Declarations of Positive Faith

Use positive expressions to proclaim what the Bible says God has for you as a His child.  For salvation, healing, freedom from the curse and pain, proclaim and claim the complete work of the cross, even when your physical senses and present experiences seem contrary to the proclamation.  For freedom from sin or addictions, declare and believe in your victory over them even though you are not yet free.  (And do what is necessary to be free; see the getting help section.)  In the spirit world, you appropriate what God has done for you and given you through proclaiming His very real power over your situation; the physical will have to follow.

It is never foolish to proclaim (verbally, mentally, or physically) over situations, seen or unseen.  Your proclamation is your belief in action.  But it is not belief based on faith alone, is is belief based on something real; on the work that Christ did at Calvary.  It is real faith, based on real work that Christ did, and based upon the Word of God (the Bible).  The Word of God in your heart and your mouth, combined with your faith, is a force far more powerful than an atomic bomb.

Your words of faith are what put you in a position to receive from God and what puts God in position to move on your behalf.  Please understand that your words of faith (declaring what you are not experiencing), can take great effort.  John 6:24 says that our work is to believe in Jesus - including what He did for us.

Faith and Grace

In everything related to faith, there is no open door to do wrong.  Grace - Unmerited favor, forgiveness of sin through Jesus and relationship with God the Father through Jesus' death-is not a license to sin.  As a redeemed child of God, you are to make every effort to do right, to reflect His nature, power, and presence.

When you do fail (sin), grace gives you ample room to live before God without punishment (although there are natural consequences).  Part of God's grace at the time of your sin is to give you knowledge of right and wrong and the desire, and ultimately the power, to do what is right.

Because God is PERFECT, His acceptance of you outside of Jesus would only be possible if you always did right 100% of the time.  One wrongful "hiccup" (sin) would make you unacceptable.  Yikes!  Aren't you glad God made a way?  (The way is grace.)

The truth is, you and I break God's rules every day.  We frequently do wrong.  From God's perspective, no one is a "good person"  He certainly doesn't weigh our good and bad on a scale and let us connect with Him and go to heaven only if the good outweighs the bad.  That's a big relief;  no one could ever get there otherwise!

The Bible contains many passages about humankind's duties.  The Ten Commandments set the standards: Do no murders, do not steal etc.  Other commandments include the duty to love; see Romans 12:1 & 2 and 9-12, see also 13:8.  The duty to submit to governing authorities (but not as an excuse to reject Christ) is mentioned in Romans 13:1-7.  Homosexuality is condemned int he Old and New testaments (see Romans 1:26-27), as are bestiality and other sins.  Sexual immorality is dealt with in many places in the Bible and mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:8.

God Has Not Abandoned You

Jesus came to you with Himself, with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  It isn't just that He came, showed you His love by dying for you, later to abandon you - leaving you to fend for yourself.

After Jesus rose from the dead, He returned to live in your heart. (remember that the spirit dimension is different from this one and that we live in it also.)  Jesus inside is no metaphor;  He really is inside you, and through His presence you have a new nature:  you are a new creation.

No matter how alone, ashamed or convicted you feel, God has not abandoned you.  If you've accepted Jesus into your heart, God is there-truly and actually there as spirit.  He moves inside your heart, mind and body to direct and heal you.  You have become fused to God.  In hardship and trauma, we often cannot feel or sense Him, even though He is inside us (cohabiting with our own spirit and the evil spirits who are working against us) directing our thoughts, memories and prayers.  John 14:26:  "He will teach you all things, and bring to remembrance all things that I said [scriptures and other divine messages] to you."

Through Christ, you've become God's child.  You're part of His family.  You carry His name.  You're protected and loved.  You belong to Him.  The Bible says in 1 John 3:1:  "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.  And that is what we are...!" (NIV)

He also sent the Holy Spirit to live in you.  He, together with the fullness of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirits) is whit you forever.  He is not only with you, but continues to act on your behalf - teaching, counseling, and helping.  He is there in every decision, in every part of your life strengthening you, being a true friend.

God has a sense of humor

Aside from God's humor manifested through me (an individual and lowly member of his creation commenting on what He did, does, and is) I want to share a grand joke that God played on me.

I was in Lima, Peru en route to Ecuador.  I arrives late but wanted to go out for a meal.  The room clerk advised me to leave everything in the hotel safe except what I needed, so i took $20 dollars and went on my way.  Not long after, I was assaulted and the $20 dollars was stolen.  I went to the police.

