Relationships Strengthen

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

My relationships (or lack thereof) show me where I am spiritually! The two great commandments according to Jesus are to love God and love people (Matthew 22:38-40).While we’re seeking to walk in the Word and walk with God we must also relate well to our friends and associates in the family of God.

There’s just no way that I can really be spiritually healthy and not non-relational. The Monk in the monastery is not a true example of godliness. That is a picture of a person doing in the flesh only what God can do by the Holy Spirit through the Word. God never planned that we isolate ourselves from each other. Isolation is the fleshly way to deal with the problems and pressures that life brings.

Let me be really frank here and bare my heart. In the circles where the Word is strongly preached, we’ve not done a great job of fostering close, intimate relationships with others. We’ve been involved in functions that bring us together, but we haven’t in a large way sought to become close friends in church settings. I’m seeking to change that here at Victory!

We need the Word, we need the Spirit of God witnessing to our spirit, but we also need one another! There’s nothing that can replace the help provided by another caring believer when you’re going through a tough time. Sometimes when pressured you just need a safe environment of faith where you can honestly bare your heart without fear of being stigmatized or rejected. And that’s the kind of atmosphere we need to be involved in with each other.

When Peter and John were threatened by the religious leaders to no longer preach in the name of Jesus, they went back to their own company. There they had a place of safety and solace in the storm, and there they could pour out their heart to others and receive strength. They ended up having such a tremendous prayer meeting that the building they were in started to shake with the power of God!

I’m going to begin to emphasize getting closer to others in the days to come. Hardship is coming to this planet, and before the rapture it’s probably going to get tougher than it already is! We will need the closeness of relationships with other members of the family of God to keep each other inspired in faith and confidence in God.

There are presently two great ways to get involved in closer relationships at Victory. Firstly, by being a very involved volunteer. We have people who are giving many hours of volunteer time in various areas of ministry. In that context, I would encourage those folk to also develop close relationships with those who work with them in the helps ministry. These people will become their support group.

Then secondly, we have lifegroups which meet basically two times per month. Let me say that I’m going to be urging the lifegroups to become closer, and to open up for people to really begin to bare their hearts to one another. For these groups to be effective there should be openness and heart talk. We’re going to need this in the days to come. And we need it right now.

The human tendency is to substitute rules for relationships. Rules are clean and tidy. Relationships blur the lines at times and can be messy! But we are not robots, and life is fluid. Life is constantly changing and we are evolving into who we are in Christ! We need to learn to love each other through thick and thin, when things are going great, and when things are just plain lousy. God never changes in His love for us. His Word is forever settled in heaven. But we are ever adjusting ourselves as we experience personal change and as life flings towards us its challenges.

Get involved in close relationships. Invite others over to your home for a meal and a time of getting to know them. Go to lunch together when you can. Involve yourself in a lifegroup. Open yourself to be loved and love others. Watch the Father change you as you risk being involved in close relationships.

We Need Each Other

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).

God never intended that we live our lives in isolation . We are at our best when we live in relationship. We live in a culture that values individual rights and thank God we have those rights. But we take these rights to the extreme when we take them to mean that we can live the way we want without regard for our fellow man. And that is where our culture as a whole is heading. We must resist this tendency.

It’s easy to be alone in a crowd these days, whether it’s in a shopping mall, at a ball game, or in a church service. The easiest thing to do is keep the walls up and hold others away at arm’s length. Let’s face it, relationships are risky. And if you’ve been burned by one a time or two it’s easier to keep the distance from others than to risk emotional pain again.

But we do best when we learn to relate to the family of God and allow others to come close. One of the ingredients in spiritual growth is close relationships. God did not place his love in our hearts for us to spend on ourselves. Love isn’t love until you give it away to someone else. All spiritual growth revolves around learning to love others unconditionally as well as learning to open yourself up to be loved as well.

Most of us are raised in an environment of conditional love, where expressed love from others is dependent on behavior. But the love of God is unconditional and self-sacrificial! And that’s the kind of love we believers have been given by the Father. And that’s the kind of love we’re called to express in our close relationships.

The first time I was shown this unconditional love by another believer, I didn’t know how to respond. It was almost too good for me. I felt as though I needed to earn it some way. It was awkward to receive. I went to a Saturday “field day” a local Bible college was having after having been invited by a new acquaintance. People came up to me and showed genuine interest in me. They seemed caring and real. That was the beginning of my being set free from years of emotional pain that I kept hidden behind a façade of activity.

The strength of my life as a new believer was in relating to new found friends weekly. The world, the flesh, and the devil would gang up on me daily. But as I spent time with my buddies, I found that I was not alone in my struggles to leave the old man behind. I found the strength of friendships refreshing. I found that the enemy was seeking to isolate me and make me think that I was alone in my difficulties. I also gained a sense of fulfillment as the Father used me to encourage others as a related how I dealt with my daily challenges.

Iron sharpen iron. We need each other. When I was in the sixth grade I sang in a school choir. The lyrics of one of the songs we sang is No man is an island. No man stands alone. Each man’s joy is joy to me. Each man’s grief is my own. We need one another, so I will defend each man as my brother, each man as my friend.

When I was born again, that song came back to me in a fresh was. Now, years later, I can see that I am what I am by the grace of God, and by the help of loving friends. Open yourself up to close relationships, and you’ll find a dimension of freedom mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Death or Life

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

The most powerful force in your life today are your words. They literally have the power of life and death!

Words are the creative ability of God. He created the worlds with words. He upholds all things by the power of His Word. Created in His image, you have an ability to create in your life with words.

Jesus said that we will give account for every word that comes out of our mouth. Let me ask you a question. What would happen if what you said today suddenly came into being in an instant? Would you want what you’ve been speaking to happen?

You’re either speaking life or death. Speaking death means that you’re allowing your mouth to agree with the circumstances around you or the doubts that come into your mind today. And words are creative. When you speak doubt and unbelief, you allow the enemy the opportunity to dominate.

On the other hand speaking life means that you’re allowing your mouth to agree with the Word of God. You’re choosing to call those things that be not as though they were. Speaking life means you speak the end result before you see it. You confess that you believe you’re healed while the pain is still in your body. You acknowledge that your needs are met while lack surrounds you. You say that you’re overcoming by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony while the circumstances appear to be crushing you.

God spoke to the Israelites and told them to choose this day whom they would serve, life or death, blessing or cursing. The Father is likewise challenging you today to choose life by choosing to speak the Word of God right in the face of opposing circumstances. If you will do this, you’ll find the strength of God rising up within you. You will be able to persevere and overcome because God watches over His Word to perform it.

The Love Way

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love (Galatians 5:6).

Satan knows that faith will move mountains, and that nothing is impossible to him who believes. He also knows that faith must operate through love to be effective. And so He works to “pull the rug out from under” our faith life by attacking our relationships.

The love command is the central component in the believer’s life. We’re to love one another as He loves us. We are to follow after God and walk in love. We’re encouraged to have “white heated” love for the brethren.

1 Corinthians 13 gives us the elements that describe love. Patience, kindness, generosity, courtesy, unselfishness, righteousness, good temper, and sincerity are some of the fundamentals that form the love of God.

Over the years, I’ve used the Amplified translation of 1 Corinthians 13:5 as a gauge to measure my love life. The last part of the verse reads: it takes no account of the evil done to it; it pays no attention to a suffered wrong.

The moment I get upset because of the way someone treats me shows that I just left the love realm. Back in my bible school days I way heavily tested in the area of walking in love.

I worked in management in a grocery store that had an employee’s union. One winter before Christmas the union decided to go on a strike. I chose to go to work during the strike and was called all kinds of names as I crossed the picket line each day.

One man who worked as a butcher took particular offence at my actions and refused to talk to me or even acknowledge my presence in the room! I managed the night shift and would unlock the door as the day employees came to work.

This butcher would knock on the door, and as I unlocked it and said good morning, he would ignore me and act as though I was the invisible man! He would enter without saying one thing to me or looking at me. In group conversations, he would act as though I was not there and ignore my direct comments to him. He did this every day for weeks!

I decided that I would walk in love towards him, and act as though he did no wrong. Every day, I greeted him, and would speak to him as I passed him as we worked. He refused eye contact, and just simply ignored me and my kind comments day after day.

After many weeks, I opened the door one morning, and he greeted me with a smile and a hearty “good morning!” I almost fell on the floor in surprise! That taught me a great love lesson. Love never fails. Love is the best way.

Refuse to take offense when people mistreat you. Make a decision to be a person of love. That decision will cause your faith to work, and will keep you living above the insults and injuries of others.

Adoption Benefits

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:4-7).For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26).

You are a son or daughter of Almighty God. You have been adopted into His family through the new birth. Now, everything He has is at your disposal. You have a rich inheritance.

Your relationship with your former family is completely severed by this adoption into the family of God. Your former spiritual parent Satan no longer has any legal jurisdiction over you. He has no relationship or property rights over you. You are now under the care of the One who upholds all things by the power of His Word!

All former debts and obligations from your former family relationship have been canceled. Any personal penalties you have incurred because of laws you have broken have been forgiven. This adoption has given Father God full custody rights over you, and has severed you from all past debts, obligations, and penalties.

You are now an heir of God, and an equal heir with Jesus Christ. All that the Father has belongs to you. You have the full rights of family relationship with the Father. In fact, you have the same status with the Father as His child that a child actually born into his household has! His all belongs to you. But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!

Take your place as a child of God and hold your head high today. You have a new genealogy. You are of God! He has assumed the obligations of your care. He has told you not to worry about where or how provision for the day will come. Just seek Him and His kingdom, and all will be provided!

To your belongs today victory in every circumstance, authority over Satan and his minions, the peace of God, the love of God, the rest of God, healing for your body, prosperity, the promise of answered prayer, everything that pertains to life and godliness, every benefit provided by Jesus on the cross (called every spiritual blessing in heavenly places by Christ Jesus in Ephesians 1:3), and the faith to believe God for everything He has given you!

Expect the Father to provide His best for you His child today. Talk to Him about everything. Take every difficulty the day brings and lay it before Him in faith. You are His child. He is your Father. He will take care of you!

Equal Pay

In Matthew 20, Jesus gave the parable of the vineyard workers. This parable illustrates the importance of faithfulness and of God’s fairness. There are no greater or lesser persons in God’s family. There are simply those that are faithful to do what the Father called them to do.

In the parable a vineyard owner needed workers for the day. He hired people at the beginning of the day, maybe around 6 AM, agreeing to pay them, let’s say $75.00 a day. Seeing he needed more workers and noticing people standing around looking for work, he hired more workers at 9 AM and they agreed to work for a $75.00 a day.

The vineyard owner found workers again at noon and at 3 PM, and they too agreed to work for $75.00 for the day. Once more, the owner hired workers at 5 PM, one hour before the end of the workday. And they too were hired for $75.00 for the day’s work.

At the end of the day, the vineyard owner paid each of the workers the $75.00 that he agreed to pay them when he hired them. The workers that were hired at 6 AM became indignant with the owner, because he seemed so unfair. The workers who were hired in the morning hours did the most work, enduring the grueling heat of the day, and were paid the same wage as the person who was hired at 5 PM. That seems so unfair!

Jesus’ point was that every person in the family of God is valuable. We don’t get rewarded for the amount of kingdom work we do, we get rewarded for our faithfulness to do what the Father has called us to do. That way, each person is just as valuable in the kingdom of God as any other.

Internationally known and acclaimed Billy Graham will get the same reward as the unknown lady who faithfully prays at home for his ministry every day. The janitor, the secretary, the volunteer in the children’s ministry, the piano player, the intercessor, will get the same reward as the pastor in the church as longs as each one does his job and is faithful to do what the Lord has called him to do.

For that reason, there is no “jockeying for position” in the family of God. Our faithfulness is rewarded, not our amount of work or our position. Each person is a valuable as the next.

Decide today to be a person that is faithful. Don’t envy another person’s position or call. You may not be seen or heard by men, but the Father sees your faithful heart and will reward you for doing what he called you to do!

Spiritual Hunger is a Gauge

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled (Matthew 5:6).

Smith Wigglesworth, an English Evangelist, said that he would rather have a man on the platform preaching with him who is not Spirit-baptized but is hungry for God, than to have a man who is Spirit- baptized and is satisfied.

Our hunger defines us spiritually. Hunger in the human body is one of the signs of normal health. When hunger is stymied, it can be one of the indicators of a physical problem. Likewise, spiritual hunger denotes spiritual health. A lack of hunger for God indicates problems have arisen spiritually.

When my children were young, they would sometimes come to the dinner table with no appetite. I would investigate their room and find candy wrappers on the floor or in the trash can. The candy sated their hunger. A believer can find himself void of spiritual hunger if he fills up on the things of the world; magazines, movies, video games, T.V. shows, excessive time with favorite hobbies, etc, and doesn’t spend time with the Lord in the word and in prayer.

Peter told believers to desire the word the way a baby desires milk. In doing so, spiritual growth would occur. God meets us on the level of our hunger.

Lack of spiritual hunger is a sign of problems such as lukewarmness, compromise with the flesh or the world, or of a believer leaving his first love.

Notice Psalm 107:9, For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. The Father meets us on the level of our hunger.

David developed a ravenous hunger for God in his life. Notice Psalm 63:1, O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

Moses had been with God for forty days on top of Mount Sinai, and still wanted more of God’s presence. He developed a great hunger for God, and God met him in a powerful way. (See Psalm 33: 18-23).

We can develop a hunger for God by spending time with Him daily in His word and in prayer. We create desires for whatever we focus our attention on.

If you find yourself spiritually dry, I encourage you to go to the Father and ask him to show you if you’ve allowed anything to keep you from spending time with Him. If you have, ask Him to forgive you, and to create in you a hunger for His presence and His Word. Then force yourself to feed on the Word and to spend time in prayer. After a period of time, you’ll find a stirring inside for more of God and less of the flesh and the world. He is ready to meet you today. Pray to get hungry!

Desire Follows Attention

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…( James 4:8)

Our desires are created by our focus.

I learned this truth during a time of personal struggle back in 1982.The previous year I had taken a volunteer position as an associate pastor in a small church. I had taken this position after just graduating from one of the Bible schools I attended. I later realized that I had missed God’s best. The experience left me empty and disappointed. I didn’t want to read my Bible, or pray, and I struggled with my feelings every time I went to church. Spiritual activity reminded me of my pain.

After this experience, I had moved back to Tulsa and was working and attending a local church. And I was struggling spiritually. A guest speaker at the church I attended made a statement that grabbed me. He said, what you have a desire for is determined by where you place your attention. Desire follows attention.

I felt wasted spiritually and I knew that I must act quickly or I would get worse. I determined to sit down at my desk at home daily with my tape player, my Bible, and a note pad.

I bought the tapes of the services at my church as well as a few tape series. I forced myself to sit down and listen to the tapes, taking notes and looking up the verses mentioned. I had no desire to do this. I did it out of desperation. And it was a struggle every day. But I persisted in spending a couple of hours a day listening, reading, and taking notes.

A few weeks later I was amazed as I woke up one day with a desire to read my Bible and pray! I had created a desire for spiritual things by placing my focus on them. My zeal for God was renewed and I got back on track spiritually. This principle has helped me through the years to keep my spiritual stamina strong.

Make yourself focus on spiritual things every day by spending quality time in the word and in prayer. Before long, you’ll find your hunger for God growing. It’s a never failing principle. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you!

He Knows You

The Father loves you with an everlasting love. He knows everything about you. He is aware of every cell of your body. Not only does he know the number of hairs on your head, but he understands the complex DNA structure that lives in each cell of your body. He is aware of every aspect of your health and knows what is necessary for you to thrive. He wants that information to be yours.

The Father knows every thought in your mind. He is aware of what occupies every memory cell in your brain. He has watched you since you were in your mother’s womb, and knows every single event in your life in minute detail.

The Father is aware of your emotional life. He knows every up and down, and understands the factors that contribute to your personality and motivations. He knows why you do everything you do. He feels the grief and pain that burdens you.

The Father hears every word that falls from your lips. He is aware of the un-verbalized comments that remain buried. He understands the tremendous power your words hold over you. He wants you to watch them carefully.

He sees every unfulfilled desire. He knows your hopes and dreams. He sees the unfulfilled expectations of life that bring you anguish. He knows ahead of time the decisions you make and why you make them.

With this all knowledge the Father wants to come and make a home with you. He wants to help you figure out the every day choices ahead of you. He desires to impart peace to your entire being, and longs to calm every fear and bring you to a state of rest.

This all starts with Jesus’ Lordship confessed with your own lips. Then the Word must be meditated upon until it becomes a part of your inward life. Slowly your perceptions of Him will become stronger and stronger until you will gain an inward knowing of his purpose in the even the minor details of your life.

One day you will meet Jesus personally. He will be the sum total of your every desire. He will be the satisfaction of every thought. He will be the fulfillment of every emotion. He will be the embodiment of your entire future. He will be the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen, the fulfillment of each of your five senses, the sum total of everything that is pleasant. All fullness dwells in Him.

When you meet Him, it will be as though you have always known Him. He will know everything about you that there is to be known, yet you will feel complete and at rest with Him. With Him you will experience the fullness of joy, complete acceptance, and the total fulfillment of every thought, emotion, desire, and sense. You will be totally free to be yourself. Let’s start the journey today!

From Performance to Rest

From childhood, I have used accomplishment as a tool to receive affirmation. I so wanted to hear- “wow, what a great job Mitch” that I would go to the extreme to hear it. At age four and five I was already shining the chrome fixtures in the bathroom just to receive praise. I would make the porcelain gleam just waiting for my mother to notice.

As I aged, this became a way of life for me. This produced in me a drive to succeed. So my life was filled with doing things to be accepted. That’s hard. I could never really rest. And then, I never thought that I’d done enough.

When I gave my life to Jesus, this motivation still dominated me. Now I was doing things to receive acceptance from the Father. And I noticed that deep within me, I didn’t think He as quite pleased with me. So restlessness ruled me.

In the mid 1980’s, I was part of the pastoral staff in a large church in Tulsa. I was in my office one morning, feeling that I wasn’t quite doing enough to be pleasing to the Father. And I came across a definition of Grace that changed my life.

Grace is God’s ability working in you to enable you to do what you can’t do yourself. Faith changes things and circumstances. Grace changes people. And somehow a dynamic changed inside of me.

I had been trying to measure up to some standard all my life. Then as a believer, I tried to measure up to some grandiose standard that I created in my own head so that the Father would be pleased with me. For the first time, I saw that Jesus pleased the Father for me! And all this grunting and straining to attain some super spiritual level was righteousness by works and not by grace through faith. I had a grace heart and a works mentality.

But now I saw that the Father just simply loved me. I broke down and began to cry. I didn’t have to measure up to some high standard for the Father to love me. His love is not based on accomplishment, but on His own benevolent nature. He loved me for who I was, not for what did.

I took all this doing things to be pleasing motivation to Him. And I asked for His grace, His ability to do in me what I can’t do myself, to change this works motivation that pushed me so hard.

Now, all these years later, I can rest. His grace, His ability to do in me what I can’t do myself, has helped me settle down into the peace of God. I’m no longer driven with this deep need to perform to be accepted. I am accepted in the beloved! Now I do what I do out of a motivation to bless and help others, and out of a motivation to obey my Father and give Him Glory.

The rest of grace through faith is where the Father wants us all to live. I encourage you to allow the Father’s unconditional love into your life, and to let go of the need to perform to be accepted. The Father wants you to cease from your own works and rest in the acceptance that Jesus’ blood purchased for you freely!

From the Inside Out

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).

We are destined to change! The Father has placed His “seed” in us, and He wants that seed to germinate and produce from within us a godly character. His desire is that we become just like Jesus in the way we live.

In the above verse, the word conformed is from the Greek word summorphoo which means to bring to the same form with. Or to make it practical, this word means to take something on the inside and let it be seen on the outside! He’s in the process of changing us from the inside out. An example of this is in Matthew 17 when Jesus was transfigured and began to glow with a white light. What was inside of Him burst forth!

Behavior originates within. For a person to change there must be a catalyst on the inside to produce the change. When we are born again, the seed of the Word is deposited in us. The Father wants us to water that seed with the Word and prayer so that it will grow within us producing Christ likeness.

Paul travailed for the believers in Galatia until Christ was formed in them (Galatians 4:19). This word formed here means to change the outward to reveal the inward. Travailing prayer, praying in other tongues, helps bring this change about.

In Romans 12 we’re encouraged not to allow the world to squeeze us into its mold. We are not to allow outward things to shape us. It’s the renewing of the mind with the Word that causes a metamorphosis, a change from with, to take place.

Allow the seed that the Father has placed in you to germinate today. Take time to feed God’s Word. Let the Word find a home in you! Let it dwell in you richly. You become a partaker of the Divine nature when the Word abides in you (2 Peter 1:3-4). Water that seed by spending time waiting on the Lord in prayer.

Focus your thoughts on the God’s Word today. Set your mind on things above. As you do, the incorruptible seed will germinate and change you, from the inside out!

Renounce, Submit, Obey

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).

Repentance plays an important role in a fresh move of the Holy Spirit in individual lives, in a church, and in a nation. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus to begin His ministry: In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near (Matthew 3:1-2).

Israel had turned away from the Lord. They had worshipped false gods in the place of Jehovah. Judgment was coming. After calling for repentance, Joel prophesied a great move of the Spirit (Joel 2:28-32). Listen to the call to repentance that preceded the word of a coming revival:

Now, therefore, says the Lord, Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him — A grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their God? (Joel 2:12-17).

I believe the Lord is calling us to repentance today so that He can move in a fresh way by the Holy Spirit in our personal lives, in our churches, and in our nation. Remember 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT): Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

Repentance has three ingredients. When I repent I must renounce, repent, and obey. First I must renounce any area of disobedience, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. When light comes into my life, I am responsible to walk in it or darkness will invade and blind me. Repentance is a mental and willful “about-face;” a 180 degree turn in the opposite direction. I change the course of an area of life. It is a decision of heart that produces a lifestyle change in me.

To repent I must also submit. That is, I must allow the Word of God to saturate my mind and heart, and then I must willfully choose to submit and obey it. But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves (James 1:22 - NLT).

Lastly, to repent I must obey. I must decide moment by moment to obey my conscience and the tender tug of the Holy Spirit as I walk through each day and its demanded choices. Renounce, submit, and obey must become my lifestyle.

The Father wants me to live a lifestyle of repentance. When I do, I can expect times of refreshing from the Father’s awesome presence in my personal life. Then, as we act in corporate repentance, we can expect times of refreshing in our churches and in our nation. Walk with me today into repentance: renounce, submit, and obey!

Prayer Opens the Door

And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened (Luke 11:9-10 – NLT).

During our early morning prayer meeting this past Tuesday, I received something from the Holy Spirit that I want to share with you. While I was praying in the spirit, I became aware that I was praying about the future and what God had for all of us.

Let me begin by saying that God often speaks in picture form. Joseph had a dream and saw his family bowing before him, showing him that he would be a ruler one day. Joseph also had a dream showing him some fat and lean cows, revealing a severe famine that was to come after years of plenty. Daniel had a dream and saw a statue made of various metals, revealing the world powers that would rule Israel through the millennia of time. Peter had a dream of a sheet let down from heaven with all sorts of clean and ceremonially unclean animals. Through this the Lord revealed to him that he accepted all races of people in His salvation plan.

In my mind while praying Tuesday morning I saw a bulging door. In fact the door was bowed in the middle from the contents behind it pressing on it so forcefully. I intuitively knew that the door was in heaven and that behind it were answers to prayer, many of them being healings that people needed. I became acutely aware that the Lord wanted to manifest Himself strongly in the earth before the rapture of the church occurs. I knew that the rapture was to be in the not too distant future. And I knew that prayer was the key that opens the door to the fresh manifestation of Himself that the Father wants to bring to us!

Then Joel 2:28 came up from my heart. Joel prophesied a revival and a fresh move of the Spirit of God just prior to the Second Coming of Christ. Peter included Joel 2:28-32 in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, showing that the last days began at the onset of the church age.

To put it all together, I believe the Lord wants to manifest His power through the church in our day in a stronger way than before. Tough times are ahead. There’s no way around them. The world is lining up for the tribulation time and the emergence of the one world government and the rule of the Antichrist. As soon as Israel signs a peace treaty guaranteeing a Palestinian state, the tribulation begins (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3). At the same time, Iran, Russia, and many of the Arabs states are joining forces together to attack Israel. It just a matter of time before this occurs (Ezekiel 38-39). These are signs of the times that point to the soon to be tribulation time that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24.

While things go downhill worldwide, The Father wants to display His power through the church! He wants us to pray in an awakening of His presence. He wants to demonstrate Himself through sovereign answers to prayer! The answers are in heaven. We just need to pray to open the door and release them.
Let’s keep our focus on Jesus and on leading people to Him. And let’s commit to praying into manifestation what God has for us in these days prior to the rapture. He wants to use us to bless and help others. What He does now and just before the rapture will continue through those saved during the tribulation after the church leaves. In context, Joel 2 is really speaking of the tribulation time when God will move sovereignly to demonstrate His power to those who are facing terrible calamity.

We are in a time of rapid change worldwide. This rapid change will not cease until the whole world is in the throes of the tribulation. Now is the time to seek God. Now is the time to ask Him to manifest Himself to the unsaved and to use us as laborers in the harvest fields of salvation. Now is the time to commit to fervent prayer!

Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising (Isaiah 60:1-3).

Angels at Work

Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word (Psalm 103:20).

We are not alone. Not only do we have the Spirit of God to enable us and help us from within, but we also have the help of the angels of God from without.

The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them(Psalm 34:7). For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone(Psalm 91:11-12).

In Genesis 18, angels appeared to Abraham, and reminded him of the promise of God. They also warned Him of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 19, angels came to remove Lot and his family from the doomed city of Sodom. An angel appeared to Gideon as he threshed wheat behind a wine press. The angel delivered a message from God that changed his life.

Angels also appeared to Daniel, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Paul, Mary Magdalene, Peter, and to John on the isle of Patmos.

We are admonished to be hospitable to everyone, since some have been unaware that the angels of God had come to check up on them! See Hebrews 13:4.

We have the encouragement from Hebrews 1:14 that angels come to help us in life. A.S. Way’s translation of this verse reads, The angels! - what are they all but servants, spirits who render service to God, who are hour by hour being dispatched on errands of ministration for the help of us who have salvation as our heritage!

Put your angels to work for you today. They are here to assist you in your life of obedience to God. As the verse at the beginning of this blog indicates, they obey the word of God! When you speak the Word, the angels go to work.

As I pray about various things for myself and others, I regularly command the angels of God to go ahead of me and do whatever is necessary for the purpose of God to be fulfilled.

Years ago I started a business to augment my income while in traveling ministry. Each day I commanded the angels of God to go and cause the business to come my way. The business thrived.

Since I’ve been pastor here in Raleigh, I regularly command the angels of God to go and cause the finances we need for the work of God to come in. We have always been blessed with everything we need!

Of course, everything we do should line up with God’s Word. And there are those who have placed undue prominence on messages from angels and have gone into error. Everything inspired by God must agree and be in line with the Word of God, and will exalt Jesus and God the Father, not the human! But don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!

Keep God’s Word first place in your life today, and call on the angels of God to assist you in your life of obedience today. They are waiting to be dispatched!

Dependent Living

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32). But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17).

In Ephesians 5, Paul parallels the marriage with the relationship Jesus has with the church. In counseling couples before marriage, I encourage them to be aware of the adjustment that must take place mentally and motivationally in being joined to another person for the rest of their lives. They can no longer live to please only themselves, but must also focus on their mate, and how each action they take affects the other. And this kind of mental/motivational adjustment is just like the change that occurs when Jesus becomes our Master.

In the above verse we find that when we are born again we become one spirit with Him. Here how that works out in a practical way.

In my B.C. (before Christ) days, I did my own thing. I did what I wanted to do and went where I wanted to go as I desired. I answered to know one. As long as I obey civil law, I was free to do as I pleased.

That changed when I was born again. Suddenly it wasn’t just me doing as I pleased with no thought of anyone else. It became Jesus and me. I began to ask my self what Jesus would want me to do, act, say, in each situation of life. Now He has something to say about how I dress, what entertains me, who I hang out with, and what I think about. I’m one spirit with Him! I’m no long good ‘ol independent Mitch. Now I’m a Jesus intertwined Mitch! Jesus is intimately involved in every single thing I do. And it’s no more independent living for me!

A similar change occurs when in marriage we become one flesh with our spouse. The dynamic of the inward change in marriage is similar to the inward change in motivation/thought when we’re married.

I noticed this change immediately after Susan and I were married. I was in the grocery store picking up a few items. And I quickly noticed that I wasn’t just thinking about what I wanted, but I was also thinking about what were please her in my purchases. And this kind of thought filtered into all my activities. It affected my leisure time, my financial life, how I spent my time, etc. We were now one flesh.

Now that I am a married Christian, my life is intertwined with Jesus and with Susan. I can no longer live an independent life. I’ve chosen to be one spirit with Jesus and one flesh with Susan. Self-centered living is no longer an option. If I go there, it will only produce personal pain.

I meet so many believers who are still seeking to live an independent life from Jesus. They experience much internal conflict. I also meet so many married couples who are living independently from their spouses. It produces much dissatisfaction and hardship in their marriage.

I understand at least part of what Paul meant when he said I die daily. How about you? Are you living as an independent or an interdependent person? As a single or married Christian, you’ve been bought with a price and you are not your own! So stop the independent living!

Chosen Closeness

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

Each one of us is as close to God as we choose to be. He has given us an invitation to draw near to Him, and our response determines our depth of intimacy with Him. There were five circles of intimacy around Jesus that illustrate the closeness that we can experience with the Father.

There were the multitudes that followed Jesus wherever He went. They were looking for a dazzling display of power. All they wanted was to see a sign and a wonder. There are those today who are just looking for something new and extraordinary. They go from meeting to meeting, from church to church, never committing, never adding, and never finding what they are looking for.

From the multitudes there emerged seventy people whom Jesus chose and gave the power of His name to preach the gospel of the Kingdom and to heal the sick. He sent them out in thirty five teams of two.

Then after a night of prayer, Jesus chose twelve men who became His disciples. They were trained to minister as He did and he taught them much about Kingdom business.

From the twelve there were three disciples that experienced more than the others. Peter, James, and John were with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. They saw Him glow with the Glory of God. They were with Him in the room when He raised a little girl from the grip of death. They saw and heard more than the average disciple.

Lastly, one of the disciples is mentioned in the book of John as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He is seen at the last supper laying his head on Jesus’ chest. He seemed closer to Jesus than the other eleven. This was the disciple named John, and he spoke of himself in the gospel that bears his name.

All of theses groups were as close to Jesus as their response to His loved allowed. He loves everyone equally. Their position was as a result of their response to Him.

The multitude, the seventy, the twelve, the three, or the one. Which group would you be in today? The place of closeness that John enjoyed is available to us all.

We are today as close to Jesus as we choose to be. Let’s draw near!

Ministry Gifts

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11).

The “five-fold” ministry gifts listed in this verse are placed in the body of Christ by Jesus in order to equip the saints for the work of ministry and to build us up spiritually.

I believe that the local church should be a place where believers are matured so that they can fulfill God’s purpose for their life and impact their world for Jesus. Each of the ministry gifts plays a part in that maturing.

Apostles are “sent ones” as the Greek Word for apostle reads. New Testament apostles have signs and wonders following their ministries and are used to establish churches. Many missionaries serve as modern day apostles.

Prophets have the revelation gifts of the Spirit in operation in their ministry and have a supernatural edge on them. The word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, or the discerning of spirits function in varied combinations in their ministries.

Evangelists are anointed to bring the lost to God and to stir the saints to evangelize.

Pastors shepherd the flock of God and tend to the spiritual needs of the body of Christ in a fatherly way.

Teachers help the body of Christ grow into mature sons and daughters of God by equipping them with the Word.

Today, George Moss will minister at Victory Fellowship. George does not have the teaching ministry that I have. The Father uses him differently. God uses him in the Word of Knowledge, the Word of Wisdom, the Gifts of Healings, and the Gift of Faith. George allows the Holy Spirit to use him in such a way that people know that they are loved and dear to the Father.

As much as I enjoy preaching and teaching the Word of God, I do not believe that I have the only Word that our church family needs. We need to hear from all the ministry gifts. If we’re going to grow into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, then we must receive from all the ministry gifts that God places in the family of God. That’s the main reason we have guest speakers at Victory Fellowship. We need the whole counsel of God, and that means hearing from a variety of giftings that Jesus has prepared for us.

Let’s keep ourselves humble and open before the Father and receive all that He has for us through the ministry gifts Jesus placed in the church.

Receiving By Faith

Faith means being sure of what we hope for, and faith means knowing that something is real even before we see it (Hebrews 11:1 – New Century Version).

Everything we see exists in two realms, the spiritual realm and then the natural, physical realm where we live. Notice Hebrews 11:3: By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. God made the three dimensional world we live in from matter that first existed in the spiritual realm and was spoken into existence by God.

Abraham is mentioned in Romans 4 as having the characteristic that God has of calling those things that be not as though they were.

Ephesians 1:3 reveals that we have already been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. 2 Peter 1: 3-4 tells that that by His Divine power the father has provided us with all things that pertain to our natural and spiritual life.

Here’s what the Father wants us to do. When we have a need, He wants us to exercise our faith and pull the answer for that particular need from the spiritual realm where it already exists into the physical realm where we live. You see, faith receives what grace provides!

This is how it works. You have a need, for instance, for healing or finances, and you know that God has promised in His Word to meet the need. You hope that the need will be met. You hope things get better. The Father wants you to hook faith up with the hope you have to pull the answer from where He is into your life.

So you go to the scriptures that promise that God will meet the need. You meditate on them, that is, you read them over and over and mull them over in your mind. This builds the capacity for strong faith. Then you simply ask the Father to meet the need.

Jesus said in Mark 11:24: Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. You may see no change in your circumstance after you pray, but you simply believe that God heard your prayer. To demonstrate your belief, every time the need comes to mind, you praise God and thank Him for hearing your praying and answering your request. Your faith takes the place of the answer to the prayer until it manifests in the physical and you can see it.

You stay in the “faith” mode until the answer to your prayer manifests. You know that it’s simply a matter of time between the time you pray and the time you actually see the answer. You don’t need to pray about it again, because you know that the Father heard your prayer, and by faith you possess the answer. Your faith is actually the proof that the answer exists in the spiritual realm. According to the nature of the request, it may take a day, week, or months for the answer to actually be seen. But you stand your ground on God’s Word until faith and patience manifests the answer!

Living by faith is exciting. No matter what problem in life arises, you know that you and the Father can fellowship together, and that you can exercise the faith that He provides and receive the need met.

Exercise you faith today and refuse to allow doubt and unbelief to strong-arm you. With God all things are possible! And all things are possible to him who believes!

Faith Fundamentals

As I mentioned yesterday, faith is to be a way of life for the Christian. Living by faith means living by acting as though the Word of God were true! Some have mentioned faith in a way that makes it look like faith is a shot in the dark. But faith is an educated step on the Word of God!

Here are some basic fundamentals of how to live by faith. When we are born again God gives us a measure of faith to use against the circumstances of life, and we are to use our faith for the rest of our lives (Romans 12:3). Then we daily build our faith by feeding on the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Faith must be exercised just like a muscle if it is to grow and become strong. So we must begin to exercise our faith in the Word of God on a daily basis against life’s circumstances.

Faith accompanies knowledge. The more knowledge of the Word that a person has, the greater the capacity they have for faith. But faith must be put into action to be real faith. Living by faith is being a doer of God’s Word.

Faith is for what God has promised us but we don’t yet posses in physical form. Faith takes a hope that we have and makes it tangible. Hope is a desire that has no basis of reality. Hope is like a dream. You may hope for a physical healing one day in a diseased part of your body, but faith takes that hope and believes that God has healed before any physical changes occur.

You may hope for a change in some life circumstance, or for finances to meet a need, but faith goes a step beyond hope and believes that the need is met and the circumstance is changed before any change can be seen. Faith calls those things that be not as though they were.

Jesus said it this way, 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).

New Century Version of Hebrews 11:1 puts it this way: Faith means being sure of what we hope for, and faith means knowing that something is real even before we see it.

If you have a need, exercising faith and believing you receive works every time, if you’ll simply act! I’ve been living this way for over 32 years now, and it’s amazing to see how God has been faithful to His Word!

Let me give you as simple illustration of how faith is exercised. Back in 1981, I noticed that warts had appeared on both of my hands. I counted twenty one warts! I had tried to dissolve them with various medications, but they were stubborn and seemed to continue to thrive. I decided that if God’s Word were true, then certainly He would heal me of these unsightly warts!

So I prayed one day according to Mark 11:24, asking the Lord to heal me of the twenty one warts, and I began to believe that I receive healing for the warts. I knew that faith takes the place of what I don’t see, but what God promises, until it manifests. So after I prayed I began to praise and thank God for healing me of warts. I didn’t look to see if they were gone, because I had all the evidence I needed, the Word of God in Mark 11:24. I could tell that there was no physical change however, because I could feel them on my hands as I went through the day’s duties.

I continued daily to thank God for healing me, and vocalized my thanksgiving for the healing throughout the day. Several weeks later, I noticed that all of the warts had disappeared. I had no idea when they left because I was so taken up with praising God for healing me!

I have this kind of thing happen over and over again through the years. I encourage you to exercise you God-given faith and believe you receive what God has promised you in His Word. Faith never fails!

Faith Living

…The Just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17).

Living by faith is a way of life that is carefree and peaceful. It’s a way of life that has the normal difficulties and challenges faced by every earth dweller. But it’s packed with an ability to look beyond every sunset and see the sunrises that are sure to come.

Living by faith is a joyful way of life. It’s not dependent on happenings for emotion. Happiness has the root to happen in it. Joy is the distinguishing emotion of faith. It rests in the expectation of promises fulfilled. Joy isn’t moved by unbending circumstances because it knows that behind every promise in the Bible is the very integrity of God Himself.

Living by faith is a patient way of life. It knows that the promises of God take time to ripen in the circumstances of life. And the patience of faith knows that as it looks to the promise of God, God will always honor His word. One of the Greek words for patience is hupomone. It means an ability to remain or to stay when the going gets tough. Patience lifts its head and smiles through the pain. It never looks back, and is ever expecting God to give His best.

Living by faith means seeing the invisible and acting as though the promise is already fulfilled before any change takes place. Living by faith is living with our eyes fixed on God’s Word and not our surroundings. It’s calling those things that be not as though they were. It’s believing that God has answered while the problem seems to get worse.

Living by faith means speaking the Word of God and never ever giving voice to doubt and fear. The voice of faith agrees with the God’s word. It says exactly the same thing that God says.

Living by faith is living in love. Faith rests in the love that God has for His children. Just as a baby is secure in the arms of a loving mother, protected from the harsh elements of life, so the believer walking by faith has settled down in the care that the Father has for His own.

Living by faith erects a shield that wards off every attack from the enemy’s fiery darts. Living by faith takes the believer out from under the control of the adversary. Sickness, disease, fear, weakness, inability, poverty, lack, and everything else hell has to offer is overcome by living the lifestyle of faith.

Living by faith is a narrow road. Critics just don’t understand it. But those who walk it’s paths find peace joy, patience, fortitude, and love, and at the end of the that road the person walking by faith will find a smiling Father pleased to provide a trusting child with every good and perfect gift!

New Covenant Power

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease (Matthew 10:1).

Jesus gave the disciples power over demonic forces and over sickness and disease. This was before He shed Hid blood. They went in the power of His name. The disciples were old covenant people, relying on the Law of Moses.

As a child of God, you have the very power of God at your disposal. No one on the earth has more authority over Satan and his works than you do. You have a better covenant than the disciples had at the time Jesus made this promise of power to them. IF the disciples had power over the enemy and over sickness and disease, then you have even more!

The Old Covenant was set in force by animal blood and had to be renewed yearly by priestly ceremony. Jesus is now your High Priest, and has offered one sacrifice to forever keep you cleansed from sin and to give you constant access into the presence of the Father. The Old Covenant folk were servants. You are a son or daughter of the Most High!

You are seated in a position of authority, far above the powers of darkness that ever seek to hinder and malign. You have the use of the name of Jesus on a much broader scale than the disciples had. You have the power of the spoken Word of God at your disposal. You have the blood of Jesus, which has the ability to destroy every bondage.

Demons tremble before believers who know their rights and privileges in Christ and who decide to walk in purity and holiness. Sickness cannot remain in the body of the believer who decides to seek first the kingdom of God, and walk in the light of the spoken Word of God.

Rise up today and walk in the inheritance that belongs to you. Don’t allow doubt or fear any place in you. Resist the devil and his forces and watch them flee. Set yourself against sickness and disease and command it to go in the name of Jesus. You have the power of the resurrected Christ behind you today. You have the Father’s smile. You have the boldness of the greater one within.

God is for you! He has freely given you all things. Rise up to the level of life provided for you in Christ today. Mountains have to move. Circumstances must bow to the Word of God. Demon must obey that Name!

You are a walking vessel of honor, capable of setting men and women free with the power of God. Obey the prompting of the Spirit today. Allow Him to use His power through you to set others free.

Idolatry of the Heart

Little children, keep yourselves from idols (1 John 5:20).

On my annual short term missions trips to India, I notice idols on just about every street corner. We don’t have many of those kinds of idols in the US, but we still probably have just as much idolatry here.

An idol is an extravagant admiration of the heart; anything that is the supreme object of our affection; any object of ardent or excessive admiration or affection. In that light, I think you can see there are quite as few idols around.

An idol could be a child, a spouse, a car, a house, a hobby, or anything on which we depend in the place of relying on God.

Abraham made an idol out of his promised son Isaac, and God asked him to slay him as a sacrifice. When Abraham released him to God, his life was spared.

Years ago I had an idol of personal pride and of ministry that the Lord asked me to surrender to Him. During a season of transition in ministry I was praying and looking for a supplemental source of income, and the Lord spoke to me that I was to “paint,” that is, start a painting company. After much persuasion I finally began painting houses while not on the road in ministry. The first idol to fall was my personal pride.

I had always dressed to perfection and prided myself in dressing nicely and in keeping myself well groomed. I loathed the idea of painting because it seemed so messy and it lacked the prestige of “ministry.”

I was painting the stippled “popcorn” ceilings in a house one day and the white paint and stipple fell all over me; in my hair, down my face, all over my clothes. I was a complete mess! I got a call at the same time to give a contractor an estimate on some work on a new house. I arrived with this white stipple and paint all over me. The contractor looked me up and down and asked if I always looked like this. Well, that just knocked my “pride in my looks" idol right to the ground. I was humiliated. Somehow I knew that the Lord placed me in a position to face this kind of circumstance and sacrifice my “well groomed” idol to the Lord. I was set free of the need to look perfect that day!

Some time later, I was grinding old paint off the exterior of a house, and feeling sorry for myself that I wasn’t busy in ministry. And the Father began to deal with me about yet another idol that I had erected in my heart. It was the idol of ministry. I had been in full time ministry almost my entire adult life and felt that I just had to be in ministry. With flecks of paint and sweat covering me as I grinded away at old paint wearing a face mask, I came face to face with the ministry idol in my heart. The Father showed me that I could be satisfied in any circumstance as long as I had Him with Me. He showed me that I did not need ministry to be fulfilled as a believer. I only needed Him.

I cried out to the Lord in that moment and told Him that I would paint the rest of my life if that was His will for me. I felt immediate relief from the burden of having to be in ministry to be fulfilled. The release from the weight of my “ministry heart idol” was incredible. For the first time in my life I was content to do whatever and be happy in it. Not long afterward, the Lord opened up full-time ministry in my life again.

I no longer serve the idol of personal pride or the idol of needing to be in ministry. And I’ve never been freer as a child of God. Ministry is a joy, not a burden. I don’t have t be in ministry. I am privileged to be called by the Father to serve His people. Jesus meets my personal needs. And now I’m free to commit my life to serve the Father as I serve others.

Allow the Father access in your life today to deal with any heart idols that may be in the way of His best for you!

Taking Every Thought Captive

…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

A pure mind creates a pure life. The Father wants our minds to be conformed to the image of His Son just as much as He wants that for every part of our being.

My mind was filled with all sorts of impurities when I first came to the Lord. Before Christ I was almost completely controlled by my mind and my emotions. After I submitted my life to Jesus and was baptized in the Holy Spirit, I often found thoughts in my mind that my heart resented.

My mind would frequently run from one thing to the next as though it had a life of its own. I discovered that you can have an educated yet undisciplined mind. An undisciplined mind is a mind that is allowed to go wherever it pleases at the will of environment and circumstance.

I realized that thought association occurs in a millisecond, and happens so rapidly that you scarcely notice. Anything you see can remind you of an unpleasant or sinful event in your past. A certain color of clothing, a particular style, the silhouette of someone in the distance, an overheard song, a certain smell of cologne or perfume, a particular model of car, a certain terrain, an overheard conversation while walking in the mall, or a host of other things stimulate our minds and remind us of past happenings. And our mind takes these things and runs a rabbit trail. The problem is that you may not like where the trail leads, particularly if you’re a believer!

I tried everything to control my thoughts; praise and worship, speaking the name of Jesus against the thoughts, or just plain refusing to think them. Each time they slowly came sneaking back. The only thing I found effective was to place a scripture in my mind and force myself to concentrate on the scripture. When I did this, I found I could control my thoughts.

At first, I struggled. I would let the mental rabbit trail run for several hours before I even became aware that my mind was going in the wrong direction! I knew that to change a habit, you don’t concentrate on the negative of refusing the habit, but you replace the habit with something else. So the moment I found myself going the wrong way down a one way street mentally, I would force myself to think on scripture, and to my utter surprise, it worked!

Now, after years and years of practice, I can say that my mind is under my control. I choose what I think about, and will not allow my mind to go into certain areas. It has to obey me! My mind is not in charge! My spirit, the real me, is in charge of my life as directed by the Holy Spirit through the Word!

Start today to take mental inventory. Are you controlling your thoughts, or are your thoughts controlling you? Begin today to purpose to think on things that are true honest, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, and worthy of praise. IF you’ll keep it up for several weeks, you’ll begin the process of forming new habits of thinking. And you’ll experience the peace of God in daily life.

You Become What You Think

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he… (Proverbs 23:7).

Our thoughts determine the course of our life. So we must be careful with what we allow ourselves to think about. Here’s a great question to ask. Would I want the last twenty four hours of my thoughts to manifest in my life? If not, then I need to change what I’m thinking!

Jesus said in Matthew 12 that a good man manifests in his lifestyle what he meditates on within, and likewise the meditations of an evil man manifests in his lifestyle.

Satan knows how powerful our thoughts are and continually seeks to invade them. We must choose to keep our thoughts on godly things, and not allow them to dwell on fleshly things.

Notice the admonitions from the New Testament we have encouraging us to watch our thought life: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2); Be renewed in the spirit of your mind (Ephesians 4:23); Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2); Gird up the loins of your mind 1 Peter 1:13); Pull down strongholds and cast down vain reasonings, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5); Whatever is true, honest just pure lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy – think on these things (Philippians 4:8); We don’t allow Satan to take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his mind games (2 Corinthians 2:11); Be free from mental intoxicants, be mentally alert and on guard (1 Peter 5:8)

Here are some quotes I’ve gathered over the years that will encourage you to control your thought life:

A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if one’s life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself. You have a chance to select from some pretty elegant furnishings (Louis L’Amour).

Make not your thoughts your prison (Anonymous).

The quality of our lives is closely related to the quality of our thinking (Gary Collins).

You can’t keep a bird from flying over your head. But you can keep him from building a nest in your hair (Kenneth Hagin).

A man’s life will be as the character of his thoughts. If he thinks evil, he will be evil. If he thinks holy, he will be holy; His outward life will be as his inner impulse is (John G. Lake).

You live the way you think – so what the mind feeds upon becomes the most influential force in your life (Tim Lahaye).

The devil knows that if he can capture your thought life, he has one a might
victory over you…I come across people everywhere I go who are held bound by deceptive conditions and these conditions have come about simply because they have allowed the devil to make their minds the place of his
stronghold (Smith Wigglesworth).

You cannot have spiritual power without purity of mind (Lester Sumrall).

Sanctification is having the mind of Christ, and all the mind of Christ (John Wesley).

The soul must be conquered before the spirit can be free (Lester Sumrall).

Guard your thought life today!

Subduing the Will

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your member as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God (Romans 6:12-13).

After Adam sinned, mankind turned selfish and self-centered. Before the fall, Adam lived for the glory of God, but after he sinned, he lived to please himself without considering God and His plans for him.

The new birth transforms our spiritual lives. The nature of sin is replaced by the nature of God. But the residue of sin remains buried within the soul and must be rooted out! Paul made the appeal to the believers in Rome to dedicate their bodies to God, and to renovate their minds so they wouldn’t be pressured by the world to conform to its ways.

The soul is composed of the mind, the emotions, and the will. The spirit wants to interact with the soul for the glory of God. The body wants to interact with the soul to fulfill its cravings. The soul is in the middle of a battle, and is the deciding factor between spirituality and carnality. If the mind is set on fleshly things, then the flesh dominates. If the mind is set on spiritual things, then the spirit rules through the soul.

The battle of your life every day is to continually make the choice to walk in the spirit. To do this, you must guard the ears and the eyes from exposure to the lusts of the flesh. A decision for the flesh gives the residue of the old man in the soul permission to conquer the spirit! A decision to act on the Word gives the Holy Spirit through your human spirit control.

The will is the king of the soul. Your will determines what you think about and what emotions you allow to run free. Your will determines whether you yield to the Spirit of God in your spirit by yielding to the Word, or whether you yield to the lusts of the flesh by allowing thoughts from past or from the outside world through the eye and ear gate to rule your life. Again, your will is the deciding factor!

Jesus addresses the will in every gospel. If any man desires to come after Me, let Him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me (Matt. 16:24). Jesus emphasizes this truth. It’s mentioned in every gospel. To deny yourself, you must be willing to lay every thought, every emotion, and every desire at His feet by comparing each of these to the Word. Does some thought, action, or emotion violate the Word? If it does, then you must choose to say NO to it.

We must die daily. That is, we must choose daily to yield our will to the Father through the Word. And then carefully choose what we give attention to in our minds and emotions. To do this, our wills must be wholly recommitted to the Father through the Word every day!

Perhaps we should make David’s prayer in Psalm 19 ours each day: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer!

Spirit, Soul, and Body

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

A close, overcoming walk with God begins by knowing how you “tick.” Here’s a simple overview that helps me.

I am a spirit being, I possess a soul, and I live in a physical body. The real, eternal part me is spirit. God is a Spirit. I am made in His image as an eternal spirit.

My conscience is the voice of my spirit. My conscience must be trained in the Word of God and obeyed implicitly. If I train my conscience in the Word, it can become the primary way God leads me. I call a trained conscience the “inward witness.” I must instantly obey the Word that I know, and never violate my conscience. When I violate my conscience, I am allowing my mind and my body to usurp that first place that my spirit should hold in my life.

I, as a spirit being, possess a soul. My soul is made up of three parts; mind, emotion, and will. The dominant part of my soul is my will. With my will, I can direct my mind and my emotions to obey my spirit through my conscience.

My mind and emotions are like tag team wrestlers. They work together to seek to rule my life. They play on one another, my mind alerting my emotions, and then both of them working together to get me to respond to life the way I did before Jesus redeemed me.

My mind is very keen and seeks to dominate my life. It thinks it knows how best to protect me. It has this fight or flight mechanism built in and seeks to protect me from what it perceives as harm. It seeks to parallel what happens now to what has happened in my past. It alerts my emotions to feel now what I felt in similar experiences that I’ve had in my past.

I must retrain my mind to listen to my conscience, the voice of my spirit. My mind must be continually renewed with God’s Word, or it will revert back to old ways of responding.

In my soul there is a residue of sinful thoughts, emotions, responses, and motives left over from my before Christ days. It can make me think something is real when it really isn’t. My soul is clever and frequently seeks to undermine the rule of my spirit. I must be very cautious and careful to keep my soul submitted to God’s Word and to my re-born human spirit.

My body is the part of me that will perish in 80 or 90 years or so of living on earth. It is my earth suit that I must have to live on this planet. I must never let it dominate my spirit or my soul. My body easily responds to earthly things and has an appetite for anything to which it is exposed. I must control my body and keep it disciplined so that my spirit can manifest through it. I must use my body as an instrument of righteous and godly living, and must not use it in a selfish way.

The Father can help me build up my spirit through the Word and then through prayer, particularly praying in the spirit or in other tongues. The Father can help me keep my mind and my motions submitted to my spirit through His Word. And He can help me keep my body under strict discipline. He wants my whole spirit, soul, and body to flow with Him!

Develop Your Prayer Life

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 6:18).

We had an excellent time of prayer last night in our mid-week service. I want to encourage you to set aside some time each day to pray. I usually get up early and spend an hour or so in prayer. I pray in tongues and in English. And then I have times of prayer throughout my day. To become proficient at something, you have to just go there and do it.

Prayer is that way. Some things are better caught than taught. We’re going to be spending some time each week praying together in our mid-week service after I minister briefly. But make sure you follow up by praying alone at home. Hon you prayer skills!

I’m learning to play the saxophone right now. I’ve read books and looked at technique videos, but there’s nothing quite like squeaking it out alone to develop ability and skill. Athletes practice the same feat over and over, just like musicians and singers. First attempts are halting and feeble. Practice improves performance. In the same way, let’s work on flowing with the Holy Spirit in our prayer life and become skilled at it!

1 Corinthians 14:13 encourages us to ask the Lord to help us know what we’re praying about when we’re praying in the Spirit or in tongues. So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said (1 Corinthians 14:13- NLT). Paul tells us to pray both in tongues and with our understanding when we pray. For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don't understand what I am saying.
Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.(1 Corinthians 14:14-15 – NLT).

We need the Holy Spirit’s help in our praying in this volatile hour! He will help you if you will pray in the Spirit or in tongues and then allow the interpretation of what you’re praying to come when the Holy Spirit gives it.

I’ve been do this for many years now. I set aside some time to spend with the Lord. I worship Him and remind Him of His promised answers to prayer (Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 15:7; John 16:23-24; 1 John 3:22; 1 John 5: 14-15). I remind Him of what He said I do when I pray in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:2,4, 14; Romans 8:26-27; Jude 20). Then I just start praying in the Spirit (tongues), I pray slowly and keep my mind and attention on Him. The most frequently used Word for prayer in the New Testament means a face to face encounter. So I envision myself right in front of my Father God, pouring my heart out to Him in a language that only He understands. I ask Him to let me know what I’m praying about when He wants to do so.

Then I just pray for a while. Frequently, after a few minutes, thoughts begin to come up from my inner man to my mind. I’ve learned to recognize these as thoughts from the Spirit of God; so when they come, I simply speak them out in English. At times, the anointing of the Spirit becomes strong on you when you pray this way. A theme of praying about certain things begins to develop. Time passes swiftly.

Then, when I’m through praying this way, a tranquility, a peace settles over my entire being, and I feel as though I’ve been sitting in my Father’s lap! When you leave this place of prayer, you don’t want to talk to anyone for a while. You just want to soak and bask in that serene Presence! Sometimes I’ll have an intuition about things that are coming in the future during this afterglow.

Let me urge you to take some time to develop your own prayer proficiency. Our world is changing rapidly. Life as we have been living it may suddenly change, and you want to be prepared. Now is the time to develop that intimacy that will take you through any and every challenge as a victor. Now is the time to be used to minister life to others. All ministry comes out of our prayer life. No praying means little fruitful ministry. Much praying means being used as a branch of the vine where His life flows out of you. Begin today!

Works

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was (James 1:22-24).

We are saved by the grace of God and not by our human efforts or works. Because of this many feel that works are not important to God, but that is just not true. Our after salvation works are proof that we really believe! James said that faith without works is lifeless faith. In real life, if we say we have faith but we never act like it, then we have dead faith! A person who says that he is born again but shows absolutely no evidence of lifestyle change, has dead faith. And according to James that person is not saved.

J.C. Ryle, an English Bishop in the 1800’s said: Where there is no sanctification, there is no regeneration, and where there is no holiness of life, there is no new birth. This is no doubt a hard saying, but it is a simple Bible truth. J.C. Ryle also said: Tell me not of your justification, unless you have some marks of sanctification. Boast not of Christ’s work for you, unless you can show us the Spirit’s work in you.

The bottom line is that our works are important to God. At the judgment seat of Christ we will be rewarded for what we have done after salvation. Notice 2 Corinthians 5:10(Amplified): For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive his pay according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil; considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing.

Through scripture we find that works are examined by God. He gives to every man according to his works! Some simple research of “works” with a Bible concordance will surprise you with how much emphasis God places on what we do. In addressing the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three, Jesus mentioned their works in every instance!

Let’s balance this out. Yes, we are saved by grace. And a quote from A.B. Simpson is one of my favorites: You have not been saved by grace to live by works! Our works righteousness is as filthy rags. Our works don’t save us. God’s grace through the sacrifice of Christ redeems us!

However, our post salvation works determine our position and rewards in eternity. And, according to James, our works are evidence of what we really believe! I’ll close this with a Quote from John Wesley: Do all the good you can,by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

The Boomerang Effect

Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you (Luke 6:37-38).

The law of sowing and reaping is working constantly in our lives. The attitudes I sow in others I reap back from them. The kindness I sow comes back to me. If I condemn others in my heart, then I will find that judgment coming back to me. If I want mercy from God, I must sow mercy to others. If I want the benefits of forgiveness then I must for give those who offend me. It’s just like a boomerang.

See every act today as a seed that you’re sowing. See every thought you think as a mirror of what you will have in your future. This reciprocal effect works 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Remember that seeds you plant take time to grow. And once they grow, the harvest is assured. Make sure that the seeds you sow are the ones you don’t mind living with in the future!

Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. (Galatians 6:7-9).

The Power of the Word

I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart (Psalm 40:8)

The Word is filled with creative power. It has the power to change your desires, to move you to change your behavior and life focus. David went from being an adulterous murderer to a person who delighted in God and in doing His will. What made the drastic change? The Word!

The word contains in it the very power of God! Jesus said the words that I speak are spirit and life. Paul was preaching in Ephesus and a revival broke out. People were saved and Spirit-Filled. Many were set free from occult practices, burning their witchcraft wares. Paul remained there in Ephesus a good while and notice what caused the great change in the city: So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed (Acts 19:20). The Word affected change a whole city!

The Word dwelling in you can change any area of your life from being flesh dominated to being spirit dominated! The catalyst is you and your will. Time spent ingesting the word will produce dividends of great change in your life and lifestyle. You could begin your own personal revival just by becoming involved with the Word! Draw near to God and He will draw near to you!

Notice the change the Word will bring as noted by these verses: How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word (Psalm 119:9).Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You (Psalm 119:11).The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide (Psalm 37:31). Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth (John 17:17). That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word (Ephesians 5:26). And we also especially thank God continually for this, that when you received the message of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of mere men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe, exercising its superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it (1 Thessalonians 2:13-Amplified).

Nothing has the power to change you like the Word. The enemy knows this and seeks to keep you occupied with other things so the Word is choked and doesn’t bear fruit. Outsmart him today! Get in the Word when you first awaken, then meditate on it throughout the day. You’ll find its superhuman power creating in you strength, ability, wisdom, love, and godliness. Loose the power of God in your life today by being a person of the Word!