A Christian friend came over asking that several of us pray for her. Despite doing all the "right" Christian things, she had been entertaining doubts about her faith.

In the course of our prayer, as I was reminding her of what Scripture says about how God sees her, in a gruff tone of voice, with furrowed brow, she scolded me, speaking in the third person, "She doesn't deserve it! She doesn't deserve it!" In a couple of hours, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, she was free from demonic bondage with a total change of countenance and has, since then, moved forward with marriage and ministry.

On an Easter Sunday morning, as I was attending a Baptist church service, a man sat praying, head bowed, as the congregation headed for the exits. I approached him and asked if I might pray. He ignored me. I laid my hand on his shoulder to pray. The moment I touched him, he bolted upright, began swaying like a cobra about to strike, and started growling as he pointed, "I hate him! I hate her! I hate this church!"

My attempts to minister were interrupted by well-meaning people asking if he needed medication or asking if they should call an ambulance. When the man became unable to open his mouth to speak, I commanded the spirit to release his tongue. Instantly, he was able to understand me then and speak intelligibly in response to me. I told him I was available for further ministry by the Holy Spirit but it was obvious there was no faith present to deliver him at that moment. I made him aware that, until he got help, this WAS his Christian life and he WOULD experience these manifestations again. I left only to be bombarded with questions throughout the week by those who were there.

The young man, it turned out, was a much-beloved seminarian.

Last week, as a group of us were praying, the Holy Spirit showed me a vision of a new attendee standing with tears in her eyes, in the middle of a Civil War battlefield, dressed in a Confederate soldier's uniform, looking at her spouse, dressed in Union blue. As I shared this vision after our prayer time, the woman buried her face in her hands and cried. Her close friend nudged me and whispered, "You read her mail."

On another occasion, a Christian business woman contacted me requesting prayer over one of her many facilities across Texas. This particular facility was not prospering at all and she could not help but consider closing its doors. That particular location had an openly lesbian manager which attracted openly gay employees. I went on a Thursday night with ateam. She met us there. We prayed and, within ten days, the facility's numbers were improving already. The lesbian manager couldn't understand it. In a memo I saw, she wrote, "We must be living right." A week ago, the manager resigned as did several of the most blatantly gay employees.

I could write many personal encounters like these, moments when the Holy Spirit took control, flushed out an unsuspecting demon, healed, delivered, set free or came through with a vision, word of wisdom or word of knowledge. He is no respecter of persons; the gifts He has shared with me, He wants to share with you.

Question is, are you willing? Do you desire more?

WE ARE SPIRIT BEINGS HAVING AN EARTHLY EXPERIENCE. WE ARE ALIENS.

We have no permanent citizenship in this world. Though we are citizens of the United States, the reality is that, as a Christian, our citizenship is in Heaven (Phil 3:20). As the book of Hebrews says, "Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come" (Heb. 13:14) For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. (1 Chron 29;15)

WE ARE ENAGED IN A SPIRITUAL WAR - a term not found in Scripture, but the concept is taught. Mankind is caught in the midst of a spiritual war with the holy God and His angels on one side and the evil Satan and his demons on the other.

(2 Cor 10:3-5) "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

(Eph 6:11-12) Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

(Rev 12:7-8) And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

IF WE RESIST THE DEVIL, HE WILL FLEE

(James 4: 7) Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

WE DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO RESIST SATAN ON OUR OWN

(Jude 9) But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

TO RESIST THE DEVIL, WE MUST PUT ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD

(Eph 6:10-12) Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Jesus' own mission statement: "He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to them that are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Isa 61:1,2)

GOD ALLOWS TEMPTATIONS, BUT ALWAYS PROVIDES AN ESCAPE

(1 Cor 10:13) No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

SATAN KNOWS THE SCRIPTURES AND TRIES TO MISUSE THEM

As described in Matt 4:3-10 and Luke 4:3-12, during the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, Satan quoted Him Scripture several times. Jesus replied each time with additional Scriptures refuting Satan's attempts to take things out of context or only use part of a section.

(Matt 28:19-20, Lk 9:1-2 and 10:1-3).

Too many American Christians have become passive and fearful. Others are satisfied to merely acknowledge the right things and attend church services and activities. This type of lifestyle is quite different from that which Jesus requires of His followers.

We must preach and teach about the kingdom of God, focus on the doctrine of Christ, heal the sick and set the captives free.

Why is the Holy Spirit referred to as being "holy"?(HOLY: Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power; sacred.) Distinguishes Him from EVIL spirits.

SAD FACTS REGARDING THE CHURCH AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

A majority (61%) agree that the Holy Spirit is a symbol of God