As I went before the Lord, He began to minister to my heart that His people need to be reminded over and over and over again of who they actually are.

In John chapter eight, beginning with verse thirty-six, it said,

36. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Jesus said,

37. I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

He's talking to the Pharisees.

38. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your Father.

39. They answered and said unto him, (tongues) Abraham is our Father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

40. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

41. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

42. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

43. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

44. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

In these verses of Scripture, Jesus made a distinction about their lineage. He made a distinction about their sonship. The religious leaders were hereditarily of Abraham's seed. But Jesus began to minister to them, "Even though you are of the bloodline of Abraham, even though you are the seed of Abraham, you are of your father, the devil. And the deeds of your father you will do."

They claim Abraham as their father. But their deeds show forth as bastard children. You don't hear me today. What you do will determine who you belong to. Come on and listen with a spiritual ear today. Who you serve is determined by what you do for who you do it for. He said...

Listen. Come on, now. Somebody's trying to bind me up. Pray with me today.

He said, "Now wait a minute. I know that Abraham is your father, according to the natural. But your deeds really tell who your father is according to the spirit. We come to the house of God and we say that the heavenly Father is our Father. But what we do outside the church really determines who our father really is.

They didn't live under the guidance of the Word of God. They lived under the guidance of Satan. The sons of Abraham were to be faithful followers of God. And they would not act the way that they acted.

Your church membership and your family connections will not make you a true son of God. You don't hear me today. Your last name will not make you a son of God. You don't hear me. Your natural bloodline will not make you a son of God. Who you serve will make you a son of God.

They couldn't hear Him because they were not of Him. When the people of God come into the church, the only way you can hear Him is when you become of Him. If you refuse Him, He will refuse you.

Jesus said to them, "The deeds of your father, those are the deeds that you'll do." As we go around in our daily walk, we have deeds that we do. The Bible said the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the earth, beholding the good and beholding the evil.

I want to be in a position where the Lord can look down upon me and point me out and say, "That one's Mine." In the body of Christ, He should be able to tell Satan that goes before the Lord to try to accuse us day and night, "Don't touch that one, because that one's Mine, and that one's Mine and that one's Mine, and that one's Mine."

There should be a distinction between who's we are. No one should have to guess about my Christianity. Oh, you don't hear me today. I'm a Christian today, but I'm the devil tomorrow.

The Lord is speaking to us today. He's saying, "Understand your position." He has called us to be sons of God. As sons we have got to understand our position. In Ephesians two and six it says it causes us to be seated in heavenly places in Christ.

And when we begin to get a revelation of this position, then we will understand the authority that we have to pull down strongholds in the Name of Jesus. The devil is not afraid of me. The devil is not afraid of you. He's afraid of our position in Christ.

But if we don't take that position... Do you hear what I'm saying today? If we become distracted about our position, if we become wayward about our position, then Satan is going to set up his military forces against us.

But let me tell you something. That position that we have is a military position. It's a position (glory to God) where we can take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and command the devil to come down from his lofty place.

It gives me a position in a high place. On military posts, I don't know what it's called, but around the fort a lot of times, in the middle they will have something like a watch tower. Listen. They will have a place that was higher than everywhere else. Do you hear what I'm saying? A place that was higher than everywhere else, so that they could see the enemy when he was on the way.

Your position and my position as a son will cause me to be in the high place where I can see the enemy before he can get up on me. It keeps us out of the ambushment of the devil. But what about when I don't feel like climbing the tower? What about when I don't feel like watching?

Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray, because they were in the hour of temptation. The Lord is telling us to receive our positions as sons and to watch and pray, because we are in the hour of temptation. And the devil wants to take the saints of God out of the house of God and place them (oh, you don't hear me today) back into captivity.

But I refuse to go back into captivity. Because He said whom the Son has set free is free indeed. I'm going to stay free in the Name of Jesus.

The Lord is speaking to us today. He's saying, "Realize who you are, and realize it's not agenda thing. For there's neither male nor female in Christ Jesus. It's a spiritual thing. It's a spiritual position that anybody that names the Name of Jesus and lives according to His Word can occupy.

Why are the strongholds higher than we are? Why are there principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world and the spiritual wickedness in the high places, higher than we are? Why? There should be nothing higher than us than God. He made us in His image after His own likeness. There should be nothing higher than us than God.

But we give over our territory that has been bought with the Blood of Jesus over the saint. I'm taking back what the devil tried to steal from me. I'm not going to take it no more. I'm not going to let no stronghold hover over my head. Do you hear what I'm saying today?

We allow bills to become strongholds that hover over our head. You know you don't have nothing to give those folks no way, so why you worried about it? He takes care of the sparrows, doesn't He? Oh, you don't hear me today. And I'm a son sitting in the King's house right? So how much the more shall He take care of me. Come on, give God a handclap of praise in this house today.

I'm a son, and I understand my position. That's why I can have the peace of God that passes all understanding to keep my heart and my mind through Christ Jesus. That's why I have perfect peace, because I understand who I am.

You're a son today. I felt a yoke break up in this place.

Many people say that they're living in hell. You're not living in hell. You may be going through hell. But you're not living in hell. Let me tell you why. Jesus came and led captivity captive and went to hell and defeated Satan, and took back those that were living in hell. We're not living in hell.

We're sons. That's what we are. We're sons. We have a position of authority. Colossians two, verse nine and ten says in Him we have been made complete. And He is the head over all rule and authority.

These religious rulers were in a position of authority by Satan and not by God. We are in a position of authority that's given by God through Christ Jesus. But it's up to us to exercise our authority.

You know how a muscle is. If you don't exercise it, it becomes what? Flabby. Doesn't it? Our authority has become flabby in the body of Christ. It's time to tone it up again. It's time to exercise it again.

Our position gives us legal authority over the adversary, legal authority. Let me tell you something. There's some things that are legal. Do you hear what I'm saying? Adam and Even, when they sinned, they allowed Satan to legally become the prince of this world, legally.

There's some legal things that are in the Spirit. And legally we have been given a position of authority. Legally, by receiving Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Now unless we practice that law (you don't hear me today) it doesn't mean a thing. You know what lawyers do when they have a case? They stay up all night long searching their law books, trying to find out about laws that they might have missed.

We need to learn how to stay up all night long and get in this lawbook right here and tell the devil (glory to God) that his case against us has been dismissed in the Name of Jesus. Exercise our authority.

Get the mentality that we are sons, not just me, not just our... All of us. We're sons. Colossians two and fifteen says that Christ already defeated Satan.

Satan has no problem with us remembering our past. You can meditate on your past all you want to. But the problem comes in with Satan is when you get an eye on your future. You don't hear me today. He wants to keep our eyes open to the past and blind to the future.

But if we could only see it how God sees it... When He looks down at us, He doesn't see us. He sees the Blood of Jesus covering us. Learn how to see it through the Master's eyes. Our position gives us all the weapons that we need to pull down these strongholds in our lives.

We have been anointed with the burden removing, yoke destroying power of God, as Pastor Dalla would say. But we're not using this Anointing as a weapon. We're using this Anointing to entertain somebody. You don't hear me yet. I feel the Holy Ghost. We're using this Anointing to show forth how spiritual we are.

But our anointing is a weapon (oh, I feel Jesus up in here today) against the devil. He's not afraid of anything about you in the natural. He's only afraid of what God has given us in the Spirit.

What is a Satanic stronghold? A stronghold is a mind set that accepts a situation as unchangeable, even though the situation is contrary to the will of God. Let me give that definition again. A stronghold is a mind set that accepts a situation as being unchangeable even though the situation is contrary to the will of God.

There was a woman with an issue of blood eighteen long years. But she decided that this thing has got to be changed.

There was a crowd of people (you know the story) that thronged Jesus. But she said, "I need a change."

And as she pressed her way through the crowd, the Bible said that she said, "If only I can touch the hem." She said, "I don't have to touch the perimeter. I don't have to touch, you know, the circumference, the middle of..." She said, "All I got to do is touch the border." You don't hear me. She said, "I know I'm going to be made whole."

She got her change because she pressed through to her change. We get in the position where get tired and slothful and slumber-some. And we don't feel like pressing. But if you want a change, you got to keep on pressing.

Giving up and thinking about going back into the world. The devil is a liar. I'm not going to just wait until my change comes. I'm going to press through to get my change.

You're going through hell, but you're not living in hell.

Ruth was in a predicament, wasn't she? I love that girl. She was in a predicament. Her husband died. And her mother-in-law told her, "You need to get out and go home."

Ruth was like, "Wait a minute. There ain't nothing back there for me. I need to make a decision in my crisis."

You're going through something today... Listen. This is important. Do not be distracted. You are going through something today, but it's up to you and I to make a decision in our crisis.

That's what set Ruth apart. She made a decision in her crisis to go on and press through to get her change. She made up her mind that, "I'm not going to stay back, and I'm not going back. I'm going to press on through."

Jesus said in the book of John sixteen and verse thirty-three, He said, "In this world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, for I have overcome this world." As a son of God in this world, you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer because He has overcome, and therefore I'm an overcomer.

Understand your position today. The devil is only doing his job. Do you have that revelation? It's his job to try to steal and to kill and to destroy. But it's our job to put him in his place. Put him in his place today. No matter what you are going through in your life (I feel the Holy Ghost in this house), put him in his place. No matter what you been through in this life, put Satan in his place.

Tell him who you are. Because sometimes he wants to act like he's got amnesia. Oh, you don't hear me today. He knows who we are. But he wants to act like we're nothing. You need to rise up today with spiritual indignation and get mad with the devil. Stop getting made with folks and get mad with the devil.

We're sons. We're sons of God. Wait a minute. He's God, and we're sons of God. And we know that He's almighty. Wait a minute. Come on, somebody. Get this revelation. We're His sons. We're not going to let little setbacks stop us.

Nehemiah was building the wall, wasn't he? And there arose obstacles in his way. But every time the obstacles were sent, you would find Nehemiah at the altar again. And he began to pray to the Father, "Father, I didn't try to do this work in my own name." (Tongues.)

"I'm not trying to build this wall in my own name, but I'm doing it because of who You are. I'm doing it because You called me to do it. Send me the help that I need. Strengthen the help that I already have." And he got off his knees and he went back to building again.

You see, when you get an obstacle in your way, it's time to get back down on your knees again. You don't hear me. It ain't time to get on the telephone. You don't hear me today. It's time to get on the... And then get back up and start all over again until the work is complete.