Category Archives: God
Spiritual Authority – True or False? Part 1
I was reading an article in the news recently where it talked about restrictions that some religious organizations and churches place on their members. It made me start thinking about the topic of authority, specifically spiritual authority.
Where does spiritual authority come from? Who gets to decide who has it and who does not have it? Who determines the rules or boundaries of spiritual authority?
What does it mean if someone has spiritual authority? Who do they have authority over? What power does it give them?
What happens if there’s a distorted view of spiritual authority? How does that affect people?
When I was younger, I was taught that I needed to be under someone’s authority in order to be covered spiritually – like the pastor of a church. Is that true? Does spiritual authority protect you?
What other questions come to mind? Write them in the comments below and we will do our best to answer them!
In my decades of following Jesus, I have seen true and false spiritual authority. The false is much more common than the true, unfortunately. You know it in your gut, but as a young person you often don’t have the words to articulate what you are seeing. I’d like to share what I have learned – you may have a different opinion and that’s okay. This is a conversation – feel free to share your perspective in the comments. 🙂
I hope this article helps bring some clarity as you ponder this subject.
What is spiritual authority? Who has it? Where does it come from?
Spiritual authority is an ability to exert power or influence in the unseen realm. Spiritual authority can be given or earned (or both). True spiritual authority gives you power to stop the darkness and release the light of God’s love and goodness.
Jesus gave true spiritual authority to his disciples.
Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. Luke 9:1
He said, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19
Authority can also be earned as Jesus illustrated in the parable about being a faithful servant.
And he said to him, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.” Luke 19:17
Unfortunately the devil can also bestow authority to people.
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” Luke 4:5-7
Jesus had an authority that was astonishing – people were amazed by it. They’d never seen anything like it!
And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. They were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” Luke 4:32, 36
Jesus was very clear where His power came from.
“For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” John 12:49
[The Father] has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. John 5:27
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18
Pretty impressive, huh?
So how does this work in the real world – the earthly realm we live in?
How do you know what spiritual authority you have? Believe it or not, it’s pretty simple. The extent of your authority in the spiritual realm is equivalent to your authority in the natural realm. Consider what is under your direct authority and control. If you have children, they are under your authority. If you own a home, it is under your authority. If you own a business, it is under your authority. If you are in management at your job, you have a certain degree of authority. If you are a teacher, you have a certain degree of authority over the children in the classroom while they are under your care.
Authority can also be delegated to us by Jesus for specific assignments. There are intercessors who are given authority to pray over specific realms in the spirit over which they have no natural man-given authority. God will make this very clear to you if He gives you this kind of authority.
Authority can also come from great love or compassion. God can give you a deep compassion for a person or a group of people and as a result, He can give you authority in order to help them.
What do I do with this spiritual authority?
You ask God what kingdom business needs to be performed in your realm of authority. You are His representative in your little corner of the earth. Read His Word. What is under your authority that is not going the way He would like it to go? Ask Him for what needs to change. Ask for His Wisdom and Revelation to guide you. Ask Him what words to speak – just like Jesus did.
Then speak with His authority, the things that need to be changed. You must be convinced of who you are in God’s kingdom and then speak. God said, Let there be light and there was light. He gives us a similar type of authority in the spirit to speak those things that should be in existence. He also gives us the authority to bind up things that should not be operating around us.
Examples:
Your home – if your children are constantly bickering with each other, bind up pride and division and release peace, harmony, humility, unity, etc.
Your job – if communication is getting confused and projects never seem to get done. Bind miscommunication, confusion, apathy and loose clear communication, teamwork and diligence.
Your relationships – if there’s someone who tries to control you, bind fear and control, loose trust and freedom.
The key is to bind up what is bad and loose what you’d like to see. All the while, asking the Father what would be best. He will show you. You don’t have to have great discernment or know the names of specific spirits for this to work. Bind up bad fruit, loose good fruit.
At times, you will see immediate change in your surroundings. Other times, it may take some time. When you are in a place you have no authority, you can always loose good things around you like peace, light, truth, blessings, etc. You should not bind what has a right to be there, but you can loose God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done everywhere you go!
Warning: Do not take spiritual authority where it is not yours to take. Be very careful. Make sure you are certain you have been given authority. You can experience serious consequences if you overstep your boundaries. John Paul Jackson outlines this in his book, Needless Casualties of War.
There’s so much more we could talk about – I’ll continue this discussion in Part 2.
It Hurts to Carry the Cross
It hurts to take up your cross and follow Jesus Christ. No one really talks about this. I don’t know why.
It has been shocking to me how painful it is to follow the Lord.
Jesus said to deny yourself, take up the cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24).
