REALITY OF THE SUPERNATURAL
Date: 2004-03-24
Author: Revivalist Todd Bentley
Key Bible Verse: "…even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…" (Eph. 2:5,6)
Lesson Objectives:
• Learn that the spiritual realm is as real as the natural realm.
• Know how to walk and live in that supernatural reality.
• Receive revelation and impartation for supernatural living.
• Grow in faith that the Lord would open the eyes of your heart.
This lesson examines the scriptural foundation of the reality of the Supernatural—every-day walking and living in this realm. How many of you are hungry for an open heaven in your life? If you really want the supernatural to be natural and common in your life, this course and this lesson is for you. Is your heart's cry, "I want heaven to touch the earth. I want heavenly glory. I want to open up the windows of heaven and I want to live in the supernatural provision of God's grace, power and presence"? In my life and in the ministry of Fresh Fire, we have been living, on a daily basis since 1998, in the reality of the spiritual realm. Through this lesson I want to lay a foundation for understanding the spiritual realm. I want to raise our expectations of how much of God we can receive and walk in now. Let's grow in faith to encounter and experience God in ways that we have never encountered before. Let's get hungry for that spirit of wisdom and revelation to come upon our lives, for God to open up the windows of heaven.
1. Seeing Into the Supernatural (John 3:5-13; Eph. 2:5,6)
(John 3:5-13) 5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
(Eph. 2:5,6) 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
In this lesson, I am just going to share with you very quickly just a few Scriptures the Holy Spirit has given me. I want to lay a foundation for the miraculous and the power of God. The Kingdom of God is not in word only but in power—we need to see the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power. But more than that, as believers, we need to walk in God's power. I want you to encounter and experience the supernatural, to encounter and experience the reality of the spiritual realm. I'm praying that God is going to open up the eyes of your heart, of your spiritual understanding.
Recently, while I was in Salt Lake City, I had a prophetic experience. I was taken up into the spiritual climate over Utah and I saw what God was doing in Salt Lake City. I had an open eye vision, the heavens opened and I was taken up into a large vortex. It was like I was in the eye of a tornado or in a spiritual portal. It was if God had ripped open heaven and I was able to see that something was taking place in the spiritual climate of Utah and of Salt Lake City. I saw angels ascending and descending into the service—they were bringing eyes and wings into the meeting. "God what are these eyes?" I asked. "Todd," He said, "the eyes are for the seer prophet. They represent the seer anointing." Then the Lord told me that the wings are for the eagles, the prophetic people, anointed with fresh revelation, those He is gathering and releasing this year. This year God is releasing a fresh dimension of the prophetic anointing. This download will come in the form of prophecy that involves the emotions in a greater way—it's going to involve the spiritual senses. It's going to be more like experiential prophetic experiences—visions, dreams. Visions will become more graphic, involving various detail which will include emotions and even natural senses. After talking with other prophetic people, I realized we agree that this year the Body of Christ is ready, on a corporate level, for the kind of anointing that we have touched and seen hidden in back rooms until now—angelic visitations, dreams, trances and other third heaven realm experiences
From the beginning to the end of the Bible we see the reality of these supernatural experiences. I believe God wants to take the spook out of the prophetic and make it common place and available to all believers. In this lesson, I want to lift our expectations of how much of the supernatural we can walk in now. I want to lift your faith levels to believe for a whole new place of personal and corporate open heavens where the supernatural gates swing wide open. When the spiritual realm opens up, the power of God, favor and resources are released into our lives.
2. Only Believe (Mark 9:23; Luke 8:49, 50; Matt. 8:7-10)
Jesus said to him,''If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' Mark 9:23
While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher." But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well." Luke 8:49, 50
And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, "Go,' and he goes; and to another, "Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, "Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! (Matt. 8:7-10)
(This Centurion must have believed that Jesus had angels (servants) to carry out His word)
Later, I will tell you about the angel that has visited me. However, first I want you to realize how important faith is. Once the Lord told me, "Todd, if you can get people to believe in the angel I will bring miracles." Now listen, it's not about believing in the angel in the same way we believe in Jesus. We don't put our faith in angels—they are agents through which Jesus works. But often we won't be able to receive and walk in what God is doing in His supernatural power until we hear testimonies of powerful works that God is doing and our belief in the unseen realm begins to grow. Testimonies aren't greater than Jesus, but scripture does tell us that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. That prophetic testimony releases faith if we hear with an open heart. The Lord has said to me: "Todd, if you can get people to believe in what I am now releasing by the prophetic power of my Spirit—the prophetic word , angels, dreams, the realities of the spiritual realm, the manifestation of heaven touching earth and people being healed and set free—then I can begin to fully release My power." It's the power of faith and believing. "Only believe," says Jesus. Believing is the door that opens up the spiritual realm and that brings heaven; it's the entrance through which heaven touches earth and through which miracles, signs and wonders come. God wants to challenge our belief system and our mind sets. He wants to challenge our levels of faith. God wants to make the supernatural natural and commonplace. Yes, He wants us to believe like the saints of old who we read about throughout the Bible.
a. Angels (Gen. 18:1-16; 19:1; Judges 6:11,12; Dan. 10:5-21; Gen. 28:10-12; Luke 1:26-30)
Angels are everywhere in scripture—whether it was angels coming over to Abraham's house for a meal or an angel showing up at the winepress with Gideon. Then there is Daniel who is taken into heaven – he sees an angel who has just come from a battle with the Prince of Persia. In scripture there are so many prophetic experiences. There's Jacob who sees the ladder with angels ascending and descending, going into heaven, getting revelation and coming out of heaven. We read about Mary and Joseph being led by prophetic dreams. Angels appeared to them to bring direction and warnings. Here are some passages which describe some of these angelic experiences:
Abraham (Gen. 18:1-16) 1"Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mare, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3 and said, "My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4 Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant." They said, "Do as you have said." 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes." 7 And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. 8 So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate. 9 Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" So he said, "Here, in the tent." 10 And He said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" 13 And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, "Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." (Gen. 19:1) Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.
Gideon (Judges 6:11, 12) Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrimte, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianimtes. 12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!"
** Daniel (Dan. 10:5-21) 5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! 6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. 7 And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision; but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 8 Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me; for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength. 9Yet I heard the sound of his words; and while I heard the sound of his words I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground. 10 Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. 11 And he said to me, "O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. 12 Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come." 15 When he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless. 16 And suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, "My lord, because of the vision my sorrows have overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength. 17 For how can this servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me." 18 Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me. 19 And he said, "O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong! "So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, "Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me." 20 Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.
** Jacob (Gen 28:10-12) 10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
** Mary (Luke 1:26-30) 26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
b. Prophetic Experiences (Ezek. 8:3-4; Hab. 2:2; Obadiah 1:1; Acts 10:9-15; 2 Cor. 12:1-4; James 5:17,18)
Throughout the bible, we read about numerous prophetic experiences. Not only did all of the major and minor prophets have supernatural encounters, but just about every major bible character from the beginning of the Bible to the end had spiritual experiences. Men had trances, visions, visitations, dreams, supernatural chariot rides and other prophetic experiences. Ezekiel was taken out by the Spirit into visions of God; he was actually taken to physical places (into the river Shabar and into Babylonian captivity). Whether he was in his body or not, we don't know. Then, in the New Testament, we have Paul, the Apostle, caught up into heaven, into paradise. In the book of Acts, Peter has a trance, Cornelius has a vision, Peter gets out of prison with the help of an angel and John receives visions which he and the book of Revelation. Are you getting the picture that from the beginning to the end of the Bible, men and women had encounters with God? They were able to say that heaven had touched earth in a supernatural way with visitations, signs and wonders in the heavens and earth or with power, miracles, deliverance from demons, visions, angels, trances, dreams, translation in the Spirit, or visitation to heaven. Do you believe it? Elijah was a man like us and so was everybody else in the Bible. They were just men like us – saints saved and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Today, in heaven, there is a cloud of witnesses excited about the day that we live in. That cloud—Abraham, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, Paul and Peter—are cheering us on.
These past saints are looking at our generation, at the last days anointing. They are looking at the last days army. It is our time, as end time saints, to shine with His glory and to take His love and power to the world. It's our time to pray like Elisha prayed when his servant's spiritual eyes were opened. That prayer opened up the second heaven, the realm of angels and demons. When I read that story, I believed that same experience could be mine. I said, "God that is going to be my expectation. That is going to be my experience." Why not? Why can't that happen to me? Why wouldn't I want to make myself available to the Lord to release the anointing of Ephesians 1:17 so the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation would come upon me? We need to have these supernatural experiences with God because that's how He speaks. To grow in faith and relationship with God, we need hear his voice. Every relationship is built on communication. So we need to be open to every different manner that God speaks, whether it's through the still small voice or through visions or through angelic encounters. God reveals Himself in a multitude of ways.
3. Naturally Supernatural (Heb. 4:16; Eph. 6:12)
(Heb. 4:16) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Eph. 6:12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
As born-again believers, we are just as much a spiritual creation with spiritual senses as we are a natural being with natural senses. I want to touch, taste, smell, hear and feel the spirit realm which is available to me now. The kingdom of heaven is at hand and it is within us. That's why Jesus gives us an invitation to come boldly before the throne of grace. Come boldly! There is an invitation to come NOW—not just by faith, but in experience. Walking into the throne room by faith is great, but there comes a time when we know that we are there because we're there by spiritual experience. We begin to see the living creatures, experience the sensations and the thunderings and lightning's and everything else that goes on around the throne. We call it the throne zone. I've had encounters where I have been before God's throne in experience—seeing it, touching it, feeling it and hearing in the moment. I don't have to wait 40, 50 or 60 years until I am absent from the body and present with the Lord. It's available now. And the Bible encourages us to reach out in expectation that we can encounter and have what is in heaven now.
Now I don't go seeking after angels and get into prayer and go, "Oh angel come and visit me." I don't seek angels or trances or predetermine where I am going to go in a heavenly experience. I just make myself available by faith and with the understanding of how real the spiritual realm is. Why would Paul say we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against demonic powers and principalities and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places? He saw into that realm; he knew that there is a spiritual world that is more real than the world that we live in. And how do we touch the realm that we live in? You touch it with your natural senses that God gave you. We can also touch the spiritual realm with our spiritual senses.
Using Our Spiritual Senses (John. 1:1; Heb. 5:14)
(1 John 1:1,2) That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life 2the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.
(Heb. 5:14) But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
You can see, smell, touch, feel and sense in the spirit. We have spiritual senses. God created the heavens; He created the earth. I am going to live forever with God in heaven called Paradise, the abode of God. But I don't need to wait for the day that day even though I live in the natural. Often it's the natural that keeps you from the heavenly—it keeps us from the fullness of everything we have in God and which is promised in scripture. There will always be a war between your flesh and a war between your spirit. You know, it's just a battle, a constant battle—bills, life, marriage. But we still need to be reaching, by faith and with expectation, that we will experience the reality. That realm is not spooky, it's real. When someone begins to talk about many of the supernatural things that I am going to talk about tonight, people often begin to think, "Oh, I don't know about that. I know the angels came over to Abraham's house and they gave him a meal, but Todd, did they really come to your house?" Well why not? We need to ask God to free us from the ungodly rational thinking that hinders our spiritual walk with Him.
Heaven is Real (2 Kings 6:15-20; Matt. 7:11)
(2 Kings 6:15-20) 15 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" 16 So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, "Strike this people, I pray, with blindness." And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 19 Now Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek." But he led them to Samaria. 20 So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, "LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see." And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!
(Matt. 7:11) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" Yes I know that the enemy wants to deceive. However, always remember, God's ability to keep me is greater than the Devil's ability to deceive me if my heart is right. If I am pursuing and loving God, waiting in the presence of the Holy Spirit and meditating on the Word day and night, God will keep me. The Lord doesn't want me to be deceived—I am a son. He's not just going to let me fall off the cliff if I am keeping my heart right and keeping my life right. I am also in relationship--plugged in, connected with people who can speak into my life. Yes, we need to test all things and hold fast to what is good. But, at the same time, we need to protect our hearts and minds from the supernatural sceptiscism that afflicts the Western church that the minute somebody says, "Yes, I saw an angel last night!" When I start to share my experiences, I know that many people begin to automatically think, "Awwwww, c'mon, an angel Todd? Oh, you've had 12 visits this year have you Todd? There is an angel that manifests in your meetings called Healing. Well I don't believe that. Yeah, well, I believe that it happened to William Branham and maybe some others. But now you are going to start talking about a gift of healing and a word of knowledge involving your left arm because of a visitation of an angel?" Yes, I know that some of this stuff sounds a little spooky, but for me it's real. Heaven and supernatural experience is more real to me many people I interact with in the natural realm.
Let me tell you something. Miracles happen for our ministry almost on a daily basis. In fact, one disciple who had only been saved a year, after traveling with me for 6 months, he said, "If there is a day that we don't see somebody get healed, I say, 'God, what is wrong? What is going on?'" Can you imagine being a brand new Christian and your biggest struggle is that a day went by and something supernatural didn't take place? You know, we've seen miracles so regularly that they have become just natural events to us! Yet, when I have asked people in Fresh Fire meetings who had not been in a meeting before where they have actually seen a blind eye open up, 90 percent of them put up there hand to say, "I've never been in a service like that." The time is coming for many of us when we become concerned if a day goes by without some encounter or some supernatural manifestation of the reality of heaven touching earth.
In Fresh Fire, we sometimes have weeks in which hundreds of healings and miracles take place—the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk and AIDS victims are healed. We've seen God create a new eye in an empty eye socket, instantly restore a hydrocephalic child's enlarge head to normal size and heal every patient in a hospital ward for chronic tuberculosis patients. In each of these cases, it was just normal, everyday Christian men and woman praying for the sick. One woman we prayed for had no ear drums—it was impossible for her to physically hear in her right ear. We don't know if God created the ear drum or just opened up her ear, but she heard! It was impossible, humanly speaking. Let me tell you about three stories of blind people who saw at one meeting.
One man by the name of Scott Levine was in a limo drinking and doing drugs; he opened up a champaign bottle and the cork came out, hit him in the eye and drove his eye right back into his brain. They pulled his eye ball out and did five surgeries over the course of several years—he was completely blind. He was in the meeting when I called out a word of knowledge and God healed him. Not only did God heal him, the Kansas City Star wants to pick up the story. Not only did he get healed, but he also got a report from the surgeon (which is documented) who said something like, "I don't know what happened but your eye is great. Nothing ever happened to your eye. I don't see any surgery here!" He had gone through five surgeries. The doctor was like, "You've got a brand new lens and everything." And he can see! Amen! That's a miracle!
Another woman in that same service, just that same morning, had tested completely blind at the doctor's office. After documenting her blindness, the doctor said she would need to have surgery. She came to the service that night and God healed her eyesight! There was another man in that service who could barely see from one eye—God opened up his eye too. By the time he left, his eye was clear and it didn't even look the same. That healing happened over the course of a couple of hours while he sat in the anointing. At another meeting in Salt Lake City, the power of God fell on a boy, about nine or ten years old, who was legally blind in both eyes, documented. He came running to the front when, suddenly, he could see. He could even read a poster—completely healed. At the moment of his healing he was also saved! Nobody even lead him to Jesus. Next thing, he was lying on the floor, shaking and speaking in tongues. He got saved, healed and he spoke in tongues without anyone laying hands on him! Jesus came and touched him. At some meetings in Kansas City, a man whose left side was completely paralyzed, came for prayer in a wheel chair. He had been diagnosed with tumors and cancer that caused epilepsy and the paralysis. The tumors were pressing on his brain. He got our healing CD, listened to it twice and got up and walked. By the time he came to the healing meeting the next time he was walking in front of 700 people. He even brought his electronic wheelchair to the service to show us.
All those healing stories—some blind eyes, several deaf ears, a crippled guy, paralyzed and in a wheelchair and many more—happened in just one week. I could go on and on about the numerous testimonies each night we pray for the sick. These miracles happen on a daily basis. That is how real heaven is. God wants to open up this kind of supernatural reality for each of you.
Do you know how real heaven is? I was ministering for the first time at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship years ago at a healing conference. God's healing power erupted and the Arnots booked me to come back frequently throughout the rest of this year, for week-long periods, to help them stir healing revival in the Toronto Blessing. There were so many miracles! We had about 500-700 miracles just in a healing conference. On some of the videos you will see up to 12 individuals partially blind or completely blind get their sight in one service. I mean we are talking about some people born blind. We had a woman carried into the service in November with MS. She was completely crippled—she could not stand, walk, or even move her toes. She got healed in that service. Not only did she get healed, but she began walking up two full flights of stairs at the airport church. There were just so many miracles, even creative miracles. People with paralysis of certain body parts—some had Bells Palsy of the face, or nerves that had been removed as a result of cancers and surgeries—were totally healed. Nerves don't grow back naturally. After a word of knowledge (people were going to be healed of paralysis, get their nerves back or parts of their body that were dead and didn't function were going to come alive) we heard testimony after testimony of creative miracles in bodies experiencing numbness or paralysis as a result of nerve damage.
A while ago when ministering in Minnesota, we had about a hundred cases of different levels of deafness. When I prayed against the power of the deaf and dumb spirit, the wife of the pastor coordinating the conference got healed of deafness she had ever since she was a little girl. She had deafness in one ear and had 59 years of dyslexia – she was completely healed of both physical problems. At times she didn't even know her right from left—she even struggled driving the car. After 59 years God healed her. In that same service, as she sat in the anointing, a woman was healed who had her eye shot out by a bee-bee gun when she was a little girl. She had a silicone eye; a surgeon took part of an eye from a cadaver to make a fake eye. Get this—she went to the doctor and he documented that she could see! She had no eye ball—you can't see out of a silicone eye. So what does that mean? An eye ball grew into the socket where there was no eyeball. They sent her to the university staff of doctors in Minnesota and they said, "Nobody has ever done anything to this eye." She received a creative miracle!
You want to hear another great testimony! I called a guy named Daniel out by name and age through a word of knowledge in a meeting. He wasn't even in the service; someone knew him. After we prayed, he was healed of leukemia in his hospital bed! That is great testimony! Here is another one. One woman that we called out by a word of knowledge was healed of a degenerate arthritic condition in her neck and spine. But that was just the start. She didn't have a uterus and wanted to have a baby. Later she wrote me, excited that she was bleeding—she got a brand new uterus. Not only that. She wrote that she took a prayer cloth from that service to a child who was paralyzed in the lower part of the body, in the bladder area. She said when she laid the prayer cloth on the child, the child jumped up and did a jig and danced and yelled saying, "Mommy, I've got to go to the bathroom." The child was healed of Spinal Bifida.
These miracles are taking place on a daily basis. God is healing every sickness and God is healing every disease. The anointing is still tangible and the anointing is still transferable. And that is just a day in the ministry. I believe that such miraculous power can open up for us in a greater way when we begin to become more aware of the reality of heaven.
4. Set Your Mind On Things Above (Col. 3:1)
(Col. 3:1) If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
The Bible encourages us, in Colossians 3:1, to set your mind on things above where Christ is seated. Get your mind high up there. Get your mind heavenly minded. Get your mind thinking about how real it is in heaven and that that realm is more real than the world that we live in. It's so easy to get caught up in the temporal. But the Bible says we need to set our minds on the eternal. It's easy to set our mind on what the doctor said, our natural senses, what we are feeling and what we are seeing in the natural. But God encourages us to set our mind on the eternal—the things above. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood. There are demonic powers and principalities. The Devil is real and he really does want to kill, steal and destroy. We don't want to believe that there is a devil behind every bush. However, I would like to walk in the reality of the awareness of the supernatural, not only in the demonic, but the reality of the angelic. When I wake up in the morning, I consciously make a decision to be aware. Did you hear that? I consciously make a decision to be aware. I say, "Thank You God that there are angels here. Thank You God for the angels that are with me. Thank you for the angels that are ministering spirits that come to do your word. Thank you for the healing angels and for the harvest angels. Thank you for the angels that encamp around those who fear you. They lift me up, high above the warfare. I make a conscious effort to thank God for the reality of angels and that opens up the activity of angels in my ministry. I make this reality a part of what I do in my everyday life. While I'm in the shower I say, "Thank you Lord Jesus that the blind see, the deaf hear and the cripples walk. I thank you for miracles and the healings." I am constantly pulling that reality into my life; I'm constantly expecting the supernatural to invade my world. Sometimes I'll thank God for the heavenly realm and that I can see and travel in the spirit. I thank Him for trances, visions and dreams.
5. Hearing His Voice (John 10:27; John 3:13; John 5:19)
(John 10:27) My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
I also like to thank the Lord that I can hear His voice. He says, "My sheep hear my voice." Even though I may not be having an angel visit me right now, or see someone getting healed right now, the supernatural God is with me. In the forefront of my mind I am setting my mind on things above. I am constantly looking for demonic powers and their strategies: "God what is happening in the service? What is the enemy doing? What is the hindrance God? What is the hindrance in the region God? I am also constantly pulling on that realm so that heaven opens up for me. Now let's look at:
(John 3:13): "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."
Did you hear that? No one has ascended into heaven—we are talking about angels ascending into heaven and coming down with revelation. We are talking about ascending into the place where God dwells. No one has ascended into heaven except for he who has come down from heaven. Where was Jesus when he said that? On the earth. And here He is on the earth speaking to human beings. No one has ascended into heaven except for he who has come down from heaven, who is in heaven. I believe He is saying that even though I am on the earth, I am really in heaven. That is the way that He lived and that is the way that He ministered. He ascended and descended and though he was on the earth, he said no one has ascended except for him who has descended. So even though He was here in physical form, He was still in heaven. Jesus is saying in the present tense that He is in heaven, even when He's on the earth. That is the ministry of Jesus.
Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (John 5:19)
Jesus uses the word "sees" in this scripture, which implies open vision—He actually watched what His Father was doing. He saw it prophetically then he went out and acted it out. Then, a long while before daylight, he got up on the mountain again. He often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. Why? Because He only did those things that He saw. Like Jesus, we need to see. It takes time to listen and to wait. Though I am here in physical form, I am still the one who is in heaven because that is where I live in my mind. I live under an open heaven just like Jesus did after He came up from the waters of baptism and the heavens opened and the dove came down. The secret to success and power in ministry is living under an open heaven. One way that we live under the open heaven is by understanding the reality of the spiritual realm and walking with the expectation that it is accessible to us, to every believer. There is nothing different about those saints who went into heaven, or about the prophets that saw visions. It's not just the five-fold ministries who need prophetic experiences. I've had people ask me, "Todd, why do I need to have a prophetic experience? What's the purpose?" Well why can't it be just to be with God? Why can't it just be for the purpose of encountering God? Why can't it just be for experiencing what God has in the heavens now because I am His child, a full heir of the spiritual kingdom. I am just as much a spiritual being as I am a natural being. So I should be touching, tasting, hearing, seeing and feeling what is going on in heaven.
6. Heavenly Geography
Heaven also has geographical locations. Did you know that? Heaven is a geographical place and there are geographical regions in heaven. Heaven is big. If you actually studied how big heaven is you'd discover, perhaps, that it is like another world. Heaven also has its own unique characteristics as a distinct world or region. For instance, if I go to Hawaii, I find it has a unique location, climate and culture—it is very different from Alaska. It's also very different when I am in Florida as compared to when I am in Utah. Each place is distinctly different spiritually, culturally and in its physical characteristics of climate, terrain and scenery. We love places for their unique features. That is what heaven is like.
In Heaven, the saints won't always be around the throne 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will have journeys in heaven, friend. We will visit different geographical locations in this real world. There will be a whole new creation in heaven. Heaven will be similar to earth in many ways, with the absence of sin, sickness, disease, death and poverty. Isn't earth big; isn't earth beautiful; aren't there geographical locations on earth? Well, there are geographical locations in the spirit too. So, in this life, it's ok for me to say, "Holy Spirit, come, and let me touch with my spiritual senses, now, what is in heaven." That is where my mind and my expectation is. That is where my heart is. I make myself available for God to communicate with me on the basis of understanding the truth of what I am sharing with you today. However, we need to have that scriptural foundation in our hearts that Jesus ascended into heaven and that no one has ascended into heaven, except for him who has come down from heaven, who is in heaven. Yes, although Jesus was on earth at the time, He was in heaven in His mind and in His spirit. He was seeing by open vision. As He said, "I only do those things that I see the Father doing." He was seeing it on the mountain. He was seeing it in prayer. He was seeing it in the wilderness. The Holy Spirit brought Him revelation and opened the eyes of his heart. Jesus was an example to us of the depth of communion we can have with God and of how powerfully the Father can manifest through a totally surrendered child on earth. Jesus was an example of prayer, an example of experience and an example of ministry. You know, I want to follow Him in each way He has demonstrated the life of abundance to us.
