IN WHOSE NAME?

The only spiritual ranking or mark a Christian needs to disrupt the works of the kingdom of darkness is the person and name, JESUS.

Years ago, I heard a preacher use Acts chapter 19, verses 11 to 20, to discuss spiritual ranking when dealing with demonic powers. Per his teaching, Christians have no right to confront a demon if they haven't attained some level of maturity in the faith because the demon could overpower them, which sometimes could lead to their death if care isn't taken. He added that this was the reason for the particular office of the pastor, teacher, Apostle, Evangelist, and Prophet. Even with the offices, he stated that certain offices could only venture into the deliverance ministry if they had empowered themselves enough to deal with such issues.

Truth be told, that message was the beginning of my fear of the deliverance ministry. If we are in a church or a Christian gathering and I see a person begin to manifest, I will distance myself with the excuse that I wasn't at the right level to handle such issues. I didn't need to know the age of the demon manifesting through that person; per what I have heard, no demon came into being the very day I was born to be my agemate. I will quickly find a new space and continue with the excellent work of listening to whatever the man of God was preaching or continuing the prayer session in "peace." It even became so intense that I didn't even want to pray for anybody because I didn't want to touch the "best friend" of a demon mistakenly. (For some, this may sound funny or silly; for others, I am speaking about your problem.)

Let's dramatise the book of Acts, chapter 19, verses 11 to 20. Apostle Paul found his way to Ephesus, and, by God's mercies, he could teach the Word of God with signs and wonders in two years. While signs and wonders were becoming the norm among these groups of Christians, some ignorant people decided to use the fame to cast out demons from those afflicted. Now, the Bible makes it very clear that those who had this unfortunate encounter were sons of a man called Sceva, who was a Jewish priest. If they were followers of Paul or members of the faith, the Bible would have stated that for a better context. But the fact that it wasn't stated means that they weren't Christians. In other words, they hadn't accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour; they only knew the person Jesus based on what was happening around the followers of the Apostle Paul. They didn't know Jesus based on any revelation. They had, in one way or another, heard Apostle Paul passionately preaching about Jesus and going ahead after those preaching to command out evil spirits and heal those at the service with the same name of Jesus.

Acts 19:13, 15 (NKJV)

[13] Then, some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."

[15] And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; BUT WHO ARE YOU?"

The evil spirit said nothing about the spiritual ranking of Apostle Paul in that utterance. All it said was, "Jesus, I know, and Paul, I know, but WHO ARE YOU?" It didn't ask them of their ranks. He didn't ask if they were colonels, generals, lieutenants or WOs in the kingdom of God. It only wanted to know their IDENTITY. In other words, which family or kingdom did they belong to in the spiritual realm? Were they of the kingdom of light or darkness? What gave them the audacity and impetus to sack them from their host? It had nothing to do with ranks. They were motivated to cast out this demon because they had seen how the followers of Paul could also preach the gospel of Jesus, healing and casting out demons with the name of Jesus without Paul. If ordinary followers could do it, why couldn't they do likewise since they were the sons of a priest?

Mark 16:15-18 (NKJV)

[15] And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

[16] He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

[17] And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

[18] they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

I know you are conversant with the above scripture, but I want to inform you that you need to read it correctly. My failure to get this truth into my heart made it easy for that pastor's message to make me magnify demons instead of my identity in Jesus Christ. Jesus asked His followers to go into the world to preach the gospel of His saving grace to all people and stated that the person or people who believe and are baptised would be saved. Jesus adds that the way to notice the person or people who have believed in Him is by a few simple signs:

1. In Jesus' name, they will cast out demons.

2. In Jesus' name, they will speak with new tongues.

3. In Jesus' name, they will take up serpents.

4. In Jesus' name, if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them.

5. In Jesus' name, they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, if we are to go by the order of the list, many of us have jumped in the order and have ignored the most crucial key to the success of all these signs- the name of Jesus. We happily speak in new tongues, and the courageous few go out to lay hands on the sick so they can recover. But I want us to go by the order listed by our Lord and Master Jesus. In the order of things, the day a man or woman accepts the life of Christ and has been made aware of the power the name of Jesus carries, demons shouldn't find comfort in their presence. At the very juncture, if they should notice a demonic activity, they have all the backing and authority in the name of Jesus to frustrate that demon and get instant results. Brothers and sisters, I didn't say after speaking in tongues for six or thirty hours; I mean that very moment, because of their new identity as a child of the God of all creation, they have all the empowerment to cast out that demon. Do you remember what David said to the giant, Goliath?

