Be Not Ignorant
For we do not want
you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we
were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.
Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in
ourselves but in God who raises the dead,
who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we
trust that He will still deliver us, you
also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons
on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. 2 Corinthians
1:9-11
Ignorance is not a
blessing but sometimes a disaster especially of the power of God, your
inheritance in Christ and the authority you have in Christ as a Christian, as a
son of God! In this world one sole policeman has great authority because the
government is behind him and you can get into serious trouble if you resist him.
Similarly God has given us the use of the name of Jesus which is above all
principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not
only in this age but also in that which is to come. And the use of the name of
Jesus can bring great dividends to a knowledgeable believer!
The name of Jesus can
heal the sick, move a mountain, still storms, cast out demons and cause miracles to occur in the current
time of life for a believer! And because Jesus Christ is alive and well and has
overcome the world including sin, demons and death and has won the victory, He
gives the victory to His trusting children to achieve great things for His honor
and glory. The size of their mountain or
enemies is not a problem because their God, friend, provider and Lord, is bigger
than anything that they face or will face. He is still in the mountain moving
and miracle working business and none can stand against Him and the power of
Jesus name. Everything must bow at the name of Jesus including sickness,
poverty, disease, demons, loss and governments. God’s word is
true:
Let this mind be in
you which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but
made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in
the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those
under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11
So the Lord said, "If
you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled
up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Luke
17:6
For whatever is born
of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the
world-our faith. 1 John 5:4
Chapter 1
Love Is The Greatest
Let no one seek his
own, but each one the other's well-being. 1 Corinthians
10:24
And now abide faith,
hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians
13:13
The God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, has not only
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, but
has made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus who is seated
at God’s right hand in the heavenly places. Jesus Christ has redeemed us to God by His blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God and to
reign on the earth.
God is love and He
sought not his own well-being but ours!
God is love and while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. God is love
and He gave His only begotten Son that we should not perish but have life
everlasting. Life everlasting and Love is a person called Jesus Christ and not a
set of doctrines or beliefs. And if we truly are perfect and have Love inside of
us we will seek not our own but each other’s well-being. God’s word is
unchanging:
In this the children
of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice
righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from
the beginning, that we should love one another,
not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why
did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world
hates you. We know that we have passed
from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his
brother abides in death. Whoever hates
his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life
abiding in him. By this we know love,
because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives
for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in
need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My
little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:10-17
Love is expressed
primarily not by words but by deeds. God so loved us that He gave His only
begotten Son, Jesus Christ, His wonderful Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, and all
things. His divine power has given to
us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him
who called us by glory and virtue (2Peter 1:3 ). He desires that we may prosper in all things and be in health,
just as our soul prospers (3 John 1:2).
Our flesh and blood bodies are NOW the Temple
"Christ IN US, the
hope of glory…"
"The Father and the
Son will come and make Their abode IN YOU…"
"The Kingdom of God
"The Spirit of truth
will dwell WITH YOU and IN YOU…"
It’s true
EMMANUEL, "GOD WITH(in) US", the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are the
ANOINTING within us.
Jesus Christ dwells
within us and that His anointing is our anointing! The same POWER that Jesus
used to preach, teach, prophesy and ministering healing to thousands is NOW
resident within each and every born-again, Holy Spirit baptized man, woman and
child. All the anointing of God we will ever need to "do the works of Jesus" and
"greater works than these" are NOW possible because God lives in us. His word is
unchanging:
"Most assuredly, I
say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and
greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will
do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. "If you ask anything in My name, I will do
it. "If you love Me, keep My
commandments. "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
that He may abide with you forever- "the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor
knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to
you. "A little while longer and the
world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live
also. John 14:12-19
"Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received,
freely give. Matthew 10:8
Because God is love
and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him, we will go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. We will cast out demons; we will
speak with new tongues; we will take up serpents; and we will lay hands on the
sick, and they will recover. The One who
send us will work with us and confirm the Word through the accompanying signs.
God’s word is true:
And He said to them,
"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. "He who believes and is baptized will be
saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. "And these signs will follow those who
believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new
tongues; "they will take up serpents;
and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay
hands on the sick, and they will recover."
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into
heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and
confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Matthew
16:15-20
We don’t have to go
to Bible College and have several degrees after our name before we can become a
POWERFUL Holy Ghost filled witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t have to
know a lot about the Bible and Christian doctrines before we can become a
POWERFUL witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t have to FEEL THE POWER of
the Lord upon we before we lay hands on someone to be healed, delivered and set
free from what the Devil has bound them under. All we need is simple child like
faith to DO THE WORKS OF JESUS! Lost, sick and hurting humanity is wafting for
the sons and daughters of God to be revealed. God’s word is
unchanging:
For the earnest
expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
Romans 8:19
And He Himself gave
some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers, for the equipping of the
saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we
all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a
perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed
to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of
men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in
love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ- from whom the whole body, joined and knit
together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by
which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of
itself in love. Ephesians 4:11-16
Yes, we must all come to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ; that we should
no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful
plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him
who is the head-Christ- from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to
the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the
body for the edifying of itself in love. Each one of us must do the works of
Jesus and take our rightful place as the sons and daughters of God. God’s word
is unchanging:
So then, my beloved
brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the
wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and
overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is
able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he
is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and
immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and
is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in
what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle
his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and
undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and
widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James
1:19-27
Chapter 2
Hope Thou In God
Why are you cast
down, O my soul? And why are you
disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I
shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. Psalm 42:11
For the vision is yet
for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it
will surely come, It will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:3
No matter how we feel
or what negative situation that we find ourselves in, when we praise God we give
Him the fuel to lead us from glory to glory even if His paths will lead us into
the Red Sea where nothing but a miracle will save us! Faith still is the
evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).
In spiritual combats praise makes us a lion that cannot be stopped.
Praise is God's natural habitat; whereas the devil naturally inhabits sorrow.
When we are praising God, we are exalting Him, and He will in turn exalt us; if
we honor Him, He will honor us. When we give God His proper place then He
promotes us to our proper place just like He did for King David and King
Solomon. David continually praised God (Psalm 34:1) and God delivered him from all his enemies.
And Solomon went to Gibeon where he offered a thousand burnt offerings on the
altar. As a result God said to Solomon, "Ask! What shall I give you?" (1 Kings
3:4-5). As a result Solomon became one of the richest kings of his day.
We were created to
praise God. We are created as an instrument of praise unto God. And when we step
in this purpose, then God true purposes for our lives become a reality. And His
best for our lives becomes not just a dream. There is no weeping, sickness and
lack in heaven. So when our life becomes
one of praises it puts us into reality of the heavenly places. It moves us from
the superficial to the deep things of God where earth’s poverty, sickness and
lack are replaced by heaven’s riches, health and abundance.
In any situation
where we do not know what else to do, we can just sing praises unto the Lord,
fixing our eyes on Him. And then we enjoy dramatic triumphs in praise, because
God is there. We also execute judgment,
produce vengeance and eradicate mourning (Psalm 149: 7), as we put on the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:1-3). Praise brings God
on the scene and all our enemies will be scattered!
Because God is alive
and well and a great miracle working God, at all times we can praise and give
him thanks especially as we have hope and faith of the great and wonderful
things that He will do for us. His word is unchanging:
Bless the LORD, O my
soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all
His benefits: Who forgives all your
iniquities, Who heals all your
diseases, Who redeems your life from
destruction, Who crowns you with
loving-kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:1-5
…and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working
of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead
and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all
principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not
only in this age but also in that which is to come. Ephesians
1:19-21
Now to Him who is
able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to
the power that works in us, … Ephesians 3:20
We can serve the Lord
our God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all
things that He has done for us and is doing for us. The devil is a liar and the truth is that God
still forgives all our iniquities, heals all our diseases, and redeems our life
from destruction. The truth is there is the exceeding greatness of His power
toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He
worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right
hand in the heavenly places. The truth is God able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us
including the power of hope and faith. When we put our hope in God and praise
Him, He rides the heaven in our help. Praise brings down the power of God our
life, because it provokes the release of fresh oil which endues with power.
Nothing forces our enemy to surrender like power. When we engage in genuine
praise, we are anointed with fresh oil and endowed with power; that is when we
begin to see our desires upon our enemies. God’s word is
unchanging:
Make a joyful shout to God, all the
earth! Sing out the honor of His
name; Make His praise glorious. Say to God,"How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
Psalm 66:1-2
But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I
have been anointed with fresh oil. My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies;
My ears hear my desire on the wicked Who rise up against me. Psalm.
92:10-11
Praise not only
fertilizes our hope and keeps it going strong but it brings us from a prison to
a palace just like God did for Joseph who was unjustly locked up. As a result he
would rule over his brothers that sold him into slavery. As a result Joseph would give his testimony,
"For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." (Genesis. 41:52). God is inside praise, so
everything that bows to God will bow to praise. When faced with any conflict of
life, we can destroy the obstacles by switching to praise; and watch all the
walls of Jericho (hedging us in) be brought down! Yes, when we praise God He will increase us,
bless us and prosper us. His word is
true:
"Who is like You, O
LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises,
doing wonders? Exodus 15:11
Let the peoples
praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Oh, let the nations be glad
and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, And govern the
nations on earth. Selah Let the peoples
praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield
her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, And all the
ends of the earth shall fear Him. Psalm 67:3-7
Behold, I will do a
new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a
road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honor Me, The
jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in
the desert, To give drink to My people,
My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise. Isaiah 43:19-21
So the ransomed of
the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on
their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee
away. Isaiah 51:11
The LORD your God in
your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17
Just like Abraham
believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness so can we believe God?
Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in
faith, giving glory to God (Romans 4:20) and so can we! No matter the storm we
will find ourselves in, we can be sure of what God has promised. He has promised
to bless and prosper us and to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask
pray or thing. God’s word is unchanging:
For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of
evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
He did not waver at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had
promised He was also able to perform.
And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness." Romans
4:20-22
In this you greatly
rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by
various trials, that the genuineness of
your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is
tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of
Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you
love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy
inexpressible and full of glory,… 1 Peter 1:6-8
The righteousness of
God in Jesus Christ is the driving force behind our faith, causing us to triumph
in His Name. Jesus triumphed over Satan
in three areas. First, during His earthly ministry, He spoke to Satan and said,
“It is written...” (Matthew 4:4,7,10), and Satan had to obey the Word of God.
Secondly, at the cross and resurrection, Jesus stripped Satan of his power and
took the keys of hell and death. However, the third and most important area of
Jesus’ triumph over Satan is His victory in the new birth. It was impossible in
Satan’s thinking for God to take a man in sin, turn him into righteousness, give
him the armor of God and enable him to triumph as Jesus did. This is victory of
the highest order! Sin turned into righteousness! Death
Almighty God is our
very own Father! We are bone of His bone, spirit of His Spirit, a joint-heir
with Jesus Christ, and living in the kingdom of God. As we realize these things
in our life, weu become God-inside-minded. We no longer think of God as being a
million miles away. He is residing inside us! Righteousness then becomes a force
in the life of a believer which under girds his faith. The reality of
righteousness enables a believer to do the impossible. Jesus approached the tomb
of Lazarus and said, “Take ye away the stone...” (John 11:39). He never wavered
in His faith.
Righteousness is our
gateway to enjoying any benefit from God. Since He won't behold iniquity, our
praises to Him in iniquity won't be acceptable before Him. He couldn't even
behold His only begotten Son on the cross when He bore the sins of the whole
world upon Himself, how then would He listen to us when him you praise Him in
sin? Every grace of God thrives on
righteousness. Praise provides an access into the presence and blessings of God;
but it is righteousness that secures it. Every blessing from God requires
righteousness to be released. Similarly, every principle of God produces on the
platform of righteousness, which is God's foundation (2 Timothy.2:19). Every
blessing requires that we abide in the vine. God’s word is
unchanging:
"I am the true vine,
and My Father is the vinedresser. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit
He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear
more fruit. "You are already clean
because of the word which I have spoken to you. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither
can you, unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who
abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and
they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in
you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. "By this My Father is glorified, that you
bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John
15:1-8
Praise the LORD! Sing
to the LORD a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints. Let Israel
rejoice in their Maker; Let the children
of Zion be joyful in their King. Let
them praise His name with the dance; Let
them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation. Psalm
149:1-4
What is the
conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the
understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the
understanding. 1 Corinthians
14:15
Chapter 3
If You Have Faith?
And the apostles said
to the Lord, "Increase our faith." So
the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this
mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it
would obey you. "And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep,
will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down
to eat'? "But will he not rather say to
him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I
have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'? "Does he thank that servant because he did
the things that were commanded him? I think not. "So likewise you, when you have
done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable
servants. We have done what was our duty to do.' " Luke
17:6-10
There are many so called believers who are
very upset with the Word-Faith Movement that emphasis faith and have attacked it
with critiques such as:
The fastest growing
segment of professing Christianity today is the Word-Faith Movement, also known
as the Positive Confession or simply "Faith" movement. Its growth is at least
partially due to the massive amounts of money the leaders are able to extract
from the faithful. This influx of cash allows for huge buildings and extensive
ministries, and more importantly, wide exposure on television, which translates
into numerical growth. Not only do many Word-Faith preachers broadcast their
services and campaigns, but Word-Faith adherents, Paul and Jan Crouch, own the
largest Christian-based television network in the world. The Trinity
Broadcasting Network (TBN), founded by the Crouches, with an estimated net worth
of approximately $600 million dollars, is capable of televising the Faith
message (as well as many other errant messages) all over the
world.
As is implied by the
title "Word-Faith," the supporters of this movement believe that faith works
like a mighty power or force. Through faith, we can obtain anything we want --
health, wealth, success, whatever. However, this force is only released through
the spoken word. As we speak the words of faith, power is discharged to
accomplish our desires. Hagin's theme, as found in his booklet How to Write Your
Own Ticket with God, can be summarized as follows (Christianity in Crisis, pp.
74-75):
In the opening
chapter, titled "Jesus Appears to Me," Hagin claims that while he "was in the
Spirit" -- just like the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos -- a white cloud
enveloped him and he began to speak in tongues. "Then the Lord Jesus Himself
appeared to me," says Hagin. "He stood within three feet of me." After what
sounded like a casual conversation about such things as finances, ministry, and
even current affairs, Jesus told Hagin to get a pencil and a piece of paper. He
then instructed him to "Write down: 1,2,3,4." Jesus then allegedly told Hagin
"if anybody, anywhere, will take these four steps or put these four principles
into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the
Father." That includes whatever you want financially. The formula is simply:
"Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it."
1. Step number one is
"Say it." "Positive or negative, it is up to the individual. According to what
the individual says, that shall he receive."
2. Step number two is
"Do it." "Your action defeats you or puts you over. According to your action,
you receive or you are kept from receiving."
3. Step number three
is "Receive it." We are to plug into the "powerhouse of heaven." "Faith is the
plug, praise God! Just plug in."
4. Step number four
is "Tell it so others may believe." This final step might be considered the
Faith movement's outreach program.[i]
But it was Jesus
Christ the author and founder of the Christian faith who taught about using
faith to say things and get concrete results in the now – “if you have faith and
do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if
you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be
done” (Matthew 21:21). So likewise you, when you have done all those things
which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what
was our duty to do.' " So how can critics blame the Word-Faith movement for
doing what Jesus told them they would do? They cannot!
A simple examination
of many of the critics of the Word-Faith Movement reveal that they don’t have
the faith that Jesus was talking about and they don’t do what He has commanded
them to do including:
"And these signs will
follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak
with new tongues; "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything
deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they
will recover." So then, after the Lord
had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right
hand of God. And they went out and
preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through
the accompanying signs. Amen. Matthew 16:17-20
How could hypocrites
and blinds ones critique ‘faith?’ They cannot for they deny much in the Word of
God including:
Surely he took up our
infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his Stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5
For to this you were
called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you
should follow His steps: "Who committed
no sin, Nor was deceit found in His
mouth"; who, when He was reviled, did
not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed
Himself to Him who judges righteously;
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having
died to sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed. 2
Peter 2:20-24
Yes, Jesus suffered
for us. He was severely whipped with iron balls that caused deep contusions and
the leather thongs and sheep bones that cut into the skin and subcutaneous
tissues. As the flogging continued, the lacerations tore into the underlying
skeletal muscles and producing quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh result in
great pain and blood loss so that by His stripes we are healed. Yes, at the
hands of unbelievers, Jesus, our LAMB, was beaten. On His body deep furrows were plowed by the
awful Roman lash and it literally tore pieces of flesh from His back. THESE WERE THE STRIPES by which, Isaiah and
Peter say, WE WERE HEALED. And they were
laid on His BODY. This was the bearing
of our sicknesses, and so, the provision was made for the healing of our body.
Jesus took these "stripes" for you and I so that we could be healed. God’s word
is unchanging:
Bless the LORD, O my
soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender
mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with
good things, So that your youth is
renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:1-5
Then they cried out
to the LORD in their trouble, And He
saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And
delivered them from their destructions. Psalm 107:19-20
Yes, the Word
of God tells us that the benefits of putting our trust in the Lord includes
forgiveness of all our iniquities,
healing of all our diseases, redemption of our life from destruction, being crowned with loving-kindness and tender
mercies, satisfied with good things, So that our youth is renewed like the
eagle's. But each one of us must understand how to receive healing and keep it.
Mind you the critics of the Word of Faith movement don’t believe and accept
God’s word or the fact that when we understand God's word on healing and act
upon it, it brings forth a manifestation of healing in our physical bodies that
gives our heavenly Father the glory for what Jesus has done for us. They don’t believe that sickness is the
result of an oppression of the devil. Acts 10:38 says, "...and Jesus went about
doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with
Him."
Yes, the devil
inflicts people with sickness and doesn't like it when God's Word brings healing
and destroys his work. The devil, using people like the critics of the Word
Faith Movement, reestablishes his infliction by stealing the truth of the Word
from God’s people as demonstrated in Matthew 13:19 where it says, "When anyone
hears the Word of the kingdom, and does not understand that the evil one comes
and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed
was sown beside the road."
As a result many
people from dead Christian churches receive the Word on healing and are prayed
for and a healing takes place, and they receive it with joy, but due to lack of
proper teaching don’t allow it to become firmly rooted in them and are not
prepared to resist the devil who inflict them with the very same symptoms to
change their minds. Matthew 13:21 tells
us because of the Word, this affliction will be brought against them once again
to cause them to fall away. The devil will once again bring the symptoms of the
sickness to try and convince them that they are not healed. This is a lying
vanity. The root meaning of a lying vanity is something that comes against us to
change our mind. For if the devil can
cause us to look at symptoms instead of God's promise, he can convince us to
believe his lie. When we focus on the symptoms, pain or whatever it is, doubt
and unbelief come to our mind and this gives entrance for fear to re-establish
the sickness. Hence we must keep our heart and mind fixed upon God and His
promise. Isaiah 26:3 says, "I will keep him in perfect peace who's mind is
stayed upon me."
We need to hold fast
to that which is good. We must allow the Word to take root so that it can
complete the manifestation of healing. Jonah is an example of this. He was
swallowed by the whale and was in the whale's belly for three days and nights,
yet he did not give up on God and His promise. He said in Jonah 2:8-9 "Those who
regard lying vanities forsake their faithfulness, but I will sacrifice to thee
with the voice of thanksgiving." Jonah decided not to believe a lying vanity,
but to trust God and God delivered him out of his circumstance. Had Jonah
believed the lie, he would have lost his faith and not received deliverance. How
can we expect God to deliver us if we go by what the devil does rather than
trust God? So when the symptoms return, we must set our faith in God and his
Word and tell the enemy, no matter what, we are not going to believe his lies.
James 4:7, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and He will flee from
you." [ii]
We know that not all
are saved (even though God is not willing that any should perish) because not
all appropriate the blessing of Salvation through Faith in Jesus Christ. In the
same light, not all appropriate the blessing of Divine Healing and Divine
Prosperity because not all HAVE ABSOLUTE FAITH that Jesus desires to heal them
and prosper them NOW! Yet God’s word is
unchanging about faith:
Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good
testimony. By faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen
were not made of things which are visible.
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his
gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did
not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was
taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please
Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of those who diligently seek Him Hebrews 11:1-6
The Bible says that
NOW Faith is and God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. If a person
had absolute faith that Jesus is his Healer NOW, then his healing would manifest
NOW. Yes, we need to pray for God to help us in our weak faith so that we can be
able to receive every blessing that God has Promised us in His Word in this
lifetime as well as the one to come for God’s word is unchanging about
faith:
By faith they passed
through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so,
were drowned. By faith the walls of
Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with
those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. And what more shall I say? For the time would
fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and
Samuel and the prophets: who through
faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence
of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became
valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Hebrews
11:29-34
We can live FREE from sickness and diseases if
we’re are a child of GOD. Once we understand where sickness comes from, we can
understand why we are able to get rid of it! God's word clearly reveals that
death, disease and sickness originated with sin and now are being spread by
Satan (Rom 5:12-21; Job 2:6-7; Luke 13:16). Think of all those Jesus healed. The
Gospels say they were all "oppressed of the Devil" (Acts 10:38). Only when sin
is taken out of the human race, will there be no more sickness. Until then we
pray for the sick to be healed!
The Bible teaches
that forgiveness of sins and healing of the body goes hand in hand. Healing is
just as easy to receive from God as forgiveness of sins. If you have need of
healing, it is only right that you surrender your life to God if you expect Him
to heal you. Healing is one of the benefits of being in right relationship with
God. "Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits he forgives
all your sins and heals all your diseases." (Ps. 103:2-3). God calls Himself in
Scripture "Jehovah Rapha", meaning "I am the LORD who is your healer" (Ex.
15:26)
When Believers agree
together things begin to happen. Join with others in agreeing upon your
condition, pray one for another, and get anointed with oil. (Mark 6:13, James
5:14-16). Jesus exercised no power in His ministry which every true believer
cannot have today. True believers can heal the sick and cast out devils! They
can perform miracles and even raise the dead. Many will say these things were
only for the Apostles, just to get the church started. Not true my friend, this
is for today and what true disciples were meant to do!
SATAN'S
OBJECTIVE
Satan's primary
objective is to discredit God. Spoiling our bodies is one way he operates.
Created in the image of God, we are caught in the middle of this spiritual
battleground. Satan "as your enemy
prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter
5:8). He will devour you with disease
and sickness if you let him. Our great
advantage is that God sent His Son to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John
3:3). God through Jesus Christ will
destroy Satan's evil work in your body!
Our failures come
because of an imperfect understanding of God's word. God's word declares that, "you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32). Satan your adversary knows the truth better
than you do. Until you discover and
start claiming what is legally yours, Satan will continue his harassment and
assault on your life. He knows your weak
areas.
CHRIST THE
HEALER
The Bible clearly
reveals that God wills to be the "healer" of His people and declares His will to
heal all those that obey Him. Christ's
works of healing were not only to prove His divinity but were a part of His
complete mission of fulfilling the will of God.
"Here I am, I have come to do your will." (Heb 10:9). "Many followed Jesus, and he healed all their
sick" (Matthew 12:15). Jesus Himself is
a revelation of the will of God. He did
the will of God; He healed all who came to Him.
He has an unchanging priesthood; "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and
today and forever." (Hebrew 13:8).[iii]
Yes, Our God is
strong and mighty indeed. He is our shield and buckler. The Lord has promised to
go with us. Joshua 1:9 tells us we do not need to be afraid or dismayed. No matter what the devil brings our way.
There is complete victory through the divine blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus has
all power, and His promise is, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world." We can trust Him with all of our heart; lean not to our own
understanding, and He will move for us and work all things out for our good.
God’s word is unchanging:
Likewise the Spirit
also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered. Now He who searches
the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession
for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He
also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover
whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also
justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If
God is for us, who can be against us? He
who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things? Romans
8:26-32
Chapter 4
The God Of Miracle Lives
And Jesus came and
spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on
earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age." Amen. Matthew 18:18-20
And my God shall
supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
The promises of God
are many, and those who trust and obey can have all their needs supplied. Our help and supply goes beyond this
earth. God has all power in heaven and
in earth, and as God's Children, we can have full assurance from on High that
all will be well with us. Tribulations
on this earth may be many, but God will deliver us out of them all as we lean
and depend upon Him. Down through the
years, God has been faithful to His obedient Children, and He is the same
today. Whatever our need is, whether it
be physical, spiritual or financial, we can cast it upon the Lord and let Him
perform miracles for us. God’s word is true:
"Men of Israel, hear
these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles,
wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves
also know- ACTS 2:22
Then Philip went down
to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one
accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which
he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were
possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great
joy in that city. Acts 8:5-8
Miracles exist
because God exists, but God's marvelous, miracle-working times have been
preceded by times of marvelous, miracle-working praying. Jesus constantly prayed
during the ministries. And the disciples prayed after Jesus left for the Holy
Spirit and His power and they received it to do miracles. Prayer is simply
asking God to do for us what he has promised us he will do if we ask him. The
answer is a part of prayer, and is God's part of it. God's doing the thing asked
for is as much a part of the prayer as the asking of the thing is prayer. Asking
is man's part. Giving is God's part. The praying belongs to us. The answer
belongs to God.[iv]
Man makes the plea
and God makes the answer. The plea and the answer compose the prayer. God is
more ready, more willing and more anxious to give the answer than man is to give
the asking. The possibilities of prayer lie in the ability of man to ask large
things and in the ability of God to give large things. God's only condition and limitation of prayer
is found in the character of the one who prays. The measure of our faith and
praying is the measure of his giving. As our Lord said to the blind man,
"according to your faith be it unto you," so it is the same in praying,
"According to the measure of your asking, be it unto you." God measures the
answer according to the prayer. He is limited by the law of prayer in the
measure of the answers he gives to prayer. As is the measure of prayer, so will
be the answer.
If the person praying
has the characteristics which warrant praying, then the possibilities are
unlimited. They are declared to be "all things whatsoever." Here is no
limitation in character or kind, in circumference or condition. The man who
prays can pray for anything and for everything, and God will give everything and
anything. If we limit God in the asking, he will be limited in the
giving.
Praying men and God's
providence go together. This was thoroughly understood by the praying ones of
the Scripture. They prayed over everything because God had to do with
everything. They took all things to God in prayer because they believed in a
divine providence which had to do with all things. They believed in an
ever-present God, who had not retired into the secret recesses of space, leaving
his saints and his creatures to the mercy of a tyrant, called nature, and its
laws, blind, unyielding, with no regard for anyone who stood in its way. If that
be the correct conception of God, why pray to him? He is too far away to hear
them when they pray, and too unconcerned to trouble himself about those on
earth.
These men of prayer
had an implicit faith in a God of special providence, who would gladly,
promptly, and readily respond to their cries for help in times of need and in
seasons of distress.
The so-called "laws
of nature" did not trouble them in the least. God was above nature, in control
of nature' while nature was but the servant of Almighty God. Nature's laws were
but his own laws, since nature was but the offspring of the divine hand. Laws of
nature might be suspended and no evil would result. Every intelligent person is
conversant every day when he sees man overruling and overcoming the law of
gravitation, and no one is surprised or raises his hand or voice in horror at
the thought of nature's laws being violated. God is a God of law and order, and
all his laws in nature, in providence and in grace work together in perfect
accord, with no clash or disharmony.
God suspends or
overcomes the laws of disease and rain often without or independent of prayer.
But quite often he does this in answer to prayer. Prayer for rain or for dry
weather is not outside the moral government of God, nor is it asking God to
violate any law which he has made, but only asking him to give rain in his own
way, according to his own laws. So also the prayer for the rebuking of disease
is not a request at war with law either natural or otherwise, but is a prayer in
accordance with law, even the law of prayer, a law set in operation by Almighty
God as the so-called natural law which governs rain or which controls
disease.
The believer in the
law of prayer has strong ground on which to base his plea. And the believer in a
divine providence, the companion of prayer, stands equally on strong granite
foundations, from which he need not be shaken. These twin doctrines stand fast
and will abide forever.
In every condition,
in sickness, in health, In poverty's vale or abounding in wealth; At home or
abroad, on the land or the sea, As thy days may demand shall thy strength ever
be.
God is not now so
evident in the world, so almighty in manifestation as of old, not because
miracles have passed away, nor because God has ceased to work, but because
prayer has been shorn of its simplicity, its majesty, and its power. God still
lives and miracles still live while God lives and acts, for miracles are God's
ways of acting. Prayer is dwarfed, withered, and petrified when faith in God is
staggered by doubts of lies ability, or through the shrinking caused by fear.
When faith has a telescopic far-off vision of God, prayer works no miracles, and
brings no marvels of deliverance. But when God is seen by faith's closest,
fullest eye, prayer makes a history of wonders.