In church, they make it sound so easy. Just open your heart to Jesus Christ and ask Him to be your Lord and Savior. Nobody reads you the small print – the cost and obligations you now carry. It sounds simple – just love your neighbor. Be kind. Don’t be a jerk (a selfish person).
What does it look like to deny yourself and take up your cross?
At first, people assume it means that you stop drinking, smoking, swearing and hanging out with those who encourage that behavior. You start cleaning up your act, so to speak.
That’s probably the first steps you take as God convicts you that your behavior is not like Him. You start making wiser, more loving choices and it shows in the change of your behavior.
But what does it really mean to carry the cross? It means you die to everything you want. It means you give up your right to have a say in who your friends are, who you marry, how many children you have and what kind of career you pursue. It means you don’t get to choose where you live, how you live or how long you live. Your life becomes a living sacrifice for Him. You die daily, like Paul said (1 Corinthians 15:31).
It is painful. It is not easy. I think if most people knew the cost, they would take it much more seriously when someone invites them to follow Christ.
I know this is not a popular topic. But it needs to be said. I wonder how many people are really willing to follow Jesus if they knew the cost?
It’s a decision you make every day. You no longer live for yourself, you live for Him.
It hurts to carry the cross. You give up everything for Him. And then you do it again and again and again… forever – because He is worthy! He is SO worthy! It is a pleasure to serve Him and lay down your life for Him. And yet … let’s be honest. It still hurts. It is painful to die to yourself, to let the ego-driven desires go.
You think you have given up everything and then He shows you that there’s even more to give. It doesn’t stop.
Is it worth it? Yes! Is it still painful? Yes!
What has been your personal experience of carryng the cross and following Jesus? Did anyone explain the cost to you before you made that decision?
Please comment below – we learn from each other’s experience. I think this is something more people should be honest about because I’ve never heard anyone share their experience of this. Have you?
[P.S. I can hear people saying, “But God let’s you choose some things!” Yes, maybe, sometimes, not often. I can hear others saying, “But God’s plan for you is SO much better than anything you had in mind.” Yes, I’m sure it is. But it’s still okay to acknowledge the pain of sacrifice. Why are people afraid to talk about that pain? It needs to be said so that young believers are not disillusioned when the pain comes. Are we afraid of scaring people away from Christ? If they assume following Christ is easy, then what kind of followers will they be? Let’s be honest with them – they deserve that. 😊]
Generational Curses & Blessings
Everyone suffers from generational curses. Most people enjoy generational blessings too. Here’s a brief discussion about this topic. I get asked about this frequently so I decided it was time to write about it.
When someone describes negative patterns in their life, I often tell them to ask Holy Spirit if there’s a generational curse they need to break. Here are some examples
- Getting passed over for promotions in your job over and over
- Unable to stay employed (for various reasons)
- Whenever you are blessed financially, something comes to take it immediately
- Almost everyone in your family has been divorced
- Family history of addiction to alcohol, drugs, compulsive behaviors, etc.
- Family history of trauma and/or abuse
- Family history of severe anxiety or crippling depression
- Family history of mental illness, any kind
- Family history of cancer, arthritis, kidney disease, diabetes, etc.
- Family history of suicide or early death
- Chronic illness
- Accidents happen frequently to you
Generational curses come from choices that were made by previous generations – someone in your family made a bad choice and the consequences were passed down to you. You may or may not have made the same bad choice. You can see this very easily in family traits – your father had a bad temper and so do you. Some of it is learned behavior – you copied what you saw as a child. Some of it can be spiritual – a familiar spirit of anger or impatience that seems to push your buttons so that you get angry easily.
There are entire books written about this subject, if you want to know more. Many books that deal with inner healing and deliverance cover this topic. As you become more healed inside, you stop making bad choices. But when you are still suffering the consequences of other people’s bad choices, that’s when it’s time to consider generational curses.
You may not be aware of how generational curses affect you – most people aren’t. Whenever I see a pattern in someone’s life, that’s the first thing that comes to mind.
The only one who knows whether you are being affected by a generational curse is the Lord – so ask Him! He will show you whatever details you need to know in order to break the curse. It’s not complicated. Breaking the curse is easy. Recovering from the patterns of thinking or reacting that you have developed is what takes time to heal from usually – sometimes they stop immediately, other times it takes daily practice until they disappear from your life (i.e. learning how to respond with patience instead of anger is both mental and emotional).
How to Break a Generational Curse
- Ask the Lord what generational curse is affecting you. Wait quietly in His presence as He shows you. You might see a picture of someone or an event that occurred, you might hear words spoken to your mind or you might simply have a knowing about what happened. It can often help to have someone pray with you to hear from God. Since a generational curse is familiar to you, it can be easier for someone else to perceive them from the Lord.
