New Orleans, LA, New Mexico & Arizona

I have stated how that we returned from an eventful overcoming day in New Orleans, Louisiana praying for our country, but before I share some of the details, I want to express a few words about our experience in New Mexico and Arizona. When we arrived in Albuquerque, NM, I immediately saw a sign in the airport describing the state as it is known, "The Land of Enchantment".   Enchantment is defined as fascinate, charm, or put a magic spell upon!  The primary description biblically is to secretly perform spells on someone or some situation.   Bottom line is that it is sorcery or witchcraft.  Therefore, I'm sure you should know what spirits we encountered virtually the entire trip.  As most of you are probably aware, these two states were primarily settled by Indians, which we know worshipped things like the Sun, etc., and there is still evidence of that occurring today.   Prior to our arrival for several days, it had been reported that the temperature was intense triple digits, some over 110 degrees with no rain.  Those temps broke two days before we went and were in the mid 70's by the time we arrived, and it rained all across the area at some time during the period we drove through these two states.   Thank God for His mercy on all.  I have been reminded many times on our trips across the country how Jesus stated that rain falls on the just and the unjust, and we have prayed that many times with visible results! Amen!  Most of the terrain across these states is considered the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and although there are beautiful rock formations to observe, that is about the only use for the land.  It is desolate and rocky with minimal use for animal grazing or crop produce.  Of course, the bible describes lands of desolation are a result of a curse on the land because of disobedience to follow the words of God.  Certainly this land could be described this way because of the worshipping of false gods!  There are other details I may share at a later time about these two states as God directs, but I need to move on to our trip to New Orleans.

How many of you heard about the hurricane "Umberto", which was described by the national news as the fastest forming hurricane in the history of weather records?  On Wednesday evening, the report that I heard was a tropical storm with minimal intensity was to hit the Texas border and travel North-Northeast, and by all indications would not be a problem for us on our trip the following day to New Orleans.  Some of you may recall on that Wednesday night the Spirit of God out of Doyle's mouth encouraged me not to let down just because this was our final trip across the country, but to keep pressing through the end.  I took those words to heart thankfully, as the next morning, we awoke to the news report that "Umberto" had materialized into a full-fledged hurricane, and they were showing ominous (their description) clouds over New Orleans.  Needless to say there was opportunity to doubt, but we held fast to the Kingdom of God!  We continued to hear negative reports at the airport, on the plane, and when we arrived in New Orleans, but we were not moved by what we saw or what we heard.  In fact, it was dry when we arrived and remained that way for almost two hours as we drove around the city and prayed.  God led us to one area on our way downtown where our hearts were gripped with compassion as we saw what I would describe as possibly former government housing or projects that have not been restored since "Katrina" with windows all boarded up and fences around them to declare them condemned or not livable.  However, we saw doors open, and people were obviously living somehow inside.  It was incredible to consider, especially when we arrived in downtown where all the money has been used to restore where the tourists come.   Actually, the sky appeared to be getting lighter as we headed further toward the Southeast and into the French Quarter with its openly stated witchcraft on signs like "VOODOO Convenience"!  Then I turned to head back Northwest, and all we could see was black sky before us!  Immediately, Kathy and I began to challenge the forces of the devil over that storm to stop, back off, or disintegrate!  We have encountered many physical storms over the years, as well as several on the trips across the country this past 6 months, and God has always caused us to triumph, so I knew He would do it again.  However, if we would have entertained what we experienced in the next 30 minutes, we would have not made it!  A short time before we were to arrive back at the airport, a torrential downpour dropped on us, but we did not stop plowing against the principalities, powers, rulers, and spiritual wicknesses that God sent us there to fight and kept our heart fixed on the Kingdom of God.  After about 20 minutes of driving in the driving rain as it was time to return the car, we began to overcome, and the rain began to become less and less.  However, when we arrived at the car rental, there were at least 6 other cars that had arrived just ahead of us for car return, and it looked like we were going to be late for our flight.  I inquired inside if we could quickly return the car so as not to miss our flight, and a man next to me retorted, "If you have one!" implying that it probably would be cancelled, which was an opportunity to doubt.  I firmly but calmly replied, "We will have a flight!!" to which he ducked his head and walked away.  That seemed to be the final shot that the devil threw at us, but we did not stop pressing in the Spirit even though we boarded our plane, arrived home, and made it back to Plano in time to see God cast out some more devils! Amen!  I discovered on later reports that there had been anywhere from 1.5 to 3 inches of rain in thirty minutes, which caused flash flooding in areas north and west of where we were located.  Then the storm proceeded Northeast across the country without any more damage!  Again, I thank God for His mercy and grace on us all!  Praise The Lord!!