Last week, I wrote about part 1 of my in-depth interview with Jim Bakker, where he shared fascinating stories about his early work in revival preaching and Christian television. Today I want to share with you part 2, in which Bakker shares new details about his downfall and time in prison as well as his eventual restoration. (Click here or scroll to the end of this article to listen to part 2 of our interview in its entirety.)

Bakker told me he never does these kinds of interviews because the leftist media repeatedly misrepresents him. But since we’ve been friends for so long, Bakker knew he could trust me with his personal stories. He tells me that his days in prison were some of the hardest moments of his life, and he remembers one wintry night in particular when his depression overwhelmed him.

“I thought I couldn’t go on,” Bakker says. “And all of the sudden, it was like hands—great hands—had picked me up, and I was floating in my bunk bed in that prison cell. And I said, ‘God, what’s happening?’ … He said, ‘This is the prayers of the people.’ And I know I would have never made it through prison without the prayers of the people.”

Many of you may remember the scandal surrounding Bakker’s arrest in 1988 for wire fraud. Later, news came out about an affair Bakker had with a church secretary. As a result, he lost Praise the Lord (PTL) Ministries and his resort, Heritage USA.

I remember when PTL and Heritage USA closed. I was heartbroken because not only had I benefited from those ministries, but I knew many others who had been as well.

“I never dealt with that—the pain of losing [those ministries] and what happened to me and what happened to it,” Bakker told me during our interview. “I still don’t know why [all that happened.] I do know it all worked together for good because I studied in the prison. I studied Revelation one word at a time, and it’s changed my life, changed my theology a lot, and it all worked together for good. I believe that. I have to.”

When Bakker was originally indicted, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison. But by God’s grace, Bakker’s case was thrown out, and he was released after eight years after his lawyer proved the judge was biased against the Christian television host. During those eight years, Bakker got a doctorate in biblical studies. He asked God for a miracle—all A’s in his courses. Although Bakker says he was never an all-A student, God gave him straight A’s while getting his doctorate in prison.

Although Bakker’s sins were grave, I can’t help but wonder if the media wouldn’t have been so ruthless with him if they hadn’t already formed a feeding frenzy. A few months before Bakker’s scandal broke, Oral Roberts had been trying to raise money for a medical school, and he said on his television show that if he didn’t raise the money, he felt God was going to take him home. The secular media jumped on that, of course, and falsely reported that Roberts said God would kill him if he didn’t raise enough money. That clearly wasn’t what Roberts meant, but it put the media in a position to latch onto any Christian scandal, and as a result, they blasted Bakker’s sins as national news.

“You have to understand, Oral Roberts is a man of God,” Bakker says. “And he was going to finish what God called him to do—or die. He really felt that. But they make fun of it. That’s why I don’t do interviews anymore. They just make fun of what is holy and special.”

Bakker’s relationship with Roberts reaches way back to the early years of his ministry. In last week’s interview, Bakker told me Roberts had mentored him and poured into him in ways few others have. As a result, he has a deep affection for Roberts and a strong respect for his faith and healing ministry.

In fact, Bakker considers Roberts and Billy Graham two of his mentors. At one of the lowest moments of Bakker’s imprisonment, Graham visited him and offered the comfort of Christ. Bakker had at one point interviewed Graham at the National Religious Broadcasters convention, but now he was cleaning toilets throughout the prison. The last time the two men interacted, Bakker was his clean-cut, charismatic self, but now his hair was a mess, he was sick with the flu and his toes poked out of his worn-out shoes.

“You have to have clearance to [visit] the prison, but Billy Graham just went up to the prison and said, ‘I want to see Jim Bakker,'” he says. “The [prison officials] asked me, ‘Do you want to see him?’ And I said, ‘I look like a man who’s been sleeping under a bridge.’ But I said yes. I didn’t want to say no to someone who had been so kind to come.”

When Bakker walked into the visitors’ room to see Graham, many people in the prison were crowding to see the prominent crusade evangelist. But all Bakker could see was Graham’s kind expression.

“My eyes were glued to Billy Graham’s eyes,” he says. “He has amazing eyes. And he put his arms around me, and he held me. He wasn’t ashamed to hug me. And on the radio, just hours before, he had been voted one of the top three most-respected men in the world. And here he is showing up at my prison unexpectedly, but he held me and he said, ‘Jim, I love you.’ The world stopped. Somebody loved me. I was at the bottom of the barrel. My ex-wife left me in prison.”

But Graham’s kindness didn’t end there. As soon as Bakker got out of prison, the Grahams invited him into their home and ministered to him.

“People always tell me, ‘There are no real Christians,'” Bakker tells me. “I’ll tell you what, there are a lot of real Christians, and I’ve seen them. When I stepped out of prison with no place to go—I didn’t have a house, I didn’t have a car, I didn’t have anything—Ruth Graham invited me the first Sunday I was out to go to church with them and then to come to their house and have dinner with them. They’re the most real Christians, and they’re real people.”

God used genuine Christians like the Grahams to prepare Bakker to go back into ministry. And as Bakker says, the Lord truly did use all of his mistakes and all the evil that happened to him for good. He married Lori Beth Graham in 1998, and the couple adopted five children. He records his new television show, The Jim Bakker Show, and at his new ministry, Morningside, in Blue Eye, Missouri. I’ve visited Morningside several times, and I can attest that Bakker hasn’t lost his creativity for television and entertainment.

Bakker shared many more fascinating and encouraging details about his downfall and restoration. To listen to them, just click on the podcast below. And if Bakker’s story of grace encourages you, share this article on your social media and remind your followers of God’s unlimited kindness to those who fear Him.

Hallmark reportedly fired actress Lori Loughlin, who appeared in the hit series When Calls the Heart as well as several films, after news broke that Loughlin and her husband allegedly participated in a bribery scheme to get their daughters into college. Makeup brand Sephora dropped her daughter, Olivia Jade, over the same incident.

“We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations. We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lori Loughlin including Garage Sale Mysteries, an independent third-party production,” Crown Media Family Networks said in a statement sent to USA Today.

According to People magazine:

Loughlin, 54, is among dozens charged in an alleged college admissions scam involving elite colleges and universities including Yale, Georgetown, the University of Southern California and Stanford. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, allegedly paid $500,000 to make it appear that their daughter had been a rower, the indictment states. (Olivia Jade is not currently listed on the USC women’s rowing roster. It’s unclear if she was aware of the alleged scheme, and she was not charged.)

Both Loughlin and Giannulli were both arrested this week—she on Wednesday and he on Tuesday—on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Giannulli appeared in federal court on Tuesday and was released after posting a $1 million bond. Loughlin made her first appearance in federal court on Wednesday in Los Angeles where a judge set her bond at $1 million, according to the Associated Press, the Orange County Register and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

The scandal made headlines around the globe and garnered the attention of some Christian leaders.

“The Faith and Education Coalition is thankful to our law enforcement and justice system for exposing these cases of dishonesty and bribery in the college admission process,” says Girien Salazar of the Faith and Education Coalition – NHCLC.

“We are committed to biblical justice in American education and to issues of education equity and high standards in public education for the expressed purpose of ensuring college-career ready students. We want all students, regardless of their family’s income level, ethnic background or area of residence, to have the same opportunities to succeed in education, and that includes getting into college. We are thankful for tests like the SAT that allow students to be evaluated based on aptitude, for colleges that consider a students robust application and not a prominent last name and for federal grants that assist financially burdened families,” he continues.

“However, we are heartbroken that a small community of individuals would use their wealth, status and position to abuse these systems and subvert justice and fairness for selfish ambition. We pray that the persons and universities involved would repent of their actions, find forgiveness and restoration in Christ, and commit to a fair and equitable college admissions process,” Salazar says.

Actress Felicity Huffman was also charged in the scandal.

” For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

Those who are familiar with my writings know I don’t usually mince words. The devil is always behind sugar-coated truth and a slimy tongue. Be sure of that.

Abortion, homosexuality and Islam are the greatest dangers facing America in the 21st century. Each of them has opened up portals of entry into our culture and way of life. These are ideologies that have infiltrated the minds of multitudes—shaped and fueled by the unprincipled mad media.

