Disney Junior - Where the Magic Begins

Yesterday my grandchildren came over for a couple of hours while my daughter ran some errands. We ate a big lunch and then snuggled on the couch for 'a show.'  

Levi is 3 and Rhynn is 2 and they don't watch much TV so a show is a treat.  We turned on the Disney channel and watched two episodes of 'Sophia, the First.' Laura and I have been careful not to watch 'Sofia, the First' when the episode has a sorcerer and witchcraft but today the story was all about one of the princesses planning the perfect party.  So we watched it.

I noticed that during the entire hour of 'Sophia, the First' that both babies were completely mesmerized.  They never said a word or even changed position for the entire hour.  They both sat wide-eyed, each with a hand in their mouths.  I know now that the Lord brought that to my attention.

Their mom returned soon and they both went home for a nap.


This morning, just before I woke, I was dreaming.  I dreamed of a witch that possessed me and I changed form.  The dream went on for quite a while and towards the end I dreamed of a sorcerer that was going to kill us all and destroy a castle but I knew he was bewitched with my beauty so I lay on the grass and spread my hair out, knowing that he was watching me. There was a sexual feeling to this part of the dream. I woke up.

My first thought from God was that I had a spirit of witchcraft/sorcery on me and that it had come from a cartoon.  I lay there thinking and all I could remember is that we watched, 'Sophia, the First' and that I had been careful that it wasn't about sorcery but then I remembered my grandchildren's bewitched attention.

As I walked downstairs, the Disney Junior song kept repeating in my head and then, I heard it. "Disney Junior, where the magic begins"  I immediately called my daughter.

I have always been suspicious of Disney and remember years ago when my children were small thinking we should never watch Disney or read any of their books.  A bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  If Disney is "where the magic BEGINS," then everything they put out must have a spirit of sorcery and witchcraft attached.  I have suspected this for a long time but have never had the LORD show me so clearly.

A few years ago, David Ravenhill, son of the late Leonard Ravenhill, visited a nearby church.  He's an amazing Godly man and I loved hearing him speak.  I remember him saying that certain shows and even commercials had demonic spirits that were assigned to attach to the person watching.  He talked about Pokemon and each character being a Japanese god or demon.  

I have always known this to a degree but his wisdom really brought this home for me and I have even been more careful.  During the month of October, when the demonic is so celebrated, I am careful to turn the tv quickly when even a commercial of a demonic movie is shown.

But what 'got me' was a cartoon for children.  

We need to guard our children's hearts and minds carefully.  With everything that we may do to teach them the Word and to honor God, we need to be aware that the enemy can come in the back door.

The occult is everywhere today and many shows and book series have become very popular. Christians need to be aware that they are exposing themselves to the occult and to spirits of violence, which are often connected to the occult, when they watch these shows and read these books.  The occult is also partners with sexual immorality.

The Bible states very clearly that we are to have nothing to do with sorcery (Harry Potter), we are not to drink blood, (Twilight Series-erotica for teens),   The television show, "The Walking Dead" is very popular but is completely evil with the undead eating people and the only way to kill a zombie is to shoot him in the head.  (I read reviews.)   We, as believer's in Christ, are not to envy a violent man or any of his ways. We are to keep ourselves pure before the Lord and not be conformed to the world.

When a spirit of sorcery/witchcraft become attached to us as a child it's easy to understand why we could be hindered our whole lives from being able to open up to the Holy Spirit; how we can be easily deceived and fascinated with all things occult and violent.  I don't think it's a coincidence that Halloween is so popular today if we all became 'bewitched' as children. 





 fas·ci·nate

verb

past tense: fascinated; past participle: fascinated

1. draw irresistibly the attention and interest of (someone).

   "I've always been fascinated by other cultures"

   synonyms:

   interest, captivate, engross, absorb, enchant, enthrall, entrance,  transfix,rivet, mesmerize, engage, compel; More

   • archaic

     (especially of a snake) deprive (a person or animal) of the ability to resist or escape by the power of a look or gaze.

     "the serpent fascinates its prey"
   • 
     
   • The second definition is interesting - to deprive a person of the ability to resist or escape by the power of a look or gaze!

That was the look my grandchildren had as they watched this cartoon!  Sophia often wears an amulet.

am·u·letˈnoun
an ornament or small piece of jewelry thought to give protection against evil, danger, or disease.

1. synonyms:

   lucky charm, charm, talisman, mojo, churinga, phylactery, fetish, totem,idol, juju;   archaicperiapt "she wore an amulet that had supposedly given her grandmother mystical powers of intuition"

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The Word warns us to be "as wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove." Don't be deceived and fascinated by the occult hidden in seemingly innocent form.  Let's protect our children and protect ourselves and be aware of the enemy's tricks and attempts to deceive.   

I will be rebuking this spirit off of myself and off of my grandchildren today by the Name of Jesus!  I want them to grow up clearly hearing the voice of My LORD.

love and blessings~

  

Should Christians Participate in Halloween?

