1. Andrew J Horton
   Member

   I've been praying today about the jezebel spirit realising that the religious spirit and the antichrist spirit are also in operation throughout the Church of God...

   I really believe that the Pharisees were blinded by the religious spirit and couldn't understand that God was looking for a relationship with them from the heart not the strict outward observance of a moral code...

   When the heart relationship is established then the outward behaviour will follow - outward behaviour which loves the Lord our God with all our hearts with all our souls with all our strength and with all our minds and loves our neighbours as ourselves...

   The Lord is interested in our hearts, He knows our hearts...

   He called the Pharisees "whitewashed tombs" because they looked good on the outside but were rotten on the inside...

   For from within out of mens hearts as Jesus said...

   What is within will come out...

   It can't be kept hidden forever the bearer of the heart will eventually see - as Paul did with his coveteousness - what is really within them no matter how outwardly holy they have appeared to be...

   Outward 'holiness' without an inward reality is hypocrisy...

   We are holy by the Blood of Jesus, Amen?

   We are a new creation by the Blood of Jesus, Amen?

   Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (Romans 5:9 NASB)

   Having entered into a covenant relationship with God by the Blood of Jesus we are now saved by His Life within us...

   He is our Life and when He appears we will appear with Him in Glory...

   We have been released from our sin by His Blood this means that at the point we entered into the covenant with the Lord through the Blood of Jesus where we gave to Him everything we were and He became our all - when we were joined to Him and became one spirit - at this point the Blood was applied to us cleansing us from all sin and also prophetically applied to us so that as the Holy Spirit speaks truth into our new hearts the sin which remains in our lives "practically" "falls off" and is no more in our lives...

   Is God looking at our hearts?

   Does He know our hearts?

   Does He judge righteous judgement?

   Does He condemn us for the sin which remains "practically" in us which He has yet to convict us of by His Holy Spirit?

   Does He appoint others to condemn us for this and for any other outward thing which we are or are not doing as they see it that we should be doing?

   Is circumcision of the heart or of the flesh (body)?

   Do you understand what I'm trying to say, the distinction which I am trying to make?

   The unsaved husband is "sanctified" by the saved wife in the same way our "dead flesh" (sinful nature) which is dead - crucified with Christ - the parts of it which are not yet "practically dead" - even these are "sanctified" by the new heart and the new spirit and the Blood covering of the Lamb of God in our "new creation"...

   i.e. when we go to pray instead of being concerned about any "lurking" possible "skeletons in the closet" we are assured that where we are at right now we are surrendered to the Holy Spirit, that He is living through us and that He is perfecting that which concerns us...

   We have boldness to enter the Presence of God by the Blood of Jesus...

   We come boldly to the Throne of Grace by the Blood of Jesus not because of any works of righteousness which we have done...

   Relationship...

   If you don't have the Relationship you don't have true Religion...

   The religious spirit is the enemy of true Religion...

   Think about this, If you didn't pray, fast, give money, worship, sing praise, read the scripture, study the scripture, meditate on the scripture, memorise the scripture, witness, go to 'church', attend prayer meetings, bible study groups would you feel that you didn't have such a close relationship with the Lord as you did whilst you were doing those things?

   If you did feel that then you haven't truly understood that our relationship with the Lord is close because of only one thing our covenant relationship via the Blood of Jesus...

   We are in right standing with God - have peace with God - through our Lord Jesus Christ - through His Blood...

   As the children of Israel stood under the blood covered lintels and doorposts they were passed over by the Lord as He went through Egypt destroying the first born sons of the Egyptians...

   They were in relationship with the Lord...

   Yes our relationship can grow experientially closer and closer as we continue to grow in Him but we have a relationship with Him and access to Him which is complete and holy right from the moment we enter into that covenant with Him...

   The youngest believer walking in that relationship with the Lord has power in prayer with God...

   The oldest believer walking in that relationship - relying on the Blood - also has power with God in prayer...

   The Blood of Jesus is the great leveller - it leaves no room for pride - no room for "religious achievements" and no room for a "class system" in "Christianity"...

   We are all one in Christ Jesus through the Blood of Jesus...

   Hallelujah Lord, Praise Your Wonderful Name...

   We are cleansed by the Blood of Jesus and we are Holy in His Sight through the sufficiency of His own Sacrifice, His Own Blood shed...

