Peggy Joyce Ruth

It is easy to forget what is most important. Truly, everything in our Christian life flows from our relationship with God. We don't want to take for granted the gift of having a personal relationship with God. Knowing God and praying is a two-way street, and there is no substitute for time alone with God. The closeness of drawing near to God is the source for everything good in life. 

There is a creative power in your words. Our words partner with God's Word or the enemy's chatter. Our words not only impact our own lives but also the lives of our family and friends around us. We must learn the authority our words carry so God can use them to change people's lives for the better. 

Don't get into fear when you hear the word predestination in the Bible. Everything God has planned for our lives is good, but we do reap what we sow. There is good news: God has not "sovereignly" willed bad or evil for our lives. He is always working to bring good, but our own choices dictate whether we partner with God's plan for our lives.  

What falls under God's sovereignty? And what falls under man's free will? This is a question worth answering. There is so much confusion in the body of Christ around this subject, but the Word clearly has the answer. 

Many churches only teach about salvation and going to heaven, but that leaves us ill-prepared for the battle we face here on earth. God is training us in the same way parents train their children to prepare them for life. If we listen, we will realize God is preparing us for what we will face next. He is giving us the power to overcome the battles against the enemy. God is preparing us to overcome in the end days.

The biggest step in walking out of manipulation is recognizing when we do it. And the best way to not be manipulated is to recognize when we are being manipulated. Both come from places we don't see God as our source, and places we do not fully have our identity worked out. Manipulation never happens when there a trust in God. 

Everyone has been through the pain of being used and manipulated. The places we manipulate are the places we don't see God as our source, places where fear and unbelief are still being allowed to operate. We must not be the ones operating in manipulation, nor can we allow others to manipulate us. 

We are all in a spiritual battle. But it is vital to remember God has set you up to win every single battle. But we must receive and operate in God's resurrection power and walk constantly in God's spiritual armor. In our own strength, we cannot defeat the enemy's principalities and powers. It is when we learn to stop walking in our own strength and start walking in the strength of God's might and His armor that we will have victory. 

We all need an understanding of the Old Testament, it is the foundation for the New Covenant we have with God. The Old Testament can seem overwhelmingly, complicated, and hard to grasp but truly there is an order to how the different books have been laid out. This teaching will give you a general overview to understand the Old Testament. 

The scary thing about deception is when you are deceived, you don't know you are deceived. If we want to know the truth badly enough, God will pull you out of the lies step by step. Deception says, "I'm right!" With no heart to hear or learn anything. Deception is the blind spot, but truth is the spot remover. We all need truth from God's Word and truth spoken by close friends who can see our blind spots.

Joy is the Lord's strength for these chaotic times. Do you see Joy as an emotion? As long as you see Joy as an emotion you will continue to let it slip through your fingertips. Joy is not an emotion; it is a character trait of God. Learn how to stay in the joy God has given you. 

There are many different ways to hear God's voice. God does speak audibly at times but there are other ways that are usually more common. Sometimes, we can be so stuck on hearing God's voice audibly that we are missing how He is speaking to us. Don't put God in a box. He has many ways He wants to speak to us. 

Have you trained yourself to know what is coming from the voice of God and the enemy? We must learn to adjust our hearing from listening in natural to listening in the Spirit. There are some secrets to learning to focus and position ourselves correctly while we are learning to discern God's voice. 

Please listen to this teaching as many times as it takes to start truly overcoming the enemy and getting his schemes underneath your feet. The Authority of the Believer - Peggy Joyce Ruth talks about how it is vital that Believers learn to walk in their God given authority. God put mankind in authority over the earth, but we handed it over to Satan in the garden. Now, through what Jesus did on the cross, we have been given authority over satan, sin, sickness, self, and situations. 

Prayer should be fun. It should not be ritualistic. Prayer is a conversation with our heavenly Father, who loves us. Just like we enjoy having long talks with our friends or earthly parents, we can have an even greater enjoyment in our relationship with God. 

Jesus is different than every other religion. Every other religion's principles could exist without their founders, but Christianity could not exist without Jesus. Christianity is not simply a doctrine; it is a person. It is more than rules; it is a marriage with Jesus that changes us from the inside out. 

Our fight is not won by fighting in our own flesh and blood strength but by fighting the enemy in God's strength. But even though we are fighting in God's strength, it is still OUR struggle; it is OUR warfare, and we must learn how to overcome in God's strength. We must learn how to fight and overcome the enemy. If we don't know, we are fighting with principalities and powers we are already losing. Until the power of Satan is broken, there are different strongholds over individuals, homes, churches, communities, regions, and nations. According to 2 Corinthians 10:5, it is OUR job to pull down strongholds that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God. 

