Growing in the Knowledge of God - Day 1 - The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Knowledge

This first verse will completely set the stage for you to be able to receive direct knowledge from the Lord. This first verse is literally telling us that God is wanting us to grow in the knowledge of Him and His Son Jesus.

“… but GROW in the grace and KNOWLEDGE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)

This verse is only one short sentence long, but a lot is being said in it. After we get saved, God expects us to start growing in the knowledge that He wants to transmit to us. And the only way we can spiritually grow is by seeking after the knowledge that will cause this growth to occur in the first place!

This right here is why many Christians are not make much spiritual growth over the course of their lives after they initially get saved – all because they are not seeking after the knowledge of God that will cause this spiritual growth to occur in the first place.

Read more: Seeking After the Knowledge of God

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” Here properly the book begins, and this is the first of the proverbs, and an excellent one. The knowledge of God is of great importance to our personal and private happiness. "The fear of the Lord" is not meant to be a servile fear, a fear of punishment, of hell, wrath, and damnation, which is the effect of the first work of the law upon the conscience; but a Godly fear, and supposes knowledge of God as a father, of his love and grace in Christ, particularly of his forgiving love, from whence it arises, Psalm 130:4 --- it is a holy, humble, a reverential affection and devotion to God; it includes the whole of religious worship, both internal and external; all that is contained in the first table of the law, and the manner of performing it, and principle of acting: this is the first of all sciences to be learned, and it is the principal one; it is the basis and foundation of all the rest, on which they depend; and it is the head, the fountain, the root and source, from where they spring; and unless a man knows God, knows God in Christ, and worships him in his fear, in spirit and in truth, according to his revealed will, he knows nothing as he ought to know; and all his knowledge will be of no avail and profit to him; this is the first and chief thing in spiritual and scriptural knowledge, and without which all natural knowledge will signify nothing.  

The phrase “the fear of the Lord” is repeated at least 18 times in the book of Proverbs. So we can almost say that “the fear of the Lord” is the basic principle or the foundation on which we should build a life of knowledge and wisdom. The fear of the Lord is not a fear of punishment. The fear of the Lord is a refusal to participate in evil (Job 28:28). To fear the LORD is to hate evil ;( Proverbs 8:13) The fear of the Lord actually protects us from sinning against God, against others and against ourselves. It also means to seek God and listen to God’s wisdom. We look to the word of God as the source of our wisdom. Psalm 112:1 reads, “Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands.” Psalm 128:1 says, “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who talk in his ways.” Ephesians 5:15-18 reads, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

Being wise is different from being humanly smart and clever. Human cleverness actually has to do with corrupted nature of the human mind. We can be humanly clever by carefully observing nature and human behavior. But only those who have the fear of the Lord can be truly wise because God is the truth and the source of all wisdom. Wisdom that does not come from heaven is earthly, unspiritual and of the devil. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, and bears good fruit, impartial and sincere. (James 3:15-17) Therefore, James 1:5 says, “If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” In fact, there are so many blessings of the fear of the Lord. And the fear of the Lord is the foundation for gaining God’s wisdom.

The foundation, the origin, the commencement of knowledge begin with the fear of the Lord - Reverence for God; respect for his law, his will, his government, himself; the fear of offending him, which will lead us to do right. This fear is not that of a slave; it is not mere dread; it is not terror. It is consistent with love, and springs from it. It is consistent with calmness of mind, and promotes it. It does not produce terror, but rather delivers from it, and preserves the mind from alarms.

The Bible says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29NIV) 

The highest wisdom - the loftiest endowment of man - is that he "May" “Fear” know and honor God. Wisdom is the ability to discern what is edifying from what is harmful, what is safe from what is dangerous. Wisdom is about a right understanding and a right application of the way things really are. The fundamental fact about the way things really are is that God exists and is engaged with the creation. The Bible opens with the words, "In the beginning God created…." This dramatic statement declares God to be the eternal source and foundation of all that is. The Bible proceeds to reveal the person, nature, and character of the triune God who forever is -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The fear of the Lord is to be God-conscious at all times.

King David demonstrated his fear of God and faith seemingly on a daily basis being God conscious in all circumstances which pleased the Lord. Look at what David says “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts God! How vast is the sum of them!(Psalm 139:7-17)

David’s life was a portrait of success and failure, and it highlights the fact that he was far from perfect. But what made David a cut above the rest was that his heart was pointed toward God. David loved God deeply throughout his entire life. David also loved God’s law and he sought to follow it as best he could. He spent many days meditating on it and trying to apply it to his own life. He knew that God’s law had the power to change lives if it was followed to the letter. Another important character trait that David exhibited was that he had the attitude of gratitude and was very thankful for his life. During his life he had all sorts of trouble, but David thanked God every day no matter the circumstances. And, finally, David was truly repentant. Let us not forget that he was a man just like us who too sinned. But, despite his sin, he always feared God and sought to repent of those sins. He is a role model for all of us sinners who need to repent earnestly. David was indeed a man after God’s own heart.

The fear of the Lord does not make us timid or weak. The fear of the Lord actually gives us strength with reverence and awe. When we fear the Lord, we don’t have to fear anything else. The fear of the Lord is a remedy for all other ungodly and unhealthy forms of fear. It’s like the saying “A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This shows who the wise men are, and in what true wisdom lies; no man is wise till he fears the Lord, and he that does so is a wise man, at least then he begins to be one; this is the principal part of wisdom, and it is the beginning of grace; it is the first act of wisdom, which appears as soon as a man is converted and caused to know wisdom in the hidden part; as repentance, faith, and love, quickly show themselves in one act or another, so does the fear of God; for the former are never without the latter; for fear is an awe and reverence of the divine Being, joined with love to him, trust in him, and a desire to serve and worship him in a right manner.

~Bits and Pieces of Sermon shared by Bishop Lalachan Abraham

PRAYER - Dear Lord,

I ask you, today, to fill me with the knowledge of Your will, through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

I pray this in order that I might live a life worthy of You, and that I may please You in every way. 

Help me, Lord, to bear fruit in every good work.  

Help me to grow in my knowledge of You.

Strengthen me, Lord, with all power, according to Your glorious might, so that I may have endurance and patience.

I joyfully thank you and praise you, Father, that you have qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Amen.

Deliverance Prayers - Day 40 - KNOWLEDGE – BLOOD – AUTHORITY – CHANGE

There is a parallel sequence of events that are necessary to accomplish CONFESS – REPENT – BREAK – CAST – DISCIPLINE.

First, you need to obtain knowledge. You must have a working knowledge of the Bible and DELIVERANCE. You need to be a workman who is not ashamed of rightly dividing the Word of Truth. You can learn DELIVERANCE from teaching, ministry, counseling, studying, experience, etc.

Second, you need to get right with God and get your sins under the Blood of Jesus so that you will be cleansed.

Third, now that you are forgiven by God, you have the right to take authority over all the authority of the enemy and break curses and soul ties.

Fourth, it is necessary to change your life: the way you think and act.

NEED FOR REPENTANCE

The greatest need in the Christian life is the need for repentance; forgiveness is a major part of repentance.

The basic method we use is to find out what a person or their ancestors or others did that affected their life. Then, we get the person to confess and repent about these actions. Then, demonic ties are broken and demons are cast out. Finally, we counsel the person about disciplining their mind and body.

We have used this method successfully in our ministry for many years after God showed us this truth. It is easy to visualize when you realize that God thought it was so important that He died for our sins so that we could be forgiven when we repent. See Matthew 18:15-35 about how to deal with others when they offend us.

One of my pet peeves is the ministers who are unwilling to fully confront sin by teaching, ministry and counseling. These same ministers try to confess and repent for others rather than getting those guilty of sin to repent. What good do you think it accomplishes when the person is still guilty of that sin and has not repented or forgiven the one that hurt them? If the demons leave, they have a right to come back because of unbroken demonic ties, and unconfessed sin and iniquity.

We have worked with people at camp in mass DELIVERANCE, and then the next day worked with someone in individual DELIVERANCE. We find that person not to have repented in mass DELIVERANCE but repents in individual DELIVERANCE. The demons do not leave in mass DELIVERANCE but leave in individual DELIVERANCE because of repentance brought about by individual counseling.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What is sin and the standard against sin? – Sin is the thought or deed we commit that is contrary to the teaching of the Bible. The standard that is used to judge sin is the Holy Inspired Word of God, The Bible.

