2021-01-29
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I have been commanded by the Holy Spirit to write about Christ’s power against the wicked one [Satan]. Over the almost 77 years of my life, I have seen wickedness at work in myself and others. My understanding is that we are born with the ability to be talked into some lies told by people who are guided by the evil one. As far as I can see, reading and understanding the Scriptures is the only way I could learn to recognize the evil one at work and praying to the Holy Spirit is the only way I could do something about it. Working within the system (law, culture, etc.) is usually the best way. Praying often for things that align with God’s teaching and being willing to put yourself on the line when called to do so is definitely part of this action for the Divine. 2 THESS 2: 7 helps us to understand this phenomenon. “The mysterious wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the One that holds it back is taken out of the way.” This statement refers to the onset of the end of the end times, and the One who holds it back is the Holy Spirit. “This mysterious wickedness” refers to the sinful nature of mankind. This is the big picture; now let’s look at a smaller one.
DN 9: 3 is a weary Daniel’s prayer to the Lord that He would come to the aid of his people. It’s followed, in DN 10: 11-11: 2, by Gabriel’s comment that he was delayed while in combat with the evil Persian angel until the archangel Michael was able to come to his aid. It’s the only peek into the unseen spiritual warfare that goes on that we get. We, just as Daniel did, can tell God about how our spiritual warfare is affecting us and the people around us. He is always there for us and interested in hearing our prayers. Now, for an actual experience from my own life. I’ve already written about how giving control of my life over to the Holy Spirit has benefitted me. However, included in doing that is making the Lord’s enemies my own. I was the chaplain of the team that prays on a weekend retreat for troubled women. These women had been divorced, or just gotten out of prison, or overcome other terrible acts of the devil in their lives. They came to this spiritual weekend to improve their lives and get to know where real Help arises for them. Several teams of people who had already been through a weekend were seeing to their every need. As our team was praying for a women who would speak to the troubled ones, a lady in terrible condition entered our prayer room. I felt something like a dash of hot, wet air the moment she came in. It didn’t take long to realize she had brought something truly evil with her. She complained of her troubles, wretched, and vomited into a dust bin. Our entire group gathered around her and prayed that this evilness would depart the room. It took quite awhile of doing this, before the woman collapsed in the middle of our circle. She was exhausted! This was the first (and I hope only) exorcism I had ever attended. Strangely, we all knew what to do for her, and none of us held back from these prayers. We assigned people on our team to take turns staying with the woman wherever she went for the rest of the day and evening. Understandably, she felt vulnerable from another attack of the evil one. The next night, all the women going through this weekend for the first time, wrote down the evils that had beset their lives on pieces of paper and attached them to a big cross in front of the room. Later these pieces of paper were burned. That kind of spiritual warfare is indeed exhausting, but the outcome is living proof that God keeps the promise He made, in PS 9: 9-10, never to abandon us.
EPH 5: 18-20 tells us some of what we need to do to prepare ourselves to know God’s will and to gain perspective on His teaching. There is an important reason for us to sing hymns, offer God praise and thanks, and pray often alone and in the presence of others. Part of our covenant tasks is to encourage stronger faith. Once we have learned God’s teaching and the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to take responsibility for passing them on to others. We need to set an example, one that speaks well of our own faith in Him. And yes, we need to consider our audience. I choose to witness only to those willing to listen, and not try to force my beliefs on someone who isn’t interested. I believe deeply in relational witnessing, i.e. witnessing after a relationship has been established and I’ve learned where my listener is in his/her walk with the Lord.
PRAYER: O Lord, You want us to know that when we rely on the Holy Spirit, He will reveal the truth to us. We’ve learned that the antichrist will one day come, and You’ve said it will be soon. Our country and the rest of the world have been sinful enough to be on a slippery slope ethically and in other ways. We pray that You continue to be the Promise-Keeper You have always been, the One Who places His seal upon us and will save us from destruction. We open our hearts to You and faithfully obey Your Biblical teaching. Some doesn’t come naturally to us, but we believe You will not lead us to trouble and other acts of evil. You have no evil in You [1 JN 1: 5]. We may not always understand the ramifications of all that You have taught us until the time we must use it, but You are given total control over our lives. We believe You will help in in times of trouble and lead us out of it. Gaining eternal life with You after our physical death matters more than anything else. We continue to encourage faith in others and to be the instruments of Your work done on earth. We offer You thanks and praise for always being present in our lives and a source of inner peace for us. In Christ’s holy/mighty name we pray, amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded to write about what would it be like if evil were unrestrained? There is nothing worse than watching one’s homes, schools, churches, malls, etc. being destroyed. The loss of one’s entire way of life, friends, and loved ones is unthinkable. And yet, it has happened repeatedly in mankind’s history. That is why we are so blessed that the Holy Spirit holds the evil one back. The kind of chaos that happened in modern Syria is the work of the evil one. I have trouble imagining a leader spreading Sarin gas over his own people (including women and young children). Such evil is inexcusable! Targeting hospitals and private homes for destruction is part of this evil. Now imagine if it was happening all over the world! I don’t want to live in the day something like this will happen, once the Lord has removed all the believers from the world. It’s tough to write about evil, but it’s necessary so that we will all know what to avoid. So, please have patience with me, as I do what I’m commanded to do, knowing all the while that our obedient faith in the Lord Jesus will protect us. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2020. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives