My wifes nephew is a new believer and he is diligently diving into the word of God. He came across something in Luke 4:38 that was the end of the list of the genealogy of Jesus where it says "the son of Adam, the son of God". His question was, "I thought Jesus was the only begotten son of God, what does this mean that Adam was the son of God? So I felt like I wanted to share the answer that the Lord gave me for him with you all. I was thrilled with what the Lord put on my heart so that I was able to answer his question. It was the first time I even heard some of this. Be Blessed!
You are right in your understanding that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. The one and only Son that came forth from the loins of God Himself. John 1:1 says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 2 says, He was in the beginning with God." Jesus (at the beginning) was not born or created, He always was, just Like His Father, no beginning and no end. The Son came forth from the inside of the Father when the Father spoke. Everything that the father spoke, the Son was and did. But the Son did not come forth from the Father until the Father spoke. The only begotten Son (Jesus) came from within the Father and because the Father always was, the Son always was. There is no other Son of God that came forth this way.
Now in Gen 1:26 , "Then God said, "Let Us (Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit), make man in Our image, and Our likeness.....27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them." Man was created, Jesus was not (He always was).
God created/formed Adam out of the dust of the earth. Then God breathed His life, His Spirit into Adam and Adam came alive with the Spirit of God in him. Adam was exactly like the Ones who made him. He was like Them, but he was not Them which is the only difference between them. God gave Adam dominion over everything on the earth and empowered him with God's power and authority to rule and reign the earth. Adam was God's son, just like His Son Jesus. This is the image of man that you must see so that you can understand the original plan for man. Actually, this reveals the purpose of Jesus coming to this earth as a Man. Jesus got back for man (his rightful place with God) what Adam had lost.
Adam bowed his knee to Satan and committed high treason in the Garden of Eden when he listened to satan and obeyed him, rather than obeying God. Adam sinned, and separated himself from the Father, for sin can never be in the presence of the Father for there is no union there between light and dark. Adam was no longer the son of God, but in reality Adam was now in union with his new father, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (Eph 2:1-3)
Listen to 1 Cor 15:47-49 (I'm using the New King James Version)
The first man (Adam) was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man (Jesus) is the Lord from Heaven. As was the man of dust (Adam), so also are those who are made of dust (the man who does not have the Spirit of the Living God in him); and as is the heavenly man (Jesus), so also are those who are heavenly ( the ones who asked Jesus into their hearts and now have the Spirit of the Living God abiding within them). And as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man (Jesus) (just as soon as His Spirit is living in you or just as soon as you invite Him into your heart).
Jesus is known as the 2nd Adam. The 1st one failed, the 2nd One didn't. The 1st one was exactly like the 2nd One before the fall. Jesus looked just like Adam did before Adam sinned. Jesus now had to do what Adam was supposed to do. The 1st son failed and lost his sonship, the 2nd One walked in victory and defeated the one (satan) who destroyed the first son. When Jesus was born into this earth through Mary, He came to us as the Son of Man, not the Son of God (even though He was; Phil 2:5-8). He had to live on this earth as a man, in complete obedience to the Father, and live by faith in God's Word, just as the 1st man was designed to live by, but he failed when he chose to obey another word from another god (the god of this world-satan).
Jesus has defeated satan and has gotten back what Adam lost. Those who accept what Jesus did on the cross and receive Him as their personal Savior receive the Spirit of God into their hearts and they are born again and now made in the exact image of Jesus. Jesus went from being the only begotten Son of God to what the New Testament declares Him to be which is "the Firstborn from the dead" (Col 1:18, Rom 8:29) and all those who receive Jesus as Savior become born of God just like Jesus and just as Jesus is the Son of God, the born again man /woman is now the child of God.
Rom 8:14 says, "for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the Sons of God....16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. 17 and if children, then heirs---heirs of God and JOINT HEIRS with Christ...........
(Read 1 John 3:1-3 to establish this thought).
God has always wanted sons and daughters to bestow His love on. That is the whole purpose for our being here. And that which God has created to love, now is filled with that love, and desires to return that love to the Father. That is the way it was always supposed to be and thank God the Father, for His Son Jesus, for because of Him, I am a son as well.
God is still increasing His family to this day, but the soon coming King (Jesus) will be returning soon to gather up His family, so now is the day of salvation. Jesus was the firstborn from the dead, what number are you?
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
It's Time to Get That Swine Flu Shot
I feel led by the Spirit of God to speak about this potential world wide swine flu epidemic. The reason for this is because the media has enlarged this problem to a Pandemic already. From the first day they reported it, fear has gripped this world and now there is a frenzy out there concerning the swine flu.
