Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Who/What Has #1 Priority In Your Life

Today I find myself responding to the heart of God because I have this same feeling in my heart which just affirms to me that The Father and Jesus are living there, just like they said they would. (John 14:23)

I was reading Matt 5:6 which says, " Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled". Then I asked myself why there are so few people in the body of Christ who don't hunger and thirst after the things of God. I've been in leadership in the church for many years and I witness this lackadaisical desire among many to follow after Christ.

I am currently a leader of a home group along with my wife and have done so for about five years. It's a wonderful group filled with wonderful people, but the commitment that Jesus requires to follow him as a disciple by giving God first priority in your life is somewhat lacking there, just like it is every where else I look in the church because I don't see the hungering and the thirsting that Jesus talks about. What I do see is people giving priority to the things that are happening in their life, life's issues (and they can be big time issues), over the things of God. Let me be the first to say that I am as guilty of what I am saying here as anyone else is, and I think that is what hurts me the most. I understand why people put there things ahead of God's things, but that still doesn't make it right. God speaks to this very clearly in Mark 4:13-20. You need to read this and meditate it especially verses 18 and 19. And then in verse 20 He tells you what happens to those that hunger and thirst after Him.

Our church is currently taking a spiritual journey through this Lenten season. We have done this for about the last five years. We are supposed to be doing this together through our different home groups so that we can grow together. But I've watched from a distance these past years and have seen the desire of the people on these journeys wane more and and more each year. The commitment to the Home Group during this journey is much more than normal. During Lent we meet once a week, and all other times twice a month or less. To commit to a seven week journey with the group takes a real commitment and discipline to be there every week. Every person has to set their priorities with what they will do with this time and only they know if they have put something ahead of God or not (you need to look at Luke 14:26 right now. If your bible uses the word "hate" in this verse that word means "to love less). God knows when you can be there and when you can't.If you are not hungering and thirsting after the things of God, it's hard to stay on the path of the disciple.

God then took me to Luke 14:15-24, The Parable of the Great Supper. God has an invite out for us to come to His table and eat with Him. But so many make excuse not to come. And the excuses that make God angry, yes I said angry, are the kind that are listed in these verses. God understands when life's crises happen and you have to tend to things, but it's all the other things that we put before God that does not please Him.

As I sat contemplating these things the Spirit of the Lord said to me, "They are content knowing that Heaven is their home and that they have escaped Hell and the Judgement to come, but they have no desire to follow Me. They are not willing to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. They are not willing to leave their familiar surroundings for new and unknown territory. They have no desire to learn how to live victoriously over this world's system but would rather live according to it. They have no desire to change into the person I desire them to be. They will reap what they sow and they will not enter into the promise land, but they will remain in the wilderness for the remainder of their days. I give man the choice on how he desires to live his life. With Me, or without Me, the choice is his, but the results of his choice are his as well. When things don't turn out well for man because of his choice, he will blame Me instead of himself. This should not be so but it is. Choose you this day who you will serve. Me or you. The Kingdom way or the world way. Whatever you give yourself to that is what you shall reap. I desire to bless you, what is your desire My child? The choice is yours".

I really didn't want to share this with you and I was just going to keep it to myself for my own learning of God's ways. I knew He was speaking to me about things that I have given priority to over God and I knew He was speaking directly to me. I was judging what I was seeing by how God is judging me. He was allowing me to see things through His eyes and I became angry, just as it makes Him angry. But God reminded me about the purpose of this blog site and my commitment to Him concerning this site. I told Him I would reveal the Truth here, no matter the cost to me. So that is why you are reading this today. I plan to heed His voice, how about you?

Saturday, March 14, 2009

It's Time To Believe-I Mean Really Believe

As I was reading Ps 76 out of my Living Bible today, I never got a chance to get past verse 5. The Spirit of the Lord just stopped me there and I began to meditate that verse. Then revelation began to pour forth like a fireworks display and I got so caught up in it, I forgot that God was teaching me something so I grabbed my paper and pen (I'm pretty old fashioned) and began to write. God started out by teaching me, but then He switched to His prophetic voice and began to speak through me, for this was more than a personal teaching for me, but He wanted to speak to His whole family of believers everywhere in the Body of Christ. You'll be able to tell where God goes from teaching me to speaking to all of us.

