dickbraswell

Word for Today:  January 31

What we desire, we acquire.

Our life is governed and controlled by what we value.  Those things we value most occupy most of our time and energy.  Those things we value least are things that are generally ignored.  I am assuming that everyone has placed a very high value on Knowing God.  Notice the extremes in the Scriptures regarding things we value (love) and things we devalue (don’t care about).

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…   Phil 3:8

When Paul explained his Value System, he said compared to Knowing Christ, everything else he counted as loss and considered them nothing more than dung (nice word for a commonly used expletive).  Jesus touched on the vast chasm between Loving God and even loving family members…

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Lu 14:26

Compared to the Value placed on Loving God, the value placed on loving family members is almost off the page in the opposite direction.  Knowing God (really “knowing” in an intimate, intense and complete way) is the key to receiving and releasing the Gifts and Callings that have been given to us.

Knowing God is the way to receive “all things that pertain to life and godliness…”

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge (epignosis: knowing with understanding) of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 2Pe 1:3 

He made known his ways (methods) unto Moses, his acts (deeds) unto the children of Israel.  Ps 103:7 

Understanding the “Ways” of God comes from Knowing God.

Understanding the “Acts” of God comes from Knowing About God.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation (a disclosure of Truth) in the knowledge (epignosis: knowing with understanding) of him. Eph 1:17

Word for Today:  January 30

It’s up to you.

• You will never do what you do not decide to do.
• You will never get what you do not decide to get.
• You will never get what you do not make up your mind to get.
• You will never receive what you are not committed to receive.

It is up to you.   God has given it.  Jesus has paid for it with His Blood.  Now, refuse to waver, to be moved aside, to take your eyes off your goal.  Refuse to back down. Refuse to compromise.  Refuse to be nice to the devil.

Refuse to “calm down” or “understand”… Be determined… get mad and be violent.  The “Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force…”   (Mat 11:12).

Just how mad are you at the devil?  How determined are you to take back what he has stolen?  How ferocious are you in this pursuit?  How enraged are you at the deeds of the devil and the kingdom of darkness? How much do demonic forces fear your resolve to overcome?

“Let not the sun go down on your wrath…”  In other words this can mean “Never let the sun go down on being mad at the devil….”

The ONLY legitimate avenue to release your wrath is to release it on the powers of darkness.

Get mad

Word for Today:  January 29

Words are carriers.

We speak words and the words we say become carriers.  When our words agree with God’s Word they will carry God’s Power with them.  When our words agree with the negative world system, they will carry the power of the world system with them.

If we could ever learn to talk right, speak the Word and only what the Word says instead of what we see and feel and think, we could experience a radical transformation in our situations and circumstances.

The Devil and his demons must submit to the Word of God that we speak.  When we come to see that all the death stuff that is happening to us is caused by the devil and his demons and then get a real revelation of the Power of the Word of God we will be on the road to recovery.  We will be positioned to change things in us and around us.

But as long as we set our tongue in agreement with death, we will have what we say.

We can Search out and find those God Words that contradict our particular problem.  They are in the Bible…. Find them!   If we are sick, look up scriptures about healing.  If we are afraid and depressed, look up scriptures that promise peace and assurance.    If we are struggling financially, look up scriptures that promise God’s provision for us.  If we are held captive by habit or addiction, look up scriptures that promise us deliverance and freedom.  Then we make those scriptures a vital and strategic part of our language.  We begin to articulate audibly and forcefully with our mouth what God has already said about us in His Word.

When we do this, we will begin to see immediate changes.  God honors His Word above His Name.  God sends His Word to accomplish and create His purposes.

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish (create) that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isa 55:11  

Word for Today:  January 19

Put off the Lie.   Eph 4:25

• satan never operates in truth.
• he is a victim of the lie himself.
• he was dumb enough to believe that he could be equal with God.
• he was deceived into believing that he could rule heaven.
• he is the father of the Lie and he is the author of the Lie.

Hell is the result of the Lie.

The world system functions by the Lie.

The cosmos is fueled by the Lie.

The fallen human race is cursed by the Lie.

Every evil known to man is conceived in the Lie.

The Lie produces death.  The Lie produces misery.  The Lie produces hopelessness.  The Lie causes pain, and defeat.  The Lie is the nature of satan, the driving force of all demons and the ultimate enemy of the Word of God.

Every failure is the result of the Lie.  Every heartache.  Every addiction.  Every divorce. Every abortion.  Every sickness.  Every defeat.  Every conflict.  Every misunderstanding.  Every broken relationship.  The Lie is every thing in thought or deed that defies the Character and Nature of our Loving Heavenly Father.

PUT OFF THE LIE.  Resist it.  Refuse to believe it.  Deny it.  Hate it.  Never listen to it or give place to it.  The Lie put Jesus on the Cross.  The Lie put Jesus in the Tomb.  The Lie put Jesus in hell.  But TRUTH brought Him out!

The Truth is the antithesis of the lie. The Truth is the death of the lie.  The Truth delivers from the effects  and the results of the lie.  The Truth produces freedom.  Deliverance. Victory.  And Real Life.  Eternal Life.

And you shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free   John 8:32

Word for Today:  January 18

There is a much broader dimension of the Word than most people realize.

The Word of God is not just the Bible.  The Bible is the written inspired, infallible document that is the written Word of God but the Word of God existed before there was a written document called the Holy Bible.

John writes that “in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…”   God’s Word transcends the Bible.   God’s Word was existent before there was a Bible.

How can we know what God said if it is not written down for us to read and know?  We can know what God said by knowing what God would say.  We can know what God would say by knowing the Nature and Character of God.

God speaks in agreement with His Character, His Nature, and His Personality.   If we know His Character, we will know what He will say or did say…  And we discover and know His Character by receiving revelation knowledge regarding Christ.   Because Jesus is the Perfect and Completed Revelation of Who God is, What God is like and What God does and will do.

if you have seen me, you have seen the Father…  John 14:9

Word for Today:  January 17

God’s Power is adequate but it can be limited.

God is Able but God can be Limited.  God can do all things but God can be prevented from working.  Jesus could do no mighty works in one place because of unbelief.

 And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief… Mat 13:58

Unbelief is anti-God and anti-Christ.  Unbelief limits God’s Power and God’s Ability.  Unbelief restrains God in His desire to work for you.

Even though God could… and God would… unbelief and doubt will prevent God from doing it.

Many believers are hindered and kept out of victory because of their own unbelief.  So are churches, denominations, and honest, good and sincere people.

In a sense, it is not necessarily true to declare that “God can do anything…”  He has the Power to do anything, but that power can be hindered, limited and restrained by unbelief and doubt.

God’s effective, operative power depends on us

Word for Today:  January 16

When Joshua was at Jericho, victory did not come until the 7th Day.  (Josh 6:15).

I’m sure many would like to have the victory on the first circuit.  If it was five miles around the city, I’m sure many were ready to quit the first day.  But then there was the second. Another five miles.    And the third.  Another five miles.  The fourth.  Another five miles.  Fifth.  Another five miles.  And the sixth.  Another five miles.

How many grew weary in the process?  This has been a thirty mile ordeal.  After all, how much does God expect of me anyhow?  There must be an easier way.  I think I have a “better idea.”  Who has a “new revelation”?   And now it is the Sabbath and seven times around… that’s thirty-five more miles.  Unreasonable.

A total of sixty miles.  Utterly ridiculous.

No wonder others had a “better idea” or a “higher revelation.”

Obedience means sacrifice.  No Cross means no Crown.  No diligence yields no victory.  Many have grown weary and have tired along the way.

When victory is one day ahead and one lap away

Word for Today:  January 15

The Church gets in trouble when it loses its passion for God.

This is the root cause of all backsliding.  This is why Christians become carnal.  This is why Christians fall away.  This is why Christians slip back into the world.  They lose their passion for God.

In the Book of Revelation, John spoke of a Church that “left its first love.”  It lost its passion for God.  Its members lost their “first love.”  John told the Church at Ephesus that God “had something against them” even though they: (1) had good works, (2) had patience, (3) had  intolerance toward evil, (4) had correctly judged false apostles and (5) had not fainted or quit.

They had fallen into the trap of becoming a good, vigorous, hardworking, sin-hating, determined and committed organization but without really Loving GOD.  They had lost or left their “first love.”  Their hearts had grown cold.  They lost their passion for God.

They were doing all the right things but they were doing them for the wrong reason.  You can be “good” and “moral” and “obedient” and still miss the boat.  If your motivation is from your head and not your heart, God has “somewhat against thee…”

Every GOOD WORK must issue forth from a passion for God… from heart hunger and not from head reasoning.   Head reasoning is based on externals… on “doing,” on the letter of the law, on doctrine and dogma on religion and form and tradition… all these are inadequate and illegitimate.

God looks at what is in your heart and not what is in your head

Word for Today:  January 14

God’s heart has never changed.

His heart has always been inclined toward man.  It is now and it always has been.  Man was originally created in order that God might have a family.  God wanted companionship.  God wanted fellowship.  God wanted relationship.  God wants to love and He wants to be loved.    God wanted to have a family to love and to bless and to keep unto Himself.

This is the Heart of God.

God wants to have children that will reciprocate His love.  God is Love, God loves and God wants to be loved.  Do you realize that God made the heavens solely for the benefit of earth? Do you know that God made the earth solely for the benefit of man?  Can you believe that God created all animal life and plant life solely for the benefit of man?  Everything and all things that God created by His power, were and are created for the benefit of man.

And God made man for Himself.

All of creation is designed to sustain human life.  Scientists are now beginning to recognize that the entire universe has been created and calibrated to support and sustain human life right here on earth.   The original Plan God had is still the same.   Even though satan entered and Adam sinned and death was brought into the earth, God has Eternally Purposed for Man to be His Own.

You belong

Word for Today:  January 13

We are not what we were.

Yesterday.  Last Week.  Last Year.  10 minutes ago.  We are changing.  We are growing.  We are conforming more and more to the Image of Jesus.

God’s New Creation Army are Champions.   Achievers.   Overcomers.   Supernatural Men and Women and Children.  More than Conquerors.   That’s us.  That’s you and me.

• We are invincible to the forces of darkness.
• We live in health and prosperity and we walk in constant victory.
• We are New Creation Men and Women.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  2Cor. 5:17

We live by God’s Law of Life and we have been set free from the law of sin and death.  Sin, satan and failure have no dominion over us.

• We know who we are where we are going.
• We are not moved by fear or doubt or unbelief.
• We walk by faith and live by faith.
• We are a “Peculiar People” and Royalty through our Blood Line.

We are the Ones who will rule and run and reign on the earth in this emerging hour… we are the end-time army destined to defeat and destroy the works of darkness and the powers of the kosmos.

God has waited long and patiently for us to be birthed and developed.  He has Plans for us.  He has Provisions for us.  He has Power for us.

Our Time has come.

Your Time has come.