Think about God. Make
much of him, till he broadens and fills the horizon d faith. Then prayer will
come into its marvelous inheritance of wonders. The marvels of prayer are seen
when we remember that God's purposes are changed by prayer, God's vengeance is
stayed by prayer, and God's penalty is remitted by prayer. The whole range of
God's dealing with man is affected by prayer. Here is a force which must be
increasingly used, that of prayer, a force which all the events of life ought to
be subjected. Many miracles ought to be worked by our praying. Why not? Is the
arm of the Lord shortened that he cannot save? Is his ear heavy that he cannot
hear? Has prayer lost its power because iniquity abounds and the love of many
has grown cold? Has God changed from what he once was? To all these queries we
enter an emphatic negative. God can as easily today work miracles by praying as
he did in the days of old. "I am the Lord; I change not." "Is anything too hard
for the Lord?"
He who works miracles
by praying will first of all work the chief miracle on himself. Oh, that we
might fully understand well the Christian's trade of praying, and follow the
trade day by day and thus make for ourselves great spiritual
wealth!
All natural forces
are under God's control. He did not create the world and put it under law, and
then retire from it, to work out its own destiny, irrespective of the welfare of
his intelligent creatures. Natural laws are simply God's laws, by which He
governs and regulates all things in nature. Nature is nothing but God's servant.
God is above nature, God is not the slave of nature. This being true, God can
and will suspend the working of nature's laws, can hold them in abeyance by His
almighty hand, can for the time being set them aside, to fulfill his higher
purposes in redemption. It is no violation of nature's laws when, in answer to
prayer, he who is above nature makes nature his servant, and causes nature to
carry out his plans and purposes.
This is the
explanation of that wonderful prayer miracle of Old Testament times, when
Joshua, in the strength and power of the Lord God, commanded the sun and moon to
stand still to give time to complete the victory over the enemies of Israel. Why
should it be thought a thing incredible that the God of nature and of grace
should interfere with his own natural laws for a short season in answer to
prayer, and for the good of his cause? Is God tied hand and foot? Has he so
circumscribed himself that he cannot operate the law of prayer? Is the law of
nature superior to the law of prayer? Not by any means. He is the God of prayer
as well as the God of nature. Both prayer and nature have God as their maker,
their ruler and their executor. And prayer is God's servant, just as nature is
his servant.
The prayer force in
God's government is as strong as any other force, and all natural and other
forces must give way before the force of prayer. Sun, moon and stars are under
God's control in answer to prayer. Rain, sunshine and drought obey his will.
"Fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling his word." Disease and
health are governed by him. All, all things in heaven and earth are absolutely
under the control of him who made heaven and earth, and who governs all things
according to his own will.
Prayer still works
miracles among men and brings to pass great things. It is as true now as when
James wrote his epistle, "The effectual fervent, prayer of a righteous man
availed much." And when the records of eternity are read out to an assembled
world, then will it appear how much prayer has wrought in this world. Little is
now seen of the fruits of prayer compared to all that it has accomplished and is
accomplishing. At the judgment day, then will God disclose the things which were
brought to pass in this world through the prayers of the saints? Many
occurrences which are now taken as a matter of course will then be seen to have
happened because of the Lord's praying ones.
The work of George
Muller in Bristol, England, was a miracle of the nineteenth century. It will
take the opening of the books at the great judgment day to disclose all he
wrought through prayer. This godly man never asked anyone for money for running
expenses at his orphanage where hundreds of fatherless and motherless children
were cared for. His practice was always to ask God for just what was needed, and
the answers which came to him read like a record of apostolic times. He prayed
for everything and trusted implicitly to God to supply all his needs. And it is
a matter of record that never did he and the orphans ever lack for any good
thing.
Of a holy man who has
done so much for Christ and suffering humanity, it was said at the grave about
him:
He prayed up the
walls of a hospital, and the hearts of the nurses. He prayed mission stations
into being, and missionaries into faith. He prayed open the hearts of the rich,
and gold from the most distant lands.
Our prayers are too
little and feeble to execute the purposes or to claim the promises of God with
appropriating power. Marvelous purposes need marvelous praying to execute them.
Miracle-making promises need miracle making praying to realize them. Only divine
praying can operate divine promises or carry out divine purposes. How great, how
sublime, and how exalted are the promises God makes to his people! How eternal
are the purposes of God! Why are we so impoverished in experience and so low in
life when God's promises are so "exceeding great and precious"? Why do the
eternal purposes of God move so tardily? Why they are so poorly executed? Our
failure to appropriate the divine promises and rest our faith on them and to
pray believingly is the solution. "We have not because we ask not." We ask and
receive not because we ask amiss.
God's promises are
dependent and conditioned upon prayer to appropriate them and make them a
conscious realization. The promises are inwrought in us, appropriated by us, and
held in the arms of faith by prayer. Let it be noted that prayer gives the
promises their efficiency, localizes and appropriates them, and utilizes them.
Prayer puts the promises to practical and present uses. Prayer puts the promises
as the seed in the fructifying soil. Promises, like the rain are general. Prayer
embodies, precipitates, and locates them for personal use. Prayer goes by faith
into the great fruit orchard of God's exceeding great and precious promises, and
with hand and heart picks the ripest and richest fruit. The promises, like
electricity, may sparkle and dazzle and yet be impotent for good till these
dynamic, life-giving currents are chained by prayer, and are made the mighty
forces which move and bless. God’s word is unchanging:
"Most assuredly, I
say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and
greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John
14:12
"If you abide in Me,
and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done
for you. "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will
be My disciples. John 15:7-8
"And in that day you
will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father
in My name He will give you. "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask,
and you will receive, that your joy may be full. John
16:23-24
Chapter 5
My Help
Behold, God is my
helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life. He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut
them off in Your truth. I will freely
sacrifice to You; I will praise Your
name, O LORD, for it is good. For He has
delivered me out of all trouble; And my
eye has seen its desire upon my enemies. Psalm 54:4-7
I will lift up my
eyes to the hills- From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the LORD, Who
made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2
God show partiality
to no one. What He has done for one He can and will do for another for He is
after all God, not man! And great is our
Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The LORD lifts up the
humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground. There is nothing that He cannot
do by His mighty power! His word is unchanging:
"Because he has set
his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because
he has known My name. He shall call upon
Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and
honor him. With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation." Psalm 91:14-16
When the LORD brought
back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And
our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done
great things for them." The LORD has done great things for us, And we are glad.
Bring back our captivity, O LORD, As the
streams in the South. Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. He who
continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him. Psalm
126:1-6
For those who have
been born again and filled with the Spirit of God, God has become their shield
and their exceedingly great reward. But they have also become God’s people. His
inheritance and God knows that He got the best part of the deal. The American
Heritage dictionary defines inheritance as:
in·her·i·tance n.
1.a. The act of inheriting. b. Something
inherited or to be inherited. 2. Something regarded as a
heritage.
Inheritance is
something passed from one generation to another: heritage, legacy, tradition birthright,
family possession, estate. It’s money or goods left to one's heirs: legacy,
patrimony, bequest, estate, trust. It
is a birthright: a right, possession, or privilege that is one's due by birth.
For when we were born again and became sons and daughters of God all that He has
and is now belong to us and all the we have and are belongs to God. And He has
promised to bring us in and plant us in the mountain of His inheritance
including divine favor, divine health, divine wealth, divine blessings, divine
victories and divine prosperity. God’s word is true:
You will bring them
in and plant them In the mountain of
Your inheritance, In the place, O LORD, which You have made For Your own dwelling, The sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have
established. Exodus 15:17
"Command the children
of Israel land
of Canaan land of Canaan
Beloved, I pray that
you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and
testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no
greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John
1:2-4
The Scriptures tells
us that God’s inheritances come to His people only to those who claim them by
faith and wholly walk in His ways. We have an excellent example of this in the
life and wonders of Caleb:
Then the children of Judah Israel Hebron Hebron
Yes, Hebron Israel
Strangers shall stand
and feed your flocks, And the sons of
the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and
your vinedressers. But you shall be
named the priests of the LORD, They
shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame you shall have double
honor, And instead of confusion they
shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs. "For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, And will make with them an everlasting
covenant. Their descendants shall be
known among the Gentiles, And their
offspring among the people. All who see
them shall acknowledge them, That they
are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed." Isaiah
61:5-9
Therefore thus says
the Lord GOD: "Behold, My servants shall
eat, But you shall be hungry; Behold, My
servants shall drink, But you shall be
thirsty; Behold, My servants shall rejoice, But you shall be ashamed; Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of
heart, But you shall cry for sorrow of
heart, And wail for grief of
spirit. You shall leave your name as a
curse to My chosen; For the Lord GOD will slay you, And call His servants by
another name; So that he who blesses
himself in the earth Shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Shall swear by
the God of truth; Because the former
troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My eyes. Isaiah
65:13-16
Foolish ones don’t
understand that is not by their labors or by their works that the riches and
blessings of God come upon their lives but by God’s anointing and His Spirit.
God’s word is unchanging:
Then the angel who talked with me answered and
said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." So he
answered and said to me: "This is the
word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by
might nor by power, but by My Spirit,'
Says the LORD of hosts. 'Who are
you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel
you shall become a plain! And he shall
bring forth the capstone With shouts of
"Grace, grace to it!" ' " Zechariah 4:5-6
Only the Spirit and
function of the Holy Spirit can remove every hindrance and obstacle in our lives
and make something out of nothing! Only the Holy Spirit does something so
supernatural from nothing to something by the Spirit called grace, grace, just
like God created heaven and earth out of nothing and sustains it by grace! But
we must do our part by cooperating with God and doing whatever He tells us to
see our miracles. God’s word is unchanging:
On the third
day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was
there. Now both Jesus and His disciples
were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus
said to Him, "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your
concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the
servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
Now there were set
there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the
Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with
water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out
now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. When the master
of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it
came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the
feast called the bridegroom. And he said
to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests
have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!" This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of
Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. John
2:1-11
Mary told said to the
servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." And when they did what Jesus told
them to do they saw a miracle. For many reasons including ignorance, fear, and
unbelief, God’s people are not doing what God’s word has told them to do
because don't understand the power in
the declarations: "Exaltation will come," and "Decree a thing and it will be
established" (Job22:28-29). Our ministering angels carry out our earthly
prophetic decrees which line up with the truth of God's word and His will. When we declare "Restore!" "Restore!" Then
the angels in heaven are released to execute this decree! God’s word is
unchanging:
But this is a people
robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, And they are hidden in
prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one
says, "Restore!" Isaiah 42:22
Fear not, O land; Be
glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things! Do not be afraid, you
beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up, And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree
and the vine yield their strength. Be glad then, you children of Zion Israel
Yes, God wants to
save and bring restoration to the humble, His people and His church. Yes this is
the day of God’s vengeance on our enemies and the year of His favor ones. This
is our acceptable year, liberation, Jubilee and our victory! When through our faith we release God to save
the humble and to deliver those who are bound exaltation comes to us. When we
say, "Restore!" we release God's 'repairer of the breach' anointing (Isaiah
58:12) which causes everything in our lives that is lost and broken to be
restored—the thief must repay God's people.
Yes, we can let
the angelic hosts overcome every demonic power or stronghold and every
assignment that is aimed against our inheritances! Yes we can throw it down! We
can take authority concerning our kingship over every power that resists. Yes, restoration happens when we declare,
"Restore!" "Restore!" "Exaltation comes!" And we will see breakthroughs in every
area of our lives including receiving our inheritance and stepping into our
destiny. We will experience prosperity in our businesses; even the number of
businesses increase. Yes, the Lord will rebuke the enemy who brings sickness and
disease by stealing, killing and destroying. He will turn all the negative
things around in our lives and give us justice where there is injustice, make
the wrongs right and the crook straight.
Yes, when we ascend
the courts of heaven and petition the Ancient of Days to come and pronounce
judgment in our favor. We will receive
supernatural intervention by God when events are out of our hands because a
higher court system has come into place when we
approach His throne and present our case to Him. Yes, we can begin to
bring justice and mercy for the poor and needy, the afflicted and the widow,
with the Word of God in our mouths. He gave us authority to set the captives
free, in Jesus' Mighty name! God’s word is unchanging:
"But as for me, I
would seek God, And to God I would commit my cause- Who does great things, and
unsearchable, Marvelous things without number. Job
5:8-9
I am the LORD your
God, Who brought you out of the land of
Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. "But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn
heart, To walk in their own counsels.
"Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, And
turn My hand against their adversaries.
The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him, But their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also; And with honey
from the rock I would have satisfied you." Psalm
81:10-16
After these things
the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid,
Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." Genesis
15:1
"But the LORD has
taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt
Chapter 6
Healing And Restoration Is God’s Will
And the LORD restored
Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as
much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who
had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his
house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the
LORD had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring
of gold. Now the LORD blessed the latter
days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six
thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He
also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first
Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch.
In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them
an inheritance among their brothers.
After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children
and grandchildren for four generations.
So Job died, old and full of days. Job 42:10-17
There are those
Christians who believe in living in poverty and suffering like Job did after the devil attacked him.
They ignore the fact what God’s word said about Job:
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name
was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and
shunned evil. And seven sons and three
daughters were born to him. Also, his
possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke
of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this
man was the greatest of all the people of the East. Job
1:1-3
Sickness and poverty,
which are not God’s will, came to Job because of the devil’s envy and jealous. As a result Job
lost everything including his children, wealth and health. And his wife told
him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said
to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept
good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin
with his lips.
Job’s wife was a
foolish woman but he didn’t divorce her and get another younger woman like some
so called Christians do, including Todd Bentley? Todd Bentley, a key figure in
the demonic 2008 revival in Lakeland, Florida, said he was convinced his first
marriage could not be saved. So he divorced his wife, Shonnah, who had been
fighting cancer, and married his mistress a younger
woman.
Job had seven more
children with his only wife and he didn’t die prematurely living a life of
defeat and poverty? He got back all that the devil had stolen from him and lived
an additional one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and
grandchildren for four generations. He
died, old and full of days as well as rich and prosperous? And what God has done
for Job, He can and will do for us because though we walk in the flesh, we do
not war according to the flesh. For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down
strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).
Yes, through the use
of Jesus name, the strength and power of the Holy Spirit and our faith, we have
divine power to demolish strong-holds that have stolen things from us or are
keeping things from us. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6). "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh
profits nothing (John 6:63). We come against Satan not in our power or name but
in God’s power and the name of Jesus and He has to restore everything that he
has stolen from us. We step out from our
limited abilities and resources to God’s
unlimited abilities and resources through the use of the name of Jesus which
give us, Salvation: Acts 4:12 ,
Justification: 1 Corinthians 6:11,
Healing: Acts 3:6; proclamation: Acts 8:12,
Deliverance from demons: Mark
16:17, Worship: Ephesians 5:20, Prayer:
John 14:13-14, the Holy
Spirit: John
14:26.
A check without a
signature is not worth the paper it is printed on. What makes the paper of value is that name at
the bottom right-hand corner. That
signature or name represents that person’s financial resources. It is as if Jesus left behind a check book
full of blank checks which He has signed with His name. The believer fills in the amount as the will
of God is revealed, and once the check is presented it is backed up by the
inexhaustible riches of Christ. God’s word is
unchanging:
"Most assuredly, I
say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and
greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. "And whatever
you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. John
14:12-14
"Therefore you now
have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy
no one will take from you. "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most
assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give
you. "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive,
that your joy may be full. John 16:22-24
It’s to be noted that
the Lakeland revival was a demonic sham and Todd Bentley turned out to be a
sorcerer, a wizard, a liar, a thief, an adulterer, a false prophet, a divorce
and a wolf in sheep's clothing! These
are indisputable facts.
So what does it say
about John Arnott the founder of Toronto Airport Christian fellowship who was
Todd’s friend and mentor and who was supposed to be a man of God, a man of
integrity, an Apostle? Since bird of
feather stick together John Arnott is no better or different than Todd Bentley.
And that is why John Arnott, who was aware that Todd was living with a mistress
and getting drunk with alcohol and pretending to have a wonderful marriage, did
nothing to correct or rebuke his friend Todd?
Now scriptures tells
us:
"Therefore if you
bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something
against you, "leave your gift there
before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then
come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24
But brother goes to
law against brother, and that before unbelievers! 1 Corinthians
6:6
So why did Pastors
John Arnott and Steve Long and Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship ignore
scripture and sue a Christian, a total stranger, they never knew for $ 50
million dollars and before any trial at motions hearings asked 3 Justices to
incarcerate Walter Kambulow? What were they afraid off? The truth! That they
were no different than Todd Bentley as he was only a mirror of them!
And their extortion lawsuit was built on lies and perjury which I pointed out to every Justice including that TACF was never destroyed and neither were the pastors by my exposure of them!
Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, John Arnott and Steve Long stopped their $ 50 million dollar extortion lawsuit when it didn't go the way they expected, and to prevent Walter Kambulow from wining his counter lawsuit against them because their lawsuit was based on lies and perjury and they could not win in an honest court proceedings , they committed perjury and obstructed justice!
As a result the Plaintiffs Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, John Arnott and Steve Long had a secret trial before Justice Trottier on September 19, 2008 to which the defendant wasn’t invited or informed, played dirty tricks, committed perjury and obstructed justice and made a mockery of the justice system and the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario and their deeds, words and actions are now considered to be guilty of indictable offences and liable to imprisonment!
Yes based on a false and untruthful information and presentation t Justice Trottier issued an order striking out Mr. Kambulow’s Statement of Defense, assigned court costs of about $ 60,000 to be paid by Mr. Kambulow, making an order striking out Mr. Kambulow Statement of Claim against TACF, and making a permanent injunction against Mr. Kambulow making certain remarks in respect to the Plaintiffs that they were liars and are perjurers (a matter that has been brought forth to the Attorney General of Ontario and Law Enforcements throughout the country as well as to other Government officials!)
The basis of democracy in Canada is the right to a fair trial and to a statement of defense and TACF John Arnott and Steve Long through criminal acts circumvented the process because they could not win their lawsuit. How Christian of them?
And their extortion lawsuit was built on lies and perjury which I pointed out to every Justice including that TACF was never destroyed and neither were the pastors by my exposure of them!
Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, John Arnott and Steve Long stopped their $ 50 million dollar extortion lawsuit when it didn't go the way they expected, and to prevent Walter Kambulow from wining his counter lawsuit against them because their lawsuit was based on lies and perjury and they could not win in an honest court proceedings , they committed perjury and obstructed justice!
As a result the Plaintiffs Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, John Arnott and Steve Long had a secret trial before Justice Trottier on September 19, 2008 to which the defendant wasn’t invited or informed, played dirty tricks, committed perjury and obstructed justice and made a mockery of the justice system and the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario and their deeds, words and actions are now considered to be guilty of indictable offences and liable to imprisonment!
Yes based on a false and untruthful information and presentation t Justice Trottier issued an order striking out Mr. Kambulow’s Statement of Defense, assigned court costs of about $ 60,000 to be paid by Mr. Kambulow, making an order striking out Mr. Kambulow Statement of Claim against TACF, and making a permanent injunction against Mr. Kambulow making certain remarks in respect to the Plaintiffs that they were liars and are perjurers (a matter that has been brought forth to the Attorney General of Ontario and Law Enforcements throughout the country as well as to other Government officials!)
The basis of democracy in Canada is the right to a fair trial and to a statement of defense and TACF John Arnott and Steve Long through criminal acts circumvented the process because they could not win their lawsuit. How Christian of them?
Chapter 7
The Perfect Will Of God
I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable
service. And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what
is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2
There are many
doctrines of demons in the church today including “Once saved, always saved” as
well as the Sovereignty of God which is a doctrine very common amongst the
Moslems that God wills everything, good or bad, to happen to us. Andrew Wommack
in his article THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD [v]writes:
The word "sovereign"
is not used in the King James Version of the Bible. It is used 303 times in the
Old Testament of the New International Version, but it is always used in
association with the word "LORD" and is the equivalent of the King James
Version's "LORD God." Not a single one of those times is the word "sovereign"
used in the manner that it has come to be used in religion in our day and
time.
Religion has resulted
in the invention of a new meaning for the word "sovereign," which basically
means God controls everything. Nothing can happen but what He wills or allows.
However, there is nothing in the actual definition that states that. The
dictionary defines "sovereign" as, "1. Paramount; supreme. 2. Having supreme
rank or power. 3. Independent: a sovereign state. 4. Excellent." None of these
definitions means that God controls everything.
It is assumed that
since God is paramount or supreme that nothing can happen without His approval.
That is not what the Scriptures teach. In 2 Peter 3:9, Peter said, "The Lord
is...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance." This clearly states that it is not the Lord's will for anyone to
perish, but people are perishing. Jesus said, "Enter ye in at the strait gate:
for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be which go in thereat" (Matt. 7:13). Relatively few people are saved
compared to the number that are lost. God's will for people concerning salvation
is not being accomplished.
This is because the
Lord gave us the freedom to choose. He doesn't will anyone into hell. He paid
for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2; 1 Tim. 4:10), but we must choose to
put our faith in Christ and receive His salvation. People are the ones choosing
hell by not choosing Jesus as their Savior. It is the free will of man that
damns them, not God.
People virtually have
to climb over the roadblocks that God puts in their way to continue on their
course to hell. The cross of Christ and the drawing power of the Holy Spirit are
obstacles that every sinner encounters. No one will ever stand before God and be
able to fault Him for withholding the opportunity to be saved. The Lord woos
every person to Him, but we have to cooperate. Ultimately, the Lord simply
enforces the consequences of people's own choices.
God has a perfect
plan for every person's life (Jer. 29:11), but He doesn't make us walk that
path. We are free moral agents with the ability to choose. He has told us what
the right choices are (Deut. 30:19), but He doesn't make those choices for us.
God gave us the power to control our destinies.
Typical teaching on
the sovereignty of God puts Jesus in the driver's seat with us as passengers. On
the surface that looks good. All of us have encountered the disastrous results
of doing our own thing. We desire to be led of the Lord, and teaching that
nothing happens but what God wills fits that nicely. However, the Scriptures
paint a picture of each of us being behind the wheel of our own lives. We are
the one doing the driving. We are supposed to take directions from the Lord, but
He doesn't do the driving for us.
Man has been given
the authority over his own life, but he must have the Lord's direction to
succeed. Jeremiah 10:23 says, "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in
himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." God created us to
be dependent upon Him and our independence is at the root of all our problems.
As if it wasn't bad enough for man to try to run his affairs independently of
God and His standards, it has been made even worse by religion teaching us that
all our problems are actually blessings from God. That is a faith killer. It
makes people totally passive.
James 4:7 says,
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you." This verse makes it clear that some things are from God, and some from the
devil. We must submit to the things that are of God and resist the things that
are from the devil. The word "resist" means, "Actively fight against." Saying
"Whatever will be will be" is not actively fighting against the
devil.
If a person really
believed that God is the one who put sickness on them because He is trying to
work something for good in their life, then they should not go to the doctor or
take any medicine. That would be resisting God's plans. They should let the
sickness run its course and thereby get the full benefit of God's correction. Of
course, no one advocates that. That is absurd. It is even more absurd to believe
that God is the one behind the tragedy.
Acts 10:38 says that
Jesus healed all those who were oppressed OF THE DEVIL. It was not God who
oppressed them with sickness. It was the devil. It's the same today. Sickness is
from the devil, not from God. We need to resist sickness and, by faith, submit
ourselves to healing, which is from God through the atonement of
Christ.
I know someone
is thinking, What about the Old Testament instances where God smote people with
sickness and plagues? There is a lot I could say about that if I had the space,
but a simplified answer to that question is that none of those instances were
blessings. They were curses. God did use sickness in the Old Testament as
punishment, but in the New Testament, Jesus bore our curse for us (Gal. 3:13).
The Lord would no more put sickness on a New Testament believer than He would
make us commit a sin. Both forgiveness of sin and healing are a part of the
atonement Jesus provided for us.
Deuteronomy, chapter
28, should forever settle this question for all who believe the Word of God. The
first 14 verses of Deuteronomy 28 list the blessings of God and the last 53
verses list the curses of God. Healing is listed as a blessing (Deut. 28:4).
Sickness is listed as a curse (Deut. 28:22, 27-28, 35, 59-61). God called
sickness a curse. We should not call it a blessing.
Knowing that God is
not the author of my problems is one of the most important revelations the Lord
has ever given me. If I thought it was God who killed my father when I was
twelve, and some of my best friends before I was 20, if it was God who had
people kidnap me, slander me, threaten to kill me, and turn loved ones against
me, then I would have a hard time trusting God, if He was like
that.
On the contrary, it
is very comforting to know that God only has good things in store for me. Any
problems in my life are from the devil, of my own making, or just the results of
life on a fallen planet. My heavenly Father has never done me any harm and never
will. I KNOW that.
Andrew Wommack also in his article The Believer's
Authority[vi] writes
The truth is, there
is a battle raging every single day in the spiritual realm. That battle is for
your heart and the hearts of every other person on earth. God is trying to
influence people and draw them toward righteousness and toward Himself, to live
consistent with Him so that His blessings can manifest in their
lives.
Satan, on the other
hand, is waging all-out war trying to steal the hearts of people away from God.
He wants to fill their hearts with his trash and corruption. And honestly,
although most Christians recognize this to a degree, I don’t think they realize
how intense the warfare really is and how much their actions are contributing to
it.
If I could sit and
talk with each of you reading this, I would find that many of you aren’t aware
of the spiritual significance behind what’s going on in your lives. You
attribute much of what is happening to circumstances and therefore passively
accept what comes your way. When you do that, you’re ignoring the intense battle
that is being waged for your heart every single day.
The choices you make,
the things you say, the actions you take, and what you believe about what is
happening around you determines whether God or Satan dominates in your life.
Satan cannot control you outside of your will. He cannot do anything without
your cooperation and consent. But you need to recognize that you’re in a
battle.
Many people choose
not to believe that, but whether they do or not, the fact is that it’s taking
place. Your unwillingness to engage in battle doesn’t mean that the battle isn’t
raging; it just means you’re going to lose. But once you realize the battle is
real, you can then learn to recognize what’s going on and take the proper action
to improve your situation. You can resist the devil.
James 4:7 says,
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you.”
Ephesians 6:10-12
reads, “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
This is referring to
demonic powers. There’s a chain of command, an authority structure in the
demonic realm, and this is listing these different levels. But notice that it
says you are not wrestling against flesh and blood. Much that goes on in your
life is not just human.
I’m not going to get
into this thing about, “Are people possessed, oppressed, or depressed?” I
believe it’s useless to debate that. In the Greek where the Bible says a person
was demon possessed, the word literally means “demonized.” It just means they
were under the control of the devil. Christianity has tried to make something
out of possessed, oppressed, or depressed. But it’s not in
Scripture.
The fact is that
people are being influenced and controlled and used by the devil; they really
are. This needs to be said because there are a lot of people who honestly
believe that all the demons are in Africa.
It’s not the person
sitting next to you at work, it’s not your neighbor, and it’s certainly not your
husband or your wife that’s the problem. Anyone who is not paying attention can
be influenced and inspired and used of Satan to come against you. If you were to
recognize that, it would make a huge difference in the way you respond to
them.
…I can guarantee you
that there are times that Satan is speaking directly to you through people. He
is using people to get at you. Whether you recognize it or not, this goes on
much more than you know. You are in a spiritual war.
I tell you there is a
supernatural war waging today for your heart and mind. In fact, for some of you
right now, the devil is trying to oppose the words you are reading in this
letter. He wants to discredit them and cause you to ignore or reject them. The
Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is bearing witness in your heart and trying to
get you to open up and receive these words. It’s spiritual
warfare.
To win in this war,
you must know who you are and the authority you have as a believer. To help, I
have a teaching series called The Believer’s Authority. Don’t go another day
without understanding how to defeat the real enemy. You have the power and
authority to do it, and now it’s time to use it.
Andrew Wommack also in his article Dealing With
Temptation[vii]
writes
Before He was tempted
by Satan face to face, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit at His baptism by
John in the Jordan River. Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the
devil, full of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Being filled with the
Holy Spirit is an absolute necessity for overcoming temptation. There are many
Christians who received the Holy Spirit years ago and haven’t been full of the
Holy Spirit a day since. It’s not about what happened to us long ago; we have to
stay full of the Holy Spirit. One way of doing that is to speak in tongues on a
regular basis. Jude 1:20-21 says, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on
your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of
God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal
life.”
