Tearing Down Strongholds

When the enemy of  your soul entices you to do something you know is wrong, how you choose to respond determines whether or not you will get the victory. Strongholds are built in our minds where the enemy has spun lie after lie so that he is able to keep people in bondage.

My hope for each person is that shame and fear of being judged do not keep them in bondage. So many people stay locked up in chains to their secret sins because they are too ashamed to admit to another person their need for help. People already feel disappointed in themselves because they often "know better," but have gotten themselves stuck and in bondage with the enemy. They fear the responses of others and don't want to be a disappointment to the people they love, admire or respect. Sure, we all know better. But sometimes we all need God's abundant grace and someone to demonstrate a non-judgmental attitude so that we can get free. Please let me urge you today to bring your problems to Jesus. He is there to give you the help you need!

No one needs to tell you what your secret sin is. Each person knows if there is something in their life that they have tried to get the victory over. Are you one that still struggles with some area of weakness in your life? Whether it is the gossip that cannot help but disclose the latest news she’s heard, or the person that loves to whisper about others just to get a reaction or stir up trouble; whether it is the addict that finds themselves turning to counterfeit means to alter their mood or escape reality; or the person addicted to sex, pornography or unclean fantasy thoughts; perhaps it is the person that simply cannot get the victory over anger, lying, fault finding, or  some other negative behavior, all of these things have the addictive ability to create strongholds in a person's mind. A stronghold is created when our thoughts and areas of our belief system do not line up with the truth of God's word. The enemy appeals to our reason and emotion so that he can get us to live in the flesh. It may not be in every area of a person's life; but even if it's just a one or two areas of compromise he still has an open door. Remember, the art of all spiritual warfare is based on the ability to deceive. The enemy's lies make a person's thinking crooked, or twisted. He perverts truth in an attempt to appeal to our reason, intellect and emotion. All warfare is simply the enemy's attempt to influence a person to agree with him instead of a spirit of faith. This is how he is able to steal the promises of God and get them to actually agree to enthrone him in their heart and life! The only hope the enemy has is to convince people to listen to their emotions rather than hold fast to what God has said. He can only deceive us if he is able to create a false illusion, wrong mindset or belief system. Shake it off! That is why the scripture in James 3:16 & 17 warns that earthly wisdom is 'demonic and sensual;' it appeals to a person's flesh and emotions rather than elevating them to a place in the Spirit where they operate out of divine wisdom, faith, and obedience to God's word. These "strongholds" may seem relatively inconsequencial, especially if the person that is captivated by these sort of lying spirits, negative thoughts and behaviors thinks they are not harming anyone else; but that is usually not the reality, even if the person doesn't want to acknowledge the truth. I want you to know that anyone can get the victory over these things - IF THEY CHOOSE TO BE HEALED.

That is always the question each person must face. Do we really want to be healed of the thing that keeps us in bondage? All sin has the element of pleasure or it wouldn’t be able to entice a person to keep doing it. And as much as one chooses to give away their dominion to the enemy, God will let them do it. He has given all authority to His disciples. If a person chooses to give it away, eventually sin will increase in a person's life until masters besides God will have dominion in certain areas of their life. But know this: the enemy does not want just you. He wants your family. He wants your children’s future, and your grandchildren. He wants your church, those in your workplace and far beyond even them. A stronghold is a place where the enemy has built a fortress. Imagine it like a castle, if you will. You can't see it, but it's there, and the enemy is flying his flag letting the spirit realm know it's his domain. Every area where we refuse to let Jesus reign is a place the enemy will occupy. He plots his takeover and delights in the thought of displacing Jesus in the life of the believer. Every stronghold is constructed out of lies that go unchallenged and behavior that is allowed to go unchecked. Every stronghold that the enemy occupies is a place where the enemy stands to mock God and reproach you. He gloats, he scoffs at your ability to over throw him and remove him off of his high place. Every place where he is allowed to do this continues to grow and expand as he brings in more and more enemy troops to occupy your promise land. He has laid a claim to it as though it’s his own but in fact he is an encroacher that must be evicted. Isn't it time to dismantle his stronghold?


You cannot ‘think’ it down. You cannot mentally determine to conquer a spiritual force with spiritual authority by your own will. Flesh cannot fight spirit and win. It’s also ridiculous to think that one can defeat the enemy without the right weapons. There is only one way to defeat the enemy and that is the way Jesus did it; by speaking out the word of God with authority. Review the temptations of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus spoke God's Word to combat and overcome Satan and his temptations, and you can too! Friend, what is your area of temptation? You must find the right scriptures to fight with, those that address the nature of the temptation. Then,…


Declare what GOD has said, and stop listening to a liar, thief and murderer. Satan will do everything he can to kill off your good future and keep you from inheriting your destiny! Satan is the Father of all lies. He is the seducer, the adulterous spirit that wants to entice you into a way that is hard to come back from. His words are smoother than oil but in the end it will be as bitter as wormwood. If he is enticing you to commit adultery (spiritual or otherwise), or elevate an idol in your life, Tell him, “Satan, your words and suggestions are those of the immoral woman. They are only intended to lead me down a wrong path and it is written, “Do not go near the door of her house.” (Prov. 5:4,8)  He is the violent one that attempts to lead you in a way that is not good. He is the perverse spirit that twists truth and attempts to appeal to your reason so that he can bring about evil. When he tries to lead you astray, respond with, “No, enemy,  “a man’s heart may plan his steps but it is the Lord that will direct my steps. (Prov. 16:9) You say, "Jesus, direct my steps away from this temptation now,” for it is written, “The highway of the upright is to depart from evil and he who keeps his way preserves his soul.” (Prov. 16:17) “Help me to be one who heeds the word wisely  and find good. I am putting my trust in You."


When the enemy accuses you of giving in to the very thing he tempted you to do, run to God and confess your sin. Don’t let condemnation overwhelm you. He is faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness when you come to Him! (1 John 1:9) Declare, “God is my strong tower and a shelter to me. I will abide in his tabernacle forever. I will trust in the shadow of His wings.” (Ps. 61:3). “God is my defense, my God of mercy.” His mercies are new every day. His grace is sufficient for me. I will overcome this area of weakness in my life, in Jesus name.”  God’s grace is big enough to cover your failures and help you back up!


