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Word for Today:  April 15

Do Something

• Are you going to stay in the boat and sink in your storm?
• Are you going to sit where you are until you die?
• Are you going to withdraw from the challenge, give in to reason and unbelief and self-destruct?

Decide to do something!

Take the initiative.  Move off dead center.  Get up and go on.

There was a “great famine” in Samaria.  The enemy has surrounded the city and the inhabitants were starving.  Women were killing and cooking and eating their children.  They were slaying their beasts of burden and eating them.  The dung of birds and animals was collected for food.  The situation was desperate.  Horrific.

Four lepers were sitting at the gate to the city of Samaria.  They could not go in.  They could not stay there.  They had one option.  Go into the camp of the enemy and plead for mercy.  They asked:  “Why sit we here until we die…”

And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?  2 Kings 7:3

Do you intend for “things” to always be as they are?  Are you convinced you are going to “die” if you remain like you are and where you are?  Are you ready for a Change for the Better?  When do you want this Change to happen?  Why not NOW?

God is looking for movers and shakers…. those who will determine to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  God expects you to do something about the stuff that is happening to you.  He expects you to do something about what’s happening in the world.

He has given you the Power and the Authority to make things change.

Word for Today:  April 14

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,” a Greek term that describes a quality of life, not a quantity, but a 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 the Abundant Life that Jesus has given to you and to me.  It is not simply “living and breathing” 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

Word for Today:  April 13

Don’t be discouraged.

Remember:  situations and circumstances have no power to affect you… you have the power and authority to affect situations and circumstances.  You are the thermostat… not the thermometer.

Situations change… God does not change…  Circumstances change, God never changes.   God is changeless and Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever…      Conditions change… God’s Word does not change…  Your troubles will not change God or His Word…  God and His Word will change your troubles into triumphs…

The devil will attempt to make you believe that you have it worse than anybody in the whole world…  he will stress that your problem and your situation is unique and that nobody has ever had it as bad as you…  he will say you are sicker, weaker, dumber, poorer, more helpless and hopeless and anybody in the world…  he will magnify it and multiply it until it becomes a huge mountain instead of a meager mole hill.  Listen to the Word:

…there hath no temptation taken you but such  as is COMMON TO MAN: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it…1 Cor 10:13

If you live by faith and walk in the Spirit you will be faced with temptations, tribulations, tests and trials.  But they are nothing more than awesome opportunities for you to prove that God is Able.

…prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts…    Mal 3:10

Word for Today:  April 12

We win.

What can you believe God for?  What can you thank God for?  What can you see God doing for you TODAY?  That is exactly what you can receive and what you can have…   What can you trust God for?  What are you expecting?  What can you See with your Faith Eyes?  What can you have the courage to say with your mouth?

Most of what we pray and beg for, God has already given us.   God has already provided everything for us we will ever need.  Much of our seeking and searching is seeking and searching in vain because God has already given us what He has promised.    Just how big is that “land of promise?”  (Joshua 1)   What can you walk around?  What can you put the soles of your feet on?  What can you reach out for?  What can you declare as yours?

God has provided.  All our needs are met.  Not going to be, but already are.  Present tense.  All our diseases are healed.  All our enemies are defeated.  All our mountains are moved.   All our “giants” are slain.

Until we come to the full and complete realization that our enemy is a conquered enemy we will continue to waste our strength shadow boxing marching in place.  Know that you have but one enemy and Jesus has already taken care of him.   he is from a fallen kingdom and his allies are all helpless in the face of the weakest believer.

No man shall be able to stand before us.

No demon.

No circumstance.

No impossibility.

No door will remain closed.

No mountain will be unmoved.

No sickness can stay.

• God is always for us.
• God will never leave us.
• God will never forsake us.
• God will never fail us.
• God will never fail you.
• God’s Word will always work.

As long as God is God:  WE WIN

Word for Today:  April 11

In the fullness of time.

When it is time, it is time.  What God has said will happen.  The plan, project and purpose of God will come to pass.  His will is going to be done.  His purpose is going to be accomplished.  Nothing can stop or hinder or prevent that which God has ordained from taking place.

Moses died (Jos 1:2).  His ministry ended.  His purpose was fulfilled.  His calling was completed.  With his death, an era came to a close.  A season passed.  “Moses, My servant is dead…”   It was time for something new.  It was time for change.  It was time for transition.  It was time to move on to higher and better things.

Right now, it is time for something new.  It is time for change.  It is time for the next stage.  The old season has passed and a new season has come.  New and different things are going to take place.   Transition time has arrived.

Things are going to change.  It going to be different.  God is the same, but His dealings and designs are going to change.  It is not going to be like it used to be.  The old patterns and plans are no longer in effect.  This is a new time.  This is a new place.  This is a new season.  “We have not passed this way before…”  (Jos 3:4).

April 10

The scene in Heaven the day Jesus stepped down from His Exalted position in Obedience to His Father, and willingly vacated His God-Power, His God-Nature and His God-Position, would stagger the imagination of every human being who had ever lived.

I believe the Heavenly Choirs stopped singing.  The Heavenly Orchestras stopped their anthems.  The Heavenly praise dropped to a low and God Himself was stricken with a measure of sadness.  The lights were dimmed a bit and the heaven-inhabitants were moved into an emotional place they had never ever been in all eternity.

It was a New Day in Heaven.  Only God, by His Omniscience, knew how the scene would play out.

While Jesus fulfilled His Redemptive Work here, all heaven watched anxiously.  They saw Him in His prime and they witnessed the culmination of His earthly ministry…. His rejection.  His suffering.  His freely-given measureless love.  His abject Obedience.  And His untimely torture and crucifixion…  the shock resonated through the expanse of God’s Great Heaven.

Then:  the news came concerning the Victory of Jesus and the unconditional surrender of the powers of darkness in the bowels of the underworld.  Jesus stripped satan of his power and deprived demons of their authority and undid the sting of death and the conquest of the grave.  And leading a Great Easter Parade HE led those held captive in Paradise into a Glorious Entry into heaven.

Then:  Jesus, the Sinless Lamb of God, emerged from the grave as the LION of the Tribe of Judea, clothed in all the glory and power and splendor of the God Head.

And

The Heavenly Choirs began singing a New Song. The Heavenly Orchestras Played a New Anthem.  The Heavenly Praise rose to a New Crescendo and REJOICING reverberated throughout all the boundaries of God’s Great Heaven.

And the lights were bright once again.

Word for Today:  April 8

God says you can 

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.  Phil 4:13

Does this do away with all the “I can’t” situations?  Does this negate all “impossibilities” in your life?  Does this erase all excuses for self-pity?  Does this do away with all defeat?  Would God have said this if He did not mean it?

Does this apply to you as well as to others?  Certainly He said it and He certainly meant it.  Then all our problems have no “reason” for remaining in our life.

How much longer do you intend on putting up with all that junk the devil has piled on you and your family?  Is there any reason for not doing that “impossible” thing now?

If we know to “do good” and “doeth it not” the Word says it is sin (James 4:17).  Any Believer who has the Truth and is willing to cast off everything that is contradicting it, can step right out of the impossible and into the possible.  But it requires ACTION.  It requires DOING.  It requires RISKING.  But it will WORK if the Believer will really believe.

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.   Mr 9:23

IF we have knowledge of the Truth and apply that knowledge to our circumstances through the God Kind of faith then Victory will be insured.  Every time.  All the time.  Anytime.

No matter what

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

NOW… what does the Resurrection of Jesus mean?

• The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from is the fundamental Redemptive Force of the Gospel
• The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from is the foundation of for every believer’s future….  
• The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the Reason for the Church
• If there is no Resurrection we are “of all men, the most miserable….”

1Cor 15:19 if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

I’m not miserable.  Never will be.    The fact that we are here in this place this morning attests to the FACT that Jesus Christ is Risen and Alive. 

 Unless we can “personalize” what Jesus did, then, what He did is of “none effect” for us.   

Our attempt is not to PROVE the FACT of the Resurrection.   I know He lives because:

• He answers Prayer•   He heals the sick•   He overpowers demonic forces•   He saves lost sinners•   His Word is Alive and Full of Power•   What He said would happen, has happened and is happening•   His Presence is with me and I am living, by His Grace, a Resurrection Life

Now, since we KNOW Jesus Rose from the Dead….What does It do for me?  How can It change my life? What does It mean for me?   

1.  The RESURRECTION Means My sins are forgiven and forgotten. 

Psalms 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

God does not remember them.  They are forever gone.  They no longer exist.  If I am still carrying the burden of my sin I am guilty of discrediting the Redemptive Work of Jesus

Every human being ever born was born with a sentence of Death.  For the Bible also says that the wages of sin is death.  Unless this curse of death can be removed, there is no hope for the human race.   

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

We are now exonerated.  Pardoned.  The case against us has been thrown out.  There is no judgment against us and no punishment required.  It has all been paid for by Jesus.  My sins are forgiven.  My debt has been paid.  I am not guilty.  God is not displeased with me.  I have been reconciled to Him.  I am now a member of His Family.  I will never die.

2.  The RESURRECTION means I have been made Righteous.

Not only have I been Forgiven, but I have also been made righteous. 

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

I now have right standing with God.      I am no longer a “sinner” I am a Son.  I am no longer a “slave” I am a Son.  I am no longer in bondage to sin, I am free.  God has brought me into His Own Family.  He has made me an Heir of God and a Joint Heir of Jesus Christ.  God has imputed His Own Nature into me and now I am as Righteous as Jesus is.   

I have been REGENERATED (re-gened)…   He has made me   a partaker of the Divine Nature of God.

2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

I am not made righteous by what I do.  I am made righteous by what I believe.     

Titus 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

3.  The RESURRECTION means I am no longer under Condemnation. 

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

This means I am not guilty.  I am under the Full Pardon afforded me by the Shed Blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus took my Guilt and gave me His Innocence.

God is NEVER displeased with me…simply because He can never be displeased with Jesus… And Jesus is Who He sees when He looks on me.     

4. The RESURRECTION means I am Exempt from the Wrath and Judgment of God. 

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The Suffering and death of Jesus has delivered me from the wrath and judgment of God.    God is not mad with me. God is not mad at you.  God is not looking at my failures, my weaknesses, my sins…  God is not out to punish me for my wrongs.  God is no longer my Judge.  God is not going to cut me off.  I am fully “accepted” in the same Family with God.

Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Jesus became my sin and as a result became the victim of God’s wrath… in my place. 

 5.  The RESURRECTION means I will  LIVE FOREVER.

1John 5:11  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

 Now, let’s get personal.  Where are you as far as God is concerned?    As far as you are concerned, did Jesus suffer and die and arise from the dead in vain?  What will you do with Jesus?  Now, having seen what He has done for you and me… What will you do with Him?   

The options we have: 

1.  Receive Him as Savior and Lord and LIVE

2.  Reject Him and DIE

 John 14:6   Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 16:31 …Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved…

Word for Today: April 7

God’s BEST is not a miracle.

God has promised to meet all your needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19).  Jesus plainly told us not to worry about what we are to eat, where we are to sleep or what we have to wear (Mat 6:33). Remember?

Worry is faith in the devil.   Worry is faith in reverse.  Worry slanders every promise in the Word of God.  Prospering means having all your needs met with a surplus left over.  And this is the will of God for you.

Remember, God’s best is never a miracle.  God’s best is that you never need a miracle.  Miracles do happen but don’t you think it is better if you never need one?   Living in health is better than needing to be healed from some sickness or disease.  Living in prosperity is better than needing some miraculous financial break-through to keep you afloat.  Living in joy and happiness and peace is better than needing some kind of miracle to free you from stress and depression.

