Newsletter Oct 2013

One of my favorite teachers, Derek Prince, once asked the Lord, “What is the nature of witchcraft?” The answer he received was this: “Witchcraft is the attempt to get people to do what you want them to do by the use of any spirit that is not the Holy Spirit.

If any person has a spirit that they can use it is not the Holy Spirit.” Derek went on to say…”this is because no one uses the Holy Spirit…the Holy Spirit is God”. He continued to say that witchcraft can also be identified as the illegal use of authority against God given authority.

Another name for illegal use of authority is rebellion. One can identify witchcraft in the church by discerning a spirit of manipulation, a spirit of intimidation, or a spirit of domination. None of these behaviors come from God. So each believer must check themselves as to whether or not old behaviors are still prevalent in the “new man.” Prince has a fourteen part video series entitled, “Is there witchcraft in the church?” It begins here for further study.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6kHq1OB0-Y

The bottom line on manipulation, intimidation and domination is the need to control. In the fallen nature of man is the need to control. Often when our lives are out of control by circumstances beyond our control, we will endeavor to control those things in our lives that we can, gaining authority illegally, whether it be in the home, at our place of work, or in the church.

I have found when counseling, and understandably so, that those who have been abused and especially those that have been sexually abused are prone to create environments around them that they can control. It is through the sanctification process of deliverance that individuals are released from this bondage of control as each of us learns to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says that rebellion is the same as witchcraft.

1 Samuel 15: 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Satan is the author of witchcraft and it all began when he rebelled against God’s authority and was cast out of heaven taking a third of the angels in their rebellion with him. No wonder rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.

All rebellion ultimately is standing against God’s authority and those men and women who stand in positions of God givenauthority. Gaining authority illegally is rebellion against authority figures; it is as the sin of witchcraft.

Taking this one step further, disobedience is rebellion and incomplete obedience is still disobedience. Therefore disobedience is rebellion and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Yikes, we are all guilty, such a state of affairs, where does our help come from?

Our help of course comes from the Lord and the power of His Holy Spirit to change us. The Bible says: If you confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of oursins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What a gloriously wonderful promise!

Satan may be the author of witchcraft, but Yeshua is the author and finisher of our faith. He came that we might have life more abundantly. He has defeated the enemy of our souls and He has promised to set the captives free. We need not fear any punishment from walking unwisely because His mercies are new every morning.

Our God has made every provision for us through the shed blood of His Son Jesus and through the abundance of grace that is showered on us daily so that we are able to walk in His ways. Remember saints there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus, so this study was written for the purpose of lifting you higher through awareness of Satan’s tactics. Let’s pray and be cleansed.

We ask for your forgiveness and ask that you would cleanse us of these unrighteous acts. May your Holy Spirit lead us into all truth and daily work to conform us into the image of Your Son, Yeshua. Amen

Pray for America!

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, [and] giving of thanks, be made for all men;

For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peacable life in all godliness and honesty.

For this is good and acceptble in the sight of God our Savior.

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (Yeshua)

1 Timothy 2:1-5

Thank you for reading and be sure to share with friends and family.

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Be Blessed!

Rev. Marjorie

Every newsletter or study that Sweet Manna Ministry sends out is bathed in prayer and I believe that most of the contents of all previous newsletters/studies have been inspired, and or prompted, by the Holy Spirit. In prayer this month, I heard what I believe to be the voice of the Lord, prompt me to write about “witchcraft in the church.”

"Oy Vey," I said to myself, this is not a topic that I would have chosen myself. In fact the topic of witchcraft is entirely too complex for one single article. So rather than attempt a comprehensive study on the subject I have decided to zero in on three areas of witchcraft that raises its head often undetected. My efforts in this article on, “witchcraft in the church” is not to point a finger at any individual or any ministry, but rather that the following content serve as a guideline for self examination. You and I may be practicing witchcraft unaware. May the Holy Spirit convict each of us and bring about change that we might walk in a more excellent way, bringing glory to His name.

Now Webster’s dictionary defines witchcraft this way:

1. The practices of witches; sorcery; enchantments; intercourse with the devil.

2. Power more than natural.

Based on the definition of witchcraft we would not expect to find any member of the Church indulging in the practices of witches. Perhaps though, we need to take a closer look. Jennifer LeClaire states in her article in Charisma magazine, Why are so many Christians Practicing Witchcraft…” As for your insistence that you are not practicing witchcraft, well, you may not be moving in divination, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t engaging in witchcraft… witchcraft is not always so mysterious. Indeed, rebellion, word curses and works of the flesh also fall into the realm of witchcraft.”

Her article is found at: http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/the-plumb-line/17355-why-are-so-many-christians-practicing-witchcraft

In my years of ministry I have discovered many practices of witchcraft within the Church. For the purpose of this article, I want to bring three of the most prevalent and dangerous of those practices to your attention, although all practices of witchcraft are dangerous. These practices are word curses, soul prayers, and rebellion. For the most part, word curses and soul prayers are not done intentionally. The act of rebellion however is another matter. These acts all release an unholy power of destruction.

Let me illustrate with a couple of testimonies that were told to me. The first is concerning the danger of word curses. A pastor and his wife lead a fellowship of believers. One of their members, a woman, was strong in her faith and committed to the fellowship. Her husband however was not. In fact the husband had ought against the pastor which was unknown to his wife. One evening the pastor was attacked with chest pain and he and his wife thought that he was having a heart attack.

Immediately the pastor’s wife began to pray over her husband, and the Holy Spirit revealed that the unsaved husband of the woman mentioned above had cursed the pastor with ill spoken words against him. Once the power of these curse words were broken by the pastor’s wife, the chest pains stopped. She told me that she came against the spirit of heart attack and the death spirit and then broke the power of the curse words that had released the demonic spirits that came against her husband. Our words have the power to bless or to curse. For that reason, James exhorts us to tame the tongue.

James 3:8-13 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be

Concerning soul prayers, most Christians practicing this are practicing unaware. Such was the case with a new believer in the Lord. Anxious that her husband would come to know the Lord, she prayed daily for his salvation. Following the pattern of prayer taught to her in the fellowship that she belonged to, she prayed something like this. “Lord save my husband. Do anything and everything to get his attention. Lord strike him down even this very day on the job.” She was thinking that the Lord would do something that would cause her husband to drop to his knees before the Lord.

By the end of the day, her husband was in the hospital having been struck down by a fire at his place of employment. He was in the hospital for smoke inhalation. Her soul prayer released a demonic power to do her husband harm. You see prayers birthed from the soul of man are not lead of the Spirit of God and they are a force that Satan operates in. Following is a quote from Watchman Nee’s book, The Latent Power of the Soul that deals with the power of soul prayers in the Church.

We may say that while the Holy Spirit is the power of God, man's soul appears to be the power of Satan. How unfortunate that many people are ignorant of the fact that the many ascetic practices, breathings, and abstract meditations of Buddhism and Taoism, the hypnotism of western Europe, and the numerous wonders seen in psychic researches are only the manifestations of the latent power of man's soul. They do not realize how mighty is the power of the soul.

To read from Watchman’s Lee’s book,

The Latent Power of the Soul

http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/nee/5f00.0634/5f00.0634.02.htm