Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one (Ephesians 6:16).
It’s the shield of faith that quenches all the fiery darts that the enemy throws at you. We need to remind ourselves regularly that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the dark hosts of Satan. He has a legal right to rule over the unsaved and will also assert his influence over believers who don’t know and act on the word. Jesus has given us authority over them!
Satan has the ability to put a thought in your mind and place a feeling on your body. But he can’t touch you if make a decision to live by the word! When thoughts come that disagree with the Word, refuse to think them. When feelings come that disagree with the word, don’t live by them. Our authority over Satan and his emissaries comes by walking by faith in the Word of God.
When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus responded over and over again with it is written. And that’s the way we’re to deal with the devil today.
When thoughts of doubt and fear come, respond with it is written. When feelings of sickness attack, respond with it is written. When circumstances seem unrelenting and defeat seems inevitable, respond with it is written!
The victory that over comes the world is our faith. And faith is acting on and speaking the Word of God in the face of negative circumstances. Act on God’s Word in every area of life today. Refuse to dwell on the negative thoughts that come. Act on God’s Word in spite of feelings that tell you you’re not going to make it. Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world! Remember that all things are possible with God, and all things are possible to him who believes!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Faith Overcomes
Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 4:11 AM by Pastor Mitch
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Three Hindrances to Healing
Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 at 10:50 AM by Pastor Mitch
It is the will of God for every believer to walk in Divine health. Provision for our healing and health are included in our redemption in Christ. The same faith that saves also heals! The Father forgives all of our sins and heals all of our diseases (Psalm 103:3).
Though the Father has provided salvation for all, it is not an automatic guarantee. Personal faith must be exercised in the sacrifice of Jesus for a person to experience salvation. In the same way, person faith must be exercised for an individual believer to receive healing and walk in the health that Jesus desires that they have.
If a believer is sick and fails to receive healing, there are three main reasons: Lack of knowledge, lack of faith, or disobedience.
The first reason is lack of knowledge. Most Christians are in this category. They go to church week after week, but never hear about the provision of healing that Jesus makes available in the salvation package. Hosea said My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Rare is the believer that can maintain steadfast faith for healing if they do not receive the teaching of scripture that enforces and produces faith. I encourage a person not to attend a church that does not preach and teach Divine healing. If they do, they will lack the faith and knowledge to act on that is necessary to receive healing.
The second reason a believer may fail to receive healing is lack of faith. Faith is alike a muscle. We all have the same number of muscles in our bodies at birth. Through regular exercise a muscle can be built up and strengthened. Some folk have muscles that can lift heavy weight while others have allowed theirs through lack of use to atrophy. Faith for healing must be built up regularly through meditating on scriptures about healing and by exercising that faith when attacked with physical symptoms.
If the physical attack of sickness or disease is stronger or heavier than your individual faith can deal with, then you may not be able to receive the healing. And that’s where a lot of people are in their faith life. They wait until a huge crisis comes before building up their faith in the word, and then they find that they don’t measure up in faith to the size of the attack they find themselves up against! I personally take time just about every day to meditate on scripture that promise healing and health. And then I exercise faith against every small physical attack that comes against my body. This keeps my personal faith strong.
The third reason a believer may not receive healing is their personal disobedience. Isaiah 1:19-20 reads: If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. We can receive God’s best only if we are walking in His will for our lives. There is a God purpose for every life. It is not possible to walk in health and be able to ward off the enemy’s attacks while living in known disobedience to God. Let me give you one example.
Years ago while pasturing a church I pioneered in a small city I got a call late one night from the wife of a faithful church member. Her husband had been rushed to the emergency room of a hospital and was unconscious with a hemorrhage in a blood vessel in the back of his neck and the base of his brain. As I entered the room she asked me to please pray for her husband to be healed and raised up. I laid my hands on him and as I asked the Lord to heal Him, I felt a sudden restraint. I felt within that I should not do this, as though the Lord wanted me to stop praying. This happened several times as I tried to pray for his healing. Finally I asked his wife if I could talk to her privately. I told her what happened and she related to me that several weeks earlier the doctor had told her husband that if he loved his family and wanted to live, he must immediately stop smoking. Her husband knew he should, but just didn’t do it. He knew that the Lord wanted him to quit. He knew that smoking wasn’t good for him, but persisted. The smoking had weakened his blood vessel walls and brought about a hemorrhage. I watched as his five family members gathered around his bed and he took his last breath later that night. His personal disobedience to the Father had cost this wonderful man that I knew and loved his physical life. I could give you many illustrations of this kind of thing happening to people.
It’s important for us to walk in the will of God for our lives in general as to life direction, and also in specifics as the Lord talks to us about what we do with our bodies. If we ignore Him or disobey, it could shorten our life.
Take time daily to meditate on the word and feed your faith about healing. Attend a good church that teaches the word concerning healing. Exercise your faith in small things. Walk in obedience to the will of the Father for your life and for your person. Health and healing belong to you. Walk in it!
Though the Father has provided salvation for all, it is not an automatic guarantee. Personal faith must be exercised in the sacrifice of Jesus for a person to experience salvation. In the same way, person faith must be exercised for an individual believer to receive healing and walk in the health that Jesus desires that they have.
If a believer is sick and fails to receive healing, there are three main reasons: Lack of knowledge, lack of faith, or disobedience.
The first reason is lack of knowledge. Most Christians are in this category. They go to church week after week, but never hear about the provision of healing that Jesus makes available in the salvation package. Hosea said My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Rare is the believer that can maintain steadfast faith for healing if they do not receive the teaching of scripture that enforces and produces faith. I encourage a person not to attend a church that does not preach and teach Divine healing. If they do, they will lack the faith and knowledge to act on that is necessary to receive healing.
The second reason a believer may fail to receive healing is lack of faith. Faith is alike a muscle. We all have the same number of muscles in our bodies at birth. Through regular exercise a muscle can be built up and strengthened. Some folk have muscles that can lift heavy weight while others have allowed theirs through lack of use to atrophy. Faith for healing must be built up regularly through meditating on scriptures about healing and by exercising that faith when attacked with physical symptoms.
If the physical attack of sickness or disease is stronger or heavier than your individual faith can deal with, then you may not be able to receive the healing. And that’s where a lot of people are in their faith life. They wait until a huge crisis comes before building up their faith in the word, and then they find that they don’t measure up in faith to the size of the attack they find themselves up against! I personally take time just about every day to meditate on scripture that promise healing and health. And then I exercise faith against every small physical attack that comes against my body. This keeps my personal faith strong.
The third reason a believer may not receive healing is their personal disobedience. Isaiah 1:19-20 reads: If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. We can receive God’s best only if we are walking in His will for our lives. There is a God purpose for every life. It is not possible to walk in health and be able to ward off the enemy’s attacks while living in known disobedience to God. Let me give you one example.
Years ago while pasturing a church I pioneered in a small city I got a call late one night from the wife of a faithful church member. Her husband had been rushed to the emergency room of a hospital and was unconscious with a hemorrhage in a blood vessel in the back of his neck and the base of his brain. As I entered the room she asked me to please pray for her husband to be healed and raised up. I laid my hands on him and as I asked the Lord to heal Him, I felt a sudden restraint. I felt within that I should not do this, as though the Lord wanted me to stop praying. This happened several times as I tried to pray for his healing. Finally I asked his wife if I could talk to her privately. I told her what happened and she related to me that several weeks earlier the doctor had told her husband that if he loved his family and wanted to live, he must immediately stop smoking. Her husband knew he should, but just didn’t do it. He knew that the Lord wanted him to quit. He knew that smoking wasn’t good for him, but persisted. The smoking had weakened his blood vessel walls and brought about a hemorrhage. I watched as his five family members gathered around his bed and he took his last breath later that night. His personal disobedience to the Father had cost this wonderful man that I knew and loved his physical life. I could give you many illustrations of this kind of thing happening to people.
It’s important for us to walk in the will of God for our lives in general as to life direction, and also in specifics as the Lord talks to us about what we do with our bodies. If we ignore Him or disobey, it could shorten our life.
Take time daily to meditate on the word and feed your faith about healing. Attend a good church that teaches the word concerning healing. Exercise your faith in small things. Walk in obedience to the will of the Father for your life and for your person. Health and healing belong to you. Walk in it!
Friday, August 22, 2008
What Life After Death Will Be Like
Posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 at 10:27 AM by Pastor Mitch
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea (Revelation 21:1).
We’re having our celebration service for Jeri Calkins today. She’s been in heaven for a few days now and is having a much better time there than we are here. Paul said in Philippians 1 than to depart and to be with Christ is far better.
One of the books I am reading for the second time now is Heaven by Randy Alcorn. In the book he made a statement that has stuck with me: As humans, we will forever be connected to the earth.
Heaven is not our final home, earth is! Heaven is a temporary place that we go to if we leave our physical bodies in death before the second coming of Christ. At His second coming, we come back with Him from heaven (that’s one reason I believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church – See Revelation 19). Jesus rules the earth for one thousand years when He returns (Revelation 20). He reigns until all of His enemies are subdued (1 Corinthians 15). And we are right there with Him the whole time.
But then after the millennial reign of Christ and after the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20: 11-15), there is a new heaven and a new earth. They are not new in that the old has completely disappeared and has been replaced, but new in that they undergo a renovation. All of the effects of sin are removed from the new earth and in eternity we will be able to travel between heaven and earth.
The thought I want to get to is that in eternity we will be back on this planet that we are accustomed to, but with all of the negative effects of the fall removed. There will be plants and trees and animals. There will be cities and commerce and travel. We will be busy and active here as we are about our Father’s business.
Most folk don’t look forward to heaven and the afterlife here on earth because they think that we won’t be doing anything but sitting around singing churchy songs! That is totally wrong thinking. Purpose and productivity are innate in the human and will be a part of us in eternity. God gave you gifting and talents not just for life on this fallen planet, but also to be used in eternity with life on the new earth!
In eternity you will be the you that we know now minus your personal flaws. You’ll have your unique personality, your personal likes and dislikes, your personal tastes, your personal items of interest just like you do now. The only difference will be that the flaws produced by the personal weakness of the flesh and sin will be removed!
Our precious friend Jeri loved to paint pictures. She’ll do that in heaven! She loved to help others. She’ll do that in heaven and in the new earth! She’s learning new laws of locomotion and physics right now while we’re still in a limited world. She’s learning secrets that we’ll learn one day. And she’s being who she is!
I’m personally excited about going to heaven one day to be with my Father God. And I’m excited to think of the plans He has for my future life. I personally believe that He’ll give me a wonderful library of books there! And I believe that the Father will open my understanding to new realms of truth. I’ll enjoy music that fits my tastes, scenery that brings me delight and so many things that I experience and enjoy now: That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).
We’re having our celebration service for Jeri Calkins today. She’s been in heaven for a few days now and is having a much better time there than we are here. Paul said in Philippians 1 than to depart and to be with Christ is far better.
One of the books I am reading for the second time now is Heaven by Randy Alcorn. In the book he made a statement that has stuck with me: As humans, we will forever be connected to the earth.
Heaven is not our final home, earth is! Heaven is a temporary place that we go to if we leave our physical bodies in death before the second coming of Christ. At His second coming, we come back with Him from heaven (that’s one reason I believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church – See Revelation 19). Jesus rules the earth for one thousand years when He returns (Revelation 20). He reigns until all of His enemies are subdued (1 Corinthians 15). And we are right there with Him the whole time.
But then after the millennial reign of Christ and after the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20: 11-15), there is a new heaven and a new earth. They are not new in that the old has completely disappeared and has been replaced, but new in that they undergo a renovation. All of the effects of sin are removed from the new earth and in eternity we will be able to travel between heaven and earth.
The thought I want to get to is that in eternity we will be back on this planet that we are accustomed to, but with all of the negative effects of the fall removed. There will be plants and trees and animals. There will be cities and commerce and travel. We will be busy and active here as we are about our Father’s business.
Most folk don’t look forward to heaven and the afterlife here on earth because they think that we won’t be doing anything but sitting around singing churchy songs! That is totally wrong thinking. Purpose and productivity are innate in the human and will be a part of us in eternity. God gave you gifting and talents not just for life on this fallen planet, but also to be used in eternity with life on the new earth!
In eternity you will be the you that we know now minus your personal flaws. You’ll have your unique personality, your personal likes and dislikes, your personal tastes, your personal items of interest just like you do now. The only difference will be that the flaws produced by the personal weakness of the flesh and sin will be removed!
