dickbraswell

Word for Today:  June 15

Every Believer is endued with God’s Power.

They may not act like it, look like it or talk like it… but they do.   According to God’s Word… His power resides in every Believer.

One reason many do not function in this power is because they do not know where it is.  If they do not know where it is they cannot function in it.   If they cannot function in it they cannot use it.  If they cannot use it they will be buffeted and whipped by the devil.  And the things that need changing will not be changed.

God’s Power is not exclusively in Heaven.

All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth… is what Jesus said in Matt 28:18.

Now, where does He dwell?  Christ in YOU the hope of Glory!   Col 1:27

We have been taught that we are to pray for God’s Power to FALL on us.  For God to “send the Power…”  For the “Fire of God” to fall and come down from heaven.  We were led to believe that we could do nothing unless the Power “fell” on us.

For years I prayed for a Revival to come from Heaven.  Our whole concept of God’s Power has been warped and steeped in error.  No wonder we can’t operate in God’s Power… we don’t even know what it is, where it is, how to get it or how to release it.

Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the (wonder-working, miraculous) power that worketh in us…  Eph 3:20

God’s Power does not “come down” or “fall on us”…. God’s Power emanates from our RE-Born human spirit that is Born Again in the Image of God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  God’s power is IN US.  It is not only in heaven and it is not floating in space or gathering in the skies to fall on us when we “pray through…”

Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the Glory of the Lord is RISEN UPON THEE… Isa 60:1

Is He supposed to rise up out of the ground?  Of course not.   Then what is He supposed to “arise” out of?

He is to rise out of the Re-created, Re-born human spirit… and when He does His enemies (and yours, too) will be scattered.

Let God arise and His enemies be scattered…  Psa 68:1

Word for Today:  June 14

God’s Only Limitation

We are the only limitation God has.   It’s up to us.  Many are hoping and praying and waiting for God to do something.  The truth is God is waiting for us to do something.  God does not have to do anything else…. He has already done it.  Everything that needs doing or will ever need doing…. He has already done.

The only limitation in the life of any believer is the believer himself.   I remember a statement made by Pogo in his comic strip years ago…He said,  “We have met the enemy  and he is us.”   Some are praying and believing and fasting and seeking and worrying and weeping and repenting and trying desperately to get what God has already given them.  And they become their own enemy by ignorantly failing to take by faith what God has already provided.

God has made everything we need available.  He has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:  Eph 1:3

He has given us 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

Don’t limit God

Word for Today:  June 13

Jesus changed things.

He came from heaven and into this world for the express purpose of changing things.  He took the bad and made it good.  He took the weak and made it strong.  He took the dead and brought them to life.

Jesus went about changing things.  He always made them better.  He made it possible for you and me to change things.  He gives us power to alter situations and change circumstances and make things better.

It’s the devil who makes things bad.  demons make life miserable.  However, YOU can change your situation, your circumstances, your bad things into good things.

Maybe today you are living in situations that need to be changed.  You want them changed and you feel trapped because you “think” you can do nothing about it.   Some have been convinced by the devil that they can do nothing about certain situations… “They are hopeless…” They are “impossible”…”You’ll never overcome this…”  “You might as well quit because you can’t win…” these are insinuations the devil makes when you find yourself in a fix.

Others would confess “I can’t help it” or “there is nothing I can do about it…” or “it is out of my hands…”  It is imperative that you know God has given every Believer Authority and Power to change situations and circumstances.

Jesus said: Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free John 8:32

This means that the Truth you know and act on shall deliver you (give you the power) to change things.

If you don’t like what’s happening…. change it

Word for Today:  June 12

Eternal means forever.

Eternal means without end.  Timeless.  It is very hard (nearly impossible) for anyone to comprehend the meaning of Eternity.  We are creatures captured and held hostage in a span of time.  We live in submission to time.  We are controlled by time.  Time is our enemy.

We are destined to die because we are subject to time.   Seconds.  Minutes. Hours. Days. Weeks. Years. Decades. Centuries. Millennia.   All these become the defining term for the passing of time.

Everything in the human experience is related to Time.  Everything we know about has a Beginning and is rushing madly toward an End.  Such is Life.  Stuff gets old because of time.  We get old because of time.  We are so immersed in “time consciousness” that it is all but impossible for us to become “eternal conscious.”

I am challenging you now to think Eternal.  Think Bigger and larger and greater than you have every thought.  Let your Imagination soar to new heights as you consider the Vastness… the Expanse… the Unsearchable and Indefinable scope and size of Creation.

Every Mortal Being, saved or lost, is Eternal.  Not the body, but the mind (soul) and the Spirit.  Where the body is “mortal,” the mind (soul) and the spirit of man is “immortal.”  They will last forever.

If one is Born Again, that person will Live forever.  If one is not Born Again and dies in his sin, that person will Die forever.

Life is a dress rehearsal for Eternity

Word for Today:  June 10

What is the Will of God?

What is His Plan?  What has He purposed for me?

Jesus prayed for the will of God to be done on earth as it (the will of God) is being done in heaven.  The will of God is the same thing that a last will and testament is here on earth.

The Will is what God has provided for His Children.  It is what He has left for His heirs.  The Will of God is the Word of God… the composite of Truth that provides revelation and knowledge to those who belong to Him.

The level of “all things possible” living must come from a revelation of His Will… which is His Word.  What it is.  What is says.  What it promises.  How it works.  Why it works.

Understanding the Will of God opens the door for one to Believe God and to Believe Him for what He has promised in His Word.

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.   Jer 29:11 (The Message)

God has plans for you.  Big plans.  Exciting plans.

He plans to give you the future you hope for.

Word for Today: June 9

The Rivers flowing

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 with the Rivers 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 possibly 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 River Flowing. Men and women and young people and children with Rivers of Living water gushing out of their inner beings. What a gathering this would be!

The River 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. On the stage. In the Musician. In the Body of Christ.

Let the RIVERS flow

Word for Today:  June 7

God is not mad.

God is not ticked off with the world.  God is not threatening judgment that will punish and terrorize His people.  God is not withholding His mercy or His grace to those who are disobedient and wayward.  God is not about to release His wrath on you because you have sinned or done wrong.  God is not going to punish you because of the hardness of your heart.  God is not sending His judgment at a time it is unexpected to catch you in your sin.

God is Love.  Nothing will ever change that.  Nothing will ever alter that.  Nothing will ever cause Him to act in contradiction to that.  Nothing will ever make Him lose patience with you and withhold His kindness, His mercy or His grace.  God is Love.

Everything and all things that God does comes out of His Love.  He does not function in anger, wrath, retribution, or revenge.  He does not take pleasure in your pain even if your pain is the result of your sin.

God is grieved with every human hurt.  God is moved by every human discomfort.  God is not glad when you are reaping the results of your disobedience or sin.  God does not “teach us lessons” through suffering or distress.

God is Love.  He Hurts when you hurt.  He weeps when you weep.  He is in total empathy with you.  Not “sympathy” but empathy.  He understands.   He “feels” what you feel.  In spite of His exalted position and His enormous Responsibilities…

He cares for you.  He knows you intimately and extensively.  All about you.  Your pain.  Your sadness.  Your wounds.  Your disappointments.  Your rejection.  Your dreams.  Your desires.  Your aspirations.  Your innermost being…. The core of who you are.  Your heart.

God’s Love is proved by What and Who He has given.  The only way Love can be proved is by and through GIVING.  The God-kind of love has only one means of expression.   That expression is GIVING.

For God SO LOVED the WORLD that He GAVE….   John 3:16

His Provision for us through Christ is proof that He loves us.

He Loved, He Gave, He Provided

Word for today:  June 6

God’s Greatest Enemy is not the devil.

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8

The devil is already whipped.  He is not God’s greatest enemy.  God’s greatest enemy is the carnal (unrenewed human mind).  Only here, (in your mind), is what God has done and can do for you limited or brought to pass… manifested.

When you think wrong you believe wrong.  Your “believing” will never exceed the bounds of your “thinking.”  In other words, if you can’t “think it” you can’t “believe it.”  And, when you can’t “believe it” you won’t have it.

When our minds are renewed with the Word we are “transformed” or “transfigured” from the worldly, natural manner of thinking to the spiritual, supernatural manner of thinking.

And as you “think” in your heart, you are.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  Rom 8:7

The carnal mind is enmity against God…

It is God’s biggest enemy

Word for Today:  June 4

Has God ever lost a battle?

Has He ever had to take flight and run because the enemy was too big?  Has He ever conceded or fallen into confusion and despair?  Has He ever been afraid?

Remember Who He is and who you are.  You are wall-to-wall God.  “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”  Don’t be impatient.  You do not have to rush God.

It seems that the very nature of our present world is one of hurry.  Rush.  Speed.  And this contributes to our impatience… our unwillingness to wait.  God’s time and our time may not be the same.

The production time of the Word is programmed in and it is as dependable as God is dependable.  What is programmed will come to pass.  What He promises He will perform.  What He says He will do.  He will confirm His Word “In due season.”   Waiting will develop your patience.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James 1:4

Waiting is one of the hardest things to do in our Faith Walk.  It is not hard to ask in prayer.  It is not too hard to believe….  But it is next to impossible to wait, with patience, until God confirms His Word and produces in us the “wanting nothing” condition.

God has said we will “reap in due season IF we faint not…”  Gal 6:9

Be patient

In the early years of my flying experiences, I purchased 1947 Stinson 108-3 “flying station wagon.”  It was seemingly in fair condition due to engine time and age, so this became the first four-place aircraft we owned.  It was located, unhangered, and tied down on the east side ramp, at the Mobile Regional Airport. 

Since we are in Hurricane Alley, one was headed our way surging north from the Gulf of Mexico.  Without the Stinson being safely hangered, it was in grave danger of being destroyed if left on the East Side Ramp at Mobile airport.  In order to safeguard it I ferried it to the Hattiesburg airport for safekeeping. 

When the storm passed, I picked up the Stinson from Hattiesburg and began a relatively short flight back to Mobile.  Since the weather was really great, I decided to fly directly south from Hattiesburg, intersect the Gulf Coast and then head east to Mobile.  The flight was wonderful… at 3000 feet and CAVU weather with bright sunshine. 

As I turned back east from Gulfport and flew NE to Mobile and was approximately 12-15 miles SE of the Mobile airport, there was an abrupt jolt as the 165 hp engine threw a rod and exploded out the side of the crankcase. Engine oil immediately spread over the windshield and the only good visibility was to look out the door window.  Total engine failure.  Now it was dead-stick flying and engine-out procedure to land and land very shortly.

Trying desperately to remember my emergency landing check list and procedure, my first priority, besides flying an engine-out airplane, was to locate an appropriate and safe landing location.  It just so happened I was about 3000 feet directly over a grass landing strip, often used for military training, at Saint Elmo, Alabama.  I had more than enough altitude to execute an approach and safe dead-stick landing.  When the old Stinson came to a stop, I opened the door, got out, laid down on my face and kissed the ground. A farmer nearby was plowing his field and witnessed the whole scenario.

Another mini-miracle