dickbraswell

Word for Today:  May 31

What are those things that plague us?  What is it within the Human Experience that brings pain and grief?  What are the things that are burdens and problems to us?  It is precisely here (where we hurt) that God focuses His Grace.  His Provision.  His Relief.  We have seen just how these provisions are met in the Covenant He made with us and that is guaranteed by the Blood of Jesus Christ

What is hurting you?  Where are you broken and wounded and sad?  What has come into your life that produced fear and dread and pain?  What are those elements in the Human Experience that make your life miserable?  Do you understand that every misery and pain in life is caused by the devil?  By the powers of darkness?  By those spirits in high places that purpose to kill, steal and destroy?

If we can come to know God’s Purpose for us, we can get our lives in agreement with it.  Once we come into a living agreement with the Purpose God has for us, we can experience the Abundant Life Jesus promises in John 10:10.

Everybody wants the abundant life, but that will only happen when we are in agreement with the Purpose God.

And until this takes place, true fulfillment in life is impossible.

Word for Today:  May 29

 

Somebody is going through the fire today.

Fires are common to all Believers.

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice….  I Peter 4:12

There are several things you can do when you find yourself in the fire.

• You can run away
• You can try to put out the fire
• You can surrender and get burned up
• You can beg for help or
• You can rejoice, trust God and stand

We need to understand some things about fires.

• They are not caused by God
• They are not used by God to “teach” us something
• They are not punishment for something you did or did not do
• They are not terminal or fatal for the believer
• They are not unquenchable

Above all taking the shield of FAITH wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked…  Eph.  4:16

Who through faith… quenched the violence of fire… Heb. 11:33-34

It’s neat to know that God will not only deliver us from the fire but will walk with us through it…  (Isa 43:2)

 

And where He is I will be OK

What is about to happen?

If the veil separating the physical and the spiritual could be lifted for a moment, what a sight we would behold!  Everywhere we looked, we would see preparations taking place.  God is busily PREPARING.  The ANGELS are busily PREPARING.  Hell is busy PREPARING.   During the six days of creation God PREPARED.  And now, at the CLOSE of this AGE, He is diligently preparing for the END.

What’s next?  The Bible is very plain about the events that will take place at the close of this age.  If we know the Word we will know what is going to happen.  If we know the Will of God we will know what to expect and when to expect it.  God never intended for His children to be ignorant of His End-Time plan.  God never intended for His children to be caught by surprise.  God wants you to know what is going to happen and approximately when it is going to happen.  Now, if you do not care, you will not know.  If you are lazy and carnally minded, you will not know.  If you are caught up in the world system, you will not know.  If you are bound up in religious bondage and dead doctrine, you will not know.  However, you can know and you will know if you open your heart to the Holy Spirit right now!!

First, we are living in the End-Time.  There is no doubt about this.  Look at what the Bible says concerning events that will be taking place at the time Jesus comes again.   From what I can determine from the Bible, there is not ONE PROPHECY left to be fulfilled before Jesus Comes Again.  His appearance is IMMINENT.  His Return is At Hand!!

The NEXT EVENT will be Jesus coming in the clouds to take His Church out of the earth. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up (harpadzo) together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:  and so shall we ever be with the Lord…”  1 Thes 4: 16-17.

Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left.  Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken and the other left.  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come…  Mat 24:40-42

This is referred to as the Rapture of the Church.  It is a “catching away” or a “snatching away” of all true Believers from the earth at a time when it is least expected by the world.  It will be world-wide and it will be sudden.   It will be blessed for those are saved and it will be tragic for those who are lost.  According to the Bible, the Saved who have died and gone to be with Jesus will be reunited with their bodies and they shall “rise first” and then those of us who are alive and remain shall be taken up together with them in the air.

Suddenly, all the TRUE Christians will be gone from the earth.

Suddenly, all Christian influence will be removed from the earth.

Suddenly, all the church buildings and facilities of True Believers, will be vacant and empty.

Godly men and Godly women and Godly young people will ALL BE GONE.  Mothers will leave unbelieving children.  Daddies will leave unbelieving children.  Brothers will leave unbelieving brothers.  Sisters will leave unbelieving sisters.  Families will be divided.  Friends will be separated.  Only those who are READY will be taken.  Those who are living in disobedience, in rebellion, in open sin… those who are lukewarm and lazy will be left.  Those whose lamps are not trimmed and whose lights are not burning will be left.  The True Christians will all be gone.  No one left on earth but the lost, the backslidden, the unbelieving, the skeptic… “the lawless and disobedient, the ungodly, the sinner, the unholy, the profane, murderers, manslayers, whoremongers, those that defile themselves with mankind, kidnappers, liars and perjurers…” (1 Tim 1:9-10)

All goodness will be gone.  All love will be gone.  All kindness will be gone.  All compassion will be gone.  All mercy will be gone.  The TRUE CHURCH will be GONE and the world will be left to the powers of hell and destruction.  There will be no restraining force against evil and wickedness.  Antichrist will emerge and begin to rule and millions will be tortured, persecuted, abused, murdered.  There will be another holocaust… but this one will be world-wide and it will cause blood to run in every street in every city in every nation on the earth.  Demon forces will be loosed on earth and suffering will be supernatural.  These events are plainly detailed in the Book of Revelation, Chapters 6 through 18.

After the Rapture, there will be NO ESCAPE.

The suffering and torment that will be experienced by those who are left behind is indescribable.  Men will cry for the mountains to fall on them and for the earth to swallow them up… they will scream for death but death will not come.  “…and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand?…”  Rev 6: 15-17.

This is called the Time of Tribulation.  And it will last for a period of 7 years.  The first 3 1/2 years will witness the rise of the antichrist.  The last 3 1/2 years will perfect his rule and reign.  The entire 7 years,  the antichrist will reign and the earth will be ruled by demon forces.  There will be a continual series of Judgments… 7 seal judgments, 7 vial judgments and 7 trumpet judgments…

Millions will die as this 7 year period of Tribulation ends with the Battle of all battles… the Battle of Armageddon.

“And another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.  And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, thrust in thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”   (184 miles)  Rev 14:17-20.  See also Rev 19: 11-21.  While these events are taking place on earth during the 7 years of Tribulation, those of us who were Caught Up at the Rapture will be in heaven with Jesus.  We will be preparing for the Millennium.  We will be getting ready to return to earth with Jesus and to rule with Him for 1000 years.  There are two events that will take place in heaven while antichrist is ruling on earth.

First, we will go with Jesus to the Judgment Seat of Christ.  It is here that all Believers will be rewarded according to their faithfulness while they lived on earth.  We must each stand individually before Jesus and answer to Him in regards to our conduct on earth.

For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels and then He shall reward every man according to his works…  Mat 16:27

…for we shall all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ.  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God…  Rom 14: 10-12

For we must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad… 2 Cor 5:10.

And, behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be… Rev  22: 12.

It is here that we will be rewarded and receive our crowns which will be laid at Jesus’ feet.  It may be a time of great rejoicing and it could be a time of great regret.  We will be judged and rewarded according to our works.  We are not saved by our works, but we will be rewarded according to our works.  The rewards we receive and the crowns we are given will be cast at the feet of Jesus as we honor Him and worship Him.  It will be all that we have to GIVE to Him.

Next, we will accompany Jesus and all the Saints of all the ages to the Marriage Feast or Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.  And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.  And He saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God…”  Rev 19: 7-9.

Now, the choice is YOURS TODAY.  Which will it be, Tribulation or Triumph?  Suffering or the Marriage Supper?  If you could miss the wrath of God that will be poured out without mixture… surely you would.  If you could instead be guaranteed a place at the Marriage Supper, I know you would accept.  I am sent by God to make you an offer.  I am His messenger (angel) to give you that invitation.  What will it be?  What will you do?  God extends to you a request for your presence… will you accept?

YES_____             NO_______

 

 

 

Word for Today:  May 28

 

Life at its BEST.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 

“Life” in this verse is the word “Zoe” which is a Greek term that describes a quality of life, not quantity, but quality of life.  It is the word that describes the very same kind of life that God has.  Jesus is saying here, “I have come that you might have life and that life will be the same kind of life that I have and the same kind of life that God has… ”

This is abundant life that Jesus has given to you and to me.  It is not simply “living and existing” or “natural, physical” life, but it is the same quality of life that God has.  The same type of Life God has.  It is the “God Kind” of life.

Can you imagine God being worried?  Can you imagine God being afraid?  Can you imagine God being sick?  Can you imagine God being in a bad mood?  Or having a “bad hair day?”  Can you imagine God being poor?   Can you see God being depressed or stressed?  Or sad, or melancholy or “blue?”

