Are ‘Water Spirits’ for
Real? The Truth About Marine Demons
JENNIFER LECLAIRE
When
I was a secular journalist, I went on assignment to the Dry Tortugas National
Park off the shores of the Florida Keys.
Home
to the largest marine sanctuary of its kind in the United States, the area is
off-limits to fishing to preserve highly-exploited marine life species.
I
had a front-row view of magnificent coral and exotic fish as the sun beat down
on the boat deck.
What
I couldn't see were the marine demons below the surface.
The oceans and waters of the
earth are filled with beautiful creatures - and some of them are dangerous.
Take
the striped surgeonfish as a natural example. With its nearly neon green and
blue stripes, this fish is stunning - but its spine is venomous.
Hideous
marine demons are trolling below the surface of the water with a deadly agenda
to kill, steal and destroy lives.
You
can't see them any more than you can see spirits of fear or rejection, but they
are actively engaged in aquatic ministry.
Of
course, they don't only work in the water. They just make their home base there.
Perhaps the closest parallel we
can make between natural sea creatures and marine demons is the jellyfish.
Some
jellyfish merely sting - others are deadly like the sea wasp box jellyfish (the
deadliest in the world), the Portuguese man-of-war (which is technically a
colony of organisms) and the Irukandji jellyfish.
According
to Conservation Institute, you're unlikely to see this tiny creature coming
because it's only .02 inches and is nearly transparent.
"It is a member of the notorious box jellyfish family, and
is arguably the most venomous animal on the planet. Its toxin is 100 stronger
than that of a cobra. Both the tentacles and bell can sting," Conservation Institute writes.
"A
single sting may be treatable. Multiple stings are almost certainly deadly.
Symptoms include severe muscle cramps, pain in the kidneys and back, burning
sensations, headache, vomiting and tachycardia. If you live, it won't be a fun
memory."
Marine
demons are like venomous jellyfish. They release toxic imaginations as they
work to wrap their tentacles around you. The attack can sting your soul or
body.
If
you don't discern the attack quickly enough and sustain multiple stings, it
could kill relationships, steal your peace of mind or health and destroy
opportunities God has planned for you.
You
can defeat it. The battle won't be a fun memory, but the victory will be sweet.
There are three realms of the
universe: the heavenlies, the earth and the sea.
Psalm 146:6 tells us God made "heaven, and earth, the sea and all that is in them."
Here
we see three realms of creation - and three realms of spiritual strongholds.
In Nehemiah 9:6a, the Levites said, "'You alone are the Lord. You have made
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is
on it, the seas and all that is in the.'"
The
third realm or stronghold of creation is the seas.
In Exodus 20:4, the Lord speaks expressly: "You shall not make for yourself any
graven idol, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in
the earth beneath, or that is in the water below the earth."
Many
Christians have never heard of water spirits, but the Bible speaks of the
category of sea monsters - on many occasions.
Ancient
religions have made gods of sea creatures, but these are really demonic
entities.
A few of the Scriptures that
mention water spirits include: Ezekiel 29:3-4, Job 34, Revelation 17:1-2,
Revelation 12:12 and 1 Samuel 5:3. Acts 6 mentions the python spirit.
Isaiah
27:1 mentions Leviathan.
While
some of these verses speak to specific marine demons and the principles of
defeating them, others offer evidence to the broader classification of water
spirits - or how spirits work in the waters.
Revelation 12:12 is perhaps the
best example: "Therefore rejoice, O
heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe unto the inhabitants of the earth and
the sea! For the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows
that his time is short."
There are many marine demons - or
water spirits -listed in Scripture.
You've
heard of Leviathan and python, but spirits like squid, Rahab, Behemoth and
others are prowling around like the proverbial Jaws waiting to attack.
The
first step to defeating these demons is not to be ignorant of their devices.
Study
Scriptures. Know the enemy. Water spirits are rising.
This article is an excerpt from Jennifer's new
book, The Spiritual Warrior's Guide to
Defeating Water Spirits.
