Xtreme News and PASTORS CORNER
Hey everyone I just thought I would give you some information real quick. Please visit our website www.xtremeministries.com and check out the latest updates because we have several.
1. We have Xtreme News. This will be for announcements, emergency prayer requests, and news worthy items.Because of the website revamp you will need to sign up for this feature.
2. We now have a Pastors Corner Blog. Several of you had been asking me about opening up our blog to allow for comments. This feature has now been enabled. I will also be adding a devotional, book reviews, and other articles I get from various sources.
3. We added a "invite your friends" option. This is a link that will allow you to email your friends and invite them to our services.
4. There is a guest survey. If you have attended Xtreme for 6 months or less we would like you to fill this out for us (even though you arent a guest anymore).
5. Podcasting. Sorry for the delay but we are caught up on all of our podcasts.
Pastor Renken
BRINGING GRACE TO A LOST WORLD
11/27/2008
11/24/2008
Xtreme Ministries website updated
Hey everyone just wanted to let you know that our website has been updated and there more changes to come
11/20/2008
ARE YOU A ROMANS 8:14 CHRISTIAN?
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, November 19 2008
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. - Romans 8:13-14
Joshua and Caleb are described in Scripture as men who had a different spirit. They were two of the 12 spies sent into the Promised Land to determine if it could be taken, as God had promised it to them. The other ten gave a bad report that instilled fear in the people, which ultimately caused a rebellion. This resulted in an entire generation dying in the desert. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who were led by the Spirit of God, versus the spirit of fear. They were the only ones to enter the Promised Land from their generation.
Are you a person led by the Spirit? The verse above tells us that those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God. "But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it" (Num. 14:24). Caleb was a Romans 8:14 man! The Spirit led him. He was not led by fear.
Many of us have failed to enter into our own Promised Land because we have failed to be led by the Spirit rather than by fear. Fear prevents us from entering into what God has promised for each of us. God has reserved an inheritance for us that is exceedingly good. God described the Promised Land as a land of milk and honey. Our own Promised Land is the same. But you must be led by the Spirit to enter in. You cannot be led by fear, reason and analysis, or even skill. The Spirit must lead you. Commit yourself to being a Romans 8:14 man or woman. Then you will enter into the land God has promised for you.
Wednesday, November 19 2008
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. - Romans 8:13-14
Joshua and Caleb are described in Scripture as men who had a different spirit. They were two of the 12 spies sent into the Promised Land to determine if it could be taken, as God had promised it to them. The other ten gave a bad report that instilled fear in the people, which ultimately caused a rebellion. This resulted in an entire generation dying in the desert. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who were led by the Spirit of God, versus the spirit of fear. They were the only ones to enter the Promised Land from their generation.
Are you a person led by the Spirit? The verse above tells us that those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God. "But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it" (Num. 14:24). Caleb was a Romans 8:14 man! The Spirit led him. He was not led by fear.
Many of us have failed to enter into our own Promised Land because we have failed to be led by the Spirit rather than by fear. Fear prevents us from entering into what God has promised for each of us. God has reserved an inheritance for us that is exceedingly good. God described the Promised Land as a land of milk and honey. Our own Promised Land is the same. But you must be led by the Spirit to enter in. You cannot be led by fear, reason and analysis, or even skill. The Spirit must lead you. Commit yourself to being a Romans 8:14 man or woman. Then you will enter into the land God has promised for you.
11/18/2008
PRODUCT TESTING
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Monday, November 17 2008
His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" - Matthew 25:21
Testing allows one to discover how well a product is made when placed under extreme stress. Increasing the pulling pressure between two objects reveals the amount of tension that can be withstood in a chain link. Eventually, the "choking" point occurs. In sports, we ascertain the "choking" point for athletes by putting them into a pressure situation. At what point will the athlete lose concentration and collapse under the pressure? It is under these stressful times that we discover how well we have been trained to withstand the pressure and make right decisions regardless of outside influences.
In my younger days I played sports. I came to observe that we fail under pressure usually because we reach a point where our ability to focus on execution yields to concern about outcome. This worry about outcome forces us to lose our concentration. The fear of failure begins to rule our emotions and actions, which ultimately results in our failure. What we fear has come upon us. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In life, we see giving in to pressure in the form of compulsive behavior, withdrawal, anger, abuse, moral failure, and dishonesty, to name just a few manifestations.
Jesus never yielded to pressure. He never made decisions based on outcome. He always made the right decision. He always performed the same no matter what the circumstance. He lived a life based on absolutes, not circumstances. He never gave in to "situational ethics."
As God entrusts us with more and more responsibility, He brings more and more pressures into our lives to "test the product," to make sure that He can give even more responsibility to us. This process helps us see where we are in our maturity and determines our level of future responsibility. Are you a product that can withstand the product test? Will you perform as the Maker designed no matter what outside pressures come? Know that you cannot perform well unless you are continually in relationship with and obedient to the one who made you. Trust the product developer today. He has made you to perform well under pressure.
Monday, November 17 2008
His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" - Matthew 25:21
Testing allows one to discover how well a product is made when placed under extreme stress. Increasing the pulling pressure between two objects reveals the amount of tension that can be withstood in a chain link. Eventually, the "choking" point occurs. In sports, we ascertain the "choking" point for athletes by putting them into a pressure situation. At what point will the athlete lose concentration and collapse under the pressure? It is under these stressful times that we discover how well we have been trained to withstand the pressure and make right decisions regardless of outside influences.
In my younger days I played sports. I came to observe that we fail under pressure usually because we reach a point where our ability to focus on execution yields to concern about outcome. This worry about outcome forces us to lose our concentration. The fear of failure begins to rule our emotions and actions, which ultimately results in our failure. What we fear has come upon us. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In life, we see giving in to pressure in the form of compulsive behavior, withdrawal, anger, abuse, moral failure, and dishonesty, to name just a few manifestations.
Jesus never yielded to pressure. He never made decisions based on outcome. He always made the right decision. He always performed the same no matter what the circumstance. He lived a life based on absolutes, not circumstances. He never gave in to "situational ethics."
As God entrusts us with more and more responsibility, He brings more and more pressures into our lives to "test the product," to make sure that He can give even more responsibility to us. This process helps us see where we are in our maturity and determines our level of future responsibility. Are you a product that can withstand the product test? Will you perform as the Maker designed no matter what outside pressures come? Know that you cannot perform well unless you are continually in relationship with and obedient to the one who made you. Trust the product developer today. He has made you to perform well under pressure.
FULLING VOWS
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, November 18 2008
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. - Ecclesiastes 5:4
Have you ever had a business relationship with someone who made a commitment but later said, "Well, things changed, so I cannot honor our original agreement." Sometimes this may be the case, but often it is simply an opportunity to avoid fulfilling an agreement. God is big on fulfilling vows. God's nature is righteousness and truth. You will always see God honor His Word. He expects the same of His people.
God says there are consequences when we do not fulfill our vows. Subsequent Scripture verses reveal the following:
It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry with what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God? (Ecclesiastes 5:5-7).
God tells us that He will destroy the work of our hands for failure to fulfill vows. That's pretty strong language. It gives us an indication of how important fulfilling vows is to God. He will not prosper our work if there are unfulfilled vows in our lives
Are there any unfulfilled vows in your life that may be hindering your projects? Vows show up in many areas of our lives - marriages, businesses, personal friendships. Unfulfilled vows in any one of these could be the reason your work may be hindered. Ask God today if there are any unfulfilled vows in your life. If so, begin today to make them right so that you may be successful in whatever God calls you to do.
Tuesday, November 18 2008
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. - Ecclesiastes 5:4
Have you ever had a business relationship with someone who made a commitment but later said, "Well, things changed, so I cannot honor our original agreement." Sometimes this may be the case, but often it is simply an opportunity to avoid fulfilling an agreement. God is big on fulfilling vows. God's nature is righteousness and truth. You will always see God honor His Word. He expects the same of His people.
God says there are consequences when we do not fulfill our vows. Subsequent Scripture verses reveal the following:
It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry with what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God? (Ecclesiastes 5:5-7).
God tells us that He will destroy the work of our hands for failure to fulfill vows. That's pretty strong language. It gives us an indication of how important fulfilling vows is to God. He will not prosper our work if there are unfulfilled vows in our lives
Are there any unfulfilled vows in your life that may be hindering your projects? Vows show up in many areas of our lives - marriages, businesses, personal friendships. Unfulfilled vows in any one of these could be the reason your work may be hindered. Ask God today if there are any unfulfilled vows in your life. If so, begin today to make them right so that you may be successful in whatever God calls you to do.
Urgent prayer request
As you know on Sunday we were praying for pastor Bill Corley and his strength was increasing. It appeared everything was going well. The doctors found a bleed and don't know where its coming from. They filtered some of his blood and put it back in his system and he is about to undergo a procedure that is life threatening. We believe that god still has many things in store for pastor bill Corley so please join us in praying for total healing. Thank you all.
Pastor John Renken
Pastor John Renken
11/15/2008
Assorted thoughts from St. Thomas Hospital
As some of you may know Pastor Bill Corley has fallen gravely ill. Pastor Corley has served Clarksville for over 40 years. He has been pastoring in this city longer than some of you (including me) have been alive. In May of this year Pastor Bill and I met for the first time through the ministerial association. In June I invited him to the Prophetic Presbytery with Michael Cotten and Clem Ferris. The words spoken over him were...well there is no other way to say it but GOD!!!! In the short 6 months that have followed Pastor Bill and I have developed a relationship I will cherish through eternity. He has a lot of God's wisdom and earthly experience to pass on to the next generation. He has become a father in the faith to me. It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to get to know this man of God. I have been spending as much time as I can with him at the hospital and it has really stirred me in a few areas and while I am here watching, praying, and waiting on him and God I thought I would share 3 things with you all. These thoughts are important enough that I will forgo my title of the "Master of Brevity."
Thought #1
PRAYER WORKS
Late last night Pastor Bill's blood pressure dropped through the floor. He became very weak and he was moved to critical care. In this process they finally identified some issues that caused the infection. He some how got Ecolai and it took over his immune system. He has an infection in the Aorta Valve and it needs to be replaced. Further he needs a quadruple Bypass. Through out the morning and up till now we have had rotating Prayer Chains. People from all spectrums of life have been coming and laying hands on him and anointing him with oil and praying for his recovery. At this time 7:35pm he has stabalized. The Bible tells us on several occasions that if we would lay hands on the sick they shall recover! PRAYER WORKS! Through out this process I keep going back to that Jesus said we should pray "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven." As some of you may of heard our series on prayer there are two very significant parts to this verse from the Lord's Prayer. First, God wants us to pray that his will be done on Earth just like it is seen in heaven. God wants us to cooperate with Him and join with Him in bringing His rule and reign to Earth. This would imply that we would have to know His will. The second thing is that too often people pray the Garden of Gethsemane prayer of "Not my will but your will be done" without ever really asking God what He wants! God expects us as His children to draw near to Him and ask Him what He wants. God wants us to know His will and then PRAY HIS WILL ONTO EARTH!!!! In case you didnt already understand this requires relationship with our DADDY! Ultimately, everything we do goes back to developing our relationship with our Father and through that relationship we expand His kingdom on this Earth.
Thought #2
FATHERS, SONS, AND INHERITANCE
I think in the western world we have lost the value of the relationships that mentor us. Through out the Scritpures it is clear that older men are to disciple (mentor) younger men and that older women are to disciple younger women. Look at the examples of Paul/Timothy and Elijah/Elisha. These are clear examples of Fathers and Sons. Why is it that we arent applying the concept of fathering to every aspect of our lives? In our jobs, in our families, in our churches, in our hobbies, in our money, and in our marriages? What is it about western culture that makes us so weak that we cant rely on the strength of those who have gone before us? Pastor Bill as well as our Apostolic Leadership Team (Michael Fletcher, Michael Cotten, and Clem Ferris) have taken this concept of fathering seriously and have personally invested in me more than money can ever pay for. On numerous occasions I have called them and asked them for Godly wisdom and counsel and they are available and provide me with things as a young minister I desperately need! This is a father's heart. When you have the ability to make the life, ministry, job, family, marriage, or anything else better because of your experience and you freely offer it and give it.
I thank God for these men in my life. They have saved me from countless mistakes with their wisdom and their hearts. The Bible tells us that a good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children! I am coming to realize this isnt just a money thing. These 4 men have walked through situations and encounters with God that have made them who they are. I need that and much more if I am to fulfill my destiny in God. What would happen if we started Mothering or Fathering in every area of our lives and our children's children didnt have to learn the same lessons over and over and over? I will tell you what would happen...geometrical growth! If I learn the lessons that took Pastor Bill Corley 40 years to learn in a year of walking with him where would I be? Where would the kingdom be? THIS IS TRUE INHERITANCE! This is something I long for. I believe that God invests himself in men and women and expects that investment to carry on into the next generation...which leads me to my last thought.
