dickbraswell

Word for Today:  July 5

Where the Power is.

One reason many do not have 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.  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.

I often prayed for a Revival to come down from Heaven.  Our concept of God’s power has been flawed.  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 and rises up from our re-born human spirit that is Re-created in the Image of God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!   It is not in heaven and it is not floating in space or gathering in the skies to fall on us when we “pray through…”

IT is in us

Word for Today:  July 5

From the hearts of fifty-two framers of the Constitution, flowed the documents and structures which formed the foundations for this great nation: The United States of America.

“Of all the writings of the founders of our country, 94 percent either directly or indirectly cited the Bible.

In September 1774, the First Continental Congress opened its initial session with prayer.  Psalm 35 was read aloud:  “My soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation… awake and rise to my defense!  Contend for me my God and Lord…”

George Washington often spent hours in prayer without interruption.  In his prayer book, he wrote:  “Direct my thoughts, words, and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate Blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit…  Daily frame me more and more into the likeness of Thy Son Jesus Christ…”

In his dying words, Alexander Hamilton, signer of the Constitution, spoke of his faith in Jesus Christ.  “I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am a sinner.  I look to Him for mercy.”

Samuel Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence, declared:  “First of all, I resign my soul to the Almighty Being who gave it… relying on the merits of Jesus Christ for the pardon of my sins…”

81 year-old Benjamin Franklin speaking at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 said:  “I have lived long, Sir, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable than an empire can rise without His aid?  We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.’  I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without this concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.”

From where did these men come?  What gave rise to such character and such confidence and such faith in God?  How did these men and women develop into such Champions of Liberty and Democracy?  I tell you, they came from Christian, Bible-believing, God-honoring, morally pure families.

Oh, God, give us Godly leaders…..

Word for Today:  July 3

Rejoicing opens the door to your dreams.

Rejoicing is acting like you have the dream before you have it.  Rejoicing is thanking God for it before you have it.  Rejoicing frustrates the devil and confuses the demons on assignment to destroy you and your dreams.  Rejoicing is praising God for the answer before you have it.  Rejoicing is enjoying your dream before it is fulfilled.

Many years ago, I had a dream for an airplane.  I had been flying for a good while and I really wanted a plane of my own.  It was my dream.  Airplanes are very expensive and there was no way I could purchase one with my own financial resources.

But I wanted an airplane.  It was the desire of my heart.  It was my dream.  At this time in our Spiritual development, a powerful Faith Preacher came across out path.  He taught us to rejoice and praise God for our answer (dream) before we actually had it.

I decided to try what the Preacher taught.  I began to plan on my airplane.  If my plane was on the way, I wanted to be ready for it when it came, so I began to up-grade my flying skills.  I enrolled in a flight training program and began to work on an instrument rating.

As this was taking place (it took about a year), I decided to fly my plane before I had it.  My 1967 Chevrolet became my airplane.  Every time I drove it, I acted as if it were an airplane.  The dash board became an IFR panel… with all the latest electronic and navigational radios and equipment.

The steering wheel became the control yoke and the gas pedal became the throttle.  When I reached 60 miles per hour, I would pull back on the steering wheel and watch the instrument panel as I became “air born.”

I flew my Chevrolet for nearly two years when one day a businessman met me and said “I hear you are believing for an airplane….”  I said yes and I told him about flying my Chevrolet for two years.  He responded “OK, God told me to buy you one.  Go and pick it out and I will pay for it….”

My 1967 Chevrolet turned into a 6-place Cessna 206

Word for Today:  July 2

The sum total of your life is the result of what you have chosen and what you have refused.

You are not a “Victim of circumstances” you are a “victim” (or a victor!) of the choices you have made and the temptations you have refused.

Everything you are today is the result of what you have determined to choose and refuse.  Everything that you have today (or don’t have) is the result of what you decided to choose and what you decided to refuse.

Your problems are not the result of your environment.  Your problems are not the result of your family.  Your problems are not the result of your race.  Your problems are not the result of your economic situation.  Your problems are not the result of your lack of education.

All your problems are the result of what you decided to choose and what you decided to refuse.

God has set before you life and death… It is up to you to choose which one you want.  God has set before you blessing and cursing… it is up to you to choose which one you want.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: De 30:19

This verse is actually a “multiple choice test.”  And God gives you the answer to it.

Choose LIFE

Word for Today:  July 1

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.  Mark 11:23

Do mountains have ears?  Of course not.  But Jesus commands us to talk to them anyway.  Do you mean we are supposed to talk to mountains?  If we have one or some YES.  It is important that we talk right.  It is important that we say the right things.  It is important that we get our tongue in line with the Word of God and that we make our tongue and our lips say what God says.

We are not to look at or consider our circumstances, or talk about our circumstances, or meditate on our circumstances, us are supposed to talk to them in Jesus Name and tell them where and when to go.

Many people never get their situation or circumstances changed because they are always praying and begging God to change it for them.  When, the truth of the matter is, God has already told us to talk to it and change it ourselves.    Do we have a tongue?  Do we know how to use it?  Can we speak words?  Can we say things?  Death and life are in the power of our tongue.  When we begin confessing with our mouth and talking to our situation, we will begin to change it by the power of our spoken word as we speak the Word in Faith.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.   Pro 18:21

You will have what you create with words you speak

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

Refuse to lose

Word for Today:  June 29

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 28

The Word declares:

for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it (faith) is the gift of God…  Eph 2:8.

Faith is a Gift.

Faith is a Gift from God given to you.  Faith is the ability to really believe God.  It is revelation.  It is in the heart.  It is in the innermost part of our being.  It is resolve.  It is dependence.  It is confidence.  It is relying on.  It is trusting.  It is seeing the invisible.  It is holding the intangible.  It is reaching out into nothing and holding on until nothing becomes something.  It is as­ur­ance.  It is a certainty.  It is REAL.

Faith is developed by hearing the Word.

Faith cometh (grows) by hearing and hearing by the Word of God…  Rom 10:17.

Faith is devel­oped by being around faith.  A “faith osmosis” happens by being in a Faith Church surrounded by Faith People. Like begets like.  Praise, worship, rejoicing, singing… engaging in True Worship, these will develop faith.

Faith is also developed by the anointed preaching of the Word of God.  Even by reading these words, your faith is being built up.  I believe you will be stronger after you read this than you were before you read it.

• Faith is developed by doing the Word.
• Faith is developed by saying the Word.
• Faith is developed by and through Love.
• Faith is developed by making right decisions.
• Faith is developed by remembering past victories.
• Faith is developed by “keeping the flesh under.” 1Co 9:27
• Faith is developed through intimacy with God.

What you do with your faith determines what your faith will do for you

Word for Today:  June 26

God has made an awesome investment in you.

God has confidence in you.  God believes in you.  God’s Miracle Power is in you.  All of heaven’s power is in you.  You have the potential to change the world.  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 you got saved, God made a Divine Deposit in you.  Your body became the Temple of the Holy Ghost.  You are no longer your own because you 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.

People are becoming more and more aware of their need for God.  As politics fail, as economics fail, as education fails, as religion fails, our need for a viable and real and powerful connection with God is more and more apparent.

God is calling us to be channels of His Power in the earth.  We are the 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 presently happening in parts of our world are not happening here in America?  Because we are called to be the platform from which God will release His Power into the earth and throughout the earth.  With all our shortfalls and shortcomings, this nation is still the One Nation on this planet that God has sovereignly raised up to launch His Power into the Human Race.

God Bless America

Word for Today:  June 25

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