Healing Failures

By Pastor Stephen Piersall
God's Preservation Ministry http://sfprs.org/

Healing is one of the most controversial subjects in the Bible. Not that God is confused, but we and our many different denominations and religions have various interpretations as well as translations. Let us first read "The Great Commission":

Mark 16:14-20 NASB

14 Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 He who believes and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.

This is the commandment that Jesus left us with upon his ascending into Heaven. It is by far one of the most dynamic and prominent areas of any church deliverance ministry. While casting out demons, it is just as significant, to minister to the impassioned wounds. Rousing wounds are one of the most common reasons that deliverance can fail or demons seem to keep coming back and regaining inhabitation within the person.

Our goal is not to forget a hurtful event or trauma, but to receive healing for that event, where the Holy Spirit removes the arrow from it. When we look to the past upon a healed wound, we can see it in a different way, because it has been healed and is no longer painful to look at.

The Holy Spirit within you is the one that HEALS! The believer who has already accepted the gift of Salvation from Jesus must stand in faith 100%. The Holy Spirit responds to your level of faith and every divine healing that ever took place happened with the Holy Spirit when the believer acted on God’s word. What about when healing fails? What went wrong?

It is important to understand that God has not failed you, and He is not short on healing power. When demands are made on the power of God, the healing virtue of Jesus Christ will flow into a person’s body and make it whole. In John 5, the story is told about a man who had an infirmity for 38 years. This story, perhaps, gives us the best picture of the obstruction that even today’s believers face when it comes to wanting to be healed, and yet, not being able making it happen when we want it, and need it, the most. We read that day after day the invalid man lay by the pool of Bethesda hoping somehow to be the number one person in the water after the angel stirred it, because if he was the first to make it in, he could be healed. But then along came Jesus. He asked the man, “Do you want to become well?” The invalid answered saying, “Sir, I have nobody when the water is moving to put me into the pool…”

The significant detail in their conversation at this point is that the man was so focused on the problem of not being able to get into the water before someone else, that he never even considered placing a demand on Jesus to help him and to get him healed. Like this man, many believers today desire to be healed, yet they have not willed to be healed. What’s the difference?

The difference is that willpower is what makes a demand on the power of God. After all, God has sent His Word, and according to that Word, healing has already been purchased by the blood of Jesus. So, the rest is up to us. We must act on this new blood covenant to get the results we desire. Still, for those times when it seems God’s healing power has somehow been hindered, and it just is not flowing through our lives. The Bible points out some problem areas that may be the reason for this lack of healing or health. Some of those problem areas include:

• Failure to forgive others (Mark 11:25-26)

• Failure to keep the commandment of love (John 13:34)

• Lack of knowledge and lack of vision (Hosea 4:6); Proverbs 29:18)

• Lack of discernment of the Lord’s body when taking communion (I Corinthians 11:23-32)

• Lack of integrity in your heart (Psalms 25:21)

Sometimes we have to Let God be God, as he may have allowed the illness or death to occur for reasons we could not foresee. Still we are to pray until God let’s us know to stop.

Since we know there is no failure with God, it is obvious that when believers do not receive their healing, the problem must lie elsewhere. Keeping this in mind, we need to realize that healing largely depends on a firm stand on the fact that your prayer has been heard, and that it has been answered. The challenge, then, comes in not wavering from God’s Word.

Beware of False Prophets! In all things we do, we must pray and ask God for discernment. I know of some people who claim to be “Demonologist” and use hypnosis in their method of casting out demons and provide healing. I know of others who are talking the talk, but in real life do not walk the walk. Some that yearn to be a Pastor, but do not have their personal lives in order. We can NOT have permanent success with Healing and deliverance unless we ourselves are right before God. Bottom line, just be careful and do not just jump in without testing the waters. PRAY!

These two websites will shed some more light on the subject of why healing may or may not work:

http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/inner_healing_101.php

http://www.greatbiblestudy.com/healing_gods_will.php

House Blessings and Ceremonies to Drive the Demonic Away

By Lisa Grace

Many people have blessings and various types of ceremonies to drive demonic entities away, but then you'll hear from the homeowners that it quieted things down for a while, but they came back. This is to be expected and is not a surprise for those of us who have actually read or practice what it says to do in the Holy Scriptures.

