Matt 5:13-17
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
The word of God reveals to us that we are the salt of the earth and one of the things about salt is that salt is always held by a container or a salt shaker.
Salt is never useful until it gets out of the salt shaker and is applied to the very thing that needs to be salted.
The word of God tells us that salt is good for nothing except to be trodden under the foot of men if the salt is not applied to that which needs salted.
Philem 1:6
That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
To become effectual salt we need to begin communicating and releasing all the good things that Christ has done within us through the communication of our faith. We need to begin releasing the salt that is within us, expressing all the good things that Christ has done on the inside of us.
How does this take place in our life?
It happens by acknowledging every good thing that Christ has done on the inside of you.
Two things that is important
#1 you need to know who you are in Christ Jesus
#2 you need to know what he has done on the inside of you.
Why are these two things important because how can you give away what you do not know that you have, how can you express and walk in the wonderment of freedom when you are bound by bondage
Take condemnation for example, we are told through scriptures that we are not to walk in condemnation and yet even though we are commanded to have no condemnation many of Gods children still walk in it.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
There are many of God’s people who are bound by the shackles of fear and guilt, they have been made free by the blood of the Lamb but they are bound within their own self made prisons.
They have no supernatural revelation concerning the good things that are on the inside of them, they relate to unworthiness, to fear and guilt, they are ever conscience of their inadequacies and their failures; they are well acquainted with discouragement and even their communication of their relationship with God is that they are just sinners saved by grace.
But to acknowledge and to communicate by faith the good things that are on the inside of them because of what Christ has done in them is for the most part a foreign concept.
That the communication of thy faith may become effectual (or in other words it begins to work) by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
When you begin to acknowledging that God loves you regardless of your performance, that God is pleased with you because of faith, that God has placed power within you, that God wants to heal you, deliver you and prosper you, when you begin acknowledging about your redemption and what Christ has done on the inside of you, how your blessed by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost then the communication of your faith begins to become effectual.
Hear the word of the Lord
3 John 2
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
This is God speaking through John and I believe with all of my heart that if the child of God really understood what Christ has done on the inside of them then they would be like a little child at Christmas, they would be filled with joy, with expectation and anticipation, there would be hope and belief and it would be new every morning.
Lam 3:22
It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning : great is thy faithfulness.
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
You and I both know that we do not have to tell our children to go and tell all of their friends about how good Mom and Dad were to them on Christmas morning, you do not have to tell them to go show their friends there new bicycle, there new ipod, their new clothes, they just do it and they do it because of the expectation and joy of being a child.
Christ states in
Matt 18:3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children , ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The Lord tells us that we need to be converted and become as little children
The word to be converted in the Greek is strepfo and it means to turn back to
Why is it that we lose our excitement?
Why is it that we lose our expectation and anticipation, because we lose our conversion as little children, we stop turning back and becoming like a child and so we lose our expectation and anticipation, our passion.
We lose the excitement of what Christ has done in us and the communication of our faith stops working because we stop acknowledging all the good things that are within us because of Jesus Christ
2 Cor 4:3-5
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
If the gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not.
Notice what the scripture says that is being hid
The light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God
The word of God calls it the glorious gospel, it is news that is too good to be true, it is freedom and deliverance from bondage.
Why is it that every one does not want this glorious light?
It is because their minds are blinded by the spirit of anti-Christ instead of being impacted by this glorious light of this gospel.
Why has the child of God lost their perspective of this glorious light? Why do they relate it to church when they are the church.
Look at,
2 Cor 4:16
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
Allow me to bring some things to light
Paul has made a statement here that I believe very few of God’s children really understand.
He says “For our light affliction”!
It was Paul who was persecuted more than any one else
Look at
Acts 9:15
This is the Lord speaking to Ananias and telling him to go pray for Saul because he is a chosen vessel unto the Lord
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
Now most people when they read this verse of scripture automatically assume that the Lord is bringing suffering into the life of Saul who is soon to become Paul because he has become a chosen vessel of the Lord
Notice it does not say that God is going to make him suffer because he is a chosen vessel but rather He will suffer because he will bear the Lord’s name sake before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
The word of God tells us that all who live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer.
2 Tim 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Now look at,
2 Cor 11:23
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods , once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
These are what Paul calls his light afflictions, in my estimation the apostle Paul had problems bigger, greater and more severe than most people who have lived on the face of the earth.
And Paul said it is but a light affliction.
How is it that a man who suffered more than you and I have ever thought about suffering how could he make such a statement.
I will tell you that he did not say these things because of the things that were taking place on the outside of him, he said those things because of what was taking place on the inside of him,
The reason that he was able to write and say these things was because of the way that he processed and focused on the things that were taking place in his life that were coming against him.
And he gave us a key as to how he thought,
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
What does that mean which is but for a moment,
What does that tell us about Paul?
It tells us that his thinking, his viewpoint, his focus was always turned towards eternity
I believe that this one key would really minister to us if we would really grasp what Paul is telling us,
Let me ask you a question,
What is it that is bothering you today and how will it effect you a hundred years from now.
Paul looked at things in the light of eternity and this is the reason that he could say that his problems are but a light affliction and they only last for a moment and because of his focus, his viewpoint because of the way that he thought concerning all of his problems he said that these things worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
And then he said in
Rom 8:18
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
What a tremendous statement to make and yet without understanding many will be turned off by what Paul is saying,
I thought for a moment about the holocaust, about the tremendous amount of suffering that the Jews endured at the hands of Hitler and his regime of evilness.
Some times it boggles the mind to try to piece together the immense amount of suffering that some people have had to go through.
These people suffered to an extreme and not only did they suffer to an extreme but the demonic evilness that was unleashed against them is almost too much to bear.
Chairs and sofas were covered in their skin, tables and lamps made from their bones, they were starved, beaten, raped, they were herded into make shift showers which were human gas chambers.
Hundreds of people crowded together as the gas was released through shower heads, men, and women and children trying to escape the gas as they lie convulsing on the dirty floor of those showers.
And to try to understand the fullness of this evil on this side is just too overwhelming and you might wonder how can this travesty ever be righted and justice ever be served.
And from this side it looks like it can never be righted, from this side it looks like there can never be peace or joy, but to those who knew the lord as their Savior, to those who view things from the eternity side they understand what Paul is saying
That the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Since we do not have the benefit of seeing it from the other side
We can do what Paul has done and that is to accept Gods word by faith and to view and focus on things from the eternity side
So I need to say this and my prayer is that no one is offended but if you have a heavy burden, and that heavy burden has got you down it is because you are not looking at things in the light of eternity
Listen to Paul
Phil 3:10
That I may know him , and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
That I may know him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings
What does he know that we do not know?
Why would he want to know about the fellowship of His sufferings?
Why would he want to know about being made conformable to His death?
Most of God’s people want to know about His resurrection power, how do I get that power and how do I walk in that power, but to want to know the fellowship of his sufferings, to want to know about being made conformable to his death.
Very few desire to go to this place.
What does Paul know that many of us do not know?
Here is what he knows
That God comforts us in all of our tribulations so that we know how to comfort others.
2 Cor 1:3-5
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort ;
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
And because of this,
Paul actually looked forward to suffering because he knew that it brought revelation, it brought knowingness and he knew that the Holy Spirit would be there to comfort him
Paul looked at things far different than most of Gods people and because he looked at things from the other side, from the eternity side He had a relationship with the Lord that very few of God’s people have.
The second thing that Paul did was that he did not place things in the realm of things that are seen but in the realm of things not seen.
2 Cor 4:18
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.
Paul tells us that the things that are seen are temporal or temporary and the things that are not seen are eternal.
Paul did not look at things in the physical realm He looked at them in the spiritual realm.
Everything that Paul had you can have-------IF YOU WANT IT
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
PREPARATION OF THE HEART
Prov 16:1
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
If you will prepare your heart then you will never have to worry about your actions, as long as your heart is right, as long as your heart is prepared you will never have to worry about what you are going to do or what you will do.
Because here is reality, you can not operate differently than what the condition of your heart is and the problem is that for the most part we as children of God are more concerned with our actions and the responses of those actions than we are with the condition of our hearts which is the cytoplast of our actions
Christians are constantly trying to control there actions when the real problem is their inner heart and if we would have understanding we would see that the process needs to be reversed, it is not our actions that need to be addressed but the condition of our heart and if we would deal with the condition of our heart then our actions which are the problem would be alleviated.
Prov 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
When your heart becomes fixed on the things of God, then you no longer have to be concerned or worried about your actions
Isa 26:3-4
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
When your heart is fixed then your heart is not mixed.
It is not mixed with anxieties, with unbelief and doubt, with bitterness or resentment.
It is fixed on the Lord.
Listen to Paul,
Acts 20:24
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.
None of these things move me, I am not moved by things that are going on around me, I am not moved by what other people are doing to me, I am not moved because my heart is prepared and my heart is fixed on God
And the result is perfect peace because you trust in Him.
When you walk in that place of perfect peace you trust in Him and then that perfect peace has a direct way of showing how all the other things that are taking place in your life are in order because of that trust.
If you are having a tough time trying to understand the importance of what I am telling you, then you need to understand that this is where it all begins, this is the starting place of your relationship and to the degree that you get this is going to be the degree as to how you will walk in it.
Heb 3:12-13
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
These scriptures have been written for our instruction, take heed or in other words beware that your heart does not harbor the evilness of unbelief.
Unbelief here is being described as an evil heart
Take heed, beware that you are not hardened through the deceitfulness of sin
Unbelief and hardness of heart is being described as an evil heart and the result of these two is a departing from the Living God and what it means is a departing from the life and the seed of God.
Now this needs to be addressed because I do not believe that there is one person who is reading this who wants to depart from the Living God but even though you do not want to, even though you have no desire to, you still will.
Why?
Because of unbelief and hardness that is in your heart, it is these things that cause you to depart from the Living God
The things that cause you to depart from God are not the things that are external but the things which are internal.
Mark 7:18-23
And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
How is it that people fall away and fail in the Lord, how is it that people forsake and depart from the Lord and furthermore what is it that is going to keep you and I from falling away, from departing from the Lord.
The answer is very clear,
2 Chr 12:13-14
So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. His heart was not prepared to seek the Lord and because it was not prepared he did evil and this is the reason that we do evil as well.
The reason that people walk away from God, get frustrated with God, give up on God is because they did not prepare there heart to seek God.
Your flesh, your actions follow your heart, the reason you do the things that you do, the reason that you hate the things that you hate, the reason that you can not change the direction that you are going in is because your actions reflect your heart.
Within your heart is the root problem to your actions and this root problem makes you struggle and strive against the very things that you really desire to do in your heart. And when there is that struggling and striving, when there is that root problem in your heart you literally have to force yourself and fight with yourself not to enter into that which you know is wrong.