Thought #3
The Passing of the Mantle
This is an important concept and I am learning that it is more important that I originally thought. The Bible tells us that Elijah and Elisha had a special relationship and that there was something to be passed on from generation to generation. In some circles we call this passing the torch, but that isnt sufficient to explain the fullness of the Biblical story. In 2 Kings 2:1-14 it tells us that Elijah was about to go to heaven. Elijah on several occasions tries to get rid of Elisha and Elisha refuses by saying "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." A quick question for you and me. Are we that committed? Are we committed enough to lay aside our lives and pursue what God has for us? Finally Elijah responds to Elisha with "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" Do you here that? Persistance pays off in the Kingdom! PURSUE WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU!!!! Be aggressive, be militant with what you believe God has in store for you! The other lesson for us is not only be aggressive but to be bold in asking for what we believe God is giving us. Elisha asks to INHERIT a double portion of Elijahs spirit (anointing)! Elijah responds with "have asked a difficult thing, yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours — otherwise not." Can we be a people and a church that waits for our inheritance or our mantle? Can we be a people that will pursue our dreams and our destiny till the end? There is so much more in this passage! I pray that as you read this story and the blog that you will begin to see the importance of the mantle.
As I sign off remember...
PRAYER WORKS
FATHERS, SONS, AND INHERITANCE
PASSING THE MANTLE
Thought #1
PRAYER WORKS
Late last night Pastor Bill's blood pressure dropped through the floor. He became very weak and he was moved to critical care. In this process they finally identified some issues that caused the infection. He some how got Ecolai and it took over his immune system. He has an infection in the Aorta Valve and it needs to be replaced. Further he needs a quadruple Bypass. Through out the morning and up till now we have had rotating Prayer Chains. People from all spectrums of life have been coming and laying hands on him and anointing him with oil and praying for his recovery. At this time 7:35pm he has stabalized. The Bible tells us on several occasions that if we would lay hands on the sick they shall recover! PRAYER WORKS! Through out this process I keep going back to that Jesus said we should pray "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven." As some of you may of heard our series on prayer there are two very significant parts to this verse from the Lord's Prayer. First, God wants us to pray that his will be done on Earth just like it is seen in heaven. God wants us to cooperate with Him and join with Him in bringing His rule and reign to Earth. This would imply that we would have to know His will. The second thing is that too often people pray the Garden of Gethsemane prayer of "Not my will but your will be done" without ever really asking God what He wants! God expects us as His children to draw near to Him and ask Him what He wants. God wants us to know His will and then PRAY HIS WILL ONTO EARTH!!!! In case you didnt already understand this requires relationship with our DADDY! Ultimately, everything we do goes back to developing our relationship with our Father and through that relationship we expand His kingdom on this Earth.
Thought #2
FATHERS, SONS, AND INHERITANCE
I think in the western world we have lost the value of the relationships that mentor us. Through out the Scritpures it is clear that older men are to disciple (mentor) younger men and that older women are to disciple younger women. Look at the examples of Paul/Timothy and Elijah/Elisha. These are clear examples of Fathers and Sons. Why is it that we arent applying the concept of fathering to every aspect of our lives? In our jobs, in our families, in our churches, in our hobbies, in our money, and in our marriages? What is it about western culture that makes us so weak that we cant rely on the strength of those who have gone before us? Pastor Bill as well as our Apostolic Leadership Team (Michael Fletcher, Michael Cotten, and Clem Ferris) have taken this concept of fathering seriously and have personally invested in me more than money can ever pay for. On numerous occasions I have called them and asked them for Godly wisdom and counsel and they are available and provide me with things as a young minister I desperately need! This is a father's heart. When you have the ability to make the life, ministry, job, family, marriage, or anything else better because of your experience and you freely offer it and give it.
I thank God for these men in my life. They have saved me from countless mistakes with their wisdom and their hearts. The Bible tells us that a good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children! I am coming to realize this isnt just a money thing. These 4 men have walked through situations and encounters with God that have made them who they are. I need that and much more if I am to fulfill my destiny in God. What would happen if we started Mothering or Fathering in every area of our lives and our children's children didnt have to learn the same lessons over and over and over? I will tell you what would happen...geometrical growth! If I learn the lessons that took Pastor Bill Corley 40 years to learn in a year of walking with him where would I be? Where would the kingdom be? THIS IS TRUE INHERITANCE! This is something I long for. I believe that God invests himself in men and women and expects that investment to carry on into the next generation...which leads me to my last thought.
Thought #3
The Passing of the Mantle
This is an important concept and I am learning that it is more important that I originally thought. The Bible tells us that Elijah and Elisha had a special relationship and that there was something to be passed on from generation to generation. In some circles we call this passing the torch, but that isnt sufficient to explain the fullness of the Biblical story. In 2 Kings 2:1-14 it tells us that Elijah was about to go to heaven. Elijah on several occasions tries to get rid of Elisha and Elisha refuses by saying "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." A quick question for you and me. Are we that committed? Are we committed enough to lay aside our lives and pursue what God has for us? Finally Elijah responds to Elisha with "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" Do you here that? Persistance pays off in the Kingdom! PURSUE WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU!!!! Be aggressive, be militant with what you believe God has in store for you! The other lesson for us is not only be aggressive but to be bold in asking for what we believe God is giving us. Elisha asks to INHERIT a double portion of Elijahs spirit (anointing)! Elijah responds with "have asked a difficult thing, yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours — otherwise not." Can we be a people and a church that waits for our inheritance or our mantle? Can we be a people that will pursue our dreams and our destiny till the end? There is so much more in this passage! I pray that as you read this story and the blog that you will begin to see the importance of the mantle.
As I sign off remember...
PRAYER WORKS
FATHERS, SONS, AND INHERITANCE
PASSING THE MANTLE
11/14/2008
SOLD OUT
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Friday, November 14 2008
"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ." Philippians 3:7
George Mueller was a man known for building orphanages by faith in the mid-1800s. He raised literally millions of dollars for his orphanages, yet died with little in his own bank account. When asked about his conversion experience he commented,
"I was converted in November of 1825, but I only came into the full surrender of the heart four years later, in July 1829. The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, and the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone. God, God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else. And by the grace of God this has remained, and has made me a happy man, an exceedingly happy man, and it led me to care only about the things of God. I ask affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you fully surrendered the heart to God, or is there this thing or that thing with which you have taken up irrespective of God? I read a little of the scriptures before, but preferred other books; but since that time the revelation He has made of Himself has become unspeakably blessed to me, and I can say from my heart, God is an infinitely lovely Being. Oh, be not satisfied until in your own inmost soul you can say, God is an infinitely lovely Being!" [Basil Miller, Man of Faith and Miracles (Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bethany House Publishers, n.d.)]
Many will never get to the place where George Mueller was in his spiritual life, because we are unwilling to release control of these areas of which he speaks. If we do release control, it usually is due to a process that God brings us through. Paul got knocked off a horse and was spoken to personally before he was willing to listen and follow completely. Peter had to live with Jesus three years and he still denied Him. It was only later, after he denied Jesus and realized how weak he was in his own faith, that he became fully committed to the Savior. What will it take for you to fully surrender? You will know that you have given full surrender when power, money, and position no longer have meaning in your life. Paul said he came to a place where his life was the life of Christ only. It is a sacrificial life, but it is also a life of freedom, purpose, and meaning. Let God take full control and see His life lived fully through you.
Friday, November 14 2008
"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ." Philippians 3:7
George Mueller was a man known for building orphanages by faith in the mid-1800s. He raised literally millions of dollars for his orphanages, yet died with little in his own bank account. When asked about his conversion experience he commented,
"I was converted in November of 1825, but I only came into the full surrender of the heart four years later, in July 1829. The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, and the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone. God, God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else. And by the grace of God this has remained, and has made me a happy man, an exceedingly happy man, and it led me to care only about the things of God. I ask affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you fully surrendered the heart to God, or is there this thing or that thing with which you have taken up irrespective of God? I read a little of the scriptures before, but preferred other books; but since that time the revelation He has made of Himself has become unspeakably blessed to me, and I can say from my heart, God is an infinitely lovely Being. Oh, be not satisfied until in your own inmost soul you can say, God is an infinitely lovely Being!" [Basil Miller, Man of Faith and Miracles (Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bethany House Publishers, n.d.)]
Many will never get to the place where George Mueller was in his spiritual life, because we are unwilling to release control of these areas of which he speaks. If we do release control, it usually is due to a process that God brings us through. Paul got knocked off a horse and was spoken to personally before he was willing to listen and follow completely. Peter had to live with Jesus three years and he still denied Him. It was only later, after he denied Jesus and realized how weak he was in his own faith, that he became fully committed to the Savior. What will it take for you to fully surrender? You will know that you have given full surrender when power, money, and position no longer have meaning in your life. Paul said he came to a place where his life was the life of Christ only. It is a sacrificial life, but it is also a life of freedom, purpose, and meaning. Let God take full control and see His life lived fully through you.
11/13/2008
PROSPERITY IN AFFLICTIONS
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Thursday, November 13 2008
"The second son he named Ephraim and said, 'It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.'" Genesis 41:52
When Joseph was elevated to rule over the Egyptian kingdom, he revealed some profound truths gained from the experiences of his years of adversity. He named his first son, Manasseh for, he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household" (Gen. 41:51b). His second son was named Ephraim because, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
Whenever God takes us through the land of affliction, He will do two things through that affliction: 1) He will bring such healing that we will be able to forget the pain, and 2) He will make us fruitful from the painful experiences.
God does not waste our afflictions if we allow Him the freedom to complete the work in us. His desire is to create virtue that remains during the times of testing so that He can bring us into the place of fruitfulness in the very area of our testing. He has never promised to keep us from entering the valleys of testing, but He has promised to make us fruitful in them. He is the God who turns the Valley of Achor (trouble) into a door of hope (see Hos. 2:15). If you are in the valley of affliction, now is the time to press into Him. When the time comes to bring you out of this valley, He will heal your memories and bring fruit from this very time.
Thursday, November 13 2008
"The second son he named Ephraim and said, 'It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.'" Genesis 41:52
When Joseph was elevated to rule over the Egyptian kingdom, he revealed some profound truths gained from the experiences of his years of adversity. He named his first son, Manasseh for, he said, "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household" (Gen. 41:51b). His second son was named Ephraim because, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
Whenever God takes us through the land of affliction, He will do two things through that affliction: 1) He will bring such healing that we will be able to forget the pain, and 2) He will make us fruitful from the painful experiences.
God does not waste our afflictions if we allow Him the freedom to complete the work in us. His desire is to create virtue that remains during the times of testing so that He can bring us into the place of fruitfulness in the very area of our testing. He has never promised to keep us from entering the valleys of testing, but He has promised to make us fruitful in them. He is the God who turns the Valley of Achor (trouble) into a door of hope (see Hos. 2:15). If you are in the valley of affliction, now is the time to press into Him. When the time comes to bring you out of this valley, He will heal your memories and bring fruit from this very time.
11/12/2008
CREATED FOR HIS GOOD PLEASURE
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, November 12 2008
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
Eric Liddell was an Olympic runner from Britain who won a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics. He was a man who had a deep commitment to the Lord and had future plans of being a missionary. In the meantime, he knew God had given him a special gift to run, and he often said, "I feel God's pleasure when I run."
He spent years training for the Olympics. He passed each hurdle and qualified for the Olympics. Finally, the day came for him to run in the games that were held in Paris. There was only one problem. One of his running events was held on Sunday. Liddell refused to run on Sunday, believing it dishonored the Lord's Sabbath. He held to his convictions and brought great persecution on himself. He made a decision that even if it meant losing his opportunity to compete, he would not run. God's laws were greater than man's applause. Just when the circumstances seemed hopeless, another situation arose that allowed Liddell to run on a different day. So often this is the case in the spiritual realm. God tests our hearts to see if we will remain faithful to Him at the cost of something important to us. Once He knows where our loyalty lies, He opens a new door that meets the desires of our hearts. God takes pleasure in seeing His creation used for His glory. Liddell understood why he was made to run; he used his gift of running to bring pleasure to his Creator. Later, Eric Liddell went on to serve God on the mission field. Does your life work bring pleasure to the Lord? Do you understand that God instilled certain gifts and talents in you so that He might find pleasure in His creation of you? Take pleasure in the gifts God has given to you this day. And let His glory shine through you
Wednesday, November 12 2008
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
Eric Liddell was an Olympic runner from Britain who won a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics. He was a man who had a deep commitment to the Lord and had future plans of being a missionary. In the meantime, he knew God had given him a special gift to run, and he often said, "I feel God's pleasure when I run."
He spent years training for the Olympics. He passed each hurdle and qualified for the Olympics. Finally, the day came for him to run in the games that were held in Paris. There was only one problem. One of his running events was held on Sunday. Liddell refused to run on Sunday, believing it dishonored the Lord's Sabbath. He held to his convictions and brought great persecution on himself. He made a decision that even if it meant losing his opportunity to compete, he would not run. God's laws were greater than man's applause. Just when the circumstances seemed hopeless, another situation arose that allowed Liddell to run on a different day. So often this is the case in the spiritual realm. God tests our hearts to see if we will remain faithful to Him at the cost of something important to us. Once He knows where our loyalty lies, He opens a new door that meets the desires of our hearts. God takes pleasure in seeing His creation used for His glory. Liddell understood why he was made to run; he used his gift of running to bring pleasure to his Creator. Later, Eric Liddell went on to serve God on the mission field. Does your life work bring pleasure to the Lord? Do you understand that God instilled certain gifts and talents in you so that He might find pleasure in His creation of you? Take pleasure in the gifts God has given to you this day. And let His glory shine through you
RECEIVING ONLY FROM GOD
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Tuesday, November 11 2008
"I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me-to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share." Genesis 14:24
Abraham's nephew was a man named Lot. Lot was part of Abraham's household until the land on which they fed their flocks could no longer support their growing families and herds. Abraham allowed Lot to choose the land where he wanted to live. Lot chose the land of Sodom.
