Jehovah-Nissi: the Lord is our banner, the Lord is our victory

Exodus 17:1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: but there was no water for the people to drink.

Exodus 17:2 Therefore the people did chide or did contend with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, why do you chide or contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?

Exodus 17:3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

Exodus 17:4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, what shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.

Exodus 17:5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with you of the elders of Israel; also take in your hand your rod, with which you smote the river, and go.

Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Exodus 17:7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding or contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

Exodus 17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

Exodus 17:9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us some men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.

Exodus 17:10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Exodus 17:11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

Exodus 17:12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur supported up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Exodus 17:13 And Joshua discomfited or defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Exodus 17:14 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out or blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

Exodus 17:15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-Nissi:

Exodus 17:16 For he said, because the LORD has sworn: the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

I. The Rephidim of our Christian pilgrimage

The word Rephidim means balusters: in other words many balusters have been placed around a location to form a balustrade which is a row of balusters, joined by a rail, serving as a fence. Rephidim or Rephiydiym is the plural of the word Rephiydah which means bottom. Therefore Rephidim also means bottoms. In our Christian pilgrimage we might find ourselves in places we do not like, it may seem to us as if we have reached the bottom of the bottomless pit. We do not know how we will ever come out of that bottomless pit. We have nobody to help us; we have nobody to provide for us, we have nobody to vouch for us, etc. Here we see the children of Israel in the wilderness, they arrived at Riphidim, and they did not know how their thirst would be quenched in the wilderness! They felt like they had reached the bottom: not just were they in the wilderness and not in the promised land, flowing with milk and honey; but they were about to die of thirst. They cried out to Moses: give us water to drink; why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children and our livestock with thirst?

Coming out of Egypt corresponds to our salvation, when we became born again; and going through the red sea, corresponds to our baptism: death and resurrection with Christ Jesus. Many times when we are born again, the enemy is not happy at all, for we are no longer his slave, but have been set free. He fights us with all He can, to discourage us in this journey to experience the manifestations of our God given inheritance. Sometimes believers might even think that it was better when they were in the world, just like the Israelites told Moses, at least we had food and water in Egypt! It is the enemy’s plan to attack us with all he has, so that we will return to be his slaves. Sometimes Christians might feel they had less attacks when they were in the world; but since they were born again, it is as if all hell broke loose. The children of Israel also experienced the same thing, when they came out of Egypt; Pharaoh and all his army pursued them to kill them (Exodus 14). They thought they would all die there before the Red Sea, by the hand of the Egyptians.

But what we must realize is, that even when we feel like we have reached the bottom, that our life and our children’s lives are in danger, our business or source of income is about to be destroyed, God has placed a balustrade around us, or placed a fence around us. Satan even complained to God about Job saying: have You not made a hedge or fence, around about Job, around his household and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the works of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land (Job 1:10). The fence God has placed around you, not only protects you on every side, but your entire household too, and all that you have, all your businesses, your employment, all your properties, etc.

The enemy cannot touch you, because the fence of the Lord is around you. David knew that the Lord had put a fence around him and he said: the Angel of the Lord, who is Jesus Christ (Isaiah 63:8-9), encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them (Psalm 34:7). David had also reached the bottom, he knew the Lord Jesus encamped all around Him to deliver him, he said: though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4). David said: where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me (Psalm 139:7-10).

David knew that he was only going through, he was not dwelling in that valley of the shadow of death. You and I might be going through some things, but we know that God is with us, and Jesus encamps around us to deliver us, His presence is, or His faces are with us, even when we make our bed in hell. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all (Psalm 34:19). The prophet Zechariah said: for I, says the Lord, will be a wall of fire all around her (Jerusalem) and I will be the glory in her midst (Zechariah 2:5). The enemy is kept outside the fence God has placed all around us. The Lord Jesus, your Redeemer, will arise and deliver you. Job Said: I know my Redeemer (Jesus) lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth (Job 19:25). He will fight my battles, he will get me out of that valley of the shadow of death, He will provide for me in Rephidim, my children and I will not perish in Rephidim, nor will our source of income (livestock).

II. Jehovah-Nissi: the Lord is our banner

Many times when people say Jehovah-Nissi, they only think about the God of war who gives them victories. Yes, the Lord is the Man of war Jehovah or Yahweh is His name (Exodus 15:3); But the first meaning of Jehovah-Nissi is, the Lord our banner, but what banner? Is it the banner of one of the armies of Israel: lion, ox, man or eagle? This is what God says: His banner over us is love (Songs 2:4). As long as we do not know it, we will not serve the Lord willingly. Not the Love that we have for Him but the unconditional or agape love He has for us. We love Him because He first loved us (1John 4:19). Though the Lord has made us soldiers of Christ; He wants us to know that it is not because we can fight for His kingdom that He saved us, or because we can serve in His kingdom that He saved us, no, it is because He loves us. All these things we will do, but they do not commend us to God. He said: I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for My anger is turned away from him (Hosea14:4).

The thief on the cross with Jesus said: Lord remember me when You come into Your kingdom. Jesus said to him: verily I say to you today, you shall be with me in paradise (Luke 23:42-43). The banner Jesus placed over him was love, the thief had never served Jesus on earth, had never fought any battle with the Lord to advance the Kingdom of God. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us, so that we will be victors in life, no longer victims. When the Hebrews were in captivity in Egypt they could not defeat Pharaoh, they could not fight for their own freedom. But God, who is love, and placed the banner of love over them; said to Moses: I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:7-8).

God is our Father. Which father on earth, seeing his son or daughter being afflicted, crying night and day, will not come to them and deliver them or comfort them? God said to Moses: you shall say unto Pharaoh, Thus says the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn; And I say unto you, Let my son go, that he may serve me; but, if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, even your firstborn (Exodus 4:22-23). Israel could not fight for himself; God was the one who plagued Egypt with the ten plagues and then delivered Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh. It is the same thing for our salvation, as we explain in length in the Perfect Redemption Plan part I, how God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, defeated Satan, who was trying to hold us in bondage all those years, and kept our inheritance. It was the blood of the lamb that the Israelites put on their doorposts and lintels, that caused the angel of death to pass over them. In other words it was the death and the resurrection of the Lamb of God, Jesus, that delivered them from their captors. God gave them the victory over their arch-enemy Pharaoh, because He loved them, Israel is His son.

Now Pharaoh in Arabic means crocodile. The Hebrew word Tanniym means: a marine or land monster, a serpent, a dragon, whale, crocodile (all reptiles). In Ezekiel 29:3 God says: thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon (Tanniym) who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, My river is my own, and I have made it for myself. The bible never used the name of the king of Egypt, but always called him Pharaoh. In the Nile River, they had crocodiles, so they called their king after that powerful crocodile, which is a cruel, voracious and mischievous monster. So was Pharaoh to the people of the land, and especially to the Hebrews. God was prophetically telling the people that it is not the physical Pharaoh, king of Egypt who has kept you in bondage; but the great dragon or serpent of old, your arch-enemy: Satan. I, the Lord, am against Satan who is at work through Pharaoh. Jesus also came down from heaven to deliver us from the power of the dragon, because He so loved us.

All the victories we ever had, and we will keep on having, are because God so loves us, and decides to fight for us. He says: the battle is not yours but God’s (2Chronicles 20:15). I, the Lord (Jehovah) the Man of War (Exodus 15:3), will fight on your behalf because I love you and my banner over you is love. Not only does God fight your battles, but He says: the war is God’s (1Chronicles 5:22). He will fight not just one battle, but the entire war, until you experience the manifestations of the blessings of the promised land, and have rest all around, from your enemies. The Lord will drive out from before you, great and strong nations; but as for you, no one will be able to stand against you. One man of you, shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you (Joshua 23:9-10). We do not have to beg God, for Him to fight our battles or wars, He promises to do so. All His promises are yes and Amen in Christ Jesus (2Corinthians 1:20). We just need to ask Him to come to our rescue.

When we are born again, we have been spiritually delivered from the power of darkness (which is the equivalent of the bondage of Egypt) and translated to the kingdom of the Son of God’s love (which is our spiritual promised land) (Colossians 1:13). We are not in a spiritual wilderness, even if, physically we feel like we are in that spiritual wilderness. Paul tells us: we walk by faith and not by sight [Greek word eidos which means: view, appearance, sight, physical senses] (2Corinthians 5:7). It is because people are walking by sight, or feelings, or appearances, that they think they are spiritually in the wilderness, walking to their promised land or Zion, and they come up with the songs like:” we are marching up to Zion; beautiful, beautiful Zion, we are marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God.”

It is because they are looking at their physical circumstances and think they are in a wilderness spiritually. Paul tells us: you have come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel (Hebrews 12:22-24). You are not marching up to Zion; but you have come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

So spiritually, every born again Christian, has been delivered from the power of darkness, and been translated to the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, even the promised land. We are not in a spiritual wilderness regardless of how we feel, or how things appear in the physical; we are not in the spiritual wilderness marching up to the promised land. But we are in the promised land, fighting the forces and powers of darkness that have illegally kept our possessions. We are living the book of Joshua, for Joshua is a type of Jesus, who gave the people rest. Under the leadership of Joshua, the people stepped into the promised land and fought to utterly destroy all their enemies who occupied their promised land. Paul tells us: For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he who has entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His (Hebrews 4:8-10).

Spiritually we are in Christ Jesus, our Rest; we have come to Mount Zion, our heavenly Jerusalem, our spiritual promised land. What we should pray, is what Jesus told us: Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Luke 11:2). We have seen spiritually that we are in the promised land, we need to pray that the promises God made to us, of that land flowing with milk and honey, be done on earth here, as it is in the spiritual realm. If you do not understand that Christ Jesus is the fulfilment of all the Sabbaths, and is our ultimate Rest, and for the Hebrews it was entering the promised land, you will still be thinking that you are in a wilderness spiritually. We have a better covenant in the blood of Christ Jesus. Our fight is against the powers and forces of darkness that are occupying our promised land.

III.Jehovah-Nissi: the Lord our victory.

Many times we do things and we do not have the same result the people in the bible had. God says: I am the Lord, I do not change, and therefore you My son Jacob, are not consumed or destroyed, or will not fail (Malachi 3:6). And furthermore it is written: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Since the Godhead does not change, why is it that we do not have the same results believers of old had? There are many shadows in the Old Testament, if we do not understand what they meant and act according to the faith of the believers of old, we will not experience the same victory. Jesus is the Substance or the body that answers all those shadows and types, found in the Old Testament. My prayer is, that we will have the same revelations the early believers had, and become doers of those revelations.

III.1 Christ our Rock

Our victory over sin, and the power of darkness which held us bound, was won through Jesus Christ. The Israelites killed a lamb for the Passover, so that the blood of the lamb would save them from the angel of death (Exodus 12). The Lamb they offered was a shadow of Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God (John 1:29). Now that Jesus has come and died once for all to sin; no one should be offering animal sacrifices again. For David saw the day when the substance, Jesus, would come and fulfil the shadow and said of God: You do not desire sacrifice or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering (Psalm 51:16). Then I, Jesus, said: behold, I come; in the volume of the book, or in the scroll of the book, it is written of Me. I delight in Your will, O My God, and Your Law is within My heart (Psalm 40:7-8). Jesus came according to the scriptures, died according to the scriptures, and was raised by God according to the scriptures (1Corinthians 15:3-4). Whoever believes it, repents of sin toward God, and puts his faith or her faith in this finished work of Jesus, has victory over the power of darkness. He or she is now born again; sin has no more dominion over him or her. Everybody must have this first victory: being born again. Jesus paid for it, we only need to receive it freely by faith.

Being born again is the greatest victory Jesus won for us with His own life. God will make sure that all the other battles which are before us will be won too. Let us look at how Jehovah-Nissi fought for the people then. When they needed God to provide water for them, God said to Moses to take the rod of the Lord, and strike the Rock, and water will come out of that Rock. The rock was a shadow pointing to Jesus. Paul explains: they all drank the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ (1Corinthians 10:4). Striking the Rock with the Rod of the Lord, was symbolic of God crucifying Jesus, as Isaiah explains it in Isaiah 53. The death and resurrection of Jesus provided all the redemptive truth we have been studying in the Perfect redemption plan series.

There is no, absolutely no area of our spiritual life or physical life that is not covered; God has given us the victory over all our enemies. Jesus defeated Satan and all his cohorts when He rose on the third day, as it is written: He disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them (Colossians 2:15). Our arch-enemy Satan is a defeated foe. Jesus our Rock defeated him and all his demons for us. Let us stand in the victory our Lord Jesus conquered for us. It was the same for the Hebrews, Jesus our Rock fought for them, and gave them the victory. God explains to Moses, so that the people and us today will be wise, saying: O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock [Jesus] had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up (Deuteronomy 32:29-30)? He is the Rock [Jesus], His work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he (Deuteronomy 32:4).

We have explained that when Moses struck the Rock at the instruction of the Lord God, water came out of the Rock (Exodus 17:6). When water came out of the Rock [Jesus Christ], it quenched the natural thirst of the people, and gave them life. When Jesus our Rock was smitten of God according to Isaiah 53, and raised from the dead; spiritual water also came out of the resurrected Jesus Christ our Rock, to quench our spiritual thirst. Jesus our Rock smitten by God, tells us: If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink (John 7:37). Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14). He who believes on Me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified or risen from the dead (John 7:38-39).

Thus it is the resurrected Christ Jesus, the Rock, smitten by God who gave us the living water, even the Holy Ghost. And the power of that Holy Ghost is what gave us the victory. Mary asked the question of the angel Gabriel, how God performs the miracles, saying: How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore, also that Holy One which shall be born of you, shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:34-35). And that is also the answer the angel gave to Zechariah, as it is written: the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, do you not Know what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might [collective abilities, resources or wealth or riches of a group of people, an army], nor by power [your personal ability, your personal wealth and riches, your personal strength], but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts (Zechariah 4:5-6).

In the New Covenant the resurrected Christ Jesus, the Rock, smitten by God, dwells in every born again Christian. And water, even the Holy Ghost, is flowing out of that Rock, and since that Rock now dwells in you, therefore the water of the Holy Spirit is also flowing out of you. Jesus told us: Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14). He who believes on Me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified or raised from the dead (John 7:38-39). Our victories today are still through our Rock Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit that flows out of Him. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1Corinthians 15:57).

III.2 Christ the Rod or Branch

When Moses was before the red sea with the Hebrews; Pharaoh was pursuing them with his army to kill them. Moses cried out to God. The Lord said to Moses: “why do you cry out to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea” (Exodus 14:15-16). Moses said to the people: the Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace (Exodus 14:14). Here is Moses crying out to God, and God tells Him: why do you cry out to Me? But lift up your rod. What is so special with that rod that God would say to Moses: why do you cry out to me? Just lift your rod: the Rod of The Lord. The rod is a branch which was cut off from the tree; it has no more life in it, for the sap which once used to flow through it from the tree, is no longer doing so. David says: The Lord said to My Lord, sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool. The Lord shall send the Rod (Matteh: branch, rod) of Your strength out of Zion and rule in the midst of Your enemies (Psalm 110:1-2). Jesus explained that, in the Spirit, David said it, when he heard God the Father saying those things to Jesus (Luke 20:41-44).

The prophet Jeremiah said: Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a rod or a branch of an almond tree (Jeremiah 1:11). The prophet Zechariah also received a revelation about the branch, he said: the Lord spoke to me saying: thus says the Lord of Hosts, saying: behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place, He shall branch out, and shall build the temple of the Lord (Zechariah 6:12). God says: behold I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH (Zechariah 3:8). The almond tree is symbolic of resurrection for the Jews, when all the other trees in Israel have lost their leaves, and it is not time for them to be having fruits, it is when the almond tree puts forth leaves, and produces fruits. So the branch or rod of an almond tree was cut off from the almond tree, in other words, the BRANCH has died, which talks about the death of Jesus. And the BRANCH will branch out or bud, which talked about the resurrection of Jesus. It is written: now it came to pass on the next day Moses went into the tabernacle of witness and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds (Numbers 17:8). The Servant of the Lord named the BRANCH, who died, is raised from the dead, and is budding, producing blossoms and yielding ripe almonds.

Now we understand why God said to Moses: why do you cry out to me? But lift the rod. Jesus is the one who gives us the victory by his death and resurrection. He is the rod of the Lord, or the Branch who branched out; by His death and resurrection, He gave us the victory over our enemies. And he led many sons and daughters to glory (Hebrews 2:10). You and I are now sons and daughters of God, the fruits of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, just like the almond rod of Aaron sprouted, put forth buds, produced blossoms, and yielded ripe almonds. We need to lift the resurrected Christ Jesus up; if we want to have the victory. We need to consider what He has done for us, by His death and resurrection. God will not give anybody the victory over his enemies, if He does not believe the Servant of God, the BRANCH, and if he does not lift the BRANCH, who branched out up. Moses believed in the BRANCH who branched out, in other words He believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

He knew, that was the power that would give him the victory. Then he lifted up the BRANCH or the rod of the Lord, which is to praise the Lord God for the finished work of Jesus on the cross, and His resurrection. For God was the one who brought forth His Servant the BRANCH, and raised Him from the dead (Acts 2:32). One needs to read the bible studies on Abecedary of prayer and Seven Hebrew words for praise, to understand the foundation of prayer and praise, for that is what Moses did in his prayer: he beheld our victory through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and praise God for that victory.

Moses parted the red sea by lifting the Rod of God or the BRANCH who branched out. When they fought the Amalekites, Moses went on top of the hill, which represented the place of prayer, and held up or lifted up the Rod of God, which had helped him to part the red sea before. He simply believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the finished work of Jesus, and praised God for that victory, that perfect redemption through Christ Jesus. The Lord said to Moses: write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it or recount it. God wants us to preserve in our memory, how He gave the victory to the children of Israel over their enemy, He wants us to rehearse it; if we do that, it will always work.

We need to behold the Man whose name is BRANCH, what He has done for us by His death and resurrection, and we need to lift him up, to praise the Godhead for the perfect redemption plan. When you ask people to join you in prayer, they must have the same revelation of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ you have; so that they will join you and lift up the finished work of Jesus. Aaron and Hur came up onto the hilltop, to help Moses lift up the rod of the Lord, so that Moses’ hands would be steady. Many people we invite around us to pray with us, do not lift the finished work of Christ, they lift up many other things, but not the finished work of Christ. When the hand of Moses and the rod of the Lord went down, the Amalekites prevailed, when we lift things other than the finished work of God, the enemy will prevail. Stop lifting up the traditions of men, that have made the word of God of no effect, false humility, philosophy, medical reports that do not line up with the written word of God, self imposed religion, man-made wisdom and your good deeds of the law, though you ought to do them; but lift up the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, even the perfect redemption plan of God.

Paul says: the preaching of the cross is the power of God (1Corinthians 1:18). People will think it is too easy! Do you mean I just have to know it, believe it and act on it? It sounds too easy! So they reject the finished work of Christ, and try to established their own works, own “anointing”, own holiness, etc. The gospel of Christ is the power of God (Romans 1:16). Paul gives us the definition of the gospel: Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and was buried and He rose again on the third day, according to the scriptures (1Corinthians 15:3-4).

So people will stumble, saying: do you mean I just need to know what has been purchased for me by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and stand fast in that faith and act on that faith? It seems too easy! Maybe I need to add something to it? Aaron and Hur helped Moses to lift up and steady the Rod of the Lord. You and I ought to do the same thing: stand fast in our faith, and lift up the finished work of Jesus. Jesus Christ is the power of God (1Corinthians 1:24). That is why God told Moses: why do you cry to me? Christ the BRANCH who branched out, is the Power of God, what He did by His death and resurrection is the power of God, when you preach, declare or rehearse what He purchased for you by His death and resurrection, and you believe it and act on it, the power of God is released.

I, God, have invested all My power in My Servant the BRANCH, and in His finished work. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10). Yes, to My Servant the BRANCH also known as Jesus; I, God, have highly exalted Him, and given Him the name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). There is no power of darkness that can stand before Him. Jesus confirms it by saying: All power and authority is given unto me in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). There is no victory in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, or now, that was won or that is won or that will be won outside of Christ Jesus. That is why God commands us to have the finished work of His Son as a memorial, so that we rehearse it over and over, until we know it, believe it, stand fast on it, and act on it, and then the victory will always be ours.

On October 9^th, 2013 the Lord Jesus showed me a vision, and gave me a glimpse of the understanding that He gave to Moses, on how to look at spiritual things and earthly things. In that vision, I saw a serpent and a crocodile, both the serpent and the crocodile were putting fear in the hearts of the people around me, and in my own heart as well. As I was standing there in that vision, the Holy Spirit reminded me saying: the serpent is symbolic of Satan, the serpent of old who deceived Eve, who comes but to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). It is the same serpent and his cohorts, that were biting the Hebrews in the wilderness causing them to die of sickness (Numbers 21). The crocodile is the symbol of Pharaoh, for Pharaoh in Arabic means crocodile. That pharaoh, the crocodile is a cruel, voracious and merciless beast. He made the life of the children of Israel bitter, and wanted to kill all male children the Hebrew women gave birth to.

Then in that vision, the Lord placed a rounded mirror before me. I asked the Lord what is the meaning of the Mirror? And the Lord answered me: the Mirror is the Mirror of the Word of God, so that you see things not after the flesh, but according to the Written Word of God, and you look at that serpent the way God looks at it (James 1:22-25)! So I looked at the Mirror in my vision, then I realized that the living serpent, which put fear in the hearts of the people around me, and in my own heart, was but a wooden rod with a carved serpent head on top of it, through the Mirror of the Word of God. So I turned around to face that living serpent again, and grabbed it by its tail, and in my very hand it turned into a wooden rod with a carved serpent head on top of the rod, just like I saw it through the Mirror.

And the Holy Ghost spoke to me saying: that is one of the revelations God gave Moses in Exodus 4:3-4. God was saying to Moses, and is now saying to every born again Christian: will you be afraid of a wooden rod? Of course the answer to that is no! So in the eyes of God, Satan the serpent of old, that is behind Pharaoh the crocodile, is but a wooden rod with a carved head of a serpent on top of it. I looked at the crocodile through the Mirror, and it was but a wooden rod with a carved head of a crocodile. Then the Lord said to me like He said to Moses: grab that serpent by the tail, not by the head! To let Satan, the serpent of old, know that you are not afraid of him biting you, or his venom; for he and his venom have no power whatsoever over you; he is but a wooden rod to you, as God sees him. Unless we see Satan and his cohort demons as God sees them; he will keep deceiving us as he deceived Eve. Paul tells us: I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled or deceived Eve through his subtlety or craftiness, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2Corinthians 11:3). In the eyes of God it is simple, Satan is but a dried up piece of wood!

That was also the revelation of Paul about Satan, the serpent of old. In Acts 27 Satan that serpent of old tried to kill Paul through his vassal demon Dike by sending a tempest at sea but he failed. As Paul said to the people who were with him in the boat: now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there will be no casting away or loss of life among you, only of the ship. For tonight an angel of God stood beside me, whose I am and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul! You must stand before Caesar. And behold! God has given you all those who sail with you. Therefore, men, be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it will be so, according to the way it was told me (Acts 27:22-25). Satan that serpent of old that was behind the tempest, that came against the ship in which Paul was, wanted to kill Paul because he did not want Paul to arrive at Rome and spread the gospel of the kingdom, and destroy all the works of Satan by saving souls from hell fire, healing the sick, casting out demons, cleansing lepers and raising the dead!

But Satan that serpent of old could not kill Paul at sea, so when they landed at Malta in Acts 28, that same Satan manifested himself physically to kill Paul, to let everybody know that he was the one behind the tempest and the shipwreck, through the vassal demon Dike. Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laying them on the fire, a viper (a serpent whose bite is remarkably venomous) came out of the heat and fastened onto his hand. And when the foreigners saw the creature (the serpent whose bite is remarkably venomous) hanging from his hand, they said to one another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, being saved from the sea, Justice {Dike or Justice in English is a demon that the Greek worshiped } has not allowed to live. Then indeed Paul shook off the creature (the serpent whose bite is remarkably venomous) into the fire, suffering no harm (Acts 28:3-5).

Yes, Paul was not afraid of Satan and his cohort Dike who tried to kill him at sea in a tempest and the shipwreck, as the inhabitants of Malta understood. So Satan was not happy with his vassal Dike for not being able to kill Paul at sea, so he, himself came in his symbolic body of a serpent, to do the job that Dike his vassal had miserably failed to perform. But Paul understood that that serpent of old, even Satan, was in the eyes of God just like one of the dry sticks that he had gathered. So Paul even let that viper bite him to let everybody know that it has no power at all against him, and he just shook it into the fire with the rest of the sticks of the bundle. Yes, Satan and all his vassals are but dry sticks, wooden rods; they are to be thrown into hell fire. Only unsaved people should be intimidated by Satan and his vassal demons, you as a born again Christian, should look at all of them according to the Mirror of the Word of God: they are but dry sticks, dry wooden rods!

Jesus told us: Behold, I give unto you power and authority 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 need to believe according to the scriptures: that nothing shall by any means hurt you: neither Satan and his vassal demons, nor sickness, diseases and premature death, which are the works of Satan and his vassal demons, shall by any means hurt you! Paul believed according to the Mirror of the Word of God. There was a contagious disease on Malta: dysentery which is a flux, in which the stools consist chiefly of blood and mucus or other morbid matter, accompanied with griping of the bowels, and followed by tenesmus (tenesmus is a clinical symptom, where there is a feeling of constantly needing to pass stools, despite an empty colon). Paul prayed by laying hands on all who had dysentery and other diseases on that Island of Malta and God healed them (Acts 28:7-10).

If you are afraid to catch a contagious disease, you will never lay hands on a person who is sick; because you are afraid of catching the same disease. But you must believe: nothing shall by any means hurt you! Instead of being afraid of catching that sickness or contagious disease when you pray by laying hands on people; think of it as if that sickness or disease was caught by you! Just like Moses caught that serpent and it turned into a wooden rod, think of that sickness or disease as a dry stick that you grab and throw it into the fire! That is why Jesus laid hand on lepers on purpose! First it was to tell the leper that He had compassion on him; and also to let everybody know that He was not afraid of leprosy! That is why Paul laid hands on the people who had dysentery; because he wanted them to know that he could not catch dysentery, and was not afraid of it: nothing shall by any means hurt you!

There have been times when I laid my hands on oozing legs, and after I had prayed for two minutes; my hands were almost glued onto the legs of that sick person. I could have prayed without laying my hands on those oozing legs; but I decided to touch them with my bare hands to show the people that I had compassion on them, and to let the demon responsible for that sickness know, that I was not afraid of him, that I was going to grab him like a dry stick and throw him into hell fire, where he belongs. And the person was healed of that oozing leg! You and I need to believe like John G Lake believed: the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). So the Law of the Spirit is superior to the law of sin and sickness, disease and death. Just like through the Holy Spirit I have dominion over sin, I also have dominion through the same Spirit over sickness, disease and premature death! If you do not believe according to the scriptures, you will not pray for anybody’s problem or sickness, because you will be afraid that that demon will come and attack you, or that sickness or disease will come and attack you!

Paul explains to you and I, saying: you are in Christ Jesus and you are dead to the law of sin and death through the body of Christ Jesus, who died on the cross, a dead person cannot be sick or diseased, he is already dead; you were raised with Christ Jesus, your body now obeys another Law, even the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus; because the Zoe life of God is now in you, since the Holy Spirit dwells in you; your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). The question is: can Jesus be sick or diseased? The answer of course is no! Can God be sick or diseased? The answer of course is no! So in other words for sickness or disease to get to you, it must first pass through God and then pass through Jesus before it gets to you! When John G Lake was in South Africa, there was an epidemic disease that was highly contagious and was killing people. Even the medical doctors did not want to bury those who died of that highly contagious disease, and they forbade the relatives to touch the corpses lest they be infected as well.

So John G Lake took up his shovel and went to bury those who had died of that highly contagious disease. The medical doctors told him that he would be infected as well and die very soon! He explained to them that the moment he touches the bacteria; they die in his hands. The medical doctors laughed at him. So John G Lake said to them to take some mucus from a person who had just died of that highly contagious disease, and put it on his bare hand, and examine it under the microscope, and they would see how those bacteria are dying the moment they come in contact with the hands of John G Lake. So the medical doctors did it, and they realized that the bacteria were dying when brought in contact with the hands of John G Lake. So they asked him: how is it possible? John G Lake explained to them, saying: the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). So the medical people let John G Lake bury all those people who died of that highly contagious disease, and he never caught that disease! You and I need to know who we are in Christ Jesus, not in ourselves, but in Christ Jesus!

If we do not know who we are in Christ Jesus, we will be afraid of praying for people, even if you for instance prayed for a person, and he got healed, and then you got the same sickness they had. After something like that has happened twice, you will stop praying for people; because even if you know you will be healed, no one wants to be sick even for a day. My friend, never think that it is some kind of “deep intersession” when you pray for a person who is sick or diseased, and the same symptoms of their sickness or disease are now on you. You are not “entering into their suffering”, you are not Jesus! It is the devil lying to you! What has happened, is that, that devil is retaliating, and you need to know who you are in Christ, and cast him out of your body. Do not, even for a second, tolerate that the symptoms of the sickness or disease of the people you are praying for, will get into you. If it is not right for that sickness or disease to be in them, according to the scriptures, why do you think it is right, that it could get into you?

There is a place for born again Christians that is better than divine healing, it is called divine health. You should hate sickness and disease the same way you hate sin. You should believe according to the scriptures: 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). Because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). You shall serve the LORD your God, and He shall bless your bread, and your water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you (Exodus 23:25). And the LORD will take away from you all sickness (not some of the sicknesses but all sickness), and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt (not just of the Egyptians but also of the Europeans, of the Africans, of the Asians, of the Americans, of the Australians), which you know, upon you; but will lay them upon all them that hate you (Deuteronomy 7:15). It is time for you and me as born again Christians, to make the transition in our faith from divine healing to divine health! So that we are not afraid to minister to sick people!

So let us go back to the vision of the Serpent and the crocodile the Lord gave me. After God revealed to Moses how he should look at Satan, the serpent of old, according to the Mirror of the Word of God. It dawned on Moses as a revelation, and it should dawn on you and me as a revelation too! If Satan is but a dry rod in the eyes of God, then his vassal, Pharaoh the crocodile, is but a dry wooden rod too! Why should I be afraid of him? Even though he has uttered intimidating words, and has made the life of my people bitter by oppressing them; but he is a piece of dry wood! I will go and face that piece of dry wood, pharaoh the crocodile, and command him: let My people go (Exodus 5:1)! And if that piece of dry wood, pharaoh the crocodile, does not obey; I will break him into pieces: I will utterly destroy his kingdom and plunder it, and destroy all his armies, not even a hoof that belongs to us is staying behind!

So in that vision I saw myself turning to that crocodile and walked up to it and seized it by the tail, and in my hand it turned into a wooden rod with a carved crocodile head. And I took that dry rod and broke it into pieces. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: thus says the Lord God to every born again Christian, for God is no respecter of persons; you are my battle-axe and weapon of war, for with you I will break in pieces (Jeremiah 51:20): Satan the serpent of old, pharaoh the crocodile his vassals, and all his vassals and their works (sin, sickness, disease and premature death). They are but wooden rods, even dry sticks, to be thrown into hell fire. For out of your mouth proceeds the Word of God which is fire, and a hammer to break rocks in pieces, how much less bundles of sticks (Jeremiah 23:29)! Behold Jesus is always with every born again Christian (Matthew 28:20). He has placed The Rod of Iron in the hand of every born again Christian, even the name of Jesus, not a wooden rod but a rod of iron to dash them to pieces (Psalm 2:9).

Jesus who is The Rod, and the Name of Jesus is The Rod of Iron, will always lead you in triumph (2Corinthians 2:14). For at the name of Jesus (The Rod of Iron) every knee should bow (the knee of Satan and his vassal demons and their evil works: sin, sickness, disease and premature death), of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11). Just like the Lord said to Moses: Why do you cry to Me? Speak to the sons of Israel, that they go forward. But lift up your Rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the sons of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea (Exodus 14:15-16).

You also have Jesus The Rod, and He has given you His name to use as The Rod of Iron, lift the name of Jesus over your impossible situation, dash Satan and his demons, who are your enemies to pieces, and all their works: sin, sickness, disease and premature death, but not the people. At the name of Jesus your situation bows its knee, whatever the name of your impossible situation might be, it bows to the Lordship of Jesus. Why? Because the moment you use the name of Jesus, The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace (Exodus 14:14). Do not fear, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will show to you today: for the Egyptians (your oppressors or oppressing situation even sickness, disease and premature death) whom you have seen today, you shall see them no more again forever (Exodus 14:13).

III.3 Rest or rely on the finished work of Jesus

Moses said: How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up (Deuteronomy 32:30)? We know that the Rock, Moses was talking about, is Jesus. When Aaron and Hur came onto the hill top to help Moses lift up the Rod of the Lord, the Rod of the Lord was Jesus. They took a stone and put it under Moses, so Moses sat on it. The Stone is Jesus, for He is the Stone which the builders have rejected and has become the chief corner stone, and a Stone of stumbling, and a Rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: to which they also were appointed (1Peter 2:7-8). God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35). This message of the cross, even this perfect redemption plan of God, its victory and its power, is available to everybody. We are all appointed to it: we are all to preach the gospel, heal all manner of sickness and disease, cast out all demons, raise the dead, and manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

But some cannot sit on the Stone like Moses did, in other words to rest in the finished work of the Rock of our salvation Jesus. The finished work of Jesus becomes a stumbling stone to them, instead of becoming their rest. The message of the cross is foolishness to them, so they stumble at the word and reject it. They are offended that it is so easy they want something “deep”. Jesus becomes an offence to them, for they say the rock of their salvation has cheapened the salvation of God! They want it to be only for a few people, but God wants the whole world to experience it through Christ Jesus.

Just like Moses sat on the Stone, rested on the finished work of the Rock of our salvation, so should we. We are appointed for the same victory in Christ Jesus. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter into rest, as He said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4:2-3). So brothers and sisters, God is not partial to anybody, He preached the same gospel to them then, and preaches the same gospel to us. It has always been about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, according to the scriptures. Though they received it as shadows; but some of them believed it like Moses and Joshua and they were blessed, victorious and entered into the rest of the Lord.

Father Abraham also received the same Gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, as we explain in the study of Jehovah-Jireh. Paul confirms it by saying: the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in You shall all nations be blessed (Galatians 3:8). Not in Abraham, but in Jesus who is the Seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16). For God said to Abraham: in your Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice (Genesis 22:18). So then those who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham (Galatians 3:9).

Joshua the son of Nun was not called Joshua, but Hoshea (Deuteronomy 32:44). Hoshea is the same as Hosea and means salvation in Hebrew. Moses prophetically changed His name to Joshua, which means in Hebrew, Jehovah is salvation or saviour, when he became his assistant, because Joshua was the one fighting the battle, and was the one who was to lead people to their promised land, lead them to their rest. Paul now explains prophetically what Moses was doing, when He changed the name of Hoshea to Joshua: he was talking about Jesus who will fight the battles for the people of God, and lead them to their rest. Jesus means Jehovah is salvation or saviour; it has the same meaning as Joshua.

The writer of Hebrews then explains: if Joshua had given them rest (when he conquered the promised land) then He (God) would not afterward have spoken of another rest. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest, has himself also ceased from his works, as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall, according to the same example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:8-11). Christ Jesus is our Rest and the Stone which the builders rejected, be like Moses, sit on the Stone Jesus, enter into His Rest, for the works were finished from the foundation of the world, and Jesus was manifested 2,000 years ago, and reaffirmed it to you, saying: it is finished (John 19:30).

III.4 Victory only through Christ Jesus.

When Moses was on that hill top lifting the rod of the Lord, and sitting on the stone, Joshua was fighting and defeating the Amalekites. As we have explained, Joshua was a type of Jesus. So if we believe the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus according to the scriptures, act on it, stand fast on it, and rest on His finished work; Jesus will fight for us and always give us the victory, always cause us to triumph over all our enemies, and lead us to our rest.

We will have the physical manifestation of the promised land flowing with milk and honey. There is no victory, no power, no blessing outside Jesus; it is all through Jesus Christ. Moses explained that the reason one of them could chase a thousand, was because Jesus the Rock was fighting for them. Paul says: But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1Corinthians 15:57). And he says again: Now thanks be to God, who always causes or leads us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest or diffuses through us the savour of His knowledge by us in every place (2Corinthians 2:14).

When we believe like Abraham believed in the Gospel God preached to him, we will experience the same victories and same blessings he had. When we believe like Moses did in the Gospel that was preached to him, we will have the same victories and triumphs through Christ Jesus. Many believers would rather lift up other things, than the finished work of Jesus; they would rather establish their own righteousness, which is but filthy rags in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6), own power, own holiness, etc; than rest on the finished work of the Rock of our salvation. God promised to utterly blot out the remembrance of your enemies (Exodus 17:14). The LORD shall cause your enemies that rise up against you, to be smitten before your face: they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways (Deuteronomy 28:7). The Lord has sworn: He will war with your enemies from generation to generation (Exodus 17:16). Victory and triumph will always be yours as you walk in the same faith of Abraham and Moses, and of the people in the bible who believed the Gospel.

III.5 Fight the good fight of faith.

Many times the enemy will come and try to deceive us, give us suggestions like he did with Eve in the garden: has God really said? Does God really mean what He said and wrote? The good fight of faith is to keep lifting the rod of the Lord like Moses did. We rehearse what God has done for us by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus according to the scriptures, and we lift it up, we praise God for that. Even if we feel like our hands are heavy and we are tired of saying and believing the same preaching of the cross. We do our best to stand fast in that truth that was once for all delivered to us. We ask other believers to join us in prayer like Moses did, friends who will help us lift up Jesus, and His finished work. Jude says: beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith, which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3). It is the same gospel they received that we are giving you, we are not writing anything new, but the same message of the cross.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you are also called, and have professed or confessed the good profession or confession, before many witnesses (1Timothy 6:12). Just as we learned in our study of the power of confession, confession or profession starts from saying the same things God says, thinking the same way God thinks, to doing the same thing He did. We refuse to believe anything which is not written in the bible. God has given us the mind of Christ and Jesus said unto us to follow Him, and we will be able to do the same things He did; have the same results He had.