I was mad.  That night I complained to God.  In my heart, I wanted a Christian to comfort me, to tell me how nasty these folks were to rob me.  But what I said to God was: "Father God, send me a Christian."

Before my flight left the next day, I got into a taxi for a tour of the city.  The driver, an off-duty cop who was moonlighting, would not shut up.  He spoke of his misadventures and, as the ride went on...sin.  I didn't want to hear it;  I wanted a tour.  But he just would not shut up.  For more than two hours I listened to this cop's sins.

When we arrived at the airport, fed up, I asked him if he would like to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  Suddenly in tears, he replied "Yes!"

I led him through the sinner's prayer - finishing just as we pulled up to the terminal.

As I reached for the door handle, God spoke to me: "You met a Christian!"  I could hear him laughing.  He knew that's not what I had meant when I told Him I wanted to meet a Christian;  I had wanted to be comforted.  The joke was on me.

I didn't know how to react.  It seemed unfair.  I wondered if there was any way I could return the "Touche'" and play a joke on Him without His being able to know all about it beforehand.  (Alas.  No way!  Well maybe, using the Bible to hold His feet to what we want?)

Yes.  God has a sense of humor.

God is Creative

This is one of the areas where we can get lost in our understanding of God.  He is creative beyond anything we will ever personally experience, but we can see His creativity and understand some of it through our own or another's creativity.  We can also discern its immense power whenever we unleash our own creativity.

I sat in a cafe in Vancouver, B.C. looking at a large books containing photographs of the universe.  I was overwhelmed at the colors, immensity, complexity, beauty, extravagance, engineering (atoms to galaxies), design, bizarreness, boldness, even brazenness of it all.  How could anybody do that?  Why?  Was any good thing not tried?  And the pictures were only of the physical dimension!  How many others exist in the same "space"?

My answer less question was: "What motivated God to do all this?!  Can He just not restrain Himself?"

You and I consider an atomic bomb to be powerful; same with the sun, our solar furnace, the engineering and creation of which is far beyond human understanding.  Yet, here before me in a solitary book was a manifestation of power, design, engineering, and artistry far beyond the sun and far beyond anything I had ever imagined.

Ad God created it all.  I find it beyond absurd, try as I might, to believe that the intricate design of a cell, of DNA, of a human body or that that a planet just "evolved".  Clearly such immense engineering feats call for questions:  Who is the architect?  Who is the builder?

God is creative and powerful beyond anything you or I can fully comprehend.  The good news is that He's also good and holy!  Our planet and immediate environment would be far more magnificent if they were connected to Him.  If He were the ruler of this world, all would work as He designed it to work at the outset:  He would have made it work in goodness and holiness, which is keeping with his character.

Key Things to Understand

Your life consist of living in both the natural and spirit worlds.  Everything that happens to you and me is the consequence of (1) something that happened, or is happening, in the natural world, in the spirit world, or in both (2) the effects of the law on one or the other, or of both worlds, (3) the results of the Cross, (4) the consequences of the acts of a specific spirit or spirits (including, of course God), and (5) our own actions or inaction (both in the physical and spiritual dimensions).

As an aside, a good example of the effect of actions in the spirit world on the natural is found in the book of Job verses 1:15-19.

For the born again Christian, the work on the cross of Calvary made a fundamental change in the very structure of our existence which resulted in a change in the function of the spiritual and natural laws,  Through the Cross, we have left application of the Laws for the purpose of salvation, and we live in grace and are empowered with authority over our fallen natures, bodies and over other forms of evil and, to an extent, are given power and authority over the natural.  The salvation of the cross has connected us to God and makes us heirs to all that God has for his children.  It also made Him our Friend

Spiritual Life

Spiritual life is not the same as spiritual existence.  As mentioned earlier, all spirits have external existence but only those connected to God have life.  Life is not existence, life is being connected to God (us in Him and Him in us) (john 14:21 & 23, John 17:3).  Life is God himself who flows through us, restores us, heals us and blesses us.

Satan has already been judged and sentenced; he cannot repent.  He does not have and cannot attain life.  He is dead spirit in eternal deterioration.  Everything of his kingdoms is technically dead and produces death because they are not connected, and cannot connect, with God.  All religions and witchcraft in their various forms open access to the spirit dimension, but are not life.  Conscious access to the spirit dimension is nothing more that conscious access.  Seeing, hearing, and talking to spirits comes either through seeking access, because of the lack of covering, or generational indwelling spirits.

