Standing Stones Sermon Blog

The Water of Life

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Thu, 01 May 2025 09:20:00 +0000

Did you know that you are mostly made of water? The average human being is fifty-five to sixty-five percent water. Water is the most prevalent thing in the human body. Its’s important for us to remain hydrated, so that everything will function properly.

I know about hydration. When I first moved to Taiwan – the very first time I preached here, in fact – right after church I fainted because I was dehydrated. There wasn’t enough water in my body for it to function normally. I drank water and after a short while I was back to normal. We need water!

Water is also spiritual. Today, I want to post on water from this passage of scripture:

Genesis 26:17-22 (NKJV)
^26:17Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. ¹⁸And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. ¹⁹Also Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. ²⁰But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. ²¹Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. ²²And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."

Water in The Desert

If you’ve ever been in the desert, you know how dry it can be. The desert is brown and dry. It seems like not much is living, but when rain does come, the desert absolutely comes to life. A carpet of colorful flowers blooms across the desert floor. In the desert water bings life.

Hagar was cast out of Abraham’s household into the desert to die, but God showed her a well. She found water! That water saved her life! So, water is life – Look at what happens at a well in Samaria:

Jesus has arrived at a well in Samaria. There’s a woman who has come to the well to draw water and Jesus asks her for a drink. Look at what happens:

John 4:9-10 (NKJV)
^4:9Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. ¹⁰Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

What is the gift of God? The gift of God is Eternal life (Romans 6:23). The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal life in Jesus. The living water brings Eternal Life! Water has a spiritual component. Water is a picture of the Word of God. We should drink deeply of it; stay hydrated in the God’s Word. It will slake your thirst, and it cleanses. Jesus said we are cleansed by the Words He has spoken:

John 15:3 (NKJV)
^15:3You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

The Word of God cleanses and Brings Eternal Life! Look at what Peter says in John 6:68. He’s speaking to Jesus after all the multitudes have departed, and Jesus asks him if they are leaving too:

John 6:68 (NKJV)
^6:68But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

“You have the Words of Eternal Life.” This is why we preach out of the Bible – The Word of God – These aren’t the words of Chris – My words have no power to cleanse you, my words don’t bring life, my words are not like water, but the Word of God does those things. The Word of God is like water.

We need water to live, we are mostly made up of water. We NEED the Word of God. Do you thirst for the Word of God? Have you dug a well of God’s word to sustain you and keep you saved?

Did you happen to notice in our text who it was that stopped up the wells? It as the Philistines once again. Remember, what the Philistines represent. They represent the cares of the world. Worldly things will cause the water to be stopped up. What happens is that we focus our minds on the world.

We spend our time engaged in frivolous things: worldly music, YouTube videos and other nonsense, and we are too busy to take time to read the Word of God.

The Word of God brings life! YouTube videos can’t do that. The first thing I do when I come to prayer in the morning is my daily Bible reading. I follow a reading plan on my phone: Read the Bible in a Year. It’s on my phone because I almost always carry my phone with me. I’ve dug a well in my own life a well of the life-giving water of the Word of God.

When the Wells are Stopped Up

What about when those wells are stopped? In our text Isaac has come to the Valley of Gerar and s re-digging the wells that Abraham had dug years before. Those well that Abraham had dug were stopped up by the Philistines, The water was no longer flowing.

It’s interesting to look at the meaning of the Gerar. The valley is called the Valley of Gerar. Gerar is translated directly as conflict or dispute. Hence, the valley of Conflict. There are battles taking place to keep Isaac from the water. The Philistines stopped up the wells to make the land unfruitful. They didn’t want the land to produce fruit. Nothing could be produced in the desert without water.

The local shepherds disputed Isaac’s use of the water. They fought with his shepherds. So, he called the place Esek, which means contention; argument; fight. We have to fight to read our Bible. Do you know that? Have you tried to spend time daily trying to read your Bible, only to find it difficult to understand, or that you’re too busy or tired to make the time? The Struggle is real, I know.

Isaac moves on and re-digs another well, and once again the local shepherds come against Isaac’s men. This time he calls the place Sibnah. Sibnah means hatred. Do you know that we have an enemy that hates to see us reading the Word of God? It’s because he can’t dispute what’s in there. He wants to keep you from it, because then he can move on you! He can shift your focus away from God and put it on the things of the world. He can take your mind off God’s promises and put them on your problems, and keep you defeated, depressed and despairing. Those words, those emotions are not life. Those words are hopelessness and death! That’s what the enemy wants for you.

Re-digging the Well

When Isaac was resisted over the wells, he moved on and dug another of the wells that Abraham had originally dug. The last was at Beersheba which is translated as the seventh well. There were seven of them. Seven in the Bible represents completion. So, Isaac faced contention at Esek and hatred at Sibnah, but he continued to seek water until, at last he found a place where they could dig and not have to fight for it.

This should encourage ypu, there will come a time when you won’t have to fight to read the Word. Just don’t give up, keep digging and you’ll find that place. A lot of times, what happens is that in the midst of struggle, we give up. We abandon the plan to re-dig and we begin to become dehydrated. There’s no water to keep us alive. This is a dangerous time, because no water means no life. You lose track of God’s promises. Things like:

All things work together for good for those who love Him!

I will open up the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing that you won’t have room to contain!

Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Eternal Life!

Those are all promises; those are words of life, but t’s easy to forget them in the middle of life with all its problems. That’s why we need to fight for the Word of God in our lives and minds. The water of the Word of God brings life.

John 4:13-14 (NKJV)
^4:13Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

Not just life, but Eternal Life!

A Song of Ascents!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 05:57:00 +0000

Do you know the biggest problem facing mankind, today? It’s not climate change. It’s not war with China. It’s not Iran getting the nuclear bomb. What’s the thing that beats people down the very most? What leaves us hurting and depressed? Are you depressed about those things I mentioned? I’m not! I really don’t think about those things much.

What beats us down is what happens in our lives – from the decisions we've made, the things we've done and the relationships we’ve destroyed. That brings me to the thing that is the biggest problem facing mankind today. This is the biggest cause of problems for people; the thing that causes the most damage to families, to marriages and to people’s lives – Sin!

Do you know what one of the greatest blessings of Christianity is? It’s that you can be set free from sin. It can be removed from you; taken away and forgotten by God. Never to be remembered again! You can have a fresh start, a new beginning. You can be Born Again!

Psalms 130:1-8 (NKJV)
^130:1A song of Ascents. Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; ²Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. ³If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? ⁴But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. ⁵I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. ⁶My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning-- Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. ⁷O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption. ⁸And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

A Song of Ascents

The very first words of this psalm are “A Song of Ascents.” To ascend means to elevate, to rise up; to be lifted up. The psalmist is saying that out of the depths he cried out. The depths of despair; the depths of shame; the depths of guilt. I want to show you how another version of the Bible puts it:

Psalms 130:1 (MSG)
^130:1… Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life! Master, hear my cry for help!

The bottom has fallen out of my life. I have sunk as low as I can go. My life is a mess.

Oh, how I have been in that place before! The bottom fell out of my own life, but it wasn’t by chance. It wasn’t bad luck. It was the result of continuous and ongoing sin in my life. That’s what destroyed me. That’s what defeated me. That’s what beat me down. It was out of those depths that I cried out to God and He heard my cry for help. It was a prayer of ascents, “God lift me out of these depths.” Take away these things that I have inflicted on my own life.

Sin always destroys – Satan is a destroyer.

John 10:10 (NKJV)
^10:10The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

What does he want to steal? He wants to steal your life. He wants to steal your finances. He wants to steal your joy, but Jesus – He has come to give you life; more abundant life. More abundant joy. He wants to bring you out of the depths. He wants to elevate your life.

The psalmist asks God to hear his supplications. Supplications is an earnest request for favor from God. People in the Bible often pray, “If I have found favor in your sight, meet this need.” That’s supplication. When we cry out like the psalmist has here – He’s asking God to hear him, to help him. This is supplications.

The thing about this is that when we cry out to God, He does hear us. He heard the groaning of the people in Egypt. He heard their cries in the desert. He hears us when we cry out to Him and He has mercy and compassion on us.

The way He lifts us up is through our salvation. This is when we see his mercy, His forgiveness. This is when there is a miracle of transformation in our lives. I thought I was stuck in my sin. I didn’t see any way forward. I assumed I had completely ruined my life. I couldn’t change on my own. I had tried…I was stuck.

When I cried out. When I came with supplications. When I cried out to ascend. When I was humble enough to do that. God heard me and transformed me. He lifted me out of that sin and lifestyle, and set my feet on solid ground again.

God hears you. He hears you. He knows your hurts and sorrows. He’s heard your groaning. He knows the depths of your sin and your despair. He will lift you out of those things if you will cry out to Him. Oh, what a gracious God we serve!

The Sea of Forgetfulness

How does God move to change us or transform us? How does God restore our peace and confidence. The psalmist tells us:

Psalms 130:3-4 (NKJV)
^130:3If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? ⁴But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

Look again at the Message Bible:

Psalms 130:3-4 (MSG)
^130:3If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? ⁴As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshiped.

Does God remember what you’ve done wrong? Does He remember every little sin and wrong word? The answer to that is yes! These things are recorded, unless…unless what an important word. Unless you have cried out for forgiveness and really repented. If you have then what happens? This:

Isaiah 43:25 (NKJV)
^43:25"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.

He blots them out. He makes them disappear. They’re removed from you as the Bible says, “As far as the East is from the West!” (Psalms 103:12) Never to be remembered again, “And I will not remember your sins.”

They will be sunk into the sea:

Micah 7:19 (NKJV)
^7:19He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.

Never to be brought up again. All of those things you were ashamed of forgotten. All of those things that brought you to despair. All of those things that robbed the joy and life from you. They are gone forever!

When I got saved this was the greatest thing for me. I was able to go on as if those things were no longer a part of my life. God had forgotten them and would remember them no more!

Hebrews 8:12 (NKJV)
^8:12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."

We can escape the weight of our sin. The weight that pulls us down. The weight that keep us from ascending. Have you ever tried to carry a heavy backpack up a huge mountain. It’s very difficult to climb up, but when the weight is gone, how strong do your legs feel. This is the greatest thing about salvation. The strength you have to go on with your life once the weight of that sin is gone. We are set free from that burden of our sin.

No religious philosophy can do that. Only salvation and the repentance of sin can cause this. Our God is a merciful God who loves us, who hears us, who forgives us, and who relieves us of the crushing weight of sin. Just think of how it would be if God didn’t do that. There would be no hope. Repentance would be futile. Buddhists are doomed to endlessly repeat life until they get it all right, because their ascendance is based on their behavior. Every sin is recorded and never forgotten. Karma is a cruel master, but in repenting, God will forgive and remember no more. Those things you did before will not affect your future, unless you do them again, and don’t repent of them.

There is Hope in God

Our God is a God of Hope.

Psalms 130:7-8 (NKJV)
^130:7O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption. ⁸And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

Before we get saved, we are sold under sin, as if we are slaves, because if you think about it, we are slaves to our particular sins.

That’s why I needed salvation, I was overwhelmed, I was burdened down, I was a slave to all that I was doing. I couldn’t stop, even when I wanted. I had lost all hope. I needed the mercy and compassion of God to release me from all of that, and God did have mercy. God did show compassion.

Here I am today, to declare to you that God is a God of mercy and compassion. God will redeem you from the slave owner…Satan. He will set you free from the chains that Satan uses to hold you: The chains called sin. There is hope today that the bondage of sin can be broken. This is what the psalmist is rejoicing over. This is the hope that he’s declaring. This is the promise of salvation.

God will lift you up, in a moment of time. You can be transformed. All of the shame and sorrow and burden erased. Blotted out, because God is gracious. God is merciful. God is a loving God and a righteous judge. Have hope today, God can do a miracle in your life.

Born into the Kingdom #3 - Holy Spirit Baptism

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 05:12:00 +0000

Today, I’m going to post the last of my “Born into the Kingdom" series. The series is based on Peter’s preaching in Acts Chapter 2, specifically:

Acts 2:38 (NKJV)
^2:38Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The first post dealt with repentance, the second was on the topic of baptism and this, the third, will deal with the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, let’s begin:

Acts 1:4-5 (NKJV)
^1:4And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; ⁵for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

The Great Anticipation

In our text Jesus is telling the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. He calls it the promise of the Father; the Comforter; the Helper. “Go and wait. Something is going to happen, something that God has promised. There’s a sense of anticipation.

Have you ever had to wait for something that:

1) You were expecting or excited about?

2) You know is going to be great?

3) The closer it gets the more excited you are?

4) That’s anticipation!

This anticipation didn’t start right then, though. It didn’t start when Jesus told them to go and wait. It started about a thousand years before that.

Joel 2:28 (NKJV)
^2:28"And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.

So, the prophet Joel prophesied all of this, a thousand years before Jesus! People had been waiting and anticipating it since then. That’s why Peter said to them. This is what was spoken of by Joel. “This is what you’ve been waiting for!”

When Jesus came this started to get more attention. It was accelerated, as they say. For example, John the Baptist was filled with the Hoy Spirit, even before he was born.

Luke 1:41 (NKJV)
^1:41And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

John’s Spirit recognized Jesus’ mother. John’s preaching increased the anticipation, even more.

Matthew 3:11 (NKJV)
^3:11I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

So, he’s saying, “I will baptize with water, a part of your repentance, but one is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit! This is not the end! There’s more, immersion in the Holy Spirit.” (paraphrased) That word translated as baptism literally means immersion. “Repent and be baptized…but it’s going to get even better.

Jesus came to John to be baptized and as He came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended on Him and remained on Him!

Luke 4:1 (NKJV)
^4:1Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

After this Jesus Himself, begins to excite this anticipation. He was constantly talking about the Holy Spirit.

John 7:38-39 (NKJV)
^7:38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." ³⁹But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

“If you believe in Me, you will receive the Holy Spirit, but not yet just wait…It’s coming. He even goes so far as to say, “you should be glad that I’m leaving because after I leave, I’ll send the Holy Spirit.”

John 16:7 (NKJV)
^16:7Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

“If I don’t go, He doesn’t come to you…but if I go, I’ll send Him.” They were really looking forward to this. They couldn’t wait for that day. They knew this was going to happen, and they didn’t want to miss it.

The Day Finally Comes

Acts 1:4 (NKJV)
^1:4And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;

So, Jesus told them to wait for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. Don’t leave, don’t go anyplace else; Wait there, it will be soon. So, they stay in Jerusalem and have a prayer meeting.

Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV)
^2:1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Every one of those people who were there, and praying were filled with the Holy Spirit. Every one of them began speaking in tongues. This is a Biblical pattern, speaking in tongues is evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We know and can trust that Jesus is alive, because He sent the Holy Spirit just like He promised. After He left, He sent the Holy Spirit.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is for every believer. Every one of us who believes can be filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s not just a select few. Jesus told us that in Luke chapter 11:

Luke 11:13 (NKJV)
^11:13If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

The Holy Sirit is a gift for every believer that asks for it.

Peter tells us this in Acts chapter 2:

Acts 2:39 (NKJV)
^2:39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

The promise is to you, your children and to all who are afar off, as many as are called. It didn’t die off with the Apostles. When he says afar off, he’s not talking about distance, he’s talking about generations. This whole thing is about ALL who were called. You are called, so, it’s for you, as well.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit was a critical part of the early church. Philip was having revival in Samaria (just before he met the Ethiopian). The apostles heard about the revival and went to see it and pray for the people to receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-15) They understood the need for the power of the Holy Spirit to embolden those people to reach others and to build the church.

When Paul met up with the disciples in Ephesus he asked, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2) It’s normal next step. That’s what was supposed to happen. What does the scripture say? “Repent, be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” They’re curious, because that’s what happened to them. Those twelve disciples received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.

Finally, receiving the Holy Spirit became a requirement of ministry.

Acts 6:3-4 (NKJV)
^6:3Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; ⁴but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

They wanted men who had the Spirit of God in them; men who relied on the wisdom of God when making decisions.

Maintaining the Temple

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is when He comes into your life. He indwells in us. So, we are like a temple for Holy Spirit. It’s the place where He dwells, like the temple in Jerusalem where God dwelt. It’s up to us to keep the temple clean. We do that by keeping ourselves free of sin.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (NKJV)
^3:16Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

We can’t earn the Holy Spirit by righteousness. It’s a gift, but righteousness in our lives can maintain His presence. Remember God can’t dwell where sin is!

1 Corinthians 6:18-19 (NKJV)
^6:18Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

Flee sexual immorality! Why? Because you are a temple of the Holy Spirit. He is indwelling in you. Do you want to bring God there?

2 Corinthians 6:16 (NKJV)
^6:16And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people."

Flee Idolatry! Why? The temple of God shouldn’t have idols.

We need the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is an essential part of the Christian experience. It’s much easier to serve God when you have the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, though, we need a refill.

In Acts chapter four, Peter and John are arrested and threatened not to preach Jesus anymore. They prayed for boldness and how did God answer that?

Acts 4:31 (NKJV)
^4:31And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They got a refill. We all need that from time to time. We are leaky vessels.

I close with this:

Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the initial step. It’s the beginning of a deeper relationship with Jesus, but it’s not enough to just receive the gift. Now we have to learn to lie it; to walk in the Spirit!

Galatians 5:16 (NKJV)
^5:16I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

The reason some Christians don’t look like Jesus, don’t live as a real Christian should, is because they don’t walk in the Spirit. They’re walking in the world and all its lusts. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus and remained on Him. He was living out God’s will. If we want to be like Jesus, and by the way, that’s what Christian means, then we also need to live out God’s will and walk in the Spirit.

Born Into the Kingdom #2 - Baptism

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 09:15:00 +0000

Note: This is the second in the three-part series, “Born Into The Kingdom.”

Last week I started a series on the birth of a disciple into the Kingdom. We are called to make disciples; that’s the Great Commission. There are three parts – Repentance, Water Baptism and Holy Spirit Baptism. This post will deal with Water Baptism.

Acts 8:35-40 (NKJV)
^8:35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. ³⁶Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" ³⁷Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." ³⁸So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. ³⁹Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

Baptism is a Clear Acknowledgement

Here’s this Ethiopian eunuch. He’s a very powerful man. He’s very high up in the queen of Ethiopia’s court and he has been down to Jerusalem to worship God. He’s not a follower of Jesus at this point. He’s been worshipping God in the temple. As we come across him, he’s reading the Book of Isaiah but not understanding what Isaiah is saying. This is what he read:

Acts 8:32-33 (NKJV)
^8:32The place in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. ³³In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth."

This is a prophecy a foretelling of the Jesus’ crucifixion. The eunuch doesn’t understand to whom Isaiah is referring. While he’s reading this, Philip catches up to him and the text says he used that scripture to preach Jesus to him. “Jesus is the man who endured this injustice.

His preaching was effective, and the eunuch began to believe in Jesus.

Acts 8:37b (NKJV)
^8:37… And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

That’s a bold statement in those times of Christian persecution. They had just crucified Jesus and stoned Stephen. Christians had scattered throughout Judea and Samaria preaching as they went. Since he had been in Jerusalem, no doubt he’s heard of that, but he believes anyway.

I know a young man who had converted to Christianity from Islam. I asked him what would happen if his father found out. His response was, “I believe, so what can I do?” This is the very similar to the Ethiopian’s response…He boldly proclaimed it. All of us who are believers in Jesus, can we be as bold in declaring Jesus? Are we open to saying “I’m a believer,” or are we hesitant to declare Jesus as the Son of God?

The Ethiopian took one more step to declare it. He got baptized. This is what baptism is on one level. It’s you saying, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” It’s a clear acknowledgement that you believe!

People are really open about some things, aren’t we? We wear T-shirts with our team’s name. Go Monkeys (Taoyuan City’s professional baseball team.) I’m not ashamed. We support political candidates. We brag about our favorite brands – I have an iPhone. Nike – Swoosh. What about Jesus, though, the Savior of your soul. The one who died for you. I understand that sometimes people come against you.

Think of that young Muslim man, it isn’t easy to become a Christian when you’re a Muslim, but he got baptized – That’s a bold statement. The eunuch made a private statement to Stephen that he believes, but he also wanted to make a public declaration about it.

Acts 8:36 (NKJV)
^8:36Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?"

What hinders me from being baptized? What are the requirements? What needs to be done first? Philip answers:

Acts 8:37 (NKJV)
^8:37Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

“If you believe…” that’s the only requirement. Then he testified of his faith, “I believe Jesus is the Son of God!” Often, it seems like people want to add other requirements. I know people who have believed in Jesus for more than two years who have resisted baptism. People think that if they get baptized, that there will be more required of them; that it will raise them to a different level of Christianity and commitment, like they’ll have a different job description that’s much harder. All that baptism really is, is an outward sign of an inward decision. Asking a new Christian to go public is about them standing up and being counted, saying, “I’m not ashamed of Jesus.”

In some ways baptism is a test. Jesus wants to know if you’re serious. If you can’t follow through in this one small thing, what are you going to do about more difficult things. God sometimes asks for hard things. He asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He asked him to kill the promise and believe that He would deliver on it regardless. That’s a little harder than being baptized.

Baptism is a public confession of your faith in Jesus.

Matthew 10:32-33 (NKJV)
^10:32"Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. ³³But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Finally, baptism doesn’t save; Faith in Jesus is what saves you. Baptism is just you saying, “I have faith in Jesus.” Public confession is the nature of Baptism. It is something pursued by someone who believes.

Baptism Follows a Biblical Pattern

The eunuch’s heart was open to God. “Here’s water, what stops me from being baptized.” How would he know about baptism unless Philip told him. It must have been part of his teaching on Jesus. It should be part of our teaching, too.

So, as a result of Philip’s preaching, the eunuch got saved and made a private statement of faith. He was also ready to make a public one. The old man is gone, and a new one takes his place.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (NKJV)

that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

There is symbolism to baptism as well. We are identifying with Jesus. Being lowered into the water symbolizes Jesus on the cross. Being under the water reflects Jesus’ burial, and finally, as you emerge from the water the symbolism is that of Jesus’ resurrection.

Romans 6:4-5 (NKJV)
^6:4Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

That s the symbolism of baptism. There is a distinct pattern in the Bible about this. Hear the Word of God, repent and get saved (Believe) and get baptized. People got baptized in the beginning of the church. All believers in that time were baptized, often on the same night they got saved. In fact, the early church was founded on baptism.

