dickbraswell

In the early days (late 60’s and early 70’s) of the Charismatic Movement, which had such a powerful influence on our small Baptist church in Mobile, it became evident that we would need a very special visitation from God to lead our congregation into the Grand Plan He had for us.  So many things were happening in such a powerful way and so quickly, it would be necessary for us to really know how to hear from God, believe Him and have some sort of special revelation regarding leading our Baptist Church into that of a full Gospel ministry. 

There would be times of testing, scrutiny and examination by our Baptist peers so we needed to be able to lead our flock in the Truth of God’s Word in a way that it would dispel all arguments and all accusations.  So it was imperative that we learn How to Believe God.

We began to study and research the subject of New Testament Faith because we knew that “without faith” it would be “impossible to please God.”  (Heb 11:6)  And if we were to please God we would have to know everything we could find out about faith.  It was going to require supernatural faith to get us through the quagmire of denominational doctrine, embedded traditions and common practices that were going to oppose our neo-Pentecostal objective.   In this early stage of the Charismatic Movement, the Biblical truth regarding the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit was under scrutiny.  Especially the practice of speaking in tongues.  We were in desperate need of having faith to see us through.

Our limited knowledge and experiences of operating in faith and living by faith were going to have to change.  We needed someone or some book or some teacher to lead us in our quest to understand and move in faith.  So we prayed for help.

One evening, late, as we were preparing for the night, someone knocked on the front door of the parsonage, our home situated next to the church.  When I answered, a man dressed in a suit and carrying a small brief-case was standing on the steps.  He told me that he was a minister and teacher of the Gospel passing through Mobile, and needed a place to stay for the night.  He was very apologetic and stressed that he only needed a place to sleep… he asked if would we be able to accommodate him even though he was a complete stranger and was very clear stating that he would not, in any way, want to inconvenience us.   Needless to say, we were sort of “put on the spot.”  My wife and I exchanged glances and I could tell by her expression she thought it would be ok.   So, we moved our daughter out of her bedroom and gave it to him. 

If I remember correctly, there was very little visiting time spent with him before we retired for the night.  We had an understanding with him that we would have breakfast together the next morning before he continued on his way.

The next day, when we got up to prepare breakfast, our friend was nowhere to be found.  He had gotten up early, made the bed up and left without so much as a “thank you.”   Then we noticed something strange.  On the table near the front door was a small package.  When we examined it, we discovered it was a group of cassette teaching tapes all bound together with a rubber band.  And the subject of the series of in-depth teachings was…. FAITH.  And it was this revelation that God used to navigate us through a difficult time that resulted in unbelievable miraculous results. 

We had “entertained an angel…. unaware”

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.  Heb 13:2 

Word for Today:  August 31

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 30

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 28

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 28

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 25

Jesus Paid it All.

The devil and all demon powers are forever dethroned and defeated.  At the fall of Adam, satan gained control and dominion over all the earth.  At the Resurrection of Jesus,  satan was factually and actually dethroned and defeated.   he is stripped of all his power and authority.  Relegated to the role as the mother of all losers.

The Resurrection of Jesus was and is the final proof of satan’s downfall and defeat.  Because Jesus lives… sickness, sin, defeat, sorrow, death, sadness are all forever conquered.  We (Believers) have been redeemed from satan’s dominion and we have legally become the masters and rulers of satan and all his demons.  We have power over the devil because Jesus rose from the dead.  We can cast out devils. We can heal the sick.  We can call things that “be not” not as though they were.  We can overcome poverty and distress and pain and need.  Because Jesus is alive… we are filled with Resurrection Life.

There will be no judgment for us like it was for Jesus.  God will not forsake us.   For us there will be no Cross… no crown of thorns… no separation from God… no suffering in hell… no guilt and no condemnation.

Jesus paid it all… All to Him I owe…Sin had left a crimson stain… He washed it white as snow

Elvina M. Hall  1865

Word for Today:  August 24

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

Word for Today:  August 22

Rivers.

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 at ministry time with the Stream 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 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 Stream.  A Rushing River.  Men and women and young people and children with Rivers of Living water gushing out of their inner beings.  What a gathering!

The Stream 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.

I must tell you, the Anointing in my life is essential.  Without the anointing, I have nothing, I can do nothing, I am nothing and I have no desire to live.  The Anointing… the Stream of Living Water… is the most important thing in my Life.  It is Jesus flowing out of me in Power and Compassion.

My prayer is that I might see with the Eyes of God.  Feel with the Heart of Jesus.   Minister with the Mind of Christ.  Flow with the Power of the Holy Ghost.

Without this, I am nothing.  The ministry is nothing.  And I will accomplish nothing.

Neither will you

Word for Today:  August 21

Emotions, feelings or the Word

Religion has taught us that we can experience the power of God only occasionally.  We have been taught that sometimes God just lets bit a little of heaven come down and bless us.  We have prayed and stayed and fasted and repented and preached and prophesied in order to get the power to come down… the fire to fall… revival to happen.

We have been led to believe that every once in a while God will give us a little dab of glory just to keep us going.  We have been taught that the Christian experience is a series of peaks and valleys… ups and downs… drought and abundance…. times when we are hot and times when we are cold.

Where did this come from?  It came from our emotions and our feelings.  It came from our soulish man.  It is not the way it is in the Spirit!

God is the same.  Jesus is the same.  The Holy Ghost is the same.  The Word is the same.  His Eternal Purpose is the same.  When we walk in agreement with His Purpose, we are the same!  There is no “variableness” in Him or in us when we fulfill our part in His plan.

The Word is stronger than our emotions….