Praying in tongues
builds us up on our most holy faith. How many times have you needed your most
holy faith to take you through a certain trial, and yet you haven’t used this
gift of the Holy Spirit? Verse 21 also says we keep ourselves in the love of God
when we speak in tongues. Have you ever asked the Lord to pour out His love on
you? I imagine you have, but this doesn’t say to pray that way; it says we are
to keep ourselves in the love of God. We do that by speaking in tongues. We
don’t ask God for that which He’s already given, we simply stir up the love that
has already been commended toward us, by speaking in tongues. This is a powerful
gift. Isaiah 28:11-12 says, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he
speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause
the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not
hear.”
Do you ever need rest
or refreshing? I guarantee that you do, and this verse says speaking in tongues
is the way to get it. We have a tremendously powerful gift available to us
through the Holy Spirit, but few people take advantage of it. Instead, we ask
God to do what He told us to do. We need to use this gift of speaking in tongues
to stir ourselves up, or we risk sinking to the bottom.
You must also know
who you are. Matthew 4 and Luke 4 record the temptation of Jesus in the
wilderness. One of the most amazing aspects of those temptations was that Satan
began two of the three temptations with the words, “If thou be the Son of God.”
Many people have missed this point. The real temptation was Satan’s attempt to
get Jesus to doubt who He was. That’s the same way he attacked Adam and Eve. The
serpent told Eve that if she would eat the forbidden fruit, she would be like
God (Gen. 3:5). The truth was that she was already like God, but she didn’t know
it. The first Adam sinned, because he didn’t know who he really was. The second
Adam, Jesus, didn’t sin, because He did know who he was. Knowing your true
identity in Christ is one of the greatest defenses you can possibly have against
temptation.
Jesus had just heard
His Father speak to Him in an audible voice saying, “This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).
There was also a
visible sign from God when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the shape of a
dove. Jesus had to anchor His faith in who His Father said He was. But
immediately, Satan came to Him saying, “If thou be the Son of God, command that
these stones be made bread” (Matt. 4:3).
The real temptation
was never about turning stones into bread. It was Satan’s attempt to manipulate
Jesus into doubting His Father’s Word and doing something to prove who He was.
Satan was trying to find and exploit any insecurity in
Jesus.
When you were a kid,
I’m sure someone at some time dared you to do something stupid. The real issue
wasn’t whether or not you could do it but whether you were “afraid” to do it.
And sad to say, many of us took the dare and did something that hurt us or
shamed us just to prove that we weren’t. All we really succeeded in proving was
that we feared their disapproval so much that we weren’t willing to do what was
right. The truly fearless response would have been to walk away, secure in who
we were, earning their respect through character rather than
performance.
Satan was daring
Jesus—”If You’re really the Son of God, if what You heard from the Father in an
audible voice is really true, then prove it, and turn this stone into bread.”
Turning a stone into bread would not have been sin. It would have been sin if
Jesus had doubted the words of His heavenly Father declaring who He was by
placing more faith in what a miracle could say about Him. You must know who you
are if you want to overcome temptation. No matter what form Satan’s temptations
may take, they are all directed at causing us to doubt who we
are.
It’s also important
to understand that all temptation is rooted in selfishness. In fact, our
selfishness is really Satan’s beachhead. Jesus stripped him of his power two
thousand years ago, so the only thing he can really do is deceive us through our
own selfish desires. The Bible tells us exactly what they are in 1 John 2:16,
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world.”
And in James 1:14 we
read, “But every many is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and
enticed.”
Chapter 8
May God Sanctify You Completely
And you, who once were alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to
present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight- if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded
and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you
heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul,
became a minister. - Colossians 1:21-23
Now may the God of
peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body
be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians
5:23
Andrew Wommack in his
article Understanding Spirit, Soul, And Body[viii] brings up some
very interesting truths:
Did you know a
Christian can actually die from sickness or disease while the same power that
raised Jesus from the dead lies dormant within them? Or did you know that
believers can be overcome with depression, anger, and bitterness, all the while
possessing God’s love, joy, and peace in their spirits?
It’s true—they can
and they do. Why? Because they really don’t understand what changed when they
were born again, and therefore have difficulty receiving the promises of God.
The Bible says that every born-again believer has undergone a complete inner
transformation.
“Therefore if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to
himself by Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17-18).
It doesn’t say that
all things are becoming new or have the potential of becoming new; they are new,
the moment you are born again. But in order for that to make sense, you must
first understand how God created you.
God’s Word clearly
teaches that we are three-part beings, but very few Christians have a functional
understanding of spirit, soul, and body in their daily lives. Intellectually,
most Christians believe they’re three-part beings, but functionally, they act as
though they’re only made up of body and soul. They’re confused about the
operation of the soul and spirit, seeing them basically as the same
thing.
Even Strong’s
Concordance fails to distinguish all three! It defines “spirit” (pneuma in the
Greek) as “the rational soul.” However, in my study of God’s Word, I have found
a very distinct difference between spirit and soul. Your spirit is your
innermost part, not your “rational soul.”
First Thessalonians
5:23 makes it very clear: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
If you were talking
to me face to face, you’d be looking at my body but speaking to my soul. The
word “soul” is defined by some as the mind, will, and emotions. While that’s
certainly true, it’s incomplete. The “conscience” should also be included in
that definition. The soul is really what most people call the
“personality.”
You can feel both
your body and your soul and are receiving information from them all the time.
For example, if I put my hand on your shoulder, you would know that I touched
you. I could also make you feel happy or sad, or even hurt you without any
physically contact, simply by the words I speak. Those words are processed by
your mind, and the result of their effect is often expressed in your
emotions.
It’s easy to know how
your body feels, what’s going on in your mind, and what emotions you’re
experiencing. However, your spirit is much different. It cannot be accessed in
any natural way.
John 3:6 says, “That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit.”
Jesus meant that
there’s no direct connection between the spirit and flesh. They are
interrelated, but spirit is spirit and flesh is flesh. You simply cannot contact
your spirit through your five senses or through your mind, will, or emotions.
Therein lies one of the great problems of the Christian
life!
If you don’t
understand that spiritual reality can’t be felt, then you’ll be confused when
God’s Word declares that you have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead
living in you (Eph. 1:19-20). If you think truth can be discerned through your
natural senses, you’ll be baffled when the Bible says you’re a brand-new
creature who can do the same miraculous works that Jesus did (2 Cor. 5:17 and
John 14:12).
The apparent
disparity between your natural experiences and God’s Word will cause you to
throw up your hands in frustration and conclude, “It must not be true.” It’s
understanding spirit, soul, and body that unlocks the spirit realm so you can
experience who you are and what you have in Christ.
In the natural, the
spirit realm can’t be seen or felt; the only way to accurately perceive
spiritual truth is through the Bible. Simply take God’s Word and believe
it!
Jesus said in John
6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are
life.”
God’s Word reveals
spiritual reality. If you want to know what your spirit is like, you must find
out from the Word, not rely on emotions or other perceptions. God’s Word is
spirit and life! When you look at your face in a mirror, you aren’t really
seeing yourself; you’re viewing a reflection. Even though it’s only a
reflection, you have learned to trust it and act on what you see. God’s Word is
just like that mirror: it reflects perfectly who you are in the
spirit.
“For if any be a
hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of
liberty, and continueth therin, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of
the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James
1:23-25).
You must look into
God’s mirror and trust the spiritual reality you see! It reflects your new
born-again spirit, your innermost part. However, it does not reflect your body
or your soul.
Although full payment
has been made for your glorified body through the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus, you still have a corrupted body. One day it will be
redeemed and changed into an incorruptible one. For now, you still must live in
the same body you had before you were saved.
Your soul wasn’t
saved either. You may have the same thoughts and emotions you had before you
were saved. And because of that, some people seriously doubt whether or not they
are saved. They don’t understand that the change took place in their spirits.
Typically, your body and soul are both impacted by what happens at salvation,
but that’s not where the complete change took place.
The good news is you
can change your mind. In fact, we are commanded to do so. Romans 12:2 says,“And
be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God.”
Your soul can be
transformed to the degree that you renew your mind, change your attitudes, and
conform to the Word of God. This should happen, and it’s in the process of
happening, but it didn’t happen automatically when you were
saved.
In your soul, old
things did not pass away, and all things haven’t yet become new. For that
reason, you could actually die from sickness or disease even though you have all
of the power that raised Jesus from the dead residing untapped within your
spirit. It’s like dying of thirst while leaning against a well full of
life-giving water.
Think of your soul
like the valve on a faucet. It controls the rate and volume of the flow of the
spirit into your body. If your mind is renewed and in agreement with the Word,
the valve is wide open. But if it is in agreement with what your body is feeling
or your emotions are experiencing, the valve is either closed or in the process
of closing.
Your soul has
the power to keep every drop of life-giving power from ever reaching your
physical body or flooding it with the same power that raised Jesus from the
dead. If the valve is open, you’ll experience healing, deliverance, anointing,
victory, power, joy, prosperity, and more. So, keep it
open!
This revelation of
the relationship of the spirit, soul, and body has transformed my life. When I
realized that God had already given me everything I needed and it’s all
contained in my spirit, it set me free. All I needed to do was release it. That
simple understanding changes everything.
The Christian
life isn’t a process of “getting from God”; it’s a process of renewing the mind
and learning to release what you’ve already
received.
If you don’t
understand that you have already received all that you will ever need (in your
spirit) at salvation, there will always be an element of doubt. You may know
it’s possible or even promised in the Word, but you’ll be trying to perceive it
in the mental, emotional, or physical realm. That’s a formula for
failure.
That erroneous
concept can also result in a performance-based relationship with God: “If I’m
good enough, if I read the Bible enough, if I pay my tithe,” and on and on it
goes in an attempt to motivate God to give you what you need. It’s the
misconception that God hasn’t already given you everything and that somehow you
have to make yourself worthy enough to get it.
You’re already worthy
because of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. He paid the price for everything you
will ever need. In fact, you’ve already got it. It’s just a matter of
understanding the relationship of the spirit to the soul and
body.
Understanding spirit,
soul, and body is critically important to every believer. It’s like the key that
opens the treasure chest of God’s grace. It could be a matter of life and death,
and it’s the foundation to understanding the rest of
Scripture.
Andrew Wommack in his
article The Effects Of Praise [ix]again brings
out some very important truths:
Most Christians
believe that praising God and being thankful is good; however, many think it is
optional, something to do after they have served the Lord in other ways. Some
Christians only praise God when their circumstances are good and they have a
reason to thank Him. The truth is that praising God is not an option. Praise has
a powerful effect on the believer, the devil, and on God. It is our highest
calling.
In Deuteronomy, God
pronounced a curse on the children of Israel: "Because thou servedst not the
LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of
all things" (28:47). Even though we are not under the Law, this verse tells us
that God wants us to have joyful and thankful hearts. Jesus was joyful. Hebrews
1:9 tells us that praising God at all times is part of the normal Christian
life: "Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows."
How does praise
affect the believer? When we praise God, we are acknowledging that it is not our
own efforts that produce blessings and prosperity. In Deuteronomy, chapters 7
and 8, the children of Israel are told to remember to thank God for the
abundance they will receive. God, not their own efforts, gave them wealth.
Praise makes us humble.
Thanksgiving is also
a way to abound in faith. Any time we operate in a high degree of faith, praise
is present. Colossians 2:6-7 says, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the
faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." When you
are believing God for something and it is completed, praise is a natural
response. What some people often neglect is that they can increase their faith
with praise, and their answers will come more quickly.
By focusing on your
problems instead of praising God, you become self-centered and prideful. Praise
forces you to get your attention on God and off your problems. Some people say
that they are praying, but they are so focused on their problems that they are
actually complaining. If you focus on the Word of God, faith will come. How do
you keep from focusing on the problem when you are in pain or have no money? The
most important thing you can do is praise God. A negative, complaining attitude
won't change overnight, but beginning to praise God will start the
transformation in your attitude. If you have always been negative, you must
practice thinking on positive things. Philippians 4:4 tells us to "rejoice in
the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice."
When we pray, we
should begin with praise and end with praise. The Lord's prayer gives us this
example, and Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, "Be careful for nothing; but in every
thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made
known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall
keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." When you pray with
thanksgiving, the peace of God will keep your heart and
mind.
Praise will build you
up spiritually and keep you from crumbling, "for the joy of the LORD is your
strength" (Neh. 8:10). The Apostle Paul was persecuted and suffered far more
than most of us, yet he put it all in perspective in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18: "For
our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are
temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." First, Paul said our
affliction is just for a moment in light of eternity. He looked into the
spiritual realm. Praise will push you into the spiritual realm to see what God
has done for you. Paul and Silas praised God in prison. It was the praise that
released the power of God and the earthquake that delivered them from their
captivity.
Praising God doesn't
just affect us; it is a powerful weapon against the devil as well. Psalm 8:2
says, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength
because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger."
In the book of Matthew (21:16), at the time of the triumphal entry into
Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), Jesus quotes from Psalm 8. When he quoted this verse,
he interchanged the words "perfected praise" for "ordained strength." This is a
tremendous revelation: Praise is strength (Neh. 8:10)!
Some people are so
involved in spiritual warfare that their attention is on the devil more than on
God. There is a place for fighting and resisting the devil, but focusing too
much on the devil is not good. Praise is a powerful weapon against the devil
that has no negative fallout. In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat appointed singers
to lead his army into battle with praise unto the Lord. When they went into
battle singing and praising God, the Lord set an ambush, and their enemies were
defeated.
Why does praise
defeat Satan? Satan's sin was jealousy of God. He is still driven by jealousy
today (Is. 14:13-14). Even if he can't get people to worship him, his goal is to
keep people from worshiping God. He seeks to draw attention away from God. When
we worship God, we thwart Satan's plan.
We have learned the
power of starting a service with praise. Praise makes the devil flee and
releases the anointing of God. Even the secular world knows the benefits of
praise. The medical profession says that a person who is joyful is more healthy
than a person who is morbid and depressed. Praise stops a negative
attitude.
The most important
reason to praise God is that it ministers unto Him. Acts 13 describes a
situation at the church in Antioch. Verse 2 says, "As they ministered to the
Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the
work whereunto I have called them." This is an awesome statement. They
ministered to the Lord. How do we minister to the Lord? We often think we serve
God only by ministering to other people. This happened in Matthew, chapter 8,
with Peter's mother-in-law. She waited on them and did household duties. That is
a ministry; however, in this instance in Acts, they were fasting, praying, and
ministering to the Lord. They were worshiping and glorifying God. That also
ministers to the Lord.
The truth is that God
desires ministry. God is complete and self-contained, but He needs us to love
Him. Any person who loves has a need to show that love and a need to have that
love returned. That is the reason for the creation of man in the first place. In
Revelation 4, John saw a vision of what is happening in heaven. He saw
twenty-four elders and four living creatures that don't cease praising God. In
verse 11, the elders said, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour
and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and
were created." This tells us that God's original and current purpose for
creation is for His pleasure. God created us to be full of praise, joy, and
thanksgiving. He is blessed by His creation.
We are often so
service-oriented that we think we have to minister to others or work at the
church to bless God. We think our net worth to God is our service. We forget
that if it blesses God, it doesn't have to touch anyone else. He longs to know
us personally and intimately. There are hundreds of times in Scripture that God
solicits our praise. Psalm 100:4 says that we should "enter into his gates with
thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless
his name."
I married Jamie
because I love her and want to share my life with her. Jamie is an excellent
homemaker and keeps a clean house, which blesses our family. However, if she
cared more for the house than for me, it would cease to minister to me. It is
the same way in our relationship with God. Service is not a substitute for a
relationship with God.
Our number one
priority must be to love God personally. Praise is giving of yourself to God —
an intimate communion with Him. If we would praise and seek God first, during
our prayer time, other things would be added unto us. (Matt.
6:33)
John 3:16 tells us
that God gave His Son that we might have eternal life. Christians often think
eternal life begins when you die and go to heaven, but John 17:3 tells us
differently. Eternal life is now. Intimately knowing God is eternal life. Praise
is a way to begin this love relationship with God.
"By him therefore let
us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our
lips giving thanks to his name"(Heb. 13:15).
Andrew Wommack in his article Effortless
Change[x] brings out the
value of the Word and not just
prayer:
Everyone I know wants
to change and grow. I believe that’s part of being made in the image of God. The
Lord created within every one of us an intuitive knowledge that we were destined
for more than we’re experiencing. Both believers and unbelievers desire to
achieve more, including those who have experienced great “success” in the eyes
of the world.
However, for those
who are born again, the desire actually intensifies. The Holy Spirit will give
us a holy dissatisfaction that drives us toward change. Once we realize that
Almighty God lives in us and wants to express Himself through us, it’s hard, if
not impossible, to be content with how we allow Him to do
so.
Jesus was the only
one who gave the world a perfect look at God living through a man. We will never
be the expressed image of God in the way Jesus was, but we all have the
potential to express Him in a much greater way than we have ever realized. But,
in order to do that, we must change.
Growth always means
change. So, if you’re not experiencing any growth in your life, it may be
because you aren’t changing. Have you ever seen a plant that’s green and growing
and not in a constant state of change? For the plant, it’s effortless; it just
grows, and the change is evident to everyone. Our lives should be just like
that—green, growing, changing, and evident to the
world.
The question is, how
do we do it? If you’re like a lot of Christians, you have probably tried to
change many times but find yourself falling back into the same old patterns and
experiencing the same old problems. That’s frustrating, and more importantly,
it’s a breeding ground for many of Satan’s most devastating lies and
traps.
If we aren’t careful,
we as Christians can feel more like failures than the lost. After all, we have
been told to be like Jesus, and that’s a big task.
Change really began
for me on March 23, 1968, when I had a glorious encounter with the Lord. I had
seen a glimpse of how awesome the Lord was and what He wanted me to be. I
started changing rapidly, but was a million miles from the victorious life He
had revealed. At times, the process seemed so long and the goal so far that I
despaired of ever making any progress in this lifetime.
Kneeling beside my
bed, one day in 1968, I began to pray, “Lord, what do I have to do? How can I
ever be like you?” I opened my eyes, and as I saw my Bible lying on the bed in
front of me, I heard the Lord say this in my heart: “Just put My Word in you,
and it will do all the rest.” That Word from God has been my prime directive for
the last thirty-seven years, and it has produced miraculous results. And the
change this has produced has been nearly effortless. The only effort has been to
stay focused on God’s Word.
Although the Lord
spoke that to me in prayer, it was important to see it in the Word. He revealed
and confirmed it to me through a parable in Mark 4:26-29. It
says,
“And he said, So is
the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should
sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he
knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade,
then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought
forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is
come.”
In this parable,
Jesus used an example of seed, time, and harvest, which everyone understood, to
illustrate truths about how God’s Word works, which very few
understood.
First, He taught that
God’s Word has to be planted like a seed in our hearts. Just as a seed doesn’t
release its life until it is planted in the ground, God’s Word will not set us
free until we get it in our hearts. Having a Bible on our table, in our hand, or
in our head is not sufficient; we have to commit God’s Word to our
hearts.
Second, the man in
Jesus’ parable, who sowed the seed, slept and rose day after day. It takes time
for a seed to germinate. You can’t plant a seed one day and expect to see it
growing the next day. Just because there’s nothing visible above ground doesn’t
mean the seed is not growing. And if you dig it up every day to see if anything
is happening, it will never grow. You have to have faith that the seed will do
what it was designed by God to do, producing its fruit in its
time.
The Word of God works
the same way. When we meditate in God’s Word for one day, we can’t expect to see
results the next day. And we can’t meditate in His Word one day and then live
differently the other six days. That’s like digging up the
seed.
John 15:7-8 says
this, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will,
and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much
fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Next, Jesus shared
one of the most important truths of this parable. He said, “The seed should
spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.” This is an amazing statement. No one
knows how a seed works.
Man, with all his
understanding, has not unlocked the miracle of a seed. We can make things that
look like a seed, taste like a seed, and have the exact chemical elements as a
seed. But if you plant it, it still won’t grow. For thousands of years, people
have planted seeds and reaped the harvest without understanding how it all
works.
I don’t understand
how the seed of God’s Word planted in our hearts works either. And, I can’t
explain how reading God’s Word differs from reading the words of some other
book. I don’t comprehend it all, but I know it works. I’ve experienced the
supernatural life that God’s Word imparts.
The Word is a seed
that contains the very life of God. When it’s planted in our hearts and left
there, it will release that life. The only effort on your part is to take the
time and make the effort to plant the seed. Then, the godly change you’re
looking for comes effortlessly as the seed of His Word takes root in your
heart.
This is such a simple
truth that most people have missed it. Many are looking for some spectacular
encounter with the Lord that will transform their lives instantly. They want to
microwave their miracle rather than allow the time for the seed to produce
fruit.
Some are even willing
to spend hours in prayer asking for a miracle instead of planting the Word of
God in their hearts, which in time would produce the miracle. Prayer is what
water and fertilizer are to a seed. They help the Word release its life. But if
you haven’t planted the seed, it doesn’t matter how much water and fertilize you
apply, the soil still won’t produce fruit. It’s the seed that has
life!
Prayer is not a
substitute for planting the seed of God’s Word in your heart. Prayer without the
Word is religious at best and complaining at its worst.
Romans 12:2 gives us
another key to effortless change. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The English word
“transformed” was translated from the Greek word “metamorphoo,” from which we
derive the English word “metamorphosis.” It’s describing the miraculous change
of a worm to a butterfly. If we want to be changed in nature and appearance as
drastically as a worm becoming a butterfly, the way we do it is by the renewing
of our minds. God’s Word is the primary way of accomplishing
that.
In the natural, we
recognize that we can’t have a harvest without planting seeds. But in the
spiritual, Christians try it all the time. Instead of going to the Word and
meditating in the Scriptures themselves, they run to someone who has spent time
in the Word and ask them for help. It’s an attempt to shortcut the process of
seed, time, and harvest.
Then, if they don’t
see results, they get confused and offended. God can meet needs through the
faith of others, but it’s temporary and His secondary way of touching us. God’s
best is to take the seed of His Word and plant it in our hearts where it will
naturally and effortlessly produce the changes that we
desire.
Have you ever seen an
apple tree groan and travail to produce apples? Never! It’s the nature of an
apple tree to bring forth its fruit. It’s your nature to produce fruit as well,
spiritual fruit, and it happens naturally.
We do have a part to
play, however. God has never planted a seed or tended the field for anyone.
That’s the natural part that we must do. It’s up to us to consistently plant His
Word in our hearts, abide in that Word, and then water and nourish it with
prayer. If we’ll make that small effort, the miracle of the life in the seed of
God’s Word will do the rest. Our lives will naturally and effortlessly
change.
The Christian life is
really not hard; it is actually easy if we are abiding in God’s Word. The Word
will transform us so that God’s perfect will for us comes to pass. That’s the
promise of God’s Word. Roman 8:6 says, “To be spiritually minded is life and
peace.”
Being spiritually
minded is being Word minded (John 6:63). God’s Word is the seed. Our hearts are
the soil. And the godly change is the fruit that we all long
for.
This teaching is
absolutely fundamental to your entire Christian walk. The lack of knowledge in
this area is the reason so many Christians remain frustrated in their walk with
the Lord. They have been stuck in the same spiritual condition for years and
can’t understand why.
If you haven’t yet
ordered your copy of this series entitled Effortless Change, then please do it
today. I live by the truths that I teach in this series. They have changed my
life, and I know they will dramatically impact yours as well. Just as there
isn’t growth in the natural realm without planting seeds, there isn’t spiritual
growth without planting God’s Word in your heart. This series will get you
excited about the power of God’s Word to produce
change.
Chapter 9
Perfect In Christ Jesus
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for
you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will
rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2
Corinthians 12:9
Him we preach,
warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Colossians 1:28
Andrew
Wommack in his article A Place Called
“There” writes:
The Bible says,
“Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are” (James 5:17). Yet he was
mightily used of God. This reference is talking about the time Elijah became so
despondent that he asked God to kill him (1 Kin. 19:4).
Elijah wasn’t
perfect; yet he called fire down from heaven three times; he was the first
person to raise someone from the dead; he caused the greatest revival in history
up to that point; his word started and ended a three-year drought; he multiplied
food miraculously; and he is one of only two men who never died—he was caught up
alive into heaven. There is a lot we can learn from a man like this, both
positive and negative.
The Bible gives
little background on Elijah. It wasn’t his pedigree or education that brought
him into a position of influence and power. Elijah was nobody until he received
a word from God. It was the revelation God gave him that put him into a position
of leadership.
Likewise, anyone who
is born again, or baptized in the Holy Spirit, or has a good relationship with
the Lord, has a revelation from God too. Just as Elijah’s revelation from God
put him into a position of influence, anyone who has a revelation of God has the
potential to influence others also. The only difference is that Elijah knew what
he had and was bold enough to speak.
Many of us have been
intimidated by the ungodly. We aren’t boldly speaking the truth we have from the
Lord. What if Elijah hadn’t spoken that prophecy to King Ahab? The drought may
have occurred anyway, but Elijah wouldn’t have been able to use it to affect the
nation. The people would have dismissed the drought as a natural
occurrence.
Elijah was bold
enough to speak before there was any proof that what he was saying would come to
pass. That took faith and great courage.
When the drought came
as promised, Elijah became the most sought after man in the
nation:
“As the LORD thy God
liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek
thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and
nation, that they found thee not” (1 Kin. 18:10).
If we would speak
forth the truths God has shown us, just like Elijah, the truths we speak would
ultimately prevail.
Elijah didn’t have
all the answers or know what would happen next when he spoke the prophecy to
King Ahab (1 Kin. 17:1). Ahab had forbidden worship of the true God, instituting
Baal worship. He killed the prophets of the Lord, and Elijah was putting himself
in harm’s way by obeying the Lord.
It wasn’t until after
Elijah delivered the word of the Lord, that God spoke to him about how He would
protect and sustain him.
First Kings 17:2-4
says, “And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn
thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And
it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens
to feed thee there.”
One of the great
lessons we can learn here is that God doesn’t reveal His complete plan
immediately. He reveals His will to us one step at a time. After we obey the
first step, He shows us the next. Why should the Lord show us step two or ten if
we haven’t obeyed step one? That would just make us more accountable. So, don’t
try to figure out the next step until you have acted on what you know to do now.
That’s a powerful truth.
The Lord told Elijah
to go to the Brook Cherith. He had already commanded the ravens to bring Elijah
bread and meat “THERE” every morning and evening. This was miraculous! What a
provision during a terrible time!
But notice this: The
Lord didn’t send Elijah’s provision to where he was. A quarterback doesn’t throw
the football to where the receiver is, but where the receiver is going. Elijah’s
miracle wasn’t where he was but where the Lord was sending him. That’s
awesome!
Each of us has a
place called “THERE,” where the blessings of the Lord are waiting. The Lord
never fails to provide, but people often fail to receive because they aren’t all
“THERE.” If Elijah had not gone to his place called “THERE,” his disobedience
would not have stopped God’s faithfulness; however, he would not have received
the provision; it was over “THERE,” by the Brook
Cherith.
This is exactly what
is happening to many of us. The Lord has placed something on our hearts to say
or do. But, if we haven’t obeyed, we aren’t in our place of “THERE.” We aren’t
seeing God’s provision, because we aren’t in that place of
obedience.
I’ve heard many
people say the Lord told them to attend Charis Bible College. But they just
can’t see how it could happen. They want to see the Lord’s provision before they
go “THERE.” That’s not how it works.
Some of you are not
seeing God’s provision because you aren’t doing what He has told you to do. This
doesn’t mean the Lord is punishing you. If Elijah hadn’t gone “THERE,” he would
have lost his provision. The Lord has provision for you too, but it’s
“THERE.”
This place called
“THERE” changes. God changed the place and method of Elijah’s
provision:
“And the word of the
LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to
Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain
thee” (1 Kin. 17:8-9).
You can’t just seek
the Lord once, hear His voice, step out in faith, and then stop listening. The
Lord brings us into His perfect will step by step. Elijah moved when the Lord
told him to move.
This led Elijah to
the city of Zarephath where he asked a widow to give him the last of her food.
It looked like he was taking from this woman, but he was actually giving to her.
Instead of this being her last meal before dying, the Lord multiplied this
woman’s supplies, which kept her, her son, and Elijah alive for about three
years (1 Kin. 17:15-16). What a great miracle!
That wasn’t all the
widow received. Her faithfulness in giving caused her son to be raised from the
dead (1 Kin. 17:17-23). She had been operating in faith every day. She would use
the last bit of oil and meal for Elijah and then find that there was always
enough to make a cake for herself and her son. This was a great faith builder,
which I’m sure figured into the miracle of her son.
Elijah went on to
call fire down from heaven and consume a sacrifice in the sight of all of the
people of Israel (1 Kin. 18:36-38). The people who saw it cried out, “The Lord,
He is the God. The Lord, He is the God.” They killed all the prophets of Baal,
and the whole nation turned to the Lord.
