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Word for Today: August 31

Attitude.

Notice the attitude of those gathered in the Upper Room in Acts chapter 2:

FIRST:  They were serious about God.  They were serious about Church.  They were serious about Spiritual Things.  They were not playing games or pretending.  They were committed.

SECOND:  They were praying.  They were believing.  They were expecting.

THIRD:  They loved each other, forgave one another and were together in unity.  Petty differences were forgotten.  The playing field was level.

FOURTH:  They wanted IT.  They wanted fire from heaven.  They wanted revival.  They wanted God and all that God had for them.

FIFTH:  They were “In one accord…”   They were not arguing doctrine or comparing spiritual gifts.  They were not competing for attention or envious of others.

SIXTH:  They were filled with praise and thanksgiving to God.  They were unashamed and bold.  They were not intimidated and they were not shy.  They were not embarrassed about the Holy Ghost.

FINALLY:  They were not going to quit until they got it and until the whole world was touched.

What we are content  with determines what God can do in us.

Dissatisfaction leads to greater possibilities

Word for Today:  August 30

We are under a Divine Mandate from Heaven to get with it or get out of it.

We are not on a vacation and we are not seeking a blessing… We are not striving to get God to do something for us.  Folks….it is harvest time.

We do not need squatters or homesteaders.  We need goers and doers and givers and pray-ers…. We need laborers because it is harvest time.

What is it going to take to bring Revival to the Church?  What are the prerequisites for a Spiritual Renaissance… an Awakening?

Do we have to bottom out before we get up?  Are we so slow that IT must happen everywhere else before IT happens to us?

• We have built nice buildings, but this didn’t work.
• We have upgraded and acquired the latest and most sophisticated technology.  Didn’t work.
• We have established great programs, but this didn’t work.
• We have brought in outstanding “world-class” preachers and evangelists and teachers, but this didn’t work.
• We have hired world-class staff members and revolutionized our “worship” and music.
• We have established educational programs and Bible Institutes and recreational projects and we have preached on TV and Radio, we have published books and pamphlets, but none of these have really produced New Testament Results.
• We have promoted, organized, educated and funded but this didn’t work.

What will it take?  I’ll tell you what it’s going to take.

• It is going to take hungering and thirsting for God.  It is going to take passion and desperation.
• It is going to take seeking God and searching our hearts.
• It is going to take rearranging our priorities.
• It is going to take repentance and humility.
• It is going to take praying and forgiving.
• It is going to take loving.
• It is going to take a divine visitation from God.
• It is going to take a Holy Spirit Out-Pouring.
• It is going to take a Pentecostal renewal.

Only God can do what must be done to wake up the Body of Christ.  And when we make our Move

God will make His.

Word for Today:  August 29

We have no right to call ourselves something we are not.

If we are calling ourselves “Church” then let’s be the Church.  If we say we are “going to Church” then let’s have Church.    If we are not willing to be the church let’s close the doors and do something else.

If I understand what Church is, Real Church cannot and will not be ignored.

Church is too alive to go disregarded by the world.

• We have been crippled by “organized religion.”
• We have been entertained and educated, fed and socialized.
• We have been patronized and petted.
• We have been disgraced by thieves who call themselves spiritual leaders.
• We have been nice and sweet and wimpy in matters concerning hell, the devil and demons as well as Spiritual Gifts and Spiritual Manifestations.

Many have been so intent on preserving “order” until every service is controlled and computerized and God is not even given a chance.

Many services have become stereotyped.  Preaching has become professional.  Service time has become show time.  Where is God?  Where is His Power? Where are those who will not let up until they touch the Hem of His Garment?

Selfishness, pride, the lust for power, the love of money and the desire to be seen of men have poisoned good preachers and turned them into false prophets.

Because the church has not been the church, the masses have continually been deceived.   We need some “Ananias and Saphirra meetings.”  We need some “sons of Sceva” services.  We need to shake and quake at the awesomeness of God and fear lest we offend Him.

As I look at the Book of Acts and consider the birth, development and growth of the New Testament Church, I have had to re-evaluate what we are, what we are doing and how and why we are doing it.

“Church” is not church if it fails to comply with the New Testament pattern.

Word for Today:

Word for Today:  August 28

The pattern.

God planned and prepared for His Church to operate in the Power of the Holy Ghost.  He planned for it to function in the continual manifestation of the Glory of God.   The unbelieving world is waiting for the manifestation and demonstration of the Power of the God.

The church of our generation is not The Church if it is not functioning in the Supernatural Power of God.  If we are to continue to do what Jesus began to do, we must have Power.   Holy Ghost Power.  Heaven Power.

We must have it in the Church.

We must have it in us.

There should never be a day in our lives without miracles.

• There should never be a church meeting without miracles.
• There should never be a day without a dynamic confrontation with God as well as with the devil.
• There should never be church meeting without souls being born again and devils cast out and the sick being healed.
• There should never be a church meeting without the Gifts of the Spirit being manifested and miracles happening.

There should never be a church meeting without the preacher or the teacher or the Apostle or the Prophet or the Pastor or the Evangelist operating in and under the anointing of the Holy Ghost.  That was the pattern then.

That is the Pattern now

Word for Today:  August 27

God is moving.

There will be a Quick Work that will leave the world’s head swimming.  It is beginning now.  It will continue day by day.  It will increase.  It will gain momentum.  It will escalate. There will be a crescendo.  There will be a shaking.  There will be a shocking.  There will be an uprising.

Where there has been social and political unrest… there is now an unrest in the Spiritual Realm.  A stirring.  A moving.  A release of Divine Energy.  You feel it.  You feel it here.  You see it.  You see it here.  It is happening NOW.  It is happening across the earth.

All Creation is standing on tip-toe waiting for the Manifestation of the Sons of God:

For the earnest expectation of the creature (creation) waiteth  for the manifestation of the sons of God. Rom. 8:19

Now, guess who the Sons of God are?  The Church.  You and me (if you are saved).  Those who are Born Again.  The Body of Christ.

And, according to the Word of God, we are going to be Manifested.   Revealed.  Shown and displayed to the entire Creation.  Both animate and inanimate.  To the heavens and to the earth.  To all flesh… believers and unbelievers.  To all races.  Creeds.  Cultures.  To everything and all things.

The neat thing about all of this is that it is God’s plan.  And it is a Grand Plan.  And there is absolutely nothing the devil can do about it.  It. Will. Happen.

The New Testament Church is where it is happening and the “happening” that is within the Church will surge outward until it breaks forth and every nation and every kindred and every tongue on this planet is covered with the Glory of God.

Hallelujah

Word for Today:  August 26

Paying the price.

Elisha paid the price.  He met the condition.  He did what he had to do in order to receive his Double Portion.  (2Kings 2:9)  I believe you want to do this, too.  Because this is the one most important thing in your life.  Whatever it takes, you will be willing to do.  Forgetting those things that are behind, and reaching forth to those things that are before… you will pay the price.

It may require some purging.  So, get rid of sin.  Get rid of wrong attitudes.  Get rid slothfulness.  Get rid of criticism.  Get rid of jealousy.  Get rid of greed.  Get rid of lust and loose morals.  Get rid of connections and relationships that pull you down.  Get rid of doubt and unbelief.

When you pay the price you will move into a New Place in God.  There are more than likely only one or two main obstacles that stand between you and your Double Portion.  Identify them.  Deal with them.

You know what you must do.  Resolve to do it.  Take the initiative.  Put it behind you.  Put it under your feet.  Put it out of the way.

Nothing is worth missing the Double Portion.  And the best time to start is

RIGHT NOW

Word for Today:  August 25

They may be in the Far Country.

But they Remember.  Just like the prodigal son… they remember how good it was to be in Father’s House.  What they have tasted they can never forget.  And they will return.   You know some of them.  They may a part of your family.

As this universal Pull of the Holy Ghost covers the earth… they will come home.  Again.

What they want the world cannot satisfy.  The flesh is too shallow.  The pleasure is too temporal.  The peace is too fleeting.  There is unrest.  There is dissatisfaction.  There is turmoil in the soul.  There is unhappiness and stress and anxiety.  And hunger for Something Real.

The backslider will come home.  The wayward will return.  The prodigal will “come to himself” and return to Father’s House.

And we will celebrate

Word for Today:  August 24

More.

The reason for our existence is coming into focus.  In this time of His Visitation, it is purposed that the Body of Christ Glorify God.  The Church is being drawn into His Very Glory.

There is a new intensity in the Body of Christ.  A new determination.  A new diligence.  A new resolve.  I have never seen so many with such a sharp focus and such a determined objective.  To Know Him.  To come into His Glory.   There is a quest in the Body of Christ to come into The Glory and accomplish the purpose of our Redemption.

The powers of darkness are screaming to distract us.  The forces around us are vying for our attention.  The noise is loud.  The sights are glittering.  The temptations are real.  And strong.  But we will not turn aside.  We will not be distracted.  We will not be lured away from what and where God is calling us.

We have tasted and discovered that the Lord is Good.  We want what He has to offer.  We know what it is.  It is a double portion.  It has been good but we want more.  It has been wonderful but it is not enough.  More.  We want more.  More of God.  More of Jesus.  More of the Holy Ghost.  More Word.  More anointing.  More Revelation.  More Power.  More Love.   To be more like Jesus.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.   2Co 3:18

“I want more of Jesus, more and more and more, I want more of Jesus than I’ve ever had before…I want more of Jesus, full and fresh and free, I want more of Jesus, so I’ll give Him more of me.”     The Cameron Singers

Do you want MORE?

Word for Today:  August 23

It’s up to you.

You are Born Again to release God’s power into the earth.  It is up to you and up to me.  It is up to the church.  The Power of God will not prevail in the earth until and unless we release it.  And it will not happen unless we make it happen.   It will not come out of the Church until it comes out of you.   All of creation is waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God.

For the earnest expectation of the creature (creation) waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Rom. 8:19

Nothing is too hard for God and God lives in you.   The Bible says that with God all things are possible.  Paul wrote that:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me… 

The Word declares that if “You can believe (have the God-kind of faith) all things are possible to him that believeth…”  Mark 9.

When we got saved, God made a Divine Deposit in us.  Our body became the Temple of the Holy Ghost.  We are no longer our own because we were bought with a price…  We are to glorify God with our bodies.  We are Born Again to release the Power of God into the earth.

God is calling us to be channels of His Power.  We are the only restraining force holding back all the relentless powers of darkness that are poised to overthrow every kingdom and nation.

Why is it that atrocities such as those that are widespread in other parts of the world are not happening here in America?  Because we are called to be the nation from which God will demonstrate His power on earth.

God has sovereignly raised up this nation to release His Power into the Human Race.  And

It starts with you and with me