Every year at this time articles show up asking the question, "Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?"  And the authors usually come up with the same answer. "Yes."  Every year I think I should voice my opinion and I remain silent.  I am repenting of that.  My answer is, "No."

Thirty years ago the Holy Spirit convicted me to NOT participate in Halloween. My children have never participated and gone trick-or-treating, dressed in costumes, etc.

I feel that fact that the topic keeps coming up is because 'the church' is not completely comfortable with their participation and keeps trying to justify it. Several years ago, when my children were young, I was 'seduced' into participating in a "Harvest Party" held at our church.  I was uncomfortable the entire night thinking, "What is the difference?"

It's October 31st, every one is wearing a costume and getting candy.  What's the difference?  


The Christians argue that:
 a) the costumes are innocent or a Bible character
 b) they're not calling it a Halloween party
 c) they're hoping 'the lost' will come and they can share Jesus

Christian Broadcasting Network has a good article explaining all the origins of the Halloween traditions - all of which are pagan and having to do with the dead rising and communicating with us at this time.  This article also states that early in American history Halloween was not celebrated because of our strong Christian heritage.

Are the specific customs of Halloween related to pagan beliefs?

Since Halloween itself originated in paganism, it is not surprising that its customs are related to pagan belief. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica,

In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic Festival of Samhain was observed on October 31, at the end of summer…. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, goblins, black cats, fairies and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes.

Halloween symbols, customs, and practices undoubtedly have had a variety of influences upon Western culture throughout history. However, in early American history, Halloween was not celebrated due to America’s strong Christian heritage. It was not widely observed until the twentieth century. Initially, it was practiced only in small Irish Catholic settlements, until thousands of Irish migrated to America during the great potato famine and brought their customs with them. To some degree, our modern Halloween is an Irish holiday with early origins in the Celtic winter festival. Interestingly, in American culture, the rise in popularity of Halloween also coincides roughly with the national rise in spiritism that began in 1848.

Irish Holiday

Ireland is the only place in the world where Halloween is actually a national holiday (celebrated with fireworks); children are even released from school for the week.

Among the modern customs and practices of Halloween, we can note numerous probable or possible influences, some of which follow.

Where did the jack-o’-lantern originate?

The carved pumpkin may have originated with the witches’ use of a collection of skulls with a candle in each to light the way to coven meetings. But among the Irish, who, as noted, prompted the popularization of Halloween in America, the legend of “Irish Jack” explains the jack-o’-lantern. According to the legend, a stingy drunk named Jack tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree for an apple, but then cut the sign of a cross into the trunk of the tree to prevent the devil from coming down. Jack then forced the devil to swear he would never come after Jack’s soul. The devil reluctantly agreed.

Jack eventually died, but he was turned away at the gates of heaven because of his drunkenness and life of selfishness. He was sent to the devil, who also rejected him, keeping his promise. Since Jack had no place to go, he was condemned to wander the earth. As he was leaving hell (he happened to be eating a turnip), the devil threw a live coal at him. He put the coal inside the turnip and has since forever been roaming the earth with his “jack-o’-lantern” in search of a place to rest. Eventually, pumpkins replaced turnips since it was much easier to symbolize the devil’s coal inside a pumpkin.

How did the tradition of trick-or-treating begin?

There are several ancient practices that point to this tradition. One possibility is from the notion that ancient witches had to steal the materials needed for their festivals. The Druids may have believed that witches held this day to be special, something clearly true for modern witches.

The idea of trick-or-treating is further related to the ghosts of the dead in pagan, and even Catholic, history. For example, among the ancient Druids, “The ghosts that were thought to throng about the houses of the living were greeted with a banquet-laden table. At the end of the feast, masked and costumed villagers representing the souls of the dead paraded to the outskirts of town leading the ghosts away.”

As already noted, Halloween was thought to be a night when mischievous and evil spirits roamed freely. As in modern poltergeist lore, mischievous spirits could play tricks on the living—so it was advantageous to “hide” from them by wearing costumes. Masks and costumes were worn to either scare away the ghosts or to keep from being recognized by them:

In Ireland especially, people thought that ghosts and spirits roamed after dark on Halloween. They lit candles or lanterns to keep the spirits away, and if they had to go outside, they wore costumes and masks to frighten the spirits or to keep from being recognized by these unearthly beings.

Where did Halloween costumes originate?

Besides the reasons given above, Halloween masks and costumes were used to hide one’s attendance at pagan festivals or—as in traditional shamanism (mediated by a witch doctor or pagan priest) and other forms of animism—to change the personality of the wearer to allow for communication with the spirit world. Here, costumes could be worn to ward off evil spirits. On the other hand, the costume wearer might use a mask to try to attract and absorb the power of the animal represented by the mask and costume worn. According to this scenario, Halloween costumes may have originated with the Celtic Druid ceremonial participants, who wore animal heads and skins to acquire the strength of a particular animal.

