This is part of a message that I sent to a friend tonight in regards to my heart and belief system on many issues that are sensitive subjects for many people.  I wanted to post it here because I believe it will speak to a lot of people, encourage, empower, and equip you to get aggressive and to pursue wholeheartedly the destiny and inheritance that God has for each of you—and also because it will probably help you understand me a bit better

Enjoy.
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I have witnessed amazing miracles through the power of God and I know that it is never God’s will for any to perish (2 Peter 3:9 [show]2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (ESV)
)—and unfortunately right now there are people perishing.  It is my firm opinion that this is not God’s fault, but the fault of Christians everywhere who are not operating in their God-given authority and demonstrating His power and dominion over a very-real devil who does nothing but steal, kill, and destroy.  The deficiency is never on God’s end.

Jesus made it clear when He talked to His disciples that it was their responsibility if there were sick people in a city that they were in (Luke 10:8-9 [show]Luke 10:8-9 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' (ESV)
)…and the message that I unashamedly speak is that it is time for the Bride of Christ to make herself ready (Rev. 19:7 [show]Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
) and contend for and step into the power and destiny that God has for each of us.

This is why I say that it is always God’s will to heal, right now.  It is the model that Jesus gave–never did He turn anyone away and say things that are said in our churches: “It’s just not My will right now” — “It’s not My timing” — “It’s just a thorn in your flesh…My grace is sufficient for you” — “I’m trying to teach you something through this” — “You are bringing Me greater glory by suffering through this” — and the list goes on..but that’s the majority of them.  He simply never said or did it.

There’s a whole lot of verses throughout the Gospels and I’ve just recently started compiling them (only up to Matthew 12 [show]Matthew 12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"--so that they might accuse him. He said to them, "Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope." Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, "Can this be the Son of David?" But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons." Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation." While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." (ESV)
so far) and I’ve already come up with 5 where it says “…and He (or the disciples) healed them ALL”.

(Matthew 4:23-24 [show]Matthew 4:23-24 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. (ESV)
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(Matthew 8:16 [show]Matthew 8:16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. (ESV)
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(Matthew 9:35 [show]Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. (ESV)
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(Matthew 10:1 [show]Matthew 10:1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. (ESV)
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(Matthew 12:15 [show]Matthew 12:15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all (ESV)
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This is our model…and I’m not saying that we’re there yet…but I certainly have seen a whole lot more breakthrough by gritting my teeth and not backing off.  I’ve found that if we don’t back down and just keep praying and commanding the healing and exercising the authority God has given to each of us, that the devil WILL back down eventually.

With the things I have seen and the things I’ve learned through experience and revelation and reading the Word, I can’t help but speak about it—just today in church there was a girl behind us that we prayed for whose jaw visibly would lock and get stuck when she’d open her mouth and it had transcended into a degenerative issue for the last 8 years…and after praying twice it was completely healed.

She was so amazed and so were we but it wasn’t the kind of amazement where we didn’t expect it to happen…we knew it HAD to happen…I wasn’t asking the pain and the problem to go, I was telling it to go and I would not stop until it was gone.  And it went–and now her jaw doesn’t lock at all.  It was so amazing, especially because we had seen it locking just moments earlier.

In praying with a lady just yesterday, while most people who prayed for her spent 5 or 10 minutes with her, we spent almost an hour and a half because it just wasn’t completed yet—and I don’t see anywhere that Jesus told us to leave people only partially healed.  So we stuck it out and we saw her again today and she said she’s feeling amazing with no more pain or problems…so what would have happened if we had stopped?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that I’ve met a whole lot of people who have received some short 2 minute prayers and have left still pretty busted up.  I don’t see it in the life of Christ or anywhere in the New Testament and I refuse to bow to that.

He told us to set the captives free and opening the door just a little bit so they can get their leg out the door doesn’t set them free.  This ministry of healing and deliverance is a lot of responsibility and it takes perseverance to get the kind of results that are our inheritance.