Abortion

Abortion is not an opinion about what women have a right to do or not do with their bodies. That’s the devil’s facade to hide what it really is. Willful abortion is murder at any point of a woman’s pregnancy. It’s a demon just like the Old Testament god of Molech to whom people sacrificed babies. It’s the same altar where many Americans now worship.

Think about it. Why are there abortion rights that have killed 60 million babies in the America alone? Blunt answer: mainly because of fornication and adultery.

There are some cases of rape and so forth, but that’s a very small minority. Yet it’s one of the main talking points of what people debate on. It’s hogwash. Sexual immorality is the biggest reason we have abortions. People want sex without the commitment and covenant of marriage and responsibility of the consequences. In fact, what they say by their actions is “A baby will ruin my happiness, so kill it!” How much more demonic can it be?

But do you know what is fueling the increase of promiscuous sex and now pedophilia, as well as all sorts of perversion? One word. Pornography. If you shut down the billion-dollar industry of pornography, you will radically decrease sexual immorality and perversion on every level. Abortions will also decrease exponentially.

Pornography is another portal of entry for demonic access. These evils are all linked together. It’s Satan’s master plan and worldwide web.

Homosexuality

How about homosexuality? I wrote an article over four years ago on homosexuality being a demon, and demons flew from every direction to attack my words. People were calling our ministry phone, writing nasty comments, sharing the article with right-wing watch groups and mocking it. They were fuming in venomous rage. That alone proves it was a demon because it’s the very point that nearly everyone attacked.

People accused me of having no compassion, but guess what? I also received calls and messages from homosexuals who knew I was telling the truth and wanted help. My compassion was directed toward those.

Now, it’s not only acceptable in our culture, but it’s celebrated and legalized. What happened? Demons, through the agency of deceived people and lawmakers, pushed it through and legalized it. When they did, it opened up a larger portal of entry for the release of more demons and the rule of a principality in our nation.

As long as the majority of people want their demons God will let them have them because He honors the human agency of free will—a debased mind void of judgment will be their most terrible portion (Rom. 1:24-28). Eventually homosexuality will destroy the culture of a nation and bring down the judgment of God as it did in days of old. Wherever homosexuality is prevalent, and alas, made law, evil rules and reigns and anyone who fights it is preyed upon.

Islam

Now this one will make people angry. The mask to Islam is that it’s a nice religion of peace. Much of the gullible populace has swallowed this lie—hook, line and sinker.

Have you ever read the Quran and the ideologies that are written therein?

The Quran says:

Muslims must not take infidels as friends (3:28).

Any religion other than Islam is unacceptable (3:85).

Maim and crucify the infidels if they criticize Islam (5:33).

Terrorize and behead those who believe in Scriptures other than the Quran (8:12).

Muslims must muster all weapons to terrorize the infidels (8:60).

The unbelievers are stupid; urge the Muslims to fight them (8:65).

When opportunity arises, kill the infidels wherever you catch them (9:5).

The Jews and the Christians are perverts; fight them (9:29).

Make war on the infidels living in your neighborhood (9:23).

According to its own holy book, this is a religion full of hate that believes it does God a service by killing all non-Muslims, especially Christians and Jews. Jesus warned us of such.

“They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he is offering a service to God” (John 16:2).

Yes, some Muslims are good, peaceful Americans, but when push comes to shove, they will stand with their ideology.

The more people understand the entire Islamic strategy to kill and conquer, the more society will wake up to it, and the better it will be for America and its future. This religious war is filled with deliberately thought-out, methodical strategies to take over every nation Islam enters. It’s called jihad. This dark Islamic strategy is so much bigger than the average person realizes. The big plan jihadis have devised for America is to destroy it from within.

Take note of the similarities between abortion, homosexuality and Islam. Abortion is death to the most innocent. Homosexuality is death to the family, normal reproduction and the increase of confusion and perversion. Transgenderism came in right behind homosexuality to pile on more confusion, darkness and death upon the human race. Finally, Islam declares death to all nations who do not worship their false god.