The Beginning of the Church

Acts 2:41 (NKJV)
^2:41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Philip Preaching in Samaria

Acts 8:12 (NKJV)
^8:12But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

Cornelius’ Household

Acts 10:47-48 (NKJV)
^10:47"Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" ⁴⁸And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

Lydia’s Household in Philippi

Acts 16:15 (NKJV)
^16:15And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." So she persuaded us.

Philippian Jailer Later in That Same Chapter

Acts 16:33 (NKJV)
^16:33And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.

All of these baptisms took place on the day they believed and received Jesus. There wasn’t a lot of agonizing over it. They believed and they got baptized. There’s no reason why any Christian shouldn’t get baptized. Baptism opens you up to all that God has for you. Once you go record for Jesus, He goes on record for you.

Matthew 10:32 (NKJV)

"Therefore, whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

The Dynamic of Faith

There must be a personal breakthrough in faith, because many excuses will surface:

1) The excuse of family and friends – I want them all to be here. Baptism isn’t about a family photo; it’s about an audience of one.

2) The excuse that, “I don’t have it all together, yet. That completely misses the point. Baptism isn’t about you being spiritually perfect. If that was the case no one would ever be baptized. Baptism is about a decision you make…to begin.

3) It’s meant to reflect the life you want to live, not the life you’ve already lived.

Jesus could have asked us to do anything, and it would have been His rightful place to do so. All He asks is that when we put our faith in His salvation that we go public!

We need to have faith. If Jesus commands me, then I’ll follow, “Just say the word, and I’ll do what you command, Lord.”

The Bible is clear about baptism. We need to go on record before God and others that we are with Jesus!

Note: The final post in this series will be on the Holy Spirit Baptism.

Born into the Kingdom #1: Repentance

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 09:36:00 +0000

Note: The following post is the first post in a three-part series called Born into the Kingdom. These posts are really designed for new Christians but may be helpful to pioneer pastors in presenting simple Biblical truths to a young congregation. - Chris

When we’re Christians, Eternal Life is what we’re aiming for; to enter into Heaven – The Promised Land. Eternal Life, that’s the goal, right? It’s all about knowing God!

John 17:3 (NKJV)
^17:3And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3 tell us that knowing that God and Jesus is Eternal Life. There are a lot of gods in the world, but there is only one true God. The key to knowing that God is to follow through on praying, reading your Bible, attending church, believing the promises and following the commands. In short, living out the things of God, day after day – following God.

Hosea 6:3 (NKJV)
^6:3Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

This is what we call the process of discipleship – becoming and making disciples. It’s our great commission.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NKJV)
^28:19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

A disciple is a “fully devoted follower of Christ.” It's not just someone who’s born again but someone who continues to pursue God after the initial glow of salvation wears off through the difficulties and struggles of life, enduring until the end. That’s a disciple.

People don’t become disciples on their own. They’re taught to be disciples. Just like after birth there are certain things that have to be done for the health of the baby. The umbilical cord must be cut, and breast feeding must begin. You have to show baby Christians the way.

The book of Acts shows us the process of birthing someone into the Kingdom of God and what’s necessary to ensure their spiritual health. Repentance, water baptism and baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is a three-part series. This post will look at repentance.

Repentance requires three things in order to be genuine and effective:

Acts 2:36-39 (NKJV)
^2:36"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." ³⁷Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" ³⁸Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Repentance Requires a Teacher

In Acts Chapter 2 the Holy Spirit fell on those who were praying in the upper room. It caused quite a commotion as three thousand people gathered in the street to see what was happening. They must have been making a lot of noise. Peter stood up to preach.

The one hundred-twenty people in the upper room had choices. They could stay quiet, they could pray, or they could preach. Peter got up to preach.

If people are going to repent, they need to have someone tell them that it’s necessary.

Romans 10:13-15 (NKJV)
^10:13For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." ¹⁴How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"

Peter stood up and explained to them the phenomenon of the Holy Spirit and a changed life. He specifically preached two things. These were not his feelings or opinions.

First, he preached the Word of God. He quoted the Old Testament three times. He’s preaching out of the scriptures. We can talk to people and offer our opinions, “This is what I think…”, “I feel like this…”, but we end up in arguments and discussions. What people need to hear isn’t our opinions or feelings but the Word of God.

1 Peter 3:15b (NKJV)
^3:15…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

Second, He preached Jesus with conviction and without fear. “This Jesus, whom you crucified…”

This reminded me of the story of Philip and the Ethopian. In Acts Chapter 8, the Ethopian is traveling along and he’s reading the Book of Isaiah, but he’s not understanding it all. Philip asks him whether he understands or not and he answers, “How can I know unless someone guides me?’ He needs a preacher!

Acts 8:35 (NKJV)
^8:35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.

So, a preacher is needed to bring someone to a place of repentance; so, they can hear and understand the Word of God.

Repentance Also Requires Faith from the Hearer

Acts 2:41 (NKJV)
^2:41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

This is talking about faith. They heard Peter’s words and accepted them as the Word of God. They believed. They heard what Peter was saying to them and they believed that he was right. They were convicted that their sin – their personal sin – crucified Jesus. That comes from the Word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit. In order to repent, you have to be convinced that you’re wrong. Convinced that what you’re doing is against God and that your sin is the reason that Jesus had to die. If you never come to that you’ll never come to repentance. The Pharisees and the Sadducees never believed, so they never repented.

Repentance requires the thought that my sin is wrong and that it needs to be judged. That’s why we preach on sin. It is in order to bring people to a place of repentance.

Think about your own life. What was it that made you realize that you needed to get saved? You had to come to a point where you realized that the way that you’d been living was wrong in God’s eyes. You had to recognize that you were guilty. That’s what happened in our text.

The people in our text heard Peter’s words and realized that they had played a part in Jesus’ crucifixion. “This Jesus, whom you crucified.” They felt the guilt and shame that goes with that. The Word of God and the moving of the Holy Spirit led them to the faith they needed in order to repent.

Repentance Requires Confession

Acts 2:37 (NKJV)
^2:37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

This moment right here is the moment of confession. They’re admitting their guilt. It’s like them saying, “We know we’re guilty.” “We know that we have sinned and deserve our punishment!” “We know that we will face the wrath of God. What shall we do to make it right? What shall we do to be right with God.” That’s a confession of guilt.

In order to repent of sin, you have to know what it is. You have to know what it is that you have done. So we confess that sin before God. That’s why we have an altar call, to give us an opportunity to bring that sin before God.

You hear the Word of God and Jesus preached. You feel the conviction of sin, believing that it’s true. You confess that sin before God. Then comes repentance.

Repentance is a change of mind or a change of heart. I know what I’ve been doing is wrong and I’m not going to live like that anymore. Repentance is a change; the word translated as repent literally means to turn around. It’s as if you’re going one direction away from God and you turn around and go in a different direction toward God. Allof this begins with a confession.

Romans 10:9 (NKJV)
^10:9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

That’s the starting point – Confessing before God; declaring your sin and guilt before God. This is when the real work starts, beginning to pursue God. It starts with repentance. I would encourage anyone who prays for salvation to go home and continue to confess before God. Think about your sins and bring them before God.

A friend of mine who is a pastor, told me that one man told him that he went home and confessed for an hour and a half. He really thought about his sin specifically “I’v done this, I’ve done that…” That’s real repentance.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
^1:9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So, God does his job and forgives. He even goes so far as to take that sin away. Then it’s time for you to do your part and change. Be different – Follow God’s laws and live for Jesus. Repentance is turning around and walking away from your sinful lifestyle. I know this can be hard but God helps us. Peter preached:

Acts 2:38 (NKJV)
^2:38Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

First, we repent of our sin.

Second, we’re baptized for the remission of sin.

Third, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!

The next post will be about Baptism for the remission of sin!

The Limits of Unbelief

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 09:25:00 +0000

Don’t you think it’s interesting that there were no disciples at the tomb when Jesus rose from the dead? We read that Jesus told them He would rise, but we don’t read anywhere that they believed Him.

The thing I find most interesting is that His enemies did believe it, that’s why they placed a crack squadron of soldiers to guard the tomb. That’s why they sealed it. That’s why they said, “We remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.”

Even when the women who visited the tomb told the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead, they didn’t believe them.

Sometimes Christians struggle with believing God. There’s really no difference between believing Jesus when He said He would rise from the dead, and believing Jesus when He says He will pour out blessing. Today I want to address something that I think needs to be addressed. There are things that God has spoken that seem to be easier to believe than others. So, in this post, I want to look at unbelief, from this portion of scripture:

2 Kings 7:1-2 (NKJV)
^7:1Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: 'Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.' " ²So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And he said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it."

Can You Believe the Promises?

This takes place at a very bleak time in Israel’s history. There has been a famine in the country, so there isn’t much food available. Things were very tough. Now on top of that Ben Hada, King of Syria, has placed them under siege. They’re being held captive inside the walls of the city.

In fact, people have even turned to cannibalism:

2 Kings 6:26-29 (NKJV)
^6:26Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!" ²⁷And he said, "If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?" ²⁸Then the king said to her, "What is troubling you?" And she answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.' ²⁹So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, 'Give your son, that we may eat him'; but she has hidden her son."

This shows how desperate the people were. All of us go through times of famine like this. Maybe you’ve never been desperate enough to eat your children, but you have been through times when you didn’t think you had enough.

You’ve got the rent, food, utilities, taxes, gas, insurance, it seems like what goes out is bigger than what comes in. Then there’s layoffs, semester breaks, down business times. It seems like a time of famine in your life.

Maybe in times like that you’re less open to the promises of God. Maybe you’re like the man on whose arm the king leans. He said, “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”

He’s wondering in light of these desperate circumstances how God can make this happen. I’ve wondered the same thing myself – a number of times. How can you open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing, but that’s one of the promises isn’t it?

In our text Elisha the prophet is repeating what God has promised.

2 Kings 7:1 (NKJV)
^7:1Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: 'Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.'

That by the next day, about the same time a seah (about 7 liters in volume) of flour for a shekel (about $4.50 USD, 2025 dollars). That’s a low price for flour, but things are so bad that people can’t believe it.

When we don’t see a way out of our circumstances, we can’t see how God can deliver us. We judge God’s abilities by our own, but God can do supernatural things.

That word super as a prefix means beyond. So, God can do things beyond the natural, which is what we can do. We live and operate in the natural, but God operates in the supernatural. God can do miracles.

Look at the circumstances of your life. Are you struggling in one area? Is there a part of your life that you think can’t be changed? Maybe a doctor told you there’s no treatment for what you’re suffering. Maybe, you can’t see an improvement in your finances. Maybe you think there’s no way you can change. You are limited in your ability to affect change in your life, by your own abilities and natural laws, but God isn’t affected that way. God can transcend circumstances and nature. The limit to what God can do for you is the limit to which you believe God.

The man in our text limits God to the natural circumstances. He’s saying that even if God were to open the windows of heaven, our circumstances are so bad that they can’t be fixed. This is unbelief – It’s a lack of faith.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
^11:6But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Our unbelief limits God. Look how that is worded. He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards them that diligently seek Him. There is faith in God, that is, that most of us believe in God; We believe that God exists, but is there faith in God’s abilities? Is there faith that God can do things and will do things to eliminate your suffering?

You believe in God – Do you believe He can heal you?

You believe in God – Do you believe He can provide for you?

You believe in God – Do you believe He can change you?

Those are the promises.

The disciples believed in Jesus. They believed He was the Messiah. They believed He could do miracles. They believed that He was there to deliver mankind, but they couldn’t believe that He would rise from the dead, even though He promised that He would.

We’re like that, too. We believe in God, we believe we’ve been forgiven. So, why can’t we believe God to keep His promises? Let’s examine that.

God Keeps His Promises

Let’s examine a promise that God has made.

Malachi 3:10-11 (NKJV)
^3:10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. ¹¹"And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the Lord of hosts.

This is a promise of God. If we will do something, then God will do something. We know it’s a promise because God s saying, “Test me. See if I will do what I have said here. I promise that I will do this; you can check me on it. Bring all of your tithes and offerings into the storehouse. Do this and I will open the windows of heaven and bless you so much you won’t have room for it all." I wonder, though, how many are really believing God for this promise. How many are like the man on whose arm the king leaned, "I'm struggling, there’s a lot of expenses.” “I can’t make enough money to keep up.” “If I give more there won’t be enough.” That’s thinking in the natural and forgetting about the supernatural. “Look if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Look at what God did in the day of need for Israel:

2 Kings 7:5-7 (NKJV)
.⁵And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. ⁶For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses--the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!" ⁷Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact--their tents, their horses, and their donkeys--and they fled for their lives

God made a promise that would happen the next day, but because people couldn’t see how it could happen, they didn’t believe that it would happen. That’s how a lot people are. “If I give more there will be less, so how can there be more if I give more?” That’s what the promise is, though. We can’t see how it could happen, but God promises that it can.

Then we look at this story and we see how God did it in this instance. He caused the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots when there were no chariots. He caused them to panic when there was no reason to panic. He caused them to abandon everything, even though there was no attack. God moved outside what we think is possible, in order to keep His word, and He will do the same thing with our giving. God moved in a supernatural way and suddenly there was abundance in the midst of famine. You may think that if you give more there will be less, but God has promised that if you give more, there will be more.

This whole event takes place in the midst of a famine. Did you know that there is an underlying purpose for famine?

Amos 4:7-8 (NKJV)

⁷"I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. ⁸So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the Lord.

The last line in this scripture gives us a clue as to that purpose. “Yet you have not returned to me.” God uses famine to cause His people to return to Him. He wants people to depend on Him. He wants people to trust Him. If God uses famine to cause His people to come back to Him on a national level, do you think He might do the same thing on a personal level. Maybe you’re in the midst of a financial famine because you’re not trusting and depending on God. You don’t believe God can move supernaturally on your behalf. When God is saying, “Try me now in this,” in Malachi chapter three, He’s really saying, “Let me show you what I can do.” God can’t show you His response to your giving if you’re not giving.

The Reward of Faith

If we look back at our text, we can see the prophet’s response to the man on whose arm the king leaned.

2 Kings 7:2 (NKJV)
^7:2So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And he said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it."

He’s telling him that because of his unbelief, he will see God move but he won’t share in God’s deliverance. Because you don’t believe there’s no deliverance for you. It’s the same in the promise of tithes in the storehouse, if you don’t believe you won’t receive deliverance. If you don’t test God’s promise, you won’t receive God’s deliverance.

Do you ever look at other people and wonder why they’re blessed aand you’re struggling? Maybe it’s the same answer this man received. You’ll see the blessing but won’t share in it because of unbelief. You see those who believed receiving the blessing, but you don’t share in it because of your own unbelief. Look at what happened to the man:

2 Kings 7:17 (NKJV)
^7:17Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.

This is a direct result of the man’s not believing God’s promise. He saw the abundance that came about supernaturally. He saw the promise fulfilled, but he didn’t receive it. In fact, something much worse happened. The man was killed.

This is a spiritual principle. Unbelief will always lead to spiritual death. Belief and faith brings eternal life, unbelief brings eternal condemnation. The man who didn’t believe ended up dead, not just that he didn’t get blessed, he died.

Every church has seen this before. There are people who aren’t there, anymore. They have died a spiritual death…because of unbelief.

If you’re struggling with this, right now, don’t despair. The promise is there for you if you’ll just begin to believe God. Remember Hebrews 11:6:

Hebrews 11:6b (NKJV)
^11:6bfor he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

The first thing is to believe that God is; that God exists; that God is a patient and loving God. Secondly, believe that if you diligently seek Him, you will be rewarded. If you hunt for God, God will let you find Him. God is the God who blesses.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (NKJV)
^9:6But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Do you want to see God’s promises play out in your life? Do you want to reap bountifully? This scripture is rooted in faith. A cheerful giver believes that God will bless. One who sows bountifully will reap bountifully. Purpose in your heart to be a cheerful giver and God will bless you. If you act in unbelief while others act in faith you will see the reward of that faith in them being blessed but you will not partake in blessing. Unbelief will keep you from the blessings of God. So, bless God and He will bless you.

Note: I am not a preacher of prosperity doctrine. I don’t believe that God exists to make you rich, but I do believe in the principles highlighted in Malachi chapter three.

The Price of Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:08:00 +0000

A number of years ago, I had an interaction with a man at the Carpenter’s Coffee Bar, where I was an English teacher. China had been rattling the saber about taking Taiwan, again. This man was angry at the United States Government, because of the sale of fighter planes to Taiwan. His argument was that Japan got United States’ fighters for free, but those planes are on an American base in Okinawa. Those planes will protect Japan, but they’re actually there defending US interests in Asia. Those same planes would protect Taiwan as well. At supersonic speeds, Taiwan is only about twenty minutes from Okinawa.

I thought that it was interesting that he wanted freedom, but wasn’t willing for his nation invest in it financially. When you stop to think about it the cost of freedom isn’t just financial, the cost of freedom is always blood. Young men must fight and die to guarantee freedom. Ten million allied troops died during World War Two.

Freedom comes at a price. Today, I want to post on freedom from sin, the price that was paid, and our responsibility to that freedom.

Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)
^5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Sin is a Trap

Our text tells us to stand fast, which means to be immovable in the liberty by which Christ made us free. Be immovable in our freedom from sin. Do not become entangled again with a yoke of bondage. In other words, do not be ensnared again with a yoke – slavery. Ensnared means trapped; sin is a trap. Sin is slavery.

John 8:34 (NKJV)
^8:34Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

Sin is a Trap – we have a mindset about sin that’s wrong. We often think that sin is freedom or liberty. We look at obedience to the commands of God as limiting, as if God has taken away our liberty through commandment. Living out the commandments, though, is liberating.

Think about this for a moment. Think about common sins. Drinking creates alcoholics; a dependence on Alcohol. Drug use creates addicts; a dependence on drugs. How many sins are there that trap you into dependence. An addict is someone who’s dependent on getting a particular drug. Their whole life becomes consumed with that drug. They’ll lie, steal, and prostitute themselves to satisfy their addiction. It’s a trap. We think it’ll free us, instead it traps us.

David Crosby, of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (a 1970s musical group), experimented with drugs and alcohol as a young man. After a number of years, he suffered with liver disease and needed a liver transplant. He received a new liver, but never stopped the behavior. Eventually, he found himself in that same position; his new liver destroyed by drugs and alcohol. He was a slave to sin!

So, the Bible tells us to stand fast in our liberty. Our freedom from sin that was purchased by Jesus. The reason we must be encouraged to stand fast is because sin comes very, very easy to us. It’s a part of our nature. It’s a part of whom we are.

Buddhists will say that “”men are basically good,” but the Bible tells us that our hearts are desperately wicked and deceitful.

Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Genesis 6:5

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

According to the Bible this is the state of man’s heart. Do you know the story of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde? Doctor Jekyll was a rich, upper class doctor who seemed to be thoughtful and kind, but when he became Mister Hyde he could not control himself and was a brutal murderer. Doctor Jekyll was a man with an evil nature that he couldn’t control. It is a picture of the human condition.

Think about yourself for a moment, do you think of yourself as a good person; a nice person? We all do, but let me ask you a question do you sometimes do bad things? Do you sometimes act hatefully? Do you sometimes lie or gossip or slander. The answer to that is yes, you do! There's a Mister Hyde in all of us.

Adam was created in the Image of God. He was given a place that met every human need. God walked with him. God sheltered him under his wing. The Bible talks about the hand of God, God’s blessing and care, and His working in our lives. Even though he was blessed and cared for, Adam sinned. The Bible tells us that Eve was deceived, tricked into sin, but Adam chose sin. He violated God’s command. He wasn’t deceived; he wasn’t tricked, he made a choice. Sin is a choice and Adam suffered because of that. We also suffer for our choice to not obey God.

It's our nature; it’s part of our makeup to sin. You can see it in babies, think about this, we don’t have to teach babies to be selfish, they just are. We don’t have to teach children to lie, they just do. What do we have to do? We have to teach them not to be selfish. We have to teach them not to lie, or cheat, or steal...

Proverbs 22:15 (NKJV)
^22:15Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

The rod of correction drives the foolishness far from them. Children have to be taught not to sin. Sin is a part of human nature; it takes effort to avoid it. It doesn’t just happen. We have to work at it. If we want to keep from being trapped by sin we have to take steps to avoid it. We have to train our minds to dwell on what’s right. To stand fast implies that there are forces trying to move you away from that liberty. That force in the Bible is called your flesh; your sinful nature. You have to push back against those forces.

Our Freedom Was Bought at a Price

In Biblical times when you owed a debt, you and your family would be sold into slavery to pay that debt. In order to be released from slavery, you had to be redeemed. Redeemed means to be bought back. You had to pay the price of the owner for your freedom. Adam sold himself and his descendants into slavery. They were taken from the home that God gave them and forced into separation from God, slaves to their sin.

We were doomed to that slavery until that time when we could be bought back or redeemed; that time when the price could be paid.

Our text tells us that Jesus paid that price. We remained in separation and slavery until that day that Jesus died and paid the price of our bondage. We were purchased at a price. The price was the blood that Jesus spilled on the cross.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)
^6:19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

This scripture says that you were bought at a price, but it also says this, “You are not your own.” You were bought back from slavery. He paid the price for you to return to the relationship that we had with God before Adam’s sin.

If you’re a Christian have you experienced what it’s like to have a relationship with God? Have you experienced God’s hand on your life? Have you experienced the liberty of being set free from sin?

In my own life I vividly remember the hopelessness of slavery. I was an addict, I was a slave to alcohol. I thought I couldn’t change. I hated myself. I hated my life. I know I did things that ruined relationships. I know that I did things that hurt people. I was a part of that slavery; I needed escape and relief. I’m thankful for the price that was paid and I willingly submit myself to Him. I am not my own! Christians often say, “I gave my life to Jesus,” but that’s not really true, He bought us with a price. What we really do is submit to Him. “Here’s my life Jesus – It’s Yours.”

That’s where liberty is found, in submission to Him. I’m free because I submitted. At first, it was difficult, I was still drawn to alcohol, but I stood fast in that liberty. The desire eventually disappeared – It really does get easier, that bondage was over. (It’s been thirty-three years since I had a drink of alcohol.) Does that mean that I’ve lost my sinful nature? No, I’m still human, but I can resist because I am submitted.

James 4:7 (NKJV)
^4:7Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

In my opening illustration, I talked about the cost of freedom. The cost is spilled blood and death, but I have to tell you something. There is also a responsibility for those who have been given freedom at the cost of other’s lives. We have a responsibility to remain free.

I believe that the freedoms we have given up in twenty-first century America is a betrayal of those who died for it. We make their sacrifice worthless. They died for nothing, if we give up the freedoms that they paid for!

Jesus paid a huge price to free you from sin. You have a responsibility to remain free of it. You have a responsibility to stand fast in that liberty, or you make his death worthless; of little value. His death counts for nothing if you remain in sin.

Freedom isn’t the absence of laws – that’s anarchy. You can’t remain in sin and say that because of grace you’re free to continue to sin. I’m sorry but change is required. We think that repentance means we’re sorry. “Sorry Jesus – oops!” It’s much more than that. Being sorry is a part of it; regret that you violated God’s laws is part of it, but real repentance is change. “I’m not going to live that way any longer,” and standing fast, being different.

This liberty, this life that you have as a Christian was paid for on the cross. Why take the old sin and addictions into a new life. If you remain in sin the bondage is the same. You are still a slave to sin!

Where the Spirit of the Lord is There is Freedom

2 Corinthians 3:17 (NKJV)
^3:17Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. –

When Moses returned from the mountain where he met with God his face held the Glory of God. It shone from his face. The people were frightened to look at him, so he wore a veil, so that they wouldn’t be able to see it.

When were In sin that veil was on our hearts, we were spiritually blinded. When we turned to Jesus that veil was taken away.

2 Corinthians 3:13-16 (NKJV)
^3:13unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. ¹⁵But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. ¹⁶Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

We were not able to see the lawlessness and sin in our lives. As sinners we don’t see the sin. What did Jesus say on the cross, “Father forgive them they don’t know what they’re doing!”

As sinners we don’t understand that what we’re doing is sin. We don’t realize that we put Him on the cross. We don’t even realize that we’re slaves to it. It isn’t until we receive the Spirit of God in our hearts that we see it. The veil is taken away. That’s when we see the freedom in submission to Christ. It’s the Spirit of God who lifts the veil and we can see and know freedom. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom!

Even If!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 09:58:00 +0000

When I had left Taiwan in August 2020, it was because I had become sick. I had been in the hospital for a long time; Thirty-five days, actually. Churches all over the world had been praying for me, at the time, but I continued to get sicker. I started out with one thing, but it developed into Covid and then into pneumonia. I had tubes down my throat and all kinds of IVs. I was in intensive care and my doctors were telling my family, to have my daughter come back; even they thought I would die.

All of my friends in Taiwan thought I would die; everyone but me. I just kept thinking, “When I get out of here…” I had other plans, and death didn’t really fit into them. I don’t know that I had great faith, maybe it was just the lack of oxygen to my brain. It was a huge trial for me, but somehow, I managed to stay optimistic. One Friend told me:

“You were dying! You won’t admit it, but I saw it with my own eyes.”

Yet, here I am…still alive. It’s an actual miracle, I’m sure of it. God delivered me, just like Meshach, Shadrack and Abed-Nego. That’s what I want to post about today – God’s deliverance from trials.

Daniel 3:15-25 NKJV

Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?" Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king." "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

People Have Always Struggled

How many times in your ife have you faced things that you thought were insurmountable? How many times have you faced circumstances that seemed impossible? When lie throws things at us we try to solve those problems in our own ways, don’t we? We think we have to find a solution by our own intellect. The Bible calls it our own understanding, but is that what God is thinking? Is that what God is looking for from us? Look at what the Bible says:

Proverbs 3:5 NKJV

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Trust in God, lean not on your own understanding. Some things are beyond our ability to figure out. Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, how could they figure out a way to escape their circumstances? They’re tied up; they’re being tossed into a fiery furnace. There’s no way they can solve this dilemma with their intellect. They have to trust in God.

What about you? Maybe you’re facing fiery trials in your marriage, in your finances, maybe even in your health. Where are you looking for deliverance? Is it in the world?

“The government will save me!”

There was a huge hurricane that just recently made landfall in North Carolina. Western North Carolina was destroyed by the hurricane and then flooding that followed. People were waiting for the government, but it took a week before the government showed up. Meanwhile, people had no food, no electricity, no communications. Hundreds, maybe even thousands died waiting for the government to save them. Former President Ronald Reagan once said:

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help!”

That’s kind of a funny thing for a president to say, but it points out that if you’re looking for help from the government to help, they can let you down.

Are you looking for deliverance from inside yourself? If you are, then let me ask you a question. Have you ever been wrong before?

Are you looking for answers from science? You know they used to think all the planets orbited the earth. But not now…Science can also be wrong.

The only one who’s never wrong is Jesus. He’s the creator of everything.

John 1:1-3 NKJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

If He created everything, then He understands how it works, and He can solve any problem you’re facing.

God is With Us!

In Exodus 33, God is telling Moses that He wants him to lead His people to the Promised Land. Moses is nervous, though, and He demands of God, “Who will you send with me?”

Exodus 33:12-13 NKJV

Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people.' But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.' Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people."

He doesn’t want to face this all alone. He knows that he’s not up to it, but look at God’s answer:

Exodus 33:14-15 NKJV

And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

God said, “I will be with you!” Moses said, “If you don’t go, I don’t want to go either! That should be our prayer when we’re faced with some daunting circumstance. “I can’t do this without you God…I need You to help me through this!” God says He will be with us through trials!

Look at this example in Acts Chapter12:

Acts 12:5-10 NKJV

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly!" And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and tie on your sandals"; and so he did. And he said to him, "Put on your garment and follow me." So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

Peter was in prison. Herod planned to kill him. Peter was chained between two guards. There were two others standing outside the doors. It would have been impossible for Peter to escape by himself. Even if he was able to escape the chains, he would still have to get by the guards at the door. This was an impossible situation, but God was with him. God moved supernaturally and sent an angel to help him escape. God used the angel to cause the chains to fall off. He helped him to pass by the guards at the door unseen and brought him to the place where the others were praying for him. God did all of this for Peter and He will do it for you, as well.

There’s one more thing that I think is important to see. God delivered all of these people. All of them were in the will of God; all of them had faith that God would deliver them.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego said to Nebuchadnezzar, “God will deliver us!”

Moses said, “If you’re not coming with me, then I don’t want to go!”

Peter, even though, he thought it might not be real, got up and followed the angel!

All of these are expressions of faith, but did God solve all of their problems immediately? No, even though they had faith in God, they still had to go through the trial.

Meshach, Shadrach and Abed-Nego still had to face the fire!

Moses still had to stand in front of Pharaoh and say, “Let my people go!”

Peter still had to go to prison!

In the end God brought them through it. We sometimes have to face difficult circumstances, but we are not alone.

Daniel 3:24-25 NKJV

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king." "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

The three men weren’t alone in the furnace, Jesus was there with them. I think that’s extremely encouraging. We think we’re all alone when things go wrong. We think no one else is going through what I’m going through. “I’m out here in this wilderness all by myself,” but we’re not. We are never alone. Jesus said, “I will not leave you nor forsake you.” Don’t you think that’s comforting? When I have to face something uncomfortable, I’m always glad when my wife is with me. She can give me the confidence to face things, sometimes.

When I have to face impossible situations, I’m glad that Jesus is with me, like He’s promised. He gives me strength and confidence.

Philippians 4:13 NKJV

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Jesus has the strength, and He can loan it to me! We can have faith in Him.

Prayer is Key!

James 5:16b NKJV

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Prayer is the key to deliverance from all of our trials. This is why in our church services we pray for our fellow believers. We pray for those who are sick. We pray for those who have needs. We pray for our leadership. We’re calling on God to help us. We’re calling on Him to be a part of our lives. We’re looking for His blessing, leadership and guidance. We need him in our lives and circumstances.

When I got sick, it was during CFM Prescott Bible Conference. Someone mentioned it to our fellowship leader Pastor Greg Mitchell, and he made an announcement during the prayer requests that I needed urgent prayer! Remember, everyone thought I was dying.

People all over the world watch that conference on the internet. So, everyone joined in that prayer. I got a text from a friend in Panama that said, “The whole world was praying for you last night!”

I really believe that all of that prayer was key to me surviving that sickness, because I know that God answers prayer. When Peter was in prison all the saints in Jerusalem were praying for him.

Acts 12:5a NKJV

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. (emphasis mine)

Look at what the Bible says about prayer:

Matthew 21:22 NKJV

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

It doesn’t say that Some of the stuff you ask in prayer, I might do for you. It says, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believing you will receive.” It may not be immediate. Peter was rescued from the prison just before Herod had him killed. The Hebrew men were in the furnace before being rescued.

God was faithful to deliver them and answer their prayers. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. That means He is still faithful to answer prayer We can believe God to deliver us because God is faithful still!

Slavery to Dominion

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 05:49:00 +0000

In 1865, The US Civil War ended, and the slaves were freed. Many of those that were freed were stuck in a “slavery mindset.” They didn’t know what to do after their emancipation. They missed the opportunity that their newfound freedom afforded them.

There was one man, though, that was determined t do something with his freedom. He made a decision to move forward. He was going to break away from that mindset of slavery, he decided to, “buy property and a gun.” He did just that! He was able to buy and keep enough property to set up his children and grandchildren in their own homes before he passed away. He made the best of what he’d been given – His Freedom!

Many of those set free did not possess their freedom and remained as employees on the land where they’d been enslaved.[i]

Today, I want to post about making the most of our deliverance and salvation.

Joshua 3:14-17 (NKJV)
^3:14So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), ¹⁶that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

The Slave Mindset

In our text we see Israel crossing into the Promised Land. This is a very happy time in Israel’s history. They’re about to receive all that God has promised them, but remember this has taken place forty years after Israel’s first arrival there. It has taken place after the loss of an entire generation in the wilderness.

Israel had been slaves in Egypt. They were suddenly emancipated; suddenly set free. God had delivered them through the Red Sea, and destroyed the pursuing Egyptians. Israel was free!

That deliverance was an event…it happened and it was over. Once they passed through the Red Sea, they were free, but they hadn’t received their destiny. There was still a walk in their newfound freedom and a fight possess the Promised Land. Their destiny was still at a distance.

Their old slave mentality had to be transformed. Their institutionalized thinking had to be overcome. They were much like those slaves of 1865; they didn’t yet know how to process that freedom into destiny. It has often been said, “It was easier to get the Children of Israel out of Egypt, than to get Egypt out of Them.”[ii]

Even though they were free, they lived with the cultural norms and slave mindsets of the past. Every obstacle they faced was met with murmuring and complaining against Moses and God. How many times did they ask, “Why did you bring us out here to die” (Exodus 14:11)? They demanded water and provision. “What shall we drink (Exodus 15:23)? We had it made in Egypt and you brought us out here to kill us with hunger (Exodus 16:3)! They wanted everything provided for them just like they had in Egypt in slaves.

It carried over into their arrival at the Promised Land when the spies looked over the land and saw obstacles. God had promised them the land. God had done powerful miracles to release them from bondage, but they couldn’t see the possibility of doing anything to gain their destiny. They had been delivered, but they didn’t have dominion.

There’s a transition that’s necessary to go from slavery to destiny. You cannot continue in the same patterns of thought and behaviors of the past and expect a different outcome.

There is the story of Mickey Mantle – He played for New York Yankees. He was a great player! But he had one problem – he was a very heavy drinker! He developed cirrhosis of the liver. His liver was destroyed, he was going to die! Then he received a liver transplant! He had a new lease on life; a second chance. He’d been delivered, but he continued to drink, eventually he died of liver cancer. In the 1990s he stopped drinking finally, but it was too late. He was a slave to alcohol and when he was delivered (through the liver transplant) he didn’t transition from the old patterns of life until it was too late. He stayed on the same plantation where he was enslaved. That deliverance was wasted.

God had a destiny for Israel. He had done His part. He had brought them out of slavery and bondage, but those that had been delivered couldn’t change their old patterns of thought and that entire generation died in the desert, never seeing their destiny come to pass. It was those that were born in the wilderness; those that had no slavery experience that made it! Only Joshua and Caleb, two out of hundreds of thousands could change their mindsets and see the Promise.

Numbers 14:30 (NKJV)
^14:30Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.

Only those two saw the possibility of a future destiny. Only those two transformed their thinking into possibility.

We Were Slaves

Think about this carefully, we have all been delivered. There is a transformation that has taken place in us. We’ve been delivered from our own sinful lifestyle:

John 8:34 (NKJV)
^8:34Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

We were slaves to sin, but I have to ask, “What is your thinking like, now?” Hundreds of thousands of people were delivered by a move of God, but they died in the wilderness. They were set free but hey died in the wilderness because they still thought like slaves.

Have you ever known backsliders? They always go back to the sin they were involved in before they got saved, because that’s what they know. The slaves in 1865 stayed at their old plantations because that’s what they knew. That’s where their comfort zone was. If you want a different destiny, you need a different pattern.

I was talking to someone recently about destiny! There are multiple destinies for each of us. Think about this. If you had remained in sin, you would be on a path to one destiny, but salvation opened a different path – It took you in a different direction. There is a different destiny awaiting you! (See Directional Decisions [iii])

It’s a different path. There are different obstacles. There are different pitfalls and dangers. You have to think and react differently on this path than on the other. If there’s no adjustment to your thinking and behaviors, then it’s very likely that you will never get where you’re going. You’ll turn back to the “safer” path; the more “comfortable” path.

God delivers us and lays before us a potential destiny. There’s a promised land that is for us, and there’s a path that we have to walk in order to get there. There are battles we will have to fight and obstacles to overcome as we walk that path. They are there to help you to change your thinking from “slave” thinking to dominion thinking. Deliverance is the event that frees you, but it is dominion that brings you to the promise.

Think again about Israel. They saw what God did to deliver them. They saw the miracles and they thought God must be with us, but they broke down at every obstacle.

At every obstacle they tested to see if God was still there. They constantly put Him to the test. That’s why they said, “What are we going to drink?” “Where will we get food?” The complaining and murmuring were tests to see if God was going to deliver them again.

When they hit the Promised Land, they couldn’t see any possibility to defeat the inhabitants. They wanted to know if God would deliver them again. “Are you still with us God? They were still caught up in the deliverance mindset, but what they needed was a dominion mindset. Where does that come from? It comes from faith. Dominion flows from faith.

Dominion Thinking

We can find “dominion thinking” in our Bibles in Hebrews Chapter 11.

Hebrews 11:4 (NKJV)
^11:4By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Abel was called righteous by his faith. Cain who had none became a fugitive and vagabond. A vagabond is a wanderer. He never found the promise, while Abel entered into his promise.

Hebrews 11:5-6 (NKJV)
^11:5By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Enoch was taken and did not taste death. His testimony was that he pleased God. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Enoch entered into His promise.

Hebrews 11:11 (NKJV)
^11:11By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

Sarah received strength to conceive at ninety years of age, after years of barrenness. By faith she became the mother of the nation of Israel. She entered into her promise.

Hebrews 11:24-29 (NKJV)
^11:24By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. ²⁹By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

All of these are examples of “dominion thinking.” All of these entered into the destiny that God had placed before them. What do they all have in common? Faith. Dominion flows from faith.

[i] Star Parker, Uncle Sam’s Plantation (Paraphrased)

[ii] John Gooding, Joseph Campbell, Deliverance to Dominion, 2019

[iii] Chris Banducci, Standing Stones Sermon Blog, March 3, 2014

Join the Hall of Fame of Faith

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 09:24:00 +0000

I recently noticed something in Hebrews Chapter 11 that I hadn’t noticed before. Hebrews 11, called the “Hall of Fame of Faith,” demonstrates a progression of faith. Our salvation is a process that we work through until we get to Heaven. This time; our lives is the time that God is perfecting or completing us. In Heaven we will be completed.

In this post, I want to look at Hebrews 11 and study the progression from sinner to saint, beginning with this passage:

Hebrews 11:1-3 (NKJV)
^11:1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ²For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ³By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

The Steps to Pleasing God

Hebrews 11 is about the patriarchs and matriarchs of our faith, but there’s more here than meets the eye. Because there are examples of their faith but there is also a pattern for the perfection (or completion) of our own faith.

It’s my intention with this post that we will learn how to “obtain a good testimony” like them. These were people who pleased God.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
^11:6But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

So, the question is this; Do you have faith that pleases God? Let’s look at the steps to that kind of faith:

Step One – Giving

Hebrews 11:4 (NKJV)
^11:4By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Why is giving the first step to faith? Because our giving speaks about whether or not we have the basics of faith. It’s about trusting God for His promises. There are a number of promises about giving - (Malachi 3:10) These are promises you can see - (Matthew 6:25-34)! You can see whether God provides or not, but there are other promises that you can’t see, like salvation. We are promised Eternal Life if we believe. But if we don’t trust God for provision, which we can see, how can we trust Him for salvation, which we can’t see.

Giving isn’t just God’s method to provide for His church. It’s also His method of teaching you to trust Him.

Step Two – Agreeing with God

Hebrews 11:5 (NKJV)
^11:5By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Enoch pleased God. What was it that pleased God? His faith, but his faith was shown in his agreement with God – He walked with God (Genesis 5:22). In order to walk with together in the same direction you have to be in agreement. Enoch was in agreement with God and walked in His ways. He applied God’s will to his life, so God took him. This is a picture of the Rapture. If we agree with Jesus and walk in His ways; if we live His will for our lives, we will be called up with Him (1 Thessalonica 4:16-17). Are you ready to be called up into Heaven?

Step Three – Answering God’s Call

Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV)
^11:7By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

God called on Noah to build an ark to preserve mankind. God had a plan for all of mankind, man’s redemption, so he called on Noah to preserve mankind in preparation for the redeemer to come. Noah answered that call and built an ark. In faith! It had never rained until then (Genesis 6:5-22)!

Step Four – Following God’s Will

Hebrews 11:8 (NKJV)
^11:8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

God had a plan for Abraham’s life (Genesis 12:1-4), and he called him to leave his father’s house and his nation and follow God to a place that God would show him. Abraham followed because of His faith. He believed God for the promise that God had given him and followed. God has a promise for you. He has a plan for your life.

Step Five – Believing God for the Promise, No Matter What

Hebrews 11:17-19 (NKJV)
^11:17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," ¹⁹concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Not only did Abraham follow God, not sure of where He was going, he was sure of the promise. He knew that God would deliver the promise, even if God had to do a miracle to complete it. When he was tested, he offered up Isaac, the son that was the beginning of the promise God made to Abraham, because he was sure that God would keep His word even if He had to raise Isaac from the dead (Genesis 22:3-19).

Hebrews 11:13 (NKJV)
^11:13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

All of these people had the kind of faith that pleases God. You can see the progression. You start by trusting God for the things you can see and progress to the kind of faith that makes God proud. Hebrews 11:6 say “God is not ashamed to be called their God!”

Faith in Action

James 2:20 tells us that “Faith without works is dead.” It’s not just about believing God, it also about taking the actions of your faith. All of these not only believed but demonstrated their faith in their actions. I want to look at some others who acted out their faith.

Action One – Stepping Out of the World

Hebrews 11:24-27 (NKJV)
^11:24By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

Moses was raised as the grandson of Pharaoh. He was a future King of Egypt, but he gave it all up. He stepped out of the world and into God’s will. Egypt is the symbol of our lives before salvation, when we were still in slavery to sin and oppression. It’s like living in the world and outside of God’s will. Moses left all that behind to be in the will of God.

If we want to see Christ’s reward, then we also need to leave the world behind and live the life that will bring us the reward.

Action Two – Trusting God Through Trials and Afflictions

Hebrews 11:32-34 (NKJV)
^11:32And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ³³who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

The Christian life isn't all peaches and cream, as my mother would say. There are going to be trials and afflictions; there will be attacks and assaults, but this scripture tells us that God can deliver us. God can turn assaults and attacks into victories, but there has to be a step into action; believing God and stepping out knowing that God will bring you through. It’s not about not being afraid, it’s about facing that fear and going forward trusting in God, anyway. How often are we paralyzed by fear in assaults and not able to move forward because of it.

Action Three – Living Out God’s Will

Hebrews 11:38-40 (NKJV)
^11:38of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. ³⁹And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

The problem is that we don’t always see what God is doing. We don’t see all that God sees, or all that He’s doing in us. That’s why we so often complain about circumstances, instead of looking for what God might be using those circumstances to bring about in us, through our response to those circumstances. We need to learn to trust that what God is doing is to perfect or complete us.

1 Peter 5:10 (NKJV)
^5:10But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Suffering is how God works in us. Where is character built? In adversity or blessing? God is preparing us for His promise. He has to complete us according to that promise. If people in Heaven are just the same as in the world, then what’s the difference? Why all the suffering and struggle to remain the same. Th fact is that life in the world is the way we are changed and made new for life in Heaven.

A Recap

Steps to faith!

Step 1 – Giving:

Step 2 – Agreeing with God!

Step 3 – Answering God’s call!

Step 4 – Following God’s will!

Step 5 – Believing God for the Promise!

Faith in Action!

Action 1 – Stepping out of the world!

Action 2 – Trusting God through trials and afflictions –

Action 3 – Living out God’s will!

Don't Die in Haran

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 06:25:00 +0000

I talk a lot about finding the will of God for our lives. I also talk about how we need to respond to God’s call. God’s will and God’s call are intertwined. It’s one thing to be called, but it’s another thing to complete the call. That’s what God’s will is all about – Completing the call! Today, I want to post on our response to that call.

Genesis 11:31-32 (NKJV)
^11:31And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ³²So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 12:1-5 (NKJV)
^12:1Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. ²I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." ⁴So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.

Stopping Short on the Way to the Will of God

We all know that God made a promise to Abraham and that he was called to God’s purpose. God’s purpose was to bring about the redeemer that was promised in Genesis 3 – The one who would “bruise [Satan’s] head.” God told him, “in you all the families of the world would be blessed.”

The first part of God’s call was that he was called by God out of his father’s house. Terah was a pagan. He wasn’t a worshipper of the God of creation. Actually, he was a part of Sumerian moon god worship. That was the religion of the Chaldeans. Ur was the home of that religion.

Joshua 24:2NKJV

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.

In order for Abram to be a part of God’s purpose he would have to leave the religion of his father. This is why God told him, “Get out of your country, and from your father’s house!” God needed him to be separated to His purpose.

This is always the beginning of our calling. We are always called out of false religion Mormonism, Taoism, Buddhism, even atheism. Atheism is a religion – the worship of man’s intellect. In order to be separated to God’s use you have to leave behind the false gods.

That’s only the beginning, though, God has a purpose for you, salvation is only the beginning of purpose. You’re not saved for your purposes; just so you can go to heaven. You’re saved for God’s purposes – He has a plan. What happens all too often, though, is that people get saved and then stop. They don’t continue on to God’s purpose, they stop short – just like Terah.