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How
would your life change if you were able to put power into your prayer
life?
What
if you could pray for provision, and see God provide; or pray for healing, and
see God heal or what if you could pray for your circumstances and see your
circumstances change?
These
things are possible when you understand three prayer keys:
Key 1: The Victory of Jesus
When
you understand that even though God's Son, Jesus, was executed, He rose from
the dead, defeating both sin and death.
Jesus
is not only victorious, He is our victor.
When
we pray to, with and through Him, he grants us victory.
So
look at your circumstances through Jesus to see His
victory.
For example, despite the terrible devastation that
Hurricane Harvey spread though South East, Texas, many of the believers
interviewed by the media said, "I
may have lost my home, but I have my life, I have my family! I am so
blessed!"
These
folks were not looking at their situation from the perspective of what they'd
lost, but the value of what they'd kept.
They
know that despite their continued hardships, they can trust Jesus to provide.
Key 2: The Might of Jesus
We
sometimes forget how mighty Jesus is.
The
other day, I lifted up all my many responsibilities before the Lord.
In my mind's eye, it was if I was straining to hold up
a million-pound freeway. "Do you
really think I can carry this?" I asked.
Suddenly,
it was as if I could hear Jesus laughing. I turned and saw He was holding my
load with one finger.
Surprised, I asked, "You mean I'm not the one holding this?"
Jesus
continued to laugh and shook His head.
I stooped and walked out from under the load. I felt
so free! "Thank you, Jesus,
for carrying this load for me!"
Jesus
is already carrying the load you are straining beneath. Relax. He's got it.
Key 3: The Name of Jesus
And
finally, we cannot forget the power in the name of Jesus.
Recently
I prayed for a couple with pain.
I
prayed that both the wife's extreme neck pain and the husband's deep knee pain
would leave.
I ended the prayer, "In the mighty name of Jesus because his name is just that powerful."
Jesus
instantly healed their pain,
Sometimes God answers instantly, and sometimes we need
to keep praying, as Paul encouraged us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray
without ceasing."
Time to Pray
Try praying with these three power keys in mind:
“Dear Lord, not only are You the victor, You are the
victory.
So when I pray to and through You, I am praying in and
from Your victory, because I am praying not in my might, but in Yours.
So now, I come to you regarding: (fill in the blank).
I pray for victory in Your might and in the mighty
name of Jesus, because His name is just that powerful.”
Linda Evans Shepherd is a nationally known Christian speaker and a
best-selling author of over 30 books. She's the president of Right to the Heart
Ministries,founder of the Advanced
Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) and the
founder of GodTest.com. Her latest book is Winning Your Daily Spiritual Battles.
Connect with God in a deeper way as you read His Word.
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End-Time Prophecy: Why is the Third
Temple so Important?
The
Hebrew prophets all proclaimed that in the last days, the exiles of Israel
would return to the Promised Land and that the Temple would be rebuilt.
“Then the nations will know
that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.”(Ezekiel 37:28)
These phenomenal end-time events are unfolding before our very
eyes!
The
Prophetic Return to Israel and the Third Temple
“I will bring back my exiled
people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make
gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land,
never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them.”(Amos 9:14–15)
So many skeptics around the globe like to proclaim that God has
rejected the People of Israel and that Israel has been rebirthed by man
alone. Yet, we find in Scripture that God never intended to reject His
People forever:
“You, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend, you whom I have
taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts and said
to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.”(Isaiah 41:9)
God always planned to bring the Jewish People back to the Land
on His terms not man’s.
And just as the prophets
foretold, the Jewish People are returning to the Holy Land from the four
corners of the earth after 19 centuries of global exile:
“Do
not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And
gather you from the west. “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And
to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My
daughters from the ends of the earth.”(Isaiah 43:5–6)
Not only are the exiles of Israel returning to the Promised
Land, but preparations to build the Third Temple are progressing through the
efforts of the Temple Institute and the Temple Mount Faithful Movement.