Death has gained great access into America. We are in a very serious and intense war. Satan is playing for keeps. It is time for every believer in Jesus Christ to enter this spiritual fight and stop living in denial. It’s time for fire to erupt in the bellies of preachers and for their mouths to thunder truth and righteousness. Quit being passive and politically correct. In doing so, you are actually being an ally to the devil. It’s time to rock the boat and demolish the strongholds in people’s minds through not only heartfelt, fervent prayer, but through strong, straightforward preaching.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). {eoa}

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“We’re out here just praying for people and handing out Scripture, and God is doing some amazing things.”

A biker himself, Jim Pitman recognizes a ripe mission field when he sees one. And during Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida—with a notorious reputation for raucous behavior and debauchery—Pitman and his team are doing some serious damage to Satan’s playground.

The director of CLC Multi-language Media in Pennsylvania, Pitman partnered with Biker Church Europe—a network of Christian motorcycle clubs and associations that distributes the Biker Bible and wants to reach all of Europe with God’s Word—to distribute Bibles and spread the gospel to thousands of bikers in town for the annual event.

Biker Church Europe has sent individuals from countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland and Poland to help Pitman witness to the lost.

And they are making an impact. As of Thursday, the group had distributed more than 15,000 Bibles in what is usually one of the biggest party atmospheres in the country.

“It’s been amazing. We’ve seen a multitude of people get saved,” said Pitman, whose company distributes Bibles in almost 100 languages. “God has been giving us great opportunities. Biker Church Europe has been praying for years to be able to send people to Daytona for Bike Week.

“Motorcyclists have kind of their own culture. They are a group of people who are loyal to their country and are all about freedom, but very few of them actually have true freedom in Christ. They come together here to rally, and some just to get drunk. But we’ve had a lot of people pass by and actually stop and ask us to pray for them.”

To learn more about what’s happening at Bike Week, tune in to the podcast below.

Vineyard USA’s Phil Strout is inviting every believer to attend the 2019 Vineyard National Conference, titled “Come, Holy Spirit.” The conference will have two locations, in Denver, Colorado, and Dayton, Ohio. For more information, click here or watch the video.

As I was praying, I saw a vision of a huge wave, and the Lord spoke to me that there is a momentum gathering of the power of the Holy Spirit. A wave gathers power and goes towards the shore, and I see that there’s going to be many, many people working together. There’s going to be many groups working together.

This is a time of not only acceleration but momentum. I see momentum for businesses that are believing to multiply your numbers. I see momentum for people who are saying, “My life seems like it’s stuck, like I’m not going anywhere.” Well, the Holy Spirit is going to reveal to you—this may sound funny—where to “surf” the big waves.

And the Lord says, “My child, this is up to you. What do you want to do? Do you want to be in a place where you’re not in the move, or you’re not in the momentum? Or do you want to be at the forefront? Do you want to be part of the wave that is gathering for the harvest of souls? I will open a door for you. Don’t feel useless.”

I see some people feel like your time has passed you by, or you just feel like you’re not useful anymore. Maybe you’re a senior. But the Lord says, “Oh no, you are needed now more than ever.” And the Lord is going to show you how to plug in, whether you plug in with intercession for ministry, whether you will start visiting people, whatever it is. There’s no small ministry; there are only great children of God.

So I want to say to you: Rise up, catch the wave, get in the momentum, and you will be a person who helps mark history. God bless you. {eoa}

Cindy Jacobs is an author, speaker and teacher with a heart for discipling nations in the areas of prayer and prophetic gifts. She and Mike—her husband—co-founded Generals International in 1985.

This article originally appeared at .

My dear friend Audrey is a prayer warrior—the War Room, prayer-closet battle-type of warrior. She spends time every day in prayer for her family, for her friends, for the afflicted and broken, for the desperate and hopeless and whatever else is on her heart. We were talking about how to pray for someone going through something difficult. When someone tells you something that leaves you flabbergasted and you are at a loss for words, or for when you’re praying for someone who has made terrible decisions, it can be hard to express your prayers and petitions.

