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Word for Today:  May 28

 

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” which is a Greek term that describes a quality of life, not quantity, but 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 abundant life that Jesus has given to you and to me.  It is not simply “living and existing” 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.

Knowing God

Hab 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge (Yaw-dah’: Understanding) of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Our objective today is to emphasize the extreme importance of having a precise and correct knowledge of God.  And also to correctly understand His Character, His Nature and His Personality.

Your knowledge and understanding of God is extremely important because your level of receiving FROM God will never exceed your PERCEPTION of God.

2 Pet 1:1 ¶ Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:  

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge (Epignosis:  Precise and correct knowledge) of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life (Zoe) and godliness, through the knowledge (Epignosis: Precise and correct knowledge)  of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: {to: or, by}

According to this text, Grace and Peace are multiplied unto us through our precise and correct knowledge of God….

And also, we will only be able to receive “all things that pertain to life and godliness” through our precise and correct knowledge of God.

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

Paul is talking about Knowing God and Understanding God.  He means Knowing Him with the Understanding of His Nature, His Character and His Person.  To many in the Church, God is a real mystery.  Religion has compromised the Truth of Who God is, What God does and How He does what He does.  My question today is:

Who is this Great God we call our God?

Your personal perception of God (Who He is, What He does, How He works); knowing and understanding His Character, His Nature and His Personality, will determine the kind of relationship you have with Him.  Your perception of God will decide the quality of life and the level of victory you have or don’t have.  How you perceive God to be will affect every facet of your human experience.

Of all that we know and understand, we certainly need to know and understand God.  Just how do you comprehend Him to be?   What is He like?  What does He do and not do?  What is the Motivation behind His acts and His deeds?

When you consider God, does it strike fear and terror in your heart?  Is He some kind of impersonal and untouchable Power that works in ways you do not understand?  Are you unsure of what He does?  How He does it?  Why He does it?  Is your concept of God Biblical?  Does it stand the test of Theological Correctness?

In order to correctly process our perception of God we must go to the Word of God.  Let’s begin in the beginning.  What does Creation tell us about God?

Genesis 1:1 ¶ In the beginning God…    

What about Creation?  What is the foundational purpose of all things and everything that exists?  Why did God, in one majestic fiat of His unimaginable Power, create all things?  Why? For what reason?

It is “By Him (through and because of Him) that all things consist.” 

 Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

This text tells us at least three things:

1. God existed before “all things.”
2. God Created all things
3. By Him all things consist. That is; the continuance of the universe (all things created) is dependent on His support and administration.

The Purpose of Creation

Why is everything like it is?  Why did God make it?  What is going to happen to it?  What does it have to do with me?    What is it for? Why is it here? What does it do?   There is a PURPOSE….    Design, Intelligence, Forethought and Planning are fully realized in all of Creation.  Every atom, every molecule, as well as every sun, moon and star in the all the galactic heavens, has a reason for being.

There is a Divine and Holy purpose behind every element of God’s Great Creation.  Even those who deny the Biblical explanation of Creation must agree that Something or Someone Big is behind all this expanse of the Heavens and the Earth.

The underlying purpose of Creation is to Reveal the Nature and Character of God. 

Creation paints a picture of God.  Creation answers the questions about God.  Creation solves the mystery of God.  Creation shows (reveals to) humankind What and Who God really is.

Rom 1:19 ¶ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Ps 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Ps 97:6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

The birth of the Great Charismatic Revival of the ‘60’s came about as a result of a fresh Revelation of the Nature of God.

• He is Good (a major revelation that will redefine religious perceptions of God).  He became personally known and understood as a FATHER, as a LOVER and as a GIVER (Jn 3:16)
• He Knows (Omniscient) We became aware of the fact that He is PERSONALLY knowledgeable and interested and involved in our individual lives.
• He Hears He is there at that moment with us.   Every time.  Never failing.
• He Responds

He is the God of all Creation (From quarks to quasars and from molecules to mountains)

• He is Eternal God; (Self Existent One: Jehovah!)
• He is the God of our Provision (El Shaddai)
• He is the God who Sustains (holds all things together)
• He is the God who is actively involved in His People and His Church (The “I AM” God)

Everything that God does He does with you and me in mind…

What is the purpose behind Creation?  

