SID: So I’m here with Rick Renner. Rick says we are dressed to kill. We’re believers by our love. What do mean we’re dressed to kill?
RICK: Well I’m talking about spiritual armor.
SID: Explain.
RICK: Spiritual weaponry. In Ephesians 6, verse 12, Paul says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” And Sid, in that verse, it’s almost like the Apostle Paul had a revelation, and suddenly the spirit realm was parted and he was able to see into the spirit realm of how Satan’s kingdom is aligned militarily. And he saw at the top of Satan’s kingdom there were principalities then there were powers, then were rulers of the darkness of this world, and then there were low-level demons, which are powers in the heavenlies, which are dispatched into our atmosphere. And the only way that we can resist those low-level demons, which are dispatched into our atmosphere is if we carry and walk in the full armor of God. In fact, Paul says, “Therefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
SID: Now I’ve heard a lot of believers take that literally. And every morning they get up and I put the helmet of salvation on, I put on the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and they say that, but it’s almost become a religious banter rather than what you teach.
RICK: Well I think that it’s very sincere when people do that. But if I sat on the edge of my bed and said, I’m going to put on my helmet, that is not putting on my helmet. The Bible very clearly says, “This is the whole armor of God” and “of God” in Greek means it’s the armor which comes out of God. And the only that you’re going to be able to habitually walk in the armor of God is if you’re walking with God, because it comes out of him. It’s a result of your relationship with God.
SID: When I heard you teach about the various parts of armor, when a Roman soldier was actually prepared to kill and when we have our armor we’re no longer defenseless against the devil. Well, take one piece of armor and tell me what that means and what it was in the natural, what it is in the spirit.
RICK: Well we have what’s called the shield of faith. And Paul is referring the shield of a Roman soldier, and there were two kinds of shields. There were small, round, decorative shields, which you would carry in a parade, but you would never use that to defend yourself. It was just a decorative shield. But the shield which a Roman soldier used when he was in battle is from the Greek word, “thureos”, which is the same word for an oblong door. If I were to pick out any door in this building, it would be the word “thureos” and that’s the same word for a Roman shield. And what happened, Sid, is when a Roman soldier would come into the infantry, they would measure him. Now this is very important because Romans, chapter 12, verse 3 says, “God is given to every man the measure of faith.” Well what is “the measure”? Well they measured a Roman soldier from side to side and from top to bottom, and they would make a shield just for his size so that he was covered from side to side, and he was covered from top to bottom. If you had a shield, you were completely covered.
SID: So each one had it tailor made for their needs.
RICK: Tailor made. And they were made out of wood and leather. And they would take the leather and they would dip it into the water, and they would saturate so that whenever flames would hit it, it would put out the fire. And likewise, our faith has to be saturated in the Word of God. And when our faith is saturated in the Word of God, it becomes a force that the enemy cannot penetrate.
SID: You know Rick, I’d like to spend the whole time, if we had it, the whole day, talking about this armor because, you see, when you understand, really understand what Paul was talking about, you realize how much protection God has given us. You realize that you’re literally dressed to kill. You said the mind is so important. Would you pray for people that their mind renewed to the Word of God right now.
RICK: I will because the mind is where the main attack takes place. And so Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray, Lord, right now for people whose mind is under assault, the enemy is trying to pave a road into their mind and to bombard them with lies about their self-image, about their health, about their marriage. And Father, I pray that they would listen to the Word of God and that every one of those lies would be uprooted and removed from their minds in the name of Jesus. Amen.
SID: The devil comes at you like a roaring lion, like, like a roaring lion. But you have that shield of faith. You have the sword of the Spirit. You are dressed to kill. You are more than a conqueror.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
Sid: Now my guest is Lisa Bevere many of you are familiar with her because she’s teaching on television all over the place. And you’re also familiar with her husband John Bevere he’s a world class teacher. Now I don’t know Lisa I kind a protest why would God put 2 world class teachers together, only 1 of you should have been? (Laughing)
Lisa: You know I really think God is trying to model what He began with. But He had one man, one woman with one heart who raised one voice in their unique strength so that they could speak to what God wants to do in this generation.
Sid: I want people to get to know you; I want to get to know you a little bit better I have some notes here, but I found something about you that I wasn’t even aware of. You had an eating disorder even before you became a believer for something like 6 years. Was it irritable bowel syndrome was that what you were dealing with?
Lisa: You know I had a number of things. I had an eating disorder, I had anorexia bulimia, and then I had lactose intolerance, and I had irritable bowel syndrome. I had all of those mixed together.
Sid: And I know people though with just the irritable bowel syndrome and that’s such a devastating thing I mean it wrecks their whole life.
Lisa: Hmm hm. I had been hospitalized because of having extreme stomach problems for 3 days. Actually just a few weeks before I met John; now I was complete heathen I was just doing that whole passionate fallen world things drinking, being wild. And it came into me actually when I was in the hospital I said “There has got to be something more, there has got to be something more to this life.” I thought this was going to be fun and it actually now feel empty. Sid I don’t know if you know this but John actually led me to the Lord. He shared about Jesus with me on our very first date and he joined hands with me and he prayed for me and he said “Now you’re saved.” And I said “What does that mean?”
Sid: (Laughing)
Lisa: “It means to be whole again spirit, soul and body.” And when he said that having absolutely no idea that he was talking to a broken girl; a girl that just compromised every area of her life and had an incredible battle with eating disorders and stomach pains and lactose intolerance I just looked at him and said “Ah so I can have cheese now!” And he was like “What?” And I said “You just said that God was going to heal me and I cannot have cheese I have lactose intolerance I’m so excited.” He was so panicked Sid he was like “Oh my gosh.” So he took my hands we were 21 and 22 years of age and he said “Alright Jesus if You can save her You can heal her.” And he had me repeat you know “God I just thank You for healing me of….” And I said “Lactose intolerance, stomach problems in Jesus name .” And I felt the warmth of God come into my stomach and untie knots that had been in my stomach since I was 15 years of age.