You need to deal with your heart.
Prov 4:23
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
If you will prepare your heart then you will never have to worry about your actions, as long as your heart is right, as long as your heart is prepared you will never have to worry about what you are going to do or what you will do.
Because here is reality, you can not operate differently than what the condition of your heart is and the problem is that for the most part we as children of God are more concerned with our actions and the responses of those actions than we are with the condition of our hearts which is the cytoplast of our actions
Christians are constantly trying to control there actions when the real problem is their inner heart and if we would have understanding we would see that the process needs to be reversed, it is not our actions that need to be addressed but the condition of our heart and if we would deal with the condition of our heart then our actions which are the problem would be alleviated.
Prov 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
When your heart becomes fixed on the things of God, then you no longer have to be concerned or worried about your actions
Isa 26:3-4
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
When your heart is fixed then your heart is not mixed.
It is not mixed with anxieties, with unbelief and doubt, with bitterness or resentment.
It is fixed on the Lord.
Listen to Paul,
Acts 20:24
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.
None of these things move me, I am not moved by things that are going on around me, I am not moved by what other people are doing to me, I am not moved because my heart is prepared and my heart is fixed on God
And the result is perfect peace because you trust in Him.
When you walk in that place of perfect peace you trust in Him and then that perfect peace has a direct way of showing how all the other things that are taking place in your life are in order because of that trust.
If you are having a tough time trying to understand the importance of what I am telling you, then you need to understand that this is where it all begins, this is the starting place of your relationship and to the degree that you get this is going to be the degree as to how you will walk in it.
Heb 3:12-13
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
These scriptures have been written for our instruction, take heed or in other words beware that your heart does not harbor the evilness of unbelief.
Unbelief here is being described as an evil heart
Take heed, beware that you are not hardened through the deceitfulness of sin
Unbelief and hardness of heart is being described as an evil heart and the result of these two is a departing from the Living God and what it means is a departing from the life and the seed of God.
Now this needs to be addressed because I do not believe that there is one person who is reading this who wants to depart from the Living God but even though you do not want to, even though you have no desire to, you still will.
Why?
Because of unbelief and hardness that is in your heart, it is these things that cause you to depart from the Living God
The things that cause you to depart from God are not the things that are external but the things which are internal.
Mark 7:18-23
And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
How is it that people fall away and fail in the Lord, how is it that people forsake and depart from the Lord and furthermore what is it that is going to keep you and I from falling away, from departing from the Lord.
The answer is very clear,
2 Chr 12:13-14
So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. His heart was not prepared to seek the Lord and because it was not prepared he did evil and this is the reason that we do evil as well.
The reason that people walk away from God, get frustrated with God, give up on God is because they did not prepare there heart to seek God.
Your flesh, your actions follow your heart, the reason you do the things that you do, the reason that you hate the things that you hate, the reason that you can not change the direction that you are going in is because your actions reflect your heart.
Within your heart is the root problem to your actions and this root problem makes you struggle and strive against the very things that you really desire to do in your heart. And when there is that struggling and striving, when there is that root problem in your heart you literally have to force yourself and fight with yourself not to enter into that which you know is wrong.
You need to deal with your heart.
Prov 4:23
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Monday, August 24, 2009
YOUR JOY LEVEL IS YOUR FAITH LEVEL
I wonder how many realize that in order to walk in the miraculous there are principals and characteristics that need to be in place, and one of those principles and characteristics is demonstrated when Christ came walking up to the disciples in the Sea of Galilee in the midst of the storm.
Matt 14:22-33
And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
Do we grasp what was really taking place; they were up to their necks in water, the ship was going down,they were on the verge of drowning and Jesus walked up to them and said be of good cheer it is I, be not afraid.
Please take notice that He did not tell them that after the storm had passed,
He did not tell them that when they had passed over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, He did not tell them that after he stilled the winds and the waves
He told them that in the midst of the storm, in the peak and in the fury of the storm
He told them that when the storm looked as if it was going to win,
He walked up to them and said be of good cheer
It is I.
You see there are a lot of God’s people who have trouble with this, but if you are ever going to walk in the miraculous of God, if you are ever going to get out of the boat and walk on the water, then you are going to have to come to the place where you begin to rejoice in the impossible so that the impossible becomes the possible.
2 Chr 20:11-17
Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
Now get this,
Three large armies have come against Jehosophat and are threatening to destroy the entire nation of Israel,
2 Chr 20:1-2
It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi.
The armies of Moab, Ammon, and the Ammonites with a great multitude from Syria, have gathered together to make war and to bring destruction against Israel.
One man by the name of Jahaziel a Levite priest stood up in the midst of the congregation and said be not dismayed, be not afraid for the battle is not yours, it is the Lords.
It is not your battle the Lord will fight for you, the Lord will walk with you, be not dismayed the Lord is your refuge and your strength.
What is he saying?
He is saying Rejoice; your situation is not bigger than your God;
Rejoice you are a child of the Most High God, Rejoice He ever liveth to intercede for you.
And that is exactly what Jesus was doing when he came walking on the sea to the disciples in the midst of the storm and said,
Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid, I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, thou art mine.
I did not send you out here to drown, the battle is not yours,it is mine.
2 Chr 20:14-15 again,
Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
The Lord is trying to show us something that is very powerful, we must believe that we are delivered before we are delivered.
We must believe that He is God and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We must believe that our steps are ordered by the Lord and that His word is a lamp unto our feet and if a lamp then a light to show the way
Ps 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet , and a light unto my path.
Not a light to show us how we will be delivered but a light to show us that He is the way.
Heb 11:3
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.
Listen to the word of God; the things that are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Do you really believe that the promises of God are yea and amen, do you really believe that God will walk with you in the midst of the fire and that the flame shall not kindle upon you, do you really believe that when you pass through the waters and walk through the rivers that they shall not overflow and overwhelm you, do you really believe that all things work together for the good to them that love the Lord, do you really believe that he will help you bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things.
Do you really believe these things?
Then if you do, you then would be able to rejoice in the midst of your storm and you would see the miraculous in your life.
And there may be some of you right now that do not want to hear this but this is exactly what you need to hear.
It is time that you begin to see that it is not the possible that is stopping the flow in your life, it is the impossible.
And the reason that the impossible is stopping the flow in your life is because you can not see yourself delivered until after you have been delivered for if you saw your self already delivered you would be singing praises to your Deliverer.
2 Chr 20:20-21
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
This is so powerful, three armies surround the children of Israel, these Kings and their armies are determined to destroy the nation of Israel.
They are in battle dress, they are prepared for battle and Joshsaphat receives the word of the Lord.
No one would have faulted him for placing his mightiest warriors on the front lines, no one would have criticized him for getting his forces ready to fight against such tremendous odds, just to take a stand and to fight in itself was a miracle.
What does Jehosaphat do?
He places his singers on the front lines; in the place where his warriors should have been he places his singers.
2 Chr 20:21
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Why did he place his singers on the front lines, why did they put down their weapons and become singers?
They believed that they were not going to have to fight the battle; the Lord would do their fighting.
VERSE 22
And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
Hear the word of God,
When Jehosaphat had consulted with all the people and they all agreed to come together in one mind and one accord and that the battle was the Lords, they found the answer and all it took for deliverance to come was to believe that deliverance was coming and they began to sing.
What problem has come against you today, has some one disappointed you, is discouragement hanging over you like some dark luminous cloud, has a situation or circumstance threatened you and it seems like there is no way out.
There are some of you who are crying out to God and you know that it is God who needs to intervene on your behalf but your cry comes from desperation and not praise.
There are others of you who cry out to God but your cries are cries of murmuring and complaining and heavy burdens.
Here is truth but very few people grasp it,
Seeking God ought to be a place of joy, a place of rejoicing, the hearing of good news.
Ps 40:16
Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
The ship is on its way down, the disciples are close to drowning and Jesus says be of good cheer
It is I.
To those who have a ear to hear and a heart to believe, place your singers out in front and believe what has been spoken by the Lord and with expectation sing
For the battle is the Lords.
Your faith level is determined by your joy level.
Matt 14:22-33
And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
Do we grasp what was really taking place; they were up to their necks in water, the ship was going down,they were on the verge of drowning and Jesus walked up to them and said be of good cheer it is I, be not afraid.
Please take notice that He did not tell them that after the storm had passed,
He did not tell them that when they had passed over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, He did not tell them that after he stilled the winds and the waves
He told them that in the midst of the storm, in the peak and in the fury of the storm
He told them that when the storm looked as if it was going to win,
He walked up to them and said be of good cheer
It is I.
You see there are a lot of God’s people who have trouble with this, but if you are ever going to walk in the miraculous of God, if you are ever going to get out of the boat and walk on the water, then you are going to have to come to the place where you begin to rejoice in the impossible so that the impossible becomes the possible.
2 Chr 20:11-17
Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
Now get this,
Three large armies have come against Jehosophat and are threatening to destroy the entire nation of Israel,
2 Chr 20:1-2
It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi.
The armies of Moab, Ammon, and the Ammonites with a great multitude from Syria, have gathered together to make war and to bring destruction against Israel.
One man by the name of Jahaziel a Levite priest stood up in the midst of the congregation and said be not dismayed, be not afraid for the battle is not yours, it is the Lords.
It is not your battle the Lord will fight for you, the Lord will walk with you, be not dismayed the Lord is your refuge and your strength.
What is he saying?
He is saying Rejoice; your situation is not bigger than your God;
Rejoice you are a child of the Most High God, Rejoice He ever liveth to intercede for you.
And that is exactly what Jesus was doing when he came walking on the sea to the disciples in the midst of the storm and said,
Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid, I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, thou art mine.
I did not send you out here to drown, the battle is not yours,it is mine.
2 Chr 20:14-15 again,
Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
The Lord is trying to show us something that is very powerful, we must believe that we are delivered before we are delivered.
We must believe that He is God and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We must believe that our steps are ordered by the Lord and that His word is a lamp unto our feet and if a lamp then a light to show the way
Ps 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet , and a light unto my path.
Not a light to show us how we will be delivered but a light to show us that He is the way.
Heb 11:3
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.
Listen to the word of God; the things that are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Do you really believe that the promises of God are yea and amen, do you really believe that God will walk with you in the midst of the fire and that the flame shall not kindle upon you, do you really believe that when you pass through the waters and walk through the rivers that they shall not overflow and overwhelm you, do you really believe that all things work together for the good to them that love the Lord, do you really believe that he will help you bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things.
Do you really believe these things?
Then if you do, you then would be able to rejoice in the midst of your storm and you would see the miraculous in your life.
And there may be some of you right now that do not want to hear this but this is exactly what you need to hear.