Don’t let the enemy lie to you and tell you that you cannot tear down his stronghold, or that it must take a long, arduous process to do it. Whether it is dismantled brick by brick or God decides to blow it up all at once, recognize it is yet another one of the enemy’s lies. Respond with, “No, Satan. You are evicted this day! Your stronghold will collapse THIS day, for it is written, ‘Nothing shall be impossible with God.’ (Luke 1:37).”  Remember Jericho! The walls fell down flat in one day! The truth is, when we feel weak, frustrated at our own inability to change or conquer what seemingly has us in bondage, that is the time when God has led you to confront the enemy’s stronghold so that it can be torn down. The truth is, “A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the trusted stronghold.” (Prov. 21:22). Who is trusting in their stronghold? The enemy! The truth is, “Our righteous God overthrows the house of the wicked,” (Prov. 21:22). Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is He that shall tread down our enemies! (Prov. 108:13). Do you know what's going to happen? You are going to say, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening!" Declare today, "He is coming down from his high place where he has exalted himself and gloated." Believe it! The truth is, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and cast into the sea,' and it would obey you." (Luke 17:5,6) Friend, do you have faith even as little as a mustard seed? Of course you do, because Jesus planted it there! So you can name the problem you want plucked up and cast into the sea. Sometimes the problem looks like a giant because it just has such a grip on the person doing it. You can even start with commanding that evil desire for whatever it is to be plucked up and thrown into the sea. If it's a desire that you know God did not give you, or that person you're praying for, then yes, it's evil and needs to go. Take alcohol or drugs, for example. God didn't plant that in your generational line; Satan did. Declare the desire for (alcohol, drugs, gossip, lying, etc.), whatever that thing is, command that evil rooted problem to be plucked up and cast out of the person and thrown into the sea - and it must obey you!! Even if it doesn't happen overnight, keep declaring the problem must be plucked up and cast into the sea. You might not see it happen, and you might not even know when it actually occurs, but trust Jesus to be faithful to watch over His word. It will happen! Then also command a good tree or a holy desire to be planted in it's place. When ever you uproot evil, you must also plant something pure and godly in it's place.

Stop feeling helpless. God has given you a transfer of HIS AUTHORITY so that you and others you pray for can live victoriously! Satan is a scoffer and a God-mocker. It is written, “Cast out the scoffer and contention will leave. Strife and reproach will cease,” (Prov. 22:10). Declare today, “Scoffer, be gone in Jesus name!” When the enemy lies and smirks and suggests you are too weak to overcome him, boldly declare, "when I am weak, then Jesus is strong, and greater is He that is within me than he that is in the world!" (1 John 4:4) No enemy, you shall go and go NOW, for it is written, “In my name they shall cast out demons, (Prov. 16:18). Whatever I ask, God will do! (John 14:13). As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15). God has said that when the enemy comes in like a flood, He will raise a standard against him. (Is. 59:19) The word 'standard' actually means a banner, or a flag. It is a symbol of the army rising up to fight the enemy. My friend, when Jesus raises His standard, all of heaven's resources will come to your aid! It's time to take down the enemy's flag out of his stronghold window and replace it with a banner representing the Lord Jesus Christ. Capture the stronghold and reclaim it! Rename the stronghold to mean a place of victory! Pray: Father God, I renounce all idols and all false masters. I re-commit myself to You this day. Please forgive my sin! “So now, my enemy, you liar, thief and encroacher, I bind all the power of the strongman and your house is pulled down. I reclaim all that God has given to me. Satan, be bound in Jesus name! According to what Jesus has already done to overcome you and strip you of all authority, and in accordance with the dominion and authority that He has transferred to me, His blood bought child: “be rendered powerless, paralyzed, silent and impotent, in Jesus name!” I submit to My God, the Lord Jesus Christ and to the authority of Holy Spirit. I resist you and you must flee, Satan. Take everything you have put on me and go now in Jesus name. I command your stronghold to be dismantled now. I raise the standard of the Lord in every place where Satan was once in control. The banner over me is that of Jehovah Tdiskenu, my righteousness. The banner over me is Jehovah Nissi, my banner of victory and He has gone before me in battle. I win!! The banner over me is Jehovah Ra'ah, the Lord is my shepherd and He leads me in paths of righteousness. The banner over me is Jehovah Elohim, and He is the Lord God. The banner over me is El Elyon, the most high God. Jesus is Lord over my life and you shall not be exalted into a place of rulership. Give up dominion now, in Jesus name! The banner over me is El Olam, the everlasting God that will never leave me or forsake me. The banner over me is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals me, and I declare that by His stripes, I am healed, according to Isaiah 53:5.” 

I declare this stronghold to be renamed ABIDING GRACE, VICTORY and PRAISE.


“Lord Jesus, I ask that the glory of the Lord would be my rear guard and protect my blind spots. Let the rear guard of Your army of heavenly hosts blow up every bridge the enemy tries to come across. Come and fill me once again with the power and presence of Your Holy Spirit in every area where the enemy once had power over me. Forgive me for giving over my dominion and letting Satan control certain areas of my life. Thank you for helping me tear down his stronghold, and every time he tries to re-built it with his lies, help me to recognize the lie right away and take authority over it. Help me to cast down all his vain imaginations and suggestions and put them under Your feet. Renew my mind with pure desires and let the power of God flow unhindered in my life. In Jesus name, amen.”

The God of All Hope Will Restore You!

This article is dedicated to everyone that finds God doesn't fit in their box of expectations...for everyone that needs the God of hope to do a new thing for you! Did you know that God loves you so much He doesn't even care who He offends as long as it gives hope to the hopeless and remakes a brand new future for His beloved children?

There are times when everything goes wrong and the enemy sets a plan in motion to kill off the very thing that has our heart's desire. People are left with nothing but ashes of yesterday's promises. God wants you to know that out of the ashes of loss, and out of the pain of your yesterdays, He has a plan to bring new hope. There are more people than we can count that feel this sort of pain every day. I'd like to draw your attention to one couple in the Bible that knew this heartache, too. Their names were Adam and Eve. They lost one son to death at the hands of his brother, and the one that murdered was cast out of the land as a vagabond with a curse all the rest of his days. It caused tremendous heartache to Adam and Eve. Then, after a time of grieving, a seed of hope was planted for their future.

Genesis 4:25 “And Adam knew his wife again and she bore him a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 

With the death of Adam’s first son, Abel, and the expulsion of Cain  being cast out of the land with a curse (read Gen. 4), Adam and Eve faced a loss of hope for their future. They had no son to carry on their line for the birth of the promise of the Messiah. Although they may not have been aware of the Messiah coming from their lineage, and although it was many, many years in the future, God had to have a plan in place to insure that the promise in HIS heart and of His purpose would eventually come to pass. It wasn’t just their hope that had been cut off, but hope for the future of mankind.

I want you to know that when the enemy has set in motion a plan to kill off your inheritance, God always has a seed of hope waiting. God was compelled to bring forth a new son - the hope of a new promise. The name Seth is related to a Hebrew verb meaning, “to place” or “to set” for Seth was appointed to take the place of the murdered son. Even when the enemy has done all he can to kill and destroy what you thought contained all the hope for your future, God always has a plan to restore hope!

