This booklet was written some time before June 1998 based on my experiences of trying to live by faith and experiencing lack and other negative impacts with regard to things that, by faith, I expected to happen

This is largely a listing of my experiences, I have learned a considerable amount since writing this but Father says that I may be of help to some

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POVERTY IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST:

A DISCOURSE ON CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS

(BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE)

(Towards Holiness and Sanctification /

Circumcision of the Heart /

Growth IN CHRIST)

An End Time Issues Publication

Produced by

James Robertson

COPYRIGHT

This document may be copied in part or in full for the benefit of all believers provided it is not copied for commercial gain. It is only required that authorship and contact information be supplied.

 

 

PREFACE During my quiet time on 5 March 1998, The Lord laid it on my heart to prepare a series of "discourses" on a number of topics. These documents will be prepared for discussion purposes and are not intended to be a source of conflict although I expect that they will address some issues over time about which there may be different opinions.

Since I started preparing this document, I have been listening to a series of teachings by Kenneth Copeland on "Hesed" (Hebrew) / "Agape" (Greek); the Covenant made by Blood. Through this teaching I have come to realise that much of what is written here relates directly to what I am increasingly coming to understand as the process of "circumcision of the heart" which is the journey that the Lord leads us through in order to make us more like Jesus. This is a vast subject and certainly not one that I can hope to canvas comprehensively in this document. I am only seeking to address one aspect of which poverty is a useful diagnostic. I have also found many of these issues addressed in Rick Joyner's book "The Final Quest" which is an immensely sobering revelation of what the church is facing right now. I hope that this 'discourse' will assist those seeking to 'climb the mountain of God'.

While I am persuaded that what I am about to write is of God, I do not claim that this document is prophetic as such, only that, as best I can discern, that it sums up what God has been showing me. I accept the possibility that this document may be incomplete in places or may not entirely accurately reflect what God is in fact saying. I welcome the opportunity to discuss these notes with any sincere believer who is committed to discerning the true will of God with regard to the issues that are canvassed in the pages that follow.

 

FOLLOWING GOD's WAY
Deuteronomy 10:12-21 : The Living Torah

And now, Israel, what does God want of you? Only that you remain in awe of God your Lord, so that you will follow all His paths and love Him, serving God your Lord with all your heart and with all your soul. You must keep God's commandments and decrees that I {Moses} am prescribing for you today, so that good will be yours.

The heaven, the heaven of heaven, the earth and everything in it. all belong to God! Still, it was only with your ancestors that God developed a closeness. He loved them and therefore chose you, their descendants, from among all nations, just as the situation is today.

Remove the barriers from your heart and do not remain so stubborn any more!

God your Lord is the ultimate Supreme Being and the highest possible Authority. He is the great, mighty and awesome God, who does not give special consideration or take bribes. He brings justice to the orphan and widow, and loves the foreigner, granting him food and clothing. You must also show love toward the foreigner, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt {the world}.

Remain in awe of God, serve Him, cling to Him, and swear by His name. He is your praise and your God, the One who did for you these great and awesome deeds that you saw with your very eyes."

 

God is the same, yesterday, today and forever!

 

HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT

This document is not intended to be an authoritative reference work. It is intended to be, in a sense, a conversation with the reader, sharing thoughts and experiences as they come to mind rather than presenting some form of structured problem solving methodology or formal teaching.

For this reason, thoughts have been recorded largely as they occur. It is almost certain that what was important in my life is not necessarily important in yours and vice versa and that the order of importance will also differ.

It is also not presented as a teaching with copious scripture references. Were I to have done that, this document would be many times longer and would not provide, as I currently hope it does, a relatively concise report of an enormous number of diverse and sometimes seemingly unconnected thoughts all of which, I believe, have some bearing on assisting YOU to walk in the fullness of God's blessings, "the blessings of obedience" to God our Father, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

If you are currently under financial attack, I suggest that you pray the prayer on the following page and then either dip in as the Spirit leads you or, first time round, read from beginning to end so that you provide the Holy Spirit with seed from which He can begin to teach you.

By virtue of the objectives set out above, there will never be enough information in this document to answer all your questions, that is not the intention. Jesus, through His Holy Spirit is the only teacher that you can truly rely on. As you identify passages that awaken your interest or are quickened to your attention, pray about them.

In faith, trust God to reveal to you what YOU need to know through His Word, through books, teaching tapes, videos, TV and Radio Programmes, teaching at churches that he may lead you to, prophets, teachers and other believers that He may bring across your path. Be diligent to seek the truth. Be constantly in His Word and in fellowship with other believers. Be always alert for His leading to buy a book or tape, listen to a radio programme, visit a church, help or talk to a stranger or do anything else contrary to your routine that will lead you to a source of knowledge.

Remember that only God knows your thoughts so don't keep talking about what He is showing you and as far as possible NEVER tell anyone your questions. Satan's cohorts (demons and angels) infest the atmosphere and those around you and are constantly listening for useful information to use against you. Pray silently within your heart, believing in Faith that He hears you and that He will answer your questions. If the answer rattles your paradigm and does not seem as though it could possibly be of God, ask Him in faith for confirmation. He loves you and He wants to set you free. He has great patience and He recognizes our difficulty in hearing and believing Him. If you walk in faith without doubting HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE TRUTH YOU NEED TO SET YOU FREE.

Be prepared for a challenging and exciting ride! Recognize that God is no respecter of persons and no respecter of our traditions and doctrines. Expect Him to show you things that you will have great difficulty accepting. Expect Him to require you to do things and deal with things which are sometimes VERY challenging and uncomfortable.

If you truly want to serve HIM and you truly want to walk in His will and His blessings, then I encourage you to take up the challenge. By faith, hold onto your hat and enjoy the ride and His blessings!

God Bless You
James Robertson

 

A PRAYER TO START WITH

This document is not intended to be a rigorous teaching, it is intended to open up a treasure chest of topics for you to PRAY and SEEK GOD about in order to determine what is applicable to your life TODAY in order to get the breakthrough that God currently has planned for you. Different parts will apply at different times. Some may never apply. Some you may revisit again and again. Others may not be covered in this document. As you learn to trust God to lead you into the truth you need day by day, you will find that the walk becomes spiritually easier although it may become more demanding in terms of what you can see in the natural. Ultimately, it is all part of learning to be Spirit Led that you may one day justly claim to be a true Son of God.

The following prayer is offered to assist you get started, trust God to lead you in prayer day by day. Pray it IN FAITH WITHOUT DOUBTING AND HE WILL ANSWER YOU:

Father God, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I thank you that you know the parts of this document that apply to me and that are correct for me. I thank you that, as I start to read, you will quicken to my spirit that which is immediately relevant and that you will conceal from me that which is chaff or of no relevance right now.

I thank you that, as you open this document to me, you will teach me what to pray and you will give me utterance in my spirit in order that I may pray your will over my life.

I thank you that, as I bring sections, paragraphs, concepts and thoughts before you and lay my questions at your Holy throne, you will answer me.

I ask you, in the name of Jesus, to speak to me through Your Word, to lead me to the passages that apply to me and that will answer my questions. I thank you that Your Word contains all the answers that I will ever need to live my life according to your will and to achieve the breakthrough that you have purposed for me at this time.

I thank you that you will speak to me through books, teaching tapes and videos, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and preachers, teachers and other people whom you will bring across my path. I thank you that you will lead me wherever I need to go to receive the answers to my questions and that your Holy Spirit is with me always to lead me into ALL TRUTH.

Help me Father to hear your voice clearly and close my ears and eyes to all that is not of you.

Satan, I bind you and your cohorts from blinding or confusing me in receiving anything that God has provided for me in this document. In Jesus Name.

I thank you Father that your Angels are encamped around me to protect me and to keep the enemy from interfering in my studies and I ask you to cover me, my family and all that I own, with the Blood of Jesus from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet.

I thank you Father that Your Word states that as a born again believer, I have the Mind of Christ. I thank you for leading me to victory.

In Jesus Name

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE     -     i

FOLLOWING GOD's WAY     -      ii

HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT     -     iii

A PRAYER TO START WITH     -     iv

 

CHAPTER 1

 

BACKGROUND AND CONCEPTS     -     1

1. INTRODUCTION     -     1

2. CONTEXT     -     1

3. THE HORDES OF HELL RELEASED     -      2

4. DISCLAIMER      -     3

5. A PRESSING QUESTION : WHY IS THERE SO MUCH LACK AND FINANCIAL ATTACK IN THE BODY OF CHRIST?     -     3

6. LAW AND GRACE : HOW I UNDERSTAND IT     -     4

7. A MILITARY METAPHOR      -    5

    1. PREGNANCY      -     6

    2. INFANCY      -     6

    3. TODDLER      -     6

    4. PRE-SCHOOL      -    6

    5. PRIMARY SCHOOL     -     6

    6. SECONDARY SCHOOL      -     6

    7. BASIC MILITARY TRAINING     -     6

    8. ACTIVE SERVICE      -    7

    9. SPECIAL SERVICE      -    7

    10. REGIMENTAL COMMANDER      -    7

    11. GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING      -    8

9. A WORD OF CAUTION : SEEING FOOTHOLDS IN OTHERS      -     11

10. IS SATAN REALLY STUPID?      -     11

11. SANCTIFICATION AND HOLINESS      -     12

12. BLOOD COVENANT      -     12

13. CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART      -     13

14. THE CUP THAT JESUS DRANK      -     13

15. THIS DOCUMENT DOES NOT CONTAIN ALL TRUTH      -     14

16. TRUST NO MAN BUT GOD      -     14

17. ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED versus WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING      -     15

18. "READ THE END OF THE BOOK" : "WE WIN" ??      -     16

19. POVERTY IS AN INDICATOR NOT A MEASURE      -     16

20. FAITH      -     17

21. THE NAME OF JESUS      -     18

22. CONCLUSION      -     18

CHAPTER 2


BASIC PRINCIPLES     -     19

 

1. INTRODUCTION      -    19

2. READ THE WORD DAILY      -     19

3. TRANSLATION ISSUES      -     20

4. DISCREPANCIES IN THE BIBLE      -     20

5. APPLY THE WORD      -     20

6. CALL NO MAN TEACHER      -     21

7. ERROR CONCEALED AMONGST TRUTH      -     21

8. NOT ONE JOT OR TITTLE SHALL PASS AWAY      -     21

9. FEED YOUR SPIRIT CONSTANTLY      -     22

10. PRAYER      -     22

11. GOD'S PEOPLE PERISH FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE      -     23

12. THE SMALL THINGS : HONOURING GOD WITH YOUR TIME      -     23

13. RENEWING YOUR MIND      -     23

14. THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH      -     24

15. BE YE SEPARATE      -     24

16. FORSAKE NOT THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE BRETHREN      -     24

17. MAKING THE HOLY SPIRIT WELCOME IN YOUR HOME, YOUR CAR, ETC      -     25

18. THE FLESH      -     25

19. GOD DESTROYS THE FLESH, IDOLS AND OTHER THINGS      -     25

20. WATER BAPTISM      -     25

21. PRAY IN THE SPIRIT WITHOUT CEASING      -     26

22. FOOLISH AND EMPTY WORDS      -     26

23. NEGATIVE CONFESSION      -     26

24. RESTITUTION      -     26

25. WE ONLY HEAR GOD WITHIN THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR PARADIGM      -     27

26. OBEY GOD AND NOT MAN      -     28

27. OBEDIENCE IN FINANCES      -     28

28. OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD AND HIS SPIRIT     -     29

29. SEEK THE PRESENCE OF GOD      -     29

30. ADULTERY / FORNICATION      -     29

31. THE ONE FLESH BOND      -     31

32. LUST IN THE HEART      -     32

33. AGREEMENT BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE      -     32

34. THE JEZEBEL FACTOR      -     32

35. DIVORCE      -     32

36. PRIDE versus HUMILITY      -     33

37. THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN CAN TAKE TIME TO MANIFEST      -     34

38. THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE ALSO CAN TAKE TIME TO MANIFEST      -     34

39. DEMONS IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND DELIVERANCE      -     34

40. ACCURSED THINGS IN YOUR POSSESSION      -     37

41. PHYSICAL IDOLS      -     37

42. SPIRIT OF STUPOR : EYES THAT DO NOT SEE, EARS THAT DO NOT HEAR      -     38

43. CHRISTIAN OWNERSHIP OF A BUSINESS      -     38

44. UNEQUAL YOKING      -     38

45. WHAT IS A YOKE?      -     39

46. UNWISE TALK / BOASTING      -     39

47. SATAN CANNOT READ MINDS      -     40

48. FORGIVENESS = CANCELLATION OF DEBT      -     40

49. THE STRAIGHT PATH AND THE NARROW GATE      -     40

50. DISCERN THE LORD'S BODY CORRECTLY      -     41

51. TITHING      -     41

52. INFERTILE SOIL      -     42

53. BEATING THE SHEEP      -     42

54. TITHING AS THE LORD LEADS : A TITHING PORTFOLIO?      -     42

55. BEGGING      -     43

56. SOWING AND REAPING : NAMING YOUR SEED      -     44

57. NO PRIVATE INTERPRETATION      -     44

58. DYING TO SELF : REFINER'S FIRE      -     44

59. UNKEPT AND BROKEN VOWS AND PROMISES      -     45

60. SOUL FORCE PRAYERS      -     45

61. PRAYER AGAINST GOD'S WILL      -     45

62. BLOOD-LINE CURSES      -     46

63. MODERN CURSES      -     46

64. WITCHES COVENS AND OTHER SATANIC GROUPS      -     47

65. THE FLESH : AGAIN!      -     48

66. WRONG AND RIGHT ACTIONS AND RIGHT AND WRONG MOTIVES      -     48

67. WRONG THOUGHTS      -     48

CHAPTER 3

 

OTHER CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES     -     49

1. INTRODUCTION      -     49

2. WHY DO I SEE THINGS THE WAY THAT I DO?      -     49

3. PARADIGM FILTERS      -     50

4. THE DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE      -     51

5. THE CRITICAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TODAY AND AD 33 ??      -     52

6. OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MAN (ACTS 5:29)      -     53

7. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS      -     53

8. A NEW COMMANDMENT : LOVE ONE ANOTHER      -     55

9. IF : PRECONDITIONS TO THE PROMISES OF GOD      -     55

10. LOVE GOD AND OBEY HIS COMMANDMENTS      -     56

11. BUT WHAT ABOUT JESUS?      -     56

12. GOD'S LOVE      -     56

13. GOD IS UNCOMPROMISINGLY RIGHTEOUS : HE EXPECTS US TO SEEK TO BE THE SAME     -     57

14. GOD USES STRONG LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE SIN      -     57

15. PLANKS IN EYES      -     57

16. OFFENSE = CRIME      -     58

17. PUT YOUR HAND TO WHAT YOU FIND TO DO      -     58

18. DILIGENCE      -     58

19. GOOD STEWARDSHIP : PRUDENCE versus EXTRAVAGANCE      -     58

20. SERVANTHOOD      -     59

21. TALE BEARING      -     59

22. TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE      -     59

23. COMMENTARIES AND TEACHINGS      -     60

24. SATAN SEEKS YOUR PARTICULAR AREAS OF WEAKNESS      -     60

25. SATAN CONCENTRATES HIS EFFORTS ON THOSE WHO ARE MOST EFFECTIVE FOR THE KINGDOM i.e. DOING SATAN MOST HARM     -     60

26. PERSEVERANCE      -     61

27. GOD NEVER CHANGES : HE IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER      -     61

28. OPPOSITION OF THE SAINTS IS OPPOSING GOD      -     62

29. TAX      -     62

30. IGNORANCE DOES NOT PREVENT LEGAL ENTRY BY SATAN      -     62

31. EXTREME TESTS BEFORE ABUNDANCE      -     62

32. THE POWER OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS      -     63

33. PRAISE AND WORSHIP      -     63

34. WHAT IS HINDERING      -     63 

35. A POST SCRIPT : THE CURSE OF THE LAW : AND GRACE      -     63

36. THE NEXT VOLUME? : BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT      -     64

37. CONCLUSION      -     64

CHAPTER 4

 

SOME PRAYERS THAT HAVE WORKED FOR ME     -     65

1. INTRODUCTION      -     65

2. A LIST OF PRAYERS      -     66

3. CONCLUSION      -     68

BIBLIOGRAPHY      -     69

 

POVERTY IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST:

 

A DISCOURSE ON CONTRIBUTORY FACTORS

 

(BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE)

 

(Towards Holiness and Sanctification /

Circumcision of the Heart /

 

Growth IN CHRIST)

 

CHAPTER 1

 

BACKGROUND AND CONCEPTS

 

1. INTRODUCTION

At the time of writing, almost every Christian that I know is under financial attack of a level that many consider to be unprecedented. Rick Joyner in his book "The Final Quest" which I read for the first time after producing the first draft of this document presents a graphic account, based on a series of five visions, as to why this is the case. I would suggest that "The Final Quest" is a must read for anyone seeking to better understand the current spiritual age.

This document seeks to contribute something to equipping the saints with a better understanding of the practical spiritual issues that are currently confronting most of the church.

2. CONTEXT

I am a Civil Engineer and Analyst by training with strong grounding in Mathematics, Science and applied problem solving. God has blessed me with a mind that constantly seeks to understand the underlying fundamentals of any situation whether physical or spiritual. I have learnt to use the gifts that I have developed in dealing with physical problems to dealing with spiritual issues as well.

Having served the Lord in the Anglican Church in my youth, turned away because of religion and other factors in my early twenties and been radically saved from the very brink of death (literally) in my late thirties, I found myself faced with a major intellectual problem in accepting that the Bible was the "Living Word of God". Having heard the voice of God and having experienced the presence and power of God enough to have complete certainty that He was real, by faith I chose to accept the Bible as the Word of God and embarked on a voyage of discovery, sometimes into uncharted or little known Spiritual waters.

As I sought to serve God and experience the fullness of His blessings in my life, certain of the scripture that says that 'God is not a man that He should lie', I repeatedly found that the Bible did not seem to work in many areas of my life. For example, while I experienced an Acts 2 encounter with the Holy Spirit and walked in divine health, my finances continued to deteriorate and other areas of my life were under constant attack. Without a thought, I started to apply the Engineering and Military Analysis and Problem Solving techniques that I apply in my professional career as a Management Consultant and Strategist to my spiritual walk and progressively found myself seeking God for answers to more and more obscure questions. As I did so, The Lord started to present me with answers which increasingly caused me to evaluate the current teachings of the church in a variety of areas. Some of these issues rattled my paradigm despite the fact that, in secular terms, my personality is one that thrives on paradigm shifting and certainly rattled the paradigms of people around me. Sometimes this was a consequence of my only seeing part of the picture or not hearing God clearly, other times, The Holy Spirit forced me to confront truths, some of which have apparently been lost to the church since the first Synod in Rome in about 315 AD.

I do not present any of what I have written above as a boast. My intention is simply to position and contextualize what I am about to write with a view to appealing to you, THE READER, to consider the possibility that there may be a paradigm in your spiritual walk that is outside the realms of what you have previously considered to be the only valid understanding and interpretation. In doing this, I will endeavour to avoid criticising what others believe, my hope is that I will build on truths that others have in order to draw out more of the truth as we all sincerely seek to draw closer to God, to be more like Jesus and to seek ALL TRUTH.

3. THE HORDES OF HELL RELEASED

Joyner, in "The Final Quest" (published in 1996) at the end of his description of his fourth vision in which he was caught up into the third heaven and experienced the Judgement of Christ, reports Jesus as saying "..... Obey Me and hasten the day of My coming."

He further reports, that as he was escorted away from the presence of Jesus by a Company of Angels, the leader of the Angels stated "Now that He has stood He will not sit again until the last battle is over. He has been seated until the time when His enemies are to be put under His feet. The time has now come. The legions of angels that have been standing ready since the night of His passion have now been released upon the earth. The hordes of hell have also been released. This is the time for which all of creation has been waiting. The great mystery of God will soon be finished. We will now fight until the end. We will fight with you and with your brethren."

It is vital that readers recognize that a dramatic change in the spiritual state of the world took place some time around 1995 or 1996. You paradigm of Christianity over your life time before this is no longer necessarily as relevant as it was before. The level of the spiritual onslaught on all dedicated believers has intensified greatly. This document is based on experience gained largely in the period from 1994 to 1998, during the period that this dramatic change was taking place. Accordingly, the interpretation offered in the pages that follow should be evaluated on this basis.

4. DISCLAIMER

If I offend you, I ask you to forgive me, that is not my intention, I fully realize that, if you are offended you will have difficulty changing your paradigm and my objective is to lay a foundation that I believe will assist the reader to reassess certain issues that may be having a profound influence in their lives. Please set aside anything that offends you and pray over it as you seek to extract what may be wheat and not chaff for you in this document.

This second draft of this document, has been produced specifically to be read by people with whom I am in personal contact although it is my expectation that, in time, it will be published more widely and more formally, under the heading of "End Time Issues". At this stage, in particular, I hope to obtain comment, insight and testimonies from as many readers as possible with a view to presenting as comprehensive a picture as possible as I have no doubt that there are others whose experience differs drastically from my own who will place different emphasis on various aspects and will have revelation in different areas. Having said this, I must stress that this document in no way claims to be comprehensive, you may have unique issues and challenges in your life that no person other than the Holy Spirit of the Living God can assist you with, in all things LOOK TO JESUS NOT to men.

At this stage, I do not intend to present endless scripture references, I have many notes and could add many scriptures and other references if required to back up much of what I have to write. In other cases I have anecdotal evidence based on personal experience. Right now I am not seeking to hard sell you anything, I am seeking to raise some issues for consideration and hopefully discussion leading to prayerful action in the expectation that where something applies to your particular situation, The Holy Spirit will quicken this to your attention and show you how to respond.

I look forward to receiving your comments and to discussing what follows with you.

5. A PRESSING QUESTION : WHY IS THERE SO MUCH LACK AND FINANCIAL ATTACK IN THE BODY OF CHRIST?

The Word of God tells us that it is the will of God for us to prosper and be in health. Numerous other scriptures tell us of the blessings of God and yet, looking around, we constantly see a large proportion of the church limping from one financial crisis to another. I have been there myself, I have stood on the promises of God as my business, started with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, named by God, with a cross in the logo, put there by Him, with a vision to be a vehicle for evangelism to the business community around the World slipped into total insolvency and closed it's doors while at the same time I lost virtually everything material that I possessed and lost a custody battle for my children despite prophecies to the contrary. Repeatedly my cry has been WHY Lord, show me what is wrong in my life, show me what to pray, show me what has to change, reveal the root cause of the problem, send prophets and teachings across my path. God has been faithful and has given me numerous answers. On several occasions, we have seen major breakthroughs turn around again and proceeded to learn more. Each time, however, there has been an increasing assurance that God is in control and that He will not allow us to be tested more than we can endure. It has, in fact, become comforting to know that He loves us so much that He wants to get the dross out of our lives before He really blesses us in order that we can serve Him fully, effectively and faithfully in abundance and will not be like a camel trying to pass through the eye of a needle and thus be found wanting on the Day of Judgement.

In the sections that follow, I will seek to discuss the various aspects that I have had to deal with over a period of about five years. I present them more or less in the order that I had to confront them and as they came to mind while writing, not because I think there is anything special about that order but because at this time no other order readily presents itself. I have a strong sense that in every case the order is likely to be different and that trying to create a structure that seems right to me will start to give pride a point of entry. As you read this, please constantly ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you that which applies to you now and do not concern yourself with things that may apply in the future. At the same time, many of these issues are items that your flesh may really not wish to respond to so I would council you not to bypass issues lightly.

6. LAW AND GRACE : HOW I UNDERSTAND IT

I fully expect that, as you read what follows, you will be inclined to accuse me of legalism and say "what about Grace?". I would like to offer you, very briefly, my understanding of how Law and Grace affect what follows.

Firstly, let me say categorically that I do not believe that Grace in any way constitutes a licence for sloppy, undisciplined, disobedient and sinful behaviour, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ knew no sin and was obedient to the death of the Cross. I do not think that He took our sins upon Him in order that we might adopt a casual attitude to sin, I also do not think that it is a coincidence that "discipline" and "disciple" have the same root.

Insofar as we are ignorant of the Word of God, I am firmly persuaded that God extends Grace to us so that we may not carry a burden that exceeds our spiritual and physical maturity. The Word says that we will not be tested beyond our capacity to endure. However, in the same way that a newly born baby cannot endure much environmental deprivation but a battle hardened, supremely fit soldier can survive under the most arduous conditions, Grace is extended to us as newly born creatures in Christ but, over time, we are expected to mature to become battle hardened Christian Soldiers able to look after ourselves. By implication, it seems that, in a sense, Grace is less comprehensive as we mature and much of what I have to write below reflects what I perceive to have been, in my own life, a progressive requirement from the Lord that I accept increasing responsibility for the consequences of my own actions. Whether this is, in fact, a 'reduction in Grace' or whether there is some other spiritual principle or term that applies, I am currently uncertain but I do believe that the basic concept is spiritually valid as we 'grow in Grace'. At the same time, always remember that God's Grace is always sufficient for us, whether we are in the furnace or at the well.

At the same time Satan, "the accuser of the brethren" who is before the throne of God day and night (Revelation) is the 'ultimate legalist'. As I understand it, Satan works according to a clearly defined set of rules which are made visible to us throughout the Bible in the form of commandments, principles and guidelines as well as through parables and metaphors. Through religion and legalism, Satan has very effectively clouded our understanding of much of how he works. To me, the first few books of Job, together with the verse in Ephesians 4 that cautions us to "give no foothold to the devil", summarizes what we are dealing with. As I understand it, Satan and his cohorts constantly scan the earth seeking believers whom they can accuse before the throne of God. Since there are twice as many Holy angels as fallen angels, it appears that Satan concentrates his efforts on those Christians who are on fire and making a difference rather than those who are luke warm or discouraged and showing no signs of resistance. Where he identifies any form of sin or foothold in the life of a believer or group of believers, he then goes before the throne of God and demands his legal right to attack the individual, congregation or family concerned. It appears that on occasion, by the Grace of God, in recognition of our frailty and limitations God refuses Satan's requests (I am not sure of this). On other occasions, where God, in His mercy considers the proposed trial to be within the ability of the believer to endure, He permits the trial to take place in order to test us, mature us, strengthen us and draw us closer to Him so that He can demonstrate His love and His power. This process can result in believers stumbling and falling away and not completing 'the race'.

Thus we see that, as we mature in Christ, we are tested with regard to sins and footholds, etc that were covered by Grace when we were less mature in Christ. In this process we either fall away, backslide and in extreme cases, forsake the faith or we press in closer to the Holy Spirit, seek the face of Jesus and cry out to enter into the Throne Room of God. As we do this, we find ourselves examining ourselves in the 'mirror of The Word' and become increasingly aware of aspects of our lives which are displeasing to God and which give Satan footholds in our lives. If we understand that this is the process that we are undergoing we can pray appropriately and act appropriately with the result that we may hope to press through the trials more rapidly and thus press on to the next trial with greater spiritual growth than is the case if every time we spend days, weeks, months or years being offended with God, railing against Him, demanding that He honours His Word and the many other pitfalls that Christians fall into while in the process of losing many of the blessings that we already have.

An image of this process that I received recently was of a baby Christian in a thick cotton wool cocoon with God slowly pealing away the layers and exposing them to the world as they grew. Eventually, God intends that they stand fully exposed to the onslaught of the enemy as mature, fully equipped believers. Many do not seem to ever reach that point.

7. A MILITARY METAPHOR

As Christians, we talk regularly about "spiritual warfare" and make numerous other references to "warfare", "the battle", being "soldiers for Christ", etc. I wonder how many Christians actually consider what we are saying? As a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the South African Citizen Force, I would like to elaborate on my understanding of how this applies to the preceding section on Law and Grace:

    1. PREGNANCY

When an unborn child is in it's mother's womb, it is totally protected from the outside world. All the knocks and tribulations of the world affect the mother not the child. The father is hardly involved, other than by protecting the mother.

    2. INFANCY

Immediately after birth, the child is forced to deal with possible diseases and infection, climatic factors and the like, to the extent that the mother cannot totally shield it.

    3. TODDLER

As a toddler, the mother has to stand back and watch the child fall, as it learns to walk and learns other lessons. The mother still shields the child as much as possible.

    4. PRE-SCHOOL

In pre-school years, the child becomes increasingly adventurous and starts to take more risks. It is exposed to more danger but the parents together seek to limit it's exposure to what they perceive is reasonable based on their own life experience. Here we begin to see divergent views in different cultures. The child is still largely protected from the world. Even in all out war, the parents and particularly the mother will make enormous sacrifices to protect the child.

    5. PRIMARY SCHOOL

In primary school, the child is still largely naive and has great confidence in it's parents to supply all it's needs. It takes very little responsibility for the consequences of it's actions and the parents are obliged to rescue it from these consequences on occasion. Sometimes from situations that they would never have dreamed that their children would get into. While the child is a minor the parents are legally liable for certain actions of the child. As the child, particularly if it is a boy, begins to participate in sport, the parents must stand on the side lines and watch, even if the child faces quite serious danger of injury. Boy's tend to go out and take physical risks which can sometimes be life threatening. The parents increasingly have to pray rather than intervene physically.

    6. SECONDARY SCHOOL

At secondary school, the process continues. Boys start increasingly to participate in relatively dangerous activities and sports. Occasionally a boy in the school or a nearby school may be critically, even permanently injured as a result of a rugby injury or other activity.

    7. BASIC MILITARY TRAINING

If the son is called up for military service, his parents are obliged to stand back almost entirely. There is almost nothing that they can do to safeguard their son, other than to pray and to hope that the lessons and principles that he has learnt as a child will be effectively applied. They may not see their son for weeks or months at a time and may hear from him infrequently. He is now in the hands of his instructors and leaders and is heavily dependent on their competence. Nevertheless, he is still supervised to a large extent and is taught to obey orders without thinking, is taught discipline, develops physical fitness and other skills that he did not really have before. He is being developed into a fighting man who is capable of killing or being killed.

    8. ACTIVE SERVICE

If the son goes on to be called to active service, he faces a situation where the slightest lack of discipline, failure to instantly obey orders or to follow laid down drills, either by himself or his fellows, can cause him to be wounded, taken prisoner or killed. His parents do not know where he is and can only pray. They cannot even observe from a distance and give guidance. He is an adult, largely dependent on his training in order to survive. Nonetheless, his senior officers and non-commissioned officers still monitor him closely, take responsibility for many decisions and give him clear cut orders within the limitations of his training. Generally, he will not be deployed in situations for which his training has not equipped him.

    9. SPECIAL SERVICE

If the son goes on to volunteer for the Reconnaissance Commandos, he is taught to kill with his bare hands, to survive off the land for weeks at a time and is generally trained to be almost entirely responsible for his own survival and the success of his missions. Once fully trained, he can be parachute dropped behind enemy lines, often in the most arduous terrain. One false move may cost him his freedom or his life. He is at risk of being exposed or betrayed on every side, he does not know who he can trust or what the next minute will bring. If he does not scrupulously adhere to his drills, is not rigorous in his navigation and does not make his rendezvous precisely on time, he is unlikely to return from his mission. At best he will be taken prisoner with the chance to escape one day, at worst, he will be tortured and brutally murdered. In this situation, his superior officers can do very little to help him unless he is able to radio for aerial support and his parents will quite likely not know whether he is on a mission or not. He is totally dependent on his God (if he knows Him) and his own ability and discipline.

    10. REGIMENTAL COMMANDER

If the son succeeds in his military career, he will eventually be promoted through the ranks to command first a section or platoon, then a troop, a squadron and a regiment. As a regimental commander, he will be increasingly removed from the battle. He will be more concerned with the overall deployment and command and control of the troops under his command and less involved in the battle. But he will take his orders on major issues from his superiors and his regiment will nearly always be deployed as part of a multi-disciplinary combat team to attack and hold a particular objective. He will generally have no say in the setting of objectives although he may be involved in the command councils that set those objectives. His focus is primarily tactical, in terms of achieving the objectives set for his regiment. By the time he achieves the rank of regimental commander, he is likely to be at the very least in his late twenties or early thirties with significant experience under his belt. He will be in command of about 500 to 700 men and millions of rands of equipment and machinery depending on the nature of the regiment that he commands. On the ground he will have considerable autonomy of action and will be evaluated on the results that he delivers.

In a full scale war situation, the officer who demonstrates proven ability to motivate and lead his men, to correctly assess the enemy and respond accordingly, to take calculated risks which pay off without unnecessary loss of life and generally effective leadership in every sense, will rise rapidly through the ranks. Typically he will be a man who pays scant regard to the privileges of rank, will spend time on the ground with every soldier form time to time, will know his subordinates by name and something about them and will NEVER send them into a situation that he is not prepared to go himself. Where ever possible he will be on the ground with his troops, leading them into battle. While accepting the inevitability of casualties, he will constantly evaluate his conduct to determine whether he should have acted differently and will personally make every effort to visit wounded soldiers or contact their next off kin. He understand that if his soldiers trust him he can move mountains.

Such an officer will very rapidly rise above "old guard" officers who rest on their laurels, rely on the doctrines of previous wars or insist in following the procedures taught on the officers course with no regard to the changes in the enemies doctrine and conduct. A man who allows his troops to sustain unnecessary casualties or defeats will, if not killed in battle, be rapidly removed from his command.

    11. GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING

If he continues to succeed, he will progressively be promoted to command a brigade, a division and finally an army corps and possible even an entire army. With each promotion, he will become responsible for more and more men and will become increasingly involved in taking critical strategic decisions. His ability to read the overall theatre of war, the current mood of the troops and the enemy, the weather and every other item of intelligence that he receives in order to take decisions which will give rise to victory with minimum casualties, will become increasingly critical. He becomes increasingly responsible for identifying particular military intelligence needs. His margin for error will progressively decrease as the size of the forces that he is required to deploy in battle increases. Incompetence or foolish error will be tolerated less and less by his superiors and subordinates. His is a very lonely position as a general officer commanding. At all times, his ability to motivate all around him and to carry them with him and his ability to delegate and build and maintain a team under the most arduous conditions will determine his success or failure. This ability can mean the difference between whole countries being swallowed up by the enemy and spectacular victory.

    12. UNIVERSITY / STAFF COURSE

In most cases, shortly before or after promotion to the level of Regimental Commander, the man will either attend University or a Military Academy to obtain the equivalent of a three year Bachelors Degree. In the case of a full time war situation where there is no time for this, he will nevertheless attend a short "staff course" to develop his understanding of strategic issues and certain other critical Military expertise. In some cases, a three year civilian university degree may be accepted as an alternative to the course at the Military Academy. The object of the course is as much to develop intellectual problem solving and analytical skills as it is to offer in depth training in Military Strategy and other academic aspects of Military life which have more bearing in a peace time army than in the rigours of all out war.

If we consider this outline of personal growth in a combat soldier, I hope that you will see that there is a parallel with the process that I outlined previously. As soldiers in God's army, if we are truly "sold out to Christ", we have, whether we realize it or not, volunteered for service at the very least in the heat of the conventional battle, if not as reconnaissance commandos. We cannot hide behind our pastors and teachers and cry out to God every five minutes to dry our eyes. We must "fight the good fight" making full use of the weapons and armour at our disposal. Crying out to God for aerial rescue if the situation get's totally out of hand.

As we mature, we must accept our responsibility to lead regiments and armies. In particular, we must accept our calling to lead from the front, to constantly gather intelligence about what the enemy is doing, read the signs of the times and motivate and deploy the forces under our direction effectively. Unnecessary casualties cannot be tolerated. The level of falling away and the level of injury that can be found in seemingly every church around the world, could not be tolerated in any army. The heads of the leaders would roll! Until the church realizes that even one casualty within a congregation is an indictment of the leadership of that congregation, Satan will continue to hold the church in financial and physical bondage and backsliding.

I truly believe that God is training many of those who will read this document, to be deployed as reconnaissance commandos in these last days. He is training them to place their trust in God and His Word alone and not to look to their own understanding. He is requiring that they stop depending on others and stand alone in their total dependence on Him. He is looking to them to be instantly obedient and never to question orders given by the Holy Spirit. To apply the drills laid down in the Bible. To understand every nuance of the enemies movements in order to anticipate attack from where-ever it may come. To wield the "sword of the Spirit" with effectively and precisely in every situation, sharpening the sword morning, noon and night and after every encounter with the enemy. If he drops his guard, even for a moment, or allows disobedience or other sin to enter his life for even an instant, the enemy will be there to take him prisoner, torture him or kill him.

The process set out in the previous section is, as best I currently understand it, the process of "military training" that God is using. He progressively permits us to engage the enemy in more and more direct combat with less and less direct support and protection. Those who miss it will find themselves wounded by demons, taken prisoner in false doctrines and deception or, in extreme cases falling away and losing their salvation.

Soldiers in such situations know that they must be able to trust every single fellow combatant with his life. No soldier can cover his back as well as his front. He is totally reliant on the other men in his team to protect him. If one gets dropped by the enemy, he is totally reliant on his fellows to save him. If one is ill disciplined or disobedient, the whole team is at risk. All know that they dare not fight amongst themselves, no matter how much they may dislike one another or disagree while relaxing back at base, they cannot allow even the slightest amount of division, if they do, it may well cause them all to die. Christian soldiers, for the most part, have yet to learn this lesson.

The role of the Apostle is, in a sense, comparable to that of the general officer, as outlined in section 1.7.11. Many years of refining, taking the lead in battle, identifying intelligence needs, giving direction to hundreds of thousands through prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Delivering rebuke and correction to any soldier of any other rank that God wants corrected. Pastors and teachers service is more directly associated with a small group of solders on the ground, as such, their role and functions are probably more comparable to that of non-commissioned officers, that is, primarily a tactical utilization.

If, after many successful missions and numerous medals and commendations, the commando becomes proud, self confident, careless, ill disciplined or rebellious, he is likely to be taken captive or killed. The same applies to the Christian. No matter how much God has used you, no matter what mighty works have been done through you, the moment you fail to sharpen the sword of the Spirit, allow your armour to slip, disobey or question the Holy Spirit, start sinning or rebelling in other ways, the enemy will immediately pounce to kill, steal and destroy. The visions reported by Joyner graphically illustrate how mature believers allow pride, self confidence and other sins to cause them to fall and be taken captive or killed. Fortunately, we serve a merciful God and many are saved by Him from spiritual death by His intervention, even sometimes to the extent of premature death.

8. SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU

In reading this document, recognize that financial and material prosperity is not a primary benefit of being a Christian. Jesus said to seek first the Kingdom of God. In other words, seek to know His will, to do His will, to know Him, to please Him and to serve Him. In doing this, you will set yourself free from bondages and footholds and material and physical blessings will, IN DUE COURSE, be added unto you. Therefore, financial and material lack is a useful indicator and a means whereby God can correct us and direct us. If you are reading this document primarily because you are seeking financial and material well being but are not seeking God as your first priority, then you are unlikely to find much of value in this document.

9. A WORD OF CAUTION : SEEING FOOTHOLDS IN OTHERS

As you read this document, you are quite likely to find that you see that much of what is written here is relevant to people you know. Firstly, don't become proud, God resists the proud. Secondly, don't feel self justified. Thirdly, don't condemn them or judge them lest you are also judged. Pray for them and, IF you can truly speak to them with love and compassion AND God has clearly told you to speak to them, speak to them. Generally God shows us weaknesses and sin in others so that we will examine ourselves more closely and so that we can pray for them. The more I learn of the ways of God, the more I realize that He seldom needs my help to point out others sin to them. Even in my capacity as a Prophet of God, He only sends me to others to point out their sin as a last resort and then, in very specific ways. I am increasingly realizing that there is a particular gifting required to communicate to someone on a sensitive issue like sin in a way that does not cause them to stumble but, in fact, assists them to see their sin and turn around.

10. IS SATAN REALLY STUPID?

I have heard it said by several preachers that Satan is stupid and does not learn. Does that verse exist in the Bible? Any army that underestimates it's foe is asking to be defeated. Has the church underestimated theirs? The level of falling away, financial bondage, lack of health, strife, etc would suggest that, currently Satan is anything but defeated. He is infinitely weaker than God and yet he is keeping millions, if not billions out of the kingdom and keeping the rest in bondage and survival. The nearly empty throne room of God seen by Joyner in his vision, graphically portrays the extent to which Satan is currently victorious!

It seems reasonable to assume that, when God created Adam, Satan knew as little or less about Adam, and the rules of warfare, as Adam did. I doubt that God made a point of educating Satan. In this case, we must assume that, as much as the people of Israel and the church have been learning what is required to truly serve God with all our hearts, all our minds and all our strength, so Satan has been learning how to cause us to fail.

Based on the depiction of Satan coming before God's throne given in Job and the reference to Satan as the "accuser of the brethren" in Revelation, Satan has been coming before the throne of God a least since the time of Adam and probably a lot longer. At the very least, Satan has been before the throne of God accusing the brethren for about 6,000 years. That is a lot of time to learn and an even longer time if he has learnt nothing. It seems reasonable to conclude that Satan has at least observed that there are certain accusations that he is able to bring against certain classes of believer that are regularly successful and that there are others which meet with less success. Likewise, he has probably observed that there are certain accusations that he cannot bring against someone who has just made a commitment but others, such as pride(?), that will be almost universally successful if brought against a believer of some years standing. After all, God resists the proud so is hardly likely to block Satan from using pride as a foothold.

If this is the case we should, for our own good, conclude that Satan knows a lot more than we do about the subject under discussion and that he is probably learning more rapidly than most of us!

11. SANCTIFICATION AND HOLINESS

The process that I have outlined in section 1.6 above could also be termed a journey towards sanctification and holiness where the journey is well demonstrated by the book "A Pilgrim's Progress" (also available on video).

As I understand it, sanctification is a process of making clean, of removing those aspects in our lives that are not pleasing to God, that cause us to sin, that put a distance between ourselves and God. I say this not in a judgemental way but simply from a deep personal recognition that I am not the person that God wants me to be, that I do not have the depth of relationship with Him that others have, which the Bible shows me is possible and, that as I write this, I know that I have been closer to Him in the past.

