Spirit Travel: Night Journeys

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I have had dreams before that I now recognize weren’t actually dreams but were my spirit traveling while I was asleep. I have done it many times while awake on purpose, and there have been other times that I recall feeling the dream itself seemed exceptionally more real upon waking than other dreams, but only two such dreams can I remember.

The first was probably about ten years ago, during the Bush occupation of Afghanistan after 9/11. I was standing in the desert somewhere by a large rocky outcropping of some kind. There was a U.S. soldier there in light, sandy-colored camouflage with an automatic weapon of some sort. I can only imagine he must have been on some kind of patrol duty as it was completely dark out. Anyway, he and I had a short conversation, but all I remember of that conversation was telling him the following: “Both of my brothers have been to Afghanistan already, so I guess now it is my turn.”

On waking this seemed strange in that it was true at that time that both of my brothers had been to Afghanistan via the military posting them there, but I didn’t understand why the dream was telling me that I was in that same country. It was only a number of years later I realized that it hadn’t been a dream and my spirit had taken a trip to Afghanistan to speak to a soldier while my body was asleep in my bed.

The second traveling event was much more recently–in the summer of 2015. I had been up working at night and laid down in the morning to go to sleep, so I was asleep during the day. I dreamed I was in a hospital on their cancer ward in their play-room for their cancer kids. From what I could tell based on the details in the dream, I was somewhere in the United States and it was daytime. I followed a girl, probably eight to ten years old, into the play room. She was pulling her IV pole in tow and was upset because of something a boy there was saying about God or Jesus, but I do not recall what he said. She, however, was near tears.

I don’t think I actually talked to her directly, but turned my attention to some adults who were in the room–a male doctor of Asian descent who was somewhat tall with short black hair and wearing blue scrubs. There were two female nurses present, one of whom had long dark hair that was very curly. I did not get a good look at the second nurse, but I am pretty sure they were both RNs. I spoke to them about death and loss, and informed that that as I was also a nurse that I, too, have had patients die, that understood their difficulty in dealing with death and how they felt. I reassured them that I was not trying to make light of their feelings in any way, but that I did understand.

I then went on to remind them that what they were doing as God’s work and that in reality all they had to do was turn to God in any and every time they were having difficulty and problems and didn’t feel like they could continue in their line of work. I exhorted them that God could take all of their sadness and grief and that what they needed was to stay close to Him to get inner healing for all their emotional hurts so they could continue moving forward to tend to the needs of these children. I reminded them they did need to tend to these children’s needs and bring healing to them.

That was the end of what I recall of that experience, but it struck me upon waking that at least one of those three must have been very close to quitting and needed to hear what I said to them. I was also struck by the fact that it was after 8 am in the morning on the West Coast of the U.S. when I had this dream, late enough that anywhere in the U.S. at that time there would reasonably have been doctors and nurses awake on day shift and at work. In other words, the time of day I experienced in the dream correlated with the time of day it actually was outside the dream, which served in my mind as only further confirmation that I had indeed traveled in the spirit in my sleep.

I found both of these experiences to be unique in that I do not now specifically recall every detail or even why I was there at the time–I simply appeared where I needed to be and it occurred while I was asleep. I do not know if I will ever meet the soldier or the doctor and nurses, or that little girl, but I do know that whatever I did had lasting fruit and that God was responsible for orchestrating my spirit to travel throughout the earth where it was needed. One more thing I strongly feel is that God is taking us to a place where it will not just be at his moving that we travel to and fro about the earth, but that as we grow up and learn how to be about the Father’s business that we will become ale to do it of our own will and volition, initiating these experiences and actively traveling in the spirit to those places in the earth that have greatest need, even without ever leaving our homes, or doing so in our sleep.

If you would like to read more about traveling in the spirit, pick up a copy of my book The Beginner’s Guide to Traveling in the Spirit, available on Amazon.com in both print and Kindle.

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Entering the Kingdom Age

There is a massive shift taking place in the Body of Christ–a transition from the Church Age into the Kingdom Age. Believers are leaving churches in droves in search of the deeper life they instinctively know is available. Holy Spirit is drawing the people out of the church as it has, in many ways, become the new Egypt. Yes, there are many honorable, God-loving and God-fearing men and women who still serve and engage in the “normal” way that church has been done in the past, and this is in no way meant to condemn these people or say that what they are doing is wrong–God will lead each of us individually. However, it must be seen that there is a reason people are fleeing Egypt to head toward a new Promised Land.