An additional layer of tradition explaining the origin of Halloween costumes comes from the medieval Catholic practice of displaying the relics of saints on All Saints’ Day: “The poorer churches could not afford relics and so instituted a procession with parishioners dressed as the patron saints; the extras dressed as angels or devils and everyone paraded around the churchyard.”

Going from door to door seeking treats may result from the Druidic practice of begging material for the great bonfires. As we will see later, it is also related to the Catholic concept of purgatory and the custom of begging for a “soul cake.”

As for the “trick” custom of Halloween, this is related to the idea that ghosts and witches created mischief on this particular night. For example, if the living did not provide food, or “treats,” for the spirits, then the spirits would “trick” the living. People feared terrible things might happen to them if they did not honor the spirits. The Druids also believed that failure to worship their gods would bring dire consequences. If the gods were not treated properly in ritual, they would seek vengeance. This was therefore a day of fear. Further, some people soon realized that a mischievous sense of humor, or even malevolence, could be camouflaged—that they could perform practical jokes on or do harm to others and blame it on the ghosts or witches roaming about.

What’s the significance of fruits and nuts at Halloween?

Halloween traditions often involve fruit centerpieces, apples, and nuts. Three of the sacred fruits of the Celts were acorns, apples, and nuts, especially the hazelnut, considered a god, and the acorn, sacred from its association to the oak. Fruits and nuts also seem to be related to the Roman harvest feast of Pomona, apparently the goddess of fruit. For example, in ancient Rome, cider was drawn and the Romans bobbed for apples, which was part of a divination that supposedly helped a person discover their future marriage partner.

How did we get the tradition of telling ghost stories?

It became a natural expression of Halloween to tell ghost stories when dead souls were believed to be everywhere, and good, mischievous, and evil spirits roamed freely. These stories further originated as a personal expression of these beliefs.

Christ came to redeem His people.  Many might argue that we can 'redeem' Halloween.  But one of the meanings of the word 'redeem' is to restore to original purpose.  

The Bible warns: “There must never be anyone among you who . . . consults ghosts or spirits, or calls up the dead.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12, ) While some view Halloween as harmless fun, the Bible indicates that the practices associated with it are not. 1 Corinthians 10:20, 21, the Bible says: “I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too.”—New International Version.

So the 'church' may have the attitude that they can 'clean up' the holiday but a "bad tree cannot bear good fruit." I feel the fact that the church participates shows how far we've come from God's command, "Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind to prove what is that good and perfect, acceptable will of God."  Romans 12:2

My daughter is raising her children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  My three year old grandson, Levi, is very spiritually sensitive.  He can't read and there was no picture identifying the 'Halloween Store' that opens every year in our city, but Levi was horrified the first time they passed it after it opened.  He's also horrified by all the Halloween decor in the stores.  Have we lost our spiritual sensitivity?

Many children during this season will experience an increase in nightmares and night terrors.  They are sensing the spirit realm.

Today, Halloween is the most popular holiday following a close second on Christmas!  The thing that saddens me is that the church could have turned it around.  They could have stayed quiet and just not participated. Pastors could have made their congregations aware of the roots of this.  We could have just abstained and that alone would have convicted the world. Supposedly we are a Christian nation.  

2 Chronicles 14 talks about Asa doing what was right in the sight of the Lord and he tore down the foreign altars and the pagan shrines. The point being that Asa being a follower of God did not participate in anything that was related to Pagan religion.  Instead he destroyed all traces of it.  

Demons are drawn to anything like this that celebrates their existence.  When we expose our children to this activity in any way, they will suffer the consequences.  Then the church will wonder why the Holy Spirit is not moving with more power on Sunday,  why they're not hearing God's voice as clearly as they like, why our country is becoming so ungodly.

We were attending a church several years ago and on October 1st they decorated their platform like a cemetery with giant spiders and webs and tomb stones.  During offering, I was shocked when they played, "The Monster Mash" during offering.  The Holy Spirit came on me and I sat through offering and wept.  

So for the record:  I disagree.  I am not telling anyone else what to do.  But I want to stand with the few that are following the conviction of the Holy Spirit and who have not been swayed by the majority.  

love and blessings~

How Our Emotions Affect Our Health

Jesus had a reason when He counseled us through His Word to "not let the sun go down on our anger." (Ephesians 4:26) One reason is that our emotions have a huge effect on our immune system.

We are exposed to illness and cancer-causing factors every day.  Our environment is literally toxic.  

If you research carcinogens in our world the list is endless:  flouride in our water, sugar, preservatives, pesticides, plastics, cosmetics, cleaners, etc, etc, etc.  The one that always makes me shake my head is that one of the common ingredients in sun blocks is a known carcinogen. 

After considering this list, it's more amazing that we ALL don't have cancer. Actually, our body has cancer cells in it right now.  The difference between those that "get cancer"  and those that don't is our immune system. 


