Seeing the Supernatural
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SEEING THE SUPERNATURAL How to Sense, Discern and Battle in the Spiritual Realm JENNIFER EIVAZ G Jennifer Eivaz, Seeing the Supernatural Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2017. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) © 2017 by Jennifer Eivaz Published by Chosen Books 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.chosenbooks.com Chosen Books is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, pho- tocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Control Number: 2017941812 ISBN 978-0-8007-9854-3 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New Inter- national Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com Scripture quotations identified amp are from the Amplified® Bible, copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Scripture quotations identified esv are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Ver- sion® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011 Scripture quotations identified mounce are from THE MOUNCE REVERSE-INTER- LINEAR NEW TESTAMENT Copyright © 2011 by Robert H Mounce and William D Mounce. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations identified nasb are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lock- man Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Scripture quotations identified nirv are from the Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®. NIrV®. Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com Scripture quotations identified nkjv are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations identified nlt are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations identified kjv are from the King James Ver- sion of the Bible. Cover design by Dan Pitts 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Jennifer Eivaz, Seeing the Supernatural Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2017. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) I dedicate this book to Jesus Christ, who is forever faithful to complete His work in me. Jennifer Eivaz, Seeing the Supernatural Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2017. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) Contents Foreword by Apostle John Eckhardt 11 Acknowledgments 13 Introduction: A Gift with a Purpose 15 1. Seeing Both Sides of the Supernatural 19 2. The Gift of Discerning of Spirits 27 3. The Fundamentals of Distinguishing between Spirits 43 4. Discerning Spiritual Atmospheres 63 5. Discerning Who Is for You and Who Is against You 79 6. Discerning the Angels 95 7. Discerning the Powers and Principalities 115 8. What to Do with the Things You Discern 133 Appendix: Can a Christian Be Demon Possessed? 151 Notes 155 9 Jennifer Eivaz, Seeing the Supernatural Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2017. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) Foreword Many books have been written on the gifts of the Holy Spirit that have helped the Church understand the functions and im- portance of these spiritual manifestations. Certain gifts have been emphasized more than others, and our understanding of certain gifts is greater than others. This is especially true of discerning spirits. I have heard teaching on the discerning of spirits that has simplified it to the realm of discerning angels, demons or human spirits. Many people teaching on this subject have not gone beyond this level of understanding. The teaching in this book will expand your understanding of this subject as the author takes you deeper into the spiritual realm. Jennifer Eivaz teaches from personal experience on the im- portance of the discerning of spirits, and her firsthand experi- ence is invaluable. She has a unique approach to this subject that I have never read or heard before. She emphasizes the importance of training your senses to discern between good and evil. This training is a process and requires spiritual maturity and growth. 11 Jennifer Eivaz, Seeing the Supernatural Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2017. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) Foreword Whether you are beginning the process, in the intermediate stages or have come to a level of maturity, this book will benefit you greatly. John Eckhardt, overseer, Crusaders Church Chicago; founder and presiding apostle, IMPACT Network 12 Jennifer Eivaz, Seeing the Supernatural Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2017. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) Acknowledgments I first want to thank my wonderful husband, Ron, for his endless support after my many hours away writing this book. Thank you for believing in me and encouraging me to keep going and not quit. I also want to thank my church family, again for their perfect support, prayers and encouragement while I wrote not only my story, but also many of theirs in this book. Thank you, Steve Shultz from the Elijah List, for being a divine appointment and catalyst for God’s plan in my life as a writer. Thank you, Virginia and Justin Meyer, for allowing me to use your spare home to write when I just needed to get away so I could think clearly and write without distractions. Thank you, Tom Hammond, for giving me a word of encour- agement at just the right time, when I was fighting the hardest to accomplish this book. Thank you to the many people who prayed and fasted for me, especially Andrea, Catherine, Charlene, Elaina, Emmanuel, Mary, Michelle, Nathan and Joe. 13 Jennifer Eivaz, Seeing the Supernatural Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2017. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) Introduction A Gift with a Purpose It was my first attempt ever to teach on the gift of discerning of spirits. I remember it being a Sunday night service at my home church, Harvest Christian Center, in Turlock, California. My husband and I had been ministering there for approximately five years, and we were teaching our church about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which included the gift of discerning of spirits (see 1 Corinthians 12:7–11). My teaching about this gift was quite simplistic. I gave a standard definition of the gift—that it is a supernatural ability from the Holy Spirit to see and distinguish between spirits: the Spirit of God, the spirit of man and the spirit of devils. I then gave several biblical examples of the discerning of spirits, as well as some testimonies. I felt deep down that my teaching was somewhat lopsided and shallow. I just could not yet explain in plain language how I discerned what I discerned. There were so many variables and so many strange feelings and physical sensations involved. Trying to package that in an understandable way seemed almost impossible. At the same time, I felt I could 15 Jennifer Eivaz, Seeing the Supernatural Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2017. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) Introduction only effectively present how to discern the demonic realm be- cause I had only enough clear language to explain that side of this gift. Since then, I have gained the experience and found the language to explain both sides of the gift, the discerning of both the positive and the negative, as you will see when you read on. But even back then, my teaching was still well-received, and it opened the eyes of our congregants more than they had been before. The night after I spoke, I had a disturbing dream. In the dream, a strong angel named Jeff was escorting me. Jeff means “the peace of God.” This angel was muscular, but the size and appearance of a man. He wore regular clothing, but his clothes were white, and so was everything else about him. He escorted me through the air to a large city. I did not know the name of the city or have any idea where I was. He then escorted me into a high-rise building located in the center of the city. We went up the elevator to the very top floor and then stepped out of the elevator, right into a penthouse office suite. There we met a physically short man wearing business attire. When he saw us, he stood up firmly from behind his desk and walked briskly around it, coming right in front of me to look me square in the eyes. He had the meanest countenance I have ever seen. The fierce hostility radiated off him. “Why are you teaching this?” the man demanded nastily and with force. “Don’t you ever teach this again!” Here the dream ended, and I woke up realizing that I just may have encountered Satan himself in a dream. Why was the gift of discerning of spirits such a threat to him? As time progressed, I began to realize the price tag for those who operate in this gift.