Cleansing

Hi there.... Someone asked me about cleansing the imagination yesterday and another person asked me about it a few weeks ago so I thought I would write what has worked for me.

Cleansing your imagination so that Holy Spirit can use it and you can trust what you see is extremely important.

I have led people into heavenly encounters many, many times only to have them pull back and disengage because of offense.  When I asked Holy Spirit about it, he said that they had hit a wall and had to be willing to deal with their 'stuff'.  So beware of taking offense.  It usually is a symptom of a deeper issue that Holy Spirit is trying to shine the light on.

So this is what I started out doing many years ago. I had a very hard, seared heart before I got introduced to Jesus and it really grieved me so I asked Holy Spirit for a tender heart. (1Tim. 4:2,  2Kings 22:19, Psalm 51: 10-12)

Second whenever I quit hearing Holy Spirit I would humble myself and go apologize to whoever I needed to.... I kept repenting till his voice/presence was with me again.  (Now I know it's my angels that were hanging around).  You see words that are full of the fruit of Holy Spirit attract Angels  (Gal. 5:22-25) while words that are  full of self and the fruit of self attract demon spirits. (Gal. 5:19-21).  I didn't care what other people thought of me, I needed Him! Desperation works!

Third, I worshiped  a lot... I wanted to be like King David that sang to the Lord.  I wanted to bless His heart because he had done so much for me.  I never ever wanted to grieve Holy Spirit.

As I began to worship all these bad images would come to my thoughts and I tried to stuff them but it didn't help... Holy Spirit said I needed to acknowledge that they were apart of the old me. Then I would confess that they were not the new me and I would ask Jesus to wipe them away from me...  If they wouldn't go away immediately I would ask the Lord what else I needed to do.  Sometimes I had to go apologize to someone.. Sometimes I had to go make it right  etc.   Then I would ask Holy Spirit to help me hate the things that he hated. 

You see we will never get rid of the sin we like.  We have to get to the point where we hate the sin and the death it brings before we will ever give up the pleasure of it.  All sin is pleasurable for an instant but the Bible says it leads to death and it sure does! (James 1:14-15)

So back to cleansing....  Holy Spirit helped me to fast track a lot of cleansing with the power of God's word.  There is supernatural power in God's word to bring it to pass when you mix it with faith. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.   So I would ask Holy Spirit for a promise and when I felt a line or two get highlighted in my Bible I would write it down and start to think about it and speak it over myself and even try to sing it over myself till I knew but I knew it was mine.  Then I had power to fight off the things that led to bad images. 

You know Holy Spirit had me read the Book of James over and over for a LONG time. (many months) I wasn't allowed to read much else in my Bible. Some lady gave me trouble because I wasn't reading the whole Bible every year. I recognized a religious spirit speaking through her.... You decide who you are going to listen to. 

I won't say it's easy.  I've taken lots of ridicule from family members because I won't watch a lot of the TV shows or movies out there. If Holy Spirit says no... that's good enough for me.  He's more important.  I don't make a big deal of it and I certainly don't have a 'holier than thou' attitude. I just quietly leave and go to the kitchen or my room and do something else.  I want my imagination to be Holy Spirit's drawing board at any cost.

Is it worth it?  Yes, yes, yes!  We are spiritual beings!  We are in a war and we win through HIM!  If we won't quit we will never lose!  How many Angels do you want waiting for you to wake up in the morning?  How many people do you want to see saved, healed and delivered?  How many Heavenly Creatures would you like to have as friends?  I have a lion named Reign and a green-striped Tiger  named Emerald that come and  guard me while I sleep.  There's nothing like it!   If you'll keep on this journey the veil between Heaven and Earth will get so thin that you'll be learning how to function in both places at the same time.  It's amazing!  Our brains have the capacity for us to live in two dimensions at the same time.

Holy Spirit will make it worth your while!  You can never, ever out give him!  Whatever sacrifices you have to make he will compensate you for,,, over and over again.