Another story worth consideration is found in Joshua 3. It is the story of Rahab the harlot. The Israelite army approached Rahab's city  of Jericho. Can you imagine what it looked like to her, watching the army marching toward the city, knowing full well that the army would bring death and destruction right to her family, friends and neighbors, and into her very home? All of Jericho had heard of the Israelites and the God that fought for them. Now they were on the way to destroy the city and everyone in it. The people's hearts were faint with terror and they had no courage to fight. Even Rahab made the confession that she knew the Lord had given them the land. Her land. Fear had taken over. Have you ever faced a situation where fear and impending doom was stronger that faith? This is what Rahab felt. She knew her hope was about to be cut off, and that of her family as well. Then, to make matters worse, God brought the enemy right to her very doorstep! Two spies came to the house of Rahab because they knew that local news would be readily available in the house of a prostitute. This is where gossip abound and secrets were traded. It was a very strategic move on the part of the spies. When the king heard about their whereabouts, he sent a search party to go find them. But look at how the hand of God worked in this situation: the spies were trapped, and Rahab needed a miracle to save her household. Other people in the city of Jericho may have been calling on the name of their gods, but Rahab knew her only hope was in the God that fought for the Israelites. She had to re-evaluate her loyalties and make an important decision, but it became a life-changing decision. It was the moment of crisis that caused Rahab to reach out to the God of the Israelites and take a step of faith. She offered kindness to the spies, and they in turn offered her the hope of salvation. In that moment of desperation, a miracle was being formed. They came up with a plan. She would hide the spies from the approaching soldiers and helped them escape. They would agree to spare her family from the coming destruction and she was to hang a scarlet cord in her window as a sign of their secret agreement.

Now, Rahab lied and actually gave up her entire city to the destruction. Many from Jericho, if they had known what she had done, would probably have said she acted dishonorably and her actions where those of a traitor. I'm sure plenty of them would have felt very offended, not having an opportunity to make the same deal as Rahab did with the spies! Yet, God chose to honor her act of faith. She was an unlikely recipient of God’s grace and goodness, but GOD CHOSE her because she had already been chosen to be in the genealogy of the coming Messiah. She didn’t know it, but God had chosen her to be the recipient of an incredible miracle. Her hope was not to be cut off. God intervened just at the right moment to give her hope for the future!

Dear friend, know that God has a plan to re-write your future any time it's needed. If the script of your life needs an over haul, He is already in the process of writing it. Don't be discouraged no matter how things may look at this present time. God has a seed of hope just waiting for you! The key here is to ask Him to give you understanding so that you know how to pray. If you are persistent, He will lead you into revelation by His Holy Spirit and show you exactly what you need to know. Pray in faith upon what you know He has shown you and it will certainly come to pass. You never have to fear!

More tomorrow in part two, "Your Hope Will Not Be Cut Off!"

The Key to Overcoming Leviathan

It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. This one was posted on Yahoo news.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/amazing-image-eagle-snatches-crocodile-riverbank-134802910--abc-news-topstories.html


 I believe God gives us pictures like this one to inspire prophetic thoughts and communicate spiritual messages. We just have to look for the clues He uses in our everyday life. This picture is amazing. (Read the article at the link above). Eagles don't normally choose crocodiles as a part of their diet, but this one did. The photographer that shot the picture said he's never seen anything like it. What I love about this picture is the fact that the eagle's talons are wrapped around the mouth of the crocodile.Its mouth is in a vice grip! Yet this picture comes just two days after I had prayed that the mouth of the enemy would be silenced. I had spoken out declarations against the spirit of pride and taken authority over the spirit of Leviathan. I feel that the picture portrayed with this eagle clutching the predator in it's grip is a confirmation of what was just declared in prayer! In the Bible, the eagle is symbolic of the prophetic gift. Crocodiles are symbolic of predators or the spirit that seeks to make prey of others. In the Book of Job, the great sea creature Leviathan is compared to a crocodile, and then a fire-breathing dragon. It is symbolic of chaos, evil and destruction. Leviathan "laughs" at the threat of javelins. He looks down on everything haughty, and beholds every high thing. Leviathan is king over all the children of pride. (Job 41:34).

God told Job that no one would be so foolish as to stir up Leviathan. He was that intimidating of a beast. His scales were impenetrable. His teeth were fierce. He had such a hard exterior it was impossible to pierce him with the javelin, and he laughed at anyone that tried to overcome him in a battle. This is the nature of pride. "His rows of scales are his pride, shut up tightly as with a seal; one is so near another that no air can come between them; they are joined to one another, they stick together and cannot be parted." (Job 41:15-17) There are some very good insights into how this devious spirit uses things such as shame, unhealed emotional wounds, anger, inferiority, insecurity, fear and blaming others to reinforce his "plates of armor" and literally keep people trapped inside. That is what this monster does. Inferiority and Insecurity are the two main demonic spirits that hold all those plates together. Pride is like the seal that hardens the heart and keeps others at emotional distance. Leviathan keeps people in bondage and captivity and uses pride as shield to keep people from getting too close. Unhealed wounds in the individual makes self preservation the main motivator; the person remains guarded and keeps a safe emotional distance so as not to get hurt again. Predator spirits never want their captives set free. They devour and seek to make victims of anyone that dares to get close. When you are praying for others to be delivered, it can seem like you are battling a spiritually impenetrable force field. It seems like a truly impossible situation and you may even wonder if the person you are praying for will ever get free or healed. The battle can get very hot and tiring as Leviathan does not give up easily, but keep holding on to the promise, because the Love of God and the Word of God will never fail you! (It's Jesus, and Jesus never fails!)

In Job's argument with God, it was Job's pride that had been exposed. When God answered Job out of the whirlwind, He came not to destroy him but to overwhelm him into submission in order to restore Job to his proper role as the Lord's servant. God started asking Job a lot of questions, demanding Job to tell him the answers if he dared. When God shows up and starts asking questions, He doesn't just randomly get off topic and switch to a new conversation. He doesn't get bored of our rambling and complaining. When God asks a question, there is a reason and a purpose behind it. So, in chapter 41 when God starts asking questions about the great beast Leviathan, it wasn't just to help Job realize his own frailty in light of this great predatory beast; that was only part of it. God was leaving a clue behind for us to understand something important about Leviathan. Job got caught up in his own defense. This spirit doesn't just keep others in bondage; it seeks to make prey out of anyone it can pull into a battle, and it does it by attacking our weaknesses. Every person contains some sort of pride. So, what does the crocodile do? It attacks, it latches on, and then it pulls. It pulls it's prey into it's own comfort zone because it is there that it can overwhelm the prey and overcome it. Pain, disappointment, emotional wounding, shame, injustice, and unwarranted attack from others can cause a person to get caught up in their own defense. People might even rise up to take up someone else's offense. Friends, never get baited into fighting a battle God hasn't asked you to fight. Never take up an offense on behalf of someone else no matter how much you might love them. It's a dangerous place to put yourself and you might just end up in a struggle with Leviathan. We may be able to recognize when others are being held captive by this spirit, but the problem is that people often don't recognize that spirit is the one that is provoking a battle with them. A predator spirit will taunt, harass, instigate or agitate, using anything it feels will trigger a prideful reaction from others. One response of pride is to judge. Those that are in subjection to it may not even realize they are being used to "bite" or inflict pain to others. Leviathan uses it's "tail" to whip up emotions, create chaos and destroy relationships. It will taunt people into provoking others in a devious game of ill will.

