Success in life is a great achievement, but success in the wrong pursuit is the saddest tragedy of all. Time spent in pursuit of the wrong purpose or without purpose entirely is the greatest waste of human potential.

We all have a purpose specifically designed for us by God. When we follow that purpose, our lives become filled with joy, peace, and accomplishment. We gain a wealth of knowledge and truth that we can share with others and in doing so, we will find fulfillment every day.

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus detailed the concerns and worries of people, explaining that if they put the kingdom of God first, everything else will fall into place. He instructed us not to be anxious about worldly things like food, clothing, and shelter. Instead, we should seek the kingdom of God above all else, and everything else will fall into place.

“Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.“ (Mat 6:31-34). 

What a radical approach to life! –Especially since most of us spend a great deal of time worrying about numerous things, setting our priorities specifically around them, planning our days and our entire lives around those worries. Worrying is in fact the opposite of seeking the kingdom of God. Medical scientists have now proven that worry is the main cause of all illnesses, as it causes stress. It is an attempt to figure out our lives on our own. According to God’s Word, “It is not in man to figure out his steps.” (Jer 10:23). 

Jesus’ command to seek first the kingdom of God really changes everything when it comes to prioritizing our lives. Interestingly, He never provided a second priority or what some may call “God’s second best.” He said that if we seek first the kingdom, all other things will align themselves and be provided for and added on to us, causing everything to fall into place. He essentially destroyed our “prayer list” by asking, “Why worry about what you’re going to eat, what you’re going to wear, and how you’re going to pay rent.” He said, “Tune in to one thing; the kingdom of God and everything else will fall into place. Don’t even think about the rest. Take no thought.”

Actually, Jesus never preached anything else but the kingdom. On the very outset of His ministry He said, “The kingdom of God is here within your midst.” The Pharisees later asked when the kingdom of God would be revealed, to which Jesus replied that it would come in a silent and unseen manner, its establishment was quietly underway among them, much like leaven working in dough. “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” (Matthew 13:33). It had already begun right under their nose. He was the King, bringing back the kingdom of God on Earth.

He also told them that His miracles were evidence of the arrival of the kingdom of God: “If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20). He demonstrated the kingdom through acts of love and compassion. He emphasized the importance of seeking the kingdom above all else. He compared it to a man seeking pearls, who, when he found that one pearl of a great price, he sold all the other ones, including everything else that he had, in order to get that one pearl, the one that had the most value, the most worth for his life.

So let’s add this all up: He preached only the kingdom, told them that He was bringing the kingdom without worldly fanfare or political overtaking, but by changing the present world from within. He told them that the kingdom was the greatest value anyone could find, worth selling everything for, and told people to make the kingdom and His righteousness their No.1 priority, and everything else would be taken care of. And He mentioned that His miracles were evidence that He had begun the new reign of God on earth. So what’s the message?

What does it mean for us to “seek first the kingdom of God”? For us, believers, it means to live ready. –Ready to give, ready to love, ready to heal, ready to pray, ready to destroy the works of the enemy in people’s lives. Jesus led by example in all these aspects of life, exhibiting obedience to His Father, and He set the standard for His disciples to follow, and to produce good fruit, by loving others, and infiltrating the world and making disciples. We are to prioritize God’s values over worldly values and possessions. Jesus assures us that He will care for our needs if we focus on living in obedience to His teachings and spreading the good news of the kingdom. We’re to bring the kingdom of God on earth in words and in deed, by being a doer of His teachings and by extending His Kingship on earth. That’s our assignment, that’s what we are to seek first. The kingdom and His righteousness.

In reality, Jesus only preached about the kingdom of God, never on healing, deliverance, abundance, baptism, prosperity, or even being born again. And He told us to put the highest value on the kingdom. And, when He sent out His disciples to all the nearby towns, He told them, “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” (Mat 10:7,8). 

This commission and prioritization from the Lord calls for the re-examination of how we spend our time and what we prioritize in our lives. Time is our most valuable commodity, and spending it on non-productive activities is equivalent to squandering it. Our schedules are chock-full of unproductive tasks that don’t bear good fruit in our lives.

I’m convinced that keeping people occupied with pointless activities is one of the devil’s most effective tools. Though we may be busy, most of us believers aren’t accomplishing as much for the kingdom as Jesus instructed us to. Being productive should be valued above being busy. Paradoxically, failure can be the result of working hard and doing excellent work, yet on the wrong thing; missing our destiny and purpose all together.

In view of what Jesus gave us as our priority, many of us need to reset our compass. Our time is the most valuable currency we possess. How we spend our time shapes our destiny; we are the culmination of all the time we’ve invested. Each day we’re all given the same currency: 24 hours. The key is to use that time wisely and focus on activities that will help us promote the kingdom of God, as per the one priority given us by the Lord.

The Bible teaches us to redeem the time, because the days are evil. Time is an actual currency that you can measure life with, not money. You actually use time to buy life. Whatever you have, you have purchased it with your time. That’s why people pay you to hire out your time; doing what they want you to do with your time.

Even our friends and family can demand our time. It becomes more and more important to check the time wasters in our lives. The book of Proverbs is full of advice on choosing our company and activities. Otherwise, we could be “casting your pearls before swine” -expending effort or resources on unworthy pursuits–just like the prodigal son did, paying a high price for worthless pursuits.

When we waste a significant amount of time, the feeling is the same as a hangover–emptiness, frustration, and dissatisfaction with nothing to show or gain from it. Divertissement is entertainment that diverts you from your priorities, goals, and challenges, and is equivalent to spending a night at the casino, seduced by a streak of luck and ultimately losing everything.

We have a greater calling and consequently we must find the ‘off’ switch on the remote control, on wasteful habits, and on being lured by advertisements, on those “shining objects“ that the world entices us with. Spending unproductive hours in media distractions will only leave us intellectually and spiritually impoverished, without any gains in wisdom or knowledge.

(To be continued)

 

 

It’s never easy to get rid of bad habits and to change the things that have become second nature to us. But when these habits are holding us back, they need to be countered, challenged, and overcome. That’s what makes change so difficult and so challenging—you’re defying your old nature and the habits that bind you to act in carnal ways.

Paul says, “To be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God. (Ephesians 4:23-24). We sometimes must take stock of our spiritual walk in order to correct our course and head in a new direction that will bring forth more fruit and growth.

That’s why the Bible tells us to “keep all of our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2Cor 10:5)

Overcoming ruts and bad habits is worth the effort because it actually frees us from weights and shackles that keep us progressing. Paul encourages us to actually discipline our mind, which is where the spiritual battle takes place. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom 12: 2) 

The dictionary defines sacrifice as “anything consecrated and offered to God.” In Romans 12:1, Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.” Paul’s admonition to the Romans was to sacrifice themselves to God, not as a sacrifice on the altar, as the Mosaic Law required the sacrifice of animals, but as a living sacrifice.

Under the Old Covenant, God accepted the sacrifices of animals. But these were just a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the “Lamb” of God, Jesus. Because of His ultimate, once-for-all-time sacrifice on the cross, the Old Testament sacrifices became obsolete and are no longer of any effect (Hebrews 9:11-12). For those who are in Christ, the only acceptable worship is to offer ourselves completely to the Lord. We can live under God’s control. Our yet-unredeemed body can and must be yielded to Him as an instrument of righteousness (Romans 6:12-13; 8:11-13). And we consequently become a living sacrifice for God by not being conformed to this world.

1 John 2:15-16 describes the worldly temptations as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. All that the world has to offer can be reduced to these three things.

1. The lust of the flesh includes everything that appeals to our appetites and involves excessive desires for food, drink, sex, and anything else that satisfies physical needs.
2. Lust of the eyes mostly involves materialism, coveting whatever we see that we don’t have and envying those who have what we want.
3. The pride of life is defined by any ambition for that which puffs us up and puts us on the throne of our own lives.

One of the better ways to approach this daunting task of dying to ourselves is to declare a fast. Fasting does not necessarily get you any brownie points as far as the Lord is concerned. But what it does is most helpful to you, because by denying yourself, you are telling your carnal man who’s really the boss. It makes more room for the Spirit to be guiding you closer to God. Fasting worldly pleasure to give more time to God’s Word is the best investment because it is the only power on earth that can transform us from worldliness to true spirituality. In fact, the Word of God is exactly what we need to be made “complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16)

Fasting, and any other discipline against our comfort zone, brings to life the fighter in you. It’s breaking loose from the ties of routine of what you’ve come to believe are unchangeable traits of your personality and character.

The determination to break the chains of bad habits and ruts causes us to rise above our comfortable place and search out a new route—a new challenge and the promise of better things ahead.

Let’s take a stand and cast all our cares upon Him (1Pet.5:7) and wait upon Him in the sure confidence that He is with us, and works in us. Let faith fill our heart and let’s be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

One of the most revealing stories in the Bible in regards to how faith works, is the one about the Centurion coming to Jesus with a plea to heal his servant who was sick with palsy. (Mt 8:5). Remember how Jesus marveled at what he said. The centurion told Jesus that He did not need to come into his house because he was not worthy, he was a gentile. But he said, “Speak the word only.”  He told Jesus that he himself was a man under authority, meaning, “People listen to me, not because of me, but because of what I represent. What I say, goes. When I give an order, people move.” Then Jesus marveled at his faith. Actually, Jesus marveled at the fact that he understood how faith works–with authority.

It says of Jesus that, “He spoke as one having authority, and not as the Scribes and the Pharisees.” (Mat 7:9). People who have authority have a different demeanor about them, they speak differently, they act differently, even when off duty. It is as though they never let go of the uniform. And that’s really how Christians should live out their faith. We should walk in authority, because we are created to have dominion. When they said of Jesus that He had authority in the way He spoke, they were really acknowledging that He walked in dominion power.

Faith should not be separate from authority, boldness and power. All those should operate seamlessly. Because faith sees the outcome from the beginning; it commands it against the circumstances with dominion authority. Faith is not just hope. It is seeing the impossible and commanding that it manifests itself into the possible.

When you know the truth of God’s Word, you rely on its power. Truth does not need to be propped up. It stands on its own. And that’s the power that the Word of God has. It is solid and dependable. God cannot lie and that’s how we can solidly depend on His promises. That’s the kind of trust that allows us to walk where others fear to tread.

Knowing the Word is what gives us boldness. Truth alone is so powerful that it commands respect, honor, authority, integrity and righteousness. We speak the truth, and it is up to people to receive it and obey it or not. Look at the rich young ruler. He was not willing to go on walking on the solid ground of truth. And he went his way sorrowfully. He knew a lot, and in fact was quite righteous, but would not go any further. (Mt 19:16-30).

There’s a lot of people who know a lot of Word, they can quote chapter and verse, they know every reference, but if they do not do it, it remains knowledge only. David said, “With all thy getting, get understanding.” (Pr 4:7).  Understanding is different from knowledge because it is experimental knowledge. It’s the “doing” of the knowledge that gives you understanding.

Jesus explained that clearly when He was talking about obeying His Word. He said, “If you OBEY My Words, you’re like one who builds his house upon a rock, but if you don’t obey My Words, you’re as a foolish man who built his house upon the sand, and when the storm comes, it falls apart.” (Mt 7:24-27). People who know a lot of Word but don’t do it become doctrinal, theological, defensive and argumentative because they’re proud of their knowledge. But knowledge only puffs up, but it is love that edifies. Love is a verb. It has compassion baked into it which compels us to care and to get involved.

You will often find Christians growing apart in their knowledge of the truth because one is learning for the purpose of ‘doing’, and the other one is into it just for the ‘knowing’. You can’t learn to ride a bicycle from a book. Eventually, you have to get on it.  The one who does the ‘doing’ always goes further than the one who is into it for head stuffing. Christianity is not about knowledge, but it is about walking out your knowledge. James said it won’t work unless you work it. (Ja 1:22-25). You will never experience the three-dimensional, abundant and energetic truth that Jesus talks about unless you live it out.

It says that “Jesus was the Word made flesh” (Jn 1:14), and the Bible talks about His incarnation. In other words, He was the Word of God in human flesh, walking in a body. And in reality, that is what a Christian is supposed to be like. We are supposed to, “Abide in the Word and let the Word abide in us, and then we will ask what we want, and it will be done unto us.” (Jn 15:4-7).  To abide in the Word means to imbibe the Word; we live in the Word, we know the Word, we do the Word, we become the Word; and we are a living example of the Word of God before man. That’s what brings glory to God. The Word has to be part of us; spirit, mind and body. So much so, that it affects our every thought which dictates our every action.

Mark 1:22 says, “They were astonished at His doctrine because He taught as one having authority.”  He was the Word of God commanding things to change according to God’s will. The will of God is the Word of God. And the more we know His Word, the more we know His will. All through the Gospels, Jesus said, “You have heard it said by Moses and the prophets, but I say unto you…” How could He talk like that? Didn’t that sound arrogant? Didn’t that appear prideful? He was the Word of God, and what He said had to be obeyed. That’s why His Word is not referred to as suggestions, but rather as commands.

He talked authoritatively, because His Words are commands. He did not give people much choice. Why?  Because He was the walking incarnate Word of God. It must have been hard for people in that day who didn’t know as much as we know now.–That He is the Savior, the Messiah, the Son of God, and the final authority.

And even today, when you speak with the authority of God’s Word and tell people that Jesus is the final authority, and that you must do what He says or else your life will fall apart… It sort of shocks people because there are so many other voices out there and people don’t like authority and absolute truth.

Even demons knew who He was. They’d say, “What are we to do with you, Son of God?”  But notice what it says: “He rebuked them ‘saying’… He didn’t say, “I rebuke you!” It was His words that rebuked those demons. “Shut up, come out of him. And the spirit tore him and left him as though he was dead.” (Mk 9:26). But nonetheless, the demon had to obey.

His Words were commands. So much so that people marveled. “And they were all amazed and said to one another, ‘What is this Word? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!'” (Lk 4:36). 

Great men of faith walk in authority. They speak, and they expect change. It is as though they walk in the spirit of a general. It’s not about knowing the whole Bible, it’s knowing whatever few verses that give you the authority of the Word, such as, “He that believes in Me, the works that I do, shall he do also, and even greater works than these for I go unto My Father.”  (Jn 14:12). It’s putting our full trust and faith in the Word that gives us the authority to live a dominion life. It’s understanding authority that brings boldness to faith.

When Jesus said that we can speak to the mountain and it shall be removed, He was saying that all obstacles in the way of God’s will can be removed with the authority of God’s Word. (Mk 11:23). The secret in being able to move mountains is standing firm on God’s Word. We must see the result of God’s will coming to pass from the beginning, and we can’t move regardless of the circumstances.

You can expect the devil to put up a fight every time. Expect that phone call saying that it didn’t work. He’ll always try and make you think it’s not working, or make you fear in some way. But don’t go back on your word. STAND. Out wait the devil’s lies by sticking to the truth. Stand and don’t back out. Expect that what you say will come to pass.

Decide the outcome from the beginning. Whenever you start shifting your faith according to the circumstances, you move out of faith. Keep your eyes on the end result. If you don’t, whatever you were believing before stops, because you’re believing the devil’s lies. Faith is a law and it’s the language of the Kingdom of God. It’s the only approach that pleases God.

If you begin by thinking it won’t work, then don’t bother trying. You don’t try faith. You command it. The kingdom dominion is based on faith. And faith that doesn’t persevere is no faith at all. Faith has to be tested. Faith without works is dead.

Once you get a hold of this formula for dominion, it’ll change your life: God’s Word + faith + authority + perseverance = results. Faith that is not tested is not faith, it’s just hope.

Let’s take the stand of the three Hebrew children who went through the fiery furnace: “If you don’t bow, you will burn!” And they came out without the smell of smoke. The enemy can’t touch you if you don’t fear. It’s when he can get you to react in fear that he’s got you. That’s how Jesus could say, “The wicked one cometh, but he has nothing in Me.” (Jn 14:30). 

To finish with the story of the centurion, Jesus said, “As you have believed, so be it.”  In other words, because you settled it in your mind, it’ll come to pass. Jesus didn’t even pray or command for his servant to be healed! He said, “Go thy way, your servant is healed.”  We must stand on what we expect. What we see in faith, we command it upon the circumstances with authority.

We act in the stead of Jesus. That’s what ‘in Jesus name’ really means. We have the power of attorney to act in the name and authority of Jesus.

We are made for dominion.

 

I’ve recently read the declaration that all students repeat every morning at the Dominion Bible Institute and I’ve found it very powerful, and thought of sharing it with you as a statement we should all profess unto ourselves every day to remind us of who we are and our God-given inheritance and destiny.

 

I’m a new creation,

Old things are passed away,

All things in me are new,

I am reconciled with God through Jesus Christ,

and God has given me the ministry of reconciliation,

God made Christ to be sin for me,

that I might be made the righteousness of God in Christ.

 

I am in union with God,

I am a partaker of His divine nature,

He that lives in me is of His DNA,

I am called out,

I am a new creature, and old things are passed away,

behold all things have become new,

and all those things, they are of God,

and I acknowledge them so.

 

I am Jesus to the world,

I go and I heal the sick,

and I preach His gospel,

I cast out demons,

I cleanse the lepers,

and I raised the dead,

because Jesus is in me,

Jesus is for me.

Therefore all things are possible,

nothing shall hurt me.

Behold He has given me power,

to thread on scorpions and serpents,

and over all the powers of the enemy,

and I crush him, where and when I see him,

and nothing shall hurt me

because I and my house are blessed,

and we serve the Lord.

 

I do whatever is necessary,

to be used in His kingdom,

the kingdom of light,

because I am the light of the world,

and darkness flees where I go.

As He is, so am I, in this world, right now.

I am bought with a high price and I am a new creature, in Christ.

I am joined with the Lord,

I’m one spirit with the Lord,

I am in Christ, and Christ is in me,

I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.

 

I am healed; mind, soul and spirit;

right now it is done, because it was paid for, 2,000 years ago.

I’m God’s son, because I am crucified with the Son of God.

My life is no more; He lives in me.and through me.

He has given me His name, His character, His nature;

everything He is, I’ve now become,

by faith in Christ.

 

I am God’s son and I am in His service.

I am the devil’s master and a servant to man.

everywhere I go, satan flees,

because everywhere I go, Christ goes.

and diseases die and devils depart.

His victory is my victory.

When you come into the kingdom, you no longer are under the Old Law. The New Testament offers grace which blots out all of our sins. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” (Eph 1:7-17). 

Jesus paid the price for all of us to be free from sin. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21). However, grace does not give us a license to sin, but rather gives us the power to live above sin and the ability to live a disciplined life. 

Sin remains a problem with most believers, because if we do not live in righteousness, if we not do not attempt to be holy as our Father is holy (1Pet 1:15), we put ourselves in the crossfire of the devil. James explains that sin is to do what you know not to do. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (Jam 4:17). In other words, because you know the truth but don’t live by it, your own conscience will condemn you.

Sin creates a chink in your armor and eventually it’ll take you down. The first tactic of the enemy is to tempt you to sin, then he reinforces sin in your life to make it habitual so that you can no longer resist it, and then he condemns you for it so that you can’t be all God wants you to be. He tells you that you can’t be used by God and if you try to stand up for the truth or for righteousness, he tells you he’s got the goods on you and will expose you.

He first tempts you, then accuses you, condemns you, then silences you. It’s not only the minister that is at stake but also the ministry. Once it has affected your sample, it stains your whole mission. That’s why we, as believers, should not only live in fellowship but be so united that we can police our own people. We should stand by each other in order to stand for each other so that we can all stand together to emulate Christ.

If believers do not have the conviction to stand up for each other, when someone falls, then they’ll condemn them and to distance themselves from them and say, “I never knew you,” rather than to restore them to fellowship and discipleship.

Most believers do not have boldness themselves because they do not live in righteousness. They believe in God but they don’t believe in God’s ability to use them, because they know they’re sinners and if they try to stand up, they know there are plenty of people who are going to condemn them and remind them of their faults and sins. And that’s sad. We all end up falling for the condemnation of the devil. The accused and the accuser. 

