Sid: But there’s something that is preventing you from walking in the intimacy of a true Son of God. You’re born again, you will go to Heaven, but there is something missing in your walk. And that’s why all this week I’ve been speaking to Leif Hetland about an orphan spirit. Leif, for those that are just tuning in, explain what an orphan spirit is and perhaps how to recognize if you have an orphan spirit.
Leif: An orphan spirit is a primary identity of someone that is living the life without a home. And what I mean by that you can have a 10,000 sq. foot house, but still not have a place of home, a place of security, we were made for that. Every single person in this world God wants us to have security, a place of love, unconditional love because if there’s love deficits in your life you are going to look for love somewhere else; a place of value because to God, I mean you are fearfully and wonderfully made even before you were in his mother’s womb He knew you. There’s something in each person that there is a value, but orphan’s don’t find that value because the orphan spirit is looking for value in what they are doing or they are judging themselves because they are never going to do enough; they don’t have a place from where the Father they have value. And they don’t have a proper purpose in life that is from Heaven towards earth. Orphans would live towards inheritance; either you will find it through massive striving, lack of peace, very self-reliant. Orphans would have an incredible independent spirit and there’s two ways that I see an orphan spirit and you can recognize if you have one. Are you comfortable with love? Are you comfortable with intimacy? If you are not comfortable and that is the major thing that I recognize in the same also with a different relationship, husbands and wives. The orphan spirit will blame, the orphan spirit will say well, he did or she did, I didn’t do it, me, me, me that is either manifested in I me, me, me or pointing the fingers to other people playing the blame game. So I think there’s a root here of restlessness, a root here where you do not have and an A+ on the Father’s report card. You have not heard the voice that Jesus heard that He wants all of us to have that you are my Beloved Son or my Beloved Daughter.
Sid: Okay, that leads to the next question, explain to me what Sonship really means.
Leif: Sonship is also getting back to identity like Jesus was a Son of the Father and you will find that all throughout and that’s why the Jewish faith is so beautiful and you will find it because they define family; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; but it has to do with family. A son is somebody that has the identity of a father, have a heart of a father and are living the life in intimacy and relationship with the father is in proper relationship. One of the Bible terminologies is the Spirit of Adoption, but you’re now part of God’s family; of the Father’s family; He is your Poppa; you are a Son or a Daughter and He is Our Father, but to be Our Father He is my Poppa. He is your Poppa so you have a Daddy, a Father and you have been affirmed by the Father and that’s the key to being affirmed by the Father and anointed by the Spirit then you can be lead into the wilderness to be tested and come out with a testimony. A son is somebody that has lived there life like they have a home, they have inheritance; all that Poppa has is mine so that when I am facing difficulties or challenges in life I’ll just say “Well, I’ve got a big big Poppa I’ve got small problems. But if you got a little Poppa you’ve got big problems. So that’s it, it is a relationship issue between a Father and a Son it is not a gender thing I am using now. I’m just using the language like the guys, we are going to be called the bride of Christ for eternity; so this is just a language of a position that we have with Father God.
Sid: Explain to me at the moment your eyes were opened and you were healed of an orphan spirit.
Leif: I was lying on a floor and then as Jernigan had just sang a Father’s song over me and I heard the Father’s voice saying, “You are my beloved Son Leif, whom I am well pleased.” The liquid love that flowed up and down and when I came up from that very floor one of the first things, I just started to weep. I couldn’t weep, I couldn’t cry before because as Norwegians we don’t do that, just women cry, but not men; and now I weep all the time.
Sid: Was that the first time you were ever able to freely weep?
Leif: Yeah, I would say so because I shut down my emotion; I didn’t show a lot of affection; I was afraid of intimacy. And so there was a lot of issues so when I came as an example home to my wife I just repented, I said, “I’m so sorry,” because there was areas where I had not been able to demonstrate love that I hadn’t been able to express love. That I hadn’t been able to affirm her, I went to my children many times. I remember one picture the Spirit gave me was my son came into me and said, “Daddy Daddy did you see my new shoes? And I was, “Yeah, yeah, yes son I know it’s okay, but I’m working my sermon right now.” And I just started to think about it and I just started to weep again so I went to my children and I said I’m so sorry for you are more valuable than my sermon, you are more…I mean I wept pretty much for two months afterwards because I started to think about all of these experiences where I had operate as an orphan and to fare financially speaking, the pleasures and everything else. Jesus didn’t seem to have those pressures because He only did what the Father was doing. He said what the Father was saying; He lived His life like a Son, He has an inheritance. “Son all that I have is yours,” became an expression He told me a couple of months later, “All that I have is yours.” And I’m like wow, “Does that mean all?” “Yeah, all that I have is yours.”
