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Is the Bible A Magical Book?

2 Feb

There is a command in First John 4:1 to “Try the spirits.” Why? Because “many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Several things are involved in this business of trying the spirits. Certainly, we must know the scriptures to be able to successfully try the spirits. Then again, without a love for the truth, we will most likely be deceived. When there is the love for the truth, spiritual discernment is enhanced.

We need to keep in mind that we do not need to know everything in order to try the spirits. We do not even need to know all about the subject at hand to try the spirits. If we know enough to uproot some of the foundation of a given position we can know that the whole thing is wrong. For example, I remember twenty years ago, that I heard the testimony and read the book of Mary Baxter, “The Revelation of Hell.” She wrote and spoke about how she went to hell and there were ferocious demons there who were kind of the “correction officers” of hell. Well, I was impressed with her revelation until I realized that the scriptures report that Jesus has the keys to hell and death. Therefore, Satan and his demons are not in hell. Only those fallen angels from Noah’ Day and the Flood have been jailed there. According to the scriptures, demons are not in control of hell. Jesus is. Therefore, I don’t need to hear anymore about Baxter’s revelation because it contradicts scripture. Those that are familiar with the scriptures are less likely to be deceived,as long as they have rightly divided the word.

Moreover, the bible should not be used as if it was some sort of mystery book for the purpose of divination.

 When seekers begin their journey into the occult arts, they look for a divination system that will allow them to predict future events. Tarot cards, crystal balls, bones, ash, tea leaves, coffee grounds–literally ANYTHING–to help the diviner focus and concentrate. For example, the I Ching is an ancient Chinese book that is used to guide the decision-making process. You open it up randomly, and there you will find a proverb or a saying by Confucius which is used as a means to interpret the diviner’s immediate personal situation in order to make a decision.

In like manner, Christians unknowingly use the scriptures as if it were an I Ching. They have a particular problem, and then they open the bible randomly, look down and fix their eyes on a particular verse. Whatever the verse says is then interpreted in light of the presenting situation. This is divination. Sometimes the Lord will use a similar method, not in an effort to reveal the future but to teach. For example, moments after I was born again on March 29, 1977 on a Monday at 4pm, I opened the bible that I had recently purchased. I looked down at John 3. “You must be born again. That which is flesh is flesh. That which is spirit is spirit. The wind blows, etc. Instantly I understood what had just happened to me. So the Lord used this method to teach me. He has never used it to reveal the future but the enemy does use the scriptures in that way. So, be careful.

So I caution you that even though the bible is a mystery book, it is not mysterious in a occultic sense. It is not a magical jigsaw puzzle where all you have to do is open it, and find your missing piece to guide you to make this or that decision. The mystery is that in order to really understand it, you need to have an unction from the Holy Ghost to do so, otherwise, it is a dead book to the unsaved. The gospel is foolishness to those who are in darkness, without the revelation of the Holy Ghost to guide their understanding.

That said, it is also noteworthy to mention that many who call themselves “bible believing” very often do not apply commonsense to their rather rigid scriptural interpretations of present day circumstances and conditions that were not a part of the conscious awareness of biblical writers 2 or more thousand years ago. I personally believe that “God can do what He wants to do whether it is covered in the bible or not.” Certainly, He will not contradict His written word, but that doesn’t mean that the Lord will not do something that is not specifically covered by it.

Click bookcover for e-book & title link for paperback
 

The book “the New Idolatry” compares new age occultism to the Charismatic Movement.  Here is a brief excerpt from the New Idolatry, a book  that needs to be a part of your library:

“Consider a Christian woman who takes the scriptures that say ‘submit to your husband’ which leads her to passively accept persistent battery from her husband’s fists because the bible says that God hates divorce. So she remains in a godless marriage because of her faulty interpretation of the bible.  Because she is a “bible-believing” Christian, she believes that she has no other choice but to submit to her husband’s every wish and demand, regardless of how demoralizing or revolting.”

