Close The Enemy's Door To Your Life and Your Nation!

 

August, 2002

Dear Ministry Friend,

The Bible teaches that there are ways to open and close the door to Satan's destruction coming into your life or family or nation. One of the key scriptures is Ephesians 4:27, "Never give place to the devil." Another translation says, "Do not give the devil an opportunity" (NAS). Therefore, it must be possible to keep the devil out, and it must be possible to let him in! 1st Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Notice the emphasis on "whom he MAY devour." It is not just anybody.

We have to give the devil "place" in order for him to hurt us. If he could just walk up and kill a Christian, we would all be dead and this would be an empty planet. The devil is not leaving us alive because he is a nice guy. He is seeking whom he MAY devour, and there are certain things that open the door and give him access.

Certainly sin is at the top of the list. If we "sow sin", we "reap destruction". If people sin, it is not the instant loss of salvation, but the instant "giving place" to the devil that occurs. The devil then causes people to "reap destruction" Galatians 6:8 (NIV). Along these lines, "The wages of sin is death" Romans 3:23 (death of a relationship, death of an area of physical health, death in career or finances, death of our reputation, death of our joy or peace, etc.). Now it is true that God can raise the dead. I have seen two people come back to life when I prayed for them. But it is much easier to prevent death. If we will not yield to sin, or stop sinning if already entangled in sin, we will prevent many unnecessary problems.

There are other areas of "sin" that many people do not think of as sin. For example, fear opens the door to the devil. Some people fear cancer, some fear losing their job, some fear having a car accident, etc. The Bible says in Romans 14:23, "Whatever is not from faith is sin." Fear is the opposite of faith, so it is sin! Another example of a common "sin" is strife. Many families argue and fight in various ways, then are perplexed about how destruction comes into their family. James 3:16 says, "Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." The Bible promises there will be evil where strife is. So no one having strife needs to continue wondering how the devil got in to steal their finances, health, relationships, etc.

In a similar way, as a nation of people sin, it gives the devil "place" — and if they sin in greater ways — it gives the devil place in greater ways. The nation of Haiti had made devil worship their national religion — even their flag represented it graphically. On August 14th, 1791, a leader by the name of Boukman called a meeting in a wooded area called Bois-Caiman near Cape Haitian, which was attended by a large number of people. They celebrated a Satanic ceremony, sacrificing a pig and drinking its blood, swore to serve the devil and dedicated Haiti to him. Up to the present, Haiti's historians have all attributed Haiti's developments to this ceremony. What was the result? Haiti became the most poverty-stricken nation in the western hemisphere. But change can happen. For 206 years, Bois-Caiman was a very "holy" place to the voodoo priests, a high place which could only be entered by witch doctors during Voodoo ceremonies every August 14th to sacrifice to Satan. But on August 14th, 1997, a large number of Christian leaders came together to fast and pray for the curse to be broken. They rallied in front of the President's palace and then marched for 6 hours to the place where the Satanic ceremony took place 206 years ago. They had informed the government and media of their intentions weeks before the event, and were told that the witch doctors would be there, as they were every year. When they arrived, the voodoo priests had hidden themselves, unable to directly confront the Christians. It was a significant spiritual battle to reach the tree under which the pig was sacrificed in the original ceremony. They formed a "Jericho march", circling the strategic tree seven times. On the seventh time around, God gave many people a vision of the devil fleeing from the area. The Christians were overjoyed. They prayed and canceled the Satanic "contract" and broke the curse, then celebrated communion and dedicated the area as a place of prayer. They also declared August 14th to be a national prayer day, on which people should pray that Haiti will fully return to God. The Haitian government initially protested, speaking in a press release of "terrible damage to a Voodoo holy place in which no Christian had set foot for 206 years." But the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti publicly countered the Haitian government's position, and the government relented and respected the legal right of Haitians to gather at any place on Haiti, including Bois-Caiman, where they now allow all Christian groups to meet. The place is now very popular, and local Christians gather there daily for prayer and fasting.

This same kind of break-through can happen in any nation, including America. God said, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2nd Chronicles 7:14. It is time for America to experience the revival that comes from repentance, humility, and seeking God.

America has been in a moral free-fall since the 1960's. All the statistics have gone off the charts on crime and corruption, drug and alcohol abuse, immorality and illegitimate births, the rise of false religions, and the attitude of the government and media against Christianity. Especially serious is the enormous number of abortions which have occurred since 1973 (well over 30 million). God promised judgement on a land that spills innocent blood (Numbers 35:33). The Lord woke me up at 3:30 am on May 1st, 2002, and spoke to me in a dramatic way while I was seeking Him during that early morning time. He showed me that this blood still cries out to Him for judgement, and that His judgement has been slowly descending on our nation. This judgement usually touches the "high places" first — like the World Trade Center towers — places of pride and arrogance and the worship of false gods like mammon. Repentance causes God's judgement to lift. Our nation experienced a small measure of repentance immediately after the events of September 11th, but then Americans have drifted back into complacency — and even persecution of Christianity again. The long term forecast for America all depends on spiritual issues like repentance, revival, and people being born-again. Only major levels of people giving their lives to Jesus can ultimately reverse God's judgement on America for our taking so many innocent lives through abortion.

But all things are possible with God. We need to pray, give, and work for national repentance and revival. We are at "war" spiritually. But major change has been experienced in other cities and nations through prayer. This has been well documented in two powerful videos titled Transformations and Transformations II. I am offering these videos this month to show people how spiritual renewal and reformation can occur. These videos present "blueprints" of how ordinary Christians and ministers prayed and worked to see dramatic spiritual change in a short period of time. Many people have wept as they saw what God did as presented on these videos. You owe it to yourself to see this, and share it with your family, church, or other group of people. Your children and grandchildren ought to have this record of God's transformation for them to see.

Teaching God's Word for Spiritual Change,

Dale & Judi Leander

 

 
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