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Thirsty For God

Posted on Aug 25, 2016 in Blog |

David Thirst For God

David Thirsted for God

Psalms 27

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

3 Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

7 Hear, O. Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek

9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

David rejoices in the life of God and here he thirsts for God.

We look at David to see a passion and a thirst after the Lord. God wants thirsty people. What are thirsty people? People who are longing for God and his word. A person who is vested more in spiritual things then worldly passions. A person who desires to know God in his fullness. When we except Christ into our lives we must turn away from our sins. We must love what God loves and reject those things that draws us away from the presence of our Lord. A thirst for God motivates us into a closeness that can only be experienced and expressed by our thirst and love for him. A Self-indulgent lifestyle becomes less comforting to a person who is thirsty. Seeking God is learning to thirst. How does someone learn to thirst after the presence of God? You can grow spiritually by drawing near to God By practicing the following keys to experience a new thirst. Ask yourself the following questions and be honest.

Have you experienced the Holy Spirit?

Do you attend church and find fellowship with like minded believers?

Do you pursue his presence?

Do you spend alone time with God?

Do you Worship God?

Are you giving to the house of the Lord?

The bible says you are created for God and when you are thirsty for God he will reveal himself to you and you will experience his presence like David. It makes a difference because you can experience him in a wonderful way by drawing close to him. Feeling alive in Christ is thirsting for more. This week, take time to thirst. Following a lifestyle that will encourage a greater encounter with his presence.

Six Habits of Spiritually Happy Men

Posted on Jun 24, 2016 in Blog |

The first habit we’re going to look at is that spiritually happy men read their bible regularly. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “all scripture is inspired by God and valuable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the men of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” We read the bible, because it’s valuable and true, it’s how God speaks to us.

Appreciate the value of God’s word and it’s worth reflecting on. What happens when it’s not present? Several things happen. We begin to make decisions based on our own best thinking, rather than being under the authority of an independent moral compass. We not only do what seems right, we not only make decisions based on our own ideas, we begin to do what seems right in our own eyes. We begin to interpret our bible based experience, instead of interpreting our experience based on our bible. The next thing that happens is we start to become Christian in spirit but secular in practice.

I challenge you for the next 30 days read your bible for 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

The second habit for a spiritually happy man is that he needs to be around other men. Why is it so important to be around other spiritual men? Because most men live in isolation. Most men feel like they are forced to put on a game face and pretend that everything is perfect when it’s not. When men are facing a problem they tend to isolate themselves. If you have ever watched the National Geographic channel you know that the lion never goes after the herd. The lion always goes after the wildebeest that’s been cut off from the herd. Why is that? Because, every predator understands the strategic value of isolation. Whether that’s in the animal kingdom or in the spiritual realm. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Stay alert. Your enemy the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

When you join a men’s group the Holy Spirit simply has more options to help you. The Holy Spirit can work through your brothers who love you, who care about you, who get to know you, and who want to see what’s best for you. Maybe you’ve picked up a bad habit. Maybe you’ve returned to an old habit. Maybe you face two decisions in a moral dilemma both of which don’t seem to make sense or just on a real practical level, maybe you’ve just been fighting with your wife all week long and you can’t quite figure out what that’s all about. Having a small group of men who can carry that burden or if you make the wrong decision can help restore you gently and bring you back on track is a wonderful resource that God wants you to tap into.

The third habit is to serve. Spiritually happy men serve. 1 Peter 4:10-11 says, “Each has received a gift. Use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s very grace. Whoever speaks is one who speaks oracles of God. Whoever serves is one who serves by the strength that God supplies. In order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

What he’s saying to you is, the view that Christ had on his life and on the world and on his mission is the same view, the same worldview, and the same mindset that you’re supposed to have. The perspective that Christ had as he came to serve, as he came to obey the Father as he came to redeem, as he came to lay down his life for others, that’s the same view that you are supposed to have in you, not because you can sort of do it in your own strength or make it happen but because of what Christ has done. What he’s done has power to transform us from the inside out and so for example 1 Peter 4:8 says, “show love, show hospitality to people. Keep loving one another.” Verse nine, “show hospitality two one another without grumbling.”

The fourth point is spiritual happy men pray for and with their wives. A man’s role in marriage is talked about in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands love your wives like Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” We’re supposed to love our wives like Christ loved the church. What’s Christ role in the church? Well, Jesus plays 3 roles in the church. He plays the role of prophet, priest, and king. We need to play these roles in our marriage.

What does a prophet do? A prophet listens to God and then tells his family what God says to him. Starts reading the scriptures, he prays, he gathers in what he needs to gather in from the Lord that he wants him to speak into the lives of his family and he goes and he does that.

What does a priest do? A priest goes to God on behalf of his family and presents their prayers to God.

What does a king do? A kings leads, provides, and protects.

Marriage is an example of our core identity. We were made to be in a relationship. Genesis 2:18 says, “it is not good for man to be alone so I will make him a helper.” God created woman. He created a woman right out of Adam’s side. Two people from one flesh. Think how similar this is to the trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 3 persons in 1 Godhead. One of the reasons that marriage is so powerful and so mystical is that at a soul level, at a visceral level, it connects us to the core of who God made us to be and how he made us.

The fifth point is spiritual happy men are generous. Generosity is something that happens out of the overflow of our gratitude for our deepening and our growing understanding of what the birth, the life, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the meaning of Christ, the meaning of who he was, the meaning of what he did, the meaning of who he is today that he is actually residing in us in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus. He is in us. We are his vessels. He is interceding for us. The glories of the gospel of Jesus reckoning that he actually meant it when he said that he loves us as the Father has loved him. Imagine how much love the Father has for Jesus. John 15, says “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” To come to that place where we are grasping the depth of the knowledge of love and the concern and the care and the sacrifice and all of the other attributes and characteristics of what Jesus is and has done.

The sixth habit of a spiritually happy man is to be “part” of a church. The church is a redemptive leaven for you, for your family, and for the community. Whatever is going on during your week, you bring yourself in to be part of a church, and the Holy Spirit is able to redeem and leaven what’s going on in your lives. Renew you. Revitalize you. Regenerate you, and if you don’t know the Lord yet, sanctify you.

How does this happen? It happens by making an intentional effort. Worship. Having a worship experience with our God is part of what it means to be a disciple so that we can experience the supremacy of the Father, so that we can worship Him in the beauty of His holiness and the majesty of His creation, in the generosity of His salvation, in the greatness of His love, in the mystery of His providence. Then, to grow. The process of growing is what revives us, breathes the Holy Spirit into our life. To worship, to grow, to fellowship. Decide to have a shared experience with the community of brothers and sisters, the communion of the saints.

Praying for Healing

Posted on Jun 10, 2016 in Blog, General |

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. — James 5:14–15 Updated NIV

What we are doing in healing prayer is bringing the body into a place where the power of God can flow into the affliction — especially into the places of affliction. We are also presenting ourselves to be used of God as channels of that healing power.

Step One: Consecrate the Body and the Specific Places Needing Healing.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. — Romans 12:1 Updated NIV

Consecration, brings the consecrated object back under the rule of Jesus, into His kingdom, and therefore available to His blessing. But before you have the person you are praying for consecrate his body to Jesus, you will benefit from first consecrating yourself! (We typically do this first thing in a session, or before the session if we can.) You are wanting to be used by God to heal; you are offering yourself to be a vessel of His life and power. Therefore, in order to be a better conduit, it is right for you to consecrate your life to Jesus Christ — including your gifting and hearing. The more holy the vessel, the more power can flow through.

Lord Jesus — we present ourselves to You now to be Your partners in prayer, to be Your vessels of healing. We consecrate to You our body, soul, and spirit, our heart, mind, and will. We consecrate to You our gifting, our hearing, all our prayers. Cleanse us with Your blood, Lord; restore us and renew us. Holy Spirit, fill us afresh; restore our union with Jesus, and restore the power of Jesus in us; we ask You to guide and fill this time of prayer.

Then invite the person being prayed for to consecrate her body to God. It is important to have the person being prayed for do this (unless of course she is unconscious, or in the case of a sleeping child). After all, it is her body; she has authority over it — and the kingdom works on the basis of authority. Be as specific as you can. General and unspecific prayers typically see general and unspecific results.

Lord Jesus, I present my body to You now as a living sacrifice. I consecrate all the faculties of my body to Jesus Christ and to Him alone. I consecrate [the specific part of the body needing healing]. I bring my body fully under Your rule and under Your dominion. My body belongs to You, Lord, and I consecrate it to You right now fully, totally, completely.

