So many of us put the carriage before the horse when we’re merely seeking the faith needed to be healed, delivered, or for whatever other miracle that we need in our life. Did you know that hope proceeds faith? Little is taught about hope, but it is another foundational key to faith. If you don’t have hope, you won’t be capable of having faith.

When praying for somebody to be healed, you might ask them, “Can you see yourself healed?” If that person cannot even imagine what it would be like to be healed, then they have a serious lack of hope. Jesus actually thew this out at somebody who came to Him for a healing…

And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
Matthew 9:28-29

Hope says, “I can get it!” Faith says, “I have it! It’s MINE!”

If you don’t have hope, then how can you have faith? How can you say, “It’s MINE!” without the hope of being able to receive it? You can’t!

Next time you want to establish faith for something, first imagine what it would be like to receive it. Are you seeking to be emotionally healed? Physically healed? Can you picture or imagine what it would be like to manifest that healing? There’s one of your first steps to growing faith. The devil and evil spirits do this all the time, but using fear and negative emotions to cripple our faith and trust in God… so why can’t we use our imagination for God’s purposes? We can!

The other day, the devil had conjured up the nerve to throw this at me: “You know how if we die without our sins being forgiven, we spend eternity in hell, apart from God? Isn’t it unfair that Christ took our punishment, but only spent 3 days in hell?”

This is the typical nonsense that the enemy will try to throw at us to break down our faith, and get us to look at God through the eyes of suspicion. Whenever you get an accusation against God like this, don’t be quick to buy into Satan’s message… instead trust that there’s a answer or reason that God has for it.

Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me clearly and basically said, “If I didn’t raise Jesus from the dead, He would have spent eternity in hell for your sins!”

My friend, we ought to be THRILLED that the Holy Spirit has raised Jesus from the dead so that we can spend our eternity with our Lord and savior someday!

This is very brief, and does not begin to do justice to this important subject, but I want to shed some light on judging within the body of Christ. It is vital that we love one another, and are prepared to give Godly correction in love, but if a fellow Christian continues in sin, then we are told to judge them and see them as an outsider. Consider this passage:

1 Corinthians 5:11-13 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

The kind of judging in Matthew 7 that we are not to do, is a different kind of judging which involves condemnation or damnation. While we are not to condemn or damn others, we are to judge the righteous judgement, as God’s Word tells us:

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

While it is true that unforgiveness involves a lack of thankfulness for what God’s done for us (in paying such a steep price for our own sins), but the true root of unforgiveness has to do with a lack of trust in God. The reason that a person holds so tightly to unforgiveness is because they feel like they are the only one who is concerned about justice coming to that person who wronged them. They do not believe that God is going to ensure that justice happens. God’s Word tells us to give place to wrath so that He can do something about what was done against us, but if we take it into our own hands, we fail to give place to wrath, and can actually hinder God from doing something about it. Do we want the person off our hook, or God’s? Then we need to handle things the way that God has commanded of us in His Word.

One of the keys to living a life of forgiveness, is getting it down into your spirit that God truly cares for you and what is done against you, and will bring justice to those who wrong us as we trust Him with those situations.

This is a great rule of thumb that I believe is important to keep in mind when ministering. Whatever Satan uses to cause an emotional wound or bondage, usually the key to healing or restoration lies in utalizing the opposite tool which God has given us.

For example, somebody suffering from rejection needs to receive in their heart the reality of their being accepted, loved, and appreciated by their heavenly Father. REJECTION causes the wound, but ACCEPTANCE heals the wound.

Another example is somebody suffering from a bondage to religion and religious strongholds. The opposite of dead religion is genuine relationship, so such a person must come to grips with the reality of the beautiful and meaningful relationship that God desires to have with them. RELIGION creates the bondage, but RELATIONSHIP dissolves the bondage.

Somebody suffering with issues of self-hate will find that coming to truly love and appreciate the person that God has made in them brings tremendous healing. SELF-REJECTION is the problem, but SELF-ACCEPTANCE is the answer. Now I’m not saying that we ought to be stuck up about ourselves, but rather a type of loving oneself to where they are humbly loving and accepting the person that God has made in them. I have an entire teaching on loving yourself in a Godly way on the GreatBibleStudy.com web site.

While there are often demons behind these types of bondages, the inner wounds must be healed, and using the opposite of Satan’s tools is a powerful key to bring healing to damaged emotions and bondages.

You know, I find it interesting how little tolerance that many Christians have towards deliverance ministers. Even non-believers often have more tolerance when a deliverance minister is unable to get a demon out, or can’t seem to help a person! Some Christians look at deliverance ministers who are getting started, and point out all of their flaws or shortcomings, but ignore all of the real and genuine fruit that is coming forth from their ministry (people being set free, healed, etc.). Every minister is going to have shortcomings when starting out, regardless of what type of ministry they are involved in! It’s almost as if the non-believers have more common sense and mercy than the believer does.

I was even reading the other day about how the medical community would cause many deaths in their ventures to heal people of various sicknesses and physical infirmities. They would do all sorts of crazy things, and it would end up costing people their lives! At least the mistakes that deliverance ministers usually make aren’t costing people their lives, and can be undone when the person sees a more experienced and knowledgeable minister who can bring the person into freedom and healing that Christ has for them.

Why are Christians so tolerant for the mistakes made (and are still being made) in the medical community, yet they criticize even the smallest failures of a ministry that God is using to bring healing and deliverance to His children? Are non-believers more sensible than believers at things like this? At least the non-believer looks at a person who’s been healed of a serious ailment, and they overlook the failures that the minister has made where he was unable to help other people with the same condition. Is it true that the Christian community kills their wounded by criticizing the mistakes made by anybody starting out in the healing, prophetic, or deliverance ministries (while overlooking the fruit that is coming forward)?

I heard a pastor once say from the pulpit that we should never listen to a prophet who gives a false prophecy. While this may sound good on the surface, a statement like this is something the Jezebel spirit has been promoting in the body of Christ. Somebody who says such a thing has no real experience or knowledge of the prophetic ministry. Do you honestly expect prophetic ministers to be 100% accurate and flawless when starting out, while other ministries and professions (medical, etc.) have much room to make mistakes and still grow and be accepted? Anybody who starts out in the prophetic ministry is likely going to make some mistakes. While a person can have a strong prophetic gifting, it is important to learn how to discern the voice of God, without interference from our flesh. It is quite possible to receive a message from God, but have our flesh to twist or distort the message. Anybody who desires to operate in the prophetic ministry must learn how to recognize and properly walk in their gifting, just as in any other ministry.

When somebody says, “So and so gave a false prophecy that never came true, so we know that they are not a true prophet” what it does is sets up a zero tolerance for mistakes made by anybody getting started in the area of the prophetic. Who in their right mind would dare step out and give a prophecy, if they run the risk of having their entire ministry discredited for the rest of their life? That puts an enormous fear upon a person who’s just getting started and learning how to hear God’s voice. The spirit of Jezebel is very aggressive against true prophetic ministry, and would love to use fear to keep people scared stiff from ever coming forth with a prophecy. Should a person go unchecked in their prophetic utterances? Not at all, as a matter of fact we are told that the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets, and to let one prophecy and the rest can judge (see 1 Corinthians 14:29-32). Why does the Bible give us this passage for our guidance? Because prophets, especially those starting out with their gifting, are liable to make mistakes and think that something was from God, when their flesh was twisting or tainting their message that God was trying to give them.

I think of when Oral Roberts started the healing ministry movement, how they say that every single denomination (including pentecostal!) would come up against him! What he was doing was foreign to them. I shouldn’t have been foreign to them, had they been feasting on the Word of God (which is loaded with the healing message). But no, they were stuck in their own traditions, and rejected anything that did not fit into their traditional way of thinking. This is the same thing that happens towards many deliverance ministers today; because their bringing something to the table which the church has rejected for so long, it’s as if they are put under microscopes to see if there are flaws to be found. But try to point out the flaws in these Christian’s lives, and what’s the first thing you hear? “But nobody’s perfect! We’re all growing!”

It’s no wonder the non-believers look at us and consider us hypocrites who kill their wounded!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that mistakes and failures should run ramped in our midst. If God has called us to be a prophet, then we need to learn and grow in our gifting, and come to know when something is of God, or if something is of the flesh. If God has called us to be deliverance ministers, then we need to do our best to learn and understand the various bondages that are affecting people today, and minister the best we can with what God has given us. If God’s called us to be a teacher, then we need to learn and be the best teacher that God’s called us to be. If God’s called us to be an accountant, then we need to do our best and consider our work as if it were done unto the Lord. But we also need to be tolerant towards our brothers and sisters when they are doing their best, but make mistakes as they are growing and learning (just as we all do!).

The Holy Spirit has been speaking an awfully lot lately on the subject of discouragement. There are so many of God’s children who are discouraged about their relationship with God. Satan desires to make us feel discouraged or even downright terrible about our relationship with God. Satan does this through reminding us of our past failures (guilt, shame, and condemnation). Let me ask you this, was your past greater than the Blood of Jesus and the work of the Cross? Satan would surely like you to see it that way, but such a imaginations completely belittles Jesus and His work. We need to stop listening to the enemy, and start taking seriously the Word of God concerning the power of the Blood!

Why does Satan want us to feel discouraged? Because discouragement takes away our incentive. If we are discouraged with cooking, we’ll likely not be as excited to spend time in the kitchen. If we are discouraged with our job, we won’t have the incentive to keep going and do our best. Satan wants us to be discouraged with our relationship with God, so that we will lose our incentive to keep going deeper with God and spend quality time with Him.

Discouragement is one of Satan’s fine weapons that is used against us. We need to be on guard against it, and declare the Word of God true over the words of the devil. If God’s Word declares us justified and made right before God, then we should not question that or see things any other way!

And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
Mark 2:3-12

Why did Jesus look at the man sick with palsy, “Thy sins be forgiven”? Many say that this man’s sin was caused by sin, and I believe that may have been true, but today I began to think about this passage in a way that I never saw before. Let me cover some ground first on faith:

We know that faith comes by hearing (referring to receiving) the Word of God (see Romans 10:17). We see the disciples asking Jesus to increase their faith, and His way of doing that was to give them something to receive; He told them that if they will believe, then they can exercise their authority over a mountain and command it to be cast into the sea (see Luke 17:5-6). It’s when we receive the Word of God, that our faith increases. Jesus simply gave them something to receive. We see Jesus telling people, “Your faith has made you whole.”

With that said, I believe that Jesus was simply giving the sick man something to receive when He said, “Thy sins be forgiven.” This man who was sick, was likely laboring under a heavy load of guilt and shame (as many are today, who are in need of a healing!). Jesus’ words telling him that his sins were forgiven, was all that was necessary to bring enormous healing to the man, not only mentally, but also physically. Many times, a person’s load of guilt and shame can serve as a wall to keep the person from receiving the healing (both mentally and physically) that they need.

It would shock many Christians today to find out how many religious spirits and strongholds are at work in the everyday believer’s life. This is something that affects almost everybody! Many also have a tainted perception of who they are, and an inaccurate self-image.

Religious spirits often work to belittle and “humble” people falsely. A religious spirit says, “You shouldn’t feel good about yourself; you’re just an old sinner barely making it to heaven!” but if we look into God’s Word, we find that our heavenly Father says, “You’re the work of my hands; you are my child and a member of the royal family; you were created in my image, and purchased (redeemed) with the Blood of My Son; you are a masterpiece because you’re my creation! You are my artwork, and I am your painter!”

Religion opposes God’s Word on so many levels, it’s not funny! Paul speaks against the religious mindset (and other ungodly mindsets) and tells us that is why we must take every thought captive which rises itself against the knowledge of God. Religious mindsets do just that - rise them self against the knowledge of the truth in God’s Word!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

True Christian faith comes by knowing and receiving the Word of God. So what are you receiving in His word right now? Have you received His Word about the forgiveness of your sins and your justification (being made innocent by His Blood)? Or are you still carrying a load of guilt and shame, wondering if you were to die, if your sins are truly forgiven? It is vital that we receive what God’s Word tells us about the forgiveness of sins, and so many other things that are important to our victorious life here on earth.

Do you really believe what God’s Word has to say about you, and the person that you are in Christ? If not, then you will always live below the level that God has called you to live. Your faith will never be where it should be, and evil spirits will enjoy the leverage that the strongholds in your mind are giving them.

We need to boldly receive what God’s Word has to say, so that we can have the faith necessary to receive the good things that God has for us, and live out the victorious life that God planned for us before we were conceived!