Shady Oaks Church Podcast: Recent Episodes
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Shady Oaks Church is committed to changing the world one person at a time through the proclamation of God's Word.
Jesus did not come to reestablish His own throne; God is King - that was never the issue. His mission was to restore us, His fallen creation, His wayward sons and daughters. Through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, He has made it possible for us not only to be reconciled with the Father but also to be rejoined to His family and once again given a renewed purpose to fulfill humanity's original design.
The invitation of the gospel is the invitation to come home. It is the invitation to lay down the burden of self-rule and once again joyfully live under the benevolent reign of the true King. Through Christ, we are welcomed back into God's Kingdom, restored to fellowship with our Father, and called to serve as His royal priesthood, faithfully representing His will upon the earth until the day His Kingdom is fully revealed.
Every sacrifice He asks of His people is an invitation and God’s method of shaping us to become more like His Son. It's comforting to see that the role of sacrifice in God's Kingdom has always been clear. The real question, though, is whether we trust Him enough to give up whatever He asks of us, knowing that His plans are always for our good. The Holy Spirit has revealed to you a particular good you've been holding onto. It could be a plan, a dream, a relationship, a hurt, a comfort, or even the urge to control your life. God has never asked for anything He wasn't willing to give Himself. He offered His best for you, and now He simply invites you to trust Him. Will you place your life on the altar once again? Will you give up the lesser good for the greater good of honoring God? Each act of willing surrender shapes you into the person God designed you to be.
The doorway into God's Kingdom is not good works, religious tradition, or personal effort. It is the new birth. Through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, God forgives our sins, gives us new life, and welcomes us into the Kingdom of His beloved Son. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior and King, the invitation is extended to you today. Turn from your sin, place your faith in Jesus, and be born again. The King has come, His Kingdom is at hand, and He invites you to become part of His eternal Kingdom.
Over the course of these two messages, we have watched God's faithfulness unfold across the centuries. When His truth became obscured, He raised up faithful witnesses.
John Wycliffe reminded the Church that God's Word stands above every human authority. William Tyndale devoted his life to placing that Word into the hands of ordinary people. Jan Hus proclaimed that Jesus Christ alone is the Head of His Church. Patrick Hamilton joyfully declared that sinners are justified by grace through faith in Christ alone. Thomas Cranmer ensured that these glorious truths would be proclaimed whenever God's people gathered for worship. These convictions have become so common that we seldom consider the price that faithful witnesses paid to preserve them.
Yet the greatest lesson from these men isn't how they died but their devotion. They loved Christ more than comfort, treasured God's truth more than safety, and believed that faithfulness justified sacrifice.
Every generation, God looks for people who value His truth and are ready to stand with humility, courage, and conviction. Hopefully, we will also be remembered for overcoming "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony," staying faithful to Christ and His truth until the very end.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 TPT
We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison, because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.
Whatever it is, paint the picture on the canvas in your mind of the established precedent in our God’s redemptive Plan for how you address your situations, your circumstances, and your relationships. Now accept this as His will and His plan for you in your challenge. Declare His plan out loud and state your personal belief and absolute conviction for the outcomes our Constitutional agreement provides for us. Walk in the reality of that provision. Thank our God, glorify Him, praise Him and engage Heaven through the currency of your faith.
Do not allow the lies from the defeated Satan and the kingdom of darkness to steal the victory from your faith. Results are not always visible instantly – we have to persist and hold onto and continue to believe and to declare our outcomes that are
provided by our God out loud. We persist in rest. Samuel anointed David King, and Abraham was declared to be the father of many nations long before their manifestations appeared in the earth realm.
These declarations are scripture and were and are real when God declared them to be so, long before their physical manifestations appeared.
Let it be so Lord, In the power of the name of our unchanging Savior, Jesus of Nazareth. Amen.
Their story reminds us that God continually calls His people back to His truth. Every genuine renewal begins when His people once again submit themselves to His Word. The greatest danger facing the modern Church is no longer a lack of access to Scripture but growing indifference toward it. We own more Bibles and possess more resources than any generation before us yet having access to God's Word is not the same as allowing God's Word to shape our lives.
Their testimony of these two witnesses has now become our responsibility. May we prove faithful in our generation, not merely by owning a bible, but by believing it, reading it, obeying it, proclaiming it, and passing it faithfully to those who come after us.
The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ came to remove what the enemy sought to steal. He restores our relationship with the Father, heals what sin has broken, and returns us to the purpose for which we were created. Then He sends us into the world to do the same for others.
May we never settle for merely talking about justice. May we become people through whom God's justice is seen. May we cultivate the field He has entrusted to us. May we help others discover the purpose for which they were created. And may our lives, through the grace of Jesus Christ, truly yield much food for the glory of God and the blessing of the world around us.
Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” He is the One in YOUR boat. He is not worried. And He has never once lost anybody on the way to the other side.
Jesus wasn't just a good teacher, He wasn't just a moral man, He wasn't just a prophet, He is the Lord of all creation and He went to the cross for you and me, He died on the cross, He was buried and He walked out of the grave.
That has always been God's way. He calls first, and then He sends. History has never been changed by people who merely heard heaven's call. It has always been changed by those who answered it. Today, the call from heaven still echoes, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" May our response be the same as Isaiah's: "Here am I. Send me."
Every generation must still answer the same two questions.
- The first is the question of authority.
That began in the Garden when the serpent asked, "Did God actually say...?" His strategy hasn’t changed. Every false religion, theological error, and moral compromise begins by questioning what God has said.
Our generation faces the same temptation. Culture tells us truth is personal. Feelings compete with Scripture. Public opinion constantly changes. Even the Church is tempted to reshape the Bible to fit the culture instead of allowing the Bible to shape the Church. The issue has never been a lack of voices. The issue is deciding which voice has the final word.
- The second is the question of salvation.
People are still searching for acceptance. Some seek it through religion. Others through success, morality, or personal achievement.
Yet every one of those efforts is another version of what Adam and Eve did in the Garden. After they sinned, they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. We have been sewing fig leaves ever since, trying to cover sin through our own efforts instead of receiving the covering God has provided through Christ.
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible tells one magnificent story. It is the story of God restoring what was lost. Through Christ, He restores our relationship with Himself and our purpose on earth.
Revival, reformation, and resources: That is God's pattern. He revives a people. He reforms the earth through people. He provides for people so that they can carry out what it is He wants them to do.
As we surrender ourselves to that pattern, we become participants in God's eternal purpose—the restoration of His creation through His redeemed people. May our prayer always be the prayer Jesus taught us to pray
Mt 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
The same battle continues today. The enemy still attacks truth, morality, and identity because his strategy has never changed. Every false religion offers a different answer to what is true. Every sinful culture attempts to redefine what is right. Every rebellious heart seeks to establish its own identity apart from God.
Even within the Church, the temptation remains. We are pressured to reinterpret Scripture, accommodate culture, redefine sin, minimize holiness, and live independently of God's authority. Satan needs no new strategy because humanity continues to struggle with the same old temptation: trusting our answers more than God's.
The good news is that Jesus came to restore what was lost in Eden. Where Adam failed, Christ succeeded
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Before we focus on our needs for provision, security, success, or even our own fulfillment, we are encouraged to seek the King's rule first. The Kingdom isn't just one of many priorities; it’s the foundation that rightly arranges all other priorities. As we put His Kingdom first, our values, dreams, relationships, responsibilities, and mission all come under His authority. This means we are in a unique time, caught between the initial promise and its complete fulfillment. The Kingdom is already here, yet it’s not yet fully here. Instead of merely waiting for the King’s return, we are to faithfully seek it and work to expand His Kingdom until He comes. If the Kingdom was Jesus' message, it must become ours. The Church exists not only to prepare people for heaven but also to represent heaven on earth. We are citizens of another Kingdom, ambassadors of another King, and stewards of His authority. Every gospel act, whether an act of obedience, compassion, healing, deliverance, or a transformed life, shows that the Kingdom is not only here but also advancing. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
The answer to abuse is not abandonment. The answer to imbalance is not rejection. The answer is maturity. We do not need less of God; we need the fullness of God.
Therefore, never forsake the power of God in your search for wisdom, nor compromise wisdom for power. Pursue the Holy Spirit, who grants power, wisdom, and understanding in fullness. The same God who created the earth through His power, founded the world with His wisdom, and expanded the heavens through His understanding continues to build His Church in the same manner today.
Jesus took our sin and shame so that we could be united back to our father. It’s not a matter of if God loves you, it’s whether you will respond to his open arms and his heart of love being poured out to you today. You see the father is eagerly waiting for you to come home. He’s calling out to you and is more than ready to welcome you home. He’s calling out to you and is more than ready to welcome you back. Today’s message is very simple it’s really a simple heartfelt invitation to all of God’s children to please come home.
We were created for a relationship with God and a relationship with one another. One of the great deceptions of our age is the belief that we can flourish spiritually while remaining relationally disconnected. God's design has always been relationship.
The gospel is not merely an invitation to receive forgiveness. It is an invitation into fellowship with God and into the family of God. As we walk closely with Him and faithfully with one another, we experience life as God originally intended and display His glory to a watching world.
If God said it was not good for Adam to be alone in a perfect world, how much more do we need one another in a fallen one?
The gospel must be proclaimed. But Paul reminds us that the assignment is larger than speaking alone. The Church is not merely to announce Christ's victory. It is called to demonstrate it.
Through word and deed, proclamation and demonstration, signs and wonders, and the power of the Holy Spirit, the manifold wisdom of God is made known, and the Kingdom of God advances.
May we, Bethel Church, be not only dedicated to preaching the gospel but also committed to fulfilling the gospel assignment through Spirit- empowered demonstration.
Our text gives us a picture of a church devoted to one another. This is a far cry from a Christianity reduced to private belief, occasional attendance, or individual preference. The early believers did not ask, “How little can I be connected and still be considered Christian?” They expressed, by their actions, “How fully can we share life together now that Christ has made us family?”
Yes, our world is different. There are churches on every corner. There are many options. People can leave easily. Preferences can dominate. Commitment can weaken. But the call of Acts 2 remains before us. The church is not merely a place to attend. It is a people to whom we belong. It is a family formed by Christ. It is a body filled by the Spirit.
And if we will recover the devotion of Acts 2, perhaps we will also recover the beauty, power, unity, generosity, and witness of these first believers.
The Christian life can be understood through these three truths:
Kingdom Pursuit - Our responsibility as disciples is to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness. We pursue God's purposes and reflect God's character.
Kingdom Provision - God's responsibility is to provide everything necessary for the fulfillment of His will.
Kingdom Possession - We live in a fallen world and face a real adversary. We must contend for the manifestation of what God has promised.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
these things will be added to you.
The power of God lives in you, because the same Spirit who came upon Jesus and stayed has come upon you and stayed. The power is for a purpose — to share the gospel, to make disciples, to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the outcast, and cast out demons. You are the body of Christ. You are His hands and His feet and His voice in a dark world. When you walk into the room, He walks into the room. So, walk out of here today NOT as someone hoping for power, but as someone who carries it — the manifest presence of the living God.
I’ve learned to be still and use wisdom; be sure you’re speaking the word of the Lord and not your own opinion to sound spiritual. Because if you’re just speaking your own opinion there’s no power in it. God is raising up prophetic voices, and you’ll see more come into this region and other places as well, they’re speaking the word of the Lord that’s why there’s been such an attack against prophetic ministry. God is bringing the real deal cause if it’s the word of the Lord it will get something moving, if it's the word of the Lord it will put breath into something, if it’ the real word of God the winds will start blowing and the breath of God will be released.
The Apostle Paul is addressing his impressive religious background and worldly achievements. Before becoming a Christian, he prided himself on his strict adherence to the law, his heritage, and his zeal. However, after his encounter with Jesus, his perspective completely changed.
Philippians 3:7-11
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
As we begin to worship Him, His presence begins to emerge from us and fill the atmosphere. The more we know Him and who He really is and where He really is, the more we begin to realize who we really are.
Peter’s sermon reveals that the Holy Spirit is fully capable of drawing, convicting, awakening, and transforming people through the clear proclamation of Christ.
Peter preached. The Spirit openly proclaimed. The Savior boldly confronted sin. Honest calls to souls were urgent. And the result was an awakening.
The church was never called merely to entertain, mirror, or soften the truth to fit culture. Pentecost reminds us that God continues to transform people through the gospel of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Our task is simply to proclaim Jesus in the power of the Spirit and to trust God to do what human methods cannot.
As we have already seen, the expectation of Jesus was that believers would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. There is a distinction shown throughout Scripture between the Holy Spirit working in believers and the Holy Spirit coming upon believers in empowerment. God breathed life into us and poured out His Spirit upon us so that His Kingdom could move through us into the earth. The Holy Spirit works within believers to bring life, transformation, conviction, and growth. The Holy Spirit also comes upon believers in power for service, witness, ministry, and Kingdom assignment.
The Gospel is the proclamation that Jesus Christ is alive and that His Kingdom continues to advance as we proclaim salvation, deliverance, the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit, and minister healing to the people. The Gospel Jesus entrusted to His Church was never meant to be merely informational. It was transformational and it's still transformational.
Romans 1:16 (ESV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes...
The world does not need better presentations, branding, or polished religious experiences. It needs an authentic encounter with the risen Christ and the reality of His Kingdom. The Gospel saves, delivers, empowers, and heals. That is the full Gospel Christ commissioned His Church to proclaim.
Perhaps the greatest preparation for His return is not endless speculation about when He will come, but faithful obedience until He does. The healthiest church is not merely looking upward. It is moving outward.
So may we be a people who faithfully carry out His mission. May we receive the empowerment He promised. May we remain focused on the assignment He gave. And may He find us faithful when He comes.
John 16:33: Take heart; I have overcome the world.
John 10:10: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Jesus came so that YOU may have life, have it abundantly
When we die to ourselves and turn to Christ, we become the righteousness of God in Him.
Not because we earned it. Because He gave it to us — freely.
Now go and live your life abundantly.
When we step back and look at the full picture, the message becomes clear. Jesus came with a purpose—to destroy the works of the devil—and He fulfilled that purpose decisively through the cross. But He also demonstrated how that destruction takes place, by doing the works of the Father, bringing life where there was death, freedom where there was bondage, and truth where there was deception. We are not called to start something new but to continue what He began. We are called to secure a victory already won, to confront darkness with light, and to participate in the ongoing undoing of the devil’s work in real time. That is the mission that has been entrusted to His people.
So the question is not whether God has done His part. The question is how we will respond. Will we continue to look back to what we were, or will we step forward into what He has made us to be? Because the same God who brought you out of death has also prepared a path of life in front of you.
And here’s the encouragement: you don’t have to create that life, you simply have to receive it by faith and proceed to walk it out for His glory.
Jesus did not just redeem you to park you. He redeemed you to restore you. Too many people settle for knowing their sins are forgiven while never stepping into what they were recreated for. They experienced the cross but not fully embraced the resurrection, the ascension, and the Kingdom. But God did not just save you from something; He saved you for something. You are not an accident or an afterthought—you are His workmanship, crafted, restored, and commissioned.
Maturity isn't about always feeling comfortable; it’s about the courage of those who step out in faith, follow Jesus into the unknown, and welcome a life guided by the Spirit of God. It’s a journey marked not by staying safely in the boat, but by daring to walk onto the water... not by seeking control, but by choosing obedience... not by clinging to comfort, but by living on the edge where God’s work often happens.
Because when the pool comes to you—when Jesus meets you in your moment—and you respond in faith, the long wait, the years of frustration, and the weight of disappointment give way to the fullness of His saving power, bringing healing and wholeness into every area of life. Cause He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
We have been restored to Christ. We have been entrusted with an assignment. We have been given the authority and power to carry it out. And we must recognize there is still an enemy. He is still seeking to disrupt, distort, and derail what God has entrusted. But now we are not uninformed and not unprepared. We have been told how to stand.
So the charge is clear: Be watchful. Guard what God has entrusted to you.
Jesus Calms a StormMatthew 8:23-2723 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Matthew 25:35-37 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
Faith is not genuine unless it involves surrender. To truly have faith, one must let go and trust completely.
If you only follow the parts of faith that you like, or surrender only to what you agree with, then you are not truly following Jesus. Instead, you are simply following your own preferences.
True discipleship requires surrendering all aspects of oneself, not just those that are comfortable or agreeable.
Jesus took upon himself our sins and paid the ultimate price for us, motivated by his love for humanity.
All that is required from us is to surrender our old selves—our old ways, desires, and habits.
When you surrender, you do not lose your life. Instead, you discover the true purpose and fulfillment that comes from following Jesus wholeheartedly.
Jesus is God with us. He’s not distant and not waiting for you to get your life together before He steps in. He steps into your formless places, your emptiness, and your dark realities, and He does what He has always done— He brings order where there is chaos, life where there is emptiness, and light where there is darkness.
Because He is here, He knows, and He can and will do something about it. When He speaks, light comes—and when light comes, darkness flees. So, if your life feels formless, empty, or chaotic, this is not the end of your story; this is where God works best
Paul’s journey begins in Resistance, convinced of his own direction. Revelation breaks through, and Recognition dawns as his eyes are opened to the living Christ.