My wife and I experienced this once before in 1976. We were living in Westland , Michigan and our first child was 4 years old. The media once again informed us about a swine flu outbreak in New Jersey and in a short period of time, the government decided that it would be a good idea if everyone got a swine flu shot for protection. Well, I chose not to do it, not because I was a big man of faith, I didn't even know the Lord Jesus then. I just didn't want to stand in line for hours. I saw thousands of people lined up at the local Shopping Mall getting shots. After the swine flu terror was over with, it was determined that more people died from the shots than from the flu.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not against doctors, medicine, and shots. But what the believing Christian must know is don't ever do anything that is motivated by fear. Fear will lead you where God never intended you to go. We all may be faced with this same decision again depending on how bad the flu epidemic becomes. Men will do their best to stop it, but men doing something without God is doomed for failure. I've not heard one news cast or one person say anything about seeking God and His wisdom on what to do with this crisis, but instead I hear panic and fear everywhere.
That leads me to what you and I should be doing right now. My wife and I sat down before the Lord this morning and we got our swine flu shots from Him. We have exercised our faith in God and His Word and are completely inoculated by the blood of Jesus. Just as the Israelites were instructed by God to paint the door posts of their homes with the blood of the sacrificial lamb so that the angel of death would pass over them, that is exactly what my wife and I did this morning. We plead the blood of Jesus over our house (the one with a roof over it) and then we plead the blood of Jesus over our physical bodies (the house where our spirits live) and we full well expect that spirit of infirmity to pass over both houses.
Prov 4: 20-22 says that the Word of God is life unto those that find it it and health (or medicine) to all their flesh. God has medicine for the believer, it's His Word. But just like those pills in the bottle, they won't do the person any good if he doesn't take the pill out of the bottle and consume it the way the doctor ordered it. God's medicine is just the same. If you just leave God's word sitting on the table between those two leather covers and never look at it and consume it into your heart (your spirit man), it will do nothing for you at all and you'll most likely get sick and blame God for it or at the least you'll accuse God of putting that sickness on you and that He is teaching you something. (you know, that almost pains me to write that junk).
You've got to take God's word and put it into your heart. And just like the medicine in the bottle, you've got to consume it as prescribed and this is God's prescription, "you shall meditate on My word 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." (Josh 1:8). Now that is God's way of prospering, spirit, soul, and body. If you take God's medication any other way, you'll not get enough to stand against the wiles (the different ways) of the devil.
So you receive your swine flu shot by receiving God's word through faith. Eph 1:19 says that God extends His power towards us when we believe Him and Eph 3:20 says God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US, or according to whatever we can believe, God's power will be there to bring it to pass. Jesus said, according to your faith, be it done unto you. All things are possible to him that believes.
So if coming to God to get your swine fly shot sounds foolish to you, then you must understand that you have not been chewing on the meat of the word, but you are still taking the milk instead. For the Holy Spirit said in 1 Cor 1:18, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved (that is an ongoing process, not a one time act. I need healing and deliverance on a continuous basis) it is the power of God (for whatever we need, and in this case, I need a swine flu shot). So what is the message of the cross speaking to you. That your sins are forgiven and heaven is your home. That's great and wonderful and thank God for it, but the message of the cross has much more to say about how we can live on this earth before we get to heaven. This is the message you need now, "that Jesus bore your sicknesses and diseases and that you have been redeemed from the curse of the law", but just like that first group of Israelites that stood before the Promise Land, they still had to go in and possess it, they had to kick the giants out, and you'll have to kick the devil off of your promises from God as well. But God said you could, so go and do it.
Now are you ready for your Swine Flu shot. Then step right up, there is no waiting or line. To receive God's shot, you must receive His word by faith and believe Him.
Here is the medicine and you can't overdose on it. Take as much as you can.
1. Psalm 18:1-3
2. Prov 18:10
3. Ps 91 This is your protective covering. Especially look at verses 9-10
4. Ex 15:26
5. Ex 23:25
6. Deut 7:14-15
Now, if you take the above scriptures and believe that is God speaking directly to you and receive the truth of that word, than that truth will come to pass in your life. You will be inoculated from this spirit of infirmity. However, after doing the above and the devil still shows up on your front door step with the symptoms of the swine flu, resist him and kick him off your property by just quoting this word to him and refusing to accept those symptoms. Don't buy the lie, hold onto the Truth. This shot is more potent than anything man will ever come up with.
