This is Good Framework for Healing

Just a note of explanation.  This is from Bethel Church in California.  The ministry of healing is called SOZO because SOZO means wholeness, nothing broken, nothing missing, rescued, saved.  The principles are good and if we grasp them we grasp the foundation of our healing and when we minister healing for others.

Ten Freedom Foundations
Sozo Ministry centers on basic principles, or understandings. Getting these in our hearts is critical. These ten foundations frame our ministry understanding and approach.

1. God Is Good, Satan Is Bad
Let’s not get confused. This is the most important foundation of all. If God is for us then who can effectively be against us? But, if we believe God is the source of our misery and pain, then we end up confused and hopeless.

2. Your Freedom Is God’s Will
Jesus came to “take away sins” and to “destroy the works of the devil.” We can be very sure that when we are about doing those two things we are moving directly in line with God’s clearly stated will. So, we can know that God will strongly lead and support our efforts--it is His delight.

3. We Have Hidden Enemies
This world is, in a real sense, a war zone in which there are real casualties and real prisoners, real captives, real destruction, and real loss. While Satan and his demons have been soundly and totally defeated, there is still a struggle against his schemes, lies, presence, and works in places of unbelief, sin, sickness, torment, and wounding. It is normally to their advantage to remain hidden and to pull strings behind the scenes.

4. Issues Are Not Random
Each person is created and gifted to reflect, uniquely, something of God to the world. Satan’s target is the place in a man or woman, a family, or even a nation that most reflects the glory of God--their destiny calling..

5. There Is Always a Reason
There is always a source and a point in time when something happened that set into motion a course that ends up with an individual in torment, pain, and sin. It may be difficult to uncover, but it is always there. God knows the point in time of the wound, lie, or sin. He knows the reason or cause. God is willing to help us find it.

6. Prisoners and Captives
The ones we help are of two types: captives and prisoners. This distinction is important to freedom. Captives have been captured in war through no fault of their own. They have been held in bondage due to wounding and false beliefs normally incurred when they were young and defenseless. Prisoners are held in prison because they have done something to deserve it.

7. Partners with God
All Sozos are done with the authority of, under the direction of, and with reference to God. We are His partners, junior to be sure, but partners and children. This means that we listen for God and follow His lead. In Sozo we unapologetically stop and ask God what to do. We ask the person to listen on the inside for His answers. We ask, “What are you seeing, sensing or hearing?”

8. A Culture of Honor
We also honor vulnerable hurting people. When someone is vulnerable in our presence, confessing sin, weakness, and the most intimate details of their failings, our response must be one of gentle understanding and true compassion. Sozo ministry is safe and confidential. To speak words that are not grace-imparting grieves the Holy Spirit.

9. Applying God’s Solutions
In ministry we encounter different kinds of issues: wounding, entanglements, sin, ungodly beliefs, demons. God has different solutions for different issues. Sin is confessed, wounding is healed, entanglements are renounced, truth is believed, and demons are cast out. We want to use the right tools in the right ways.

10. An Event and a Process
We go from glory to glory. We grow over time. When we are stuck, Sozo can help break us free to move on. Sozo is a lifestyle not a destination--a way of relating, a flow of freedom within the church.

How Satan uses Culture to FLOOD your life

We are living in a boiling pot.  We are being slowly cooked and we think things are just warm.

Satan has succeeded in using our culture to constrain us, like a jail does.

He has convinced many good people to accept things that a generation ago were unthinkable.  He didn't use personal deceit, he used culture.  We would have to go against peer pressure (Culture) to stand against the deception.  The creep was slow at first, but now it has become a flood.  A flood of ungodliness.

When I came of age in 1960 (a generation ago) there were things that were considered out of order.  Some things were shameful: 

• Unwed Parents
• Open Homosexuality
• Nudity on the big screen
• Lady Chatterley's lover as a book (very tame by today's standards)
• Swearing in the movies (Frankly my dear....etc) I never even HEARD the F word till I was 13
• Corruption in Government
• Openly Gay Clergy
• Openly Atheistic proponents
• Taking Government assistance (welfare was considered shameful)
• Not working for a living (being unemployed was a shame)
• Depending on a paycheck rather than being in business for yourself (working for someone was looked down upon)
• Friends with Benefits (fornication without shame with anyone)
• People fornicating on TV (not the act) without shame (Desi And Lucy didn't share a bed)
• Greed exalted
• Theft expected
• Violence tolerated (Media Violence is quintuple from what it was in 1960)
• Religious freedom constrained (the whole separation of church and state lie)

These things have become so part of our culture that to push back will be impossible without changing the culture.  YET the Lord says, "So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him". Isaiah 59:19

I know the interpretation of that verse is flawed, who comes like a flood?  YET.. the LORD SHALL lift up a standard against the invasion and deception.