Sid: Had you ever felt that presence of God in your entire life previously?
Lisa: You know I had felt it one time when I was about 5 years old, but no not other than that no.
Sid: What happened when you were 5?
Lisa: Well I lost an eye to cancer when I was 5 and it was interesting that right before they discovered that I had cancer in my retinal-blestoma I actually had a night vision. And I had been praying as a little girl I had such a desire to honor God with my life but had absolutely no idea what that would look like. And I had been praying in my bedroom when a presence of light came into my room it was life a shaft of light made out of stone. I know that doesn’t necessarily make sense and it had Hebrew writing on it. And the peace of God and the presence of God came into my room. And I have to tell you as a little girl for some reason that presence of light and God saying there was in my little girl mind something already written about me gave me the assurance that I would live and not die. And so when they gave my parents 6 months for me to live and I’m now 54 so I obvious did not die I had such an awareness that God has already visited me and his hand was on my life for something but I had absolutely no idea what that would look like.
Sid: Now when you were young and this happened when you had cancer in your eye. I’m told that the light was so bright people could see it outside your door but there was no light on.
Lisa: Right my babysitter came running in and she was yelling as she came down the hall I told you to turn off your light and she opened up the door and it was complete darkness and it absolutely freaked her out. And she absolutely would never ever babysit for me again. So it’s…
Sid: (Laughing).
Lisa: So a very very strong presence of God this was back in 1965 so I don’t know if she was part of the drug culture or not but I know that it freaked her out. But yeah no it was a very very poignant very pointed it’s something I can go back in my life and mark. I do believe that God wants to speak to His people in dreams and in visions.
Sid: Okay John prays for you and leads you to the Lord you say “I got all of these conditions,” it’s a wonder he didn’t walk out right there. But just a simple childlike prayer that same presence you felt as a young girl came upon you again. How long did it take with all of these conditions I mean I understand you were addicted to diuretics and laxatives and stomach disorder and irritable bowel syndrome, you were running a fever, you had rashes you had constant discomfort, I mean it was a horrible way to live how long did it take God to heal you?
Lisa: He immediately healed my body but you know what it took time for me to change my practices to understand that I could actually entrust Him with my weight. You know Sid it’s interesting people do not realize that anything and everything that is important to us is important to God. And so I kind of thought “Okay I’m a Christian so my weight that’s not important to God I just need to navigate that needs to be something I navigate on my own.” And I think I had been saved for about a year and a half and you know what’s interesting is when you have an addictive personality which is definitely what I had and I still have and I’m addicted to Jesus and that’s just what I’m going to have to be addicted to for the rest of my life. But when I had substituted drinking you know okay I need to stop getting drunk I switched my addicted behavior to overeating. So I was underweight when I got saved and then I became overweight when I became a Christian because Christian oh my goodness but they eat excessively. And so I switched my drinking excessively to eating excessively. Then I remember God saying “Listen if you will stop weighing yourself, if you will stop dieting and if you will give this to me I’m going to perfect those things that concern you; you can trust Me with this.” I had gained so much weight that I couldn’t get into my wedding gown. I was in… supposed to get married in about 4 weeks later and I could not get into my wedding gown. And He said “Lisa a diet changes the way you look but a fast changes the way you see.” And He said “I need you to see everything differently, I need you to see yourself differently, I need you to see Me differently, I need you to see everything about food differently.” And He said “A diet He said is about denying yourself but a fast is about indulging Me.” And He said “I need you to give me room in your life; I need you to let Me be your banquet.” And so Sid I went from eating until I was uncomfortable to eating until I was satisfied. And I actually had to have the Holy Spirit teach me that and I offered up my food with prayer and thanksgiving and said “You know what You show me.” Because I had lost all sense of sensitivity to what it meant to be satisfied I only knew what it meant to be in pain. And so God actually gave me a weight and I know a lot of people out there you’re thinking “What God wants to be…” Absolutely He wants to be involved in this area of life; He wants to be intimately involved in your most intimate areas of your life. But God actually gave me a number Sid and I remember I wrote it down on a piece of paper and I shoved it in my Bible and He said “I’m the one who made you, not shape, not Glamour, not Vogue, not Women’s Health, not Men’s Fitness I’m the One that made you and I’m the One who knows what you should weigh” and He gave me this number. And I remember I stuck it in my Bible and I stopped dieting and I just began to walk with God I began to worship, I began to build back strength and not look at myself the way I’d seen myself before. And you know on my wedding day I weighed that exact number and I have pretty much stayed that exact weight for 32 years.
Sid: Explain to me what God meant when He said to you “Your weight has become an idol.”
Lisa: Oh, okay I loved that… most people don’t think about idols as something that we would have today but they really are truly everywhere we go. I mean an idol is something we give our strength to and draw our strength from. So for me my example would be if I felt thin than I felt worthy, I felt confident, I felt I could witness to people, I felt like I deserved love. So my weight was something I bowed down to because it controlled my life, it controlled the way that I thought about myself, it controlled the way I approached scriptures, it controlled how I approached other people. And see God doesn’t want us to raise up any image or any idol about what He wants to have in our life. And the truth is when we begin to see ourselves the way God sees us then we begin to live the way we are made. I love how Isaiah says “He will teach us to live how we were made.” We are people that were made for God and so when we go to idols they don’t teach us to live the way that we were made. And you know everything with woman right now you know is on a magazine cover and it says “If you want to be loved you have to be bikini ready by May.” You know it’s got all of this stuff out there. It’s also telling woman that if they want to have some kind of worth they have to be sexually desirable, and there is a huge idol and this situation of our self image, of our body images and the truth is we can actually trust God with that. And He will change things and I believe the way we eat is also driven the way that we look at ourselves. So if I’m thinking “That food is our source, food is my comfort” it’s an idol, but if I understand that food is something good that God gave me I’m going to eat with a different attitude.
