Snapshot: Psalm 20:6

While in Church a few weeks ago, the Lord gave me a vision where He scooped me up from where I was at, and lifted me to a higher place of worship.  His right arm, specifically, reached down and brought me up to Himself.  I realized that deliverance had come--God was providing a safe place where I would be free to worship in Spirit and in truth.

The rest of the worship session was fantastic!  I knew God had lifted my head up--I knew He had came down and rescued me.  And then I happened to turn to Psalm 20, verse 6.  But I know it was intended by God:

Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.

Praise God!  For me, that was such a confirmation.  God was reaffirming what He'd first told me through the vision.  He confirmed that He is faithful, that He is powerful.  He confirmed that He gives saving victory to His anointed.

We can always rely on God's promises.  If He had His way, He'd fulfill every single one of them through our lives.  We just need to trust Him!  We just need to meet the conditions--and then focus on Him.

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me."

Psalm 138:7

Why Healing May not Come

I've been thinking about making this post for a while now.  In the future, I'll make more elaborate posts on barriers to healing, with explanations for each reason.  But for now, let's look at a shorter outline.

Sometimes healing doesn't come, and I feel God wants us to receive a revelation as to why.  If healing is God's will, then we need to accept that every block and obstacle to full healing has a reason and/ or root behind it.  We need to realize that healing is God's reality.  Good health is God's reality and His will for all of us--eventually.

He said, "If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you."

Here we can see many keys, or conditions, to healing. Remember that so many of God's promises are conditional.  Health and healing is conditional! Blessings and healings may not rest on us if we are not meeting God's conditions. And three conditions  are listed in the above verse:

Blockages to Healing:

1)  Not listening to God's voice

2)  Not doing what is right in God's sight

3)  Not obeying God's commands and decrees

Now, if we do not walk in obedience, healing may not come!  But God is so gracious--He allows us to come to repentance.  He allows us to allow Him to make all things new.  Repentance is the way that we close the door to sickness brought about by sin.  If our sins are forgiven, then it should follow that our diseases are healed.  As soon as God forgives us, He blots out the above three barriers.  But if we do not repent, that will also become a blockage.  The above three reasons can be summed up in one--we need to repent and be converted:

4)  We are unrepentant

Some of the other reasons that healing may not manifest are more complex.  Sometimes healing is a puzzle!  Sometimes there's a web to undo.  Like I said, I'll elaborate in a future post.  I hope this shorter outline still gives insight and keys to healing that may have been overlooked:

5)  We are harboring unforgiveness towards others

6)  We are harboring unforgiveness towards God

These two reasons above require posts of themselves.  Someday...hopefully soon!

7)  We are under a generational curse

8)  We are under a relational curse

9)  We are under an internal (inner vow) curse

These curses relate to familiar spirits and/ or the words that we ourselves--or even those close to us--speak.  Words are powerful!  The above three reasons may be grouped together as different kinds of bitter roots. Thankfully, God's Word trumps all others.  And in Jesus, any familial spirit of curse can be broken off and cast out.

10)  We have not driven out a specific (bad) spirit

11)  We have not driven out an oppressive demon

12)  We have not driven out a possessive demon 

More future posts here.  I don't have that much experience with casting out demons, though I have been used by God for that a few times.  Keep in mind that spirits and demons are different, and oppression is not the same as possession.

13)  We are not coming to knowledge of the truth

14)  God wants to teach us something

Now, the above two reasons are less serious--so they will probably lead to less serious affliction.  I trust that God won't give me cancer just because He wants me to learn trust.  That's not the god I know, nor is it a biblical portrayal of God.  Nonetheless, Christians are still perishing for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).

15)  God is forming a testimony for the future

16)  God has given us a thorn in the flesh

Like I said at the start of the post, it is God's will to heal us--eventually.  He may want us to develop a testimony first.  Remember that Paul said that he was in chains for the sake of the gospel. In the same way, God may wait to come in for our healing until just the right time.  Affliction + character development + healing = Glory to God.

I want to be careful with this last reason.  I never want to assume somebody has a physical thorn. Often Christians will refer to something as their thorn, when that is not at all the reason for their affliction.   This last reason is probably the most uncommon one.  Unfortunately, it's become a scapegoat for some different reason for sickness--like unrepentance, habitual sin, and so on.  I only list it because it's in the Word.  And more often than not, I think thorns are spiritual problems, not physical ones.

17)  The person being prayed for doesn't have faith

Now, a person does not need perfect faith in order to be healed.  Many people are very surprised after they realize they are healed--if they had perfect faith, that wouldn't be the case, as they would just be expecting it!  So faith is not always a limiter.  However, the less faith a person has, the harder it is to see them immediately healed.  There are exceptions to this, but I feel that it's a good general rule.   The faith of the person praying can overcome the unbelief of the person being prayed over.  This is especially true if the one praying has the gift of faith--in that case, it's most likely the openness of the one receiving prayer that counts.  

Snapshot: Having God's Heart

Last week the Lord showed me a softened heart and explained:

"I am taking your heart and making it Mine. You are Mine, so take heart in the truth.  Today, I am sending you to deliver truth"

Isn't that what it's about?  When we have acquired God's heart, then we can deliver His truth.  And we can also 'take heart'--get it?--in knowing that we have received from Him.  We have received from Him a truth that delivers and is delivered among the darkness of this world.  

"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."           Hebrews 10:22

"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart."        2 Cor. 4:1

"Guide me in your truth and teach me; for you are the God who delivers me....."             Psalm 25:5

Spiritual Weight: The Bad

In the last week of doing street ministry, we've begun seeing a new thing.  During prayer, some people will experience a 'heaviness' in the injured part of their body just prior to full healing.  This heavy sensation comes after pain leaves, but before strength and range of motion are totally restored. This past Friday, I was praying for a young man with wrist pain and after awhile this heaviness just came into his wrist.  I had his hand in my hands, and it was so tangible.  It left after a little while--it wasn't from God.

"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."                Isaiah 61:3

This is what Jesus does.  He takes away heaviness, He takes away our sadness.  He casts out anything not for His purposes.  He turns our oppression into a joyful procession.  From Him is the authority, and to Him is the Glory.

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."    Matthew 11:30

If there is a heaviness oppressing us, then it is not of God.  It is inherently against Him, and it is also usually against us.  But Jesus paid the price to overcome these things.  If we seek Him, He will also overcome them in our own lives.

If heaviness comes onto you, it's the manifestation of something that is already there.  It's the manifestation of a spirit that is not of God.  It may have just arrived, or it may be ready to leave.  If it comes, cast it out!  If it is leaving, close any open doors, especially doubt, through which it might try to return.  Close them through repentance and submission to God.  Be filled with the Spirit, and put on the armor of light.  Nothing can stand in the way of these things!  Nothing can separate us from God's love, and nothing can truly steal away His promises.

Deliverance comes when someone yields themselves to the truth.  If we are gathered in His name, than anything with another name will scatter (Matthew 12:30).  This is what we've seen in street ministry.  That's when He sends His word and heals them (Psalms 107:20).  That's when unclean spirits leave people --when God comes in and does the work.  He wants to give us all the garment of praise.  He wants to give us a light yoke, and impress onto us a lightness in our life.

When He rescues us from Lies

God is taking us into the fullness of the Truth.  God wants us to see the world accurately, and to know how He thinks of things.  What is the truth?  The truth is that Jesus died to save us.  The truth is that forgiveness always follows repentance.  The truth is that God is good, and that He is faithful to love us.

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  John 8:32

This is spiritual milk, but we need to crave it nonetheless (1 Peter 2:2).  If we really know the truth, God will take us unto spiritual maturity.  If we retain Him in our knowledge, He will be faithful to take us from strength to strength.

But some things aren't so clear cut.  Sometimes discerning the perfect will of God can be hard.  We need to be given more faith before we can see more of what He sees.  More faith is needed!  So if we need to be given revelation, God first gives us greater faith.

Faith allows us to see more of what He sees.  If I have great faith, I can see clearly, I can discern clearly, and I can prophecy clearly.  Not all things are spiritual milk, but we still need to know how these things appear to God.  Sometimes in struggling on spiritual meat, we will lose focus and forget the basics.  And sometimes we fall out of faith.

Discernment can be a hard thing.  Knowing His will can be very confusing, and can weaken our faith to the extent that we believe the truth to be a lie.

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."  Isaiah 5:20

This is what satan does, and this is what his followers do.  This is what anyone, even a believer, can fall into when they lose faith.  This is a result of spiritual warfare, and we need to combat it with the armor of God.  We need to retain the shield of faith, and we need to look to God.  With His protection, we WILL withstand the schemes of the enemy.  We need a revelation from God to stay in the truth.  We need Him to make the word real to us.

A few days ago I was being taken through all these things.  Testing, testing testing...refinement, refinement, refinement.

"Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them."  Isaiah 30:20

So God is faithful to take us out of that pit, that doubt and confusion that the enemy brings in.  He is faithful to rescue.  He is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.  Even if we are faithless, He is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).  That's a beautiful thing.  God brought me to this passage of scripture, which I thought was so interesting.  He really is greater than our thoughts.  And our salvation truly is greater than our feelings.

Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem:

Because ye have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; 

when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our 

refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves": therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, 

"Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner -stone of sure 

foundation:   he that believeth shall not be in haste.  And I will make justice the line, and righteousness 

the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.

And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; 

when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it."

Isaiah 28:14-18

Even when we align our thoughts with the enemies', even when we mistake light for darkness, God will break through.  He is our strength, and He will be faithful to take us out of death.  Even if we claim to be fallen, He will prove to us the truth.  With the waters of His Spirit and with His truth, He will overcome the enemy.  He will sweep away our negative strongholds and give us a firm foundation.  He will annul our sin, our "covenant with death", and make our foundation stand firm in Jesus.  Glory to God!

"Grin and Bear It"

Two days ago, I was struggling through some inner turmoil.  Like I've mentioned in a few prior posts, the Lord is allowing me some enemy exposure.  He's comforted me by relating my story to that of Job.   There comes a time when we need to accept any and all things from the Lord.  If He gives us discernment, it will lead us to understand what is in His plans and what is simply an unfair attack of the enemy.

"He replied, 'You are talking like a foolish woman.  Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?' In all this, Job did not sin in what he said."  Job 2:10

Now, it's still true that Jesus has made us conquerors and overcomers.  He has given us authority over the enemy and the opportunity to live in the Kingdom!  But don't forget that even the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence (Matthew 11:12). And sometimes God allows us to go through unglamorous trials.  Sometimes He allows a sifting.  Often, our Lord will allow evil so that we have something that we need His assistance with.  It's His perfect will that every trial, every sifting, builds our faith so that we can go from strength to strength.  Look at Simon Peter's situation prior to the arrest of Jesus--it was not the Will of God to actively intervene!

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."  Luke 23:32

So a few days ago God spoke to me about what my response to these trials should be.  I felt Him actually telling me to "grin and bear it".  That surprised me!  It's taken a few confirmations for me to put faith in this message.  But by His wisdom I've began understanding what He means by it.

The Lord wants us to acknowledge His sovereignty in all situations.  He needs us to believe, regardless of the circumstances surrounding us, that He is in control and that nothing can possibly separate us from His Love.  He wants us holding onto His promises, regardless of our feelings.

Because if we know the truth, we will be able to "grin and bear" our way past obstacles.  We will be able to hold steadfast.  With the power of His Love, we will be able to patiently endure all things (1 Corinthians 13:7).  God was speaking to me about the manner in which I should be enduring things.  In this case, I just need to accept that He's allowing me more enemy exposure!  As seen in Luke 23:32, it's His will that I come out of my testing with greater faith.  Then He can use me to strengthen the faith in others!  His will for my attitude is to "grin and bear it" in the midst of confusing trials.  Why wouldn't I believe He is good?  Unconditional joy is the response that we need to take when God allows hardship in our lives.

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."  Psalm 18:2

Even when David was in trouble he could identify the truth.  We need to develop an immovable faith. Lord give us the Gift of Faith!  If we know the truth, we can call on God and trust that He will give us a complete renewal.  He renews us and saves us from trouble, and then we have a platform to build on.

"I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies."  Psalm 18:3

This is always what happens next.  God has promised to rescue us from all our troubles.  He has promised to work all things for our good.  So grin and bear it!

Confirmed:  A unique prophetic word was just released on the Elijahlist.  Here it is.  This message really, really ministered to me, as several confirmations stood out.  Below in italics are some short excerpts, and I bolded what stuck out to me:




"This new WAVE of glory will be released to excite people once again. During these days of crisis I will show you I am here, and I Am. Plus, I'll show you how wonderful I am..."

"...Do not be afraid. Stand and see the salvation of the LORD! For I am going to release FUN to the Church! And you will feel the wind! It's for ALL. Just learn to laugh, and watch the enemy flee!" 

He who sits in the Heavens shall laugh... Psalm 2:4



Just learn to laugh.  Grin and bear it...and have confidence in God, even in the midst of warfare.  Thanks to His power we don't have to be afraid--all we have to do is rest in Him  (2 Chronicles 20:17).  When Elijah was surrounded by the wicked prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, He laughed at them!  I'm not sure that he acted perfectly, but it showed the position of faith he had taken.  He trusted God!  He knew his protection was ensured.  More than that, he knew who he'd been called to--the one true God, the only One who is living and loving right now.  All he had to do was let God take the reigns.  All he had to do was laugh!


At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened."  1 Kings 18:27

And sometimes that's what we need to do today.  God's deliverance will come.  We may be surrounded by enemies and our own confusion.  We may feel like God has allowed a delay.  And maybe He has...but He will break through!

Look at Elijah...He was perfectly content to stand still and wait for the salvation of the Lord (Exodus 14:13).  We need to be the same.  We need to love Him enough to seek Him despite any difficulties He may allow.  We need to be willing to wait on Him.  We need to offer up ourselves for testing, according to God's own will.  And when testing comes, we can rest in the victory that Jesus has already obtained for us.  Glory to God!