- Repent and renounce the behavior that brought the curse. You can pray something like this, Lord, I repent and renounce on behalf of myself and my bloodline for participating in __________________. Please wash us of this sin and place your blood, Jesus, on my bloodline to break this generational curse. Thank you, Lord.
- If the Lord shows you anyone that you need to forgive, this is a good time to do that to clear away any bitterness or judgment you have held against someone in your family. You could pray, Lord, please forgive me for my judgment of __(name)__. I forgive them for how their ____(sin)____ affected me and influenced my choices. I release them from the harm they caused me and I let it go.
Generational Blessings
We tend to focus on generational curses because they cause us pain. But there are generational blessings too! These can be invisible to you and it might help to have someone help you discover them. Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight to you the way you have been blessed through your bloodline. Pay attention when older family members tell stories about past generations – there might be a hint in there!
For instance, ever since I was very small, I wanted to be a teacher. I studied to be a school teacher and during my internship, I discovered that I was not cut out for that kind of teaching. So I changed my focus and tried other career paths. Then one day I was going through a safety deposit box at the bank with my mother. She pulled out some really old papers and started telling me about my great grandmother and what an excellent Bible teacher she was. I sensed the Holy Spirit saying, “See? It’s in your bloodline to teach. You have a generational blessing passed down from her.” No one had ever mentioned to me that she was a teacher and no one in my family had followed in her steps. This was a generational blessing waiting to be claimed – I embraced it in my heart as being for me!
That gave me courage to explore how to teach about spiritual things – like through this blog. I have also written books and taught workshops on spiritual topics like cultivating the presence of God at home and at work. The more I have done this, the bolder I have become realizing that I have been blessed in order to BE a blessing to others. Thank you, Lord, and thank you, great grandma Emma, for your faithful service to the Lord to teach His word! 🙂
Another time the Lord showed me a generational blessing, I was at church with my dad. The minister said during the service that my father was a man of great wisdom and that whenever my dad spoke, the minister listened to him. I was surprised! In my family, I did not grow up going to church. It was a recent development that my father had started going to church. When I asked my father about it later, he said his mother had been very connected to God and was also known for her wisdom.
People have often commented on the wisdom I carry and share with others, but I had no idea it was a generational blessing! It was a beautiful surprise and I cannot wait to meet my grandmother in heaven.
We often take good things for granted so you probably have more generational blessings than you realize. Ask the Lord to highlight them for you and He will!
I hope this brief discussion on generational blessings and curses has been helpful. If you have experience with this, please comment below so we can learn from each other. If you have questions, feel free to post them and we will do our best to answer them. God bless you! 🙂
Overcome Rejection – It’s NOT Your Problem
One of the readers of this blog asked me to share some suggestions for overcoming the Spirit of Rejection. A lot of people suffer from attacks from this spirit and don’t even realize it. In fact, the reader who contacted me also had a generational curse of Rejection to overcome. But she’s determined to do it! And so can you!
I’ve met people (and you probably have too) that everyone seemed inclined to reject. It wasn’t even directly tied to their attitude or behavior – you just instantly get this feeling that you should avoid them. Guess what? That’s the Spirit of Rejection! People can be born with a curse of rejection assigned to them (from a generational curse that’s not even their fault). From day one, people reject them. This becomes particularly painful when they reach school age and NO ONE wants to play with them or be their friend. Can you relate? Or do you know someone like that? I do.
When I was in my twenties, I moved to a new city and was getting to know people my age. This one guy came across my path in a group setting and immediately, I wanted to walk away. I was surprised! I hadn’t even made eye contact with him yet and already I was repulsed. I knew something wasn’t right. As I asked the Lord about it, He showed me what the Spirit of Rejection does to someone. It was so sad. Over time, I got to know this guy and he was funny and tender hearted. I could tell he suffered a little bit from social anxiety – probably because he’d been rejected his whole life! I didn’t know then what I know now so I couldn’t help him, but I DID pray for him quite a lot and I hope he found freedom.
Most of us have experienced rejection in some form or another. In fact the fear of rejection is the number one fear that all human beings experience. Let’s talk about how to break it’s power over us!
Rejection is very painful. It can alter our view of ourselves. I would encourage you to make a list of the ways Rejection has affected you. Be very specific. For instance, I used to be afraid to walk into a room of strangers because I was afraid I would be rejected. I felt insecure about meeting new people – there was always this question, Will they like me?
Go through the list and break your agreement with the lies that Rejection has told you. For instance, one of my lies was – You should be afraid to meet new people, they probably won’t like you. That’s a lie! I had to break my agreement with those lies. If you have a hard time identifying the lie, there’s a little exercise called Lie Detector: Self Concept that can help. It’s here: https://establishingthekingdom.com/freedom-exercises/ (scroll down on that page)
Then make a list of the truth about you – the opposite of the lies. For instance, “I’m not afraid to meet new people! People like me!” The Lie Detector exercise helps you identify the truth you need to hear. I did that exercise over and over and over and gathered a long list of truths that I needed to hear.
