Abound in this Grace Also

If you are my friend on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, you will notice that I have been posting a lot about the subject of prosperity.

Now, for some reason, prosperity is a divisive subject in the Body of Christ. The Bible makes its position on prosperity crystal clear.

I have been studying prosperity for the last few weeks, because not only do I need a manifestation of prosperity, the Church needs a revelation on prosperity. We will never usher in the End Times move of God if we are not prosperous.

So, without further ado, let's dive on into this subject.

2 Corinthians 8:7, Paul is writing, and he says,

"But as you abound in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us-see that you abound in this grace also."

So, Paul is talking about grace. They've done a good job in these graces, but there is one that they are missing.

Verse 8, he says,

"I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others."

So, apparently, what Paul is about to tell us is a test of the sincerity of our love.

Verse 9

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." (A quick note on that verse. The Greek word translated "rich" means, "financially wealthy". This is not referring to spiritual riches, but wealth.)

So, what Paul is saying is that, "Our prosperity is a measure of the sincerity of our love." (Oh man, I'm gonna get some comments on that statement!)

Now, before we go any further, I need to deal with something here. When did Jesus become poor? Because whenever Jesus became poor shows us when we have the right to be made rich.

We know that poverty, sin, sickness and disease, and separation from God are under the curse. (Read Deuteronomy 28-it will tell you what the Blessing is and what the curse is). We don't have space in this post to talk about Jesus' earthly ministry, but suffice it to say, He never broke a commandment from God, so God's Covenant mandated that He walk in The Blessing while He was here on the earth.

So, let's examine each of these aspects here.

2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that, "He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Well, that gives us something else we need to look up. Jesus became poor at some point, and He became sin at some point. When did that happen?

1 Peter 2:24

"Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, the we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed."

Two things from that verse.

1. The stripes on His back purchased your healing. So, a transaction had to be made. Just like with sin and poverty, Jesus had to be made sick at some point.

2. This verse also tells us when. He bore our sins when? On the tree. So, Jesus took our sins upon Himself on the tree.

Now, when did Jesus become separated from God? On the cross He cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46) So, Jesus was separated from God on the cross.

We have two separate portions of scripture that tells us Jesus was made a curse at the cross. Let's look at a third one (the Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established-2 Corinthians 13:1). What we're doing is building an irrefutable case, so that no doubt can creep into your mind about God's will for you to prosper.

Galatians 3:13

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree")"

So, Jesus became a curse when He hung on the cross. That means that was when He became poor, that was when He became sin, that was when He became sickness, and that's when He became separated from the Father.

So, we were given the right to be called sons of God when Jesus was separated from the Father.

We were given the right to be healed when Jesus was made sick.

We were given the right to be righteous when Jesus became sin.

We were given the right to prosperity when Jesus became poor.

All of that happened at the cross! That means, the second you made Jesus the Lord of your life, in the spirit, you were made healed, righteous, a son of the Living God, and prosperous. Now it's up to you to walk it out.

Now that that is established, let's continue on.

The Corinthian church abounded in many graces at the time Paul wrote 2 Corinthians by the Holy Spirit, but they did not abound in prosperity. That's what Paul is saying, "See to it that you abound in prosperity also."

Now, one thing people say about prosperity all the time is, "Well, I give, but I never get anything back." I think you need to read on a little more.

2 Corinthians 9:1-2

"Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you: for I know your willingness (to give)" (Parenthesis mine)

So, Paul is telling the church here that they knew how to give, but they didn't know how to receive.

He said he didn't have to tell them about giving, and ministering to the saints. He said it was "superfluous."

The dictionary defines superfluous as, "being more than is sufficient or required; excessive."

We could read it this way. "It would be excessive for me to exhort you to give. You have demonstrated your willingness time and time again."

So, we can now see that people can sow seed without reaping a harvest. That means we have to learn how to reap our harvest.

Verse 6

"But this I say. He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."

So, your harvest is dependent upon the seed you sow.

Notice, it isn't a dollar amount. Only you can define sparingly or bountifully in your own life. The greatest offering spoken of in the Bible is the widow's mite. She sowed all she had.

Now, according to the commentaries I have looked at concerning this passage, the two coins she sowed were equivalent to 6 minutes worth of pay. They were all she had. She had nothing.

But, she sowed what she did have. That was her significant seed. To the widow, this was a bountiful offering, and there is no doubt in my mind that the Blessing overtook her like it was promised to in the 28th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. She received a harvest on that seed, and I believe she was never poor another day in her life.

Verse 7

"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Never let anyone force you into giving. You don't give to meet a need, or because of a desperate plea. No! You give for the purpose behind the need. I don't give to a ministry so that they can have enough money to put on a crusade or special meeting, I give because I know that as I give, I'm helping get people saved, healed, delivered and set free. That is the purpose behind the need!

Verse 8

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."

So, we're back to grace now. We know prosperity is a grace, and that we are supposed in that grace. Now, because of our sowing, God is able to make all grace abound toward you!

That means, if you're a sower, the grace to prosper is abounding towards you. All that's left is for you to receive it! God's done everything He's ever going to do about your prosperity-that was bought and paid for on the cross.

Verse 9

"As it is written: He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor, His righteousness endures forever."

Verse 10

"Now may He who ministers seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness."

You are never without seed. If you are without financial seed, it is because you aren't a sower. He will minster seed to the sower. If you don't have any seed, determine that you will sow whatever seed you get. Start it off with prayer time, or something. You need to sow to get in on this grace.

Now, I want to get to this point here. God will multiply your seed sown. What is the multiplication of seed sown?

Well, let's look at it in the natural. If I sow 1 corn seed, I will reap 1 corn plant. On that plant will be many ears of corn, but I will still only have one plant. So, there is some blessing there, and that is right and good.

Now, let's say I sow 1 corn seed, and you come up behind me and sow 5 corn seeds. Well, when harvest time comes, I am now going to reap 6 corn plants, because the seed was multiplied in the ground.

The same thing happens when you sow seed in faith. God will multiply the seed you have sown. He can do it a few different ways. One of the ways is that He can have angels supernaturally multiply the seed you have sown.

Another way is through covenant partnership. For example, if you, I and someone else, are told to each sow $10 into someone's ministry, we don't just receive credit on the $10. We receive credit on the whole thing! Heaven has it recorded that each one of us sowed $30, and that is credited to your account! That is the multiplication of seed sown!

So, God wants you prosperous. In fact, He needs you prosperous!

Start believing God! Abound in this grace! Expect harvest! Expect your seed to be multiplied! But the first thing you have to do is sow.

Find yourself some good ground, and sow seed. Get involved in what God is doing.

This isn't something you have to work for-Jesus bought and paid for in His death, burial, and resurrection! As you walk in your sonship, realize that Jesus already did all this for you! He paid the price so you don't have to.

This isn't works. We don't prosper so we can boast about our prosperity, or tell people what hotshots we are. We prosper so that God can show His goodness! We prosper so that we can finance this end times move of God!

Remember that. You need to abound in this grace also.

There may or may not be more posts coming in this series. Be blessed!

The Honor and Power Connection-Digging up the Wells of Your Father(s)

In the last few posts, we have been looking at something the Lord spoke to me, called, "The Honor and Power Connection." I have been studying it, and think we're at the place where the Lord wants us to be, so let's jump on in.

We have discussed reverence, honor, and how those are the keys to a manifestation of the power of God. I want to discuss one more thing on this topic. Maybe we'll revisit it later, but let's finish this series up.

Genesis 26:12-18

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him.

¹³ The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;

¹⁴ for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.

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 had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.

Now, notice the key phrase here in verse 18. "Issac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father." I want to focus on that.

I think we need to get back to the basics as the Body of Christ. We need to go back to what got us to where we are today. If we are to truly rise up, and be the Church, preparing the earth for the Last Days move of God, it's time we start acting like it. Let's get busy.

We need to dig again the wells of our fathers! Go back to the early 1900's, dig up the wells of the Azusa Street revival, where people would fall out in the Spirit blocks away from the church!

Dig up the wells of the Healing Revival, expecting God to move, and make Himself known with signs and wonders!

Dig up the wells of the Charismatic Renewal, with the gifts of the Spirit flowing in our services!

Dig up the wells of faith taught to us by such great men as Smith Wigglesworth, Kenneth E. Hagin, and (even though he's still alive) Kenneth Copeland!

Dig up the wells of prosperity, so that we can finance the end times move of God!

You see, the problem is, we've become too lax in the church. We're content to let a man like Brother Copeland, or Keith Moore, or some other great man of faith march in front of us, and tell us everything God's done in their lives, and then we leave the service, go home, and act just like everyone else in the world.

Well, I'm tired of it. Get strong in the Word. Get yourself built up. Then go out and do something. Make a change. Part of the problem in the church is, we're so scared of missing God that we won't step out, and when we don't step out, we miss God.

No saints, we need to be bold! Step out in faith! Lillian B. Yeomans said it this way, "God delights in His children stepping out over the aching void with nothing underneath their feet but the Word of God."

So, step over the line of faith. Refuse to pull back.

If you look at all these revivals, they all have a few things in common. First, they occurred when a group of people prayed. And they prayed. And they prayed. And they prayed.

Revival is birthed in prayer. And in that time of prayer comes an expectation.

Second, the people who desired revival desired nothing more than the Word of God. They would go to meetings and hear the Word preached. They would spend time reading the Word, meditating on it, studying it. They lived the Word.

So, get in some meetings! If you have to take time off work, or whatever, find where God wants you to go, and get there!

Then the pray-ers and the ones who have made the Word first place step out in faith.

As they do that, they step out into what the Great Commission says in Mark 16. Notice at the end of that chapter, most Bibles say that the Lord was "working withthem and confirming the Word through signs following" or something to that extent. The word "them is added by the translators. If they put it in, I can take it out. How does it read then? "The Lord working with and confirming the Word through signs following."

Okay, so, the Lord is working the Word. It is irrelevant who is stepping out in faith to fulfill the Great Commission, because God isn't working with them, He's working with the Word.

When you put your faith in the Word, and put action to your faith, you'll see results happen. God will honor His Word, because He's not a respecter of persons-He's a respecter of faith.

When we step out in faith, we are honoring His Word (and we will be doing everything we talked about Honor being in the last two posts), and when we honor His Word, He honors us, by turning up the power.

I'm going to close this post out with a Word I believe the Lord has given me. "So go out, be bold. Be strong, and of a good courage. Dig up the wells of your fathers, and do not forget what I have taught you through them. Keep putting the teaching I have given them to work in your life, and you will see changes. Them that honor Me, I will honor, and them that despise Me, I will lightly esteem. Do not turn from My statutes, and I will honor you by turning up the power in your life"

The Honor and Power Connection-Turning up the Power

I want to start with a phrase from my last post. "Reverence is appropriate activity in the presence of God." Jeff Weber.

What is appropriate activity in the presence of God?

Most people have defined it as silence, and not being able to be expressive in church.

That definition is not incorrect, but rather, I believe, incomplete. Sometimes it's appropriate to run, and jump, and sing at the top of your lungs. Other times silence is more appropriate.

However, outward expressions aside, I think the far more pressing matter is the heart. Once the heart is set aright, the outward expressions will follow.

So, we have determined to be reverent, what's next? How do we turn up the power? The answer is quite simple.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 tells us what the Apostle Paul did. He said,

¹And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

²For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

³And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

⁴And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

⁵That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

So, notice that Paul said his preaching was in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. He didn't come and try to show the people his slick preaching and oratory skills. No! He came in, and possibly said something like this, "Alright boys, I could talk to you about the power, and how good God is, and what Jesus did, but, let's see some power in action. Who's got some back trouble? Step on out here and be healed." And the guy would have gotten healed.

I know that Brother Joe Morris, on one of his first crusades with a friend of his, went to a particular city, and they were greeted by the media-this was billed as a miracle and healing crusade. So, they started asking them about the meeting, and his friend said something to the effect of, "I dare you to bring your sick and diseased, and watch the power of God heal them!"

Well, Joe preached the first night. He said it was bad. One person came up to him after the service, and told him, "Don't do this for a living." It wasn't the preaching that got the power to show up.

But, a night or two later, Joe saw a vision, during the service. Two angels, standing there. He asked God what they were there for, and God said to him, "They've come to give this woman a new heart." So, at the end of the service, his friend asked him if he had anything, and Joe told her what God had said. She went to the doctor the next day, and her heart was completely healed, and looked like it was brand new.

She went to the newspapers, and there were headlines that said, "Angels deliver woman new heart." Well, you could barely get in the place that night, there were so many people there, and they had revival! People got healed, saved, set free!

So, what am I saying? Don't rely on preaching and teaching for a miracle. It's good, and it has its place, but expectation is where the power comes from! Expect a demonstration of the Spirit and of power! Lives will be changed! People healed! People saved!

But, a Gospel without power is like a well without water. It is utterly useless. So, honor God, and expect the power!

My next post (maybe sooner than it took me to get this one out) will finish this series (unless God gives me more on this). It's going to be called, "Digging up the Wells of Your Fathers."

The Honor and Power Connection-Where is the Power?

I've come to a realization lately. There is something missing. I don't mean there is something missing from myself, or God, or anything like that. I mean, there is something missing from the Body of Christ. The missing element is power.

We all pray for God to turn up the power, but do we live our live's in a manner that qualifies us for more power? Are we doing what the men and women of God before us did to see the manifestations of the mighty, miracle working, power of God in their lives? I don't think so.

The first part of this series is something the Lord has been ministering to me for quite a while now. It is simply called, "The Honor and Power Connection." Now, when He first spoke it to me, I was a little confused, and I didn't quite understand the meaning behind it. Thankfully, He is a patient teacher, and He is showing me what I needed to know.

So, the first thing we have missed in the church is giving God honor. There is a severe lack of reverence in the church today. I'm sure we've all seen services where people are on their cell phones, texting away, or something to that extent. I was even at a meeting, and during the ALTAR CALL people we're streaming for the exits-just because the wanted to leave the service. A few nights later at this meeting, one of the ministers stood up there, and told people this altar call isn't time to leave, it's time to pray, because people are being ushered into the Kingdom of the Almighty God, and people still left.

It saddened my spirit greatly to see people treat such an important event so lightly.

Reverence is very important, and it's something we've lost in the church. I was having a conversation with my friend, Brother Jeff Weber, and we were discussing some of these things, and he made this statement, "Reverence is appropriate activity in the Presence of God." That blessed me so much Brother Jeff (and if you're reading this now, thank you).

Let's look at a view verses that examine this subject of honor. In 1st Samuel, chapter 2, we find the Lord talking to Eli, the chief priest of Israel. If you read the surrounding verses, you find that Eli's sons we're wicked, evil men; stealing offerings from the Lord, and slept with the women who came to the tabernacle. Now, Eli was told about this, but didn't stop it, or remove them from the ministry. Verse 30 says,

"Therefore the LORD God of Israel says, 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says, 'Far be it from Me, for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.'"

Let's break apart that word, 'despise'. It doesn't mean to hate, or detest, or some of the strong meanings we have put on it today. In the Hebrew text, it means, "to treat lightly, and as of no importance." So, if we treat God's things lightly, and as if they have no importance, He has to treat us the same way. It's in His Word, and He is bound by His Word, to the point that He has exalted His Word even above His Name!

But now, look at this, did God promise Eli and his family that they would walk before the Lord, and be His priests forever? Yes. However, Eli and his family's lack of honor caused the Lord to then go and remove them from that position.

Is honor important to God?

If we honor God, He will honor us.

If we treat His things as light, unimportant, trivial, a waste of time, how is He gonna treat us? The same way.

He gives us the honor that we give Him.

Romans 13:7 tells us this,

"Render therefore to all their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor."

So, if we are commanded, by Scripture, to give honor to whom honor is due, shouldn't God be getting honor? Shouldn't we be glorifying Him in all that we do, not just in the church, but in our everyday lives? Shouldn't we allow Him to speak to us at all times, keeping an ear open to Heaven? And when we hear His voice, shouldn't we listen to it, and do what He is telling us to do?

I think the answer is quite clear-the power is connected to the reverence, and to the honor, and to the Glory we give to Him.

We haven't been giving Him enough.

In our next post on this subject, we're going to examine how to turn up the power, and what happens as the power is turned up. I'm excited for where God is taking this!

The Name

Edit-I have added this video of Brother Copeland teaching on the Name of Jesus. I think it adds a lot of depth to what I was saying in this post.

I was at prayer meeting on Monday, and these words just kept rolling around in my spirit: "The Name. The Name. The Name." I mean, I just couldn't get away from it. The Name. The Name.

What does that mean? What name am I talking about?

The Name of Jesus. Let's look at what Paul had to say about The Name.

Philippians 2:8-11 "8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

9 Therefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,

11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Let's break this down here.

We know through scripture that Jesus set aside everything that made Him God when He came to the earth. He operated on the earth as a man, specifically, a prophet under the Abrahamic Covenant.

So, He was crucified, buried, descending into hell where He suffered for three days and nights, taking our place, until God spoke. He then led captivity captive, was raised from the dead, and given a name by God. What is this name that Jesus was given?

Paul refers to it as "the name which is above every name." If you study it out, you will find that Paul is referring to what is often translated "LORD" in many translations of the Bible. Some people have translated it, "Jehovah" or "Yahweh." In Hebrew, it is יהוה‎, or as we refer to in English, the Tetragrammaton. It is God's personal name. When He revealed Himself in the Old Testament to Moses, He used this name. Unfortunately, the pronunciation has been lost throughout the years, but it is made up of four letters in the Hebrew language. Yodh He Waw He.

Now, it is important to understand the significance of this name. The Jewish people stopped using it, because they were told if you use this name in vain, you will die. They decided the safest thing to do was to not use it at all. Now, that was incorrect of them, but you can surely understand their reasoning.

So, what Paul is saying here, is that when God raised Jesus from the dead, He gave Jesus His PERSONAL NAME!

We could read it this way. "There God has highly exalted Jesus, and given Him the name יהוה, which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is יהוה, to the glory of יהוה forever!"

All the power in that Name was given to Jesus, and the Jesus went and delegated that power to you in the Great Commission! He gave you His Name to use! He told us to cast out devils, in His Name, to lay hands on the sick, in His Name (and they would recover)! You have been given the right and responsibility to use His Name!

So, I hope you understood why I went into this amount of detail on the subject. Jesus gave you His name, and you need to understand the power behind that name! That name carries the very power of God Himself!

So, when you pray, don't just say, "In Jesus' name, Amen" without understanding what you are saying. You are saying, "Situation! You listen to me! You have to bow your knee to the name of Jesus! I call upon the power in that Name to fix this situation! So be it!" That's what it means! The second you say, "In Jesus' name, Amen," Heaven records it as done the second you pray! So believe God. Pray in faith, and use the Name of Jesus, and the power within it to change your life!

Faith Blockers

Welcome back, both to me and you! Work has been busy, but life is good, and so is God! Today, we're going to continue our series on Faith, with a message entitled, "Faith Blockers". This may be one part, or multiple parts, it depends on how God leads.

James 1:6-8 says, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ⁷For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. ⁸A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."

Notice what the Bible calls someone who doubts. Double minded, and unstable. Someone who is double minded is saying one thing one minute, and then the opposite the next. Maybe you know someone like that. They talk the faith talk at church, and get excited about how God wants them healed, rich, and blessed beyond measure. But, when they get home, their tune changes. They start talking about the down economy, and the recession, and how are they ever gonna pay their bills, and the kids are getting worse, and their marriage is falling apart, and...you get the idea.

Well, they're gonna get exactly what you have talked about at home. They're being double minded, and have summarily disqualified themselves from receiving from God.

Doubt is one of the largest hindrances to your faith. How many times have you wanted to do something for God, only to stop yourself, and say, "But what if it doesn't work?" Right there, you have effectively shut the door on God moving in a situation. Doubt will stop the power every time.

Look at Peter for example, found in Matthew 14:28-31. Peter was walking on the water. I mean, literally, walking on top of the water. I don't know if it congealed under his feet or what, but he was doing it! As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he was able to walk on the water. The second he took his eyes off of Jesus, he began to sink. Jesus said to him afterwards, "Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?" His doubt cause him to sink.

You might be thinking, "Now wait just a minute, you mean to tell me that Jesus expected him to walk on the water with him? And then had the audacity to try and correct him when he failed?" Yes.

I want you to notice something about the situation. When Peter doubted, what was he looking at? If you answered, "The wind and waves," you are correct. There was a storm going on out there, and he started looking at it.

Let me ask you another question. What did the wind and waves have to do with Peter's ability to walk on the water? Absolutely nothing! He couldn't have walked on the water if it was perfectly calm, so what does it matter if it wasn't? It didn't matter.

You know, that's the way the devil likes to get you. He gets you looking at something that doesn't change the situation at all, but because it looks scary, it throws doubt in there, and that causes your faith to fail. Doubt will cause a faith failure every time, because doubt cancels out faith.

Back to Peter. According to Jesus, if he didn't doubt, or we could read it this way-if he kept his eyes on Jesus, he would not have sank, and he would have been walking in faith.

That's how we need to be. Every time a situation comes up, don't look at the circumstances, or the wind and the waves, around you. Stay in faith! Keep your eyes on Jesus!

The fact may be that you have cancer, the truth, or highest form of reality, is that Jesus took all your sins and sicknesses on His back for you, so you don't have to deal with it anymore! He took it! So, keep confessing Him as your healer! Don't doubt His will for your life! He is Jehovah Rapha! Then thank Him for it, and watch the healing come.

The fact may be that bills are due, and there isn't any way to pay them off. The highest form of reality says, "I'm a giver, I'm a tither. God promised to increase me, and I believe God for the hundredfold return! I confess Jesus is my provider! He's my high priest and my financier, my Melchizedek! His job is to receive my tithes, and bless them, so I believe God! I refuse to doubt! He will do it!" Then thank Him for it, and watch the increase come.

So get doubt out of the equation. It is poisonous, and dangerous to your faith. Get it out of your life at all costs, and watch the victories pile up!

Faith Pt. 3 - Move Your Mountain!

It's been a couple months, but let's continue our "Faith" series. In the first post, The Substance of Hope we looked at what Bible hope is, and how it affects our faith. In part two, Giving Evidence to the Unseen we talked about how faith creates out of the realm of the unseen. In our final post, we're going to look at how to move your mountain.

In Mark 11 we see Jesus and the disciples going to the temple, and Jesus sees a lying fig tree (the fig trees in that area grew leaves when they had fruit on them, so by having leaves and no fruit, this tree was a liar,) and cursed the tree and told it that no one would eat fruit from it again. Peter sees the tree the next day, and he remembers Jesus cursing the tree, so he reminds everyone about it. Jesus then begins to explain the principles behind what happened. Picking up in the 22nd verse, "So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 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."

Wow. So much in there. Faith in God is the way we get results! That's what Jesus was saying in verse 22. He continues to tell them how to use their faith in God, "whoever says to this mountain." So notice, you have to do the saying. All the power in the world could be there, ready and waiting to work on your behalf, but it won't work until you speak. It's not that odd if you think about it, even God has to operate on those same principles. If you don't believe, look at Genesis 1, it talks about the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit moving on the waters. That means the power is there, ready to work. Notice though, that nothing happened, UNTIL GOD SAID, "Light be!", and then light was. So speaking faith filled words brings results. You have to initiate it.

Natural things operate on the same principle. If you have a fireplace in your house, you can't tell it, "Give me some heat and I'll put some wood in you." No. That's idiotic. The power is available, everything is set up for it to work, but until you put some action to your desire by putting kindling and then wood in the fireplace and lighting it, you won't see any fire, nor receive any heat.

Likewise, people always say, "I need to see some results before I say or believe that this situation can change." Well buddy, if you don't want it to ever change, keep on talking like that. Jesus said we needed to say to that mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea," and then he kept talking about saying. Believe what you said will be done, and then you will have whatever you said.

So, when the mountain rises up in front of you, and you don't know what to do, don't just ask God for strength to make it over the mountain. "Oh God, if You could just make me a mountain climber, I could overcome this obstacle in my life. Give me the strength, if it is Your will, to climb this mountain, Oh Lord." You know what that is? Bull! Plain and simple. Bull. Don't ever pray a prayer like that. There is no faith in it, and the Bible says that whatsoever does not proceed from faith is sin! Don't get mad at me, the Bible says it, so I'm just gonna act like the Bible's so.

So what do we do then, when a mountain is in our way? Sickness tries to attack your body? Lack tries to worm itself into your life? You speak to it! You holler at it, "Mountain! In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you GET OUT OF MY WAY! In Jesus' Name, I'll not have you hindering me any longer! So you get out of my life right now, in Jesus' Name!" If it wants to stick around any longer, start throwing the Book at it, bless God! Use the Word of God! Tell sickness about 1 Peter 2:24, and that you have been redeemed from the curse of the law! Lack, you get out of here, now! Jesus became poor so that I might be rich!

Start using the Word! Speak to that mountain in your life, and watch it move! If it doesn't seem like it's working, it's time to double up!

I'll share a story with you, and then I'll quit. I graduated from technical school in April of this year, and I immediately began looking for a job. I didn't find one right away. Now, being raised in the Word, I knew I needed to find a verse to stand on. However, one didn't jump out at me right away, or in my studying. So, I figured Phillipians 4:19 was as good a verse as any for finding a job, and I went on that.

Four months later, we're in July, and it doesn't seem to be working, but I stayed strong on my confession. I found out last minute that Pastor and Mrs. Hagin were going to be two hours away from my house preaching, so I went to the meeting. Man, I tell you, the anointing was so strong there as Ms. Lynette ministered to us, wow. Anyways, as I am known to do, I began browsing the book and tape table, seeing what was out there. To make a long story short, I got a pile of stuff, and was debating on whether or not to get this one last cd set, Campmeeting Classics, vol. 3. It was a decent amount of money, and I had already got a lot of stuff. So, I prayed, and picked it up, put it down. Prayed. Picked it up. Put it down. I must have done this for almost 15 minutes. Finally, I just went and grabbed it. I spent my entire CVS paycheck (two-hundred some odd dollars) at the table! So, I started listening to the CD's in my car. I went through them all. Then, I got to the last CD in vol. 3. It was a message entitled, "Faith's Corresponding Action," by Charles Capps. It was from Campmeeting 1982. So I listened to it. And I listened to it again. And again. And again. There was something in there my spirit needed, but I didn't know what it was yet.

Finally, after going through it six or so times, revelation came to me. Brother Capps kept quoting the verse where Jesus said, "If you had faith as a seed you would say." That came alive on the inside of me. You know what I mean by that? It saturated my thought process, and me, to the core of my spirit. I knew that was the verse I needed.

So, for the next two weeks, I kept saying, "Jesus said, 'If you had faith as a seed you would say.' I have faith that the Lord will provide the perfect job for me. I plant that seed of faith, in Jesus' name. I say, 'I have the perfect job.'" I did this for two weeks. At the end of those two weeks (not that I set a time frame, this is just how it happened), after receiving zero job offers in four months, I received six in that time frame. Most of them came in the last two or three days of that week. Within three and a half weeks, I had a full time job, paying me almost twice what my job at CVS paid an hour, with more hours and benefits each week, on a much better schedule! Glory to God! Don't come here telling me that this confession stuff doesn't work, you've come too late for me!

Praise God! I'm glad you took the time to read this. Next time we talk, we're going to continue this series, but moving in a slightly different direction, as we talk about Faith Blockers. You don't want to miss it!