Afterwards, four kings invaded Sodom, and Lot's family and goods were taken into captivity. When Abraham learned of this, he immediately gathered his best fighting men and pursued the armies to free Lot and his family. He was successful in freeing Lot's family and the families of Sodom. The king of Sodom was grateful to Abraham for what he did and wanted him to keep the goods he recovered. Abraham had made a decision before the battle that he would only keep what he recovered for his nephew Lot, and goods as payment for the men who fought.
Abraham understood the principle of receiving from God. He was a man with great integrity in God. He did not want to be known as someone who became wealthy because of the kindness of a wicked king. He wanted others to know that whatever prosperity he gained was a result of the blessing from God's hand alone. Abraham understood an important principle of receiving from God. Jesus also modeled this principle by receiving only what His Father wanted Him to receive. God's will for Jesus was to receive based on a carpenter's wage even though He was the God of the universe who had access to all things. Imagine the discipline Jesus had to have, knowing what He could have had. He upheld His own financial integrity in God. Each of us must discern what comes from the hand of God rather than the hand of man. As workplace believers, there are situations that allow us to manipulate, sweat, and toil our way to profit. There is also profit as a result of hard work done in obedience to our calling to the workplace. Knowing the difference in these two concepts is a sign of integrity before God. Only God receives glory when we receive what God wants us to receive. Are you receiving the fruit of your labor in God? Ask God to show you the difference of these two concepts for your own life.
Tuesday, November 11 2008
"I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me-to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share." Genesis 14:24
Abraham's nephew was a man named Lot. Lot was part of Abraham's household until the land on which they fed their flocks could no longer support their growing families and herds. Abraham allowed Lot to choose the land where he wanted to live. Lot chose the land of Sodom.
Afterwards, four kings invaded Sodom, and Lot's family and goods were taken into captivity. When Abraham learned of this, he immediately gathered his best fighting men and pursued the armies to free Lot and his family. He was successful in freeing Lot's family and the families of Sodom. The king of Sodom was grateful to Abraham for what he did and wanted him to keep the goods he recovered. Abraham had made a decision before the battle that he would only keep what he recovered for his nephew Lot, and goods as payment for the men who fought.
Abraham understood the principle of receiving from God. He was a man with great integrity in God. He did not want to be known as someone who became wealthy because of the kindness of a wicked king. He wanted others to know that whatever prosperity he gained was a result of the blessing from God's hand alone. Abraham understood an important principle of receiving from God. Jesus also modeled this principle by receiving only what His Father wanted Him to receive. God's will for Jesus was to receive based on a carpenter's wage even though He was the God of the universe who had access to all things. Imagine the discipline Jesus had to have, knowing what He could have had. He upheld His own financial integrity in God. Each of us must discern what comes from the hand of God rather than the hand of man. As workplace believers, there are situations that allow us to manipulate, sweat, and toil our way to profit. There is also profit as a result of hard work done in obedience to our calling to the workplace. Knowing the difference in these two concepts is a sign of integrity before God. Only God receives glory when we receive what God wants us to receive. Are you receiving the fruit of your labor in God? Ask God to show you the difference of these two concepts for your own life.
11/06/2008
DIVINE SETUPS
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Thursday, November 06 2008
"Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Luke 22:31-32
Have you ever perceived yourself to be at one place spiritually only to discover that you were actually far from this place? Peter perceived himself to be so spiritually strong that he was prepared to suffer greatly for his Master. Yet Jesus knew where Peter really was in his own pilgrimage. He knew that Peter's enthusiasm did not match his reality. He was suffering from an attitude of self-righteousness. So, how did Jesus help Peter match his perception to his reality? Peter was the object of a divine setup.
First, notice that satan asked permission to sift Peter as wheat. Jesus determined that satan would be used to bring Peter to the maturity level both Jesus and Peter really desired. And Jesus was praying that Peter would pass the test. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times that very day. Peter could not believe what Jesus was saying.
Sometimes the lessons we must learn are very painful. This experience was necessary in Peter's life. It was necessary to purge Peter from his sin of self-righteousness. This very lesson would allow Peter to come face to face with his own misperception of where he was in his relationship and devotion to Jesus. When he was forced to confront this, it nearly broke him apart. He wept bitterly once he realized he had done just as Jesus had predicted. This confrontation with reality is necessary at times in our lives. Do not be surprised if Jesus allows you to experience some painful circumstance. You may be the subject of a divine setup designed to bring you to a greater maturity level in your walk with Jesus. It may not be a fun experience when you go through it, but you will, like Peter, become a leader whom God will use to lead others.
Thursday, November 06 2008
"Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Luke 22:31-32
Have you ever perceived yourself to be at one place spiritually only to discover that you were actually far from this place? Peter perceived himself to be so spiritually strong that he was prepared to suffer greatly for his Master. Yet Jesus knew where Peter really was in his own pilgrimage. He knew that Peter's enthusiasm did not match his reality. He was suffering from an attitude of self-righteousness. So, how did Jesus help Peter match his perception to his reality? Peter was the object of a divine setup.
First, notice that satan asked permission to sift Peter as wheat. Jesus determined that satan would be used to bring Peter to the maturity level both Jesus and Peter really desired. And Jesus was praying that Peter would pass the test. Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times that very day. Peter could not believe what Jesus was saying.
Sometimes the lessons we must learn are very painful. This experience was necessary in Peter's life. It was necessary to purge Peter from his sin of self-righteousness. This very lesson would allow Peter to come face to face with his own misperception of where he was in his relationship and devotion to Jesus. When he was forced to confront this, it nearly broke him apart. He wept bitterly once he realized he had done just as Jesus had predicted. This confrontation with reality is necessary at times in our lives. Do not be surprised if Jesus allows you to experience some painful circumstance. You may be the subject of a divine setup designed to bring you to a greater maturity level in your walk with Jesus. It may not be a fun experience when you go through it, but you will, like Peter, become a leader whom God will use to lead others.
11/05/2008
10 WAYS TO PRAY FOR BARRACK OBAMA
Whether you are happy about this week’s election results or not, all Christians must unite in prayer for our new president. Please don’t forsake this responsibility.
It’s over. We’ve reached the end of the longest, angriest and most nerve-wracking presidential campaign in American history. Finally the “I approved this message” ads have ceased. The endless robot phone calls have stopped ringing. The debates, and the annoying post-debate comments from “experts,” are history—until the next election cycle.
More than half the nation is celebrating today while others are mourning. We are a divided nation, split into unhappy fragments by abortion, gay marriage, global warming, a failed economy and an unpopular war. Those who voted for Barack Obama have claimed a historic victory; some on McCain’s side are already looking for scapegoats. Politics is politics.
But when I got up this morning, I turned all my attention to the fact that Jesus Christ is still on the throne. His government is what is most important. Regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, the Bible says “the nations are like a drop from a bucket” to God (Is. 40:15, NASB). That includes the United States. We may boast about being “the greatest nation on earth,” but He who sits in heaven has a different perspective. Let’s take a big sigh of relief now and remember that God is sovereign.
"But when I got up this morning, I turned all my attention to the fact that Jesus Christ is still on the throne. His government is what is most important."
I’ll admit this election did not turn out as I had hoped. I supported McCain primarily because I am pro-life and I prefer his small-government mindset. But now that the election is over, I’m not going to harbor bitterness toward Obama supporters or go into attack mode. Obama has been elected president of this country, and that means I have a biblical responsibility to support him in prayer—even if I challenge his policies.
Whether you voted for Obama or not, you need to pray for him. Here are 10 ways I plan to intercede for him regularly:
1. Pray for Obama’s protection. We already know that some weird, neo-Nazi fanatics in Tennessee plotted to kill Sen. Obama during his campaign. Let’s pray that racist hatred is not allowed to spread. Let’s cancel every assassin’s bullet in the name of Jesus. May civility triumph over bigotry.
2. Cover his wife and daughters in prayer. It is not easy to live under constant media scrutiny. Pray for Obama’s wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, Malia and Natasha, as they face invasive cameras, nosy reporters, maniacal fans and dangerous enemies. Obama is not only a politician but also a husband and a father.
3. Pray that Obama will govern with God’s wisdom. God rewarded Solomon because he asked for wisdom instead of wealth, long life or vengeance on his enemies (see 1 Kings 3:11-12). Pray that Obama will order his priorities like that. Despite Solomon’s tragic character flaws, his legacy was wisdom. We can ask God to give our president the same grace.
4. Ask God to keep our president humble. Many great American leaders became corrupt after they moved to Washington. The fatal attraction of fame, wealth and power proved irresistible. The only thing that will guard a man or woman from this pitfall is humility. May God deliver President Obama from the curse of pride.
5. Pray for wise and righteous advisers to surround him. Godly leaders cannot do their job alone. Even the best leaders have failed because they trusted the wrong people. Pray that Obama will not select his counselors based on party, race, pedigree or political cronyism but on godly character and proven wisdom. Pray also that he will not allow secret traitors into his inner circle.
6. Ask for the spirit of reconciliation. Some segments of our deeply divided society want nothing to do with Obama now that he has won the presidency. Even some Christians will be tempted to harbor resentment and nurse political grudges throughout his term in office. Pray that God will grant forgiveness and healing so that leaders on all political levels can have constructive dialogue.
7. Pray that Obama will adopt pro-life convictions. Many politicians have changed their views on key issues while in office. In the 1800s some leaders who favored slavery later denounced it. In the 1950s some who opposed racial integration later became champions of it. Even though Obama won approval from many voters because he sanctions abortion, God could soften and change his heart.
8. Bind all evil forces assigned to manipulate our president. The specter of Islamic terrorism looms over the United States, and dark forces are ready to infiltrate. Our only hope lies in prayer to the God who is able to expose and outwit the schemes of the wicked. This is truly a time for spiritual warfare, and intercessors must not come off the wall in this hour! Pray that no foreign government, terrorist organization or demonic principality will use Obama as a tool. We must stand strong against the spirit of antichrist that promotes dictatorship, persecution of Christians and hostility toward Israel.
9. Pray that Obama’s door will remain open to the church. The loudest voices of secular culture—from Bill Maher in Hollywood to atheists in academia—would be happy if religion were removed from public life. Pray that Obama, who claims to have a personal faith in Jesus Christ, will unapologetically welcome Christian leaders into his company and seek their counsel. And pray that false religious leaders (who claim to know Christ but deny His power) will not have his ear.
10. Pray that our nation will enjoy God’s peace and blessing during the Obama administration. The apostle Paul instructed early believers to pray for all in authority “so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2:2, NASB). God’s will is for America to experience peace and prosperity so that we can continue to export the gospel to the nations. This must happen whether a Democrat or a Republican is in the White House. As we cry out for God’s mercy on our wayward nation, pray that He will allow us to be a light to the world as we finance global missions, feed and heal the world’s poor and share Christ’s love at home and abroad.
J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.
It’s over. We’ve reached the end of the longest, angriest and most nerve-wracking presidential campaign in American history. Finally the “I approved this message” ads have ceased. The endless robot phone calls have stopped ringing. The debates, and the annoying post-debate comments from “experts,” are history—until the next election cycle.
More than half the nation is celebrating today while others are mourning. We are a divided nation, split into unhappy fragments by abortion, gay marriage, global warming, a failed economy and an unpopular war. Those who voted for Barack Obama have claimed a historic victory; some on McCain’s side are already looking for scapegoats. Politics is politics.
But when I got up this morning, I turned all my attention to the fact that Jesus Christ is still on the throne. His government is what is most important. Regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, the Bible says “the nations are like a drop from a bucket” to God (Is. 40:15, NASB). That includes the United States. We may boast about being “the greatest nation on earth,” but He who sits in heaven has a different perspective. Let’s take a big sigh of relief now and remember that God is sovereign.
"But when I got up this morning, I turned all my attention to the fact that Jesus Christ is still on the throne. His government is what is most important."
I’ll admit this election did not turn out as I had hoped. I supported McCain primarily because I am pro-life and I prefer his small-government mindset. But now that the election is over, I’m not going to harbor bitterness toward Obama supporters or go into attack mode. Obama has been elected president of this country, and that means I have a biblical responsibility to support him in prayer—even if I challenge his policies.
Whether you voted for Obama or not, you need to pray for him. Here are 10 ways I plan to intercede for him regularly:
1. Pray for Obama’s protection. We already know that some weird, neo-Nazi fanatics in Tennessee plotted to kill Sen. Obama during his campaign. Let’s pray that racist hatred is not allowed to spread. Let’s cancel every assassin’s bullet in the name of Jesus. May civility triumph over bigotry.
2. Cover his wife and daughters in prayer. It is not easy to live under constant media scrutiny. Pray for Obama’s wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, Malia and Natasha, as they face invasive cameras, nosy reporters, maniacal fans and dangerous enemies. Obama is not only a politician but also a husband and a father.
