This message was shared by Apostle Kathryn Krick, Lead Pastor/Apostle of 5F Church, in Los Angeles on August 9, 2026. To watch the full video, scroll to the bottom of this post. We pray this teaching blesses you and equips you to walk as a powerful vessel of God. 

Last Sunday, I shared a prophetic word by Prophet Dr. GeorDavie, that the church worldwide is going through a time of testing. 

Luke 22:31-32

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Job 1:6-12

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” 

God Himself brought up Job to Satan: “Have you seen how great a man of God Job is, Satan?” God brought it up because He wanted to test Job so He could bless him, so He could increase Him, and so that He could do a work through this refining fire. Satan then said, “Well, he’s only such a righteous, great man of God because you bless him.” But God knew Job’s heart, that this wasn’t true. God knew that Job would pass the test and prove that he served God and loved God with his heart, not because God was blessing him. God knew that his love was real and that he was a true man of God after God's heart. So God wanted to prove that, and he wanted to bless Job. And God had an even greater purpose in all of this: He wanted our faith today to be encouraged through the story of Job. We are encouraged! We will not give up when going through hard times, simply because of one man who loved God and gave us his example. That’s the power that we have when we really walk in our calling—when we carry out the assignment God has given us. We can affect thousands, maybe millions of people’s lives, too, by our example and by our testimony to be like Job—as we go through suffering and testing and to still have faith in God and choose to serve God and love God. 

And just as Job was tested, we are also going through a time of testing. Today I want to share with you how to be victorious through this testing. First of all, we need to understand what the devil is up to and what his schemes are. We know that the devil is so angry at what God is doing in revival and in all these testimonies. More than ever, people around the world are tuning in online or joining us in person and receiving freedom and healing. It keeps increasing. This revival keeps growing. More and more people are being saved, healed, and delivered by the day, by the hour, by the minute. Every single minute, God is doing miracles today. He is delivering, healing, and saving people. So the devil is getting more angry and afraid. He knows that God can never be beaten, and He knows that this is a true move of God and he can’t stop it. So he just lashes out, knowing he has no power but trying to do any damage he can, trying to take away any person he can. 

So we have to be aware that the enemy is angry with us, as vessels of God. He is angry with us for testifying, he is angry with us for standing strong and obeying God no matter what. We have to be aware that he fears us. He fears us growing every day, growing in the Lord, growing in the anointing, growing in faith. He fears us speaking up and testifying, because the power and love of God flow through us when we testify, when we speak the truth, when we speak the word of God. We have to be aware of this. We have to be aware so we’re ready for the testing when it comes and we’re not blindsided. The Bible says to “be aware of the devil for he roars around like a lion, seeking whom he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). We have to be awake. That’s one of the big reasons you have to be in church: you have to be equipped. You have to position yourself to hear the word that God has for you today because of the battle you’ll go through tomorrow that God already knows about. 

Mark 14:27 

“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:  ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’”

The devil’s aim is the sheep, not the shepherd. Throughout the Bible, it shows us that Jesus is an example for us, that “you will do the things I do and greater (John 14:12). So by leading the disciples, Jesus was also showing the disciples an example for how to be leaders and have disciples under them to equip and teach and shepherd. So, the aim of the devil is the sheep. 

He strikes the shepherd, not the sheep, but his aim is the sheep. The shepherd is strong. The devil knows that the shepherd is strong, that leaders are strong in faith. But his aim is the sheep: some of them may not be strong enough, they might be babies, or they may have not taken the word of God seriously and so they’re lukewarm and they can scatter if he strikes the shepherd. That’s the aim of the devil; that’s what he wants. But you don’t have to scatter! 

Paul says, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). We are all called to be planted in a church and to have a spiritual father and/or mother and be equipped there. As we are planted, we are covered spiritually and we receive the prophetic word that we need to equip us. 

Ephesians 4:11-16 speaks of how God gave gifts to the church for the equipping of the believers. He gave the fivefold ministry: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. In the Book of Acts, it says that the believers were continually devoting themselves to the teachings of the apostles and they were gathering together regularly (Acts 2:42-47). So it is biblical that every believer is planted in one church under a leader, a shepherd. So you have to be aware of this scheme of the devil. With every true move of God, God will allow the devil to come like he did with Job, and as he did with Jesus, who experienced attack after attack, lie after lie, false accusation after false accusation, persecution after persecution. The devil will come like this against every move of God and against every shepherd. His strategy is to strike the shepherd so that the sheep scatter. 

