"LET FREEDOM RING"
Missionary-Evangelist Esther
Thornton
Recently in one of our "Impartation" meetings, I spoke
on the following subject, and at the end of the meeting, a lady shouted, "We
are free! We are free!" The anointing flowed in that meeting because
this spirit had been exposed and dealt with.
I believe the Jezebel spirit to be the greatest enemy of the
church at this time. We need to be
informed so as to maintain our freedom in God.
Then, the spirit of Elijah can come forth with miracles, signs, and wonders!
"Jezebel
Versus Elijah"
I. What is a Jezebel Spirit?
Benny Hinn recently had a dream that a wicked lady was standing
up on the platform where he was ministering. This wicked lady was the spirit of
Jezebel. She comes with hatred for the prophet; to destroy the work of the
Lord.
The Jezebel spirit is a spirit of control. Control begets, or
produces: fear of individuality, depression, confusion, and suppression of
personality, lack of freedom, unhappiness, and feelings of worthlessness;
amongst other things.
We want to be delivered from this spirit so that we can inherit
the morning star, which Christ gives to those who overcome Jezebel.
The spirit of Jezebel is fiercely independent and wants to control.
The name
means "without cohabitation", which means a refusal to live together with anyone unless they
can control and dominate the relationship. When this person seems submissive of
"servant-like" it is only for the sake of gaining some advantage; but
from the heart, they yield to no one.
The Jezebel spirit:
¨ Will humiliate others with their tongue.
¨ It brings dissatisfaction between spouses. It causes them to
think that another is more spiritual than their mate.
¨ It causes those in leadership to become very authoritative and
unyielding.
¨ It hates humility and repentance.
Spirituality is not measured in this kind of power, but it is
measured in meekness.
To topple satan's empire, we must not only pray, but be transformed
into Christ's likeness. Then we will inherit the glorious "morning
star", which will be a visible outward glory, a symbol of hidden, inward
purity. We can then exercise "authority over the nations", because we
have conquered the Jezebel spirit that sought to strip God's servants of
authority. The gift of healing is an integral part of our ministry when this
spirit is conquered.
For the Man:
AUTHORITY: “Delegated responsibility". The emphasis is not on
being the boss, but being responsible. That from which divine authority comes
forth is divine love. Headship in the home is simply the man taking loving
responsibility for the condition of his wife and family.
God's answer to dealing with the Jezebel spirit is to replace
Jezebel's concept of security. With the security a woman receives when she is
loved-tenderly by her
Husband. Thus, the man wins the war by being Christ-like.
For the Woman:
The woman overcomes the haughtiness of Jezebel by seeking the
meekness of Christ and by having a gentle and quiet spirit (I Pet. 2:23-3:4),
which is natural to Christ-likeness. She must honor her husband as her head.
Her humility and peace serves to destroy the nature of the Jezebel spirit. God
wants women to trust in the power and goodness of God for their security, not
in their manipulation of people.
The Jezebel stronghold is rooted in the woman's reactions to
fear. She controls because she seeks predictability; she manipulates because
she cannot trust. She has not been properly loved.
The Jezebel spirit, in
general:
Those who believe and support Jezebel will choose to believe her
falsehoods rather than the truth. They will be too fearful to do what is right,
and stand by the person who is under the false attack.
Some of Jezebel's prophecy is a mixture, partly on target and
partly off. That is because they have had a true gift but have allowed it to
become tainted and twisted because they desire to control. The ones in mixture
are often prophets who desperately need a generous dose of humility and repentance.
These Jezebels prophesy sometimes in the flesh, out of envy, jealousy and
strife; using what is called "attack prophecies" - aimed at
correcting whomever Jezebel is mad at. This type of prophecy is divination (witchcraft).
God says, "I gave her space to repent and she repented
not."
A humble, repentant people are the key to defeating Jezebel. For
she will seek to ridicule, humiliate and destroy the humble servant of the Most
High. We must ask God to forgive us for tolerating her presence.
II. Some characteristics of
Jezebel:
1. Jezebel seeks recognition
2. She claims superior holiness
3. She questions the integrity of others in order to discredit
them
4. She sees herself as lofty, much higher than the sheep
5. She claims a superior holiness
6. She is proud
7. She nit-picks to find fault with others
8. She attempts to keep parties apart so that she can manipulate
the results
9. She drains the life out of her victims
10. She pretends to desire to protect and help others
11. She is fiercely independent
12. She pretends to be doing what is right
13. She pretends to be doing the King's will
14. She believes the end justifies the means
15. She believes that she is above the law and the rules
16. She changes the law or rules to suit her own ends
17. She lets nothing stand in the way of what she desires
18. She uses others to achieve her own ends
19. She is a control freak
20. She uses leadership positions in order to control
21. She is intensely ambitious
22. She is obsessed with prophecies, visions, and dreams, and
talks about them constantly; instead of a more sure Word of prophecy - the
Bible.
23. She manifests false words and prophesies
24. She has excessive prophetic words, prophecies, dreams and
visions.
25. She does not want to be accountable to others
III. Personality Traits of
Jezebel:
(May vary individually)
1. Excessive chatter or moody and brooding
2. Time waster, procrastinator of godly projects
3. Lack of humility
4. Highlights self
5. Forcefully steers conversations
6. Brags of the hours spent interceding
7. Exhibitionist
8. Fears exposure
9. Humiliates true prophets, publicly and privately
10. Excessive jealousies & competitiveness
11. The Jezebel's who fool you the longest are the most
dangerous
12. She appears pious
13. Her lifestyle is not right
14. Seems genuine, but is spiritually off
15. She has a mixture in her spirit
16. Establishes authority by controlling others
17. Won't allow others to speak in a conversation
18. Constantly interrupts in order to distract and dominate
conversations
19. Dominates conversations
20. Sometimes she uses a loud voice to interrupt or brag
21. Backstabs and bears tales
22. Quick to anger
23. Anxious, hyper
24. Fast talking
25. She brings division and strife
26. Pretends to be a worshipper and intercessor
27. Aligns herself with true prophets to give credence to her
agenda
IV. The Jezebel spirit is a stronghold
in lives that must be broken.
Strongholds in Operation:
1. They prevent or retard our emotional and spiritual growth and
maturity
2. They cause divisions: bitterness, jealousy, anxiety, and
depression
3. They empower satan and grieve the Holy Spirit
4. Keep people from fulfilling their personal destiny in God
5. They are a foothold that the devil possesses in us (Eph.
4:22)
6. They will bring about spiritual disorientation
7. They weaken our body and make us vulnerable to diseases
8. They provoke us to respond to others in way that even we do
not understand: Fragment relationships and steal our joy and hope
9. They stifle our faith and distort scriptures
10. They can only be killed at the root
11. They allow us to give only a begrudging love and keep us
from forgiving others.
Our prayer should be:
"Lord, I humbly admit that I have mental strongholds in my
life that are distorting my perception of what you are doing. I ask you to tear
them down so that I can perceive clearly. Today, I loose myself in the Holy
Spirit and to walk in the fullness of your purpose for my life. I loose my
spirit, soul, and body to be totally yours today!”
V. The Elijah Spirit:
Elijah (El YHWH, or Almighty God) was Jezebel's strongest
opponent. Because of the wickedness in the land, God raised up one of His most
powerful prophets, Elijah.
Through the brilliant triumph on Mount Carmel, he exposed the
infection of Baal worship in the land of Israel for what it was, a festering
sore that would bring death and destruction to God's chosen people. He
compelled the people to stare the truth in the face. God knew that it would
take this kind of prophet to shake the people out of their slumber and
idolatry. This confrontation settled many issues for it was also between
Jezebel (and her prophets) and Elijah. When Jezebel lost; she did not
take it lying down.
The Elijah spirit is a forerunner spirit, and it is come to
expose darkness and show the contrast between darkness and light. People must
choose between remaining slaves to sin or turn to repentance with prayer and
fasting before it is too late.
The End-Time Laodicean
Church:
Rev. 3:16 "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."
Elijah challenged the people
on Mount Carmel:
"How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God,
follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a
word.” I Kings 18:21.
The wavering, double-mindedness of the people was exposed and
confronted, but they gave no answer. Not only didn't they have an answer, they
were not ashamed of their failure to know and to do what is right.
Elijah then cried out to the Lord: "Hear me, O Lord,
hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou
hast turned their heart back once again. Then, the fire of the Lord fell, and
consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and
licked up the water that was in the trenches. And, when all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, He is God; the Lord He is
God.” I Kings 18:37-39.
All the people were riding fences. They refused to speak or
commit to one side or the other. They did not live according to conviction as
to what was right or wrong. The same
conditions exist today.
Sad to say, many pastors or leaders are in love with their
comfortable jobs and don't want to rock the boat. The devil will send Jezebel's
amongst them to deceive and destroy weak leaders and people, until there is no
urgency, fervency, nor passion left.
God's hand was upon Elijah and he ran 25 miles, ahead of Ahab's
chariot and horses from Carmel to Jezreel.