It is time that you begin to see that it is not the possible that is stopping the flow in your life, it is the impossible.
And the reason that the impossible is stopping the flow in your life is because you can not see yourself delivered until after you have been delivered for if you saw your self already delivered you would be singing praises to your Deliverer.
2 Chr 20:20-21
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
This is so powerful, three armies surround the children of Israel, these Kings and their armies are determined to destroy the nation of Israel.
They are in battle dress, they are prepared for battle and Joshsaphat receives the word of the Lord.
No one would have faulted him for placing his mightiest warriors on the front lines, no one would have criticized him for getting his forces ready to fight against such tremendous odds, just to take a stand and to fight in itself was a miracle.
What does Jehosaphat do?
He places his singers on the front lines; in the place where his warriors should have been he places his singers.
2 Chr 20:21
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Why did he place his singers on the front lines, why did they put down their weapons and become singers?
They believed that they were not going to have to fight the battle; the Lord would do their fighting.
VERSE 22
And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
Hear the word of God,
When Jehosaphat had consulted with all the people and they all agreed to come together in one mind and one accord and that the battle was the Lords, they found the answer and all it took for deliverance to come was to believe that deliverance was coming and they began to sing.
What problem has come against you today, has some one disappointed you, is discouragement hanging over you like some dark luminous cloud, has a situation or circumstance threatened you and it seems like there is no way out.
There are some of you who are crying out to God and you know that it is God who needs to intervene on your behalf but your cry comes from desperation and not praise.
There are others of you who cry out to God but your cries are cries of murmuring and complaining and heavy burdens.
Here is truth but very few people grasp it,
Seeking God ought to be a place of joy, a place of rejoicing, the hearing of good news.
Ps 40:16
Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
The ship is on its way down, the disciples are close to drowning and Jesus says be of good cheer
It is I.
To those who have a ear to hear and a heart to believe, place your singers out in front and believe what has been spoken by the Lord and with expectation sing
For the battle is the Lords.
Your faith level is determined by your joy level.
Monday, August 17, 2009
A WORD FROM THE LORD
Phil 1:14
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much bolder to speak the word without fear
I hear about so many people who want to change there lives; who want to change their situation and the things that are going on in there lives
But unless the heart is changed, change will never take place.
Ps 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
What is it that is going to create within you a clean heart?
What is it that is going to renew within you a right spirit and change your life?
You need to hear a word from the Lord.
And in making such a statement many of Gods people are not going to understand what I have just said because many of Gods children read his word without hearing from Him concerning his word,
They go to church without becoming the church; they listen to a message without becoming the message,
They desire intimacy with the Lord without commitment and loyalty to the Lord and when these conditions are not present within the body of Christ very little change takes place within the body of Christ.
IKing 17:1
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
This is the very first verse in the bible about Elijah, there is nothing previous in the bible about him, and there is no previous introduction in the word of God concerning him.
Iking 17:1 is the very first mention of this man called Elijah
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead
That is all that the word of God has to say about Him and where he came from.
We do not know anything about his family, about their beliefs, about his childhood or about family members.
Nothing is said about his education, about any experiences, about any training.
And all of a sudden he appears on the scene and speaks a word.
And this is very significant to me
Why would this man be able to just come upon the scene?
Why would he be able to walk up to one of the most heathenistic, ungodly, demonic kings in all of the old Testament and dominate the very outcome of all that is going to take place for the next twenty or so years.
How was he able to do that?
Elijah had a word from God and the reason that Elijah had a word from God is because Elijah had been in a place of intimacy, a place of communion, a place of intimate fellowship with God and because of that intimacy with God he had a word from God.
A word that would change his life, a word that would change the life of others, a word that would transform every one that would come into contact with that word.
You see we are surrounded by people who speak volumes of words concerning Christ but lack the intimacy to have a word from Christ.
We are surrounded by preachers and teachers and evangelists who speak words but have no word.
We are surrounded by people who speak many words concerning the word but have no word.
Here is a man, who had no connections, no inroads to the king,
He did not know the right people; He had no influence with the right people to open up the right doors, and all this man had was a word from the Lord.
But because he had a word, because he had heard from the Lord,
He was bold enough and had enough courage to walk up the most evil king of that day and say
As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
Here is a King and his wife who have openly walked away and denied the presence of God, they have set up alters and grooves and have led the people of Israel into the worship of the pagan god Baal
This king and his wife have led the nation of Israel into idolatry, and Elijah from no where walks up and speaks the word that he has received.
He speaks it without a platform, without being asked, without asking if they agree.
He speaks it out of turn and without being given an audience.
He speaks and pronounces judgment upon the king, his wife and the entire nation of Israel.
He had a word from the Lord and the word that he spoke made an impact on the lives of those who heard that word.
Listen as he speaks the word,
As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
The word that the Lord gave him is now his word, it belongs to him, and it is life in him.
There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
The church is full of people, who want to do mighty works,
They desire to do ministry, they want to make a difference,
They have burdens, visions but they do not have a word.
They desire to be healed but they do not have within them His word which proclaims that by his stripes they are healed,
They believe that God can heal them but refuse to believe that he already has healed them.
They want to be delivered but do not have within them His word which states that whom the Son of God has made free, is free indeed.
They say they are saved by his blood
They say that the old man has been put aside and that they have been clothed by the new man and yet they live in guilt and condemnation every day because they do not a have word concerning His amazing grace.
They have desire, they have want, they are emotional, they even have a form of godliness but they do not have a word.
Everything that Elijah was ever going to do in the realm of his lifetime came into existence because of one thing and that was the word that he received
It had nothing to do with his talent
It had nothing to do with what he wanted to do
It had nothing to do with making an impact on the world and it had nothing to do with the degrees that he might have had.
It had to do with a word that he received because of the communion that he walked in with God
And that word that he received and spoke opened up every door that needed to be opened up to fulfill what God wanted and desired for him to do.
You see this speaks volumes to me
When God spoke to me 20 years ago I had nothing going for me
I had no direction for my life
I was dysfunctional
I had baggage
I was controlling
What I had was all that I thought that I needed
I was the worst candidate that was available to be used of God
But God gave me a word and I begin to operate in the realms of that word and I begin to seek out and cry out,
I begin to thirst and to hunger for something more than what I had,I begin to care less about growing a church and desired more to become the church
I begin to desire more of what God wanted than what I wanted
I begin to put away religious training and religious meetings to one on one encounters with God and then nine years ago,
In the darkness of a basement as I wept and cried before the face of the Lord in Baltimore Maryland preparing for a crusade the Lord gave me a word and it has forever changed my life
When he gives a word, when you receive His word, then that word becomes your life and your life then begins to flow in the essence and completeness of the life that he has given to you
And then something marvelous happens that I never thought would happen
You no longer seek after things that happen because of mustard seed faith
Those things just follow you, they follow you
Casting out devils
Healing the sick
Raising the dead
Cleansing the leper
They follow you.
They no longer have prominence
They no longer have president
They no longer move you
They no longer dominate your focus
They are things that follow you because you have come into the revelation of something far more precious.
A word from the Lord, revelation from the Lord, a platform from which to speak and to give life
Hear me
A word from the Lord gives you a platform from which to speak
Ahab did not want to receive the word from Elijah
He wasn’t happy about it
It did not matter, there would be no rain nor dew until Elijah would utter another word
The word of God gives you a platform from which to speak
Pharaoh heard a word from Moses
Let my people go
Pharaoh did not want to hear it
Pharaoh wasn’t interested in hearing it
It did not matter
The word of God gave Moses his platform
John the Baptist received a word
The religious community did not want to hear it
It does not matter
The word of God gave John his platform
A word from the Lord changes peoples lives whether they want to hear it or not
You do not think you have a platform, you do not think you have a voice to be heard receive a word and you receive a platform
You may not have a word but you can receive a word.
Mark 4:20
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much bolder to speak the word without fear
I hear about so many people who want to change there lives; who want to change their situation and the things that are going on in there lives
But unless the heart is changed, change will never take place.
Ps 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
What is it that is going to create within you a clean heart?
What is it that is going to renew within you a right spirit and change your life?
You need to hear a word from the Lord.
And in making such a statement many of Gods people are not going to understand what I have just said because many of Gods children read his word without hearing from Him concerning his word,
They go to church without becoming the church; they listen to a message without becoming the message,
They desire intimacy with the Lord without commitment and loyalty to the Lord and when these conditions are not present within the body of Christ very little change takes place within the body of Christ.
IKing 17:1
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
This is the very first verse in the bible about Elijah, there is nothing previous in the bible about him, and there is no previous introduction in the word of God concerning him.
Iking 17:1 is the very first mention of this man called Elijah
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead
That is all that the word of God has to say about Him and where he came from.
We do not know anything about his family, about their beliefs, about his childhood or about family members.
Nothing is said about his education, about any experiences, about any training.
And all of a sudden he appears on the scene and speaks a word.
And this is very significant to me
Why would this man be able to just come upon the scene?
Why would he be able to walk up to one of the most heathenistic, ungodly, demonic kings in all of the old Testament and dominate the very outcome of all that is going to take place for the next twenty or so years.
How was he able to do that?
Elijah had a word from God and the reason that Elijah had a word from God is because Elijah had been in a place of intimacy, a place of communion, a place of intimate fellowship with God and because of that intimacy with God he had a word from God.
A word that would change his life, a word that would change the life of others, a word that would transform every one that would come into contact with that word.
You see we are surrounded by people who speak volumes of words concerning Christ but lack the intimacy to have a word from Christ.
We are surrounded by preachers and teachers and evangelists who speak words but have no word.
We are surrounded by people who speak many words concerning the word but have no word.
Here is a man, who had no connections, no inroads to the king,
He did not know the right people; He had no influence with the right people to open up the right doors, and all this man had was a word from the Lord.
But because he had a word, because he had heard from the Lord,
He was bold enough and had enough courage to walk up the most evil king of that day and say
As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
Here is a King and his wife who have openly walked away and denied the presence of God, they have set up alters and grooves and have led the people of Israel into the worship of the pagan god Baal
This king and his wife have led the nation of Israel into idolatry, and Elijah from no where walks up and speaks the word that he has received.
He speaks it without a platform, without being asked, without asking if they agree.
He speaks it out of turn and without being given an audience.
He speaks and pronounces judgment upon the king, his wife and the entire nation of Israel.
He had a word from the Lord and the word that he spoke made an impact on the lives of those who heard that word.
Listen as he speaks the word,
As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
The word that the Lord gave him is now his word, it belongs to him, and it is life in him.
There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
The church is full of people, who want to do mighty works,
They desire to do ministry, they want to make a difference,
They have burdens, visions but they do not have a word.