One can never subdue the mighty Leviathan if pride is a factor.  Pride caused Job to feel self righteous about himself and his own good works. It made him feel as though God owed him recompense or at the very least, an explanation for the pain, disappointment and hardship he had experienced. Remember, this was a battle the enemy picked with Job. Job didn't do anything to provoke it, but pride still became a stumbling block. Pain and disappointment in life will expose pride, and Job found that out. Have you been there? Has pain or discouragement about some circumstance in your life triggered a sense of indignation, self righteousness or anger to rise up? Many people have warred against the enemy, wanting to command God to do their bidding; yet it is this sense of pride that can often put God at a distance. Have you been pulled into a battle you never should have entered into? Have you accused God of not handling things to your satisfaction? Accusation often takes the form of hopelessness and despair. A spirit of accusation will turn your voice into a voice of wailing and complaining rather than a voice of respect and faith towards God. It can be a fine line between genuine grief and accusation. Sometimes that line becomes blurred. It isn't that God doesn't understand or feel compassion towards our pain, but we do need to be careful about the words we speak. We need to be careful about the emotions we entertain. Pride accuses; humility believes through brokenness. God withstands the proud. Pride will never overcome your opponents. You cannot fight Satan on his terms or by his methods. Humility is the only thing that will prevail. Job, once corrected, realized his argument with God was invalid. God did not owe him anything. God is God. He could do what He pleased and He did not have to answer to Job. That is why repentance was Job's ticket out of his struggle.Perhaps it is the ticket out of your struggle, too.

The key to overcoming the spirit of Leviathan is to take the position of humility. Don't let the fiery darts from the enemy bait you into taking a position of defending yourself in pride.

Leviathan, like the crocodile, may seem like a very intimidating foe. Make no mistake; it will come after you and it does want to kill you, especially if you are praying for someone else's freedom and deliverance from this spirit. You will not always win friends by speaking truth and exposing the works of the enemy. It will get you attacked. Your enemy may not be able to touch you physically, but he will do everything he can to kill your reputation and discredit your name. He will try to shut you down any way he can. This is what the enemy does. He does not want people listening to your words or receiving them as credible truth against his deceptive works. Rest in the Lord and know that God will not forsake you. The battle might get hotter or last longer than you ever thought it would, but God does not forsake His covenant with His people. ou must know your enemy before you can overcome him. You must overcome before you have authority to recognize and deliver a sure word against it. God will not give you words of truth to speak and then not rise to your defense.

Although the enemy may have gloated for a season, the time has come for him to once again be put to an open shame. God never leaves His people without an answer to even the most formidable opponent.

The harder the battle, the lower you have to go. It's the position of the cross. It's crucifying to your flesh. It's humbling. Sometimes it means being rejected, misunderstood or enduring others mocking you. Yet, despite it all, if you will hold on to love, love never fails, because genuine love is demonstrated out of humility. 

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek it's own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." 1 Cor. 13:4-8 

There is a set time for every battle to come to an end. I believe the picture above is truly worth shouting about! God has given us a picture of a natural occurrence  to show us the predator spirits are being dealt with. Even while they are hunting for more prey, they shall become prey. It is the prophetic word released against them at this strategic time that calls those things that are invisible, into the natural. We declare the armor of pride is coming off. Like the arrow that pierced King Ahab's armor in his most vulnerable place, God is able to direct his archers to release that specific word that will pierce the pride and release truth. The arrows of truth are being released.

According to what You have already done, Lord Jesus, we bind the spirit of pride. "Let the evil works of Satan be bound," in Jesus name. Father, dispatch your angels to put a hook in Leviathan's nose and pull him into the abyss. We render the works of the enemy silent, impotent and paralyzed in Jesus name. We ask for You to release the Spirit of Truth and revelation that will unravel the lies, heal what's been hurt make people free. We ask for the Spirit of Grace and Repentance to be released all over the land. Let the Spirit of Liberty and the Spirit of Adoption be released now, in Jesus name.


Father, You said, "For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me." You asked, "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of the righteous be delivered?" We say, "YES, LORD!" Today we release the decree against the spirit of pride and Leviathan, and all the works of the enemy.

According to Your word in Isaiah 49:25, "Thus says the Lord:"

"Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children." I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. All flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." 

We declare this is the day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, has punished Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent, and He has slain the reptile that is in the sea, according to Isaiah 27:1.

We declare this is the day the heads of Leviathan is broken in pieces, according to Ps. 74:14.

We declare Your arrows have pierced the armor of pride and Your hand presses Leviathan down.

We declare the arrogance of the proud has been halted and the haughtiness of the terrible has been brought low, according to Isaiah 13:11.

We declare that those who walk in pride You are able to put down, according to Daniel 4:37.

We declare the pride of man brings him low but the humble in spirit retain honor, according to Prov. 29:23.

We declare the pride of the haughty is brought down according to 2 Sam.22:28.

We declare that those that are hardened in pride are deposed from their kingly thrones and their glory is taken from them, according to Daniel 5:20.

We declare the crown of pride has been removed. We declare the humble are exalted and the exalted are humbled, according to Ezekiel 21:25.

We declare the arrow of the Lord's deliverance is released, 2 Kings 13:1.

We declare that You shall save Your flock, according to Ezekiel 34:22, and that they shall no longer be a prey.

We declare blessings to the Lord, for He has not given us or our children to be as prey to the enemy; we have escaped as a bird escapes from the fowler's nest; the snare is broken and we have all escaped. We declare help is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the name of the Lord, according to Ps. 124:6-8.

We declare the Lord's voice has thundered from heaven, that You have sent out Your arrows and Your lightening bolt to vanquish the enemy. We declare the Lord's rebuke according to 2 Sam. 22:14-16.

We declare the Lord's deliverance according to 2 Sam. 22: 18-20.

We declare the enemy has been destroyed according to 2 Sam. 22:38-41. You have given us the necks of our enemies.

We declare a release of the Spirit of Truth, and that truth is the arrow that will find it's mark.


The answer we have is the prophetic word that releases the voice of God into the earth. He sends out His voice, a mighty voice; the God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Psalm 68:11 reminds us that when the Lord gives the word, great is the company (an army of people) who proclaim it!! The prophetic voice, released by a company of people will declare God's will into the earth. "Leviathan, today you are defeated," in Jesus name! 

Today we declare the prophetic word against the spirit of Leviathan. "Leviathan, your pride has brought you low!"