God’s promises are far better than psychological band aids.   Look up scriptures that promise you what you need and then simply believe what God says.  Believe what God says in spite of what you see, what you feel or what you think.

You do not have to live constantly in fear and doubt….  God says that everything you set your hand to will succeed.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  Psa 1:3

Living in the constant blessing of God is better than needing a one-time miracle.

           Jesus of Nazareth was sentenced to be scourged (Mat 27:26).  Roman scourging was nearly always fatal to the victim due to the brutality of the prolonged beating.  The victim’s hands were tied to a post over his head and then he was beaten with a whip consisting of nine leather thongs.  On the end of each leather thong was attached small lead spheres.  At the beginning, the leather thongs cut through the skin only but as they continued they cut deeper into the tissues of the sides and back, producing, at first, an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and later, spurting wounds from arterial bleeding from the arteries in the underlying muscles.  The small balls of lead first produced large deep bruises which were broken open by repeated blows.  At the end, the skin of the victim (Jesus) was hanging off His body in long ribbons while the entire area of His back and sides are an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue.  (See Isa 53)

The Crown of Thorns was made from a bundle of flexible branches covered with thorns some 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches in length.  This was plaited into the shape of a crown and pressed into His scalp.  The scalp is one of the most vascular areas of the human body so as the Crown of Thorns was pressed onto His head, the bleeding became profuse and the pain unbearable. 

            The heavy cross-beam which weighed approximately 110 pounds, was dropped onto His tortured back and Jesus was forced to carry it in the procession of the two thieves and the execution detail of Roman soldiers.  As Jesus attempted to walk uprightly, the weight of the cross beam gouging into the lacerated muscles of the shoulders, together with the shock produced by the massive loss of blood, caused Him to stumble and fall.  The commanding centurion selected a strong north African onlooker named Simon to carry the cross of Jesus the remaining 650 yards to Golgotha.  Once there, Jesus was stripped of His clothing and prepared for the crucifixion.

            Simon was ordered to put the cross beam on the ground.  Jesus was thrown backward with His shoulders falling on the beam.  The execution detail charged with the crucifixion began their grisly task.  They felt for the soft depression at the wrist and then drove a heavy, square iron spike through it into the wood of the cross beam.  This was done for the left and right arms.  Then, the left foot is pressed backward against the right foot.  With the toes pointed downward another iron spike is driven through the arch of each.  As they raised Him up the weight of His sagging body tore through flesh and nerve and was intensified as the center beam of the cross fell to the bottom of the hole that was dug to secure the cross.    

            Jesus now struggled just to inhale.  (The major pathophysiologic (path-o-physio-logic) effect of crucifixion was in interference with normal respirations.  Accordingly, death resulted primarily from hypovolemic shock and exhaustion asphyxia) Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) an article by Dr. William D. Edwards in the March 21, 1986 issue        Jesus now struggles)   “… Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber:  Then another agony begins.  A deep crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart…”

            “… It is now almost over— the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level— the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues—  the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air…”

            “… The body of Jesus is now in extremis, and He can feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues…”

            To make sure Jesus is dead, the legionnaire drove his lance through the ribs upward through the pericardium and into the heart.  “And forth with came there out blood and water…”   There is postmortem evidence that our Lord died, not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due to shock and a constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium. 

Isa. 52:14   As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

Isa. 52:14 AMP [For many the Servant of God became an object of horror; many were astonished*. (stunned; amazed; appalled; horrified)]  His face and His whole appearance were marred more than any man’s, and His form beyond that of the sons of men; but just as many were astonished at Him.

*The Hebrew word for “astonished” comes from the root word for “sin offering.” 

It is humanly mpossible to grasp the physical and mental suffering bore…

Such was (is) His Love for you and me…