Prophetic Ministries Today

You must understand that what you believe is what you will do, and what you do will affect your destiny. You will not go to hell for being overweight; however, you will lose your salvation in other areas of your life. Being born-again and being saved do NOT have the same meanings. If you are born-again you are saved from eternal damnation. But salvation comes in many different arrangements. You can be saved from potential heart disease, diabetes, and other deadly health problems if you practice moderation when eating. The same evil spirit (demon) that drives a person to over eat is the same spirit that drives the body and soul to crave alcohol. Both will rob you of living a prosperous life.

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags. Proverbs 23:21

A demon can possess (spur, moved by a strong felling) a certain area of your soul and cause you to do things you may or may not want to do. In this area we have allowed Satan's demon to enter to such a degree that we find that we are unable to remove this evil with ease. Once again, we are what we eat! If we feed upon the things of the devil, we are going to start acting like the devil. It is simple to see where someone can begin to practice evil in a small way and encounter no immediate punishment for doing so. Practicing sin can be sweet to one’s flesh for a season, but believe me it will inevitably accumulate. When it does, you are locked into bondage until salvation is granted.

You may have seen the old cartoon where the dog has a cat by the neck dangling him over an open well. In the cartoon, an angel appears on the dog's shoulder and begins to tell him that it would not be right to drop the cat. Then on the other shoulder, the devil appears and talks the dog into dropping the poor cat into the well. The cat's owner appears and beats the dog unmercifully. This may seem like an elementary analogy for possessing the soul, but it does have a measure of truth. This scene, which is meant to be humorous, is really worth cataloging for the next time the devil tempts you. The one thing about learning to fear God is to understand that His spiritual laws are enforced. If you compromise with Satan, there will be a pay day someday. Expect to be chastened (punished) by the Lord for your behavior. Knowing that when we disobey God, we are punished. This should be enough reason for us to walk in His righteousness. Sometimes our punishment for our disobedience comes much later.

"Some men's sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later." I Timothy 5:24

When the chastening hand of God comes, it can be difficult to understand how the punishment relates to the sin. Frequently, we forget what sins we have committed. However, I have found that the closer we walk with God, the quicker the punishment comes making it much easier to understand what we have done wrong.

Demon possession for someone whose spirit is NOT born-again is a much different situation. The person whose spirit is possessed by Satan is obviously used for the purpose of evil. Part of our calling as a Christian is to cast out demons. To thoroughly cover this subject matter on casting out demons, it would take many lessons just to cover this one topic. My desire in this material is to explain the nurtured influences we as Christians deal with when it comes to demonic and angelic possession. At some later date, if the Lord allows, I will start a series on casting out demons. I want you to be aware of the levels of power which demon possession can take. As for Christians, Satan cannot possess our spirit! He will test and tempt our souls and body, but as long as we belong to God, Satan cannot steal our eternal spirit.

"We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." I John 5:18,19

Every testimony I have heard includes a statement of being delivered of some sin habit or major problem. Whether it is cussing, smoking, drugs, anger, promiscuity and this list can go on, Christians report being set free. Usually, they also share that they still have one or more evil thing they are having to battle. None of them report being delivered from every problem or sin. They may still have problems with wanting to get drunk, chase women, or run with old evil friends, etc. Whatever sin problems we still have, God expects us to overcome them. (Ref. Revelations 2:7,11,17,26 & 3:5,12,21) He desires us to show our will to serve Him by resisting the remaining temptations. We must fight the good fight of faith, believing we will receive the reward for doing so.

Show me a Spirit-filled Christian that is on fire for Jesus, and I will introduce you to Satan's worst nightmare. To be a born-again Christian without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is to have eternal life with Christ but little power to defend yourself against Satan and his demons.

"And finding some disciples he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism." Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied." Acts 19:1-6