Why
Build the Third Temple?
“Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are
signs and
symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.”(Isaiah 8:18)
You might ask yourself, “If the sanctuary was ‘a
copy and a shadow of what is in Heaven(Hebrews 8:5),’and Yeshua (Jesus)‘serves in the sanctuary, the true
tabernacle set up by the Lord (Hebrews 8:2),’why contemplate building the Holy Temple?”
The Holy Temple in Jerusalem was never simply a building or
structure, but an earthly dwelling place for the Divine Presence of God.
The Lord said,
“Let them construct a
sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell [shakan] among them.”(Exodus 25:8; see
also Exodus 40:34–35 and 1 Kings 8:11)
This dwelling
(shakan) forms
the related word Shekhinah, which is not found in the
original Hebrew Bible, but it is used in rabbinic literature and Bible
translations to describe the Lord’s Divine Presence.
The Prophet Ezekiel witnessed
the departure of this Divine Presence from the Temple(Ezekiel 10:18–19).
But he also saw the rebuilding of an eternal and permanent
dwelling place of God on the Temple Mount in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
“The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate
facing east. … I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple.
He said: ‘Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for
the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites
forever.’”(Ezekiel 43:4–7)
Rambam (Rabbi Moses Maimonides), a medieval Jewish philosopher
and Torah scholar, said that the Temple has eternal significance.
He wrote in Hilchos Bais HaBechirah (The Laws of
God’s Chosen House) that the Temple had two primary purposes:
1.To reveal to mankind the Divine Presence of God, which dwelt
above the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.
“There, above the cover
between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the Testimony, I will meet
with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.” (Exodus 25:22)
2.To facilitate the offering of the required sacrifices.
Since the destruction of the
Second Temple in AD 70, however, the Jewish People can no longer offer
these sacrifices. In fact, 202 out of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) in
the Torah cannot be performed without a Temple. (Temple Institute)
With no Temple in Jerusalem,
the Jewish people now worship the God of Israel in their local community
synagogues and in the study of Torah.
Instead of offering animal sacrifices, they now offer Tefillah (prayer), Teshuvah(repentance), and Tzedakah (charity).
Many think that animal sacrifices have been done away with
forever, but according to Bible prophecy, this simply isn’t so. The Lord
tells the Prophet Ezekiel that in a future Temple, the prescribed sacrifices
will be offered:
“The north and south rooms
facing the temple courtyard are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who
approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put
the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt
offerings—for the place is holy.” (Ezekiel 42:13)
But a serious question arises not only for the Jewish community,
but for all Believers in Yeshua: will the next Temple - the Third
Temple - be Ezekiel’s Temple where the Divine Presence will once again reside -
or will some other presence reside in another Temple?
Daniel, Yeshua, the
Anti-Messiah, and the Third Temple
In the prophetic writings of
the Book of Daniel and the Brit Chadashah (New Testament), we find significant
details about the role of a rebuilt Temple in the end times.
Both Daniel and Yeshua (Jesus) tell us that the Anti-Messiah
will defile the Third Temple before the return of the true Messiah.
They both call this spiritual defilement in the Temple the
abomination of desolation:
“So when you see standing in
the holy place ‘the abomination that causes
desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let
the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” (Matthew 24:15–16; compare with
Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11)
According to the Prophet Daniel,
the Messiah would be cut off before the Temple is destroyed:
“After the sixty-two weeks
the Messiah [Mashiach] will be cut off and have nothing,
and the people of the prince [ruler, nagid] who is to come will destroy the
city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the
end there will be war; desolations are determined.”(Daniel 9:26)
This prophecy was fulfilled in AD 70 with the destruction of the
Temple, just forty years after Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) was cut
off by his execution on a tree.
Through the study of numerous end-time Scriptures, we believe
that this prince or ruler (nagid) - the anti-Messiah - will appear just as
Daniel describes.
Daniel says he will confirm a covenant of peace “for one week” (often interpreted as
seven years) but break that covenant in the middle of the term.
