The Strength of His Spirit
I want to begin by thanking the Lord for bringing me to an apostle and prophet ministry where the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has been laid in my heart by His servant Doyle Davidson. As I was sharing with a girlfriend the other day at church (after she had made a comment to me, and I thank God for her), that it does not matter how we got here, or who brought us here, I am just thankful that we are here. Right after I said that to her, I was immediately reminded of the man who was born blind and Jesus healed him. But the Pharisees, being hypocrites, did not like what or how it had happened and said some things to the man about it (you can read the whole account in John 9). The man who had been blind answered them and said, "Whether he be a sinner or not (Jesus), I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." It mattered not how, or who had healed him, he now had his sight and could see. And I am no different, I am just grateful to God and for His mercy on my life for getting me to this ministry. Amen.
Over the years of being at Water of Life Church, the amount of the revelation of the gospel that is in my heart has done some tremendous things in my life to walk in this earth as Jesus intended me to walk - and that being in victory in every situation. I never knew that we could (or even should) walk as Jesus walked. But as much of a revelation of the gospel that is in my heart, to that degree I am able to walk as He walked. (And that may not be much, but I just keep pressing forward in the Spirit!) This is a continual process of being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is God who works in me both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Not until you get a revelation of the gospel (the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus) in your heart, can you even dare to walk as He walked. And only to the degree of the revelation of the gospel that you have in your heart, can you walk as He did, as I just stated. Otherwise, you are merely walking in the flesh - and that only produces death. But to be led by His Spirit will produce life and peace in you. And the more of your life you lay down and pick up the life of the Lord Jesus - being led by His Spirit, obeying Him in every activity of your life - the more of His life will be manifested in you and the more peace you will have in your life. It will come with much tribulation (pressure, affliction) though, and that is where most people miss out from entering into the kingdom of God (the power of God). They do not want to pay the price - that price being your life.
Prior to coming to this ministry, I might have thought it to be pride to say you could walk as He walked, because I did not even know that it was in the bible that we should (I John 2:6). But after seeing it in there, I came to see that it was pride if I did not walk in this earth as Jesus did. Humility is submitting to the will of God and to the Word of God. So I have definitely had much humbling to do, and by the grace of God I have learned to humble myself in every situation (sometimes with some 'prodding'!). Micah 6:8 says, "He hath shewed thee, O man (O woman), what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
There are many things I could share with you on this, in this testimony, but what the Lord has put in my spirit to share on is 'the strength of His Spirit' that is in me - and that is in you, too, if you will believe it. One thing I have heard over and over in this ministry, is that the Spirit of Jesus has been tested and tried every way it could be, and it never failed. And he who is joined to the Lord is one Spirit. It was an amazing thing to see that the Spirit of Jesus in me would never fail, and if I would walk in that Spirit and trust in that Spirit, I could come through any trial or test I was in - in total victory.
I shared last time how I had been in one 'fiery trial' for many years. And I think it is appropriate to say here that this trial has been in overcoming the Jezebel spirit in my life. And one fiery trial it has been! Until you start fighting this spirit, in the Spirit, with all manner of prayer and the whole armour of God on, you will see how much of the strength of Jesus you believe, and also how much you need in overcoming it, as well as all other spirits. And in Ephesians 6 it does say that we 'wrestle' with powers, principalities, rulers of the darkness of this world and wicked spirits. But God has proven to me over and over again the strength of His Spirit bringing me through these wars every single time, as I have believed Him.
When God delivered me from a root of the Jezebel spirit back in August 1990, there was a dramatic change in my 'will' to be able to stand and fight this spirit without caving in. And later I came to understand why God, so early in this walk, laid the axe to the root of that spirit in my life. And that being because of the paths He would be leading me down and how that spirit would be right there opposing me the entire time - resisting God's purpose for my life in this earth. And my 'will' would have to be strengthened with the strength of God so that I could fight this spirit in faith. After that root came out, though, I have spent years overcoming the works that it did to my soul.