3. Pray that Obama will govern with God’s wisdom. God rewarded Solomon because he asked for wisdom instead of wealth, long life or vengeance on his enemies (see 1 Kings 3:11-12). Pray that Obama will order his priorities like that. Despite Solomon’s tragic character flaws, his legacy was wisdom. We can ask God to give our president the same grace.
4. Ask God to keep our president humble. Many great American leaders became corrupt after they moved to Washington. The fatal attraction of fame, wealth and power proved irresistible. The only thing that will guard a man or woman from this pitfall is humility. May God deliver President Obama from the curse of pride.
5. Pray for wise and righteous advisers to surround him. Godly leaders cannot do their job alone. Even the best leaders have failed because they trusted the wrong people. Pray that Obama will not select his counselors based on party, race, pedigree or political cronyism but on godly character and proven wisdom. Pray also that he will not allow secret traitors into his inner circle.
6. Ask for the spirit of reconciliation. Some segments of our deeply divided society want nothing to do with Obama now that he has won the presidency. Even some Christians will be tempted to harbor resentment and nurse political grudges throughout his term in office. Pray that God will grant forgiveness and healing so that leaders on all political levels can have constructive dialogue.
7. Pray that Obama will adopt pro-life convictions. Many politicians have changed their views on key issues while in office. In the 1800s some leaders who favored slavery later denounced it. In the 1950s some who opposed racial integration later became champions of it. Even though Obama won approval from many voters because he sanctions abortion, God could soften and change his heart.
8. Bind all evil forces assigned to manipulate our president. The specter of Islamic terrorism looms over the United States, and dark forces are ready to infiltrate. Our only hope lies in prayer to the God who is able to expose and outwit the schemes of the wicked. This is truly a time for spiritual warfare, and intercessors must not come off the wall in this hour! Pray that no foreign government, terrorist organization or demonic principality will use Obama as a tool. We must stand strong against the spirit of antichrist that promotes dictatorship, persecution of Christians and hostility toward Israel.
9. Pray that Obama’s door will remain open to the church. The loudest voices of secular culture—from Bill Maher in Hollywood to atheists in academia—would be happy if religion were removed from public life. Pray that Obama, who claims to have a personal faith in Jesus Christ, will unapologetically welcome Christian leaders into his company and seek their counsel. And pray that false religious leaders (who claim to know Christ but deny His power) will not have his ear.
10. Pray that our nation will enjoy God’s peace and blessing during the Obama administration. The apostle Paul instructed early believers to pray for all in authority “so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2:2, NASB). God’s will is for America to experience peace and prosperity so that we can continue to export the gospel to the nations. This must happen whether a Democrat or a Republican is in the White House. As we cry out for God’s mercy on our wayward nation, pray that He will allow us to be a light to the world as we finance global missions, feed and heal the world’s poor and share Christ’s love at home and abroad.
J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.
LEADERSHIP THAT FREES
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, November 05 2008
"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." 1 Peter 3:1-2
"I am having a real problem with something that I need input from you guys," said the lady in our fellowship group. "My husband wants to make a major purchase that I am opposed to. We cannot afford it right now. I understand what the Bible says about headship in the home, but what do I do when I totally disagree with his decision?" The men in the group looked at each other, realizing the sensitive nature of such a question, especially in today's society.
Then someone said, "You really only have a few options if you adhere to the principle that God has entrusted the man as the leader in the home. God has placed you under the umbrella of His protection as well as your husband. There are times when he will not make the right decision. Does that mean God is not protecting you? No. There may be several things working here. God may be testing your own obedience to this principle. He may use you to open up your husband's spiritual life due to your obedience and submissive spirit. Your obedience may cost your family something, but it will be beneficial in the long term. Your alternative is to rebel and pay him back for his decision by withholding your love from him, which is often what a wife does in this situation. It becomes a vicious circle of paybacks. My suggestion is to tell your husband how you feel about his decision and the impact you feel it will have on you and your family. If he still wants to make the purchase, you must let him do it and support him. What happens next will rest in God's hand as your ultimate protector."
A few weeks later our sister in Christ came to our meeting. "I have some wonderful news. We did make the purchase. However, we were able to make it in such a way that we did not go into debt and I was able to support my husband. I have already seen a change in his attitude toward me by the way I responded to him in this. It has been a real lesson for me. I see him much more open to spiritual things since I made this decision and supported him, even though I disagreed with it."
God has made man and woman equal in His sight. Yet He has given each a different role to play in marriage. Husbands must answer to God for their leadership in the home. They will be judged for that leadership. When a wife submits to that leadership, God protects her from wrong decisions of that husband, although sometimes it may not appear that way at first.
You can trust God to protect you in your decisions that are made in obedience to His Word. The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
Wednesday, November 05 2008
"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." 1 Peter 3:1-2
"I am having a real problem with something that I need input from you guys," said the lady in our fellowship group. "My husband wants to make a major purchase that I am opposed to. We cannot afford it right now. I understand what the Bible says about headship in the home, but what do I do when I totally disagree with his decision?" The men in the group looked at each other, realizing the sensitive nature of such a question, especially in today's society.
Then someone said, "You really only have a few options if you adhere to the principle that God has entrusted the man as the leader in the home. God has placed you under the umbrella of His protection as well as your husband. There are times when he will not make the right decision. Does that mean God is not protecting you? No. There may be several things working here. God may be testing your own obedience to this principle. He may use you to open up your husband's spiritual life due to your obedience and submissive spirit. Your obedience may cost your family something, but it will be beneficial in the long term. Your alternative is to rebel and pay him back for his decision by withholding your love from him, which is often what a wife does in this situation. It becomes a vicious circle of paybacks. My suggestion is to tell your husband how you feel about his decision and the impact you feel it will have on you and your family. If he still wants to make the purchase, you must let him do it and support him. What happens next will rest in God's hand as your ultimate protector."
A few weeks later our sister in Christ came to our meeting. "I have some wonderful news. We did make the purchase. However, we were able to make it in such a way that we did not go into debt and I was able to support my husband. I have already seen a change in his attitude toward me by the way I responded to him in this. It has been a real lesson for me. I see him much more open to spiritual things since I made this decision and supported him, even though I disagreed with it."
God has made man and woman equal in His sight. Yet He has given each a different role to play in marriage. Husbands must answer to God for their leadership in the home. They will be judged for that leadership. When a wife submits to that leadership, God protects her from wrong decisions of that husband, although sometimes it may not appear that way at first.
You can trust God to protect you in your decisions that are made in obedience to His Word. The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
11/04/2008
A MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY
As I have sat here tonight and watched the elections I was continually impressed by the Spirit that this is not a time of fear, but of opportunity. I believe as the Bible clearly tells us that through all of this that Jesus Christ is still sitting on the throne. He is not surprised, he is not taken aback by the outcome of tonight. As a matter of fact the Bible tells us the opposite. It tells us in Daniel 2:21 that "He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them."
So what are we to do in this time? We are to pray! The Bible once again is very clear on our course of action. We must show the world Jesus Christ through our love by laying our lives down in prayer for President Elect Barrack Obama! 1 Timothy 2:1-2 tells us "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."
Proverbs 21:1 tells us that the heart of the king is in the hands of God, so when we think about praying for President Elect Barrack Obama that should be our guiding principle. Let us join together praying for several things for our future president.
1. Pray for wisdom in troubling times
2. Pray that he develops a Biblical Worldview
3. Pray that he defends life, not choice
4. Pray that he is given the gift of discernment to see things for what they are, not what they appear to be
5. Pray that he is given the gift of knowledge to know how to deal with Terrorism, the Economy, and the moral challenges of this Post-Modern World
6. Finally and most importantly pray that he develops a greater relationship with Jesus Christ and that his relationship with Jesus, not party affiliation would guide and direct his path.
Xtreme Ministries
"BRINGING GRACE TO A LOST WORLD"
So what are we to do in this time? We are to pray! The Bible once again is very clear on our course of action. We must show the world Jesus Christ through our love by laying our lives down in prayer for President Elect Barrack Obama! 1 Timothy 2:1-2 tells us "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."
Proverbs 21:1 tells us that the heart of the king is in the hands of God, so when we think about praying for President Elect Barrack Obama that should be our guiding principle. Let us join together praying for several things for our future president.
1. Pray for wisdom in troubling times
2. Pray that he develops a Biblical Worldview
3. Pray that he defends life, not choice
4. Pray that he is given the gift of discernment to see things for what they are, not what they appear to be
5. Pray that he is given the gift of knowledge to know how to deal with Terrorism, the Economy, and the moral challenges of this Post-Modern World
6. Finally and most importantly pray that he develops a greater relationship with Jesus Christ and that his relationship with Jesus, not party affiliation would guide and direct his path.
Xtreme Ministries
"BRINGING GRACE TO A LOST WORLD"
DONT FORGET CULTS TOMORROW
Hey everyone just a quick reminder that tomorrow at 7:15 at Xtreme we will be beginning our series on CULTS.
Topics to be covered are Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses, Satanism, Islam, Atheism, New Age.
Topics to be covered are Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses, Satanism, Islam, Atheism, New Age.
11/03/2008
THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os Hillman Monday, November 03 2008
"See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." Hebrews 12:15
The enemy of our souls has a very specific strategy to destroy relationships. Whether these relationships are in business, marriage, or friendships, the strategy is the same. A conflict arises, judgments are made, and feelings are hurt. What happens next is the defining point of whether the enemy gains a foothold, or the grace of God covers the wrong.
When a root of bitterness is allowed to be planted and grown, it not only affects that person, but it also affects all others who are involved. It is like a cancer. Breaking satan's foothold requires at least one person to press into God's grace. It cannot happen when either party "feels" like it, for none of us will ever feel like forgiving. None of us feel like talking when we have been hurt. Our natural response is to withdraw or lash out at the offending party. It is only obedience that allows God's grace to cover the wrongs incurred. This grace prevents the parties from becoming victims who will seek compensation for their pain. The next time you are hurt by someone, realize the gravity of the crossroads where you find yourself. Choose grace instead of bitterness. Then you will be free to move past the hurt, and a root of bitterness will not be given opportunity to grow.
by Os Hillman Monday, November 03 2008
"See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." Hebrews 12:15
The enemy of our souls has a very specific strategy to destroy relationships. Whether these relationships are in business, marriage, or friendships, the strategy is the same. A conflict arises, judgments are made, and feelings are hurt. What happens next is the defining point of whether the enemy gains a foothold, or the grace of God covers the wrong.
When a root of bitterness is allowed to be planted and grown, it not only affects that person, but it also affects all others who are involved. It is like a cancer. Breaking satan's foothold requires at least one person to press into God's grace. It cannot happen when either party "feels" like it, for none of us will ever feel like forgiving. None of us feel like talking when we have been hurt. Our natural response is to withdraw or lash out at the offending party. It is only obedience that allows God's grace to cover the wrongs incurred. This grace prevents the parties from becoming victims who will seek compensation for their pain. The next time you are hurt by someone, realize the gravity of the crossroads where you find yourself. Choose grace instead of bitterness. Then you will be free to move past the hurt, and a root of bitterness will not be given opportunity to grow.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE GIVING UP
One of the surest signs of spiritual attack against the mind is the feeling that you want to throw up your hands and quit. Discover how to battle this attack.
“God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Spiritual warfare against the mind releases fear, confusion, despair and offense.
Spiritual battles are not fought with fleshly ordnance. scri pture declares, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh” (2 Corinthians 10:3). Spiritual warfare is using the Word of God and your delegated authority to oppose demonic opposition against you.
The Holy Spirit is still giving us understanding of the ghostly powers that battle against us. scri pture says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6). The Apostle Paul makes it clear that we are in a spiritual war and declares that, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
Before we attack principalities and powers let’s learn how to pull down the warring thoughts and imaginations that rise within us. Paul continued, “Casting down imaginations.” An imagination is an image, a picture formed in the spirit of your mind of something unseen. Something that exists only in the imagination is not real unless you give life to it. Have you experienced an imagination today? What did you do with it? Did you cast it down and move ahead or have tea and biscuits on white clothed tables?
Spiritual warfare against the mind releases fear, confusion, despair and offense. scri pture says such things do not come from God, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Let’s start with confusion. Corrupted imaginations can affect sound judgment and inject confusion into your life. Left unrestrained they will release uncertainty and cause difficulty with problem solving, staying attentive and remaining focused. Confusion is like a grey haze that dares you to enter. Mental murk is the symptom of a weapon that clouds truth. That’s why its source needs to be justly observed. Sometimes it is caused from lack of rest, health or disinformation that affects your ability to solve problems or clear your thoughts. At other times it’s the result of spiritual attacks, warfare within your mind that produces mixed-up thinking. When the haze assaults remember that, “God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Often confusion is a spiritual attack against your mind that has little or nothing to do with the general circumstances surrounding you. If attacked by confusion plead the blood of Jesus over your mind and watch the cloudiness disappear like the morning fog at sunrise.
Sad news can release despair. Yet dismay from spiritual warfare usually has nothing to do with a winter’s tale. Have you felt like you just wanted to give up and quit? Monday morning has come and you just want to turn back. One of the surest signs of spiritual attack against the mind is the feeling that you want to throw up your hands and quit. Despair feels like a lonely winter. It is the capricious notion that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well. It is an attack against hope. scri pture says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Notice that faith activates hope that resides in the unseen realm within. You have probably heard much about the importance of faith, but faith activates hope. Hope is the stuff that dreams are made of. That’s why the spirit of this world attacks it so. If the enemy can destroy your hope he can disarm your faith. Those times when you feel like quitting and the whole world is against you are sure signs that victory is right at the door. Pick up your double-edged sword and slay that feeling.
