authority | Revelations From The Road

Visions of Resistance

October 11, 2018 by Bill

Given October 2018

God speaks to His people in many ways. For me, I see something in nature, I receive an image from something I read, or God will show me something as I pray. But many times, I get a vision which is like a video that plays in my mind as a result of something I have read, seen or heard. This happened recently in church during our praise and worship time. The first vision was during the song, “Stand in Your Love” by Josh Baldwin and the vision came from the line, “My fear doesn’t stand a chance when I stand in Your love.” This is what I “saw”: A person was on a path in the country with grass on either side, (I live in the country), and standing there before him was a little demon in a grey/brown cloud which I knew to be fear. The cloud of fear was enlarging and coming closer to the person and, understandably, they were afraid. But it was their fear that was harassing them. Then, they heard a voice behind them, (Isaiah 30:21), and they turned and saw Jesus standing there with His arms open wide in a position of invitation. But most noticeable about Jesus was a bright aura of light surrounding Him and He was motioning the person to come stand in His light of love. Well, the person glanced back at the demon in the dark cloud of fear then turned and hurried back into God’s love and stood there with Him. The demon in his dirty cloud of fear realized he had no chance and departed. The person’s fear didn’t stand a chance when they went to stand in the love of God. What a great picture! If you’re being

harassed by your fear, turn and go stand in God’s love. He’s right there. Draw near to God and He’ll draw near to you, (James 4:8).

Then another praise song by UpperRoom, “Surrounded, Fight my Battles” had this lyric which brought on another vision: “It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by You.” Again, I saw a person on a path in the country who was surrounded, a little more than an arm’s length away, by little demons. The person looked right, left and behind them and saw that they were surrounded by these evil creatures. But then, they raised up and looked over the heads of these small creatures and, behind them to the right, left and all around, were big, strong, armed angelic beings just standing there with intimidating looks on their faces. The frightful look on the person’s face transformed into a big smile as they nodded and motioned to the demons to look behind them. As they did, they realized THEY were surrounded and scattered in fear without a fight. Sometimes we may feel like we’re surrounded by the enemy but God is always nearby and will say, “Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and might things which you don’t know about.” (Jeremiah 3:33).

This last vision also reminded me of the story in 2 Kings chapter 6 where Elisha and his servant Gehazi were surrounded at Dothan during the night by the King of Aram’s army. The servant went outside in the morning and was terrified at seeing this great army of the enemy surrounding them. He ran back inside and asked Elisha, “Oh no, what are we going to do?” To which Elisha calmly replied, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (Verse 16). Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, open his eyes so that he may see.” And when Gehazi went back outside, he then saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding the enemy! It can be the same with us when it may look like we’re surrounded by the enemy but actually we are surrounded by God and His mighty army.

“God, I pray that you continue to show us these wonderful, enlightening visions that can be shared with others for our comfort, peace and assurance. In Jesus’ name I pray AMEN!”

Fight Back!

September 29, 2018 by Bill

Given September 2018

I know that many of us are facing difficulties. Habits, addictions, relationships, past sins, whatever it is, we feel the effects of the attack. And it is an attack of the enemy who wants to steal, kill and destroy us, (John 10:10).

This week, I got three “pictures” of what it means to fight back and I want to share them with you, hopefully, for your encouragement. The first one was from a praise song we sang at my church, Zion Family Ministries, “My fear doesn’t stand a chance when I stand in Your love.” (Stand in Your Love by Josh Baldwin). I saw my dark fear surrounding me which came from the devil but then, there was Jesus with the bright, shining aura of His love and I moved over into His love and stood there with Him. My dark fear dissipated. Move over beside Jesus.

Then another praise song, Living Hope by Bethany Wohrle, had this lyric, “Out of the silence, the roaring Lion declared, ‘The grave has no hold on me’!” This is what I saw: The devil standing outside Jesus’ tomb laughing because he thought he had won. But then, here comes Jesus, like a roaring lion, out of the grave and stomps the devil into the dirt! “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20). Notice that? Under OUR feet. “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19). You have the power…fight back!

And finally, James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Picture this: The devil is harassing you, you feel the weight of his attack as you face him. Then you turn around and see Jesus, He’s holding His arms out to you. You turn and walk over to Him and bow down, submitting to Him. He reaches out and touches you on the top of your head. As he does, power like a lightning bolt flashes all around you and enters you. Wow! Then, infused with the power of God, you turn and face the devil who sees this power all over you. As you take one step toward him in resistance, he, with a terrified look on his face, turns and runs away quickly!

You have the power! Fight back!

