From: jesus_is_lord To: List Member Subject: the devil is in the church Date: Monday, August 28, 2000 4:49 AM jesus_is_lord Dear CHRISTIAN Friends: Greetings in the name of the ONLY wise God and Saviour Jesus Christ. I am WAY behind on my emails. I don't know when I'll catch up, but I intend on answering my friends. Some have asked about the Wiccan "high priest". Well, we exchanged more emails and our discussion is now ended but it would not surprise me if he wrote me one day saying he is now a Christian. My heart was exceeding soft towards that man. I don't think I've ever gone back and forth with an unregenerate that much. I haven't been on the computer much. You'll see why in this email. ****************** This email may seem convoluted but the Lord is doing some deep work in my life. This email may seem disjointed but I perceive that somebody out there is going to be edified by something in here. A few days ago, I tried to write an email about what Jesus is doing to me but I couldn't seem to get it out so that means it wasn't time. I'll go over some of it in this email... On another note, something VERY strange happened in my presence last night at a special church programme. Thoughts of it awoke me from my sleep and hence this email. I'll explain later on in this email. The devil is working in the church. I ain't talking about the Catholic religion, that ain't the church. I'm talking about the lives of real Christians. Through our slothfulness, disobedience and disbelief we allow the devil and our flesh to neutralize us. ***Pray*** The Lord is shewing me the importance of prayer. Now, when somebody says, "Please pray for me". I say, "Let's pray right now." I'm getting to the point I stay ready to pray and I am seeing results. Check out the movie "Sheffy" put out by Bob Jones university. After we saw it, my husband started praying more and I saw what he was doing and I started doing it. Big time results. I can be talking to a church sister and I'll say, "Let's pray." Somebody tells me a problem and I say, "Let's pray." I'm ready to pray. I was feeling frustrated the other night and was looking for a diversion and the Lord say, "Get down on your knees and pray." After I did that, He directed me to the Psalms. I had a hallelujah good, deep time. Pray without ceasing...it's power there, in that place called prayer. The effectual, FERVENT prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Pray God's word--gotta read it to be able to do that. ***Intruders*** Back in January of this year I sent out an email to this list on a voyage the Lord was taking me on. A voyage into the self-life utilizing the article at http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/selflife.htm and Tozer's book "The Pursuit of God" http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/tozer. When I looked at myself back in January, I was almost discouraged upon seeing my internal condition. I was almost distraught. I did not even know how to pray about it but the Lord stepped in and gave me, "Lord search my inwards parts," and so I prayed. In the succeeding months, the Lord showed me many things. He has changed some things too...but it ain't over. In the past week or so, He has shown me whole other batch of spiritual intruders inside of me. They have been so entrenched in me it seems they could never go. With man, this is impossible but with God, hallelujah, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. Duplicity is one of the most despised intruders I have inside of me. I've been sober and mourning over these things but I THANK GOD for shewing me these things so that I can cooperate with the sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost. I've been pressed down upon gazing at myself, yet Paul tells us that "godly sorrow worketh repentance, NOT to be repented of; but sorrow of the world worketh death." I was so undone just a few days ago that I couldn't stop calling myself a wretch. I was like the man standing and praying and beating on his chest-- Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, WOULD NOT LIFT UP SO MUCH AS HIS EYES UNTO HEAVEN, BUT SMOTE HIS BREAST, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. ...in the year 2000, the Lord is shewing me what is behind the wall like he showed Ezekiel what was happening in Israel in the secret places. The following passage describes how God showed me the hidden sins in my life-- Ezekiel 8:7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. 8:8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. 8:9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. 8:10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. The Lord is making me better. I am not utterly cast down without hope. He is shewing me the iniquity so that I can yield to His sanctifying work. He will make me to shine forth as pure gold. Why? So I can adorn His name and His doctrine like a precious jewel. So I can be a wife without spot, wrinkle or blemish. So we can communicate with no hinderances. If we regard sin, iniquity, and transgression in our heart, the Lord don't hear us and we don't want to hear from Him. ***Judgment must begin at the house of God*** 1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? Judgement must BEGIN at the house of God. The devil is all up in the church--I ain't talking church building, I'm talking individual Christians. In all probability, Gentle Reader, there are some rooted intruders in your life that you do not even realize are there--rebellion, pride, complacency, disbelief, etc. Recurring sins are only symptoms of these root