Our precious friend Jeri loved to paint pictures. She’ll do that in heaven! She loved to help others. She’ll do that in heaven and in the new earth! She’s learning new laws of locomotion and physics right now while we’re still in a limited world. She’s learning secrets that we’ll learn one day. And she’s being who she is!
I’m personally excited about going to heaven one day to be with my Father God. And I’m excited to think of the plans He has for my future life. I personally believe that He’ll give me a wonderful library of books there! And I believe that the Father will open my understanding to new realms of truth. I’ll enjoy music that fits my tastes, scenery that brings me delight and so many things that I experience and enjoy now: That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Gentleness
Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 8:20 AM by Pastor Mitch
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great (Psalm 18:35)
One of the fruit of the spirit that the Father deposited in us in the new birth is gentleness as the King James Version reads or as most translations read as kindness. The best definition that I’ve come across for gentleness is a sweetness of temper which puts others at ease and shrinks from giving pain.
Donald Gee calls it strength under perfect control. Hydraulic power is able to crush metal or punch holes through thick steel, yet is able also with a careful operator to crack a walnut without destroying it. Gentleness is seen in a great athletic strong man who does not manhandle his wife and children. In kindness with a gracious, sweet spirit, stands firm for what is right and corrects what is wrong. He’s not quick-tempered and domineering, but is soft-spoken, firm and in self control.
Gentleness is not weakness. Gentleness is the ability to hold yourself in check. Gentleness is moral integrity. Gentleness is the desire to do the right thing in relation to others.
Many times people who assert themselves in the crowd are the ones with the weakest character. The bully on the playground picks on the other kids due to his insecurity. The loudest person in a praise service could be the weakest and is simply increasing the decibels seeking to assert some kind of spirituality (but please balance this out because that’s not always true)!
Gentleness enables us to control ourselves and remain calm and caring when others don’t treat us the way we think they should. Gentleness is one of God’s character traits that He desires that we manifest.
Notice the scriptures (The same Greek Word is translated both gentleness and kindness): But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil (Luke 6:35). That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).
God has called each one of us to sweetness of temper that puts others at ease and shrinks from giving pain. Make these scriptures on gentleness a part of your meditation today: And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering (Colossians 3:12). And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32). To speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men (Titus 3:2). By purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love (2 Corinthians 6:6). But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).
One of the fruit of the spirit that the Father deposited in us in the new birth is gentleness as the King James Version reads or as most translations read as kindness. The best definition that I’ve come across for gentleness is a sweetness of temper which puts others at ease and shrinks from giving pain.
Donald Gee calls it strength under perfect control. Hydraulic power is able to crush metal or punch holes through thick steel, yet is able also with a careful operator to crack a walnut without destroying it. Gentleness is seen in a great athletic strong man who does not manhandle his wife and children. In kindness with a gracious, sweet spirit, stands firm for what is right and corrects what is wrong. He’s not quick-tempered and domineering, but is soft-spoken, firm and in self control.
Gentleness is not weakness. Gentleness is the ability to hold yourself in check. Gentleness is moral integrity. Gentleness is the desire to do the right thing in relation to others.
Many times people who assert themselves in the crowd are the ones with the weakest character. The bully on the playground picks on the other kids due to his insecurity. The loudest person in a praise service could be the weakest and is simply increasing the decibels seeking to assert some kind of spirituality (but please balance this out because that’s not always true)!
Gentleness enables us to control ourselves and remain calm and caring when others don’t treat us the way we think they should. Gentleness is one of God’s character traits that He desires that we manifest.
Notice the scriptures (The same Greek Word is translated both gentleness and kindness): But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil (Luke 6:35). That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).
God has called each one of us to sweetness of temper that puts others at ease and shrinks from giving pain. Make these scriptures on gentleness a part of your meditation today: And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering (Colossians 3:12). And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32). To speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men (Titus 3:2). By purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love (2 Corinthians 6:6). But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Looking unto Jesus
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 8:38 AM by Pastor Mitch
…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 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!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Right Foundation
Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 11:58 AM by Pastor Mitch
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!
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!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Small Beginnings
Posted on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 7:36 AM by Pastor Mitch
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.
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.
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