But how can one fight a good fight of faith, if he does not know what God has freely given him, by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the scriptures? Think of it this way: if one sees a chair, and he thinks that chair cannot support his weight, one will find another chair which he thinks can support his weight. It is the same thing when we do not know what Christ has done for us, we think His work is incomplete, we need to add to it, or we need to find help or rest elsewhere. But when we know and believe that Jesus gave us a finished work, it is a perfect redemption; everything we will ever need is in our redemption. We will be able to rest on His finished work, for we know God can handle the weight and size of our problems.

But when we do not have the knowledge of the perfect redemption plan of God, we are full of uncertainty. It is as if we were beating the air. But when our uncertainties are replaced by assurances, because we have the answers to our questions, this fight of faith is not as if we were beating the air; because we know what God said, and what He promised to do. Paul says: therefore I run, not with uncertainty; thus I fight not as one who beats the air (1Corinthians 9:26). When we are certain of the victory and the triumph that Jesus got for us, and His promises to always cause us to triumph and have victory, we run this Christian Journey with certainty, because we know the outcome, we know we are fighting a defeated enemy, that Christ has given us the power to destroy the works of the devil. Many times we admire certain believers and say they have great faith! God would be a respecter of persons if He gave them greater faith than you. Paul says: since we have the same Spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke, we also believe and therefore speak (2Corinthians 4:13).

You and I have received the same Spirit of faith, the people in the Old Testament and New Testament received. We simply need first of all to know what is written, then believe the gospel, and then confess it. For Jesus has already fulfilled all the shadows and types in the Old Testament. For Moses said the righteousness which is of faith speaks in this way: do not say in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven? (That is, to bring Christ down from above 🙂 Or, who shall descend into the deep? (That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved, delivered, rescued, healed, prospered (Romans 10:5-9).

It is high time for us to have the same knowledge the early disciples of Jesus had; believe it in our heart, and confess it. The people who know the Lord their God, shall be strong and carry out mighty or great exploits (Daniel 11:32). But what does it mean to know God? John clarifies it for every one of us, saying: by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments (1John 2:3). The practice of holiness and righteousness, is the master key, to unlock the door of signs, wonders and miracles in our life! We have all heard the same gospel, but many have not believed it, so it did not profit them. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). The base of faith is knowledge, which is believed and acted upon. Faith simply means belief, it is the Same Greek word Pistis. Let us say you received a gift of a chair, it has all the warranty of the manufacturer that it can support your weight. Yet you doubt the manufacturer; because you see the design of the chair is different from the chairs you are used to. So you will never sit on that chair for fear you might break it. Jesus by His death and resurrection has given us His rest, but many of us are still standing because we do not believe the words of the creator.

We were used to sacrifices and deeds of the Law, to have the promise of God; but what Jesus is offering us freely, is revolutionary, just by faith. This is the fight of faith: everything in us tells us it is foolishness, the faith thing, and the message of the cross; it is too easy and too good to be true! We have succinctly studied the perfect redemption plan of God, as you read the bible on your own, you will have more revelation on what God has freely given you, through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My prayer is that God will confirm His word in you, so that you can manifest the promises of God.

Let me take a practical example of a fight of faith. In November 2013, I was under attack by the devil, he was questioning all the promises God ever gave me. So the devil started to tell me, like he deceived Eve: “did God really speak directly to you about what you believe Him for (Genesis 3:1)? Maybe it was the imagination of your mind or the dictate of your own heart: those visions, dreams and voices you heard might have been your heart deceiving you? For you desired to see it happen in your life so that your mind played tricks on you (Jeremiah 14:14). For if those voices, visions and dreams you received were of the Lord, He would have confirmed it and it would have come to pass quickly. For all your dreams, visions, words received from the Lord are all of peace, prosperity, restoration, healing, deliverance; but none of them has been fulfilled yet. They might not have truly been from the Lord (Jeremiah 28:8-9)”.

My friend the devil knows the scriptures and He will use them to shake our faith. When we read Matthew 4 and Luke 4, we see how Satan attacked Jesus, using the written word of God that he twisted or took them out of context. I knew that I could not use the understanding of the divine guidance of God, we learned in the bible study of “Divine Guidance”, because the devil was challenging all the ways we have described that God speaks to us, saying they were just the imaginations of my heart and mind, because I desired to have the manifestation of those things in my life. Now God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and truth (John 4:24). You also are Spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body, your earthly tent. The devil is also spirit. Whenever you hear the still small voice of God, it will sound like your own voice. And whenever you hear the still small voice of the devil, it will sound like your voice as well.

So you do not judge a message is from God or from the devil based on the tone of the voice, or the type of voice. if you do that, the devil will impersonate the voice you think is the voice of God all the time to deceive you! You cannot also say that a vision or dream is from God because you saw an angel, or heard a voice of thunder in that vision or dream, or because a man of God you respect, appeared to you and spoke to you in that vision. If you box God that way, the devil will deceive you and disguise himself in an angel of light, or into that man or woman of God you highly respect. Paul explains to us: did Satan not even marvellously transform himself into an angel of light? Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers, (his demons who are his servants), also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, (into apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher you highly esteem, to try to deceive you in your dreams and visions at times) (2Corinthians 11:14-15).

Ask me how do I know this? For in my visions and dreams Satan has used voices and faces of apostles and prophets I respect, and has used appearances of angels of light, to try to deceive me. But the moment I discerned that it was not the Spirit and the voice of God; but of the devil, I cast out that demon in the name of the Lord Jesus! Please read the bible study on “Abecedary of Prayer” we explain that we need to test the spirit if it be of the Lord God. In the bible study on “Divine Guidance” we do not include the deception of the devil, because it is only the foundation of how God guides us. But we explain that everything God says to us, either audibly, or in a dream or in a vision, and in all the other means, we must always say to God: tell me where it is written in the written word of God.

And not just once, we need to ask God for at least two or three instances in the bible, where God said it or did it for someone. This is the principle Moses and Paul gave us: by the words of two or three witnesses, everything or every word must be established, that it is always the will of God (2Corinthians 13:1, Deuteronomy 19:15). Joseph also understood that principle and said to Pharaoh: since the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass (Genesis 41:32). Jesus himself confirms the spiritual principle Moses and Paul had, saying: take one or two more with you, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established (Matthew 18:16). And Jesus exemplified it for us when Satan came to test Him in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. Jesus only used three scriptures to defeat the devil. Everything you hear or see in dreams and visions and every angelic appearance; always judge it in line with the written word of God, by the message it carries, whether it lines up with the full counsel of the written word of God, in view of the perfect redemption plan of God.

I know a person in church leadership who thought that the dreams and visions she had received, were a “special gift” from the Lord that was so unique to her. She says: “I do dream often, but when I dream it always comes to pass, it is a special gift God gave me”. In the beginning you could not remove that idea from that sister, that not all dreams are from God, and she was not so special in the eyes of God, because she received that so called “gift”; but she was special like every other believer, because Jesus died for every one of us, and lives in every born again believer. Even the ass or donkey of Balaam in Numbers 22 saw a vision of the Angel of the Lord, who is Jesus Christ according to Isaiah 63:8-9. For us Christians, dreams and visions are normal, we do not make a big deal out of them, they are the fulfilment of Joel 2:28. We do not idolize dreams and visions, we are not impressed by the appearing of an angel, when we know who we are in Christ, for they are servants of God, and we are sons and daughters of God as we have explained in the “Abecedary of Prayer”. Therefore we judge the dreams, visions, message of angels, and any voice we hear based on the written word of God, in view of the perfect redemption plan of God.

So since you are spirit and have a soul and live in a body; every spirit can speak to you. You need to judge what the spirits say in line with the word of God. Angels are servant spirits of God (Hebrews 1:13-14). Demons and Satan are also spirit, even deceiving spirits. If the devils know that you never judge things according to the scriptures, but whatever you hear or see spiritually, you idolize it and act blindly on it, he will deceive you. I had to teach that person that not everything she hears or sees spiritually, is from God, and in her heart she should see dreams and visions as something normal for Christians.

So after Satan had questioned the validity of all the revelations I had ever received from the Lord, I said to him: it does not matter if I ever hear the voice of God or not, or if the visions or dreams I had were from God, or just the imaginations of my heart and mind, because I desired to have the manifestations of those things in my life. I know it is written in Mark 5:25-34: the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years never heard a direct instruction from the Lord Jesus Christ, but she said in her heart, “if only I touch Jesus’ clothes, I shall be made whole”. And what she believed in her heart is what happened to her. Jesus said to her: Daughter, your faith or belief has made you whole; go in peace, and be whole of your plague. It is written also in Luke 7:1-10: the centurion had a servant whom he loved. That servant was sick and Jesus was asked by the Jewish leaders to go down to the house of that centurion, to lay hands on that servant. So Jesus was on His way to that centurion’s house. But the centurion said to Jesus: You need not come to my house, only speak a word and my servant will be healed. So the centurion determined how his servant will be healed. Not by laying on of hands, but by just speaking the word and it was done unto him according to how he determined that God would perform that healing.

It is written in Matthew 9:27-31: two blind men followed Jesus asking Him to have mercy on them, and open their eyes. Jesus asked them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him, Yes, Lord. Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, or what you believe, let it be to you. And their eyes were opened. So Jesus did not tell them that He wanted to heal them, they came to him to be healed. They were the ones who believed in their heart that what they were asking Jesus, He was able to do it. And it was done to them according to what they believed in their heart, and confessed with their mouth. So I have three scriptures, in which people did not hear any voice of God telling them what to believe, but they determined how and what God would do in their lives. They asked what they desired in their heart, and God did it for them through Jesus. So by these three examples, I have established that God will also give me the desires of my heart, and he will deliver me according to the written word of God (Psalm 119:154).

For Jesus promised: whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it (John 14:13-14). If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done unto you (John 15:7). Jesus did not specify what I should ask, but gave me an open invitation to ask whatever was in my mind and in my heart, as long as they did not violate the written word of God. He said: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7-8). Now unto God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us [we know that the gospel is the power of God according to Romans 1:16, and the message or preaching of the cross or the perfect redemption plan of God, is the power of God in us according to 1Corinthians 1:18]. Unto God be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen (Ephesians 3:19-20).

IV The Army of the Lord.

John said: I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He who sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on his vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:11-16).

Jesus Christ our KING of KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS, is a warrior KING. And you and I who have been enlisted in His armies, are supposed to be warriors too. Jesus is riding on a white horse, we are also riding on a white horse. John does not tell us that Jesus had the mobs which were in heaven, following Him upon white horses; but the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. A mob is a crowd or promiscuous multitude of people, who are rude, tumultuous and disorderly. An army is a collection or body of men and women, armed for war, and organized into companies, battalions, regiments, brigades and divisions, under proper officers. An army is trained, disciplined and obeys their commander in chief, even Jesus our KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Linens were worn by royalties and priests in the temple, and white talks about righteousness. So Jesus our high priest according to the order of Melchizedek and our KING of kings, is leading the armies of heaven of kings and priests (Revelation 1:6, 1Peter 2:9). They do not just have the imputed righteousness of God, but they also practice righteousness; for John tells us that they were clothed in fine linen, white and clean. In other words, they had not stained their white linen. The white horse, on which Jesus is riding, and on which every born again soldier of God, who has been enlisted in the armies of God, even you and me, talks about conquering soldiers, and conquering armies. John says: I saw, and behold a white horse: and he who sat on him, had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer (Revelation 6:2). For you and I are going forth conquering and to conquer, even the 50 European nations!

IV.1 The Alpha strike and the Omega invasion

The God whom we serve and who is our Father, is a Man of War. The Lord is a Man of War; Jehovah is His name (Exodus 15:3). What many Christians have failed to believe, is that there are two kingdoms at war here: the Kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of God. We have explained, in The Perfect Redemption Plan, Part I, the rebellion of Satan and his demons, how war broke out in heaven and they were cast out of heaven, how God started His family, and how Satan deceived the children of God and they fell. But God had a plan to redeem His creation.

Thus 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to redeem the creation of God. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8), and He is the Commander of the Army of the Lord (Joshua 4:14). Remember in World War II, when the USA dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, there was no more power for the Japanese army to recover from those two air strikes. They were defeated the very moment the two bombs exploded. The USA asked Japan to surrender on the 26^th July 1945 in the Potsdam Declaration, threatening Japan with a “prompt and utter destruction” but the Japanese government ignored this ultimatum. Thus the USA acted on their declaration and dropped the atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima on the 6^th August 1945 and on the city of Nagasaki on the 9^th August 1945. On the 15^th of August 1945 Japan announced its surrender to the Allies and on the 2^nd September 1945 World War II officially ended.

In Europe Germany had surrendered since the end of April 1945, but now the Allies had to go and drive those Nazi troops from the cities they were occupying, and go to those concentration camps and set those captives free, and the last concentration camp was liberated in mid-May 1945. Now let me be clear once and for all, there is nothing wrong with the Germans or with the Japanese, they are not the devil, but in that small period of time of the World War, their leaders were instruments of Satan. Just like God said to the children of Israel: there is nothing wrong with the Egyptians, they are not demons so you should not hate them (Deuteronomy 23:7). But in that period of their history, Satan influenced and possessed their leader Pharaoh, who made their life bitter and killed their children. God so loves the Egyptians, God so loves the Germans, and God so loves the Japanese and He wants all of them saved!

So having made these things clear about the Egyptians, the Germans and the Japanese, and all other nations, who have been led by their evil leaders to commit atrocities, we can now make our analogy with what took place in the spiritual war between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God. God said to Satan long ago, do not mess with My creation. You and the demons that followed you in your rebellion, are already appointed for utter destruction. But Satan did not listen to that ultimatum of God, and came after God’s creation, and caused them to rebel against God, so that they will also be appointed to the same utter destruction, he has been appointed to, by God.

We must understand once and for all, that Satan does not own any soul! God says: Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sins, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). So if God says all souls belong to Him, it means that no soul belongs to Satan and his demons. So whether those people are born again or are not born again, their souls belong to God. Jesus tells us: fear not those who kill the body (Satan, his demons and his agents), but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him (God) who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28). Satan can only kill the body, oppress the body with sickness, disease and demon possession (Acts 10:38), but he does not own any soul. God has power and authority over both the soul and the body of all human beings. So those who receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour: God will save both their soul and body, but those who do not receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, God will cast both their body and soul into hell. And God has given authority and power over all flesh, so that He should give eternal life to as many people as he can (John 17:2).

I remember a mother came to me because her daughter had a mental illness, and was in the psychiatric hospital. So I told her she must be born again, and I will cast out that demon from her daughter, because I do not just want the demon off her daughter, but I want her and all her house to be born again, for it is the will of God. So she gave her life to Christ along with one of her daughters who came with her, and God gave them eternal life. From the moment you give your life to Christ, God gives you eternal life. Eternal life does not start when you die; it starts the very moment you are born again, as it is written: whosoever believes in Him, Jesus, should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him, Jesus, should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:15-16). Whosoever eats My flesh, and drinks My blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:54).

The Holy Spirit is God, and He is eternal, and is the Spirit of life and is the eternal Spirit of life, so since you receive the Holy Spirit who is the eternal Spirit of life, the moment you are born again, you automatically receive eternal life also. Eating the flesh of Jesus in this context means coming to Jesus through His Word, and becoming a doer of that word, for His meat or food is to do the will or word of the Father who sent Him and to finish His work (John 4:32-34); and drinking His blood is believing His Word, for the life of a person or an animal is in his blood (Leviticus 17:11). Jesus who is God and has eternal life, when you believe His Word and become born again, you are washed by His blood. So His eternal life is now your eternal life, and the words of salvation that He spoke, and you believed, are Spirit and Life (John 6:63). Thus you received eternal life when you believed the words of Jesus and gave your life to Christ and He washed you in His blood.

So those of us, who are born again, have already received eternal life, and that life is in Christ Jesus. We are just waiting for Jesus to come and raise up our mortal bodies from the dead at the last day (John 6:54). It is unsaved people that worry about the coming of the Lord, not us, they are the ones who will be caught by surprise on that day. Paul tells us: But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober (1Thessalonians 5:4-6).

Both Jews and Gentiles, which means nations who are not Jews, if they do not receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour now, and receive eternal life now, they are going to hell when they die, and if they are alive on the second coming of Jesus, it will be too late; for Jesus is no longer coming to save, but to judge. Paul tells us: Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And to those who look for Him, He shall appear the second time without sin to salvation (Hebrews 9:28). It is now that God commands all human beings to be born again; for Jesus paid the price for them to receive eternal life now, both Jews and Gentiles. But the second time Jesus comes, is to transform the body of the born again believers to a glorious body, and to destroy death forever which is the last enemy, not to preach salvation of the souls again, it will be too late. As Paul explains: “The first man, Adam, became a living soul,” the last Adam (who is Jesus) was a life-giving Spirit. But not the spiritual first, but the natural; afterward the spiritual. The first man was out of earth, earthy; the second Man was the Lord from Heaven. Such the earthy man, such also the earthy ones. And such the heavenly Man, such also the heavenly ones. (1Corinthians 15:45-48)

And according as we bore the image of the earthy man, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit in-corruption. Behold, I speak a mystery to you; we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet. For a trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and when this mortal shall put on immortality, then will take place the word that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory (1Corinthians15:45-54). The last enemy made to cease is death (1Corinthians 15:26). O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory (1Corinthians 15:55)?”

That is why it is so crucial that we get our loved ones saved, so they can receive eternal life now! It is the greatest free gift we can give them; it will determine whether they spend eternity in heaven or eternity in hell. There is not an intermediary place where people wait, if you die without Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you are going straight to hell, but if you receive Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, that very moment you already have eternal life, and are already seated in the heavenly places with Jesus, you even do not need to die yet to be enjoying heaven (Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2). Jesus said: As You, Father, have given Me, Jesus, power over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many as You have given Me. And this is life eternal, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent (John 17:2-3).

It is so easy to receive eternal life, just believe in God through Christ Jesus, who came to die for your sins. Surrender your spirit, soul (mind and intellect) and body to Christ Jesus! For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). That is the first commandment God gives us. Jesus said unto him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment (Matthew 22:37-38). In other words: surrender all your heart to Christ Jesus, all your spirit, all your soul [intellect and mind] and all your body to Christ Jesus. Paul tells us: the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Thessalonians 5:23). Please read the bible studies of “David’s Sexual Sin Exposed”, “The Seven Hebrew Words For Praise” and “Abecedary of Prayer” to know how to surrender your heart, body and soul to Christ Jesus!

Why should anyone die and go to hell when God wants to give them the free gift of eternal life right now! And this is the promise that He, God, has promised us, even eternal life (1John 2:25). And this is the record, that God has given to us, eternal life, and this life is in His Son Jesus (1John 5:11). Not that God will give us eternal life, but the moment we receive Jesus as Saviour, and surrender all our spirit, all our heart, all our soul [intellect and mind], all our body, and all our strength; He has given us eternal life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God (1John 5:13). And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life (1John 5:20).

So let us go back to our testimony. After the mother and her daughter had received Jesus in their life; I decided to cast out that demon which was causing the mental illness in her other daughter, so I commanded that demon, in the name of Jesus, to come out of her and enter her no more! So that was it, and when I came home, I was praying and I had a vision. I was in hell, and it was very hot and there was lava flowing like a stream of water, and it looked like we were in a cave which had stalactites (sub-variety of carbonate lime, usually in a conical or cylindrical form, pendant from the roofs and sides of caverns like an icicle) and stalagmites (A deposit of earthy or calcarious matter, formed by drops on the floors of caverns).

And the demon was talking to me saying: the father of that girl who has mental illness, is a musician, and he signed a demonic covenant with me, and he gave me his soul and the souls of his children. So you have no right to cast me out of her body, they are in hell here with me, I own the family. I said: get behind me Satan! For it is written: behold all souls belong to God, the soul of the father and the soul of the children, the soul of the born again, and the soul of the unsaved (Ezekiel 18:3-4). And God has given Jesus Christ Authority and power over all flesh, saved and unsaved, not just to give them eternal life; but also to make them free of the oppression of Satan (John 17:2; Acts 10:38). And Jesus has the keys of death and hell (Revelation 1:18) and He has given me the keys of the Kingdom of God, which includes also the keys of death and hell, so that whatever I bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever I loose on earth is loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19). So in the name of Jesus, I use the key of hell that Jesus has given me, to make this girl free from hell, and the oppression of hell, I command you demon come out of her body, and I command soundness of mind in her brain, right now, in Jesus’ name, Amen! So I came out of that vision.

So that is what happens whenever a person is born again or delivered from the oppression of the devil. Jesus has given every born again Christian the keys of the kingdom of God, among which we have the key of death to raise the dead, and the keys of hell to deliver people from the power of darkness, even hell and translate them to heaven the headquarters of the Kingdom of God, and all this happens when you are born again (Colossians 1:13). Do not just get people born again, but cast out their demons in the name of Jesus, and heal them if they have any sickness or disease. As Jesus commanded us, saying: as you go preach that the kingdom of God is at hand, then heal the sick, cast our demons, cleanse lepers and raise the dead, freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:7-8).

Even the world does not belong to Satan and his demons, but to God and He wants to give it to His children. Satan is a liar and the father of it, when he tempted Jesus; he took Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And he said unto Him, All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said unto him, Get behind me, Satan: for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve (Matthew 4:8-10).

Satan was insinuating that since Adam and Eve had dominion over the earth and sinned, so the world now belonged to him. Which is not true and Jesus knew it. For it is written: The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Why?) Because God is the one who founded it, certainly not the devil, and God is the one who established it, certainly not the devil, and God is the one who created mankind, not the devil (Psalm 24:1-2). So God is the creator of the earth, of the world, of all the things in the world, of all the animals, all the fish, and all human beings. Satan never created anything, he himself was created by God (Ezekiel 28:15). Paul reminds us again: the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof (1Corinthians 10:26; 28). God never said to Adam and Eve: the earth and the fullness thereof belongs to you, no, never. God planted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it (Genesis 2:15). The garden and everything in that garden belongs to God, not to Adam and Eve, but as Isaiah said: Eden is the Garden of the Lord (Isaiah 51:3). Adam and Eve were just administrators of the creation of God.

The fact that God gave Adam and Eve dominion over His creation, does not mean that that creation belongs to them. God said: that He created all things by Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ, as it is written: For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist (Colossians 1:16-17). And Jesus is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of every creature (Colossians 1:15). So Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, Jesus is God; but Adam and Eve refused to act like Jesus. Instead they acted like the devil, so God removed them from His garden.

Jesus always takes the example of the landowner, who planted a vineyard and fenced it, dug a winepress and built a tower, and then leased it to vinedressers, and went on a long journey (Matthew 21:33-46). So for things to be running smoothly, you need to give authority and power to those vinedressers while you are away, they run the business, but everything belongs to you; they are only administering your goods and properties. Thus their authority and power is a delegated authority and power, their dominion is a delegated dominion for it does not belong to them. They will have to give account of their stewardship. Think of it this way, you work for a company and they equip you with a car for your functions. Your car does not belong to you but to the company: they service it, they pay the insurance, they fuel it and you use it both for your function and for your personal needs. But you are a gambler and you have accumulated many debts, and your creditors come to you; you have nothing to pay. They say: you took our money so you need to pay it. So they see you driving that nice car and it is worth £30,000, so they take it from you. They start driving that car and you are now on foot.

But when the founder of the company, owner of the car, will do an inventory of his cars; he will realize that one car is missing, and will soon find out that it is your car. He will summon you into his office and ask you: what has happened to the car. You will explain that you owed the bookies money and could not pay them back, so they took the car. The company owner will send his people to take back his car from those bookies and tell them the car is not yours, so it cannot be theirs. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, so, no matter how Adam and Eve, who were but stewards of the earth, turned its dominion to Satan; Jesus who is its rightful creator and owner, has come to take everything that He created, and give it back to new stewards, even you and I who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Just like Jesus said that the owner of the vineyard, destroyed the wicked vinedressers and leased the vine to another vinedresser, so God has given every born again believer dominion over all the works of His hands.

So after the fall of mankind, Satan was now oppressing mankind with sickness, disease and death, and had locked up the entire world in that prison of sin. For through Adam’s sin, all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We were all in that concentration camp of the devil, that prison of sin, and we should have died there, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life and that life is in Jesus Christ, His Son (Romans 6:23). Just like the Nazis would take their prisoners, who were in their concentration camps and burn them in ovens. Hell was not designed for humans, but for Satan and his demons, but he wants many people to join him in there in hell fire! The fact that Jesus said that Satan is the prince of this world in John 12:31, and Paul said that Satan is the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians 2:2, simply means that Satan is running the world system, but he is certainly not the legitimate administrator or steward of the world.

In 2Chronicles 22 Athaliah usurped the throne of Judah, by killing the sons of the king, and proclaiming herself queen of Judah. She was running and ruling the kingdom of Judah, and people were obeying her, being oppressed by her. But in 2Chronicles 23 and 2Chronicles 24, the people realized, that there was still a legitimate heir to the throne of Judah, named Joash. Hope sprang up in the hearts of the people, to be freed from the oppression of queen, Athaliah. Joash was only seven years old, yet the people received him as their king, for he was heir of the throne, and they killed queen, Athaliah who usurped the crown of Judah. The same thing, Satan usurped the stewardship of the world, from mankind, at the fall of Adam and Eve, and has been running things in the world, has been oppressing people, and perverting every institution. Until a son or daughter of God shows up, no matter how young that born again Christian is, even seven years old, he or she is heir of God or heiress of God and joint heir with Christ Jesus, he or she has authority and power to overthrow and cast out Satan and his demons, who are usurpers and utterly destroy their evil works.

So Satan has an illegal authority in the life of people, he is ruling the life of people like Athaliah ruled in Judah for six years. But when a true son or daughter of God, who has the legal authority to exercise power shows up, he or she tramples under foot serpents, scorpions and destroys all the works of the enemy and nothing by any means hurts him or her (Luke 10:19). When a born again Christian wilfully practices sin, he becomes a slave of sin, therefore Satan usurps the authority over his life, that is why sin should no longer rule over us, but we should rule over it; for if we are overcome by sin, we become in bondage or slavery to it (2Peter 2;19, Romans 6:18-20).

2,000 years ago Jesus Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8), launched the Alpha strike against the kingdom of darkness and hell, its headquarters. The devil did not see it coming: none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1Corinthians 2:8). The blood of Jesus was that spiritual atomic bomb that was dropped in hell. When it exploded in hell, there was such an earthquake in hell that all the prison doors of hell were shaken and destroyed, and then all the chains and shackles that bound the people, fell off just like it happened for Paul and Silas when they were in prison in Acts 16:25-34.

My friend when the blood of Jesus, that spiritual atomic bomb, was dropped in hell, headquarters of the kingdom of darkness, where our souls were held prisoners, it first, washed our sins away, and made us whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7). Second, it blasted open the doors of the prison cells where our souls were kept in hell, and destroyed all yokes around our neck, destroyed the chains and shackles. How? Because the Holy Spirit is in the blood of Jesus Christ (Leviticus 17:11); the Holy Spirit has that explosive or dynamite power of God (Acts 1:8) and the Holy Spirit is the owner of the Anointing (1John 2:27, John 16:7-13, Acts 10:38, Isaiah 10:27). We have defined the Anointing as being the tangible manifestation of the power of the Holy Ghost, to have spiritual revelations and perform signs and wonders.

And Isaiah tells us: it shall come to pass in that day [when the blood of Jesus is applied in your life], that the devil’s burden, shall be taken away from off your shoulder, and the devil’s yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed, because of the Anointing [the explosive power of the Holy Spirit that is in the blood of Jesus] (Isaiah 10:27). For the Anointing is the tangible manifestation of the power of the Holy Ghost, to have spiritual revelations and perform signs and wonders. Third, the Holy Spirit who is in the blood of Jesus; who has delivered us from the power of darkness, by blasting open our prison doors, destroying the yoke around our neck, causing the chains and shackles on our hands and feet to fall off; has translated us from hell to heaven, at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 2) just like physically the Holy Spirit translated Philip from the side of the water, to Azotus, which was over thirty miles from where he baptized the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:36-40).

That is why Paul tells us: Giving thanks unto the Father God, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:12-14). We overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). That is why we sing: “there is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the Lord”. Just like when the atomic bomb was dropped in Japan, and the war was already won, before Japan officially surrendered. So is the case for our war with the kingdom of darkness, the war is already won by the blood of Jesus, and by the written testimony He gave us in the bible. The blood of Jesus acted like an Electro-Magnetic-Pulse bomb (EMP bomb) that fired all the electronic files that the devil had accumulated against us; and the nails they drove through the hands and feet of Jesus, shred every paper file and folder the devil had on us; as it is written: having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross (Colossians 2:13-14).

And Jesus descended into hell, disarmed Satan and his demons; as it is written: having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:15). Jesus opened all the prison doors in hell, the concentration camp of Satan. As it is written: I the LORD have called You (Jesus) in righteousness, and will hold Your hand, and will keep You, and give You (Jesus when you die by shedding your blood on the cross) for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house (Isaiah 42:6-7). Only Jesus could have done that Alpha strike, for only His blood was pure to do such a thing, and go to hell to open all the prison doors, to bring the prisoners of Satan from their prison of sin, and those who sit in darkness, He has delivered them from the power of darkness, and has translated them from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, for God is light (Colossians 1:13).

So Jesus, when He was raised from the dead, many righteous people who had died, were raised with Him, and some went to pay a visit to their loved ones. As it is written: Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who slept, arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many (Matthew 27:50-53).

So when Jesus told the story of the rich man and the poor man named Lazarus, saying: There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that those who would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, No, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead (Luke 16:19-31).

This story that Jesus told, was before the cross took place. In hell there was the compartment of the Saints, those who had the faith of father Abraham, and walked in the steps of father Abraham; and there was a compartment for those who were not saints, those who did not have the faith of father Abraham. Like we have explained in the bible study Perfect Redemption Plan: Jehovah Jireh, we see that the Gospel that God preached to Father Abraham, was about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and those who did not believe in Jesus, like Father Abraham did, were in the other compartment of hell where they were tormented by the hot flames. But when Jesus was raised from the dead the compartment of the saints in hell was emptied, Father Abraham and all the other saints who believed like him in Jesus, were raised with Jesus and were translated into heaven. Some of them, like Matthew said: appeared to their loved ones before ascending into heaven with Jesus. And Paul tells us, when Jesus ascended on high (to heaven), He led captivity captive (Ephesians 4:8), among whom we have father Abraham, Lazarus, and all the saints who had slept in the sleep of death, from Adam to the resurrection of Jesus, including the thief on the cross to whom Jesus said: I say to you today, you are going to be with me in paradise (Luke 23:42-43).

So in hell there is no longer the compartment for saints, all the saints who ever died, before the cross and after the cross, are now in heaven at the right hand of Jesus. So do not believe the doctrine that tells you that there is a purgatory! Among Catholics, the purgatory is a supposed place or state after death, in which the souls of persons are purified, or in which they expiate such offences committed in this life, as do not merit eternal damnation. After this purgation from the impurities of sin, the souls are supposed to be received into heaven. This is man-made religion, it does not line up with scriptures. The moment you are born again you have eternal life, and you are already seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. The compartment of the saints was closed at the resurrection of Jesus, and He led all those who used to be in that compartment, into heaven. Nobody goes to hell because they are rich or poor, the only reason that a person goes to hell, is because they have rejected Christ Jesus, their Lord and Saviour, and God!

The debt every born again Christian has to pay

When we, who have received eternal life, were born again, God asked us to pay the debt we owe, to our fellow humans. People will ask me, what debt? I thought Jesus paid it in full. How is it that you tell me I have a debt to pay? So imagine that you were in that concentration camp of the devil, and Jesus came to open your prison door, loosed your chains off of you, and brought you out of that prison. He healed your wounds! Now He gives you the keys of all the other prison cells, and puts the same armour He is wearing, on you, and gives you the same weapons He has, and tells you: come back with Me into that concentration camp, help Me to set the other prisoners free! You have been freely delivered, be grateful to God, who has sent Jesus to set you free, and go with Jesus to set someone else free.

Paul says: I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. (Why?)For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. (Why?) Because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:14-16). The debt that you and I have, is to preach the gospel to people around us, starting with our house, our father’s house and our friends, so that no one will go to hell. It is the plan of God, that they should be saved, and receive eternal life too; for they are also appointed to that eternal life, the entire world is appointed to eternal life it is the will of God. For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Jesus Christ should not perish [in hell fire], but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world [and send its inhabitants to hell]; but that the world through Jesus Christ might be saved (John 3:16-17). Father Abraham will not come back on earth and preach the gospel to your brothers and sisters, to your friends. If we truly love someone we will want him saved, we will pray for his or her salvation, and we will share the gospel with him or her. For only the gospel of Christ saves spirit, soul and body.

The rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to witness to his brothers; but Abraham said: they have the prophets with them, the teachers, the apostles, the pastors, the evangelists and many other born again believers who are witnessing to them, about being saved. Let your brothers or sisters listen to them. You see, God did not give the commission to preach the gospel to dead people, for God is not the God of the dead but of the living (Luke 20:38). God did not give the commission to preach the gospel to angels either; but to every born again believer who is still breathing. Paul says: whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. How then, shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things (Romans 10:13-15)!

So every born again believer of Jesus, ought to share the gospel with people around him or her. In Acts 10, God sent an angel to Cornelius, but the angel only told him, that God has heard his prayer and received his alms; but now he needs to summon Simon Peter, who will come and tell him the rest, even how to be saved. The angel did not preach the gospel to Cornelius, but Peter did. Why? Because God gave every born again believer that commission, not the angels. Jesus came and spoke unto them (His disciples that includes you and me), saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Therefore you go (not angels, not dead saints like Lazarus, but you and me), and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:18-20).

This is a command, not a suggestion, but a command, this is the debt we have to pay: God saved us, we need to get people around us saved from that pit of hell. In Acts 10, after Peter had preached to Cornelius, his household and his friends were saved. In Acts 16, Paul said to the jailer: Believe on the Lord Jesus and you and your house shall be saved. And they spoke the word of God to the jailer, and his house, and they were saved (Acts 16:31-32). Rahab the harlot was saved, and so was her father’s house (father, mother, brothers and sisters, and in-laws) (Joshua 6). We preach the good news, just in case some people do not know what the gospel means, it means good news. Not gloom and doom days.

The good news is, that Jesus already opened all the prison doors and when people hear the word of God, they can walk out of that prison of sin and hell, even today. We preach: repent for the kingdom of God is at hand or has drawn near, Heaven has come to deliver you from the power of darkness and translate you into the kingdom of God, and you heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead (Matthew 10:7-8). We do not preach repent, for hell is at hand or hell has drawn near.

If every born again Christian realizes that they have this debt to pay, to preach the gospel to people around them, starting with their father’s house, in-laws and then their friends, hell would be emptied, and that has always been the plan of God, and still is His plan. This set of people will easily receive you, because you already have access to their house and their life, they already confide in you, so instead of giving them advice from the world, give them the word of God, and pray with them for their problem, and let them know, that you are praying for them, so that they will be saved. Joshua said to Israel: me and my house we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15). It is not the role of the pastor, the evangelist, the prophet, the teacher or the apostle, to witness to your family and your friends, and your loved ones, though at times they can; but it is the role of every born again Christian, to witness to his house, his father’s house, his friends, and neighbours.

Jesus promised us saying: you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). Jesus does not say to us, you shall be My pastors, neither that you shall be My evangelists, nor My teachers, nor My prophets, nor My apostles, though He ordains some in those fivefold ministries; but you shall be My witnesses. If you have a mouth, then you are qualified to be the witness of Jesus. People will tell me but, what about the Apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors? Paul tells us: When Jesus ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it, but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And Jesus gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.

(Why?)For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: so that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ (Ephesians 4;8-15).

That team Jesus left, is like the coaching team, but better than football or rugby coaches, because they themselves are commanded to be doers of their own teachings, and be an example to other believers of how to imitate Christ Jesus, and they teach and lead by example, the believers are the players. They study the schemes of the adversary the devil, and teach others how to avoid those pitfalls, they teach discipline to the believers, because they want them to be ready in season and out of season, when they face the adversary the devil. They train the believer to be able to do the very work of Jesus, and even greater works than Jesus (John 14:12-14). They teach them how to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and preach the gospel effectively, so that people are saved. Believe it or not; not every born again believer is called to be a pastor, or evangelist, or prophet or teacher, or apostle. But every born again Christian, is called to be an effective witness, and has been ordained by Jesus, to be a minister of reconciliation, and needs to preach the word of reconciliation.

Paul says: therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Whereas God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:17-19). So the moment we became born again, God reconciled us to Himself by the blood of Jesus, we were once darkness, and walking in darkness, but now we are light, and He commands us to walk in the light (Ephesians 5:8). So now He tells us to go back to the people who know us, and to also reconcile them to God by Christ. The gospel which we preach, is the word of reconciliation, the ministry of every born again Christian, is the ministry of reconciliation.

We reconcile people’s spirit to God: that is salvation, for they were spiritually dead in sin and trespasses, and the moment they receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, they become alive in the Spirit, and receive eternal life. Second we reconcile their soul to God: we teach them the things that have been committed to us, so that they are no longer conformed to the corrupted world, but their mind is renewed by the washing of the water by the word of God (Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 5:26). For after we are born again, we are no longer of the world, though we are still in the world, we need to get the world out of us, and think like Jesus thinks, talk like Jesus talks. And if they are demon possessed, we need to cast out that demon, so that they regain their soundness of mind. And third, we need to reconcile their body to how God fearfully and wonderfully made it, in His book that is in heaven. (Psalm 139:14-17). In heaven there is no sin, so we need to teach them how to present their body a living sacrifice unto God, Holy and acceptable, which is their reasonable service (Romans 12:1). We need to heal them of all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease, and cast out demons, and raise the dead in the name of Jesus.

Think of it this way, now that you have been rescued from that concentration camp of the devil, go back there with all the prison cell keys, and set as many as you can free, and bring them out of that concentration camp, that is salvation of the spirit. If you find those who are wounded, heal them, for it is in the power of your hand to do so (Matthew 10:7-8, Mark 16:15-20). Those who have lost their mind: cast out that demon, and command soundness of mind in their brain. Those who are dead, raise them from the dead. As it is written: believers shall lay hands on the sick, and the sick shall be healed, they shall cast out demons, they shall raise the dead (Matthew 10:7-8, Mark 16:15-20).