I can't help but look back to the first chapter of Job where Job prayed for his family. It begins with Job praying for his children that were caught up in worldly ways. God was dealing with pride all through the entire book. In Job's family, in Job, and in His friends. The desire of Job's  heart is that his children would know God and serve Him. He was afraid that his children had gone the way of the world and cursed God in their hearts, and so he prayed for their salvation and deliverance. This is the point in Job's story where the enemy, Satan, showed up before the Lord looking for someone to devour. It wasn't that Job was perfect; none is perfect. It was the fact that God saw Job as someone that wouldn't give up in the time of trouble. Job had his faults, but God saw the finished work of righteousness in him and knew that after a time of testing, Job would come through the fire of adversity even stronger and with more humility of character. He would be like gold that had been refined in the fire. The spirit of Leviathan found willing accomplices in Job's friends. All the enemy had to do was incite them to judge their friend and use their words to provoke him to defend himself. Yet, in the end, God judged the whole matter fairly and set each of them on a course of recovery and restoration. Each act of obedience unlocked the next step to future blessing.

I feel the Lord's heart to many people is that He wants to encourage you. Perhaps you took on an enemy that was much stronger than you ever thought. It may have cost you much. You may have lost your children, your spouse, or your friends. You may have lost those that you thought would be in your corner. Perhaps you were judged unfairly, or you lost a battle that you thought you should have won. Maybe you lost your job or prosperity for a season, or perhaps it was something else. I don't mean to make light of your pain. But, you need to be able to see beyond that one moment in time. It was for your training, but it was only for a moment.  There may yet be a turn around waiting for you. GOD IS LORD OF ALL YOUR IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS!! You need to know that God looked down the corridor of time and saw you as the finished work of Christ. He knew you would come out the other side of the trials as one who would rise up out of the ash heap just like Job. He saw that it was an unfair fight. He knows your weaknesses, but He also knows who HE IS, inside of you. You are God's child. Your are redeemed with a plan and a purpose. You had to walk through the darkness and learn to know your enemy in order to overcome him. The season and the battle have been long, but I come to tell you in the name of the Lord, "Lay down your weapons. The only weapon you need is LOVE. Do not fight for your rights. Do not fight for what you think is owed to you. Surrender it all. Confess it all. Lay it all on the altar of sacrifice, for I AM Your victory!"

There is one way, and only one way, to victory. It is through the path of humility. It is through the path of confession. It is through the path of love. God's grace is sufficient for you. You need only to walk through that door of humility that leads through the next phase of hope, restoration and so much more. The question is, "Will you surrender your pride?"

When you lay it all down, then and only then can the fire of God consume your sacrifice. Then and only then can the Lord bring forth the sacrifice He has prepared. He has an appointed day for your turnaround, and it's coming forth even as you obey what He has put in your heart to do. THIS is the day of your turn around!!

Pulling Out A Bitter Root

You may wonder how a person can go through difficult and painful life experiences and come out without bitterness. I was very, very bitter after enduring some of the things I’ve had to deal with. My husband says, “We can live focused on the woes of life, or we can live focused on the 'wows' of God. Focusing on our woes invites misery, but focusing on gratitude for the many ways that God wows us invites the presence of God to invade our circumstances. Praising God creates an atmosphere that is inviting to Him, an invitation to invade your life and change your woes into wows.” If you knew my husband, he is a very positive person. He is full of joy. He always chooses to think the best about others and his motto is, life is too short to live with anger, bitterness or regret. Let it go. I thank God for Norm. One lesson he taught me early on is to praise God in the midst of the storms of life. Praise Him no matter what. Worship is a decision of the heart to honor God whether whether or not we feel like it. Worship transforms us. Worship actually makes us more compliant, willing to change, and willing to please God.  

A heart that refuses to worship God will retain negative emotions, lies in their belief system and unforgiveness towards others. Bitterness is often associated with anger and grudges. We will get to that, but I would like to first address that which is the result of deep unresolved emotional pain. Some disappointments in life are directed towards certain life events that have occurred. Death of a loved one, financial loss or things that cripple our ability to bounce back, such as prolonged illness can all cause grief, deep disappointment and disillusionment. Grief, despair and disillusionment have turned many people into accusers against God. They believe He could or should have prevented their pain and disappointment. Blaming God always sets us at odds with God. He resists the proud. Accusing God of failure is pretty much the same as calling him a liar. It’s saying He is unfaithful and unable to be trusted. These are dangerous thoughts to embrace, for absolutely nothing good can come from it. God is not man like us; He is our Creator and is deserving of honor and respect. Retaining bitterness is a choice. It is unbelieving, faithless and irreverent.

There are also life events in which people are offended with others for various reasons and refuse to forgive. The Bible says that unless we forgive those that have sinned against us, we are not forgiven. (Matt. 6:15) If we do not forgive, we are thrown into a spiritual prison and turned over to the tormentors until we have paid every last penny. (Matt. 5:26) 1 John 4:18 tells us that fear involves torment. Fear with torment is the consequence for disobedience to God and the refusal to forgive those that have hurt or offended us. A key indicator that one has retained unforgiveness towards someone else is the evidence that long after the incident occurred, they continue to rehearse old offenses, perceived wrong and injury. Bitterness is a poison that grieves the Holy Spirit, defiles and offends others, and causes many kinds of sin and iniquity. The fruit of bitterness is corrupt and will always produce evil. How often we chalk up bad fruit in a person's life to something we consider harmless. We must exercise discernment to understand when in fact the root is defiled, corrupt and produces more of the same. An evil root will never produce good fruit. According to Romans 3:14-18, the person who is defiled with bitterness speaks in such a way as to curse themselves and others with poisonous words. They are quick to act with injustice, and destruction and misery are ingrained in their ways. They are not peacemakers. They have no fear of God.

Misery loves company, and bitterness relives and repeats the woes of life. The chorus of complaints is led by a spirit of self pity. The danger of self pity is that it is the same as idol worship. Self pity demands worship. It elicits worship from others in the form of seeking attention, sympathy, and affirmation (a form of praise). “Self” (or the person controlled by the spirit of self pity) becomes god and those that feed this spirit become the person’s co-dependent supporters and worshippers. Self pity cannot survive without feeding it’s need for worship, but the very essence of this root is bitter. It will only ever produce bad fruit. The danger of one who allows self pity and bitterness to remain, is that it presumes a wrong view of eternal security. The person is deceived into believing that they are in right relationship with God, or that grace will always be available to them, though they walk in stubbornness of heart. It is the presumption of grace that causes a person to harden their heart towards genuine repentance, choosing a lifestyle of sin over obedience to God. The Spirit desires to do the right thing and forgive. Our mind, will and emotions can be resistant, but it takes consistent, determined effort to resist the Holy Spirit and His desire to see us healed. That is why this is a sobering topic, for the penalty for retaining bitterness and unforgiveness is severe. It can literally cost a person everything, including their salvation. The ultimate fruit of bitterness is apostasy.

If it were not for the torment in our soul, would we stop to consider the cause? Would we not grow so tired of ourselves and our misery that we would then be willing to change? The enemy uses bitterness to defile a person’s heart, and defile others. His goal is to slowly but deliberately draw a person into deception so that they presume grace and make allowances for disobedience. A person’s heart ever so slowly becomes insensitive towards conviction and the Holy Spirit trying to draw them back towards the Father. They gradually become so desensitized to their need to repent that at some point it becomes impossible for them to feel the desire to do so. Eventually if no genuine repentance occurs, the person becomes lost forever, eternally separated from God. Though it pains us to think that God would willingly allow torment to afflict us, every purpose of God is redemptive. He allows affliction to torment our thoughts (sometimes our physical body, too) to drive us into Him so that we can be healed. He is the Great Physician. How great His love is; how great is His mercy! He wants us to come to Him and inquire what is wrong so that we may be healed and set free from all toxic roots and deadly sins, but He does not pardon transgression and rebellion until we repent. As long as sin festers, we are in chains, but in the day that we draw near to Him, His immediate response is, “Do not fear!”

Prayers of repentance and renouncement often take time to work into deeper levels of release. Our mind and will can acknowledge the necessity to move towards obedience to God, but the actual healing comes one layer at a time. Bitterness is demonically empowered and is very resistant to letting go of the individual. Even when a person cooperates with God, it can still take a period of time for the full healing to manifest, because every person is unique. The period of time it takes is strictly between the individual and God.

Genuine forgiveness loosens the root of bitterness and allows it to come out, for the only response more powerful than this toxic spiritual weed is love. When it comes to diagnosing our own heart, sometimes we can be pretty slow and downright inaccurate. We can’t always trust our own opinion of ourselves, so we have to look for symptoms to make an accurate diagnosis.

DIAGNOSING THE HEART

A root of bitterness produces feelings like this:

• The desire for the person that wounded or offended you to experience insecurity, embarrassment, shame or hurt.

• A feeling that the person who hurt you is not worthy of blessing.

• The feeling that the person who offended you hasn't done enough to make up for the wrong they have done.

• A desire for them to receive punishment and judgment from God.

• They don’t deserve to live.  

• Criticisms begin to be directed at others and other situations.

• Bitterness loves to rehearse the past. It also manifests in defensiveness, slandering those that hurt or offended you and involves others in venting toxic thoughts and feelings.

• A bitter heart is an offended heart, and is quickly offended and frustrated with others, quick to lash out in anger. An angry person wounds others with harsh words and they may even catch themselves saying things they wish they would never have said, yet can‘t seem to stop doing it. It delights in a superior attitude that infects others with poisonous words.

• Bitterness produces a desire to hurt, belittle, embarrass, shame or put guilt on others. It targets others with undeserved punishment, even though the perpetrator would be quick to deny it to themselves or others.

The only way to know if you have truly forgiven someone is to check your heart: do you have compassion toward them? Do you want to see them blessed, happy and successful? How you answer that may be all you need to diagnose your heart. If there is any hesitancy, or you can’t give a ‘yes’ answer, you may well need to examine your heart and ask the Lord to help you get free.

GETTING FREE

How does one arrive at true forgiveness? How does a person know that it is not just us trying to convince ourselves, but in fact an act of divine intervention that supplies the grace that allows us to genuinely forgive another person?

When wounds are deep and it seems that all our efforts fail to free our heart, what is required is both willingness on  our part, and divine intervention from the Lord. He never asks us to do something that He does not enable us to fulfill. Jesus said we must forgive others or God can not forgive our own sins, but He does not leave us without His help. He provides the grace to pull those stubborn weeds out of wounded, bitter hearts so that His love and grace will flow from vessels of integrity.

Until you see the offender in the light of your own human weakness and can bring yourself to identify with them as a person who has been wounded and made prey of by the enemy, it may be difficult to reach a place of genuine forgiveness. It is when we can accept the fact that the person who did wrong to us did so out of their own unresolved pain, perhaps their own fears or insecurities, and we are just as prone to making the same type of error if we had felt what they experienced. What would have happened if we had heard the enemy's logic as it had been whispered in their ears? How would we have reacted if we had felt the same emotions, listened to the enemy's twisted ideas of truth, and become prey to be used for wrongdoing? Could it be possible that we would have committed the same type of fault? Have you, perhaps in times past, done something similar?

I know that there are some things that are just plain heinous, such as unthinkable things that predators have done to willfully harm others. Yet, they too were once just children. Innocents that had something inexplicable or perhaps unimaginable done to them. The wounded, if they are never healed, go on to become predators themselves, lashing out to hurt and offend others or willfully mistreat them. It doesn't excuse wrong behavior, but it helps us understand it. It is truly only God's grace that can intervene and allow us to see deep hurt and offense in this light. It is the piercing light of His love that allows compassion to arise, enabling us to forgive those that have hurt us. This is the divine gift of God's grace, to forgive with genuine humility of heart. When your heart has truly released the person that offended you, you will know it, because you will feel your heart soften towards them. You will experience the gift of compassion that allows you to be forever free from those old wounds.

It doesn't necessarily mean that the person we have forgiven is off the hook with God; but it means that we are. If we are to ever recover real joy and peace, we must ask God for His ability to see the perpetrators through His eyes, for in doing so He also grants His ability to forgive. Compassionately. All human beings, no matter how grave their sin and faults, are prone to being used by the enemy to inflict unnecessary pain. Undoubtedly, we all have been guilty of this at one time or another.

It was for this cause that God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to walk among man and demonstrate Divine Love and Grace. Intellectually we may know this to be true and accept the word of God. But until we model it...live it...demonstrate it...we fall tremendously short of being Christ-like. God gives us challenges with human relationships not so that we can dwell upon the pain, but so that we have endless opportunities to demonstrate that we truly KNOW Him.

We must work through the issue until the emotional sting is no longer present when you think of that person or event.  I pray that truth will set you free and that you will come to a place where you can trust God with whatever injustice, offense, and wounds you’ve incurred. Real repentance that pleases God is when the heart connects with our prayer and we truly want to forgive the one who offended us and get in right relationship with God. We have a genuine change of heart that feels compassion, forgiveness or even pity towards the one the enemy used to offend us, and it’s not dependent on anything they do or don’t do.

When God showed me the reality of my own spiritual condition, I was sad at my own lack of faithfulness towards the Lord. Ultimately, that is what He wants us to feel when we realize our own sin, because godly sorrow leads us to real repentance. I realized that I had placed my faith and trust in a desire for justice, rather than praying blessing upon those that had been used to hurt me. I should have said, like Jesus, "Forgive them, Father. They know not what they do." I should have been praying for their souls and asking God to show them mercy. I had not placed my faith and trust in the Lord to be my shield and defense. My confidence was in the wrong things. I had changed God into a god of my own understanding, yet I never realized I had done so.

