dickbraswell

Word for Today:  June 11

Jesus changed things.

He came from heaven and into this world for the express purpose of changing things.  He took the bad and made it good.  He took the weak and made it strong.  He took the dead and brought them to life.

Jesus went about changing things.  He always made them better.  He made it possible for you and me to change things.  He gives us power to alter situations and change circumstances and make things better.

It’s the devil who makes things bad.  demons make life miserable.  However, YOU can change your situation, your circumstances, your bad things into good things.

Maybe today you are living in situations that need to be changed.  You want them changed and you feel trapped because you “think” you can do nothing about it.   Some have been convinced by the devil that they can do nothing about certain situations… “They are hopeless…” They are “impossible”…”You’ll never overcome this…”  “You might as well quit because you can’t win…” these are insinuations the devil makes when you find yourself in a fix.

Others would confess “I can’t help it” or “there is nothing I can do about it…” or “it is out of my hands…”  It is imperative that you know God has given every Believer Authority and Power to change situations and circumstances.

Jesus said: Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free John 8:32

This means that the Truth you know and act on shall deliver you (give you the power) to change things.

If you don’t like what’s happening…. change it

Word for Today:  June 10

What is the Will of God?

What is His Plan?  What has He purposed for me?

Jesus prayed for the will of God to be done on earth as it (the will of God) is being done in heaven.  The will of God is the same thing that a last will and testament is here on earth.

The Will is what God has provided for His Children.  It is what He has left for His heirs.  The Will of God is the Word of God… the composite of Truth that provides revelation and knowledge to those who belong to Him.

The level of “all things possible” living must come from a revelation of His Will… which is His Word.  What it is.  What is says.  What it promises.  How it works.  Why it works.

Understanding the Will of God opens the door for one to Believe God and to Believe Him for what He has promised in His Word.

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.   Jer 29:11 (The Message)

God has plans for you.  Big plans.  Exciting plans.

He plans to give you the future you hope for.

That is The Will

Word for Today:  June 9

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 and lack
• 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 there for you today

Word for Today:  June 8

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 7

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 6

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 5

“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 4

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.

Word for Today:  June 3

We win.

The Allied victory at Normandy in 1944 is much like the victory we win in our spiritual conflicts.  The enemy was entrenched and holding a secure beachhead. The Germans knew that if they lost here, they would lose the war.  It was do or die.  Win or lose.  Succeed or fail.  It was D-Day.

I believe that some reading this are ready to attack and take the beachheads satan is holding in their lives.   It’s D-Day for the devil.  he thinks he has you pinned down and whipped.  he has relished the day that he will win the ultimate victory in your life.  he is poised for the final push and the final attack.  It is D-Day now… and it is time to celebrate your Victory over the Devil.   

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.  1Jo 3:8  

D-Day was a crucial turning point in the liberation of France and the entire world from the crushing brutality of the Third Reich.  It forever changed history.  Many of our troops paid the supreme sacrifice… others were wounded and scared and suffered from the vicious intensity of the battle.  Blood flowed on the sandy beaches and down the lofty cliffs of Normandy.  But we won.  And the world was changed.

We still win.  We are winners and not losers.  We win because we Know God and because we refuse to quit.  We live in freedom and security because of the victory on D-Day.  We have the wonderful privileges of liberty… the rights guaranteed to every American citizen because of the blood.  The blood of countless fallen warriors that purchased our freedom.

The Blood of the Sinless Son of God purchased our victory over the powers of darkness.    And we have the wonderful privilege of experiencing liberty and freedom from sin every day in every way over every demon and devil because God has made every Believer a winner.  Jesus captured and destroyed the devil at Calvary.

The battle has been won

Word for Today:  June 2

Eternal means forever

Eternal means without end.  Timeless.  It is very hard (practically impossible) for anyone to comprehend the meaning of Eternity.  We are creatures captured and held hostage in a span of time.  We live in submission to time.  We are controlled by time.  Time can be our enemy.

We are destined to die because we are subject to time.   Seconds.  Minutes. Hours. Days. Weeks. Years. Decades. Centuries. Millennia.   All these become defining terms for the passing of time.

Everything in the human experience is related to Time.  Everything we know about has a Beginning and is rushing madly toward an End.  Such is Life.  Stuff gets old because of time.  We get old because of time.  We are so immersed in “time consciousness” that it is all but impossible for us to become “eternal conscious.”

I am challenging you now to think Eternal.  Think Bigger and larger and greater than you have every thought.  Let your Imagination soar to new heights as you consider the Vastness… the Expanse… the Unsearchable and Indefinable scope and size of Creation.

Every Mortal Being, saved or lost, is Eternal.  Not the body, but the mind (soul) and the Spirit.  Where the body is “mortal,” the mind (soul) and the spirit of man is “immortal.”  They will last forever.

If one is Born Again, that person will Live forever.  If one is not Born Again and dies in his sin, that person will Die forever.

Life is a dress rehearsal for Eternity