Submit and Resist – 2

May 27, 2018 by Bill

Given May 16, 2018

We know the devil is always after God’s people to distract, deceive and destroy us. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;” (John 10:10). We have all encountered him in our lives, some of us more than others. He is looking for those who are vulnerable, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8), which tells me Satan can’t influence everyone, only those who are not prepared, don’t have on the armor or aren’t with God. However James 4:7 says, “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

So, I want you to picture this in your mind: The devil is confronting and challenging you with confidence. He thinks he’s found someone who is vulnerable and he’s ready to pounce. Now, God is there nearby in the shadows, (“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5), if you’re a Christian, He’s always there. But, this time, since you’re trying to handle things on your own, (bad decision), you realize you can’t do it and are afraid. You come to your senses and call out to Jesus, “Lord, forgive me, I can’t do this!” By praying that, you are submitting to Him and He steps out of the shadows in all His glory! The devil sees this and knows he’s in trouble if he sticks around. He sees now that you are not someone he can bully and he runs away in defeat.

Jesus comes over to you, puts His arm around you and says, “Child, you shouldn’t be trying to do things on your own, it’s not going to work out for your good.” “Stick with Me and I’ll give you wisdom, direct your way and teach you how to win in this life.” “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,” (2 Corinthians 2:14). “You’ve got to give me control and I’ll handle most things but will give you some freedom as you learn and develop.” “Sometimes you won’t understand it or why it’s taking so long but you just have to trust Me and thank Me for it.” “Is it a deal?” To which you reply, “God, I submit, I give You full control and I thank You for the outcome.”

You may be in a battle, trial or test right now. I’ve found that when I’m feeling like I don’t know what to do or how to proceed, I just pray, “God, I don’t know what to do so I hand this all over to You and I thank you for whatever you decide.” “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;” (Psalm 55:22). So submit and reveal that power that is in you and watch the devil flee!

God Is In Control

April 27, 2018 by Bill

Given September 2017

God taught me a lesson recently about giving Him control. My mother was in a nursing home and I would visit her regularly. Some days, she would be doing very well and, as I walked to the parking lot after the visit, I would thank God that she was doing well. But one time when she was having a bad day, as I walked to my car, I prayed, “God, what’s wrong?” “She’s not doing well today, please help her.” I immediately got the response in my spirit: “Son, you’ve given me control of her situation, right?” “If that’s so, your prayer should be the same on the bad days as it is on the good days.” “If I have control, thank Me every day no matter what.” Oh, it was a revelation to me about giving God full control. Since then, I have remembered this and, even if things aren’t going well in any situation, I say, “God, I give it all to you and I thank you for the outcome.” I’ve even started using the hashtag, #Godisincontrol.

But here is the revelation God gave me on this morning during my devotion time. Yes, we give God control to handle our situation and let us know what to do. But, I think what we would really like is for God to take control of everything so we don’t have to make any decisions or do anything. God would decide and do it all. But it doesn’t work that way. Now, that may be OK for a baby. Babies can’t do or decide anything for themselves and Mom and Dad have to do it all for them. But soon, they grow and good parents begin allowing them to make some decisions and do some things on their own. It’s part of growing up. And I believe God wants it that way as well. “Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.” (Hebrews 5:14 NLT) We’re not babies but God is training us to step out in faith and do some things on our own. But, we’re never really all on our own, God is with us. “For He hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5). Remember this the next time you’re in a difficult situation and you don’t know what to do. Give God control and thank Him,thank Him, thank Him. #Godisincontrol

Deliver Us From Evil

April 12, 2018 by Bill

Given April 12, 2018

I was praying the Lord’s Prayer this morning, as I usually do several times a day, and a thought came to me as I prayed Matthew 6:13, “…and deliver us from evil”. I thought, “How does God deliver us from evil?” The general idea, I think to answer this question, is that when we’ve been captured by the enemy, as we cry out for help, God comes to our rescue grabbing us from the chains of sin, rebuking the devil and delivering us once again into His saving grace. And that;s how it can happen. But as I thought about it, several other ways came to my mind. Let’s look at them.

First, I thought of Paul who was in prison. He and Silas were singing and praising God when an EARTHQUAKE came and released them and the other prisoners from their chains, (Acts 16:25-26).
Then, when Peter was in jail awaiting trial the next day, an ANGEL appeared in the cell and released him from his chains and escorted him out onto the street, (Acts 12:7).
Samson was threatened or bound by an enemy six times and the POWER OF GOD came on him and he was able to subdue the threat or break free and defeat the enemy, (Judges 13-16).
The last example that came to me of how God delivers us from evil was of Jesus in the wilderness. He used THE WORD OF GOD to confound and defeat the devil and was delivered from him, (Luke 4:4, 8, 10, 12, 13). “It is written!”

So from this, I realized that God not only comes on the scene Himself and snatches us out of the clutches of the enemy but He may and will use many other methods of delivering us from evil. We do not have to put up with the lies, temptations and devices of the devil! “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (! John 4:4). “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.” (John 19:30). We have the victory, we have been delivered from evil! Claim it, speak it, receive it! #Godisincontrol