Angelic Visitation Testimony

A friend of mine, who used to be cessationist, was visited by an angel. This is his testimony:

Before our youngest was born, we went for the 21 week ultrasound and they were very concerned about some things they found, and referred us to UAB hospital. We got lots of bad news over the next several months until her birth. During that time we were so scared and unsure about everything. It was a faith crisis because every time we would go back for more scans it seemed our prayers weren’t being answered. One night during that time, my wife and I both had separate dreams on the same night. We’re both not really sure if we were dreaming or if we were awake and in a sleepy stuper and seeing in the spirit. She dreamed that a large snake slithered into our room and up on the bed, headed to her womb. We had gotten a word about the baby early in the pregnancy and really felt that the medical issues were an attack on her life, so she woke up in so much fear that she even went to check on the other kids. I was oblivious to what happened with her until the next morning when we talked about it. I told her that same night I had a dream where I “woke up” and saw a huge shining figure in the right corner of our bedroom, near the door. It was like the ceiling wasn’t there because he towered high above it. The clothing he wore was like shining armor except it flowed like fabric in the wind. The metallic fabric emitted the purest white light I’ve ever seen. I could never really see his face. I tried to look at it, but it was like I couldn’t focus on it. Almost like I wasn’t allowed to see it or something. He had a huge sword and held it in front of him at an angle. Then it was like it zoomed in on the sword and scanned it up and down so I’d get a really good look. Then it was all gone. We both woke up and began to tell each other of our experiences that night. We were blown away and so encouraged! What’s funny is, the morning prior I had a waking dream in the middle of the night and heard someone knocking at the door. Then heard the words, “You’re going to have a visitor.” I responded, “A bad visitor?” Then God chuckled and said, “Of course not!” Then we had the snake and angel the next night! About a month later, our youngest was born. The doctors were perplexed that they had “misdiagnosed” her so badly. She was perfectly healthy except for a minor kidney issue that was fixed with a minor procedure at 6 months old.

The visitation we had strengthened our faith and our worry went down a lot! We haven’t shared it with many people because it’s just weird to people, you know? Dreams were a huge part of my discovery of Holy Spirit and getting to know God as a Father. More than anything, His voice, via spoken prophecy and even dreaming, revealed His heart to me and the relationship became personal. This all started just a few years ago. I was kind of cessationist, and thought the gift of the Spirit just happened in the Bible, before I started having these encounters with God. There’s just something about EXPERIENCING God that is missing in the church. Encounter comes first, then identity, then purpose! We are doing our part to build that kind of church culture.

Prophecy: Forgery or Fulfillment?

God made a promise (prophesy), and you better believe that Satan was going to take advantage of it. Long before Jesus was born of a virgin, God told us that Jesus would inherit the nations of the earth.

Satan can quote scripture too you know? He spent a lot of time at God’s right hand before the fall. His whole outfit is based on taking the Word of God and twisting it into something different. He creates a cheap, deadly counterfeit for every rich and life giving original from God.

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Jesus was getting baptized, and the second Satan heard the words ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’, it struck a cord. He remembered David writing something about that. He remembered what came next. Oh, this is when God promises to give the earth as an inheritance to His son… so he snuck on ahead. Since he knew what God had to offer, and what Jesus desired, why not try to beat them to the punch? ‘Surely, if I offer Jesus the gift first, He will take it from me?’, Satan snared.

Ps. 2:7-8 –  I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

Matt. 3:16-17; 4:1,8-10 – When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”… Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil….  Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

The enemy will try to create confusion about your future. If you’ve received a prophecy and ever wondered what to do with it, then know that it can find it’s fulfillment through two outlets: 1) Gods way or 2) the enemies way.

A lot of times when we receive a prophecy, Satan himself will show up and say ‘All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.’ It just won’t be as blunt as that. It’ll come by tempting you to do even the tiniest thing that you know is wrong. He’ll cause you to question some scripture, and coax you away from God. It’ll be so deceptive that you might even think that it is God leading you into the promise.

When God is pleased with us, He likes to give us gifts. He is pleased with you! We don’t have to earn His love; it is freely given too! But what better tactic could the enemy have, but to eavesdrop into a conversation between us and God? ‘What if I can glean what it is they truly desire from Him?’, he plots.

God is a good Father and knows our desires inside out; anything He desires to give us will be freely given. Satan, on the other hand, will use what you desire most as a temptation and a trap for you; it’ll always come with a price: your relationship to the Father. Satan will offer you anything to keep you from the Father; he’ll even give you the desires of your heart, but at a moment and a way that it will cause the most destruction.