We have found it often helps to renounce any misuse of the body, for typically it is those abuses that have made the body subject to affliction (and of course sin is what gives the enemy a claim on us as well). For example, you are praying for the healing of ulcers. You want to ask, “Where did the ulcers come from?” Was it alcohol abuse? Anger and rage? You will find healing prayer a difficult thing to accomplish until the person repents of those things; they were the open door to the suffering.

Oftentimes in acts of consecration, repentance is required. This isn’t always necessary, but you will find it helpful if your first pass at prayer does not begin to produce results. For example,

Jesus, I renounce every misuse of my body, and I renounce all forms of sin through my body or against my body. I renounce [whatever it may have been — drug abuse, overeating, binging and purging, anger, rage, etc.]. By the blood of Jesus Christ I now cancel every claim I have given the enemy against my body. I cancel every form of access or dominion my actions have given the enemy against my body, through the cross and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I rededicate my body as a temple of the living God, a vessel of His holy life.

Step Two: Invoke the Life of God.

The mechanics of healing prayer are quite simple: we are invoking the life force of God into the afflicted body to restore it. This is the power that raised Jesus from the dead, the power that gives life to and sustains all creation. There is plenty of it to go around (four hundred billion billion suns’ worth, and more!). So as we begin to invoke the healing power of God, we will often pray scriptures that help us open ourselves to it, and call it into the specific places of suffering:

O God, You are our life. You have breathed into us the breath of life, and we have become living beings (Genesis 2:7). Our very existence and our being flow from You. In you we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Jesus — You are the Vine, and we are true branches of Yours (John 15:5). I am a true branch of Yours. Father, You have made me alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:4–5). Dear Father, I give myself to You now to be filled with Your life. Restore this frail branch in full union with Jesus who is the Vine. Restore her full union with Christ and with You. We call forth the mighty life of Jesus Christ to flow into me now. May Your life and resurrection power flow now into my body, and into these afflicted places. [Be specific — call the life of God into the places of pain and brokenness.] You are the God who gives life to the dead (Romans 4:17). And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in us (and You are living in us), He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in me (Romans 8:11). Mighty Spirit of God, we call forth Your power into this body, and into every place of affliction. O God, fill me with the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

This is just a model, a type of approach. As you follow the Holy Spirit, He will lead you. But remember: you are not striving! No amount of anguish or trying hard will increase the amount of life that is flowing through you. In fact, all forms of striving close off the channels of your life to be a vessel of his life. Relax. Settle into it.

Use the authority of Jesus Christ given to you. In many of the cases where we see Jesus performing a healing, He actually doesn’t touch the person — He simply commands it!

We declare and we enforce the authority of Jesus Christ over me and over my body. We bring the authority of Jesus Christ over my body and over these afflicted places [be specific]. By the authority we have in the name of Jesus Christ, we command the restoration of this body; we command the complete restoration of [specific places]. In the authority of Jesus Christ, we call forth the mighty healing power of Jesus into this body…

Like that.

The passage in James on healing prayer recommends anointing with oil; Stasi and I try and keep anointing oil with us at all times for this very purpose. If we forgot, we’ll raid the cupboards and use whatever oil we find there — olive oil, cooking oil, whatever there is to work with. Anointing is not a law; healing can flow without it. But it is a vessel through which the Lord can work, and it often helps the faith of the person being prayed for, helps them open themselves to the healing presence of God.

Step Three: Give It Time!

Picture an empty well. You are turning on a hose to fill that well; it is going to take some time. “Wait upon the Lord.” Give it time as you pray; don’t rush it. (I’m continually surprised how short most Christians’ prayers are — like, a minute or two. That barely gets things going; that is not going to accomplish much at all. It’s like trying to fell a tree with one stroke of an axe.) Stay there, laying on hands if need be; stay and linger, and as you do, repeat the prayers of invoking the life of God into the afflicted place. Linger for fifteen, twenty minutes or more. Often we will just linger praying/commanding/invoking life… life… life.

Worship really helps. Remember — you are looking to Jesus, not to the problem. Turn on some worship music if you can as you begin your session. Worship first, because it rouses the spirit of everyone present to look to Jesus. After we have consecrated and prayed our first round of prayers, we will turn up the worship music for a few songs and just worship “over” the body, still laying on hands, still praying but in worship too.

Proclaiming is also very helpful. Announcing (and therefore enforcing) truth like:

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. — 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 Updated NIV

Jesus, we declare and we proclaim that my body is Yours and Yours alone. I have been bought with a price, with the blood of Christ. Holy Spirit, this is Your temple — come and fill Your temple now with the healing power of God.