God has given us an immune system to protect our health.  It's like a wall of protection for our body. When germs, infection and carcinogens enter our body it sends anti-bodies to fight against these and retain our good health.  We support our immune system with good nutrition and soul-health.  

III John 2 says, "Beloved, I desire that you be in good health and prosper, even as your soul prospers." Not only does God desire to always bless us with healing, He desires that we walk in good health and never need healing!  There is a direct correlation between our soul - our mind, will, and emotions - and our health.  Negative emotions and sin manifest in our bodies as illness.

A wounded heart will often result in a sick body.  When we are discouraged, sad, weary, rejected, angry, holding a grudge, resentful, vengeful, etc it can greatly weaken our immune system and leave us vulnerable to the germs and cancer cells in our bodies.  And we become sick.  

The first thing I do when I start not feeling well is seek God to see if there is sin in my life.  Maybe I was offended yesterday by something someone said, maybe I judged someone, maybe I did not obey God in something He directed me to do.  Sin gives the enemy legal license to attack us.  

But sometimes I realize that my feelings are hurt (offense), or that I'm discouraged (not resting in God) or I'm exhausted (not following the Holy Spirit).  As I repent of these things (change what I am doing) and ask God for forgiveness, I'll often see the sickness disappear immediately or within a few hours.  If I clearly realize where I've gone wrong I repent, ask God's forgiveness and then begin to bless my body, rebuke the sickness or headache, and begin to praise God for His healing and seek to receive it.  As my soul is healed, my body is healed.  

Job was a righteous man that stated, "the thing I have feared has come upon me."  'Fear' was the sin that gave Satan the legal right to attack him.  God would have never given His permission for Satan's attack unless there was an open door in Job's life.  As Job put his full trust in God, God restores everything to Job in a double portion.  

Several months ago I had an opportunity to pray for a lady who had suffered from a degenerative spinal condition for years.  She had multiple herniated discs in her back and was in constant pain and limited movement.  After talking to her for a few minutes and listening to what was wrong, I placed my hands on her back and prayed as the Holy Spirit directed.  

After a few minutes I paused and asked her if there was any change.  She answered that her upper back felt good but there was still pain her in lower back.  I moved my hands lower (with her permission) and prayed some more. When I finished I asked her to try to do something she'd not been able to do before.

She twisted around, swung her arms and bent down and touched her toes.  Her eyes became wide as she looked at me and told me that "nothing hurts!"  She moved all around again.   I gave glory to God and told her how much God loved her and wanted to her to be whole.  She exclaimed and marveled as she left that she was healed.   BUT...

Within the next few weeks her condition returned to a lesser degree.  I haven't heard but I suspect it may return completely.  

I believe that she has a very wounded soul.  I sensed bitterness and unforgiveness and many complicated emotions as I lay hands on her.  These negative emotions may very well be the cause for her body's deterioration and until she allows the Holy Spirit to soften her heart and bring repentance, she may battle this manifestation.

The Word tells us that  'Jesus bore our illness and our disease and by His stripes, we are healed."  (Isaiah 53:4) God has compassion on us and He is not without mercy and love for us and our wounded souls.  However, He knows that holding unforgiveness and anger will weaken us and allow sickness to dominate us.  In His compassion He sent Jesus to pay the price and provide salvation.   The very name "Jesus" mean "He heals/He saves"  Salvation and healing are synonymous. 

The Bible also tells us that "God sends His Word and He heals us." (Psalm 107:20)  The Word of God is healing to our soul and body.  When we are battling sickness it is so beneficial to us to spend large amounts of time reading, memorizing and meditating on God's Word.  

As we renew our minds in the Word, our soul is healed of hurts and of 'wrong thinking.' Romans 12:2 says, " And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."  The Word teaches us to think like God and to know His will.

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,…" 2 Corinthians 10:3,4,5

As we draw near to God, we begin to realize His mercy and love for us and for others.  We are able to receive healing for our wounded souls and extended forgiveness to others.

Love and blessings!

Next post (God willing) - Healing and Good Nutrition

Depression

Depression is a hot topic in our world today, especially when people who are loved by so many are so overcome that they take their own lives.

Depression is spiritual. Depression cannot be cured by pharmaceuticals but instead, the root of it needs to be addressed and healed by the love of Jesus.

When we moved to Alabama in 1993, I did not want to go.  My husband wanted to be connected with The Mises Institute, whose offices were on the Auburn University campus, while he got his PhD in  Economics.  I did not want to leave my beautiful Colorado, my friends and church.

The first year there, my husband now calls, "The Year Your Mother had her Breakdown."  lol?

Our daughter, Laura, was seven and our first son, Matthew, was 18 mos old.  We only had one car and my husband would take it to school each morning which left me home without any transportation.  I was homeschooling Laura and when I would try to take Mark to school in the morning, it ruined our productivity with school.  So often I was home all day with two children.

