LIMITLESS REALITY

Gideon the Valiant Warrior

2012-01-26T13:30:00.001-06:00

Remember the story of Gideon the valiant warrior? This is an amazing story. God used Gideon in a mighty victory over the enemies of God's people. There's something in this story that I believe is critical for the body of Christ in this day. There is something that we need to discern about ourselves. (Judges 6:11-16)

An angel shows up and identifies Gideon as a valiant warrior. Gideon was threshing his wheat harvest in a wine press, he was hiding from his enemies. He doesn't look like a valiant warrior. The angel declares to Gideon how he is known by God in heaven. Gideon's response was interesting. He said he was the youngest of his father's house, and his father's house was the least in Manasseh. That is all Gideon thought he was.

Gideon had a group identity.

How do we see ourselves? How are we known in heaven? Gideon's "group identity" had him harvesting his wheat crop in fear. But who Gideon was in God, a valiant warrior, brought him into a great victory over the enemies of the people of God. Your identity in God is extremely important. Because it is how you are known in heaven that will determine the fruit that your life produces for God.

Gideon was identified as a valiant warrior before he had ever engaged in battle. It is God's way to reveal to you or to declare to you who you are before you ever look like it. Gideon looked like a man in fear, heaven saw a valiant warrior. When God shows you who you are, it is an invitation to live into it, to step into it. Gideon had to rise up and step into who he was as a warrior, and it will be the same for us.

But here is something we need to be aware of. Do I have a group identity or do I have an individual identity. What has developed my understanding of who I am? If I have a group identity then the group controls who I am and what I'm allowed to do. If I have an individual identity established by God, then God can plug me into a group of other believers and who I am can add to that group something unique. Be very careful because religion always produces conformity to the group. The religious never identify who you are in God, they only identify you by how they see themselves.

You see your church does not decide who you are in God, only God does that. God will use those in your church to affirm who you are in God but they are never the deciding factor about who you are. In other words God does not consult with them to find out who they think you should be. He will only use them to affirm who you are in Him, and they must be in tune with the Holy Spirit to do that. This is where you need to be careful because this is where your potential can be aborted. How many feel like, that in their church, no one really understands them? And how many let themselves be talked out of what they thought God wanted them to do by those who did not understand?

I know that people in church are not trying to mislead or hurt anyone. But at the same time they just may not understand, and you are going to have to stay committed to what God has laid on your heart even if your church does not understand. If you don't you may spend your entire Christian life living beneath your privilege. It is only God's declaration of who you are that matters. I know that people in your life are well intended and they mean no harm, but that does not mean they are correct about you.

Gideon did have a group identity. He was of his father's house, and his father's house was in Manasseh, all that is true. But at the same time it is not his identity in God, it was his identity as it pertained to the group - Israel. He had a group identity and he had an individual identity in God.

Like Gideon, our success in our battles depends
upon our individual identity in God.

A Kingdom of Light within a Kingdom of Darkness

2012-01-25T11:45:00.001-06:00

We are a kingdom of light in the midst of a kingdom of darkness. We are a people within the midst of another people. (We are in the world but not of it.) But light does not endure darkness, and darkness does not overshadow the light. The light does not endure darkness, light expels darkness. We are not here to endure, just simply get by. I believe that we are not to just get by we are to shine.

We are in a day where we need to learn to live and move and have our being in Him. We need to learn how to press into the kingdom of God and see its manifestation in our life. We need to learn how to function in the kingdom, how to receive provision from the reality of the kingdom being present. This is the reason for the declaration made by John the Baptist and Jesus, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand". When we live as the people of the kingdom of light in the midst of another kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, then we are in it but we are not of it. As the Scripture says we are in the world but not of it.

We need to walk as children of the light, the kingdom of light. Many of us have been walking as children of religious disciplines and traditions. Jesus said that the traditions of man make void the word of God. If that is true, and it is, then the tradition of man can make void living in the reality of the manifested kingdom of God. To make void is to make empty, to make it of no effect, it is to have no substance. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. We are a people who are of the kingdom of God and it is not seen but that does not mean it cannot be entered.

The Jews in Egypt were a nation in the midst of another nation.

The stage is being set and things are being set up by God to manifest light in the homes of God's people. We are in a day where it is critical that we learn how to have light in our homes, how to have the presence of God in our homes. We must have light in our homes and as we do we will be a household of light in the midst of households of darkness. It is just like when darkness came upon the land of Egypt and that darkness was so intense it could be felt, but there was light in the homes of the Jews. Which simply means we possess something that they do not possess. It means that we are sustained and provided for by a resource that they do not have.

The point is, the kingdom of God is actual, vital, it is real. It's presence in manifestation is actual, it is here in time and place, the kingdom of God is at hand. And in the days to come living in that reality and from that resource will be critical. Darkness may increase in this land, this country, but it does not have to increase in our homes.

Hear My Words and Act on Them

2012-01-17T16:45:00.001-06:00

Jesus said that the one who "... hears My words and acts on them..." that he is like a man that sets out to build a house and he digs deep to build his foundation on bedrock. Consequently when the storms come his house will stand. But the one who hears Jesus' sayings and does not do them is like a man who builds his house on top of the sand, and when the storm comes his house falls. (Luke 6:47-49)

It is not the hearer that is blessed, but it is the doer that will be blessed in his doing. So it is not the one who hears the truth that is blessed, it is the one who acts on the truth they have heard. Knowing truth is not enough. Many in the body of Christ are living beneath their privilege in Christ knowing truth. They know what the Bible says but that has not translated into fruitfulness because it does not translate into action.

If the truth that I am hearing is not changing what I am doing then I am not being equipped to stand. What I'm talking about is a paradigm. A paradigm being thought patterns that govern behavior. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. A renewed mind that develops new behavior produces new fruit. In other words, we all know that if we keep doing things the same way we have always done them we are always going to have what those ways produce.

He who hears my words and acts on them, that is the key. That is the key! It is the doer that is blessed. I mean blessed as in being empowered by God to produce fruit that is beyond our abilities. A blessed doer is someone who walks supernaturally. The supernatural power of God comes upon those who when they hear the word they obey. God gives them power as they obey. The work of their hands and their mind is blessed.

For those of you who feel that your faith is very small, very weak, act on the faith that you do have. Remember when the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith? What did He tell them? He told them that even if their faith was the size of a mustard seed, which is very small, it will produce much. So if you think your faith is to small, even small faith acted on produces much. Remember it's not the hearer that is blessed but the doer. (Mat. 17:20)

So act on what you have. Act on what little faith you have because even a little faith acted on can produce great things. So it should be a great encouragement to anyone who feels like their faith is small. Small faith can move mountains.

God Shall Supply all Your Needs

2012-01-10T17:11:00.000-06:00

It is an amazing promise, God promising to supply all our needs. Our hearts long to see the fulfillment of this promise, it is our great hope. There are things that can hinder that. Thoughts that can get in the way. Actually the Scripture has been used in the past to ignite debate about what is the difference between a need or a want? Who gets to decide when we crossed the line?

I want to be honest up front. It is my intention to blur the line between needs and wants. I'm letting you know this upfront and the reason is we need to rethink this subject. For some the distinction between needs and wants has actually caused them to live beneath their privilege in God paid for by Christ Jesus.

So the argument goes, God will supply your needs but not your wants. Well think for a minute and list some the things that we would consider needs;

shelter
food
water
clothing and shoes
a way to earn a living
education for our children
health

Now I think most would agree that those are needs. Let me ask you this, don't you also want them? If God doesn't supply your wants then you had better not be wanting food. Do you need water? Yes. But you also want it as well. I would argue that the things we need the most we also want the most.

I told you I was going to blur the line.

When a Christian neighbor who already has a car buys himself a brand-new car, in our minds did he just go from a need to a want? What is our own estimation of the level on which we live life? Do we look at all that we own and conclude that we are only living on the level of need? When does what we have cross the line and who are the want police?

What about what God wants for me? What if it is

so big it looks like a want and not a need?

I am convinced that many in the body of Christ shrink back from all that God wants for them because they have classified things in terms of needs and wants. Where in Scripture does God tell us to determine what our needs are, or what qualifies as a need. It seems to me that God is rather extravagant. Jesus feeds the crowd with five loads and two fish and then there are 12 baskets of food left. Everybody is full. We don't need another 12 baskets full of food because obviously Jesus can come up with food anytime you need it.

Have you stepped back from a dream because you think it crosses the line?

God will do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all we ask or think. That means He is already out there past what we could come up with. So what do we do? Let the Lord Himself be the one who determines what is right for us, not some law established by man as to what we should or should not have.

Receive the Love of God

2012-01-06T19:26:00.001-06:00

Do we know how to receive the love of God? I know that followers of Jesus Christ know about the love of God, we can even preach and teach about the love of God, but that is vastly different than actually receiving the love of God. What would it mean for us if we were to actually receive it? How would we be different than we are right now? It seems to me that receiving from God is very difficult for most of us. But if that is true, it is also quite confusing that receiving love, which is the thing that we need most and long for, would be so hard.

Imagine a young couple and the man is completely in love with his girlfriend. She really has a hard time letting him into her heart. She really does love him but it is hard for her to let him in. They just can't seem get very close. She wants it but she can hardly let herself receive his love. He tries to convince her of his love to no avail. Over time it begins to be a real strain on the relationship. Her difficulty is in receiving his love. His difficulty is in the fact that if she won't receive it he can't release it.

Often we are like that with God. He has already demonstrated His love for us but it can be difficult to receive. In the Bible there's so much talk about giving and receiving, rivers flowing out of our inmost being, and walking in the light. There is a flow but the flow has to have somewhere to go. God is giving we need to be receiving so there's flow. If there is no flow we are the ones who suffer, we are the ones who live beneath our privilege in God. Just like the young lady I spoke about the paragraph above, she is living beneath the privilege, the privilege that the young man's love would afford her.

I believe that to receive the love of God will mean that I get to walk in peace and joy, and provision. I believe all the things we long for in our walk with God will begin only when we decide to receive the love of God. What I learned is that you have to choose it, you have to choose to believe that you are already loved by God as much as you possibly can be. I had to learn to choose to believe in the love of God, to receive the love of God, even though I thought I didn't deserve the love of God.

Here's the key, choose to believe it before you think you qualify for it and you'll get to enjoy the benefit of it even though you're still aware that you don't deserve it. My point is this, take it anyway, just decide that you are loved based on the word of God. The only condition that we can receive the love of God in is in our present condition, whatever that may be. If God is offering you His love while you're still a mess than just be a very loved mess. If you think you're a train wreck of a person well then be a loved train wreck. If you think you're a good for nothing then at least be a loved good for nothing.

I dare you to say it out loud; God loves me

and there is nothing I can do about it!

Will of Man, Soul of Man, Sinful Man

2012-01-06T09:53:00.000-06:00

The will of man is a component of the soul of man. All components of the soul of man are present even though man is sinful. At no time is the will ever removed from the soul. The will operates even in sinful man but what fuels the will are the appetites and desires of the flesh and the mind. But at no time is the will incapable of operation, it is just bound to serve self.

All men can respond!

Some say that in sinful man the will is so depraved that it can not operate. Some say man has a free will. The will of man is not free in the strictest sense of freedom but that's not even the point. The point is not that it is free, the point is it works.