That same day, Elijah
prayed and ended the drought by a great rain storm (1 Kin. 18:41-45). He was so
pumped, he outran Ahab’s chariot in a twenty-mile race after Ahab had a head
start. Elijah was excited!
Here is a very
important lesson: After great victories come great temptations. This is
primarily because we lose our sense of humility and dependence upon God (1 Kin.
19:4). Elijah had successfully defied the king, his armies, his prophets, and
all the people in the nation. But the next day, a note from a woman caused him
to run in terror (1 Kin. 19:2-3).
The Lord appeared to
Elijah and asked, “What are you doing HERE, Elijah?” (1 Kin. 19:9). Elijah
wasn’t “THERE” anymore. His place called “THERE” was back in Samaria. People
were now worshiping the true God, but Elijah had run away in fear, leaving the
people without a leader.
This resulted in the
Lord replacing Elijah with Elisha. Elijah’s ministry fell short of what it could
have been. The Lord actually spoke to Elijah in an audible voice. He told him to
do three things, one of which was to anoint Elisha to replace him (1 Kin.
19:15-16). Elijah anointed Elisha (1 Kin. 19:19), but didn’t do the other two
things. That means Elijah failed in two-thirds of the things the Lord told him
to do. That’s amazing.
You might think this
meant Elijah was washed up and was never used of God again. That’s not the case.
Elijah went on to prophesy (1 Kin. 21:17-24), and he called the fire of God down
two more times (2 Kin. 1:9-12). And most impressive of all, Elijah never died;
he was caught up into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kin.
2:11).
This man, who failed
miserably, still walked so closely with God that he never died. This speaks
volumes to us. The Lord has never had anyone working for Him yet who was
qualified. He uses us in spite of what we do, and not because of what we do. If
we will hold on to our faith, we can still experience wonderful things from the
Lord even after failing BIG TIME. What powerful truths.
Andrew Wommack in his article Grace: The Power Of The
Gospel[xi]
writes
Many people around
the world who embrace “Christianity” have never heard the true Gospel. They
believe Christianity is nothing but a different set of rules, substituting
Christian “dos and don’ts” for those of other religions. They continue to
believe they must earn their way to God and then do their best to deserve the
benefits of salvation. That’s not the true Gospel.
Accepting Jesus as
your Savior with the belief that you are now going to abide by a certain set of
rules, or exchange one set for another, is not the good news. Why? Because it
still depends upon your performance. And I can guarantee you that the devil will
make sure you know that your performance is not quite good enough. He is the
accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10).
The truth that
makes the Gospel the “nearly-too-good-to-be-true news” is that we are accepted
by God through what Jesus did for us. The revelation of God’s grace will deliver
you from a performance mentality to a total trust and reliance upon the Lord.
Salvation is all about God’s faithfulness, not ours! This is foundational for
maintaining a close relationship with God and receiving all the benefits of your
salvation.
Romans 1:16-17 says,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.”
The book of Romans
communicates that the Gospel is the power of God. It’s what produces the life of
God in people. However, the word Gospel has become a religious term that has
lost a lot of its meaning today. Many people associate “Gospel” with anything
that has to do with religion, specifically the Christian religion. But “Gospel”
literally means “good tidings,” or “good news.”
The Greek word
euaggelion, which was translated “gospel” in seventy-four New Testament verses,
was so rare in writings outside of the New Testament that it’s only found twice
in extra-biblical manuscripts. The reason for this is because this word not only
meant “good news,” but was actually describing “nearly-too-good-to-be-true
news.”
Much of “Christian
culture” today associates the Gospel with these statements: “You’re a sinner. If
you don’t repent, you’re going to hell.” Now, these are true statements. There
is a heaven and a hell, a God and a devil, and you will go to hell if you don’t
repent and receive salvation, but even though all of that is truth, it’s not
“good news.” It’s not “the Gospel.”
As a matter of fact,
it’s the complete opposite of what Paul was teaching. Roman 2:4 says it’s the
goodness of God that leads us to repentance, not judgment and condemnation. That
is what Paul was talking about, and that is “good
news.”
The Gospel is
directly related to the grace of God. That’s the only way this forgiveness of
our sins can be obtained. It isn’t through our holiness or good works. God
doesn’t take the “good” people and save them; He justifies (extends salvation
toward) the ungodly (Rom. 4:5).
This causes many
problems for religious people. They say, “Wait a minute! I believe you must do
this and that to be holy.” Religion—false religion, man’s concepts—teaches that
right standing with God and His blessings come as a result of our own goodness
and works.
Religious teachers
say, “You must come to our church. You must pay your tithes, read your Bible,
and pray more, to mention a few. Then, if you do all these things just right,
God will accept you.” That’s anti-Gospel! It’s against the “good news” of God’s
grace because it’s putting the burden of salvation on your back—and you can’t
bear it. Nobody can save themselves.
That’s basically the
false “Gospel” that religion preaches today. They may talk about the one true
God and use terminology like “God the Father.” They may even mention that Jesus
is the Savior of the world who died for our sins. But at its core, it’s another
“Gospel”—which is no Gospel at all (Gal. 1:7).
The Gospel isn’t only
the belief in salvation, but it’s also the understanding of the means by which
this salvation is obtained. “If you’ll act good and do good, then you’ll be
good” isn’t the true Gospel. Notice what Paul said while addressing the very
first ministers’ conference at Ephesus:
“But none of these
things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish
my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus,
to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts
20:24).
Another way Paul
could have said this is, “I am testifying of the Gospel—which is the good news
of the grace of God.” The words “Gospel” and “grace” are terms that can be used
interchangeably. The good news—or Gospel—is the grace of
God.
Even the word
salvation is misunderstood. Evangelical Christianity says that salvation is a
one-time occurrence, an experience when your sins are forgiven. That’s true,
there is a moment when you pass from death to life, but that is not all that
happens. It’s an incomplete definition. Salvation isn’t limited to the initial
born-again experience.
Salvation is
everything Jesus purchased for us through the atonement. Sozo, the Greek word
from which “salvation” was translated means more than forgiveness of sin; it
also means healing, deliverance, and prosperity. It’s a word that summarizes
everything that Jesus provided for us through His death, burial, and
resurrection.
James 5:14-15 vividly
illustrates how salvation includes both healing and forgiveness of sin: “Is any
sick among you? let him call for this elders of the church; and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of
faith shall save [sozo] the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he
have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (brackets
mine).
Salvation is a
package deal and it’s all accomplished by the grace of God, not our works.
However, Satan is always trying to deceive us. He is the one who wants us to
believe we must earn things from God. He is the one causing us to doubt the
Lord’s willingness to use His ability on our behalf, and unfortunately, the
church is often reinforcing that belief.
I’ve had many
believers come up to me in the prayer lines asking, “Why am I not healed? I’ve
fasted, prayed, and studied the Word. I pay my tithes and go to church. I’m
doing the best I can. What does God demand?” When I hear that, they have just
given me the answer to their question. They aren’t pointing to what Jesus did;
they are pointing to what they have done, and that always leads to
failure.
Most people believe
that God moves in their lives proportional to their performance. That was the
error Paul was dealing with in the book of Romans. When Paul came along and said
“I’m not ashamed of the Gospel!” he was saying “I am not ashamed to tell people
about the goodness, grace, and mercy of God. The Lord loves us in spite of who
we are and what we’ve done.” Now that’s “good news!”
The religious folks
of Paul’s day thought this was terrible. They believed what he was preaching was
heresy. People needed to recognize and relate to God based on how sorry they
were. God wasn’t happy with them or the way they were acting. They were just
worms in His sight. Sound familiar?
On the surface it
looks like a humble position. In reality, it’s actually making a person’s
relationship with God dependent on self. “Look what I have done for the Lord,
how holy I’ve been, and how much I’ve denied myself.” This is actually a very
self-centered, self-dependent way of approaching God that never produces any
fruit in your life.
Religion wants to
make sure that people know they are sinners and on their way to hell. However,
the truth is that they already know that.
Romans 1:18-19 says,
“For the wrath of God is revealed [not going to be, but already is revealed]
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the
truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in
them; for God hath [past tense] shewed it unto them” .
God’s wrath has
already been revealed intuitively inside of every person. Each individual has
within them the knowledge of God’s wrath against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men. So when someone wonders If I just tell people about the
goodness of God, what will make them understand that they are sinners in need of
salvation? Paul’s answer was that they already knew. In their hearts, people
already know that they aren’t good, but sinners in need of salvation. The point
is that you don’t have to bombard people with the fact that they are sinners;
deep in their hearts they already know. You may need to spend some time on that
issue in order to make your point and strike that chord in their hearts, but not
by condemning them and restricting them to religious dos and don’ts. Paul was
saying, “That’s not the true approach.”
It’s the Gospel—the
nearly-too-good-to-be-true news that God has provided. It’s salvation for us by
grace that empowers men to receive the forgiveness of their sins, the healing of
their bodies, the deliverance from Satan’s oppression, and more. We don’t need
to convince people they are sinners; we need to show them the way out. That’s
the Gospel!
Do you need to be
healed? The power for healing is in the Gospel. Do you need to be prospered
financially? The power for financial prosperity is in the Gospel. Do you need to
be delivered from the power of demonic influence, from depression, from
yourself, or from something else? The power for deliverance is in the Gospel!
The Gospel is the power of God. It’s “nearly too good to be
true.
Andrew Wommack in his
article Discipleship vs. Evangelism[xii] writes
Most Christians believe that the primary
purpose of salvation is to avoid hell. That may have been what you were taught,
but it’s not what the Bible teaches. In fact, that kind of thinking serves to
inoculate people from the truth of the Gospel concerning
salvation.
If we simply ceased
to exist at death and if there was no hell, I still believe that Jesus would
have come to earth and died for us. Why, because salvation is about having a
relationship with God. God’s main reason for sending Jesus was to restore
fellowship. It just so happens that as we restore our relationship with God
through salvation, one of the perks, one of the great benefits, is that we miss
hell and gain heaven.
Nowhere in Scripture
did Jesus tell us to go and make converts. Let’s look at what is commonly
referred to as the Great Commission, found in Mathew 28:18-20. It says this:
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Jesus told them to
teach them to observe all things He had commanded. The word "teach" is derived
from the word that is translated "disciple" throughout the Bible. The New
International Version translates this, “Go and make disciples.” The emphasis
here is that the Lord commanded us to make disciples, not converts. Somewhere
along the way, the church has changed the emphasis of this message from making
disciples to people being born again, leaving discipleship for the
“mature.”
Did you know that
Jesus never preached on being “born again”? In the third chapter of John, He
talked to Nicodemus about the spiritual birth compared to the natural birth, but
He never taught or preached to the people about being “born again.” You may be
asking yourself, “How can Andrew say that? That’s the centerpiece of every
evangelistic effort.” You’re right, it is, but I believe the Bible teaches that
the church has placed the emphasis in the wrong place. By making that the focus,
we are actually lowering the standards, leaving people with the misconception
that all they need to do is just be born again and discipleship is optional.
That is not what Jesus commanded us to do.
Statistics tell us
that thirty-three percent of all “born-again Christians” still support things
like abortion and New Age thinking. That certainly does not reflect the attitude
of a person who’s truly been born again. Billy Graham was quoted as saying that
only fifteen percent of all the people who professed to be Christian are truly
born again. Here is something else that may surprise you: Katherine Kuhlman said
that only fifteen percent of those who were healed at her services kept their
healing when they left the service. These numbers should tell us something about
how we measure success in ministry.
I am not saying that
being born again and living eternally with Jesus is not important; it’s
essential! I’m saying that we have changed the message from the way Jesus taught
it. We have reduced the definition of “born again” to the point that in our
society today, it has actually become socially popular to say you’re born again
and gain acceptance in certain circles. Jesus said that we are to make
disciples, followers of Christ. When we ask people to accept Jesus as their
Savior, we need to teach them that this is a total commitment of one’s life to
the Lord. It means becoming a disciple of Jesus.
Jesus’ attitude
toward evangelism is much different than that of most Christians. Jesus is more
concerned with the quality of ministry than the
quantity.
John 2:23-25 says,
"Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed
in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit
himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should
testify of man: for he knew what was in man."
It says that Jesus
did not commit Himself unto them although they believed on Him. The word
"believe" and "commit" are actually the same word in the Greek here. So you
could say that they believed on Him, but He did not believe in them. He knew
they were not disciples. He wouldn’t commit Himself to them, because He didn’t
want man testifying out of their own ability. When we hear that someone has been
born again, we are ready to put them to work, especially if they are public
figures with name recognitions. It’s like we are trying to sell a product by
associating it with someone famous. That totally violates what Paul said in 1
Timothy, chapter 3, concerning placing a novice in a position of authority.
These are the kinds of shortcuts believers resort to when they limit the true
definition of being born again to a simple confession of Jesus as
Lord.
Mahatma Gandhi once
said, “I would have been a Christian if I hadn’t met one.” Before leading the
revolution in India, he was exiled in Africa. There, he was seeking the Lord,
reading the New Testament. He had become convinced that Christianity was the
true religion and that Jesus was the Christ. He decided to attend a Presbyterian
Church service for the purpose of confessing Jesus as his Lord. But because of
the color of his skin, they wouldn’t let him in. Those people who were so
determined to evangelize did not have enough of the nature of God on the inside
to look past his color. Gandhi then led 750 million people into a pagan
religion.
On a trip to India
some years ago, I learned there were 12,000 Methodists in the city of Ahmedadad,
the result of a great revival in the 1890s. When I asked the head of the church
in that city how many were truly born again, he responded by saying there were
only two or three families. The rest were still worshiping other gods. All they
had done was added Jesus to their list of gods to make sure they didn’t miss
one. They were obviously not disciples. To those in India, Jesus was just
another of the thousands of gods. That is not God’s idea of
evangelism.
John 8:30-32 says,
"As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free."
We often say that if
you know the truth, the truth will set you free. That is not correct. More
correctly, these verses say that when you continue in the Word, then you will
know the truth, and the truth you know sets you free. In these verses, Jesus was
speaking to those who already believed on Him. Jesus knew that only those who
became disciples would truly become free. There is more to believing than just
mouthing words.
What we ought to be
preaching is that God calls us into discipleship, and it begins with making a
commitment to the Lord. If we understood that and acted on it, we would have
much greater success evangelizing the world.
Consider this: If you
evangelized 1,000 people per year for fifteen years, you would have 15,000 new
believers, assuming they were all genuine conversions. If you led 1 person to
the Lord every six months and spent the next six months discipling that person
so they could reproduce themselves, what do you think would happen? In one year
there would only be two new Christians. However, after twelve years, if each
continued to reproduce themselves every six months, there would be no one left
on earth to evangelize. Jesus’ method of discipleship would have produced nearly
6 billion disciples in less than thirteen years. Discipleship Evangelism
works!
I really believe that
the church has missed it in the area of evangelism. We have been making converts
and not disciples. By now, you may be thinking, "Andrew is right, but I have no
idea how to disciple anyone; that’s best left to those who are more
knowledgeable in the Word of God." Well, I have good news: If you can read, you
can change a life!
My good friend and
associate minister for over thirty years, Don Krow, has developed a discipling
tool to help you fulfill God’s command to go and make disciples. Don has
entitled it Discipleship 101, but I call it “Discipling for Dummies.” It’s
simple, it’s easy, and it’s effective. It’s made up of thirty-four powerful
real-life stories. All you do is read a short story, ask prepared questions,
give the prepared answers, and watch God work in the life of another. You can’t
miss with this. I believe it will be a big blessing.
Chapter 10
God Was With Him
"how God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts
10:38
Andrew Wommack
in his article How To Receive A Miracle
writes
A miracle — the supernatural intervention of God. All of
us have needed a miracle in the past, need one now, or will need of one in the
future. The problem is that most Christians don't know how to receive a miracle
from God.
The best advice is don't wait until a storm hits to
learn how to believe God for a miracle. During a storm, emotions will cancel out
your faith.
It's good to clarify the difference between a blessing
and a miracle. A miracle is a supernatural intervention of God in a crisis
situation. A blessing is still God's power, but it flows through natural
channels. Blessings are better than miracles. If you live your life from one
miracle to the next, you will live from crisis to crisis. It's better to be
blessed with good health than to always need divine healing. God's will is for
us to walk in blessing.
We all need a miracle at some time to simply jump-start
our faith. If it weren't for miracles, we wouldn't grow to the point where we
could walk in the blessings of God. Most Christians believe that God does
miracles, but simply believing God is able to do it is not enough. You must know
how to receive it.
Many Christians just wish and hope it happens. They
think there is no way to grab a hold of miracles and make them happen. That's
not what the Bible teaches.
God is predictable and orderly. He doesn't do one thing
this time and another thing another time. God created this world and everything
physical around us, and the physical world is orderly. God is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. He is forever
faithful.
Faith is governed by laws. Romans 3:27 says, "Where is
boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of
faith." The kingdom of God operates under law. It is consistent. When someone is
killed due to the law of gravity, we may wonder why God did that. He didn't, but
there are laws that He put in
place.
Gravity says that if you jump off a building, you will
be killed. If you cooperate with God's laws, you will be fine. If you ignore
those laws, you can be killed by the laws intended for your good. It's the same
with the spiritual laws of
God.
So, how do you receive a miracle from God? First, you
must recognize that miracles are not just hit and miss. You can tap into a
miracle. You learn the laws of God and how they work, and miracles will happen.
I'm not saying you can push a button and God pops out or you can make God do
whatever you want. I'm saying God is turned on all the time and any time, you
get turned on, you can see the power of God operate. God is always wanting to
move on your behalf. God is for you — He is a good
God.
God's desire is for you to prosper (Ps. 35:27). God's
will is for you to be healthy (3 John 2). God's will is for you to be above only
and not beneath (Deut. 28:13).
You are the one who controls God's ability in your life.
God doesn't. It is God's power and His ability, but it's up to you. The
Scripture says in Ephesians 3:20, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh
in us." Many people leave off that last phrase, "according to the power that
worketh in us." If there is no power in you, you can stop God's intervention in
your life. God has chosen to never violate your will. God has chosen to flow
through you. Satan can't stop God's power, but you can. God wants you to have a
miracle, but you have to stop waiting and start
believing.
The most important miracle in the Bible is the virgin
birth of Jesus. God came and lived in a physical body — now that's a miracle.
The account is found in Luke
1.
The angel came and spoke to Mary of this miracle. The
miracle happened when Mary answered (in verse 38), "Behold the handmaid of the
Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." When God creates, He speaks it into
existence by His Word.
God did all His miracles by the spoken Word. In Genesis,
He created the world by the spoken Word. Hebrews 11 tells us, "Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which
are seen were not made of things which do appear." The important point is that
your words are involved in your
miracle.
Many Christians put prayer above all and believe that if
you pray, it will happen. Prayer is like water or fertilizer that you put on the
seed. But, without planting a seed, watering is useless. If God was moved by
need, every person's need would be met. Also, those in the worst situations
would get their needs met first. That's not
true.
You must plant a seed, which is the Word of God. First
Peter 1:23 says, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." We are
born again of incorruptible seed — the Word of God. The word "seed" in this
scripture means sperm. We are born of a supernatural union and the seed of the
Word of God.
Farmers believe that if you plant wheat, you get wheat.
If you plant corn, you get corn. They don't question it — they are simply laws.
Everybody agrees with that in the natural; but when it comes to spiritual
things, most people don't believe
that.
But the truth is, if you aren't reaping what the Word of
God says, you haven't planted what the Word of God says to plant. You reap what
you sow. If the Word of God is primary in your life, you're going to get the
results of the Word of God. That doesn't mean Satan won't fight you and you
won't have problems. The end result will be you're going to have what the Word
of God says. Satan may fight you, but you'll win. Many of us know this
intellectually, but in our hearts, there is fear or reservation. We don't have
the absolute confidence that God's Word is going to prevail in our
lives.
Romans 8:6 says, "For to be carnally minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." If all you think about is the
Word of God, that's all you'll get. You may not be thinking, I want to be sick,
but your thinking has been sick. Proverbs 4:22 tells us that the Word of God is
"life unto those that find them, and health to all their
flesh."
When God wanted to bring Jesus into the earth, He
couldn't just create Jesus. God gave all authority over the earth to man. God
did not rule directly over the affairs of the earth. After man blew it, God
couldn't come down here and intervene. He had to work through man. God was
looking for a man to flow through but couldn't find one. So, He had to come
Himself (Is. 59:16). In the virgin birth, the Word of God was the seed.
Everything else about the birth was natural. God spoke that miracle into
existence.
I believe every one of us has a spiritual womb where the
Word of God enters in and germinates, and we conceive a miracle. Sometimes you
may receive a miracle as a gift through someone else's faith. You can't depend
on someone else; God wants you to be able to conceive a miracle. Meditate on the
Word day and night, and you will get spiritually pregnant and bring forth
fruit.
It's impossible to have a miracle without planting the
Word of God. One farmer thought he could violate the laws of God. He waited to
plant wheat until everyone else's wheat was about ready to harvest. He planted
$100,000 worth of wheat the month before harvest. When it didn't come up and he
lost his money, he came and wanted me to pray. I told him that's not the way it
works. You don't sow a crop when you want a crop. Some of us haven't had the
seed planted in us, but we want the crop. There is a time of sowing and reaping
(Gal. 6:9).
We don't just naturally grow up believing God. It takes
renewing our minds. God's Word is the most important step to receive a miracle.
Romans 10:17 says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God." You can't just know the Word intellectually. You must meditate on it so it
becomes living and active on the inside of you. Most of us don't meditate on the
Word as we should. We are occupied and don't have time, and we are upset with
God when we don't receive our miracle. That's just as foolish as the man who
didn't plant his seed but was upset when he didn't receive a
crop.
If God's Word is planted in your heart, you'll receive.
It doesn't matter what you feel — God's Word will produce a
miracle.
Most of us have had times when we have prayed a prayer
of faith, and our prayers seemed to go unanswered. Maybe you got into the Word
of God, planted a seed, and prayed for a miracle. Then, nothing
happened.
The problem is that many people stop believing at that
moment. God's Word says in Mark 11:24, "What things soever ye desire, when ye
pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." This is where most
Christians stumble. The Bible says to believe when you pray that you have
received.
Most of us are familiar with Matthew 7:7, which says,
"Ask, and it shall be given you." However, when we don't see an immediate
manifestation to prayer, we say, "Well, not everyone receives." That's not
scriptural because the next verse says, "For every one that asketh receiveth."
Most of us don't really believe this scripture. We lose our excitement in the
Word and don't expect it to work like
that.
We had a friend with leukemia, and she believed that she
would be healed. We prayed that she would be healed. On her death bed, she still
believed she would be healed at any time. She died and we prayed for her to be
raised from the dead for a long time. Her father said that it couldn't be God's
will for everyone to be healed, or she would have been healed. We didn't
understand and it was hard for me. It was several years before I figured out how
we allowed the devil to beat us on that
one.
We have a responsibility to bring about God's will. Some
people believe that God's will comes to pass no matter what we do, but that's
not true. God is bound by His own laws. Second Peter 3:9 says that it's not
God's will that anyone should perish. For that to happen, there has to be
someone to preach the Gospel. God's will does not automatically comes to pass.
Psalm 89:34 says, "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is
gone out of my lips." God has bound Himself by His own Word. God gave us
authority over the devil, and we must exercise what God has given
us.
Most people interpret God's Word by their own
experience, "God's Word says one thing, but here is what happened." If someone
doesn't get healed, we make our own theology and say, "Well, not everyone gets
healed." God doesn't say no to something He already said yes to. You need to
learn to interpret your circumstances by God's Word — not God's Word by your
circumstances.
Most of us have seen a promise in God's Word and
believed to the best of our ability, but it didn't come to pass. How do we
harmonize the fact that God is true to His Word and it didn't
happen?
There is a physical world, and there is a spiritual
world. The spiritual world created this physical world. There is a spiritual
reality for everything physical. In 2 Kings 6, you can read the story of Elisha.
When the Syrian army had surrounded Elisha and his army, a servant asked Elisha,
"What shall we do?" Elisha answered, "Fear not: for they that be with us are
more than they that be with them." Verse 17 tells us, "And Elisha prayed, and
said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the
eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses
and chariots of fire round about Elisha." There weren't more physically but more
spiritually. The angels of God surrounded them. Elisha spoke the
truth.
Some people say it's a lie to speak that you're healed
when you don't feel healed, but that's operating only by your five senses. You
have to walk in the spirit. There are spiritual realities. John 6:63 says, "It
is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." The Bible is spiritual
truth. We are limited when we only think in the physical realm. Just because you
can't see it doesn't mean God didn't do it. God always answers when you pray
according to His will. When God answers your prayer, He gives it to you in
spiritual form. If you ask for finances, God releases the spiritual power to
produce those finances. If you pray for healing, He gives it to you in spiritual
form. God's operation ends in the spiritual realm, independent of
you.
Faith is the key that brings the answer into the
physical realm. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen" (Heb. 11:1). Your faith brings what God has accomplished into
physical reality. God gives it to you in the spirit, then faith brings it into
the physical realm. Many times you don't know God has answered your prayer
because you can't perceive it in the physical. You have to believe something is
happening beyond your five senses. If you don't believe it until you see it, you
won't receive from God. The Bible says you have to believe you receive when you
pray.
What happens between the time you say amen and see the
answer manifested? We learn something about this when we read about the prayers
of Daniel. In Daniel 9:20, Daniel is praying, and the angel Gabriel appears and
tells him (in verse 23), "At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment
came forth, and I am come to shew thee." In only three minutes, God answered his
prayer. Gabriel said at the beginning of his prayer God answered, but it took
three minutes for it to become visible. Sometimes it takes a little time to
manifest in the physical. Often, we step out of faith and stop the manifestation
from coming.
In Daniel 10, Daniel is praying again. This time it
says, in verse 3, he fasted and prayed for three weeks. In verse 10, God sends a
messenger and answers. Why did it take three minutes the first time and three
weeks the second time? Some people say that God is making them wait to teach
them something. That is not scriptural. The Bible says that the Scripture is
given to teach us. We can learn through trials, but God doesn't send them to
teach us.
In verse 12, the angel told Daniel that God heard his
prayer the first day and sent the answer. What held up the answer? The prince of
the kingdom of Persia did battle with the angel for 21 days. There was spiritual
warfare going on for three weeks. Satan fought to keep the answer from Daniel.
In the Old Testament, people didn't have authority over the devil. That
authority came with Jesus. If God had shown Daniel what was going on, he
couldn't have done anything. In the New Testament, the blinders are removed
because we have authority over Satan. We don't have to wait for the devil to run
his course. When Jesus withstood temptation, the devil left because he had done
everything he could do (Matt. 4; Luke 4). Satan doesn't have a limitless bag of
tricks.
If you pray and don't see manifestation immediately, God
is waiting on you to stand against the devil and bring it into
being.
How can Satan hinder your prayer? He can use another
person to hinder your prayer. Sometimes, other people are involved in your
answer. If you are praying for finances, intercede for the people who will be
used in your prosperity. If you are trying to sell a house, pray for the person
who will buy your house. If you want a promotion at work, pray for the boss who
will be used to give you your
promotion.
Some of you may think you don't have enough faith to
believe for a miracle. The truth is that you can't get any more faith than you
already have. Romans 12:3 says that God has dealt to every man the measure of
faith. God gave us all the same measure of
faith.
In Galatians 2:20, Paul said, "I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me." Paul said that he uses the faith of Jesus. You
have the same amount of faith that Jesus has. That should be
enough.
Andrew Wommak in
his article How To: Flow In The Gifts Of
The Holy Spirit writes:
I believe that one of the biggest reasons that the body
of Christ hasn't made a greater impact on our generation today is because of our
failure to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Without a doubt, Jesus and
the first apostles used the gifts like a bell, calling men to their message and
confirming that God was truly the One speaking through
them.
Hebrews 2:3-4 says, "How shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation; which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was
confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both
with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost,
according to his own will?" The Lord bore witness to the accuracy of their
message through miracles and gifts of the Holy
Spirit.
In Mark 16:17-18, Jesus said all true believers would
flow in the miraculous: "And these signs will follow them that believe; In my
name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;
they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." If a Christian's life
isn't supernatural, it's
superficial.
Mark goes on to say that messages based in God's Word
would be confirmed by signs following: "So then after the Lord had spoken unto
them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they
went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming
the word with signs following.
Amen."
Jesus even said, "If I do not the works of my Father,
believe me not" (John 10:37). That's a strong statement. If we were to apply
that standard to ministers today, most wouldn't be
believed.
The vast majority of preaching done in the name of the
Lord today is without the power of the Holy Spirit manifest through the gifts of
the Holy Spirit. This is not the way the Lord intended it to
be.