Obviously our ideal situation would be that everybody we prayed for is healed and stays healed and that it only takes a second or two..and this is what we press in for and go after.  I do not believe it is God’s will for us to have to spend hours praying for people to get the job done. My point is that it has seemed to take a perseverance in the long haul to get to a place where the short, concise prayers are a lot more effective.  Almost as if the devil knows you won’t back down so he just leaves a lot faster.

We’ve had it start happening recently where we’ve not even had to pray we’ve just laid hands on people who have been healed instantly—and that’s something we’ve been praying for and going after for about 3 years now…and very aggressively.

I am extremely intense about this stuff because I have found that the devil will not take people seriously if they aren’t serious with him.  Too many people tolerate his working in their lives and it is that tolerance, in my opinion, that kills so many Christians with sickness and disease.

In studying guys like John G. Lake and Smith Wigglesworth…I have found that they were not calm, complacent, and in many cases even very nice.  Church folk frequently got offended with how intense and gruff they were…but they also got some of the most amazing results in the healing ministry in the last 200 years.

I suppose my question then becomes what would you rather have—nice Christians praying for people and the people end up dying or some gruff, authoritative, intense Christians who don’t back down in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances and even go so far as to drag bodies out of caskets in the middle of funerals and command life into them until they come back to life?

I certainly have never done that…but Wigglesworth did several different times and saw many people come back from the dead.

I have a hard time believing that when Jesus was spitting on people’s tongues and putting mud in their eyes that there weren’t some Pharisees or other well-intentioned believers nearby who were offended at His methods.  I’ve kneed people in the stomach at the suggestion of the Holy Spirit and seen people healed.

I don’t understand it other than to say that there is no formula.  There is no pat answer.  We seem to want there to be an easy answer to everything and the only easy answer that I have been able to offer people is this:  DO NOT BACK DOWN.

The devil has limited resources…only 1/3 of heaven fell with him so we’re up 2 to 1 (plus obviously we have the Creator of the Universe living inside us…so that’s a trump card every time too).  I have found in my experience that if we dig in and look at the healing and deliverance ministry as it is—open acts of warfare against the powers of darkness—you learn to take it a lot more seriously and understand that your enemy is not a patsy.  He has been around a long time and he knows the human tendency to give up.

I have found that if we do not give up, he gets worn out and will back off…and it even seems like you can establish a reputation amongst his ranks…look at the seven sons of Sceva and what the demon said…”Jesus I know, and Paul I know also, but who are you?”  (Acts 19:13-16 [show]Acts 19:13-16 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. (ESV)
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So to me, that shows that there is something that the demonic realm can recognize in the spirit realm in terms of our authority and reputation…how else could the demon say that he knew who Jesus and Paul were but then essentially made fun of and beat the tar out of Sceva’s sons?  I think that story in itself shows very clearly what has happened to many believers.  Sceva’s sons were trying a formula based on what they heard Paul saying…”In the name of the Jesus that Paul preaches…come out of him!”

Because they had no history with casting out demons and no reputation in hell, the demon laughed at them and overpowered them.  This is a very real, and unfortunately very common occurrence in the church today.

This is war.  Our mission statement is to love God, love others, and set the captives free.  I’ve seen too many people die who have not had to…and I’ve been witness to far too much powerless Christianity.

This life is the life that Christ paid for…divine health is our inheritance, as well as to be the head and not the tail…above and not beneath…the lender and not the borrower.  It should not be that those in the Old Covenant had superior blessings and encounters with God.

And so we press forward…aggressively taking ground and OCCUPYING.  The object of warfare is never victory–the object is occupation of new ground.  Most of this can be linked back to the Exodus from Egypt into the Promised Land and how, even after the Israelites entered the Promised Land, there were still giants to kick out.

It was in the Promised Land that God taught Israel how to co-labor with God and fight from victory, not for it.

We are no different.  All things are ours in Christ—but there is still a thief who does not like to play by the rules and it is our job to enforce the victory of Calvary over the works of darkness.