Do you live in a spiritual world?
Have you ever sensed the presence of something spiritual going on around you? Ghost stories abound, and the Bible is replete with mind-blowing and sometimes spectacular displays of spiritual activity.
What kinds of spiritual manifestations? The burning bush, angel armies dispersing large enemy forces, the congealing of the waters of the Red Sea, demon possession, tongues of fire, miraculous healings, donkeys talking, walking on water, and the dead raised to life.
Last night, just before going to sleep, my wife and I discussed the truth that our world is part of or parallel to the very real spiritual realm. Multiple instances in our lives seem to have been affected by the presence of forces from outside the visible and natural realms.
“The spiritual realm is intertwined with the physical realm.”
Michael S. Heiser
It's been a long time since I've had a dream like the one I had last night. It was so real and vivid that it felt like I had actually lived the experience rather than merely dreaming it.
In my dream, my wife and I sat at a table in a warmly lit dining room. The table and chairs were made of heavy, dark wood, perhaps oak, and the upholstery was burgundy red. It seems we had finished a meal and were enjoying conversation afterward.
Suddenly, I felt a tug on my hair on the back left side of my head. I reached my hand back to feel what it was, and the tug became a firm grip on a handful of my grey hair.
That grasp yanked me backward and pinned me to the wall behind me, and yet I couldn't see or feel a physical entity. I could barely speak, but I got out a few words.
Jesus, oh Jesus, help me.
All I heard was the command, "Pray."
I was desperately trying to tell my wife to pray with me, but no words would come. Something had a grip on my voice and mouth. I was speechless.
My arms and hands barely functioned, either. With a ferocious effort, I managed to bring my hands together as if in prayer, and as I did, I managed to squeak out the words, "Pray. Pray for me."
My wife began to pray, and at her first utterance, Christ loosed the demonic grip, and I was wide awake with a peace that surpassed understanding.
Anytime in the past that I've had a nightmare involving spiritual attacks, it's not easy to return to sleep. Last night was different. I fell asleep moments later.
Why did I have such a terrifying dream?
I had only one consoling thought, and I woke up this morning with the same thought.
The Newsletter.
I'm writing about the godless men who have crept into the church. Jude is exposing the wicked workings of godless men who pretend to have Christ, and some of them are in our churches. Even worse, some are in leadership and are leading God's children astray.
Enemies and bad actors have infiltrated churches worldwide. God's Word reveals what they are up to and tells us how to uncover their dark deeds.
"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin."
(1 John 1:5-7)