problems. These parasites may be so entrenched in you that you think they are part of your "personality". Oh, Christian friend, ask the Lord to show you yourself as you really are so you can be free to better adorn the name of Jesus Christ and His doctrine. ***We got to move on*** Today in church we sang a hymn, "Pass Me Not"-- "Pass me not o gentle Saviour, hear my humble cry, while on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by." I've sang this song a number of times, but today was different. As we sang, many people were getting into the song, but meanwhile my mind said, "I already know that Jesus is not going to pass me by. I already know that. That is basic." This type of knowledge belongs in what Hebrews 6 calls, "the principles of the doctrine of Christ"-- Hebrews 6:1 Therefore LEAVING THE PRINCIPLES OF THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST, LET US GO ON UNTO PERFECTION; NOT LAYING AGAIN THE FOUNDATION of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Many people have been Christians for years and still do not understand the most basic things of the Christian faith. You got whole groups of people that say repentance ain't part of the gospel. Hebrews 6:1 clearly says repentance from dead works is foundational. Paul says something to ignorant Christians in Hebrews 5:12-14, Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye OUGHT to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the FIRST principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 5:13 For every one that useth milk is UNSKILFUL in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hebrews 6 says we are to leave the principals and move on to perfection. But we Christians today can't seem to move on to perfection because we are ignorant of the most basic doctrines. Why? Because we won't spend our time in the word and meditation on the word. We won't spend time studying to shew ourselves approved. We spend our time on hell. We eat all kinds of fruits from hell. Hellivision, hell-y-wood movies, secular music and books, "amusement" parks and carnivals--carnal, appealing to the flesh/senses *sight (lights, bright colors, big rides twirling round), *taste (cotton candy), *sound (music), *touch (furry animals to win as you waste your money on the games, rides), *smell (corn dogs). We study and allow Satanic, "Christian psychology" (oxymoron) into our churches meanwhile we are IGNORANT of the word. Oh dear brethren, I have looked at myself and my own duplicity and guile. What you are reading is like a journal entry of my observations. I do not stand as one that has apprehended, but as one that wants to go unto perfection. I want the same for every Christian in the world so we can be a praise and not a blemish to the doctrine of Christ. ***The most horrifying thing*** The most horrifying thing I see in this world is the state of the believing church. We are so far removed from the New Testament church that the best of us can barely be called Christians. I believe that's part of why Jesus said, Luke 18:8 "...when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" What we call faith is oftentimes the grace of God turned into lascivious, damnable, hellbound antinomianistic thinking. ***A revelation.*** The other day, I was trying to figure out which book of the Bible I was going to read next. I had just finished one of the epistles and it came into my mind to go to "Revelation". Jesus immediately took my eyeballs to something. The title page for the book of Revelation in my Bible says, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ". Jesus made my eyeballs stay on that. I thought, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ. The revealing of Jesus Christ." I looked up the word "reveal" in my Webster's 1828 dictionary-- 1. To disclose; to discover; to show; to make known something before unknown or concealed; as, to reveal secrets. So my mind said, "This book DISCLOSES and DISCOVERS to me something before unknown. It REVEALS to me something I did not know." Then Jesus took me to Revelation 1:1-- Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which GOD GAVE UNTO HIM, *TO SHEW* UNTO HIS SERVANTS THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: If you ask people what book of the Bible is the most confusing and mysterious to them, they will oftentimes say, "Revelation". But wait a minute, God gave this revelation to Jesus to SHEW us things. This book was not given to mystify the believer but to discover to him things previously unknown! Why are we mystified? Why do we look to "prophecy teachers", dispensational schemes, manmade explanations, or sheer ignorance of the book when Jesus Christ gave it to us to SHEW us what is to come to pass? Revelation is not to mystify, it is to discover things that WERE unknown. My mind is now totally different towards this book and every book in the Bible. Every ONE of them words is important. All the eternal truth that I need to be partaker of the divine nature is in the Bible, one book. Not a series of 30 books like an encyclopedia, but ONE book. No words are wasted in my Bible. As a believer, each one of them words is for my understanding. [Aside: That's one of the reasons new versions are so dangerous. They take out whole passages, whole verses, and twist what is left.] ***Another new understanding*** After the Lord shewed me the above revelation, my eyes are open to a whole new world in Bible reading. An example is Ezekiel. In times past I used to barely read Ezekiel chapter one (talks about the living creatures and the wheels). Not so this time. I now