2. Who do we commit sin against? – I Cor. 8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. The results of our sins affect ourselves and others. We sin upward against God, outward against others, inward against ourselves and downward against our descendants.

3. How do we sin against God? – We sin against God by disobedience to the commandments and precepts of the whole Bible.

4. How do we sin against others? – We sin against others by doing something to them that is contrary to the Bible. First, see what is a sin in the Bible. Second, that would be a sin against others. For example, the spreading of lies about another person is sin. We are telling lies which is a sin against God and it is also hurting another person.

5. How do we sin against ourselves? – I Cor. 6:18 He that commits fornication sins against his own body . Every other sin that man does is outside of the body except for fornication.

6. How do we sin against our descendants? – We sin against our descendants either directly or indirectly. We can directly sin against our children or indirectly against our children’s children to the tenth generation. For example, we conceive a bastard. It is a sin against that child, our other children and our children’s children to the tenth generation. The curse, created by conceiving a bastardy, will bring problems and grief: primarily alienation from the church and conceiving bastards generation after generation.

7. Who forgives sins? – Only God can forgive sin by the shed Blood of Jesus Christ. We can remit (send away) sins and retain (hold fast) sins (John 20:23). What you bind on earth is bound in Heaven; what you loose on earth is loosed in Heaven (Matt. 16:19; 18:18). Other passages are judging others (I Cor. 5:1-5), forgive in the sight of Christ (II Cor. 2:10) and Christ speaking in me (II Cor. 13:3).

8. Who confesses sins? – We confess our sins and the sins of our ancestors, and humble ourselves before God (Lev. 26:40-42). Earline has a testimony about how God healed her heart after she dealt with her Indian ancestors. God gave her a series of steps about how to counteract the sins of her ancestors who worshiped demons. The ideal is to have the descendants forgive their ancestors (especially their parents). The most sure method is for the person to forgive those who have hurt them or committed acts which affect their lives.

9. What do we do after our sins are forgiven? – First, we get our sins forgiven and we forgive others for sinning against us. We then have the right to break curses, soul ties and cast out the demons. Second, we break the curses on ourselves, our mate if he or she is affected, and our descendants. We can break curses placed on us by others, curses placed on us by ourselves, and curses placed on our descendants by ourselves. Third, we break soul ties brought about by sexual sin and witchcraft. Fourth, we cast out the demons that came in through sin and curses. Fifth, we go and sin no more.

ERASING THE RESULTS OF SIN

The traditional church and most of the other churches (full gospel, Pentecostal, charismatic, glossolalia, evangelistic) believe that the job is finished when the person repents. That is spiritual fantasy. Repentance means that God has forgiven us, and given us the authority to continue to clean our houses: souls and bodies. We need to eradicate, as much as possible, the evidences of sin in ourselves.

We must break curses on ourselves and our descendants to keep the curse from continuing and repeating the same sins. We need to break soul ties with those we have had sex with other than our only legitimate mate (which is a godly soul tie). We need to break soul ties with anyone who has exercised an ungodly control over us. We need to get rid of demonic objects in our living quarters and on our being.

PRAYER

Lord, I repent of my wickedness. I turn away from my sins, transgressions, iniquity and idols. I make supplication to you. I do not want to perish in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. I forgive all others for anything they have done to me. I am sorry for my sins and mistakes.

Help me to have faith in God necessary to accomplish this prayer. Help me to have works that follow my conversion. Help me to hold fast to my salvation and be zealous for the Lord.

I believe the Gospel and accept it in simple childlike faith. I accept all of the benefits of being baptized with water. I will bring forth Fruits of the Spirit. I will quit being double minded about my sins. I will tell others of my salvation. I will rebuke my brother/sister and then forgive him/her. I will be baptized when I am converted. I will do these things as the Holy Spirit leads and with the help of God.

Thank you that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Thank you for your goodness and mercy. Thank you for your gifts, calling and salvation. Thank you that all of these blessings have been provided for me. All these things I ask in the Blessed Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, Master and Savior. Amen.

