Pray and use your Christ-given authority over it, then if it persists, take precautions that may involve seeing a physician.
Another element that our Enemy enjoys using is distractions, e.g., a child who had been enjoying his day, all of a sudden starts throwing a tantrum. Or you get the thought that you could turn on the TV for just a little while, resulting in spending the day doing nothing but placating a desire for entertainment. (Nothing wrong with entertainment if it’s not interfering with your purpose.)
It will never hurt to pray and verbally use your authority in Christ to protect your children, your spouse, and your environment. Use spoken authority to keep the hands of the Enemy from being effective in pulling you away from what God is calling you to do.
Footnote 14:
Words of Knowledge and Words of Wisdom:
Here we have yet another gift from God the Holy Spirit. This is a gift or a happenstance that can occur out of the blue. Suddenly you have insight into another human being or a situation. But with knowledge comes responsibility. God may speak into your spirit that a certain individual is going through a certain circumstance. Don’t think that God gave you that tidbit of knowledge so that you can sit on it. God is not a gossip! If He speaks a word of knowledge to you, pray about what you’ve learned. Ask the Lord if He wants you to approach the individual that He spoke about. Maybe He wants that person to know that He cares, and speaking to that person about something you should have no knowledge about may be the key that opens the door. It may be that a person is going through a difficult time and has no way of knowing if he’ll make it through. God may want you to just let that person know that God sent you to speak comfort to him; that he’s not forgotten.
Words of wisdom work as a gift in a similar fashion, but this involves wisdom from God that is imparted to another individual (or even to one’s self). God gives wisdom to those who ask, according to the book of James. Sometimes, though, God uses another individual to speak wisdom into a person’s life. Why? God knows the impact it will have when a willing vessel (you or I) explains what God has given him to share.
The point is that God can use these gifts however He wishes, but you’ve got to be willing to ask for, and operate in, these gifts.
Footnote 15:
Checks in the spirit:
Checks within the human spirit are a sort of interruption in our comfort when we’re about to do something that the Holy Spirit wants to keep us from doing. In my own experience I feel it as a sort of grab in my chest. It is sudden and very recognizable. It’s enough to get me to stop what I’m doing (or about to do) and reflect or even pray. It’s comforting to me to know that I’m being watched out for by God, even when I don’t know the reason for his sudden “No” or “Don’t.”
A check in one’s spirit is something that many don’t want to receive. In our lives we tend to think that we’ve already got too many restrictions, and the last thing that we want or need is God officially and directly saying no to us about something.
However, if we are willing to accept two things, we’ll be just fine with these checks: The first is to draw near enough to God that you could feel the checks when they are given by the Spirit. If you are willing to have an intense relationship with God in which He keeps proving Himself and His love to you, you’ll yearn daily to experience His presence. Second, understand that God is all about your protection, not about chains. He’s not looking to bind you up so that you can’t enjoy the life He has given you. However—and this is vitally important—He does expect you to understand that He is the God and you are the creation. We are not here for ourselves, we are here for Him. And part of being here for Him is letting Him love us with His guidance and protection while we pursue the purposes for which we were created.
W. Franklin Lattimore is a graduate of Kent State University, with a B.A. in Political Science. His former involvement in the occult as a teenager was the springboard for writing the Otherealm Saga. Now a committed Christian, his books are written as a wake-up call to those dabbling in, curious about, or heavily active in witchcraft and other “spiritual” activities. His books are also designed to educate Christians on their position and authority in Christ and their responsibility to make Jesus known to their communities, while possibly taking some risks to do so.
Frank is an active volunteer in his church and in his available time enjoys hiking, biking, ziplining, fishing, riding roller coasters, target shooting, and eating crispy BBQ wings. He makes his home in Central Ohio.
Biography Photographer: Christy Brothers
Christy Brothers Photography - Columbus, OH
When Darkness Comes Page 35
