The Holy Spirit prompted me to re-read a book which I have been needing to re-read for a long time: "THE BELIEVER'S AUTHORITY" by Kenneth Hagin.
"THE BELIEVER'S AUTHORITY"
Since I have been reminded of my authority in Jesus Christ, and since I have been under such tremendous spiritual attack lately, I realized that I needed to take a different stance than "Woe is me!" I don't know why, after I've spent so many years learning these important principles, that I so easily lose sight of them. Guess I get caught up in the emotions and forget the TRUTH.
Joshua 1:5 "No one will be able to oppose you as long as you live, for I will be with you just as I was with Moses; I will not abandon you nor fail to help you." LBT
As I was reading the book, I saw a penciled note I had written years earlier. I hadn't even dated the note so no telling what year I wrote it. But I had written "VISIONS OF BASKETS". That is obviously supernatural multiplication!
BASKETS OF BREAD
In my 365 Day-A-Year Bible I had recently read where the disciples had found themselves once-again without enough bread...this time for their own lunch, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. (Mark 8:14-21.)
Jesus rebuked them for worrying about not having enough bread. Even more so, the rebuke was over still not recognizing WHO HE IS, WHAT POWER HE HAS, AND WHAT POWER HE HAS GIVEN TO US - HIS DISCIPLES!
"He asked them, 'Don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?""Five", they replied.
""And when I broke the seven loaves for the 4,000, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"
"They answered, 'Seven'.
"He said to them, 'Do you still NOT understand?"
I would feel terrible if Jesus rebuked me like that. But here I am, worrying about a place to live because my day-job isn't going well, and after a horrible conversation with the apartment manager where I live. I dared complain that I can hear the renter above me night and day, no matter what he does, even turn over in bed. She told me I could just move out anytime!
And the way she said it was almost like she was kicking me out for complaining!
And dummy me! I am the one who has the authority in Christ Jesus! Not her!
My mind went back over past events, and also recent alternative media accounts of how close we are to economic collapse and World War III. The mainstream media is not allowed to alarm the American public with such truths.
And I am storing food, as I believe the Lord is leading me to do. I have been learning about the global economy for the last forty years, and see the signs of its total demise.
I was wondering to myself two days ago, when I packed canned food into boxes, and toilet paper...'Does that mean, as long as I have a little bit of something as a STARTER ...like the Widow of Zarepath who only had a little flour and oil, that God can use it to multiply it dramatically?
Remember the account in I Kings 17:1-24 where Elijah went to Zarepath during a time of famine, to an area where prophets lived and were schooled? A widow of one of the prophets and her son were ready to give up the ghost and die because of the severe famine in the land.
Elijah's own Brook Cherith, where God had been supernaturally providing sustenance for him with water - dried up. Elijah had also been dropped bits of bread and meat that scavenging ravens would bring him, supernaturally at the Lord's command. But the source dried up. AS SOURCES SO OFTEN DO. So God gave Elijah direction to seek another CHANNEL of provision. Elijah obeyed and headed to Zarepath.
When the amazing prophet arrived, the widow was looking for tinder to prepare the fire to make their last meal. She had just a tiny bit of flour and oil left in containers, most likely made of clay.
Keep in mind this was the widow of a prophet. (Remember God takes care of His own!) But the widow must have forgotten all the lessons she learned while her prophetic husband was alive. Surely she had seen miracles if she was living in a prophetic community! And perhaps her son forgot as well. Surely he had seen amazing things the Lord had done with, and for his father, before he died. So they both forgot what the Heavenly Father had done previously. They were ready to give up and die!
But the Word of God says He had already COMMANDED the widow to feed Elijah. Because she must have had at least some experience following the leading of the God of Israel, it was placed within her spirit to obey.
"Please make me something to eat first", said Elijah. The Bible does not say whether this widow knew the mighty prophet she was speaking with. He had done great exploits with the tremendous power of the Living God upon Him. (As an example to us for this very day!)
It was obviously a big step of faith for this Zarepath widow to give her only remaining food to this obvious stranger. But the Spirit of the Living God stirred faith within her to obey.