In a similar vein, Holiness is a separation from the things of this world (as ruled by the god of this world - Satan) allied with a cleaving unto God who is the ultimate expression of Holiness. I am not sure exactly what the distinction is but I am certain that as we sanctify ourselves and set ourselves apart for His service, we draw closer to His Holiness. In saying this, I must stress that I am not talking of a 'works' program but I AM referring to a Spirit Led process which progressively draws us closer to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Jesus said that we would do the 'same and greater works' that He did. Not many are even close to doing the same works, let alone greater works. If the name 'Christian', means 'little Christ-like ones' which was 'first given to the believers at Antioch' indeed means this, then few of those who claim the 'title' Christian in fact demonstrate Christ-likeness. The journey towards sanctification and holiness therefore is also a journey towards Christ-likeness which is a comprehensive expression of meekness, gentleness, humility, compassion, lack of self, intimacy with The Holy Spirit, deep-rooted implantation of The Word of God and assurance of the Covenant rights of the believer to a point where the person concerned indeed performs the same works that Jesus did (and greater works) : the lame walk, the blind see, the dead are raised, etc.

12. BLOOD COVENANT

We have a covenant cut with the Blood of Jesus Christ as He hung on the Cross at Calvary. As I have understood the teaching on Hesed referred to previously, the old Covenant was cut with Abram when God walked in the Blood of the animals in Genesis 15 and with Abraham in Genesis 17 when Abraham circumcised himself and all the males in his family and service. Recognizing that Abram and the men with him were mature adults, there is a certain type here of those of us who come to know the Lord Jesus Christ after we have grown up in the world.

13. CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART

If we understand that circumcision involves the cutting off of flesh from probably the most sensitive organ of the male anatomy, we begin to understand that it was very painful. If we understand that Abraham and the men with him circumcised themselves without anaesthetic using flint knives and not surgical steel scalpels, we begin to consider the magnitude of the pain that they probably experienced. If we take account of the fact that healing of the wound must have taken at least a week or two and that the formation of a scab on the organ concerned is likely to be extremely uncomfortable, if not downright painful, we gain an understanding that circumcision is not something to be undertaken lightly and that, once undertaken, leaves a lasting impression. If we then recognize that circumcision is the cutting away of something that is not necessary nor useful, then, I suggest that the 'circumcision of the heart' referred to under the New Covenant should take on a whole new meaning. In a sense, much of what is written about here relates to that circumcision of the heart. Accordingly, we should not be surprised that this cutting away is at times painful and requires a determination to proceed that is not adequately presented to those who make a first-time confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

If we recognize the extreme agony that Jesus endured on the Cross for us VOLUNTARILY and with complete foreknowledge, we should find this progressive, non-physical process of circumcision much less difficult to accept.

14. THE CUP THAT JESUS DRANK

Many of us read the reference in the Gospel of John and elsewhere to the 'cup that Jesus drank' and gratefully profess that 'He has taken all our sins' and that 'He who knew no sin became sin for us' but few have any comprehension of the enormity of what Jesus did for us.

It can be presented as follows:

1. Consider the worst possible sin that you know of, something that you could not begin to consider yourself committing.

2. Consider how repelled you are by the thought of anyone committing such a sin.

3. Weigh that repulsion up against all the sins that you have, in fact, committed in your life and consider how much more repulsive that sin must have been for Jesus who knew no sin.

4. Finally, consider that Jesus not only took that sin on himself at Calvary but that he took on himself the unmentionable atrocities of the concentration camps of the second world war, the abominations of the dark ages, the acts of Satanic worship and witchcraft which are perpetrated even today and every other sin that has ever been committed and will ever be committed!

It makes you think, doesn't it? I truly believe that, as we gain an increasing revelation of the magnitude of what Jesus has done for us we will increasingly desire to become like Him and will also find it far easier to 'count it all joy when we fall into various trials'. With such a revelation, it becomes far easier to desire to understand what is written below and to determine how it applies in our own lives. The pain of circumcision of our hearts also becomes easier to bear with joy.

15. THIS DOCUMENT DOES NOT CONTAIN ALL TRUTH

I have already stated that I do not claim to have all truth. I feel a need to stress this point as follows: In our daily life we seldom encounter somebody who obtains 100% for tests and exams, I have certainly never encountered somebody who has obtained 100% in every single test and exam that they have ever written. Not one of us have 100% (ALL) truth, only The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are ALL TRUTH.

In fact, Gaussian statistics indicate that on any subject we will have a so-called Gaussian distribution of knowledge. In other words, there will be some who know absolutely nothing (0%) and there might be some who know all there is to know (but I think that is unlikely) the rest of the people will be distributed between these two extremes, with levels of knowledge that follow some sort of bell-shaped curve. Simply put, we all have gaps and errors in our knowledge. In other terms, an expert can be viewed as someone who is right more often that they are wrong and someone who is right 80% of the time is probably a genius. In other terms, most of us would be well satisfied if our child obtained a 60% aggregate for matric and would be thrilled if they obtained 75%. It is highly unlikely that we would send them back to school until they obtained 100%. After all, what they do learn at school is a minute fraction of all the knowledge in the world and no one will ever know it all.

What this translates to in the context of this document, as well as our Christian Walk, is that no man knows everything. Undoubtedly you will find aspects of this document that you disagree with and it is quite possible that you will be correct, either because I have missed something, because I have over simplified or for many other reasons. The challenge to you is to find the truth that this document contains that you lack and to ignore anything that may be incorrect. The challenge for me is to hear you when you offer me corrections and suggestions for improvement and to pray over them and modify the document as appropriate.

However, if you are offended by something that I write or that you know to be incorrect and reject the entire document, you may lose out on some revelation that is vital to you. Conversely, if you blindly accept this document as being 100% correct, you may let go of a truth that you already have. I stress that it is my understanding that each one of us is accountable for dividing the Word of God correctly and that we should seek the truth from whatever source God, in His wisdom, makes available to us.

16. TRUST NO MAN BUT GOD

All too often, we become 'disciples' of one or other preacher, teacher or pastor or we attach ourselves to a particular congregation and agree to 'submit' to their leadership. In the process, if we are not very careful, we come to rely on the counsel of men in preference to the counsel of the Holy Spirit and The Word of God.

Each one of us is accountable to God for our actions and, if He speaks to us through His Word or by His Spirit, it is up to us to discern that this is truly God speaking to us and to act on what He says to us, even if men do not agree. In my journey thus far, I have encountered a number of situations where I was told by pastors and others that I was missing it and in error. In one case I had to revisit the same issue year after year for three years, each time crying out to God for guidance, each time receiving the same answer, each time being told by pastors and elders that it was my flesh or the devil and could not possibly be God. Eventually, I obeyed the Holy Spirit instead of man and saw immediate breakthrough.

Remember that the Word says "submit to God, resist the Devil". The Bible is full of reports of men of God who refused to submit to man in order to obey God and yet, today, many pastors demand that we submit to them in areas where there is no basis for them to set themselves up as rulers. Remember that if you are in a position of 'leadership' that the Word tells you not to 'Lord' it over your flock.

If you chose to obey men rather than God, that is rebellion (which the Bible says is as the sin of witchcraft), refer to Saul (1 Samuel 15) and others in scripture. Rebellion against the Word of God, either in His Word (the Bible), through His Spirit directly to you or through His Apostles and Prophets when they are anointed as vessels through which God speaks, can, if habitual, lead to your rejection by God. Hebrews 6:6 warns us against 'Crucifying Jesus again'. We are in an age where God is rejecting those who submit to men instead of to Him.

17. ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED versus WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING

There is a widely held doctrine that once you have confessed with your mouth and believed with your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, it does not matter what you do thereafter you will 'sit with Christ on His throne for eternity'. This teaching ignores numerous scriptures that warn you to 'work out your salvation with fear and trembling', exhort you to run the race to the end, caution that your name can be 'blotted out of the book of life' and encourage you to 'overcome to the end'. The book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ alone contains numerous warnings, Hebrews 6:6 contains another. The Bible is full of words of caution.

There is no doubt in my mind that only a select remnant will, in fact, 'rule and reign for a thousand years with Jesus'. If this is the case, then much of what this document contains takes on a much greater significance. If you doubt this interpretation, I encourage you to pray sincerely about it and study your Bible with this specific topic in mind. As a point of departure, consider whether Jesus would have endured what He did on the Cross in order to permit us to adopt an approach to our Christian walk in which we appropriate promises while ignoring commandments with regard to obedience, etc. Please carefully consider all that follows in this light.

18. "READ THE END OF THE BOOK" : "WE WIN" ??

A statement which one hears from the pulpit and elsewhere from time to time is along the lines of "read the back of the book : we win", referring to the final victory described in the Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that the "back of the book" also refers to names being 'blotted out from the book of life' and those 'who endure to the end' amongst other warnings. While our desire should be to be amongst those who rule and reign with Christ, we should take careful note of the conditions of obedience and other constraints that are set out clearly throughout the Bible. If Paul was concerned that he might not finish the race, how much more should each of us be concerned. Complacency is certainly one of the footholds that Satan is seeking to use to destroy the children of God.

19. POVERTY IS AN INDICATOR NOT A MEASURE

Before I write further, I must clearly position my thinking with regard to 'poverty' and why I believe that the Lord led me to use poverty as the pivotal focus of this document as well as why I believe that there is currently so the following year.

It is important to recognize that Jesus did not guarantee that we would all be abundantly materially rich in this life. He commanded us to 'store up treasures in Heaven' not on earth. He also stated that 'it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God'. He also told the rich young ruler to 'sell all that he had and give to the poor'. We read throughout the scriptures of anointed men of God who spent much of their lives in apparent lack, John the Baptist would certainly seem to be one. It depends on whether locusts and wild honey are your favourite meal or not; and how we measure contentment with Godliness against, for example, the madman of the Gadarenes. God surely supplied all of John's needs.

These scriptures indicate to me that while God desires us to prosper and be in health, He does not desire this at the expense of our immortal souls. I am persuaded that the tests and trials with regard to finances are designed to bring us to a point where we are able to handle material prosperity without it affecting our relationship with God and our fellow men. Part of this process involves reaching a point where we recognize that all that we have belongs to God and that we are merely custodians of it with a responsibility to give as He directs us. In particular, this requires that those who have their own businesses realize that it is actually God's business and that it is their responsibility to take care of the business on His behalf. As with Paul, we are required to learn how to 'be abased' as well as to live in abundance.

The prosperity that God chooses to give us on this earth may be more a function of His calling on our lives than it is a function of our 'wants' and perceived 'needs'. In other words, if we are called to pastor congregations in areas of great poverty, what those of us who come from relatively affluent backgrounds consider to be poverty may constitute great abundance and blessing in such a community. The measure of prosperity that God considers appropriate to each of our lives MAY be directly related to the level of prosperity that He considers appropriate to the mission that He has given us. Accordingly, I want to stress that, no matter what you may find written elsewhere in this document, you should not categorically interpret a situation that you consider to be poverty as necessarily indicating that any of what is written here applies to you. Do not, however, lightly disregard it either. These principles also apply to health and overall spiritual condition.

Conversely there are many who claim to be Christians who are prospering and yet there are clearly areas of their lives that are not right. Again it appears that, in some cases, God's Grace covers this situation while in others the person concerned is not doing material damage to the forces of darkness and, accordingly, Satan leaves them alone. Thus, I make the assertion that financial and material prosperity is no more an indication that you are fully in the will of God than poverty is an indication that you are entirely out of the will of God.

If these last statements appear contradictory, it is simply a reflection of my observation that people seem to develop 'backward' arguments to support preconceived spiritual conclusions. There are numerous scientific, mathematic, engineering and other sources on problem solving, logic, etc which, according to my recollection, will more clearly demonstrate the futility of facile argument in order to deduce the standing of any individual with God. He 'looks on our hearts' and we are told not to judge.

Where the contents of this document are intended to apply, is in cases where you have a sure conviction that God has promised you a level of prosperity in which you know you are not walking. This appears to be much of the 'Body of Christ' today. Equally, many of the points set out in this document probably apply to other areas where the promises of God do not appear to be effective.

Ultimately, each of us will stand before His throne and be called to account for our lives totally on our own. If I am in error, I will be called to account for my error and it's impact on you and others. If you have accepted my error, you will be called to account for your decision to accept it! In the meanwhile, only you can assess where you stand with God, that is not for me or any other human being to judge. If He speaks to you through one of His apostles or prophets, that is a different matter.

20. FAITH

Nothing in this document should be taken as in any way seeking to deny the importance of faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God and "everything that does not come from faith is sin" Romans 14:23. This entire document assumes that the reader is aware of the importance of faith. There are excellent numerous teachings on faith by Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin and numerous others. This document is not intended to duplicate these teachings and any reader who is not informed of the principles of faith and walking by faith is encouraged to seek such teachings as a priority. This document is intended to assist people who have found that their faith does not appear to be working.

21. THE NAME OF JESUS

The Name of Jesus Christ is the Name above ALL Names. At the name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord. There is immense power in the name of Jesus. Never forget this and never use the name of Jesus lightly, vainly or as a common word. It is the Holiest name of ALL names. I have experienced angels catching my car as it hurtled sideways over an embankment and gently setting the car down at the foot of the embankment, just by crying out "Jesus" as I lost control. Many others have had similar experiences. Never forget the power of the name of Jesus and never cease to confess the name of Jesus over your life and circumstances. But confess it with respect and reverence for who He is!

22. CONCLUSION

I have set out in the sections above to more clearly explain my thinking behind what follows. This discussion is predicated on the assumption that, in order to develop a rational argument it is necessary to make certain assumptions and principles explicit. I hope that I have, to a point, accomplished this.

Since I am certain that there are passages that will prove not to be clear or open to misinterpretation or that there are assumptions that I have made that I have not made explicit, I welcome all comments and suggestions for improvement or correction.

CHAPTER 2

 

BASIC PRINCIPLES

 

1. INTRODUCTION

In the previous section, I set out some introductory concepts which I hope have assisted you to better position what follows and to understand my approach to what is set out below. Further thoughts are set out in subsequent sections.

As previously indicated, the sections that follow more or less follow the sequence in which, as I recall, God first revealed them to me as I sought to grow in Christ and to lay hold of the promises of God. I wish to stress again, THIS IS NOT A RECIPE BOOK, it is based on my own experience and I am quite certain that there will be different things in the lives of others and different priorities. Only God The Holy Spirit, through His Word and assisted by His Holy Apostles and Prophets can lead you to address the issues that apply to your life right now. Remember also that you are engaged in a long distance race or journey. Some things below you may have dealt with years ago, others you may only confront in days to come. Sift these notes and seek what is wheat to you today, in Jesus Name.

In the first part of this section I will probably revisit many issues which are fundamental to your existing life style in Christ. However, I have found in my own life that these issues sometimes get overlooked and have to be revisited so I have taken the liberty of mentioning them here for the sake of completeness.

2. READ THE WORD DAILY

The first major revelation that I obtained after receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour was that the Bible is His Word and that my Spirit is fed by reading and hearing the Word.

I have repeatedly found that when I am less than diligent in reading the Word, things start to go wrong.

Based on wise counsel that I received at an early stage, I made a real effort to read Psalms and especially Proverbs on a regular basis and to read both Old and New Testaments from beginning to end on a continuous basis getting through the Old Testament about once a year and the New Testament about three or four times a year. As mentioned previously, I also made a decision to accept the Bible as the Living Word of God and asked Him by faith to answer all my questions which He has. I imagine that this has played a pivotal role in bringing me to the point of writing this document.

If you are not reading your Bible at least morning and evening virtually every day, I would encourage you to start immediately, God can speak to you through the Bible and also train up your spirit more than you can possibly imagine if you have never read your Bible regularly. If you have let your daily Bible reading slip, you should not be surprised if Satan is having a field day with your finances or other areas of your life.

3. TRANSLATION ISSUES

Many people find that they have difficulty with the Bible. It is important to realize that the Word of God is the original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek text and that, in cases, there are errors in translation that cancel, distort or in extreme cases pervert the Word of God.

In recent months (early 1998), the Lord has increasingly shown me that there are aspects of the NIV (New International Version) which are suspect, in fact I have heard one preacher, saved from the New Age movement refer to the NIV as the New Age Version. Other translations also contain editorial licence. One school of thought holds that the original King James Version (KJV) is the only reliable translation, many recommend the New King James Version (NKJV). I have found that God has spoken to me on many issues through the Amplified Version (AMP). Others recommend other translations. I have found the Living Torah series (a Jewish translation) to be a highly anointed and very informative translation of much of the Old Testament.

I mention this here firstly in order that readers should take note of it, secondly in order that, if there are statements or interpretations that I make in this document that you do not agree with, you consider the possibility that you have been influenced by an inaccurate translation and therefore investigate other translations.

It seems to me that, in extreme cases, by quoting a translation that is significantly inaccurate, one could be giving Satan a foothold in one's life.

4. DISCREPANCIES IN THE BIBLE

Some people have difficulty with the fact that there are minor inconsistencies between historical accounts, particularly between Kings and Chronicles and the four Gospels. It is important to realize that certain of the books of the Bible have been given by direct "dictation" if you will of the Holy Spirit through God's Prophets. Other books are historical accounts, written after the event, of situations in which God moved. Kings and Chronicles and the Gospels together with certain other books fall into this category. As best I know, the discrepancies referred to occur almost exclusively in these books. This does not, in any way influence the integrity of the Bible as a whole but wisdom is required to recognize this reality. It is foolishness to argue with someone that the entire Bible, every word of all 66 books is inerrant when 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1 both seem to describe the same incident differently. While it is possible that this may be influenced by translation, there are certainly grounds to admit the possibility that the scribes who recorded these two historical records may have relied at this point on verbal accounts which had become slightly distorted. To the best of my knowledge, none of these discrepancies has any material impact on any aspect of the Christian and Jewish faiths which is of any material consequence to us.

5. APPLY THE WORD

Again a very basic principle. If you do not apply what you read in the Bible in your own life then there is little point in reading it. Continuous prayerful consideration of the Word and it's application is vital.

6. CALL NO MAN TEACHER

Jesus said to 'call no man teacher' and said that He was sending the Holy Spirit to be our teacher. Rely on Him to show you how to interpret and apply His Word. Regard teachings as a means of gaining further insight and access to other people's revelation but understand always your accountability to ensure that what is taught is of God and NOT of man and keep in mind the remarks above about all works of man containing some error.

7. ERROR CONCEALED AMONGST TRUTH

On several occasions, I have heard speakers deliver a powerful and anointed message but deviate into their own understanding, and sometime serious error, at some point. In several cases this deviation has been into areas of false doctrine and modern folk lore which a deeper investigation of scripture reveals to be incorrect. In some cases, these small amounts of error, amongst large amounts of truth are potentially spiritually life threatening. Constantly seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

There is also a risk that, because there has been so much truth in a message that the entire message is trustingly accepted as truth. Only Jesus has all the truth. Constantly remember the example of the pupil getting 75% for matric.

8. NOT ONE JOT OR TITTLE SHALL PASS AWAY

There is a tendency to disregard the Old Testament as well as the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ as being "too difficult". We must trust the Holy Spirit to reveal that which He requires us to know from ALL books of the Bible. If we do not read all books of the Bible regularly, He cannot speak to us through them. My own experience indicates that it is possible to read a particular book, such as Job, half a dozen times before you begin to receive from it and then suddenly you cannot understand why it never spoke to you before. This is a particularly important statement in the context of this discourse, with Job being an example of a book that contains much wisdom applicable to the subject matter of this document but which is frequently referred to as being difficult to understand.

This observation is critically important in terms of this discourse. The Word of God is incredibly multi-faceted, I recently read a Jewish source which refers to the "'seventy facets' of the Torah's jewelled words" suggesting a richness which very few Christian readers have begun to understand. If we begin to appreciate this, we will begin to understand the extent to which every verse of the Bible can potentially contain an answer to a problem that we are experiencing that no one else we know has ever noticed. The Word of God truly is "New Every Morning".

Keep slogging through the entire Bible by faith and keep asking God to open it to you. If you chose not to read the entire Bible, that is your prerogative but you must accept responsibility for any consequences that may result.

9. FEED YOUR SPIRIT CONSTANTLY

In addition to reading your Bible daily, feed your spirit at every possible opportunity with audio tapes of teachings, praise and worship, etc in your car and at home. Read books, watch videos of teachings, crusades, etc, at home and listen to praise and worship at every opportunity.

Until you have consistently fed your spirit abundantly over a sustained period of time it is impossible to comprehend the difference that it will make to you. God is the source of all wisdom and understanding, He knows all that you need to know and, as difficult as it may be to grasp, the more time you spend with God, the more He will reveal of what you need to know.

One of the highlights of my spiritual life to date was an occasion when I was physically exhausted to the point that I seriously considered cancelling a one day management workshop for my most important client at the time. I had not done any preparation and felt that I was too tired to concentrate effectively for eight hours with a senior level management audience. In the event, I prayed in tongues while listening to praise tapes all the way to the client (approximately a 45 minute drive) and to undertake what I still consider to be the best facilitation that I have ever delivered and, in the process, completely redefined the workshop procedure in a fashion that has laid the foundation for many major opportunities subsequently. I truly believe that, if I had not fed my spirit in preference to adopting the ways of the world, the workshop would have been a failure and I would not have developed the technique referred to. We serve an awesome God who is far greater than our limited understanding allows us to grasp. I could share numerous other instances where by supernatural revelation I have found myself able to contribute constructively in meetings on subjects where, in the natural, I had no basis to say anything. The wisdom and understanding of God, obtained through prayer and feeding our spirit's on the Word of God is far beyond anything that we can gain through the worlds ways and teachings.

