Carol Purcell

The United States of America had an election yesterday, where one side won by a good sized vote.  Although it seems to be over….maybe it isn’t.

As I watched the acceptance speech I was amazed at the 200,000+ people, (many had been waiting in Chicago for ten hours or more) the happiness, excitement and joy in their actions and on their faces.  And, I was smitten once again with the results of the power of agreement.

King David, of Bible fame, faced the loss of a son because of his own actions prior to his son’s birth.  Here is what the Bible says, (when David was told the baby was dead), “So David arose from the ground and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.  Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him and he ate.”  There is a very interesting and profound principle here.

 The word ‘anoint’ according to the dictionary means:  to consecrate or make sacred in a ceremony that includes the token applying of oil; to dedicate to the service of God.  Usually we see this from the stance of the Holy Spirit doing the anointing.  In this case David rose up and anointed himself.  We could talk all day about his sins that brought this about, but that would not serve us well, nor is it my purpose.

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE….we know the sins we have committed, we know how the enemy is working to kill, rob and destroy in America….well, the whole world.  So let’s get on with the solution.  It is not a program, idea, or a ‘president’.  It is the Kingdom of God on earth with Jesus as King. 

Let’s anoint ourselves–worship our King–both literally with words and song–but especially with our ability to serve.  Let us clothe ourselves in right actions, let’s work in the market place, the business place, the schools, the media, the government (where ever we have a place) with integrity, kindness, blessing those who are against us, and using forgiveness always  to take the power from the enemy and give it to God.

Let’s pray for our Government Leaders–the ones we have now and the ones we will have. Not with judgment about how bad they are, but with forgiveness, blessings and faith in God to change hearts, reaffirm freedom, and move mountains of hostility, violence and arrogance from the minds and hearts of those who know not what they do. 

And, as Charlie Brown–cartoon character– said, “I have seen the enemy and it is us.”

We need to anoint, refresh our minds, our faith in God, not man. We are not American’ts, we are Americans.  We are, as David said when he faced Goliath, the giant, “Who is this that should defy the armies of the living God?”  The war is not against men, but is spiritual.  Regret, remorse, self-pity–the negative emotions do not serve us well.  We must be part of the armies of the living God.  Who ever won a war believing it was lost?

What a challenge, what a great opportunity to be an influence on the world, for the goodness of God, for the abundant life Jesus paid for–not just in a church building–but in the world.  Believers in God, unite in loving agreement and prayer, to change the world for Jesus!  Condemnation and judgment will not work!  Lord let your light shine through us, give us direction, vision and purpose; Lord let Your Kingdom come!

From Genesis to Revelation there is reference to, information about and result of the devil’s activities in the world.  Yet, it is though the devil has been able to throw a new veil over the minds of men (since the veil that kept men from God was ‘rent’ –torn– asunder when Jesus died), that we not only do not confront the demonic world, we don’t even talk about it.

There are THOUSANDS OF TESTIMONIES of people being set free from evil spiritual influence, and yet our world is full of ‘good’ people working against the Kingdom of Heaven with anger, sex, perversion, lust, greed, judgment and independence, and there is an unholy silence about the evil influence in or on their lives.

It is easy to get any addiction we want to replace our hurts and needs, we can have anything we want, even Christians (people who have chosen Jesus Christ as their Savior). And, more evil than the sins (lack of trust in God) is this MASSIVE MOVE TO JUSTIFY OUR POSITION (what ever that is) and still hang on to Jesus!

And before we jump to any self-righteous conclusions—”that is not me”—if we are not praying and standing against the evil (for people and against the evil working on or in them) we are just as guilty or even more so.

If, in the thousands of people I reach with my newsletter, I had a request for deliverance, where would I send them?  Are there churches doing personal deliverance?  Are there loving people who will hate the sin and truly love the sinner?  Is deliverance widely known even though not widely accepted?  Jesus did it, the disciples did it!  What are we thinking?

WHY DO I EVEN ASK THE QUESTION?

Because I don’t hear about ‘what the devil is doing’ only what is going on in the world of flesh and blood.

I am not talking about committees, classes on marriage, raising children, praise and worship or all the many good and necessary things the church does.  And I am certainly not talking about crying out to God to do what Jesus directed and gave us authority to do.

