Prophetic Insight Magazine (Spring issue)

InsightProPhet cthe Magazine of ronald flowers Ministries www.ProPheticinsight.org sPring edition 2009

“Revealing The Heart of God to the Nations”

The Pit, The Cave, The Prison and JoyThe Pit, The Cave, The Prison and Joy

Why Prophets?

Our Toughest Battle

Depresion and Loneliness

Why Prophets?

Our Toughest Battle

Depresion and Loneliness

Overcoming RejectionOvercoming Rejection

April, MAy, June 2009 Spring edition Vol. 1 . no.1

Overcoming Rejection27

Featured Articles

4 From The Prophets Desk

5 New In This Issue

13 Knight’s Folly

17 Prayer Requests

25 Kingdom of God

43 Fellowship Church Listing

44 Ministry Directory

48 Canceled Blessings

58 The Word of the Lord

6 Why Prophets?

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Overcoming Rejection28

14Depression and LonelinessBy Cheryl NorthWinning over depression and loneliness and the tools you need for success.

19The Pit The Cave, The Prison and Joyby Cheri HoltLearning how to have joy even in the difficult circumstances of life.

48Recognizing Spiritual Types In Ministry Developmentby Ronald H. Flowers

26Our Toughest BattleBy Cheryl NorthHere you are taught to win the battles in your mind.

Publisher / Chief editor

Ronald H. Flowers

Web Master

Cheri Holt

GraPhiC desiGners

Cheryl NorthRonald H. Flowers

advertisinG direCtor

Cheryl North

Writers

Cheri HoltCheryl North

Ronald H. FlowersVera Allison

Copyright © 2009 by ProPhetiC insiGht MaGazine Inc. All rights reserved, including translation.

EDITORIAL INQUIRY: Have a question? Send your letters to: ProPhetic insight, P.O. Box 346, Covington, Virginia 24426 (540) 650-2818 or send e-mail to [email protected] Website: www. propheticinsight.org

“Revealing the heaRt

of god to the nations”

ProPhetiC insiGht MaGazine: Our Purpose is to reveal the Heart of God through the prophetic ministries. It Is through this media, that many are reached with hope, encouragement, and the Love of Jesus Christ

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In this issue we take to task the notion that the ministry of the prophets is dead and no longer needed. From the beginning God used prophets to bring His word and His warnings to His people, to redirect them back to the heart of

God. The ministry of true prophets is not only needed, but was mandated by God. Jesus Christ gave the five-fold ministry to the church thereby making it an extension of Himself. In this day and age it is necessary to make use of all of the ministry gifts. “And truly He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers”..., (Eph 4:11). The time has come to deal with this issue that has not only torn apart our churches and denominations, but also left members of the body of Christ bruised, broken and led astray.

Also in this quarter’s issue we deal with tough subjects that the carnal mind of man would have us believe should be dealt with using drugs and psycho therapy. While prescription drugs and therapy may have a place in some cases, we as the saints of God have to take a stand and deal with the issues that we face using the Word of God and our faith.

I hope you will take the time to read the articles that have been written in this quarter’s magazine. I know you will be strengthened and enlightened by the revelation knowledge you will find in these writings. Use the knowledge here to build up your life and to strengthen the people around you.

The staff and I look forward to hearing from you through your letters and e-mails. We also hope you will join us every Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on our Web voice chat program, Prophetic Voices Online. For more information please e-mail us at [email protected]

As Always, your financial gifts in support of this ministry are greatly appreciated. We encourage you to pray and seek the Lord about becoming a financial partner with this ministry as well as being a partner in prayer.

Ronald H. Flowers

From The Prophets Desk

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We have three new writers, who are very gifted and talented. We are pleased to introduce Cheri Holt. She is a prolific writer and will be publishing her books in the very near future. She is also a writer of children’s stories, and has a God-given heart

for children. She has also been trained in the area of deliverance, helping many believers break free of the stronghold of the enemy. Through the use of the Internet she has reached around the world in the last five years with her online program “Prophetic Voices Online.” Numerous people have received salvation and deliverance from the entrapment of Satan’s devices. She has a heart of compassion for women who have been abused, and broken through the circumstances of their lives. Through her prophetic apostolic anointing she has taught women how to be successful in life and in their walk with God. In this quarter’s magazine she shares with us two articles and some of her poetry. It is a blessing and an honor to have her as one of our writers.

We are pleased to introduce Cheryl North. She has recently joined Ronald Flowers Ministries as a writer, a seasoned intercessor, and a minister of the gospel, who carries a powerful prophetic anointing. She is a well developed prophetess and a teacher. A gifted writer who expresses the heart and mind of God in her written literature. She is also a talented web designer, and IT systems specialists. It is such a blessing to have a person who is so skilled and talented working with this ministry.

We are also pleased to introduce Vera Allison. She is a gifted writer with a no nonsense approach. Known for her tell-it-like-it-is wisdom she gets to the heart of the matter, and gives words of wisdom and encouragement from the word of God.

New IN ThIs Issue

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through church tradition and the manipulation of church dogma that the Biblical offices of apostles and prophets were eventually eliminated from their appropriate places. For example, some Bible scholars and theologians teach that there were only twelve apostles. If you examine the Biblical record closely you will find there were more than just twelve apostles, which would quickly eliminate this false teaching. Another popular teaching is that because the writing of the New Testament is completed, that there is no need for the office of the prophet. My answer to this is rather simple, the entire New Testament was written mostly by apostles. To my knowledge no prophets wrote any of the New Testament scriptures. The reason for this in my opinion is that although the writings of the New Testament are complete, it is the prophetic ministry that helps to bring full insight and understanding of scriptural revelation. That is not to add or to take away from the scriptures, but to give divine insight of the heart and mind of God.

And truly He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, (Eph 4:11)

Notice here in Paul’s teaching that He, which is Jesus Christ gave to the church the five-fold ministries. These five-fold ministries are extensions of Jesus Christ. It takes all five of these ministries to fulfill the goals that are mentioned in Ephesians 4:12-13. Lets look at it this way, if you take away one of these ministries the goals cannot be fulfilled. All five ministries were needed to accomplish the goals the apostle Paul mentioned. Look at it this way, an automobile can only accomplish it’s purpose if all the parts are in their places. Can a car run if the carburetor is missing? Well maybe, today we have fuel injection engines. All parts are needed on the engine to make the vehicle useful. If one of the major parts is missing it will not run. In the same token, if the engine cannot reach it ‘s full function without all its parts, the church cannot be fully functional and can not reach it’s full potential without the five fold ministries.

Let us take a look at the list Paul has provided for us

1. for the perfecting of the saints

Why Prophets?

In today’s church structure apostles and prophets are very seldom if ever recognized. A close examination of scripture showed that God only placed five ministry offices for the body of Christ. They are

Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. I know this sounds strange, in a day and time when bishops, pope’s, superintendents, and other man-made titles are the ones ruling the church. Actually at the very beginning bishops and overseers and all other offices were appointed by the office of the apostles and prophets. For example Paul appointed two bishops ,one named Timothy and the other Titus. Their responsibility was to oversee the pastors in their jurisdiction. These bishops were appointed by Paul the apostle who was responsible for writing two thirds of the New Testament. Nowhere in his writings did Paul ever instruct the church to be lead only by bishops, overseers, and superintendents. It was

By Ronald H. FlowersProphets and Teacher

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2. for the work of the ministry

3. the edifying of the body of Christ

4. And this until we all come into the unity of the faith

5. and of the knowledge of the Son of God

6. to a full-grown man

7. to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ

Remember that it takes all five of these ministries to fulfill the list Paul has laid out for us. It is not hard to see that we have not fulfilled the items on this list. Do all the believers behave in a mature Christian manner? Has all the work of the ministry been completed? Has the body of Christ been completely built up? Are we united in the faith? Do we have a full knowledge of the son of God? Has our spiritual growth measured up to the fullness of Christ’s stature? If we are lacking anything in this list, then we are still in need of all five-fold ministry gifts. I know this is hard for some to accept this teaching, having been taught church tradition for so long. It would behoove us to lay aside the tradition of church teaching and rely on the Word of God. The Word of God is not complex, nor is it hard to understand. Simply read it and let it speak for itself in plain and understandable terminology.

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. (Eph 4:12)

And this until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of

the fullness of Christ; (Eph 4:13)

So that we no longer may be infants, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the dishonesty of men, in cunning craftiness, to the wiles of deceit. (Eph 4:14)

But that you, speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ; (Eph 4:15)

Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom every building having been fitly framed together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a dwelling place of God through the Spirit.

(Eph 2:19-22)

…and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, …

Here we plainly see that the foundation of the church is the apostles and prophets. Just imagine for a moment what would happen if you removed the foundation of a building. The entire structure would fall apart. How are we building the body of Christ if we have no foundation? I’m amazed at the height of the Sears Tower in Chicago IL, the foundation of this building is very, very deep. If the foundation of this building was not put in correctly a strong wind would easily blow this building down. How much more important are the foundations of the body of Christ which are the apostles and prophets.

In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform

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miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues. GNB(1Co 12:28)

And God has put some in the church, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then those with wonder-working powers, then those with the power of taking away disease, helpers, wise guides, users of strange tongues. (1Co 12:28) KJV

So God has appointed some in the church [for His own use]: first apostles (special messengers); second prophets (inspired preachers and expounders); third teachers; then wonder-workers; then those with ability to heal the sick; helpers; administrators; [speakers in] different (unknown) tongues. (1Co 12:28) AMP

And God set some in the church, firstly, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers, then works of power, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, kinds of languages. (1Co 12:28) MKJV

“And God set some in the church…”“So God has appointed some in the church [for His own use]:”“And God has put some in the church, …”“In the church God has put all in place:”

In the King James Version the word “hath set” originates from the Greek word “tith’-ay-mee”, which means “to place, appoint, ordain”. Let me put emphasis on the meaning of the word set, that is to appoint, to place, ordain. It is God who is setting in place in the body of Christ, apostles, prophets, teachers and other works of ministry. If God has appointed these ministry gifts who are we to say that they are no longer operational today. We must lay aside the teachings and the tradition of men and rely wholly of upon the Word of God.

Let me also deal with another false teaching. Many have come to me and said I should not use the title “Prophet”. For if I were a true “Prophet” God would just reveal it to the people I am ministering to and there would be no reason to use the title. There is no scriptural basis for this teaching. It is just a tradition someone made up. You call a Pastor, a Pastor. You call an evangelist, an Evangelist. You call a teacher, a Teacher. What would you call a prophet, a Prophet? Does an evangelist or pastor exalt themselves because they use the title Pastor or evangelist? Of course not. Neither does a prophet exalt himself (or herself (prophetess)) by using the title of the office God has called them to.

Many times believers tell me that they have to be careful because there are so many false prophets. This is true yet at the same time there are many false pastors, and false evangelist. If something is false, it is a copy or imitation of that which is true. You cannot have the false without first having that which is true. I will recognize that within the body of Christ that there are false prophets. I have seen churches which have been devastated by false apostles and prophets. I was recently told of a devastating situation concerning a local body (church), where the so-called prophet had come to. He removed the pastor and took total control of the congregation. No one could make any decisions except they came to him first. He would give them a so called “word from the Lord”, concerning their affairs. This should have not been hard to recognize as a spirit of control and manipulation. A false prophet is not a true prophet! There are con men and women who would look for an opportunity to prey on the men and women of God. Many saints who are immature spiritually or who do not put in the effort to form a strong and close relationship with God can be vulnerable to these kinds of attacks. A true prophet is one who brings clarity and order, they bring the word of the Lord to restore, build, rebuke, instruct and direct

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the people back to the heart of God.

Let me be open with you, the prophetic ministry is extremely powerful and people are drawn to it. Sometimes people are lazy and refuse to seek God for directions for their own lives. It is easier for them to get a “word from the Lord”, than it is to seek God for themselves. A lot of the things people ask me they would know for themselves if they had developed a relationship with God. Many prophets have fallen into the trap of giving words and direction to people, without redirecting them back to a relationship with God. Therefore people become more dependant on a “prophetic word,” than having a relationship with God. This was understandable in the Old Testament days where the people did not have the infilling of the Holy Spirit. If they needed direction from God they would go to the priests or the prophet to hear from God. In the New Testament age, in which the believer is baptized in the Holy Spirit, believers don’t need to be lead constantly by the priests or the prophets. The Holy Spirit will lead them and guide them in all truth. Nowhere in New Testament writings are the prophets or the prophetic ministry expected to lead and guide you into all truth. The prophetic ministry will confirm a word you have likely already received from the Lord in your spirit. There are times that a prophet may give you a word you have not heard before. In this case there are two things you should do. Never act upon a “prophetic word” without a confirmation in your own spirit. Second, if you do not have confirmation or direction from the Lord concerning a “word from the Lord” that a prophet has given you simply put it on the shelf. If it is surely the Word of God he will confirm it in the process of time. If it is not, no harm is done because you did not act upon a word when there was no confirmation. I recall to memory a particular prophetic meeting I was holding in the city of Gary, Indiana. I had given this woman a prophetic word, later after service she asked if she could speak with me for a moment.

She said Prophet Flowers you have given me a word which I do not agree with in my spirit. What should I do? I reminded her of the teaching given to them concerning prophetic words they do not have confirmation for. Place it on the shelves, if it is truly a word from God it will come to pass. If it’s not a word from God you have done yourself no harm by not acting on it. I had forgotten about it until a few years later when she asked if she could speak with me. She asked me if I remembered the prophetic word I had given her, of course I did not. I give prophetic words to many people in the course of the year. She reminded me of the words I had spoken to her and how God miraculously brought it to pass in her life. She was not foolish to act upon a prophetic word without confirmation in her spirit. Simply put it on the shelf, if it is truly a word from God it will come to pass, if it’s not you have not acted in any manner that will bring harm to your self.