In the past five years I have not watched secular television or read newspapers other than briefly on isolated occasions and I have hardly read any secular technical books yet I can say with complete confidence that, my level of understanding in my chosen area of expertise and my acceptance as an expert in my field have grown more in that period than in all the previous years when I diligently watched the news, read the papers and read text books, etc. Yet, my name is scheduled to be listed in "Who's Who in the World" in 1999 and was listed in 1998 in "Who's Who in Science and Engineering". I have to give all the glory to God for this.

10. PRAYER

Spend as much time as possible in prayer, quiet time, etc with God. In the appendix I include some things that I have found helpful to pray. Recognize that God is "I am". He knows all things, He knows what you are going through and why and He knows what needs to happen in order for things to change, ask Him all you need to know.

At the same time, prayer is vital, all authority on earth has been given to man and God can do nothing unless we exercise our authority and pray things through. Adam gave all authority on the earth to Satan and, while Jesus has given His authority to His body, we have to wield that authority because Satan still controls a large proportion of the people on the earth and his demons and fallen angels are constantly seeking to "kill, steal and destroy".

I have found over the years that asking God to explain passages of scripture that I did not understand has always produced results. Asking for signs to guide me, provided the signs were consistent with His Word and He had not already spoken to me in depth has also been fruitful. A word of caution, pray for such signs SILENTLY in your heart NOT aloud. Asking that He bring the right people into your life and remove the wrong people from your life can produce some unpleasant surprises but is, in my own experience, a vital ongoing prayer.

At the same time, God is not amenable to demands, bribes, etc. He is the source of ALL wisdom and understanding and accordingly, you can enter into any discussion with Him that you might enter into with the most reputable professional advisor that you could consider retaining. Do not be afraid to ask Him what to pray but DO NOT berate Him and lecture Him, that will not get you anywhere. You could also be getting into witchcraft.

When you are unsure what to pray, pray in tongues. Wherever possible, formulate your question on the matter in hand in your own language and then pray in tongues until you feel that you have prayed all you can. Some people call this "praying through" referring to a sense of completeness or fulfilment that accompanies a prayer that has been prayed through to completion.

11. GOD'S PEOPLE PERISH FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

The Word of God says that His people "perish for lack of knowledge".

Much of what this document seeks to achieve is to make readers aware, on a headline basis, of aspects of spiritual life where they may lack knowledge that is causing them to perish. I strongly recommend that, where things in this document do not seem to apply to you on first reading, should you subsequently find yourself under attack, read through these notes again. My own experience is that we periodically have to revisit issues which we thought we had dealt with. Other things which at the time we thought did not apply to us suddenly have vital relevance months or years later.

12. THE SMALL THINGS : HONOURING GOD WITH YOUR TIME

At a very early stage, I was strongly impressed by a message in which the congregation were challenged to honour God with their time by being on time for Church meetings. That has been with me ever since and I truly believe that this is a small way in which we can show our reverence and respect for God. He has done so much for us.

13. RENEWING YOUR MIND

The principle of renewing our minds with the Word cannot be over stressed. There are many teachings on the subject so I do not want to belabour the point. My own experience indicates that if you are constantly renewing your mind with the Word of God, constantly spending time in His presence and praying in the Spirit at every opportunity, He will take care of the information you need for your daily task far more than our understanding will permit us to grasp.

This may depend on your calling and gifting but I certainly recommend that you consider it carefully. The more you feed your spirit with secular TV, secular radio, newspapers and magazines, the more worldly minded you will be. The more you feed your spirit with The Word of God, anointed teachings, praise and worship and the like, the more God minded you will be and the more you will be led by the Holy Spirit in all that you do.

I urge you to pray about this and earnestly consider it. I have found that I can relax far more in the presence of God than at any secular event. I fully expect that, should you persevere down the path alluded to here, you will find that it is the same for you.

14. THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH

Eventually, if you constantly press in, you can expect to reach the situation where you can truly claim that "the joy of the Lord is my strength". As I write this, in the natural I am facing financial ruin but I do not think that I have ever had such settled assurance that "Jesus is mine" and that I am His and that He shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory. It is an incredible experience which cannot be properly described unless you have been there yourself. Truly I can say "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil", it is a wonderful relief to experience that peace and joy that passes all understanding.

15. BE YE SEPARATE

We are called on to be separate while at the same time going into all the World to preach the Gospel. I have referred above to limiting exposure to the world through TV, Video, Newspapers, etc, the same applies to the people that you keep company with.

Great care is needed in discussing this subject since different people are called by God to have different types of interaction with different sectors of the world community. The fundamental principle that applies is to direct discretionary time to building ourselves up in the Holy Spirit and not exposing ourselves to the world system where it is not necessary.

This topic has the potential to become a religious dogma and so prayerful consideration is called for bearing in mind that, in order to complete the race and achieve the prize, certain sacrifices are likely to be called for. The question each of us has to address is how we will account for our time when we finally stand before the throne of God.

16. FORSAKE NOT THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE BRETHREN

My most significant spiritual progress has occurred during periods when I have been attending church twice on Sundays and attending at least one mid-week meeting. All evidence that I have encountered supports the view that the more time one spends in fellowship with other believers, particularly corporate praise and worship (not drinking tea and discussing the rugby). The more one is built up, the more opportunity there is for God to speak to you through His Word and His prophets and teachers.

If you are facing serious challenges I would encourage you to make every effort to spend as much time as possible in the company of anointed, spirit filled believers at meetings where God is moving.

17. MAKING THE HOLY SPIRIT WELCOME IN YOUR HOME, YOUR CAR, ETC

Recognizing that the Holy Spirit is as much a person as you or I and that He wants to spend time with you probably more than most of us want to spend time with Him. Make your home and car places where He feels welcome. Remove all ungodly artifacts, pictures, music, etc from your home and, if appropriate (see later) destroy it. For years now, I have played praise and worship music on low volume on the CD player in the house day and night and have prayed that Jesus should feel free to rest in my home whether I am there or not. My desire is that He should feel welcome at all times. As one realizes what He has done for us, it is only right that we should do all we can to ensure that our dwellings, cars, etc are places where He can spend time without being troubled by the iniquity of the world.

The more Jesus is welcome in your home, the less Satan will feel welcome.

18. THE FLESH

There are many teachings on 'putting the flesh under'. We all are tripped up by our emotions, our intellect, our habits and other factors associated with our bodies. We are enjoined to 'bring our bodies into submission'. Part of this involves willingness to endure discomfort, lack of sleep and other unpleasant things in order to serve God at times. Please note that I am not advocating some form of monastic existence but it there are times when we have to 'press in' no matter how tired we are. There are many testimonies of how people who have pressed in have found that their tiredness has subsided as they have drawn closer to God.

19. GOD DESTROYS THE FLESH, IDOLS AND OTHER THINGS

There are certain things in our lives that God, Himself will seek to destroy. Not all discomfort comes from Satan, although God may use Satan. Sometimes, God initiates things in order to bring us to where He wants us. Be careful that you do not find yourself rebuking Satan or condemning another person when God is in fact behind the apparent attack. He loves you so much that He does not want you to continue in certain things. Sometimes, we also pray for things we do not understand the consequences of and then do not like the outcome. I started praying for God to take the wrong people out of my life and then found the next few years rather uncomfortable as God systematically removed all the people that He did not want in my life. If you have prayed for Him to give you His Fire, do not be surprised if the heat is painful.

20. WATER BAPTISM

As I understand it, water baptism is something that we should undertake as soon as possible after we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. I also do not find that it is an option. The washing away of sin and cleansing, etc associated with water baptism are a vital step towards sanctification and an effective Christian walk. Incidental, study of Jewish translations of the Torah reveal that water baptism (immersion in a Mikvah) was a fundamental and routine principle of cleansing of ANY uncleanness given to Moses at Mount Sinai. In other words, the Jews clearly understood what John the Baptist was doing!

21. PRAY IN THE SPIRIT WITHOUT CEASING

The gift of tongues / the ability to pray "in the Spirit" is vital and often underestimated. It is possible to pray under your breath in tongues in a meeting, on a plane or train or in diverse other situations. It builds up your spirit and refreshes you and allows you to pray the perfect will of God. If you are not constantly praying in the Spirit there is a strong likelihood that you will come under attack.

22. FOOLISH AND EMPTY WORDS

The Word is very specific about empty / vain words. Many so-called jokes and practical jokes are, when push comes to shove, lies, all lies are from Satan (he is the father of lies) and Revelation 21:8 and other scriptures clearly indicate that God hates lies. Jokes and practical jokes and particularly those that include distortions of the truth must surely open the door to the enemy.

23. NEGATIVE CONFESSION

The power of life and death are in the tongue. If you confess your faith and the Word of God, you will energise the Angels of heaven and all around you will know who you are serving. If you constantly confess defeat and make statements which are contrary to the Word of God, you are likely to energize Satan's cohorts, fallen angels and demons. Satan will only know if he is getting through to you by your words or your actions. Only God knows your thoughts and your heart. If you cannot confess your faith, keep quiet. There is, however, a distinction between making a positive confession and a presumptuous confession. Confessing carnal, natural, worldly things which God has not expressly promised is not faith, it is presumption at best, foolishness and deceit at worst. Faith is also not confessing things to audiences which God never intended to hear them.

24. RESTITUTION

Restitution is not a concept the church talks about much. We prefer to believe that, when we are born again, old things pass away, not just in terms of salvation, but also in terms of a much broader spectrum of issues. I find no scripture to substantiate this and my own experience has proved conclusively to me that claiming salvation, pleading the Blood of Christ and repenting to God does not relieve us of our responsibility to make right with people whom we have wronged, whether before or after making a decision to accept Jesus Christ as our personal saviour.

Restitution, as I have encountered it, has included amongst other things:

1. Face to face and telephonic repentance of wrong actions and words, including a man who at one stage had threatened to kill me because of the wrong that I had done him (he would have been scripturally justified in doing so by the way, the sin that I had committed before receiving Christ carries the penalty of death in scripture). I even had to contact him three times before he would speak to me and each time he declared that he never wanted to hear my name again. Yet the Holy Spirit would not let me go, eventually much anger, bitterness and hurt was released. God was not interested in my comfort, He was interested in the well being of the person I had wronged.

2. Written repentance and asking for forgiveness of people who would not speak to me.

3. Returning items that I had "borrowed" or removed from an institution which was not using them and probably did not want them, in fact they would probably have given them to me if I had asked but I did not. God left me in no doubt that even though the incidents had happened nearly twenty years ago He still wanted me to make right (and not anonymously either) but in His mercy He made a way!

He showed me that He could not protect my house against thieves for as long as I had stolen goods in my house, no matter how small the value of the items.

4. Offering financial recompense to a person that I had grievously wronged in order to make good a long term and ongoing financial loss that had resulted from major sin in my life before receiving Christ. The offer was rejected and the first cheques returned so I did not have to pay but I had reached the point where I was prepared to trust God and make the sacrifice because I was so convicted.

For as long as we have not made right and restored what we have caused others to lose or have taken from them, in other words made restitution, no matter how small or how great the restitution required, Satan can go before the throne of God and claim his legal right to attack us. While the Grace and Mercy of God may extend to those issues that we truly can do nothing about and perhaps those that God does not bring to our attention, He expects a much more sincere effort from us to identify these issues and deal with them head-on and with integrity than many Christians seem willing to make.

25. WE ONLY HEAR GOD WITHIN THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR PARADIGM

It has been my own experience and my observation that, if we cannot conceive that God could say a particular thing, we have great difficulty hearing Him and others tend to label what we hear as being from the devil. Once you start praying to God to show you the reasons why you are having the problems you are experiencing, expect the unexpected. Expect him to open up passages of scripture that you have never heard taught on or which contradict teachings you have heard. Be prepared to ask for signs in confirmation and be prepared to have Him lead you to buy books, tapes and other materials in out of the way places. Be prepared to have unlikely characters sent across your path not all of whom are necessarily Christians and some of whom may be quite unsavoury, He did it throughout scripture so do not be surprised if He does it in your life.

Recognize that if you have been told that restitution is "Old Testament" and God tells you to make restitution that you will have difficulty believing that God is speaking to you. Those around you will probably have even greater difficulty. By way of example, if you have been raised to know the colour white as being called "black" and God tells you that this colour is actually white you will have great difficulty recognizing that God is speaking to you or that a prophet is hearing God. This example more clearly demonstrates the paradigm problem that the church has with doctrine. There are far more cases in our current understanding than we realize, of things that we consider to be white that are actually black. Recognize that you alone are accountable for your walk and ask Him to break your preconceived ideas in order to receive what He is saying to you. If it does not make sense, ask for signs that will clearly show you that God is speaking to you. And, above all, be prepared for surprises and rejection by those who are not as flexible as you! If God gives you a revelation, do not rush out and share it prematurely, others may not be as excited as you are!

There is a saying in the world "if you do things the way you have always done them you will get the result you have always obtained". If you ask God for advice or help, over and above telling you to do things you have not done previously, He may well tell you to do things you do not believe He could tell you to do. Consider the life of David as a good example. Throughout history, God has done things He has never done before and may never do again, for example the virgin birth, the ark, the slaying of Goliath, etc.

Remember, we are at war and therefore, part of the advantage is for God to constantly change the ways He does things in order to outwit Satan and catch him by surprise. Guerilla fighters rely heavily on surprise and doing the unexpected and outrageous to outwit heavier enemies. Since Satan has occupation of the earth and we are therefore in a very real way "behind enemy lines" this is the way God often operates.

26. OBEY GOD AND NOT MAN

In my own experience of restitution and other matters, I reached a point where I knew with complete certainty that my heart was right before God on the issue concerned and that He wanted me to take certain action. When I was unsure of the way to go about it and when I consulted friends and pastors on more than one occasion, I found myself subject not just to criticism but intense verbal abuse. On one matter, I waited over two years. As a result I had reached such a desperate financial situation that I had no alternative but to make restitution by faith and saw an immediate turnaround.

The Bible is full of people who paid a heavy price (in the natural) for listening to men and not obeying God rather than man.

27. OBEDIENCE IN FINANCES

Obedience with the small things for me was an important point at a fairly early stage. If we ignore the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us to help a beggar, a down and outer, a hitch hiker or others of His children who have fallen on hard times, how can we reasonably expect Him to help us avoid a similar fate?

My experience of obedience, or more accurately "disobedience", ranges from suffering serious financial loss because I did not listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, to having to walk several kilometres because the taxi I had ordered did not arrive instead of taking the taxi that God had already sent, to having to drive a distance of about 50 kilometres round trip on several occasions in order to try and meet someone that God had told me to give a prophetic word to when I first met him.

Kenneth Hagin and others report instances where God told them to give small sums of money to others when that was all the money they had and subsequently having God use them mightily and tell them that He could not have used them if they had not been obedient in this area. Kenneth Hagin's booklet "Obedience in Finances" is, as far as I am concerned a MUST READ.

In my own experience, I had my most dramatic encounter with the Holy Spirit after God had repeatedly tested me in areas of obedience in giving between R10 and R100 to beggars on the side of the road and then tested me in giving a word of encouragement to a pastor in a church where I was unknown. Scripturally, total obedience is a prerequisite for walking fully in the blessings of God.

28. OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD AND HIS SPIRIT

I have touched on the question of obedience in various aspects. I cannot stress enough that disobedience in any area opens the gate wide for Satan to attack us and that no price in terms of condemnation by men should be sufficient to dissuade us from doing God's will. He requires obedience, even unto death. The Bible is full of martyrs and it ends with martyrs. Are you prepared to follow your saviour even unto the death of the cross?

29. SEEK THE PRESENCE OF GOD

There is a distinct difference between prayer and even "quiet times" and actively seeking to come into the presence of God. This is not necessarily a prerequisite for prosperity but I think that unless you are very conscious of the need to be constantly in the presence of God, prosperity may destroy you.

In the age in which we now find ourselves, financial blessings may be limited if we are not actively seeking to be in His presence and to do His will at all times.

30. ADULTERY / FORNICATION

The Bible is full of injunctions against adultery and fornication and yet, the church as a whole has lost an understanding of what adultery and fornication actually are. This is a complex subject and a minefield of religious dogma as most current teachings in this regard are, at best, incomplete if not seriously inaccurate. I hope, God willing, to produce a separate discourse on adultery and all the related issues but I will seek to address the basics here.

Firstly it is important to understand that Deuteronomy lays down very specific tests to determine virginity and ordains death for any woman who is found not be a virgin on her marriage night. The marriage covenant is a blood covenant cut in the flesh (hymen) of the virgin bride. While physical death may be unlikely in these days, the spiritual death that ultimately accompanies unrepented adultery and fornication remains very clear in Revelation 21:8. Note that repentance means that you do not return to your sin, not that you keep sinning and keep repenting.

The scriptural states of women as I understand it are approximately as follows:

1. A maiden = a girl under marriageable age.

2. A virgin = a girl of marriageable age (most authorities agree that this is twelve and a half years in scriptural terms) who has not had sexual intercourse.

3. A wife = a woman who has been legitimately betrothed and married to a man and engaged in sexual intercourse with him. Marriage is the process of cleaving in Genesis 2:24 which includes the cutting of a blood covenant. There is no such thing as sex before marriage.

4. A widow = a wife whose husband has died.

Scriptural references to widows seem to include divorcees but ONLY those who have been divorced in accordance with the scriptural grounds set out by Jesus which effectively amount to spiritual betrayal. Ideally, in the case of a divorced woman, all spiritual ties with the former spouse should be broken so that the spiritual state is the same as that of a widow. A divorced woman who has not been divorced on scriptural grounds becomes an adulteress if she has intercourse with another man.

5. An adulteress = a wife who has had sexual intercourse with a man or men other than her husband, adultery brings spiritual death to both participants unless repented of. If she is legitimately married to another man, she must refrain from intercourse with any man other than that legitimate husband, failing which she will commit adultery repeatedly and her sin then becomes wilful. If she had effectively been put away by her previous husband for scripturally sound reasons, she would appear to be free to remarry once she has truly repented. If not, she is currently in limbo unless God clearly speaks in her situation since there are certain aspects of doctrine in the modern church surrounding various scriptures to do with Exodus 21:10 and others. This will be addressed in detail, God willing, in a future document.

6. A harlot = any woman who has had sexual intercourse with more than one man with the exception of a widow who has remarried and a divorced woman who was divorced on a scriptural basis. Given that secular statistics suggest that only about 5% of women in the world are virgins on their legal wedding night, the indications are that there are many women who have inadvertently become harlots.

It is important to understand that virginity and sexual intercourse are the criteria for determining harlotry and adultery NOT a piece of paper issued by the state or the church. Ecclesiastical marriage (marriage by the church) has only been an institution for about 500 years.

Any woman who is reading this who has at any time had sexual intercourse with more than one man and any man who has had intercourse with such a woman, should take particular account of the sections that follow.

Any man who takes the virginity of a 'virgin of the house of Israel' should pay particular attention to his responsibilities in terms of scripture and, if he has abandoned such a woman, should take note of his responsibilities and the possible impacts that this may have in terms of giving Satan footholds in his life. Note also what Paul says in Corinthians about joining the temple of the Holy Spirit to a harlot.

I would urge any man or woman who has joined themselves to more than one member of the opposite sex to prayerfully consider their situation, seek counsel and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit. From my own experience, you are wide open to attack! Pray and ask God to bring you into contact with a person who can effectively advise you and minister to you. There is great ignorance on this topic and many will dismiss what is written here as not being of God. I assure you that the core principles are from God.

31. THE ONE FLESH BOND

An examination of Genesis 2:24 which relates to the formation of the "one flesh" bond between husband and wife and reference to the scriptures which reference this passage, reveal that the "one flesh" bond is an unbreakable spiritual bond granted by God in order to bind husband and wife together. As the bond intensifies through repeated sexual encounters, so will love also intensify if both parties give themselves to one another in accordance with scripture. Corinthians and other passages clearly reveal that multiple one flesh bonds can coexist. The Gospels clearly indicate that the one flesh bond cannot be broken by man.

My own experience indicates that the one flesh bond can only be broken in cases where the bond is illegitimate in the sight of God, where the party concerned comes to the Throne of Grace in true repentance and truly desires to have the bond broken and where there is prayer in agreement. Just praying any old prayer DOES NOT WORK.

For as long as you have one flesh bonds with past sexual partners (whether heterosexual or male-male) you are caught up in a spiritual spiders web which causes confusion, conflict and torment and which opens the door wide for Satan to attack you. Paul says that fornication is a sin against your own body and, as you gain an appreciation for the strength of the one-flesh bond you will understand why.

As noted above, I hope to produce a further discourse on this subject. In the interim, my advice to you is, if this applies to you in any way, seek counsel from someone who really knows the subject. In my experience there are not many. Again pray for God to bring you into contact with someone who can help you and seek clear confirmation that the person concerned has been sent by God.