Witchcraft is energized by negative emotions and anger. That is why we must do everything possible to purify our hearts and get rid of all unforgiveness, anger, offense, malice and bitterness. Christian or not, if a person operates in a spirit of bitterness and allows that to be released through their prayers, it will attract more demonic spirits. That is how the enemy reproduces a curse into a person’s life. He creates the situation that allows a door to be opened, and then he has legal entrance. The only way to shut the door on him and get him out is through repentance.  

BITTERNESS AND WITCHCRAFT

Proverbs 5 talks about the seduction of an immoral woman, yet the reference is to a seducing

spirit that leads people away from loyalty to the ways of God and turns them into adulterers.

“My son, pay attention to my wisdom;

Lend your ear to my understanding,

That you may preserve discretion

And your lips may keep knowledge.

For the lips of an immoral woman

Drip honey and her mouth is smoother than oil;

But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,

Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death;

Her steps lay hold of hell.

Lest you ponder her path of life -

Her ways are unstable; you do not know them.

Therefore hear me now, my children,

And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Remove your way from her,

And do not go near the door of her house,

Lest you give your honor to others,

And your years to the cruel one;

Lest aliens be filled with your wealth,

And your labors go to the house of a foreigner,

And you mourn at last.

When your flesh and your body are consumed,

And say: “How I have hated instruction,

And my heart despised correction!

I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

I was on the verge of total ruin,

In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

(Proverbs 5:1-14)

The “immoral or strange woman” described in the Proverbs is a warning against spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness towards the Lord. Dreams often reveal hints and clues of this spiritual condition. The seduction of demonic spirits is through twisting perception of truth and the art of deception. Proverbs warns us to guard our hearts against such perverseness and preserve our ability to discern evil. We must preserve discretion lest we follow the wrong thoughts and attitudes down the steps to death. If thoughts come to tempt you towards rehearsing offense, painful memories and other negative thoughts, recognize that this is the “immoral woman” attempting to seduce you away from being loyal to the Lord. It can also be called a Jezebel spirit because of the witchcraft involved. All witchcraft seduces people away from obedience to God and into idolatry, which God calls “adultery”. Spiritual adultery allows a curse to enter a person’s life that will eventually rob them.

Bitterness works in tandem with a spirit of witchcraft to keep a person bound and deceived. In Acts 8:14 Peter encountered a sorcerer that was known to be quite influential in his city. Simon, who was also called Peter, rebuked the sorcerer for attempting to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to gain access to God’s power. But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thoughts of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” (Acts 8:20-23).

The King James version uses the word “gall” in the above scripture. Gall in this portion of scripture means the essence of bitterness or poison. It has a stupefying effect. It is literally like a drug that intoxicates a person and allows them to be under the influence of another spirit. If we can't seem to recognize the truth of our own spiritual reality, often God communicates this truth through dreams involving drinking, drug use or addictions. What He is trying to say is, “You are under the influence of a spirit that is not my Holy Spirit.” This spirit of stupor literally desensitizes the person that is under the influence and blinds them of their own need to repent. Lying spirits whisper false realities, creating an illusion of deception in the person’s mind and heart, keeping them bound to sin and iniquity. Many people get so used to listening to these wrong voices that they mistake them for the voice of God. A spirit of python or pythos which is divination and witchcraft, will also bind a person’s faith, vision, and dreams for the future and cause them to feel hopeless, perpetuating the spirit of bitterness. It literally tries to suffocate the life out of the individual. It steals God’s vision and replaces it with a counterfeit. It becomes like a mirage, or false vision placed before the person under the influence of deception. It keeps people looking back at past events rather than on the “new” thing God has for their future.

From a personal point of view, if one is blind to their own need to repent for something, it can seem quite harsh to try and seek answers and be stuck in darkness, but again, it is one of God's methods of communicating. If a person is a Christian and cannot hear from God, but has in the past, the silence is there to act as a wake up call so the person will begin to ask the right questions. Disobedience allows evil seeds to grow within us. Refusing to forgive, refusing to love or show mercy, and refusing to walk in obedience allows evil seeds to grow within us. These evil seeds grow and begin to choke out the life of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is grieved and His life is choked out, it begins to produce bad fruit in the person’s life. Broken fellowship with God and disobedience causes revelation to be withheld. Darkness and confusion keep a person stuck, confused and discouraged. Demonic oppression, affliction, disorder and crisis torment the life of the person that is bound. Understandably, many become angry at God because they do not see nor understand their own cooperation with the enemy. They may blame God for feelings of abandonment. Hurt, disappointment, anger and offense are not just directed at individuals but at God. A spirit of accusation and pride becomes their stumbling block, preventing them from receiving anything from Him until they repent and come humbly, acknowledging His ways are perfect and the fault is not His. Many people blame God for their lack of understanding and therefore perish for lack of knowledge. This is not God’s fault. We have a responsibility to seek Him. He has made truth available through His word and His Spirit.

When the disciples came to Jesus and asked why they couldn’t deliver a particular person, Jesus responded with the answer that some spiritually rooted issues could not be resolved except by prayer and fasting. Sometimes the truth you need to be set free will only come when you humble your body and allow the spirit man to become the stronger influence. Greater is He that is within you than he that is in the world.

Bitterness is a poison. It is also elsewhere in scripture referred to as the “poison of asps” that comes through toxic words laced with death. (Ps. 140:3; Rom. 3:13; James 3:8). It brings a curse, often times brought on with our own words of negativity. That is why the Bible warns us to guard our heart, for out of it spring the issues of life.

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord; looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.” Hebrews 12:14-16.

The reason Esau is mentioned in this portion of scripture is because there is a direct connection between a bitter, unbelieving heart and how it affects a person’s attitude towards God. How a person relates to God also has a direct correlation to whether or not they receive their spiritual inheritance and fulfill their calling. Esau was defiled by bitterness. We know this to be true because Esau was so bitter he wanted to kill his brother. That is why Jacob took off to find refuge in the house of his uncle, Laban. Scripture ties the relationship of bitterness in the heart resulting in a loss of inheritance. Esau represents the flippant disrespect of a faithless person that is undeserving of God’s blessings. Esau is noted to be a fornicator as well as profane. Through this choice of words we understand that he was marked by contempt and irreverence towards the things that were held sacred. Another word for irreverent is blasphemous. Those are very strong words, but we gain an understanding of how serious it is to treat God with disdain. Scripture says that God loved Jacob but hated Esau. One must understand that the word ‘hate’ means indifference or not to chose. God did not choose Esau to inherit His promises because Esau did not choose to honor God or value the spiritual inheritance God had intended for him. In the natural, Esau was blessed. He had wealth and he had many descendants. But, he lost the blessing that had originally been intended for him. God allowed Jacob to take it because Jacob valued what Esau despised. “For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.” Hebrews 12:17.