YOU ARE THAT STANDARD!

Joey LeTourneau: Drawbridges Opening: A Unique Kingdom Invitation and Advancement

I was in a prayer time recently, asking God about a potential open door that looked to be guarded. While seeking to gain His perspective, I was taken aback by a vision of a drawbridge that was being lowered for me. As I inquired about such, I heard Him clearly whisper to my heart, "Man may guard the doors, but it's the favor of the King that opens the drawbridge."
A drawbridge is an invitation into the special favor on our lives for this season, the unique identity we are called to live out for this time. Drawbridges portray a clear focus on kingdom, and no king invites you in lightly without a special appointment.

Advancement vs. Placement

We are often looking for doors of advancement, but the drawbridge is an even bigger entrance for the purpose of your own special placement. I believe this is a matter of authority. We are often seeking the Lord for how to move forward, and from our perspective that usually requires an open door. While we may be watching for such advancement, God is welcoming us into the greatest access of all to walk in the authority of our unique and specific Kingdom placement. (Photo courtesy: Travels With Nathaniel/Linda Orlomoski/Hawthorne Hotel)
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. John 15:7
Advancement often requires striving, but true Kingdom placement is about identity and creates advancement through far fewer steps or strides. It is about knowing, appreciating, and accepting the special "niche" He has created us for and living this out toward the world.

Kingdom Alignment

But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the Body just as He pleased. 1 Corinthians 12:18
Think of a battery in an electronic device. You can put a brand new, full, top-of-the-line battery into the hatch, but if it is not aligned in its own specified way, the light or power will not be generated. This usually only requires the slightest adjustment and leads to a natural and steady flow of light and/or power. It is about alignment and knowing our own special grace for this time.
Who has He made you to be for this season in the world? How is He calling you to join Him? Such alignment always begins with our intimacy with Him and surrender to Him.
The animal kingdom demonstrates this wonderfully. On a recent trip to the zoo I couldn't help but take in the beauty of how "difference" is so wildly scattered for such strategic and even life-altering reasons. As you watch the animals or read the descriptive placards, you are reminded that they are created vastly different on purpose. They are placed in habitats or regions that are unique to their place in the animal kingdom. When an animal is taken out of its special habitat there is so much more necessary work just to help them function and survive. To the contrary, when an animal is living freely in its unique identity and natural alignment, it flourishes and causes other surrounding species to do the same.

Uncommon Unity

We often think of unity as an end that we pursue. It is commonly seen as a state of existence where everyone compromises to come into alignment. But unity in the Spirit is different. Unity in the Spirit is a seemingly misaligned alignment held together by the One who celebrates our diversity and created us to come together – not in spite of but because of our differences. Such unity is uncommon and marked by intimacy, identity, and difference. As we align with Him, He will align us in His ways with one another.
...And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Isaiah 10:27
Many of us are battling difficulties that seem to keep hanging on. But it is the anointing that breaks every yoke. When we step into our unique, different anointing there is an alignment, a special kind of uncommon unity with Christ, that releases the fullness of favor we already have, breaks off the yokes we've been carrying, and invites us in to the joys we've been waiting for.

Jesus' Final Prayer

That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. John 17:21
Drawbridges are opening, calling us away from the few doors we may all be crowding into, inviting us into a Kingdom alignment that will bring ultimate glory to God. You have been specially appointed by the King to walk in a new grace for this time. Will you leave the doors of the past to accept His special invitation?
Ground will not just be taken in the world by how we move forward, but exponentially so through how we move into and through intimate and diverse alignment. There is a power in this kind of different oneness that Jesus prayed for in John 17 that will cause the world to believe as we each release ourselves to live out His image of us rather than the one we ourselves have been chasing.
The sooner we understand such vital placement for ourselves, the more freely we can bless and empower others to live out their own – even, and especially, when it is different than us! Do you know your grace for this time? Are you struggling to accept it? Just say yes, and watch how the light comes on!
Joey LeTourneau
M.A.R.K. 10:14 Family/Heavenly Hope Ministries
Email: joey.letourneau@gmail.com

Michelle McClain - Words of Life and Light

Prophets are among the greatest gifts the Lord has given the body of Christ, partly because of their God-given ability to build with words. Words spoken in the correct setting can bring forth life and healing to the human heart. Proverbs 25:11 says, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances” (NASB). It only takes one word fitly spoken to a hurting soul to introduce or reintroduce Jesus Christ into that life.