Why did God Create all things?  At least 4 reasons:

1. To Declare His Glory
2. To Reveal His Power
3. To Provide a Place for His Family
4. Creation of man allows God To Reproduce His Likeness in us

 

1. Creation Declares His Glory

A glimpse of God’s Throne in Heaven:

John caught a glimpse of heaven and wrote what he saw:  

Rev 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

10,000 times 10,000 (that’s a hundred million) and thousands of thousands in addition….

Splendor. Majesty. Honor. Glory.  Power.  Here is a picture of God in all His Excellence and Perfection.  John is straining the limits of his vocabulary to describe the visible and audible expression of God’s Presence.  In the Bible at times His presence is seen as Fire and Lightening.  Sometimes It is heard as Thunder and Wind.  Sometimes it is a Sweet Smelling Aroma… It always is felt and sensed by every emotion of the human experience.  It impacts the very core of the human spirit.

Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

 Psalms 147:4  He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

When we see Him, (Know Him precisely and correctly) we are transformed.  Paul writes:

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open  (unveiled)  face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed ( metamorphoo)  into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

• We are changed. We become like Him.  We are “morphed” into His Image and we are clothed with His Glory and we progress to greater Glory by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Hallelujah!
• We become demonstrations of Who He is (His Essence, His Character, His Nature, His Presence) on this earth. “As He is so are we in this world.”

1Jo 4:17  … because as he is, so are we in this world.

 

2.  Creation Reveals His Power 

Nothing known in all of human experience can adequately describe or define the magnitude of God’s Power displayed in Creation.  All that is strains and stretches to reveal God’s Power and Might.  Astronomy.  Physics.  Chemistry.  Mathematics.  Nano-science.  Nuclear potential.  NOTHING can fully explain or describe the Power of our Great God!  Words can’t.  Actions can’t.  Experiments can’t.  Nothing is capable of fully revealing the Power of God.

• God’s power shown in the cataclysmic universal flood in Noah’s day.
• God’s power displayed in the Miracles that convinced Pharaoh to release the Israelites from Egyptian Bondage.
• God’s Power demonstrated in sustaining Israel 40 years in the wilderness.
• God’s Power stopped the sun to give Joshua time to defeat the enemies of Israel (Josh 10:13)
• God’s Power cooled the fiery furnace and locked the lion’s jaws in the days of Daniel.
• God’s Power that impregnated a virgin girl and fathered the Savior of the world.
• God’s Power that worked through Jesus in feeding multitudes, giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, health to the lame and resurrection to those who died.
• God’s Power is revealed in the Miracle of the Substitutionary Death of His Dear Son on Calvary and 3 days later Raising Him from the dead.
• God’s Power is demonstrated in the Outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost. Followed by Peter’s preaching that resulted in 3000 getting Born Again.

But the sum of all of these indescribable works are but a drop in the bucket when compared to the One Mighty Miracle of Creation…  When God opened His mouth and said,  “Let there be….”  And IT WAS.  And it is still “being…”  Scientists affirm that the known universe, the stellar heavens, the far reaches of outer space;  all are still expanding (being created)…  new moons, suns, stars… and it is being created and expanded at the speed of light:  670,616,629 mph.

Consider the size of our solar system.   Imagine if we stood in the produce section of a grocery store and held up a grapefruit representing the Sun:

• Mercury would be the size of a small grain of salt orbiting around it 18 feet away.
• Venus would be like a grain of sugar 34 feet away.
• Earth, also a grain of sugar, would be 50 feet away.
• Mars also would be the size of a grain of salt 75 feet away.
• Jupiter, a cherry-sized tomato, would be 240 feet away;
• Saturn, the size of a green grape, at 420 feet out;
• Uranus, a green pea, at 300 yards;
• Neptune, also the size of a pea, at 470 yards; and
• Pluto, a speck of dust, would orbit our grapefruit-sized Sun at a distance of 475-600 yards.

1 Chronicles 29:11  Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

3.  Creation Provides a Place for His Family

Let me tell you something that is more than wonderful:  God had a longing for a family.  He was driven by a Father’s dream of having children.  A Class of Beings capable of having a relationship with Him.  He wanted fellowship.  So, He created…..