Say those truths about yourself OUT LOUD every day. Print them and tape them to the wall so you can see them and read them and meditate on them every day. You are training your brain and shifting the way you think about yourself which takes time and effort. Like a parent raising a child, you have to say it over and over and over and over until it becomes the way you think about yourself. Then people will begin to treat you differently based on these truths. I was pleasantly surprised when it started happening to me.
Here’s an example of some of the things I said about myself to cancel the rejection I had experienced:
I am accepted and I belong.
I am appreciated and acknowledged for my contributions to the kingdom family.
What I say is important, valued and received with honor and respect.
I am loved for who I am.
I receive love and respect from other people.
I have faithful, loving, close relationships. I am a blessing to others.
To be honest, when I started saying them out loud, part of my brain would say, “Yeah, right!” with a sarcastic tone of unbelief. I kept doing it anyway – teaching myself the truth. Whether I felt like it or not, I just kept doing it – like going to the gym, I was working on my muscles, getting stronger in the truth.
Two BIG keys 🔑🔑
The first BIG key for me was a revelation the Lord showed me:
You are already truly and deeply loved by God. Other people are meant to love you too. We are commanded by God to love one another. If someone doesn’t love you and rejects you instead, it’s THEIR problem, not yours! Isn’t that amazing?! Rejection is NOT your problem. 💗
Rejection is NOT your problem. 💗
Fear of rejection is what we need to heal from. But whether or not someone rejects you is NOT your problem. It’s a heart issue between them and God. Let that sink in. Ponder THAT.
The second key was identifying a lie about being alone. Feeling rejected can make you feel alone and isolated. This was another big revelation for me – it’s actually IMPOSSIBLE to be alone! If you are a follower of Jesus, you are in Christ and He is in you. You are never, ever alone – you always have all that you need. He is in you – His love, His companionship, His encouragement, etc. You belong to God. Feeling alone and isolated is an illusion! You always have a place to belong – it’s with God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. Your eternal family. 🙂
I know it can be hard to really receive another person’s revelation – so simply ask Holy Spirit, “Will you please reveal to me how I am never alone?” Or, “Will you please reveal to me how rejection is not my problem?”
Healing from the spirit of rejection takes time. You can break it’s power over you in the spiritual realm instantly, but healing your heart and changing the patterns of your thinking takes time and effort.
Here are some videos and books that helped me – my best ones for dealing with rejection:
Inheritance by Graham Cooke – I’ve listened to this one, over and over. SO good!
Father’s Love Letter – another good one to listen to more than once and share with your friends!
Experiencing Fathers Embrace by Jack Frost This is a GREAT book – totally shifted my thinking about God’s acceptance and love for me as a Father. Some of Jack’s teachings might still be on YouTube – you can search for them, if you wish. His family also offers live workshops on this topic now that Jack is with Jesus.
Daddy, You Love Me by Brent Lokker This book WILL stretch you in the way you connect with God.
Whew! That’s a lot. Take whatever works for you – this is how the Lord set me free. Now, when I walk into a room full of strangers, I’m excited! It never occurs to me that they might not like me. God adores me! Why wouldn’t they love me too? 🙂 God’s love has given me SO much confidence in social settings. I used to worry about what people thought of me all the time, but not anymore. What they think is THEIR issue, not mine! And if they don’t like me, I feel bad for them because it’s their loss! LOL 😁
I trust that the Lord will lead you down the perfect path for YOU to become completely free of rejection. It takes time, but it is SO worth it to feel comfortable in your own skin and happy with who you are.
If this post helped you today, would you add a comment and mention which point spoke to you? Or if you have already overcome rejection, please share what set you free! I love to hear other people’s stories. 🤩
God’s Favor – Free Donuts 🍩
God’s Favor – what is favor? It is something in the Unseen room that most people are not aware of. Is favor something you can see? Is it something you can feel? What does it look like? What does it sound like?
The first person I ever heard teach in detail about the favor of God was Lance Wallnau. Search for his name and the word “favor” on YouTube – there may be a recording of his teaching on this topic. It’s worth listening to.
One of the things I remember him saying is that when you have the favor of God, people go out of their way to do things for you that they would not normally do. I guess he had experienced it because he gave examples. For instance, he might be talking to someone at a business and they would say, “We don’t normally do this for our customers, but I just feel I should do this for you,” and they would offer him something unexpected.
Favor might happen in any number of ways. Here’s an example that happened to me this week.
