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The title is from the topic for this Sunday’s class at church.
Yesterday I was sitting in quiet reflection on my recliner meditating
on just how wonderful the weekend was. All my waking hours from
Friday through Sunday seemed to be filled with thoughts of God.
Not only were there times set aside for prayer but everything seemed to
be filled with the fullness of God. As I was there in the Spirit,
God placed in my heart that it was not always so. Until quite recently I could not maintain a spiritual attitude all through the day, let alone, for an entire weekend. I thought of how we as Christians had judged people who went to church and as soon as they left church and went to the parking lot the spirit of worship had gone and they were filled with anger or the cares and concerns of the world. Well my experience for at least the last nine years or so was similar. When I began to pray in earnest after about twenty years with the Lord, what would happen was that as long as I was praying or studying the word or meditating on it, I was in the Spirit, but as soon as I finished I would go right back to the flesh and to the world and to lust of the carnal nature. It would frustrate me considerably. There seemed to be nothing I could do to break free from this double mindedness that had a real grip on me. I was really upset and frustrated that even knowing the Lord for thirty years, I could not break this trend. Then one day at church on Sunday, a women came to the alter for prayer and she was in need of real deliverance. I went to the alter as support for her and prayed continuously in the Spirit. When I left there, it seemed that the woman was set free to some degree. I went about my business as usual that day and God spoke to me. He put in my spirit that the anointing that was on me was going to depart for a while but to trust him. Well I went to work on Monday and did not go to my usual prayer meeting that night. I went to bed early and woke up not feeling particularly well. By the end of the day after work I was sick with a bad headache. I lay down and got up at six o’clock and decided to shower and clean up. When I got out of the shower I threw up six times. I knew it was a deliverance and I told God to get everything out of me that was not of Him. That was the beginning of my freedom. God subsequently told me that if I went back to my old ways I would be crucifying the Lord for a second time and from that point on I have had my deliverance. So not unlike people who are angels in church and full of the devil when they leave, it has taken me thirty one years to find a freedom and a deliverance from bondage and carnality that has plagued me for so long and for this I am truly grateful. You may be battling with the world, the flesh, or the devil for a long time. Don’t give up and don’t give in. Keep trusting and praying and confessing and the day will come when you have been sufficiently tested that God will set you free. It certainly has taken me a long time and I tell the devil in spirit and in truth that he will not revisit this temple ever again. Amen |