Sorry for the quiet blog.... so glad you are still tuning in and I hope that you are being blessed by the entries. Today I share a piece from friend and fellow pastor in Kenya, Caleb Ochieng. Caleb writes a lot on relationships and how we are constantly operating in lower level living because we are being influenced by true demonic oppression and attack. We are not simply "just depressed," or "frustrated". It is essential to remember that we are in a battle and that it is a key to hold fast to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God which gives us wisdom on how to relate and operate effectively in relationships. In this writing I share two things from Calebs work 1) self examination and 2) praying for those coming against you.
Breakthrough from controlling and influencing spirits
"The simplest way to overcome these forces and to live positively in God is to do the following. The list is not exhaustive, it is just a clue:
1. Acknowledge your limitations and sins. Do not allow pride and deception to convince you that you are ok and do not need a personal examination. For something to gain power over against you it must find its relative in you. “The prince of this world is coming but he has nothing IN me” john 14:30. What is in you is the force. What is on you cannot affect you much. It is what comes from within a man that defiles him. (Mk. 7:15, Mt. 15:18-20). In most cases people who are innocently suffering in the hands of others tend to think that they are righteous and their persecutors are wicked. They look forward to the day God will judge those people who afflicted them that they forget to “examine themselves to see whether they are still in the faith”. (2nd Corinthians 13:5.) You too have sins that should be confessed, sins of hatred, selfishness, anger, bitterness, self-righteousness, etc.
2. Pray for them. We have to remember it in our minds that it is when Job prayed for his three friends that God restored his fortunes two times what he had at the beginning. (Job 42:10). It was when Abraham had prayed for Abimelech that God “remembered His promise to Abraham and visited Sarah. Genesis. 20; 18; 21:1. Look at how the two breakthroughs were connected. You pray for those who have mistreated you and you are next in line. What you make happen for others, God makes it happen for you. Your breakthrough is always linked to your human enemies. If you pray for them and bless them you will encounter your own breakthrough almost immediately. If you hold on to their sins against you, God will hold on to your sins against Him and that will be a ceiling upon your head against the flow of God’s goodness. Remember it is seasonal. Breakthrough is always seasonal. It is not present always. It happened to Abraham at exactly the time when God had promised to give him a child from his loin. It happened to job at a time when God had decided to restore Job’s fortune and health. Had he refused to pray for his enemies the blessing of restoration would have just passed by. "
Pastor Caleb rightly suggests that many of us are burdened by unforgiveness, bitterness and unresolved conflict. Instead of focusing on the hurt and anger, we would do well to pray for our adversaries and perhaps the demonic noose would be loosened around our own day to day experience and walk.
- Thanks Pastor C
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