Tag Archives: work of the Holy Spirit

by | November 12, 2011 · 4:13 pm

FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TEST

The SEW Training Program is about fruitbearing in Christ.

An examination of  whether or not the fruits of the Holy Spirit are being manifested in your life is one of the primary ways to examine whether or not you are truly saved or if you have been deceived into a false conversion.  When you consider a decorative bowlof fruit as a centerpeice on a dining room table, sometimes a plastic apple or orange looks so good from a distance, very often even better than the real thing.  You don’t find out that it is fake until you pick it up.  It is dead andd light weight, without the genuine smells and other qualities of a juicy peice of real fruit.  So too with spiritual fruit. So to examine and test whether or not you are really born again, we need to focus on the Lord’s own words. He said simply “you shall know them by their fruit.As recorded by Matthew in the 13th chapter, Jesus defined how we become born again.

  •  We hear the word.
  •  We understand it.
  •  We receive it into the good ground of our soul and our spirit.
  • We  receive the fruit of the Holy Ghost and
  • We become “fruitful.”

Therefore we need to know what fruit IS so that we can objectively  test whether our fruit is of the Holy Spirit or if it is fake fruit.

Here is where most professing Christians go wrong. We read Galatians 5 and we say to ourselves “Oh, I’m a loving person so I have the fruit of love. I don’t gossip or backbite and I am usually understanding and kind. I am also patient and peaceful, much more since “I accepted Jesus” then before, so I know I am saved. I don’t commit sins of the flesh so I am born again. This is error. People of other religions often do not  fornicate or indulge in the obvious sins of the flesh. Yet, like everyone else without Christ, they are lost sinners, separated from a holy and righteous God/n fact, ALL have sinned by their very nature, whether they actually DO the sinful act or not. As Jesus said, if a married man even looks lustfully at a woman without having sex, he is still an adulterer in the eyes of the Almighty.

What we need to understand is that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are not natural, human qualities. Since the seeds of these fruits are imparted to us at the exact moment of conversion, they are supernatural and they are divine.

 Here is a personal example.

Pam Sheppard, A wise, virtuous woman of God.

When I got saved, I hated white people. I was a racist. There were two little white boys that chased my 8-year-old daughter from the school bus to her door every day. These kids called her “nigger” every day. It was a Monday, March 29th, 1977 at 4pm. I had just gotten born again about 10 minutes before, so I was not standing at the bus stop waiting to protect my daughter as was my custom.  I heard my daughter banging on the door and there were the same two boys right behind her.  I scooped them both up in a hug, smeared my kisses on their cheeks and invited them in to have some milk and cookies. That ended the problem of those 2 little boys trying to hurt my child.  Then there was the time that the woman who stole my first husband from me was pregnant. She was the worst enemy I have ever had in my life, but in  my heart was complete forgiveness and love for her and her unborn child, a supernatural love that was beyond my human nature to even approximate. I went to her baring gifts for the unborn and sincerely asked her how I could help. Everyone who knew the former, unsaved Pam thought that I had lost my mind.  I did not. The love of God, the first fruit of the Spirit was shed abroad by the Holy Ghost into my spirit, empowering me to manifest the fruit of divine love for an enemy.

What you may be counting as fruit for Jesus Christ may simply be a work or ability of your own soul. Human beings have the power to change our attitudes, behaviors and even our personalities without God being involved in the change. We can stop using drugs by the power of our wills. We can pull ourselves up by our own boot straps.  I know for a fact, because this is what I had done BEFORE I was saved. I turned a streetwoman into an educated, prospering lady. When the Holy Ghost got a hold of me, He said “Pam, you took yourself out of the streets and ghetto life, but the streets and ghetto life are still IN you. You changed yourself from the outside in. I will change you from the inside out. Only I can turn you into a sinless, justified, sanctified virtuous woman. What you did was without ME. Not good enough. For without Jesus Christ, you can do nothing.”

In the SEW Program, we will help you  to prepare the ground of your spirit so that it can become good ground for receiving the fruits of the Holy Spirit. For more info, call 518-477-5759

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by | November 10, 2011 · 8:21 pm

CASTING OUT DEMONS Part 1

CASTING OUT DEMONS: Blessed Are the Meek

Meekness is the open doorway to deliverance from demons.

  God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Remember the woman with the daughter vexed with a demon who cried out loud to Jesus?  He called her a dog.  A female dog is in our present day language is “the B word.” She replied with a humble response by saying “even the dogs eat the crumbs from under the master’s table.” Implicit in her response was her faith that Jesus Christ “is the Master,” and that deliverance is for EVERYONE.

So the person seeking deliverance from demons must be meek or he or she  will  be “humbled”by the demonic torment and oppression  put upon them.

Some people who have demons really don’t want the Lord.

“They simply want to be free of the torment. So if demons are cast out, nothing in them will be changed.  There is such a thing as “fake fruit.”  I am sure that you have at one time been fooled by plastic or rubber fruit sitting in a bowl as the center piece on a dining room table.  Sometimes These plastic replicas look even better than the real thing from a distance. However, up close, you can see that there is no life in fake fruit.  This is also true of fake spiritual fruit.  Take for example the fruit of meekness or humility.  Those who are “fake”, may appear to have a lack of self-confidence.  However, at the root of their apparent meekness may be  compulsive modesty.  In such instances, the captive’s pattern is to overlook his  own viewpoint,suggesting that the thoughts and ways of others are more reliable than his own.

False humility of this kind will lead the captive to not feel safe unless a significant other in his life will protect, defend, advise or nurture him.  In such cases, the captive loses the capability to take responsibility for his own life. False meekness also manifests itself when professing  Christians who have low self concept develop techniques and processes whereby the self is placed in the background by losing self-regard. In an attempt to avoid anger at all cost, the captive will repress hostility and will become self-effacing. Some captives will merely adjust their behavior to adapt to the stronger personality, while others will allow their personalities to be changed by stronger people.  People like this are often wrongfully perceived as having the fruit of meekness.

Each stronghold will create a specific fear or doubt as well as an accompanying pride system that will be difficult to break through.  Christians so bound, will often attribute their strongholds to demons, when in actuality, casting out a demon will not bring any lasting relief.  This is because the stronghold is embedded in the captive’s personality and is therefore a stronghold in the soul.  In cases where there has been little to no personality change, it will seem as though deliverance has failed when in reality, the root of the problem was not so much demonic as it was “soulical.”Casting out demons may bring a momentary sense of freedom or joy.  Even so, a substantial, solid deliverance is one where the fruit of  true meekness has been planted and nurtured.

Since meekness is the doorway to blessing, any captive in need of deliverance must become poor in spirit. (Matthew 5) To be poor in spirit is to be emptied of one’s character defects.  Deliverance will empty the captive from demons, but these demons and others will ultimately return if the conditions that provided them a safe haven still remain.  Therefore, my job as a bearer of the word of God is to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to sensitize a conscience that has been hardened by the pride of life.    Meekness is manifested when the captive comes to the realization that his thoughts are not as high as the Lord’s thoughts, nor his ways higher than the Lord’s ways. I do not cast out demons from people whom God has not humbled. I can recognize them.  They wander from one deliverance worker to another.  When they get to ME, they want to instruct me as to what THEY believe their problems are, what demons they have, how the demons should be cast out, etc. etc. etc.  I say “Good bye!”

Continual brokenness before the Lord Jesus Christ will  sustained you with a simple, yet a profound truth and it is this. “Whatever does not originate in your inward parts—in your spirit—will not bring you life.” In this regard, I have learned through personal experience that false or counterfeit spirituality may appear to produce a beneficial result but it cannot grant authentic, lasting,  resurrection life. I have entered into the Lord’s rest because I myself have labored by the revelation of the Holy Ghost. No more vain strivings for success according to man’s standards.  If I speak no more for the remainder of my life, I will remain satisfied. For with the”THE NEW IDOLATRY, I believe that I have declared more than a mouthful.