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Spiritual Fruit: The Evidence of Salvation

2 Feb

A primary way of recognizing spiritual fruit  among the people in your Christian world is to  get to know them by how they handle offenses and confrontation..

We know we are saved when we love the brethren!

The first fruit to look for is the fruit of love. The Apostle Paul wrote that we know each other in the Lord by how much a professing believer loves the brethren. Love is most demonstrated by truth and not by meaningless platitudes or words of comfort by people pleasing people. Jesus defined love as our faithfulness to keep His commandments. When we do, then we abide in His love. And his first commandment is to love the brethren.

In order to love the brethren, trying the spirits is a means of recognizing a child of God when you see one. This is a particularly challenging command in the church age of Laodicea— an age of rampant spiritual deception where the wheat and the tares are not only growing together in the world but also in the organized church and in various ministries. Counterfeit spiritual births have really muddied the waters where spiritual discernment of the truly saved is concerned.

There is an effective way to try the spirits to determine if a person is NOT saved. Simply ask them in casual conversation to share with you how they became born again. If there is no emphasis or even mention of sin, godly sorrow, repentance, the cleansing power of the cross, forgiveness, then the person simply had an ecstatic, mystical experience that did not emanate from the Holy Ghost’s ministry of conviction of sin. Do not be fooled if you are told about a miracle that took place if the evidence of repentance is not in the testimony of conversion. Recently I heard the testimony of someone who was instantly healed of a substance abuse addiction, with not even a desire for drugs in years, yet addiction is manifested in other areas of her life, ie. to food, gambling, and other obsessive/compulsive behaviors. In a few days, the lack of love for the brethren was clearly apparent.

Besides a Spirit-led repentance, there are other obvious ones who when you ask them to define what they mean when they say “Jesus was raised from the dead,” you will discover that they do not really understand the Lord’s bodily resurrection. Simply put, you can be assured that salvation did not occur for them. As Paul warned the Corinthians, anyone who does not comprehend this fundamental Christian truth, “their faith is vain and they are STILL in their sins.” (I Cor 15:17)

What I have discovered lately is that there are those among the brethren whose testimony seems to be completely in line with the scriptures concerning repentance and resurrection, yet they too are not saved. These imposters are extremely dangerous because like Judas Iscariot, they are completely delusional. Once discerned, they should be treated kindly yet held at a spiritual distance as with a long-handled spoon and of course, prayed for if you are so led. Those experienced at trying the spirits can discern them because the Lord will open your eyes “to really SEE them” for what they are. In such instances, you must be as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove. Like my Grammie used to say, “When your hand is in the lion’s mouth, EASE IT OUT!”

The way to discern spiritual counterfeits is rather simple for the Lord said “you will know them by their fruits.” The fruit most obvious as it relates to discerning the saved is that born again people will always have a special love for other Christians, even when we may disagree on spiritual subjects that do not hinder anyone’s salvation. .So if you really want to try the spirits, get brave enough to go to those who claim to be in Christ and tell them of your offense. If their reaction is belligerent, argumentative, with no care or concern that they have hurt your feelings, and you are assured that YOU are one of the elect of God, then there is your answer. That person is NOT saved regardless of how many bible scriptures they can quote. They are in disobedience to the word of God where loving the brethren is concerned.

I see this kind of thing operative on Facebook ALL of the time among people who claim to be “among the brethren.” Each so-called Christian puts out a post, in competition to others. If you are not a part of their clique, then they will not comment on anything that you post, unless they can criticize. For example, I posted an article on Eddie Long’s sexual abuse scandal and I got a bunch of “that’s in poor taste, Pamela”. Then everybody got quiet when one of their own posted the same article. They read everything I post, yet they refuse to comment or even press the “like” button. These are people who really have no love for ALL the brethren.

They are respectors of persons.

Rejection of the brethren is a major strategy of the devil, particularly when another alleged “child of God” is the messenger. I spent 25 years of my spiritual life around counterfeit believers who had no love in them. Yet, because they were so religious, it never really crossed my mind that they were not saved. Remember that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against devils and demons. Therefore, devils and demons are forced to use people as their messengers. Consequently, the enemy’s natural and spiritual emissaries are usually false brethren.