Ps 76:5 (Living Bible) says, "the mightiest of our enemies are conquered. Not one can lift a hand against us" (unless we let him-this was the first thought when I read this, so I know it was God inspired). Also, this is the old Living bible translation and I would of never seen what God wanted me to see if I had not been looking at this translation. It expounds so much more than the KJ, NKJ, NIV, NLT, MESSAGE, and just about anthing else you would look at. Now don't get all tensed up about Bible translations. Put those religious spirits in check. God chose to speak through a donkey, so He can speak through anyones translation. The problem is, no one is listening to Him, just what others are saying about Him.

God began to teach me by saying (now this is not an audible voice, it's and inward witness in my spirit).......... The devil is defeated. Jesus destroyed the works of the devil. (1 Jn 3:8) I (that's me)am in Jesus, and Jesus' victory over the devil has become my victory over the devil as well. When the devil shows up to peddle something to me from the curse, I submit myself to the Word of God, hold fast the Word, resist the devil and watch him flee from me (James 4:7) because the Father has given me the right to be found in Jesus, therefore I have His Name and authority to reign and rule over my enemy (and Jesus' enemy) and command the devil to cease and desist and to depart from me. I have the right to enforce Jesus' victory over the devil and receive the benefit of that victory.

Christians ask, " If God says I'm healed, then why am I sick?" Because you have let a defeated enemy steal something from you that belongs to you. (Healing belongs to you for you have been (past tense) redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13-14, 29) and sickness is part of that curse). We must be prepared to enforce Jesus' victory over the devil in our own lives when the devil comes against us. Don't wait for God to do something about it, (what more does He need to do, He sent Jesus in your place and defeated your enemy, it's finished, the victory is Jesus' and ours), He is waiting for you to step out in faith and exercise your authority over the enemy and resist him, so that Jesus once again gets to see His enemy flee from Him. If you are sick, don't ask God "why did You let this happen to me?".

Now this is where God switched from teaching me personally (and trust me, I needed to hear it) over to speaking through me to the body of Christ.........The real question that God is asking you is, "why did you let this sickness overtake you? Why didn't you fight your enemy the devil in My Name (Jesus) like I told you to? Why didn't you believe Me when I said to you, "Jesus took your infirmities and bore your sicknesses (Matt 8:16-17), and by His stripes you were (past tense) healed (1 Pet 2:24)? Why didn't you believe Me when I said that your enemy is defeated (Col 2:15)? Why did you not believe Me when I said you must live by faith and not by sight (Heb 10:38 & 2 Cor 5:7), but only be moved by what I say (Jn 14:21-24). Why are you so fearful? Where is your faith? Oh you of little faith, when are you going to turn towards Me and believe Me. Have I not declared that My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge? (Hosea 4:6) Why don't you know My ways? Why do you listen to men who talk about My ways, but don't know Me at all? They speak wrongly of Me because they don't know Me. Why do you know what these men say about Me, but you don't know what I said about it? Why have you accepted the lie, but you won't accept My Truth? I AM who I say I AM, I've done what I said I did, and I will do what I said I would do. Are you going to change your ways and believe Me, or are you going to hold onto lies that have been spoken about Me? I have made a way for you to live victorious on the earth over your enemy, satan. My Son Jesus has defeated him and I have made a way for you to walk in that victory. (Be Born Again) But you will have to believe Me over what some man has said about Me. I AM El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One, the God Who is more than enough. I have provided for every need you will ever face, but you will have to believe Me every step of the way to walk in My Son's victory. Today I ask you to change your ways and believe Me. You think you believe me now but you don't. Draw near to Me. Spend time with Me and I will enable you to believe Me. That's the only way it's going to happen. You can be as free in life as I have declared you are in My Word, but you will have to believe Me to walk in that freedom. If you don't know where to get started on this journey with Me, just ask Me, I'll show you. Now I didn't say ask another man how to do it, I said ask Me and I will show you the Truth. But it will take courage to believe Me, but I've provided that to as well, for My Spirit lives in you and it's time to yield to My Spirit, and to turn away from your flesh and what you think about it. It's time to trust ME. Come and follow ME.............so ends the word of God as it was spoken to my heart.

Now I know this word was spoken directly to me, but you will benefit from it also, for this is the reason God had me start this blog. I know exactly what He is saying to me this day, and as soon as I'm done typing I will start immediately doing what God has shown me this day. I personally thought I was doing pretty good at this and that's what I get for thinking. God says this day to me, "Let Me show you how to really do this" and I say Amen to that. I'm ready to learn, how about you.