dickbraswell

Word for Today:  June 30

We are in a race.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners…  Heb 12:1-3

The Christian Walk is compared to an athletic race.  The crowds are present.  The course is before us.  We are running.  We must win.  We are pursuing the Gold.  Not the silver or the bronze. Second place will not do.  The success of our calling is at stake and nothing short of first place will do.  We must win!

There are obstacles and hindrances on the track.  There are many opportunities to fail and not finish our course.  To give in to fatigue or weariness or weakness will cause our opponent to get ahead.  It will make us lose the race.  But we must win!

Every Believer is in this race.  You will run or you will give up.  You will win or you will lose.  Every believer is on the track… and so is our opponent.

There is a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.  They are watching and they are cheering. They have gone before us and they are winners.  They know what is before us and they know that we can win.  They are in heaven’s grand stand and they are rooting for us.  They watch and they observe… Our victory is important to them.

We are to lay aside hindrances or weights that will keep us from doing our best.  The runners must strip off the outer garments and lighten their load so they can use all their energy in running the race.

We are to run and we are to run with patience.  (With Patience running alongside of us!)  Patience means we know we will win regardless of how the race appears because God is with us.

We are to look to Jesus as we run.  He is the goal and the finish line.  He is the victor’s circle.  We stay ahead and we win as long as we look to him.

We are to consider him (and what He endured) when we get tired and weary and are tempted to give up and quit.

But they that wait (look for, hope, expect) upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.  Isa 40:31

Resolve to win and refuse to lose

Word for Today:  June 28

God spoke Faith-filled Words and creation happened

Substance came into being and was created by the Words God spoke with His mouth.  Words created.  Words have power.  Words have preeminent and predominant force.

Jesus is vitally interested in how we talk.  We can talk for five minutes with most anybody and they will reveal their spiritual position by the words that come out of their mouth.

We are living under a New Covenant.  The Word we have is a legal document.  It is binding on two parties.  It is binding on the part of God and it is binding on the part of those who believe it.

God formulated and created this covenant and signed it with and by the Blood of His own Dear Son.  It is established forever and ever.  It will not fail. It will not change. It will never pass away.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of God is established from everlasting to everlasting.

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.  Mt 24:35

The Word is a legal document and it binds God to whoever agrees with it.   I want to agree with it.  Do you?  Will you?  If our answer is “yes” then we are in a position to change things.  If we agree to and with this Legal Document, then God is legally bound to honor His Word in our behalf.  God does not lie.

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?  Nu 23:19

When we agree with this Covenant God has signed with the Blood of His Dear Son, we are positioned to receive everything that God has promised and provided for us.  God is bound to us.  We become God’s responsibility.  We are not our own.  We are bought with a price.  We belong to God and we are His responsibility.

Therefore, we don’t have to worry about Wall Street, the stock market, the banks, our job, the world situation, the economy, or anything else, because we are now God’s responsibility.

God is our Source.  God is our Supply.  God is our Security.  He has bound Himself to provide for us through His Word Promises.

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

Word for Today:  June 27

God wants you to succeed

God wants you to succeed and not fail.  God wants you to be well and not sick.  God wants you to happy and not sad.  God want you to be prosperous and not poor.  God want you to have His Best.  And He has made every provision for this, but some are still waiting and hoping for their situation to change.

The real issue is that God is waiting for you to Change Things.  You can change things.  God has given you the authority and the power to change things…. There is no such thing to the Believer as “I can’t help it.” (Phil 4:13)

How do you change things?  How do you do it?

You need to understand that “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation…” (Rom 10:10).  Therefore what you say with your mouth is very important.  If you “confess” anything, you must “say” it.  If you confess anything, you must formulate thoughts in your mind and then make them come out of your mouth as words.

You can change things by and through the words that  you say.  Words were “here” before facts were “here.”  Words were here before worlds were here.  Words were here before people were here.  Words were here before the devil was here.  Words have more power than facts.  Words have more authority and more power than natural law has.  Words were here before physical and natural laws were set in motion by Almighty God at the time of Creation.

Words are important.  Words are weighty.  Words are more powerful than facts.  God used Words to create.  He “spoke” and “it was.”  Words are creative.  Words have the power to bring things into existence.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue…   (Prov18:21)

Words you say will produce success or failure

Years ago, God turned an apparent tragedy into a triumph when a dog my little boys loved got hit by a speeding automobile.    A beautiful German Shepherd named “Prince,” was a loving companion to my small boys but one day, in their presence, he was crushed under the wheels of a speeding car. 

They cried and called for me to come and get him off the road where he lay.  When I arrived, the sight was not pretty.  He was bloody, his legs were askew and he was lifeless.  As the boys stood by me I told them I would have to take Prince to the back yard and bury him. 

Then one of them said “Daddy, why don’t you pray for him?”  An impossible situation.  How can I do this?  What will I tell them when I have to put Prince in the ground?  But I did.  I prayed.  But they had much more faith than I did.  I took the lifeless body and put it on the porch right by the front door and told the boys to go inside and get ready for bed (this happened late in the day).  I planned on burying Prince when the kids were asleep. 

When they were all tucked in for the night I reluctantly went back to the porch where Prince lay.  Do you know, when I opened the door that dead dog jumped straight up and walked over to me and began licking my hand.  I was startled.  Dumbfounded.  And overwhelmed at the power of prayers prayed by little boys.  I ran inside, got them to come and see the Miracle of Prince.  And the ONE who makes the Impossible Possible proved once again with another Infallible Proof that HE is ALIVE.

I put the shovel up and gave Prince a big serving of fresh ground hamburger

Word for Today:  June 27

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32

What does “free” mean?  It means free.  It means to be set loose.  It means to be released from bondage.  It means to be unshackled.  Jesus said the Truth would make us free.

If we are free, it is the Truth that made us free.  If we are bound it is the Lie that has put us in bondage.

Now what is the lie?  The Lie is anything that contradicts the Word of God.  It is anything that comes from the devil because the Bible says that he is the father of lies.

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. Joh 8:44

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Joh 8:32

To paraphrase what Jesus says in this verse:

“We shall know the Truth of God’s Word and the Truth of God’s Word that we act on in faith will deliver us from our bondage”

That is exactly where God wants us to be.  He wants us to be totally free from all satanic, demonic, emotional and psychological bondage.  He wants us to be delivered from every addiction and every burden and every demonic oppression the devil has put on us.

Exposure to the Truth will change us.  And when we are exposed to the Truth and the Truth becomes revelation to us, we can change bad things into good things.

When we begin to take in the Truth, we automatically begin to get better.  Better in our body.  Better in our mind.  Better in our talking.  Better in our expectations.  Better in our relationships.  Better in our patience.  Better in our temperament.

Better in every life experience

Word for Today:  June 25

God wants us to have His Best.

Jesus died so that we could have Life and have it more abundantly  (John 10:10).  God does not want us lacking in any good thing.  God wants us to have His best in everything and in every way.

Do we want His best?  Can we come into agreement with another believer for God’s best to be ours?   Listen to this:

Again I say unto us, That if two of us shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.   Mt 18:19

Let’s just agree with God and get this promise working.  It is a lot easier to talk about how bad it is and how hard it is and how impossible it is than it is to confess with our mouth what God says regardless of what we see or feel.

God says things can be changed.  God says that things can get better.  God says that our circumstances can be overcome.  God says that our situations can be brought in line with His Word and in agreement with His Will.

God wants us to rearrange our vocabulary, change our thinking and upgrade our expectations.  He wants us to get rid of all the negative stuff and begin to accentuate the positives.  God is a YES God.  The Word declares:

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.  2Co 1:20

God gave His Best so that you can have His Best

Word for Today:  June 24

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:  Hos 4:6

When someone is lacking knowledge they are, in fact, ignorant.   “We have not because we know not how to get it…”  Pardon my paraphrase.  But that’s really the truth.

The world has told us all our life that there were things that we just had to bear.  We could not help it.  It was unavoidable.  Nothing could change it. We just have to “bear our Cross.”  It was just “meant to be.”    Meant to be by whom?   Certainly not by God if what is happening to us is bad and destructive.

We have listened to what the reasoning world has told us.  We have counted as fact what our natural eyes have seen.  We have believed what our emotions have dictated to us and we have been moved by our five senses.

No wonder situations seem unchangeable.  This kind of information processing results in the “I can’t help it” mind set.  And it is really a mind set it is not a Word set.  We can change things.  The Word says we can.

The right way to change things does not come out of carnal thinking.  When we find ourselves in situations and circumstances that do not glorify God and enhance His Kingdom, we can change them.  When we are in a place that is not in the Will of God and we know it, then we can change that as well.

