Freedom House Church and Healing Centre

Oh give thanks to the Lord!  Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!  Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!  Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!  Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!  Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgements of His mouth. 1 Chron 16:8-12

Every morning I wake up looking forward to spending time with God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.  Desiring to know them more.  Excited about what I will read in the Word.  Expecting that Holy Spirit will speak to me about what He has to say to the church.  I look forward to praying and encouraging the people God puts on my heart and getting direction for the day.

One morning this past week was so amazing I just have to share it with you!

It started off with reading 1 Chron 16:7-36, David’s song of thanksgiving, during my time with Jesus.  I encourage you to read it for yourself.  It will stir your heart up to thank the Lord, to praise Him, to talk about Him and to seek Him!

Then I started off on a walk with my heart full of joy and thanksgiving to God.  I’m thinking as I write this that we can have intimate times with the Lord when we are sitting listening to Him, reading and praying and we can have intimate times with Him when we are out for a walk.  Anywhere in fact because He is with us and in us, and we are in Him.  So I’m talking to Jesus as I’m walking, desiring to hear His voice and notice His creation

The first thing I noticed is a maple tree bursting with an abundance of keys and I am reminded that Keys in the bible represent authority and these scriptures came to mind:

• And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Mt 28:18 NKJV)
• which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.  And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Eph 1:20-23 NKJV)
• Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Lk 10:19 NKJV)
• And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Mt 16:19 NKJV)

Jesus, who was given all authority, transferred His authority to His church. Authority, in the name of Jesus over all the power of the enemy.  Authority, in the name of Jesus, to bind and loose.  WOW!  We are not a passive church!

As I continued to walk along, I noticed that many trees have cocoons (silken nests) covering their branches.  I looked it up and these are spun by the two most common pests of deciduous trees: fall webworms and eastern tent caterpillars.  Both of which cause damage to the whole tree.  They weaken the tree and make it susceptible to other pest and diseases.

This caused me to think about strongholds which are structures composed of sin (generational, sins against us, our own sin) and the resulting consequences, ungodly beliefs (lies), hurts and demonic oppression.  I don’t have space to get into details of strongholds however I do want to say a few things.  The mind is in the commanding position of the soul (mind, will, emotions).  Satan wants to take control of our mind-this is where he concentrates his demonic forces on the most.  He knows that if he can get hold of the way we think he can expand his rule into every other area of our life.  Satan is not just after our conscious mind, he wants to take captive the deep mind of the heart to control our motives, desires and thoughts below the level of consciousness (Pro 23:7; Mt 15:18-19; Jer 17:9-10).

Praise God!  Here is the good news:

• For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,  and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Co 10:3-6 NKJV)

Jesus has not only given us authority, He has given us weapons and the power to use them to tear down strongholds.

Under the anointing of Holy Spirit the mind rules our heart and directs our life (Jn 14:26; Jn 16:12-13; Eph 1:17).  If every thought is captive to the obedience of Christ then our will, desires and motives will be in line with God’s will and we will be emotionally stable. 

What are our weapons?

I encourage you to read Eph 6:10-18!

We have been given defensive weapons (belt of truth, body armor of God’s righteousness, for shoes put on the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation) and offensive weapons (the Word of God, the Name of Jesus, the Cross of Christ, the Blood of Jesus, obedience and praise).  All of the weapons both defensive and offensive, are put into action through prayer!  Prayer is the battle itself!  Remember that we have already been given these weapons!  Use them!

Back to my walk with Jesus. J  Another thing I noticed along my walk was that people had made large gardens on their properties and had placed containers and trailers on their property and people are living in some of them.  It is as if they are preparing for something.  Then it came to mind that we the Church do not prepare as the world prepares.  We are preparing for the return of our bridegroom Jesus, our King!

These scriptures came to my mind:

• ...just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:25-27 NKJV)
• Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Rev 19:7-8 NKJV)

The church is being pruned (Jn 15:12), shaken (Heb 12:25-29) and judged (1 Peter 4:17).  Holy Spirit is making His people holy (Heb 10:14).  Revelation 19:7 says, His wife has made herself ready.  Are you allowing Holy Spirit to do His work in you so that you will be ready for the return of our Bridegroom and King Jesus?

All the time I was walking Holy Spirit was saying, “And then there are the people.”  During my walk He gave me an opportunity to encourage a woman with the word from Mt 6:26.  Also this week I have witnessed the Lord free people from lies with His truth and help them to release burdens that are only His to carry.  I have witnessed Him give revelation, strength and encouragement as they cry out to Him.  I have witnessed Him answering prayer.  I encourage you to go for a walk with Jesus.  Listen to what He says.  Notice what He wants to show you.  You will be amazed too and will want to tell everyone about it!

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches...” Rev 2:7