When they are out of that concentration camp of the devil, you need to teach them, who they are now in Christ, what has taken place, you need to renew their mind, so that they will no longer think as prisoners do, but as free people, basically you need to disciple them, as Jesus commanded each one of us (Matthew 28:18-20). All these bible studies are meant for that, because we have received the ministry of reconciliation, so that you and I will grow up into the full stature of Christ. We are already in Christ Jesus, but we need to grow into His full stature. Jesus knew the bible and what the word of God says, so should we, He never turned anybody away, when they came to Him to be saved, healed, or delivered. We should grow up into Christ.

We are fighting against a defeated foe, his headquarters have been bombed, he has been stripped of his armour, the prison doors are open, the keys of hell and death have been taken away from him (Revelation 1:17-18). Now Jesus wants us to go back where we were once captive, and set other people, who are still bound there, free. The church has been on the defensive for so long, no war is won on the defensive but on the offensive. It is time to go to the enemy’s camp and take back what he has stolen from us, and not just merely sing it. It is time to train all born again believers to be effective in their ministry of reconciliation, that they have received from Jesus, and be effective witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus did the Alpha strike against the kingdom of darkness when He died on the cross, went into hell, took the keys from Satan, disarmed Satan and his demons, and made a public spectacle of them, and opened all the prison doors in hell, so that all the captives can be brought out. Now Jesus is conducting the Omega invasion on the kingdom of darkness. The purpose of this Omega invasion is, that those of us whom He has delivered from the power of darkness and translated to the Kingdom of God, should be trained and equipped with all the weapons of war, to invade the kingdom of darkness, and bring out of those prisons, all humans that are still locked up there, to minister healing to them, deliverance and raise them from the dead.

The end of the omega invasion, will happen at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when Satan and his demons, hell and death will be destroyed, and cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). Death is the last enemy that will be conquered and destroyed, and there will be no more death, we will live forever (1Corinthians 15:26). Whosoever is not born again, meaning has not got his or her name written in the Lamb’s book of life in heaven, shall be cast into that lake of fire also, along with Satan and his demons, and the false prophets (Revelation 20:10;15). But right now, that omega invasion is going on. You have been enlisted in the armies of the Lord, you have been clothed in linen, white and clean, and you have been given a white horse. You need to be trained for war, and go out there riding on your white horse, conquering and to conquer (Revelation 6:2, Revelation 19:11-16). Jesus now dwells in every born again Christian, so truly it is Christ that dwells in you, who is riding on that white horse.

It is our responsibility to receive the training of the Lord, so that we will go back into the kingdom of darkness, and set our fellow human beings free, so that their names will also be written in the Lamb’s book of life. We do not want them to not just go to hell, but also not to be utterly destroyed, when they are cast into the lake of fire. Now is the time to help our house, our father’s house, our friends, and our neighbours. David prayed: Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teaches and trains my hands to war, and my fingers to fight (Psalm 144:1). If everybody learns to be an effective witness of Jesus Christ, who has received the word of reconciliation and been ordained by Jesus, a minister of reconciliation, hell will be emptied. Brothers and sisters let us always remember, that we have this debt of preaching the gospel to get people saved from eternal damnation, to heal the sick, cast out devils and raise the dead. Since we truly believe that Satan and his demons are defeated foes, so let us invade his territory, and set all the captives free, and destroy his works.

After Germany and Japan had officially surrendered, they were still keeping their captives and oppressing. But the Allied troops who knew they had won the war, had to march into German territory to free those captives, to set those Jews free from those concentration camps. There were some pockets of resistance from the defeated German troops and Japanese troops, but they were easily destroyed by the Allied troops, and the people were set free. Jesus lifted us out of our pit of hell, when we were saved, but He will not lift us out of our comfortable armchair. We need to make the decision to come out of our comfortable armchair, and walk up to our family members, our friends and our neighbours and share the love of God with them, and get them saved. As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace [the gospel of reconciliation of spirit, soul and body; or the gospel of restoration of spirit, soul and body], and bring glad tidings of good things (Romans 10:15)!

IV.2 Discipline of a soldier or an athlete

Jesus told us to go, and make disciples of all nations, not mere converts, but disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Paul explains it by taking the example of soldiers enlisted in the army, who are training for war, and the example of the athletes, who are training for the Olympic Games. People who have been in the army, understand discipleship, for the word disciple has its root in discipline. So to be a disciple of Jesus, you need to have a certain discipline in your life, a certain routine in your spiritual life. In the army they always talk about “the spirit of the corps”. Each corps in the military, has its way of thinking, and its way of fighting, training, and living. When you join a corps, they will tell you: we need to break you down, so that they will build you up, according to the spirit of the corps. They get it from the bible too; Jesus says: whosoever shall fall on this stone (Jesus) shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder (Matthew 21:44). Hosea says: Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for He has torn, and he will heal us; He has smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days, He will revive us: in the third day, He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight (Hosea 6:1-2).

Where does the US Army get those ideas? From the bible of course! The bible is the best military book, and it tells you how to train anybody, and make him or her fearless, and as bold as a lion, that does not turn away from the enemy (Proverbs 28:1). So when we are born again, we are no longer of the world, though we are still in the world. God needs to break our former paradigm of thinking, or way of thinking, to build in us His way of thinking, which always lines up with His Spirit, for His Spirit is the one who wrote the bible, and He knows the heart of God and searches the deep things of God (1Corinthians 2:9-10). So after God has broken you, and built you up; you will not only have the Spirit of Jehovah the Man of War (Exodus 15:3); but you will also walk in that Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25). In the US Army their slogan to recruit new soldiers is Isaiah 6:8, “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me”. And to stir up the patriotism in the young recruits, they use the other slogan: “if you have not found a cause worth dying for,

you have not started living yet”.

Moses wasted 80 years of his life, forty years in the palace of Pharaoh, enjoying the riches of this world, another forty years in the back of the desert in Midian, enjoying a comfortable married life, and a regular job of a shepherd. Until he found a cause worth dying for: making I AM WHO I AM his God, through Christ Jesus, and going back to Egypt to set the people of God free, that they too may serve I AM WHO I AM. Moses’ life was at stake, but he did not care! As it is written: By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he looked to the reward (Hebrews 11:24-26). The parents of Moses also found their cause worth dying for: serving Jehovah through faith in Christ Jesus, as it is written: By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment (Hebrews 11:23).

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego also found the cause worth dying for: having I AM WHO I AM as their God through Christ Jesus, the Son of God, and serving Him according to the written word of God, and never bowing to any other God. So the king of Babylon threw them into the burning fiery furnace; because they refused to bow before his idol of gold. But when they landed in that burning fiery furnace, the fourth Man appeared, in the likeness of the Son of God, even Christ Jesus, and they were not burned by the flames (Daniel 3). Fire had no power over them for Jesus Christ the Son of God was with them (Daniel 3:25, Mark 1:1).

The apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ, of the first century, found the cause worth dying for: they received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, they fully preached the gospel with mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and some of them were imprisoned, martyred, crucified, burned alive, beheaded. John the apostle of Jesus was boiled in oil, but they could not kill him, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was with him in that boiling oil, like He was with the burning fiery furnace, with the three Hebrew boys. And because they could not kill John, they exiled him on the isle of Patmos, where Jesus gave him the book of Revelation. John tells us: I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren [Satan] is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:10-11). The Christian’s Journey starts when we die to self, and decide to live for Christ, and advance the Kingdom of our God and His Christ.

Paul tells us that the world was not worthy of them, for treating them thus (Hebrews 11:38); but they were worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ; for they never denied Him, but confessed Him before men. We explain in the bible study “The Power of Confession” that confession is first of all confessing our sins, and receiving Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour; second it is to say and think the same things, God says and thinks according the bible; and third to act like God acts, or do the same things God does, and the perfect person to imitate is Christ Jesus, who talks, thinks and does the same works God does. That is why in Antioch, the believers of Christ were called Christians for the first time; for the unsaved people derided them, because they were imitating Christ Jesus in everything (Acts 11:26). But before they were called Christians, born again believers used to call themselves followers of the Way (Acts 24:14). For Jesus told us: I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me (John 14:6). So those early born again believers called themselves of the Way, because they wanted to serve and worship Yahweh or Jehovah the way Jesus Christ did, and not the way the Jewish fathers did. They wanted to do everything in life the way Jesus did it. Those Christians followed Jesus Christ to the death! They understood literally: If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24).

Some people think giving their life to Christ Jesus is a simple matter, no, it comes with a cost. The Lord is The Man of War, I AM WHO I AM or Jehovah or Yahweh is His name (Exodus 15:3). Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Yet God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, are not at peace with the kingdom of darkness; but at war. Jehovah-Shalom, as we read from Judges 6 to Judges 8, wars against our enemy through us and utterly destroys our enemies, who are also His enemies and gives us peace or rest round about. It is peace for us but war and utter destruction for the kingdom of darkness, and its works.

Jesus Christ tells us: Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:32-34). When we give our life to Christ, it costs us: we lose some of our old friends, for they think we have become “radical Christians”. In some idol worship regions, including Islamic regions, your life is threatened. In some cultures they will disown you and shun you: because it is the devil in them, that is causing them to fight you, so that you will deny Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Jesus tells us: For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me [so that He will refuse to give His life to Christ, or go back to serve the idols of his parents, for he cares too much about their opinion, or does not want to be disowned, or killed] is not worthy of Me: and he who loves son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me. And he who takes not his cross, and follows after Me, is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:35-38).

In our days and times, there are some “Christians” who sit behind their computers, or their mobile phones, and text collective messages, or send collective e-mails, or post things on social media. And tell you in their e-mails or texts: if you love Jesus Christ send this text, this e-mail or this video to at least ten people! I get annoyed with people like that, and I never forward any of those texts or e-mails to anybody. I systematically delete those texts and e-mails. I call it religious spamming! When that person sends those texts and e-mails almost every week I mark all his e-mails as spam, and I set my phone to block all his text messages: he can only call me but not text me anymore. If you have a video that you have watched, and you want me to watch it, because the Holy Spirit witnessed to you that it will also bless me, then e-mail me, and I will always be happy to watch it. If you have read something that lines up with the written word of God, and it blessed you, and the Holy Spirit told you that it will bless me, then send it or text it to me and I will read it.

People will say, but what about the “My Weekly Milk” bible studies? Do you not sent them to many people? Yes, I send it to people I disciple, and have informed them, before sending those teachings. I also send them to people who request them. And I tell people who have received those “My Weekly Milk” letters, to pass it around to people they lead to Christ, and they are discipling, and to people who request them from them. I certainly do not encourage any spiritual spamming. Even in the church there are people who thought that they knew everything, and the Holy Spirit in me has nothing to teach them. They refused to give me their e-mail for me to send them the bible studies. I did not send any bible studies to them, and I never asked them for their e-mail a second time. I Jesus have sent My angel [messenger] to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who hears say, Come. And let him who is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:16-17). These My Weekly Milk letters are free, and whosoever wills to have them and study them, can come and have them, but if they are not willing, even if they are in the church, God does not force them, neither does Gery! But they have nobody to blame but themselves; if they are destroyed for their lack of knowledge, because they have rejected the knowledge that was freely given unto them (Hosea 4:6).

The majority of people who send those spiritual spams are religious people. Do not follow them; they spend their time arguing about religious matter on Facebook, twitter or any other forum on the internet. Do not waste your time arguing with them, or passing their spams around. A sister asked me: why I did not add her on my Facebook? I said to her because you and your brothers spend all your time arguing, and posting religious things, and I do not want your discussions on my Facebook page. She said, but we are discussing about Jesus! I said: no, you are arguing about Jesus, and I have no time for that. Paul tells Timothy, saying: O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called; which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen (1Timothy 6:20-21).

Not deciding to forward their texts or e-mails to at least ten people, does not mean that you do not love Jesus Christ, or you are ashamed of Christ Jesus. Jesus says: if you love Me, keep or do My commandments (John 14:15). God knows that I preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out devils, and make disciples in the name of Jesus. I do not sit behind my computers spamming other Christians; but I come out of my comfortable armchair to go and do the commandments of Jesus. By so doing, I have demonstrated that I love God. Let not the devil condemn you when you are not forwarding those religious spams to anybody. And flee all those arguments on the internet; they will just waste your precious time! Instead go to your neighbours, call a friend in trouble, and minister to him or her, and pray for him or her, that is what brings Joy to Jesus, for by so doing you are doing His commandments. As you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:7-8).

God has enlisted every born again Christian into His Army, the question is: are you and I going to volunteer to have our mind renewed, and be sent into the world as ministers of reconciliation, with the word of reconciliation to deliver other people who are still held captive by Satan and his demons, and oppressed with sickness and diseases? Every Christian also must find The cause worth dying for, if he or she has not found it, he or she has not started living yet. That cause is giving our life to Christ, and fully preaching the gospel of Christ. As it is written: for God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son Jesus to die on the cross, so that whosoever believes in Jesus, should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). As for Jesus, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame of it, and sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus so loved us, and wanted no one to go to hell, that He decided to even die for the whole world; He found His cause worth dying for! And now He lives forever to make intercession for the saints, you and me, that we will think like Him (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:27).

No one has greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). He who does not take up his cross and follow Me, Jesus, is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life shall lose it. And he who loses his life for My sake, shall find it (Matthew 10:38-39). The real Christian experience starts when we die to self, and decide to renew our minds, by the washing of the water by the word of God, and then we decide to go and become doers of the word of God. God delivered His people from Egypt the house of bondage, which is symbolic of hell. And they crossed the Red Sea. Now the Red Sea experience is symbolic of our water baptism. They were baptized into Moses, who was a type of Jesus, and became disciples of Moses (1Corinthians 10:1-2; John 9:28). But you and I have been baptized into Christ Jesus, unto repentance (remission of sins and renewing of the mind) and are disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:19; John 9:28).

The water baptism in the name of the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Ghost, is a public declaration that that person is born again, and has decided to die to his old man and sin, and has become a new creation. It is symbolic of what took place spiritually. It is done by immersion. Every born again Christian can minister the water baptism to a person he or she has led to Christ. When we read in Acts 8, Philip, who was appointed for the distribution of the food among the other six people, who were chosen in Acts 6, went to meet the Ethiopian eunuch, who was riding in his chariot and reading the book of Isaiah. Philip preached Jesus to him and he gave his life to Christ, and Philip saw water, and baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch.

In Acts 10, Peter went to Cornelius house and preached Jesus to them, they believed and received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, with evidence of speaking in tongues. And Peter said: Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptised, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we (Acts 10:47)? So Peter baptized Cornelius, his house and his friends that very day. It is man-made religion to make born again Christians to first go through a course, before being baptized. The way God instructed it is, that they get born again and immediately they are water baptized, and then you disciple them, so that they learn to live as a new creation. You do not need to wait for a pastor to baptize the people you have led to Christ. You do not need to wait for the apostles to come and baptize them. You have led them to Christ you also baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Then you teach them what you know, you pass on all these bible studies that have been passed on to you, and you help them.

So you do not have to be picky about water baptism, if you find a river to baptize them, praise the Lord! But there might be health and safety issues with the river. You can go to a community swimming pool and book it early in the morning or on a Sunday. You also have a bathtub in your house; you just fill it with water and baptize the people you have led to Christ in your own house. You are a disciple of Jesus; Jesus has ordained His minister of reconciliation; go, water baptize the people you lead to Christ. As it is written: therefore when the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptised more disciples than John the Baptist (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples) (John 4:1-2). So Jesus is not coming to water baptize anybody, but he asks all his disciples to water baptize every born again believer they lead to Christ.

In the first century the church was under tremendous persecution. And even today in some parts of the world like China, North Korea or in the Arab world, the church is persecuted. So they cannot go into the community swimming pools to rent it for baptism, they cannot go during the day down to a river and conduct a baptism service. All the Christian leaders are on the wanted list of the government, so when they see a Christian leader going to a house, the police follow that leader, and in that house he or she has entered, they arrest everybody. So it is the disciples who are not on the wanted list of the government, that baptize in their houses, in the lake late at night or when no one sees. It is those disciples that conduct meetings in their houses, because they cannot rent a building, for fear that the police will arrest them.

And yet Christianity grew exponentially during the first century, the fact that it was an underground church did not stop it from growing. The church was in the house of believers, as you read throughout the book of Acts. That is why Saul who was persecuting the church, was entering the houses, because believers were not meeting in temples or synagogues, but in houses (Acts 8:3). And that is the same pattern of church Paul later built among the gentiles. They were meeting in houses: The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house (1Corinthians 16:19). Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church in his house (Colossians 4:15). Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon the beloved and fellow labourer, to Apphia the beloved, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house (Philemon 1:1-2).

So you understand why God is interested in your house, because your house is His church. Joshua said: if it seems evil to you to serve Jehovah, choose this day: whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served Beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah (Joshua 24:15). Your house is now the house of God and it shall be called a house of prayer for all nations (Mark 11:17). Christianity spreads exponentially, when it is the normal Christian that shares it with people around him or her, and not by the clergy. Believers must be fully empowered and equipped by the fivefold ministry, to do the work of the ministry of reconciliation. There are many things that can be happening in the big church, and you do not know the life of people in the church. But in your house, you know what is going on, and you can straighten things according to the word of God. That is why when they came out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, God asked Moses to register people by families, by their father’s house, by clan, by tribes. That is the whole purpose of the book of numbers. And God appointed leaders at every level.

On the 21^st April 2013, I was on the bus on my way back from Glasgow, Scotland to Manchester England and I was talking with an Asian gentleman. He might have been of Chinese descent. We talked about everything and nothing. And as I sat there, the Lord spoke to me, saying: you see there are countries around the world, even China, and Muslim nations, where they associate Christianity with the West, with the USA and UK. And because politically, those countries are at enmity with the west, when they see a church building, they associate it with the USA flag or UK flag. They think that the west wants to change their traditions and impose new ones on them. As the Gentiles, who were idol worshipers. said about Christianity in the first century, for Christianity is a threat, not just to idol worshipers, but also to all the artisans who sell those idols. As it is recorded: when owners of the slave girl who was practicing divination was delivered from that spirit of divination, they realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans, to accept or practice (Acts 16:19-21).”

The Jews were hated by the Gentiles back then, and are still hated in Muslim nations today. We know that hatred is of the devil, so it is Satan that is behind them. He deceives the people that want Christianity with Jewish customs and traditions to be imposed on them. Today Satan deceives them to associate Christianity with USA and UK customs and traditions, that they want to impose on them. That is why Paul needed to stay dead to his Jewish traditions and customs, to only present Christ to those people. God is not against traditions and customs, as long as they are not violating His written word, or exalting themselves against the knowledge of the word of God.

My grandfather was in the military, and was working with the colonial French Army. Catholicism is the religion France brought while they colonised Africa. And the British brought Anglicanism, when they colonised Africa. My father would always tell me why his father never gave his life to Christ; because he associated the Catholic Church with the colonial empire. When natives stole from the white people, or sabotaged their equipment, or planned to commit something wrong, they came to the priest for confession, and the very next morning that native was arrested. And he only told it to the priest. So my grandfather, having worked closely with the priests to arrest those natives, only saw religion as a tool in the hands of the colonial empire, to spy on the indigenous, and change their way of thinking. I tell you, religion is of the devil, Christianity is not religion, but a fellowship or relationship with the Godhead, through the blood of Jesus, that gave us access to the throne room of God. Whenever Christianity is used for political and economical purposes, God is not in it, but the devil.

And even in the teaching in the church, they emphasised on “how blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God”, on “how the rich man went into hell and poor Lazarus into heaven”, on “how money is evil”. Religion always twists scriptures for selfish motives: control, domination, finances, etc. The bible says blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:3). Poverty is one of the curses contained in the Law, listed in Deuteronomy 29, and Christ Jesus has redeemed us from The curse of the law, we are no longer under the Law with its system of curses and blessings, but we are under grace. Jesus who was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, so that we through His poverty, might become rich (2Corinthians 8:9). And the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the poor beggar at his gate in Luke 16, the poor beggar was not in heaven, because he was poor, and the rich man was not in hell because of his luxurious clothing, and his wealth, or the good food on his table. The only reason that the rich man and any person will be sent to hell, is because he has not received Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The rich man did not have the faith of father Abraham, and did not walk in the steps of Abraham. We have seen that God preached the Gospel to Abraham, and he believed in the death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But why were they preaching this kind of gospel? Were they ignorant of what the word of God says? No, they were not, but they wanted to create in those colonies, the poverty mindset ,and a beggar mentality, that is why they overly stressed on the story of the poor beggar who went to heaven, and it has worked. Africa my continent of birth, is the richest continent in raw materials, but is the poorest in the world. We are the ones who ask for international aid all the time. Religion is of the devil and God is not in it. So read the bible study on biblical prosperity, and find out for yourself what God says about your prosperity; and do not let religion, which comes from the pit of hell, rob you of your reward. And our generation needs to correct the mistakes of the past that our fathers did, because they misrepresented Christ to the people. The problem with Christianity that comes from the west, is they want to make everybody American, or British or French or any nation from the west. God did not send us to go into the entire world and make them good Americans, or good British, or good French, etc.

Just like He did not tell the disciples in the first century, to go into the whole world, and make them good Jews, who observe the Law of Moses, the tradition and customs of the Jews. Paul died to His Jewish traditions and customs, to present Christ, and Christ alone to the people. Many Africans, Carribeans and Asians, who have also come to the west with the gospel, want to bring their traditions and customs to people; we are not to change people’s traditions and customs, if they are not violating the written word of God, or exalting themselves above the knowledge of the written word of God. We need to bring the pure word of God, as it is in the bible. We need to go from house to house and bring the gospel, we need to empower the indigenous to share the gospel to their people. Paul empowered the Gentiles like Titus and others, to go into churches and teach. So Christianity was no longer a Jewish thing, since Titus was not compelled to observe Jewish traditions and customs. If you are a westerner, and go into Asia or Africa or the Caribbean, after some indigenous people have received your message of the gospel, empower them to go and teach their people. Even in their mother tongue, encourage them to get a bible, even in their mother tongue, so that what you taught them in French or English, they can teach it to the locals in their dialects.

The same thing applies for Africans, Caribbeans and Asians who have come to the west with the gospel. Once they have got some indigenous people converted and discipled; they should send them to their people. Christianity grows when local people are empowered to preach the gospel. I remember one of my Eastern European colleagues, when she left her country Lithuania, and came to the United Kingdom, I was the first black person she met and become friends with. She told me she had never seen black people in Lithuania. She never thought she could become friends with a black person, because she had heard many stories and fables about black people, but when she met me and got to know me, she realized that what she was told, and had believed, was not true. She found out that I was nice, friendly, and gentle, according to her own words. People have fear of the unknown, so do not blame them for their fear, but do not allow it to hinder the furtherance of the gospel. When I was in France, I remember going into one small village named LeBlanc, they had only seen black people on TV, but they had never seen one physically. And when I was going to the local supermarket, I could see I was the attraction of the village, for eyes were on me.

If we do not empower local people to share the gospel, people do not know us, sometimes they have never seen a black person, or a white person, or a yellow person, or red person, etc. But the one who receives us and is willing to talk to us, we immediately send him or her to his or her own people. And the time will come when they have believed the report of that person, who is one of them, whom you sent, they will also welcome you. In John 4, Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman at the well, who was married five times, and the man she was living with was not her husband. Jews had no dealings with Samaritans, they were at enmity with each other; and the Jews looked down on the Samaritans. But when that woman believed in the word of Jesus, she ran to the village, and told the men of her village, what Jesus had told her, and they believed her words, because they knew her. People are more likely to receive the gospel preached to them, by someone they know, rather than a total stranger. So because they believed that woman, who was one of them, they followed her to where Jesus was, and heard what Jesus had to say. This is the testimony of the people of that place, to the woman, after they had listened to the teaching of Jesus for two days.

Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is the Christ, the Saviour of the World (John 4:42). The same thing Jesus did in Luke 8:26-39, Jesus went to the country of the Gadarenes. There He met a man possessed with a legion of demons. Jesus cast them out, and they entered the herd of swine, which threw themselves over the cliff into the sea. The shepherds were afraid and ran to the city, and told the people what had happened. So the people of the country asked Jesus to please leave their country! Which He did, but the guy who had been demon possessed with the legion of demons, wanted to follow Jesus. Jesus told him not to follow Him, but to return to his own people, saying: return to your own house and tell them what great things God has done for you. And the man went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him (Luke 8:39).

So Jesus did not tell him, you need to go through two years of my bible college, get a certificate and pay your tuition fees, before you can go and share the gospel to anybody. That is man-made religion, the moment you give your life to Christ; God has ordained you a minister of reconciliation, and has given you the word of reconciliation, and He sends you to your house first of all, to your father’s house, to your neighbours’ house, to the whole city. At times people will be afraid of you, because they do not know you, and do not know what your intentions are. That is why they are not receiving you. So do not be mad at the people; but if one of them receives the gospel, send him or her back to his own people to preach to them. Jesus sent a woman of Samaria, God sent both men and women to be ministers of reconciliation.

He sent that Samaritan woman to the whole city, and also sent that man, who was set free of a legion of demons, to the ten cities. They could not receive Jesus, because they were afraid of Him, but they could receive that former demon possessed man, because he was one of them. I talk to many sisters and brothers, and the moment they are born again and start saying: I want to go to Africa or to India to share the gospel, build an orphanage. I say to them: I want you to go to your house first, your father’s house, your friend’s house and your neighbours’ house, your village. Who will lead these people to Christ? They cannot receive me, because they are afraid of the unknown; but they know you. Share your testimony, and what God has done for you.

Mark tells us that the former demon possessed man, did a good job in sharing his testimony:  the man went away, and began to tell the people in the Decapolis (in ten cities), how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed (Mark 5:20). So Jesus went back to that region of Decapolis later. In Mark 7:31-37, when Jesus again went to that region of Decapolis, multitudes came to Him and He opened the deaf ears, and loosed the tongue of that deaf and dumb person, and Jesus commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it (Mark 7:36). If the former demon possessed person had not shared his testimony, the multitudes would not have come to Jesus, and when those multitudes heard and saw what Jesus taught, and the miracles He performed, they also spread the message more widely. People must first of all read the gospel, according to you, before they read the gospel according to Matthew, Mark; meaning people must first of all see and hear what Jesus has done in your life, the gospel according to the former prostitute, the gospel according to the former drunkard, the gospel according to the woman who had had five divorces, and was living in fornication, the gospel according to the ex convict, before they can actually open a bible and read it for themselves.

The idea of telling people they need to learn so many scriptures before they say something, is of the devil, to stop them spreading the gospel. Just start with your personal testimony. You might not know anything else in the bible, but you know what Jesus has done for you. Be like the blind man Jesus healed. He did not know many things and how to answer those Pharisees, but he replied, “Whether Jesus is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. Once I was blind but now I see (John 9:25)!” You cannot argue with someone who has a testimony. We overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). I have no problem with bible colleges and getting certificates; I myself went to a bible college and got a certificate. Jesus never gave any of His disciples a certificate, but he taught them, and the very moment they had received him as Lord and Saviour, they were to start spreading the word, and testimony of Jesus. Religion tells you to wait and get more education. Jesus tells you: go and I will train you on the job! You might make mistakes; but do not worry about anything, I Jesus, am with you to help you, I will never leave you nor forsake you, so that you may boldly say: the Lord is my helper I will not fear, what man and woman can do to me (Hebrews 13:5-6).

You who are saved, are to share the word of God with your husband or wife and the children. They need to have the same knowledge and understanding of the scriptures you have. If the husband or the wife is not saved yet, you need to start having prayer meetings and bible studies with the children. And if that unsaved husband or wife wants to join, let him join, but if he or she does not want to, keep praying for his or her salvation with the children. The Lord commands us, saying: you shall lay up these my words in your hearts and in your souls, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, so that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall teach them to your sons and daughters, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up (Deuteronomy 11:18-19). So God is telling us to teach our children His word, in the morning when we rise up, and in the evening before we lie down.

We are not just talking about physical children, but all the people we have led to Christ are our spiritual children. Today we are so blessed that we have technology: cell phones, Skype, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, etc. It is not enough to just send the e-mail with the bible study to the person you have just lead to Christ. You need to stay in contact with them. If it is possible you need to arrange at least one meeting a week in your house. Even if it is for one hour, so that you can pray together, and share the scriptures together. What your disciples have read in those bible studies during the week, they might have questions, and by so doing, you will be helping them. Paul tells us: therefore comfort one another, and edify one another, even as you also do. And, brothers and sisters, we beseech you to know those who labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and who admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake. Be at peace among yourselves (1Thessalonians 5:11-13).

So how can you know those who labour among you, in the word of God in a big church? It is not possible, but in a house you will know those who labour among you. Meeting in houses is not to spy on each other, or to become overly involved in people’s business or personal life. Paul tells us: I beseech you brothers and sisters, that you increase more and more, and that you study to be quiet and mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you (1Thessalonians 4:10-11). It is not so that we will know what is happening in people’s life, and gossip about it, or slander them. For He who goes about as a talebearer or gossiper, reveals secrets: therefore meddle not with him or her, that flatters with his or her lips (Proverbs 20:19). Paul asks men and women to be reverent and not slanderers or spreader of gossips, to be temperate or have self-control, and to be faithful in all things (1Timothy 3:11, Titus 2:3).

Moses built that structure, so that they would only bring hard cases that they could not solve to him. As it is written: on the next day it happened that Moses sat to judge the people. And the people stood by Moses from the morning to the evening. And when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing which you do to the people? Why do you sit alone by yourself, and all the people stand by you from morning to evening? And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a matter, they come to me. And I judge between one and another, and I make known the statutes of God and His Laws (Exodus 18:13-18). In October 2014, God told Sister Louise to send me Exodus 18; I understood that I had to build a structure like Moses did. Many people wanted Moses to be the only one to give them the advice, or to pray for them, or to teach them the word of God.

Moses was but one man, and they would have to wait for a long time. What if you could not get hold of Moses at night? Moses’ father-in-law was concerned about his daughter and his grandchildren. For by so doing, Moses would have had no time for his marriage and his children, the ministry would take all his time, and there may be a divorce. Moses needed to learn to delegate the job and to empower everybody. And to trust God that the same Holy Spirit who dwelt in Him, also dwelt in the people He delegated the job to. Many people want Gery to be going to their house, praying for them, and they will not read their bible studies. I told them: no, that is not how we build the kingdom of God. When there will be 300,000 families in Glasgow and 50 European nations won to Christ; will I have to visit all those families one by one and be the only one to pray for them and teach them the word of God? I do not have to disciples all of them personally. But the people I disciple will disciple them, and they will disciple other people. They will use the “My Weekly Milk” letters as a foundation of their teaching.

When I was growing up in our fellowship, there were many mothers, and some were always complaining, that our pastor would lodge in our house for months, but he would only pay them a visit for the weekend. And just for peace sake, my parents asked my pastor, next time you come into town, please lodge at least one month at their home. But our pastor would say: they do not love God! I could not understand at that time why my pastor would say, that the other mothers in the fellowship did not love God: they were coming to the fellowship, they were praying! It is when I started to share the gospel, that I understood it. And on December 4^th, 2013 the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance what my pastor said: they do not love God! Jesus says: if you love Me, keep my commandments (John 14:15). And one of the commandments of Jesus is to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20).

They were not interested in being disciples! They wanted the pastor to do everything for them! The pastor should pray for their sickness, pray for their job, pray for their marriage, some of them were living in adultery, and when the pastor was not in town, they would not come to the fellowship anymore for six months or a year, until the next time the pastor was in town. Of course the pastor will pray for your problems, but you need to be taught the word, so that you can pray for your own problem side by side with the pastor, and you also go and pray for other people who are in need. People who do not want to become disciples are just selfish. They want to be helped eternally; they deliberately refuse to mature spiritually! It is only when we mature spiritually and stop being in our spiritual diapers, that we can actually help other people around us, and advance the kingdom of God.

My parents and us their children, were disciples. We were reading the bible studies, praying as a family, fasting as a family. So when everybody had left the fellowship; we were the fellowship, and stood alone. Our pastor was sometimes away for a year, two years, five years; yet we kept sharing the word of God, praying and studying his bible studies day and night (Joshua 1:7-8, Luke 18:1). Our house was truly a house of prayer for all nations. It was not about the pastor; but about Jesus Christ our Shepherd, and the written word of God. We learned to pray for our own needs according to the written word of God. We learned to manifest the gifts of the Spirit. Focus on people who want to become disciples! Jesus invested His three and half years of ministry, in the twelve who wanted to become disciples. The crowds came and left, but it was the disciples that turned the world upside down for Christ.

Moses’ father-in-law said to him, The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear away, both you and this people that is with you. For this thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it alone. Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you. You be for the people toward God, that you may bring the causes to God. And you shall teach them ordinances and laws, and shall make them know the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. And you shall look out of all the people able men and women, such as fear God, men of truth, hating unjust gain. And place such over them to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. And it shall be, every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge. And make it easier for yourself, and they shall bear with you. If you will do this thing, and God command you, then you shall be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. And Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all times. The hard causes they brought to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves (Exodus 18:17-26).

Our job is to teach through these bible studies, what the ways of God and the Acts of God are, what the will of God is, what He says about who you are, what He has freely given to you. Our job is to pray for all of you who read these bible studies, even though we have never met some of you face to face, or we have never even talked to you over the phone. Our job is to pray and fast for all of you, who read these bible studies, so that the Spirit of the Lord will stir you up, to become doers of these bible studies, like He stirs us up, to become doers of them ourselves (Haggai 1:14). Just like Moses said to God: did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me: carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child, to the land which You swore to their fathers, A land flowing with milk and honey? (Numbers 11:12). The truth is, God is the one who conceived every born again believer, He is the one who begets them through Christ Jesus. But He involves us in the process of begetting those people into the kingdom of God. He wants us to be co-labourers with Him.

God sent Moses and delivered His people through Moses. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong, toward those whose heart is loyal towards Him (2Chronicles 16:9). And God says: I sought for a man or a woman among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none (Ezekiel 22:30). For Israel God found Moses and sent him to deliver them from the bondage of Egypt, and every born again believer has been called, to go and deliver their fellow humans from the pit of hell. Moses carried the entire nation in his bosom, Daniel also, in Daniel 9, carried the whole kingdom of Judah that was in captivity in Babylon, in prayer and fasting, though he had never met the majority of them, and they returned to Jerusalem in the days of Cyrus.

I remember the night before I was water baptized in one of the community swimming pools in Manchester, England. I had a vision, and in that vision I immersed myself in the pool, and when I came out of the pool I had a Rod of iron in my right hand, and was wearing a white robe. In the vision the pool was circular and there were fifty people standing on the edge of the circular swimming pool. They were all holding a rod in their right hand, and on top of their rod was the flag of the nation they represented. When they saw me coming out of the water with the Rod of iron in my right hand, they all put their rod with the flag representing their nation attached to it, on the floor and knelt down. When I woke up, I knew that the Rod is Jesus, and He will use me to impact fifty nations, and deliver souls in fifty nations. Moses also had The Rod of the Lord, and he went with that Rod to deliver the Hebrews. The Rod of the Lord turned into a snake and swallowed the rods of the magicians of Egypt. And in Psalm 2, God asks us to ask of the nations, and He will give it to us, and those nations who are raging against Jesus, The Anointed of the Lord, will bow to Him and kiss Him as their King, lest they be utterly destroyed.

Five years later, the Lord Jesus woke me up one morning to give me a deeper revelation of that vision I had, the night before my water baptism. Saying: Gery, if you who overcome, and keep My works unto the end, to you will I give power over the nations, even the 50 European nations; And you, Gery, shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. Remember in Psalm 2, the Father put the Rod of Iron on My hand, to break the nations and their bonds in pieces, now I Jesus, The Anointed of the Lord, dwell in you, and put the same Rod of Iron in your hand, to do the same works over the nations. And I will give you the morning star; for I, Jesus, am the Bright and morning Star, and as the Sun of righteousness, I will arise in you, and shine through you, l as the light of the world with healing in My wings (Revelation 22:16, Matthew 5:14-16, Malachi 4:2). What I am saying to you, I am saying to all, who are willing to overcome, and keep My works unto the end, for I am no respecter of persons, but in every nation, whosoever fears God, and practices righteousness, is accepted by God (Mark 13:8-37, Acts 10:34-35). He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches (Revelation 2:26-29).

So you and I are working together with the same purpose, to save fifty nations, even the 50 European nations. If you are reading these bible studies, you are part of that vision, for just like Moses appointed rulers of ten, rulers of fifty, rulers of a hundred, rulers of a thousand, etc. God also has appointed you first over your house, to teach them and disciple them. Go, lead your loved ones to Christ and disciple them. You need to pray with them in the beginning, because people struggle to pray, and they need to listen to how you are praying, so that they can also pray the way you pray, in line with the scriptures. That is why the disciples of Jesus asked Him to teach them how they should pray in Luke 11. You should teach them to learn to pray for at least one hour, for Jesus commanded His disciples to do so (Matthew 26:38-40). Jesus says: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations (Matthew 21:13). Your body is now His house, so learn to pray for at least one hour, and teach the people you disciple to do so and help them in the beginning.

You will need to read your bible every day, and read the bible studies that are sent to you free of charge! The bible is so big, and it can be confusing if you are left on your own to study it. That is why we write these bible studies, to give you a short cut in your studies. For Moses said: the secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law (Deuteronomy 29:29). So whatever God has already revealed to us; we have put it in writing, so that other people can run with that revelation God has given us. John puts it this way: that which we have seen and heard, we declare unto you, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And we write these things to you, so that your joy may be full. And this is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you (1John 1:3-5). And you will discover that as you ask God for things in prayer, you will receive them speedily, because you have the revelation the apostles had, your joy will be full (John 16:24).

And Paul puts it this way to Timothy his disciple: Until I come, attend to reading, to exhortation, to teaching (1Timothy 4:13). Meditate on these things; be in these things in order that your improvement may appear to all. Hold on to yourself and to the doctrine; continue in them, for doing this, you shall both save yourself and those who hear you (1Timothy 4:14-15). Therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same to faithful men and women who will be able to teach others also (2Timothy 2:1-2). So Paul taught Timothy some things, and he asked him to pass it on. The same thing I am doing here, you are that faithful man and woman that The Lord has found, and I commit to you what the Lord has taught me in the scriptures, and in experience that must always line up with the scriptures, so that you also may teach other people, and commit the same thing to them.