In sinful man the will only operates toward self, does that mean he is incapable of going toward God? Without God drawing man he is not coming. Without somebody being sent to him to preach, he is not hearing. If he is not hearing he is not believing. If he is not believing he is not acting. (Romans 10:14-17)

All men must respond!

Jesus came to die while we were yet sinners. He ascended up into heaven and now He sends messengers. The messengers go in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convinces and convicts a world full of sinners of righteousness, sin and judgment. He is convincing sinners, sinners who have a will in bondage to sin. Sinful man upon hearing the message and being convicted by the Spirit can now move toward God because he has been empowered to do so BY THE SPIRIT through what he has heard.

The will of man gives man the capacity to respond.

Some say that sinful man on his own would never seek God, but that is not the point. God does not just sit back and wait to see if anyone will pursue Him on their own. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. We are the ones being found, we are not the ones doing the finding. It is precisely because man was in such bondage that Jesus came to seek us and sends messengers to tell of His great love.

Sinful man is totally enslaved!

Some feel that man is totally depraved. The Scripture says Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. It does not say He came to save that which was depraved. He came to set captives free, to open the prison doors. The prison doors are the mind, will, and emotions (soul) that is enslaved to flesh and dead to God spiritually.

It's not that the soul of man was destroyed by sin, but that it was enslaved. Sinful man is spiritually dead to God, that is why his soul is bound to sin. When there is no spirit from God in man that is alive to God, the only thing feeding the soul of man are the appetites of the flesh and the mind, and a desire to exalt himself. That is why man must have a spiritual birth, a second birth, so that man is alive to God once again. (born-again)

Thank God He simply did not just sit back and wait to see

who would seek Him. Thank God He sent Jesus to seek us.

Statements of Faith and the Nature of God

2012-01-01T09:57:00.001-06:00

All churches have a statement of faith, a belief structure. I have been in churches where it seems that they are constantly preaching and teaching their statement of faith. It's done again and again and again. Obviously preaching and teaching what you believe as a group is a good thing, but there can be things that need to be taught that get overlooked.

We must know what we believe. We need clarity, wisdom and understanding concerning the truths that we hold, and we need a well thought out faith. That is all great! We have to have that and yet we are missing something.

If our group is evangelical we will hear a lot of salvation messages, again that is needed but at the same time we can not grow in maturity only hearing salvation messages. It seems we are constantly rehearsing among ourselves what we believe, where we stand on certain doctrines, and our distinction from others. Now again that in and of itself is not a bad thing, it just cannot be the only thing!

Can you tell me from your experiences with God what He is like?

It seems there are far more who can tell you what is in the Bible than can tell you what God is like, what Jesus is like, and what walking in the Holy Spirit is actually like from experience. At some point, belief must become reality. If truth is anything it is reality. God's truth is reality!

What is the nature of God, what has He been like for you?

I believe the greatest thing that I am to learn through all of my study of the doctrines of the Bible, is the nature of God. What I mean is when I study about faith what do I learn about the nature of God. When I study about water baptism or the tabernacle in the wilderness what do I learn of the nature of God. When I study about the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11 what do I learn about the nature of God.

To know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3) this is eternal life. The Pharisees of Jesus's day were right about tithing but they were wrong about justice and loving God. (Luke 11:42) They would not come to Jesus for life, they thought they had that through their devotion to Scripture. (John. 5:39-40) How sad for people who devoted themselves to the study of Scripture that they never got to know the God of the Scripture they studied.

It is possible to have a well formulated statement of faith

and still not know the nature of God that comes through experience with God.

Have Faith to Overcome?

2011-12-25T13:16:00.000-06:00

What do you use your faith for? Have you been trained to overcome, or have you only been trained to use your faith to endure? So many seem to just endure life. Were is the voice of victory, were is the joy of strength? Do we endure hardship just trying to get through it, or do we come into a closer walk with Jesus through which we overcome? By grace through faith is our creed but is it our possession, is it our reality?

Grace is the divine enablement to overcome,
and the power to overcome comes from the shed
blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

So what do you use your faith for? Are you just enduring all the hardships of life, or are you overcoming? Did Jesus die so that we could endure or so that we could overcome? When you use your faith to endure you do not live in an excited expectation that God is going to show up in the midst of your problem and bring you victory, you simply try to endure your circumstances for Him.

This is the victory that overcomes the world - our faith

God is an ever present help in a time of need. It says in Hebrews 4:16 that we can come boldly to the throne of grace in a time of need. Do you live in the excited expectation that the God who created you, and Jesus who saved you is going to show up in your pain?

If God will show up in a fiery furnace, and if God will show up in a lion's den,

then God will show up in your time of need too.

Even as the Father Sent Me

2011-12-21T14:38:00.000-06:00

Jesus said, "... as the Father has sent Me, I also send you". (John 20:21) The word "sent" is a very large, a very powerful small word. It can be easily over looked and its importance unrecognized. But in the kingdom of God, and in the work of the kingdom invading earth, it is a critical word.

In Romans 10:15 it says,"... how can they preach unless they are sent?" Jesus told the disciples to go into all the world, but before they did they were to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power. (Luke 24:49) So we see that even though they had the command to go they could not go until they had power, which is the Holy Spirit.

As Christians we are very eager to see the lost come into the kingdom of God, but we need to be aware of how we go not just that we should go. We are to go in power, but if we're not careful we'll step out ahead of God. We step out to try and obey the command to go but we were not necessarily "sent" yet.

How many have gone to the mission field compelled by the command to go but did not go in power. They returned home defeated and confused about why things didn't work out better than they did. Their heart was sincere and they love lost people, they really only wanted to help the world know Jesus is alive, and yet they return defeated.

I am called but have I been sent?

This concept of being sent is way too important to be overlooked. It's not just going that is important, it's how you go and who sent you. Our heart can be so full sometimes of love for the Lord, and in our mind we can come up with all kinds of ideas about how to serve Jesus and none of those ideas be His actual will for us. "Presumption", this is critical to discern.