It’s interesting as we read in our text in verse 31. Terah left Ur. He was headed toward Canaan. Canaan was the place he was called to, but he stopped in Haran. That word Haran means delay. Terah delayed the call of God.

How many of us are like Terah? How many know that there’s a call on our lives, but have become satisfied with where we are?

“The church is big enough.”

“At least I’m on my way to Heaven.”

“Now is the time for what I want out of life.”

Maybe God has called you to preach, are you learning how to do that? Maybe you’re called to be a pastor’s wife, but none of the guys with a calling are good-looking enough. “I’ll delay until the handsome ones get saved.” Maybe you’re called to the mission field but you’re not financially prepared for that. Are you taking steps to get ready, or is that just what you say to delay the call?

It doesn’t say why Terah stopped short and didn’t go all the way to Canaan. It only says he died in Haran. He died delaying the call. How would it be to stand before God, knowing that He called you Canaan and you stopped in Haran?

God called Abram and gave him the promise. If we’re unwilling to follow through on the call, God will find someone else that will respond.

Look at Esther’s story. In her time there was a plot in place to murder all the Jews. God needed someone to intervene for them and the call went to Esther through her uncle.

Esther 4:14 (NKJV)
^4:14For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

What he is telling her is that there’s a calling on her life and if she falters; if she fails live that calling the God will bring relief and deliverance from somewhere else but she will die delaying. Who knows if she has come into the kingdom for such a time as this. Who knows if you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this.

The Faith of the Calling

Do you know that your calling requires you to have faith? Faith has two components.

The first is believing God; trusting God at His word; knowing that God will bring you to complete His plan, in spite of whatever circumstances you may face. Joseph was sold into slavery, falsely imprisoned for rape, yet God still brought him through to His ultimate purpose. Joseph never lost his faith.

The second component is the action of faith, doing the things that prove that you believe, trust and know that God will deliver. It’s one thing to believe but it’s another thing to actually step out in faith. Our calling will aways require both components.

Abram hears from God, the God of the Bible, while he was living in Ur, no doubt, worshipping the gods of his father. It’s amazing that he recognized God as the true God. He had the faith that God would bring him to the promised land; that he would make his descendants number like the stars in the sky. That’s the first component of faith. The he followed God to a place he didn’t know; “a land that I will show you.” That’s the second component of faith.

1) “I hear your calling, and I believe you.
2) “I’ll follow you even though I don’t know where we’re going.”

God did deliver him into that promise. Abram’s descendants did number as the stars in the sky, and they did take possession of the promised land.

What happens when we lose faith to complete the call?

Numbers 13:1-3 (NKJV)
^13:1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²"Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them." ³So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.

This is God using Moses to call these men. He has a plan for them to spy out the land. God wants to use them to encourage His people. God wants to use the spies to inspire them. It was going to take faith to win the promise. They were going to be used to prepare the people for what they would face, but look at what happened:

Numbers 13:32-33 (NKJV)
^13:32And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

This isn’t a report of faith, is it?

“This is the land that God had promised. It’s a land of great abundance. It’s all that God said it would be, but we couldn’t possibly beat the people that are already here.”

Numbers 14:4 (NKJV)
^14:4So they said to one another, "Let us select a leader and return to Egypt."

God had called them to that place, but they didn’t enter in. I’ve seen men whom I know we’re called fall apart at this same place. They don’t have faith to move forward. They can’t see how God can use them to complete His purpose.

“Why will they listen to me?”

“How can I preach the Gospel there?”

“It’s a different culture…”, and they back away from the call.

In the case of our text, this lack of faith led directly to forty years in the desert. The entire generation died delaying. Not a single one of those who lost faith set a foot into the promised land.

What happens to us if we step away from the calling on our lives? Terah died in Haran. Esther was told that she and her father’s house would perish, and the entire generation of Israel missed out on the promised land and perished in the wilderness. If we back out on our calling, we may not miss out on heaven but we will miss out on the destiny that God has for us on earth.

The Blessing of Calling

God called Abraham out of his country. His calling was to begin the lineage of Jesus.

Luke 2:10-14 (NKJV)
^2:10Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

This is the outcome of Abraham’s obedience. The birth of Jesus, the savior and redeemer of all men. In Abraham’s obedience the entire world was blessed. Just as God had promised it would be in Genesis 12:3.

We don’t know what God wants to do through us. We don’t know where God’s plan will end up, but there is a calling on our lives. God does have a purpose for your salvation. It is expected that you will live it out.

The final thing I want to tell you is that there’s a promise linked to your obedience to that calling. God’s promise and God’s destiny for you are linked to how you respond to that calling.

The Forfeit of Intimacy with God

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 05:02:00 +0000

As we come to salvation there is something that takes place in us. We come to know God for whom He really is. We begin to see God as a righteous God, a holy God and a loving father. When we have an earthly father who loves us and blesses us, and there is an intimacy that springs up between us. We can know and have an intimate relationship with God in much the same way.

God is also able to have an intimate relationship with us. Look at the relationship he had with Adam. They walked together in the garden in the “cool of the day.[i]” They knew each other; there’s understanding there. God knows each one of us down to our smallest parts.

Luke 12:7 (NKJV)
^12:7But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.

He even knows how many hairs are on our heads. That’s a detail we don’t even know about ourselves, but God does.

We, as Christians can often begin with a deep intimate relationship with God, but can that intimacy be lost? Can we forfeit our intimacy with God? People forfeit intimate relationships with other people all the time. Marriage relationships are broken because of infidelity, the breaking of vows. Family relationships are broken because of domestic violence or other causes. Parental relationships can be destroyed by abuse and alcohol and drug addiction.

In many cases those relationships cannot be restored because a refusal to forgive or because the relational trust is broken. We can forfeit intimacy with God also. We violate His trust. We bring deceit and intrigue into the relationship. Today I want to post on the forfeiture of Intimacy:

Revelation 2:1-3 (NKJV)
^2:1"To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: ²I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.

Forfeiting Intimacy with God

In the Book of Revelation Jesus writes a letter to the Ephesians. He commends them for their labor and patience in persecution. They continue to labor for God and they despise evil but He also rebukes them.

Revelation 2:4-5 (NKJV)
^2:4Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent.

Nevertheless, I have this against you; “You have left your first love.” They’re no longer intimate with God. They’re still laboring but, in their hearts, they’ve lost the desire for a real relationship with God. They’re laboring for Jesus because that’s what they do, not because they have a real desire to serve Him.

This isn’t intimacy with God. It’s a behavior similar to schoolchildren memorizing a poem or a famous speech. They can repeat them perfectly and still have no understanding of what the poem or speech means. It’s behavior, there’s no intimacy with the writer, that comes from understanding.

We can continue to do the things that are called “serving God,” like praying, but without intimacy. We are just saying words - It’s habit. We’ve lost the intimacy with God because we have drifted from the call of God on our lives.

David is the king of Israel. God called him to lead the nation in 1 Samuel 16. God even called him, “a man after my own heart.”[ii] By 2 Samuel 11, David has lost his desire for what God has called him to do. He’s become bored and complacent with his calling, and he’s backed off.

2 Samuel 11:1 NKJV
It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

In the springtime when the kings go to war David stays back. He’s no longer striving for the will of God…he’s arrived! He’s laying back on his laurels and past victories. This is a huge contrast to the David whose psalms are filled with cries of worship and devotion. What could have caused this man to fall from that level of intimacy into what he has become, which is an adulterer and murderer. David should have led his generals into battle as is the duty of the king.

In verse 2, David arises from bed one evening. Not in the middle of the night but in the evening, when the sun is still out. He sees Bathsheba bathing; lust is kindled and in one moment of sin and self-gratification he forfeits his relationship with God.

2 Samuel 11:2-4a NKJV
Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So, David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her…

Then to cover his sin he kills Bathsheba’s husband, his friend, Uriah the Hittite. David makes a conscious choice here; he’s not stumbling around and falling into sin. He understands the sin of adultery. He recognizes that the sin is against God. He understands what he has done. Look at how many sins David broke, this “man after God’s own heart.”

He broke the tenth commandment, in coveting another man’s wife; the seventh in committing adultery; the eighth in stealing what did not belong to him; and the sixth in committing murder. All because he had drifted out of the will of God and become complacent in what God had done for him.

I’m positive that he was sure that he couldn’t be led into sin like this. So, where did it start? It started when he stopped responding to the call of God and refused to lead his men into battle. We are at no less risk than David when we also keep ourselves out of God’s will. Where is intimacy with God found these days? In prayer, hearing from God and responding to His call. Not just saying words but engaging with God. In the Bible studying and feeding on the word of God. An intimate relationship begins by knowing someone. You learn whom God is by reading the Bible. In church, hearing the word of God preached.

How well do you know God? Are you engaged in strengthening your relationship with God? When we lay back out of those things we are complacent in the same way David was. When we’re complacent and we’ve seen no consequences, we think that Go will understand, but there is a consequence and it’s subtle. Our mind is no longer trained on His will, our faith is no longer strengthened and we come to a point where we no longer know and understand God like we once did.

That’s when we’re susceptible to sin like David was. The loss of intimacy isn’t a consequence of sin. Sin is a consequence of the loss of intimacy.

What About Failure?

What can we do when we fail? What can we do when we break ranks with God? What we do with our failure is an indicator of the strength of our relationship with God. At some point we’ll fail, we all do. It’s not If we fail but when we fail.

In Davd’s case he immediately confessed his sin, not that he sinned against Uriah the Hittite but against God.

Psalms 51:4 (NKJV)
^51:4Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

David was a man after God’s own heart because of the quality of his repentance. He longed for a return to that level of intimacy with God. He realized that he violated that relationship. His repentance opened the door for restoration.

That’s the key or us as well, it’s restoration we desire. Failure is not meant to be an end point. Men have failed many times and returned to success. Donald Trump failed to win reelection in 2020, but in 2024 he has become the forty-seventh president of the United States. It’s being called the greatest comeback in American politics. He could have allowed that failure to destroy him but instead made a decision to move forward.

We can allow our personal failures to destroy us, or we can be like David and cry out to God saying, “I have failed, restore me and draw me back into a relationship with you, the joy of my salvation."

David Had a Right Heart with God

God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David for his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah the Hittite. David had a right heart with God. He didn’t react to Nathan’s rebuke with anger and hostility. He recognized his sin, accepted what he had done and immediately turned to God for forgiveness. He didn’t complain about how the devil had tricked him. He didn’t blame his sin on Bathsheba for being seen naked. He turned to Nathan and said, "I have sinned." Because of the way he accepted his responsibility and repented before God, God put away his sin and didn’t kill him.

God has a history of restoring us back into relationship with Him. He restored Jonah when he sinned and ran from God’s calling.

Jonah 3:1 (NKJV)
^3:1Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,

He had tried to hide from God’s command to go to the Ninevites, but after repenting God once more called on him and was able to use him, restoring the intimacy. God spoke through Jonah once again.

The pot that was marred in the potter’s hand was made new once again.

Jeremiah 18:4 (NKJV)
^18:4And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

Because David cried out for restoration God did restore unto him the joy of his salvation. He did restore the intimacy between them, and David continued to be a powerful leader of the people of God well into his old age.

Where is intimacy cultivated? Where is the desire for friendship with God built? It’s built in prayer, in the study of His word, and in the hearing the preaching of the word of God. You’re not going to find intimacy with God by lazing around the palace but in diligent obedience to the call of God.

I always say, “Pray, read your Bible, go to church.” Ninety percent of what I preach is just that, because it is in these things that intimacy with God is first found.

[i] Genesis 3:8-9 NKJV

[ii] 1 Samuel 13:14 NKJV

Leviathan

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:10:00 +0000

In this post, I want to talk about something that’s not totally familiar to most people. It’s something we all deal with at some point. It’s a part of spiritual warfare. Something we must be careful to recognize and deal with in our own lives, but you don’t always see posts like this, so I want to present this because I want to educate people about this. Even more than that, though, I want to begin a conversation about dominion.

Dominion is the ability to overcome and defeat the devil and defeat his plans for your life. He really hates us and wants to destroy us and our effectiveness in bringing about the Kingdom of God.

How many problems in life are the result of spiritual issues? How many are the result of a lack of dominion and spiritual authority on our parts? This post is a step toward taking dominion in your life.

Isaiah 27:1 NKJV

In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.

Leviathan

M. Scott Peck, an American psychiatrist, and author of the book, The People of the Lie, said in his book that many of people’s problems are explainable in common psychiatric practices. However, he also makes the statement that he has, “seen the face of evil.”

“When the demonic finally spoke…an expression appeared. It was an incredibly contemptuous grin of utter malevolence. I have spent any hours inf ront of a mirror trying to imitate it without the slightest success… The patient suddenly resembled a writhing spirit serpent of great strength., viciously trying to bite the team members. More frightening than the writhing body however, was the face![i]

This is Leviathan! Leviathan is like a sea serpent, a twisting spirit. It is a description of a type of spiritual power. I believe there are only two sources of spiritual power in the universe today – God and the devil. Look at the description of Satan in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 20:2 NKJV

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Leviathan isn’t a name for the devil, it’s a description of the power that he wields, a form of action. He takes the things of God and twists them, perverts them. That’s the spirit of Leviathan!

A lack of spiritual authority and dominion in your life is an open door to sin; to unrighteous thought and behavior. We call that unrighteousness iniquity.

Iniquity is a twisting dynamic, something happens when one’s mind or spirit gets twisted. It’s not just your neighbor or circumstances. It is your mind. It is a demonic twisting of the mind.[ii]

Iniquity is not just everyday sin; it’s unrighteousness of the heart. In other words, iniquity is a character issue, it’s part of what makes up your moral choices. When there is a lack of spiritual authority in your life, when you’re not standing on God’s principles your mind and character begin to twist. That affects your thoughts, your understanding and your behavior. You are no longer in your right mind. There is a twisting effect.

A [church] pastor in 1990, was involved in a church rebellion. In a meeting he literally lost his “I have it all together.” Some described it as going “ballistic.” This was not the event of a moment although it may have looked that way. No, somewhere he had opened a door or given place in his mind to this twisting spirit.. The issues were twisted in his heart. His motives twisted his view of leadership.[iii]

People who are twisted cannot think properly about correction, discipline or even advice. That spirit (Leviathan) rages against the stable and godly mind. They seek to make trouble, leading others into their twisted pattern of thought. Leviathan divides, Leviathan ruins relationships; Leviathan destroys:

Proverbs 12:8 NKJV

A man will be commended according to his wisdom, But he who is of a perverse heart will be despised.

This is the strategy of the Leviathan spirit, to destroy fellowship and defeat God’s promises in you by destroying your faith in the promise through causing you to suspect God’s intentions and your leader’s intentions.

1John 2:18-19 NKJV

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

Who were they that went out? They were members of the church; they were in fellowship with the saints, but their minds were captivated by twisted strengths of arguments and imaginations against God and His people and so they left.

Do you know who they are? They’re the “former members” that speak against the church in public with statements of twisted fact. “It’s a cult, they’ll tell you whom you have to marry.” “They shun those who’ve left. That’s Leviathan!

Have you ever felt like that? That there’s nothing for you but defeat? Do you feel like even God is against you; that the other people in the church are against you? That’s Leviathan.

One last statement about Leviathan. He cannot be tamed by you. He is untamable. You cannot control demonic power in the flesh!

What About Your Life?

This is a spirit that gains access to your heart but demonic forces have no right to you. They cannot just enter into a mind that is solidly focused on God’s will. They cannot enter into a heart that is filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit. They can only enter into a heart that is opened to them. A heart that is not released from sin.

One covert gave a great testimony of deliverance. She was doing really well but later confessed that she never gave up smoking marijuana with “friends.” Soon she found herself compromised and began doing all she had been doing before salvation.[iv]

This was the beginning of her “born again” life but she’d never broken away from the habits and friends of the old life.

Think of the things that you say. Are they God surrendered words or are they the language of the old life? What are you watching? What are you listening to and thinking about? Are they the things of God or the things of the world? These are important questions, because these things can be an open door for Leviathan. We’ve seen people caught up in twisted words and tortured logic, because there was door that was never closed in their lives. Think about the following scripture for a moment.

Isaiah 49:24

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?

Is your life and the pursuit of God available to be taken? Are your thoughts captive to the will of God, or are they vulnerable to hijack? Can the things of God be taken from you? When are the things in your home vulnerable to thieves and hijackers? When your doors are open and unguarded. When are the thoughts of your mind vulnerable? When the door to your mind is open and unguarded. We must protect our hearts and mind from Leviathan. One way we do that is to slam the door to the old life. Another is to guard the door and not allow the desires and lusts of the eyes and flesh to gain access to our minds. You need a bouncer to cast out worldly things. When we yield ourselves to the demonic, when we surrender to sin, we are not merely held captive; It’s not that we just become prisoners. What happens is that we have given the demonic he right to access. We aren’t just captives we are legally possessed by hell, because we have broken and/or ignored God’s law and will. Hell owns us.

Leviathan is a spirit you must survive. You must survive the whispering of Leviathan in your ear. You must survive Leviathan’s strategies. Leviathan is the king over the children of pride.

Job 41:34 NKJV

[Leviathan] beholds every high thing; He is king over all the children of pride."

Pride is the spirit of Lucifer – The spirit of Satan. You will not defeat Leviathan in your pride. Pride says, “I will never make that mistake again!” You will! Pride says, “I know better now!” You don’t! Pride says, “I’m in control!” You’re not!

The Sword That Pierces Leviathan

It may seem like there’s no hope. How can we ever overcome? It’s in what I think. It’s in what I feel. It’s in the life I’ve lived to this point. It’s in my old habits. It’s even in the way I speak. I’m defeated; I will suffer oppression for the rest of my life. I can never be anything than what I am now.

Never underestimate the power of Salvation. When a soul is saved a miracle takes place. Hard core sinners set free of horrible addictions, in a moment; instantaneous relief. It’s God that defeats the powers of hell and darkness. It’s God that frees us from bondages, habits, evil thoughts and sin. It’s the great promise of God. It’s by God’s plan that Leviathan is defeated.

Jesus came to destroy Satan’s power. Jesus came to set us free from sin. Jesus came to liberate us from the possession of hell. God promised that in the Garden of Eden. That promise holds true today, because God keeps His promises.

"Jacquelle Crowe, as a teen, wrote a book for teens about the miracle of salvation. In it she tells the story of a prominent pastor. He heard a message at a youth conference that stunned him. The speaker said being a Christian wouldn’t change anything. You could keep the same friends and keep up the same activities. In effect, the things you enjoyed would remain things you could enjoy even after salvation. She titled her book, This Changes Everything. She then went on to explain salvation meant friendships and relationships were all changed. The view of God and the church were changed. Salvation changed everything. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit transformed everything about her life. In a moment of time and through a simple prayer everything changed.”[v]

Jacquelle Crowe is no longer held captive to a twisting spirit that wants to keep her captive. She was set free, liberated, in a moment of time by the miracle work of salvation – and so can you be!

Deliverance: Where is the God of Miracles?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 02:32:00 +0000

A number of years ago, my father died. I was living in Southern California and he lived about six hours away in Northern California. I received a phone call that he was in the hospital and that he had probably reached the end of his life. So, I left to go see him, one last time.

On the way a tow truck in front of me dropped a chain that hit the freeway and bounced up into the engine compartment of my car, damaging a number of the hoses and belts.

I had to wait for a tow truck, and then rent a car to continue to get to the hospital, where my father was. It took about twelve hours. My father was slipping into death and was lying on the bed. He had tubes down his throat, his eyes were closed and he was nonresponsive.

I laid hands on him and prayed for him, asking God for more time. Then my mom and I went to get something to eat. I hadn’t eaten all day. When we got back, all of my father’s vital signs had revived and he was sitting up and removing the tubes. I got to spend a day with him before he died. A Miracle.

All of us have times when we’re struggling. All of us have times of great need; times when we think our circumstances are impossible. All of us have times when we need a miracle! I believe there are times when all of us read our Bibles, and see the miracles that God has done, and think to ourselves, “Where is the God of miracles, now, when I need Him.”

Judges 6:11-13 (NKJV)
^6:11Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. ¹²And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!" ¹³Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."

Where is the God of Miracles?

At this time in Israel’s history, they were being harassed by the Midianites. Words often have double meanings. In the Bible Midian is a place, a nation; but the word Midian in Hebrew means strife. Another word for strife is struggle.

We’ve all heard about Shammah and the beanfield. He fought and defeated the Philistines, protecting the harvest. The Philistines represented the cares of the world. He kept the cares of the world from stealing the harvest. The Midianites in our text represent great struggle or hardship. So, this is a time of great hardship for Israel. Midian sweeps in and destroys their crops., keeping them poor and in need. Every time they think they’re getting ahead; Midian comes in and beats them down again – over and over. At this point Israel is desperate for a leader that can destroy Midian and deliver them from this oppression. They’re crying out for deliverance.

How many times have you felt like Israel?

“Every time I think I’m turning a corner in my finances – In my marriage – In my job – In whatever it is, something comes along and kicks my feet out from under me, and I’m right back where I started!”

That’s what Israel had been going through for the past seven years. They’re tired, they’re beaten down and they need deliverance.

It’s in the middle of all this, that our text takes place. We come across Gideon and he is out at the wine press, threshing wheat. The wine press is not the place to do that. He’s doing it in hopes of keeping it from the Midianites. He’s hiding; he’s avoiding them.

That’s when the Angel of the Lord comes along and sits down under the Terebinth tree, and he says to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

He hears those words, and he can’t believe it. God is with us? Really, God is with us? The God my fathers talked about? The One who did miracles? The One who opened the sea? The One who delivered the people from Egypt? We need that God, now and I don’t see Him!

“Where is the God of miracles, now?

I’m willing to bet that Gideon isn’t the only person who’s ever felt that way. Maybe even you’ve felt that way. Maybe you read your Bible and you see powerful things:

Blind men who can see! Lame men who can walk! Demons cast out – defeated! Dead men raised! You say to yourself, “Where is the God who does that? How come I never seem to get miracles when I need them? Why doesn’t God move like that for me”

God showed up for Gideon. God came to him. It was after seven years of troubles. (Seven is the number of completion.) You can say God came to him when it was time. Israel’s trial was over – It was time for deliverance. God had seen that they had suffered enough!