Now you need to take this good news out there and share it with others that need a swine flu shot. Be Blessed and stand strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
My wife and I experienced this once before in 1976. We were living in Westland , Michigan and our first child was 4 years old. The media once again informed us about a swine flu outbreak in New Jersey and in a short period of time, the government decided that it would be a good idea if everyone got a swine flu shot for protection. Well, I chose not to do it, not because I was a big man of faith, I didn't even know the Lord Jesus then. I just didn't want to stand in line for hours. I saw thousands of people lined up at the local Shopping Mall getting shots. After the swine flu terror was over with, it was determined that more people died from the shots than from the flu.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not against doctors, medicine, and shots. But what the believing Christian must know is don't ever do anything that is motivated by fear. Fear will lead you where God never intended you to go. We all may be faced with this same decision again depending on how bad the flu epidemic becomes. Men will do their best to stop it, but men doing something without God is doomed for failure. I've not heard one news cast or one person say anything about seeking God and His wisdom on what to do with this crisis, but instead I hear panic and fear everywhere.
That leads me to what you and I should be doing right now. My wife and I sat down before the Lord this morning and we got our swine flu shots from Him. We have exercised our faith in God and His Word and are completely inoculated by the blood of Jesus. Just as the Israelites were instructed by God to paint the door posts of their homes with the blood of the sacrificial lamb so that the angel of death would pass over them, that is exactly what my wife and I did this morning. We plead the blood of Jesus over our house (the one with a roof over it) and then we plead the blood of Jesus over our physical bodies (the house where our spirits live) and we full well expect that spirit of infirmity to pass over both houses.
Prov 4: 20-22 says that the Word of God is life unto those that find it it and health (or medicine) to all their flesh. God has medicine for the believer, it's His Word. But just like those pills in the bottle, they won't do the person any good if he doesn't take the pill out of the bottle and consume it the way the doctor ordered it. God's medicine is just the same. If you just leave God's word sitting on the table between those two leather covers and never look at it and consume it into your heart (your spirit man), it will do nothing for you at all and you'll most likely get sick and blame God for it or at the least you'll accuse God of putting that sickness on you and that He is teaching you something. (you know, that almost pains me to write that junk).
You've got to take God's word and put it into your heart. And just like the medicine in the bottle, you've got to consume it as prescribed and this is God's prescription, "you shall meditate on My word 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." (Josh 1:8). Now that is God's way of prospering, spirit, soul, and body. If you take God's medication any other way, you'll not get enough to stand against the wiles (the different ways) of the devil.
So you receive your swine flu shot by receiving God's word through faith. Eph 1:19 says that God extends His power towards us when we believe Him and Eph 3:20 says God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US, or according to whatever we can believe, God's power will be there to bring it to pass. Jesus said, according to your faith, be it done unto you. All things are possible to him that believes.
So if coming to God to get your swine fly shot sounds foolish to you, then you must understand that you have not been chewing on the meat of the word, but you are still taking the milk instead. For the Holy Spirit said in 1 Cor 1:18, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved (that is an ongoing process, not a one time act. I need healing and deliverance on a continuous basis) it is the power of God (for whatever we need, and in this case, I need a swine flu shot). So what is the message of the cross speaking to you. That your sins are forgiven and heaven is your home. That's great and wonderful and thank God for it, but the message of the cross has much more to say about how we can live on this earth before we get to heaven. This is the message you need now, "that Jesus bore your sicknesses and diseases and that you have been redeemed from the curse of the law", but just like that first group of Israelites that stood before the Promise Land, they still had to go in and possess it, they had to kick the giants out, and you'll have to kick the devil off of your promises from God as well. But God said you could, so go and do it.
Now are you ready for your Swine Flu shot. Then step right up, there is no waiting or line. To receive God's shot, you must receive His word by faith and believe Him.
Here is the medicine and you can't overdose on it. Take as much as you can.
1. Psalm 18:1-3
2. Prov 18:10
3. Ps 91 This is your protective covering. Especially look at verses 9-10
4. Ex 15:26
5. Ex 23:25
6. Deut 7:14-15
Now, if you take the above scriptures and believe that is God speaking directly to you and receive the truth of that word, than that truth will come to pass in your life. You will be inoculated from this spirit of infirmity. However, after doing the above and the devil still shows up on your front door step with the symptoms of the swine flu, resist him and kick him off your property by just quoting this word to him and refusing to accept those symptoms. Don't buy the lie, hold onto the Truth. This shot is more potent than anything man will ever come up with.
Now you need to take this good news out there and share it with others that need a swine flu shot. Be Blessed and stand strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Paintings of God--The Pictures of Life
The word of God paints a picture. It allows me to see the Truth through my spiritual eyes. If my body is sick, and I look at God's word and it declares to me, "by His (Jesus') stripes you were (past tense) healed (1 Pet 2:24)", I must take this word and use it as a picture until I see myself the way God sees me, Healed. I must look at this word picture with my spiritual eyes and see myself as the word sees me (healed) and as I look at that picture I see myself strong and healthy, just exactly as the word sees me. I must allow the word to tell me what I look like . If I will believe the picture that the word paints for me, my faith will obtain it. In this case, seeing is believing. But you are seeing the truth (first) through your spiritual eyes and you are believing what you see there and what you believe will bring about what you see.