People are controlled with words. Dignity is restored with words. Love is communicated through words. And our worlds are framed and created by words. Many believe that prophets are called to uproot and tear down. Though that’s a vital part of the prophet’s ministry, the ability to build up and create is also a vital function of the prophetic office. One God-empowered word can bring light, structure and fulfillment into a life that is dark, void and without hope, purpose or form.

Genesis 1:3 marks God’s first recorded words as “Let there be light.” God wasn’t simply foretelling light; His words were literally creating light. A prophet’s first devotion should be to release light and, by doing so, expose darkness. It is time to bring restoration, not devastation.

It takes little effort to uproot and tear down, but it takes love, patience and wisdom to plant and build. Many immature prophets—especially those with strong deliverance backgrounds—are quick to identify the devil’s work in a person without any concern for the human soul. They can accurately identify problems yet fail to give solutions.

A mature prophet, on the other hand, offers what I call prophetic prescriptions. He or she doesn’t give blanket prophecies, but instead truly listens to the Holy Spirit regarding the condition of each human soul. True prophetic ministry imparts grace and truth that sets people free, showing them the way out of their sin or to higher levels of spiritual maturity.

It Depends on the Power You USE to be Effective in the Kingdom

I heard this and now am expanding it:

Many well meaning Christians fail to enter into the fullness of the Spirit of God freely offered.  There are THREE categories of these well meaning people.

1. Some will say they don't really believe in those things.  Say they are not for today.  Say that all that stuff passed away with the writing of the New Testament.  The Bible is all we need.

2. Others say that they will enter in to this IF GOD sovereignly moves on them for them to receive power after the Holy Ghost comes on them.  So they wait.  Not really seeking.  Just sitting casually by and if by accident the power should come... they'll take it.  Otherwise they'll stick with what they know and what was passed down to them. They look back to days of old and the saints that walked the earth.  They suppose that the tools good enough for them are good enough for today. 

3. Then there are those who are Hungry for Everything God can provide.  They want it all.  Nothing broken nothing missing.  More Lord More.  Give it to me.

It's a matter of accessing the Power:

Suppose a person is called of his Master to clear a forest of dead trees so new life can come.   The Master offers a New Powerful Chain Saw, fueled up and ready to go OR He offers a Bow Saw, sharp and useful.

In that case, unless I am a fool I will take the Master's Chain Saw.  I will ask for all the fuel I can get, help me find a way to keep it sharp and let me at em.  In not many days much of the dead overgrowth will be gone.  All that will remain will be new fresh living vegetation when the SUN can shine thru.  I will have received POWER after the Holy Ghost came upon me.  Power to do the WORK HE called me to do.

If I were like the second category, I might be deluded into thinking, "If the Master WANTED me to use a chains saw he would have handed it to me. I shouldn't have to reach for it.  Our denomination back 500 years ago felled trees with bow saws and if is was good enough for them, it's good enough for me."   A few trees will be felled but not without a great deal of effort.  Blood Sweat and Tears.  Human effort over Power.


IF I were like the first category, I might say, "No my Master, I shall not use what you provide, I shall rather use the Holy Nail File to take down this dead forest.  I shall work with all diligence to do the work you have called me to".  I promise that person will work very hard and perhaps in time even fell a tree after great effort.  The Forest however would be left substantially untouched.   But he will die with that nail file in his hand feeling like he did well as a good and faithful servant.


Stop trying in your own strength and without the proper equipping to do what you are called to.  God is in the equipping business and you can't do what He calls you to do without the power.  It's Free.  Reach for it.

The Anointing: Do you have this one? by Jonas Clark

Anointing Oil Press

Most have some sort of an idea about the anointing of the Holy Spirit understanding it as the power of God given to disciples of Christ to fulfill the purpose of God. I like what this Brother said, “The anointing is given by the Holy Ghost to get the job done.”

Jesus told us the source of the anointing was the Holy Ghost saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18). We can wrongly limit the anointing to freeing those that are suffering from various addictions, struggling with broken hearts, and even emotional pain, hurts and wounds. It seems we have longed for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to comfort us, minister to us, nurture us, even give us a spiritual refreshing that some just want to soak in. Apostle David Coker, fellow laborer in the Global Cause Network, said we sometimes mistakenly look to the Holy Spirit as comforter and forget He is also our teacher and leader of Christ’ Church. I agree.

From the verse above it is obvious the Holy Spirit does the anointing and the anointing has purpose attached to it. I asked my Facebook friends to tell me what the anointing is. Here are a few sample answers:

“The anointing is the oil of the Holy Spirit internally flowing through a person as the oil of the prophet flowed over the appointed king. “

“The anointing is a supernatural, divine enablement. “

“It is a burden removing, yoke destroying unction.”

“The anointing is given by the discretion of the Father for public use, not for you but others, and cannot be faked.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“To me it's when you are surrendered to the Holy Spirit and He is leading you to act.”

“ I believe the anointing means Christ like.”

“The anointing is the clothing of God in the spirit realm which accomplishes His plans and purposes in the earth.”

“ It's the divine enablement to fulfill a divine purpose.”

As you can read there are lots of different answers to a very simple question all containing various measures of truth. This person had a great answer. “The anointing is the unction to function in the grace and power of God to accomplish His will and purpose.” Like this person and others I believe the anointing is joined to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the anointing is directly linked to Holy Ghost purpose that we can find throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It should be clear however that you can’t have the anointing of the Holy Ghost without the Holy Ghost. That sounds simple but some need reminding.

SPIRITUAL CONFLICT AND LIBERTY

Another aspect of the anointing is spiritual conflict and liberty. Again, some have erroneously limited the anointing of the Holy Spirit to removing spiritual burdens, healing the sick, spiritual warfare, and breaking demonic addictions. We have also seen the anointing desired just to make us feel better as we cope with trials and tribulations. We have even understood the anointing as an enduement of Holy Ghost power that opens spiritually blind eyes. Could it be possible that the anointing does way more than these?

I’m persuaded the anointing of the Holy Ghost is also given for godly conflict producing both spiritual and natural liberty. You already know the “anointing destroys the yoke and removes the burden.” That’s wonderful unless you are the one attaching the yoke and burdening the people. These would see the anointing as conflicting and challenging.

There is an aspect of the anointing on the life of Moses that helps us better understand the anointing for conflict. The anointing on Moses was confronting and liberating. Moses was sent to Pharaoh, not to pray for Pharaoh but to confront him. When the children of God were in bondage to Pharaoh they cried out to the Lord for help. Their bondage was economic. They had become slaves of the Egyptian’ state. This violated the covenant of the Lord that commanded the faithful to be fruitful, multiply, increase, subdue, and take dominion.

God created his family members to be productive.  When the state burdened God’s people, even over governing them to such a degree they could not produce and enjoy the fruit of their own labor, the people of promise cried out to God for deliverance. Jehovah heard their cries and came down to deliver (Exodus 3:9).

Moses was apostolic. He was called. He was anointed. He was sent. Apostolic people are representatives of the Kingdom of God. They are sent to invade, occupy, and influence the world for Christ. Moses was an official representative of the Kingdom of God. As an ambassador and official kurex (preacher) of the Kingdom he made known the will of Jehovah to the Egyptian Pharaoh. Oftentimes I refer to this as a governing anointing. The governing anointing comes from the Holy Spirit and is given to every believer to emplace the culture of the Kingdom of God. It is also the most uncommon anointing today and one of the most needed. I did an extensive audio series on this subject called “Anointed to Govern.”

Moses was sent to confront the bondage maker Pharaoh and deliver God’s people from an oppressive secular humanists’ government. In a secular humanists’ government man rejects Christ and unjustly rules over man. This is called statism. You know the story. Moses met the hardened Pharaoh with God’s mighty power. Again, Moses was an anointed sent one. Pharaoh hardened his heart refusing submission to God’s kingship over Egypt. After a bloody Holy Ghost showdown Pharaoh let the people go. Here we see the power of God in full display conflicting with Pharaoh’s ruling power and bringing in liberty for God’s people.

Jehovah later reminded the citizens of His kingdom, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods (elohiyms) before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:2-4). When He describes other gods He uses the term elohiyms.  An elohiym is a protector-provider. Jehovah reminds the people that He is their King of Glory and those in His family must not look to any other as protector-provider including a secular-humanists’ state. Some liken “graven images” as engraving images such as an ungodly monetary system like the Federal Reserve’s fractional banking system. The Federal Reserve is not part of the Federal government and has no reserves. It is a cartel of private bankers. Within their bankster’ kingdom are, what I coined, the Mammon kings. That’s for another article. Biblical history confirms that God’s anointing is filled with conflict but leads to liberty, not only liberty from addictions and sickness, but liberty from injustice and economic slavery. So next time you ask the Lord to anoint you think of the possibility of receiving the anointing for spiritual conflict that produces both spiritual and natural liberty.

Your partner,
Jonas Clark
www.jonasclark.com

Read more: http://www.jonasclark.com/christian-life/the-anointing-for-spiritual-warfare-conflict.html#ixzz2V3XShTNZ
Copyrights (c) Jonas Clark Ministries - Permission Only

Kathie Walters: Why Manifestations? What Do They Mean?

Demonstrations of His Power
The Holy Spirit always wants to demonstrate what God says. God confirmed the word with signs following (Mark 16:20).
In Hebrews 2:3-4 it says, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?"
Well, we know for sure that God wants to do signs and wonders and confirm His own word because it just said so.
I don't know why some Christians think is it so spiritual to say, "I don't need signs and wonders." Well, Jesus actually relied on signs and wonders and manifestations. He went out of the way to make sure the Holy Spirit had an opportunity to demonstrate the words He spoke.
Jesus said, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35) and fed the 5,000. He said, "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25) and He raised the dead. He said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12) and He opened the eyes of the blind. God always wants to do what He says. The Apostle Paul said, "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Corinthians 2:4).

God is Talking - Take Note and Listen

So God talks to us in various ways. He talks through the Bible which contains the Word of God, and He talks to us through the Holy Spirit who brings us life. The Bible was hard to read for me until the Holy Spirit showed up and made it come alive. Then the Holy Spirit started to speak through preachers and prophets.
Remember when Jesus was answering satan? He said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4). You don't just take any Scripture and use it – you have to discern what God is saying to you NOW – TODAY. The proceeding Word, the Word or Scripture, that is coming to you now, today.
That is why signs and wonders are important. They are a part of what God does and says, and we should pay attention to the manifestations of the Holy Spirit because GOD IS TALKING TO YOU.
Years ago, well-meaning churches would preach the Gospel message of salvation every Sunday night, even though the congregation of 50 had been saved for 20 years at least. While it was in the Bible, it wasn't the proceeding Word to those people. They didn't stop to listen to what God was saying today. That would have moved them to the next place God had for them. Instead, they stayed where they were and "froze" in time.
When God is moving by His Spirit, it is in order to demonstrate something or tell you something. The signs and wonders are not meant to entertain us, although I must say it can be very entertaining, but we should take note and listen.
Many people are smelling the different aromas in the meetings (and out of the meetings). Each aroma is God speaking to you. (I have a great book called "The Spiritual meaning of Aromas, flowers, trees and colors".) Many people have dreams and visions of different flowers, trees, colors etc., but in all those things GOD IS TALKING. For example, aroma of strawberries means friendship with God. Apples, the Beloved's breath, smells like sweet apples – Jesus is breathing on you. Peppermint – refreshing and so on. They are in my book.

Signs

Signs – if you preach healing, the Holy Spirit will heal people because He will demonstrate the Word. Sometimes the anointing comes on someone and God uses them for a sign to say something.
One time when my husband, David, was ministering in Florida, the Holy Spirit was moving on people at the end of the meeting. One man was on the floor unable to move for a long time. He kept trying to get up – you have probably seen the same thing. I saw an angel sitting on the man's chest. I said to him, "God won't let you up until you listen to what He says." After a while he did listen and then the angel got up and then the man got up too, a bit shaken. He told me later that he thought the power of his mind was as strong as the power of God! Well, I don't think he thought that again.
In the same meeting, a lady started running backwards. She ran backwards around the church. Then she ran backwards out of the door and across the parking lot. The elders very wisely decided to wait on God the next morning to find out what He was saying.
God spoke to them and said, "You are not going forward in this move until you go back for the children." The church had David come and bring all the children and youth into the revival and into the anointing. Then the whole church moved on in the move of the Spirit.
Sometimes when I am preaching, my arm or hand gets stuck – I have to wait until we "get it" before we can move on in the meeting. Recently while I as speaking in the Gold Coast in Australia, my left hand got "stuck." My arm was slightly raised and my hand was turned downwards. It stayed like that for a couple of minutes while we waited to see what it was all about.
Then my hand felt like it was resting on the head of a small boy. I could feel his hair under my hand. I remember how Jesus blessed the children. In the original translation it means He laid hands on them to anoint them. The children are anointed too – they have the same Holy Spirit as any adult. My husband David has little kids praying for the sick and sees miracles happen all the time.
So sometimes YOU get to be the sign and wonder, but God is talking. Listen and watch – don't let things pass you by. God doesn't always "speak" to speak. He speaks through signs and wonders and various gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Blessings,
Kathie and David Walters
Good News Ministries
Email: kathiewalters@mindspring.com
Website: kathiewaltersministry.com