While some may find this comparison to be a bit drastic, I don’t feel it is that way at all. Those who leave are often kicked out or were treated so poorly inside the church that it is clear they were not valued, much as the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. Some who leave are in search of something deeper, but many are just in search of something different, something more authentic that isn’t about building a newer, bigger, better pyramid for the current Pharaoh and being used to leverage a larger empire for the church leadership. As they leave they head toward a Promised Land that, like the Hebrews, they have never seen before and are taking it on faith that on the other side of the wilderness up ahead is a better life.

Truthfully, for those who have left the church it is at first very much like a wilderness, often drifting about searching for springs of living water to navigate through the otherwise spiritually dry desert. Some, however, discover quite quickly that at any time they can call forth water from the rocks and find that without all of the external trappings of religion that they are able to drink even more deeply from that fountain of Living Water that is Jesus. Where before there was a list of rules to measure up to, now there is freedom to follow the cloud by day and the pillar by night wherever it may take them.

Even as I am typing this, there is a fire alarm that just went off in the hospital building I am in. This is a prophetic picture that Rome is burning–the church is sick and in need of a doctor, the Great Physician, the only one who can breathe life into a dying system. And it is possible that God is standing silently by waiting for it to breathe its last so he can resurrect the Remnant from its ashes, raising them up to look like His bride, without spot or blemish.

There is a clarion call going out into the earth in these days, a call to wake up. A call to freedom. A call to being. A call to authenticity, and relationship, and oneness. Jesus is determined to have his bride, and He will wrest them from the hands of any who stand in his way, even if that be leaders in the churches. Gone are the days of the top-down leadership where everyone else sits and blindly follows in pews like sheep. Instead, as Jeremiah prophesied in Jeremiah 31:34a, there is coming a day, and even now we are stepping into the firstfruits of it, where “no longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord.” Regardless of whether you are in the “corporate church” or the body of Christ who has left the four walls, there is a shift and we must refocus to step fully into the Kingdom Age, which has already begun. Let’s go!

My Encounter With Legion

Early on in my marriage my wife and I, along with her daughter and son-in-law traveled to Oahu, Hawaii. We spent a portion of our time there in Waikiki, although we traveled to other parts of the island as well. One of the things that struck us was the sizeable homeless population and how incredibly prevalent it was there. In reality it was probably just more obvious there than in some other places in the U.S., but it still stood out in our minds. There are entire regions of the beach on part of the island made of of miles and miles of tents where the homeless live–families, some of whom have jobs but simply cannot afford to live in houses or apartments.

Out of all the homeless, there was one particular man in Waikiki who caught my attention. His name was Ryan. His hair was a bit unkempt and his clothes were not in the best of conditions, but at the risk of being politically incorrect, he was otherwise a beautiful specimen of a Hawaiian man. I mean, given a shave and a better set of clothes, he could be GQ material. At any rate, from what I could see his biggest problem was the voices–he held conversations with other “people” that only he could hear. From my estimation, Ryan’s voices were a series of demons who constantly bombarded him, with a possible occasional multiple personality thrown in there for good measure. It was sad, really, because he was a very nice man who was clearly bound in what would otherwise be considered a “mental health” problem.

Interestingly he seemed to be aware of his voices and how long his personality would remain under control. By this, I mean that when someone is under significant demonic influence (also referred to at times as ‘demonic possession’) it is possible for their personality to remain on top, or fot it to do what I call “go under” and have a demon’s personality be the one in full control of the body. This means the demon’s voice and words would be the ones coming through the voicebox, and the body’s movements would also be under the demon’s control. Subsequently, when I was speaking o him I would have about ten to fifteen seconds after saying his name before the demons would start to exert control again. One time he even said to me “I have to go now” and started to shuffle away right as the voices were starting to come back and take over again.

My wife and I ran into Ryan on a regular basis and I made an effort to talk to him each time, if nothing else than to greet him and wish him a good day. While we didn’t hold any deep conversations or develop a lasting relationship of any kind, I cared about this man and wanted him free. The night before we left the island to head back to the mainland, I was walking along the beach with my wife and we prayed we would see Ryan one more time. I wanted to pray for him.

Although it was dark, the street lights shone on the area well enough. We walked around for some time, to the point it seemed like we weren’t going to find him. We discovered him on the beach leaning against a palm tree and reading a bible from the light of a streetlamp. I let him know we were going to be heading out and that I wanted to pray for him if he didn’t mind. I was nervous this entire time, not sure if what I was doing was right, but I really wanted to pray for him and try to cast demons out of him. I was asking God this entire time to show me what He was doing. Before I prayed Ryan wanted to read me a bible passage. The verses Ryan read to me were a passage out of the gospel of Mark which answered my question straightaway.

“When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!’ For Jesus had said to him, ‘Come out of this man, you impure spirit!’

Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’

‘My name is Legion,’ he replied, ‘for we are many.’ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, ‘Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.’ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.” Mark 5:2-13 NIV

I kid you not. Ryan read the above verses to me out-loud, answering my silent prayer to know whether what I was doing was right or not. And let me tell you, if anyone was in the running for the Legion-demonized Man Award, he was certainly an appropriate choice. He didn’t have the chain-ripping and self-cutting, but he still had a pretty serious case. I prayed a simple prayer for him and commanded all the demons to leave. It was short, simple, to the point, without hours of working with the man to ensure they all left. I prayed for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit and for God to bless him, then Sunshine and I said goodbye and went back to our hostel for the night. I wasn’t really sure how much impact anything I did had, if any at all. Nonetheless, I was encouraged by the verse Ryan had shared and I knew that if nothing else, I had done my part.

The next day we packed and got ready to leave, but we all headed down to the beach for one last hurrah before flying out. To my surprise, Ryan walked up to me and greeted me. I was shocked. Every time I had connected with him before it was because I had walked over to him and directly addresses him. He had never once initiated a conversation with me until now. If I ever wondered whether our prayers have any effectiveness, whether to obey God in strange situations, or whether we have authority to cast out demons, this experience cemented those truths in my mind. We have far more authority over demons than we realize, and if the single un-sure not-highly-faith-filled prayer of a believer on a beach late at night was effective enough to cause a shift in someone’s mental state, how much more when we get purposeful about it. I thank God that he has given us authority over powers of darkness!

The Anatomy of a Miracle

Miracles are often thought to be this mysterious thing that rarely ever happen in life and are entirely dependent on God “sovereignly” doing something without our input at all. Fortunately, this is not entirely accurate and there are a number of things we can do to actively engage miracles. The first thing is to actually believe that we can perform miracles. The old pattern of belief said “if God wanted me to have miracles, He knows my address and knows where to send them. No miracles means it isn’t God sovereign will.” The old posture is one of helplessness and complete dependent on a God that may or may not actually want to pour out His power upon you. Instead of this viewpoint, I want to show you some keys on how to transform yourself to come to a point where you are able to regularly work miracles like Jesus did.

The old posture about miracles is supported by the common belief about sovereignty, but the problem is that sovereignty doesn’t mean what we think it means, and is rather a title for Gods positional authority, whether His will is always being done or not. This means that it is possible for God to be sovereign simultaneously to things not going His way. To break it down further, God’s sovereignty means that he is the highest authority, period. In spite of this undeniable fact, things in life do not always match up with His will–else Jesus wouldn’t have needed to pray for “your kingdom to come and your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven” if it was happening all the time already! Instead, Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” Even God, in his sovereignty as the highest authority in all creation, doesn’t do anything without first involving people so that people pray and His will manifests in the earth. This is a self-imposed limitation that God has created because he wants our interaction (I will not go into this further here but may in a future blog post). Thus, miracles are actually not just dependent on God, but dependent on our interaction.

Miracles don’t usually come about by random chance. Rather, when understanding the spirit realm and how things come from the invisible into the visible world we can be more consistent in making it happen. Hebrews 11:1-3 says, “Now faith is evidence of what we hope for and substance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Faith is a force–a substance that takes the invisible and makes it visible. God formed the universe out of this substance, and He has given each of us faith as well. We can extend that force in our lives and use it to work miracles. Faith is a key to miracles because miracles happen, in part, when we use the invisible force of faith to alter the invisible world.

If faith can create miracles, unbelief can suffocate them to death. The areas of unbelief in our lives will have a direct impact on the effectiveness of our faith. Working over time to alter our beliefs about God, ourselves, and the world around us will also help removed unbelief in our lives. Getting deliverance from demons will also help with this problem, as they constantly whisper lies that can feet it. When the demons aren’t present to feed the unbelief and we have dealt with our own beliefs on the subject, the two main sources of food for the doubt will be gone, and when the food is gone, the unbelief will wither and dry up. Healing from inner hurts also helps in this process as it can help remove access that demons use to influence us. Additionally, healed emotions can help us to have a right perspective about things and this affects our beliefs too!

