Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. – 1 John 4:4
Have you ever walked into a room, a building, a store or some venue where you immediately feel feelings you had not, until that moment, felt? Feelings such as anxiety, intimidation, fear and discouragement, just to name a few.
These are feelings that may make you feel twitchy, flustered and often makes you want to run!
2 Corinthians 2:11 says that we are not unaware of the schemes of the enemy. The devil is crafty and he will often try to trick us by making us believe that these feelings are actually coming from us, when in reality there is an external spirit at work in the room that we have just entered. If God created you as a sensitive and discerning person, you know exactly what I mean.
Sometimes these things can feel so overwhelming to a discerning person that it is difficult to find the inner peace and to actually think clearly enough to realize what is actually happening.
Personally, I have worked out that if I am suddenly and unexpectantly feeling a certain way that I was not previously feeling (especially intimidation and fear), then it is actually my invitation into intercession for that particular location and the people within it. This happened to me recently, and I heard the Lord speak in the midst of my discomfort, “YOU ARE the DOMINANT SPIRIT in this place.”
Here’s an illustration from life that the Lord gave me yesterday.
I was driving down a busy motorway in Brisbane, just past peak-hour morning traffic. I was doing exactly the speed limit, not even one over. There were dozens of cars going around me, all in such a hurry. Some would tailgate me until they could get around me and punch on the gas to prove how badly they needed to go faster.
Others were speeding past me. Some were overtaking me while others undertook me. They were all rushing around in a manner that I could literally feel their anxiety. Yet for me, I was not bowing to the craziness around me. I REFUSE to speed, so I was just rolling along with my internal peace and refusing to be influenced by what was happening around me.
I was the dominant spirit in that environment, and my speed was actually causing those following me to go slower as well.
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you..” – Romans 8:11
God also reminded me of my dogs. We have a boy named Frodo, who is an alpha male. We live with a family who has a gorgeous boy named Pepper, who is also an alpha male. They are both good boys with huge personalities, and it took some time for them to work out that Frodo was the true alpha in the room. There are still times that just Frodo’s presence causes Pepper to get angry, bare his teeth and growl, but as soon as Frodo begins to rise up as THE alpha, Pepper backs off. Frodo is the dominant male in the room.
If you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, then you, too carry great authority (check out Ephesians 1). YOU ARE the DOMINANT SPIRIT in the room, because you carry Him within you.
One final testimony to encourage you! I had a medical appointment one morning in a part of Brisbane that is known for its night life. I had a 2 minute walk to the train station, and ran into a homeless woman just as I was about to enter the station. God gave me a word of knowledge about her health and circumstances so I asked if I could pray for her. As I began to pray we saw her physical healing take place, but there was a woman sitting on the sidewalk across the road from us who began to scream at the top of her lungs, “No, DON’T TOUCH HER! Keep your hands off….” And then she yelled at the lovely woman that I was praying for, “Don’t let her do it! Don’t let her pray for you! Don’t do it…it’ll ruin everything! Noooo!”
I could hear her screaming at me, but for a second I was unsure of whether or not she was talking to ME, so I started praying in the Spirit just to regather my thoughts. This seemed to make matters worse, and it caused the woman’s yelling to grow louder and more aggressive. I quickly realized that this was a demon yelling at me, not another homeless lady. So, in my righteous anger, I asked the lady that I was praying for if she knew Jesus – and got to lead her to the Lord – but not before a group of rather large men approached me shouting the same things at me that the demonized woman across the street was shouting! They never got within a few feet from my person, but each of them was manifesting something nasty that was designed to intimidate me and cause me to leave the scene.
Just about the time I saw my woman accept Jesus, find healing and find deliverance, the woman across the street started to scream as if someone was stabbing her!
The men began to shout loud obscenities as well, and I suppose all the ruckus caused the police to arrive. I was asked by the police to leave immediately. I politely submitted to their wishes and turned into the train station, where the Lord so graciously processed with me what had happened.
I am a carrier of His glory, and I walked into a territory where demons seemed to have free reign. Yet He who is in me is greater, because I have the Spirit of the Risen Christ within me, so I was the dominant Spirit. Just like Pepper getting cranky when Frodo walks into the room as the alpha, I seemed to have stirred up the spiritual atmosphere when I came walking down the street carrying Jesus inside of me!
But I am not unaware of his schemes, and I knew that I carry Jesus therefore I carry authority. The intimidation tactics did not work on me because in that moment I knew who I was and WHOSE I was. Had I allowed the intimidation to affect me, the woman would not have been healed, delivered and saved that day.
If you have Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit within you, you ARE the alpha. You are the dominant Spirit, and you carry great authority. Let’s ask Him to show us more and more how to navigate this in our lives.
“ …having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church…” Ephesians 1:18-22
~ Mandy Woodhouse
The story of Esther in the Bible shows us what a powerful “Yes” it was for Esther to courageously accept the assignment to save her people and a nation.
Our family was reading our Daily Torah Portion this morning, and the verses from the New Testament portion were from the book of Hebrews. A few words stuck out to me and I had to stop and think about them.
It is written that “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, correcting, and training in righteousness.” However, there are some scriptures that are especially pithy in revealing the heart of God. They might be labeled Superlative Scriptures:
