Posts Tagged ‘ Faith ’

Tabernacles 2018: Stay connected and reap your harvest!

 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. These words in Hebrews chapter four have given all of us encouragement at one time or another. It is so wonderful knowing we can go to God at any time for anything.

As amazing as that is, there is something more incredible. Three times a year, we are not only invited to come away with God but He promises to come to us. These three times each year are known as the Feast of The Lord. (You can learn more about the three feasts by clicking on Feasts and Festivals or Hebrew Heritage Series in the sidebar). This week we are in the Feast of Tabernacles.

Leviticus 23:33-44 NKJV “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. 35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 36 For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

37 ‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— 38 besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord. 39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.””

What does all that have to do with us? As Christians we have been grafted in to Israel. The root of the tree is Jewish, we are branches (Romans 11) and as believers we are blessed with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people (Galatians 3). These are not feast, celebrations for the Jews alone, they are the Feast of the Lord and as Christians we have an open invitation to join the celebration.

John 1:1-3, 14 TLV “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being. And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus said if we would abide in Him and His word abides in us we would be His disciples and we could ask anything in His name and the father would hear us.

Tabernacles is a time to draw closer to God. As the last feast on the calendar, everything has been building up to this moment that God has set aside for us to come tabernacle with Him. This is a week to hear His voice and receive revelation.

Tabernacles is also about harvesting. We can harvest finances, we can harvest people, even nations. This Tabernacles the word I have for you is get deep into the Word, make it your life source so that as we enter 2019, a year of faith, you are prepared to stand, believe, harvest and receive.

Make giving a priority, both financially and with your time and ability to help others. Set aside special time to be with God this week apart from your normal devotions. Take communion, read Scriptures and hear God’s heart.

Regain focus this week and build your faith through the Word of God. When Jesus told people they had little faith it meant they had underdeveloped faith. We can’t receive if our faith is underdeveloped. Get in the Word, hear God’s promises for you and reap your harvest in the areas you need. If things seem slow in coming, don’t give up, that is a sign of underdeveloped faith. Grow faith, become strong; read the Word, listen to good teaching and put it into practice.

Joshua 1:8 NLT “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”

Harvest is coming to those who are in the Word and walking in obedience to it. A harvest of souls, a harvest of health, a harvest of finances, a harvest of every promise you have been believing for. Don’t lose heart and don’t faint in your faith, continue to build it and know in your heart of hearts that harvest is not just on its way, it is beginning to manifest now in Jesus name.

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2018
09/24
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Seasonal Messages
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The Purpose and Power of a Prophetic Word

Today I want to look at the purpose and power of the prophetic word being spoken in our lives. I want to begin with three Scriptures.

Amos 3:7 NKJV “Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.

2 Chronicles 20:20b NKJV “Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”

Proverbs 29:18 TPT “Where there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray. But when you follow the revelation of the word, heaven’s bliss fills your soul.”

It is important to acknowledge the vast depth of prophetic that has come on the scene in the body of Christ and for that I am thankful. It is also important to recognize not every prophetic voice is one for you. There are even times when a prophetic voice that is assigned to your life may give a word that is not for you. each of us is still responsible for knowing the place and season God has us in. The prophetic word is designed to help give us direction in something we have already received, it is confirmation of where we are heading.

In my life the prophets that speak into my life are Kenneth Copeland, Chuck Pierce, Ryan LeStrange and Lana Vawser. There are other prophetic voices that associate with these people but God has not connected me to them, so I do not follow their ministries.

Before we continue, let me make a quick side trip. Unity in the body does not mean you listen to everyone or do ministry with everyone. Unity is my ability to stay in my lane and not criticize the person next to me for doing something differently. The river of God is made up of many streams. We are all in the river of God but we are not all in the same stream, we don’t all flow with the same current, that is the way God designed it.

Each year I get a word or theme from the year that is the umbrella for everything that happens that year. Kenneth Copeland gives a Word each year and I run with that Word, praying and declaring it, expecting it to be fulfilled in my life.

Ryan LeStrange operates in the prophetic by giving Monday Words for the week. There are times when I know a Word is for me and I run with it. Other weeks, it’s not in season for me.

It is important for each of us to have our own relationship with God and to know the season we are in. Every prophetic voice speaks to the larger body of Christ. Even those who flow in a specific stream are still speaking to a large number of people. I can’t say it enough, each of us must know the place and season we are in before we grab hold of a Word.

Chuck Pierce is a Apostle/Prophet who oversees Glory of Zion and Global Spheres. His prophetic words are released on national levels and corporate levels to certain parts of the body of Christ. Sometimes words fit with my season and other times that are for a different segment of the body of Christ.

Lana Vawser releases intimate directive words from the heart of God. They are very encouraging and help give direction and strength to keep going.

I mention the types of words these individuals give because the Lord uses them in different ways in my life. It’s important that you don’t just go “pick a prophet” but you allow Holy Spirit to lead you in connection to the prophetic voices you need to be connected to.

It’s also important to understand God may connect you to someone you may never personally meet or have any interaction with but that does not lessen the connection God has given you in the realm of the Spirit.

One key of spiritual warfare is using prophetic words. 1 Timothy 1:18 NKJV “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,”. Notice the phrase, “prophecies previously made”. Never let go of a prophetic word. God is a God of continuation. If there was a Word given in 2012 about financial increase and you haven’t seen the fullness of it yet, keep declaring it, don’t stop using the weapon of a prophetic word.

Along with that, keep the prophetic words in your thinking, read and re-read them, declare them and make them part of your prayer life. Prophetic words are not to be shelved they are to be believed and received.

Some people have the mindset that prophetic words will fulfill themselves but many times they require action on our part. Prophetic words are like the if/then statements of the Bible; if I do this, then God will do that. Timothy was told to wage a good warfare with the prophetic word, that took action on his part.

Look once again at the latter part of 2 Chronicles 20:20 NKJV “Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets and you will prosper.” We could say this is God’s prescription for us to have 20/20 vision. What did Proverbs 29:18 say? “Where there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray.” If you find yourself off of the path God has for you, look at the prophetic words from the prophets God has placed in your life.

The prophetic words in your life are to be coupled with your reading, studying and meditating on The Word. they are to give confirmation to the direction you are going and the things you are pursuing. Believe God first and His prophets. If you’re spending all you time consuming different prophetic words and no time in the Bible, that’s not going to work for you. Chances are you’re confused because you’ve “cross prophesied” in your life and one word contradicts another. Remember, the body of Christ is big, not every prophet, not every teacher, and not every book or conference is for you.

To believe God, you have to know Him and you have to know His Word. Only then will believing the prophet bring prosperity.

The purpose of the prophetic word is vision and encouragement. The power of the prophetic word is it is part of producing your prosperity. Don’t take words lightly and don’t give yourself to every word. A quick comment about personal prophecy, test the spirits to see if they are from God. That is Scriptural. If someone says the Lord said you need to enter the mission field and the Lord has spoken to you about business and things are lining up in that, DON’T OBEY THAT WORD. That would be a false prophecy. At the end of the day you have to know something bares witness with your spirit.

On the other hand if a known prophet gives a word of direction or instruction and it doesn’t witness with you, that doesn’t make them a false prophet, it just means it wasn’t for you. One last thing on prophetic words. If a word of correction or judgement is given and it includes stipulations as to how the word will play out, pay attention to those things. many prophets have been labeled false because people haven’t paid attention to the entire word given.

Be encouraged today. If you aren’t connected with a prophetic voice ask Holy Spirit to connect you to the prophet or prophets that need to speak into your life. If you do have prophets that speak into your lives, don’t just hear the words, act on them. One other key to having access to receiving manifestation is to not just be a consumer of their gift or office but to sow into their ministry into your life. Pray for them on a daily basis. If they speak a word that brings about change in your life, send them an offering. Be active in every way of receiving a prophetic word. Don’t give up if a word takes time, keep warring with it and watch it come to pass.

*The prophets mentioned in this post have no affiliation with me, nor have they endorsed my blog or this specific post.

2018
08/21
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2019: Jesus! And The Spirit of Faith!

I know you may be looking at the title and saying to yourself, ‘it’s only mid August and he is already posting the word for 2019?’ Yes, I’m posting it early and this post will explain why. If you follow the blog you know I haven’t posted regularly this year, I can already tell you that will be different in 2019. 2018 was a year, the Hebrew year 5778 was a year to revisit firsts and walk through new doors. For me it was also a year to focus on Jesus. Many of us have felt delayed this year but the year isn’t over yet. Prophets have been saying over the last couple of months that things are beginning to accelerate. This post is proof of that. Before we get into the word for 2019, I do want to say that 2018 isn’t over yet and if there are things you haven’t received stay on your faith, we still have four months to go and now is not the time to give up.

The Lord usually gives me a theme or word for the year in October but on July 25th (Christmas in July), the Father woke me up and said, I have a present for you. I am giving you the word for 2019 today. Needless today, I was shocked. So the day I normally focus on Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel became about hearing and writing down the word and beginning to process it. I still assumed I would post it in October but after hearing words from two prophets I knew I needed to post it earlier.

This is the word the Father gave me. “2019 will be a continuation of the word for this year. You will continue seeing and seeking Jesus in 2019. Double your time learning and being with Him. 2019 is a year to get back up on your faith. You faced a lot of distractions this year. You pretty much spent half of the year distracted. I am giving grace and extending your doors and adding that to 19. It’s another Jesus year, it’s the year of faith.”

Before we continue, you may have noticed I said the Lord usually gives me and when I wrote the word I said this is what the Father gave me. Normally, I get the word from Jesus but this year it came from th Father and a conversation followed the paragraph you read. We won’t get into this today but we can and should talk with all the members of the trinity not just the one. Anyway, I knew there was something specific about why I was hearing from the Father and not Jesus.

As 2019 gets closer we will dive more into this word but today will mostly be background and the word itself. I am a huge Christmas fanatic, it is my favorite holiday, I love everything about it. I enjoy Christmas so much I want to have a Christmas room in my house one day (crazy? Maybe. Awesome? Absolutely). It is my absolute love of the Christmas season I think the Father cane to me on Christmas in July. I also knew that with what I was hearing from the two prophets I follow that this word to me was also a word for others.

After the initial paragraph Father told me to take my Hebrew book and look up the letter with the value of nine. The Hebrew letter TET has the value of nine and means goodness and the opening of the funnel. There are three dimensions of goodness in the Hebrew:

1. In the presence of God we bring our best gifts and rejoice.
2. God judges and gives us the next set of circumstances designed to best help us on our path.
3. We develop the understanding of our heart.

He then said search out what faith is and how to apply it.

I don’t necessarily think this word will click for everyone but if you’re reading this and it does, start today. I believe because of the words about acceleration this needed to be posted now and not late fall. I believe God is allowing such a flow from 2018 into 2019 that words are just coming together. In September we enter the last 70 decade, the decade of seeing, this is amazing. I believe we are in a time of seeing the Holy Spirit restore the Word and the moving of His Spirit to the Church.

This word, Jesus and The Spirit of Faith points to two things; Jesus, the Word and the Spirit of faith, seeing the Holy Spirit move and bring manifestation of what each of us has been believing for.

2 Corinthians 4:13 MEV “We have the same spirit of faith. As it is written, “I believed, and therefore I have spoken.” So we also believe and therefore speak,”

Jesus 2018 was and is the preparation for Jesus and the spirit of faith in 2019. I know I haven’t done any in depth teaching on Jesus, I think if you grabbed hold of the word for this year that Jesus had something specific for each of us in mind which is why none of the post were directed towards that. Looking to 2019 and even 5779 in a few weeks, whatever you saw about Jesus this year has prepared you to walk in a new level of faith next year!

Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word. I heard a minster say that faith comes by hearing not having heard. Jesus is The Word. As much as 2018 has been about becoming closer with Jesus it has been about becoming more aligned with the Word. This leads us back to the conversation I had with Father.

“Become a full fledged Word person in 2019! Jesus! And the spirit of faith! Ask for specific books to dive deep into. 2019 and even now is as about faith becoming second nature to you.”

That was the last sentence of the word. I want to close out this post by looking at faith and what it means for faith to become second nature.

The best definition of faith is Hebrews 11:1 AMPC “NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not yet revealed to the senses].

Faith, (assurance, proof and reality) must become second nature to us. For something to be second nature means a characteristic or habit in someone that appears to be instinctive because that person has behaved in a particular way so often. Abraham, in Romans four was not moved by anything, he stood strong in faith. Take some time and read Romans four. How do we develop that find of faith? By the Word, be meditating on the Word (Joshua 1:8).