They desire to be healed but they do not have within them His word which proclaims that by his stripes they are healed,
They believe that God can heal them but refuse to believe that he already has healed them.
They want to be delivered but do not have within them His word which states that whom the Son of God has made free, is free indeed.
They say they are saved by his blood
They say that the old man has been put aside and that they have been clothed by the new man and yet they live in guilt and condemnation every day because they do not a have word concerning His amazing grace.
They have desire, they have want, they are emotional, they even have a form of godliness but they do not have a word.
Everything that Elijah was ever going to do in the realm of his lifetime came into existence because of one thing and that was the word that he received
It had nothing to do with his talent
It had nothing to do with what he wanted to do
It had nothing to do with making an impact on the world and it had nothing to do with the degrees that he might have had.
It had to do with a word that he received because of the communion that he walked in with God
And that word that he received and spoke opened up every door that needed to be opened up to fulfill what God wanted and desired for him to do.
You see this speaks volumes to me
When God spoke to me 20 years ago I had nothing going for me
I had no direction for my life
I was dysfunctional
I had baggage
I was controlling
What I had was all that I thought that I needed
I was the worst candidate that was available to be used of God
But God gave me a word and I begin to operate in the realms of that word and I begin to seek out and cry out,
I begin to thirst and to hunger for something more than what I had,I begin to care less about growing a church and desired more to become the church
I begin to desire more of what God wanted than what I wanted
I begin to put away religious training and religious meetings to one on one encounters with God and then nine years ago,
In the darkness of a basement as I wept and cried before the face of the Lord in Baltimore Maryland preparing for a crusade the Lord gave me a word and it has forever changed my life
When he gives a word, when you receive His word, then that word becomes your life and your life then begins to flow in the essence and completeness of the life that he has given to you
And then something marvelous happens that I never thought would happen
You no longer seek after things that happen because of mustard seed faith
Those things just follow you, they follow you
Casting out devils
Healing the sick
Raising the dead
Cleansing the leper
They follow you.
They no longer have prominence
They no longer have president
They no longer move you
They no longer dominate your focus
They are things that follow you because you have come into the revelation of something far more precious.
A word from the Lord, revelation from the Lord, a platform from which to speak and to give life
Hear me
A word from the Lord gives you a platform from which to speak
Ahab did not want to receive the word from Elijah
He wasn’t happy about it
It did not matter, there would be no rain nor dew until Elijah would utter another word
The word of God gives you a platform from which to speak
Pharaoh heard a word from Moses
Let my people go
Pharaoh did not want to hear it
Pharaoh wasn’t interested in hearing it
It did not matter
The word of God gave Moses his platform
John the Baptist received a word
The religious community did not want to hear it
It does not matter
The word of God gave John his platform
A word from the Lord changes peoples lives whether they want to hear it or not
You do not think you have a platform, you do not think you have a voice to be heard receive a word and you receive a platform
You may not have a word but you can receive a word.
Mark 4:20
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE?
Matt 25:31-32
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Do you know the difference between sheep and goats?
Sooner or later we are going to get caught being who we are.
What do I mean by that?
I mean it is a matter of disposition, nature and character.
It is inevitable, sooner or later we are going to get caught being who we really are because who we really are will eventually come out.
So allow me to ask you a question?
If you we’re arrested for being a Christian, a sheep would there be enough evidence to convict you, enough evidence to send you away for life, to place you in the electric chair.
Would there be enough evidence that in any court of law, before any judge or jury, you would be convicted.
There is no way that you would ever go free and you would spend the rest of your life behind bars or receive the death penalty.
There are a multitude of people who believe that it does not matter what church you go to,
There are even those who claim that it does not matter if you go to church and that is like saying that it does not matter what school or University that you go to.
Spiritual formation, spiritual shape and structure is very much like educational formation, shape and structure,
Every one is going to receive it.
In other words every one who goes to school is formed and structured according to that school and every one who goes to church is formed and structured according to that church
Attending church is more than an event; it is more than being in a place where you support that which you believe in, it is more than being faithful in attendance.
Going to church is and should be about forming and cultivating a relationship with and in God and in that relationship you are to acquire a kingdom disposition, a kingdom character, a kingdom nature that requires knowing who God is and how He would respond to every need within people.
And if we are in the place that God has placed us in then we will take on that kingdom character, that kingdom nature and we to will act and respond to people as God acts and responds to people.
Matt 25:1-46
1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
In this chapter Christ speaks about some very common things, sheep, goats, disposition or character judgment and rewards.
Now I bring you back to the question that I asked you at the beginning of this writing,
Do you know the difference between sheep and goats?
Not every one does
A sheep knows the difference, a goat knows the difference and the good Shepherd knows the difference.
The Lord is telling us quite emphatically that there are major and distinct differences between sheep and goats.
The sheep are of his kingdom, the goats are of the worlds system and there is never any confusion in His eyes as to who is who.
In daily activities we may talk alike, we may dress alike, we may even look alike and for the most part we even to a certain degree may act alike, but there is never any question in the eyes of the Lord as to who the sheep are and who the goats are.
Because here is reality,
We are all going to be judged according to our actions and we are all going to be rewarded according to our actions.
Now notice the words of Christ to the sheep.
Matt 25:35-36
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Now notice what He says to the goats
Matt 25:42-43
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Take notice,
The sheep and the goats were both judged according to there actions.
God used the same standard for both of them and to the sheep it was life and to the goats it was punishment.
Now notice the response from both the sheep and the goats
The goats responded,
Matt 25:44
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
What they seem to be saying is,
Lord if we would have known it was you we would have responded, we did not know that it was to the least for if we would have known that we really would have responded.
And that is always the answer that the goats give because they will do anything if the price is right.
Now notice the sheep’s response.
They responded to the very same question but with a different attitude and character
They said Lord when was it that we saw you in those conditions, we do not remember doing any of those things because it was you, we just saw ordinary every day people and we responded to them.
And the response of the Lord was,
Matt 25:40
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Here is the truth of the matter we are all going to live out our lives according to our character and our nature.
Goats have a goat nature, sinners have a sinner nature.
Sheep have a sheep nature, Christians have a Christian nature.
How we act and live out our lives, how we care for one another is going to determine our nature and character and
none of this will be determined by the amount of seminars or conferences that you attend, by the amount of missionary trips that you go on, or by the amount of tapes and lectures that you listen to, it will be determined by the nature that is inside of you
Those who have been truly redeemed by His blood, those who have been transformed by His spirit and empowered and cleansed by His living presence.
They will act as he would act
They will not act because they are forced to act, they will not act because they are being pressured by some thing that is outward.
They will act because it is in there nature and they are only acting naturally.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Do you know the difference between sheep and goats?
Sooner or later we are going to get caught being who we are.
What do I mean by that?
I mean it is a matter of disposition, nature and character.
It is inevitable, sooner or later we are going to get caught being who we really are because who we really are will eventually come out.
So allow me to ask you a question?
If you we’re arrested for being a Christian, a sheep would there be enough evidence to convict you, enough evidence to send you away for life, to place you in the electric chair.
Would there be enough evidence that in any court of law, before any judge or jury, you would be convicted.
There is no way that you would ever go free and you would spend the rest of your life behind bars or receive the death penalty.
There are a multitude of people who believe that it does not matter what church you go to,
There are even those who claim that it does not matter if you go to church and that is like saying that it does not matter what school or University that you go to.
Spiritual formation, spiritual shape and structure is very much like educational formation, shape and structure,
Every one is going to receive it.
In other words every one who goes to school is formed and structured according to that school and every one who goes to church is formed and structured according to that church
Attending church is more than an event; it is more than being in a place where you support that which you believe in, it is more than being faithful in attendance.
Going to church is and should be about forming and cultivating a relationship with and in God and in that relationship you are to acquire a kingdom disposition, a kingdom character, a kingdom nature that requires knowing who God is and how He would respond to every need within people.
And if we are in the place that God has placed us in then we will take on that kingdom character, that kingdom nature and we to will act and respond to people as God acts and responds to people.
Matt 25:1-46
1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
In this chapter Christ speaks about some very common things, sheep, goats, disposition or character judgment and rewards.
Now I bring you back to the question that I asked you at the beginning of this writing,
Do you know the difference between sheep and goats?
Not every one does
A sheep knows the difference, a goat knows the difference and the good Shepherd knows the difference.
The Lord is telling us quite emphatically that there are major and distinct differences between sheep and goats.
The sheep are of his kingdom, the goats are of the worlds system and there is never any confusion in His eyes as to who is who.
In daily activities we may talk alike, we may dress alike, we may even look alike and for the most part we even to a certain degree may act alike, but there is never any question in the eyes of the Lord as to who the sheep are and who the goats are.
Because here is reality,
We are all going to be judged according to our actions and we are all going to be rewarded according to our actions.
Now notice the words of Christ to the sheep.
Matt 25:35-36
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Now notice what He says to the goats
Matt 25:42-43
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Take notice,
The sheep and the goats were both judged according to there actions.
God used the same standard for both of them and to the sheep it was life and to the goats it was punishment.
Now notice the response from both the sheep and the goats
The goats responded,
Matt 25:44
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
What they seem to be saying is,
Lord if we would have known it was you we would have responded, we did not know that it was to the least for if we would have known that we really would have responded.
And that is always the answer that the goats give because they will do anything if the price is right.
Now notice the sheep’s response.
They responded to the very same question but with a different attitude and character
They said Lord when was it that we saw you in those conditions, we do not remember doing any of those things because it was you, we just saw ordinary every day people and we responded to them.
And the response of the Lord was,
Matt 25:40
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Here is the truth of the matter we are all going to live out our lives according to our character and our nature.
Goats have a goat nature, sinners have a sinner nature.
Sheep have a sheep nature, Christians have a Christian nature.
How we act and live out our lives, how we care for one another is going to determine our nature and character and
none of this will be determined by the amount of seminars or conferences that you attend, by the amount of missionary trips that you go on, or by the amount of tapes and lectures that you listen to, it will be determined by the nature that is inside of you
Those who have been truly redeemed by His blood, those who have been transformed by His spirit and empowered and cleansed by His living presence.
They will act as he would act
They will not act because they are forced to act, they will not act because they are being pressured by some thing that is outward.
They will act because it is in there nature and they are only acting naturally.
Monday, August 10, 2009
HOW TO RECEIVE THE PROMISES OF GOD
Rom 14:23
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Truth makes the captive free and when the captive is made free then the captive no longer walks as one who is a captive but as one who walks in the perfect law of liberty.
James 1:25
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
I believe that the Lord desires each and every one of us to seek wisdom and to understand the wisdom that we are seeking.
James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Prov 4:7
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
I believe that revelation of truth not only makes you free but brings forth life and life abundantly and when an individual is truly seeking for truth that truth brings forth revelation and revealing of Him.