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by | October 15, 2011 · 1:31 am

RENEWING THE MIND BY WALKING ON HOT SAND!

 I am summarizing  some scriptures here, so please  bare with me as I  paraphrase a bit. 

Paul wrote to the Romans, “be not conformed to THIS world but be transformed by the renewing of the mind so that you can prove the perfect will of God for your life.” He also warned the Corinthians about casting down imaginations and thoughts  that could exalt themselves ABOVE the knowlege of God. Paul implied that  all thoughts could be “captured” and brought into obedience to the will of God. We know the general will of God from His word.  However, it is the Holy Ghost Who provides the direction of our individual lives   once our minds have been renewed. 

Therefore, a renewed mind precedes knowing what God’s will for US is.

So I suggest to you that discovering the will of God for your life involves a renewal. There are some key points that I would like to underscore:

  • We are what we THINK we are.  Our thoughts have power to draw both evil and godly energy.  If we have practiced negative self talk, in the same manner, we should consciously practice godly self talk.  Godly thought will bring about godly talk. Godly talk will bring forth the fruits of victory in casting down evil thoughts.
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  • A part of renewing the soul is to learn how to deal with what is uncomfortable.  Walking on the sands of  a beautiful  beach on a hot sunny day has its comforts and delights.  However,if  the sand is very “hot,”  it is difficult to walk on it.  Struggles and failures supply the necessary preparation to learn how to “walk on hot sand.”. 
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  • Where deliverance from demonic oppression is concerned, torment can be a blessing.  Torment wipes out the delusion that “all is well” and knocks off the rose colored glasses. The tormented one is pressured to search for answers and solutions—something that he would not have even considered if he had not desperately sought release from the torment.
  • Anyone who makes desicions either by the influence of an unrenewed mind or emotions is usually weak in his or her will.  The will is the organ that examines, distinguishes, judges and makes decisions based upon the information received from the mind and the emotions.
  • Choices can often be longlasting and unchangeable. We can make the choice but we cannot choose the outcome or the repercussion. In other words, we can choose to sin but we cannot choose the wages of that sin.
  • One of the fallacies is that we assume that we have time to change.  When physical death appears to be “far off,” our will power tends to procrastinate and take chances.  However, when death is a daily reality, we learn to live and make choices that prolong our days.

Once we discover what we need to learn about our own inner struggles, there are other people who will need our testimony and our influence so that that too can be victorious.  A major purpose of struggling is that we can become consolers of those who are struggling in those areas where we have become triumphant.  By planting new seeds of power into our minds, old patterns and habits will be destroyed by the resurrection power of the Holy Ghose.  In a symbolic  context, the seeds are as Jesus said. They are the words of  fruitbaring power.

There is a trained minister with a testimony of "How I Walked on Hot Sand," waiting to mentor YOU

At Sheppard’s Counseling Center, ministers are trained in a unique deliverance mentoring  program called SEW, Spiritual Empowerment Workshop.  These are ministers who have overcome torment, walked on hot sand, and survived.  From domestic violence, to rape, to incest, to alcoholism,  to parents and grandparents who were practicing witchcraft, these men and women have walked on hot sand and survived.  They have a testimony that you need. If you could benefit from their testimony, leave a comment on this post, visit www.pamsheppard.com/online_ministers_available, send a facebook message to www.facebook.com/pamela.sheppard911 or call 518-522-5461

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by | October 15, 2011 · 12:08 am

THE HOLY GHOST IS GRIEVED!

The Holy Ghost has been reduced to what charismatics, pentecostals and word of faithers call “the anointing.”  To most of this crowd, the Holy Ghost is “an it” that causes them to have goosebumps as they fall out slain in the spirit, speak in a language that no one can understand, and “get drunk in the spirit.” However, He is so much more than that.

DO NOT PROVOKE THE HOLY GHOST!