To be sent is to go in the name of the one who sent you. To go in the name of the one who sent you is to go in his power. To go in the power of the one who sent you is to go and fulfill his will. This is how the Father sent Jesus and this is how we are sent by Jesus. In His name with His power to fulfill His will. All that being true then the word sent may be a small word, but being sent by God is no small thing.

Make Prayer a Conversation

2011-12-17T19:25:00.000-06:00

In making prayer a conversation it gives Jesus the opportunity to respond. It is important to understand that I am the one with the need, Jesus is the one with the solution. Over the years my prayers have changed. What I asked for has changed and how I ask has changed as well. In the beginning of my walk with God my prayer was always about asking for provision. We are to bring our needs to God in prayer but there was something I needed to learn.

I never really talked with God about my need, I just asked Him to supply my need. I tried to believe that He would meet my needs but I never gave Him an opportunity to respond back to me. I learned that it is important to bring my needs to Him in prayer, but it was infinitely more important what He had to say about my needs. I learned that it is critical that I know His voice when it comes to receiving answers to prayer.

I learned my faith needs to be in the person who has promised to provide the need. Realizing that, now I come before Him to have a conversation. I want to hear what Jesus has to say about the things I'm facing.

What we discovered was that nothing in our life ever really changed in any significant way until the Lord began to respond back to us in prayer. And I learned something about how the Lord works. He always works with and through the word. I found I needed to know the promises in the written word of God and I needed to hear His voice through the Holy Spirit about what He wanted me to do.

There are always instructions tied to the fulfillment of promises.

We discovered that every time the Lord spoke back to us about the needs we brought before Him, He gave promises with instructions. Every time we obeyed the instruction we saw the Lord fulfill His promises. So we realized that simply telling God what we needed was not enough, we needed Him to talk to us. We needed to have a conversation.

I would encourage you as you go to prayer with your needs to the Lord, tell Him all about it. Tell Him how you see the problem, how it makes you feel, what you think the solution is. Poor out your heart to Him and when you're done wait for Him to respond to you. If He does not respond immediately continue to wait, you may wait for days. That's okay because when He responds, when He speaks directly to you about your need, He will watch over His word to perform it.

The promises of God give you hope, and the instruction brings you into the fulfillment of the promise. So look to have a conversation about your need, do not just informed Him. Wait for His response knowing He watches over His word to perform it and that He doesn't do anything without a word.

Once the Lord has responded you have prayed through.

In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being

2011-12-13T17:35:00.001-06:00

For in Him we live and move and we have our being, and out of our belly will flow rivers of living water, but sometimes we are hindered. Scripture teaches that if we are born again we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us. We know who He is but do we know who we are? I know that we know we are children of God, that part we get. But who are we as it pertains to our gifts and calling, who are we when we are moving and flowing in the Holy Spirit? In Him we live and move and have our being, that means my identity is in Him.

When I hear the name King David I think of a man after God's own heart. When I hear the name Solomon I think of the wisest man who ever lived. When I think of Gideon I think of a valiant warrior. When I hear the name Moses I think of a deliverer. All these names bring to our minds who they were in God. But what do I think of when I hear my name, what do others think of when they hear my name? What is my identity, what is yours?

Often we are trying to walk in power and authority, but power and authority revolve around identity. Have you ever wrestled with this thought, who do you think you are? You see that question was meant to cause you to go into a self-examination which is meant to lead you into self-doubt. If our identity is not important why would "who we are in Christ" ever be challenged?

When we have self-doubt we restrain ourselves, we restrain our personality. We restrain our expression of love for Jesus in worship and as we talk to others. When we restrain ourselves we are restraining the flow of living water that wants to come through us as well.

Can we say who we are in Him in a word or two, or in a short sentence. Do we have that kind of clarity? If we have that kind of clarity are we afraid to say it? Are we afraid that it would be pride to boldly declare who we are in Him?

When we can hold the knowledge of our identity without pride and without the fear of man, when we become comfortable "in our own skin" then we will move in the authority of who we are in Him and His power will flow through us to help others.

Let the word of God and the Spirit of God
reveal to you who you are.

What are You Waiting On - Believe!

2011-12-10T09:05:00.000-06:00

What are we waiting on? So often as Christians we are waiting for something. Waiting for breakthrough, waiting for an experience, waiting for a feeling or a touch. Now there are times when we are waiting before God for direction, but we should never be waiting to believe. Choose it, just choose to believe as an act of pure will. And as you wait for direction do so in an excited expectation that He will indeed show you.

There will be times in our Christian walk where God is so real and so present in the moment that it is undeniable. The presence of God, the tangible presence is awesome, and in those moments faith is strong and alive. But what do you do when you don't have a moment and you don't feel the presence? What do you do when you go through a prolonged season of dryness where it seems God is a 1000 miles away? What do we do with our faith then? You do the only thing you can, you choose to believe anyway.

At times we may be waiting on God's direction for life but we should never be waiting to believe. Believe as an act of the will, a deliberate on purpose action. Choosing to believe is about making a choice fully cognizant of what I'm doing. Fully aware, fully understanding exactly what I'm doing, I'm choosing to believe in God and His provision regardless of how things look or how they feel. It's about being fully awake, it's about being fully aware, it's about making a determined choice to believe God regardless of circumstances.

You see the circumstances we face often will not feel good, so we can't be waiting for a feeling to trigger faith. The amazing feelings we have in those incredible moments of the presence of God are a strong motivation to believe. But when you're in bad circumstances and those circumstances may make you afraid, choosing to believe is your only option.

So what are we waiting on? Why does our will sit idle? When will we ever rest, when will we ever be at peace? I can tell you when, it is when we believe as an act of our will. We are never going to be at rest, never going to be at peace until we simply choose to believe as a deliberate act of our will.

Stop waiting until you understand it, and just choose to believe. Stop trying to understand why Jesus loves you and just believe that He does. Stop trying to figure out how He is going to provide, choose to believe that He already has. Stop trying to figure out what you're calling is and choose to believe when you're ready He will show you. Stop trying to figure out what He is doing and trust that His working in your behalf will always be good.

Choose to believe, choose to trust, choose to follow as a deliberate act of you will, for that is where the peace and the joy and the power of the walk of faith in Christ will be found.

Stop waiting and start choosing to believe!

How Does Faith Work?

2011-12-05T15:55:00.000-06:00

How does faith really work? We always want to know how things work. But faith is not mechanical, it is relational. Faith is not a mechanism! Faith is relational, it is a response to another person. Have you ever said to anyone, as you look them in the eye, I have faith in you? That faith was based purely in the character of the person that you said that to.

Faith as a response to another person. It is a response to their words, their promises and their instructions. But it is never mechanical, it's not about the mechanics (formulas) of how faith works. Because faith is relational and because it is a response, the person we're relating to and responding to is always involved in our walk of faith. So as we, as God's children, attempt to live in and by faith, we must realize God is always intimately involved in that walk.

We need to get our eyes off of our faith and on Jesus.

Faith is not something we do for Jesus it is something we do with Jesus. Walking with Jesus is not about the mechanics of how it's done, for we are to obey from our heart. The walk of faith involves the heart not the toolbox.

God gives faith in order to move me in line with His own will, it's very relational. As long as we are trying to work the mechanics (formulas) of faith then we are trying to do something for God and we are handling our faith in our strength. But our walk is to be a walk with God. We must get this clear in our minds, faith came from God so I could respond to God.

I find it interesting that we struggle so much with faith when it came to us as a gift from God in the first place. It's not that we don't know the mechanics of how faith works, that's not what's stopping us. It is simply fear, fear is what stops us. The fear of what people think, the fear of missing God, the fear of any number of things. It doesn't really matter, it's just fear and all fear has bondage.

Faith is a response, born out of relationship!

Faith is not mechanical because it flows from the heart. Your heart is not a mechanical device. Faith is always relational, faith is always a response. Putting my faith in God, in Jesus, is a response to who He is and what He has said. It is to trust Him, it is to follow Him, it is to surrender to Him because of who He is. Children live by faith without effort.

Treat faith like it's mechanical (how does it work) and you
will always miss the heart of God for you!

Boldly Receiving at the Throne of Grace

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Do we come before God boldly? In Hebrews 4:16 we are told to come boldly before the throne of grace. Being bold in prayer is not always easy. The throne, upon which God and Jesus sit, is the throne of grace and mercy. God is our father, Jesus is our Savior and we are invited to come and receive. If we are not bold what is preventing our boldness?

Are we present - past, or are we present - future?

Do we live in the present with the baggage of the past, or are we presently living into our future? When we are born again we receive all that there is to receive. We do not necessarily look very different immediately, but even though you can't see it we have become something altogether new. The reality of the Christian life is that we are "present future". Meaning we are presently living into the future that the word of God describes is ours.

The word of God describes who we are as Christians before we ever look like it. The Christian life is about "living into" the people the word of God describes us as. This walk is about learning to walk in the manifestation of who we are already in Christ.

When we are present past, we are a people who live limited painful lives because our past is still defining who we are, and it makes it difficult to approach the throne grace with boldness. Frankly if we were honest I think we have to admit that at times we don't feel like we belong there. That is living "present past".

Come boldly to the throne of grace, and let the fact that the word of God says we have a high priest who was tempted as we are be the reason (Heb. 4:15) that we come with boldness.

If I try to base "boldness" on my past, I will never be bold. If I try to base "boldness" on my Christian performance, then I'm approaching in pride.

If We Confess Our Sins - Keys to Overcoming

2011-11-26T09:01:00.000-06:00

1John 1:9 "If we confess our sins..." There is a key to an overcoming Christian life that is subtle and I think often goes unrecognized. As Christians we are not perfect, we stumble at times and we hate it when we do. We know that if we confess our sins we will be forgiven, we know that. Yet if we are not careful we can let our failure keep us down even after we have confessed it. So there is something very foundational that we must become convinced of.

Who are you, or what are you?

In Romans 7:15-18 Paul is dealing with the reality of our walk in this earth as born again children of God. We all know what it is like to desire to do what is right in the sight of God and yet at times we do the opposite. What Paul recognized was the fact that it was sin, and the sin was in his flesh. Paul recognized that it was no longer him doing it but sin that dwelt in his flesh. This is critical to understand, and maybe even hard to get a grasp on.

This is what we must become convinced of,

It is what I did, not who I am!

As a child of God if we sin and we confess our sin we will be forgiven. We must realize, as a child of God, the sin is what I did but it is not who I am. Now we are responsible for the deeds done in the body but we must remember it is what we did, not who we are. We are born-again children of God, that is who we are at our very core, our very nature, the very essence of our being. Before we were born again sin is not only what I did, it was who I was. It was my very core, it was my very nature, it was the very essence of my being.

This is not to minimize our failures, sin is a horrible thing. But we cannot afford to spend a lot of time punishing ourselves over a failure. We will be vulnerable to Satan's attacks if we cannot learn to let it go quickly. If we confess our sin and believe God has forgiven us and has forgotten it we would be wise to do the same. Again I am not trying to trivialize sin, but trying to help us all live in the freedom that comes with forgiveness.

The length of time that I feel bad about my sin is not what atones for my sin.

As people who love Jesus the idea of failing Him breaks our heart, as it should. And the fact that it does only reveals that we do love Him. But we must always realize I'm a new creation, a new creature in Christ Jesus, that is who I am. Now again, I am responsible for the deeds done in this body but it's not who I am, it is what I did.

So child of God if you have something to confess, confess your sin quickly, and let the memory of it go just as quickly.

What is the Kingdom of God Like?

2011-11-23T19:27:00.000-06:00

What is the kingdom of God really like? What is it like to live in this earth with the kingdom at hand? There are things that we can know about it, things that will help us in our walk right now in the earth. There are keys to the kingdom and we need to discover them and apply them. Jesus is our Savior and He is also King of Kings, but living under the rule of a king is something that most of us do not have a lot of experience with.

In a kingdom it is the words of the king that set things in motion, and it's the word of the king that stops things that are in motion. It's the words of the king that produce life. Everything in a kingdom lives or dies by the word of the king. Everything moves and prospers according to his word. The word of the king is law, his decrees are law. In a kingdom the words of the king are never void, (Isa. 55:11) they always accomplish what he sends them to accomplish. In a kingdom the words of the king are life itself.

In this earth realm there is the physical that we see, that we interact with our physical senses, but there is another world that is unseen that is actually more real than what is seen. The unseen part, the kingdom of God, functions through spoken words so when God puts a word in our mouth we are co-laboring with God. The reason God puts a word (gospel) in our mouth is so that it gets spoken and the earth is affected by those words. Things are initiated by words, and when the words of the reality of the kingdom of God are spoken into the earth, the kingdom of God begins to manifest and affect things in the earth.

We are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. To preach is to declare, to make a proclamation. To preach is to make a matter-of-fact statement concerning the reality of the kingdom of God and the resurrected Christ. But often what we are calling preaching often sounds like teaching. We are often trying to teach the world about what the Bible says about the kingdom of God, rather than emphatically declaring the fact that it is present right now and can be entered and Jesus is the door. We often sound like were trying to convince ourselves while we are "preaching".

The declaration brings manifestation. The explanation brings clarity.
Jesus declared things to the world and explained things to the disciples.

Declaration is an important key to seeing manifestation. The words of our mouth are so important. So what have we been saying (declaring) about our lives? Do we speak what we see in the natural, or do we speak what we hear the Father saying. In the kingdom of God nothing happens without a word, and in the earth the kingdom only manifests through a word.

The kingdom of God is at hand!

God Please Save My Family

2011-11-18T21:42:00.000-06:00

There are many of you out there, children of God who have children of your own, and maybe some if not all of them are not serving Jesus Christ. This breaks your heart, this breaks the heart of any parent who loves Jesus. You've prayed and you prayed and you find it hard sometimes to hold on to the promise that your family would be saved just like you have been saved. You've tried everything, all the faith fads, all the prayer fads and still no visible result.

We know they have their own choice to make and we know what choice they need to make but we can't make it for them. You see we need to stop trying to believe them into heaven, and we need to begin to believe that they are going to have an encounter with Jesus Christ through the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Ask God to give them an encounter. Ask God to send a laborer that will give an nonreligious Spirit empowered presentation of the gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The Holy Spirit must be present convincing and convicting concerning righteousness, sin, and judgment. Only then will they see it, only then will they really hear it, and only then do they have a legitimate opportunity to decide to relinquish their control over their lives to Jesus Christ.

We are commanded to go into all the world and tell the lost the good news. But we have to realize that the lost were not commanded to take us at our word. That's why you see in Mark 16:20 that as the disciples went out and preached as Jesus worked with them and confirm the word with the signs that followed. Paul put it this way, he said my preaching was in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power so that the people's faith would rest on the power of God and not on the wisdom of man. (1Cor. 2:4-5)

Just like us who have already been born again, our children need an encounter with the truths of who Jesus is, and with the truth of who they are, and with the truth about the ugliness and the evil that's in the lifestyles many have chosen to follow. You see it's not just what they heard, it's what they saw when they heard. Remember when you were born again, you saw your need and that Jesus was the only way. You became convinced, convinced enough to act and our children need the same thing.

They need to hear the gospel yes, but they must hear it when the power of God is present to change them and when the Spirit of God is present to convict them and to convince them. They need a radical life-changing encounter with a resurrected Christ, and nothing short of that is going to save them. You see we can't pray them into a decision, the decision is theirs, but we can pray them into an encounter. They are going to encounter the things of this world and the kingdom of darkness every waking moment. Every moment they're out there in the world they constantly encounter the things of the world. It is high time that they encounter the living God.

Ask God your Father to give your children an encounter with Himself. One that they cannot explain away, one that they cannot be indifferent about, one that they cannot deny. So that they know for themselves the reality of the truth that you so often tried to share with them. And whatever you do - don't stop praying.

Woman with the Issue of Blood - Faith Needs a Point of Release

2011-11-13T16:40:00.001-06:00

In Mark 5:25-29 there is a very well known story of a woman who was healed after many years of suffering, who had spent much money but the doctors of her day could not help her. She pressed into a crowd of people that followed Jesus and touched the hem of His garment. When she did she was healed of her issue of blood. Now there is much to learn from this story but I want to focus on one thing that is critical to our walk of faith.

Faith needs a point of release. James 2:26 put it this way, faith without works (the corresponding act of obedience) is dead; unproductive, not producing, not coming into fullness, not coming into completeness, not producing what's believed, does not connect to the power that is available. Faith needs a point of release, it needs an action.

It's like in the laying on of hands and praying for healing, it is to believe that when my hand touches the person being prayed for, the power of God will be released and they will receive the healing. We are not healing anyone it is the power of God that heals, but it is the touch in faith that is the point of release of the power of God.

When the woman with the issue of blood reached out and touched the hem of Jesus's garment that was the point of release. We know from the story that she said within herself, that if I could just touch the hem of His garment I will be made whole. She believed she would be healed if she touched, the touch was the point of release.