God is not saving up for a rainy day.  God is not getting ready to go to the hospital.  God is not tired out or “wore” out… God is not planning on anything bad happening to Him.  He never has and He never will.  God is just fine.

 

If God is OK then you are OK.

Knowing God

Hab 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge (Yaw-dah’: Understanding) of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Our objective today is to emphasize the extreme importance of having a precise and correct knowledge of God.  And also to correctly understand His Character, His Nature and His Personality.

Your knowledge and understanding of God is extremely important because your level of receiving FROM God will never exceed your PERCEPTION of God.

2 Pet 1:1 ¶ Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:  

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge (Epignosis:  Precise and correct knowledge) of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life (Zoe) and godliness, through the knowledge (Epignosis: Precise and correct knowledge)  of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: {to: or, by}

According to this text, Grace and Peace are multiplied unto us through our precise and correct knowledge of God….

And also, we will only be able to receive “all things that pertain to life and godliness” through our precise and correct knowledge of God.

Php 3:10 That I may know (Gnisko: to know with understanding) him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Paul is talking about Knowing God and Understanding God.  He means Knowing Him with the Understanding of His Nature, His Character and His Person.  To many in the Church, God is a real mystery.  Religion has compromised the Truth of Who God is, What God does and How He does what He does.  My question today is:

Who is this Great God we call our God?

Your personal perception of God (Who He is, What He does, How He works); knowing and understanding His Character, His Nature and His Personality, will determine the kind of relationship you have with Him.  Your perception of God will decide the quality of life and the level of victory you have or don’t have.  How you perceive God to be will affect every facet of your human experience.

Of all that we know and understand, we certainly need to know and understand God.  Just how do you comprehend Him to be?   What is He like?  What does He do and not do?  What is the Motivation behind His acts and His deeds?

When you consider God, does it strike fear and terror in your heart?  Is He some kind of impersonal and untouchable Power that works in ways you do not understand?  Are you unsure of what He does?  How He does it?  Why He does it?  Is your concept of God Biblical?  Does it stand the test of Theological Correctness?

In order to correctly process our perception of God we must go to the Word of God.  Let’s begin in the beginning.  What does Creation tell us about God?

Genesis 1:1 ¶ In the beginning God…    

What about Creation?  What is the foundational purpose of all things and everything that exists?  Why did God, in one majestic fiat of His unimaginable Power, create all things?  Why? For what reason?

It is “By Him (through and because of Him) that all things consist.” 

 Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

This text tells us at least three things:

1. God existed before “all things.”
2. God Created all things
3. By Him all things consist. That is; the continuance of the universe (all things created) is dependent on His support and administration.

The Purpose of Creation

Why is everything like it is?  Why did God make it?  What is going to happen to it?  What does it have to do with me?    What is it for? Why is it here? What does it do?   There is a PURPOSE….    Design, Intelligence, Forethought and Planning are fully realized in all of Creation.  Every atom, every molecule, as well as every sun, moon and star in the all the galactic heavens, has a reason for being.

There is a Divine and Holy purpose behind every element of God’s Great Creation.  Even those who deny the Biblical explanation of Creation must agree that Something or Someone Big is behind all this expanse of the Heavens and the Earth.

The underlying purpose of Creation is to Reveal the Nature and Character of God. 

Creation paints a picture of God.  Creation answers the questions about God.  Creation solves the mystery of God.  Creation shows (reveals to) humankind What and Who God really is.

Rom 1:19 ¶ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Ps 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Ps 97:6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

The birth of the Great Charismatic Revival of the ‘60’s came about as a result of a fresh Revelation of the Nature of God.

• He is Good (a major revelation that will redefine religious perceptions of God).  He became personally known and understood as a FATHER, as a LOVER and as a GIVER (Jn 3:16)
• He Knows (Omniscient) We became aware of the fact that He is PERSONALLY knowledgeable and interested and involved in our individual lives.
• He Hears He is there at that moment with us.   Every time.  Never failing.
• He Responds

He is the God of all Creation (From quarks to quasars and from molecules to mountains)

• He is Eternal God; (Self Existent One: Jehovah!)
• He is the God of our Provision (El Shaddai)
• He is the God who Sustains (holds all things together)
• He is the God who is actively involved in His People and His Church (The “I AM” God)

Everything that God does He does with you and me in mind…

What is the purpose behind Creation?  

Why did God Create all things?  At least 4 reasons:

1. To Declare His Glory
2. To Reveal His Power
3. To Provide a Place for His Family
4. Creation of man allows God To Reproduce His Likeness in us

 

1. Creation Declares His Glory

A glimpse of God’s Throne in Heaven:

John caught a glimpse of heaven and wrote what he saw:  

Rev 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

10,000 times 10,000 (that’s a hundred million) and thousands of thousands in addition….

Splendor. Majesty. Honor. Glory.  Power.  Here is a picture of God in all His Excellence and Perfection.  John is straining the limits of his vocabulary to describe the visible and audible expression of God’s Presence.  In the Bible at times His presence is seen as Fire and Lightening.  Sometimes It is heard as Thunder and Wind.  Sometimes it is a Sweet Smelling Aroma… It always is felt and sensed by every emotion of the human experience.  It impacts the very core of the human spirit.

Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

 Psalms 147:4  He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

When we see Him, (Know Him precisely and correctly) we are transformed.  Paul writes:

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

• We are changed. We become like Him.  We are “morphed” into His Image and we are clothed with His Glory and we progress to greater Glory by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Hallelujah!
• We become demonstrations of Who He is (His Essence, His Character, His Nature, His Presence) on this earth. “As He is so are we in this world.”

1Jo 4:17  … because as he is, so are we in this world.

 

2.  Creation Reveals His Power 

Nothing known in all of human experience can adequately describe or define the magnitude of God’s Power displayed in Creation.  All that is strains and stretches to reveal God’s Power and Might.  Astronomy.  Physics.  Chemistry.  Mathematics.  Nano-science.  Nuclear potential.  NOTHING can fully explain or describe the Power of our Great God!  Words can’t.  Actions can’t.  Experiments can’t.  Nothing is capable of fully revealing the Power of God.

• God’s power shown in the cataclysmic universal flood in Noah’s day.
• God’s power displayed in the Miracles that convinced Pharaoh to release the Israelites from Egyptian Bondage.
• God’s Power demonstrated in sustaining Israel 40 years in the wilderness.
• God’s Power stopped the sun to give Joshua time to defeat the enemies of Israel (Josh 10:13)
• God’s Power cooled the fiery furnace and locked the lion’s jaws in the days of Daniel.
• God’s Power that impregnated a virgin girl and fathered the Savior of the world.
• God’s Power that worked through Jesus in feeding multitudes, giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, health to the lame and resurrection to those who died.
• God’s Power is revealed in the Miracle of the Substitutionary Death of His Dear Son on Calvary and 3 days later Raising Him from the dead.
• God’s Power is demonstrated in the Outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost. Followed by Peter’s preaching that resulted in 3000 getting Born Again.

But the sum of all of these indescribable works are but a drop in the bucket when compared to the One Mighty Miracle of Creation…  When God opened His mouth and said,  “Let there be….”  And IT WAS.  And it is still “being…”  Scientists affirm that the known universe, the stellar heavens, the far reaches of outer space;  all are still expanding (being created)…  new moons, suns, stars… and it is being created and expanded at the speed of light:  670,616,629 mph.

Consider the size of our solar system.   Imagine if we stood in the produce section of a grocery store and held up a grapefruit representing the Sun:

• Mercury would be the size of a small grain of salt orbiting around it 18 feet away.
• Venus would be like a grain of sugar 34 feet away.
• Earth, also a grain of sugar, would be 50 feet away.
• Mars also would be the size of a grain of salt 75 feet away.
• Jupiter, a cherry-sized tomato, would be 240 feet away;
• Saturn, the size of a green grape, at 420 feet out;
• Uranus, a green pea, at 300 yards;
• Neptune, also the size of a pea, at 470 yards; and
• Pluto, a speck of dust, would orbit our grapefruit-sized Sun at a distance of 475-600 yards.

1 Chronicles 29:11  Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

3.  Creation Provides a Place for His Family

Let me tell you something that is more than wonderful:  God had a longing for a family.  He was driven by a Father’s dream of having children.  A Class of Beings capable of having a relationship with Him.  He wanted fellowship.  So, He created…..

(1) God created the Heavens for the benefit of earth.  Every star, planet, sun, and moon in the stellar heavens has its influence on Earth.  Earth is the reason that the heavens were created.  All the stellar heavens were created to minister to and sustain and bless the earth.

(2) God created the Earth for the benefit of Man.  Man is the GOAL and PURPOSE of the CREATIVE GENIUS of God.  The Earth has NO REASON for existing apart from man.  All the natural laws that operate on earth operate in order to benefit and minister and sustain human life.  Earth is the only PLANET of BEAUTY in our solar system.   All the NATURAL RESOURSES of earth were made and kept in store by GOD for MAN.  OIL…GAS…ORES…COAL…GOLD…SLIVER…PRESCIOUS STONES…GEMS, ETC.

(3) God created Man for Himself.    You are the OBJECT of all of GOD’S CREATIVE GENIUS.  He made YOU for HIMSELF.  He chose to reveal Himself personally to you.  He fixed it so that you can understand and respond to Him;

4.  Man’s Creation Enables God to Reproduce His Likeness in us 

We are His WORKMANSHIP Created in CHRIST JESUS.

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship,(made from the same fabric)  created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Remember… All His Goodness is focused on you.  You are the objects of His affection.  YOU  are the reason for all that He does.      His attention is toward You…. All His thoughts and designs are for your good and for your benefit.  He is Good.  His Mercy is from Everlasting to Everlasting.  And His Goodness toward you will Never End.  Wow!

When God breathed into Adam the breath of Life, something came out of God and went into man.  God imparted His Nature: the very power and majesty of the God head… God infused man with His glory.  His Nature.  His Character.  His Life.  ZOE the God-Kind of life…

Man was created in the Image  (likeness, shadow) of God.  He was literally a partaker (a partner; sharer) of the divine nature of God.

We are destined and designed for the fulfillment of God’s Dream.  His Dream:

Hab 2:14  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

I am convinced that we have been created and brought into this narrow band of time in order that we might come into the full manifestation of the knowledge of God.

The full manifestation of the Knowledge of God will be the last thing that takes place before Jesus comes back.

As we SEE HIM… As we KNOW HIM.  As we UNDERSTAND Him.   We are being transformed into the same Image.

I want to KNOW GOD.   

DO YOU?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word for Today:  May 27

Declaration Precedes Manifestation

Declare your intentions.  Speak with your mouth words that make things happen.  Faith words.  Word words.  God Words.  Heaven Words.

You and I will never exceed our declarations.  Our declarations determine our direction. Our declarations determine our destiny.  What we speak out of our hearts will create or destroy.  Words are instruments of creation or destruction.  Words make things.

There are Life Producing Forces (seeds) inside every believer.  These forces are put in us by the Work of the Holy Spirit at the time we are Born Again.  They are seeds destined to grow and produce.  They are forces that need to be released into the world.  Into our families.  Into our relationships.  Into the total experience of our lives.

They are in you.  They are in every Believer.  However, seeds are worthless unless they produce.  One seed is not sufficient to sustain life by itself.  It takes many seeds which are planted in good ground to bring forth a crop that is sufficient to sustain victorious living.

The real challenge is to grow these seeds into maturity.  As God plants these Seeds in us, the enemy plants weeds. The purpose of the weeds is to choke out the seeds.

These seeds are the building blocks of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus prayed for the Kingdom to come and for the Will of God to be done ON EARTH just as it is presently being done in Heaven.  These Seeds will produce God’s Kingdom on earth when and if they are planted in good ground and if proper conditions for growth are present.

Seed Time produces Harvest Time

Word for Today:  May 26

 

The Church.

Jesus gave a powerful prophesy concerning the Church in Matthew chapter 16.  He said the Church would not be intimidated or overcome by the powers of hell.  He said He would build His Church and when He had it built, it would withstand and overcome all the powers of darkness.  He said His Church would be built on the revelation that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God… the Savior, the Messiah, the Promised One, the Redeemer and the Conqueror!  Notice four basic facts about this Church:

• Jesus will build it.
• It will be built on the Revelation that Jesus Christ is Messiah.
• It will have and exercise power over the kingdom of darkness, over hell, over demons and over the devil.
• It will have in its possession powerful Kingdom Keys that Believers can use to bind and loose.

When Jesus foretold the Birth of His Church, He said:

Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with Power from on High….  Luke 24:49

Therefore, one major characteristic of His Church is POWER from on HIGH.  That “power from on high” is still to be the means of changing the world.  “Not by (human) might or by (human) power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord…”

What the Church did then, is what the church is to do today.  How the church did it then is how the church is to do it today…

 

With Power from on High

Word for Today:  May 25

Don’t get discouraged because you are having a hard time.

Remember… situations are not supposed to affect the Believer.  Believers are supposed to affect situations.  Situations changes.  God never changes.  Situations pass, God’s Word never passes.  Remember:  It came to pass… not to stay!

The 3 Hebrews were in a strange land far away from home and they were in the company of a pagan tyrant who set himself up as god.  They lived in the midst of paganism, idolatry, unbelief and outright blasphemy.  They had been taken captive and led away into the headquarters of all that hated their God.  Their hopes and dreams were shattered and their future looked bleak.  But they refused discouragement and they believed God.

Paul and Silas landed in jail because they Obeyed God.  They were persecuted, beaten and locked in stocks.  But they refused to get discouraged.  Instead they considered God.  When they considered God they began to sing and praise Him.  They were anything but discouraged.

How are you?

Daniel wound up in a Den of Lions because he refused to stop praying to Jehovah God.  He used one lion for a pillow, another for a foot stool and another for cover.  He slept and the lions trembled in fear.  Because he refused to be discouraged.

John was left alone on an uninhabited volcanic island to starve and perish in the elements.  The boat was not out of sight before John was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day and fell out in the Holy Ghost.  He saw Jesus.  He was not discouraged or defeated.  He knew that his God was able.

Understand that discouragement will breed self-pity and cause complaining.  Complaining will lead to murmuring and grumbling.  Discouragement will cause you to look at the problem instead of the answer.

Help is on the way

Word for Today:  May 24

 

Many attempts have been made to change the world.

Governments have arisen and leaders have been established in order that the world might be changed.  Nations have been birthed and wars have been fought and millions of men have died in order that the world might be changed.  Religions have been formulated and philosophies have been initiated and kings have been crowned… all in order that the world might be changed.  However, the world is still wounded, it still hurts and it is still for the most part, unchanged.

The world will not be changed until people are changed.  People will not be changed unless they let God change them.  When God birthed the Church, He equipped it to change People.  When people are changed, the world will change.

To understand God’s Purpose for the Church, we have to go back in time to the birth of the Church.  When we observe the birth of the Church and the Beginnings of the Church, we can discover what God purposes the Church to be.

God’s Purpose for the Church has never changed.  It is the same today as it was in the day it was Born.  God’s Purpose for the Church is for it to make a difference in the world.  God Purpose for the Church is for it to govern, control,  influence, judge, and function in Divine Authority here on this planet.  God wants the Church on earth to do the same things the Church in heaven is doing.  There should be no difference.

“Upon this rock I will build MY CHURCH and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it…”   Jesus

Word for Today:  May 23

 

God is so much bigger than we can imagine.

What He can do far exceeds our ability to understand and comprehend.  He is greater than the greatest, bigger than the biggest and more powerful than anything or anybody we can imagine.

John speaks of the “streets of gold” when he attempts to describe the splendor and opulence of heaven.  He is limited by the words at his command to describe what he sees in the spirit.  Did you know that the “streets of gold” are nothing more than the “garbage dump” in heaven?  The earthly streets that John knew about were littered with garbage in his day.  The inhabitants of the city would throw their trash and garbage into the streets and the traffic of human feet and the paths of plodding animals would pack down the garbage.  The streets in John’s day were the garbage dump.

If Heaven’s Garbage Dump is solid gold, I cannot begin to imagine what the houses and lands and habitations of the redeemed will be like.

Do you have a need?  Any need.  Big need.  Small need.  Few needs.  Great needs.  Many needs.  If your answer is “yes,” name your need.  Does it have a name?  What is it?  Call it out.  Give it a name.  Tell yourself what it is.  Tell the devil what it is.  Tell God what it is (even though He already knows.)  Is it a health need?  Is it a financial need?  Is it a marriage or family need?  Is it a spiritual need?  Is it an emotional need?  If you have a need, then God has the supply… and God is Able to get His supply to your need… AND HE WILL.

Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, (Jesus) and given him a name which is above every name:

Therefore, the Name of Jesus is ABOVE the name of your need.  And it is subject to that Name.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19  

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… Eph 3:20

God is Able to meet your need TODAY.