Miracles usually begin with a seed. Like most things in life we start off with something small, and we use it to grow and learn. As we do so, it also grows within us. Music lessons are a perfect example of this. When I was first given a guitar I could barely play a single chord, and my strumming ability was nonexistent–I was a one-strum wonder. As I continued to practice and play the guitar, I began to learn a few more chords and my strumming ability also increased. Eventually I got to the point where I even began to memorize songs and write my own! What at first could not even have been considered a skill has now become a useful tool in my life, but it took practice over about ten years of time to reach where I am today, and even by worldly standards I am still a novice, but a novice that doesn’t sound horrible anymore. Likewise, miracles begin in seed form. We may not see a lot of fruit early on, but all plants have to take time to grow before the fruit is visible. First the seed breaks open and forms a stem, then leaves, and eventually the fruit will appear, but this happens last. If we don’t see any effects when we pray for and command miracles, we may simple be lacking in practice and maturity in this area! Instead of getting discouraged we need to take the opportunity to practice!

Scripture meditation can play a part in miracles as well. As we consider the things that God has done in the past and allow our understanding to be altered by pondering and focusing on those past-miracles, we can transform our faith and expectation and feed the seed of miracles within us. It is best to choose scriptures that demonstrate miracles to us or reveal an aspect of God’s character or our inherent rights as His children that plays a part in our ability to believe for miracles.

Experiences play a big part in our ability to work miracles. While it is possible to work miracles without ever experiencing them, even just one miracle experience is valuable. Having experienced a variety of miracles firsthand, I can say there is a transformation that can happen in our mind when we witness a miracle. I say “can happen” because whether our mind transforms from that experience is partly based on our heart. If our hearts are closed off to God or the miraculous, it is unlikely we will absorb the spiritual nutrients that are released in that miracle event. Conversely, if we are open and ready to experience and receive all that God has for us, witnessing miracles firsthand is a priceless event and will certainly help transform our minds! As a side note, unlike the original disciples, we didn’t have three years of watching someone perform miracles in front of us very day, so we may need to pray in and seek out opportunities to witness miracles firsthand.

Paired with scriptural meditation and experiences are visualization and imagery training. Ephesians 1:20-21 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” When we imagine and visualize the miracles we are expecting and believing for, we are able to shift our faith and release power. When we do this, this scripture says we will see even more than we were imagining in the first place! The key to this verse is that God is able to do more than we can think, imagine, ask, and visualize according to something–His power at work within us! If we want miracles, we have to put the faith within us into action. It’s not enough to just have it–we need to work it. Interestingly, our subconscious mind doesn’t actually differentiate between fact and imagination. In other words, if we can imagine it, our subconscious belief systems will process it as real data alongside our real life experiences. If we imagine doing miracles it is the same to our minds as if we actually just performed those miracles! Using visualization, we can actually reduce unbelief and increase faith and that without even having to witness a miracle. This is a tool that I believe God has given us so that even if we can’t experience miracles firsthand, we can get some of the same faith-benefits as if we had experienced miracles. Keep in mind here that one experience of an actual miracle is many times more valuable than that of visualization so if given a choice, go see the real deal. However, this is a fantastic tool to use either alongside experiences or instead of them if they are unavailable.

Regardless of whether we are talking about growing a leg out or healing cancer, causing rainclouds to form from nothingness or for a mountain to upend itself in the nearest body of water, or even stranger things such as turning our bodies completely to fire or translocating regularly from place to place, all of these things are miracles and we have a responsibility to this world to become proficient in the miraculous. Jesus himself said in John 14:11, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” Miracles are a form of evidence that proves the Kingdom of God is at hand. They destroy works of darkness and release the light of heaven into the world. God is into miracles and we need to be as well. With the above tools under your belt, go forth and do mighty works!

Faith and a Feather

Last week I was at a meeting in Albany Oregon with a precious group of believers who are hungry for God and gather regularly to seek Him and to engage the supernatural realms. This particular meeting was set aside to seek the Lord in faith and expectation for gemstones from heaven to manifest. Many of those at the meeting had experienced this before, but there were those there who had not yet but wanted to. I was invited by a friend, and although my wife and I did not attend as guest speakers by any means, we were invited to share a few words about the gem manifestation.

I spoke for about five minutes, and after sharing a brief testimony I encouraged everyone present that God wanted to give them gems–personally. God loves each and every one of us and desires to directly interact with each of us. He desires to lavish gifts on each one, and we are not so special that God won’t do for us what he does for many others, whether it be gems or any other miracle. I encouraged the group to actually go around the room and look for gems, as God is a good Father and loves to give his kids gifts that they’ll enjoy, much like any earthly parent gives their children fun toys to play with just to see their enjoyment. I let them know that looking for jewels isn’t a sign of valuing them over God, but that we are simply getting to appreciate the gifts that God is giving us–we’re not seeking his hands instead of his face, but we want to both know God and get the goodies!
No sooner had I shared this than a well-meaning but misguided woman did the favor of sharing a short testimony with exhortation that we were definitely not to look for gems at any moment whatsoever, and that we were to worship the Lord only and not get off into idolatry with this gem-business. If God wants us to have gems, He knows where to put them so we will find them without searching for them. I must confess, I was very disappointed to hear this. This woman single-handedly dealt a huge blow to the growing faith in the room, and I am sorry to say that I don’t think it ever quite recovered.