I’m reminded of another situation concerning a young couple. They were given a so-called “word from the Lord” to leave their home and jobs and go full-time in the ministry. This was rather foolish for them to do for a number of reasons. They had just recently received salvation and did not even understand basic biblical principles, and had no training for ministry. Well, as you can imagine the result was a disaster. They lost their home and car trying to fulfill a word which was not from God. There were a number of things that went wrong in this situation. Where were their pastors? The pastor is a shepherd over his congregation. It is their responsibility to watch out for the well-being of the local congregation in their care. One of the best defenses against false prophetic ministries is a pastor that is knowledgeable in the Word of God. Any ministry gift, be it a prophet, an evangelist, a teacher or whatever that secretly tries to instruct people about their lives and finances without the knowledge of the leader of that church should be asked to leave the church he is speaking

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at immediately. Let me explain, when I am at someones church to minister I am very open to the pastor of the congregation. If one of his members asks council of me I will gladly give him of the wisdom given me, but I also will inform the pastor of that congregation that I have counseled one of their members. The reasons for this are twofold; one if I have no ill intention or wrong motive why can’t I tell their pastor. Remember the pastor is the shepherd of that congregation not me. Second, this is all done for safety, mine as well as theirs, the person knows that their shepherd will be informed about the advice that has been given to them.

Another thing I have found helpful in giving people a prophetic word is for it to be recorded. This way everything I have said to a person can be faithfully recalled. Sometimes people only remember the things that sound good to them and leave off parts that may not be so exciting to them. For example the person may be given a word concerning their life and ministry. God may also require certain conditions to be fulfilled in their lives before he fulfills the prophetic word. Often times what will happen is people forget about the prerequisites and only remember the promises. So some would come to me and say the words that I have given them did not come to pass. It is impossible for me to remember every prophetic word I have given. If it is being recorded we can go back and retrieve what was actually said and in many cases they have forgotten the prerequisites God has required to fulfill that prophetic word. Sometimes they will take out of context what was actually said. Recording the prophetic word is a safety precaution for me and them.

Some people have the audacity to try to give me a test to see if I am a true prophet. There is no “prophetic test” to see if a person is a true prophet. There are certain actions and behaviors which will reveal the true nature of a prophet. There are five things I have noticed about false prophets. All five

may not be present at once, but one of these in the lists usually indicates a person is operating outside the Spirit of God.

1. A spirit of manipulation and control

2. Alternating the Word of God for their own personal benefit (especially with finances)

3. Making allowances for the practice of sexual sin.

4. Who calls sin righteousness, and righteousness sin.

5. perverts people from the Word of God and leads people into mysticism, witchcraft, new age, and other false teachings.

Let’s go into a little detail for better understanding.

A spirit of manipulation and control We who are called to the five-fold ministry need

to always be sure about our motives and intentions. Unfortunately people rely more on our gifts and anointing than they do on the Lord. This seems to be especially true concerning prophetic ministries. Often someone comes to me and asks me to give them a word, as if I have some automatic switch that I switch on and a word automatically comes out my mouth. People fail to realize this is not some kind of game. When this type of atmosphere is created it opens the way to those who wish to abuse their authority. Let me explain, I recall a person who was a prophet of God. He was given much insight and revelation and people began to depend on him for every area of their lives. He not being cautious with the gifts of God, and not understanding his full responsibility toward the people of God, began to control and manipulate


every part of their lives. If they wished to buy a new home they had to come to him first. If they wished to marry he was the one who decided who their mate was. It became a very sad story. They soon built a building which all the members of the congregation were required to move into. They had to surrender their valuables, bank accounts, and jewelry to him. They soon cut themselves off from everyone. Only certain people would be allowed to come out and buy the necessary goods they needed to sustain themselves. I will not relate details of the entire story, but it end up having the government come in and remove the people from the building. So be very cautious of any one who wishes to control your life. This is someone who is no longer operating in the spirit of God,, but is using the name of God and the title “prophet” to control and manipulate people.

Perverting the Word of God for their own personal benefit (especially with finances)

Oftentimes they take the Word of God and pervert it for their own personal finances. In the book of Samuel, Saul is searching for some of his father’s lost animals. After a few days of searching he and his servant realize they are not far from Samuel. So they make the decision to go and ask him of the whereabouts of the lost animals. Here we are about to see a principal understood by the people of that day and time. If at all possible when you come to the men of God to require of the Lord bring a gift. “But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God..:” Now the principal is true and should be respected and understood in its proper context. The problem is, some have taken this and perverted it to their own personal financial benefits. Unless you bring a certain amount of money you cannot see them, or talk with them. We should be willing to minister to people as much as we possibly can. Sometimes people understand this principal,

while others never heard of it. Nevertheless we as ministers of the Gospel we are required to minister to people if they have money or not. I seldom have time for personal ministry, about the time I get in town I may have enough time to get some rest and prepare for the next service. When I can, I minister to as many of God’s people as time will allow. Elisha, an Old Testament prophet in the book of Second Kings, came to the widows house. It was a time of drought. She was preparing for her and her son to eat their last meal. Elisha was instructed to go to the widow where God had promised to sustain him. She informed him that this was the last meal for her and her son. Elisha said feed me first, and you will always have a supply of meal, and oil for the whole time of the famine. She followed the prophets instructions and ate many days during the entire famine. There are some who will take this biblical principal and use it for their own personal gain.

Make allowances for the practice of sexual sin.

You would think people could easily recognize this and know this is unbecoming behavior for believers, especially for those who walk in the calling of the five-fold ministries. The scriptures plainly lay out the moral standards for every believer. To my surprise people do not always recognize this for one reason or the other. It is like when the Pharisees brought the woman who was found in the very act of adultery. How quickly they brought the woman to be stoned. If she was caught in the very act, what happened to the man? To my knowledge it takes a male and female to commit adultery. It seems to me quite obvious if someone is committing sexual sins and supposedly preaching the Gospel, they are no longer being obedient to the Word of God. “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself


a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” (Rev 2:20-23). Jezebel was a false prophet (actually prophetess same thing instead of a male it is a female prophet). She was teaching and seducing the children of God to commit fornication. The word “fornication” means “to act the harlot, this iliterally means to indulge in unlawful lust of either sex, or figuratively to practice idolatry. You would think that if someone was teaching contrary to the Word of God, it would not be received by the church. When I was in Minneapolis, Minnesota I came across a church that was seduced by a so-called prophet. After exposing him as being a false prophet, it was discovered that just about every woman in the church had committed sexual sin with this man. I began to question them, and ask them if they knew what the Word of God says about this kind of behavior. Their answer stills amazes me to this day. He had told them that he was a prophet and God lets him do whatever he wants. I couldn’t believe an entire church was seduced by this lie! If that wasn’t enough the church was paying his child-support, and other various bills. It is true sometimes good men fall into sexual sins, such as King David. But he was not trying to seduce everyone

into his lifestyle of sin. He cried out before God and changed his ungodly behavior. The greatest occupational hazard to those in the ministry is to be tempted with sexual sins. A great majority never fall into this trap, but to those who do God’s forgiveness and love is available to them. Be very careful of those who try to seduce you into thinking and accepting this kind of behavior as normal.

Who calls sin righteousness, and righteousness sin.

This is pretty much like sexual sins, just in a different arena. I once had to deal with the situation where the so-called prophet was convincing certain people it was all right to commit murder on his behalf. I’m thankful to God I was able to talk common sense into this group of people before they actually carried out this ungodly plot.

Perverts people from the Word of God and leads people into mysticism, witchcraft, new age, and other false teachings.

More and more this is happening in Christian circles than people realize. Mysticism is the doctrines or beliefs of mystics; specifically the doctrine that it is possible to achieve communion with God through contemplation. Be very careful of any services that you go to where someone is very mystical in their behavior. I nicknamed these “spooky church”, and they are usually filled with new age teachings.

...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. (Psalms 30:5)

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Knight’s Folly There once was a Knight from a far away land,Who behind the King’s pulpit did money demand.And there from the pulpit not fearing his God,The Knight did a thing that was so very odd. He lifted his voice and a song he did sing,A song of a very slanderous thing.The song told a tale of a brother in kindWho did awful things to another behind.He sang to the princess, he sang to the queenHe sang to his friends this terrible thingHe sang “ Don’t you tell this thing to another”Oh the thing was a lie the song he did utter!He sang to the nobles and peasants about,And lo and behold the story got out.And the Knight standing there knew full well he was wrong,Refused to repent for this terrible song.Instead he took hold of his brother in kindAnd put the man out “ out of sight out of mind”.Yes under the rug his song he did sweep.It makes one wonder how a Knight could sleep.But slumber he did like a frog in a pot,Wooed by the comfort till the water got hot.He slept and he slumbered until one day,He learned that you can’t sweep your troubles away.His brother in kind, the one he put outLifted his voice to his God, gave a shout.And the Lord who is Holy heard the man cryAnd said to his son now son don’t you cry.I’ve seen the injustice this man has done,But son don’t you worry from me he can’t run.I will make recompense upon the old Knight,And when I am done they will tremble in fright.For the fear of the Lord is a needed thing,And it shall determine the songs that men sing.I will stretch forth my hand And they will know I’ve been thereEven the queen, who sits in her chair. Well the moral of this story is to let men knowIf you sing such a song you will reap what you sow.For gossip and slander, are a terrible thing.Be careful my children of the songs that you sing.Touch not his anointed, Do his prophets no harm.For the Lord will uphold them with his righteous right arm.Though under the rug your troubles you sweep.The Lord is not blind nor does justice sleep!

C.D. Holt


Depression, loneliness and low self-worth are ALL tied together. Loneliness can cause depression and low self-

worth. Depression can cause loneliness, and low self-worth can cause both depression and loneliness. When we are having one of our best days, riding on top of the world, deep depression can hit like a freight train. When we are at our happiest times, a feeling of loneliness can creep in and overwhelm us and we find ourselves crying for no apparent reasons, feeling rejected, cast aside and unloved. Suddenly the most confident and self assured person can feel as if they are worth nothing all. Depression, loneliness and low self-worth are spirits and have to be fought as such. None of us like to do battle, but unfortunately we all have to put on our armor daily and fight. John 10:10 AMP The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

Now for most of us we don’t always look at things from the spiritual side, we look at it from the natural aspect and wonder:

Why we are depressed?

Well, consider what you were doing, thinking or feeling when the depression hit. Learn how to identify those things the enemy uses as trigger points. Stress can be caused by many things and can be used to trigger depression, loneliness or feelings of low self-worth:

Money troubles – when faced with it how do you handle it:

Do you come up with a plan to fix it if it was caused

Depression and LonelinessCheryl North

Prophetess Cheryl North

Cheryl is currently attending Kaplan University pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and Systems with a concentration in Networking. Her ultimate goal is a PhD in Christian counseling. She was called to preach in 1995, and has ministered at various conferences and churches across the country. Operating maturely in spiritual giftings she teaches and preaches prophetically. Under the unction of the Holy Spirit her words of wisdom and knowledge have affected many lives. Known for her ability to show you a thing from a different perspective she enables people to gain deliverance by facing themselves and their situations in the mirror of God’s truth. Cheryl has recently accepted a staff position with Ronald Flowers Ministries, where she will be a contributor to their new online magazine and weekly web radio show. One of her deepest passions is counseling victims and survivors of childhood sexual and physical abuse. She also counsels singles and married couples. Cheryl is also an active board member for several local outreach ministries and non-profit organizations.


by your irresponsibility, or do you worry over it and then let the enemy’s dart of depression settle in and spread until it has built a mansion? If you can’t fix it, pray about it. When you have done all that you can do, turn it over to God and trust Him to work it out for you. I know you have heard this before, but many times our faith and reliance on God for the answer is tested. Don’t get depressed!

Marriage – Are you allowing the negative input of another to be used as trigger points? If you identify that the negative words or stressful interchanges are a trigger, watch out and stay focused on not letting the enemy get a foothold. All marriages are not made in heaven, but through prayer, communication and patience most situations can get better. Don’t let depression get the better of you, put on the whole armor of God and stand ready for battle in the spirit realm.

Relationships

Good relationships make us feel happy and fulfilled, but when we hit a bump in the road watch out, depression can sneak in and sabotage you. Prayer should be a part of every relationship. Whether it is a friendship, a romance, work related, church related etc…

Bad relationships can sap our strength, hope, joy, peace, and faith etc… What are you willing to let destroy you? Bad relationships can set you up for depression quicker than you can blink.

If you are settling for a bad relationship just to have a relationship and again whether it is a friendship, a romance, work related, church related etc… check your self-worth meter – you are probably running on low to empty. Stay prayerful and listen to that small still voice of God. Many times we are warned before we get into an unhealthy relationship. You must be like the watchman on the wall! Watch and pray!

· The woe is me trap.

What’s wrong with me

Aren’t I pretty/handsome enough, smart enough, etc …

Why won’t anyone love me, Why doesn’t anyone like me

Why do I always seem to get left behind,

And so on and so forth…..

· Children

When they are good and cooperating and being obedient it is a joyful thing to be a parent. But when they are being disobedient, willful and running amuck, making the wrong choices and getting into situations that you know they shouldn’t. It can bring on a deep depression. Don’t let yourself be fooled just because they grow up and leave your house. You can still be affected by the choices and situations that they get into. Stay prayerful!

Job

Bosses

Co- workers

Deadlines

Downsizing

Reviews

No raises etc ….