Some have loved ones that are lost.  Others have pressing financial problems.  Many are struggling with sickness and disease.  Some are working through marriage and family issues… and the devil would have us believe that nothing is going to get better, that they will always be bad and that there is absolutely nothing that we can do about it.

The Word declares that we can change things.

Do it

Word for Today:  June 23

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. Psa 150:6

Praise God for the answer before your answer comes.  Your sight and your feelings are subordinate to the Word of God.  As far as God is concerned, you already have what you believed for.  He has already given you 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 of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  2Pe 1:3

What situation or circumstance would you like to see changed more than everything else?  What one thing have you been believing for over everything else?  What is the greatest desire of your heart at this very moment?  What drives you and is the focus of your passion?  What is that one thing?  The One Thing that is presently the heart of your praying?   That One Thing that rises above all other situations you would like to see happen?

What if God visibly walked right into your presence now… at this moment… and with loving grace and mercy actually presented you with that One Thing you have so longed for?   Here it is.  What you have prayed and believed for.  This is it.  It is yours.  You now have in fact what you have believed for in faith.

What would your response be?  Would it be “ho hum…”  “Well, so what?”  Would you turn away and be passive and unappreciative?   Would you be thankless and ungrateful?  Just what would you do?  How would you act?  What would your reaction be if you actually got that One Thing that had been the focus of your believing for many years?  Would you shout?  Would you praise God?  Would you leap for joy?  Would you run around the room?  Would you whoop and holler and dance and rejoice?  Is that what you would do?  I believe you would be uninhibited and unashamed to praise God and rejoice… demonstratively.

Act like you have it before you get it

Word for Today:  June 22

God told the prophet to dig ditches before the rain came.

He acted out His faith.  And the waters came and filled every ditch in a time of drought.

God told the poor starving widow woman to borrow pots before she had any oil to put in them.  She acted out her faith went out and borrowed pots (not a few) and God filled every one of them with lifesaving oil and saved her life and the life of her son.

Jesus acted out His faith by becoming a suffering, dying servant and God brought Him forth as King of kings and Lord of lords.  If we only acted as if we really believed, people could and would “see” our faith.

Faith with no action is invisible.  Unknown and unnoticed.  And unproductive.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.  Mr 2:5

We have a choice.  We can believe what we feel or we can believe what the Word says.  When we act out what the Word says instead of what we feel, we become like the Word and unlike the world.

Acting out faith produces visible results.  Remember Mark 11:23 and 24?

23  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

 24  That is why I tell you, as to whatever you pray and make request for, if you believe that you have received it it shall be yours. (Weymouth NT  Trans)

Acting out faith is acting as if the answer we are believing for has already come.

Most are still hoping and praying and wishing and seeking and weeping and repenting and begging and pleading… when the real need is to act as if what we are believing for has already become ours.

Our body may tell us it is not here.  Our circumstances may tell us it is not here.  Doubters and unbelievers around us may tell us it is not here.  Our budget may say it is not here.  The devil will say it’s not here…. BUT Believe what the Word says and

You will get what the Word promises

Word for Today:  June 21

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:  Hos 4:6

When someone is lacking knowledge they are, in fact, ignorant.   “We have not because we know not how to get it…”  Pardon my paraphrase.  But that’s really the truth.

The world has told us all our life that there were things that we just had to bear.  We could not help it.  It was unavoidable.  Nothing could change it. We just have to “bear our Cross.”  It was just “meant to be.”    Meant to be by whom?   Certainly not by God if what is happening to us is bad and destructive.

We have listened to what the reasoning world has told us.  We have counted as fact what our natural eyes have seen.  We have believed what our emotions have dictated to us and we have been moved by our five senses.

No wonder situations seem unchangeable.  This kind of information processing results in the “I can’t help it” mind set.  And it is really a mind set it is not a Word set.  We can change things.  The Word says we can.

The right way to change things does not come out of carnal thinking.  When we find ourselves in situations and circumstances that do not glorify God and enhance His Kingdom, we can change them.  When we are in a place that is not in the Will of God and we know it, then we can change that as well.

Some have loved ones that are lost.  Others have pressing financial problems.  Many are struggling with sickness and disease.  Some are working through marriage and family issues… and the devil would have us believe that nothing is going to get better, that they will always be bad and that there is absolutely nothing that we can do about it.

The Word declares that we can change things.  Believe it and

Do It