(1) God created the Heavens for the benefit of earth.  Every star, planet, sun, and moon in the stellar heavens has its influence on Earth.  Earth is the reason that the heavens were created.  All the stellar heavens were created to minister to and sustain and bless the earth.

(2) God created the Earth for the benefit of Man.  Man is the GOAL and PURPOSE of the CREATIVE GENIUS of God.  The Earth has NO REASON for existing apart from man.  All the natural laws that operate on earth operate in order to benefit and minister and sustain human life.  Earth is the only PLANET of BEAUTY in our solar system.   All the NATURAL RESOURSES of earth were made and kept in store by GOD for MAN.  OIL…GAS…ORES…COAL…GOLD…SLIVER…PRESCIOUS STONES…GEMS, ETC.

(3) God created Man for Himself.    You are the OBJECT of all of GOD’S CREATIVE GENIUS.  He made YOU for HIMSELF.  He chose to reveal Himself personally to you.  He fixed it so that you can understand and respond to Him;

4.  Man’s Creation Enables God to Reproduce His Likeness in us 

We are His WORKMANSHIP Created in CHRIST JESUS.

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship,(made from the same fabric)  created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Remember… All His Goodness is focused on you.  You are the objects of His affection.  YOU  are the reason for all that He does.      His attention is toward You…. All His thoughts and designs are for your good and for your benefit.  He is Good.  His Mercy is from Everlasting to Everlasting.  And His Goodness toward you will Never End.  Wow!

When God breathed into Adam the breath of Life, something came out of God and went into man.  God imparted His Nature: the very power and majesty of the God head… God infused man with His glory.  His Nature.  His Character.  His Life.  ZOE the God-Kind of life…

Man was created in the Image  (likeness, shadow) of God.  He was literally a partaker (a partner; sharer) of the divine nature of God.

We are destined and designed for the fulfillment of God’s Dream.  His Dream:

Hab 2:14  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

I am convinced that we have been created and brought into this narrow band of time in order that we might come into the full manifestation of the knowledge of God.

The full manifestation of the Knowledge of God will be the last thing that takes place before Jesus comes back.

As we SEE HIM… As we KNOW HIM.  As we UNDERSTAND Him.   We are being transformed into the same Image.

I want to KNOW GOD.   

DO YOU?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word for Today:  May 27

Declaration Precedes Manifestation

Declare your intentions.  Speak with your mouth words that make things happen.  Faith words.  Word words.  God Words.  Heaven Words.

You and I will never exceed our declarations.  Our declarations determine our direction. Our declarations determine our destiny.  What we speak out of our hearts will create or destroy.  Words are instruments of creation or destruction.  Words make things.

There are Life Producing Forces (seeds) inside every believer.  These forces are put in us by the Work of the Holy Spirit at the time we are Born Again.  They are seeds destined to grow and produce.  They are forces that need to be released into the world.  Into our families.  Into our relationships.  Into the total experience of our lives.

They are in you.  They are in every Believer.  However, seeds are worthless unless they produce.  One seed is not sufficient to sustain life by itself.  It takes many seeds which are planted in good ground to bring forth a crop that is sufficient to sustain victorious living.

The real challenge is to grow these seeds into maturity.  As God plants these Seeds in us, the enemy plants weeds. The purpose of the weeds is to choke out the seeds.

These seeds are the building blocks of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus prayed for the Kingdom to come and for the Will of God to be done ON EARTH just as it is presently being done in Heaven.  These Seeds will produce God’s Kingdom on earth when and if they are planted in good ground and if proper conditions for growth are present.

Seed Time produces Harvest Time

Word for Today:  May 26

 

The Church.

Jesus gave a powerful prophesy concerning the Church in Matthew chapter 16.  He said the Church would not be intimidated or overcome by the powers of hell.  He said He would build His Church and when He had it built, it would withstand and overcome all the powers of darkness.  He said His Church would be built on the revelation that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God… the Savior, the Messiah, the Promised One, the Redeemer and the Conqueror!  Notice four basic facts about this Church:

• Jesus will build it.
• It will be built on the Revelation that Jesus Christ is Messiah.
• It will have and exercise power over the kingdom of darkness, over hell, over demons and over the devil.
• It will have in its possession powerful Kingdom Keys that Believers can use to bind and loose.

When Jesus foretold the Birth of His Church, He said:

Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with Power from on High….  Luke 24:49

Therefore, one major characteristic of His Church is POWER from on HIGH.  That “power from on high” is still to be the means of changing the world.  “Not by (human) might or by (human) power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord…”

What the Church did then, is what the church is to do today.  How the church did it then is how the church is to do it today…

 

With Power from on High

Word for Today:  May 25

Don’t get discouraged because you are having a hard time.

Remember… situations are not supposed to affect the Believer.  Believers are supposed to affect situations.  Situations changes.  God never changes.  Situations pass, God’s Word never passes.  Remember:  It came to pass… not to stay!

The 3 Hebrews were in a strange land far away from home and they were in the company of a pagan tyrant who set himself up as god.  They lived in the midst of paganism, idolatry, unbelief and outright blasphemy.  They had been taken captive and led away into the headquarters of all that hated their God.  Their hopes and dreams were shattered and their future looked bleak.  But they refused discouragement and they believed God.

Paul and Silas landed in jail because they Obeyed God.  They were persecuted, beaten and locked in stocks.  But they refused to get discouraged.  Instead they considered God.  When they considered God they began to sing and praise Him.  They were anything but discouraged.

How are you?

Daniel wound up in a Den of Lions because he refused to stop praying to Jehovah God.  He used one lion for a pillow, another for a foot stool and another for cover.  He slept and the lions trembled in fear.  Because he refused to be discouraged.

John was left alone on an uninhabited volcanic island to starve and perish in the elements.  The boat was not out of sight before John was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day and fell out in the Holy Ghost.  He saw Jesus.  He was not discouraged or defeated.  He knew that his God was able.

Understand that discouragement will breed self-pity and cause complaining.  Complaining will lead to murmuring and grumbling.  Discouragement will cause you to look at the problem instead of the answer.

Help is on the way

Word for Today:  May 24

 

Many attempts have been made to change the world.

Governments have arisen and leaders have been established in order that the world might be changed.  Nations have been birthed and wars have been fought and millions of men have died in order that the world might be changed.  Religions have been formulated and philosophies have been initiated and kings have been crowned… all in order that the world might be changed.  However, the world is still wounded, it still hurts and it is still for the most part, unchanged.

The world will not be changed until people are changed.  People will not be changed unless they let God change them.  When God birthed the Church, He equipped it to change People.  When people are changed, the world will change.

To understand God’s Purpose for the Church, we have to go back in time to the birth of the Church.  When we observe the birth of the Church and the Beginnings of the Church, we can discover what God purposes the Church to be.

God’s Purpose for the Church has never changed.  It is the same today as it was in the day it was Born.  God’s Purpose for the Church is for it to make a difference in the world.  God Purpose for the Church is for it to govern, control,  influence, judge, and function in Divine Authority here on this planet.  God wants the Church on earth to do the same things the Church in heaven is doing.  There should be no difference.

“Upon this rock I will build MY CHURCH and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it…”   Jesus

Word for Today:  May 23

 

God is so much bigger than we can imagine.

What He can do far exceeds our ability to understand and comprehend.  He is greater than the greatest, bigger than the biggest and more powerful than anything or anybody we can imagine.

John speaks of the “streets of gold” when he attempts to describe the splendor and opulence of heaven.  He is limited by the words at his command to describe what he sees in the spirit.  Did you know that the “streets of gold” are nothing more than the “garbage dump” in heaven?  The earthly streets that John knew about were littered with garbage in his day.  The inhabitants of the city would throw their trash and garbage into the streets and the traffic of human feet and the paths of plodding animals would pack down the garbage.  The streets in John’s day were the garbage dump.

If Heaven’s Garbage Dump is solid gold, I cannot begin to imagine what the houses and lands and habitations of the redeemed will be like.

Do you have a need?  Any need.  Big need.  Small need.  Few needs.  Great needs.  Many needs.  If your answer is “yes,” name your need.  Does it have a name?  What is it?  Call it out.  Give it a name.  Tell yourself what it is.  Tell the devil what it is.  Tell God what it is (even though He already knows.)  Is it a health need?  Is it a financial need?  Is it a marriage or family need?  Is it a spiritual need?  Is it an emotional need?  If you have a need, then God has the supply… and God is Able to get His supply to your need… AND HE WILL.

Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, (Jesus) and given him a name which is above every name:

Therefore, the Name of Jesus is ABOVE the name of your need.  And it is subject to that Name.

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

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us… Eph 3:20

God is Able to meet your need TODAY.

Word for Today:  May 22

 

Do you have a need?

• Are you hurting?
• Is something in your way?
• What mountain are you facing?
• What valley are you in?
• Do you feel the pressure?
• Are you in a bind?
• Are you caught between a rock and a hard place?
• Are you stressed?
• Are you sick?
• Are you bound?
• Are you sad?
• Are you discouraged?
• Are you disappointed?
• Have your hopes been shattered and your dreams destroyed?

Where ever you are, God is there.

Whatever you are facing God is there.

However you are hurting, God knows how you feel.  He wants to help you more than you want help.  His great pleasure is to give you the Kingdom and get you out of your place of pain and disappointment.

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32  

His Kingdom is a Kingdom of Peace and Rest and Healing and Abundance and Fulfillment and Satisfaction.  God’s Pleasure is to see that you receive and enjoy all the benefits of your Salvation.  That’s what He has provided for you.  That’s what He wants for you.

That is His will for you today

John 10:

¹⁰The 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.

            There are only two kinds of people on earth.  And I do not mean Men and Women.  They are people who are Alive and those who are Dead.  You can be Dead before you are dead.  If you are Alive you know it.  If you are Dead you know it.  The devil is the merchant of death.  Jesus came that we might be Alive.

The ultimate purpose and mission of the devil is to kill and destroy.  The devil deals in death and destruction.  Jesus gives LIFE and deals in RESTORATION.  All problems and attacks are designed by satan to kill us and destroy us.  The devil wants death and destruction to take us over.  Jesus wants Life and Restoration to take us over.   How did Jesus deal with death?  The Bible says He conquered death, hell, and the grave.  If He conquered them, they are still conquered.   Jesus never has to re-do what He has already done.  His work is complete and perfect.  He has “finished” it (as we heard last week: Jesus did not say “to be continued” on the Cross, He said “it is finished.”)  We need to deal with death just like Jesus dealt with it.

Relate the story of Lazarus.

Lazarus = “whom God helps”

Every Attack is an OPPORTUNITY.

John 11:4   When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

Jesus “heard” the bad report.  Faith comes by hearing and doubt also comes by hearing.  Unbelief can be stimulated by hearing.  Distress can come by hearing.  Fear can be initiated by hearing.  What are you hearing?  Whatever you are hearing will either build your faith are add to your unbelief.  Jesus determined to be NOT MOVED by what He heard.

Then, Jesus declared with His mouth what the situation was going to be.  He took the opportunity to Prophesy what the situation was going to be because he knew the will of God in the matter.   Jesus “heard” and then He “said.”  What He heard did not alter what He said.  He refused to give in to the sense realm by believing what the opinions of men were.

“It’s not over.  It’s not final.  It’s not what it’s going to be.  God is working.  I am waiting.  I am believing.  I am standing.  I am speaking.  I am prophesying.  What I say is in agreement with God and because of this, the devil (and all his works) will have to move aside.”

Sickness is an opportunity. Adversity is an opportunity.  Every impossibility is an opportunity.  Your fiery trial is an opportunity.  Our fiery trial is an opportunity.  An opportunity for us to exercise our faith.  An opportunity for us to get into the Word and find out what God is saying.  An opportunity to turn tragedy into testimony.  God is the Master at giving us Beauty for ashes.  (Isa 61:3).  When we see our “death” situation in this light, we will be encouraged to say the same thing Jesus said: “This thing is not unto death…. it is an opportunity for God to show Himself strong in my behalf and to give me a powerful testimony of His Faithfulness.”

We are all faced with “Lazarus” attacks.  What we do, how we act in the midst of such situations will demonstrate just how deep we are in God.   We can say what others are saying.  We can agree with what the Facts are.  We can accept the “inevitable” or we can Prophesy to the situation.  God has called you into His Kingdom and given you the power to create with your mouth the things that are in the will of God.  Speak the Word!