The relationship between discipler and disciples, is very important because they will pray for each other. So please, remember Gery in your prayers! The disciples will pray for the discipler and the discipler will pray for the disciples. They will pray for each other, and with each other. Paul says: Obey those who have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you (Hebrews 13:17). I never understood that scripture before; but as I started discipling people, and they willingly chose to submit themselves to my leadership, as long as what I was telling them and teaching them in my bible studies, was in line with the written word of God; God started to reveal to me, things that were happening in their lives, what questions they were asking God, and what challenges they were facing. So I will pray for them, or I will answer the questions of their heart, even before they ask them. God will show you the problems, or the demonic attacks over individuals, over families, and over churches under your leadership. You will literally watch over their souls!

Paul, an apostle to the Gentiles, had many Gentile churches under the leadership. Paul told them: though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are, and how firm your faith in Christ is (Colossians 2:5). God many times shows me what my disciples are doing, going through and being attacked with, and at times I call them on the phone or send them a text message or an e-mail. When believers in Corinth were sinning, Paul saw it spiritually; for even when some of my disciples are just having an appearance of sexual sin, the Lord reveals it to me, and I call them to tell them to stop it, before they commit the sin. Some obey and submit to the word of God I minister to them; but others disobey and sin sexually. I give them a call and tell them I know what they have done, they need to repent and not do it again! You will discover that you will be watching over the souls of the people you disciple, and churches under your leadership! And you will be even watching over nations that the Lord has given to you!

Sometimes when we are facing challenges in our life we call brothers or sisters who truly care about us to pray with us about our challenge, and sometimes when we have lost all hope that we will be delivered from our situation and do not even feel like praying about our situation, or believe God for His promises concerning us to come to pass. These brothers and sisters who truly care about us will pray for us, because they know we have lost all hope and are no longer willing to even pray on our own or with anybody about our situation. And the people who will genuinely pray for you when you are in such a situation, are your disciples or your disciplers. That is why meeting in homes is very important and discipleship is very crucial because we have each other’s back.

In Acts 12:1-25, Herod beheaded James the son of Zebedee the brother of John the beloved. When he saw that it pleased the Jews; He had Peter arrested and was planning to behead Peter after the Passover feast of the Jews. But Mark, also called John, who was a disciple of Peter (1Peter 5:13), and other disciples were praying for the deliverance of Peter in the house of Mary, the mother of Mark (Acts 12:12). Though the whole church was praying without ceasing, for the deliverance of Peter, but in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, Peter knew that they prayed with all their heart for his deliverance. When he was delivered, Peter visited them first to inform them of the miracle. Now while John Mark, Mary his mother, and the other disciples who were gathered in her house, were praying for the deliverance of Peter. When the angel came into the prison to liberate Peter, he even thought it was a vision, until he came out, and the angel left him. Then Peter realized that it was in fact reality. Jesus in John 21 promised Peter that he will die of a good old age not that young! Thank God that the church, in the house of Mary the mother of Mark, prayed as well as other churches. Let us pray with one another and for one another.

As disciples of Jesus, we also need to fast. Jesus fasted in Matthew 4:1-11. As we read throughout the book of Acts, we see the disciples of Jesus fasting. And Jesus Himself tells us, that there are some demons and sicknesses, that only go out by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21). In the Application of Perfect redemption Plan, we explain in length some of the reasons we should pray and fast. It is not a rule, but like Paul says: I think that I also have the Holy Spirit, so I will advise every born again Christian, to at least give 10% of their time to fast, even if it is only until 2PM or 3PM like Cornelius did in Acts 10. Just like they give a minimum of 10% of their income or profit to God, let them also purpose to give at least 10% of their time to God in fasting. So if the month has 30 days they can decide to fast 3 days in that month. They can do it at the end of the month, or they can do one day every week. When we talk about fasting, people are not happy, they will say: Jesus already fasted 40 days and 40 nights for me; I do not need to fast! Jesus also read His bible when He was on earth, He prayed when He was on earth, so does it mean that we no longer read our bible, nor pray because we are in Christ Jesus and He already read the bible and prayed? Come on, let us grow up!

Our discipline as disciples of Jesus includes reading our bible every day, praying every day, and fasting as we have purposed in our heart, and as the Holy Spirit is leading us. Without a disciplined life, we will not be effective soldiers of Jesus. Paul uses the example of the Army, and he is right. He said to Timothy: therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one who wars, tangles with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who chose him to be a soldier (2Timothy 2:3-4). A soldier has training and is disciplined. He learns how to use all the weapons at his disposal; he learns all the strategies of the enemy, so that he will not fall into them. He trains in such a way, as if he was going to be deployed instantly. The word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, so we need to become familiar with the sword, and all the other weapons at our disposal. If the US Army only trained when they hear news that they are attacked by the enemy, they will lose every battle and every war. The best war strategy is the offensive, taking the battle into the enemy camp, do not wait and allow the enemy to bring the war to your gates.

That is why Jesus tells us: I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Jesus’s intention is for us to take the battle to the enemy’s camp, and utterly destroy them. Gideon took the battle to the Midianites’ camp, and utterly destroyed them (Judges 6 –Judges 8). The US Army did not prepare for the terrorist war, they were caught off guard, and it was too late. For the first time the war was on US soil, and on 9/11 they witnessed that the enemy was already inside their country and taking many lives. When we go to war without having studied our enemy, we are bound to make mistakes, because we know almost nothing about our enemy, and what his strategy is. And we see when the USA responded to the 9/11 attack, they made mistakes, and innocent people suffered because of that. If you do not know yourself, and have the inventory of your military arsenal and the military arsenal of your enemy, and what the strategies of your enemy are: you are going to lose the war. Jesus says: suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able, with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand (Luke 14:31)?

Jesus is telling us, first to sit down and study our own army, study our weapons, study the things that have been freely given to us by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and know who we are in Christ. Learn to use our weapons, and become expert in our military arsenal; and then study our enemy, what his weapons are, what his traps are, what his strategies are, and then we will always be able to win all our wars. Some Christians think that it is God who is tempting them, or giving them sickness or diseases, so that they will have compassion. Those Christians have been deceived by the devil. James tells us: When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone (James 1:13). So it is not God who sends people to hate you, to persecute you, to envy you, all those works of the flesh, are the weapons of the devil, for the weapons of the devil are only carnal, but the weapons of God are Spiritual (2Corinthians 10:4). God does not use the weapons of the devil to train His children, the devil and God do not work together they are enemies!

Also God does not use sickness and disease to train you to have compassion on people, Jesus has compassion on the sick and diseased, yet He himself was never sick or diseased. God will not tempt you to commit fornication or adultery, or divorce your spouse, to commit any other sin to teach you to have compassion on those who sin, on the prostitutes or on the divorcee. Jesus had compassion on sinners, on prostitutes, on adulterers (John 8), on people who were married five times and were living in fornication (John 4), yet He Himself was without sin. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil sinned from the beginning, and for this purpose the Son of God was made manifest, to destroy the works of the devil, starting with sin, then sickness, disease and premature death (1John 3:8). God never uses the weapons of the devil to train His soldiers.

But why does James say: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:2-4). Think of it this way, the US Army or the British Army, does not train its soldiers so that they will suffer under the hand of the enemy; no! The aim of the training is, so that they will win the war and not be captured by the enemy at all. But in case they have been captured by the enemy, and the enemy is trying to torture them, now what was put in them during the training, will come out, they will resist the enemy and fight back, and defeat him and the enemy will flee from them. They will pursue the enemy and utterly destroy him. James says: Submit to God (by standing on His word) then resist the devil, and He will flee from you (James 4:7). God is not the one sending the attacks toward you, it is the devil who comes but to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus has come so that you may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

The thing is, the moment you start standing on God’s word and sharing the word of God with people around you, and discipling people, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead, you become a target for the devil, because you are destroying his works: people are being set free from hell, and are receiving eternal life, people are no longer sinning, people’s marriages are restored, people’s finances and businesses are restored, people are loosed from their addictions, etc. So the devil does not want you to keep spreading that word of reconciliation. So he attacks you first to try to kill you with sickness and diseases and instant death, but when he fails, because you know how to stand on the word of God for your healing, and that no plague shall come near your dwelling (Psalm 91), he tries to discourage you, by threatening you, that if you continue to help other people he will keep troubling you.

Resist him and he will flee from you. Some Christians want to hide and not minister the word of reconciliation to anybody, because they are afraid that the devil will trouble them. This is the answer of Mordecai to such Christians: if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews (and other born again Christians or even unsaved people) will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish (for sooner or later the devil will come after you and your father’s house, when he has failed in his attempts to destroy us, he will come after you in your palace, where you are hiding, and you think that nobody knows that you are one of us), yet who knows, but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this (Esther 4:14)? When you became born again, you became a royal priesthood, it is time for you to learn who you are, and to go and bring relief and deliverance to the people around you. There is no such a thing as peace with the devil, he is a murderer from the beginning, he goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (John 8:44; 1Peter 5:8). He only devours the weak, so strengthen yourself in the Lord and become a valiant soldier of the cross of Jesus.

The other example of discipline Paul takes, is that of an athlete, he says to us: if anyone competes, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully (2Timothy 2:4). Do you not know that those running in a race all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain it. (1Corinthians 9:24). Therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience or endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2). When people hear the word discipline, they immediately think of the rod of correction, and they use the scripture: Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them (Proverbs 13:24).

They have associated discipline with the rod, caning children; thus discipline now has a bad connotation, like the word submission. But we have explained that The Rod or The Branch is Jesus, and Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1). So God disciplines us with His Word. And Paul wanted to change our view and understanding of the word discipline, that is why He used the example of soldiers and athletes. When you train a soldier, you do not inflict on them corporal punishments, or cane them or beat them. Otherwise no one will volunteer to enrol in your army. That is the problem the Russian army was facing in 2012. Many young men would rather go to jail, change their date of birth, or travel from state to state within Russia, to avoid being drafted into the national service for a year; because they knew they were going to be beaten and receive corporal abuse. When you train an athlete, you do not beat them with canes; no! You talk to them, you give them discipline in life, routines that they must observe every day; you encourage them when they feel like giving up. You try as much as possible to prevent them from being injured before the competition; because if they are injured, they cannot compete, and you teach them how to defeat their opponents without being injured.

Paul tells us: now discipline or training, or nurturing or instructions or tutorage, always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11). There is no short cut to spiritual growth; I wish I could sleep and wake up spiritually mature! I wish I could sleep and wake up manifesting all the nine aspects of the fruit of the spirit in my life. I wish I could sleep and wake filled with all the revelations of the mysteries of Christ, and able to rightly divide the scriptures. I wish I could sleep and wake up able to walk in the fullness of the Spirit, with all the manifestations of the Spirit, and the demonstration of the power! Paul is telling us, we will need to discipline our life, in reading and studying the word of God, praying, fasting, and walking according to the scriptures.

Jesus says: I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened. If a son shall ask for bread from any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he asks for a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:9-13)? Some Christians asked once and because they did not see the instant manifestations of what they were asking for, they stop asking. Jesus says we always ought to pray and not lose heart, or be discouraged or faint in prayer (Luke 18:1). David says I would have lost heart or been discouraged or fainted in prayer, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13). So do not just ask once, keep on asking, until you see the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in your life, or the gifts of the Spirit.

God says knock and it will be opened to you. He did not say: hit the door once and if nobody opens turn away! There are some doors you need to not just knock on, but knock down! Jesus who is Holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens a door and no one shuts; and shuts a door and no one opens (Revelation 3:7). Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have upheld, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel (Isaiah 45:1-3).

God said to Elijah to go and show himself to the King Ahab, so that he would send rain, that He would open the floodgates of heaven, and pour out rain after three years and six months of drought in the land. But after the contest at Mount Carmel, Elijah told the king to go to his palace, because there was a sound of abundant rain. Yet the first time Elijah prayed for the rain to come down, and sent his servant to go and check the sky; there was no sign of any rain whatsoever! Elijah prayed and sent his servant to check the sky seven times! Only the seventh time there was a cloud, the size of a man’s hand in the sky (1Kings 18). Elijah pounded the floodgates of heaven, until rain came down. He did not just pray once and give up, he prayed seven times.

Sometimes we pray the prayer of faith to heal the sick, and we do not see any sign of improvement in their heath. We know it is not the will of God for them to be sick, so we do not give up, we pray again and again until we see some signs of improvements in their health! And know that the first sign of improvement you see, know that you have already won the whole battle. Elijah the moment he saw the cloud of the size of a man’s hand, was convinced there shall be showers of blessings, and they will follow us, come upon us and then overtake us!

The people who have been praying for God to revive the unbelievers of our land, and awake the born again Christian to righteousness, so that they will stop sinning, they should not just pray once and give up. We know it is already the will of God, to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, even open the floodgates of heaven. So it is the devil that is resisting the children of God directly, or indirectly, to have the manifestations of those showers of blessings. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Matthew 11:12). There are times you need to use the hammer of the word of God, to knock down the gates of the enemy, so that we can invade the enemy’s camp. And sometimes you need to use the fire of the word of God, like a blowtorch, to cut in two the bar of iron and open the double door, and assault the enemy’s camp. Is not My word like as a fire? Says the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces (Jeremiah 23:29)?

Remember that Yahweh is the Man of war, the Lord is His name (Exodus 15:3). You and I are the battle-axe or weapons of war in His hands. He is the warrior, we are the weapons in His hands. You are My battle axe and weapons of war: for with you, I will break in pieces the nations, and with you, I will destroy kingdoms (Jeremiah 51:20). In the battle of Israel against Amalek, Moses went onto the mountain to pray, lifting up the Rod of the Lord, who is Jesus, and Joshua was in the valley fighting (Exodus 17:8-16). God was the Warrior (Exodus 15:3), Moses was the weapon (Jeremiah 51:20) and Joshua was the winner! So God was fighting in the spiritual realm, Moses was praying, lifting the finished work of Jesus, and Joshua got the physical victory and triumph, through Christ Jesus (1Corinthians 15:57, 2Corinthians 2:14, 1John 5:4).

Now you know you are the weapon of God, and God is the Warrior. Isaiah tells us: Shall the axe boast itself against him who hews therewith, or chops with it? or shall the saw magnify itself against him who shakes it, or saws with it? As if the rod should shake or wield itself against those who lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were not wood (Isaiah 10:15). Therefore we should always ascribe the glory, power, and majesty to God, who is the one using us as the weapon. Assyria did not understand that it was just a weapon in the hand of God, to punish the nations God had judged. Pride filled their hearts, and they began ascribing the power to their gods, and to the works of their hands (Habakkuk 1). God said to them: Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger! And the staff in their hand is My fury (Isaiah 10:5). God sent another nation, even the Babylonians to destroy those proud Assyrians. If we do not become proud; but always ascribe everything unto God; we will be weapons of choice in His hands. As you read these bible studies, you will learn to always ascribe everything to the Godhead, for it is God who works in you, both to will and do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

Now part of the discipline of a soldier, is to clean his weapon every day, not just outside; but he will disassemble the weapon, and clean every part and re-assemble it. If the inward part of the weapon is not properly clean, the weapon might jam when you try to fire it in combat, so you do not clean your weapon inside and outside during the combat, but before the combat, you need to do it every day. It is part of the discipline of the soldier! Jesus had a problem with the Pharisees and scribes, because they only cleansed the outside, and the inside was dirty (Matthew 23:25-28). And they wondered why they were not able to do the works of Jesus! They thought it was about a method or a style Jesus was using; so they asked the blind man who was healed by Jesus, saying: How were your eyes opened? The formerly blind man answered and said, A man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received my sight (John 9:10-11).

Some people also heard Jesus commanding demons and sickness, to come out with authority, and they did (Mark 1:27). And they heard Peter say, it was faith in Jesus, and the use of the name of Jesus, that healed the lame man (Acts 3:16). So they said: that’s it, we have figured it out! So some of them, the sons of Sceva used authority, I even suspected they shouted at the demon possessed man: we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches! The demons did not come out. Many Christians have also used an authoritative voice against the devil and the name of Jesus but nothing happened! The Pharisees, scribes and chief priests confessed they were not disciples of Jesus (John 9:28). They were only interested in an outward righteousness or holiness, not also an inward holiness. So they, as weapons, jammed, when they were fired in combat, and the demon possessed man overpowered them, and beat them up, tore their garments and they fled naked (Acts 19:13-17).

Peter and Paul, who put their faith in the name of Jesus, and used the name of Jesus, to heal the sick and cast out demons, were disciples of Jesus, unlike the Pharisees, Scribes, chief priests and the sons of Sceva. The disciples of Jesus, as weapons of God, cleaned themselves inside and outside, so that when they were fired in combat, they did not jam; because of the inward uncleanness. Jesus says: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he who has clean hands, shall be stronger and stronger (Job 17:9). You shall make your prayer to Him… You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be fulfilled to you; and the light shall shine on your ways. For they have humiliated you, and you shall say, Pride! And He shall save the lowly of eyes. He shall deliver one not innocent, and will deliver by the pureness of your hands (Job 22:27-29).

Sanctification is the master key to having prayers answered. Let us clean both the inside and the outside of the weapon, which we are; so that the weapon will not jam when fired in combat! Jesus tells us: I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, [which is but an outward righteousness (Matthew 23:25-28)] you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven [to experience the power of God in you and through you] (Matthew 5:20). Sanctification can be defined as the ongoing process of getting the world out of you: you are no longer conformed to this world, which lies under the influence of the wicked, even the devil; but you are transformed by the renewing of your mind, according to the written word of God, to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 12:1-2, 1John 5:19, Romans 8:29).

You and I need to become true disciples of Jesus: embracing His life, His truth and His ways (John 14:6); if we want to do the same works He did and even greater works (John 14:12-14). The Pharisees, Scribes and chief priests refused to be disciples of Jesus (John 9:28); they were satisfied with a mere outward righteousness and holiness. It was all about how they dressed, how they talked; all they did, was to appeal to men that they were holy and righteous; but God knew their hearts. May we never become such Christians, in Jesus name! As we choose to walk in holiness: having a pure heart and pure hands, we will see God and God will be seen through us. His mighty power will be in us, and will flow through us, stronger and stronger. Many people saved or unsaved, innocent or not innocent, will be delivered by our prayers and decrees proceeding out of our mouths, because of the purity of our hearts and our hands (Job 17:9, Job 22:27-29, Matthew 5:8).

Again the Lord says: you are my battle axe and weapons of war: for with you will I break in pieces the nations, and with you will I destroy kingdoms (Jeremiah 51:20). Now think of it, this way, if you have three battle axes, and two out of three are dull battle axes, you will only use the one which is sharp, to cut down trees; because if you use the two others which are dull, it will take you more effort to cut down the trees, or it will not even cut down the trees if it is so dull! Solomon a man full of wisdom says: if the axe is dull and its edge unsharpened; more strength is needed, but skills or wisdom brings success (Ecclesiastes 10:10). So if you are wise, you will do two things to succeed in your endeavour, of cutting down trees: one you will take the battle axe which has a sharpened edge, or you will sharpen the edge of the other two dull battle axes.

You and I are battle axes of God; if you ever wondered why God used some born again Christians more than others, the answer is those born again Christians sharpened the edge of their battle axe. God will not do the sharpening for us; you and I have to do the sharpening of our battle axe, if we want to be greatly used of God. Have you ever wondered why some Christians would only pray a one minute prayer, and the miracle, the healing and the deliverance happens; whereas others would have to pray for one hour or hours, before seeing a deliverance, healing or miracle taking place? The answer is simple, the first set of born again believers have sharpened the edge of their battle axe; whereas the other set of born again believers are dull battle axes with unsharpened edges; those require more strength to get the same job done!

Since it is incumbent on me to sharpen the edge of my battle axe, the question is: how do I sharpen it; for I want to be greatly used of God too? This is the answer given by Solomon: Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend (Proverbs 27:17). Jesus, The Anointed of God, is the Rod of iron of God in Psalm 2; and you and I need to sharpen our battle axes of Iron on Jesus, The Rod of Iron. If we want to be sharpened; we need to become friends with Jesus. So how do I become friends with Jesus, so that I can be sharpened? Jesus answers: You are My friends, if you do whatsoever I command you (John 15:14). Therefore we need to embrace His life, His truth and His way and become doers of them if we want to be sharpened (John 14:6); then the edge of our spiritual battle axe will be as sharp as Jesus, and do the same works He did, even greater works (John 14:12-14).

We also have the saints in the bible who knew the ways of God and were able do the acts of God. We should imitate their faith if we want to sharpen the edge of our spiritual battle axe. Someone like Elijah was a mighty weapon in the hand of God, he was clean inside and outside; so that when he prayed a simple and short prayer on Mount Carmel, fire came down from heaven. He was a battle axe of God with a very sharp edge; he slaughtered all the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, after the fire came down from heaven (1Kings 18). God wants to make every born again Christian the same way. James tells us: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much. Elijah was a man of like passion as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for the time of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to sprout (James 5:16-18). I will add, he prayed and fire came down from heaven (1Kings 18).

We need to understand that prayer in line with the finished work of Jesus, is very important. The physical manifestations are just the results of the victory in the spiritual realm. Daniel also understood it; the time of the deliverance of his people has come, according to the 70 years appointed by the Lord in the prophecy of Jeremiah. Yet nothing happened until Daniel humbled himself in prayer and fasting, and there was a spiritual battle for 21 days, before his answer came, and later we see the deliverance of the people of God (Daniel 9 and Daniel 10). Paul says by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen, were not made of things which are visible (Hebrews 11:3). Some Christians find it hard to pray, they will play Christian songs. Our generation is afraid of silence! There must be a noise, that is why, even when they do their quiet time, they put music on. Stop that music please! Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)! Do not be afraid of the silence. There is a time for praise and worship; but when you pray in your closet, be still and know that He is God! You will never develop your spiritual hearing, if there is always a noise in your background when you are praying or meditating!

When it comes to seeking; do not just seek once and give up, no, go after those manifestations of the Holy Spirit or gifts of the Spirit. Seek the manifestations of the Holy Spirit and the demonstration of the power with all your heart. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then you shall call upon Me, and you shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And you shall seek Me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:11-13). David said: One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4). So whatever you desire from the Lord, you will have to make it your target, and seek after it with your whole heart, until you see its manifestation in your life. Paul says: follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts and spiritual things (1Corinthians 14:1).

Some Christians think that God will just dump all the nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, and all the nine manifestations of the Holy Spirit or gifts of the Spirit, upon them! They are greatly mistaken, not knowing that scriptures or the power of God (Matthew 22:29)! They are all available to every born again Christian; yet you will have to desire them, target each one of them and seek after them, with all your heart, and not be satisfied until they are made flesh in you. I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God given you in Jesus Christ, that in everything you are enriched by Him, in all speech, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you [the word became flesh in you, you became doers of the word]; so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Corinthians 1:4-7).

And about himself Paul says: I judge myself to have come behind the highest apostles in nothing (2Corinthians 11:5). Paul disciplined himself like a solder enlisted in an army, even the army of the Lord Jesus, like an athlete running that race of faith, on the highway of holiness. He refused to come behind any of the most eminent apostles who were with Jesus: in knowledge and revelation of the mysteries of Christ, in the manifestations of the aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, in manifestations of the Holy Spirit or the nine gifts of the Spirit, and in the demonstration of the power of God. He sought after those spiritual things with His whole heart, because he desired them. Paul was like us, he did not spend time physically with Jesus like Peter, John, and the other disciples. If Paul could do it, you and I can do it too!

The same Paul tells us: remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you, consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:7-8). What Paul is saying is, it is no accident that those leaders who spoke the word of God to you, were mightily used by God in signs, wonders and miracles, and they also had the fruit of the Spirit. It was simply because they imitated the way of Jesus, the life of Jesus and the faith of Jesus, which came from the revelation and the knowledge of the truth of the word of God (John 14:6), the manifestations of the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit in them, was simply the outcome of the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus that they embraced; therefore Paul advises us to imitate him as he imitates Jesus (1Corinthains 11:1). Jesus is the same today, He does not show personal favouritism to anybody, but in every nation and in every generation, everyone who fears God and practices righteousness, is accepted by Him (Acts 10:34). If God did it for Paul, he will do it for you and Gery!

Paul says those athletes are competing for a perishable crown, yet they are so disciplined in their life and training. But we are competing for a crown that is not perishable. So the same thing Paul says about soldiers, who should not be entangled with the affairs of this world; he says about athletes, who should lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience or endurance, the race that is set before us. God may have a great plan for us, but sin can become a hindrance for us to fulfil it. Let us look at the Children of Jacob. The bible says: the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel (for he was the first-born; but since he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the son of Joseph, the son of Israel, and the genealogy is not to be counted according to the birthright; For Judah prevailed among his brothers, and from him came the chief ruler, but the birthright was Joseph’s) (1Chronicles 5:1-2).

People think that sin is not a big thing to God; it is! John in the letter of 1John, was writing to born again believers, and was talking to them about sin; he wanted them to stop sinning. Paul in the book of Romans was writing to believers who were in Rome, and was telling them that grace was not a license to sin, but the unmerited favour of God, and His divine empowerment to have dominion over sin, so that sin should no longer rule over them. And in Romans 12, he begged them to present their bodies a living sacrifice unto the Lord, Holy and pure which is their reasonable service. Yes, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We have our robe of righteousness, but we might have forfeited the reward of the Christian faith.

Reuben is in heaven, but he forfeited the blessing of the firstborn right, and also the responsibility, authority and influence God wanted to give him as a first born. They were now given to his younger brothers who were found trust worthy. God hates sin, and loves righteousness, so does Jesus, and if you want God to make you great in His kingdom, and entrust you with more in the Kingdom; you must hate sin like He does and love practicing righteousness. As it is written about Jesus: God says to the Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness, above Your fellows (Hebrews 1:8-9).” You can be ordained an apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher or pastor, and then you act like Reuben, who committed sexual immorality. If you confess your sins, God will forgive you, but you might have disqualified yourself for what God might have used you to achieve in his kingdom, though you are still a pastor, a prophet, an evangelist, a teacher or an apostle. The Lord said through Jacob: Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it. He went up to my couch (Genesis 49:3-4).

Joseph decided to hate iniquity and love practicing righteousness. When the wife of Potiphar wanted to commit sexual immorality with him, he fled the scene, and he would rather be jailed than to do that great evil (Genesis 39). Joseph also was wronged by His brothers, sold into slavery by them, but He decided to forgive his brothers and overcome their evil with good (Romans 12:21). And this is Joseph’s testimony: but as for you, you thought evil against me to harm me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them (Genesis 50:20-21). So from the mouth of Joseph we understand that it was not God who meant evil to him, but his brothers who were moved by envy, and envy is the work of the flesh, that wisdom is not from above, but of the devil (James 3:14-15). God is the only one who turned their evil into good. As Paul says: we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Because Joseph distinguished himself in the eyes of God, by hating iniquity like God, by learning how to forgive those who did evil to Him like God, and above all by overcoming their evil with good. God decided that he was worthy, to be entrusted with the responsibility of the blessing of the first born, though he was not the first born. Thus God gave that double portion of the blessing to the two sons of Joseph. The Levites also forfeited their inheritance, because they could not control their anger, the bible says be angry and sin not (Ephesians 4:26). In Genesis 34, when their sister Tamar was raped by Shechem, Simeon and Levi decided to avenge themselves and killed all the inhabitants of the land, they did not trust God who said: vengeance is Mine and I will repay (Hebrews 10:30). So God said, for their own best interest, Simeon and Levi should not dwell together, so He decided to scatter Levi among the tribes of Israel.

God said through Jacob: Simeon and Levi are brothers; tools of violence are their weapons. Oh my soul, do not come into their secret. Let not my honour be united with their assembly. For in their anger they killed a man, and in their self-will, they hamstrung a bull. Let their anger be cursed, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:5-7). If you have an anger management problem, you need to take care of it, for anger rests in the bosom of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:9) God does not want His honour to be associated with fools. God did not give an inheritance to Levi, the Lord was his inheritance. As Moses said: that is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the LORD is their inheritance, as the LORD your God told them (Deuteronomy 10:9). And the Lord scattered the Levites in among their brethren, saying to Moses: Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in, from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasture-lands around the towns (Numbers 35:2).

So God did not even enlist the Levites in the Army of Israel, but they were only to be for the service of the tabernacle of the Lord. Why? Because they were self-willed, and could not control their anger. They would repay evil for evil, and would not trust God to avenge them. If you want to be used greatly by God, you need to learn to forgive people, and not hold grudges against them, not lie in wait to cast a stumbling block in their path, so that they can fall. If you have anger issues and unforgiveness, you will be picking and choosing who is worthy, according to you to be healed or to be saved, to live or to die, to be raised from the dead or to stay dead.

The Writer of 1Chronicles says: even though when Reuben forfeited the blessing of the firstborn, and it was given to the sons of Joseph, yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler (1Chronicles 5:2). So how did Judah prevail over his brothers, and what did he do to prevail? In Genesis 37:26-27 we read: “Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it, if we should kill our brother Joseph, and hide his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him. For he is our brother, and our flesh. And his brothers listened”. So Judah was among those who put Joseph in the pit, and he was the one who gave the idea to his brothers, to sell Joseph to slavery. So we all have a background that we are not proud of, we have made mistakes and we cannot go back into the past to amend them, but we have today, we can do what is right today, and it will change our destiny forever.

So when there was a famine in the world, and they had to go down to Egypt to find grain, Judah said to his father Jacob: Send the boy, Benjamin, with me, and we will arise and go, so that we may live and not die, both we and you, also our little ones. I will be surety for him. You shall require him of my hand. If I do not bring him to you and set him before you, I shall be a sinner against you all the days (Genesis 43:8-9). So when the cup of Joseph was found in the sac of Benjamin, and he was to become a slave of Joseph; Judah offered to take the place of Benjamin and become a slave in his stead, even if it meant to be put to death for that theft.

As it is written: And Judah came near him, Joseph, and said, O my lord, pray let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not let your anger burn against your servant, for you are even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his servants, saying: do you have a father or a brother? And we said to my lord, we have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one. And his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him. And you said to your servants: bring him down to me, and let me see him. And we said to my lord, the boy, Benjamin, cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, he would die. And you said to your servants, unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more. And it happened when we came up to your servant, my father; we told him the words of my lord. And our father said, Go again. Buy us a little food. And we said, We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, we will go down, for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.

And your servant my father said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons. And the one went out from me, and I said, surely he is torn in pieces. And I never saw him since. And if you take this one also from me, and mischief befalls him, you shall bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. And now when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, since his life is bound up in his life, it shall be, when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. And your servants shall bring down the grey hairs of your servant, our father with sorrow to the grave. For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not bring him to you, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever. And now please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a slave to my lord. And let the boy go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father, and the boy is not with me lest perhaps I see the evil that will find my father (Genesis 44:18-34)?

Judah prevailed over his brothers because he was willing to lay down his life for Benjamin, who was allegedly guilty of theft. No greater love has anyone than this, that one should lay down his life for another (John15:13). People can forgive and it makes God happy, people can repay good for evil, and God is happy, people can bestow their goods to the poor, and God is pleased with them. But the greatest act of love, is to lay down your life for another person, for other people like our Lord Jesus did: to deny yourself of many things, to save the lost, because you know that your Father cares about the lost, just like Judah knew that Jacob his father so loved Benjamin. And Because Judah was willing to lay down his life for his brother, who was allegedly guilty, he prevailed over His brother, and God said: Judah, may your brothers praise you. May your hand be in the neck of your enemies. May your father’s sons bow before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp. My son, you have gone up from the prey. He stooped, he crouched like a lion; and like a lioness, who shall rouse him? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come. And the obedience of the peoples to him (Genesis 49:8-10).

And Jesus who is our Shiloh, the Ruler of the heaven and earth, came through the tribe of Judah, and He also laid down His life for the whole world, to save those who were, are and will be guilty of sin and deserving death. You see, Jesus did not just come through the tribe of Judah like that, but it was because Judah decided to lay down his life for Benjamin, that he prevailed over his brother, so that Jesus, who is the Ruler of heaven and earth, should come through his lineage. Joseph did not just get the birthright blessing of the firstborn that was supposed to go to Reuben like that; no! Joseph learned to flee sexual immoralities, to forgive his brothers who did evil to him, and to repay good for evil to his brothers. God sees all our actions in secret, and rewards us openly (Matthew 6:18).

What we do today affects our eternal destiny; it has repercussions generations after we are gone. God is not unjust to forget our labour and work of love, that we have bestowed in His name, in that we have ministered and are still ministering to the saints (Hebrews 6:10). He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded (2Chronicles 15:7). If you were like brother Gery, who backslid and God healed His backsliding, and loved him freely, God does not condemn you; but go and sin no more. (Hosea 14:4, John 8:11). Now that we are ministers of reconciliation, let us live a sanctified life and be an example to the world. Moses and Paul were murderers before they encountered God; but after their conversion, they lived a sanctified life, and God used them mightily. But if you are born again and are deliberately practicing sin, especially the sins leading to death listed in 1Corinthians 6:9-10, you might forfeit some of the great plans God has for you.

What does it mean to please God?

When Paul says: without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to Him, must believe that He is, and is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). How can a man or woman please God, according to the scriptures? When Jesus was water baptized, John the Baptist testified of the vision he saw, saying: Jesus, when He had been baptized, went up immediately out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. And lo, a voice from Heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:16-17).

When Jesus went to pray on the Mountain of transfiguration, Matthew tells us: after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain apart. And He was transfigured before them. And His face shone as the sun, and His clothing was white as the light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You will, let us make here three tabernacles; one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he yet spoke, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold a voice out of the cloud which said, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear Him (Matthew 17:1-5). I want God to testify of me to the people around me, that He is well pleased with me, and people should hear what I have to say, that lines up with the counsel of the Holy Scriptures.

So then how can a person be well pleasing to God or in His sight, so that he will recommend other people to hear what he or she has to say? John and Solomon tell us, it is by hating evil and departing from it, keeping God’s commandments and practicing righteousness, that a person becomes pleasing in the sight of God or well pleasing to God. In other words the person must embrace the way, truth and sanctified life of Jesus, if he or she wants God to be well pleased in him or her, and commend them to the world (John 14:6-14, John 17:16-20). John says: whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight (1John 3:22).

Solomon tells us: The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the wicked mouth (Proverbs 8:13). By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged, and by the fear of Jehovah men turn away from evil. When a man’s ways please Jehovah, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness than great gain without right. A man’s heart plans his way, but Jehovah directs his steps (Proverbs 16:6-9).

So when Paul tells us: without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to Him, must believe that He is, and is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). He means first of all, you have to hate evil and depart from it, keep God’s commandments and practice righteousness, before believing or having faith in His promises. Sin is breaking God’s law or acting contrary to the counsel of the Holy Scriptures. The two main reasons people act contrary to the counsel of the Holy Scriptures are: lack of knowledge of the counsel of God for that particular subject, or because they do not believe that God will do things for them, according to the counsel of His scriptures.

We have explained these two main reasons that people sin, in the bible study: “David’s Sexual Sin Exposed”. My people, says God, perish for lack of knowledge, and because they have rejected the knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Scriptures are so plain, do the same things Jesus and His disciples did, and God will bear witness of you before everybody, like He did for Jesus and His disciples, saying: this is my beloved son or daughter, in whom I am well pleased, hear him or her (Matthew 17:5). Let us make it our goal to embrace the sanctified life, the way and the truth of Jesus, so that we will be well pleasing to our Father God. Then the Lord will bear witness of God, with mighty signs and mighty wonders. Jesus answered them, I told you and you did not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me (John 10:25). The disciples of Jesus willingly chose to embrace the sanctified life of Jesus, His way and His truth, God was well pleased with them and bore witness of them. Mark tells us: the disciples, who believed, went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen (Mark 16:20).

The reason people reject the knowledge of the counsel of God, and act contrary to it, is because they fear that God will not keep His promise. They help themselves, and ask God to bless their Ishmael, instead of waiting for their Isaac, the promise of the Father (Genesis 17:15-22). God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2Timothy 1:7). You will be able to overcome and rule over those fears, when you have the revelation of the Love that God has for you, and focus on the Love He has for you, not the love that you have for Him. That is what John explains to us, saying: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears has not been perfected in love. We love Him because He first loved us (1John 4:18-19).

That is why when Jairus heard that his daughter had died, and he should not trouble Jesus anymore, Jesus said to him: fear not, only believe , and she shall be healed, even raised from the dead (Mark 5:36 and Luke 8:50)! And when God sends Joshua to lead the people to the promised land, He said to Joshua: fear not, nor be dismayed (Joshua 8:1). Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. There shall not a man of them stand before you (Joshua 10:8). Faith works through love, even the perfect or unfailing love God has for each one of us (Galatians 5:6). If you do not have the revelation of that perfect love of God, fear will be in your heart instead of belief, trust and faith. You will rely on yourself and your ways, instead of relying on God and his ways. I say to every one of us: fear not, nor be dismayed; but only believe, and God will fulfil the promises spoken over your life, in Jesus’ name!

What does it mean to delight in the Lord?

As you delight in Me, I, the Lord, will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). What does it mean to delight in the Lord? God and His word are one, Jesus Christ is called the Word of God (John 1:1, Revelation 19:13). David said: I said, Lo, I come, in the volume of the Book it is written of Me; I delight to do Your will or I have pleasure in doing Your will, O My God; and Your Law is within My heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo, I have not kept back My lips O Jehovah, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not hidden Your loving-kindness and Your truth from the great congregation (Psalm 40:7-10).

So delighting in the Lord is delighting to do His Will, or what is contained in the volume of the book, from Genesis to Revelation, His Testament or Will to us (Hebrews 9:17). It is practicing righteousness and, embracing the truth of God and His ways, found in the Holy Scriptures. Paul paraphrases the same Psalm 40 of David, to tell us it was talking about Jesus, who delighted in the Lord. He says: therefore when Jesus comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, You have had no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God (Hebrews 10:5-7).”

Solomon says: when a man’s ways please the LORD, or when the Lord is delighted in a man’s ways, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7). Solomon learned it from David His father, who said to the Lord: by this I know that You delight in me or you are well pleased in me, because my enemy does not triumph over me (Psalm 41:11). Khaw-fates is the Hebrew word used in Psalm 40:8 and Psalm 41:11 to mean: be well pleased with, have or take pleasure in, and delight in. So the conditions we have stated, according to the Holy Scriptures, for God to be well pleased with a person, are the same conditions to be met if a person says he or she delights in the Lord, or God is delighted in him or her.