I didn't have any friends, of course.  People were speaking a language I couldn't understand (Southern drawl - lol) and the weather, the bugs, EVERYTHING!! felt foreign and just plain wrong!  I hated the house we'd bought.  Our house in Denver had high ceilings, tons of windows and a very open floor plan. And it was always sunny in Colorado.


Our house in Opelika, Alabama was not open, was surrounded by trees and there was at least three- 3" long wood roaches on my kitchen floor every morning when I got up.  It even smelled wrong.  Colorado has a very dry climate and it's very hard to get anything to mildew.  But anything that was damp in Alabama (and everything was damp) started to stink like mildew.  I felt like every 'fact' I'd ever known was challenged by this new life.

It took us several months to find a church that we 'liked' and so I continued for the first year with really no connections.  I volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center which meant my mom would have to hurry over those afternoons to watch the kids and loan me her car.  One day when I was scheduled to work I finally had to call them and tell them I couldn't come in - I was too depressed to get dressed.

I approached my husband, who was very happy with what he was doing in life, and told him we had to do something.  We had to sell this horrible house (my daughter still says it was haunted and gave her nightmares!), or move back to Colorado or something.  I was not doing well.

My husband looked at me and very kindly told me that if I was depressed, I was in sin.  He told me that Jesus gave us everything we needed for victory and I needed to repent.

Well!!  That was NOT what I wanted to hear!  I wanted someone to DO something!  I wanted someone to lay hands on me and fix me!  I wanted someone to DO something!

I went upstairs, locked myself in the bathroom in the middle of the afternoon, and took a bath.  I sat in that tub of hot water and cried and cried and cried.  I ranted and raved and shook a wet fist at God and told Him that HE needed to do something!

And God spoke to me.  He told me the scripture, "Submit to God.  Resist the devil.  And he will flee from you."  (James 4:7)

As I sat there crying, my heart began to yield.  I asked God to forgive me for rebelling against what He was doing in our lives, even though I did not understand why, even though I felt like my heart was breaking.  And I told Him I would do my best to yield to His will and live this life He had given me.

The next morning, even though I had no car, no friends, and nowhere to go, I got up, got 'cute' and did my best to have a productive day.  The next day I did the same thing.  And the next day.

One day we heard a strange noise coming out of our fireplace.  We soon realized that the chimney was full of birds.  The local exterminator told us that they were Chimney Swifts, they were 'protected' and they would not come and kill them for us.

The next morning I got up before everyone else, as I usually did, and walked in the kitchen to find a bird sitting on the molding of the cabinet.  It was flattened up against the cabinet like a bat and was a good sized black bird.  Then I heard another one flying around the living room.  I ran upstairs to get my husband and with a healthy amount of drama, he managed to get them out of the house.

The next afternoon I was folding laundry in the bedroom when I heard a 'flap,flap,flap' coming from downstairs. Laura was at a neighbor's house playing and Matt was taking a nap.  I walked quietly down the stairs to find another bird going crazy in our house.  It was flying frantically around the living room, dining room and kitchen, looking for a way out.

I was terrified.

I opened the front door to give it a way out, closed some other doors to keep it from going all over the house, grabbed a few 'weapons' and walked into the room.  The bird flew straight at me.  I screamed like I'd never screamed before and waved my rug beater in the air and the bird flew straight out the front door!

I then spent about an hour putting everything  I could find to block off the fireplace opening to keep any other birds from coming into the house! lol

About a week later I had a dream.  I was in our house and the house was completely empty.  I could tell the former owners had just moved out.  There were remnants of their lives (trash) laying around here and there. The house was dark and shadowy and sad.  All over the walls were the outlines of pictures of their family that used to hang on the walls. (The husband and wife had suffered a divorce several years earlier and the wife had stayed living in this house until her teenage boys had grown up. Then she sold it to us as we arrived in Alabama.)

The LORD spoke to me in this dream and told me that there had been three spirits in the house - three birds - and my husband had put two of them out.  The third one, depression, had attacked me.  My sin of not submitting to God had given it a legal right to attack me.

When I woke up, my depression was completely gone!  I was filled with the joy of the LORD.  I even realized that I might have been a little depressed my whole life.  The LORD had set me free!  My submission to God and repentance of my attitude had closed the door to this attack and I was healed.

Most people would be able to tell you the root of their depression - the loss of a loved one through death or divorce, a trauma, an illness, a job loss, etc.  It's our response to these things that opens the door to depression.  A doctor or psychiatrist cannot cure us.  They often prescribe pharmaceuticals which are highly addictive and can even cause psychosis.  I'm always horrified that one of the 'side-effects' of these drugs is suicide!

God's Word tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace... the exact opposite of depression! Depression has to have a legal right to enter our lives and that's sin.  All of us have sinned.  My heart is not to condemn anyone as obviously I am telling you about the sin that was in my life in this season.  My heart is to tell you that there's a way out.  Taking pharmaceuticals may drug you into not feeling depressed but it does not cure you.  And it still leaves you 'in sin' before God.