   Hallelujah!!!

   Glorify Your Name in all the earth...

   Let us rejoice for our salvation is complete in Him...

   We stand in Him - justified in the Name and through the shed Blood of Jesus - basking the Glory of His Presence and His Righteousness Covering us and making us acceptable in His sight...

   I see it, I feel it, I pray Lord that we would all see it and feel it and experience it this night all the way around the world in the Mighty Name of Jesus...

   Let us stand up and declare that we are Righteous in the Blood of Jesus...

   That we are Holy in the Blood of Jesus...

   That we are accepted in the Beloved in the Name and in the shed Blood of Jesus...

   O Jesus, You are awesome, Your Blood is Awesome, Your Blood gives the devil no rights to our lives, there is no pride in sheltering under Your Blood so we are protected...

   We are humbled by the Blood and in that place we receive grace to help in time of need...

   We are not "high and dry" when we shelter and stand boldly under the Blood of Jesus...

   Stand up Saints of God, stand up tonight under the Blood and declare boldly that you are a Blood Bought Saint of God and that you belong to God, to Jesus Christ and are in a covenant relationship with God through the Blood of Jesus Christ...

   The enemy will flee from you when he hears your testimony...

   He can not stand against the covenant and he can not stand against the Blood...

   The covenant stands for acceptance and the Blood stands for forgiveness these are two things he knows nothing of...

   We have victory against him through the Blood of Christ and through the word of our testimony that we are in covenant relationship with God through the Blood of Jesus and that we do not love our lives unto death and He enables us to make that "good confession"...

   Thank You Jesus, Thank You Father, Thank You Holy Spirit...

   You are victorious over the religious spirit, open our eyes to see our victory and our freedom, let the lying voices be banished and come no more in the Name of Jesus and through His Shed Blood I pray, Amen and Amen

   Posted 7 months ago #

2. Kathleen
   Member

   I needed to hear this this morning. My heart is heavy but how can it remain so when I say these words. I will hide in the shadow of His wings. Thank you Lord Jesus for your Blood that purchased me. Not just me but the whole world. Father, I will not remain silent and I will not be satisfied until YOUR NAME is a praise throughout the whole earth! For You are worthy Lord! I am so thankful to you Lord for all you have done. I am even thankful Lord for my faith for even that is not my own but was given to me by You.

   Andrew J the Lord particularly opened my eyes to this statement you made:

   The unsaved husband is "sanctified" by the saved wife in the same way our "dead flesh" (sinful nature) which is dead - crucified with Christ - the parts of it which are not yet "practically dead" - even these are "sanctified" by the new heart and the new spirit and the Blood covering of the Lamb of God in our "new creation"...

   I am so grateful to Him for His mercy and compassion....they reach as far as the east is from the west! How He loves us!
   God bless you!

   Posted 7 months ago #

3. wholeheart
   Member

   Amen Andrew!!!!

   Those that are earnestly doing all they can to serve Christ can also miss having a relationship because of their focus and or what they have been taught. SERVING Him and KNOWING Him are so different. How many of those that go to church do not KNOW Him?

   It is the motives of our hearts that the Lord looks after and He seeks to strengthen all whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

   His hate for falsehood and strange fire is evident in His Word. So much counterfeit now...
   Self deception* is our number one enemy, that is why He gave us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us to convict us, to bring transformation in us as we put off the old man and His nature is worked in us.

   That is why the Body of Christ, the gifts He gave are to build one another up in the unity of the faith to a mature man.
   ***
   Ephesians
   2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

   11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

   14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
   ***
   *Self deception, as Eve was given over to her own desires she was self deceived. Adam rebelled knowing well what he was doing. Self deception and rebellion open the door to the enemy and hell... BREAKS fellowship with God.

   As the motives of our hearts are seeking Him and we still have areas of sin, He will bring conviction and revelation by His Spirit, through situations of life and in some cases through the body of Christ, if we are particularly blind in a certain area...

   This is a time of escalation for spiritual growth. He is purging, purifying and perfecting His Body quickly for all that is to come.

   In all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:14

   He is truly about separating the precious from the vile in all of us, and clearly revealing the Body of Christ!

   Posted 7 months ago #

4. mjrhealth
   Member

   Mary or Martha, who had the better thing, and I have yet to discover "right" religion. They are all wrong, even christanity as a religion, undoes all the wonderful work our Lord has done.