Self-pity is a magnet that draws bad things to you. It keeps you immobile, always looking inward and rarely toward God. When God didn't approve of Cain's offering, he got into self-pity instead of asking God where he was wrong. He continued down the road of self-pity and then self-destruction.

When we let offense set in our heart, it can become deadly. How you handle opportunities to be offended will determine whether you grow or not spiritually.  Offense can trip us up, cause us to stumble, and ultimately entices us into sin. Offense is something we need to want to get rid of completely. Ask the Lord if there is any area you have been offended, and then repent to the Lord until you feel that area is cleared up. 

Do you really believe that God is for you? What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? -Romans 8:31-32. God is not a man that He should lie. His Words are true, but we have a choice to either take God's Words to heart or the enemy's. 

It is so very important for us to know the character of God. Do you know how your heavenly Father acts? Do you know God's character well enough to know when someone says something wrong about Him? When we blame or get disappointed with God for things that are coming from the enemy, we open a door that is very hard to close. But thankfully, now we are under a better covenant where we can see the true character of God and shut the doors open to the enemy. 

It is so very important for us to know the character of God. Do you know how your heavenly Father acts? Do you know God's character well enough to know when someone says something wrong about Him? When we blame or get disappointed with God for things that are coming from the enemy, we open a door that is very hard to close. But thankfully, now we are under a better covenant where we can see the true character of God and shut the doors open to the enemy. 

It is so very important for us to know the character of God. Do you know how your heavenly Father acts? Do you know God's character well enough to know when someone says something wrong about Him? When we blame or get disappointed with God for things that are coming from the enemy, we open a door that is very hard to close. But thankfully, now we are under a better covenant where we can see the true character of God and shut the doors open to the enemy. 

No matter the attack, don't stop on what God has assigned you to build. God will do the heavy lifting if we submit to Him and His plan. But it is important to remember that even God's plans come under attack from the enemy. There are attitudes(the enemy) and actions(from people) that will come against us when we begin God's work. We must stay on the wall and keep building!

Gift-giving has been a Christmas tradition since the wise men brought gifts to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Every gift and everything we find in the Word has a physical and a spiritual application. 

We are being programmed consciously and unconsciously by culture and media to believe we are victims. The enemy will to classify you as a victim. It is so very dangerous. It is part of the enemy's plan to destroy us but God never created victims He created overcomers. 

God wants to speak to us. He is working to develop a deep knowing in us, but when we look at and take in the wrong things, we miss His voice. There is no limit to what God would show us, but we limit ourselves by how much we receive from Him. We are the deciding vote on whether we take in God's light or the darkness. 

People often think they cannot hear God's voice because they are looking to hear an audible voice. But God speaks in a different way than we are accustomed to in the natural. John 10 says that we know His voice. Developing a scene of "knowing" is a key to truly hearing God's voice. 

Are you taking time to make your thanksgiving personal to God? It is easy to go through the motions and give thanks, but in His Word, God instructs us to give thanks to God. One of the most valuable things we can give God is our thanksgiving, it is a way we can give back to God what He has given us.  

Do you know our Thanksgiving Heritage in America? Jamestown and Plymouth were both early settlements. One town was only after gold and greed, and they paid the price. The other was sent on a mission by God and considered God in everything they did. God blessed them every step of the way.

How do you tell the difference between the flesh and demons? Flesh is self or self-will. When we reason away following God's Word or elevate our own opinions above God's Word, that is part of the flesh. The deeds of the flesh amount to idol worship.  Colossians 3:5 says, "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry." We must learn to cut off the flesh because it attracts the demonic realm to our lives. 

In the Old Testament, circumcision was physical, but in the New Testament, God circumcises our heart. Our flesh is anything that thinks or acts independently from God. Even though we are born again we can still choose to live in the flesh. It's not until we have the flesh cut away that we can love God fully with all of our heart, mind, and strength. 

Many believers are unknowingly involved in witchcraft, but God is calling us out of witchcraft and idolatry. Being ignorant of what God's Word says about the occult is not an excuse we must partner with God to root out all occult practices from our lives. 

Do you find yourself not wanting to pray because you feel as if your prayers are not being answered? That is not how God intended it, He actually designed our prayer life to be fun. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. -James 5:16. If prayer always produced a wonderful result, we would always want to pray. That is the place God wants to get us to. 