And sin will bring further problems into our lives and our health.  We need to look at our sin honestly and let God correct us and redeem us.

1 Corinthians 1:30 says, "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption."

My Sheep Hear My Voice

God wants us to hear His Voice.  I am always fascinated that the Bible tells us in Genesis 3:8 that Adam and Eve heard the 'Voice of God' walking in the garden.  God created the world with His Voice.  The Prophetic Word spoken to us not only brings truth and wisdom but it empowers us to change.  When Jesus said to the adulterous woman, "Go and sin no more" this was more than a command, it was an empowerment!

I hear God's voice daily.  If I don't, I feed my spirit and correct what I'm doing so I will.  I want to always stay aware of what God's saying and what's going on in the spirit realm.  This is relationship with God.   Here are some of the ways of communication with God that I have experienced.


1.  I hear God's voice through His Word.
God and His Word are 'one.'  John 1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. ...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."  Jesus is the Word.  Before He lay down His divinity and became a man, He was the Word.  To hear God's heart, we need to know His Word.  It builds a filing cabinet, a boundary in our understanding, and causes us to recognize His Voice.  God will never speak anything contrary to the principle of His Word, therefore, should we ever hear anything that's outside His character, we know it's not God speaking to us.  If you want to hear God's voice more clearly, you have to renew your mind and your thinking with His  Word.
Sometimes when I am studying or reading the Bible, God will put a neon sign around a scripture - at least it seems like that that - and I know that God is drawing my attention to that truth and telling me, "This is for you."  I then meditate on that scripture wanting to glean all the understanding that I can out of what God is telling me.

2.  God speaks scripture to mind.
Often times God will bring a verse to my mind as I'm going through my day.  This is His loving way of keeping us in line with His thinking, giving us answers to our questions or giving us something to share with someone else.  I have loved when He has brought a thought to my mind that I didn't recognize as a scripture and then found it reading days later!

I want to add to this that bread becomes stale after a short period of time.  God does not want us eating stale bread but wants to feed us fresh manna for this season.  We need to be sensitive to what God is saying 'now' and not hang on inappropriately to what He said 'yesterday.'  We need fresh manna, Living Water, and to be willing to move forward with God's leading.  To do this, we will need to hear His Voice daily.

3.  God speaks words to my mind.
I love when God says my name!  A few years ago, I was putting laundry into the washing machine and God said to me, "Lynda, I want to bless you in every way."  I fell to my knees under the heavy presence of the LORD.   This was not a scripture but follows the character of God.  As we commune with God, getting to know His character and presence, we recognize His Voice more clearly.
I've know my mom for a long time. (I won't tell you how long -lol.)  When she calls me on the phone, even without caller I.D., she doesn't need to tell me who's calling.  I recognize her voice.  I recognize her voice because I've talked to her every day of my life.
It's the same with God.  The more time we spend in His Presence, in His Word, the more easily and clearly we will hear His Voice.  There is nothing more precious to me than God's Voice!

4. God gives me visions.
God has given me many visions.  It's like He pulls back a curtain and lets me see into the spirit realm.  He has shown me the River of Life, He has shown me 'as far as the East is from the West', He has shown me what happens in the spirit realm when I worship Him with dance.  He has shown me angels delivering His Word and His gifts to people.
Sometimes I will see myself doing something, like a movie in my mind, and I will understand that that's what God wants me to do.  I have seen demons on people and know to command them off and what repentance needs to take place in this person.  Very recently I saw the word 'WORD' written on a woman's throat as we were praying for her before she taught the congregation.  She then taught on 'The Word!'  (love it!)
When I told my daughter what I had seen, she immediately responded with, "Your Word have I written on my heart!"  The Word is written on her heart also.

5. God 'downloads.'
I don't know what else to call this.  Sometimes God just 'downloads' something into my spirit.  One minute I don't know something, then God does something and a few minutes later, I know and understand something completely.  He doesn't tell me something in words but I can feel something happening and when it's done, I have a fresh revelation of something new.  I always do my best to write it down and as I do, God gives me the words for what He just taught me.

6.  Dreams
I often have prophetic dreams where God is showing me a truth or what's happening in the spirit realm. Again, I do my best to write them down as soon as I wake up and study them to let God give me greater understanding.  I have found things I've written down from years past that God lead me to read again and that were very timely for what was happening now, years later.

7.  God speaks to me through 'tongues'
In Corinthians it talks about the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation.  I heard a wonderful teaching a few years ago by Beverly Sheasby.  She and her husband, John Sheasby, have a ministry called Liberated Living that you can listen to on line or receive monthly CD's.  Mrs. Sheasby shared how the LORD taught her to interpret her prayer language and understand what she's praying!  I have the most success with this when I first wake up in the morning, before I ever get out of bed.  While my mind is still quiet, I begin to pray in the Spirit and let my mind 'listen.'  It's during this time that I have had some of my most life-changing visions and Words from the LORD.