So have fun! I decree that You are more than a conqueror through Him that loved you!  Heaven is closer to you than your hand in front of you!  I pray for Joy in your journey and sweet, sweet fellowship  with Him and your angels and may you always be passionate for Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father and their Kingdom! Amen!

Big hugs and blessings,
Brenda Gale Thompson

(Thanks to www.tonbridgesearch.com
for their carwash cartoon and to
 http://www.tiger-pictures.net/  for their tiger picture.)

NOTHING Can Stop You

Yes that's the truth.  We are part of God's army and nothing can stop us if we are determined not to quit.  Holy Spirit is teaching us and we are learning to walk, climb and swing in the Spirit more and more.

My girlfriend came under attack when she got involved looking after a little boy who's mother and grandmother were occultists.  Well, let me tell you, it's been a learning experience.

God allows in His wisdom what He could easily prevent by His power.  We know that as truth.  All creation awaits the revealing the sons and daughters of God that it might be delivered from it's bondage.  So it behooves us to grow up in faithfulness so that we can steward more of Heaven's resources. (Rom. 8:21, Matt. 25:21-23)

I want to say that we are childlike in our faith and innocent in regard to evil. (ref. 1Cor. 14:20) Also, we are growing in the fruit of self-control because Holy Spirit has been saying that we need to speak to our mornings every day and not be wishy-washy about it anymore.  (ref. Gal. 5:22-23 Job. 22:28)

These are days where discipline is required if we want to move ahead. No soldier decides day by day if he is going to be a soldier. While he is enlisted he is there- no deliberations allowed.  The same should be true of us.

Also, Holy Spirit says I have to get better at throwing out faith bombs at the enemy's camp... before there is an attack.   I am willing to live by the fruit of my lips (with lots of grace).  I ask Holy Spirit to show me quickly where I might have said wrong words and then I repent quickly and speak words of life.  I am growing in this and so can you!

My Bible says, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. " (Matt. 5: 44-45).

Only fools would try to curse a son or daughter of the Living God so I ask the Lord to have mercy on them, because they do not realize what they are doing.  They don't realize that "NO  undeserved curse will land on the righteous." (Proverbs 26:2).  Even if you don't think you are righteous at this moment,  Jesus took all your curse so you could have all His righteousness (Gal. 3:13)

Therefore, since we don't fight flesh and blood, we bless them many times what they have dealt out. You see, blessing them declares God's sovereignty over their lives and puts  coals on their heads, figuratively (Prov. 25:22).  And then we confound every plan of the enemy directed towards our lives or the lives of those we pray for. Ha!  That's how to take dominion and enforce our victory. (Gen. 1:26, Heb. 10:13)

The good news is that my girlfriend and her family are protected now and God is turning the situation around for good.  However, it appears that some intercessors have fallen back, probably because they came under attack.  It's important that we pray for each other as intercessors.  We are so important.  We are the back bone of the Kingdom of God! Nothing happens without prayer--nothing!

Holy Spirit told me to "Sing my future in the morning." Imagine, I will be singing a new song (which He loves) and prophetically decreeing what I have now, all at the same time (Ps. 149:1, Job 22:28-30).  Sounds like a winning combination to me.

I learned from Joshua Mills that every new song brings a new realm of glory with it. Hallelujah!
So here goes. Let me share what I have learned over the years.

To get comfortable singing the new song over yourself, take something that the Lord has been asking you to work on, for example; patience, strength, joy or peace and sing that you have it in any familiar melody you know.  The melody can be  "Three blind mice", or "Jesus' loves me".  Give it a try and sing the same line till you have it figured out then sing a slightly different line for a while. It will bless your heart I'm telling you!

That is how it starts. As you get better, you will get different melodies and you might even get bridges or verses to go with your choruses.

Here is one chorus I got a few days ago.

"My job is to praise You, yea my job is to praise You.
I don't look at the natural,  I look in the Spirit,
'cause my job is to praise You."

