Blessings and Battles: My 40th Unexpected Birthday Experience
Many of you know by now that on June 7th, 2024, I turned 40. Yay! I just finished a decade and started a new one in the Lord. I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of my birthday, but I felt it was a big deal to end a decade, especially when it was loaded with challenges, sicknesses, and many lessons, and start a fresh new one. God celebrates us daily, monthly, yearly, and decade-wise. He cherishes our time on earth and considers it a valuable asset for His glory. I know a birthday is precious because it reminds us of God creating us, but I always thank the Lord for my second birth 20 years ago! Both are important.
So, my birthday is on June 7th, and this time it fell on a Friday, which is a Sabbath, entering the rest of God. Also, 7 means completion, and turning 40 is meaningful because it is the number of ending a wilderness, and it feels like that. Not only that, the month of Sivan 5784 started on my birthday!
The Lord has been talking to me a lot about rest and entering my promised land, and I couldn’t wait for a fresh new beginning in the Lord. As many of you saw, I even created a webpage declaring and prophesying all those goodies. You can still leave me a birthday prayer there and enjoy my gifts for you. (Click here)
Friday came, June 7th arrived, and I NEVER expected that instead of experiencing the goodness of the Lord and the promised rest and freshness, waves of demonic temptations would bombard me. Oh my God, pressure from every side, sexual temptations, oppression, ups and downs, swirling emotions, and even the strong feeling of going back to Egypt, my place of bondage. My soul was in agony, confused, asking the Lord what was going on. I even told Him, “This is not real because I feel like 20 years of being on the potter’s wheel feels like a waste.” Wow! What is going on, Lord?
I forgot that a new beginning and new levels are a threat to Satan. Forgot! I, who teaches the Bible and about the ways in the Spirit, was caught off guard. The devil was at the gate of this NEWNESS of Life to abort it and destroy it. To discourage me and compel me to hate it and expect nothing but death, pain, and curses.
Please read this carefully because you will learn something powerful here:
I am a free man. Not that I won’t be tempted anymore—everyone will—but it took me years to establish my transformation and freedom in my character and mind, especially in my places of bondage. I greatly appreciate my freedom because sin was never fun and will never be. It was a tormenting cycle! Pleasant to the eye and feelings but deadly when you partake of it. This is how sin works! Remember when we all fell in Eden?
So when you feel a sudden urge to go back to Egypt after years of freedom and enjoying your transformation, KNOW that there is a demonic presence and oppression here because it doesn’t make sense why there is this strong stirring in you to do something this strong you forgot about, prayed over with tears for long, went to conferences for freedom, read the books, rebuked the devils, etc. So when it is a sudden urge, discern that there is a demonic activity. But if you are still in your journey toward freedom, know that you still have strongholds and wrong mindsets that are not yet touched by the Lord or renewed. So it is natural to feel frequent desires to sin. Those urges can sometimes be demonic but not necessarily. It is mainly because you are not there yet and your flesh is still active.
This was not the case on my birthday—three days of oppression, entertaining sin, and old behaviors. Sometimes I made it, sometimes I couldn’t. I never experienced a level of oppression like that before.
Why am I sharing my vulnerability with you here? Because many of you are and will start a fresh NEW strong beginning for the glory of the Lord, and the devil is at the door, not just the Lord. You need to be aware of this, be watchful in prayer, and seek help, intercession, and a faith community to take out your giants.
We all want to enter the promised land, but no one wants to confront the giants. I was focusing on my promised land and forgot giants were waiting for me. But greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Even though you go through battles, the final say is the Lord’s. Remember that the dragon is WAITING for the woman to give birth to kill the baby(Revelation 12) and tried his best and caused lots of trouble, yet we have read the last chapter and Jesus wins!
Don’t feel discouraged because with God things will get better and right on track if you keep pressing in. I am writing you this in the belly of the whale, knowing that any moment now, with your prayers, love, support, and giving, I will experience resurrection life and power because it is my portion and yours in Christ.
God bless you,
Tony Francis
We’d love to hear from you! Share your experiences, new beginnings, and thoughts in the comment section below.
How To Obtain Real Faith? A Powerful Teaching by Kathryn Kuhlman
Volumes have been written and spoken about faith, yet we understand so little about it. Each of us desires faith, but it’s not something we can work up or carry around like a handkerchief. It’s a gift from God, a fruit of the Spirit.
When will the world stop its foolish struggles and simply believe? If you’ve been trying to manufacture faith, just stop. Faith doesn’t come from our mental and intellectual gymnastics; it must come from God.
We are capable of belief but incapable of exercising biblical faith. This is why many mistakenly think belief is faith. Belief is cold, intellectual, and mental. The devil believes, but that doesn’t save him. We need to understand this clearly: belief and faith are not the same.
Faith is living, moving, operating, and sweeping away the enemy of our souls. You only need faith the size of a mustard seed if it’s God’s faith. If you sincerely want faith, He will impart it to you.
The Jericho Road without Jesus is just a road. With Jesus, it becomes a shining highway of salvation and healing. It takes the presence of Jesus to transform our lives.
The blind man didn’t sit and say, “I believe I can see.” He cried out to Jesus for help. Jesus asked him, “What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” The blind man wanted to see, and Jesus granted his request through faith.
Where did the blind man get this faith? Jesus gave it to him. Just like a watch given as a gift, the faith belonged to Jesus before He imparted it to the blind man.
Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. It’s His matchless grace and love. We are like tiny seeds that can grow into something noble and beautiful for God.
Once, a tiny acorn shed its overcoat and grew through the winter with Mother Nature’s care. But a man placed a heavy rock over it, hindering its growth. The little tree didn’t struggle to move the rock; it simply grew until one day the rock was lifted.
You and I are like that little seed. We can grow through the challenges of life. The power of faith can be manifested in us until men and angels wonder.
When the battle is over and victory is won, don’t boast of your own accomplishments. Kneel at Jesus’ feet and say, “Is it not wonderful that His grace and faith should be manifested in me?”
Beloved, I have no faith of my own. It’s not something I can manufacture or send to you. Faith is a gift from God. It comes from Him and is a gift He gives to you and me.
By Kathryn Kuhlman
You can listen to Miss Kuhlman’s original message “The Real Faith” on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ShaU6Jqk8