MINISTRY NOTES

Week of October 4, 2009

Hi Everyone,

The following is an email (edited for confidentially) from a nice young lady who is from a country many hours away, across the ocean.

Thanks Ed, I really enjoy receiving and reading these notes each week. I agree with you about thanking God for the tough times too. At my ... Also, as I am a little too far away to attend your marriage workshop is there any possibility of continuing to include some of the highlights of these workshops in your Ministry Notes. My …

God bless,

We are going start having as a part of our Ministry Notes, a Marriage Workshop Moment that will refresh your memory for those of you who have been through the Workshop and maybe help entice you, if you have wondered about attending our Workshop. Eventually, we will have links to our web page enabling you to access more details.

[as I received contact with the above person, yes I did reply, thanking her for the email - also contact causes me to pray more specifically for her and her husband. In recent weeks, I ran into a couple of friends that I had not seen in months. Both times, one of their first comments was thanking me for the emails every week and telling me that they are reading them. I responded with a "good". Although I put a lot of work into the ministry Notes, I probably have not come up with a real encouraging response, when someone says something good about them, yet. Again contact does cause more prayer - in both of these cases I found my self praying more for them and their wives. I never have the nerve to ask but I wonder if anyone takes the time to look up the scriptures - seems like it would make a good bible study]

Marriage Workshop Moment

To refresh what you have learned in our Workshop or entice you to experience our Workshop

"Remember, all marriages can be better."

Filters:

we all have them and they affect the very fabric of our marriages. Filters can be inattention, emotional states, expectations, communication styles or self-protection. All of these can effect how you hear or process things in your mind. One example of an emotional state could be if your boss yelled at you and put you down at work in front of others. When you come home, recognize your filter that you may hear things differently than intended because you are stressed and emotional. Try not to jump on your children for the least little problem. You may wish to announce your filter by sharing with your family that you had a rough day, so hopefully they will treat you considerately and it may cause your spouse be more sensitive to you.

Message:

Being Deceived

As a Christian, we follow everything Jesus teaches which includes the fact that God created us and is active in our lives today. In our dealings with others, we may find ourselves in relationship with people who deny God's existence or perhaps just limit God's role in the world today. Some may call themselves Christians and yet exclude the possibility of God's involvement in medical areas and even go so far as to give names or labels to conditions or sins in an effort to explain a problem.

Years ago, I was ministering on the phone to a person on a Halloween evening who was battling demons. The person was over a half hour away by car. The person would talk to me in a normal voice and then the demon would speak to me in a different voice. The demon told me he was going to kill the person and described the knife and pills on the table in front of the person. Then the person would beg for help and asked me to call 911. For some reason, I could not get a dial tone to call 911 without the person hanging up the phone, which I tried to explain to the person. I was unable to cast out the demon over the phone. Finally, the person hung up the phone (later the person was proud that they were able to help by hanging up the phone) and I called 911. The police found the person with the knife and pills scattered on the table in front of them and uncertain if any pills were consumed. As the person's stomach was being pumped in the emergency room, I was talking to that person's mental health worker on a phone in the next room, who told me that the person had multiple personalities and then made fun of people who used to say someone had a demon, when they had that condition. So I don't leave you with the story hanging, later that night I complained to God about being unable to cast out the demon and He told me that I needed to pray and fast7. Two days later at a State mental health facility God helped me cast out the demon.

The point in sharing the story is that people put labels on demonic problems like calling it multiple personalities. Are all diagnosis of multiple personalities really demons? I could not say that but it was certainly a demon in this case. People put labels on sins, like homosexuality and implying that they were created or evolved that way1. People excuse stealing in many ways, such as saying, "the government taxes me too much", or "my company doesn't pay me enough", or "that store makes a huge profit and they will never miss it" or "he's just a kid". Stealing is still a sin2 and habitual stealing sometimes is labeled kleptomania, which could involve a demon like many habitual problems. Jesus cast a demon out of a person who was crippled causing her to be bent over for 18 year3. Jesus cast a demon out of a man who could not talk and then he could talk4. This does not mean that every crippled person or mute person has a demon, however it does mean that we should not assume because there is a logical medical explanation, that a demon is not involved.

Recently a person told me about over coming an allergy attack by taking authority over it "In the name of Jesus" as Jesus tells us to do when casting out demons5. Although I have never had a problem with allergies, I have heard other people attribute some allergies to demons. Be careful on sharing that with a person with allergies because they frequently seem to want to defend their allergies.

Some godly people go with their first reaction or impulse and assume it is from God. There was a very godly man named Nathan who advised King David. When David said he wanted to build a house for God, Nathan's immediate reaction was to encourage David and tell him God was with him. That night God let Nathan know that He didn't want David to build Him a house, rather it would be the job of one of David's children6. Sometimes your first thought will be from your self, other times it can be guidance from a demon and yes, it could be from God.

How can I be sure? Only God knows for sure, so why not start with God. When you have a concern or a problem, ask God for help. If there is the slightest possibility that the devil could be involved, it will do no harm to take authority "In the name of Jesus"5 commanding the devil to shut up and leave and then ask the question or re pray the concern again. If the answer changes, go with the second answer. If the problem starts reducing like the man with allergies, persist with spiritual warfare. There is a reason why godless people are so afraid of people praying in Jesus' name. Jesus' name is powerful!

Pray with authority and get angry at the devil! Don't allow him of run your life. Recently in our local newspaper they stated that in our state, twice as many people die by suicide as die by homicide. That may just be the "tip of the ice berg". When you read about fatal one-car accidents it may be suicide. Some times when people are killed because they pointed a gun at a police officer, it may be "suicide by cop". Many cases of death resulting from life style problems such as heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, some cancers, diabetes, etc. are really as a result of oral suicide (eating yourself to death). All of the ways of committing suicide including eating yourself to death could be caused by demons8. When you have a need, remember to pray and ask God for guidance and if there are medical people involved, ask God to guide them.

Let us Pray

"Dear merciful God, help us recognize demons when they are attacking us and help us to resist and overcome them. Guide us on when to use spiritual warfare and give us the strength and courage to exercise the authority over demons You have given us. Thank You for enabling us to be victorious, in Jesus name, amen."

1. Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:27

2. Exodus 20:15

3. Luke 13:11-12

4. Matthew 9:32-33

5. Mark 16:17

6. 2 Samuel 7:1-17

7. Matthew 17:21

8. John 10:10