Pray – Pray – Pray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


How is it possible that I can feel lonely in a room full of people? Lofneiness is often an isolationist spirit, it tries to isolate you emotionally so

that you feel all alone and helpless. Only you can decide how you will handle any given situation, but if you tend to withdraw and become insular when you feel lonely you only feed that spirit. Push past yourself, try to do the opposite of what you normally do when you feel lonely, don’t stay tucked away in the house, get out and enjoy the sunshine, go to a movie, spend time with friends and family who value you and your company, if you don’t have anyone in your life like that, spend time with the your Daddy God, He always wants to hear from you. Talk to Him just like you would to a close friend. He will always listen, and will give peace and comfort if you let Him.

Why do I suddenly feel like I am nothing

o The most confident person can suddenly feel like they are nothing. If you know that you can do it do it! When we are about to experience our greatest successes we are usually attacked with feelings of low self-worth, inadequacy, and overwhelmed with the, I can’t’s…..

If you know that you know it, show it! Not in arrogance, but confidently, let your gifts be made known. Isaiah 30:15 AMP For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning [ to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall ye be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength…

Trust in, rely and lean on God to give you what you need when you need it.

Remember it is an attack, nothing personal, but you are not exempt from the attacks of the enemy. We would all like to think that we could sail on past

these episodes, but know this, they will come and you have to be ready when they do. If I were being super spiritual, I would tell you that you have to pray and seek God, that you have to stay in the spirit 24/7 and be on guard every second of every minute, but that is not the way that most of us live. We have jobs and families and busy schedules and have very little time to give in to a mini breakdown and certainly not a major one. We have too many people depending on us for us to be totally dysfunctional, so we become the walking wounded, Dysfunctional, but operational.

Depressed, but we keep going, lonely, but we keep going, feeling like we are nothing or at the very least like we are un-deserving of the blessing and favor that God has bestowed on us, but we keep going. We have bandages and casts, but we keep on going like nothing is wrong, but are we really fighting (dealing with what we really feel)? Prayer, praise and the word are our spiritual weapons against depression, loneliness and low self-worth. We need to pray, have to pray in order to be strengthened and to stay connected to the Father. In order to be able to hear from Him and get our instructions on how to proceed in our daily life, we have to pray. As we pray we gain strength because we exercise our spiritual muscles, developing our biceps and triceps, watching that six-pack come into being and seeing the sagging spirit and flabby faith be whipped into shape.

As we praise God even in the

midst of our depression we put on our spiritual boxing gloves and give the enemy a black eye. Satan cannot stand it when we praise God even with tears streaming down our face, giving God a YET praise. Even though you feel like your heart is breaking, as an

act of your will you give God praise in spite of the circumstances that you face. When you pull out your word and seek comfort, strength and guidance, even


when you don’t want to, you take a battering ram to the enemies head. Use your heavenly language; it is one of the most powerful weapons at our disposal. Now, what do you do when you just can’t bring yourself to pray in English or in tongues?

CRY LOUD AND SPARE NOT! CRY OUT TO THE

LORD --- SIMPLY --FATHER HEAR THE CRY OF MY HEART. IF YOU CAN’T SAY A WORD, GOD CAN READ YOUR TEARS AND CAN INTERPRET EVERY MOAN AND GROAN. HE WILL ANSWER YOU!

Your prayer request are taken very seriously. Our team of intercessors are seeking God on your behalf. We know through the power of prayer that God will move on your behalf to heal the sick, bring peace to your troubled home, open the door of salvation for our loved ones, and bring you into a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father. Simply click the link below to e-mail us your prayer requests

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JOSEPHGod Is settInG You up

to FulFIl Your dreams

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It may be hard to see and understand that God is positioning you to fulfill your dreams. Only God can turn around your negative situation in life, to fulfill His divine purpose through you. Wherever you are, in the pit, the prison or the palace, this short but powerful book about the life of Joseph will inspire you. Order your copy of Joseph today.

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Do you have joy in your life? You need some joy in your life. God’s desire is that we have joy even in the midst of tribulations, even when things aren’t going right. We can still have joy in knowing that although we can’t always see him at work, God is working to change things in our lives.

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal,

and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.(KJV)

Sometimes we have to go through some “stuff “to get where we’re going.

Look at Joseph.Genesis 37: 1 ¶ And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. 5 ¶ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your

sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. 12 ¶ And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. 17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. 18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 20

The Pit, The Cave, The Prison and Joy

You can preach your self happy with this one.

By Cheri Holt


Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. 23 ¶ And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; 24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. 28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? 31 ¶ And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. 34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard. (KJV)

Joseph was given this awesome prophetic dream

that prophesied that his brothers and family would bow down to him. Yet soon after he is given this awesome dream the total opposite thing happens to him. Instead of the brothers bowing to him, he ended up being tossed into a pit by his own brothers. Can you just imagine what he thought about while he was in that pit? It had to be pretty rough, to be rejected that way by your own family, and to make matters worse they sold him into slavery.

Wow his own brothers, members of his own household, his very flesh and blood brothers rejected him and sold him into slavery and what’s more they caused their father to believe he was dead, and by doing this they cut off any possibility that his family might search for him. They cut off his help…. Or so they thought.

Did you know the devil wants you to think that your help has been cut off?

Matthew 10:36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

So it started out pretty awful for Joseph. In fact, it didn’t look anything like what God had promised. Instead of his family bowing down to him they had cast him off altogether.

PRIME TIME

It is at times like these we have to walk by faith, when we can’t see God in the midst of the storm. This is what I call prime time because it’s a prime time for the devil to mess with you and try to make you doubt God’s promises. But it’s at times like these that we begin to see the hand of God working in our lives if we look his way.

Pr 16:7 ¶ When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Joseph after some tribulation ended up in Potiphar’s house spent two years in prison and later was put in charge of running all of Egypt. Joseph was trusted and put in charge of every thing, all of the kings’ affairs. Likewise God has set us as priests and kings to do the

Prophetic Insight21

work of the Lord and sometimes we have to go through some “stuff” first. We see later in the story that a great famine came, and his brothers indeed. just as God had promised, showed up to buy food and bowed before him not knowing who he was. God literally kept his word. His brothers bowed down before him and also were made to be at peace with him.

There always seems to be some persecution here, and some there and of course many a battle to fight against the enemy who wars against our minds. But after all of this, after we have done the will of God the reward is very great! So where are you in all of this? Are you in the pit on the way to Potiphar’s house? Fact of the matter is many of you feel like you are in a tug of war between the devil and God and you wonder how can you ever win with so much working against you. In a sense we are in a tug of war, but you have to decide who wins. The choice is yours. See the key is this. It isn’t the things that happen in your life that determine your outcome but it is the way you respond to them that determines these things.

Let us look again at Joseph He was tossed into a pit. In the pit he could have given up or he could say this must be temporary because, God promised me something different, so I know I’m not staying in this pit. It has to be a temporary pit.

Many of us when we find our selves in a pit our typical reaction is that we cry woe is me because of this pit , instead of saying “ This is a temporary pit on the way to Potiphar’s house”

Joseph must have trusted God. HE MUST HAVE

SAID “THIS IS A TEMPORARY PIT”. It is a temporary pit because God has something better for you! Things might

look ugly, right now, but watch and wait because God is working and the pit you’re in is just a temporary pit on the way to Potiphar’s house. Of the great patriarchs we see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and we see that Jacob is he who had twelve sons from which came all 12 tribes of Israel. Jacob having had two wives Rachel and Leah he worked a total of 14 years to get them from their father Laban.

Leah : Gave birth to Ruben, Simeon, Levi and Judah

Her Handmaid Zilpah: bore Zebullun, Gad and Asher

Rachel :( Jacob’s favorite) gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin

her handmaid Bilhah bore Dan and Napthali.

So we see that Joseph had no idea what all this was about but God had shown him in a dream how the family would bow down to him. But we can see looking at the genealogy that it was imperative that all end of these things come to pass. The genealogy

eventually leads to Jesus the root of Jesse spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah

Isaiah 11:10 ¶ And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

And we see mention of this again in Ro 15:12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

So thank God for the pits. Now let’s look at David. He was just a little shepherd

boy tending the sheep of his father, happy to be doing the sheep thing. He’s out there in the field and he’s doing the sheep thing and he’s good at the sheep thing. But

This sheep thing was just a time of preparation for the real leadership thing. So he’s doing the sheep thing then the Prophet Samuel comes along and says to him “God hath anointed thee to be king” and he dumps a horn of oil on his head. Now this king thing that’s his thing! He was destined for greatness!


did you know that’s not his thing. This sheep thing was just a time of preparation for the real leadership thing. So he’s doing the sheep thing then the Prophet Samuel comes along and says to him “God hath anointed thee to be king” and he dumps a horn of oil on his head. Now this king thing that’s his thing! He was destined for greatness! But the country already has a king, King Saul. For a while David and Saul are friends, but then David starts to gain notoriety and he becomes more popular among the people than Saul. Now Saul, well, he likes doing the king thing and he doesn’t want to give it up, so he decides to chase David down and kill him. He chases David and well, because of his integrity David doesn’t want to kill God’s anointed and he doesn’t want to die so he runs and he hides in a cave.

1Sa 22:1 ¶ David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. 2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

So we see he’s got 400 grumpy people with him and his in laws, and they’re not happy.

This doesn’t look at all like what God had promised, he’s supposed to be the beloved king and now here he is hiding in this cave He doesn’t even have a pillow to lay his head on and everybody is mad at him. You would think he might just give up or go off into a corner somewhere and cry and give up on being king. After all he’s a ruddy little boy, why he’s certainly not what most would consider as KINGLY material. His father had not even considered him in the line up to see whom God would choose. BUT GOD DID

So what did he do, He wrote a song of praise unto God. How could he do this? He is in a cave hiding from Saul and fleeing for his very life, let’s not forget all the grumpy people he has with him, yet now we see he sits down and he writes a Psalm.

Let’s look at psalm 57:1 ¶ <<To the chief Musician,

Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.> Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. 2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. 3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. 4 My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. 6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah. 7 ¶ My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. 8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. 9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. 10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.(KJV)

NOW turn to Psalm 142 1 ¶ <<Maschil of David; A Prayer

when he was in the cave.> I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. 2 I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. 3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. 4 ¶ I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. 5 I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. 6 Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. 7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. (KJV)

The point is he praised God in the midst of his trouble. God desires that we worship him at all times I

Prophetic Insight23

will bless the Lord at all times, yes even in the midst of our trouble, even when we don’t feel like it, even when it seems the whole world is against us. But look, when you praise God in the midst of your troubles it benefits you and it really makes the devil mad because he’s not gaining the advantage over you. He wants you to feel like all your help is cut off, as if God is not going to show up and help you and you are out of luck Chuck. So forget God go ahead and kill your self or something because life is obviously hopeless and things will never change for you. Because after all you are so worthless etc. But these are all the lies of the enemy. Satan’s desire is that you look at yourself and see the position you’re in and that your focus be taken off of the goodness and mercy of God, off of his faithfulness and his greatness. The last thing he wants is for you to praise God in the middle of your trouble and thereby give God the glory. Satan’s desire is to make you think that it all depends on you and you aren’t able so you’re without help. BUT IT’S A LIE

He doesn’t want you to know what the word of God says about this situation and he surely doesn’t want you to praise God, because see when you praise God you have to think about God and his love and his mercy and all his other wonderful attributes. What do you praise him for? We praise him for his greatness, for who he is. We look at him, and then see we see how great he is and our troubles begin to seem small. Compared to his greatness, they are small. God is greater than your problem, he is bigger than your dilemma. He is able to change things to bring us up out of the pit, and set us in Potiphar’s house. So not only does it change our focus, and get our minds off of the troubles that surround us, but it sets our minds on God. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

God will keep in perfect peace he whose mind is stayed on the Lord. When will God do this? When we put our TRUST in HIM, when we stop going by what we see, stop leaning to our own understanding

In the bible we see we have weapons.2Corinthians 10: 4 -5 4 For the weapons of our

warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds ;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; it teaches us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, not in our flesh or our strength or our ability but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, (wrong thinking patterns, things that keep us in bondage to things like depression and fear and rejection, loneliness and hopelessness.)

We see we are to be CASTING DOWN IMAGINATIONS and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ So we see the thoughts we have some times need to be cast down. Some of the thoughts we have simply are not true. At times, they are contrary to the truth and in direct opposition to God and to God’s word which is truth. We know that it is the truth that sets us free.

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

So we must cast down those imaginations (thoughts) that are not according to God’s word, not according to the truth .The bible tells us that we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free, so we see we must walk according to what Gods says and not by leaning on our own understanding. We must walk according to faith and not by what we see for our eyes can sometimes deceive us. What may appear to be an everlasting pit of despair, may really just be a temporary pit on the way to Potiphar’s house.

Now about pits:There are many pits that people can fall into

along life’s journey .There are pits of despair , pits of discouragement , pits of hopelessness and pits of self pity are some of the worst ones. Not every pit is a good pit to stay in. It is a pit stop not a pit stay. Pits are things we sometimes fall into but things we need to climb out of not stay in. When we are in the pit, we learn what to do when we fall in the pit. We learn to climb out and the only way to learn to climb out is to need to climb out and to start trying to climb. So we


must first find out that we are in a pit, and then we must learn to climb out.

In the pit with us there are often times many others that will seek to hold us in the pit.

Fact is in the pit there are many:

Some will seek to hold you there. If you’re in a pit of despair and hopelessness, you will find that despair and hopelessness are there in the pit with you, because they live there and have in fact dragged you into the pit because misery loves company. The devil is a miserable thing and he wants to share his misery with you. You might even find some of your family and friends there in the pit. So you must cut off despair and hopelessness with the sword of truth. What has God promised for your life? Did he say he came that you may remain in the pit? Or did he say that he came that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. He came that we might have life. God’s desire is that we enter in to his rest and have joy. That we trust in him and know he is able to deliver us from the pits.