When God delights in a person, He even grants him what he has not asked for. It was the case of Solomon in his early walk with God. Solomon said, You have shown to Your servant David my father, great mercy, according as he walked before You in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You. And You have kept this great kindness for him, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. And now, O Jehovah my God, You have made Your servant king instead of David my father. And I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in! And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a numerous people who cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. And give to Your servant an understanding heart, to judge Your people, to discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this, Your great people?(1Kings 3:6-9)

And the word was good in the eyes of Jehovah, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said to him, Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, and have not asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself, understanding to judge justly, behold, I have done according to your words. Lo, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like you before you, and after you, none shall arise like you. And I also have given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like you all your days (1Kings 3:9-13).

God stipulated the condition Solomon had to meet, if he wanted to enjoy those promises of God, saying: if you will walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days. And Solomon awoke, and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants (1Kings 3:14-15). When Solomon was no longer walking in the Ways of the Lord, nor keeping His statutes and commandment like David did, rebellion started in the land by the hand of Jeroboam his servant, and later God gave ten tribes to Jeroboam, and only two tribes to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. The gold and riches of the kingdom were also taken by the enemy (1Kings 12 to 1Kings 14). Always remember: it is God who gives you the power to get wealth that He may establish His covenant, if you wilfully break His covenant, he is not under any obligation to fulfil it, unless you genuinely repent (Deuteronomy 8:18).

When God delights in a person he testifies of Him before angels, demons and all men. Of Job it is written: the LORD said unto Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who fears God, and shuns evil (Job 1:8)? Jesus said to us: you have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy. He who overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches (Revelation 3:4-6). Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:32-33).

We have explained in the bible study on “The power of confession” that confession starts by thinking the same way God thinks, speaking the same way God speaks, to do the same thing Jesus did. Without the doing part of confession, it is not perfect or complete. Jesus says: Strive to enter in at the narrow gate. For I say to you, many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. And once the Master of the house has risen up and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open for us, and He shall answer and say to you, I do not know you; from where are you; then you shall begin to say, We ate and drank in Your presence, and You have taught in our streets. But He shall say, I tell you, I do not know you; from where you are. Depart from Me, all workers of unrighteousness! There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves being thrust out (Luke 13:24-28).

The only way you know people in the spirit are real, is by their fruit. Jesus told us: You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit, is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them. Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven (Matthew 7:16-21). And Paul tells us: the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth (Ephesians 5:9). So if you are a worker of unrighteousness, an evil person, and not a doer of the word of God, which is the truth; you are not bearing the fruit of the Spirit, and Jesus will deny ever knowing you!

V. The Ark of the Covenant & The Armour of God

V.1 You are the Ark of the Covenant of God

The Ark of the Covenant was overlaid inside and outside with pure gold. God said to Moses.

Exodus 25:10 And they shall make an ark of acacia-wood. Two and a half cubits long, and a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

Exodus 25:11 And you shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside and out, and shall make on it a crown of gold all around.

Exodus 25:12 And you shall cast four rings of gold for it, and shall put it on its four feet. And two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

Exodus 25:13 And you shall make staves of acacia-wood, and overlay them with gold.

Exodus 25:14 And you shall put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, so that the ark may be carried with them.

The Ark of the Covenant talked about Jesus, Christ being in you the Hope of glory and you being in Christ or putting on Christ; you are the Ark of the Covenant of God in the New Covenant (Colossians 1:27, Galatians 3:27, Romans 13:14). The Hebrew word for Ark is “Aron”; it literally means coffin. It is the same word that Moses uses to talk about the coffin of Joseph. So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old. And they embalmed him, and put him in a coffin [“Aron” in Hebrew] in Egypt (Genesis 50:26). The Ark of the Covenant, overlaid all around with gold, in which was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s Rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. And over it were the cherubs of glory, overshadowing the mercy-seat (about which we cannot now speak piece by piece (Hebrews 9:4-5). Paul did not have time to explain it piece by piece; but I, Gery, will succinctly explain it piece by piece. The entire Ark of the Covenant talked about Jesus, His death and resurrection. The Ark was literally a coffin, symbolizing the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The elements that were placed inside the Ark of the Covenant, were talking about the person of Jesus Christ. The manna in the golden pot talked about Jesus. Jesus says: I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John 6:48-51). That manna bread, was placed in a golden pot to signify that that bread was God Himself. Jesus Christ, the bread of life that came down from heaven, is fully God (John 1:1). Thomas answered and said unto the resurrected Christ, my Lord and my God (John 20:28).

The two tablets of the Covenant, that Moses placed in the Ark of the Covenant, is the word of God which God wrote with His own finger. And The Lord God said to Moses, Cut out two tablets of stone like the first (you broke in Exodus 32). And I will write upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain (Exodus 34:1-2). Those two tablets of the word of God, were talking about Jesus Christ, who is the word of God. John tells us: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). And the name of Jesus Christ is The Word of God (Revelation 19:13).

The Almond Rod of Aaron that budded, and was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, was talking about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus. It happened on the next day, Moses went into the tabernacle of witness. And behold! The rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi had budded and had brought forth buds, and had bloomed blossoms, and had yielded almonds (Numbers 17:8). We have explained in this bible study, that The Rod or the Branch is Christ Jesus, according to the scriptures. The two cherubs that were on each side of the Ark of the Covenant, were talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, after He had shed His blood on the mercy-seat in heaven, for the sins of the world. John tells us that on the resurrection day: Mary stood outside of the tomb, weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, sitting there, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they said to her, Woman, why do you weep? She said to them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him. And when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus (John 20:11-14).

So even at the resurrection of Christ Jesus, the two angels or cherubs had to fulfil the shadow of the Ark of the Covenant, and came to sit down on the two opposite ends, where the body of Jesus was laid, to fulfil what was prophetically crafted on the mercy-seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Now you understand why Paul tells us: I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1Corinthians 15:3-4). These are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ (Colossians 2:17). Christ had to fulfil all the shadows in the scriptures, including the shadows contained in the Ark of the Covenant.

Wood talks about our humanity, and the acacia wood. It talked about you and me, humans. Just like the Ark of the Covenant was of acacia wood, overlaid with gold inside and outside, so is every born again Christian. How is every born again Christian overlaid with gold inside? Paul tells us: we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us (2Corinthians 4:7). The acacia wood in itself is not precious, and is certainly not a treasure; but when it is overlaid with pure gold inside, it becomes a precious treasure. We have said that gold talks about divinity, even God. So God dwells inside us. We explain in Jehovah-Shammah how the Father, Son and Spirit dwell inside us. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God (1Corinthians 6:19)? You are the temple of the living God, as God has said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (2Corinthians 6:16).

Just like the almond Rod that budded, and yielded ripe almonds, was inside the Ark of the Covenant; the resurrected Christ dwells in you. Christ dwells in your heart by faith (Ephesians 3:17). And you, are one of the almonds, which the Rod that budded, yielded; for now you, are a son or daughter of God, through the resurrected Christ Jesus. The resurrected Christ brought many sons and daughters to glory (Hebrews 2:10), for as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but were born of God (John 1:12-13). The manna that was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, represents the word of God that abides in us. We need to feed on Jesus and on His words daily, like the Hebrews received manna daily. Jesus tells us: If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be My disciples (John 15:7-8). Not just we have become one of the fruits on the almond Rod that budded and yielded almonds; but since that Rod, that budded, dwells in us, we are also to bear much fruit, as we feed on the manna, the word of God, and abide in the Rod that budded, even the resurrected Christ.

The tablets of stone, on which the word of God was written, which were placed inside the Ark of the Covenant, represent our heart and the word of God written in our heart. Paul explains to us, saying: You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men, it having been made plain that you are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, not having been written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but in fleshly tablets of the heart (2Corinthians 3:2-3). Let the Word of Christ dwell in you [just like the tablets of stone abode inside the Ark of the Covenant] richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16).

Jehovah-Shammah dwells in you, you are now the new Ark of the Covenant of God. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost dwell in you. In some churches they have a replica of the Ark of the Covenant; they do not know that it was a shadow of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus, and in the New Covenant, every born again Christian is the new Ark of the Covenant of God. The bible says: it happened when the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah, came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth shook. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said: What is the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they saw that the Ark of Jehovah had come into the camp. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp, And they said, Woe to us! For there has not been a thing like this before. Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness (1Samuel 4:5-8).

My prayer is that you and I will realize, that we are the new Ark of the Covenant of God. The enemy knows it; but you and I need to know it and act accordingly. When you come to a place; God comes with you! When people see you coming in their midst, there should be a great rejoicing; for God has come with you, and He works through you to utterly destroy Satan and his demons, that are oppressing the people. When you come to a place, people’s expectations should be high; because God works mighty signs and wonders through you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Things that are impossible with mere men, will be possible with you, because you believe that you are now the new Ark of the Covenant of God (Mark 9:23). You and I have been made kings and priests to our God, through Christ Jesus, and we shall reign on the earth (Revelation 5:10). It is here on earth that God wants us to reign over sin, sickness, disease, demon possession, premature death and all the work of the devil!

This is what God wants to do with you, His priests, who are now His Ark of the Covenant. And it shall be, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that carry the Ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above. And they shall stand all in a heap. And it happened, when the people moved from their tents to pass over Jordan, and as the priests carried the ark of the covenant before the people, and as those who bore the Ark had come to Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the Ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for Jordan overflows all its banks, all the time of harvest); that the waters which came down from above, stopped and rose up all in a heap, very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan. And those that came down toward the sea of the plain, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over across from Jericho. And the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah, stood firm on dry ground in the middle of Jordan. And all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people had passed completely over Jordan (Joshua 3:13-17).

You and I, who have been made kings and priests unto our God through Christ Jesus, so that we can reign on earth (Revelation 5:10), are carriers of the Arc of the Covenant of the Lord God inside us. Jesus tells each one of us: If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23). We will literally divide rivers to lead nations to the promised land. We walk on water like Jesus and Peter did in Matthew 14:25-29. Only priests could carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord God, that is why Jesus made us priests and kings to our God so that we shall reign on earth (Revelations 5:10). In the New Covenant we are not carrying the Ark of the Covenant on our shoulders like the priests of the Old Testament, but we are carrying it in inside us!

V.2 The Armour of God

The Ark of the Covenant was of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold inside and outside. We have explained how it was overlaid inside with gold, what it meant, and what the elements inside symbolized. We have explained that every born again Christian is the new Ark of the Covenant of God. We have the gold inside, even the Godhead dwelling inside us. The question is: since we are the New Ark of the Covenant of God, are we also overlaid with pure gold outside like the old ark of the Covenant was overlaid with pure gold outside? The answer is yes! We will discover how every born again Christian is overlaid with pure gold even outside.

I was sleeping one night and I had a vision. In that vision I came out of the water, and I was wearing the armour of pure gold. Even my shield and hilt of the sword in my hand were of pure gold. And there was one giant that was standing before me with his armour of bronze like Goliath in 1Samuel 17, and the other giant that was also standing before me, had his armour of iron. I struck them with the sword I had in my hand and they fled from me. When I woke up from that vision; I did not know why I had the armour of pure gold. I asked myself: do all Christians have the same armour of pure gold? It took me a year before God could answer my question. I have read Ephesians 6 over and over; but it has never dawned on me; until the day God enlightened the eyes of my understanding, to know the hope of God’s calling, and what the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in every single born again believer are. (Ephesians 1:18).

Paul tells us: finally, my brothers and sisters, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole Armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles or schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-11). Then it dawned on me, that the armour is not my armour, not your armour either; but the Armour of God. It belongs to God; every piece of that Armour belongs to God and not to you or me. Gold is symbolic of deity; it represents God.

So every born again Christian has received that Armour of God, which is of pure gold. They are spiritually overlaid with pure gold outside, just like the old Ark of the Covenant, was overlaid with pure gold outside. We have received all pieces of that Armour of God. You are in Christ and your life is hid with Christ, in God (Colossians 3:3). So for the enemy to get to you, he needs to defeat God first, and then if he succeeds; he needs to defeat Jesus Christ, and only then he can get to you. It will never happen! Jesus says: At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you (John 14:20). What is the easiest way of explaining how every born again Christian is in Christ? Think of a pregnant woman. You are the foetus in her womb. You live through your mother, you move in her womb, you eat through her, everything you need, that pertains to life, you get through her. Peter tells us: His divine power, has given unto us all things, that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him, that has called us to glory and virtue (2Peter 1:3).

So Christ is spiritually pregnant with you. Think of God the Father being spiritually pregnant with Jesus. Thus you are in the spiritual womb of Jesus and live and move through Jesus, Jesus tells us: without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). And then Jesus is in the spiritual womb of God the Father and He lives through God the Father. Jesus Christ tells us: As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he who feeds on Me, even he shall live by Me (John 6:57). Everything Jesus Christ has, He receives it through God, and everything you and I have, we receive it through Christ Jesus. We truly are in Christ Jesus and our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Paul tells us: in God we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). We are in God through Christ Jesus, if we are not in Christ Jesus, we are not in God! We never take off the Armour of God, No never. The fact that Paul tells us to put on the whole armour of God, does not mean that he is telling us that there are times, we put it off.

It is just like when Paul talks about the new man, or new creation, that we have become, the very moment we became born again. He tells us: that you put off, concerning the former way of life, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24). So Paul is not telling us that the moment we are acting un-righteously or not in holiness, we have put off that new man or new creation we have become. Otherwise we will have to give our life back to Christ every time we sin. No, what Paul is telling us is this: since we are no longer that old man who had the Adamic nature or sinful nature; but we are now a new creation or a new man created in Christ Jesus, the second Adam, and all things in us are now new and are of God. We need to renew our mind by the washing of the water by the word of God, so that our conduct, our way of living, our way of talking and our works must line up with the new creation we are now, and not like the old man that we used to be, that has been crucified and buried in the body of Christ Jesus.

Thus likewise when Paul tells us to put on the whole Armour of God; he does not insinuate that we sometimes remove that Armour of God, which would mean that we have lost our salvation, which is not possible. What Paul is telling us is to renew our mind according to the word of God, and start acting according to that revelation of what the pieces of the armour of God are, that have been freely given to us, the day we became born again. All things are new and all things are of God, including the whole Armour of God. So we need to learn what it is, and how to use every piece of that Armour of God. That was the mystery that the devil did not understand when he crucified Jesus, because Jesus brought many sons and daughters to glory, He was now in them and they were in Him. They were heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus, so they share the same Armour with Jesus, the King of kings which is the Armour of God.

The enemy does not know the difference, unless you tell him, that it is not Jesus and God who are in that Armour of God, but you; remember you died and are now in Christ Jesus and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). God is spiritually pregnant with Jesus and Jesus is spiritually pregnant with you. So the enemy sees God, not you. God is in the battle field! Let me explain again the mystery Satan did not comprehend. Paul tells us: the mystery that was kept from the foundation of the world, that is now revealed, is: Christ in you the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Since Christ is in you, it means that He is with you in that Armour of God. He said I will never leave you and I will never forsake you (Hebrews 13:5-6). And He added: lo, I am with you always until the end (Matthew 28:20).

So there is not a single moment that Jesus leaves you alone, inside that Armour of God. God is also with you in the Armour along with Jesus for Jesus says: Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The Words that I speak to you I do not speak of Myself, but the Father who dwells in Me, He does the works (John 14:10). Have this picture in your mind: God is the one wearing the Armour, God is spiritually pregnant with Jesus, and Jesus is spiritually pregnant with you. You are in the spiritual womb of Jesus and Jesus is in the spiritual womb of God, and God is the one standing in the battle field, wearing the Armour. At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you (John 14:20). As we are faithful to only speak the written word of God or things in line with the written word of God: it is the word of Jesus and it is not you or me who is speaking, but Jesus who dwells in us, who is speaking inside that Armour of God. So you are never speaking of yourself.

John explains to us saying: we know that the Son of God, Jesus, has come to give us an understanding that we may know Him, God, who is true and we are in Him, God, who is true; in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life (1John 5:20). So we are in Christ and Christ is in God. For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him (Colossians 2:6). So whenever you are walking, you are always walking in God, never outside God, for your life is hidden with Christ in God. Paul is telling us: since that is our spiritual reality; let us read our bible and renew our mind, so that our conduct, ways and action, will line up with the walk of Jesus. No matter what we do, we are always inside that Armour of God since our life is hid with Christ in God. If you were to come out of God, it means you are no longer born again, which cannot happen, unless you were not born again from the beginning, but were just a religious person, or you deliberately decide to reject Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, and practice the sins leading to death (1Corinthians 6:9-10).

Paul tells us: you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ, have put on Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). So the moment you were born again, you became children of God, and you put on Christ Jesus, never to put Him off again, which would mean you are no longer children of God, that you have lost your salvation. So by putting on Christ Jesus you have put on the whole Armour of God. The same Paul says: Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof (Romans 13:13-14). So we need to have corresponding behaviour and walk with whom we profess to have put on, even Jesus Christ. We need to learn how to use every piece of the Armour of God. Paul said: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). So you and I do longer exist per se, we need to die to self, everything we have, belongs to God, the Armour of God, Jesus is now living through us, we are in Him and He is in us, His Spirit also is in us.

In 2Chronicles 18:29-32 we read, the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and will go to the battle; but you put on your war robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went to battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, saying, do not fight with small or great, save only with the king of Israel. And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him. For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from pursuing him.

So we can use this example to talk of our enemy. The Syrian army did not know who was in that war robe, on the battle field. As far as they were concerned; since that war robe was the war robe of Kings, they assumed it was the king of Israel, who was in that war robe. Until Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Syrians realized that it was not the king of Israel in that war robe. And that is how some Christians are acting, they are crying out to the enemy that it is not Jesus who is in that Armour of God, it is not God in this Armour; but it is I! And the devil realizes it is not Jesus, nor God but you, and Satan says: let me deal with you! Remember, you and I no longer exist per se, we died with Christ and were buried with Him, Jesus now lives in us, and we no longer speak of our own authority, but Jesus who dwells in us, speaks through us as long as we speak the written word of God, or in line with the written word of God. All authority and power in heaven and on earth, has been given to Jesus, and you are in that Armour of God, and Jesus is in God and God is the one wearing the Armour. Use the name of Jesus, not your name, to fight the enemy.

Since the Holy Spirit is in you, and you are in Christ Jesus, and then Christ is in God, and God is the one wearing the Armour, the enemy sees God on the battle field; even the Lord the Man of War, Jehovah is His name (Exodus 15:3). The battle is not yours but God’s (2Chronicles 20:15). Whosoever comes against you now, comes against God. Whosoever touches you, touches God, and whosoever defies you, defies God, and the Lord will fight for you and through you, for the battle is not yours but the Lord’s (1Samuel 17:40-58). You see, although after the flesh David did not have any armour, and Goliath had his armour of brass, David understood that he was wearing the Armour of God. And God was going to fight through him and for him.

Understand from this very day, that you always wear the Armour of God which is of pure Gold. You are in Christ, Christ is in God and God is the One wearing the Armour. So he, who receives you, receives Jesus who sent you, and receives God who sent Jesus. He, who hears your word, hears the words of Jesus who sent you, and hears the words of God who sent Jesus. He who receives you receives Me [Jesus], and he who receives Me receives Him [God the father] who sent Me (Matthew 10:40). It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you (Matthew 10:20). So sickness, disease and demons are not seeing and hearing you, but they are seeing and hearing God! They are hearing the voice of God through the Holy Spirit of your Father, who speaks in you. When you are laying your hands on the sick, the diseased and the dead; it is not spiritually your hand, but the hand of God.

The disciples understood it and prayed thus: now, Lord, behold their threats; and grant unto Your servants, that with all boldness they may speak Your word, By stretching forth Your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of Your holy Son Jesus (Acts 4:29-30). They understood that they were in Christ Jesus the Son of God, and Christ Jesus is in God the Father, and God is the one wearing the Armour. So when they went out to lay hands on the sick, like Jesus commanded us in Mark 16:15-20, it was God the Father who was stretching forth His hand, to heal and perform the signs and wonders they did, in the name of Jesus. It was also written about Paul; God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them (Acts 19:11). It was not Paul, but God who wrought those special miracles by the hands of Paul, for as Paul was stretching forth his human hands, God was stretching forth His hand, to perform those special miracles. Paul was in Christ, and Christ is in God, that is how it works!

God wants to work those same special miracles by your hand now! Paul is dead, Peter is dead, John is dead; they have served their generation, demonstrated the power of God, manifested the gifts of the Spirit, turned their world upside down, and proved to the world that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, if you are reading this bible study and you call yourself a son or daughter of God, God wants to work the same special miracles through your hands. He wants to show the whole world, that His Son Jesus Christ is alive, by infallible proofs of mighty signs and wonders, which are done through faith in Jesus Christ, and in the name of Jesus. And He wants to use you and me who are alive.

V.2.a) Understand the wiles or schemes of the devil

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles or evil schemes of the devil.

Ephesians 6:12 Because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Paul tells us that the enemy has lots of wiles or evil schemes. A wile is a trick or stratagem, practiced for ensnaring or deception; it is a sly and an insidious artifice. Most of the time the devil just comes and deceives us, he banks on our ignorance of the word of God, and who we are in Christ. My people perish for lack of knowledge, and those who have that knowledge, the moment the devil questions that knowledge by asking them: do you really believe that God meant what He said about you and about your situation in the bible? They act like Adam and Eve, and reject that knowledge of the word of God. The fight of faith is to stand on the promises of God, concerning us and our situation, no matter what!

Satan and people of the world do not have the Holy Spirit, so most of the time the devil will fight us, on a fleshly or carnal level. Or He will move through people around us, and they will try to fight us carnally. Always remember that you are not fighting flesh and blood; even if the devil is using people to attack you, you are not fighting the people, but the demons in them, or who are influencing them. We know that we are of God, and all the world lies under the influence or the sway of the devil. And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us an understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him that is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and the everlasting life (1John 5:19-20).

Whenever a person is not thinking in line with the word of God, he or she is thinking like the devil. And unfortunately there are some Christians, who are thinking like the devil. People can ask me: Gery, why do you think some Christians think and talk like the devil? Let me tell you the story of Peter, receiving the revelation that Jesus was the Christ. When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said: some say that you are John the Baptist; some say Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say you that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 16:13-17).

So Peter received the revelation from God in heaven, through the Holy Spirit that Jesus was the Christ. This is the first key to the kingdom of God: receiving that revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and upon that revelation of Who Jesus is, Jesus will build His church. If a person does not receive Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, then he has no access to the kingdom of God; for Jesus is not just The Prophet, or The Teacher, or the Apostle of our faith, or The Evangelist, or The Good Shepherd, or our High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, or The captain of our Salvation; but He is The Christ, the Son of the Living God. This is the small stone of revelation taken out of a bigger stone, even a large rock, that gives us access to the kingdom of God.

Jesus said to Peter: I say also unto you, That you are Peter, (which means a small rock or a stone or a pebble), and upon this Rock, (which means a gigantic Rock like the rock of Gibraltar), I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, (but first we need to receive the small stone of the revelation, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God in our life. He is fully God. Some people will reject that small stone as it is written: have you not read this scripture; the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes (Mark 12:10-11)? That larger stone or Rock on which Jesus will build his church, is the revelation of His death, burial, and resurrection, according to the scripture, and as we succinctly explain in the series of the perfect redemption plan. But if you do not accept Jesus as your Christ; meaning your personal Saviour, Lord and your God; you cannot have access to that larger revelation of His perfect redemption plan. For it is foolishness to those who are perishing; but unto us it is the power of God unto salvation, healing, deliverance, prosperity, etc) whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:18-19).

Peter had it right! Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God, but look at what happens as the story develops: then He charged His disciples, that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth Jesus began to show unto His disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from you, Lord: this shall not be unto You. But Jesus turned, and said unto Peter, Get behind Me, Satan: you are an offence unto Me: for you are not mindful of the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man or woman will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:20-24).

So why did Jesus call Peter Satan? Was Peter demon possessed? The answer to the said question is, no! So why did Jesus call him Satan? Satan means adversary, the arch enemy of the will of God, to be fulfilled in people’s life and on the earth. And he always plays on our feelings, for his weapons are carnal. Jesus has come to fulfil the will of God on the earth, and it included dying on the cross, and here Peter based on his earthly affection for Jesus, was trying to talk Jesus out of the will of God. That is why he was a Satan, an offence or a stumbling block to Jesus, so that He would not fulfil His God given purpose for mankind. Everybody that tries to stop you from fulfilling the will of God in your life, is thinking like Satan, no matter how much they love you, and do not want you to suffer. The disciples joined Jesus, because they thought He was to be the physical king of Israel at that time. They were interested in the positions of power in Israel, and here is Jesus talking to them about dying on the cross: that was not part of their plan! So they were mindful of the things of this world, and not of the things of God.

Anyone who tries to convince you to compromise your God given promises, or purpose in life for earthly things or earthly positions, or for positions in church, is talking like Satan, who is putting a stumbling block on your path, so that you will never fulfil that purpose of God in your life. Stop thinking like the world, and talking like the world; for the world thinks and talks like Satan, who is the prince of this world, meaning Satan is the one running this world system, influencing the way of thinking, the talking and action of the people. You are in the world, but you are not of the world any longer. Think and talk like your heavenly Father, and be mindful of the things of God, not the things of this world.

Paul tells us: If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on or be mindful of things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:1-2). Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But you, seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:32-33). Jesus says: Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be, that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence comes! (Matthew 18:7)(You are in the world, Jesus prayed that God will not remove you, but that you will stay in the world to become the light and salt to them. So those people will always say things that will be an offence to your faith, those things will become stumbling blocks on your way to your God given promised land).

Therefore if your hand or your foot offends you, or causes you to stumble, cut them off, and cast them from you: it is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire (meaning if you have friends who are causing you to walk in that darkness, sever that relationship with them, if you have a job, which is the work of your hands or friends who are providing financially for you, but their helping hand or the work of your hand is getting you involved in things that are contrary to the word of God, quit that job and stop receiving financial help from such helping hand ). And if your eye offends you or causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell (meaning if your favourite TV series, or movies, or books are causing you to think and do things that do not line up with the word of God, stop watching them: all those horror movies, X-rated movies, movies that promote homosexuality and sexual immoralities, movies that encourage divorce, or movies that magnifies the power of the devil, etc) (Matthew 18:7-9).

The weapons of the enemy are carnal. Let us study the works of the flesh in the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan. If you want to always defeat the enemy, you need to stop walking in the flesh, but walk in the Spirit, since you are always in the Spirit the very day you became born again. Paul tells us:

2Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

2Corinthians 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds😉

2Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2Corinthians 10:6 And having a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

2Corinthians 10:7 Do you look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.

We need to know what God says about us. Some of us know what the world says about us; but we do not know what God says about us, and our situations. What the world says about us and about our situation is what Satan says about us, and our situation. We need to renew our mind; the battlefield is in our mind. The strong holds are in our mind, our imaginations that do not line up with the word of God, we must cast them down. Every high thing that is considered by men to be wisdom, and is held in high esteem by men, is but foolishness to God. All the negative reports of experts in economy, in medical science, in psychology, etc, exalt themselves against the knowledge of the word of God, we need to cast them down as well. In our heart, whatever thought we have concerning anything or anybody, must line up with the word of God. We need to guard our heart with all diligence; for out of it will flow the issues of life, the limitations of life, and the boundaries of life, that the world places on us which God never placed (Proverbs 4:23).

And from the abundance of our heart our mouth speaks, and life and death are in the power of our tongue. If we like speaking in line with the written word of God, then we will have the manifestations of the promises of God; but if we choose to speak in line with the negative reports of the world, we will have the manifestations of those negative reports in our life (Proverbs 18:21). Each one of us needs to take all ungodly thoughts captive, to the obedience of Christ and His word, so that you will think like Christ, talk like Christ and act like Christ. See the bible study on the power of confession. What we think in our mind is crucial, for Paul tells us: Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20). For as a man or woman thinks in his heart, so is he or she (Proverbs 23:7). You will rise or fall in life and in the kingdom of God, to the level of your thinking!

Paul says we will have a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. This is the part that some Christians have not understood. When you yourself are not obedient in a particular area, you will not be able to revenge all disobedience. Let us say I myself am struggling with alcohol or smoking, and I want to cast out that demon of alcohol and addiction named Bacchus, from a drug addict or a drunkard. The devil will resist me and say to me: you cannot cast me out; you yourself have something of me in you. That is why Jesus told us: the prince of this world, Satan, is coming, but he has nothing that belongs to him in Me (John 14:30). It should be our testimony as well. If we ourselves watch x-rated movies, horror movies, witchcraft movies; how can we cast out the spirit of harlotry from people, from prostitutes, from fornicators or from adulterers; or cast out demons from people who have mental illness, and are telling their doctor they are seeing visions or vampires and all kinds of demons that they see in those horror movies?

Paul tells us, we are living epistles being read but by men and angels including demons (2Corinthians 3:2). So people who are being discipled by us, and the people we are trying to lead to Jesus, observe our life and so does the devil. We cannot tell people, do what I tell you to do; but do not do what I am doing. That is hypocrisy and it was what the Pharisees were doing. Jesus hates hypocrisy and always rebukes it sharply. Jesus said: the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do. But do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do (Matthew 23:2-3). Hosea says like people like priest (Hosea 4:9). The truth is the people will copy what you are doing, and will also act in hypocrisy and say: after all, the one who is sharing the scripture with us is doing the same! A pastor I know personally conducted two weddings in his church, to cover up the fact that the sisters were already pregnant. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as it is done according to the bible. Let us see what Moses instructed the children of Israel.

God said to Moses tell the people: If a man finds a girl, a virgin not engaged, and lays hold on her, and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife. Because he has humbled her, he may not put her away all his days (Deuteronomy 22:28-29). So God hates all sexual immoralities and those who committed adultery or rape, they were to be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:13-27). God also hates fornication and pushed it in the Old Testament, so the young man who had committed the fornication, was punished: the fifty shekels of silver was the fine he had to give to the father of the daughter, for disgracing his daughter. And then he had to marry that woman he slept with, which means he had to give the girl the full dowry money. And He would never be able to divorce that woman; never until death do them part.

So people thought twice before committing fornication. In the eyes of God, when you lie down carnally with a person, you become one. And Paul, when He was writing to the church of Corinth, who were practicing sexual immorality, he gave them the same principle in 1Corinthians 7, he tells them not to touch any woman carnally. But if they love each other, they should marry, and certainly not fornicate, and he rebukes them sharply for their fornication, adultery and people sleeping with their father’s wife; he uses Deuteronomy 22 to correct the church of Corinth. And he asks the church to put people out, who are doing such things, and if they repent and stop doing that, then they will restore them into the church. And in 2 Corinthians they genuinely repented and Paul asked the church to restore them. So if Paul was here, he would have told the people in the church, that what the brother and the sister did was wrong, and God does not approve of that, neither does he, and then he would have married them according to the scriptures.

But that pastor did not do anything like that, he said, that the other people who were telling him to do that, did not understand the message of “grace”, “all our sins are forgiven”. My friend grace is not a license for sin; but the unmerited favour of God and His divine empowerment to have dominion over sin, including sexual sin. For Paul tells us: do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God (1Corinthians 6:9-10). Paul said that those practicing fornication shall not inherit eternal life which only belongs to people of the Kingdom of God, but they are going to hell. So when someone practices the things listed here by Paul, it means he is not born again, even if he can quote the whole bible off his head. When a genuinely born again Christian falls into one of the sins leading to death, he or she weeps and cries out for help; for the Holy Spirit in him or her is grieved. But if a person is enjoying practicing sin, he or she needs to check his or her heart!

So the pastor refused to address things scripturally. People do that because they are afraid, that if they address sexual sin, people will leave their church and go to another church. This will mean a loss of money for their church, that was coming through tithes and offerings. So those pastors have bowed to the Balaam spirit, by not addressing the sexual immorality. For they love money and they close their eyes to the sexual immorality going on. Your church can be filled with people and they are giving their money, and you are doing good deeds in the community with that money, in the prisons, and with the homeless, building wells in Africa, sending aid to East Europe, Asia and Africa. But all those people who are doing those good deeds, are going to hell if they are practicing those sins leading to death. The pastor is deceiving himself and deceiving the people. Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Jesus is angry at such behaviour in the church and says: And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write (put the name of your church there, wherever it might be located around the world); These things says He, Jesus, who has the sharp sword with two edges; I, Jesus, know your works, and where you dwell (I know your address), even where Satan’s seat is: and you hold fast My name, and have not denied My faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine or teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication and all sexual immoralities (Revelation 2:12-14).

So you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans (Nicolas was a deacon, in the days of the Apostles of Jesus, and he was living in Rome, he came up with a wrong teaching or heresy, that he introduced into the churches that were in Rome. That doctrine of Nicolas forbade marriage for priests, and recommended celibacy and virginity to others also, so people thought, if you wanted to serve God, you should never marry, and they came up with the ideas of priests, nuns and monks, and even people, who were not behind the pulpit, nor locked up in a monastery, were not marrying, because they thought by so doing, they were pleasing God. Even in the Old Testament, God told the priest to marry, and even the high priest of Israel was married according to Leviticus 21:13.

Aaron the high priest was married and had children in Exodus 6:23, Eli the high priest was married and had sons who were priests, and they were also married in 1Samuel 2. Moses the prophet was married and had children (Exodus 4:25). God used the same married Moses, to save Israel, Peter was married (Matthew 8:14). We have enough examples of men greatly used by God, priests and high priests in the bible, kings, apostles and prophets, who were all married, so God does not want anybody to be imposed with celibacy, by some man-made religion. Now let us look at women, does God ask them to remain single for Him to use them, does He want them to become nuns? In Luke 2:36 Anna the prophetess who prophesied about the future of the baby Jesus at his dedication, used to be married, and now she was a widow. Deborah the prophetess who judged Israel, was married to Lappidoth in Judges 4:4.

In the days of Jeremiah the prophet, during the reign of king Josiah; Huldah was a prophetess, who was the wife of Shallum, and she dwelt in Jerusalem, and even priests came to her, to hear the word from the Lord in 2Kings 22:14-20 and 2Chronicles 34:22-28. Isaiah’s wife was a prophetess and they had children together in Isaiah 8:3-18. So God uses women who are married, and even have children, to serve him. Nicolas and his followers are of the devil; God never sent them to yoke men and women with vows of celibacy to be priests or nuns.) Jesus says: I hate that doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Repent of both the doctrine of Balaam and of the Nicoliatans; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth (Revelation 2:15-16).

So our beloved pastor did not observe the warning of Jesus, and very soon a lot of people were fornicating and getting pregnant, until one of the men in the church slept with his daughter, and dumped her for another woman that he impregnated in the same church. So then the pastor called the elders of the church, and asked them to discipline the man who impregnated that sister, to remove him from serving in the church for a month until he repented. The elders refused to do so, they said to the pastor: why should we discipline this man for doing the same things the other brothers and sisters have been doing in the church, and you married them. So also go and marry that man and the girl who is pregnant to cover up.

The pastor was not happy with the decision of the elders. So you see, because he himself was not obedient, to the word of God, people, even his elders had watched him, so he could not avenge all disobedience; because his own obedience was not fulfilled. And it is only now because the fornication had happened to his daughter, and she had been dumped by that guy; that he was wounded and wanted to discipline the man. Why did he not also say: it is all under “grace”, “all sins have been forgiven”. That is why Jesus tells us: How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:4-5). People around us, angels and -+demons watch us; and there are things in us which people and demons will resist, because we ourselves are not submitting to the word of God. James tells us: the first thing to do is to submit to God through His word, and then you will be able to resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

V.2.B The different pieces of The Armour of God

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take unto you or receive up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Ephesians 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Believe you me, we are living in the evil days, from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force (Matthew 11:12). We need to equip ourselves with the knowledge of God, and what has been freely given unto us, by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. For the people, who know the Lord their God, shall be strong and carry out mighty exploits (Daniel 11:32). Once more what does it mean to know God? John tells us: And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments (1John 2:3). Therefore let us discover what God has to say about His seven redemptive names, and become a doer of what we have read!

Seven is the number of perfection, and it is the number of God. God created the world in six days and on the seventh day He rested of all His works. God revealed Himself to us in seven redemptive Names, to explain to us His perfect Redemption plan, so that we can rest fully from all our works as well, and now allow the Holy Spirit to work through us. Likewise the whole Armour of God is also perfect, and has seven pieces: 1-the girdle or belt of truth, 2-the breastplate of righteousness, 3-the shoes of the gospel of peace, 4-the shield of faith, 5-the helmet of salvation, 6-the sword of the Spirit, and 7-all prayers including praying in tongues. Every piece of that Armour of God has to do with the Word of God.

1-The girdle or belt of truth

Pilate asked Jesus: what is truth (John 18:38)? Some Christians and many people who are unsaved, are still asking themselves that question. The world, which belongs to Satan, and their way of thinking, comes straight from Satan. As we have explained when Jesus called Peter Satan; because he thought like the people of the world, and was mindful of the things of the world, and not the things of God. The people of the world and some Christians who have been deceived, will tell you that there is no absolute truth; but only partial truth, and that every truth is only true to a certain degree. But that is Satan feeding them with that lie, this is The Absolute truth! Jesus says: I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man or woman comes unto the Father, but by Me (John 14:6).

So until a person receives Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, he has a lie. A partial truth is a lie, and he is on the wrong side of the road, and is dead. Jesus is the way of life, the way of thinking, the way of believing, the way of doing everything. Jesus is the absolute truth, and life. So that is why Paul starts with the belt of truth; if you do not have Jesus, who is the truth, forget everything else! The Roman soldiers hanged their provision of food on that belt. Their flask of water hung on that belt, their sword in its sheaf, hung on that belt. Jesus, who is the truth, is also the Word of God (John 1:1). So He prays to God for you and me: They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth (John 17:16-17). The Written word of God is the Absolute truth of God. So you and I need to renew our mind. Sanctification is being set apart from the world and its ways, and then embracing the ways of Jesus. The more we spend time in the Word of God, which is His truth, and become doers of it, there is a greater separation from the world: the things we once loved and were sinful, we love no more, and we start loving the things of God.

God and His word are one; if you spend time in the word of God, you are spending time with God. Do not be deceived, just like evil company corrupts good habits; likewise good company transforms bad habits (1Corinthians 15:33). You and I need to start hanging out with the Godhead, and they will share many of their secrets with us: James says: draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded (James 4:8). People are double minded because they have not believed that the word of God is the absolute truth, and do not spend time in the word of God, to become doers of that word.

So why don’t you and I give it a try, and start hanging out with God, by reading His word and meditating on His word, and speaking His word, and doing His word. Jesus says: you will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). Many people are still in bondage to a situation, because they do not know what God says about their situation in His word, which is the truth. As long as you and I are in ignorance concerning the will of God in a particular subject, the devil will be oppressing and tormenting us. We will think God wants us to go through it, but the moment we know that what we are going through, is not the will of God, we will be able to submit to God, by agreeing with His word, and then resist the devil, with the written word of God, and he will flee from us.