And in the revelation of Him you are given choices and when the right choice is made transformation takes place and you are brought to a higher standard
Truth has its own standard, and that standard has its own banner and the banner flies upon its own flagpole and the flagpole is anchored and secured in the rock
And it is in the rock where you become unmovable and you begin to rejoice in veiled truth that is unveiled
Prov 8:14
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
Now follow me to,
2 Cor 1:20
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
All the promises of God in Him (Jesus Christ) are yes and amen unto the glory of God by us.
The promises of God are not optional and yet many have made them optional,
Healing is not optional, healing has been provided through the atonement of Christ and yet for the most part many of God’s children are not healed and the reason that they are not healed is because they have made healing optional.
Prosperity is not optional it also has been provided through the atonement of Jesus Christ and yet many of God’s children have made prosperity optional.
The promises of God are not optional
They have been provided to every child of God through the atonement of Him who became sin that we might be free from sin
We as children of God are to prosper spiritually, physically emotionally, and financially.
3 Jn 1:2
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
This is God speaking through John,
Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper spiritually, physically and financially, even as your soul prospers.
But most of Gods children do not grasp that to live or prosper in health and finances is not an option, it is a promise and that promise has been provided through the atonement the same as forgiveness of sins.
The reason that so many people are so easily saved is because they understand that forgiveness has been provided for through the atonement
They have understanding that it has already been paid for and has already been accomplished.
It is a gift from God
And immediately they accept its conditions and requirements and are saved.
But when it comes to health and to finances it is not accepted as something that has already been provided for and because of that error in their lives very few enter into that place of truth so that truth can be unveiled so that they can be made free.
Look at
2 Cor 8:9
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
The Greek word for might be rich is ploo-the-o and it means to become wealthy, to be increased with goods, the
Scripture is pertaining to financial prosperity.
Now I have one question to ask,
Does this mean then that God desires for every child of God to become financially prosperous
Does this mean that God desires for every child of God to have healing and to walk in healing,
Does this mean then that God desires every child of God to prosper emotionally, prosper spiritually, physically and financially.
Yes, Yes, Yes.
All this is part of what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished through his atonement on the cross
So what does prosperity mean?
It means having enough of Gods supply to meet all of your needs plus minister to the needs of others or in other words having enough of Gods supply to meet all of your needs and to abound to every good work as stated in
2 Cor 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
The real definition or the real motive behind prosperity is not to accumulate things for yourself, it is to meet the needs of others in need and when that motive is the reason for your desire to prosper then greed never has the chance to become center stage in your life.
In this motive there is going to be ample enough to meet every need that you will ever have,
Why?
It is the Nature of God to bless those who bless others.
And when you have one hand to receive and one hand to give there will always be enough for you to prosper in abundance.
I need to say it again
What is prosperity
It means having enough of Gods supply to meet all of your needs plus minister to the needs of others.
Needless to say then,
There are many people including Gods children who have plenty of Gods supply, but they are not ministering and meeting the needs of those who are in need and because of that they are not prosperous according to the word of God and that is sin.
You probably do not like what you are hearing but the truth will make you free if you will allow the truth to be unveiled.
Now I need to make some statements here,
Everything that we receive from God we have to receive through faith, you have to receive salvation through faith, you have to receive healing through faith, you have to receive prosperity through faith, everything that we receive from God we have to receive through faith.
2 Cor 1:20 AGAIN
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Everything that we receive from God we must have a foundation of knowledge to receive by faith that which we desire to receive.
If you do not have the knowledge for what are you going to believe for, how are you going to believe for something that you do not know.
You have to receive that knowledge so that the knowledge you receive can impart to you faith to begin to believe for that which you have come into the revelation of.
Salvation does not happen automatically, healing does not take place automatically and prosperity does not happen automatically.
The Lord has supplied salvation for every single person upon the earth and yet not every person is going to be saved.
By grace salvation has been supplied to all.
Titus 2:11
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
The reason that all will not be saved is because that which has been provided for by grace will not be accepted by faith
Eph 2:8-9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
What does it take for every child of God to be saved?
The combination of Gods grace and what he has done independent of you and secondly how you respond to what he has provided for you.
Whether you believe or do not believe,
it is the will of God for every person to be saved and yet not every person will be saved
Why?
Because the grace of God, the provision of God which is present for every one, but not every one is going to respond to that provision in faith.
Two things need to be present for Gods power to work and for it to become a reality in our life
God’s provision and your faith.
The same in healing, the same in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the same in prosperity and the same in everything that God has for us.
This is the right and the inheritance of every single believer but it does not come to all
Why?
Because it is not automatic
Two things
You must believe in Gods provision and you must believe that it is for you
Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
So listen,
It is Gods will for you to prosper, it is Gods will for you to be healed; it is Gods will for you to be and abounding emotionally, spiritually and physically.
It is your right, your inheritance and your guarantee.
You are correct I said your guarantee.
Our attitude can not be that we know God, that He can heal us, save us and prosper us.
Our attitude can not be that we know that what he has is available for us,
Our attitude must be that it is ours as a child of the living God
The provision is there
The supply is there
It has all been done and the inheritance is ours.
There is only one thing left for you to do and that is to come into the knowledge of that provision and then by faith possess it through the good fight of faith.
But in order to fight the good fight of faith there are some things that we need to know and believe.
Mark 11:23-24
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
You have to believe that you receive when you pray, not when you see it, not when it comes to pass, not when it looks like it might happen, not when all the symptoms are gone,
You must believe that you receive it when you pray.
Tell me how you can believe God to bring forth the promises of God without believing for them
Col 2:6
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
What does that scripture mean?
It means the same way that you received salvation; the same way that you received Jesus Christ is going to be the same way that you are going to receive everything else from God.
The baptism of the Holy Ghost, healing, prosperity, stability in your emotions, stability physically and spiritually.
So walk ye in him.
It takes a work of faith.
And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Truth makes the captive free and when the captive is made free then the captive no longer walks as one who is a captive but as one who walks in the perfect law of liberty.
James 1:25
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
I believe that the Lord desires each and every one of us to seek wisdom and to understand the wisdom that we are seeking.
James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Prov 4:7
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
I believe that revelation of truth not only makes you free but brings forth life and life abundantly and when an individual is truly seeking for truth that truth brings forth revelation and revealing of Him.
And in the revelation of Him you are given choices and when the right choice is made transformation takes place and you are brought to a higher standard
Truth has its own standard, and that standard has its own banner and the banner flies upon its own flagpole and the flagpole is anchored and secured in the rock
And it is in the rock where you become unmovable and you begin to rejoice in veiled truth that is unveiled
Prov 8:14
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
Now follow me to,
2 Cor 1:20
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
All the promises of God in Him (Jesus Christ) are yes and amen unto the glory of God by us.
The promises of God are not optional and yet many have made them optional,
Healing is not optional, healing has been provided through the atonement of Christ and yet for the most part many of God’s children are not healed and the reason that they are not healed is because they have made healing optional.
Prosperity is not optional it also has been provided through the atonement of Jesus Christ and yet many of God’s children have made prosperity optional.
The promises of God are not optional
They have been provided to every child of God through the atonement of Him who became sin that we might be free from sin
We as children of God are to prosper spiritually, physically emotionally, and financially.
3 Jn 1:2
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
This is God speaking through John,
Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper spiritually, physically and financially, even as your soul prospers.
But most of Gods children do not grasp that to live or prosper in health and finances is not an option, it is a promise and that promise has been provided through the atonement the same as forgiveness of sins.
The reason that so many people are so easily saved is because they understand that forgiveness has been provided for through the atonement
They have understanding that it has already been paid for and has already been accomplished.
It is a gift from God
And immediately they accept its conditions and requirements and are saved.
But when it comes to health and to finances it is not accepted as something that has already been provided for and because of that error in their lives very few enter into that place of truth so that truth can be unveiled so that they can be made free.
Look at
2 Cor 8:9
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
The Greek word for might be rich is ploo-the-o and it means to become wealthy, to be increased with goods, the
Scripture is pertaining to financial prosperity.
Now I have one question to ask,
Does this mean then that God desires for every child of God to become financially prosperous
Does this mean that God desires for every child of God to have healing and to walk in healing,
Does this mean then that God desires every child of God to prosper emotionally, prosper spiritually, physically and financially.
Yes, Yes, Yes.
All this is part of what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished through his atonement on the cross
So what does prosperity mean?
It means having enough of Gods supply to meet all of your needs plus minister to the needs of others or in other words having enough of Gods supply to meet all of your needs and to abound to every good work as stated in
2 Cor 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
The real definition or the real motive behind prosperity is not to accumulate things for yourself, it is to meet the needs of others in need and when that motive is the reason for your desire to prosper then greed never has the chance to become center stage in your life.
In this motive there is going to be ample enough to meet every need that you will ever have,
Why?
It is the Nature of God to bless those who bless others.
And when you have one hand to receive and one hand to give there will always be enough for you to prosper in abundance.
I need to say it again
What is prosperity
It means having enough of Gods supply to meet all of your needs plus minister to the needs of others.
Needless to say then,
There are many people including Gods children who have plenty of Gods supply, but they are not ministering and meeting the needs of those who are in need and because of that they are not prosperous according to the word of God and that is sin.
You probably do not like what you are hearing but the truth will make you free if you will allow the truth to be unveiled.
Now I need to make some statements here,
Everything that we receive from God we have to receive through faith, you have to receive salvation through faith, you have to receive healing through faith, you have to receive prosperity through faith, everything that we receive from God we have to receive through faith.
2 Cor 1:20 AGAIN
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Everything that we receive from God we must have a foundation of knowledge to receive by faith that which we desire to receive.
If you do not have the knowledge for what are you going to believe for, how are you going to believe for something that you do not know.
You have to receive that knowledge so that the knowledge you receive can impart to you faith to begin to believe for that which you have come into the revelation of.
Salvation does not happen automatically, healing does not take place automatically and prosperity does not happen automatically.
The Lord has supplied salvation for every single person upon the earth and yet not every person is going to be saved.
By grace salvation has been supplied to all.
Titus 2:11
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
The reason that all will not be saved is because that which has been provided for by grace will not be accepted by faith
Eph 2:8-9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
What does it take for every child of God to be saved?
The combination of Gods grace and what he has done independent of you and secondly how you respond to what he has provided for you.
Whether you believe or do not believe,
it is the will of God for every person to be saved and yet not every person will be saved
Why?
Because the grace of God, the provision of God which is present for every one, but not every one is going to respond to that provision in faith.
Two things need to be present for Gods power to work and for it to become a reality in our life
God’s provision and your faith.
The same in healing, the same in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the same in prosperity and the same in everything that God has for us.