Are you suffering, right now? Are you struggling, right now? Are you looking for a God of miracles? Do you need deliverance? He’ll come. He sees, He knows, He’s a deliverer. He will deliver you. Maybe you’ve prayed and nothing happened. Maybe you’ve given up. God knows, there have been a lot of people who’ve walked away. People who’ve left God, saying to themselves, “There is no God of miracles! I needed Him and He wasn’t there for me!”

Isn’t that what Gideon is saying? “The God of miracles? There is no God of miracles, anymore! If there is, where is He? Where’s the God miracles? These Midianites are killing us!” But the angel of the Lord has shown up, to call on Gideon to deliver his people.

Mighty Man of Valor

Judges 6:14-16 (NKJV)
^6:14Then the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?" ¹⁵So he said to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." ¹⁶And the Lord said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man."

He’s sitting under the Terebinth tree – It’s like an Oak Tree. It symbolizes strength. It symbolizes power. He sits under that tree and calls Gideon:

“The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

At this point he’s hiding from the Midianites. I’m thinking Gideon isn’t feeling like a mighty man of valor at that moment. He’s hiding – he’s fearful – He’s not valorous, he’s not courageous. Gideon has been complaining that God has forsaken them and the Lord says –

“Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.”

Me? Are you talking to me? Who am I? I can’t face all of Midian. I’m not a powerful or brave man, I’m just a guy. I’m just a man, I don’t have ANY power! I’m just me. Gideon knows who he is – He’s defeated before he even starts to fight! It’s impossible – I’m weak! I’m useless! I’m the weakest in my father’s house.

You know, I get that – I understand that. Sometimes I feel like I can’t do anything. Look at me – I even need help to dress. Have I accomplished anything? Have I done anything to move the Gospel of Jesus Christ forward – to bring the kingdom of God to earth?

You know one time in Riverside… Riverside has a lot of churches. Big churches. One has 15,000 people; another one has 11,000. Big churches, lots of people. So, we were outreaching at a night market. And I met another pastor. I had been there two years and so had he. So we were talking and I asked him, just out of curiosity “How many people in your church?” Eighteen hundred! Eighteen hundred after just 2 years. And then he says to me, “How about you?” Thirteen… “Thirteen hundred?” I didn’t want to answer. Let him think that. I couldn’t do it… “No, just thirteen!”

I was embarrassed. I felt like an idiot. I was like Gideon, “I’m worthless! I’m weak!” I am the least in my Father’s house. Thirteen people; who was I to think I could deliver anything?

That’s where Gideon was at – That’s where some of you are. “I’ve failed so many times – Who am I to think I could overcome, now?” What did the Lord say, though? What did he say to me?

“Have I not called you? This isn’t your fight – I called you and I will be with you. It’s time for deliverance, so pull up your big boy pants and fight!”

God is there in the middle of your suffering – And God will be there in the middle of the battle – And God will be there fighting alongside you. I called you, and I don’t make mistakes. You can win this battle because God is with you.

You can win this battle that you’re facing because God is with you. God said, “Gideon you WILL destroy Midian, because I will be there!” We need God to be there.

When God was about to deliver Israel from Egypt, Moses said, “If we go You have to come with us, because if You’re not going, I don’t want to go, either!” God answered and said, “I will be with you.” God will be with you, too.

A Miracle Happened

Judges 7:7-8 (NKJV)
^7:7Then the Lord said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place." ⁸So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

Judges 7:12 (NKJV)
^7:12Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

Gideon looks down into that valley and there’s the Midianites. They can’t even be counted – there’s too many of them. That’s a whole lot of problems. That a lot of struggle – it’s never-ending.

That’s life. That’s how life is, one struggle – one problem after another. It never ends. You get through one thing and a hundred more things are right there behind it!

Gideon looks back and he has three hundred men behind him. How can he do this? How can he win against these odds? Because God was with him; and he did win – He defeated Midian!

Judges 7:16-18 (NKJV)
^7:16Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷And he said to them, "Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: ¹⁸When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, 'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!' "

That was God’s plan – three hundred men with no weapons – only trumpets, empty pitchers and torches:

Judges 7:22-23 (NKJV)
^7:22When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. ²³And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

The Lord set every man against his companion. The Midianites turned on each other and destroyed themselves. God delivered them.

Why would He do it like that? Why did he cut the number of soldiers down from thirty thousand to three hundred men? Here’s why:

Judges 7:2 (NKJV)
^7:2And the Lord said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'

He wanted them to know it was Him that delivered them; that it’s God who brings the victory. It's funny how when things go good, we congratulate ourselves, and when they go bad, we blame God. God wanted them to know who brought the deliverance.

Do you know why the Bible has stories like this? Do you know why God set this in here? So that we can see that God delivers – That God is with us. He said, “I will not forsake you.” He’s there, right in the midst of your struggles. He will deliver you from the Midianites – the struggles and problems – in your life, so that you will give him the Glory.

Two final things:

1) That other pastor, he may have had a lot more people, He may have had a lot more money, he may have had a much nicer facility. I had only thirteen, but that was thirteen souls snatched from the gates of Hell, not from some other church. On August 5, 2021 that little church celebrated twenty years in that city.

2) I needed that time with my dad! I was afraid that he would pass without me being there! Without me being able to let him know I loved him. God did a personal miracle for me!

He IS the God of Miracles!

End Times: The Spirit of Our Age

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 18:42:00 +0000

Editor's Note: This post may be somewhat controversial. It has been written as a warning of judgments that face our world as we approach the day of judgment.

A church that I pioneered in Riverside, California recently celebrated twenty years of service to that community. Looking back, it seems like a simpler time. There was no real threat of terrorism in the US at that time. The economy was working fairly well. Race relations seemed less tense.

The church opened on August 5, 2001 and a few short weeks later was the attack on the World Trade center. I remember thinking that this would cause people to come to church and hear from God. It did to a certain extent. People came to church, but not many stayed for the long term. After they began to feel better, they went back to their old habits with regard to God.

I believe that through that attack, something changed in America. Something was released into, not just the US, but the entire world – A spirit – the spirit of our age. That’s what I want to post on today:

2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (NKJV)
^2:1Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ²not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. ³Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. ⁵Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

The Spirit of Our Age – Lawlessness

I don’t want you to think that this is political. I am not going to preach politics:

Romans 13:1 (NKJV)
^13:1Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

I believe this – God is in control and God can use governments for His purposes; for His own reasons. He used the Assyrians, who were terrorists; pagan, godless enemies of Israel. He sent His people to Babylon to serve under Nebuchadnezzar, another godless enemy. For seventy years they were subject to the whims of a corrupt government and king.

God used those nations and those authorities as His instrument of judgment. His purpose was to draw the people back to Him. That was His purpose for those leaders, so:

Joe Biden is the President of the United States; God has ordained him for this time, in the same way that Donald Trump was ordained by God. This is not about politics or who’s the president, but in these times:

“In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics’. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia. – George Orwell 1984

I believe that Governments are being used by God, at this time, to prepare for the return of Jesus. Th main thrust of what I’m writing about is this: On September 11, 2001 a spirit was released into the earth. It has changed the course and direction of the entire world!

Look at these changes that have taken place in the United States.

1. The “Patriot Act.” Formally titled: The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, is intended to give the government the ability to monitor terrorists’ phone calls and be able to react accordingly to protect the nation from further attacks.

As a result, certain rights regarding search and seizure have been disregarded. Your phone and computer are being monitored twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Whereas in the past this was only possible through the use of a warrant, it is now routine.

It’s important to understand that the rights outlined in the constitution are God-given rights. The Bill of Rights doesn’t list what rights the government has granted us, it lists the rights that the government can’t take away from us.

2. We are seeing great government overreach, that’s when the governments steps beyond the rights we’re guaranteed. An example would be the “Vaccine Mandate and Passport”. You can’t work without the vaccine. You can’t go into stores or restaurants without a vaccine. You aren’t able to have customers in your stores unless your staff is vaccinated.

Revelation 13:17 (NKJV)
^13:17and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

I’m not saying that the vaccine is good or bad. I’m not saying whether or not you should be vaccinated. I’m not even saying that this is the mark, but it sure looks like practice for the mark. It’s conditioning to get people to accept it.

3. There’s a lack of accountability on the part of our leaders. A drone strike in Afghanistan is reported to have killed two leaders of ISIS-K, when, in fact, it killed a relief worker and seven innocent children. The president of the United States refuses to even speak about it!

4. Look at the massive lies in our media. You don’t know what’s true anymore. You don’t really know what happened. You can’t tell if it's news or propaganda.

Another quote from George Orwell in his book 1984:

The very concept of truth is fading out in our world. Lies will pass into history.

5. Finally, there’s the censorship of ideas and words that don’t fit into the political narrative. The Hunter Biden laptop story comes to mind. On social media the reporting about it was censored. It was called misinformation; "Russian Disinformation". They said it was to protect us from being misled, but recently, it was proven to be true.

I’m not being political. This is not a political issue it is a spiritual issue, that’s pulling us into the time of judgment. This spirit has a name. It’s name is lawlessness.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-9 (NKJV)
^2:7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. ⁹The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,

The spirit of lawlessness already exists in our world. So, we can say the spirit of antichrist already exists…and it is growing in power every day. These are indeed perilous times.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NKJV)
^3:1But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ²For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Look at this description of people in the last days. Does it seem to you that more and more people are acting exactly like that?

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud…

Billionaires, politicians, Hollywood actors – The Elite!

disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴traitors…

Antifa, BLM, CRT, anarchists, Marxists – The Self Righteous!

headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…

Pedophiles, hedonists, homosexuals, transgenders – The Deviants!

What do these people have in common? A spirit of lawlessness. They have turned their backs on God. Look at this:

Romans 1:28-31 (NKJV)
^1:28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; ²⁹being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;

This is the spirit we’re witnessing in these last days. It’s the spirit of lawlessness – the spirit of antichrist.

Our society is often defined as a “post-Christian society.”

Before Covid – It was estimated that eight thousand churches closed every year. It is estimated that in 2021, that number could climb to sixteen thousand. That equates to roughly forty churches every day. – church answers.com

People are leaving the church, both in-person and on-line; but this is prophesied in verse three of our text.

2 Thessalonians 2:3a (NKJV)
^2:3Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first…

The falling away is happening right before our eyes. It is a product of the release of the spirit of lawlessness. The next thing will be rapture, followed by the revealing of the “man of sin” – the lawless one; the antichrist. We are very close to these events. My thought is that the antichrist is alive and waiting to be revealed.

Do Not Be Fooled

The stakes are very high in our times. Time is winding up. We are rapidly approaching the end of the church age. I believe we will see the rapture of the church:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NKJV)
^4:16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

“He who restrains will be taken out of the way.” This is from our text in verse 7:

2 Thessalonians 2:7 (NKJV)
^2:7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.

I want you to think a moment how the Holy Spirit restrains. It’s through Christians, through our lifestyles, through our words, and through our testimonies – the pressure that's placed on society by our beliefs. This is why it is important for Christians to vote their consciences.

When we are removed what will be left to influence sinners? The answer to that is their own morality, but their morality leads to abortion;

According to the CDC there are 186 abortions per 1,000 live births. That equals 2,326 abortions every day, about 98 per hour, or one abortion every 37 seconds. – Guttmacher Institute

Their morality allows them to fight for the rights of pedophiles. The theme for the 2015 Gay Pride Parade in Taipei was “Act Your Love, Not Your Age”. The meaning was that the age of consent should be repealed.

Their morality allows them to fill school libraries with transgender and pornographic material. The following is from a news article appearing on WND.com:

Stacy Langton opened by explaining that she watched what had happened at a Texas school board meeting after parents discovered two books accessible to their children, "Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison and "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe. Langton looked for and found the books at her own child’s school, Fairfax High School, as well as other places in the county, including Robinson Secondary School where students as young as 12 could access the books.

Langton discovered that the books depicted pedophilia and sex between men and boys, including one book that showed a fourth-grade boy performing oral sex on an adult male. – This is from Sept. 2021

https://www.wnd.com/2021/09/mom-reveals-books-school-libraries-depicting-child-porn-pedophilia/

As this woman testified before the school board, they shut off her microphone. Those are just three examples. I haven’t even mentioned human trafficking, slavery, sexual abuse of children and women, racism, political corruption or the thousands of other perversions and defilements, their morality allows them to be a part of. If the restraint of the Holy Spirit is removed, anything goes. Lawlessness will abound and the “lawless One” will arise.

Let me also just say they will be happy when you are gone. They’ll be happy when you aren’t preaching your morals to them. They’ll be happy – until the fruits of their sin begin to be felt. They’ll rejoice in the antichrist until the judgments begin:

Revelation 6:2 (NKJV)
^6:2And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

I believe this is the rise of the antichrist, a counterfeit of Jesus, and a political leader. He comes first as a man of peace, but eventually:

Revelation 6:4 (NKJV)
^6:4Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

This is war. Peace will be taken from the earth, by the same political leader. He will make war against the tribulation saints.

Revelation 6:5-6 (NKJV)
^6:5When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine."

The black horse represents famine; food shortages. The rider, again the antichrist, will determine who gets food and who doesn’t. This is the time that the mark of the beast will be implemented. No one can buy and sell without the mark. Finally:

Revelation 6:8 (NKJV)
^6:8So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

Violence, pestilences, wild animals, a quarter of the world’s population will be destroyed. There will be other judgments as well, martyrs, earthquakes, asteroids and many people will die. Hell will follow with him.

This is to what the spirit of lawlessness leads. At the end of all of this Jesus will come back. The power of the antichrist will be destroyed. That will be followed by the Day of Judgment.

Why is All This Necessary

What is the purpose of God’s judgment? It’s always to draw people back to Him. He uses governments for judgments. This post is a wake-up call, that was my intention. I believe that we are posed on the edge of the rapture and subsequent judgments.

World evangelism is like igniting a fire that consumes the earth. I’m using this post to emphasize the urgency of the fire. We stand at the crossroads of eternity and judgment. The Door Church in Tucson, Arizona has always been an ignition point. We have lit a blaze that is burning right now in countless cities and nations. The fire has been lit by the releasing of men and their wives into the nations to enlarge the kingdom of God. Pray that it becomes a conflagration befoe the church age winds up.

John 9:4 (NKJV)
^9:4I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.

The Night is coming. The spirit of lawlessness is like twilight. The Darkness draws near!

Deliverance: Goliath Had A Brother!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 07:03:00 +0000

I’ve been a pastor for nineteen years. In fact, August 1, 2001 was the day we opened the church we founded in Riverside, California. In those nineteen years, I have seen a lot, and one of the things I have seen over and over is people who just can’t seem to break away from certain sins. It’s like they’re trapped in that thing – They think they’ve beaten it, only to come have it come back at a later time.

The problem with this is that people begin to think that they can’t be completely delivered; that there’s a reliance on willpower for deliverance.

There’s a young man that attends one of our Free Talk Sessions that is quite taken with my testimony about how I stopped drinking. He wants to do the same thing, but without Jesus and he’s struggling with it. I have to declare to you right now, I could not have stopped drinking without Jesus in my life. I can state that so positively, because I tried many times to quit drinking, unsuccessfully, before I got saved.

Willpower cannot keep you from sin. There will be weak moments that will cause you to do that thing you don’t want to do. This is why twelve step programs will say that you are forever an addict. I have news for them, I am an ex-drunk! I’m delivered.

The real question, today is, “Why do some people go back to the sin from which they’ve been delivered?” That’s what I want to explore in this post – Through David’s life!

2 Samuel 21:15-17 (NKJV)
^21:15When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. ¹⁶Then Ishbi-Benob, who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. ¹⁷But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."

Goliath Had A Brother

I believe, as a Christian, that one of the biggest things we struggle with is our old sin. It’s supposed to be “buried with Christ in baptism.” (Romans 6:4). “Put off the Old man and put on the new.” (Ephesians 4:22-24). “Walk in the newness of life.” (Romans 6:4).

The problem is that some of those things are stubborn and difficult. It’s not easy to defeat some habits and addictions. The Bible says that “we are slaves to sin;” they own us! They can be giants that we face and have to fight to defeat.

I want to talk about David and his defeat of the giant, but I want to look at it in a little different way. We all know the story – A young shepherd faces and defeats a battle hardened giant.

So, look at this: David has decided that he will destroy the giant and he’s preparing for the battle:

1 Samuel 17:40 (NKJV)
^17:40Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.

Why did David take five stones? Does he think he’s going to need five stones to defeat Goliath? Is he afraid God isn’t going to help him? The answer is that Goliath had a brother and he had three sons. David knew he might not have to defeat just Goliath. He knew that there might be others who came for him. David did defeat Goliath with just one stone.

1 Samuel 17:49-51 (NKJV)
^17:49Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. ⁵⁰So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

David destroyed the giant with one stone, then he cut off his head. You don’t get much deader than that! No head equals totally dead!

So, let’s think about this for a moment. Why do people get saved? People don’t come to Jesus when everything is good. “I’m so blessed, I need Jesus!” People usually get saved when they’re sick of the way they’re living. In my own case, I thought I’d ruined my life! I was exhausted, sick and depressed. I was addicted to alcohol, a depressant, what else could I expect? I needed to defeat that giant in my life – alcohol!

For others it may have been something different – maybe financial debt, or sickness, or marital problems. Whatever it was that led you to Jesus was probably a giant in your life, and you were looking to defeat it. Some of you may still be in the process of selecting your stone, or running out to face it. Others have already cut off the giant’s head. Maybe its been a while. Maybe you’ve even testified, “I beat my giant (whatever it was)!” Months later, or years later it’s come back, you’re facing it again and you don’t understand why. I’ll tell you why – Goliath had a brother!

When David defeated Goliath, he was seventeen years old. He hadn’t become king yet. That didn’t happen until he was thirty. So, our text takes place many years after he killed the giant, but now he finds himself fighting with a giant once again. The giants have come back! The original giant has been defeated – He’s not coming back from the dead. That original deliverance in your life wasn’t temporary. The giant in your life has been destroyed, it’s not coming back, either, but a similar thing is rising up to destroy you. This is what’s happening in our text – Do you think this son of Goliath isn’t gunning for the man who killed dear old dad? Of course, he is! The devil hasn’t given up on you, either – He wants his revenge!

This Happens to Mature Christians

Look at verse 15 of our text:

2 Samuel 21:15 (NKJV)
^21:15When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint.

David has been engaged in the battle. He’s been fighting, and the Bible says, David grew faint!” He’s weary. The devil above all other things is an opportunist. He watches and waits, and when the time is right, he comes back. He even did that with Jesus!

Luke 4:13 (NKJV)
^4:13Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

When he saw that he couldn’t tempt Jesus at that time, he departed “until an opportune time.” Goliath’s son waited until David was weary to attack him. He waited until David wasn’t in a good position to fight. When you’re exhausted from battle you don’t have the energy to fight a fresh opponent. In a spiritual battle this takes place when you’re spiritually worn down – when you’ve been facing assaults. When you’ve been pushing back against the enemy, but he’s worn you down.

A number of years ago I had an opportunity to visit a battlefield from the US civil war. The person I was there with was an expert on civil war battles. This particular battle was won by government troops, because they just kept sending wave after wave of fresh troops until the opponents were too tired to fight any more and were destroyed.

That’s how the devil fights – temptation after temptation, struggle sfter struggle, with sickness. Financial failure after financial failure – marriage problem after marriage problem until you’re worn down and exhausted then he sends in the giants, and this giant looks an awful lot like the last giant! Why? Because they’re related!

Think about it. He beat you once with pornography. That’s his “Go-to Giant” in your life. Maybe it’s not exactly pornography, but an affair with someone at your job. Maybe it’snot alcoholism this time, but some other addiction instead. That’s how good strong Christians end up failing. That’s how they end up defeated.

“I thought God would protect me! I thought God would keep bad things from happening! I’m just tired of it all – I don’t want to fight anymore! Oh, Hello, Ishbi-benob, is that a new sword?”

Guess what, this wasn’t the last one, either.

2 Samuel 21:18-20 (NKJV)
^21:18Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the sons of the giant. ¹⁹Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. ²⁰Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant.

Three more times they came after him. Remember, the five stones? There’s the other four. The devil isn’t going to give up!

What Saved David

This is the interesting part – What saved David? You might say, “A better question is “Who saved David?” Okay, “who saved David?” – His fellow soldiers. The reason I asked what saved David is because what really saved David was the fellowship he had with those other men. There was a camaraderie and concern among them. Abishai was concerned for David so he fought for him.

That’s why God has structured the church the way He has. That’s why the church is a body of believers. Christianity was never intended to be a solo pursuit. It was always about being of one accord, fighting and contending together against a common enemy – You know who!

How many times in the Bible are we exhorted to be together and encourage each other?

John 15:17 (NKJV)
^15:17These things I command you, that you love one another.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV)
^10:24And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 (NKJV)
^4:18Therefore comfort one another with these words.

This is God’s plan for us to defeat the giants that we face. The Bible shows us that this is the way to go! The Bile gives us concrete examples.

Matthew 18:19-20 (NKJV)
^18:19Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."

Are you struggling with something? Is there a battle to wear you down? Ask someone to pray with you – Don’t fight alone. Find an Abishai to stand in the gap with you!

James 5:16 (NKJV)
^5:16Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Sickness? Physical or spiritual? Confess your sin and pray for one another.

“I don’t want anyone to know I’m struggling!”

“People might judge me, if I confess and ask for prayer.”

Abishai saw that David was weary – If you hold back and put on appearances, that it’s all good – there won’t be anyone to help. Don’t let your ego be your downfall. David need help with that second giant – we all need help! That’s why God brought us together. FOR EACH OTHER! No soldier wins a war by himself. Not even David!

Faith: Get Out of the Boat!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 11:51:00 +0000

Today, I want to post on life. I want to look at an event in the lives of the disciples, and I want to apply it to our own lives. Most of us are Christians, but I wonder if you really understand about faith. All Christians believe in Jesus, but we all have a past and the baggage that goes with that. Maybe some of you were involved with the traditional Taiwanese religion, and you’re hanging on to some of the old beliefs, and old practices. Perhaps others are looking at Jesus in the wrong way. I want to post on some of those things, today. So, Let’s start with our text:

Mark 6:45-51 (NKJV)
^6:45Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. ⁴⁶And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. ⁴⁹And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; ⁵⁰for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." ⁵¹Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.

They Thought He Was a Ghost

We have this tendency to blame all the bad things that happen to us on You-know-who – That Stinking Devil! But do you know, a lot of times the troubles we face are just life. Life isn’t always Peaches and ice cream. Life has problems and troubles of its own!