7. Made for Signs and Wonders (Isaiah 8:18, 19)
"Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel…"(Isaiah 8:18)
Let's examine this common passage of scripture. I've felt the Lord tell me that this year He was going to release the signs prophet in a greater way. God wants to put on us the anointing of signs and the anointing of the supernatural. This is our inheritance as His children. I believe that this scripture isn't just talking about signs and wonders involving healing of the sick and casting out demons. In addition to those acts, I believe the Lord is saying that He wants us to be prophetic messages. We are to live prophetic lives which speak to the world of God's great love. We are to be a people that, wherever we go— whether we are in the market, the Superstore, the restaurant, the church or at work—we are to be a message to the world. We are called to carry around us an activity of heaven that creates signs and shows manifestations of heaven touching earth. Those manifestations that God wants to accompany our lives include the changing of weather patterns, the cleansing of lepers, the raising of dead, the casting out of demons, the healing of sickness and disease as well as seeing of dreams and visions. The world will forget about psychics when we touch the supernatural realm and, as the church, begin operating in the prophetic and the power of God.
We are to be a sign; we are to be a living epistle. We are to be a prophetic message, a prophetic picture in the earth. God wants the supernatural realm to spill out of our lives and break into the natural realm everywhere we go. We are to be carriers of signs and wonders. God has called us to live in the place of "as it is in heaven" and to walk in the anointing of the spirit of wisdom and revelation. God wants to put that anointing on the body in a greater way so the world won't need Miss Cleo, the psychics or the gurus on Montel and other TV shows. Yes, it is time that we are for signs and wonders, so that our lives give the world a taste of a supernatural, powerful God. Look what happens, according to Isaiah 8:19, if we don't walk in signs and wonders:
"And when they say to you, 'Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living." (Isaiah 8:19)
When we are not for signs and wonders, people go to wizards, mediums and dead gods. They consult the dead on behalf of the living rather than consulting the living God. If we truly live a supernatural life and understand the reality of the open heavens and heavenly glory, had we created, by faith, a landing place in the spirit where God could manifest, then the world would turn from demonic signs to the true signs. This year God wants to release the anointing for us to become signs to the world. He is releasing the signs prophets. Are you ready for that? Jesus wants us to begin living like He did in John 3:13:
"No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."
Though I am down from heaven in physical form, I am a man who is in heaven at the same time that I am on earth. God is now releasing the supernatural. As I am talking about angels, I am actually prophesying so that someone can have an angelic visitation. As you read this lesson, signs and wonder are being released into your lives.
8. End-Time Release of the Supernatural (Acts 2:17-22)
17 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.'" (Acts 2:17-22)
Now what day is that when whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved? Is that a day that is coming, or is that a day that is here? I believe we are living in the outpouring of God's spirit for the release of prophecy, visions and dreams and it is available to the body of Christ. He said He would pour these things out on all flesh. All flesh! All of us have opportunity to be a part of the release of this prophetic dimension which will bring signs and wonders in the heavens and the earth because we are for signs and we are for wonders. It is our destiny to carry that supernatural anointing and to walk in the reality of the spirit of wisdom and revelation. It is our inheritance. But it's even more than that. Look at Acts 2 verse 22:
"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know--"
This passage is referring to the days of Jesus, the days when God confirmed and endorsed the ministry of Jesus with miracles, signs and wonders. We are just as much sons as Jesus was. John 17 even tells us that the Father has loved us just as He has loved Jesus. We are just as loved by the Father as Jesus was and just as much a joint heir. He has made us to sit in heavenly places with Him. The Father wants to attest and endorse ministry in North America today with miracles, signs and wonders—we need to reach for that! We need to say, "Thank you Lord that it's mine." The supernatural realm needs to become part of our everyday thinking. We need to think about open heavens, angels, visions and dreams. We need to talk about miracles, power and healings. We need thank God for angels and for the prophetic. Now let me tell you about an angelic experience I had a while back. I first saw the angel called Healing Revival on December 5 of 2000 in Grant's Pass. The angel came to me again in Albany the next February. He stood in the church service with his body going through the ceiling of the church. Then the Lord told me the angel's name and that he was the same angel I saw in Grant's Pass earlier. God also revealed to me that this angel was involved in the ministry of John Lake (Africa and America), William Branham (America) and John Knox in Scotland. This angel, the Lord said, is from the North West Healing Revival and is manifesting again as a sign that God is restoring the Voice of Healing revival and opening up the ancient wells.
