vic-tries won!

Verse 1:

The devil comes to us, Christians, saying miracles aren’t for today.  The truth of God is not in him. He claims the pow’rs gone away.

But he is a liar and the Father of lies. He fears the Holy Spirit gifts.

So, he hides the truth that threatens him, in division, arguments and rifts.

Chorus:

Verse 2:

God desires His river to flow, through His children free & filled,

Manifesting power and love, through His Spirit His kingdom to build.

So, fight the war to renew your mind, submit to Him and follow through.

The need is great and you will find, the purpose He has for you!

Bridge:

Jesus is the Perfect. The pow’rs not gone away!

Apostles, prophets and the rest, they’re still here today!

Believers in His Name will do the works He did too!

And, so, until He comes again, God’s Spirit is for you!

Chorus:

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry,     March 2020

[inthespiritofthemind]

Jesus Plus the Cross

Chorus:    

Jesus, You are my Lord, my King, my Savior.

For all my life You are the one who loves me without end.

Verse 1:

You gave your all to reconcile me to my Father God,

And I thank You, Lord, for all that you’ve done,

My Jesus plus the cross.

Verse 2:

You became sin for our righteousness, bore stripes for our health,

Took poverty that we might be rich,

Our Jesus plus the cross.

Jesus, You are my Lord, my King, my Savior.

For all my life You are the one who loves me without end.

Jesus, You are our Lord, our King, our Savior.

For all our lives You are the one who loves us without end.

For all our lives You are the one who loves us without end.

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen,

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry   2021

[inthespiritofthemind]

You're Righteous! You're Righteous!

Chorus:

You’re righteous! You’re righteous!  The devil’s such a liar!

You’re righteous! You’re righteous!  He’s going to the fire!

You’re righteous! You’re righteous!  He says it isn’t so.

You’re righteous! You’re righteous!  Cause our God’s in the know!

Verse 1:

God made Jesus to be sin, for us, for me, for you!

Righteousness is our big win, because our God is true!

Verse 2:

Demons, devils, all the same. They will leave in Jesus’ Name!

Through the Holy Spirit’s pow’r, cast them out this very hour!

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry             2021

[inthespiritofthemind]

Filled With the Spirit

We wanna be filled with the Spirit

Filled with the Holy Ghost

We wanna rock with His power

And share it all around.

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry     2016

[inthespiritofthemind]

The Renewing of the Mind

The renewing of the mind brings freedom

The renewing of the mind brings peace

To tromp on the enemy, and make him flee

The renewing of the mind brings peace

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry

2016

[inthespiritofthemind]

Open My Eyes, Lord

Open my eyes, Lord.  Help me to see.

To discern good from evil. To choose to be free.

To know who I am, Lord.  Righteous, holy and light.

One with the Father and armed with His might.

Father, I praise and humbly thank you.

Your love has redeemed me and made me brand new.

As my service of worship my life I give.  

Fill me and use me so that others may live.

Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see

Freedom and truth from Calvary.

Gifts from the Father with wisdom and love.

Covenant promise giv’n from above.

Show us the battle as we take our stand.

Light against darkness. There’s only one end.

Destroying the works of the devil and sin.

We are the victors!  Amen and Amen!!

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry,    Nov, 2019

[inthespiritofthemind]

Oh, How Could I Live Without Jesus?

Oh, how could I live without Jesus?  No kindness or love would I know,

The hate of this world closes in on me.  No purpose or thought save my own.

No one but myself to be lived for.  A-lone and hopeless within.

The darkness completely surrounding me whispers sleep and death to my soul.

Oh, listen, dear sisters and brothers to cries from the lost and confused

The enemy steals and murders. Our brothers and sisters abused

With lies and thoughts unbelieving. His purpose to kill and destroy.

Strongholds prohibit receiving God’s free gifts of peace and joy.

Our hearts must cry out with compassion and fight for our brethren, you see.

Discerning holy warriors, Spirit power flowing free.

For we are the army He’s chosen to speak forth His truth and His grace.

He died as us and is risen. What wonder to look on His face!

Oh, how could I live without Jesus! My Master, my Savior, my friend!

You’ve reconciled me to the Father and given me love without end!

My life, my joy, my purpose! I know we will never part!

I’m thanking you without ceasing! I’m praising you within my heart!!

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry,    January, 2020

[inthespiritofthemind]

Made Whole

This shall be done by those who believe In My gracious Name,

By the Holy Spirit’s power, Says the Lord of Hosts.