Matthew 6:34 (NKJV)
^6:34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

In our text, we see the apostles – They’re in a boat. They’re out on the sea and a big storm blows up. It’s life or death for them, the Bible says they’re straining at rowing. They’re struggling against the waves and wind and they are frightened!

Imagine what it’s like out there – Waves coming over the sides of the boat – The wind makes it hard to steer the boat – and they’re rowing, they’ve been rowing for hours. Jesus sent them in the early evening and now it’s the fourth watch – about three in the morning. They’re exhausted and I’m sure they’re feeling like they’re going to die.

Then Jesus walks out to the boat. Look at what it says:

Mark 6:49 (NKJV)
^6:49And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out;

Jesus comes to them and they don’t recognize Him. This is a time of great trouble, that can’t be Jesus. Do you ever think that? We always think that Jesus would only do good for us, that if He’s involved there won’t be trouble. The problem is that Jesus doesn’t always ask for the easy things.

In the Old Testament, Jesus was the “Angel of the Lord”. He was the one that was going to destroy Sodom. He was the one who commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He was the one who wrestled with Jacob.

In times of trouble we don’t always recognize Jesus. We’re focused on the trouble and our faith disappears. Look at this:

Matthew 14:28-30 (NKJV)
^14:28And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." ²⁹So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"

This is the same event as in our text, but Matthew gives us this other detail. Peter sees that it’s Jesus and decides to walk out to Him. While he’s focused on Jesus, he walks on the water, but the Bible says that the wind was boisterous. When he began to listen to the wind, he began to focus on that. He’s distracted by the problems – the wind and waves – and he begins to sink. Jesus is right there, right in front of him and yet he focuses on the wind! He focuses on the storm and the danger!

Do you think it’s interesting that He left them to struggle for so long? They had traveled about four miles, that’s about halfway across. He left them in the middle of it all until then. Then He goes to them and says, “It is I! Be of good cheer!” “Here I am! Don’t worry!” “It’s okay, I’m here, I’ll save you!” and then Peter gets out of the boat. “Now that You’re here, I don’t have to be afraid.” Then the wind frightens him again, and he begins to sink. What does Jesus do? He immediately saves him:

Matthew 14:31a (NKJV)
^14:31And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him…

How many of us are like that? In the middle of the storms of life, Jesus shows up. At first, we’re relieved, “I can do it! Jesus is here!” but the problems are still just as intense and we’re distracted by that, and what happens? We lose faith again.

Here’s a hard truth for you. Sometimes, the troubles in your life are orchestrated by God! Remember, Jesus sent them out in the boat, to get to the other side. We think Jesus is there to answer prayer and give us what we want. You have to remember that it’s Jesus Christ, not Jesus Claus. Sometimes, you have to go through some difficult things, in order to be prepared to live God’s Will for your life. This is true in my own life. I went through some things before I got saved. I lived through a few storms – the storm of depression and self-loathing – The storm of alcoholism, loneliness, and pain – The storm of Muscular Dystrophy!

I didn’t see Jesus in any of those things! I was floundering like a ship in a storm. I was tired and exhausted. I was straining at rowing, and I didn’t recognize that Jesus was involved, but He saved me! He pulled me out of those storms. If I hadn’t gone through them, I would have never seen my need. I would have thought I didn’t need Him – that I could handle it on my own! It was the struggle that kindled my faith!

A Call to Faith and a Call to Action

I asked this earlier, but I want to focus on it a little more. Why did Jesus wait? Why didn’t He come sooner? I already said that sometimes we have to face some things in order to be ready to be used for His purposes, but I think Jesus was giving them and us another lesson, as well.

Look at the situation – This is a violent and dangerous storm. They see Jesus walking on the water and think He’s a ghost. I think they saw an omen in that, “There’s a ghost – That means we’re going to die!” Then Jesus says, “It is I, be of good cheer!” This is a call to faith, “It’s me, don’t worry!” but it’s also a call to action – “Don’t let your fear deceive you!” What is it that stops you from stepping out in faith? What keeps you from jumping wholeheartedly into the Will of God?

These men in this boat are terrified! They’re seeing ghosts, but Peter rises up in faith, “Call me and I’ll come to you!” This guy is getting out of the boat to walk on water! He’s got faith! He’s taking the action of that faith!

This is where we stop! We believe – “I believe in Jesus!” If you do, then get out of the boat. Get out of that safe, comfortable place. Get out of the boat! “Well, I don’t know about that!”

I used to go rock climbing – way up high – Big, big rocks! I didn’t hesitate, I fastened on my gear and I just jumped off, bounding down the rock! I completely trusted my gear, I had faith, I put it into action. How many are willing to walk onto an airplane and fly places? You have faith in the pilot, faith in aerodynamics. You’re not afraid to fly. You say you believe in Jesus. You say you have faith. So, why hesitate to give yourself completely to Him?

Peter got out of the boat and walked through the storm, but faith is interesting. Sometimes, we have great faith, but it can waver. We can temporarily lose faith. Peter’s doing something that no one but Jesus has ever done – He’s walking on water – but right in the middle of it, he loses faith.

Has that ever happened to you? You’ve answered God’s call. You’re doing what he’s asked you to do, but suddenly you find yourself thinking I can’t do this. I want to confess to you, that there were times in my ministry when I thought, “I’m not having any impact!” There were times when I thought the church would have been better off if I’d left.

“There’s no response!”

“People don’t want to come!”

“I’m not inspiring anyone!”

That was me listening to the wind. That was me struggling with my faith. That was fear and doubt – the very opposite of faith. I started to sink into depression and discouragement, my faith at that point was very small. When I came to Taiwan, I was brimming with faith. I was out of the boat; I was walking on the water! I was focused on Jesus, but then the wind became boisterous. And I drifted. I cried out and Jesus lifted me up.

Matthew 14:31 (NKJV)
^14:31And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

“Why did you doubt?” In the presence of Jesus, why is there doubt? Here’s the second hard truth: I’m not the only one who struggles with faith. Some people haven’t really grown in faith. They’re stuck at “I believe in Jesus,” faith. They have never stepped into the “get out of the boat” type of faith.

You Have to Try it to Have Faith

As Peter is in the middle of the storm – as they are fighting the wind and the waves, he’s probably not thinking, “I can walk on the water.” When he sees Jesus, he trusts Him. He believes that Jesus can command him to walk to Jesus. He’s not walking on the water; he’s walking on the command to come. He knows that the power to do the impossible resides in Christ’s words.

I knew I could stay and fight another day, because I knew Jesus had the power to do the impossible through me. The power that I have is only the power to obey.

So, think about your own life. What storms are you fighting through? What is that thing in your life that seems as impossible as walking on water? What is that thing that you NEED God to do? Jesus is there in that storm you’re facing! He’s comforting you, but He’s also calling you to action.

Do you know how best to develop faith? Do something. Peter says – Call to me and I’ll come to you. In order to walk on water, he had to get out of the boat. If you want to have faith, try doing what God is calling you to do. I know – you’re afraid. It’s easier and safer to stay in the boat, but you can't overcome in fear. Fear rules your life. Fear stops your momentum.

Some people think Jesus can’t do anything in their life. They’re right! The impossible will always be out of their reach until that moment when they get out of the boat! You need a miracle? Then get out of the boat! You need to take action, to see God work a miracle. Peter walked on water – a powerful miracle. The others didn’t have a miracle, because they didn’t trust enough to get out of the boat.

Where are you, today? In the boat or walking on the water?

Pentecost: The Holy Spirit, Today!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 06:02:00 +0000

Sunday, May 31, 2020 was the day of Pentecost. This week, I want to post on the day of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. I know some people reading this don’t have a Pentecostal background, but I have spent the last twenty years as pastor of two Pentecostal churches. So today, I want to post on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV)
^2:1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Laying a Foundation

I want to begin by laying a foundation on the significance of the day of Pentecost. What does it all mean? Our text takes place on the day that the Holy Spirit fell on the people of God. He didn’t just fall on the apostles, but on all 120 people who were gathered together in that room on that day. There are some churches that will teach that this was only for the apostles, that after the apostles died that all of the evidence of the Spirit passed away, but on this day, according to our text, it fell on all of them that had gathered.

Let’s examine the teaching that this has passed away as the apostles died. First, let’s look at what Peter said in his first Holy Spirit filled sermon:

Acts 2:17-18 (NKJV)
^2:17'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. ¹⁸And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.

Peter is quoting a prophecy from Joel 2:28 – 32. Peter says “in the last days,” Joel says “afterward”.

“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;”

The context of this is that God is speaking through Joel, and He’s saying:

Joel 2:27a (NKJV)
^2:27Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God And there is no other…

Remember, one of the names of Jesus is Emmanuel – That’s translated as God with us! It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit! The question is – did it pass away with the disciples, or is it available today?

Joel 2:31b (NKJV)
^2:31…Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

The great and awesome Day of the Lord refers to the day of judgment – The resurrection and judgment of mankind!

Let’s look back at Peter – Peter says “in the last days” – The “last days” refers to that time between Jesus’ resurrection and His return to judge mankind. Another way to say this is “from now on.” Look at what Peter says in verse 39:

Acts 2:39 (NKJV)
^2:39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Let’s break that down:

For the promise is to you – Those that were there that day.

And to your children – the next generation.

And to all who are afar off – He’s speaking of generations – people that will come in later generations.

As many as the Lord will Call – Are you called? We are all called!

John 15:16 (NKJV)
^15:16You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

We are appointed, that means called, to bear fruit. Fruit in this sense refers to reaching others with the Gospel. He had called us to that! This Took Place on Pentecost

Acts 2:1 (NKJV)
^2:1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

All of this took place on the day of Pentecost. Let’s look at what Pentecost is:

Pentecost was a day of prayer and celebration. People had the day off work; they met to pray and thank God. Acts 2:1 tells us that they were all together in one accord. They were there to pray and celebrate this feast. Remember, they continued to be involved in the temple.

The day of Pentecost was a feast day that celebrated the beginning of the harvest season. Pentecost is the Greek name for a feast called by Jews the Festival of Weeks. It was a celebration and day of thanksgiving for the harvest, which was about to begin. The feast of First Fruits was the beginning of the barley harvest. The Festival of Weeks was the beginning of the Wheat harvest. It takes place seven weeks after the feast of First Fruits. (For background see Pentecost, The Beginning of the Harvest May 16, 2016)

What happened on the day of Pentecost in our text?

Acts 2:41 (NKJV)
^2:41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

So, from a historical perspective, Pentecost was the beginning of the harvest in the early church. Lets break this down and digest it.

- Jesus called us to go and bear fruit – This is before He died! (John 15:16)

- He told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Spirit

Acts 1:4-5 (NKJV)
^1:4And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; ⁵for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

- On the day that signified to the Jews that the wheat harvest was about to begin, the Holy Spirit fell on those in the upper room, and the harvest of the early church began.

While they’re in the upper room, they hear a sound like a mighty rushing wind. In Hebrew the word for spirit is the same word that’s used for wind. In the book of Genesis, God created Adam. Look at what happens:

Genesis 2:7 (NKJV)
^2:7And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

From H5395; a puff, that is, wind, angry or vital breath, divine inspiration, intellect or (concretely) an animal: - blast, (that) breath (-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit.

Strong’s Lexicon of Greek and Hebrew

So God put His breath, or Spirit, into Adam. This is why we say that man has a soul. So, this sound like a “mighty rushing wind” signifies the Spirit. The Holy Spirit enters into the place where they are and fills the house.

- The fire appears and sits on each of them. In the temple there was a fire that was always burning. That fire signified the presence of God.

Leviticus 6:13 (NKJV)
^6:13A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.

On this day the fire – The presence of God – sat on each one of them. It symbolized that they each now contained the presence of God, in other words God dwelt in them. The fire in the temple signified that God dwelt there.

So, look at this: The Holy Spirit came upon them and God dwelt in them. They were immersed (baptized) in the Spirit of God and became a temple of the Holy Spirit. When you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, God dwells in you – in the form of the Holy spirit – and His power is there for you to use.

Think about Peter for a moment – When Jesus was crucified, he was broken. He was going fishing; going back to the life he led before Jesus. After the Holy spirit falls – he’s energized. he’s empowered, he’s equipped. Immediately, he’s able to embark on God’s calling. He was equipped for his calling through the Holy Spirit. For Peter it happened on Pentecost – But it didn’t end there.

This was just the beginning, because the same thing happened to Paul. He encounters Jesus on the Damascus road in Acts 9:3-6; he’s led to Damascus where Ananias is led by the Holy Spirit to speak to him. Look at what happened:

Acts 9:17-20 (NKJV)
^9:17And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ¹⁸Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. ¹⁹So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus. ²⁰Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

Immediately, he preached Christ in the synagogues – From the greatest persecutor of Christians in that time, to a preacher of Christ in the synagogues!

What Does That Mean for Us?

So, the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is to equip us and prepare us for the harvest. It’s a special tool that’s given to us so, “that we may go and bear fruit…that will remain,” in other words to build the church of Jesus Christ! That’s the purpose in our text.

So, how do we know we’re filled with the Holy Spirit?

First, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit stood up and preached. He never did that before. In John 20, they were in the upper room with the doors locked for fear of the Jews. There’s a new boldness in Peter’s life!

Second, the people began to speak in other tongues. This is the evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This happened in every other instance where this is mentioned.

Acts 10:44-46 (NKJV)
^10:44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. ⁴⁵And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God...

Acts 19:6 (NKJV)
^19:6And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

Third, there is power! Look back at what Jesus said to the disciples:

John 14:12 (NKJV)
^14:12"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

What does He say will happen when He goes to His Father?

John 16:7 (NKJV)
^16:7Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

The “Helper” is the Holy Spirit! Think of this: When He goes to His Father, He will send the Holy Spirit – AND we will do greater works than these! The apostles did many great works!

Acts 3: Peter and John brought healing to a man lame from birth! Look at what happened:

Acts 3:11 (NKJV)
^3:11Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed.

Acts 5: Peter’s Shadow!

Acts 5:12-16 (NKJV)
^5:12And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. ¹³Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. ¹⁴And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, ¹⁵so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. ¹⁶Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

It wasn’t just the apostles, though! When a dispute arose between the Greek believers and the Jews, in Acts 6, the appointed seven men “full of the Holy Spirit,” to resolve it! One of those men was Stephen:

Acts 6:8 (NKJV)
^6:8And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

There was Philip in Acts 8:

Acts 8:5-8 (NKJV)
^8:5Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ⁶And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ⁷For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. ⁸And there was great joy in that city.

We CAN receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are that generation that is afar off. It’s a promise – It’s given to equip us for God’s calling! We need that! We need signs and wonders! We need to call on Holy Spirit power! We need the boldness to stand and preach the Gospel; to witness to friends, family, coworkers, and classmates! We need this to build the church of Jesus Christ!

Encouragement: The Essential Church

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Wed, 27 May 2020 09:04:00 +0000

It looks like the world is finally beginning to move forward from the Covid-19 pandemic. Churches are beginning to reopen. Taoyuan City has released churches to reopen. Taoyuan City was the only city in Taiwan that shut churches down. In the US, The Door Church in Tucson has reopened, and my home church, the Door Church in Colton is reopening this week.

I got very sick at the end of last year, I was in the hospital when the first Covid-19 patient in Taiwan came into that same hospital. I had been out of church for a month at that point. Then I spent sometime recuperating and missed church for another few months. Then they stopped services in Taoyuan, and the church began to broadcast on Instagram. The broadcast has been a blessing, hearing Pastor Reed (Pingzhen, Taiwan) preach the Gospel has been helpful. I haven’t been able to attend church with my church family since December. I miss them all.

I’m telling you that because, in missing church I have experienced a bit of spiritual warfare. Doctor’s keep giving me bad news. I feel like I’m trapped in quarantine, even though people are not experiencing that here in Taiwan, I feel like I’ve been personally quarantined. Every week seems like a battle.

It really points out to me what a blessing it is to be in church with my friends and family. I’ll tell you why. During this time, I felt like I was stuck in the world. I had a difficult time praying; it was hard to focus on worship over the internet. Hebrews 10:25 admonishes us not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together”. We sometimes read that as a command, but what is the reason not to forsake assembling? Look:

Hebrews 10:25 (NKJV)
^10:25not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The reason to attend church is to be able to exhort or encourage each other. Another way to say that is to say we need to gather to help each other. It’s a huge encouragement for me to see other people engaged in worshiping God. It is a great exhortation to see people remain faithful to be in the House of God, week after week after week. Church is an essential activity!

We are constantly bombarded by the things of the world. There are the spiritual assaults as well. We face them alone, when we are unable to gather. I don’t know about you but I’m not Jackie Chan, I can’t beat up fifteen or sixteen attackers by myself. I need the strength of my comrades.

It’s bad enough to go through a week of missing church…But this quarantine and prohibition against attending church has been difficult for just about everyone I’ve with whom I’ve talked about this.

Today, I want to post on being in the House of God!

Psalms 122:1-4 (NKJV)
^122:1A song of Ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord." ²Our feet have been standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem! ³Jerusalem is built As a city that is compact together, ⁴Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the Lord, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the Lord.

Why We Need Church

This psalm needs a little background. Psalms 120, 121, and 122 are written by the same person. In Psalm 120 the writer is under attack. Someone is lying about him. He’s being slandered! There’s an attempt to destroy him through character assassination:

Psalms 120:1-2 (NKJV)
^120:1A song of Ascents. In my distress I cried to the Lord, And He heard me. ²Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips And from a deceitful tongue.

He has an enemy that wants to destroy him. He’s a picture of you and I – We have an enemy that wants to destroy us. He’s also a liar. In fact, Jesus calls him “the father of lies”. This is his method of destruction, lies and deceit.

The writer of this psalm is looking for comfort and justice.

Psalms 120:3-5 (NKJV)
^120:3What shall be given to you, Or what shall be done to you, You false tongue? ⁴Sharp arrows of the warrior, With coals of the broom tree! ⁵Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

He’s asking of this attacker, “What is God going to do to you? What judgment awaits you for this injustice? Sharp arrows? Burning coals?”

That word woe, means “a condition of great suffering from misfortune, affliction, or grief.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionaries). He’s suffering because he is living in the world, not the city of Jerusalem. He’s not living near the temple – The House of God! He needs comfort but he’s far away from the House of God. That’s me during my recuperation and the shutdown. Sometimes, I feel far from God, because of all the assaults that have been working against me.

Do you ever feel like Sunday or Wednesday services don’t come fast enough? Do you ever feel like you can’t wait to be in church? I do! Woe, is me that I dwell in a state of lockdown.

Psalm 121 is a recognition of whom God is in our lives.

Psalms 121:2-7 (NKJV)
^121:2My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. ³He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. ⁴Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. ⁵The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. ⁶The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. ⁷The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.

He’s telling us about God’s care for us. He’s telling us what we can expect from the God who created us and loves us. He also clearly recognizes his need to be near God at this time. Psalm 120 is a description of what he’s going through. Psalm 121 is a recognition that the solution to his suffering is God. Psalm 122 is the writer bringing his sorrows and troubles before God in the temple.

So, now let’s look at Psalm 122 – The writer of the psalm has arrived in Jerusalem. It’s a feast day – A celebration. He’s been waiting to enter into the church. He’s been waiting to be comforted. He’s looking for encouragement and as the shofar is blown, and the temple is opened, he says this:

“I was glad when the said unto me, “Let us go into the House of the Lord.”

Finally, he hears the call to enter into the presence of God. Finally, he can go into that place of comfort. Finally, he can find the peace that comes from being in God’s presence. This is the place where the peace of God dwells.

The lockdown makes it difficult to find God’s presence, but the real problem is that even Sundays can seem so far apart. If you’re only going to church once a week, you’re like that man that’s dwelling away from the presence of God. There are assaults on your life and salvation. The devil isn’t going to leave you alone. He’s always working to wear you down. He’s always trying to separate you from Jesus. He wants you feeling the heat of his attacks.

He uses people – He uses the world to work on you. You’re bombarded by temptation. You’re overloaded by the world. You’re constantly attacked for your faith. Sometimes, it’s subtle – Maybe no one is attacking you personally. No one is telling you that you’re wrong or bad, but society is working against you.

Look at Taiwanese society. How many Christian holidays do you think we have in Taiwan? Not a single one – There are no Christian holidays in Taiwan. Is Christmas promoted as a celebration of Jesus’ birthday in Taiwan? No, it’s Santa Claus’ day.

Then there is this: In October, for three consecutive weeks, the Taoist temple nearest our church, had parades that passed by our church, with fireworks, loud music and firecrackers, during our evening service. This wasn’t a coincidence; this was an assault from hell. Our battle isn’t against people, though.

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)
^6:12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

This scripture tells us that those battles are taking place in the heavenly realm. Those spiritual hosts of wickedness are not opposed to using the world and its appetites and customs to try to separate you from Jesus. It’s all designed to wear you down; to make you fatalistic about the things of God. It’s designed to make you feel like you don’t need to be at church: “You’re just going to hear a sermon; nothing is going to come of it!”

I want you to know something, there is comfort in the presence and promises of God. If you take responsibility to take the Word of God to heart, you will find comfort. You will be encouraged. You will be glad to enter the House of the Lord.

The Power of Attendance

It’s because of the assaults on us that it’s important for us to be at church regularly. It’s not a rule that you be at every service; God isn’t going to send you to Hell for missing church, but it makes it a lot more difficult to resist the devil. It makes it a lot more difficult to avoid temptation. It’s just plain harder to avoid sin and sin WILL take you to Hell. This is a spiritual battle that we’re engaged in. The devil is using weapons against you every day, and if you’re going to be engaged in a battle it’s best to take all the weapons you can. This is a battle for an eternal victory – You can’t afford to lose! You must win!

Interestingly, the temple was a place where weapons were stored.

2 Kings 11:10 (NKJV)
^11:10And the priest gave the captains of hundreds the spears and shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of the Lord.

This is the place where you can find weapons with which to fight the enemy. The writer of Psalm 120 was looking for comfort and peace. He needed to be encouraged! He was glad to enter the temple! We don’t have a temple – We have a sanctuary. A place of safety – That’s what sanctuary means – and we are exhorted to come into that place.

Hebrews 10:22-25 (NKJV)
^10:22let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

We can approach God with the full assurance of our faith, that He will provide comfort and peace.

²⁴And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Here is another aspect of our coming together in the sanctuary. It’s an encouragement and blessing for others to see you in church. You living for Jesus can inspire others to live for Jesus! (To stir up love and good works.) Coming to church not only equips you for battles, but it encourages others in the battles that they may be facing.