Our God is a God of Action

God's love for you is not distant or passive; it is close and active inside you.  Working from within, it transforms you so you can receive His blessings.  Through what He sis on the cross, what He speaks to you from the Bible, and what He does, you have His authority and power to have a good life and be well.  God does not take over and rule your life; instead, He enters you, lifts you u, and shows you what you can do to become well, to have the promised abundant life.

The devil subjects humans to the slavery of depression, fear, loss, rejection etc.  God does not make you a slave to Him;  he does not overwhelm you.  He comes alongside and teaches you what to do, strengthens and heals you and makes you you through Himself.  He gives you reign of your life with him.  In order to be you (a person with free will), you act with Him of your own free will.  God sets you free.  It is God who empowers you to take what He has for you.

God is Compassionate

The psalmist declared in Psalm 145: 8 & 9, 'The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy.  The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all his works."

I have seen and lived the compassion, love, acceptance and faithfulness of God.  He has stayed with me in awful stuff and huge errors and sin.  There is NO ONE like Him.

Even in judgement, He repeatedly warns and coaxes us to leave the sin and wrong ways of our lives.  When He pronounces judgement, He is open to changing His mind if we (and even nations) repent (see the book of Jonah).  When God does judge and punish - bringing the justice required by our sin - He doesn't enjoy it.  Regarding his judgement and punishment upon Judah, God states in Micah 1:8: "Therefore I will wail and howl.  I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals and a mourning like the ostriches..."

After Judgement, is a person repents, God is quick to redeem the consequences for good.  He sets the repentant person on a new foundation.  God will always use your own hard-won lessons to minister to others and make them useful for many.

God is not some mean old codger looking to destroy.  He is love and compassion looking to redeem a fallen world, a world He once called "very, very good."

Weavings

As mentioned int he first section of this book, there is a "spiritual fabric" to our lives.  We literally are woven into a spiritual fabric.  This fabric exists prior to our birth.  We are born into the fabric of our families, our ancestors, and their spiritual lives.  What happens to us, and out own actions, further sew us into that fabric and creates new fabric (good or bad).  Once we accept Jesus and understand good and evil and how the spirit dimension works, we can start consciously affecting the weave and begin weaving a new life, freeing ourselves from the undesirable parts of the old.

To expedite this process, it is useful to undo the old fabric with our words.  I do it this way; I say "In the name of Christ Jesus (or Jesus Christ) I rip apart the ungodly and un-useful fabric of my life and I speak and create a new fabric through and in Jesus Christ"

The greatness of God's creation

The greatness of God's creation regarding man is choice.  Unlike animals, humans have the ability to choose their courses.  You are no like the ant (pre programmed) or like a bear operation on instinct.  You are not like a dog that reacts to its environment and becomes the sum of it's input.  No matter what has happened to you, no matter how oppressed, you were given the power of transforming choice.  Our species alone can understand, reason, and make choices, the most important being to choose to forgive, to truly love.  In this regard, you were created to be God's image-bearer, to mirror love, forgiveness, grace and to choose that which is necessary for you to be just, true, pure, and holy. (Phil 6:4)

Faith

Faith is a force.  The Bible says that your faith, even faith the size of an almost invisible mustard seed (Matthew 17:20), is sufficient to move mountains.  As we can push and move things in the physical dimension, so faith pushes and moves things in the spirit world (dimension).  Great faith operates like a bulldozer or crane does in the physical dimension.  If it is big enough, obstacles are removed.

Faith is a conduit.  Faith is a passageway between the spirit and physical worlds.  The things (and works) of God that exist in the spirit world manifest in the physical by your faith in them.  Your faith is the channel that allows spirit things to manifest in your physical world.  Faith also is the interface where God moves on your behalf.

Faith, authority and actions.  Earlier I wrote that you have authority over Satan and his power.  Luke 10:17 and 19, respectively, say: "Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name'" and "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."  Matthew 18:18 says:  "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed (let loose) in heaven."  Faith is your enabler; through faith you believe what He says; with it you exercise the authority that God has given you through Christ.  Through faith you take actions.  By faith you continue doing whatever "it" is until the results manifest, until they become solid and secure for you (i.e. you believe that your existence in God is as He says it is).  See Hebrews, chapter 11 regarding faith as an enabler.

