Word at Work Ministries

Word at Work February 3 2012

2011-12-30T21:52:00Z

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3
Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1,2

1 Peter 5:1,2 says, “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;…” The word translated “Shepherd” in verse 2 is poy-mah-ee-no. Peter commanded leaders, which includes all those who are called into five-fold ministry because they carry a specific shepherding function. How has the enemy robbed pastors of their authority and power? Peter lists some temptations that are culprits in this theft. Attitude is critical. Pastoring is one of the toughest jobs in the world because of the words and actions of the saints. Most congregations kill their pastors with criticism and judgment. The natural response to unwarranted criticism is self-pity. When self-pity enters, compulsion follows and power departs. We are talking about the loss of divine authority that equates with the warrior side of Christ in each dimension of the five-fold ministry. An equally dangerous threat to authority is the motivation “…for dishonest gain…” How did we deteriorate into the passivity of the five-fold ministry that we have right now? Failing the mammon test guarantees power loss. Every single one of the five-fold has a pastoring-with-a-rod-of-iron application to impart to the Body of Christ. Because without it, we cannot rise to a place of fullness. How did we get here? The pastorate has been under assault for years. The loss of authority and passivity that reigns in the church today will change. One way to get to this level of passivity is to pursue a crowd-pleasing, mammon-driven biblical model for growth by dumbing down the Word and refusing to speak the truth that is offensive. One burst of Holy Spirit boldness cures that. Pray Holy Spirit boldness for every pastor! Truth offends. The Bible is full of offense. Political correctness is antichrist pimping and it needs to be pastored with a rod of iron!

Word at Work February 2 2012

2011-12-30T21:51:26Z

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2
Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-11, 11-13

When Jesus descended into the depths of the earth and faced hell itself for three days, He stripped principalities and powers of their keys of Hades and Death. Jesus ascended victorious! Once He was ascended, Ephesians 4:11-13 says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect/tel-i-os man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;,…” the Greek word for pastor is poy-mane. Poy-mane is the noun that identifies the office of the pastor. Poy-mah-ee-no is the verb defining the actions of pastors. Revelation is revolutionary because Jesus pastors with a rod of iron. The rod of iron does not fit with the cultural concept of pastoring! How did the cultural concept of pastoring become so passive? One burst of the Holy Spirit can change this concept. Only tradition can steal the reality and force of a biblical shepherd and what they did. We stand today in a culture who sees the most passive person on the planet as the one who occupies the position of the pastor. Jesus is committed to changing that concept. Whenever the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, the Lord comes by His Spirit and authorizes a flood to restore what has been stolen and what has been lost. I suspect the most militant pastors in the history of the church are about to emerge. The creative God is about to anoint His pastors with a take no prisoners, no holds barred mindset proclaiming, “Here is what the Word says and here is what my God does!” Resist the Lord at your own peril. When shepherds strike with a rod of iron in prayer, I expect the angel of the Lord to visit and put Herods in the grave. Pray for power on pastors!

Word at Work February 1 2012

2011-12-30T21:20:35Z

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1
Scripture: Revelation 19:11-16, 1 Peter 5:1-4