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~Bits and Pieces of Deliverance Manual by Gene and Earline Moody

Deliverance Prayers - Day 39 - SPIRITUAL STRENGTH, MIGHT AND FORCE

Many Christians act as if there was no force in the spiritual world either good or evil. They may act as if God had no power or would not exercise that power in the lives of men. They may act as if Satan had no power or could not exercise that power over them.

God is all powerful, all knowing and all present – omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. God exercises those qualities in our lives whether we realize it or not.

Satan is the second most powerful being in the universe, only second to God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He and his forces can do demonic miracles to fool men. Except for Jesus Christ on our side, we are powerless before him. With Jesus Christ on our side, we have all power over the enemy.

You may act as if Satan was a buffoon or wore a red suit with a tail and carried a pitchfork. You need to know your enemy. It is Satan and his forces, not man, that is causing you problems. Satan has one-third of the angels, billions of demons and about 98% of the human race in his army. We don’t need to fear this mighty enemy but we need to respect his power and learn how to overcome the enemy’s army.

TYPES OF CATEGORIES

What do you worship and what is important in your life; this is a key to your ties.

Demonic ties can be caused by parents abusing their children causing them to try to please their parents and get their acceptance for the rest of their adult lives. They can be caused by weak effeminate men and strong domineering women improperly raising their children. Ties can be caused by false religions or religious leaders. Addictions are a type of tie to drugs, alcohol, food, etc. Children can have demonic ties with their parents as well as godly ties.

You can be tied to your enemies because of your hatred and inability to release them from their sins against you. You can be tied to worldly systems of religion, family, occupation, education, recreation, etc. You can be tied to races, cultures and creeds. You can be tied to doctors and hospitals for treatment of body and mind. You can be tied to yourself through selfishness and only thinking about your needs. You can be tied to traditions of your elders or churches.

You can be tied to medium spirits which guide your life or to your own demons that you submit to. Familiar spirits following the descendants after the ancestor’s sins could be a type of tie. You can even be tied to someone that has died. You can be tied to the Devil through occult, witchcraft and Satan worship. You can be tied to demons that you have sex with.

COVENANTS

We have cut a covenant with Jesus Christ. He has given us all of His Benefits and we have given Him all of our life. This is a blood covenant founded on the Blood of Jesus Christ. This is a very serious agreement and should not be taken lightly.

Beauty is a symbolic name given to one of the two staves which symbolized the Lords’ covenant with the seed of Jacob, and the brotherhood of Israel and Judah. I would say that this word symbolizes the good things that God will do for us.

Bands is a symbolic name given to the other of the two staves mentioned above. Strong’s Concordance lists the following for bands: twisted rope, measuring line, inheritance, noose, cord, tied together, ruin, destruction, pain, pang, snare, sorrow. I would say that this word symbolizes the bad things that God will do to us. It could also mean that God sets a measuring line for us not to go past and that is our inheritance in Him. If we exceed His limits, then we face ruin, destruction, pain, pang, snare and sorrow. We could be twisted like a rope, have a noose around our neck and tied together with a cord.

David agreed with Jonathan to be his brother. They treated each other as if they were blood brothers. This agreement lasted after the dead of Jonathan. David was obligated to care for the descendants of Saul and Jonathan. David lived up to his agreement. Are you living up to your agreement with God?

PRAYER

“Father, I pray that you would forgive me of sex with demons, rape, fornication , adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, or anything else that would cause me to have a soul tie through demonic sex. Forgive me for having demonic objects in my home or office, and for having demonic ties to them. I forgive those who would try to control me through witchcraft, parental control after marriage, control by church leaders, or anyone who would try to control my God-given freewill. Forgive me for trying to control others. Forgive me for making covenants and brotherhoods, for taking oaths binding me to others, and for any unholy allegiance. Forgive me for cursing myself, family, church, nation and God.

Father, thank you for godly soul ties and my covenant with you. Please strengthen Your System in my life. Help me to cleanse my soul and body, and have a right spirit. Give me spiritual strength, might and force to do your work.

I now break all ungodly soul ties to humans, demonic ties to objects or animals, curses, bondage, witchcraft, bands, and yokes. I command all demons that came in with these ties and curses to leave me. I ask these things in the Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, Master and Savior. Amen.”

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~Bits and Pieces of the Deliverance Manual by Gene and Earline Moody