Luke 9: 54-56 …54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." And they went on to another village. Part of being mature Sons and Daughters is understanding the spiritual realm. I see many Christian leaders posting about the Jezebel spirit lately. I want to teach you today on how to know whether you are the person with this spirit or any other demonic spirit on you. And before I start, demons do not care what gender you are. Men are guilty of gossip just like women. The same is true for the Jezebel spirit. First, if you are always searching high and low for a specific spirit on other Christians, especially leaders, then you are the one who actually has that spirit on you. Understand that the demonic spirit will always say its own name. So if a person is claiming that all of these other people have this spirit, and he/she is trying to get others to turn on the person, well then we can see the enemy’s handy work here. Understand the enemy wants to take out Christians and not just any random person. Did God ever send Christians on a “witch hunt” against other Christians? Surely not an example of Love. The Jezebel spirit wants to take the true authority away from True Men and Women of God. A person under this spirit’s influence will twist everything you say, and add things in that you didn’t even do. You will be attacked about things not even related to the initial accusation. Trying to talk reason will only get you in deeper. A demonic spirit will demand you address the accusations, but it will be a fruitless endeavor for you to engage in. The demonic spirit will cloud the heart and mind of the person that you are talking to. You can be as polite as you want, but the other person will just keep attacking you with more and more charges. A demonic spirit will always be looking for a fight. If you accuse someone, and they walk away, then that is more of an indication that you are wrong. If you later see them speaking against you or gossiping about the matter, then you can be sure something demonic is going on, but it might not be that same spirit that you brought up. Ask God to show you what demonic spirits are influencing you. The enemy wants us to wound our souls by talking about the accusations of others. When you go over something with other people, you damage your own soul. Take it all to God instead. I know this is very difficult to do, but rehashing the story enters offense and bitterness into the picture. Two things that will open gateways for the enemy into your life! Do not look to your natural senses and knowledge to know what you are facing here. You must ask God to reveal the demonic spirit with your spiritual sight. When God shows me a spirit on someone, He may not be asking me to directly do anything. Sometimes, He is just showing me, and sometimes He will ask me to intervene at another time. Timing is always key. For me to be effective to remove the demonic spirit, I have to work when God says Now. I have to let God prepare the way, or what I am doing will not be completely effective. I recently was walking behind a famous Christian leader, and I noticed the person was having trouble walking. God immediately opened my spiritual vision and showed me a demon attached to the leg. God didn’t ask me to do anything about it. When I got home, I pondered that more. I saw on FB that the person decided to have surgery on that area soon. I know that surgery will not fix the true root issue, and that the problem will still be there. I also know that God knew that this person would not have deemed me as someone important enough to speak into their life on this kind of level. When you have a small circle of trust, God sometimes can’t send the vessel He would like to use. I would not have been seen with God’s authority despite having it. Now, I still love this person and have no ill thoughts about the matter. This is an important key. God will not ask you to have negative emotions based on what He shows you. The enemy will for sure. Always be careful and guard your mind and heart, so that the enemy does not grip you when God is trying to use you. When God does send me in to remove a demonic spirit, I will sometimes prepare the person. BUT I will not tell them the details unless God has made their heart full open to my help. Why? Understand that person is under the grip of that spirit, and will not see the truth that you are speaking. If I call it by name like pride, it will work even harder to get the person against me. I will have more difficulty if I have the person also fighting to hang onto the spirit. The person is under the influence of a lie, and they will see you as the problem. So how does this work? If God shows me the spirit of pride on a person (again this is not what I see or know in the natural), I will wait for God to get the person’s attention about the pride. When they start saying God is showing me pride in my life, I know it is time for me to help them. If I shout pride to them before hand, the spirit of pride will tell them, no no no, you have no pride..and then the spirit might use that person to attack me. Again, I let God lead me to what I say and do. Sometimes, I never need to inform the person of the full details. God knows their heart regardless. God had been exposing a few demonic influences to me about this other leader for a short while. I unfortunately went right in to tell him because I thought he would trust me, and this person is someone important in my personal life. There were times that this person saw the truth of my words, and other times, he fought back with nastiness I have not experienced in my daily life. I was deeply hurt by the words spoken to me. God had me step back for a time, and God let the demons have their way, until the person was forced to see the truth. I still had to wait for him to do his part of repentance, and after that I removed the demonic spirits. When you listen to the accusations about others, being spread far and wide, you are opening yourself up to being clouded and influenced by that same demonic spirit. SHUT THE DOORS AND GATEWAYS that others are trying to open in your life. Don’t buy into the innocence of a conversation that is laced with talk about others. You don’t need to give an opinion about anything. God is the only One who knows the whole truth. Release yourself from feeling an obligation to listen. If you are listening and you find yourself filled with an emotional response about their conversation, walk away. You can simply direct them to God for healing, and for God to reveal the appropriate path to take about their issue. They may not like your response and just find someone else. You can only do what you can do. That emotional response in you is a sign that a gateway is opening. In Mark 5, we see Jesus casting the demons off of a man. One important aspect to notice here is the response of the town’s people. The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed[c] man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there,clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus[d] to depart from their region. Notice that they were afraid. Where does fear come from-- the enemy! The people were under the same demonic influence as the spirits on the man. Those demonic spirits wanted Jesus to leave asap. The same thing will happen against you when you walk in this knowledge and power. Ephesians 6:12, 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. It is not humans that we are actually fighting. This is why asking God to reveal things to your spiritual eyes and ears is so vital. Years ago, I asked God about a specific Christian leader. I had heard the negative things people say, but more so I was curious about some things I felt when I occasionally passed by seeing him on tv. I had a pure motive to know, and God answered me. He said I didn’t need to worry about his ministry, and that he was in God’s will and direction. That was enough for me. I have mentioned this same topic before and was met with many Christians speaking against him right to me. That always seems odd especially when I just said God answered me. Even with my statements, the demonic spirits on the other Christians still was in full force to speak against this leader. God gave me a word for someone some time ago. He said that this person needed to pay attention to the corners because the walls will fall with what is happening in the shadows of the corners. It is very true in a house that we tend to not see the dirt in the corners nor the spider webs. We look at just the walls, and we hang pretty pictures of our beliefs on the surface. But if the corners cannot support the weight of the walls, all will fall. The corners are our hidden parts and soul health. See the demonic influence, and don’t be fooled by what is going on, whether it is in you or others. Once you SEE the truth, the enemy will have a tougher time grabbing onto you. Take time each day and examine the emotions and reactions you had throughout the day. The enemy is always looking for cracks in your walls and armor. Check yourself before you run after someone else. You will begin to see things that are not of God. Take everything to God for healing and cleansing. When you make this a habit, you will find your soul healthier, and your life will bloom in a way you have never experienced before. Matthew 7:3-4 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?… 3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually]. The last aspect I would like to talk about has to do with Job trials. As we read in the Bible, Job was considered a righteous man, and God allowed the enemy to touch certain parts of his life. Job didn’t understand what was happening, and his friends and family didn’t help the matter. I went through my own Job trial in 2012. I understood what was happening because of the nature of my anointing, and the areas that were being affected. I was alone in this, as others just didn’t see what was happening in the spiritual realm. When God is promoting and taking a person higher, you may not have a clue. There will be times that God does not fill you in on what is going on in someone else’s life. Be careful not to make judgmental assumptions. Let God be God and move on. Trust that if God needs to tell you, at some point, that He will. Until then, focus on what God has called you to do. You can remain supportive and encouraging, even when you have no understanding of someone’s trial. ~Blessings MaryEllen Martyn ReplenishedHope.com