Elijah decreed that her pitchers and jars would always be full of meal from this day forward until the time when the famine stopped because of rain upon the land. He told the widow and her son to go gather as many containers as they could. So they went to neighbors and friends and gathered them all up. Obviously the surrounding people had plenty of empty jars because everyone else was out of food too. An entire prophetic community without faith! They had forgotten their lessons!
But now they had food for as long as the famine lasted.
NOW WE GET TO VIEW AN EXAMPLE OF RESURRECTION POWER. THE LORD DIDN'T STOP AT MIRACLE PROVISION. HE WANTED US TO REMEMBER THAT NOT ONLY CAN HE SUPPLY IN TIME OF NEED. BUT HIS RESURRECTION POWER IS THERE/HERE TO RAISE PEOPLE FROM THE DEAD, IF THE SITUATION REQUIRES. I am not talking zombies. I am talking about normal people who die and are raised again to life through the Power of the Living God...no jive hocus pocus!
God gave the widow an even greater test of faith. He will do that! He has to remind us over and over again sometimes of the things we have already learned. But He is faithful.
Then He takes us on to even greater lessons! Wow. Can you imagine this?
The widow's son dies. Thankfully, Elijah had apparently been hanging around that area for a time, perhaps even teaching the acolyte prophets. So God used Elijah to again save the day!
The widow asked Elijah if God was punishing her for her sins. She had laid her son up in his loft bedroom. Elijah didn't know everything. He wasn't sure what God was doing. But he obeyed God. It was his obedience to God that allowed God to entrust him with such power.
He stretched himself in prayer, over the child as he fervently prayed for the Lord to return life to the boy's body. Three times. So you see. It didn't happen the first time he prayed. It didn't happen the second time. But he persisted in prayer! Finally God heard Elijah's voice!
The boy came back to life. Elijah took him downstairs to see his mother. Convinced she said, that now she knew Elijah was REALLY a man of God. She had been doubting all this time? Maybe her name should have been Thomasina! (You know, like the doubting disciple Thomas!)
She said that because Elijah had helped God return her son back to life, she realized everything that came out of his mouth WAS TRUTH, AND THAT IT WAS FROM GOD. So this was how she measured Elijah's veracity. (Just as today there are many false prophets, we too, have to learn discernment. The Lord has said that many false prophets have been sent out. ) In the time period that we are living in deception abounds! But the Living God will never mislead you!
How do we know that we serve a Living God? HE STILL RAISES THE DEAD! (See my blog entry of April 2, 2016.)
So again, I pose the question. If I have just a little "starter" of something, like sour-dough bread starter that you always keep to make sour-dough bread...will that mean that I can take that little bit, pray over it, and God will expand it? Dramatically? YES!
Does it apply to other things too? Money? Places to lay one's head? Start with one pillow and bed and end up with as many as necessary? Why not? It's not about the substance. It is about God's ability and power to multiply exponentially. It's not us! Only the Lord. But we have to have the faith. We also have to be obedient!
I always wondered why the Lord took me through a time of training in the 1990's as a "Minute Man/Woman". No I don't mean the soldiers of the American Revolutionary army. Though my history-buff father DID teach me about Paul Revere warning that the British are coming! The American Minute Men were soldiers who were ready to leave their homes on a moment's notice.
According to Wikipedia, they "were private colonists who independently organized to form well-prepared military companies, self-trained in weaponry, tactics and military strategies from the American Colonial partisan militia during the Revolutionary War. THEY WERE ALSO KNOWN FOR BEING READY ON A MOMENT'S NOTICE!"
AMERICAN HISTORY - MINUTE MEN
God was training me to have the ability to obey Him, without question, and get up and leave all my possessions if necessary, on a moment's notice. A "MINUTE WOMAN" if you will. It had nothing to do with weapons. I don't even know how to shoot. But I do know how to aim the arrows of God's Word at the enemy! I do know how to pray and intercede for the Lord to do tremendous things. And I have seen miraculous answers to prayer.
I always wondered looking back over the years why the Lord took me through that obedience training, to leave everything behind, more than once, when my son was young. I know reviewing it in retrospect it seems irresponsible to drag a child back and forth between Pennsylvania and a Christian community in Bradenton, Florida. My ex-husband did not support us in any way. If anything, he presented danger to our lives. But the Lord kept drawing me to Florida, until He finally provided the opportunity to move there permanently.
I truly believed, and still do, that I was following the leading of the Holy Spirit. I'll never forget the time I had about twenty dollars in my pocket. The Lord told me to go back to Florida again. I knew that $20.00 would not cover gas all the way from Pennsylvania to Florida. So I asked the Lord to supernaturally extend the gas. And He DID. We made it all the way to Bradenton on one or two tanks of gas! You see you have not, because you ask not! James 4:2
Over twenty years later, after I had lost a very well-paying job in the faltering economy of 2009, I was forced to find a cheaper place to live. I couldn't find a job for at least two years. I didn't even have money for food.
The Lord gave me a vision of walking into a bakery lined with metal shelves full of hot, fresh bread. I could almost smell it in my vision. The Lord provided free bread WEEKLY AT THE NEXT PLACE WHERE I LIVED. AND SOMETIMES FREE FOOD AS WELL!
So you see, God can give you supernatural provision, guidance, multiplication and enable you to survive in a time period when masses are dying around you.
Psalm 91:7 "Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you."
STAND ON THE PROMISES OF THE WORD OF GOD! The Bible, obedience to God and faith are the only means by which you will get through this upcoming time period.
There is another book which I would recommend everyone read:
DEEP SURVIVAL by Laurence Gonzalez
This young man explains why we must:
1) Train ourselves to overcome fear
2) Train ourselves to overcome the immediate reaction
3) Learn certain skills to survive in seemingly impossible situations
I caution you. Laurence Gonzalez is most likely not a Holy Spirit-filled Christian. So read his book with the Lord's discernment and wisdom. But I do believe that he has some interesting truths that will help many to overcome in situations where it looked impossible.
Another technique for survival during the upcoming days is to PRAY IN THE SPIRIT CONSTANTLY! How do you do that?
The Apostle Paul, who wrote a large part of the New Testament, said:
"I speak with tongues more than you all." I Corinthians 14:18
THIS WAS THE SECRET TO HIS SPIRITUAL POWER! IT IS WHY HE WAS ABLE TO WRITE A LARGE PORTION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
How do I do that? You ask.
First, RECEIVE THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. ACTS 19:1-6 SAYS: NLT
"...Paul traveled through Turkey and arrived in Ephesus, where he found several disciples." Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"
"No" they replied, "we don't know what you mean. What is the Holy Spirit?"
"Then what beliefs did you acknowledge at your baptism?" he asked.
And they replied, "What John the Baptist taught."
"Then Paul pointed out to them that John's baptism was to demonstrate a desire to turn away from sin to God and those receiving his baptism must then go on to believe in Jesus, the one John said would come later. As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus.
"Then, when Paul laid his hands upon their heads, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke IN OTHER LANGUAGES AND PROPHESIED."
Second, ASK FOR THE GIFT OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES.
Acts 2:4 NLT "And everyone present began speaking in languages they didn't know, for the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
Acts 2:17-20 NLT "...What you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel -
'In the last days I will pour out my Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams. Yes, the Holy Spirit shall l come upon ALL MY SERVANTS, men and women alike, and they shall prophesy. And I will cause strange demonstrations in the heavens and on the earth - blood and fire and clouds of smoke; the sun shall turn black and the moon blood-red before that awesome DAY OF THE LORD ARRIVES."
This gift I received after the Baptism of the Holy Spirit has been invaluable to me. It gives me direction, encouragement, insight, wisdom I might not otherwise have, and helps other people as well. I won't go into all the details here. That's for another blog entry. Suffice it to say, I heard a minister at a large church in South Florida say, "Praying in the Spirit is the only way we are going to make it through this upcoming time period." HE WAS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
When your emotions cause you to go into self-pity, remember THAT COMES FROM YOUR WEAK, OLD CARNAL SELF. BELIEVING IN JESUS CHRIST AS SAVIOR HAS GIVEN YOU A NEW SELF. A NEW IDENTITY. IDENTIFY WITH WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST!
Y-O-U - YES - YOU! HAVE AUTHORITY IN THE NAME OF JESUS, IN THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, AND OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT. YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR!
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