Sin and Deliverance
Hi Friends,
This is Memorial Day weekend. I hope you are all well, and are seeking God for what he plans to do in this next season. It is always good to seek God by fasting and praying, and now that the nice weather is here, we can take long walks with God. Let’s believe for God’s best for our friends, families, and our nation, that we will all serve God and live at peace with one another.
Today I have three visions to share with you.
The Visions
The Tree
In this vision I saw a tree with deep red leaves, very similar to a maple tree whose leaves have several points. But the leaves on this tree were smaller, about 2.5” across There was a branch only about 15” from my face. The leaves blocked much of the view beyond the tree. What was seen seemed light and bright, but without any details., just a background of light.
As I thought about the tree with the leaves two things came to mind. First was a passage of scripture referring to the tree of life, whose leaves would be for the healing of the nations.
Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him. Revelation 22:1-3
The tree of life first appeared in the Garden of Eden, in the book of Genesis. The Lord did not forbid Adam or Eve to eat its fruit, for they were told that all the plants in the garden were available as food for them except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But when Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s authority, by eating some of the fruit of the forbidden tree, the Lord no longer wanted them in the garden. He did not want them to have access to the tree of life.
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”
Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24
The other thought that came to mind regarding the leaves on the tree, was the idea of sin, for red in the Bible usually refers to sin, blood and blood shed.
Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the garden. Death was the result of their rebellion, spiritual death, which is separation from God.
And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17
Adam and Eve died a spiritual death, that day. And all mankind was separated from God because of sin. The Lord killed an animal and covered their sinful bodies with the skins. This was the first sacrifice that was made to deal with sin.
They were commanded by God to offer animal sacrifices from then on, to cover their sins. We know this because when their two sons, Cain and Abel, were making their offerings to God, Abel’s blood sacrifice was accepted, and Cain’s offering of vegetables and the fruit of the land was not.
“Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:6-7
Cain of course, did not bend the knee to the Lord, but harbored bitterness towards his brother. And so, Cain’s jealousy, and bitterness resulted in murder which brought a curse upon him. Prior to the Lord’s curse on Cain, the Lord had pronounced a curse upon the serpent for tempting Eve to sin. At that time the Lord cursed the ground that Adam was to till. It would cause Adam pain and hardship; thorns and thistles, because of the sin of rebellion. Eve was cursed with painful childbirth and a husband who would rule over her.
In addition to the curses spoken over them, and being now spiritually dead, separation from the presence of God, physical death and all that it entails, had now entered into the world. But God’s plan for man’s redemption was already conceived. It is found hidden in the curse that God had pronounced over the serpent.
So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:14-15
This was a prophecy foretelling of the Messiah’s coming. Jesus was the seed of the woman, that would crush the head of Satan, the serpent, by his victory over spiritual death. And at the cross, Satan bruised the Lord’s heel, yet it was the very instrument that brought salvation to those of us who believe that Jesus is God, Lord and Savior. Satan lost in this conflict while Jesus became victor, being raised from the dead on the third day. All those who believe in him are saved, and those who will believe in him will also be saved, for his kingdom has no end.
The red leaves represent healing, salvation and deliverance for those who believe in Jesus as God, and Savior. The light in the background of the vision, represents the light that is sourced in God, and appears as the light of the world which is Jesus.
They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night in the city, and they will have no need for the light of a lamp or of the sun. For the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:4-5
This is the same Light that John spoke of in his gospel. It was the Light that was coming into the world.
There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe. He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
The true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God. John 1:6-13
The Light is the Lord. He is the very revelation of God. He is Emmanuel: God with us.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
John in his first letter gives the same message as he did in his gospel and in his book of Revelation, that Jesus is our light.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7
We are in fellowship with the Lord and are members of the kingdom of God when we walk in his light. We receive his healing, his salvation and his deliverance when we are covered by his blood, which is represented by the red leaves on the tree, which remind us of the leaves on the tree of life that provide healing for the nations. The Lord is our healer, our savior and our deliverer.
The Man with a Whip
In the next vision, I saw a man with a whip. He sent out the whip with a snap and suddenly, unexpectedly, it returned to him, by recoiling around his body and his face. He looked shocked and bewildered by what had just happened.
Two thoughts came to mind: “What goes around comes around.” It’s just an expression, but a passage of scripture conveys the same meaning:
“He who lives by the sword will die by the sword.” Matthew 26:52
Jesus said this when Judas his betrayer, came to arrest him. The chief priests, elders and a large crowd with clubs and swords accompanied him.
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus, and arrested Him. At this, one of Jesus’ companions drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him. “For all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Matthew 26:50-52
God will often turn the tables on his people’s enemies. So we must keep in mind that vengeance belongs to the Lord.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Romans 12:19
In the book of Esther, the Lord dealt with an adversary of the exiled Jewish people living in Babylon, a man named Haman. He aspired to becoming the highest advisor to the King of Babylon. He hated the Jews and especially a man named Mordecai, a Jew who refused to bow down to him. Mordecai was also the uncle of the King’s wife, Esther. Haman hated him so that he built a gallows on which to hang Mordecai. However, as it turns out, Haman’s plans backfired, and he was hung on the very same gallows that he had built for Mordecai. And Mordecai, took his place as advisor to the king.
So the Lord delivered the Jewish people from Haman’s plan to annihilate them. And the gallows intended for Mordecai were justly used to hang Haman.