This is the right and the inheritance of every single believer but it does not come to all
Why?
Because it is not automatic
Two things
You must believe in Gods provision and you must believe that it is for you
Heb 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
So listen,
It is Gods will for you to prosper, it is Gods will for you to be healed; it is Gods will for you to be and abounding emotionally, spiritually and physically.
It is your right, your inheritance and your guarantee.
You are correct I said your guarantee.
Our attitude can not be that we know God, that He can heal us, save us and prosper us.
Our attitude can not be that we know that what he has is available for us,
Our attitude must be that it is ours as a child of the living God
The provision is there
The supply is there
It has all been done and the inheritance is ours.
There is only one thing left for you to do and that is to come into the knowledge of that provision and then by faith possess it through the good fight of faith.
But in order to fight the good fight of faith there are some things that we need to know and believe.
Mark 11:23-24
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
You have to believe that you receive when you pray, not when you see it, not when it comes to pass, not when it looks like it might happen, not when all the symptoms are gone,
You must believe that you receive it when you pray.
Tell me how you can believe God to bring forth the promises of God without believing for them
Col 2:6
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
What does that scripture mean?
It means the same way that you received salvation; the same way that you received Jesus Christ is going to be the same way that you are going to receive everything else from God.
The baptism of the Holy Ghost, healing, prosperity, stability in your emotions, stability physically and spiritually.
So walk ye in him.
It takes a work of faith.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
A NEW CREATURE
The word of God states in John 3:3 that a man must be born again to see the kingdom of God and then declares the condition of that man when he becomes born again
He is a new creature
2 Cor 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And yet I wonder if we grasp the significance of what is being proclaimed in the word of God when we do not realize or have understanding what has been done for us in our born again spirit
You are a new creature
A creature that has never existed before and that creature has been created after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness
Eph 4:24
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Here is the problem
Very few of Gods children view themselves as they really are in the spirit
Very few see themselves as the word of God reveals them to be completed and finished by the work of Christ
Instead they view themselves in the flesh and through their emotions
They view themseves by what they see in the mirror, by their thoughts, attitudes, feelings and actions
They are so immersed in seeing themselves through that which is natural that they naturally come to the conclusion that there is no way that they are a new creature created in righteousness and true holiness
Why does it never add up to the child of God to believe the word for what the word has to say
Why do we not understand what God has done for us though the redemption of his Son according to the word of God
It is the word of God that brings to us the revelation of who we are in the spirit
As the physical mirror reflects our image to show us what we look like in the physical, so our spiritual mirror is the word of God that reveals unto us the true refection of who we really are in Christ
Partakers of his divine nature.
2 Pet 1:4
whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Cor 5:21
for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
We are partakers of his divine nature and as partakers I want you to see the benefits of being a partaker
Eph 1:3
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Gal 3:9
so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Gal 3:14
that the blessing of Abraham might come on the gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith.
Here the word of God is telling us that we might receive the
promise of the spirit through faith
Look at
2 Cor 1:20
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
What revelation
Those that are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham
They have become the head and not the tail, the apple of his eye
They have been given all spiritual blessings and have been made to sit in heavenly places
They have been made more than conquerors and have been made victorious through the Lord Jesus Christ
They have been made free and free indeed
They are partakers of his divine nature and all the promises hae been given to them and they are yes and finished
This is the revelation of Gods word
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.
As a new creature in your brand new spirit, in your new man,
You are righteous, holy, perfect, sanctified, forgiven and cleansed,
You have been given eternal redemption and eternal inheritance and not only that but you have been purged of sin even to the purging of your conscience
If the blood of goats and bulls could have purged your conscience from sin then those sacrifices that were being offered would have ceased to be offered because your conscience would have been cleared
Heb 10:2
For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
But they could not clear the conscience
They cleared the flesh
They sanctified the flesh but it could not purge the spirit and the soul
Heb 9:13-14
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The blood of Christ has purged your conscience from dead works to serve the living God
In order to serve the living God your conscience must be purged from the conscienceness of sin
Your conscience must be purged of dead works
Here is a major problem in the church,
The body of Christ for the most part deals with and lives in the conscienceness of sin
Very few of Gods people have the understanding that sin conscienceness is about our fallen nature
It is where we came from not where we live now as a born again child of God
The church has taken the stand that we can never be free from it
They have taught us and engrained us with the concept that we are sinners and will always be sinners
And the best that we can be is just a sinner saved by grace
No No No
If you are born again you are not a sinner you are a Son of God
A partaker with Christ
Redeemed and set apart
A new creature in righteousness and true holiness
Will you sin, yes, will you blow it, yes, will you fail, stumble and fall, yes
But Christ came to purge you from the consciousness of sins
Here is the truth that makes the child of God free
The Father has sent his Son to bring freedom from the curse of the law
The Father has sent his Son to clear your conscience
To purge your conscience
But for the most part the child of God does not walk in that freedom
Very few walk in that place of liberty
VERSE 15
And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Today let us grasp a hold of truth that sets the captive free and walk in the abundance of the new creation in Christ Jesus
He is a new creature
2 Cor 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And yet I wonder if we grasp the significance of what is being proclaimed in the word of God when we do not realize or have understanding what has been done for us in our born again spirit
You are a new creature
A creature that has never existed before and that creature has been created after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness
Eph 4:24
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Here is the problem
Very few of Gods children view themselves as they really are in the spirit
Very few see themselves as the word of God reveals them to be completed and finished by the work of Christ
Instead they view themselves in the flesh and through their emotions
They view themseves by what they see in the mirror, by their thoughts, attitudes, feelings and actions
They are so immersed in seeing themselves through that which is natural that they naturally come to the conclusion that there is no way that they are a new creature created in righteousness and true holiness
Why does it never add up to the child of God to believe the word for what the word has to say
Why do we not understand what God has done for us though the redemption of his Son according to the word of God
It is the word of God that brings to us the revelation of who we are in the spirit
As the physical mirror reflects our image to show us what we look like in the physical, so our spiritual mirror is the word of God that reveals unto us the true refection of who we really are in Christ
Partakers of his divine nature.
2 Pet 1:4
whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Cor 5:21
for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
We are partakers of his divine nature and as partakers I want you to see the benefits of being a partaker
Eph 1:3
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Gal 3:9
so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Gal 3:14
that the blessing of Abraham might come on the gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith.
Here the word of God is telling us that we might receive the
promise of the spirit through faith
Look at
2 Cor 1:20
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
What revelation
Those that are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham
They have become the head and not the tail, the apple of his eye
They have been given all spiritual blessings and have been made to sit in heavenly places
They have been made more than conquerors and have been made victorious through the Lord Jesus Christ
They have been made free and free indeed
They are partakers of his divine nature and all the promises hae been given to them and they are yes and finished
This is the revelation of Gods word
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.
As a new creature in your brand new spirit, in your new man,
You are righteous, holy, perfect, sanctified, forgiven and cleansed,
You have been given eternal redemption and eternal inheritance and not only that but you have been purged of sin even to the purging of your conscience
If the blood of goats and bulls could have purged your conscience from sin then those sacrifices that were being offered would have ceased to be offered because your conscience would have been cleared
Heb 10:2
For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
But they could not clear the conscience
They cleared the flesh
They sanctified the flesh but it could not purge the spirit and the soul
Heb 9:13-14
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The blood of Christ has purged your conscience from dead works to serve the living God
In order to serve the living God your conscience must be purged from the conscienceness of sin
Your conscience must be purged of dead works
Here is a major problem in the church,
The body of Christ for the most part deals with and lives in the conscienceness of sin
Very few of Gods people have the understanding that sin conscienceness is about our fallen nature
It is where we came from not where we live now as a born again child of God
The church has taken the stand that we can never be free from it
They have taught us and engrained us with the concept that we are sinners and will always be sinners
And the best that we can be is just a sinner saved by grace
No No No
If you are born again you are not a sinner you are a Son of God
A partaker with Christ
Redeemed and set apart
A new creature in righteousness and true holiness
Will you sin, yes, will you blow it, yes, will you fail, stumble and fall, yes
But Christ came to purge you from the consciousness of sins
Here is the truth that makes the child of God free
The Father has sent his Son to bring freedom from the curse of the law
The Father has sent his Son to clear your conscience
To purge your conscience
But for the most part the child of God does not walk in that freedom
Very few walk in that place of liberty
VERSE 15
And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Today let us grasp a hold of truth that sets the captive free and walk in the abundance of the new creation in Christ Jesus
Friday, August 7, 2009
CONFIDENCE IN HIM
I Jn 5:14-15
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
I want you to grasp the significance of what our opening scripture is saying
And this is the confidence that we have in him.
Hear the word of God
If we ask anything according to his will,
He hears us
The word of God is telling us that if we ask anything according to his will
It does not matter what it is,
It does not matter how impossible it may seem
He hears the request that we have made unto him and then verse 15 goes on to tell us that if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
What does all of that really mean?
It means that in order to have the confidence that you need in him,
You need to have a complete and thorough understanding of what his word is proclaiming to you.
Remember this,
There is nothing that will bring you confidence as a life that is well pleasing unto God.
Col 1:10
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Heb 13:21
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Dan 10:11-12
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
Notice the key phrases in Daniel
#1 a man greatly beloved,
#2 for unto thee am I now sent
#3 from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
Here is a man whose life is pleasing the lord
1Thes 4:1
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
Because the life of Daniel pleased the Lord he could ask to be protected and delivered in the lions den and he was.
In order to have and to ask in that kind of confidence there has to be that perfect union between you and the Lord just as there was that perfect union between the Father and his son Jesus Christ.
John 10:30
I and my Father are one.
John 17:21
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
What does this foundation need to consist of,
Confidence in God and loyalty to God.
I Jn 4:17
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
Because as he is so are we in this world we must strive to obtain and to secure the same confidence that Christ had with the father is the same confidence and loyalty that we must have with Christ and the Father.
John 11:33-36
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Jesus wept.
Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
There are a number of people who read this verse of scripture and believe that Jesus wept because of the great love that he had for Lazarus
There is no doubt that Christ did have a great love for Lazarus
The same as he has a great love for you and I but the reason that Christ wept that day at the grave of Lazarus was not because of love it was because of unbelief
As the lord stood there that day at the grave of Lazarus he realized that the people even Martha the sister of Lazarus
Had not yet come to the realization that the father would give him whatsoever he would ask because of the confidence that he had in the Father
Are you sitting in this place today and struggle with these same doubts and unbelief?
Are you sitting in this place where you struggle with believing in the promises of God?
Are you struggling with believing God to meet all of your needs?
How many make Christ weep because they have not come to the same revelation that the people gathered around the grave of Lazarus had not realized.