That is the reason that God declares through His word that man must meditate on His word day and night (Josh 1:8). Why? So the man can renew his mind to the truth of God's word. So that he can see things as God sees them, then agree with God instead of agreeing with himself, what he sees, feels, or thinks about it.
Here in lies the problem. The man feels sick, so he looks into the mirror and he looks sick so he agrees with that image. Then he calls his doctor and goes and sees him. The doctor checks him out and sure enough the doctor agrees with the man and he tells him that he is sick. The doctor even gives the man a written report that declares the details of his sickness and this report declares that he only has three months to live. Now this man has been looking at everything through his physical eyes and everything he is looking at is painting pictures of death. Instead of seeing himself the way God sees him(a picture of life), he sees himself according to what he sees (a picture of death). By the time he leaves the doctors office, he sees himself dead because he believes the doctor's report and he keeps that image of death before him every time he looks in the mirror or feels his body and eventually the day comes where the pictures painted in the man's mind by the prophetic voice of the doctor and his report come to pass and the man dies.
This is the natural way of man, and sadly enough it's the way chosen by a great majority of God's family, the church. Paul calls this type of believer within the church, "a carnal christian"
(1 Cor 3:1) for he has been born again and has access to the Kingdom of God, but chooses to live his life in the natural carnal realm where he gets to be god and believes what he thinks about it instead of what God says about it. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death (Prov 14:12). Settle it once and for all. God's way leads to life, man's way leads to death. Which way are you heading?
But God, BUT GOD declares to man,"whose report will you believe (Isa 53:1), yours or Mine?". One report is believed by the natural physical senses of the man and the other is believed by the spirit of man. Both reports paint pictures. One paints pictures of death and the other paints pictures of life. Whatever pictures you choose to look at the most, that is what you will believe. (here is good point to make sure that you understand that I am not talking about denying the reality of the situation that stands before, what I'm saying is that you have the right to deny it's right to be there if God has given you His word of promise that covers the situation. You have a God given right to believe something other than what you see or feel. You have the right to believe what God says, so I'm not talking mind science here, I'm talking faith in the living Almighty God).
When a man believes what he sees over what God sees (which has been declared to you through His Word), then the man has exalted his throne above God's (sounds like something satan tried, so I wonder why man does it to? Isa 14:12-14. The results weren't very good for satan and they won't be good for man either). Instead of declaring what God says about it, the man declares what he thinks about it (because that is what he believes). Man overrules God, then reaps what he sows.
Man was made to live by faith (Habakkuk 2:2-4 & Heb 10:38) in the God who made him. Adam's sin in the garden separated man from God and the Spirit realm where he lived by faith and it now placed him in the natural realm where man now had to have faith in himself and his ability to take care of himself. Jesus came to earth for man, paid the price for man's sin, and made a way for man to be reunited with his God, and once again live his life in the Spirit realm, where God is the Lord of all things and what He declares is Truth no matter what the physical realm is declaring.
God has shared this truth with us today so that we would clearly understand the Spirit realm where man lives by faith in God with every step he takes and the physical realm where man lives by sight, his physical senses, and exalts himself as god and directs his own steps through life.
Now the choice is yours. Where are you going to live your life? Whose report are you going to believe? If you choose God's way, you've chose the right way (it's right, because it's God's way) to live. But know this. If you live God's way , you will look strange and peculiar and people will criticize you (1 Pet 2:9 in the King James Version uses the word peculiar where the others use words like "special, His very own", and the word peculiar is right on and it's for this very fact that few in the church today live by faith). And most of this criticism comes from people in the church who choose to live carnal lives over living in the Spirit. The man in the world won't really have much to say about you, but the religious man surely will and he (the religious man) is easily used by satan, to steal, kill, and destroy the man who is trying his best to walk by faith. So which one of these are you? A man/woman who lives by faith, or a man who criticizes the man who walks by faith?
God has declared, "the just shall live by faith". Well, that is where you are going to find me. I pray you join me and encourage me in my walk, but if all you want to do is criticize me, then don't get offended if I ignore you. I'm choosing the way of life. I'm going to look at God's pictures and what it says I look like, well, that's what I'm going to believe I look like and if I look any different to you (in the natural realm) than what the word says, than I'm asking you to agree with the word and if you can't do that than just be still and take your critical and judgemental thoughts someplace else, because I don't want to hear it, I only want to hear what God is saying.
