LOST IN THE WOODS AND NOT ALONE

I woke up and felt something on my back. I thought it was just bumps from the rocks I’d slept on, but no.

It was ticks! Three of them that I could feel and they’d imbedded themselves into my skin and were getting fat from my blood. I could get my hand around to my back to where they were and tried to twist them out. I probably didn’t get the heads, but I’d deal with that later. I was lost in the hills, had slept on the rocky shore of a lake all night, and I needed to get home. But I wasn’t afraid because something wonderful had happened the day before.

I was walking up in the hills behind my apartment. I took my Bible and thought I’d hike a little and then sit down to read. I hiked a lot more than a little, sat down to read and when I got up, I realized I didn’t know which direction was home. It was getting late and I started to get very scared and hungry. I prayed and walked on. In about an hour I found some berries and that satisfied my hunger somewhat. I sat down again and started to cry, “God, You’ve got to get me out of here. It’s going to be dark soon and I’m afraid.” I cried some more and then through teary eyes I looked up into the sky and saw an amazing sight.

A real angel! It was in white and was blowing a trumpet. I didn’t know if it was male or female and I didn’t see any wings either, but what I felt was peace. In my spirit I heard, “It’s going to be okay, don’t worry.” At that moment I knew which way to go and I wasn’t afraid anymore. It was dusk when I looked down the hill and about 100 feet away I could see a lake. I was so thirsty by then, it was a really welcome sight. But what now?

It was getting too dark to go any further and I didn’t want to go back up into the trees so I decided to sleep where I was. The ground was rocky and kind of slanted, but I found what I thought was the best spot, curled up and slept.

When I woke in the morning, after pulling out tick bodies, I started around the lake. I walked a ways and realized the shoreline twisted in and out a lot. I knew about lakes up in that area, so I knew if I walked around the lake I would come to something I recognized and I could get home. Then I spotted some fishermen across the way. I yelled over to them and they saw me. But how was I going to get to them?

I would have to swim across. I wrapped up my Bible in the jacket I was wearing and began to swim across the lake. It was a very long swim, but I was a good swimmer so I knew I’d make it. I was a wet rat when I got out of the water and exhausted. The fisherman and his two sons kindly gave me a ride back to my home.

In Genesis 24 God sent an angel ahead of Abraham’s servant to protect him and prosper him when he went to find a wife for Isaac. The servant took ten camels laden with precious gifts including jewels of silver and gold, clothing and other costly things. Even with robbers along the way, the angel cleared the path and the servant got there with all the camels and gifts protected.

Miraculously my Bible didn’t get wet with the swim across the lake; I had food and water, a ride home, and best of all, I had my very first vision of a real angel, who went before me and protected me on my way.

This experience happened many years ago but it’s just as real to me today.

Love, Carolyn

You can see some of my artwork on http://carolynmolica.tripod.com and my books on http://www.wix.com/carolynmolic/wings-carolyn-molica

ANGELS WEREN'T CREAATED TO FLY AROUND AND LOOK PRETTY

In the NFL Super Bowl, no player wants to be sitting on the bench. Every guy wants to get out on the field and help win the game. God created a team of angels to do the same. And yet…

We sometimes act like we’re a one man or one woman team, leaving God’s angels to sit on the bench watching from the sidelines as we get defeated in some of our innings.

I know we don’t usually see angels, but we need to train ourselves to believe in what God says is real even if we don’t see them in bodily form. We don’t see our words going thousands of miles through space to show up on someone’s computer halfway across the world, but we believe it and we see it. Same with the work of God’s commissioned angels. “Are not the angels all ministering spirits (servants) sent out in the service of those who are to inherit salvation [complete wholeness]?” (Heb 1:14). We either don’t believe it or we don’t know enough about it to believe it. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

Psalm 91: 11-12 tells us “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Notice God didn’t put a limit on when the angels can help us to stay in the center of God’s will. Their mission is to “bless the Lord, do his commandments, [and] hearken unto the voice of his word” (Ps 103:20). Remember the voice of His word is not only what He speaks in the spirit, but it’s also what He has already spoken in the configuration of the heavens, in His written word, in the words and life of Jesus Christ and through the Christ in us as well. These are all “the voice of his word.”