I shared with her that I was finding it difficult to find the right words to pray for someone in my life because I was intensely discouraged. She told me that in those times she thinks of the person at the moment they accept and surrender to Christ. She talked about how it helps her attitude and her heart to envision that glorious revelation in their lives. Soon, I got the chance to act on this advice.

This past year, someone close to me was in a situation I didn’t agree with or approve of. I found myself trying to balance what I should say and how I should say it. I tend to be harsh with people I expect more from, and I didn’t want anything I did to damage my relationship with this person.

I began praying for her in the way Audrey advised me, and immediately, I felt the Lord telling me, “Kandi, your love for them must outweigh your judgment of them.” This profoundly affected me because I can tend to get on my soapbox, which can be perceived as holier-than-thou—the exact opposite of what I want to do. It is so easy to be overzealous and judgmental, especially when you see others going through the same things you have gone through yourself. If you’re anything like me in this, our intention is to protect them, but it can also become a pride issue, which affects our prayer life. It is not always about being right or wrong. It’s about reaching others, which only comes from us truly loving others.

Once I made the switch, I felt my attitude changing. It altered the way I talked about praying for the situation when I was asking for others to help me intercede. It changed the way I saw myself. Having a healthy attitude toward prayer dramatically changes it.

When you have a group of people you are going through the Bible with, you have a marvelous platform for prayer. It’s one of the most important parts of your meetings. Each week, you should be talking about any requests that need to be prayed for. Don’t spend your entire time taking prayer requests, but make an effort to ask about pressing needs and then pray for them right then. Then, follow up with each other throughout the week to encourage one another and get updates. If additional requests come up during the week, text or email the group and ask for prayer.

As you meet over the course of a year, you will encounter and cover so many requests with each other: anything from sickness to death, travel, work, family, children, church, divorce, drugs, sin, loss and the list goes on. You will also celebrate praises together when God answers.

I recently realized something in my quiet time, and it involves prayer. You can be doing all the right things and still suffer in life. You can be in a discipleship group, praying, memorizing Scripture and reading God’s Word every day, and that doesn’t exclude you from pain or mean that God will answer your requests in the way you want. Reading in Job, I journaled on Job 1:5 (CSB), which says, “Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular practice” (emphasis mine).

Job was a man of integrity who feared God and turned away from evil. He prayed to God regularly and interceded for his children, yet none of that excluded him from experiencing some of life’s worst tragedies. He had a regular practice and an inner resolve to follow God. His faith was remarkable, and in all he endured he didn’t blame God or sin.

Just because we are making disciples and doing everything we can to know God more and more and to obey Him, we will still go through hard and difficult situations. God may not answer our prayers in the way we want. However, we can praise Him through it. We, along with the women in our groups, can journey together and be there for each other. It’s much better to journey together through the joyous times and through the difficult ones.

Bathe your friends and your meetings in prayer, and do so with the understanding that God is the one in control. A healthy attitude and approach toward prayer is one of the foundational things to prioritize as you launch discipleship groups of your own. {eoa}

Excerpted with permission from Disciple Her by Kandi Gallaty. Copyright 2019, B&H Publishing Group.

Kandi Gallaty is a pastor’s wife, a mother of two precious boys (Rig and Ryder), a speaker and a writer who is devoted to making disciples by cultivating a passion in women for God’s Word. Her first book is Disciple Her: Using the Word, Work & Wonder of God to Invest in Women. She and her husband, Robby, coauthored Foundations, and together they lead Replicate, a ministry that educates, equips and empowers believers to make disciples who make disciples. Kandi and her family live outside of Nashville, Tennessee, and serve at their church, Long Hollow Baptist Church.

The Bible teaches us that true prophecy edifies the church and also exalts the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 12:3-7 and 14:3-4). However, where there are true prophetic gifts, there are also counterfeits and/or the wrong use of God-given gifts. For example, in the Scriptures we see that the prophet Balaam tried to use his gift for financial gain (Num. 22:21-39). We see in this narrative of Balaam, that even though his motives weren’t godly, he still had a bona fide prophetic gift.