1 Samuel 17:45 (NKJV)

[45] Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Even David, under the covenant of the blood of bulls and goats, knew the secret to every battle between a Christian and the agents of darkness. He didn't go before that giant who had years of experience in the name of his numerous fasting, long hours of prayers, series of worship and praise sessions, giving, etc. He went before that thing, calling itself a giant and well-trained warrior in the name of the Lord.

Reading the book of Acts chapter 19, verses 11 to 20, I could trace the victories in the working of signs and wonders by the people of Ephesus based on the understanding that the Apostle Paul brought about their identity in Christ through his epistle. They knew and understood that they were seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, far above all principality, power, might, dominion, and every name named, not only in this age but also in what is to come. They knew it, and that was their reality daily.

What is the issue that looks like a mountain or a giant before you? Can you take the challenge to boldly step into the place of prayer this week to confront it in the name of our Lord and Master, Jesus?

I can only assure you of victory because that name, JESUS, never failed in the life of any man or woman who has held onto it.

Remain in the blessings of God as you remain in Christ.

MD.

WHOSE CHILD ARE YOU?

 

1 Samuel 17:55-56 (NLT)

[55] As Saul watched David go out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of his army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” “I really don’t know,” Abner declared.

[56] “Well, find out who he is!” the king told him.

Let me give a context for the above scripture by dramatising the first chapter of Samuel, verse seventeen.

The Bible records a mighty battle in ancient Israel, popularly known as David vs. Goliath. It was one of those weird battles for Israel because, in this battle, the opponents didn’t want the entire army to attack each other but wanted them to select one strong man in their camp to stand against their champion. In other words, the champion of Israel against that of the Philistine. Though this would have been easy for Israel to do, the problem was that the champion of the Philistines wasn’t the height of the average Israelite (1 Samuel 17:4-7). How could this be fair in their sight?

Already exhausted by the thought of his height and how he was well-built to be called a warrior, the cheat of a giant goes ahead to resound his proposal to Israel. Goliath said, “Why are you all coming out to fight? I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!”

When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken. How did the once-powerful Israel, who used to be feared by all because of the numerous wonders of their God, get to this point? What happened?

Anyway, while that was happening on the battlefield, there was a young man called David whose three elder brothers were on the battlefield. His father, Jesse, had called him from the field while shepherding their flock to come and get some provisions and deliver them to his brothers on the battlefield. Like every good last-born who was proud of the efforts of his big brothers, he journeyed to the battlefield and met his brothers. As he exchanged greetings with his brothers and a few friends of his brothers who he knew from their neighbourhood, Goliath’s voice resounded the proposal to Israel again. (Let’s not forget that Goliath had recited the proposal for forty good days. In other words, he shouted his proposal each day for over a month, more than four weeks.) Without hesitation, the Israelites quickly began to hide behind each other as if they would disappear by looking away. “Ah! Why are they running? Aren’t these the so-called selected warriors to fight for Israel? What is happening?” David thought to himself.

Like every inquisitive young man, he quickly tries to get a good look at Goliath and shakes his head. “Is that the thing you people are running from? What is on the table for the man who can slaughter that thing?” David asked without batting an eye. The men couldn’t believe they heard this from the young man whose brothers were terrified. The eldest brother immediately tagged David as proud, but David only insisted on knowing the offer on the table for that thing’s head. They told him and later took him to King Saul because of his audacity. 

After a brief discussion with King Saul, who wasn’t ready to make him take that risk because he was too young and ill-trained for war, David’s story of how he fought bears and a lion while shepherding ordinary sheep one way or the other convinced King Saul to take a gamble on David. I say a gamble because King Saul knew what was at stake for the whole of Israel if this young man lost this battle, but again, this was the very young man who was skilful in the whole of Israel to play an instrument for an evil spirit to leave him. Who was he to doubt him now? David couldn’t be boldly speaking if he didn’t have anything or someone he relied on.

When he failed to wear King Saul’s armour to pass the army vibe check, Saul knew he had to fully trust the young man, David, to fight this battle his way. David quickly grabbed the sling and stones he had mastered as a shepherd and went before Goliath. While he walked boldly to face the thing that was making a mockery of his God and people, every single person knew he was the sacrificial lamb that was going to enslave them in a few minutes. Some shook their heads in shame because they weren’t bold enough to take the step, and others just pitied him for foolishly offering himself to the Philistine giant.

