Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Psalm 2:1-4
A few days ago I was honored to witness a young couple give their lives to God and to ask His Son Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. This man and woman had been blessed with a beautiful little girl a year and a half earlier. Now they were living in a small rental house in Roseville, while they planned their wedding. A friend of theirs contacted a friend of mine to say that these people needed help – badly.
The couple insisted that their house was haunted – something right out of the movie Poltergeist. Lights, TVs and radios would turn on and off on their own. Strange music and sounds would begin to emanate from a corner of the ceiling and horrible smells would come and go in different parts of the house. The refrigerator door would open and close on its own. An extreme cold temperature would follow one or the other of them throughout the house for a time, then leave. The man had occasional dreams or visions of snakes sitting on the windowsill. So realistic were they that he felt he could have reached out and touched them. But when their daughter began to act odd, that’s when they knew they had to do something drastic. The toddler started wandering around the living room staring at the corners and the ceiling, as if she were listening to voices. At times in the evening, she’d wake up screaming, not just crying, with her body forming weird contortions. When they would cry out “God help her please,” the child would straighten out and calm down, and go back to sleep.
I often hear Christians ask why there are such great revivals and miraculous signs of God’s power in third-world countries, like those in much of Africa and Asia, but we rarely see such in the United States. I don’t doubt that it’s because people in these third-world countries are much more familiar with, and open to the supernatural realm than we are in our modern culture. In America, many question that the devil and his demonic kingdom even exists – and the enemies of God are very happy to leave it that way. Then they can continue to deceive and destroy so many – and they don’t get blamed. Instead the blame goes to other people, or God, or Christians, or society in general – anyone and everyone but our real enemy. In Africa, Asia, Haiti, etc., the people know that there are spiritual forces at work in their world, because they affect nearly every part of their lives.
This young couple that we ministered to were open to the good things of God, because they were living witnesses of the dark side. They just lacked the knowledge of how to deal with it. Both the young man and woman had a denominational Christian background, but had ended that relationship years earlier – so they had no idea how to deal with these supernatural attacks. So they turned to friends for help. Most of their friends suggested all kinds of “new age” and other strange remedies – and they tried them all – but nothing helped – nothing changed.
Until the man mentioned their problem to a Christian friend from work – who happened to know my friend. So here we were, in their living room, first instructing them in the things of God, then leading them into a personal relationship with the One Who has all authority over the natural and supernatural realms.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree:” the Lord has said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Psalm 2:5-9
Then and only then did we begin to cleanse their home of the unwelcome demonic spirits that were harassing them. Finally, we spent some time teaching them the authority that they now had over the devil and his cohorts – as God’s adopted son and daughter. And of course we encouraged them to get hooked up with a good Bible-believing Christian fellowship, and gave them suggestions of churches in their area.
Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. Psalm 2:10-12
In the next two weeks I’ll be launching my new book, “Soaring above the storm” with the subtitle, “Practical Applications in Spiritual Warfare.” You’ll be able to get it on Amazon.com. I authored it with two powerful spiritual warriors, Bill and Kathy Raulerson.
The Preface begins:
A quote often attributed to Nicholas Murray Butler (1862 – 1947), an educator, university president, advisor to seven Presidents and a Nobel Peace Prize winner is: “People can be divided into three groups: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder – what happened!” Rather than grouping individuals into these categories as Butler quips, I feel that these are three conditions that every individual finds himself or herself in at alternate times in their lives. I’m sure that nearly every being on this planet longs to be the one that makes things happen, i.e.: has complete control of their lives. Yet, more often than not, we find ourselves watching what’s going on around us and forced to react to situations over which it may seem we have little control. And who has never looked back at a difficult time in their lives and wondered, “What happened?” If we’re honest, we’ve all been in that boat.
The goal of each one of us should be to spend increasingly more time in the “making things happen” category, and diminishing the time spent in either of the other two. A first step in this process is to broaden our knowledge and understanding of the domain we inhabit. And what is the true breadth of that domain? How open-minded an individual is in exploring that question will determine how much he or she will get out of this study.
Are you the type of person who has always constrained your search for truth to what can be seen or heard or touched or explored with scientific equipment and theories? Would you even consider looking beyond the natural for answers to some of your most difficult questions? I hope you are – for this is more than a book – it is a venture into the “impossible” as far as our natural environment is concerned.
In other words, this book is a venture into the extra-natural, the supernatural. It’s an exploration into a realm that, though we may not be able to pinpoint its location or measure its breadth with scientific precision, we nonetheless “see” both negative and positive manifestations of it all around us – every day. The evidence of its existence is observed much like the reality of the unseen breeze is proved by the movement of leaves on a tree, or like the existence of unseen electrons is witnessed via a shining light bulb or a radiating toaster.
I make the case that this supernatural realm not only manifests in our natural world; but it in fact is its most compelling force. So the reader’s journey will not end when he or she succeeds in seeing the unseeable. This book’s goal is to empower the reader to take control of their circumstances, their environment, their lives – enabling them to “make things happen” for themselves and others in all aspects of their life.
While this book is written from the perspective of a Christian, I have no illusions that everyone who delves into this work has a Christian background. A sub-title that incorporates the concept of “Spiritual Warfare” has the potential to draw people for a variety of reasons.
So with that introduction, I invite you to use this God-inspired work as one resource to help you manage your life. Of course, its true value has to be measured against how it aligns with the written Word of God.