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you. — Romans 8:11 Updated NIV

Spirit of God, come and give life to my mortal body by the power of God within me.

Step Four: Watch for the Cloud Rising from the Sea.

It is helpful to have the person you are praying for share with you any changes she is feeling in her body as you pray. This includes positive changes: “ — when you guys started worshipping over me, I felt a warmth through my body.” In that case, worship more (or whatever produced the change)! But also report any negative changes, “My headache just got worse,” because that is immediate data that you are dealing with some sort of stronghold and it will guide your prayers in step five.

Step Five: Address the Demonic.

I find it fascinating that in a number of episodes where Jesus brought physical healing to someone, He actually did it by banishing foul spirits:

Then they brought Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. — Matthew 12:22

The enemy hates us; his human allies such as witches hate us, too, and they curse Christians. So it is very likely that in a number of situations where you are trying to bring physical healing, you will need to break the enemy’s work there as well. Sometimes you will pick it up as soon as you begin to pray — you feel the hatred over his life, or you feel the dark spirits trying to push you away and keep you from praying. Listen and ask Christ, “Is something here causing this? Are there foul spirits here?”

In fact, often before I ever begin the prayer session, or as soon as we get started, I will ask Jesus, “Is this physical, or is this spiritual, Lord? ” I’ll linger there, and wait. “Is this affliction physical, or is this spiritual, Lord?” My reason for asking is simple: if the affliction is based in spiritual attack, meaning, some sort of demonic assault or witchcraft, then no amount of regular healing prayer will fix it. You have to deal with the warfare, and then you can pray for healing. Now, I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule, but our experience has proven this to be helpful in hundreds of cases.

Then we bring the work of Christ against the assault. It is far more effective when you can be specific; ask Jesus to name the foul spirits involved, so you can kick them out by name.

We bring the body of Jesus Christ, broken for ——, against every foul and unclean spirit here. We bring the blood of Jesus Christ and the power of his cross against every foul and unclean spirit here — against every spirit of [name them — all spirits of affliction, destruction, death, etc.]. You are disarmed by the cross and blood of Jesus Christ; you have been defeated by the power of His resurrection. All authority in the heavens and on the earth has been given to Jesus Christ, and at His name every knee must bow. We bring the authority of Jesus Christ and the mighty victory of Jesus Christ against each and every foul spirit here, and we order you bound and banished to your judgments. You must leave ——- now, and you must leave her body. Now.We bind and banish you, and we forbid you to transfer or return, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ who is Lord of the heavens, and Lord of the earth.

Another category to be aware of are curses. Ask Jesus if there are curses operating here. Then break their power.

We bring Jesus Christ, cursed for ——- cursed for each of us, against every form of curse operating here. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole’” (Galatians 3:13 Updated NIV). We bring Jesus Christ cursed against every form of curse, and we break their powers now and forever, by the mighty name of Jesus Christ the Lord.

This would include self-cursing (which is actually very common). If you seem to be encountering resistance bringing the life of God into his body, ask him how he feels about his body. Have him renounce all judgments, hatred, and self-rejection.

Step Six: Curse the illness.

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on His way back to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then He said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. — Matthew 21:18–19 Updated NIV

The Bible takes blessing and cursing very seriously because it is real; it works. In both Testaments we see godly men and women respecting the power of blessing, and cursing. Jesus does so. Now, yes — we are told not to curse people. But Christ by example does open the possibility for us to curse physical objects, and we have found it effective in cases of difficult illness and even cancer to curse the illness. It is a thief and destroyer. It is a foul presence in the body. It is an intruder! You are banishing it from the body as you pray — you might as well go full-on and curse it directly.

You may or may not feel comfortable doing this, but keep it as an arrow in your quiver for those situations where no break-through is coming.

Stay with It!

Physical healing can be immediate. But it can also take time, especially in cases of profound or chronic suffering. I absolutely love this story of Jesus taking more than one pass to heal a man:

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put His hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

Once more Jesus put His hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. — Mark 8:22–25

– Written by John Eldredge

Giving the Heart of Worship

Posted on May 27, 2016 in Blog |

1 Corinthians 16:2

“Every Sunday each of you must put aside some money, in proportion to what you have earned.”

It may surprise you to learn that Jesus taught more about money and possessions than He did about heaven or hell. The word “give” is used more than 1,500 times in the Bible, more than the words faith, hope, love or pray.

