Make Room for Your Miracle (10 page)
Compromise Opens the Door
Israel serves as a valuable example for us in just about all there is to learn about following God in the right way and in the wrong way. Within a few generations God’s possession became corrupted by idols. Solomon cracked open the door by direct disobedience to a few simple boundaries God set in place. “Don’t marry ‘foreign’ wives. Don’t become enamored of the things Egypt loves, like fast horses”—the two things Solomon became famous for in his latter years as king of Judah. Those compromises corrupted his wisdom. His son Rehoboam took it to the next level. When the cup of God’s wrath had filled He allowed a low-class fellow of dubious motive and character to be anointed as co-ruler over God’s possession. It was as though the people empowered an image of themselves to reign over them.
Jeroboam set up the Northern Kingdom, and suddenly God’s possession was split in two. The place where God had chosen to put His name, the Temple in Jerusalem, became an object of envy. Jeroboam built two golden calves and sat them at the gates of his Northern Kingdom. He copied the altars that were in the Temple. He made up new festivals, all to win the affection of the people. This way, he suggested, they would not have to make the long trip down to Jerusalem anymore. But there was a deeper agenda, and that was to keep himself in power: If the people went to Jerusalem, they might fall in love with God and, by association, the king of Judah, and he would lose his throne.
So you see, his plan was a substitute. Let’s worship God, he said, but let’s just do it more conveniently. Before long it was pure idolatry. The compromise that began a little at a time opened the door, and ultimately Jezebel waltzed through it. She was the daughter of a Sidonian priest, Ethbaal, a political alliance for Ahab when he became king of the northern tribes. She brought her idols and false religion and a deep hatred for the Lord and His servants when she came.
Knowing the Voice of True Power
We are seeing today some amazing spectacles of the spirit of witchcraft. And do you know what? The spirit of religion will tell you that you should be ashamed of yourself because you are not worshiping that thing that looks so religious. Maybe you are even starting to wonder if there is something wrong with you. Some are even wondering if they have lost their salvation. That is how powerful the deception can be.
You are not alone if you are feeling threatened by a Jezebel spirit. Just picture this for a moment. First Kings 19:1 says, “Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword.” This is just after that great encounter where the Spirit of the Lord came on His anointed one, Elijah, and fire came down from heaven to consume the holy sacrifice. Suddenly the masses got a revelation of the true God, and Elijah oversaw the deaths of the 450 prophets of Baal.
Jezebel was furious. She “sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time’” (1 Kings 19:2). In other words, “Elijah, you are a dead man.” That was the spirit of witchcraft speaking. And when he heard that, “he arose and ran for his life” (verse 3).
Do you recall that King David fled for his life and hid in a cave? Elijah did the same. Here were two of the most anointed vessels of the Lord in history, and there was something that could make them run. It was the force that hates the Presence of Christ and anybody who carries that Presence. And friend, this is a reality in this world. If you are one of those anointed ones—in other words, are you a Christian?—then you have unseen forces working against you. Unfortunately, sometimes those forces can motivate “seen ones” who have one agenda: “If I cannot intimidate you and keep you controlled, then I will manipulate you and make you afraid, and keep you controlled that way. And if I cannot seduce you or make you afraid, I will make sure I dominate you with some kind of shackles that will keep you down and in place.”
But that is not the voice of true power. The true power is the still, small voice, the Presence, His glory, Emmanuel, God with us. That is what we want to hear. David strengthened himself in that. Elijah wrapped himself in that like his mantle. Jesus heard it and said to Lucifer, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” We need to remember that divine conversation God had with us the day He called us. It is the still, small voice that speaks our true destiny and purpose in life.
Do you know that there is no cave so obscure, so hidden that you can fail to find God waiting for you when you get there? He will not allow you to be a cave dweller. He will not allow it because when you had that one-on-one encounter with Him, He put in you the heart of a valiant one, the heart of one who would die for the one who died for you. He loves that. It smells like the sweetest incense. It is the thing that makes His heart race. He is ardently in love with that little voice in you that said yes to Jesus one day.
Jesus gives life to the world. We are living in revival. We are living in an awakened sense. He is very near, and we are going to see His glory.
But you know what? Not everyone will go with you. That does not mean you are special. Rather it is the mercy of God if something in you is insatiably hungry for Jesus, if you want to make room for His Presence all the time. Your house is not empty. You are recognizing the anointing and discerning the glory. The glory is not necessarily some ecstatic manifestation of something unusual. The glory is that sweet, discernable, sure Presence of Holy God Himself, saturating us and leaving the sense that all is well.
Make Room for More of the Glory
What is the best strategy for opposing the Jezebel spirit and her consort, the Antichrist spirit? First, make room for more of the glory. Our weapon is the goodness of God. The glory is goodness. The glory is grace. The glory is mercy.
This Presence is for a great military strategy organized by the Captain of Armies, Jehovah Sabbaoth. Jesus Christ of Nazareth is coming down with His sword to lead His Bride into battle and into victory. First John 2:20 says this: “You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.” So the answer, the Lord says, when the Antichrist spirit comes, is the anointing, the thick anointing Presence of the Holy Spirit.
The Word tells us that the last hour is approaching. “Little children,” it says, “listen to the voice of the Spirit. Little children, receive your calling. Receive your anointing for the last days.” You see, the still, small voice does not say, “Antichrist is coming! Quick! You had better make up some graphs and charts and a few more organizations so that you will be wise when that time comes.”
No, it says “little children.” It says that the more childlike you are, the more you are going to be able to flow in the anointing and in the glory of God. Let God arise. Let His enemies be scattered. Make room for Him in your heart. That is the best way to be equipped for the last epic battle against the power of Antichrist and witchcraft.