When it comes to the angels God created to minister for us and to us, it’s a fascinating study. Though I’ve looked up and studied all the verses in the King James where the word “angel” or “angels” is mentioned, I don’t even pretend to know a fraction of what’s really available. What I do see is that our God looks on people’s hearts and He will send an angel or angels sometimes to answer the deepest questions and yearnings of our hearts.

The other thing I see is that Jesus gave clarification as to what involvement we can have with angels. “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” Then he said in John 14:12, “ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.”

Jesus gave instructions on the method of dealing with both sides of angels. He said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.” We see from several scriptures, as well as Hebrews 1:14, that God has already loosed angels in heaven whose job is to help us. Jesus is telling us that we can take an active role in getting their assistance.

But angels need the “voice of His word” to go on. If we don’t speak God’s word over a situation, it’s like the angels have nothing to go on. They can only stand by. They don’t do anything for us or against us. They just sit on the bench watching and waiting. But they can get in the action if we say what God’s word says. It’s like a river they can flow in on. And they need that river.

So if you’re a person who says a few scriptures in the morning or evening or anytime really, you might as well start loosing angels to help bring those scriptures to pass in your life. God’s already loosed them in heaven to do that very thing. They’re just waiting for you and me.

One of my favorite examples is from Genesis 24:7, “He shall send his angel before thee.” In this event, the servant of Abraham was taking ten camels full of gifts to find the prize, a wife for Isaac. No one attacked him; none of his things were stolen, broken or lost; he got to his destination healthy and strong and he got the prize.

When the servant tells Rebekah the story, he explains what Abraham told him, “The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way.” That is God’s will for all of us. We can read or say one of these scriptures and loose angels on that “river” to help bring it to pass in our lives too.

An angel helped Hagar save her son; they helped the four lepers to get food in a famine; they helped David win battles; an angel helped Peter and led him out of prison; one helped Paul to be brave in the middle of a hurricane; an angel ministered to Jesus in a very emotionally-fraught experience in the garden of Gethsemane. Angels have been involved in so many other life events, whether or not they are physically seen.

God did not create angels to fly around and look pretty. Nor did He create them to sit around and watch us as we sometimes stumble around trying to do our best for the Lord and each other. God created ministering spirits, angels, to help us. Let’s give them rivers of scriptures to work with and loose them to do what God intended for them to do.

Love, Carolyn

Did you know you can get a paperback copy of my book, WINGS: A JOURNEY IN FAITH? Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Heavenly-Workbook-Christian/dp/1475244894/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1422148559&sr=8-4&keywords=Wings+Carolyn+Molica

BE ON THE LOOKOUT: GOD OPENS DOORS

I received a nice severance payment from my job and we were leaving Chicago. I didn’t know exactly where we’d end up but I knew two things: we were heading west and I was somehow going to start a new career.

I didn’t want to be an executive assistant for the rest of my life. After some deep soul searching I decided I wanted to do artwork. I figured the first thing I needed was a pencil for drawing.

We accepted the invitation from my friend Sandy to stay with her family in a suburb of Kansas City. Kansas City was one of those places that was bustling during the week, but the downtown was like a ghost town on the weekends. Gray buildings lined the empty streets and only a few vagrants walking about. But the Holy Spirit prompted us to drive around anyway.

We couldn’t find any familiar-looking art supply stores, when my friend spotted the sign: ‘Clark Studio.’  “Maybe you can get some pencils in there,” she said. I went in for a pencil and came out with a job as a mold maker for a sculpture studio.

Twenty-seven years later I’m here in Las Vegas and I am still working in the arts field. We never know which step of obedience to the Holy Spirit will change our lives forever. And most of us experience several major changes in a lifetime, so just keep being obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, one step at a time. God says, “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.” (Jer 29:11).

At 211 degrees water boils. At 212 degrees it turns to steam. Steam can power a train. One degree makes a huge difference. One degree of obedience to the Lord can do the same thing.