Forgive

You and I are commanded to forgive.  When we receive God's forgiveness we lose the "right" not to forgive (anyone - even ourselves!).  If you don't forgive, God will allow you to remain in bondage until you do; the provision of freedom through the cross will be withheld until you forgive.  Matthew 18:32-35 discusses this.

As a parenthetical comment:  in order to forgive you may have to come to the understanding that God will replace what was taken, and also that forgiveness does not serve as an enabler.  Somehow God will free you even is you forgive!

God, through immense cost to Himself (the death on the cross of His only begotten Son), forgives you;  He expects you to do the same for others.  If you do not or seemingly cannot, you'll remain on the outskirts of God's Kingdom and blessings.  Oh you'll be looked in on constantly, but the decision to forgive remains yours.  T His is one "thing" God cannot do for you.  No matter how difficult it may be to let go and let God handle the justice part of the equation, you can do it through Jesus.  Forgiveness is a work inside your heart and spirit-and yes, it can be hard work!

Escape into praise and God

God has given us an escape, a "place" where we can be protected.  It's praising God.  As the enemy works to overtake us with fear, despair, doubt, and thought hooks to drag us into danger and sin, praising God is part of the way out of danger.

The Bible shows us the importance of praise for withstanding the enemy and receiving from God.  Judah (the son f Jacob) means PRAISE.  Of all the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Judah remained in the Promised Land longest and was principal in its restoration.  Jesus was a descendant of Judah and is referred to as the Lion of the tribe of Judah; that is, the Lion (King and Lord) of the tribe of Praise.  In fact, it may be said that Jesus is the leader of Praise.  He continually leads us in praising God the Father is we're able to hear Him.  The last Psalms (144-150) are all songs of praise to God.

I have lived the importance of Praise.  Praise in my life allows me to refocus on God.  Praise overcomes the worries and fears and cuts off the enemy.  When I praise God, I see things differently:  My perception of "reality" changes and I can see things as they are for me in God.

This is best illustrated by one of the few night vision dreams I've received from God.  In the dream, I was walking along a road with high walls on both sides.  As I approached an intersection I looked to the left and right.  In both directions the road was the same: paved, clean and with a high wall on each side.  I had little choice;  no matter where I walked, I was walled inside a sterile landscape.  IN my dream, as soon as I began to praise God, suddenly the walls disappeared and I found myself in a green, grassy field with pleasant vegetation and a 360 degree view.  All possibilities existed;  every direction was open to me.  Through praise, I escaped limited possibilities and walked easily into a verdant land and endless horizons.

Praising God is an important tool in your bag of spiritual weapons.  It will help you combat despair, help expand your vision, and carry you into God's presence.

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom (rule, way and system) of God is based upon love and forgiveness.  It is comprised of love, compassion, forgiveness, blessing, and provision.  Through and in His government, He gives us authority an victory over the fallen world, fallen creation, and the devil.  God's kingdom is a government of wellness.

We receive the full benefits of the Kingdom of God through the cross of Jesus Christ.  There is no other way to reach and know God and receive all of His blessings (physical and spiritual benefits).  Because of sin the human race died.  All are dead, i.e. separated from God.  Christ died saddled with out sins, illnesses and pains to remove death and its effects;  He also paid the complete penalty for not obeying the law.  The kingdom of God is for all who have surrendered themselves to God by entering though the door (Jesus) that He opened.

Christ died to destroy death.  He resurrected to give us life.  Death to death, life to Life.  (2 Cor. 2:16).  God's kingdom is life, good things (spiritual and physical), provision and victory.

Christ is the only door through which we have victory over this worlds systems and Satan's way of doing things.  Because of the cross, we can leap from death to life.  We enter as sinners and condemned (separated from God); we come out forgiven and free.  We enter and emerge with the power and authority to be healthy and whole.  We enter filled with sin and come out clean and being filled with God.  We enter under the devil's authority and come out a conqueror over the devil, his ways of doing things, and the garbage that he has put in our lives.

The cross is the point of forgiveness, removal of sin and the stain of sin, and of power.  It is where we get united with God, and thorough Christ's death on it have access to the blessings, answers and the help that all human beings desire.  If we follow Christ in and with faith, we have access to all the blessings of His kingdom.

The heart.