We’re all in this together. We need each other – We can’t fight alone and win. If we’re fighting on the same team, we need to be like-minded!

Romans 15:5-6 (NKJV)
^15:5Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, ⁶that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first verse tells us that God is the God of patience and comfort – and that He can cause us to be like Him – patient and comforting toward each other. This is why we’re encouraged to pray for each other – to come to the altar and pray together. It brings us closer to each other, so that we can glorify God in one voice. We can be of one accord.

Camaraderie isn’t an important tool in the military. Fighting as comrades in arms for the same goals to defeat a common enemy. This can be applied to our spiritual battles as well.

When We Are of One Accord

God moves in us when we are of one accord. Look at what happens when we’re together:

Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV)
^2:1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ²And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The Holy Spirit (the Comforter) came upon them as they prayed together of one mind.

Acts 2:46-47 (NKJV)
^2:46So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

As the people were gathering together and in fellowship the church grew! People got saved!

Acts 5:12 (NKJV)
^5:12And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch.

God worked miracles through the “hands of the apostles” as they were of one accord. God can move through us as we pray and gather together.

In John chapter 20, when did Jesus show up? This is after the crucifixion. Jesus came to them as they were gathered together. In Acts chapter 12. When was Peter miraculously released from prison? When they were all together praying for him.

This is why being able to attend church is an essential activity. This is why it’s a joy and a blessing to come to church, because God can move in us and through us. We can be used to spark a move of God! We can be used to bring comfort to each other! We can be encouraged, and find comfort and resolve when we’re together in the House of God! That’s Why I was glad when they said unto me –

Come into the House of the Lord!

Mercy: I Desire it From All My Heart

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Wed, 20 May 2020 05:06:00 +0000

The combination of a book that I finished recently, and some things I have experienced personally in the last few months, have caused me to reflect on the mercy of God.

The book, (10 Hours to Live, Brian Wills, Whitaker House, © 2006) is a true story of a man diagnosed with a particularly fast-working cancer. He has a tumor the size of a golf ball that grows to be the size of basketball, in just a few days. The doctor’s prognosis gives him just ten hours to live. There’s no known cure for this type of cancer!

The shock of hearing that he probably wouldn’t survive the day, causes him to pray, and to immerse himself in Scripture. By a miracle, he survives the night and he begins to study healing scriptures, print them out and hang them all around his room. He memorizes them and speaks them out loud to his atheist doctors.

The doctors want to start him on Chemotherapy, so he goes to a specialist, who examines him and sends a report back to his doctors that said simply N.E.D. – No Evidence of Disease, The doctors convince him to start the chemo treatment anyway.

The book talks about how much damage that it did to his body; how sick he became; how near death he was. He was in the hospital for six months, but he survived.

"In February 1988, one year from when I’d been admitted, I returned to the NIH for my six-month checkup. After examining me from head to toe, Dr. Rosenberg said, “Brian, there’s something that you need to know. We gave you seven drugs that were experimental and had never been researched or tested. Now that we’ve had time to test them both in the lab and in experimental use, we’ve learned some things. We now know that the drugs which made up the protocol we gave you don’t even treat Burkitt’s lymphoma. But that’s not all. The drugs themselves are so lethal that we’ve discontinued their use. The drugs killed everyone we gave them to…except you."

(10 Hours to Live, Brian Wills, Whitaker House, page 59)

Brian Wills is the only known survivor of that type of cancer. What a powerful story about the mercy of God.

Today, I want to post on the mercy of God, and I want to look at one specific event in the Bible to illustrate my point:

Matthew 8:1-4 (Wuest)
And having come down from the mountain, great crowds followed with Him. And behold, a leper having come, fell upon his knees and touched the ground with his forehead in an expression of profound reverence before Him, saying, Master, in the event that you may be having a heartfelt desire, you are able to cleanse me. And having stretched out His hand He touched him saying, I am desiring it from all my heart. Be cleansed at once. And immediately his leprosy was cured by being cleansed away. And Jesus says to him, See to it, do not tell even one person, but be going away, show yourself at once as evidence to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses enjoined, as a testimony to them.

Jesus’ Desire

Here we see a man who has, no doubt, suffered greatly. Leprosy, in those days, was a horrible thing to suffer. It was a death sentence. Lepers were forbidden to be in contact with other people including their families – No Contact! (Kind of sounds familiar, doesn’t it?) They saw their children raised from a distance. Their families left food out for them, they would come after they had gone to bed to get and eat the food. They couldn’t touch them – They couldn’t have a conversation, unless it was shouted from a distance.

This doesn’t even mention what the disease was doing to them, physically; it was debilitating. There was, no doubt, great suffering. It was even illegal for this man to even approach this close to Jesus. He was desperate.

This is one of my favorite scriptures on healing, because of this:

"And having stretched out his hand He touched him saying, I am desiring it from all my heart."

There are two things here that show God’s mercy:

First – He touched him. This is a man who hasn’t been touched in a long time. Being touched is a basic human need – we all need the touch of another human being. It was almost as if he had lost his humanity. Jesus gave that humanity back to him with this one simple gesture.

The other thing that shows God’s mercy is what Jesus says, “I am desiring it from all my heart.” He’s not a God who doesn’t care about us. He’s not an angry or capricious God. He’s a God who desires from all his heart that we be healed. There’s a redemptive quality to His mercy.

Think about this – What is the origin of sickness and death? Sin, rebellion and violation of God’s commands. The Bible tells us that death is what we deserve from our sin and rebellion, but this scripture tells us that God, in the person of Jesus, desires that we be made whole once again. It tells us that it’s a deep desire – from all of His heart! That’s mercy. The punishment is removed! The sin is forgiven!

There’s another event in the Bible that illustrates this:

Mark 2:2-5 (NKJV)
^2:2Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. ³Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. ⁴And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."

These men bring a paralyzed man to Jesus. They’re looking for him to be healed. The first thing Jesus does is forgive his sins. This causes quite a stir among the Pharisees, but look at what happens next:

Mark 2:9-11 (NKJV)
^2:9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'? ¹⁰But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"--He said to the paralytic, ¹¹I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."

Jesus Himself equates the forgiveness of sins with healing. Healing is a product of atonement!

The Activator of Mercy

In our text, as the leper approaches Jesus, he makes the statement:

Matthew 8:2 (Wuest)

And behold, a leper having come, fell upon his knees and touched the ground with his forehead in an expression of profound reverence before Him, saying, Master, in the event that you may be having a heartfelt desire, you are able to cleanse me.

The first part of his statement is made in his actions. He comes to Jesus and falls down before Him and worships Him. He knows whom Jesus is! You don’t worship a man! You worship God!

The second part of the statement is in words, “If you’re willing you can cleanse me!” (Matthew 8:2 NKJV) He knows that Jesus is able to heal him. He’s not asking can you heal me, he’s basically saying, “I know that you can heal me, but are you willing to heal me?” Both of those together are a statement of the faith of the leper.

We see this in the other event, as well. The four friends of the paralyzed man are convinced that Jesus can heal their friend, if they can just get him to Jesus. They climb to the top of the roof, carrying this bedridden man, break up the roof, and lower him down in front of Jesus. You don’t go to that kind of trouble unless you’re convinced Jesus will help. What does the Scripture say was Jesus’ reaction?

Mark 2:5 (NKJV)
^2:5When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."

When He saw their faith, He said, “Son, your sins are forgiven!” Faith is the activator of Mercy. We see this in other healing events:

The Centurion’s Servant

A centurion has a servant who is sick. Jesus offers to come and heal the man, but the centurion says, “you only need to say the word and he will be healed!”

Matthew 8:13 (NKJV)
^8:13Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour.

The Woman with the Issue of Blood

Matthew 9:20-22 (NKJV)
^9:20And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. ²¹For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." ²²But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour.

The Canaanite Woman

This woman, who is not a Jew, comes and cries out to Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. At first Jesus ignores her; He’s come for the lost sheep of Israel.

Matthew 15:25-28 (NKJV)
^15:25Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" ²⁶But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." ²⁷And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." ²⁸Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

In each case Jesus’ mercy was activated by faith. These are five examples.

Do you remember that I said healing comes with the atonement?

1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV)
^2:24[Jesus] who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.

When Jesus died the blood that was shed through His stripes purchased our healing. Look at the wording, “By whose stripes you were healed.” It is already done. The healing has already taken place, but now through faith we activate that in our lives.

Activate Healing in Your Life

I really believe that most of us have more faith in the natural than the supernatural. We do all kinds of things on faith: Drive our cars, fly in airplanes, even cross the street, but can we believe in Jesus for healing? Let me illustrate with another event from the Bible:

Mark 9:17-19 (NKJV)
^9:17Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. ¹⁸And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not." ¹⁹He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me."

This man brings his epileptic son to the Apostles, but they can’t heal him. Jesus says the problem is faith; they have none. There’s no shortage of mercy on God’s part, the problem is with our faith. We’re looking for God to move, but do we have the faith to believe that it can happen? We want God’s mercy but we’re not quite sure. Look at what happens after the child is brought to Jesus:

Mark 9:23-24 (NKJV)
^9:23Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." ²⁴Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

I believe that this man is like many of us, he believes but there is still unbelief!

It’s interesting, I can have the faith to pray for people to be healed, and I have seen people healed. I can have faith for others, but I don’t always have faith enough for myself.

Mercy is activated by faith. That’s how we get saved. That’s how our sin is removed, our faith activates the mercy of God. That man’s prayer should also be our prayer, “Lord, I believe – Help my unbelief!” If you need God’s mercy that prayer should also be your prayer!

Dominion: Praise Breaks Chains - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Tue, 12 May 2020 08:24:00 +0000

Last week, I posted on the power of our words; that speaking out in faith can influence your life and circumstances. Words can even cause a change in those circumstances. Speaking brings dominion. Today, I want to continue in this same series, Deliverance to Dominion, with part 3. Another aspect to dominion is praise! Praise breaks, chains!

Acts 16:23-26 (NKJV)
^16:23And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. ²⁴Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.

Creating an Atmosphere Where God can Move

Praise is a powerful weapon in our stockpile of weapons, that are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds. A stronghold is an attitude, habit, or belief that holds you in bondage to sin. It’s a chain that binds you and keeps you from fully entering into your calling and your destiny. It can be sin, disease, finances unbelief – whatever it is, it can stop God from moving in your life. Praise allows you to develop an atmosphere where God can move. Our text is an example of Paul and Silas using praise to activate a move of God in their circumstances.

What has happened is that Paul has had a vision. He saw a man from Macedonia calling out to him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” So, Paul is engaged in the calling of God. He concludes that the Lord had called them, “to preach the Gospel to them.” (Acts 16:9-10) The devil attempted to disrupt this by sending a young woman with a spirit of divination. (She was a fortune teller.) Paul rebuked the spirit and ordered it to come out, which it did, and which caused a problem with her masters. Paul and Silas were arrested and put into prison.

As they sat in prison, they begin to sing and praise God. The chains with which they were bound were broken. The stocks that held them were sprung open, and they are released from their bonds. The doors to the stronghold were opened!

They have created an atmosphere where God can move. If we want to see God move in our circumstances. If we want to see a miracle occur in our lives then we must create an atmosphere in our homes where God can move! Whatever atmosphere you create will determine what will happen in your life. You can create an atmosphere where God can move, or you can create an atmosphere where the enemy reigns. If you allow your home to be filled with negativity, discord and oppression, it will be difficult to stand in the faith.

We have to learn to counteract those things when start to be seen in our homes. It’s so easy to complain and gripe! But those are not “God things.” Those things don’t create an atmosphere of faith. There’s no optimism and expectation of God’s moving there. There’s only unbelief. If you create an atmosphere for God to move, He will come!

Psalms 91:1 (NKJV)
^91:1He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

This is the beginning of Palm 91 – It’s the beginning of a promise, but have you noticed that every one of God’s promises starts with a condition? Psalm 91 starts with a condition but ends in a promise:

Psalms 91:14-16 (NKJV)
^91:14"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. ¹⁵He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. ¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."

If we dwell in the secret place of the Almighty; we can expect deliverance. We can expect answers to our prayers. We can expect a long life, and we can expect salvation. So, what is that secret place where God dwells? It’s that place in your heart that you have turned over to God!

Have you opened your heart to God? Let me ask that this way:

What are your priorities in life? What do you fill your free time with? Do you have a disciplined prayer life? Do you read your Bible regularly? Are you focused on “God things,” or are you still giving most of your time and energy to the world?

Last week, I mentioned a cancer patient, I want to show you how he created an atmosphere for God to move in his hospital room:

“Instead of watching television, we spent time reading Scripture. We listened to the Bible on audiotape around the clock, and we asked the nurses to come in at night and turn the tapes over. In other words, we turned the hospital room into a sanctuary for God to dwell in. We kept the atmosphere charged with praise.”

Source: 10 Hours to Live, Brian Wills, Whitaker House, Page 137

God Inhabits the Praise of His People

Psalms 22:3 (NKJV)
^22:3But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

Another way to say that is that He lives in or inhabits our praise! Praise brings God’s presence on the scene. This is why we praise God in the beginning of our church services. It’s why song service is the first thing we do; to bring God’s presence to our services.

When Paul and Silas were in prison, they decided to sing praises – They changed the atmosphere and God was able to move in those circumstances. Praise causes chains to break and walls to fall – It paralyzes the enemy!

Psalms 8:2 (NKJV)
^8:2Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

What this scripture is saying is that praising God releases His power to stop the enemies of His people. Our enemy is the enemy who steals, kills and destroys. Praising God activates Him in our favor!

In 2 Chronicles 20: - Judah is under attack. The enemy that had come against them was so powerful that the Bible says that, “Jehoshaphat (the king) feared!” He called the people together to fast and praise! Look at this:

2 Chronicles 20:21 (NKJV)
^20:21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: "Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever."

We are appointed to praise God. Those appointed to praise went out before the army. They praised God and His holiness, that was their only part in all of this. Look what happened as they praised:

2 Chronicles 20:22 (NKJV)
^20:22Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.

Judah’s army never lifted a weapon against the enemies. They did nothing but stand and praise God, and God moved to destroy their enemy. Look at the Scripture: “Now the people began to sing and praise. The Lord set ambushes against the [enemies].”It was the praise that set the move of God in motion.

Are there attacks on you and your family? Is Satan trying to wear you down and cause you to doubt God? Is he trying to make you fear like Jehoshaphat? What’s your reaction to problems and attacks in your life? Is it to pull away from God, or to praise God? Which one brings you closer to God? Which one does God inhabit?

Praise is a powerful weapon! It can be used to destroy the chains that Satan uses to keep you in a stronghold of sin and doubt. Praise is like a nuclear bomb – It causes the enemy to flee! There’s no nuclear fallout so you can use it every morning!

The Joy of the Lord

Praise is a manifestation of the Joy of our salvation. If the devil can steal that from you , he can destroy your walk with God!

You’re probably going to think what I’m about to say is weird, because when things are getting bad you may not feel joy, but you can begin to have joy, even in the bad times, by remembering that God moves through your praise.

God will deliver us! He delivered Jonah from the fish. He delivered Meshach, Shadrack and Abednego from the fiery furnace. He delivered the entire nations of Israel out of slavery…and He will deliver us, too.

Psalms 91:14 (NKJV) ^91:14"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

Maybe He’s helped you in the past. Know that He will help you, again!

God will answer us! God clearly promises that when we call on Him, He will answer us!

Psalms 91:15 (NKJV)
^91:15He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.

God will be with us! One of the names of Jesus is Emmanuel, “which is translated God with us.” He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” He is always there – always near us. He dwells inside you. Psalm 91:15 – I will be with him in trouble.

These are promises – God is faithful to keep promises. Remember from last week, “I will watch over my words to perform them.” (Jeremiah 1:12) That’s a vow to keep promises. So, even when things go wrong, we can change the atmosphere in our homes and activate a move of God by simply, the act of Praising God!

Dominion: Words Can Move Mountains - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Wed, 06 May 2020 09:00:00 +0000

Dominion is the ability to overcome and defeat the devil, and his plans for you! This week’s post is basically part 2 of last week’s post. So, today, I want to post about one place that dominion can be found in our lives: The words that we speak! What we say and how we say it can affect what happens in our lives. Let’s start with our text:

Mark 11:22-23 (NKJV)
^11:22So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. ²³For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Agree with God

Even a cursory look at Genesis, chapter 1 will show you the power that words contain. The entire universe was spoken into existence! Eight times in Genesis, the Bible says, “And God said…” You might say, “Well, that’s God, of course His words have power!” Today, I want to show you that your words, spoken in faith, have power, as well.

There are two ways to look at everything you face – every circumstance – every problem – every sickness! Many times, we tend to take ownership of the problem. “I have Muscular Dystrophy,” as if I own it – I possess it – “It’s my MD.” There’s a different way to think of it and speak it! If you speak the issues, the symptoms, the disease as belonging to you, you become, what I call “problem conscious.” You’re thinking about those things; you’re reinforcing them. Your thought processes are focused on the suffering. Speak always what you want the end result to be. In that way you become “God conscious.”

There is the story of the leper that came to Jesus for healing, in Matthew chapter 8: “If you having a desire you can cleanse me.” Jesus replied, “I am desiring it from all my heart.” (Matt 8:2-3 Weust) God’s desire to bring healing, comes from all His heart. So, we need to speak as if He’s going to do just that! We need to come into agreement with God.

God told Abraham that he would be the father of nations; that his descendants would number as the sands on the seashore. Abraham at that time was almost one hundred years old, and his wife Sarah was barren.

Romans 4:19-21 (NKJV)
^4:19And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. ²⁰He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

He believed God; He came into agreement with God. All that God needs to move in your life is your agreement. God will not override your will. So often we say things like, “I believe God for His promises,” but what do the other words we speak say? “I’m so deep in debt!” “I can’t solve this problem!” “Maybe this is God’s will!” It’s not His will! Jesus came to give abundant life. It’s the devil that comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

Think about this – Every miracle in the Bible involved words. Jesus healed with words – He rebuked storms with words. If we want to come into agreement with God, we need to speak faith-filled words – OUT LOUD - and we need to believe the words we speak!

Abraham was fully convinced that God would perform (notice that I said would, not could), would perform what He said. Speak of it as if you know that it’ll happen!

Jeremiah 1:12 (AMP)
^1:12Then said the Lord to me, You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it.

God will perform His word – He’s watching over it so that He can perform it. God is fully capable and willing to move in our lives. Usually, we are the roadblock to miracles in our lives. It’s us that speak words of doubt and unbelief. It’s us that think our circumstances are unsolvable. When we can’t see a way for them to be solved, then we’re not in agreement with God.

We forget that God isn’t bound by the limitations that we’re bound by. The Bible says, “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible!” Do you really believe that? We have an intellectual belief in that, but are you like Abraham? Are you fully convinced that God can perform His word? Do you live and speak as if you’re fully convinced? Because that’s where the miracles are. That’s how the mountains move – Living and speaking as if it will be so!

The Power of Your Words

“Years ago, a famous basketball player had a heart attack and died at thirty-nine years old. His collapse on a basketball court during a pickup game was a shock to most people! What most of them didn’t know was that, for years, he’d repeatedly said, “I’ll never live to be forty years old.” That young man was the prophet of his own life.”

Source: 10 Hours to Live, Brian Wills, Whitaker House, page 99

You are the prophet of your life! Here’s a young man, he made a claim that he would never live to be forty years old. He said that over and over, and as if it was a prophecy, it came true in his life. I want to contrast that story with this one:

“As I lay there on what my doctors called my death bed, I began to say with my mouth, ‘I call my body healed. I call my body whole. I declare that my body functions according to the way God created it to function, and I forbid any malfunction in Jesus’ name!’ I spoke that way to the tumor that measured nine inches across my abdomen. I woke up one morning and the tumor was gone!”

Source: 10 Hours to Live, Brian Wills, Whitaker House, page 101

Here’s a young man who spoke the exact opposite of the words of the other man. He spoke words of healing. He spoke words of promise. He spoke faith-filled words – He was in agreement with God!

What both of these stories have in common is that these men’s lives were affected by words that they spoke. You can’t convince me that words don’t have power. When the words that we speak line up with God’s words, then God “watches over His words to perform them.”

I’m not talking about the words of your thoughts, I’m talking about the words you speak – out loud! I pray out loud, so I can hear my words spoken. Why you ask? Because faith comes by hearing. If you want to have faith that God will move in your circumstances, the hear the words of faith spoken out loud.

When I pray for people, I don’t just put my hand on their heads and pray silently. Do you know why? I want them to hear the words that I’m praying, so that they can believe them. Then they can apply them to their lives..

Receiving a miracle is an active thing. It’s more than just thinking that God will heal us. I had a friend that always told me, “I know God is going to deliver me from smoking,” but he just kept on smoking. He never stopped. He’d been saved for twenty-five years, and thinking that for twenty-five years. It never happened. He didn’t speak like it was something that God was doing. He didn’t live and act like it was something God was doing. It was always something God was going to do; never what God was doing! So, he sat there and smoked and waited – He died of Lung Cancer.

Why didn’t God deliver him? I think its because he never really thought it was possible. I wonder what would have happened if he put down the cigarettes and said, “God deliver-ED me from smoking!” Faith filled words of agreement with God. My thought is that he would have been delivered.

What problems are you facing in life? What words are you speaking? Are you agreeing with God or wallowing in unbelief? Are you like the basketball player, prophesying your death or like the cancer patient, fully convinced that God will heal? Are you waiting around for a miracle? Waiting for God to move in your circumstances, or living like God already did it, and declaring what God has done?

These are important questions that speak to actions of faith. We can all say, “Yeah, yeah, I know God can do miracles,” but do you live and speak like God can do a miracle in YOUR life?

The world tries to convince us that these things are fake, or weird. The world has its own system, but the world’s system is “death oriented”. It doesn’t take into account a personal, concerned and loving God that can and will change circumstances. The world’s system is focused on “science” and medicine, or mankind’s intellect. There’s no room for a supernatural move of God, but that’s where miracles are found…in the supernatural.

Words Move Mountains

I want to close with this:

Matthew 18:18 (NKJV)
^18:18Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

What that means is:

Matthew 18:18 (NLT)
^18:18“I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

This goes back to speaking. Think about what the cancer patient spoke.

“I call my body healed. I call my body whole. I declare that my body functions according to the way God created it to function, and I forbid any malfunction in Jesus’ name!”