Love, Carolyn

Coming up: WINGS sample book with 6 chapters on seeing with our spiritual eyes – FREE download Friday thru Tues. - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Wings+Carolyn+Molica

IT'S A COSTUME or THE BULLY WITH NO BACKUP

I walked into my local grocery store and there was the TV personality, Ellen, in the frozen food aisle. She wasn’t “dressed for TV.” Later that week I was driving by the airport and looked over at the guy in the car next to me:  one of the male strip dancers of “Thunder from Down Under.” He wasn’t in his costume either. We see people all the time here in Vegas who are not in their performance costumes. Did you know that the devil and his demons have different personas and put on costumes too? If we’re smart we can see who they really are: characters putting on an act. It’s a convincing one, yes, but we have the authority to expose and deflate them.

Here’s a little history about the devil’s Strip show:

The devil started off as an angel and was designed to do God’s will. He was originally supposed to help mankind. He was created as the angel of light. Light makes things grow. Things are made clear in the light. Lucifer was to illuminate things for mankind. But God is the ultimate authority. Next in authority is mankind: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion.” Then comes angels (both the good ones and fallen angels).

We’ve been taught wrongly about the authority of angels and demons because of a mistranslation of scripture. The devil asks, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels” (Ps 8:4-5).

Where it says “a little lower than angels,” the word “angels” is the word Elohim, which is God the Creator. This verse should read: “For thou [God] hast made him [man] a little lower than Himself.”

Lucifer didn’t like the idea of being subservient to anyone, and certainly not to men. He didn’t want to do what God created him for. He didn’t want to help mankind; he wanted to rule over him and be worshipped by him.

Isaiah 14 takes a look back in the devil’s history and gives us the true story:

“Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Is 14: 12-14). The Message reads: “I'll take over as King of the Universe!"

To “sit upon the mount of the congregation” means to sit at the top, above all beings and be the one to judge them. (See Psa 82:1 and Psa 75:2.) Lucifer liked that idea—to be the bully on the throne and make all the decisions concerning mankind.

But he couldn’t do that because there’s only one God over all. And because of Lucifer’s transgression, he was tossed out of heaven: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev 12:9).

Adam had dominion on the earth but he got tricked by the devil and ended up giving up his power. But Jesus came as a man into the earth and was able to take back dominion for anyone who would believe in Him.

So where is the devil now? He would like us to believe that he is still running things. He brings false accusations and slander (Rev 12:10). He causes confusion, discouragement, sickness, pain, all kinds of destruction and so many other horrible things to mankind. He will do anything he can to put fear into people’s lives and get them to turn against God or on the other hand, tempt them with the tastiest sensual delights they can imagine. In Vegas terms, the devil deceives mankind by putting on his big scary monster costume or his brilliant glistening showgirl, stripper outfit.

But legally he has no authority over any Christian. He is a bully with no backup. He’s a doomed being who puts on a costume to look way more powerful than he really is. But it’s up to us to let him know that we know what he’s up to. We have to exercise our Christ-given authority to put him down. We can’t let the devil or his minions trick us into thinking they are mightier than we are or that they have any legal authority to be involved in our lives.

Isaiah tells us that in the end, the devil will be totally exposed for who he really is. All the costumes will come off and everyone will realize that it was all an act. He and his devil spirits will be annihilated forever.

“They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; Thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet” (Is 14:9-19).

The devil and his demon spirits are legally under our feet now. We don’t have to wait till the end to expose and deflate. Every single time they come up in their costumes to threaten us or tempt us, we need to remember who they really are, underneath those crazy costumes and we need to strictly send them away. I’m currently learning how we can even send them to outer darkness and lock them up until the judgment day. Now that’s exciting to me and very serious too. The name of our Jesus Christ, the blood He shed for us and the Word of God are our weapons to use, and they work. We need to learn more about and practice putting the bullies down, stripping them of their costumes and deflating their pretend authority every time!

Love, Carolyn

This weekend thru Tuesday, I’m offering the Holiday Section of WINGS as a free download on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Wings+Carolyn+Molica

PEACEMAKERS AND WARRIORS

For those of us who are fighters, what’s more thrilling than winning a battle against the enemy of God’s people? Not much, right? And yet Jesus tells us in Luke 10 that there is something even greater.

“And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, Behold, I give unto you power over all the power of the enemy. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Lk 10:17-20).

What does that mean? Well for one thing, there will be no more battles to fight in heaven! Everyone who’s born again has true peace and joy to look forward to, forever.

Revelation 21:4 tells us, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

And Isaiah 65:25 paints a beautiful picture for whose of us who are animal lovers, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock.” In the Bible there was a donkey who talked to a prophet, so many of us believe that in heaven, animals will be able to talk too and what stories they will tell!  

According to our Lord, heaven is something we as Christians need to focus on at least as much as we focus on fighting those battles.  

It’s dangerous to be a warrior without taking time to revel in the hope of heaven.

If we spend most of our time getting all hyped up over the battles, what about when there are no more battles? If we’ve not practiced just being happy in the Lord’s presence, we might not know what to do with all the free time. Seriously.

We’ve all seen that happen to some retired people. They work, and work, and work and don’t take the time to find out how to relax. Then when they retire, they die early because they feel like they have nothing left to do. Let’s not be like that.

King David of the Bible was a warrior and yet his psalms are salted with verses where he is basking in the hope of heaven. Look at Psalm 16:8-9, “I have set the Lord always before me: Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.” Psalm 119:114 and 116, “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. Let me not be ashamed of my hope.”

And lastly, “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Ps 146:5).

It’s no secret that the world’s in a mess and we are the ones letting God work in us to fight against Satan for the health, deliverance, and blessing of God’s people. But let’s take at least equal time to be happy in the Lord, focusing on the great hope of what He says about heaven. It’s what Jesus said we should do.

In fact, it wouldn’t even be a bad idea for us to memorize those two verses about heaven or write them down and carry them around for a while (Rev 21:4 and Isa 65:25). With all the negatives that bombard us each week, I think it might really help us to have some heaven to focus on.

Love, Carolyn

Coming up this Friday thru Tues: FREE download of WINGS: Sample book G with true life stories about seeing life events through spiritual eyes. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Wings+Carolyn+Molica

DIRTY LAUNDRY, CLEAN HEART

I took a pair of my work pants out of the basket and hung them on the line. I’d washed them and used lots of bleach. But when I pinned them up, sadness came over me and I started to get choked up.

There were dozens of paint spots and stains from all the recent projects. There were more than I even realized. I thought of how many stains are in our lives. No matter how we try to bleach them out, they remain a stain. And no matter how open we think we are about our lives, if we take an honest look, we’ve all got something to hide, something we don’t want shared.

God already knows every one of those things. The Lord was right there with me when I stole that makeup. He was there when I ganged up on that girl and threw her bike in the creek. He was there when I broke a friendship by saying something hurtful. God said to Jacob “but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins. Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities” (Is 43:24). Instinctively we know that God is omnipresent, but still we do stupid and wrong things in His presence. Why?

Because we don’t really BELIEVE He’s there. In our bedrooms, in the bathroom, at the bar, the casino...you name the place or situation, He’s there. The Lord is with each of us everywhere, whether we like it or not! There’s no hiding from God. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” (Ps 139:7-8).

God sees all our stained laundry, but He loves us so much for believing in His son Jesus, that He’s willing to overlook all our sins and miraculously wipes them out, for His own sake! He doesn’t WANT to look at our stains. He only wants to see that we believed in His son Jesus and for that alone, He “blots out and cancels your transgressions, for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Is 43:25).

I went out and got my painter’s pants off the line, smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. Yes they’re stained, but as clean as they can be for now. Though God was there when every splash of paint hit them, He doesn’t care. He only sees who wears them—me, the one He loves.

Usually the Lord gives me some kind of a theme for the upcoming year, but this year He has been loudly silent; that is until today when I was thinking about this article. The theme for this year is simply: GOD LOVES ME, AND JESUS LOVES ME. Sounds mundane, yet how many of us really believe it and think it on a daily basis? I’m going to tell myself every morning even before I get out of bed and I know my year will be a great one!

