Jesus’ teaching on the Great Command has led me to many different understandings.  In this writing I will attempt to explain a struggle to living out this passage from a different angle; an angle that will shed some light into the importance of an area of ministry that is often misunderstood, healing or what is often called deliverance ministries.  The passage from Mark reads:

“One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’  Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, “HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD YOUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.” And the second is this, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”  There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-31, NASB).

Through this passage the Lord has led me to understand that our being as a person has four distinct aspects that all function together; heart (spirit), soul (emotion), mind (thought), and strength (flesh).  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and King, we receive Him into our heart; into our spirit.  This is the first act of the grace of God in us receiving the forgiveness of sins in inheriting eternal life.  As the Holy Spirit continues to draw us to Him through our life of prayer, we are led to the second act of grace commonly called sanctification.  This is where we don’t just accept Jesus into our hearts, but we surrender our hearts to Jesus and are baptized by the Holy Spirit.  Our will starts to become aligned with the will of God.  For some this happens at the same time as the first act of grace, but for most of us there is some time between these two acts of grace.

This is the process of loving God with all our hearts, with all our spirit.  Though there is the crisis moment when we choose to give God our hearts desire, we then have to learn how to live it out.  We have to continually choose to allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of desires that are not completely pure to the will of God, which is done by the focus of our soul, mind and flesh on the presence of Jesus himself; living a life of prayer, a life of worship.

If you can note where the focus has been so far in this writing, you will see that everything has been pointing back to the heart, or to the spirit.  When we yield our heart completely to Jesus, it is then that we can receive the fullness of knowing that the power of death has no power over us; when the devil no longer has power over our spirit.  However, there are still three other aspects of our being where there still may be permissible access (footholds) of the enemy.

To pick out just one example, you may ask how a devout Christian individual can struggle with fear or anxiety?  Most commonly, a perception was formed somewhere in their life, whether it was from a situation they lived through or learned from a person of trust, that unbeknownst to them granted access of the enemy to fear.  The occurrence may be able to be logically explained and understood, but deep in the subconscious of the mind is that foothold the enemy has and he just remains there quietly keeping the person in a state of bondage.  This individual has a sense of peace knowing they have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, but they don’t know there is a complete and fulfilling peace yet for them to experience.

The examples could go on and on and on of access areas that we in the church have given to the enemy without us even knowing it.  The enemy desires to keep in the darkness and stay hidden in really great people who are protected in their spirit, but yet bound (whether a little or a lot) from complete and true freedom of the other three aspects of who we are.  This has resulted in a powerless believer; no matter how much they know, understand, and can reason from the word of God.  Though they themselves are safe from destruction, they are not making any advances against the ruler of darkness; not just powerless in the church, but even powerless in their own family.

So why do I write this now?  Well, I guess I am ready to see the people of God living to the full potential of kicking the enemy’s butt out of their own family and living in complete joy, peace, and abundant love.  As much as I just want to write and speak about our Almighty God alone, we must also have wisdom and understanding of the enemy of the cross.  We need to live out John 10:10; having a complete understanding of the first half of the verse and putting into practice the second half.

Therefore, if you have not had the opportunity to attend a healing session yet, I cannot encourage you enough to ask your local pastor if they are familiar with leading you through a healing (deliverance) session.  If they are not completely familiar (as not all really good ministers are – we all have different gifts), then ask them to refer you to a respected deliverance minister.  Please do not get stuck on the “scary” terminology of “deliverance” as to me the best way to describe deliverance ministry is to say “the ministry of love.”  This is a prayer “session” of letting our Amazing God love on you and letting Him prepare you to live your life in a new love.  It is the perception of many that a “deliverance session” is for those who are full of demons or are living in complete sin, but that is the really small percentage.  Often it is the little thing that we are unaware of that is keeping us from God’s complete peace, and we just need a little direction and help from one of God’s shepherds.  This area of ministry is meant for Christian men and women who are living a good life in Christ, who wants more of Him and desires to live out The Great Command.

If you are not having luck locating such a minister, contact me and I will do the best I can to find one in your area.  My desire is for the Holy Spirit to draw you into a new freedom, one you didn’t even know existed, so you may live the Faith-Full life you desire to live in order to live the life of love.

P.S.:  It is the enemy now telling you that this is not for you!

I desire to live a Faith-Full life, in the fullness of His love.