One of the strongest passages in the New Testament portrays the Jesus you and I serve as a warrior and a judge. His eyes are a flame of fire, He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, He is obviously in the midst of combat, and He is leading armies who are dressed in white and clean linen. Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword and with it He is striking nations and ruling them with a rod of iron. Everyone in full-time ministry, because of 1 Peter 5:1-4, is responsible for the perception of a pastor. This passage states, “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” Perhaps one of the most misunderstood concepts today is how the average person views a pastor! Pastoring comes from the Greek word poy-mah-ee-no and it means, ‘to shepherd.’ The cultural norm painted for pastors has nothing to do with war and is completely disconnected with the image of Christ that we see in Revelation 19:11-16. Every reference to the ruling, reigning, warring, judging Jesus has been disassociated with the pastor. Pastoring is ancient shepherding. Every one of the five-fold ministry of Ephesians 4:11 pastors according to their piece of God’s heart. A prophet shepherds differently from an evangelist. Jesus had much to say about shepherds. Jesus was not silent about the difference between the true and false shepherds. The New Testament has volumes to say about what makes a good shepherd. The Greek word translated “rule” in Revelation 19:16 is our word for shepherd. I believe the greatest answer to prayer we could get in 2012 would be the Holy Spirit empowering of shepherds. The devil’s devices have the goal of pimping the pastorate into passivity. There has been no greater assault on any single group than the demonic cultural assault on pastors. God’s shepherds are the ultimate servants. The abuse thrown at them for following the Holy Spirit in upholding a standard of righteousness is stunning. I believe the Lord is about to transform pastors with an anointing of holy boldness. If King David were alive today, would he be stunned, amazed and ashamed at the abuse of today’s leaders? We need warriors. We need to recover the Kingly character of Christ and we once again need to see men and women who will pastor with a heart of Revelation 19:11-16. There is a resurrection of the heart of David wielding the rod of iron coming to pastors.

February 2012 Outcry

2012-02-01T01:55:48Z

Government policy is forcing us to pay twice as much for gas as it should cost by limiting supply. The payoff is the government collects twice as much in tax. Every time we fill up our vehicles, we should ask for covenant justice. We can pray Psalm 7:6 for those responsible for financially raping us at the pump. Genesis 1:26-28 reveals God’s purpose for man and the creation, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all[a] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

When we refuse to develop resources for fear of harming the environment, then we place nature over man effectively spitting in the face of God. Everyone wants a good environment but I have seen whole towns destroyed by outrageous application of environmental restrictions. The EPA is considering banning “fracking,” or the use of high pressure water to break into layered pockets of gas and oil under the guise of safety.

Fracking was first used in 1949 and has grown into the safest way to drill and the most environmentally-friendly way of discovering gas and oil. We pay nearly double the price for gasoline because of our dependency on foreign oil while environmental lawsuits restrict the development of our own abundant supplies of natural gas and oil. Fish & Game wants to add the sand dunes lizard to the endangered species list, which would kill 20% of America’s oil production from the Permian Basin.

A little known fact is that America has more oil than all the Middle East put together. The US Geological Service last updated their report detailing the “Oil in the Ground Estimate” in 2008. In just one region of western North Dakota and South Dakota with eastern Montana contains the largest domestic oil discoveries since Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and could eliminate all of America’s dependence on foreign oil. The estimate is 503 billion barrels in this location is enough to fuel the American economy for 2041 years. In addition, 1000 feet below the Rocky Mountains lies the largest reserve in the world – 2 trillion barrels of oil.

On Aug 8, 2005 President Bush mandated the extraction of American oil from the Rockies. However, not one barrel has been extracted because of environmentalists and their political party. America has eight times as much oil as Saudi Arabia, eighteen times as much as Iraq, twenty-one times as much as Kuwait, twenty-two times as much as Iran and 500 times as much as Yemen. Why are we not extracting it when high, high oil prices kill jobs and bankrupt airlines like American Airlines? OPEC would be destroyed if America would develop its oil but we can thank environmentalists and the political party they control for supporting Islam and decimating our economy.

Psalm 7:6 records a Davidic prayer for those whose idolatry contains the environment. Romans 1 defines justice for this group. Praying Psalm 7:6 over leaders could save the nation!

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2012-02-01T01:52:46Z

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Word at Work January 31 2012

2011-12-30T21:19:31Z

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31
Scripture: Acts 4:36,37

Acts 4:36,37 state, “And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” Barnabus was impacted by the rest of the church. Barnabus was a Levite with a ministry. But he also had illegal land for a Levite, which meant instead of having grazing land for cattle he had a business of farming his land. So Barnabus became convicted, sold his land and brought it to lay at the apostles’ feet. Now when the leadership, the people in full-time ministry, started selling what they had, that caused a real plumbline to be established. That plumbline measured two people who were found wanting. Ananias and Sapphira are examples of that plumbline dropping. God aph-ed two people in order to save the early church from mixed seed. The God we serve is ready again with signs and wonders for the asking. Are we asking? We should be. Everything in us should be asking because God is ready.