32. LUST IN THE HEART

Jesus warned that if a man looked on a woman and lusted, he was committing adultery with her in his heart. The world would have you believe that "fantasy" is O.K., it is not. Indications are that spiritual interaction can occur and that this can impair the level of intimacy with your wife resulting in a breakdown in agreement.

33. AGREEMENT BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE

Scripture states that a house divided against itself cannot stand. There is also a passage of scripture that states that if husband and wife are not in agreement, your prayers will be hindered. From my own experience, this scripture applies to all one flesh unions. Consider, therefore, the situation in which you as a man have one flesh bonds with several women who in turn each have one flesh bonds with several men and you will realize that you have one flesh bonds with other men. An abomination in the sight of God but also a spiritual spiders web that will cause your prayers to be hindered indefinitely. It is highly unlikely that if you have one flesh bonds with people you have long since lost contact with that they will be in agreement with you regarding anything of significance in your life.

From personal experience, until these one flesh bonds are severed by the Grace and Mercy of God through prayer in agreement in the name of Jesus, your prayers on diverse fronts will be seriously hindered other than to the extent that God, in His Wisdom and Mercy extends Grace to you during your spiritual infancy.

34. THE JEZEBEL FACTOR

Disagreement between husband and wife often results from what is best termed the Jezebel factor. The Jezebel spirit is a particular demon that oppresses many. It is one of the spirit's behind "women's liberation" and other aspects of women seeking to dominate men contrary to scripture. Because it attacks the very model of the church submitted as a bride to her Lord Jesus Christ, it is a fertile area for Satan's attacks. A manipulative Christian wife can control her husband by disagreeing with him, behind his back or in prayer and causing business to fail. When he comes into agreement with her or she wants to create the impression that she is behind him, things suddenly turn around. Much of the church have compromised to the point where God fearing husbands are counselled that it is their responsibility to come into agreement with their rebellious wives rather than wives being counselled that they have a scriptural responsibility to submit to their husbands. Husbands are even prevented from ministering when their wives refuse to come into agreement with them.

Clearly I am not referring here to husbands who are continuously in rebellion and out of the will of God, those who turn to Satanism and those who are unsaved.

35. DIVORCE

As with marriage, true divorce is not as it is widely considered to be. As indicated in the previous sections, marriage / sexual union gives rise to an unbreakable "one-flesh" bond. Jesus indicates quite clearly in Matthew and elsewhere that divorce for any reason other than "fornication" or "unfaithfulness" gives rise to adultery. It is important to understand that the word used in Matthew 5 is "Porneia" which relates not only to sexual immorality but to spiritual unfaithfulness, as in betrayal. From personal experience in my own life and in the lives of several other Christians that I know, God only sanctions divorce when all Grace to the sinning party has been exhausted or when the party who has been betrayed is at the absolute limit of their physical and emotional resources and cannot continue.

Again, this is a complex subject that I hope to address in more detail in a subsequent document. It is especially important to understand that you stand alone on this matter. Your decision to divorce is a decision that must be taken between you and God. You cannot stand on the counsel of any human being although they can assist you to understand the scriptural considerations. The scriptural penalty of being declared an adulterer/ess before the throne of God on the day of Judgement is too great for any person other than yourself to take responsibility for the decision.

Likewise, any decision that you may take to marry a man or woman who claims to be divorced is of such eternal import that you must take that decision between you and God. Only He can reveal to you whether He has truly released the other party to marry again.

If you find yourself already in a remarriage situation when you read this, it is up to you to discern the will of God. I am unable to express a categoric opinion other than to state that I believe that there are certain circumstances where God may require a woman to return to her original husband and that I am aware of other circumstances, including my own, where God has blessed the divorce and remarriage of both parties.

Note that a number of Jesus' comments on divorce apply to casual "putting away" of a wife because she is not pleasing to her husband or he desires another wife in her stead. I believe that this is the divorce that "God Hates". Not divorce where one partner has totally betrayed the other and shows no signs of coming to repentance, evaluated by God, NOT man. This also seemingly applies where one partner has repeatedly refused salvation and is attacking the other spouse to a point that is threatening their wellbeing or their own salvation or spiritual growth or preventing them from fulfilling their calling. That is between each person and God, no third party dare judge.

36. PRIDE versus HUMILITY

The Bible is full of warnings and injunctions against pride. Certainly in my own experience, it has been the most pernicious sin, constantly creeping in in various forms.

I would almost go so far as to suggest that, if you have been experiencing the blessings of God and suddenly things start to go wrong, check pride first. Pride in my experience manifests in diverse ways, starting with worldly pride and arrogance, graduating on to spiritual and religious pride, vanity (the spirit of vanity is the spirit of the false prophet), etc. Each attack seems to adopt a new nuance and creep up on one unawares.

Certainly in my own experience, one cannot afford to disregard a comment from any quarter that you are proud, there is likely to be some truth in it.

I have seen pride manifest in a great diversity of ways. There is a form of pride that creeps up on people who are very meek and humble in many ways but who start to manifest pride in very obscure areas of their lives.

The moment that we start looking down on others, believing that we are God's gift to humanity, pronouncing opinions on King David or otherwise setting ourselves up as 'god' and judging others, pride can take hold very rapidly.

Almost certainly Satan jumps on pride and since God hates pride so much He probably gives Satan a pretty generous leeway to take us apart if we start to become proud.

37. THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN CAN TAKE TIME TO MANIFEST

As with things in the natural, cause and effect can be some way apart. If things start to go wrong, this can sometimes be attributed to sin committed several months previously. It would appear that, mostly, God extends a 'period of Grace' in which we can repent or else it is simply a case that the previous blessings take time to attenuate because of their momentum.

In these circumstances, a few new trials may be added in order to encourage us to deal not only with recurrent and old sin but also to deal with issues that had previously been covered by Grace.

For this reason, we should be constantly praying to God to help us to stay on track and to show us areas of sin in our lives.

38. THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE ALSO CAN TAKE TIME TO MANIFEST

In the same vein, once one starts repenting and dealing with the sin, the consequences of sin seem to have gathered momentum and it generally takes time for the situation to turn around. Sin is a luxury that we cannot afford. Sustained sin is something that will cause immeasurable harm in our lives and to those around us. Yet so many of us seem to keep being lured into the same traps, time after time.

39. DEMONS IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND DELIVERANCE

One of the more controversial discoveries of the journey that I am, after a fashion, chronicling here, was the discovery that I was seriously demonized. Most Christians have some demons that have not been dealt with. Over the years, the Lord has brought me into contact with a variety of books and tapes on the subject and more recently into contact with a number of prophetic deliverance ministers. In my case, after serving listening to Satan in a big way on and off for a substantial part of 40 years different demons were still being identified and cast out four years after I first became aware of deliverance.

If you are not aware that Christians can be oppressed (NOT possessed) by demons, I recommend the book "In the name of Satan" by Bob Larson for a series of first hand encounters with demons on Christians. Remember that Jesus ministry was almost entirely to the people of Israel, the believers of His day. There are scriptures which clearly indicate that believers can receive a 'different spirit'. Teachings by Benny Hinn, Mary Garrison and many others address this subject.

Personal experience and experience of many that I know has confirmed that demonization of believers is a reality. Pride, lust, perversion, whoredom, lying, religion, poverty, control, jealousy and competition, heaviness (including depression) and a great diversity of other factors can be demonic. More extreme spirits such as Pharaoh, Jezebel and similar spirits may also be associated with principalities and powers.

It appears that the physical idols in the Old Testament are a type and shadow of demons in the New Testament. Given that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, the progressive introduction of idols into the Temple in Jerusalem, culminating in their introduction into the Holy of Holies, indicates the manner in which demons can impregnate a believer.

Demonic oppression may give rise to persistent sin resulting in strongholds in the believers life which are impossible to eliminate without deliverance. Deliverance, in turn requires adequate knowledge, assurance of the believers authority in Christ, knowledge of the effective application of the Blood of Jesus and the ministering of deliverance. Prophetic gifting is almost essential in dealing with demonic oppression in order to obtain guidance from the Holy Spirit in terms of the sequence of deliverance, strong men, gate keepers and other demons that do not necessarily manifest directly as well as to identify curses and other factors that have given the demons a legal right to enter and remain. It is not my intention to write a detailed explanation of demons and deliverance in this discourse, only to raise your awareness to the possibility that you might be demonized to a point and therefore to sensitize you to the possibility of seeking deliverance ministry as a means of speedily and effectively dealing with certain aspects of your life which may be oppressed.

It is my impression that virtually every person who calls themselves a Christian will have at least some demonic presence in their lives unless they have been ministered to in this area at some time or have been raised in a very sanctified environment and never committed any sin that could have given a demon a foothold.

While many Christians are offended at the suggestion that they might be demonized, it is important to recognize that Satan or Beelzebub is "the Lord of the flies" and demons are, in a spiritual sense, little different to flies, mosquitoes, tics and other insects and parasites that can harass us or be picked up in certain environments. In the same way that a mosquito alighting on your skin and sucking blood does not indicate anything wrong with you, a demon alighting on your flesh and triggering certain behaviour does not necessarily indicate anything spiritually wrong with you. Demons are opportunistic, they will alight on you and make suggestions to your spirit which, if you act on then could cause you to sin thus giving them a legal right to remain and establish a stronger foothold on you. Over time, using similar tactics, demons can bring in more and stronger demons until, in extreme cases rebellion against God occurs to a point where no salvation is possible. In most cases, from what I can establish, demonization gives rise to sins in limited areas which results in oppression and defeat in certain aspects of the believers life. This is a critical aspect of the spiritual warfare that we are engaged in that is very little understood, even by those who have considerable knowledge and experience. God is now revealing much of the knowledge that has been lost over the generations.

My experience suggests, that if a person does not believe that they could have a demon or demons or if they do not genuinely and seriously wish to be set free, deliverance is unlikely to be effected. Testimonies of those who can see in the spirit realm indicate that demons may only move a few feet away from the person on whom they have been resident and may return almost immediately if there is doubt, unbelief, uncertainty or if the person instructing them to leave is unsure of their authority or has, themselves, certain sin that weakens the anointing on their own lives. In some cases, demons do not move at all.

If the legal basis on which a demon has gained a right to enter a body has not been dealt with at it's roots and entirely removed by confession and repentance, restitution, cutting off, etc there is no legal right for the person ministering deliverance to command the demon to leave. As such, it can be expected that, when ministering deliverance prophetically, God will only reveal those demons for which there is a legal right to demand removal at that time. The fact that deliverance has been ministered prophetically does not guarantee that a person is entirely free. There may be core issues to be dealt with beyond the scope of knowledge and experience of the person ministering deliverance to counsel on or beyond the level of spiritual maturity of the person being ministered to in order to enforce the victory and prevent reinfestation, which will be seven times worse.

It would seem that reckless ministry of deliverance in which demons are bound and instructed to leave when they have a legal right to remain, could result in the person ministering granting the enemy a legal right to attack them.

In most cases, deliverance is a process, it has been likened to the peeling off of onion skins. There is a limit to what one person can stand in a single session of deliverance ministry and spiritual, physical and emotional healing may be required before the next session of ministry in order that the person is not left excessively vulnerable to reinfestation. Jesus warned us that demons will return and seek to introduce a much greater infestation. We must guard against this through reading the Word, time spent in prayer, praying in the Spirit, time in fellowship, sanctifying our homes, keeping from sin, etc.

If you have been struggling for years to 'put your flesh under' on a particular issue without success, deliverance may well be the answer and you should consult an experienced deliverance minister as soon as possible. If you do not know of such a person, ask God to bring you into contact with the person of His choosing and expect Him to lead you. This may take time.

Prophetic deliverance may also address issues such as curses, spiritual shackles, damaged spiritual armour and a variety of other aspects which will not be discerned in any other way. Jesus has not left us ill-equipped to deal with demonic infestation but Satan has very effectively undermined the churches ability to deal with these issues through religion and widespread lies that are propagated in the church.

40. ACCURSED THINGS IN YOUR POSSESSION

Allied to demonic oppression of the bodies, minds and emotions of believers is demonic infestation of our homes, places of work, etc. Experience suggests that demons can take up residence in a house or other physical location as a consequence of sin committed in that location, accordingly, a second hand-house or even a plot of land may have demons on it which need to be cast out.

In addition to this, any artefact which has demonic significance can give demons a right to enter your house, or attack you personally. I once ministered to a Christian family whose house had been burgled and was informed by God that their daughter had been given a satanic symbol (an Ankh) six months previously and that God could not protect the daughter or her possessions while this was in her possession. Books on idols or mythology, art books with photographs of Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Indian and other gods, pagan temples, etc can all give demons right of legal access. Certain Persian carpets, African wood carvings, voodoo masks, amulets, etc also give rights. Emblems of the Freemasons and other secret societies and items containing marks of demonic or satanic significance all give Satan the right to attack you. Many modern children's toys, games, etc contain satanic emblems. Troll's have demonic significance. I have ministered deliverance to a strong believer who backslid for five years into alcohol, strong drugs and other sin after he was given a fire screen with the face of a gargoyle (demonic figure) on it.

It is important to realize that demons gain access to our lives, not on the basis of conscious sin but on a strictly legal basis. Thus a child who has absolutely no knowledge of what is going on can be demonized by transgressing a spiritual law that gives a particular demon a right to enter. Likewise, a strong Christian can become heavily oppressed by demons that are given a legal right by ownership of an artefact given innocently as a gift. Particular care should be taken concerning the purchase of many artifacts and toys that are being sold over the counter in all sorts of shops.

41. PHYSICAL IDOLS

A word of caution, if you are facing financial ruin and you are striving to keep your house, your car or other possessions, it could well be that they have become idols and things may not turn around until you let them go. In such circumstances, shouting at God and lecturing Him on what His word says and demanding that He let you keep your house or car is tantamount to witchcraft and total rebellion. He may well require that, at the very least you place the item "on the altar" of sacrifice and consent to His will being done. If you have gone too far, you may well have to lose everything and start again. Remember, the issue is to "store up treasure in heaven" NOT on earth. God is not interested in assisting you to store up treasure on earth at the expense of your immortal soul.

Much has been preached about houses and cars and similar items becoming idols in our lives. At one time, I reached a point where certain things in my life were sub-consciously becoming more important in my life than God and I was looking to them as my source instead of to God. At a point, God had to remove those things from my life. Material things which become idols in the lives of believers will give rise to attack. Anything which causes you to disobey God or to take your eyes off God is an idol. It is also possible for people to become idols, a spouse or pastor who demands obedience contrary to the Word of God or the leading of the Holy Spirit are two of the most prevalent in my experience. The Word of God says "submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you". Submission to a spouse or pastor who is in rebellion causes you to become yoked to them and to set them up as an idol over your complete submission to Almighty God.

42. SPIRIT OF STUPOR : EYES THAT DO NOT SEE, EARS THAT DO NOT HEAR

Romans 11:8 refers to a 'spirit of stupor, eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear'. This came upon the children of Israel as a result of their disobedience and appears to be widespread in the church. This is a very specific demon but I mention it because in my own experience it causes people not to obtain revelation when reading the word of God and also confuses what they see and hear in the spirit realm. If you are having difficulty receiving from the Word of God or find that you seem not to be hearing the same things when messages are preached in church or reading the same things in books that are recommended to you on spiritual matters, I suggest that you take authority over a spirit of stupor, but not before you have dealt with any areas of known disobedience in your life.

43. CHRISTIAN OWNERSHIP OF A BUSINESS

The business will be affected by it's owners spiritual state. My experience indicates that if the owner or owners of a business are Christian and they will be the principal individuals to benefit if the business prospers, this will give Satan a legal right to attack the entire business. It does appear that believers working for the company who do not give Satan any basis to attack them will be taken care of. However, in certain cases in my experience, this can lead to unequal yoking and God may then take you out of the business in order to bless you. Staying in a business just because the owner is a Christian is carnal and not necessarily God's will. If you remain in the business, it is unlikely that you will prosper since you are unequally yoked. Please take what I have written here as something to be prayed over with care. I am not telling you to resign from your job, I am suggesting that you should pray over the business and be attentive to the possibility of God telling you to move.

44. UNEQUAL YOKING

The Bible tells us not to be unequally yoked. This applies not only to business but can also apply to friendships, marriage and in some cases to churches. Unequal yoking can give rise to a situation where Satan has a legal right to attack you because you are "in-spanned" with a person that Satan has a legal right to attack. I do not have great experience with this but have encountered a number of associations where God has taken business partners and staff out of my life for this reason. This does not mean that they are bad and you are good or vice versa, it simply means that God has decided at that point in time that the yoke is too heavy on one party and should be removed. Never judge another Christian because God took you out of their business, their company, their church or their fellowship! Never lose sight of the possibility that God took you out because you were the problem!

45. WHAT IS A YOKE?

A yoke is something that transfers the strength of an ox to the plough or cart that it is dragging. A spiritual yoke can transfer the spiritual load of bondage from one person to another. An example would be a case where a person has entered into a financial partnership with someone who has footholds in their lives. In such a case, where one person is living a righteous life and the other not but both will benefit from any business income or profit, the legal right that Satan has to attack the one person's finances means that either both people are blessed or none. In my experience, neither person will be blessed through that partnership until BOTH have dealt with the footholds in their lives or the one with sin in their life has left the business. The same applies to covenant partnerships in ministries and even regular giving to a ministry that is out of the will of God.

46. UNWISE TALK / BOASTING

Contrary to the 'name it, claim it, frame it' school of thought, it has been my experience that, while involved in the sort of spiritual warfare that we are engaged in loose talk can open the door for Satan to attack in areas where he would not otherwise have had the opportunity. I once had a situation in which I had obtained agreement with a third party, miraculously and by the hand of God. Before the final manifestation of the agreement was achieved and before it was committed to writing, I made the mistake of boasting to my unsaved lawyer that God was about to give me victory contrary to the lawyers expectation in the mistaken belief that this would provide a testimony for their salvation. Weeks later I learnt that within minutes of me making that statement, a person kilometres away who had no cause to contact the third party phoned them and talked them into reneging on the agreement. I believe that a demon or fallen angel was following me, overheard the conversation and notified the relevant principality. The phone call was then initiated through a demonized third party.

We are in a war situation. Particularly in certain areas of spiritual warfare, do not discuss what is going on with anyone other than your closest confidantes and then, only as the Holy Spirit gives you release and as far as is necessary for intercessory prayer coverage or similar aspects in support of your warfare. In such cases, only disclose the bare essentials so that they are better able to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in their prayers. After the victory will be time enough to share your testimony.

Realize also that while the natural person may be entirely on your side, they may be carrying demons that are opposed to you. On one occasion I received a prophetic word that Satan was obtaining information to use against us through someone we trusted who was confiding in his wife, whom he trusted. We stopped sharing with the person concerned and almost immediately saw a change in spiritual circumstances. I do not believe that the wife was actively betraying us, although she may have been praying against us, but she was oppressed by demons who were picking up all that was said. Those demons were, I believe, communicating what they overheard to other agents of Satan who took action against us.

47. SATAN CANNOT READ MINDS

While Satan very effectively plants thoughts in our minds by way of demons 'whispering in our spiritual ears' he cannot read our minds or hearts. Various scriptures clearly confirm that only God knows the secrets of our hearts and our thoughts. Accordingly, it is important that you do not discuss certain things in atmospheres where demons, fallen Angels or other Satanic cohorts may be present. Where possible, discuss such things directly with your Heavenly Father by talking to the Holy Spirit silently in your heart. Where it is necessary to discuss such things with others or you have a need to pray out loud in agreement, first apply the Blood of Jesus to yourselves from the top of your heads to the soles of your feet and then to the room and building where you are. In addition, bind all demons, fallen angels and other cohorts and command them to leave the room and the building. Thank God for His angels and request that He send angels to encamp around you to prevent any agent of the enemy listening in.

As mentioned previously, limit your discussion to those whom you can trust not to discuss what you have revealed in confidence and then only discuss what is necessary in order to obtain guidance, counsel, prayer support or whatever need has occasioned the meeting.

48. FORGIVENESS = CANCELLATION OF DEBT

It is widely recognized that unforgiveness will "blight your seed". If you are harbouring any unforgiveness toward anyone, this is fertile ground for Satan to attack you. Forgiveness is not just an act of the will it is also an act of faith. You have to chose to forgive and then ask God in the name of Jesus to assist you to forgive and forget. If you find that you have not forgotten, then you have not forgiven. If you keep thinking or talking about it and telling others or "warning" them, then you have not forgiven. There are a number of good teachings on forgiveness. If this applies to you, pray and ask God to bring you into contact with a person who can help you or to bring books, tapes or other materials across your path from which you can obtain guidance.

Refer to section 1.14 "The Cup That Jesus Drank" to gain a better understanding of how to forgive. If Jesus could forgive those who crucified Him and drink the cup of all our sins, it is a small thing to forgive those who have harmed us. No matter how terrible their action appears to us. Judgement is God's NOT yours, by holding unforgiveness, you put yourself in God's place and therefore stand in the way of His judgement of the person involved, should He deem it necessary. Remember also that the person concerned has given Satan a significant foothold in their life. Therefore "love your enemies and pray for those who spitefully use you".

Forgiveness is therefore a "cancellation" of the debt. You remember it NO MORE!

49. THE STRAIGHT PATH AND THE NARROW GATE

We regularly make reference colloquially to the "straight and narrow" referring to the passage in scripture where Jesus warns that the way is straight and the gate is narrow and few are they that enter thereby. View the straight path as being just that, in dense jungle, if you are not concentrating on your directions and attacks are coming from both sides, it is easy to wander off the path. Anything that looks like a short cut or an easier route is not, a straight line is ALWAYS the shortest distance between two points. The video on "A Pilgrim's Progress" demonstrates this graphically. In a prophetic word delivered recently to an apostle, God described this path as a knife edge where the slightest slip would lead to disaster. As we mature and are used on more dangerous missions, our spiritual balance becomes more and more critical.

Likewise the gate is narrow. Only one person can pass through it at a time. Should you enter, you will stand on your own at the Judgement Seat of Christ and be called to account for your entire life. At that point, only YOU can give account. You cannot turn to your pastor, an elder, counsellor, friend or spouse to advise you or assist you. You will be judged according to the decisions that YOU made in your life, including the advise from others that you chose to accept that was against the Word or the will of God. Where God spoke to you, the excuse that your pastor told you that "could not possibly be God" will not hold water, certainly not after you have been serving God for a while. As an example, the argument that God has not spoken to you about observing the Sabbath will not wash, His Word is quite explicit. Remember that God's Sabbath is Saturday and NOT Sunday, He has never changed that.

50. DISCERN THE LORD'S BODY CORRECTLY

Paul warns that many are sick and some have died because they have failed to discern the Body of the Lord in the communion elements. Do not treat the Lord's supper lightly or frivolously. Seek to understand the full meaning of the blood covenant and the significance of the bread and wine as types of His Body and Blood.

51. TITHING

Obedience in finances is an absolutely critical component of receiving God's financial blessings. If you are robbing God in tithes and offerings, He cannot bless you, not only in finances but He cannot "rebuke the devourer (Satan) for your sake". If you are not tithing a full 10% OFF THE TOP before tax, then you might as well not read any further, it is highly unlikely that you will be blessed financially. If there is no seed, there can be no harvest. There are numerous good teachings on this subject.

If you are late tithing, you are required to bring an additional 20%.

There are no expenses that are permissible deductions against the tithe in terms of your personal income. It appears that business expenses are a legitimate cost before determining the tithe if you have your own business but I do not find explicit scripture to confirm this.

God has certainly challenged me to give Him the first 10% off the top of my business income, before salaries, etc. The only exception is VAT (Value Added Tax) which is money you collect on behalf of the Government and which accordingly, never belongs to you. You are simply the agent of the Government.

Careful reading of scripture indicates that there is a "second tithe" so tithing on gross business revenue AND personal drawings from your own business may well be scriptural as may a double tithe on your salary. I am not advancing this as a doctrine but I would suggest that you pray about it and act as the Lord leads.

52. INFERTILE SOIL

Please recognize that the parable of the sower clearly illustrates that there is barren ground and fertile ground into which you can sow. There are plenty of teachings which indicate that, if you are not being fed by a pastor, the ground is probably not fertile and God may lead you elsewhere. If God has revealed doctrinal error in a congregation, the soil may well be barren for your seed. Only move as God leads but recognize that He kept the children of Israel moving regularly during their sojourn in the wilderness and do not be intimidated. He may also tell you to remain in the congregation for a while and observe but to tithe elsewhere.

53. BEATING THE SHEEP

There is an almost universal tendency in the church today to beat the sheep. That is to have someone stand up and deliver a message on giving and then send round the offering baskets. In Jesus day the money was discreetly placed in the "treasury" a large chest in the temple. There is no indication that Jesus ever said that tithes and offerings should be collected in any other way. Do not be intimidated to give because it is demanded of you. Give as God leads you and if that is NOT in the offering basket, that is His prerogative, after all it is HIS money. There are many prophetic ministers and others who do not have big congregations but who are busy ministering day in and day out to people who come to them and never give them even the smallest offering. Some are destitute because the people who come to them for ministry do not consider the possibility that God might want them to give some of their tithes to the minister concerned (who never asks for money) as opposed to the church where they fellowship every Sunday which demands their money on a regular basis but has not been able to offer the ministry that the itinerant prophet, as an example, has provided.

The current church building is NOT the temple in Jerusalem!

54. TITHING AS THE LORD LEADS : A TITHING PORTFOLIO?

According to my understanding and experience, tithing involves giving God's money where God wants it. While it appears that God will often want His tithes brought to the congregation where you are a member, increasingly this is not always the case. We have been led by God to give tithes to pastors in poor communities, to evangelists, prophets and apostles, even sometimes to individuals in need. This should not be taken as a licence to give where YOU want, but it is an injunction to caution you that God may instruct you to give your tithes somewhere other than where religion and tradition would have you give it. In some cases, where elders of a congregation have not been allocating God's funds as He wanted them allocated, we have been led to give directly to the pastor. In other cases, we have been led to purchase specific items in order to avoid the church elders misallocating the funds. Wisdom and prayerful seeking of the Lord is necessary on this point.

From the above, you will note that I am firmly persuaded that God does not necessarily require that you bring all your tithes and offerings to one congregation. For years I did this and, in the space of about two years brought about R40,000 to one congregation which I eventually learned had been counselling me from several false doctrines for the entire period while my marriage and my business went steadily downhill. By the time I realized this my marriage had broken down irrevocably and I subsequently lost my business.

Today, we tithe as the Lord leads, taking care only to make commitments for periods of time that the Lord clearly leads us. Thus we avoid becoming financially yoked to unfruitful ground. Over the past year, we have even been led to develop what I, as a former investment consultant, would call a tithing portfolio. We have become covenant partners with a number of major international ministries and allocate a fixed or variable portion of our tithes to these ministries. By doing this, I believe that we assist God to give greater direction to His servants.

A congregation which is assured of regular income because their congregants feel morally compelled to bring all their tithes and offerings, is financially secure in a way that a congregation which trusts God to speak to the individual congregants on a weekly basis to meet the needs of the ministry, is not. But the latter congregation is in a much safer position for God to gently nudge them back onto the straight way than one that has beaten their congregants into giving to them alone.

I believe that God is currently challenging all those in full time ministry and all leaders of congregations to place an offering chest near the door, stop beating the sheep and start believing God to meet their needs. By all means, teach on tithing from time to time and expect prophetic word if God wants to reinforce it, but cease to preach five or ten minutes at every main meeting to get people to give. Apart from anything else, if you are not assisting congregants to deal with the other issues set out in this document, they are going to continue to battle financially. In the world they call that FRAUD!

55. BEGGING

The reverse of giving is receiving. Many people claim to live by faith but make a point of telling people that they are living by faith and then mention their financial difficulties. That is not living by faith, that is begging or manipulation. If God is your provider, He knows ALL your needs and there is therefore no need to tell people of them. If your needs are not being met as a consequence of one or more of the factors discussed in this document, telling people will not assist you, unless you are willing to have them point out spiritual problems that they may be able to see. Tell God of your need and He will tell others. There is a fine line between being honest with people who have come to know about your situation and telling them because you want then to assist you financially. Only the Holy Spirit can guide you. If you are truly living by faith, rejoice, God knows your needs and He will provide exactly what you need. You may have to make certain adjustments if He does not regard your needs as being in line with His will but He will provide all you NEED.

Any person in ministry who produces any document inviting people to give into their ministry, should be aware that God is able to instruct any person to give into their ministry. It is almost axiomatic that every ministry needs finance, therefore, you do not have to tell people. Any form of inviting people to give has a high risk of becoming begging, particularly if there is something in your ministry that is giving Satan a foothold to attack your finances. In this case, you may be causing others to become yoked to your foothold by inviting them to give or to become covenant partners with your ministry.

56. SOWING AND REAPING : NAMING YOUR SEED

Again there are many teachings that indicate that you should "name your seed" when you bring your tithe's and offerings to any place that God has instructed you. Name the seed whether it be for financial deliverance, a specific blessing or whatever. I refer you to these teachings if you need more guidance. Jerry Savelle has a particularly challenging and stimulating testimony about "aeroplane seed".

57. NO PRIVATE INTERPRETATION

The Word of God is not subject to any private interpretation. If you get what to you is a new revelation, seek the face of God and, in faith, request confirmation through prophets, teachings, etc until you are absolutely certain that you are hearing God.

Recognize that Church history over the past 2000 years has been characterized by apostasy and false doctrine and there are still numerous errors of doctrine in the church. If this was not so there would not be hundreds of denominations, all claiming they have the truth.

At the same time, recognize that just because, as I was once told "15,000 men of God around the world would all agree" on a particular interpretation, does not mean that they are correct. For centuries, tithing, tongues, healing, water baptism, etc, etc, etc, etc were corrupted or discarded. The entire church around the world barring a few stalwarts agreed that these things had passed away. That does not mean they were right, just that Satan was and is having a field day with gullible believers who were not prepared to turn to their bibles and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as to the truth. Others, when the truth is revealed to them are not prepared to stand up for the truth. The days of persecution and martyrdom have not passed, the church will still "crucify" many prophets who hear God and turn away from the private interpretation of God's word. Those prophets should take comfort that they are storing up treasure in heaven if they submit to God and resist the devil instead of submitting to God. Remember, the "church" of the day crucified Jesus and stoned Stephen to death.

If you accept and believe a false doctrine, even if it is together with 15,000 pastors, that does not mean that in some strange democratic way that Satan is not going to claim his legal right to attack you.

58. DYING TO SELF : REFINERS FIRE

Self discipline is an unpopular concept in the world and in the church today. As you progress in the walk that is touched on in this document, sooner or later, God is going to start crucifying your flesh in a serious way. A way that you are likely to find extremely uncomfortable and painful. As someone has said, a living sacrifice can feel every cut of the knife, every lick of the flames.

In this hour, God is starting to refine His church in an unprecedented way. Many are crying out to God to "send the fire" unaware that the fire that they are likely to receive will burn the dross out of them.

Until you reach a point where, like Jesus, you can be flagellated, tortured and crucified and then, as you breathe your last, say "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do", until someone can abuse you to your face or betray you and you can instantly forgive them and be more concerned about their spiritual welfare than about your loss, you are NOT dead to self. I have little doubt that this is a life-long battle. Crucify yourself daily. If you do not, your flesh will constantly come between you and the Holy Spirit and you will never walk in the fullness of God's blessings.

59. UNKEPT AND BROKEN VOWS AND PROMISES

In our current age, people have completely lost sight of the power of words. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue". Promises and vows that you have not kept or have broken provide fruitful ground for Satan to attack you. As I understand it, where you can still fulfil the promise or vow and it is not against the Word of God, you should fulfil it. If you cannot, you should make restitution. If you can do neither, you should repent in brokenness and humility and ask God to forgive you for rash promises and then renounce those vows or promises.

If you have made ungodly vows or promises, particularly before you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, you must renounce them and cut them off. You may need prophetic help to identify them and cut them off. In any event, you should ask the Lord to show you all vows and promises which should be cut off.

60. SOUL FORCE PRAYERS

Words have power. Prayers prayed against you in the name of Jesus by well meaning believers who think that you are in error when you are not, can still have a force and can afford Satan a legal right to attack you as well as the person praying the prayer. Some churches have intercession meetings and it is common to hear people praying about peoples' situations with their understanding. Often these prayers are totally contrary to God's will in the situation. While God does not act on these prayers, the spiritual force of a number of people praying or agreeing in that way is significant. If you are aware of any situation in your life that has been misinterpreted by certain believers, possibly as a result of false witness or false doctrine, it is advisable to cut off such soul force prayers from time to time.

61. PRAYER AGAINST GOD's WILL

Be aware that if you pray according to your understanding and contrary to God's will Satan will almost certainly know that you are praying against the will of God and could easily use that situation to claim a legal right to attack you. Thus by praying out of God's will, particularly where a third party is concerned and even more so where that third party is an apostle, prophet or other person strongly anointed of God, you may be opening yourself to serious attack. If you truly fear God and want to serve Him with ALL your heart, mind, soul and strength, you should refrain from praying against others in your own understanding. Pray for others ONLY what you would truly have them pray for you in similar circumstances. Remember, what you sow is what you reap.

62. BLOOD-LINE CURSES

A little understood subject in much of the church today is blood-line curses. There appear to be a relatively small number of believers and even fewer congregations who are aware of this aspect. In all likelihood, virtually every person in the world today will have curses on their blood line. These curses can be relatively minor or can be major. One account that I have read related to a woman who, as best I recall, had her life dedicated to Satan to be taken on her twenty first birthday by way of a witchcraft rite entered into by her ancestors who dedicated the first female of the eleventh (I think) generation to Satan. As her birthday approached, she tried to throw herself off a suspension bridge. Fortunately, she was taken to a believer with an exorcism ministry and, during the exorcism, the demon that had been detailed to follow the blood line and kill her disclosed where his legal right had come from!

If your blood line has been involved in Free Masonry or any other secret society or cult there will almost certainly be curses on your blood line. You can cut these off by prayer to the Father in the name of Jesus. There are a few books on the subject and there are deliverance ministries around. Pray and ask God to bring you into contact with the teachings and people who can help you.

When dealing with curses of secret societies, I believe that God recently showed me that certain societies, particularly the Free Masons, Knights Templar and others keep registers of members whose families have left the cult and regularly curse them. Recently I was led while praying prophetically for an individual to command those curses to return one thousand fold on the agents of Satan praying them! I am not advocating this as routine practise but it has relevance when you are quite certain, by which I mean prophetically, that such curses are being renewed from time to time. In such cases I have also asked God in the name of Jesus to cover the entries in the registers with the blood of Jesus and thus obliterate them, I have further asked Him to close up the lines on the page so that the name of the blood line concerned is forever removed.

63. MODERN CURSES

Curses are still very much a way of life. Only today, we do not realize that curses are real. Cursing and swearing are common on television (another reason not to watch), but anything negative spoken over you by a third party whom you have provoked in any way can affect you. A curse without cause cannot alight but, be careful not to too readily assume that you have not done anything to cause someone to legitimately (in Satan's terms) curse you.

While blood line curses can be cut off once and for all, modern curses, like curses spoken over registers of secret societies, keep coming. Clearly, if by your current actions, you are giving people legitimate reason to curse you, you must examine yourself in the mirror of The Word of God and choose to change your behaviour.

If you are being cursed by agents of Satan, including believers who are demonized, you will have to cut off those curses by praying in the name of Jesus.

If you have really become active for the kingdom of God, indications are that witches covens around the world obtain the names of people such as you from various sources and regularly pray Satanic prayers cursing the people that they have identified. Remember, Satan copies and perverts everything that God does. So as much as you can pray blessings over people, Satan's servants can pray curses. It is advisable to cut curses off regularly should the Holy Spirit give you an unction to do so. In certain cases you can command curses to return but you should be extremely careful about this and only do it if you have clear guidance from God to do it. It appears that certain agents of Satan, once they realize that their curses are returning on their own heads will cease cursing you.

By way of example, that you may understand that these are issues that are not to be trifled with or to be taken lightly. Some time ago, we were advised prophetically that certain specific individuals were cursing us on a regular basis. The prophet ministering to us commanded the curses to return threefold. Within weeks, two individuals were in hospital, one was in intensive care for several weeks and recovered, a changed man, the other died several months later having had dreams of snakes and all sorts of abominations. That is the measure of the power of the curses that they had spoken over us. It is also a measure of the power that was returned against them by prophetic prayer in agreement in the will of God in the name of Jesus. This power is NOT to be used unwisely or irresponsibly in our own understanding. In this case, you are likely to open yourself wide open to attack.

64. WITCHES COVENS AND OTHER SATANIC GROUPS

We generally have an impression of witches in black pointed hats with black cats and riding broom sticks. Today most people do not believe that witches exist. They do and there are plenty around. Those that have been revealed to me by the Holy Spirit have generally often been extremely well dressed, and often very attractive young women with nothing that can be seen with the natural eye to disclose their true identity. All those that the Lord has shown me have been IN churches! In all cases, they have been sent there to pray against the congregation, or it's leaders or a particular person or to introduce particular demonic spirits.

In once case, the week after the Lord showed me three witches in a congregation, the senior pastor fell in a dramatic way. In another case, as best I could discern, a witch came into a congregation having obtained a legal right of entry by the direct rebellion of certain leaders and certain members of the congregation against a prophetic word from God. As best I could discern, the witch brought with her a demon, probably a spirit of divination, spirit of vanity or a familiar spirit which then caused one of the leaders who was in rebellion to call (supposedly at the leading of the Holy Spirit) the witch out to pray for a member of the congregation who was desperately ill. Having performed a weird dance around the person concerned, the witch left. Three days later the person concerned wound up in intensive care! We dare not ignore these things and we dare not grant Satan legal right to infiltrate our meetings. The need for holiness and sanctification has never been greater.

At the same time there is a real need for each of us to pray protection over ourselves and our congregations, particularly that God will keep agents of Satan out of our meetings and out of our lives. However, it is no good praying such prayers if, by our actions, we are granting Satan all the legal right that he requires.

65. THE FLESH : AGAIN!

Why AGAIN? In my own experience, having been very conscious of the need to "put my flesh under" and "crucify it daily", I became so engrossed in all the other issues, that I ceased doing it. I was looking for spiritual answers to every problem and seeing demons where only the flesh was at work. As a consequence, I went off track in the opposite direction and allowed my flesh to rise up seriously.

In this way, the flesh weakens our prayer life, weakens our resolve to read the Word of God and thus weakens our faith and our ability to resist the devil. In this way, Satan gains new avenues to attack us in areas where we were previously strong. Never lose sight of your flesh as an "enemy" of the Spirit!

66. WRONG AND RIGHT ACTIONS AND RIGHT AND WRONG MOTIVES

The visions reported by Rick Joyner make it abundantly clear that often, we do the wrong things for the right motives and the right things for the wrong motives. Unless we are dead to self and totally sold out to being led by the Spirit, this is likely to persist. Probably few people can truly claim to be doing only the right things for the right motives.

Recently, I have increasingly begun to see how things that I previously thought were right were wrong but for reasons that had not even occurred to me previously and vice versa.

So we see that Jesus can, with all humility and integrity declare that He is the Son of God and that His witness is true, yet if He were have to have said the same words with an overbearing arrogant manner, the message would have been totally different. He did it simply to answer the question, not to impress and not to humiliate. His motives were pure.

67. WRONG THOUGHTS

Thinking the wrong thoughts, while, as best I understand, it is not known to Satan, the actions that result, even from eye movement and facial expression can give Satan's agents and, particularly his demons, an indication of what is going on, particularly if they are planting the thoughts.

Thoughts can originate from Satan's demons and should be resisted and rebuked in the name of Jesus.

Thoughts of the flesh also result in ungodly behaviour and can also be in conflict with our confession. If our hearts are hard or corrupt or in other ways out of line with the Word of God or the Will of God, He knows that we are not being obedient and this must surely affect our walk.

CHAPTER 3

 

OTHER CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES

 

1. INTRODUCTION

In the preceding section, attention has been devoted primarily to actions and spiritual principles which, in my experience, have directly contributed to Satan being able to attack finances and hinder blessings. In this section, I will seek to set out some general principles which seem relevant to the topic at hand.

2. WHY DO I SEE THINGS THE WAY THAT I DO?

While preparing this document and recording the steady stream of thoughts that have come my way, extending into another discourse on being led by the spirit, a discourse on marriage and divorce, a discussion of the challenge associated with certain passages, particularly Isaiah 4:1 together with Exodus 21:10 and a discourse on church "governance", I have found myself repeatedly faced with the question of why I think the way I do and why I would seek to prepare these documents, all of which seemingly address spiritual issues from a perspective that I have not encountered to any real extent in material that I have been able to obtain and much of which seem to be a catalogue of aspects of church doctrine which, to a greater or lesser extent, do not seem quite correct. This is not to say that I have more truth than others nor that all that is presented here is 100% correct, simply that I seem to look at things in what many seem to view as an 'unusual' way and a way that many seem to find strange and threatening.

It is incumbent on me to state that I face the same challenge in my business as a management consultant. I seem to see things differently to most. This has led to me publishing widely on "The Reasons why 70% of Major Corporations are Dissatisfied with their Information Technology Investment : The Real Issues in Information Technology". From this base, I have delivered presentations in Britain, Europe and the Middle East to various conferences and seminars including the British Strategic Planning Society and the British Computer Society. This in turn, has resulted in my being listed in 1998 in the Marquis "Who's Who in Science and Engineering" and approached for listing in their "Who's Who in the World" for 1999, a publication containing the names of 40,000 people from all walks of life around the life. Apart from being a testimony to the goodness and greatness of the God we serve since I truly do not think that I did anything to warrant this recognition and the recognition came with absolutely no effort on my part, it does seem to suggest that the analytical processes and knowledge and experience base which God has developed in me throughout my life have equipped me to think differently about intractable problems.

In a sense, I suppose that this aside suggests that this discourse could alternatively be titled "The Reasons Why 70% of Believers are Not Walking in Divine Prosperity : The Real Issues in Christian Financial Blessing" with the only real question being whether it is 70%, 90% or some other quantum that reflects the correct proportion of believers to which this statement applies.