Those today who will stand for God and His righteousness will
also do great exploits. Those who overcome Jezebel will run and not be weary;
and will walk and not faint. They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
The prophetic is rising up again in the people of God. The
harvest is ripe for souls and wickedness abounds, ready for Elijah to rise up
again and jolt them out of their complacency. This is the day of Elijah,
preparing the way of the Lord.
Joel 3:13 "Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe:
come, get you down: for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their
wickedness is great."
The fire of God is something that brings revival, and it also
destroys wickedness. It burns out the chaff in our lives that the wheat might
remain.
Joel 2:16-17 "Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber
and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, and ministers of the Lord,
weep between the porch and altar, and let them say, spare thy people, O Lord,
and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over
them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?"
After true repentance, then the fire of anointing for revival,
blessing and power can come. The former and latter rain is loosed on the
people, just as the rain was released after the confrontation on Mount Carmel.
We must repent for our complacency, our nation, and ourselves.
Then, we will see the fulfillment of revival fire, a flood of power that was
prophesied: Joel 2:28-30
"I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men
shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those
days will I pour out My Spirit. And, I will show wonders in the heavens and in
the earth, blood and FIRE, and pillars of smoke."
The day of the Lord is at hand. Now is the time for true
intercessors: selfless, faceless servants of the Most High, to forcefully
advance into enemy territory and take back what the devil has stolen.
VI. Contrasts between Elijah
and Jezebel:
§
Elijah/Jezebel
§
Withstood Jezebel /
Threatened Elijah
§
Exposed her sin/Never
repented
§
True prophecies/False
prophets and prophecies
§
Visions and
dreams/Excessive false visions and dreams
§
Turn hearts of
fathers to children / Turns hearts to idols and the flesh
§
We are living in
former and latter rain / Quenching of the Spirit
§
Elijah will again
call fire down from heaven/Lying signs and wonders
§
True prophets must
arise and take proper authority / Jezebel takes authority when she can
§
Spirit of prophecy in
revelation of Christ/Revelation of antichrist and satan
§
Jesus is the light of
the world/Comes an angel of light and a minister
§
True prophets
manifest fruit of Spirit / satan masquerades as true prophet
§
Judge the fruit and discern
fruit/even the elect can be deceived
How to overcome Jezebel and
the Accuser:
Rev. 12:11 "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death."
VII. The power of "Covenant":
In these "days of
Elijah", when sin abounds on every hand, it is important that
we understand the meaning of covenant; first of all with God, then with one
another.
Examples of Covenant:
Eight years ago, we made our first trip to Africa and met
Brother Lawrence Halonda. God called upon us to raise up this man into his own
ministry. Brother Halonda felt led of the Lord that, that we were to have a
covenant relationship; as David and Jonathan had (They loved each other as
their own soul and cared for one another's family all the days of their life).
Two years later, we met Brother Joseph Mophat and the second or
third day we worked with him, he said that he wanted to work with us
indefinitely and have relationship together with us for as long as we live.
Then, when he was here in America, the Lee's prophesied to us of the Abrahamic
covenant that we would have together and of the salt covenant that was ours.
Then, in America, I had a very close friend who temporarily
turned away from me. She distrusted a prophecy that I had given to a church. A
lady spoke to her against me and she believed her instead of me. The day came,
when the prophecy was fulfilled in that church. My friend called me and asked
me to come to her place, which I did. She sincerely apologized and said that
she wanted to establish a covenant with me that this would never happen again.
So she did this, and we took communion together. We had always been closest of
friends until this happened. But, now our friendship was renewed and sealed by
the Holy Spirit.
The results of these covenant relationships have been many and
are blessed by God. Apostolic and evangelistic work has been done, and
intercessory work because of these covenants relationships.
We, who are living in the days of Elijah, must be "covenant people" with
God and with our fellow man. For this is a day when relationships are discarded
for the smallest excuses. Therefore, we must demonstrate the gospel through
covenantal relationships that cannot be broken. For in Romans, it says that
people in the last days will be covenant breakers - people who do not keep
covenant.
I don't believe you have to speak a covenant with others, unless
God should lead you in that direction; but that we should love others and be
loyal to them in our hearts. For God wants us to be one with one another.
We don't just start asking others to come into a covenant
relationship with us. God must ordain it. It is not a light thing because it is
wrought of the Spirit and is not to be broken.
Covenants are not just contracts of mutual agreement but they
are sealed in the hearts and are more binding than contracts. Law will enforce
contracts, but the Spirit enforces covenants.