Demons cannot be destroyed, only moved, so it's only natural they come back to places they feel comfortable in. Some demons seem to act as scouts. Scouting out the territory and then bringing more powerful evil ones to the receptive places they find. (Job 1:6-7); Jude 1:6; 1 Cor 6:3; Matt 12:43-45)

To drive evil spirits out of a home you must do the same things you would for a possession, not the made up things made popular on TV and in books that come from a place of superstition, but the things that come from the authority of God. You must be saved, which means not just believing (for the demons believe and they tremble James 2:19), but repent, which means to turn away from your sin.

Stronger spirits will require someone who is a true believer to drive them out, who does prayer and fasting. (Matt 17:21; Mar 19:29)

Again, if the occupants are not saved, the demons will return eventually, as it is the same as leaving a beautiful mansion unlocked, fully stocked, with an invitation to enter on the front door.

The Scriptures only talk about oil with spices for anointing, prayer, and fasting as being effective.

Incense was used in the temple on the altar (Ex 30: 1, Ex 30:7-9; Ex 31:1) and I only found one reference to Holy water (Num 5:17) where dirt must be taken from the temple floor and be added with the water into an earthen vessel, where the water is used in a jealousy ceremony to make sure the woman will be faithful or left barren. It wasn’t used in house blessings.

To do a blessing upon the occupants, here is an example: (2 Sa 7:29).

There are also blessings on a house and its occupants that come from tithing, which is giving the first tenth of your production to the LORD. (Eze 44:30;  Zec 8:13; Mal 3:10)

You can't ask a God you don't believe in to honor you and your house. (Is 1:15; 2 Ch7:14)

Many people will willingly take your money, and make promises they can't keep, because the demons and evil angels are not under their authority. These people may make the house uncomfortable for the evil spirits for a while, but they will return, that much I can guess from what Scripture says.

To learn more how angels and demons work, you can pick up the first book in my Angel series for free from any major ebook retailer or here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/236544

Ten Things Not To Like About Christians

By Stephen Piersall, God’s Preservation Ministry 

http://sfprs.org/   ß----------Subscribe by email to get all posts and updates.

We read and hear the comments about those of us that do a lot of preaching, sharing, and renouncing all the paranormal activities that many are involved with especially the media. As for the mature Christians who read this and accept it as food for the Holy Spirit within us that is great. Those that are Christians but perhaps “back-slidden" with their faith, get pretty aggravated with our attempts to bring them back closer with God. Those that have NOT accepted Jesus into their lives will lash out with calling us shameful names, posting negative comments behind the safety of their computers and think all is right to their lives.

Why do we buy car insurance if we never plan to get into an accident? Sure you can agree that would be a great deal of $’s in our pockets as usable income. Whether the law says we have to buy insurance or not is irrelevant, since the first thing we are thankful for when we get involved in an auto accident is gladness that you won't have to pay a large sum of money to fix or buy a new car. Have you invested life for your future? This is not rot referring to a retirement plan or an investment in the stock market, but speaking about your future beyond death. 

Whether you want to believe it or not there are a Heaven and Hell, and when we die, we stand and bow before Jesus, and we have our life reviewed, it comes down to whether you have already accepted Jesus or not. No, you cannot pray someone out of purgatory, or cross over an earthbound spirit. Why would that be? Because there is no such thing, and without salvation through Jesus, you will have a future in Hell. On the other hand, if you still choose in the paranormal, you can be one of those fictitious ghosts. Send us an EVP instead of an email if you want to sign up for updates on our website.

Let us share something that may change your mind or give you something to think about regarding your future beyond the grave. The top ten things not to like about Christians is an opinion only. Do Christians act more like Christ than the Pharisees do? If the shoe fits, then maybe you need to make some changes to your Christian lifestyle:

10. The self-righteous argue over which edition of the Bible is holier. Are any of these (KJV, NKJV, NIV, and NASB) versions really 100% correct? Growing up many years ago there was only the KJV, but we need to keep in mind, we no longer speak like the days of Shakespeare. If you really want to study the Bible, then we have to go back to Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. If these newer translations help someone understand God’s word, and we win souls…Amen!

9. Why must we bash other religions and denominations? We are to bring people to God not to religions and denominations. We do not have to agree with what another person feels as comfortable to attending their church as it is for them to think the same about us. The Bible is CLEAR that his bride is the church; He did not say any particular denomination. Wait until you stand before Jesus and defend your viewpoint of condemning his bride!

8. People who follow God’s rules are better than those who do not. We should stand against those who oppose Christian values and feel grateful to be a Christian when we see other people’s failures and flaws. We should see God-given value in people, regardless of their past or present conditions. God is for everyone, and in fact; God works in people’s lives, even when they are not following him. We need to demonstrate love and compassion just as Jesus showed us by his example. How much time do you personally spend time with non-believers to help them follow Jesus?

7. Those that go buy fancy cars, clothes, homes, etc. and then when the collection plate comes around in church, we pull a few dollars out of our selfish wallets and feel good about ourselves. Jesus said, “Give back to Caesar. What is Caesar’s, and to God? What is God’s”. Tithing is giving to God your 10% right off the top of your income, and that is the amount before taxes too. We all feel the economic pinch, but for our churches to exist and prosper, we must give of all our resources, money, time, community, etc.

6. Do you remember the TV show “Leave it to Beaver”? Did you ever notice that the parents never went to the boy’s activities, with school sports or attending church? Sure, they would go to Beaver’s school, but that was when he got into trouble. By not attending church as a family and getting involved except on holidays sends a message to our children. You decide if it is a good or bad choice as a parental role model.

5. Bullying is in the news more and more and is becoming frightful. Look in the mirror, when you decide to bash a well-known pastor because you do not believe in their interpretation of Theology. Do you see a bully? Why are you not praying for them as Jesus taught? We are to pray for; those who have not accepted Jesus, those that have hurt us, and those that are backslidden. Who shall cast the first stone?

4. People who say they will pray for you and never do. Listen to others to learn their story. In fact, try to discover the needs of non-Christians rather than waiting for them to come to you. We should be praying ceaselessly. Start your day and end your day in prayer. Talk to God throughout your day, and give thanks for all the good things into your life. Do not be selfish in prayer. Pray for others before your needs.

3. Why must people attend church have to wear high $ fashions (women showing their cleavage), and have all their gold jewelry on display? Our Church has a come, as you are approach. It is not a good idea to put on a false front of your possessions or even your knowledge and experience. We need to be more humble and contribute to our churches and communities without attracting attention to ourselves. Do not let PRIDE or SELF-ENTITLEMENT get over the way of demonstrating your Christian walk.

2. People who proclaim they are mature Christians based on years attending church, but do not do anything except show up on Sunday mornings. Last weekend while at church, there were plenty of seats and pews and did not need any more deadwood just be sitting around. Read your Bible, pray daily and volunteer when opportunity is there. The more involved you become in the local church you will enjoy the fellowship of other believers, as well as get a chance to help in your community. Just remember you reap what you sow.

Lastly, the number-one reason of things not to like about Christians is…

1. Those that know better but still go out and do ghost hunting and believing in earthbound spirits, etc. Wake up and smell the new-age cologne you are wearing. When in doubt read Deuteronomy 18, and you will see that you are committing sins. Beware of false prophets and know Satan and his demons are masters of disguise. Have you ever been tricked by a salesperson to buy a different car than the one wanted? Do NOT get tricked into believing your future is full of rewards and find out you're stuck in Hell tormented forever! 

The Test

By Paul D. Joao

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 

2 Timothy 2:15

There was a time in my life before joining the paranormal teams and understanding the nature of Ghost in the paranormal universe as my upbringing permitted as a Christian to not deal with spirits of course that only spirit that was allowed was the Holy Spirit. As a Child, one night seeing a spirit in my own bedroom watching me as being not afraid of it. This had lend me to in the following years to understand the nature of spirits. As my Christian community did not speak on it so looking elsewhere for the answers and understand that being a sensitive as the field calls it. A few people who were either girlfriends of friends or mine had seen spirits unbeknownst that when My time in teen Challenge as God laid before me a plan and a place to study His Word though scriptures and Books by Christians Authors who had experience in the preternatural, A Christian term for supernatural. These would lead me to a night that God would test me and this is the accounts of that unforgettable experience.

