Saturday, August 1, 2009

Save Our Souls - I

2898930708_68be004a47_oThe Dead are not Dead Our knowledge about the dead is very limited. Despite many attempts in the past the truth about the dead is not fully revealed yet. Jesus said "you will know the truth and the truth will make you free."(Jn8:32).The Word of God is the truth and we shall find out the truth from the Word.

In the light of the Word here I try to explain about the dead from my experience. Though I was born in a catholic family I personally experienced Jesus when I was thirty three years old in the year 1988.From 1989 onwards I started to preach the Word. The Holy Spirit  who led me through the past 21 years taught me about the ' world of spirits.' In the prayer sessions I led, people possessed by evil spirits becoming violent were very common. In certain sessions I have had to pray for hours at length to make them free. During the period 1989 and 1996 God used me to cast out evil spirits from many people, believers and non-believers.

In the year 1997 in one of such prayer sessions done in the presence of the Holy Eucharist in a convent chapel in Kerala, the Lord told me to command the evil spirit to “surrender" in the name of Jesus Christ. At the end of three and a half hours of prayer the evil spirit surrendered before the name of Jesus and proclaimed the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. This was in the fulfilment of the Word in Philippians 2:10-11 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth, under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Since that wonderful experience we have never allowed evil spirits to wander about; instead we made them surrender. After several such encounters the Lord asked me to preach the Word of God to the spirits of the dead. Accordingly in the year 1997 we conducted a retreat for the living and the dead. Till date I have completed 20 years in preaching the Word of God -eight years to the living and twelve years to the living and the dead. It is on the strength of this experience that I share below what the Lord has taught me about the world of spirits.

What is a Soul ?

A soul is the spirit or life of God given to human beings. When God created Adam He formed him from the dust of the ground in his own image and likeness. God breathed into the nostril of the image the breath of life and the man became a living being (Gen 2:7).

"God is spirit" (Jn 4:24).He has no body. A spirit cannot breathe like the body. The breath of life is the spirit of God. God gave His spirit to him when He created Adam. Jesus said: "it is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is useless"(Jn6:63).The spirit of God given to Adam became his soul. It is the soul that gives life to the body. When the soul departs the body, the body dies and becomes dust. But the soul does not die. It lives. If the soul is allowed to re-enter the body it gets back its life. All the activities of the body are related to the soul.

Creation of Eve

On the creation of Eve the Word of God says that God caused a deep  sleep to fall upon the man and he slept. Then He took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man (Gen 2:21-22).It is plausible that God created Eve from the dust of the ground and gave her life by putting the bone taken from the man. Can bone give life? Jesus said: "it is the spirit that gives life". So it is the spirit and not bone that gave life to Eve. However, in the Bible bone represents spirit or soul. In the Book of Psalms we read: "Like rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land, so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol".(Ps.141:7)"Sheol "is the Hebrew word for hell (ccc.no.633).Bone is solid matter and therefore, cannot enter the spiritual realm of hell. Souls are seen at the mouth of Sheol because it is the place meant for the souls. So bone represents the spirit or soul. When God created Eve He took a portion of the spirit from Adam and formed Eve.

A similar thing we see in the Book of Numbers where God takes a small portion of the Holy Spirit in Moses and gives it to seventy Elders. "Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders and when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied"(Num 11:25).In the case of Eve, God took a portion of the Breath of Life from Adam and gave to Eve.

Generation to Generation

God gave Adam his own image, likeness and breath of life. When Cain came as the first born of Adam he received the same image and likeness of Adam. He also got a small portion of the breath of life from Adam-the soul of Cain. When Abel was born he received it from Adam. All the descendants of Adam received the same from him. When sperm and egg join in the womb of a woman a child is born. Genes which come from sperm and egg give the image, likeness and breath of life. The breath of life ie., the spirit of God ,consists of the character and power of God. The image and soul that we receive from our parents are not theirs, but gifts from God.