My mother was in the hospital for about a week and then she was discharged. She was home for only three nights when her symptoms reappeared and she had to go back in the hospital for a couple of days. After her second discharge from the hospital, we were driving home and it was getting late. The traffic was heavy and it was going to take us almost an hour to get home. I decided to stop somewhere and have dinner because I could tell that we were both weary. Being in the hospital really takes a toll on your soul.
We stopped at a place that we don’t usually go to because it’s so far from our house. But it was right around the corner from the hospital. We went in and had some dinner – the food was excellent. When we stopped at the restroom before leaving, we saw a connecting corridor and followed it around. To my mother’s surprise, there was a donut shop attached to the restaurant (my mom loves donuts). It was a specialty donut shop with all kinds of really fancy looking donuts.
There was a family there with three small children making a lot of noise trying to figure out who wanted which donut (“No, Mommy, I want the pink one!”). Their mother was giving them a treat because it was the Christmas season and their Elf on the Shelf left them donut coupons, which she gave to the clerk. Mom and I were tired and I was ready to say, “Forget it, let’s just go home.” But instead we waited while they picked out their donuts, including having to translate the flavors and descriptions into Spanish for their grandmother who was with them. Finally they left. Mom and I knew what we wanted because we’d had so much time to look over all the selections. I told the clerk the two donuts that we wanted. He said, “Well, I’m all out of small boxes – the only ones I have are large boxes. Do you mind?” I told him that was fine.
After he placed our two donuts in the box, he said, “Pick out two more – they’re free.” I looked at him surprised. I said, “Free donuts?” He said,” Yeah, go ahead – pick out two more. There’s room in the box.” So we did.
I said, “Well, I guess it’s the end of the day and these donuts probably won’t sell before you close.” He said, “No, I can choose to give free donuts to people at my discretion. Enjoy your free donuts.” 😁
Later as I was talking to the Lord that night, it occurred to me that it was Favor. It was a kiss from God. It was His way of saying, “I see all that you two have been going through in the last few weeks. You’re not alone. I see you – here, have a donut”. Just like a parent trying to cheer up a child. It was so sweet. 💗 We enjoyed nibbling on them on that long drive home.
How have you seen the favor of God? I have often seen it where it comes to my mother. She has tremendous favor everywhere she goes. I’ve often seen favor happen to my husband as well. Especially in the areas of provision. Things just happen for him that don’t happen for other people. For instance, one day he was outside doing yard work. He was chopping a bunch of tree branches and making a big mess. I was thinking, What are we going to do with all this debris? We don’t have a truck or any way to haul it to the dump. I guess we’ll have to chop it up into little pieces and put it in our trash can. (There was a LOT more than 1 trash can full.)
Just as I was thinking those thoughts, a small pickup truck comes around the corner, pulls into our street and stops right in front of our house. A young man comes out of the truck. We had never seen him before. He walks right up to my husband and says, “Would you like me to haul this away when you’re done?” My husband said, “Sure, how much?” I think the kid said 20 bucks. So he waited for my husband to finish and loaded it all in the back of his truck. My husband handed him a $20 bill and said, “Thank you very much.” I have never seen that young man again. He appeared at just the right time, providing exactly what was needed.
That’s the favor of God! At the time, I was shocked! I had never seen such favor in my life. I have since come to see that it is a common thing in my husband’s life. Whatever he needs just shows up and it usually shows up before he even realizes that he needs it. In fact the year that we went to Ireland, it’s like the Lord was emphasizing that to us.
We went on our own to Ireland without a tour – just the two of us. Since we speak the same language (mostly 😂), we figured we could probably manage on our own in a foreign country. There were so many challenges! I was surprised. But I kept noticing the favor of God throughout our trip. Let me explain it through a couple of stories. One time as we were going through the airport, it seemed that we had to walk and walk and walk and walk, pulling our luggage behind us. Our energy was starting to lag. It occurred to me that if we got a luggage cart, we could pile everything on it and it would be much easier to walk the remaining distance that we needed to reach our gate. Just then it dawned on me – we had just passed a machine that gives you a luggage cart when you put money in it. So I walked back and got a cart and it made the rest of our trek much easier! We had not seen one of those luggage cart machines for most of the time we had been walking through the airport. We saw other people using those carts, but we didn’t know where they came from. But it was funny how it didn’t dawn on me until AFTER I passed it – we were so focused on getting to the gate on time. I think the Lord was starting to teach me to pay attention to what we needed and expect Him to meet the need.
Later during our trip we were coming out of a train station. We didn’t know which way to go to get to our hotel so we just started dragging our luggage out of the station toward the curb in the direction of the city. People walk everywhere in Ireland so we thought we would too.