I am looking forward to personally diving into faith in 2019 and being able to share with y’all and having conversations that build our faith and encourage one another. Faith is only faith if it carries us through delays and hard times. 2019 will be a year of developing strong faith.

Look at the word in full:

“2019 will be a continuation of seeing and seeking Jesus in 2019. Double your time learning and being with Him. 2019 is a year to get back up on your faith. You faced a lot of distractions this year. You pretty much spent half of the year distracted. I am giving grace and extending your doors and adding that to 19. It’s another Jesus year, it’s the year of faith.

The Hebrew letter TET has the value of nine and means goodness and the opening of the funnel. There are three dimensions of goodness in the Hebrew:

1. In the presence of God we bring our best gifts and rejoice.
2. God judges and gives us the next set of circumstances designed to best help us on our path.
3. We develop the understanding of our heart.

Search out what faith is and how to apply it.

Become a full fledged Word person in 2019! Jesus! And the spirit of faith! Ask for specific books to dive deep into. 2019 and even now is as about faith becoming second nature to you.”

2019 and even now, take what you have learned from Jesus this year and get started on your faith.

Here are some things I have started doing since July 25th to help get my faith in gear:

1. I am continuing to read the gospels so I am constantly thinking about how Jesus walked.
2. Look up Scriptures pertaining to things you want to see in 2019. If you want to see a loved one or friend saved, look up Scriptures on salvation. Wether you’re believing for family restoration, freedom, a better job, healing, increased finances, whatever it may be find the Word on it.
3. Pastor Keith Moore’s series, “True Faith” has been an absolute eye opener on what true faith is. How do you walk in faith, some of what we call faith is just pretend, how to stay in faith and more. This series is a must listen. I have already listened to it multiple times and will continue to help keep me on track.
4. Pastor George Pearsons and Gloria Copeland did a series called “Bulldog Faith” where Pastor George talks about a time in his life when he got off his faith and how the Lord instructed him on how to stay in fath. If you have been discouraged about something this is a series for you.

* The Inner Meaning of the Hebrew Letters: Robert M. Haralick

** Both series can be found on YouTube as well

2018
08/15
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Developing Unwavering Faith

Do you ever find yourself wondering why something hasn’t happened yet? Do you struggle from time to time wondering if what you’ve been believing for is going to come to pass? We all have thoughts of doubt at times but it’s what we do with those doubts that matter. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 in the Amplified Classic Bible tells us how to manage our thought life. “For the weapons of a warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, 5 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

Our faith can’t afford negative thoughts running freely in our minds. Romans 4:19-21 NKJV “And not being weak in faith, he [Abraham] did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waiver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He promised He was also able to perform.” Abraham did not waiver because he strengthened himself by thanking God in advance. Hebrews 11:6 says that we must have faith and believe that God rewards those who seek Him. Faith first and foremost isn’t used to get us stuff but to help us seek Him. When our faith only becomes about the getting of stuff you better believe you will get discouraged. Our faith must primarily be based on and in our daily relationship with God just because of the fact He is God.

Hebrews 12:2 NIV “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…” Proverbs 4:24-25 in the Message Paraphrase, “Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.”

When we keep our focus on Jesus and the Word of God and couple that with speaking things that are in line with God’s Word our faith will stay at an expectant level. A negative thought left unspoken dies. When we speak the thought of doubt is when the seed is planted and weakens our faith. To keep our faith strong our praise needs to be strong. Abraham thanked God before he ever saw the promise come to pass and we need to do the same.

It’s easy to allow negative thoughts to change our faith but when we have those thoughts we literally need to speak to them. Jesus spoke to the fig tree and it died. If we will speak to doubt and negativity it will die.

Faith is strengthened through time in the Word, praise, and helping other people. If you are believing for something, find someone believing for the same thing and sow into them. If you are believing for a family member to get saved, begin praying for a friends unsaved family member.

Faith only produces when it is firing on all cylinders. Get in the Word, start praising God, and sow into someone else and you will walk in an unwavering and immovable faith!    

2017
11/08
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3 Keys to Building Faith

Have you ever had the thought ‘is my healing ever going to come?’ or ‘am I ever going to receive a breakthrough’? Sometimes we can find ourselves discouraged when what we are believing for doesn’t come in our timing. There is a truth for us concerning this in Mark 4:16-17 AMPC “And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; 17 And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away.”

Romans 10:17 says, “faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God.” When we hear the Word faith will come but that faith is not without opposition. Mark 16:17 says trouble arises on account of the Word. We have an enemy who is going to fight the process of building our faith every step of the way. This is why we must determine at the outset of whatever we are believing for that we will not be denied and we will not back off of our faith.

Something from our thoughts to our circumstances will always try to knock us off our faith, so how do we stay in faith? The following are three keys to building your faith and keeping it strong all the way through to manifestation.

Proverbs 4:20-27 KJV “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”

Keep your eyes on the Word

The Message Bible says, “keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions”. When thoughts come that say you won’t get what you are believing for, that is a sideshow distraction, it is something to be ignored!

Matthew 6:22 KJV “The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!”

When we are singularly focused on the Word, the Word will produce results. It goes back to what we read in Mark chapter four a moment ago, we can’t allow the Word to be stolen from us through wrong thoughts or hardships. The Bible says persecution comes because we decide to grab hold of the Word, to stay with that Word we must focus on it and keep our eyes off of anything contrary to it. We must take the full Word, we can’t wonder about God’s will. His Word is His will, when we allow doubt and unbelief in, the light in us actually becomes darkness. Stay singularly focused on the Word and it will begin to bring forth results.

Keep your ears on the Word

Proverbs 4:20 NLT “My Child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words.”

Mark 4:23-24 AMPC “  If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. 24 And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you—and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.”

When we hear something the first time it is seed, every time after that it is being watered and when we’ve heard it enough to take root we will have results. We can’t just hear teaching on healing once, faith comes by hearing and hearing. We must continually hear the Word for our faith to be built. The Woman with the issue of blood heard the things Jesus had done. Not one thing but things, when we continually hear the Word faith comes alive.

The measure of thought and study you give to the truth you hear is what you receive from. If what you hear is contrary to the Word and faith that is what you will receive from. I can’t spend my nights in front of shows that don’t build me up and expect to be strong in faith. We must give our ears to hearing the Word and good and positive things that are in line with it to see our faith built up.