Chorus:

The blind shall see, the deaf shall hear, The lame will walk again.

The dead shall live, the dumb shall speak, And all will be made whole.

Christian, this is My will for you, To move in works of pow’r.

All that I’ve done and greater than these, In this very hour!

Chorus:

The blind shall see, the deaf shall hear, The lame will walk again.

The dead shall live, the dumb shall speak, And all will be made whole!

And all will be made whole! 

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry,    2004

[inthespiritofthemind]

For Our of Your Belly Shall Flow

For out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water!

For out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water!

And the blind shall see!

And the deaf shall hear!

The lame will walk!

And the captive will be set free!

For out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water!

Lyrics and Melody by Viki Perry

1998

#Original Song #John 7:38 #Living Water #Holy Spirit #blind see #deaf hear #lame walk #captive set free #out of your belly #out of your inmost being shall flow rivers of living water #filling of Holy Spirit

[inthespiritofthemind]

#47  DIVINE APPOINTMENT

Have you ever been out doing your normal errands and God brings a divine appointment to you?  Those times can be the high point of your day when you make yourself available to Him to allow Him to speak truth to someone else and brighten your day and theirs.  That happened today for me.  I am so grateful that God opens those doors.  I am thankful that He trusts me to speak His word and do His works for their benefit.

Today I saw an acquaintance with whom there had been short but friendly words without really knowing each other.  Today I learned her name!  She admitted to having a cold and the Holy Spirit quickly spoke words of life and covenant health to her through me.  He spoke of the covenant we as Christians have through the cross which is listed in 1 Peter 2:24.   She thanked me and quickly asked me to pray for her father who was hospitalized the night before.  I learned his name and began to declare life to his body.  

This time the Holy Spirit took me to Mark 16:17-18.  Jesus said this before He ascended to heaven after the resurrection, “And these signs will accompany those who have believed.  In My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will pick up serpents (the translation of the word ‘areo’ for ‘pick up’ is also ‘put off ‘as in shaking off serpents or demons), and if they drink any deadly poison it shall not harm them (divine protection from poisons), they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.”  God’s will is for us to be healed.  

Did you know that when we pray or declare healing and life over anyone we do not speak alone?  There are four of us praying and declaring at the same time.  That is us, the believers, and Father God,  Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all declaring at the same time!  You cannot have any more power working than that!  

So, my new friend and I made eight beings of light declaring over her and her father the health they have been given through the cross and rebuking the demons attacking their bodies.  Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness and by His stripes we were healed. It’s done! It must just be believed and accepted!  

If you are a believer or if you are not, God loves you and wants you healed.  You need only to receive Jesus as Savior and you may receive the life and health provided at the cross.  You will become a new creation in the spirit.  You will then be one in spirit with the Father [God], Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  You can invite Jesus into your life by confessing that you have sinned and broken God’s law and that you want to receive the redemption Jesus provided for you when He died as you on the cross and was resurrected as you.  

I pray for each person who reads this post to hear directly from God through the Holy Spirit.  May you hear His voice and receive truth and freedom, salvation and life.  We declare that you are set free from darkness and will walk in the light of God!  

I pray that you all have divine appointments with those to whom God leads you to share salvation, life, health, freedom and truth.  Receive that blessing, my friends!  Amen.  

 #Teaching, #divine appointment,  #Truth,  #freedom, #Father God, #Holy Spirit, #sharing God’s Word, #scripture, #receiving Jesus, #blessing, #covenant health, #reaching out to others, #be available to God, #receive health, #receive the Word, #Testimony

[inthespiritofthemind]

#46 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 Part 2

Verse 18: “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,” When Adam and woman sinned in the Garden of Eden, God’s closeness and fellowship with mankind was broken.  But He had a plan for reconciling us to Himself before the foundation of the world. Every part of what these verses say was part of that plan and was set in motion.  God knew what would happen and began the reconciliation of mankind to Himself. Reconciliation is the restoration of a friendly relationship.  God loves us so much, that He created us as His highest creation.  He spoke His Word and when man disobeyed, God’s Word was fulfilled and mankind died spiritually as a result of the first sin each one committed.  He desired for His relationship with mankind to be restored.  But each man was in an unholy state when sin occurred and could not survive fellowshipping God directly.  God’s pure holiness made it impossible for us to be in close contact until the ultimate sacrifice was made.  The sacrifice of the blood of bulls and goats according to the Law each year “could never make perfect those who draw near…..For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.”  Hebrews 10:1b, 4