I am sure if I had been prone to arguing we could have gotten into one, as the woman had a very contrary attitude about her. I was very gracious with her disagreement, even backpedaling slightly in stating that each person needed to decide what was in his her or her heart with the Lord in how to address this issue she had brought up, when in reality the woman was dead-wrong. She was determined to pursue the issue and made sure she had the last word on the subject so that everyone would bow to her will on the matter. I feel it important to point out that In Matthew 7: 7-8 it says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Jesus himself instructed his disciples to ask and seek, and if Jesus says it, we should probably do it.

A few minutes later during worship the Lord instructed me to get up and start looking for jewels, telling me that if I didn’t they definitely would not appear. I realized that this woman’s words had put everyone in a state where they didn’t want to offend her and weren’t going to look for gems. I got up and walked across the middle of the room and began searching on the far side of the room from her. After I did so, a couple other people got up and started to do the same. It wasn’t too long after that this woman left the meeting, and after she was gone a number of other people also began to search in earnest, and the gathering took a much lighter, more enjoyable tone.

Although no gems appeared that night, there was a supernatural manifestation that evening. While the woman was still present, I found a single small white feather near me on the floor. Feathers are a manifestation I am familiar with and have experienced over the years at home, church, at my workplace, and even in random public places. In this case, I believe the feather was showing a level of warfare that was happening over this issue of supernatural manifestations. I was pleased the feather appeared, but I was disappointed it didn’t go any further than just that lone feather.

This meeting was a bit of an object lesson for me in regards to things-supernatural. We often do not realize the power of our words and the attitude and intention behind those words. We have the ability to create and encourage faith, as my wife and I had done with the things we shared, and we have the power to sow doubt, as that woman had done. I wish I could give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she did it unwittingly, but the purpose of the meeting was no secret, and if she didn’t want to be around people who were looking for gems it would have been better for all of us if she had chosen not to attend.

Faith is a tenuous thing at times, and when faith is wavering the smallest things can tip it one way or the other. It is important, therefore, that we encourage and cultivate lifestyles of faith that push us toward heavenly realities on a daily basis. A single feather from heaven was all that appeared out of a group of 20-30 believers, many of whom have already seen and a few of whom currently still experience this on occasion in their own homes, all of whom had been praying that week and that day for angels to bring gemstones into the meeting. That feather served as a bit of a lesson to me–that not only do I have a lot to learn about dealing with contrary people in large group meetings, but that more important than just those people are the influence they have on the rest of the people present. When given the choice to build up or tear down it is always best to take the high road and encourage our fellow man, strengthening his faith in the good things God is doing. When opinions are at odds, we will never go wrong by emulating the fruit of the spirit.

If you are interested and want to learn more about the miracle of feathers from heaven, consider reading my book:

US Print: http://amzn.to/2aNw1Zj

US Kindle: http://amzn.to/2aBjox2

Feathers From Heaven – Our Personal Story

Gems From Heaven:

Part 1: “Our Experiences”

Part 2: “What Do They Mean”

Part 3: “How Do I Know This Is God?”

Why I Love Gemstones From Heaven

Gemstones From Heaven Podcasts

The Wedding at Sanctuary – An Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from a book that I will eventually write, but for now this excerpt is the only part of the book that exists. I would love to hear feedback on what you might like to read about in the book, as well as any miracles or other cool powers, events, etc. you would like to read about!

“You ready? Ok. Text or call when you’re ready to go — I’m off to Cincinatti, and I have to pick up some friends in Abuja, Nigeria too. And me mum forgot something at her house in Greenwich too, so I have to stop off there with her before too long. Right. Cheers.” Dylan tucked his cell phone back in his pocket, took a deep breath, and shifted to Cincinnati and came back with a couple. In Nigeria he had a whole group of people that came with him. He took his mom back to Greenwich, and, as could be expected, that trip took longer than he had originally planned, as once she was back home there was the cat to feed, mail to pick up, and other various and sundry items to address before she was ready to come back. Not only that, but she almost forgot what she had come for in the first place. But Dylan didn’t – he was somewhat tired of waiting, so he made sure he grabbed it before they shifted back to Sanctuary. With all of the wedding guests present, Dylan then turned his attention to being the groom.