I hope that you understand that this has been written out of a heart of love, God's heart. Sometimes it may not sound that way, but God has a way of getting our attention.
Be Blessed and keep the faith. I got my eyes open for those peculiar people. Am I going to find you? I hope so.
Let me leave you with a promise from God. To the man/woman who chooses to live by faith God has this to say to you, "With long life I will satisfy him/her, and show him/her My salvation" (Ps 91:16). The good news about this promise is that God is willing to show you His salvation everyday of your life for this wonderful word "salvation", means much more than insuring that Heaven is your home when you leave this earth, but it also includes the things we need for this life in this cursed world; restoration, deliverance, being made whole, healing, fully complete, nothing missing, nothing broken. Now I think that should cover it for any day you or I will face.
That is the reason that God declares through His word that man must meditate on His word day and night (Josh 1:8). Why? So the man can renew his mind to the truth of God's word. So that he can see things as God sees them, then agree with God instead of agreeing with himself, what he sees, feels, or thinks about it.
Here in lies the problem. The man feels sick, so he looks into the mirror and he looks sick so he agrees with that image. Then he calls his doctor and goes and sees him. The doctor checks him out and sure enough the doctor agrees with the man and he tells him that he is sick. The doctor even gives the man a written report that declares the details of his sickness and this report declares that he only has three months to live. Now this man has been looking at everything through his physical eyes and everything he is looking at is painting pictures of death. Instead of seeing himself the way God sees him(a picture of life), he sees himself according to what he sees (a picture of death). By the time he leaves the doctors office, he sees himself dead because he believes the doctor's report and he keeps that image of death before him every time he looks in the mirror or feels his body and eventually the day comes where the pictures painted in the man's mind by the prophetic voice of the doctor and his report come to pass and the man dies.
This is the natural way of man, and sadly enough it's the way chosen by a great majority of God's family, the church. Paul calls this type of believer within the church, "a carnal christian"
(1 Cor 3:1) for he has been born again and has access to the Kingdom of God, but chooses to live his life in the natural carnal realm where he gets to be god and believes what he thinks about it instead of what God says about it. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death (Prov 14:12). Settle it once and for all. God's way leads to life, man's way leads to death. Which way are you heading?
But God, BUT GOD declares to man,"whose report will you believe (Isa 53:1), yours or Mine?". One report is believed by the natural physical senses of the man and the other is believed by the spirit of man. Both reports paint pictures. One paints pictures of death and the other paints pictures of life. Whatever pictures you choose to look at the most, that is what you will believe. (here is good point to make sure that you understand that I am not talking about denying the reality of the situation that stands before, what I'm saying is that you have the right to deny it's right to be there if God has given you His word of promise that covers the situation. You have a God given right to believe something other than what you see or feel. You have the right to believe what God says, so I'm not talking mind science here, I'm talking faith in the living Almighty God).
When a man believes what he sees over what God sees (which has been declared to you through His Word), then the man has exalted his throne above God's (sounds like something satan tried, so I wonder why man does it to? Isa 14:12-14. The results weren't very good for satan and they won't be good for man either). Instead of declaring what God says about it, the man declares what he thinks about it (because that is what he believes). Man overrules God, then reaps what he sows.
Man was made to live by faith (Habakkuk 2:2-4 & Heb 10:38) in the God who made him. Adam's sin in the garden separated man from God and the Spirit realm where he lived by faith and it now placed him in the natural realm where man now had to have faith in himself and his ability to take care of himself. Jesus came to earth for man, paid the price for man's sin, and made a way for man to be reunited with his God, and once again live his life in the Spirit realm, where God is the Lord of all things and what He declares is Truth no matter what the physical realm is declaring.
God has shared this truth with us today so that we would clearly understand the Spirit realm where man lives by faith in God with every step he takes and the physical realm where man lives by sight, his physical senses, and exalts himself as god and directs his own steps through life.
Now the choice is yours. Where are you going to live your life? Whose report are you going to believe? If you choose God's way, you've chose the right way (it's right, because it's God's way) to live. But know this. If you live God's way , you will look strange and peculiar and people will criticize you (1 Pet 2:9 in the King James Version uses the word peculiar where the others use words like "special, His very own", and the word peculiar is right on and it's for this very fact that few in the church today live by faith). And most of this criticism comes from people in the church who choose to live carnal lives over living in the Spirit. The man in the world won't really have much to say about you, but the religious man surely will and he (the religious man) is easily used by satan, to steal, kill, and destroy the man who is trying his best to walk by faith. So which one of these are you? A man/woman who lives by faith, or a man who criticizes the man who walks by faith?
