The Body and the Blessing

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man…then he takes
With himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself,
And the last state of the man is worse than the first.
Mt12:43-45 & Lk11:24-26

Though I was born again and spoke in tongues, though Jesus dwelt in my heart by faith, I was tormented with evil spirits for thirty two years as a Christian. Lust, anger, and fear were the major tormentors. In one instance early in my Christian walk, a fellow believer recognized my plight and tried to cast them out but he didn’t succeed. By faith I would confess that I crucify my flesh with its afflictions and lusts, I mortify the deeds of the flesh, In Adam all die, in Christ all are made alive, I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ who dwells within me, as well as others. I knew I had a problem, I was not pure and holy, and I would confess my struggles to Christians I felt I could trust. So even with God in my life I needed deliverance.

It is not enough to be able to present yourself to others as being righteous and convince them that you are a stable Christian, it is extremely important not to make excuses for not being where you know you should be. When Jesus says, for example, whatsoever you ask in my name I will do, and you ask but do not receive, It’s not Jesus to blame. Or if you have boldness to speak the word, read it every day, pray in tongues, but still have fear, or anger or lust, you are still prone to all the attacks of the evil one and your prayers will not often be honored. In order to receive the Blessing, your body, your temple must be clean. But that is not enough. If the unclean spirit has departed, and you have not received the Spirit of God, he will return with others in force.

My experience as a Christian, as a person who has received the Blessing, substantiates these claims. At a time when God had me totally to himself, living alone, the nursing home my only ministry, I threw up all but one of those evil spirits in my house, and that following Saturday, one more outside the nursing home. Then the following Wednesday at about one o’clock in the morning, the Spirit of God came into my body like a mighty rushing wind. I could not receive the Blessing while still in bondage to evil spirits, and only after I was delivered, did I receive the Spirit of God.

Your body is a temple. Who lives in there? Recognize the state you are in. Almost everybody needs some sort of deliverance. Pray to God not only for a clean body but one that will receive the Spirit of God. They that are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. The claims Jesus makes become valid when we are in the proper place to receive them. Believe what Jesus says is true and don’t settle for less.