Freshbread - Newsletter for Raven Ministries
Oct-Nov 2007
Greetings, friends- remember if you don't want to receive this, please just click at the bottom of the letter and it will automatically remove your email. These notes may be basic for most of us, but after I heard the Lord tell me this last week that His church had been "lied to" regarding its authority, the light bulbs went off in my spirit.
Esther lived during a time of great sorrow and suffering for the Jewish people- we are at the beginnings of a similar time for us. We must learn the authority we have and how to use it properly. So if you want to be one who "rules and reigns with Christ", and available "for such a time as this", it's time to pull ourselves together and stand on His Word in authority.
In the movies, you often see the good guy apparently beat the snot out of the bad guy, then start to walk away, only to have the bad guy rear up and come back. That’s what we are talking about here. Don’t walk away. Stand. Make sure your position is known before you wander off.
When I was in India in 1997, I prayed for a little boy, saw him delivered, and walked away too quickly. Within a minute or two I was spinning in a circle, dying, and just had time to yell Help! The next thing I remember were the voices of a couple of friends calling me back to life.
The Lord showed me that this is what happened: I punched the devil in the face, wrestled a kid away from him, and assumed that’s all there was to it. And I walked away and got sucker-punched myself. Don’t walk away, STAND.
Last week at our small fellowship we talked about 2 Timothy 1:7: we must not have the spirit of fear (the word means timidity or cowardice), but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Most Christians tend to avoid confronting evil because it involves a set of skills not often taught in the Body of Christ. And failure to use those skills breeds fear and timidity.
If you hit someone and then try to walk away, you will get smacked yourself. Make sure the enemy knows your position of authority. Learn to STAND and not slink away. Walk with the knowledge that you are Blood-bought. That is NOT arrogance, by the way. We wrestle the powers of darkness in order to bring in the Light and accomplish the will of Christ. We wrestle them because of love, not because of pride and arrogance. In the Scriptures listed, you will see an attitude of rejoicing that God loves us, not an attitude of pride.
So how do we stand in that authority no matter what? Satan’s forces want us to run with our tail between our legs and hear that we don’t have authority over certain things. There are current teachings in the Body of Christ that tell you that you do not have authority over all demonic powers: those teachings are lies. We have ALL authority over ANY spirits of ANY kind when we have Jesus. You just need to know how to pray- and that’s a Spirit word of knowledge, gifts of the Holy Spirit issue.
Remember in the Old Testament that touching the Ark was certain death? (2 Samuel 6: 6-7). The Ark carried the Presence of God. We are the carriers of Christ, the Presence of God, and therefore to touch us violates the Blood Covenant paid by Jesus. That Blood covenant means that we BELONG to God, and the demonic forces have NO LEGAL GROUND over us… not for sickness, not for destruction, not for punishment, not for anything.
That does not mean we get to sin anytime we want, because that guarantees we move away from being a carrier of Christ. Nor can we be arrogant brats. It also does not mean that we won't have any problems, it simply means that when you encounter things that are demonic, you can defeat them!
Always remember that all things are not caused by demons. Sometimes it's our own flesh. Sometimes it's how we relate to others based on our experiences that causes problems. You have authority over THAT too, simply by yeilding to the Holy Spirit's Presence within you for change. As C.S. Lewis once said the biggest advantage the devil has is to have too unhealthy an interest in him or believe that he does not exist. Learn the balance. Let the Holy Spirit have free reign.
We do not have authority over people- people have “free will” choices. To try to control people is witchcraft, whether done spiritually or in manipulation. But many times, people are run by demonic forces as well as their flesh. So when the truth by the Spirit is revealed, we can use the power of God to bind those forces.
The enemy of our souls does not want us to fulfill our destinies. He wants us to fail. He wants us to give up, be scared, frustrated, the big “losers.” He will do everything in his power to destroy our dreams and hopes and blame our family, our friends, our churches, our ministers… you get my drift. You must learn to control your own thoughts and rigidly bring them back to the authority of Christ over what is happening in your life. (2 Corinthians 10). Learning how to focus our minds on Christ Himself rather than people and their foibles will go a long way to bringing us peace in this world.
When you exercise the authority of God, you must learn to STAND, then, in that authority and not walk away from the place of victory. The enemy will be angry at the exercise of authority and will strike unless you STAND, firmly, knowing that you are in Christ, God is with you, and the covenant of blood is yours, not his. Don’t walk away, STAND. Look the enemy in the eye and back him off- YOU have legal ground, and you have it in BLOOD. Christ has all the keys. You have all the birthright. The enemy has been stripped of his authority over you.
Let’s scan the Scripture and see what it says:
Luke 10:17-19 “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them,” I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
[Note: it wasn’t His Sacrifice that made Him Jehovah Rapha the God who heals, ask everyone who got healed in the gospels and in the books of 1 and 2 kings. His shed Blood fulfilled the legal requirement to dissolve all claims of Satan to mankind, all authority to place sickness and sin on us, all rights to punishment, and openly made him ashamed].
Colossians 2:13-14
" And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." (Read in NLT and Amplified for more encouragement)
Ephesians 6:11-13
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness 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."
God gave you promises. God saved your soul. Don’t give up, don’t run away, don’t be afraid. The Blood of Jesus is your legal right to victory.
Remember: the Red Sea is a symbol of the Blood of Christ that parts the way for us to receive the Promised Land. It is also a symbol of the washing away of sin, destruction of our enemies and freedom from heavy burdens. You can stand firmly when you have done everything you can do, KNOWING that His Blood paid the price tag for everything promised in His Word.
Faye Higbee, Pastor, Raven Ministries