God has declared, "the just shall live by faith". Well, that is where you are going to find me. I pray you join me and encourage me in my walk, but if all you want to do is criticize me, then don't get offended if I ignore you. I'm choosing the way of life. I'm going to look at God's pictures and what it says I look like, well, that's what I'm going to believe I look like and if I look any different to you (in the natural realm) than what the word says, than I'm asking you to agree with the word and if you can't do that than just be still and take your critical and judgemental thoughts someplace else, because I don't want to hear it, I only want to hear what God is saying.
I hope that you understand that this has been written out of a heart of love, God's heart. Sometimes it may not sound that way, but God has a way of getting our attention.
Be Blessed and keep the faith. I got my eyes open for those peculiar people. Am I going to find you? I hope so.
Let me leave you with a promise from God. To the man/woman who chooses to live by faith God has this to say to you, "With long life I will satisfy him/her, and show him/her My salvation" (Ps 91:16). The good news about this promise is that God is willing to show you His salvation everyday of your life for this wonderful word "salvation", means much more than insuring that Heaven is your home when you leave this earth, but it also includes the things we need for this life in this cursed world; restoration, deliverance, being made whole, healing, fully complete, nothing missing, nothing broken. Now I think that should cover it for any day you or I will face.
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?
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.
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.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Growing Up With God and Sharing It With You
As I said in the beginning of this year, I sensed the Spirit leading me to share more of my personal walk of faith with you for the intended purpose of helping you with your walk of faith. I can't say that I enjoy doing this, because it requires me to expose those areas of me that I would rather keep hidden. It exposes weaknesses in me that I wished were not there, but wishing won't help me one bit, but transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit will. As He reveals things to me that need change, I'm responsible to accept what He is showing me and then doing it. My sharing this with you is a part of that change that the Spirit is working in me.
As you know, I returned home from South Africa a few weeks ago and my spirit has been very alive since the first day I set foot in Africa. It's hard to explain, but I have just been more sensitive to the voice of the Spirit and He has been pouring revelation into me concerning the Kingdom of God. I've become more aware of the Kingdom and how we are to live in the Kingdom (by faith) and by what principles we live by there and the language that is used in the Kingdom. Do you know what the language of the Kingdom of God is? It's the Word of God. You speak the Word in the Kingdom and whatever that word declares will come to pass if it comes forth from a heart of faith. The worlds language will not work in the Kingdom of God. For many years I tried to live in the Kingdom with the world's language on (fear, doubt, unbelief,unloving, uncaring, etc.) on my tongue and I couldn't understand why I was having such little success in my walk of faith. Then God led me to Joshua 1:8 and I got my first glimpse of what it takes to live successfully in the Kingdom of God.
I shared all that with you to let you know that I've been at a great place with God ever since the trip and He keeps revealing new things to me. I should know by now that when I get in this good place with God, the devil will show up and try to put a stop to it and I shamefully say that he has been more successful at this in the past than I would like to admit.
Without going into too much detail, yesterday was the day the devil showed up. I've been growing leaps and bounds in my faith of late, and the devil was ready to do to me what he has always done to me in the past and that is to get me offended over something and that is exactly that strategy he used once again.
I got an email from my Pastor that was addressed to me and a small group of other people who are involved in the healing prayer ministry at my church. This ministry was birthed from my Pastor's heart a little over a year ago. This particular church is very young in it's growth in the areas of the Gifts of the Spirit and Healing, so this was a big step for them. Because of my background and how God has trained me these last 30 years, I had a full heart of believeing God for Healing and Miracales and immediately felt called of God to help lead in this new ministry at our church. I was excited about it and enjoyed doing it. It gave me the opportunity to teach and minister to the sick and we've seen God do some wonderful things over this past year.
But this email came the day before our next healing prayer time saying that the format of the meeting will change and that a new Pastor to our church will now be leading the healing prayer meeting, with the hope that those of us that are on the rotating schedule of leading these meetings would still be there to follow this Pastor's lead.
It was like an arrow was shot right through my heart and I immediately took that email very personal. I could feel the anger rising in me (and as soon as I felt it, I knew better, for I knew it's source) and I got offended. I can't tell you how many times the devil has done this to me and up till now it has worked every time, and I would experience a serious set back in my walk of faith and become useless in the Kingdom of God (which was the devil's object all along).
Well here I am full of faith and revelation of the Kingdom and the devil assaults me and has his way with me and I'm just about to jump on my computer and fire an email back to my Pastor and give him a piece of my mind. I was already starting to feel good by thinking of what I was going to say to him. I was determined to serve my notice to this ungrateful man and quit. (Just exactly what the devil wanted all along). But the Spirit of God had enough of my heart to stop me from doing this so I just sat around most of the day and spewed to myself and kept enlarging this whole thing. Finally God got my attention that evening and began to minister to me. It helped, but I still went to bed out of sorts.