There’s power in righteous living. That’s how Jesus could say, “The ruler of this world is coming but has nothing in Me.” (Jn 14:30). He had no sin that the enemy could condemn Him with. Even when they tried to raise false witnesses against Him, their testimony would not stand. And that’s why we should live in accordance with the commandments of Jesus. To live free of condemnation.

So if you’ve got sin in your life, there are 2 solutions.

1. Avoid sin altogether and live in righteousness, fully hidden in the life of Christ. “Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Eph 4:24). 

2. Die to yourself so that even if you’re not perfect, you’re humble enough to acknowledge your sin and repent.

If you’re dead to yourself, you’re no longer afraid of what people might bring up against you because you have no SELF-righteousness, your righteousness is only in Christ. If you sin, you repent: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). 

Even though you’re not perfect, your life can be transparent through repentance. God can use sinners. In fact those are the only ones He can use… Look at King David, and Moses and Paul, they were all murderers.

But be aware of the fact that, “The sin you defend, is the sin you’re in.” That’s one way you can know you’re vulnerable in some area. The areas of your life you don’t want to talk about, are usually the ones that you keep in the shadows. Sin weakens you, it puts you in bondage, it hinders your effectiveness because it takes the wind out of your sails; the boldness out of your testimony.

That’s why the life of a believer has to be a life of discipline. That’s why we’re called “disciples”. We discipline ourselves to obey the commands of Christ. Jesus said, “If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (Jn 8:31,32). 

“If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (Jn 8:36).

Paul Joseph

The very first requirement to have that compassion for lost souls is to actually see the world through the eyes of God. To fully understand the need to win souls is to be fully convinced of love of God for every man and woman (Jn 3:16); it is to love others because He first loved us (1Jn 3:16). We were brought out of darkness into His glorious light. Somebody threw a lifesaver to rescue us and we ought to do the same for every drowning man and woman. This is really the essence of witnessing. We owe it to them.

There are no prerequisites nor classifications to being a soul winner. None of us need to feel qualified, or  strong enough in the spirit, intellectually or spiritually wise, we do not need to feel winsome. God will use anybody who is willing to be used. Paul made it clear to the Corinthians: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” (1Cor.1:27-29). 

We are out there to share the greatest news ever. There’s no qualification needed. The gospel is nothing but good news. It’s telling people that a miracle happened 2000 years ago that changed, not only the course of history, but the whole dynamics of our world. Every man and woman is now able to live his/her full destiny by being fully re-united to their Father, the God of the universe. All men and women can now be loosed from the shackles of slavery and know true freedom, true peace, and a life without stress and worries; a life filled with true joy, true happiness, and true peace. That’s the good news. Jesus paid for all of that for every man and women and it’s made available to all for free. That’s the great news that is worthy to be shouted on rooftops. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (Jn 3:17). 

A lot of Christians feel like they need to first emphasize the sinning nature of man, to make people feel condemned first, so that they can fully repent, but the Bible says that every man is already condemned and he knows it in his heart. Yes, when comes time to pray and dedicate their life, and make Jesus the Lord of their lives, they will need to wholeheartedly decide to leave the shackles of this world behind and repent from following the god of this world. But that’s a very easy decision when faced with the glorious light of God and all that He provides through salvation in Jesus. We don’t need to show them hell to scare them into heaven. We need to show them heaven and that’ll be inviting enough, because they already know they’re living in hell. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Rom 1:18-20). 

I have a friend who is very consistent in sharing the gospel and winning souls to the Lord. And the way he does it is very simple. Whether he is on the phone with customer service, or talking to anyone in a supermarket or in the mall, he ends every conversation by saying,  “It was so inspiring to talk with you, but before we part, I want to let you know that my wife and I are faithful to pray for people; God is a good God and a loving God, and He wants to heal us, and relieve us of our of the pain in our heart which most people carry… Is there anything that we could pray for you for, or for anyone in your family?” And once they have enumerated what they would like to pray for, he goes straight into praying, and once he has prayed for their specific needs, he says, “By the way, have you ever made Jesus the Lord of your life? You know He can give you a very fulfilling and happy life… While we’re now praying, would you join me and I can lead you into knowing Him. He not only promised a life in heaven after we are done with this life, but He also promised heaven on earth to all those who believe and make Him their Lord and Savior, so that our life can be filled with all the promises of this living Word…” And he leads that person in to a prayer of salvation. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.

If you happen to live in an area where, the minute you raise the name of Jesus people get very apprehensive and defensive, then start by talking about your own testimony, how you have found so much love, so much peace, so much happiness and spell out why. You can also talk about the different laws of God such as keeping your thoughts into captivity, being mindful of what comes into your head such as the garbage of the news media. You can talk about how you’ve learned to watch your words because they are the rudder to your destiny. You can also talk about the importance of thinking on “good things”, and not letting your mind go into toxic and negative thoughts. And not letting your life be ruled by your emotions, but rather by values and principles that are solid and true. All these are laws of the kingdom.

And then you can start talking about how God wants us to live a fulfilled life. We were created to be innovative, creative, and fulfilled by giving the beautiful gifts that He has given us to others. Once you have spoken about so many beautiful laws of the kingdom and the many blessings in your life, and how you have based your life principles on biblical values, then it’s easy to ask them if they’d like prayer for anything special before parting, and use the opportunity to lead them also into a prayer of salvation.

And after the prayer, you must leave them with something to read to firm up that confession of faith. This is a very important part of soul winning: the follow-up. Leave them with something to read, to gel and coagulate their decision. I happen to have a handbook which I have compiled for that very purpose. It’s a free download at: Http://thehandbookforadiscipleofjesus.com

Once they come into the kingdom, they need to know what the kingdom is all about and how the rules of the kingdom operate, so that they can fully embrace that “new life” of freedom and love. So, I usually take their phone number or their email address and I immediately send them the link for them to download it onto their phone. (The handbook is actually hyperlinked so that they can click on any chapter and it takes them straight to all of the verses to firm up their foundation of faith. So you can actually suggest one or two chapters to read. Http://thehandbookforadiscipleofjesus.com

I encourage you to download the handbook for yourself, and if you’d like to share it with new converts, you can either read portions of it off the copy on the desktop of your phone, or simply share the above link. The reason we have developed this tool is specifically for soul winners to feed their new converts as soon as they’re saved, so they know how to live in the inheritance and authority that Jesus has given us through the Holy Ghost.

Whether you have something feeding to leave with them or not, you must invite them to meet up with you again, as well as to accompany you to your church. You should sit with your new convert, introduce him/her to your Christian community, and further explain whatever is being shared by the pastor. I cannot emphasize the whole aspect of following up enough.

Sadly, too many people are led to the Lord and left on their own. And therefore they remain babes; at the most, toddlers; because they do not get the proper feeding to allow them to grow into full fledged disciples. You must feed them regularly. Best is for you to have a morning meeting with all your converts a couple times a week to feed them. The most important key in discipling new converts is found in John 15: “Abide in Me and I in you as the branch can’t bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine; no more can ye except ye abide in Me.”  You must share the Word and teach them to read the Word for themselves as well.

If perhaps, you consider yourself not the best Bible teacher. It’s easy enough to get on Zoom with your new converts a few times a week, and share your screen while you play a video of one of your favorite Word teachers.

Also, the best training for new disciples is for them to step out and share their testimony as early as possible after they’ve gotten saved. So on the one night that you go out soul winning, they should all come out with you, and you teach them to witness and pray with people. They must learn to create that opportunity for people to make Christ their Lord. As often as possible, they’ve got to learn lead people to a decision.

If some of your new converts can’t make it that one night, you must make yourself available some other night. Why? Because you must teach them from the start to share their faith and their testimony with conviction in order to solidify their stand of faith. Again, no conviction, no conversion. There’s hardly anything more inspiring for new converts to lead someone to the Lord. A miracle happens before their eyes.

Now that we’ve covered a number of the easy parts of witnessing, one important point to emphasize is the need to never argue. If you find the conversation going a little sour, stay loving, gentle and encouraging. As much as is possible, let your seed fall into soft ground. (See the parable of the sower.) It’s the only ground that actually will bear fruit. Some sow, others water, and yet others reap. You don’t have to reap every time. But you always want to witness.

Also, there are people who love to argue and they’re just not hungry. They just want to flex their intellect and/or win an argument. So, no need to waste your time. Best is to share your testimony with them about how you were dead, and now you’re alive. That’s one thing they can’t argue with you about. A similar situation happened in the book of Acts. “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on this subject.’ At that, Paul left the Council. Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.” (Acts 17:34). 

It’s like anything else, practice makes perfect. You’ll get to where you can go to the supermarket, meet someone who’s obviously ill, and you’ll walk up to them and say, “You know, when I pray for people, oftentimes they get healed!” And you’ll lay hands on them and they’ll recover. And then, it’s so easy to lead them to the Lord. (Mark 16:15-19).

 

by: Paul Joseph

As a believer, our motivation, our goal, our vision in life should be soul winning.  Souls is what God is after. That was God’s plan for giving His Own Son in sacrifice, that all man/woman may be restored to Him. Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32). Jesus explains in a parable how important it is to reach everyone!  “And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled.” (Lk.14:23). 

If you want to know how so very important it is to God that we be out there winning souls, just think about what Jesus said, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Lk 15:7). And Jesus further explains the point in a parable:  “What woman having ten pieces of silver, if she loses one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?” (Lk 14:8). 

Speaking of the lost .. Let’s face it, our teenagers are lost and dying to drugs and alcohol. Marriages are ending in divorce in droves. Kids worldwide are confused and lost; subjected to all kinds of immorality and false doctrines everywhere. They’re insecure, hopeless and completely lost. We can’t be silent.

It never seems convenient to witness. We must get past excuses and leave our comfort zone. Compassion is what propels us to witness. “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead. And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2Cor 5:24,25). Plus, the great commission comes with a serious warning from Ezekiel 33:6. If we don’t tell, if we don’t share the truth, then their blood is on our hands. We’re accountable since we know the truth. We know better… “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” (Jam 4:17). 

Of course we’ll meet opposition. Jesus said so. He said, “Don’t expect to be treated better than I was.” (Jn 15:20). Jesus was condemned by the religious because He was hanging with sinners, He rubbed shoulders with them, He was not a “holier than thou” rabbi. He walked with the people because He was concerned about their soul, rich or poor, pretty or ugly, He saw the soul that needed salvation. He said, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Mark 2:17). 

The greatest revelation that Paul had he called “the mystery of all ages”. That is “Christ in you”. “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27). When you are saved, Jesus becomes your Lord. He lives in you and you become a ‘walking’ Jesus. His life in you is your energy to witness. You don’t have to do it. You just have to make yourself available to Christ.

Believers are those who believe. And “believe” is a verb, an action. You can’t say you believe unless you do something about it. This is why the world has yet to be completely evangelized. Believers don’t truly “believe”, and consequently they’re not going. Let’s face it, if we do not speak to the people we meet, Christ is silent. How the world would be so very different if every Christian was a witnesser and a soul winner!

By: Paul Joseph

The Lord has put on my heart to address the topic of reaching out to the lost and soul winning, primarily because Christianity should be all about soul winning. Jesus made this clear for all of His disciples: “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mk 16:15). The idea of “soul winning” tends to make people uncomfortable, because it has not been emphasized as a personal responsibility in our Christian lives; so therefore, we’re not exercised in weekend or faith too others and it becomes an embarrassment.  Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” (Ro 1:16). 

Everywhere Jesus went, He shared the good news of the Kingdom.  “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: Who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38). Jesus was God in the flesh, but now the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus is with us. And we are commanded to do the same as Jesus did. “As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.” (Jn.20:21).  For, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest.” (Mt 9:37,38). 

We are the physical body of Christ. We are the ones to perform the Word of God. God accomplished His will in Israel through Christ, and He now accomplishes His will through us. Jesus sent the power for us to do so and that power lives in us: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me..” (Acts 1:8). 

We have been given the greatest of gifts: we are redeemed; “sozo’ed”, which means, restored, healed, made free, and redeemed. We now know the truth!–That God so desires to save all men/women, the same as we have been saved. So we’re responsible and accountable. God valued one soul so highly that He sacrificed His Own Son to redeem it!

His plan and purpose in sending Jesus is for everyone to be redeemed and be restored into relationship with Him. God is not willing that any man should perish. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2Pt 3:9). That’s the heart of God.

God’s plan is for believers to share their faith: Paul says, “How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” (Rom.10:14,15). 

As it’s recorded in the book of Acts, the disciples and those born again, were all about soul winning. They went from house to house, to the marketplace, to the public square, to their own families, children and relatives. Insiders and outsiders, in season and out of season. “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” (Acts 5:42). 

In Ephesus, Aquila had his church in his house, not in a building. (Acts 28:30,31).  And everywhere he went, people heard the good news. –Paul had even witnessed while in jail. (Phil 1:12,13). Paul said that ALL of Asia Minor had been individually reached in twenty-four months. (Acts 19:10). It says that the Lord was working with them…through them. They were His voice. “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the Word.” (Act.8:4). 

The responsibility of preaching the gospel was given to man, not to angels. In the book of Acts, an angel was sent with a message to Peter to go out and minister to Cornelius. (Acts 10:1-48). We are the ones who need to demonstrate God’s love, in word and in our example. The job was assigned to us, not to God. We can pray and pray for souls to be saved, but God has to operate through each one of us. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Phil 2:13).

I am thankful that as soon as I was brought into the kingdom, my teachers insisted on pairing us two by two, and sending us out witnessing and soul winning. I was telling people about Jesus three days after I got saved. I fought it, because I thought I didn’t know anything, at least not enough to win a soul. Plus, I spoke very little English. I had received the Lord in Amsterdam, but French is my mother tongue.  However, I had been taught during those there days a few awesome Bible classes from the book of John, so when I tried to wiggle my way out of going out witnessing, I was told, “Why don’t you sit with someone and read the different chapters that we read together in the last Bible classes and trust that it will have as much impact in their heart as it did in yours.” And I did, and started leading souls to the Lord from day one.

We have been given so much truth in the Word of God! Our gospel has POWER. It is in fact the POWER of God. It has the power to give LIFE to everyone who receives it. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Jn 10:10b). 

We are living in the most exciting time in history — the endtime… when people’s faith and love is growing cold (Mt 24:12), and where every perversion and evil crime is rampant.  Where evil is replaced by good and good is replaced by evil. (Is 5:20). When people are departing from the faith, and there’s a great falling away of people who never really did believe. (2Th 2:3). When the doctrines of devils, and satanism are rampant. (1Tim 4:1). Where Eastern religions and practices are given full space, and Christianity is denied and fought against…even in nations like the USA and Europe, where people are supposed to stand for Christ.

This is the day that was spoken of as demons of rebellion fill our homes and schools. (1Sam 15:23) There are many 1000s of children living with one parent, due to an epidemic of divorce, breaking down the Godly-designed purpose for unified parents and the home life keeping a high moral standard. No wonder that rebellion amongst children and teens is rampant in our schools, causing death and destruction to innocent lives.

Sexual perversions are rampant and defiantly bold; going against God’s created design.  People are changing the glory of the incorruptible God into images. They have no shame anymore in dishonoring their own bodies. We’re living in this day that was spoken of, when people worship the creature and not the Creator. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.” (Ro 1:25). 

BUT, BUT, BUT… we’re also living in a MIGHTY REVIVAL. God promised that, “In that day, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” (Acts 2:17). Just think about it. We are the ONES… we have the HOLY SPIRIT of God living in US, and we can SHINE so much light. “They that know their God will do exploits.” (Dan 11:32b). This is no joke. This is for REAL.

“Where darkness abounds, grace and light will much more abound.” (Rom 5:20). That’s us shining God’s GRACE. (!!!)

We’re given that privilege to LIGHT up the world with the gospel, which is the greatest news ever told. Talk about GOOD news… If you were a salesman, you couldn’t think of a BETTER deal to offer to anyone… “You get freedom, you get health, you get joy, you get abundant life, you get a light on your face, you get no more stress, only peace, and… you get a permanent smile. And… Guess what?  It’s totally FREE. That beats the American dream any day…”

God help us all to realize how MUCH we’ve been given. It’s time to STAND up, MOVE up and GEAR up…

Now is the time to let the Holy Spirit BUST out and SHINE on people. We need to be aware of the fact that we’re NOT of THIS world, we have changed passports! “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (Jn 15:19). We have found that “pearl of a great price” and sold everything in order to get it. (Mt 13:45,46).

If you want to truly be ENRICHED, do a study on everything that Jesus said about the kingdom. Research “the kingdom of God is as…” and you will be enriched by all that He is saying about the true GOSPEL. It’s such GOOD news bro.

The gospel pays for EVERYTHING. The sacrifice that Jesus made paid for us to be in FULL and INTIMATE communication and relationship with God. It paid for our HEALING of every disease. It paid for our FREEDOM from every evil work of the devil such as condemnation, shame, regret, depression, stress. “Come  unto me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you REST. ” (Mt 11:28).

We, who know HIM, do not have to live under the circumstances and the conditions that life serves us. We have the power to renew our mind DAILY by FIXING our eyes on the VICTORY of Christ. His victory has paid for us to live an abundant life…. Filled with joy, happiness, energy, peace, rest, love, faith, and so much more.

We are living the FULL purpose that was originally intended for man.

But we must renew our mind daily to our NEW identity. The devil’s favorite trick is to get you to look at the circumstances and the conditions rather than the VICTORY that Christ has served us. We must live our life looking constantly to JESUS. And that brings us constant VICTORY; not only to us, but we become radiant with His light, virtually electric with God’s ENERGY, and there is an aura about us that everybody SEES and WANTS.

MUSLIMS don’t have that. HINDUS don’t have that. There’s no life nor energy in religion. But there’s life and POWER in the gospel.

That’s the living, lit-up sample that we must reflect, and that people need to SEE in us. Yes, people have to see us live the GOSPEL, but they can only see it if we are constantly mirroring the VICTORY of Christ… Smiling, looking in people’s eyes, reflecting joy and happiness, sharing care and compassion, giving generously, just as if we had indeed found the source and fountain of all victory… which we have!

If you are not yet walking in victory, ask Jesus to be the LORD of your life. Tell him that you want Him to be at the rudder of your boat. Tell him that, whatsoever you do, you want to do it HEARTILY as unto HIM and not on to man. Tell Him that you want to be fully POSSESSED with HIS joy and HIS love and HIS ever-giving energy.

Put it into words everyday that you want to be JESUS, that you want to walk out His living sample everyday to everybody you meet. Practice smiling, practice generous caring, practice compassion everyday.  I mean it. Especially when you’re down… Give NO PLACE to the devil.

Paul said, “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel…” and Jesus said, “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Lk 9:26). 

Shine His light. Hallelujah…. We’re WINNING!

Did you ever wonder why forgiveness is so important in God’s Word? Forgiveness comes up many times particularly throughout the New Testament? The real meaning of the word “forgiveness”  in Greek is to “remit someone’s debt”.

In a conversation between Peter and Jesus, Peter  said, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Then Jesus saith unto him, ‘I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.'” (Mt 18:21-22). Then Jesus gives a detailed story about this question regarding a rich ruler (Mat 18:23). Jesus starts by saying, “The kingdom of heaven is as a rich ruler who wanted to settle his accounts with his servants…”

The story goes on to say that the master forgave this first servant his massive debt in full, because he pleaded for forgiveness and remittance. However, that same acquitted servant goes out and imposes the immediate payment of a much smaller debt on someone else, in full, and has him thrown in jail for not being able to repay immediately.

When the master heard about the incident, he called the first servant back and re-imposed the heavy debt upon the forgiven servant in full, and then put him in jail, to tormentors, till the debt was paid in full. Jesus ends the parable by saying, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

There are a few hard lessons in this parable. For one, the debt of the first servant was so much bigger compared to the debt of the second servant, and yet, the master forgave the first servant in full. This message is of course related to how God forgave us all, by sending His own Son to pay the massive debt of our sins, in full.

Jesus then explains in this parable how the “master” responds just as His Father responds to unforgiveness: “His lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

“So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” (Mt 18:34,35) It is as though when forgiveness is extended to us it is then retracted if we do not extend forgiveness towards others. God reinstates our debts when we will not forgive. That’s quite intense…

In other words, we forfeit the forgiveness we have in Christ when we choose not to forgive others. Any unforgiveness makes us incapable of receiving and walking in the forgiveness that Jesus purchased for us at the cross. “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Mat 6:15). 

