Walk in the Spirit

But I say, through the instrumentality of the spirit habitually order your manner of life, and you will in no wise execute the passionate desire of the evil nature, for the evil nature constantly has a strong desire to suppress the spirit, and the spirit constantly has a strong desire to suppress the evil nature. And these are entrenched in an attitude of mutual opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you desire to do (Galatians 5:16 – Wuest Translation).

There’s a fight daily between the flesh and spirit. We allow habits from our before Christ days that hinder our walk with God. This verse gives a key to overcoming fleshly tendencies.

You don’t overcome a habit by fighting the habit. The more you think about it, the stronger it seems to get. You overcome a negative trait by replacing it. Walking in the spirit keeps us from fulfilling the desires of the flesh.

Walking in the spirit means allowing your human spirit to control your moment by moment conduct. Walking in the spirit is not some ethereal life where your feet aren’t touching the ground. Walking in the spirit is walking in the Word.

Being a doer of the Word puts the spirit, your human spirit, in charge of your life. If you have a habit entrenched in your flesh let me give you some practical encouragement on how curb it.

Habits are overcome a step at a time. The first step is to recognize the problem. Many times we just let things slip by because these habits are so familiar and frequent. When the light of the Word comes, conviction comes.

Secondly, find scripture, portions of the Word that directly challenge the behavior and meditate on it. Thirdly, repent every time you fall into this habit. Tell the Lord you’ve repented and then ask forgiveness again for violating your heart's desires.

Lastly, follow through day after day with recognizing and repenting after yielding to the offensive habit. Entrenched habits take time to expel, but it’s worth the effort. Before long, your spirit will win the fight if you just don’t quit! Walking in the spirit, that is, walking in the Word is the key to overcoming every resistance the flesh offers!

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!

An Established Heart

Psalm 112 explains the blessings of the person who chooses to be a doer of the word. This is the person who has an established heart.

An established heart is not blown by the winds of adversity. It is not motivated by fear but by faith in God’s unfailing promises. It has the patience to stand its ground when tests and difficulties come. It doesn’t cast away its confidence, but knows that being a doer of the Word brings results (Hebrews 10: 35-36).

A person with an established heart will attract the blessings of God upon His home and his family. His obedience will affect his family for generations to come.

The established heart gives generously and is kind and considerate of others. It is not moved when difficulties come because it is grounded in the Word.

The person with an established heart is a light and example for others to follow. He gives encouragement to the faint and to the weak, and becomes a source of hope in times of great need.

An established heart gives a sense of righteousness, peace, joy, hope, rest, health, and prosperity. An established heart breeds optimism in the darkest test. It is surer of the promises of God’s Word than the rising sun!

Your heart becomes established by daily meditating on, confessing, and practicing the Word. Take time today to establish your heart in the Word. You’ll gain inward strength and outward stability. The blessings of God will be upon you, and you will be a source of light and aid to all around you.

Develop Your Faith

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. (Romans 12:3)

When we are Born Again, God places in us a measure of faith. Jesus told us to have faith in God (Mark 11:22). The Greek there in Mark actually says have the faith of God. God has given us the same kind of faith that He has; a measure of it. He expects us to take the faith He gave us and develop it so that it produce more and more fruit!

Our faith is what overcomes the daily challenges that life brings. Until Jesus returns or we leave this planet in physical death, we will always need to exercise faith to receive from God and stand against Satan’s attacks.

Your faith is like your muscles. You have all the muscle you will ever have in your body when you’re born, but as you grow, they develop stronger and stronger. A baby has to crawl before it can walk because muscles all over the baby’s body have to mature and develop to be able to support and balance its’ body.

Similarly, faith grows a little at a time. Faith comes through the Word, but you faith muscles only become strong when exercised against the problems of life.

Too many believers don’t exercise their faith enough for it to be strong and then find themselves greatly disadvantaged when difficulties arise. Often their faith is overwhelmed by the challenge. This does not have to happen.

Start now to exercise your faith in small things. Believe for your lunch money this week. Believe for the headache to leave without pain medication. Believe for the upset stomach to be healed without intervention. Believe for a parking place when you are driving into a full parking lot! Look for small ways to exercise your faith, and before you know it, you’ll be able to believe for big things!

Be prepared when a 500 pound problem comes by starting to lift small 10 pound problems with your faith. You or someone you love will be glad you took the time to develop strong spiritual faith muscles when acute challenges land at your door. Be ready.

Peace

The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever (Isaiah 32:17).

Peace is a commodity than cannot be bought at any price. It eludes the aristocrat and the pauper alike. God alone can give peace.

We as believers can enjoy the peace of God in a way that cannot be understood by the human mind alone. The wicked are like the troubled sea. They never experience peace. My personal pursuit for peace drove me to the foot of the cross as a teenager. Some people live and die and never experience a moment’s peace. You’re a wealthy person if you have it!

There are two kinds of peace to be experience by the Christian; peace with God and the peace of God. God desires that we walk in both.

Peace with God comes to us when we are born again. Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Peace with God is a result of our sins being forgiven and remitted just as though we had never committed them. Peace with God produces a relationship with Him that removes the barrier of sin. We’re no longer sinners; we’ve been made the righteousness of God in Christ!

The Peace of God comes by a right relationship with the Holy Spirit. It comes by maintaining a moment by moment fellowship with God by His Word and with the Holy Spirit. The peace of God comes by you consciously walking in obedience to the known will of God. When you lose your peace you should make instant inquiry of yourself as to what you did to offend and grieve the Holy Spirit.

Peace with God produces absence of guilt. The peace of God creates environment for the Holy Spirit to lead us and speak to us in our daily walk. The peace of God is like a protective shield over our heart and our mind. Make a choice today to walk in the peace that Jesus said He would leave with us; peace with God and the peace of God.

Powerful Words

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy (Psalm 107:2).

The most powerful force in your life is your words. Words determine the quality and substance of your life. Words carry faith. A really wealthy person is the person who has learned the value of words.

In a difficult test or trial you may be facing, your words will determine your success or failure. When David faced Goliath, he armed himself with his faith by a series of confessions of what he believed God would do through him to defeat his formidable enemy (1 Samuel 17). And it happened. His enemy hit the dirt!

Of the twelve spies who entered Canaan on a research mission, only two had a good report of the land. Ten saw the problems and the odds stacked against them and voiced their doubt. Joshua and Caleb voiced their faith and said that God would give them the land by enabling them to defeat the enemy. (Numbers 13).

The twelve spies died in the wilderness and never entered the land of promise only because they said they couldn't. Joshua and Caleb entered Canaan because they said they could. God honored their words.

The woman with the issue of blood crawled through a crowd to touch the bottom of Jesus’ robe. She kept saying that she believed she would be healed if she touched his robe, and healing virtue flowed into her. Her faith filled words brought healing. (Mark 5).

The circumstances cannot whip you if you will only give voice to your faith with a confident heart. David won with words. Caleb and Joshua won over insurmountable odds with words. The sick woman was healed because of her words.

Say out loud what you believe today. Let your voice of faith filled words drown out the doubt and fears that loom large. Stand your ground as the redeemed of the Lord. Your circumstance may seem impossible, but words spoken with conviction from your heart will deliver you. Don’t be silent. Say what you believe!

The Test

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

Most often there is a period of time between the time you exercise your faith and the manifestation of the answer. And it’s what you do in this in between period that determines whether or not the answer comes.

The above verse refers to Joseph. In a dream the Lord showed him that he was going to be a ruler and lead his family. He was 17 years old when the dream occurred. He was 30 when the dream was fulfilled. In between time he was sold as a slave, assumed dead by his father, and imprisoned due to false accusation.

Joseph never allowed his attitude to sour when the pressure of circumstance was against him. He took one day at a time and expected God to fulfill His dream even though the prospects of it really happening were dim!

The test for us begins when we make the choice to stand on God’s word for our healing, or for the financial need to be met, or for the circumstance to change. If we give in to the pressure to complain or quit, we may hinder and even nullify God’s promise.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in the Amplified translation gives is a an excellent reminder to keep our chin up when the pressure’s on. Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus …

Make a choice today to look beyond your problem to the promise of God’s word. Choose to be thankful in the midst of the test. God never changes and always does what He says. See you challenges today as another opportunity for God to show His faithfulness to you. He will not let you down!

Rest and Refreshing

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"…(Isaiah 28:11-12).

Perhaps you’ve had the experience of taking a vacation with your family only to come back more exhausted than before! True rest starts within. Praying in other tongues provides a rest for the believer that can come in no other way.

One of my professors in the first Bible school I attended in South Carolina gave a personal illustration that challenged me to take time to pray in tongues every day. As a student in college he worked in a factory to fund his education. He would attend school and afterwards work a full shift in the factory. After work he had to study for the next day and would be so exhausted from the day’s activities that he could hardly concentrate.

He said he began to pray in the spirit after work and before his study time and to his amazement, a refreshing would rise up within him that enabled him to study without overdue fatigue. There is a truth here that we need to act upon. Though our bodies are getting older, our inward person, our spirit, can be renewed each day!

Praying in the spirit energizes your spirit. It edifies and builds you up. Jude says we are to build our selves up on our most holy faith by praying in tongues. A.B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian Missionary and Alliance denomination, made this statement which I believe is true, “All physical strength is spiritual in cause.”

Isaiah says that when we wait on the Lord we renew our strength! Energy for living begins in the spirit of man. I love how the Living Paraphrase translates Isaiah 40:29, He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak.

If you’re like me, you exhaust yourself with your daily activities. Take some time each day to pray in tongues and receive the refreshing that the Lord has for you. I take time each morning after Bible reading to pray in the spirit. It‘s a great way to start the day with rest and refreshing. Add praying in the spirit to your daily life and you too will see an increase in strength!

A Peaceful Mind

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3).

Watching what we think on is one of the most important responsibilities we have as believers. Our quality of life is directly related to the quality of our thoughts! It’s repulsive to think of eating food taken from a garbage can, but how many people allow thoughts to enter and linger in their minds that are more harmful than rancid food?

We process thousands of thoughts daily as we interact with life. The key to the peace of God ruling us is to keep our thoughts clean and undefiled. It’s possible to have an educated yet undisciplined mind!

We must become the doorkeeper of our thoughts. As a new believer over thirty years ago, the Lord challenged me to control my thoughts. I would find myself in a cesspool of mess mentally. And as my emotions followed my thoughts, I would find myself confused, fearful, depressed, lonely, and without peace.

Here’s what I began to do. Instead of allowing my thoughts to wander onto whatever came into them, I began to choose what I allowed myself to think on. The Christian’s “think list” in Philippians 4:8 helped me. I wrote true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy on a note card and carried it with me all day. Every now and then I would look at the card and compare my thoughts to the list. If anything in my mind disagreed with the list, I repented, and consciously chose from that point what I would think on.

I would force my mind to think on a Bible verse when I had any idle mental time where I wasn’t consciously using my mind to perform a task. I found this to be the best way to control my thoughts and emotions. And I began for the first time in my life to experience the peace of God.

If you lack peace, then challenge your thoughts and change them. Focus your mind and don’t allow your thoughts to wander just anywhere. The peace of God is available if you’ll do this. You’re the doorkeeper of your mind today. Keep it focused and enjoy His perfect peace!

Faith for Forgiveness and Healing

Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases (Psalm 103:1-3).

Jesus’ sacrifice for us provided both forgiveness of sin and healing of all sickness and disease. We understand how to receive forgiveness of sin. We know that God forgives when we confess our sins. Here’s the thought: the same faith that receives forgiveness will receive healing too.

When receiving forgiveness of sin, we pray and confess our sin according to 1John 1:9. And then we have to stand on the Word until the manifestation of the release from guilt comes.

There is a period of time after you confess your sin that you don’t feel forgiven. During those times you don’t need to go back to the Lord and confess the sin all over again. He heard you the first time. You just stand on the Word until the feelings of guilt leave! That’s called walking by faith!

Healing is received exactly the same way. You pray and believe you receive the answer to your prayer. At first, there seems to be no outward change. The symptoms are still there. But you act in faith and praise God for healing you until the manifestation comes.

So the same faith that saves you from sin is the same kind of faith that brings healing to your body. Forget the time factor. Don’t say, well, the symptoms are still there; I must not be healed. That’s like saying; well, I asked for forgiveness but I don’t feel forgiven yet. Faith takes the place of what God promised until it manifests. And faith acts in the face of negative feelings!

Act on the Word today and defy your feelings. He forgives all you sins, and heals all your diseases. Your faith is bridging the gap today between your need and God’s promise.

God’s Opinion

But as a matter of fact it matters very little to me what you or any man thinks of me. I don’t even value my opinion of myself (1 Corinthians 4:3 – J.B. Phillips Translation).

God used this verse to set me free from an attitude of self-rejection and from the fear of being rejected by others. Our lives are molded strongly by parental and social influences during the delicate years of maturation.

For me, I was the always the youngest in my classes in school having started at age 5 and taking grades 7 and 8 in one year. This resulted in my being the brunt of the older kids’ jokes and feeling ostracized from participation in sports events and other social functions at recess and in later years. I developed a deep seated sense of failure and rejection. In my mind, a room full of people was a room full of others who didn’t like me.

Being Spirit baptized at age 18 changed everything. God immediately began to work on my opinion of myself. He began to show me that He loved me unconditionally; that He loved me as much as He loved His own Son; and that He would help me and not reject me even when I failed!

It was like a breath of fresh air on a bright spring morning! I began to realize that if the Lord loved me and accepted me, it really shouldn’t matter what others thought of me. His loved changed the focus of my life from fear and rejection to love and acceptance. And my personality, pressed down by fear, finally came to life.

As my mind became renewed, social opportunities became opportunities to love, care, help, strengthen, and cheer others. The old days of fear, gloom, dread, failure, rejection, bitterness, envy, and self-hatred were gone!

The light of God’s love, care, and acceptance towards you can also give you a new lease on life. Being Born Again, Spirit-Filled, and Word dominated can make you a brand new person! Act on His loving Word today! God's opinion of you changes everything!

Daily Protection

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).

I had an auto accident in 1995 after an early morning church prayer meeting. Neither I nor the other person involved were injured. I had the unusual experience the night before of becoming wide awake every hour on the hour. Having no idea why I was so awake each hour, I simply prayed a while each time, and drifted off to sleep.

After the accident, I called my parents who told me my father was awakened the morning before the accident with a dream that someone told him I was dead. He was so troubled by the dream that he prayed for me throughout that day.

This and other past incidents showed me that the enemy would love to harm me or a member of my family and I went on the offensive. Ever single day since then I have prayed over my family when I first awaken: Father, I plead the blood of Jesus over my family; Jonathan, Sarah, Jessica, Lindsay, Susan, and me. Everywhere we are and everywhere we go, I thank You that we are protected by the angels of God.

“Pleading the Blood” is an old Pentecostal way of saying that you assert all of the rights and privileges that belong to you in Christ. We overcome by the blood! And the angels of God also protect us from harm according to Psalm 91.

Don’t wait for a near miss to wake you up. Begin today to assert your rights in Christ for protection over your family.

God’s View of You

Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh]. (2 Corinthians 5:16 – Amplified)

When I was young, I had a poor image of myself; I saw my flaws, my weaknesses, my inabilities, and my limitations. I would inwardly call myself names, and really didn’t like myself. And the truth is that how you feel about yourself will gauge how you treat others. So I looked for the flaws in others to mentally bring them down to my level.

After I came to the Lord, He challenged me about my opinion of my self. I began to see that I was looking at myself from the natural human point of view. The Lord showed me that He saw me as a finished product! In fact, He got on me for the way I regarded myself. Since He created me in His image, I had no right to think disparagingly about or talk negatively about myself. To do so was to talk and think negatively about someone He created! That changed me!

Jesus is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God saw Abraham as the Father of a multitude while He was childless. He saw Joseph as a ruler while Joseph was still a teenager. God saw David as a king while he tended sheep. Gideon was called a mighty man of valor while crouching down in fear and hiding from the enemy. Jesus believed that Peter would become a great church leader even though he denied Jesus publicly.

God has faith in you. He looks past your human limitations and chooses to see you in the light of your new creation in Christ! He sees in you what you can’t see. And He believes in you when you don’t believe in yourself! Start today to see yourself the way he sees you. Repent of negative thinking about yourself! Act as though His love, favor, blessing, power, and protection are yours! Face today with boldness and confidence. God believes in you!

Payday

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)

Though we are not saved by works but by grace, our works are important because they determine our rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. The word judgment in the above scripture is the Greek word bema, and refers to the judges who determine the winner of an athletic competition. A better translation may be rewards seat of Christ.

Here’s the thought. I am saved by grace, but what I do with my daily life will be rewarded. No, works don’t determine salvation, but they do determine my position in eternity. 1 Corinthians 3 reveals that we all are laying up rewards of gold, and sliver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble as we live each day.

Think of it; Jesus' eyes of fire (Rev 1) will look right into me on that day that I stand before Him in the next life. My salvation is secure. But as His eyes search me, the stubble will burn, and only the precious jewels will be left!

What kinds of actions produce stubble, and what type of living produces precious metals and jewels? Actions motivated by faithfulness and love will produce an eternal reward. And works motivated by selfishness will produce stubble.

Let’s go after the gold, silver, and jewels. It’s worth denying the flesh. Keep the rewards seat in mind as you make choices today!

Stoke the Fire!

Today is Valentines Day, a time for those in love to express their devotion to their sweetheart. Susan and I have been married now for 28 years. We had a heart connection over 29 years ago when we started dating. And then the romantic feelings came upon us.

The truth is, at one time we were complete strangers with no feelings for each other. Then we met and began to talk for hours at a time. A little later we started dating and then it happened! The feeling of romance hit us both. Now, 28 years later, it’s still there.

Feelings of romance take effort to sustain. They don’t just appear on their own. You have to help them along! If there is a mutual attraction between a man and a woman, doing things together can create feelings for each other. To sustain the feelings of romance you must keep doing what you did at the beginning of the relationship.

Jesus scolded the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 for leaving their first love. He then told them what to do to return to first love status. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…(Rev. 2:5).

Relationships are not in and of themselves self-sustaining. It takes effort to keep them going. It takes effort daily over the years of time in a marriage to keep the flames of romance burning brightly. If you have feelings of romance after many years it is not accidental. Couples in love regularly do things to keep the flame hot! What do they do? They keep doing the things that started the flame of romance in the first place. Intimate communication combined with doing things together regularly will ensure that when you are old enough to be great-grandparents, you’ll still possess the flame!

Marriage is a type of our relationship with God. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. We are to have a heart devotion to the Lord and share our hearts with Him the way a husband and wife intimately share together.

And if we are going to maintain our first love with the Lord, we must continue to do the things that began our journey of closeness with Him. Spending time with Him in the Word and in prayer daily; honest confession of sins; fellowship with other believers to keep ourselves sharp; and regular involvement in a local church are some of the things that will keep that first love romance with the Lord going strong.

Romance with the Lord and with your mate is a heart thing, and like a fire in the fireplace, fresh wood and a bit of stirring will ensure that the glowing ember remains a raging fire.

Mindset to Succeed

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place (2 Corinthians 2:14).

Pessimism has no place in the life of a believer. Before I became a Christian, I looked on the negative side of everything. Instead of seeing the cup half full, I saw it half empty! God wants us to be full of expectancy, and wants us to believe Him for His best!

When you have this attitude, instead of complaining when things go wrong, you constantly look for the solution. In relating to others, you look for the best in them, and look beyond their faults. And with this attitude of triumph, you can see yourself the way God sees you; a work in progress.

Struggles turn into opportunities to exercise your faith and watch God do the impossible when you have this attitude of triumph! You simply don’t see failure as a possibility. When life gives you a lemon, you make lemonade!

I encourage you to stop looking at what you can’t do, and begin to see everything in your life as an opportunity for God to cause you to triumph! In the middle of that hard place, ask God for His wisdom, and ask Him to show you the solution; then expect things to work out, and live as though you really believe they will!

Romans 8:31-32 reads, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). And ALL THINGS are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23). Expect the best today!

Encourage Yourself

We all have those days when it seems as though we will never succeed. Struggle after struggle leaves us depleted of energy. David faced this in 1 Samuel 30: 1-6.

While David and his men were out fighting, the enemy came and destroyed the city where they lived. When David and his men returned home, he found the whole city burned to the ground. And the wives and children of he and his men were missing, having been taken captive by the enemy army.

They wept until they had no more tears, and David’s men were so upset that they thought of stoning him! Now that’s a pretty desperate situation. Instead of giving in to the situation and walking away defeated, this passage reveals that David encouraged himself in the Lord! And the end of the story is that David and his men found the enemy army, defeated them, and rescued their wives and children without a single one being harmed!

Had David remained discouraged, they would not have recovered their families safely. Attitude when faced with a crisis determines the outcome. When the stakes are down, and you feel discouragement taking hold, find a way to encourage yourself in the Lord. Let me give you several suggestions.

First of all, watch your mouth! It can really get you into some deep trouble. Don’t speak unless you can talk in faith. Doubt thoughts will die unborn as long as you don’t give life to them with your words.

Secondly, remind yourself of the promises of God. God says to the believer in Psalm 91:14-15: Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. God promises in Psalm 34:19: Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Thirdly, consciously remember the times that the Lord had answered prayer and delivered you from difficult situations in the past. In Psalm 42, David reminded himself of what God had done in his past when facing thoughts and feelings of oppression and discouragement.

Lastly, force yourself to praise and worship during difficult times. The sacrifice of praise will allow God to fight the battle for you, will strengthen you, and will chase away doubt, fear, and discouragement.

God hasn’t brought you this far to let you down now. Encourage yourself in the Lord your God!

A Life Changing Prayer

Our iniquities, our secret heart and its sins [which we would so like to conceal even from ourselves], You have set in the [revealing] light of Your countenance. (Psalm 90:8 Amplified).

We see life through colored glasses; the glasses of our own experience. We’re often not aware of traits, thoughts, dispositions, motives and idiosyncrasies in our lives until something outside of us reveals it. God has designed us to assume the environment we find ourselves in during the formative years of maturation, and we become blind to the familiar. The skinny of this is that what may be normal to me may be out of sync with the way God intended.

Years ago I began to feel uncomfortable within and I knew God wanted to take me somewhere that I’d never been. I came across this verse in Psalms 90 and began to ask the Lord to show me things that He would like to change about me. When you become comfortable with the Lord, and know that He loves you and wants your best; that He will never reject you; then you can really open up to Him and pour out your heart.

I also found Psalm 139: 23-24 (New Living Translation) which reads, Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. (24) Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. I used this verse as a prayer and began to ask the Lord to show me anything that I needed to change. It’s a great way of humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God!

At first, nothing changed. My life seemed unaffected. But after a few weeks, the glasses began to be removed from my eyes, and I began to see things about me that I did not realize were there. A deep root of pride that I did not want to admit I had; perfectionism that put great demands on me and my family; and a performance orientation that drove me to stay busy to feel ok. I began to see these things as tentacles that wrapped around my consciousness and wove into the fabric of my whole life.

I pressed into God, confessing what He showed me was there. And He began to take me on a journey of loving Him that is still slowly releasing me from the hold these dispositions had on my life. The Lord used His Word backed by His unconditional love to begin within me a process of change. I’m still in process, and He continues to remove scales from my eyes about me.

Let me encourage you to pray these two scriptures over your live. You may think you don’t really need to do this. That’s what I thought, but my eyes were blinded by my pride.

It’s so freeing to be able to be honest and real about yourself, and to know that your Father only wants what’s best for you. It starts with a choice to be willing for Him to expose you to yourself. The resulting change really is from glory to glory.

More on the Inward Witness

The voice of God to the believer is more of an impression or inward witness than a voice(See Romans 8:16). When I was a child in a denominational church I would here the phrase the Lord spoke to me and said…It filled me with wonder as to how God really speaks. What does His voice sound like?

God on very rare occasions speaks in an audible voice. This happened when Jesus was baptized by John. Then there is also the voice of the Holy Spirit that can speak within our human spirit. But normally, we can expect to be led by the Holy Spirit by the inward witness (Romans 8:14).

Here’s how it works. Fourteen years ago I was Associate Pastor of a church in my hometown. After a short term missions trip, the Senior Pastor decided to move he and his family to Europe for one year to start a church in one of the Baltic States. And he left me to pastor in his place for the year he was absent. As the year of 1993 drew to a close, I wondered what God had for me to do when the Pastor returned and assumed his daily duties as Senior Pastor.

My custom is to spend time each morning praying in tongues after I read and have a personal devotional time with the Lord. In November of that year I was praying in tongues and at the same time thinking in the back of my mind about what God had for me when the Senior Pastor returned. As I prayed the phrase already existing church seemed to float up from somewhere inside me (from my spirit). As I prayed day after day this thought kept coming back. Then, over a period of weeks and then months it continued and grew into the inward knowing that my next assignment was that to pastor an already existing church.

I received this first in November of 1993, and then in May of 1994 I told the Senior Pastor that somewhere in the world there was a church that had no Pastor and that at some point in my future I would pastor that church. Five months later I became Pastor here in Garner. The unusual thing I found out was that the very day that I told the Pastor that there was a church without one and that I was to pastor that church is the very day that the Pastor here in Garner left! Talk about a confirmation to what God spoke to me!

No person on earth or any demon from hell could ever convince me that I am not in God’s will. I got the witness about it months before it happened, and God confirmed that witness with “signs following!” Life is exciting when you choose to live this way. Take time to pray in the spirit and allow the inward witness to work for you!

Guidance

Here’s a practical tip for receiving guidance from the Lord. Notice that 1 Corinthians 14:2 in the Amplified reads, 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].

The Holy Spirit dwells in our human spirit. As the above verse reveals, when we pray in tongues or in the spirit, we are praying about things of which our minds are unaware; we are praying about secret truths and hidden things. 1 Corinthians 14: 14 reveals, 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].

Since the Holy Spirit dwells in our spirit, when we pray in tongues, we are tapping into a resource of knowledge available from no other source. God is omniscient, that is, He knows everything that is to be known. And He dwells in our spirit! The answer to the issue of guidance in any area of life is inside of us by the Holy Spirit! We just need to learn how to draw it out!

1 Corinthians 2:11 reads, For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Here how to practically apply all this to receive guidance.

When you have a decision to make, take some time each day to pray in the spirit about it. Take ten to twenty minutes to pray. Tell the Lord that you want to pray about this certain thing, and that you are seeking to know what to do. As you pray in the spirit, think about all various possibilities of what you could do one at a time. As you think about the various choices you could make in the matter one at a time while praying in tongues, what do you sense inside. Is there peace, or unrest or nothing! Just keep doing this day after day and eventually you’ll find where peace is in the decision.

Colossians 3:15 tells us to let the peace of God rule (Greek- be umpire or call the shots!) in our hearts. Romans 8:16 mentions the witness of the spirit. Follow this inward witness, or the peace of God when decision making. And you find where this peace is and what decision to make by praying in tongues about a matter until the way of peace shows up! Sometimes it takes longer than others, but you’ll always get the answer. Jesus said My sheep know My voice. Follow the inward witness! Take time pray in tongues! I’ll give some examples of this in my next blog.

Just to Know Him

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
(Psalm 84:10)

God called me into the ministry soon after my 18^th birthday. I attended several Bible schools, and eventually became one of the pastoral staff ministers at a large church. Image was a big deal to me. I always dressed sharply, and I wanted to look like a professional. Ministry was a big deal to me. I had to be in ministry, because that’s who I am. How wrong I was.

In 1986 or so God begin to speak to me deep inside and I began to know that I would go through a grueling test that would deal with the deep root of pride in me. It happened a few years later. After I planted a church in a small city in South Carolina, I turned it over to another Pastor and began to travel and minister. I knew God was up to something in me.

While building the traveling ministry, I felt impressed of the Lord to supplement my income during the week with some type of job and then preach on the weekends. The Holy Spirit led me to start a small painting company which prospered. And there God dealt with the me in me, that is, the self-will and pride.

Instead of looking polished and professional, most days I looked disheveled and spotted with paint! My image of me was crushed. I was no longer a minister. I was a painter. That knocked the wind out of my sails! At one point, ministry opportunities grew sparse while my business increased significantly. I felt that I was a failure, and that God was finished with me. It was in this moment of my life that the above scripture was emphasized to me.

One particularly hot summer day, I was high on a ladder grinding decades old paint off of a house. I began to cry as I thought about where I was in contrast to the ministry experiences I had in my past. It was a real crisis moment for me, and I knew that the Lord was requiring an attitude change in me. With sweaty skin covered with flecks of old paint in the blazing sun high atop a ladder I cried out to God. Lord, just to know you is more important than ministry or image or anything else in life! If this is your plan for me, so be it! Just to know you is more important than anything I personally want .And then the verse from Psalm 84 came to me.

I resigned myself that day to follow God wherever He took me, ministry or not. I don’t need an image. I don’t need to be in ministry. I need a real close relationship and fellowship with Jesus. That’s what really produces ministry anyway!

The Lord did open ministry back up to me shortly after this experience, but everything was different. I didn’t need to be in ministry anymore. I needed my fellowship with Jesus. Who needs image and prestige when He who is the sum total of everything is inside of you? Life and ministry is all about knowing Him intimately.

Don’t fight the hard places in life, you may find the voice of God speaking into your need through them. I’m still willing just to be a doorkeeper if that’s where I'll find His presence and blessing. Pursue Him, not image. He really is all you need.

New Church Member

We have 7 Victory Fellowship churches in the southern part of Ethiopia. Two of them are among the Omo tribes. This lady pictured is from the Mersi tribe. Bruce McDonald with Regions Beyond International took this photo in January while ministering in a new church we have there.

Though our customs and dress are different, we are all the same. Our lives are stained by sin, and only the blood of Jesus can set us free!

For God so loved the world...

The Word Will Keep You

I had something happen to me almost 28 years ago that taught me the power and the importance of the Word in my daily life. I was twenty years old at the time and had been walking with God for two and a half years.

The short of the story is that my Pastor, out of a desire to manipulate and control, said some caustic and biting things to me in a meeting that I had asked for to talk to him about some concerns (many years later, his behind the scenes misdeeds were exposed). The things he said to me almost sent me into a state of mental shock! Satan used his words to drive my mental state into a frenzy for well over a month. I was young and very impressionable, and my Pastors’ words carried weight with me. Day after day his words played over and over in my mind.

I learned the absolute power of the indwelling Word of God through this experience. When the enemy would remind me of what the Pastor said and accuse me so terribly, I would refute the overwhelming thoughts and feelings by saying Romans 8:38-39 over and over to myself. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The enemy would use the Pastor’s words and my fickle emotions against me from the time I got up each day until the time I went to bed! I seemed as though I was going to lose my mind as the thoughts and feelings bombarded me! This verse came to my rescue and became my life raft in the storm. The more I reminded myself and God of what He promised in caring for me and never leaving me, the less the thoughts and emotions from the Pastor’s words affected me. In fact, I was able to forgive him and walk in love toward him as God’s Word helped me endure the demonic accusations and look beyond the feelings to God’s truth about me.

One day, over a month later, the daily oppression ceased, and my inward peace returned. It was the power of God’s Word that sustained me. I found that the Word really is full of life and power and that the Word is stronger than any force that seeks to overpower me. God through His precious Word to me became my friend that sticks closer than a brother. It is true that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

When you find yourself in a hard place, take the Word with you! Don’t be caught without it. My hours and days of meditating on the Word before this experience sustained me through it. Build the Word into your inner consciousness, and you’ll be insulated from the assaults of the enemy. Forever, O Lord, your Word is settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my Words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35). …The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63) The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever! (Isaiah 40:8).

The other thing I learned from this experience is to never use my office of Pastor to try to control and dominate people. As a Pastor, I’m to be an example, not a taskmaster.

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).

Rest

Mondays are my off days. It’s really the only day that I have to chill. Some years ago, God began to deal with me strongly about taking a day off. I think we Americans are the worst at thinking we really gain by working every day. God set the pattern of work/rest into creation when he worked six days creating, and rested the seventh. One of the Ten Commandments has to do with honoring the Sabbath. God knows we need rest. He programmed that need into who we are as humans!

We’re wired to work hard, and then take a break. Without rest, we give no opportunity to rejuvenate the systems of our bodies. Stress is a major factor in illness. Studies indicate that we are more efficient at work after rest, hence a morning and afternoon break is encouraged during work hours.

He’s an interesting tidbit. In Leviticus 25: 1-7, God commanded the Israelites to allow the land to rest every seventh year. He promised that what they grew in the sixth year and what the land voluntarily grew the seventh year would be plenty to feed them. The land was not to be cultivated. Only volunteer crops could grow. In that way the land was refreshed (one reason we should take vitamins is because we’ve depleted the soil of needed nutrients by lack of crop rotation and land rest with our current farming methods; instead we add fertilizer to make the plants grow, and we’re left depleted of much mineral content in our food).

The Israelites did not obey God’s command to let the land rest every seventh year, and boy did they pay for it! One of the reasons they went into captivity for 70 years in Babylon was so that the land could enjoy the Sabbaths they never gave it (See 2 Chronicles 36:21). They went 490 years without obeying God and allowing the land to rest, so He forced the issue. They missed 70 of the seventh years land Sabbaths during this 490 year period of their history. Babylonian captivity was the results of their general disobedience to God’s word and this included their disobedience to His land command!

Perhaps in some measure we also force ourselves to be captive to stress, tiredness, premature aging, sickness, and emotional duress because we don’t give our bodies the needed rest each week. Proverbs 14:30 reads, A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones. Take a break each week, or one day you may be forced to take it!

Is There Blood on Your Hands?

We had our Times of Refreshing on Friday night. This is a once month service based on 1 Corinthians 14:26 where believers share a song, a scripture, a prophecy, or whatever the Lord gives them spontaneously. We always leave inspired by what the Lord does in us. There is usually a theme that arises as we proceed in the meeting.

During this meeting on Friday the Lord emphasized to us the need to stir ourselves up in evangelizing our neighbor. One brother shared that he noticed people becoming calloused toward sin in their lives and thinking nothing of going to hell as a result of their behavior. When he presented them with the wages of sin and the free gift God offers, they were not interested. This is the work of demons spirits in our day as people allow their minds to become blinded to the truth.

Another read from Ezekiel 3:18-19 where the Lord said, “When I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”

We are responsible to minister to those around us as the Lord leads us. If we do not, then their blood is on our hands. Kenneth Hagin relates a story in one of his books of an unsaved man in his community he went to see who was ill with a terminal condition, but who that day was up and sitting on his front porch. The man was not a Christian, and the conversation opened an opportunity for brother Hagin to minister to him about salvation, but he didn’t do it. The Lord urged him, but he just did bring it up. A short time later, the man died, and brother Hagin said he remembered the conviction rise up in him to share Jesus with the man, but that he just didn’t do it. He said he thought no more about it.

Not long after the man’s death, Brother Hagin was conducting a meeting, and at the close of the meeting during a time of prayer, he had a vision and Jesus appeared to him. In the vision, he said Jesus pulled back what looked to be a curtain and he saw this man in the flames of hell. Jesus told Brother Hagin that he was holding him personally responsible for this man going to hell since he had felt led to talk to him that Sunday night, but refused to yield to the leading to do so.

We are responsible to minister to those God brings into our lives. The Lord wants to stir up evangelism in out day. Jesus said that the love of many believers would grow cold because of the increase in sin.

We should look for and believe for people to minister to each day. If each believer in America would do his or her part to win souls on a daily basis, we could change the course of our nation rapidly. As goes the church, so goes the nation.

All believers have been called into the ministry of reconciliation. The great commission has been given to every member of the body of Christ. Let’s repent for the times we’ve failed to witness as the Lord has directed. And let’s begin today to look for opportunities to be the salt and the light we’re called to be!

The Indwelling Word

I’ve been reminded recently by the Lord of the importance of meditating in the Word daily. Like no other generation before our time, we have an overload of information. As the book of Daniel said it would be before the coming of the Messiah, knowledge has taken a quantum leap! With so much available from multiple sources, it’s now necessary to become selective in what we read, hear, and watch.

The most important information that we need each day is the WORD! God’s Word is my standard that keeps distractions out, and keeps me focused on the necessary and important. As Isaiah 33:6 states, Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation...Without the Word, our lives will be like sand bombarded with a flood of water; we’ll be unstable!

The Word insulates us from the harsh environment of the world, where fear and doubt try to steal into our minds. The Word washes the debris from our thoughts that may get temporarily lodged there through daily interaction with so much stuff! And we’re admonished to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom or practical application (Colossians 3:16).

Joshua tells us that meditation in the Word will bring prosperity and success into daily life (Joshua 1:8). David encourages that meditation in the Word will cause us to be like a tree by a river bank that has a great supply of nourishment, and from that association with the river, all that we do will prosper. Solomon tells us that the Word is even like medicine to our flesh (See Proverbs 4:20-22)! Isaiah relates that the Word will give us perfect peace (Is. 26:3).

If it’s available, what would keep us from pursuing that which would better us? Jesus said the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of money, and the desire for other things could steal what the Word wants to do in us (Mark 4). The enemy knows what a power house for God we will be if we act on the indwelling word, so he’s real busy these days cooking up some interesting distractions. Don’t buy his game of bluff!

I’ve made a fresh decision to take time each day to meditate. To take scripture and let it go over and over in my mind while a taking a quick break, or when going for a walk or jog. To speak it out loud in my car, or to let it revolve over and over in my mind when I’m going to sleep, or when I wake up at night. The more opportunities we give the Word to dwell in us richly, the more success, favor, health, life, light, peace, and rest we will enjoy. The Word will NEVER leave us empty like so much in this information age. Let’s let it dwell in us – RICHLY!

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 call is determined by my faithfulness.

Daily Grace

I had an experience that changed my life back in the 1980’s while working on staff in a large local church in Oklahoma. I was in my mid-twenties, and from the time I was a young child I loved to work. Let me give you the background.

I remember as a four and five year old I would clean the porcelain and chrome in the bathroom wanting to hear my mom say ‘wow Mitch, you did such a great job cleaning.” I learned over the years of my childhood that I would receive personal affirmation if I accomplished something worthwhile. So to feel good about myself, I worked. The more I did, the better I felt about myself. I became a classic workaholic. Driven, and addicted to accomplishment as a means of emotional survival. I carried this through my teenage years and graduated from high school at age 16!

So here I am in my mid twenties, on staff at a large church with lots of responsibilities, and lots of opportunities to accomplish things so I can feel good about myself! Oh, one thing I need to mention is that the other side of accomplishment is failure and inactivity. The downside of addiction to work was that I ran from inactivity. I would feel like an absolute failure if I was not busy doing something. Yep, I was a classic obsessive compulsive workaholic! I had a need to succeed that drove me to work, work, work.

So I was in my office at the large church, and my work ethic had carried over into my spiritual life. Now, I had to do things to be pleasing to the Lord. The more I did, the more I thought He would affirm me. As I sat at my desk, the words came from Him, “You’ve not been saved by grace to live by works.” I began to cry as the Lord began a process of setting me free from the need to accomplish to feel good about myself. I found out that the Grace that saved me was also the Grace that empowered me each day. I found out that God loves me no matter what I do. Grace is unmerited favor. It’s God loving me, not for what I do, but for who I am!

I found that God’s Grace is a power. I came across this definition of Grace. Grace is God’s ability working in me to enable me to do what I can’t do myself! Now, instead of the driven make it happen, workaholic attitude, I could lean back on God’s love and Jesus sacrifice for me to help me to do what I can’t do myself.

Now, I know that I’m not saved by Grace to live by Works. Now I understand that my value as a person is not tied up in what I do, but in who I am in Christ. Now I can take a break without guilt, enjoy a vacation without feeling like a failure, succeed or fail at a given task knowing that my Father loves me, not based on my accomplishments, but just because I am a person. I understand now that God values me, not for what I accomplish, but just for who I am. Now I can love others and accept them even if they fail or seemingly don’t measure up. It’s called REST based on GRACE. It brings joy back into living.