I arose this morning and the devil was waiting for me to open my eyes, and as soon as I did, here he came again with that accusing tone and started to rile me all up again. But I had enough sense to grab my Bible and get before God and His word. He began to minister to me by telling me to look up the word "offended" in my concordance which I did. As I looked at the word, it began to minister to me (this is the purpose of the Word). I softened and began to hear the voice of the Lord. He painted the whole picture for me. I saw Satan's every move and his intent for it. Then God had me lay my eyes on Matt 15:14 and He spoke to me loud and clear through the first three words of that verse. It says,"Let them alone". Now that might not do much for you, but you should of heard that in the ears of my spirit. It was strong and it jolted me and I experienced that fear of God that is so necessary for the Believer to have a right relationship with God Almighty.
Those three words deflated all the stored up anger in me and left me feeling breathless and totally ashamed of myself and what God told me next even made it worse (for the moment). He said, "this is the first time you have listened to Me when being attacked by your adversary the devil when he has come against you this way. You've always given into your flesh but this time you have followed My Spirit". On one hand I felt bad for the fact that I've always failed at this in the past, but I then immediately felt encouraged from the fact that I had finally given way to the leading of the Spirit concerning this type of attack. Then God said one more thing to me. It was the healing balm I needed. He said, " now because you have chosen My way for responding to this trial, you have now become more useful to Me for I can now trust you with more of the things within My Kingdom", and I must say that truly pleased my soul.
So I stand here before you all, having shared this struggle of mine with you, knowing what I must look like in some of yours sight. But I came out of this the better for it, and I pray that it helps some of you as well, for we are not ignorant of the devil's devices.
For me, I'm pressing on. I'm at a new place with God today. A place I've never been before, and I like it. You'll find me tonight at the Healing Prayer Meeting with a new and fresh anointing and a determination to tread on the devil's head, for that is where you will find him, under my feet, where he belongs.
Pray for me!!
As you know, I returned home from South Africa a few weeks ago and my spirit has been very alive since the first day I set foot in Africa. It's hard to explain, but I have just been more sensitive to the voice of the Spirit and He has been pouring revelation into me concerning the Kingdom of God. I've become more aware of the Kingdom and how we are to live in the Kingdom (by faith) and by what principles we live by there and the language that is used in the Kingdom. Do you know what the language of the Kingdom of God is? It's the Word of God. You speak the Word in the Kingdom and whatever that word declares will come to pass if it comes forth from a heart of faith. The worlds language will not work in the Kingdom of God. For many years I tried to live in the Kingdom with the world's language on (fear, doubt, unbelief,unloving, uncaring, etc.) on my tongue and I couldn't understand why I was having such little success in my walk of faith. Then God led me to Joshua 1:8 and I got my first glimpse of what it takes to live successfully in the Kingdom of God.
I shared all that with you to let you know that I've been at a great place with God ever since the trip and He keeps revealing new things to me. I should know by now that when I get in this good place with God, the devil will show up and try to put a stop to it and I shamefully say that he has been more successful at this in the past than I would like to admit.
Without going into too much detail, yesterday was the day the devil showed up. I've been growing leaps and bounds in my faith of late, and the devil was ready to do to me what he has always done to me in the past and that is to get me offended over something and that is exactly that strategy he used once again.
I got an email from my Pastor that was addressed to me and a small group of other people who are involved in the healing prayer ministry at my church. This ministry was birthed from my Pastor's heart a little over a year ago. This particular church is very young in it's growth in the areas of the Gifts of the Spirit and Healing, so this was a big step for them. Because of my background and how God has trained me these last 30 years, I had a full heart of believeing God for Healing and Miracales and immediately felt called of God to help lead in this new ministry at our church. I was excited about it and enjoyed doing it. It gave me the opportunity to teach and minister to the sick and we've seen God do some wonderful things over this past year.
But this email came the day before our next healing prayer time saying that the format of the meeting will change and that a new Pastor to our church will now be leading the healing prayer meeting, with the hope that those of us that are on the rotating schedule of leading these meetings would still be there to follow this Pastor's lead.
It was like an arrow was shot right through my heart and I immediately took that email very personal. I could feel the anger rising in me (and as soon as I felt it, I knew better, for I knew it's source) and I got offended. I can't tell you how many times the devil has done this to me and up till now it has worked every time, and I would experience a serious set back in my walk of faith and become useless in the Kingdom of God (which was the devil's object all along).