   In His Love

   Posted 7 months ago #

5. 4Jesus
   Member

   Amen Andrew J.

   God looks at what is in our hearts from the beginning to the end. Not our flesh. Not even after we begin to follow Jesus Christ, does He look at our flesh. He always looks to see what our hearts desire is. It says He does destroy the body of sin, which IMO is speaking of sinful flesh. But only as long as it is our hearts desire for this to happen.

   The story written about how God picked David reveals this is true, written about in 1 Samuel chapter 16.

   Oddly in thinking back to the beginning of my walk following Christ, it seems He was always there when I asked and sought him. Even when I did see Him in the vision, i was finally seeking, and even asking as I recall. Not out loud, but in my mind mostly. And that was when He revealed Himself to me. I can remember times even in my childhood, where he was drawing me to Him. But I know I did not know him then either. Even though I was taught to believe. I did, but at the same time didn't. I wonder, is there a difference between being a believer, compared to finally being a knower?

   Posted 7 months ago #

6. Andrew J Horton
   Member

   Hi Kathleen,

   You shared above,

   Father, I will not remain silent and I will not be satisfied until YOUR NAME is a praise throughout the whole earth! For You are worthy Lord! I am so thankful to you Lord for all you have done. I am even thankful Lord for my faith for even that is not my own but was given to me by You.

   Amen sister, Praise You Jesus, I feel this song kind of encapsulates what you and I are both feeling in this respect, Praise You Jesus - let this understanding settle on our hearts, Let the unity of the Spirit settle on the hearts of all Your Saints on earth at this point in time, Thank You Lord, You are Worthy, Worthy is the Lamb who was Slain...

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DNRa4MySnM

   http://www.pwarchive.com/song/the-earth-shall-be-filled

   Open our eyes Lord that we - all of us - would see it in the Mighty Name of Jesus...

   Love in the Lord sister,

   Andrew

   Posted 7 months ago #

7. ackermv
   Member

   Amen Andrew and all. The religious spirit opposes the true move of the Holy Spirit and God's light is shinning brighter and brighter dispelling all the darkness for those who truly desire the light. As things progress and get seemingly darker only those that have received the Holy Spirit and walk in it will have the peace that passes all understanding. May we all walk in the light as He is in the light. We can't walk in it unless we have relationship with the Lord and as we have relationship with the Lord and die to self we are formed in His image and His ways become our ways. We are transformed from glory to glory and our identity is firmly planted in Christ. Blessings....

   Posted 7 months ago #

8. diemooieen
   Inactive

   yeap, it is all about relationship ... I'm surprised the be holy people haven't attacked this.

   Posted 7 months ago #

9. thos
   Member

   Hi diemooieen

   Well they are largely gone for the moment and you're back !!

   Praise the Lord for that!!

   Blessings,

   Carl Emerson.

   Posted 7 months ago #

10. Andrew J Horton
    Member

    I really felt to "resurrect" this thread tonight as I have been seeing the difference between the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of Life over the last day or so as a friend gave me a book when I was up in Wellington recently to read which spoke conviction - fresh conviction to my heart - that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has nothing to offer me but the Tree of Life is the Tree which I want to eat from, the Bread of Life which is Jesus Christ my Lord, I want to eat from Him - not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which on the day you eat of it you will surely die...

    A Good Tree cannot produce bad fruit and a bad tree cannot produce Good Fruit...

    "By their fruits you shall know them"...

    When we come across people who do not remind us of Jesus - as we have been looking intently into the Face of Jesus we quickly become able to see those who do not resemble His Face - we see that they have been "without knowing what they do" eating from the wrong tree...

    They talk of "good" and "evil" and spend their time categorizing everything and everyone into categories of "good" and "evil" and believe that they have knowledge as to which is which...

    The author of the book I commenced reading yesterday spoke truth when he said (in so many words) that nothing about that tree is good - it may appear good - but no one is good but God alone...

    It appears good and the things we have done appear good until they appear in the light of who Jesus is and who He has called us to be...

    We only see this when we start looking at Him...

    There is nothing good about the flesh...

    We are called to focus on God and gaze upon His Beauty - true spiritual adoration - and we are not called to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...

    "Knowledge puffs up but love builds up"...