A similar plan came about in Daniel’s time, occurring also in Babylon. The jealous wise men of Babylon, tried to get rid of Daniel by tricking the king into signing an edit that they knew Daniel would ignore.
Thus the administrators and satraps sought a charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him. Finally these men said, “We will never find any charge against this Daniel unless we find something against him concerning the law of his God.”
So the administrators and satraps went together to the king and said, “O King Darius, may you live forever! All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions. Therefore, O king, establish the decree and sign the document so that it cannot be changed—in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”
Therefore King Darius signed the written decree. Daniel 6:4-9
Even so, Daniel continued to worship and pray to the Lord three times a day, as he always had done. He was arrested and thrown into the lion’s den while king Darius was beside himself with grief.
“The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
King Darius was so upset by this terrible situation, that he fasted and couldn’t sleep, waiting for the morning to see what had become of Daniel.
“Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.
Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”
So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Daniel 6:19-28
Once again, the Lord turned the tables on the wickedly scheming wise men of King Darius. The Lord knows how to protect his people.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague. He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the calamity that destroys at noon.
Though a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, no harm will come near you. You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling—my refuge, the Most High—no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.
“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him. When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.” Psalm 91
When we live for God, he will keep us under the shelter of his wings.
The White Papers
In this vision, I saw white papers all over the floor. They were letter size papers, 8.5” x 11” all white with no writing, and torn up into pieces of various sizes. Some were full sheets, but most were torn up.
This vision came after two evenings of prayer with a friend. She was suffering with dreams that were wicked. So I was leading her through prayers of repentance for everything that could have possibly opened doors to the evil one. We were breaking curses, breaking soul ties, renouncing various forms of witchcraft and questionable spiritual practices such as: meditation, hypnosis, and out of body travel. We repented for every thought or action that could be attractive to demons and stimulate an interest in the occult. Being determined to be completely free of any demonic influence or attack, we chose to expose and repent for every lie, every sin and every wrong motive or thought.
This vision I believe came from the Lord to tell me that all was finished. Every assignment was cancelled for the papers were white, with no writing on them. They were torn to show that they were annulled. They were scattered upon the floor to show that they would not be filed, remembered, or retrieved.
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12
If you or a loved one needs deliverance, I might suggest a book that has helped a number of people that I know. It is called “Generational Prayers,” 2022 edition by Paul L. Cox, editor. It is very thorough and helps us to repent for sinful practices, thoughts and actions that open doors to demonic activity.
To maintain our deliverance once the doors are shut, we still have to be vigilant and do our part to take every thought captive, and to repent whenever we fall into sin. The Lord is faithful. He gives us the authority to bind and to loosen.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
We have authority as children of God. However, if we are not walking with God daily, and are not obedient to his teachings, we will have no authority. So we must get right with the Lord first, before we try to deliver ourselves, or someone else. It is imperative that we do not have any open doors to the demonic realm as the Lord taught:
When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.” Matthew 12:43-45
The house, representing an individual’s body, was swept clean, and vacant, completely empty. What he needed was the infilling of the Holy Spirit which comes to us when we are born again. The Holy Spirit lives within the believer, filling the house with the presence of God. A person must truly want to be delivered, otherwise he will be unable to hold his deliverance, and he will return to his former way of life, making his life much worse.
For those who want to be used in deliverance, it is important to know who you are in Christ, and that you are genuinely submitted to him. In the book of Acts, the sons of Sceva tried to deliver a man possessed by demons, but they were not walking in the authority of God. Because of this, they were harmed in the process of deliverance.
And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. Acts 19:11-20
It is essential that we submit ourselves to God, and are obedient to do his will, otherwise we will have no authority. We must be under his authority, to have authority.
Years ago, I wanted to tell my sister that her practice of holistic medicine was nothing more than divination. I wanted her to see that what she was doing was not based on science or on fact, but she was communicating with demons to give her the information or diagnoses that she had hoped to acquire. The Lord stopped me from speaking to her, by giving me a vision.
The Black Wall
In this vision, I was driving on Clark Street in Chicago when suddenly an immense black wall appeared in front of me. It went as far to the right and as far to the left as possible and straight up without end. I thought to my self, “I do not need anything in there, I need to turn around.”
As I made the turn at the end of the median, I was forced into penetrating the darkness. I saw two demons warming themselves at a steel drum, in which a fire had been kindled. At that moment, I heard a voice saying “Do not go where I have not sent you. Give her the same chance that I gave you.”
I believe that the Lord wanted to stop me from making an accusation against her, so as to cause her to become defensive, and justify her position and defend her business, rather than feeling godly sorrow over the sin of divination. I am so thankful that the Lord stopped me, for when we act on our own, without seeking God’s direction, we can hinder his work.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
My sister’s business has invited demonic activity into our family in various ways: two suicide attempts, tormenting voices, nightmares, medical conditions and multiple fears. Her business is deceptive, and very lucrative. One of them became involved because “It’s easy money.” But the Lord warns us of the love of money and how it can become a master.
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:10
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Matthew 6:24
We all need to get this one right. God is our provider, our healer, our all in all. We should trust him for all our needs. The word tells us not to trust in money, power, our skills, talents and abilities or anything other than God.
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7
Thanks for reading. Please share this post with others. God bless you!
