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The phrase “powers and principalities” refers to the array of evil and malicious spirits that wage war against people, especially the people of God. People in the dark world belong to those spirits. The principalities and powers of Satan are beings that wield power in the unseen realms to oppose everything and everyone that is of God.
As my book, “Stories of Pastor E.A. Adeboye,” shows, those forces do exist in examples where, according to Pastor Adeboye, mothers kill children they carried 9 months in their own womb to drink their blood and eat their flesh.
Where some mothers make their daughters barren or make it impossible for them to be married; where fathers cause their sons to lose jobs;
and where wives gleefully ruin husbands into destitution; and husbands use their wives for rituals.
Mother Who Blocked Daughter’s Marriage
A sister came to one of our programmes in Ebute-Metta, Lagos, years ago. Then the Word (of Knowledge) came and I announced that there was a sister whose mother didn’t want her to be married. The Word said that if the mother does not release her, she (the mother) would be buried within seven days. I didn’t know or even see the woman.
The following day this sister came with her furious mother. “That’s the way you stupid prophets spoil the minds of our children, telling my daughter that I will die because I didn’t allow her to marry.”
I said, “Me? Sister did I say that?”
She reminded me of the prophecy of the day before.
Then I said to the girl, “What God said was that there is a sister here. Did I mention your name?”
I then turned to her mother, “Mama don’t mind her, nobody mentioned her name, she is just claiming what is not her own.”
The mother said, “Oh, oh is that so? Alright!”
She then asked her daughter to excuse us for a while. After the daughter had stepped out, she turned to me, “Pastor, but is it true that the mother of this person will die?”
I said to her, “I may not have been talking about you, but what God told me is going to come to pass. So if you are the one, and I’m not saying it is you, before the week runs out, whoever it is, is going to be buried.”
“Ehhhh, I’m not making it difficult for her to marry, but who is going to take care of me after?”
I said, “Mama, that’s simple. I can tell her about your fear and the husband will take good care of you. I will make them promise. That’s if she can marry within 6 months.”
This lady was almost 40 years old and nobody had looked in her direction before. But now she is married and her mother lives with her and her husband in a happy family.
And a Father Died
A brother in Lagos who had a highly paid job lost it for no reason and for months he was jobless. Things became very difficult for him and so he came to The Holy Ghost Service held every month.
It was in those early days when we were very few. We were about two thousand or so for the all-night service.
The Word of God came saying, “There is a man here, you lost your job, and you cannot get another one even though you are highly qualified.”
And then I said to the congregation, “Well, God asked me to tell you that you are going to get your job back, but the one responsible for this problem will die.”
Three or so months later, his father suddenly died. And two or three days after the father died he got a letter from his place of work apologising and recalling him.
Witches in the Church
We were having our Convention sometime ago and at around 12 mid-night, I said to my ministers, “Ministers of God please come forward.”
At that point I heard something in the spirit. I am sure many of you are familiar with what is called the gift of the discerning of spirit, which enables ability to hear the inaudible. I heard one witch on my right telling another witch on my left, “It is now time for us to intervene.”
So I said, “Brethren hold it, hold it, two witches have been talking.”
I told the congregation what was going on and asked the two witches to come out to be delivered or be buried within one week. I asked the people to close their eyes, but of course many of them didn’t. The two witches eventually came forward and one of them said, “Please sir, it was not me talking, it is what is inside of me that spoke.”
Fire in the Church
There was this woman who came to the Convention with a group of friends. But she soon disappeared and started calling one of her friend from the gate of the church to bring her bag. Wondering what was going on, her friend asked, “Why? Where are you going? We are here for the Convention.”
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She said, “No, I’m not staying there. I am going home.”
“If you are going home then come and pick up your bag by yourself,” her friend told her.
“No, I cannot come,” She shouted.
The friend asked, “Why not?”
She said, “Fire is burning in there.”
(2) Health benefits of hugging
From the time you were born until the day you die, touch is an important part of your emotional and physical health. Infants deprived of touch grow up with developmental and cognitive delays, attachment disorders and higher risk of serious infections. On the other hand, premature infants who are held skin-to-skin exhibit better cognitive skills, are more resilient to stress and have more organized sleep patterns, even 10 years later.
These early touch-based interventions demonstrate the need for touch in psychological regulation. The benefits of touch don’t diminish with age. The late Virginia Satir, psychotherapist and generally acknowledged as a pioneer in family therapy, spoke about the importance of touch and hugs as it relates to a person’s emotional health, saying: “We need [four] hugs a day for survival. We need [eight] hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.”
This may represent the minimum and optimum thresholds to generate sufficient oxytocin, a hormone released by your pituitary gland in response to physical touch. The simple act of hugging may not only increase your bond with others, but may also boost your physical and emotional health.
The importance of touch
In the absence of touch, children become almost unrecognizable, developing personality disorders and other conditions that make it difficult for them to live in society. Historical reports of children who grew up “feral,” or in the wild without the benefit of touch, show they often have difficulty assimilating into a group.
Touch is the primary language to communicate compassion and is fundamental to communication, bonding and health. It supports the immune system, reduces stress, encourages sleep and has no side effects. It doesn’t drain your batteries, but recharges you instead.
Western cultures often experience a deficiency in touch. Before he passed in 1974, psychologist Sidney Jourard completed a study in which he measured touch between friends in the U.S., England, France and Puerto Rico. In England, people didn’t touch at all. In the U.S. friends touched up to two times an hour.
This is in deep contrast to friends in France who touched up to 110 times in an hour, or in Puerto Rico where they touched up to 180 times in an hour.
Health Benefits of Oxytocin
Humans are wired so that hugs make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Whether it’s a mother-child embrace, a hug from a friend or a squeeze from your significant other, research suggests these touches deliver some real emotional and physical health benefits.
The basis for several of the benefits psychologists associate with hugging is the result of release of oxytocin. Also called the “love hormone” or “cuddle hormone,” it is released from your pituitary gland, triggering a flood of emotions depending upon the environment in which you associate the hormone.
In other words, in cases where the hormone was released during situations that were not pleasant, such as during poor relationships, it can make you less accepting of people. The hormone was first recognized for the role it played in bonding mother and child during pregnancy and nursing.
The bonding experience of oxytocin is not limited to infancy, but also translates into adulthood, triggering feelings of trust and support between people who hug.
It promotes feelings of contentment and may even promote monogamous behavior, especially in men who are already bonded to a woman.
The release of oxytocin with hugging triggers feelings of compassion for the other person, a necessary form of connection and support during times of psychological stress or grief. Feelings of intimacy and closeness give you an optimistic sense of where you fit socially and a positive sense of well-being.
Hugging reduces stress
The release of oxytocin reduces your levels of stress hormone, or cortisol. This reduction in stress, combined with a sense of emotional support, appears to support your immune system and make you less susceptible to the common cold.
Research has found your perceived social support and the number of hugs you give and get could predict your susceptibility to developing a cold, finding that hugs could explain 32 percent of the beneficial effect. Even those who got a cold had less severe symptoms when they had more frequent hugs.
The pressure of a hug may stimulate your thymus gland, responsible for the regulation and balance of your white blood cells, another way in which hugging may support your immune system. This reduction in cortisol and perceived stress may also help you stay calm during a stressful event, such as a presentation at work or medical test. The reduction in stress also lowers your heart rate and blood pressure, which may reduce your potential risk for heart disease.
The reduction of stress may also have a direct response on the prevention of other diseases. The Touch Research Institute at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine has carried out multiple studies on the significance of touch and found a reduction in pain, lowered glucose levels in children with diabetes and improved immune system in people with cancer.
Hugs each day may help keep depression at bay
A hug is also one of the easiest ways to demonstrate appreciation and acknowledges the person you are hugging as important to you. Nearly 55 percent of all communication is nonverbal, so a single gesture of hugging is an excellent method of communicating love and care.
Hugs stimulate your brain to release several other chemicals that affect your mood and emotions. The first, dopamine, is a hormone that evokes pleasure in the brain. Endorphins and serotonin are also released, helping to reduce pain and feelings of sadness. According to Debra Castaldo, Ph.D., relationship expert and couples and family therapist: “We also know that hugging our loved ones promotes healthy emotional attachment and intimacy, which is the foundation of a happy, healthy long-term relationship.”