Just then a taxi drove right in front of us without stopping. That’s when it hit me – we need a taxi! He had just passed us so I started waving and yelling and he slowed down and we were able to catch up with him. I don’t think it was the proper place to flag down a taxi. I think we were supposed to walk to a specific place a long way off from where we were and wait for them. But since I saw him and I didn’t see any other travelers near us, I just knew that God had sent him for us. It’s very challenging when you’re a foreigner in an unfamiliar land trying to figure out how to get around. It was such a relief to have somebody realize what we needed and they were there to help us. Throughout that trip God was teaching us that if we will pay attention to what we need and then expect His provision, we will see it right in front of our faces. It took us several tries to learn this lesson. We often “almost missed” His provision because we weren’t paying attention to what we needed. I have since learned to anticipate His goodness for our needs, no matter how small. Even a cheer-up donut! 🍩
Where have you seen the favor of God? For me it’s easier to see it on other people than to recognize it when it happens to me. But I’m learning. Feel free to share your stories below.
The favor of God is an aspect of the Unseen Realm and I think it’s time for us to learn how to enjoy its benefits. Of course, favor can unlock much greater opportunities than a taxi ride or a free donut. But we learn to trust God by taking baby steps! 😊
Related posts:
Freedom from Nightmares & Suicide – Adele’s Story
A reader of this blog contacted me recently with some very good questions! We have been corresponding on various topics, like how to know the voice of the Lord, how to minister using the spiritual gifts God has given her and how to interpret what you see in the spiritual realm.
I am impressed by her hunger for the Lord – she’s 18 years old and is getting water baptized this month. She shared her testimony with me and I wanted to share it with you.
The Tanlines of my Testimony: A Story of God’s Overwhelming Love and Grace
by Adele Chong
I was a kid who seemed to have it all together: I went to church every Sunday morning, rolled in the sandbox at my favorite playground, and waited fervently until Friday so I had an excuse to stay up past my bedtime. However, no one could see beyond the drawn curtains of my house. My house was full of demons.
Centuries of generational curses brought about slews of spiritual attacks in my life. I had nightmares almost every week. A voice in my head would try to convince me to end my own life, that no one loved me, that everyone around me hated me and wouldn’t care if I disappeared. Eventually these years of battling anxiety, depression, and thoughts of suicide drew me to competitive swimming. It was an outlet where I could get high on the rush of roaring water. I thought I had everything I ever wanted: Friends, recognition, love. But what I really had was an idol, a way to calm my demons without delivering me from them.
Everything changed after a swim meet on March 9-10, 2024, where my medals were misplaced. What seemed like a small issue, ignited into frustration and helplessness. Desperate, I turned to my Bible – not to find God, but to fix my problem. I was on His calendar… I just didn’t know it.
After months of silence from the organizers, I knew it was out of my hands. So I surrendered everything to God: My anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide, and the medals. An overwhelming peace washed over me; it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It was God’s love, and it was better than any accolade, any word of affirmation, or any time spent in the pool chasing personal records. And I knew I would be okay. Soon, the organizers wrote back to me telling me they found my medals. I decided to read the Bible after that, starting with the Book of Romans. Then, little by little, something was changing within me. My faith in God had skyrocketed. I had an insatiable hunger for His Word. I longed for His presence in ways unprecedented. The nightmares stopped. The voice in my head disappeared. The dark countenance that loomed over me for 18 years finally lifted.
I don’t write all of this for pity or validation. I write to glorify and honour the One who saved me when I couldn’t save myself. Life as a child of God doesn’t exempt me from suffering; I still have mental strongholds to dismantle. But through His peace and strength, I am dislodging every brick the enemy planted in my mind. I hope this testimony will encourage believers in bondage. If you’re struggling with fear, doubt, and darkness, know this: God’s love is greater than any pain. Surrender to Him, and you’ll find the peace your soul longs for. Only through Jesus can we truly be free.
I hope this inspires you – you don’t have to stay in a place of darkness and defeat. Surrender is the path to Freedom! Perhaps someone you know came to mind as you read this testimony – say a prayer for them and ask the Lord if you should share this post with them.
You CAN be free! You CAN experience God’s Love like Adele did. You can have hunger for God that’s insatiable and faith that lets you know, Everything’s going to be okay. This is totally possible – even for you.
If you have questions, feel free to post them below or contact me. What is God talking to you about that perhaps you need to surrender?
Learning to Hear God’s Voice
Whenever someone tells me they want to draw closer to God, one of my first questions is about whether they know how to discern God’s voice. Learning the language of the Spirit is like learning another language – it takes time and practice! You can pray all day and fast and read Scripture, but there has to be two way communication in order to build a RELATIONSHIP with God. It cannot be one sided!