Sid: The people listening to us right now, they’re dealing with fears of all kinds, they’re dealing with a father that had a lack of being able to show affection or even worse did things to them, or abandoned them, they’re filled with fear, they’re filled with shame, what’s the best way to get rid of this?
Leif: The biggest thing is to come Home, to come Home. First of all I want to remind all of us including myself, I had a great father, a good father, he didn’t do any of these horrific things and I literally have talked to thousands of people. For ten years this has been a primary message, what I am seeing here with let’s come home to Father God. He will never hurt you, He will not abuse you, He is not distant, He is not angry, He is inviting us like He did with the prodigal son to come home, you don’t have to be in the distant land, you don’t have to be in the pigpen or you don’t have to be out in the field you can come home. That’s the first things is and what I mean with that is just to come to Poppa God and just getting a revelation of His love towards you, because when I started to get a revelation of the Father’s love towards me and not just that He loves me, but even likes me; He delights in me, I’m His happy thought. The second element and there is a healing and that is I’m asking the area in my life that is not comfortable with love, because those areas are not comfortable with God for God to pour His love. And that was including Derrick Prince and newsletter in February 9, 1998. He had a great healing, deliverance, all this ministry, but he had that orphan spirit so he described that experience that he always all of his life. We know Derrick Prince, but he had this little dark cloud, he had this struggle with oppression and when that happened to him he experiencing the love. And he described in his February 9th, 1998 of his love experience and all this healing took place. So I’m not saying that you’re always finished with it, but as soon as I start to think like an orphan or feel overwhelmed by finances I am just climbing up on my Poppa’s lap being His little boy and then suddenly finding my security, my love value, my purpose in Him and being a Son.
Sid: What if someone says, “I see an area where I’m not comfortable with love, what should they do about that?”
Leif: First thing is just asking Father God to pour His love into those areas, because perfect love casts will take away fear. I’ll give you one example, because I go a lot into some of the darkest Muslim nations in the world and I use to have a lot of fear doing it. And the way it cured was that I was bitten by a Pit Bull when I was young and I’ve always been afraid and fearful of Pit Bulls. If a Pit Bull was to attack a little kitty cat and I know maybe some of the listeners would react. But if I asked, “What do you think I will do?” And I need to be honest, I would do nothing. “Do you know why?” Because the fear that I have for the dog is greater than the love that I have for the cat. But now if my daughter was there I would have no fear at all. Why? Because the love that I have for my daughter is greater than the fear that I have for the dog. I spent three months just receiving love, coming to Poppa and I said, “Poppa I want you to love on me because the love has to come from Him, go through Him and back to Him. It is not something we make up or we try. I just position myself, “Daddy, I just want You to love on me today and I want your love go deeper. I want you to touch…”
Sid: I’m reminded of the scripture that says, “You have not, because you ask not,” and what you’re saying is that it’s so simple you are asking for Him to open you up to His love. You’re asking for His love.
Leif: Wow! And in 1 Corinthian’s 13; gives a good definition of what love is. “Love never fails,” that means love always wins. “It is patient, it is kind, it does not envy.” That’s the nature that you’re pouring into yourself. It is something that has to do with His nature, the other experiences that I have been in lately is not just to ask that, but I have encountered with Him who is love and that has to do with, I’ll just open myself and through those encounter who He is what you become. So when fear comes my way it is always an invitation for me to have an encounter with Him who is love; and the love that I experience is not what I just study and read about, but the love that I experience being with Him is what I become and what I become now I can release and the love in me can now change the fear that is around me and you can change an environment and settings and that’s what we just saw when I was overseas a few weeks back.
Sid: I’ll tell you what, hold that thought.