So, God planned the ultimate sacrifice which would be once for all.  “By this will (covenant) we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”  Hebrews 10:10 He planned to send His Son to be the ultimate sacrifice as a spotless lamb, sinless and perfect, on the cross for us, as us, in death and in resurrection. Thereby, He, God, could reconcile the whole world, whom He loved so much, to Himself through Jesus Christ!! “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (God).  John 3:16 Now we can, as holy and righteous spirit beings who are one with Him, fellowship Him through Jesus.  Jesus points us to the Father.  Everything Jesus did was because God desired it.  Jesus had to submit His will to the Father completely. And by doing that, we have been reconciled to the Father!

In the last part of verse 18 we see that God gave us the ministry of reconciliation.  This brings to mind that after we have received the fact of our reconciliation, He desires for us to look out of our own selves and “minister” that same reconciliation to others.  To minister is to “give help, serve, or attend” to the needs of others around us.

Verse 19: “namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”  This reconciliation has not just been given to Christians.  It is a fact already accomplished for the whole world. We receive it gladly for ourselves, but the message of reconciliation is for everyone in the world.  The sacrifice has been given.  It is done! It is for everyone! God desires all of mankind to know they are already reconciled to Him.  He yearns for relationship with all mankind.  And He has given us that ministry.  A ministry is caring for the needs of others, and for the lost, it is sharing that God loves us all and has given us reconciliation or relationship with Him.  Everyone can have salvation upon receiving Jesus as Savior and then know God.  

He is not holding trespasses or sins against us. He gave the ultimate sacrifice of His Son! The sins have been paid for by Jesus.  God demanded perfection and Jesus performed that for us. Demons accuse us of imperfections and failings over and over in the number one stronghold called performance.  In that stronghold we base our own value on a flawed view of the imperfection and behavior in our souls, and we think that is how God sees us.  But this verse clearly states that God is not holding our sins against us.  We are reconciled.  The whole world is reconciled to God.  Demons also manipulate this performance stronghold in our souls to cause us to have difficulty loving the brethren based on their performance and behavior and to feel distant from God based on our performance and behavior.  These are all lies which we have received and believed.

God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus and His perfect sacrifice.  God no longer holds our sins against us.  We are sin free.  We are brought back to reconciliation and relationship with God.  Individually and as part of the whole world, we are entrusted to speak and minster that word of reconciliation.  If we are believing the lies of the stronghold of performance, we will encounter demons trying to stop our freedom from occurring and that of those to whom we are to minister.  We need to spend time with the Holy Spirit to be free of these strongholds.  He will shine the light of truth in our souls and we must take authority over the evil spirits and command them to leave. Offensive warfare will uncover the spirits and when we turn up the light of truth against them they will leave. When light comes against darkness, the light always works and wins!  Then we must will to do what the Father desires and speak the word of reconciliation to all mankind.

Verse 20: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  We are people sent as representatives or messengers for Christ.  We are begging on behalf of Christ.  Jesus humbled Himself before His Father giving everything.  He gave Himself for the whole world at the request of His Father.  How did He do that?  Think of the love required for Him to go through what He went through.  He gave up His deity and became a man in the flesh. He dealt with everything we deal with in life except He knew what darkness was and never sinned when tempted by that darkness.  He knew what it was to live in this earth, but His fellowship with His Father was not severed until He suffered the cross.  Because He gave all, even His life, He asks us to accept His sacrifice and reconciliation to God. We are to share this offering from the Father. This is such good news.  God is entreating through us for all to accept.

Verse 21: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  Jesus went to the cross for us and as us.  When He died, He died as us.  So, we were literally on the cross with Him.  We saw that in verse 14.  In verse 15 we see that He also rose again on our behalf. He rose as us. We have died and risen with Christ.

Jesus did not just die as us and rise as us, but He BECAME sin!   That is a miracle only God could do! He knew no sin. He became sin.  As perfection, He had never sinned. He was the only one who ever performed perfectly, which is what God required as a “once for all” sacrifice for mankind to be redeemed and reconciled to Himself.  He became sin on our behalf.  He did that so we could become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus).  