It is only the truth that you know that makes you free. The bible is The Truth, and there are many promises in the bible, as long as we are ignorant of them, we will still be in bondage. That is why it is crucial to spend time reading the word of God; so that you and I may know the truth of the Word of God. The bible studies we write, are meant to equip us with the knowledge of the truth of God in a particular subject; so that we can submit to God, by agreeing with His word, and resist the devil through the written word of God, and he will flee from us. People will ask: how do I submit to God? First of all you need to agree with what God says about your situation. Amos says: can two walk together except they be agreed (Amos 3:3)? If God says in His written word, which is the truth, that something is sin, or of the devil, or demon possession, or bad, you need to agree with Him. And then God will tell you in His written word, what to do to make yourself free from that bondage or situation, or to receive the manifestation of the blessing of the Lord. And when the enemy comes and tries to cause us to reject the word of God; we keep telling him what is written, concerning our situation, as Jesus exemplified it for us in Matthew 4:1-11, and the devil will flee from us.

The belt also protects the kidneys or loins, and the role of the kidney is to filter the blood. Kidneys remove all the toxins from the blood, and they are expelled out of our body as urine. The belt or girdle covers or protects the kidneys or loins of our mind. Peter tells us: therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1Peter 1:13). So spiritually that belt or girdle of truth, is in our mind, just like the kidneys filter the blood, and remove the toxins from our body, so let us also use the word of God, to filter every thought that crosses our mind. Every thought or imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of the word of God, which is the truth; let us bring it down, and hold it captive, to the obedience of the word of God, and cast it out of our mind (2Corinthians 10:5).

In Exodus 12, when the Hebrews were about to leave Egypt and journey toward the promised land, Moses told them: you shall eat it (the Passover lamb) with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S Passover (Exodus 12:11). Jesus is our Passover Lamb, and the Passover meal they had, was symbolic of the Holy Communion that we have in the New Testament. So in the bible study of the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan of God, we explain in detail the meaning of the Holy Communion, and what the meaning of the different elements are. So having your loins girded, is to tie up all loose ends that can hinder you in your walk. They used to wear robes back in the days of Moses, but under their robe they wore trousers, so they would lift their robe, and fold it in that girdle, to free their legs and be able to walk and run fast.

Paul tells us, to also tie up all loose ends, mainly sin, so that we will be able to run and fight effectively, saying: therefore seeing we also are compassed about, with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience, the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1). You therefore endure hardship, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man or woman who wars, entangles himself or herself with the affairs of this life; so that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier (2Timothy 2:3-4). Jesus is our Passover Lamb, and we need to eat it without the leaven of sin, and leave Egypt and its ways behind us; if we want to have the manifestations of the blessings of the promised land. That generation that went out of Egypt, did not make it into the promised land, because they did not renew their minds. They did not tie up loose ends in their lives, by spiritually girding the loins of their minds with the truth of the word of God. When they were in the wilderness, they made an idol of a golden calf and worshipped it, they committed sexual immorality with the people of Moab, and they raised a leader for themselves to go back to Egypt.

Isaiah tells us, talking about Jesus: righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His heart (Isaiah 11:5). And David prophesied about Jesus, saying: You love righteousness, and hate wickedness or lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You, with the oil of gladness above Your fellows (Psalm 45:7). It is time for us to gird our loins with righteousness, and practice righteousness. In our hearts we must be faithful or loyal to the truth of the Word of God; because God desires faithfulness or loyalty to His Word, rather than sacrifices and the knowledge of God, more than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6).

I remember one day I was reading my bible, and God started to speak to me. God knows that I like Mathematics and Physics, because to some extent they are viewed as exact sciences. And when I was studying computer science, they taught us how to mathematically prove that an algorithm (which is a step-by-step problem solving text procedure on your computer) was true or false, if it will exactly do the function you have created it for, and it will give you the exact result, you said it will do. So we used Boolean algebra to prove any algorithm. And many computer programmers can write different parts of the algorithm, but at the end, when it is put together, they can prove that all the different parts of the algorithm, are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. The Arian 5 rocket which cost $US 7billion exploded on June 4^th, 1996 after its launch. The problem was simple: the parts of the algorithm were written by different teams, each part was proven mathematically, but once assembled, they did not prove the whole algorithm mathematically. A simple problem of conversion of bits in the software, the team did not consult each other. So when they launched it, it exploded.

So God told me, I wrote 66 books in the bible and used 44 authors, but it is the same Holy Spirit who dictated to them what to write over those centuries, they did not consult each other, but they all said the same thing. I said to God, Okay! So God told me to take a notepad and a pen, and I will demonstrate mathematically that sin, sickness and death are from the devil. So I laughed at the beginning; because I said to myself: it cannot be proven mathematically! But I took my notepad and pen. So the Lord started to speak, and said Ezekiel said that iniquity was first found in Satan in Ezekiel 28:15, I said yes! He said so sin, iniquity and trespass, originated from Satan. So in Genesis when Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan and sinned, they died spiritually and the physical death and sickness, were just consequences of their sin. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, Paul said in Romans 6:23.

Then I said: I agree thus far! So He said: did I not say to Peter that one day to Me is like one thousand years for humans in 2Peter 3:8,

I said yes God, You did! And He said: remember in Isaiah 38:4-8, when King Hezekiah was sick and dying, I sent Isaiah to tell him to put his house in order, because he was going to die of that sickness. But Hezekiah wept, and I sent Isaiah back to tell him, that he will not die again, but I have healed him and added fifteen years to his life. And the sign that Isaiah gave to Hezekiah was, that the shadow on the sundial, instead of going forward, will go backward ten degrees to show him that I added fifteen years to his life and healed him.

I said all this I know Lord, where are you going with all this? So He told me: calculate the cross product: if 15 years gives 10 degrees rotation, what will 1,000 years give? The number we are looking for is (10X1,000)/15 and to my great surprise it was 666.666. It has repeating or recurring decimals. The decimal representation of 666 is periodic. So the Lord told me, what did I say about the number 666 in the book of Revelation? I said: This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight, calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666 (Revelation 13:18 NIV). So you see I have given you insight into my wisdom, to calculate the number of the man 666. So now you know sin, sickness, disease and death is not from Me, but from Satan. They keep repeating or recurring in people’s lives, from one generation to the other, and they came from the devil, and forever they will be from the devil! He comes to steal, kill and destroy but I have come, that people might have life and even have it abundantly (John 10:10). In My heart one day is like a thousand years for humans, which seems like eternity to humans. I give everybody who believes in Christ Jesus eternal life, the day they believe in Christ, as I promised them saying: the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

O, brothers and sisters, I jumped out of my bed and ran around the bedroom shouting: glory, glory with tears in my eyes. And I knelt down and said: Lord you are true and your word is The Truth. Just like exact science so is your word. From Genesis to Revelation you have proven that sin, sickness, disease and death are of the devil, and You came to destroy all the works of the devil as it is written: He who commits sin is

of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works

of the devil (1John 3:8). You anointed Jesus for this very purpose, as it is written: How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him (Acts 10:38). And the last enemy to be destroyed is death (1Corinthians 15:26). The devil Satan, who deceived the people, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast (whose number is 666) and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10).Then death and Hell were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death, and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14-15).

When Christians read of the mark of the beast in the book of Revelation that will be on the forehead and on the hand of his followers, it is written: the beast also forced all people great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive the mark on the right hand or on the foreheads so that they could not buy or sell, unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom, let the person who has insight, calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of the man. That number is 666. (Revelation 13 16-18)

The common understanding that Christians have, is that people will be literally having the number 666 tattooed on their forehead or on their right hand, to be able to buy and sell. This might literally happen one day, that is why Christians are against electronic chips being implanted in people’s hands, because they think it is the mark of the beast.

What Christians have failed to understand in this scripture, is that those trying to teach us – that what we think will determine what we will do. In other words our actions or conditions are our thought processes.

Our actions are represented by our hand, and our thought processes are represented by our forehead. i.e. the mark of the beast in our hand and our thinking process is represented by having the mark of the beast on our forehead. That is why the devil tries so hard to change our way of thinking, through television, radio, and music media channels, so that they will change our way of living and our actions.

So our actions are conditioned by our thoughts e.g. When they wanted to pass the Gay laws and Gay marriage laws, almost every TV series or movie had a Gay person playing a part, preparing the minds of the people to make homo-sexual relationships a normal thing, and something acceptable, before they passed the laws.

So the devil has already been putting his mark in our thinking and in our actions.

2-The breastplate of righteousness

The breastplate protects the vital organs: the heart and the lungs. The heart pumps blood throughout the body, and the lungs bring in air (oxygen) to the body and blood. Without oxygen, all organs will die including our brain functions. And if the heart stops working you are also dead. The life is in the blood and the oxygen is in the blood. That is why God tells us: the life of the flesh is in its blood (Leviticus 17:11). The blood flows throughout the whole body and removes all the toxins in the first cycle and then in the second cycle, it brings oxygen giving life to every cell of our body which gives them life.

The blood of Jesus, through the sacrificial death of Jesus, washed away all our sins, and then the same blood, since it has the Spirit of Jesus in it, gave us the same life of Jesus. When we became born again all our sins were washed away, and God imputed His righteousness unto us. See the bible study on Perfect Redemption Plan, The Lord is My Righteousness. People who are saved, must realize that they are no longer sinners saved by grace, they were sinners, and they have been saved by grace, but now in Christ Jesus they are righteous, even the righteousness of God. These series of teachings of the Perfect Redemption Plan and the Application of Perfect Redemption Plan, must be close to our heart; because they tell us what has been bought for us through the blood of Jesus, and what we have freely received when we received His Holy Spirit through His blood.

Jesus told us: when He, the Holy Spirit, is come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on Me (they have not given their life to Jesus, so that I can wash all their sins away, and give them My Holy Spirit, to empower them to have dominion over sin, and for those who are already born again but are still practicing sin, My Spirit will keep convicting them, that what they are doing I am not pleased with them); Of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and you see me no more, (born again Christians sometimes have problems believing that they are now righteous and can come boldly before God and talk to Him. They feel like they are sinners and unworthy, they feel like they will never be made free from sin, that is why I sent them My Holy Spirit to keep reminding them of the things I said concerning them; that they are righteous, that My blood has given them access to the throne room of God, that they have power and dominion over sin); Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged (if a person does not give his life to Christ he will suffer the same judgment Satan the prince of this world, has received which is to go to hell. But if they give their life to Christ, they will receive eternal life immediately, to also warn the church, as it is written in the book of Revelation, churches that are not doing the things that please God, will be punished) (John 16:8-11).

One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of our righteousness, what the Perfect Redemption Plan of God is. If one does not have the revelation of the Perfect Redemption Plan of God in his heart, he will struggle in his Christian faith. Guard your heart with all diligence for out of it will flow the issues, the limitations of life (Proverbs 4:23). God places no limitation on us, but the world does, and the prince of the world is Satan, thus the limitations that the world places on us, are truly the limitations that Satan places on us. A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). So it is crucial to fill your heart with the Perfect Redemption Plan of God and its application. For whatever things that will be manifested in your life will come from your heart.

Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation (1Thessalonians 5:8). That breastplate is also the breastplate of faith and love, faith in the finished work of God through the sacrificial death of Jesus, faith in His love for us, not our love for Him, that He so loved us, that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us, so that we can enjoy the fullness of His perfect redemption plan. Just like the breastplate of the soldier protects his vital organs: heart and lungs, let us also keep the finished Work of Jesus on the cross, and how much God loves us, close to our heart.

What we believe, or have faith for in our heart, and think in our mind, will determine the manifestations of the promises of God in our life. When you confess [say, think and do the same things the Lord Jesus says, thinks and does], and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved [saved, delivered, prospered, healed]. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness [that he has a right standing with God, to come boldly before the throne of God], and with the mouth, one confesses unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10). Now to God who is able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us [that power is the word of God that abides in us (Romans 1:16, John 15:7)], to God be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, forever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21). The mind of a Christian is not to be void, but renewed according to the word of God!

3-The shoes of the gospel of peace

Our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In Exodus 12 when the Hebrews were about to leave Egypt, not only had they girded their loins, but they had shod their feet, because their departure was imminent. Shoes on your feet talk about the readiness to go, in our case the readiness to go and share the gospel of peace with people around us. Paul says to us: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season, (when the opportunity is presented to you, preach and even when the opportunity is not presented to you, create one to declare the Lord Jesus and His counsel); correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction (2Timothy 4:2).

Jesus tells us: as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give (Matthew 10:7-8). The emphasis, or the particular stress in this utterance of Jesus, which is a command, is to go! He does not say as you stay, or as you sit in church and are fed with the milk of the word, or as you sit in front of your TV set or computer or radio, watching and listening to Christian programs! But as you go! You need to go somewhere, you need to pick up your phone and call someone and pray for that person, talk to that person about Jesus and lead them to Christ.

In the great commission of Jesus to every born again believer, He says: All power and authority is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. You, go therefore, and teach all nations, make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:18-20). Again the emphasis is on going, not staying. When will we wake up to the command of Jesus to go and make disciples, not mere converts? The church has misinterpreted one scripture on purpose; because they do not want to assume their responsibility in being disciples of Jesus. They use this scripture of Jesus: behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but you tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49). So they have interpreted that to mean they need to wait, and wait, and wait, forever before going anywhere!

Jesus did not tell us go stay in a monastery out of the world, Jesus did not tell us to go, build him a “Zion city” in Illinois USA, where only Christians dwell. Jesus said: you are not of the world, but you are in the world. And He prayed to the Father saying: I do not pray for You to take them out of the world [“so that they will go and live in Zion Illinois, or in a convent or in a monastery”], but for You to keep them from evil (John 17:15). So we need to remain in the world, relate to our fellow humans, and pray that God will keep us from evil. So it is not of God for anybody to become a nun, monk, or “priest”, locked away in monasteries or seminaries, or our priests away from the world, and only come out for mass! I have nothing against seminaries even some Pentecostal churches have seminaries, and boarding houses for their students for three years. We are the light of the world, who needs to light a lamp at noonday when the sun is at its zenith, to find his way in the streets of a city? We need to be in the dark world to show them the way with our light!

I believe according to the scriptures, throughout the book of Acts of the Apostles, they did not have any seminary, yet they turned the world upside down. Why? Because they were not separating themselves from the world, but were in the world and living out their faith. It is easy not to sin when you are in a seminary away from temptation. The churches met in homes, and read the letters of the Apostles, and heard their teachings and passed them on from house to house and from city to city. As it is written: greet the brothers and sisters who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church in his house. And when this letter is read before you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter of Laodicea (Colossians 4:15-16). And that is what we do with all these letters of My Weekly Milk.

Jesus told them to wait until they are endued with power from on high which happened in Acts 2, when they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and they went all over the world to preach the gospel to every creature, to heal the sick, cast out devils and raise the dead. Read the book of Acts, and you will see them going, to their relatives houses, meeting in houses, going into different cities, going into different nations, into different continents, crossing rivers, lakes, seas to go and spread the gospel of Jesus, heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead.

The question is: have you received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues? If the answer is yes, then you do not need to wait any longer; for the moment the disciples received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they did not tarry in Jerusalem anymore; but went everywhere. If you have not received the baptism of the Holy Ghost yet, you need to receive it today. Read the prayer written in the Application of Perfect Redemption Plan, in the section on gifts of the Spirit, gift of tongues. In Matthew 10:7-8 when Jesus sent his disciples to go and preach the gospel; they had not received the baptism of the Holy Ghost yet, for Jesus had not yet gone through the cross and risen from the dead. But they only used the authority invested in the name of Jesus, and they got the Job done. So truly we have no excuse not to spread the gospel of Jesus. If you are uncomfortable knocking at a perfect stranger’s door, you can start with your family members, your brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, mother, father, in-laws and friends. You already have access to them and the door of their house is already open to you.

Use every occasion to share with them about the love Jesus, and what He has personally done in your life, pray for them and let them hear your prayer out loud. When they ask you your opinion about a subject, or your advice on a particular thing they are going through, do not give them your opinion, or what the psychologist says, you have no opinion, but a position! Since you are the ambassador of the Kingdom of God, you have the position of your King Jesus, whom you faithfully represent, and it is contained in the bible. That is why you need to read the bible to know the position of your King Jesus, concerning every subject and situation. Even if you only know a bit of a scripture, open your mouth and God will use it for His glory. You have been sent by God, so you should only speak the word of God, and in line with the word of God, only then will you experience a limitless power of the Holy Ghost in every situation that comes your way, or people bring your way (John 3:30-34).

You have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, you need to say something to people around you about your Redeemer Jesus, who is alive and certainly not dead; for He wants to redeem them as well. Tell the people about Jesus’ ways, do not keep quiet: let the redeemed of the Lord say so (Psalm 107:2, Job 19:25). Do not just sing it, but do it! Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story– those he redeemed from the hand of the foe (Psalm107:2).

Everybody has a story, how he or she came to Christ, and that is also the gospel, share your testimony of salvation, for we overcame the devil by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, not just the testimony of the written word of God, but also our personal testimony (Revelation 12:11). These bible studies are lengthy on purpose, so that you and I, as disciples of Jesus, might know the full counsel of the scriptures, and be able to answer anybody that asks us a question. Peter tells us: but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you, to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ, may be ashamed of their slander (1Peter 3:15-16).

The Gospel that we bring to people, is the gospel of peace, not of the wrath of God. For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Jesus, should not experience the wrath of God, because it has been poured out upon Jesus, but they will receive eternal life that very moment, and be reconciled to God. We bring good news to people, not gloom and doom. We have the word of reconciliation, and have received the ministry of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:18-19). We are sent to preach, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand, or the kingdom of God has drawn near to you, not to preach repent for hell is at hand! The purpose of preaching the gospel to people around us is, so that they will know the love with which God has loved Jesus, and He wants to love them as much as He loves His Son Jesus, and that the Love of God may be in them (John 17:26). This is the heart of the Gospel: love! Not that we love God, but that He first loved us, and gave His Son to die and suffer the wrath of His judgment in our stead, and we love Him because he first loved us (1John 4:19).

Therefore, Go somewhere and share the gospel, heal the sick, cast out devils and raise the dead, lead people to Christ. Jesus is always with you, you are never on your own. Paul tells us: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (God’s heart desire is to save the whole world, that none should perish; but if we do not obey His command to go and preach the gospel) How, then, can they call on the One, Jesus, they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Romans 10:14) (The Only Christian your relatives, your friends and your colleagues and neighbours know, might be you, and you might be the only Christian they receive in their house, or call on the phone). And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? [But you have been sent by Jesus, equipped with His word of reconciliation and ordained as a minister of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:18-19). In John 20:21, He told you: just like My Father sent Me, I also send you.] As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news (Romans 10:13-15)!”

Do not be frustrated if they do not give their life to Christ straight away. Paul and Isaiah tell us: But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message (Romans 10:16)?” Just like not all Israelites believed the report of the Lord, you will experience the same thing; but do not give up, for it will pay off one day. Family members and neighbours, people who know you; they want to see you practicing what you are preaching. They want to see that you constantly walk with Christ. So they are not only listening to the word of God coming out of your mouth, but they are watching your life. For your life is a living letter being read by everybody around you. The word that you preach must become flesh in you, that is the greatest witness. You cannot preach the truth of the word of God and live a lie, expecting unsaved people will not notice. That is why Paul tells us: You who boast in the law or written word of God, do you dishonour God by breaking the law or the word of God? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Romans 2:23-24). Let us not be hypocrites, including brother Gery, Jesus tells us: The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but you, do not do after their works: for they say, and do not do it themselves (Matthew 23:2-3).

I was preaching the word of God in one Sabbath apostolic church (a church that observes the Sabbath, but believes also in the experience of Acts 2 and all the other gifts of the Spirit). I stayed in that church for two years, preaching every Sabbath. There was another man in his early forties who was also teaching there. The guy was versed in scriptures, eloquent, a very handsome man. And here I was, with my contemptible speech and many mistakes, when I spoke. But when the man was teaching or preaching, all the young girls would be walking up and down in the church, going out and staying there for twenty minutes or more and sometimes until he had finished preaching or teaching.

I did not know why? as I enjoyed his preaching and teaching, he was always quoting the word of God. But when brother Gery was coming to share the little word with his contemptible speech, and many grammatical mistakes, everybody was in the church, nobody was moving up and down, or going out, and they would listen attentively, and come up to be healed or prayed for. After two years, two of the sisters in that church came up to me and told me: we have observed you, and you do what you preach. I told them: I do not do everything I preach yet; but I cry out to God to help me become a doer, of what I myself preach. Like Paul said: I want to know Christ–yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings (by denying myself of worldly lust, and things that do not bring His glory, and picking up my cross, I follow Him), becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on, to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining or pressing toward what is ahead (I decided to put all my past life and the things I used to do in the world, before I was born again, behind me) (Philippians 3:10-13). I discipline my body like an athlete (not just my body, but my mind and heart also), training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others, I myself might be disqualified (1Corinthians 9:27).

I do not want to be disqualified, may it never happen to me in Jesus’ name! And may it never happen to anybody that reads these bible studies, God inspired me to write. For My prayer to God is to present myself and you to Christ our husband: holy, cleansed from the filth of this world, by the washing of the water through the word of God, radiant of Christ’s glory, without stains or wrinkles or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27). That is when those sisters told me the reason why they did not listen to the teaching and preaching of that dear brother. The dear brother had already asked three different sisters out at the same time, and the sisters knew each other, though they attended different churches, and he had asked one of the sisters to fornicate with him. May God help the church!

Let your life and mine, reflect who God is, and what His word says for God and His words are one. So do not be discouraged when your loved ones do not receive your message straight away, they might be observing you as a living bible and walking bible, even the word made flesh. Even the brothers of Jesus did not believe that He was the Christ. As it is written: Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in Him (John 7:3-5) but after the resurrection of Jesus they believed in Him, and James His brother became one of His apostles (Galatians 1:19). Stop chasing the approval of people in church or even of your family members, to do what God called you to do. Even if nobody on earth believes that God sent you; their opinion does not change anything, what matters is what God says about you! Your house and your Father’s house shall be saved too, in Jesus’ name! Keep sharing the word of God with them, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, and one day, after they have heard you talking about your Jesus over and over, they will also believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus is their Lord and be saved (Romans 10:17).

We need to do our uttermost to keep ourselves from being disqualified for what we are preaching or professing to be in Christ. John tells us: we know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin (the day you and I became born again we were born of God); the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them (1John 5:18). Peter tells us his secret, he says: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (2Peter 1:2). So the first thing you need to have, is of course Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, and then you need to have the Knowledge of God and Jesus: what has been freely given to you by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it is found in the series of the Perfect Redemption Plan of God, and the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan of God. My people perish for lack of knowledge, and because they have rejected knowledge (Hosea 4:6).

Peter continues and says: God’s divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue [power] (2Peter 1:3). So everything we need in our earthly life, including material things and spiritual things, have already been given to us. Like Paul says: God who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Jesus also freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)? And again Paul reminds us: What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us (1Corinthians 2:12). In the series of the Perfect Redemption Plan and the Application of Perfect Redemption Plan, we have expounded on the things freely given to us, that pertain to life and godliness, we need to know them, and walk in them.

Peter continues to explain his secret and says: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2Peter 1:4). When we understand the Perfect Redemption Plan of God, and become doers of it; the very divine nature of God will be ours. God introduced Himself to Moses saying: I AM WHO I AM, Jehovah or Yahweh (Exodus 3:14). God did not say I have what I have. This must become a revelation to us. And all the seven redemptive names of God He gave us, that we have studied in these series of the Perfect Redemption Plan, is who God is and not what God has. God is Righteous, so He does righteous deeds, God is a Shepherd, so He shepherds His people, God is love, so He gives us His love, God is long suffering, so He is slow to anger, God is a healer, so He heals, God is a provider, so He provides all our needs, God is resurrection and life, so He raises the dead and gives eternal life, God is light, so He gives light, etc.

So the secret of Christianity is not in doing, but in being who God is in us, it is becoming a partaker of His divine nature. Therefore we need to know who we are in Christ, and who God in us is; because we no longer live for ourselves, we were crucified and buried in the body of Christ, and the life we now live in the flesh, He is the one living through us (Galatians 2:20). And out of who we are in Christ will naturally flow the good deeds we ought to do; since I AM WHO I AM dwells in us, and walks in us (2Corinthians 6:16). That is why John tells us: as Jesus is so are we in this world (1John 4:17). We will be able to do the same works Jesus did and greater works than He did, only when we have the knowledge, the understanding, and embrace who God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are in us.

The life of Jesus is now our life, as He explains it: You are already clean, because of the word I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches (the branch and the vine have the same life because it is the same sap that flows in the vine, that also flows in the branch): He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing (John 15:3-5).

So Peter continues to expound his secret, saying: For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue or power; and to virtue or power, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity or Love. Why? Because if these things be in you [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][or if you have become partaker of the nature of God or divine nature], and abound in you, they make you that you shall neither be barren, nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Peter 1:5-8). So that is what we are trying to do here, every born again Christian has faith in Jesus, for to be born again one needs to repent toward God, and put his faith in Christ Jesus. But Paul tells us, we need to add power or virtue to our faith; the disciples were born again in John 20:22 when Jesus breathed on them and said receive the Holy Ghost. But in Luke 24:49 Jesus told them that they should be endued or clothed with power from on High, after they have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in tongues. And they will be able to be effective witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus because they will not just use words, but they will come with the demonstration of the power or virtue of God, and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 2:4).

They will be able to be like Jesus in Luke 6:18. The people all tried to touch him, because virtue or power was coming from Him and healing them all. Or in the incident with the woman who had the issue of blood for twelve years and was healed after she touched Jesus in Luke 8:46 Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that virtue or power has gone out from Me.” So to that power we need to add knowledge of God and of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit, which we have tried to do in these series of the Perfect Redemption Plan of God. And to the knowledge, we need to add the fruit of the Spirit, for in John 15, Jesus wants us to bear fruits since we abide in Him and His life flows through us, we should bear much fruit. In the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan, we have explained the fruits of the spirit, in the section called: “works of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit”. Peter tells us, if we do these things he is asking us to do, which he himself did, they are in us and abound in us in all wisdom, these things will keep us from falling, and we shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will be effective witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus.

On the 18^th April, 2013, the Lord woke me up at 4:00 am, and started to speak to me, saying: I said I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). I will come riding on My chariot of fire with my anointed ones. As can be found in the story of Elijah and Elisha: as they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared, and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2Kings 2:11). Everybody who goes preaching the gospel, is spiritually riding on a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire! They have a burning message: the word of God is in their heart like a fire, like burning fire shut up in their bones; they cannot hold it back any longer but speak it (Jeremiah 20:9 ). As they are riding on that chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire, they declare, to whosoever has ears, saying: repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand, then they heal the sick, they cast out devils, they cleanse lepers, and they raise the dead (Matthew 10:7-8).

As the prophet Habakkuk saw in his vision of Me, and said: You rode on Your horses, Your chariots of salvation (salvation or the spirits, souls and bodies) (Habakkuk 3:8). You went forth for the salvation of Your people (the salvation of their spirit from hell fire, their souls from demon possession and their bodies from all manner of sickness, all manner of disease and premature death). For salvation with your Anointed (Jesus and the same Jesus dwells in every born again Christian) (Habakkuk 3:13). On Monday 9^th December 2013 around 4 in the morning; God repeated a similar dream. I saw chariots of fire on a mountain top, and the people riding on those chariots of fire, went down into the valley to rescue the people, who were held captive by the enemy in that valley of the shadow of death. Once they delivered a person from that bondage, they would bring him or her onto that mountain top. The Armour of God was placed on that person, who had been saved from that bondage, and he or she was placed on a chariot of fire, and they went down into that valley of the shadow of death, fearing nothing for God was with them riding on that chariot of fire, to deliver other people who were still in bondage (Psalm 23:4).

That is what happens when we are saved! A born again Christian comes down to the pit of hell, where we are held in bondage. He or she comes with a burning message, spitting the fire of God out of his or her mouth (Jeremiah 23:29). He or she was riding on a chariot of fire, he or she is in Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus, who is the Anointed One, is in God and God is the one wearing the Armour. So as far as the enemy is concerned, he sees a chariot coming into his territory, and God is the One riding on that Chariot of fire, wearing His Armour and spitting fire! For the Lord our God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24). He is the God that answers by fire, His words are fire (1Kings 18:24).

And when a person is delivered from the power of darkness and translated to the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13), even to that Mountain top of the Lord, called our spiritual Mount Zion; he or she is given the Armour of God, and placed into a chariot of fire, and sent back into the enemies’ camp to deliver other people. Elijah prayed to God, saying: I pray You, Jehovah, open the eyes of the young man so that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2Kings 6:17). Paul tells you: every born again believer has come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, who are written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel (Hebrews 12:22-24).

So when you go and share the gospel with people, imagine yourself riding on a chariot of fire. You are in Christ, Christ is in God and God is the one wearing the Armour, an innumerable company of angels are following behind you, and fighting side by side with God. That is why Elijah said to the young man who was panicking at the sight of the earthly army of Syria, who came to kill them; he was panicking because he did not understand that Elisha and he, were spiritually on Mount Zion. Elisha answered the young man, saying: Do not fear, for those with us are more than those with them (2Kings 6:16). May you and I believe in our heart, according to the scriptures! And John tells us: You are of God, little children, and you have overcome them [Satan, his demons, their evil works and his agents], because He [God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, three in one and one in three] who is in you, is greater than he [Satan] who is in the world (1John 4:4).

When I understood what the Lord was saying, He told me: do you know, what I say takes place in the spirit, and I also do it physically. I said: explain what you mean, because I do not understand physically; how we can have chariots of fire, pulled by horses of fire, that run on the ground and even fly in the air like the chariot of fire of Elijah, that ascended to heaven? And the Lord laughed, I knew I had asked another foolish question! And God said to me: people think that they outsmart me, the actual word God used was, people think that I am an “idiot”, because they are living in the 21st century, with all the technologies, they think the bible is irrelevant, and not for this day and age. I told Isaiah: I declare the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). There is nothing, no technology in this day and age that I did not prophesy through my prophets in the bible.

And He asked me: what kind of engine is used in motor bikes, automobiles, airplanes and rockets? I answered: an internal combustion engine, which is fire burning inside the engine. And He asked me: what is the unit of measurement of the power of that internal combustion engine? I said: horse power! Then it dawned on me: that a motor bike was a horse of fire for one or two people could ride on it! The car was a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire, for there is fire burning inside that engine. And the airplane and the rocket were flying chariots of fire, pulled by horses of fire like the chariot of Elijah, that ascended to heaven helped by the power of the wind. So I rejoiced and said: O, God you truly declare the end from the beginning, you are the Alpha and the Omega, glory be to your name! So the Lord said to me, just like spiritually those who preach the gospel are riding with Me, on that chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire, I will give my children motor bikes, cars, trucks, airplanes to preach my gospel, and they will also use it for their own personal desires. For I give my children richly not poorly but richly, all things to enjoy, not just for the ministry of reconciliation and the word of reconciliation they spread around them, but also for themselves and their loved ones (1Timothy 6:17).

I immediately put my name down for trucks, because one day when I was going to Glasgow on the bus, as we were entering Glasgow, I closed my eyes and had a vision that white trucks or Lorries were entering the city, as I was entering Glasgow. I also put my name down for my own personal car, a good one for the Lord will give me the desires of my heart, and I also put my name down for an airplane to be able to travel easily, in those 50 nations the Lord has given to us. I did not put my name down for a motor bike, because I do not like them. The truth be told, I have never learned how to cycle! So my brother and sister what do you want? Put your name down for one of the physical chariots of fire or horses of fire. And the Lord will give you the desire of your heart.

Many times we think small, and God gives us a revelation of His will concerning our life, and what he has called us to do. Solomon says: There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler: Fools (those who do not believe in our God and say there is no God in Psalm 14:1) are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves (Ecclesiastes 10:5-7). God is about to correct that evil in your life, and you will ride on a physical horse of fire, chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

I remember going to Glasgow one weekend to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I did not even have money for decent hotel accommodation. I only had £15. So as I was not ready to sleep in the streets of Glasgow again, I found a cheap hostel online, for £11 for the night. The room was shared by 8 persons and it was cold, and smelly, and I think the mattress was full of bacteria because I could not stop scratching myself. I complained to God that whole night, for taking me from a nice hotel to this dump! Yes, I know you would not complain, but forgive me for being honest with you. I used the four pounds left to buy some fruit to eat. And that hostel was about 10 miles from where the church location was. So that night I could not sleep properly, and I had a couple of visions, but I did not care to remember any of them. I woke up on that April 28^th, 2013 and walked 10 miles to get to the church.

I was praying in tongues because I did not want to pray with understanding, lest I only pour out complaints and murmuring to the Lord. And the Lord reminded me of the vision He gave me early that morning around 3am. I was buying a private plane and the representative of that company did not believe I could afford that airplane, so he did not provide me with good customer service. So I showed him my bank statement, and he saw I had more than enough to buy the model of airplane. So that is when he changed his attitude toward me, but I refused to buy from him, I chose to go elsewhere, and buy from a person who would treat me well. When the Lord brought that vision back to my remembrance, it brought joy into my heart, and put a smile on my face. But the devil laughed loudly at me! And he said to me: you don’t even have enough money to pay for decent hotel accommodation when you go to preach the gospel, you even don’t have money for the bus, so that you walk for miles, and you are dreaming about an airplane!

I said to him: get behind me Satan, God said it, He will surely bring it to pass! The fact that I am sleeping in the streets, or sleeping in bad hotel accommodation, is only temporal. I do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal (2Corinthians 4:18). God will find me faithful in the little things I am doing, and He will entrust me with greater responsibilities in His kingdom. As it is written: He who is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much: and he who is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own (Luke 16:10-12)? I am faithful in another man’s work of ministry; God shall give me my own work of ministry, even the 50 nations God has given to me. I have been found faithful in preaching the gospel, even when I have nowhere to lay my head, like My elder brother Jesus (Matthew 8:20). God shall commit unto me true riches! Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom His Lord has made ruler over His household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom His Lord when He comes shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That He shall make him ruler over all his goods (Matthew 24:45-47). When Jesus comes, He will find me feeding His lambs and sheep, and He will make me shepherd under Him, over those 50 nations!

4-The shield of faith

Paul says: Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts or missiles or bullets of the wicked (Ephesians 6:16). Paul stresses the shield above all other parts of the Armour of God. He says above all, take the shield of faith. You need to be careful when you listen to the teaching out there on the armour of God. People instead of defining things according to the word of God, they define them according to the flesh. Though Paul was not referring to our armour as the armour of the Roman soldiers, but as the Whole Armour of God; those people will tell you that in the Roman army, the further you were from Rome the poorer your military equipment became. So the Roman soldiers who were not in Rome had shields of wood, they would soak it in water all night so that it would be full of water and heavy. When the enemy launched fiery darts or arrows it hit their wooden shield, and normally it should have caught fire, but because it was soaked in water the previous night, the water in the wood would quench the fire.

These preachers have a poor image of God, and they think that spiritually the enemy is stronger and better equipped than our God. It is a spiritual poverty mindset. They think that God is so poor that He cannot afford good armour for all of His children; but wooden shields. I told you in that vision, the Whole Armour of God is of pure gold. God talks about the deity, Paul says it is the Whole Armour of God, every piece of that Armour is of pure gold. God is not bankrupt to give His people a shield of wood that they need to soak in water, and give only some of His children shields of gold, if God were to do so, he would be a respecter of persons, thus breaking His own law (Acts 10:34-35). I will never join any earthly army that gives its generals bullet proof vests; but refuses to give the same protection to the other soldiers. David who was a man after God’s own heart, knew that spiritually God had given him a shield of gold, so did Solomon his son. King Solomon made two hundred targets or bucklers (which is a small shield) of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into one target. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon (1Kings 10:16-17).

Let us see things with the eyes of God; He is not a poor God that cannot afford to buy gold! He says: the silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the LORD of hosts: and in this place I will give peace, says the LORD of hosts (Haggai 2:8-9). My brothers and sisters you do not need to be worried about the quality of your military arsenal, it is first class equipment. Even the streets in heaven are streets of gold, God is not running out of gold, to give you a spiritual shield of wood (Revelation 21:21). The Lord of Hosts or Armies, both the angelic hosts and the earthly hosts, is telling you and I to be at peace, for gold belongs to Him, he has equipped us with His Armour of pure gold! Do not believe that deception of the devil, that you have a wooden spiritual shield that will catch fire when the devil shoots his flaming missiles at you.

Paul says: Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts or flaming missiles or bullets of the wicked. Paul says that you will be able to quench all, not some of them, but all the fiery darts or flaming missiles or bullets of the wicked. Do not believe the lie of the enemy, that tells you there are some of his attacks that you cannot stop. Okay, Paul does not tell us that the enemy will not fire his missiles, arrows, darts, bullets against us; but whenever he does it, as long as we lift our shield of faith up, all his attacks will be stopped. God says to us through Isaiah: If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing, I am not the one who sent them; whoever attacks you, will surrender to you (Isaiah 54:15). The Lord is telling you that, you are His child; He is not the one who sent those people to attack you, your marriage, your children, your finances, your studies or your church, etc. Many Christians still do not get it! If you think it is God attacking you, you will never fight, because you think you do not want to fight God. God says: Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers (3John 1:2). Let them shout for joy, and be glad, who favour My righteous cause: yes, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant, His sons and daughters who are serving Him (Psalm 35:27).

So He continues and says: “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame, and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail or prosper, and you will refute or condemn every tongue that accuses or rises up against you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from Me,” declares the LORD (Isaiah 54:16-17). So all those people who wish you harm, and the devil who wishes you harm and even death, who is there to steal, kill and destroy what is dear to you. None of his weapons shall prosper. Satan and his demons, and the people they influence, to attack you with their carnal weapons, with sickness and disease and temptation of sin, God created all of them and they are not as powerful as you think they are; but greater is God the creator who dwells in you, than the devil, his demons and the people he uses, and the situation he uses in the world to attack you (1John 4:4).