We see in this story that faith was the connection to what was already there. Jesus is already in the earth, she had already heard about Him, so she reached out to touch what was already available. And it is the same way for us. Everything we need has already been provided through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we can know that, and we can believe that, but at some point there must be a release. There must be an action based on the faith that we have that connects to and releases the power that has already been made available for us.

Many people were in the crowd that day and many touched Him, but only the "woman with the issue of blood" connected in a way that the power that was available to all only went to her. Many touched one received. Faith must always have a point of release, meaning an action that's based on the belief we have in our heart. Faith cannot live in the absence of action.

The Glorious Church and Glorious Living

2011-11-10T14:24:00.000-06:00

We are part of the glorious church because we are members of the body of Christ. We long to be a part of glorious church meetings and to see Jesus glorified through His church. We long for great things in our meetings, we long to see people saved, healed, and delivered. For many years I longed to see Jesus glorified in church meetings and I found out that my view was limited.

A couple of years ago I was challenged by the Lord to believe that God would show up in my business the same that I believed He would show up in church. In that challenge I realized I was really only believing that God would show up in a great way in church meetings. I hoped He would bless my business, I prayed that He would bless my business but I didn't really expect it the way I expected to see it in church. It is actually taken me all this time to really begin to see it.

Many of us live our lives this way, we long to see God move in our churches which would make sense to us, after all that's God's house, while we live defeated lives. But we are actually God's house, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Should not the blessing of God rest upon me and my house, my family? Should not the blessing of God abide on my business? Should not the blessing of God abide on my career? Should not the blessing of God abide on all that I put my hand to? I had not realized that my view was so limited. Like many, I was praying for and hoping for the blessing of God in all these other areas, but not to the degree that I believe the blessing of God would be on our church meetings.

We seem to segment our lives. There's the sacred part and the secular part in our mind. It's easy to see how God would show up and do great things in the sacred part, we expect it there. But what about everyday life? Will God do great things on plain ole Tuesday for plain ole everyday people like me?

How do you see this? Because for you what is important is how you see this. You see I've come to the place where I don't see a difference anymore. I don't separate the sacred from the secular because God is not limited. Do you have a glorious view of what church should be? Do you have a glorious view of what your life should be? Do you view your everyday life as having the potential to display as much of the glory of God as can be displayed in a church meeting?

We are the glorious church, and we can have glorious church meetings, and we can live in the glory of God for our personal lives. Remember our needs are meet according to His riches in glory.

Go into all the World with Living Water Flowing from You

2011-11-06T10:34:00.000-06:00

The same Jesus that said go into all the world, (Mark 16:15) also said that out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38) We get to walk in both of theses truths at the same time. So what actually compels my going, what compels you to go? There is a lot of going into all the world but is there a lot of rivers flowing? We must discern this because the LAW is very compelling.

Does the river flow from a sense of duty?

I was sharing the gospel with a delivery person on my job as a shipping and receiving clerk years ago, and when I got done he said to me, "Well you have done your duty". From that response I don't think rivers of living water is what he received. I believe he received exactly what was coming forth from me, a compulsion to share from a sense of duty. I was doing my part to "go into all the world" but the delivery person was not getting living water. Now I am not suggesting that we not go, but I do think we might need to look at how we go.

Does living water flow because I exert more effort? Does it flow simply because I am sincere? Many have gone out, like myself, in sincerity and with great effort but no "living water". Striving in our strength, no matter how sincere, will never produce this "living water". So what makes this water flow?

Which is more important, going out into all the world or resting?

Jesus said come to Me all who labor and find rest for your soul. (Matthew 11:29) The same Jesus who said "go" also said "come". We come to Jesus to find rest and it is the same rest that we should also go into all the world with.

Our rest is a rest from the labor of the SOUL.

The soul, mind-will-emotions. Our soul is to find rest. I believe that as we go we should go at rest, and living water will flow through me when I am at rest. Seems odd to say but I believe more living water will flow if we stop trying so hard to minister.

It is hard to rest when we so want to see people come to Jesus, but we must realize that they don't come because we want them to, they come as they hunger for the living water, and we are the vessel through which the water is to flow.

Strong Faith Lives in the Conviction that God Is

2011-11-04T20:24:00.001-05:00

Faith lives in the conviction that God watches over His word to perform it. Strong faith lives in the conviction that God is actively fulfilling His will and His purpose. Faith lives in the conviction that God is overseeing the outworking of His promises. Faith lives in the conviction that if I will obey Him, He will position me where He has ordained that the answer to my prayer would come forth. Faith lives in the conviction that God is not a man that He should lie.

How active do you think God is?

Faith lives in the conviction that God is active, that Jesus did not sit down on the throne to take a nap. Faith lives in the conviction that I am accepted in the beloved. Faith lives in the conviction that everything I need is already done, and I need Him to instruct me and lead me into the fulfillment of the promise.

Do you want stronger faith?

Faith lives in the conviction that you do not have to talk God into helping you. Helping us was His idea before it was ever our idea. Faith lives in the conviction that God is good, and that God is always good, because the nature of God is the goodness of God. Faith lives in the conviction that God will perform the thing that He promised, and faith lives in the conviction that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Do we rest as a result of believing?

Faith is at rest in Him, in the nature of God. Faith is a gift from God, and God's intention is that faith would move me. Faith lives in the conviction that resting in God is a very high activity, a very spiritual kind of activity. For the rest that we enter is a rest from the labor of our soul. Faith puts at ease our mind when we can't find our own way, gives strength to our will to choose God's way, and causes our emotions to be quiet.

Faith lives in the actions taken upon our conviction, that's where faith lives. Our faith will live and thrive in the obedience taken to walk out the instructions of the Holy Spirit. Faith lives were choosing to believe is an act of the will. Faith lives when I don't have to feel the presence of God to know that He is near.

Living by faith is about becoming convinced, in the word of God, in the love of God, in the goodness of God, and His faithfulness over me.

Trust in the Lord Obeying from the Heart

2011-10-26T19:25:00.000-05:00

Trust in the Lord Jesus and obey from your heart all that He commands, that is the desire of all who love Jesus. Proverbs 3:1 says the we should let our heart keep His commandments. How do we obey from our heart? Proverbs 3:5 says to trust in the Lord with our our whole heart. Trusting in the Lord is what we know we should do but at times it proves difficult. Let me share a recent insight with you that may help you as it does me.

Obeying a command because it is a command is one thing. Obeying a command because of devotion to the Commander is an entirely different thing.

Jesus said that if we loved Him we would keep His commands. He also said the He kept His Father's commands and abides in the Father's love. There is a level of obedience that comes out of a devotion that is different.

There have been men and women lead into battle by their captain for which they had no respect or honor. They obeyed because a higher ranking officer commanded them. There have been those taken into military conflict by a captain for whom the there was such great respect that they would obey the command even if it meant their death. They obeyed from, or with the heart. Their heart was keeping the command.

The distinction is critical.

We are not obeying to gain approval, but because we love. We do not obey to earn His love but to remain, or abide in it. We are not trying to be acceptable to God. We are already accepted in the Beloved. We are already loved, what we need is to enter into that love and rest in Him. Always remember, we love Him because He first loved us.

Trusting in the Lord and obeying from the heart is how we keep from becoming legalistic. The Pharisees stressed obedience, but they did not know God or love Jesus Christ whom God sent.

Those Who Wait for the Lord

2011-10-14T20:28:00.000-05:00

"...They will mount up with wings like eagles..." (Isaiah 40:31)

This is a very well known verse of scripture with most Christians. We like the sound of it. We like to quote it, amen it when we hear it preached. We like the idea of it, but do we possess it? When we run do we get weary? Have you entered the strength that the verse above is addressing?

"Yet those who wait for the Lord..."

Waiting for the Lord is an activity! Waiting is an activity. A very high kind of activity, a spiritual activity. To "wait" is to eagerly long for, in an excited expectation of the Lord's presence in my life. In His presence is fullness of joy and the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Those who wait like that will;

- gain new strength

- mount up with wings like eagles

- run and not get tired

- walk and not become weary

Imagine a little boy who is waiting for his grandpa to arrive. He knows that his grandpa is suppose to come sometime today, but not exactly when. So the boy runs to the window every time he hears a car go by the house, "Is that papaw, is that my papaw?" That is an excited expectation that arises out of his longing to be with his "papaw". Being with his grandpa means everything.

But how many of God's children are so busy that they have no time to rest in Him. They labor not to rest, they labor to serve. They are worn out, dried out, and stressed. We run out so fast sometimes to "serve God" that we have not waited before Him in an excited expectation of His presence. We mean well, but we are running and getting tired, we are walking and becoming weary, and we are not mounting up with wings.

Business may be our greatest enemy. Business is not a fruit of the Spirit.

Except You Become as a Child

2011-09-27T09:57:00.000-05:00

Except we became as a child we will never enter the kingdom of God. What is it about children that makes the difference? (Mark 10:15) Why doesn't it say, except you become as an adult? If we are to be as children, what is an adult suppose to do? How do we as adults in Christ become as children in Christ?

Think about children in a very loving home with parents who love them and look after their every need. I know not everyone readings this had this ideal picture of a loving home, but I think we can imagine it. (Matt. 6:25-31) The children make very few decisions about their life, what they will eat or wear, or where they will live. Their life is completely controlled by their parents and yet they are the freest people on the planet.

Freedom is not found in the control children have over their lives. Their freedom is found in the relationship they have with their parents. They are free from the fear of what will we eat or what will we wear, where will we live. They are free from the fear of rejection and in that freedom they express themselves. Isn't it refreshing to us as adults the freedom children have to say exactly what is on their minds?

We as adults live with an outstanding lie!

What is that lie?

Freedom is found in the control we have over our self and our own life.

Freedom is never found in my control. That's where all the anxiety in life comes from for adults. Freedom from fear is only found in love, the loving relationship with our heavenly Father. (1John 4:18) As adults in Christ we have much responsibility, but if I put my confidence in my ability to handle responsibilities then I am really trusting in my own care for myself. Stop trying to take care of yourself like an adult and trust in the Fathers care like a child.

He who the Son sets free!!!!!! John 8:36

Faith Is The Substance Of Things Hoped For

2011-09-19T22:10:00.000-05:00

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) This is a very well know verse among believers. Until recently I had not realized the distinction between faith and hope. Faith and hope are not the same things. Faith brings substance to hope, and faith is an evidence, but what does that mean exactly?

Simply put, hope is when you are waiting for something good to happen to you. Faith is when we take action upon the truths we become convinced of.

The distinction is critical. So many in the body of Christ are sitting back and waiting for something good to happen to them. We have hope stirred up in us by the promises we find in scripture. We should believe the promises of God, and when we do we will have hope, but we need to realize that sometimes we are waiting when we should be acting.

Faith is a firm conviction based on hearing. (Romans 10:17) Hearing comes by the word of God. As we put our trust in God and follow the Spirit's leading, this is when hope begins to have substance.

Substance is that which has actual existence.

Faith is what gives hope - actual existence.

Hope is a real thing! Through the promises of God we begin to hope for a better future and fruitful ministry. We hope for a strong family and wonderful lives for our children. But it is faith that brings the hope we carry in our heart into (substance) actual existence.

The promises stir up hope in our heart, the instruction leads us into the actual existence of the thing we hoped for. (Notice how often instructions are tied to promises in scripture.)