Stay Prepared!

So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us (1 Thessalonians 5:6-9 – NLT).

The world is preparing for the return of Christ. We can now see the signs looming of the tribulation that Jesus said would occur before His second coming. It can’t be far away.

Israel is fighting for its existence against enemies that are relentless. This latest war will eventuate into some kind of peace accord that will enable a Palestinian state beside Israel. When this peace accord is signed, the tribulation begins.

Our nation is in great peril, both from within and from without. We’ve lost our world financial standing and it looks as though the worst is yet to come. Our civic life is challenged with ungodly ideals and philosophies that are destroying family life. Moral rot has turned our nation into a cesspool of sin!

Yet our opportunities have never been greater in the church! As the darkness increases our light should shine brighter! People are looking for answers. I believe that we are going to see another spiritual great awakening in our country. Times of duress often bring revival as the desperate look for a way out of their problems!

Let’s believe God for an awakening in the church as a whole, and for many to come to Christ in 2009. I’m looking forward to our service tonight. I’m going to share briefly, and then we’re going to pray together at the altar. Don’t miss this!

Forget and Press On

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14-NIV).

None of us will arrive at Christian perfection in this life, but it should be our goal! We should be changing from glory to glory as the years pass. If we’re not changing, we’re not growing, for growth demands change.

Paul mentions in verse 13 that he did one thing. Too many times we have so many life pursuits that we become a “jack of all trades and master of none.” If my one life ambition is to become like Jesus, it will temper my hour, my day, my week, and my year! Some things should be left undone if they do not add to my growth in Christ. Growing in Christ in a healthy way includes daily time meditating in the Word, in prayer, with spouse and children, in service to others, and in personal rest and leisure. Burnout is not progress.

As we enter a new year we should follow Paul’s admonition to forget those things which are behind. If you look back, you may stumble. Satan is master of bringing to remembrance our misdeeds and failures. The Father never reminds of past confessed sins; I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more (Isaiah 43:25 – NIV). His Spirit urges us on toward the mark of becoming like Jesus. He lifts us up and faces us forward, not backwards! For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity (Proverbs 24:16).

Likewise, we can’t live on yesterday’s or last year’s experience with God. We must choose each day to remain in close fellowship with Him by abiding in the Word and letting the Word abide in us.

Paul mentions pressing on in verse 14. This denotes great exertion. I’ve been running for 25 years now, and when you run long distances, you hit the wall, or reach a point where you feel like you just can’t go any further. But if you just press on a little more, you find a second wind, or a new strength, and the run becomes much easier. Salvation is a free gift to us. But each level of spirituality reach will cost you self-denial in a thousand ways. We must press on more than average if we want to give our best to the Father.

As we approach 2009, let’s forget the past and decide to give the Father our all. The prize awaiting us is eternal!

Freed from the Curse

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"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:13-14).

The curse of the broken law is three-fold: spiritual death, poverty, and sickness. Jesus bore the results of the curse of the broken law in Himself on the cross. Since He has legally borne our penalty for sin, we are released from the results of the broken law.

In the place of spiritual death, we receive spiritual life. The very life and nature of God (Greek- Zoe) enters our spirit when we are born again! The wall that separated us from the Father has been removed, and intimacy with Him becomes possible if we will pursue it! Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

In the place of poverty, we receive prosperity. 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 (2 Corinthians 8:9). Some people think this verse refers to Jesus becoming spiritually poor. But the spiritually poor can’t heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, or preach and teach the gospel! Jesus became physically poor as He bore our poverty. In the place of poverty we have abundance and the blessings of God. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22).

In the place of sickness we have His health! 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 (1 Peter 2:24). We have a legal right before God to walk free from sick and disease.

Satan does not give up territory easily, and you must be diligent in the Word and stand in faith for the blessings of God to be yours. Don’t stand for low level fellowship with the Father when Jesus has opened the door wide for intimacy! Don’t walk in poverty when Jesus has secured your blessing! Act and speak like you believe God’s Word is true! Don’t permit sickness and disease to reign in your body. Command Satan to keep His hands off of you in the name of Jesus! With His stripes you are healed.

Don’t settle for less than God’s best! Jesus has endured the curse for your freedom. Honor Him by receiving the best He has for you today. You’re free from the curse and an heir of blessing!

Out of Town Resting!

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

Susan and I are out of town taking a break today. It’s important for all of us to rest, to come away from the normal routine. Someone has said that rest is not cessation of activity but rather change of activity.

As a minister, if I don’t take time to rest on occasion, then I’ll really be doing a disservice to the congregation I pastor. Here in the above verse, Paul tells the pastors in Ephesus to take care of themselves. Notice that he mentions their doing this before they minister to the congregation. Ministry is not really ministry unless you ministering out of a state of rest.

Taking time away is essential for each of us to be at our best in our vocation of life. Americans are known for not valuing rest as we should, and I believe that it hinders our quality of life. Yes, we should be industrious, but we should also honor God by resting and spending quality time with Him while we do!
I’ll be attending church today at the church in my hometown where I was associate pastor before coming to Raleigh 14 years ago.

I’ll see you Wednesday night! I already miss you all!

Righteousness by Faith

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified (Galatians 2:16).

We are right with God, not because of what we do, but because of what He did for us! We are not saved by grace to live by works.

Early in my Christian experience I learned a valuable lesson about trusting the grace of God in my life. Being a hard worker, I had a subtle belief buried deep within my soul that I must work to be accepted. As a young boy, I received affirmation mainly when I accomplished something. I carried this habit into my adult life.

As I began to walk with God, the familiar call of guilt and inferiority pulled me back into a works righteousness instead of a faith righteousness. I begin to read my Bible to be right with God instead of for spiritual nourishment. I would pray, not for fellowship, but to calm a overbearing conscience. I would fast a few meals, not to wait on God as much as to please Him.

The Lord graciously revealed to me during that season that He loved me, and that Jesus had already done everything necessary to make me right with Him. He showed me that I must take all of my inferiority to Him, and that there was nothing more I could do to become righteous. Jesus paid my sin debt. Jesus cancelled my past, and gave me His standing before the Father.

The Lord showed me that my righteousness was like filthy rags and that I could never do enough to be right with Him. I must accept by faith that He loves me, that He has forgiven and forgotten my past, and that I am now secure in Christ. My human efforts could never match what Jesus has already done to make me right with Him.

Stop struggling in self-effort to be right with God! Accept the fact that the blood of Jesus gives you a righteousness that makes close fellowship possible. When you sin, confess what you did before the Father and ask for His grace to enable you to overcome the weakness of the flesh. We’re not saved by grace to live by works!

Jesus in the Gospels

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1)

Mathew 1 begins with the genealogy of Jesus. The book of Matthew presents Jesus as the king of the Jews. It shows Him through this genealogy as the legal heir of the throne of David through Joseph.

All of the gospels depict Jesus differently. And here is the background. In the Old Testament tabernacle and temple stood the figure of the Cherubim. There were four faces on these Cherubim; the face of a lion; the face of an ox; the face of a man; and the face of an eagle. The early church fathers applied these four symbols to the four Gospels as they reveal different perspectives of Jesus’ life.

The Lion represents Jesus, the King of the Jews. The kingship of Jesus is the theme of the book of Matthew.

The ox represents Jesus as the suffering servant, and this is typified in the book of Mark. Mark represents Jesus as the worker, serving mankind by preaching, teaching, healing, and delivering form satanic bondage.

The human face represents Jesus the son of man and He is typified in the book of Luke. In Luke we have a display of the humanity of Jesus and He is represented as the Son of man. Details of his birth are given in Luke, showing that He was both God and man. Mary clothed Jesus with a body of flesh so that He could identify with our weakness, show His strength, and set us free.

The face of the eagle on the cherubim represents Jesus’ Divinity. The gospel of John reveals Jesus as the Son of God. John looks at Jesus from the aspect of his Divine nature. In John we see Jesus as the Living Word, pre-existing the body that Mary gave Him. We see Him as the Son from eternity past who came to give us light and to set us free!

In the genealogy of Matthew 1, four women are mentioned that had nothing to do with God’s covenant with Abraham. Tamar and Rahab are mentioned and they were both prostitutes. Ruth is mentioned, and she is from the cursed race of the Moabites. Bathsheba is mentioned, and of course she is the woman who committed adultery with David.

Why did God add these women to the genealogy? I believe that He wanted us to know that we are accepted into the family of God regardless of our background. Jesus was a friend of sinners, and when He cleanses from sin, it is so thorough that He is glad to include us in His family tree!

Neither race, gender, social place, nor political persuasion can keep us from the love and forgiveness that Jesus offers if we will simply humble ourselves. He will be to us everything we need. The face of the lion, the ox, the man, and the eagle all represent the fact that Jesus came as the king; not too mighty or proud to work; willing to identify with our humanness; yet being Sovereign Deity who reigns over all.

As member of His body, let’s identify with Jesus and see every person through His eyes. Every person is precious to Him. He love and forgives if we simply yield and accept His freely given grace and mercy. Let’s look beyond the flesh when we see others, and place on them the value that God places on them. For God so loved the world!

Merry Christmas!

We’re just hanging out at home as a family today. Take time today to reflect on the goodness and mercy of God. We have so much to be grateful for as individuals, families, and as a church.

Take some time today to pray for our nation. We’re in the midst of great change as the world prepares for Jesus’ Second Coming. Some things are changing for good as the world transitions to a time of tribulation. The rapture of the church is approaching. Make sure you’re ready!

I’ll leave you with the passage we read as a family this morning. So many prophecies of Jesus’ first coming were mentioned in this passage and were fulfilled exactly as they were prophesied hundreds of years before. We can be just as sure that His return will be just as it was foretold. Get ready and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Matthew 1:18-2:23 – New Living Translation

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet: "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'" When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him. "King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born? "In Bethlehem in Judea," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote: 'And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel. '"Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too! " After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called my Son out of Egypt." Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the star's first appearance. Herod's brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: "A cry was heard in Ramah— weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead. "When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. "Get up!" the angel said. "Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead. "So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Early Rising

Twenty five years ago God began to deal with me about spending personal time with Him daily. I was a Bible School grad, and was working on staff in a local church. But I had this deep inner dissatisfaction that I just couldn’t get a grip on. The Lord challenged me that if He was my LORD, then I was to give Him the first portion of my day. I had never been a “morning” person, but after God’s much persistent and daily dealing with me, I started rising early. I had tried this while in Bible school, and totally failed! My buddies and I got up at 4:30 one morning to pray like many of the seasoned saints of yesteryear had done. We were asleep in less than 30 minutes!

This time, The LORD gave me a plan that would eventually change my life patterns. First, I made myself go to bed at least 10 minutes earlier than I usually did. Then I set my alarm 10 minutes earlier than normal. I heard one minister say that he read the Bible perched on the ledge of his bathtub so that if he fell asleep, it would hurt! I decided that I would walk back and forth while reading my Bible out loud. At first, I divided my time into five minute segments of reading and praying. I read out loud for five minutes, and then prayed for five minutes. I set my alarm each day to rise 10 minutes earlier. I knew that 21 to 28 days begins the formation of a new habit. I knew that if I missed a day, that I must start back the next day, so I continued.

What happened next amazed me. I found that in a few weeks, the 10 minutes no longer satisfied, and I was shocked that I actually wanted to get up even earlier! So I went to bed another 10 minutes earlier, and set my alarm 20 minutes earlier than normal. This pattern has continued over these years until now I’ve been rising at 4:30 AM for 25 years! I don’t have to; I want to, and that has amazed me!

Starting this habit of rising early brought to my life spiritual strength; closeness to my LORD; an ability to rise above carnal traits in my flesh; an ability to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in a greater way; and an ever deepening relationship to the Father that touches every area of my life. It seems like such a small discipline in the light of the results.

This early rising habit has saved my life, my marriage, my ministry, and continues to help me stay focused on seeking first the kingdom of God! I dare you to do this. You’ll never regret early rising, and the potential is that you’ll never be the same!

How to Forgive

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your own failings and shortcomings and let them drop. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your failings and shortcomings (Mark 11:25-26 - Amplified).

One of the requirements for answered prayer is that we walk in forgiveness. Faith is a heart thing. And our relationship with our Father is a heart thing. When we choose to hold on to offense, hardness is produced within. That hardness shut others out, and keeps the Father out too!

All of us encounter challenges with others. It’s just part of being human living in a fallen world. When someone commits an offense towards us, Jesus said that we must let it drop, leave it, and let it go. Forgiveness is not an option. It is a command!

Forgiveness is not a feeling or emotion. It will eventually produce a feeling, but it does not start with a good feeling. Forgiveness is an action we take that will change emotions. Many people want the feeling first before they forgive, but it just doesn’t work that way.

I’ve found that there are at least three steps to forgiveness, based on the way God forgives us. We are to forgive even as God in Christ forgave us (Ephesians 4:32).

When God forgives us, He chooses not to bring the offense up to us again! When God forgives us, He chooses to forgive and forget. Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more (Hebrews 10:17). When we forgive others, we must choose not to mention the offense again! IF you keep reminding a person of their offense towards you, forgiveness has not yet been given!

When God forgives us, He chooses to forget and tell no one else about it! So when we forgive even as God forgave us in Christ, we choose to mention it no more to the person we’re forgiving, and we choose to tell no one else about it!

When God forgives us, He chooses to remember the offense no more. It does not come back to God’s mind again. He has the ability to completely forget. I will remember no more. We don’t have that ability. We easily remember offenses, and the flesh desires to hold on to them. We must choose to refuse the negative thoughts that come about a person who has committed an offense against us.

When I am forgiving a person, and the thoughts of what they did come back, I choose to replace the thoughts of what they did with prayer for them. I find that I must be consistent with this process. Thoughts can be stubborn! When I choose to think only wholesome thoughts about the person I’m forgiving, and refuse to think on the negative, I am creating a process that will eventually release negative emotions from me.

Understand that emotions change with thoughts. Thoughts fuel emotions. If I change my thoughts about a person, the emotions will eventually change toward them too. This is an important principle to understand.

Most people think they haven’t forgiven until they feel the forgiveness. But it works the other way around! Forgive first! Choose to go before the Father and as an act of faith release all ill will, wrong thoughts, and wrong motives towards a person.

Then do what the Father does. Don’t bring the offense up to them again, and don’t bring it up to others. And then, when the offense comes up in your own mind, pray for the person. Eventually, the emotions will change. This takes time and the length of time is determined by the degree of the offense. Make a decision to forgive even as Christ forgave you today.

Act in Faith

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith (1 John 5:4).

As we approach the time of the tribulation mentioned in scripture (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21), it’s more important than ever for us to keep our faith built up. Our faith is given to us by the Father the moment we are born again (Ephesians 2:8), and is built up by hearing, meditating on, and practicing the Word (Romans 10:17).

Faith believes and acts on the Word and acts like God has done and is doing everything He promised in His Word. Jesus told us to have faith in God (Mark 11:22). He told us to speak to the mountain and command it to be removed. If we believe and not allow doubt in our heart, it would move (Mark 11:23). He then tells us to believe that we receive what we pray for the moment we pray (Mark 11:24). He said that if we do this we would have the answer to our request.

Take Jesus literally and act on His Word. Believe that you receive the answer the moment that you pray. Find scriptures that promise you what you are asking for or believing for. If it’s healing that you need, then find scripture on healing and meditate on them.

Faith pleases the Father (Hebrews 11:6). It pleases Him when you act on the Word in defiance of feelings and circumstances. Jesus showed Thomas the scars on His body and urged him to believe. But then He called those blessed that do not see and yet still believe (See John 20)!

Take the Father at His Word today and exercise your faith in every area of your life and in every endeavor. Replace the tendency to worry with the prayer of faith! He has promised to answer prayer. He watches over His Word to make it good (Jeremiah 1:12). His Word never returns void to Him. He said it would accomplish what it was sent to do! (See Isaiah 55:11).

All things are possible with God, and all things are possible to Him who believes (Matthew 19:6; Mark 9:23). Expect God’s best for your life and walk decide to walk by faith. It gives the Father great pleasure for you to trust Him!

Your Thermostat

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21).

The thermostat on the wall in your home is set to continually monitor the temperature. The thermostat constantly calls for a certain temperature and works ceaselessly toward that goal.

You also have a built in thermostat. It’s your mouth! And right now it is bringing into your life what you’ve set it on! You and I are calling things into our lives with the words of our mouth every day! Whatever you allow yourself to verbalize and believe is what is coming into your future. Don’t confess what you don’t want because one day it will show up!

Words are powerful. God creates with them. And in a large way, you create in your world what you have with your words. Don’t use them lightly. Fill your words with faith and confidence in God. Rid yourself of the habit of talking about negative and unseemly things.

Fill your words each day with healing, blessing, favor, abundance, success, boldness, compassion, love, and courage. You may feel none of these things, but if you’ll set your thermostat there, and keep it working, little by little your personal life temperature will begin to agree with your thermostat. It’s a never ending principle from the time you’re born until the day you go to be with Jesus (See James 3:1-6).

Words can move mountains, heal disease, mend relationships, produce abundance, cancel fear and doubt, bring the presence of the Father, and soothe the spirit and soul. Fill your words today with what know the Father wants in your life. Let your words agree with God’s word.

Start today where you are. Don’t brood over the past. Get up and fight the fight of faith! You’re a winner! A conqueror! You are the Father’s favored one! Talk the way you believe, not the way you feel. Speak the answer, not the problem today. Keep your thermostat set on victory!

Use What’s Been Given to You

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).

As a believer, you are a person with authority and the devil knows it! The original authority to care for the earth that God gave Adam has been handed back to you! Jesus came back from death with the keys of hell and death (Revelation 1:18). Keys represent authority.

Just before Jesus left the earth to be seated at the right hand of the Father He gave His authority as the New Creation man back to the church (Matthew 28: 18-19). You now have the same authority that Jesus had when He walked the earth! You are seated in a place of authority called heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6). Your position of authority is far above all principality, power, might, and dominion (Ephesians 1: 21). Satanic power is under your feet!

Satan’s knows that you have authority. He plays a game of bluff with you. He tells you that you’re defeated; that you’ll never amount to anything; that nothing that God has promised will ever come to pass in your life; that you’ll be sick and broke all your life; that God doesn’t care; and that you should go ahead and throw in the towel and give up. He’s an accuser. And He’s a liar (John 8:44)!

Many believers buy into Satan’s lies and quit fighting the fight of faith. They perish for refusing to act on the Word! Make a decision today to resist the devil and his lies. Throw off from yourself the blanket of unbelief that keeps you down! Act on the Word today! Take the sword of the Spirit and go to work. Speak God’s Word over your life, your family, your body, your finances, and your circumstances. Declare that your past sins had been removed, your present is blessed, and your future is bright. Use your Jesus given authority today and command Satan to take his hands off of you and those around you. You have the authority to bind and loose (Matthew 18:18).

The Father is waiting today for you to act. He has done all He will ever do about blessing your life. All things are yours (1 Corinthians 3: 21-22).! But all is lost if you fail to act! The Father has faith in you, that you’ll rise to the position that He’s placed you in. A position of favor, of blessing, of honor, and of responsibility!

Make the Father’s heart glad today by using the authority He’s given you. He’s counting on you to carry out His plans!

Follow the Word First

And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys (Exodus 40:35-38).

Old Testament saints did not have the Holy Spirit living in them and guiding them as we do today. They had a cloud over the tabernacle that they followed by day and a fire over it by night. The tabernacle was where the presence of God remained. The cloud and the fire reminded them that they were not to go alone or just go as they pleased. They must wait and follow God’s direction by day with the cloud and at night by the fire.

Today, we are the tabernacle! We are where the presence dwells. In our spirit dwells the Spirit of God. And we are to be led by the Spirit from the inside. The Holy Spirit guides us first of all through the Word and them through the witness of our human spirit as the Holy Spirit bears witness with the Word.

I see so many today that are making choices to do thing that directly contradict the Word! And then they say that the Lord led them to go that direction. It is absolute deception to do something that contradicts the Word. Some say, well, I have peace about it, and I going this way anyway! Any peace that you have to do something that contradicts the Word is a false peace! It’s a deception! This kind of peace is an emotional satisfaction that is separate from the peace that comes through obedience to the Word. To be led by the Holy Spirit means first of all to obey God’s Word. Obedience to the Word produces peace in our spirit. The moment we disobey the Word, we leave the Holy Spirit behind and follow our own way and lose the peace of God within.

Colossians 3:15 tells us to let the peace of God rule us as we make decisions. But the peace of God must be preceded by obedience to the Word or the peace is a false peace!

Our cloud by day and fire by night is the witness of our human spirit to the Word and to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in obedience to the Word! Let’s determine today to be people of the Word!

The Center of Everything

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:15-20).

Jesus Christ is the center of all that God has and is on earth and universe wide. He is before all things and in Him all things consist and are held together. History is really His story!

Jesus looms larger than any problem you face today. He is the answer to every difficulty. He is to us the wisdom of God; He gives us the ability to stand before the Father boldly without sin; He removes bad habits from our souls and bodies by His Spirit through the Word; He has completely bought us back from Satan’s legal dominion and has given us authority over Satan and his demon in The Name!

Begin and end your day with the Son of God. He is the Alpha and Omega. He will give you wisdom to face every obligation as a conqueror if you’ll submit moment by moment to His Lordship. Confess your failures if you sin today. His blood will cleanse you and bring back into sweet fellowship with the Father. Being separated from Him brings weakness. Walking with Him brings strength and vitality to spirit, soul, and body.

Let Jesus be the center of all that you think, say, and do today. In Him we live and move and have our being!

The Integrity of the Word

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11).

The Word is God speaking to us. Spending time in the Word is spending time with the Father. In his book, New Creation Realities E.W. Kenyon writes: Our attitude towards the Word determines the place that God holds in our daily life. Treating the Word as though it were a common book is the reason for much spiritual failure.

Many people have more confidence in the word of man than they do in the Word of God! But God’s Word is more sure and steadfast than the rising of the sun tomorrow morning!

Our world is constantly changing day after day. Cultural standards change like the wind. The emphasis of the masses changes from season to season. But the Word is fixed, established and stable! Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89).The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).

Obedience to the Word is obedience to the Father. Disobedience to the Word is disobedience to the Father. Ignoring the Word and refusing to make daily decisions that are in line with it is pride. And pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall!

God’s Word will be fulfilled in your life today, either in obedience, or in disobedience! A life built on sand (a person who hears the word and refuses to live by it) will be destroyed by the difficulties life brings (See Matthew 7). But for a person who puts the flesh under and obeys the Word when it not convenient, the blessings of God will sooner or later manifest:

My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones (Proverbs 3:1-8)

Daily Faith Expectancy

For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them (Mark 11:24).

As we get closer to the end of the age, it’s more important than ever to walk by faith. Our faith will catapult us over the gloom, depression and fear that is slowly creeping into the fabric of our culture. Faith overcomes the world!

Walking by faith is believing, acting, and speaking like the Word of God is true right now, even though nothing seems like it’s not! Remember that God always sees the end from the beginning. Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham. Though childless and old, God saw him with more kids than he could count!

Your faith will put you over today. In the face of contradiction, act on the Word. Thank God for the healing while the pain racks your body and the negative report remains unchanged. Believe that you receive before there is any physical change whatsoever.

Thank God for the money you need in the face of lack. God will always honor His Word when acted upon. Praise and worship the Father now, before there is any evidence of the answer! Thank Him just the way you would if the money were already in your hand!

In whatever circumstance you find yourself today, cooperate with God by walking by faith! Don’t just exist. Live life to the fullest with faith! God will not fail you. You’re already blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). You faith is pulling into your life the answer to your need. Expect God to do what He said! He always watches over His Word to make it good (Jeremiah 1:12).

When we get to heaven, we’ll have eternity to talk about all the things the Father did for us in answer to our faith! Walk by faith today! Expect God’s best. Walk in joy and peace! He never fails!

Praying for the Wayward Believer

We all know believers who have for some reason fallen away in their walk with God. They have become as Paul said “shipwrecked” in the faith. In some way the world, the flesh, and the devil have made inroads into their faith life, and they are away from God and out of fellowship.

I have found James 4:5 to be a real key in praying for these prodigal sons and daughters of God. Listen to it in these various translations: Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?” (NKJV) Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? (NIV) Or, do you think that the scripture says in an empty manner and to no purpose, The Spirit [Holy Spirit] who has been caused to make His permanent home in us has a passionate desire [to control us] to the point of envy [of any control indwelling sin may have over us]? (Wuest) Do you think the Scripture means nothing that says, "The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone"? (New Century Version)

When we are born again, the Holy Spirit becomes a jealous lover! He wants no person or thing to take our focus off of Jesus and the Father. He becomes intensely jealous whenever Jesus and the Father’s place are taken by another.

Notice James 4:4 in the Amplified: You are like unfaithful wives having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God! Do you not know that being the world's friend is being God's enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God.

The most miserable people on earth are not happy go lucky sinners. The most miserable people are those who have walked with God and have fallen into sin. Their every action is a grief to the Holy Spirit. He is jealous to win them back to the Father.

In praying for a wayward believer, pray for the jealous yearning of the Holy Spirit to rise up within them every day. Pray for God’s jealous love to draw them back to the Father every waking moment. Pray that they will have no rest or peace until they are back in fellowship.

Years ago I had a friend who attended the same Bible school as I did, and attended my church. In fact, we worked together for a while on the church staff as custodians. After he completed school, he found another job and I lost contact with him. I saw him one day while running some errands, and there was my friend, cursing, blowing cigarette smoke in my face, and telling me of his sinful escapades. I affirmed my care for him and encouraged him to come back to the Lord.

I had such a burden for him after I left his presence. I cried out to God for my friend to come back to Jesus, and I prayed for this jealous lover to draw him back to the Father. I prayed that he would find no rest or comfort until he came back to the Father in repentance. I prayed for the jealous lover to draw him every day, and I prayed that the Father would send believers across his path of life daily to encourage him to come back to Jesus.

Some time later I received a phone call from my wayward friend. He had come back to God and had cleaned his life up. He had been set free from the deception of the enemy.

Take some time today to pray for the jealous lover to rise up in those that you know who have fallen away from God. He will draw them back to Himself as you give yourself to praying in faith for them.

Self-Control

One of the fruit of the spirit that the Father has placed within us is self-control. In this age of looseness and excess, we have the ability to curb every human appetite. Someone has said that true freedom only exists in restraint.

The highway of freedom has two ditches on either side. In one ditch is legalism, the excess of rigid and stringent laws and demands to curb behavior. In the other ditch is unbridled excessive living where any and everything is ok. A person who chooses to live without restraint will eventually become a slave to what he allows in excess. Ask the alcoholic, the drug addict, the gambler, or the sex addict how their life is going after a few years of unbridled living.

Every believer has to deal with excesses in the various areas of living. We must learn to exercise self-control in our entire being; spirit, soul, and body.

Our spirit lives must be guarded from excess. You’ve perhaps been around a person who is so heavenly minded that they are not easy to be around and are not practical enough to be effective. We must learn to be naturally spiritual, with our feet firmly on the ground while pursuing God in the balance of work, family, relationships, and church life.

We must be self-controlled in our mental life. Our spirit through the word should rule our conduct. Giving the word right of way is giving the human spirit right of way in life. The mind will seek to lead you into paths of pat living every day. If you go there, it will cost you your peace and joy in the Lord. Learn to control your thoughts and not allow them to control you. I do this by meditating on a scripture when I have idle mental time.

Emotions can dominate unless you restrain them. Emotions in a healthy person are a result of thoughts. When you’ve feeling down or blue, check up on what you’ve been thinking about. Thoughts fuel emotions. To change emotion, redirect your thoughts. When I was young my emotions ruled me. Life was a roller coaster. I learned to value the word over feelings and to force my mind away from negative things by consciously choosing to think on scripture instead of the negative event from past or present.

The will must also be harnessed. Stubbornness is expensive. It costs in relationships, work, family, and in your relationship with the Father. We must choose to daily take up our cross, yielding our will and our bodies to the Father.

It goes without saying that the appetites of the body must be restrained and controlled. Negative physical habits are a challenge to break, and your body is constantly tempted to excess by the world and the devil, and by previous indulgences in your life before you were born again.

Deal sternly with your body and refuse to be its slave! Control it or it will control you! Fasting is a great aid in controlling the flesh. Keep the mind free of vice and filled with the word is really the best way to control the flesh, since thoughts, both conscious and subconscious, rule life.

The Father has placed the seed of self-control in your spirit. Self-control is God strength, God ability. By faith, humble yourself before the Father today, and ask for self-control in your areas of excess in life. He stands ready and waiting for your permission!

I’ll leave you today with several translations of 1 Corinthians 9:27, where Paul mentioned his challenge with his own flesh:

But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit] (Amplified). I am my body’s sternest master, for fear that when I have preached to others I should myself be disqualified (J.B. Phillips). But I discipline my body and make it serve me, so that, while I am preaching to others, I myself may not be disqualified (Berkeley). But I keep on beating and bruising my body and making it my slave, so that I, after I have summoned others to the race, may not myself become unfit to run (Williams). Like an athlete I punish my body, treating it roughly, training it to do what it should, not what it wants to. Otherwise I fear that after enlisting others for the race, I myself might be declared unfit and ordered to stand aside (Living). But I hit hard and straight at my own body and lead it off into slavery, lest possibly, after I have been a herald to others, I should myself be rejected (Weymouth). But I beat my body black and blue and make it my abject slave lest somehow, when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified [from further Christian service] (Wuest).

How to Pray for Believers

I have three specific prayers from the Apostle Paul that I use as I pray for fellow believers. You may sometimes hear a person pray, Lord bless so and so. And the truth is that God has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ! What we really need is to become aware of what has already been provided for us in Christ!

Here’s the first prayer in Ephesians: That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1: 17-23).

This is a prayer that the Father will open our spiritual eyes to truth, and that we will see who we are and what we have in Christ.

Here’s the second prayer Paul prayed for believers: For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19).

This is a prayer for the love of God to be stirred up in a believer’s life. This produces spiritual strength! There is no real spiritual growth without growth in love.
Here’s the third prayer Paul prayed for believers: For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light (Colossians 1:9-12).

This is a prayer for the believer to filled with the wisdom of God through the Word. Walking worthy of the Lord from the Greek literally means that a person’s life carries the same weight as Jesus’ life. That is, they have the same impact on others as Jesus has on us! That’s powerful!

Let me encourage you to start praying these prayers for your fellow believer and for yourself! As you pray them in faith, you’ll see results!

Persecution

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world (1 John 4:1-3).

The spirit of anti-Christ is already busy on earth today. It manifests as a spirit of religious tolerance and religious inclusiveness. The idea is that all religions lead to the same God. It is rapidly gaining ground in the social and political discourse and ideology in our nation. It already dominates Europe. And the elites of our nation and the educational institutions are now under its’ diabolical control.

In the period to come, believers in Jesus will be more and more persecuted, labeled as extremists and castigated form the public social dialogue as harboring a belief that segregates, divides, and demeans. The idea is that all religions are good and that we must not speak against any of them, nor should we seek to proselytize anyone from another system of belief.

The idea of tolerance and inclusiveness is rapidly gaining ground in the workplace, and is already the norm in public schools and in colleges and universities. It’s the reason for the push for Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. It’s the reason that a hundred years of traditional Christmas songs and displays are being sidelines when the public refuses to protest.

We’re entering a dark period culminating in a severe worldwide test from Almighty God called the tribulation. And it’s coming fast; perhaps faster than we think. The only restraining force holding it back and keeping it in check is the church! Once we leave in the rapture, the world will go full force into this ideology.

I want to give you the promises of God for the persecuted. These promises will guide you in the days to come and will give you boldness and strength to stand undeterred in confrontation with this anti-Christ spirit as it works through people.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matt 5:11-12). Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets (Luke 6:22-23). If you are censured and suffer abuse because you bear the name of Christ, blessed are you — happy, fortunate, to be envied, with life-joy, and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of your outward condition, because the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God, is resting upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or any sort of criminal, or as a mischief-maker (a meddler) in the affairs of others [infringing on their rights]. But if one is ill-treated and suffers as a Christian which he is contemptuously called, let him not be ashamed, but give glory to God that he is deemed worthy to suffer in this name (1 Peter 4:14-16 - Amplified). Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Tim 3:12).

The Lamp of the Lord

The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart (Proverbs 20:27).

When you need direction, don’t look to circumstances or even to your thoughts and feelings. You must go much deeper than that. Look to your human spirit.

The Holy Spirit dwells in your spirit, not in your mind. In your spirit is the needed direction for every area of life.

As a pastor, I look to my human spirit for direction and guidance. I usually know intuitively many things about people and about out direction in ministry.

Information comes to us from our spirit in the form of a “nudge,” an inner witness, an intuition, or we sometimes call it a “gut feeling” or a “hunch.” This witness could also be referred to as conscience. This is deeper than logical thought. This is the Holy Spirit bearing witness in our human spirit (Romans 8:16).

If you want to make good choices and decisions, learn to listen to this inward witness. Throughout the years of my life, I’ve learned to depend on this inward witness for guidance, and it has never once led me the wrong way! All that we are doing in our ministry today is the results of leaning on and trusting this inward witness to have the final say in my decision making processes.

To become sensitive to your spirit and to this inward witness, you must take time to meditate the word. Meditation will cause you to become keen in spiritual perception. Take some time regularly to get quiet with the Lord and muse in the Word. If you do, He will begin to bear witness about things to your human spirit.

Praying in the spirit, in other tongues, is an excellent way to become spiritually sensitive. Taking time daily to pray in the spirit will also help keep you spiritually sharp. Then, when decisions must be made, you can look to your spirit for this inner sense, this inner knowing, this witness, and you’ll be perceptive enough to pick up a yes or a know, or a just wait a bit. It’s wise not to make decisions in haste, but to take time and wait until you’re sure about a matter before you act.

I suggest that you read Kenneth Hagin’s book How You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God if you haven’t. This is probably the best book I’ve ever read on the subject of being led by the Spirit and following the inward witness.

The Father wants us to be successful in all of life’s endeavors. And we will be if we learn to follow and obey the inward witness. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Romans 8:14). Allow the lamp of the Lord to burn brightly in your life today!

Don’t Coast!

We know absolutely that anyone born of God does not deliberately and knowingly practice committing sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him; Christ's divine presence within him preserves him against the evil, and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch him (1 John 5:18 - Amplified). Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8a). And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Matthew 11:12)

This is not a time to coast spiritually. There is too much at stake. Satan has launched an all out assault on man and on the kingdom of God. Persecution is becoming more intense. The potential pull on the flesh from the world and the enemy is stronger than ever. There are many “potholes” in the road of life right now that could trip you up and make you stumble.

This is a time to draw closer to the Father than ever before. Spend more time in the word. Spend more time in prayer. Spend more time in church meetings, not less! Keep your spirit fine tuned so that the Father can use you to minister to those around you in bondage. Those believers who are sidelined by the flesh and the world need someone to lift them up. That someone is me and you.

Keep your mind saturated with the Word of God. Confess the Word about who you are in Christ every day. Constantly affirm what God says about you, particularly when it doesn’t seem real, and thoughts and feeling defy the reality of the Word. Make yourself say what God says about you.

Don’t give in to fear and doubt. They are the twins born of Satan to put you out of commission spiritually. Yield your tongue to the Word! Meditate it, speak it, chew on it. When the pressure to yield and quit is strong, that’s when you need to speak the Word the loudest!

When temptations to yield to strife come, choose instead to yield to love. Go love’s way instead of the flesh way. Demon forces are looking for a way into your life to trip you up. Strife will let them in. See strife as a tool of the enemy to sideline you spiritually and cause your faith to fail. Mediate on the attributes of love in 1 Corinthians 13. Keep your mind fine tuned to the Word.

Don’t allow the selfish spirit of the age to box you in and rule you. Ideas like the most important thing is for me to be happy are of the enemy and the world. Thoughts that tell you that you don’t have to put up with this or that from your spouse are born in hell (I’m not talking about adultery or abuse here, but just the small aggravations). Thoughts that tell you that you deserve a better spouse are lies from hell. God wants you to have stable family life so your children will grow up emotionally and mentally level and whole. The kingdom of God is strengthened or weakened by family matter in believer’s lives! Refuse to yield to the compromising pressure of the age!

This is the time that the Father wants us to rise up and shine and display His light in the darkness. Resolve to give God your best today!

Virgin Birth Results

For God has allowed us to know the secret of His plan and it is this, He purposed long ago in His sovereign will that all human history should be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in heaven and earth should find its perfection and fulfillment in Him (Ephesians 1:9-10-J. B. Phillips).

The Virgin Birth was God’s way of bringing all of creation back to its original position before Adam’s sin. Jesus is called the last Adam. He came to blaze a new trail for humanity. He came to destroy Satan’s works and to restore to humanity all that was lost in Adam’s disobedience.

The first thing Jesus did was to restore our fellowship with God. Through the New Birth we now have boldness to approach the throne of God just as Adam did before he sinned!

The second thing Jesus did for us was to break Satan’s dominion over our lives. Jesus defeated Satan in his own territory. He showed the spoils of His victory over the dark kingdom in the spirit world before He was resurrected (Colossians 2:15). His all authority in heaven and in earth has been given to the church. Now you and I have the same power over Satan and demonic forces that Jesus exercised.

The third thing Jesus did for us was to guarantee us a new body at the rapture of the church. God never intended that the human ever die and vacate his body. Before the fall, God’s plan was that we live in these bodies of ours for eternity. The death that sin brought is not the plan of God. Jesus conquered death and brought life and immortality back from the grave for us! At the rapture, each believer will receive a glorified body that he or she will inhabit for eternity. This body will fit us for life both in heaven and in the new earth. It will last for eternity. Read 1 Corinthians 15 for the details.

The fourth thing that Jesus did for us was to make the way for the curse that was placed on the earth when Adam sinned to be removed. This is when God through Christ rids the earth of all rebellion, judges His enemies, and returns the earth to its pristine pre-fall state.

Here’s how it happens. Jesus returns to earth with the redeemed church and sets up a one thousand year reign here (Revelation 19, 20). He rules until all of His enemies are subdued (1 Corinthians 15:24-25). Then He judges Satan and his forces and casts them into the Lake of Fire, their eternal abode (Revelation 20: 10). Then God judges all of the unbelievers of all ages, and they experience the second death. They are likewise cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20: 11-15). They receive the same judgment as their spiritual head, Satan.

Then God autoclaves the earth. He renovates it with fire (see 2 Peter 3). This cleansed earth is called the New Earth (see Revelation 21)! A city called the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven and is suspended between the present heaven and earth. It’s a cube 1500 miles high, wide, and deep. There the saints of God will conduct the business of heaven and earth with the Father for eternity.

The curse is completely removed form the earth (Revelation 22)! And we get to live here in glorified bodies for eternity! We will be able to travel back and forth between heaven, earth, and the New Jerusalem! We will reign with Him for eternity. It will be even better than life would have been if Adam had never sinned.

That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7). But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). O the wonder of the grace of God!

The Son

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

The implications of the virgin birth are far reaching. First, Jesus Christ existed from eternity past as the second member of the Trinity. Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58). He had all the attributes of Deity prior to His birth in the manger because He was God; all – power (omnipotence), all-knowing (omniscience), everywhere at all times (omnipresence), righteousness, justice, love, etc. He is co-eternal and co-equal with God. Jesus said if you’ve seen Me you’ve seen the Father (John 14:9)!

When the Son of God was born, He laid aside His Divine powers, and lived the way we must live, by the power of the Holy Spirit (see Philippians 2: 5-11). He did not rely on His God powers to do anything as a man. He showed us that it is possible to live above the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil!

Jesus was born with total authority over Satan and his demons. Because He was born with God as His Father, He was not subject to Satan’s rule. He was born as Satan’s master! Also, Jesus was not subject physical death when He was born. He was not mortal (death doomed). Physical death is a result of sin. Because Jesus was not born as a sinner, He was not subject to death. He died only when He became our sin and allowed death to seize Him.

So here’s the picture. Jesus was born as a full human being that was also Deity. He was the God Man! He was just like Adam before He sinned. Satan tried to have Jesus killed as a child because he knew that Jesus was his master. As Jesus grew up, He came to realize who He was. Jewish boys had to memorize the first five Old Testament books by age twelve. As Jesus read, He came to know who He was! He came to see His mission in life.

At age thirty, the power of the Holy Spirit came upon Him, and in that power He ministered for three and a half years. He healed sickness and disease through the gifts of healings; He multiplied food through the working of miracles; He calmed the storm through the gift of faith; He knew what was in man by the word of knowledge; He knew what would happen in the future by the word of wisdom; He saw demonic forces and took authority over them through the discerning of spirits.

He developed His prayer life the way we must, through perseverance and diligence. He put His flesh under by fasting. He exercised His faith the way the Father expects us to exercise faith.

When Jesus allowed Himself to die, He brought many sons unto glory! What He possessed became ours. He took our sins to give us His righteousness. He took our sickness to give us His health. He took our poverty to give us His prosperity. He defeated Satan to give us His authority. He is seated at the right hand of the Father to give us the same standing in heaven as He! We’re seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ. What He was, we are! As He is, so are we in this world!

The works He did, we are to perform (John 14:12). We are the branches, He is the vine. His life flows through us today. He took the sting out of death for us. We are those that live unafraid of anything! We are more than conquerors! Nothing can separate us from His love! No foe can defeat us. We are kings and priests unto God because of Him. We can do all things through Him who strengthens us! Our past is forgotten, our present is blessed, and our future is bright! And in eternity we will rule and reign with Him! Thank God for the virgin birth!

Why a Virgin Birth was Necessary

Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:34-35).

After Adam and Eve sinned, God had to find a way to bring man back to Himself. He couldn’t just forgive his sin. That would violate God’s morality and would be unjust. All sin must be judged. Psalm 89:14 says that justice and judgment are the foundation of the throne of God.

God must be fair to Himself, to man, and to Satan His enemy. After Adam’s sin, God could not make another man from the dust of the ground and use him to redeem the human race. The dust of the ground was tainted by sin after the fall. Satan legally obtained the temporary control over the earth that God gave Adam. And besides that, if God could have created a human from the dirt the way he did Adam, that human would not be blood related to Adam and Eve.

So here’s God’s problem. Adam, a man, sinned. Now a man must pay the legal price for the mistakes of Adam and Eve. It’s not an issue of whether God loves man or not. Of course He does. But because God is just and fair, all sin must be judged. He has to judge sin to be fair to Satan and fair to His own moral law.

Satan knew this. Satan was kicked out of heaven because iniquity was found in Him. There is no redemption available for Satan. He was a perfect spirit being created by God and he sinned. The payment for his sin is eternity in the lake of fire. Satan is an eternal spirit rebel. If he was allowed to freely travel in the universe he would corrupt it. So his eternal judgment is being confined to the lake of fire.

Adam’s judgment for sin had to equal Satan’s for God to be fair. So Adam’s sin penalty is likewise hell, the final judgment, and then being cast into the lake of fire.

Because Jesus was God incarnate, the problem of God finding a suitable sacrifice for sin has been solved! This is the wisdom of God in our redemption! Jesus, born of a virgin, was not tainted with sin. His flesh was sinless, yet He was a man. Satan had no legal control over Jesus. Jesus was a pure Man. He is a spotless Man. Jesus was born in fellowship with God and out from under Satan’s control and out from under the curse. Jesus had the same relationship with God that Adam had before He sinned.

Because of all of this, Jesus could legally bear man’s sin penalty. So Jesus lived a perfect life. He faced successfully every temptation that man faces without sinning. Then, Jesus was somehow made to be man’s sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Then, Jesus experienced physical death. When He died, He went to hell. He stayed there until God was satisfied that man’s sin penalty was legally and completely paid.

Then God raised Him from the dead and set Jesus at His right had as man’s eternal lawyer. The penalty for mankind’s sin has been eternally paid by the innocent Son of God. Satan’s mouth of condemnation toward man has been stripped of power. The Father has proved His loved for us based on His absolute justice. The Virgin Birth gave us back our relationship with the Father!

Why a Virgin Birth?

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).

December is the month the world celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Without the virgin birth, we would be doomed to spend eternity in the lake of fire. The very foundation of our redemption from sin and its catastrophic effects on all of creation is in the virgin birth.

The reason for the virgin birth is something we all need to understand. When Adam and Eve sinned, the entire human race was immediately severed from fellowship with God. Satan, God’s arch-enemy, became the temporary god of this world.

The “lease” that God gave Adam over the earth to take care of it and “keep” it was transferred to Satan (see Luke 4:5). He became the “prince of the power of the air,” and set up a system of control over this planet and over humanity. Satan was kicked out of heaven because of a desire to control God. When Adam sinned, Satan took advantage of his failure and fulfilled his desire to control by dominating this planet.

Satan may have thought that he had finally done something here that God was helpless to change. He may have thought that his control over the earth and over humanity was beyond God’s ability to reverse, but Satan underestimated the love of God for the human race.

The only way for us to be redeemed was through a virgin birth. You see, a man got us into sin, and a man must pay our sin penalty for us. Satan knew that God was just, and that sin’s penalty must be paid. And he knew that humanity was now a fallen race, and that every human born of two human parents would be born under his control. From Satan’s viewpoint, our redemption was not possible.

But Satan did not understand the deep love that God has for human beings. His corrupted wisdom never considered the price that God was willing to pay to remove sin and the curse from man. The virgin birth was God’s answer for man’s sin from His heart of love.

God’s wisdom before the creation of Adam and Eve was that if they failed the test of Eden and sinned, God would incarnate Himself in the body of a human, and pay man’s sin penalty for him.

No person born of two human parents could pay man’s sin penalty because that person would likewise be a fallen, sin bound, Satan dominated being. But the virgin birth meant that Jesus was not born according to the laws of natural generation. He was a human because Mary His mother clothed Him with sinless flesh. The sperm that fertilized the ovum in Mary’s womb came from God Himself! That made Jesus Christ the God-man! He was 100% God and 100% man. That meant that Jesus was born as the first sinless human since the creation of Adam before the fall; the last Adam as He is called in 1 Corinthians.

And since Jesus was born sinless and free from Satan’s rule, He could legitimately pay the sin debt of mankind! Without the virgin birth, this would not be possible!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Don't let Love Grow Cold

Notice these translations of Matthew 24:12: And the love of the great body of people will grow cold, because of multiplied lawlessness and iniquity ( Amplified) For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in, nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes (Message Paraphrase). And because of the prevailing disregard of God’s law the love of the great majority will grow cold (Williams). There will be more and more evil in the world. So most believers will stop showing their love for each other (New Century).

For the Spirit of God to use us the way He desires in this day, it’s imperative that we walk in love. Love is the foundation of the kingdom of God, and is the force that moves us into being used in spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit.

The harshness of the hour, the continual erosion of moral values, and the self-centered interests that pull us in every direction, tempt us to put a barrier of protection up around our lives. Instead of reaching out, the tendency is to close ourselves in and isolate. That must not happen!

This is the time for the church to shine! This is the moment that the Holy Spirit wants to manifest in an unhindered way to set people free. As we put love first, we open an avenue for the Sprit of God to speak to us and bring ministry to others.

Satan’s kingdom operates on fear, strife, envy, and selfishness. If Satan can keep believer from operating in love, he can quench spiritual manifestations. This must not be! Refuse to give place to the devil! Put love first in all your relationships. Ask yourself in every situation, what would love do?

Spiritual growth and love go hand in hand. Love is the first manifestation of the reborn human spirit. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren (1 John 3:14). The Father desires that we develop in love until it consumes us!

Love neutralizes Satan’s kingdom! Strife dies when love responds. Hatred, anger, and bitterness cannot do their work when love shows up. The Father is holding you personally responsible for the love atmosphere manifesting where you go today! In your home, at work, in the mall shopping, wherever you are, let love loose today!

Don’t allow the ugliness of our times to harden you. You’re created to love!

Keep Your Armor On!

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints (Ephesians 6:10-18).

The opposition you face today does not have its’ origin in people or circumstances. It began with demonic forces seeking to trip you up. They want you to wallow in unbelief, fear, anger, self pity, selfishness, impurity, poverty, and the list goes on and on. They want to separate you from the Word and from the tenderness of the Spirit of God. Their goal is the downfall of the kingdom of God, and your failure.

The good news is they are already defeated! And it is our job as believers to demonstrate their defeat in our daily life and lifestyle. Every time you conquer fear, unbelief, anger, self pity, selfishness, etc, you show God’s power through the Word and through Jesus’ sacrifice for you!

We don’t take our armor off when we go to sleep at night! We wear it to bed! We are always on alert, ever watching lest the enemy to trip us up. We have the girdle of truth on our waist. Just as a belt holds your pants snug, the Word keeps the armor of God in place in your life.

The breastplate of righteousness guards your heart from condemnation and inferiority so that you are free to constant go into the presence of God with your needs and with your faith.

On your feet are the shoes of the gospel of peace. In every situation in life today, the Word is your guide. You don’t go anywhere that the Word doesn’t go.

The shield of faith is held in front of you and stops every attack of Satan dead in its tracks! You walk by faith, not feelings. You believe you receive from the Father in every area of life, and you never let down your shield in unbelief!

The helmet of salvation keeps your mind protected with the Word. Mind renewal is a lifelong process with you. Every thought that comes is processed through the filter of true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, positive, and praiseworthy (Phil. 4:8). Every thought is submitted to the Lordship of the Word!

The sword of the Spirit is the Word spoken out of your mouth. You recognize the spiritual force behind the words that you speak, and you speak the Word over and in every circumstance.

This armor creates a powerful prayer life in you as a believer, and demonic forces turn and run when they see you coming. Keep your armor on at all time. You don’t fight against flesh and blood!

George Washington's Proclamation

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen for His inheritance. The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, just as we hope in You (Psalm 33.12-22).

We enjoyed Thanksgiving Day with our children and some wonderful folk from our congregation. Today, we’ll be in SC visiting our parents.

The following is George Washington’s Thanksgiving proclamation from 1789. We need leaders today that will humble themselves before God in this way:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Thank you Lord

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies (Psalm 107:1-2)

Take some time today to reflect on your life, and in a heartfelt way thank God for His blessings. I turned 50 year old this year, and if you look at the list of folk I hung out with in my teen years, I simply should not have had a positive life. Thankfully through the prayers of my mother, God intervened.

My best friend from my childhood committed suicide in his late thirties. Another friend was imprisoned for selling cocaine. Another committed murder. Yet another committed suicide. And I really don’t think I would be alive today without God, bottom line.

I can take no credit for anything the Father uses me to do. For without Him, I am absolutely worthless. Outside of Jesus, I am a crude, selfish, arrogant bag of wind! But thank God, in Him I am a brand new person! My identity in life is wrapped up in Him. I am hidden with Christ in God! What I was has disappeared. Jesus Christ made me a new creature. The old things left, and He replaced all my mess with Himself. I diligently seek Him today and everyday, because I dare not look back to what I was.

The truth for all of us is that if you cease to walk in the light, darkness will fill the void. I cannot and will never look back. What I was will never be again, by God’s grace. I have family friends, a beautiful wife, wonderful children, a church full of some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. All because of Jesus Christ. All because of His great sacrifice for me.

Lord, thank you for your great and tender mercy on me. Thank you for not giving me what I deserve in life. Thank you for your grace that has taken my mess, wiped it away, and replaced it with your abundant and merciful blessing. All that I am, all that I have, all that I will ever be is in your hands. With all of my heart Lord, thank you for placing your hand on my life. Let me never take you and your blessing for granted.

A Nation in Peril

I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom: Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths (2 Timothy 4:1-4- New Living Translation).

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, my heart is breaking for my nation. I am a US citizen. I love America. But I feel that I am now witnessing the slow and steady dissolution of my nation. Our nation was founded on the principles of self-government under the moral laws of God. Without moral law ruling civil society, breakdown occurs. And our culture is throwing morality to the wind.

The responsibility for what happens to our nation sits at the feel of the church. We the church are responsible to preach the Word of God in season and out of season. We are responsible to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Sound doctrine has in many church circles been replaced by itching ears preaching that is light on reproving sin and heavy on expounding on blessing.

As a believer, you and I are standard bearers in our community and circles of influence. Demon spirits tout politically correct speech so as to offend no one. Political correctness voids the truth of scripture. Our God given responsibility is to be SALT and LIGHT. Our goal should not primarily be to be accepted by people but to love them and by example show them the way to our Father God through His Son the Lord Jesus. Love stands for what is right and exposes darkness.

Let me say this again. The responsibility for the ills of our nation falls at the feet of the church. The ONLY answer to current problems is repentance and earnest prayer. Current problems are spiritual in nature and their answers are spiritual in scope.

Take time today in your personal prayer life to call on God the Father on behalf of our beloved nation. Confess your own sins and the sins of your nation before Him asking for His mercy.

Judgment is looming on the horizon of time. Prayer brings God’s mercy and justice on the scene. Let’s ask Him for revival in hearts and spiritual renewal in our nation. It is our nation’s only hope.

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14). Are we doing this?

Your Life Partner

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Paul encouraged the believers to experience God’s grace, to walk in love, and to walk in harmony with the Holy Spirit. The word communion in this verse is the word koinonia and according to Kenneth Wuest's Studies in the Greek New Testament koinonia means a joint participation, a belonging in common to, a partnership, an association, an intercourse, a sharing, a relationship between two individuals which involves a common interest, and a mutual active participation in that interest, and in each other.

The Holy Spirit wants to be our partner in life. He dwells in us and has an ambition to make Jesus real to us so that we can grow to be like Him! The Holy Spirit also has a strong ambition to use us to bless others.

For us to experience this communion, this koinonia with the Holy Spirit, we must be on the same page in our lives that He is! We must ask ourselves; do I have a major ambition in life to be like Jesus? Do I want to change? Am I pursuing the goal of changing things in me that are unlike Jesus? Am I asking the Lord to make me a blessing to others? Am I open each day to be a conduit for God’s love? Am I actively seeking to hear the Holy Spirit and be used by Him to minister to those around me?

To be a partner with the Holy Spirit, you must fall in love with the Word of God! He is the Spirit of Truth. The more you involve yourself with the Word by reading and meditation, the more the Holy Spirit will witness to your own spirit. If you’ll decide and purpose to be a doer of the Word, the Holy Spirit will begin to show you many things about your life and will begin to manifest in you the nature of the Son of God.

Once you choose to follow this path in life, joy that you have never known will engulf you. But for this to happen, you must give yourself away to your partner, the Holy Spirit.

I want to leave you today with a quote from Kenneth Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, volume III. Here he quotes a man by the name of G.D. Watson who obviously came to know the Holy Spirit very well:

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be His love slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle. Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others. Now when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven.
(from Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, Copyright 1940-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Copyrights © renewed 1968-73 by Jeannette I. Wuest. All rights reserved.)

Don't be Stubborn

If anyone wants to follow in my footsteps, he must give up all right to himself, take up hid cross and follow me (Mark 8:34 – Phillips Translation).

In my message yesterday I mentioned that we must be willing to give ourselves and our willpower over to the rule of the Holy Spirit. We are the custodians of our will. Our will is a sacred thing that God will not overpower. The Holy Spirit has the ability to aid us in every department of life, but He waits for us to yield our will to Him. If we don’t, carnality will reign.

The largest challenge in any believer’s life is yielding their will to God and His Word. We so want our own way!

In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul was commanded by God to totally kill the Amalekites because of their wickedness and dealings with the Israelites in the past. Instead of doing exactly what God said, King Saul spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord, and he kept the Amalekite King Agag alive.

The prophet Samuel came to King Saul and made some very sobering statements when he found that Saul has deliberately disobeyed God in his stubbornness: So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22).

The Samuel said something that applies to us today if we choose to stubbornly and willfully disobey God: Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols (1 Sam 15:23- NLT).

When we choose to stubbornly go the way of the flesh when the Lord is clearly dealing with us to avoid it, and when we know what the Word says to the contrary of our premeditated action, then we are actually opening up a door for demonic intrusion into our lives! And that can bring deception that will callous and blind us to God and His ways.

This is happening all the time in our day. I’ve been walking with Jesus now for over 32 years, and I’ve watched as friends and associates over the years have chosen their own stubborn way instead of the way of God’s Word and will. There seemed to be no repercussions initially. But over a period of time, their calloused heart drew them away from God, and into one calamity or another. Life was never the same for them.

If their remains in you a stubbornness that must have its own way at the expense of God’s will, now is the time to deal with it before its costs you dearly. Go back and read the whole of 1 Samuel 15, and learn the sober lessons of King Saul. Disobedience and stubbornness will bring ruin.

As Michael Brown says: Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay! Yield you will to Jesus and ask Him to deliver you from willful disobedience!