The "main line" denominations have developed doctrines
to cope with this obvious discrepancy. However, regardless of the rationale,
it's absurd to think that we can be effective without the power of the Holy
Spirit confirming the preaching of God's Word. If Jesus and the early apostles
needed their preaching validated, how can we do any
less?
Even the non-denominational churches have fallen away
from ministering in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts that operate in most
"Spirit-filled" churches are simply words of exhortation or prophecy. There is
much more.
The Lord has used the gifts of the Holy Spirit mightily
in my life and ministry to confirm His Word. There are countless times when
people were still skeptical after hearing me teach, but the demonstration of
God's power through the gifts turned them into believers. It's like the teaching
fills their mouths with God's Word, then the gifts of the Holy Spirit slap them
on the back and make them swallow it.
Hallelujah!
One of the most important steps to flowing in the gifts
of the Holy Spirit is to earnestly desire them. Paul said in 1 Corinthians
12:31, "But covet earnestly the best gifts." He repeated that thought in 1
Corinthians 14:1 when he said, "Desire spiritual gifts." Another way of saying
this is, as long as you can live without flowing in the gifts of the Holy
Spirit, you will. You have to seek these gifts with all your heart (Jer.
29:13).
It's also very important to understand that the gifts of
the Holy Spirit are always flowing. God doesn't turn them "on" and "off." We are
the ones who are "on" or "off." That's a startling statement to many people and
one that verges on blasphemy to some, but it's true. The Lord is always ready to
flow through us in the gifts of the Holy
Spirit.
It's just like praying in tongues. We don't have to wait
for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to come on us to speak in tongues. We can
pray in tongues at any time. It's not us turning on the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit is always on and giving us the ability to speak in tongues. Therefore,
whenever we turn ourselves on, the gift of tongues is there to allow us to
communicate with our heavenly Father. Praise the Lord! That's the way it is with
all the gifts.
I remember one time that I was teaching along these
lines in our Charis Bible College. One of the students said, "So, you are saying
that you can flow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit at any time?" I said, "That's
right and I'll prove it to you." I then started down each row and just started
"reading the students' mail. I was telling them things that had to be coming
from the Holy Spirit. It was
awesome.
No one has received everything that the Holy Spirit has
for them. Therefore, the Lord is always seeking to release more to us through
His supernatural gifts. Whenever we put ourselves in a mode to be His channel,
His gifts will flow. The old "Pentecostal" doctrine of the anointing coming and
going is not a New Testament truth. First John 2:27 says, "But the anointing
which ye have received of him abideth in
you."
Another great truth about flowing in the gifts of the
Holy Spirit is what John Osteen called "the divine flow." This is based on, "God
is love" (1 John 4:8). Therefore, whenever we discern the love of God flowing
through us toward someone, God is reaching out to them through the gifts of the
Holy Spirit. All we have to do is follow that flow through
faith.
Once when I was pastoring a little church in Pritchett,
Colorado, my heart just went out to a woman in the back of the room. I'd never
seen her before, and there was nothing natural that drew me to her. It was just
the love of God flowing through me to her. Because of that love alone, I told
her that God had a word for her. I didn't have one single word to say to her,
but I knew God's love was flowing; and therefore, God and His gifts were flowing
to her. I just started by saying, "God loves you." God then flooded my mind with
things to minister to her.
It was a long word from the Lord, but I specifically
told her about how she was grieving over the loss of someone and was confused
about why God allowed it. I kept saying, "It wasn't God that allowed it. It was
the Destroyer." I said that a number of times. She broke down in tears and was
really ministered to.
After the service, she told me that she had just lost
her son to leukemia. They believed that God allowed this disease. But just
before her son died, he saw this huge demon over their town, which the Lord told
him was named the Destroyer. They didn't know how to interpret that until I
spoke to them through the gifts of the Holy Spirit and put it all in order. They
were set free.
This was the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom in
operation. God gave the knowledge of what had happened and then gave words of
wisdom to instruct them on how to deal with it. This all came because I followed
the love that I felt in my
heart.
This has happened to us all, but most of the time we
don't understand this is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and we miss an opportunity.
I've learned this the hard
way.
There was a man who had been my youth director when I
was just a young boy. He left our Baptist church before I was a teenager, and I
heard how he had been baptized in the Holy Spirit and was seeing great miracles
happen. He had one room in his church that was filled with the wheelchairs,
crutches, and braces of people who were healed and didn't need them
anymore.
During a three- or four-month period of time, I thought
about this man often. It was usually while I was in prayer that he would just
come to mind, and I would feel the compassion of God toward him. I would just
wonder what was happening with him and then dismiss the thoughts. Later, I found
that he had died in a freak accident where a red ant bit him on the
thumb.
As soon as I heard of his death, I knew that the reason
I had been thinking of him so often was because the Lord was trying to get me to
intercede for him. Over a decade later, I met this man's son, and I confessed to
him my failure to pray for his dad. He told me that I was at least the twelfth
person who had told him a similar story. The Lord had impressed many of us to
intercede for this man, but none of us recognized it as the
Lord.
It is imperative that we learn to recognize and flow in
the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It's not only a blessing to us, but the lives of
other people may depend on it. You are carrying someone's miracle. Don't let it
stay inside. You have to learn how to release
it.
Chapter 11
I Have Overcome The World
"Then I said to you,
'Do not be terrified, or afraid of them.
'The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according
to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 'and in the wilderness where you saw how the
LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you
went until you came to this place.' Deuteronomy 1:29-31
"These things I have
spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John
16:33
There is nothing in
this world that can defeat God who in Christ Jesus has overcome the world. He
has promised to fight for His trusting ones according to all that He did for His
people in Egypt where God judged and plagued and dismayed a whole nation along
with Pharaoh’s with destructive miracles, signs and wonders. The God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob using a murderer named
Moses saw the oppression of His people n
Egypt, knew their sorrows and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters,
and had come down to deliver them out of
the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and
large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.
The king of Egypt
would not let His people go, not even by a mighty hand, so God stretched out His
hand and struck Egypt with all His
wonders and caused Pharaoh to let them even saying to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is
My son, My firstborn. "So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But
if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn (Exodus
4:22-23). He gave His people favor in the sight of the Egyptians and when they
went they did not go empty-handed but plundered the Egyptians. And to ensure
their safety and peace and to avenge them He caused Pharaoh with his mighty army
to purse His people and then He destroyed them as a result miraculously at the
Red sea where God miraculously parted the waters and enabled His people to
safely cross on dry land to the other side. And then He closed the same waters
on their enemies and caused them all to drown. God’s word is
unchanging:
Now it came to
pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army of the
Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the
Egyptians. And He took off their chariot
wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, "Let us
flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the
Egyptians."
Then the LORD
said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come
back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen." And Moses stretched out his hand over the
sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while
the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the
midst of the sea. Then the waters
returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh
that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry
land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right
hand and on their left. So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
Thus Israel saw the
great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and
believed the LORD and His servant Moses. Exodus
14:24-31
Then Moses and the
children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: "I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into
the sea! The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is
my God, and I will praise Him; My
father's God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast
into the sea; His chosen captains also
are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths
have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone. "Your right hand, O
LORD, has become glorious in power; Your
right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces. And in the greatness of Your
excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your
wrath; It consumed them like stubble. Exodus 15:1-7
The same God whose
right hand is glorious in power and dashed the enemy in pieces, consuming them
like a stubble, has promised to fight for His trusting ones and to give them
victory over all their enemies (Deuteronomy 20:1-4, 28:1-15, 33:26-29). He has
promised their enemies would submit to them, and they shall tread down their
high places. He has promised to give them every place that the sole of their
foot will tread upon; no man shall be able to stand before them all the days of
their life; as He was with Moses, so He will be with them. He would not leave them nor forsake
them and would be with them wherever they go (Joshua 1:4-9). He has promised to
do whatever they ask in Jesus name (John 14:13-14, 15:16, 16:23-26). His word is
unchanging:
Though the LORD is on
high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You
will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me. The
LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands. Psalm 138:6-8
"Most assuredly, I
say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and
greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. "And whatever
you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
"If you love Me, keep My commandments. "And I will pray the Father, and
He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- "the Spirit
of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows
Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John
14:12-17
Though we walk in the
midst of trouble, God will revive us; He
will stretch out His hand against the
wrath of our enemies, and His right hand will save us and give us concrete
victory over all our enemies. The LORD
will perfect that which concerns us and we will do the works that Jesus did and
great works also because God, Himself, is for us, with us and not against us.
It’s to be noted that God’s character
and nature does not change just because we had a bad day. He doesn’t stop loving
us just because we were overcome in some area. He doesn’t disqualify us because
we made a wrong turn or didn’t heed His voice again telling us what to do or
where to go. He doesn’t become angry with us when we become tired and
discouraged. He doesn’t disown us because we require His correction. His love
and care for us is constant and there is no searching of His understanding. His
word is unchanging:
Lift up your eyes on
high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name, By the
greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel:
"My way is hidden from the LORD, And my just claim is passed over by my
God"? Have you not known? Have you not
heard? The everlasting God, the LORD,
The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His
understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have
no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And
the young men shall utterly fall, But
those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with
wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not
faint. Isaiah 40:26-31
When circumstances
are negative in our lives, it is not a sign of God’s displeasure with us. On the contrary sometimes God allows us
to experience attack so that we can learn to war and to overcome the enemy and
be dependent on the LORD and not ourselves. So that we can see great and
wonderful victories just like the bewildered and besieged children of Israel did
at the Red Sea where God miraculously made a way where there was no way and in
the process destroyed their enemies. Yes, there are times when God appears to
silent to our cries for a season because He wants us to learn to stand in faith
and to trust in His goodness, His love and His faithfulness which He has
demonstrated to us over and over again and see the great and wonderful things
that He will do for us. God’s word is unchanging:
And when Pharaoh drew
near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians
marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried
out to the LORD. Then they said to
Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in
the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? "Is
this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may
serve the Egyptians?' For it would have been better for us to serve the
Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness." And Moses said to the people, "Do not be
afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish
for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more
forever. "The LORD will fight for you,
and you shall hold your peace." Exodus 14:10-14
God is our loving
Father and He will always remain our loving Father. That is part of His nature
and that is Who He is. He does not
change. He doesn’t behave towards us like a human. He is not a man and His ways
are far above the ways of man. He is not fickle. A bruised reed He doesn’t break
and smoking flax He doesn’t quench. He doesn’t abandon His children because they
have gotten lost once again or misread His signs and direction. He doesn’t
remove His calling and anointing on them because had failed once again or were
discouraged by the enemy. No! He loves them at all times and forever and they
must stop listening to the lies and accusations of the
enemy.
He has adopted
them into His family and has put His indwelling Spirit within them. He has shown them His faithfulness, and His
mercies are now every morning. He has demonstrated His love and His forgiveness
to them. While circumstance might change
He doesn’t change. He is the same yesterday today and forever – faithful and
true and dependable and full of integrity.
Just because they go through difficulties and trials doesn’t negate any
of His promises towards them. He is
still the great Deliverer, Redeemer and Restore of His people who break the
strong gates of iron that have been over His people.
In due season He
brings release from the hand of the oppressor and with His strong hand rids His
people of the giants in their land. He makes them victorious people to rise to
the occasion and walk in His freedom and in the Jubilee season. He increases the
anointing in their lives so that the yoke of the enemy over them can be broken.
He teaches them to know that it is not
by might or power but only His Spirit that they can live, breathe and have their
being and success and victories. He rains
down His Holy Spirit afresh upon
His trusting ones to give them season of
refreshing. They learn from His gentle hand that He is their provision and their
everything. They learn to know His Spirit as their Sustainer and their source of
Strength. They come to understand the concept of His being the vine and they
being the branches and the fact that without Him they are disconnected and
without stable ground.
As they remain in
Christ and allow Him to be their source, He leads them their abundance and give
them all the wisdom that they need. He
has paid the price for their total salvation, healing, abundance, victories and
prosperity. He teaches them to war in the Spirit on a higher level than they
have known and to serve Him out of love for Him. He wants what is best for them
at all times for they are precious to him. He desires that they be healed body
soul and spirit and be blessed financially. Though the world may despise them
and use them, He is able to sustain them and lead them through it as they hear
His voice and heed the call He has placed upon them.
God’s true ones don’t
allow the circumstances that surround them affect their faith in Him. They don’t
allow them to effect their sense of well-being or their relationship with the
LORD. They don’t allow circumstances to define them but instead look to His
character, faithfulness and goodness. Mind you for many of God’s people
provision is a word God’s children don't fully understand. It’s difficult for them to rely on God when
they have so long trusted in the toil of their hands and the sweat of their
brows. But God’s hand will provide to those who trust in Him. His provision can
be in an instant and His timing is perfect. It gives God great pleasure as their
Heavenly Father to provide their needs as they than and praise Him for it. He
causes their spirit to soar like an eagle far above all power and principalities
and to reach out to the brethren with love and encouragement so that they can
overcome in the onslaughts of the enemy. He wants to bring all His children into
victory and not just some special few.
He wants to teach
them not to give up on Him promises to them when they see no positive results to
their prayers, especially when it looks like things are getting worse. They need just to stand on His word which is
the truth for everything else is a lie.
They are not to go by what they feel or see, but by what they believe in
their heart through His word given to them. The enemy is defeated in their life
if they stand on what He did at Calvary and not lose vision of His victory when
they see things growing worse around them. The best is yet to come. In the heavenly realm they are seated with Christ at the right hand of the Father and can
rejoice and reach out a helping hand to those in need and give encouraging word
to those who feel defeated. They can
share His love, peace and joy for their God is in control and He reigns as King
of kings and Lord of lords forever. They
can pray with faith believing that God will hear and answer all their prayers
and enjoy the spoils of war just like the children of Israel did and so did
Hannah. God’s word is unchanging:
And Hannah prayed and
said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; My
horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at
my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your
salvation. "No one is holy like the LORD,
For there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God. "Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed. "The bows of
the mighty men are broken, And those who
stumbled are girded with strength. Those
who were full have hired themselves out for bread, And the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, And she who
has many children has become feeble. "The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings
up. The LORD makes poor and makes
rich; He brings low and lifts up. He
raises the poor from the dust And lifts
the beggar from the ash heap, To set
them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the
LORD'S, And He has set the world upon
them. He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. "For by strength no man shall prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken
in pieces; From heaven He will thunder
against them. The LORD will judge the
ends of the earth. "He will give
strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed." 1 Samuel 2:1-10
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest
who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
confession. For we do not have a High
Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin. Let us
therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Hebrews
4:4-16
Yes, God’s
true anointed ones are mighty men of War who through faith subdue kingdoms, work
righteousness, obtained promises and do
great exploits. They pull down the strongholds that are effecting
God’s people for many don't know how to war for themselves and need those who
will stand in the gap and roar on their behalf. They let out mighty power of
God’s love that repels the powers of darkness so that many can receive His
love. Many are so bound with deception that they don't even know that they are
bound in chains and fetters and the enemy must be commanded to let God's people
go.
God’s anointed ones follow the leading in the fight of
their Commander in chief. They are full of compassion, and do not stop warring
until they know in their hearts that they have conquered the land. Their travail
is not in vain as they hold on to their faith in God’s word and promises and
do let go of them until they get
their mighty breakthrough. They don’t
look at circumstances stating that things are growing worse and that they have
lost the fight. They don't believe the lies of the enemy by confess that the
nations are their inheritance. God’s word is
unchanging:
Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your
inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. Psalm
2:8
By
faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians,
attempting to do so, were drowned. By
faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven
days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not
perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with
peace. And what more shall I say? For
the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also
of David and Samuel and the prophets:
who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Hebrews 11:29-33
Gerdi Marais
(gm@raphacareer.co.za)
Do not lose hope! Do not give up and do not despair! For I am your hope!
I am your future and I am your breakthrough!
Breakthrough is near. I have made the way and will keep on making the way.
Do not despair. Do not lose hope. Only keep your eyes on Me.
I will not fail you.
I will not let you down. What has been promised will come to pass.
Am I a man that I should lie? Behold I am God of the Universe, the Creator
of heaven & earth. Is anything too difficult for Me?
I tell you the truth. Your breakthrough is near.
Am I a man that I should lie? Behold I am God of the Universe, the Creator
of heaven & earth. Is anything too difficult for Me?
I tell you the truth. Your breakthrough is near.
Do not lose hope. Do
not lose focus. Salvation is near.
Only believe. Only
keep beholding Me.
I will bring you
through. I am for you, not against you and I will
bring you into a future and hope that is good and not evil.
bring you into a future and hope that is good and not evil.
Trust Me and let Me carry you through. Do not
lose hope.
Chapter 12
God’s Will Is Prosperity
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of
sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the
scornful; But his delight is in the law
of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose
leaf also shall not wither; And whatever
he does shall prosper. Psalm 1:1-3
For unto us a Child
is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
Because Jesus Christ,
the Word, was given to us we can be prosperous and successful in all things as
we abide in Him and in His word and do whatever He commands us. He is a God who
desires that we prosper in all things and be in health, just as our soul
prospers (3 John 1:2). The wealth of the heavens and universe is in the Word and
the Word dwells within us as God’s children.
Everything we need and desire, for it is our Father’s good pleasure to
give us the kingdom and to shower on us all of His goodness and mercy. His word is
unchanging:
Praise the LORD!
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
Who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be
blessed. Wealth and riches will be in
his house, And his righteousness endures
forever. Psalm 112:1-3
The American Heritage Dictionary defines
‘prosperity’ and ‘prosper’ as:
pros·per·i·ty
n. The condition of being prosperous.
pros·per v. To be fortunate or successful, especially in
terms of one's finances; thrive.
Biblical prosperity
means great riches, honor, silver and gold in the current time of life. We have
an example of biblical prosperity in the life of
Hezekiah:
Now it came to pass
in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the
son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he
became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name
was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the sight of the
LORD, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high
places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in
pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children
of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that
after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before
him. For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but
kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. The LORD was with
him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria
and did not serve him. 2 Kings 18:1-7
Thus Hezekiah did
throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the
LORD his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of
God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his
heart. So he prospered. 2 Chronicles 31:20
Hezekiah had very
great riches and honor. And he made himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for
precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of desirable
items; storehouses for the harvest of
grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and folds for
flocks. Moreover he provided cities for
himself, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him
very much property. 2 Chronicles 32:27-29
As a result of his
God given prosperity, King Hezekiah had very great riches and honor. He made
himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for
shields, and for all kinds of desirable items;
storehouses for the harvest of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all
kinds of livestock, and folds for flocks.
Moreover he provided cities for himself, and possessions of flocks and
herds in abundance; for God had given him very much property. So true prosperity
is not just our soul being prosperous but also our whole man body, soul and
spirit?
The devil, who is a
liar and a thief and is jealous of man, doesn’t want man to be prosperous, rich
and wealthy but poor and sick. Through a religious spirit he has lied to many of
God’s people that abundant prosperity is not God’s will because he knows that
whatever a person believes for he or she shall receive. And as long as person
believes a lie he will not know the truth. The devil doesn’t want God’s people
to know that Jesus endured absolute poverty and degradation for their sakes.
Imagine if they believed that it’s their divine call and destiny to have
abundance in all things and to be blessed in spirit, soul, mind and body?
Imagine if they prayed and believed God that the healing and restoring power of
God will come upon every area of their life, upon their spirit, upon their soul,
upon their body and upon their finances? Imagine if they would break every curse
and command every evil thing and every bad circumstance to flee from them?
Imagine if they prayed that every attack spiritual emotional physical and
financial would turn into victory right now? Imagine if they prayed and received
an anointing that would break every yoke and destroy every bondage and wile of
the devil? Why God’s people by grace and faith would be living and walking in
divine health and prosperity here on earth and no demon would want this to
happen?
But the truth is that
all that belongs to God belongs to Jesus and all that belongs to Jesus belongs
to God’s people, heirs of salvation and brothers and sisters of Jesus. The truth is that all good things of heaven,
including salvation, the baptism of the Spirit, divine health and abundant
prosperity, come by faith from a God whose thoughts towards His children are
good and not evil. From a God who made His sons and daughters to be royalty,
kings and priests, who are reigning with Him (Revelation 1:6 &
5:10)!
Which normal parent
delights in seeing his children poor, destitute, naked and sick? None! And
neither does God. He delights in seeing His children blessed, be made perfectly
whole, and minister like Jesus in the power of the Spirit with miracles, signs
and wonders. Now all this is something that must be made real and true by the
Holy Spirit or the carnal mind will not accept it. But God’s word is
unchanging:
All things were made
through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John
1:3
For you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He
became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians
8:9
Jesus Christ, who
made all things, became a man for our sakes that we through His poverty might
become rich, spiritually and financially. But Jesus Christ was not financially
poor on earth just because He was born in a manger. The three wise man had given
His parents expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11)
which was at their disposal. Later during His ministry Jesus had his own house.
The Bible records:
Then Jesus turned,
and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him,
"Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?" He
said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and
remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). John
1:38-39
Now it came to pass,
afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing
the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and
certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities-Mary called
Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,
and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many
others who provided for Him from their substance. Luke
8:1-3
And Jesus said to
him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has
nowhere to lay His head." Luke 9:58
Yes, Jesus had many of donors who gave to His ministry
and He had no place to stay in a local area
problem, for the Samaritans cancelled His meeting and He was not welcome
in the city as they did not receive him . (Luke 9:52-53) But Jesus who sometimes
have as many as 120 people traveling with him bought food for the disciples
(John 4:8) and had a treasurer Judas, who was a thief (John 12:6). And Jesus was also extremely rich as God had
anointed Him with the Spirit in unlimited measure and angels miraculously
ministered to Him whenever needed (Matthew 4:11).
When Jesus was
betrayed and arrested according to the plan of God, Jesus could have asked His
Father, and He would have provided Him with more than twelve legions of angels,
but then the Scriptures would not be fulfilled. Jesus didn’t have a problem
turning the water into wine at the wedding (John 2:6-9)or giving Peter and
friends net breaking boat sinking loads of fish (Luke 5:4-7).
Yes, the disciples of
Jesus, Peter and Andrew, James and John, and Matthew, were not poor. A study of Caperanum, the home of Jesus
Christ during His Galilean ministry after He left Nazareth reveals this.
Capernaum was also the home of Matthew, the tax collector; Peter and Andrew the
fishermen had left Bethsaida and had settled in Capernaum, and there was James
and John there in Capernaum also.
Matthew, as the tax
collector, certainly had accumulated assets from his duty of tax collection,
particularly along the busy Via Maris which brought a great deal of trade to
Capernaum, and a tax on products, particularly fish would have given Matthew a
substantial income.
The home of
Peter has been excavated and is relatively unquestioned. It was a multi-roomed
home with two courts, probably two stories with 14 rooms opening onto the two
courts. Peter and Andrew, James and John were fishermen, and fish was a
productive product on the busy market where caravans transversed from Damascus
and Caesarea Maritime on the Mediterranean Sea. Dried fish was sold to be
delivered all over the area.
Jesus Christ
definitely was not anemic, impotent, and poor like many of God’s people who are
bound by religious spirits and in a Satanic cycle of poverty rather than God’s
cycle of prosperity unable to get or perform miracles! Yet God’s word is
unchanging:
The LORD makes poor
and makes rich; He brings low and lifts
up. He raises the poor from the dust And
lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To
set them among princes And make them
inherit the throne of glory. "For the
pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, 1 Samuel 2:7-8
Yes, the LORD makes
poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the
dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes and make
them inherit the throne of glory. God
doesn’t have a problem in making His people rich and prosperous. Jesus Christ
suffered on the cross intense pain and shame to set us free from sickness and
poverty. By His stripes we were healed in every sense of the word. Jesus was made manifest to destroy the works
of the devil (1 John 3:8) including sickness and poverty. He is still the great
Savior, Healer, Deliverer, Provider and Miracle Worker. It’s Satan, our arch
enemy, who wants God’s people to suffer spiritual, physical and financial
insufficiency and be sick and weak for he is a thief, a murderer and a
destroyer (John 10:10). God’s word is
unchanging:
Now He was teaching
in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen
years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him
and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." And He laid His hands on her, and immediately
she was made straight, and glorified God.
But the ruler of the
synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath;
and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work;
therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath
day."
The Lord then
answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose
his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? "So ought not
this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound-think of it-for
eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" And when He said these things, all His
adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the
glorious things that were done by Him. Luke 13:10-17
Yes, the devil
kept this woman sick for eighteen years and Jesus delivered her from her
bondage. And because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever He can and
will deliver any one from any bondage. There are many forms of bondage besides
sickness. A person could be physically well but be bondage in his finances. But
God who owns the cattle on the thousand hills and all the silver and gold will
deliver him from his or her bondage (Isaiah 61:1-5). The lack of money is a
great bondage but Jesus delivers from all forms of bondage. Contrary to what
some people believe money is not the root of all evil. The LOVE of money is the
root of all evil! Money is just a means of payment. It’s is neutral. What a person does with
money makes it either good or evil. What
is important is does a person possess money or does money possess the
person?
Now the devil wants
God’s people to be blind and ignorant about God’s desires for them to be healthy
and wealthy and powerful. The devil is not stupid and he knows that whatever
part of the Word of God is rejected by God’s people it will not become a reality
in their lives. So he causes many religious folks to believe that sickness and
poverty are the will of God and that prosperity and wealth and prosperity are
from the devil. But all this is nothing but a lie from the father of all lies –
the devil. Poverty is like an infectious
disease. It is like a virus Satan brings upon the Body of Christ. He has
infected many individuals, families and whole churches with the "poverty
virus". As a result for them poverty and
sickness have literally become a way of life.
But the truth of the
matter is that Jesus had died on the cross to give us 100% victory over all
things including to set us free from sickness and disease and poverty. He
doesn't want us to be even 1% sick or poor. He gave His blood for us. He
purchased us. We are His own and all that belongs to Jesus belongs to us- all of
it! That is the reason why Jesus wants
us to live a 100% healthy life. Every sickness in our life and poverty is
defeated by the blood of Jesus. Jesus gave His blood -- He died naked on the
cross -- to set us free from sickness or poverty. Every financial lack in our
life is defeated by the blood of Jesus. He wants us to live 100% wealthy and
healthy lives. And All we have to do is to receive and confess God's Word
concerning our health, healing, blessings
and prosperity and to act according to it. God’s word is
unchanging:
"And you shall
remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that
He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
Deuteronomy 8:18
"If you then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew
7:11
Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with
whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James
1:17
Chapter 13
I Will Call Upon The LORD
I will love You, O
LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock
and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My
shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD,
who is worthy to be praised; So shall I
be saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3
In the day of my
trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me. Among the gods there is
none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works. Psalm
86:7-8
By faith we can touch
God now. By faith we can have full
assurance that God will take care of that which concerns us. By faith we can look beyond our troubles and
see Jesus. Faith comes from reading the Word of God. His Word is full of divine promises that
pertain to life and godliness. God's
Word is the ultimate authority, and by faith we can let the Word speak louder to
our hearts than our problems. God made a wonderful plan for mankind, and that
plan is not beyond our reach. His plan
of salvation for the soul and healing for the body is within our reach. He loves us, and He has all power. We can
Have confidence in our Lord and expect to receive promises fulfilled for
us and our loved ones. God’s word is unchanging:
Therefore, having
been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in
tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance,
character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love
of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
Yes,
tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character,
hope. Repeated encounters with frustration and failure brings humility that
makes God’s trusting ones to realize that apart from God, they can do nothing. Pride is the root of many and various sins
and sickness. So it is important that
through trials and tribulations God roots out that sin and pride and enables His
trusting ones to become more free to be, and more free to do His will, and not
just His own.
Walking in the Spirit
perfectly requires freedom from demonic strongholds. God’s trusting ones must
cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and walk in perfecting holiness in the fear
of God. They must lay aside all
filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted
word, which is able to save their souls. They need to healed and delivered from
untruths and half truths that have not permitted them to walk in all that God
has appointed for them to walk. They need to
accept God’s ways, and the power of His Spirit and walk in great authority and power, other
wise they will dry up and no longer be of any effect or will fall to the lies
and compromise of the enemies. Yet God’s word is
unchanging:
The fear of the LORD
is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I
hate. Proverbs 8:13
At the root of most
stumbling through unbelief and disobedience (self-will) is that primary
ingredient of man's fallen nature which the scripture calls pride. Wise King
Solomon told us in Proverbs 16:18 that "Pride goes before destruction, and a
haughty spirit before a FALL." Pride is simply the ADULATION of SELF, wanting to
be a law unto oneself, independent, with a feeling of importance, and a desire
for acclaim from others. There are DEGREES of pride, of course, and ALL of us
have a measure of this problem whether we are willing to admit it or not.