Sid: Lisa that made a major change in your life, but there was something else that caused a major change in your life. In 1994 you’re pregnant and you have without a doubt the most vivid unusual dream of your life and then in fact it might have been even more than a dream you actually felt you were there what happened?
Lisa: You know I had a night vision. I went to sleep exhausted and I found myself standing in front of a magnificent lioness. She was laying on her side on top of a platform of stone; on the front of the platform Sid was the word Numbers and then Roman numerals XXIII, which would mean 23. I remember I looked at this lioness and even though she never moved I felt like she was more alive than me. You know people that have had a little glimpse of heaven realize that everything there is the prototype, and everything here is but shadow. It was like there was no air or space between herself it was so incredibly concentrated. The longer I looked at this lioness the longer I felt like something inside of me was awakening expanding and getting ready to explode. And when I felt like I couldn’t take any more in Sid I heard a voice behind me say “With the birth of this son you will awaken a lioness.” I began to shake and I became fully awake immersed in the presence of God and I had such an awareness that there was something a little bit more than a dream that just happened. But a mandate and something had been imprinted on my life. And when I felt like I could reach my hand out of my bed and open up my NIV Bible to Numbers 23 verse 24 this was what I found:
The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till it devours its prey and drinks the blood of its victims.
Can I just be honest with you, I’m almost a vegetarian I was beyond challenged by these fierce words on fragile Bible pages. But I did give birth to a son and I named him Arden Christopher. And with Arden’s birth I basically saw my world expand I wrote my very first book while I was breast feeding him because he refused to detach. I wrote “Out of Control and Loving It” and it opened up my world and it awoke me to be able to understand that there was something inside of me that fear was holding back. I really believe that the lioness that I saw was not just a statue but she’s a revelation of what the church is supposed to be. People are at ease with their strength and at rest with their power.
Sid: You began an intensive search of what is a lioness; spiritually speaking who is the lioness?
Lisa: I believe it is the church. You know Jesus is the lion of the Tribe of Judah and we know that He is coming back not as a lamb but He’s coming back as a Lion. And I believe that there’s a fierce awakening that He is speaking into His church that we would begin to remember who we are; remember who we are; remember what we were created to do; remember that there is a new season a new dispensation. You see that the book of Revelations and it’s like this all out war to end all wars. And so I love Alexander the Great’s quote where he’s said “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep I’m afraid of an army of sheep led by a Lion.” And I believe he was prophesying that is the church that we follow like sheep but we do not fight like sheep we fight like a Lion.
Sid: Lisa you produced an entire curriculum called “Lioness Arising.” It’s your book by that title you’re workbook then the 3 DVD’s that have 8 sessions, and the 4 DVD’s that have the same 8 sessions. And why did you put this curriculum together what is not your objective but what is God’s objective? What does God want to accomplish with people that take this curriculum?
Lisa: You know Sid we find out who we are in the company of others. I really believe that you can read a book and yes it’ll do a work in you but when you gather with others, when you bring other people and sit down together you find out what your weakness is and your strengths. You find your questions and you find your answers and they’re not only did we create a curriculum that just taught but we actually did a curriculum that actually help them know who they are. You know in the workbook Sid it actually has a test to find out what kind of a lion you are. Because if you are a protector and you think you are a hunter then people are going to be at risk. So I really believe that God is raising up people to find out who they are in the company of one another and what those strengths are that they need to holm. And so we actually took it as a safari journal because everybody goes out and sees something different because we’re made different, but the truth is we need to learn our strengths and then we need to give those strengths to build up all.
Sid: Well it’s time to awaken the lioness in you; it’s time to arise I want you to dare to walk into your destiny. I want you to have the greatness that God has inside of you to awake. By the time you’ve finished this curriculum whether you take it just by yourself or with a group by the time you finish this curriculum you are going to find something fierce, something beautiful and wild that’s going to awaken within you. Lisa you talk about this but it’s obvious to me, most people that go to church that love the Lord are spectators they’re almost beaten down from fulfilling their destiny by something called religion that has evolved rather than fulfilling their God called destiny. I don’t know how it happened but it happened, will this get them out of that?
Lisa: You know what it will not only get them out of it it will empower them to see things differently. I really believe this is a prophetic curriculum and I believe it speaks to a different place in everyone. Sid it’s been out for a couple of years and you know what I’ve gotten to do? I’ve gotten to travel and see what happens 2 years later when people have gotten a hold of this curriculum and what they have done in their communities, what they have done in the church what they have done to reach out to the poor; what they have done in every realm from law to beauty I mean it’s been crazy. I’m actually beginning to do things where I’m actually doing follow-up when lioness’s awake. And I’ve seen people lobbying for what happened to autistic children to beauticians’ saying we’re going to sell beauty products and it’s going to rescue children that have been orphaned. It’s been crazy to see they find their strengths and then they give their strengths and they’ve never been so fulfilled. Because you and I have not been called to attend church, we we’re called to attend to the church which is His bride. And we’re not supposed to sit we’re actually supposed to adorn her with strength and beauty and purpose. And I really think that there is a shift happening because the subtitle of “Lioness Arising” is “Wakeup and Change Your World.”
Sid: Okay consider yourself challenged I want you to know that when you end up fulfilling your destiny… When you do that any profits that we make from this is poured into Jewish ministry. I got this this morning I want to read it to you from my cell phone.