The bottom line is, all prophetic gifts have to be framed by the intent, the motives and ultimate purpose of the Word of God. As someone who has participated in prophetic ministry since the early 1980s, I’ve seen this gift used for both edification and manipulation.

Contrasts Between Prophetic Edification and Manipulation

1. Prophetic edification benefits the church; manipulation benefits only the prophet (1 Cor. 14:4).

2. Prophetic edification exalts the Lord Jesus; manipulation exalts the one giving the prophetic word (1 Cor. 12:3).

3. Prophetic edification advances God’s kingdom; manipulation advances the ministry of the prophet (Matt. 6:33).

4. Prophetic edification advances the vision of the church; manipulation advances the financial provision of the prophet (Num. 22, Rev. 2:14).

5. Prophetic edification points people to the vision of the church; manipulation draws people away from the church and toward the prophet (Acts 20:30).

6. Prophetic edification builds the spirit-man; manipulation entices unresolved issues in the emotions of the hearer (Eph. 5:18-19).

7. Prophetic edification builds discernment; manipulation takes advantage of naivete in the believer (Prov. 1:2-4).

8. Prophetic edification is motivated by God’s agenda; manipulation is motivated by the prophet’s agenda (1 Kings 22, Jer. 23).

9. Prophetic edification is accountable to spiritual authority; manipulation is accountable to no one (1 ).

10. Prophetic edification is built upon a correct handling of the Scriptures; manipulation is built upon a distortion of the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16,17).

11. Prophetic edification gives us great faith in God; manipulation gives us great faith in the prophet (John 7:18).

12. Prophetic edification emanates from the counsel of the Lord; manipulation comes from the imagination of the prophet (Jer. 23).

14. Prophetic edification expresses the heart and mind of God; manipulation expresses the desires of the prophet (Jer. 7:24).

15. Prophetic edification speaks the truth in love; manipulation flatters for personal gain (2 Pet. 2:18).

16. Prophetic edification helps mature people in the church; manipulation eventually drives people out of the church (Acts 15:32).

17. Prophetic edification motivates people to seek the Lord; manipulation motivates people to seek the prophet (Isa. 55:6-7).

18. Prophetic edification implores people to confirm the prophetic word; manipulation scares people into being led by their word (2 Cor. 13:1).

19. Prophetic edification encourages humility; manipulation encourages selfish ambition (Isa. 57:15, Phil. 2:1-12).

19. Prophetic edification seeks the honor of God alone; manipulation motivates many to glory in men (John 7:18).

20. Prophetic edification has an eternal effect; manipulation has a temporary effect (1 Pet. 1:25).

21. Prophetic edification builds up the hearer; manipulation takes advantage of the hearer (Eph. 4:29).

In conclusion, may the Lord continue to increase the accuracy, the influence and the conformity of prophetic people to the will of God.

They’re called summoning circles, and on Twitter especially, users are posting images of candles wrapped around something they desire.

What some people may view as a silly meme has a deeply demonic connection, though.

According to Know Your Meme, “In Wicca and other related magic rituals a circle is used as a protective barrier for the magician and the summoned. Traditionally, circles were believed by ritual magicians to form a protective barrier between themselves and what they summoned. One Twitter user parodied this practice with emojis.”

The trend has picked up since February, with major corporations jumping on board.

summoning circle, hope this works:

unused

vacation

days

— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) March 14, 2019

Summoning circle, hope this works.

A PHI win

A CBJ loss

A CAR loss

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 12, 2019

summoning circle, hope this works

decent sleep schedule

— Streamlabs (@streamlabs) March 11, 2019

Summoning circle, clearly works

team spirit

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) March 11, 2019

Have you noticed this? Do you think it’s a harmless fad or something deeper? Sound off below.

We can say that there are two types of revelation: 1) general revelation, which includes everything God has communicated about Himself, to every person, at all times, everywhere, and 2) special revelation, which is made up of God’s communications to certain individuals at specific times.

Revelation discloses a portion of the mind of God in the now. Manifestation is the tangible and visible proof of that revelation. Revelation and manifestation are interdependent, meaning there is no revelation without spiritual manifestation, and vice versa. To operate on the earth as Jesus did, we must have both.