Close Off the Well
Paul admonishes us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (see Philippians 2:12). One of the ways we do this is to keep our hearts from darkness. Here is a way to help you picture this.
Suppose a demon comes along looking for a place to settle. Now suppose you have a pool of bitterness in your heart. It may be very small, but it is a bitter pool and is, therefore, a place that the demon can drink out of. A demon feeds on pain, and it will stick its little bucket down there as long as you give it access to drink out of your anger, bitterness, insecurity, jealousy, habitual sin, etc. It will keep drinking, and will call its buddies to come, and will ultimately set up shop and be dancing on your head.
The Lord is saying, “Keep your heart.” Your spiritual health is determined by how well you choose to keep your heart free from these sins. As the Lord brings things to the surface, allow Him to deal with them—and show them no mercy. The Israelites were often told when conquering a new land to show no mercy. It is the same principle.
I, Bonnie, think that in my life, looking back, I often undertook a strategy of girding myself with an army of resources— prayer and fasting, disciplining myself, reading Scripture, getting support from outside, making battle plans against this stronghold to try to get victory in a certain area—when the simple thing would have been to go close off the well.
How do you do that? Look to the cross that sweetens every bitter pool. The cross is the highest reality. Through the cross Jesus spoiled the powers of darkness and delivered us from its bondage. Crucify the flesh and move forward into faith.
Remember, start with the
facts
: The Bible is our guide; our circumstances are not. Next move to
faith
, which believes and acts on the facts. Only then comes
feeling
. So instead of letting our emotions be pulled down into the mire of those bitter pools, we keep our hearts clean by basing our feelings on fact and faith rather than perception.
Enforce the Victory
There is an enemy. God wants us to be aware that a battle is being fought and there are principalities and powers with which we must contend. But if God is for us, who can be against us? We could paraphrase this to say, if God is for us, it does not matter who is against us. There is a battle being fought, but we are overcomers.
I, Mahesh, took part in a crusade in Brazil, outside of Rio, and several people told me with great concern of the big principalities and powers of witchcraft that had hold over that area. Did they think that would make me afraid? God had sent me. I was not going to be afraid of those things. Of course not. And we added names to the Lamb’s Book of Life and saw some awesome miracles.
One woman, for instance, had been shot in the spine during a holdup in her store. Her spinal column had been traumatized, and she had been confined to a wheelchair for five years. She lived about nine hours from Rio by car, but her family flew her in. She had little kids, and when they saw me praying for their mom they started crying, having seen her paralyzed for five years.
I felt the glory and I said, “God is up to something, honey.”
Well, I did not know what had happened because I flew back pretty soon after that. The Brazilian pastors brought me the report that she is now walking. She has to have a little help from a cane from time to time, but she is up and moving. If God is for us, who can be against us? We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.
Colossians 2:15 says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Jesus triumphed over every principality, over every power. The war has already been won; we are enforcing the victory. Wherever we are, we are ambassadors of heaven and we enforce the victory of the Lord Jesus. Nothing can separate us from God’s love and God’s victory. That is the realm in which we live—the realm of victory and the realm of the Spirit.
As long as you are prepared for battle, never be afraid to fight. If God is for us, it does not matter who is against us.
S
TANDING
ON THE
T
HRESHOLD
OF A
M
IRACLE
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their
wounds.
Psalm 147:3
The Shunammite Speaks . . .
We had not seen Elisha since the new moon when we had gone to Carmel where he sat among the prophets. I now even more than Joktan took an interest in their preaching, and so I was always urging him to take me or send one of the servants with me. And we always took a gift.
The day began like any other. Bread-making, the soft thump-thud-thump-thud of the loom under the hand of the women in the household, a servant child’s whine, the goats’ bleating and the warmth of the brazier and open fire—all equally inviting. By that time we had twenty persons in our household besides my husband and myself.
The spring in our valley is a regal time. The rolling carpet of winter wheat and waves of wildflowers paint the landscape in broad swaths of color beneath our blossoming trees. Everything of spring is hope and life anew. The morning passed without event, and by midafternoon a lull had folded peacefully into the compound.
Elisha and Gehazi had arrived some hours before and taken the stairs to the upper room without a word. I was in the storehouse mixing spices for the stew we would have for our evening meal when I sensed a presence behind me.
“Mistress?” It was Gehazi.
I turned, only slightly startled. “Yes, Gehazi?”
“My master bids you come.”
And so the two servants of Elisha— Gehazi and the Shunammite—went to the roof to wait on the man of God.
I paused under the shade of the trellis, maintaining respectful distance from the entrance to the prophet’s room. Gehazi passed over the threshold and disappeared into shadow. I stood waiting and reached out absently to pick one or two wilting leaves from the tangle of vine upon the trellis. The roses filled the air with sweetness. The murmur of soft voices drifted from the room as Elisha gave his man instructions. I gazed contentedly over my Jezreel valley.
The wiry frame of Gehazi reappeared in the doorway, and he spoke to me.
“You have gone to much trouble for us, mistress,” he said. “My master wishes you to know that your considerations have not gone unheeded.” Gehazi nodded toward Elisha, whom I could see reclining upon his bed.
“He says, look now, after all this concern for us what is it he may do for you in return? Is there something for which he may intercede, perhaps with the king or his militia in these parts? The man of God would gladly represent you and your husband’s request.”
“Oh, thank you, but, no,” I said. “As you can see we have need of little here. And as for the king’s men, our clan inhabits this city fairly. I dwell among my own people. Please thank him for his kindness in thinking of us.” I turned to go, and Gehazi retreated into the shadows once again.
I started down the stair and heard their voices behind me. My thoughts were returning to our meal preparations when Gehazi’s voice called to me from above.