The very methods of
God's dealings with us from salvation on, are designed to strike at this root
problem of our carnal nature, so that "no FLESH should glory in his presence" (1
Corinthians 1:29 ). Pride
makes a person inflexible, unyielding, and unteachable, and through it one is
deceived into trying to justify SELF in many ways. Especially there is a tendency to maintain
one's own worth, works or merit, as a means of gaining favor with God, or
acclaim in the sight of men.
In Hebrews 12:1, the
writer admonishes Christians to “lay aside every weight, and THE SIN which so
easily ensnares us (causing us to stumble).” As we read the book of Hebrews, it
is quite clear that the sin referred to is UNBELIEF. The Israelites failed to
enter into all the promised inheritance God had for them because of unbelief
(Heb.3:19). The warning is given to Christians: “Since A PROMISE remains of
entering HIS REST, let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it .
. . BEWARE, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of
unbelief.”(Hebrews 4:1, 3:12 ).
Peter tells us that
the Jews “stumble being disobedient TO THE WORD”(1 Peter 2:8). A part of their
trouble was that they were blinded by their traditions (Matthew 7:6-13). But the
same is true of Christians. Our sectarian Christianity has created a situation
where we are conditioned to believe the emphasis of our particular denomination
or group, and to disbelieve or ignore the teachings of the word. Not only is the Spirit of unbelief fostered
in our midst, but the resultant disobedience to “ALL the counsel of God” (Acts
20:27 ), through ignorance,
neglect or willful rejection, causes us to “LIMIT the Holy One of
Israel
Due to pride, which
makes a person inflexible, unyielding, and unteachable and ignorance, neglect or willful rejection, many
of God’s people reject for today His
healings, signs, wonders, miracles and tongues. These things recorded in the
book of Acts are merely a sample of the things which Jesus began to do in
working with His disciples through the power of the indwelling Holy Ghost after
He had gone back to heaven.
Nowhere in the Word
of God is there any Scripture which states or implies that He would cease to be
with His disciples (those who believe), and to confirm the Word with signs
following, before the end of the age! He is still healing the sick today. As
believers lay hands upon them in faith, the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame
walk, and all manner of disease is healed and people speak in tongues and
prophesy just like they did in the book of Acts! God’s word is
true:
And believers were
increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they
brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at
least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the
surrounding cities to Jerusalem
And it happened that
the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and
prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. Acts
28:8
Apostle Paul wrote
that many Christian get sick and die as part of the judgments of God (For this
reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep – 1 Corinthians 11:30, "Indeed I will cast her into a
sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless
they repent of their deeds- Revelation 2:22.) - just like the Lord has judged
His people with sickness and death when they came out of Egypt (So the LORD sent
fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people
of Israel died Numbers 21:6, For we know
Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The
LORD will judge His people." It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God –Hebrews 10:30-31).
So just because many
Christian do not get healed because of the judgments of God doesn't invalidate
miraculous healing(s)? If Christians
would repent of their sins God would heal them for His word is
unchanging:
"When I shut up
heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send
pestilence among My people, "if My people who are called by My name will humble
themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I
will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2
Chronicles 7:13-14
For this reason many
are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by
the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians
11:30-32
Is anyone among you
sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him,
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will
save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he
will be forgiven. Confess your
trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
James 5:14-16
Yet the fact that
many Christians do not get healed of their sicknesses and diseases doesn't
change the fact that the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever and a
Savior, Healer and Deliverer or the according to your faith principle set out by
Jesus. We stand on the Word of God and not our experiences, for God’s word is
unchanging:
"If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD
your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and
keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have
brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you." Exodus
15:26
Who forgives all your
iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Psalm 103:3
When Jesus departed
from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David,
have mercy on us!" And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to
Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They
said to Him, "Yes, Lord." Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your
faith let it be to you." And their eyes were opened. Matthew
9:27-30
Some try to point out
that Apostle Paul was not healed but the bible doesn’t say he was sick but
rather he had a demonic thorn in the flesh? The root cause of Paul's demonic
thorn was his pride and the fact that
the LORD hates pride and arrogance,
the evil way and the perverse mouth
and pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Hence less Paul be destroyed by it and take a great fall like many TV
Evangelists and Pastors that we know, God purposely gave Paul a demonic thorn in
the flesh lest being puffed up with pride he would fall into the same
condemnation as the devil. Yes, pride was the number one sin that caused the
devil to fall and causes many of God’s people to fall! God’s word is
unchanging:
"How you are fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! How you are cut down to the
ground, You who weakened the
nations! For you have said in your
heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of
God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.'
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
Isaiah 14:12-15
Concerning this thing
I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to
me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest upon me. 1Corinthians 12:8-9
But Paul had the
power of Christ rest on him while most Christians have nothing on them? God’s
word is true:
And my speech and my
preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, that your
faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God., 1 Corinthians
2:4-5
Then Moses said to
him, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the LORD'S people were prophets
and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" Numbers 11:29
And do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians
4:30
Chapter 14
Power To Get Wealth
And you shall remember the LORD your God, for
it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant
which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Deuteronomy
8:18
A good man leaves an
inheritance to his children's children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored
up for the righteous Proverbs 13:22
Money is not the root
of all evil! As a matter fact it’s a great necessity in this life. We cannot do
much even in the kingdom of God 6:10 ). The bible teaches that the LORD our God gives you power to get
wealth, that He may establish His covenant with us. It also teaches that if any
of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without
reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5). It is the Lord who gives the
early and latter rain so that there could be seed time an harvest on earth.
God’s word is unchanging:
And God is able to
make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all
things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: "He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the
poor; His righteousness endures
forever." Now may He who supplies seed
to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and
increase the fruits of your righteousness,
while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes
thanksgiving through us to God. 2
Corinthians 9:8-11
Thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer, The Holy One of
Israel: "I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.
Isaiah 48:17
Although we might not
think about it but an idea from God is a seed that God gives us for Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no
variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17). Many inventions that produced great
wealth for the inventors were ideas such as
steel rails, electricity and telephone.[xiv]
Before the Civil War,
the nation’s railroads ran on iron rails that wore out quickly. Railroad owners
knew that rails made of steel—a mixture of iron, carbon, and sometimes other
metals—were stronger and would last longer. Steel, however, was difficult and
costly to make.
In 1872, a Scottish
immigrant named Andrew Carnegie went to England United
States
Carnegie was right.
Within a decade, steel was replacing iron in rails, locomotives, and bridges.
Other industries also took advantage of less expensive steel. Steel nails,
needles, and knives became common household items.
Many steel companies
competed fiercely to supply steel for such products. To remain the leader,
Carnegie hired scientists to improve the quality of his company’s steel. He
employed good managers to make his steel mills run efficiently. His recipe for
success was, “Adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the
most.” To keep costs low, Carnegie set out to control every step in the steel
making process. He purchased iron mines to supply his ore, coal fields to fire
his furnaces, and railroads to ship his finished steel to
customers.
To reduce his
competition, Carnegie also bought up several rival steel companies. He then
combined them all to form the giant Carnegie Steel Company. By 1900, Carnegie
Steel produced a quarter of the nation’s steel.
Thomas Edison helped
to transform electricity from a scientific curiosity into a practical source of
light and power. In 1876, Edison opened an
“invention factory” in New
Jersey
In 1882, Edison built the first electrical power station and
distribution center in New York
City
By 1900, some 25
million light bulbs were glowing across the country. New electric devices, such
as washing machines and vacuum cleaners, were making housework
easier.
A Scottish immigrant
named Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. In 1876, as he was getting
ready to test his “talking machine,” Bell
Over time, Bell
As Christians we are
not to rely on our education or current financial status to determine our
success in business. Instead, we are to ask God to teach us how to profit His
way, which is the best way (Isaiah 48:17).
The key is to obey Him and allow wisdom to lead us to our place of wealth
and prosperity (Psalm 66:12; Proverbs 4:7; 8:18 ; Ecclesiastes 7:11 -12; James 1:5) just like He led the children of
Israel
People become like
their role model. If their role model is Jesus and He was financially poor than
they develop a “poor” mentality? If Jesus was financially rich then they develop
a rich mentality. It’s very important what a man thinks because he becomes what
he thinks. And the bible never states that money is wrong but rather it
states:
The rich man's wealth
is his strong city; The destruction of the poor is their poverty. Proverbs
10:15
Wealth makes many
friends, But the poor is separated from his friend. Proverbs
19:4
For the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith
in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1Timothy
6:10
Since man is not to
live independent of God or the wisdom and strength that He provides and whatever
is not of faith is sin, the Word of God purposely hides some treasures that only
the seeker will find. God’s word is true:
"Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for
joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a
merchant seeking beautiful pearls, "who, when he had found one pearl of great
price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Luke
13:44-46
The real problem is
not whether Jesus was rich but whether God can trust us with riches or whether
we can serve God and Mammon? His word is unchanging:
"And I say to you,
make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may
receive you into an everlasting home.
"He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who
is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. "Therefore if you have not been faithful in
the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? "And if you have not been faithful in what is
another man's, who will give you what is your own? "No servant can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be
loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
Now the Pharisees,
who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided
Him. And He said to them, "You are those
who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly
esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Luke
16:10-15
But the bible has
much to say about whether Jesus was rich or poor! Matthew 2:1 Wise men (not just three but,
perhaps, many wise men) from the east bearing gifts of Gold. How much gold? A hundred pounds? More?
A caravan of camels can carry a tremendous weight of gold. They knew they were searching for a
King. The queen of Sheba
Jesus earthly father,
Joseph, had a (relatively) good high-paying profession. He had money to provide a house for Mary and
Jesus to live in for two years in Bethlehem 2:11 , “And
when they (the wise men) were come into the house, they saw the young Child” not
baby). Part of the wise men’s gold
financed the trip to Egypt
Jesus had a ministry
team of 12 core staff and numerous fulltime and part-time followers. The ministry had to be prosperous and
properly funded to support 3.5 years of evangelism. The ministry headquarters was at Capernaum Sea of Galilee . Mark 2:1 says Jesus “was in the house”. Couldn’t Jesus own a house? One big enough to provide rooms for His
staff? Lakefront property! When He stayed at other people’s houses the
owners were identified by name, Zacchaus (Luke 19); Mary, Martha, and Lazarus
(Luke 10:38 -42). Matthew owned a house, Luke 5:29, big enough
for a “great banquet” with a “large company of tax collectors and others”. Peter owned lakefront property too, Matthew
8:14, and at least one “ship”. Fishing
was at least an upper middle class business.
Fully equipped fishing boats, today and they, are very expensive. Peter, Matthew, James and John, and the
others were “astonished out of measure” at the teaching of the difficulty of the
rich man entering the Kingdom of God 10:17 -31). There
were two reasons they were astonished.
1. They were, themselves, “rich
men”. 2. They did not yet understanding that Jesus was
teaching about loving money being evil.
We are to love God and to love people.
Having money and using it to serve others and to finance the expansion of
the Gospel is good.
Jesus’ followers
included the very wealthy and very powerful.
Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus (John 19:38 -42) were secret followers as were the
aforementioned Zacchaus (Luke 19); Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Also, according to Josephus, Pilate’s wife
(Matthew 27:19) was a follower.
Jesus ministry had a
treasurer, Judas, the keeper of the bag.
Jesus ministry was constantly giving money to the poor. At the last supper, John 13:29 -30, Judas left unexpectedly and the
others assumed that Jesus had sent him to give alms to the poor. Evidently this was a commonplace occurrence
because they did not find it unusual at all.
Jesus wore designer
clothes! In John 19:23-24 the solders
cast lots for His valuable tunic. It is
described as “seamless, woven (in one piece) from the top throughout. Roman soldiers would not argue over a
worthless item of clothing.
Philippians 2:7 says that Jesus took on the form of a
servant. Rich people can serve others
too. He came to serve, to teach, and He
came so “that we might have life more abundantly”. 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became
poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. When the Prince of Heaven became a man he
became relatively poor. He had to have
significant financial resources to travel and to minister effectively. Yet God’s
is unchanging:
Then Jesus looked
around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to
enter the kingdom
of God kingdom of God kingdom of God
Then Peter began to
say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." So Jesus answered and
said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers
or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the
gospel's, "who shall not receive a
hundredfold now in this time-houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and
children and lands, with persecutions-and in the age to come, eternal life. Mark
10:23-30
It is true that for
those who are unsaved and trust in riches it is hard to enter the kingdom of God
Now many religious
sincere bible believing Christians believe that suffering and poverty are God’s
will for their lives and that they will be corrupted by money and will not
develop Christian character if they are healthy! That is their choice to think
and live this way? However if God has our heart money will not corrupt us and He
by His Holy Spirit manifests the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit
in our lives so He doesn’t need to use suffering to shape, mold and use us? Our
sufficiency is God and His word is unchanging:
Do we begin again to
commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to
you or letters of commendation from you?
You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all
men; clearly you are an epistle of
Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living
God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the
heart. And we have such trust through
Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything
as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of
the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but
the Spirit gives life. 1 Corinthians 3:1-6
Do not be deceived,
my beloved brethren. Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with
whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James
1:16-17
Chapter 15
Greater Works He Will Do
"Do you not believe
that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I
do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the
works. "Believe Me that I am in the
Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works
themselves. "Most assuredly, I say to
you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater
works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. "And whatever you ask in
My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. "If you ask anything in My name, I will do
it. John
14:10-14
The church of Jesus
Christ has lost this beautiful promise by Jesus, “Most assuredly, I say to you,
he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works
than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My
name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. "If you ask anything in My name, I will do
it.” Many preachers today made the
promises of God of no effect because they have based their teachings upon the things that they
have observed around them, rather than upon the Word of God. But faith can only
be built upon the power and success of the Word of God --- never upon our own or
another’s weaknesses and failures. It is a fact that during His earthly
ministry, Jesus healed “all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people” (Matthew. 4:23.) And the
glorious ministry of deliverance begun by Jesus was to continue through His
disciples, His followers, and His believers.
It is a fact that the
early church was a powerful church because its members believed God. They
believed in holy living because God said, “Be ye holy.” (1 Peter 1:16). They
feared sin because they had seen sin revealed through the gift of discernment,
and had seen liars stricken dead for their sin. (Acts 5). They believed that
they could do miracles in the name of Jesus because He had said, “The works that
I do he shall do also;” (John 14:12).
And because they believed God, God worked with them, confirming the word with
signs and wonders.
God has not changed.
He has given those who believe, AUTHORITY over all devils and to cure diseases.
(Luke 9:1). Believers have the right to use the name of Jesus in making requests
to God and in giving commands to demons and to disease. God’s word is
unchanging:
"Behold, I send the
Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are
endued with power from on high." Luke
24:49
"But you shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses
to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Acts
1:8.
The great miracle of
Pentecost was not the tongues but the transformed lives of believers, although
they did speak in tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. They were clothed with
supernatural power. Gifts of the Spirit were given to them but those
supernatural gifts did not indicate that the possessor necessarily had spiritual
maturity of character or holiness of life to the extent that they had no faults.
But today the church is vastly ignorant of these gifts of the Spirit and the way
the Lord works. They are for us today.
In the Old Testament
they experienced divine power as the Spirit of God came upon them; in the new
dispensation of grace they receive power; the Holy Ghost comes into the
believer. But many have died prematurely due to sickness and disease or have
lived in poverty because they were ignorant of what the Word of God said about
divine health, divine wealth and divine prosperity
including:
Beloved, I pray that
you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.3
John
1:2
A simple perusal of scripture shows us that it
is not God’s will that any person should be sick, any more than it is His will
that any soul should be lost. Yet not all people are well and prosperous, any
more than all people are righteous. The
scriptures also show that whatever we receive from God is received by, through,
or because of FAITH God’s word is
unchanging:
"Now the parable is
this: The seed is the Word of God.
"Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and
takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be
saved. "But the ones on the rock are
those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root,
who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. "Now the ones that fell among thorns are
those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and
pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. "But the ones that fell on the good ground
are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and
bear fruit with patience. Luke
8:11-15
Since you have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of
the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible
seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever,
1 Peter
1:22-23
Many of God’s people
are not successful and prosperous because they have not understood that God's
Word is a seed that will produce great harvest for them and they have allowed
the devil to steal the word that is planted in their hearts. Most people expect
God's Word to work like a stick of dynamite -- but God's Word is like a seed
full of unseen life for a seed is alive: it contains life. Our physical senses
are incapable of judging whether a seed is alive or not. We cannot see, feel,
hear, smell, or taste the life in a seed. But we see that a seed is alive by
planting it for a seed does nothing until it is planted and then in due season
as it’s watered and cultivated it produces an abundant harvest. It has no value
just sitting in a storage room but must be planted in a fertile soil like our
hearts and lives. And one way to plant the seed of the Word of God in our life
is to speak the Word. As we speak God's Word we are planting the seed in our
heart for the harvest of results we desire.
God’s word is
true:
For with the heart
one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to
salvation. Romans
10:10
In every negative
situation we encounter, we must respond with an appropriate scriptural
confession in order to invoke on our behalf the continuing ministry of Jesus as
our High Priest. In most situations we have three possibilities: to make a
positive, scriptural confession; to make no confession; to make a negative
unscriptural confession. If we make a
positive confession, we release the ministry of Jesus to help us and to meet our
need. If we make no confession, we are
left at the mercy of our circumstances. If we make a negative confession, we
expose ourselves to evil, demonic forces.
It’s to be noted that
there is great power in our confession of the Word of God. There is no way we
can over come the enemy without saying out the promises of God. The mountains
are not removed until we say them out. Jesus is High Priest of our confession
and what we say is what He creates. And in our authority over the enemy it is
more of the power of the spoken words that we speak out that will result in
putting aside and tearing apart of the enemy. Jesus’ key was His spoken word. If
we want our ministry to take off and grow into things, whatever God gives in our
heart and established in our heart we need to speak them out, continually
confess them, declare them over our life, declare them over our children, and
declare them over our ministry. We confess it and we declare it because unless
we declare and confess it the devil will not budge. It’s the power of the spoken
word that is the key to tearing apart the enemy. A lot of God’s people don’t know the word or
not dead to the world and they tried to confess the word and it doesn’t
work. Our hearts and attitudes must be
right and we must be filled with the Spirit of God in order for our confession
to be powerful to literally rout the enemy and cause our mountains to move into
the
sea.
Whatever we need to
be saved or delivered from, is what we say or confess until the need is met and
the mountain is moved into the sea. Just like a seed is much smaller than the
plant it produces, the problems we face may seem huge but when planted, the
scripture, the Word will grow in us and will overcome the problem for a seed is
powerful. As a seed begins to grow, it
will push up dirt, rocks, etc. Whatever the obstacles are, God's Word planted in
our heart will push them out of the way. But it takes faith to plant a seed and
to know that a seed begins its growth in secret (underground). The only way to tell if a seed is growing is
to dig it up, or wait for a plant to appear. If we dig up a seed, we may kill it
for seed takes time to produce. No one
expects a seed to produce a harvest the same day that seed is planted. Although sometimes the Word of God seems to
spring up and bear fruit immediately, if
we knew the details, we would understand that the fruit of the Word grew in that
person's life over time.
It is to be
noted that a seed is persistent. A seed
never gives up, but works day and night. Even when we are sleeping, the seed we
have planted is working to grow and express itself in a fruitful harvest. A seed also is not affected by other
seeds. Whatever happens to other seeds
does not make any difference to a specific seed. Each seed sticks to its own
task. One wheat seed planted in a corn field will still produce wheat. Seed does
not become discouraged, or quit, even if other seeds die. But a seed will stop
growing without nourishment.
Planting a seed is
not enough to assure a harvest. Seed must be protected and taken care of until
harvest time. A seed which is dug up, or not watered, will not produce. And the more seeds planted produce a larger
harvest. God’s word is
unchanging:
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will
also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 2
Corinthians
9:6
God’s divine power
has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the
knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to
us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these we may be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust - promises that have to be sown in our hearts and lives to
bear fruit.
God has also given us His only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ, His wonderful Counselor, the Holy Spirit, and the written Word of
God, the Bible, so that we can live victoriously in a crooked and perverse
generation, among whom we shine as lights in the world. But the problem is the many of God’s people
ignore not only their guide and spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, who has been
given to them but they ignore and are ignorant of the Word of God and its
statues and judgments which causes them
to do some stupid things and be judged by God for it. Sincerity and presumption
are not a guarantee of anything including salvation or avoiding judgments. God
has commanded all men to repent and to walk and live in Spirit and in truth.
God’s word is
unchanging:
However, we speak
wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the
rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God
ordained before the ages for our glory,
which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those
who love
Him."
But God has revealed them to us through His
Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except
the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God
except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:6-11
Yes, those who are
filled with the fullness of God speak wisdom among those who are mature. They
speak of the things that God has prepared for those who love Him and have been
freely given to them by God. Things that have been revealed them to them through
the Holy Spirit, not by men. Things that come not in words which man's wisdom
teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches. Mind you the natural man does not
receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things,
yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
Yet God’s word is
unchanging:
And I, brethren,
could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in
Christ. I fed you with milk and not with
solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are
still not able; for you are still
carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not
carnal and behaving like mere men? For
when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not
carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is
Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each
one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God
gave the increase. So then neither he
who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one,
and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 1
Corinthians
3:1-8
Those who are babes
in Christ or carnal ones are not spiritual people have to be fed with milk and
not with solid food for they are not able to receive it. They cannot leave the discussion of the
elementary principles of Christ but must lay again and again the foundation of
repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms,
of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment and
go onto maturity for they are babes or carnal ones even though they might have
been Christians for fifty years! They are continually spinning their wheels
going nowhere. They cannot accept rebuke, correction or instruction in
righteousness for they think that they know all things and have arrived. When
they truth is that they are nothing but foolish little children who have to be
constantly watched and cared for. They
are like your typical teenagers who think that they know everything and are more
the able to tell everybody how to live, walk and talk. Then they wonder why God is constantly
chastening and correcting them. Yet God’s word is
unchanging:
Do not be wise in
your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart
from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your
increase; So your barns will be filled
with plenty, And your vats will overflow
with new wine. My son, do not despise
the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest
His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in
whom he
delights.
Happy is the man who
finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; For her proceeds are better
than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, And all the
things you may desire cannot compare with her.
Length of days is in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And
all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who retain her. Proverbs
3:7-18
Just because a person
has a great secular education or has graduated from the school of cemetery
doesn’t make him a great man of God for it’s the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit
of Wisdom, which makes a great man or woman of God. God’s word is
true:
There shall come
forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his
roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest
upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
His delight is in the fear of the LORD,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the
poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His
mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of
His loins, And faithfulness the belt of
His waist. Isaiah
11:1-5
And Jesus increased
in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Luke
2:52
Chapter 16
The Promises Of God Are Yes And Amen
"I will multiply upon
you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you
inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings.
Then you shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 36:11
For all the promises
of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 2
Corinthians 1:20
Dr. Larry Ollison in
his article The Two Power Partners - Grace and Faith writes:
For by grace you have
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).
As a Christian you
have been given something the world does not have. You have been given the
availability of a power that can solve all your problems and defeat any enemy
that comes against you. As a Christian you have access to power that can help
you accomplish the impossible — the ultimate power — the power of
grace.
Before you become a
Christian, you’re spiritually defenseless. When the devil attacks and tempts you
to sin, you don’t have the ability to resist. Envy, strife, gossip, hatred and
all the works of the flesh can come in and take control. Just being a decent
human being seems like a hopeless task! But after you accept Jesus Christ as
your Lord and Savior, there is no excuse for defeat any more. You now have the
ability to access grace and develop faith. With these two “power partners,” you
have the potential to move mountains and eliminate any obstacle that would
hinder or bind you.
The Apostle Paul
wrote much of the New Testament and laid the foundation of the church for the
world. He established the government of the church for us. However, he could not
have done this on his own. He had to have a supernatural force helping him. That
supernatural force was the power of grace: a special endowment to do that
task.
We are to build on
the foundation Paul laid, but we can’t do it under our own power. We can only do
this by using the same power Paul used. That power is
grace.
We know faith is
equally as important as grace. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been
saved through faith.” But we can’t overlook the supernatural power that only
comes through grace. Faith is the catalyst that activates God’s Word, causing
what we are believing to come to pass. We’re saved by grace, but faith contains
the belief and requires action that activates grace. Grace for salvation is
always available for the non-Christian. God’s grace is more than sufficient, but
grace for salvation is only activated by faith.
As Christians, we
know we are to walk by faith and not by sight. We believe God will do what He
said He would do. We know it is impossible for God to lie. Titus 1:2: “In hope
of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began” and
Hebrews 6:18 both say it is impossible for God to lie: “That by two immutable
things, in which it is impossible for God to lie …”
We know what God says
is true. We can take it to the bank. We can count on it. That’s what being a
faith person is. We walk by faith and we live by faith. We know when God says
it, it doesn’t matter how things look around us. It doesn’t matter if everything
appears to be falling apart. If God says it will be a certain way, it will be
that way. A faith person believes it has already been accomplished because God
has said it. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians
5:7).
When the world
hears faith spoken, they usually don’t understand. They may say, “Well, it
doesn’t look that way.” But faith says, “It doesn’t matter how it looks. You can
look at how it looks, but I’m going to look at what God says. You can look at
the problem, but I’m going to look at the promise. I’m going to focus on the
answer instead of the question. I’m going to stay focused and believe God’s Word
and what He said.”
Faith is simply
believing God is doing what He said He would do regardless of how things look,
and believing it so completely that everything you say and everything you do is
based on what you believe, and not what you see. That’s
faith.
The bible tells us
that faith is not a set of religious beliefs but the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. And by it the elders obtained a good
testimony. By faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen
were not made of things which are visible (Hebrews 11:1-3).
True faith
accomplishes things. By faith the walls of Jericho
Yes, faith in God
produces positive results. In Lystra, a
cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked a certain man without
strength in his feet, was sitting and Paul observed that he had faith to be
healed. So Paul with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he
leaped and walked. It was said of
Stephen, And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among
the people (Acts 6:8). It was said of Barnabas, for he was a good
man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to
the Lord (Acts 11:24 ).
But unfortunately
this cannot be said of most Christians that they are full of the Holy Spirit,
full of faith and power? Probably because they have grieved the Holy Spirit,
have delegated Him to some dark obscure room in their house of clay and have
designated faith to be some set of religious beliefs including that God doesn’t
heal today and tongues are off the devil? They are not full of the Holy Spirit
but full of unbelief and demons! It’s
amazing what Christians define faith to be but it’s obvious that they don’t have
the real thing or they would be more like Stephen, Philip or Barnabas. Yes,
God’s word is unchanging:
"And these signs will
follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak
with new tongues; "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything
deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they
will recover." So then, after the Lord
had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right
hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with
them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark
16:17-20
Then Philip went down
to the city of Samaria
Then all the
multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many
miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. Acts
15:12
Therefore He who
supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?- Galatians
3:5
Yes, God is
unchanging and is a miracle working God who not only supplies the Spirit to us
but works miracles amongst us by the hearing of faith! So if people are not
seeing and receiving miracles it’s obviously they don’t have faith or have the
wrong kind of faith? They don’t have faith that through faith in Jesus name
gives men perfect soundness including physical and emotional healing.
Because Jesus Christ
is alive and well and has overcome the world including sin, demons and death and
has won the victory, He gives the victory to His trusting children to achieve
great things for His honor and glory.
The size of their mountain or enemies is not a problem because their God,
friend, provider and Lord, is bigger than anything that they face or will face.
He is still in the mountain moving and miracle working business and none can
stand against Him and the power of Jesus name. Everything must bow at the name
of Jesus including sickness, poverty, disease, demons, loss and governments.
God’s word is true:
Let this mind be in
you which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but
made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in
the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those
under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11
So the Lord said, "If
you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled
up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. Luke
17:6
For whatever is born
of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the
world-our faith. 1 John 5:4
Chapter 17
The Power Of Christ
And He said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For
when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Several years ago, a
servant of God, known as Praying Hyde was doing God's ministry in the state of
Tamil Nadu, India. He would spend hours of time in prayer. Once, thousands of
people had assembled eagerly to listen to his message to be given at a
convention. He rose up to the dais to share the word of God. People got ready
with their Bibles to listen to his exposition of Biblical verses, message and
prayer. But he looked up to heaven and said just two words - "Abba, my Father!"
That was all. The heavens opened. The Holy Spirit descended upon all the people,
like a dove. The unrepentant, beating their chest rolled down on the ground with
a loud out-cry and repented. The meeting lasted for hours together. The servant
of God did not preach at all, except for the two words he spoke to God, which
brought the shower of the Holy Spirit. The simple reason is to be found in his
prayer-filled life. Jesus descended into him powerfully and moved the
place.