We are excited about the response from your program Sid [This is the Russian Language broadcast we’re on all over the world.] Thousands of people are sending testimonies and prayer requests and encouragements after watching your programs to our call centers. We would like to share with you how our channels and media group are developing. We are continually growing in the Western and Eastern European cable networks. Last month we added over 10 million households to our cable systems. We are now in the process of finalizing agreements with the largest network [I can’t mention the name of it but if I could this is so mind blowing our show is getting on one of the largest networks in the world.] The governments in the Baltic and Scandinavian countries are aiming to make our channel the main Russian channel in the regions. They don’t want propaganda of other Russian channels and are choosing clean positive content of our channel. By the time the crisis in Ukraine we were over to stream your program dubbed into Ukrainian on a secular network there. We’re also excited about the development of our new channel in Romania…
I’m not going to take the time to keep reading this but guess what Jesus is returning soon you must fulfill your destiny. Our destiny is to reach Jewish people to get modern day Paul the apostles raised up to go to the 4 corners of the earth and do what the Jew was created to do is to be a light to the Gentiles and evangelize the whole world. So when you get this course any profits are being poured into reaching the Jewish people with the gospel. When we come back Lisa I want you to tell me about the dream you got from God about putting this together and why He wanted it.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
Sid: Sid Roth here with Rick Joyner and I’m sure enjoying myself I hope you’re enjoying yourself as much as I’m enjoying myself. But Rick you had an, and I started out protesting and I’m still protesting hearing I’ve been able to ask God being able to ask God any question you want any question. Well I have to ask you this and hearing the answer as clear as you’ve ever heard God in your life you said that “Jesus isn’t as religious as we think He is” tell me what you mean by that.
Rick: Yeah I think a lot of our religious rituals, now there are Biblical rituals that are very important like baptism and communion and all, but I think that we build a lot of other things to build on formality with God that He doesn’t share. I mean He came as a carpenter; He came as a normal guy even among the lower classes and walked among them. I mean look who He chose as His disciples none of them were religious. And they weren’t from the religious community and I think the Lord is far more informal. Now there are times for formality and there’s times for formality we see in heaven and Revelation and everything else, but with family you don’t want formal relationships. And with friends you don’t want…you know you start breaking down those barriers of formality. And that’s where my relationship with the Lord had been it had been mostly built on what I could do for Him and He starts speaking to me even before this encounter “It’s not as important what you do as what you become.” And we’re called to become like Him. It’s far more important that we grow by the in the fruit of the Spirit and in His nature in all of these things, but then just what we accomplish. But accomplish in those are good that is part of it too we want to bear fruit and fruit that remains. But I think that He’s more after you know a relationship. It says we were created for His pleasure.
Sid: Alright give me some practical things that you are currently doing as a result of knowing this now that maybe it will give me a better idea of what I can do on this friendship business with the Lord.
Rick: Yeah well one thing I do is every day I try to give the Lord the best my earliest freshest time to listen to Him.
Sid: That’s when I’m most alert personally at the beginning of the day.
Rick: I am too and so I try to give Him that time; I used to immediately go to the scriptures and then study and then prayer and intercession which is all good things, but this changed because to me what He wanted in His friends, a good friend is a good listener.
Sid: So what do you do? Do you play music? Do you go outside? What do you do?
Rick: Now I may walk but I may sit and drink a cup of coffee but I’m going to read anything I’m not going to do anything I’m going to sit there and say “Lord what would you like what would you want to talk about today? What is on Your heart today? What is…and I do my best to listen I tell you this is one of the toughest things I’ve done in a long time. The other night when you were at Heritage and praying for people and you said “Anyone that has trouble with their minds stand up.” And I stood up and got my arm healed by the way (Laughing).
Sid: (Laughing) I’ll tell you humbled yourself.
Rick: Yeah.
Sid: You’re normally a leader of a group to stand up he’s superman he doesn’t have a problem.
Rick: Well I was hoping to get my mind because I have so much trouble focusing ADD to the worse. And I’ve been trying to take every thought captive, every day I set about to take every thought captive make it obedient to Christ; take all of my vain imaginations and turn them into intercession and conversation with the Lord and it’s just so hard. It’s not easy, but He has been so encouraging about what it means to Him that I would just set about to do this. And so I do I struggle every morning but I feel like I’m making some progress and just be able to sit quietly before Him and just listen to Him speaking.
Sid: Now what happens when you’re sitting there and you get your laundry list of what you should do today from your mind not from the Lord what do you do?
Rick: I try to turn it off, and sometimes I go pretty long down that line before I can, when I realize that this is not the time for that.
Sid: Okay what did He…what is…alright so you have that quiet time at first. What other changes have you made?
Rick: Well if I walk anywhere which if I walk to my office or walk down stairs I try to acknowledge His presence; I try to just beware of Him…
Sid: I’m sorry help me out what do mean you acknowledge His presence tell me what you’re saying or thinking.
Rick: Well He said that He’d never leave us or forsake us. He’s with us all the time He gave us His Holy Spirit to abide in us. We’re His temple and a…
Sid: When you say “Acknowledge” though I mean you realize He’s there is that what you’re saying?
Rick: I try to realize He’s there and see Him with the eyes of my heart.
Sid: Actually try to see Him.
Rick: I try to see Him with my natural eyes and that’s what Paul prayed in Ephesians 1 “That the eyes of our hearts would be opened” not just our physical eyes. So I try to acknowledge Him and see Him and I mean this is a war that’s just going on in my now because I am so easily destructed but I’m fighting this fight. I want to abide in the Lord all the time. I want to get to the place where I’ve taken every thought captive it is the Lords. I want to think what He thinks, I want to feel what He feels.
Sid: What if you happen to like sports and you go to a football game what do you think He thinks about that?