The world is desperately looking for peace. People think that if they had enough money, they would find it. If they could keep their minds entertained, they would have peace. Or if they had a meaningful relationship, they would find peace. Everyone is looking for a safe place for peace, but the truth is that Peace was already given to us 2000 years ago. 

Jesus said "Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." -John 16:33. If we are to be like Jesus, we are to be overcomers in this life. Satan is the god of this world, and we must learn to overcome all of his schemes and assignments. And at the root of all the enemy's schemes is fear. No matter what you are facing, it can always be traced back to fear. 

Jesus said that it was to our advantage that He left the earth because the Holy Spirit was coming but many times we forget the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is a power force on the inside of us that we get to know as our friend. He is a wind that moves us, leads us, and empowers us to do God's Works on the earth. 

We all have areas where the enemy is working to influence our lives. Anything that works to overpower us is not from God. The Holy Spirit woos and convicts us but ultimately gives us free will to choose. It is the devil, using thoughts and feelings that tries to convince us we are helpless victims without power. But with God, there is always the power to escape and overcome the schemes of the enemy.  Many times we are putting up with things we should be taking authority over. The demonic world is no match for the power we have been given in the name of Jesus. 

Every person has some area they are struggling with oppression. When we feel powerless to change our circumstances, it is a sign that you are under the influence of a demonic spirit. The enemy's first goal is to stay hidden, so we battle in the flesh and never see his schemes. Here are some facts from the Bible on demonic oppression.

We must discover and destroy the root of strife. "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." - James 3:16. Strife comes when we are preoccupied with self. We can either be arrogant and exalt ourselves, or have low self-esteem and beat ourselves up. Both are a preoccupation with SELF. And self is the root of strife and every evil thing. 

“Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.” - Proverbs 17:1. Everyone who operates in strife is giving Satan access to every area of their life. We must learn to see strife for what it truly is and get it completely out of our lives. 

God has given each of us free will and the power to choose. This is the most important right we have been given and our decisions set the course for our life. God has placed much of our destiny in our hands. So it is vital that we don't give our authority over to the enemy as Adam did in the garden. He handed our authority over to the enemy. But Jesus won back that authority by overcoming sin and death on the cross and has again put the choice back in our hands. 

When Satan sends thoughts our way, so many times, we ignore them instead of answering them with the Word. The enemy's thoughts and temptations don't just go away if we ignore them. They build and build until the enemy has us trapped. This is why it is vital to answer the enemy with the Word until we get the victory.  

We don't want to reason an answer from our intellect and miss the answer God is speaking to us. Many times reasoning, "sounds" true and right but those thoughts of truly believing God. There is a difference between facts and the truth of God's Word. We must choose to believe God's Word over everything else.  

The difference between changing your behavior and true repentance is the difference between Esau and Jacob. Over time Esau changed some of his behaviors but Jacob wrestled with God until his heart and name were changed by God.

The difference between changing your behavior and true repentance is the difference between Esau and Jacob. Over time Esau changed some of his behaviors but Jacob wrestled with God until his heart and name were changed by God. 

Do you have family members who are not born again? This teaching is to help you pray effectively for family members who have yet to know the Lord. Even if your children and grandchildren are grown and out of the home your prayers still have authority in their lives. God is wanting to partner with us to bring our family into His kingdom. 

Do you have family members who are not born again? This teaching is to help you pray effectively for family members who have yet to know the Lord. Even if your children and grandchildren are grown and out of the home your prayers still have authority in their lives. God is wanting to partner with us to bring our family into His kingdom. 

Important teaching for this hour. There are spiritual laws that are just as sure and reliable as physical laws. When this becomes a reality to us, we're going to start thinking through every action, every word that comes out of our mouth, through even the tone of our voice and our attitudes. We're going to realize that all of these things are causing spiritual laws to be set into motion all the time.

A large portion of Jesus' ministry on earth was casting out demons. Do you remember any Old Testament stories of people being delivered? Any instruction In the Old Testament on doing spiritual warfare? Even today, many believers have not had their eyes open to the works of the enemy. Because of this, the enemy remains hidden and able to cause much mischief in our lives. But 1 John 3:8 says that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.

Things People Get Wrong About God's Character. It is Satan's trick to get us double-minded, thinking that God sends both good and evil, to get open us to receive evil. When Jesus walked the earth He fully revealed who God is. We must have our minds renewed to the truth God is only good.