When Goliath finally heard that the champion of Israel was heading to the battleground, he quickly came out to see the supposed “weakling” he would destroy so that his people would revere him and his generation forever. He gets to the battlefield with his war accoutrements and finds a tiny human before him. “Are these Israelites joking with me?” Goliath thought to himself. Looking at Israel and then at David, Goliath asked, “Am I a dog that you come at me with a stick?” Out of anger and disgust for such disrespect, he cursed David by the names of his gods and said, “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!”

Before I get to the exciting part, let me quickly touch on verses 55 and 56 of the same chapter. Although they seem to come after what had transpired between David and Goliath, the Bible clearly states that it occurred between King Saul and Abner, the Commander of the Army, while David was heading to the battleground to face Goliath. King Saul could not understand the SOURCE OF DAVID’S BOLDNESS. King Saul needed to know if it had anything to do with his father or lineage. Doesn’t it intrigue you to find that question also being asked Jesus when he boldly spoke, confronted demons and healed the sick? It was the same for the Apostles when the Sanhedrin saw their boldness. The Sanhedrin thought the apostles’ boldness was because they had been with Jesus; they didn’t know that the apostles were boldly speaking, confronting demons, and healing all kinds of sickness because they had received the Spirit of God—the same Spirit as Jesus.

It was on the battlefield that David made the answer clear to Goliath. It was unfortunate that King Saul couldn’t hear it. David had only one Source in his life, and when Goliath had the guts to question that Source, he confronted Goliath with the authority of that Source. David said, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies-the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today, the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

The Bible states that David began to run towards Goliath after boldly drawing the battle lines. The battle wasn’t between Israel and the Philistines—no! The minute Goliath cursed David with his gods, it immediately became a war between the God of Israel and the gods of the Philistines. (I believe the Philistines had forgotten that the God of Israel had already defeated them and made a mockery of their gods, especially Dagon, the day they mistakenly placed the Ark of God in the temple of Dagon (1 Samuel 5).

Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, I know you have heard and repeated the prophecy of Zachariah to Zerubbabel, “This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him!” These are not mere words; they are the truths we must boldly hold onto daily. 

I know the demons from your father and mother’s house have been around for thousands of years, but I want you to know, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” I understand that the signs of you repeating the same generational errors are clear and can’t be denied, but I want you to know, “Anyone who is in Christ is a new Creation.” David could have chosen to shut up and walked away the minute his brother called him proud, but he knew who he was and who was behind him. If David took those bold steps with God based on a covenant of the blood of bulls and goats, how much more you, whose covenant was made with the blood of the Son of God? Why have you decided to shut up for those demons to be victorious in your family? Don’t you know the one to whom you belong? Who said you have to be a giant like Goliath to win the battle against Goliath?

Jesus won the battle years ago when He, the Son of God, nakedly died on that disgraceful cross and rose from the dead. Jesus took the keys and handed them to us to wave at the enemy each passing day to remind him of his defeat, yet we weep and accept the error as a must-have reality. Who bewitched us? You have the keys to walk out of that generation of diabetic patients, generation of untimely deaths, generation of failed marriages, generation of failed businesses, generation of unwarranted debts, generation of abusers, generation of people with an addiction, etc. Carry those issues to God in the place of prayer, and begin to disconnect yourself by making it clear to the enemy that you are of a different kingdom. Say it consistently until it is your default understanding of your identity. We may have come from a so-so-and-so family, but we are disconnected from their attachment to the kingdom of darkness. From today, as children of God bought with the blood of Jesus and transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, we only accept into our lineage what God has said concerning us. We can’t be a specimen for the works of darkness from that lineage. We only speak and live by the dictates of the kingdom of light for that lineage. We refuse their demonic realities and only accept into our lineage the realities of Christ in Jesus’ name. 

Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, God didn’t place you in your family by mistake. You are an answered prayer for a generation. Stay with God, and you will see God’s mighty hand transform the family through you.

Remain in the blessings of God as you remain in Christ.

MD.

DON'T STOP PRAYING!

 

Psalm 109:4 (TPT)

Though I love them, they stand accusing me like Satan for what I’ve never done. I will pray until I become prayer itself.