As a Person and not “a feeling,” the Holy Ghost speaks, teaches, witnesses, guides, comforts, convicts, commands, helps, converts, imparts faith to believe, brings the fear of the Lord and imparts godly sorrow to help a sinner repent. He can be obeyed, lied to, resisted, grieved, quenched, quenched, insulted and blasphemed.  The work of the Holy Spirit on earth is similar to that of the Lord’s earthly ministry. As Jesus lived to lift up and glorify the Father, the Holy Spirit’s workk centers on lifiting up the Son of God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  The Father also glorifies the Son.  The Holy Ghost is the Sspirit of Christ and the Spirit of the Father.  All three Persons are One.  As our Teacher of spiritual truths, the Holy Spirit will enligten your mind with insignts into the mind of Christ as He unlocks the spiritual doorways to the secret things of God.

Just as the Holy Ghost drove Jesus into the wilderness to do battle with the devil, He does the same with the elect of God.  The Holy Ghost not only wants you to know the godhead.  He wants you to know your enemy and so He will arrange your wilderness experience, tailor made to what you need to find out.  He knows that it is crucial that you be not ignorant to demonic deception, for the demons have access to our very souls. 

Therefore, it is imperative that we learn how to tell the difference between what is spiritual, what is demonic and what is soulish or carnal.  The Holy Ghost is the Helper and as such, He provides us with self knowledge as long as we don’t grieve Him. Self knowledge equips us to be able to discern thoughts and feelings that are alien to our character and personality. Demons love to snare their prey with half truths rather than with complete lies because a half truth can set a more believable trap. You say to yourself, if this is true, then THAT must be true, and then you are trapped.  This is the scheme that is the foundation of all false religions.  There is at least ONE truth about God in all of them, perhaps more.

Nevertheless, 99% of truth is no truth at all.   It is a lie.  The Holy Ghost is 100 percent truth and there are no lies in Him. 99% of truth is a setup from the devil. Since our human struggle with the evil side of the spirit world is a daily event, and since Jesus revealed that the Holy Ghost is 100 percent truth, we need to resist grieving Him.  For Jesus said that the Holy Ghost will reveal truth as to what is to come.  In the times in which we live, we are helpless without the Holy Ghost.

How do we grieve the Holy Ghost?  Well, when we actually believe that WE lead people to Jesus Christ, we grieve the Holy Ghost.  All we do is preach and testify, as led by the Holy Ghost to do so.  The Holy Ghost does the rest.  He knows who will be saved from who will be damned.  He is the one who dispatches angels to set up our wilderness experiences that He will use to draw us to the cross.   He is the one who provides faith to believe on the Son of God and His bodily resurrection.  You might call the Holy Ghost “THE MINISTER OF SALVATION.” So He is certainly grieved when we take the credit for our own salvation when we boast “I ACCEPTED Jesus.”  He is more than grieved with this. He is angry.  Perhaps that is why religious demons have been allowed to enter those who have said “Jesus, come into my heart.” 

  • When He is grieved, He is also quenched. A fire is quenched when dirt is thrown on it.  The organized church has thrown lots of dirt on the Holy Ghost and perhaps that is why He left Her. 
  •  The Holy Ghost  is also grieved when He is reduced to a flesh experience.  He is a Spirit.  We must worship God in spirit and in truth and not by a sensation on our flesh.  The Holy Ghost imparts the truth by which we worship God Almighty.
  • The Holy Ghost is grieved when professing Christians bypass the Son of God and seek the Father to be saved.  He is quite grieved with that.
  • The Holy Ghost is grieved by those who do not try the spirits to see if they be of Him.  He will let you be deceived until you do.

 Resurrection life—the same power the Holy Ghost used to raise the Lord from the dead—will be evident when you experience revelation, power, and discernment under the guidance and instruction of the Holy Ghost.  Revelation is to receive God’s own

The Holy Ghost led me through the wilderness to do battle with the enemy and I came out grounded, strong, and undecieved by truth.

personal knowledge and wisdom about YOUR life.  Power is His supernatural ability applied to YOUR human frialty.  We cannot do without  the resurrection life of the Holy Ghost in times like these.

www.pamsheppard.com/online_ministers_available

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