Well here I am full of faith and revelation of the Kingdom and the devil assaults me and has his way with me and I'm just about to jump on my computer and fire an email back to my Pastor and give him a piece of my mind. I was already starting to feel good by thinking of what I was going to say to him. I was determined to serve my notice to this ungrateful man and quit. (Just exactly what the devil wanted all along). But the Spirit of God had enough of my heart to stop me from doing this so I just sat around most of the day and spewed to myself and kept enlarging this whole thing. Finally God got my attention that evening and began to minister to me. It helped, but I still went to bed out of sorts.
I arose this morning and the devil was waiting for me to open my eyes, and as soon as I did, here he came again with that accusing tone and started to rile me all up again. But I had enough sense to grab my Bible and get before God and His word. He began to minister to me by telling me to look up the word "offended" in my concordance which I did. As I looked at the word, it began to minister to me (this is the purpose of the Word). I softened and began to hear the voice of the Lord. He painted the whole picture for me. I saw Satan's every move and his intent for it. Then God had me lay my eyes on Matt 15:14 and He spoke to me loud and clear through the first three words of that verse. It says,"Let them alone". Now that might not do much for you, but you should of heard that in the ears of my spirit. It was strong and it jolted me and I experienced that fear of God that is so necessary for the Believer to have a right relationship with God Almighty.
Those three words deflated all the stored up anger in me and left me feeling breathless and totally ashamed of myself and what God told me next even made it worse (for the moment). He said, "this is the first time you have listened to Me when being attacked by your adversary the devil when he has come against you this way. You've always given into your flesh but this time you have followed My Spirit". On one hand I felt bad for the fact that I've always failed at this in the past, but I then immediately felt encouraged from the fact that I had finally given way to the leading of the Spirit concerning this type of attack. Then God said one more thing to me. It was the healing balm I needed. He said, " now because you have chosen My way for responding to this trial, you have now become more useful to Me for I can now trust you with more of the things within My Kingdom", and I must say that truly pleased my soul.
So I stand here before you all, having shared this struggle of mine with you, knowing what I must look like in some of yours sight. But I came out of this the better for it, and I pray that it helps some of you as well, for we are not ignorant of the devil's devices.
For me, I'm pressing on. I'm at a new place with God today. A place I've never been before, and I like it. You'll find me tonight at the Healing Prayer Meeting with a new and fresh anointing and a determination to tread on the devil's head, for that is where you will find him, under my feet, where he belongs.
Pray for me!!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
I'm Back
Just wanted to let everyone know that I am back from the most exciting experience of my life. I had a certain expectation level of what it would be like in South Africa, but this trip far exceeded it. God was so good to me and my wife. He provided opportunities that were just breath taking and He revealed Himself to me many times through what He had created there. I never grew tired of looking at the mountain ranges and the green rolling plains. I can see how peoples hearts are turned by God to desire more than just to visit a place like that, but to actually live there for the season that God would determine in His perfect plan for your life.
I saw a new land, but I also saw a new people. New faces, and whole new culture. Languages and food that was totally different from what I was used to, but I found the change very exciting and I so enjoyed the new experiences.
I did find out one interesting thing about my faith there. I came to realize that the so called strong faith that I believed I was walking in before I went on this trip was very much grounded in my familiar surroundings. My faith felt much stronger at home. In South Africa everything was brand new and I wasn't familiar with anything and I had a sense of fear on different occasions that I hadn't felt in a long time. Once I got my focus back on God, He spoke to my heart and said, " I've not changed. I'm the same God that you know in Ohio. You may have changed your location to unfamiliar territory, but I'm the same God and what I said to you in Ohio, is the same thing I'm saying to you in South Africa". Oh, that was good news to my ears and I felt my faith rise back up to where I'm used to it being and I spent the rest of my days there walking by faith in the God that never changes.
I hope everyone is doing well. I must stop for now, but I will be back soon to share some revelation God has shared with me.
Be Blessed!!
I saw a new land, but I also saw a new people. New faces, and whole new culture. Languages and food that was totally different from what I was used to, but I found the change very exciting and I so enjoyed the new experiences.
I did find out one interesting thing about my faith there. I came to realize that the so called strong faith that I believed I was walking in before I went on this trip was very much grounded in my familiar surroundings. My faith felt much stronger at home. In South Africa everything was brand new and I wasn't familiar with anything and I had a sense of fear on different occasions that I hadn't felt in a long time. Once I got my focus back on God, He spoke to my heart and said, " I've not changed. I'm the same God that you know in Ohio. You may have changed your location to unfamiliar territory, but I'm the same God and what I said to you in Ohio, is the same thing I'm saying to you in South Africa". Oh, that was good news to my ears and I felt my faith rise back up to where I'm used to it being and I spent the rest of my days there walking by faith in the God that never changes.
I hope everyone is doing well. I must stop for now, but I will be back soon to share some revelation God has shared with me.
Be Blessed!!
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