In our ministry over the last year, this angel has come frequently and on many different occasions. When He comes I get a gift—the ability to diagnose people's sicknesses with my left hand. At times this angel brings words of knowledge; I get very accurate details from God including people's first, middle and last names as well as nicknames, the year they were injured, the color of their vehicle and the state they are from.
I have been in meetings where I have been able to take whole rows of people and diagnose accurately what is wrong with their bodies. I'll sometimes go into trances and hear the doctor diagnose people's sickness—then they will pull medical documentation out of their pocket confirming what I just said. Many other people have also seen or had contact with this angel in the meetings. And whenever this angel shows up, the miracles go off the charts. Instead of a few healings, we'll get three blind eyes in one night or maybe a cripple will get out of a wheel chair.
I believe the angel showed up in Albany as a sign that God was endorsing what was taking place and that it was opening up a healing well. Everywhere I have seen this angel the miracles continue after I leave and a healing well is established in that church and in that city. When that angel visits, we have another John 5 Pool of Bethesda experience as God releases His approval. That is why God repeatedly visits Jesus throughout His life—to place His stamp of approval on every stage. After we start to examine this topic, it's easy to see how important angels were throughout Scripture.
When I was in South America, I'd pray for someone and the demon would come out and it would come on my left arm. It's like Paul, when he put his hand in the fire and the thing came out and it grabbed his arm and he shook it off. Well that happens to me sometimes when I lay hands on people that I can discern demonic presence or sickness and sometimes it will come off onto my arm. Then people will be instantly healed or delivered. I know when the gift is on because it will come over my arm. Initially I didn't know what to do with this. I said, "God what is happening to me." In some meetings in Grant's pass when the angel first visited, it was during one of my prayer times that I had a vision of a boy in the hospital in a coma. I discovered when I called out the word at the meeting that night that a man had come to the meeting on behalf of the boy's mother. I actually saw this woman in a trance telling me that her boy had come out of a coma; I then saw the newspaper headlines which read, "Boy Comes Out Of Coma." When we prayed for the man who stood in the gap, the boy was completely healed. I heard the testimony later and the headlines really exactly as I had seen. When this all started in Grant's Pass, I didn't think anything of it other than, "Wow, that was a great night of moving in the word of knowledge."
However, when I went to Albany in January and February of the next year (2001), the revelation and healing anointing really blew up. We had all kinds of incredible manifestations of miracles, healings, signs and wonders. In the middle of that season, I saw an angel in the pulpit that towered up to the ceiling of the church. I saw this angel open up a pool on the floor. Then I saw a hole open up in heaven, a shaft of light come down and an angel appear. When I saw this open vision, I didn't know what to do with it. The audible voice of the Lord came to me and gave me some instruction about imparting the anointing and the keys to pastors. Then He told me that this angel had been involved in three revivals in three different countries through three revivalists. He also told me that the angel's name is Healing Revival and that he is like the angel in John 5 that came to stir the waters of the pool of Bethesda. The angel is ranked one position below an arch angel. This angel doesn't deal with principalities over nations, but powers in cities—he comes to establish a regional healing revival, the same type of outpouring of healing that we read about in John 5 where and angel would come down at a certain season and stir the waters.
Then the Lord led me to ask the pastor's daughter what she was seeing." Before I told anybody about the angel, I went across the room to the pastor's daughter and asked, "Excuse me, what do you see in the service right now?" She said, "Todd, there is a large angel standing in the pulpit." Then the power of God came and Denny gives an invitation to the sick because I was so inebriated and under the weight of God's glory that I couldn't do anything. When people came to the front, nobody laid hand on them—they just started falling out under the power. People fell down like dominos, as if there was an invisible line that; when they crossed it, they were hit with God's power. A woman got healed in that meeting of a fractured neck.
After this incredible visitation of the angel, we had one of the most unusual meetings I've ever been in. I didn't think about the connection between the angel and the unusual manifestations until I started thinking more about the angel's involvement in a revival in Scotland with John Knox. Listen, I didn't even know there was a man named John Knox, and had never heard of revival in Scotland until the Lord spoke to me about them. Apparently, John Knox and William Wallace (of Brave Heart) are two of the greatest heroes of Scotland. John Knox was the Martin Luther of Scotland—a real reformer and revivalist who had visitations of the Lord that would last over 7 hours. A week after this meeting in Albany, I was in Portland where the Lord took me in a trance to Scotland. I visited three geographical locations including the memorial and the grave—the place where John Knox was buried. In the natural I didn't even know that he was buried in Scotland. In the experience, I was at some memorial for John Knox in Scotland walking around looking at the castle, the moats and the other landmarks around where this guy's grave was. Two day's later a prophetess friend of mine by the name of Catherine Brown invites me to Scotland. I eventually ended up in Edinburgh visiting the very places that I went to in the trance—I saw all the same details the Lord showed me in the trance.
