Personal Thoughts About this Past Weekend

We had a great weekend at Victory Fellowship with Ron McIntosh. I think his teaching had a positive impact on us all, and I believe it opened the eyes of many who perhaps had been “stuck” and not pursuing to make thinks better in their lives.

His teachings on the “law of attraction,” which basically says you manifest on the outside only what you have on the inside, is really another slant on walking by faith. It’s Mark 11: 23-24 in a 21^st century package. If you didn’t make it to the meetings, I encourage you to get the CD’s. The information is really good.

Ron is going to be working with me in the weeks to come as I seek to create a theme from our missions statement (In a later blog, I’ll talk about our missions statement in more detail). A theme is a way to state the missions statement without sounding preachy or without using words that are only understood by Christians. It enhances our ability to reach out.

It became obvious to me this weekend that though our missions statement is in broad daylight on our website, our printed material, and on the screens on Sundays, it registers on very few. It’s got to come out of my mouth often. So I’ll be making adjustments in that area.

Another area that I’ll be working on is on creating more opportunities for fellowship and discipleship. In the past we’ve had home groups. Now that our church is larger, we need a way to enable folk to feel more connected to others, and to be ministered to personally. Send me suggestions if you have them.

I’ll also be working in the weeks to come on more intense leadership training; helping those who lead to be the best that they can be.

I have an intense passion to help people grow spiritually. It’s in my DNA! Our missions statement reflects my heart; Becoming Disciples by the Spirit Through the Word. To take the religious terms out for clarification to non-Christians, I ‘m thinking of a theme statement which says: Taking the Limits Off Your Life. That’s really what burns in me. Give me your thoughts!

Favor

For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield (Psalm 5:12).

As the people of God, we have obtained favor! When we made Jesus the Lord of our lives, we joined heaven’s team. Before that, we were under the control of the prince of the power of the air, that is, the demonic forces who work with Satan to hinder human life, and to thwart the purposes of God.

Now, we’ve been delivered from the control and dominion of darkness, and have been transferred into the kingdom of God. Now as God’s ambassadors on earth, we live according to His kingdom laws and principles.

An ambassador from one country living in another has diplomatic immunity from many of the laws that govern the country where he resides. Our redemption in Christ is our diplomatic immunity in the spirit realm!

We face life today with Heaven’s backing, living under God’s kingdom rule. We’re the people of God, destined for blessing and victory.

The blessing of Abraham belongs to us as kingdom folk. We’re blessed in our coming and going, we’re the head and not the tail, we’re above and not beneath. That just means that we’re successful in every endeavor. We operate in the wisdom of God.

Face life today knowing that you have heaven’s smile. God is for you! Heaven’s rule is with you! And as the above verse mentions, you are surrounded by the favor of God. Stand firmly today on the promises of God, and don’t be moved by the delay and resistance that comes. The favor of God will make a way through every difficulty and will open up God’s purposes for you. Expect God’s best!

Daily Protection!

I was reminded again yesterday of the importance of committing ourselves and our family’s protection to the Lord every single day. After we finished our seminar on Saturday, I took Ron McIntosh back to the hotel and had just gone back to church to pick up my daughter Lindsay and a friend. Just a brief distance from the church we had an accident. A car ran a stop sign!

We are all fine, and my car will be repaired (thank God for insurance). But it reminded me that every morning I thank God for His protection over me and my family, everywhere we are and everywhere we go! Sometimes it seems that the enemy snips at us like a little dog barking and running up to you trying to bite at your heels. Thank God for the Blood of Jesus! It will never lose its power as the old hymn goes.

We over come by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony! And we have the promise that the angels of the Lord encamp around us and deliver us. Hebrews tells us that the ministering spirits minister to us as heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14). Psalm 103:20 mentions that the angels of God act as we speak the Word of God!

I encourage you to never let up in your prayer and faith life. Be consistent! And I encourage you to commit you and your family to the Lord everyday, specifically asking and thanking the Father for His protection, and thanking Him for the angels of God that surround each member of your family every day (mention them by name), everywhere you are, and everywhere you go! We are promised supernatural protection from harm!

Ron McIntosh Meetings

We’re having some excellent meetings with Ron McIntosh this weekend. Ron ministered to the full time staff of Victory Fellowship during the day on Friday. He spoke on how to achieve change in your life. The key is through meditation in the Word to change your belief system. He has some excellent CD’s and workbooks to aid in meditation that brings change.

We never rise above what we really believe about ourselves in the various areas of life! What you have on the outside is a true reflection of what you have on the inside! If you don’t like what you see, the only way to change is to change your “belief system.” And that is really only accomplished through meditation in the Word.

Tonight Ron began speaking on 7 principles that will help a local church thrive. One thing I can see right away that I must do differently is to bring more emphasis to the vision of our church. It’s printed in the bulletin, on our website, and on our power point stuff, but I don’t say it enough! So I’ll be making some noticeable changes in that area.

So if you’re in town and attend Victory, I can’t encourage you enough to make the meetings on Saturday. Lunch is served for those attending, and the information Ron is teaching is life changing and motivational.

I think we have a good thing going at Victory Fellowship, and lives are being changed. But there is always room for improvement. We should be open to critique personally and corporately as a church body.

The desire that burns in me is to help people become disciples that are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and filled with God’s Word!

Your Thoughts

What if your thoughts manifested in your life! What would you be physically, spiritually, financially, relationally, if the thoughts you entertain actually played out in real time?

Well, look around, because that is exactly what’s happening! Proverbs 23:7 reveals, For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. In many ways, we become what we think!

My life dramatically changed when I took the Word of God seriously and began to meditate on it. Instead of thinking and pondering my weaknesses and inabilities, I began to make myself think on the Word. Instead of I’m no good, I began to think, I’m a new creature in Christ Jesus. Instead of thinking about all the wrong I had done, I began to think, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.

Instead of thinking the self-pity thoughts, the Lord isn’t doing anything for me, and He really doesn’t care anyway, I began to think, God is working in me to will and to do His good pleasure! I began to think, I am accepted in the beloved! I am an heir of God, a child of God, who is highly loved and valued by Him!

Instead of thinking hopelessly of how all my problems were going to crush me I began to think, if God is for me, who can be against me! He that gave His Son Jesus for me has promised to freely help me in life’s fight. I am more than a conqueror through Him who loved me!

Instead of thinking about all that I didn’t have, I began to think, My God meets all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus! Instead of thinking of getting sick when something was going around, I began to think with His stripes I am healed! I could go on and on, but I think you get my point.

It’s easy to focus only on the urgent and not the important. It’s easy to look at what isn’t happening and to look only on the circumstances all around you. But if you want to change, change your thinking! Start meditating on the Word today.

Joshua 1:8 says that we should meditate on the Word regularly and that if we do we will begin to prosper and have good success! Take God at His Word today, and force your mind to think on what God says about your life. Make yourself do it! At first, you may struggle to keep you thoughts away from the negative and keep them on the Word, but just keep practicing it until it becomes a habit.

Change only comes to our lives when we change what we’re thinking. So don’t put it off. Start today to meditate on the Word. Say what God says about you. Refuse to give in to negative circumstances and feelings. God will honor His Word in your life if you will honor Him with your thoughts. Watch carefully what you think on today. It determines your tomorrows!

Personal Integrity

I had an experience yesterday that reminded me of the importance of personal integrity in our words. I have some rental property that I am seeking to obtain a lease on and I am advertising it in a local paper. People call for appointments to see the property and I set up a time for us to meet. Well, today, three out of three appointments were no shows! No calls, they just did not keep the appointment!

As believers, we must set the example for personal integrity! It’s one thing to have extenuating circumstances prohibit your keeping your word. That happens to all of us at times. But it’s another thing entirely to just shrug it off with no call or explanation!

Be a person of your word. If you say you’re going to do something, then do it! My Dad is a person of high integrity and he taught me as a boy the great value of keeping my word, to others, to myself, and to God!

One of the personal elements to developing strong faith is to be true to your own words. Saying things and then not carrying through with them breeds distrust within you. If you can’t believe what comes out of your own mouth, how can you develop a strong faith in what God says to you in the Word?

Notice Psalm 15: 1-4: Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the Lord; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

To develop a close relationship with the Lord and a strong faith life we must speak the truth in our heart, and we must swear to our own hurt! That means we must keep our word even when it’s not convenient and when it may cost us to keep it.

Don’t hinder your own faith by saying something and then not following through. Begin today to be a person whose word can be trusted. Do what you say, even if it hurts! Remember, faith in you’re your own word creates a breeding ground within you for strong faith in God’s Word!

Acceptable Suffering

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church. (Colossians 1:24).

There are two kinds of suffering mentioned in the New Testament. First there is the substitutionary suffering of Jesus on Calvary as He became our sin and sickness and defeated Satan for us. Because Jesus took our place, we need not remain in sin or sickness, for Jesus bore them both for us. We are freed from the penalty of sin, and healing is made available to us by faith in Jesus sacrifice. And we have been freed from this kind of suffering.

The second kind of suffering is circumstantial suffering. Though Jesus went through tough circumstances, we are not immune from suffering for the cause of Christ. This kind of suffering stems from the persecution that we endure for our godly stand and lifestyle.

Paul told the young minister Timothy: Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). Again, he is not referring here to suffering with sickness, disease, accidents, and poverty, but with persecution from others because of a relentless, unwavering stand for Jesus.

In Philippians 3:10 Paul mentions the fellowship of His sufferings (circumstantial sufferings) in the context of having personal intimacy with Jesus. In Acts 5:41, the early Apostles went from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. In 1 Peter 4:16 we read, Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

Jesus mentions a special blessing on those who are persecuted for knowing Him in Matthew 5: 10-12, Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Our easy, feel good, entertain me, please me, accept me culture cuts across the grain of the attitude the New Testament portrays for a committed, godly believer. Those who have been snatched from the fires of Hell by the blood of Jesus and His sacrifice should be glad to suffer shame for His name!

As the spirit of anti-Christ increases worldwide, you’ll receive from the world less and less compliments for your walk with God, and more hostility and rejection. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So the next time you’re ridiculed in the office, the classroom, or some social setting, claim the promises of God, for GREAT is your reward in heaven!

Emotionally Free

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

We are spirit beings, who have souls, and live in bodies. Our souls are made up of our mind, our emotions and our willpower or volition. I want to discuss the use of our emotions, but let me mention a few things first.

God gave us every sense to be used for His glory. With our spirit, we contact the spiritual world, and discern God through our conscience, the voice of our human spirit, and through the Holy Spirit who comes to reside in us in the new birth.

With our bodies, we contact the physical world in which we live; the five senses enabling us to enjoy God’s beautiful creation. He created every sense to be used.

With our intellect we think and reason, exploring the vastness of God’s creation, and we are constantly learning more and more about its’ complexity and the simple synergy with which every organism works. From the farthest galaxy seen from the Hubble Telescope to the smallest matter seen with the most powerful lens, there is a Divine design to all of creation.

God also gave us emotions. They have a purpose in us and the Father expects us to use them for His glory and for our benefit. Our emotions are a gauge that we can use in our relationships. Happy, sad, exuberant, melancholy, exasperated, or joyful; the Father wants our emotions to work but not to rule us.

I have come across so many people who have emotions that are numb. They feel nothing. They live from day to day with no real emotions about much of anything. Psychologists sometimes call this the flat effect. I call it just being numb.

Here’s what happens. If a person has a traumatic experience, and they try to keep from feeling the pain of the trauma by shutting off the feelings or emotions it produces, then they also shut off every other emotion. They way emotions works is that when you shut one down, you shut them all down. For some reason with emotions, you just can’t turn one off and keep the others running. You either feel the good and the bad, or you turn then all off and don’t feel anything!

Many people lead emotionally numb lives and it is not the will of God. God created emotions so that we could feel relationships with others and with Him! Through the years many people have told me that they never feel the presence of God. When I inquire, they also tell me that they don’t feel much of anything ever emotionally, and that’s when I see that there’s a big problem.

If you find yourself emotionally numb, go back and make sure that you’ve really forgiven every person that has emotionally wounded you. Forgive them from your heart and release them. Release from yourself every hurtful thought created by any incident with any person. Sometimes people let these hurtful feelings and thoughts pile up, and they don’t know where to begin.

Here’s an exercise that may help. Start with each close relationship in life, beginning with parents and go on to siblings, friends, teachers, bosses, relatives, and those you’ve loved. The people closest to us are the ones that have the ability to wound us the most emotionally. We must choose to forgive each one. Make an itemized list of the hurtful thoughts that come to mind when you think of each relationship in your life that has brought you emotional pain. Take the list and purposely forgive each item listed, releasing the person from the judgments you’ve had against them because of what they said or did to you. Ask the Father to forgive you for holding offense, and then pray for God to bless and help the person, even if you don’t think they deserve it! Pray for their salvation if they don’t know the Lord.

Emotions will wake up if you release hard feelings and grudges that lie deeply buried. Work on it! The Father doesn’t want you ruled by feelings, but He does want you to experience them in relationships!

This won’t happen constantly, but at times the Father also wants us to sense Him with our emotions. And He wants the Holy Spirit to be able to use our emotions as He uses us to minister to others. The Father sometimes wants us to feel what He feels when we minister to or pray for others, and we can’t do that unless our emotions are free! Start the process today of releasing the weights from your emotions so that the Father can use you; spirit, soul, and body!

Authority

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

No one has more authority over satanic forces than you, the child of God. The lowest member of the body of Christ has just as much of this authority as the most spiritual.

Serpents and scorpions in the above verse are referring to the demonic forces that are seeking to hinder the purposes of God in the earth.

Exercise your authority over these forces today that are seeking inroads into your home, your family, finances, your church, your nation, the purposes of God at large, and that are seeking to hinder your walk with God.

Jesus has given the church the exclusive use of His name against these diabolical forces. Walk in purity and holiness, and command these forces to stop in their maneuvers against you and the kingdom of God of which you are a part.

Satan wants us to get so busy that we don’t take the time to be proactive in the exercise of our rights in Christ against him and his kingdom. As a result we can see darkness increasing in our communities, nation and world. If we believers don’t take our place and stand against the forces of Satan then who will? We have been commissioned with authority, and the Father is looking to us to take our place. He wants us to work with Him in the salvation of the lost, and in the advancement of His kingdom all over the world.

The Father is depending on you and me today to pray and ask Him to manifest Himself and His kingdom all over the earth. We have not because we ask not. Let’s take our place and push back the forces that are seeking to destroy all that is holy and pure.

Remember that God gave authority over the earth to Adam when He created Him. When Adam sinned, he transferred that authority to Satan and his kingdom. Jesus returned to the church the authority that Adam gave away! God needs you to take your place in His family today. Don’t sit back. Don’t remain idle spiritually. Be aggressive. Let’s push together, walking in the light, and pushing back the darkness with the name of Jesus, the force of our praying (praying in the spirit too!), and with the power of a godly life!

Putting Off and Putting On

That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Putting off and putting on are terms Paul used to describe the change in a believers life after salvation because of mind renewal. Before salvation, we’ve trained our bodies to yield to certain appetites, we’ve trained our minds to think in certain ways, and we’ve trained our emotions to act and react certain ways.

Stopping these learned behaviors is called putting off the old man with his deeds. The sin nature that produced appetites, thoughts and emotional responses has been removed by the new birth! We have become new creatures in Christ, and our daily lifestyle must be retrained to yield to this new person that we’ve become inside.

Developing new habits that reflect the new person that we’ve become within is called putting on the new man.

This process occurs in us as we feed on the word and purpose to live a life of obedience to God. A key to putting off and putting on is in understanding the fundamentals of how behavior changes. We can’t stop a habit by constantly refusing to act it out. That keeps the attention on the habit.

Habits change by being replaced. When we make the decision to renew our minds with the Word, we decide to act on what we read and meditate on in scripture. For instance you read in Ephesians 4:29 that you are to refuse to allow yourself to speak any hurtful words to or about others. You meditate and think on this scripture over and over again for a period of time. And you may find that you still slip up and say things that shouldn’t be said and you repent. Just keep that process up, and the habit of hurtful speech will be broken and replaced by a habit of blessing with your words.

At first, it’s hit and miss. You may take a step forward and then a step backward. The key is persistence. Just keep on meditating in the word, and acting on it by repenting when you miss it with your words, and soon you’ll be catching yourself just before you begin the tirade of negative speech.

Putting off the old man and putting on the new man is a process that continues throughout our lives as we grow in Christ. His plan is that by the time He comes for us, we act just like Him in our thoughts, our words, and in our responses to others!

The Foolishness of God

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:25-29).

It’s not talent, skill, mental acumen, or social standing that causes God to place His anointing upon our lives. It’s faithful, obedient hearts that catch His gaze. Regardless of what “side of the tracks” we come from, there are no special privileges due to social or financial standing, or even natural abilities in the kingdom of God.

What the Father does in us and through us is all a work of His grace of which we cannot boast. He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.

God has a purpose for you as a member of the body of Christ. That purpose is not rooted in your natural heritage or background, and does not depend on natural strengths. That purpose was programmed into you from eternity past when God planned your life.

Moses was a murderer with a stuttering problem at age forty and years later was called by God to lead his generation. David was a shepherd little known by his fellow man. Joseph was ridiculed by his brothers and sold as a slave and did prison time. Amos was a farmer. Elisha was called from the back of a plow to lead a nation spiritually. Peter was unstable, but used by God to lead the church after the resurrection of Jesus. Paul was one of the most educated men of his day but counted his education as a pile of trash compared to knowing Jesus.

When God called me, I was an awkward introvert with no plan for my life. None of us can trust who we are in the flesh, talented or unskilled. It’s the power and grace of God that make us what we are in the family of God. So we can’t boast of anything God does through us. We’re merely the pipeline for the glory of God to be revealed to our generation through the good news of the gospel.

Don’t allow who you are naturally, good or bad, strong or weak, keep you from the glorious things that the Father has called you to do. You’re His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has planned for you to fulfill. Don’t look at yourself or you’ll get discouraged; don’t look at others or you’ll envy and compare; but look unto Jesus. He’s the beginning and ending of all you are and all He’s called you to do.

Saving the Soul

So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls (James 1:21 – Amplified)

The Holy Spirit working with the Word can change elements of your personality! When I first came to Jesus, I was obsessed with inferiority, rejection, fear, phobias, and basic insecurity.

As a result of many childhood traumas from friends and acquaintances, I learned that you just couldn’t trust people in general, and that the best policy is to stay away from them as much as possible.

When I came to Jesus I began to devour the Word of God, and learned that God’s Word is more true than my feelings and personal perceptions. I began to speak God’s Word out loud, positively affirming what God says I have and what He says I am. Nothing seemed to changed for a while, but as I persisted after months and months I noticed that the basic pessimism that ruled me most of my life began to give way to a new confidence that came from the Word. The inferiority, the rejection, the fear, the phobias, the insecurity began to be replaced with boldness and confidence.

An added ingredient in the change in me is that over time, I came to know that the Father loved me no matter what I’ve done. And I began to take time to talk to Him about things that bothered me, hurts that I had experienced, and perceptions in life that I knew were distorted by my personal hurts.

I would take time to pray in the spirit and pout my heart out to the Father and I found that as I did, He began to minister His love to my spirit, and to nurture the emotional wounds created in my soul from incidents in my past.

He saved my soul! He restored my mind and emotions! He brushed away the hurt and pain, and replaced it with a joy and confidence that came from knowing that He is for me in life’s fight.

Take time each day to build the Word into your spirit through meditation and to confess verbally what God says about you. Take time to pour out your heart to Him and to pray in the spirit. You’ll find the enormous power of the Word of God lifting you from personal insecurities to a new boldness and confidence rooted in the love of God and in who you are in Christ Jesus!

Perfecting Holiness

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).

This is a day to cleanse ourselves. To be the salt and the light we’re called to be, we must look and act different than the world. In Exodus 33 Moses told the Lord that it was His presence that made the Israelites different from the heathen nations surrounding them. In Acts 4 people notice that Peter and John had been with Jesus. They acted differently than their cultural norm.

Salt is a purifying agent, a preserving agent, and a taste enhancing agent. If salt loses these properties isn’t much good for any purpose. As we walk in holiness, we change the atmosphere wherever we go, bringing purity, keeping the world from being completely corrupt, and we enhancing the quality of life!

Light provides life. Without the light of the sun we light could not exist on earth. Darkness produces death. Darkness recedes when light appears. The greater one is in you! That light within is no brighter than the holiness that we walk in.

Our power is in our purity and holiness. We lose our power when we compromise. And our world desperately needs to see the light and experience the salt of godliness!

I’m reminded of Smith Wigglesworth, who walked with the Father so closely that when he sat on a train with others, conviction would permeate them. His consecration to holiness produced tangible power that affected people when they were in his presence!

Make a choice today to refuse to compromise with the world and the flesh. Wash yourself daily with the water of the Word to keep the impurities out. Guard your eyes, your ears, and your thoughts. Keep your fellowship intimate by spending time alone with the Father every day. Remember, you become like the people you hang around! Be a bearer of the Presence!

Pray in the Spirit

So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. And He who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the Holy Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will (Romans 8:26-27).

Praying is the spirit, in other tongues, is such an effective means of prayer! Think about all of the incredible benefits you gain by spending time with your Father praying in your heavenly language.

Praying in the spirit gives us the ability to pray unlimited prayers about any subject and any person worldwide! It takes us out of the finite and places us in the infinite. It takes us out of the realm of reason and places us in the realm where God knows, understands, and sees all! We literally pray the perfect will of God when we take time to pray in tongues.

Many times you’re praying about future events in your life when you pray in tongues. Romans 8:28 reveals that all things work together for a pattern of good to those who love God and are called to His purposes. Things work out for good in your life if you’re a person given to spiritual praying.

Praying in the spirit helps us pray about the most important things. 1 Corinthians 14:2 calls them secret truth and hidden things that are not obvious to the understanding (Amplified). Family, friends, business, government, ministry, relationships, finances, the list goes on as to areas covered by this kind of praying.

Praying in the spirit builds up your spirit. It brings edification, rest, and power to the human spirit. Think of it, this is the rest with which the weary rest (Isaiah 28:12). I work hard often to the point of weariness mentally and physically. But after a season of praying in the spirit comes a sense of refreshment from the inside.

None of these things I’ve mentioned are attached to feelings. Most of the time your mind will tell you praying in tongues is a waste. But nothing could be further from the truth! It’s the best way to pray!

I encourage you to take at least an hour each day to pray in the spirit. Over time it will lift you into the purposes of God for your life and bring blessing to everything around you.

Live Ready!

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:1-9).

We need to remain alert as to the times we live in. We’re in a time of transition worldwide, much like a pregnant woman undergoes when she’s close to giving birth. A pregnant woman goes through false labor because it’s close to the real thing but not nearly as intense. The womb is preparing for the birth of a child. We’re in the false labor mode right now on God’s grand timetable.

The events in the Middle East are lining up exactly as predicted in the Word. Our lives could change rapidly with little warning. For this reason we must remain alert and vigilant spiritually.

The rapture is very close. The second coming of Christ is in view. The tribulation is looming before an unprepared world. And we believers must remain on our guard everyday. This is a time to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and filled with the Word. It’s not a time to get slack and lazy in spiritual things. Pray more, read more, be more faithful, be more zealous, attend church services more, help your pastor more, and witness more. This is the time for us to shine!

As darkness creeps upon the earth, it makes our light so much brighter! Right now we need to keep ourselves sharp. Things may change suddenly any day. Let’s be ready! Expect to be used by the Father today to minister to others and set them free!

Accepting Differences

I attended a local church Sunday morning pastored by a friend of mine I met back in Bible School in the 1970’s. It was refreshing to see some of the familiar faces from my past.

As I participated in the service I was reminded of how much local churches differ from one another. There is so much variety in the body of Christ. The Father knows that with so many different personalities in the family, He must provide a wide range of styles and flavors in local churches to meet the needs of the whole body of Christ.

We are to minister as good stewards of the grace of God. And pastors must lead their flock according to the direction of the good shepherd. As a result, no two churches are exactly alike.

I remember years ago I had just turned a church I started over to another pastor and was attending a local church in my home town. I was involved in a traveling ministry and would attend when I wasn’t ministering somewhere. During the service I critiqued everything from the music to the lights to the carpet and the preaching. My attitude was well, if I were pastor, I wouldn’t do it that way! As I was going through these fleshly antics, the Lord spoke to me inside and said, who are you to judge another man’s servant? I knew right then that I was in trouble.

I didn’t call the pastor of the church I was criticizing into the ministry. And he didn’t have to answer to me. He was responsible to obey God with how he conducted church life. I learned a valuable lesson from that experience. I began to pray for the pastor, and disregard thoughts from my carnal mind that would seek to critique everything.

I learned that I must accept and love each member and each church in the body of Christ. I may or may not like the way things are done, but that’s not my business! My business is to obey God with my life, and pray for others and believe God for His best in their lives. Just because I don’t care for something doesn’t mean that it’s not good. It just means it may not fit me.

So yesterday, while sitting in my friend’s church, I enjoyed knowing that he was obeying God to “do” church the way the Father directed him. And the Lord ministered to me while I was there!

Let’s be careful not to think that our way is the only way, and let’s embrace the family of God, encouraging them, loving them, and praying for them.

Rest and Refreshing

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

My family and I are finishing a week of vacationing today. I am personally refreshed and I'm ready to get "back in the saddle." We all need times of rest. God programmed us physically to require it.

But we don't need physical rest by itself. We also need spiritual refreshing. I've taken time every day to feed on the Word. My spirit needs rest and my spirit needs food every day. I've also taken time to build myself up spiritually by praying in tongues.

Spritual strength can be built up and renewed just like natural strength. Waiting on the Lord gives spiritual energy. And praying in tongues brings spiritual rest and refreshing. This is the rest with which you may call the weary to rest, an this is the refreshing (Isaiah 28:12).

It's possible to take a week or two of vacation time and come back just as tired as you were before you left! That will happen if inward strength is not equally renewed.

F.F. Bosworth in his classic book Christ the Healer said, many Christians feed their bodies three hot meals a day and their spirit one cold snack a week! Do yourelf a favor and take care of the spiritual rest along with the natural rest you need this week. Feeding on the Word and praying in tongues will help renew the inward energy needed to live in stress filled world.

Smith Wigglesworth said pay attention to life's inflow. Outward service will dwindle if inward energies are not renewed.

I'm looking forward to coming back home and ministering this Wednesday night! I miss you all!

The Father’s Discipline

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? (Hebrews 12:5-7). Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law (Psalm 94:12).

God is the most wonderful Father! He loves us enough to discipline us. I loved my four children enough to discipline them when they were young. They needed the correction that only a parent can give. MY goal as a parent is that by the time my children are out from under my care that they are guided by a conscience tender towards God from within.

God disciplines us for our profit, so that we will become just like Him in holiness. But contrary to religious ideas, God does not chasten with sickness and disease, accidents, poverty, and a host of hurtful things. God is not an abusive parent. We’d send law enforcement after a parent caught breaking a child’s arm or leg to teach him a lesson! But many accuse God of being a child abuser when they say he disciplines us with all these hurtful things.

God disciplines us with His Word. When we get out of line, the Holy Spirit deals with us and removes His peace. He reminds us again and again of the promises of God, and draws us to the Father through the Word. A believer out of line with the Word is under the discipline of the Father. Over and over, the Word challenges, and His presence within woos away from the hurtful thoughts or actions that will bring ruin. Everywhere the disciplined believer turns, he’s reminded of what God says and why He says it.

A believer who doesn’t receive the discipline of the Word is in danger of hardening his conscience toward God, and is in a place where the enemy can deceive. Be careful not to violate conscience. When you do, repent immediately. A believe who will not listen to the Word and to the voice of conscience is eventually left to reap the consequences of his wrong choices.

God said to Israel, Choose today whom you will serve, life or death, blessing or cursing. The Father wants us to choose life through obedience to the Word, so that His blessing can be ours to enjoy.

Choose to yield to the discipline of the Father’s Word today. He’s training us in right living, and is pleased when we choose the discipline of His Word. He wants you to have His best!

Break Up Your Fallow Ground!

Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you (Hosea 10:12).

Fallow ground is unproductive, untilled ground. When I was young my dad bought some land in the “country” and built a house there. There were fields of various kinds of produce surrounding my house. One field sat unplowed for a long time. The government paid the farmer to allow it to lie “fallow.”

The ground in this unplowed field had a thin crust over it that made it difficult for water to permeate. When it rained, the water simply ran off into the lowest place. Weeds grew in abundance there.

I noticed that when the farmers would plant crops in an adjoining field, some of the seed would be thrown over into this “fallow” field. They never germinated because the ground was so hard. The seed just lay on top of the soil and produced nothing.

Jesus mentioned four types of heart soil where the seed of the Word is planted. In Mark 4 He mentioned wayside, stony, thorny, and good ground. Fallow ground is much like the wayside, stony, and thorny ground.

Hosea was encouraging Israel to break up their fallow ground or to allow the Word to penetrate their hearts. And it is wise for us to check up on the condition of the soil of our hearts, and make sure that our ground is not “fallow.”

Sin in all its varying forms, unforgiveness, pride, worldliness, self-centeredness, and refusing to walk in love are a few ways that our heart soil can become fallow. The Word just won’t produce fruit under these conditions. And the Holy Spirit’s voice is easily “muffled,” just like water rolling off fallow ground!

Breaking up “fallow” ground involves allowing the Father through the Word and the Holy Spirit to show us areas of disobedience, confessing it, and forsaking it. Repentance plows the soil of the human heart and allows the Word to germinate.

If you’ve noticed “weeds” growing in your life, sins that easily ensnare you, or if you notice a hardness in your attitude towards others, let me encourage you to take Hosea’s advice and do some spiritual plowing. The results will be that the seed of the Word will more easily germinate in you and produce a harvest of right living.

Your Place of Ministry

My kids and I went for a leisurely stroll on the beach this morning looking for sea shells. The obvious thing I noticed was the great diversity in the shells we picked up. All of them were from the ocean. All had originality.

In the body of Christ we are members of one another, but we all have a unique function. The Father has placed different giftings in us all, and He wants us to function in the gifting that He’s placed within us.

The ministry offices are Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher. They are given to prepare the saints for the work of the ministry. All of these have a preaching and teaching anointing. I stand in the office of the Pastor and Teacher.

But there are other giftings of ministry that are important and necessary. Romans 12 mentions as the other necessary areas of ministry the following: prophecy, ministry (deaconing, being a helper and a servant), teaching, exhortation (being an encouragement to others), givers (those with a special knack for making money and financing the gospel), leaders (those with organizational skills that can assist ministry offices), and mercy (those with a special enablement to help those who are down and out for whatever reason).

1 Corinthians 12: 28 also mentions helps as a necessary place of ministry. Those called to help assist those who fulfill the ministry offices found in Ephesians 4:11. All of us should be involved in helping. I started out in the ministry of helps over 30 years ago. As I was faithful, the Lord opened up what He had planned for my life.

I believe every believer should be involved in the helps ministry. And as they prove faithful there, the Lord will open up what He has for each one.

Don’t wait for something to open up without doing anything. You may wait a lifetime. Choose today to be a faithful person. Find a need and be the supply for it. Don‘t wait for someone to ask you to do something. Be faithful to help fulfill whatever need you see. I believe this is often a test for us. The Lord wants to see if we will just be faithful in whatever needs to be done before He places us in our life’s call.

We are as diverse as sea shells. All of us are necessary, but we must choose to be used by the Father to bless others. Find a need today and fill it!

Faith Encouragements

All things are possible to him who believes; All things are possible with God; This is the victory that overcomes the world-our faith; Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one; Fight the good fight of faith; But without faith it is impossible to please Him; The just shall live by faith; As you have believed, so let it be to you; Daughter, your faith has made you well; Be it unto you according to your faith.

The above references point to the importance of faith. And the key to faith is believing that right now (not some time in the future) I receive what the Father has promised me in the Word. Faith believes, says, and acts as though God’s Word is true right now! Hope is continually looking for the manifestation of an answer, while faith stands and acts as though the answer has come. So if I’m looking for a manifestation to prove an answer, then I’m still in hope and not faith, and I will not receive what God promised!

When you’re actually standing in real Bible faith, there is an inward excitement. That’s because you know that the Father has honored His Word to you, not because of any physical or circumstantial change, but simply because He said it! Joy is a byproduct of faith. Faith does not have the foreboding, gut wrenching thought that says what if it doesn’t work? The only possibility that faith sees is the answer! When thoughts of doubt come, faith pushes them away and refuses to speak them. And in return faith speaks out loud what it believes to counteract the thought of doubt.

Faith calls those things that be not as though they were. Faith looks beyond the seen and felt, and speaks what it believes. And faith also acts what it believes. In Romans 4, Abraham looked beyond his 100 year old body and beyond his wife’s 90 year old body. He looked beyond his present circumstance and chose to keep his attention fixed on God’s promise to him.

He remained in faith in spite of the looming circumstances by praising God for honoring His Word. His praise life moved his faith and kept him from looking at the wrong thing. He just kept looking at God’s Word to him and praising Him for doing what He said!

Act your faith today. Look beyond the present circumstance. Imitate the faith of Abraham and praise God for honoring His Word, even when nothing seems to be changing. Faith works! God honors His Word when really believed. All things are possible to you today. Don’t quit. Choose to look beyond and believe you receive!

National Blessing or Cursing

People of Israel, listen to the Lord's message. The Lord has this against you who live in the land: "The people are not true, not loyal to God, nor do those who live in the land even know him. Cursing, lying, killing, stealing and adultery are everywhere. One murder follows another. Because of this the land dries up, and all its people are dying. Even the wild animals and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying. No one should accuse or blame another person. Don't blame the people, you priests, when they quarrel with you. You will be ruined in the day, and your prophets will be ruined with you in the night. I will also destroy your mother. My people will be destroyed, because they have no knowledge. You have refused to learn, so I will refuse to let you be priests to me. You have forgotten the teachings of your God, so I will forget your children (Hosea 4:1-6- New Century Version).

I was reading the book of Hosea during my personal time with the Lord today. And this verse seemed to stare at me again. We in America have been blessed due to our forefather’s honor of God and His moral laws. Our system of government was based upon the ethics of the Ten Commandments. Sure, not everyone involved in leading our nation has been godly, but enough have been that there has been a defining influence of godliness here. And we live in relative opulence and prosperity as no other people have because of the light of the gospel that has been here.

God asked the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute and to remain faithful to her while she committed adultery. His life was to be an example of the way backslidden Israel treated God.

Israel lost God’s promised blessings due to their disobedience. Slowly the Lord removed His protective hand from their nation and the enemy came to wreck havoc. It was all due to their choices to sin. In the above verses you see that even the land and the animals were affected by the sins of the people.

Are the fires, floods, droughts, severe weather, and national and international problems that are rising in our land due to our national attitude as a whole towards God and His Word? No, God doesn’t bring hurtful things to His people. But disobedient living hinders God’s hand of blessing, and gives the enemy opportunity to steal, kill, and destroy. God has no choice but to back away from sin and disobedience. The results is calamity after calamity coming in due to God's removal of protection as He is forced to back away because of the choices the people have made to disobey Him.

Let’s hit our knees daily in prayer for our nation. God’s people went into captivity right along with the rest of Israel when the Babylonians removed them from their land. Yes, God protected and made provision for His own during these times of national disobedience, but the results affected everyone, God’s folk as well as unbelievers.

We need to be aware that if we as the church don’t rise to the occasion and live for God and be the salt and light He’s destined us to be, then the end results of national disobedience will affect us and our children right along with the unbelievers. Yes, God will make an ark for us, but the land will be affected, lifestyle will change, and we’ll be living in in a lesser condition instead of the peace and prosperity we have now.

In Israel, no one, not the priests, the believers, or the unbelievers would listen to the prophets when they spoke of coming calamity. The people as a whole were set on only hearing what sounded comfortable and good. The rebuke of the prophet was ignored to their peril. This is eerily close to what’s happening today.

Let’s pray for national repentance and revival. Let’s ask the Father for mercy and not judgment in our nation. And let’s be living epistles of how life should be lived, and let’s make a difference today.

Encourage Yourself

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God (1 Samuel 30:6).

David and his men came home from a battle to find their wives and children missing, and their city burned. His men blamed him for what happened and wanted to stone him. Even his friends and best buddies turned against him. But David found a way to keep himself strong. He encouraged himself in the Lord!

When hardship is pressing, and the test is of long duration, you must find a way to keep yourself encouraged and not lose strength. I’ve used David’s example many times when pressed. I’ve learned to encourage myself. And here’s how.

I force myself to praise God, not because I feel like it, but because I know that praise brings the manifestation of God’s power into my situation. Israel won battles without lifting a sword by putting the praise team on the front line! Praise brings God’s presence, where there is fullness of joy. Joy produces strength.

One other thing I do is to remind myself of times in my past when the Lord has answered prayer and delivered me from a difficult situation.

Many years ago I endured a severe test while pioneering the church in a small city in South Carolina. Nothing was going my way. I was challenged from all sides. To deal with the pressure, I would take long walks alone and praise God for honoring His Word. Then I would remind myself of all the times that the Lord has answered prayer and had helped me in my past. I would start with the beginning of my walk with God and go from their, sometimes speaking aloud of the Lord’s mercy time after time.

By the time I was finished, time after time I found new zeal and fresh strength. The Lord did not bring me this far to let me down now! This exercise enabled me to press through the hard place to victory.

Go read about how David encouraged himself in Psalm 42, and go and encourage yourself in the Lord today!

Vacation Time!

After I minister in our two services this morning I will join my family who are already in North Myrtle Beach on vacation.We'll be there this week. We all need the relaxation and rest that comes from taking time away from the normal routines of life.

Our culture does not value rest as it should. And I am a “delivered” workaholic! Twenty years ago I was not able to take a vacation and enjoy it because my sense of personal value was all tied up in performance and works. I would become agitated and upset just a few days into a vacation back then.

Now I am settled in who Jesus is to me, and I know that He loves me, not based on my performance, but based on the fact that I am a human being made in His image.

Paul held a pastor’s conference in Ephesus in Acts 20 and admonished the pastors to take heed to themselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit made them overseers. There’s a lot of wisdom there.

Before a pastor can really help others, he must take care of himself spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, and in his personal relationships with his family.

So I’ll miss the flock this week! But I know that if I’m going to continue to be an effective pastor I must do as Jesus told the disciples and come away and rest awhile.

I’ll continue my blog during vacation though. I enjoy staying connected with you.

The Confident and the Ashamed

And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming (1 John 2:28).

Two classes of believers will stand before Jesus when He returns; the confident, and the ashamed.

The confident are those who loved not their lives to the death. They resisted the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. They kept the world at a distance by bathing themselves daily in the Word of God, and by constant communion with the Father. When they did slip up and sin, it broke their hearts and they cried out to Jesus, confessing their sin, and asking for His power to overcome the weakness and to walk in the spirit.

The ashamed are those who were born again, but did not take advantage of their rights and privileges as a child of God. They were rarely found bathing in the cleansing lather of the Word. The cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust for other things overpowered their desire for God, and they mostly walked in the flesh. Church attendance was hit and miss since they did not value the power of the spoken Word of God through the ministry gift of a pastor.

For the ashamed a guilt conscience was their constant companion. They knew what to do but rarely did it. They were saved so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:15).

Jesus blazing eyes will look into yours and mine one day. He will look deep into our souls with His piercing gaze and immediately discern the thoughts and motives behind every word and action in our lives!

General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army had a vision of the rewards seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3). He saw multitudes of believers who had arrived in heaven, and Jesus was there, going from person to person. In His hand was a torch. As Jesus approached each person, the flame from the torch would immediately consume all wood hay and stubble their earthly lives had produced (1 Corinthians 3:12). All that was left was gold, silver, and precious stones.

Some people touched by the torch had nothing left when the smoke cleared. No precious stones were found. Others had a pile of beautiful gems at their feet after the fire.

One other notable thing happened in General Booth’s vision. As Jesus approached each person, He heard either guttural sobs of remorse for opportunities not taken, or he heard ecstatic shouts of joy.

A hymn sang in my church as a boy went; must I go and empty handed, must I meet my Savior so, must I go and empty handed, must I empty handed go. We are each day accruing by our actions and motives either gold, silver, precious stones, or wood hay and straw. What will be left at your feet to present to Jesus when the smoke clears?

I want to be in the company of the confident and not be one of the ashamed when I meet Jesus. Come with me on the journey for God’s best today. Let’s consecrate ourselves to the Father. Let’s be the good ground believers found in Mark 4 who acted on the Word with all their hearts. Forget the failures of the past. Reach forward today in repentance and consecration and let’s go for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ!

First Love

I’ve been enjoying some time off this week, and that’s the reason I’m a little later than normal posting here. It’s important for all of us to take a break, and that means also breaking with routines and doing something fresh. So, I’m taking a lot more time in the morning to read and seek God, and I’m catching up on some much needed rest.

One of the things that has hit home with me this week is examining my “first love” status with Jesus. Do I love Him now as much as I did when I was first born again and Spirit-Filled? Is His Word as exciting to me as it was when I first met Him?

First love is a condition of the heart, and must be guarded against the erosions of busyness and deadlines that must be met. Dietrich Bonheoffer said, be aware of the barrenness of a busy life. Life with Jesus will always be first of all a heart contact, and that means taking time to know Him.

That’s not performance, just like romance is not performance. Romance is a heart thing between two people. They want to be with each other. They want the companionship. They crave intimacy with the one they love.

There is a pure romance of the heart that each believer should foster with Jesus. Forced time alone, clock watching during prayer, hurriedly reading the Word because of the deadlines of life can quench first love. Heart relationship takes time, lots of time. Listening, gazing, and absorbing the other person’s thoughts and feelings are keys to romance.

In Philippians 3 Paul mentioned that he counted all things as mere refuse to the goal of being intimate with Jesus. His reputation, his education, his social standing, his expertise created by his excellent education, all of these meant nothing in the light of knowing Jesus and the Father intimately. We must ask ourselves, do I feel this way? Is anything in my life more important than knowing Jesus and having a heart intimacy with Him through prayer and the Word?

It’s a good thing to examine ourselves. As the Greek philosopher said centuries ago, an unexamined life is not worth living. I’m taking time during this break to examine me and my life priorities. Go with me on this journey to insure that first love is still there with Jesus and the Father. Eternity rewards heartfelt obedience.

The Word Produces Stability

Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure (Isaiah 33:6).

The only consistent thing in the universe is the Word of God! It is forever settled in heaven. Jesus said heaven and earth would pass away, but His Word would never change.

In a world of increasing instability, we have a rock upon which to stand! Jesus said that practicing the Word is like building your house on rock instead of shifting sand. When difficulties come, you’ll be unmoved!

The more Word you practice, the stronger the foundation of your life will be. All weakness is the results of our leaving the Word in some way. The strength, the life, the wisdom, the rest, the grace, and the power of the Word of God will sustain you in life’s most arduous circumstances.

I had been a believer for just a few years when a spiritual leader rocked my world. He said some things to me in a private meeting that were untrue but very hurtful. The impact on my life was severe. I was only 20 years old, and his words affected my mental and emotional equilibrium.

Day after day his hurtful words ravaged my mind. The enemy used them to bring great condemnation and discouragement. I felt hopeless, alone, and abandoned.

But I was not without help. I decided to ignore my feelings and these aberrant thoughts that ceaselessly attacked my mind. I would spend the entire day forcing a scripture to revolve over and over in my mind. I chose to believe God’s Word over man’s Word. And after a period of time, I regained my mental and emotional balance, and found peace again.

This experience taught me the power of the Word in my life, and how the Word can bring stability. Since then, I have given the Word room in my thoughts and in my life every day. And the stability of the Word has rooted itself into who I am and what I do.

Regardless of how tough the circumstance may be that you’re facing, choose to act on God’s Word. Say it aloud. Let it role over and over in your mind. Refuse to let your emotions rule you. The Father will provided you with needed wisdom, and the Word will produce freedom and liberty. You’ll come through the hard place. And you’ll know that God’s Word produces results.

Give room in your thought life today for the Word to dwell in you richly, and you’ll find the Father's stability and strength for every situation!

Virtue Maintains Freedom

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. (Proverbs 14:34).

Freedom is an expensive thing. Its' cost is blood. Our spiritual freedom was won by Jesus spilling His blood for us. The freedom that we have to worship, to express ourselves, and live as we please has cost many thousands their life. Let’s take moment and thank God today for the privilege we have of living in a free country. And let’s remember that with freedom comes responsibility.

We’re responsible as citizens of a free society to uphold the law and to honor God. No nation can remain free if it does not adhere to moral law, and each citizen be held responsible for his own actions.

Back in 1983, during the cold war, the Christian school in our church had a guest speaker from Russia speak to the high school. He was a former military man in his country. This man was not a Christian, but had a message for America. I will never forget his words. He said, “If you want to remain a free country, you must be a moral people. If you lose your morals, you will one day lose your freedoms!” His words have resonated within me since that day.

I’ll leave you with a few quotes from civil leaders of the past. Let’s remember to pray for our president and leaders daily.

It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favors. (George Washington - 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation).

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. (John Adams - 1798 Address to the Military).

The only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments. (Benjamin Rush- 1806).

Statesmen my dear sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand....The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our people, in a great measure, than they have it now, they may change their rulers, and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty. (John Adams -1776 letter to Zabdiel Adams)

Renewing Spiritual Strength

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

Spiritual strength dissipates just like our physical strength. When you exert yourself physically, you tire and must rest and replenish your energy reserves. If you don’t, your body will force you to rest. You’ll faint!

Spiritual energy is expended in a similar way. It takes spiritual energy to live in a fallen world, where the world (the mindset around you that opposes God and His kingdom), the flesh, and the devil must be resisted and kept at bay. And you get tired spiritually just by living for God each day. It takes energy! Be aware that one of Satan’s tactics is to wear out the saints (Daniel 7:25)!

You also expend spiritual energy when you minister to others. Witnessing to an unbeliever during a break at work, teaching a Bible study, visiting the sick in a hospital, ministering in a nursing home, even praying in intercession takes spiritual energy. And those energy reserves must be restored!

The Word is spiritual food. It feeds the spirit in a similar way that natural food nourishes our bodies. After a season of ministry and of just living in the world, we must take time to step aside with the Father and partake of His spiritual source of life and health. If we don’t, then we’ll become weak spiritually and may falter when the pressure of the world or the flesh come against us.

Praying in other tongues is another way to strengthen the spiritual nature. When we pray in tongues we edify or build ourselves up spiritually, much like an alternator in your car engine builds up your car’s battery for its next use. Jude tells us to build ourselves up on our most holy faith by praying in the Holy Ghost! Isaiah said that praying in tongues brings a rest and a refreshing! Take advantage of what God has given you!

Build yourself up from the inside out today by feeding on the Word during your break or lunch, and by praying in the spirit quietly throughout the day. You’ll find God’s power overwhelming your weakness, or as Paul said it, your mortality will be swallowed up by God’s life!

Anger Management

Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath (Ephesians 4:26).

When I was a teenager I would get angry and go into a rage. I would scream and kick. I remember one time I was working on my car and having difficulty. I beat the side of my car and slammed my fists repeatedly on the ground in anger. I knew I was out of control.

After I was born again and Spirit-filled anger sought to work its way back into my life. I saw quickly that if I didn’t get it under control, I would end up doing something that would hurt my relationships and my employment. So I researched the subject of anger, and implemented some simple principles to keep myself out of trouble. Here is what I discovered.

All of us have to learn to deal properly with anger. Anger in itself is not sinful. It’s the motive behind it and the actions that it produces that make anger sinful and harmful.

If you can be angry and not sin, then anger must at times be an appropriate emotion. A person who is never angry has some serious emotions and mental issues to deal with. Even God is angry with the wicked every day (Psalm 7:11). Jesus became angry when He saw His Father’s house being defamed by the crooks and thieves doing business in the name of the Jewish religion. He overturned their money tables and turned the animals loose. He drove the hypocrites out in blazing anger! But Jesus never sinned! This episode of anger was not sinful.

Here’s the bottom line. Anger that stems from selfishness is sinful anger. Anger that is motivated by a desire to honor and please God and see fairness and right rule is not sinful anger. Anger at injustice and wrong living are appropriate, but anger must always be controlled.

Notice what the Word says about anger. An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression (Proverbs 29:22). He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city (Proverbs 16:32). A wise man restrains his anger and overlooks insults. This is to his credit (Proverbs 19:11- Living Bible). Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:9).

Ask the Father to help you control anger. Make a decision not to confront or speak about a difficult situation until your anger is under control. I usually separate myself from the situation that brought anger and find a place to be alone. Then I ask the Lord to help me understand what’s going on. And I pray in the spirit. But I will not confront until I have love, joy, and peace within me. Sometimes I find that I must delay confrontation for hours and sometimes a few days until I know I have anger in check. Great harm results from uncontrolled anger.

Above all, mediate on God’s Word about anger. Go to a concordance and find the scriptures that relate to anger and mediate on them daily. The Holy Spirit will then empower the Word and enable you to control your responses to difficulties. Make a decision to walk in peace, and when you lose it, get alone and sort out what happened. Ask the Father to help and cast the care of the situation on Him. Never speak when overly angry. Remember, a soft answer turns away wrath.

Hard Pressed

On every side I am ever hard pressed, but never hemmed in; always perplexed, but never to the point of despair, always being persecuted, but never deserted, always getting a knockdown, but never a knockout! (2 Corinthians 4:8 – Williams)

Tough times are a result of us living in a fallen world. None of us are immune. Jesus told to be of good cheer when we face pressure.

James tells us to count it pure joy when we fall into all kinds of tests and trials. Our attitude when going through a hard place determines how the Lord is able to minister to us during the specific test. If I gripe and complain, I don’t receive all that the Father has for me.

If I choose to walk in joy, thanking God in the middle of the problem, I am then allowing the very power of God to invade the situation.

Some of the deepest works of the Word into my life have been during my most challenging days. When I came to the end of myself, I found Jesus and the Father standing there as a rock, ready to embrace me in my weakness and lift me into another level of obedience and faith.

Don’t despise the hard place. Thank God while going through it. I didn’t say thank Him for it, but to thank Him in it. Thank God in everything, no matter what the circumstance may be, be thankful and give thanks: For this is the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus, the revealer and mediator of that will (1 Thessalonians 5:18 – Amplified).

A pearl is the result of an irritation in the oyster. Diamonds are a result of tremendous pressure deep within the earth. Large muscles result from regular and repeated resistance. Spiritual maturity often results from great struggle. Smith Wigglesworth said great victories come out of great battles.

Kenneth Hagin said hard places are God’s method of taking you into deeper places in Him. Don’t forget that Jesus who is our example, was led by the Sprit into a hard place (the wilderness) to be tempted by the devil.

The Father sees the end from the beginning. Keep your focus on the written Word and on Jesus the living Word of God. Set your gaze on the Son of God by looking at the perfect law of liberty. Keep walking with God and believing the Word in the face of pressure and adversity. On the other side of the test you’ll be more mature, and the glory of God will shine brighter in your life!

Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation (Romans 5:3-4 – Amplified).