Efraiym opened with, “Be ready to shatter some of the thoughts you have had”. This was an attention getter and an immediate stirring of my self-assessment mechanism. He went on to say we have the tendency to pick and obey the Commandments we are more familiar with or the Commandments we like. However, when we selectively choose the Commandments to obey, we are not allowing the Holy Spirit to mature us.
Efraiym announced that this is the season of deliverance! The upcoming Passover is a celebration of deliverance. Whatever our situation, or entanglement, we can repent to our Elohim. Efraiym lovingly declared in his prayer to the Father, “Thank You that your arm has never been too short to deliver.”
Learn more about What Yeshua Did for Us: It's Not Finished (Book)
As a prologue to the teaching, Efraiym made it very clear that the Saints could also have a need for deliverance. The entire teaching was to make us aware that the enemy is serious and he wants to not only trap us, but to kill us, steal from us, and to destroy us. Here are some of the important points covered in this significant teaching.
- Efraiym quite candidly said that the pressures of life and circumstances that squeeze us might be the devil, but they could very well be from the Father to get us to cry out to Him.
- Father is more serious about our salvation than we are. He sent His Son to die for us and His Son said
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (KJV)
- The world is constantly pushing their agenda and the devil’s agenda at us. We give the devil the advantage when we believe that the devil does not exist.
- We must speak with authority when casting out devils.
- The children of Israel were delivered from cruel slavery in Egypt. However, only two of the adults over 20 when they left Egypt made it into the Promised Land of Israel. Moses was the leader of the delivered people and he did not make it. Efraiym asked us to ponder those facts and realize that we have to endure to the end.
- Sin, wallowing in disappointments and other negative emotions fertilize the soil of our being for the devil. It is an invitation for the devil to plant his seeds in us.
- We cannot tame demons! Cast them out! No covenants made with the devil will protect us from Elohim.
- Sometimes our deliverance comes in unexpected ways. Do not limit how Elohim wants to move in your life.
- If you come together with someone going in another direction, you will be pulled in another direction.
- Be watchful that you do not become influenced demonically by the things you listen to and watch. We are under constant attack.
- Going forward, be discerning of the covenants and agreements you make.
Sharon’s Reflections on the Teaching
Efraiym spoke of covenants ... blood covenants … hmmm. My mind travelled back to childhood where it was common knowledge about what a blood covenant was. Both parties cut one of their fingers and then held the cut fingers together to supposedly let their blood mingle.
I went to the kitchen where my son and daughter just happened to be at the same time.
“Did either of you ever do a blood covenant?” Silence and puzzled stares was all I got.
“It is where you and your friend cut your fingers and mingle the blood.”
Zoe: “That is sick! Do you think you would have even let us hang around children like that?”
Winston: “Noooo!”
“When I was young, we did. Or if you didn’t want to cut yourself, you used spit.”
Zoe: “You all were some nasty little kids!”
Winston: “I’ve seen it in the movies.”
“Let me go talk to someone who knows what I’m talking about. Floyd!”
Floyd said he knew of some children in Elementary school that cut their thumbs. I asked if he ever did it. He said, “No.”
“Why?”
Floyd: “I didn’t want to get cut!”
“Well, I do remember having blood on my finger, probably from a childhood scrape, and my girlfriend from down the street was there and we rubbed fingers together only using my blood. I think that is what happened.”
Floyd: “Look her up and ask her. She’s probably on Facebook!”
Even as a child, we knew that you would only make a covenant with someone that was a good friend and someone you wanted to be connected with over a long time. As adults, we have two possible covenants. The first one is with the Creator of the Universe. When you are born, you are subject to His Covenant because you are a citizen in the world that He created. Many of us ignore that simple fact and live our lives as if we belonged to ourselves. The second covenant is with a spouse if we should get married.
That vow is until death do us part.
These are serious covenants.
Learn More about: Marriage, Divorce And Remarriage (DVD)
Buzz on the Teaching
There was quite a bit of buzzing on different topics as a goodly number of the Saints fellowshipped for several hours after the service. Fifteen of us stayed until sundown to rearrange the seating to accommodate the influx of Saints for the Passover Service and the Feast of Unleavened Bread activities. Floyd’s Grandma used to say, “Many hands make light work!” Such was the case last night. There was great camaraderie amongst us, which was due to the friendships that have built up over time. I was delighted to see the flexibility of the group to arrange the tables one way, see that it wasn’t going to work for traffic flow or the placement of the cameras, and then rearrange them quickly.
Some of the earlier conversations were:
- We were reading the label on a fancy package of cherry-coated candy that one of the children had. A Sister Saint that is a candy-maker noticed that it contained “confectioners glaze”. She alerted us that confectioner’s glaze is a resin, which is secreted by the female Lac insect after it consumes tree bark. We put the candy in the trash and all of us breathed a sigh of relief that we found out just in time. Then I mentioned that Castoreum, used as an artificial flavoring (i.e., vanilla, raspberry, and strawberry) is made from the anal secretions of a beaver. (The FDA considers it safe and doesn’t require companies to specifically say they’re using Castoreum, just say “natural flavoring”.)
- I had a chance to have a conversation with a Sister Saint and a Brother Saint about our paths to the truth and to Arthur Bailey Ministries. Each one was so different. We talked about the roads were on prior to coming to the truth. One of us was sure they would have went “straight to Hell” had they died then; another was close to the Lord and wanted to please Him continually; and another said they argued with God constantly. A theme running through all three stories was that each one of us wanted to find the truth. Praise Yah that He opened our eyes!
Until next time … Blessings to You and Yours,
Sharon
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