Notice that Jesus mentions at the end of the parable that forgiveness has to come from the heart. We sometimes pretend to be willing to forgive but we expect the other person to ask for forgiveness first. But did God forgive us after we asked? Actually, He provided forgiveness for us before the foundation of the world, long before we became aware we even needed it.

Unforgiveness is one sin that many of us have to contend with. In fact, most everyone has been hurt at one time or another, and have not been able to resolve the issue. We even hold unforgiveness towards God. When people are horribly abused or greatly wounded, we tend to take it out on God and say, “Where was God then?”  He had the power to stop this from happening. Why didn’t He do anything?” Pride is oftentimes what hinders us the most from receiving God’s forgiveness.

There’s also the kind of forgiveness where we also must forgive ourselves. If we do not forgive ourselves, we act as if we have sinned beyond forgiveness and we hold ourselves to a higher standard than God does. In essence we’re saying that Jesus died for all sins but mine is the exception the almighty God cannot forgive. We declare our sin as more powerful than Him. It is pride and arrogance to think that way.

There are many reasons or excuses why we choose not to forgive. If you think you have a right not to forgive, you then exact upon yourself an extreme cost. It will strangle your future and leave you without hope. Remember unforgiveness has torments.

If you think they don’t deserve to be forgiven, you’re right, chances are they don’t. Neither do you. Mercy does not come to the deserving. Only justice does. But forgiveness is for those who don’t deserve it. Our view of God is often reflected in how we treat others. Those who say that others don’t deserve to be forgiven usually don’t believe that they deserve to be forgiven themselves and often have difficulty trusting God.

“I have tried but I can’t forgive.”  Those who say this, have often given up after making an honest effort, but they usually came short of blessing the other party. Actually, forgiveness is only half of the whole process; it takes the extra effort of blessing that person to complete it and make it stick. Jesus said we’re not only to forgive our enemies but to also pray for our enemies and for those who persecute you. At the cross, He not only forgave His enemies but He asked His Father not to hold this charge against them.

If you don’t follow through all the way to blessing, you remain on the Merry-Go-Round of unforgiveness and never getting past zero, which is the remittance of their debt in full. This will frustrate and dishearten anyone. The act of blessing actually requires much less effort than flopping back and forth between trying to forgive and yet returning to square one every time.

“Okay, I will forgive them someday but I’m not ready now.” If you think you can wait until you think you’re ready, it will never happen. It has to be a definite decision “from the heart” to resolve the issue, once and for all. Jesus clearly said, “…unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”  

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Eph 4:31). 

We sometimes think we’re not genuine or sincere unless we really feel like forgiving. Remember, emotions are not always reliable. “He who trusts in his own heart (emotions) is a fool but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.” (Pro 28:26). Forgiveness begins with a decision for good and we can make that decision regardless of how we feel. It’s a choice that determines a move in the right direction, not our feelings; and that holds true for both forgiving and blessing that person.

Lastly, forgiveness, reconciliation and trust are all separate issues. Once trust has been violated it is not easily restored. Forgiveness can be granted but trust must be earned. A battered wife for example should forgive her husband, but forgiving him doesn’t mean that she has to put herself in the same abusive situation. Forgiveness makes it possible to re-establish trust but does not guarantee it.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” (Eph 1:7-8) 

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” (unforgiveness) springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” (Heb 12:15). 

What is it that Christians believe? And how does it differ from other religions? Simply put, Christianity is not a religion.

Why? It is the only faith that offers redemption to the whole man. It is not a momentary relief, or a simple peace of mind, but it is a full-on transformation of the inner man. Man is made a NEW creature.

When Jesus was on Earth, His message was, “repent, for the kingdom of God is here”. Could they actually see the kingdom, or could they see God? No. They had to accept what He said by faith. However, Jesus demonstrated through miracles that His claims were true. Jesus could do what no other man had ever done.

Christians believe that they have changed citizenship, they now are citizens of another kingdom. They have passed from this present world, to the kingdom of God. And it has happened through one sacrifice that paid the price for all of mankind’s sin. Through the death of Jesus, a man without sin, the son of God, righteous and pure, mankind was offered redemption from the penalty and the condemnation that the sinful nature of mankind sentenced him/her to.

This redemption allows for all men and women to return to a personal relationship with their Creator, God. That’s the Good News that Jesus brought on the Earth. It’s the liberating good news that man is no longer a slave to his sin nature, but reunited to their Father, in a child-father relationship.

The Christian believer must believe in incredible things: that Jesus was born of a virgin who was impregnated by the Spirit of God, that His blood was pure and without guile, that He was crucified and then rose from the dead. All that takes faith to believe… a lot of faith.

Christians must believe that Jesus is alive now and that He lives in and through the life of all believers. They must believe that He’s given all believers His Spirit so they could live eternally as He does, and that through that Holy Spirit, He gives the believer the authority to do all that He did, and more. That’s why Christianity is not a religion, but an empowered life. 

Most religions require good works, penance, constant culpabiliy and  confession of sins in order to deserve redemption, along with ongoing offerings, self denial and self-torture, veneration and adoration of sacred things and/or saints, along with the recitation of prayers, all sorts of good works to merit eventual salvation.

But Christianity stands alone because God engineered a new agreement between man and God; a New Testament so that from hereon, the only requirement is believing and receiving that one sacrifice from His son, Jesus. –That one sacrifice would not only blot out all previous and future transgressions but also empower the life of any man/woman by the seed of God’s Word received in receptive and a fertile heart.

If I were a professional marketer, this would be the very best of all deals to offer anyone. This would be the “American Dream” on steroids. This is the best guarantee ever given to any man. Guaranteed eternal security, safety and protection, ongoing health care, and peace of mind, along with deliverance from all woes. And it’s all FREE. I couldn’t ever think of a better offer. The good news is the best news ever. 

Christianity not only brings a new identity to the believer, but dignity to all human beings. Why? Because God created you to be like Him. And to have His life inside of you. He wants to eradicate the slavery that was imposed on mankind by the devil and make you His child, as was originally intended at Creation.

The full inheritance of sonship was made available with only one requirement: faith in the redemption that His son paid for. Christianity makes you royalty and makes it possible for you to walk with God and to become fully empowered as an heir to bring the kingdom of God on Earth.

Christianity offers the greatest freedom ever offered to man. It eliminates worry and fear. How? Because having become a child of God, you’re guaranteed the ongoing love of God. It eliminates depression and condemnation; it eliminates financial stress and servitude. Why? Because He’s promised to provide all your needs. It eliminates anger, envy and bitterness and all negative emotions, because He has made you a new man and He gives you His Word to renew your mind with the incorruptible seed of God. Pure and truth-filled.

Plus, Christianity frees you from all the ills of society such as selfishness, lust, greed, lethargy, pride, etc. Why? Because your identity is now in God. You’re no longer at the mercy of the evils of the world. Even the best of the world’s politics can only change man from the outside in, and still, it doesn’t work. But God changes man from the inside out, and makes him a new man, filled with integrity and righteousness.

That’s the good news of Christianity and that’s why it’s not a religion. It’s a NEW LIFE.

At the turn of each year, my father would gather all of us children, and one by one, he’d lay hands on our head and speak a blessing for us. See  “A Father’s Blessing”.

My wife and I have continued with this tradition and have expanded it to a candlelight ceremony, but on the night before the New Year. Just before midnight, we’d all sit together in a circle, in a fairly dimly lit room, with one big candle lit up on a small table in the middle of the group, which represented Jesus. And each one was holding a small candle, but not yet lit up. (You could put the bigger candle in a large bowl of water, and as the smaller ones are lit up, they could be place to float in the bowl)

And we took turns sharing heart-felt lessons from the past year, along with our respective resolutions for the year ahead. When it came to your turn, you’d first light up your candle from the big candle (Jesus), then share what you had prepared to say, and afterwards place your lit candle next to the big one.

We’d all have to cover 3 main points.

1. What you’re most thankful for; something meaningful that has affected you for good or has brought you to a great victory.
2. Your greatest desire and resolution for the year to come; what do you want God to do in your life?
3. What Bible verse that you would want to claim for yourself for the coming year.

When they were little, we, as parents, went to each child during the day of the 31st of December, and helped them individually to prepare for this candlelight service, to formulate what they wanted to share. They each wrote those three points on a piece of paper which they themselves kept for years, usually in the back of their Bible. That yearly candlelight service is the one thing that our children have the fondest memories of.

It accomplished a few wonderful things in the hearts of each of our kids. It made them all take stock of their spiritual progress, and emphasized all the wonderful things God was doing for each one, during the course of each year.

At the end of the candlelight service, I, as the father, would take a moment to lay hands on each child and bless them. The blessing of a father is something that was always considered very important in the Bible. And, again, our children would remember and cherish those blessings.

See “A Father’s Blessing”

Remember, the greatest responsibility ever given to man by God, bigger than the one of the pastor, was given to a parent; to raise their children in the ways of the Lord. If you ever wanted to be a great missionary, if you’re a parent, you are God’s #1 missionary, because you have the greatest and most important responsibility towards your children, to raise them in the ways of the Lord and to guard them from the world, so that they can stand strong for the truth, and to lead others towards the Lord.

That assignment is one of the most important in the world today.

😊 Have a HAPPY New Year.

PS : As a parent, you may consider gathering the friends of your children and make this ceremony a tradition in the neighborhood, so they too partake of this heart moving moment. It makes for a powerful testimony.

We want to share with you Rick Warren’s beautiful Christmas message. It’s so right on.

“Merry Christmas to everybody! By now you may have opened all of your Christmas gifts.  But this Christmas morning I want to talk to you about the greatest Christmas gift you will ever receive. –And you may not have opened that particular gift yet!  The greatest Christmas gift is God’s gift to you!–And it is the whole reason we celebrate Christmas!  It is talked about in the greatest verse in the Bible!–The most famous verse in the Bible: John 3: 16.

Throughout history literally billions of people have memorized this verse!  Why is John 3:16 so important? For one,  it explains the reason for Christmas, and also, it summarizes the Bible in a single sentence. Plus, it shows you how to settle your eternal destiny, then, how to build a friendship with God, and lastly, how to get into His family!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jn 3:16).  This is the Gospel in a single sentence!  It is the “good news” in a single sentence.  

God’s Christmas gift involves the greatest passion!  “God so loved the world.”  In the original Greek the word “so” is an adverb of intensity.  He loves you intensely, passionately!  That is God’s passion.  God’s love for you is extravagant, lavish and beyond comprehension.  No one will ever love you with the intensity that God, Who created you, loves you.

There are several outstanding verses in the Bible which talk about God’s love for you.  In Eph 1:4 says this, ”Long before He (God) layed down the earth’s foundation God had us in mind and He settled on us as the focus of His love.”  Before God created anything else, God thought of you!  God created the universe because He wanted a family to love.  This means that God has always loved you!  Before God created the world to sustain you in life, He planned your life.

God shows His love for you every single day!  Psalm 145: 9, 10 says, “The Lord is good to everyone, He showers compassion on all of His creation!”  God has never made a person that He doesn’t love.  Everything in life is a gift of God’s love!  God gave His gifts of love to you whether you loved Him or not.

God’s love for you is unconditional.  There is no situation in which God will ever stop loving you.  Human love wears out.  But God’s love never wears out. Human love has limits, but God’s love never ends.  The Bible says in Romans 8:39, “Nothing in all of creation is able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.”  God’s love, this kind of love that is constant, continual, everlasting, continual…that kind of love is the first part of God’s great gift of love for you.  It is His passion for you.

Eph 3:18,19 says this, “May you be able to feel and to understand how long, how wide, how deep and how high God’s love really is and experience this love for yourself!”  God’s love is everywhere!  His greatest expression of love is giving His Son to bring you to Him!

God ‘gave” His only begotten Son!  Jesus came to earth in human form.  Jesus became a man.  That little baby that we celebrate on Christmas day…Who was that baby?  Col 1:15 says this: “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.”  If you want to know what God is like, take a long look at Jesus.  In John 14: 9 Jesus says this: “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  Jesus was God in human form!  He didn’t meet us halfway, He came all the way!

Jesus didn’t come simply to live, He came to die.–To die for our sins. In Romans 5: 8 it says: “God put His love on the line for us by offering His Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to Him.”  God is a God of LOVE, but He is also a God of judgment and when there is a “wrong”, it has to be made “right”, there has to be “justice”.  Jesus came to correct what was wrong.  He came to pay for our sins so we don’t have to pay for our sins.  He came to give grace.

Because the Kingdom and Heaven are perfect, and we are not, we needed a Savior to get us “in”.  The good news of Christmas is that everything we have ever done wrong has already been paid for.  That is why Jesus came to earth!  That is God’s Christmas gift to you.    “When Jesus served as a sacrifice for our sins, He solved the sin problem for good.  Not only our sins, but for the whole world (1 John 2:2)”.

What actually happens when I receive God’s Christmas gift?  The Bible says in second Corinthians 5:21: “God took the sinless Christ and poured into Him our sin.  Then in exchange He poured God’s goodness into us.”  That is the greatest gift you will ever receive. 

God also has the greatest proposal for you in the verse John 3:16.  “Whoever believes in Him, shall not perish.”  That is a promise!  Notice who this offer is for.  ‘Whoever’.  In Titus 2: 11 it says this: “The free gift of eternal life is offered to everyone.”  In Acts 10:35 it says, “It makes no difference who you are, or where you are from, if you want God and are ready to do what He says, the door is open.”

In Romans 10: 9 it says: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  This is the greatest gift!–And it has been given on Christmas day!

Did you know that there’s Irrefutable mathematically and scientifically proven facts about Christmas? Those facts are hidden in the phenomenon of the Star of Bethlehem. Did you ever wonder what that star was, and how can a star stop in the sky? The star of Bethlehem was a real astronomical event.

The German astronomer Johannas Kepler discovered the laws of the planets in the early 1600’s.  He discovered the math of the universe, and this math has now been put into software for us to discover more.

Following Kepler’s mathematical calculations and the 9 clues given in the book of Mathew about the events that took place at the time of the birth of Jesus, we can pinpoint accurately the date of the Magi’s visit to Bethlehem.

Astronomy is not astrology.  Astronomy is the study of God’s creation of the stars and planets.

Did you know that God takes credit for the creation of the stars and the planets in the book of Job (Job 38:4-42:6). God is the maker of the constellations. He tells Job that he is running the constellations and stars.  Isaiah 40:26 also says that the stars are named and that God has them right where they should be. And David says in the Psalms that the stars communicate.

The Bible treats the stars as indicators, somewhat like a thermometer does with temperature. And Jesus said that signs would be in the sun, moon and the stars.

Again, in the book of Mathew, there are 9 clues that indicate the time of Jesus’ birth. I’m hoping that I’ve whet your appetite enough to entice you to watch the following documentary with your family, which gives infallible proofs of the Star of Bethlehem and its timing and meaning.

And there’s more… Much MORE. It’ll blow your mind. It sure did mine…

https://youtu.be/55VRdLnkvDw

 

Happy Christmas

Linda took off yesterday on a two day drive to go care for Mother in Iowa. The nurse who’s attending to her has been out of commission for nearly two weeks. But Linda hit a deer on the road near a small town South of Kansas City and she was all worried 😫. We were prepared to give our vehicle to the nurse since her car gave up the ghost and she was not able to drive it. I told Linda, “Don’t give the devil any time, any attention, any credit. God’s going to get glory out of this… there is never any condemnation… for us. God is going to use you in this little town to touch some people with His love.”

Already, the manager of the hotel gave her a room for free. Two people have come to her pouring out their heart and just weeping over her shoulder and thanking God that they met her.

She must stay in that little town until Monday when a new radiator will be delivered to the mechanic. But in just one day, so many people have been touched by God’s love and have come to know the Lord. So, the devil’s nose has already been smeared in the mire for trying to distract our plans. God is getting so much credit and glory out of this.

If we’re faithful to shine God’s love and light wherever we are, if we’re constantly being Jesus to whomever we meet, the devil’s plans will always be foiled and God will always get the glory.

I’m presently volunteering in helping a brother build a missionary/discipleship training center, Linda is going back to help Mother, and to donate our van, and trusting God for her return.  I said to her, “Everything we’re doing at present is giving God’s love, and He’s got our back and our wallet and He’ll look after us as we keep loving and caring.” So, we keep winning and the devil keeps losing. Wherever we go, wherever we are, “We’ve come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” Because we are the light that people need. We have the truth that people are searching for, and we carry the love of God that people are starving for.

When walking around that little town yesterday, Linda met a young Christian couple, quite onfire for Jesus and they introduced her to their pastor. He listened to Linda’s testimony and her being all excited about being there instead of being bummed out about hitting the deer and her car needing all that mechanical work. The pastor said, “Wow, what an attitude! I think I’ll change my sermon on Sunday to tell my congregation how there’s no inconvenience in the life of a believer! –If only we’re willing to turn everything over to God and ask Him to serve lemonade out of our spilled lemons.” 😂

What a Joy He’s given us in being able to see God in everything.

How are we to establish the Kingdom of God on earth? By reflecting the character and nature of Christ, not just His power. In some way, power is easy, you don’t have to change your character to walk in power. But to walk in holiness, you’ve got to emulate the character and image of Jesus. Those people who were rejected when Jesus said, “Depart from Me, I never knew you,” (Mat 7:21-23) had the power, since they had done all those things in His name. But they had no character.. they were workers of iniquity.

We’re here to represent Jesus and therefore should walk in the light. We’re children of the Light and there should be no darkness in us. “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1Jn 1:6,7). 

People cannot be free unless they come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4). We’re not against people, we’re against lies, and want to help people find the truth. Jesus said, “If you continue (living) in My Word, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (Jn 8:32). That’s why the Word can’t be compromised, because it compromises the truth.

We are all at different levels in our Christian walk, and we don’t want to raise condemnation amongst our brethren, but if someone wants to know more truth, we must give it to them, unashamedly. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Eph 4:29). 

Jesus compared us to the salt of the earth (Mat 5:13). Salt used to be considered highly valuable, so much so that people used to be paid in salt; that’s why the expression, “He’s not worth his salt.” Salt heals, it purifies, it seals and preserves. And of course, it enhances flavor. We’re supposed to bring flavor and meaning to every conversation, and light to shed truth on our every interaction.

0nce we know the truth, we’re accountable, and consequently, remaining silent cannot be an option. That’s why the rest of the verse says, “But if the salt has lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” (Mat 5:13). 

Salt is only good outside the shaker. We have the truth and must share it. Whenever anyone is in need of answers, the first place he/she should come to, should be to the believers. Our character should reflect on people around us and provoke them to “good works”. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12). “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.” (Jn 12: 45). 

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14). 

“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Eph 5: 7-10).

When seeking a healing, it is very important to understand that it is God’s will to heal, completely, and for us to keep that healing. Jesus demonstrated this everywhere He went.  “Healing every sickness and disease among the people.” (Mt 9:35). And, “Great multitudes followed Him and He healed them all!” (Mt 12:15b). “As many as touched Him (Jesus) were made perfectly whole.” (Mt 14:36).

Jesus not only wants us to be healed, but He wants to keep us healed so that the life and abundance of His power will flow through us so that we can minister that same healing for others.  “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.  And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If ye ask any thing in My name, I will do it.”  (Jn 14:12-14). 

The Lord should be glorified in us, just like the Father was glorified in Jesus through what He manifested on earth for all to see, hear and feel!  We should be the first to partake of God’s miraculous presence in our lives for people to see Him manifested and the Word working in our lives.

So, when we have prayed for a specific healing and we don’t see the manifestation of the healing that we desire, we must remember that God is not withholding that healing! Also, if we receive a healing, and then the sickness or disability returns, that doesn’t mean that God has withdrawn the healing.

