Living the Journey

About four years ago due to a set of circumstances which were NOT Gods will my three older sisters left the home overnight, leaving the rest of my family (two younger sisters and one younger brother) and I in shock. We had never dreamed that anything like this would ever happen to us. We had always been a very close family and did everything together.

When I saw the hurt that it caused my parents, who had poured their lives into us and raised us to be Godly children, teaching us His principles and Biblical truth’s, and the amount of damage that it did to my siblings, I became very bitter at them and at God for letting it happen.

One thing I had noticed though about one year before this all happened was that my three older sisters had started getting into contemporary Christian music. This soon led to country music, and then it just progressed further and further. My parents did not know about this.

After it all happened I started to stray from the Lord and to listen to music that I knew in my spirit was wrong but my mind was able to rationalize away. As I started this downhill slide I would look around and see my friends who were not Christians and would say to myself, “Well, I will never be like them,” or “I will never listen to the kind of music that they do.” And so I continued down this road worshiping the lust of the flesh and satisfying my lustful desires for whatever I wanted to hear and what made ME feel good. However, the entire time I was doing it behind my parents back and keeping up a “good Christian young man” front for the rest of the world to see.

It all really hit me one day how far I had fallen when I told one of my friends who was not a Christian that I liked a certain song, and they responded, “that song is
terrible.” Right then I realized that I was down just as low as anyone else, even though I did read the Bible and I did sing the hymns and I could talk about the Bible with anyone that wanted to. It all didn’t matter because I had an unclean spirit in me that I had received from this music.

So about three years went by and I got a job working at a place that played the wrong kind of music all day and the people there were really nice but they were SO godless that it drug me down even farther than I was before. However, I still did not take any action to change anything, letting my mind rationalize away any pricks that I would get from my conscience about the lifestyle that I was living.

After working for one year there, I quit my job and went on a Journey to The Heart. There I was able to confess a lot of things and clean my life up. However, even though I didn’t listen to that music anymore and I had turned my life around, the words of all those songs would still come to my mind whenever I would see or hear anything that would remind me of them. This was a huge stronghold in my life, and the devil used it over and over again to attack me whenever I would try to do anything for God’s kingdom.

I told Mr. Gothard about my problem, and asked his advice on what to do to remove those words from my heart and mind. He said to write them out and then to find Scriptures that contradict the hidden messages and phrases in the songs.

So I wrote them out and went over them with him, listening as he pointed out to me all of the Scriptures that conflicted with the messages that each song was giving. As I saw how wrong these songs were and how they were feeding the unclean spirit I had, I felt a whole new freedom and joy as they left my heart and were replaced with the truths of Scripture.

If you are having the same struggle I am, I would encourage you to write out those lyrics. Then search the Scriptures and find the verses which reveal the lies hidden in the worldly messages of the songs. It will open your eyes to the damage they are having on your life, but it will also give you a tremendous freedom as you win the victory over this mighty stronghold!

- Eddie

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Part of "bringing the Journey home" is sharing our faith in Christ with others. This is something most, if not all, of Journey Alumni feel burdened to do, yet many of us are not sure how to begin. However, as Philippians 2:15-16 says, we are not only to be shining as lights in this dark age, we are also to be speaking truth. Psalm 107:2a says, "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so . . . " I find it helpful to hear others share their witnessing stories, so my hope is you, too, will be encouraged to witness to someone this very day after I recount a short witnessing encounter from a couple weeks ago.

Saturday wasn’t going to work after all — some of us had a wedding to attend, and some of us were otherwise committed with appointments. Sunday morning found us in church, and the afternoon and evening were additionally called for by two separate hospitality invitations. Monday was likewise packed to the brim with pressing projects, but . . . there really never is a convenient time to witness. With this truth in mind, our little group of six headed out on Monday afternoon to a local famers’ market, wondering how many people might be there in the 90 degree heat. We agreed to set aside 45 minutes to an hour for initiating conversations about the Gospel, prayed together that the Lord would multiply our efforts for the small amount of time we had, and broke off in pairs.