Speak the Word

Mark 11:23 KJV “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Our words are so important and so powerful, they are a key component to our faith. This verse says we can’t doubt, we must believe. This goes back to ignoring those sideshow distractions. When we speak the Word faith is built, when we speak things contrary to faith doubt and unbelief are built.

2 Corinthians 4:13 KJV “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe and therefore have I spoken; we also believe and therefore speak.”  We train ourselves in negativity by thinking it, hearing it and speaking it, we train ourselves in faith the same way.

Let today be a new day, let today be a decision day that from today forward you will keep your eyes on the Word, you will listen to the Word and you will speak the Word. When we give the Word first priority it will produce the promises of the Word in our lives. Don’t give up and don’t get discouraged, when we mess up, we simply repent and get back to the Word and get in faith. Get in faith, let’s stay in faith and let’s watch faith produce in our lives.

2017
06/21
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2016: Pursue and Press Through

issue of bloodI’ve been asking the Lord what 2016 is going to look like. I believe the Lord is saying 2016 is a year to pursue and press through. When I heard press through I knew immediately where the Lord was leading me. Pursue, on the other hand, I had no idea. I asked Holy Spirit and looked up the word in the concordance.

 
1 Peter 3:11 NIV “They Must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.”

 
The word peace is #1645 in Strong’s Concordance and means harmony, tranquility, safety, welfare, and health.

 
They must turn from evil and do good. As we look not only at the direction our nation is going but the silence of the Church on almost every issue of our day it is time for us to turn from evil. Not to speak is to speak. The Church must stand up and say men and women are created in the image of God and the enemy of our soul who is defeated wants to distort that image through homosexuality and transgenderism. A 54 year old husband and father recently abandoned his family to go live as a six year old girl and an elderly couple has “adopted him”. This is immoral and it is time the Church speak the truth with boldness.

 
Part of pursuit is holiness. Scripture says, come out from among them and be ye separate says the Lord of Hosts. Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. In our quest to be relevant, we have forgotten holiness and that is the first step of pursuit.

 
Pursue is an interesting word but instead of giving a dictionary definition, I believe Proverbs three is a perfect picture of what it means to pursue. It’s long but I encourage you to take time and read:

 

Proverbs 3:1-35 AMP “My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments; 2 For length of days and years of life [worth living] And tranquility and prosperity [the wholeness of life’s blessings] they will add to you. 3 Do not let mercy and kindness and truth leave you [instead let these qualities define you]; Bind them [securely] around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in and rely confidently on the LORD with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. 6 In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way]. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil. 8 It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts] And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your wealth And with the first fruits of all your crops (income); 10 Then your barns will be abundantly filled And your vats will overflow with new wine. 11  My son, do not reject or take lightly the discipline of the LORD [learn from your mistakes and the testing that comes from His correction through discipline]; Nor despise His rebuke, 12 For those whom the LORD loves He corrects, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. 13 Happy [blessed, considered fortunate, to be admired] is the man who finds [skillful and godly] wisdom, And the man who gains understanding and insight [learning from God’s word and life’s experiences], 14 For wisdom’s profit is better than the profit of silver, And her gain is better than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you can wish for compares with her [in value]. 16 Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor. 17 Her ways are highways of pleasantness and favor, And all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy [blessed, considered fortunate, to be admired] is everyone who holds her tightly. 19 The LORD by His wisdom has founded the earth; By His understanding He has established the heavens. 20 By His knowledge the deeps were broken up And the clouds drip with dew. 21 My son, let them not escape from your sight, But keep sound wisdom and discretion, 22 And they will be life to your soul (your inner self) And a gracious adornment to your neck (your outer self). 23 Then you will walk on your way [of life] securely And your foot will not stumble. 24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 25 Do not be afraid of sudden fear Nor of the storm of the wicked when it comes [since you will be blameless]; 26 For the LORD will be your confidence, firm and strong, And will keep your foot from being caught [in a trap].27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due [its rightful recipients],When it is in your power to do it.28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,” When you have it with you. 29 Do not devise evil against your neighbor, Who lives securely beside you.30 Do not quarrel with a man without cause, If he has done you no harm.31 Do not envy a man of violence And do not choose any of his ways.32 For the devious are repulsive to the LORD; But His private counsel is with the upright [those with spiritual integrity and moral courage].33 The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the just and righteous.34 Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorners, Yet He gives His grace [His undeserved favor] to the humble [those who give up self-importance]. 35 The wise will inherit honor and glory, But dishonor and shame is conferred on fools.”

 

 

We are all willing to pursue, the trouble comes during attack or we get discouraged when we have prayed but haven’t seen the result we want. Unfortunately, many of us give up on things before we ever receive. We stop our pursuit and don’t press through to receive breakthrough.

 
Mark 5:24-34 NIV “A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

 
This woman not only pursued, she pushed through at the point most of us would have turn around and gone back home.

 
first, let’s notice she had spent all her money on doctors. now I’m not against doctors, but her last resort was Jesus and when she got to Jesus she was made whole. Now just think how much money she could have saved if she could have cultivated faith sooner.

 
Too many times we are quicker to put our faith in the things of the natural than the supernatural. She heard about Jesus, the King James says she came up behind him in the press behind and touched his cloak. The cloak here is actually the Talit, the Jewish prayer shawl and she touched the corner with the tassel. Malachi 4:2 says there is healing in His wings. The corners are called wings, this woman literally, as Jewish custom is, grabbed onto the Word of God.

 
We’ve got to come to the place where we grab a hold of the Word of God and no matter what the circumstance, no matter what negative words come, we don’t let go.

 
Hebrews 11:1 in the Amplified says, “NOW FAITH”, too many of us have tomorrow faith, or later faith, or maybe faith. We need to have NOW FAITH. “NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not yet revealed to the senses]. According to this verse, most of us would probably say our faith is not on the level we want it.

 
There are levels of faith talked about in the Word. Great faith, little faith, weak faith, no faith. When the disciples couldn’t cast out a devil, Jesus did then said to his disciples, you faithless bunch, how long is it gonna take. I’m paraphrasing. When the storm hit, they woke Jesus up. Two things; one, Jesus is sleeping they should have known there was nothing to worry about. Two, they had power to rebuke it and they didn’t which is why Jesus questioned them concerning why they didn’t use their faith.

 
The woman with the issue of blood heard about Jesus and said to herself, if I can touch Him I’ll be healed.

 

In 2016 I want our faith to rise, I want our expectation to rise. 2016 is a time to pursue God like we never have before and push through to breakthrough. No more allowing fear to overtake us, perfect love cast out fear.

 
It’s time to grab hold of the Word of faith and not let go. No more setbacks only set ups.

 
Make this declaration of faith right now:

In 2016 I will pursue God, the presence of God and the power of God like never before. I expect breakthroughs! I expect to see people saved. I expect to see people filled with the Holy Ghost! I will be filled anew with Holy Spirit. I expect to see people healed and delivered. I will receive every breakthrough I’ve been believing for and I declare today that I will not be deterred, I will not be fearful. Fear, Go! Doubt, Go. I decree breakthrough in 2016 and what I decree will be established to me in Jesus name!

 
We have declared it! IT IS DONE! Now, let us pursue and push through in 2016!

 
We will see great things!

2015
12/30
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A WORD Based Life

biblePsalm 119:9-11 AMP “How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed and keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word [conforming his life to it]. (10) With my whole heart have I sought You, inquiring for and of you and yearning for you; O let me not wander or step aside [either in ignorance or willfully] from Your commandments. (11) Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

 
before we go to the next Scripture let’s look at what this is saying. Today, we are going to talk about living a word based life and what a powerful verse to start with.

 
You see many of us claim that we live our lives based upon the Word of God, yet if we were to closely examine ourselves we would find that is not true. As I once read,“we do not need to dig up in doubt what we planted in faith.”

 
E. W. Kenyon said, “Our attitude toward the Word determines the place that God holds in our daily life”.

 
If we plant faith for healing yet go around talking about pain and saying you feel bad when people ask instead of saying you are standing on the word getting better day by day, you are digging up in doubt what you planted by faith.

 
If you’re struggling in your finances declare the word of prosperity over them. The Bible says we can have what we say, so why do we say what we have?

 
Psalm 119 tells us to conform our life to the word. Too many of us try to fit Bible reading into our schedule, when we need to be arranging our schedule around our reading and prayer time.

 
With my whole heart have I sought You, we cannot say these words if we are not putting the Word first place in our life.

 
We all know we need to read and study daily, so why is it so hard? The answer is simple, we haven’t made a habit of it.

 
You don’t miss your favorite show, we even DVR stuff so we won’t miss it. Why do we do that? Because it’s a priority. We can just as easily make the Word priority, we just have to choose to do so.

 
Proverbs 4:20-27 AMP “My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. (21) Let them not depart from your sight; keep them at the center of your heart. (22) For they are life to those that find them, healing and health to all their flesh.”

 
These three verses explain why people get moved off of their faith. If we don’t submit to the word, if we don’t keep the word in front of our eyes and in our heart we can’t stay in faith and we won’t walk in divine health.

 
When we take our eyes off the word that’s when doubt comes in. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God.

 
In order to have the life God wants for us we must have His Word at the very center of everything we are and everything we do.

 
Verses 23-27 “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard , for out of it flow the springs of life. (24) Put away from you false and dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk put far from you. (25) Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. (26) Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright. (27) Turn not aside to the right hand or the left; remove your foot from evil.”

 
We must guard our heart for everything flows from it. What comes out of our mouth originates from our heart. If we really want to know what we believe we will listen to what comes out of our mouths when were alone, when we pray, and when were with those close to us. It’s easy to put on the positive confession show when were at church but what really matters it what flows from us when nobody is there for a performance.

 
Let’s all take a moment and truly examine the place the Word has in our lives. Let’s examine our mouths. The hard truth is, if the Word is first place in our mouths, what we say will line up with that Word.

 
My prayer for us today is this, that we put the Word first place in our life and that we will build our life around the Word and not try to find a slot to stick it in. I pray that our mouths and minds will be transformed by the Word of God.

 
*****

 
I pray this post has helped and encouraged you, but I don’t want to leave you without some tools you can get a hold of to help make the Word first place in your life, in your mind and in your mouth. Faith doesn’t come from having heard but hearing. So please take advantage of these resources so you can get the Word in you so that when you find yourself in the situations of life you aren’t having to reach for your Bible, it’s already flowing out of you and taking care of the situation.

 
If you haven’t subscribed to the blog, why don’t you do that today so you will never miss your time to receive a word of encouragement, and if you haven’t already why don’t you friend me on facebook or follow me on twitter so we can connect more on our journey of faith.

 
Resources for a Word centered life:

God’s Master Plan for Your Life: Gloria Copeland

ReThink Your Life – A Unique Diet to Renew Your Mind: Stand Toler

New Creation Realities: E. W. Kenyon

The Power of Your Words: Don Gossett & E. W. Kenyon

2015
04/29
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The Dichotomy of Faith

faith1Last week I was reading through Matthew, and the stories in chapter eight really leapt out at me. Each story deals with faith, but two different kinds of faith.
Verses one through four tell the story of a leper that came to Jesus. The leper said, if you are willing, you can make me clean. It is obvious the man believed Jesus could do it, he Just didn’t know if He would.
This describes many in the Church today, we believe God can do anything, many just doubt His will, like this leper. Jesus answered and said I WILL.
This one story alone settles the will of God concerning healing, I WILL.
Many people ask about the blind man. Scripture says this man was born blind to reveal God’s glory, and many stop there. The problem is, the blindness wasn’t God’s glory the healing was.
Scripture says all the promises of God are yes and amen.
Isaiah 53 and Psalm 103 prove to us that Jesus’ death on the cross is not only sufficient for sin but for sickness as well.
Many teachers have taught and many believers have believed we should pray if it be thy will concerning healing. Friends that is an illegal prayer, Scripture is abundantly clear that healing is God’s will.
Psalm 107:20 KJV “He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.”
Exodus 15:26 KJV “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.”
Mark 16:18b KJV “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover“.
Healing is all over the Bible and no where do we see Jesus saying no to anyone. The only thing that ever prevented healing was doubt or unbelief.
I will deal with doubt in more detail in a later post, in this I just want to show these two different approaches to Jesus.
The second man was a centurion who had faith at a very high level, so high that he understood the authority of the spoken Word.
This man didn’t ask Jesus to come lay hands, he simply said speak the Word and healing will come. Jesus was amazed at his faith! But notice Jesus didn’t even speak the Word; verse thirteen, “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed that selfsame hour.”
This guy had such faith and so understood the authority of the spoken word he had it when He said it Jesus didn’t even speak it, He simply confirmed the man’s faith.
Let’s look at Mark 11:23-24 KJV “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.“
We have it when we say it, not when we see it.
We have it when we say it, not when we see it. This is faith.
When we look at the two very different faiths in this chapter, one of God can and the other of God will, we see room for growth in our walks of faith.
Don’t allow the enemy to condemn you if you are in the beginning stages of developing your faith, each one of us has to start with little faith and as we pursue God, study and do His Word we grow in faith.
Today I want to encourage each of us to do what the disciples did and say, Lord increase our faith. I declare each one of us is rising to a new level, yes, even levels of faith this year! We are growing and we are maturing in faith in Jesus name.
I’ve got some books to recommend for you on the things we have talked about today.
Ever Increasing Faith by Smith Wigglesworth will help you reach new levels in your faith walk.
Christ the Healer by F. F. Bosworth will help grow your faith. He deals with God’s will concerning healing, Paul’s thorn in the flesh, and much more.
The Power of Your Words by Gossett and Kenyon to help you learn the power and authority of words and help train you to speak in line with the Word of God.
These books have and are still a great blessing to me and I know they will help you grow to new levels of victory in your life.

2015
02/09
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Battle at the Gates

warriorOver the last several weeks I have written on believing for the supernatural, specifically, the direction we will be going on this blog and in teaching in 2015. Two weeks ago on a Tuesday I began having issues with a sore throat and a cough.

I know we will never obtain something or go to the next level without a fight. When the cough began I immediately began to pray the cough has persisted. I have had friends come into agreement with me concerning my healing and I continue to battle through this cough.

Last night the phrase “battle at the gates” came to my mind and the Holy Spirit spoke and said, “Casey if you are going to contend for the supernatural and the miraculous, this is your battle at the gates. It is a small battle, but it must be won, you must always contend to go through the gates.”

The word contend means to strive for, to compete for a prize, to contend against falsehood.

I realized if I was not willing to spiritually battle this cough I would not see the greater healings and miracles in the coming months. If we allow the enemy to knock us out on small matters of faith how will we stand for big ones like the healing of cancer or the raising of the dead?

If we are so easily moved to accept something as little as a cough and say it will run its course how will we stand against the bigger attacks?

I also noticed something else in these last two weeks. Many of us would have prayed one time to be relieved of the cough and when we immediately don’t receive relief we quit praying for and declaring healing for our bodies. This is the very reason why many of us don’t see the miraculous in our everyday life.

I know this may sound trivial and even ridiculous to some but to the measure we are willing to accept defeat is the measure we will receive it and be trained in our minds for it.

If I am willing to accept a cough my mind will be forced to accept cerebral palsy, cancer, or death, because after all, those things are much bigger than a cough.

For me, in front of the gates of the supernatural life of miracles is a cough. If I am willing to stand in prayer and declaration for its defeat my faith will be built to see greater things. If I cower at a cough I just built my doubt reservoir.  

What “little” thing are you facing today that will either be the seal of doubt or the stepping stone of faith to the “bigger” supernatural in your life?

Today, I encourage you to pull out those healing scriptures, declare those prosperity scriptures, declare the Word concerning the small stuff so faith is built for the big stuff.

The battle at the gates is always a smaller one, for inside the gates are bigger ones. the more small ones we win the more confidence we have when going to face the “bigger” ones.

We all remember Mark eleven, have faith in God. We all remember, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed. But we also remember the where is your faith stories too. It is the small stories that lead to the big stories.

It was the lion and the bear that prepared David for Goliath. If we cannot contend against the little we will not be able to contend against the big.

2014
12/28
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Developing Faith for the Supernatural

bibleWe’ve all heard that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So why is it that many believers can go to church and hear the Word yet not develop faith? There can be several reasons for this, one, faith is not being preached. The amount of permissive unbelief that is preached is astounding.

Let’s look at this verse, Romans 10:17 KJV “So, then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. You see it’s not enough to hear a teacher teach the Word, you must continually hear. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God.

You can hear doubt and unbelief or you can hear faith, it’s what you hear, it’s what you listen to that leads you.

Proverbs 4:20-23 AMP “My son attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. (21) Let them not depart from your sight, keep them in the center of your heart. (22) For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. (23) Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life”.

Being a Word centered person is very key, that is why Yeshua (Jesus) endorsed the law in his teaching on the mount. He said in Matthew 5:17-20 CJB “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of theTorah-teachers and P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”

So how do we develop faith for the supernatural and live by the Word?

  1. We need to spend time in it daily, a service once a week doesnt cut it. We need to live a life of love and obedience seven days a week not just one. Jesus said, he who loves me will keep my commandments. We can’t keep what we don’t know and we don’t know what we don’t spend time in.
  2. Read books that held develop and strengthen your faith, listen to teachings. If we want to do the greater things that have been promised were going to have to have a faith level that matches those greater works. If you don’t know what books or authors to read check out the bookshelf. If you want somebody to listen to check out the links on the side.
  3. 2 Peter 1:1 says to them who have obtained like precious faith. Anyone can be a Christian. The issue is, are the Christians you are around building up your faith, are they encouraging you or bringing doubt into your life? In order to develop faith for the supernatural we need to be around people that speak faith more than doubt. Our close friends need to be people of faith in the Word not sometimes He does, sometimes He doesn’t.

I know these are all things we have probably all heard before, but it’s not what we’ve heard its what we hear and act on.

It is my prayer that these three things being done in your life will help you begin to walk in new levels of faith and seeing the works of the word manifest in your life.

2014
12/20
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Believing for the Supernatural in 2015

imageMark 16:15-18. KJV “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (17) And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Matthew 10:7-8 KJV “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. (8) Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”

John 14:12 KJV “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

We entered the Jewish new year at the Feast of Tabernacles. We are now in 5775, the year of the whirlwind of Heaven. It is a year when angelic activity will continue to increase and to find the eye of peace in the middle of the storm. This is also a year of warfare and faith.

With the understanding of the Hebrew year received from Dr. Robert Heidler, I began to press in also concerning our year 2015. As I have prayed I sensed Holy Spirit saying that 2015 will be a year to believe for and expect the supernatural (signs, wonders, healings, and miracles).

This was confirmed in a service I was attending last night. Today I began to seek the Lord concerning how I was to prepare myself to walk in the supernatural in the coming year. This post will be the outline He gave me as well as an overview of where we will be heading in 2015.

I would like to say at the outset I believe others can hear other things, we each have a piece of the puzzle, so to speak. That being said I do believe what we hear will be confirmed by others if it is a Word from the Lord.

The first thing Holy Spirit told me to do in order to prepare and be in a place to see the supernatural in 2015 was to be in the Word. We all know we need to be in the Word daily but most believers end up getting busy and reading and studying goes by the wayside. Commit now to reading and studying the Word daily.

I have been lead to read the Bible through four times in 2015 using the 90 day plan. Not everyone will be lead to do that but if you do or if you read it through once we need to remember reading does not constitute studying.

Secondly, I will spend the year reading books that deal with the supernatural, signs, wonders, miracles, healing, the Holy Spirit, and tongues. There will be a special topic on the blog, 2015: Supernatural reading list. Each book I read will be linked and summarized so that you can get resources that will benefit you in this area. I also want to hear what you’re reading and listening to as well. Let’s build each other up in the supernatural in 2015.

Lastly, the majority of the blog will follow in this Word via teachings and recommendations in 2015. It is my prayer that you will be encouraged in believing for and to seek to see the supernatural in and through your life in 2015.

Let the Scriptures at the beginning of this post stir your heart to believe, stir up your hope and faith to see the supernatural. I would encourage you to read Acts as 2014 closes. Write out what you want to see God do in 2015, begin to declare by faith that you will see the supernatural in 2015!

I am already anticipating a great year in 2015! I look forward to journeying together on the blog and through social media.

I want you to know I pray for my readers daily, wether I know your name or not. I’m humbled you stop by the blog each week and pray it is a blessing to you.

****

What are your thoughts on where we’re headed in 2015, what is Holy Spirit saying to you?
Do you have any books you would recommend on the subjects mentioned?

2014
12/11
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Developing a Heart of Belief

faithA few nights ago I was listening to a message by Bill Johnson and before he began his message he shared an incredible testimony and when I heard the testimony my first thought was yeah right that didn’t happen.

Have you ever heard a testimony and thought that it wasn’t real?

When I caught myself that night I was disappointed in myself for having that type of unbelief in my life. I repented and then asked the Holy Spirit why I had unbelief.

This post has come out of that time, it’s not going to be long, I just want to share some points with you.

It’s easier to resort to a fleshly unbelief than it is to have faith in the supernatural. The reason for this is simple we live more out of the physical realm than the spiritual.

The only thing I wanted to know that night was how I could develop a heart of belief.

One of the things Bill Johnson said was, “to increase your faith for the miraculous surround yourself with and constantly read testimonies of the miraculous”.

What a novel idea, so I have started to do that.

I also realized another reason for my quickness to unbelief was that even though I spend time in the Word and prayer every day, my time consuming media other than the Word is considerably more.

I have to make a decision, each of us has to make a decision, the amount of God’s presence we experience and the amount of miraculous we see will be in direct proportion to our time with Him verses other things.

The thing is, we all know this to be true already, the problem is most of us could admit we don’t spend enough time with Him.

Nothing I’ve written today is ground breaking, we all know this, what I want to point out is I truly haven’t been doing what I know and that’s why unbelief answered the testimony instead of faith and praise.

How do I change that? by changing my lifestyle and renewing my mind.

How do I renew my mind? Spend time letting the Word penetrate my heart, mind, and brain.

I encourage each of us to take a self inventory. Am I more prone to belief or doubt?

Do I want to begin to change? If the answer is yes, start today.

2014
11/19
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Take a Leap

I believe the greatest verses on faith are found in the fourth chapter of the book of Romans. Verses 19 “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” (KJV).

Genesis twelve begins the story, “Now the Lord said to Abram,

“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (NASB)

 

Talk about a leap of faith! Abraham had no idea where he was going, at this time his name didn’t even reflect the promise, but when he stepped out in faith things began to change!

 

We are called to be a people of faith. What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 in the Amplified Bible defines faith in this way, “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]”

 

Faith doesn’t give the natural the final say it gives the supernatural the final say!

 

To develop faith we must renew our minds to the Word of God so that our minds can be transformed. We must go from a Greek way (natural/worldly way) of thinking to a Hebraic (Biblical) way of thinking. We do this not only by reading the Word of God, but by studying, thinking, and meditating on the Word.

 

Joshua 1:8 (AMP) “This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.”

 

Proverbs 4:20-27 (AMP) “ My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you false and dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk put far from you. 25 Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. 26 Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright. 27 Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left; remove your foot from evil.“

We cannot have a renewed and transformed mind by simply going to church, we must have personal time in prayer and study. We must be willing to align ourselves rightly with God and His Word.

A chapter a day keeps the devil away will not help you to advance in your life, you must be willing to go deep in prayer and dive into the Word of God.

If you are not wanting deeper things, cry out for a desire for the deeper things of God.

I would encourage you to get the following books that are available on the bookshelf, A Time to Advance, New Creation Realities, and The Supernatural Power of a Transformed mind. These books will help realign your thinking to the Word of God and enable you to walk in all the BLESSING God has for you.

The disciples prayed that their faith may increase and Jesus said your faith is like a seed. A seed must be watered to grow. We water our faith by, reading, studying, discussing, confessing, and declaring the Word of God in and over our lives.

Today, pray and ask for your hunger of the Word to increase, ask to begin to walk in new levels of faith and believe you receive when you pray and it will be done.

Set aside time each day for a more directed time of prayer and study.

Surround yourself with people of faith and encourage one another.

These are just a few biblical keys to seeing your faith go to a new level.

2014
10/27
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CATEGORY
Faith
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Part 14: The Armor of God

imageToday is the last post in the In Christ Series as you can see by the title we are talking about the Armor of God. If you have read this passage before and/or heard messages on the armor before I humbly ask that you not pass over this post, not because I have some great new things to share with you, but because I may look at some aspects of it in a different light.

Holy Spirit, I ask that as people read this post they would have fresh eyes to see and hearts to receive the truth you have for each individual person in this post today.

I want to begin by looking at Ephesians 6:10-13 in the New Living Translation and I want us to specifically notice the language of victory. “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”

Too many times people look at it like its a fair fight, its really not, the devil is already defeated, Jesus defeated him when He rose from the dead.

Don’t allow language like “evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in heavenly places”. Don’t allow the enemy to use the language of Scripture to scare you.

When Jesus was tempted the devil misused Scripture to get Jesus to jump, I believe the devil was really hoping Jesus would fall to His death, but the enemy said to Jesus, God will give His angels charge over you so you wont get hurt. Jesus responded with Scripture, don’t test God.

We too, can respond with Scripture because directly after those words we read, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”

Have you ever seen a football game that all week people are talking about how one team will dominate the other in an easy win and when game time comes, they still have to play the game, the underdog may get a few scores, but in the end it was a blowout just like everybody had been saying.

That’s kind of what I’m talking about, we are the favored team, the enemy may get a few scores in some temptations but we will ultimately have the victory. For those saying, what about when it goes the other way, don’t mess up my good illustration 🙂

When we look at the armor we must come from a place of victory not a place of uncertainty or defeat.

We will notice the lack of back covering, I believe that is because we are never to run from the enemy but face him, defeat him, and take ground from The Kingdom.

Look at verse fourteen, now reading from the NIV, “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,” Truth is the Word of God, in John seventeen, Jesus prayed that we would be sanctified (set apart) by the truth.

The Word is what keeps us from sin, Psalm 119:9, 11 AMP “How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed and keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word [conforming his life to it]. (11) Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

We stop the lies of the enemy by believing truth, the only truth is the Word of God and there are times when the enemy presents facts that aren’t truth.

One of the most useful things to the enemy has been to get Christians to call themselves sinners and to say things like I’m a sinner saved by grace. That is not true, I am not A sinner, I WAS a sinner, Christians may at times sin but we are not living or should not be living in perpetual sin.

This leads us to the second greatest lie of the enemy which is, even though we are saved Christians will sin daily. We cannot find any validation for that in the Scriptures.

Go with me to Romans chapter six, if you do not have your Bible out right now I ask you to get it so you can mark this in your own Bible.

Romans 6:1-7 NIV “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? (2) By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (3) Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (4) We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (5) For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. (6) For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— (7) because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”

The new life mentioned in verse four is the life of holiness. The body ruled by sin, or the old man “represent[s]…the whole pattern of sinful living before conversion, as well as the spring/root from which it comes…the scope goes beyond the past life of sinful activity. Putting off the old man and putting on the new points to the ultimate plan of God for the Christian: a divine cure for the acts of sin.” (The Wesley Study Bible).

Romans 6:11-14 NIV “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (12) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (13) Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. (14) For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

We do not have to sin, we do not have to live in bondage, this is the fulness of THE BLESSING, this is the privilege of the sanctified life (or the Spirit-filled life).

The point of the Armor of God is to equip us to live the life of victory, that is the Christian life, the victorious life, not the life of defeat, not the life of debt, sickness, fear, unforgiveness. The victory life, the more than enough life, the holy life, the sanctified life, the healthy life, fulfilled life, this is the life we have been called to live!

Verse fourteen continues and mentions the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate protects the heart, and a breastplate of righteousness enables us to have a right heart. We are to guard our heart from all unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, and hatred.

Proverbs 4:23 NIV “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Psalm 51:10 NIV “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Ezekiel 36:25-29 NIV “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. (26) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (27) And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (28) Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. (29) I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you.”

This what happens when we are sanctified or filled with the Holy Spirit, our heart becomes purified. To be sanctified simply means giving all of yourself to The Lord. Many people know Jesus as Savior, but there are places of the heart they have yet to give to Jesus, sanctification is simply letting Him in “that last room” it is a full devotion to God.

To be sanctified is to simply surrender all of yourself to the work and direction of the Holy Spirit. After the moment we make that decision we grow in that sanctification daily, this is also known as the life of holiness.

Isaiah 35:8 tells us that believers are to walk on the highway of holiness.

We know that Malachi 3:6 tells us God does not change and Hebrews 13:8 tells us Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever. Having this established in The Word we no that God’s intention for His people has never changed and His intention for us has always been to be holy as He is holy, we see this in both Covenants in Leviticus 20:7 and 1 Peter 1:16.

Going back to Ephesians, the next piece of armor mentioned is the shoes of the Gospel of peace. This speaks of the importance of ministering the Gospel which is the love of God, the Gospel of peace is to walk in love.

Verse seventeen using the shield of faith. What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 AMP “NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].”

Faith stops the fiery darts of the enemy, what are the fiery darts of the enemy? Lies, lies of fear, doubt, and unbelief.

Faith believes, faith receives, faith talks, it declares those things that are not as though they are.

Mark 11:22-24 NIV “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. (23) “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. (24) Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Faith is words, what we have faith in we speak, our words either agree with the enemy or they stop the enemy. Declare victory over sin, don’t come into agreement with it by saying how hard something is to overcome. Don’t say you can’t meet your bills, declare God meets all your needs according to His riches and glory. Don’t speak the doctors report, declare His report of healing.

We receive when we pray, we must believe that and speak that, we can’t pray then talk like we don’t have an answer, that statement of doubt cancels out the prayer of faith.

Ephesians verse seventeen tells us to take the helmet of salvation, having right thoughts. Salvation makes us new creations and at that moment we need to begin renewing our minds in the Word of God and thinking according to Philippians 4:8, whatever ever things are good, righteous, praiseworthy, and of good report think on these things.

Lastly, taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. As said a moment ago the Word in our mouth stops the enemy. The Word in the mind stops the worry of the mind, the declaration of the Word stops the doubt flowing from the world.

The Word in our minds, ears, and mouth, and lived out in our life stops the enemy. Mental ascent does not stop the enemy, a heart and mouth full of faith does.

Many say they have faith but what they choose to think about, listen to, and speak of many times shows a life of fear, doubt, and unbelief, and not the life of faith.

We will finish with this, verse eighteen, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

Mark eleven told us faith and prayer must be connected and the Word and prayer must be connected. While prayer is not a “piece” of armor it is part of the armor.

Use your armor, use every piece of it! Line up with the Word, have a right heart, walk in love, live by faith, stop the lies of the enemy and think on the Word, and declare the Word out of your mouth.

In wrapping up the message on the armor and the In Christ Series we will close with a final Scripture.

James 4:7-10 in The Message Paraphrase, “So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.”

That is the in Christ life of victory!

2014
03/11
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CATEGORY
Ephesians Study
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