When we are born again and have made Christ our Lord, and we have the Holy Spirit, we have every right to receive our own healing. Just like the woman with the issue of blood!–She simply reached out to touch Jesus and received her healing!  She must have been following His works, and heard testimonies from others…’as many as touched Him’ were made whole! (Lk 8:44).  And, as well, we can receive healing from someone else laying hands on us, but the thing to stand on is that healing was accomplished in the aronement by what Jesus did!  “And He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon HIM, and by HIS stripes, we are healed!” (Is 53:5). 

Once we have prayed for our own healing, or have had someone else lay hands on us, that is a very important point in time.  This is where we should just take our stand and count that healing done!  Just make a statement like, “I receive my healing right now!  (On that time and date.)  This is when I have taken the stand and by His stripes, it is done!”  It is vital to not back down just because the manifestation does not come right away.  If it does not, then it is time to go to battle as the enemy will try to steal that healing away from you.  He wants you to believe that God does not love you personally, and that He won’t heal you.

So, now, just saturate yourself in the Word on the subject continually and prove to yourself that God is definitely concerned about your healing!  During this time, when you get hit with a doubt, a fear or worry, just proclaim something like this:

–I am healed by His stripes.  I was healed by His stripes then, so I am healed now!  By His stripes it was done, then and it is in effect for me today!  My healing is a done deal! I believe this and it is for me personally!”

Just keep quoting those scriptures which pleases God!  “But without faith (in His Word), it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (He 11:6) Standing on His Word and continually claiming His Word is where the battle is won!  The devil hates the Word and he will eventually give up when he sees that you simply won’t give up!  And we must not give up because the FACT remains that God has healed us when we prayed and stood on His Word!

When we question, doubt, fear or worry, we are just letting the enemy get a huge foothold and we will have to begin at square one.  But just go back and begin again!  And a most powerful way to combat those attacks is through praise!–Thanking Him for the healing and deliverance that He has given!  Because healing is ours!  Yours!  It is for everyone!

 

 

Did you know that God puts the FEARFUL and the UNBELIEVER in the same category as the murderers and the whoremongers ? “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”. (Rev 21:8) 

Imagine this…. fear and unbelief are in the same list as those other bad guys. Those 2 sins are no small things to the Lord, and are deserving of the lake of fire.

Paul said to Timothy, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of sobriety” (2Tim 1:7). The Holy Spirit is the spirit of power to stand in faith. It is the spirit of Love and it has powerful compassion, mercy, sympathy and empathy. And the sound mind is an authoritative stance with sobriety and clarity of thoughts.

Remember during the Exodus, when 12 spies were sent to check out the promised land “before the children of Israel were to go in and take it“. That was the plan! But they brought back some good news about the milk and honey and the massive clusters of grapes, AND they also brought back BAD news. They told the  people that there were Giants in there and there were walled cities, and they dwelled on the impossible so much that it says, the whole crowd wept in despair…

Caleb, on the other hand, stilled the people and said, “Let us go up at once and possess the land, for we are well able to take it” (Num 13:30). That attitude came from knowing God was with him, because God had promised the land to them. The promised land is promised to all of us, but you’ve got to go in and take it. It’s not a “given”, you’ve got to believe God for it. It’s faith that pleases God and appropriates God’s promises. 

You and I are in our land of promise right now! Earth is our promised land, not heaven… This is where we have been given dominion over, and have to fight to win. There are no people that need healing in heaven, there are no devils to cast out, nor any people to lead to the truth. Our work is here on earth. God said, “anywhere you put your foot, I will give it to you” (Josh 1:3, Deut 12:24)

Here on earth, is where we must believe God against anything we feel, hear or see. Our fight is a fight of faith, the same as with the children of Israel. That’s why Heb 3:19 says, “So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest”. The writer goes on to say, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the (promises of the) living God.” (Hebrews 3:12)

The promised land is ours. But God is looking for people to take it. Those who will say, “no matter what, I’ll trust God”. We, believers, look at the things that are unseen through the eyes of faith and call those things that are not (yet) as though they were. We believe now, for what is coming to us, the same as the farmer does when he plants seeds. We keep looking at the end result UNTIL the end result is the desired result.

Is there any time you’re not to trust God’s Word? Well, not according to Joshua whom God chose as Moses’ successor. He commanded him to go in and take the land and told him, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8,9). 

There it is: don’t go in fear and unbelief, but “Be strong and courageous”. 

Fear and unbelief, are usually not that distant from faith. Most of the time, you’ll actually agree with God’s Word, but just not right NOW… When you are saying, “I know God’s going to heal me”, you’re not agreeing with the Word of God. You’re simply agreeing with your 5 senses. The Word says, “by His stripes, I was healed”.  There’s no “maybe” in there. Faith in God’s Word is what will change your present circumstances, not relying on your emotional and circumstantial position.

The 10 spies came back with an “evil report”. What was evil about it? The fact that it did not stand by what God had said. And look what that evil report caused… it says, “all the people wept, and they murmured and then, turned against Moses and against God” (Num 14:2). And they said, “would to God that we had died in the land of Egypt”. What they said came upon them. They took God out of the picture, and people were faced with impossibilities. Whereas, as soon as you put God in the picture, now we are “well able”! –the possibilities open up.

It takes no brain (nor any faith) to report the obvious. Who needs that guy on a committee that’s looking for solutions. He keeps saying, “well I’m just stating the facts, I’m just trying to be real.” Nobody will pay you to report the problem that everyone can see.  We’re looking for men who can see what can’t be seen. The true reality is found in the book of possibilities–the Bible. “With man it is impossible, but not with God, for with God, all things are possible” (Mat 19:26). Faith is stepping out of our comfort zone and looking to God’s Word for the desired result.

Remember how the spies said “and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers. And we were in their sight as grasshoppers” (Num 13:33). The way you view yourself is the way your enemy will see you. Fear is visible. Animals particularly can sense fear. Your image of yourself cannot be self-image. It has to be a Christ-image. Your confidence has to be in Christ.

Faith is also visible. It’s not a self-assurance position, but rather a stance of strong belief in Christ. It says, “out of weakness were made strong“ (Heb 11:34) All those people in Hebrews 11 were people with like-passion as we are. Here’s what it actually says, “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Heb 11:33,34). 

Faith is a choice. You decide to take a stand. You decide to face the impossible and you bring out the possibilities through your faith.

Remember how Jesus healed people at a distance, which shows there’s no distance to faith. As proof, you can be speaking with someone across the world over the phone, and your words will affect them the same as if they were next to you.

This happened a  number of times in the Bible, particularly with the foreign woman who was asking for healing for her daughter who could not be there, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

(Mark 7:25-30). The same happened with the centurion who came to Jesus for his servant who was tormented and this man told Jesus “just say the word only and he will be healed” (Mat 8:8). And Jesus was totally amazed at what he said. The Bible says, He marveled, and said, “I’ve not seen such faith, no, not in all of Israel” (Mat 8: 5-13). The centurion understood the power of words, with authority. He himself would command people who were at a distance and his orders would be followed.

This makes it clear that there’s no distance with faith. Healing can happen at a distance. We’ve seen many people healed over the phone, even across the world.

So if and whenever you hear of someone needing help, healing, comfort or whatever, you must not be distracted by the distance. Moreover, you don’t actually have to pray over the phone, if you receive an email, pray there and then and expect an answer. When Jesus prayed at a distance, it says, the person “was healed in the self same hour”.

The same happened in the book of Acts when Paul would send people to the sick person with a handkerchief from his body, and they would be healed (Acts 19:12). It goes to show that the power of God in your body is like a charged battery, it carries the life of God.

So, if someone is asking for prayer, regardless of where they are, just pray and expect the healing. It’s your faith that heals. “Just say the word only”.

Amen.

 

Christianity today is categorised as a religion. But Jesus can’t be classified with religions. He’s a King. He’s far above all religions. The world was changed by Him. And the Kingdom of God is the inheritance of believers. “It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom.” (Luke 12:32). That’s right… we’ve inherited a kingdom. It makes us “the head and not the tail”. (Deut 28:13).

The commonwealth of the kingdom means that wealth is common in the kingdom. In the Kingdom of God: “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches.” In the Kingdom of God, instead of the subjects dying to protect the king, the King died to protect His subjects.  Hallelujah.

It’s the only kingdom where we can walk right into the courts of the King and have intimate communications with Him, anytime we want. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (He 4:16). 

We’re so blessed, we’re so equipped and we’re so empowered.

We’re not subjugated servants, we’re empowered sons of God. Remember the prodigal son, when he decided to return to the father’s house, he said to himself, “I’m not worthy, I’ll ask my father to make me just a servant,” but the father ran to him and greeted him back as a son. He said, “My son who was once lost is found again“. God wants sons. (Lk 15:24).

The kingdoms of the world make their people “subjects”. But in the Kingdom of God, we’re all “family”. In fact, Jesus is the King of kings. We’re ALL made royalty. We’re a royal priesthood. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (1Pt 2:9).We’re a commonwealth of kings; not religious believers, but legal citizens of a kingdom. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power (legal right) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name (Jn1:12). The word ‘Christian’ was never used by Jesus. It was introduced by pagans in Antioch. Jesus called us SONS of God.

Jesus said that God is looking for true worshippers. “The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” (Jn 4:21-23).

 Jesus had to come to earth legally, in a body, that’s why throughout the gospels, He referred to Himself as “the Son of man”. The redemption that Jesus provided to mankind had to be accomplished from a legal standpoint. God could not come to earth as a Spirit and rearrange things after the fall of man, because He had given the earth to humanity. That’s why Jesus, coming as a man, could walk on the earth without breaking the Word of God because He was in the flesh, yet He was still God.

Remember, when the angel appeared to Mary, He told her, “The Spirit of the most High will come upon you.”

Did you know that a woman’s womb is designed in such a way that she can carry a baby and the baby’s blood never mixes with the mother’s blood? The mother’s blood and the fetus’s blood do not physically mix because they are separated by cell membranes in the placenta and the uterine wall. God did that before the fall… In His mind, God must have thought, “Just in case, I’m going to make arrangements for My Son.”

God cursed the serpent after the fall and later in Isaiah, chapter 7, God said something very unique to Satan concerning the woman. He said, “The same woman you convinced to pick the fruit is going to be your nightmare. I will put enmity between you and her seed and your seed.” (Also Gen. 3:14,15)

So God said, “I’m going to plant My seed in the woman and she’s going to grow a body from My seed to make Me legal. The blood of that woman will not mix with the blood of the child, because it has to be pure blood in order to forgive the sin of the world. So My Son will be in her legally, but with pure blood.” The Bible says, “For unto us a child will be born, and unto us a Son will be given.” The child will be born, but not the Son. The Son will be given. WOW, the wisdom of God.

So Mary is the mother of Jesus, but not the mother of Christ. She was impregnated by the Spirit of God, remember? God told Mary, “You shall name the child Jesus. But don’t name the Son. I already have the name for the Spirit. The body is Jesus, but the Spirit is Christ; Emmanuel (God with man).”  So Jesus, through His body, made Christ legal.

Jesus died on the cross, and paid the price with His body because in order for us to be forgiven, blood was required, and spirits have no blood. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.”  So in order to pay the wages (price) of sin, someone had to die. So Christ needed Jesus to die. That’s why He needed a body so that the price of sin could be paid.

The Bible says, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” Jesus died, but not Christ. That’s how Jesus could teach, “The Kingdom of God is within you.”  When you receive Christ by faith, you receive the Holy Spirit and you’re being reconnected back to heaven, and now God’s will could be done again on earth. “The Kingdom of God is love, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost.” (Rom 14:17).  

This is the same with healing. In order to heal us, God needed some stripes on the back of Jesus. It all had to be paid through blood.

In effect, Jesus took Christ to the cross to give His life. That’s why Christ said, “No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of Ny Father.” (Jn 10:18).  Can’t you just imagine Jesus talking to Christ, “Is there any other way to do this?” Christ says, “No, it was agreed before the foundations of the world.” And the Bible says, “And Jesus cried out, ‘Father, I know You have to leave for a couple of days, but don’t forget Me, don’t forget You promised if I lay the body down, I’ll take it up again.'” The Bible says that “after He had cried out, He expired“. That word means He released the Spirit and He died. And so we see that Jesus died, but Christ did not die. 

Christ descended to Hades, to Sheol, to Gehenna.  He walked into the dungeon of darkness.  Again, just imagine this scene!–He kicked open the door of the father of lies! Satan said, “What are You doing here?  You can’t come here! You need a body to come down here!” And Christ replied, “I have a body upstairs!  I’m leaving, but I’ve come to get some keys!”

He then put His hand into Satan’s belt, grabed a set of keys, and He said, “I didn’t come for you yet, I just came for the keys!” He then took the keys of death, hell and the grave. And He walked back into the dungeons of darkness, and started unlocking cells.

The Bible says, “He that descended also ascended, and He led captives free.”  He said, “Abraham, David, Joseph come on out of here! Moses, Joshua, Malaki, come on!  Jonah, Daniel, come on! Shadrach, let’s get out of here. I’ve come to resurect you.” The Bible says, “And the saints who were dead, raised up with Him and on their way up to paradise, they walked around the earth for a few days and then they went up with Him into paradise.” (Mt 27:52,53).

Another scenario to imagine is seeing Christ in heaven bringing the blood of Jesus before the throne. He poured it before the Father, and the Father said,  “The price is paid! Now the world can be forgiven when they believe in the sacrifice of My Son!” Christ said, “Now is the time for Me to go back to earth!” And the reality is that He went back into the body of Jesus and then raised Jesus from the dead! Christ was again legal in a body! Jesus then walked among His disciples and many others for 40 days. He breathed on His disciples and He said, “NOW, receive ye the Holy Spirit.” (Jn 20:22). Then Jesus departed.

The angels said, “This same Jesus, not Christ, this same Jesus that you see leaving shall return in like manner.” (Acts 1:11-14). But Christ said, “I go, but I will be right back, I’ll bring ‘the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit.'” Before leaving, He said,“I will not leave you all alone like orphans. I will come back to you. In a very short time the people in the world will not see Me anymore. But you will see Me. You will live because I live. On that day you will know that I am in the Father. You will know that you are in Me and I am in you.” (Jn 14:16-18). 

And in heaven, imagine Christ turning to Jesus and saying, “Thank You Jesus, You prepared a body for Me. They are forgiven, they are clean, they are holy by Your blood.” The Spirit could now come down to earth and come into our sanctified body, legally.” “The same Spirit which raised Christ from the dead lives in you.” (Rom. 8:18).

And now, we are not called the body of Jesus, but the church is called “the body of Christ“.

Anxiety is the plague of this century. People don’t know how to discipline their mind and control their thoughts. They’re at the mercy of the media. Therefore they live in fear, and have frequent anxiety attacks. Why? Because when you start worrying, the devil gets a hold of your mind and can spin it just about every which way. The same as when you’re plagued with jealousy, anger, bitterness, you then have no control over your thoughts. We were not created to manage negative emotions. Our mind spins out of control and causes our body to stress which causes maladies.

That’s why Jesus insisted on this one priority: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  (Mt 6:33). When you think on the things of God, and focus on trusting, then God provides peace, joy, love, and all the other gifts of the Spirit. (Gal 5:22).

At the re-birth, we’ve been re-created in His image. We now have the mind of Christ. We’re ambassadors of God on earth. And we’ve been given the Spirit of God to guide us in our every move. We’re to use the talents and gifts God gives us to grow the kingdom. “Seek first the kingdom” means focus totally and only on enforcing the kingdom of God in your life. “All good gifts come from God”, and for His purpose.

Jesus taught a basic principle to help us manage the kingdom. He said, “don’t worry about food and raiment, for after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” (Mat 6:32). That means, don’t fret, don’t stress, don’t fear.

Our thoughts have to be constantly on the Kingdom of God because whatever we magnify in our thoughts, whatever we focus on, we become the slave of. “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Rom 6:16).

Our thoughts are very important. They will ultimately define our destiny. James says that our tongue is the rudder of our boat, what we speak, we become. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Mt 24:34b). Meaning that our thoughts become our speech and our speech becomes our destiny. It all starts with our thoughts. That’s why Jesus kept repeating, “Take no thought, don’t worry, don’t fret, don’t be anxious, don’t fear, don’t focus on tomorrow’s problems, focus on the kingdom.” (Mt 8:26; Mk 4:40; Mk5:36; Lk 12: 4,5; Lk 12:32; Jn14:27; Jn 16:33). 

This principle of not worrying about tomorrow is all throughout God’s Word.  God tells us to stay fixed on what He says: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:8,9).

God told the children of Israel, when they were in the wilderness, to pick up manna for one day only or it would rot. (See Exodus 16). Why? He wants us to trust in His provision. God was angry when they picked up for two days and told Moses, “When will you start trusting Me?” He provides our daily bread, daily.

Yes, we are supposed to plan, but only as a farmer plans for his harvest by sowing seeds. But we are not supposed to worry and be anxious. Jesus gave so many parables explaining how the Kingdom of God operates. And most of the parables that He gave about money were over the fact that we are supposed to be good stewards, managers of what God gives us in terms of gifts, talents, or provisions. We are God’s representatives on earth. We’re His managers of the kingdom on earth.

If you were a king, needing to manage the affairs of the kingdom every day, would you be constantly thinking about your next meal or what you’ll be wearing? No, you’d be focusing on the more important affairs of the kingdom. That’s why Jesus said, “Take no thought about your needs…” (Mt 6:31-34).  Life is more than that, more than what? –More than worrying about your petty needs. If we say we love God, we must trust Him. Love and trust reinforce each other.

We know that Jesus died because we needed to be redeemed. But Jesus actually came to restore what Adam had lost through his disobedience. He had been given rulership over the earth at creation. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Gen 1:26-28). Because sin had contaminated the nature of man, the Holy Spirit could no longer abide in man.

Through Jesus’ sacrifice, man was made righteous by God’s grace through faith, and therefore the Holy Spirit could again abide in man. It was expedient actually for Jesus to leave so we could receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.” (Jn 16:7).

So the original purpose of the Holy Spirit was to help man fulfill his destiny as administrators and rulers of God’s Kingdom on earth. He was sent for us to fulfill God’s assignment. “The Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26).

The power of the Holy Spirit is to empower us to be like Jesus. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). “Witnesses unto Me” actually means, samples of Me, replicas of Me.

When Jesus healed people, it was so that they could be free to fulfill their destiny. Healing was not the end, but a means to an end. The power of the Holy Spirit was originally given to man to help him accomplish God’s will.

Remember, after the resurrection, Jesus said, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. As the Father sent Me, so send I you. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Mt 28:18-19). —Same assignment, same commission. And then, “He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” (Jn 20:22). –the same as was done by the Father at Creation. “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Gen 2:7). So again, the end purpose of the redemption was really to restore the presence of the Holy Spirit to man so that man could regain the power to rule in order to bring the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

This empowered rulership is not a skill. It’s first inborn from the Spirit. When a person receives the revelation of who he/she is in Christ, his/her spirit is transformed. We then start seeing opportunities everywhere. We no longer see problems. We can surmount anything, because we have the revelation that we were born for excellence. Rulership is a revelation in the Spirit. Transformation through revelation.

The prophet Samuel explained to Saul what really happens when God anoints you. “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over His inheritance?” (1 Sam 10:1). In other words, He appoints you as a manager over His inheritance here on earth. That’s really what happens to each one of us when we receive His Holy Spirit. We’re being made into another person. God changes our heart (v. 10).

Later, Samuel gives Saul a number of things to do, and after that, he said, “Do whatever you should do, because the Lord is with you.” (v. 7). The Holy Spirit will anoint you in whatever you do. Why? Because God is with you. “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.l” (Eph 1:13).

The spirit of authority and dominion over our circumstances is our God-given gift and when you receive the Holy Spirit, you then realize you’re supposed to be excellent (holy) as your Father is Holy. The Holy Spirit comes into your heart and you cry Abba, and you know your rights as a son/daughter. You then realize you’re of the same DNA (Divine Nature of Abba) as your Father. “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.'” (Rom 8:15). What that basically means is that, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).

We take on the identity of our Father. The Holy Spirit brings on the spirit of rulership and dominion to help us fulfill our destiny, that is the power to overcome, and it makes it so that we are able and willing to do anything.

The work of the Holy Spirit in our life is an on-going process of becoming holy through sanctification. Through the conviction and power of the Holy Spirit, believers will not indulge the sinful acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-21) but will bear the good fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25).

So we must let the Holy Spirit transform the spirit of our mind regarding who we are… a son/daughter crying Abba, so we can walk as royalty with the authority given to us by God. We are fearfully and WONDER-fully made. Made for WONDERS.

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what He will make known to you.” (John 16:13-15)

“But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.” (Romans 8:10-11).

Why did Jesus, when sending His disciples, say, “As you go, preach THIS Gospel of the Kingdom?” (Mt 24:14). He didn’t send the disciples to announce a new religion, but His Kingdom.

If we label Christianity as a religion, we lower Christ to the level of Muhammad, Buddha, and all the gods of Hinduism and so many others. Christ is a king, not a religious leader. He is the King of kings. And He told Pilate before His crucifixion, “My kingdom is not of this world.”  He didn’t talk about religion. He talked about an actual kingdom. The Kingdom of God has returned to earth and Christ has empowered man to have dominion on earth through the Holy Spirit.

I had a misconception of what Christianity was all about. God said, “My people are destroyed because of their lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6). The message that Jesus preached was simple. “Repent, turn away from the world, because the Kingdom of God is here. I am bringing back the rulership of man on earth.” In other words, through His sacrifice, Jesus restored mankind into full sonship, and we now have access to the full inheritance of Jesus, and we are given His authority and power to be rulers and ambassadors of God on earth.

Only in recent years did I understand the revelation about the kingdom. I was saved, and my forte was to lead souls to Jesus, but I was not really introducing people to the Kingdom of God, but to a religion. I was not aware of the essence of the “new identity in Christ”, the authority that comes with it, and especially not that the “dominion on the earth” was restored to believers.

Of course I knew about joy and peace and all the gifts of the Spirit, but was not aware of the full commission that comes with the “born again”  experience. Jesus said, “As My Father has sent Me, so send I you.” (Jn 20:21). In other words, all believers are appointed and commissioned to bring the Kingdom of God on earth, the same as He did.

We may not all walk in all the gifts of the Spirit as soon as we’re born again, but as believers, we have truth and light and that makes us accountable to share it. “Except a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” (Jn 12:24).

We’re all called to deny ourselves in order to save the world. And while we may all go about it in different ways, our responsibility is to preach and teach the Kingdom of God. We’re all made ambassadors of the kingdom.

Our life on earth, in some ways, has ended the day we were born again. We died that day. We were crucified with Christ, and He now lives through us. (Gal 2:20). We changed nationality when we were born again. We now carry the passport of the Kingdom of God. Not only our identity is different, but we live under a different constitution, and because of the inheritance we’ve been given as sons, we have God-given rights that empower us to destroy the works of the devil in order to enforce the Kingdom of God on earth.

Jesus rose as the conqueror in a war against the devil by recovering the stolen rulership of the world. He came to reinstate eternal life and righteousness as it was intended from the beginning of the world. He came to restore the Kingdom of God on earth. And after His resurrection, He said, “All power is given unto Me,” (Mat 28:18) and in the same sentence, He empowered the believers and commissioned them to go preach and teach the Kingdom of God and make disciples.

Let’s face it, in the heart of every human on earth is a hope that utopia will come, either through religion or some form of government; But in the process we created a mess. The Bible says, “It’s not in man to direct his steps.” (Jer 10:23). We’re all looking for something better. We’re not happy with the life we’re living. We face sickness, debts, broken homes, depression, suffering, crime, prejudice, violence and divorce. We find all these ills even under democracy, which we think is the best form of government. The best we have ain’t good enough. We’re all looking for the one solution that will resolve all these problems. We’re looking for “that which was lost”.

But Jesus actually came to redeem THAT which was lost. And He introduced laws that are very different from the laws the world system was living by. We’ve tried all sorts of solutions through religion and government. We’ve even tried to separate religion and state. We don’t want morality imposed on the government. But how can you separate your values and convictions from your mode of operation? How can you tell your kids to be good without instilling good values in them? They won’t be able to stand on their own.

We tell the younger generation to not take drugs, but we tell them to not believe in God. We tell them not to have promiscuous sex, but don’t teach them the value of marriage. They have no moral compass to base their behavior on. To tell a young person to be celebate without moral conviction is abusive. That is demanding something the child cannot deliver.

In actual fact, the greatest of all human desires is power. To have the power to control our circumstances and our future. We want control over our money, our health, our education, our families, even over our government. We’re constantly in search of solutions. We want POWER over our circumstances because we see circumstances have power over us.

Let’s go to the gospels and look at Peter and John and the early disciples who were fishermen. When Jesus asked them to follow Him, what was it that made them drop everything and follow Him? Actually, they were businessmen; they caught fish to sell at the market. And that night, they had fished all night, and they caught nothing. Business was in trouble. The circumstances ruled over their business. The Bible says, they were depressed…

So Jesus said, “Let’s go back out.” And He said, “Cast your net on the other side.”  And they caught so many fish.

They saw the power firsthand. He had solutions. What they didn’t know is that Adam had shown up again. They saw a man who had the same power as Adam. Remember the first thing, when God gave Adam dominion, He said, “Have dominion over the fish of the sea.”  (Gen 1:20). For the first time in 4000 years, the fish heard the authoritative voice of Adam.

Jesus demonstrated power. Not just in commanding the fish to rush into the nets, (twice), but in healing the sick, in feeding the multitude, in turning water into wine, in stopping the wind and the storm. What kind of man can do this sort of thing?? They said, “What manner of man is this? The winds and the storms obey Him, evil spirits depart at the sound of His voice.” Even His preaching was so powerful that they said, “No man has ever spoken like this before.”

So, when Jesus called Peter saying, “Follow Me and I will make you a fisher of men.” It wasn’t just mushi-gushi love that motivated Peter. He saw power.

Jesus said, “I’m gonna teach you to do this with men.” Peter said, “I’m in…” And James said, “Me too.”  They saw that He was not just a Rabbi like any other, He had to be the one Messiah. And when Mary Magdalene became a devout follower of Jesus, she knew Jesus had power; she had been delivered of seven powerful devils.

The apostle Paul explains that Jesus was the second Adam (1 Cor 15:45-49). “As was the earthly man (the first Adam), so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven (Jesus), so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”  In the born again experience, we are made like Jesus, “in the likeness of the Man from heaven”. That’s so intense…

And that authority, that identity and the power of Jesus is passed on to us who believe. By being born into the Kingdom of God, we are empowered to enforce the will of the Father on earth as it is in heaven. The same as Jesus did.

(To be continued)

We’re supposed to be leaders. The Bible calls us the eagle and the lion. Both are leaders in their species.

Leadership is an attitude that we must have. The lion is not the tallest, the smartest, the biggest, nor the heaviest. He has all those limitations and yet he removes all excuses for not being a leader because of his perception of himself.

The lion sees the elephant as lunch. Even though the elephant is bigger, it is not a problem. He is conditioned by what he thinks. It’s your mind that makes you the leader. Attitudes generate behaviour. Attitude is a product of belief. The lion is the king because of what he thinks about himself.

Change the perception of who you are. We must discover we’re important in this world. We were all born to contribute something important to the world, especially when born again. We were taught that we’re just a social security number. But there’s more to each of us. We’ve been given so much at the re-birth, that we must take the responsibility of taking on the world around us.

We all have great ability, great aptitudes, and leadership traits that we were born with. But our mentality has to match those abilities. Our main objective in this life is really and truly to bring the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. And so we must take on the mindset of authority and dominion. That’s the purpose of Jesus’ redemption of man, to give back to man the dominion over the earth and to send us the Holy Spirit as our guide to help us to be managers in whatever sphere of influence and geographical area we live in.

Potential is nothing without the belief to power it. Our ability to lead is buried under our mentality. Confidence is a product of belief. It all comes down to our faith to believe what God has provided in grace for us to lead and be a light that brings truth wherever we are and salt to bring flavor and meaning to any conversation, meeting or conference.

Our attitude determines our altitude. Our aptitude cannot come forth without the belief that we’re chosen to lead. All of the abilities, gifts and talents, and attributes inside each one of us are trapped by our attitude, our faith. That’s why we must be fixed on our mission, even if we must change our friends based on our destination.

We’re not in this world to just live and die, but to make a difference, to change the world for good. We ought to want to die empty, like the apostle Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Tim 4:7,8)

We all should study leadership, because we’re all called to teach and share what we’ve been given. That’s discipleship 101: to teach others, to teach others (2Tim 2:2).

We’ve talked about the attitude of lions and let’s look at the eagles for a moment. They are the leaders of all birds and they’re feared by all. They can fly two to three miles up into the sky. They don’t fly with pigeons and ducks. So if you keep running into pigeons, you’re flying too low. Eagles fly alone. That’s one of the costs of leadership. You’ve got to let your faith lead you. And oftentimes, that calls for criticism. But you must ignore those who have no better intentions than to put sticks in your wheels. Critics have time to criticize. They’re not busy pushing a vision.

Trapped in every follower is a true leader. Leadership is a tree trapped in a seed. Leadership manifestation requires the right environment. You’re no different than a seed. Watch what you fertilize your seed with. Leaders chose their friends, because they can’t afford to hang around those who just just want to chill. Folks who are doing nothing in life want you to do it with them.

The spirit of leadership is a mindset that allows you to rise above the masses. Success keeps the right company. You’ve got to learn to be selective about who you spend time with because once you decide to fly higher, the morass will try to hinder you. People don’t want you to expose their nothingness.

We were all born with a leadership spirit inside of us. From a very young age we’ve all aspired to do great things. But convention makes no room for creativity. It trains you to limit yourself. Most conventional teachings point to the “norm”. It’s the “can’t be done” spirit which is the main device of the devil. We’re taught to be employed not deployed. So they box your potential. Look what happened to the spies that went into the promised land and saw the giants. They said, “And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers.” But compare that attitude to that of David facing his giant and said, “Who’s this Philistine who has no covenant with the almighty God?” If you think you’re a grasshopper, you’ll be one, and you’ll die one. In fact, that’s exactly what happened to them.

Parents have to instill a strong belief system in their children by encouraging them to create and to believe they can be everything they want to be. We can’t live beyond our belief system. Your life is the way you think it should be. “As a man thinketh…”  (Pro 23:7). That principle applies to raising children. Your kids value what you value. If you value TV watching instead of books, your kids will value TV and won’t read books. Remember if you’re a parent, you’re a discipler.

Leadership is inherent in our spirit. It cannot be taught. It must be discovered, self-discovered. Leadership is self manifestation, that’s why we must not let our past hold us back. We must focus on one gift, develop it, cultivate it, and distribute it. It’s not leadership until you serve it to the world, and the better you serve it, the higher you’ll rise. Leadership demands that you take risks. It is self exposure: you empty yourself for the benefit of others.

Look at different cultures; every Chinaman for instance owns a business, whereas in the USA people constantly look for a job. The difference is, one looks for an opportunity, the other for conformity. Stop looking for everything to show up before you start. Every leader doesn’t really know what he’s doing, he’s only following his vision.

The greatest mentor is Jesus.  When they asked Him where He was from, He said, “I came from heaven.”  He didn’t limit Himself to earth. It’s true of all of us. We may have been born in a small town, but we came through there. You’re not from there. You’re from heaven. That small town became too small for you.

Don’t limit yourself to your heritage or your ethnicity. Stop being white or black or yellow, that’s too limiting. Don’t let your ethnic heritage dictate who you can be. It’ll become your graveyard. Become like your Father. The source of your belief is the perception of your truth. What is truth to you determines what you do with your life. And it becomes the definition of your altitude.

Leadership is not first a technique. It’s first a belief. It comes from faith in what God says you are.

Here are some verses on believing in your potential…. 

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly;I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Isaiah 40:31 – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Philippians 3:13-14 – Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, looking into Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Hebrews 12:1-29 – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,   (Read More…)

Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

1 Corinthians 9:26 – I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

Acts 20:24 – But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Hebrews 11:1-40 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Matthew 24:13 – But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

The most important aspect of the Kingdom is management (See the parable of the talents in Mat 25:14-30.)

God calls us to be managers of His Kingdom on earth. The Kingdom is in the business of managing resources; souls, funds, property, community, rights, and yes, all resources on earth. Therefore, Christians should definitely study “business management” because it is a fundamental principle of the Kingdom of God. “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?” (Lk 16:11). 

Most people believe that God operates on emotions. If they can just get God to feel sorry for them in prayer, they can get anything they want. That’s not how it works. The Kingdom of God operates by laws.

We must start from the fundamental understanding that everything belongs to God, all resources on this earth belong to Him, and we are to be the managers of His resources. However, if we become focused on accumulating wealth for ourselves, we become driven by greed and are never content. Greed opens the door to many other sins.

King Solomon, who was the richest man who ever lived said, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.” (Eccl 5:10). He also said, “Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.” (Prov 11:28).

Jesus explained the difference between making money for yourself, which is greed, and being a manager of God’s money. He said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Mat 6:24). There’s nothing wrong with money, it’s the love of money (greed) that is the root of all evils.

He said, “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mk 7:22,23). All those evils are related and they all come from the inside.

Jesus warned against gathering riches for ourselves, “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Lk 12:20,21). And He goes on to tell His disciples not to focus on money, “Life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.” (Lk 12:15).

Greed is the mis-management of resources for personal benefits. You’re using God’s resources for your own. Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Lk 12:15). 

But God wants us to be financially smart. God made man to manage the garden…“Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground–trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.” (Gen 2:4). God had not yet sent rain on the earth because there was no man to manage the earth. God was withholding growth, because there was no man to manage the earth for Him. God’s motivation for the creation of the earth was for man to manage the ground by the principles of the Kingdom of God. 

I was raised in religion, and everything was always pointing to heaven, not earth. Yet in the very prayer template that Jesus taught, it says, “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” We’re supposed to manage His Kingdom here on earth. We’ve received the Holy Spirit to help us here on earth. Religion claims that God owns the cattle on a 1,000 hills, and yet there’s never any money. We claim, “The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous.” (Proverbs 13:22). But we see none of it. I ended up getting confused because I couldn’t see religion work for me. There were all those promises about finances, and I couldn’t see them working for me. Sure, He supplied my daily needs, but I couldn’t see how it could multiply to abundance according to His promises. I could see rich people and poor people and didn’t understand the principle.

But then, I had a revelation that God wants managers. The domination of the earth was to be through the management of His resources. God withholds and protects His resources from bad management. The principle “key” of the kingdom of God that was given to Jesus’ disciples was to “bind and to lose”, on earth, and heaven will back you up. We have been given authority to destroy the works of the devil to bring God’s kingdom to earth in every spere of community.

The topic of management is not addressed enough in church. It’s always about worship services, joining the choir, but God needs managers to extend His kingdom to the community. Management demands work, not miracles. In a way, miracles cancel out management. Miracles are like the lottery you gain without work. Money is attracted to diligence and good management. 

God is generous and compassionate in answering our desperate situations with miracles. And thank God for that. But it is sad that we should be waiting for a miracle from God to sort out the mess we got ourselves into, whether it’s “rent money”, or losing the house because we can’t pay the mortgage and we wonder why God didn’t come through… the mailbox. But a lot has to do with our own Mis-management which leads to poverty. (Lk 14:28-30 and Pro 10:4).

The definition of management is, “effective, efficient, correct, and timely use of another person’s property and resources for the purpose for which they delegated it, with a view to producing the expected added value.” That means, you don’t own it, you only manage it, and you bring it back with more value. A great deal of managing has to do with learning to be a good steward of what He gives you. The parable of the talents is all about that.

In prayer, God’s not apt to give us what we pray for, only what we can manage. If you don’t tithe, and you have a dirty house, you don’t take care of your car, He can’t answer your prayers in these regards. He’ll protect His resources from you. If He gave you what you’re requesting, it’d be bad management on His part.

God will not give you your own business until He sees what you do with another’s business first. What kind of employee are you? Do you rob your boss by arriving late, taking long breaks, wasting time on the job? God is watching and He’s waiting for you to learn to be faithful and diligent before He can entrust you with more. 

That’s why we can’t exclude our secular life from our spiritual life. It’s all the kingdom as far as God is concerned. And He wants us to exercise His authority in all areas of our lives. We can’t have a private life and a work, or public life. We’re God’s ambassadors everywhere.

God doesn’t play the lottery. He won’t give a million dollars to someone who’s not faithful with the little He’s giving them already. You buy a dress for $200, you spend $150 on your hair, and you tithe $20. Tithing really doesn’t have anything to do with God needing money. But it is a test of our stewardship and management.

Tithing and offerings is God’s management program for man. He doesn’t need anything from us and yet he wants 10% of everything. Because consistency in tithing shows that you remember Who’s money you’re managing. He’s checking your management discipline by your faithfulness to tithe. Tithing exposes your accountability, your discipline, your honesty, your diligence, your faithfulness and your trustworthiness. Those are all integral virtues in the character of a manager. 

Jesus had to feed 5000 men (actually closer to 12,000 people counting women and children) and He first organized the distribution by dividing them in groups of 50 and 100. Then, He multiplied the resources by changing what He had on earth to the kingdom’s laws, by first thanking His Father, Then gave it to the disciples to distribute to all.

And it says “all were satisfied”. And still, He asked His disciples to pick up the fragments. That’s a sample of diligence and good management.

God’s watching every little detail of your life to see if you’ll pick up the crumbs. Just think how this country is built on waste. We go to the buffet, and we waste so much food, and think nothing of it. God cannot encourage waste. God doesn’t give money to worshippers, He gives to managers, the good and faithful steward. He says, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

The worst thing that ever entered the body of Christ is “money is coming to you”. –“Name it, Claim it”– but haven’t you been claiming it since 1982? Yes, you can claim it, but you’ve got to act on it. That’s faith. Faith without works is dead. God withholds from bad management. “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.” (Pro 10:4). 

God said that He’s given us power to create wealth. (Deut 8:18). He WANTS us to have plenty of resources to further the kingdom. God doesn’t give you money, He gives you ideas. But we don’t want His ideas, we want cash.

(To be continued)

Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit is the most neglected person or the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is the energy with which God demonstrates His power. It is the power of God…the “dunamis”. It is the spiritual energy in us to show the power of God and it is the privilege of every believer.

After Jesus was raised from the dead, He met with His disciples and said “I’ll leave you responsible to reconcile the whole world to God”. “As My Father sent Me, so do I send you.”(Jn 20:21) The plan of salvation for the world is left to us and he told His disciples how to do it. “Go ye…Heal the sick, cast out, signs, wonders, and THEN preach”, but He said “wait before you go, wait for the Promise of the father. Wait, you’ll need the power to demonstrate the kingdom. He said, “John baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit and you’ll be witnesses unto me, (not, you’ll go out witnessing) you’ll be a witness of the power of God”.

All along, I was under the impression that the Holy Spirit will give you the power to witness, the boldness to stand up. Well, that’s one aspect, but even more, He’s the POWER to demonstrate, to do the signs and wonders. Let’s re-read Mark 16:15: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized (by the Holy Spirit) will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And [consequently, once you have the Holy Spirit] these signs [demonstrations] will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” This means that there can’t be preaching without demonstration. It’s unscriptural. It’s “hearing, without doing”. It doesn’t demonstrate the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Nowadays there is so much talk, and no demonstration of power. The Holy Spirit is the One who does the works. Power is imperative, not an option. You can’t do the work of God without the power of God. “As many as believe and be Baptised of the (Holy Spirit) these signs shall follow them”. It is so sad that we should be baptized in the Holy Spirit and we don’t do anything with it. We either misuse it or abuse it. Or else confuse it and refuse it.

Let’s face it, the biggest objection to Christianity is “I don’t believe because it doesn’t work. People don’t see the WORKing of the Word”. So they refuse to believe. There is no proof.

Or else, we abuse the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And thousands of people reject it. The Holy Spirit was given for signs (proof) to heal the sick, cast out demons, not to have a weird dance, a sceam and a show… Paul calls it “zeal without knowledge”. (Proverbs 19:2) The Word says, “one can chase a thousand, and two can put 10,000 to flight”. (Deut 32:30) But, as it stands now, you can have a couple thousand people in a gathering and still all those who came in sick, leave sick.

The Holy Spirit is not to raise a racket, He’s to demonstrate the POWER of God. The Church has a lot of information about the Holy Spirit but won’t use the power. Education but no demonstration. Theory but no practice. Knowledge, but no power. Excitement doesn’t get miracles. The Holy Spirit power does.

Remember how Jesus’ disciples all saw Him heal the sick constantly. They had information but not the revelation yet. Until Jesus gave them the POWER. He sent 70 of His disciples out and He didn’t just send them to preach. He gave them the power of the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, etc. Read it: “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” (Mat 10:7-8). And when they came back, They said, “you won’t believe what happened, everyone we laid hands on got healed, demons obeyed us, the blind could see, it was AWESOME.” –Here’s the actual account, “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name”. (Lk 10:17). It was unanimous, they all performed signs and wonders.

In the old testament, the Holy Spirit could not come in to the prophets, but rather came upon people. That’s why they’d say, “the spirit of the lord is upon me…” However, in the New Testament, the whole fullness of the Spirit God was in Jesus, in full measure, the Holy Spirit operated fully in and through Jesus. “After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him”. And John 3:34,35 says, “For He whom God has sent utters the Words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand”. 

So this is why Jesus had to tell His disciples, “Wait till I go up and fulfill the new testament with the Father and you’ll receive the “Promise of the Father”, the Holy Spirit will not only be with you, but IN you.

After His resurrection, He gathered the 12 and said, “As my Father sent me, so do I send you”. (Jn 20:21) And He BREATHED on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Before they were followers, but now they could be sons. Remember at creation when God BREATHED His Spirit in Adam and he became a living soul. He breathed His Holy Spirit from the start. So by sending the Holy Spirit in each one of us, it completed the mission of Christ; to bring back the Spirit into man so we could be fully empowered to represent God and bring the will of God on earth as it is in heaven.  We’re fully equipped to do the works of God as Jesus demonstrated. He said, “I do nothing of my own. I only do what My Father shows Me“. They are ONE, they all move as ONE.

Jesus never said that He performed miracles. He talked about the works of God. He said, “the works that I do, you will do also, and greater works will you do”. God works. “My Father is always working” (Jn 5:17). He transforms the impossible into the possible. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is the power of doing the “works” of God, the power to demonstrate that the kingdom of God is here, now.

The word used in Greek here for power is the “Dunamis” of God, meaning the “POWER of enablement”. The power to do it. Not just to go out “witnessing”, but to BE the WITNESS, the proof. It’s the demonstration that matters. Jesus said, “if you don’t believe the Words that I say, believe me for the works that I do”. In other words, I’m proving what I’m saying. “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God is come upon you” (Lk 11:20). 

When Jesus told the disciples that they would receive the Promise of the Father, He said, “and you shall be witnesses unto Me, not of the Gospel, but proof of My power, proof of the Kingdom, you’ll be able to prove that it’s the real deal. You will receive the “power of enablement”. You’ll be able to say that Jesus is the real deal. You’ll be able to say, “Here, let me heal your illness”. You preach the kingdom by demonstrating the power of the kingdom. 

Earlier, when Jesus sent out the 70, He gave them power. He imparted the Holy Spirit power on them before they went, but Jesus later told them that the Spirit shall be “in” you. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate (lawyer, to defend your rights) to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him [it’s ME], for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. [in the form of the Holy Spirit]. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me… Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” 

Jesus told His disciples “I’m giving you the same responsibility My Father gave me. I’m giving you the same job. “As My Father sent Me, so do I send you.” So, what was that responsibility? “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised (Lk 4:18). 

And He gave them the same Holy Spirit power to do the job with. We have the energy of God working through us. As soon as God speaks the Holy Spirit moves. The Holy Spirit activates God’s Word (Jesus). They all work together. That’s why Jesus said “we will make our abode in you”.

None of this resembles religious services, nor a one-hour-a-week acknowledging what we believe. The Holy Spirit is the bottom line of the Christian faith. You believe, you demonstrate. Less talk and more show. Less hearing, more doing, demonstrating! We have the charisma of God in us. The Holy Spirit is the energy of God that brings into reality what God says. Charismatic means filled with the charisma of God; the SPIRIT of God acting out God’s will through us.

Let’s demonstrate the gospel of the kingdom of God. Hallelujah for the Holy Spirit.

 “For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1 Cor 4:20) 

The Kingdom of God is not in word but in power. That means that the Word of God without the power of His Spirit has no effect on you. Jesus said so. (Mk 7:13). Paradoxically, the Word with the Holy Spirit power is alive and can do the impossible.

Jesus explained to the Pharisees that He couldn’t do the miracles He was performing without the power of the Kingdom of God. “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you.” (Mt 12:28). He was saying that in the Kingdom of God there are no diseases, disabled, insane, addicts, and people in bondages. And to reveal the Kingdom of God to humanity, the Gospel must have the POWER to set humanity free from bondages.

After His resurrection, Jesus gave instruction to the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit before they went out to witness, so that they would have the POWER. He said, “Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry you in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high.” (Lk 24:49). 

The Kingdom of God is not revealed in word but in power: miracles, signs and wonders reveal God’s Kingdom. When Jesus gave His disciples power, they were able to heal all manner of diseases and cast out demons. “And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them POWER against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” (Mt 10:1).

And when Jesus sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God, He said, “And as you go, preach, saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give.” (Mt 10:7-8). Jesus did not send His disciples to preach a powerless Gospel which has no miracles, signs and wonders. To the contrary, all of the early disciples operated in power. They did not just preach a gospel of mere words without miracles, signs and wonders. The Holy Spirit was sent from the Father for miraculous power. 

Paul said, “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” (1 Thess 1:5). And to the Corinthians, he added, “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” (1 Cor 2:4). The gospel preached by Apostle Paul was also accompanied by many miracles and wonders.

“For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” (Rom 15:18-19). 

The gospel of Jesus Christ has power; the true gospel is powerful; it is not of mere words without power. It demonstrates the POWER of the Kingdom of God. “And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, ‘The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.'” (Lk 10:9).

So the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ mission on earth was to bring us the Holy Spirit to empower us to demonstrate the SAME signs and wonders that He did while with us. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26). 

So in reality, the power of the Kingdom is synonymous to the Holy Spirit. He comes in no other way. He’s a demonstration of the power of God. He comes to activate Jesus Christ’s gifts in us. These gifts include, speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy, words of knowledge, etc. Each person has those gifts of the Holy Spirit and they will each be manifest as we practice them.

Every true disciple preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is followed by miracles, signs and wonders. Sick people do not want to be preached to first, but healed. People who are possessed by demons do not want to be preached at first, but set free from those demons. The disabled do not want to be preached to first, but told to rise up and walk. This is manifesting the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is not dead but living and powerful. Thus the Word with the power of the Kingdom of God is able to do wonders. A true “Jesus Christ” Gospel has power in the Word through which signs, miracles and wonders are seen, delivering people from bondages and revealing the Kingdom of God. The difference comes in pushing through in faith till you SEE miracles happen.

Without the power, the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be revealed through miracles, signs and wonders with delivering humanity from bondages. Without accepting the MIRACULOUS power, no matter how much you read the Bible, you will neither understand it nor will it change your life. For many have accepted the Word as the Word of God, and taken a form of godliness through reading it, but denied the power which changes a person.

Today’s preaching in many churches is powerless, except perhaps in words. But how do you preach to the sick, to the disabled, to captives? They need deliverance first, not preaching. How can the Gospel we preach not heal even one person? What’s the difference then? If the greatest of these is LOVE, do we love enough to push our faith through to a breakthrough for those in need?

Most preachers claim that the signs of the Kingdom of God are such as becoming earthly millionaires, living in large houses, driving big cars, and being successful, etc. That is a sign of God’s favor but It doesn’t differ much from the message of the power-preachers promoting self-sufficiency and self-success. Abundance wouldn’t have to be wrong, but only if the signs of healing the sick, casting out demons, etc., were first part and parcel of the message.

“THESE signs shall follow them that believe”. The Holy Spirit was sent to us to perform the miraculous. Worldly success does not mean that a person is manifesting the Kingdom of God; that a person is living the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God should come FIRST in priority. “But seek first the [manifestations of the] Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt 6:33). 

You can’t expect the supernatural when people walk in piously on Sunday morning, but the rest of the time, they are drunkards, in sexual immoralities, in adultery, boasting and showing off, money lovers, proud etc., because they have denied the power but have a form of Godliness.

“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of Godliness, but denying the [Holy Spirit] power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Tim 3:2-7). 

Let’s ALL believe for miracles, signs and wonders as we go and preach the [MIRACULOUS] kingdom of God. Remember, it starts with our faith, pushing through. We’re ALL called to the MIRACULOUS.

 What was Jesus’ main assignment on earth? What was the main reason He came to earth?

What was it that He came to preach?

Was it so that man could be born again?

Was it to redeem mankind of its sin-nature?

Was it to destroy the works of the devil?

Was it to be a witness of the truth as He told Pilate?

Was it to die on the cross or to resurrect from the dead?

All these are good answers, but the Word of God says that He came to redeem THAT which was lost. As soon as Jesus started to preach, He said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is here.” The “fall of man” was actually the loss of the dominion of man on earth. Man was no longer a representative of the Kingdom of God. So the promise of redemption was to restore the Kingdom. Man had lost the rulership of God’s Kingdom on earth.

God’s will is not only for man to be in Heaven. “Father, do not take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil.” (Jn 17:15). And He gave us the power to overcome evil through sending His Holy Spirit as our helper.

God’s intention (or will) was for man to rule on earth, as it is in heaven, with His authority and power. So the program of salvation was not only for us to have eternal life in Heaven, but to reinstate the Kingdom of God on earth and the rulership to man. All the other reasons for Christ’s coming to earth were essential parts of the main program but not the main goal. Calvary was only a part of the program, but not the ending.The cross was only a part of the program. Jesus didn’t preach calvary nor should we preach the cross. They’re part of the program that takes us to the good news of the Kingdom of God being reestablished on earth and reassigned to man.

The Kingdom was originally given to Adam. After Adam disobeyed, immediately God promised that He’ll get the Kingdom back. He told the serpent, “My seed will crush your head (authority)”  He more or less said, “Not to worry, we’ve got this, I’ll take back the government through my seed.”

Remember what Jesus said, “I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” (Lk 4:43). That’s why Jesus came, to regain that which was lost. The government of God. To return it to man. When you realize you’re a governor, your attitude changes. You can walk in peace. Because you know everything is covered by God, in the government of God.

Check out this prophecy in Isaiah 9:6-11: “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His Kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” 

God’s bringing back the power for you to overcome all your problems and to destroy the works of the devil as Jesus demonstrated. You’ve not only been made righteous, a son of God, but God’s promises are His children’s rights. Your rights are what moves God. Whatever your needs are. “And all these things (needs) will be added unto you.”

Jesus’ number one goal, after His resurrection, was to send the Holy Spirit back into everyone. “His Spirit into all flesh.”  The first thing He did was to breathe the Holy Ghost into His disciples (Jn 20:22). The goal of the cross was to “clean you up”, bring you back in fellowship with God, through Christ’ righteousness, so the Holy Spirit could get into you and you could manage God’s Kingdom, through Holy Ghost power. So, understanding how the laws of the Kingdom of God work is a very important thing.

So, we must preach and demonstrate (manifest) the Kingdom of God. –Not prosperity, not the cross, not healing, not casting out demons. All those aspects of God’s power and provision are byproducts of the power of the Holy Ghost, and our rulership as God’s children and co-heirs with Christ, on earth as His Viceroy of the Kingdom of God.

And we have the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our life, against which there’s no law. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Gal 5:22,23). 

(To be continued)

The Kingdom of Heaven is a place, but the Kingdom of God refers to the government of God. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus preached the “Kingdom of God”. The exact wording of “the Kingdom of Heaven” is only found in the Gospel of Matthew, more than 30 times. The phrase “Kingdom of God” is used in the New Testament more than 70 times, with five of those mentioned in the book of Matthew. Paradoxically, Jesus refers to the church only twice. Notice also that it was not Jesus who called His followers, Christians. Rather He referred to us as friends and then sons: Sons of God, born into the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus first started His ministry, He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mk1:14,15). “Repent, the Kingdom is HERE.” Most preachers dwell on the “repentance” but what did Jesus mean by “the Kingdom of God is HERE”? It means that the fulfillment of God’s government and will has now been re-establish on earth.

Even to Nicodemus, a ruler of the synagogue, Jesus preached the Kingdom… “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” He was telling him that being born again gives you citizenship of the Kingdom of God; the legal right to become a SON of God. (Jn 1:12). To be “born again” is a legal thing. You enter the Kingdom legally.

And then it says that He went on teaching and preaching “the Kingdom of God”. In fact, He gave multiple examples and parables about how it OPERATES.  He said,

“The Kingdom of God is as a man traveling.”

“The Kingdom of God is a mustard seed.”

“The Kingdom of God is as yeast.”

“The Kingdom of God is a pearl of great price.”

Why is there so much said about its operations? Because He wanted to teach us how to MANAGE the Kingdom. That’s why the parable of the “talents” (Mat 25:14-30). We’re to be rulers and managers of His Kingdom on earth.

A big change of government took place when Jesus came. Not only were we delivered from the kingdom of darkness, but we were brought into the Kingdom of God (Col 1:13). A kingdom that operates entirely differently. That means we now go by a new set of laws. The Word tells us that we’re:

1. redeemed from the curse of the law,
2. redeemed from the enemy,
3. redeemed from our sin-nature,
4. redeemed from every lawless deed,
5. redeemed from all wickedness, and
6. redeemed from death.

This is BIG. It’s a major shift in how the world operates for us. Actually, how we operate in the world, because of the fact that we can apply the laws of the Spirit to work for us. That’s why Jesus said, “They’re in the world, but not of the world”! In a kingdom, the word of the King becomes law (Ecc 8:4). That’s why we can overrule circumstances using the Word of the King.

Get a load of this… Jesus came to redeem THAT which was lost. The Kingdom of God was lost on earth when Adam relinquished it to the devil in the garden. The rulership in man was lost. “Kingdom” means “dominion of a king” (kingdom-inion). Adam had lost dominion and rulership. He was originally made to be a manager or a ruler over the earth, to colonise the earth just like in Heaven. But he lost the Kingdom (dominion of the King) over the earth.

But look at what the apostle Paul says, “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col 1:13-14). “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Gal 4:5). 

We are no longer foreigners and strangers, but sons of God and also heirs of Jesus’ inheritance. We’re now co-heirs with Christ. We’re children of the King of the universe.

In the world, we’re taught, “You gotta work to make a living,” and so it is. In fact, we’re identified by what we do, not by who we are. People ask us who we are and we reply by what we do. I’m a plumber, an electrician, a dentist, etc. In the Kingdom of God, we’re identified by who we are. We’re sons, not servants. Jesus said, “seek ye first the kingdom”. And “Take no thought for your life.”  Why? He said, “For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.” (Mat 6: 25-34). The Word says we’re not supposed to “be living to make a living”.

Jesus shifted life’s priorities: “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” And He said, “Life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment…Do not be afraid, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” (Lk 12:32). He said, “the Kingdom of God is NOW HERE, the sweating is over”. Adoption as sons means we’re back in the Kingdom of God now, as the Kingdom was intended before the fall.

Again, shortly after the creation, the world’s laws on earth shifted when Adam disobeyed. God told him, because you disobeyed, the ground is now cursed. You’ll now have to work it, and sweat to make it yield your provisions. Later, He told Abraham, “IF you obey Me, I will bless you. But if you don’t obey, I will curse you.”(Deut 28).

But for us, because of our full redemption paid for by Jesus, the promises of God are not seated in hope, nor hidden behind conditions, but they are ours as rights. Why? Because we are sons. We’re already incorporated into the Kingdom. We go by our civil rights from the Word of the King. The promises of the King are for us, “YES”, and “SO BE IT”, they are not conditional. The King’s reputation is linked directly to His promises (laws) and to the welfare of His people.

So, we can now live on earth authoritatively enforcing the laws of the King. Plus, He’s given us His Spirit to teach us how to “operate” the Kingdom. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will teach you all truth.” (Jn 16:13). Actually, Jesus even said to His followers who’d seen Him operate every day for three solid years, “Don’t do anything, but wait till the Father sends you the Spirit, which will give you the power.” “That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2Tim. 3:17).

Paul said, “God’s Kingdom is not just talk, it is power.” (1Cor 4:20). Meaning, not in talking about it, but in manifesting its power. Jesus manifested the power of the Kingdom with tangible miracles, signs, healings, and deliverances. Each time He announced the good news of the Kingdom, sin, sickness, demons, poverty, and death could not remain.

“For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness (sonship) and peace (with God) and joy in (through) the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17). 

With the Spirit’s power, the Word is life; it not only changes you, but energizes you and it does what is impossible to humans. Without the power, the Kingdom of God cannot be revealed through miracles, signs and wonders with delivering humanity from bondages.

Without accepting the power, no matter how much you read the Bible, you will neither understand it nor can it change your life. For many have accepted the Word as the Word of God, taken a form of godliness through reading it, but denied the power which changes a person. (2 Tim 3:5).

So Jesus was saying, “Seek first to get back to the citizenship of God’s government (your new identity, your righteousness with God), and to operate on earth according to the King’s Word, which are His laws, and all the provisions that you seek after will be taken care of by the King. Your righteousness is your rightful relationship with your King.”

Take no thought… (You’re embarrassing Me, as your Provider). Come unto Me.. I’ll give you REST (the Sabbath rest means it’s all DONE for you). Take a hold of the blessings of God without stress, without sweat with it. (Pro10:22). If you’ve got to work for your blessings, it’s no blessing. The blessing of the Lord is God’s original plan for man. Contrary to religious belief, God doesn’t want you sick, broke and lonely. He wants to bless you in every area of life – your health, finances, relationships, and more…

If you are righteous, you’re in the right position to demand the King to hold to His promises. That’s why there’s no begging in the Kingdom. “He that cometh to God must believe that He is (the King), and that He is a rewarder (holds true to His laws) for them that diligently seek Him.” (Heb 11:6).

Jesus, when rebuked by the Pharisees for healing a woman in the temple who’d been bent over for 18 years, said, “Is she not a daughter of Abraham? (She has a contract.) “Ought not she be healed?” (Doesn’t she have a right?) (Lk13:17). Religion said that it was the wrong day. “And when He had said these things, all His adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.” (V.18).  The Kingdom of God comes with rights and with power to manifest those rights.

If you’re a son of the King, “ought you not?” Do you not have a right to be healthy, a right to be provided for? Once you’re born into the Kingdom… you have rights. You qualify.

Once righteous, you’re dangerous. All angels are looking after you. You put God under pressure. Why? Because God promised… The righteous can demand his rights. You tell cancer “it’s illegal for it to be in here”. Everything you do, everywhere you go, you’re blessed. Even the place where you work is BLESSED because of you.

Stand in faith. Live on earth with the authority of heaven and manifest God’s power by destroying the works of the devil wherever you go.

 

 

 

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” (Gal 3:13)

When Paul says that we are redeemed from the curse of the law, he means that we no longer will receive the judgment of God because of the way we fall short of His holy standards. Jesus died in our place so that we wouldn’t have to experience the wrath of God. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed”. (1 Pet 2:24)

What I want to highlight is not only the fact that we now get the full blessing of Abraham, but there’s MORE… “so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Gal 3:14).

Because we believe in Jesus, it takes the “if” out of the blessings of Abraham, meaning that Jesus fulfilled all the conditions, all curses were put on Him and we get the full inheritance (co-heirs). Plus we get empowered with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, which no one in the old Testament had.

To be redeemed from the curse of the law means to be set free from its rules, stipulations and regulations. In other words, those who are redeemed from the curse of the law are no longer required to observe the law’s commands as the Israelites were. So then why did Jesus say that He didn’t come to abolish the law but rather to fulfill it. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Mat 5:17). In other words, He came to fulfill all of the prophecies about Himself. And to prove God’s Word was TRUTH all along.

Throughout the whole new testament, there are many verses that refer to the fact that “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet…” (Mat 13:35). In other words, because so many of the prophecies of the Old testament pointed to Jesus, one of His main assignments was to fulfill those prophecies. And He did.

However, it also says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom 10:4). Christ is the end of the law but only for those who believe. The law still exists for those who don’t believe. Jesus established righteousness, by faith for those who believe in and accept the ransom price that He paid for our freedom from the law. But those who don’t believe are still under the law that condemns them.

So, check this out…. Not only we, as believers, are no longer under the Mosaic law, we’re also no longer under the earth-cursed law which Adam was under after the fall. “To Adam he said, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food

until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken”. (Gen 3: 17-19).  

The ground is still cursed but we’ve entered back into the REST of God whereby all provisions are taken care of by God as it was before the fall.

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-REST for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s REST also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to ENTER that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of unbelief.” (Hebrews 4:9–11).

We’re given the full authority of Jesus on Earth, along with the same Spirit that He was filled with when He was on Earth. Neither of these Adam had, nor the prophets.

When Jesus came He recovered the entire inheritance that Adam lost. The full dominion, the full authority and the full communion with the Father which opens the door to mercy and grace. In other words, because “it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us a kingdom”, we are constantly in the favor of God. Why? Because of the robe of righteousness which Jesus has provided for all those who believe… As far as the Father is concerned, we’re all as pure and as righteous as Jesus. There is no middle of the road.

Can you see the Father constantly getting mad at Jesus Who’s at His right hand? Can you see God afflicting Jesus with sickness or troubles? Of course not. Why not? Because we know that the reason He’s sitting at the right hand of God is because He’s entered in the REST of God. It’s all DONE. And it’s all DONE for us too.

This is quite the revelation because if you re-read the blessings of Abraham in Deuteronomy 28, you can take out the “if”, since we have already accepted Christ. We are living fully in the REST of God.

Meaning that everything is done, everything is provided for, all authority is given to us, we have all dominion and authority on Earth to destroy the works of the devil, we are empowered to heal the sick and cast out demons, we are not to work for money since God is our source and provider, we have all the promises of God which in effect, are ALL yes, yes, yes…YES and AMEN. Jesus even told the Jews that He is the Sabbath REST.

Once we get ahold of all this, and fully renew our mind to that revelation of how much is included in our new identity, it changes everything. It changes the way we live our life for sure, because it takes all perspiration out, and it definitely totally changes our relationship with the Father.

Our prayers become strictly for the purpose of communing with God and thanking Him for all that power and authority that He’s given us. Because we are sons of God on Earth with the same authority that Christ had, since He lives in us, and we are empowered by the same Holy Spirit that Jesus had.

I think this is what the writer of Hebrews was trying to tell us when he said, whatever you do, don’t miss out on this revelation… you must enter into that REST that God has provided for all those who believe. Don’t miss out, get ALL of it.

Remember God told the Jews in the wilderness that they’re not going to enter into His REST. God had already provided that land which flows with milk and honey, grape clusters so large that required two men to carry, just blessings, provisions, protection, peace, abundance, and so much more. But the Jews kept rebelling, doubting, murmuring, and simply questioning God after all that He had already done for them by delivering them from the many plagues of Egypt, then crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, miracle after miracle after miracle, and yet they would not believe and He said “As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter my REST.’ ” (Heb 3:11). So what that means is that God wanted to give them the Sabbath REST every day.

And the writer of Hebrews begs his readers not to make the same mistake by rejecting God’s Sabbath REST in Jesus Christ. “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.” (ALL DONE). Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that REST, so that no one will fail by following their example of unbelief.

The Sabbath REST is JESUS.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom 8:2).

“The law of sin and death” is the earth’s cursed system. After the fall of Adam, the Lord told Adam that because he disregarded obeying God’s command, the earth was now cursed and man would have to till the ground and sweat for his needs and provisions (Gen 3:19-24). Grace was no longer.

But Christ has restored us who believe, back to grace. The cursed earth and its sorrows and toils doesn’t apply to us. With the establishment of the new testament, we live by the Kingdom’s laws, on earth as it is in heaven.

The laws of PROVISION and DOMINION that Adam had in the garden (the Sabbath rest) are reinstituted by Christ thru GRACE (Heb 3 and 4). That’s how Jesus could say, “Labour not (don’t sweat) for the meat which perisheth, but (trust the Father) for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall GIVE unto you: for him hath God the Father SEALED (in grace).” (Jn 6:27).  And again, He said, “Seek ye FIRST the (laws of) Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and ALL these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt 6:33).

We have been: “Delivered from the power of darkness, and have been translated into the Kingdom of His dear Son.” (Col 1:13).

The same as the law of lift/thrust supersede the laws of gravity, the laws of grace supersede the earth-cursed laws. As long as Adam and Eve believed God, they had life — abundant life, and abundant provisions, full of the joy of sweet fellowship with their Father. Trusting God with all their heart would have protected them. But disobedience caused them to die spiritually and fall from grace.

But when Jesus came, He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (Jn 11:25).  He meant was that He had come to reverse this curse. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor 15:22).  “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree that we might live to righteousness.” (1 Pet 2:24). “The wages of sin is death (earth-curse), but the free gift of God is eternal life (of grace) through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23).

Why is believing in Christ so crucial? Because the fall of Adam and Eve was the failure to believe and to trust in God. However, because “God so loved the world, He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16). Jesus paid the penalty for this treason of Adam by bearing the curse (Gal 3:13). And everyone who believes in Him is raised from the dead (and its curse) just as Jesus was resurrected (1 Cor 15:52–53).

Now, “That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.” (Jn 3:6). When a person believes in Jesus they are “born again” into the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). The believer is sparked again with the life of God which Adam lost. To this believer He says,”I am in you and you are in Me.” (Jn 14:20).

Adam’s one act of disobedience brought both sin and death upon mankind. Christ’s one act of obedience on the cross, brought about the solution to this curse. The work of Christ offers all men not only the promise of the forgiveness of their sins, but a new identity and a new beginning in Christ. As a son of God and therefore a NEW MAN, we have entered into the Sabbath REST (salvation, healing, all provisions, all wisdom and the full inheritance of Christ).

That’s why Jesus rebuked the Pharisees who had so many rules about the Sabbath, saying, “The Sabbath (REST) was made for man and not man for (the suffering of so many rules of) the Sabbath.” (Mk 2:27). (We were made to be provided for, not to sweat for provisions). “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mt 12:8).  “Christ is the end of the law (earth-curse) for everyone who believes.” (Ro 10:4).  Jesus’ redeeming grace and all its provisions supersede the earth-curse laws of sweating for life’s needs.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to FULFILL them.” (Mt 5:17). –to complete it and to show you how to work the laws of the Kingdom.

When God RESTED, He was admiring the completion of all that was DONE, all was provided for. There was no work left for Adam to do, but to govern. Adam entered into God’s rest, full provision, full dominion, full authority and power. He was the god on earth, made after the image of God.

All through the Old Testament, God insisted on the Sabbath as a sign that God wanted to be the source of man’s provisions. He was trying to show them that He could supply everything needed for man, and He even caused double provisions on the 6th day, so that on the 7th, there was no worry, no concern, no sweat, just fellowship and communion. Sabbath means “cease from work/sweat”

The Jews were constantly “laboring” to make themselves acceptable to God. Their labors included trying to obey a long list of do’s and don’ts. But Christ, “after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right of God” (Hebrews 10:12). Just as He rested after performing the ultimate sacrifice, He sat down and RESTED—ceased from His labor of atonement because there was nothing more to be done, ever. And, because of what He did, we ALSO enter into that same REST. We no longer have to “labor” in law-keeping nor in self-effort in order to be justified in the sight of God. We enter into His rest, into God’s grace. Jesus was sent so that we might again find that REST (of grace) in God.

Jesus brought righteousness back to anyone who believes. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor  5:21). We can now cease from our spiritual labors and rest in Him, not just one day a week, but always.

Salvation includes not only healing, but the full REST of God… GRACE is the full Sabbath. The original non-sweat testament given to Adam is reinstated and made perfect In Christ. It’s all done. All is provided. No self effort, only faith in the promises.

We no longer rest for only ONE day, but we’ve entered into His rest FOREVER and therefore we cease our laboring and sweating. We can live by the laws of the Kingdom in full dominion by commanding and enforcing Christ’ Victory.  That’s how we  “enter in” to the Sabbath rest provided by Christ.

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of unbelief” (Heb 4:9–11).

Paul insisted on that when he wrote, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world (‘s laws), but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”. (Romans 12:1). He was telling us that by renewing our mind to God’s Word, we can live by the laws of the Kingdom of God and be a proof of God’s will in this world.

There is no other Sabbath rest besides JESUS. He alone satisfies the requirements of the Law, and He alone provides the sacrifice that atones for the cursed earth. He is God’s plan for us to cease from the labor of our own works. We dare not reject this one-and-only way of salvation (John 14:6).

So this is VERY important because it unwraps so many of Jesus’ instructions. “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” (Mat 6:25)

“Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Lk 12:23-31)

Jesus was telling people that faith in God’s REST would open the door to all provisions, all of your needs. He said, why do you go after all this stuff, like the heathen (the people living by the earth-cursed laws) do? Your Father is aware of your needs and He wants to provide for you, the same as He does for the sparrow and the lilies. He said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Lk 12:32)

“Come unto me, all ye that labour (sweat) and are heavy laden, and I will give you REST. Take my yoke upon you, and learn (the Kingdom’s laws) of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find REST unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mat 11:28-29)

Now, re-read John 15:7 if you want a real RUSH.

It’s time for each one of us to be known by our love and our concern wherever we go and to be part of the solution by speaking the truth that we know. Jesus said so: “You are the light of the world, and you can’t hide your light under a bushel.” (Mat 5:14-16).

Paul told Timothy, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and sound mind.” (2Tim 1:7).

Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem till they receive the POWER, that is the power to be His witnesses. Not intellectual power, but a supernatural power that made them bold witnesses. Paul explained to the Corinthians, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. So that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1Cor 2:4,5).

Our Gospel is powerful because it carries truth against all the lies around us. It carries light against the darkness of this world. It carries authority against the works of the devil. Our Gospel carries healing by the laying of the hands of the believers on anyone who needs it. These signs shall follow them that believe.

That’s the whole Gospel. –That is the message plus the miracles, together. We preach the Kingdom of God, here and now, at hand before your eyes. We don’t just talk about it, we set the captives free of their sickness, their demons, and we tell them the fantastic truth of redemption. –That Jesus paid their ransom. They’re free as soon as they receive the Good News.

We know too much to remain silent. We have a flame of truth that can light up so many candles. Freely you have received, freely give. Jesus warned us, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” (Lk 9:26-27). So it’s not really a choice. It’s a responsibility to a commandment.

The first responsibility of a disciple is to deny himself, so that he can live for love. “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit”. (Jn 22:24).

If we are faithful to read the Word, we are bound to bear much fruit. That’s what Jesus said in John 15. “If you abide in Me and I abide in you, you will bear much fruit.” It’s His seed that bears fruit. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is like a man who soweth seeds.” (Mt 4:26).

So, it is time for us to come out of the closet and live out our Christian faith. Not just to expect blessings for ourselves, but to sow seeds, so that many can find the truth, as we have.

Decide NOW to be a witness for Jesus.

 

Everytime you focus on your stress, you magnify it. Change your thoughts as soon as you’re stressing. Your have the POWER to focus on something else, virtually immediately. That’s why the Bible tells us to “keep all your thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. (2Cor 10:5)

You can’t be in stress and in faith at the same time. You can’t say that you’re trusting God and then be stressed about your problem. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (Jam 1:8). Focusing on the possibilities of God, will eliminate the impossibilities of the circumstances. Focusing means magnifying and amplifying and not wavering. Focusing means being single-minded.

Taking every thought captive means full-on focusing on the possibilities of God. It means a total change of focus from looking at the glaring circumstances. The more we think on the wrong things, the more we empower them, and the more you’re closing yourself to God’s opportunities.

Our behavior is directly conditioned to who we believe we are in Christ. Your thinking dictates the language that governs your confession. For good or for bad. Your confession will determine the outcome either way.

But a double-minded person is constantly tossed and consequently cannot receive anything from the Lord. We’re vacillating, we trust one minute and we fear the other minute. Paradoxically, “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Heb 11:1)

Our perception has to match God’s view of us. Whenever we give the power of our perception to the negative, we give our agreement to a negative result and we’re then captive to the circumstances and conditions. We empower those circumstances to become bigger than the majesty of God. You give POWER to what you focus on. Every time you focus on the negative, you give life to it.

We were created to magnify, that’s the power of imagination given to us by God. That’s what makes us creators. The main device of the enemy is to make you doubt. Doubt who you are, and doubt God’s ability to come through. His aim is to try to get you to meet your own needs, your own way, which never turns out well.

We should be fascinated with who God is for us. That’s why worship, praise, and thanksgiving are the keys to magnifying God. Worship should be a lifestyle. Why? Because we constantly need to magnify God and His promises for us to avail ourselves of that potential. It is there at our disposal, but only through thinking (focusing) on the things of God.

We can become so fascinated by who He is for us, through us and in us that it becomes impossible to see any opposition, any lack, or any challenge as more overwhelming than He is.

Predetermine from the start to focus on God so that you will default to praise and worship in the face of any difficulty.

David wrote “My heart is fixed trusting I’m the Lord” (Ps 112:7). A predetermined choice made him face Goliath. He wasn’t going to be moved. He was fixed. You anchor yourself before the storm hits.

God wants our will on His side so we can partner with Him. Reverse your thinking and dictate a different outcome. Don’t let any circumstances get on top of you. Change your thoughts, change your focus, change the outcome.

This is one of the main lessons we need to learn as believers. It’s the DOING of God’s Word that brings out the fruit. Jesus said, it’s the empowering of God’s Word in you that will bring out the divine outcome (Mat 7:24-27). And James added, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (Jam 1:22). In other words, you fool yourself into thinking that the Word will work for you, if you don’t fully STAND on God’s Word alone.

WOW, God help us ALL.

and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21)

This is such an intense verse. Go ahead and tell that to someone and see their reaction. That scripture wraps up what the true meaning of life is. There’s a purpose to all of our lives. And to find that purpose is the most important task in anyone’s life. Otherwise, let’s face it, you can go through life totally aimlessly.

Christ represents so MUCH of that purpose; He’s your creator, your salvation and redemption, He represents your passion and your conviction, and your happiness and fulfillment and so much more. Happiness comes from serving and giving your life away. Jesus said so, in Mt 16:24. Until we understand this, we’re going to struggle to be happy in life. Happiness comes from self-sacrifice, not self-gratification.

The reason why Paul could say that he was happy is because even through the dark times of his life, he was giving his life away to help others. Can you say that about your life? You’ll never be able to say that when you are living for yourself, because you’ll never find happiness in status, fashion, social media, salary or all forms of physical gratification.

Paul is saying that in order to live happy you must stay focused on your purpose and not your problems. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”.

You fill in the blank…“For me, to live is ______.” Is it a TV series? Sports? Clothes? Family? Friends? Career? You could fill in that blank with a lot of things that are not bad, things that are good in and of themselves. But nothing deserves the place of the One who created you and gave you your purpose of life: Jesus.

Would you take a moment to really meditate on your ultimate purpose and determine how you fill in that blank, because it will determine how happy you are in life. If you answer “money” or “success” or “pleasure” or “power,” you are going to be unhappy for most of your life. The issue isn’t whether there’s something wrong with those things; they just don’t deserve first place.

You weren’t created to make a bunch of money, then die and have it given away. God has a far greater purpose for your life. There is only one answer that leads to happiness: To live is Christ.

To get the life you really want, give your life away.

I have decided to do something different with this DAILY MED. I want to expand on the REST of God, and what it means to truly rest. My son sent me a short video from Graham Cooke that explains it best.

So I decided to just include this video right here. Please click on it. It’ll be a podcast for you to listen to, today.

Be BLESSED and learn to REST.

“O GOD, You are my God;

Earnestly will I seek You” (Ps63:1).

If you’re like me, you can get so busy serving Him that you forget to LOVE Him! Long ago, I committed everything I do and everything I have to Him. But there are different warnings in the Word about getting too involved with the “cares of this life” that you end up neglecting the most important things, such as the Word, spending time in prayer and listening to Jesus.

God appreciates the service we offer Him and He needs it, but He wants our attention and adoration and intimate communication too! “This you should have done, and not to have left the other undone.”–Matthew 23:23.

There’s a little story hidden in Luke 10, about when Jesus went to visit Mary and Martha. It says that Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His Word. But Martha was cumbered about with much serving.”–She was so weighted down, so busy rushing around trying to get everything done just right FOR the Lord, that she didn’t have time to listen TO the Lord! So Jesus gently chided her and said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things! But ONE thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that GOOD part, which shall not be taken away from her!”–Lk 10:39-42.

Although our service of witnessing and winning others to Jesus is very important, the time we spend with Jesus is even MORE important, and if we take that time alone with Him, we’ll find that surprisingly we’ll have ample time for all the other things we need to do, and we’ll be able to get them done even faster in a shorter amount of time.

There’s a story about Martin Luther when he and his co worker Melancthon had a particularly strenuous and busy day ahead, Melancthon suggested that they cut their prayer time together at the beginning of the day in half. Luther refused vehemently, and insisted that instead of their regular 2 hours in prayer, they would today have to spend 4 hours in the presence of the Lord because they had so MUCH to do! WOW, that’s convicting. But how true. When you realize that all you receive, all good gifts come from the Father, then, He’s really the One blessing our every effort. So why even consider self effort?

It reminds me of the story of the bedroom slippers. The little girl knew that her father’s birthday was coming up in a few months, and because she had learned to knit, she started to spend time every night after school in her room, knitting bedroom slippers for her dad. Weeks went by and months went by, and finally came the birthday and the little girl offered those slippers that she’d spent so much time working on for her father. And when the father opened the present, he cried in appreciation of course. But he set the little girl on his need and said, “my, those are beautiful, and God knows I needed them, but I have missed our time together every evening so much, it’s as though I haven’t seen you for a number of months, and while I’m so thankful for the slippers, I would have much rather have you.”.

To neglect our fellowship with the King of kings can be disastrous to our spiritual life and walk with the Lord! God will NOT take second place, even to His service! “Thou shalt have NO other gods before Me!”–Exodus 20:3.--And believe it or not, if you put ANYTHING else BEFORE the Lord, it has become your GOD!

So putting Jesus first place in our lives not only involves putting His service first in winning hearts and lives to Him, but also putting His WORD first in our lives! In fact, the Bible says that Jesus is the Word! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was made flesh.”–John 1:1,14. What’s more, Jesus said, “The WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE”!–John 6:63.

God’s Word is food for our soul, and it’s absolutely essential to our spiritual GROWTH! If we don’t take time to feast on Jesus’ Word, then our soul’s going to literally starve! We’ll end up like a malnourished child or a spiritual dwarf!–And even our service to God will become powerless and fruitless. We can’t do the Master’s work without the Master’s power and direction.

How many times have we rushed into the day, or not even in working, but in our thoughts and instead of bringing our concerns to the Lord, we start worrying and planning, all without even stopping and asking God. And then we wonder why things just won’t go right!

When you first wake up, get your orders from HIM for the day! Otherwise you’re going to be like a soldier who’s trying to fight a war all on his own without listening to headquarters, with no organisation from his Commander-in-Chief! Our Heavenly Commander, Jesus, can solve a lot of your problems before the day even begins if you put HIM first and have PRAYER and listen to what He has to say through His Word!

Without a good daily dose of the WORD and PRAYER, you’ll walk around unempowered, stumbling about in your OWN wisdom and strength. Jesus says, “Without ME ye can do NOTHING”.–John 15:5. But on the other hand, the Bible says, “I can do ALL THINGS through CHRIST which strengtheneth me!”–Philippians 4:13. That strength comes only through putting JESUS FIRST, through PRAYER and the reading of God’s WORD!

So let’s give Jesus and His Word FIRST PLACE. If not, our whole life will be thrown out of balance, and the result will only be disharmony, disruption and confusion! There’s “Only ONE life, ’twill SOON be PAST!–Only what’s done for CHRIST will LAST”! Let JESUS be your FIRST LOVE and always KEEP Him in that place! You’ll NEVER lose by SEEKING FIRST the Kingdom!

In closing I want to share a poem written by an evangelist who had a daily radio devotional in the ’50s, Virginia Brandt Berg, which has always touched me deeply..

 

First Place 

     I was longing to serve the Master,

But alas, I was laid aside

     From the busy field of workers

     In the harvest field so wide.

     They were few, yes, few in number,

     And I could not understand

     Why I should be left inactive;

     It was not as I had planned.

 

     I was longing to serve the Master,

     And the need indeed was great.

     For me it was easy to labor,

     But oh, it was hard to wait,

     To lie quite still and be silent,

     While the song was borne to my ear,

     From the busy field of workers,

     In the harvest field so dear!

     I was longing to serve, just to serve the Master,

     But He led to a desert place,

     And there as we stopped and rested,

     His eyes looked down in my face.

     So full of tender reproaching,

     They filled me with sad surprise!

     Did He think I had grudged my service,

     Or counted it sacrifice?

     “Oh, Master, I long to serve, just to serve Thee!

     There are so few at the best.

     Let me off to the fields,” I pleaded.

     “I care not to stay and rest!”

     I knelt at His feet imploring,

     I gazed in His face above.

     “My child,” He said, “don’t you know

     Your service is nothing without your love?”

     I was longing to serve, to serve my Master,

     Oh, this was my one fond thought.

     For this I was ever pleading,

     As His footstool in prayer I sought.

     But there in that lonely desert,

     Apart from the busy scene,

     It dawned on me slowly and clearly

     Where my great mistake had been.

     My mind was so full of service, just service,

     I had drifted from Him apart.

     And He longed for that sweet communion,

     The union of heart with heart!

     Well, I sought and I found forgiveness,

     While mine eyes with pain were dim.

     And now, though His work is still precious,

     The first place is kept for Him!

      –Virginia Brandt Berg (1885-1968)

 . . . . .

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing“. (Jn15:5)

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mat 10:37-39)

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Pro 3:1-35)

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” (Ps 1:1-3:8)

Complaining and murmuring is a sure way to move God out of the picture. The carnal mind is enmity to God (Rom 8:7). Doubters have a way of always defeating God’s plan and His will. Our lack of faith will always limit God.

God usually gives everyone a vision or a dream for what He has purposed for them, but it’s very specific to what God wants for us, individually. If and when you go repeating that dream to others, even to loved ones, they’ll most likely find all kinds of impossibilities with it and they’ll often shoot it down. Because they can’t SEE it. It’s not their dream. It’s yours.

We all talk to ourselves either with doubts or with faith. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” (NCV).

Your thoughts don’t have to be true to hurt you; you just have to believe them. If you’re afraid you can’t do something, then you won’t. Your thoughts run your life!

And if you’re not careful about what you hear and focus on, your thoughts will be filled with the lies you’ve heard from others. You repeat those thoughts in your head. As you let them simmer and fester, they go deeper into your consciousness and begin to shape your identity.

But the good news is that God gave us the power to shape our thinking. You can change the way you think. “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2) Even though your circumstances may be out of your control, you have the power to control your thinking. Your thoughts have the power to shape you, but you have the power to shape your thoughts.

The way you respond to your circumstances and the thoughts you choose to believe will condition the way you react and act in every situation. That’s the way Daniel was able to be calm and collected in the lion’s den. His thoughts were not focused on fear, but on the God who was well able to deliver him.

That’s the way we ought to be with our vision and dreams. God has put in our hearts. What God has shown us may appear foolish to those around us, but God wants us to look to Him and the possibilities He sets before us.  Look at what happened to Joseph when he told his dreams to his brothers. They laughed at him and despised him. You’re better off keeping your dream to yourself and focus your energy in making it happen rather. Beware of naysayers, and doubters.

There’s an intense story in the Bible that explains the fate of the naysayers and complainers. You’ll find it in Numbers 13 and 14, as well as in Deuteronomy 1:19-46,  9:1-3 and in Joshua 11:21-23; 14:6-15; 15:13-17. It’s worth your time meditating on it…

Many months after they left Egypt, the Israelites camped at Kadesh-Barnea in the desert, just a few miles to the North of the hills of the Promised Land. Moses, then called the people together and said, “We have reached the land which the Lord our God has promised to give us, so let’s go up and take possession of it as the Lord told us to! Do not be afraid!”

The elders of Israel weren’t so sure they could do it, and hesitantly said, “Let us send men ahead to spy out the land first and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.” Despite their lack of faith, the Lord agreed to their plan and told Moses, “Choose a prince from each of the 12 Tribes and send them to explore the land of Canaan.” So Moses chose the spies and sent them out.

Disguising themselves, the 12 spies went up and explored the land from one end to another. Finally, on their way back, they stopped at the mountain city of Hebron. Looking at the city, one of the spies named Palti exclaimed, “Look at the height of those colossal fortified walls! They tower all the way up to Heaven!”– “And look who lives here!” another spy named Nahbi cried out. “Good Heavens!” Palti gasped, looking down the road. “Giants!”

A couple of great, hairy giants came striding by and ominously turned their heads to look fiercely down at the little men. “Who are these little grasshoppers?” one of them bellowed in a deep rumbling voice, pointing his massive spear in their direction. The other giant roared with laughter, “Those little field mice, you mean?!”

Nahbi trembled, sweat beaded on his face and he stammered, “let’s leave!–Quick!” But Caleb said firmly, “No. We need to find out more about this place first” and, leaving the rest of the spies, he and Joshua headed up to the city and disappeared into the massive towering gates. It was several hours before they returned after spying out the city. They had found out that all the mountains around Hebron were inhabited by a race of giants known as the Anakims, all of them well over 10 feet tall!

 “I believe we can take the city!” Caleb added. “It will be a fight, but …”. “Take the city?!–Are you out of your mind?” Gaddi gasped. “I never want to see this land of giants again!” Leaving the city, the spies went down into the valley of the nearby Eschol Creek where the giants’ vineyards were ripening in the sun. They cut down a branch of a giant cluster of grapes, two of them carrying it along with other fruit back to Moses.

Forty days had passed by the time they finally returned South to Kadesh-Barnea in the desert. Upon seeing the spies return, Moses and Aaron and the entire Camp came out to greet them. The spies displayed all the fruit to the people and Joshua told Moses, “We went into the land to which you sent us and it is a very rich land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord promised!”

Excitedly, the people began to talk of going up to take the land, but then Palti and the others said, “BUT the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large!–And on top of it, the Anakims live there!–A race of fierce giants over 10 feet tall!”

The people began murmuring with dismay, but Caleb shouted, “We should go up and take possession of the land immediately, without hesitating, for we are well able to do it!” But Nahbi protested, “We can’t attack them! They are far stronger than we are!”

Then Nahbi, Palti and the other spies began to spread more discouraging reports. Palti said, “The land we explored devours those living in it! And their cities are strong and walled right up to Heaven!” “Yes!” Nahbi agreed, “and all the people we saw there are of enormous size! We felt like grasshoppers compared to them! Why, there is a proverb in Canaan which says, ‘Who can stand before the Anakims?'”

Upon hearing this, all the people wept aloud and began grumbling against Moses and Aaron. “Why did the Lord bring us to this land just to have us all be killed by the sword?” they cried. “Our wives and children will be taken as captives. Let us choose a captain and return to Egypt! It would be better to die in Egypt!” Others began crying out, “It’d even be better for us to die in this wilderness!”

Then Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes and said to the entire assembly, “The land we passed through is exceedingly good! If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into it and will give it to us! Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will completely destroy them! Their protection is gone, and the Lord is with us!”

But the people replied, “The Lord hates us! That is why He brought us out of Egypt!–To deliver us into the hands of the giants to destroy us! For how can we fight them?–Our brothers have made us lose heart”. Then Moses cried out, “Don’t be afraid of giants! The Lord your God, Who is going before you, He will fight for you!”

But it was too late. The whole Camp had lost all faith in the Lord and even began to talk of stoning Caleb and Joshua. But suddenly the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of the Tabernacle and the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people refuse to believe in Me, in spite of all the miracles I have done among them? “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation which doubts Me and murmurs against Me? I have heard the complaints and murmurs which they grumble against Me! Say to them, ‘As truly as I live, saith the Lord, I will do the very things I heard you ask for, and you shall all fall in this wilderness!–Everyone over 20 years old that murmured against Me! Not one of you shall enter into the Promised Land!

“But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land, and his descendants will inherit it! And Joshua will lead Israel to inherit it! “As for your children, O ye rebels, which you said would be taken as captives, I will give the land to them and they will take possession of it. They will enjoy the land that you have despised! But your bodies shall fall in this desert. For 40 years you will suffer for your lack of faith and will wander until the last of you dies! Now turn around and go into the desert again!'”

Then the Lord smote the ten spies who had brought back a discouraging report, and they all died of a plague! The entire Camp wept and mourned before the Lord, but He turned a deaf ear and paid no attention to them. So they turned back into the desert and began their long, long years of wandering there.

Finally 40 years passed and the last of the old generation died. Moses, now very old himself and just about to die, told the younger generation of Israelites, “Hear, O Israel! You are about to go in and conquer nations greater and mightier than yourself, with great cities, walled in high up to the skies! The people are strong and tall, the children of the Anakims! But be assured that the Lord your God is the One Who goes ahead of you! He will subdue them before you, and you will destroy them as the Lord has promised you!”

After Moses died, Joshua boldly led the armies of Israel into the Promised Land, and soon they had conquered vast portions of it. As they were dividing up the land between the 12 Tribes, Caleb came up to Joshua and said, “You know what the Lord said to Moses at Kadesh-Barnea about you and me. I was 40 years old when Moses sent me to explore the land. And I brought back a good report. So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance forever, because you have followed the Lord wholeheartedly.'”

His spear in his hand, the white-haired old man said, “The Lord has kept me alive for 45 years since then, and here I am today, 85 years old! I’m just as strong to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me the hill country of Hebron that the Lord promised me! The giants are there and their cities are large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out!”

Then Joshua gave him Hebron as his inheritance, and Caleb led his clan up the mountain in the boldness and might of the Lord his God! In the fierce battle that followed, he defeated the armies of the giants and took their city! From there he marched against the giants living in nearby Debir, and his young nephew Othniel attacked and defeated them! Joshua’s armies then destroyed the Anakims from the rest of the hill country so that no giants were left in all the land of Israel!

Just think for a minute, the 10 fearful spies walked by sight and not by faith, but even worse yet, they and the people doubted the Lord’s promises, that He would bless them and help them to conquer the Promised Land. Because of this, Paul says that the Lord was “grieved 40 years” with a people who had no faith! “The Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it!” (Heb 4:2)

Plus, the spies’ fearful reports caused all the people to doubt. Backsliders seldom ever backslide alone! Murmurers rarely murmur alone. Misery loves company. Murmurers are AWESOME witnessers. They always take others down with them. It’s so easy to make logical, reasonable excuses why you can’t make it, and most people will accept your excuses because they don’t have faith either, and in excusing you, they’re excusing themselves!–But will God excuse you?

First the people murmured against their leaders, but later directly against God, saying that God hated them! Hadn’t God already done countless miracles for them during all their many months in the desert?–But they still didn’t believe God could protect them against overwhelming odds.

What is backsliding? Whatever God has shown you to do and has blessed you in doing, if you turn back, that’s backsliding! You don’t even have to leave God’s Work to backslide, you can just refuse to do His Will, or even look back ( Lk9:62 ), and that, too, is backsliding.–Even if only in your heart you turn back, for soon the body will follow! God hates to see people turn their backs on what He has told them to do, or even things they’ve started to do for Him. “If any man shall draw back, My Soul shall have no pleasure in him!” ( Heb 10:38 ) “My Soul abhorreth him that turneth back!” (Lev 26:27,30b )

What if they had tried to invade the Promised Land with all those old doubters and unbelievers? It would’ve meant disaster! They might have ALL gotten killed, so the Lord wisely purged out the rebels, allowing only the believing youth with Joshua and Caleb to go in, and they won!

The people who complain about the battle and then quit just before the victory’s won, never get to enjoy the fruits of victory! A lot of DOUBTERS quit just before God is about to give them the crown.

Don’t miss your reward by stopping short of the victory! And beware of doubters and naysayers.

After prayer there’s often a time of waiting. And that time is a testing time. It’s the “waiting room” of God, and many prayers are discarded during that time.

After desperate prayer, what should be your stance of faith in the meantime? We call it “meantime “, because that period of time is “mean”, and lean, it’s difficult. It’s when your head is flooded with those doubts, “Oh well, God did not answer. There may be something in me that God’s not pleased with.” If the devil can get you to doubt during that time, he’s got you defeated.

But remember, “Without faith, you cannot please God.” (Heb 11:6). So faith is the most important ingredient in prayer. Faith is a stance. It’s taking a position and refusing to move in any other direction. It’s a “substance”, the “sure thing” of what you’re hoping for. It’s the conviction of what you’re expecting. So during the meantime, when the time is “mean”, it’s time to stand in faith and to start praising, as if you’d already received the answer.

That “meantime” is no different than the time when the farmer is expecting the harvest after he’s planted the seed.

Nor is it any different than when the mother is expecting a child after she’s conceived. Many a prayer is answered by the principle of “seed, time and harvest” (Mk 4:26-29). In fact most of God’s promises operate in the same fashion. They’re based on that covenant that God made with Noah after the flood. (Gen 8:22).

Doubt and worry will negate your prayers. When you worry, you’re as good as telling God, “I don’t believe it will happen!”  It’s like the farmer taking the seed out of the ground to see if it’s working! –It just kills the process. That’s why there’s that God-given recipe, “seed, time and harvest”. The “time” part in the recipe is usually spelled like this: “T-I-I-I-I-M-E”. Because it takes time for an acorn to become a tree. It takes time for a seed to become a fully developed baby.

We can easily confuse a “miracle” for a “blessing”. Miracles are God’s merciful answers to solve a problematic situation that either has to be solved immediately or in no other way. But blessings basically operate from the “seed” principle. You plant and with time the harvest will come.

Miracles usually happen quickly. But if there’s another way that God could answer your prayer, He will usually choose the longer process, because it exercises our faith, our trust and our patience. And that’s what He loves the most. God’s grace abounds in our thankfulness and praise.

Complaining and begging in prayer, or spelling out all of our woes and troubles will not do much. Why? Because God dwells in our praises. Praise is the voice of faith. And, once again, “Without faith, we can’t please God.”Once   you’ve poured out your heart in prayer to the Father on a topic, that “prayer request” should be moved to your PRAISE LIST. Just thank and praise Him for the answer, knowing fully in faith that the harvest of your sowing is on its way.

Too many of us are God’s fair weather friends. When everything is going good, we love and trust God. But when things are not going our way, then we stop looking to God, we stop trusting, and we stop praying. We switch to the “arm of the flesh” and try to make things happen without the help of God. We use God as the spare wheel instead of the steering wheel.

The way some of us pray is, “God give me patience, I want it right now!” We’re used to microwave dinners and fast food, powdered orange juice, and we want God to “fastlane” our answers. Waiting makes us feel we’re not in control, and we don’t like it.

What’s sad about those who can’t stand to be in the “waiting room” is they suffer from anxiety, they live their life often frustrated, their to-do list is more important than family, they neglect time with their children, they have a short temper, and the list goes on…  Ask me, how do I know?

Most of life is WAITING. Waiting for an appointment to see the doctor. Waiting to be accepted in college. Waiting for your first job offer. Waiting to see if the bank will give you a loan. Waiting for the right time to start a family. Waiting for your test scores. Waiting for your loved ones to come to Christ. Waiting for the Lord to bring the right man or the right woman into your life. Waiting for someone to buy your house. Waiting for your prayers to be answered. Waiting for your husband to come home from a business trip. Waiting for your oldest daughter to come back to the Lord.

Waiting is probably the hardest part of the Christian life. But it is ALSO the key to making it in God’s Kingdom. Waiting is all throughout the Bible. Most of God’s promises in the Old Testament required waiting. –Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, Daniel, David, the children of Israel in the wilderness, etc. One of my favorite verses actually is on waiting. “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isa 40:31).

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who’ve not seen and yet believe.” Right there is the secret and the rule of prayer. We can’t go by seeing, we must go by faith…by believing.  So be blessed and rejoice right there and then, start praising before seeing. “He that comes to God must believe that He IS [God] and that He is the REWARDER of those who BELIEVE [earnestly seek Him].” (Heb 11:6).

So don’t lose faith, while in God’s waiting room. Your answer is coming. Jesus said, “Believe when you pray.” (Mk 11:24). Not just when you see the answer; that requires no faith. Believe when you pray and never stop believing and praising Him for the answer. That’s the secret to answered prayers.

That’s the way Jesus operated. His whole life was purposeful. He had one thing in mind… to destroy the works of the devil wherever He went and to preach the Kingdom of heaven. He was so focused that He would be “amazed” at the lack of FAITH in the disciples. He even rebuked His disciples for fearing in the face of a storm… or for not having the faith to deliver the demon possessed child, etc. He did not stand for unbelief.

All great men of God became one-track minded. If you didn’t want to talk about God in their presence, they didn’t want to even talk to you. Like Paul said, “This one thing I do…” The fact is, we’ve been translated from darkness into the Kingdom of His dear Son. We’re no longer of the world, so why should we want to keep talking about the world or the things of the world?

The whole point of the Gospel is the fact that the Father has given us the Kingdom and we’re to enforce the VICTORY of Christ on earth. Jesus said, “Occupy till I come.”  That’s what a military takeover does. The military occupies the conquered territory till a new government is put in place. We’re empowered with the victory of Christ and we’re to enforce it by destroying the works of the devil around us.

Grace not only gives us freedom, but it also gives us power. It gives us freedom from sin, not the right to sin, but the power to live above sin and to enforce the new government of Christ’s victory on earth now.

“Church” should be a training camp not a nursery. We all have a responsibility to the Gospel. We all have to tune out the world and take in more of Jesus everyday. There should be an alarm in hell when we all leave church. “Oh oh, they’re out!”

We must be very sensitive to the dangers of comfort. Comfort puts us to sleep. Everything in this world caters to comfort and convenience. We have a remote control so we don’t have to get off the couch. Christianity is not for comfort. We can’t be watching TV everyday and expect to perform miracles. We can’t just expect to pause the TV show we’re watching to pray for the sick and expect a miracle. It takes MORE commitment than that.

The most uncomfortable place for a Christian is a comfortable one. True, it doesn’t cost you a dime to get saved, but it’ll cost you your life to live out your Christianity. Jesus said so: “If anyone will come after Me, let him deny himself…”

Christianity is first militant. So much of the conversation of the new testament is about warfare. Yes, it’s true that Jesus already won the war against the devil, but we’re here to enforce that victory. It says, “The gates of hell will not prevail against you.” All of creation is waiting for us to wake up and show up. God wants to use us to LIGHT up the world.  How does a son of God act? He enforces the Kingdom of God.

Every hour, nearly 7,000 people die. Every day nearly 170,000 people die. It is given to man to once die, and then the judgement… not to be reincarnated, and have another chance. How many of those people actually go to heaven because of our vigilant and militant effort to tell them the truth about salvation?

The Gospel is the POWER of God in us. “The Gospel of Christ…is the POWER of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.” (2Cor 11:23-26). It is a POWER working in us.  The Word says, “Exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the POWER that works in us.” (Eph 3:20). That POWER has to be working in us.

It’s a propelling and compelling power that makes us want to LIGHT up the world with TRUTH. We have to realize, once and for all, that we’re not part of a dormant religion, but we’re a militant group with one purpose. One thing in mind: to proclaim the truth and to enforce the Kingdom of God against the machinations of the devil.

We must be fighters. Not ONLY for our children who are the devil’s main target, but for the unsaved world.

We must be in the Word in order to reflect the Word and enforce the Word. One thing… and to proceed as if SUCCESS is inevitable, like Jesus did.