Now when I had a visitation of this angel in Albany I didn't realize at that time it was the same angel that had visited in Grant's Pass. The Lord also showed me that the second revival and the second movement that this angel had something to do with was the healing revival with John Lake in Spokane and in Portland. Lake's powerful healing ministry first began during his ministry in South Africa. The third healing revival that the angel was involved in came through William Branham during the Voice of Healing revival in America. God also reminded me that, years ago, before I was in full time ministry, during my three-month soaking season of visitation, that I had a visitation of that same angel. Others were in my apartment at the time when the angel appeared, towering over me through the apartment ceiling. It was weeks after that first visitation of the angel that Patricia King called me out, anointed me, commissioned me, took up an offering and I was launched into full time ministry. The Lord told me that the day the angel appeared was the beginning of my ministry and the time when He called and anointed me to take healing revival to the nations.
The Lord explained to me that the angel's involvement in my ministry is why the Lord has launched me so quickly into international healing ministry. He told me that He doesn't just want me to just have a gift of healing; He wants me to help deposit, release and participate in what prophets have prophesied about the explosion of healing revival to come. Many of you reading this are going to be a part of this thing; a whole generation is still to come—we are only in the first fruits of what prophets have prophesied about the nameless, faceless generation. Stadiums are going to be filled with people gathered for healing revival meetings. Generation Xers will be many of the troops in this army. Over time I've realized that the angel that visited, at these significant times and in various meetings, has been the same angel. I believe this same angel was a part of the whole Voice of Healing revival, was part of John Lake's healing ministry and was also connected to the anointing on John Knox in Scotland. It is very significant that these recent visitations took place in the Northwest. The Lord is opening up the ancient wells. And since those angelic visitations, many others have seen the angel including warlocks and children who knew nothing about the angel. These people will come up to me and say, "You have a visitor in the tent." Then they will describe the angel—how big he is and what he looks like.
My father, a recent convert with a powerful testimony, has been able to discern the angel as well. One of my disciples has, at times, also been able to discern the angel. The angel will manifest in meetings and stand two feet behind me on my left side—that is when the gift comes on my left arm. In Kansas City, when three blind eyes popped open, I saw the angel in the balcony on my left. Just after I saw the angel, my father asked, "Todd is your angel here? I think I just sensed him come into the room." I said, "He's here Dad." He even asked, "Is he up there in the balcony on the left?" That night the miracles increased far more than the previous meetings. Every time the angel comes he pushes back the warfare and the miracles increase—the blind see, the crippled walk and incurable diseases are healed.
Now don't get all excited about the angel—I believe that scripture strongly suggests that we all have angels (Matt. 18:10). I also believe that the Father has commissioned more than one healing angel; He is opening our spiritual eyes so see.
God is uncapping the ancient wells so that we can again see into the spiritual realm. We are living in an exciting time! God wants to anoint you for prophetic vision; He wants to give you spiritual eyes and wings. As the Lord opens the eyes of your heart you will come into the reality of the spiritual realm. God wants to make you naturally supernatural. It's time for your launch into new realms of the Spirit.
Reinforcement Helpers:
1. The _________________ realm is just as real as the __________________ realm.
2. Jesus said that all things are__________________ to ______________ who
3. The centurion in Matt. 8:7-10 said that Jesus could just speak the word and his servant would be healed. What do you think the centurion believed about the supernatural realm?
4. Briefly mention five situations in the bible in which people had angelic encounters.
5. Describe three prophetic experiences (one sentence each) that three different biblical characters had.
6. Whose spiritual eyes were opened when a prophet prayed? How were they opened?
7. God's ability to _________________ me is greater than the devil's ability to _________________ me.
8. (Jesus) the Son can do nothing Himself, but what ____________________
9. God's children are made for _________________ and __________________.
10. According to Acts 2, when God pours His Spirit out in the last days, His sons and daughters __________________, see ___________________ and __________________________.
Life Application:
• Ask the Lord to remove hindrances and mindsets that keep you from walking in the supernatural realm.
• Ask the Father to show you what steps He wants you to take to walk into a deeper place in the supernatural.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit I ask for you to impart to me that supernatural anointing of eyes and wings—eyes to see what you're doing and the wings to go into the heavenly realm with you. Lord, please open up my eyes to the realm of angels, trances, visions and dreams! I ask that You would remove every thought and belief that hinders me from seeing into the heavenlies. Let the supernatural realm become totally natural for me. Oh Lord. Thank You that You created me for signs and wonders God! The lost don't need mediums, wizards or spirits of the dead—they need the living God! Let me be a supernatural testimony to the world. Make me be a vessel, a channel for signs and wonders in heaven and on the earth. You promised to pour out your Spirit on all flesh—here I am Lord; pour your Spirit out on me. I desire to walk in the reality of the ministry of Jesus on a daily basis—seeing into the heavenlies; healing every sickness and disease; casting out demons as well as preaching and teaching your word. Let me only want to do those things that I see the Father do. Lord, please fill me with the spirit of wisdom and revelation that my life would be a living testimony of the reality of the supernatural realm. AMEN
