Hey dear ones, we are visiting THE SHADOW REALM all month long on Facebook Live! at 10am PDST @LightbearersMinistries. Join me…Lets go for a ride!

THE SHADOW REALM

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…Rom 1:20 NKJV

A shadow is light obscured, hidden, blocked from the viewers view. My shadow has been ever present, except in the place of total darkness, something I have experienced only once. The eyes of our hearts, especially the heart of the unsaved one, have been obscured, blinded to the reality of the spirit realm, yet the shadow realm is as real, even more real than the physical realm. This blindness causes men to question the existence of a God they can’t see, yet the testimony of God is all around them. You simply need eyes to see!

One of the joys of living in the Willamette Valley is Baskett Slough, the wildlife bird refuge west of Salem on Highway 22. There is a kiosk, a viewing stand there by the side of the road with a big telescope for viewing the birds out over many acres of wetlands. Many times on trips to the coast to pray and fast I will stop there to see the birds.

One time when I stopped there was a flock of over five hundred Canadian geese feeding in the meadow. All at once, they all rose into the air, and began to move as one, arching through the air together and then settling in another location. I thought, “How do five hundred birds move in the same way, at the same time, as one?” If they were reacting to a leader, then the response would have been like a wave going out from the leaders. But they rose AS ONE, and then flew, AS ONE. They didn’t have GPS, inertial navigation systems or radio communication. “This…is spirit!” I thought. Not eternal life spirit, but spirit nonetheless. The shadow realm. His invisible attributes are clearly seen…

The shadow realm has four great sets of players, with many subsets within their general set. Some spirits fall under two different categories. Can you guess what they are? Demons, angels, human spirits and the Godhead. Technically angels fall under the Godhead category but we separate them out because they are sentient personalities with free will. Also human spirits who are born again will fall under the Godhead category but, for the same reason, we separate them out.

Let’s take a little time to look at each category. Each of these categories is so complex as to deserve a book length exposition, and even that wouldn’t do it justice. I tell my students the study of the shadow realm deserves at least five years of diligent research, study and application to gain anything close to a level of mastery.

DEMONS

And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Deut 6:24 NKJV

One of the great realities of the Word is that it was given to help keep us from being ruined by demons – ‘for our good always.’ Demons are sentient spirit criminals that seek to destroy God’s people in retribution against God the Father. The greatest hurt against any parent is to hurt their children. This is why it is so important to know and practice the Word, which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Sin opens a door to the enemy, and habitual sin is a big, ‘social media style,’ invitation to the enemy.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Gal 5:22-24 NKJV

The fruit of the Spirit is what normal and healthy living looks like! When characteristics in our lives or personalities crop up that are not of the fruit, then we may have opened a door to a demon, and need deliverance. You can take authority over that thing yourself, or seek the help of others. Always close the door on the demon once it is cast out by dealing with the authority issues involved – your will, confession and repentance of sin, forgiving others, and removal and destruction of ungodly items. Clean house, and keep it clean!

ANGELS

Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. Ps 103:20 NKJV

Angels respond to and carry out the impartation of much of the Word. They can directly be involved in your life, and certainly are, usually in an unseen and unnoticed way. Beware of so-called prophetic types who claim to have special relationships with angels. They are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to heirs of salvation. They kept you alive until you could get born again. Now you have a Presence in you far mightier than any angel – the Lord God Almighty Himself!

Again, there are ranks of angels, assignments of angels, angels in ministry and office whose workings deserve a book length exposition. But for now, they become joyous reminders of God’s love as we occasionally see their working in the shadow realm.

HUMAN SPIRITS

Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. Luke 8:55 NKJV

I finally got my first one a few years ago, the raising of a young boy in an Ugandan hospital, the testimony of which hangs on my miracle wall! Your spirit is what gives life to your physical body. It is what must return when a person is raised from the dead. A frequent synonym for the spirit of man is the heart.

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Prov 4:23 NKJV

Human spirits are fascinating because the real depths of who you are in your heart. You can learn to discern what is in another’s heart. Are they honest, or deceptive? Are they born again, or just religious? Are they a child of the devil? Or just demonized? Think about what you are thinking about – and why are you thinking about that? – when you meet someone for the first time and shake their hand. Learning to discern in detail human spirits will help you immensely in helping others. Great love for the individual, and prayer over them in quiet reflection, will help you discern the heart of another as hidden things are revealed. Use that information wisely. Guard that information in the lockbox of your heart!

Again, the exposition and study of the human spirit could take whole libraries of books. I am convinced as Christian ministers we have failed to study this aspect of the shadow realm very well at all, and our people suffer because of it!

THE GODHEAD

Here is the crux and the apex of the shadow realm.

The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” Rev 4:8 NKJV

Assuming these praise angels are not automated, robotic beings, then what keeps them crying out in praise? It must be the continual, if not continuous revelation of the glory of the Lord. Our God is so glorious, so wonderful, so true and faithful that we could lose ourselves in praise to Him forever, and have a very fulfilled, wonderful life. Religion always focuses on the flesh, on the flesh’s attempt to placate the deity. But true worship in the shadow realm launches us from the foundation of who we are in Christ and brings us to the throne of God in humble glory. Praise and thanksgiving allow us entry into the secret place of the Almighty, the refuge of God’s presence.

And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 2 Chron 1:6-7 NKJV

Here in God’s presence is where faith for miracles begins to germinate, where the door to answered prayer begins to swing wide open, where lives are transformed instantly.

One time when I was leading about one hundred fifty bible college students into tongues, the Spirit of God began to fall, and I just held the microphone. In one of the most seminal, for me, learning experiences of cooperating with the manifest Presence, I just held the microphone as the Spirit rolled over the group in wave after wave, for an hour and half. In coming from a strict religious training of ‘the leader has to control everything’ paradigm, it was a breakthrough for me and others in our team to a new place of trust. My fellow leader came up to me afterward and said, “Thank you for doing that…I would have stopped it.” Lessons in the shadow realm…

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Prov 3:5-6 NKJV

Four simple phrases – the QUICK START GUIDE to the adventure of the shadow realm! Do not be afraid to grow up in the shadow realm. Yes, you may be ridiculed, but you will also see miracles. Yes, you may lose friends, but you gain the friendship of the Lord. Yes, you may miss a few, or many, carnal pleasures, but you will ride on the wings of glory, a place few have ever walked. Yes, you may fear because John Wimber said faith is spelled RISK, but you will not walk alone, and you will see Him who is Glorious. Welcome to the shadow realm, dear one! Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…