You are a son of God, and you are serving your Father, it is part of your heritage to have this God given power, to refute or condemn every tongue that accuses you, every negative report sent to you, about your health, your business, your studies, your children, etc. No weapon of the enemy shall prosper; you will quench all the fiery darts of the enemy. I had a dream and in that dream the enemy put me in a prison and I found myself outside that prison, and the enemy came and said I put you in a prison how come you are outside? I said whom the Son has made free is free indeed (John 8:36). So I can never be imprisoned by the devil and none of his chains can even be put on me again, I know who I am in Christ, and you cannot deceive me!

It came to pass in that day [when I gave my life to Christ], that Satan’s burden was taken away from my shoulder, and Satan’s yoke from my neck, and the yoke was destroyed because of the Anointing [the Holy Ghost is the owner of the Anointing (1John 2:27)] (Isaiah 10:27). For the Anointing is the tangible manifestation of the power of the Holy Ghost, to have spiritual revelations and perform signs and wonders. So he took a gun and shot me in my belly, and I was bleeding, and he said look, since I cannot imprison you, I have shot you and now you are bleeding, see for yourself! I said: it is written no weapon forged or fashioned against me shall prosper or prevail, and my shield of faith quenches all the flaming missiles or bullets of the devil. So I do not believe your lies. And when I looked again at my belly, there was no bleeding, and again no sign of a gun-shot wound.

You need to have your shield of faith lifted up, to quench all the flaming missiles of the devil. But how do I lift up that shield of faith? Paul tells us: faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). You need to have the word of God abiding in you, so richly in all wisdom and understanding (Colossians 3:16). You and I need to come to the point where we are so full of the word of God, and our mind is renewed, that even when we are sleeping and have a dream and vision, we are quoting the word of God. One of the ways you know that your mind is renewed in one area is, when you have a dream or vision in your sleep, and you do not need to wake up and search the scripture that addresses your dream or vision; but even in the dream or vision, you are dealing with that situation according to the scriptures. Or during the day when you encounter a situation and you cannot tell if it is the Holy Spirit who brought that scripture to your remembrance, or you already knew it. That is the place God wants all of us to be, when we become one with the Word of God and doers of the Word.

No need to say that if one does not know what has been freely given to him or her by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, it will be difficult to keep lifting up the shield of faith, and hard to quench all the flaming missiles of the devil. Every piece of the Armour of God has to do with the Word of God. I had a dream and in that dream I was standing on the edge of a cliff. And the enemy had a sword pointed toward me and told me: you need to bow to me and live; otherwise I will thrust you through with my sword and you will die. In the dream there was no way out of the situation. But I said: I never bow, and you cannot kill me because you have no power over me (John 19:11). I follow Jesus to the death! And I jumped off the cliff, my heart jumped also in my rib cage and I felt like I would crash when I landed. But suddenly wings appeared on my back, and I started to fly, I soared higher and higher like the eagle.

Did not God say: Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow weak nor weary? There is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the weary; and to him with no vigour; He increases strength. Even the young shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but those who wait on Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:28-31). As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead Israel, and there was no strange god with him (Deuteronomy 32:11-12). God brought them out of Egypt the house of bondage on eagle’s wings.

Whenever I have a dream or vision like that where I have to jump, I know in the physical, God was asking me to do something impossible in the eyes of men. But I needed to soar high like an eagle to see things with His eyes, for I am seated with Christ Jesus, far above all principalities, powers, rulers, dominion, and every name that is named both in this age and the age to come (Ephesians 1 and Ephesians 2). So many times the enemy tries to corner me, and tell me this is the end, and in my vision I say: I will not bow, but I will jump off the cliff and be soaring like the eagle, far above this obstacle you have placed in front of me on the ground. For nothing is impossible to me; because I believe in Jesus Christ and in His promises (Mark 9:23). I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

One of the key ingredients of faith that is lacking in the church today, is faithfulness unto death. Jesus tells us: Everyone will hate you because of Me, but the one who stands firm, or endures to the end will be saved (Mark 13:13). What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch (Mark 13:37)!’ All the heroes of faith we read of in the bible, and some of them are listed in Hebrews 11, they were ready to stand firm for what they believed in, to endure the assault of darkness against them, and not bow down. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were among them. They were not afraid of the burning fiery furnace of the enemy or of the den of lions. Paul was also among them, he went through a lot for the sake of the kingdom of God. Now the just or righteous, that is you and me who are born again, shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him (Hebrews 10:38). If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small (Proverbs 24:10).

John said, Jesus said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost, from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars, they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death (Revelation 21:6-8).” God does not like cowards, David was not a coward, Daniel and his three friends were not, the prophets were not, Esther was not, Deborah was not, you and I will not be cowards either, for it is written: The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous or just are as bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1). Jesus the Lion of the tribe of Judah dwells in you, be bold about your faith and do not draw back, do not faint on the day of trouble or adversary. Stand on the word of God.

Boldness has nothing to do with rudeness! Being bold is, according to the Webster dictionary, being daring, courageous, fearless, brave, and confident. That is why over and over again when God calls us to serve Him, He tells us: fear not, be of good courage; like He said to Joshua who was to conquer the promised-land full of giants. Being bold is being confident, meaning you have tested a thing and you know it works all the time! The more you see God at work in your life and through you, the more confident or bold or full of assurance, you become in sharing His word; for you know it will surely come to pass. John tells us: this is the confidence or assurance or boldness that we have in God, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us; And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him (1John 5:14-15). Some people are simply rude towards other people and they call it boldness. No, it is not boldness but rudeness, we can always speak the truth in love to anybody, even corrective truth; so that we can all grow into Christ in all things (Ephesians 4:15).

Jesus said to us that we are His witnesses. The word witness means the same thing in Greek with the word martyr. So when Jesus tells us that we will be His witness, He is saying even martyr. Most of the apostles were martyred, and many other Christians even today are being killed for their faith; yet they do not deny their faith in Jesus. Some people, because they do not have a new car, a new motor bike, or a new job, or because they want to be married, etc; they deny Jesus, and go and try a religion that is dead, or go back to the world. We are not asked to want to die for the gospel, that is also a lie of the devil. God wants us to live long and keep preaching the gospel, and running away from persecution is also faith. And when the enemy kills a Christian, instead of burying that Christian, we must go and raise him or her from the dead.

As it is written in Hebrews 11:35-38; Women received their dead raised to life again (they refused to bury them as martyrs and that should be our attitude also, and raise them from the dead), and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection (refusing to be delivered at the expense of compromising your faith, is also faith, some people have lost their jobs because they preached Jesus at work). And others had to face cruel mocking and scourging; yes, more of bonds and imprisonments (Paul was in prison because of His faith, and he had an opportunity to be delivered if he bribed Felix, but he refused and decided to stay in prison in Acts 24:26-27 and Acts 26:32). They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth (David also the man of faith, who killed Goliath, wandered in deserts and dens to flee from Saul who was trying to kill him. Elijah also ran away from Jezebel, who was trying to kill him. So it is not lack of faith to run for your life. God wants us alive, preaching the gospel; dead people do not preach the gospel).

Paul who knew something about faithfulness unto death, tells us: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For Your sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep of slaughter.” But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39). If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us (2Timothy 2:12). People want only to reign with Jesus, but not to suffer with Him. Jesus says something about the shepherd who flees from their responsibilities, it is because they were doing that for the money, not because they genuinely cared about the sheep, and if there is no money, they think it is bad business, so let us close this church, or let us stop preaching to that family, because they have nothing to give to us. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep (John 10:12-13).

Christianity is a business of winning souls to Christ, but it is not conducted as worldly businesses are conducted. We have freely received and we also freely give to people, whether they have money to support the preaching of the gospel or not. All the heroes of faith are able to stand on the word of God, because they believe that God will reward them: for God is not unjust to forget and ignore your labour, and word of love, that you have bestowed in His name [not in the name of a denomination or an earthly church leader, but in the name of Jesus who sent you], in that you have ministered and you minister to the saints (Hebrews 6:10). Paul and also Gery say: what then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel, I may offer it free of charge, so that I may not abuse my authority in the Gospel (1Corinthians 9:18). Yes, I freely received the gospel and all that is in the salvation package, so I freely teach it to people. Jesus says: go, preach the kingdom of God is at hand, then heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, freely you have received freely give (Matthew 10:7-8).

Jesus did not lie to us when he called us to share the gospel, as it is written: As they were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head (Luke 9:57-58). And God is my witness, there have been times that I slept in the streets for the preaching of the gospel, and sometimes you are so tired, and you go to a mall and sit there for one hour and start falling asleep on that sofa, and the security guy comes and tells you: sir you are not allowed to fall asleep on these sofas, we ask you to leave the place. Now I understand how homeless people are treated. Luke tells us: Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God (Luke 9:61-62).” I say that, not to make anybody feel bad, because for me it is a privilege to be numbered among the homeless, for the preaching of the gospel. Like when the disciples were beaten for sharing the gospel, the bible says: the apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).

I tell you that, so that you and I will learn to do things according to the bible. Our eyes must be on Jesus, and we must believe and think according to the bible. The brothers of Joseph sold him into slavery, but as far as Joseph was concerned, it was not his brothers who sent him to Egypt, but God. He said: so then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt (Genesis 45:8). Paul also saw things the same way, he considered himself as a prisoner of Jesus, not of the Romans. As it is written: Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer (Philemon 1:1). If you think according to the scripture, it will be easy to forgive your brothers and sisters who forsook you, or rejected you, or did you harm. Joseph suffered with Christ, so He also reigned with Him.

If you think it is people who sent you, your eyes will be on people, but if you believe John 20:21, Jesus telling you: as My Father sent Me, I also send you. You will remove your eyes from people, and put them on Jesus. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2). Jesus saw the reward: the joy that you and I will be sons and daughters of God; that is why He endured the cross. We also should take Him as an example and do our best to see people around us saved.

Let us take Jesus as our example, and whatever God tells us to do, let us do it. We do see Jesus, who was made lower than the Eloyim for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom, and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect, through what he suffered (Hebrews 2:9-10). Jesus was willing to go through all that suffering, not to bring servants to glory, but, to bring many sons and daughters to glory. You and I, who are sons and daughters of God, are for signs and wonders (Isaiah 8:18).

Moses and his parents also looked at the reward: God was going to save an entire nation through him. Thus by faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry ground; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned (Hebrews 11:23-29). God rewards us for obeying His command, and He exalts us, it is not in vain we are serving Him.

All the heroes of faith listed in the hall of fame in Hebrews 11, had something in common, they all heard from the Lord directly, it was not a second hand revelation. Paul tells us, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God or Rhema word of God, which the word that God specifically speaks to you, whether it is a written word in the bible or a personal word, but it always lines up with the written word of God. That is why it is crucial for everybody to hear directly from the Lord. The bible study on “Divine Guidance” is designed for that sole purpose, to teach every believer the basics of how God speaks to people in various ways and forms. And as they become doers of that word; they will develop their own personal relationship with God.

In 1Samuel 3, the bible says: Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him (1Samuel 3:7). The way we know the Lord, is through His word, when we have the revelation of His word, we start understanding what He is saying to us. God called Samuel three times in chapter 3, and all the time God was using the voice of Eli. So Samuel thought it was Eli who was calling Him. God will use the voice of people you know and respect, who are godly or their faces speak to you, or talk to you. If you are a black person, you will see your angels black, if you are a yellow person you will see your angels yellow, if you are white you will see your angels white, because God wants you to be comfortable and receive His message. Angels are spirits they do not have skin colour, but they can take any skin colour to pass a message of the Lord to you, in a way that you will receive it as long as it lines up with the written word.

The three times Samuel went to see Eli when he thought he was the one calling Him; God never stopped Samuel telling him: do not go to Eli, I am the one calling you! Why? Because Samuel would have asked who are you, you are using the voice of Eli but you are not Eli? And God would have responded: I AM WHO I AM. But since Samuel had no revelation of the word to know who I AM WHO I AM is; it was pointless. So God let Eli, who knew the ways of God, to tell the young Samuel, it was God, do not be afraid: the next time you hear Him calling you say, now: speak Lord, for your servant hears (1Samuel 3:9). It could have taken years for Samuel to try to figure out how God speaks, but Eli made it easy for Samuel. So learn the bible study on “Divine Guidance”, and learn the basics of how God speaks to us. For if you cannot perceive how God speaks, it will be difficult to have faith in His promises, and keep standing in faith, until they come to pass. When people come to me with a problem I tell them if they are Christians: what did God tell you? And whatever God told you, as long as it lines up with the written word, I will stand with you.

TESTIMONY OF GERY IN PRISON FROM THE 21^ST APRIL 2016 TO THE 3^RD JUNE 2016

When we read the bible, we see the apostles going into prison and coming out, and at times we think that ministers of today do not go through anything of the kind. The way the church has been taught in this century is, that if a minister goes into prison he is not anointed. It is because of our immaturity. I had moved to Glasgow from Manchester, and I was trying to sort out my immigration status in the United Kingdom. According to the law of the Land I had overstayed. Everything I was doing was just being hindered by the enemy the devil. And on April 21^st , 2016 as I was going to the Immigration office at the Festival Court in Govan, Glasgow to update them on what I was doing to regularize my status in the United Kingdom, they said to me that they were going to detain me.

Initially I thought it was a misunderstanding, and since it was Friday, I thought that by Monday everything would be resolved. I remember that morning when I walked into the immigration office, for what was supposed to be a ten minute appointment to update them on my efforts to sort things out; the Lord told me: “you will be numbered with the transgressors”. I did not truly pay attention at first, only when they told me that I was to be detained, that is when I realized what the Lord meant. They took me into a room and I had to wait for the van to come and pick me up to transfer me to the detention centre. As I was in that room, I said to myself: when Paul and Silas were in prison they sang unto the Lord. So I started singing and dancing for the four hours I was locked up in that room. The immigration agents could see me dancing and hear me singing; because they had cameras in that room. Two of them came into the room, a man and a woman. They said: you are taking it well, you are even dancing and singing. I said: that is what Christians do when they are thrown into prison. Then they said to me: I think your case is not a big deal, by Monday you can be out of that detention centre.

I called Sister Louise so that she could call her sister, Sharon Hunt, who is an immigration Lawyer. And I texted the church members to tell them that I was not going to be there on Sunday, but definitely I would be back during the following week. I did not want to alarm them for no reason. The Van came and picked me up for transfer, it was 4 pm. We drove to Dungavel detention centre, in South Lanarkshire. They processed me after 7 pm on that Friday 21^st April 2016. I was placed in the London House, Room L18. The room had 18 beds and I was given bed number 8. I could make some calls on Saturday to inform friends and church members where I was. Uncle Komolafe, a wonderful Methodist minister and friend of the ministry, from the very day he heard I was detained by the immigration, phoned all the police stations in Glasgow looking for me. I have never seen such love and care from anybody, that the love uncle Komolafe and his family has shown toward me.

I did not eat for the first five days and nights. Then I heard a voice in my heart as a gentle whisper, saying to me: “this captivity is for a long time, eat and get some strength”. That is not what I wanted to hear from the Holy Ghost! So I ate something on the fifth day at lunch and dinner, then I went again for three days and three nights without food and water. I was able to send an email to Angela in South Korea on my second day in detention, telling her what was going on, and she got 200 pastors in South Korea to pray for me, and other pastors also in China were praying the moment Angela informed them of my captivity. The House of Prayer For All Nations also prayed and fasted. When you read in the bible that the church prayed when Peter was in prison, you think it does not happen today. Let me tell you the church prayed when Gery, the prisoner and apostle of Jesus Christ for the 50 European nations, was in prison in Dungavel, numbered among the transgressors.

All the disciples of HOPFAN matured during my imprisonment. When they noticed that I was not eating, the Medical Justice got involved and people were thinking I was on a hunger strike. That was very bad publicity for Dungavel and the immigration. They threatened to transfer me to another centre with a facility for disabled people. I told them I was doing what happened to the Jews in the book of Esther, and I was doing Esther 9. So that on the day the Home Office would want to carry out its evil decree, the opposite would happen, and I would prevail against their decree, even their removal order.

Pastors in Glasgow wrote wonderful letters of support, and the lawyer did his best. But the immigration did not want to consider any of those letters. They cancelled my flight ticket to deport me to the Congo twice. In the end the Lawyer said to me, he could not do anything for me. And the advocate also said to me, he could not do anything for me. I met a wonderful pastor Joseph in Dungavel, he was also a detainee. And he truly helped me and we defended ourselves without any lawyer. I am forever grateful to pastor Joseph for his help, God put him there just to help me. We understood exactly that it was the devil fighting the ministry; he wanted to strike the shepherd, and the sheep would be scattered. They had planned to deport me for the third time on the 1^st June 2016; but on that same day the letter came that cancelled that deportation and granted my release from Dungavel. This Esther was literally fulfilled as I had prayed and fasted for. They had to process my papers again and it took some days, so on June 3^rd 2016 I was released from Dungavel after 42 days in detention.

I needed a time with the Lord, for about three years God had been asking me to come and seek His face for the next level of the ministry. But I always said to God: I am very busy, I travel every weekend to Glasgow; I cannot afford to miss a single weekend in Glasgow. But I was able to stay there for 42 days. During that time the Lord spoke to me and ministered to me, and renewed my strength. He pruned me some more. I had become indifferent to some aspects of the word of God. I was also dealing with bitterness. I was bitter toward the church I was working with, prior to starting HOPFAN, the way they treated me, spitefully used me and abused me in ministry.

The Holy Spirit told me: you have forgiven them, but you are still bitter. You need to let go of it. He said to me:  ^“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32). I have taught in the Perfect Redemption Plan series that one of the symbols of the Holy Ghost was a dove; God wanted to tell us that the dove is a bird that has no bile in it; thus there is no bitterness in the Holy Ghost. Therefore if we want to flow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are but manifestations of the Holy Ghost, we need to deal with our bitterness. Now it was time for me to make the word flesh in me: not just forgive them, and not be angry any longer, but also no longer be bitter towards that ministry.

I said out loud in my room: Lord I choose to forgive that church and ministry, I choose to forgive their leaders, for they do not know what they are doing, and I will no longer be bitter towards them. When I came out of prison I wrote an eight page letter to the general overseer of that ministry, explaining in love what went wrong, and how I was treated while working under their ministry. I forgave them in Christ, and I was no longer bitter either; for God told me to put away my bitterness. And the first opportunity I had when I came out of prison, I went to Manchester and fellowshipped in their church, and after that I went to London to attend one of the programs the General overseer of that ministry was doing. I never received an official apology from anybody in that ministry; but I was not looking for an apology. I confronted their ways in love and chose to forgive them, and move on as commanded by the Holy Ghost. Forgiveness is a choice we make, to obey the command of God to forgive as Christ also has forgiven us, not an emotionally based decision. You will never feel like forgiving people! So choose to forgive anyway!

If we say we have truly forgiven and are no longer bitter, we will pursue peace with our brothers and sisters and seek to restore fellowship and holiness, without which we will not be able to see God move on our behalf (Hebrews 12:14). That is why I went to see them face to face, and to fellowship in their church, both in Manchester and in London. Brothers and sisters we are called for peace. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful (Colossians 3:15). Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9). Let us act as children of God it does not matter who is wrong; love reaches out to others and seeks peace.

While I was in prison after two weeks I said to myself: Gery, you wrote the “Perfect Redemption Plan Part I”, and “Going Through Fire” bible studies; now it is time for you to act like a mature son of God. So I applied for a Job while in there. They gave me the job of preparing the bags of new detainees: giving them cutlery, towels, toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet rolls, soap, comb and cleaning the reception where all the detainees were processed. Truly I was like Joseph that was put in charge of the other prisoners. The officer said to me: we do not give that job to anybody easily, but you are different, there is something about you; you always respect yourself and respect others and encourage others. So we think you will be good for that job. When Mummy Balogun, Uncle Komolafe, Aunty Komolafe, Sister Funmilayo and Sister Yetunde visited me in there; they were holding back their tears and I had to encourage them. I told them I have found a job here, I am being paid £1 per hour. I could see that their hearts were in pain.

The Word has to be made flesh in us, so that people may see how to apply the word of God in their life. Papa Pierre and Mama Dodee Mungombe also visited, and later on they opened the door of their house to me when I came out of prison. And many other friends and pastor friends visited me there. This brought joy into my heart and great encouragement. After two weeks in there, I said to myself, Gery what would Paul, the apostle and prisoner of Jesus Christ do, when he was in prison? I said: he would not just do what Joseph did, but he would preach the gospel. So I went to the church in Dungavel and I started to hold church services every day. Pastor Joseph would take three evening services a week, I would take three evening services, I would also do the prayer meeting on Friday. We had church every day! Many Muslims came to Christ, many people received the call of the Lord to go and preach the gospel in their nation, or in the city they were released into by the immigration. Some of the guards gave their lives to Christ, and they were always informing us about the evil plans of the immigration, to remove one of the Christians in the middle of the night, when everybody was sleeping, and take them straight to the airport.

They were spying for us, so that we would pray against the plans of the immigration, and we would inform our lawyers to be watchful, with the dirty trick the immigration was going to carry out during the weekend at night, when the solicitor is not working. Many drug addicts and drug dealers gave their lives to Christ. Christians had so many testimonies of deliverance from immigration, that even Muslims were asking for our prayers, and were coming to church. It was an integrated church: black, white, yellow, brown and mixed races were worshipping together. There was no denomination, we came in the unity of faith, and encouraged one another and prayed for one another. Trouble has no skin colour or denomination, and it is time for the church outside of prison to understand it, and stop segregating the church of God!

I wrote the bible study on the Lord is My Shepherd in the Perfect Redemption Plan, part III. But in Dungavel Pastor Joseph gave me an understanding of particular scriptures on shepherding, that I did not have prior to my going into prison. He said: “there are many men and women of God; but very few men and women for God”. What does it mean? In John 10 we have the hireling who is not a true shepherd; for when he sees the wolf coming after the sheep, he leaves them, he does not want to fight for the sheep, at the peril of his own life. What he is interested in is his own agenda, his salary, and bearing the title of man or woman of God, and receiving the honour that goes with it; but he or she is not willing to suffer with Jesus, so that he or she can reign with Him; for if we suffer with Jesus, we will also reign with Him (2Timothy 2:12).

When Jesus the Commander of the Hosts of heaven appeared to Joshua; Joshua asked Him: are you for us or for our enemies? He answered I am on the Lord’s side; therefore if you side with the Lord and His agenda to further His kingdom; I, Jesus, will be for you Joshua (Joshua 5:13-14)! Paul explained that he came to understand that the chains and the imprisonment he went through, contributed to the furtherance of the gospel (Philippians 1:12). So that when people read his stories, they became heroic accounts, and thus encourage many Christians around the world to stand for the truth of the gospel. If you are a man or woman for God, you will see the need of the people around you, and you will forget about yourself and your own pain, and minister to the people around you. I explained in the Lord is my Shepherd of the Perfect Redemption Plan series of bible studies, that Jesus even when He was on the Cross, bleeding to death, He still ignored his own condition and pain to minister salvation to the thief on the cross with Him. Now Gery it is time for you to apply the ways of God you have written in those bible studies!

What I also learned from pastor Joseph is that: “the shepherd smells like the sheep”. There is no such thing as a shepherd who does not smell like the sheep; meaning you must go through some of the things that your sheep go through, so that you do not just quote the scriptures to them, but you know the feelings of their infirmities or weaknesses too; because you yourself went through the same thing and came out victorious. Paul tells us of Jesus Christ that He went through the same things we the sheep go through. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2Corinthians 1:3-4).

Some pastors became Muslim in that detention centre; because they thought that God had forsaken them! The psychologist said to me: “so prayer and fasting is part of your spiritual life, and encouraging others or helping others is what defines you and who you truly are? Even when you yourself are going through the same troubles they are going through, but you forget for a moment what you are going through, to help and encourage someone else. So your faith in Christ is really the rock that makes you stand firm, and be strong for others!” Yet the same lady psychologist said to me: “do not be offended; but do you not feel that you being here means that your God has forsaken you?” I replied: Paul went into prison, and all the apostles of Jesus went into prison; the fact that I am in prison does not mean that Jesus has forsaken me! He promised never to leave me nor forsake me; so that I may boldly say: the Lord is my helper and I will not fear; what can man or women behind the immigration system do unto me (Hebrews 13:5-6)?

We used to pray twice a week with my brother, Nell Malanda; so now being in prison with no internet connection, making international phone calls, would cost me a fortune! But we understood what the devil was trying to do. Remember in the book of Daniel; Daniel understood by reading the bible, that the time for the deliverance of all the Jews from the Babylonian empire had come; so he started to pray and fast, so that the will of God would be done on earth as it is in heaven. And in the spirit realm there was the principality over Persia, that was resisting the angels of the Lord, like the archangel Gabriel to bring answers to prayers. The enemies of the Jews wrote a decree that forbade people to pray for 30 days to any god, except the gold statue of the king they had erected. But Daniel, a man of understanding of the reality of the spirit, continued to pray regardless of that decree, and they put him into the lions’ den.

We understood it was our prayers that were disturbing the devil, that is why he threw me into prison and escalated everything to get me deported, even on Sunday when lawyers do not work. Do not be fooled; there are principalities over every nation that resist the gospel of Jesus, and want to keep the people in captivity forever. Our gospel troubles those principalities and the devil. So I was spending about £100 every week for international phone calls to France, so that we can pray every day with my brother for at least one hour. There are 300,000 families to be saved in Glasgow, and millions of souls in the 50 European nations. The devil knows it, and that is why he is trying to kill the baby, even HOPFAN, in its crib; like he tried to kill Moses as a baby, by ordering all the Hebrews to throw their new born male child into the Nile River (Exodus 1:22). He also tried to kill Jesus as a baby, by ordering all babies from one day old to two years old, to be killed (Matthew 2:16).

The devil and his agents, even the magicians, in the spirit realm, saw the star appearing, even the mark of Christ the Saviour and Deliverer of the oppressed arising (Matthew 2:1-2). So he wanted to kill Him. Herod or Pharaoh were just agents of Satan, to kill the church that God is building, by killing the messengers God sends. As John explains it to us, saying: The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels or messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches (Revelation 1:20). So in other words Moses was the messenger that God used to go and build the church in the wilderness, even the tabernacle of meeting, according to the pattern that God showed him on the mountain of Horeb (Exodus 25:40 & Hebrews 8:5 ). John the Baptist was the messenger who prepared the way before Jesus, who is the messenger of the New Covenant (Malachi 3:1). And that is why those who are in the fivefold ministries: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have a spiritual star over their heads, as a “messenger” of a particular church God wants to build.

The devil and the angels of God see that star over that minister, and depending on the call of God over that person, or the number of spiritual talents Jesus has bestowed upon that messenger, the star will be brighter than other stars. Paul tells us: There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory (1Corinthians 15:41). Now Jesus Christ is the Sun of righteousness according to Malachi 4:2. The moon is the Church that reflects the glory of the Sun, and the Stars are the messengers to different churches. According to Exodus 18, some people will be leaders in charge of tens, others in charge of fifty, others in charge of hundreds, others in charge of thousands, and there would be others in charge of a whole tribe and others like Moses and His leadership team, in charge of a whole nation. Jeremiah was a prophet to the nations, whereas Ezekiel was a prophet to only the nation of Israel (Jeremiah 1:10, Ezekiel 3:5,17).

Our star differs in brightness depending on what God has ordained us to do, from our mother’s womb. Yet we are not to envy each other. God placed those abilities in us from our mother’s womb, and as long as we abide in our calling and are faithful to our call, He will tell us: well done good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:23). My prayer is that we will understand what the will of God is concerning our life, and what He has called us to do individually and collectively. There is a general will of God and general predestination for all Christians, to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus; on top of that, there is an individual predestination or call of God for each one of us from our mother’s womb. We need to discover it and go after it.

We ought to pray for those who are in leadership; we can see throughout the bible, Satan targets primarily apostles and prophets; because they are the foundation of the church, and Jesus bestows a kingdom or sphere of influence upon them (Luke 22:29, 1Corinthains 9:2, 2Corinthians 10:15 & Ephesians 2:19-20). Jesus told the Jews: So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute (Luke 11:48-49).’

Therefore brothers and sisters pray for those who are in leadership in church; do not be ignorant of the devices of the enemy. Jesus taught Peter saying: Simon; Satan desires to sift you as wheat: he will shake your life and turn it upside down, blow a strong wind of opposition against you, so that your faith will fail altogether (Luke 22:31). He knows I have bestowed the kingdom upon you, and you are going to be a pillar in the church that I am building, so that the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:15-19 & Galatians 2:9). So Simon, I am advising you to watch and pray, so that you will not fall into that temptation of giving up this Christian walk altogether; because of the strong wind of opposition the devil sends your way to shake your life. I know that in your spirit you are willing to watch and pray; but you have a problem with your flesh that is weak. I am advising you to always pray and not lose heart, and to watch and pray with Me for at least one hour; what I am saying to you I am also saying to all Christians to do the same ( Luke 18:1-8, Matthew 26:40-41 & Mark 13:37).

Also remember Peter, that there are some demons that only go away from you by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29). Daniel was given the skills to understand what was happening in the spirit realm. As long as he was fasting and making prayers, even for those 21 days, the principality over Persia was defeated by Michael, our prince or our godly principality, and then the answer came on the 24^th day (Daniel 10). Peter made light of the warning of Jesus; I think it was because he was spiritually blind and could not see what the devil was up to in the spirit realm.

So Jesus said to Peter: since you cannot even watch and pray with Me for at least one hour, to prevent yourself from falling into temptation; I have seen in the realm of the spirit that you will fall away, and even deny Me three times, that you do not know Me and all of you, My disciples, will do the same, and forsake Me. As it is written: Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times (Matthew 26:31-34)”.

This is so true because when I was in prison, some of my disciples wrote me off; some were ashamed of my chains and did not want to be associated with me anymore. What Paul said to Timothy: May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains (2Timothy 1:16). This has become true in my life as well. At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth (2Timothy 4:16-17). I have learned to forgive, like Paul forgave the people who deserted him, including John Mark the nephew of Barnabas. And one day, if they decide to come back, my heart is always open to receive and welcome them.

After the resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit was poured upon us, He is the Spirit of Grace, and of prayer, of supplication according to Zechariah 12:10. Now God can work in us both to give us the willingness, and empower us supernaturally, to pray for His good pleasure, though our flesh be weak (Philippians 2:13). It is no longer by our might or our power, even human effort, that we are able to watch and pray; but by the Spirit of the Lord, even the Spirit of grace and prayer, that we are willing and energized to watch and pray without ceasing (Zechariah 4:6, 1Thessalonians 5:16-18).

I thank everybody who stood with me; even those who were scattered because of the persecution I went through. Leaders were born during that period of trial, and some, though they have the call of God on their life, fell away. I pray that they will be restored and continue to do ministry, even if it is not with us; but God has a field for them to work in. That testing period also sent away those who were fearful, and those who could not ascribe the glory to God (Deuteronomy 20:8 & Judges 7). The true leaders of HOPFAN were born, they truly believed in the vision God has given unto us, and contrary to hope, they believed in hope for they judged God who had promised those things faithful to also carry them out (Romans 4:18 & Hebrews 11:11).

When I was in Dungavel, I cursed it so that it would close down after I had come out of it. And on September 8^th 2016 the Home Office announced the closing down of Dungavel toward the end of 2017, because of the inhumane conditions. My friend prayer works! I cursed it with all my heart, and commanded it to be closed. People were screaming all night and some were cutting themselves, banging their head against the walls, etc. It was barbaric and inhumane in there! Even Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons has criticized Dungavel detention facility, as has the recent independent report on welfare in detention by Stephen Shaw.

But being there truly defined who I was in Christ Jesus. I am an apostle, preacher and prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ! I had a vision in August 2016, and in that vision I was in Dungavel and the manager of the place was giving letters of release to detainees. Everybody was gathered in the conference room, and she would read out loud the letter of release of the detainee. I was the last one and she read my letter of release: she said: Gery Malanda the preacher of the gospel has been released! And everybody clapped their hands in that conference room. Then I heard the voice of God saying to me: “Gery, I rejoice over you with clapping; for now I know that you are My preacher and messenger. You did not serve Me and preach My word only in good times and comfortable situations; but even in prison you continued to preach My word and lead people to Christ”.

On October 2^nd 2016, I was tired and exhausted, both emotionally and physically, from fighting with the Home Office. And I wanted to give up the ministry altogether. Then I had a vision. In that vision I went to the florist, I was looking for flowers to buy. Many people came in and bought flowers for their spouse, and a homosexual couple also entered into that shop and bought flowers. I was distracted in that shop, and as I was about to leave the florist’s shop, one of the women in that shop said to me: “I have taken your shoes of many colours; wow such beautiful shoes in gold, purple and blue. It will fit my purpose. You can take these sandals instead and I will also give you my wedding ring, so that if you sell that wedding ring you can make money.”

Now at that time I was really thinking about marriage; but because of immigration, I refused to get married; even though in my heart I was tired of living alone and doing ministry alone. And I repeatedly said to the Home Office that “I would never get married to get an immigration status in the United Kingdom. One day I will get married; it will certainly not be because of immigration; but only because of love”. So the devil was trying to tempt me, so that I would just marry any Christian woman, and move on with my life, and forget about ministry altogether. And in the vision I became indifferent to the sinful lifestyle around me: whether people were practicing homosexuality or living in fornication, or practicing any other sin leading to death, I was indifferent. I was now just minding my own business, serving my God for me and my family alone, instead of reaching out to the lost souls.

The devil was telling me: why do you make things so difficult Gery? Can you not just do like everybody! I tell you to read the bible study of “He Kept the Good Wine for the end”. Not only are we not to marry unbelievers, or live in fornication and have children out of wedlock; but we are only supposed to marry born again Christians. Yet in marrying that born again Christian without defiling the marriage bed, our love should be without hypocrisy or hidden motives.

And when you are in ministry, it is not only that you should have pure motives, and that the person is born again; but on top of that, that person must be the bone of your bone, not just the flesh of your flesh; meaning that person must be ordained by GOD from the foundation of the world, for the two of you to do God’s plan of furthering the Kingdom of the Son of His love, Jesus. The devil wanted me to drop everything and be a normal Christian. I know a pastor that was with me in Dungavel, he was traumatized by that experience. We had to minister to him there. He never ministered to anybody while in Dungavel. When he came out, he left his church, where he was an assistant pastor, and went to another church in Glasgow to be an ordinary member. When I talked to him, he said: “I need ministration myself, so why should I minister to others when I have many problems. I will sit down and let others minister to me”.

That is what the devil wants us to do. The shoes are to spread the gospel of peace, and also talk about our inheritance or sphere of influence in the gospel (Ephesians 6:15). God gave some of us, not just a robe of many colours like Joseph; but also shoes of many colours; yet we do not realize it! Please read the bible study on “Come Home”, in it we explained that the shoes that the Father placed back on the feet of the prodigal son, talked about his inheritance being restored. Joseph who received the coat of many colours from his father, was to rule not only over the kingdom of Egypt, the greatest power of their days; but also all the nations around Egypt would submit to him. As it is written: all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere (Genesis 41:57).

Now the shoes of many colours, talk about preaching the gospel and having a sphere of influence in many nations and kingdoms, as inheritance from God. Psalm 2:7-9 says: I will declare the decree of Jehovah. He has said to Me, You are My Son; today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I shall give the nations for Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Now in our case you remember the vision of me coming out of the swimming pool, on the day before my water baptism, with a rod of iron in my right hand; around the round swimming pool were fifty men holding a rod, with the flag of a European nation. They all prostrated before me, their face to the ground, and the rod of their flag on the ground too. This is what is at stake here: the 300,000 families in Glasgow and the 50 European nations! But it does not stop there; just like the whole world came to buy grain from Joseph, because of the famine; there is also a famine of hearing the word of God; for there is not yet a widespread revelation of the word of God, and the whole world will come and buy from us, without money, the revelation of the Word of God, that God gave us through these “My Weekly Milk” bible studies (1Samuel 3:1, Amos 8:11 & Isaiah 55:1).

I was so tired, and wanted to just live a mediocre Christian life: warm the church pews, sit down and let other people preach to me! I did not realize the kind of shoes God had given unto HOPFAN, and in my ignorance, the devil wanted to give us mere sandals. Then in that same vision, I heard the voice of my good friend and prayer partner Rev Henry Emmanuel, praying and telling me: “What about the 300,000 families? You said God has 300,000 families to save in Glasgow!” then I heard the voice of the Holy Ghost groaning within me, with sounds that I could not utter. My heart was in pain, and I was weeping! I thought I was the one in heart pain and weeping, but no tear was coming out of my eyes. It was as if Someone else was living inside me, and that person was having pain in His heart, and was weeping with groaning, that I could not utter because He was heartbroken. I could feel all that that Person inside me was feeling. My heart was in pain, as when someone has been betrayed by a spouse.

There are things that I cannot explain with words; I could feel the wetness of the tears running profusely down my eyes; but there were no physical tears when I touched my face. I would hear that Person of the Holy Ghost weeping in pain with groaning; it was as if someone was weeping next door, and I put my ear against that door, to hear everything being uttered in that room. I have experienced groanings of the Holy Ghost before, as I have explained in the bible Study “David’s Sexual Sin Exposed”. But this time around it was different. I could feel the person of the Holy Ghost in me. It was as if I was possessed by the Holy Ghost and my body, which is hosting Him, was feeling everything He felt. As it is written of Gideon that the Spirit of the Lord possessed him (Judges 6:34).

Now a ghost is an apparition of a dead person, which is believed to appear or become manifest to the living. Now the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the dead person of Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead (Romans 8:11). More and more you will hear me say Holy Ghost instead of Holy Spirit, Why? Because I want all of us to understand that the Spirit of the Lord is A PERSON! He feels pain, He is grieved, heart broken, angry, displeased, pleased, …etc. In the Application of The Perfect Redemption Plan of God, we talk about being possessed by the Holy Ghost; not just acting as an oracle of the Lord, but being an oracle of the Lord. This is my prayer for all of us: “O, Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Resurrected Christ, take possession of my body from today so that I can be your oracle; let me feel what you feel, think the way you think and see the world with your eye!”

A day before that vision on October 1^st 2016, I was coming back to Glasgow from Manchester. As I sat in that Virgin train, the Lord Holy GHOST said to me: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3-14). In my anger and frustration I said to Him: “prove it by delivering me today; for my earthly parents love me, and they deliver me out of my troubles. So prove your love today!” I did not hear a thing, but that scripture was burning in my heart, so I just prayed.