    Do you feel love when you are around certain people?

    Do you feel condemnation when you are around certain people?

    Do you sense a condescending attitude when you are around certain people?

    Do you sense a critical spirit around certain people?

    Do you sense a sort of "acceptance" but only for the purpose of "doubtful disputations" when you are around certain people?

    Why do people need to control and lord it over other people?

    Why do people have to be "right" and everyone know they are "right"?

    We do this because we have been eating from the wrong tree...

    "It was desirable to make one wise"...

    "You will be like God knowing good and evil"...

    "Oh, yes please", we say, "We want to be like God, we want to make ourselves like God", "We want to have that knowledge and have that kind of power and be able to lord it over others and be 'the king of the castle'", "We want to do anything we can to lift ourselves up to that level"...

    When we say these things we are fuelling the desire of the original sin of pride that "I will..." any deception which makes us think "we can..." is a deception rooted in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...

    "The flesh profits nothing"...

    At the root of everything we do apart from surrendering to the Lord for Him to enable us to look at Him and live for His Glory - which is achieved in us by the Holy Spirit - is pride...

    I will...

    How do I look?

    Are people valuing me as they should be?

    Are people taking enough notice of me?

    Do I have a following?

    Do they know exactly what I do?

    Don't they understand who I am?

    Why can't everyone see that I'm right?

    The spirit of pride uses the jezebel spirit (enticement, flattery, accusation & condemnation), the religious spirit (control, manipulation & intimidation) and the antichrist spirit (witchcraft, sorcery & rebellion) to entrap its prisoners in a web of intrigue which uses all their energy and renders them powerless for God...

    Those caught in this web are nothing but a stumbling block to their brothers and sisters in the Lord...

    The fruit is evident...

    There is nothing uplifting about these ones, they are trapped in the fruit of the wrong tree..

    They are trapped in a power struggle which they will never win...

    "I will ascend"...

    "God opposes the proud"...

    I am guilty in this, I have fed from the wrong tree...

    There is no place for pride in His Kingdom...

    There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor? (James 4:12 NASB)

    This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual (soulish - interlinear), devilish. (James 3:15 KJV)

    These are the spirits - the operation of which - placed Jesus on the cross - we placed Jesus on the cross - these spirits operate in us when we are not looking at Jesus...

    When we are not surrendered to Jesus and partaking of the Tree of Life...

    I see these things in myself, I see these things in others, may we all be granted the humility to look at Jesus, just to stop whatever it is we're doing and just look at Jesus...

    Not to even try and "sort ourselves out" before looking at Jesus but just to stop and look at Jesus...

    Wouldn't that be awesome - brothers and sisters standing side by side looking at Jesus - and being transformed into His Image as we all stand on the level playing field of the cross and the Blood of Jesus...

    God gives grace to the humble...

    It is humility to stop whatever we're doing and look at Jesus, once we're there and this truth is established in our hearts, we will never leave...

    We will spend the rest of eternity gazing on Jesus and worshipping before Him...

    Hallelujah!!! What a Saviour!!!

    Let it be so Lord, let it be so...

    We cannot achieve this Lord but You can, let it be done, in Jesus Name, Amen...

    No demon can stand against humility...

    Create it in us Lord and let us stand in You for the Glory of Your Name...

    Glorify Your Name in all the earth...

    Posted 5 months ago #

11. Intercessor
    Member

    This post above is so clear Andrew, thank you.

    Upon reading this, I got a picture of a sword filled with fresh air cutting through hazy smoke.

    We would all do well to check ourselves with checklists like this - it is pure righteous judgement.

    The spirit of witchcraft (or Jezebel's) goal is to:

    Separate

    Dominate

    Isolate

    and desolate.

    How is it that Elijah fearlessly walked straight up to King Ahab and pronounced judgement, yet cowered under Queen Jezebel's 'spell'?

    In the name of Jesus, we stand against the spirit of witchcraft and command you to leave this body of believers! Father, let us be a pleasure to You. Help us to love one another as Christ showed us. We often mistake that our battle is with our brothers and sisters, yet it isn't.

    Lord, help us to bury grudges... Help us to forgive and not hold anything against eachother.

    If there is anyone who is holding any communications - emails, or anything that is saved on their computer - that they are holding to 'prove' anything, or to protect themselves, to justify themselves... I would ask you to please delete them. They are an open door that our real enemy can use to keep fuelling this wrong fire. I know how this feels... out of desperation I kept all the evidence I had to prove to people I needed support from that I wasn't making anything up, for the police, and for a courtroom, should things go that far. These things included written and cut-out death-threats, broken and cut things like telephone wires and broken locks, insiduous slivers of glass that were left on my toilet seat, rusty nails, torn items, left things that had been moved in their original place, I collected other people's witnesses to the extreme behaviour, and even had my own daughter's witnesses... But the police said "Because I had not actually seen a person with my physical eyes, they couldn't do anything. They did not have time to carry out finger-prints." No amount of this 'evidence' moved the loved ones I needed to care.

    No amount of 'evidence' will, if someone is holding something against you.

    It took me being found covered in blood to move the police, and only when we had fled for one of the perpetrators to threaten my loved ones to find out where we were, did they care... But only for themselves.

    When the Lord asked me to surrender all the evidence as an act of forgiveness towards them, promising me that He would protect me, not a bunch of evidence, did I do it with many tears. Our need for His protection is still on-going, as a 5-year injuction against one of them ends in 2 months, and the last time he showed up here, tried to break the door down in the middle of the night. I was paralysed with fear while phoning the police, when I heard my daughter's voice cut in "Mom, there are angels all around our house!" There was silence, the sound of his car starting up, and we all were caught up in heavenly worship :,)

    Oh hallelujah!

    The Lord is our defense. Let us not defend ourselves.

    His protection is mighty!

    Protect us all here Lord. We don't have long left here together.

    Let us make the most of our time here together.

    Time is all we've got.

    With love for you all,

    Varienne

    Posted 5 months ago #

12. Lucinda
    Member

    Thank you for that word Andrew, you made it so clear or I should say the Holy Spirit shined a lazer beam on the word you spoke.

    Andrew said, "I am guilty in this, I have fed from the wrong tree..."

    Like you, I must confess also, I am guilty of eating from the wrong tree more than I like to admit.

    Again thank you Andrew.

    Blessings,
    Lucinda

    Posted 5 months ago #

13. Hope
    Member

    I saw a quoted once "Religion is man's relationship with God, Christianity is God's relationship with man"

    I agree the relationship is all important, get that right and the rest follows

    God Bless
    Hope

    Posted 5 months ago #

14. Averyl
    Member

    Fantastic Andrew, well put.

    4Jesus, - I'm sure you know that even the demons believe, & tremble. Some of us need to be reconciled to God to renew our relationship with Him.

    We need to remember that we are to love God with all of our MIND as well as our heart, soul, & body.

    Posted 5 months ago #

15. thegriesels
    Member

    Eversince I can remember, I heard the cliche being used : "It's not about religion, it's all about relationship". I often wondered what people mean when they said that. It is almost if it is inherently human to find a formula that would ensure we stay on the right track. However, I found that God made it much more simple to have a relationship with Him. It works just like any other relationship, which is based on communication. My wife and I got married as a result of our relationship. It developed as a result of two-way communication. As I talked she listens and shares my heart. When she communicates, I listens and shares her heart. The same is true with God and our relationship. We talk (pray) and he gets to know our hearts. (Although He knows without us talking). But we also need to get to know His heart and we must also take time to get quiet and listens to Him. Then we also get to know His heart. And when we have two-way communication flowing, and we love Him above all and would do anything within our power to prove our love to Him, we have a relationship with God that becomes most important to us. We talk we listen, we love, we trust and we bless Him.

    Posted 5 months ago #

16. Roger Souden
    Member

    I too believe that our progress along the path is about our personal relationship with Christ Jesus our Lord.

    To enable us to hear His voice - first we must listen.

    Sometimes we need a chainsaw to remove the 'log in our eye', tweezers just won't do the job :-)

    *

    Andrew - thankyou for your latest comment.

    Varienne - thankyou for your encouragement for us all:

    - to 'let go of the past'..

    - to ALLOW Lord Jesus to be our defender and protector and to be truly LORD of all our life.

    In His love,
    Roger

    Posted 5 months ago #

17. Intercessor
    Member

    Dear Roger, thank you for being an instrument of His love when I've so needed it tonight.

    God bless you.

    Posted 5 months ago #

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