This “might” does not mean “maybe” will become the righteousness of God. “Might” here represents the opportunity to have something when you receive what is offered.  It is done when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.  This is a gift from the cross.  This means that when we receive Jesus we are rebirthed spiritually and become one spirit with God.  To be reconciled with God and in right standing enough to have a relationship with a holy God means that we must be holy and righteous as well. The newly rebirthed spirit being that we have become is clean and brand new as stated in verse 17. We are new creations who have never sinned and cannot sin. “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”  1 John 3:9

The rebirth does not change the soul, hence the need to renew the mind to the presence of lies from the enemy.  These lies and the liars behind them affect behavior in the soul and body or “flesh.” The lies also keep us from knowing the will of God. Romans 12:2 We are instructed to do spiritual warfare in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 The battleground is the mind. Spiritual warfare is when spirits fight. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12  

The enemy will condemn believers when the soul expresses bad behavior which is a result of their presence and lies in our minds. But Romans 8:1 says “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”   And 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus holds us complete without blame. We are righteous and one spirit with God.  We are blameless.  We are holy. We must renew our minds and believe the truth.  We must renew our minds and shine the light on the lies of the enemy driving them out of our souls.  God has given us righteousness through the gift of His Son and Jesus entreats us to know that and share that gift with the world.  I Corinthians 15:34 calls upon us to “Awake unto righteousness and sin not.” Righteousness is who we are in spirit. “Sin not” refers to the mind of the soul being renewed.  We are not to be sin conscious.  We are to walk in the righteousness God gave us.  

[inthespiritofthemind]

#45 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 Part 1

This passage contains some foundational truths for the Christian life.  As I pondered these 8 verses recently, I realized I had heard and understood the impact of each truth separately, but had concentrated on the final verse as part of the covenant benefits which came from the cross and let the other truths be hidden from my thoughts.  The overall understanding is so powerful and is the subject of this teaching.

Verse 14: “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;” Paul is writing to the church at Corinth.  In this verse Paul is writing through the love of Christ and has submitted his will to Christ.  He states that when Jesus died on the cross, we all died. Simply put, when Jesus died, He died not just “for” all of us, but “as” us.  He was the only sinless man, the only perfect man, the only person who could meet God’s requirement for perfection as a sacrifice to redeem fallen mankind.  Jesus was the spotless lamb that God required for the sacrifice! Jesus met the requirement! Most think He “took” our sins for us and “paid” for them.  We will see later that is not the case. He died “as us”!  We were on that cross with Him.   We died because of our sin.  We paid the price for our sin by our spiritual deaths.  

In Romans 5:15-21 we see the repeated theme that death entered the world through the transgression of one man. The transgressions of all men were justified by the free gift of one man.  In Romans 6:6 we read, “that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sins might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Colossians 3:3 says, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

When Jesus died on the cross, we died with Him. He died as us. That is a miracle which only God could perform. It is miraculous that when Jesus gave His life for us, God placed our lives on the cross with Him. We died spiritually when we sinned which was the fulfillment of God’s word in the beginning.  He provided His Son to die as us spiritually on the cross carrying every sin we would ever commit.

Verse 15: “and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”   Jesus died as all so that we all might live.  Then through a miracle from God, Jesus was raised from death.  He did not do it for Himself, but again as us and for us. God actually gives life to us as we receive the sacrifice of the cross.  This life is spiritual and when we are born again or receive Jesus as Savior, we become spiritually alive.  We no longer live for ourselves, but we live for Jesus.  Every Christian has been made alive spiritually and has become one spirit with God.  

Before rebirth we lived out of our souls.  The soul is the mind, emotions, and will.  Until spiritual rebirth the main entity was our soul. The soul sins and needs a Savior. The soul cannot do spiritual things. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says. “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

The soul is designed to be under the influence of the spiritual realms which are holy and unholy.  Before receiving Jesus and being born again, the soul or “natural man” was conformed to the world and demons accessed it through thoughts.  They took up residence in our souls and influenced them as though they were us.  They even answered as us when spoken to.  And we didn’t know they were there.  They stayed when we received Jesus as Savior and we still have difficulty recognizing they are in our souls.  The part they cannot touch is the real us, the spiritual us which came with rebirth. That part of us is one with God and the demons cannot touch it.  

Renewing the mind is all about revealing the demons in the soul and getting them out so we can know and live the will of God from the holy spiritual realm where we abide.  Discernment is the Holy Spirit revealing both spiritual realms and informing the soul. Ephesians 4:23 says, “and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”  We discern the spiritual influence on our minds, seek to receive truth from the holy realm and get out the intruders from the unholy realm. When demons are gone and we allow the Holy Spirit to fill our souls, the desire to live for Jesus is natural.  

Verse 16: “Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.”  What is this talking about?  We are all walking around in the flesh and eating, drinking, working, sleeping, etc. How can we no longer see mankind in the flesh?  This is simply talking about something which our souls cannot fathom.  This is about being aware of the spiritual condition of mankind.  We are not to look upon the flesh to see any person.  We are to see them in the spiritual realm.  We need to be able to tell if the people we see are dead spiritually or alive in Jesus spiritually.  We are not to judge people in the flesh by anything they say or do. We are to recognize the spiritual influence they are under and address the demonic when and as the Holy Spirit wills. We are to see the spiritual realms in operation in our lives and those around us.  For instance, when I prayed recently about the political events in our country, I asked about contributing money for a specific urgent request for a campaign. I asked the Lord if this was about my money.  He replied distinctly that this is a spiritual battle and not about a contribution. It is about discerning the warfare happening in the spirit between light and darkness, holy and evil, in believers and unbelievers.  The battle is in the spiritual realm and only believers can fight the fight against powers and principalities and rulers of darkness in the heavenlies.  

The battle is not against flesh and blood!  The people who are walking in hatred, anger, murder, desiring power and control, fearful, hopeless, despairing, rejected, discriminating and feeling discriminated against, oppressed, depressed, tired, sick, feeling prejudice, and on and on and on are under the influence of the demons in their souls.  This includes both believers and unbelievers who have demons in their souls.  They do not know they are deceived by darkness and don’t know how to get free. We cannot look at them in the flesh.  We cannot help them without identifying the demons in their souls running their lives.  We must see the person and the demons to separate the person from them.  This is called discernment and it is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

The compassion of God as demonstrated by Jesus when He walked among us is the way to touch all people who need help.  Jesus is no longer in the flesh.  He has given us the job of carrying out His purpose here on earth.  1 John 3:8b says, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”  Hebrews 2:8 says, “Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet. For in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing that is not subject to Him.  But now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him.”  Jesus has everything under His feet and therefore ours as we are seated with Him in heavenly places, but the devil is still working in the earth. We are to do what Jesus did, so we are to be about destroying the works of the devil.  That is everything of darkness and sin.  God is the giver of every good gift. Everything that is not good is from the devil or demons.  We are to be living for Jesus and doing what He did.  Look on the spirit of the man, not the flesh.  That is how we can pray for our enemies.  Separate the man from the demons in his soul.  The demons are the evil acting out of the man.  It is not the man.  He needs salvation. He needs Jesus.  He needs deliverance.

Verse 17: “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” This is the most life changing transition which happens when a person receives Christ as Savior.  When every man, woman, and child on this earth is born they are alive spiritually until they break the law and sin.  Sin is breaking God’s law.  Sin comes from the intrusion into the mind of our soul by thoughts from the unholy realm.  As thoughts come into our minds and they are entertained or accepted, the demons introducing them are allowed to come in and dwell in our souls.  When the first sin occurs, the child’s spirit dies.  This is the fulfillment of the Word of the Lord in the Garden of Eden.  “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17

Man was informed by God that he and the woman would die if they did not do as He commanded.  Disobedience is the breaking of God’s law.  They were in the Garden with God before this and enjoyed complete fellowship with Him. The devil lied about God and said they would surely not die.  He tempted the woman to eat and she did. Then when Man ate what she gave him, they both died.  But they were still walking around.  All of a sudden they were aware of having no clothes and they hid from God. They were afraid.  Their first demonically induced emotion was fear of God.

So, what did God mean, they would die?  They died spiritually. They, the spirit beings, died in the part of them that could walk with God and fellowship Him openly.  They disobeyed God’s Word and died spiritually. His Word had to be fulfilled. They left that idyllic existence and began a life with a separation from God.  But He had a plan for their redemption and reconciliation to Him through Jesus. Now, when each person receives Jesus as Savior, they are reborn spiritually.  Each one of us, as believers, has become a totally new creation spiritually.  The old things passed away.  The old dead spirit is gone.  We have a whole new spiritual life.  The soul no longer is in charge of the person’s life.  It cannot do spiritual things.  We now need to renew the minds of our souls to be free of the demons who have been dwelling in them and learn to allow the spirit man to be in charge. New things have come.  As we learn to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh, we are able to hear God’s voice each day through His Spirit and allow His will to be done through us by submitting our wills to Him.