Today many in
Christendom talk about God’s power but the sad part is that so few of them
demonstrate it. Their anointing is so miniscule that it can hardly do anything.
Their vessels cannot seem to contain the anointing and dissipates very quickly!
Yet God’s word is unchanging:
And as they were
eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said,
"Take, eat; this is My body." Then He
took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all
drank from it. And He said to them,
"This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Mark
14:22-24
God cut with Abraham
an inferior covenant made with the blood
of animals where all that Abraham was, all that he had or ever would have became
the equal property of His covenant
partner. Nothing would be exclusively Abraham’s again. During the covenant ceremony in Abraham's
day, the partners exchanged coats, each one giving their authority to the other.
They exchanged weapons as a way of saying, "Your enemies are now my enemies.
I'll fight your fights as if they were my own." They walked through the blood of
slain animals, pronouncing their loyalty to one another, even to the death. God had proven how intensely He desired to be
God to him. He had given him every thing He had and bound Himself to Abraham in
a relationship that could not be dissolved.
Well the good news is
that God also cut with the sons and daughters of Abraham, those of faith, a new and superior
covenant established in Jesus’ blood as a result of His sacrifice that ratified
our covenant with God. A covenant where
He gave us His Name (John 16:23 ), His authority (Matt. 28:18-20), His armor and
weapons (Eph. 6:10 -17).
God’s word is unchanging:
Therefore I also,
after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of Him, the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His
calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His
power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which
He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right
hand in the heavenly places, far above
all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and
gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who
fills all in all. Ephesians 1:20-23
Therefore God also
has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on
earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11
As a result of
what Jesus did on the Cross on Calvary , by
faith everything is ours now. Jesus
Christ has substituted all things on the cross for us and exchanged it there for
us. Our death, defeat and poverty and curses have been nailed to the Cross. On
the Cross Jesus Christ not only won real victory and redemption over sin and
death and the world, but also over the wicked arch enemy Satan and all his
angels who had made the Cross necessary by what he did to Adam and Eve.
The enemy had
deceived and entrapped Adam and Eve to sin against God and live a life that was
cursed and full of toil and trouble. But
on the Cross Jesus Christ did the great exchange. He exchanged His sinlessness for our sins,
His righteousness for our unrighteousness, His strength for our weakness, His
boundless supply for our needs, His stripes for our healing, His riches for our
poverty, His victories for our defeats, His glory for our shame, His triumphs
for our disappointments, His Honor for our nothingness, His prosperity for our
lacks, His joy for our sadness, and His fullness for our emptiness. But all of
this is also something that must be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit before we
can understand and partake of it fully. Yet it is all our birthright and the
blessing of the fullness of the gospel of Christ.
The message of the
cross and the Gospel is not only that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures. He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures. He is now is seated at the right hand of the Father with all power
given unto Him in heaven and earth waiting for His enemies to be made His
footstool. But the message of the cross
and the Gospel is also that as a result of the victories Jesus won on the cross,
He has now given and shared all that He has with us (John 16:14) and He is also
with and for us continually (Matthew 28:18-20).
God in Christ Jesus
has literally become our inheritance and great reward; as well as everything
else which we need, including our healer and deliverer. As result of the Cross,
God said about Jesus and of us who have become strong and
overcomers:
Therefore I will
divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the
strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the
transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the
transgressors. Isaiah 53:12
As a result of the
cross, in Christ Jesus, we are rich, victorious and have a new life in Christ
Jesus, as we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. The empty Cross now also stands as a reminder
and says to the world and to all the demons of Hell “You did your worst, but God
gave His best.” Now things are no longer
the same, because Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father waiting for
His enemies to be submitted to Him. He has also now given us the power to subdue
all His and our enemies through the use of His name and Word and dependence of
the Spirit. Hence the Cross is also a real testimony of what God’s power can do
no matter what the Hell or injustice that the world or the devil will throw at
us. For Jesus’ resurrection after a
cruel and awful death signifies the real possibility of total and complete
victory in our lives, hearts and circumstances as well in the current time of
life as we trust in God just like Jesus did.
The empty Cross of
Christ at Calvary now says to you and I, that for every defeat there is victory
in its place, for every failure there is success, for every endeavor there is
prosperity, for every weakness there is grace, for every sickness there is
healing, for every hatred there is love, for every injustice there is justice
and for every poverty there is riches. All of this and much, much more belongs
to each child of God because of what Jesus did and won on the Cross. Hence we
can by the Holy Spirit understand what the Lord said to Apostle
Paul:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My
strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in
distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2
Corinthians 12:9-10)
Our strength and
victory comes from God Himself and all the victories He had won for us on the
Cross of Calvary. Although in the annuals of time and history, our Creator God
died on the Cross-on Calvary , but He didn’t
stay there. He arose triumphant and victorious over everything, over the worst
that the devil or others could throw at or do to Him and to us. Because of the cross of Christ, God has
reconciled all things to Himself whether things on earth or things in heaven for
Jesus having wiped out all the enemies of His people and especially the
requirements that were against them, He has taken it out of the way having
nailed to the cross.
The King of Kings and
Lord of Lords with His unlimited and unimaginable power and riches was never
poor or debased. But He chose, because of us, to leave behind his infinite power
and riches become a man and identify and relate to humanity in all its
sufferings and ways. God in Christ Jesus stripped Himself of His royalty and
Kingship. He then became an ordinary man and walked with men doing by faith and
dependence on the Holy Spirit the impossible such as healing the sick, raising
the dead and cast out demons. He did it all to show that we can do it also. Then
the innocent Son of man and Son of God went to a Cross-on a hill called
Calvary where He bled and died for all of
humanity. But the Cross-was not the end of Jesus Christ or life, it was the
beginning of something new, a New Covenant or New Testament. It was the
beginning of a new life and a new man and a new Spirit for those who would
accept what Jesus had done for them. It was the beginning of the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit on all flesh. As a result God’s word was now
true:
“But this is what was
spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it
shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, Your young men shall see
visions, Your old men shall dream
dreams. And on My menservants and on My
maidservants I will pour out My Spirit
in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome
day of the LORD. And it shall come to
pass That whoever calls on the name of
the LORD Shall be saved.’ Joel
2:16-21
Now all flesh can be
saved, healed and delivered and walk in the newness of life in the power of the
Holy Spirit. All men can prophesy, speak in tongues and be filled with the
fullness of God. The good news of the
Cross-is that the different victories that Jesus won there, and the resulting
New Covenant with all its rights and privileges, is now ours to be claimed and
accepted by faith. They will be true if we will only believe, accept, confess
and act on it and then allow the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead to
change us. Jesus won for us, on the Cross, such a victory with such power and
might that it made hell tremble and Heaven sing with joy as the Triumph of
Victory resounded from one part of Heaven to another. Our ears will tingle and
our hearts will sing, as the faithful and mighty Holy Spirit reveals this
victory to us.
The fact remains that
Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, is sitting at the right hand
of the throne of God, ready to use His power on behalf of the good of His true
children; to make them more than conquerors in all things that the world, the
flesh and the devil would throw at them. For His word is
unchanging:
“And in that day you
will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father
in My name He will give you. “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask,
and you will receive, that your joy may be full. John
16:23-24
“These things I have
spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John
16:33
In the world lack of
strength and dependence on others is considered weakness, but in the kingdom of God
Yes, as a result of
the victories Jesus won on the cross we are now delivered from the hand of our
enemies, and are able to serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and
righteousness before Him all the days of our life. Just like Zacharias, the
father of John the Baptist, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit stated
about God and us:
“Blessed is the Lord
God of Israel, For He has visited and
redeemed His people, And has raised up a
horn of salvation for us In the house of
His servant David, As He spoke by the
mouth of His holy prophets, Who have
been since the world began, That we
should be saved from our enemies And
from the hand of all who hate us, To
perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our
enemies, Might serve Him without
fear, In holiness and righteousness
before Him all the days of our life.
Luke 1:68-75
The name of
Jesus Christ is far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to
come. And God has put all things under His feet including sickness, defeat,
poverty and lack and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is
His body. So if it is under Jesus feet and we are His body it is therefore under
our feet! And if it’s under believers feet then why do we allow negative things
to raise their ugly heads in our lives? Because we really don’t believe that is
all under Jesus feet. We are like the prodigal son who ended up in a pig’s pen
even if his father was filthy rich. But then he came to his senses and realized
what his father had and returned to his father and his negative circumstances
changed.
How many of God's
people suffer needless in poverty, want or lack and with sickness or disease?
Too many! How long before they will look
at themselves and say as the prodigal son who when he "came to himself" said, "I
will arise and go to my Father!" God is waiting with opened arms to receive
every penitent child! God is waiting with opened arms to touch, heal, deliver,
and bless His children. They can can rely on Him to do what He has promised to
do! We need to understand the reality of all the victories that Jesus won on the
cross of Calvary . God’s word is
unchanging:
Jesus departed from
there, skirted the Sea of Galilee , and went up
on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having
with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them
down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.
So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed
made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God
of Israel. Matthew 15:29-31
Yes, the Word of God
tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever and we can
be made whole through our faith in the finished work of Calvary where Jesus
Christ wounded for our transgressions, was bruised for our iniquities; the
chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed
(Isaiah 53:5). Sin, sickness or any other curse doesn’t have to rule and reign
in our lives because Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having
become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a
tree") that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ
Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians
3:13-14).
Jesus has provided
for our healing, Spirit, Soul and Body in the atonement. All of the provision of
the cross must impact the body of Christ. Jesus Paid the Price for our Healing -
"By His Stripes" (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter
2:24) Hence we are anointed and sent
to: Preach the Good News to the
Needy, Bind up the Brokenhearted,
Proclaim Freedom for the Captives, Release the Prisoners from Darkness, Proclaim the Year of the LORD's Favor, To
Comfort all Who Mourn, To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the
oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit
of despair. (Isaiah 61:1-3 and Luke
4:18)
God is alive
and well and present today! Jesus is still healing people! The presence of God
and the power of the Holy Spirit is a precious gift that we can experience and
see many lives are being changed as desperate people come and find God's grace
and mercy flowing to them bringing healing and encouragement. The anointing
increases as we are press in for more of God! Then we can see God save people,
heal people, deliver people, baptize in the Holy Spirit, bring encouragement and
strength through the gifts of the Spirit. Many can receive from the Lord healing
for their physical, emotional and spiritual needs and live lives that are whole
and successful.
God is love and
freely gives everything we need, both for our material and for our spiritual
existence. But because the blessings of God’s spirit are so freely given, we
often take them for granted. If all people had open and receptive hearts, they
could see and hear God’s voice at all times and in all places. But we have lost
this awareness. Through prayer, we learn to appreciate spiritual gifts, gifts
that are at least as important for life as air and water, heat and light. Whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith. For when we have
accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord and King by the faith God gave us, the
victory now resides in us and God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all
that we ask, or thing. As God’s word is unchanging:
For this reason I bow
my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and
earth is named, that He would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His
Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all
the saints what is the width and length and depth and height- to know the love of Christ which passes
knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of
God.
Now to Him who is
able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to
the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21
It is a fact that
according to the power that resides and works in us, God is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think and give us one hundred
percent victory, one hundred percent of the time, in one hundred percent of the
situations. After all He is God, not man!
It is also a fact that Jesus, now as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords,
is no longer poor or weak anymore as He was when He walked the earth as man. He
is now once again unlimited in power, riches, strength and might. But the best news is that God wants to use
all of His power, riches, and resources on our behalf and meet our needs: If we
only will believe Him and trust Him to do it for us; If we will only humble
ourselves and on a bent knee give Him our all and ask for His all. Then we shall know the truth of God’s word
which states:
Yet in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans
8:37
“Thanks be to God who
always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of
His knowledge in every place.” 2 Corinthians 2:14
For He made Him
(Jesus ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus Christ is not
defeated today or was He ever defeated. He is Victorious, the Mighty God, the
King of kings and Lord or lords and so are we in
Christ!
When we were born
again, we weren’t half-reborn, we weren’t made half-righteous or a quarter
righteous. We were made the righteousness of God in Christ! We were made a
“joint-heir with Him.” According to Strong’s Concordance that word joint-heir
refers to a personal equality based on an equality of
possession.
Jesus went to the
Cross to give us what He already possessed - everything! He rose again so we
could be recreated in His image. We are the victory of Almighty God! We are more
than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. We are everything to the Father that Jesus is.
John 17:23 actually says that God loves us as much as He loves Jesus. And now we
can say with the Psalmist:
My soul, wait
silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation;He is my
defense; I shall not be moved. In God is
my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in
God. Trust in Him at all times, you
people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah Psalm
62:5-8
Bless the LORD, O my
soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all
His benefits: Who forgives all your
iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with
lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who
satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the
eagle’s. The LORD executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed. Psalm 103:1-6
Chapter 18
By Awesome Deeds
Praise is awaiting
You, O God, in Zion; And to You the vow shall be performed. O You who hear
prayer, To You all flesh will come. Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them. Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell
in Your courts. We shall be satisfied
with the goodness of Your house, Of Your
holy temple. By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our
salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the
far-off seas; Who established the
mountains by His strength, Being clothed with power; You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of
the peoples. Psalm 65:1-7
Now to Him who is
able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to
the power that works in us, to Him be
glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
God who is a God of
power will answer His trusting ones with awesome deeds in righteousness and do
exceedingly abundantly above all that they ask ,pray or think. They have His
word on it, the word of a God who doesn’t lie. The word of a God who can do all
things but fail His trusting ones. The word of a God who created heaven and
earth and sustains it. The Word of a God who
miraculously parted the Red Sea
so that His people could safely go to the other side, and drowned their enemies
in the same sea. The word of a God who inhabits the praises of His people The
word of a God who delivered Daniel from the den of lions, and made his enemies
to be a nonexistent thing by the same lions. The word of a God who healed the
sick, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead and cast out devils. The word of
a God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead to sit at His right hand! The word
of a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever! The word of God who will
create a new heaven and a new earth!
Sing, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of
Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your
judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your
midst; You shall see disaster no more.
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear; Zion, let not
your hands be weak. The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will
rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:14-17
So he answered and
said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by
power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts. 'Who are you, O great
mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth
the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" ' " Zechariah
4:6-7
We fail to get the
victory over all things in life because we fail to look unto Jesus in all things
who is not only the source of our total supply and everything that we need but
our Friend, Savior, Mighty one, our God and the undefeated one. No one and not
anything can stand against Him and the power of His name. Everything must bow at
the persistent use of the name of Jesus be it sickness, disease, poverty or
lack! Jesus Christ is our Victor, Savior, Healer, Deliverer, Provider and
everything that we need. Hence those who love Him are doers of the word of God
not hearers only. God’s word is unchanging:
"And as you go,
preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "Heal the sick, cleanse the
lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely
give. Matthew
10:7-8
"A new commandment I
give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love
one another. "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love
for one another John 13:34-35
"You did not choose
Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and
that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He
may give you. "These things I command
you, that you love one another John 15:16-17
Let all bitterness
and indignation {and} wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger,
animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander
(evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all
malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind). And become useful {and}
helpful {and} kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding,
loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ
forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32 Amplified Bible
THEREFORE BE
imitators of God [copy Him {and} follow His example], as well-beloved children
[imitate their father]. And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one
another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and
sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance. Ephesians 5:1-2
Amplified Bible
Jesus Christ loved us
and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God. He came not
only to restore us to God but to restore us all that we had lost in the Garden
of Eden including being heirs of the kingdom and sons of God He came to give us life so that His life also may be manifested in our mortal
flesh. He came to restore to us the
years that the swarming locust has eaten…" (Joel 2:25). Yes, God loves to
restore what has been devoured in our lives. That's His specialty. In the
process of restoration God brings the object of restoration back in a better way
than was its former state and He increases it and multiplies it. He always likes
to add more just like He did for Job. When God restored Job, He gave unto
Job—double (Job 42:10). That's just the nature of God. God’s word is
unchanging:
"Therefore, having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have
access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the
glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that
tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character,
hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" Romans
5:1–5.
My brethren, take the
prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and
patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the
perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord-that the Lord is very
compassionate and merciful. James 5:10-11
When the devil comes
to kill, steal and destroy, God has set forever in eternity that we must get
back sevenfold. And God will restore us in a better way than we were at first
and then He will increase and multiply what was stolen. That's our God because
God is good. And for anyone that gives up houses, lands, brothers, sisters,
possessions in this life time for the sake of the gospel, God will restore back
one hundredfold now! (Mark 10:29, 30). The Lord does abundantly above what we
can ask. He does abundantly above what we can think (Eph. 3:20). When we stand in faith and believe that God
is hugely enthusiastic about wanting to bring restoration into our lives, we
truly honor Him.
Our Father in heaven
is good and He is the Great Restorer. We should have high hopes about that and
believe it, no matter what happens. Believe that God not only wants to restore
what has been robbed and plundered in our life and in other people’s lives, but
He also wants to add blessings to that which is restored. “Blessings are on the
head of the righteous…” (Proverbs 10:6). That’s our
head!
Yes, in the world we
will have tribulation but we can be of good cheer for Jesus overcame the world.
Yes, If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how
shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Yes,
the Lord has promised to take care of His trusting ones according to His
riches and glory! He owns everything! We are moving into a time of restoration
for His people and an outpouring of great financial blessings. God’s trusting
ones can stand fast and believe that the Lord is prospering them and restoring
them, no matter what the world economy looks like, for God’s word is
unchanging:
For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of
evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to
you. And you will seek Me and find Me,
when you search for Me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from
your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places
where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from
which I cause you to be carried away captive. Jeremiah
29:11-14
Then the LORD will be
zealous for His land, And pity His people.
The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you
grain and new wine and oil, And you will
be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the
nations. "But I will remove far from you
the northern army, And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the eastern sea And his
back toward the western sea; His stench
will come up, And his foul odor will
rise, Because he has done monstrous
things."
Fear not, O land; Be
glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things! Do not be afraid, you
beasts of the field; For the open
pastures are springing up, And the tree
bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. Be glad then,
you children of Zion, And rejoice in the
LORD your God; For He has given you the
former rain faithfully, And He will
cause the rain to come down for you- The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
"So I will restore to you the years that the
swarming locust has eaten, The crawling
locust, The consuming locust, And the
chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty
and be satisfied, And praise the name of
the LORD your God, Who has dealt
wondrously with you; And My people shall
never be put to shame. Joel 2:18-26
The
Lord desires to bless our lives with His choicest and rich blessings and help us
to be a blessing to others, too. He wants to take control of our lives and help
us to glorify Him. He who blessed and gave Abraham unlimited riches will do the
same to His trusting ones for He is no respecter of persons and shows partiality
to no one. His word is
unchanging:
"Listen to Me, you
who follow after righteousness, You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from
which you were hewn, And to the hole of
the pit from which you were dug. Look to
Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you;
For I called him alone, And
blessed him and increased him." For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort
all her waste places; He will make her
wilderness like Eden, And her desert
like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving
and the voice of melody. Isaiah 51:1-3
Chapter 20
Be Kind One To Another
Therefore, putting
away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are
members of one another. "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down
on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer,
but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have
something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your
mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to
the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and
evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31-32
Some of the meanest,
stingiest, unloving, unkindest, selfish, and greedy people that I met were
Christians who went to church regularly. The residue of poison of hate, envy,
resentment, bitterness, greed, distrust, futility, defeat, depression etc. just
oozes out from them, especially as they grow older. The "residue of poisonous sin" must have been
accumulated from hurtful experiences of the past or unfulfilled dreams for God’s
word states:
My son, give
attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart
from your eyes; Keep them in the midst
of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, For out
of it spring the issues of life. Put
away from you a deceitful mouth, And put
perverse lips far from you. Proverbs 4:20-24
Deceit is in the
heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy. Proverbs
12:20
Hope deferred makes
the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Proverbs
13:12
Does a spring send
forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren,
bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and
fresh. Who is wise and understanding
among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness
of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not
boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is
earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and
every evil thing are there. But the
wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to
yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James
3:11-18
The problem with
these kinds of Christians is that they have been religious too long acquiring
head knowledge about God and His word and have not experienced His love and His
wonderful miracle working power. They were deceived by the enemy and by their
false teachers and had not come into victory. They have not understood that
Jesus was "bruised for our iniquities," He took all our hurts and the
consequences upon Himself when He died on the cross, and as a result they could
be free from all pain, sickness, diseases, grief, suffering caused by life or
the enemy. Yes, Jesus has the power to "set at liberty (and heal) them that are
bruised" (Luke. 4:18). But they must
accept and enter in the rest of the finished work of the cross of Calvary and
enjoy the victory that He has won for them. They must receive God's forgiveness
for all things and forgive others who have hurt or offended them. Then the
healing process of the inner man can begin once they let go of all the negative
things in their hearts including unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred, envy, lust
and covetousness. God’s word is unchanging:
Give us this day our
daily bread. And forgive us our
debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours
is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
"For if you forgive
men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. "But if you do not forgive men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew .
6:11-15
Then Peter came to
Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive
him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to
him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times
seven. "Therefore the kingdom of heaven
is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. "And when he had begun to settle accounts,
one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. "But as he was not able to pay, his master
commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and
that payment be made. "The servant
therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I
will pay you all.' "Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion,
released him, and forgave him the debt.
"But that servant
went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii;
and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you
owe!' "So his fellow servant fell down
at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you
all.' "And he would not, but went and
threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
"So when his fellow
servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their
master all that had been done.
"Then his master, after he had called him,
said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged
me. 'Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I
had pity on you?' "And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers
until he should pay all that was due to him. "So My heavenly Father also will do
to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his
trespasses." Matthew 18:21-35
The Word of God tells
us that the Israelites failed to enter into all the promised inheritance God had
for them because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). The warning is given to Christians:
“Since A PROMISE remains of entering HIS REST, let us fear, lest any of you seem
to have come short of it . . . BEWARE, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief.”(Heb.4:1, 3:12). Peter tells us that the Jews “stumble
being disobedient TO THE WORD”(1 Pet. 2:8).
A part of their trouble was that they were blinded by their traditions
(Matt. 7:6-13). We need the help of the
Holy Spirit to remove from us all unbelief and pride which will keep us from the
many different blessing that God has for us. Human pride is at the root of most
man’s stumbling through unbelief and disobedience. God’s word is
unchanging
Pride goes before
destruction, And a haughty spirit before
a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud. He
who heeds the word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he.
Proverbs 16:18-20
But God has chosen
the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the
weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the
base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and
the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-and
righteousness and sanctification and redemption- that, as it is written, "He who glories, let
him glory in the LORD 1 Corinthians 1:27-31
Yes, "Pride goes
before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a FALL," Pride is simply the
ADULATION of SELF, wanting to be a law unto oneself, independent, with a feeling
of importance, and a desire for acclaim from others. There are DEGREES of
pride and ALL of us have a measure of
this problem. Pride makes a person
inflexible, unyielding, and unteachable, and through it one is deceived into
trying to justify SELF in many ways or in opening doors to unclean and familiar
spirits to do their havoc in our lives. Pride prevents us from totally depending
upon Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. But we must submit and yield to the Lord in ALL
things; not just initial salvation. And if in any area of our lives where we
resist the INWORKING of the Spirit, through pride and self-will enter into
disobedience, we are headed for a stumbling and FALL. Since "God
resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” we must THEREFORE SUBMIT TO GOD. Resist the devil,
and he will flee from us. We must humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and
he will lift us up. God’s word is unchanging:
Likewise you younger
people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one
another, and be clothed with humility, for
"God resists the proud, But gives
grace to the humble." Therefore humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares
for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the
faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in
the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen,
and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen 1
Peter 5:5-11
Chapter 21
You Have A Friend In Jesus
For the LORD God is a
sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He
withhold From those who walk
uprightly. O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You! Psalm 84:11-12
"Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
Jesus Christ to whom
is given all power and authority in heaven and earth has invited us to come unto
Him in time of need. He does not want us
to struggle and war with things that we as mere humans cannot fix. He wants us
to come unto Him in all faith that He will work out things for our good. He is near to us in all that we can call upon
Him for. He is more than able to supply
all things needed for soul, mind and body be it a financial breakthrough or a
physical healing. No matter what the problem or need is all things are possible
with God. We are admonished to cast all of our cares upon the Lord for God gives
grace to the humble and will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle us
(1Peter 5:7-10). We can place all of our
burdens under the blood, and expect God to move for us and our loved ones
because He has a covenant with us, took the curse up on himself to set us free
from it and became poor so that we might become rich and righteous. God’s word
is unchanging:
For you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He
became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich 2 Corinthians
8:9
Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Ephesians
1:3
Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written,
"Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), Galatians 3:13
Our help is in the
name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. Psalm
124:8
Our Lord Jesus
Christ, though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through
His poverty might become rich. Poverty, sickness, disease, lack and demons are
curses not blessings. And we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places in Christ, not cursed. As the seed of Abraham we were called
to inherit a blessing and to be a blessing. Through faith and patience we
inherit all the promises of God and receive out expected end just like Job did
for God desires that we prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers. He
desires that not just that our needs would be met, but also over and above
anything we could ever ask or dream.
Because of Jesus and our trust in Him our provision is on its way for
Jesus endured absolute poverty and degradation for our sakes. It is our divine
call and destiny to have abundance in all things and to be blessed in spirit,
soul, mind and body. God’s word is unchanging:
And God is able to
make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so
that you may always {and} under all circumstances {and} whatever the need be
self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in
abundance for every good work and charitable donation]. As it is written, He [the benevolent person]
scatters abroad; He gives to the poor; His deeds of justice {and} goodness {and}
kindness {and} benevolence will go on {and} endure forever! And [God] Who provides seed for the sower and
bread for eating will also provide and multiply your [resources for] sowing and
increase the fruits of your righteousness [which manifests itself in active
goodness, kindness, and charity]. Thus you will be enriched in all things {and}
in every way, so that you can be generous, and [your generosity as it is]
administered by us will bring forth thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:8-11
Amplified Bible
So shall My word be
that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without
producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please
{and} purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah
55:11 Amplified Bible
From the
richest to the poorest, from the oldest to the youngest, and from the educated
to the uneducated, we all have the same source of victory. It's not our material
possessions, our natural wisdom, nor our credentials. Victory is available to
each of us because of what Christ has already done for us. It's His victory. He
won the battle. Our victory comes as we enter into His victory, and that victory
can only be apprehended through faith. The very moment we take a step of faith,
the very moment we pray, God gives us the answer. The very moment God hears us,
He has commanded His angels to bring the answer to us. But there is a war going
on for we are living in a spiritual warfare. We have an enemy called Satan who
is out to kill steal and destroy and tries to delay the answer from coming
through to us. He does this for many reason including try to make us accuse God
of unfaithulness and take us captive by thoughts of fear, doubt and unbelief.
But God has an appointed deliverance for
us. We have a destined date with the
blessing of the Lord.
God specializes in
taking things broken and ruined and turning them into something beautiful for
His through ones through His anointing.
The anointing breaks every yoke and lifts every burden and makes us laugh
at the enemy. He anoints us with joy and
enables us to count all our testing and trials as joy. He gives us the garment
of praise which brings about great deliverance for the thoughts of God towards
us are good not evil to give us an anticipated end. God’s word is
unchanging:
Praise the LORD!
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
Who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty
on earth; The generation of the upright
will be blessed. Wealth and riches will
be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. Unto the upright there arises light in the
darkness; He is gracious, and full of
compassion, and righteous. Psalm
112:1-4
For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of
evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
"The thief does not
come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may
have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John
10:10
Whatever our needs
are, whatever the circumstances are, God promises His blessings to come to us in
ABUNDANCE. The Amplified Version is right when it says ...every favor and
earthly blessing. What is an "earthly" blessing? -- Prosperity! Financial abundance! Material abundance! Man
is a spirit, he has a soul and he dwells in a body. God wants to bless our
spirit, our soul and our body. Salvation includes every area of our life. Every
yoke is broken. Jesus has set us free. And the blessing of the Lord brings
wealth, AND HE ADDS NO TROUBLE TO IT.
Biblical prosperity is a gift of God. It is a double blessing. God does
not only make us rich, He also gives us the ability and the peace to enjoy our
prosperity. God’s word is unchanging:
Therefore I hated
life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all
is vanity and grasping for the wind. Then I hated all my labor in which I had
toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my
labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun.
This also is vanity. Therefore I turned
my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the
sun. For there is a man whose labor is
with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who
has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil For what has man
for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled
under the sun? For all his days are
sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest.