Rick: (Laughing) Well I asked Him about that “What do you think of sports we give so much attention to sports? He said “It wasn’t a direct answer but He said He loved what we loved that was not forbidden.” Like I mean He doesn’t you know…
Sid: And so He wouldn’t want to join us in an X-rated movie.
Rick: No.
Sid: But He would join us now is there in sports in some cases become an idol?
Rick: Absolutely but you know worship has become an idol with some people they worship worship instead of worshipping the Lord. You can worship the Bible you can worship almost anything that is of God rather of God. So yeah anything can become a idol and certainly sports is an idol to a lot of people. I think a lot of Christians spend a lot time focusing on sports than they do the Lord and that’s out of whack.
Sid: Did you ask Him any questions on what’s going on in the world today with the US or anything?
Rick: Well I did, but you know these were things also that He brought up because I was asking I was trying to be a friend I said “Lord what’s on your heart?” you know. And I said “These things are on my heart but what’s on Your heart?” He did start speaking to me about America and about a specific way that our country would be awakened and would be saved. And this really…
Sid: You’ve got to tell me (Laughing).
Rick: (Laughing) Well He really did give our founding Fathers the wisdom to write our Constitution. It was divinely inspired, it’s not scripture but it was divinely inspired for a government that would enable people to be free and freedom is essential for people be who He created us to be. That’s why He put the tree of knowledge in the Garden in the first place. There cannot be no true obedience unless there’s the freedom to disobey and so there has to be freedom. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there’s liberty and He really gave this country as an example of the freedom and liberty that He wants people to have. Of course some people are going to use that liberty for evil. They’re going to chose to do wrong and all but there has to be freedom. You can never force love; you can never force devotion to God it will never be real. And but He wants this to be preserved, but the constitution is the key to the restoration of our nation. I you know virtually every problem major crisis problem that we have right now is the result of a departure from our constitution.
Sid: Now you saw some terrible things about ready to happen in America what did you see?
Rick: Well this was later I was given a dream of an on slide an invasion actually across our southern border of an evil that it was far worse than anything I’ve ever comprehended. It was an evil spirit. It was it was terrorism and it was terrorist but is far worse than ISIS.
Sid: I don’t know how you can…why was it worse than ISIS I can’t think of anything worse than ISIS.
Rick: Well one thing if you study the formation of ISIS. You know ISIS was a break off from Al Qaeda because Al Qaeda thought that these people were too ruthless.
Sid: Hm.
Rick: So Al Qaeda was saying ISIS is too ruthless and you think well that’s as evil as it gets cutting off people’s heads especially children and everything else. What I saw was far worse than that it was a sadistic evil to be cruel while it was killing people that was freaking out the ISIS and Al Qaeda the other terrorists groups. They were terrified with this terror it was so evil. I think in the dream I knew that it had come out of a deep witchcraft from South or Central America. I believe it has some kind of roots maybe from the old Mayan empires or things like this. It is terrible terrible ruthless cruel evil that is going to rise up and join with the spirit of terrorism. There are a lot of Middle Eastern groups that are setting up terror space now in south and Central America and we’ve known that for a long time a lot of them in Mexico. There target is America; well this evil rising up from South and Central America combining with that is going to be I think the most diabolical thing that the world has ever seen.
Sid: So kind of what hope do we have if this is going to happen?
Rick: Well first the first hope is that we have a King who’s above all rule, power and authority He can flip His little finger and they’re all dead. (Laughing)
Sid: (Laughing)
Rick: So it’s going to force us and I think it is forcing us I think even right now just all the news about Ebola and ISIS there’s an awakening starting. You saw the results at our place this weekend. We were expecting less than half as many people as crammed into there.
Sid: They were hanging from the chandeliers I mean that literally but they were jammed! I mean on a Saturday night I thought a lot of people would be heading home for their local churches or something.
Rick: Well a lot of people did head home!
Sid: Well people are hungry that’s what I see!
Rick: Absolutely.
Sid: What we call religion isn’t satisfying, I mean if we you know we don’t want to be like the Emperor’s new clothes, but there’s something when I see people so hungry for the reality there’s got to be a change in the church; there’s got to be a change in our relationship with God we have to become friends with God. Well after your bike ride you had an 8 hour visit to heaven tell me about that.
Rick: Yeah (chuckle) now that was a lot better than the dream about hell.
Sid: I’m sure, but you’ve been to heaven before was this different?
Rick: It was very different.
Sid: Why?
Rick: The basic ways…the times that I’ve experienced heaven before I’ve seen things like the river of living water; the river of life which by the way is living the waters alive. I never knew that but the waters alive, everything in heaven is alive. The train of the Lord’s Temple is made up of billions or millions of beings (Laughing). The species in heaven there are more species in heaven than there is on the earth many times over. And you know we tend to you know I’ve heard people say “Well I thought that only a third of the angels fell so 2/3’s are still with us.” We need to understand angels are only one type of being in heaven and they’re just the messengers. There are many we see in scripture the Cherubim, and Seraphim and all of these other many many but my experience with heaven before was seeing things like that. Seeing extraordinary things about you know the life in heaven that is so much more substantial than on earth. The communication which is so much more substantial I think because heaven was still reigning in the Garden of Eden you know there’s a communication between all things. You communicate with the plants, they communicate back but it’s not in words like we think.
Sid: So you’re not talking it’s like spirit…on a spirit level.
Rick: Yeah and you fully understand that’s why I don’t think it was shocking to Adam and Eve that the serpent would talk to them they were used to talking. I believe to communication with all beings in the Garden on a level that we just lost touch with but these were the kinds of things that I experienced before. This last visit there was far more wonderful and all the other visits I’ve had like that my thoughts of heaven is so much better than we could even comprehend, but this last one paled…made all the other ones pale in comparisons.