Melodie and I spotted a woman and two girls sitting at a picnic table. Walking up to the woman, we smiled and said,
"Hello! Are you having a nice day?" She smiled back and indicated she was. I continued, "My friend and I are doing a little survey, and we wondered if we could ask you a few questions?"
"Oh, I do not speak English . . ." she said with a thick accent.
Turning to the young girl beside me, I asked, "Do you?" Her English was perfectly understandable, and she agreed to interpret for us.
Melodie began, "In the last six months, has your interest in God increased, decreased, or stayed about the same?"
"Definitely increased!" the girl to our right exclaimed. She repeated the question to her mother, and her mother agreed.
"Do you consider yourself to be a Christian? If so, why?"
"I am a Christian," the girl replied, "and my sister is a Christian," she pointed to the younger girl in front of her, "and my dad is a Christian, but Mom is not."
"You are not a Christian?" I asked the woman directly.
"No," she shook her head.
"What do you believe?" I inquired.
"I am a Muslim. I am from Indonesia."

continue reading…

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1. Form a Group of Two or Three

2. Be in One Accord

3. Pray Out Loud

4. Use the Names of Jesus

5. Disable Satan

6. Use Precise “Rhemas” of Scripture

7. Have a “Heart Belief”

“Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (Mark 11:23)

When we use the right name of Jesus and pray the precise rhemas of Scripture, we can be confident that God will answer. Without this confidence, we will be like a wave of the sea cast to and fro with the wind. “Let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord” (James 1:7).

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This is the final article in a series on seven keys to praying with power. It was based on an IBLP publication. Feel free to download the PDF.

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1. Form a Group of Two or Three

2. Be in One Accord

3. Pray Out Loud

4. Use the Names of Jesus

5. Disable Satan

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6. Use Precise “Rhemas” of Scripture

“If ye abide in me, and my words [rhemas] abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” (John 15:7-8)

In the New Testament, the Greek words logos and rhema are both translated word. However, they are not synonyms for the same idea, but each have precise Biblical meanings, as do all words in Scripture. Logos is generally used to refer to the totality of the Word of God as well as the person of Jesus Christ, Who is the living Logos.

Scripture generally uses the Greek word rhema to refer to the spoken word given by a living voice and is used to describe particular messages that were given to individuals for their personal application. (For further information and Biblical examples of logos and rhema, visit www.billgothard.com.)

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words states the following on page 683. “The significance of rhema (as distinct from logos) is exemplified in the injunction to take ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,’ (Eph. 6:17); here, the reference is not to the whole Bible as such, but to the individual scripture which the Spirit brings to our remembrance for use in time of need, a prerequisite being the regular storing of the mind with Scripture.”

Jesus overcame Satan by quoting precise commands from the Old Testament. The first was, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word [rhema] that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) When Jesus used this precise rhema, Satan had to flee.

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What “rhemas” has God given you from His Word this week that you can enjoy praying back to Him?

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1. Form a Group of Two or Three

2. Be in One Accord

3. Pray Out Loud

4. Use the Names of Jesus

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5. Disable Satan

“No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.” (Mark 3:27)

We are called to the great works of preaching the good news of salvation, binding up the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. (See Luke 4:18) However, this will never happen until we disable Satan by asking God to rebuke him in the name and through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In prayer, we are not wrestling with people but with principalities, and powers, and we must come boldly into the throne of God with our armor, and resist the devil so he will flee from us. (See James 4:7.)

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1. Form a Group of Two or Three

2. Be in One Accord

3. Pray Out Loud

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4. Use the Names of Jesus

“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

The name of Jesus is powerful. The disciples affirmed this when they prayed that healing signs and wonders would be done in the name of “thy holy child Jesus” (Acts 4:27). The name of Jesus includes more than just the word “Jesus.” He has many appropriate titles. For example, when we pray for the salvation of a person, we should use the name “Jesus our Redeemer” or “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

We should begin our prayer with His name “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name,” and we should end it with praise to God’s Kingdom, power, and glory. (See Matthew 6:9-13.)

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Remember the sheet in your Journey binder that listed the names of God? Take it out and use it as you commune with God during your quiet time this morning!

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