I am talking about confronting…..saying NO to the devil and his activities.  Declaring the truth and demanding the change. 

When people pray, when Pastors ban together and take authority over their cities, states, etc; awesome things happen.  Abortion is stopped without laws, storms are diverted and dissipated, corruption is revealed, wars are won, and elections are won,  on and on, ….in the Name of Jesus. 

We can’t fight a war we don’t know we have.  Jesus said the thief comes to steal, rob and destroy…. what is there in that we don’t understand?  Pray the Lord will open minds and hearts to the Truth and God’s Will and Ways!

P S   SEEK GOD FIRST; ALWAYS PRAY SUPERNATURAL PROTECTION AND THE BLOOD OF JESUS OVER YOU, FAMILY, AND PROPERTY BEFORE DOING WARFARE (binding or saying ‘no’ to the demonic realm). 

AND, Personal ‘warfare’ should be personal.  Corporate warfare against principalities and powers should be done corporately in prayer groups, etc. 

Matt 16 and 18; Luke 10:19; Eph 6; Acts 10:38; James 4:7; Luke 18:1-10 and more!

With the media so busy with politics, and my mind so full of the nominated candidates, I was surprised to receive the follow thoughts that I believe came from the Holy Spirit. A little off topic and yet  is so clearly appropriate.

“The distortion of this country to the truth it represents and holds could destroy it.  It is not great because of industry or commerce but because of the shed  blood and the sacrifice of the people, who founded it.  The blood shed to free the Indians from witch craft and superstition; the blood shed to free the slaves cries out to keep the freedom they died for.  The gates were not opened to welcome all religions, to oppose the things of God, to worship anything they chose, but the freedom to worship Christ Jesus and God regardless of the circumstances.  No matter who they are or where they come from, opportunity is available.  This nation is a nation under God so that God is wworshipped.”

I began to think on this….Hundreds of Christians fled here for freedom of persecution. The Indians were lied to, and treated terribly–which is not God’s fault.  His will would have been and is to bring them all to relationship with Jesus and  the abundant life Jesus died to give all mankind.  Slavery was abolished by the shed blood in the civil war, sometimes brother against brother.  Yet, we still have prejudice and ugly politics between races.  Is there some way that will be solved by taking God out of school, pledge of allegiance, court houses, Christmas plays and displays, and so on? 

There are thousands more who have shed their blood for this country–in all the wars in which we have been involved.  Those men and women were and are willing to lay down their lives for us, for the freedom we enjoy, and the freedom they believe others should have.  I believe a poll of those serving would be interesting to find out if they (and their families) are not praying to the Christian God of American for protection and comfort. 

I have thought for years Buddhists or a Muslims or whatever, should want Christians in office to keep the freedom they have to do as they please.  We are so liberal with our freedom we could lose it.  Their freedom should not come at the price of our Christian way of life.  Because of our ancestors and the battles they fought for us, for God, He has made this Nation great with men and women with Biblical morals–blood, sweat, tears and prayer laid the foundation and is still the backbone of this country. 

I am not as interested in who they were or what they said….but the independence they fought for to worship and establish ONE NATION UNDER GOD!  It has been stamped, posted, sung about, on our stamps, our cars, our courts, our money…..what does it take to get the point across.

I have prayed for the Indians and apologized to them for what they have suffered, and I am part Indian.  I have apologized to my black brothers and sisters for the terrible sins against them.  My heart aches when I see news reports of the abuse.  But, I had never thought of the other side.  That the blood of our ancestors paid for our freedom–who is going to apologize to us?  We don’t need apologies we need restoration to good morals, loving care for those who need it and appreciation for the true facts–life isn’t fair and boy do we need

God!

I received a letter this week and on the back was stamped ONE NATION UNDER GOD. I was impressed and touched.  We all need to do that and stand and demand that this country remain in the hands of God while we can,  ONE NATION UNDER GOD.

Move it on…….

Last night I had d desire to just ‘veg out’ with something pleasant on TV.  As I surfed the channels I found the following:

• Paradise Hotel or Sex In The City!  (WOW as a single woman, I don’t need that.)
• News reports of fires, floods, accidents, rape & murder. (Taxing my heart with sorrow for all the victims)
• A movie about a man who kills his friend because he thinks he murdered his daughter only to find out he was wrong.  (That was inspiring, Ugh! Thank God I only saw the stupid end; my critics would tell me I just don’t appreciate the great acting job they did–no, I do not, if their message stinks.)
• Then those pitiful but necessary commercials for the suffering children in the world.  (That just tear my heart out.)
• Well, I could just watch a simple mystery on Law and Order–wrong again–this one was about someone stealing eggs and sperm out of a lab, where they actually store live embryos as well, and the controversy about freezing or storing them.  (Boy, I was already tired, fighting a little depression, I didn’t need that.)
• Oh, good, I found a TV magazine program about troubled children (that should have been a tip, but I continued to watch).  It was about children with Tourette’s Syndrome.  (I didn’t last too long with this one either; I have such strong spiritual conviction about these ’syndromes,’ especially that one.
• I tried a 60 Minute program I had pre-recorded, only to watch three handsome young men talk about being gay in the military.  And the controversy over “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”  (The same ole’ question, how do we love people the way they are and trust God to change them?)

Finally, I turned off the TV and thanked God for my day and all that I have, food, home, clothes, loving dog, precious family, and lots of friends.  And, actually went to sleep. 

The devil’s agenda is to have people watch all this junk often enough so they become desensitized to the evil that is so evident everywhere.  Or there is so much, we just mentally turn it off out of an overwhelming sense of despair. Which I did last night and turned to my Heavenly Father to bring a calm to my soul. 

My Bible says where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: (Rom 5:20); 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 believe that ‘standard’ is our prayers, as the Spirit of the Lord in us, moves us to action.

I hear all over the place that this is the end times.  Maybe it is, however, Paul said it was the end times 2000 years ago….I sure am not going to rely or worry about that.   Jesus asked  if there would be faith on the earth when He returned….and somehow I don’t see that every where even though it is growing.  Isn’t that a greater concern for us than spending time, energy or thought on whether we are in the ‘end times’?

One argument is that evil is everywhere, earth quakes, floods, etc. so it must be the end.  Well, it was just as bad in Paul’s day.  Christians were crucified and fed to lions.  Israel was in bondage to other countries, and believers had to flee for the lives.  Children were sacrificed to Molech, slavery abounded.  Through the centuries we have had the same evils that we face now.

• Could any of us solve the problems I listed above? 
• Can we solve even one of those problems totally? 
• Can God solve those problems?
•  What does He need to do that?…He is sovereign! 
•  Jesus is looking for prayer and faith so that He and the Holy Spirit can direct the warfare–you know–the standard that will overcome.

None of us can pray over all that is wrong; nor can any of us take action against everything.  So we can choose to pray what touches our heart the most.  That is the Holy Spirit  in us and take action as He directs.

Or are we like ‘Chicken Little’ crying ”The sky is falling, the sky is falling.”  Yep, we can pray as Jesus told us to do….”Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”  Rest (knowing God is all sufficient) in God to use our prayers and direct our actions, and just let Jesus take care of ‘end times’ and His return.  None, absolutely none of the problems listed above and those that are not listed are too big for God. 

Prayer moves mountains and God loves all His children, so we move and He moves.  Sounds like a good solution to me!  We are privileged to be part of that Standard.

This is a great time to live as long as we abide in HIM!

As so many in the country today I spent time praying for our Nation. Such a good idea to have a National Day Of Prayer!  According to news reports some used the time to protest the war!  Sadly the One who can really help with that situation is God and He is more into requests than protests!

After a time I asked the Lord what He would like for me to pray and the answer was:

“Cry out for restoration for the Nation!”

In my mind it was very clear, God would like our Nation restored to Godly principles and standards.  So that was my prayer and will be until it is done.  I hope many will join with me.  Long prayers are wonderful, but short prayers can be very powerful as well.  A simple “Restoration For The Nation” daily with heartfelt agreement with the loving mercy and grace that God gives, will avail much!

That’s my hope and my own heartfelt belief America is far from gone….quite the contrary, check out the movement of the youth in our Christian Churches and I don’t think the world has seen anything yet, like the explosion of faith coming, like a huge tital wave!

We are up, not down, we are blessed not cursed!  Thank you, Lord!  And God bless America!