Jesus knew what was prophesied over Him; He knew that it was God’s will to have him inherit the world. However, when His Father’s promise seemed to be finding it’s fulfillment through Satan instead of through God, Jesus wasn’t deceived.

Unfortunately, we aren’t going to see the image of the devil, a snake crawling on the ground, or a voice saying ‘worship me and I’ll give you’,  when we come to this place of temptation in our lives. We aren’t going to know for sure whether it is Satan or God, because satan can come as an angel of light, and God’s route could take us through a desert. How then can we know which is God’s way? How can we look at the prophecies that we’ve received and know the right path? After all, Jesus would’ve been set over the world if he had followed Satan too. Satan’s route didn’t require death on the cross. It was easier, but it came with strings attached: ‘Let me fulfill your desire,’ Satan tempted him.

Prov. 16:25 – There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death

More so than the fulfillment of any desire, we want you God.

Maybe it always looks like a desert route?  We have to desert every counterfeit fulfillment of the desire, then wait for God to give the real mccoy.

We need to make sure that we are always receiving our gifts through a relationship with God. Outside of a relationship with God, there is no good gift or good desire. God repeatedly tells us to ask Him for what we desire:

Ps. 2:7-8 – He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will

Matt. 7:7 – Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

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There are 2 ways to skin a cat, 2 ways to go at the fork in the road, and 2 ways to fulfill a promise. The first story of the Bible is there to remind us, we are all faced with a choice. Will we honor God’s ways? God isn’t keeping anything from us, He simply wants us to ask Him for the things we desire instead of going to a tree, a snake, an idol, a person, or alternate route that would lead us away from Him:

Gen. 3:1-6 – Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Stay in God’s will and His ways, always looking to Him and asking Him to fill your desires and bring about the prophecies:

Ps. 138:8 – The Lord will fulfill his purpose for you

Citizens of Heaven

– Phil. 3:20 – But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ

If you are born in the United States then you are a citizen of the United States. If you are born of God, then you are a citizen of heaven.

– Luke 10:19 – Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

– Acts 22:2-3,22-29 – When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city… The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered. Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied. Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

Things to notice:

1. Paul was a dual citizen, just like we are dual citizens. We are born on earth, but our citizenship is in heaven.
2. The Jews wanted to kill Paul and the Romans were going to carry it out for them. Whether we choose to admit it or not, there is a spiritual realm, and demons are there to carry out what we want. We pray and God sends angels to help. But if we curse then Satan sends demons to harm. Life and death are in the power of the tongue.
3. Paul knew where his citizenship was. He knew his rights and he quoted the law, and his rights, to the authority sent to flog him. If a demon is sent to harm you, you can do the same. God has given us authority. We can quote the law (scripture) to the demonic authority, and they will not be able to flog or imprison us.
4. The commander of the centurion questioned Paul to see if he knew the law. Satan would be that commander. He questioned Adam & Eve, and Jesus during the desert temptation. He will question all of us. Satan knows the word and will quote it to us, but we have to reply with wisdom and remind him of the rest of the law. Paul had another truth for every truth the commander used to try to trip him up.
5. The commander said he had to pay for his citizenship. Satan has had to earn and work for his citizenship in heaven, and he still hasn’t been able to get it, but all who are born of God, are children of God and citizens of heaven by birth.
6. The commander could not harm Paul once he saw that Paul knew the truth about his situation. When we can see the truth, and refuse to be tricked by Satan, then Satan has to relinquish authority. Paul said, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” Likewise we need to tell the demonic realm, “Is it legal for you to torment a citizen of heaven, who has been found innocent in the blood of Christ?” The answer is no. Once you have repented and asked God’s forgiveness, you have the right to be free. If you aren’t experiencing freedom, then you need to remind the enemy of your authority as a citizen of heaven.

– Luke 10:17-20 – “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Satan falls like lightning every time you plead the blood of Jesus.

You have the authority to cause make Satan fall like lighting. Job says he’s before God trying to accuse us, but our Judge knows we are innocent as Christ our attorney gives evidence of his blood shed for our sins.

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Worship: Enemy’s Camp

I went to the enemies camp and I took back what he stole from me. He’s under my feet. Satan is under my feet. Look what the Lord has done. He’s healed my body, He’s touched my mind; He saved me just in time. Praise Him!