In fact, I remember when I was a child and someone said from a pulpit that Jesus was our best friend and we should talk to him all day long. In my mind, my reply was, Well, He better talk to me too! No one talked about hearing from God so I didn’t say what I was thinking for fear of being labeled disrespectful. I guess most people just assumed it was a one way thing – you talk and God listens. I remember when I started to hear from God and I told my dad. He said, That’s preposterous! God only talks to holy men in the mountains. He was raised Greek Orthodox and there are special mountains where the priests go to hear from God.
Guess what? God still speaks! And you can know when God is speaking to you. Did you ever notice that almost every story in the Bible revolves around someone hearing from God? It’s important when God speaks to you and you should write down what He says! It also means He talks to a lot of people so why wouldn’t He talk to you too? 😊
If you want some step-by-step instructions, here is a course I can recommend to help you get started.
Developing a Close Relationship with God: A Simple Method – link to course
If you need encouragement and hope to develop a close relationship with God – that’s what this course provides. If you took the course, you’d learn how to focus so you can pay attention to God without distractions. You’d also learn to recognize His voice and become familiar with the different ways that God communicates. You’d practice recording what God has said to you each day. This would give you confidence to take action on what He tells you to do. That’s quite an adventure! Lastly, you’d have a new appreciation of what it means to really TRUST God.
It’s very short – like 15 minutes a week for 4 weeks. And it’s not expensive. You can listen to it while you drive or even when you exercise. It provides simple exercises to help you interact with God.
Recently a reader of this blog sent me this message about the course:
My husband and I just completed this course. It is concise and we feel so comforted and confirmed that our personal experiences with God are true! At our church, no one shares how they communicate personally with God. I learned by asking God to help me discern which voice is His, which voice is mine and which voice is the enemy (or accuser). This course gave us confirmation of our experience with Holy Spirit.
It is very important to learn how to tell the difference between God’s voice, your own voice and the enemy’s voice. If you need help with that, read this post: God’s Voice vs Other Voices: How Can You Tell the Difference?
If you have learned to hear God voice already, please comment on this post – that way we can all learn from each other!
Here are some related posts that might also help you:
How to Remove Blocks to Hearing God
Why Can’t I See or Hear in the Spirit?
The Pain Is Gone! 😲
A few nights ago I was on the phone with a older Christian woman. She mentioned that her knees had been really hurting in the last two weeks and that her legs were very stiff. She has had leg stiffness and knee pain every day for the last year, but although she has been exercising and losing weight, the pain was getting worse not better.
We were both puzzled by this. As we were discussing what she could do to alleviate her pain, I had a sudden inspiration. I asked her, “Have you considered blessing your body each day?” I had heard a friend share this idea last year – the power our words have on our bodies and how we need to honor the body God gave us.
She said, “Yes, I could do that. But I suddenly realized that I need to repent for the way I have not always taken good care of my body in the past.” She started praying right then and there, “Father, I am sorry for not always taking good care of this body you gave me. I am grateful for the way this body has served me and allowed me to do so many things. Please forgive me for times I have misused it.”
Then she began to bless her body and suddenly she saw Pain as a spirit that was tormenting her. So she said, “Pain, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus! Go!”
She finished her prayer and we continued to talk.
Then she stood up to see what was the result of her prayer. She was shocked! She told me, “The pain is gone! Wow!! Thank you, Lord!” Then she sat back down and we talked some more. Then she decided to walk around. Again, she was incredulous, “There’s no more stiffness in my legs – they are SO loose! This is amazing!! Thank you, Jesus!!” 😲😍
It was so much fun to hear her joy! She had been in pain every single day for over a year. Can you imagine how freeing it must have been for the pain to simply leave?
“You know, if someone else had asked me to pray for their body because they were in pain, I would have probably prayed like that for them. But it never occurred to me to pray for my own body that way. Thank you for encouraging me to do that,” she said.
“You’re welcome. Thank you, Lord, for bringing that to mind! I think that’s part of having compassion on ourselves in the same way we would have compassion on someone else,” I replied.
The Lord has been talking to me lately about anticipating His goodness. What does it look like? Can we train our minds to anticipate a good outcome instead of worrying about bad things happening? He has been challenging me to reach out and grasp His goodness. Sometimes it feels easier to have faith for someone else, but right now, He wants me to pay attention and do this for myself. It’s a form of self-compassion – learning to receive His goodness toward me.
What areas of your life is God challenging you to anticipate His goodness toward you? Sometimes we need to start with repenting of Unbelief in His goodness in order to open our hearts up to receiving more from Him. I know I do. Lord, what do you imagine for my future? In what ways is Unbelief in Your goodness holding me back?
Please comment below – your insight might inspire someone else to open their heart to receive more of God’s goodness today!