The wedding itself took place in a gazebo on the Sanctuary lawn. The weather was sunny and warm, but the sky was full of fluffy white clouds – not a raindrop in sight. Roses had decided to plant themselves the night before conspicuously in an outline around the chairs and benches on the lawn, and their sweet scent was carried gently on the warm breeze. As the music began and Joelle, the ‘flower girl’, walked down the lawn, a trail of gold and diamond dust fell behind her and could be seen almost like a cloud at waist height dropping little bits of heaven on the grass beneath it. As she turned away from the groom, the dust ceased falling, almost as if someone had flipped off a switch, leaving a bright trail leading from the main house all the way to the gazebo.

Dylan was nervous, but knew he had waited for this day to come and was excited it was finally here. Everything was almost perfect. When he saw Annalisa leave the house, father in tow, he was slightly scared yet elated, and he knew that everything definitely WAS perfect. Just before Annalisa made it to the chairs, a shaft of light opened up from among the clouds and hit the gold-diamond dust. It was as if she was walking on a shimmering golden rainbow.

She waltzed up to the gazebo where she was ‘given’ to Dylan by her father – not as the old custom of women as property, but as a visible sign that her father approved and trusted that Dylan would love and care for her as only a husband could.

Fallon was standing there with Dylan as well, waiting to begin his part of officiating the ceremony. A not-so-surprising ring of gemstones had started to appear at his feet, but what surprised the onlookers most was when they reached the part of the ceremony for the rings. Both Dylan and Annalisa took a step back, and as if on cue, two small white boxes appeared before them and fell from midair onto the ground. They picked them up and opened them, to find a pair of matching blue-sapphire wedding rings with bands covered in the Josephine knot – a knot symbolic of love and intertwining paths. The reception was held inside the Workshop – and after the food was served, the festivities quickly turned to music and dancing, which in this case really meant ‘worship and dancing’. At one point a holy hush went through the room, as the air became electric. Everyone there could sense that ‘something’ was about to happen. On one wall of the room, what looked like a movie screen appeared in midair, complete with location information appearing on the bottom. The text stated ‘Nairobi, Kenya’. The image on-screen was of a building which suddenly had an explosion blow out one side of the building. Smoke was pouring out and people were screaming in the background. Everyone in the room broke into chatter, as the whole room was experiencing the open vision as a group.

“Quickly to me everyone.” Dylan called. The Sanctuary Team quickly ran to him, as well as some of the other wedding guests, wedding-clothes and all. “Anyone else want to come? Last chance.” One or two more joined, then the room became still. Everyone joined hands and Dylan shifted once more.

Set the Children Free

When I was a child, I, as all children do, would act out from time to time. Depending on the severity of my behavior or the level of disobedience I might get a quick “stop that” from a parent or if bad enough I would get a severe talking-to with punishment to follow. When this would happen, however, I had the misfortune to regularly do something that my dad would get really angry at–I would smile.

“What are you smiling about?” he would shout.

“I don’t know.” Would be my unconvincing reply. The truth was that I really didn’t know why I was smiling–I just was.

Usually during that lecture I would also receive the fateful question: “Why did you do that?”

Oftentimes my answer would again be “I don’t know.” Unfortunately for me, my dad rarely ever believed me when I gave that answer, although it was usually the honest truth.

Fast-forwarding approximately twenty years later, I am helping raise my three step-granddaughters. They are wonderful little people full of energy, creativity, and love. They see us drive by the homeless and they want to share their snack bar or stuffed animal with the man outside the car window. They randomly come into my room in the morning to get cuddles and literally yell my name in excitement when I return home from work. These girls have sweet personalities and honestly, I don’t think they want to upset me or hurt others when they act out. This is why it is such a juxtuaposition when they act poorly without any reason, especially when they are well-fed and have had naps.

I love them a lot and enjoy living with them, most of the time. Interestingly enough, the second of the three smiles when she gets in trouble. I have to say that I can understand now why my dad got so angry because it feels like the child isn’t really taking you seriously when you are upset over their behavior and are trying to communicate that to them. I have mostly tried to chalk it up as nervousness, but even then it hasn’t sat well with me. Incidentally I have also of late had some run-ins with the girls where when asking why they chose a poor option for their behavior (such as randomly hitting their sister when unprovoked) and they would answer “I don’t know.” The oldest did this once recently where she and another sister were cuddling, and she literally just up and hit her sister for no reason. During the conversation I had with her (which was calm and well-reasoned), she again repeated the “I don’t know” mantra as the reason she did so, and as she said this, I realized something: My granddaughters don’t do things like this because they want to, and they really don’t know why they do them. Rather, they are being directly influenced by demons.