Knowing we’re loved is still the greatest motivator there is. So if you haven’t got a theme for the year, see if God is inspiring you to join me in mine. God really loves each of us and we can do what it takes to live that way.

Love, Carolyn

I offer free downloads every week on my Facebook page: Christian writing A Journey in Faith. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christian-writing-A-Journey-in-Faith-by-Carolyn-Molica/199692326825472

LOVERS AND FRIENDS

I asked Fred what he got his wife for Valentine’s Day. He said, “Nothing.”

I questioned, “Nothing?”

He said, “Yea, we don’t have any money—too many bills.”

Jerry piped up, “She got you a card.” And then there was silence.

Sheila cut in, “I bet he buys himself lunch or a soda everyday, though.” And I knew she was right.

He could buy something for himself but not for his wife? Even if it had been one of those hand-written certificates we wrote up as kids: “I’ll do the dishes for a week.” “I’ll bring you breakfast in bed on Saturday.” Anything would have been better than nothing at all!

This incident got me to thinking about God’s idea of what a marriage is supposed to be. He set the standard up in the first book of the Bible when He first made Eve:

“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen 2:21-24).

“One flesh.” We can see from Genesis that this was literally true. Eve was of the same DNA, the same makeup as Adam. It was literally true here in Genesis, but this is the example God intended for all marriages from that point on. The intensity of the one-flesh type of commitment in marriage was not to change. When the Pharisees tried to trick Jesus:

“He answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matt 19:4-6).

God ordained marriage to be one of the ultimate relationships on earth. He intended it for those who would put Him first. Without believing in a God who is supernatural, how could anyone really believe that two separate flesh-and-blood people could become one flesh?

The idea of becoming one flesh is a supernatural concept. The Apostle Paul called it a “great mystery” (Eph 5:32). We really don’t know exactly how this one-flesh concept becomes reality, but commitment is the first step. A person can’t go into a marriage thinking, “Let’s see if this will work and if it doesn’t I have a back-up plan.” God says that “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (Jas 1:8).

Paul tells us how a man is to treat his wife:

“So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it” (Eph 5:28-29).

Webster’s Dictionary tells us “nourish” means to stimulate, foster, develop and support. It means to feed and sustain with food and other things necessary to life and growth. The Greek translation adds pampering and rearing to this definition. Remember, this is talking about what a man does for himself.

The scripture says he also cherishes his flesh. The definition of “cherish” is to warm, hold dear, value highly, treat tenderly and hold in the mind. God tells us that a man looks at and treats himself this way.

In a marriage this is how he is to treat his wife as well. The closest term we have in the English language is the word “empathy.” If a man is to see his wife as one flesh with himself then he is going to have to make a conscious effort to empathize with her—put himself in her shoes—identify with her feelings and thoughts as if they were his own, and act in accordance with what he finds.  

So if a man can afford to buy himself a soda or lunch to satisfy his own flesh on Valentine’s Day, then he can certainly afford to get something for his wife on that same day, a day specifically designated for lovers. And that brings me to my next point regarding a marriage. The concept of being one flesh in a marriage includes the couple’s sex life, as Paul explains to the Corinthians:

“Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency” (1 Cor 7:3-5).

The word “benevolence” is translated from the Greek word eunoia, which means kindness, good will and conjugal duty. In verse 5 it says that a couple is not to deprive one another of this except if they agree to abstain for a short time for fasting and prayer. “I have a headache” isn’t included in the reasons to abstain. It’s also interesting that Paul ends by saying that if they abstain for too long Satan will tempt them for their “incontinency.” In other words, married people are intended to have sex and if they are defrauded, they will be tempted to go elsewhere. We all know this is true.

God made marriage a very special relationship and one not to be taken lightly. That a man and a woman could become one flesh is a supernatural concept. Couples who want to get married need to go to the Bible and study out God’s ideas about marriage and agree on the standards they will be committing to.  And for those couples who are married now, it would be good to review and maybe even re-commit to a marriage where God is the center and His ideas are the goals and standards for the many years to come.

In this article I’m specifically addressing marriage, but in the whole body of Christ we are to treat each other in a similar way (without the sex) to how a man is to nourish and cherish his wife. We are to love each other because we are part of the same body and “members one of another” (Eph 4:25).