Sid: Tell me some things.
Rick: Okay the man thing first.
Sid: Alright.
Rick: It was all about what I call Koinonia fellowship. The fellowship was so wonderful now. Now I’ve tasted it before like I said with all the beings there but this was all about that fellowship. And at the end the Lord let me experience just a moment of being there in the same place the most wonderful part of heaven but He let me experience it being there alone and it was like Hell. He said “We have to have this fellowship; we have to have this Koinonia. You know when God said about Adam “It’s not good for man to be alone.” That’s the first thing that God ever said wasn’t good was loneness and Adam had God when He said that, think about it. Now this will ruffle a lot of religious fathers but God made man so that God was not enough for man. Now He’s the main thing we need God more than we need any other person and all other people for sure, but we need…He created us to need each other as well. And He really showed me this and He showed me the wonders and the fulfillment and just how wonderful the fellowship in heaven was. And you know every Christian I think “I can’t wait to talk to John the Baptist or Moses or Paul the Apostle.” It is going to be way better than we ever dreamed. The fellowship of heaven is…you know you can’t even comprehend it here I can’t duplicate the feelings even. But there’s still a residue in me I experienced it.
Sid: You told me about the shopping center.
Rick: Yeah.
Sid: Explain that.
Rick: Well I have to dig down a little bit to really explain it because I was provoked years ago my father-in-law was a major for J.C. Penney. He chose which shopping malls Penney stores would go in or whatever. I was walking with him and a Mall Manager one time and a little store had closed in the Mall it was huge Mall. And my father-in-law was so he was angry about it he said “How did you let the store go out of business?” And I mean his business is the Penney store JC Penney Store and he was bent at the Manager “What happened here how did he go out of business?” And later I talked to my father-in-law I said “Why would you care about that little store?” He said “We all create each other’s prosperity,” he said “I would never put one of my stores where a Belk Store is not common, a Sears and all the big anchor stores a Saks Fifth Avenue, we all have to be there together; I would never put mine as the only anchor store because we create traffic for each other and all the little shops create traffic for the big ones, we create traffic for them but we’re all in this together and we don’t like to see anyone ever go out of business.” And I was just provoked by it I said “What if the church started thinking that way?”
Sid: Hm.
Rick: What if all the mega churches would get absolutely provoked when any little church had to shut down or something! That to me sounds like heaven. This was many years ago this was over 20 years ago when I was going through this. I felt like the Lord spoke to me one time and said “If we were going to build the church that He was going to inhabit we would have to have the wisdom of the shopping mall developers.” I think that’s what it is we got to care for the little ones, work together with the other big ones; we’re all in it together so the little care for the big ones, the big ones care for the little ones and everybody cares for each other.
Sid: But what is going to stop that spirit of competition which is stupid?
Rick: ISIS and Ebola are going to help.
Sid: Oi vey. (Laughing)
Rick: We’ve got to heave God.
Sid: I’ll tell you what Rick found the key to eternal joy to bring the heavenly realm on earth and when we come back I want him to explain that key to you.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
Sid: We want everywhere to be red hot for the Messiah. Let me tell you something, you will if you’re not if you listen to us long enough you will catch it. In fact that’s what my guest Steven Brooks says that when you get the teaching that he gives you begin to catch it, you begin to see it and you begin to experience it consistently. Steven you operate in the gifts of healing what is that?
Steven: Healing basically is a restoration of your body back to a healed condition. A person could have been sick, they could have injured your body and it’s bringing that body back into a healed state by the power of God. And so we have the gifts of healings as plural…
Sid: And a lot of people miss that, they think that it’s the gift of healing. But in the Greek it’s gifts plural, why is it gifts versus gift?
Steven: That’s a great question, in my line of ministry I have to pray for all types of sick people but you can still notice as these gifts are released in the Body of Christ you can be a person who may not have an anointing to pray for blind people but you can have a tremendous gifting to pray for those that have a back problems or maybe knee problems. So the gifts of healings is plural and you can have an anointing to pray for a specific condition and you can develop that and become very strong in it.
Sid: Not only can you develop it but I personally believe if you contend like it tells us to pray for prophesy, if you contend for the gifts at some point God’s going to meet you. God met you on the gifts of healing. Tell me about the day that you were anointed for that.
Steven: I’ll never forget it Sid, it was a special day in my life. Up to this point I’d been in the ministry for 10 years and I functioned primarily as a prophet and as a teacher. I would go to meetings and minister the word and then I’d sometimes prophecy over every person in the meeting. That was the primarily the limit of my ministry. But one day while traveling on to my next meeting I stopped in Texas and stayed at my brother’s house for a few days. I was sitting in the living room of my brother’s home we were taking when suddenly my daughter came running into the living room screaming and crying and she said “Daddy they’re all over me, get them off of me.” And I said “What?” And she said “Well the fire ants.” Well what had happened she had already brushed them off, they had fallen off but she had gotten bit about 35 times. She had red welts breaking out all over her legs.
Sid: So she felt that they were still there because the pain was there.
Steven: That’s right and she was scared and a little bit hysterical and so I took her to a side room and I said “I’m going to pray for you.” And when I laid my hands on her legs a heat came upon my hands for the first time, my hands became like they were on fire. I laid my hands on her legs and every single red welt just instantly disappeared. Then she went right out no more pain, no more crying. I said “Lord, what was that I’ve never had that happen before. He said “From this day forward you will operate in the gifts of healings.” I said Lord, “Why have you given me this gift?” He said, “I just want to bless you, I love you you’ll always have this gift for the rest of your ministry.”
Sid: Let me ask you a question that comes to mind. What is your favorite healing you’ve seen when you’ve operated in this gift, what comes to mind?