I have found that once my spiritual discernment has been exercised sufficiently to recognize good from evil, a counterfeit emissary cannot remain around me for very long. There are times when I am contacted by email by people who have either visited my website or read one of my books or articles who sense that we are on the same spiritual track. Yet as soon as a difference comes to the surface, they behave in unfriendly, unseemly and even disturbing ways. No one should have to agree with you on EVERYTHING for them to continue loving you. Christian love is manifested as tolerance and acceptance. Whether you left their home church or not, if they are true Christians, they ought to accept the fact that you love Christ and you are in obedience to Him, even though your path may be different from theirs.

So a lack of tolerance, flexibility and acceptance is a sign of a religious demon and or a counterfeit birth. True brethren may not approve of your doctrine or even your lifestyle but to them, acceptance and understanding is essential to Christian love. Rejection based upon doctrinal differences is of the devil. So keep this in mind. Since the religious demon assigned to you has an agenda centered on causing YOU to lose your salvation, he will use human vessels to bring you to a point of discouragement by any means necessary. Whatever causes you to feel hopeless and without God in the world, is not the same factors that can be effective against someone else. So this demon will use different strategies but the goal is the same. He will do whatever he is permitted to do by God in an effort to seduce you to hate God. Like Job’s wife, the enemy will find someone in your life to say by their actions and their message, “Curse God and DIE!” The enemy knows that if you curse God, he has YOU in HIS pocket!

To know more about the many facets of the religious spirit, you need “Faces of the Religious Demon.”

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…That Woman…..Jezebel

2 Feb
What Is a Jezebel Spirit?
By Pam Sheppard
I don’t particularly like the name.  From a psychological perspective, the Jezebel spirit is a personality type.  It is called narcissistic personality disorder.  You cannot “cast out”  someone’s personality. Personality transformation is a renewal of the mind over time, a part of the deliverance counseling process.  However, from a spiritual perspective, the Jezebel “spirit” is simply a religious demon or a religious spirit. I called my third book “Faces of the Religious Demon,” because there practically countless ways that this demon manifests itself.  In the book, I present cases or profiles that were like “faces” or various facets of this demon.
There are people with religious demons who are tormented either with hearing voices, fears of having committed the unpardonable sin or of going to hell  as well constantly are bombarded by blasphemous thoughts. Some can’t even read their bibles out loud or silently. I recall a case where a captive could only read a pocket bible for fear that a demon would use her arm to pound her in the head with a hardcover, and possibly sustain  a concussion.
Need deliverance? Call 518-477-5759
So it is easy to embrace  a quick-fix  simply to relieve or stop the torment. Most workers  simply attempt to cast out demons  as a means to remove ALL  of a person’s bondages.  It never really works. I have found that setting captives free who have a spirit of religiosity  in any form,  involves more than simply driving out the demons.
There are usually various strongholds to be torn down. Since strongholds are incorrect thinking patterns, this is done through the renewing of the captive’s  mind according to the Word of God. As the Lord said “you can’t put new wine into old wineskins or it will break. You can’t put a new patch of cloth on an old garment or it will tear, and you certainly cannot serve 2 masters, or you will hate the deliverance worker and love the preachers and teachers who are a significant yet hidden cause of your captivity.
The purpose of deliverance is to gain freedom from any hindrances in your life that would keep you from walking in the fullness of God’s plan for your life and your relationship with Him. Remarkably to some, it is often habitual religiosity that is the most difficult stronghold to overcome, even stronger than an addiction to alcohol or drugs because religion and “going to church” is culturally engrained and is therefore considered “the right thing to do.” It takes much time and patience to free captives from religion or a deceptive form of spirituality–a form of godliness that denies the power thereof.