There is a place in prayer where the one seeking God's face on a matter begins to feel calm and joy in their spirit, which cannot be explained physically with any form of experience. For that man or woman, something within makes them know that the prayer point has been answered and that they need no more attention in the spiritual realm but just patience for it to manifest in the realm of men. Before this understanding was made clear to me through the teachings of Pastor Chris and the in-person prayer meetings of Pastor Enoch, I used to stop praying on a matter once I was tired. I have always believed I didn't have to press on issues because I had all right in the heavens and on earth to command and see things come to pass (this is still true for certain kingdom truths). Then, If I start praying and minutes into the prayer, I sense that I am feeling sleepy, I would turn that prayer area into a hotel suite and comfortably find a relaxing sleeping posture to comfort my eyes. In my defence, I fell asleep in the presence of God. God saw me in His presence and allowed me to sleep.

Before I emphasise our need to spend time in the place of prayer till we receive our solution or answer from Wisdom, Jesus Christ, let me quickly share a painful but life-transforming experience that I may never forget. I have already shared how a friend from Bible school, Pastor James, helped me develop a love for long prayers while on campus. I have also shared how, during my Bible school days, I had the opportunity to lead the youth wing of my church. Well, this painful experience happened during that period. At Anagkazo, I had a daily schedule where I had to try to sleep before or after nine so I could wake up at midnight or an hour or two after midnight to pray and read for at least three hours. This schedule sometimes changes when I work on campus or when we have evening service or something special.

One day, after working so hard because of our usual rotational duties on campus, I went to sleep, hoping to skip the usual midnight prayer and study schedule. But this night was different. My eyes opened at the exact time, yet my body was too exhausted to move. "Why are my eyes opening when my body knows I am tired and need the rest to be effective at my work in the morning?" I thought. Well, I decided to close my eyes and hope to have that usual experience where we feel we are closing our eyes briefly only to wake up hours later. I did, and strangely, it was just for a few minutes. Now, because it was a period where I was helping out with the youth wing, I spent two out of at least three hours during my midnight schedule to pray for the youth members every day and hopefully get a word for those who needed it. It was challenging to stop praying for myself and concentrate on others, but the joy and fulfilment of hearing people say, "'Thank you, I needed to hear that.' 'Your word is a confirmation.' 'God bless you for the Word.'" was enough reward for my spirit. So, I stepped out of my room and went down the long staircase after wearing all types of clothing to shield me from the cold. Instead of walking to the prayer garden this time, I stopped at the open space in front of the restaurant. We mainly use that space when heading to the car park. I was too tired to walk long, so I prayed there.

This prayer session was different. I started to play my playlist and speak in tongues; immediately, I was led to pray for two particular youth members—one gentleman and one lady. I mentioned their names and continued speaking in tongues. Some minutes into the prayer, I realised the urge to pray more for this gentleman kept rising. As ignorant as I was then, I took it as one of those days when I needed to speak by faith and let God handle the rest. I quickly talked in faith (So I thought), and then I turned and started walking towards my hostel. Taking a few stairs, I was urged to return to the spot and continue praying. I was tired and couldn't take it anymore. But I obeyed and went back to pray. It was either Thursday or Friday. I tried to pray for extra minutes and returned to my hostel, hardening my heart against any leading. Long story short, I went home for Sunday Service only to be told that the gentleman had died either on that day or the day afterwards (I can't remember the exact day). Based on what I know today, that leading that evening was a PRAYER SOS. It wasn't as if the Lord needed me to perform some extraordinary wonders, but I was one of those selected by grace to support him in prayers and yet I chose to sleep. It took lots of talking from some close friends to shake the guilt off, but I knew the lesson had been learned. I was never going to allow anything to happen to any relative, friend, or whoever was close to me as long as I could pray for them. I will keep praying until I get that joy and calm in my spirit, no matter how I feel.

Based on this painful experience, I could relate to Pastor Chris and Pastor Enoch's teachings on the need to spend long hours in prayer on a particular matter, no matter how one feels, until one knows in one's spirit that the matter has been settled. How would you know? That was also my question then. But you will know when your prayer has been answered. You will know when you have that 'knowing'. The day I saw myself dancing like a madman after days and weeks of praying on a particular matter, I knew I had caught that insight. I didn't just have that 'knowing'; I had a dream that confirmed it and then received two random prophecies to verify it again. Brothers and sisters, this was Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, playing out before me. It was more than head knowledge or vim at work; I had all the needed evidence to shame the devil each time he wanted to make me feel sorrow for a supposed "delayed response" from God.

Don't stop praying! You haven't prayed enough if you haven't encountered Wisdom for the needed solution. We don't measure the depth of our prayers by the hours spent; we measure it by the amount of wisdom we receive in our encounter with Wisdom each time we enter our prayer closets.

Remain in the blessings of God as you remain in Christ.

MD.