I've Never Seen It

The Lord started preparing our family for a move to Mexico about 4 years in advance of us coming here. In the process we started reading books by Americans that had made this transition in years past. We were trying to get a feel for some of the changes we might experience in our lives as we went forward in the Lord's wisdom. The best book we came across during that time was Don Adam's, Head for Mexico. A Renegade Guide.

I purposefully kept our copy of the book after we made the move. The author's writing style is quite funny. Based on real life experiences while living here, he tells of some humorous yet sobering stories of what it is like to be an American living south of the border. While I believe a Christian's faith and the Spirit in which we abide alters the dynamics of any situation, there are still some sober and often applicable things he discusses in his writing.

One of the topics he breaches is about Mexican Landlords. While discussing the subject he asks the general public to contact him and let him know if they or anyone they know of has ever experienced getting their security deposit back after renting a home or apartment in Mexico. Mr. Adam's swears that at the time of the writing of his book that he had in fact never heard of it happening in Mexico, ever.

I personally know this tendency amongst Mexican Landlords to be true. I know an American family that has lived here in Merida for 12 years. They rented the same home for 11 of those years. When they first rented the property many years ago the home had been unoccupied for a few years. It was full of bats, scorpions, spiders and even some snakes. They rented the home for $600 monthly. They cleaned it out, fumigated it, installed new windows and screens, installed their own appliances in the kitchen (including the stove), poured a concrete extension onto the drive-way so they could park two cars, installed a privacy gate on the drive-way, installed a hot water heater, installed an additional laundry area/maid's quarters, installed their own a/c units, repainted the house inside and out several times, re-landscaped the backyard ......the list goes on.

And after doing all of this work themselves, after paying for all repairs and upgrades themselves with the landlord's full consent, after paying rent faithfully for over ten years and never once missing a payment or being late......the landlord kept their deposit when they moved out in June because.....a door was not shutting properly inside the house. She kept a $600 deposit and used a squeaky door as an excuse, even after my friends basically remodeled the entire house. Amazing isn't it?

I don't know of anyone, either Mexicans or foreign expats, that have ever heard of a renter getting their security deposit back from their landlord. No one I know has ever heard of it happening. No one.

In the previous 8 posts we discussed some experiences we have had in dealing with the Jezebel spirit over the years. And one of the things I have never seen in all of my dealings with this spirit, and this includes everyone I know and trust in the Lord, is that I have never seen anyone who is fully controlled by this spirit ever get delivered from it, Ever. Never. I've never seen it. All of my friends who understand the dynamics in dealing with this spirit have ever seen it. I have never read a book or heard of any testimony from anyone in the Body of Christ that has seen it.

If you or anyone you know has ever heard of it, please write me and tell me because I am starting to wonder if it is can happen.

In Revelation 2 and 3 we see the Lord addressing the seven churches. Most Christians are familiar with these two chapters, at least on the surface. From what I can see the Lord addresses the following issues within them. And as I will note on each one, each issue falls into either one of two categories. It is either a "heart" issue within the believers in the church being addressed or, it is a demon that has been given latitude to function because of the extreme unyieldedness of a believer to the Lordship of Christ.

• Forsaking the first love (Heart Issue). 
• The teachings of the Nicolaitans and Balaam. (Heart Issue/Possibly a spirit). 
• Jezebel (Demonic spirit). 
• Deadness. Works are incomplete (Heart Issue). 
• Lukewarmness (Heart Issue).  

Of the five issues that the Lord really addresses in the seven churches, 4 are clearly heart issues. But Jezebel is definitely a demonic spirit. Nicolationism/Balaamism stems from the heart and can lead to demonic possession. The same can be said for others. But clearly, among all of them, Jezebel is rooted in a demon. When you get into the issue of addressing Jezebel, you are dealing with a whole other level of sin and demonic activity within God's church.

Metastasis

Everyone has cells in their body that are trying to oxidize. Oxidizing cells, in technical terms, are said to be cancerous in nature. That is why anti-oxidants occur naturally in foods. That is why it is best to supplement your diet with vitamin E, selenium and vitamin C. These elements offset the effects of aging caused by oxidation which in a literal sense is cancerous. Another word for this is Entropy. We are all subject to the process of entropy because we are the natural offspring of Adam and therefore we are all subject to a natural process of physical decay.

"For the creation was subjected to frustration (oxidation), not by it's own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay (oxidation) and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." Romans 8:20,21 

The Lord warned Adam that he would die if he disobeyed. And when he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil I believe the process of entropy, oxidation and death began it's process within his physical body. It took a while. 930 years to be exact. But he did die (Genesis 5:5). And thus his offspring became victim to the same process of death as he had experienced.

Oxidation is a normal process that happens to all of us. But full blown cancer is another thing. We all experience oxidation (cancer cells) in minor forms. But there is a big difference between having cancerous cells in your body that your immune system fends off with anti-oxidants and having what we refer to as a diagnosis of Cancer.

In the later state, the body is (often prematurely) losing control of its ability to stem the tide of oxidation. This can lead to the process of metastasis. When this happens to a person they begin to physically accelerate towards death. Metastasis occurs when cancer gains a foothold either through a tumor or organ in the body and, through the circulatory system, begins to spread to other parts of the body.

This occurred to Lance Armstrong when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. The cancer began in his groin area and metastasized and spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain before he was fully aware of what was happening to his body. The cancer cells, after forming and taking a foothold in his groin, developed the ability to penetrate the walls of his blood vessels. As they traveled through his bloodstream they entered his aforementioned organs and one day he found himself coughing up blood in his bathroom sink. He had developed Stage Three cancer at that point through Metastasis.

Metastasis

Jezebel, at the stage she is at when the Lord addresses the issue at the church in Thyatira in Revelation 2:18-26, is at a level that has fully metastasized and is slowly yet aggressively taking down an entire body of believers. When there is a full-on Jezebel diagnosis, one or more believers in a group are experiencing metastasization. And the only way to get rid of her at this stage is to cut her out completely. She has to be cut out.

"Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned." Titus 2:10,11

"When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast - as you really are." 1 Corinthians 5:4-7

Just as yeast works it's way through dough, just as cancerous tissue can metastasize through lymphatic and circulatory walls of the body and spread, the characteristics of the sinful nature, if not checked and killed off, can work their way through a believer's life through demonic deception to fully possess the soul of a a man or woman. And when that happens you have a full on case of demonic activity. In this case it's Jezebel.

I think the spirit of Jezebel is the biggest issue facing the church in the United States today. And I have never seen a case where a person was delivered from it once the full-on process of metastasization sets in. I have never seen it when it hits Stage Two or Three, whatever number you want to put on it.

We all have sin issues. We all have things the Lord deals with us on. We have all struggled with integrity at times, saying things we shouldn't and doing things we shouldn't do. And in those cases the Lord seeks to deal with us. But when we resist his dealings with our souls we run the risk of entering into whole different levels of spiritual corruption.

These are things we need to consider.

JEB