God wants to give us wisdom for every situation.  He wants to spend the day with us, sharing all that we experience and show us His perspective on everything.  He wants us to think like Him, act like Him, speak like Him.  He wants to fill us with His love until we overflow onto every person we come in contact with. He wants us to be so in-tuned to His Spirit that we have a 'Word' for everyone we come in contact with - a life-changing, empowering Word to heal and equip the people He loves.

God wants us to hear His Voice.

The Plumb-line of God's Word

The LORD spoke to me two weeks ago and told me there is KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING AND WISDOM.  The foundation of our faith is knowledge, based on His Word.  When that knowledge is skewed or 'off' then our understanding and wisdom is also wrong.

Many Believers in  Christ are not rooted and grounded in the Word of God.  Their knowledge is skewed by the world's values and even the false teachings of the 'church' that they've received. The LORD is wanting to call us back to the plumb-line of His Word;  His perfect knowledge.

There is not short cut to renewing our minds in the Word.  However, we spend countless hours focused on things that feed us lies - television, internet, books.  The less time I spend being entertained  and instead focusing on God's Word and teachings, the more clearly I hear His Voice and perceive the Kingdom Realm.

This is a choice that we make daily.

A Time to Dance

Bill Johnson, the pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California, tells the story about a woman who came into their church one day and through the Holy Spirit he discerned that she was demon possessed. He went to their church’s “main dancer” and asked her to begin to minister in dance and as soon as she began to dance across the platform, it was if this demon possessed woman was a marionette and the strings were cut. The woman crumpled to the ground, the power of darkness broken over her life. Bill Johnson’s wife, Beni, then bent over the woman praying for her and ministering to her and the woman received salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

While we lived in Alabama, our church was blessed with revival that lasted over five months, during which over 700 people received Christ. The power of God during those five months was so wonderful that we had church six nights a week and stayed many nights until midnight, worshiping and ministering to those in need. 

Several months before the revival, I had started a dance ministry, by God’s direction, and we had done a medley of songs that included the words, “cast out your nets all you fishers’ of men, In the power of the Spirit revival begins.” The Lord instructed me that before we danced, to get up before the congregation and repeat these words. It was not until about a year after the revival, that the Lord told me to go back and watch the tape and reminded me of this. I had even forgotten that I had done this and had never connected this with the revival, yet I had sensed that freedom of worship and dance had been a key part of bringing revival and God had used the prophetic words of this song.

In Ecclesiastes 3:4, we see the scripture ”a time to dance, a time to mourn.” The Hebrew word for dance here is “raqad” and is translated “to dance, skip, to skip about, leap and jump.” 

In 2 Samuel 6:14, we read the story of David dancing with abandon as the Ark of the Covenant is brought back to the people of God. This time we see a second Hebrew word “kara” and this word is translated “to whirl, whirling, dancing. “

But in Exodus 15:20, as we read the account of Miriam leading the women in dancing after God had delivered the Children of Israel from Egypt and they had crossed the Red Sea, we see a third Hebrew word for dance. It is “m@chowlah” and means “dance, dancing, company.” The root word of this word is “machashabah” and means “thought, device, purpose, work, imaginations, cunning, devised, invented, means.” It took me a couple of days of thinking about this meaning unto the Lord before it was revealed to me that this was a choreographed dance! It still had all the spiritual power of the first two dances but was pre-planned by the Holy Spirit!

But the word used in Psalm 149 and 150 is fascinating and confirms everything the Lord has taught me over the last 20 years. The word used in Psalm 149 and 150, “Praise Him with dancing” is “machowl,” a fourth Hebrew word that translates in English, “dance.” However, the root word of this word is “chuwl” and pay attention to the meanings. It means pain, formed, bring forth, pained, tremble, travail, dance, calve, grieved, wounded, shake.
The following is copied directly from Strong’s concordance as the definitions of this word:

1) to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained
1a) (Qal) 
1a1) to dance 
1a2) to twist, writhe 
1a3) to whirl, whirl about 
1b) (Polel) 
1b1) to dance 
1b2) to writhe (in travail with), bear, bring forth 
1b3) to wait anxiously 
1c) (Pulal) 
1c1) to be made to writhe, be made to bear 
1c2) to be brought forth 
1d) (Hophal) to be born 
1e) (Hithpolel) 
1e1) whirling (participle) 
1e2) writhing, suffering torture (participle) 
1e3) to wait longingly 
1f) (Hithpalpel) to be distressed 

The word dance here in Psalms 149 and 150 means to offer up praises to God, to intercede, to prophecy and bring forth - all through dance! Through worship dance, we intercede, we birth and bring forth, we travail and we prophecy!

Now here’s something amazing. If you look up the in the Strong’s the Hebrew word in Ezekial for “Army” it is chayil or chuwl! The root word of army is to” to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained.” The same word!