I forbid any malfunction in Jesus’ name. What you permit on earth will be permitted in Heaven. What you forbid on earth will be forbidden in Heaven. If you don’t speak and forbid those things then you’re permitting them. The young basketball player permitted an early death. My friend permitted an early death.

Think about that cancer patient. even though the doctors were all convinced that he was going to die – even though the psychologists were warning him to make funeral arrangements while he still, “had time.” They told him he couldn’t be healed. They told him it was hopeless. They told him death was inevitable, but he didn’t believe their report. He believed the word of God and told them:

Psalms 118:17 (NLT)
^118:17I will not die; instead, I will live to tell what the Lord has done.

Whose report will you believe?

Editor’s note: If you are sick, please go to the doctor and take advantage of their education and training. I’m not anti-doctor, but also know that you can influence a supernatural move of God in your life by speaking words of faith, and living like God has already moved. In my life, I listen to my doctors and also proclaim God’s word over myself.

Dominion: Planning for Victory - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 04:50:00 +0000

Editor's note: After a long illness and hospital stay, I'm ready to begin to write this blog again. I have committed to myself to write something everyday! That doesn't mean that there'll be a new post everyday. I have a number of projects that I'm working on, so I will work on one of those every day. I will say that for the most part I'll be posting once a week. Thanks for your patience and hanging in there as I recovered. Following is this week's post: Planning for Victory

There is an old story of two farmers in the middle of a drought. They begin to pray for rain. One farmer sits and waits for God to move, the other farmer prepares his fields for rain!

I believe the second farmer understands something about our part in seeing a miracle. We all want and need God to move in our circumstances. We all have times in our lives where we need a move of God to change our circumstances. So, what do we do? Do we sit and wait on God or do we prepare for those things to take place?

Jeremiah 29:10-11 (NKJV)
^29:10For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. ¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Here’s how the Message translation puts it:

Jeremiah 29:10-11 (MSG)
^29:10This is God's Word on the subject: "As soon as Babylon's seventy years are up and not a day before, I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. ¹¹I 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.

The Power of Faith

The first thing we need to understand is what faith looks like! All of us that are Christians say, “I have faith in Jesus!” Faith in Jesus is the definition of Christian! We’re not Christians if we don’t have faith in Jesus. The question is do you really live out your faith?

Faith is expectation. The farmer who goes out and prepares for the rain is the farmer who has faith. He expects God to move in response to his prayers so he acts as if the prayer has already been answered. Faith isn’t about believing; faith is about acting!

Faith is making plans for the future. You have faith that today won’t be the last day of your life. How do I know that? Because we all make plans for the future.

"When I graduate, I’m going to… "

"When the baby is born, we’ll name him/her… "

"On my vacation, I’m going to…"

I’m pretty sure that most people aren’t saying, “I don’t have plans, because I may die tonight!” No one is saying, “We’ll just see if tomorrow comes and do whatever!” Before any of my leadership ever decided that I would be coming to Taiwan, I had already begun to visualize what would be necessary to get here, and what I wanted to do once I got here! I was pushing myself into my purpose.

As you begin to push yourself into your purpose, the power of God will come upon you and enable you to do what God has called you to do.

I want to look at Noah for a moment:

Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV)
^11:7By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

We all know the story of Noah and the flood. The world had devolved into wickedness. People were doing all sorts of evil things. God got fed up with people and decided to judge the world with a flood.

How many of you reading this have heard from God? Did you hear a big, loud voice calling you, or did it seem as if a thought came to you? When you heard that still, small voice did you say, “Oh, God is calling to me.”

So, God spoke to Moses in that same way that he speaks to us. He has called Moses through that still, small voice to build an ark. Let me tell you something, when this happened it had never rained before. No one had had any experience with floods, but Moses began, by faith to build an ark and saved his family. Moses took action on God’s plan and God helped him to build an ark. He’d never built a boat before, but it worked out, because God enabled him to do that!

I’ve witnessed the power of God to heal people, as soon as they took steps toward their purposes and began to do what God had called them to do. Don’t leave this step of faith out. Make plans. Set Goals for your future. Let God enable you. Let God equip you for victory!

Think about what you would do if those circumstances were miraculously changed. What would you do if your finances got better? What would you do if you were healed from some debilitating disease? What plans would you make if you thought you had a chance? Think about it, take a paper and write it down. Hang it on the refrigerator and begin to make plans as if God had already done it.

Faith is living like you know that God will move. God moves in the unseen. Even though you don’t see any evidence of God moving doesn’t mean He isn’t. Are you planning for your future as if God is already answering your prayers? Are you living as if you know God will move?

Make God’s Will Your Will

When I was a young man, I had a very different plan for my life. I was depressed at age 25, because I wasn’t already a millionaire. I didn’t have the success that I thought I deserved. My career wasn’t working out as quickly as I had envisioned it would. I hated myself at age 30, because I wasn’t married. All of that misery and depression was destroying my life. Look at this scripture:

Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)
^16:9A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

You can’t do one without the other. I tried making plans for my life but I left out the will of God. I didn’t even go to God and ask, “What’s your plan?” Of course, I wasn’t saved at the that time. I didn’t know to do that, but I know now, that God’s will is essential to seeing my plans come to fruition.

When I finally laid down my dream, my plans and took up God’s will and plan for my life, I was transformed! That’s when my life changed. That was the key to the loss of misery and suffering. I wasn’t trying to force my plan on God. I began cooperating with His plan and then I found out that God’s plan – God’s dream – was more satisfying that anything I could have imagined.

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV)
^2:9But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

Are you open to God’s plan for your life? Are you willing to surrender your dream – to dream God’s dream for you? Do you know the easiest way for your plans to happen? Listen to God, hear His plan and make his plan your plan! Let God direct your steps to breakthrough and victory!

In the Old Testament, there is the story of Jacob as he is about to meet Esau, the one he ripped off and who had threatened to kill him. He’s afraid. He knows Esau’s plan and Esau is coming with 400 men. Jacob’s plan was to take his family home to his father’s house, but it looks to him like that’s all over now!

Then a man comes to him and wrestles with him throughout the night – That man is the Angel of the Lord, which is an Old Testament name for Jesus. All night long they wrestle until finally God throws Jacob’s hip out of joint.

Finally, Jacob surrenders and God is able to move. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel, and he begins to live God’s plan for his life. The promise of the Promised Land is completed through Jacob. Look at Ephesians 2:10:

Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)
^2:10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

That scripture tells us that God had a plan for your life, before you were even born! God has prepared something for you. Something good that’s beyond your imagination. Maybe, it’s time to cooperate with God’s plan and move to victory!

God Honors Faith

Here’s the promise:

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)
^1:6being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

This verse tells us that what God has started in us He will finish, but you need to know this one thing: God doesn’t just have a plan for your life – You are the plan! Noah was God’s plan for continuing the human race. Moses was God’s plan for delivering Israel from bondage in Egypt. Esther was God’s plan for rescuing the Jews from Haman. Jesus was the pan for our deliverance from sin, and you are God’s plan for his purpose through you. By cooperating with God you will see victory!

Finally, God promises that if we seek first the Kingdom of God, then the things we need will be added to us.

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
^6:33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

God wants to change your circumstances! God wants to do a work in your life! Most of all God wants you!

So, how do we live out our faith? We get ready for God to move in our lives. We pray and call upon God to move in our lives but we forget to prepare for a move of God. That’s really what faith is, living our lives like we know that God is already moving! Prepare your field – THE RAIN IS COMING!

Watch Out For Snakes!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 07:57:00 +0000

In life we encounter temptation and we struggle with sin. It’s because we have a sinful nature. We inherited it from Adam and Eve. There will always be a battle with those things. Today I want to post a message on temptation and sin.

Acts 28:1-6 (NKJV)
^28:1Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. ²And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. ³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. ⁴So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live." ⁵But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

There are Snakes Lying in Wait

This takes place when Paul was being taken to Rome. The ship was a cargo ship and it had to stop in Crete to do business. The weather had become difficult but the captain decided to go anyway and a storm came up.

This is in Chapter 27. It was a two-week trial that ended with the ship breaking apart off the island of Malta. In great danger and struggle, they made it safely to the island, but they were shipwrecked there.

The real cause of the shipwreck was a lapse in discernment. The reason that it happened was that the captain failed to discern the weather. He didn’t take into account the consequences of that decision to go even though it was late in the season.

This is often a problem for us. We have other priorities. We make decisions without considering their effect on us. It may make sense from a business standpoint. It may seem like a good decision, but we really need to examine the consequences. It may have a chilling effect on the Holy Spirit, it may short-circuit something that God is doing, or it may result in the temptation of sin. That’s the real point of this blog post. I want to look at this event in Paul’s life in a more symbolic way.

Events and circumstances in one part of our lives may affect other aspects of our lives. They may cause us to think in a different way. They may cause us to view things differently. They may even open a door that the devil can exploit, as an entryway into our lives. Sometimes those circumstances are a setup for a future assault. We need to be able to attempt to understand potential consequences to our decisions, “If I do this, what are the possible outcomes?” This captain didn’t do that and they found themselves shipwrecked on the island of Malta for the winter.

Our text takes place on the island of Malta. Paul is collecting firewood, in the rain and cold, in the aftermath of the shipwreck. This is the consequence of the captain’s decision. This is the open door that the devil can exploit. As he throws the wood onto the fire a poisonous snake attaches itself to Paul’s hand.

In the bible a snake represents temptation. The first time we see a serpent in the Bible, he’s tempting Eve.

It’s our decisions that open us up to temptation. Paul never should have been on that island, but because of a decision that was made Paul ended up in a place where the devil could lay a temptation on him.

This is why we have standards in our church. This is why we don’t like the young men to be alone with a young woman after 10:30 pm. Being in the wrong place opens you up to temptation. If the captain hadn’t tried to sail when it was too late in the year they wouldn’t have wrecked the ship. Paul would never have been on the island. The snake would never have attached itself to him.

This is just a picture for us, though. We are the captains of our own lives. We make our decisions. We have to have the discernment to see what potential consequences that decision may hold.

If movies have worldly themes, should I go see them? There may be a snake in there!

If people are drinking at parties, should I attend? There may be a snake in there!

Should I be hugging, kissing and cuddling with my girlfriend? There may be a snake in there – and that snake is waiting for the right moment to attach itself to you.

Most of us think, “I can handle this stuff – I won’t be tempted, I haven’t wanted to drink in a long time!”

“I don’t need to look at porn anymore!”

“We’re just friends – it’s just harmless flirting, we’re not doing anything.” It’s a snake and it’s trying to attach itself to you!

On Malta the snakes were vipers. They were poisonous. The people here watched to see if Paul was going to die. The temptation is a poisonous snake; it can kill you!

Finally, that snake attached itself to Paul. It didn’t just give him a bite. It attached itself; it held on. Temptation isn’t always easy to get away from. Do you know Christians who struggle with the same things year after year? I know a man who has allowed himself to sin with pornography three times now. Each time he thought he was over it. Each time he thought it was gone, but it was attached. You have to make an effort to throw it off. It best, just to not put yourself in that place where temptation lives. Make the right decisions.

The People Were Watching

The second thing I want to examine is the reaction of the people. The native people were watching to see what would happen to Paul.

Acts 28:4-6 (NKJV)
^28:4So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live." ⁵But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

Do you realize that because you’re saved people are curious? People are watching you to see if you’re different from them. They want to see if there’s a difference between serving God and what they’re doing. If you’re looking for something to revolutionize your life then you want to know of change is possible.

People often think that they’re stuck in their lifestyle. I thought, “I’ll always be a drunk.” This is a common thing. Have you ever heard this? “I’ve always been like that! It’s just how I am.” There’s no hope of change in those statements. They’re saying, “My experience is that I haven’t ever been able to change.” Then you come along and say, “God changed me!” They want to see if it’s true because that’s what they want. They want to change, too!

So, when the snake of temptation attaches itself to you, they want to see how you handle it! The chances are they have seen those temptations before. In our text, the native people knew the snakes were deadly. They’d experienced the bite of those snakes before. They thought Paul saws a dead man; “No one could overcome the poison of the snakes.”

Sinners understand temptation. They’ve been tempted before. Usually, if there’s no overarching desire to do the right thing; if you don’t see it as something that will ruin your life or destroy your ability to make heaven your home, you’ll just let it happen. Sinners gonna sin, right?

As Christians, we understand the danger of sin. We know what the wages of sin is. We know that sin is the poison that brings death. We can’t allow the snakes to put poison into our systems. We have to be able to deal with temptation.

The people were watching Paul. They saw the bite. They made a judgment that he wouldn’t survive it. They expected him to die, but Paul just shook off the snake. He shook it off and went on – he survived with no ill effects.

Can you shake off temptation? Can you overcome the poison of sin? Paul just shook it off and they thought he was a god. They looked at Paul’s overcoming of the snake and saw him as a god. People are watching you, they see the temptation and they think, “He’s not going to be able to escape. It’s just a matter of time before he swells up and dies.” If you just shake it off, put it away; destroy it with Holy Ghost fire, then the people see the power of God. That’s really what they saw on Malta, they just thought that the power came from Paul. They thought Paul was a god, but the power came from God! people will know that God has power when you are able to shake off the temptation that’s trying to attach itself to you.

Your Testimony Can Win People!

In the Book of Exodus, Moses s called to meet with God. God calls him to the burning bush and commands him.

Exodus 4:2-4 (NKJV)
^4:2So the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." ³And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from it. ⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),

Moses sees the snake and turns to flee, but God tells him to pick it up. When he does it becomes the Rod of God in Moses’ hand. Moses saw the snake, it was the face of temptation and Moses’ first thought was to flee from it. When you’re tempted, what do you do? Do you say, “I can handle it – I won’t sin!”? Are you like Moses and say, “It’s temptation – I have to go!”?

In the Book of Genesis, Joseph is in the home of Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife says, “Hi handsome! Hubba, Hubba!” Look at what happens:

Genesis 39:11-12 (NKJV)
^39:11But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, ¹²that she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.

He ran right out of his coat to get away – From that snake! He fled the temptation. That should be our reaction as well.

First – We need to make decisions that will help us avoid temptation!

Second – We need to shake off the temptation and not let it attach itself to us.

Third – We need to flee temptation whenever possible or let God help us do the right thing.

People will see that and be moved. Everyone has aspects of their lives and personalities that they know need to change, but that they feel powerless to change. When they see God move in our lives over the long term; when they can see that the change is real – they will want what you have! Your testimony can reach people.

The Wisdom of White Cats

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Banducci) — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 06:55:00 +0000

The little sisters went into a room to play ball.

“We must be careful not to wake the white cat,” the tall one spoke softly.

“Or to spoil the roses,” the fat one whispered, “but throw high dear sister, or we shall never hit the ceiling.”

“You dear children,” thought the white cat, “why do you come to play here at all? Only just around the corner are the shady trees and the birds singing on the branches, and the sunshine flecking the pathway. Who knows but what, out there your ball might touch the sky? Here you will only disturb me, and perhaps spoil the roses, and at best you can but hit the ceiling!”

I came across this story a while back as I was preparing for my weekly English Free Talk class, and I thought that it spoke a great truth about human potential. That truth is that we define the limits to our own potential. Why place all of our energies in an area where we’re limited by our own natural abilities and talents? We cannot exceed our own limitations on our own. It is like being in a room and trying to hit the ceiling with the ball rather than changing the circumstances and making it possible to reach for the sky! There is an aspect of human potential that makes it possible for us to exceed natural limitations; it’s called faith. Today I want to post on “reaching for the sky.”

Mark 9:21-24 (NKJV)^9:21So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. ²²And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." ²³Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." ²⁴Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

Can You Believe?

I was inspired by the story of these sisters because it speaks about something I talk about frequently; self-limiting behavior. Look at what our text says, “If you can believe, all things are possible.” So the question is, “Can you believe?”

For example, do you have the faith to believe that if you tithe that God can help you to do as much with the remaining ninety percent, as you could with one hundred percent that isn’t blessed by God? That’s a question of faith: With God all things are possible.”

Do you have faith to believe that you can fast for three days? Can you believe that you can tap into God’s power through fasting?

Mark 9:27-29 (NKJV)^9:27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ²⁸And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" ²⁹So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

Both of these are things that allow you transcend normal human abilities. This is accessing the supernatural. It’s what I mean by “Reaching for the sky!” If the circumstances of your life make you think that what you need from God is impossible, then you are playing ball in a room where you will only reach the ceiling. There are limits to what you can do. There are limits to what can happen through your efforts.

If you exercise your faith through prayer and fasting you can remove the limits and the sky becomes something that’s within your reach. Exercising your faith puts your circumstances in God’s hands:

Matthew 19:26 (NKJV)^19:26But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

What really inspired this post was talking to people in my congregation about a three-day fast that was coming up. I asked them individually, “Are you going to fast?” I received a number of different responses, such as the following:

“I’ll fast at breakfast.”

“I’m only going to fast on Tuesday.”

“I have to work.”

“No!”

My wife and I ended up being the only ones who fasted the entire three days. I had offered options when I announced it, in an effort to encourage people to join with us and stretch the limits of their behavior. “If you’ve never fasted maybe commit to one day or try to do what you can do!” My intention was to get people to stretch themselves. We had never had anyone commit to fasting with us in prior fasts. The problem was I said “stretch yourself,” but everyone heard “you only have to fast for one day.” The other thing I said was this: “Do you know what they call fasting without prayer? Dieting.” I was encouraging them to join us and pray, but no one did.

I’m not complaining about it, I’m using this to illustrate how we “build a room” around our faith. This is self-limiting behavior. People wanted God to move. People needed God to move but didn’t create an opportunity where God could move. A move of God is activated by faith!

Think about this:

A woman comes to Jesus who’d had an issue of blood for twelve years. She thinks, “If I can only touch His robe, I can be made well!” She fights her way through the crowd; she reaches Him and touches the hem of his garment. She’s literally lying on the ground grabbing his cloak. What does Jesus say to her? “Your faith has made you well.”

And there’s this:

A woman comes to Jesus; her daughter is demon possessed. She’s not a Jew, she’s a Syro-phoenician woman; a pagan. At first, Jesus tries to send her away. He says, “It’s not right to give the children’s food to dogs.” He’s saying this isn’t for you, it’s for the Jews. The woman persists, “Even the little dogs get the crumbs that fall from the master’s table!” Listen to His response: “Great is your faith – Let it happen as you want!”

Finally, there’s this:

A blind man hears a great commotion. He finds out that Jesus is coming down the road. He shouts out, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Everybody tells him to be quiet, but he yells it again, even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus hears him, and asks, “What shall I do for you?” The blind man asks for his sight. Jesus says, “Go your way your faith has made you well.”

Faith is what makes the impossible, possible! Without faith, you are limited to natural laws of physics. You can only throw as high as your strength allows. But with faith, you can grab a hold of the supernatural. That means you can go beyond what is naturally possible. You can throw as high as your faith allows. You can even reach the sky!

What Does Your Faith Look Like?

In the biography of Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson, there’s a story of Jobs recruiting a man to take the helm of Apple Computer. He’s the CEO of Pepsico. At first, the man turns him down. The man is having a crisis. He’s not sure he can move to California. He doesn’t know what’s best for his children. He’s wondering how taking on this failing company will help his career. There were so many things to consider. Finally, Jobs asks him, “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?” After all of this, he agreed to become Jobs’ successor.

All of these questions in his thinking: All of these circumstances distracted him from his faith in himself. We, as Christians, allow circumstances and our thinking about them, to distract from, and limit our faith in God. That’s what the white cat in the opening illustration was talking about. You have to be careful of waking the cat. You have to be careful of spoiling the Roses. It makes it difficult to reach the sky! We sometimes are so focused on the cats and the roses in our own lives that we can’t break through in our faith.

This man that took over Apple computer almost threw away the opportunity to change the world by worrying about the things that would take care of themselves.

Matthew 6:30-33 (NKJV)^6:30Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

When you act in faith then, “all these things shall be added to you!” Victory comes through faith. Great victory comes through great faith!

In 1 Samuel, chapters thirteen and fourteen, the Philistines have again attacked Israel. Saul has taken six hundred men to meet them, but they’re hugely outnumbered and people are deserting. Saul’s worried about these things: “What happens if I lose?” “How can I keep things together with all these men leaving?” So he sits under the pomegranate tree doing nothing. He’s not moving. He’s not preparing for the battle. He’s just sitting there. He represents the army of God, but he has no faith. His lack of faith has paralyzed him. There can be no victory without a fight!

How often are we like Saul? We have a need but we just sit there doing nothing. We even call that faith. We don’t pray, we don’t fast, or we pray our little prayers and complain when it doesn’t happen right away. There is the possibility that God is ready to move but we haven’t created an opportunity for God to move. There’s also the possibility that God is moving but it doesn’t look like what we’re expecting, so we wait; just like Saul!

There is another side to this story, though. Jonathan and his armor bearer are also there. They’re on another flank. They’re in a different area. They are also greatly outnumbered. There’s a garrison of Philistines. A garrison is a fort. This is their home ground. Jonathan and his armor bearer are only two people, but Jonathan isn’t worried about distractions. He’s not saying, “Oh dear, there are only two of us, how many can we possibly beat. What will they do to us if we don’t win the battle?”

Instead, he calls on God to show him what to do. When God shows him, he does it! God gives two men a great victory over the Philistines. They couldn’t have done that on their own without faith! With faith comes victory – With great faith comes great victory!

God Moves in the Supernatural!

I want you to see the last moments of the battle against the Philistines:

1 Samuel 14:13-16 (NKJV)^14:13And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them. ¹⁴That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land. ¹⁵And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling. ¹⁶Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude, melting away; and they went here and there.

God brought an earthquake and the Philistines melted away! God moved supernaturally to bring about the victory. God moved in a way that Jonathan could not!

How many reading this are looking for a victory in some aspect of your life? How many need a move of God in your finances; your love life; your health or your ___________? (fill in the blank!) How many need something from God? How many of you are willing to do what God says to do to get it? Bring tithes into the storehouse; seek first the kingdom of God; this kind comes out with fasting and prayer; “Your faith has made you well!”

Are you throwing a ball and hitting the ceiling, or are you throwing it to reach the sky? The things you think are impossible, aren’t impossible for God! “With God all things are possible!” We know that intellectually. We can recite that scripture. It’s easy to say, isn’t it? We say it all the time, in fact, we have a banner in our church that says it in Chinese, but do we have the courage to live it? You really can have victory in your life, but you have to have the courage to step out in faith because no faith equals no victory! Remember the wisdom of the white cat. Do you want to throw a ball to touch the ceiling or do you want to reach for the sky?