WINNING THE MIND WARFARE
Confusion can also be the result of witchcraft that whispers in your ear. In my book “Exposing Spiritual Witchcraft” we learn that witchcraft is a spiritual force that battles against the spirit of your mind. Ungodly imaginations, for example, can have you entertaining works of the flesh and take you right out of the Spirit.
Some people are like the lone Joshua trees found in Southern California’s Mojave Desert. They are surrounded by desert and void of the refreshing waters of the Holy Spirit. Those who live according to their own hearts walk in spiritual parchedness. scri pture describes them as those that, “Have forsaken my law which I set before them and have not obeyed my voice neither walked therein but have walked after the imagination of their own heart and after Baalim which their fathers taught them” (Jeremiah 9:13-14). Baalim was a darkened prophet that ministered in divination and witchcraft because of a covetous heart. He sold-out God’s chosen for “the rewards of divination,” power, prestige and money (Numbers 22:7).
Thoughts that take you out of the Spirit are evidence of the spiritual war against your mind. Beware the fate of the foolish Galatians. Some thoughts are works of witchcraft within your imagination. Bewitching imaginations that lead you away from God’s principles and precepts into the flesh need to be bound and cast down (Galatians 3:1-3).
Witchcraft works best inside one’s imagination. Enchanted images are simply focal points the prince of the power of the air uses to steal Christ’s abundant life. scri pture describes witchcraft as a work of the flesh. “But if you be led of the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions and heresies” (Galatians 5:18-20). Witchcraft is a work of the flesh because people have the power to cast down orphic imaginations or to entertain them and walk them out. Beware the ritual of pictured witchery. You give life to an imagination by speaking it. scri pture declares that “life and death are in the power of the tongue.” You have to be careful what you speak because the world of the spirit doesn’t operate on what you mean, it operates on what you say (Mark 11:23). When you speak the imaginations that attack your mind you prophesy over your life. So be cautious with your words because speaking vain imaginations, an activity of your flesh, is a form of witchcraft according to the scri pture you just read.
Others may have witchy thoughts about you and speak them over you. When they do, they give life to it and pass the assignment on. Now you have to deal with those spoken words. Not only was the imagination working within their imagination leading to wrong conclusions but now they’ve released the assignment of that imagination against your life; when they do that releases confusion, a form of witchcraft. If this happens to you, don’t receive it. Don’t think about it. Don’t agree with it. Don’t repeat it. Bind it up and cast it down.
Someone may say, for example, “I was thinking about you last night and recommend that you double lock your doors tonight because I just feel danger in the air.” Or they may talk about how you’re going to be sick and so on. Don’t give life to other people’s fleshly munitions.
When spoken, vain imaginations release demonic assignments through fear. If someone releases fear at you through one of their imaginations bind it up. You can declare God’s truth over your life by saying, “No weapon formed against me can prosper in Jesus’ name!” Remember that warring against imaginations means that you chain every thought, every word and every imagination to the Word of God, even the gossiping words spoken by others. This is why some Christians are taken out by imaginations because they don’t know how to campaign against them. Use God’s Word in your life and take dominion over vain imaginations. Avoid other people’s imaginations and don’t try to combat thoughts with thoughts. Instead use the Word of God and your spiritual authority to take them captive.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
Spiritual warfare is using the Word of God and your delegated authority to oppose demonic opposition against you.
Before we attack principalities and powers let’s learn how to pull down the warring thoughts and imaginations that rise within us.
One of the surest signs of spiritual attack against the mind is the feeling that you want to throw up your hands and quit.
The world of the spirit doesn’t operate on what you mean, it operates on what you say.
“God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Spiritual warfare against the mind releases fear, confusion, despair and offense.
Spiritual battles are not fought with fleshly ordnance. scri pture declares, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh” (2 Corinthians 10:3). Spiritual warfare is using the Word of God and your delegated authority to oppose demonic opposition against you.
The Holy Spirit is still giving us understanding of the ghostly powers that battle against us. scri pture says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6). The Apostle Paul makes it clear that we are in a spiritual war and declares that, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
Before we attack principalities and powers let’s learn how to pull down the warring thoughts and imaginations that rise within us. Paul continued, “Casting down imaginations.” An imagination is an image, a picture formed in the spirit of your mind of something unseen. Something that exists only in the imagination is not real unless you give life to it. Have you experienced an imagination today? What did you do with it? Did you cast it down and move ahead or have tea and biscuits on white clothed tables?
Spiritual warfare against the mind releases fear, confusion, despair and offense. scri pture says such things do not come from God, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Let’s start with confusion. Corrupted imaginations can affect sound judgment and inject confusion into your life. Left unrestrained they will release uncertainty and cause difficulty with problem solving, staying attentive and remaining focused. Confusion is like a grey haze that dares you to enter. Mental murk is the symptom of a weapon that clouds truth. That’s why its source needs to be justly observed. Sometimes it is caused from lack of rest, health or disinformation that affects your ability to solve problems or clear your thoughts. At other times it’s the result of spiritual attacks, warfare within your mind that produces mixed-up thinking. When the haze assaults remember that, “God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Often confusion is a spiritual attack against your mind that has little or nothing to do with the general circumstances surrounding you. If attacked by confusion plead the blood of Jesus over your mind and watch the cloudiness disappear like the morning fog at sunrise.
Sad news can release despair. Yet dismay from spiritual warfare usually has nothing to do with a winter’s tale. Have you felt like you just wanted to give up and quit? Monday morning has come and you just want to turn back. One of the surest signs of spiritual attack against the mind is the feeling that you want to throw up your hands and quit. Despair feels like a lonely winter. It is the capricious notion that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well. It is an attack against hope. scri pture says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Notice that faith activates hope that resides in the unseen realm within. You have probably heard much about the importance of faith, but faith activates hope. Hope is the stuff that dreams are made of. That’s why the spirit of this world attacks it so. If the enemy can destroy your hope he can disarm your faith. Those times when you feel like quitting and the whole world is against you are sure signs that victory is right at the door. Pick up your double-edged sword and slay that feeling.
WINNING THE MIND WARFARE
Confusion can also be the result of witchcraft that whispers in your ear. In my book “Exposing Spiritual Witchcraft” we learn that witchcraft is a spiritual force that battles against the spirit of your mind. Ungodly imaginations, for example, can have you entertaining works of the flesh and take you right out of the Spirit.
Some people are like the lone Joshua trees found in Southern California’s Mojave Desert. They are surrounded by desert and void of the refreshing waters of the Holy Spirit. Those who live according to their own hearts walk in spiritual parchedness. scri pture describes them as those that, “Have forsaken my law which I set before them and have not obeyed my voice neither walked therein but have walked after the imagination of their own heart and after Baalim which their fathers taught them” (Jeremiah 9:13-14). Baalim was a darkened prophet that ministered in divination and witchcraft because of a covetous heart. He sold-out God’s chosen for “the rewards of divination,” power, prestige and money (Numbers 22:7).
Thoughts that take you out of the Spirit are evidence of the spiritual war against your mind. Beware the fate of the foolish Galatians. Some thoughts are works of witchcraft within your imagination. Bewitching imaginations that lead you away from God’s principles and precepts into the flesh need to be bound and cast down (Galatians 3:1-3).
Witchcraft works best inside one’s imagination. Enchanted images are simply focal points the prince of the power of the air uses to steal Christ’s abundant life. scri pture describes witchcraft as a work of the flesh. “But if you be led of the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions and heresies” (Galatians 5:18-20). Witchcraft is a work of the flesh because people have the power to cast down orphic imaginations or to entertain them and walk them out. Beware the ritual of pictured witchery. You give life to an imagination by speaking it. scri pture declares that “life and death are in the power of the tongue.” You have to be careful what you speak because the world of the spirit doesn’t operate on what you mean, it operates on what you say (Mark 11:23). When you speak the imaginations that attack your mind you prophesy over your life. So be cautious with your words because speaking vain imaginations, an activity of your flesh, is a form of witchcraft according to the scri pture you just read.
Others may have witchy thoughts about you and speak them over you. When they do, they give life to it and pass the assignment on. Now you have to deal with those spoken words. Not only was the imagination working within their imagination leading to wrong conclusions but now they’ve released the assignment of that imagination against your life; when they do that releases confusion, a form of witchcraft. If this happens to you, don’t receive it. Don’t think about it. Don’t agree with it. Don’t repeat it. Bind it up and cast it down.
Someone may say, for example, “I was thinking about you last night and recommend that you double lock your doors tonight because I just feel danger in the air.” Or they may talk about how you’re going to be sick and so on. Don’t give life to other people’s fleshly munitions.
When spoken, vain imaginations release demonic assignments through fear. If someone releases fear at you through one of their imaginations bind it up. You can declare God’s truth over your life by saying, “No weapon formed against me can prosper in Jesus’ name!” Remember that warring against imaginations means that you chain every thought, every word and every imagination to the Word of God, even the gossiping words spoken by others. This is why some Christians are taken out by imaginations because they don’t know how to campaign against them. Use God’s Word in your life and take dominion over vain imaginations. Avoid other people’s imaginations and don’t try to combat thoughts with thoughts. Instead use the Word of God and your spiritual authority to take them captive.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
Spiritual warfare is using the Word of God and your delegated authority to oppose demonic opposition against you.
Before we attack principalities and powers let’s learn how to pull down the warring thoughts and imaginations that rise within us.
One of the surest signs of spiritual attack against the mind is the feeling that you want to throw up your hands and quit.
The world of the spirit doesn’t operate on what you mean, it operates on what you say.
A PSALM FOR AMERICA
A Psalm for America
Composed by the members of Community Covenant Church, Manlius, NY,
at our prayer meeting October 27, 2008.
Composed by the members of Community Covenant Church, Manlius, NY,
at our prayer meeting October 27, 2008.
O Lord, great and awesome God,
forgiving and merciful, righteous and faithful,
we call upon you to hear our prayer.
We who are in covenant with you—we pray for our nation.
You have given us freedom—as no other nation—
and we have abused it, departing from you and your Word,
getting farther away on the wrong roads.
Lord, as we have broken our relationship with you,
our own relationships are breaking down.
We cannot hear you and we cannot hear one another.
So the weak suffer—children, women, the elderly,
the poor, the disabled, the unborn,
and so many men who have lost their way.
Self-centeredness results in more and more people not being loved.
Come back, Lord Jesus!
Have mercy on us!
Give us ears to hear and eyes to see.
Break through our stubbornness
and convict us with the drawing power of the Holy Spirit.
Help us to hear and see you—
then we will be able to hear and see one another.
Please give us grace to love you, O Lord,
and to love our neighbor.
We have lost the understanding of you as our Heavenly Father.
Restore the Spirit of Adoption
where we could call you, “Abba, Father.”
Save our society from its illegitimacy.
Bring the American dream into line with your dream for us!
Dear Father, you sent the Lord Jesus,
the Lamb of God into the world
to bear the sins and sorrows
that we have mentioned to you in this prayer.
So we plead and we trust in your cross to still save the world.
O Lord, we trust you to hear us. In Jesus Name, Amen.
10/31/2008
PROPHETIC WORD GIVEN BY CLEM FERRIS
Prophecy given by Clem Ferris
411 Meeting, October 8, 2008
“Haven’t I called you as watchmen on the wall? Is this not a season that I would call you to be observant, watchful, looking, not for things, not for circumstances, not even for signs of the times, but look for me,” says the Lord.“ For there is a clear way forward. Even when the fog of fear rolls in, even when uncertainty and doubt roll in, even when anxiety overtakes the hearts of those that you are even watching over. I have set before you a clear way. This is a time as watchmen to stand. This is a time as watchmen to watch and pray.” The Lord says, “I am going to show you the clear way. I am going to show you the way you must go. I have made it simple,” says the Lord. “ I said, ‘Follow me’. Don’t follow trends; don’t follow rumors; do not follow the ways of the world. This is a time to be vigilant. This is a time clearly to follow me,” says the Lord. Worship. This is a time that I will shepherd you. This is the time that I will lead you as the Great Shepherd This is a time that I am going to lead you into a place of triumphant positioning and repositioning. So carefully observe and carefully listen for I am going to reposition some of you on the wall. I am going to reposition some people around you. I am even going to reposition some people within, even as it were, networks and groupings and even stereotypes. I’m going to reposition. As the fog is rolling in the enemy would say ‘I’ve got them now. They are in confusion!’ ”And the Lord says, “He does not know what I’m doing. He doesn’t know what I am up to.” The Lord says, “Though it looks like a fog of confusion,” the Lord says “there is strategy being released, but you must watch and pray. If you will look with spiritual eyes and not with natural eyes, if you will hear with spiritual ears and not with natural ears, when the fog lifts and when seemingly man says ‘All is well’, the Lord says, “I will have shifted and repositioned and refashioned my army to move into a place of conquering. These are days that I am getting ready to conquer. Are you with me? Will you follow me?” says the Lord.
411 Meeting, October 8, 2008
“Haven’t I called you as watchmen on the wall? Is this not a season that I would call you to be observant, watchful, looking, not for things, not for circumstances, not even for signs of the times, but look for me,” says the Lord.“ For there is a clear way forward. Even when the fog of fear rolls in, even when uncertainty and doubt roll in, even when anxiety overtakes the hearts of those that you are even watching over. I have set before you a clear way. This is a time as watchmen to stand. This is a time as watchmen to watch and pray.” The Lord says, “I am going to show you the clear way. I am going to show you the way you must go. I have made it simple,” says the Lord. “ I said, ‘Follow me’. Don’t follow trends; don’t follow rumors; do not follow the ways of the world. This is a time to be vigilant. This is a time clearly to follow me,” says the Lord. Worship. This is a time that I will shepherd you. This is the time that I will lead you as the Great Shepherd This is a time that I am going to lead you into a place of triumphant positioning and repositioning. So carefully observe and carefully listen for I am going to reposition some of you on the wall. I am going to reposition some people around you. I am even going to reposition some people within, even as it were, networks and groupings and even stereotypes. I’m going to reposition. As the fog is rolling in the enemy would say ‘I’ve got them now. They are in confusion!’ ”And the Lord says, “He does not know what I’m doing. He doesn’t know what I am up to.” The Lord says, “Though it looks like a fog of confusion,” the Lord says “there is strategy being released, but you must watch and pray. If you will look with spiritual eyes and not with natural eyes, if you will hear with spiritual ears and not with natural ears, when the fog lifts and when seemingly man says ‘All is well’, the Lord says, “I will have shifted and repositioned and refashioned my army to move into a place of conquering. These are days that I am getting ready to conquer. Are you with me? Will you follow me?” says the Lord.
HALLOWEEN BLESSING
Halloween Blessing
Lord, we bless this family. We pray that you will bring peace, the peace of Jesus Christ to this home. We speak the blessing of health to this family. We proclaim that no weapon formed against this family will prosper, that their relationships will be blessed, and their finances will be blessed. God we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
10/30/2008
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NOVEMBER 2nd DAYLIGHT SAVINGS
NOVEMBER 4th ELECTION DAYNOVEMBER 5th CULTS SERIES STARTSNOVEMBER 8th CITYWIDE WORSHIP GATHERINGNOVEMBER 13th ANNUAL POLITICAL PRAYER BREAKFASTNOVEMBER 15th UFCNOVEMBER 20-22 GCI LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Posted by THE SAINT at 7:40 PM
FEAR NOT!!!
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os Hillman
Thursday, October 30 2008
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
God calls each of us to engage in spiritual warfare at times. Whenever satan wants to come against one of God's children, he does so by trying to intimidate through fear. Goliath's formidable size and arrogant boasting intimidated Saul and Israel's army. And because God's anointing had fallen from Saul, he was unable to respond with courage to Goliath's charge. Fear paralyzes and torments. That is why Saul could not respond.
The anointing had fallen on David, who was just a young boy, but mighty in spirit. David did not cower at the size or shouts of the giant Goliath. He saw Goliath through the eyes of God, who saw him as a mere speck. David had righteous indignation for an affront to the armies of the living God.
David did not weigh the risk of failure because his faith was resting totally in God. That is another important factor in overcoming fear-complete trust in God. When the Lord began training me to confront fear, the training grounds were a groundless lawsuit, intimidations, and calamity that confronted my very existence. Learning that these were merely tactics of the enemy, designed to instill fear, allowed me to stand firm in God's power to overcome. Do not fear sudden calamity if you are walking uprightly before God. It may be setting the stage for a great victory that will bring praise and honor to your heavenly Father. These battles are training grounds for greater victories to come.
by Os Hillman
Thursday, October 30 2008
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
God calls each of us to engage in spiritual warfare at times. Whenever satan wants to come against one of God's children, he does so by trying to intimidate through fear. Goliath's formidable size and arrogant boasting intimidated Saul and Israel's army. And because God's anointing had fallen from Saul, he was unable to respond with courage to Goliath's charge. Fear paralyzes and torments. That is why Saul could not respond.
The anointing had fallen on David, who was just a young boy, but mighty in spirit. David did not cower at the size or shouts of the giant Goliath. He saw Goliath through the eyes of God, who saw him as a mere speck. David had righteous indignation for an affront to the armies of the living God.
David did not weigh the risk of failure because his faith was resting totally in God. That is another important factor in overcoming fear-complete trust in God. When the Lord began training me to confront fear, the training grounds were a groundless lawsuit, intimidations, and calamity that confronted my very existence. Learning that these were merely tactics of the enemy, designed to instill fear, allowed me to stand firm in God's power to overcome. Do not fear sudden calamity if you are walking uprightly before God. It may be setting the stage for a great victory that will bring praise and honor to your heavenly Father. These battles are training grounds for greater victories to come.
10/27/2008
THE MOUSE TRAP STORY
My wife sent this too me and it is a story that sums up what we have been teaching lately. We have on many occasions talked about how there is no such concept in Christianity "that what I do in MY life is none of your business" or "What I do in MY life has no bearing on yours" or even "MY private life has no bearing on MY public life." The Bible very clearly teaches us that we are one body and that what we do matters. If one part of the body is sick the entire body is sick. Read this story and think about it in the context of the Christian Life.
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain? The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house! The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, 'Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence tome. 'I cannot be bothered by it.' The mouse turned to the pig and told him, 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!' The pig sympathized, but said, I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. 'Be assured you are in my prayers.'The mouse turned to the cow and said 'There is a mousetrap in the house!There is a mousetrap in the house!' The cow said, 'Wow, Mr.. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose.' So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital ,andshe returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain? The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house! The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, 'Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence tome. 'I cannot be bothered by it.' The mouse turned to the pig and told him, 'There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!' The pig sympathized, but said, I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. 'Be assured you are in my prayers.'The mouse turned to the cow and said 'There is a mousetrap in the house!There is a mousetrap in the house!' The cow said, 'Wow, Mr.. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose.' So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital ,andshe returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.
THE ISOLATION CHAMBER
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os Hillman Sunday, October 26 2008
"Be still and know that I am God...." Psalm 46:10
There is a time and place in our walk with God in which He sets us in a place of waiting. It is a place in which all past experiences are of no value. It is a time of such stillness that it can disturb the most faithful if we do not understand that He is the one who has brought us to this place for only a season. It is as if God has placed a wall around us. No new opportunities--simply inactivity.
During these times, God is calling us aside to fashion something new in us. It is an isolation chamber designed to call us to deeper roots of prayer and faith. It is not a comfortable place, especially for a task-driven workplace believer. Our nature cries out, "You must do something," while God is saying, "Be still and know that I am God." You know the signs that you have been brought into this chamber when He has removed many things from your life and you can't seem to change anything. Perhaps you are unemployed. Perhaps you are laid up with an illness.
Most religious people live a very planned and orchestrated life where they know almost everything that will happen. But for people in whom God is performing a deeper work, He brings them into a time of quietness that seems almost eerie. They cannot say what God is doing. They just know that He is doing a work that cannot be explained to themselves or to others. Has God brought you to a place of being still? Be still and know that He really is God. When this happens, the chamber will open soon after.
by Os Hillman Sunday, October 26 2008
"Be still and know that I am God...." Psalm 46:10
There is a time and place in our walk with God in which He sets us in a place of waiting. It is a place in which all past experiences are of no value. It is a time of such stillness that it can disturb the most faithful if we do not understand that He is the one who has brought us to this place for only a season. It is as if God has placed a wall around us. No new opportunities--simply inactivity.
During these times, God is calling us aside to fashion something new in us. It is an isolation chamber designed to call us to deeper roots of prayer and faith. It is not a comfortable place, especially for a task-driven workplace believer. Our nature cries out, "You must do something," while God is saying, "Be still and know that I am God." You know the signs that you have been brought into this chamber when He has removed many things from your life and you can't seem to change anything. Perhaps you are unemployed. Perhaps you are laid up with an illness.
Most religious people live a very planned and orchestrated life where they know almost everything that will happen. But for people in whom God is performing a deeper work, He brings them into a time of quietness that seems almost eerie. They cannot say what God is doing. They just know that He is doing a work that cannot be explained to themselves or to others. Has God brought you to a place of being still? Be still and know that He really is God. When this happens, the chamber will open soon after.
HOW AND WHERE GOD SPEAKS
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os Hillman Saturday, October 25 2008
"The hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, 'Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.'" Ezekiel 3:22
God speaks in many different ways to His children. He spoke through a bush to Moses. He spoke through a donkey to Balaam. He spoke through prophets to His kings. He speaks through other believers. He speaks directly to us through the invisible Holy Spirit. And He speaks even through circumstances.
When God wants to speak a very important word directly to us without interruption from the noise of our busy lives, he will take us "into the plain." The plain is a place of no distractions and no other persons. It is a place of silence. It can be a place of great need as it often fails to have the normal provisions we are accustomed to. It can be a place we go to voluntarily to seek His face, or we can be moved there without choice by His supernatural ability. More often, it is the latter method that brings us into the plain. In modern times, it often means a separation from our normal activities such as jobs or families.
The plain can also be a place where we discover afresh that God's hand has been on us all the time. When we are so busy with life, we sometimes forget that God's hand is still there, gently leading our path. When our lives get so busy that we are not listening or responding to His gentle touch, He must take more aggressive measures to get our attention. Thus, the plain is one of those appointed times of one-on-one communication with our heavenly Father. No distractions, no people, no beautiful surroundings to capture our thoughts. It is a barren place designed to allow us to seek and hear clearly. When He speaks, we need to be able to listen. We hear much better in the plain. Do you need to hear God's voice today? Is your life such that you cannot even hear His voice? Each day God calls us to our own mini-plain in order to speak to us and for us to hear. If we neglect this time of open communication, we may be invited to His plain in order to hear without distraction. Pray that you might make time to hear.
by Os Hillman Saturday, October 25 2008
"The hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, 'Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.'" Ezekiel 3:22
God speaks in many different ways to His children. He spoke through a bush to Moses. He spoke through a donkey to Balaam. He spoke through prophets to His kings. He speaks through other believers. He speaks directly to us through the invisible Holy Spirit. And He speaks even through circumstances.
When God wants to speak a very important word directly to us without interruption from the noise of our busy lives, he will take us "into the plain." The plain is a place of no distractions and no other persons. It is a place of silence. It can be a place of great need as it often fails to have the normal provisions we are accustomed to. It can be a place we go to voluntarily to seek His face, or we can be moved there without choice by His supernatural ability. More often, it is the latter method that brings us into the plain. In modern times, it often means a separation from our normal activities such as jobs or families.
The plain can also be a place where we discover afresh that God's hand has been on us all the time. When we are so busy with life, we sometimes forget that God's hand is still there, gently leading our path. When our lives get so busy that we are not listening or responding to His gentle touch, He must take more aggressive measures to get our attention. Thus, the plain is one of those appointed times of one-on-one communication with our heavenly Father. No distractions, no people, no beautiful surroundings to capture our thoughts. It is a barren place designed to allow us to seek and hear clearly. When He speaks, we need to be able to listen. We hear much better in the plain. Do you need to hear God's voice today? Is your life such that you cannot even hear His voice? Each day God calls us to our own mini-plain in order to speak to us and for us to hear. If we neglect this time of open communication, we may be invited to His plain in order to hear without distraction. Pray that you might make time to hear.
ARE YOU GOD'S NEXT DELIVERER?
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os Hillman Friday, October 24 2008
"But when they cried out to the Lord, He raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them." Judges 3:9
Have you ever heard of a man named Othniel? Probably not. He was Caleb's nephew. When the people of Israel went into the Promised Land, they were victorious through the courageous efforts of Joshua and Caleb. As this generation grew older, a new generation began to emerge. Israel again fell into sin by worshiping idols. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He allowed them once more to be enslaved by their enemies. However, the people again cried out to the Lord and God heard them.
Whenever God's people cry out to the Lord, He hears them. When they are truly repentant, He responds. He responds by rising up those whom He has prepared for such a time. Every soldier looks forward to the day he can use the training he has received. God had been preparing a nephew for such a time as this. He had the same Spirit as his uncle, Caleb.
The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died (Judges 3:10-11). Has God been preparing you for a time when you will be called upon to deliver God's people? Millions of men and women are enslaved to the god of mammon and idolatry in the workplace. Has He placed you there to be a deliverer? Pray that you will have the same Spirit as Joshua, Caleb, and Othniel.
by Os Hillman Friday, October 24 2008
"But when they cried out to the Lord, He raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them." Judges 3:9
Have you ever heard of a man named Othniel? Probably not. He was Caleb's nephew. When the people of Israel went into the Promised Land, they were victorious through the courageous efforts of Joshua and Caleb. As this generation grew older, a new generation began to emerge. Israel again fell into sin by worshiping idols. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He allowed them once more to be enslaved by their enemies. However, the people again cried out to the Lord and God heard them.
Whenever God's people cry out to the Lord, He hears them. When they are truly repentant, He responds. He responds by rising up those whom He has prepared for such a time. Every soldier looks forward to the day he can use the training he has received. God had been preparing a nephew for such a time as this. He had the same Spirit as his uncle, Caleb.
The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died (Judges 3:10-11). Has God been preparing you for a time when you will be called upon to deliver God's people? Millions of men and women are enslaved to the god of mammon and idolatry in the workplace. Has He placed you there to be a deliverer? Pray that you will have the same Spirit as Joshua, Caleb, and Othniel.
A REMNANT THAT PRAYS
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os HillmanThursday, October 23 2008
"One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.'" Luke 11:1
God is calling out a remnant of workplace believers throughout the world who understand the role of prayer in their work. These people have learned that prayer is not a five-minute exercise in the morning devotion time, but it is a vital strategic tool to discern and know God's will and purposes in their work lives. You see they have learned that their business lives are their ministries to God and others.
These men and women have entered into covenant relationships with intercessory prayer partners who help discern the activities they should be involved in. Some even have paid staff, who intercede for the decisions and activities in which they will be involved. They are a small remnant of workplace believers who know that skill and technique are not enough to fulfill God's purposes.
A servant of the Lord has well said: Prayer is the rail for God's work. Indeed, prayer is to God's will as rails are to a train. The locomotive is full of power: it is capable of running a thousand miles a day. But if there are no rails, it cannot move forward a single inch. If it dares to move without them, it will soon sink into the earth. It may be able to travel over great distances, yet it cannot go to any place where no rails have been laid. And such is the relation between prayer and God's work. Without any doubt God is almighty and He works mightily, but He will not and cannot work if you and I do not labor together with Him in prayer, prepare the way for His will, and pray "with all prayer and supplication" (Eph. 6:18) to grant Him the maneuverability to so work. Many are the things, which God wills to do, and would like to do, but His hands are bound because His children do not sympathize with Him and have not prayed so as to prepare ways for Him. Let me say to all who have wholly given themselves to God: Do examine yourselves and see if in this respect you have limited Him day after day. [Watchman Nee, Let Us Pray (New York, New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1977), 11.] Is prayer a vital part of your strategic business practices? Put prayer on the front lines, instead of making it an afterthought. You will begin to see renewed power in your work life.
by Os HillmanThursday, October 23 2008
"One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.'" Luke 11:1
God is calling out a remnant of workplace believers throughout the world who understand the role of prayer in their work. These people have learned that prayer is not a five-minute exercise in the morning devotion time, but it is a vital strategic tool to discern and know God's will and purposes in their work lives. You see they have learned that their business lives are their ministries to God and others.
These men and women have entered into covenant relationships with intercessory prayer partners who help discern the activities they should be involved in. Some even have paid staff, who intercede for the decisions and activities in which they will be involved. They are a small remnant of workplace believers who know that skill and technique are not enough to fulfill God's purposes.
A servant of the Lord has well said: Prayer is the rail for God's work. Indeed, prayer is to God's will as rails are to a train. The locomotive is full of power: it is capable of running a thousand miles a day. But if there are no rails, it cannot move forward a single inch. If it dares to move without them, it will soon sink into the earth. It may be able to travel over great distances, yet it cannot go to any place where no rails have been laid. And such is the relation between prayer and God's work. Without any doubt God is almighty and He works mightily, but He will not and cannot work if you and I do not labor together with Him in prayer, prepare the way for His will, and pray "with all prayer and supplication" (Eph. 6:18) to grant Him the maneuverability to so work. Many are the things, which God wills to do, and would like to do, but His hands are bound because His children do not sympathize with Him and have not prayed so as to prepare ways for Him. Let me say to all who have wholly given themselves to God: Do examine yourselves and see if in this respect you have limited Him day after day. [Watchman Nee, Let Us Pray (New York, New York: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1977), 11.] Is prayer a vital part of your strategic business practices? Put prayer on the front lines, instead of making it an afterthought. You will begin to see renewed power in your work life.
10/23/2008
OUR GOD IS A WARRIOR
Our God is a Warrior because there are certain things in life worth fighting
for, must be fought for. He makes man a Warrior in his own image, because he
intends for man to join him in that battle.
One day the young man Moses, prince of Egypt, went out to see for himself
the oppression of his kinsmen. When he witnessed firsthand an Egyptian
taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave, he couldn't bear it, and killed the man.
A rash act, for which he becomes a fugitive, but you see something of the
Warrior emerging in him. Years later, God sends him back to set all his
people free, and, I might add, it is one intense fight to win that freedom.
David also fights, battle after battle, to win the freedom of his people and
unite the tribes of Israel. Something in the man compelled him, that same
something that wouldn't allow Lincoln to simply sit by and watch the Union
tear itself apart, wouldn't permit Churchill-despite the views of many of
his own countrymen-to sit by and let the Nazis take over Europe unopposed.
For he knew that in the end they would have England, too.
There are certain things worth fighting for. A marriage, for example, or the
institution of marriage as a whole. Children, whether they are yours or not.
Friendships will have to be fought for, as you've discovered by now, and
churches, too, which seem bent on destroying themselves if they are not
first destroyed by the enemy who hates them. Many people feel that earth
itself is worth fighting for. Doctors fight for the lives of their patients,
and teachers for the hearts and futures of their students. Take anything
good, true, or beautiful upon this earth and ask yourself, "Can this be
protected without a fight?"
(The Way of The Wild Heart , John Eldredge 140,.141)
for, must be fought for. He makes man a Warrior in his own image, because he
intends for man to join him in that battle.
One day the young man Moses, prince of Egypt, went out to see for himself
the oppression of his kinsmen. When he witnessed firsthand an Egyptian
taskmaster beating a Hebrew slave, he couldn't bear it, and killed the man.
A rash act, for which he becomes a fugitive, but you see something of the
Warrior emerging in him. Years later, God sends him back to set all his
people free, and, I might add, it is one intense fight to win that freedom.
David also fights, battle after battle, to win the freedom of his people and
unite the tribes of Israel. Something in the man compelled him, that same
something that wouldn't allow Lincoln to simply sit by and watch the Union
tear itself apart, wouldn't permit Churchill-despite the views of many of
his own countrymen-to sit by and let the Nazis take over Europe unopposed.
For he knew that in the end they would have England, too.
There are certain things worth fighting for. A marriage, for example, or the
institution of marriage as a whole. Children, whether they are yours or not.
Friendships will have to be fought for, as you've discovered by now, and
churches, too, which seem bent on destroying themselves if they are not
first destroyed by the enemy who hates them. Many people feel that earth
itself is worth fighting for. Doctors fight for the lives of their patients,
and teachers for the hearts and futures of their students. Take anything
good, true, or beautiful upon this earth and ask yourself, "Can this be
protected without a fight?"
(The Way of The Wild Heart , John Eldredge 140,.141)
10/22/2008
GOD'S DOUBLE-TALK
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, October 22 2008
"The Lord said to Moses, 'When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.'" Exodus 4:21
Have you ever had a boss tell you to do something only to have him sabotage your ability to complete the task? Nothing is more frustrating than to begin to carry out a task and have your superior thwart your effort to do what he asked you to do. Moses must have felt this way after God told him to go to Pharaoh and tell him to release the people of Israel. He said, "I am going to give you the power to release the children of Israel by the miracles I will do through you." Yet at the same time, He told Moses they would not be released because He was going to put a hard heart in Pharaoh. How do we reconcile this?
In my own life, I knew God called me to certain endeavors. Yet every time I turned around, a roadblock stood in my way. It took years of plodding along before the light came on as to why there was such a distance between what God called me to do and the manifestation of that calling. When David was anointed king of Israel, it was years before he realized the manifestation of that calling. There were a number of reasons for these delays.
In the case of Moses and Israel, God wanted to demonstrate His power in such a way that generations would be able to hear the story of their deliverance from their ancestors. God wanted greater glory from the situation. God also wanted to deal with Egypt by sending specific plagues. Finally, the very process built character in Moses and tested Moses to see if he would stay the course. There is a time for everything. If God has called you to some endeavor and you are frustrated that it has not manifested, know that times of preparation and simmering are required before the vision can be achieved. Seldom does God call and manifest something at the same time. There is preparation. There is testing. There is relationship building between you and God that must take place. Once this is complete, you will see the vision materialize.
Wednesday, October 22 2008
"The Lord said to Moses, 'When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.'" Exodus 4:21
Have you ever had a boss tell you to do something only to have him sabotage your ability to complete the task? Nothing is more frustrating than to begin to carry out a task and have your superior thwart your effort to do what he asked you to do. Moses must have felt this way after God told him to go to Pharaoh and tell him to release the people of Israel. He said, "I am going to give you the power to release the children of Israel by the miracles I will do through you." Yet at the same time, He told Moses they would not be released because He was going to put a hard heart in Pharaoh. How do we reconcile this?
In my own life, I knew God called me to certain endeavors. Yet every time I turned around, a roadblock stood in my way. It took years of plodding along before the light came on as to why there was such a distance between what God called me to do and the manifestation of that calling. When David was anointed king of Israel, it was years before he realized the manifestation of that calling. There were a number of reasons for these delays.
In the case of Moses and Israel, God wanted to demonstrate His power in such a way that generations would be able to hear the story of their deliverance from their ancestors. God wanted greater glory from the situation. God also wanted to deal with Egypt by sending specific plagues. Finally, the very process built character in Moses and tested Moses to see if he would stay the course. There is a time for everything. If God has called you to some endeavor and you are frustrated that it has not manifested, know that times of preparation and simmering are required before the vision can be achieved. Seldom does God call and manifest something at the same time. There is preparation. There is testing. There is relationship building between you and God that must take place. Once this is complete, you will see the vision materialize.
10/20/2008
October/November Announcements
ONLINE GIVING AVAILABLE
OCTOBER 22ND PROPHET JAMIE ENGLEHART
OCTOBER 25th CRUSADERS AT SHONEY
OCTOBER 25TH CLARKSVILLE PRAYER GROUP
OCTOBER 25TH UFC AT THE RENKEN’S HOUSE
OCTOBER 26TH DEMONS, WITCHES, AND OTHER THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT (PIII)
NOVEMBER 2ND POLITICAL RESPONSBILITY IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN
NOVEMBER 5TH WEDNESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY NEW SERIES ON CULTS
NOVEMBER 13TH CLARKSVILLE POLITICAL PRAYER BREAKFAST
NOVEMBER 20-22ND GCI LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, FAYETTEVILLE, NC
OCTOBER 22ND PROPHET JAMIE ENGLEHART
OCTOBER 25th CRUSADERS AT SHONEY
OCTOBER 25TH CLARKSVILLE PRAYER GROUP
OCTOBER 25TH UFC AT THE RENKEN’S HOUSE
OCTOBER 26TH DEMONS, WITCHES, AND OTHER THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT (PIII)
NOVEMBER 2ND POLITICAL RESPONSBILITY IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN
NOVEMBER 5TH WEDNESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY NEW SERIES ON CULTS
NOVEMBER 13TH CLARKSVILLE POLITICAL PRAYER BREAKFAST
NOVEMBER 20-22ND GCI LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, FAYETTEVILLE, NC
Tragedy at Ft. Campbell...LETS PRAY
Everyone, one of our soldiers is in desperate need of prayer! MSG Jeff Frensley's family was brutally murdered this weekend. I have listed the link below for you to read and pray.
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20081020/CRIME/810200319
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20081020/CRIME/810200319
JAMIE ENGLEHART
Hey everyone just a quick reminder that prophet Jamie Englehart will be with us Wednesday Night at 7:15.
Please come and join us.
Please come and join us.
ENVISIONING GREAT THINGS
Your soul hosts your mind, emotion, imagination, reasoning and intellect. The warfare that attacks your mind operates within your soul, particularly your thought life and within your imagination.
Envisioning Great Things
With your spirit you connect to the unseen spirit world, with your body the natural world, and with your soul the magnificent world of imagination.
Can you see yourself with sword in hand winning the war against your mind? To succeed you will need to discover how God created you, a champion that is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). God created you spirit, soul and body. Just like God, you are a triune being. With your spirit you connect to the unseen spirit world, with your body the natural world, and with your soul the magnificent world of imagination.
When you were born again your spirit became a “new creature in Christ Jesus.” Your body and soul, however, remained unchanged. They need some help. You understand that exercise and diet is good for your physical health but what about the health of your soul? The Apostle John said, “Beloved I pray above all things that you might prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2). A person can be born again, physically fit, and yet suffer tremendous warfare within their mind. Throughout this material you will learn battle tactics that will help you overcome the warfare against your mind. Let’s start with the soul.
Your soul hosts your mind, emotion, imagination, reasoning and intellect. The warfare that attacks your mind operates within your soul, particularly your thought life and within your imagination. When God created you He gave you the ability to “see all things as possible” within your imagination. Satan understands how God created you and will use your imagination and ignorance of God’s Word against you. That’s why it is important to “Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Imagination is your seeing gift from God. With it you can envision great things, dream great things and achieve great things. All outstanding achievement in life is birthed within someone’s imagination. Before you can benefit from positive imaginations, however, you need to win the war against vain imaginations. Vain imaginations are those corrupted negative images and possibilities that form within the spirit of your mind when you linger on negative thoughts.