The spiritual reality you experience in the invisible realm must manifest itself in the physical realm and impact the natural world.

From Supernatural to Physical

In saying that revelation is the requirement for demonstrating the power of God, I emphasize that mere information and fallen knowledge do not transform people. The things that fail to produce revelation do not allow change in the individual because the power of the Holy Spirit does not manifest inside the person. However, as we will see, every invisible truth can manifest from the supernatural to the physical and reach our five physical senses through revelation.

Most of the supernatural manifestations we have seen in the church up to now are the result of God’s sovereignty, and not because we have received the revelation to demonstrate that power. I believe that as long as the church lacks revelation, we will not see the demonstrations of the Spirit or the true power of God that are available to us. We need revelation of the biblical knowledge we have gained, of the logos Word and the theology we know. This is why the Holy Spirit was sent to us—to reveal those truths and bring visible manifestations of the power of God to the earth.

Revelation of the Word is the place where the Holy Spirit manifests supernatural demonstrations of power.

Have You Let God Use You?

We need to truly understand that what sets apart the believers who manifest the power of God from those who don’t is revelation. Many people embrace supernatural truths such as revival, anointing, the miracles of the Holy Spirit, deliverance and the gifts, but they don’t manifest them because they don’t know how. Our generation is desperate not only to hear a message, but also to see the power of God demonstrated. When a church makes excuses for not manifesting His power, it gives birth to believers who have a passive faith. That is why there are so many children of God today who compromise the truth and are more concerned about pleasing people than about knowing Him through the manifestations of His Holy Spirit. My question is, have you let God use you to demonstrate His power—to make a blind person see or a deaf person hear?

The following are some ways in which revelation leads to manifestation:

• Revelation loosens spiritual activity. A person’s level of revelation can be measured by the spiritual activity they manifest. This is known as the “mantle of revelation,” which God gives to every one of His ministers. When someone carries revelation, they provoke spiritual activity that manifests the presence of God to others. The enemy knows if you are carrying revelation, and he will attack you, sometimes even physically, to stop the growth of that revelation and its manifestation.
• Revelation stimulates your thoughts. When a child of God carries revelation of the Holy Spirit, this is manifested in an increase of their mental abilities.
• Revelation transforms people. If you are not being transformed, it is because you are receiving only information and not revelation.
• Revelation accelerates the growth of the people of God. Revelation produces so much acceleration in the natural that it activates us to walk in the supernatural. It takes us back to our original state as human beings, when God brought Adam to life with the breath of His Spirit. Every time revelation comes into our lives by the impartation of the Holy Spirit, acceleration will manifest in every area of our being.

Operate in God’s Power!

Jesus promised His disciples a higher level of knowledge and power when He said to them, “But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven” (Luke 24:49b, NLT). The New King James Version reads, “… until you are endued with power from on high.” In Greek, the word for “fills” or “endued” is enduo, which also means to be “clothed” with power, including abilities and knowledge.

On the day of Pentecost, God imparted to Jesus’s followers not only His power but also His revelation, because He does not allow His power to function with merely carnal or natural information. God’s power is for those who want to be witnesses of Jesus, and His knowledge enables us to know how to operate in that power. “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs” (Mark 16:20). {eoa}

Edited excerpt from Divine Encounter with the Holy Spirit, © 2017 by Guillermo Maldonado, published by Whitaker House. Used with permission.

Active in ministry for over 20 years, Apostle Guillermo Maldonado is the founder of King Jesus International Ministry—one of the fastest-growing multicultural churches in the United States—which has been recognized for its visible manifestations of God´s supernatural power. He is a spiritual father to 338 churches in 50 countries, which form the Network of the Supernatural Movement (formerly called the New Wine Apostolic Network). He is also the founder of the University of the Supernatural Ministry (USM). Apostle Maldonado has a doctorate in Christian counseling and a master’s degree in practical theology. He resides in Miami, Florida, with his wife and partner in ministry, Ana, and their two sons, Bryan and Ronald. Visit