dickbraswell

Word for Today:  June 20

What do you want?

In order to overcome the strength of sin that fights against us, the human will must come into play.   If you overcome the flesh, you must want to overcome the flesh.  You will never get free or be free unless you want to be free.

God will not work against the human will.  What you will and what you want, God will respect.  He will not intervene or force Himself into your life and your plans.  If you want out, God will get you out.  If you want to stay under the control of your flesh and continue to suffer the consequences… God will not stop you.

Your deliverance is up to YOU.  Not me.    Or anybody else…. Your deliverance is dependent on you.

If you are Born Again, the Bible says that the Greater One (Jesus) is in you.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.  1 John 4:4

Paul writes that God is able….

 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3:20

John writes that:

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  1 John 5:4

Paul admonishes:

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  Romans 6:12

Since the Bible says we can overcome if we are believers, then we must determine whether or not we are believers.  The Born Again Ones.  The Redeemed.  Those who have been “quickened” from the dead.  The ones who have openly and without shame declared that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Who come down from heaven, was born of a virgin, and provided the Atoning Sacrifice for our sins as He died on the Cross…. The Risen Savior and Lord and the Only Remedy for Man’s sin.

Are you among the Company of the Redeemed?

Are you one of the Unashamed Ones?

Have you been Born Again?

If your answer is YES, then Deliverance is yours today.

IF you want it

Word for Today:  June 19

Every Believer has God’s Power.

They may not act like it, look like it or talk like it… but they do.   According to God’s Word… His power is in every Believer.

One reason many do not function in this power is because they do not know where it is.  If they do not know where it is they cannot function in it.   If they cannot function in it they cannot use it.  If they cannot use it they will be buffeted and whipped by the devil.  And the things that need changing will not be changed.

God’s Power is not exclusively in Heaven.

All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth… is what Jesus said in Matt 28:18.

Now, where does He dwell?  Christ in YOU the hope of Glory!   Col 1:27

We have been taught that we are to pray for God’s Power to FALL on us.  For God to “send the Power…”  For the “Fire of God” to fall and come down from heaven.  We were led to believe that we could do nothing unless the Power “fell” on us.

For years I prayed for a Revival to come from Heaven.  Our whole concept of God’s Power has been warped and steeped in error.  No wonder we can’t operate in God’s Power… we don’t even know what it is, where it is, how to get it or how to release it.

Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the (wonder-working, miraculous) power that worketh in us…  Eph 3:20

God’s Power does not “come down” or “fall on us”…. God’s Power emanates from our RE-Born human spirit that is Born Again in the Image of God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  God’s power is IN US.  It is not in heaven and it is not floating in space or gathering in the skies to fall on us when we “pray through…”

Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the Glory of the Lord is RISEN UPON THEE… Isa 60:1

Is He supposed to rise up out of the ground?  Of course not.   Then what is He supposed to “arise” out of?

He is to rise out of the Re-created, Re-born human spirit… and when He does His enemies (and yours, too) will be scattered.

Let God arise and His enemies be scattered…  Psa 68:1

Word for Today:  June 18

But ye shall receive Power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…  Acts 1:8

God wants you to have power in your life.  He has fixed it so that you can have power in your life.  He wants you to take His place and Function in His place on this earth every day of your life.  You know that you need God’s Power in your life.  There are some things you want to do and you cannot do them unless GOD’S POWER is operating in your LIFE.  You need:

• POWER over sin
• POWER over being timid
• POWER over being sick
• POWER over wrong attitudes
• POWER over the desires of the flesh and mind
• POWER over the curse of poverty
• POWER over your thought life
• POWER over fear and anxiety
• POWER over your hurt feelings and bruised spirit
• POWER over depression and worry.
• POWER over the devil and demons.

You know where you need power and why you need power.  You know what God’s Power will do for you and in you.  You know that you can do nothing without His POWER.  You need His Power and you want His Power to work in you and for you.

You are tired of waiting and procrastinating… you have tried other things and they have all failed.  You have read books and you have listened to tapes and you have prayed and you have gone to church… but you have never received the full measure of God’s Power in your life.

It’s yours for the asking.

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.  Mt 21:22

For the promise (of God’s Power) is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.  Acts 2:39

It’s for you today

Word for Today:  June 18

But ye shall receive Power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…  Acts 1:8

God wants you to have power in your life.  He has fixed it so that you can have power in your life.  He wants you to take His place and Function in His place on this earth every day of your life.  You know that you need God’s Power in your life.  There are some things you want to do and you cannot do them unless GOD’S POWER is operating in your LIFE.  You need:

• POWER over sin
• POWER over being timid
• POWER over being sick
• POWER over wrong attitudes
• POWER over the desires of the flesh and mind
• POWER over the curse of poverty
• POWER over your thought life
• POWER over fear and anxiety
• POWER over your hurt feelings and bruised spirit
• POWER over depression and worry.
• POWER over the devil and demons.

You know where you need power and why you need power.  You know what God’s Power will do for you and in you.  You know that you can do nothing without His POWER.  You need His Power and you want His Power to work in you and for you.

You are tired of waiting and procrastinating… you have tried other things and they have all failed.  You have read books and you have listened to tapes and you have prayed and you have gone to church… but you have never received the full measure of God’s Power in your life.

It’s yours for the asking.

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.  Mt 21:22

For the promise (of God’s Power) is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.  Acts 2:39

It’s for you today

Word for Today:  June 17

The Rivers flowing 

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38

We should come together with the Rivers Flowing.   Most come to Church to get filled.  They are already dry and empty.  They have been drained by the demands of the unbelieving world and the constant constraints of the enemy.  They come in need.  This is not bad, but it is not the Best.  To come filled up is better.  Filled up and running over.

Can you possibly imagine what kind of a service we would have if everybody came filled up and running over?  No need to get “worked up.”  No need to get “pumped up.”  Coming in as a Mighty River Flowing.  Men and women and young people and children with Rivers of Living water gushing out of their inner beings.  What a gathering this would be!

The River is the Anointing.  The Anointing is the continual pouring forth of the Holy Ghost.   It is the One Thing Needed most.  In the Church.  In the Pulpit.  In the Choir loft.  In the Musician.   In the Body of Christ.

Let the RIVERS flow

Word for Today:  June 16

There is a Stream flowing.

It is a Stream of Power.  It is a Stream of Salvation.  It is a Stream of Healing.  It is a Stream of Deliverance.  It is a Stream of Victory.

Jesus talked about this Stream.  It is the Anointing.  He commanded His followers to go to Jerusalem (the place they were to receive the Stream) and to wait there Until.  Until they were caught up in the Stream and equipped to release the Anointing of the Holy Ghost into the earth.

That is the Stream that is flowing in this hour.  It is a powerful and relentless Stream of Holy Ghost Power.  It is the Anointing.  Jesus said that out of our “Bellies would flow Rivers of Living Water…”  That is the Stream.  The Anointing.  The Power.

We are the River Beds and through us the Stream is to flow.  Not through angels.  Not through God.  Not through the Holy Ghost.  But through us.  You and me.  The Church.  The Body of Christ.

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14

When you are a River Flowing, people will find you.  Because they are thirsty.  This land is thirsty.  This age is thirsty.  When you are the River, those who are thirsty will find you and ask for a drink.  It is important that we keep the River Flowing.

The Bible warns us not to quench the Spirit.  Not to stop the flow.  Not to cool off the fire.  Not to hinder the stream.  We are to be Filled with the Spirit.  Continually Filled.  Filled to overflowing.   Filled until there is no space left in us for anything but God.

This River of Living Water is the Greatest Power in the Universe.

And it is in every Believer.  And it is there now.  Today.  Right where you are.

At this very moment

Word for Today:  June 15

God is not mad.

God is not ticked off with the world.  God is not threatening judgment that will punish and terrorize His people.  God is not withholding His mercy or His grace to those who are disobedient and wayward.  God is not about to release His wrath on you because you have sinned or done wrong.  God is not going to punish you because of the hardness of your heart.  God is not sending His judgment at a time it is unexpected to catch you in your sin.

God is Love.  Nothing will ever change that.  Nothing will ever alter that.  Nothing will ever cause Him to act in contradiction to that.  Nothing will ever make Him lose patience with you and withhold His kindness, His mercy or His grace.  God is Love.

Everything and all things that God does comes out of His Love.  He does not function in anger, wrath, retribution, or revenge.  He does not take pleasure in your pain even if your pain is the result of your sin.

God is grieved with every human hurt.  God is moved by every human discomfort.  God is not glad when you are reaping the results of your disobedience or sin.  God does not “teach us lessons” through suffering or distress.

God is Love.  He Hurts when you hurt.  He weeps when you weep.  He is in total empathy with you.  Not “sympathy” but empathy.  He understands.   He “feels” what you feel.  In spite of His exalted position and His enormous Responsibilities…

He cares for you.  He knows you intimately and extensively.  All about you.  Your pain.  Your sadness.  Your wounds.  Your disappointments.  Your rejection.  Your dreams.  Your desires.  Your aspirations.  Your innermost being…. The core of who you are.  Your heart.