You have to be aware of this scheme of the devil. There will come a time when your shepherd will be struck.They won’t be taken out or killed, but there will be attacks that the enemy sends and launches at the leader. It’s strategically planned by the devil, one by one, one after the other. That is aimed at scattering the sheep. So as you're aware of that, when that season of testing comes, you know what’s going on. You can say, “I’ve learned from Peter. I know that the Lord is praying that my faith won’t fail. Fortify my faith, God. Thank you for praying for me. I’m going to stand strong. I know what the devil is up to, and I know he’s defeated. He’s not going to take me away from where I am receiving mightily from God and being nourished spiritually and receiving the anointing that brings healing, deliverance, and abundant life. I’m being equipped to walk out my calling on this earth. I’m not going to walk away from where my protection is in the spiritual realm. I’m not going to walk away from where I’ve been blessed and where I will continue to be blessed. No, devil! Fortify my faith, Lord. I’m going to pass this test. I’m going to stand strong, hallelujah!” 

1 Peter 3:8-22

This passage right here is God's direction for YOU when you are being tested. 

Finally, all of you be like-minded [united in spirit], sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted [courteous and compassionate toward each other as members of one household], and humble in spirit; and never return evil for evil or insult for insult [avoid scolding, berating, and any kind of abuse], but on the contrary, give a blessing [pray for one another’s well-being, contentment, and protection]; for you have been called for this very purpose, that you might inherit a blessing [from God that brings well-being, happiness, and protection]. For, “The one who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not], Must keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from speaking guile (treachery, deceit). “He must turn away from wickedness and do what is right. He must search for peace [with God, with self, with others] and pursue it eagerly [actively—not merely desiring it].

Pursuing it actively! 

“For the eyes of the Lord are [looking favorably] upon the righteous (the upright), And His ears are attentive to their prayer (eager to answer), But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil.” [Ps 34:12-16] Now who is there to hurt you if you become enthusiastic for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness [though it is not certain that you will], you are still blessed [happy, to be admired and favored by God]. Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled or disturbed [by their opposition].

I repeat:

Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled or disturbed [by their opposition]. 

Amen! 

But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect. [Is 8:12, 13]

So defend the gospel, defend the truth, defend the work of God. Be ready to do that when people question your faith and the genuineness of this work of God, BUT do it with gentleness and respect. 

If you think about this, it’s saying to give a defense. That means that it’s speaking of people who are coming against your faith. So when you give an answer (be ready to give an answer), you should be doing it with gentleness and respect even though they may be coming harshly at you and attacking your faith.

And see to it that your conscience is entirely clear, so that every time you are slandered or falsely accused, those who attack or disparage your good behavior in Christ will be shamed [by their own words]. For it is better that you suffer [unjustly] for doing what is right, if that should be God’s will, than [to suffer justly] for doing wrong. For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which He also went and preached to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the great patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons [Noah’s family], were brought safely through the water. [Gen 6-8] Corresponding to that [rescue through the flood], baptism [which is an expression of a believer’s new life in Christ] now saves you, not by removing dirt from the body, but by an appeal to God for a good (clear) conscience, [demonstrating what you believe to be yours] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God [that is, the place of honor and authority], with [all] angels and authorities and powers made subservient to Him.

I want to highlight verse 9: Never return evil for evil. In a time of testing, that is when you’re going to see people throw evil at you, speak evil at you, speak such unjust things you don’t deserve, and falsely accuse you, but we are called to love everybody. We are called to love our enemies. We are seen and known as children of God when we love our enemies. We are called to pray for and bless those who persecute us. 

When people are evil towards you, persecuting you, it is so important that you don’t go in the flesh, but that you renew your mind. You go in the spirit and you see them with the eyes of Jesus and you love them. I don’t mean you have to have feelings of butterflies in your stomach, but I mean the actions: the intention to love them by not stewing in your mind about them, about the evil they’re doing and about what they deserve and hoping that they reap bad things. But instead, immediately pray for them. Immediately renew your mind to see and to remind yourself, “This is how God sees them. Jesus died from them too. And they’re sinning now, but I was a sinner, too, and I pray that they are like a Saul to Paul. There is still hope for them and God still loves them.” You should renew your mind to speak life over them, to pray for them, and to think good thoughts about them. Have hope for them. Have mercy for them. Have compassion for them because you know that the devil is behind this. 

Many of you have experienced being deceived by the devil masquerading himself as an angel of light. I know there are people here, like Gina. I want you to hear Gina’s testimony because I think that this is going to help you love your enemies and see them with the eyes of Christ. Because some of these enemies are the harvest. Some of them I prophecy are future Saul to Paul’s that will serve alongside us in the work of God, because this right here is a Saul to Paul. Hallelujah! And she’s here, serving God, every Sunday!

Gina:

“Hi, Apostle Kathryn. Hi everybody. Yes, I was a Saul to Paul. When I had a friend show me videos on YouTube of you, I think you were in South Africa, and it was a revival event, and people were manifesting demons wildly. I was adamant that someone must have paid people to behave that way because I’ve never seen anything like that. I was raised Christian, but I was never taught about demons or the spiritual realm whatsoever, so I was in complete shock. And, I just couldn’t believe that could even be possible. 

It reminded me of this TV show my sons watched called Supernatural, and there were these two brothers and demons and stuff. And I was like, “That’s TV. Those are people acting for sure.” I had a friend who wanted to come see you in the park and another friend was talking him out of it and I was agreeing with that person. I was agreeing with the people who were telling him not to go and who were speaking ugly things about you. I’m really embarrassed now for what I said. I thought you were very arrogant for calling yourself an apostle and anointed. I said, “How dare she say that about herself.” And then I said you were a false apostle and to watch out for wolves in sheep’s clothing, and things like this. And luckily, by the grace of God, I was also at a place in my life where I was seeking God with all my heart. I was forty-nine years old at the time, and I was like, I cannot live from fifty to a hundred years old the way I’ve lived the last forty-nine years; it was a mess.

Even though I was a Christian, I was promiscuous. I had tons of boyfriends, one after the other. I was looking for love. I had been abused as a child. I had been molested as a child. I was raped as a teenager. And a lot of damage came into me because of that. And so I had all of this stuff, but no one knew. I was really good at pretending I was okay because I was a good student. And I was able to pretend to preserve my dignity so people didn’t know I had this stuff in my closet, where I was not wholesome, even though I went to church. And I started drinking and partying in college. So I picked up a lot of demons along the way. 

Because I was seeking God with all my heart, and even though I was speaking against you, I was eventually willing to take my friend to see you in the park. I was just curious to see for myself with my own eyes. So I drove him down there and I was trying to be open-minded, but I had thoughts that were negative towards you at the same time. I wanted to be open to what was happening here, but I had negative thoughts in my head as well. 

And then during ministry time someone wildly manifested and ran around and I was like, “You have got to be kidding me right now. This is so weird and fake.” So then you invited people to come up and get baptism of the Holy Spirit if they had never done that before, and I had never done that before, but I was seeking God with all my heart at this point. I had been to many different churches, and I would hear, “Revival broke out here. Revival broke out there. This church is moving in the Holy Spirit.” So I was like, “Sure what the heck, I’ll do it. Whatever.” And my friend who made me drive him there was like, “You should really do that. You need that.” I was like, “Ok. I probably do need that.” So I went up and you laid hands on me. And my life has never been the same. 

Thank you Jesus! Hallelujah! (Gina and the whole congregation start praising God.) 

When you laid hands on me, I immediately started crying and then I started laughing and I didn’t know why I did that. And then I left. And I still thought it was actors running around acting crazy manifesting and all this. But nine days later I was in my home office, and—I had an eye disease, called keratoconus, since I was eighteen, and I was forty-nine. I had to wear contacts or really thick glasses, and I couldn’t see my computer with my glasses on. I was in my home office, and I kept taking them off, and it was clear without my glasses. I was so confused, and then I looked around my office, and I could see everything clearly without my glasses. And I got on the ground and I started weeping heavily, and my son who is twenty came in and was like, “Mom, what’s wrong?” I’m like, “I can see! I can read your shirt!” And he started googling it. He thought I was having a diabetes attack or something, I don’t know. We grew up in a very scientific-minded family and I was so ignorant and so oppressed that I couldn’t even put two and two together: “You were just at Apostle Kathryn’s church. You took your glasses off in an act of faith and had them in your back pocket the whole service, asking God to heal you. And nine days later you had forty minutes of perfect vision.” And then I think that God purposely didn’t give me the full healing all at once, because if I had fully gotten healed, I wouldn’t have even attributed it to your ministry at that time. And so I had five other instances during 2023 where I had perfect vision and it would only last for durations of fifteen to forty minutes at a time. And I had the full manifestation of the healing occur at the Flourish Conference. And I think that’s because God wanted to show that this is a true apostle of God, and He wanted that testimony to get out. 

And later, God was speaking to me and He said, “You blasphemed me.” And I said, “I did?” He said, “Yeah, you did.” He says, “You need to admit that publicly as well. Because it’s my Holy Spirit moving through her, causing those demons to manifest in people.” I also want to apologize publicly to all the people who were manifesting and getting their freedom at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 and I was calling you an actor. I’m so sorry that you were receiving the most beautiful powerful day of your life. You were going from the worst day of your life to the best day of your life. And I also want to say all those wild manifestations: I think I did all of them as I’ve been delivered. I have thrown up, I have screamed, I have convulsed on the floor. It was messy. Thank God Pastor Heather is so caring and loving to receive the anointing that you carry. 

Apostle Kathryn: 

Do you want to share what you were delivered from?

Gina:

Oh my goodness, what have I not been delivered of? Freemasonry. It goes way back in my family lineage to like George Washington times, so that was a huge deliverance for me. That was my first deliverance: getting freemasonry and that witchcraft off of me. I got delivered from the spirit of rejection, all spirits that came in through abuse and trauma, spirit of sexual perversion, spirit of lust, spirit spouses, soul ties, demonic soul ties, spirit of lack and poverty. I was always in debt even though I made good money. My dad and I did not get along our whole lives, and I started renouncing for him, he doesn’t know that, and there was a lot of anger, control, and manipulation in the family, and so I started renouncing. And my dad and I are so close now, and he’s different. He is loving and kind now. He doesn’t get angry all the time anymore. Spirit of addiction. I stopped masturbating. Just everything just started falling off. I used to cuss a lot and I don’t cuss anymore. I mean you name it, if there’s a list of everything you can get delivered from. 

All glory to God. I’m on fire for Jesus. You said we would be more bold and more on fire, and I just feel like I want to scream and shout all the time, “This is the real deal. This is Jesus. This is God. This is Holy Spirit. This is the anointing. You can get free here!” 

Since I was a little girl, I’ve always had a huge heart for people who are poor or strung out or in the streets, anyone who is hurting emotionally. It has just been with me since I was a kid and I’ve never known what to do about it. If it’s not too much to ask, and if it’s in God’s will, I would love an impartation so that as I move through my life I can help these people, because my heart goes out to them and I’ve never known what to do with it.

Apostle Kathryn:

Yes, I want to release this to you, but I first want to say, I totally forgive you, 100%. You are forgiven 100%. And I wanted to speak, the past is completely gone, the past sins, are gone completely. You are so loved by God, and you have such a great calling upon your life and I declare that your testimony would reach thousands of people, millions of people. Let them hear your testimony and may their eyes open up just as your eyes opened up, in Jesus' mighty name. I release the anointing upon you to help those who are in poverty, to help those that you have this heart for, that God has put this heart in you for. And may they be delivered through you, and may they come out of lack through you in Jesus’ name. Receive it now. Receive abundant joy. Thank you, Jesus!

Imagine, she was literally speaking against the work of God, and not just one time, but look at her now. There are precious people out there, thousands of precious people, who are speaking against the work of God, but they are not evil. Gina was not evil. She was just being influenced by the enemy. Her eyes hadn’t opened up yet, just like Saul who became Paul. Can you start seeing people out there like Gina? Can you start thinking positively? Can you start seeing people with hope? Because that’s having the mind of Christ, and when God sees them, He sees potential Pauls. Some of these people, He’s even excited, “Ah their eyes are going to open up through this testimony. Ah their eyes are going to open up on this day that I’m going to lead them to come.” Just like Gina came to the park. “I’m going to lead them to come to church, to come and see out of curiosity and the power of God is going to touch them and their eyes are going to open up that day and they will become a believer and they will become an apostle Paul of today.” 

People of God, we can have peace and joy in every season. We are called to go through suffering, but we should have peace and joy in every season. You have to have the right perspective, to be intentional, to renew your mind. You can look at people doing evil towards you, speaking against the work of God, and just think the negative. There’s a lot of negative to see in that. There’s a lot of grieving to be had. There’s anger that could be had, and there’s sadness to be had. Yes, there’s all of that. But you have to look for the good. There is good there. There’s hope. Because I’m telling you, there are many more Ginas, future Ginas, apostle Pauls of today, that are out there among them. So pray for them, “Lord, open their eyes like you opened up Gina’s. Open their eyes like you opened up Joshua’s.” Remember the testimony of the man who got delivered powerfully here? We have many examples of this. We have a couple podcasts coming out, of Sacha and Arlo, who were literally against the work of God, and their wives were part of Five-Fold Church, and their eyes opened up. They encountered Jesus here, in person here. And they’ve never been the same since. Their eyes opened up totally, in one encounter with God. It didn’t happen immediately; it took time. So we have to be patient. Those of you out there with spouses, family members, keep believing for their eyes to open up. Be patient. It will happen. Keep believing. 

1 Peter 2:21-22

For [as a believer] you have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you, leaving you as an example so that you may follow in His footsteps. He committed no sin, nor was deceit ever found in his mouth. While being reviled and insulted, He did not revile or insult in return; while suffering, He made no threats [of vengeance], but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges fairly.

This is powerful: verse 21 says, “For as a believer you have been called for this purpose since Christ suffered for you, leaving you as an example so that you may follow in His footsteps.” So Jesus going though suffering was leaving us an example of how to go through suffering: to not repay evil for evil, but to be still, to be humble, to be patient, to wait on the Lord to fight the battle for us. Because it is the Lord’s battle, not ours. And we love our enemies. That’s the example of Jesus through suffering. So through this testing, we go through a season of suffering. If you are a real believer, if you really carry the anointing, you will go through suffering on this earth. If you are truly anointed, you will. It’s not forever; it’s for a season, maybe another season, maybe multiple seasons. But it is temporary, and you will go through it. We have to be aware of that, and not see God wrongly in those seasons of suffering, thinking, “Why are you allowing this?” This is what we are told will happen. It’s for a purpose. It’s for our good!

1 Peter 4:16

But if anyone suffers [ill-treatment] as a Christian [because of his belief], he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God [because he is considered worthy to suffer] in this name. 

So we are to glorify God when we are going through suffering. We are to praise God, thank Him, and give Him glory that we have this honor, because it’s an honor. Because when you are called to do the work of God and then you suffer for doing the work of God—you’re persecuted, you’re hated for doing the work of God—the reason that’s happening is because of God in you. What an honor! That God is shining so brightly in you that you are hated, that the devil fears you and hates you. That’s an honor. The more brightly you shine for Jesus, the more you will be hated. We need to glorify God when we are being hated. We need to remember, “This is happening because God is shining brightly through me. Hallelujah! Glory to God!” It’s a very different perspective than, “Woe is me. Why is this happening? I do so many great things for God. How can they do this to me?” That’s being carnal, and it’s actually being prideful. 

Romans 8:17

And if we are His children, then we are His heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His spiritual blessing and inheritance], if indeed we share in His suffering, so that we may also share in His glory.

Here it shares with us again, that we will share suffering with Christ.

1 Peter 2:18-20

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all [proper] respect, not only to those who are good and kind, but also those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if a person endures the sorrow of suffering unjustly because of an awareness of [the will of] God. After all, what kind of credit is there if, when you do wrong and are punished for it, you endure it patiently? But if when you do what is right and patiently bear [undeserved] suffering, this finds favor with God.

2 Timothy 3:12

Indeed, all who delight in pursuing righteousness and are determined to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be hunted and persecuted [because of their faith]. 

That means there will be seasons when there is a strategic attack of the enemy towards you, towards the work of God, towards the church—when you are being hunted, when the enemy uses people to try to tear you down, to try to stop you, to try to stop the good work you’re doing. This is a promise we have, so we are not surprised. We accept this, because this is part of living for Jesus, picking up your cross, and giving your life to Him. 

1 Peter 5:8-9

Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack–rooted, established, immovable], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. 

The whole church is being tested right now. Other believers around the world who are truly walking in the anointing are also going through suffering right now. They are being tested too. So we are encouraged. We are not alone.

1 Peter 5:9-10

[You do not suffer alone.] After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace [who imparts His blessing and favor], who called who to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen and establish you [making you what you ought to be].