Our fiery trial… our graveyard tribulation… our Red Sea and our Furnace heated 7 times its capacity… our den of Lions and our Goliath…  all these are only opportunities for God to get Glory and for us to experience a miracle.  Jesus knew that impossibilities are opportunities for God to Show Himself Strong in behalf of those who would DARE to BELIEVE!

When under pressure: Don’t Change your Plans.

John 11:6   When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.

            The devil wants us to change directions… especially if we are in the will of God.  If we are on the way to where God wants us, then satan and all the forces of darkness are aligned to make us change our plans.  Remember how satan tried to stop Jesus on the Sea of Galilee with the great storm before He made it to the other side?  Here, Jesus was in the Flow of God and was not willing to change His direction just because He received bad news.  Jesus stayed.  Sometimes it is hard to Stay.  When we hear of pressing needs and powerful attacks, we are tempted to run ahead of God.  Remember… the Battle is the Lord’s and the Victory is ours.

Satan is the author of all bad news.  Bad news is demonic.  Bad news is a fiery dart of the enemy.  Bad news is satan’s attempt to get you to change your plans and alter your direction.  Bad news tends to make us worry.  Worry is fear.  Fear has torment.  Fear is not out of a “sound mind” but rather the product of a double mind.  When we are receivers of bad news, keep we must keep our eyes on our objective… we cannot allow discouragement, worry, fear or distractions to make us change our plans about Who we believe and What we believe.

Job was a man who was a servant of the Most High God.  He had some bad news brought to him… over and over again.  On the very heels of one messenger, another would come until it seemed that Job could not stand any more.  And yet “in all of this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly…”  It was the devil attempting to change the course of Jobs life.  Learn from the Life of Jesus…. do not allow demonic pressure to change your faith position.

How many times do we want Jesus to “hurry up?”  Our need presses us to prompt Jesus to hurry to our rescue.  However, God has a time.  And His time is the RIGHT TIME.  Things are happening in the realm of the spirit that we cannot see and if we could, we would not understand.  God is working.  satan is fighting.  We are waiting.  While we wait, He is working in our behalf.  If He is not hurrying, He has a reason.  Jesus needed to remain where He was in order that God would get all the glory for the miracle of Lazarus’ resurrection.

Remember, when you are in the Will of God, you do not have to change your plans when satan attacks and emergencies arise.   Hold steady.  Do not panic.  Do not change your plans because of demonic emergencies.

Nothing is FINAL when Jesus is Present. 

John 11:14   Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

            Nothing can be more final than death.  When you are dead…. you are dead!  It’s over!  It’s finished!  It’s done!  UNLESS Jesus is there!  Listen:

1Cor. 15:26   The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

So many times our attitude is like that of Thomas:  “Let us also go, that we may die with him…”   (Verse 16).  Nothing is FIXED in the world system.   Not even death!  Jesus is the Great Changer.   He changes things.  When it seems totally final and nothing more can be done… when death looms and defeat is at hand and all hope is gone… Nothing is FINAL when Jesus is present.  If He can raise Lazarus from the dead, He is more than Able to resurrect our dead hopes and dreams.

Both Mary and Martha fell into the trap of the “IF Syndrome.”

John 11:21   Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

John 11:32   Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

            You cannot afford to live in the land of IF.  “If I had just done this… ”  “If I had just said this…”  “If I had tried harder…”  “If ” moves you into the place of legalism.  IF is not Grace.  IF is works.  IF will short  circuit the Will of God.  It does not matter what we are, what we have done,  or what our need may be… all we need is JESUS.  He will erase all our “Ifs”  and deliver us from our negative thinking.

Don’t Yield to Religious Thinking.

John 11:24   Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Every time you are faced with an impossibility, Religion will attempt to rise up and “explain” the situation.  Religion attempts to make the Word of God agree with the death situation you are experiencing instead of making the death situation agree with the Word of God.   Religion is dead doctrine.  Religion is self-righteous pride and arrogance.  Religion is form and tradition and legalistic law.  Religion is a heavy burden.  Religion works with the devil to keep you in death.  Religion is deception.  Christianity is not Religion… it is LIFE.    Read Matthew 23 to see what Jesus said concerning Religion.

Religion will help the devil kill and destroy you.  Pious platitudes that look way into the future for pie in the sky by and by will not help you in the NOW.  Most of what we were taught about God had nothing to do with the present.  It was either History or Prophecy.  God is a God of the NOW.  And Jesus is a Jesus of TODAY.  HALLELUJAH.