God wants us to be joined with Him and to be knit together with
one another.
The greatest attack will be leveled against covenant, and it
will be aimed at real shepherds. Do not abandon them when they need you most.
They did not abandon you in your time of greatest need.
We are to lose ourselves in the lives of others. We must be
humble and stable enough to place the needs and success of others above our
own. Real fulfillment comes from assisting your covenant connections in finding
their destiny and reaching their goals.
David was always sent to his mission. He never just struck out
on his own. Covenant people are commissioned. They operate under command.
Covenant people seek to do what is best for others even at their
own expense. Religion seeks to promote itself; but covenant seeks to promote
others.
Insecurity, suspicion, and jealousy are the three biggest
threats to covenant. Saul was baptized in all three! Eventually, he set his heart to destroy David. Though, David
behaved himself wisely and remained faithful.
There are men and women who have been devastated by people
leaving their churches or relationships. These people who break relationships
are often the ones who covenant people have invested the most time and energy
into. Sometimes those whom covenant people delighted in and served are the ones
who desert with the nastiest attitude. David had poured his whole life into
Saul and gotten nothing but heartache. It may seem like nighttime now; but
remember that the morning is coming, when you remain true as a covenant person.
David invested in the outcasts in I Sam. 22. And, his
covenantal leadership transformed this outcast army into a great troop. They
grew and prospered from 400 to 600 in a short time: I Sa. 23:13. Be
faithful; to invest in the ones nobody wants, and God will be faithful to give
you the ones everybody wants. The ones
everybody wishes they could have will be the same ones nobody wanted because
they have been changed by the power of a covenant heart.
Covenant people never disrespect authority. David even honored
Saul when he didn't deserve it because he was the anointed of the Lord.
The greatest mistake that David made was not with Bathsheba. He
was staying behind when kings went forth to battle (2 Sam. 11:1). When
we lag behind in the season when God is saying, "Go forth",
we will find ourselves in a compromising situation. Had he been at battle doing
God's will, he would not have committed adultery with Bathsheba nor had her
husband put to death. David was not perfect, but he had a perfect heart. He was
quick to repent. David was a man of covenant. He lost a child and he did
suffer. He was still a man after God's own heart. Covenant people do suffer;
but they recover.
David is alive today, in that his life is still speaking to us.
Will our lives speak to others after we are gone? It will depend upon what we
do with our lives today. Are we pouring our lives into the lives of others?
There is power in a covenant heart.
We are the bride of Christ and are waiting for the soon coming
of our Bridegroom.
The Bride:
o
…She wears the belt
of truth,
o
…The shoes of peace,
o
…The helmet of
salvation,
o
…Breastplate of
righteousness,
o
…The shield of faith.
o
…She takes up the
sword of the Spirit; in holiness before the Father,
o
…She will not
compromise nor look the other way in apathy where wickedness abounds,
o
…She doesn’t flinch
from persecution.
o
…She will hold her
standard high and her plumb line of right and wrong will be measured in the
light of the word of God.
o
…She wears the mantle
of humility and the cloak of zeal.
o
…In her right hand
she carries truth,
o
…In her left hand she
bears wisdom and understanding.
o
…Above all, she walks
in love, abounding in the fruit of the Spirit.
o
…She abides in the
shadow of the Almighty, for the Lord is her refuge and her fortress.
o
…She wears the
garment of praise through all life's circumstances for the joy of the Lord is
her strength.
o
…She is strong and
does great exploits for she knows her God.
o
…She will overcome
the wicked one by the blood of the Lamb and the word of her testimony,
o
…She will love not
her life unto death.
"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come
quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22:20
God bless you with His
freedom!
Esther
Reference Material:
§
"Jezebel Vs. Elijah" by Dr. Bree M. Keyton, Th.D.,
D.C.E.
§
"Unmasking the Jezebel Spirit" by John Paul Jackson
§
"The Jezebel Spirit" by Francis Frangipane
§
"The Power of a Covenant Heart" by David Huskins
Global Evangelism Fellowship, Inc.
Bob & Esther Thornton, Oregon
PO Box 42
Kelso, WA. 98626
(503)728-3388
(503)728-2834 (Fax)
Etmorg@clatskanie.com
"Impartation"
Meetings
1st & 3rd Fridays @ 7:00 PM
AWPPW Hall
724 15th Ave.
Longview, WA
For more information: Call Bob or Esther Thornton at (503)728-3388,
or visit our website for directions to the hall.
You are welcome! Come
and let God touch you; and bring others with you who need a touch from God!
