Thursday, November 19, 2009

Where is your Faith?

It's been way too long. I apologize for that. Without further ado, something the Lord has placed on my heart.

The other night, I overheard a most interesting conversation at work. I was in the break room, eating my dinner and enjoying my Believer's Voice of Victory Magazine. Partway through, two of my coworkers came in and sat down. They began talking about flu season. "Every year I get sick!" one of them declared. The other one replied, "I get the vaccine every year, but it doesn't seem to help." Eventually the conversation turned to the dreaded swine flu. H1N1. They were talking about how scared they were of the swine flu, and how they were gonna get it if they couldn't get the vaccine (and if they keep talking like that they will unfortunately get something). I just sat there, and this rose up in my spirit. "Where is your faith?"

We really need to think about that. Where is our faith? Fear activates the devil like faith activates God. God is moved by faith. He responds to that. Fear does the same thing for the devil. If we are afraid of sickness and disease, it opens the door for the devil to place it on us, and God can do nothing to stop it. F.F. Bosworth, in his book, "Christ the Healer" likens it to a game of checkers. Neither person can move out of turn. God sent Jesus, who paid the price for us, and provided salvation and healing, as well as all the other redemptive acts. Now it's our turn to move, and receive what He shed His blood for. When we receive that healing He gave us, He then moves, and we see a change, and then we thank Him for it. It's so simple. John 10:10 says that the devil came to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came so we could have abundant life, or ZOE, the God kind of life. There's healing in that life! There's wholeness in that life!

We have to determine where we place our faith! Is our faith in the disease to attack us, to manifest in our body? Or is our faith in Jesus, and the price He paid on the cross? Do we believe 1 Peter 2:24? The Bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If you believe in the disease more than God's ability and willingness to heal you and keep you well, you will talk about the disease, and worrying about getting sick.

Oh, but if your faith is Jesus, and His healing power, then you can live above sickness! Above disease! And it will come out of your mouth, "I'm not getting sick! No swine flu is gonna touch me!" Or, as Brother Copeland so simply put it, "I ain't taking no flu off a pig!"

Your mouth measures the condition of your heart.

Where is your faith?

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Hundred Fold Return

I’m gonna warn you right now, this may upset you. That’s ok though, because it’s the Bible. Don’t get mad at me here, I’m just telling you what God said and living it out.

Look in Matthew’s Gospel, the 13th chapter. Jesus is talking here, telling us a very well known parable. The parable of the sower. So, we know what happens. The sower sows on stony ground and it is scorched, and all the other things. I want to focus on the 8th verse. It says, “But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” Jumping down again to the 23rd verse, we find that Jesus is explaining what happened here with the seed. Take a look at the way the Amplified Bible says it. “As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the Word and grasps and comprehends it; he indeed bears fruit and yields in case a hundred times as much as was sown, in another sixty times as much, and in another thirty.” So, we see that there is a principle in effect here. Jesus said that when seed is sown, some reap thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred fold. Now, the seed here is the Word, but there are also other things that we are shown here. Using a farmer as his example, Jesus shows us that this is not just a principle limited to Word. This is a matter of sowing and reaping. Sowing and reaping.

Check out 2 Corinthians 9:6. It says, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” There is no faith required in that statement. It is a simple matter of fact. You give, God will bless. Thirty times what you gave sounds like a real good return on your investment, or your giving, but God says that you can also get sixty or one hundred times what you gave! That’s exciting, isn’t it? Glory to God. When we give, we must give generously to others.

Let me share a story here from my own life, from seeing the hundred fold work. Last November, I was at Brother and Sister Copeland’s “Washington D.C. Victory Campaign” . Man, it was good. I was able to make two of the meetings with my school schedule, and I sowed into both of the offerings while I was there, on top of my normal tithe. One of the nights, and to be honest, I can’t remember which one it was, Brother Copeland took up the offering, and told us to name our seed. So, I wrote down what I was believing for, and I stuck it in my wallet. I didn’t tell anyone about it, just like the man of God said. Well, needless to say, I forgot about it. Today, while I was spending time with the Lord, He reminded me of this. I thought back to it. A few months after the meetings, my life had drastically changed. I had left of school, and was back home looking for a job. I was in debt just about up to my eyeballs, from school and credit cards, and just being stupid with money for the longest time, although I have gotten much better with it. So, come to find out, I was given a check that was nearly ONE HUNDRED times what I had given over those two nights! So, I had already gotten the hundred fold on one of my seeds, and then, a few months after that, the rest of it came in. I used that money to pay down many of my debts. What a blessing of the Lord! You see, He still meets needs through the hundred fold. I received the hundred fold on my seed! I paid off bills I wouldn’t have been able to pay! Glory! Now, you may say, “That doesn’t work, it isn’t true.” Well, it’s in red, so like Jesse Duplantis says, “Either Jesus is lying, or you’re lying. I pick you.”

What people don’t seem to get, is that God wants to bless you! Proverbs 10:22 tells us that the Lord’s Blessing makes us rich, but without the sorrow that world adds to it! Glory to God! Sowing and reaping, seed time and harvest will be with us as long as the earth remains! Time to put it to work! God’s ways goes totally contrary to the world’s way. The world tells us to work and save and hoard our money. God tells us to give it away!

You see, once you give, and help meet someone else’s needs, God shall supply your every need, want, and desire through His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus! You don’t believe me? Philippians 4:19, and Psalm 37:4. Giving, and being cheerful is delighting yourself in the Lord, so you qualify for God giving you the desires of your heart!

Praise God! The Hundred Fold still works. I feel like Isaac must have, who, we are told in Genesis 26:12, sowed in a time of famine, and received the same year a hundred fold! Praise God! There hasn’t been a recession in Heaven, and God is not a respecter of persons. What He did for Isaac, He will do for you! Start asking God where you need to sow. Not only to make it through this tough financial time the world is facing, but to increase in it! That’s what I have done this whole recession! I am in a better position financially than I was a year ago! The world tells you that can't happen! But, we, as Christians, should be rising above all of this mess in the world! Like the children of Israel when they were held captive by the Egyptians, we can boldly tell the world the answer, and show them that while it may be dark in Egypt, there is light in Goshen! We have the answer out of this mess! It’s giving! Sowing and reaping! Thirty, sixty and a hundred fold return! Glory to God!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Hold Fast

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness..." Ephesians 6:13-14.
Having done all, to stand. Stand therefore. That sounds to me like the Lord, through Paul, is telling us to keep standing. And standing. And when we can't do anything else, and we're worn out from standing, stand some more. Brother Hagin used to say something to this effect. If you are willing to stand forever, you won't be standing very long. But, if you aren't willing to stand, you will be there a while. And it is the truth.

As Word people, we seem to have gotten off the Word lately. Many of us have backed down from our confessions. We stopped looking at what God said, and started looking at what the world said. Instead of seeing, "By His stripes ye were healed," and believing that, we have said, "Well, I've heard that before." Or, "I know that, but it didn't work last time." Or something like that. NO! We cannot stand for that! God's Word says it! I believe it! That settles it! I don't care if you haven't seen a result, I don't care if you say it didn't work. Either God's lying, or you're lying. I pick you.

Start saying what His Word says about a situation!

I know the world says you gotta be sick with something, but what does God's Word say? You were Healed!
I know the world says that we are in a recession, but what does God's Word say? The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich! God provides for your every need!
I know the world says that we need to be worried, but what does God's Word say? Cast all your cares on the Lord, for He cares for you!

You see, it's not enough to know it, you have to speak it out of your mouth. God says, life and death are in the power of the tongue. God tells us that we can choose. Choose life!

He tells us in Mark 11:23-24 to speak to the mountain, and tell it to move, and be cast into the sea! So speak to that mountain! Someone asks you about it, and if you can't talk about it in faith, just do like Brother Creflo does, and say, "I'm working on something!" Start thanking God for the answers! You see, we need to hold on to what we have been taught, we need to hold on to what Brother Hagin, Brother Copeland, and all these others have preached. Your words will shape your reality! Hold fast to your confession!

We have to get back to this! I refuse to say anything contrary to the Word! I refuse to say that I am sick. I refuse to say that I am poor. I don't care what the circumstances say! What does the Word say? That must be the final authority in our lives.

When the world is in a downturn, the Church must rise up, and be victorious! We are victors! Overcomers! In every area of life! Sickness and disease can't hold us! Poverty and lack can't hold us! Depression can't hold us! We are children of the Almighty God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ (the Anointed One and His Anointing)! Praise God!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Back to Basics

It has been a while. I apologize for the delay in posting, but it has been really busy here. The cool thing is that God has been so awesome while I've been busy. What is great about modern technology is it enables me to watch something like the West Coast Believer's Convention when I have a second between church, school, and work, and get built up on my faith (in addition to the time I normally spend with God). I encourage you to check out this link http://www.bvov.tv/kcm/ondemand/2009wcbc.php It is really dynamite stuff.

One of the things this Convention, in particular, Brother and Sister Copeland's meetings, have inspired me to do, is get back to the basics. People so many times say, "I know the Bible says this, but..." Like Jesse says, "You gotta get your but(t) out the way." It isn't enough to know about God, we have to know who He is, and what He has done for us, and that should change our lives. I am currently preparing a message for our youth group at church, entitled "Who do you say that I am?" Now, this message is about knowing who Jesus is for yourself, and I will get into that in a later post. What God specifically told me to talk about here, is to get back to the basics of faith.

Mark 11:23 and 24. If you have ever been around the faith movement, you know these verses. "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. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Now, Jesus said this, right? So, the Bible is true, and Jesus' words are true, but He has to preface this statement by the word "verily", or, "I'm telling you the truth". Think about that. He had to tell His disciples that this was the truth, and that He wasn't kidding around.

Whosoever...well that means anyone, right? So, anyone can talk to a mountain in their life, anything that is blocking them, and tell it to be removed, and be cast into the sea. If you don't doubt, but believe, you shall have whatsoever you say. So, whosoever can have whatsoever. I am reading to you exactly what Jesus said here. He also says that whatever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. So, the believing comes before the manifestation. That fits right in with Hebrews 11:1, which calls faith the substance or title deed of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.

Do you see this? Are you getting as excited as I am? If there is anything in your life, any mountain in your way, you have a right, given to you by Jesus, to tell that mountain to get out of your way, and be cast into the sea. You can tell that mountain to move, and it will. I didn't say it, Jesus said it, so get mad at Him if you want to get mad at someone.

If we as the church would grab a hold of this, we would be seeing more healings, more deliverances, more people set free from financial difficulties. I mean, bless God, you can speak to whatever is blocking you, whatever mountain is in your way! Find a mountain to speak to, and you speak to it, cast it into the sea, and do not doubt in your heart, believe what you said will come to pass, and it will be done. Jesus left the door wide open for you to walk through and live victoriously!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

What is Righteousness

What is righteousness? That question has baffled scholars and intellectuals for decades. Some men came up with many religious exercises so that they could become righteous according to their standards. Others clung to one verse in the Bible that they took out of context. People want to jump all over Romans 3:10 and say, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” But you have to understand this in context. In Romans 3:9 Paul is talking about Jews and Greeks that are under sin. After this passage, in Romans 3:19, he talks about these people being under the law. So then, those that are just under the law are not righteous. What we do see though, is a man who was under that law, was counted as righteous. James 2:23 says, “‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.” So then, even though Abraham was under the law, he believed God, and because he believed God, God treated him like he was righteous, even though he wasn’t.

Now, to fully understand what this means, we need to define righteous. Righteousness is defined as without guilt or sin. We could also define it as right standing with God. So even though Abraham was under the law, and was not able to obtain this righteousness, because he believed God, God treated him like he was righteous.

The good news for us is that we have a NEW covenant established upon BETTER promises. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” So, Jesus never sinned, right? He never did anything to deserve that sin being laid upon Him. But he took that sin on Him, He became sin, so that we, who didn’t do anything to become righteous, could then become righteous. So, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, God is able to treat us as if we have never sinned. That is why the Bible tells us to come boldly to the throne of Grace that we might obtain mercy and find that grace to help us in the time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) You see, the only way we are able to come to that Throne is because in God’s eyes, the second we ask for forgiveness, it’s like we never sinned. It’s like we are back in the Garden of Eden, and we can have the same relationship with Almighty God that Adam had before the fall.

How awesome is that. To be able to just sit down, and talk with the Creator of the universe. God wants to bring each and every one of us into that relationship with Him. He wants to treat every one of us like we have never sinned. But He can’t, unless you let Him. If you have never said, God, I need You in my life. I want to go to heaven. I want to have a relationship with You, or maybe you have made that commitment, and have fallen away from it, but now you want to get back to that right standing with Him, just pray this prayer. Say, “God, I know that I have made mistakes. You said that we all have sinned, and fallen short of Your glory. I am sorry for the things I have done. I want to have a relationship with you. I want you to be my Father. I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to the earth. I believe He lived a life without sin, and then died. Three days later, He rose from the dead. Come into my heart Jesus. Make me a new creation. Thank you for washing my sin away, and bringing me into a relationship with you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer, you are in the family. I want to congratulate you on making the best decision you ever could have made. I am so happy that you want to know God, instead of knowing about Him. Now, to grow in this, there are a few things that must happen. Number 1, find a good church. If you live in the Hartford area, I know of a great one. Number 2, get a Bible, and spend time reading it every day. Number 3, talk to God. Talk to Jesus. But listen too. It may be a little hard at first, but the more you spend time with Him, the more you can hear His voice, and it becomes familiar to you. If you prayed this prayer tonight, I would love to hear from you. Either send me a message on Facebook, or leave a comment here. Let me know anything that I can do to help you grow closer with the Lord.

Love all of you guys. Be blessed, and rejoice, we are in right standing with the Father.

Friday, May 8, 2009

The David Principle

Tonight, I want to share with you a principle that I am just uncovering, but I believe that this principle is one of the most important to Christians today. Jesse Duplantis calls it, “The David Principle”. Call me biased, or whatever, but I like the name. So, the David Principle is something very simple, but it was what allowed David to live his whole life blessed, and prosper in everything that he did.

This principle is laid out for us in 2 Samuel 24:22-24. Now, some background here, David had sinned, and was going to buy an altar from Araunah the Jebusite, so he could make a sacrifice to God. Verse 22, “Now Araunah said to David, ‘Let my lord the king take and offer up whatever seems good to him. Look, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing implements and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 23 All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.’ And Araunah said to the king, ‘May the LORD your God accept you.’”

Stop right there. Most of you are thinking that this is a pretty sweet deal for David. I know I did. Most Christians wouldn’t think twice of taking this and offering it to God. But look, David wasn’t like that. He responded immediately, meaning he didn’t have to think about what his response was going to be, because he had purposed this in his heart. Verse 24, “Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you FOR A PRICE; NOR WILL I OFFER BURNT OFFERINGS TO THE LORD MY GOD WITH THAT WHICH COSTS ME NOTHING.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” (Emphasis mine.)

So, you see, David makes it very clear what he thought. He said that he would not offer anything to God which costs him nothing. You see, that is where we miss it today. We are so busy, that we give God the extra. The leftovers. I’m talking everything here, not just money. That isn’t God’s way. Look at Jesus. You don’t think it cost God something to send His Son to the earth, watch Him live a sinless life, and then become sin on the cross, so that you and I could have eternal life? That was the most precious gift ever given. And look at the return He got on that gift. Sowing and reaping. God sowed Christ, and He reaped Christians.

Look at Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. God wasn’t pleased with Cain’s offering, but he was with Abel’s. Now some people have preached it was because Cain didn’t bring an animal to be sacrificed, and I am going to tell you that it isn’t true. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel brought a more excellent sacrifice to God by faith. You see, Abel gave God something that cost him. He brought the firstborn of his flocks. Those were widely considered to be the best animals of the flocks. He brought God the first, and believed God for the rest. Cain, on the other hand, just brought some of his harvest in. He didn’t bring his first fruits, or his best offering, in faith, otherwise, God would have received it!

So then, the reason that this principle is so important to the body of Christ, is that this David Principle will allow us to walk out our God given destiny. The widow woman we see in Mark 12:41-44 is a perfect example of this. You see, she threw in all of what she had. You think that cost her something? I am willing to bet you this, (and I don’t have chapter and verse on this, but it very clearly follows biblical principles regarding prosperity), but I believe this woman became exceedingly wealthy. Why do I believe that? She followed the David Principle. What she gave cost her something. And it worked so well for David, that he was able to stockpile enough goods for Solomon to build the one of the most glorious, man-made objects created. That is, the Temple. God is not a respecter of persons, the Bible says. What He will do for someone else, He will do for you. She followed this principle, and gave something to God that most definitely cost her everything she had. There is no doubt in my mind that she was exceedingly rich after this.

So, as I close, let’s see how the David Principle is applicable in our lives today. Look at Philippians 4:15-19. To sum it up, Paul thanked the church at Philippi for sharing with him in giving and receiving, or becoming partnered to his ministry. Because of that, verse 19 stands out. It says, “And my God shall supply all you need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” So then, we see that by giving of ourselves, it causes God to liberally supply, the Amplified says, our every need, according to His riches in glory. You think it cost these people to send Paul aid once and again while he was in Thessalonica? Think of how slow news traveled back then. They must have sent him a whole bunch of money, over a long period of time, and it came back to them and blessed them.

So, we as believers need to purpose that we will follow the David Principle. Vow to God that you will never give Him something that costs you nothing. Follow this principle, and you will live outside of financial hardships. When crises come at you, like this “recession” everyone is afraid of, you just stand on the Word. You have a covenant. If you follow the David Principle, and refuse to give God something that cost you nothing, even if that is the easy thing to do, you will live above this recession. Case in point. A few weeks ago, I was believing God for more work. I was working one job, 20 hours a week, but I was faithful to the job, and with my money. I tithed, I gave. A week after that job ended, I was hired at CVS. Four days after that, Wal-Mart hired me. Home Depot wanted me too, but I had to go to school as well. Now, I am working more than could imagine, but I am not toiling!

So, what I am saying is this. Follow the David Principle. Give God your best, in everything. Give Him the first fruits of your time, money, etc. You do your part, and God will do His!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Redeemed From Toil!

The Bible tells us that, “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22) First of all, we must define what rich is. People want to put a number amount on it, and say, “Well, a million dollars is rich. People shouldn’t have that much.” Well, it isn’t enough if you’re two million dollars in debt. So then, we must define what rich is. Not according to our definitions, but according to God’s. The first thing to do when we define rich, is realize that “rich” isn’t a dirty four letter word. No, the word rich is a Bible word. It says that, “Abraham became exceedingly rich, in silver, livestock, and in gold.” Those are material things. Isaac was the same way. So was Job. Jesus tells us that He came so that we could have life abundantly. In the Amplified Bible, it actually defines the word abundant as, to the full, till it overflows. Jesus didn’t limit it to just spiritual abundance. No, He came that we might abound in every area of life. He wasn’t specifying, so don’t go adding words to the Bible to make it fit in your religious, Babylonian mindset, cause that way of thinking is wrong. So then, we are to abound in all of our life.

So, looking at the Bible, we see that God defines rich in many ways. There is financial riches, but if you are sick, you are still poor. If you have bad relationships, you are still poor. You can have money in the bank, and a sick body, and all you are is a sick, poor man who’s got some money. You can have money in the bank, a healed body, and bad relationships, and all you are is a healthy, poor man, with money in the bank and bad relationships. So, God wants us to be rich in all areas of life. You need to change what the word “Rich” means in your mind. You need to equate rich with whole. So, every time I say rich, you say whole. Every time I say whole, you say rich, until you see those two terms as synonymous.

So then, back to Proverbs. The tenth chapter, and twenty-second verse, in the Amplified Bible, we see something very interesting. “The blessing of the Lord--it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it].” Toiling does not increase the blessing. One translation reads he adds no sorrow, sweat, toil, or hard labor to it. That’s powerful right there. You see, you’re job is to be His vehicle on the earth, to bless others. You’re job is to follow the plan established by God in the Garden of Eden. That is, to dress and keep what the LORD has given you. (if you want some background on this, look at my blog on “The Blessing”) Now, not only is our job to take care of it, or dress and keep what He has given us, our job is to expand the Garden of Eden around us. Now, one of the things that we must overcome is this world’s mentality on how to survive in life. Their idea is that you have to beat your brains out, toiling, working by the sweat of your brow, trying to make ends meet without God. Let me help you understand something about toil.

It doesn’t work.

Toil is a part of the curse that happened when Adam sold out and committed high treason against the Almighty God. We have been redeemed from that curse, according to Galatians 3:13-14. Praise God! We are free from toil! Hallelujah!

Now, that doesn’t mean you aren’t gonna have to work. You are gonna be working harder than you ever have before. However, you aren’t working for a living. You are working for a giving, to be a blessing to those around you, producing the Garden of Eden everywhere you go. You let the Blessing do it’s work, and you live by faith. You trust God to meet and supply all your needs. You aren’t trying to make ends meet, or trying to prosper yourself, you know God has that taken care of. That way, you can wake up ever day say, “Father, I love you. You are so amazing. Thank you for taking care of me, and blessing me beyond anything I could ever hope or dream. Now Father, here I am. Who am I to bless today? What business do you need me to do here on the earth? I live to do Your will, and be a blessing to others. I thank you for showing it to me. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.” That simple prayer, just thanking God blesses the Father so much. He loves when His kids just say, “Thank you.” Now, if you stay thankful, and ask what you are to do with what He has given you, and how you are to bless others, you are truly doing the Father’s work.

So then, we see that toil is under the curse. But, how does operating in this toil affect us? Let’s look at Luke 5. Now, some background for you. Jesus was preaching, and there were so many people, that He asked Simon (Peter) if He could get in the boat, and they launched out, and He preached. Now, He probably preached for a while, and Peter overheard it while he was most likely cleaning the nets. After He was done preaching, He told Peter to launch the boat and set down their nets, so they could receive a catch. You see, Peter sowed his boat, and God was giving Him a harvest of fish. Let’s pick up in verse 5. “But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing, nevertheless at Your word, I will let down the net.’” There are a few points I want you to see here. The first is that the word translated “Master” should actually have been translated “Rabbi”. As far as I know, it is translated that way throughout the rest of the Bible. Peter’s though was, “Preacher, we’ve been working all night, and now you want to go fishing? It’s the middle of the day.” You see, Jesus wasn’t his master yet, but Jesus was a rabbi. He only called Jesus “Rabbi” out of respect for the title. Peter was tired and wanted to go home. The second point is that he was toiling. That is, he was laboring hard, trying to meet his own needs without God. He should have been living in the Blessing, like a child of Abraham, but he wasn’t. That was why he toiled all night, and had caught nothing. The third point is the final phrase. “I will let down THE NET.” Notice that. One net. Now, if you take the religious glasses off, you will see this. Peter didn’t want to go fishing in the middle of the day. He wanted to go home, eat, and go to bed. So, when the preacher wanted to go fishing, and the preacher said to let down the NETS, plural, Peter said he would let down the NET, singular. That net was a rotten net. He had cleaned all the other ones, and this was the one that was all old, and beat up. He wouldn’t have to clean it after they used it, He could just throw it out.

So, they went out, and let down this rotten old net, and the net started to break. You see, that was a half hearted sacrifice to God. (My next post will deal with that. Never give something that costs you nothing.) People have taught for years that the net broke because there were so many fish. Really? Why didn’t their partner’s net break then? It had to have been a rotten, worn out, no good net. That’s why in verse 8, Peter falls to Jesus’ knees (he would have fallen to His feet, but they were probably knee deep in fish) and repented of what he had done. You see, Peter was thinking like many Christians do today. He gave a piece of trash as an offering, and he was toiling, trying to meet his needs without God. So then, we see that toil drives away our provision, but the Blessing draws it in to us. How else would they have caught all those fish in the middle of the day? Everyone knows that you don’t go fishing in the middle of the day and expect to catch anything. It must have been the Blessing, because Jesus did nothing outside of the Blessing. “I thought He never sinned?” Well, that is true, because He was walking in the Blessing, keeping the covenant.

So then, we have been redeemed from toil. We are redeemed from meeting our own needs without God. We are living in the Blessing, and that is God providing for us. My job is to believe Him, tithe and give, and bless other people. I am supposed to be the Jesus in my workplace, in my school, wherever I go, people should see that Blessing flowing out of me, creating the Garden of Eden. I don’t have to toil to make ends meet. I don’t live on “just enough”, I serve the God of more than enough. He is El Shaddai, not El Cheapo. El Shaddai means, the God of more than enough, and carries with it the idea that if what is needed is not there, God will create it for you.

So, I will try to close with this. Don’t toil. You are responsible to bring God His money, that is the tithe, and sow. You refuse to violate the Love Command, and you look for ways to be a blessing to people all day long. God will take care of your harvest. He says, “As long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest...will also remain.” So, your harvest is coming. A farmer doesn’t plant, and go out the next day, and get discouraged if he doesn’t see anything. No, he keeps watering, and taking care of the ground, and, then lets the seed spring up. Likewise, your heart is the ground. You water it by the word. You keep it weed free by refusing to violate the Love Command. You see, if you violate that command, and become offended, you choke out the seed that was being produce. Your harvest is coming, you just don’t have to toil to get it! You do your part, and let God do His!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

What is the Job of a Believer in a Recession?

Apologies for waiting so long to post. God has been showing me a few things, and I had to talk with Him about it before I posted some of these things. This may be a little long, but stick with it, and be ready for a few posts in the next few days. Without further pause, let us begin.

Turn to Genesis 26:1. It starts by saying, “There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. 2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.” So, Isaac’s job in the famine was stay where he was and get blessed. I personally believe that was what Abraham was supposed to do as well, instead of going to Egypt. He was God’s minister of the Blessing! Let’s skip down now to verse 12. “Then Isaac sowed in the land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold, and the LORD blessed him.” Look at that. In a famine-their version of the recession, he sowed and reaped a hundredfold! That was the Blessing of the Lord in action! Verse 13, “The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous.” Now, some people want to say, “Well, he was spiritually prosperous. He didn’t have wealth.” Read the book, and let the elevator go to the top. The very next verse says, “for he had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.” So, he got more and mores prosperous as the famine continued, and he had so much stuff, in the middle of this recession, that the Philistines envied him. This even gets better. Let’s look at what happened next.

Verse 15 “Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we” 17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. 19 And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the Esek, because they quarreled with him.” So, let me explain what happened here. Isaac was told to leave to Philistines, basically because he was making Abimelech look bad. That’s what it comes down to. Isaac had much more than Abimelech, even during the famine, or recession. So, Isaac moves around the area, and opens up all the wells that the Philistines closed up. Then he digs another one, and finds an underground river. The Philistines are arguing with him, so he just moves, and digs another well. He keeps digging these wells, and moving around, until he digs the last one. The Philistines finally come to Isaac and tell him that they have seen that Jehovah is with him. They make a peace agreement, and then Isaac found even more water.

So, let's fully understand this here. They saw the Blessing of the Lord at work on Isaac’s life. Why do I say that? Isaac went around digging up these wells, they forced him to move, he dug another one, and it kept going. That is what stopped the famine. His actions stopped the famine, and that was the Blessing at work in his life, and it called attention to God. They told him that they saw the LORD was with him. We should have people saying that about us, because we are helping turn this recession around, just like Isaac did!

So, as believers, we are here in this recession that is surrounding us, in this world’s system. However, we don’t let it touch us. I like what Jesse Duplantis said about the recession. Someone asked what he thought about it, and his response was, “We’re not participating.” We don’t have to participate in it. We can be a blessing to the people around us, and turn this recession around. That is what Isaac did. He was a blessing to those that were around him, and it stopped the famine in it’s tracks.

So do not be scared by this economy. Remember, you don’t have to participate in this recession. Psalm 91 says, “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.” This recession ain’t touching me. I have increased throughout this time, because I keep sowing and reaping. That is on top of my tithe.

Oh, man, it’s flowing out of me now. You see, when you tithe, God opens up the windows of heaven and rebukes the devourer for your sake! You can’t afford not to tithe. Otherwise, he will not rebuke Satan in this area of your life, because you are a thief, you have robbed God. It says that in Malachi 3. When you tithe, it’s not like you are losing money. God always spends your tithe on your spiritual development. Jesus receives this tithe like Melchizedek received Abram’s tithe. He received it, and then he blessed Abram. Jesus takes your tithe, and blesses you. The word blessed means “empowered to prosper”. So, when you bring in the tithe, Jesus’ job is to empower you to prosper. Did you notice after Abram was blessed by Melchizedek, that he became very rich?

So then, keep tithing. You can’t afford not to tithe. Keep giving, because that is you sowing seed. 2 Corinthians 9 tells us, “ He who sows sparing will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Let each man give as he purposes in his own heart, not grudgingly nor of necessity, for God loves a cheerful, joyous, prompt to do it giver, whose heart is in his giving. And God is able, to make all grace abound toward you, so that you, having ALL sufficiency, in ALL THINGS, may abound to for every good work. As it is written, “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who ministers seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.” I paraphrased a little, but you get the point. God is taking care of multiplying your seed. Notice, He gives you the seed! All you got to do is sow it! Bless God, I can be a distributor, and it’s not even my job to get the seed, it’s His ministry! And then, not only does He give me the seed which I am to sow, He causes it to multiply! You better be shouting, this is good stuff right here. All you have to do, is follow God’s commands about the seed He has given to you, and He will take care of the rest, so that you can disperse abroad and give to the poor. What does that do? That stops the recession in it’s tracks, and halts it’s progress. So get yourself in your prayer closet, and talk to God about sowing seed. If you haven’t been tithing, ask forgiveness, and bring that tithe before God, and put it in the church. Then, you start looking for places to sow, where you can be a blessing to people, and turn this recession around. God will show you where the good ground is for your seed. Refuse to let this recession get a grip on you. Do not participate in it. Be like Isaac. You sow in the year of famine, and reap a hundredfold. I don’t tell you that in my own personal life, I have seen an increase of what I can so into various ministries and good works in the past year. It works. It may seem tough at first, but be faithful to what God says, and help turn this recession around!

I hope I didn’t get to long for you guys, and I hope you read it all. I’ll sum it up for you in a sentence or two. In this recession, we as believers should be increasing, and use that increase to turn this recession around. We are to be a blessing to people, especially when times get tough, and point them to God through our blessing them.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Faith in Action!

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is...” Notice that. Faith is an action. Faith is not just a belief. It is a present condition. Faith is now! But, what is faith now? Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” So then, faith calls things that be not as though they were. Faith provides us with the evidence that the things which we believe for have come to pass. Too many times, we try to brush faith off as a mental thing. However, faith is the ability given by God to invoke change on the earth! Praise God!

Now, to prove that to you, look at Mark 11:12-14. “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.” So, Jesus went to this fig tree looking to eat. There was no fruit on it, so He spoke to the tree. (There should have been fruit on this particular tree, because of it having leaves, according to Bible scholars.) So, Jesus told the fig tree that no one would ever eat from it again. Then, He walked away. Jump down to verse 20. “Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.” I’m gonna pause here for a second. What a peculiar way for Jesus to answer him. Have faith in God. It seems like Jesus is telling Peter that the reason He could tell the fig tree that no one could eat from it ever again was because He had faith. So, speaking words in faith can change our circumstances! If this is true, then the next few verses should confirm what I said. Verse 23 “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

So then, Jesus just told us that faith was what allowed Him to speak to the fig tree and cause a result to happen. He also told us that we can do that in our own lives. Now, what is very interesting here, and the LORD has only shown this to me recently, is that there is a key phrase here. Whoever can have whatsoever, but, that depends upon not doubting in your heart. How did Jesus get to that point? He said that He only spoke what He heard His Father speak. God speaks words of faith. That is how He does things. It is His Method of Operation if you will. Since Jesus only said what He heard His Father say, no doubt or unbelief ever came out of His mouth. The Bible tells us that saltwater and freshwater cannot flow out of the same stream. In other words, the doubt or unbelief you speak will contaminate your faith. So, we need to check our mouths. What are we saying? “Well I’m just dying to go there!” Really? I hope not. “I don’t think that could ever happen to me.” It won’t now. You see, the words that you spoke contaminated your faith. If we want to get results like Jesus got results here on the earth, we need to learn to do things His way. He only spoke what He heard His Father say. So, the words we speak should be what He speaks to us. Those are words of blessing, not cursing, life and not death. In Deuteronomy 30:19 it says, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” God gave us the choice. We choose by the words that we say. So, you choose for yourself. Do you want to speak words of cursing, and death, and reap the same, and not see any results with your faith? Or do you want to speak words of life, and blessing, reap the same, and go from faith to faith and glory to glory? I chose faith and glory, Bless God! I want to produce results with my faith. If I don’t produce results, I am just like that fig tree. I am not producing fruit, and can be of no use to Master, and that is no place I want to be. If I speak words of faith, and get results by them, I can accomplish mighty acts (through the Holy Spirit) for the Kingdom! What a wonderful life that is, to be a blessing to others, and to point them to Jesus, our Savior, Messiah, Redeemer, and Friend! So then, purpose today what words you will speak. Make a quality decision to grow closer to God. Don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake, just get it under the Blood right away, and get right back on course, fighting the good fight of faith! For our weapons are not carnal, bless God, but mighty for the pulling down of strongholds! AMEN!

So then, Our faith is meant to produce a result. We need to make sure that only freshwater is flowing out of our spring. What do I mean by this? Well, in Proverbs it tells us that out of a man’s heart flow the issues, or wellspring, of life. Jesus tells us in Matthew that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So, out of our spring will flow the waters that are in us. If my spring has some saltwater and some freshwater, then the water that flows out will be all salty. In other words, you can’t contain the salt. Just like with doubt. You can’t speak doubt in one situation, and expect it not to affect the rest of your life. So, we must weed the doubt out. Like Jesse Duplantis says, “Doubt is a cancer growth in the spirit. It must be cut out by the scalpel of faith.” How do we get the doubt out? By using the sword of the spirit. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. We could say that that metaphor is used because one side of this sword cuts the devil, the other side cuts us, performing surgery, to get the doubt, and the unGodly things out of us.

You may think I got off track here, but I'm working on something, hear me out now.

Our faith is meant to produce a manifestation in our lives. The Bible tells us that. Our faith is used to produce Kingdom results in our lives. However, our faith cannot work if there is doubt mixed in. A little bit of doubt will contaminate the whole thing, much like a little bit of salt will contaminate the water, or a little yeast will leaven the whole loaf of bread. Doubt is dangerous, but the Word of God, which is alive and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, is there to cut the unGodly things out of our lives. Doubt included. When we allow the Word, or the scalpel of faith, to perform spiritual surgery, we cut the doubt out, and remove it, like you would a tumor. It is gone, not to return again. Then, our faith can produce results. I can be a producer for God in His system. I can use my faith to invoke change, and watch this faith change my situations from bad, to good. Bless God. We need to develop our faith, and watch Supernatural things come to pass. We use our faith to call things which be not as though they were. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! When you are standing for something, be it your healing, prosperity or just money to pay your bills. Whatever it is that you are believing God for, when the devil comes at you and tries to attack you, and he says, “You haven’t seen anything. You have been standing for a long time. If it was going to happen, you would have seen it already.” That is when you jump up, grab your Bible, turn to Hebrews 11:1, and tell the devil, “NO way Mr. devil! I have the evidence right here! My faith is the substance what I am hoping for! It is the evidence of what I cannot see! It is the title deed! (AMP) I have it, praise God, and you aren’t gonna convince me otherwise! Now, I’m just gonna start praising God for giving me my ... (whatever it is you need or are believing for).” Then you begin praising God, magnifying Him, and telling Him how awesome He is! You thank Him! That is faith in action! Hallelujah!

Friday, April 10, 2009

The Gates of Hell shall Not Prevail!

Matthew 16:18, “And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades (hell) shall not prevail against it.

Now notice, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. Too many times we read this as the gates attacking us. When was the last time you heard of gates attacking someone? In fact, they would bombard the gates in Medieval times. Gates get attacked, and Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against the onslaught of the church! Praise God! This gets even better.

Look at Psalm 107:16. “For He has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two.” Isaiah 45:2, following this same thought, God tells us, “I will go before you, And make the crooked place straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.” God repeats for us almost the same exact phrase here. Stick with me now, I’m building something. Look at this, Isaiah 42:6-7, this prophecy here is concerning the Christ. Now to fully grasp this, you have to understand that Christ was not Jesus' last name. Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah. Now, The word Christ means, “The Anointed one and His Anointing.” Now, since Christ has delegated to us, the body, (Him being the head) the authority, for us to walk out the great commission and to do the same works that He did (John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”) this is also talking to us. You don’t talk to someone's head, and ignore their body, do you? Now then, Isaiah 42:6-7 says, I, the LORD, have called You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 to open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.”

Do you understand what I'm saying? People are held in bondage by gates in a prison. Those are the gates that we are to be assaulting, through the anointing! They shall not prevail against us! So, people can be set free! We were talking about this Thursday night, April 9, 2009, and while we were discussing this, the Word of the LORD came to me, and I was led to write this.

“Gates hold prisoners captive. The gates of hell shall NOT prevail against the Church. Christ tore down the gates, and set the captives free. But, people often do not realize they are free, and are trapped, either by their own choosing or a lack of knowledge, by a powerless gate, built from a weak substance like straw or paper, easily destroyed. It is OUR job, as the Church of Christ (the Anointed One and His Anointing) to RISE UP, and set the captives free! The gates of hell cannot prevail against the church. We must step out in the authority given to us by Christ. So, you GO! Set the captives free! Let them know their bonds are broken in Jesus Name!”

Praise God, I get excited just reading that! Hallelujah! So then, we MUST GO. We must set the prisoners free. It is our responsibility, as the Body of Christ to let people know what He did for them on the cross, when He died and took our sins and sicknesses on His back, descended into the pit of hell, and three days later, He rose victorious, with the keys in His hand. He took the power of principalities, and the powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it! Praise God! The match is fixed! Our enemy is already beaten! Amen!

Monday, April 6, 2009

A Place Called Jehovah-Jireh

Many times as Christians, we stand on God’s promises for prosperity. We see Philippians 4:19 which says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” What an awesome verse. We also see Psalm 23:1, which says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Notice that. Shall not want. Later in that chapter, it tells us that the Lord prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Our cup runs over. In fact, Jesus Himself said that He came so that we might have life more abundantly. What an amazing thought. He came so we can have abundant life. Galatians 3:13-14 expands on that, saying that the reason Christ died was so the blessing of Abraham (read my last post, The Blessing is Working in Me to understand what that blessing is, or read Deuteronomy 28:1-15, or do both) might come upon the gentiles. It was already on the Jews. God wanted it to come on all the rest of us. So then, why is it that so many Christians do not experience God’s Blessing to the fullest extent? I am convinced that it is a lack of understanding.

One of God’s covenant names is “Jehovah-Jireh” which literally means, “The Lord Will Provide”. God wants to provide for you. However, this is only one side of this truth. Let’s read where this is revealed to Abraham. Over in Genesis 22, Abraham is told to sacrifice his son, his only son whom he loves. They take a three day trip to Mount Moriah, and Abraham is supposed to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering. (In the New Testament we read that Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead if he was killed, he had such strong faith in God keeping his promises.) So they get there, and Abraham is about to kill Isaac, and the angel of the Lord stops him, because God has now seen that there is nothing before Him in Abraham’s eyes, including his own son. Picking up in verse 13, “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide, (your footnote should read YHWH Yireh, or Jehovah-Jireh) as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.’” Did you catch that? Not only was God revealed as Jehovah-Jireh, but that was what the place was called where Abraham was sent. That’s where his provision was! You see, Abraham could have gone to any mountain when he was told to sacrifice his son. He found where he was told to go and he went there.

Why don’t we do that as Christians? So many times we want God to provide for us, which He promised to do, but we don’t do it His way. We don’t find where He wants us to be. So, in order to prosper, not only do you need to follow God’s laws for prosperity, which include tithing, giving, walking in love, etc., but you need to find where you are supposed to be. You need to find where Jehovah-Jireh is for you. Where is your Jehovah-Jireh? Ask God, meditate on the Word (or think about it) and He will show you where Jehovah-Jireh is. The key is knowing His voice. That is how Abraham knew where to go. He knew the voice of his Lord. You need to find this place. God needs you in this place so you can be blessed. Not just to get things, which in and of themselves are not wrong to have, but, more importantly, so that you can bless other people. If you are not in that place where God is providing for you, it will be all you can do to make it. So, find where God needs you to be. He needs you there so that you can bless the people there through your prosperity. The question, then, is very simple.

Where is your place called Jehovah-Jireh?

For Abraham, it was Mount Moriah. For you, it could be anywhere. Find that place. Talk to God, and ask Him where He needs you. Ask Him where your place is that you can call Jehovah-Jireh.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Blessing is Working in Me!

The Blessing is Working in Me!

Man, that just feels good to say. “The Blessing is working in me!” Now, to fully grasp the depth of that statement, we need to understand what The Blessing is. Now, someone may say, “Man, that car was such a blessing.” Well, the car is a result of The Blessing, but it isn’t The Blessing. To understand this, let’s go back to Genesis 1:26-28.

“26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Emphasis Mine)

So, we see that God Blessed Adam and Eve. So then, this Blessing should be the ultimate blessing. God tells them to be fruitful-always producing, multiply-always increase, replenish-always fill and refill, and to subdue-always control your environment or your environment will control you. So, this Blessing that God pronounced on Adam and Eve represents His perfect will for all men for all time. How do I know that? Well, God’s first words to man represented His will for the entire species. This Blessing was designed to turn wherever Adam went into the Garden of Eden. How do I know that? Well, the Bible gives us the dimensions of the Garden, it is located in the country we now know as Iraq. So, the rest of the earth didn’t have anything happening, it was not the Garden. Adams job was to take that Blessing, and turn the earth into the Garden of Eden! Hallelujah!

Unfortunately, Adam was stupid, and sinned his Blessing rights away, and turned the earth over to the Devil (the Bible calls Satan “the god of this world”). The rest of the Bible is God trying to get the Blessing back in the earth. He tries with Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now, Ham and Japheth did the same thing Adam did, and sinned it away, but Shem, he kept the covenant of the Blessing. In fact, Hebrew history tells us that Shem was Melchizedek, the king, or Lord-Mayor of Jerusalem, and head of the school of the prophets. Melchizedek was the one who blessed Abram, and kept the Blessing going on the earth! We see the promises of this blessing covenant written out in Deuteronomy 28, as well as the curses for disobedience. But, the obedient are promised to be blessed in the city, and blessed in the field. The head and not the tail. Above only, and never beneath. Able to be a lender, not a borrower.

So, this is the Blessing that the Israelites were supposed to operate in. When Jesus came to the earth, He came to bring the Blessing to all the rest of us! You don’t believe me? Look at Galatians 3:13-14. “13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
 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.” So, this why Christ came, and hung on the cross! So that the Blessing of Abraham (which we have established was the same blessing pronounced upon Adam) could come on everyone else in the earth, so that we could enter into a blood covenant with the Almighty God, and become family. You may be thinking, “I thought Jesus died so I could be saved.” He did, it’s part of the Blessing. The Blessing is based on that blood covenant with God, by which, Jesus brought us into right standing with the Father.

So, the question now is, what does The Blessing mean in my life and in your life? To put it simply, quite a lot. This means that you can live your life free from sickness and disease, for it is a part of the curse, which you have been redeemed from. You can live your life free from financial lack, because that too, is under the curse, and you have been redeemed from the curse. God wants you to live your life to the fullest, to be blessed, and to prosper. How can I be a blessing to the people around me if I am not blessed? If someone can’t make their mortgage payment, and will lose their house, a hug won’t do much good. But, if I am prosperous and blessed, I can write them a check, and tell them not to even worry about paying me back. (To do so would be to hurt a poor man, and that doesn’t sit well with God.)
I guess the point I am trying to make is that I need to learn to walk in The Blessing (as do you) so that we can be a blessing to the people around us. How much of a blessing would it be to pay someone’s car off for them, when they have been struggling to pay it off? And then, when they ask them how I was able to do that, in the recession that is going on, tell them that it is the God I serve, and He has blessed me more that I could ever hope or dream. That would pull people into the kingdom: people seeing a powerful God who is on their side, who want them to succeed, so they can also be a blessing!

Wow, I didn’t expect to get into all that. In all honesty, I was expecting a quick post, and then heading off to bed. But I just preached myself happy! Amen! Remember, the Blessing is working in you! The Blessing is working in me! The Blessing is an enablement of God’s ability on my life to supernaturally succeed, and be able to bless other people! Hallelujah! The Blessing is working in me!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Refuse to Get Offended

Our culture lets a lot of things slide. Culture tells us, “Hey, premarital sex is ok.” Or, “It’s ok to do drugs.” The church tells you differently (at least, it should). The church preaches that premarital sex is wrong. That it defiles your body, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Same with drugs. However, one of the biggest things in the Bible, that the Church doesn’t deal with, as a whole, is the trap of offense.

Now, you may be thinking, “Oh, it’s not a big deal to get offended.” Or, “I had every right to tell that person off.” In the natural, you may be right. However, Jesus holds us to a higher standard. (So high that He said Hating someone is the same as murdering them) In Matthew 13:20-21, talking about the parable of the sower, He says, “20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and immediately with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.” (KJV, emphasis mine) So, Jesus here is telling us that offense will rob us of God’s Word, and its ability to bear fruit. That is a very interesting idea. If we get offended, the Word dies on the inside of us, and is of no use to us. This is what Paul wrote about when he spoke on love in 1 Corinthians 13:5, 7, “[Love] is not provoked...7 [love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” So, Paul, by the Holy Spirit, is telling us that we are to love one another, with the God kind of love. This love does not get easily upset. “So, you mean to tell me that I can’t get upset when someone cuts me off on the highway?” You can, but, it’s not God’s way. He wants you to bless them, and just move on. There is nothing you can do to change it anyway, so, why even bother getting out of the will of God?

“But,” someone may say, “So-and-so did me wrong. I need to go tell people everything about it so they can empathize with me, and feel what I am feeling. They had no right to do what they did.” Well, that may be so. But what gives you the right to act in a manner not consistent with the love of God? You see, when you get out of love, you are robbing yourself of God’s best for your life, and when you do that, you are causing the Word to not bear fruit. In essence, you are creating a “crop failure” for the Word.

So, when life comes at you, and you are tempted to get offended, refuse it. Do not take the thought. Say what God says about the person. If you do not get offended, you keep the wall of God’s Blessing intact around you, so that it can protect you from harm. This Blessing wall is the wall that enables you to walk free from sickness, poverty, depression, lack, and anything that hinders you from achieving what God has set up for you.

So, refuse to be offended, even for an instant. Avoid this pitfall, and watch the breakthrough come!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Healing, Pt. 3

In this study of healing, we have seen a few things.

1. We have seen that God’s Word says that it is His will to heal.
2. We have seen that Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord our Healer, or our Physician, is one of God’s redemptive names.
3. We have seen that it wasn’t until later generations began to distort the Word of God that the Church believed it wasn’t always God’s will to heal.

I would like to conclude this series with one final teaching. I want to show you how to appropriate healing for yourself. Now, this may be stretching some people’s thinking, so, before I get stoned, please hear what I have to say. Healing is a very simple thing on our part. All we have to do, is find what God’s Word says about it, and Mark 11:23 and 24 tells us that we can have whatever we say. So, if we find God’s Word on the subject, and we keep that coming out of our mouth, instead of talking the problem, and saying that we are sick, like many Christians do, instead say what God’s Word says about us. 1 Peter 2:24 tells us that we were healed by the stripes that were on Jesus’ back. If we were healed by them (past tense) we are healed now (present tense). Healing was provided for the Jews under the Old Covenant, and the Bible tells us that we have a new covenant, established upon better promises! Hallelujah!

So, the Bible tells us that we are to be healed. James gives us one way to appropriate our healing. In James 5:15 it says, “The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” God promises that if we pray in faith, (which doesn’t include attaching, “if it be thy will” to the end our prayer, because we have established that it is God’s will to heal us) we WILL be healed! Isn’t that good news? We get to appropriate our healing for ourselves, when we need it, by praying the prayer of faith!

In his great study Bible, Mr. Scofield looks at the Greek word for salvation, Sozo, and finds that in this word, all the redemptive acts are contained. What I mean by that is, when Jesus went to the cross to die for your salvation, not only did he save you from Hell, He also saved you from sickness, poverty and many other things. So, the same cross that bore your sins also bore your sickness!

We can see that God gave us this healing promise, but, what if we don’t see our results right away? You may say, “I tried that, I said it once, and it didn’t work, I’m still sick.” Well, that is because you didn’t stick with it, and the words you spoke undid the healing words you had said. Ephesians 6:13b-14 tells us, “having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,” So, we are to keep standing. Brother Hagin said it this way, “If you are willing to stand forever, you won’t be standing very long.” So, make the quality decision, that, no matter the circumstances, you will believe God’s Word, and what He said. That means, when I feel sick, I won’t run around telling people that I feel sick, I go to the Word, and find my healing scriptures, and confess them. I pray the prayer of faith, and when I feel sick, I keep confessing. Now, that doesn’t mean you don’t go see a doctor. You use wisdom in that area. Remember, they are fighting the same thing we are. However, if they tell you that you have a certain disease, don’t walk around saying, “The doctor told me I have such and such disease.” You say, “I believe the report of the Lord over the report of the doctor. I am healed by Jesus’ stripes!” Keep confessing God’s Word, and watch your healing manifest!

If you need healing, pray this prayer. “Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you that you have promised us exceeding great and precious promises in your Word, and that healing is one of them. I thank you that it says in 1 Peter 2:24, ‘by His stripes I was healed.’ I thank you that I was healed by the stripes on Jesus back, and that you have given me this free gift. You are Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord my Healer, and I thank you for Healing me. In Jesus Name, Amen” Once you pray, don’t undo your prayer by talking sickness and disease, or by praying for it over and over again. Confess God’s Word, and thank Him for manifesting your healing.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Healing, Pt. 2

Continuing the thought of healing from my previous post, let us now look at the how the Church's view on healing has progressed throughout history. Jesus obviously believed in healing, because in Acts 10:38 Peter said, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil." Now, I'm gonna take a short side journey here. Peter said that Jesus did two things. Doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil. So, healing can't be bad, because otherwise Jesus would have been undoing the good that he did before. The second point I would like to make is that Peter tells us sickness is oppression of the devil. In fact, no where in the Bible will you find God making some one sick to teach them something.

Getting back on topic, we see that not only did Jesus believe in healing, His disciples did too. In Acts 3, Peter and John healed a man at the Gate called Beautiful. There are many healings spoken of throughout the book of Acts. in fact, part of Evangelism, if we are to follow the only example of an evangelist we see (that is Philip, in the book of Acts, the 8th chapter) you see miracles being performed in conjunction with the Gospel being preached, including healing. So, I feel it is safe to say that the early Church believed in healing very strongly. They didn’t inquire whether or not it was God’s will to heal them, they knew that it was His will. In fact, James, the head of the Jerusalem Church, tells us unequivocally that, “The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” (James 5:15) So, where did we lose it?

I believe it was gradually a lost revelation. As men became more and more accustomed to Christianity, many became less passionate. Through cultural interaction, they learned that the Zen Buddhist monks believed that you had to suffer on this earth. For a while, when the church was being persecuted, that fine for them. But when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, people didn’t have anything to suffer for anymore. So, there was a combination of two things. One, they were forced to be “Christians” (and I use the term here very loosely, because if they had no free choice, are they really Christians?), and number two, because of the suffering they believe they had to have, they picked sickness as a thing to suffer under. Why sickness? First of all, because they were not all true Christians, many of them did not have faith that God could or would heal them. Second, because of a lack of faith, even though hands were laid on them, and they were anointed with oil, they were not healed, so they concluded that healing had been done away with.

I am relatively certain that Pope Gregory the 7th was the one who made many reforms to the church, (if I am wrong, and it was a different pope, please correct me), but regardless, a Pope made a bunch of reforms in the 11th Century (Again, I believe that is the date), and one them was in regards to the way the sacraments were handled. So, instead of that anointing with oil being for healing, as is the Biblical example, he changed it, because he saw that it wasn’t working. It became known as the sacrament of Extreme Unction, and is still currently used in preparation for death, to make sure one is ready to die.

In modern times, people have been getting blasted by many church circles for believing that it is God’s will to heal always. Why is that? I personally believe it is His will, as His word says it. The early church followed that belief as well, so, why do believers get attacked for believing it is God’s will to heal? I leave you with that question. Post your responses please, I am curious to see what you have to say, as I do not have an answer to this question.

Feel free to post your reactions, comments, issues, concerns, or questions below.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Healing, Pt. 1

Many times Christians miss it in a few big areas. One of them that I would like to address, (probably in several parts) is the area of healing. Now, don’t shut me off before you read what I have to say. Read it with an open mind, and let me know what you think.

To begin a study of healing effectively, I believe the first the question that needs to be addressed is the question, “Is it God’s will to heal me?” I say, “Yes, without a doubt.” Now, the Bible says let every word be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses, so, I will give a few scriptures to back up my point. The first, is 1 Peter 2:24 “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-BY WHOSE STRIPES YOU WERE HEALED” (NKJV, emphasis mine). The second, is James 5:15 “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” The third is Mark 16:17-18, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name...they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

One could also use Deuteronomy 28:61, which says that any sickness not written in the law is under the curse of the law. Galatians 3:13-14 says that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, so that the Blessing of Abraham (the first part of Deuteronomy 28) could come on the Gentiles, or non-Jews. Of course, there are many more references, but space prohibits me from getting into them at this moment.

Now, you may be asking, “What about the Old Testament, where it says, ‘God will cause these diseases to come upon you’” etc. The thing you need to remember is, when the Bible was being translated, Hebrew was a dead language. They did a remarkable job, but spoken Hebrew did not exist, except in a classroom, or in synagogues, much like Latin today. Now that Hebrew has come back into existence, and many scholars confirm this fact, that when they say, “God will cause...” in reference to sickness and disease, they used a causative verb as opposed to a passive verb. A better translation would be, “God will allow.” And the only reason it was allowed was due to disobedience, however, they had to exercise the authority given to them in their covenant.

The final point I would like to make is in reference to the names of God.
God reveals Himself in seven redemptive names in the Old Testament. Here they are. Again, let us not quibble over whether it is Jehovah, or Yahweh, or Adonai. Since we do not know the proper pronunciation, when I say Jehovah, know that I am referring to the Tetragrammaton, or the name of God.

Jehovah-Shammah The Lord is there.
Jehovah-Shalom The Lord our Peace.
Jehovah-Ra-ah. The Lord is my Shepherd.
Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide.
Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord is our Banner/Victor/Captain.
Jehovah-Tsidkenu. The Lord our Righteousness.
Jehovah-Rapha. I am the Lord that healeth thee. The Lord our Healer.

You ask any Christian, and they believe that God is Jehovah-Shammah, Jehovah-Shalom, Jehovah-Ra-ah, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Nissi, and Jehovah-Tsidkenu. He said He was all of these things in the Bible when He revealed His Name to mankind. How then can He not be Jehovah-Rapha??? Did He lose a part of Himself. For you to accept the first 6 names, you must also accept the 7th, because, if He is not Jehovah-Rapha, then it means one of two things. It means either, God is a liar, which His Word says He is not. Or, it means God changed, and His Word says He is the same, “Yesterday, today, and forever.” Therefore, if God is your shepherd, your peace, your righteousness, He is also your healer.

Looking at Jesus, one can never find a place where He told someone it was not God’s will for them to be healed. There was no sickness and disease in the Garden of Eden. There is no sickness and disease in Heaven. So, we can see that everywhere the Will of God is manifested, there is healing. So we see, God is the Healer (one translation reads "Our Physician") and He desires that we be healed. As Christians, there is healing available for us today. In the next few notes that I post, you will learn why the church stopped believing in healing, that it is for the Church today, and how to get your results on purpose.

Encouragement

When Paul and Silas were in jail, they refused to look at their circumstances. They didn't complain about their backs hurting. When they were in trouble and everything was against them, they began to praise God, and the chains fell off! They praised God and the circumstances changed!

You may be feeling depressed. Start praising God!
You may be in lack. Start praising God!
You may have sickness in your body. Start praising God!
No matter what circumstances come against you, Start praising GOD!

The circumstances will change, the chains will fall off, and God will fix everything. You will feel joy, no longer be in lack, you will be healed.

Now, we don't praise God for the circumstances, but we praise God for the answer. He has them all. When we praise God for His goodness, and thank Him for the answer, the way out of the mess that we are in. When we do this, the circumstances are required to change, because you spoke the very same words that God spoke, and Jesus showed us that speaking the words that God spoke changes circumstances. Every word Jesus spoke changed things, because He said that He only spoke what He heard His Father speak.

We speak the words God spoke in faith, believing that those words shall come to pass, and we praise God, and we change the circumstances around us.

So, when you feel depressed, Praise God, and say, "I have the joy of the Lord." Don't be moved if nothing changes right away. You keep holding fast to your confession, and do not change it. You do not confess depression, you confess the joy of the Lord. Continually confess God's word, always keep it coming out of your mouth, and watch the depression change. You can do this in every area of your life.

Put this into action. Praise God that His word is true. Glorify Him. God's word will not return void. His words are full of power. Speak His words, and change your circumstances.

Protection and the 91st Psalm

I was working a while ago, and meditating on the fact that our words shape our reality. In Proverbs 18:21, it says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." So, we see that our words have power. In fact, God created the whole universe through His words, Hebrews 11:3, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God." Proverbs 6:2 talks about the power of your words, "Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth." Our words are powerful, and Brother Hagin always used to say that "You can have what you say" I believe that with all my heart, and have seen it evidenced in my own life. I would like to take it one step farther and say that you WILL have what you say.

While I was meditating on this, I thought of the 91st Psalm. As soon as I got to the second verse, the Word of the Lord came to me. Here is what it says in verses one and two. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

Many times, we want to get all excited about dwelling in the secret place of the most High, but we do not know how to get there. That day, what God told me was ringing in my spirit for more than 3 hours! This is what He said, "How do you get in the secret place? You have to say, "LORD, You are my refuge, my fortress, you are my God, IN YOU I WILL TRUST!"

When situations arise, and trouble comes (and it will), you say to it, "No, it will not come near me!" Read the 91st Psalm, confess it over your life, and make the Lord your refuge by saying. Saying what you ask? Psalm 91:2. That is what you say. You confess it. Hebrews 3:1 says, "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;" another translation renders the word profession as confession. Hebrews 4:14 (Amplified) says this, "Insamuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast to our confession [of faith in Him]." Hold fast your confession of faith in Him. Hallelujah!

When trouble arises, and it will, you hold fast to your confewsion of faith. The time to get in the Word and build yourself up is before the storms arise, but fear not, you can get in the Word and start building your faith up right now. Spend time with God. Read your Bible. Confess the 91st Psalm over your life. Get into that place of protection. Say of the Lord, "Lord, you are my refuge, you are my fortress! You are my God, the Lord of my life! In You I will trust!" Meditate on the Word, and let it not depart from you day or night. (Joshua 1:8) Stand strong on God's promise for you. Refuse to let Satan steal it from you. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His Might! Confess God's word over you and your family day and night! Refuse to let satan steal from you, by making the Lord your refuge!

Intro

So, before I get started, a few things about myself. My name is Dave. I am a pastor's son, and in a few years will be headed off to Rhema Bible Training Center to begin/continue my training to be a preacher myself. What kind of preacher? I am not sure. I believe it is a pastor, although God may tell me something completely different. In this blog, I will be sharing my thoughts about God, things He is showing me, and a little bit of preaching for you to enjoy (sometimes I can't help myself, I just start preaching). Anyways, enjoy reading, and remember that Jesus is Lord!