When I realized what I was seeing was demonic activity I didn’t freak out–there is no reason to. However, that revelation helped me to see that I needed to address some of their problem-behaviors from a different approach than before. When the second oldest is both acting out and smiling about it while I am disciplining her, I need to address the spirit that is behind the behavior and not just her. When the oldest randomly hits her sister for no reason and doesn’t even remember doing it five minutes later, I need to address the root of the problem: demons and their access points.

When I started to do it this way I got highly interesting results. The eldest actually described to me what the demons were doing as I was casting them out. She also told me at one point that the “king” was still in there. Keep in mind that I have never told her that demons operate in clusters and that the head spirit of the cluster works really hard to stay in as long as possible, even to the point of sacrificing other spirits under its command. The youngest was really antsy and unfocused as I began to pray over her, but as spirits left she settled down and had a better attention span. Additionally, when I called a spirit up and commanded it to tell me how many spirits were in there, the spirit, using her voice, said “a lot” I asked again, this time asking for a specific number, and it told me “sixteen.” I have news for you, my three-and-a-half year old granddaughter can count, but not very well. If asked for a number she is going to give me a small number like three or four, not any number over ten. This was a confirmation to me that I was on the right track!

After putting the pieces together and getting results such as the ones above, I am now firmly convinced far more of our discipline problems with children, and not just my grandchildren, are actually a demon problem. How would our parenting styles change if we were able to lead our children into soul-freedom at an early age and heal the inner wounds that give evil spirits access instead of letting them be run around from the inside by hidden spiritual forces of darkness? I’m not suggesting that every time a kid is disobedient that it must, therefore, be a demon, but I do believe we need to change how we deal with children’s problem behaviors differently than we have before. We at minimum need to look at the issue of demons as part of our discipline process.

I believe that as we do this, addressing root causes and casting out demons as a normal part of life and child-rearing, we will find our children grow up well-adjusted without all of the problems that normally plague teens and young adults: rampant drug-use, teen pregnancy, gangs, bullying, binge drinking, anorexia, sexual identity crises, etc. If this is a new idea to you and you have children, keep in mind that this realization should create hope in parents, not shame or blame for failing to recognize this problem before now. My oldest granddaughter is seven. Clearly I have missed the boat for a number of years, but thanks to God’s grace the tide is turning and I won’t be waiting another seven years to start figuring it out! Praise God for revelation and deliverance!

To Live is Christ

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21 NIV)

I have always found the above verse to be confusing, because I always felt Paul mixed up the order of importance–namely that to live should be gain and to die be Christ, as the goal in the end is heaven when we die, isn’t it? Well, over the past year or two I have come to a deeper understanding of many things, including what this verse is actually saying: that it is Jesus’ will for us to be alive, but that even IF we die that there are benefits to be had as well. Yes, I said “if” we die, because to live is Christ. In other words, it is Jesus’ will, purchased by the breaking of his body on the cross and the shedding of his blood, and through his death then resurrection, that we can live in a new life that is no longer bound to the law of sin and death, making it so we can now live forever, on earth, in human bodies that will be transformed, without ever dying and going to heaven for that to occur.

I think Paul actually knew a bit more than he let on about this subject, as he said something else to the Philippians that is a real head-scratcher if we look at it a little deeper. Philippians 3:10-14 says “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Paul freely acknowledges that he wants to be like Jesus — who died and then rose again three days later to live in a newer, better, everlasting body and was walking around here on the earth! Paul says that he does not believe he has already obtained everlasting life here-and-now-on-earth, but that he is pressing on toward the goal to win that prize. Paul knew what the goal was and he knew what the prize was — living forever. Jesus said it to his disciples in John 6 and a bunch of them stopped following him after that. Is it really that hard to believe that God doesn’t want us to die? In 2 Timothy 1:9b-11 Paul states “This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.” What? Has brought life and immortality to light? Paul flat-out states in this passage that God made him an apostle and teacher of the gospel of life and immortality.

Friends, I want to encourage you that the Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a whole lot better than we have been taught. You don’t have to die anymore! Death has been defeated, which is why death no longer has any sting–it is powerless! If this has tagged your interest, I encourage you to read through the gospel of John and see how many times and how many places Jesus told his disciples that they would never die and would live forever if they believed in him. It’s there–go see for yourself!

Gemstones from Heaven – Radio Replays

As many of you know, I just published the Kindle book “Gemstones from Heaven” discussing the miracle where God causes jewels to appear on the earth much like He gave manna to the Israelites in the desert. This is a unique book and the very first of its kind as no book has ever been written prior to now explaining what this miracle means and how we can experience it in our own lives.