Consider the words of Psalm 149:
1 Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. 
3 Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. 
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds. 
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, 
7 To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples; 
8 To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute on them the written judgment-- This honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord! 

We are to praise God with singing, with the dance, with instruments, because the high praises of God in our mouths, and in these forms, bind the enemy’s kings with chains and his nobles with fetters of iron. This is spiritual warfare. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal – they are the beautiful praises of the saints expressed to God – spirit, soul and body!

Acts 15:25 says that while Paul and Silas were in prison at midnight they were praising and singing hymns to God and suddenly there was a great earthquake and all the doors were opened and everyone’s chained were loosed! Not just Paul’s and Silas’ chains – but everyone’s! Praise and worship will break the chains the bind us and a good twirl and kick and the chains can be cast away for good! I know it sounds silly, but there is power in twirling!

The Word tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:27. “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” Many “wise” men have despised the dance thinking how could God use such a silly thing as this as a form of warfare. But the dance was created by God as a form of worship and all worship is warfare. The Word tells us that in His Presence is fullness of joy and the joy of the Lord is our strength. Where God is, there is salvation, deliverance, healing and strength and He is enthroned on our praise. 
Many people have received healing and deliverance during praise and worship without anyone praying for them or laying hands on them. 

And the dance is an important key in worship. The enemy has perverted this form of worship and the world and some sections of the church think of it as evil. The world uses it to glorify the body; to glorify the creation instead of the creator. But God is compelling the Body of Christ to take back the dance and the arts and understand that they are powerful in form and image. 

God is a creator and He created us in His image. He created us to be creative and God intends that we use this creativity to glorify Him! He has blessed us with an imagination and dreams and when our whole heart is submitted to God, the natural outcome of a renewed mind creates new ways to glorify God! He wants us to glorify Him through dance and music, through drama and art. He wants His Spirit to flow unhindered through us with new spontaneous forms of praise and worship. This releases His power and majesty here on the earth that all may see Him. Through the dance, the spiritual is birthed into the natural. This brings the “experience” of God to others that they may know that He is real and alive and not just print on a page. 

As in all things of God, we will not gain understanding of this through our natural mind. The things of the Spirit are understood by the Spirit. We learn as we step out in faith and seek to operate in the things of God. The same thing happens with dance ministry. As we obey the Lord in faith, even without understanding, the Lord begins to impart revelation knowledge. This is an area that the Body of Christ needs to “renew their mind in.” 

We are spirit, soul and body. We cannot separate where our spirit stops and where our body begins – our body is the saturated dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. We live in the spirit realm and our sensitivity to the things of God will determine our awareness or unawareness of this realm we live in. When I move my physical body, I move in the spirit realm and when I move by God’s divine direction, I dramatically affect the spiritual atmosphere. 

God first commission to man was to take dominion over the earth. He created the earth for us to rule over and handed the keys of His authority to us. If this were not true, Adam could not have given them away to Satan. But when Jesus conquered sin on our behalf, He handed these keys back to us. I always think it's interesting that even before His resurrection He give His disciples power and authority over all the demons and to cure diseases and sends them to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:1,2.) 
And yet even after Christ’s triumph over evil many of us do not understand our authority on the earth. The Host (Army) of Heaven has been given to us to assist us in this rule. They are also under our command. Jesus came to the earth to do good and to destroy the works of the enemy. This is also our assignment and every spiritual blessing has been given us to take back the earth for Christ. (Eph 1)

Our churches are full of ministries that don’t need the power of God to operate. They accomplish their goals through good planning, marketing and human determination. They are training people to never expect to see the Holy Spirit move, to never see a miracle, to never expect to be healed in a church service. They have a form of godliness but deny the power within. The dance is not meant to be a form of entertainment. It is beautiful, as beauty was created by God and all things that come from Him are beautiful, but it is a powerful form of worship and warfare. 

Heidi and Rolland Baker are missionaries in Mozambique, Africa www.irisministries.com and in the last several years have, through their ministry, seen over 70 people raised from the dead. Right now, Heidi is going into African villages and calling specifically for the deaf to be brought to her, because she is seeing the deaf healed 100% percent of the time through the laying on of her hands. She spends hours in worship and has gained this tremendous anointing through the intimacy of worship. Heidi and Rolland Baker started with a dance ministry! 

God is raising up a joyful Bride that will operate in these Keys to the Kingdom and one of these powerful keys is worship! Unashamed, abandoned love for God that cannot be contained but must be expressed with a shout, with hands raised high in love for Him, with feet that crush the enemy’s head with dancing and joy, with a banner raised up in His name! A worshiping Bride washed in His blood and His Word, empowered by His Spirit and operating in His gifts. A Bride that will obey God’s first commission: to take dominion of this earth and present it to Her Saviour. A Bride that will obey the last thing He told us to do – “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature…And these signs and wonders will follow those who believe: In My Name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; …they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. “

Jesus said, “ Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the good news preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”