My time in Teen Challenge was a great experience as understanding God’s love and what being called for.  To me it was a training ground by day walking in the woods seeing angels as they were watching me as they would move fast and in a whisper hearing them, in church or by the pond. Often telling people, do they see them as they could not see them but felt something there near them. At night, it was a different story, late in the night sitting in the gathering room looking over my shoulder and seeing demons in front of me. Trying to come into the room where I was. As one night, sitting, praying, look behind me, and a woman appeared right behind me as I got up from my seat this woman walked into the room. Soon after, I walk around the place seeing if this woman would follow me as outside of the building it would follow as I went to my bed and prayed that night. This would prepare me for the test, one day a roommate told me about a farm, and they need some people there to work. The next couples of days, reading books from I talk to spirits by Victor H. Ernest to Kurt E Koch and others.

That morning came as the location to pick us up and take us to his farm, as we drove up at his place. It seemed nice a country style farm with cows and other animals. The first thing that drove my eyes on is the farmhouses abandon building where owner wife did not want to stay there. So I walked up to the garage and peek in though the window and seeing children spirits on the other side. As I asked the owner if he knew anything about it and he’s response was yes, as he told me his wife and others have reported to seeing them as well. After that I asked if I can take a walk though and he said go ahead, as I began to walk in seeing a blue spirit running away from me and the children screaming in my ear. Telling me to stop and do not go forward to the living room. me and a friend of mine, was with me as I first begin to walk in the house for the first time it felt like being in a crowded room on the first floor and in the second floor there was nothing. When I walked into the porch in day light, I quickly turn around and seen a woman walking towards me she was from a 18 century clothing with her hair in a bun, trying to get my attention. I decided to back to the owner and help him that was my purpose there in the first place.  As we all were talking about it and the owner not telling me much, which is a good thing. It was getting dark, and the owner need a mirror from the house so I told him that I would get the mirror for him, walking into the house felt better but in the bathroom, it felt it did not trying to move fast and get out but again before I was able to get out. The living room was dark and with windows, that you could not see them is that dark, starring in the room looking a picture while something was coming closer to me. My friend seen me and pulled me out there. At a distance away from the house, I look back at the porch as the demon had its claws on the edge of the door frame. On the backside where we did some work the ground did not felt right with me as if it was like a sinking my feet in now in the dark I had seen the woman as she should me where the children and her were buried with blood that glowed in the dark. Something told me to go into the garage and I would understand. The owner, and me open the garage and looking around on the backside of the garage was a door that look like it went into the ground, because the was the house was located on the property there was a garage separating the house and the mount or the hill. As I laid my hand on the door that went to the hill and feeling this negative demonic on the other side of the door, that did not me to open it, so I left the door closed. At first, the owner did not believe in first later after we regrouped.

We were going to cast out the presence, closed the doors of the spiritual world, and send this children and teacher to the next world. I opened the prayer using what my training had told me and asked the owner to repeat the words I would say. In a moment, watching a blue spirit take a form in the second window and knowing there was no lights in the house the transformer send a firework in the sky, and we did the same thing and again the transformers send another firework in the sky. so I used a closing prayer that came into my head feeling the God Authority come down on me. Moments later, seeing spirits run away from the house as we believe it work and the owner called his wife and she wanted to meet me in person.  When we left there to go to their house it felt and my friends were talking about it as I asked God that this night was triumph because of God authority and release its tormented spirits. the owner told me the whole story as the house was a Native American school house and a man came and killed the children and the teacher as their bodies were placed on the property. he also stated that I could not know the whole story, as his wife came out spoke to me and told me that thank you and she was a sensitive as well but being a Christian, and like Christianity when it comes to spirits it a do not speak or talk any more further. Later on that night as the owner treated us to pizza we agreed to not to speak about that night to others in Teen Challenge, sometime later as my friend would congratulate from there he send in his testimony that because of what we did that night change him as he did not get into the details. That night he felt God for the first time as was another person after, as for my another friend that was there, it sparked a deeper sense of Prayer for him, to see the power of God in front of him, made him more in tuned with God after that night. For me, in the years to come as come across different people who may believe or not in the paranormal or think that it’s a waste of time.