I have recently been invited to a few internet radio programs to discuss this miracle and the book. I invite you all to catch the replays, found at the links below:

Listen to Praying Medic and I as we talk about Gemstones from Heaven and what God is doing on his podcast at www.prayingmedic.com
Come join me on “Touched by Prayer” as I discuss the miracle of gemstones from heaven with the host, Lisa Perna at www.touchedbyprayer.com

You can catch the three-part blog series on the topic here:

Part 1: “Our Experiences”

Part 2: “What Do They Mean”

Part 3: “How Do I Know This Is God?”

If you missed it, get your own copy of the book–just follow the link below. If you enjoy what you read, leave a positive review and help other readers locate the book. Many thanks to you and may you be richly blessed with gemstones from heaven!

4 Steps to Healing

I recently prayed for a friend who had chronic lung issues which were being exacerbated by the smoke from the fires in Oregon and Washington. Instead of doing what I might normally do, which is to pray for healing for the lungs, I decided to take a different approach, one that I think many people will find helpful when praying for healing–I did some inner healing, belief-modification, deliverance, and THEN prayed for healing. It worked like a charm — healed in a jiffy!

For the sake of truth-in-advertising I should mention that the session took over two hours between all the praying and deliverance and such, but the actual part where we did the healing took only a few minutes! Why is this? Simple. Almost all healing does not originate from a physical problem.

What? How so? Certainly there are times when someone gets in a car accident and has a broken leg or eats something poisonous and gets sick. Yeah, that happens but they are the minority of the injuries, sickness, and disease that we deal with in life. As an RN myself, I see tons of sick and injured people at work on a daily basis, but many of those problems didn’t start with a physical problem. Rather, they began with emotional and spiritual problems and erroneous subconscious beliefs.

You see, this world is far more complex than we often remember, and there are levels of reality, each of which has an influence on the others. However, there are higher realms and lower realms in this reality, and in order from highest to lowest they are: spirit realm, soul realm, physical/body realm. The spirit realm is the domain of God and is the “location” where heaven exists. Our spirits naturally interact in this realm and they give feedback to our soul, which acts as the interface between our spirit and our body. Our soul is the seat of the mind, will, and the emotions, so when we have inaccurate beliefs or emotional trauma or injuries, there is a kink in the flow of life-energy from heaven through our spirit into our soul and down to the physical body. These kinks create their own negative energy signature that can influence or even directly cause disease in the body. In order to remove these kinks and free up the flow we have to update the wrong beliefs and heal the heart-wounds. As we do this, our soul stops releasing the negative energy because it is no longer PRODUCING it, and our bodies receive an uninterrupted flow now that our internal blockages that prevent healing are gone.

There is another thing that needs to happen though. Whenever we have an area of weakness in our souls, whether through emotional hurts or wrong beliefs, demons find a way to gain access to inhabit a part of our soul. When they inhabit those weak places they will remain there until they leave of their own choice or until they are forcefully ejected. After dealing with the access points, as mentioned above, casting out demons usually becomes pretty simple. Once the demons are gone, there are literally NO hindrances to healing, which is why it tends to become easy to get people healed after doing the above three steps. While I will not promise it is always that straightforward, I encourage anyone who wants to be effective in healing to seriously consider this model: inner healing, correcting mindsets, deliverance, then healing.

One aspect of inner healing that can be overlooked at times is the issue of fragments. These are fractured parts of our soul that hold onto the memory and pain of traumatic events. While I did not address any fragmented parts during this healing session with my friend, addressing and healing/integrating fractured parts of ourselves offers a huge benefit toward inner healing. The truth is that everyone has them; most people just don’t know about them. This is a very deep subject all on its own, so for more details, consider reading my coauthored book Broken to Whole: Inner Healing for the Fragmented Soul. I and my coauthors go in-depth on this subject to provide the tools and resources needed to gain total freedom and wholeness.

Again, no two prayer-times are exactly alike and the above items can be rearranged as the situation calls for, but if you are sure to cover those issues it is highly unlikely that there will be much difficulty when it comes time to do the healing part of things. At that point the only thing that might hold you back is your own faith, but when all the hindrances are out of the way, it really doesn’t take much of that either! One final word to note, for any of you who have chronic conditions that you have prayed and prayed and prayed for healing but have never been healed of, if you have never covered my 4 Steps then I encourage you to find some hope to keep moving forward and give it another try, but this time following my steps first. I would be surprised if you don’t see a significant difference when it comes time to be healed!

If you are finding it difficult to deal with emotional problems and/or aren’t getting good results, you can also try flower and gemstone essences. Freedom Flowers is geared toward providing high-quality flower essences and divine gem essences that help resolve stress and other emotional issues. Check them out!