Have fun. I decree that no weapon formed against you prospers, In Jesus' Name and every tongue that has risen up against you in judgment is condemned, now!  I speak life to you physically, mentally, spiritually and financially.  I call in blessings from Heaven over you and speak to Heaven's angels to guard and keep you in all your ways.  I ask the Lord to go ahead of you and prepare the way for you today that you might walk worthy of the calling He has given you.
-I declare that you walk in His favor today with all people  and that you have His joy and peace in your journey. I decree an open Heaven around you today and an ease in conversing with Holy Spirit  today and boldness to give away what you have freely received.
- I decree that the blood of Jesus is a shield around you and your family protecting you from every curse and that you are growing in faithfulness to the Lord.  We give you all the glory Lord for what you are doing! Amen.

This Year

Normally there are no Church services on January 1st unless it is a Sunday. I was thinking it would be nice to worship with others, so when I heard about a healing service half an hour away, I made plans to go.

It was a cold, blustery night and it took me quite a while to get there because the roads were greasy from all the drifting snow. I arrived and there were a few cars waiting outside. The doors were still locked and we were impatiently waiting for someone to come with keys. We got into the church in a few minutes and there was nothing spectacular about the church-- just a small country church.

One piano player took her seat (no worship team) and started to play and I listened a bit and then started to sing with her, occasionally singing a harmony line as Holy Spirit led. I was blessed and felt the joy of His presence over and over again. (Ps.16)

Then something different happened. I felt Holy Spirit nudge me to lie down on the carpet. This was not something I was accustomed to doing, so I had to hear Him say it a few times. I finally thought, "I don't want to miss anything" so I laid down.

Peace came, then someone put a cover on me and it felt like a really heavy down or fur blanket. I kept hearing the Lord say, "Rest... rest."

Well, I was certainly doing that! I vaguely heard the pastor praying for someone so I thought I'll get up and go back to my seat--only to find I couldn't! I was weighed down and only my head was able to lift off the floor. It was Too funny! I had a giggling spell on the floor. God was making sure I rested! He knows me too well.

I was able to sit up about half an hour later just as the pastor was finishing the service. A man came over to pray for me and told me to stand up. I told him I couldn't at that point, so he said a few words over me as I sat down.

Before I left the other leader spoke similar words over me and told me to take a holiday with the Lord and not to take any baggage with me. He said I needed to rest more in the Lord.

So three times I heard that night, "Rest."

I guess that means that I should let the Lord lead in my life... what a concept. I don't actually know where I got bogged down in all the things I should do because so many people are expecting me to be or do something. It probably does not really matter. What is important is that the Lord helped me to realize that it's much easier to be His child.

All the prophesies are His problem. I can worship and pray as He leads, but I am not willing to let go of Holy Spirit's hand to go help someone. I am nothing without Holy Spirit. (John 15:5)

One man explained it to me this way. He and Jesus were having this cool adventure and then they heard cries for help. They both ran to the edge of a cliff and there was a man down the cliff in a horrible pit. The man grabbed hold of Jesus' hand and went over the cliff to help the man but he couldn't quite reach the man. The man was slowly sinking and he stretched and stretched to reach the hurting man to no avail. The man realized that if he let go of Jesus' hand he could reach the man and pull him to safety. As he started to let go of Jesus' hand something on the inside of him screamed, "No!" and he clutched Jesus' hand even tighter.

That is how we need to be with respect to Holy Spirit. We might not know how the story is going to end. The person might even suffer or die, or an angel might appear to help the man, but one thing is for sure, we must keep our relationship with Holy Spirit as our top priority. If we don't we will burn ourselves out.

Therefore, I am going to make more time to rest in the Lord. I know how to be a child and He promised that the Kingdom of Heaven was for such as these.

So my mandate this year is to ask the Lord how I can bless His heart right here and right now, in the situation I am in. Yes I am calling forth the prophesies He has given me and yes, I am standing in faith for greater and greater victories, but that is taking a second seat to worship and adoration.

I prophesy that 2010 is going to be a great year with far greater fruitfulness! Amen!