Message #74-Persistence

Mark 9:26- The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out.

Genesis 32:26-But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Luke 18:7-8- And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.

In the weeks following my breakthrough after the liver cleanse, I suffered a hip injury and saw my energy flip from over-stimulation to fatigue and back. Fortunately, my latest medical report revealed the reason.  I had a hidden copper toxicity that was brought to the surface and such symptoms were to be expected as my body cleared out the excess.  I believe that I am back on track toward balance now and expect to be back to form, if not better, within a couple months.

Throughout our history and our personal struggles, we see that evil does not surrender its grip without a tremendous fight.  For example, as depicted in the movie Lincoln, we saw considerable resistance to the abolition of slavery even when Union victory was inevitable.  Drug addicts often relapse several times before finally becoming clean.  My friend Adam told me a story that he saw a drug user who convulsed violently and involuntarily for several seconds while receiving prayer.  My first thought was that sounds a lot like demon possession. Satan knows that he is over-matched by the power of God and that he is doomed to be cast into the lake of fire so why doesn’t he just quit?  Last weekend, I attended a worship event hosted by Dan Mohler, who shared a revelation on the subject.  Our enemy wants us to be as hopeless as him.

As for me, I have been put in 3 “hopeless situations” as follows:

-not knowing what was wrong with me

-knowledge of my condition but not how to treat it and being told that it was all emotional.

-knowing what was wrong and exactly how to treat it but my system rejected every pill that I tried.

Situation #3 looks pretty hopeless and it was where I was for much of 2013.  My friend Tyler told me that my calling is so high that the enemy will stop at nothing to prevent it from coming to fruition.  Remember that if you are under similar attack.  Mohler also shared another nugget of wisdom.  Since the enemy is the father of lies, if he tells you that you will never make it, it means that you certainly will.  If we can match Satan’s level of persistence, I believe that we will see a lot more of our dreams realized.  As I wrote in my first message back in 2007, God seems slow answer prayers but it is because his time frame is on another level.  He is never late but rarely early and you will see that the time of preparation was not in vain.