My response is why is that darkness can make people get closer to the Truth, which is the Jesus Christ. Sometimes it takes God Love to change people lives around. I think back in those days and remember that God is always tests us even when we do not know it, He might send a demon in your way but knowing how to call on the authority of Jesus can demonstrate a true sign from Him that He is there. In the following years, as I hear from different aspects from the Christian and Non Christian view that what I did may have spark something that wanted me to get into in Life, perhaps a vessel of both Christian and Non Christian can look up too.  

I Was ... Wrong

By Bridgette O'Hare

I was wrong.  Deep down I knew I was wrong...but I did it anyway.  And this wasn’t the first time...I’ve done it before. 

Justifications swirled around in my mind, muffling the little voice that was trying to remind me to do the right thing. Man, those self-righteous justifications sure are loud...aren’t they? 

Have you ever wondered why the voice of reason - the voice of truth - never seems as loud as those arrogant, sanctimonious voices that often drown it out?  Have you ever wondered where that subtle voice comes from and why it doesn’t just shout at you:

“Hey...dummy...yeah, you... STOP THAT!” 

Why does that voice speak so quietly when so many other voices are barking loudly around you?  I have asked that question - many times. Always after the fact, I hate to say.  The catch is, if I listen to the right voice I don’t have to ask myself that question afterwards.  Yet somehow I find myself asking it time and again.

Have you ever done something that you were pretty sure was wrong, but you justified your actions to yourself?  Hard to drown your own voice out, right?  I know you have.  We all have.  It goes with the territory of being human.  We make mistakes.  Sometimes big ones.  Sometimes we do things that we feel like God couldn’t possibly forgive us for.  But He will, He does, He has.  If we have truly gone before God in prayer and confessed our sins, asked Him to forgive them truly from the heart, then we are fully forgiven....no questions asked!!! 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Don’t you wish it were that easy with people?

I know from personal experience that sometimes it doesn’t seem so simple to us.  We wrestle with those voices in our head that say God couldn’t possibly forgive us for something so horrible.  Those voices are liars!  Those voices are Satan-sent and want nothing more than to see you suffer and not TRUST GOD.  It’s this point that I personally would like to say:

“Hey...dummy...yeah, you... STOP THAT!”   

(ok...I really don’t think you’re a dummy...just trying to make a point)

No matter what you have done, no matter how horrid you think it is, no matter how repulsive it truly is...God has already forgiven it if you’ve already sincerely asked.  What you are dealing with now is guilt.  Guilt is a powerful weapon in Satan’s arsenal.  I should know...I’ve been attacked with it over and over.  But God’s forgiveness trumps any weapon Satan has - every time.  You only need to have faith in God’s forgiveness.

If you aren’t sure how to come humbly, yet boldly before God to ask for His forgiving grace...keep reading.  As always, He has already given us the instructions.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

God wants us to approach His throne with boldness...boldness He bestowed in us when we became His children.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Guilt is nothing more than heavy chains Satan wants to keep draping around your neck as he pushes you closer and closer to the edge, hoping to push you over and watch you drown as they anchor you beneath the dark waters. Matthew 11:28 tells us that God doesn’t want us to carry that weight around.  He wants our burden to be light.  He wants us to give that burden to Him.  Hand over the chains...they don’t belong to you anymore.

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” (Psalm 55:22)

Jesus has already shouldered the sin, He has already paid the price of forgiveness, He has already bore your guilt as His own...He has done all of this through the blood that He shed for all of us on Calvary.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)

We still have to make amends for our wrongs, we will still have to face the consequences of whatever our actions bring, but that doesn’t mean God will never bless us again.  It does mean we are forgiven and we can go on knowing that by His blood, we are forgiven, we are healed of our transgressions, we are new in the eyes of Christ, all of our sins are passed away and our slate is wiped clean.  

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)