Facing Impossible Circumstances

But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him, and he blew a trumpet, and [the clan of] Abiezer was gathered to him (Judg 6:34 - Amplified).

When you first see Gideon in Judges, he is hiding behind a piece of farm equipment as he threshed wheat to hide it from the Midianite army. The Midianites would attack Israel during their harvest season and steal their food. It was a great oppression to Israel. And an angel appeared to Gideon and called him a mighty man of valor while he was in hiding!

Gideon’s response was to remind the angel that he born on the “wrong side of the tracks” and that he was the smallest in his father’s household. The bottom line was that God saw Gideon differently than he saw himself. Gideon focused on his weakness while the Father focused on his strengths. God saw in Gideon the leader that he was, even though the circumstances showed his personal cowardice! Your opinion of yourself may not agree with God’s! He knows you better than you know yourself and he sees the latent abilities that you can’t see in you!

Then to top it off, God told Gideon that he would defeat the Midianites. So Gideon amassed an army of 32,000 men for the task. When God was finished telling Gideon the criteria the men must fulfill to fight this battle, the army dwindled to 300 men! What looked impossible from natural human thinking was so easy from God’s perspective. The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself, and took possession of him. You see, God and one man make a majority! God has the ability and wisdom. All He needs is yielded flesh and blood. Not Charisma! Not Wit! Not raw human power! God only needs a human emptied of self-ability who is willing to be clothed with power from on High!

You may face impossible circumstances today. Failure may seem inevitable. On your own, it may be. Take the time to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. He sees what you can’t see. What seems impossible to you is so easy to Him! Take His word into your mouth today and begin to say what the Father says about you, your circumstances, your life, and your future. Call those things that be not as though they were. Confess that you have God’s strength, power, wisdom, and ability, and that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. The Father working in you makes the impossible possible. What He did for Gideon He will do for you.

Christians and the Military

Today is Memorial Day and we as a nation are honoring those who have served our country in the military and have given the ultimate sacrifice, their personal life. As we take a day to relax from work and spend time with family and friends, let’s also take some time today to pray for the families of those who have had family members killed while serving in the armed services. Let’s also take some time to pray for our President and national and local leaders. Their decisions largely determine our continued freedom as a nation.

Many Christians do not understand how to balance what the Ten Commandments say about murder with serving in the military and facing the need to kill an enemy endangering national security. As a result, many are pacifists and believe that national peace can be secured by diplomacy alone.

Let’s first of all look at some fundamental facts. Thou shalt not kill should actually be translated Thou shalt do no murder. The prohibition is against premeditated murder. Understand that the same God that said Thou shalt not murder also told the Israelites to go to battle and kill their enemy during the conquests of Canaan their promised land. And God told them that He would empower them in battle and help them defeat their enemy. This is the killing of an enemy to spare a nation from annihilation by an enemy set on their destruction and this kind of killing for the defense of a nation is allowed by God.

A strong national defense is a deterrent to an enemy that is set on a nation’s downfall. A strong national defense actually encourages peace because it sends a strong message to those seeking to undermine a nation’s security. Because of the wicked fallen human condition, a nation must defend itself against attack. As Paul said in Romans 12 we should seek, as much as lies within us, to live peaceably with all men. That’s not always the easiest thing to do in the light of the depravity and wickedness of man.

As you enjoy your peaceful holiday today, please pray for our nation. Our international enemies would love for our nation to fall into ruin. Many are seeking to steal the liberties that we as a people enjoy. We are hated by extremist that are actively seeking ways to destroy America. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray that our nation would continue to be a friend of Israel. Our national survival hinges on how we as a nation deal with Israel.

And remember the sacrifices made for your freedom. Peace through military strength will be necessary until the millennial reign of Christ when the nations will beat their swords into plowshares!

Dealing with Temptation

But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions). (James 1:14 – Amplified)

The most dangerous person in my life is me! Self deception hinders more people in God than perhaps any other one thing. We all must ruthlessly deal with ourselves, honestly admitting our areas of weakness to the Lord, to ourselves, and if necessary, to another trusted friend.

The verse above is written to believers. Every believer has a built in Achilles heel. Notice that every believer is tempted when he or she is drawn away by his own evil desire. What is this? This refers to what you allowed in your life before Christ. And it may be different for each person.

The seeds of the sins of the flesh committed before Jesus came into your life are still in the recesses of your soul. They lay there latent, dormant, waiting for you to feed them. They are fed by giving them attention in your thought life. You allowed your mind, emotions, will, and flesh to do certain things before Christ that, if you do them now may break your fellowship with the Father. This is your personal strong desire mentioned in the above verse. And these things must be guarded against for the rest of your life. It may be anger, a tendency towards holding a grudge, fears of any sort, gossip, jealously, envy, self-centeredness, or any of the sins of the flesh like adultery, fornication, or lust. It may over eating, drug or alcohol use.

The key is to know yourself and be aware of what tempts you. Here are three keys to keep you free from your past. The first one is to maintain a close, regular, and daily intimate fellowship with the Father in the Word and in prayer. Our spiritual life should be the energy center of life. And the spiritual resources of sincere prayer and quality time in the Word give us a tune up spiritually and help keep our flesh under. If you don’t keep your spirit fed, your flesh will rise.

Secondly, watch your close friendships carefully. 1 Corinthians 15:33 - Amplified reads: Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character. Close association and friendship with those who have no spiritual values will dampen your spiritual life and lessen your spiritual fervor. Their values and ideals will rub off on you. I am friendly with unbelievers and with believers who are carnal and refuse to discipline their flesh. But I refuse to “hang out” with them in a close way. It wouldn’t work anyway, because I would challenge the wrong behavior! At some point, you either make a decision to step away from those who compromise or you may become like them.

Lastly, draw the line of demarcation in your life. That is, refuse to go places or do things that will stir up past sins in your life. Don’t hang around the person that gossips if that was a previous problem. Don’t look at the risqué movie or TV program; it will only entice the problem you had before. Don’t hang out with those who are casual drinkers if that was in your past. Apply this rule to whatever you were involved in pre-Christ!

Daily fellowship with the Father, godly associations, and drawing the line of demarcation in your life will help shield you from falling into previous patterns of living!

The World

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17).

The “world” is one of the enemies of the believer. Theologian Kenneth Wuest defines the “world” as all the floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, beliefs, and values that are current in the world. Smith Wigglesworth defined the world in his simple way as “that which cools my affection towards God.”

We’re admonished not to be friends with the world (James 4:4). Friendship with the world leads to being “spotted” by the world (James 1:27); which leads to “loving” the world (1 John 2:15); which leads to “conforming” to the world (Romans 12:2); which leads to being “condemned” with the world (1 Corinthians 11:32).

Demas was a companion of the Apostle Paul in ministry and left Paul and the ministry because he was overcome by the world. We all must examine ourselves regularly, confessing our faults to one another and our sins to the Father can cleanse us and help us. Shun the world. Snuggle up to Jesus and to the Word. Fellowship with Him. Pour your heart out to Him. Ask Him to help you overcome temptations that come your way. His throne is full of grace and mercy for your time of need.

Idolatry

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

I’ve traveled to India many times to minister and there I notice idols on just about every street corner. We don’t have 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 house 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.” It didn’t fit my image.

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 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.

So many idols can arise in our hearts over time. A good question to ask yourself is what do I do or use to fill a need that really only God can meet? Jesus, through His Word and by His Spirit, should be the one who satisfies every deficit life brings. If We allow Him, He really can become our All in All! The price to pay to get there is gut level heart fellowship with Him (Jeremiah 29:11).

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!

Three Things

Some time ago I had a dream about the time period just before Jesus’ return in the rapture. Life was strained and dangerous. I seemed to have the impression in my spirit that these are times to be cautious and careful, and times to really live as if we were going to heaven today. That dream is applicable even more right now.

What comes to mind is Revelation 12:12: Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." And Romans 13:11-14 comes to mind: And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Demonic forces are stepping up their efforts to blind people from the truth of the Word, and are seeking to instill strife and discord in every possible way where allowed. And there is an un-holy spirit that is loose in this age that snubs its nose at God and His standards. Refuse to yield to it!

Here are three things of importance to embrace in this day. First of all, embrace the Word. The Word is designed by the Father to build the nature of Jesus into our spirits. The Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It speaks to us in the immediate need and shows us what to do, how to respond. And the Word gives us guidance as we make long range plans! Ask yourself, what does God’s Word say about this situation I’m in right now? Live your life in the light of what the Word says.

Secondly, walk in love. Refuse to allow strife and discord. Don’t take account of the wrong committed towards you. Refuse to talk about the negative things in other’s lives. Think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, positive, and worthy of praise. Strife and envy are Satan’s playground. Don’t play his games.

Thirdly, walk in holiness. There is a looseness in our age that is seeking to bring compromise into the body of Christ. Our Father is Holy and He wants us to live separated lives for His glory. Samson refused to walk in holiness, and the spirit of his age came upon him. He was not aware that the Spirit of God had departed from him! Don’t compromise your closeness to Jesus with the attitude of this age! It’s time to walk with God!

The Power of a Gaze

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).

The phrase looking unto Jesus is from a Greek that means to look away from everything else and to look at something with an attentive and unwavering gaze. To look at Jesus this way, we must look away from our own failures and insecurities. We must look away from past experiences. We must look away from our personal fears and weaknesses. When we see only Jesus, life takes on new potential.

Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. His sights were set on harming the Christian church and hindering its purposes. His vision was transformed by the blinding light of Jesus’ visage. Three days later, Ananias laid hands on Paul and not only was his physical sight restored, but his life vision was changed! For the rest of Paul’s life, he looked at the Son of God, and became one of the greatest saints of the church age.

Noah found grace in God’s sight, and was chosen to save a remnant of humanity from the deadly flood. For 120 years after God spoke to Noah, he “looked unto” the flood, and worked feverishly to build the boat God designed. Noah’s vision set him apart from his generation. His vision of the coming deluge moved him past the criticism and sarcasm of his age. The mocking and ridicule continued unabated decade after decade, and Noah never moved from his convictions because his continually looked at the coming flood and God’s command.

Abram was called out of a city of idolaters who worshipped the moon. God’s promise that he would father a child with his 65 year old wife changed his life forever. Abraham became the Father of faith as he gazed at the stars in the nighttime sky. God promised that he would have as many kids as the stars he could see. As Abraham gazed upon the sand on the shoreline of the ocean, he was reminded that he and Sarah’s days of barrenness would end with the blessing of being the father of a multitude and of the whole world benefitting from God’s promise to him. Abraham’s life changed because he no longer focused on his inability but on the promise of God.

Keep the vision of your intimacy with Jesus every before you today. In Him we live and move and have our being. You are seated with Him in heavenly place far above Satan’s rule and power. You are loved and favored by the Father. You never face one life event alone. The Greater One is in you to enable you in each task today. He is intimately involved in every relationship and in every circumstance. Keep looking unto Jesus and there will be no room in you for discouragement, darkness, and dread. What you see is what you will get!

Don't Be Passive

We are either aggressing or regressing in our walk with God. If we are not passionately pursuing Him, then we are by default backing away. We must fight spiritual passivity.

In 2 Timothy 2: 4-6, Paul uses three excellent analogies of how we are to pursue our walk with God. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops.

We are to conduct our selves like a soldier. A soldier has submitted himself to his superiors. He is ready at a moment’s notice to act without delay. He has been trained to engage the enemy and win. He has learned how to work as a team with his fellow comrades. He has disciplined himself for had times.

An athlete has disciplined his body through hours of exercise. He has learned to endure and to push himself beyond what is average. He strictly controls his diet and regiments his whole life in pursuit of his dream of winning the competition.

A farmer is diligent with growing his crops. He is up at sunrise ready to tend the fields. He sows his seed early and watches over it as it grows. He removes all obstacles of growth from the tender plants so that he can receive a full harvest in due season. He works hard!

So we are to fight like a soldier, prepare like an athlete, and work like a farmer. There is no place for slackness in the kingdom of God. Don’t allow yourself to be mediocre spiritually. Jesus shed His blood to redeem you from the world, the flesh, and from Satan’s dominion. Passivity dishonors His work at Calvary. Give God you best today.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14).

Promotion

“For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the judge: He puts down one, and exalts another.” (Psalm 75:6-7)

This verse was quickened to me this morning during my personal time with the Lord. We cannot promote ourselves into the place that God has for us. This promotion comes from the Lord. But we can do the things that place us in position to be promoted in God’s timing for us.

Paul said in Romans 1:1, “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.” Notice that Paul was called to be an apostle. That calling happened eons ago in the mind and heart of God. But then Paul says he was separated to this call. God has a plan, a call, for all of us. There is a Divine purpose for our lives that was determined before we were born (See Psalm 139).

But we must be separated to that call or Divine purpose. And the separation to the call is when we actually begin to function in the will of God for our lives. And that separation has more to with us than with God. God calls, and it’s up to us to respond. Jesus said it this way, “Many are called, few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14). Being chosen means entering into the call that God has for us.

God doesn’t look for ability but for availability when He separates us to the call for our lives. And the number one character trait God looks for is faithfulness when looking to promote us. It’s the faithful man that will abound with blessing. (Proverbs 28:20). It’s required in stewards that a man be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). Paul told Timothy to look for faithful men to help him in ministry (2 Timothy 2:2). And Paul himself was placed in ministry, or you could say, he was separated to the call of God upon his life, because God counted him faithful (1 Timothy 1:12).

Are we faithful now in the small things? Promotion comes when we are faithful where we are. He looks for us to be faithful in our attitudes and words; faithful to submit and yield to others in positions of leadership. If we can’t be faithful in helping another person in ministry, how can God trust us with our own (Luke 16:12)?

God has required faithfulness in me before each time of promotion in my life. I’ve been at the place of discontent with my lot in life so many times. Each time, the Lord kept me there until I could say, “Lord, if this is you plan for me, I will stay in this place the rest of my life; I want what you want for me.” And when I stopped striving, and focused on being faithful, promotion came. The call comes from the Lord, but the separation to that is determined by my faithfulness.

Examine Yourself

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

The rapture of the church could happen at any moment in time. No Bible prophecy needs to be fulfilled for it to occur. In a millisecond of time, you will be involved with something here and then suddenly you will be in the presence of Jesus Christ.

Today, as everyday should be, is preparation day for my meeting with the Son of God. The fire in His eyes will try my works. All that I have done since making Jesus Lord of my life will come under the scrutiny of His gaze. The results will be gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw added to my personal heavenly rewards.

I’m going to leave you with these challenging scripture to ponder today. The philosopher stated millennia ago the un-examined life is not worth living. Keep short accounts with Jesus. His coming is soon.

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] (2 Corinthians 5:10- Amplified). But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:10-12).Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:31-32). If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).

Grace is Enough

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love (Galatians 5:1-6).

The believers in Galatia were encouraged by Paul to continue living in the grace of God and to not revert back to the keeping of the law to appease a guilty conscience. The Judaizers as we call them were demanding that these newly converted Jewish believers submit to circumcision and obedience to the law as well as to their faith in Jesus.

The purpose of the law was to reveal the weakness and inability of the flesh. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law could never save from sin. The law, with its demands for outward rigid performance, is impossible to keep without the indwelling of the Spirit.

Paul urges with great intensity and passion for those who are in Christ to remain free from the dictatorial demands of religion that places accomplishment of outward demands in the place of a living current relationship with the Father.

Here in Galatians, he contrasts the works of the flesh, or the works of the law with the fruit of faith, or the fruit of the spirit. One is cold and lifeless, while the other is alive and invigorating.

Life with Jesus frees us from the outward demands of the law because it creates a desire for closeness with the Father and a motivation to shun anything that would compromise that intimacy with the Most High. Walking in the grace of God creates a liberty that frees me to respond to the Father from within and literally cancels the yearning of the flesh!

When I think of work, I think of sweat, hard toil, tiredness, and labor. The Father has freed me from a works consciousness that does to please. Now I am what I am by the grace of God! The liberty of grace working in me produces fruit. When I think of fruit I think of refreshment, of a meadow full of trees bearing all sorts of delectable treats that awaken my being and bring delight! Fruit is easy. It comes natural. And the fruit of the spirit are borne from my personal intimacy with the Father.

When I was about a year old in the Lord, I decided that needed to fast a couple of days a week to discipline my flesh. A few weeks into this regimen, the Lord very abruptly told me to stop fasting. He told me that I was doing this as a form of works to be pleasing to Him. And He told me that it was producing spiritual pride in my life as I looked to see if others were as disciplined as I was. I stopped the regular fasting for a long time. I had to grow spiritually before I could fast with the right heart motive and not to gain favor with God.

The grace He has given us cost the Father so much that He is never pleased when we turn to the flesh and outward things to prove our rightness in His eyes. The grace provided by Jesus’ sacrifice more than enables you and me to stand in the presence of the Father fully pleasing to Him.

Stand fast in your liberty from religion today and your freedom from outward performance in order to please. His Grace is enough!

Righteousness

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

My own righteousness is like a filthy rag when I stand before God. I can’t do enough good works to be right with Him and He knows that! So the Father has imputed the right standing of Jesus to me. Jesus became what I was so that I could be what He is to the Father.

To be righteous means to be able to stand before the Father as though sin and condemnation had never existed in your life. It’s just as though you had never done any wrong! The Father made us righteous in Jesus so that we could have full fellowship with Him twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

Notice Isaiah 43:25: I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. To the person who has been made righteous, there is no record of past sins!

When a believer sins and confesses the sin to the Father, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). It’s important when you sin to bear your heart to the Father and confess it before Him.

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 2:1-2). And when sin is confessed it is as though it never happened! Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more (Hebrews 10:17).

Satan traffics in condemnation and inferiority. He wants you to think and feel as though you’re not quite good enough to approach the Father for fellowship and requests. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down (Revelation 12:10).

Refuse the character assaults that Satan brings your way. Forget what God has forgiven! Your sins have been cast into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). Condemnation and inferiority are the chief enemies of your faith life, and it’s your faith that overcomes the world. See condemnation and inferiority to God as an attack of the enemy to hinder your faith, and to rob you of your boldness before God.

Stand your ground against these assaults and see yourself as the righteousness of God in Christ!

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1). And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death (Revelation 12:11).

The Test

Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him (Psalm 105:19).

The above verse refers to Joseph. He had a vision of his family bowing in obeisance before him as a leader. He was 17 years old at the time. This did not come to pass until Joseph was 30. The in between time was difficult. He was sold as a slave by his brothers and his father was told that he was killed by wild animals.

The ruler’s wife thought Joseph was so handsome and she lusted after him. He refused her advances and she accused him of trying to rape her. He was sent to prison for many years. It looked as though God’s promise was untrue. For years he remained imprisoned though innocent of the charges.

Joseph eventually became what we would now call the Prime Minister of Egypt. The whole land was under his authority. Only the Pharaoh was mightier than he. His family came from Canaan starving for food during a famine and during their visit the Word of the Lord to him was fulfilled.

Yes, the Word of the Lord tested Him. Did God speak or not he may have thought during those years of misery. But no word from God is void of power (Luke 1:37)!

So here you are in the middle of some tough circumstances that just don’t let up. Nothing that the Word declares seems to be true in your life. You’ve prayed. You believe that you receive. You’ve stood your ground against the circumstances that tell you repeatedly that you prayers are unanswered and that your faith is not working. The test is on!

Are you going to believe the promise of God, or are you going to yield to the pressure. That’s what Joseph faced all those years. But he knew that if God spoke, then that Word from Him was surer than the rising of the sun. Joseph’s faith kept him for 13 years while the Word of God worked itself out in his life.

If this can work for Joseph, a man under the old covenant, can it not work for us, whose faith is established on a better covenant with promises that are even more sure? We must persevere as Joseph did against the negatives that life brings. Joseph kept his focus on the promise of God and received and so will we! So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18- NIV)

My Father

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord (Psalm 104:33-34)

My Father reigns supreme over all. When I’m lonely or confused I go to Him and pour my heart out. He knows exactly how I feel and infuses me with courage and strength.

When unrelenting fear comes, I go to Him and He brushes the fear away and points me to my faith in Him. He replaces the fear with a knowing that things will work out well for me. He always causes me to triumph in Christ.

When I’m faced with financial loss or lack, I go to Him and He provides wisdom for the next step. He assures me that He is my supply, and urges me to look away from the foreboding circumstance and keep my focus on Him.

When the enemy attacks with sickness, my Father urges me to stand my ground on His word and never cower or back down. He and His Word are one. He sent His Word and it heals me, and delivers me from my destructions.

When a friend turns his back on me and forsakes the relationship we’ve had, My Father takes me in His arms and comforts me. He shows me that though others may fail me and bring disappointment, He is a safe place for my emotions and my thoughts.

My Father has proved His love for me over and over again. When I get involved with something that would eventually bring me pain, harm, or hurt, He pulls me aside and talks to me about it. And then He shows me the proper way to deal with the issue.

He shows me when my motives are wrong, and allows me to pour my heart out to Him about it. He never threatens or loses patience with me. He calmly listens, then I can He His soft voice beckon me to obedience.

He always leads me towards peace. He is the most tender person I have ever met. I feel safer with Him than with any person I have ever known. I often wonder what it will be like to actually meet Him for the first time face to face. In my mind, I see myself just melting to the ground in awe of Him. Then I see Him pick me up and hold me to Himself as He brushes away insecurity and self-consciousness. I see Him infusing me with His own nature through and through, finally releasing my soul from every trace of debris from my past. Then I see Him look away and point into the future. There I see the ages to come, where in eternity I experience what it means for mortality to be swallowed up by life.

So that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7 – NCV).

But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed (1 Corinthians 2:9 – Amplified).

Rest and Refreshing

Praying in the spirit or in other tongues is a gift that accompanies the baptism with the Holy Spirit. It is the will of God that every believer has the ability to pray in the spirit.

With the Holy Spirit baptism comes a greater degree of the presence of God in your life. And by praying in the spirit, there comes a deeper intimacy with Him.

Isaiah 28:11-12 reads: For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, To whom He said, "This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest," and, This is the refreshing...Talking to the Father from your human spirit brings rest and refreshing! It’s a wonderful thing to be able to sit quietly in His presence and pray from your spirit. In this way intimacy with the Father is available to you twenty four hours a day anywhere in the world! During times of difficulty and emotional and mental turmoil, you can turn to your Father and pour your heart out to Him in words that He alone understands.

There’s just something about being totally real with someone that releases stress from your life. When you’re involved in challenges all around, praying in the spirit can take you to that place of solace where the Father can minister His rest and peace to your spirit.

As you work today you can quietly pray in the spirit and commune with the Father under your breath. As you shop, or as you mow the lawn, you can enjoyed uninterrupted communion with the Father of spirits . Take advantage of this “closet experience” throughout the day and you’ll find renewed strength for the task at hand.

He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak (Isaiah 40:29). Praying in the spirit will enable you to wait on the Lord through your busy day today. Take advantage of it!

Spiritual Sensitivity

As I mentioned yesterday, the Baptism with the Holy Spirit enhances you’re ability to connect spiritually with the Lord. Let me go into more detail on what I mean.

When I pray in the spirit, my human spirit is talking to the Lord without the involvement of my mind. This direct spiritual connection to the Lord is so vital to effective prayer, for it enables you to pray the perfect will of God over a person or situation. It’s make prayer limitless!

But another part of this is that when I pray in the spirit, it helps me to tune into the voice of God in my human spirit. Notice again 1 Corinthians 14:14 (Amplified): For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit by the Holy Spirit within me prays, but my mind is unproductive; it bears no fruit and helps nobody. You see the Holy Spirit is in my spirit. That’s where He contacts me. His first contact with my human person is not with my mind, but with my spirit. And praying in tongues regularly helps me stay sensitive to my human spirit. And since the Holy Spirit is in my spirit, I become sensitive to Him too by praying in tongues.

Here another interesting tidbit about praying in tongues. It also helps me sort out the will of God in general for my life as well as the details of daily choices. 1 Corinthians 2: 9 (J.B. Phillips) reads: For who could really understand a man’s inmost thoughts except the spirit of man himself. How much less could anyone understand the thoughts of God except the very Spirit of God. God’s Word Translation of this verse reads: After all, who knows everything about a person except that person’s own spirit. My spirit intuitively knows things that my mind does not know, because the Holy Spirit is in my spirit. So praying in tongues helps me tap into the wisdom of God for life’s particulars.

1 Corinthians 14:13 tells us to ask for the interpretation of what we need to know when we pray in the spirit. Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. So I regularly remind the Lord that I want to know what I’m praying about when I’m praying in tongues when He desires to tell me.

Back in November of 1993 I was praying in tongues one morning and thinking about what the Lord wanted me to do in my future. At the time I was pastoring a church for a pastor while he took a year away to start a church in another country. His time to come back to his church was approaching and I was wondering what the Lord had for me. After I finished praying in tongues for an hour, the words already existing church just seemed to float up to my mind from somewhere. I knew this came from my spirit and that the Lord was talking to me about my future after this pastor came back.

I kept this phrase already existing church in my heart for six months and it evolved into you will go to pastor an already existing church. And that already existing church is where I having been pastoring for the last almost 17 years! How did this come about? It happened because I took time to pray in the spirit and ask the Lord to let me know when He wanted to about what I was saying when I prayed in tongues.

Don’t underestimate the value of praying in tongues. Making it a daily practice will tune your spirit to hear the voice of God more clearly. And if you keep it up, then one day your future and God’s plan for your life will l blend into one!

Praying in Tongues

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit (Jude 20).

One of the great benefits of receiving the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is the ability to pray in tongues or pray in the Spirit that comes with it. Praying in tongues is God’s method of bypassing the human mind in prayer and allowing spirit to Spirit communion with God. Some people would lead you to think that there is little value in praying in tongues. But let me ask you a question; is there any value in talking to God? 1 Corinthians 14:2(Amplified) reveals: For one who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the Holy Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things not obvious to the understanding.

Praying in tongues provides a way for the believer to talk to the Father about things he would otherwise no nothing about.

I pray with my understanding every day throughout my day in English. But I also take time throughout the day to pray in tongues. When I exhaust my limited understand of how to pray for a person or situation I tell the Lord that I’m going to pray about that in tongues so that I cover anything that my didn’t know about the situation. Notice Romans 8:26-27: Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Praying in the Spirit or in tongues provides a way to pray the perfect prayer!

Praying in tongues will build you up or edify you spiritually. 1 Corinthian 14:4 reads:

He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. The word to edify in the Greek means to build up. A car battery is built up by the alternator while the car engine is running so that it has energy for the next time you need to start your car! Praying in tongues provides similar spiritual edification or building up. I pray in tongues for a couple of hours before I minister the word because it produces the necessary spiritual building up I need before I preach. I get up every morning and pray in the spirit to build myself up spiritually for the day.

Some people question the validity of praying in tongues, saying that it is an emotional experience that produces no fruit. I say that a person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument! I’ve benefitted so much over the years that it’s a mute point to discuss with those who don’t or won’t believe in this experience. My life has been dramatically altered for the better as a result of praying in tongues every day!

I’ll talk about this awesome experience more tomorrow! Take time today to pray in the spirit!

Three Things

Three things happen to the person who receives the baptism with the Holy Spirit. They receive boldness to witness, an increase in understanding of the word, and they receive a new way to pray!

Acts 1:8 reads: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. The Greek word for power here is dunamis and from this word we get our English words dynamic, dynamite, and dynamo. There is inherent power produced within the believer when baptized with the Holy Spirit. The day after I was Spirit baptized, I noticed a boldness that rose up within me that I had never experienced before. As a 17 year old, I was working in a grocery store the day after I received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and a girl asked for a cigarette. Well, I threw mine away the day before, and simply had no desire for them. I started to tell her that I quit, but before I could speak the Holy Spirit from deep within me prodded me to tell her that Jesus set me free from smoking. When I told her that, she was so surprised that I thought she would fall in the floor! And then a joy rose up in me that I had never experienced before. Ever since then that boldness has risen up in me.

The second thing that you will notice after having received the baptism with the Holy Spirit is that a greater hunger for and understanding of the Word will come. 1 Corinthians 2:14 reads: But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The Holy Spirit authored the Bible. He inspired men to write as they were moved by Him. When He comes into your life in fullness, He will take the Word and unfold its deeper meanings to your spirit. It one thing to intellectually understand the Word, but it’s an awesome experience to suddenly gain the spiritual application of it when you read. I experienced this the day after I was Spirit baptized in 1976. As I read passages that I had known since childhood, suddenly the revelation of their spiritual application to me poured from the pages I read! It’s totally amazing.

The third thing that you receive with the Holy Spirit baptism is a new way to connect with God. Praying is in a whole new realm. It’s one thing to try to connect with the Father with mind to Spirit communication; that is, your mind seeking to make contact with Him who is the sum total of all knowledge! But it’s awesome to be able to contact the Father directly spirit to Spirit. When you pray in tongues after being Spirit baptized, you gain an ability to speak in tongues which is your human spirit making direct contact with the Father of spirits! 1 Corinthians 14:14 (Amplified) declares: For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays, but my mind is unproductive [it bears no fruit and helps nobody]. Things that were pent up in me for years were released as I prayed in the spirit or in other tongues. This is the perfect way to pray, because when you’re praying in tongues, you’re praying the perfect will of God for whatever you’re praying about!

Don’t neglect the precious gift of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Allow it to be a door that opens you to a new realm of spiritual experience and understanding as you receive boldness, illumination, and a new prayer language.

Immersed

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).

The baptism with the Holy Spirit changes you. Let me explain why it should. The Greek word for baptize is baptizo. And this word simply means to immerse into something. When a person is baptized into water, the substance that they are baptized in or immersed in is water. The person’s relationship to water changes in that water completely surrounds the person baptized.

Well, then when a person is baptized with the Holy Spirit, what is the person immersed into? They are immersed into the Holy Spirit. I often use an illustration of a cup being filled with water, which is illustrative of a believer being born again and the Holy Spirit indwelling them. In the new birth, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer. That’s synonymous with a cup being filled with water. But if take a cup full of water and immerse it into a pitcher of water, then the cup’s relationship with water has suddenly changed. Not only does water fill the cup, but it surrounds it! And that is synonymous with the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

When you receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit literally encapsulates you, that is, he closes you in on all sides. Understand that the Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come when He left the earth and would be to the disciples everything Jesus was to them. The main job of the Holy Spirit is to make Jesus real to us!

My life took a dramatic turn with the Holy Spirit baptism in 1976. When the Holy Spirit engulfed me with Himself that Sunday night at 7:20 P.M., I had an awareness of Jesus that I never had before. As I worked the next day, my thoughts were constantly on the Son of God! I found myself relating my experiences throughout the day to my relationship with Jesus in a very natural way. I thought of my relationship with Jesus all the time.

The Holy Spirit brings spiritual power and insight when He comes into your life. You have this spiritual power and insight with the new birth in a measure. But with the baptism with the Holy Spirit it is magnified many times over.

If you’ve baptized in the Holy Spirit, I encourage you to walk in the light of the experience. Nurture your relationship with the Holy Spirit daily by spending time in the Word and in prayer and meditation. His presence will get stronger if you do. And if you have not yet received this precious experience, cry out to the Father for it. They that hunger and thirst after righteousness will be fill. If any man thirsts let him come unto me and drink! He promised to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him!

The Baptism with the Holy Spirit

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:4-5).

We live in a day when many believers are shying away from the power of God manifested though the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away (2 Timothy 3:5). If there’s ever been a time that we need the power of God it’s today!

Jesus told the disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they were clothed with the power that comes in being baptized with the Holy Spirit. I sometimes illustrate it this way. What would you rather do; plow a field with a large tractor or with a mule? If you’re cutting a board which is easier; using a handsaw or a skill saw? Would you rather wash dishes by hand or use a dishwasher? Cutting grass with a push mower is not nearly as easy as with a riding mower! You’d want to wash clothes in a washing machine instead of with a scrub board wouldn’t you?

The baptism with the Holy Spirit brings new power to live for God with it! That’s because the baptism with the Holy Spirit relates you to the Holy Spirit in such a more intimate way. It opens you up to spiritual fellowship with Jesus in a way no experience can!

The disciples first received this experience in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. Several years later, believers in Samaria received in Acts 8. Then 10 years later in Acts 10 some Gentile believers received it. And then 20 years after Pentecost some believers in Ephesus received t his awesome experience in Acts 19. All of these believer spoke with other tongues when they received. And if you receive the same experience now, you should expect to speak in other tongues too!

I received the baptism with the Holy Spirit in 1976 and my life was radically transformed. I’ve walked in the light of this experience now for almost 35 years. I simply could not imagine living without this intimacy with the Father and with Jesus that comes with the Holy Spirit baptism.

If you have not yet received this experience, cry out to the Father in hunger for it! If you have received, then walk daily in the light of it. Don’t neglect such great a give from Jesus. He want your life to be overflowing with His Life, His love, His ability, His peace, joy, and rest. And the baptism with the Holy Spirit is the catalyst to begin the process that will take you there!

Obedience and Miracles

Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: "See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him (Joshua 6:1-5)

Obedience creates an atmosphere for miracles! Sometimes the Father asks us to do things that seem outlandish to the mind. Here He told Joshua that He had given Jericho into his hands while the walls were still up. Then the instructions seemed to take a strange twist. March around the city once a day for six days. They may have wondered, so what good is that going to do? Then the Lord instructed Joshua to have the Israelites march around the walls on the seventh day and while they marched to let the priests blow their trumpets. I’m sure to their minds this seemed ridiculous. But the Israelites and Joshua knew that God’s ways are higher than ours and that obedience and faith combined open circumstances to the power of the Almighty! The walls fell down flat! It was unlikely, but it happened!

Elijah told a widow to bake him some bread from her last morsel of flour and last drop of oil and her flour and oil supply would not run out during a severe famine. It happened! Elisha told the captain of the Syrian army to go bath in the dirty water of the Jordan River seven times and he would be healed of leprosy. It was such a foolish command that he didn’t want to do it. But after being convinced that it was worth a try by his servants, he took the seven baths and was totally healed!

Moses held a stick over the Red Sea and it parted. He struck a rock with a stick and water came out of it. Jesus fed thousand with a little boy’s lunch. The fisherman Peter defied fisherman logic and at Jesus’ request threw His nets into the water in a place that he thought had no fish and he caught a net breaking amount! Jesus rubbed mud in a man’s eyes and his sight was restored.

Obedience creates the atmosphere for miracles. So go ahead and obey God! Love the un-loveable. Reward good for evil. Bring your tithes and offerings into the storehouse. Give and it will be given to you. Take the lowest place. Believe that you receive answered prayer while nothing seems to change. Lay hands on the sick.

When you obediently practice the Word, it opens your life up to the power of God! What He’s done before, He can do again. He’s not partial. He watches over His Word to make it good!

Conformed

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).

Once we’re born again, God wants us to be conformed to the image of His Son. This word conformed is the Greek word ‎summorphoo‎, which means to bring to the same form with. The root of this word is morphe which means an outward expression of an inward essence or nature.

In the New Birth, our spirits are made new creatures in Christ. Old things pass away; all things become new. And what should take place is that what has been placed on the inside should begin to show up in our daily behavior. Years ago we sang a song, “I’ve got something on the inside working on the outside…” That’s the idea here.

Paul prayed for the Galatians believers, My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19). This word formed in this verse is the Greek word morphe which again means an outward expression of an inner nature. He was praying that the New Birth experience would begin to show up on the outside in the daily lives of these believers.

Paul travailed in prayer for these believers. Travail is intense prayer. It denotes agony and tears much like a woman giving birth to a child. So instead of complaining about the lack of Christ likeness we may see in others, we should pray as Paul did that Christ may be formed in them.

All of us are the process of being conformed to the image of Jesus. What’s on the inside is rising up to be seen on the outside! Let’s pray for each other today that this process would be completed. We’re morphing!