Steven: What comes to mind is a classic example of a healing that a person received because they simply released their faith. She was a young girl, she was about 16 years of age. I was going down the healing line and I probably prayed for about 400 people, she was the last person in line. And she had scoliosis of the spine and it was a severe case of scoliosis of the spine. She had to wear a back brace every day of her life 22 hours out of every 24 hours. So as I worked my way down towards the end of the line she told her mother she said “Mom I want to take off the back brace I’m going to have Steven Brooks pray for me and I believe Jesus will heal me.” She got in line and I said “What do you need prayer for?” She said “Scoliosis of the spine” and I prayed for her. Now Sid when I prayed for her I was under a healing anointing but I didn’t feel like anything spectacular. I didn’t hear angels singing in the background…
Sid: You know what? I think many of us get faked out because we don’t have a good feeling. In fact, I have to tell you my favorite story about a man in heaven his name is Kenneth Hagen.
Steven: Hmm!
Sid: And he was at my home congregation ministering and he had everyone come forward that was sick and he laid hands on them. Well he laid hands on everyone there and everyone fell over in the Spirit except one woman. She was from France, she was the aunt of one of the members in our congregation. She had a horrible cancer tumor, of the brain, malignant and no hope. She was the only one that didn’t go down, so my peanut brain said “She’s not healed.”
Steven: Right.
Sid: She gets back to France, goes to the doctor, total miracle occurred. No feeling, only one of 100 people that didn’t fall over. (Laughing)
Steven: Sure we have to remember that all of the gifts operate by faith.
Sid: Now, let’s go back to that 16 year old.
Steven: So when I prayed for her I knew that there was an anointing but it’s not like super tangible where you could just feel power flowing. But never the less I knew the Lord touched her and so she went back to her chair the meetings over. And I left town and continued to the next meeting, but the pastor called me 2 days later. He said “Brother Steven he said “The next morning when she woke up she got out of bed and her back was completely healed.” She had a doctor’s appointment that day, she went to the doctor with her mother and they walked into the doctor’s office and the doctor said “Oh, my Lord what happened to your back?” She said “The Lord Jesus has healed me.” He thoroughly examined her back and she was completely healed after having wearing a back brace everyday of her life. And the back specialist also came in who would make the adjustment on the vice that she had to wear every day to tighten it or loosened it he came in and also examined her and he was notified that his services were no longer needed.
Sid: I’ve got to ask you this question I ask my guest this often because it’s something I’m trying to understand. I know that the gifts of the Spirit are from God. I know that people are healed. But we all… you’re a pastor.
Steven: Yes.
Sid: You bump into people that have sat under your teaching and they’re still not healed and they end up dying. Well let’s not talk about them, but why are some people healed and others are not and they’re sitting under the same teaching. I’ve known you’ve pondered this.
Steven: Right, there’s some things that we’ll never know. I think that there’s an area where the secret things belong to the Lord and you can never fully look into a person’s heart. A person can say “I believe, I have faith, I believe, I have faith.” But you still can’t really look in there only the Lord can to see if maybe there’s something in there those intangibles that we can’t touch. Maybe it’s unforgiveness, maybe they’re mad at somebody that they’re not willing to let that go. And you ask them “Have you forgiven everybody, everything good?” “Oh yes Pastor Steven I’ve made everything right with the Lord.” But see you can’t overstep that area that’s personal in people’s lives so a lot of this we’ll never know so that’s just between them and the Lord. All I know is that we just have to keep on praying for the people because many will receive and many will take those blessings by faith that God intends for them to have.
Sid: In your book you talk about a Greek word for the English word “desire.” We are to desire spiritual gifts. What does that really mean in the Greek?
Steven: Well in the fullness it means we are to have a burning on fire boiling point desire to go after these gifts. Now these are grace gifts in other words we can’t earn them, we can’t say “Well Lord I did 10,000 spiritual pushups so therefore I deserve the gifts.” They are received by faith through grace but at the same time the other side of that coin is that we have to desire them. Somebody might say “Well if God wants me to have them I guess He’ll just give them to me.” Well it doesn’t work like that, He said “You are to desire these gifts.” So we have to pursue the Lord so that these gifts will be manifested in our lives. And when we do that we show God that we’re hungry and He’ll certainly answer our prayers.
Sid: Just briefly because I know that you’re a prophet, what do you see happening to believers in the near future in the operation of these gifts? Do you see us getting into a whole new level?
Steven: I see a move of God that is so powerful that what we would recognize as the ministers or the speakers it will be too much. In other words the ministers cannot hold it down so the Body of Christ has to take their place. So the Body of Christ has to be anointed, the Body of Christ needs to operate in the gifts of the Spirit and if there’s sick people that the minister can’t get to then there needs to be believers who have knowledge of the gifts of the Spirit who will put a reliance and trust upon the Lord to empower them to go over there and lay hands on the sick and God will do miracles through them.
Sid: But you know even beyond that, the people that we want to reach they are not in the church.
Steven: Absolutely.
Sid: They’re in school, they’re in offices, they’re were you shop. They’re the doctors, they’re the attorneys and hat if you bring Jesus to them rather than expect them to come to you as a nonbeliever?
Steven: Right, see I believe that old statement that “Divine healing is the dinner bell for the lost.” So when that bell is rung people will come to Christ. There’s a certain element where sometimes an unbeliever they don’t care what you really teach as long as you can get their sick daughter healed okay. So I believe that God has his people in many different career paths. And right where you’re at a person can reach and make an impact with the power of the Holy Spirit right where they’re at because that person may never come to church, but you can pray for that person right there to watch God’s power flow right there.