I will try and answer the question by way of a 'parable':

A man was stricken with polio during his youth so that his foot was slightly deformed. When a great war came upon the world, he was determined to fight evil so he sort to sign up with the army. Because of his deformity he could never become an officer.

As a sergeant in the transport corps he repeatedly criticised his superior officers for their lack of discipline and failure to provide the necessary leadership. History eventually confirmed that officers were so bound by their traditions that his criticism was justified. Eventually, in a great battle, he and hundreds of thousands of others were taken prisoner.

After many months of hardship, he and some friends escaped and were on the run for several months. Eventually, while running from enemy soldiers one of the party fell and injured himself. Rather than desert his friend, the man and his colleagues returned and allowed themselves to be taken prisoner once more.

Later, the war turned against the enemy and the victorious allies were advancing. The man and thousands of others were being marched away from the advancing front. He escaped and was one of the first to reach freedom.

Some years later, the man had a son and, as the son grew up, his father shared his war stories with him. The son became an avid reader of history concerning the war in which his father fought and read repeatedly how the incompetence of the generals and their failure to understand the enemy had caused millions of casualties which could have been avoided.

Eventually the son grew up and was conscripted into the army. His father's advice to him was "son, if you are going to be killed, make sure it is as a result of your own orders". Despite repeated rejection because of his tribe the son eventually became the commander of a regiment.

In that position, he systematically reexamined the way of doing things and led his unit in his own way. This culminated in his regiment being commended as one of the two best to serve in a certain theatre of operations in one year and setting a new international record for night assault river crossing the following year.

The man in the story is my father. As a consequence of this background, I have always looked at things differently and, particularly when things are not working as well as they should, I have always gone back to basics and not been afraid to hold the current 'generals' accountable. I hope that this helps you to understand this document better?

3. PARADIGM FILTERS

A paradigm is "an example or pattern" (Concise Oxford Dictionary). In the 'parable' above, the paradigm of the generals at the start of the war led to defeat in most major battles and millions of casualties on the battlefield. Eventually, on the brink of defeat, a new generation of generals, schooled in the new way of war, developed a new paradigm and turned defeat into victory.

A paradigm acts as a filter through which all information is passed. If it does not fit our paradigm we have great difficulty in understanding or receiving the information. For example, the Swiss watch industry was nearly wiped out because, when they were offered the first electronic watch, they could not see any use for it and it was developed by the Americans and Japanese.

In the same way, if your religious paradigm cannot conceive that God could say a certain thing, then you will never believe that God is speaking to you. You may well not hear Him and, if you do, you may well end up rebuking Satan. Currently the church has in place numerous paradigm (doctrinal) filters which prevent them hearing God on various issues. Many of those issues are amongst those contained in this document and those to follow.

As an example, scripture clearly states that "on the seventh day God rested" and repeatedly states that the Sabbath is the last day of the week. We all know that Sunday is the first day of the week but virtually all Christians have been raised to regard Sunday as the Sabbath. Until you learn that Sunday is the pagan day for worshipping the Sun and that Sunday worship was only introduced about 300 AD because the gentile church wanted to distance itself from it's Jewish roots, you cannot conceive that God could be telling you to return to worshipping on His Sabbath.

4. THE DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE

New ideas typically originate with one or two people and are then disseminated more widely by way of publication, teaching, etc. Depending on the quality control applied to the distribution process, these thoughts can either be enhanced or they can be contaminated. If there is an agent particularly committed to contaminating them (in this case Satan), it is relatively easy to contaminate knowledge.

At the time of Moses, God communicated to Moses, Moses recorded some of what God told him and communicated verbally to the people many other things. Initially the diffusion of knowledge was in one direction and was precise. As time wore on, the knowledge was being passed backwards and forwards and the first hand account was lost. Over the centuries the people of Israel descended into apostasy and then exile. The truth was retained on parchment and the rest passed down by word of mouth and other documents. By Jesus time, there was no first hand knowledge and all was head knowledge rather than heart (Holy Spirit inspired) knowledge other than a few prophets. In all likelihood, religious and other demons were prevalent. Hence the Chief Priests, the scribes and the Pharisees could not recognize Jesus for who He was.

In the same way, Jesus initial communication was direct, to the Apostles and through them to the church. The authority of the initial Apostles and therefore the elders in Jerusalem was beyond question. As the knowledge spread more widely, as the original apostles died and as persecution and assimilation diluted the quality of the information, apostasy and dispersion followed. Today, with the second coming of Jesus imminent we again have a situation where much of the understanding of scripture has been lost and where paradigm filters of the accepted way of doing things corrupt our understanding of scripture. People rationalize and explain verses of scripture that do not fit their paradigm, turn this into a doctrine and then criticise and attack those who differ with them. Religious and other demons are prevalent. The question is, are the leaders (the elders) in the church today able to clearly distinguish what is of God and what is not. From own experience, I have to say, by no means all the time and regrettably when it comes to areas of doctrinal difference, they seem, as in Jesus time, unable to rationally consider the facts and go before God to seek the truth.

5. THE CRITICAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TODAY AND AD 33 ??

In considering the question of the diffusion of knowledge and where we currently find ourselves with regard to church leadership, submission and other contentious issues, it is important that we recognize the following:

1. In Jesus and the Apostles day, most communication was word of mouth.

2. The copying of a document by a scribe was time consuming and therefore costly. There were not that many scribes who had the necessary training to accurately and reliably duplicate documents. Even the Torah was available only in limited quantities.

3. As the Apostles took the Gospel around the world, they relied heavily on their personal knowledge and experience, initially at least, the written Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were not written. The letters written by Paul and others also frequently went to one congregation although they were subsequently copied and distributed more widely.

4. In most congregations, at best, there was probably only one written record and in most cases only an oral account of Jesus life and teachings and the teachings of the Apostles and disciples.

5. People relied heavily on the Holy Spirit and, where there was disagreement, the obvious recourse was to the "elders", those who had the most knowledge and experience and, to the extent available, the written documents.

Today, every believer has effectively equal access to all the written record of significance together with innumerable study aids, etc. Jesus injunction to "call no man teacher" is far more realizable today than it was 1,950 years ago. All have equal access to the Holy Spirit and therefore the possibility of personal revelation.

In addition, since in the dark ages, the church fell into effectively total apostasy and even the most fundamental truths were hidden from view the church is still recovering from this. Regrettably most Christians in positions of authority have decided to take titles for themselves and to position themselves as rulers and judges. They are no longer required to be the custodians of knowledge, nor can they be. Now more than ever before they must become shepherds in the mould of the Great Shepherd. Their primary concern should be the care of the sheep and the recovery of the lost sheep!

6. OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MAN (ACTS 5:29)

Developing the previous thoughts, experience shows that there are an increasing number of people who are hearing God clearly on matters that bring them into conflict with the church. In particular, people are told to submit to elders who lord it over the flock despite scripture which clearly tells them not to. People insist on assigning the title pastor to men despite Jesus clear instruction to call no man "Rabbi" or "Teacher" or "Lord". Elders and leaders who are supposed to be shepherds of sheep (who are dumb animals) insist on demanding submission from prophets and others who claim to have heard God and in the process offer Satan massive footholds in their lives and congregations.

Regrettably, once more we find ourselves in the shoes of Peter who was forced to say to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem "we must obey God rather than man". This produces the same response today as it did then, only in a more subtle fashion. Again, we MUST do what God has told us to do, failing which Satan will be given a major foothold in our lives.

Please understand that I am not advocating rebellion, I am only stating that if you are certain that God has spoken to you, do not let any man convince you to submit to him rather than God.

7. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Somehow, it appears that the ten commandments have gone out of fashion. You hardly ever hear them quoted, certainly not in Charismatic circles and, even when they are quoted in other churches, they are read off pat and I wonder if anyone ever gives serious consideration to them or even really seriously considers what they mean. But, as best I understand it, those are most of the words that God spoke to a public audience at Mount Sinai and then PERSONALLY wrote on the stone tablets for Moses. Nothing else in the history of man has been directly audibly spoken by God with such a display of His power or written by Him in person. Dare we ignore them?

For the record, here they are, quoted from The Living Torah, a modern Jewish translation:

Deuteronomy 5 ¹ Moses summoned all Israel, and said to them:

Listen, Israel, to the rules and laws that I am publicly declaring to you today. Learn them and safeguard them, so that you will be able to keep them. ² God your Lord made a covenant with you ....... ³ It was not with your ancestors that God made this covenant, but with US ....

 

The First Two Commandments

 

⁶ I am God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery.

⁷ Do not have any other gods before Me. ⁸ Do not represent [such gods] by a statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land. ⁹ Do not bow down to [such gods] and do not worship them. I, God your Lord, am a god who demands exclusive worship. Where My enemies are concerned, I keep in mind the sin of the fathers for [their] descendants for three and four [generations]. ¹⁰ But to those who love Me, and keep My commandments, I show love for thousands [of generations].

 

The Third Commandment

 

¹¹ Do not take the name of God your Lord in vain. God will not allow the person who takes His name in vain to go unpunished.

 

The Fourth Commandment

 

¹² Observe the Sabbath to keep it holy, as God your Lord commanded you. ¹³ You can work during the six weekdays, and do all your tasks, ¹⁴ but Saturday is the Sabbath to God your Lord, so do not do anything that constitutes work. [This includes] you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slave {servant}, your ox, your donkey, your [other] animals, and the foreigner who is in your gates.

Your male and female slaves {servants} will then be able to rest just as you do. ¹⁵ You must remember that you were slaves in Egypt, when God your Lord brought you out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. It is for this reason that God your Lord has commanded you to keep the Sabbath.

 

The Fifth Commandment

 

¹⁶ Honour your father and mother as God your Lord commanded you. You will then live long and have it well on the land that God you Lord is giving you.

 

The Sixth Commandment

 

¹⁷ Do not commit murder.

 

The Seventh Commandment

 

Do not commit adultery.

 

The Eighth Commandment

 

Do not steal.

 

The Ninth Commandment {False Witness, Lying}

 

Do not testify as a perjurous witness against your neighbour.

 

The Tenth Commandment {Lust}

 

²⁰ Do not desire your neighbour's wife. Do not desire your neighbour's house, his field, his male or female slave {servant}, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbour.

God also gave Moses the following Creed:

Deuteronomy 6 ⁴ Listen, Israel, God is our Lord, God is One.

⁵ Love God your Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.

⁶ These words which I am commanding you today must remain on your heart. ⁷ Teach them to your children and speak of them when you are at home, when travelling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

⁸ Bind [these words] as a sign on your hand, and let them be an emblem in the center of your head ⁹ write them on [parchments affixed to] the doorposts of your houses and gates.

The question that each one of us has to critically ask ourselves is "can I truly say that I am observing or conscientiously seeking to observe all the above?" At the very least, unless you belong to a very small minority, you are not observing the fourth commandment with regard to God's Sabbath on Saturday. God is withdrawing Grace on this sin and more and more Christians are hearing Him require of them that they honour and obey this commandment. We are starting to hold meetings at our house at 12 Juniper Street, Randpark Ridge, Randburg on Saturday mornings. Phone 011-791-2327 for details.

8. A NEW COMMANDMENT : LOVE ONE ANOTHER

In John 13 Jesus said "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (NAS)

I am not sure that any of us really fully understand what this means. Jesus loved us so much that He forgave us even as He was tortured to death on the Cross. I do not think that there are many Christians who have reached this point yet. Without this love Satan will have a field day attacking us.

9. IF : PRECONDITIONS TO THE PROMISES OF GOD

Charismatic Christians in particular love to quote the promises of God, "my God shall supply all your (my) needs according to His riches in Glory through Christ Jesus" and many others. Most ignore the fact that all of God's promises of blessing are conditional on our obedience to His word. If you rebel against God you will reap destruction just as surely as if you obey God you will reap blessings. Until the church develops a healthy reverence (fear) of God and of the consequences of disobedience, men will continue to think that they can do things their way and have God bless them. I have yet to experience this, I have experienced that God has extended Grace to me and blessed me abundantly where there were certain things still wrong in my life. As set out in my explanation in section 1.6 "law and grace, how I understand it" I think that this is entirely understandable. What I found to my cost was that, having been blessed and thus concluding that I was now A-O.K. with God and that He had finished dealing with me, I completely missed the point that it was now up to me to continue with the process and to prevent backsliding. On more than one occasion I presumptuously became "too busy" prospering to spend as much time in the Word, in prayer and in church as before. Inevitably, the wheels came off and I found myself worse off financially before God started blessing me, largely because it took me time to realize that the wheels had come off and even longer to turn myself around spiritually and start hearing God clearly enough to understand what to do.

As an example, these conditions are set out in what the Jews refer to as the "Yoke of the Commandments" as follows:

Deuteronomy 11 ¹³ If you are careful to pay heed to my commandments, which I am prescribing to you today, and if you love God your Lord with all your heart and soul, [then God has made this promise]: ¹⁴ I will grant the fall and spring rains in your land at their proper time, so that you will have an ample harvest of grain, oil and wine. ¹⁵ I will grant forage in your fields for your animals, and you will eat and be satisfied.

¹⁶ Be careful that your heart not be tempted to go astray and worship other gods, bowing down to them, ¹⁷ God's anger will then be directed against you, and He will lock up the skies so that there will not be any rain, The land will not give forth its crops, and you will rapidly vanish from the good land that God is giving you.

¹⁸ Place these words of mine on your heart and soul. Bind them as a sign on your arm, and let them be an insignia in the center of your head. ¹⁹ Teach your children to speak of them, when you are at home, when travelling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ write them on [parchments affixed to] the doorposts of your houses and gates.

²¹ [If you do this,] you and your children will long endure on the land that God swore to your ancestors, [promising that] He would give it to them as long as the heavens are above the earth.

Folks, it's easy to believe you have got it made when the blessings start to flow, it's another thing to really get right with God. It appears that not many people are anywhere near that point. It also appears that even really anointed men of God who have certain areas of doctrine wrong are still under a covering of Grace, it has to be that way, only Jesus has ALL the truth and I somehow doubt that there is anyone on earth today who is anywhere near to being as perfect as Jesus!

10. LOVE GOD AND OBEY HIS COMMANDMENTS

The Bible also says that to Love God is to obey His Commandments and His Commandments are not onerous. It is important to understand that nothing that is written in this document is a legality, all are principles which, if you love God, you will seek to obey His Commandments because you LOVE Him. You will then find that His Spirit in you will make it much easier to obey His Commandments.

11. BUT WHAT ABOUT JESUS?

In considering all that has been written here thus far, surely you have said, this cannot be so, they crucified Jesus, did they not? Jesus himself said that he could have called legions of angels. Elsewhere it is said that Jesus prayed for the cup to pass Him by. We know that, despite temptation, Jesus never sinned and therefore never gave Satan a foothold. Accordingly we must conclude that Jesus was crucified only with the express consent of the Father and of Himself. We must also conclude that it is possible for Satan to attack us even if there is no foothold, presumably in certain specific instances where the Father wishes to teach us something? Whether any of us will ever get to a point where Satan has such a total lack of footholds that the Father has to permit the attack despite the absence of a legal right is something that does not seem worth speculating on.

12. GOD'S LOVE

God's love is robust, not namby pamby, not liberal, not permissive, not limp wristed. It is firm, directed at salvation after a long race. His love took Jesus to the cross. Until we recognize this, we will continue to deal gently with sin and seek to solve problems in our own strength through our carnal "compassion" and, in the process help our brethren to remain in bondage. Until we have learnt to walk in God and such lack of self awareness that we can communicate correction from God without any put down and without being offended when we are put down, we will not understand how God's love works. Recently I have begun to experience a new depth in this area, what it has shown me is simply that, since what I have recently experienced is so far beyond where I thought I had to go, it seems obvious that I have even further to go now than I thought I had.

13. GOD IS UNCOMPROMISINGLY RIGHTEOUS : HE EXPECTS US TO SEEK TO BE THE SAME

The modern church appears to conduct itself most of the time as though God winks at sin. If someone suggests that there may be an error of doctrine or an error of conduct, the first thing that happens more often than not is that the flesh rises up and the messenger is attacked. If we truly believed that God was uncompromisingly righteous and that He expects the same of us, we would be filled with reverent fear of God and His judgement and would eagerly seek to hear what the other party had to say in the hope that we could eliminate footholds in our lives and become more like Jesus.

Uncompromisingly righteous means that He is righteous and He does not even know how to entertain the thought of compromise. If He is that way, we must always be willing to change our position in order to come closer to His position. He will never change His!

14. GOD USES STRONG LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE SIN

As much as the modern church likes to see God as a soft, lovey dovey sort of God, that description does not fit the passages in the Bible that talk about God's views on sin and rebellion. He talks of "spewing out of His mouth", His wrath being "kindled", etc, etc. It seems that He only expresses himself this way when he has afforded a person, congregation, city, nation, etc numerous opportunities to repent and has spoken to them gently and then firmly. But He does speak strongly against sin. Recently He told me to tell a congregation that He was "sick and tired" of them coming late to His meetings. I was subsequently corrected by the pastor who told me that God did not speak that way and that I had allowed my flesh to rise up. Maybe they were correct but as best I can discern, God is still saying to me that He is "sick and tired" of people coming late to meetings and then expecting Him to work miracles on their behalf. If God is sick and tired I guess Satan is overjoyed at the number of footholds that are being created.

If you are not sure about the issue of strong language, look at Nahum 1 verses 2 and 3 for an example.

15. PLANKS IN EYES

Jesus warned us to remove the plank from our own eyes before attending to the speck in our brother's eyes. The more one lives with this scripture, the more difficult it becomes to apply. We seem to see so clearly the faults of others and to be so blind to our own faults. Many times God sends others across our paths and shows us their faults, not so that we can correct them but so that we can see ourselves in them. If we can get to a point where every time we see something apparently wrong with someone else, we go before God and ask Him to show us how that applies to us, we will all improve. Bear in mind that, as far as I can read the Word, there is very little that says that I have to go and correct someone else, unless they ask my help. There is a lot that tells me to examine myself.

Since Satan probably contributed substantially to putting the plank in our eyes and the speck in our brother's eyes, he is likely to use any hypocrisy on our part to good effect.

16. OFFENSE = CRIME

A criminal is also called an "offender" and an offense is a crime. We use the word "offended" so glibly and take "offence" so easily. The very word indicates that it is a sin to be offended and to cause offence. Thus someone who is offended by an action that is truly from God and offered in love, is sinning. Likewise a person who by their ugly behaviour and sin causes another to adopt the same behaviour or causes them to take offence is also sinning. Again, this gives rise to footholds for Satan.

17. PUT YOUR HAND TO WHAT YOU FIND TO DO

Many times believers stand on the Word of God for a miracle but do not do everything that they can to find a job, no matter how menial. They seem to assume that God is bound to give them the job they want rather than the job that He has chosen for them. Likewise, if God is moving you into a completely different career direction, He may have to move you there through some rather indirect channels. Subject to prayerful consideration, if you are seeking work and are unemployed or seeking to find new business opportunities, rather than striving you should put your hand to whatever you find to do. Praying constantly for God to show you if you are doing the wrong thing and to turn you back to the correct path if you are mistaken.

The more you "humble yourself" and pray, the more you will confess to God your abject inability to stay on His path for more than a few minutes in your own strength, the more you will rely on His guidance to keep you on track. As you learn to pray this way you can expect to become more spirit led and probably encounter much more opposition from Satan as he recognizes that you are finding your way truly into the will of God. Refer the prayers in section 4 for more ideas.

18. DILIGENCE

Diligence is an extension of the "flesh" issue. We need to be diligent in our work, diligent in our reading of the Word, diligent in our prayers, diligent in our praise and worship and, ABOVE all, diligent in seeking the will of our Father. If you are not being diligent, you are opening yourself wide for attack.

19. GOOD STEWARDSHIP : PRUDENCE versus EXTRAVAGANCE

It is reasonable to assume that God will not bless you if you are extravagant and carnal with His money. Until you have a revelation that every cent belongs to God and that it is not yours to do with as you please, it is unlikely that He will bless you. If you have twenty outfits in the wardrobe and you are crying out for additional finance, He is unlikely to approve of you buying more clothes. On the contrary, He may require you to sell some clothes or give them to the poor. If you do that, you may, in fact, find that you can balance your budget without extra income. You can hardly claim to be a good steward until you are utilizing His money the way He wants you to, NOT the way you want to. Again, footholds would seem to flow from wasteful living.

Striving after wealth is futile (Ecclesiastes) strive for holiness and right standing with God.

20. SERVANTHOOD

Jesus made a point at the last supper of speaking about servanthood. If we are truly seeking to serve Him and serve His body, we should find it increasingly difficult to order others about? If we are truly His servants, then it is much easier for Him to protect us than if we are trying to be our own Lords and to Lord it after him.

21. TALE BEARING

Tale bearing is an issue that almost everyone I know is guilty of. We like to talk about what others have done. We like to talk about what we have done. In talking, we like to pass judgement on others and to make sure that others know what is wrong. That is a sin and sin is a foothold. Don't do it.

22. TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE

Previous reference has been made to reading the Word of God regularly. It is important to recognize that if you are not reading the New Testament in the original Greek and the Old Testament in Hebrew or Aramaic, you are reading a translation. As such, the translation is NOT what God said to His prophets it is what the translator says that the prophets wrote down. In some cases this is a critical distinction. In the King James Version it states that the "mark of the beast" will be "in the wrist or in the forehead", all other translations state that it is on. Taking account of reports of proposals to inject micro-chips under the skin of the wrist or forehead in the next few years, the question of in versus on becomes one of the most critical issues of translation facing the church today. There are numerous other issues, some of which have given rise to whole doctrines, which hinge on the translation or interpretation of the translation of one or two words.

It is therefore vital to be selective with regard to the translation that you read. There are strong reasons to believe that while the New International Version and certain other main-stream translations are easy to read, the King James Version and the Amplified Bible are suggested by many to be the two most accurate translations when it comes to matters of substance. Keep in mind that, the first time that the bible was translated there was limited scope for understanding to corrupt the translation. With more recent translations, there has been greater scope for the understanding of the translations to corrupt the translation. Pray and ask God to show you which translation He wants you to read. it will likely depend on where YOU are in your walk with Him. The Living Torah and Living Nach series, a modern Jewish translation of much of the Old Testament is, in my experience, by far the most lucid AND anointed translation of the Old Testament available. Again, particularly in the areas of Messianic prophecy, there are aspects of that translation that are questionable. The answer is to read different translations each time, or at least every few times, you read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. That way you avoid becoming bound to one translation.

23. COMMENTARIES AND TEACHINGS

Many people seem to place great reliance on commentaries and teachings. While these are good for additional understanding and amplification great care must be exercised. Reference to the comments in section 2.7 "error concealed amongst truth" will indicate the risk that this approach contains. Every work of man in imperfect. Some are more imperfect than others. There are books which have chapters which are quite possibly prophetic and other chapters which are the work of the flesh or even demonic in inspiration. There are some commentaries where certain passages may contain wonderful revelation but adjacent passages may be completely incorrect. This simply reflects the fallen and imperfect state of man and that none of us have truly yielded to the Holy Spirit to the point that we have "the mind of Christ" uppermost in our consciousness at all times. It is no reason to reject the author or his work. Simply, we must sift the wheat from the chaff and once complete, we should move on.

Never lose sight of the fact that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus and the Spirit of Prophecy. He wrote the Bible and He can explain it to you. Learn to pray and ask questions, do not be afraid to ask Him any question you would ask any human teacher or book and ask Him the questions that you would not even ask them. He wants to lead you into ALL TRUTH, it is your choice whether you will let him. The minute that you set your sights on a man or a book or any other human source instead of the Holy Spirit, you are entering into idolatry. Beware, that is a minefield of opportunity for Satan to find footholds in your life.

24. SATAN SEEKS YOUR PARTICULAR AREAS OF WEAKNESS

If you have a particular weakness, be it lust, greed, fear or anything else, Satan knows about it and, no matter how successfully you have overcome and been delivered from that weakness, he will keep attacking it and tempting you with a view to sucking you back into that particular pit. For this reason, no other man's testimony or experience will be precisely what you need. You must permit God to guide you to run your race the way that is right for you. If you place too much reliance on others they will help you to run their race and not yours or, at best to run your race their way. This may be better than not running at all but, at the end of the day, there is a good chance that they will teach you their footholds while failing to help you overcome yours.

25. SATAN CONCENTRATES HIS EFFORTS ON THOSE WHO ARE MOST EFFECTIVE FOR THE KINGDOM i.e. DOING SATAN MOST HARM

Many people seem to think that if Satan is not troubling them they are walking in victory. On the contrary, it seems that if you are not troubling Satan, he will not trouble you. But, if you are not troubling Satan then it is almost certain that you are not doing anything meaningful for the kingdom of God. Remember that the indications are that Satan only has one third of the angels, therefore his angels are outnumbered two to one. He has all the demons but we have the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God and God is omnipresent and omniscient, that is He is everywhere at the same time and He knows everything.

Satan and his demons can only be in one place at a time. They can move and communicate very rapidly but, nevertheless, they can only be in one place at one time. They are therefore seriously outnumbered and were it not for the fact that Satan, as god of this world, has legal authority on the earth, granted him by Adam, he could not win the day to day battles.

He is therefore vitally dependant on footholds to grant him his edge. Hence the emphasis of this document. At the same time, if he is going to really effectively attack anyone, he has to pick his targets carefully so that he can mobilize his forces effectively. If there are people out there really striking blows for the kingdom of God, it does not make sense for Satan to go and harass some born again believer who never goes out of doors, never prays or reads the word and just watches secular television. That believer will fall soon enough with minimum effort, Satan must mobilize all his forces to tackle those who are really doing him damage. After all, he has read the back of the book and he knows the fate that is in store for him if he does not prevent certain things from happening. For example, the longer he can prevent the gospel being preached to ALL the world, the more time he gets.

To counter his attacks on us, it is vital that we become as holy and sanctified as possible while, at the same time, learning to use our armour and the weapons of our warfare, the gifts of the Spirit, etc as effectively as possible. From what I have written in this document, it is my sincere prayer that you will realize that, long term, it is far easier to eliminate the footholds in our lives and reach a place of holiness and sanctification IN CHRIST where Satan's ability to touch us is as restricted as possible. In this position we can be devastatingly effective for God. The challenge is to reach that position, NOT in our own strength but by the Spirit.

26. PERSEVERANCE

Sometimes it appears that Satan is permitted to keep up the attack to the very end, in order that God may teach us the most, strengthen our faith the most through the experience and prepare us better for the next round. Perseverance is a vital element of the Christian walk but should not be confused with a fatalistic "hanging in there" which denies our responsibility to examine ourselves, to work out our salvation, etc.

27. GOD NEVER CHANGES : HE IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER

So much has been said in the Christian church about things being different in the New Covenant than the old where there is no scriptural basis to say so. The question of the Saturday Sabbath is a case in point. There is absolutely no scriptural basis to assert that Jesus changed the day to Sunday, on the contrary, He observed the Saturday Sabbath throughout His life and so did His disciples. Paul would not have found many people in the Synagogue on Sunday when he debated on the Sabbath! Yet you will find in many commentaries cute little articles on why Christians are the only people who worship on Sunday. With respect, God is the same yesterday, today and forever, His Sabbath is the LAST day of the week, Saturday and He NEVER told us to worship on Sunday. It is the Christians who are confused and deluded NOT the Jews. We make Christianity foolish in the eyes of the Jews and we will be called to account for putting that stumbling block in the way of their salvation. A massive foothold in the church today.

28. OPPOSITION OF THE SAINTS IS OPPOSING GOD

The scripture, "touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm" is used from time to time in the church to justify why a member has been disciplined. Unfortunately, it is frequently applied against prophets and others whom God uses to speak correction to leaders who are in error or rebellion. Somehow they come to believe that they have the monopoly on anointing. It is important that we all recognize that this scripture is an injunction that applies in both directions and applies to taking action in the flesh, NOT to speaking a word of correction or rebuke prophetically.

I am amazed at the number of Christians who take it upon themselves to judge King David, in the process making critical statements about his character and their perceptions of his weaknesses. I really believe that, since the Lord says that David was "a man after God's own heart", we should be really careful about doing this. It appears to me that this opens the door wide for Satan to climb in and attack us, not to mention that it is probably indicative of spiritual pride. It is highly unlikely that there are many, if any, men on this earth today who walk as closely and successfully as David did with God, particularly in a position of secular leadership.

29. TAX

Jesus said, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. I have encountered churches whose elders have embarked on schemes to avoid tax which turn into evasion. Paying certain expenses on the pastors behalf and treating them as salary for salary determination but not declaring them for tax purposes is robbing Caesar, whether the pastor brings tithes on the full amount or not. Surely that must open the door for the devil? Likewise, any scheme that is tax evasion rather than tax avoidance is a sin.

30. IGNORANCE DOES NOT PREVENT LEGAL ENTRY BY SATAN

Ignorance of the law is no excuse is a maxim that applies particularly when dealing with Satan. While it does appear that God extends Grace to protect us in our infancy, there should be no doubt in your mind after reading this far that Satan will use every legal opportunity he has to attack you whether you are aware of that foothold or not. The whole object of this document is to alert you to possible footholds that could expose you to attack. Please realize that this document is by no means comprehensive. God willing, more issues will be touched on in subsequent volumes.

31. EXTREME TESTS BEFORE ABUNDANCE

From many testimonies that I have heard of modern day "great men of God" and from consideration of scripture, it appears that great tests and trials of considerable duration precede real abundance in Christ. We must be refined by the fire and matured and prepared before we can be blessed, otherwise the blessings will destroy us. I remain convinced that the financial blessings of God that any person can receive will be commensurate with their calling. Thus a person called to minister to business executives may require an up-market house and car and a million rand balance sheet, this would be entirely inappropriate for a small community pastor in an impoverished community. The size of the treasure on earth is no reflection of God's relative love and favour for the two individuals. It is much more difficult for the wealthy one to enter the kingdom than for the poor one. The refining process should therefore, be more stringent before financial blessings of great magnitude are poured out.

32. THE POWER OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS

Never lose sight of the power of the Blood of Jesus. Apply the Blood to yourself and your family from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet and to your house, walls, floors, roof, ceiling, doors, windows, doorposts and lintels and your entire property and all you own. Thank the Lord that His angels camp around you to protect you and give thanks at all times for your salvation. Keep the enemy out of your camp.

33. PRAISE AND WORSHIP

I have not really touched on praise and worship but continuous praise and worship in your life is essential. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise! You will only really grow close to God if you can praise Him and worship Him with every fibre of your being with absolutely no inhibitions, as long as you are led by the Spirit. If you love Him with all that you are, you will give Him all that you can in praise and worship.

34. WHAT IS HINDERING

Elsewhere reference has been made to hindering spirits. The work of hindering spirits in the financial realm is characterized, for example, by orders which constantly seem imminent but which are always delayed and eventually cancelled, awarded to others or downscaled. The existence of one flesh bonds is, as far as I know the source of legal entry of hindering spirits and this originates either from one flesh bonds with sexual partners who are not the marriage partner or as a result of division and disagreement between marriage partners.

35. A POST SCRIPT : THE CURSE OF THE LAW : AND GRACE

Since writing the earlier drafts of this manuscript, I have spent much time in the scriptures, prayer and other reading. The challenge of trying to clearly enunciate what I understand remains with me. I am acutely aware of my inadequacies in communicating much in this document which many will find controversial and unpalatable. By implication, this document returns many Christians to a confrontation with many issues in their lives which they have been taught were miraculously dealt with at the Cross. Am I denying the resurrection power of the Cross? Certainly not!

On a recent eight day retreat, I made the following notes after reading in Deuteronomy 28 about the curses, Revelation 22:3 about there being no more curse (at the end of the age, NOT today) and other passages which clearly indicate to me that many of the curses of the Old Testament are still in force today, as indicated in this document.

If this is the case, then what about Jesus becoming a curse for us? A partial explanation is offered by the following interpretation of Galatians 2:17 to 21. The key seems to be verse 18 "if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor".

The implication is that if I continue in sin, I become a transgressor and the law regains a foothold in my life insofar as Satan gains a legal right to attack me BUT I have the Holy Spirit and Jesus' sacrifice to atone for that sin if I confess and repent. This is as opposed to animal sacrifices at a remote alter at a remote Temple that I could at best visit a few times a year or even less frequently under the Old Covenant. Thus, the Temple at Jerusalem could be destroyed, animal sacrifice ended and the officiation of the priests at the Temple ended as a consequence of Jesus' sacrifice, once and for all BECAUSE the Temple is now within me. Jesus was sacrificed ONCE AND FOR ALL and He is my High Priest, thus transforming the Law into Grace whereby God deals with me personally in the process of refining me towards Holiness and Sanctification. But, insofar as my sin transgresses the Grace that God has extended to me, I make myself a transgressor and therefore vulnerable to the curse of the Law!

Ephesians 4:18-32 lists much that is relevant to this discourse and it is on verse 27 "nor give place [foothold] to the devil" that the core thesis of this document is based. This passage warrants careful study at this time in your reading of this document.

I hope that this clarifies what I have endeavoured to communicate throughout this document. I fully appreciate that what I am addressing here is incredibly complex and that I do not have all the answers. I have sought to communicate as effectively as possible my understanding based on real life observations and experiences of what has worked and what has not together with a large amount of prayer, Bible study and other research. If my choice of Words to describe the scriptural basis of what I have presented is not entirely accurate, I would value your suggestions. However, please do not permit this to distract you from extracting what is of importance to you out of this document.

36. THE NEXT VOLUME? : BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT

There is still much that I can write. Increasingly, this relates to the challenge of becoming truly Spirit led. God willing, I hope to produce a further volume which addresses this subject in a similar format to this.

37. CONCLUSION

In this section, I have sought to set out some principles which, from my experience, seem important to the topic. My prayer is that, as you read through these points, the Holy Spirit will lead you to those factors that apply in your life right now. From there, it is up to you to work out your salvation (healing and deliverance) with fear and trembling. Pray and ask the Lord to lead you to relevant scriptures, teachings, books, tapes, etc. Ask Him to lead you to people who can help you and to speak to you through apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers and other believers. You are also welcome to contact me. I cannot guarantee that I can help you but, God willing, we will try.

In the final chapter of this book, I set out some prayers that I have found helpful in walking the road that I have touched on above.

CHAPTER 4

 

SOME PRAYERS THAT HAVE WORKED FOR ME

 

1. INTRODUCTION

I hope that from comments made throughout this document as well as the guidelines for using the document provided at the beginning, you will realize that I truly believe that the only way that you will be delivered from bondage is through what I would call "diagnostic prayer". That is, accept that God wants to bless you, accept that His word is true and accept that He has said that He will answer every prayer prayed in accordance with His will and in faith without doubting in the names of Jesus. If this is the case, then the only possible reason for you to be in lack, sickness or any other form of bondage must lie with YOU. That is NOT a criticism, it is a statement of fact and is, in fact, I believe a statement that should fill you with HOPE and JOY.

If you are all that stands between you and deliverance then you are no longer dependent on ANY third party. God can and will deliver you as soon as you have dealt with whatever it is that is giving Satan a foothold. Certainly, God may use other people to assist you but, even if you are the only person marooned on a desert island and you have your bible and are filled with the Holy Spirit, that is all that you will ever need for your deliverance!

Nevertheless, somehow, most people do not seem to know how to pray "diagnostic" prayers. To me, as an engineer, scientist, analyst and military commander, diagnostic prayers are simply the spiritual equivalent of the reasonable questions that anyone facing a problem in the world would ask in order to solve the problem.

Diagnostic prayers are prayers prayed in faith believing that God will answer, in which you ask God to help you to discover what is wrong and why you are not walking in His blessings, whatever the blessing may be. In other words, ASK GOD QUESTIONS and, if you do not understand the answer, ASK MORE QUESTIONS and keep on asking questions about the answers until all aspects of the problem have been dealt with and you have the victory.

Clearly, where an answer requires action, whether it be restitution, repentance or any other form of action, you will need to take that action, however much it may not be to your liking. Equally, the answer you receive is not necessarily going to be the same answer that someone else would obtain and therefore they are not necessarily going to be able to assist you to act on it. After all, it is YOUR personal sin.

However, if you pray thoughtfully, if you listen attentively, if you observe carefully what goes on around you, you will begin to understand where God is leading you. As you gain understanding, you will progressively pray more incisively until you have prayed through to the solution. Remember always to pray in the spirit without ceasing!

You can also pray defensive and protective prayers. As you begin to realize how totally incompetent you are in your own strength to achieve anything in the spiritual realm, you will also begin to pray prayers which grant God permission to operate more and more deeply in your life. As you do so, you are likely to begin to die to self and become increasingly "Holy Spirit led".

The prayers that follow are a direct transcription of a list that I have developed over several years which I still, from time to time pray over myself. They are not offered as some form of recipe, simply as a list that has helped me and which I believe, if you pray them sincerely and with faith, will help you.

2. A LIST OF PRAYERS

The following is the list of prayers referred to. All are prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus and therefore I will not state that explicitly with every prayer. Please note that I do not claim that every prayer is scriptural or entirely within the best will of God. This is simply a list of prayers that I pray. Nothing that is written below should be construed as suggesting that you should abdicate your responsibility to hear God and act on what He says to you. No matter what the wording may suggest to you, all MUST be prayed as a HUMBLE petition, not an arrogant demanding or avoiding of responsibility. If you do not like the wording, you are free to change them. If you have suggestions, I would welcome hearing from you.

1. Father God, in Jesus name, I ask you to please show me any unforgiveness, bitterness, offense, error, unrighteousness or other sins that I need to repent of and anything else that will keep me from hearing you or fellowshipping with you.

Please bring to my attention the sins that I am currently unaware of and forgive me even the sins that I do not know about or am unaware of.

Create in me a clean heart O God.

Pray Psalm 51 over yourself regularly.

Pray Psalm 119 over yourself regularly.

2. Speak to me through apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, books, tapes or in any other way to show me things that I am not hearing you clearly on or things that I need to know.

3. Send apostles and prophets to me for correction or direction as necessary. Keep me from false prophets, lying, false, vanity, religious, proud and antichrist spirits and all other demonic influence.

4. Crucify my self, selfishness, self righteousness, self centredness and all other forms of self. Let me become Christ centred and let my flesh die daily. Grant me a revelation to truly see myself as the chief of sinners as Paul did.

5. Help me to discipline myself daily to read your Word and pray continually and in tongues and to be in your presence all the time.

6. Make me critically aware of anything that is hindering my prayer life, reading of the Word or hearing you. Help me to keep from backsliding again.

7. Help me to put you first in everything and help me to keep from becoming too busy for You.

8. Help me to seek first the Kingdom of God and Your Righteousness and to do the things that You have called me to do as only priority.

9. Bring the right people into my life and take and keep the wrong people out of my life. I thank you that you will provide all my needs both physical and financial.

10. I apply the Blood of Jesus to my wife, my children (by name) and myself from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet. I apply the Blood of Jesus to the house, the walls, the floors, the roof, the ceilings, the windows and the doors, the doorposts and the lintels, the cars, the property and all that we own.

Help me to be continually conscious of and confessing the Power of the Blood of Jesus.

11. Guide me to take care of my body, Your temple.

12. Guide me to be a good husband and father and worker.

13. Grant me wisdom and understanding and lead me in all that I do.

14. Teach me to pray.

15. Make me more like Jesus day by day.

16. Show me your priorities every day.

17. Guide my every step, every minute of every day.

18. Let me acknowledge you before men at all times and in every way.

19. Guide my business and all those who work for it. Grant them wisdom and understanding in all things and help them to work as a team and come to know you more.

20. Thank you for abundant finances and that you take us out of debt.

21. Guide our rulers that our land may have peace.

22. I thank you that I put on and constantly wear the whole Armour of God : I wear the belt of truth and the breastplate of integrity, moral rectitude and right standing with God, my feet are shod with the firm footed stability of the Gospel of peace, lifting up over all the shield of saving faith upon which I can quench all the flaming missiles of the evil one. I wear the helmet of Salvation and carry the Sword that the Spirit wields that is the Word of God. I thank you that you help me to pray at all times and on every occasion in the Spirit and to keep alert and strong. (text from the Amplified Bible).

23. Read Ephesians regularly and pray appropriate passages.

24. Help me to keep from self confidence, pride and other carnal or demonic influence and show me immediately any demon attempts to attach itself to me or my family.

25. Show me what else to pray.

26. Please remind me to ask you before I do anything that will take time, cost money or impact anyone, anything, your work or your kingdom. Help me to do your will and not mine.

27. Lead me not into temptation. Pray the pattern prayer.

28. Help me to speak your word with boldness.

29. Read Romans 8 regularly, especially with regard to Christ as our righteousness.

30. Help me to remember 1 Timothy 1:15 "sinners of whom I am chief" (Paul)

I hope to include further prayers in the next volume, God willing.

Please understand, I do not claim to be an expert on prayer. I have prayed these prayers periodically for some years now and they seem to be bearing fruit. Much of what is requested here takes time to manifest in one's life. In some cases we may need considerable spiritual preparation before we can receive these things. In all cases, our will and our flesh can stand in the way.

3. CONCLUSION

Currently, I am wrestling with the question of whether some or all of the above should be prayed on the basis of thanking God for granting the prayers as opposed to petitioning Him. I think that it would be presumptuous to pray all of these differently but I am unsure and would welcome readers comments.

I sincerely pray that you have found this volume to be of some help. I welcome your comments and suggestions, particularly significant omissions and serious errors. At the same time, I appeal to you to focus on what is good in this document rather than on what is wrong with it. None of us are perfect and I increasingly realise how imperfect I am. While correction is important, if we become too focused on correcting others, we miss out on what God is seeking to do in our own lives and WE are primarily responsible for our OWN lives. At the same time, pride very quickly gains a foothold. If you are constantly seeing peoples flaws and errors, errors in books, etc and are telling them what is wrong, be very sure that God has told you to speak to them, if not pride is probably becoming established. Keep quiet and pray for them.

God bless you, I pray that you will take a few steps closer to Jesus and to victory in your life as a result of what is recorded in these pages.

James Robertson

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

JOYNER, RICK "The Final Quest" Whitaker House. 30 Hunt Valley Circle, New Kensington, PA 15068, USA : ISBN 0-88368-478-0