Esau is representative of the person that refuses to take God seriously and through casual disregard ends up despising God’s good plan for their life. God’s decision to not choose Esau is based on Esau’s rejection of God. It is not a light thing to despise the goodness of God. Neither is it a light thing to reject the grace that is available to us so that we may be healed. Unforgiveness over a prolonged period of time becomes  bitterness. Allowing bitterness to take root in our heart is dangerous because it causes a person’s heart to be hardened. Our own sin cannot be forgiven under these circumstances, according to scripture. What is even more dangerous is to hold on to bitterness and resist  God's offer of healing.  To refuse Him is to deny the cross, and disregard the blood that was shed on our behalf for our healing and deliverance. It rejects Jesus Christ and tramples on the blood that he shed willingly on our behalf.

It takes faith to trust God with our heart issues. It takes faith to trust God with those that have treated us unjustly. It takes faith to honor God with our responses. God is not looking for us to be perfect; He has provided for Himself the answer to our sinful condition through the atoning blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. What God looks for is a heart that is perfect towards Him. He looks for a heart that is wholly turned towards Him and is quick to repent of wrongdoing.

If we were to count sin, who could stand? For no man comes to God on their own good works or proclaiming their own righteousness; man is allowed to draw near to God because of the propitiation of sins provided by God’s own son, (Romans 3:25). Righteousness is imputed to us by the faith we profess in Jesus Christ, that His word is true and His character just. If we say we trust Him, then we must demonstrate that reality by turning over our offenses, hurts, wounds and desire for retribution towards those that have hurt us. Anything else is a lack of faith.

Previously I made the comment that I found myself at a crossroads. I was unable to remove the root of bitterness through simple prayers of renouncement, yet I was willing to be obedient. I earnestly wanted the forgiveness to be genuine. I did not want the ramifications of this bitter root in my life anymore. I told the Lord I was stuck and did not know how to proceed. Holy Spirit gently reminded me of times when I had been guilty of committing the same type of sin that I had judged someone else of doing to me. He reminded me of memories I had long forgotten. Yet, it was my own personal experience that allowed me to understand why I had acted in a similar manner many years ago. I then understood the emotions, thoughts and feelings of the person that perpetuated the hurt towards me. I was then able to feel compassion towards those the enemy had used to inflict hurt. Faced with the truth, I realized I had no right to judge anyone else. All of us were sinners; each person has the same opportunity to be forgiven, healed and set free. If I elevated my judgments rather than mercy, the mercy I wanted God to extend to me could be taken from me. If we want to be the recipient of God’s mercy, then we must do something to demonstrate we qualify for His mercy. It’s called repentance. The decision was clear and my heart readily agreed. This was an uncollectable debt; it was no longer owed. And, at that moment, my own debt was released. My heart testified that forgiveness was genuine and it was complete. The root of bitterness had been extracted and I was free. When compassion enters your heart towards those that have hurt or offended you in some way, you know you have arrived at a place of deliverance and healing.

Divine grace is a gift. God never commands that we do something that is impossible for us. He provides the means necessary to carry out our obedience. What He did for me, He can do for you, if you simply ask. Tell Him where you are stuck. Ask Him for this gift. Ask Him for the revelation that will move your heart towards compassion. It may be hard, but it’s the right thing to do. His grace is sufficient for anything you need.

THE POWER THAT HEALS

So many people struggle with unforgiveness and bitterness. What is bound up inside of us causes restriction, constriction and can literally stop the flow of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life. BItterness will literally shut off the power of God. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that produces strength to overcome any problem. The joy of the Lord is our strength. It is the power of God that needs to be loosed in our life and in the lives of those we encounter that will reverse the curse and set people free so that they too can experience the goodness of God and worship Him.

Families are broken, churches and Christians are powerless and barren, businesses crumble, communities feel the weight of the sin and everyone that is affected suffers the effect of curses that need to be broken. Bitterness can cause barrenness. The prophet Elisha understood the cause of barrenness. In 2 Kings 2, there is a story about some men in a particular city that sought him out and said, "Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the ground barren." Bitter water is unable to be consumed. Whether it’s in the natural water, or spiritual food that we feed to others, if it’s defiled, it will make people sick. Bitterness creates a lot of problems and barrenness is the result of the curse. Elisha understood the solution to the problem, though. It's found in each one of us. "And he (Elisha) said, "Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. Then he went to the source of the water and cast in the salt there, and said, "Thus says the Lord: 'I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness." (2 Kings 2:19-21). Jesus said in Matthew 5:13 that we are the salt of the earth. He also warned us not to lose our ‘saltiness,’ or we’d be good for nothing. Salt is both a  preservative and natural remedy used for healing. The "new bowl" is the form of Christians moving out of the buildings and into their communities. It is being salt and light, releasing the wonderful ‘flavor’ of God into our families, workplace and communities through our testimonies and allowing the gifts of the Holy Spirit to minister to others. The act of ‘being salt’ is to release the healing power of God through the love of a pure heart, bringing gentleness and comfort to those bound by cords of sin. We can't take our bitterness with us. God wants us healed so that we can heal others. It's time to unload the baggage so that the power of Holy Spirit can flow unhindered.

The scripture in John 7:38 reminds us of Jesus’ words, that “He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Some translations say “belly” or “innermost being”. When the Holy Spirit is released, out of the very depths of our being LIFE will flow like a river. Ezekiel 47 also mentions a “river” flowing with life, and the leaves are for healing of the nations. Wherever the river flowed, there was life. Many fish (which represents souls) are drawn to the healing waters where there is life. The trees planted by the river gave good fruit which was used for food, and the leaves were like medicine for the nations.

God wants to release you from bitterness and the toxic effects of poison and give you a divine exchange. He wants to release rivers of living water inside of you. He wants you to be full of the Holy Spirit and full of joy, peace and strength. Holy Spirit wants to come and fill you with power that will be medicine to others.

Father God,

I thank You for showing me anyone I might still need to forgive. Bring their name to mind, Lord. I want to please You, so I ask for a gift of Divine Grace to be poured out into my heart. I ask You to enable me to see those that have hurt or offended me through Your eyes. Help me to see them through eyes of compassion so that I can truly forgive and be healed. Help me to recover my joy, Lord, for it is joy that becomes my strength to overcome. Help me to recover peace and experience Your presence in a greater way. Forgive me Lord, for I need Your forgiveness and Your mercy every day.

“Come, Holy Spirit! Spring up, O well! Let your river flow. Let your power flow. Let your river move all the obstacles out of the way. Let it cleanse, heal and restore my vessel. Holy Spirit, forgive me for any way that I have personally grieved you, retained unforgiveness or bitterness and made room for the enemy in my life. I choose to forgive anyone that has hurt or offended me. I realize those debts are uncollectable! Forgive me for quenching Your Spirit and drying up the river within me. Fill me to overflowing with Your love. Let the new wine fill this earthen jar and fill me with joy unspeakable and full of glory! Let my heart be released and may Your power overflow to my neighbors. Let it flow like a river into the streets and into our cities. Let your power be released inside of me to heal the nations and transform lives, everywhere I go, in Jesus name. Amen.”

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