This also is vanity. Ecclesiastes 2:18-23
By humility and the
fear of the LORD Are riches and honor
and life. Proverbs 22:4
Oh, taste and see
that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack
any good thing. Psalm 34:8-10
Yes, the Word of God
tells us that God will meet our every need and make us rich if we fear Him: YES,
THERE IS NO WANT TO THEM THAT FEAR HIM. While the young lions do lack, and
suffer hunger those who seek the Lord shall not want any good. Hence we can come
boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and help in time and
say:
"In the name of Jesus
Christ, the Son of the living God, I lift my hands to You, God and pray that the
healing and restoring power of God will come upon every area of my life, upon my
spirit, upon my soul, upon my body, upon my character, upon my good name, upon
my desires, upon my dreams, upon my aspirations and upon my finances. I break
every curse. I pray that every financial attack will be turned into victory
right now. By the authority of Jesus Christ, I command every evil thing and
every bad circumstance to flee from my right now. I break the controlling power
of sickness, lack, diseases, debt, credit and poverty. I ask You God to give me
a supernatural flow of miracles. I thank you for it, I believe it and I receive
it in Jesus' name, amen and amen.
God will perform
miracles for us as the battle belongs to the Lord! He will fight for us. He will
revive our body again and restore all that we have lost. He who raised Lazarus
from death will help us as well. As we turn our eyes towards Jesus, He will lift us up from the valley of the
shadow of death. His word is unchanging:
Strangers shall stand
and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and
your vinedressers. But you shall be
named the priests of the LORD, They
shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall
boast. Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of
confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs. "For I, the
LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for
burnt offering; I will direct their work
in truth, And will make with them an
everlasting covenant. Their descendants
shall be known among the Gentiles, And their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, That
they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed." Isaiah
61:5-9
"The LORD will
command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your
hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving
you. "The LORD will establish you as a
holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the
commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. "Then all peoples of the earth shall see that
you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. "And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods,
in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce
of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give
you. "The LORD will open to you His good
treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless
all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not
borrow. "And the LORD will make you the
head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed
the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are
careful to observe them. Deuteronomy 28:8-13
Gracious and
loving God, You love us as a loving father, and cause us to be blessed and
prosperous. We thank you that even the work of our hands is blessed and those
blessings overtake us! We are your representatives in this earth and we have
rights and privileges as sons and daughter to walk as Jesus walked and do what
Jesus did when he was on the earth. We have cheerfully given our offerings and
paid our tithes, planted our seed, and watered it with your word; therefore we
are reaping a harvest of blessing at your hand. Souls will be brought into the
kingdom; our bank accounts will prosper and be blessed. We are crowned with your
favor, and we praise you for your goodness to us in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Father in
heaven, we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, who is the way to you, the
truth of you and the life through you. I thank you that you provided healing for
us at Calvary . In the name that is above every
name that is named; we command cancers to die, blindness to go, diabetes to go,
sickness, diseases and infirmities to let go of us - God's creations. Father, we
enforce the spirit of life and reject the spirit of death, and we will keep our
bodies healthy and strong in Jesus' name. Amen. And we loose the same Spirit
that raised Jesus Christ from the dead to heal and quicken our mortal bodies. We
also loose ministering angels to meet and supply all our needs according to your
richest in glory by Christ Jesus. And we thank you that you are for us with us
and not against us and are a good God.
We confess that no weapon formed against us shall prosper including
sicknesses and diseases. And we loose and welcome your saving, healing and
delivering power. Amen and amen
Chapter 22
Demas Has Forsaken Me
Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this
present world, and has departed for Thessalonica-Crescens for Galatia, Titus for
Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark
and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at
Troas when you come-and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the
coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You
also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words. At my first
defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against
them. But the Lord stood with me and
strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and
that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the
lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His
heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen! 2 Timothy
4:9-18
In His ministry,
Apostle Paul had more than his share of troubles! Demas had forsaken him, having
loved this present world, and had departed for Thessalonica. Alexander the
coppersmith did him much harm. But the Lord stood with him and strengthened him,
so that the message might be preached fully through him, and that all the
Gentiles might hear. Paul was delivered out of the mouth of the lion and was
confident that the Lord would deliver him from every evil work and preserve him
for His heavenly kingdom.
The good news is that
our God is omnipotent and Almighty. Nothing is impossible for Him. His mighty
power can rescue us from any danger. The Bible describes as to how a certain
woman who suffered from a dreadful disease for many years was healed
miraculously when she trusted Him whole-heartedly (Luke 8:48). Our problems may look like a mountain but we
can believe and trust in Him like this woman and He shall deliver us from all
our problems. God’s word is true:
With a little wrath I
hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have
mercy on you," Says the LORD, your
Redeemer. "For this is like the waters
of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That
the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry
with you, nor rebuke you. For the
mountains shall depart And the hills be
removed, But My kindness shall not
depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," Says the LORD, who
has mercy on you Isaiah
54:8-10
Why do you say,
O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: "My way is hidden from the LORD, And my just claim is passed over by my
God"? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the
LORD, The Creator of the ends of the
earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His
understanding is unsearchable. He gives
power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Isaiah
40:27-29.
And He said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in
distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2
Corinthians 12:9-10
Why should God grant
power to those who are weak and make them live? Because He remains faithful according to His
word:
If we endure, We
shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him,
He also will deny us. If we are
faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:12-13
If we observe the
life of king Solomon, he tells God, “Lord! I am a small child.” However, God
lifts him, made him a great king, gave him visions, grants him wisdom, wealth,
name and fame. Alas! King Solomon forgot God and chased after the things of this
world. He chose the counsel of the men and handled the practices of the kings of
this world. However, the Almighty and all powerful God appeared twice asking him
not to forget Him and His ways. He warns him not to go behind the ways of this
world (1 Kings 11:9). Isn’t that an amazing love of God? God never faints in His
love for us.
God can never become
tired of us because even though we are
unfaithful He always remains faithful. Whenever we come back to Him and say,
“Lord! I am sorry. Please have mercy upon me”, He immediately embraces us with
joy and blesses us. He can never get tired.
We may be tired but God is not. He is not tired of answering our prayers
or lifting us up.
And sometimes God may
test our faith! But we must remain firm in our faith depending on God alone.
Then victory is ours! We know that we glory in tribulation because tribulation
produces perseverance (Romans 5:3). When our faith is tested, we must be firm in
our faith on God. He will give us the patience to overcome it and bless us. His
word is true:
"For as the rain
comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread
to the eater, So shall My word be that
goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I
sent it. "For you shall go out with
joy, And be led out with peace; The
mountains and the hills Shall break
forth into singing before you, And all
the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the
myrtle tree; And it shall be to the LORD
for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." Isaiah
55:10-13
"Listen to Me, you
who follow after righteousness, You who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased
him." For the LORD will comfort Zion, He
will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And
her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Isaiah 51:1-3
"For behold, the day
is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly
will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD
of hosts, "That will leave them neither
root nor branch. But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall
trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the
day that I do this," Says the LORD of
hosts. Malachi 4:1-3
Yes, God will bless
and increase us. He will comfort
all our
waste places. He will release health and healing over them. He will make our wilderness like Eden,
and our
desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it,
thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
Yes, for those who fear His name
the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and they
shall go out and grow fat like
stall-fed calves. They shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under
the soles of their feet. God’s word is true:
Your sandals shall be
iron and bronze; As your days, so shall your strength be. "There is no one like
the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the
heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, And
underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before
you, And will say, 'Destroy!' Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of
Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop
dew. Happy are you, O Israel! Who is
like you, a people saved by the LORD, The shield of your help And the sword of
your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their
high places." Deuteronomy 33:25-29
"Every place that the sole of your foot will
tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. "From the wilderness and this
Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the
Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your
territory. "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life;
as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake
you. "Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an
inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. "Only be
strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law
which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or
to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. "This Book of the Law shall
not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you
may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make
your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. "Have I not commanded
you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the
LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Johsua
1:3-9
"Therefore the LORD
God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father
would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for
those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly
esteemed. 1 Samuel 2:30
Chapter 23
God Was With Him
The LORD is my
strength and song, And He has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and
salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does
valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD
does valiantly. Psalm 118:14-16
"how God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Acts
10:38
If you drink dirty
polluted water you have a good chance of getting sick and maybe even dying as a
result? Well how about if you get wrong
teachings from apostate churches or preachers who are false prophets? You will
end up being defeated if not destroyed! That is why Todd Bentley and friends are
very dangerous!
It’s Super Todd!
Look up in the
pulpit, it’s a wolf, it’s a demon…NO, it’s super Todd!
Able to leap over
God’s truth with a single bound!
Able to heal the sick
by kicking the afflicted to death!
Able to
supernaturally travel to far off places, third heaven, open
portals!
Able to magically
change his wife into a younger woman!
Able to deceive some
of the very elect!
We, the leaders of
the charismatic church, have built on hype, sensation, innovation, programs,
personality and charisma. This has produced: shallowness; false movements;
novice leaders— gifted but immature and untested; a deficient understanding of
God’s word; the building of man-centered rather than kingdom- centered churches
and ministries; competition rather than cooperation; humanistic, self-centered
Christians who don’t understand sacrifice and commitment; Christians without
discernment; superstar leaders; a perverted and powerless gospel; prayerless and
anemic Christians; a replacement of the fear of the Lord with the fear of man;
and a young generation that is cynical of it all – Dutch
Sheets
Todd Bentley now
carries the label of a liar and a deceiver. I'm sorry to mention it, but I felt
personally deceived in the same way when Ted Haggard's sin was exposed and he
was immediately removed from ministry...
Suffice it to say
that there is more than I am going to mention. First of all, Todd has been
removed from public ministry until further notice. He has resigned from the
ministry he founded, Fresh Fire, so he is no longer a part of that board. It has
become clear that he indulged in periodic drunkenness. He has no intention at
the moment of reconciling with Shonna, nor does she with him. Their marriage has
been torn for years by his emotional attachment with at least one other female
whose physical contact went beyond hugging and kissing and holding hands. Enough
said-maybe more details will be revealed later-but it was clearly immoral. All
of this was skillfully concealed by lying and by swearing close associates who
had observed his behavior to secrecy - Peter Wagner
# 107 Sharon on Oct 20th, 2009 at 12:39
pm
Well after reading
through some of what people have written on here I would like to add my 10 cents
worth
I worked for Todd for
over 5 years and travelled with him.
Do I agree with what
he has done? No. His wife and children are suffering beyond belief. Having to
sell their house because a single mom can’t afford a mortgage and Shonnah was a
stay at home mom. She has endured much heartache and yet has been gracious
through it all. We all can learn from her
As for his
remarriage, I have sat back and watched this all unfold. Him having vacations (
prior to marriage) with his girlfriend, in Hawaii and getting drunk and who
knows what else went on, does not constitute
repentance.
Repentance is when
you “turn from your wicked ways” but he continued to do what he wanted till he
was married and then came back for “healing”. I cannot see what is in his heart
but his actions speak volumes. There is much more that I can say on this
subject.
Does God forgive? Yes
and we should too but I do not think he should ever be placed in a position of
leadership. How can you when the example you are giving doesn’t line up with the
word of God?
My husband left me
for another woman after 16 yrs of being together and he is now married. The
after math of what I am going through has been far reaching. Whether
financially, emotionally, whatever, it doesn’t go away over
night.
# 108 Therese on Oct 20th, 2009 at 3:01
pm
Sharon, 1 John 3:6-8
says “No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear
children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is
righteous, just as He is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the
devil.”
This passage is
warning us that those who continue to sin are leading us astray – their
teachings are not to be trusted, if they believed rightly they would have had
power over their own sin…. I hope you will take another look at Bentley’s
teachings as compared to the word of God for your own sake. There is a power
that comes from uncrucified flesh that works counterfeit miracles, yes, even in
the name of Jesus – I believe this is actually occult power. The true power that
comes from the Spirit comes through the cross, ie, the disciple’s cross, (which
is also Jesus’ cross really, they are one and the same in a sense), that we are
to carry to crucify our flesh as we follow Jesus.
Nothing has changed at all. Todd Bentley is still a
liar, a thief, an adulterer, a deceiver and not a true man of God at
all!
It’s unfortunate that some fools still believe that he
has something to offer!
He hasn’t changed a bit - still the same old
manipulative, evasive, deceitful ways. Not a sign of remorse, brokenness, or
insight into his own problems. To me he’s exposed here as only looking out for
#1. He still badly needs therapy - is Rick Joyner any kind of a qualified
Christian therapist? Apparently whatever he’s been doing with T.B. has been a
failure because absolutely nothing has changed. Restoration means to restore
back to the image God had in mind before the created thing went haywire. Todd
Bentley is not restored. I think this time all he will have left is a cult
following, if he has anything - unfortunately there always seems to be those
willing to follow cult leaders and can’t see the truth even when it slaps them
in the face - BAM! - but the Way of Jesus Christ of Nazareth it is not. They’re
going to get back the same rapid-fire auctioneer peddling his wares to a
manipulated crowd that they had before. And I’m very sorry if the world looks at
that insane spectacle and blames Jesus. Maybe God will have mercy and not let
things get off the ground this time, or at least shut it down sooner if it does
get started.
How is it with these
Pentecostal/Charismatic Christians is okay to be committed adultery, separate,
divorce, lie, steal and even commit perjury? In my opinion they are not even
Christians because Jesus said:
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit,
but a bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a
bad tree bear good fruit. "Every tree
that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "Therefore
by their fruits you will know them.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Matthew
7:16-21
Todd Bentley Is Not A Christian
Jesus heals, I must
disagree with you when you wrote, “Miracles and gifts of the spirit don’t
validate a Christian. The fruit of the spirit validates a Christian. peace,
love, patience, hope, joy, faith.” First, you did not mention all of the fruit
of the Spirit but I know what you mean (Gal. 5: 22 -23). The reason why I
disagree with you is because you continuously mis-identify people, like Todd
Bentley as a Christian. He is not a Christian nor are those who go chasing after
the counterfeit signs and so-called miracles that he and others misrepresent as
being from the Holy Spirit. Real Christian Believers do not get deceived and
offer counterfeits because they draw attention to themselves and they cannot
tell the difference between the work of the Holy Spirit and the work of the
devil and demons. They do not do the things that the New Testament tells us
clearly are the work and character of authentic Christian believers. They glory
in their sin and make excuses for their adulterous work, drunkenness and love of
money to say nothing of all the works of the flesh which they seem to think are
the fruit of the Holy Spirit. As a man once told me: “If it doesn’t look like a
sheep, and eat like a sheep and talk like a sheep and do sheep things, it isn’t
a sheep”. Well, just stop and look at all the un-Scriptural things these people
are doing. They do not look like Christians, they don’t eat as Christians, they
do not talk like Christians and they do not do Christian things. So, they are
not Christians.
Jesus tells us that
the “signs” following confirm the preaching of the Word and prove who are
authentic believers. This is very clear when you examine the Greek definition of
“signs”. They were the reason why Nicodemus said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that
you are a man sent from God; for no man could do these signs that you do, unless
God is with him” (Jn. 3: 2). The legitimate 15 Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Rom.
12: 6 – 8; 1 Cor. 12: 8 – 10)prove that we are authentic believers. The fruit of
the Spirit (Gal. 5: 22 – 23) describes the Character of Jesus which the Holy
Spirit develops us so that we can use the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Because the
real or authentic Gifts of the Holy Spirit are not being used and encouraged
with these counterfeit Christians who demonstrate counterfeit gifts, we have to
be very careful in choosing our words as I think you have done in your letter. I
learned a long time ago that there are “Christians” and there are “christians”
(religious people) who are not believers. People, like the person you mentioned
who received healing and made the mistake of attributing it to Todd Bentley has
not learned that whoever calls on Jesus will catch Jesus’ attention, even while
watching a deceptive person pretending to be a believer, and answer their prayer
and heal them. When I examine these counterfeit Christians, according to
Scripture, they are not believers according to Jesus Christ. Because most
pastors and churches do not encourage the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and use the
15 Gifts of the Holy Spirit, they are easy victims when the counterfeits are
demonstrated. This is an important ministry that we have in the churches that I
am invited to preach and do ministry. As you know it is “to equip the saints for
the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4: 12).
So, I suggest that you do not look upon such people as Christians because they
are not.
Comment by
Gordon
Williams | July
19, 2009
Chapter 24
Rick Warren False Prophet
In that day the LORD
of hosts will be For a crown of glory
and a diadem of beauty To the remnant of
His people, For a spirit of justice to
him who sits in judgment, And for strength to those who turn back the battle at
the gate. Isaiah 28:5-6
This also comes from
the LORD of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. Isaiah
28:29
Julia Duin, a
newspaper columnist, in her Stairway to Heaven[xv] column wrote in the Washington
Times:
Atheist sees global
faith revival
... Which is why I
was glad to see two editors from the Economist magazine release "God is Back:
How the Global Revival of Faith is Changing the World" earlier this year.
Co-author Adrian Wooldridge said he and John Micklethwait got the idea while
compiling their 2004 book "The Right Nation," about America's conservatives. It
struck them that religious observance is increasing worldwide and that
irreligious Europe, not America, is the exception.
"Religion now goes
hand in hand with modernity," he said. "Something happened from the 1970s onward
that put that [into action] and now the world is going in the American
direction."
...Like 21st-century
versions of Alexis de Tocqueville, the French historian whose travels about
America in the early 1830s revealed how the country's religious character worked
hand in hand with its fledgling democracy, the two men traveled the world to see
how religion is affecting the globe. China, Guatemala, Nigeria, Kenya and
various Latin American countries were the biggest hot
spots.
Pentecostal, he
concluded, will be the major form of 21st century
Christianity.
"The sort of
religion that is on the rise is the emotive, assertive charismatic religion," he
said. "It's compelling Catholicism in Latin America to change. There's a
physical surprise when you go to Guatemala and see how vibrant the charismatic
and Pentecostal movements are. Same thing for Lagos and Nairobi. I went into
that book underestimating the power and vitality of religion."
My friend Dr Pat
Holiday and I are very intellectual Christians and not just emotional
Pentecostals. And in her article New Age Pastor to the World -Rick
Warren[xvi], Pat
writes:
Signs are exploding
everywhere that Jesus Christ is coming back soon. Apostasy and the great falling
away is a key sign. The Seeker Friendly Church Model promoted through the New
Age Internationalist Pastor, Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church, is a system
that no longer holds to the Biblical principles or the fact that Jesus is the
ONLY way back to God the Father!
“Jesus saith unto
him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me,” (Jn. 14:6). Dr. Pat Holiday http://www.miracleinternetchurch.com/
Rev. Warren has
become one of America’s leading Christian leaders. Sadly more than 400,000
pastors attend his “purpose-driven” church seminars; his books, including “The
Purpose Driven Life,” have become international
best-sellers.
In the premier issue
of Purpose Driven Connection, Rick Warren has once again brought in New Age
influences, which are given as tools to build Purpose Driven connections.
America's most popular evangelical pastor, who few Christian leaders have dared
to challenge on his beliefs and actions, is moving swiftly toward a global
spirituality that will ultimately reject the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. The
Purpose Driven Connection is a step toward this reality.
In a section of the
magazine[xvii] called "The Scene,"
one page is devoted to popular "Christian" books. Warren has included books that
have contemplative and or emerging slants, such as Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin
Gospel, Bill Isley, MD says, “A man-centered gospel will always exalt man by
downplaying his true sin nature. It will then reconstruct any and all elements
of its theology to be consistent with that man-centeredness. Manning has clearly
accomplished that objective in this, and presumably, other works. Man desires an
egalitarian God Who is not sovereign and Who would never judge a person.
[xviii]
Also listing The
Shack as a "notable best-selling Christian" book (no disclaimer or warning
provided, which gives the indication to readers that this is a good trustworthy
book, and yet within its pages is the message of the Black Madonna,
[xix]that God is in all
things.
YOU WERE CREATED FOR
CONNECTIONS WITH HUMANS?
An emphasis in Rick
Warren’s new magazine is "Connection." In the "Editor's Letter," Rick Warren
says: "YOU WERE CREATED FOR CONNECTIONS.... Life is all about connecting. A
disconnected life merely exists" (p.2-3). Warren promises that the Purpose
Driven Connection will give the "power" and the tools for this connection.
"Power flows through connections.... When you're a member of the Purpose Driven
Connection, we'll help you develop the four kinds of relationships you need in
order to grow: mentors, models, partners, and friends" [xx]
False prophet and
false gospel . . . absolutely not! You were born to fellowship with God and He’s
made the provisions to do so!
Well I know my bible
well enough to know that intellectualism and perspiration didn't produce the
church of Jesus Christ or Christians in
the book of Acts? The bible says
When the Day of
Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven,
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. Then there appeared to them
divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts
2:1-4
So continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate
their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the
people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts
2:46-47
In my opinion Rick
Warren is your typical Baptist pastor of the flesh and I used to be a Baptist
for a number of years. And it's a fact according to Billy Graham's own statistic
that 85% of their converts fall away and who is to say that the other 15 % are
Christians since they deny the Baptism of the Spirit and the Gifts of the
Spirit. You cannot say that you are a
believer and ignore 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 and say that you believe only in
love and 1 Corinthians 13. No, you must
accept all of the New Testament scriptures or reject them all. You cannot pick
and choose what you want
The word of God is
unchanged concerning believers of which Rick Warren and his bunch are not and
have not accompanying signs:
And He said to them, "Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned. "And these
signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they
will speak with new tongues; "they will
take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt
them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then, after the Lord had spoken to them,
He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere,
the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying
signs. Amen. Mark 16:15-20
And I, brethren, when
I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to
you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much
trembling. And my speech and my
preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, that your
faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians
2:1-5
It’s a fact that the
church of the flesh including Rick Warren's church preaches with persuasive
words of human wisdom and not in demonstration of the spirit and power so that
our faith might not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. And for that reason alone, Warren is a false
prophet. And the bible tells us:
But God has revealed
them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep
things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the
man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of
God. Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the
things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not
in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly
judged by no one. For "who has known the
mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ. 1
Corinthians 2:10-16
Seriously Rick Warren
cannot say “For who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?"
But we have the mind of Christ.” And I know and do many things by the Spirit of
the Lord and the mind of Christ. And that is not a lie but a
fact!
For the record I have
fought with B.G.E.A. organization who told me they were going to sue me because
of my article ECFA IS A JOKE http://walthope.tripod.com/ecfa.htm and I told them go ahead and they ran
away.
I also fought with
many professors of the Southern Baptist Convention seminaries for many years about their
rejection of the Baptism of the Spirit. I also I fought directly with Jerry
Falwell who was a Southern Baptist and a liar who didn't tell people the truth
about many things!
It’s my opinion that
a denomination which was born out of a desire to have slaves such as SBC can
produce anything good! And the
“Fundamentalist” are very divisive that even Billy Graham didn't like them and
embraced the term Evangelical
For the record
“Tongues: is the least of all gifts but it leads into all the gifts of the
Spirit and Apostle Paul still stated in 1 Corinthians 14:5, "I wish you all
spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied;” And Billy Graham said he didn't like tongues because he didn't
like anything controversial! Hogwash! God’s word is
unchanging:
If anyone thinks
himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which
I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. But if anyone is ignorant, let him be
ignorant. Therefore, brethren, desire
earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.
1 Corinthians 14:37-40
Chapter 25
The LORD Is Merciful And Gracious
The LORD is merciful
and gracious, Slow to anger, and
abounding in mercy. He will not always
strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. Psalm
103:8-9
Seeing then that we
have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who
cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are,
yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews
4:13-16
Some people think
that “Jesus loves me” is the great expression in the bible, but for me it’s “The
LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to
anger, and abounding in mercy!” We all
need mercy and grace from our kind and gracious Father for the battles in life
and the storms we go through! And mercy and grace sometimes makes a difference
between heaven or hell, life or destruction, health or sickness, prosperity or poverty, or plenty or lack. And the Psalmist tells us
about God that:
Behold, the eye of
the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy, 33:19 To
deliver their soul from death, And to
keep them alive in famine. Psalm 33:18-19
He shall send from
heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God
shall send forth His mercy and His truth. Psalm 57:3
Blessed be God, Who
has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me! Psalm
66:20
For as the heavens
are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
103:12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the LORD
pities those who fear Him. Psalm 103:11-12
Oh, give thanks to
the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Psalm
136:1
The LORD takes
pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy. Psalm
147:11
In ourselves in many
negative circumstances especially a terminal disease, the breakdown of a
marriage, the loss of a job, or
disharmony in a family, we cannot do much but God can do everything for He is
after all a Savior, Redeemer, Healer, Deliverer, Provider, Rock, Refuge and High
Tower! And no storm is bigger than God. His word is
unchanging:
On the same day, when
evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." Now when they had left the multitude, they
took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with
Him. And a great windstorm arose, and
the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the
stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You
not care that we are perishing?" Then He
arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind
ceased and there was a great calm. But
He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no
faith?" And they feared exceedingly, and
said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"
Mark 4:35-41
"I call heaven and
earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants
may live; "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and
that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and
that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. Deuteronomy 30:10-20
Therefore we also,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right
hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2
Life and blessings
come from choosing and loving the Lord your God and obeying His voice and not
doing your thing or seeking things! We look unto Jesus the author and finisher
of our faith who has overcome the world and won the victory and will give us
victory in all things! We look unto God who is a God of Miracles to do things
just like Apostle Peter did:
Now Peter and John
went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb
was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called
Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into
the temple, asked for alms. And fixing
his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." So he gave them his attention, expecting to
receive something from them. Then Peter
said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And he took him by the right hand and lifted
him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and
entered the temple with them-walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and
praising God. Then they knew that it was
he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were
filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to
him.
Now as the lame man who was healed held on to
Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called
Solomon's, greatly amazed. So when Peter
saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this?
Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had
made this man walk? "The God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you
delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let
Him go. "But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to
be granted to you, "and killed the
Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. "And
His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and
know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect
soundness in the presence of you all. Acts
3:1-16
It’s that faith in
Jesus name, not in our own power or godliness, which produces miracles in our
lives! All kinds of miracles spiritual, physical, financial and emotional
because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever! Miracles come from
a God of miracles who loves to give us miracles because loving and giving is
part of His nature and miracles are very easy for Him to do! His word is
unchanging:
Fools, because of
their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their
trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed
them, And delivered them from their
destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and
for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of
thanksgiving, And declare His works with
rejoicing. Those who go down to the sea
in ships, Who do business on great waters, They see the works of the LORD, And
His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts
up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the
depths; Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger
like a drunken man, And are at their wits' end. Then they cry out to the LORD in
their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He
guides them to their desired haven. Psalm 107:17-30
Walter
Kambulow
Not Innocent”
http://www.a2zbookdepot.com/xxcrxxoxxoks.pdf or
http://crooksaog.tripod.com/
Ron Mainse
returning to 100 Huntley Street, business as
usual
Mainse brothers
step down from Crossroads posts during Ponzi
investigation
Todd Bentley:
The Webinar
Todd Bentley
John Arnott False Prophesy and Prayer
The rape of the
church - the Todd Bentley quagmire http://bolaoged.com/?p=743
Female
Angels
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21289068/Female-Angels
The Delusional
World Of Mark Stibbe & St Andrews
Chorleywood
Benny Hinn
Speaks Out Against the Florida
Revival
The Deception
of Lee Grady and Charisma Magazine
THE LATTER RAIN
REVIVAL http://watch.pair.com/rain.html
Pat Holiday
Newsletters and church
http://www.remnantradio.org/Archives/articles/PH/PH.htm
http://www.miracleinternetchurch.com/
Gordon
Williams http://gordwilliams.com/
CEO of ministry
building $4 million lakefront home
The Story of
Marjoe http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-178629120699935619
Walter
Kambulow
June 1,
2008
All rights
reserved
Burlington,
Ontario
Mail to
walthope@mail.com
[i] The Word-Faith Movement By
Gary E. Gilley
[ii] By His Stripes We Are
Healed! By Shelton Prayer and Healing
Rooms
[iii] Healing is for Today's
Generation By Shelton Prayer and Healing
Rooms
[iv] The Possibilities of
Prayer by E.M.Bounds
[xiii] Healing for your
Bruises By Leland
Earls
[xiv] History Alive! 20th
Century United States History,
Enrichment Essay, The United States Coming of Age: 1890-1920, Activities
1.3 and 1.4
[xvii] Rick Warren's New Magazine
Promotes the New Global Spirituality, Lighthouse Trails Report
[xviii] The Ragamuffin Gospel http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/ragmuffin114.html A Critique by
Bill Isley, MD
[xix] Rick Warren, Connection
Magazine, page 3
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