A Deliverance Classic by Pam Sheppard
The bottomline is that I cannot work with a “religious captive” who continues to go to church, feed from the tables of either deceived or false prophets, and who is praying to a fake god. Therefore I mandate that while involved in deliverance counseling or mentoring with Sheppard’s Counseling Center, the captive must cease and desist from all religious activity. Old things must pass away so that all things can become new.
“When considering the demon referred to by the field of deliverance ministry as ‘Jezebel,’ we generally think of a female seductress and therefore sexual images are foremost in our minds.  It is true that where idolatrous religions are concerned, sex, lust and worship are intricately intertwined.  But make no mistake.  The distinguishing characteristic of Jezebel, is that she is religious. Jezebel is the religious face of the spirit of the Anti-Christ, an overwhelming narcissistic prides that has an arrogant self-image of perfection. Mainly caused by a refusal to accept their own imperfections, the pride of this particular face or facet of the religious demon is the denial of a sinful nature.  For built into the soul of such a one is a strength of will that hinders a captive so afflicted, to be able to submit to the will of God. Consequently, such captive find it extremely difficult to repent.”

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Jezebel – Prophets of Baal

2 Feb

I have seen a lot of people speaking on Jezebel.  A LOT.  We are to study to show ourselves approved.  So it is commendable that more are grasping the reality of the existence of Jezebel in the local church assembly and in leadership, in particular.

But I think that the jury is out on how many people realize that Jezebel-as formidable a spirit as she is-serves another god, a god that is blindly being served, worshipped and honored in many pulpits and altars today.

The GOD of BAAL.

The Spirit of Baal is an ancient spirit.  Baal means ‘master,’ ‘owner’ or ‘lord.’  People were celebrating the god Baal as far back as the 14,000 years before Christ was born.  Most of the Baal worshippers were the descendents of the oldest son of Noah, Shem.  Baal was the god of fertility, lands, cattle, rain, prosperity, and the harvest.

To make a long story short, the Israelites constantly fell into idol worship of Baal time and time again because they wouldn’t trust God for their daily needs-especially in the scary, rocky, and hard times.  Even though God had told them to not serve other gods but to trust Him to supply every need-day by day, the Israelites time and time again fell into idol worship and spiritual adultery.  They would forget what God had done for them and would go ‘whoring’ after other gods….mainly Baal.  Baal was mostly a Canaanite god.  Canaan was Israel’s ‘Promised Land.’

Reminds you of any times today?

In the midst of yet another recession, a LOT of people have strayed away from trusting God TOTALLY for their daily bread, in Jehovah Jireh to provide all their needs.  They don’t see manifestations of God as often as they would like, so they doubt his Presence today.  They have forgotten their testimony and gone whoring after the gods of prosperity, relationships/marriages, children/having babies/baby worship, idol worship of man, even after ministries.

Remember in the Word, Jezebel’s prophets ….they were called ‘Prophets of Baal.’  They had a ‘ministry,’ too.

And just as Queen Jezebel was seeking and recruiting for her company of Prophets of Baal, so it is NOW that the Spirit of Jezebel is recruiting for people to worship her god, Baal.

In order for her to be successful in her recruitment efforts, Jezebel has to get you to come to her ‘recruitment centers,’ just like an army recruiter has to have those who are interested in enlisting into the Army to come to their recruitment office.  These recruitment centers are called ‘churches.’  Some of them are more specific, and are labeled ‘Schools of the Prophets’ or ‘Schools of the Apostles,’ maybe even ‘ministerial school.’

The Qualifications for acceptance into a Baal Recruitment Center:

1) You have to be weak-minded

2) You cannot know your TRUE identity, and be willing to take on another identity.

3) You have to be ambitious.

4) You have to be willing to put man before God.

5) You have to be prideful.

These are the basic foundational elements that a potential Baal worshipper must possess to be recruited into one of these Baal Recruitment Centers.

I was there.  I once was a part of the ‘system’ known as Babylon, the Baal Recruitment Center.  I was very zealous towards the things of God, but very naive about the capacity for flesh to simply let you down.  The following is an acceptance letter into one of the most prestigious ministerial schools in the country, the Potter’s House School of Ministry.