Response leads him into surrender, and Restoration reminds him he is not alone. Redirection reshapes his purpose, Renewal prepares him in hidden seasons, and finally Release sends him into the work God had already prepared.
Paul’s story reveals God’s work in restoring what is broken, realigning what is misaligned, renewing what feels hidden, and releasing people into their divine destiny. The same God is here today, and as with Paul, He still walks people through that journey from resistance to Kingdom purpose.
Prayer increased, unity strengthened, and truth was proclaimed, leading to noticeable changes. Violence decreased, and the atmosphere shifted. The enemy's ability to operate freely was restricted, much like establishing a no-fly zone for a church.
The church does not retreat; it leads. The environment reacts to the authority of a people confident in their identity in Christ, aware of their authority, and ready to set boundaries that embody heaven's rule. The question is whether the people of God will rise, take their place, and establish what is allowed to operate within it.
Paul’s story reminds us that transformation does not begin with better behavior — it begins with divine encounter. He started in resistance, convinced he was right, moving forward with passion yet pushing against God’s purposes. Then revelation broke through. Heaven interrupted his certainty, and what Paul once thought was truth began to unravel. Recognition followed as his eyes opened to who Jesus truly was, and finally response emerged — a posture of surrender that replaced control
Acts 19 shows us that God is not looking for spectators, He is forming a people who advance His Kingdom. You were not born again just to stand on the court. You were not empowered just to feel something. You were not established just to know more. You were called to be engaged — to live as ambassadors of the King wherever He has placed you. So now go as citizens of heaven, ambassadors of Christ, as a people fully equipped to advance His Kingdom wherever God sends you.
So whatever you are facing today—if you need healing, provision, clarity, or breakthrough—you can receive. But to receive, you must pray. And when you pray, you must pray with expectation, believing that God hears and responds. And if the answer does not come immediately, you must persist. You must continue praying, believing, and expecting until it does.
The question isn't just whether you pray, but whether you pray with expectation and keep praying until heaven responds. Because prayer isn't optional; it's a vital part of God’s plan for His people. And those who do this are the ones who see answers come.
Discipleship becomes real through our relationships, embodying truth in love, unity, and connection, with each part working together properly. We celebrate empowerment. We ask for empowerment. We receive empowerment. But then we do what Ephesians 4 calls us to do: we grow up. We get established. We learn truth. We learn love. We learn unity. We learn to function as part of the Body. And we become the kind of disciples who can carry the Kingdom mission for the long haul.
The power was present for all three. Only one experienced it. Luke tells us that Jesus is the fully wired house. The Spirit is present because of and through Him. The power is real. God has already said, “I am willing.”
The core issue isn't God's ability or desire but our openness to receive. Will we, like Nazareth, foster an environment of offense? Will we, like the people of Capernaum, simply observe and judge? Or will we, like the crowd in Luke 6, actively draw on God’s power as we, in faith, press in and receive?
The truth is, Heaven is prepared. The power is active, and the Kingdom is near. The only remaining question is whether we will connect.
Empowerment is supernatural enablement. Believers who reject it often burn out because they try to play the Kingdom game without equipment. They love God and are sincere but lack power, and have conviction but no authority. God never intended His children to live that way. God is not the kind of Father who calls His children to play and then refuses to equip them. He empowers you. He supplies you with gifts. He equips you for the life you’ve been called to live.
Peter sank! But Jesus immediately reached out. He did not delay. He did not hesitate. He grabbed him. Here is the grace of God. Even when you sink, He is within reach. But here is the challenge. You do not have to sink. The storm may remain. The wind may continue. If your eyes stay fixed, you stay standing.
As awesome as the new birth is, and as important as it is to mark and to celebrate, we must be careful not to view or treat the new birth like a graduation. Rather, the New birth is more like an enrollment. It’s the beginning of discovering how life works under the reign of a King. Remember, the same loving God who welcomes you is also dedicated to guiding you in truly enjoying the rich blessings of Kingdom life.
The lesson that Jesus was teaching His disciples on the lake. The Word had already declared the destination. The storm was real, but it was never final rebuttal. Faith grows when we learn to stand on what Jesus has said, using His authority to resist whatever tries to interrupt His purpose. And like Abraham continue to walk the land until we see the fulfillment of the promise that God has given to us.
The question He asked them still echoes over every assignment He gives:
“Where is your faith?”
Not because He is absent — but because He is inviting us to rise, stand in His name, and watch the resistance give way so the journey can continue to the other side
“Faith is caught, not just taught. Model it in your actions, involve the next generation, explain why you live this way, and give them space to practice it. When they start doing the same, your legacy is real.” Because legacy is not what you build for yourself.
It is what continues when you are gone.
And the greatest tragedy is not that treasure is hidden.
It is that we fail to search for it
And it is still the glory of kings to search it out.
Search for it in people. Protect it in yourself. Speak life over it in others.
Be intentional – stretch, dig, polish, if you need a different tool to get past the clay try something else. But remember you sold all you had for the treasure hidden in the field of dirt. See the value hidden in me……Remember the real treasure is HIM.
By the time Jesus finishes describing this way of life, as great as it sounds, it also sounds impossible. And if that is your reaction, you are not misunderstanding Jesus— you are finally hearing Him clearly. Jesus is not offering advice for personal improvement; He is revealing a way of life that stands in direct contrast to our natural instincts.
That is why this teaching cannot be reduced to becoming a better version of yourself. Christianity is not self-repair or self-improvement. The gospel does not say, “Try harder to live this way.” It says, “You have died, and a new life has begun.” It is no longer I that live, but Christ in me the gospel is not you to become a better you, the gospel is die to you and let Him live through you. He that would come after me must deny himself take up his cross and follow after me. This is not about becoming a better you. It's about becoming a new you - Christ in you, the hope of glory!
God calls women in various ways—some to lead openly, others to serve quietly. Scripture urges women to follow God’s call wherever it leads. It is the church’s joy and responsibility to recognize, support, and send women into their designated roles. When everyone is fully empowered in their purpose, the Kingdom truly advances.
In conclusion, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few and time is limited. Let us all, men and women, come together and actively participate in the world-changing mission that God has entrusted to us!
To recap, in medical training, the phrase see one, help one, do one isn’t about speed— it’s about readiness. No competent physician stays forever in observation mode. And no responsible mentor keeps the trainee assisting indefinitely. Eventually, the work must be entrusted, because the goal was never knowledge alone—it was to be carried forward.
Luke 4:38–44 shows us that moment beginning in the ministry of Jesus. The disciples see Him demonstrate the will of God as He restores what is broken. They help by interceding for others, thereby capturing God's heart. And by the end of the passage, they are surrounded by a city that is coming to Jesus. The ministry is expanding.
The Spirit's presence has been steady across all generations. It’s a celebration of the vital roles of women—not merely participating but actively promoting revival through preaching, building, serving, and leading, all in their passionate effort to spread the gospel.
Reflecting on these inspiring women fills us with humility and a warm sense of gratitude for how wonderfully God works. It's truly beautiful to see His hand at work among women throughout history, and it’s so important to honor that with genuine respect and
It's truly wonderful to celebrate and rejoice as the Lord continues to raise up more women to join in His great harvest, sharing His love all around the world.
Our HEALING was secured on the cross where Jesus secured our forgiveness and bore our sins. The same blood that forgave our iniquities removed our infirmities.
Psalm 103:2-3 (ESV): 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your disease
Claim your healing Speak the Word of God and His promises OUT LOUD
You have authority in JESUS CHRIST TO heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and cast out demons...USE IT. Pray and take hold of your healing
James 5:14-15 (ESV): 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
We’re not throwing away God’s design for authority, nor are we pretending that abuse or misapplication never happened. We’re restoring what God intended. Once the structure is restored, we can finally release all the gifts God has placed in His church, men and women, without fear or confusion.
So, church, we’re embracing Jesus’ power to restore what sin has twisted. When authority is healthy, families become closer, the church feels more secure, and everyone can grow in peace without fear. And when authority is truly redeemed, giftings aren’t held back; instead, they’re joyfully shared.
To sum up, in our study today, we saw that the Israelites‘ sin against the Lord was caused by their impatience. They wanted to move forward with their journey to the Promised Land immediately.
The truth is, just like them, we can also rush to build our lives, dreams, or ministries without waiting on God’s timing. But true strength and blessings come when we build with patience, prayer, and trust in Him.
Paul believed that faithful preaching of Christ prompts decisive action from God. This conviction shaped the way he spoke. He aimed to steward a message of eternal importance, not build a reputation. The danger for every generation is not outright rejection of the gospel, but subtle replacement.
The Kingdom of God does not advance through eloquent presentation. It advances when the gospel is preached with clarity, courage, and dependence on the Spirit. The same Spirit who empowered Paul still confirms the Word today. The same gospel that saved then still saves now
Imagine someone hiking with a heavy backpack. They’ve carried it so long it feels normal. Inside are things they once thought were essential extra gear, backups, and old supplies. None of it is evil, but the weight is exhausting.
At some point, someone says, “You don’t need all of this to finish the trail.” Piece by piece, the weight is removed. And with every item set down, breathing becomes easier. They didn’t lose what mattered; they finally let go of what didn’t.
That’s what Paul is describing. When Christ becomes the measure of worth, we don’t lose life, we gain it. Freedom comes not from carrying more, but from trusting Christ enough to set things down.
God has already spoken His promises over our lives. The question is: will we grumble, will we declare God’s promises by faith, and finally, will we also dig?
Faith begins with hearing God’s promise, grows as we declare it with our lips, and comes to life when we act on it with our hands. The Israelites sang, 'Spring up, O well!' as they dug into the dry ground, and God turned a barren desert into a flowing spring. May we do the same—believe His Word, declare His truth, and take the steps He calls us to take—until we see His living water spring up in our lives.
The psalm assures us that God is present, God is watching, and God remains the final authority. From Babel to Nabal, Scripture consistently shows that lives built without reference to God eventually collapse from within. But lives ordered around God endure, because they are aligned with truth, wisdom, and purpose.
The question Psalm 14 leaves us with is not whether God exists, but whether He rules our lives. Are we merely acknowledging God, or are we truly seeking Him? Wisdom begins with reverence, and faith begins with surrender. And a life fully entrusted to God will always stand in contrast to the folly of living as if there is no God.
Kingdom faith says:
“God sees more than we do.”
“Heaven is backing what God has initiated.”
“This moment is not a setback; it is a setup.”
This is not a season to shrink back. This is not a season to disengage. This is a season to advance the Kingdom of God.
This is a season to lift our eyes. This is a season to trust in heaven’s resources. This is a season to advance by faith, trusting in God’s power and provision as we step forward in faith into our assignment to bring God’s Kingdom to bear in the world around us.
To conquer sins like coveting, greed, lust, and the longing for power, position, or fame, you must redirect your passion. The essential step is to develop a relationship with Christ as your main focus. Center your efforts on serving Christ and His followers. Serving should come first. By pledging yourself to service, you'll notice that worldly coveting gradually diminishes.
Many believers pray for blessings on things that are misaligned. However, blessings tend to come more naturally when lives are guided by God’s rule embodied in His Word.
The Kingdom System represents God’s call for us to align ourselves, moving beyond simple faith or ethics to establish proper governance under rightful authority. Jesus’ words continue to hold true:
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”
When we prioritize alignment, provision naturally follows. When we allow God to take the lead in our lives, we will find that life begins to work as it was meant to.
In the end, the real question isn’t whether God is willing to rule. It’s whether we are willing to surrender to His rule as we surrender to Him.
God doesn’t just rescue us so we can sit safely forever. He restores us so we can participate in His work of restoration. Forgiven people become sent people. Jesus didn’t merely pay our debt; He came to restore what sin had ruined. In short, Redemption frees us from sin; Restoration brings us back to life.
· Restored relationship.
· Restored identity.
· Restored health.
· Restored authority.
· Restored purpose.
This is not a different gospel. It is the rest of the story.
The Kingdom advances wherever Christ is welcomed not only as Savior but as Lord. When He reigns in us, His Kingdom moves through us into our homes, our work, our relationships, and our communities. Lives are transformed. Culture begins to change. Darkness loses its authority. The reign of God advances.
As we celebrate Christmas, we, His people, should do more than remember the birth of the baby Jesus. We should recognize the opportunity to renew our allegiance to the King who came. We should seek to recommit to His mission and allow His truths to shape how we live every day. When the King truly reigns in us, the Kingdom is revealed in us and can then advance through us.
Healing is the will of God. It was central to Jesus' ministry, and it continues today through the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church. We recognize that not every sickness is healed instantly, but every true healing, whether miraculous, gradual, or medical, comes from God.
Therefore, the Church must continue to preach the Word, lay hands on the sick, and expect God to move in power.
Jesus is still the Healer.
The Spirit is still giving gifts.
The Church is still called to minister in His name
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Why is God so opposed to lying? As we mentioned earlier, the Ten Commandments are the most crucial set of rules ever created for building a good society. However, such a society cannot be established or maintained without a foundation of truth. In bringing His Kingdom into this world, God is introducing His way of living life. He is cultivating within His people godly behaviors that will create a godly society. To faithfully share the gospel, we must be truth-tellers. To live in harmony with one another, we must value truth and practice it with one another.
Moses was unwilling for the Promises of God to come to them without the Presence of God. Moses interceded before God that His Presence would go with the people. It was His Presence that was the key to who they were. God heared His prayer and as a result, the temple was completed and God's Presence dwelt among them through it. The presence of God that Once filled the tabernacle now fills every believer through Christ. Just as Jesus was God with us, the Spirit is now God in us, empowering us to shine in a world covered in darkness. Our highest calling is to be His dwelling place, living carriers of His presence, so that through us the world may see His glory.
This isn’t about pointing fingers; it’s about recognizing where theft can happen. Again it’s not to condemn us, but to call us back into integrity, obedience, and courage. Scripture teaches us that stealing is always wrong. Whether it’s money influence or spiritual opportunity, but God shows us these areas not to shame us. But so that we can return what belongs to Him and fully embraces what He longs to give us.
The difference between inside and outside is more than just a word. It means standing outside of faith, beyond the will and direction of God for your lives. It’s also the difference between being in His will and being outside of His will for our lives.
Initially, we pictured someone outside a city wall or closed door, with the King inside ready to welcome. The good news is now that the door is open. You no longer have to stay outside; you can enter where God’s presence, promises, and pleasure dwell through faith in Jesus.
Where are you right now? Do you find yourself on the outside, or have you crossed the threshold through faith? Today, I want to encourage you to take that step. Enter in. The King is calling, and His arms are open wide. Step into His will, by faith, and find the abundant life that only He gives.
Illustration: Think about a backup generator. It sits in the backyard, silent and unused most of the time. We barely give it attention—until the power goes out. Suddenly, that generator becomes the most important thing in the house. But the moment the lights return, it goes quiet again, forgotten until the next crisis.
That’s how many people treat God. As long as life is running smoothly, He sits idle in thebackground. But when everything shuts down—when the job fails, the relationship breaks.
The storm hits—suddenly they call on Him to keep the lights on. And once things improve, He fades into the background again.
But God was never meant to be your backup generator. He is the true Light, meant to shine every day—not just when your world goes dark. He doesn’t just flicker on in emergencies—He powers your entire life.
So the call is clear: Tear down the imitation altars. Restore God’s altar to the center. Stop living with divided devotion. Choose today—will God be your backup, or your everything?
John 17:15-19- Jesus High Priestly Prayer
I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.
We all broke this commandment. Jesus was crucified on the Cross of Calvary, and we all played a part in His death. As a result, we all deserve only God's judgment. However, because of His great mercy, grace, love, compassion, forgiveness, and salvation, they continue to flow from that very same cross to anyone who cries out, “Lord, have mercy on me.”
God is still healing. God is still performing miracles. The Spirit that worked through Jesus, and then through the apostles, is the same Spirit indwelling and empowering the church today. The question is whether the church is willing to believe, pursue, and obey.
I believe the Lord is stirring His church again, not just to preach salvation, but to demonstrate the Kingdom. And I believe He wants to increase the flow of healings and miracles among His people, so that Jesus can be glorified as we facilitate hurting, damaged people towards wholeness.
We need to actively engage in evangelism and tell everyone what Jesus has done for us. Tell everyone that you can about the Kingdom and tell them that the Kingdom of Heaven is here proclaim the authority that we’ve been given by the Holy Spirit. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. We need to encourage and internalize that message and commit to advancing the Kingdom with purpose and faith.
Perhaps you find yourself in a situation that reminds you of Naomi and her predicament. I want you to know today that God is visiting His people once again. I want you to hear the call of God to come back home.
Like the prodigal, you don’t have to be completely well and whole to come back; you just need to hear the Father’s call to you to come back and let our loving, and merciful God begin His work of reconciliation, healing, restoration in your life.
Come back home and He will save you. He will make you whole!