Don’t Be Moved by the Opinions of Men.

John 11:37   And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

What people think has nothing to do with what the Word Says.  All the opinions of men will not heal the sick or raise the dead.  What you say and what you think is worthless unless your WORDS and your THOUGHTS line up with the WORD OF GOD.   Most who are so quick to advise and counsel know little or nothing of the Power of God.  The ones looking on, seeing the grave and the grieving family, began to murmur.  Skeptics always murmur.  Doubters and Unbelievers are always looking for REASONS.  God is not a rea­soning God and He does not operate REASONABLE… He is a FAITH GOD and He operates in the SUPERNATURAL.

Attempt the Impossible.

John 11:39   Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

Jesus “went too far.”  When you begin to ROLLAWAY STONES from IM­POSSIBLE SITUATIONS, satan and all his helpers will accuse of GOING TOO FAR.  “You can’t be serious.”  “You really don’t mean that.”  “Do you realize what you are doing?”  “What will people say?”  “What will my relatives think?”  DO IT.  If you never ATTEMPT the IMPOSSIBLE you will never get a MIRACLE.  When you refuse to ROLL AWAY THE STONE you accept DEFEAT and LIMIT GOD and STOP ALL MIRACLES from happening.  What stone will you roll away today?  What stinking corpse of impossibility will you UNCOVER and present to GOD?  YOU WILL NEVER get a RESURRECTION if you REFUSE TO ROLL AWAY THE STONE.  This is your INITIAL ACT OF FAITH and it is this ACT that Moves Heaven in your behalf.

Pray Right.

John 11:41   Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

Refuse to Pray in doubt and unbelief.  “If it is Thy will” praying will never get a miracle or experience a resurrection.   If you do not know how to Pray the Word, you better never roll away the stone.  Jesus knew (1) What God’s Will was  (2) How to Pray in God’s Will  (3) How to Pray in Great Faith.  He was SURE of HIS POSITION in GOD.  He KNEW WHO HE WAS and what GOD had promised to do for Him.  He did not beg.  He did not plead.  He did not an­guish.  HE THANKED GOD.

Speak Faith Boldly.

John 11:43   And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

I get great comfort from this verse.  If Jesus “cried with a loud voice” I guess it’s OK for me to preach with a loud voice.   He boldly and specifi­cally spoke out and called for a miracle.  He “got what He said!”  Remember Mark 11:23?  “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…”

Roll away the stone and SPEAK TO YOUR IMPOSSIBILITY.

Get Free.

John 11:44   And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Get free and stay free.  Do not get entangled again with the yoke of bondage that kept you bound.  Tear off the grave clothes and let the NEW LIFE come forth.  Refuse to stay in the graveyard dressed like and looking like the dead.  Get Up.  Get Out. Get Free.  Stay Free.

Jesus is Your Miracle Worker

 

Word for Today:  May 21

 

God is able.

Most every Christian will agree that God is Able.  To settle for anything less would degrade the concept of Christianity.  God truly is able.  Paul declares in Ephesians that He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…” However, the majority of believers would agree with the FACT that God is Able but I want to add a new dimension to this confession of faith.  I want to declare that God is Able and God Will.  God Will do for you what nobody else or nothing else can.

The fact that GOD IS ABLE is the Magna Charta of the New Testament Church.     This is the Emancipation Proclamation of the Body of Christ:  God is Able.  This is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for the Christian:  God is Able.  Confess “GOD IS ABLE!”  Now add to that confession:   “… AND GOD WILL!”

As we begin this day, I want to begin it with high hopes… with Great Expectations.  With great faith.  With awesome Dreams.  I want to take you with me into the place where you can rest and know that God is Able and…. God will!  No matter what.  No matter who.  No matter where.

God wants to encourage you.  He has set aside this day and this moment to build you up and strengthen you and to help you.   He is able to deliver you out of your fiery trial and out of your furnace and out of your Egypt.  And He Will.  He wants you to know that.  He wants you to know that today.

God wants you to get out of hoping and praying into confessing and believing.

And then from confessing and believing into Receiving and Possessing.

God is Able.

And He will