Why? Obviously, God doesn’t need our money. He’s not poor. But God does want us to become like Him and that will only happen if we learn to be generous. God is a giver — the most generous giver in the universe. Everything you have is a gift from God!

In many churches, the giving of offerings is the low point of the service. It’s ignored, tolerated or openly resented by many. But the Bible teaches that God wants our giving to be a deeply meaningful expression of worship in three dimensions — past, present and future.

First, my giving expresses my gratitude to God for the past.

“Thanks” and “giving” go together. When we give back to God, we express our appreciation to Him for all the ways He has blessed us. We’re saying, “God, we’re grateful for all You’ve done in our lives, and we love You.”

That’s why you should never give under pressure. God wants your giving to be motivated by gratitude. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (NIV). A few verses later says, “…your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11).

Second, my giving expresses my priorities in the present.

Deuteronomy 14:23 says, “…The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives” (Living). If you want to know what a person really values, just look at their calendar and their checkbook. The way people spend their time and money reveals what is really important to them. It’s one thing to claim we love God, but the Bibles says our giving “tests the sincerity of our love” (2 Corinthians 8:8, NIV). When we give the first part of our income to God, on the first day of the week, it is evidence that God holds first place in our hearts. Jesus said, “For wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21, NIV).

Third, my giving expresses my faith in God for the future.

God sees your giving as a test of your faith. In Malachi 3:10, He says, “Bring your whole tithe into my storehouse (Temple)… Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” (NIV). God challenges us, saying, “I dare you to trust My promises to take care of you as you put Me first in your finances. Will you trust me?” It has always amazed me that many people are willing to trust God for their eternal salvation but won’t trust Him enough to tithe.

In 1 Corinthians 16:2, the Apostle Paul gives us the three characteristics of worshipful giving:

It is to be weekly: “On the first day of every week…” God wants our giving to be systematic, not spasmodic. Why Sunday? Giving is an act of worship, to be given at the place of worship when you worship.

It is to be planned: “… you must put aside some money…” That requires some thought. God doesn’t want your giving to be hasty, thoughtless or impulsive. He wants you to think about what you are giving.

It is to be proportional: “… in proportion to what you have earned.” Tithing is giving 10 percent of what God has helped you earn. God does not look at the amount you give. He looks at how much you have and the attitude with which you give it.

Ask yourself, “What does my giving say about the direction and condition of my heart?” And consider this bringing an offering of thanksgiving to God for all He’s done in your life. This giving back to God is the heart of worship.

Matthew 6:21

For wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

5 Enemies of the Cross

Posted on May 6, 2016 in Blog |

Matthew 10:37-39

³⁷“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Losing your life to gain a new life. To truly be born again you have to surrender your old ways. When a person is not willing to totally surrender that’s when the enemy of the cross comes in. Christ demands total commitment. He demands complete obedience.

1. Doubt is the enemy of faith. Satan uses doubt as a means of destroying ones faith.

Doubt God and His goodness
Doubt God’s power
Doubt God’s promises
Doubting God’s Word
Lack of trust
Lack of faith

You have to starve your doubts and feed your faith.

Romans 10:17

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Everything that we receive from God is through faith. We are to walk by faith and think by faith. We have to confess our salvation by faith and we have to stand by faith. All the promises of God are activated through faith.

Ephesians 2:8

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Some Christians say I can’t believe God, I can’t trust Him, I don’t have any faith. But God says in

Romans 12:3, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

God has given each of us a measure of faith. So overcome doubt through God’s Word daily by renewing your mind.

2. Distractions keep us from focusing on Christ. Distraction comes as we focus on our problems rather than Christ. What distraction keeps you from God? Is it money, entertainment, relationships, work, hobbies, prosperity.

Mark 8:36

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

11 Samuel 11:1-2

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. ²One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful.

David had the wrong priorities. He was distracted by lust, pride, and self.

Peter tells us what we need to do to recommit our lives to Christ.

2 Peter 1:1-11

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: ²Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. ³His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance;and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. ¹⁰Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, ¹¹and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

3. Discouragement. A feeling of no hope, helplessness, and no purpose.

2 Kings 6:8-18

⁸Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.” ⁹The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” ¹⁰So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. ¹¹This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?” ¹²“None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” ¹³“Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” ¹⁴Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. ¹⁶“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

The way to beat discouragement is by looking into the promises of God, looking to the supernatural, and looking to Jesus the author and perfecter of faith.

4. Division. Gossip and slander are tools that the enemy uses to create division in the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:25-27

²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. ²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

The Spirit of unity brings healing, transformation, blessings, and success to the body of Christ. Discord brings disunity and division to the body.

Psalm 33:1-3

¹How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! ²It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. ³It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Matthew 18:19

“Again I say to you, that if two believers on earth agree [that is, are of one mind, in harmony] about anything that they ask [within the will of God], it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

Ecclesiastes 4:9,10,12

⁹Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: ¹⁰If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. ¹²Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

5. Delay and procrastination.

John 4:27-42

²⁷Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” ²⁸Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”³⁰They came out of the town and made their way toward him. ³¹Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” ³²But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” ³³Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” ³⁴“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. ³⁵Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. ³⁸I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” ³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers. ⁴²They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

I wonder how many people we could touch and see come to Christ if only we could see them with the eyes of Christ. The enemy causes you to focus on the wrong things as a result many are lost and don’t come to Jesus. Become a kingdom seeker, seek Jesus, seek to please him, seek to obey him. Bring as many people to the Lord as you can. Set goals, say “Lord give me five souls,” and soon enough the whole town will come to Jesus.

Divine Exchange

Posted on Apr 22, 2016 in Blog |

Jesus was punished that we might be forgiven. 1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
Jesus was wounded that we might be healed. Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness that we might be made righteous with His righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus died our death that we might share His life. John 10:10 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Jesus was made a curse that we might receive the blessing. Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”
Jesus endured our poverty that we might receive the blessing. 2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Jesus bore our shame that we might share His glory. Matthew 27:41-44 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”⁴⁴In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Jesus endured our rejection that we might enjoy His acceptance. Matthew 26:56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
Our old man died in Jesus that the new man might live in us. Romans 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

Colossians 3-9:10

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Breaking the Curse

Posted on Apr 8, 2016 in Blog |

Revelation 12:11

They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

We know that the name of Jesus is above all names. We know prayer is important. We know without faith it’s impossible to please God. But there are two things that the devil can not tolerate that will bring you victory over every situation in your life.

1. The blood of the Lamb

2. The word of your testimony

When you are in spiritual warfare at times even prayer and fasting will not bring the victory. When your in warfare and your fighting an occult spirit, a curse may be working against you and you don’t even know. The only thing that will break that curse, the only thing that will deliver you, the only thing that will set you free is the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony.

There are curses, hexes, and vexes that have been put on people. It may not be something that you’ve done but could be a generational curse that has been brought down your lineage. How do you break free from an occult spirit? All spiritual warfare has to begin at the cross. The cross must be our vision, confession, and application. Why? The cross is where Satan was defeated. The cross broke Satan’s power and authority over your life, mind, body, spirit, and bloodline.

Galatians 3:13-14

¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” ¹⁴He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

The promise of the Spirit means having the fullness of the Spirit in you that entitles you to complete redemption from the curse. Every curse that might have come one you, came on Jesus so that you could receive the blessings of Christ’s fullness in your life. He was cursed so that you could be blessed. You should see yourself as blessed and that the curse is already broken in your life. The blood has paid the price to redeem you from the curse.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. ²All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: ³You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. ⁴The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. ⁵Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. ⁶You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. ⁷The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. ⁸The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. ⁹The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. ¹⁰Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. ¹¹The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. ¹²The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. ¹³The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. ¹⁴Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

1. Personal exaltation. By this I mean being lifted up, honored.
2. Re-productiveness. I use this word to describe a person who reproduces, or is fruitful, in every area of life, whether physical or financial or relational or creative.
3. Health. You probably do not appreciate how much of a blessing health is until you are sick, and then you may wish you had thanked God more often for the blessing of being healthy.
4. Prosperity, or success. Prosperity in the Bible does not mean what it does to modern Americans. It is not luxurious living or an abundance of physical pleasures, but accomplishing God’s purpose and succeeding in doing His will. In Joshua 1:8 the Lord promised Joshua that whatever he did would prosper and that he would have good success. Yet the leader of the Israelites spent many of the following years in warfare, always exposed to danger, sleeping in open fields and leading the tough life of a soldier in war.
5. Victory. Blessing brings victory in every conflict that we enter in the will of God.

6. Being the head and not the tail. Some years ago I asked the Lord to tell me the difference between the head and the tail. The head makes the decisions and the tail gets dragged around. Let me ask you: How are you living—like a head or a tail? Do you make the decisions? Are your plans carried out successfully? Or are you the victim of pressures and forces and circumstances that drag you around, and you do not know what to expect next?

7. Being above and not beneath. This goes closely with being the head and not the tail.

God wants to lift you up and bless you. God wants to make you fruitful in every area of your life. God wants to bless you with good health. God wants to give you victory. You are the head and not the tail. God wants mental, spiritual, and financial prosperity to be upon your life. He wants areas that have broke down in your marriage or relationships to be healed and restored. He doesn’t want you to be accident prone. He doesn’t want you to have a history of curses and hexes on your life. He wants you to be victorious and overcome by the blood of the Lamb.

Read through Deuteronomy 28:1-14 again and this time write down all the promises that God gave to Moses. Now look over those promises and mark the ones you feel your lacking and confess them over your life. For example: “I am the head and not the tail.” You may say you are lacking in this area because you’re unemployed, you’re not the head of anything. Now I want you to say out loud, “Father, I come against the spirit of poverty right now. I rebuke the spirit of poverty by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony. Jesus Christ defeated you spirit of poverty. I break every curse and vex that you have brought upon my life. I break fear. I break doubt. I break patterns. I break attitudes of the mind. In the name of Jesus.”

Apply this prayer to any area that you feel you are lacking and command the curse to be broken today.

Overcoming by the Blood of the Lamb Part 2

Posted on Apr 1, 2016 in Blog |

1 Peter 1:18-19

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

You’ve been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. The blood paid the price for our complete redemption.

Revelation 5:9

And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

The blood of Jesus has the power to release the grip of the great curse, the ramifications for that are immeasurable. I have provided a list below, along with a single verse for each item, to get you started in your journey through the richness of each glorious truth.

1. My debt is paid, once and for all: “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” (Hebrew 9:28).

2. I am justified: “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. “ (Romans 5:9).

3. I am forgiven: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

4. I am spared from God’s wrath: “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. “ (Romans 5:9).

5. I am being spiritually healed; one day even my flesh will be replaced with an incorruptible body: “…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24).

6. I am spiritually alive: “Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53).

7. My judgment has been satisfied and I am at peace with God: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5).

8. The bloodstream of His people Israel will be purged. “For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwells in Zion”

(Joel 3:21).

9. I am cleansed: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

10. I have the power to overcome the enemy: “And they over came him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11).

11. I am no longer under the curse of the law: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).” (Galatians 3:13).

12. I have been reclaimed from the enemy: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:7).

13. I am no longer a stranger to the covenant of promise: “…that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:12-13).

14. The final act of public expiation has been made on my behalf: “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (Leviticus 17:11).

15. I have been moved from the enemy’s kingdom into the kingdom of God: “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15).

16. I have gained the unmerited favor of God: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:7).

17. I have been declared righteous: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be

sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

18. I have been justified (just as though I had never sinned): “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,whom God set forth as

a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed…” (Romans 3:24-25).

19. I am able to come close to God: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13).

20. I can participate in the sweet communion of remembrance of His sacrifice: “Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is

the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:20).

21. My redemption will never perish: “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things,like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received

by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

22. Jesus testifies on my behalf that I am clean: “…and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us kings^[and priests to His God and Father, to Him be

glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:5).

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

24. I am protected from judgment: “that you shall say, ‘It is

the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped.” (Exodus 12:27).

25. I am freed from a conscience defiled by guilt: “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.” (Hebrews 10:22).

26. I am no longer condemned: “There is

therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 1:8).

27. I have been separated from the world and declared holy (wholly) to God: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life

which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

28. I can proclaim total victory: “And they over came him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11).”

29. I can enter boldly into the holiest of holies…and live. “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, ²¹and having a High Priest over the house of God, ²²

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.” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

30. I have further revelation of who God is: “who being the brightness of His

glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” (Hebrews 1:3).

Overcoming by the Blood of the Lamb Part 1

Posted on Mar 18, 2016 in Blog |

When Jesus came to the earth, He came to declare war on the devil’s kingdom and take back what Adam lost through the fall. In order to do that, Jesus had to pay the price for sin and redeem the human race (2 Corinthians 5:21). Your sins and transgressions are paid for through God’s loving grace. You must repent, confess your sins, forsake your old way of life, and follow Jesus.

Because of man accepting and having a right relationship with Christ, he now is given authority, power, and dominion to use the name of Jesus and to apply the blood of Christ to see lives changed and forgiven.

Luke 10:17-24

¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” ¹⁸He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.¹⁹I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. ²⁰However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” ²¹At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. ²²“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” ²³Then he turned to his disciples and said privately,“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. ²⁴For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

These men were amazed by the power of the name of Jesus. For the first time in history, men had power over their adversary.

Ephesians 6:12

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Because we are engaged in this spiritual battle, we need to know how to use our spiritual weapons that Jesus gave us.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

⁴The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

As we operate by faith and depend on Him, these spiritual weapons are supplied by God and have divine power. We are to move out against the forces of darkness and take new ground and territory for Jesus Christ and His kingdom. At times you may feel weak, helpless and unworthy, but you must trust the blood of Christ and the Word of God.

1 Corinthians 1:27-28

²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are.

Revelation 12:10-11

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. ¹¹They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

The crucial statement here is this: “They overcame him.” Notice the direct, person-to-person contact of believers with the enemy. Their weapons in the fight were the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. In addition, they were totally committed to the battle, even to death.

I interpret this text in a simple, practical way: We overcome Satan when we testify personally to what the Word of God says the blood of Jesus does for us. When we use these three weapons together—the blood of Jesus, the Word of God and our personal testimony—we make them effective. But to do this properly, we must know what the Word of God says about the blood of Jesus.

In 1 Peter 1:18–19 we read:

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect.

Here Jesus is compared to the Passover lamb.

Under the old covenant, the blood of the Passover lamb was applied to the homes of Israelites. The father of each family killed the Passover lamb, collected the blood in a basin and transferred the blood from the basin “…Jesus walked into Satan’s slave market and bought us”

In Ephesians 1:7 Paul says, “In him [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (NIV). Paul here states two things that are provided for us by the blood of Jesus: redemption and forgiveness of sins. In order to make these provisions effective in our lives, however, we have

to make the appropriate testimony. This is the message of Psalm 107:2: “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (NKJV). We have to declare boldly, “I am redeemed from the hand of the enemy”—that is, from Satan.

To redeem means “to buy back.” We were once sinners, displayed in Satan’s slave market for sale. But Jesus walked into Satan’s slave market and bought us back out of the devil’s possession with His own precious blood. This redemption from the enemy is based upon the forgiveness of our sins.

To make Christ’s redemption and forgiveness effective in our lives, then, we must use our personal testimony, saying, “Through the blood of Jesus, all my sins are forgiven. Through the blood of Jesus, I have been redeemed out of the hand of Satan.” That testimony, when we make it with our own lips, is like the hyssop. It transfers the power of the blood of Jesus from the realm of the potential into our practical daily living.

Cleansing

1 John 1:7

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Forgiveness and God’s Mercy

Posted on Mar 11, 2016 in Blog |

Matthew 5:7

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Do you ask God for mercy?

Matthew 18:21-35

²¹Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” ²²Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. ²³“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. ²⁵Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. ²⁶“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. ²⁸“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. ²⁹“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ ³⁰“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. ³²“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. ³⁵“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

It’s only as we give mercy, that we receive mercy. The kingdom of heaven operates different then the kingdom of man.

Mercy is at the discretion of the king. You may think, but Lord I deserve this. The truth is we deserve nothing. We crucified Jesus, we deserve hell. We’ve committed sins against God that are worthy of death. When we approach God as if we are entitled, we miss the mark of mercy. It’s through humility and brokenness that we ask God to show us mercy and receive it.

When you receive mercy you have to give mercy. You can’t take advantage of it. When the king heard that the man didn’t show the same mercy that was given to him, the king took it back. In order to receive mercy, you must give mercy to others.

Luke 18:9-14

⁹To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ¹³“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Tax collectors were hated by all, but this is the guy who says, Lord, I’m not worthy of any grace. I’ve sinned all of my life. I’m an evil man, but Lord have mercy on me. Which one of these men were justified before God? The Pharisee who trusted in himself and thought he was so righteous, or the tax collector who begged for mercy?

Was he an evil man? Yes, but he recognized his evil ways. He recognized his brokenness. He was desperate for mercy. When we come into the presence of God we have to discern our spiritual state and our spiritual brokenness. That we are pathetic, bankrupt people, without power, victory, mercy, and grace. We have to ask God to intervene in our life through His mercy. And when that happens heaven comes down and mercy can flow to restore.

1. Ask for mercy

2. Receive and give mercy

3. Don’t take advantage of God’s mercy