Share this with a friend who needs to hear it! 💗
How to Walk in the Kingdom of God: Simple Steps
The other night I was pondering what I wanted to share on an upcoming podcast a friend asked me to join. What is a simple, straightforward teaching that resonates with me and the potential audience deeply? For me, that is – How to Walk in the Kingdom of God.
Many people have asked me over the years how to do this – how do I actually follow Jesus? What does that look like? How do I position my heart and mind so that I can stay connected to Jesus and do what I see the Father doing? So here are some simple steps.
How to Walk in the Kingdom of God: Simple Steps
1. Choose to become like a child in your heart and mind. Jesus said unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3).
2. Become pure in heart. The pure in heart see God (Matthew 5:8). Stop allowing defilement in through your eyes and ears. Do not watch or listen to anything that is inappropriate for a 4-year-old to see or hear. This is critical. Ask the Lord to cleanse you of things that you have seen and heard and wash them from you. Stay pure and you’ll be amazed how much easier it is to see God and experience His presence. Forgive and let go of judgments against others. Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it flow the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).
3. Lose complacency. If you do not have passion for God, acknowledge that to Him. Ask Him to reignite your heart and draw you to Himself. Do this every time you sense yourself becoming distracted or your heart growing cold. He loves to answer this prayer and you will see a response usually within 48 to 72 hours. Your passion for Him will return.
4. Practice His presence daily. Learn how to connect with the tangible presence of God. Find your key to open that door and do it every single day. Then begin to cultivate an awareness of God’s presence every hour of the day until it becomes second nature. When you awake, your first thought will be Him. When you fall asleep at night, your last thought will be of Him.
5. Follow His leading, moment-by-moment every day. Just do what you see your Father doing. It’s that simple. Don’t overthink it. Just be, and be content. Holy Spirit will teach you how to do this. It’s actually much simpler than you may think. We make it hard by expecting it to be more than it is.
It’s that simple. Become like a child, pure in heart, with a deep desire to be in His presence and to follow Him everyday. That’s how you walk in the Kingdom of God. 💗
Which step are you currently practicing? Is there one of these steps that is hard for you? Why?
Which one would you like to start working on this week?
Feel free to comment below – what do you think of these steps? Are they simple? (though not necessarily easy at first) This is my take on it – what’s yours?
I love to hear from my readers – so please, let me know your thoughts or questions below.
Is God REALLY Your Provider?
Is God REALLY Your Provider? Or do you secretly rely on your job, a family member or the economy to keep your bills paid?
This is a question most people don’t wrestle with – they have a job = they pay their bills. They might pray for a job and feel that God has provided one. End of story.
But what if God asks you to walk away from a very good job and just trust Him to provide?
What if you get fired? Will God provide for you then?
Learning that God truly is your provider can be a very challenging experience, especially when you are used to being self-sufficient.
Self-sufficient … think about that. Self-reliant is a synonym of that. Notice the first part – SELF. Yeah, the one thing Jesus told us to deny. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matt 16:24 and Luke 9:23
It’s not about you striving to provide.
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. – Jesus, Matthew 6:25-26, 33-34
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to GIVE you the kingdom! – Jesus, Luke 12:32
This is what my heavenly Father has said to me:
“You’ll have all that you need when you need it.”
And when I’ve been thinking about things I wish I had, He has said:
“You don’t need it or else I’d be providing it.” (Ouch!)
This doesn’t just apply to money or paying bills. This applies to EVERY area of life – having discernment and wisdom to make good decisions, having certain people in your life, having opportunities you want to experience (i.e. travel, ministry, a specific career, etc.), what kind of place you live, what resources you have available, etc. The list could go on – basically whatever you “need” falls into this category.
Can you really trust God to be your provider? Because ultimately that’s what this is – it’s a TRUST thing.
Do you really believe that it is your Father’s good pleasure to GIVE you the kingdom? (No striving necessary.)
Do you really believe that if you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness that all the things you need will be provided? Is God that good?
I do. I’ve lived it. It’s real. He promised it and I found out He was true.
Many years ago He asked me to leave my very good corporate job and just trust Him to provide. So I did. And I can honestly say that I have never lacked for a thing. I have always had all that I needed WHEN I needed it. 🙂
Anyone else have a testimony they’d like to share about God being their provider? Please share in the comments. I’d love to read your story.
And if this is an area you are struggling with – be honest with Him. He really likes honesty. Find the root of the fear that you feel and ask Him to help you with it. Once the fear is gone, it’s much easier to trust Him. ❤ This post on Overcoming Fear might help. 🙂
Thanks for reading this post. I love to hear from readers – it really encourages me. 🙂
Discernment of the Supernatural Realm 