“And he [the prince] will
make [some translations say ‘confirm’] a firm covenant with the many for one
week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain
offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate
[some interpretations say, set up an idol on the wing or precipice of the
Temple], even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out
on the one who makes desolate.”(Daniel 9:27; see also Matthew
24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4)
The anti-Messiah will also proclaim himself to be God!
“He [the man of lawlessness]
will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is
worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to
be God.”(2 Thessalonians 2:4)
The Temple Institute as well as the Temple Mount and Eretz
Yisrael Faithful Movement are the two main Jewish organizations responsible for
making preparations for the Third Temple and the reinstatement of sacrificial
worship.
Other organizations have plans, too. One wants to pitch a
tabernacle-style tent on the Mount; another wants to build a synagogue in one
of the corners of the platform.
Why? Because as Chaim
Richman, the director of the Temple Institute states in his Myth Buster video
series, “Buildings don’t fall down from
heaven.”
He
adds that “it’s a mitzvah to build the
Temple,” citing Exodus 23:8 and that Jews should be performing all 613
mitzvot, which requires a Temple.
He
also says that the Third Temple will “bring
the Light back into the world” that left the Temple Mount when the Lord’s
Divine Presence departed.
Moreover, he believes the
Temple will “reconnect all of creation
with one another. It is the Holy Temple that enables all of humanity to engage
in direct dynamic relationship with God and provides the opportunity for every
individual to rise to our greatest potential.”(Temple
Institute YouTube: Myth Busters Part 1)
Daniel 9 and 11 as well as Brit Chadashah writings, however,
help us see that an alternate reality exists for the Temple.
Nevertheless, the ritual garments and vessels have been created.
Even the Golden Menorah - the
seven branched candelabra - has been crafted, along with Levitical musical
instruments, such as silver trumpets, lyres, and harps to worship the Lord,
just as King David did 3,000 years ago(1 Chronicles 23:5).
The Temple Institute’s School is training certified,
DNA-tested Cohen (descendants of the High Priest Aaron) to perform the Temple
duties.
And the final element, the Red Heifer, is being bred in Israel
to be sacrificed in the ritual purification of the priests and the vessels, so
they may formally enter the holiest of holy area on the entire earth.
Everything is ready for the
rebuilding of the Third Temple. Everything, that is, except the land on
which to build it.
Since the liberation of the Mount in 1967, the Muslim world has
made great efforts to claim the entire 37-acre (150,000 square meter) platform
as its own sacred land, calling the site in Arabic al-Ḥaram
al-Šarīf - the Noble Sanctuary.
To protect the Noble Sanctuary, the Muslim world has become
expert organizers of riots on the Temple Mount and terror on the
streets of Israel.
Incitement to such
violence increases whenever rumors spread that a Jewish presence will be
established on the Temple Mount or its own Muslim structures harmed.
Only
an incredibly respected, trusted, and honored man by both Muslims and Jews will
be able to establish a peace plan that allows the Jewish People to worship
the Lord in a Temple on the Mount that King David purchased (2 Samuel 24:18–25).
Whoever this man is and whatever trouble awaits us (known as
Jacob’s Trouble) when he breaks the peace plan as Daniel 9:27 predicts, we can
be confident that God is on the throne and in control.
As King David writes in
Psalm 121:4: “He
who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
We know that end-time Bible prophecy concerning the Third Temple
is soon to be fulfilled because Israel was prophetically reborn as a nation in
1948 (Isaiah 66:8), and most of these Temple preparations only started in the last
30 years.
As we persevere through these end-times, join us in introducing
the Sar
Shalom (Prince of Peace) Yeshua HaMashiach to
the Jewish People so that He may dwell in them and bring them a peace and Joy
they have not yet known.
11 Reasons Why Christians
Absolutely Should Not Celebrate Halloween
JAMIE MORGAN
Many
Christians celebrate Halloween. Some churches and pastors even do.