So it took me getting abused over and over again by the system before I got ‘a revelation’ that it was time for us (my children and I) to COME OUT from among JEZEBEL, her recruitment centers, and her god BAAL and BE SEPARATE!!!

That was my FIRST STEP into deliverance from Jezebel and all influences of Baal.

My deliverance has been progressive; as I take one more step towards victory, I share it.  Why?

Because it is my desire to see others FREE from Jezebel’s and Baal’s grasp.

In Faces of a Religious Demon, by Pam Sheppard, I learned the many more faces and layers of a religious spirit.  I knew probably about 6 years ago I had been contending with a religious spirit, but just didn’t how to do so effectively.  Pam’s book has helped me tremendously in revealing to me the demons that plagued myself as well as the various people in my life who had abused me, within AND without the organized church system.

I have always been a victor, but NOW I am truly indeed MORE than a conqueror.  We gain victory through strategy.  And we gain strategy not by hooping and hollering, or dancing and speaking in tongues.  We’ve done that for years, and all of that has proven to be UTTERLY INEFFECTIVE!

WE GAIN STRATEGY THROUGH KNOWLEDGE.  AND THEN WE USE THAT KNOWLEDGE TO GAIN WISDOM!

And this book is chock full of knowledge and wisdom!

I encourage you to find out for yourself if you got a religious spirit or if religious spirits plague you and your loved ones…by ordering your copy of  Faces of a Religious Demon today!

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Eternal Security? Yes—And No

2 Feb

I do not believe in the doctrine of eternal security. Yet I do believe that as long as a child of God desires to be saved, he or she can certainly remain so.

For as long as we abide in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, our salvation is eternally secure. Nevertheless, Satan has assigned a religious demon to each and every one of the elect of God, with two primary assignments: Either to cause us to lose our salvation or to destroy our flesh. Consider the fornicator in Corinth. Paul warned that unless this man repented of his sin, he would be turned over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that the man would not LOSE his salvation. This warning suggests to me that sins of the flesh can cause the saved to become unsaved. Rather than see that happen, God apparently has an agreement with the devil that un-repented sinners are in his hands and quite frankly, that Satan can kill them as a means to protect their eternal life.

So where it comes to trying the spirits in your own life, it is important that you know that Satan is after either your salvation or permission from God to kill you. Certainly the devil would prefer that you lose your salvation but I suspect that he will settle with the opportunity to kill you before your appointed time. This is the reality.

In order not to depart from the faith by giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of religious devils, it behooves us to know the enemy. All else is wishful thinking and downright foolishness. Without a doubt, we have an Advocate with the Father who serves as both Intercessor and as Mediator. As our heavenly lawyer, He stacks our case with grace and mercy. Yet Jesus needs us to provide Him with a victorious defense. Therefore, learning about the tricks, schemes, wiles and overall agenda of the enemy cannot be done if we concentrate on God alone.

This was the lesson of Job. He was afraid of evil and consequently he wrongfully assumed that ignoring Satan by focusing solely on God would keep him safe. Most assuredly, the enemy cannot stop God from saving us. However, once we have been born again, the enemy has the right to attempt to sift us like wheat and thereby hinder our spiritual growth and render our works as wood, hay and stubble. If or when we enter the kingdom, it is as by the fires of a very narrow escape.

So it is crucial to always keep at the forefront of your mind the knowledge that you are in an invisible war. You are either an overcomer or a captive. There is no middle ground. You are either a victor or a prisoner of war. The manner in which you try the spirits is the essential factor in your plan to first of all, “stay saved” and secondly to “not be turned over to Satan for the destruction of YOUR flesh.” Jesus Christ of Nazareth must remain the Vine. We are the branches. If we abide in Him, we bring forth much fruit. If we don’t, then we are cast forth as a withered branch and we “are burned.” (John 15 1-12.)

If you have left or if you are considering leaving the church, then you might want to consider allowing Pam Sheppard ministries to equip and prepare you for such a time as this.  If so, give us a call at 518-477-5759.

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