A cup of coffee and deliverance?

I didn't expect to be casting out a demon when I went to coffee with a friend this week. But what better place to release the kingdom of God and cast out demons than the local coffee shop.

To protect my friends identity and honor him, we will call him Larry for this post.

With bibles open Larry and I enjoyed each others company and the sweet presence of our Lord as we shared from the heart about life. It was like all the other times we met for coffee, until Larry began to share that often he feels condemned and shamed about himself, and he beats himself up over different situations. He explained how often he hears accusations in his mind like, "That was stupid. You're an idiot. Why did you say that?" He also confessed looking in the mirror and cursing profane words at himself recently.

I knew we were dealing with a demon as Larry was sharing. The Holy Spirit told me it was a spirit of Self Hatred as the magnifying presence of Jesus was thickening in the room. I led Larry through a deliverance prayer and we cast the demon out of his life and asked the glory of Christ to fill that place in his heart. The atmosphere was charged by the Holy Spirit and joy filled the room. We continued to encourage one another as my friends eyes were filled with tears of joy and the Love of our Father.

Later that day I received two texts from Larry explaining how amazing he was feeling and that God was speaking to him all day about how much He loves him. I saw him again that night and he said, "Thanks for this morning. This has been life changing."

Sometimes we don't need to forgive other people, rather we need to forgive ourselves! Jesus remembers our sins, mistakes, and failures no more and cast them into the sea of forgetfulness. Jesus peers into our eyes with breathtaking grace. His kindness leads us to repentance and His grace empowers us to believe we can take on the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed coffee and deliverance. I think I would like to give it another go.

Isaiah 61

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
² To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
³ To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness...

Grace, Grace, Grace,

Cody

Growing So Fast

We moved into a house at the beginning of August. It has been great. It has 3 bedrooms and a nice fenced in backyard. Abigail will be 14 months in 5 days which is crazy for me to believe. She loves playing with her big brother and copies him often. She likes giving hugs and has started saying, "hi," recently. And if you tell her to go put something, like her diaper in the trash she can do it! I have started doing some preschool with Samuel and he is picking up on things very quickly. He is able to recognize almost all of his letters, he can sing the alphabet song, he knows his shapes and he can count to 10. This past Thursday BSF started up again. This year we are studying the book of Acts and some of the books Paul and Peter wrote. I've enjoyed reading the Word a lot more this year than any other time in my life. I am looking forward to this study and the discussion I will get to have with my BSF group. Samuel really likes going to his bible study class. Last week after his class he asked me if I knew Luke was a doctor. Here are a couple quotes from Samuel the past month:

While looking up at the sky at a small plane he said, "How can a person fit in that small plane?"

While walking in downtown Cody, he said, "Did you know those buildings are called scraper skies?"

For the Sake of Love

I love the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I sometimes feel like the Holy Spirit is the most forgotten. The Body of Christ forgets that He is still as much alive today as He was when the disciples experienced His power in the book of Acts. I recently started to do a study looking at scriptures in the Bible about the Holy Spirit. Here is some of what I found.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your rememberance all things that I said to you. (John 14:26)

Jesus told his disciples..."It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you...He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." (John 16:7, 13)

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

It's an adventure living for the King. You never know where His Spirit might lead you. It could be to pray for a woman at the grocery store. He could lead you to buy lunch for a co-worker. Or He could lead you to move to a state that you have never been to before. We don't need to be afraid to step out and follow Him. He is a good leader. His leadership is perfect. And as we step out in faith when we feel those little nudges He will speak to us more.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." (John 14:12-14)

In the above passage Jesus says that anyone who believes in Him will do greater works than He did through the power of the Holy Spirit! And He says whatever we ask in His name He will do. He wants us, His Bride, to know that we have authority in Him. And ANYTHING that we ask in the name of Jesus that is according to His will, He will do it. This is our inheritance. He is giving us an invitation to partner with Him. He doesn't want us sitting on the sidelines bored with the pleasures that the world has to offer. He wants us in a real relationship with Him. Moving where He moves. And stepping where He steps. He desires to see His Bride stepping into the fullness of the calling He has for her.

The Lord wants us to move and walk in the Spirit today. He desires to see believers loving the people around them. Healing the sick, setting the captives free, and loving the unloved ones. Do we desire this kind of relationship with the Lord? How far are we willing to go for the sake of love? How abandoned are we willing to become?

If we give ourselves whole heartedly to the Lord, give up the idols in our lives and allow His Spirit to consume us like a fire than He will move through us in ways we never could have imagined. There are people in the Body of Christ that have a calling on their lives to do great things for God but because they are not willing to become fully surrendered in every area of their lives the Spirit is not able to do these "greater works" through them. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is dwelling inside of us. Are we willing to surrender everything to partner with Christ and watch Him change the world one person at a time?

Oh Lord, I give up the idols that I hold onto in my life so I can have the fullness of what you have for me. I want your Spirit to move without limits in and through me. That I wouldn't care what I might look like or what others might think of me. I want my heart to be humble, lowly. I want to be a vessel used for your glory. That many might be saved, delivered, and brought into the fullness of your Kingdom.

Love,

Jess

Abigail 13 months