see how God shewed Ezekiel the likeness of the heavenly retinue in chapter 1. And in chapter 2, the commissioned Ezekiel and gave him his instructions. What was the purpose of showing Ezekiel the likeness of the heavenly glories? The glory of the Lord caused Ezekiel to fall upon his face. He never forgot the awesome terribleness he had seen. When Ezekiel had to face the briers, thorns and scorpions, he could do it with a hard head. He didn't have to fear their simple faces cause they could not compare to what he had seen. Ezekiel saw the likeness of glory of the Lord. He had seen the fire and he had seen the cherubim (we find out what the creatures were in Ezekiel chapter 10) with his own eyeballs. He knew his God and no man could turn him around after seeing such a spectacle. How does this relate to us today? When we read and study BIBLE-reported visions (not made up ones) like those shown to Ezekiel and John, we can see the heavenly retinue and workings FOR OUR OWN SELVES through the eye of faith. What difference does it make? We are commanded to seek heavenly things. We are told that our citizenship is in heaven. Therefore we need to seek those things above. I am a citizen of heaven. I need to have my mind in MY COUNTRY. This earth ain't country. My country is a far country, a better country, an heavenly. When our focus is on the Lord in His fullness, then everything else pales in comparison. My duplicity will fly out the window because I ain't concerned about what man thinks. I only know that I've seen the Lord in His splendor, and His glory. I want my mind at this level at all times. When this happens it matters not what is going on around you, you can love, forgive, witness, without abandon, all with the leading of the Holy Ghost. I want to cry, "Holy, holy, holy" with the four beasts in Revelation 4:8. Even now. Even in this generation. And I want to live as a partaker of the divine nature. ***Last night.*** Last night we had a special program at church. A church sister invited a young lady to grace us in song. She composed and sang many wonderful, scriptural songs which glorified the name of the Lord and the blood. Yet I sensed in her what I thought of as a provokative, passionate spirit. Not necessarily of lasciviousness, though not necessarily excluding it, but a spirit of STRONG flavor. She gave part of her testimony during the singing and I picked up that she had an unbelieving spouse and that things were difficult for her. Afterwards, I waited until the people cleared and went up to talk with her. I was led to pray. Another church sister came and I said, "Let's pray". We all stood together. My church sister prayed first. Then I prayed. As I got into prayer, the young lady bowed down to the floor very deeply. I kept praying. When I finished praying, she remained bowed down and began laughing somewhat softly. I opened my eyes and began to say, "Take it away, Jesus. Take it away." My church sister was saying something else, but I kept saying "Take it away, Jesus." As I continued saying it, the laughter got louder and more sinister. At the time I was not fearful one bit but it was like the devil laughing. I ain't lying. It was like the devil laughing. Real deep like in horror films I saw in my unregenerate days. I kept saying "Take it away, Jesus" and my church sister began to echo my prayer. It stopped after about a minute...I'm praying and getting information together to present to her. I've notified her that I want to share a word from the Lord with her. I perceive that there are multiple openings in her life for this spirit or spirits. Please pray that the Lord go before me and that she will be receptive to the truth. Many think this "laughing revival" is just people playing around, but let me tell you, dear friends, people can laugh like that for hour upon hour. It is unclean spirits! I've seen this mumbo-jumbo on video and I've read about, but I experienced it for myself last night. This "laughing revival" is not new. I read the story of two Christian men praying (?) in a field in the 1800s and one of them couldn't stop laughing. The normal one immediately knew it was a foul spirit. I am going to try to find that article. Christians can be influenced by the devil--all you have to do is give him an opening. Our adversary walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We are not ignorant of his devices, so why do we keep walking into his traps by watching hellivision and being worldlings? You may not have a laughing spirit, friend, but there's plenty of others out there that you may have. Ask the Lord to search you and try you that you may be pure. The Bible says that as he is, so are WE in this world. That is almost beyond comprehension. I am supposed to look like Jesus and when someone is in my presence, they should feel the Lord and hear His words. I endeavour to stay away from the devil. Give him no space whether--hellivision, rebellion to husbands, neglect of wives, not reading the Bible, not serving the Lord, anger, bitterness, wrath, evil speaking, evil thoughts, pride, etc. ***Conclusion*** 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him PURIFIETH himself, even as he is pure. 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because AS HE HIS, SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD. for Jesus' sake, tracy -- http://www.jesus-is-lord.com ...I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. Ezekiel 2:4, 6 ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to jesus_is_lord-unsubscribe@listbot.com Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb