By Pastor E. A. Kaulumah
DESTROYING THE SHADOWS OF DEATH PART 1
Praise be to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in the highest! Amen. Beloved, you are welcome to this month of May; A month of Spiritual Check-ups in our lives. Our topic for this month is what I call “Destroying the Shadow of Death”.
This will take us to the book of Job 10:21-22
Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, to the land of darkness and the shadow of death. A land as dark as darkness itself. As the shadow of death, without any order, where even the light is like darkness. (NKJV)
Before we go further, we are going to look into the two different shadows and they are contrary to each other. They are namely:
(1) The shadow of death
(2) The shadow of the Almighty
I want to remind you that the Bible is the book that sheds all the light; everything that has been hidden in the world has been exposed by the Word of God. The secret of our lives is revealed in the true Word of God. For you and I to live a successful or a victorious life, we need to walk under the guidance and leadership of the Word of God.
The Shadow of Death
There is a land known as a land of darkness; where the inhabitants of that land are always covered by darkness and they are always walking under the shadow of death. What is a shadow? A shadow is a shade, coverage, gloom. A lot of people are walking under this shadow of death. Many people are being oppressed by this wicked power of the devil.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DIE?
To be dead means to become useless; to be wasted; to become impotent; to cease to exist; to become powerless; to render something desolate; the thing is there but it is useless it has no use again it is dead; to become valueless.
A land as dark as darkness itself. As the shadow of death, without any order, where even the light is like darkness.
I am here to tell you the truth and not to deceive you for the Bible says you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
We are living in the society where the people who are being born are less than those who are dying. You find that in some families two or three people will die each year. It shows that many families in this nation are under the shadow of death. The enemy has turned our land into a land of death; he made it a land of darkness which is covered by the shadow of death. Many people if they hear that someone is sick their expectation is when that person will die. In Job 24:13: there are those who rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
I want to make you understand that the same way Jesus asked us to go to the whole world and make men His disciples, the same way satan the deceiver is recruiting people in his kingdom. Satan is making sure that he plants at least one person in each family so that he can be able to penetrate in that family and also to have information about that family. I know we always like to say in my family we don't know anything, it means you are ignorant of the forces of darkness and their plans. Remember the bible says in Hosea 4:6 that my people perish for lack of knowledge and also where there is no vision the people perish. Satan as I was saying, gets this people into his evil plans to steal, kill and destroy the lives of the people (John 10:10a).
The hearts of these people the devil is using to destroy the lives of the people who are hardened by satan that they don't have their normal hearts. That is why no matter what; they still do evil except they receive the grace of God and come out of darkness. Are you reading this bulletin and the devil has sealed your heart? Promising you heaven and earth, do not mind him he is deceiving you. Satan hates all the creation of God especially you. Do you know that there is enmity God declared between you and satan? (Gen.3:15). Reject him and come out. Don't mind his threat that if you go out he will kill you it's a typical lie and he is the father of lies. Therefore my beloved, accept Jesus in your life, in truth and in spirit and it shall be well with you.
Satan and his agents, they don't like light, they always break the rules of life. The only things that surround them are evil, death, destruction and abominations.
In the same chapter, Job 24:14 it says. The murderer rise with the light; he kills the poor and needy; and in the night he is like a thief. (NKJV)
There are groups of wicked powers known as the murderers, they wake up early in the morning before the day. When the Bible talk about early in the morning it means waking 12am to go to their evil meetings, and to the meetings they construct coffins and in those coffins they call precious people of God inside those coffins. When they call them inside those coffins, when their spirits appear in those coffins they bury them. When they bury them wherever that person is, he or she is already buried though he/she may still live.
There are different kinds of death. There is a spiritual death and physical death. There are different kinds of death that the enemy used to cover people’s lives. You said your business or your marriage is not doing fine, you don't know that they are under the shadow of death.
Spiritual Death
This is a terrible death for one to die. If a person die spiritually no matter he is alive it is useless. Many people are dead spiritually even though they seem to be alive. If you see them walking in the street you are just seeing walking corpses. That is the reason you have to be careful whom you want to fight. Many people the household witchcraft power has already finished killing them. Some of the people walking in the street, don't have some of their organs; some are not having kidneys, intestines, lungs etc., because the household wickedness has swallows their organs.
For example, someone that got delivered from witchcraft told me that she killed a school girl, I asked her if the person that she killed is still alive or dead. She said that spiritually I have already killed her but physically she is alive. This person will die in 2010 or 2011. I asked this fellow what must be done for that person not to die in that year she programmed her. This fellow said unless she give her life to Jesus and she happen to be prayed for she will die. There is something known as the concluded agenda of the wicked. Job 24:16 the Bible says in the dark they break in the houses which they marked for themselves in the daytime; they do not know the light.(NKJV)
There are wicked personalities going about in our streets and they are the agents of death and hell. We have those wicked people in our families, places of work, in our houses and in our neighborhood who in the night break into houses. The house the Bible is talking about here is the lives of people. This fellow said she killed this person because she annoyed her in the day. In the day they are going about marking their victims then in the night they will go and perform their evil enterprises, they will go to do their dirty works in the night, in the night while men slept. There is a lot of wickedness that is going on during the night. During the night lots of havoc had been done in the lives of precious people of God. When the night comes, when you go to sleep, there are people who used to hold meetings in the streets, underneath the water, graveyards etc. What they are planning in their evil meetings is how to cause sicknesses and death upon the lives of people. Many people have been marked with the mark of death and hell. A lot of them the enemy has made them to walk under the shadow of death. Many people the enemy has turned their land into a land of darkness because where there is darkness; there is all the roots of evil that is why the Bible says the light shine in darkness and darkness comprehend it not (John 1:5). In the dark, in the night, they break into houses which they marked in the day. That fellow also told me that witch doctors in Namibia, are blocking the eyes of the precious people of God so that precious people of God will not receive the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because they don't want their power to be despised. There are lots of people who go to witch doctors; even in the newspapers you see how witch doctors advertise themselves. A sister in this church said one of her colleagues in the office challenged her to leave her position; if she refuses, she will tell her grandmother in the north to come and remove her. As this sister was receiving this spiritual challenge from her colleague, she was also receiving the physical challenge. Many people who died suddenly were killed by this wicked witchcraft power. A lot of accidents you see on the roads, you don't know that those people who are dying have been killed in the night. There are wicked people going about and they are prospering with the lives of the people of God. They killed people; shed the precious blood of people for them to become rich. You are fooling yourself to say that in your family you don't know about witchcraft. Unless you say I don't know anything about witchcraft. I know what I am talking about. Many people who don't want their family members to be born again; they know why because if they get born again they will be disgraced or their powers will become ineffective. Many women are been used by their husbands for prosperity. Women, if you see that your husband hates Jesus you need to pray. Maybe your husband will be telling you, don't go to that church, go to this our dead church, they want you to go where there is no fire of God. You used to miscarrying your babies, you don't know that there is somebody who is killing your babies right from the womb and you said is miscarriage. How is your marriage? Are you always quarreling with your spouse? In any problems you are facing in your marriage you must know that the shadow of death is covering your marriage, which you must pray to destroy in the name of Jesus. Right now close your eyes and pray this prayer:1) Every coverage in my marriage, be roasted by fire, in the name of Jesus. 2) Thou power of death and hell release my marriage and die, in the name of Jesus. Almost unto every family, there is an evil strongman and there is an agent of death and hell who in the day mark what he will kill in the night and in the dark they break into houses and in the dark they destroy the lives which they have marked in the day. Many people who are going about they are moving about with the mark of death and hell. They are under the shadow of death. They are right inside the grave.
Beloved, you called yourself a born again Christian? How far is your spiritual life?, Is it under the shadow of death? How far is your connection with God? Do you have a relationship with Him as your father? If no, your spiritual life is under the shadow of death, you are covered by darkness. Remember in God there is no darkness everything is light. If you see that your Christian life is galloping, then you need to pray to come out of death. The Bible says in Psalm 1:1-3. In verse 3 it says …he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.(NKJV) Have your leaves withered? Do you bear fruit in your season again as a child of God? You need to check your life and pray to come out of this evil covering.
How to recognize the mark of death or if you are under the shadow of death
1. If you see that everything you are trying to do is not moving forward,
2. when there is no peace in your marriage
2. no promotion
3. no financial breakthrough
4. sometimes you smell an evil odour like somebody who is dead
5. at times in the dream you see yourself inside the coffin; it means the enemy is planning to kill you
6. In your dreams you see coffins, graveyard, open pit, dead relatives or participating burial ceremony.
7. see someone killing young people, or you see in field you plant your seed which germinate but while they are young they die it show that your handwork is under the shadow of death. Because wherever death is surrounding; there will be no life.
Physical Death
Before I go to the place from which I shall not return...
The Bible makes us to know that it is appointed unto a man to die once, after that judgment follows Heb 9:27. A man is to die on this earth. He/she will either go to heaven that is eternal life or hell fire, the eternal damnation Romans 6:23. I wonder how people who think of committing suicide without having another thought where they would spend their eternity. Beloved do you think to end your suffering or heartbreak is to kill yourself? Have you asked yourself where you are going to spend your eternity after death? Do you know that if you kill yourself you are a murderer? Don't you know that if you kill yourself, you will not come back again? Do you hear voices telling you to kill yourself? It means you are under the shadow of death. You must know that God brought you to this earth to fulfill a certain assignment. He brought you to be a light to this world. He allowed you to be born so that you might live a fulfilled and happy life. In John 10:10b … I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I want you to know that you are not useless. You are very useful on this earth. Reject that voice calling you, telling you to live a dirty life, telling you that no one loves you, telling you to steal, to kill someone, to destroy yourself. Maybe you were molested by your father, uncle, brother or an unknown person; devil did it to cover your life. Satan is afraid of what you are going to be, he did it to threaten your life but say no to him, devil is a coward, arise and shine so that the Light of God will shine on you. You just have to rise up and pull off all the coverage of satan and it shall be well with you. If you did not rise, you will never shine. How will I rise? Rise to a positive thinking, rise like an eagle, rise in your mind by renewing it (Rom 12:2), forgive anyone that hurt you, love them that despised you; beloved I learnt this in a hard way, I groan and yearn in love for the people that hurt me. Tell the devil in his face that he has no power over you. Do you know that by not dealing with these problems; it will lead you into destruction and hell fire. Kill every seed of darkness in your life so that there will be no way the devil can defeat you. Death does not bring glory to God except the death of a saint whom God called to come home not who lives in an ignorant life and is killed by the enemy before his /her time. Jesus loves you that is why He died on the cross of Calvary for you (John 3:16; Jere. 29:11). Stand up and take your stand in the Lord. Make a decision to enjoy all the benefits Jesus Christ made available for you.
Shadow of the Almighty God
Psalm 91:1: He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (NKJV).
