14 May 2012
GRACE PROVIDES EVERYTHING NOT ENOUGH
221 Sept 2011
SPIRITUALLY PREGNANT (How To Give Birth To Your Dreams.)
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You’ll remember when the angel Gabriel, often seen delivering messages to God’s people, found Mary in Nazareth. Gabriel told Mary she was highly favored of the Lord, and blessed among women. Then Gabriel delivered his prophetic message: “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus” (Luke 1:31 NIV). Mary was perplexed and asked the angel how it was possible, seeing as she was a virgin.
Imagine the flood of thoughts rushing through Mary’s mind. She wasn’t married, so turning up pregnant would be more than a little inconvenient to her lifestyle. Unlike my superficial complaints over finding time to get my work done with a newborn’s diapers to change, Mary’s prophetic revelation could have cost her everything. Not only was she in danger of losing Joseph, the love of her life, she could also find herself on trial for fornication. Fornication was reason enough to be stoned under Mosaic Law. Mary probably met with demon-inspired imaginations about her fate.
Then Gabriel answered Mary. “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1: 35). Gabriel also gave her two other insights. He told Mary that her cousin, Elisabeth, who had been barren, was pregnant in her old age. He also told her all things were possible with God. At this news, Mary probably remembered Abraham and Sara’s miracle baby and began to put her faith in God.
“Mary responded, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true’” (Luke 1:38 NLT). Mary displayed willingness and obedience to allow the Lord to use her however He chose. I don’t believe He would have used her if she had not been willing and obedient. God will not violate our own will. That’s why, after I awakened from my pregnancy dream, it wasn’t so much about getting revelation on exactly what I was birthing. It was about lining up my will with God’s will in the matter.
Let’s get real. Birthing anything, from a baby to a ministry to a business, is hard work. It changes your life. It forces you to get more disciplined. It challenges you to go deeper in God to find the grace you need to meet with the spiritual stretching you will no doubt experience. Indeed, birthing new things demands many adjustments. That’s why so many people have aborted the call of God on their lives. It’s not that they couldn’t yield to the Spirit of God and work with Him to birth something new. It’s that they were not willing.
I believe God is birthing new things this year – and He needs people who are like Mary, willing and obedient to allow the Lord to do what He pleases for His glory. Notice I say for His glory. Mary gave birth to Jesus not for herself, but so the sin of the world could be taken away. Whatever the Lord chooses to birth through us – a song, a book, or an entire ministry – remember that it’s not about you. It’s about the people who need what you are carrying. You aren’t carrying the Savior of the world, but you may very well be carrying something that will save people a lot of pain, bring people greater understanding of God’s Word, or give people the hope of fulfilling their purpose and destiny in Christ. Isn’t it worth it?
23 Aug 2011
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
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"For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:32-33.
Dear beloved, the word first brings to mind what we call PRIORITY. What is the first on your list today? Is it to seek after these same things you've been running after all these years and still do not have enough satisfaction? Well, I have great news for you. "Do not leave your life on resources (things) because they will soon run out. But rather, leave your life on the source (his kingdom) because it will never run out."
6 Jun 2011
IS GOD UPSET WITH ME?
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SATAN'S SCHEMES
2Cor. 2:11 "Lest the devil should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."
2Cor. 2:11 "Lest the devil should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."
How do you perceive your relationship with God? Did you know that your faith depends on how you perceive your relationship with God? A person may have no trouble believing God's Word when it tells us that we have authority to lay hands on the sick, and see them recover, but where that person may have a struggle, is when they doubt their worthiness to walk in such manifestation of God's Spirit. If a person has a problem with feeling worthy, then they need to understand the power of the Blood of Jesus, and what difference it makes to their relationship with God.
It is absolutely essential that you perceive your relationship as if it were washed clean with the Blood of Jesus. God's Word tells us that if we walk in the light, then the Blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all our failures along the way:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
Are you walking in the light and forgiving / loving one another as Christ has loved you? If so, then your under the constant protection of the Blood of Jesus, which washes away your failures. It is no ticket to continue living in sin, but it is an opportunity to grow in Christ.
Perceiving your relationship with God depends on how seriously you take what He says about your being made right with Him through faith in Christ Jesus. If He says that the Blood of Christ has washed away your sins, but you still see yourself as guilty and shameful, then you're not really standing on that promise in His Word. You're not taking what God says seriously, and therefore it is causing you to see your relationship with Him in a way which is not true. Such perceptions greatly affect our faith.
5 Jun 2011
THE ROOTS OF BITTERNESS.
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BITTERNESS IS POISON IN YOUR BODY
Bitterness is known in the Bible as spiritual poison and a means by which many are defiled (Hebrews 12:15). It is the source of countless spiritual and physical problems in millions of lives today. The Bible tells us that MANY are defiled by the means of bitterness. Bitterness can be tricky to recognize because it's not a symptom or visible on the surface like anger usually is. Many claim that they aren't an angry or hateful person, but that's not what bitterness is all about. Bitterness is an underlying problem that doesn't always manifest on the outside, but dwells in that person's system.
Bitterness is a root!
Hebrews 12:15, "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled."
What is a root? A root is a source, or a bubbling fountain that is laying under the surface. Roots do not directly manifest or make themselves known, but are a source of nutrition or fuel for other elements that are on the surface. You don't usually see a plant showing off it's root system, but if the plant didn't have a root system it wouldn't survive. A root's job is not to manifest on the surface, but to brew under the surface and fuel things that are on the surface.
Let's take a closer look at a plants root system... where does the roots dwell? Under the surface of the soil. Can everybody see it's root system? No, because it's hidden under the soil or surface. The same is true with bitterness in a person's soul. It is a hidden element that lies under the surface, and out of it springs up anger and other negative emotions against others and against the circumstances around us. People who have a root of bitterness find it easy to get upset over things that other's are doing around them. It's like a brewing fountain that lies beneath the surface, waiting to fuel something that is on the surface.
Bitterness can be kept to one's self
Countless women who are raped develop awful emotional and spiritual bondage. It's not because they were raped, but because they allowed the trauma to get to them. Many women are in bondage today because they became bitter under the surface about what was done to them years ago. I believe Clinton Clark once said that from his observation, it seemed that boys who are molested by older men and forgave the molester and forgot about it right away, walked away without picking up unclean homosexual spirits, but those who allowed the trauma to bother them walked away with homosexual spirits and other bondages. That's how the demonic spirits gain access into a person's life through rape and abuse. It's not the abuse or rape, but the bitterness and unhealthy feelings that build up within a person who has been taken advantage of. Demons thrive on bitterness and unforgiveness, and it's a wide open door for them to move right in on a person and develop many spiritual, mental and even physical bondages.
Now many of these people who have been hurt, don't express it on the outside, but rather hold the hurt and bitter feelings inside where they fester and grow. I know women who have been raped, and they are kind and gentle and loving people, but inside they are bound up because of what was done to them many years ago. Just because they aren't angry or outrageous individuals, does not mean they are free from the root of bitterness. As I said earlier, bitterness is a root, and roots are not always visible on the surface. They may promote ungodly anger and other emotions on the surface but bitterness itself works under the surface.
Bitterness is a root, thereby making it harder to identify and expose than many surface issues, but none the less it's a deadly poison that needs to be released. If left alone, it will grow and fester, and it has the ability to spring up many surface issues such as irritability, anger, hatred, etc. Individuals who have a root of bitterness will often find it easy to become upset over little things that go on around them. It is easy for them to look at the circumstances around them as the source of their problems, rather than seeing how they are handling those circumstances. Instead of letting it go and forgiving, they let it get to them, and it devours them alive. This is a very common route by which demons enter people today.
Whether bitterness is manifest on the outside or not does not matter.
Due to the nature of bottled up feelings and emotions, they are not always made noticeable on the surface, but that by no means discounts the fact that they are there. If there is a root of bitterness, it needs to be cut off at the root and removed from one's soul. We need to make a choice to release all hurt and bottled up feelings inside our systems, and repent for holding that poison in our hearts. Turn from those feelings and forsake them, and allow the Lord's love to minister to your soul!
31 May 2011
ADEQUATE
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THE BLOOD IS ENOUGH
This is a powerful and liberating teaching that we must understand in order to experience true freedom from guilt and shame of our past. It is absolutely essential for us to realize the forgiving power of the Blood of Jesus! Nothing we can do will ever add to or take away from the work that Christ did on the cross. As the song sings, "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus!"
This is a powerful and liberating teaching that we must understand in order to experience true freedom from guilt and shame of our past. It is absolutely essential for us to realize the forgiving power of the Blood of Jesus! Nothing we can do will ever add to or take away from the work that Christ did on the cross. As the song sings, "What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus!"I think one of the reasons why it is so hard to grasp the true forgiving power of Christ's shed blood is because it just seems too good to be true. Wouldn't you agree? But God's Word is true, and it even tells us that through Christ, we have exceedingly great and precious promises:
2 Peter 1:4, "Whereby are given unto us EXCEEDING GREAT and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
The word precious in the above verse refers to the Greek word timios, which actually means valuable or costly! These promises that God has given us, cost Jesus dearly... He paid a steep price for our redemption, healing and deliverance!
I believe the Holy Spirit has showed me that if you have to do something to receive forgiveness of your sins, then you will always wonder if you've done enough! Look at this passage in scripture:
Galatians 3:11, "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith."
Knowing that your conscience is clean is very important. A while back, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "You need to KNOW that you are clean... your faith depends upon it!"
The Blood of Jesus was shed to not only forgive, but to remove sin!
In the Old Testament, the priests would sacrifice lambs, goats, etc. to cover the people's sins. However, this sacrifice was not significant to remove the stain of sin. But since Christ shed His blood, our sin can be REMOVED from our account! In Hebrews 10, it paints us this picture very clearly.
Hebrews 10:1-22, "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having a high priest over the house of God; Let 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."
Jesus tells us in Matthew 26 that His blood is shed for many for the remission of sins. The word remission here is referring to the Greek word aphesis which means:
"Forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty."
With that said, read this verse to yourself and meditate (that is to soak in) it's meaning!
Matthew 26:28, "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
John the Baptist also confirmed this when He said that Jesus, the Lamb of God, taketh away the sin... not just cover... but taketh away!
John 1:29, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
How do we receive this forgiveness?
First, we need to understand that the forgiveness of our sins is considered a GIFT... this means that we cannot deserve it or earn it in any way, but we must receive this gift.
Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
We are told that through faith in Christ Jesus, we can obtain forgiveness of our sins through the blood that He shed for us:
Galatians 2:16, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
John 3:15, "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."
Romans 3:28, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
Galatians 3:11, "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith."
Galatians 3:24, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."
As you can see through the verses above, it is through faith in Christ Jesus that we are made right with God. The Bible even goes on to show that if we try to make ourselves righteous by our own works, then we are missing the whole point, and therefore we are not truly accepting the work that Christ did as significant!
Galatians 5:1,4, "So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law... For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." (NLT)