Word at Work January 30 2012

2011-12-30T21:18:53Z

MONDAY, JANUARY 30
Scripture: Acts 4:33-35

Acts 4:33-35 states, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.” The early church followed the Holy Spirit and they had a great anointing to witness to the resurrection of Jesus. Great grace was on everyone. Nobody lacked. People who had rental properties sold them, brought the proceeds and laid them at the apostle’s feet. The apostles distributed to people as they had need. It was a real community taking care of each other. The early church was passing the major money test. They were caring for each other, they were ruling themselves and they had access to the rod of iron. Their choices were even bringing conviction on people in the ministry. The stunning thing about what they were doing by ruling themselves, was they were becoming a plumbline that caused people even in ministry to change the way they were functioning. When we say yes to God and rule our own flesh, our own desires and the way we think, doors to justice open! Tradition develops when something has been emphasized enough that it becomes a stronghold in our mind. Today’s church only thinks in terms of “turn-the-other-cheek” when there are many more options. “Turn-the-other-cheek” mentality has been emphasized enough that it is a stronghold. Breaking the stronghold simply means we change what we think about a certain situation. All change begins in changing the way we pray and changing how we act. If we can change how we think, we can change our lives.

Word at Work January 29 2012

2011-12-30T21:18:09Z

SUNDAY, JANUARY 29
Scripture: Acts 4:32

God did a major purifying event for the early church. Verse 32 says, “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” Nobody said that anything he had was his own. They shared as people had need. And because they passed the mammon test, they could execute judicial authority over the mammonites of that day. Because they were willing to rule themselves, they could rule against those who yielded to the spirit of mammon. When mammon arose to oppose the work in their midst the early church manifested the rod of iron. Are we there? We need to be. They showed the way. Let us follow the pattern.

Word at Work January 28 2012

2011-12-30T21:16:57Z

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28
Scripture: Acts 4:31

The early church agreed together and when they prayed, God answered. Acts 4:31 says, “And 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.” And everyone there benefited from God showing up. The Lord shook the place, everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit the second time and they all moved in holy boldness. God sent them a holy boldness which is what they needed for the adversary they were facing. The church today needs a holy boldness! We need boldness to confront the evil we are facing! Isn’t it time we stepped into the holy boldness that God has? We need to pray for it, we need to ask for it and I believe we are going to see it. I believe there is a move of holy boldness coming to the church. It may just be a prayer away.

Word at Work January 27 2012

2011-12-30T21:16:14Z

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27
Scripture: Psalm 2:6

Has God set His King on His Holy Hill of Zion? If we really believe Psalm 2:6 – that God has set His King on His Holy Hill of Zion, then the King that is on the Holy Hill has to rule the kings who set themselves against the Lord and against His anointed. Worldly rulers have to bow. That means you and I have to tap the authority of the King who has been set on the Holy Hill and we have to bring His Hand on the wayward who are blocking our harvest field. We are in the same place the early church found themselves. So they prayed accordingly. And when they asked God for signs and wonders, they asked that what God did in Egypt, He do for them. They did not hesitate. They did not back off. They did not “turn-the-other-cheek”. They said, “God, we want you to terrorize the enemy and we want Your Hand upon them. Put them in distress. Do what you did in Egypt.” That is what they were asking for. They were straightforward, they knew their covenant and they knew God had done it before. He did it before and we would do it again. God is not opposed to putting the enemy in the grave. The only people who have trouble with that are religious people with lots of tradition. Thank God David did not have to wade through that. Goliath would still be taunting Israel. It is time we grew into the fullness of our covenant!