In summary, today we learned that in a culture obsessed with the paranormal, God calls His people to live with revelation, not curiosity. His goal is that through the illumination of His Word, we will be inspired to fully trust in His supernatural care rather than be driven by fear rooted in ignorance and deception. When His Spirit opens our eyes, we see the unseen clearly — not as a fearful realm of mystery, but as a battlefield already won by Christ. So we walk in light, confident that His presence is our protection, our power, and our peace.
1 Jn 4:4 (ESV) ...He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
God’s power is always available—His Word is alive and true, and His strength is unlimited, but nothing changes until faith turns on the connection. When you believe God and act on His Word, that’s the moment the switch is flipped and power flows into your situation. Faith doesn’t create power; it releases it.
How many of you are hungry for a fresh encounter with God? Cause that’s what we desire. That’s what I desire for you is that you would go deeper in the things of God. That you’ll not be on the fringes or on the edge. But you’ll be right in the depth and the middle of what God is doing for you.
The supernatural ministry is not just casting out demons, healing the sick and doing the works of God. It is a proclamation of the gospel the believers’ first ministry besides worship, prayer, and the word is to proclaim the gospel so that our churches expand and grow. And so I want you to see that the supernatural ministry Paul says I’m not ashamed of the gospel for it is power of God unto salvation to them who believe.
Study the word, meditate in the word, speak the word, do the word, believe the word, preach the word, teach the word, delight in the word, store the word, obey the word, rejoice in the word, apply the word, and live by every word. Because it is supernatural, it is life giving, how many of you need to get back to the word. I want to pray for you that God would awaken your desire to read His word giving it access to your life because it is spirit and it is life.
We need the power of the Spirit, we should desire it and as I felt in coming here that I want to take you into the realms of the Spirit. We spoke about desire, hunger, and thirst, creating an appetite for God, how many of you have an appetite for things of God. How many of you will take up your cross and follow Him.
How many of you are hungry for a fresh encounter with God? Cause that’s what we desire. That’s what I desire for you is that you would go deeper in the things of God. That you’ll not be on the fringes or on the edge. But you’ll be right in the depth and the middle of what God is doing for you.
True enlargement begins not in your circumstances or in your environment, but in your capacity. Before God expands what’s around you, He stretches what’s within you, David had a heart of for God. That’s a capacity that is being enlarged with desire, with hunger, with thirst, and an appetite for something that’s bigger than us. I leave here a bigger man or woman than when I came. God has touched me; God has expanded me, and God has changed me. And my world is gonna the feel the change of my impact life.
What Should You Be Doing? / What Is Your Role?
Examine your hearts and Confess Your Sins and seek forgiveness and cast your cares on Him.
Fan your personal devotion to Christ - Be hungry for God, don’t be complacent.
Restore your spiritual health
Consistently read and meditate on Bible – Sharpen Your Sword – Explain How to Meditate
Thirst for Scripture
Be fully engaged in CORPORATE WORSHIP and PRAY
Evangelize and Spread the Gospel You are ALL evangelists: You Should Be:
Tell everyone you know or meet about Jesus and the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven
Proclaim the gospel!!!
Surrender complete control to Jesus.
The same Jesus who healed them still walks among us by His Spirit today. His power hasn’t diminished. His compassion hasn’t changed. His willingness to heal, restore, and make whole is as strong now as it was then. Faith still draws His power, still halts Him in His tracks, and causes Him to turn and say, “Daughter, Son, your faith has made you whole.”
So if you’re tired, if you’ve tried everything and nothing has worked - raise your hands, lift your heart, and place your trust in Him. Because when faith touches Jesus, power still flows, and the same love that healed them all those years ago can heal you today.
- Great Commission – Make Disciples
Matthew 28:18-19 (ESV): 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
- Live the Kingdom Life – Jesus’ Life
Righteousness, Peace, Joy, Love, Power & Purpose
Overcome, Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons (Matt 10:8)
3. Spread the CULTURE OF HEAVEN to all nations, just like Jesus did.
Looking into Abraham's life, we found that faith was the hallmark of his life. We also saw that his faith was established by obedience. While we concentrated on Abraham, Hebrews relates others. What we see is that faith has always been the way to walk in a relationship with God, and true biblical faith is more than mental assent; it is marked by obedience to God as we put our trust in Him and His Word.
What we looked at today is the progression of King Asa’s life and how he interacted with the God who appointed him to serve as King over the people of Judah. At the beginning of his reign, King Asa called on his people to trust in God. As a result, we find that Asa and his small army won an overwhelming victory over his enemy. However, later on in his life, Asa’s trust was no longer in the Lord but in his own wisdom as he sought to deal with his problems through his political savvy and cleverness.
Finally, at the end of his life, Asa deviated completely from his avowed trust in God by seeking help for his foot disease “only from the physicians.” The king’s sin lay in seeking their help “only” and not seeking “help from the LORD,” who is the ultimate healer of men’s diseases. Sadly, at the end of his life, the King died without any mention of his reconciling with the Lord.
This baptism in the Holy Spirit which Jesus received which led to the power of the Spirit is a promise that was made available to the followers of Christ after His resurrection from the dead. Before that experience, His disciples were to be first, born of the Spirit. Why, because unlike Jesus, we were born separated from God.
King Asa had taken over the reins of Israel and had embarked on a mission to turn the nation aggressively towards God. We witnessed how at one point a large contingent came against King Asa out of Ethiopia and the context suggests that Asa opposed him, but his army was far less in numbers than the enemies. So he called on his people to trust in God. After a resounding victory, while collecting the spoil from the battle, a man by the name of Azariah began to prophesy to the King. He told him,
2 Ch 15:1–2 (ESV) ...Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
True followers of Christ, true citizens of His eternal Kingdom, will live with Him forever. Because they are not convicted but instead forgiven. They are not put to death, and their names are not erased from the Book of Life.
2 Co 5:17 (ESV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
God was calling Abraham; He was calling people in the pages of the New Testament, and He is still calling people today. Abraham believed in God and demonstrated his faith by leaving the comfort and security of what he had to follow God and move into what God had prepared for him. As He called Simon and Andrew, James and John, He is still laying His mantle on those of us to follow Him today. He is calling people to follow Him to a place that He will lead us to, and we have a choice to make whether we want to follow or not.
Jesus had received the promise of authority over the nations that originally delivered to His ancestor, King David. Jesus had become the true son of David, the King who would perpetuate David’s house forever in the new covenant Kingdom. Thus, He is the bright morning Star, He is the forever ruler over all and it’s in Him, surrender to Him, submitted to Him, that we have the promise that we can rule and reign in this life as well. Maybe you haven’t been ruling and reigning in life, maybe life has been ruling and reigning over you
The importance of a firm, stable, and secure foundation is made evident when Jesus said in the culmination of His Sermon on the Mount, the relevant question left to be answered is this: “What kind of foundation are you building your life on?” Without Christ as our foundation, we are susceptible to all the storms that life brings. With Him, we can face any storm and remain firmly rooted, coming out victorious on the other side. Are you ready to make Christ the foundation for your life today?
Mark 10:46 marks the beginning of the story of Jesus healing Bartimaeus, a blind beggar. It describes the scene where Jesus and his disciples are traveling through Jericho, and Bartimaeus, who is blind and sitting by the roadside, calls out to Jesus, recognizing him as the "Son of David". This verse sets the stage for a powerful encounter of faith, healing, and discipleship. This verse is significant because it highlights:* Bartimaeus's faith and belief in Jesus's ability to heal. * The contrast between Bartimaeus's clear vision of Jesus's identity and the disciples' lack of understanding. * The power of faith to overcome barriers and receive healing
2 Chronicles 29:36 (ESV) states that "Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.". This verse signifies the joy felt by both King Hezekiah and the people of Judah after the successful purification and rededication of the temple, a process that occurred quickly and was seen as a divine provision. The swiftness of the restoration highlighted God's gracious work in preparing the people for this event.The rapid completion of the temple's purification and rededication underscored God's power and grace in facilitating the work. The term "suddenly" suggests that the event happened unexpectedly quickly, emphasizing God's immediate and powerful intervention
This seems clear: all authority is established by God and should be given absolute obedience. Those who do not are in rebellion against God
God first said to man, “It is not good that man should be alone” (Gen 2:18), and His remedy was the family. Families have also been targeted for destruction by the enemy or our souls, as the attacks on them in our times are unprecedented. How can we allow attacks on such ultimate issues to prevail? This is happening on our watch. Like Esther in the Bible, we have not been called to idly stand by and watch this happen.
Esther 4:14 (ESV) For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Conclusion: Today, we looked at three critical questions. 1st, what is the good news? The good news is about the message of salvation. 2nd, why is it good news? It’s good because our salvation doesn’t depend on our performance. The gospel is not about what you’ve done, might, or need to do. It’s about what someone else did for you. 3rd, are there other ways to be saved? Biblically, there is no other way other than Jesus Christ.
Salvation—membership in God’s family—cannot be earned. It can only be received by faith (belief). God offers it because he is gracious and loving. There is no other reason, nor can there be.
Achsah believed her land was supposed to prosper, and because that was her default way of thinking, she set about determined to make it happen.
What I hope we learned from Achsah is that her mindset was one of success. She saw that she needed something to succeed, she set about to bring that to fruition, and she asked for what she needed.
In the Kingdom of God, the currency is not money, but faith. Faith believes in God and God’s Word, and it’s faith that moves us to action.
Pergimus was a city of easy grace. It had become a church that had mingled with the world. And God was calling this church out. And He was saying you're doing some things right, but you're also doing some things that are not. If you heed my voice, if you have an ear to hear. I want to bring you to that place where you can walk as an overcomer and I will give you this white stone and we will be united together again in eternity. I don't know where you're at today, but maybe something about the Pergimus church is striking you, maybe part of you is trying to walk a Christian life. Will you call yourself a christian? And will you live somewhat like a Christian, but in reality if Jesus was examining your life, you might find that you're a lot more like Pergimus than you like to be. But the reality is that when you embrace God, He is your provider, He is your friend, He is the one that can bring you through anything in life. Be whole heartily on the side of Christ....Be all in with God!
I want to encourage you today to make the most of every opportunity you have to preach the Gospel and fulfill your call. So what if you don’t have an ideal place to do what God has called you to do? That doesn’t mean you can’t do it — it just means you have to get creative and find new ways to fulfill your assignment! I assure you that the Holy Spirit will show you what to do and when and how to do it so you can seed people’s hearts and minds with the life-transforming power of the Word of God!
So we find that in this first resurrection, the believers escapes judgment, which is the second death. 'cause we're all going to stand before God one day, whether you accepted Christ in this life. Or whether you didn't accept Christ in this life. As a believer, when you stand before God in the next life, he will say, "Well, done, good and faithful servant." Because Christ is your advocate, because you gave your life to Christ, you can pass through, and you could live in eternal bliss with God forever, but for those that fail to receive Christ in this life. You will still have to acknowledge that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But because you didn't accept it in this life. You will experience the consequences of your decision in the next life. Not God's desire, not what God wants. But a faithful judge with you'll be faithful, and he will give you what you choose. If you want to choose to kill someone, you're going to go to jail. If it is a faithful judge, if you choose not to embrace God's means of salvation. He will give you what you want. Though it pains him to do it. He will give you what you want and you will receive the fruit of that decision. Which is eternal life in hell in the Lake of Fire? You will get what you choose, but I want you to know, it is not God's desire for your life. That's why God sends people like me like believers to tell you about Christ to preach to you. The good news of salvation is that it is efficient. So you can know what is real. You can know God's desire for your life. And having experienced the good news. You can embrace God's offer of salvation, and you can receive Christ and never have to worry about the second death. We can hold on to His promise of resurrection life
On this Easter day, we celebrate with many activities that we continue to participate in today, but the foundation of the celebration is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we have seen, Jesus paid the ultimate price of dying on a Cross on behalf of you and me.
According to the Bible, all of us deserve the penalties He paid, but because of His great love for us, He paid the price Himself that we might know Him and be reconciled to the God that created us and loves us.
Living by the Spirit means that we obey the Holy Spirit’s instructions on how to live. When we live by the Spirit we obey God’s Word. We avoid situations and things about which we feel conviction. The Holy Spirit helps us feel sensitive when we get out of balance; then we make the decision to get back into balance. We are careful about what we say, following the instruction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who lives in us helps us when we fight battles of temptation, sin, gossip, overeating, discouragement, or anything else. It is not our own effort that allows us to overcome; rather, the Spirit of God helps us get under control and live by the Spirit.
The tree of life and the paradise of God are featured in the Genesis creation account. In the middle of the Garden, the earthly paradise, was the Tree of Life, which Adam and Eve were free to eat from. This tree granted eternal life, so when Adam and Eve sinned, they lost access to the garden and the tree.
But, when Jesus came and restored humanity’s relationship with the Heavenly Father, He also restored access to the Tree of Life for all who believe in Him. We see this at the end of Revelation, where the tree of life is in the midst of the paradise of God and available to those who receive salvation from Christ.
This is the meaning of Jesus’ promise to the believers of the right to eat from the tree of life. It symbolizes a restored relationship with God and eternal life.
One day when we meet him face-to-face we will not be judged on our success, our educational achievements, or even on all that we may have given. We will be judged on how faithful we were to all that God asked us to do. You and I want to hear the beautiful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant! God Himself is Faithful. This is at the very core of God’s nature. If this unchanging, constant, stable, unwavering behavior is the nature of God Himself, it shouldn’t surprise us that when His Spirit is allowed to freely work in our lives, He makes us faithful and steadfast, just like God. God is faithful; therefore, we should expect faithfulness to grow in our lives as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
In the end, the reward for faithfulness is knowing that you have been obedient and understanding that one day God will say, “Welcome home, my faithful servant! ”
If we succumb to the devil’s attacks in our Church — allowing Him to trample on the lamp, drain the oil, and put out the fire of the Spirit — it will snuff out God’s light in our world! That is why the devil hates the Church and wants to extinguish its flame! As we blaze with the Spirit’s fire and preach the uncompromising Word of God, a piercing light shines forth into the darkness that surrounds us
By burning with the oil of the Spirit and shining light in the world, we can hinder the work of Satan in this world and cause men who are blinded by darkness to see the light that can set them free! The Church is the “oil-burning lamp” of God in the world. Therefore, don’t let the devil extinguish your light or talk you into giving up on the Church! Satan is terrified of the Body of Christ because he knows it is his greatest enemy in the world.
And remember — you are a member of the Body, and the devil is terrified of you cause Christ lives in you! So make the decision today to let the Holy Spirit set your heart afire. Then guard that flame and don’t let anything snuff it out, so that you and the local body of believers God has placed you in can keep shining the light of the Gospel to those who are lost in darkness!
Many people view kindness as a weakness. Those who demonstrate kindness swim against the stream of cold-heartedness and insensitivity. They stop to investigate when they see a need, even though most others would walk on by. When Paul wrote to Timothy about the characteristics of godly leaders, he said, “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone” (2 Tim. 2:24).
Kind people are sensitive to others’ needs. Philippians 2:4 tells us we “should look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Sensitivity is a tremendous strength that we can develop.
Although the good Samaritan probably had a schedule and plans like those who passed by the injured man, he didn’t do what they did. He let his schedule be interrupted. Most likely, kindness was a regular part of his life. This kind act was probably not the exception but the rule. The Holy Spirit wants each of us to make a habit of being kind.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (NIV)26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 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. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
"The Spirit of the living God comes on your life, are you going to do what God is calling you to do based on what you see with your eyes, cause God does not see as mans sees."
Because we belong to the one who created peace and we live a life of peace, we can become a peacemaker. Perhaps you’re the voice that can bring peace to a troubled friend. You may be the one who can speak a peaceful solution to a situation that is tearing apart a marriage or a relationship between loved ones. You may hold the peaceful answer to a competitive, territorial, jealous force within your company or community.If you know the Peacemaker, he will produce within you the fruit of the Spirit called peace. Not only will that peace keep you, but you can supernaturally give that peace to those who are around you
Luke 10:5 (TPT) Once you enter a house, speak to the people there and say, ‘God’s blessing of peace be upon this house!
Repentance is another thing entirely. Repentance is a quality decision to change — and when genuine repentance occurs in a person’s heart and mind, you can be sure the HolySpirit will release His power to effect change in that person’s life and lead him to freedom!
More than 2,000 years ago, Jesus began His earthly ministry by preaching, “...Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Today, He is still speaking to people’s hearts, telling them to turn from wrong ways that are detrimental to living a holy and pleasing life to God. And this message is sounding forth to you.
Romans 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Jesus looked at the crowds and felt compassion for them. He looked beyond all the activity, noise, and distractions and saw their tremendous need. They were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36). Jesus loved as no human was able to love, he sacrificed as no one ever could, and he forgives beyond our comprehension. There is no way you can love this way unless the Spirit of God helps you. He and he alone will enable you to grow in Christlike love. The fruit of there spirit is love.
"He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it. What does His work look like, it looks like Him it looks like love."
We are all subject to someone. If we are not submitted in relationship to the Lord, we are submitted in relationship, or we are captive to the enemy of our souls. The only way to truly be free is by tying yourself and submitting yourself to the Lord. The kingdom of God is a little different than the way we work. Servitude to the Lord is freedom in the natural realm, freedom without the Lord is servitude in the natural realm but your serving the devil. Jesus used a parable to describe what we are talking about.
Matthew 7:24–27 (ESV) Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Revelation 3:14-22(ESV
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Perhaps you are here today, and you’ve failed to follow through in the past on something God has called you or even your family to.
Perhaps God, in His providence, has brought you here today to reveal to you that He is a God of the second chance. As he gave the descendants of Saul another opportunity, in the same way, He is giving us another opportunity to surrender to God's will and call for our lives.
Perhaps today, like Esther, who heard God’s invitation through her uncle Mordecai, you too hear His voice speaking to you through this morning's message. As did Esther, will you also submit to God's call and let Him use you in a way that will make an eternal impact that will not only be a blessing to you but also impact the people around you whom He cares for?
Jim Elliott wrote:
He is no fool who gives, what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.
For when you die the things of life you cannot take with you. But if you give your life to God. You will gain something you cannot lose, you will gain rewards in heaven, you will gain eternal life, you will also have the opportunity to gain those around you who will come to know God and again you are setting up yourself not treasures on earth were moth and rust corrupt, but treasures in heaven were moth and rust can never corrupt.
The fruit of the Spirit is the direct result of the life of Christ ministered to the believer by the Spirit. For spiritual fruit is the outcome of the life of unbroken and full communion with Christ.
One important thing to address to us as Pentecostals. Many look to the baptism in the Holy Spirit as a means to produce the fruit of the Spirit, and express great disappointment if it is not immediately forthcoming after that experience. Yet the declared purpose and result of the Pentecostal Baptism is not fruit but power for service and witnessing. Consistent with this purpose, God uses the believer in the supernatural manifestation gifts of the Spirit.
Holiness however is the evidence of a life of walking with Christ in unbroken communion, and may or may not have any immediate connection with a Pentecostal Baptism. The immediate divine purpose at Pentecost was power, not fruit. Fruit and Holiness by obedience to Christ and His word, they result from a life of communion with God.
Our text contains three different readings of the Word to the people, each producing a different result. First, the people were convicted and repented for disobeying God’s Word.
In the 2nd reading, we find the Israelites beginning to do things in keeping with the prescriptions of God’s Word. And finally, in the 3rd reading, we see the Israelites removing behaviors, that is, they stopped doing things that were out of line with God’s teaching as found in His Word.
God is calling upon you to stand up and fight — giving your concentrated efforts to stand firm for what you believe. Fight in a manner that is noble, admirable, and worthy of the reward that awaits you. And remember — the greater reward usually requires a greater fight. Keep this in mind as you press forward to be first-class in your determination to overcome every obstacle and resistance along the way. Stay in the fight until you can shout, “The fight is finished and victory obtained!”
James 4:5-6
Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us[b]? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
He desires intimacy, Lover of your soul, He gets sadden, Surrender to his lead
The Holy Spirit is not passively present but actively works within us to guide, teach, to convict you. Let us stay unified in this body by following the same lead, the leading of the Holy Spirit.
In the beginning of the Israelite conquest of Canaan, the land was occupied by other people groups. God sent the Israelites in, not to dwell in the same land as these people groups, but to displace these people groups and to possess and occupy the land. The true measure of fulfilling the will of God for the Israelites was not to just move into the land, but to occupy it. The idea that we brought out today is that the human heart is the land that is meant to be fully possessed by God.
How do we do that? We must be purposeful in pursuing the possessor.
Be purposeful about letting Him occupy your house, and the enemy will be pushed out. Light displaces the darkness; the two cannot occupy together.
Ultimately, it’s about being faithful and obedient to do what God has called us to do. Whatever he has called you to, wherever he has sent you, it’s not always about the outward results but the faithfulness to follow through with his assignment. Are you following His will for your life? do you know him, have you surrender to him, are you living for him, are you where He wants you to be? Then rest assured, you will stand before Him one day, and you will hear Him say,
Mt 25:23 (ESV) His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Often, as we are traversing through life, we find ourselves in difficult situations. I, like you, simply want to be free of the pressure these circumstances exact. What we can learn from studying Joseph’s life is that we have to trust God and His leadership through these events. We don’t know what or why, but we do know Who – The Lord.
Perhaps, like Joseph, like Peter, we might be in more than just a tough spot that we need to wriggle out of. Maybe, just maybe, we might be in the midst of a miraculous pathway towards our ultimate God-given destiny. However, without submitting to God’s plan, we might find ourselves sinking in the storm and without realizing it, if left to ourselves, take ourselves out off the road to the fulfillment of our life’s call and purpose.
Paul is in Ephesus teaching and proclaiming the Word of God. This Word of God that Paul is sowing into the hearts of people comes to them in seed form. That seed began to grow and release its power to the extent that it was pushing out the unrighteous practices and behaviors that the believers had considered acceptable in their lives. It moved them to confess and repent of their deeds and as a result, the Word of God continued to increase mightily and prevail in the area.
When I look at what God is doing here through his eyes, what he has revealed to me, I am no longer discouraged at what I see, but motivated to continue to build with renewed vigor as God touches us with His grace and gives people the ability to feast upon the luscious fare that He is choosing to bring to the table which He is setting within our midst.
How much does God love us? He loves us so much that He left His heavenly realm, came to earth as a man without sin, took on ALL of the sins of the world (including yours and mine), and sacrificed Himself so that we could be reconciled to Him and have a one-on-one relationship with our Father
So to answer the question: Why does the Creator of the universe pay attention to us and care for us? Because He LOVES us, AND
The Greatness and Abundance of His love is IMPOSSIBLE to comprehend.
To recap, the prodigal son sinned and left his father’s house. He was swallowed up in the culture of his time and lost sight of the fact he was a loved son. So he went home, bound and determined to live as a slave, his newly adopted identity. What he encountered was far better. He came into contact with four healing graces his father used to restore his true identity. The Best Robe, Sandals On His Feet, A Ring, and the fatted calf. These four graces are available to all of us.
God wants us to change the world. He is at work in our lives undoing the seasons of defeat and trauma, blessing us with new identities, and removing negative things others have spoken over us so we can live out a fulfillment of His plans for us.
3) And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
What are we not willing to let go of? What are we holding on to tightly that isn’t serving us? What are we attached to? Like this monkey, the enemy keeps us from finding true freedom in Christ because. While we may want all that Christ promises us, we are not willing to let go of that which is keeping us bound, chained, and imprisoned. The only way to truly experience God’s freedom is to surrender everything to Him.
John 8:34–36 (ESV) Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
His father did accept him back into the household, but not as a servant the way the son thought it would be. No he received full restoration as the son that he was. He would not be a servant in the father’s house, but a fully restored son. This is God’s desire and plan for all who would call upon Him as well.
The Lord is wanting us to see that the Temple was at a place of peace, wholeness, completely sound. Solomon had made it into what God had intended it to be and as a result of that, the Glory of the Lord filled the Temple. Likewise, today, may your Glory manifest in us and through us! May the glory of the Lord shine, rest, and arise upon you.
Matthew 5:14 (ESV) You are the light of the world....
I sought to reorient us by answering 3 questions. What is happening? What is not happening? What can I do about it? I hope we have come to see that we have been under an enemy assault. The purpose is to discourage and dissuade us from moving forward. What I am hoping the full picture gives us is the resolve to continue to stand our ground and in doing so, and a determination to embrace the promised breakthrough into victory. I’m hoping to day that we are able to come together, rally the troops if you will and that we too will decide to push forward into victory. Like Joshua, I’m hoping you will accept the challenge. Whether you do or not, as for me and my house, I/we choose to follow and serve the Lord.
We have seen that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is a definitive, distinctive, and distributing experience that was an expectation of the Lord, His apostles, and for believers of all ages and all times. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God coming upon a believer, taking possession of their faculties, and imparting to them gifts not naturally their own, but which qualify them for the service to which God has called them.
David gathers all the commanders and leaders to bring the Ark of God back to Jerusalem. In the process of moving the Ark, one of the people in charge put out his hand to steady the ark and was struck dead. This resulted in bringing this move of God to a standstill. David found in the Word of God their approach was unbiblical and the consequences of it were what shut down the move. So, instead of abandoning the desire to bring God's Presence near to him, David decided to continue, but this time in a way that honored God for who He truly is - Lord. He did so by doing things God's Way as prescribed in His Word
As we described what God was cleaning up and tossing out is the Holy Spirit’s fire burning within us? Do we find ourselves described anywhere in this move of God? If so, then God’s cleansing grace is here to forgive and free us if we will submit to the standard of His Word and repent that He may complete His work of conforming us to the image of His Son.
When the fire of God begins to burn in our midst, it fosters a renewed interest and desire to hear from God. When God’s Word is revealed to us, it begins the process of burning out the chaff in our lives and exposes the heart and unbiblical practices that we have neglected or simply chose not to conform ourselves to. With a renewed vigor, we passionately hear and conform to God’s Word in our lives and in so doing, foster the move of God that is working its way through us and seeks to move through us to touch the world around us.
Exodus 14:15 (ESV) ...Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
Faith moves towards a destination. It moves towards the completion of what God has said regardless of what says differently. God's message reveals, Faith, true biblical faith, Moves Forward!
James teaches us to double down and pray again until the answer comes. He uses the illustration of Elijah who had the Word of God for rain. He teaches us that Elijah, upon receiving the Word, went to pray. But, it wasn’t a simple one time pray, it was deep intercession until the promised rain came upon the land.
In the same way, we must approach the promises of God ourselves. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man brings a sure reward
Mark 11:23–24 (ESV) Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
In the Kingdom of God, the person in whom Christ is truly formed is one who is not simply living a godly life, but one who is imparting their godly life towards others. In short, we are called to not only be reflections of His image and likeness, but to be fruitful and multiply. We are called to reproduce others as well. Not just to make converts, but to take on the responsibility to bring those converts into maturity. We are to go into the world and to make disciples of all nations. Like Paul, we must be willing to take to heart his attitude towards those around him when he said,
Galatians 4:19 (NKJV) My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,
You and I are like that bird. We get sick – spiritually - when we live in the wrong environment; when we find ourselves in the wrong place. No amount of “medicine/works,” will bring wholeness until we get in the right environment. When, like this bird, we get into our rightful place, the place where we were anointed to live and function, then we too will be in the right setting for us to thrive as we fulfill our God- given destiny.
Genesis 37:4-5
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
"He can do what no one else can do and God not done yet"
When God issues a directive to us, we must view His word as unchangeable and unmovable. It is everything around us that must accommodate the Word. As we take that biblical understanding as the foundation of our thinking process, we then use the authority and the power the Lord gave us to bring the opposing circumstances into submission. That’s how we fight the good fight of faith.
Bethel, it is the House of God; It is the portal or the doorway from heaven to earth.
The purpose for these messages it to get us to realize that We are Bethel! Not just our name, but our identity is Bethel!
- We are the House of God!
- We are the doorway from heaven to earth!
We need to be heaven’s penetration point on earth, the headquarters of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Bethel is the place where heaven and earth meet. It is the place where God’s Kingdom comes and God’s will is manifest on earth, as it is in heaven. It is the gateway of Heaven.
- We, the Church are the place where God Himself resides!
- We, the Church are God’s access point into the earthly realm.
I hope this biblical look at this passage will destroy the lie that God is somehow wanting to keep you from being healed because like Paul, He has given you a thorn in the flesh as well. As we have seen, God did not give Paul a thorn in the flesh, and He is definitely not giving one to you either. What He did provide for you is Grace made evident in His healing power.
God is everywhere, He promises to be with us always. He assures us that He will never leave us or forsake us. We are the church, We are Bethel! We are the House of God! We are the Place Where God dwells. We are the Place Where God’s Manifest Presence is Revealed. We are the People of God who are on fire! We are the light or the fire of the world! God set your church on fire!
Jesus taught that you can bring to pass whatsoever you say and believe in your heart. Creative power is released when the heart and mouth get in agreement! It can bring about the manifestation of healing to your body, salvation to your family, prosperity to your business, and growth to your church.
This heart-mouth combination works both positively and negatively. That’s why you must be careful about what you believe and declare.
We live in the world we create with our words and actions. If you want to live a different future than your present circumstances reveal, then you will need to think differently, speak differently and act differently.
Jesus taught that you can bring to pass whatsoever you say and believe in your heart. Creative power is released when the heart and mouth get in agreement! It can bring about the manifestation of healing to your body, salvation to your family, prosperity to your business, and growth to your church.
This heart-mouth combination works both positively and negatively. That’s why you must be careful about what you believe and declare.
We live in the world we create with our words and actions. If you want to live a different future than your present circumstances reveal, then you will need to think differently, speak differently and act differently.
We see in Jacob’s dream that Bethel is the House of God. The church is the ultimate fulfillment of what Jacob saw. We, God’s people, in Jacob’s dream, have a picture of what God intends the church, our church to be. We are the place where God Himself dwells and His children, we are to reveal God and His ways to the world around us.
You can do anything God calls you to do too! Determine in your heart that you will not allow Satan to do anything to stop you.
Regardless of the obstacles, like Abraham, like Paul, you too reason in your heart that the same God who made you His promises will be faithful to bring them to pass in your life. You too, by faith, cast off the serpents that bite, cast off the adversities that wound, and move forward into your destiny trusting in God who cannot lie. He will come through for you just as He did for them. Because God is faithful!
We must come to understand, embrace, and subsequently teach and train up the future leaders of our church that God cares for more than just the Church. God set the church into the world because God is concerned with nations. The church is supposed to be salt and light in the earth not to condemn the world, but to influence the nations towards the goodness and the mercies of God. We must recognize that without being the light in and to the nations, we abandon them to the works of darkness.
Wednesday PM Service 10/23/2024
1 John 4:17
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world.
Tuesday PM Service 10/22/20
Mark 9:23"Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe? All things are possible for one who believe
Hebrews 11:7
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
Monday PM Servic
Faith in ActionHebrews 11:1-3
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible
2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
As Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” This joy empowers us to step out in faith, serve others selflessly, and boldly proclaim the Gospel. It gives us the strength to fulfill the Great Commission and make an impact for eternity.
The anointing that rested on Elisha in life, continued to rest on his bones in death. When someone touched those bones, being dead, he was immediately brought back to life.
What we saw learned today is how this principle which we call impartation takes place through the laying on of hands. The Laying on of hands is one of the elementary doctrines of Christ found in the Bible and is used for ministering healing, the baptism in the Spirit, setting individuals apart for ministry, casting out demons and delivering blessings.
We also emphasized that we know, and so must you that we are not the gift-giver; rather, it is God who lives in us and uses us. We are simply the vessel, but God is the giver. We don’t control what He gives or who He gives to, we simply obey and lay hands on His people in faith.
The devil is still doing his works, but he has been defeated, and in Christ we not only escape from his cruelty ourselves, but we then become the instruments God uses to free others from the devil’s oppression.
As did the Lord, we are to go into the world and proclaim the Kingdom of God empowered by the Spirit of God and bring healing and wholeness to all those who have been oppressed by the enemy.
Jn 17:18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world
Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
What we learned today is that we are to be a people who embrace God’s mandate and determined in the idea that we are to be on offense and we will not stop engaging until the enemy’s works are completely destroyed. It’s to have the attitude that we will engage in the mission until the mission is complete. In Christ, we, His body, will engage with the enemy until the enemy’s works are totally dismantled.
Elisha received the mantle which is the empowerment of God to accomplish the purposes of God. God’s salvation is God’s power made available to bring wholeness in every capacity of life. It was not just healing for their souls, but healing for their entire being – spirit, soul, and body. This is what we mean when we speak of the word salvation. It brings healing to every dimension of our being, and to society around us. It’s God’s Kingdom order and power being made manifest and realized in our everyday lives - on earth, as it is in heaven.
Jesus defeated Satan, but the victory has to be enforced by the children of God, or people will die. We can win this fight. God’s will is for us to have the victory. When we have done all we can do, we keep standing in the power of His Spirit, clothed in His armor
God wants us to possess all that He paid a price for at the Cross of Calvary. The problem is that in order to possess His promises, we must be willing to first of all engage, and then we must be willing to fight the good fight of faith.
1 Ti 6:12 (ESV) Fight the good fight of the faith...
2 Ti 4:7 (ESV) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Elisha had counseled the king to trust in God to bring him victory. Apparently, the King was tired of believing in what appeared to be a “false prophetic word” based on his present circumstances. As a result, Elisha, who had greatly benefited the king before was persona non grata. He was looking for Elisha to take his head himself because of the problems he faced in taking Elisha at his word.
In this time of peril, Elisha seemed to be at peace though the world around him was in turmoil. He didn’t allow the circumstances to change who he was, or the will of God for the situation. He stood fast on the Word of God even in the midst of the turmoil and as a result, brought himself, and even more importantly, the city into a great victory over the true enemy which was the enemy of our soul.
9/11/202
Today, it’s not uncommon to hear people who wake up and begin to dress themselves (metaphorically of course) in the armor of God. The question is, are they like the Israelites, dressed for battle, but truthfully, absent when the battle arrives? We must move beyond simply dressing ourselves up to fight, we must engage and we must fight.
1 Corinthians 12: 1, 7-11 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
King 18:41 41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”42 So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.
“There is nothing there,” he said.
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”
So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
(James 5:16) 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
We must see ourselves as part of a cosmic battle and then be willing to engage in it if we hope to see the Kingdom of God manifest in our lives and the world around us. We must fight the good fight of faith
Ephesians 6:13 (GNB) So put on God’s armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy’s attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.
The truth is that many people don’t have a problem believing that God does what He does for the whole, or for other people. What many have a hard time with is that God would do the same for them – the individual. This story teaches us that God salvation, God’s power is not just for the whole, of for others. God cares about you and is willing and available to save and restore you.
Elisha has received the mantle which is the empowerment of God to accomplish the purposes of God. God’s salvation is God’s power made available to bring wholeness in every capacity of life. What we witnessed was the empowerment of God opening the eyes of His servant to see and hear in the spiritual realm
God’s people are also created to be able to see and hear in the spiritual realm - to hear from God.
Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”
And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:39 ES)
Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony,
“He told me all that I ever did.” (John 4:39 ESV)
The Bible says, “Faith without works (action) is dead”.
Faith requires something of us. Faith believes God and His Word. Faith stands with God and stands on His Word. However, faith in God’s Word also demands something of us by way of action.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.( Isaiah 6:1 )
When people have a problem, there are several possibilities that will arise in response to the problem. First is denial of the problem. Second is avoidance of the problem. Third is facing the problem.
If they decide to face the problem they can do so in one of several ways. One, they deal with the problem in their own strength. Two, they get help, but it’s what man can do. Three, they seek God’s solution to the problem.
What our text teaches us is that God wants us to help us overcome our problems but in order to do so, we must face them, follow His wisdom, and commit to doing so until the problem is resolved.
It's God’s desire that we learn from this passage that God may entrust us with His resources in order to take care of those around us who also are in need. In order for that to happen, we must be aware of God’s ability to provide and rest our faith in Him. In doing so, we can trust that when we sow what He has given us into others, we will see the supernatural power of God released and instead of having simply enough for ourselves, we will have more than enough to feed all who would sit with us at the table.
Ps 23:5 (ESV) You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
At the Cross of Calvary, Jesus work made available to those who believe on Him the opportunity to reconcile with God. As believers, we have been forgiven, redeemed, restored, and empowered by the Lord. We are now His children who have an assignment of bringing God’s Kingdom to bear in the world around us.
Being reconciled with God, we have been given power and authority to push back the darkness and bring His glory and light to bear. We are in a battle but the battle is not one of seeking a victory, but one of enforcing God’s victory wherever we go.
As we look around, we find there is “death in the pot” from all the heretical teachings being thrown in and being taught in the Church. Instead of standing against some of the “reasonings” of the world, we have begun to embrace them and in doing so, perpetuated the death the world engenders. Elisha had the answer. He was anointed and empowered by God to solve problems among the people he was sent to. He did so by giving the Word (rhema) to add flour (Christ the Word - logos) to the meal being served. This alone brought healing and sustenance to those being served.In the same way, the church today has also been anointed and empowered by God to bring God’s solutions to the world’s problems and those answers are rooted in Christ and His Word.
This is not something new, this was always the plan of God and we see it right from the beginning of His creative acts. As His crowning creation, He gave us the task of being fruitful and multiplying, of filling the earth and subduing it. Now the question that remains for us is whether we will believe that God created us on purpose for a purpose, and in doing so, will we then engage with our purpose and thus fulfill the purpose and destiny that He has purposed for us and thus in engaging in our destiny find our place in the body of Christ as we seek to fulfill our assignment by bringing God’s purposes to bear in the world around us.
Matthew 6:10 (NLT) May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven
God is a God of resurrection. Resurrection means to bring dead things back to life. So, God is a God that brings that which was without life, and breathes life back into it.
We witness how God is a God who resurrects desires, physical and spiritual life, and also a God who resurrects resources. Do you find yourself in a situation that only God can resurrect? Why not call on him today
Romans 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The Gospel is to be taken to people from every culture, custom, civilization, race, color, or ethnicity in the world. The Gospel is meant for all the ethnos — in other words, for all the various races and colors of human flesh, all the cultures of the world, and all the civilizations that exist worldwide.
We don’t have to move to the other side of the world to preach the Gospel. Jesus never expected all believers to uproot their families and to move to foreign nations. But He does expect you to take the Gospel to the different ethnic groups, cultures, and civilizations that are in your city. He does expect you to invade every sphere where you have influence and to use your influence to declare the Gospel to people who live, work, and function in those places.
The supernatural flow to free this woman from her financial prison began to bring God's divine provision into her life. While it may seem like it was a once and done thing, the provision was actually manifested in her life through a process. It took time, and steadfastness on the part of the woman, but she heeded the Word of the Lord through Elisha, what is the upmost importance to us is that it was a supernatural freedom from her financial prison.We have the freedom to allow God's provision to flow through us as we take care of those around us.
"You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give"
God’s plan has always been to bring His will to bear into every area of society through His people, and today that’s you and me. If we don’t see that as our privilege and responsibility, even though we have plenty of biblical support for it, we will not do so even when the doors have been opened before us. We must understand God for His church is to bring the Kingdom to bear into the world we live. Our assignment is and always will be: On earth as it is in heaven.
We saw that Elisha was not called to be a hermit, but he is called to be among the people. He has been anointed and empowered and it is in order to help people. When asked for a solution to the city’s problem, he took the problem to the Lord, and sought God’s solution to it. As a result, God revealed to Elisha a supernatural solution to the people of the city. I believe God still wants to use us to bring His supernatural solutions to bear in the world around us as well. We just need to believe that is truly our assignment, and be available to be used, and ultimately to ask.
While we all fall short in numerous areas, there are three basic character flaws from which those called to ministry and leadership must be delivered in order to stay on the path of life and true ministry. Each of these flaws involve selfishness and are found in the epistle of Jude. We saw in contrast to these character flaws the perspective of the Apostle Paul. Ministry and leadership in the Kingdom is not using others for what you want, but submitting your desires to the Lord in service to Him in the advancement of His Kingdom.
We saw that Elisha received the empowerment of God to accomplish the purpose of God for which he has been set apart and sent. Elisha was anointed and empowered by God, as his name implies, to bring God’s salvation, deliverance, and victory to the people, that is to deal with the people’s real life problems in the sphere Elisha was sent to minster to.The miraculous interventions of God through Elisha to bring God’s power to bear in the everyday lives and problems that people face as the God’s salvation was made evident through God’s anointed and empowered man, Elisha.
(6/12/2024) We’ve all encountered moments in our spiritual lives when we prayed with no results. Apparently the people to whom James was writing his epistle were having the same experience. Just as you have probably asked yourself at one time or another, it appears that these believers were also asking, “Why aren’t our prayers being answered?” We can surmise that they were asking this question because James provided an answer in James 4:3: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss....” Knowing what to pray and how to pray is vitally important. So always keep this in mind as you get ready to make your requests known to God: God listens for His Word, and He responds to faith. When He hears His Word prayed from a heart of faith, He is compelled to act.
Jesus’ ministry was a supernatural ministry and He commissioned us to the same kind of supernatural ministry. Yes, ministry is about getting people saved, and about helping the needy; but it’s so much more than that.
It’s about moving in the power of the Spirit of God and in His power, breaking the power of darkness in people’s lives and setting them free to live the victorious, overcoming Christian kind of life that then God uses to supernaturally set others free and on the path of wholeness and victory.
To do this God-commissioned ministry, He sent the Spirit to equip us with power to do the same works that He Himself modeled for us – His church.
Elijah was sent to anoint Elisha as the next prophet of Israel. Elisha accepted the call and began his ministry life in service to Elijah.
In mentoring Elisha, we could say that Elijah was laying the foundation not only for Elisha’s life, but also for his future ministry. The foundation is that the Lord is God. Or we might equally say, God is the Lord! As Lord, He is the only one deserving of our honor, fidelity, and worship. This is captured in Jesus’ reply to what is the first and greatest commandment.
We recognize through this text that God’s miraculous intervention, God’s suddenly, often take more time than what we think, or we often give God the freedom to do in our lives. Like this widow woman, if we come to God for His help, we must also take Him at His Word and by faith walk it out to completely to see the fulness of His great promises and supernatural power come to pass in our lives as well.
But first seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added unto you.....Matthew 6:33
God brings light and order into darkness and chaos. What He did directly, He still does through His creation – you and me. As Abraham affected his world, so are we to do the same. We are not to allow the world to affect us like it did Lot; instead, we are to bring Heaven’s economy, the Kingdom of God into this earth and bring God’s light into this dark world in which we have been placed and sent forth into.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven....Matthew 6:10
1 John 5:11- And this the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son.
Your walk with Christ should be even deeper and stronger than a tree rooted by a water source. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness. So many in this nation are living in a state of ungratefulness and a lack of thankfulness, I know why. They have no true relationship with Jesus Christ, God has not overlooked you God sees you right where you are.Let your lives be built on Him.
I want to acknowledge the boldness and the courage of Micaiah to declare the Word in the midst of such a contrary situation. Although faced with opposition and certain dire consequences for speaking the truth of God’s Word, he did not acquiesce. He is a shining example to all who aspire to proclaim God’s Word. He is a model of what it truly means to be a faithful herald, preacher, and prophet of God. In the NT, the apostle Paul counseled Timothy as he faced mounting pressure and opposition. Paul himself was facing prison and death for his proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In spite of this he wrote to Timothy saying:
2 Ti 4:1–5 (NKJV) I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
When we face trials, we do not face them as the world faces them. When the world faces trials, peace is a subjective peace which finds its source in the absence of adverse circumstances. It is a peace that is based on feelings, when everything is good, I have peace.
The peace Jesus gives us is objective, it finds its source in the unbroken relationship we have with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son! It is not dependent on circumstances or feelings, it is a reality in the Christian’s life by virtue of the blood that was shed, the redemption provided through the cross of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God in Christ that is imputed to us by grace through faith and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
And because of this assurance we have in Christ, we stand as a light in this world, a testimony that reflects the glory of God.
As a Spirit, the Holy Spirit is not limited by space and time. He can be anywhere and everywhere at the same time. Likewise, since we were created as tri-partite beings (Spirit, Soul, and Body), the Holy Spirit was made to and as we have already pointed out, does indwell those who have been born again. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in our spirit.
Elisha received the prophetic mantle of Elijah as the primary prophet to the nation. What we learned through the scriptures today is, even though he had received and was also actively moving in the anointing, Elisha has to learn how to grow in it and with it.
Through the revelation of what Elisha did, we learned some things that he did right, and my contention is that we also learned from some things he did wrong. Just as Elisha had to learn how to flow in the prophetic anointing so that it would benefit God’s people, so must we learn to do the same.
In short, even though he was walking in greater power, Elisha was learning that he hadn’t stopped being a servant to become a prophet. He was a prophet, it’s just that in this prophetic role, he he had to learn how to serve not just one man, but how to serve his gifting to the nation.
(5/8/2024)
The Word of God is truth. It draws a dividing line between what is right and wrong in the eyes of God. We cannot redefine truth based on what is acceptable or not in culture, or what we feel should be right and wrong. It is God’s prerogative alone to do so. In the end, God’s Word will be the final judge over our lives and how we live in conformity to it.
We found that both Elijah and Elisha knew that the end of Elijah’s ministry and life was near. Elijah’s departure would necessitate someone to take over what Elijah had developed. Elisha, although the likely successor, would be put through a series of “tests” to see whether he would indeed be the person to receive the mantle that was on his mentor. In the end, he did receive the mantle and became the next major prophet in Israel as he fulfilled his divine purpose and call in the service of God on behalf of the people of God.
What we learned today is that the Word of the Lord is given to not only inspire, and to instruct, but also given to inform. It shows us God’s perspective on the circumstances we find ourselves in. This dynamic is called prophetic insight, and it is God’s revelation to us of how He sees the situation. God’s Word is still going out and informing us of His will today. How about you? Will you believe the report of the Lord?
What does the God’s love look like? Jesus was and is God’s nature made visible. But what He said, and by how He lived, He demonstrated God’s love to us. What we saw today is that in stark opposition to the world which is always wanting to use others that they may go up, true love willingly goes down in service to others that others may go up.
Why did He demonstrate this principle to us so definitively? Because, once again, we become what we behold. It’s so that we would become like Him and in doing so, truly be a reflection of Him so that we might reveal His love and His glory to the world around us.
The Kingdom of God literally means the rule and reign of God. God is King whether we recognize it or not. When we recognize it and submit to it, we find that the benefits and the privileges of the Kingdom, the promises that God has made to His people then begin to flow into their lives.
Thus far, we looked at how Micaiah was sent with the Word of God to Inspire the King of Israel to fight and to Instruct the King to be prepared for an upcoming battle. What we want to highlighted today is the importance of knowing God’s Word. In Knowing His Word, we become knowledgeable of His Will. Not only must we know it, but we must also understand what the Word of God means. Understanding without doing makes the Word of God ineffective. Therefore, we must be doers of the Word for it to release its power into our lives.
All 3 gospels tell us that immediately after the experience on the mountain where Jesus had been transfigured, Jesus and the three were confronted with a situation in which the rest of the band had been unable to cure an epileptic boy. Jesus asserted his authority over the demons and gave some significant teaching on the importance of faith. When asking Jesus why they could not cast it out, Jesus replied to them that it was because of their “little faith.” The context seems to suggest that their faith is still in an immature stage. It has not yet grown up to what it will be.The emphasis in the passage can be found in the words, “you will say.” In other words, what you were able to do today, is not necessarily what you will be able to do in the future. Your faith today will eventually grow to the point where you will be able to face these same kind of situation and in faith, you will see that it is grown to the place where it can and will with it.
The Word of the Lord is meant to inspire us as well to live for God and trust Him to bring us through whatever battles may lie in front of us. I hope that some of these accounts we shared today inspired you to put your faith in God and trust Him to help you through whatever battles you may be facing.
There is an enemy who seeks to stop what God is doing amid his people. We have seen his tactics, but what we learned from Nehemiah today is that despite these attacks, if we keep our eyes on God and continue forward in the work, we too will finish the work and overcome.
He is still calling people to follow Him into discipleship, and He is still calling people to serve in ministry. Do you hear His call? Follow Him, and He will begin the process of making you too into a suitable vessel.
All those who followed after Jesus were taken care of by Jesus and received from Him that which He carried. He carried healing and wholeness for those who came to Him in faith and they all received without failure.The incredible ministry that Jesus was involved in as He walked this planet was and is the model for the ministry that His disciples, the Church, His body was and is to continue doing.
As he was sent to find and anoint the next generation of leaders, so too must we anoint, train and release the next generation of those who are called of God to serve Him by serving His people.
Jesus defeated the devil once and for all at the cross of calvary through his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Hallelujah!
We also noted that the devil is still roaming around the planet. I hope that we have grasped that as His Church, we are called to do the works that Jesus did. We too are to destroy the works of the devil.
Today we noted some parallels between Elijah and Moses. We saw Scripture seems to purposely draw a comparison between them and in doing so, hopefully we learned something from them. What about you today. Do you see yourself somewhere in these accounts of these men of God? Perhaps you too find yourself disappointed or in a letdown. Like these men, that requires a reacquaintance with God’s Presence and recommissioning to the work that God has called you to
Nehemiah understood this principle when he began to pray before the Lord on behalf of the people. Restore the people and the people restore the world around them. It’s important that we learn this principle as well. How often do we as a modern church get things out of order. We think that getting a lot of people, a lot of finances, a lot of building makes for a great church. Yet, that is not how God sees things.
I believe the Lord is reminding us that His will for our lives is abundance. As a church, we are entering into a season of abundance. I know what the world looks like and what the economy looks like, but was it any different than what it looked like in Elijah’s day. What matters is not what we see, but what God says.
I believe He is saying, “it’s a change of seasons and in this season, we are going to see an abundance of rain.” Let’s believe God and partner with the will of God in praying through until we see He says begin to reveal itself in our midst.
Jn 7:38 (NKJV) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
God’s kingdom is not a territory, but His act of ruling in and through human hearts. In the Gospels, Jesus speaks about “entering the kingdom”. This means entering the community of those who acknowledge and live as God is King. In doing so, our hearts become the place where heaven flows into and then through to bring His life to the earthly spheres we traffic.
The God who answers miraculously on behalf of the cries of His people proved beyond any shadow of doubt that He was indeed the one true God. In the same way, at the behest and leading of God, we have been given the command to show the love and power of God on behalf of people.By faith, we can believe the Word of the Lord to us and go forth and prove the goodness and the veracity of God by proclaiming and praying for people. As we do, I believe God will answer and the people will again cry out, “The Lord He Is God.”
When He saw the multitudes, Jesus gave His disciples a task. He told them to pray for laborers. I believe that God wants us to recognize that with Him, problems can become catapults to something greater taking place in us and through us. We need to learn to see as Jesus sees. The needs of the people are not problems that hinder, but opportunities to display the glory of God with the purpose of setting people free.
What we saw in this chapter is not only the will of God unfolding itself in the nation of Israel, but we also see the work of God unfolding in the life of one of God’s prophets. What we see is how God is working with Elijah to bring His ways to and through him. As I said before, the purpose of this study is to recognize the work of God taking place not just through Elijah, but the work that is taking place in Elijah.
Elijah who was called to be a prophet of God, but we see that the call had to unfold itself in Elijah’s life. There was a work to be done through Elijah, but God never stops working in Elijah. God was working to bring to fruition that which He had called.
Ephesians 4:1 (NKJV) I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called...
Philippians 2:13 (NKJV) ...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
John 14:12(NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me,
the works that I do he will also; and greater works than these he will do,
because I go to My Father
We got a glimpse of how Jesus did the works He did Having this understanding can and should help us to become more effective in doing that which He has commissioned us to do.
We may be on the way down, or we may already resigned ourselves to the death that seems to be swallowing up our hopes and dreams to follow after Jesus. Worse yet, we may even have given up completely and been engulfed in the snares of sin itself.
The good news, no matter where you are in the process, is that Jesus is here. If you call to Him, just like with Peter, He too is right here to rescue you and bring you back to the boat and set you back on track to the fulfillment of your purpose and destiny in life. Will you get your eyes back on Him and call to Him today?
God wants to save you, so you can be born again. If you don't have the spirit of God inside of you, being born again is not coming to church, not belonging to a church but having an experience were God cleanse you and comes dwells inside of you. You're born again! Born of the Spirit! Not only that your baptize in the Holy Spirit.
What we saw is that prayer is an important key to receiving healing in our lives. But it’s not just any prayer, it’s a certain kind of prayer. What we saw today is that it’s the prayer of faith that receives answer. It’s the prayer of faith that moves mountains
What we also saw is that it’s not the actual prayer itself that heals, but the God to whom responds to faith.
It’s my contention that we, His Church, are called to bring the Kingdom of God into the world and demonstrate its superiority by going on the offense against the enemy by loosening people from the chains in through which they are bound.
God’s Prescription for any situation we face is found in His Word. As we study it, the Spirit of God whispers His directions to us. If we hear Him and heed His remedy, we will find God’s grace at work in us to bring His power into manifestation in us and through us.
What is the gospel? It means good news. What is the good news? It is of course summed up on one word – Jesus. What exactly did Jesus come to do? Did He come to rescue people from hell. Yes He did. Did He come to lead us to heaven when we die? Yes He did. But that’s not all. He came to restore our original purpose as His crowning creation created in His image and likeness.
To say it another way, Heaven is our destination, not our assignment. Our assignment always has been - earth. Until such time as we transition out of this world, the Church’s divine purpose is also, “to fulfill all righteousness.” It is to, in partnership with God, bring His nature and his ways into this planet that all who are “in Christ,” have once again been given authority and power to steward in His name. As the Lord Himself said:
In the beginning pages of the gospel of Matthew, we have seen a few instances of how God speaks to His people. The purpose for studying these is so that we can be open to the Lord speaking to us. God is still speaking to His people today.
Jn 10:27 (NKJV) My sheep hear My voice...
How many of God’s people have forfeited their destinies because instead of remaining steadfast in faith through the storms of life, they caved and allowed the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy their lives, and their destiny?
We can learn from David and like him, when things seem darkest, let’s likewise strengthen ourselves in the Lord, and instead of caving, let’s rally in God, stand against the enemy, and take back all that he seeks to steal from us, from the people of God, and from the generations coming after us.
Faith is much more than just know about God and believing that God can, it’s a belief that God can and will do it for us that in turn moves us to act.
The Word of God is Power! That power is released into our lives through faith. Without faith, much, if not most of what God wants to do in us and for us will lie unused, and unappropriated.
Ps 37:5 (ESV) Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act
We can trust that God is working out the thing that we have committed to Him. It is the continuing attitude of trust on our part that keeps the channel open through which God intervenes in our lives and works out all that needs to be done.
We are to look upon Jesus, the Word made flesh, with eyes of faith. Put your faith in God. Put your faith in His Word, put your faith in Jesus! He is here, and if you look upon Him with eyes of faith, like the Israelites, you too can experience Him as your Savior, and you can experience Him as your Healer.
2 Corinthians 9:7–8 (ESV) Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
The key to David's success was not his position, or even his resources. The key to David's success is that he Honored God; he was a man after God's own heart
The enemies plan is for believers to no longer believe. He uses the visible obstacles to influence us in such a way that we allow them to rob us of our faith and in doing so affect our ability to live overcoming Christian lives.
In Christ, God became man and was born into this world to redeem mankind. As a man, Jesus was Committed, Tested, and Empowered in His earthly walk as He carried out His purpose and destiny for His life. He lived it and accomplished the mission He was sent to do.
In the same way, we too must recognize that as our example, Jesus is not only showing us the way the Christian life unfolds for us as His disciples, but also that like Him, we too can overcome and live the life of purpose and destiny we are also called to live in carrying out the will of God in this earth.
What we learned today is that faith is laying hold of the unseen realm of hope and bringing it into the realm of reality. Faith is what opens the door for the power of the Word of God to be released into this natural realm, into the world we live in and into our very beings.
The Bible teaches us that faith is the evidence of things not seen. In other words, the Bible teaches us that you can see faith when it is evident in the lives of people. Faith is seen in the way people speak, and faith is seen in the things that people do
When we come to a place where we recognize God as Provider and realize that there is no lack in the Kingdom, we have begun to see through a new lens. We can now live life through the perspective of a bountiful eye. As a result, we can freely do what God desires knowing He is faithful.
Perhaps you find yourself in a situation that reminds you of Naomi and her predicament. I want you to know today that God is visiting His people once again. I want you to hear the call of God to come back home.
Like the prodigal, you don’t have to be completely well and whole to come back; you just need hear the Father’s call to you to come back and let our loving, and merciful God begin His work of reconciliation, healing, restoration in your life.
Come back home and He will save you. He will make you whole!
As we have seen, regardless of the people’s reaction, Jesus, as well as His disciples continued to shine the light of the gospel to those around them. It was their privilege, & their charge, to shine as they were commanded, not based on how the people responded. In fact, they prayed that God would empower them to do so even in the midst of opposition.
Jesus revealed His glory while He walked the earth, and now, as His body, we are still to reveal His glory. It begins by becoming a part of the House, but it doesn't end there. He continues His work by beautifying the House. That process is simply letting Christ shine in us and through us.
God has been waiting for a generation of believers who understand their mission and choose to fulfill it. Unlike the house of Joseph, as we do so, we must do things His way, and not the way of the world. If we partner with the world, we continue to enable the enemy’s dominance. We must partner with God, and following His Word, bring His ways into the world where we live. Only then can we truly bring His Kingdom here.
“Let Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
This would not come to fruition until the coming of the Lord Himself. His way was to work from the inside out. He begins the work of restoration through the restoration of the human heart. As the Word is proclaimed, the Spirit of God stirs the people to restore the relationship with God, and thus Kingdom comes to us. Eventually it works its way in us and through us until it impacts the world in which we live. The ways of God are truly awesome!
What we learn from this today is that it’s not enough to simply have a big church with a big presence in a city. It’s dealing with the internal problems of the heart that are really key to bringing the Kingdom to bear in the land. That’s why the Word of God has to be our standardagainst the influences of the world in which we live. We are to learn it, live it and in doing so bring God’s Kingdom to bear in the world where we live. We are to influence the world.
I hope we have come to see that the sower of iniquity is an adversary. While defeated at the Cross, he continues to create enmity between the Creator and the Creation. One of the chief ways he does so is through the sin of pride. What I also hope we have learned is that in being aware of him, and his tactics, we can more readily partner with God to resist him.
Thankfully, God was bigger than their attitudes, and bigger than the bitter waters they were facing. We saw in our text that Moses, instead of complaining, called out to God. God revealed to Him the answer to the dilemma they faced, and when Moses obeyed God’s Word, that supernatural life-giving power of God was released to turn the bitter water, sweet. It’s not simply knowing the Word, it’s obedience to it that releases God’s promises and power into our life.
Why was Jesus able to sleep in the middle of the storm? The same reason Paul was able to eat in the middle of the storm. He had his eyes on the Word that had been spoken. He gave the Word: Let’s go to the other side. The Word had been given, and the Word would be so. He believed the Word, not the circumstances and lived in accordance with it.
The foundation of Christ is a sure foundation, sure to stand through the fiercest storms this life has to offer. When we receive salvation through Christ, He becomes all that we need in this life and in the life to come.
Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser. Teach a just man and he will increase in learning, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:9-10 NKJV
I believe that like Paul, God wants to use us to raise up the next generation who are spiritually dead to the things of God’s. When we do, not only will their lives be impacted, but also the whole church will be comforted.
The question to ask is this: Is there anyone willing to leave their comfort zones to go out to them, to embrace them, to prophesy to them, and be used by God to raise them up into a newness of life? They, like Eutychus, would be most fortunate if we, like Saul, were willing to do just that.
The leadership of the Holy Spirit and the timing of God, that’s really what this whole study is about. There is a timing to the things of God. What may not have been the will of God in one season did not and does not mean that it would not be the will of God in the next.
Even though this was God’s will, the will of God would not have become evident. In the same way, we should take away from this passage that God’s power is available to touch people’s lives, but it requires our participation to bring His will for people into manifestation
It's not need that moves God, but it's faith in him and His Word. Like the Israelites, if you humble yourselves, recognize your inabilities, and call on Him - if you will put your faith in Him - He will intervene on your behalf as well
In order to embrace this moving of the Spirit of God, we can’t hold on to the rigid mindsets and traditional ways of thinking. We must be moldable and stretchable to embrace the new wine He is pouring out. We are not talking about changing the essence of who we are, but changing the manifestation of who we are to keep up with what God is going to do.
God was at work in the lives of Judah, Joseph and Jacob and their walk with God changed them for the better. What does that say to us? As long as we continue walking with God, God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, seeks to do the same with us.
The new wine is a moving of His Spirit in and among us that requires flexibility to contain it. In order to experience this new expression of what God is wanting to do, we must be willing to let go of what we have been doing, to embrace the new of what He is wanting us to experience in fulfilling our God-given destiny.
To receive the Sustenance in the Word, we must receive the Word. Then we must believe the Word, and finally we must act on the Word. This acting on the Word by faith is what brings the manifestation of the Word into our lives. It is then that we can experience what the Lord shared with us.
As we see God move in the days ahead, we must, in the fear of the Lord, dedicate ourselves to the primacy of the Word of God to guide us in our daily lives, and as well, we must prioritize the privilege and responsibility we have to God in His holiness in how we live, speak and act. Without holiness, as the Scripture says, no one will truly see God.
We must let go of what we were. We must let go of how we see ourselves. Subsequently, we must embrace His assessment of who we are. And then with God’s help, begin to walk out who He says we are.
In Zelophehad childrens names, from first born to last, we see a message that proclaims an ever-increasing hope in God and the promises of God for their lives and their future.
Jesus is bringing new wine into the church. This new wine is not something new as in the sense of never been seen before, but is new in the sense that it is a moving of His Spirit in and among us that requires flexibility to contain it. In order to embrace this moving of the Spirit of God, we must be moldable and stretchable to embrace the move of God.
Our present choices should be guided by God's eternal Word in which are contained the eternal and benevolent promises of God for His People.
In faith, we must hear what the Spirit is saying to us, and then follow the leading of the Spirit when He speaks to embrace the change. In faith we must hear what God is saying to us and change when we hear Him.
In faith, we must learn to change our clothes in anticipation of that which is coming. It can’t be, when I see the change in the season, then I’ll change. No, in faith, we must first change in order to facilitate and see the manifestation of that which God has promised. In short, we have to have the NEW wineskin in place to facilitate the pouring out of the NEW wine.
The true gospel creates a life too powerful to be contained in our pitiful little structures. This does not mean that the church should not have structure and order, but it must be one which is utterly flexible if it is to contain the true wine of the Spirit. We must let the life produce the structure, not the other way around. - Rick Joyner
Moses was the man God had anointed to accomplish the mission of bringing the people into their divine destiny. When the Israelites grasped this spiritual dynamic, they organized and created some structure to facilitate his mission. Consequently, they saw the power of God released in their quest towards their destiny in God.
Ultimately, it’s faith that possesses the promises of God. Faith is a lens that looks at life through a confident trust in God and what He says is true whether or not the circumstances we face agree or not.
Jesus is the solution for whatever has “bit” us in life and is bringing death and destruction. Jesus was lifted up that whoever would look to Him in faith, repenting and confessing their sin, would also receive God’s grace.
Abram was asked to leave some things behind but what he was going to leave would pale in comparison to what God was promising to give him. Sometimes to go forward in life requires that we leave things behind. It may seem that we are losing something, but in reality, we are in the overall context actually gaining something.
In Jesus’ temptations, He not only reveals to us the core of the enemy’s temptations, but He also equips us with the means to overcome. In His victory, we have victory.
The disciples were not meant to figure out how to do what God wanted to do. They were simply to yield what they had, and in so doing, cooperating with Him, they saw the will of God manifest as the supernatural power of God was released.
Thus Jabez cried out to God. The overall theme of his prayer was that God would bless him; not just bless him, but bless him abundantly. He prayed that God would bless him with increase, with power, and with the fulfillment of his God-ordained destiny. And God granted him his request.
As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 (NLT)
Cooperating with God, following His lead, doing things His way is the means to deal with the spirit that we are fighting. As we humble ourselves before the Lord, we are positioned to receive His grace – the empowerment of God - and with His grace we are thoroughly equipped to repulse the enemy from our land.
I believe God is working in all of us to bring us to a place where His will for us and through us can flow forth unhindered whereby God can use us to be a powerful instrument to further His purposes in the earth to save, preserve, and provide for those around us.
Today, we studied the weapon that enables us to assault and cast down Satan’s strongholds. It is a fact of history that no army ever won a war on the defensive. Thus, we have an absolute obligation to move from a defensive position to an attack position.
First, we must know the will of God for our lives. Second, we must by faith fight through the oppositions to the promises in our lives. Third, we must keep our eyes on the Lord and recenter often through prayer. Finally, we must learn to continually confess the will of God publicly, and to declare the Word of God to the things that are resisting us.
Peter’s house is a metaphor for his life as well as a type of what God wants to do in us and through us. He wants to come into our house (life), and bring restoration and His Kingdom rule into our house (household). His purpose is that your life might become the light that shines forth in the darkness of your neighborhood that others may come and receive the same healing and wholeness in their lives through your life right where you live.
The big, biblical, kingdom picture is that we are driving the enemy off our God-given inheritance. Like the Israelites of old, we are to move the enemy off our land. So while the weapons are defensive in that they give us protection from counterattacks, the context of the battle is offensive in character
In the passage we looked at today, we are given insight into the call of God to Moses to step into His destiny. What wasimportantfor us in this study is not so much what Moses was called to, but how God interacted with Moses in the process of unfolding His call to Him.
Jesus healed instantly, thoroughly, everything, and everyone. His ministry continues through His people. Everyone who comes into agreement with the promises of God, who calls on Him by faith is eligible to receive.
Monday evening service with Evangelist Danny Johnston on June 25th, 2023 at Shady Oaks Assembly of God.
Sunday evening service with Evangelist Danny Johnston on June 25th, 2023 at Shady Oaks Assembly of God.
Sunday morning service with Evangelist Danny Johnston on June 25th, 2023 at Shady Oaks Assembly of God.
What is the biblical worldview? It proclaims, Jesus is Victor! He conquered death, hell, and the grave. It is in His victory that we are to move out from our present, passive, defensive posture that has kept us from bringing the powerof His Kingdom to theenslaved people of this world. His victory must be proclaimed, and must be demonstrated.
God reveals to us in His Word the fact that we are first of all in a battle. Second, that He has equipped us for the battle. And third, that in Him, He gives us the tools to live an overcoming, victorious Christian life.
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What He did for others, He will do for you and as well. Whatever it is that you are going through, Jesus is in the house today and if you will cry out to Him, as He did with these blind men, He is able and willing to touch you and bring His wholeness into your life.
All who have believed and been born of the Spirit are nowpart of the body of Christ. Christ ministry continues through those born of and empowered by the Spirit. They are to be His witnesses in the earth. In short, we are to continue the ministry He began.What does that ministry look like? It is a ministry of proclamation and demonstration.
God’sgrace rests on people; grace flows through individuals. That grace flows downward and becomes greater and greater as it is given away to those who are positioned properly in unity.
When God began to move, the people who heard about it left their homes their jobs, their comfortable lifestyles and they traveled to an obscure area of the country to get to the place where they could hear this prophetic voice proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom and ultimately receive from God.
It is through partnership with the Holy Spirit, in submitting to God and to His rule and reign in our lives that we are able to root out the lies that have given the enemy access, and evict the enemy from that place where he sought to bring influence.
The ultimate goal of the apostles was to see those who joined themselves to the Lord become like Him. We can never fulfill the Great Commission by just declaringJesus as Savior; He must be Lord of all,or He is not Lord at all.
What we see in the Bible is that the normal Christian experience was to be baptized with the Spirit and to continually be filled with the Spirit that you may be equipped with power to fulfill the purposes of God in and through your life.
Even if you began a good work, the work of God, but have somehow fallen short, you, like Abram, like the NT church of Acts, can still get back on track and allow God to work through you to fulfill His purpose for your lives.
What we see in the Bible is that the normal Christian experience was to be baptized with the Spirit and to continually be filled with the Spirit. It was not a suggested experience, nor was it a one-time experience. It was a continual, empowering experience to them, and so should it be to us.
It is the normal Christian experience to be baptized with the Spirit and to continually be filled with the Spirit that we might be empowered by the Spirit of God. It you are a believer, this empowering is for you.
We whom are tasked with the prophetic grace of seeing and hearing and intercession, are to help carry the burdens of the children of God, and strengthen those who are weak, and protect the lives of those whom we are responsible for by taking what we see and hear and bringing God’s will to save, not to condemn to those within our charge even at the risk of our own safety, and reputation.
In Christ, by means of His work not he Cross, the original purpose of mankind was restored which was to fill the earth with he way of God. Jesus summed it up brilliantly in His model prayer: Your kingdom come, Your will be don, on earth as it is in heaven!
The gifts of the Spirit that flow from the outpouring of the Spirit, although different in their functions, all flow from the same Spirit and serve to bring us together and build us up as the body of Christ as we all work together for the betterment of the whole.
Nehemiah is a type of the Holy Spirit and what that should reveal to us is that the Holy Spirit is about bringing the work of building the Church to fruition. For the work to be accomplished, it requires the participation of all the people of God.
The ability to make one's lifestyle more Christlike is given through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is a lifelong process, daily appropriated through surrender of life to God.
In Christ, the power of God was Present to forgive, save, heal, deliver those who were in His presence. What we see is that the ones who received were the ones who recognized, believed, and pressed in to receive what was present with Him, upon Him, for them to partake of by faith.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world, and especially in the church. Today we looked specifically at one aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit, which is that He, God Himself Indwells His People.
Following Jesus is a call to leave the familiarity and security the world provides, to follow the Lord into whatever situation and place He leads us to. The call is not of our own making, but is a response to hearing His voice to leave all and follow after Him.
Because of the work Jesus did on the Cross of Calvary, we have the privilege of experiencing the fruit of His work. We can receive salvation through the Holy Spirit who takes up residence in us, and we can receive the empowerment of God through the Holy Spirit upon us.
As a result, as God’s people arise and shine, and the Spirit of God is allowed to work within His people, and through His people, people will experience the power of the gospel to save, heal, and set free.
if you hear the sound of His voice, and if you will call out to Him, He has already made a way for you to come and if you will believe in Him and keep your eyes on Him, you too will find yourselves walking through the difficulties that assail you and find yourself next to Him as He grabs you and brings you close to Him in order to walk through this life together.
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and God is no respecter of persons, is that if we will come to Him with faith to receive, we too can experience healing for our sicknesses and diseases, and freedom from the unclean spirits that seek to torment us.
I believe that today, as we hear what God did in these Ephesian believers, God will continue His work in us by doing the same. Today, the Holy Spirit is revealing the things that we need to rid ourselves of us as He is seeking to take us individually, and corporately into a greater realm of revelation, power, and growth.
What was of the most profound importance to Paul was winning others for Christ. He wasn’t about defending his freedoms, but about freeing others. If having an inroad to others coming to know Christ required that he curb his freedoms, then that’s what he would do.
All ministry, all work that we do for God is at its core - serving. We serve God by serving the people around us. If we have a call and a vision to do something greater for God in the future, we have to be faithful serving in the present.
Prayer leads to revelation, which should lead to the obedience of faith. Obedience is the pathway for the Kingdom of God to manifest more fully in our lives.
If the Old Covenant provided healing for the children of God, how much more the New Covenant which is better than the previous. Like this woman, we access that provision through faith in Him.
Biblically, what we saw today is that when God's Presence manifested, the saints of God we looked at reacted physically to His Presence. As God's Presence becomes more tangible in our gatherings, we too, will experience the reality of His Presence and Power.
What we’ve seen today is that Solomon had a great start, he had a godly upbringing, he humbled himself before God, he had the right vision and set about to fulfill God’s call on his life. However, it’s not just about having a good start, what’s important is that we have a good finish. That we hear God say on that day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
When the people of God as a whole when the church begins to believe as a group, then that's with we will begin to see the mighty works of God being done.
Christal Berlinger is an ordained minister under LaVonne Chandler at Touched by Grace Ministries. With a fiery prophetic voice for this hour, her desire is to see the captive set free and the body of Christ burning with the fire of the Holy Spirit, as they reveal God's glory throughout the Earth!
Being led by the Spirit implies that mature sons are strong in the Spirit which means being baptized in the power of the Spirit, and that strength that mature sons possess, is strength that is controlled. Mature sons are those who are surrendered to the leadership of the Spirit, the Spirit of God.
These same disciples who had success doing what Jesus authorized them to do were now being resisted by a devil. Sometimes, this kind, resists a little more or a lot more than the last, but the Word of God hasn't changed. It only requires faith to persist long enough for the Word to prove itself true.
In humility we must allow God to move by focusing on fighting the true enemy. In the end, God and history will vindicate what takes place as the enemy is defeated and people are set free.
Caring for others is the fruit of a mature human being and it's the hallmark of God's bride, the Church. It is His ultimate aim for you and I.
True repentance is recognizing our errors, changing the way you think about what you have been doing, and then taking the necessary steps to correct the errors we have made.
The Word of God teaches us the necessity of speaking God’s Word, God’s promises so that we might see the fulfillment of His will in our lives and through us.
God's desire is to bless us that we might then, through our giving away what He has given us, be a blessing to the world around us.
Yes, we will see people saved, baptized, spirit-filled, and set free. But, the fruits of that move among His people will be marked by unity, mega-power, mega-grace, and care as we, in love, bring God's grace to bear among the hurting people of this world.
It's imperative that we, as the New Covenant people of God, recognize the importance of the Word of God. If we don't know the Word of God, we can, and will be far off our walk with Him.
God's priority is that His house would be built up and that can't happen unless we, His living stones, are joined together in Him. It's together that we become the victorious people He paid a price for and through whom His purposes will be accomplished.
The restoration of this blind man was a process that ended in his ability to see and hear clearly. Our healing and restoration is also a process that will lead us towards wholeness as we press forward into Him and the mission that He gives each and every one of us.
The first part of restoration is reconciliation with God. It's restoring the relationship with God. You've got your part to do and in response to it, God does His part. In response to His sacrifice of love for us, in love we offer ourselves to God, and give ourselves to Him to demonstrate the goodness of God through the works that we do.
The experience of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the exception, but was the normal Christian experience for all who would follow Him. "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:39)
We saw that God accomplished His work of restoration progressively, and He did so through the power of the Spirit as Ezekiel prophesied the will of God thought the Word of the Lord. So also, in this church, we are believing God's Word and God's will for restoration for the people in this church.
We have seen today that God's desire is for His creation is that we would prosper in every dimension of our lives. He want us to succeed in those things He has set our for us to do in His Word.
Jesus loved us before we loved Him and sacrificed His life for us. Like Him, we are to love the lost and out of love, sacrifice ourselves to win them.
As we follow after God ourselves, and as we go about the everyday routines of our daily lives, we are to keep our spiritual eyes open to truly see those who are before us, enter into conversation with them with the hope that they will be lead to a place at the table with the Lord.
Abraham wavered not at the promise of God revealed to him, while walking through the land of unbelief, doubt and the evident facts of both himself and Sarah being dead to the possibilities of having children. Abraham gave glory to God fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.
What God did in Manasseh, bringing him back to the place of his former position, now began to show itself through his life and his deeds. So also, those who received the good news, now bring the fruit of God's work in their lives to the place where they live - their homes, workplace, and cities.
So we see that Josiah reveals to us the importance of not only seeking after God, but to do it according to the Word of God. We are to serve God on His terms, not on ours. What are His terms? The will of God is found in the Scriptures that He has given us. It’s found in the Bible.
We are called to work for God; we are anointed to build the Kingdom as we fight to bring the purposed os God to come to fruition through our lives.
As Christians, as followers of Christ, we are not to just embrace Christ, but we are to abandon our former ways of life. We are to renounce the works of darkness and give ourselves completely to following after God.
David not only broke the barrier that had been placed in the way of God's people, but when he broke through, God used him to raise the bar to such an extent, that not only he and his men, but the following generations would consider killing giants as par for the course. We, the church need to once again raise the bar of what is expected of us and what we are called to do.
Christ equips the Church with grace, through "grace gifts," that he has given to the Church. These gifts to the Church are people that He has put grace on in order to impart that grace to.
Jesus not only modeled the servant life, but He also taught the disciples that the life He called them to, was to serve as He Himself served. He was their teacher in this, and their example.
One question we can surely ask ourselves is, "Do people's understanding of God change based on their interaction with us? Do we lead them to see God good and benevolent whom they want to get to know?" Like Elijah, we can all be used to bring heaven's life into the darkness around us.
It was her willingness to honor the Man of God by faith believing the Word which he gave to her that led her to receive the provision of God.
Today, we saw in more detail Nehemiah's leadership on display as he led the people of Israel to rebuild the city walls that had sat broken down for 140 years.
God's desire is that we, like Jesus who came before us, allow ourselves to be instruments of God to bring the Kingdom of God to bear in this world.
When God makes a promise, it is impossible for Him to lie. God's promises do not change; they abide for ever as absolute truth to anchor our souls. And all those promises are not just for the disciples of Jesus time, but they are for us too if we, knowing the will of God, will but believe.
In the end, what does God do with Elijah? First, He redirects Elijah's focus back on the voice of God, the Word of God. Then He reveals to Elijah that what he has believed was far from the truth. What he believed was a lie. Ultimately, hearing god clearly again he gets Elijah back on track by doing the will of God.
The knowledge of how God works, how God heals, allows us to more fully cooperate with Him as we steadfastly stand in faith upon His Word, believing for God's will for our wholeness to manifest in our lives as we follow His divine prescription for our healing and health.
By the grace of God, Nehemiah was used by God and because of his willingness, and with God's grace and anointing on his life, he did what no one else had been able to do, or even wanted to do in the past 140 years. He led the people of God to rebuild the walls of the city and he did it in 52 days.
I wanted to show us scripturally the idea of impartation and activation so that we can have faith to receive what I believe the Lord would have us to do. We are going to move from learning to doing.
We must share our victories with others that they may also experience the blessings of God's breakthrough in and through us for themselves.
Let's recognize that God moves differently in different seasons, and let's determine that whatever the season we want to and will be involved in the way He determines to move in that season.
God has revealed His truth to us that we would turn from darkness to light, that we would renounce our allegiance with the enemy, that we would embrace the Lord experiencing the forgiveness of sins and know with certainty that we have a place among all those who are sanctified by faith in the Lord.
When we submit our wills to God and let God lead, as we follow His leading, that's when we too can expect to see the moving of the Spirit in our lives, and in our churches.
When we submit our wills to God and let God lead, as we follow His leading, that's when we too can expect to see the moving of the Spirit in our lives, and in our churches.
God is still revealing Himself by speaking to people. His promises are still in effect and what He gives is eternal in scope to anyone who will believe Him and take Him at His Word.
God is still revealing Himself by speaking to people. His promises are still in effect and what He gives is eternal in scope to anyone who will believe Him and take Him at His Word.
To host the Presence of God, which is what we want, we must be willing to humble ourselves and to serve Him. We truly do so by reverencing His Word and accommodating ourselves to His Word and in so doing are able to more fully realize the blessings of God's Presence in our midst.
To host the Presence of God, which is what we want, we must be willing to humble ourselves and to serve Him. We truly do so by reverencing His Word and accommodating ourselves to His Word and in so doing are able to more fully realize the blessings of God's Presence in our midst.
I believe, we need to go back to the source. This is God's will that we proclaim the gospel and that we proclaim it in power.
I believe, we need to go back to the source. This is God's will that we proclaim the gospel and that we proclaim it in power.
Faith is the key to access the promises of God in our lives. It's faith that allows the power and the promises of God to be released in our lives and in our midst.
Faith is the key to access the promises of God in our lives. It's faith that allows the power and the promises of God to be released in our lives and in our midst.
The Lord was teaching us through her example how to live a life of faith in light of the Word of God that was presented to her. We saw God teaching us through her, Abraham and Sarah how to live a life of faith. What we gleaned through them is that faith is living today, living now, in light of what God has said before there is any visible evidence that what God has said is seen.
The Lord was teaching us through her example how to live a life of faith in light of the Word of God that was presented to her. We saw God teaching us through her, Abraham and Sarah how to live a life of faith. What we gleaned through them is that faith is living today, living now, in light of what God has said before there is any visible evidence that what God has said is seen.
All the promises of God, all that God would do on the earth is to be done through a people of faith. Faith is essential to receive healing or anything else from God. The more faith present, the more we will see God’s power released in our midst and see people’s lives changed as they are saved, healed, delivered, and made whole.
All the promises of God, all that God would do on the earth is to be done through a people of faith. Faith is essential to receive healing or anything else from God. The more faith present, the more we will see God’s power released in our midst and see people’s lives changed as they are saved, healed, delivered, and made whole.
Through Jesus death, burial and resurrection, the Holy Spirit became available to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, the Holy Spirit's power was now given opportunity to flow through all of God’s people that healing, deliverance, and freedom would be available for all who were oppressed by the devil.
Through Jesus death, burial and resurrection, the Holy Spirit became available to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, the Holy Spirit's power was now given opportunity to flow through all of God’s people that healing, deliverance, and freedom would be available for all who were oppressed by the devil.
God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. The same anointing that was on Jesus is on us. We go out in the same power and anointing for what purpose? To do the same works Jesus did.
A blessed night of encouragement through the testimonies of people who've experienced the power of God in their lives.
As good stewards, like Tabitha, we too are to use our gifts, talents, resources, and abilities as God intended when He bestowed them to us. He expects us to use them faithfully and on time to meet the needs of those arounds us and to do it in such a way that He receives all the glory.
As you come in contact with so many people, it is likely that you will spend time with people who are like Simon Peter before that fourth encounter: They just need one final touch to bring them to a rock-solid faith in Christ.
While they were actively working in the church, God spoke to the leadership of the church that it was time for the church to separate Paul and Barnabas for "The" work. The work they were doing was "A" work, preparing them for "The" work to which they had been set apart to do.
All these promises of God, as God reveals them to us, as He lets us see them, are there for us to possess. But in order to possess them, we must by faith, like Abraham, walk out those promises in our lives.
This woman, when she went to synagogue this day, she not only experienced a good service, she heard the Word of God from the Living Word, and experienced the power of God which set her free.
Empowering us to deal with the situations we face instead of just removing the problems in front of us seems like the long way around. I want God to do it for me, not to have the responsibility to do something myself. Yet, that's not how God chooses to work.
It is people who are willing to impart the life of Christ through their words and their actions into other people that they my become righteous positionally, and functionally. This process of discipleship, taking hold of a soul and shaping them to live righteously is, according to our text, what it means to behave wisely.
Like Jesus, our assignment is through the empowerment of the Spirit, to teach and to do the works of the Lord that Jesus might be made known and His name would be glorified in the earth.
In our text, the apostles wanted more faith, Jesus' answer turns them from the thought of a lass and a more in faith to faith's genuineness. If there is real faith, then action follows. We simply need to act on the Word of God and allow our faith to be demonstrated by our obedience to it.
As His priests, we act as ambassadors, chosen vehicles through whom God has chosen to serve and represent Him, on His behalf. In order to faithfully do that, we must maintain and foster our love and reverence for God.
God's purpose is still to dwell in the midst of His people. As we live in conformity to His Word, we can and should expect to see the Presence of God, the Glory of God manifest in us and through us as did Moses and the Israelites.
Worship, true worship changes you. As you see Him, you become like Him. You no longer think like a slave, but as a child of a King. Resources no longer are a liability that enslaves you, but a tool to be used to advance His will in the earth.
It's God's Presence that makes these things of any value at all. The promises of God without the Presence of God or as I titled the message, the Presents of God without the Presence of God is truly of little worth. It's His Presence that gives life meaning and worth.
God is a good God who designed us to succeed and overcome. Eventually, we will pass as long as we don't drop out of the class, out of the race, out of our walk with God.
Many people see Jesus as the Messiah of Israel who came to save the lives of people from their true taskmaster, the enemy of their souls and free them from bondage to sin, sickness, and death, preserving them for life everlasting as He reconciles them to God. How you see Jesus, and how you , in turn, act towards Him also determines what you receive!
What we learn from this text is that we cannot and must not stop from talking about the signs, wonders, and miracles that God has done in us and for us. These are the testimonies to His Works that bring glory to God and proclaim the Good News that brings others to trust in the Awesome, Miracle-Working God who we serve.
Just as a policeman has the authority to subdue a situation, just as a judge has the authority to silence an unruly courtroom, Jesus also has the authority to subdue and silence the chaos the enemy throws our way. Jesus silenced a natural storm, a demonic storm, a storm of affliction, and a storm of death, and He can silence whatever storm you are facing in this life.
As God told the disciples that He was with them always, even to the end of the age, God had also told Moses that he would not go alone to accomplish this mission, but that God Himself would go with him. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and as God did with Moses and the disciples, He will do the same for you.
What we see here is not only confession of sins, but a willingness to be accountable to each other. When that happened, the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. That means the power of God was unleashed in their midst in an even greater way.
The House of God is defined as a place of Revelation, Promise, Worship, Prayer, and Surrender. As the House of God, we should also find these characteristics in evidence, wherever the Presence of God is manifest, as the people of God gather together in His Name!
What we want to recognize is that Jesus' life and ministry is the prime example of what ours should be like as well. Just as we saw with Jesus and the Apostle's ministry, so too has the Holy Spirit been sent by Jesus to give us everything we need to be a victorious, successful, faith-filled, overcoming child of God in this world. With Him at our side, we are equipped for every situation we could ever face in life.
"A prophet is one who knows God, lives for God, hears God and teaches others the will of God while all the time interceding for them that they may find life and healing as they are restored to right relationship with God."
"These request are His points of contact for a release of faith, because faith needs to have an element of risk for it to be faith. It's the obedience of faith that releases the power of God which it turns reveals His glory."
"I hope we have learned that God is still speaking, and it's incumbent on us to decide if what we are hearing is Him, and if so, what is He saying?"
"In summary, a strong spirit of conviction will fall during the outpouring of the Spirit what will bring many people to repentance as Jesus is exalted."
"My purpose is that we understand the purpose of the Word of Knowledge so that we can learn to partner with it. Knowing how He works increases our ability to flow with Him and increases the potential to see more people healed of their maladies."
"Peace, healing, joy, righteousness, the glory of a new creation, the power of the age to come, and the presence of the blessed Holy Spirit are all available to those who will put their trust in King Jesus."
"I hope we see that we, Christians, bring forth righteousness by triumphing over wickedness, which we do by exercising our authority in Christ."
"Ultimately, it's hearing from God and doing what He says that is true wisdom and it's in this way that we experience the supernatural blessings of God in our lives."
"To experience God's ever-available, ever-accessible power, you must hear, believe, and then by faith ask, and receive this divine power."
"The Apostle Peter tells us this battle with the enemy is common to all believers, but in saying so, he tells us, to "resist him."
"We are brethren. We are brothers and sisters, soldiers in Christ, bonded together through His blood, fighting for a common purpose and united against a common foe."
"My hope today is to convey the truth that to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, we must be strong in love towards God, and it must become evident in our love for one another."
"God's purpose in the upcoming revival is to re-set the stones that have been broken down and burnt so that the body of Christ will visibly reflect the glory of God. We will then be positioned to accomplish all that God has equipped us and sent us to do, to reach the lost and bring the Kingdom to bear in the world around us."
"Manasseh did more evil than anyone before him and God saved him when he called. He will do the same for you. Wherever you find yourself, whatever you have done, call on Him and He will save you too."
"Like the apostle Paul, God’s plan may be different from what you had anticipated. But keep your heart open to Him, knowing that God only has good plans in store for you and that He wants your life to make an impact for eternity!"
God was bringing about change in Jacob's life and Jacob held fast to the Lord, held fast to the one who was causing the pain, the one who was causing the hurt, and his cry was"i will not let you go unless you BLESS ME!!" I don't care about the hurt, I don't care about the pain, I need you and the power of YOUR might! Is that the cry of your heart today?"
"Ultimately, our strength is in God and to access that strength, we must come to Him in humility. Our humility before God is what leads to and gives us access to our strength in God."
"We must know what His Word says, we must think like His Word says, we must speak what His Word says, and we will therefore act like his Word says. If we will cooperate with God and renew our minds with His Word, then our outer world will change and we will see the power of the Kingdom invade the world around us as we see the power of God change our world for the better."
"As we become like Him in character, we also become like Him in His actions. We are seated with Him in heavenly places and we exercise the authority and the power He gave us as we walk out His victory over the powers of darkness. We are living out what we are - A Triumphant Church!"
"Don't allow your heart to become dull of hearing, don't rest in a religious spirit, just going through the motions of church in utter complacency. But let the Holy Spirit of God move you today, and in the days following to examine your hearts and allow God's Spirit to prepare you for a fresh breakthrough into your life."
"Let's always remember that God is building, not a business, not a building, not an organization, but a people, for the primary purpose of hosting His Presence. Knowing His Purpose impacts how and what we build."
"Likewise, as then, His Presence is demonstrated through His Supernatural Power and His Supernatural Provision. Jesus Himself exemplified this through His Life and teachings and consequently commissioned us to do the same."
"This context here is that we don't know how the worlds were created because we weren't there. But God does because He was and He brought the world into existence. We understand because we believe what He told us. By faith, we believe Him, and thereby, we understand."
"Just as the people of Moses' day were healed when they looked, so can we experience the power of God's Word when we look towards it in faith."
"In like fashion, I want God to move supernaturally through us in order to bring His love, power, healing, and wisdom into manifestation in the world around us."
"In the Kingdom, from the very beginning, God created us to work, and without our labor, nothing come to fruition."
"As a result, even though he couldn't finish what he started, he continued to pray for their future welfare. In the end, we find that God honored Moses' prayers for His people."
"Joseph had to go through a refining process before he would be in a position to be useful, and God's working in us often takes a similar track. God also leads us through refinement, but the goal is a life of long-term service and blessing."
"As we are led to God, are led by God, and in turn lead for God, we too, I want it to be said of us, "and the hand of the Lord was against the enemies of God's people all the days of our lives."
"God created this planet to be fruitful, but the planet would not be complete without the interaction of the ones He created to be its steward."
"I want to encourage you today that like He was with Moses, God is faithful to His plan for your life as well and no matter what you did, or where you are at, of you will respond to His call to you today, God can bring you back to your place of destiny as well."
" I want the church (the Bride of Christ), to give birth to a powerful generation of Spirit-empowered deliverers who are fulfilling their destinies to set their generation free from their oppressors in the name of the Lord."
"What's the key to taking your city. it belongs to God and God is giving the city to His people. He has the combination to unlock every city and give the people of God the victory over the darkness that lies within. If we will seek Him and follow His instructions, we too will see the supernatural victory of God manifest before us."
"I want you to know today that if Mary the mother of Jesus, a picture of the Spirit-empowered life was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in unknown tongues, then it should be quicken us and embolden us to do the same."
"If you're just in this for a little jaunt across the lake, you will be satisfied with a low level of God's Word in your life. But if you're planning to take a long, adventurous, exciting faith journey, you better dive into the Word of God. As you do, that anointed Word will deck you out with all the provisions you need to make it all the way to your destination!"
"I want us to learn from this and continue to bear witness to the miraculous touch of God in our lives and let God be glorified in it and thus give others the opportunity to witness this miracle-working God's work and give them the opportunity to also access that life-giving power."
"It's not your parent's faith, your heritage, your church attendance, your position, your resources, or your good works that will bring salvation in the form of healing and wholeness into your life. It's simple faith in Christ!"
"His glory is manifested through the miraculous displays of His goodness done in grace and compassion toward others through you and I as we proclaim and obey the Word. As we do, we too will see many putting their faith in Him!"
"God's Word will bring about what God has sent it to accomplish. Recognizing the tactics of the enemy, if we hold on to it steadfastly, enduring the delay, and keep moving forward in our walk of faith, we will see the harvest of God's Word manifest in our lives."
"If we listen to Him and follow His instructions, we too will have a report to give as we testify to the power and the glory of God using us to feed the multitude."
"Just seeking personal pleasure and happiness is not His greatest will for you. Rather, his greatest will for your life is that you truly love Him and are obedient. If you are wholeheartedly doing god's will, you will find joy in doing it."
"when we have in balance a daily walk by faith looking to accomplish what God has allowed for that day, coupled with an ever growing vision for what God is yet to do, we can rejoice, even in the hard times looking for the time God will say: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
"Jesus was already at the beginning and He created life that shines bright from Him, through us!"
"3 things are vital in carrying out the purposes of God in our lives: Anointing, Alignment, Authority."
“We have to be relentless and persistent in speaking the Word of God into whatever mountain stands before as we seek to bring God’s Kingdom to bear in our midst.”
"we are to co-labor with Him to bring the Kingdom of God to bear around us as we administer God's justice by bringing God's love, and power to bear in the restoration of the lives of the people God has placed under our influence."
"let me say that to recognize the counterfeit, we must be acquainted with the real. We must know God and we must know His Word. In so doing, you will recognize the false and can then deal with it appropriately."
"What I hope we saw is that God was looking for someone, anyone to step up and do something about the situation that was going on. Likewise today, I believe that God is still expecting His people, the Church, to step up and use all that we have been given, all that is available to us ultimately bring the Kingdom of God to bear in the world around us."
"I hope we learn is that solving the problems of people by allowing God to work supernaturally through us, it actually serve to bring the Kingdom of God to bear and in the end, God is truly glorified."
"The one who believes that the Scripture is God'w Word and contains His promises to us, will then appropriate the Word to their lives by faith. As you read the Word of God, let the Spirit of God reveal God's promises for your life and then cooperate with the Spirit of God by praying those promise through."
" I believe if we will contend for the faith, believe and trust God, refuse to bow down to the ways of the world, but come into agreement with God and stand for God, we too will see the favor and the power of God evident in our midst."
"Unlike the people of Ezekiel's day, we must learn to hear the Word of God, not solely for the sake of entertainment, but with the intention of letting God's Word work in us and consequently accommodating ourselves to the demands placed upon us by the Word."
"God wants to promote you and I to greater positions of influence and responsibility. In order to see His will come to pass, He will take the time to build us and we must submit to the process of His workings in our life."
"I want to encourage you today not to fall into the trap that the Israelites found themselves in. May it never be said of us that we are faithless. May we walk out our confession of faith in such a way that our fruit is evident to those around us. It is evident that we love God, and it is evident that we love one another."
"This means every single believer is ordained by God to use their hands to deliver His power and blessing to someone else. God wants you to use your hands! Through your hands, He stands ready to impart His blessing, power, healing, and deliverance to others."
"Today, we looked at the idea that we are equipped by God to hear physically and spiritually. Second, we saw the need to identify the source of what we are hearing. Lastly, once we learned that once we identify the source, we are positioned to aptly respond to what we are hearing in keeping with the origin of it."
"I believe the Lord is calling me, and this body to restructure our thinking and our practice to accommodate the purposes of God that He has for us in this church. To accomplish all that He wants in life requires a change in how leadership is to function."
"What we hopefully learned from our test today is that the prophet of old was more than just a mouthpiece. The prophet was indeed one who was placed in the position, by God, to intercede on behalf of the people, often in the face of the judgement that they were confronted with."
"I believe God is still calling people to His work. It doesn't matter where you are in the process, God is speaking to people today and wants to confirm His call, and also, for some of you, wants to activate in your life the call that He has already revealed to you."
"If we allow Him in, it is then that we will truly experience Him and the freedom He brings. In that experience, we will then understand. Understanding does not always lead to faith, but true faith can lead to understanding. that knowledge then leads to true freedom."
"His purpose on seeing Him is that we would know Him and in knowing Him, we would become like Him. Our destiny is more than simply being assured that we go to heaven when we die. Our destiny is in fact to grow into the Image of Christ!"
"We are released for the works of God when we put before God that thing for which He waits, that thing which He cannot command or compel, but must be utterly and freely and totally given. And no matter what we say, He is not Lord until it has been given. Like Paul, our response should be, :Lord, what do you want me to do."
"Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and proclaim Jesus. He told us that we were not only to talk about Him, but to do the works that He was doing."
"As His people, when we call upon the Lord, it must be with faith believing that God is willing and able to help us through any and all situations."
"The last thing I want you to see is that in the course of time, Paul believing in what he had revealed about the situation that he was in, God's Word to him proved itself true. Paul and all who were with him were delivered from the storm and Paul did indeed make it to Rome to preach the gospel to those who were in Caesar's palace. We see all throughout the Bible God fulfilling His Word to those who received it and believed it."
"We must be people who are passionate in our pursuit for God, but also people of the Word of God! Without the Word of God, we are truly lost."
"The King's command will be carried out, the bride will keep His Word and the people will see her beauty. Just as the King wanted to show off His Bride, so too does God want to show off His Bride to the world around her. The question is who will it be that is ultimately standing before Him and wearing the robes of righteousness, the robes of royalty? It will be those who are obedient to His Word because they are Grateful, and thereby, out of love for Him, show themselves faithful go follow Him and obey His Word."
"Paul's life changed course and he dived headfirst into the Christian life never to look back. he had been diverted from his true purpose, but God intervened. As a result his vision changed and he was completely engaged for God."
"To recap, like Nehemiah, I hope we get to a place that God's purposes are much greater than our little world that we live in. God's desire is that we all become aware of His mission and that we all, like Nehemiah would see that we can be a part of it. In doing so, we can make an eternal difference as we do our part to bring the Kingdom of God to bear in the world which we live."
'We must therefore respond to God's merciful dealings and shed from our lives those things that are hidden, that were once tolerated. They must be exposed to the Lord as we respond in repentance to the conviction of the Spirit that is coming upon us in this season of God coming Near!"
"We've seen in the life of Manasseh how God made Himself known to him, yet he persisted in living life his own way and was eventually captured in his sins and bound by the ruler of the world. However, when he cried out out God, God delivered this him and brought him back into the Kingdom. This is the gospel in a nutshell. Like Manasseh, maybe we have not lived up to the requirements of God that as His creation we should have been keeping. Like Manasseh, we lived life essentially forgetting God."
"It really struck med that the testimony of those who were commenting on Peter and John was that they knew what kind of people they should be, but that's not what they we witnessing. They recognized that these people had been with Jesus. My hope is that I walk with the Lord, I am becoming more like Him, and as I do, those that are walking with me in imitating me, are becoming more like Him. They imitate me, but I am imitating Christ."
"Do we realize as a church who lives inside of us? Do we realize that the will of God is to give away what we have? When we grasp this idea fully is when the world around us will once again experience the Kingdom of God breaking through into their daily lives."
"It's not just that we have power. It's when we are under authority and in agreement with heaven when the power of God is released. God speak, then we speak in agreement with God. It's in this process that we see the true power of the sword of the Spirit, that 2-edged, that 2-mouthed sword truly wielded through us - His people."
"If we understand that right before the breakthrough, we will experience resistance, like the Lord, we can learn to press through and in doing so, we too will see the power of God set people, and even entire regions free. As Jesus demonstrated to us, let's also speak to the winds of adversity by stating in Jesus' Name, "Peace, be still!"
"It's not faith to just hear the Word. It's not faith to hear and agree with the Word. It's not faith to hear, agree, and memorize the Word. It's not faith to hear, agree, memorize and speak the Word. It's faith when we hear, agree, memorize, speak, believe, and finally act on the Word."
"I don't know what you are going through, but I do know that God's desire is to lead you through and bring you to a place of fullness in your life as well. Know, See, Obey!"
"Here, the principle that we see is David's commitment to wait in faith for the Word to manifest itself in his life. I believe so much of what God wants is to do in our lives is aborted because of our inability to wait for the seed of God's Word to birth itself in our lives. We have to take the position that God's Word is true and will manifest in our lives, but understand that it takes time, and that there is a timing for God's Word to bear fruit"
"So, I state once again, that it is reasonable to conclude that Scripture teaches that being filled with the Holy Spirit is evidence by speaking in tongues or prophesying."
"So, the purpose of hearing is that we may know Him, and the result of that is to follow Him which means to keep His commandments. It's not just to hear the options He is giving us, but to actually hear with the purpose of following His direction regardless of where they take us."
"I say all this to bring us to where we find ourselves as a church in this critical time that we live. There are a myriad of reports being sent out and it is imperative that we, as the church, recognize that God is speaking and we need to discern what He is saying."
“The Christian’s perspective is not determined by the circumstances around us but by faith in the infallible, inerrant Word of God. The effectiveness of the believer to stand in the storm depends on his receiving constant flow of life from the vine, Christ, and the flow is more than enough to sustain Him in whatever he faces in life. It’s Time, church to Re-Focus our lives on abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
"The point is that as we pursue God, as we cry out to Him for the answers to our situations, God's purposes in blessing you, also serve to impact the lives around you."
'It's in obedience to Jesus, and in the power of the Spirit that we are to go and continue with the mission Jesus revealed to the world. Just as Jesus did, so too are we. It's is our privilege and assignment to continue to destroy the works of the devil. We do so by proclaiming Jesus work and by demonstrating Jesus' works in the power of the Spirit."