From the definition for “nourish,” can you feed, stimulate, support, sustain, or pamper anyone this week?

From the definition for “cherish,” can you hold dear, value highly, or treat someone tenderly this week?

Will you put yourself in someone else’s shoes and empathized with their situation or feelings?

Thinking about “me, me, me,” too much, just draws us in tighter and tighter and makes us more and more unhappy. Giving care to someone else opens doors for our hearts to be more satisfied and free.

Love, Carolyn

Check out my website: http://www.wix.com/carolynmolic/wings-carolyn-molica

CLOSING DOWN PORNOGRAPHIC PORTALS

I didn’t want it in my neighborhood but the ads were up: “Webcam models wanted,” with a photo of a young girl dressed in bra and panties, in a compromising position. Here in Vegas that translates: Come in here so we can make you a porn star and more.

The building was painted pink so we called it the “Pink Portal.” Portals are openings. This one opened to hell. In Dr. Sides’ book Closing Gates of Hell I read and studied how God instructed his people to be able to close those doors that have made room for Satan and his minions to trap innocent people into a world of trouble.

I’d been able to close one of these places down before, but it took a really long time and consistent unrelenting prayer. Now I was learning a new way and honestly I was a little timid. I had to be more involved this time and I was unsure about it. But I was so determined to see the place shut, I decided to do whatever it would take. I concentrated my believing on a section of scripture in Ezekiel 21:14-17.

The context of this scripture is that God told Ezekiel to prophesy against Israel because they let evil men influence them to do things against God. God wanted the devilish portals closed down. Verse 15 says, “I have set the point of the sword against all their gates.”

To get current true meaning out of this section we need to understand “the sword of the spirit is the word of God” (Eph 6:17). But it’s not just any word. It has to be the exact sharp words the Holy Spirit gives in the situation, a rhema (inspired) word.

Here’s the section of scripture and I’ll expound on it afterwards:

“You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, the sword that slays the great men, that enters their private chambers. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that the heart may melt and many may stumble. Ah! It is made bright; it is grasped for slaughter: ‘Swords at the ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left—
Wherever your edge is ordered! I also will beat My fists together, and I will cause My fury to rest; I, the Lord, have spoken’” (Ez 21:14-17)

I was doubtful about the striking of hands together; it was something I wasn’t accustomed to. But I found out it’s an eastern custom, the way that a master would communicate to a servant to immediately carry out an order. Hand signals are found in many other places in the Bible too.

God says it’s the sword that slays. These powerful words of God come from the Holy Spirit working in us “both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). And as we speak the words, angels go to carry them out, angels that “excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word” (Ps 103:20).

“Swords at ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left—wherever your edge is ordered!” (vs. 16) Thrusting is speaking: thrusting right is to bless; thrusting left is to curse. Do it wherever the Holy Spirit says. Then as it says in verse 17, the Lord will have rest.

It took a couple weeks for me to go through Dr. Sides’ book and with the Bible scriptures to glean what I needed. Then the right day presented itself and I took courage. I asked Jane to go with me. We parked in the front of the Pink Portal and I prayed for guidance as I began to speak as the Holy Spirit guided. When I got to the end, I felt led to pound my fists together and then I spiritually applied the blood of Jesus to the place to keep it shut and remove any sin that might want to linger there.

In less than a week we drove by. The place had been re-painted, no longer the pink portal. The advertisements were abolished, no cars, no people. The place was physically and spiritually totally empty of any evil! Praise God!

God’s will is that we all can live in His grace and peace. Sometimes we are going to have to fight to make that available to those who are being entrapped by the pink portals of God’s enemies.

We can do something to close those hell gates. I know I don’t have all the answers but I’m willing to learn and grow in this area and have courage to act, and so do you. When we want something badly enough, God gets us to the solutions.

Love, Carolyn

Dr. Sides’ book is only $8 and worth way more than that! If you’d like to get a copy go to http://lmci.org/ under e-books, then booklets.

I’m still offering my stories of spiritual insight and understanding in free downloads each week. See http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Wings+Carolyn+Molica