Your heart is the core of your being  It is part soul, part spirit and intimately connected to your body -  in some ways it defines your essence.  It needs love and, if there is a love deficit, craves it.  The heart is that part of you that motivates you (along with body and soul).  It is where your deepest self resides and, incidentally, it is where God resides in you.  Your own heart can be your ally or your enemy,

The Bible says, "Keep your heart with all diligence;  for out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23).  Your heart can drive you to extreme actions (good and bad) and into sin.  Your heart is key because if motivates you in the deepest ways.  A heart for the lost can drive a person to preach, a heart for the hurting, to minister healing.  A heart in need of love can drive you to seek love in God and/or in other and to activities (helpful or unhelpful, divine or depraved) to help fill the void in any way it can.

Do the very best you can to keep you heart safe.  Fill it with the right things.  Cravings for love can lead to relationships and sexual immorality or activities/addictions that feel good, that bring you moments of peace and momentary happiness, but which actually "war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11).  Instead of healing, you'll be compelled to endure more heartbreak and yearning and distance from God.  That is Satan's plan.  He wants your soul.  He works endlessly to damage you more every day.

Another issue with the human heart is that your mouth speaks what's inside your heart (Matthew 12:13).  What comes from your mouth mixed with faith becomes reality.  That's good news and bad news (if your faith in God is not robust).  Because of this, it is vital to maintain your heart in right condition so you don't end up snared by your own words.

What lies within your heart has other effects.  The negative things in your heart and their resulting actions will limit you from receiving freedom, gifts and blessings that God has for you and will also keep you from transferring them to others.

Anything that is beneficial and anything that is evil that exists in your life will (to one degree of another) manifest in results - logical results based on spiritual laws and the principals in operation within the spirit world.  Your heart is an integral part of what is in your life.  Your thoughts, beliefs and actions serve to open and/or close spiritual doors and windows, for good or evil in your life, in the lives of others, and to those under you authority.  The results are often difficult to predict.

Always do the best you can.  Spend time diligently filling your heart with the Word of God and the teachings based on it; don't let them depart from your eyes or heart (Proverbs 4:20-22).  Spend time in the morning reading the Bible and praying, then listen to Christian music to resist evil and realize that you do not have to do the ungodly things that flash through your mind like litter in a hurricane.  If you think you HAVE to do something ungodly, your heart is beguiled by Satan.  In some ways, the beginning of deliverance is realizing that you don't HAVE to do the tawdry things your heart craves.  Even if you're addicted to something or someone, you do not have to indulge; but you do have to be treated for your addiction to see this truth and regain the power and authority to abandon the practice.

So, beware of what is in your heart.  The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:3 that there is madness in it.  Ask God to help you with it, to fill it with Himself and to heal it.

Beware death spirits

Remember that Satan, including all of the spirits that follow him and everything of his multitudinous kingdoms and systems, are death (but very real).  Death is his nature and signature.  Living on this fallen planet surrounded by death can become overwhelming to a point where we no longer care is we live or die.  To complicate the issue, when we truly understand Who God is and what He has for us in heaven ( a VERY real place), our desire to depart and be with Him can grow.

The problem with not caring about life as it exists right now is that we open ourselves to not taking care of ourselves and, in more developed cases, we invite death spirits into our body and inadvertently open our family (and those under our covering) to them.

Death spirits can go after you when you're  with those you love most, exposing them to danger from car wrecks, ship wrecks, airplane crashes etc.  Death spirits can also open you to heart attacks, cancer, and other diseases in which people experience slow torment and death at the devil's hand.  There are other types of "death spirits" that bring economic, social, and other kinds of death including "ruin" and destroy some part of your life,

If you already opened that door, close it in the name of Jesus.  Say: "In the name of Jesus, I close every window and door to death to me and those under my covering.  I renounce and reject every kind of death spirit.  I will only die to those things that Jesus wants me to die to.  I cut off from me, and from those under my covering, every evil manifestation to death.  Jesus, I will die to those things that you want me to die to, so that I may have abundant life."

An additional comment about death: accept no death - neither of life, love, work, friendships, etc.  Remember, Jesus came to give life more abundantly.

I have to interject here that there is a godly kind of death: death to sin and the sinful nature.  Satan promotes death of life, God promotes death to death.  Reject Satan's deaths.  Embrace God's deaths (to sin, ungodly self)...for they are life and Life.