This spirit has put tremendous pressures on me and has used many people to resist me, openly and in their hearts. There have been times, in prayer, fighting the Jezebel spirit with every fiber that is within me, that my legs were so weak I could barely stand, I would be dizzy, my whole body would ache, it would take my voice away, and as it states in II Thessalonians 2:2, I could feel this spirit shaking my flesh. (Even as I started writing this testimony, my voice has been attacked once again, but I will overcome). I pretty much learned to tell when God was delivering me from more of its' works, or when I was up against this spirit in the Spirit. But as I would continue praying and binding the authority of this spirit, I would overcome and break through these attacks. And God, in His great mercy, has strengthened me with His Spirit until I could finally overcome. His strength has surely been made perfect in all of my weaknesses, and always will be. Thank God! And in Psalm 84:5 it says, "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; whose heart are the ways of them."
I will share with you an example of what took place just this week. I usually clean house on Monday mornings, and was getting ready to clean it this past Monday, but there was tremendous pressure in the Spirit on my spirit and I knew I had to pray and the house could wait to be cleaned another day. I had been praying in other tongues for some time (several hours), when all of a sudden the power of God rose up inside of me and started attacking (threshing) this spirit with my faith - binding the power and authority of the Jezebel. I could tell right when I broke through and that spirit started backing off until all that pressure left. Of course, each day there always seems to be more of it to overcome, but Monday was a real victory. And I have learned not to let my guard down fighting this spirit, either. I just keep plowing away, and always will until this spirit is under my feet.
I have also come to see that you will have an opportunity to see the strength of His Spirit in you, even in every relationship you have with every person, to be demonstrated in you life. Because you will be falsely accused, condemned and even hated. But one thing I know is that it is not that person, it is spirits in them, or that they are yielded to. And I have not been a 'saint' my whole life either - I have had spirits cast out of me, or either I was just yielded to them and they were using me (at my will). As is it says in Romans 6 - neither yield your members as instruments (weapons) of unrighteousness unto sin. But thank God if we do, He will forgive us and blot it out of the book when we ask Him to in faith.
This is definitely a walk of humility, otherwise one could get offended at the pressures that come from fighting the good fight of faith - and only pride is what gets offended. But when you see the life of Jesus, and the things that man went through, you will get a revelation in your heart that there is nothing on this earth that you will walk through when you are obeying God, that the strength of God inside of you can not make you stand and bring you though in total victory - and that includes all spirits. Jesus was always confronting wicked spirits that were using people to accuse Him and condemn Him and even trying to stop Him, but they never once brought Him down - He overcame them. And the victory that overcomes the world, is our faith.
Every single thing I have received from the Lord by the Spirit, to every thing I am believing to receive that He has promised me, has been nothing short of a fighting match with the devil. And that fight has been in prayer with much tribulation, much pressure. But I have trusted in the strength of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus to always bring me through the pressures and afflictions that have come my way for my obedience to the gospel. And I know that we will never go through all the pressures that Jesus went through, but it sure makes one appreciate His strength in us for whatever it is we are going through. I would not trade anything that this world has to offer for the amount of the kingdom of God that Jesus has built in me. But the bottom line of what I am after, and that I am going to see manifest in my life, is the fulness of the blessing of the gospel. I absolutely have no doubt in my heart about this taking place. Because with the fulness of the blessing of the gospel comes every single thing that God has promised me by His Spirit.
I told the Lord the other day (that being the end of March 1999) that I was not interested in seeing big crowds in a big church that are there only to entertain - I attended a couple of those years back (Beverly Hills Baptist Church and Church on the Rock). And that is all they were - entertainment centers. And you can turn on your television set any time of the day or night and see just that with all these ministries. But what I am after seeing is the fulness of His power being manifested, whether in big crowds or in a big church, and/or wherever else He might choose to show forth His power. Otherwise, I had rather just go in the desert and pray. And I mean that, and He knows I do. For 13 1/2 years now, I have been in my closet (my desert) praying and believing to see this take place. Praise God! One thing I know about God is that He is faithful to His Word and to His promises, and He is not a man that He can lie or repent of what He has said, if I obey Him. There is no greater One to serve in this life and I am grateful to Him for choosing me to do so.
In closing I will just add that there is no greater blessing on this earth than for Jesus to turn us from our iniquities. Years back I could not have said that because I did not believe that, but this day I know this to be true. Because in turning us from our iniquities, we will obtain every thing that Jesus provided for us on the cross, and really even from the foundation of the world. Acts 15:18 says, "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." Everything God does with our lives has been ordained from the beginning of the world, and what a comfort that is to know!
Well, until next time, God Bless You ~
