Personal Refiner's Fire:
I have a friend who moves powerfully in the gifts of knowledge, revelation, healing, prophecy, and dreams and visions. He has been used powerfully to bless many people in his church and also within his community, particularly in his workplace, where the spiritual dynamics there have changed dramatically.
Recently, in our conversations, I noticed that he seemed depressed, which is unusual for him. After more discussion, he told me that although he has been used powerfully in the gifts, God has also been revealing attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors in his heart that should not be there. So he has been going through a refiner's fire process where God has been burning off all the dross.
I reminded him that the Lord always disciplines those he loves (Hebrews 12:6) and he sometimes needs to prune the tree so that it can bear more fruit. (John 15:12).
Then he related to me a dream he had, where he was in a building and there were 5 martial arts students wearing Gi’s (uniforms) moving around him, then they suddenly disappeared. He believed that the Lord had delivered him from the spirit of martial arts, which was something he was involved in as a young man but believed had already been dealt with through prayer.
I said to him, “Oh, you have lost your mates!” and he laughed out loud.
When a believer is being delivered either through a deliverance team or through the Holy Spirit as we press into him, sometimes we can experience a sense of loss and/or loneliness when those demons are removed because they have been in residence, sometimes for a very long time... Luke 11:24-26 tells us:
“When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest; and not finding any, it says, ‘I will go back to my house (person) from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the place swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in [the person] and live there; and the last state of that person becomes worse than the first.”
As believers, we do not want to stay in that position of having an empty house, so it is imperative that we are filled back up with the things of God. This can be accomplished by reading your word daily, listening to worship and praise music, praying, and gathering together with other believers who can encourage and support you. Also having a mature brother or sister that you can call on for spiritual support and guidance. I had a spiritual father growing up in the body of Christ and I would ring him constantly about everything: You need to go hard with this until the entire empty space is filled."
Angelina 05/09/2024