Lets look a little further at another example Paul

and Silas

Acts 16:9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. 11 Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; 12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. 13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. 14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. 16 ¶ And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. 18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. 19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, 20 And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, 21 And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. 22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25 ¶ And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set

Prophetic Insight25

meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.35 ¶ And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 36 And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.

So don’t let the devil steal your song.

Paul who was later imprisoned in Rome penned these words.

Php 4: 4. Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both

learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. 10 ¶ But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last, your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

MORE Ro 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and

drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Ro 15:13 ¶ Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (KJV)

© Copyright 2007 Cheri D. Holt

Far beyond Earth’s atmosphere

Out past the milky way

Is an everlasting kingdom

That never fades away.

Beyond the stars and galaxies

Beyond the clouds and sky

Beyond the things that man can see

Sits our God Most High

Earth, it is his footstool

Heaven is his throne

Exalted High above all things

Yet he calls us “His own”

He reigns from the highest heaven

For all eternity

Big enough to rule creation

Yet he lives in you and me

C.D. Holt

Kingdom Of God


The human mind is one of God’s greatest creations. In its essence

and purity, it is one of the most powerful tools of the human race. This powerful tool is used to invent solutions

to problems, find cures and treatments for diseases, to take us beyond the boundaries of the seashores or the limits of the skylines. This same powerful creation can be reduced to a weak, fearful, indecisive quivering mass if not guarded properly. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. The mind has to be renewed, refreshed and watered with the word of God. Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Each experience or trial that we go through gets added to our baggage, and this is what we carry with us throughout our lives. Each of these things can affect our mind, will and emotions. They can cause us to have a bad attitude or a

good attitude. We have heard that attitude affects or determines our altitude. Bad experiences and thoughts produce bad attitudes, which then produce wilderness mentalities. These bad attitudes produce a wilderness way of dealing with situations and people. A wilderness mentality is a wrong mindset; a wrong mindset can hurt you naturally and spiritually. A wilderness mentality will also hinder your progress both naturally and spiritually. You have to get rid of your wilderness thinking in order to get to, and enjoy the promise land, which are the blessings of God.

The children of Israel had a wilderness mentality when God brought them out of Egypt. They had been slaves far too long. When Moses went up to the mountain top and stayed longer

than they thought he should, they took matters into their own hands. They, in their wilderness mentality decided that Moses must be dead, so we’ll make us a golden idol to worship. Notwithstanding the fact that they had just witnessed the God of their fathers hold back the waters, bring them safely across the sea floor, and then crush the Egyptians in the Red sea. Wilderness thinking blinds you to the truth of God faithfulness and His strength. God dealt with their disobedience after Moses returned, He punished them and then let them wander in the wilderness. It wasn’t until most of the generation that did not trust in Him, obey Him and have a grateful attitude toward Him had died out, that God brought them out of the desert in into the promise land.

An Attitude of Gratitude

God wants us to get rid of our wilderness thinking. He wants us to be like small children in our trust and belief in His ability to see us through, bring us out, heal us, deliver us and raise us up. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the

pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

When we keep an attitude of gratitude instead of an attitude of ungratefulness to God, and are obedient to

Our Toughest Battle

Overcoming Our Mindsets

Prophetess Cheryl North

Prophetic Insight27

God’s word, He will be faithful to bless us. Give thanks for all things and God will increase you. Change your mindset! Go from the wilderness to the promise land. Elevate your thinking and your expectations. Start call-ing those things, which are not as though they were. Stop saying your children will never be anything; they are not monsters, heathens, rug-rats, brats or any of the other negative things some parents say. Stop saying you will never have anything, never be married, never have children, never be blessed, and never be healed. Re-member you have the power of life and death in your tongue. Therefore speak life to your situation! You were created in the likeness and image of God, God spoke and the worlds were framed, start framing your world, speak in accordance to God’s word over your situation and see things change.

You may have been told all your life that you will never amount to anything, that no one like you could ever be anything or have anything. No matter what your past looks like you do have a future. The word says in Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. You have to renew your mind daily through the word of God.

Then you can be that new creature with an expected end. That expected end is one of prosperity, peace, divine healing, blessings and goodness abounding in your life continually on a daily basis. Wash your mind,

your battlefield, with the water of the word daily. When negative thoughts come up, put the word to work on it, search the scriptures until you find the word that can get the stain of that negative thought out.

Facing difficult situations with patience, humility and meekness will help you to overcome the obstacles placed in your way to hinder you and also help you to remain victorious in the battle in your mind. How we handle situ-ations is important, God depends on us to exhibit Christ like behavior in difficult and stressful situations, but sometimes we feel like nothing we do is good enough and everything and everyone is against us. If we start complaining it opens doors for satan to enter in, and if you give him an opportunity he will run with it.

Patiently suffering (enduring) the hardship, difficulty or situation is not a testament to your ability, but God’s ability to keep you in adverse and trying situations. Complain and you set yourself up for a trip to the wil-derness. There you will wander in the wilderness, in your mind, your circumstances and your relationships. Begin to praise and thank God for who He is, what He has al-ready done, and where He brought you from and God will raise you up! When you use these weapons to fight the battles in your mind you will win every time!

There is a fire of God, and the fire of hell, which one is burning in you?


1) Receive God’s Love Christ’s passion foretold

Isaiah 53:3-9 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

In the passage above we see that Jesus bore the penalties for us. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. For everything that we should have

suffered was placed upon him to undo what Satan had caused and what had come upon mankind as a result of our sin.

On the cross as he died he cried out “ Eli Eli lama sabacthani “ Which means My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me. For a short while there on the cross Jesus was forsaken, so that we would not be forsaken. He bore that burden for us, so we could be accepted of God.

Jesus also asked that those who had done these things be forgiven for they knew not what they did. After all of the rejection in my life, I looked to the cross and finally saw the love he had for me. It made all the difference in my life, to know that God loved me.

For many years as a child I was abused and

suffered much rejection. Throughout my youth and the early parts of my adult life I searched endlessly for Love and acceptance. I searched in all the wrong places and my hungry heart left me grasping at anybody who might love me or want me. Relationship after relationship ended in failure and I was convinced

Eleven “R’s” On the Road to Recovery

We need only look to the cross to see that Jesus is well acquainted with rejection. He was rejected by the very people he gave his life to save.

In looking at Jesus we see a King who humbled himself and laid down his life for those who mocked and scourged him. He was beaten almost beyond recognition. The hairs of his beard were pulled from his face and he was mocked and spat upon by the very people he came to save. He should have been bowed before, worshipped and revered, yet he endured this agony and humility for our sakes. Isaiah 53:3 - 9 speaks of this rejection.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Overcoming RejectionBy Cheri Holt

Prophetic Insight29

that surely I must be some kind of freak of nature that nobody would ever love. I spent years in an abusive relationship trying to be something my husband would love even to the point of not knowing who I really was. After being abused as a child and then as a young woman, I became even more convinced that I was worthless. I was sure that nobody would ever love me, so sure in fact that before they had a chance to reject me I rejected them. My heart turned bitter and angry at the world which had been so cruel. My heart was so broken and wounded. I wouldn’t let anybody near me long enough to really be loved.

God has amazing ways of teaching us. There came appoint in my life one day, during one of the most difficult struggles I had been in, that an incident I had endured came flooding back to my mind. I remembered falling one day on the play ground at the daycare center where I had worked many years earlier. I was walking with a child and the child fell in front of me and tripped me. I had to land with all of my weight on one knee on the ground in the pea gravel to keep from falling on the child and injuring him. When I got up I saw how the fall had injured me and my knee had dirt and pea gravel imbedded in it. It was terribly painful, torn and bleeding. It needed cleaning badly lest I leave it to fester with infection. I cleaned it as best as I could but I could not get all of the dirt and gravel out of the wound, so I went to the doctor and had it cleaned. I thought the doctor would do a much better job than me, and I wasn’t so sure it didn’t need stitches. I thought surely he would give me something to kill the pain while he cleaned me up. When I got there he scrubbed my knee as though it were a raw potato, with no pain killers. It hurt so bad I thought to push his hands away but I knew it needed cleaning, OUCH I was so mad at him, but it was necessary. I didn’t realize it then but even at that point God was working on me to bring about my healing.

Then the Lord impressed upon me how my heart was like that knee. The falls and failures and rejection in my life had caused such injury to my heart that my heart was like my knee, full of things that needed to

be removed no matter how painful. On the outside to the untrained eye I appeared to be a normal young adult, but on the inside I was a mess, and I knew it. My heart was broken and full of bitterness, rejection, fears, doubts and every negative thing you could imagine. I didn’t trust anybody to love me because everybody in the past had failed me, or so I thought. I had come to the point in my life that no matter how hard I tried I could not accept love and was forever love starved. I was so afraid of being hurt again that I always had a “watchful” eye on those who “claimed” to love me. So watchful in fact that I started keeping a list of things that had been done to me by each person who claimed to love me. I was determined I would not be made a fool again. Pride had taken hold of me and I had made a bitter root judgment against people who hurt others. So I watched carefully for “signs” of deception and rejection regarding this ever evasive thing called love. When the list was full to the point I felt justified in claiming this person to be a traitor, I managed a way to push them out of my life. Purposefully destroying the relationship, often times with accusations of their failure to love me. I was totally ignorant of the fact that a lot of the problem was in me, and was a direct result of my insecurity and my fear that caused me to not be able to trust and receive love. Being terrified of being alone, I quickly grabbed on to somebody else in hope of finding the love I felt I so desperately needed and yet each time love had always seemed to evade me no matter how hard I sought after it. Each time I entered into a relationship, it was like putting a bandage over a festering wound that needed to be purged and cleansed. Time after time the wounds in my heart festered up and this ugliness would surface.

God in his infinite wisdom had brought me to a point in my life where I was alone and had only him to look to for help. He had time and time again brought me to be alone, but each time I ran from Him unknowingly and looked to mankind for the solution to my problem. But mankind could not give me what I needed to be healed. Only the perfect Love of God could heal the wounds of my heart. I needed a love


that would not fail me and never leave me. I needed a love that was always there even when I failed. I needed a perfect love and there was only one place to find that kind of love.

I remember being in church one day and a word from the Lord came that a woman in the church was being healed in her heart, and I said within my self “I will be glad when the Lord heals me I am a mess”

I didn’t say it out loud, but the woman in front of me turned around, and she said to me “You are healed” and she told me of some other things God wanted me to know. This came by way of The Holy Ghost using the woman in the gifts of the Spirit. I surely didn’t feel healed never the less those words kept running through my mind. How could I be healed when I’m such a mess? I couldn’t understand how the Lord could say such a thing when I was clearly a mess. I couldn’t understand it all, but the Lord had definitely gotten my attention. In the past I had always run from the Lord.....by looking to mankind and not to God whom I was not able to see. Look at this passage and see how Moses desires to see the glory of God.

Ex 33:11-23 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. 12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the

face of the earth. 17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. 18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. 20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. 21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord and God said stand here and you will see, but what if Moses had said in disbelief, “no you will not come.” and had left the cleft of the rock which the Lord had provided as a shelter for him. Do you think he would have seen the glory of the Lord if he had turned away and gone about his own way? If Moses had thought in his heart that God was not faithful and his word was not truth, then he may have left and never seen the glory of the Lord. But God said STAND HERE and Moses obeyed the Lord and stood and saw the Glory of The Lord.

It is the Love of God, his mercy and his grace that we need in order to see our hearts healed. If we stand where he tells us and look to him, we can and will indeed behold the Glory of the Lord and see his love and mercy upon us that will bring healing to our hearts and minds.

As I began to say earlier the Lord in his infinite wisdom had brought me to a point in my life where I was alone and had only him to look to. I had to learn to trust in Him. In order for me to see the Glory of the Lord I had to stand still in the midst of the storm of my life and trust in him and look to him. I really had never looked at the Lord, never had seen his glory or

Prophetic Insight31

his love. In an act of desperation I cried out to him to help me and to heal me and to change my life. God began to move in my life to show me how the enemy of my soul had sought to destroy me and to teach me how to over come that which had held me bound for so long.

At this point in my life I could not see how the rejections of the past had left such scars upon my heart. All I knew was that I was very lonesome and sad and couldn’t understand why it seemed every where that I went hearts turned cold. I could not see how hungry my heart was to be loved, but others could see it and it was overwhelming to them. No person on the face of the planet could have loved me enough at this point to take away the pain in my heart. The Love of man will always fail at some point, not because man is not capable of love or because they refuse to love but because mankind is not perfect. As humans we will always make mistakes. It is unrealistic to think that a person could love you without ever letting you down at some point. No human being can love with a perfect love that will never fail, but God can, and does. I simply needed to accept God’s love for me as being true.

2) Release others from the debt that they owe.

Forgiveness is necessary in the healing process in fact it’s the next step to recovery.

There was only one who could love me like I needed to be loved and that was Jesus. But as I had done in the past I found my self trying to earn his love. But no mater how hard I tried I knew I wasn’t good enough. And Satan used this to the fullest extent to try to steal my joy. Being angry at the world and those who had hurt me, and my sinful behavior as a result of my wrong thinking and bad attitude, had opened the door for demons to torment me and harass me. My failure to forgive others had left me wide open for attack.

Look at the parable of the unforgiving servant.

Matt 18:21-35

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Often God uses parables of things in the natural to teach of things in the spiritual. In this parable the Lord says that we too would be turned over to the tormenters, in this he is speaking of spiritual torment. God has forgiven us who have accepted him as our Lord and have asked him into our hearts. But he


says to us if we do not forgive then we won’t be forgiven. When Jesus defeated hell so we could be forgiven, Satan lost his right to accuse and torment. Likewise when we refuse to forgive, the enemy gains an advantage to get his foot in and develop a stronghold.

Un-forgiveness is the open door.

We often hear ministers and Christians alike say I bind this devil and I loose this thing or that thing because the bible says that Jesus has given us the keys to the kingdom of heaven to bind and to loose. Look at Matthew again

Mt 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Mt 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

This passage shows us that by our own actions we bind (disallow) and loose (allow) things in the spirit realm. In other words your actions affect how things go in the spirit realm. When there is un-forgiveness in your heart toward others it looses torment in the spirit realm to come and bind you.

1Jo 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Along with torment there is fear. When you love and forgive others it binds up torment and looses peace.

Typically when there is un-forgiveness there is also bitterness. Look at what the bible says about bitterness.

Heb 12:14-15 14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

James 3:14-18 14But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Envy and strife is the result of un-forgiveness, it brings with it every evil thing and opens the door for confusion. But if we walk as the Lord would have us to walk, we will be merciful to those around us, even those who have hurt us. When we forgive, we loose mercy upon ourselves. That is why the bible tells us to pray for our enemies.

Mt 5: 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things

Prophetic Insight33

honest in the sight of all men.18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (KJV)

Look here in Corinthians what Paul writes to the Church at Corinth

2 Cor 2:10-1110 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

A warning to you who refuse to forgive.

In my times of ministry to others I often meet people who have been severely abused and rejected by people that were supposed to have loved them. When I tell them they need to forgive often times they will say to me some of the following things.

1) “I cannot forgive them because what they did was wrong.”

2) “If I forgive them that’s like saying that what they did was ok, and it is not ok.

3) They were wrong to do this to me, so why should I forgive them.”,

4) “They were wrong to hurt me like that, I hope they go to hell.”

I would like to take some time now to address those types of comments.

First of all we need to recognize the fact that of course it is wrong to hurt others. If it weren’t

wrong they would not need to be forgiven. Forgiving somebody does not negate the fact that what they did was wrong, but it releases them from the debt they owe us. Releasing them from the debt allows us to remove the anger and bitterness from our hearts that we have toward them. Often I hear people say “I hope that person ends up in hell for what they did to me”. Wow what an evil heart full of bitterness to say such a thing. Have you ever really considered just what all that entails. Somebody hurt you, maybe it was a one time occasion maybe it was abuse that lasted many years and now you’re angry and full of bitterness you desire this person to be tormented in a lake of fire forever. Your heart is full of hatred toward that person, and you wish they were dead and burning in hell for what they did. Look at the following scriptures concerning your hatred.

1John 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

1John 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

Hatred blinds the eyes of mankind so that he cannot see his own evil heart.

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

1John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

The bible says if you hate others, you are a murderer, that makes you like the one who hurt you or worse. After all in your heart you’ve desired them to burn in hell. Is that not far worse than what was done to you?

Matthew 7:1

1 ¶ Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and


with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

James 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

1John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

If we hold hatred in our hearts toward our fellow man the bible says the following about you.

1) You are a murderer 1John 3:15

2) You are a liar 1John 4:20

3) You are a hypocrite Matthew 7:5

4) You are in darkness 1John 2:11

5) You do not love God 1John 4:20

Hatred is like a poison in your heart it devours from the inside. It is the poison we drink hoping others will die. Most of the time, the people you hate have no idea how you feel. They’re unaffected by the pain in your heart and you are the only one who bears this burning coal of hatred, resentment and bitterness. It’s your heart that is affected and burns by keeping the fires of hatred burning. Extinguish the fire, and your heart will begin to mend. Forgiveness is the solution to the problem.

God commands us to love one another,

1John 4:7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Could you imagine standing at the foot of the cross and seeing Jesus hanging on the cross as he was dying and tell Jesus that you will not forgive those who hurt you even though he was dying to forgive them, but that he should forgive you because you had not done what they had done?

Is desiring a person to die and go to hell less than what has been done to you?

3) Recognize the attacks of the enemy.

Nobody really likes to hear it but there are spirits of bitterness, anger and rejection. I speak of demons. As much as we would like to believe they don’t exist the fact of the matter is they do and they are very much active in the world today. Unseen by mankind, Satan and his demons walk about seeking whom they may devour, and the way he does it is by opening up a doorway to enter in and torment us in our minds and to harass us in our lives. And yes contrary to what some may believe a CHRISTIAN can have a demon. Look at what the bible says about the enemy.

4) Resist the devil.

Be vigilant and resist the devil in faith.

1 Peter 5:8-9 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

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9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

What I want you to see here is that while mankind may have rejected us at one time or another in our lives, we must be willing to forgive them lest we open ourselves up to be harassed by the enemy. Many miserable people are harassed by negative thoughts in their minds that aren’t even their own thoughts. One of the ways the enemy attacks us is in our thought life. Holding on to bitterness and un-forgiveness and not letting go of the pain in our lives is like sewing up a wound full of puss and infection. It will only grow more ugly and foul as time passes. Sooner or later it becomes like poison to us and we suffer as a result. Satan takes great delight in sending his demons to you, to whisper reminders of painful things in our minds and to tell us that nobody wants us, or loves us, and that it will always be that way. THIS IS TORMENT. Satan is a liar and a thief and a murderer and if allowed he will talk you into such a pit of despair that you may not be able to see that you have the ability to get out. That is what he is hoping for. His sole purpose is to destroy whom he can, to drive people to suicide if he can. Many are driven to early graves and even to the very gates of hell by listening to the enemy in their minds and by agreeing to him and his lies.

You know, a demon could sit and whisper in your mind and tell you all manner of ugliness and drive you into an early grave with it all if you allowed him. That’s why the verse says he walks about seeking whom he MAY devour. He May devour you if you let him, by agreeing to him, and if you don’t recognize the attacks. Agreeing to the negative things the enemy speaks to our minds is the same as giving place to the enemy, Our wrong attitudes and our sinful actions can be open doorways.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Prov 4:23

1 Peter 1:13-15 13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

Ok, now we see the enemy attacks and harasses us in our minds speaking tormenting thoughts into our minds.” What Now?” You may ask.

5) Rule Over your thought life by bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ Jesus.

Prov 25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

2 Cor. 10:4-5 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

What the enemy would have us to believe is certainly contrary to what God would want us to believe. The lies the enemy speaks are in direct opposition to the Truth that God teaches us through his word. These lies and lying demons exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. Such things must be cast out and cast down. In order for us to put an end to the enemy’s lies we must know the truth.

For the longest time the enemy harassed me literally sending me in to a spiral of depression with his lies. A spirit of rejection had taken hold of me and harassed me continually with thoughts of how I had


been rejected and how I had not been wanted, this demon along with a spirit of self pity( they work in gangs ) literally drove me into the valley of despair. But I had been studying God’s word and while reading my bible, learning of who I am in Christ and I came across this scripture.

Eph 1:4-7 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

When I saw this it pleased me to know God had accepted me. Whose opinion could mean more or be more important than his? Of all the levels of acceptance that could be obtained, was there any higher than to be accepted of God. If God had accepted me, why then should it worry me what man had thought of me? God loved me and I knew it. He had accepted me. Some time after that a member of my family told me I was worthless as a bag of rocks. The words burned in my heart but, but I comforted my self with the knowledge of God’s love and said within my self, “You may think I am worthless, but God does not and his opinion is certainly far better than yours, and his is true. God does not make mistakes! “And with this knowledge of God’s love I was comforted. I had shielded my heart with faith in God’s Love. Then again later came another time when this same spirit tried to attack me from within, in my thought life and for a while I had begun to listen to the negative thoughts in my mind, agreeing to them and becoming sad and bitter. But then I realized what was happening. I realized it was actually a spirit

speaking thoughts to my mind that sounded like my own thoughts. What a deceptive trick the devil had played on me, but he was no longer hidden.

6) Rebuke the enemy

Once I realized this was the voice of my enemy, I used the word of God to defeat him. I said to that spirit of rejection and self pity. NO, I am not rejected! I am accepted in the beloved. God has chosen me and he is my father, he is my family now. I am adopted, chosen, wanted, loved and accepted. Then I said to it to leave me in the name of Jesus. Those thoughts have not overwhelmed me since. Though at times the spirit did come back and try to regain his foothold I continued to resist him. Look at this verse.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

It had no choice but to flee, I had no agreement with that enemy any longer.

When Jesus was taken up in the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, each time, Jesus resisted the devil’s lies and used the word of God to defeat the devil. After a while the devil saw that he could not win or gain a foothold with Jesus so he left for a season. Jesus used the word of God like a sword to cut the devil to pieces. In the face of God’s truth Satan’s lies cannot stand, nor can they remain hidden. Once the lies of the enemy are exposed they are useless against us because we know it simply isn’t true. We do have a choice in the matter we can choose to believe God’s truth or the devil’s lies. When Satan flings those fiery hurtful arrows of rejection and deceit .What we believe affects how we respond and our response determines the effect it will have upon us.

Luke 4:1-13 1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended,

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he afterward hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

7) Restructure Our priorities

Too many times we place too much importance on what man thinks of us, rather than on what God thinks of us. Let us become more focused on the ways and will of God, setting our eyes upon him always and looking to him as our hope knowing that what God has begun in us he will continue.

8) Renew your view

It is necessary for us to have a proper perspective of what is happening in our lives. The effects of abuse and rejection in a person’s life can have a devastating effect and typically tend to recur over and over again in a person’s life adding injury upon injury. This cycle must be stopped. To stop this cycle we must first be able to recognize it and understand what is happening.

Just as a physical wound leaves the flesh in a hypersensitive state so also do emotional wounds of abuse and rejection. To touch a person in an area where they have been wounded physically often brings about great pain to an already wounded part. This can be true in the emotions as well, if healing has not occurred. Once that area is healed the normal touch would not bring pain. To a person who suffers from rejection any further rejection only serves to compound the injury, if that person has not learned to deal with rejection and received healing in this area of their lives. We will all face rejection at some point in our lives, but it does not have to be a devastating thing.

I say all this to bring out this point. One of the biggest difficulties in over coming rejection is not allowing that hypersensitive state to take over and cause us to have wrong perceptions when it comes to interpreting and understanding the actions of other people. This heightened stated of sensitivity or awareness is a defensive attitude toward others that often cause us to misunderstand and misinterpret the actions of other people.

Have you ever seen a dog that has been beaten with the hand? If you raise your hand to such a dog or move too quickly it will expect to be hit and will cower or flinch or react as though you were the villain, even though you had no intentions of bringing harm to the dog. The dog is simply relying on his past experience to protect him, yet because of it he is now in a hypersensitive state that causes him to be easily frightened and offended. His fear causes him to often misinterpret or misjudge the intentions of others. People are much the same.

I had a room mate for a time who had suffered a lot of rejection in her life. She and I both had computers and enjoyed fellowship with others online. For a time my home office was located in the room adjacent to the living room. At one point we took in a friend of hers who had become homeless. Our friend slept in the room next to the computer. The sleep


schedules of our friend conflicted with mine and the location of the computer had become a problem. I chose to relocate the computer into another room that was somewhat secluded away from everybody else. My room mate who had been rejected so many times became convinced that my actions were aimed at her and that I had rejected her as my friend. For several days she suffered from this “perceived” rejection, and she was very ugly to me and the tension in the house was so thick you could cut it with a knife. It finally erupted in an outburst of emotion.

Time and time again this scenario was repeated due to improper perceptions on her part. My innocent actions were perceived improperly and I was looked at as being the villain in her life.

It is necessary to understand that this state of hypersensitivity can cause one to improperly judge the actions of others. Many of the wounds of rejection we receive are the direct result of our own actions, based on wrong perceptions of the actions, and motives of others. My friend had become convinced that I had wrong motives for moving my desk and computer. She was sure that I was rejecting her and as a result she accused me of attitudes and motives I did not have. She attacked my integrity as a friend and looked at me as though I was the villain in her life. In other words, she had rejected me.

REJECTION BEGETS REJECTION

Such misunderstandings can really place a strain and even destroy friendships and relationships of other kinds. In fact the effects of rejection just like this have a tendency to spill over into all of our relationships. This very kind of situation occurring in our relationships has the effect of driving people away from us and literally causes us to be rejected. When we have an improper perspective of the actions of others, our demand for constant reassurance becomes like a ball and chain around those we love and desire to have in our lives. For example a wife or husband who has unresolved issues of rejection will often have difficulty when they are not included in everything

the other spouse does. The other spouse becomes possessive and jealous and misinterprets the actions of the other, and refuses to allow any freedom. Any attempt to have time alone or time away with other friends is usually wrongfully perceived as rejection. This wrong perception causes one to need constant reassurance of ones love and acceptance, which makes the natural affection usually given to another into an arduous task that has no end. It drains the other person and causes horrible frustration in the one wrongfully accused. The rejected becomes the rejecter. Jealousy always inflicts and tries to destroy the object of its own desire.

To stop this cycle we must endeavor to renew our view of others and of ourselves and rightly interpret the actions and motives of others.

9) Regain your security

It is imperative that you understand who you are in Christ. One of the most dangerous things people do is rely on the opinions of others to determine their self worth. We ride the emotional roller coaster of low self esteem. If people are nice to us and speak well of us we’re happy, but if they speak ill of us we’re likely to hate ourselves, be depressed and sad, and want to throw in the towel because of their opinions of who we are. Sadly enough many do throw in the towel for this very reason. Suicide is a selfish last ditch effort to show the world how angry we are because of the problems we face in life and is often done out of spite toward somebody who has rejected us.

A jilted lover, or some other wounded soul, who views the world as cruel and life as hopeless may often resort to such extreme measures to find a “solution” to end their problems. Unfortunately the problems don’t end there. Suicide is a permanent, irreversible, illogical and selfish response to a temporary problem that shatters the lives of friends and family members. Those who fail at the attempt often end up paralyzed, maimed, brain damaged, and scarred for the rest of their lives. Those who

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succeed in suicide after tragically ending their life here on earth find that life does not end by leaving the body on this earth. We are spiritual beings and our spirits will continue to live after we leave our earthly body. The only destination for those who leave their body by way of death is heaven or hell. Is suicide forgivable? God only knows. I’m reminded of Esau who for a morsel traded his heritage and there was no repentance found for him though he sought it with many tears.

The danger is in allowing others to have such an impact on our opinions of who we are. To allow others to determine our self worth puts us at risk in many ways, and keeps us on a constant roller coaster ride of turmoil and allows others to control us with their opinions. Why? The reason is because the world is full of people. People are imperfect and often full of sin and there are many wounded people in the world who sometimes find it necessary to stand on the backs of others to lift themselves up at your expense. Wounded dogs often bite when you try to help them and so do wounded people. And no matter how good a person you are, there will always be somebody that doesn’t like you. Look at Jesus, He is perfect and yet many have rejected and misunderstood his love, his motives and his heart. If they rejected him who is perfect, how can you expect to be accepted by all who meet you when you are imperfect? If mankind cannot always accept that which is perfect then how can we expect mankind to always accept that which is imperfect. Truth is we can’t. It is unrealistic to think that we won’t ever be rejected at some point in our lives.

John 15:18 -21 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they

will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

You must have realistic expectations when it comes to other people and even when it comes to you. The bible tells us we will have tribulations and trials. We must be able to face these things when they come, without relying on the opinions of mankind to get us through.

John 8:31 ¶ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

The word of God tells us in John 8:31-32 that we must continue in God’s word so that we may know the truth. The truth of Gods word, not mans opinion is what is going to set you free.

Your security cannot rest in the hands of man, it must be found in the eyes of God.

We must look to God to determine our self worth. Only God knows us as we truly are. He knows every fault, every failure and every thought we have, yet he still loves us. Apparently Jesus thought we were worth dying for. The bible contains numerous passages and scriptures that speak of who we are in Christ. It is necessary that we build our opinion of our selves based on what God says is true about us. We are all God’s workmanship. Not one of us has created our selves. We are a work in progress. God sees things differently than we do. He sees them from before their beginning all the way to the end. While we cannot see the finished product God can. Let’s face it; there will come a day when each of us will stand before God. On this day the opinions of mankind concerning you won’t matter one bit. On this day the only opinion that will matter is God’s opinion. I use the word opinion here rather loosely


because to tell the truth God has no ”opinion” in his mind and heart concerning you, but what he does have in his mind and heart concerning you is absolute truth. There’s no two ways about it. What exists in the mind of God concerning you is truth. God does not lie, is not fooled and is never wrong. He judges with righteous judgment, therefore what he has in his mind concerning you is true and any opinion you or anybody else has that is contrary to or opposite of God’s is untrue and incorrect.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

The word of God has many passages that will give you insight as to who and what you really are.

Look here

Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Do you want the Lord to reveal himself to you? He says in John 14:21 that he will manifest himself to us if we love him and keep his commandments.

John 15:9 ¶ As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

John 16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

If you ever doubt God’s love for you just look to the cross. You will find God’s love there on the cross.

10) Repeat these steps

Yes I said repeat. Satan is very persistent in his attempts to destroy us, to bring us down to the depths of despair. If he thinks he can, he will attempt again to regain his foothold by seeking a way to re enter and take up residence again. He knows your weaknesses and if he knows you are weak in your mind or your heart in an area of your life, he will continue to try to get to you this way. When the spirit of rejection is ousted and kicked out he will seek to regain his place. If he cannot do this by attacking from within (by way of other spirits, i.e. self pity etc.) then he will attempt to regain entry by way of an outside source. In other words he will stir up strife or hatred and anger in others around you who are not able to refrain from such things. He will attempt to use others around you to bring hurt or emotional pain and rejection. Then he will wait for you to respond bitterly and accept this rejection and let it get to you, then he will have his foothold again. Falling into agreement and responding improperly to the lies and negative thoughts regarding rejection is what opens the door for the spirit to enter.

If you don’t believe me just try it. Follow the steps above pray and forgive all who have hurt you. Cast out the devil and see if he won’t try to return.

Look at this passage.

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Eph 6:10-17 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

We wrestle against the enemy. Like it or not we are in a spiritual war with the forces of darkness. We cannot continue to go blindly through our lives being tossed about every time somebody fails to accept us. We must continue to wrestle until finally Satan sees he cannot gain ground in the battle. As you wrestle, if you continue to keep your eyes focused on the Lord and seek after truth, you will be strengthened in each skirmish with the enemy. After a time you will be strong and the enemies attempts to bring injury will simply slide off as they hit your shield of faith and will be of no effect. You will come to a point in your life where you will know that as long as you have the Lord’s Love in your life nothing else matters. When the enemy sees he can no longer produce the desired effect in your life, he will cease striving with you and move on. Satan is a created being and he has a limited number of demons with which to work. He cannot afford to waste his resources on things that gain no ground. This is why if you resist the devil he will flee. Aside from this when you submit your self unto God and walk in obedience to him while resisting the enemy, the devil has no grounds on which

he may stay and continue to harass you.

11) REST and Put Your trust in the lord

God’s desire is that we trust in him and that we enter into his rest and have peace and joy in our lives. Look what Jesus said in John 14:27

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Receive the Love of God

Release others from debts to you (forgive)

Recognize the attacks of the enemy

Resist the devil and he will flee

Rule over your thought life

Rebuke the enemy

Restructure priorities

Renew your view

Regain your security

Repeat

Rest

© Copyright 2007 Cheri D. Holt All Rights Reserved


For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (St. John 3:16, 17)

In my opinion this is one of the most amazing scriptures in the word of God. God allowed his son to be sacrificed in our behalf that we might have eternal life. He could have sent his son to bring condemnation to the whole world, but the coming of his son was not to bring condemnation to the world. Rather for the saving of the world.

In many other religions many men busy themselves trying to make their way to God. The amazing thing we see here is God making provision for man to come to him. His very creation that he made broke the relationship that was between God and man. Man had no way of restoring that relationship. God in His love made provision for man to come back to him. What love God has shown for man in allowing his son to pay the penalty of our sin. Adam sold all humanity into the hand of the evil one when he and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. Man now born in sin, and conceive in condemnation. He is now born outside of God’s fellowship; in fact he had become the enemy of God. He no longer is able to communicate with God. Adam was created in God’s very nature, when you seen Adam you seen the nature of God himself. Adam sold out man kind by being overcome by the temptation of the evil one. Now he has become the servant of Satan and lost the Godly nature and takes on the nature of Satan. Man became born-again but in a perverted orders allowing Satan to achieve his goal, which is to steal, kill and destroy. (The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly St. John 10:10). Jesus Christ on the other hand came that we might have eternal life and that life will be eternal in us. In order for us to have, and experience the eternal life we must accept the work that Jesus did for us on the cross.

Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb of God. In other words He sacrificed his life that we may have eternal life through him. Only through Jesus Christ can man have eternal life in this world. There is no other way of salvation but through Jesus Christ. We have heard people often say they are many ways to God. This is an untrue statement for the only way man can lose his sinful nature is accept Jesus Christ. The reason many commit sin is that he had been born of a nature of sin. Let me explain it like this. A dog acts like a dog he was born for dog nature. He cannot act like a cat, or any other animal because he is a dog. In the same way sinners can only act like sinners because they had the nature of Satan. Jesus Christ came that we might receive the nature of God ((2Co 5:17). Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.) When we accept the work of Jesus Christ on the cross we receive the nature of God. We’ll be made new creature’s in Christ Jesus. Then one does not have the old nature that is the nature of sin. That sin nature has passed away and the person is made a new creature in Christ Jesus.

Let me show you the simple steps of accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You will find these instructions in Romans the 10 Chapter versus nine through 12. Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.11 For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.12 For there is no differ-ence between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.Step 1We must confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, so that Satan has no more rule in our lifeStep 2 We must believe in our heart that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. He (Jesus Christ) died for our sin, therefore paying the total price for our sin in our behalf. Once this was accomplished God raised him from the dead, that he might become our eternal Lord and Savior.Step 3The scriptures had declared once we have followed these directions you shall be saved. For whosoever believed in Jesus Christ shall not be ashamed and will walk in eternal life. My dear friends this is only the beginning of your new life in Christ Jesus. You need to find a church that is committed to teaching the word of God, and to helping you grow in your Christian walk. We would like to hear of your decision to accept Christ. Please contact us so we can know of your decision and send you the appropriate material to help you get started in this new and wonderful life. [email protected]

How to Receive Jesus Christ as Your Lord and Savior

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www.wholetruthgospeltabernaclehc.org

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of God in Psalm 89:7 declares that, “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence of all them that are about him.” Whole Truth Gospel Tabernacle is truly a place where everybody is somebody and Christ is all and all. Okay; you say, “I’ve heard this before,” but just like Psalm 89:7 states, God is to be held in fear and reverence in his holy assembly. God is not to be treated like He is not real; not in your mind, body, soul, and spirit. We allow the Holy Scriptures to come alive to everyone who walks through the doors of the church. Everyone walking into the church has different needs. Each person has his or her own experiences. We teach and preach that God is able to reach every individual through his holy word.

There needs to be an ability to share common goals, and yet have allowances for individual differences. The word of God further states in Proverbs 29:18 and Hosea 4:6, “Where there is no vision the people perish;” and “We perish for lack of knowledge.”

We are a bible-based teaching and preaching ministry aimed at the restoration of man, the family and the community at-large. If we properly teach and train people the goals and vision of God first, followed by their individual families, we believe that each person has a chance to develop the way God intended for man to develop; first naturally, then spiritually.

We teach the five-fold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, all based from Ephesians 4:11 (and He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;). We believe every person has something to supply based from Ephesians 4:16 (“From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”) This will bring about reverence, fear and God’s love. So, come out and fellowship with us.

Bishop Kevin B. Wise, Sr. First Lady Debbielynn Wise

Bishop Kevin B. Wise, Sr. First Lady Debbielynn Wise

Order of Services

Sunday School 10:00 A.M. Sunday Worship 11:45 A.M.

Wednesday Bible Study 7:30 P. M.Friday Night Worship 7:30 P.M.

Morning Prayer Tuesday & Friday 10:00 A.M.

Whole Truth Gospel Tabernacle Holiness Church4078 Lincoln Street,

Gary, IN 46408(219)884-1353

The Home Of A Shepherd


Ambassadors of Christ Holiness Tabernacle Church700 S. MadisonMuncie Indiana 47302 (765) 288-7214Pastor: Elder John SlaughterFirst Lady: Missionary Ella M. Slaughter

Faith Tabernacle Church1681 E. Chester StreetJackson, Tennessee 30301 (731-422-1280)Pastor: Prophet Louis B. JonesFirst Lady: Missionary Barbara Jones

Fountain of Life Tabernacle1600 Huebbe Parkway BBeloit, Wisconsin 53511 (608) 365-1220 Pastor: Lawrence HoskinsFirst Lady: Mother Ruby Hoskins

Higher Ground Christian Center3160 Park AvenueBeloit, Wisconsin 53511 (608) 365-8870Pastor: Elder Sherrick Glenn AndersonFirst Lady: Missionary Lahoma Anderson

New Life Tabernacle Holiness Church2734 N. Columbia AvenueIndianapolis, Indiana 46204 (317) 952-7364Pastor: Elder Alvis Bond Sr.First Lady: Mother Regenia Bond

Lighthouse Community Church43 67 N. Post RoadIndianapolis, Indiana 46239 (317) 890-8032Pastor: Elder W. Doug Sloss, JrFirst Lady: Missionary Tammy Sloss

New Kingdom Builders Church2120 East 26th StreetMuncie, Indiana 47302 (765) 286-4168 Pastor: Elder Iry HoganFirst Lady: Missionary Lisa Hogan

Solemn Assembly Tabernacle Holiness Church32 West Gage StreetMemphis, Tennessee 38109 (901) 946-4800Pastor: Robert Covington, Jr.First Lady: Missionary Joann Covington

Tabernacle of Deliverance1038 Dean RoadNesbit, Mississippi 38651 (622) 429-6415Pastor: Earnest ConardFirst Lady: Missionary J. Meralyn Conard

Tabernacle House of Prayer1505 Starlanding RoadNesbit, Mississippi 38651Pastor: Elder Blane L. Clark, Sr. First Lady: Missionary Juanita Clark

Church DirectoryTabernacle Fellowship Church Listing

The Lord’s Tabernacle Holiness Church2822 Midland Avenue

Memphis, Tennessee 38111 (901) 327-3288www.lthc.org

Pastor: Bishop Philemon Turner Sr.Presiding Bishop of the Tabernacle Fellowship Ministries

Prophetic Insight45

Tabernacle of PraiseDouglasville, GeorgiaPastor: Elder Donald JacksonFirst Lady: Evangelists Phyllis C. Jackson

True Vine Tabernacle Holiness Church 1205 E. Willard StreetMuncie Indiana 47308 (765) 286-30 31Pastor: Elder Wade D. Sloss, Sr. First Lady: Mother Bette Sloss

Whole Truth Tabernacle Holiness Church4087 Lincoln StreetGary Indiana 46408 (219) 884-1353Pastor: Bishop Kevin B. WiseFirst Lady: Debbilynn Wise

Wings of Deliverance Tabernacle Holiness Church2502 Fairfield AvenueFort Wayne, Indiana 46808 (260) 744-3361 Pastor: Bishop Jimmie Clark, Sr. Regional Northern Overseer First Lady: Mother Marilyn Clark

Wings of Deliverance #2400 S. Scott StLima, Ohio 45805 (419) 221-3336Pastor: Bishop Jimmie Clark, Sr.Assistant Pastor: Elder Nathaniel AlexanderWife: Evangelists Clydner Kaye Alexander

Church DirectoryTabernacle Fellowship Church Listing


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(8:30 PM Eastern Standard Time) Prophetic Voices is a gathering place of prophetic praise, prayer and intercession, where people can come to find encouragement, strength and teaching through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Prophetic Voices is not a platform for any one person to be exalted but it is a platform for the Lord Jesus Christ to be exalted and to move as he desires. This room is open to the public. We often have an open microphone where others are allowed to come and minister and move in the Holy Spirit as they are lead.

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Have you ever said, “Girl/boy you kill me” or “I’m so broke I can’t pay attention”, or how about this one “You make me sick” or “Nothing good ever happens to/for me “. Those statements and any we make like them are actually curses.

Did you know we could curse our loved ones too? Have you ever said to a child or loved one “you’re just stupid”, you will never amount to anything, or “I wish you were never born”? Statements like that said to or over someone are a curse. People who should know better make statements like these every hour of the day. We write the script of our lives with our tongues by saying things that we do not really mean and do not want to see come to pass. I know in my own life I have said things that I thought were witty, but never actually wanted to see in my life. What we say in jest can come true in our lives. We are made in the image and likeness of God, which means that we have God’s ability to speak whatsoever things we say into existence. What we fail to understand is that we create things in the spirit realm with our words. The spirit realm has to obey us, it does not have a choice. The bible says in Matt. 18:18 “ I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven , and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”, which means that what you allow, God allows; what you won’t allow, God won’t allow. The bible also says in Mark 11:23, “ I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain’ Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.”

Have you ever wondered why some of your prayers do not get answered? Think about it! After you finished praying, did you cancel your own prayer by saying something negative concerning the thing you just prayed about? It is just that easy to stamp canceled across our earnest prayers to God. When we get a bad report from the doctor our tendency is to say “I have such and such”, rather than say “the report says I have such and such”.

We should not deny the challenges in our lives, nor should we take ownership of them, but we should claim our healing, our victory, our breakthroughs and our blessings, then thank God for them while wait-ing for their manifestation. Instead of waiting on our manifestation, we are always trying to help God answer our prayers, or tell God how to answer our prayers. In so doing we often cancel God’s answer to our prayers. When we go around talking about how bad things are, guess what, things get bad. When we constantly whine about our situations, describing how bad they are, how stressful, how unfair, etc., like Job we only succeed in drawing to us the very things that we talk about. I tell people that I hear making care-less statements, that the spirit realm does not understand jokes. If we do not mean a thing, we should not say it. There is power in your words. I am not suggesting that we deny the things we see in the natural. I am saying that we need to watch what we say. The spirit realm is always listening, waiting for our instructions. We have angels assigned to us and we put them to work on our behalf with the things we say, we need to make sure that our angels are working to bring good things into our lives. When we have challenges in our lives, we must go to our bibles and find out what God’s word has to say about our situation. Then we should speak the word, and only the word concerning what we’re dealing with, and watch our situations change for the better.

CANCELED BLESSINGSBy Vera Allison

Intercessory Prayer ManualPrayer Force

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49 Prophetic Insight

Prayer is the most important and vital building block that all believers must have to be able to obtain a constant life filled with the fullness of God. Without prayer, we cannot remain charged up and filled with the life giving power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is our life giver and we all need to plug into that life in Christ in prayer to be able to experience the wonders of Heaven.

This book will lay a foundation for every believer to know what the depth of prayer and intercession is. It will guide the believer into a depth of understanding that without prayer we cannot know God on a personal level. You will discover new principles for living a life of prayer that will make your life victorious. This manual will take you on a journey that will teach and equip

you.

Apostle Alfred Shawn Woods is the president and founder of Apostolic-Intercession International Ministries and the general overseer of AIIM International Christian Centre. He is married and has 3 children.

Traveling throughout the world, Apostle Woods addresses the issues that affect people’s lives, and allows God to use him to bring change to individuals, churches and ministries. He is known as a no nonsense apostolic preacher of God’s word that delivers a cutting edge message to the Body of Christ to bring strength and freedom to all believers.

Apostle Woods has inspired many believers. His primary goals are to equip believers in Christ to have a stable intimate relationship with God. He has served as a minister of the gospel to bring a message to believers about who they are and what they have in JesusChrist. He writes and teaches by his own example. He is led by the Holy Spirit.For more information please log onto Apostolic-Intercession International Ministries’s website at http://www.aiim.ca To Purchase

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I have had the privilege of training many sons and daughters, and preparing them for ministry. This task was not always easy, but I began to understand the

importance of knowing the type of personality and the kind of spirit in the person that I am training. In studying the word of God, I began to realize that this was true about certain spirits and personality types. Some are more difficult to train than others, and some are a waste of time and energy. You must realize you will not be able to train and develop everyone that comes into your ministry. You must know who God has placed in your life and ministry for training and development, and who the enemy has brought to agitate and disrupt the purpose of God. It may be hard to imagine, but some people are placed strategically by the enemy to destroy and hinder your life and ministry. There are some people that simply do not fit with your personality type. They’re not evil people, nor do they have any evil intentions, they simply do not fit into the things that you are trying to accomplish. Having a clear understanding of this will save you many heartaches and disappointments. My purpose is to help pastors, and others in the fivefold ministry to avoid the pitfalls involved in developing ministries and to know the joy of developing the right people. I have listed some of the men of God, whose lives and personalities I have studied. By no means is this a complete and exhaustive list. It will aid you in understanding and recognizing some of the spirits and personalities you are dealing with. There are also women in the Bible who exhibit certain personality traits, as wells as good and bad spirits. Perhaps at another time we will explore them in more detail. In your training and development, pray and ask God what type of spirit and personality you’re dealing with and you will have a deeper understanding of what you are up against.

The Spirit of Absalom

An Absalom spirit many times goes undetected, because this is a family member or someone whom you have grown up with in your church or ministry. They will seem to be a normal part of your group, and many times, no one would even suspect them of being calculating, manipulating, and vengeful. Absalom with cold cruelty, plotted the death of his brother in order to accomplish a twofold purpose. One was to take revenge for his sister, and the other is part of his strategy to take the throne for himself. He was not willing to wait until the death of his father, he wanted the throne now.

Absalom probably allowed the seeds of rebellion to grow in him when his father took no action against Amnon . I can imagine him thinking, I can do a better job in bringing justice than my father can. So he began his two-year plot to take revenge upon his half-brother

Recognizing Spiritual Types In Ministry Development

By Ronald H. FlowersProphet and Teacher

Prophetic Insight


Amnon. When he met his brother he would neither speak good or evil to him. Amnon became pretty comfortable after a while, his father did not correct him, nor did there seem to be any retaliation from his other half-brother. This is easy to see because he was invited over to Absalom’s to celebrate the shearing of his sheep. Amnon begin to drink very heavily with no regard to his safety, (I would think one of the reasons for his heavy drinking was to try to drown out the guilt and the shame he was carrying.) It was pretty easy for the servants of Absalom to kill him, he was not even aware of what was happening around him.

The spirit of Absalom is very manipulative, working

in the background and seemingly unnoticed. Yet this spirit has a specific agenda to fulfill. After running away he returned to Jerusalem, but his father would not speak with him or see him for two years. He manipulated his way back into the presence of his father. He had a specific plan of taking the kingdom for himself. Now with his brother out of the way he began to execute his plan. 2 Samuel 15:1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 Samuel 15:2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy to come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

You would think after being accepted back into the kingdom he would be more cautious and thankful. But he did just the opposite, he prepared chariots and horses and 50 men to run before him to announce his coming. This action actually shows his true spirit, which was all pride and arrogance, which should have been noticed by his father. He was acting as if he was already king. He rose early every morning, and would stand at the gate and welcome every person who had a disagreement that would need to be settled by the king. He would pretend to be so caring and concerned about their issues. He would make it seem that the king was too busy

and unconcerned about their problems. He would tell them that your cause or suit is just and if I was the judge I would rule in your favor. And every man that came near him he would do obeisance, then take their hand, and take hold of them and kiss them. This is so powerful, you may not understand it in the day and time we live in. But what he was doing was deceptive in acting as if he was really concerned and as if he was doing a service for the people. His charade worked very well for the Scripture saith, “Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” He stole the hearts by lying, deceiving, conniving, and playing the role of a hypocrite.

Now the plan had manifested and was ready to be completely executed. He goes to his father King David,

and plays the role of a hypocrite only this time adding a spiritual flavor to it. He asks his father to let him go to Hebron and pay his vow. But his real intention was to be crowned king at Hebron, and overthrow his father’s kingdom.

There is a lot to be said concerning the spirit of Absalom. This is a spirit that is operating in the church today. It is a hard spirit to detect, because who would expect their own son to

betray them. Yet operating in their hearts is a spirit of rebellion, manipulation, and plotting against the person who is in authority.

Those who are in leadership when this spirit is detected, it needs to be dealt with immediately and directly. David made a foolish mistake of letting it continue until it was out-of-control. He ended up running from his own son. You must expose this person’s secret agenda and make them realize that the spirit of rebellion is operating in them. The Spirit of Judas

Every pastor and ministry will have a Judas to deal with. There’s no way around it, even Jesus Christ understood the necessity of having a Judas in his ministry. As strange as it might sound, you cannot go to the next level without a Judas. Many reasons are given for Judas’s betrayal of Jesus, but Jesus knew from the

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very beginning what Judas would do. It is important to know who your Judas is.

Also notice, Judas betrays Jesus to the religious

leaders. These religious leaders were in direct opposition of Jesus ministry, and tried every way possible to put a stop to his ministry. How happy they must have been to find Judas, at last they had a way of stopping Jesus ministry. It will be the same for you, very seldom are people on the outside of the church wishing to destroy a ministry, but it may be the other religious leaders who disagree with you for one reason or the other. They would happily receive someone who is on the inside of your ministry, someone you trust as a friend. This man knew Jesus place of prayer, how he operated, and his daily functions. When it comes to betraying you they will do it in a very religious way, just as Judas did with a kiss. Judas will lift you up to your next place, but it may seem like your death to them. In reality, the death of Jesus was the door to the greatest miracle of all, his resurrection. Judas will bring you to your place of resurrection, which will be the greatest miracle to take place in your ministry.

For 3 1/2 years Judas worked right beside Jesus, he healed the sick, he preached the gospel of the kingdom. His heart was not in doing the work of God, but in his own selfish motives of taking money out of the treasury for himself. No man can have two masters, for he would love one and hate the other. Judas, his master was money, and Satan used this avenue to get Judas to betray Jesus Christ. I also believe that Judas was trying to force Jesus to bring forth the Kingdom of God. They were looking for the Messiah to break the rule and the reign of the Roman Empire. The Spirit of Samson

Samson represents someone who is highly gifted and talented. He or she can accomplish many great things, but never get control of their sexual life. This thing is especially true with men more than women, but I also have seen women dealing with the same issues. I would never forget one brother who was an excellent teacher of the word of God. He had in-depth knowledge and the ability to make the word of God easily applicable

to one’s life. Yet he had just one problem, there always seemed to be a woman that would bring him down. There were times I brought him into my office to correct his behavior, he would do well for a year or so and fall back into the same behavior. Samson had the strength to tear a lion with his bare hands, yet was unable to make an appropriate decision for his mate. His parents told him there were many daughters of his own people. He chose to marry someone that was not familiar, nor understood his God, and his people. This is a very familiar trait with people who have a spirit of Samson, they seem to specialize in picking the wrong person to marry. It is very important that you listen to your parents when choosing a mate (especially if they are people who have a relationship with God). They’re not only praying for God to bring you the right mate, but they understand your personality and who will best fit you as a mate for a lifetime relationship.

Samson also had a problem with his temper, the

moment something did not go his way he would easily fly off the handle. When he married his first wife, he married someone that was forbidden for him to marry according to Old Testament writings. During the wedding ceremony he put forth a riddle for his companions to solve. “And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, “Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? Is it not so? And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. “ (Jdg 14:15-17) The definition for the Hebrew word “Entice” (pâthâh) is: to be simple, entice, deceive, persuade. She simply enticed, deceived (by weeping) until she got the answer of the riddle from her husband. She was willing to betray her husband at any cost. Samson became angry and left her. Sometime later he returned to his wife, only to find out that she had been married to another man. Once again he is angry and takes revenge for what they had done to him. This


same cycle ran throughout his entire life. He would meet the wrong person, he would become angry, and act inappropriately because of his anger. The Spirit of God still came upon Samson and he would do great exploits for a time, until he fell back into the same trap. In the city of Gaza once again controlled by his passion, by fleshly desires he was enticed by a prostitute. He sleeps with her only to rise up at midnight and take the iron doors off their hinges and carry them away. The Samson syndrome is very much alive and well in our churches today, great victory one day, and absolute surrender to the enemy the next day because of a woman. But no Samson story is complete without having a Delilah. Delilah is the enemy’s final plan to destroy all of his gifts and talents and render them useless for the Kingdom of God. If you’re working with someone who has a Samson spirit you must help him get in control of those fleshly desires. Otherwise you will have a very long, tiring and disappointing journey.

The Spirit of David

In my many years of ministry I very seldom come across someone with the spirit of David, they are few and far between. If you’re blessed with someone with this spirit train them well. They will be a blessing and assistance to you with all of their ability and strength. They are trustworthy, reliable, and have a heart for the presence of God. Usually, but not always they are musicians, praise and or worship leaders. When given a task they follow through. They always behave themselves wisely, and they are very respectful to leadership. The biggest mistake made by leaders who mentor one who has this kind of spirit is trying to hold onto them for the rest of their lives. Understand that once they become mature, they will rise up to do great things for the cause of God. Ask God to let you know when it is time to let them go. By the way, if you were ever to get into trouble, and seemed to be surrounded by the enemy, they would come to your rescue, without you having to call for them.

The Spirit of Joshua and Caleb

If there ever was a must-have type of people to train and develop it would be those with the spirit of

Joshua and Caleb. Their greatest quality is their leadership ability, but they would rather follow. They are always very supportive, and are willing to follow you where ever you go. Just as they undergirded Moses by lifting his hands and arms when he was tired, they will undergird you and assist you to fulfill your assignment. They seemed to know what to do and how to do it, sometimes without even being told. They have no selfish agenda, they’re only concern is carrying out what God has given you. They will follow you just as Joshua did Moses, in your every footstep. They will cover you, and guard the anointing that is placed upon your life. I hope every pastor and ministry leader would have a Joshua and Caleb to aid them. The Spirit of Enoch

One of the things I saw about Enoch was he had a balanced lifestyle. It is quite evident that he had a very intimate relationship with God. Yet he continued to have children as he walked with God. It’s a shame that so many of us do not have a balanced lifestyle. Sometimes people are so heavenly minded, they are no earthly good. Enoch had intimate relationship with his wife, with his children, and with his God. It is quite obvious he had to have some type of employment or occupation in order to take care of his family. All the areas of his life were in well-balanced proportions. The Hebrew word for Enoch’s name is “chanach”, which signifies to instruct, to initiate, to dedicate. The definition of his name gives us an insight into his character. He was a man that was dedicated

Prophetic Insight55

to his family, to his children and to his God. The word instruct also shows us his character. He communicated the knowledge of God, to his family, and the community that he lived in. He was known as a godly and a righteous man who walked with God, and he was able to educate others in how to do so. After a detailed look at the meaning of the word instruct, you will find someone who is well informed and able to guide others into what he had learned. And of course, the word, initiate means to be introduced to by first doing it and then to teach the fundamentals to others of what you have received. Enoch did not have a passive relationship with God, but one that was very active in his family and others that were around him. He purposed to get others to walk with God as he did. The level of his walk is something that we all should desire, and strive to emulate. The Hebrew word for walk is “yithhallech”, it means he set himself to walk. When one sets himself, he deliberately prepares himself to do what’s necessary in order to have a walk with God. I am quite sure during the times Enoch lived there were things that could or would distract him from walking with God. He purposed in his heart to set himself and prepare himself to walk with God. In our day and times, we find many distractions and elements that could lead us away from having an intimate relationship with God. Let us learn from Enoch, that we may set ourselves with purpose and determination to walk with God. If God puts a person with a spirit of Enoch in your church or ministry you can be assured that he or she will be a great example of a godly lifestyle, a person of good understanding, and willing to teach others.

Here are some of the other things I have found

helpful in training and developing people for ministry and other areas for success in life. Understanding the person you are working with.

I have found it very helpful to have a background history of the people that I’m training for ministry. Knowing every detail is not necessary, but certain things are an indication of trouble if not dealt with. I’ll never forget a particular brother whose name I will not use of course. He would do extremely well in his training, but unexpectedly would just disappear. After the second time I sat him down to talk with him about his actions. I

found out that he was physically abused as a child, and was suffering with low self-esteem. He would simply go into a state of depression and disconnect from everyone around him. After helping him with the tools he needed to be healed and delivered, he became a very successful worker in the ministry. Usually people who suffer from child abuse deal with low-self esteem, they may need extra help in that area. It is also helpful to encourage them not to marry a person who is domineering.

Sometimes you have people dealing with secrets sins

in their lives. These can be things such as pornography, and other hidden secrets. I remember a young man who was training for ministry who could preach very well, and was a good motivator for others. But I knew there was something in his life that needed to be dealt with. After sitting him down and I began to deal quite frankly with him and I found out that he was a cross-dresser. After so many years of being in ministry and counseling very seldom does anything surprise me. What was disappointing to me was he was unwilling to surrender this area of his life to God. He simply left the area, and moved to an area where no one knew of his secret.

There are other times people become successful

in ministry, but their past life is well remembered by everyone else in the community. The young man I am thinking of was fully and completely delivered from the life of homosexuality. The community that he lives in could only see his past life. There were also problems with some of the members in the church, this became quite evident when one day he was sitting by a teenage son of one of the church members. They abruptly moved the boy away from him and placed him in another area. I knew that he was completely delivered and set free by the power of God. The problem was people still remembered his past. I called a pastor friend of mine, and sent him to a ministry halfway across the country where no one knew him. He found a beautiful young lady who understood his past and the grace of God that had delivered him. He is now pastoring and has a very large congregation. (He has a very successful ministry of helping many men and women to be delivered from homosexuality)

Hopefully my point is well taken. A little background

information can go a long way in helping to develop the


person for the work of God. Background check

Who would have ever thought that we would live in a day and time that background checks would be necessary. I was working with a ministry in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We had a large number of ministers to join the ministry. At that time I was responsible for training and developing the ministers and their ministry. My experience with other ministries led me to start doing background checks. A minister came to us who seemed to be highly skillful. There was something in my spirit that just didn’t feel quite right. I followed protocol, and asked him to fill out the necessary papers. As I began to call the churches that he came from I was receiving one bad report after another. When I confronted him with the information that I had gathered he became very enraged, and asked why I would have the audacity to check with the churches that he came from. Surely, if I was spiritual I would be able to detect that he was a man of God. Within a week he had left us to go somewhere else. Background checks can save you many headaches and unnecessary trouble. Another organization I was working with was about to install a pastor when his background check came back I noticed on the police report that he had been charged with child molesting. Thinking this had to be a mistake I made the necessary calls, they were very interested in this person and made the necessary arrangements to pick him up that day. Commitment Level

It is a waste of time to train someone who is not fully committed to the call of God. Talent and ability means very little if you’re not committed in all areas

of your life. When I find people who are not willing to make a full commitment, I would simply ask them to let me know when they’re able to commit to God and to the developing of their own abilities. Needless time is wasted on excuses and those who are unwilling to take responsibility. This is a waste of your time and theirs. Education

I believe education has a proper place in helping people go to the next level. If they are not willing to invest in themselves why should I be willing to invest in them. I push for everyone I train to have the minimum of two years of college training, a community college, a University, or online training shows me a personal willingness to invest in themselves.

Hopefully this short study was helpful. In my opinion it

is important to understand every person you are training and developing. We who are leaders must continue to grow and develop ourselves. Never use people for our selfish needs and desires. We should never grow jealous or envious of anyone that God has placed in our path. Nor do we wish to develop a Saul mentality. Saul should have been a father to David, but instead he found himself being jealous of someone he could have had the opportunity to train and to build the kingdom of God. It is when we think that we are irreplaceable, that we began to destroy our spiritual sons and daughters. I pray that God would give you a Caleb, and a Joshua to carry on the work that God has placed in your hand. Copyright © 2009 Ronald Flowers Ministries. All rights reserved.

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Quarterly Featured Partner MinistryProphetic Insight57

Bishop Turner is the Pastor and Founder of the Lord’s Tabernacle Holiness Church in Memphis, Tennessee since 1974. Under his leadership, the ministry has expanded to include Audio and Television Ministry, a Prison Ministry, Street Ministry, Youth and Young Adult Department Programs, Children’s Church, Nursery, Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counseling, and three organized choirs and Outreach Mission. His vision also includes Christian Education; the church offers private education for those in Pre-school - 6th grade, and a Bible Institute for those interested in more intensive bible study and preparation for ministry.

Schedule of Services

Prayer Meetings Monday - Friday 6:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.Tuesday & Thurs. 9:00 a.m. : Tuesday & Thurs. 12 Noon

Sunday Services:

Early Morning Worship 7:45 a.m.Sunday School 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. Evening Worship 6:45 p.m.

Wednesday Services

Wednesday Mid-Week Worship 6:45 p.m.

The Lord’s Tabernacle Holiness Church2822 Midland Avenue

Memphis, Tennessee 38111 (901) 327-3288

www.lthc.orgPastor: Bishop Philemon Turner Sr.

BISHOP PHILEMON TURNER, SR.

The Word of the Lord Prophetic Insight 58

Nothing Lacking and Nothing Missing

Blessings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

Thank God we are about to cross into a new year! 2008 was a difficult year, yet we have seen the goodness of God. I became very ill. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. I experience extreme pains and suffering with many flare-ups from the disease. During the year of 2008 the disease progressed and the doctors reports was filled with bad news. I was in and out of the hospital numerous of times, as well as going back and forth to the emergency room. Becoming very discouraged I asked the Lord to take me home. Sick of being sick, physically weak and exhausted, and living with constant pain I thought surely my work was finished and it was time for me to be with my Heavenly Father.

Learning how to change the circumstances of life is the only way we can win in the times of adversities. We cannot allow the circumstances to change to us, but we through the Word of God must change the circumstances of our lives. In the Old Testament we see Job had lost everything in life including his health, and began to blame God for the situation he was in. Just like Job I found myself blaming God for the situation I was in. Surely the God of heaven would not allow me to be sick, and suffering from a horriblle disease. I had never believed that God used sickness and disease to teach us anything. The very purpose of the coming of Jesus Christ was for our deliverance from every sickness and disease. It would be rather foolish for Jesus to suffer for our healing and deliverance, and then turn around and put sickness and disease upon us.

I found myself bathing in self-pity, showering in the waterfall of fear, and soaking in the destructive waters of blaming God for the circumstance I was in. My brother James began to give me a prophetic word from the Lord, and the glory of God filled the room. This was the beginning of the change of direction of the circumstances I was in. God will not change your circumstance until you change your thinking, and your outlook on life. God changed the captivity of Job when he saw God for who he really was. Once Job saw God he had to change the way he was speaking. He stoped judging God as being unrighteous and unfair. He had to remove himself from the pool of self-pity, and stop lingering in the waterfall of fear. We are responsible for changing the circumstances of our lives. When we begin to walk in the fulfillment of God’s Word, then God walks in agreement with us to fulfill His word in our lives.

It is so important that we learned to walk, talk, and act on the Word of God. We cannot be caught up in our emotions, religious traditions, or the systems of the world. God may not necessarily change the entire circumstance or situation. He may only change one or two elements of the situations to bring forth your deliverance. A good example would be how God did not stop them from putting Daniel in the den of lions. He just changed one element. God locked the jaws of the lions. It was not that the lions were not hungry they just did not have a taste for Daniel. For when he was taken out, they put in those who planned Daniel’s destruction. They were devoured by the same lions. He did not take the three Hebrew boys out of the fiery furnace, he simply did not allow the fire, the smoke or the heat to have any affect on them. Yet the same heat killed the guards that put them in the midst of the fire.

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MEN OF DESTINY CONFERENCE ‘09 Friday, May 1 Through Sunday, May 3

Theme:Focused And On Course

: “... but our eyes are upon thee... 2 Chronicles 20:12

Make your hotel reservations by calling the

Hilton Garden Inn (219)769-7100

7775 Mississippi Street, Merrillville, IN.

Rate Per Night is $109.00 for Standard, Double or

Triple Suite!CONFERENCE

REGISTRATION: $50.00

Apostle Lynell WaltersOld Path,

Lake Station INSaturday, May 2, at 9:15 A..M.

Apostle WAde sloss

True Vine TabernacleMuncie, IN

Saturday, May 2, at 11:15 AM

Apostle steve ForemAn

Church Of Christ, Mechanicsville, VA

Sunday May 3, at 11:45 A.M.

pAstor donAld ColemAn Mt. Carmel Holiness Church

Chicago, ILFriday, May 1st, at 7:00 P.M.

Bishop Kevin B. Wise, sr

Host Pastor

ConFerenCe speAKers

Contact Person: Bishop Kevin B. Wise, Sr. (219) 884-1353

WHOLE TRUTH GOSPEL TABERNACLE HOLINESS CHURCH4078 Lincoln Street,

Gary , IN


You need to leave behind all the misery, disappointment, and failure of 2008. God is going to work for you in your circumstances, and situations in life as you stand on His Word.

A couple of days before Christmas my Heavenly Father woke me up very early in the morning. He began to talk to me about 2009. So let me take some time to share with you some of the things he said to me about the coming year.

1. We will see one of the worst economic chaos within recent history.

2. The Babylonian system of government is fallen apart, because they trusted in the economic systems of the world.

3. But for every believer who learns to trust in Kingdom Principles, this is God’s promise to them, “nothing lacking and nothing missing.”

In Christ’s Kingdom our every need is supplied bountifully because there is no shortage in God. Surely, if he can multiply the fishes and the bread to feed thousands, it’s certainly not a problem for him to meet the needs of the believers who’s hearts are trusting in him.

Ronald H. FlowersProphet and Teacher

These are the words of the Lord given to share with the people of God and the nation’s of the world, through prophets, prophetesses, and others who carry a prophetic anointing.

The Word of the Lordcontinued

Documents

Prophetic Insight Magazine (Spring issue)