It says in verse 10, “After you have suffered for a little while…” It’s temporary! There is no need to be down about going through persecution. It will pass! In times of persecution, I meditate about this verse, as Job is speaking to his wife, who wants him to curse God:

Job 2:10

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this, Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

Now that’s humility. Job is not saying that God is not good all the time. But when he says “adversity” and “disaster,” he’s talking about the attacks the enemy brings that God uses as a testing for your good and for a purpose. There’s a lot of good that comes through the adversity and persecution. A lot of good! You don’t know what it is yet, you can’t even comprehend it, but you’ll see it later.

During one season of my life, in 2022, I was going through persecution, and it was the hardest season of my life. I thank God for it now because there was so much good and purpose that came from it. Now when I go through battles—and sometimes they’re bigger battles than that—I find that I have so much more peace and joy in the Lord and I feel so much stronger in my faith. I feel more immovable in these battles. 

That’s amazing. You face a much bigger battle, but it becomes easier—that doesn’t make logical sense. That’s the great work that God does in you when you endure hard things for Him. It’s powerful. It’s a supernatural work that takes place, where He stretches your faith, He prunes your character, He makes you more like Him. And through these battles, I can see now that my faith is so much bigger. I’ve seen God bring me through it, and I saw how big of a liar the devil was. I had more revelation of how much of a liar he is, how he’s just full of this fake intimidation. His lies can never stand, as I shared in Proverbs last week: Lies are credited for a moment, but the truth endures forever (Proverbs 12:19).

What I have learned from those past battles is that when people falsely accuse me, when the devil comes with his intimidation and lies, I know in my heart, “This lasts for a moment. This is a lie, so it can’t stand.” I don’t need to get flustered because this is just a passing cloud. This can’t last. But my peace, the joy in the Lord, the calling God has for me, my love for God, my relationship with God—these will last forever. My calling to be an apostle, what He has called me to, will last forever. The work of God that He has called me to, the casting out of demons, the healing of the sick, the equipping of the believers, the impartation of the anointing—these will go on until I die and will keep on going through the next generation. The devil is saying in the moment, “Stop this! I’m going to stop you.” It’s just talk, and it’s just for a moment. It’s not stopping anything. The truth stands forever.

I’ve lived this truth many times, not just in 2022, but going back to 2018. That was the first time I went through persecution. I lived through it and I’ve kept seeing the victory of God. So I’ve become so much stronger in my faith, but that can only happen through experience. It can only happen by walking through the fire. I thank God now for those battles, and I thank Him for current battles, because I know I’m going to be different from this. I’m going to be stronger through this. I’m going to shine brighter for Jesus after this. More anointing will flow upon people’s lives because of this. 

Not just that, but we get to be examples, as I shared last Sunday. We get to be examples to love our enemies. This is how God is purifying the church: by taking us through the fire. This is how transformation is coming: when we can choose to stand strong through the tests, when we can choose to be pure, when we can choose to love our enemies, when we can choose to keep our peace and joy, to keep our love in our hearts for God and keep our faith in God. People are watching. People are seeing. A lot of people haven’t seen that example before. And they are going to learn, “I can be like that?” They are going to be convicted, “Oh, I need to be more Christ-like. People are doing it, so I guess it’s possible, and God is speaking to me that I should do that too.” That’s beautiful. That’s amazing!

I think about that Scripture from Job to humble myself. Are we to expect only blessings? We should also expect adversity from the Lord, but it’s for our good; it’s because He loves us. And it’s because He loves His people. He wants us to shine brighter and to be more like Him: to bless His people so more of the power of God can flow through us to touch His people, so the light of Christ can shine brighter through us to lead the lost and oppressed to Jesus. 

How will people know that it’s possible to love your enemies, and how to love your enemies if they don’t see that example of enemies coming against a leader and coming against you? This is a precious opportunity that God is using to purify the bride, the body of Christ.

Romans 5:3-5

Not only this, but with joy let us exalt in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance, and endurance proven character (spiritual maturity); and proven character, hope and confident assurance [of eternal salvation]. Such hope [in God’s promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

James 5:11

You know we call those blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] who were steadfast and endured [difficult circumstances]. You have heard of the patient endurance of Job and you have seen the Lord’s outcome [how He richly blessed Job]. The Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

Not only is God bringing so much beauty and transformation to the body of Christ through this—bringing people like Gina, opening up eyes, making Sauls to Pauls—but He also wants to bless you. He wants to bless us more. That testing of Job was a setup for him to be blessed more than he had ever been blessed, for his latter days to be better than his first.

Job 42:12

The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.

The Bible says that double was given to Job than what he had before, in all these different areas of his life: relationally, financially, health-wise. He was so blessed, and then the devil took away everything, except for his life. Then God restored it, and then He added double. Our God is so good! And He’s so just! He delights in justice! 

In the legal system, if someone is wronged, they can get reparations—money, reward—because they were wronged. Our God is a just God. When you are wronged, He gives more blessings because you were wronged. You see, this is for our good! 

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, for the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20). That’s what God is up to! 

God is bringing a shift of perspective today—a shift to see the joy and excitement in suffering and testing. There is a woman who testified of something I want to share with you. She said that she had seen Five-Fold Church online and she thought it wasn’t of God. Then she saw John Ramirez testifying in a video that this is a true move of God. She said that a lying spirit from the enemy was broken off of her when she listened to that message that he was speaking. Now she has made a couple of hour-long videos testifying of this move of God and highlighting the testimonies. 

Crystal—she’s here! Come here. I want to quote you first, because this exact sentence that you said blessed me and encouraged me so much: “All the negativity caused me and my husband to actually start seeing her.” I shared a week or two ago that the slogan of what God was saying for this move of God is, “Come and see!” And this is the word that really blessed me: “I thank God for the negativity. Because of the negativity, I am seeing thousands of testimonies and people being set free for one of the first times in my life, watching a church operate in all of God’s power.” 

Crystal:

I just want to say that there was a lying spirit over me. My husband downloaded your book, and for some reason I never listened to it. I do media, and all this negativity had me take another look. So I started making videos and looking into this and showing a few of your deliverances, and I just concluded with all of the people who testified: this is God. This is real revival. The presence of the Lord is here. And I said, I’m coming here. I’m going to prove all that negativity wrong. I know this is real, and I can testify that you are a vessel of the Lord, being used mightily. I am so honored just to be here, to be able to drive from Orange County to come here and witness this in person. This is amazing. I just want to thank you for your obedience to the Lord and how God is using you so mightily, because so many people are watching the videos right now of your replays, because of the negativity. This has enhanced and put a spotlight on us here in LA and there’s a principality that is being broken off. I sense it. The lying spirit and the blindness over people is being uplifted by the negativity.

The negativity drove me to really look and think, “What is this? What kind of church is this? I’ve never even been to a church like this, my goodness!” So, people do not understand. And I love it! I’m excited! I had a smile on my face coming to church today. We were so excited about coming and being here in the presence of the Lord. And it’s here! And it can be felt through media. That’s why I’m showing it, because I want people to be free. I want people to have Jesus.

And the people that follow you, they are beautiful. They have the love of Jesus and there’s a fragrance coming across the media. You can smell it. It’s real. The presence is flowing right now through the negativity. 

Apostle Kathryn:

Hallelujah. Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. I want to pray over you right now. I see God being so proud of you. And He has used you in such a powerful way by your obedience, because of your pure heart to speak truth, and heal hearts. I even felt healing in my heart through your testimony, that you would use your platform to speak life and to highlight what God is doing. He is proud of you. I am proud of you. And I see God rewarding you. From this moment, things will shift in your life, in your family. Things will shift for all of you.

I speak right now that anything that’s been holding you back, any area of stagnancy, it must go, in Jesus’ name. I speak all of the things from the past, the negativity from people, it must go in Jesus’ name. Nothing can hold you back now. God has given you a great calling in your life to proclaim His works, to publish His works to the nations. I see God amplifying your voice. I see God opening up doors, and more and more people will hear you and hear the word of God coming through you. I see that many eyes will open up through you and through your words.

I release the anointing upon you now. May the power of God fill you and touch every area of your life and touch the work that you do. May the power of God be experienced through the work that you do. 

Praise God!

Remember what I told you all: in that first video that went viral, there were people who wrote in the comments, “I’m an atheist, but I felt power when watching.” The pure in heart shall see God. And even for those who have impurities, God is still going to open their eyes, just like He did for Saul who became Paul. So we rejoice that the power of God is being seen on mainstream media. We rejoice because God is truly moving through it. Something’s about to shift. Eyes are opening. Hallelujah.