Thier unbelief and lack of confidence brought brokenness and sadness to the heart of christ and he wept.
He wept because they had not yet come to the revelation that God almighty hears and responds to the voices of his children.
Matt 6:8
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Listen to the Lord at the tomb of Lazarus,
John 11:41
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
You see beloved,
There are times when it seems like a stone wall is in front of us, there are times when everything seems to be as black as midnight, there are times when you absolutely feel nothing and there are times when there is nothing left but confidence and loyalty.
And it is at those times that you must have the devotion and the confidence to believe that he will never leave you nor forsake you,
It is at those times that you must believe that he will never fail you,
It is at those times that you must believe that all things will work together for the good to those who love the lord and are the called according to his purpose.
You can not depend on your feelings,
You can not depend on your emotions
You can not depend on how you feel at the moment
It is then that confidence and loyalty must spring forth in you to know that he can never fail and that his word will never fail nor return void.
Heb 3:14
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Now allow me to bring this to the very place that we as children of God need to grasp hold of.
Paul spoke of two different kinds of Christians
And those two different kinds of Christians are made up of those who obey and those who do not obey and those who are the redeemed and those who walk in carnality.
1 Cor 3:1-9
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
In these two classes of Christians one is going to be used for the glory of God,
One is going to be used to show the world the presence of a Savior,
One is going to be used to further the kingdom of God and they are going to be used to bring freedom to the captive so that they can be set free.
And the reason that God is only going to use the redeemed, the obedient is because only the obedient,
only the redeemed will be able to relate the experience that they have gone through,
You can not relate what you have not experienced.
You can not take people into the depths of God if you have never been there yourself,
You can never take people to a place of brokenness if you have never experienced that brokenness yourself.
You can never relate to the process that God takes us through to bring about transformation in our lives if you have never experienced the process.
Ps 34:18
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Ps 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Isa 66:2
For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
You must experience this,
You must experience the brokenness and contriteness in order to get into the depths of God.
There is rest that resides in faith,
There is a faith that rests in the confidence of God
And in that confidence there is assurance that the word of God and the promises of God never fail.
Rom 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
1Thes 2:13
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
It is this word of God that creates within us irrestible faith,
Faith that never wavers, that never gives up, that is never daunted faith that never fails.
We have a problem and that problem is that we have a tendency to forget and not realize the vastness and the largeness of our Fathers supply.
We do not understand that he has a supply that can never be exhausted.
NEVER
And another thing that we forget is that it pleases the Father when we his children come to him asking
Matt 7:11
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Hear the word of God
How much more
It is the much more that I am in interested in,
It is the much more that I want to be shown by God,
It is the much more that I want to walk into his presence,
It is the much more that I want to grasp of Him.
Ps 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
If you need healing God has a plan and that plan is through his word
Isa 53:5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
His plan of healing is along the lines of perfect confidence in him and this confidence does not come from our speaking, from our preaching, from our testifying.
This confidence comes from our intimacy and fellowship, our communion with him the lord Jesus Christ.
There is a communion with Jesus that brings life, which breathes life, which promotes life and that life is life abundantly.
And it comes from his word for he is the word
John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
We as the child of God need the life and light of his word to surround us and to become a two edged sword in our lives
Heb 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
When the sword comes to us we must never harden our hearts against it.
We must allow it to pierce us.
We must allow the piercing to bring forth yielding,
And in the yielding the word will work forth his love within our hearts.
When this love begins to work and manifest itself in our lives we must become lost in that love
When we become lost in that love we begin to see ourselves as nothing, we begin to see our accomplishments as only the greatness of almighty God working within a flawed vessel,
When this love is working within us, there is never boasting of what has been accomplished or what is going to be accomplished for the individual is lost with in that love.
I praise God for the sword of his word that prunes and cuts, that brings forth a tender conscience to hear the sweetness of his word.
And it is in that sweetness that brings forth life and brokenness so that we may enter into the depths of the fullness of almighty God.
It replaces the stony heart with a heart of flesh and love.
Ezek 36:26-27
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
How is this going to happen
How is a new spirit going to placed within you and the stony heart going to be replaced by the heart of flesh
Matt 18:3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
This is the confidence that we as children of God can have in Him
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
I want you to grasp the significance of what our opening scripture is saying
And this is the confidence that we have in him.
Hear the word of God
If we ask anything according to his will,
He hears us
The word of God is telling us that if we ask anything according to his will
It does not matter what it is,
It does not matter how impossible it may seem
He hears the request that we have made unto him and then verse 15 goes on to tell us that if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
What does all of that really mean?
It means that in order to have the confidence that you need in him,
You need to have a complete and thorough understanding of what his word is proclaiming to you.
Remember this,
There is nothing that will bring you confidence as a life that is well pleasing unto God.
Col 1:10
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Heb 13:21
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Dan 10:11-12
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
Notice the key phrases in Daniel
#1 a man greatly beloved,
#2 for unto thee am I now sent
#3 from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
Here is a man whose life is pleasing the lord
1Thes 4:1
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
Because the life of Daniel pleased the Lord he could ask to be protected and delivered in the lions den and he was.
In order to have and to ask in that kind of confidence there has to be that perfect union between you and the Lord just as there was that perfect union between the Father and his son Jesus Christ.
John 10:30
I and my Father are one.
John 17:21
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
What does this foundation need to consist of,
Confidence in God and loyalty to God.
I Jn 4:17
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
Because as he is so are we in this world we must strive to obtain and to secure the same confidence that Christ had with the father is the same confidence and loyalty that we must have with Christ and the Father.
John 11:33-36
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Jesus wept.
Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
There are a number of people who read this verse of scripture and believe that Jesus wept because of the great love that he had for Lazarus
There is no doubt that Christ did have a great love for Lazarus
The same as he has a great love for you and I but the reason that Christ wept that day at the grave of Lazarus was not because of love it was because of unbelief
As the lord stood there that day at the grave of Lazarus he realized that the people even Martha the sister of Lazarus
Had not yet come to the realization that the father would give him whatsoever he would ask because of the confidence that he had in the Father
Are you sitting in this place today and struggle with these same doubts and unbelief?
Are you sitting in this place where you struggle with believing in the promises of God?
Are you struggling with believing God to meet all of your needs?
How many make Christ weep because they have not come to the same revelation that the people gathered around the grave of Lazarus had not realized.
Thier unbelief and lack of confidence brought brokenness and sadness to the heart of christ and he wept.
He wept because they had not yet come to the revelation that God almighty hears and responds to the voices of his children.
Matt 6:8
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Listen to the Lord at the tomb of Lazarus,
John 11:41
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
You see beloved,
There are times when it seems like a stone wall is in front of us, there are times when everything seems to be as black as midnight, there are times when you absolutely feel nothing and there are times when there is nothing left but confidence and loyalty.
And it is at those times that you must have the devotion and the confidence to believe that he will never leave you nor forsake you,
It is at those times that you must believe that he will never fail you,
It is at those times that you must believe that all things will work together for the good to those who love the lord and are the called according to his purpose.
You can not depend on your feelings,
You can not depend on your emotions
You can not depend on how you feel at the moment
It is then that confidence and loyalty must spring forth in you to know that he can never fail and that his word will never fail nor return void.
Heb 3:14
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Now allow me to bring this to the very place that we as children of God need to grasp hold of.
Paul spoke of two different kinds of Christians
And those two different kinds of Christians are made up of those who obey and those who do not obey and those who are the redeemed and those who walk in carnality.
1 Cor 3:1-9
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
In these two classes of Christians one is going to be used for the glory of God,
One is going to be used to show the world the presence of a Savior,
One is going to be used to further the kingdom of God and they are going to be used to bring freedom to the captive so that they can be set free.
And the reason that God is only going to use the redeemed, the obedient is because only the obedient,
only the redeemed will be able to relate the experience that they have gone through,
You can not relate what you have not experienced.
You can not take people into the depths of God if you have never been there yourself,
You can never take people to a place of brokenness if you have never experienced that brokenness yourself.
You can never relate to the process that God takes us through to bring about transformation in our lives if you have never experienced the process.
Ps 34:18
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Ps 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Isa 66:2
For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
You must experience this,
You must experience the brokenness and contriteness in order to get into the depths of God.
There is rest that resides in faith,
There is a faith that rests in the confidence of God
And in that confidence there is assurance that the word of God and the promises of God never fail.
Rom 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
1Thes 2:13
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
It is this word of God that creates within us irrestible faith,
Faith that never wavers, that never gives up, that is never daunted faith that never fails.
We have a problem and that problem is that we have a tendency to forget and not realize the vastness and the largeness of our Fathers supply.
We do not understand that he has a supply that can never be exhausted.
NEVER
And another thing that we forget is that it pleases the Father when we his children come to him asking
Matt 7:11
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Hear the word of God
How much more
It is the much more that I am in interested in,
It is the much more that I want to be shown by God,
It is the much more that I want to walk into his presence,
It is the much more that I want to grasp of Him.
Ps 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
If you need healing God has a plan and that plan is through his word
Isa 53:5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
His plan of healing is along the lines of perfect confidence in him and this confidence does not come from our speaking, from our preaching, from our testifying.
This confidence comes from our intimacy and fellowship, our communion with him the lord Jesus Christ.
There is a communion with Jesus that brings life, which breathes life, which promotes life and that life is life abundantly.
And it comes from his word for he is the word
John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
We as the child of God need the life and light of his word to surround us and to become a two edged sword in our lives
Heb 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
When the sword comes to us we must never harden our hearts against it.
We must allow it to pierce us.
We must allow the piercing to bring forth yielding,
And in the yielding the word will work forth his love within our hearts.
When this love begins to work and manifest itself in our lives we must become lost in that love
When we become lost in that love we begin to see ourselves as nothing, we begin to see our accomplishments as only the greatness of almighty God working within a flawed vessel,
When this love is working within us, there is never boasting of what has been accomplished or what is going to be accomplished for the individual is lost with in that love.
I praise God for the sword of his word that prunes and cuts, that brings forth a tender conscience to hear the sweetness of his word.
And it is in that sweetness that brings forth life and brokenness so that we may enter into the depths of the fullness of almighty God.
It replaces the stony heart with a heart of flesh and love.
Ezek 36:26-27
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
How is this going to happen
How is a new spirit going to placed within you and the stony heart going to be replaced by the heart of flesh
Matt 18:3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
This is the confidence that we as children of God can have in Him
REMOVING THE LIMITS OFF GOD
Mark 6:5
And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching.
There are many who might be offended because of the statement “Removing the limits off God” and yet I believe that this is exactly where a majority of God’s children are walking in their Christian walk.
As a preacher and teacher I only share with you the things that God shares with me,
And I believe the reason that he shares with me is for the furtherance of His kingdom,
For the spreading and extension of me as a child of God to be all that I can be for Him so that I may enter into a higher level of understanding and comprehension concerning the word of God.
Before you is Psalm 78 and there are a number of verses to be read but read them and I believe you will have greater understanding as to the truth that is before you
.
Ps 78:1-72
Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.
In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;
Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.
He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.
He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.
So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;
They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God.
And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.
For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:
And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.
He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.
He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.
He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:
But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.
He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:
But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.
He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.
The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.
Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.
Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.
He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
This Psalm is written by Asapth who was one who sang and praised God for King David and the context of this psalm is an account of Jewish history.
In the first few verses of this psalm Asapth says that the reason that this psalm is being written is so that the hearts of there children can know about the God of there deliverance, so that there hearts can be prepared to worship and to bring to Him sacrifices of praise for all His mighty works, to know Him and to know His ways, to seek Him and to know how to find Him, And to knock so that the door may be opened unto them.
So the psalm that was wrote for them then also applies unto us that live today, and what this is going to do for you and I is for us to understand how Almighty God deals towards us.
One of the greatest things that I have learned in my life according to the word of God is that you do not have to learn everything from going through it
You do not have to have your experience through the lessons of hard knocks in order for you to learn your lesson
1 Cor 10:11
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
The word of God is written so that you and I can benefit from Gods dealings with other people, their mistakes do not have to be our mistakes, their shortcomings do not have to be our shortcomings, the traps and snares that they fell into can be the revelation that keeps you and I out of the very place they fell in to.
God is not a respecter of persons, how God dealt with people in the word of God is going to be how he deals with you and I, and we can find great comfort and knowledge concerning the ways and the thoughts of Almighty God towards us.
Ps 78:39-41
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
How often did they provoke God?
VERSE 17
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
VERSE 41
Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
Now that phrase they turned back and tempted God---let’s deal with that for a moment, we all know that the Israelites never turned back and physically went back into Egypt,
But the truth of the matter is that they talked about it often
They even went so far as to appoint over themselves a Captain to take them back but Moses intervened every time and convinced them to continue to go on
Now listen,
In there heart they did go back to Egypt
They began to long for the food of Egypt
They begin to long for there homes in Goshen
They begin to long for the stability of not having to deal with the desert experience day after day
And then the scripture tells us that they limited the Holy One of Israel
I wonder how many of you are having trouble with this statement that I have just made
They limited the Holy One of Israel
They limited Almighty God
They limited Jehovah
And there are a number of people who shrink back at such a concept that we as frail insignificant and helpless individuals can limit Almighty God
And yet here in scripture we see that is exactly what happened concerning the children of Israel
The way that the church has presented the sovereignty and divinity of God most people believe that whatever God wills is going to happen, most people today believe that God does what ever he wants and because he is God it is going to happen
But this verse of scripture is in total opposition to that belief.
Let me give you just one example
1 Tim 2:3-5
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
But all men are not going to be saved and yet it is the will, the desire, the longing and the wanting of God for all men to be saved.
Another example is that God wills, desires, wants and longs for all to be healed
1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
God desires for all to be baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Why? Because it is a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ and yet multitudes are not going to be baptized in the Holy Ghost and the list goes on and on and on.
The scripture is very plain they limited the Holy One of Israel
They limited God Almighty
Hear me,
God himself is limitless; there is nothing that God can not do
All things are possible for God and no one can limit change or alter who He is
He is God
But we as children of God can and are able to limit God concerning his plans for us
God’s will does not automatically just take place in your life
In Numbers chapter 13 we have the account of the children of God coming to a place called Kadesh Barnea
It is the place where the children of Israel sent forth spies to go forth into the land of Canaan to spy out the land for there possession
Please take note,
It was the will of God for the children of Israel to go forth into that land and to take possession
That is the reason that he has brought them to this place
.
You have read the story
They send 12 spies into the land
10 come back telling all of Israel that they are grasshoppers in the sight of the giants, God willed for them to possess the land but they choose not to go in.
And because of there unbelief, because of their fear and their hardened heart they limited Almighty God
And how similar is this to what we have voiced to God over and over and over again
I should never have done this,
I trusted you and now look at the mess I am in
I would not be in this mess if I would not have obeyed
God why did you bring us out here
God why did you allow this to happen
Oh how I wish I could go back to how it was before I stepped out in faith
They have limited God Almighty and because they have limited Him they no longer can enter into to his perfect will and they will wander in the wilderness for 40 more years until they all have died on the bleached sands of the desert except for Joshua and Caleb who believed and said we can possess the land
The perfect will of God did not come to pass in the life of the Israelites
Why?
Because they did not co-operate with God
Did God love them---yes?
Did they love God---- yes
Did God take care of them--- yes?
Did they enter into his perfect will for them---- no?
This example is in direct application for us as children of God
Jer 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
God had a plan for them
It was not a plan of evil, it was not a plan to bring them to destruction, it was a plan to bring them to an expected end,
An end that would bring them to a place of peace.
It was a plan to make them blessed of all nations, to bring forth out of them the Messiah, to be prosperous above all kindred, but that expected end did not come for them because they limited God
Hear the scripture
Isa 43:1-5
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
Fear not: for I am with thee:
VERSE 15
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Are we going to believe God or are we going to limit Him.
And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching.
There are many who might be offended because of the statement “Removing the limits off God” and yet I believe that this is exactly where a majority of God’s children are walking in their Christian walk.
As a preacher and teacher I only share with you the things that God shares with me,
And I believe the reason that he shares with me is for the furtherance of His kingdom,
For the spreading and extension of me as a child of God to be all that I can be for Him so that I may enter into a higher level of understanding and comprehension concerning the word of God.
Before you is Psalm 78 and there are a number of verses to be read but read them and I believe you will have greater understanding as to the truth that is before you
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Ps 78:1-72
Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.
In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;
Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full.
He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind.
He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.
So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;
They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God.
And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.
For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.
But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.
How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan:
And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.
He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.
He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.
He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:
But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.
He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:
But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men;
And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand.
He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.
The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage.
Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.
Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.
He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
This Psalm is written by Asapth who was one who sang and praised God for King David and the context of this psalm is an account of Jewish history.
In the first few verses of this psalm Asapth says that the reason that this psalm is being written is so that the hearts of there children can know about the God of there deliverance, so that there hearts can be prepared to worship and to bring to Him sacrifices of praise for all His mighty works, to know Him and to know His ways, to seek Him and to know how to find Him, And to knock so that the door may be opened unto them.
So the psalm that was wrote for them then also applies unto us that live today, and what this is going to do for you and I is for us to understand how Almighty God deals towards us.
One of the greatest things that I have learned in my life according to the word of God is that you do not have to learn everything from going through it
You do not have to have your experience through the lessons of hard knocks in order for you to learn your lesson
1 Cor 10:11
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
The word of God is written so that you and I can benefit from Gods dealings with other people, their mistakes do not have to be our mistakes, their shortcomings do not have to be our shortcomings, the traps and snares that they fell into can be the revelation that keeps you and I out of the very place they fell in to.
God is not a respecter of persons, how God dealt with people in the word of God is going to be how he deals with you and I, and we can find great comfort and knowledge concerning the ways and the thoughts of Almighty God towards us.
Ps 78:39-41
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!
How often did they provoke God?
VERSE 17
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
VERSE 41
Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
Now that phrase they turned back and tempted God---let’s deal with that for a moment, we all know that the Israelites never turned back and physically went back into Egypt,
But the truth of the matter is that they talked about it often
They even went so far as to appoint over themselves a Captain to take them back but Moses intervened every time and convinced them to continue to go on
Now listen,
In there heart they did go back to Egypt
They began to long for the food of Egypt
They begin to long for there homes in Goshen
They begin to long for the stability of not having to deal with the desert experience day after day
And then the scripture tells us that they limited the Holy One of Israel
I wonder how many of you are having trouble with this statement that I have just made
They limited the Holy One of Israel
They limited Almighty God
They limited Jehovah
And there are a number of people who shrink back at such a concept that we as frail insignificant and helpless individuals can limit Almighty God
And yet here in scripture we see that is exactly what happened concerning the children of Israel
The way that the church has presented the sovereignty and divinity of God most people believe that whatever God wills is going to happen, most people today believe that God does what ever he wants and because he is God it is going to happen
But this verse of scripture is in total opposition to that belief.
Let me give you just one example
1 Tim 2:3-5
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
But all men are not going to be saved and yet it is the will, the desire, the longing and the wanting of God for all men to be saved.
Another example is that God wills, desires, wants and longs for all to be healed
1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
God desires for all to be baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Why? Because it is a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ and yet multitudes are not going to be baptized in the Holy Ghost and the list goes on and on and on.
The scripture is very plain they limited the Holy One of Israel
They limited God Almighty
Hear me,
God himself is limitless; there is nothing that God can not do
All things are possible for God and no one can limit change or alter who He is
He is God
But we as children of God can and are able to limit God concerning his plans for us
God’s will does not automatically just take place in your life
In Numbers chapter 13 we have the account of the children of God coming to a place called Kadesh Barnea
It is the place where the children of Israel sent forth spies to go forth into the land of Canaan to spy out the land for there possession
Please take note,
It was the will of God for the children of Israel to go forth into that land and to take possession
That is the reason that he has brought them to this place
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You have read the story
They send 12 spies into the land
10 come back telling all of Israel that they are grasshoppers in the sight of the giants, God willed for them to possess the land but they choose not to go in.
And because of there unbelief, because of their fear and their hardened heart they limited Almighty God
And how similar is this to what we have voiced to God over and over and over again
I should never have done this,
I trusted you and now look at the mess I am in
I would not be in this mess if I would not have obeyed
God why did you bring us out here
God why did you allow this to happen
Oh how I wish I could go back to how it was before I stepped out in faith
They have limited God Almighty and because they have limited Him they no longer can enter into to his perfect will and they will wander in the wilderness for 40 more years until they all have died on the bleached sands of the desert except for Joshua and Caleb who believed and said we can possess the land
The perfect will of God did not come to pass in the life of the Israelites
Why?
Because they did not co-operate with God
Did God love them---yes?
Did they love God---- yes
Did God take care of them--- yes?
Did they enter into his perfect will for them---- no?
This example is in direct application for us as children of God
Jer 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
God had a plan for them
It was not a plan of evil, it was not a plan to bring them to destruction, it was a plan to bring them to an expected end,
An end that would bring them to a place of peace.
It was a plan to make them blessed of all nations, to bring forth out of them the Messiah, to be prosperous above all kindred, but that expected end did not come for them because they limited God
Hear the scripture
Isa 43:1-5
But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
Fear not: for I am with thee:
VERSE 15
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Are we going to believe God or are we going to limit Him.
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