I
recently saw a church advertising they were having a Zombie Run. Seriously?
God's House? This pastor does not celebrate Halloween and neither does her
church.
In a spirit of full disclosure,
when I was a brand-new believer, I allowed my son to go trick-or-treating. Part
of the reason was because my husband was not yet saved and insisted we do.
The
other part was because I didn't see the harm in it. After all, many Christians
I respected did it, so as a new Christian I justified that it must be OK.
Right? Wrong!
As I grew closer to the Lord and
gained more knowledge of His Word, I began to feel convicted about Halloween. I
had thoughts like:
oGod
is a God of life, but Halloween focuses on death. Should I celebrate a holiday
where people decorate their front yards with tombstones?
oThe
Scriptures tell us to put away deeds of darkness (Romans 13:12)
and that light has nothing in common with darkness (2 Corinthians
6:14). Is celebrating a dark holiday something a child of the light
should be doing?
oI
had been delivered from fear and panic attacks and knew that fear comes from
the enemy. Should I participate in a holiday that has fear as its very
foundation?
oWitchcraft
is clearly detestable to the Lord (Deuteronomy 18:10-13). Shouldn't
something that glorifies witchcraft (just take a walk through the Halloween
store) be detestable to me as well?"
oHalloween
is a sacred, high holiday for Wiccans (the official religion of witchcraft). Is
this a holiday Christians should celebrate alongside Wiccans?
oIs
it cute when we dress our kids like the devil (or witches, ghouls, scary
characters, etc.)? Isn't it, well, demonic?
oWhat
if my child dresses in a wholesome fireman costume? Romans 16:19 says that we
need to be wise to what is good and innocent of evil. If I let him participate in
Halloween, even while dressed as a fireman, aren't I sending him a mixed
message by allowing him to participate in a celebration of evil?
oThe
Lord said in 2 Corinthians 6:17, "Come
out from them and be separate ... Touch no unclean thing ..." Doesn't
God want His children to be set apart from the world and from sin and evil?
Aren't we supposed to be peculiar people?
oMy
extended family thinks it's ridiculous that we not allow our son to dress up
for Halloween. Should their opinions matter to me more than God's? Shouldn't
pleasing God be my utmost concern?
oIf
there is even a question in my heart and mind that it might be wrong, shouldn't
that be my first clue? Why would I continue to do so with even a lingering
thought that it is wrong?
oDoes
Halloween bring glory to God? No! It glorifies the devil! Nuff said.
So as a new believer, saved only
two years, I responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, repented of
displeasing the Lord and put a stop to Halloween.
And
as a pastor, after observing firsthand the amount of destruction that the enemy
brings into peoples' lives when they give him a foothold, I am even more
convinced I made the right decision to close the door to the enemy and on this
evil holiday.
Setting
aside a day to celebrate evil, darkness, witchcraft, fear, death and the
demonic brings disdain to God. Period.
A
Christian celebrating Halloween would be like a Satan worshiper putting up a
nativity scene at Christmas while singing, "Happy
Birthday, Jesus!"
The
two just don't go together. Jesus has nothing in common with Satan (2 Corinthians 6:14), and neither should we.
So,
what did we do instead? Hide in the basement with the lights off? Hustle the
family out of the house? No, darkened homes are the enemy's victory! Where does
your light shine the brightest ... in the darkness!
Halloween is the one day a year
when neighbors come to your door expecting to receive something. So give them
JESUS!
Our family chose to give God the glory and the devil a
black eye by reaching out to our neighbors with the gospel of Jesus Christ! "You are the light of the world ... let
your light shine among men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your
Father in heaven"(Matthew 5:14-16).
So stop justifying why it is fine
to celebrate this demonic, worldly, evil holiday. There are no muddled lines or
gray areas about it.
A
committed follower of Jesus Christ should not celebrate Halloween.
Jamie Morgan is the pastor of Life Church (Assemblies of God)
in Williamstown, N.J., and the Life House of Prayer (24/7 prayer).