Sid: I have to believe that we’re coming into such… This is what I see, Kathryn Kulhman used say “I see Christians going into hospitals and clearing them all out every sick person.” I see students going into schools where they’re being taught these horrible horrific anti-God things, and walking in signs and wonders and the administration can’t even control it because the kids are so hungry for it. Woops we’re out of time…
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
SID: Now there’s a question that a lot of Christians are wondering. Can a Christian have a demon? What do you say, Nick?
NICK: Yes.
SID: That’s short. You’re a man of few words.
NICK: Yes.
SID: But explain please.
NICK: Okay. First, I want to explain that you’re not a bad person if you’re dealing with an evil spirit. Our enemy is the devil. It’s taught in the New Testament that we should cast out demons. Jesus went into the temple, which is a type of, the New Testament believer—
SID: The Temple.
NICK: Yes, the Temple of the Living God. And see, the temple had the Holy of Holies where the Holy Spirit dwelled, where no man could get in without the blood of the lamb. And then we have the inner court and the outer court. Jesus cast thieves, the moneychangers and the thieves. The thieves could be representing evil spirits out of let’s say the outer court and the inner court. And so it’s my belief that that the Bible teaches that there’s a spirit, soul and body, and that our spirit man is sealed with the Holy Spirit once we receive Jesus Christ. And our flesh, it needs to be renewed with our mind. So our flesh could have stuff inside causing things that aren’t of the Kingdom of God.
SID: Now you talk, you know what I’m thinking about. Have you ever read the New Testament about a spirit of infirmity? Have you ever been sick? You now are no longer with that institution. You help people full time all over the world. What about someone that is physically sick? Could that be a demon?
NICK: I run into a lot of times with people who have been praying for healing for many years. They go to the pastors, they go to evangelists and they come up front, and they want healing. They really want it bad. But they just want healing and they don’t maybe, possibly they’ve never heard of deliverance or they don’t believe in deliverance.
SID: You know, at least a third of Jesus’ ministry was casting out spirits from people.
NICK: Yes. The evil spirits actually cause all sorts of things that people think are just medical conditions like I’ve seen people healed of MS. I’ve seen people healed of—
SID: There was a spirit behind it?
NICK: Yes. A spirit of cancer, I’ve seen it come out of a woman. She said that it came out of her breast. A spirit came out of her breast. Also I’ve seen people healed of stage 4 liver cancer or actually, I’m sorry, bladder cancer, I’ve seen that. It was actually spirits.
SID: I don’t have time to ask my doctor friend this, but I don’t think too many people with stage 4 bladder cancer get healed and all they have to do is do what the book says: believe it and do it. The book is the truth book, otherwise known as the Bible.
NICK: Paul told us if we sowed the flesh, of the flesh we’re going reap corruption. And so what happens is that we, sometimes we have a sinful life in our past and we get, we receive Jesus into our hearts and then we don’t learn about deliverance, and bring those, let’s say corrupt type things in the flesh, the curses from the law or from living in sin into our Christian life. And then we have to deal with these evil spirits later on causing disease and sickness, arthritis, cancer, all sorts of things.
SID: Now what I love about you, Nick, is this is not your emphasis in your life. His emphasis is intimacy with God, loving God. Tell me how you developed such intimacy with God.
NICK: Well when I was going through my healing of schizophrenia, I would, I started praying. I prayed about a couple of minutes at night then I’d pray about 30 minutes a night, and then I decided to look at the Word where it said, “If you seek God you will find Him when you seek Him with your whole heart.” And He’s a great rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So I prayed to God and I said, “This is your Word and I’m standing on it and I’m going to seek you until the day I meet you either in my room or in eternity.”
SID: Give me an example, actually pray that right now. Just pray what you just said.
NICK: Lord Jesus, your word states that if I seek you with my whole heart, if I actually pray and seek you, your face, and I repent for my sins, I can actually meet you and see you, and you will come through for me.
SID: And you hear God’s voice now. What’s it like to have intimacy with God? Describe what it’s like. I know that’s hard, Nick. But, I like to ask hard questions.
NICK: I did every single drug you could name: ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana. I went to every party you could think of. I was a nightclub bartender. I did everything I could to escape from the pain of the world. The day I met the Holy Spirit, I never could ever imagine why anybody would ever want to do drugs or ever want to drink, because the Holy Spirit’s love is better than all of it.
SID: Pray the Holy Spirit’s love, but the Holy Spirit’s love on people that are watching right now.
NICK: Okay. I have, I would like you to do like a heart sign, like a prophetic sign with your hands. I believe the Lord wants you to do this. Just as an act of faith, just this little heart sign. It’s simple. Just as an act of faith, showing God that you really want His love, because He loves you. See the heart. In the mighty name of Jesus, Father God, I pray that the person or the people that are seeing this heart, that they would raise their hands up with this heart and agree with me that you will appear to them. You will show them your deep love that you will heal them of everything that afflicts them, that you will deliver them and their family members, and prosper them. Lord, I pray for each individual that you would send a dart of your love into their heart in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, the risen king. Amen.
SID: Amen. I’m going to tell you something. If there’s someone watching right now and you say, I’ve gone too far, there’s no hope for me, answer them in one minute.
NICK: Jesus Christ is standing next to you right now. All you have to do is just open your heart to him. If you doubt the Word of God, if you doubt that Jesus Christ is really real, you just pray to God and you ask Him about Jesus. God is a God that answers prayers. Listen. He is the one that answers prayers and He knows what you’re going through. God is a God of hope and a God of love, not a God of religion, not a God of judgementalism, but a God of love and of peace. Reach out.
SID: Say, Jesus, I make you my Lord. Say it out loud wherever you are right now. I believe you died for my sins. I ask you to take over my life, be Lord of my life, fill me with your Holy Spirit and power. If you can do that for Nick, say that out loud, if you can do that for Nick, you can do whatever I need for me, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth