The Gap Theory

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:1-2).

I was reminded of the gap theory while reading Genesis 1 this morning. If you have a Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, you can read about it in his notes on Genesis. Kenneth Hagin mentions it a few times in his writings as well. When I heard this theory years ago, it made sense and answered many questions for me. To repeat, it’s a theory, not a doctrine. That means it could have been this way, but there’s not enough proof from scripture to call it a doctrine. So I submit these thoughts in a non-dogmatic way.

Here’s the theory. There’s a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Sometime in eternity past, God created the heavens and earth. But the earth became without form and void, and the light of the sun became hindered from giving light to the earth. Between the two verses something happened that created chaos on earth.

Here’s what many believe about the gap after examining the fall of Lucifer and other passages such as Ezekiel 28:11-19; Jeremiah 4: 23-24; Isaiah 14: 12-14; and 2 Peter 3: 5-7. God created the earth in eternity past. It could have been tens of thousands or millions of years ago. He also created a race of beings that inhabited the earth at that time. In this social order, the dinosaurs were on earth along with this man-like creature. Dake calls this race of beings pre-adamites, because they were created before Adam. How long they existed, no one knows.

When Lucifer was kicked out of heaven due to rebellion to God, he fell to the earth, and corrupted it. This race of beings was corrupted, and a flood destroyed the whole social order of the time, including the dinosaurs and other strange creature that existed of which we have fossil remains. After this the ice age emerged as well.

As the theory goes, God then recreated the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:3 through the rest of the chapter. Satan’s rebellion caused chaos on the planet, and God took what was here, brought order, and then created mankind as a new race of beings.

To many, this may seem far fetched! But if you examine the Hebrew words carefully in the above mentioned passages, there is a bit of light here. Not enough to make a doctrine, but enough to say, it could have been that way.

For me, the theory explains the fossils we find that are so unlike our current social order of creation; it explains why the earth could be older than 6000 years. It explains demon spirits, which many believe are the spirits of this pre-adamite race that was destroyed when the earth became chaotic after God had to judge it and destroy it when Lucifer fell.

Another interesting book to read is Kenneth Hagin’s The Triumphant Church. He mentions the Gap Theory there with some detail. Another prolific author that explains this view is Gordon Lindsay, founder of Christ for the Nations Bible school in Texas.

There’s so much that we don’t know. But what we do know is that the Father loves us so much that He spent a lot of time creating this world to be a place where life can thrive. He’s coming back to lift the curse from it one day, and we’ll live with Him for eternity here in glorified bodies. That’s enough to make me shout!

The Book of Remembrance

Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name. They shall be Mine, says the LORD of hosts, on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him (Malachi 3:16-17).

It’s a special thing to the Father for us to think about Him, to talk about Him, and for us to occupy our minds with thoughts of Him. He takes notice when we make Him the object of life’s pursuit. He has a book where He records the times we spend with our focus on Him!

In the New Testament we’re admonished to let the Word dwell in us richly. Jesus encouraged us to allow the Word to abide in us. The Greek word for abide is meno and it means to settle down in, to remain, or to make a home with. The idea is that the word finds a permanent home in us. The Word is our link with the Father as we walk through life.

Jesus told the disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit when He left the earth to go to heaven. He called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. You see, the Holy Spirit is attracted to the Word in us! Really, we are no more filled with the Spirit than we are filled with the Word! Taking time each day to absorb the Word is also taking time to allow the Holy Spirit full reign in us. When we choose to obey the Word, we’re choosing to yield to the Holy Spirit.

Never neglect the Word. The Word is precious to God. The Word is precious to the Holy Spirit. The Word is our connection with heaven. Occupy yourself with the things of the Word today. If you do, you’ll become a favorite with the Father. He longs for you to want Him!

The High Praises of God

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD (Psalm 149:6-9).

In the verse above, notice that offered praise becomes a double edged sword in the realm of the spirit. The plans of those opposing the Word and the purposes of the kingdom of God are hindered. The binding of their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron refers to the demonic forces In the unseen realm. Praise stops them in their tracks!

God inhabits praise! There is a manifestation of His kingdom power where praise is offered. The principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, the wicked spirits in the heavenlies mentioned in Ephesians 6:12 are hindered in their exploits of stealing, killing and destroying when saints begin to praise!

The children of Israel noticed that when they put the tribe of Judah in the front lines of battle that the fight was easier and they won! Paul and Silas’ prison chains fell off during an episode of praise! Don’t take this lightly, it works!

Take up praise as a weapon of spiritual warfare today. When doubt, fear, discouragement, depression, sickness, or lack attacks your life, get out the weapon of praise!

Back in 1985, I was attacked with terrible flu symptoms. Everything hurt! I called my secretary and cancelled my appointments for the day. I was listening to scriptures on healing as I lay in bed, and the Lord spoke so clearly to me. If you believe you’re healed, get up and act like it! I knew He was right, and got up and began to walk around my bedroom with my hands lifted praising God for my healing. For about ten minutes I ached and hurt and praised! Then, just like a bird flying away, every flu symptom disappeared! I was totally healed.

Right in the middle of your life circumstances today begin to offer the sacrifice of praise. You’ll find God kingdom manifesting in your life and you’ll find that the enemy will back up! Praise is an awesome weapon!

The Soldier, the Athlete, and the Farmer

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. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things (2 Timothy 2:4-7).

The Apostle Paul uses analogies here from familiar endeavors to help us understand how we should live before God. We are admonished here to fight like a soldier, to prepare like an athlete, and to work like a farmer.

When a soldier signs up to serve in the armed forces, he makes a serious dedication of his life. Boot camp prepares him for the rigors of the battle field. Then he goes through extensive training so that he will be thoroughly prepared to win in battle. From the time the soldier gets up until he goes to bed, his life has been dedicated to prepare for battle. He must not be slack or else it may cost him his life in the day of battle. He must be diligent.

An athlete is a person of preparation. Constantly looking at the goal of winning the competition, he streamlines his life. He carefully watches what he eats so that his body receives maximum nourishment. He tones his muscles so that they work at maximum efficiency. He conditions himself with long hours of exertion to be able to endure the toughest competition. His focus is on being his best so that he can win the prize. His life is a life of discipline. One day of slackness could cost him the trophy.

A farmer is a man of diligence. He’s up before sunrise preparing for the day. His one goal is the harvest. Day after day, he plants the seed, removes the weeds that steal needed nourishment from the soil, and watches over his crops. The farmer must remain diligent with his fields. Laziness will diminish the return on his investment. He must work hard every day!

If the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer can give their best for a natural cause, how much more should we give our best for the kingdom of God. The rewards for their exertion are temporary. The rewards for diligence in spiritual things are eternal! In fact, what we do now determines our place and rewards in heaven. Let’s give the Father our best today. Let’s fight like a soldier, prepare like an athlete, and work like a farmer!

Give Your Best

It’s time for us in the body of Christ to fine tune ourselves and get ready to be the best we can be for God! The world situation is changing rapidly and all signs point towards the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ.

I believe that as calamity and disasters increase, many will turn to the Lord and be opened to receive ministry. Here are some things that we can do to be ready.

First, commit to an attitude of excellence in all that you do. Colossians 3: 23-24 reads, And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Give everything you do the best you have; on your job and also in your church life. If you volunteer in an area of ministry, give it your best. Be on time to events! Do what you do as if Jesus were your boss. Work as unto Him. Ephesians 6:6-8 reads, not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

Second, think unity. There is strength when we unify with fellow believers. The power of the early church was in their being in one accord. How we treat fellow believers is how we treat Jesus Himself. An atmosphere of unity is a breeding ground for the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself. Be quick to forgive and quick to love. Believe the best of others.

Third, ask the Father to manifest spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 14:1(NIV) reads,
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. Ask the Father to use you in spiritual gifts. In church services, ask the Father for prophecy, diver kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues to manifest. Be open for Him to use you if He so chooses.

In your daily life, walk in love and ask the Father to make you a blessing to others. He may choose to manifest the Word of Knowledge or Gifts of Healings through you. Remain conscious throughout your day that He wants to use you.

When we gather in church meetings, we actually become collectively a temple of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we individually have Him living in us, but there is a special manifestation of the presence of God among us when we gather together. The depth of the manifestation is determined by our desire for Him. So be on time to your local church services. Show by your actions that you want the best He has and that you want others to receive. Arriving late to a church service on purpose is really showing disrespect to the Father and a lack of desire for Him to give His best. And being late signals others who may be visiting (and that need the Lord) that we really aren’t all that committed to what we believe!

These are important days for the kingdom of God. Jesus is coming soon. So many need ministry. Let’s go the extra mile in all we do. It’s time for the Father to show Himself strongly through us.

A Loving Father

The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works (Psalm 145:8-9).

The Father used this verse to set me free from my fear of His presence, and to create in me an openness with Him. From my early childhood I had the idea that God was harsh, uncaring, demanding, angry, and somehow just simply unhappy with me. It’s as if He put up with me because He had to, not because He wanted to.

God is often mirrored to us through our parents. Our perceptions of what the Father is like are compared in our mind with what we’ve experienced with our parents. If you’re raised in an environment of conditional love, then you may be challenged in receiving the unconditional love that the Father has for you.

Parents mean well, but if the only time you received love as a child is when you met certain conditions, then you become a performance oriented person. And when you fail, you will feel unworthy of love and will shun intimacy. And that attitude will spill over into your relationship with the Father.

As parents, it is so important that we show love to our children when they fail. If we are harsh and angry when they fail, and don’t affirm our love to them, then we’re unconsciously creating in them a belief that they are only loved when they perform well.

In the above verse, gracious means disposed to show favors. It is speaking of an unconditional love that the Father has for His own. He loves us. He cares for us. He is slow to become angry at us. He acts in mercy towards us. Mercy is when you don’t get what you deserve.

Most people think that God is so harsh and demanding, but when you get to know Him, you’ll see that He is the most loving being you’ll ever know. He loves you so much that He’s made provision to cleanse you from sin and to make you so righteous that you can stand in His presence as though you’ve never done wrong!

When you know this, you’ll run to the Father when you mess up and not away from Him. Proverbs says that a righteous man falls seven times and rises up again. That’s possible because of the unconditional love of the Father!

Meditate on Psalm 145: 8-9. This verse opened the Father’s presence to me in a fresh way. It began a journey of intimacy (in-to-me-see) with the Father in my life. It enabled me to curb perfectionistic tendencies that would have crushed my children with my harsh, strict, rigid demands. Yes, I have strong standards, but they’ve been backed by consistent unconditional love for my kids. Strictness without unconditional love will push your children away from intimacy, and will set them up for a life long battle with personal acceptance with the Father.

There is no love like the love of the Father. You can pour out your heart to Him with abandonment. He cares about every cell of your being. He’s waiting on you now with open arms. You can trust Him to help you with every issue of life. When you sin, there is forgiveness and mercy as you confess it. He willingly pardons. He wants your heart life. He longs for you to know Him.

Watch You Mouth!

Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips (Psalm 141:3).

Our words contain the power of life and death! Our words set in motion the things that occur in our lives. God uses our words as a vehicle to bless, to heal, to provide, and to strengthen us.

The enemy also wants to use our words to defame, to discourage, to hinder, to impoverish, and to promote fear.

Our words are like landmarks in our lives. We rise or fall to the level of our confession. If we confess weakness, it develops weakness in us. If we confess fear, then fear rises up like a giant and binds us. If we confess sickness, it enforces sickness in us. If we confess lack, then our confession hinders God’s blessings.

We must learn to say only what we want to happen in our lives! Our words are conveyors of our faith. We say what we really believe. This is a law of the kingdom of God.

I have learned to voice what I believe in the face of contradiction. The circumstance may tell me that I’m whipped, defeated. But I say that in all things I am more than a conqueror! I voice that if God be for me, what enemy can defeat me! I may feel that I won’t make it, but I have learned to defy my feelings with a positive affirmation of the Word.

It may seem that infirmity is getting the upper hand in my body, but I line my words up with what the Father says about my body. I voice boldly that Jesus took my infirmities and bare my sicknesses. I never give in to the feelings and symptoms. I fill my words with God’s Word and stand my ground.

Thoughts of doubt often come creeping into our minds. I have learned not just to ignore them. But when they come, I confess boldly what God’s Word says about me. I refute the thought with God’s Word on my lips.

Sometimes circumstances, people, feelings, and our own thoughts try to gang up on us and defeat us. The enemy uses all these things to try to weight us down and force us to abandon our faith by yielding to discouragement. When this happens, I put my mouth to work! I say with conviction what the Word says about me and I refuse to waver!

Keep a watch on your lips today. Fill your words with what you really believe. Feeling and circumstances change like the weather. The Word is constant! It forever settled in heaven! Positive affirmations of the Word will chase away doubt and fear, and will fill you with courage and strength. Remember, we rise or fall to the level of our confession.

All Things are Possible

Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23). Jesus looked at them intently and said, Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible (Matt 19:26-NLT)

In our service yesterday, I simply related what’s been in my heart for several months now. We have outgrown our current building, and desperately need more space. I’ve been driving by a building and acreage on my way to the office every day for a number of months. Each time I pass the building, I thank the Father for providing it for Victory Church, and for working a miracle in making this property a reality.

Some time back I asked the Lord to provide us this particular place on Highway 70 in Garner. The board and I have met about it, and agreed in prayer for the Father to provide it. We currently have no legal binding contract on the property. We must obtain 6 million dollars to buy and up-fit the property for our use. Naturally speaking, it looks impossible. But when you add God into the equation, the impossibility becomes possible!

Faith is for what you don’t have, but is promised by God. Faith takes the place of what you don’t have until it shows up! Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the title deed for what you hope for. A title deed is proof that something tangible exists.

I’ve asked the members and regulars attendees of Victory Church to agree with us that the Lord is providing the property for us. One day, I’ll stand in front of our congregation and tell them that we have the property; that our faith has turned to sight, and what we have received by faith is now a tangible asset!

If you want to see where it is, just come by our building and pick up a flyer we’ve prepared! Believe with us for a miracle as the Father provides our needed building!

Looking unto Jesus

…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead (Philippians 3:13). Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

The Father wants each of us to look away from our past successes and failures and keep our focus on Him and His ability that is available to us! This word for looking here in Hebrews is the Greek word aphorao and it means to purposely turn your eyes away from other things and to fix your gaze purposefully onto something.

We often allow the distractions of personal weakness, inferiority, and of our past to hinder us from moving forward in God. Peter walked on the water as long as he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus. He began to sink when removed his gaze from Him. And we stop moving forward when we focus on anything but the Jesus and His ability in us through the Word!

Abraham’s life was changed at age 75 when God gave him a vision of a multitude of children living in a land God promised him! A man from a pagan family was transformed into the father of faith by a Word from God. He became what he looked for!

Jacob’s life was changed after he wrestled with an angel an entire night. His name was changed from Jacob (deceiver) to Israel (prince with God)! His vision of his life was never the same.

Joseph’s life was transformed when he had a dream of being great leader. Because he kept his focus on this dream, circumstances never got him down! Sold as a slave by his brothers, lied about and thrust in a prison, Joseph rose to the top regardless of circumstances. And it was because his inner gaze was on the dream! And he became that leader he dreamed about years later, after successfully overcoming daunting impossibilities.

Moses was born with a death threat on his life. He killed a man at 40 years of age and spent the next 40 year living in a desert in exile. Moses’ life was forever changed by a Word from God in the burning bush. He became one of the greatest prophets of Israel because He moved his gaze to the Holy God revealed in the bush! His legacy lives on!

Focus on your past, and you’ll never overcome it. Turn your eyes away from the hardship and troubles life has brought you and look purposefully at Jesus by focusing on the Word, and you’ll become a transformed person! A change of gaze will change your life course! Forget what has happened. You can’t change it. But you can do something with today! And what you see determines how you live! Let’s keep our focus on the promises of God today. He is faithful that promised!

The Right Foundation

The foundation of a house determines its strength. Wind and Water are powerful forces of nature, but a house built on the right foundation can remain strong when they rise against it.

Likewise, a person who chooses to be a doer of the Word has a firm foundation in life. Adversity has many faces and comes to us from so many sources, but a person who chooses to live life by obeying the Word will come out on top every time!

The Word never changes nor will it ever fade into useless nothingness. It’s eternal (Matthew 24:35). The Word will always accomplish the purpose for which it was sent (Isaiah 55:11). The Word has been sent by the Father to produce forgiveness, healing, strength, love, joy, patience, victory, prosperity, and abundance. The Father is always watching over His Word to make it good where believed (Jeremiah 1:12). Earthly things wear out, but the Word endures and is ageless (Isaiah 40:8). It stronger than rock, and is forever established (Psalm 119:89). The Father will never break the covenant He has with His Word. It will always produce fruit, and will be honored by the Father in the life of whoever believes it (Psalm 89:34)!

Since the Father’s Word is so sure, the best assurance of a blessed future is obeying and lining your life up with the Word now. A step away from the Word is inviting disaster. A decision to go your own way at the neglect of the Word is an invitation for the thief to invade your life by stealing, killing, and destroying in some way. It’s a real bad idea to forsake the Word for your own way!

I’m still amazed at how a person can hear the Word week after week, month after month, and year after year, and still refuse to act on it when challenges come. Don’t ever let yourself get so burdened that you make a decision that is contrary to the Word. Never turn a deaf ear to God’s will as found in the Word. That decision is a disaster in the making. The flood and winds of life will destroy a person who willfully chooses to ignore the Father’s counsel.

Over the years I’ve seen people overcome great adversity and succeed when failure seemed apparent by simply firmly choosing to obey God’s Word when it was not the most convenient or the most comfortable thing to do. You’ll always come out on top if you’ll obey God and stand on His Word. It’s not always the easiest route. And yes, there are challenges when you choose the Father’s way through the Word. But the end result will always be the same. Victory, success, peace, and joy will rule your life!

Small Beginnings

For who has despised the day of small things (Zechariah 4:10).

Plants, trees, and shrubs begin life as a small seed that germinates. Human life begins as a zygote. Speech development in a child begins with one syllable words.

The kingdom of God operates on the principle of the seed. Something begins small and then grows a little at a time. When you are born again, God plants the seed of His nature within and it begins to grow and develop. With that seed from Him comes a talent, an ability, a skill, a calling.

Faithfulness in the small things causes the seed of His call on your life to germinate. No person in God’s kingdom starts out immediately after salvation functioning in their full calling. The seed must grow.

I began my ministry cleaning a large local church. There I learned humility, faithfulness, integrity, endurance, submission, respect for leaders, unselfishness, and how to adapt to different personalities. I also studied and developed my fellowship with God. The seedbed of my ministry now found its fertile soil in faithfulness in small things.

You may feel the call of a pastor, an evangelist, or a teacher in the body of Christ. You sense a seed of ministry in you. Find a way to be faithful in small things. Minister in nursing homes, prisons, Bible studies, home groups, in children's ministry, in youth groups. Assist your pastor in the local church in any way he needs you. Usher, greet, duplicate CD's, cut the grass, repair the building, help with the sound. Look for areas of need and lend a hand.

Promotion in ministry comes from the Lord. Don’t despise the day of small things. Those days are the proving ground for what God can do through you for the rest of your life.

Faith and Patience

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise (Hebrews 10:35-36).Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him (Hebrews 10:38).

Endurance or patience is an important ingredient of faith. It’s faith and patience that inherits the promises. The Greek word for endurance is hupomeno and it means to remain when under pressure. It’s the ability to keep your chin up when things aren’t going well. It’s the ability to remain joyful and expectant when it looks as though nothing you believe is coming to pass. It’s the ability to remain unmoved and unshaken by circumstances.

The very nature of what faith is makes patience so necessary in the faith fight. Faith is for what you don’t have in the physical realm yet. Faith takes the place of what God has promised you until it arrives in the physical and you can see it. Faith is the substitute for the thing God has promised you until you can physically see or feel it.

The Word promises healing, so you have prayed and exercised your faith. The pain increases and the symptoms worsen. Patience enables you to stand your ground in the tough time. Patience or endurance enables you to look away from the symptom and look at the promise of God, knowing that God is faithful to fulfill His Word.

The faith life is very challenging to the flesh! So many think that walking by faith means you receive instantly, but that is just not true! Abraham waited 25 years for the child of promise to come! And his patience enabled him to keep going strong when the impossibility of what he believed weighed on him.

Faith and patience are the twins of success! Patience keeps you from letting go of your faith! I remember when I was believing God to build our current building. It seemed that obstacles manifested every hour to keep it from happening. I had prayed, and I was believing that I received the answer to my prayer, which was a building being built.

At times I would get so tired of resisting the circumstances that just kept compounding! But it was the hupomeno, the ability to keep on going when the chips are down, that refused to let me quit. I gritted my teeth and praised God for honoring His Word! And you can see the results.

Don’t quit if you’re in a faith battle. Rest in the promises of God. He is faithful that promised. He watches over His Word to make it good. Heaven and earth may pass away, but His Word never will! Allow patience to under gird your faith today. Keep your eyes on God’s promises and not the unmoving circumstance. You will receive if you just don’t quit!

Prayer Importance

And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. (Luke 24:53). These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers (Acts 1:14). So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart (Acts 2:46). And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31). Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12).

The foundation for all that God does in us and through us is in our prayer life. Jesus set the standard. Jesus’ days of ministry were preceded by nights of intense praying. The early church was formed after Jesus ascension in the incubator of prayer.

The kingdom of God functions on the prayers of the saints. The mighty forces that shape the world are not physical but spiritual. The answer to every challenge we face is first of all found in that place of solace with the Father. If Jesus heeded the importance of praying things out in His earth walk, should we not heed His example?

We’re facing pressures unheard of in previous generations. The climax of the ages is upon us. God has a grand and glorious strategy for the church in this hour. And it begins and ends on our knees! To neglect the place of prayer is to neglect the very purpose and plans of the Father for life.

Start today. Move yourself into a deeper place of prayer. Find a private place, and begin to tell the Father how wonderful He is to you. Ask Him to help you pour out your heart to Him. Then, take to Him every concern and problem. Give Him the details of what bothers you. Then ask Him to intervene and bring the solution. Remind Him of the promises of His Word to you. Spend time in thanksgiving for the answer.

While praying, take time to pray in tongues. This is the most effective form of prayer. Praying in the spirit enables you to pray the perfect will of God about the unknown future. It enables you to pray the will of God into manifestation in so many ways! Don’t neglect this secret weapon God has given to you! Use it regularly and watch the forces of the enemy back up!

The success of your day today begins in your prayer closet. Make it count!

The Private Room

But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open (Matthew 6:6- Amplified).

This most private room Jesus mentioned here is a bedchamber. It’s a place of intimacy between husband and wife. It’s a place where no one else is invited. It’s a place that is secure from intrusion.

The Father wants to develop an intimate relationship with each one of His children. He wants each of us to find that private place of meeting with Him where we can bear our heart to Him and share our deepest secrets. He wants to develop a closeness with us that affects the whole of life.

Many believers find this private place with the Father intimidating. They’ve not been raised in an environment that allows them to really bear their heart. Relationships are casual and surface.

It takes time to become comfortable enough with someone to be able to share the intimate secrets of your heart with them. The father wants this kind of relationship with us. It’s a branch-vine relationship. It’s life-freeing and life-producing.

To begin this private room experience with the Father, find a place free from intrusion where no one will interrupt you. Then read Psalm 139. Realize that the Father loves you as much as He loves Jesus! He knows every thought, purpose, motive, intent, desire, need, and want in your life. He sees everything about you. He is absolute love and wants the best for you. He is longing for you to open your heart to Him.

Talk to Him about the things that bother you. Tell Him everything; the good, the bad, and the ugly. He already knows. But He wants you to submit your needs to Him in simple faith. When you do this, it gives Him permission to help you, and it will free you from life’s intense pressures that build up inside. It’s this acknowledging Him in all your ways (Proverbs 3: 4-5) that allows Him to move on your behalf.

Intimacy with the Father makes us care free and worry free, and keeps stress from building up inside. Most of our mental, emotional, and physical problems are stress related. Personal intimacy with the Father is His answer to human stress.

The Father has a longing to be close to you today. Go find Him in the private room.

The Presence!

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

The presence of God separates the believer from the infectious influences of the world! And the Presence in us that manifests throughout our day has a drawing effect on those around us. They notice something different about us. No other religion can do to a human what Christianity can. Christians in fellowship with God are bearers of the Presence!

Moses cried out to God when he came down from the top of Mount Sinai after he saw that the Israelites had sinned. He asked God not to remove His presence from the people. And notice why Moses asked this: Then he said to Him, if Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.

The Presence is not a feeling or emotion. It produces feelings and emotions at times. But it’s much deeper than feeling. The Presence exudes from our human spirit and carefully guards us from the effects of the world and the enemy from without. And the Presence moves us away from the tendencies of the flesh and creates in us a hunger and drawing toward the Father.

Carefully guard the Presence! Don’t allow unconfessed sin to remain in your life. Sin dissipates the Presence! If you miss it in some way, immediately confess your sin and the Blood will cleanse you!

Be careful with your words, for strife filled words can grieve the Holy Spirit who bears this Presence within (see Ephesians 4:29-30).

Time spent daily in the Word, in praise and worship, and in prayer will increase the manifestations of His Presence in your life. I have found that praying in the spirit, because it builds up and edifies the human spirit, will increase the manifestation of the Presence. The tell-tale sign of the Presence in you is joy! In His Presence is fullness of joy, pleasures forevermore!

Walk in His Presence today! Court the Presence! Lift your voice in praise to the Holy One. Thank Him for all that He is. Worship Him. He inhabits praise with manifestations of His Presence. Create change in the atmosphere wherever you are today. Release the Presence!

The Power of Friendship

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (Acts 2:42).

The great strength of the early church is found in this verse. The Word was the center of their lifestyle. The believers prayed together and had close relationships with one another. This produced a unity that enabled the Holy Spirit to manifest in a very strong way among them.

Friendship is essential to unity in a group of believers. And in personal life, friendship can be a great strength. The Message Paraphrase of Proverbs 27:17 says it well: You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.

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

Notice also that Jesus sent out teams of two to minister the power of the kingdom of God. There’s something about Christian fellowship that encourages and empowers us in a way that nothing else can.

When I began my walk with the Lord almost 34 years ago, it was the strength I found in friendship that kept me going. When I came to Jesus, I chose to separate myself from my buddies who wanted to “party.” God gave me new friends with godly ideals and values. We would get together weekly and talk about our walk with the Lord. We’d share our successes and failures. We would admit our weaknesses and talk about our challenges. And as one talked about his or her challenge, another brought a word of encouragement that helped.

That’s the strength found in friendship. That’s the sharpening that we all need! I am in the process of developing small groups that we will call friendship groups. These groups will meet at least every other week, and some groups may choose to meet more frequently. These groups are to be a vehicle for building strong friendship around the Word and around our relationship with the Lord.

If you’re a part of our church, I encourage you to become involved in these groups. You’ll find a great source for personal encouragement, and God may use you to be a blessing to others! The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as the learned (Isaiah 50:4).

Spiritual Hunger

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

Our hungers define us. Hunger motivates. What we desire shows us what we really are within. Spiritually, hunger is the indicator of our spirituality. Physically, hunger is one of the signs of health and prolonged lack of hunger is an indicator of illness.

If we lack spiritual hunger, something has gone wrong! When my children were young, they sometimes came to the dinner table with no appetite. I learned to go check their rooms, and I would find candy wrappers in the trash! They were filled with the wrong food for health!

Too much occupation in leisure time with entertainment at the expense of spending time with the Lord can quench spiritual appetite and leave a believer unfulfilled and vulnerable to Satan’s assaults. The candy of the world must be guarded against or we may lose our zeal and passion for God.

Life has become so compacted with things to occupy us in so many ways that we must make God our first priority if we’re to survive spiritually! In the parable of the sower Jesus spoke of the cares of this life entering in and choking the word in us, making it ineffective. To maintain our spiritual lives, we must stay hungry spiritually. That means we must have a desire for spiritual things that is so strong with us that it moves us to make time for Jesus throughout our day.

Desire follows attention. I must devote time and attention to whatever I want to create a hunger for in my life. That means I must find a way to make sure my spiritual life is nurtured. A regular devotional time at the beginning of your day will start this process.

Maybe you seem to have no hunger or desire for God right now and you know you need to change. Let me offer the following suggestions. If you’ve been involved in sin of some kind, confess it to the Father in repentance. Sin quenches spiritual desire. Sin hardens the heart. Tell the Father what you’ve been doing, and make a consecration with His help to cease! If you’re sincere, the Spirit of God will enable you.

Then, ask the Father to create in you a hunger for Him and for the Word and for spiritual things in general. Ask Him to deal with anything that is encroaching on Him in your life, and make a change.

Finally, set you clock back early enough to spend some time, 10 to 15 minutes reading the Word when you first get up. And then spend a few minutes in real prayer, pouring your heart our to the Father to begin your day. Three to four week of this will start a new habit of putting spiritual things first in your day!

I’ll end with these quotes from Smith Wigglesworth:

Spiritual hunger is when nothing satisfies us as much as being near to God.

I’d rather have a man on my platform who is not Spirit-filled but hungry, than a person who is Spirit-filled and satisfied!

Worldliness is that which cools my affection towards God.

I’m only satisfied with the dissatisfaction that must be satisfied over and over again.

Praise Power

Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls — Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

Praise is the language of faith. When life turns sour, turn up the praise! James tells us to count it all joy when hard times arrive. Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!

Praise brings a manifestation of the presence of God that will give inward strength and that will attack the problem and bring a solution. Enemy armies had surrounded the people of God in 2 Chronicles 20. King Jehosophat and the people began to seek the Lord.

Through the prophet God told them that He would fight their battle for them. All they needed to do was to send the praisers to the front line of the battle and God would do t he fighting for them.

They obeyed and the praisers began to sing praise the Lord for His mercy endures forever. As they sang, the presence and power of God manifested and the enemy were slain before they could lift a sword!

God will undertake to bring you out of the hard place if you will choose to put on the garment of praise. There is no feeling in this, it’s a total act of faith! When your flesh is screaming at you and the problems pile up, the best thing to do is to praise. Paul and Silas were set free from prison because they chose to pray and to sing praises to God while sitting in a dungeon.

Stop the complaining and begin to praise God in the troubles of life. God is not partial. He helped His Old Covenant people and fought for them. He will do the same for you!

A New Strength

He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:29-31-The Living Bible).

Here’s an interesting way to look at a familiar passage. In my Companion Study Bible there is a note by this verse that calls this a Katabasis, which is a going or marching down, a retreat, or a gradual descent.

Here in Isaiah, notice that as the believer waits on the Lord he moves from flying to running to walking. In our walk with God, at first we are doing what seems natural, which is relying on our own wits and strength. But as we grow in God, and learn what it means to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, we learn to relinquish the control of life and its circumstances into His hands. We learn to seek God and roll the care of every circumstance onto Him.

Instead of flying in our own strength, we learn to slow down and move into a strength that surpasses our own, and we begin to run. Little by little as we learn that Father knows best, we lesson our striving and begin to enter into the rest of God, the rest of faith. We then begin to walk.

The fast pace become an easy stroll with respect to energy expended. As we wait on the Lord and in prayer and faith place every circumstance of life in His hands, we begin to live in the power of His might! We don’t become as weary as we did before. We go farther with greater energy reserves. And it becomes with us as it did with John the Baptist, He must increase, but I must decrease.

Take time to build God’s strength in you today by waiting on the Lord. You’ll accomplish more, and you’ll walk in a state called rest as the Father works through you with His power. This is the way He created you to live!

Words

Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God's favor) to those who hear it. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin) (Ephesians 4:29-30).

Words are the most powerful force in your life! God used words to create natural things from spiritual things. Your words create things. James tells us that words determine the course of our lives from the cradle to the grave. In the same way that a bridle governs the movements of a horse, and a rudder controls the path of the ship, so our words direct us.

Don’t say a thing unless you want it to come to pass. Be careful to say what you really believe, for words are meant to move us in their direction.

Words can vilify, defame, and wound or they can bless, mend, and heal. Our words have a huge impact on others. We can inspire or de-motivate with a simple comment. The adage sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me is just not true! It takes so much longer to heal from the wounds inflicted with an offensive, hurtful comment than from a physical abrasion.

Make a decision to never use your words to bring harm. Don’t repeat the scandal of the hour. Keep your words positive and winsome. Be a creator of blessing, cheer, and encouragement. One sentence spoken to a person can change their whole day.

Remember that you are a creator today. You’re creating an environment everywhere you go with words. The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary (Isaiah 50:4).

Motivated By Love

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death (1 John 3:14).

The successful Christian life is a life lived in the spirit. That is, a life where the human spirit is allowed to control behavior. Walking in the spirit is allowing the humans spirit, filled with God’s nature to rule conduct. Walking in the spirit is allowing the Word supremacy in everything.

So many of God’s people allow their intellects, their emotions, and their bodies to control them, and the light within them is dim. The wise believer takes time to feed on the Word of God each day and spends time meditating in the Word so that the human spirit can become strong and vibrant.

Walking in love is one of the signposts on the road of the spirit ruled walk. A believer walking in the spirit will be ruled by the love of God. This love is unconditional and self-sacrificing. It loves others regardless of their actions and choices. This love is patient, kind, caring, honest, real, joy filled, hopeful, believing, and mannerly. This love causes a believer who walks in it to live above strife and petty differences. The love of God doesn’t pay attention to the wrongs committed against it, and will treat those who treat it offensively as though they had done no wrong! God’s love rules the believer that walks in the spirit.

Take time every day to meditate in 1 Corinthians 13, and to remind your intellect that love is to rule today. We’re to be clothed with love. When others see us, the first thing they should notice is an unselfish love that puts others first and is kind, winsome, and real.

If you’ll seek to be ruled by love today, you’ll be allowing your human spirit right of way. And the Father and Jesus will direct your steps through the Word. You’ll live above the strife, envy and self-centeredness that is so common, and the light within you will overpower darkness!

A Yielded Will

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 16:24-25).

The soul is comprised of the mind, the emotions, and the human will. The soul also has the capacity for imagination. Of these three elements, the will is the king of the soul. The mind, emotions, will, and imagination follows the paths the will allows.

The will is sacred. The Father will never violate the will of a person. He allows us to make our own choices, and then we must live with the results of those choices. Jesus said if any man will let him come unto Me and drink (John 7:37). If you be willing and obedient you eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19). Choose this day whom you will serve, life or death blessing or cursing…(Deuteronomy 30:19).

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil gave a test of will to Adam. He failed the test. Since then, the will of man has generally been opposed to the will of God. The will has been tainted by sin and is largely self-centered.

In every gospel, Jesus admonishes believers to subdue the will. He tells us that if we’re going to follow Him we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Jesus spoke these words addressing the will.

Every believer receives a summons from the Holy Spirit to yield the will daily to the Father by yielding it to the Lordship of the Word. No believer can walk closely with the Master until he or she has submitted their will to him in humble faith.

Let’s take time daily to willingly give ourselves to the Father. He will not coerce or force us. We must be willing to daily humble ourselves to and to obedience to the Word and to the inward promptings of the Holy Spirit.

We receive the best that God has according to the yieldedness of our will to Him. May we be able to say what Paul said as he addressed the giving of his will daily to the Father: Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:10-11).

Lifting the Limits

Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel (Psalm 78:41). …But with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). …If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23).

The children of Israel limited God with their disobedience and their unbelief. Though He had miraculously delivered them from Egyptian bondage and met their needs in supernatural ways, they continued to whine and complain when difficulties came.

God is limitless. He is Almighty! He has all power. He is the source of all that exists. He is eternal, with no beginning and no end. He knows everything! The angels in revelation sang out, The Lord God omnipotent reigns!

This being true, it’s time for us to take the limits off of our lives. God has taken His “Almightiness” and has pointed it towards our need by reminding us that with God all things are possible, and with all things are possible to Him who believes! It’s possible to for your prayers to be answered. It’s possible to overcome that weakness of the flesh. It’s possible to overcome that inability and do what’s in your heart! It’s possible to overcome the problem in your marriage. It’s possible for your children to turn around and obey God. It’s possible to be healed of that chronic illness.

The first step is repentance for our disobedience. The second step is a positive exercising of our faith. God is not a man that He should lie! If He says it He will do it, if He’s spoken it, He will make it good! His word will not return to Him void! It produces results!

Let’s refuse to limit God with our unbelief. Let’s act on the Word in every circumstance. Let’s believe we receive God’s best in every area of life. Let’s speak God’s Word and agree with what He says about or past, our present, our future, our health, our finances, our marriage and families, our children, our jobs, and our relationships. Let’s expect answers to our prayers. Speak to the mountain looming in your way and expect it to be removed as Jesus said it would. Believe in your heart that what you say will come to pass! God cannot lie!

We lift the limits by acting in obedient faith in the faces of great difficulty.

The Power of United Purpose

And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them (Genesis 11:6). How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had surrendered them? (Deuteronomy 32:30)Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Unity is a powerful force spiritually and naturally. People who unite in a common purpose far exceed the ability of a single individual. The devil knows this, so he works incessantly to stifle vision that unites purpose, and works to sow division between believers.

It’s time now for the body of Christ to rise up and fulfill its’ God planned destiny. In John 17, Jesus prayed that we would be one so the world would know Him.

Regardless of what church you attend, get behind the vision of your pastor and church leaders. Find ways to assist them in reaching your community for Jesus, and in helping disciple fellow believers.

The Father wants to use you today to bless, to encourage, and to inspire others to greater spiritual maturity. Recognize that we believers, like the individual parts of the human body, are dependant on one another. The health of the body is determined by the combined efforts of each part. If one part suffers, the other parts bear that pain too. And when one part is functioning properly, it aids in the function of every other part. If one part lags behind, the other parts have to work even harder!

Here at Victory Church, let’s unite to Grow spiritually, Connect with others, and Serve others with passion through the giftings that the Father places within us! Let’s give God out best today. Passionately express your heart to Him in private prayer. Lift the limits and expect answers! Allow the water of His Word to quench your spiritual thirst and to wash the effects of living in a fallen world off of you. Expect the Word to empower you today and to produce change in you.

Refuse to allow your thoughts and words to be used by the enemy to sow strife or division. Refuse to listen to words of gossip and dissention. Sow words of blessing, love, and encouragement. Look for ways to help others. Put the laws of sowing and reaping to work in your life and in the life of your church family.

Become unity minded. Become others minded. All things are possible to the group of individual who will unite under a common purpose. Let’s go after it with everything within us today!

Do it Scared!

If you’re going to be used by God, prepare to be stretched! God has an uncanny way of asking us to do what we think is impossible. His call to us is often in a realm way beyond what we think of ourselves and our own ability. Don’t forget, He’s able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think!

When I was 25 years old, I was a maintenance man (ok, a janitor!) in a large local church. I had attended two Bible Schools and knew that I was called to preach. I studied and prayed constantly. The pastor of the church saw an anointing on my life and would allow me to preach on Wednesday nights on occasion.

I received a call one summer day that blew me away. It was the pastor of the large church. He wanted me to assume a pastoral staff position as counseling director for this very large church. To say that I was overwhelmed is an understatement. I was floored! I wanted to give the classic “scaredy cat” answer, “well, let me pray about it!” But I knew intuitively that this was God’s will, so I said, “Yes, I’ll do it.” That’s when the internal fight began.

God had asked me to do something so far beyond me. I had just assumed a job where I had to oversee and train 120 people, and I didn’t know what I was doing myself! I made a decision to do it scared! I knew that if God called me, He would give me the ability to accomplish the overwhelming task before me.

Then one day not long after that the Lord gave me a scripture in during my personal devotions that empowered me and changed my life. It’s 1 Timothy 1:12, and it reads: And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. I read other translations of this scripture that gripped me. Here are a few: Grateful am I to Him that empowered me (Rotherham); I give thanks to Him who puts strength in me (Henry Alford); I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, the source of all my strength (Knox). But the one that struck me the most was from the New English Bible: And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has made me equal to the task!

That went off like a bomb in me. Suddenly I was awed by God’s thoughts about me. When He calls us, He sees what we can’t see in ourselves, and He leads us in a way that will pull out of us what He has put in us when He formed us. He helped me succeed in what I thought was an impossible situation. He did make me equal to the task.

So when an opportunity comes for you to do something that seems impossible to you, do it scared! The Father will give you the ability you need if you’ll walk by faith and believe Him. He will make you equal to the task.

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!