Towards the end of October 2016 I had a vision, and in that vision the Holy Ghost told me: “dig a trench outside your window, and fill it with milk; for you shall not see rain, nor wind; but the whole valley in which you dug a trench, will be filled with milk for you, instead of being filled with water”. This is what we call prophetic actions, we explain them in length in the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan series. God instructed His prophet Elisha in 2Kings 3:13-19, after the hand of the Lord came upon him to ask the kings to dig trenches in the valley, and they shall not see rain nor wind; but in the morning the valley would be filled with water. And this is a simple thing for God to do. In my case instead of water, it will be filled with milk; meaning God is causing me to enjoy the promised land flowing with milk and honey, and giving me houses, vineyards and wells in this land of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (Exodus 3:17, Deuteronomy 6:10-11).

So I went to the local grocery shop and bought one litre of whole milk, and came back home, dug a small trench in the ground by my window, and filled it with that whole milk. Then I prophesied the word of God over it. And on 15^th November 2016 the Home Office sent me a letter, that my application was successful, and I have been granted a residents permit. So the next day I went to do my biometrics and picture for the residents permit. And after that I started to inform all the friends and pastors, who prayed with me and for me, while I was in prison, that God has delivered me. We always ought to pray and not give up; God showed us the powers that were resisting us, so that we could bind them. My prayer is that the eyes of our understanding will be enlightened, and our spiritual ears will be opened.

Our battle is not against flesh and blood or against individuals. Paul tells us: we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). Our spiritual eyes need to be open, so that God will show us what is actually resisting us, and resisting the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus. There are demons who spiritually blind people’s eyes, so that they will not see the glory of the gospel of Jesus that is able to save them. It is as if the devil put a veil over their face to blind them. And also a veil over their heart, so that even when they hear the gospel, it is not bringing conviction of sin, of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8). Paul, who was once spiritually blind to the glory of the gospel of Christ by religion; for the devil through religion placed spiritual scales in his eyes, to prevent him from seeing the glory of this gospel that saves souls, explains some spiritual realities to us (Acts 9:18).

Paul tells us: if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. [Why?] Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand the message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God (2Corinthians 4:3-4 NLT). And Jesus tells us: if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house (Mark 3:26-27 NIV). Some Christians think that demons will be fighting each other, and forget about us altogether, so that way we can sneak up on them, and plunder the souls that they retain captive.

That is being ignorant; Satan is in unity with all his demons, they do not fight or oppose each other, take it from the very mouth of Jesus! For if they do so, their kingdom will not stand. So the devil comes into the church and among Christians to work, and causes us to fight and oppose each other, to cripple the advancement of the kingdom of God. If we want the people saved, healed, delivered, we must confront the devil, knock down the gates of hell, bind Satan and his demons hand and foot, strip them naked (Colossians 2:13-15). And then we plunder all the souls they had detained for all those years, deliver households, deliver cities, deliver nations and continents. Jesus told us: “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth, will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 18:18). “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. [He was kicked out of heaven according to Revelation 12. Now he is cast down to earth and you too should kick him out of your life, out of your household, out of your city, out of your nation and out of your continent.] [That is why] I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you (Luke 10:18-19).

5-The helmet of salvation

Paul says: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). Paul is not telling us that when we are born again, sometimes we put our helmet on and at other times we take it off. Now that we are born again we have our helmet on, but we need to have the knowledge of what took place when we had that salvation experience. Some Christians are not sure of their salvation, they think that they will lose their salvation, they think that if they commit a sin, that’s it, they have lost their salvation and they need to be reborn again. That is why in some churches, after the preaching when the pastor asks who wants to be born again, or to rededicate their life to Christ, you see the same set of people coming forward every Sunday. And in some churches, the whole church will come forward including all the associate pastors. They have the wrong understanding of salvation. And if you do not come forward, they think you are proud, since even all the pastors do not know if they are saved, how can you know?

I was in such a church, and I had to teach them from the scriptures what it meant to be saved. So if that is your understanding, that is why you think that there are times your helmet is removed. No it is never removed: you are either saved or not saved! When Paul says: take the helmet of salvation; it is as if he says embrace, appropriate the salvation experience you had, what took place spiritually when you were born again. That helmet of salvation is the helmet of God, not your helmet, but God’s. Everything in that helmet of salvation has been imputed to you by God. The helmet protects the brain; yes the battle field is in our brain, for all the physical senses send signals to our brain, and the physical senses tell us many things that do not line up with what took place, when we were saved. We will need to protect our mind and renew it, so that we are no longer led by our physical senses, but by what the written word of God says about our salvation. Like Paul told us: we do not walk by sight, and all the other physical senses, but we walk by faith and faith only stands on the written word of God (2Corinthians 5:7). In Genesis 27 all the physical senses of Isaac deceived him, only the voice did not deceive him. If you want to know the voice of God, you need to know His written word, there is no way around it!

Our salvation is three fold: our spirit, our soul and our body. When we were unsaved, our spirit was dead, and it was the spirit of Satan that was occupying that space in us. We still had our soul and body. The moment we became born again, God gave us his Spirit which revived our spirit that was dead. Paul says: as for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world, and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ, and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:2-6).

So now that you are born again: your spirit is alive, and has received eternal life, the Holy Spirit now dwells in you, and He is the one who has raised your spirit from the dead. Like Jesus also explained concerning the prodigal son when he came home, the father said: for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate (Luke 15:24). People who are still unsaved, their spirit is still dead and the spirit of Satan is occupying that space, but as for you and I, the moment we became born again, the spirit of Satan which is the spirit of the world, was expelled from us and the Holy Spirit now dwells in us. When John says: But you have an Unction or Anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things (1John 2:20). Remember we have defined the Anointing or Unction as being the tangible manifestation of the power of the Holy Ghost, to have spiritual revelations and perform signs and wonders. John is talking about your spirit man or spirit woman, who is no longer dead, but has received eternal life. And the Holy Spirit dwells in your spirit man or spirit woman, and has placed all the knowledge of the word of God in your spirit man. Your spirit man or spirit woman is perfect. For it has been created in the image of God, and after His likeness like in the Garden of Eden. God does not look like brother Gery, but in my spirit, I look like God, I am in His image and likeness.

When God prophesied through Jeremiah about what would happen in the New Covenant, and Paul echoed it, He said: This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,‘ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:33-34; Hebrews 10:16-17).” Here when the bible talks about God writing His Law or Written Word on our heart, it is not talking about the organ in our chest that is pumping blood. No, the bible is talking about our spirit man and our spirit woman, that was dead before, but in the new covenant, God will raise it from the dead and the Holy Spirit will be dwelling with our spirit man or spirit woman, and the Holy Spirit is the owner of the Unction or Anointing. Anointing being the tangible manifestation of the power of the Holy Ghost, to have spiritual revelations and perform signs and wonders. The Holy Spirit has not only given eternal life, but also made it perfect, in the image and likeness of God, and with all the knowledge of the word of God, for the Holy Spirit is the one who wrote the bible.

Man and woman are spirit beings. You are a spirit, you have a soul and both your spirit and soul, live in your physical body. You are not a body but a spirit. The Holy Spirit and our man spirit or woman spirit which is our heart, communicates closely like Paul says: The Holy Spirit Himself testifies or bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). Our spirit man or spirit woman is in the perfect image and likeness of Christ Jesus. The devil can never dwell in a born again Spirit, because The Holy Spirit dwells there; but he can dwell in his soul and body. So you have eternal life. If a person gives his life to Christ and dies the same day, when God looks at his spirit, it is perfect, and it is in the image and likeness of God, but his soul, that is the seat of his emotion and mind and intellect, is not renewed, and he might have died of sickness in his body. So we need to grasp it today, that we have received eternal life the very day we became born again, God raised our dead spirit man to live and wrote His law in our spirit man or heart. That is why our spirit man or spirit woman agrees with the Holy Spirit, because it is in the image and likeness of God, and has the Word of God written in it. Provided you are not practicing the sins leading to death listed in 1Corinthians 6:9-10, you do not need to be worried about losing your salvation; but if you fall into one of them, it is not too late, confess it and repent, then God will forgive you.

The Holy Spirit who now works hand in hand with our risen spirit man or spirit woman, communicates to our body through the soul. The soul or mind is the seat of our emotion and intellect. We need to renew our soul or mind, by the washing of the water by the word of God. God has left this job to us! It is our personal responsibility to renew our mind or soul, so that we are no longer led by our emotions or physical senses; but by the written word of God. Christians do not ignore their emotions, God gave us those emotions and senses so that we can relate with the world around us, enjoy fellowship with our fellow humans and have compassion. But God wants us to renew our mind in such a way, that we are no longer emotion-driven, but we are now driven by the written word of God.

Sometimes in our walk of faith our intellect gets in the way, because we have so much worldly knowledge, and we have decided to exalt that worldly knowledge above the written word of God, or our tradition, that it makes the word of God of no effect in our life (Mark 7:13). We believe more what the earthly physicians; the experts in finance and economy tell us, than what God tells us in His written word. God is not against education, you can get the best education in the World. Moses had the best education in the world during his time as a prince of Egypt. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in speech and action (Acts 7:22). But he did not exalt his education above the word of God, when God sent him to deliver the Hebrews with only a rod, and not an army. He went with the rod, and God delivered Israel with that rod. When they stood before the Red Sea, he did not tell the people: call the architects and the masons and let us start building a dam or a bridge so that we can cross the sea. No, he lifted up the rod and God parted the Red Sea. Science will tell you it is impossible, and unless you and I renew our mind to agree with the word of God; we will not experience the same power of God.

To the degree your mind is renewed, is the degree to which you will experience the power of God. Isaiah said: who has believed our report and to whom has the power of God been revealed (Isaiah 53:1). We have spent enough of our time training our mind according to the world, and the world is under the power of Satan. We need to retrain ourselves to think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, and act like Jesus, and we do that by reading the bible, and becoming doers of what we read. If you do not become a doer of what you read, it will never become part of you. Like a pilot, he can learn all the books on how to fly, and spend hours playing with his flight simulator, and test every scenario. It is good, but as long as he is not in a real plane, he will never know. And they will never give him a license as a pilot.

There are three kinds of Christians. The first ones are saved Christians, but they rarely open their bible to read it. They wait till Sunday to hear the preacher, no wonder that their mind is not renewed! The second set of Christians are the ones reading their bibles, studying it, simulating every scenario in the bible, but they never practice it, they are like that pilot behind his flight simulator. They never open their mouth to share something about Jesus with people around them, or to heal any sick person. Faith without works is useless and dead (James 2:26). And the third set of people, as they are learning, they are putting that into practice. They do not know a lot yet; but are willing to practice what they already know. They might make mistakes, but God will help them and teach them how to do the will of God more accurately. Do not be afraid of making mistakes, I am not talking about sinning, God hates sin and sin is of the devil (1John 3:8).

For the salvation of our body also, which has to do with healing, we need to learn what the bible says about our healing and deliverance. The series of The Perfect Redemption Plan and the Application of Perfect Redemption Plan of God, are designed in such a way that you will take the helmet of salvation, that you will embrace what was fully delivered to you when you were saved. And you will renew your mind according to that knowledge, and choose to become doers of that word. Let us, who are of the day, be calm, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the hope of salvation for a helmet (1Thessalonians 5:8). Let us put that revelation of the Perfect Redemption Plan and the Application of Perfect Redemption Plan in our mind, and have our mind renewed. So that if our feelings are lying to us that we are not saved, we know that we are, because the bible tells us so. If our feelings tell us that we do not have eternal life, we know it is a lie; because the bible tells us so. If our medical report tells us we are sick, we refuse to agree with that, it does not mean that we ignore it, but we deal with it with the word of God on healing, for by the stripes of Jesus we were healed.

People will ask: can a Christian be demon possessed? We now know that man is a spirit, who has a soul or mind, that is the seat of his emotions and intellect, and both the spirit and the soul dwell in the body. And we have explained that when we are born again, our spirit man or spirit woman is raised from the dead and Satan is evicted from where he used to cohabit with our dead spirit man. But mental illness is in the mind or soul, and not in the spirit, so a Christian can be demon possessed, which means the demon is in his mind and body, but not in his spirit. It is the same question: can Christians be sick? The answer is yes, because sickness is in the body and not in the spirit; sickness is the oppression of the devil according to Acts 10:38. But the good news is we do not have to put up with any of that; God gave us power to cast out demons and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. That is why we need to renew our mind, to put on the helmet of the hope of our salvation. For Jesus is not just interested in our spirit being saved, but our soul and body also.

Paul says: May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Thessalonians 5:23). So, not just your spirit receiving eternal life, but your soul or mind renewed and sound, not with mental illness or demon possession, for God has not given you a Spirit of fear and mental torment, but of power, love and sound mind (2Timothy 1:7). God also does not want your body to suffer from any sickness or any disease. Thus He gave you power and authority to cast out demons, to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease (Matthew 10:1, Matthew 4:23).

6-The sword of the Spirit

Paul says: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. The word here is the Rhema word of God or the spoken word of God. Either the promise that God gave you in the written word, or that lines up with the written word, or just a scripture contained in the bible that addresses your situation. The word of God that comes out of the mouth of God, is the Rhema word, and the word of God contained in the written word that addresses your situation, and you speak it out, is the Rhema.

I had a vision of a close brother who was wearing the Whole Armour of God, and had a long sword in his hand. But when I looked closer, the whole sword from the hilt to the pointing edge, was covered with dried up mud. It is as if the sword had been buried in the clay soil for a long time, like the parable of Jesus of the servant who received one talent, and went and buried that talent (Matthew 25:25). When I woke up, I prayed for that brother and called him on the phone, for at that time he still lived in France, and I was living in the UK. I told him: my brother you are a mighty warrior of the Lord; but you do not know how to use the sword! You have buried the sword of the Lord for so long, instead of using it. And I explained to him, that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God.

Many people when they read the bible, read it like a novel, and they think it is a collection of stories. They fail to perceive the message and the secret that God is passing across behind every story. Like a sister in the church who had a dream. In that dream a storm came, and was destroying her house. So after she told me the dream, I told her: what did you do when you woke up? She said nothing! I asked her: did you pray? She said I did. I asked: how did you pray? What was the scripture you used as the sword to deal with that storm that was coming your way? She said no scripture, I just prayed in general. I asked her, have you ever read any scripture in the bible where Jesus was in a boat with his disciples, and how he dealt with the storm? She said, I cannot remember. So I said: I will sing a song and you will tell me where they got that story from, and what the message is that God is telling you, concerning that storm coming against your house?

So I started singing: “What manner of man is Jesus, Hallelujah. What manner of man is Jesus, Hallelujah. What manner of man is Jesus, Hallelujah. He makes the blind to see Hallelujah. He makes the deaf to hear, Hallelujah. He makes the dumb to speak, Hallelujah. He makes the lame to walk, Hallelujah.” When I finished singing I asked her: do you have your answer? She said no. I said do you know the song? She said yes! I asked her where was it taken from, she did not know, so I opened the bible in Matthew 8:23-27. And she read the story of how Jesus dealt with the tempest at sea; how He rebuked the wind and the waves of the sea saying: peace be still, and there was a great calm at sea. So I asked her: what do you think you must do about your dream, since you have read what Jesus did? She said I do not know. So I told her, rebuke the storm that is coming to destroy your house and command it to be still.

No wonder Jesus tells us: To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: we played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn (Matthew 11:16-17). The prophets of old also faced the same problem, they dramatised the prophecies of the Lord, they sung the psalm, and Jeremiah was a weeping prophet; but the people failed to grasp what the message of God was behind all that drama and music. May we know to read between the lines of the stories contained in the bible, and between the songs or psalms. When you sing any song, try to find out if it is scriptural, and what the Lord is saying.

I was sleeping on the 18^th February 2013 and had a vision, and in that vision I saw a big crocodile was captured and bound with ropes and was suspended in the air, the angels had captured it after a war. And when I came to the scene, the angel who stood by me said to me: what should you do? I commanded that the sword that comes out of my mouth should hack it into pieces. And I saw myself using that sword to hack that crocodile. When I came out of that vision, I knew that it was the right thing I did, but I said to God: show me the scriptural background of what I have done in the spirit realm.

First of all, the Lord Holy Spirit reminded me of what the Lord Jesus explained to us about spiritual warfare, saying: I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house (Matthew 12:28-29). So for us to break through into any nation or community, we need to bind those principalities, powers of darkness that have kept the people captive, and plunder the kingdom of darkness: save souls, heal the sick in thousands, cast out devils and raise the dead at will.

And the Lord told me read: 1Samuel 15, it is the story of God sending Saul to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites. Saul only partially obeyed, it was the same Amalekites that always persecuted the children of Israel, and in the day of Esther, Haman was a descendant of Agag king of the Amalakites (Esther 3:10). That Haman planned to kill all the Jews in the world, just like Hitler planned to kill all the Jews in the world. Haman died on the day of Purim, Hitler officially died on the same day centuries apart on the 1^st May 1945 and on the 1^st May 2011 the USA announced that Osama Bin Laden was killed. All the haters of the Jews and Christians will suffer the same punishment, because it is the spirit of the antichrist in them that moves them to hate Jews and Christians.

Saul captured Agag alive, but when Samuel the prophet came, this is what he did: Samuel said to Agag the king of the Amalekites: as your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless, and Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal (1Samuel 15:33). Now the crocodile is the symbol of Satan, that river monster as we explained in the Perfect Redemption Plan part I, Pharaoh signifies a crocodile, so it was Satan behind Pharaoh, who was oppressing the Jews, and it was Satan behind Agag, Haman, Hitler and Osama bin Laden, who was oppressing the Jews and the Christians.

The crocodile spirit is not just to devour people and kill them, but also to oppress them, and make their life bitter; but the spirit of Pharaoh is also the spirit of racism, because a week prior to that vision of that crocodile, I saw a vision and there was a big statue of Pharaoh, that was the height of a five story building. And I commanded the hammer of the word of God that comes out of my mouth, to bulldoze that image and ground it to powder. Because the word of God in my mouth is like fire, and like a hammer, to break in pieces every rock (Jeremiah 23:29). The Lord says to me, and to every born again Christian: You are My battle-axe and My sword or weapon of war,” says the LORD. “With you I will shatter nations, and destroy many kingdoms (Jeremiah 51:20). So I knew that that crocodile was that pharaoh. It is a spirit of racism and discrimination. The Egyptians had no dealing with the Hebrews; for to them they were an abomination in their eyes, they detested the Hebrews; they could not eat at the same place with Hebrews (Genesis 43:32).

They looked down on Hebrews, for they were doing the kind of jobs Egyptians would never do, no Egyptian was a shepherd, and no Egyptian lived in Goshen. And they knew that the Hebrews came to live in Egypt for economical reasons, because Egypt was prospering in the years of famine. It is the same spirit of Pharaoh in the west, as Africans, Asians, Caribbeans come to the west, mainly for economical reasons. So some westerners think like the Egyptians. So when those people try to present the gospel to the westerner, those westerners think that their “religion is the opium of the people”. It is because of their sufferings that they need to believe in a God, but if they were prosperous, they would not waste their time with God, and they reject the message of Christ; because they think those immigrants are after their money, after all they have come in the west for economical reasons. People think it is an innocent way of thinking, no, Satan the crocodile is behind it, and you need to slay that crocodile so that the people are set free from that way of thinking, and can receive Jesus.

And the second scripture God gave me for hacking that crocodile, is found in Joshua 10:24-26 as it is written:” When they had brought these kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had come with him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So they came forward and placed their feet on their necks.” Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight. Then Joshua put the kings to death and exposed their bodies on five poles, and they were left hanging on the poles until evening.

” Racism is spiritual, sexism is spiritual; for where the spirit of the Lord is moving, there is no skin colour, no gender, men and women serve the Lord, black, white, yellow, red, brown and mixed race, all hold hands and pray together, and receive ministration from each other. In the revival of Azusa street in 1906, the son of the former slave: William Seymour was the one God chose to lead the Pentecost revival that turned the world upside down, women were ministering, blacks were ministering, whites were ministering and children were ministering.

The third scripture the Lord gave me for hacking or chopping that crocodile is in 1Kings 20. The king Ahab of Israel fought king Ben Hadad of Syria and God delivered Ben Hadad into his hands, but Ahab let him live. So God sent a prophet to tell him that he should have killed that Ben Hadad. As it is written: then the prophet went and stood by the road waiting for the king. He disguised himself with his headband down over his eyes. As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, “Your servant went into the thick of the battle, and someone came to me with a captive and said, ‘Guard this man. If he is missing, it will be your life for his life, or you must pay a talent of silver.’ While your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared.” “That is your sentence,” the king of Israel said. “You have pronounced it yourself.” Then the prophet quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognised him as one of the prophets. He said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have set free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people.'” Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went to his palace in Samaria (1Kings 20:38-42).

Even spiritually it is the same thing; God shows us the crocodile and the spirit of Pharaoh, that is hindering the furtherance of the gospel for Pharaoh did not want to let the people go, so that they may serve the Lord. If we do not deal spiritually with those things according to the scriptures when God shows them to us; we have but ourselves to blame. We cannot be angry and sullen like Ahab. Before things happen physically, they have taken place spiritually. It is because the war has been won in the spirit realm, that on the ground we can experience breakthroughs. For by faith we understand that the worlds were framed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible (Hebrews 11:3). So unfortunately there are many people who have been enrolled in the army of the Lord, who do not know how to use their sword. In the day of Gideon and his three hundred, that God chose to deliver Israel, some of them did not know how to fight including the biological sons of Gideon.

Zebah and Zalmunna the kings of the Midians were captured: so Gideon said to his firstborn named Jether: rise and kill Zebah and Zalmunna! But the youth would not draw his sword; because he was afraid, because he was a youth. Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his strength.'” So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels’ necks (Judges 8:20-21). Do not assume that even your children know how to use the sword of the Spirit. Ask them to pray and hear how they are praying and correct them, ask them to lay hands on the sick and hear how they are commanding sickness to go, in the name of Jesus, and if they are doing it wrong, correct them. People always tell me: pray for me! I tell them you pray first and then I will, because I know the reason they want me to pray is because they do not know how to pray about that situation.

And when I listen to their prayer, I know that they are not standing on the word of God, or they have the wrong understanding of what God’s will is. So I correct them, and tell them what the will of God is, and then I pray, so that next time they do not need me. It is as when you teach your child to use his knife and fork to cut the meat on his plate, you put your hands on top of his hands, and you show him how to cut it, so that next time he does not ask you: please can you cut my meat? My prayers, and all these bible studies, are so you will understand and know how to use the full Armour of God. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands, and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon (Judges 7:20)!” They understood that it was not the sword of Gideon, but it was the Sword of the Lord in the hand of Gideon, that Sword of gold.

All these bible studies we write, are to tell everybody what the message of God is behind the story, and how we can apply it in our personal life. We can take that written word, and put it in our mouth, and it becomes the sword of the Spirit. It is said of Jesus: Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword, with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron sceptre.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty (Revelation 19:15). Out of your mouth also is coming a double edged sword, because the resurrected Christ dwells in you.

Please read the bible study on The Power of Confession, and learn how to use the sword of the spirit, read the series of the Perfect Redemption Plan and the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan, then you will know how to use your sword. For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). The more you learn to wield your sword of the spirit like Jesus did, in Matthew 4:1-11, the devil will flee from you. The more you know how to wield the sword of the spirit, you will be able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart of the people, by just listening to what comes out of their mouths, discernment of spirits will be easy for you!

I remember when the Lord healed my backsliding, and loved me freely, my mind was not yet renewed, and some brothers were still accusing me of living in fornication, because they could not believe that a young man can keep himself undefiled. So one of them even came to my house at 1am, and knocked at the door as if it were the police. So I woke up and opened the door, and it was that elder brother who was in his fifties, and he told me: I have come to inspect your house, to see if you are not hiding a girlfriend here! So he opened my bedroom to see if a girl was hiding in my bedroom, or if I had a poster of a nude girl on my walls, to his disappointment, there was no poster on my walls, and on my bed were four different bibles. I was upset with that brother, no need to say that I never received that brother in my house again after that incident.

I read the bible and I discovered in Genesis 20, when Abraham lied to Abimelech about Sarah, he said she was his sister, not his wife, because he was afraid of the people of the land. So Abimelech took Sarah and wanted to lie carnally with her, but the Lord gave him a severe warning in a dream saying to him: indeed you are a dead man because of the woman who you have taken, for she is a man’s wife (Genesis 20:3). Therefore restore the man’s wife, for he is a prophet and he will pray for you and you shall live, but if you do not restore her, know that surely you shall die, and all who are yours (Genesis 20:7). So I used that scripture to pray for myself and say to God: Father you know that I am not strong, and I want you to help me with any sexual desires, until I get married, if there are any woman saved or unsaved, who want to entice me to commit sexual immoralities, give them that severe warning and cause them to run away from me, if they have that evil desire towards me. And you know Father that sometimes I am afraid of telling people I am a Christian, like Abraham was afraid of telling people that Sarah was his wife. Father, help me!

That prayer worked, and then I realized that Abimelech chose to obey God, but what if the person refuses to obey the warning of God? I need to pray for myself. So I read in the bible in 1Samuel 19:18-24, where Saul wanted to kill David, so he sent messengers to arrest David, but when those messengers came where the prophets were, the Spirit of the Lord fell on them, and they started to prophesy. Saul sent another set of messengers, and the same thing happened to them, so finally Saul decided to go there himself, to get the job done. When he arrived in the company of the prophets, he started to prophesy and stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they said: is Saul also among the prophets (1Samuel 19:24)?

When I read it, it dawned that I could pray that the Holy Spirit should stop me in whatever way He wants to, when I have purposed in My heart to commit sexual sin, after all the Holy Spirit told me: I the Holy Spirit who dwell in you, yearn jealousy and I will fight for you (James 4:5)! So I said: Holy Spirit, I give you control over my sexual desires, even if my heart, my steps and my mouth, and all my physical senses have already purposed to commit sexual sin, fall on me like you fell on Saul and his messengers, who had an evil agenda, and even if it disgraces me publicly I do not care. I am not talking about walking naked in the streets though!

So the day came, I was tired of it all, and of being accused of sexual immorality by Christian brothers and sisters. So I said to myself: today is the day I will do that sin, I do not care! At least if I am accused of it, it will be of something that I have done. But that was the devil saying those things in my head. I went out that night and I felt like passing gas, but it was not an innocent gas, and I felt like I had diarrhoea. I felt like it was full in my underwear, and then it started to run down my thigh and leg. I could smell that stench. So I wanted to call a taxi, but I was afraid that when I sat down, it would splash all over the car seat. I was wearing thermal wear, so I said to myself: at least it will contain that diarrhoea and it will not go through my trousers. So I took the bus and stood in the bus, and when people were laughing, I thought it was because they smelt a foul odour coming out of my trousers, or they had seen how wet my trousers were, because I had pooped or defecated on myself. If a black person could blush, I would have been red like a hot iron that day.

So when I got off the bus I rushed to my place and entered the bathroom. But when I undressed there was nothing. It was only gas not diarrhoea, but what about all those things I felt and smelt? God told me: you surrendered your body to Me and asked Me to fight so that you will not fall into sin. So It was I who created all your physical senses: the smell and the touch; so that you would run home instead of sinning. I knelt down and praised the Lord.

7- All prayer including praying in tongues.

The Armour of God cannot be complete without prayer. Paul says: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints (Ephesians 6:18). Paul tells us to pray always with all prayer. In the bible study of Abecedery of Prayer, we give the basics of prayer. And in the bible study of the Seven Hebrew Words for Praise, we teach what praise truly means to God and it will help us to pray a prayer of thanks-giving. We pray the prayer of supplication. In the bible study Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan, we give many examples of prayers of faith. Paul insists also that all prayer and supplication should not only be made with understanding, but also in the Spirit or tongue. Praying in the Spirit is not keeping silent, but praying in tongues.

Prayer and fasting go hand in hand, for Jesus Himself tells us, that there are some situations that do not get a result, except through prayer, and fasting (Matthew 17:21). Paul lists praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, last. Because Paul wants us to know, that prayer without the knowledge and understanding of the word of God, cannot be effective. It will be filled with vain repetitions, unbelief and tradition of men. But God wants us to pray according to His will, which is found in the written word of God, for the Holy Spirit is already praying through us when we pray in tongues, always according to the written will of God (Romans 8:26-27).

And Jesus also lives forever to make intercession, and it is always according to the written word of God (Romans 8:34). People tell me Gery: you are against singing and prayer. It is not true. I sing lot, I praise a lot and I pray a lot. But I want people to start with the word, and if they read the bible study on the Seven Hebrew Words for Praise, only Zamar kind of praise involves solely singing, but the other six forms of praise and worship have more to do with the word of God, and doing the word of God. So if you do not know the word of God, you will not be praising and worshiping God effectively. We also explain the gifts of the Spirit, including speaking in tongues in the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan of God.

As you read the bible, you will discover many other types of prayers, that will address your case, and the situations that you are facing. Jesus tells us to pray always saying: man and woman always ought to pray and not lose heart or give up (Luke 18:1). Paul tells us: rejoice always, pray continually or without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1Thessalonians 5:16-18). People struggle to pray, when they cannot learn to pray in tongues under their breath, when they are in the office, in the classroom, walking in the street or out shopping. In the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan, we explain in length, the benefits of praying in tongues. My prayer to each one of us is, that we will learn to watch and pray at least one hour every day, as Jesus commanded us; so that we will not enter into temptation; for indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:40-41). And furthermore, may the Lord God pour on you and your house, like He did on the house of David, and on the people of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of prayers (Zechariah 12:10).

V1 The conquering Army of the Lord

I was in my bedroom, and I had a vision of a white horse on which sat a rider, who wore the whole Armour of God, of pure gold of course! I did not truly consider that vision. So two weeks later, on the 11^th of April 2013, my father, Marc Malanda, had a vision of a white horse; it was a magnificent white horse! He had never seen such a magnificent white horse before, and God said to him: one of your princes has that horse. And the same day my father had that vision of the magnificent white horse which belonged to one of his princes, my dear sister in the Lord, Louise, received a scripture from the Lord and it was Zechariah 6. My younger brother Nell Malanda who resides in France, had a vision of a similar horse, and God said it was his. So what is the meaning of that white horse on which sits a rider, wearing the whole Armour of God of pure gold? This is the interpretation according to the scriptures.

Zechariah 1:8 I watched by night. And behold! a Man riding on a red horse, and He stood among the myrtle trees in the ravine. And behind Him were red, sorrel and white horses.

Zechariah 1:9 Then I said, O my lord, what are these? And the angel who talked with me said to me, I will show you what these are.

Zechariah 1:10 And the Man, Jesus, who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are those whom Jehovah has sent to walk to and fro through the earth.

Zechariah 1:11 And they answered the Angel of Jehovah, Jesus, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold, all the earth sits still and is at peace.

Zechariah 6:1 And I turned and lifted up my eyes and looked. And behold! Four chariots were coming from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze.

Zechariah 6:2 Red horses were in the first chariot; and in the second chariot black horses;

Zechariah 6:3 and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot horses with dappled, strong colours.

Zechariah 6:4 And I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord?

Zechariah 6:5 And the angel answered and said to me, These are the four spirits of the heavens who go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

Zechariah 6:6 The black horses in it, go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the dappled go forth to a south country.

Zechariah 6:7 And the strong coloured ones went forth and sought to go, so to walk to and fro through the earth. And he said, Go! Walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.

Zechariah 6:8 And he cried to me and spoke to me, saying, Behold, these who go toward the north country have caused My Spirit to rest in the north country.

Revelation 6:2 And I saw. And behold a white horse! And He sitting on it had a bow. And a crown was given to Him, and He went forth conquering and to conquer.

So just like I explained about the vision of the Armour of God and of the explanation of the chariot of fire and the horses of fire, on which those who preach the gospel ride, the white horse is the one that has been sent to the North Countries, to come with the burning message of salvation; they are riding to conquer the north for Jesus. They answer to Jesus; they walk to and fro preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead at will. And you are part of that army that the Lord is raising up, to go and preach the gospel to the North Country on that white horse. A Spirit filled Army that comes with the demonstration of the power of God, and all the manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit, with mighty signs and great wonders. Joel describes the kind of Army the Lord is building in this end time.

Joel 2:3 A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns (to destroy all the works of the devil: sin, sickness, and premature death). The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Yes, and nothing shall escape them (they utterly destroy the kingdom of darkness and their prosperity to lay it up for the righteous).

Joel 2:4 As the appearance of horses is its appearance; and as war horses, so they run.

Joel 2:5 They shall leap like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains, like the noise of a flame of fire, that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle order.

Joel 2:6 Before their face the people shall be much pained; all faces shall gather blackness (talking about the wicked for the chaff and stubble is symbolic of the wicked according to Psalm 1).

Joel 2:7 They shall run like mighty ones. They shall climb the wall like men of war, and they shall march each one on his way, and they shall not break their ranks (we need to study the works of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit in the Application of the Perfect Redemption plan bible study, so that we stop fighting each other, and march in order and battle formation, abiding in our calling, not being envious).

Joel 2:8 And each one shall not press his brother; they each go in his paths. And if they fall behind their weapons, they shall not be cut off (and even if they die, brothers and sisters will raise them from the dead in the name of Jesus).

Joel 2:9 They shall rush on the city; they shall run on the wall; they shall climb up on the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief (use any opportunity they find to go to people’s house to share their faith, and bring the power of God and the manifestation of the Spirit of God).

Joel 2:10 The earth shall tremble before them; the heavens shall shake. The sun and the moon shall grow dark, and the stars shall gather in their light.

Joel 2:11 And Jehovah shall utter His voice before His army; for His camp is very great; for strong is He who does His Word. For the day

The army that God has at heart, is the one that becomes expert in using the whole Armour of God. As it is written: the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times and season to know what Israel ought to do (1Chronicles 12:32). The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy, Jesus who is the Prophet lives in all born again Christians and His Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of prophecy, lives in them. Therefore we must all be prophetic, in the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan; we have touched on the utterance gifts under the section of gifts of the Spirit. And in the bible study on Divine Guidance, we have given the basics to start hearing from the Lord.

The bible also says about the Army of the Lord: from Zebulun, 50,000 experienced soldiers prepared for battle with every type of weapon, expert in war with all weapons of war, stout-hearted men who could keep ranks, to help David with undivided loyalty (1Chronicles 12:33). Some people desert when things become tough. They go back to the world, like a dog returning to its vomit, or a female pig having washed, returns to the wallowing in the mire (2Peter 2:22). Some people will say healing is not for everybody, casting out demons, raising the dead, or preaching the gospel is not for everybody. It is to avoid taking the responsibility of the great commission of Jesus, to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, preach the gospel, teach them to observe the same things He told us to observe, and do the same works He did and as you go, preach the kingdom of God is at hand, then heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:7-8).

The seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 11:15). And Jesus said unto them and to us today, I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 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 10:18-19). Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He who lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death (Revelation 1:17-18). And I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19). Full of that revelation, let us go and destroy the works of the devil and enthrone Jesus King in the people’s lives: in their soul, body and spirit and in the market place and cast out devils even from the secular society.

People tell me what about the blood of Jesus, is it not a weapon? Why did Paul not list it? And why do Christians always say: I plead the blood of Jesus or I apply the blood of Jesus on my family, doorpost, cars, my children, etc. They take it from the story of the Jewish Passover in Exodus 12, when the Jews applied the blood of the Lamb on their doorposts and lintels, and when the angel of destruction came, and there was death in the house of the Egyptians, none of the plagues of the Egyptians or the calamities that befell the Egyptians, came upon the Hebrews. Pleading the blood of Jesus or applying the blood of Jesus on what is yours, is simply agreeing and claiming the promises that God gave you, and you have access to them through the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross at Calvary. We are entitled to all the promises of God, because of the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross; without the blood of Jesus we cannot have access to any of the promises of God.

In Exodus 12, when the people struck their doorposts and lintels; they were making two signs of crosses on the door: one cross on the left side of the door and the other cross on the right side of the door. Thus prophetically they were saying that it is because Jesus shed His blood on the cross, that they have received all the promises of God. Jesus Christ is the Door. He says: Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep (John 10:7). I am the door: by Me if any man enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture (John 10:9). So the Hebrews entered into their house through the door on which they had made signs of crosses in the blood of the lamb; and they were saved from the destruction that was going throughout Egypt.

Just like they made signs of two crosses with the blood: one on the left side of the door, and the other on the right side of the door; the same way Jesus Christ, who is the door, was crucified in the midst of two criminals, one on the cross at His right hand, and the other on the cross at His left hand (Matthew 27:38). It is to tell us, that as long as we are still breathing: let us call upon the name of the Lord to be saved; for when we die, there is no more hope of salvation. Jesus who is the door to Heaven, is never far from us. He is not the God afar off, but a God and Saviour near at hand (Jeremiah 23:23). Jesus, the door was there at equal distance from the two criminals that were crucified with Him. He was in the middle of them. But one received Jesus and entered straight into heaven, but the other rejected and reviled Jesus, and went to hell that same day (Luke 23:39-43). Jesus who is the door to heaven is never far from anybody, and gives us the same opportunity to receive eternal life. You can choose to die in your sin or you can choose to receive eternal life today. We have been given access to all the Perfect Redemption Plan of God, through the blood of Jesus, that was shed on the cross at Calvary. So when you say: I plead the blood of Jesus; please say what you are pleading it for, or what promise you are claiming that the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross gave you access to.

Many times when people plead the blood of Jesus they plead it only for the promise that no one will die in their house, no car accident will happen to them, no plane crash and no armed robbery, because they associate it with Exodus 12 only, which talks about the death of the firstborn. But when Jesus, the Firstborn of our family, shed His blood, it was not just to protect us from death. His blood gave us forgiveness of sin, healing, deliverance, prosperity, access to the throne room of God, and many other things, that we have expounded in the series of the Perfect Redemption Plan of God and the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan of God. So when you plead the blood of Jesus, tell the Lord what promise you are claiming, that the blood of Jesus provided for you.

You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:21-24). Yes nobody deserves the blessing of the Lord; but the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross at Calvary, has qualified us and made us worthy. So even when we were murderers, thieves, sick or poor; my prayer is that we will know what has been freely given to us, through the blood of Jesus; as we discover the Perfect Redemption Pan of God and the Application of the Perfect Redemption Plan of God. May God bless you and keep you, in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Finally brothers and sisters, peace, love with faith from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, be multiplied unto you. And pray for me your brother Gery, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds; so that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen (Ephesians 6:19-24).

Agape love,

Your brother in the Lord,

G