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Deliverance and Judgment
We are not to condemn the people who are bound by these sins, for who are we to criticize them. Jesus did not judge them. Instead he helped them by casting out the spirits. For whoever wants to be set free can be set free. There are those who say "I need help, please help me", but deep down in their hearts, they want to keep part of their sins because they love their weaknesses more than they love God. In these cases we cannot help these people. Here is an example of such a person who was in bondage but did not want to let go of her sins. A young woman, by the name of Rhonda, came to see me for help. She was a working mother with a teenage boy, and had a wonderful husband who loved her dearly. She was having problems in her body. I started to pray to ask the Holy Spirit why she was in such bondage. Rhonda wasn't eating properly and there was also a spirit of nicotine in her body. I asked her if she wanted to renounce and cast out those spirits. She answered, "Oh no, I love my junk food and my nicotine too much. But, it's funny you're mentioning this, I always have a terrible time with my bowel movements and I have to take medication to free my body. Sometimes it will be weeks before I can be relieved." Can you imagine the poison in this woman's body? She said, "let's leave these ones aside and let's go on". I couldn't receive anything more from the Holy Spirit because these spirits were gods in her life. She loved them more than she loved God. I explained to her that I couldn't go on because she refused to let go of these thieves in her life. So we ended the deliverance session. When she got up to leave, the Holy Spirit revealed to me through the word of knowledge that if she did not start to eat properly, and get rid of the nicotine in her body, she wouldn't live long enough for the ministry that the Lord had called her for. The Holy Spirit had given her a warning but she laughed and didn't believe it. Because of disobedience, and not wanting to give up these lusts of the flesh, some time later she went to the hospital to have a lump in her neck analyzed. It turned out to be cancer, and it was spreading throughout her body. On her death bed, she asked God's forgiveness for not heeding the warning he gave her through discernment in the deliverance session. This woman had the gift of discerning of spirits. Can you imagine the freedom people could have had through her deliverance ministry? Only she could have reached out and taught certain people in her workplace, her family, and acquaintances. Rhonda was a chosen vessel, an anointed one for God to be used to reach out to His people but failed because of disobedience. Sometimes, because of people's own stubborn self-will, Jesus is unable to heal their minds, nor their bodies, no matter how much He would like to. If they are unwilling to let go of the spirits that control them, Jesus is forced to step aside. Satan with his evil spirits will have dominion over their bodies. Here is another example of a woman following her own self-will. "Fifteen years ago, another young woman by the name of Cora came to me for help. She was pregnant with her second child, unmarried, and terrified of telling her mother. She was sharing all her weaknesses and mistakes and asked me for guidance. I had previously counseled her and taught her everything I knew, and still she did it her way. On this particular day, she was pleading with Jesus asking him for help because she didn't know what to do. I left for work praying, and desperately asking God for a revelation because I didn't know how to help her anymore. To my amazement this is the answer Jesus gave me. "Tell her you believe in her. Tell her she can make it". I was shocked. For the answer was an answer of hope, not of condemnation, not of judgment but of loving compassion and mercy. I returned home. Cora was in desperation, condemning herself for being in such a predicament. She was a teenage girl on welfare with a young boy to care for and another one on the way. Again, she pleaded, please show me what to do. I said to her, I will answer you exactly the way Jesus told me to respond when I was praying for you. "You know sweetheart, I believe in you, you can make it." She looked at me in total shock, bowed her head for a long time as if seeing all she'd done in front of her. Then she lifted her head and with a determination in her eyes she said, "You know, I will!" She was searching for the love of a father she had never had, in all the wrong places. She went from one broken relationship to another. She continually put herself in trying circumstances because of her stubborn self-will. Every time she would call me in despair, the only thing I would do is repeat the words that Jesus gave me for her a long time ago. And, each time, she would try even harder not to destroy the confidence I had invested in her. We are never to give up on prayer. After fifteen years, with three children from two different fathers, she said to me, "you know, I've made it. I can finally understand why I did all those stupid things. The only thing that kept me going after all the abuse I received, were those encouraging words ‘looking for a better tomorrow’". Today, Cora has found it. She is now a much wiser person. She wrote me this poem which I want to share with you. Tears come to my eyes every time I read it because I see God's love and mercy during those long and trying years of the learning process she had to go through."
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