5 Smooth Stones

commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. 24 "Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. 25 But hold fast what you have till I come. 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations — 27 'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the po tt er's vessels' as I also have received from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star. 29 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’ Paul the apostle exhorts us not to be ignorant of satan’s devices and thus we will not allow him to gain an advantage over us (2 Corinthians 2:11). By understanding the testing that comes through the spiritual assault associated with Jezebel, one can overcome and cast down such in fl uences. Anyone who is called to ministry, works in positions of authority, including in the church, in government, in business, will be tested in this way. Those called to the prophetic, the evangelistic and to fatherhood, likewise will be tested and must pass the test in order to walk out the fullness of their calling. Each person who is tested must be aware of the desire of this spirit to either work through them to in fl uence others or to control or hinder, as the case may be, them from ful fi lling their calling and commissioning. But by understanding how the enemy works one can overcome the assault and have the rewards of victory ful fi lled. ENDNOTES: 49 New American Standard Bible (NASB or NAS), Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org" 50 I would have liked to have known this when I began to preach publicly. I found that, although the fruit was good, I always had doubts later. I’d have thoughts like, “Who do you think you are?” “What makes you think you can preach or make a di ff erence?” When I would go to God in prayer I would think of Elijah going o ff doubting himself after having such an awesome victory. At fi rst, I thought God was comforting me in le tt ing me know that even the great Elijah su ff ered doubt and uncertainty, but eventually the Lord convinced me that this was not the message He was trying to convey to me. Once I recognized that the messenger was a demonic spirit sent to cause the doubt and fear, I took dominion over the spirit messenger and never had a problem like that again. 51 Once it was clear to me that the self-doubt was not coming from within me, but was coming to me, I took dominion over it with the authority of Christ, and, by His grace, have not had to deal with it ever again in that fashion. As I said, I wish someone was there to teach me this when I was younger in the ministry. 52 2 Kings 9:16 “So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel.”

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