God’s Love is proved by What and Who He has given.  The only way Love can be proved is by and through GIVING.  The God-kind of love has only one means of expression.   That expression is GIVING.

For God SO LOVED the WORLD that He GAVE….   John 3:16

His Provision for us through Christ is proof that He loves us.

He Loved, He Gave, He Provided

Word for Today:  June 14

Has God ever lost a battle?

Has He ever had to take flight and run because the enemy was too big?  Has He ever conceded or fallen into confusion and despair?  Has He ever been afraid?

Remember Who He is and who you are.  You are wall-to-wall God.  “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”  Don’t be impatient.  You do not have to rush God.

It seems that the very nature of our present world is one of hurry.  Rush.  Speed.  And this contributes to our impatience… our unwillingness to wait.  God’s time and our time may not be the same.

The production time of the Word is programmed in and it is as dependable as God is dependable.  What is programmed will come to pass.  What He promises He will perform.  What He says He will do.  He will confirm His Word “In due season.”   Waiting will develop your patience.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James 1:4  

Waiting is one of the hardest things to do in our Faith Walk.  It is not hard to ask in prayer.  It is not too hard to believe….  But it is next to impossible to wait, with patience, until God confirms His Word and produces in us the “wanting nothing” condition.

God has said we will “reap in due season IF we faint not…”  Gal 6:9

So be patient

Word for Today:  June 13

“I don’t know what to do!”

Have you ever been in a place where you honestly did not know what to do?

The first temptation is the temptation to try to fix it ourselves.  Plans.  Procedures.  Steps to take.  People to see.  We want to “fix things.”  We want to “fix” people.  Instead of throwing our cares and worries and tribulations on Jesus, we think we can fix it ourselves.  We try.  And it does not work.  We try something else, and it does not work either.  We reason.  We consider the problem.  We analyze it, examine it, look at it from every angle and try again.  Another failure.

Finally, we remember to pray.  And seek God.  And ask God.  And turn to God and confess that without His intervention, all our human and natural efforts will not produce any answers.

O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 2Chron 20: 12

The King’s army was outnumbered (2Chron 20). They were defenseless against such overwhelming odds.  They had no escape route…. Nowhere to run.  Nowhere to hide.  Nowhere to seek refuge.  They were in line for defeat.  Humiliation.  And death.  They had exhausted all their resources.  Nothing they had and nothing they could do would be able to deliver them from total disaster and defeat.  The king finally confessed: “I don’t know what to do.  But my eyes are on You, Lord….”

There are some attempts at victory that you need to “give up.”  Because they are your plans, your ideas, your efforts and they are done in your strength.  I remember praying one time:  “Lord, I don’t know what to do.  I’ve tried everything I know to try.  I don’t have any resources left.  I give up.”   In my fit of self-pity and false humility, God responded to my heart:  “Good!  Now that you are through, I can do something.”

Giving up on your efforts does not mean giving in to the devil.  It simply means changing your “trying” into “trusting” and then leaving it all to God.

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.  1Pe 5:7

Word for Today:  June 12

Intel

In natural warfare, any nation engaged in conflict is advantaged when they have knowledge of and about their enemy.  This is the reason our country has the CIA.  This is an agency established for the express purpose of gathering intelligence regarding all aspects of our enemies.  Who they are.  What they do.  Where they live.  How they operate.  What to expect.  When they move.  How to counteract their attack strategies and negate the destructive purposes they design against our country.  Intelligence is vital to our defenses and ultimately to the safety and security of our nation.

This same thing is true regarding the conflict every believer has with the devil.  he is our enemy.  he wants us dead.  Defeated.  Overcome.  Sick.  Sad.  Broke.  Depressed.   Every believer needs Intelligence as to how our enemy works.  We need to know his strategies.  Once we know this, we can plan our offense and our defense.  Notice:

• Satanic attacks are the norm for the believer (not the exception)
• Conflicts come when we declare our Faith in Jesus
• Satan defies the God in us… and the Word in us
• The devil messes with our mind…. Leads us into wrong thinking. (Remember… the carnal mind is enmity against God. Rom 8:7)
• The ONLY way the devil can harm any believer is by making them believe his lies. He is the Deceiver.  The Liar.

If you KNOW the Truth (the opposite of the Lie) the Truth will make you Free.  (John 8)

The Truth is the believers INTEL.

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.  John 8:36