The secret place of God is a resting place of God. It is the presence of the Almighty God. When God brought the people of Israel from the land of Egypt to their promised land; it was His presence that led them in the day as the pillar of cloud and in the night as the pillar of fire. On their journey to the promised land, they defeated all their enemies, because they were under the shadow of the Almighty God. Terror of God fell upon the world because of Israel. In the presence of God is liberty, there is no darkness, everything in God is light and life. In God there is no sorrow. In His presence there is fullness of joy and at the right hand of God there is pleasure forever more (Ps 116: 11b). This presence of God is a hiding place of His saints. It is a refuge for you as a child of God. (Ps.119:114). It is like an incubator that is incubating His children. When you are being pursued by the shadow of death and darkness, the shadow of the Almighty will always shield you. Why? Because you are a child of God and you are precious in the sight of God. He has given His angels charge over you so that you will not dash your foot against any stone (Ps 91:11). Psalm 23:4 says “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil; for you are with me”. There is a place known as the valley of the shadow of death and anybody walking on that valley is covered with death. As long as you find yourself as a true Christian, obedient to God, it does not matter what you are passing through, you will always excel. You will always come out victorious why? Because He is with you to the end of the world. When the people of Israel were in bondage, a decree was made by Pharaoh to kill every male child born by Israelites. That was the shadow of death that was issued against the birth of Moses, the deliverer, but God did not allow the wishes of the enemy to come to pass. Moses came to let go of the children of God? Thanks to God who prepared a table before Moses in the presence of his enemies. God delivered Moses and gave him victory because of the plan He has for him. You as a child of God, is your Moses being compassed about by darkness? Is your mantle of power still in your hand now or has the enemy taken it from you? It is not late as long as you are still breathing; call upon God and command your mantle of power to be delivered and restored unto you in the name of Jesus. From the day you open your heart and cry unto the Lord, you will begin to know your right from left and nobody will mislead you again but the Lord will be your rearguard; so that you will not dash your foot against any stone. During the time of the birth of Jesus; a decree was made because a Saviour was born and it was that every male child must be killed but God protected Jesus under His shadow. In Christ you are more than a conqueror, (Rom. 8:37). You are the apple of the eyes of God; (Zechariah 2: 8) but you must know that life itself is a battle. You are called to fight the battles of life. You may ask now how can I fight this battle?
Psalm 18:3-6 says I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. The pangs of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
You might be under the oppression of this wicked spirit called the shadow of death; there is nothing too hard for God to do. If you have not been in God's presence before better run to Him now; it's the only refuge and shelter for you as your creator (Ps. 91: 2). My beloved, there is nothing too hard for God to do. It might be your academic, marriage, spiritual, financial, and health life that have been covered by the shadow of death. Remember, the Bible says in Job 22:28 that “you will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so that light will shine on your ways”. It does not matter the areas of your life that are under the oppression of the devil, it is time to open your mouth and command the evil shadow to be lifted out of your life and let the light of God overshadow you. In Job 22: 29: when they cast you down, and you say, “Exaltation will come!' Then He will save the humble person. It does not matter how you are cast down or how many times you have fallen in the battle field of life but what matters is how many times you rise. Have a strong heart that you will surely come out of the snare of the enemy. (Ps. 91:3) Right now close your eyes and pray this prayer: Father God deliver me from this shadow of death in the name of Jesus.
You can fight this shadow of death by:
1. Accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour if you have not done so already.
2. By reading and studying the Word of God; (Josh 1:8)
3. By standing on Christ Jesus the rock; (Matt 7:24-27)
4. You must be prayerful and watchful; and not to slumber. 1 Pet. 5:8
5. You have to pray aggressively or else the enemy will succeed over your life. Make sure you destroy this shadow of death totally (1 Thess. 5:17)
6. By putting on the complete armour of God in your spirit man (Eph. 6:10-18)
7. By always make sure you are at peace with the Almighty God. (Exo.23:20-33: Ps. 91:1)
8. Live a holy life (Lev. 19:2)
REPENTANCE PRAYER
If you have not yet accepted Jesus into your heart or you are not sure if you are truly born again. Please, pray this prayer with sincerity and confidence in your heart.
Lord Jesus, I come to you today; I am a sinner, I cannot help myself, forgive me all my sins, wash me with your blood. Remove my name from the book of the dead and write my name in the book of life. Thank You Lord Jesus. Now if you have prayed this prayer with sincerity and confidence in your heart, you are born again.
Note: Now that you are born again, join a Bible believing church where the Word of God is taught openly. God bless you.
PRAYER POINTS:
1. I command every shadow of death and hell covering my life, to disappear, in the name of Jesus.
2. Every cloud of darkness hovering over my heaven be roasted by fire, in the name of Jesus.
3. Thou power of destruction over this ..... area of my life be consumed by the fire of God, (pray seriously and mention any area of your life that is covered by death), in the name of Jesus.
4. I command darkness to disappear and light of God to appear in my life; in the mighty name of Jesus.
5. From today I hide under the shadow of the Almighty in the mighty name of Jesus.
6. You my life be restored to the fullness, in the name of Jesus.
(Pray as the Spirit of God gives you utterance)