Vain imaginations defeat many Christians and take them out of successful Christian living. Our imaginations, like military forts in the old American West, need to be fortified with Gospel truth. That’s why Paul taught believers to renew their minds with the Word of God. The devil is a strategist. He uses imaginations to gain access into your life to steal, kill and destroy. The Apostle Paul passed on a tremendous truth that you can use for victory. Throughout this essay we will use it as foundational truth to help you win every battle that attacks your mind.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
From this verse you will learn how to overcome every vain imagination and every thought that tries to take you out of the generous life that Christ provides. One of humanity’s greatest struggles is the spiritual warfare in the mind caused by corrupted thoughts and imaginations.
WARFARE WITHIN
All men have eyes but few can really see. It’s amazing how much is written in the Bible about imagination. The realm of imagination is the realm of images. It is the place of seeing and visualizing. scri pture says, “Thou shall have no graven images (imaginations) before me” (Exodus 20:4). Our Lord never wanted His sons and daughters to worship him through graven images but with their heart and through their imaginations. With your imagination and only with your imagination can you image the greatness of God.
“So what is an imagination,” you ask? An imagination is a mental vista or picture seen within the spirit of your mind. It’s a picture of something created in the mind of man, or said another way, in the spirit of man’s mind. It is an image of something you see and suppose might happen. It is seeing yourself in a place you’re not. It is a real place called the spirit of your mind, the world of the unseen within.
The spirit of your mind has nothing to do with your born-again spirit. The spirit of your mind is within your soul or psuch man (pronounced psoo-khay, Greek for soul). An imagination forms a mental picture of things unseen or things only seen within. Something that exists only within the imagination is a virtual world that is not real until acted on.
Again, scri pture declares, “For though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh” (2 Corinthians 10:3). The warfare theme is consistent throughout the Bible. All of us are in a spiritual war for dominion. Dominion in our lives, and yes dominion within our minds. As said before, when you were saved, your spirit man was born again. You became a “new creature” in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). Your mind, however, didn’t change. It was not born again and needs renewal. After salvation you still had, for example, carnal thinking, bad information and troubling life experiences and memories that affect your judgment. Even so God has given you mighty weapons to stop every damaging thought and corrupted imagination. With these weapons you have authority and power to cast down every imagination and “high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” in your life. He has given you the ability to bring into captivity every vain thought and imagination every time they attack your mind. You can do it! Start today.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
With your spirit you connect to the unseen spirit world, with your body the natural world, and with your soul the magnificent world of imagination.
Your soul hosts your mind, emotion, imagination, reasoning and intellect. The warfare that attacks your mind operates within your soul, particularly your thought life and within your imagination.Vain imaginations are those corrupted negative images and possibilities that form within the spirit of your mind when you linger on negative thoughts.
Envisioning Great Things
With your spirit you connect to the unseen spirit world, with your body the natural world, and with your soul the magnificent world of imagination.
Can you see yourself with sword in hand winning the war against your mind? To succeed you will need to discover how God created you, a champion that is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). God created you spirit, soul and body. Just like God, you are a triune being. With your spirit you connect to the unseen spirit world, with your body the natural world, and with your soul the magnificent world of imagination.
When you were born again your spirit became a “new creature in Christ Jesus.” Your body and soul, however, remained unchanged. They need some help. You understand that exercise and diet is good for your physical health but what about the health of your soul? The Apostle John said, “Beloved I pray above all things that you might prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2). A person can be born again, physically fit, and yet suffer tremendous warfare within their mind. Throughout this material you will learn battle tactics that will help you overcome the warfare against your mind. Let’s start with the soul.
Your soul hosts your mind, emotion, imagination, reasoning and intellect. The warfare that attacks your mind operates within your soul, particularly your thought life and within your imagination. When God created you He gave you the ability to “see all things as possible” within your imagination. Satan understands how God created you and will use your imagination and ignorance of God’s Word against you. That’s why it is important to “Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Imagination is your seeing gift from God. With it you can envision great things, dream great things and achieve great things. All outstanding achievement in life is birthed within someone’s imagination. Before you can benefit from positive imaginations, however, you need to win the war against vain imaginations. Vain imaginations are those corrupted negative images and possibilities that form within the spirit of your mind when you linger on negative thoughts.
Vain imaginations defeat many Christians and take them out of successful Christian living. Our imaginations, like military forts in the old American West, need to be fortified with Gospel truth. That’s why Paul taught believers to renew their minds with the Word of God. The devil is a strategist. He uses imaginations to gain access into your life to steal, kill and destroy. The Apostle Paul passed on a tremendous truth that you can use for victory. Throughout this essay we will use it as foundational truth to help you win every battle that attacks your mind.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
From this verse you will learn how to overcome every vain imagination and every thought that tries to take you out of the generous life that Christ provides. One of humanity’s greatest struggles is the spiritual warfare in the mind caused by corrupted thoughts and imaginations.
WARFARE WITHIN
All men have eyes but few can really see. It’s amazing how much is written in the Bible about imagination. The realm of imagination is the realm of images. It is the place of seeing and visualizing. scri pture says, “Thou shall have no graven images (imaginations) before me” (Exodus 20:4). Our Lord never wanted His sons and daughters to worship him through graven images but with their heart and through their imaginations. With your imagination and only with your imagination can you image the greatness of God.
“So what is an imagination,” you ask? An imagination is a mental vista or picture seen within the spirit of your mind. It’s a picture of something created in the mind of man, or said another way, in the spirit of man’s mind. It is an image of something you see and suppose might happen. It is seeing yourself in a place you’re not. It is a real place called the spirit of your mind, the world of the unseen within.
The spirit of your mind has nothing to do with your born-again spirit. The spirit of your mind is within your soul or psuch man (pronounced psoo-khay, Greek for soul). An imagination forms a mental picture of things unseen or things only seen within. Something that exists only within the imagination is a virtual world that is not real until acted on.
Again, scri pture declares, “For though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh” (2 Corinthians 10:3). The warfare theme is consistent throughout the Bible. All of us are in a spiritual war for dominion. Dominion in our lives, and yes dominion within our minds. As said before, when you were saved, your spirit man was born again. You became a “new creature” in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). Your mind, however, didn’t change. It was not born again and needs renewal. After salvation you still had, for example, carnal thinking, bad information and troubling life experiences and memories that affect your judgment. Even so God has given you mighty weapons to stop every damaging thought and corrupted imagination. With these weapons you have authority and power to cast down every imagination and “high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” in your life. He has given you the ability to bring into captivity every vain thought and imagination every time they attack your mind. You can do it! Start today.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
With your spirit you connect to the unseen spirit world, with your body the natural world, and with your soul the magnificent world of imagination.
Your soul hosts your mind, emotion, imagination, reasoning and intellect. The warfare that attacks your mind operates within your soul, particularly your thought life and within your imagination.Vain imaginations are those corrupted negative images and possibilities that form within the spirit of your mind when you linger on negative thoughts.
ARE YOU SALTY?
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os Hillman
Sunday, October 19 2008
"Everyone will be salted with fire." Mark 9:49
Jesus used parables to communicate principles of the Kingdom of God. He said each believer's life should have the same impact on his or her world as salt has on food. Salt gives food flavor and brings out the best, while at the same time it serves as a preservative.
What allows a Christian to become salty? Fire. God knows that each believer needs a degree of testing by fire in order for Christ's fragrance to be manifested. We cannot become salty without this deeper work of the Holy Spirit's fire in our lives. Fire purifies all that is not of Christ. It takes away all the impurities that prevent His nature from being revealed in us. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:6-7). Are you a salty Christian? If not, pray a prayer that the immature are unwilling to pray. Pray that God makes you a salty Christian. It will result in praise and glory at the throne of God.
by Os Hillman
Sunday, October 19 2008
"Everyone will be salted with fire." Mark 9:49
Jesus used parables to communicate principles of the Kingdom of God. He said each believer's life should have the same impact on his or her world as salt has on food. Salt gives food flavor and brings out the best, while at the same time it serves as a preservative.
What allows a Christian to become salty? Fire. God knows that each believer needs a degree of testing by fire in order for Christ's fragrance to be manifested. We cannot become salty without this deeper work of the Holy Spirit's fire in our lives. Fire purifies all that is not of Christ. It takes away all the impurities that prevent His nature from being revealed in us. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:6-7). Are you a salty Christian? If not, pray a prayer that the immature are unwilling to pray. Pray that God makes you a salty Christian. It will result in praise and glory at the throne of God.
THE POWER OF UNITY
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os Hillman
Saturday, October 18 2008
"That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me." John 17:21
What is the greatest power that allows the unsaved to make a decision for Jesus Christ? It isn't prayer, though this is important. It isn't good deeds, though deeds indicate a fruitful relationship with God. It isn't good behavior, though Christ commands us to be obedient as sons. The greatest power God's children have over darkness is unity. Jesus talked a great deal about His oneness with the Father and the importance of unity in the Body of Christ. It is the most difficult command Jesus gave to the Church, because it wars against the most evil aspect of our sin nature-independence.
In the last days we are seeing God's Spirit convict His children of the lack of unity among His Church. We are seeing God move between blacks and whites, ethnic groups, denominations, and parachurch groups. There is much work to be done. The walls of division and competition among His Body are a stench in God's nostrils. He sees the competition and the pride of ownership and weeps for the lost who cannot come to Him because they cannot see Him in His Body. When His Body is one, the unbelieving see that Jesus was sent by God. It is like a supernatural key that unlocks Heaven for the heathen soul. The key is in the hand of Christ's Church. When there is unity, there is power. Scripture tells us five will chase 100, but 100 will chase 10,000 (see Lev. 26:8). There is a dynamic multiplication factor in unity of numbers. We are a hundred times more effective when we are a unified group. Imagine what God could do with a unified Church.
Jesus prayed that we all might be one, as the Father and He are one. He wanted the same love God has for Jesus to be in each of us. When this love is in us, we are drawn to each other with a common mission. The walls fall down. The independent spirit is broken. Competition is destroyed. Satan's accusations are thwarted. Our love for each other is manifest to the world around us. Lost souls begin to seek this love that is so foreign to them. Have you contributed to an independent spirit within His Body? Are you seeking to break down walls of competition among Christians, churches, denominations, and ethnic groups? Until we walk in the spirit of unity, we will hinder those in whom God has reserved a place in Heaven. Pray for His Church to be unified.
by Os Hillman
Saturday, October 18 2008
"That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me." John 17:21
What is the greatest power that allows the unsaved to make a decision for Jesus Christ? It isn't prayer, though this is important. It isn't good deeds, though deeds indicate a fruitful relationship with God. It isn't good behavior, though Christ commands us to be obedient as sons. The greatest power God's children have over darkness is unity. Jesus talked a great deal about His oneness with the Father and the importance of unity in the Body of Christ. It is the most difficult command Jesus gave to the Church, because it wars against the most evil aspect of our sin nature-independence.
In the last days we are seeing God's Spirit convict His children of the lack of unity among His Church. We are seeing God move between blacks and whites, ethnic groups, denominations, and parachurch groups. There is much work to be done. The walls of division and competition among His Body are a stench in God's nostrils. He sees the competition and the pride of ownership and weeps for the lost who cannot come to Him because they cannot see Him in His Body. When His Body is one, the unbelieving see that Jesus was sent by God. It is like a supernatural key that unlocks Heaven for the heathen soul. The key is in the hand of Christ's Church. When there is unity, there is power. Scripture tells us five will chase 100, but 100 will chase 10,000 (see Lev. 26:8). There is a dynamic multiplication factor in unity of numbers. We are a hundred times more effective when we are a unified group. Imagine what God could do with a unified Church.
Jesus prayed that we all might be one, as the Father and He are one. He wanted the same love God has for Jesus to be in each of us. When this love is in us, we are drawn to each other with a common mission. The walls fall down. The independent spirit is broken. Competition is destroyed. Satan's accusations are thwarted. Our love for each other is manifest to the world around us. Lost souls begin to seek this love that is so foreign to them. Have you contributed to an independent spirit within His Body? Are you seeking to break down walls of competition among Christians, churches, denominations, and ethnic groups? Until we walk in the spirit of unity, we will hinder those in whom God has reserved a place in Heaven. Pray for His Church to be unified.
10/17/2008
CPR CERTIFICATION AND CHILDREN MINISTRY TRAINING
Hey everyone we just wanted to remind everyone that we are having a CPR certification at the gym tomorrow for anyone who is interested. It is 25.00 dollars and it starts at 9am. Also we are having a childrens ministry training.
Let me know if you are interested
Let me know if you are interested
10/16/2008
APOSTLES AND SPIRITUAL JURISDICTIONS
Apostles and Spiritual Jurisdictions: How apostolic ministry activates every believer.
A true apostolic ministry paradigm is one that gathers, teaches, equips, assigns, targets, builds, shapes, raises disciples, and deploys teams. Today, thousands of churches have no apostolic structure in place to move people beyond a teaching- or pastoring-only structure into apostolic ministry.
Spiritual Jurisdiction - the right, power, or authority to exercise dominion.
The apostolic dimension activates and empowers every believer to occupy their assigned places of spiritual authority.
Apostles understand how critical is the way we perceive our cities in this hour. Apostles understand that churches are not placed in a city by chance; they are strategically positioned by the wisdom of God. Apostles also understand that the authority and grace to occupy a territory comes from God. As such, one role of the apostle is to reveal to believers a deeper perspective of the local church as a place of spiritual jurisdiction.
When an apostle builds a local church it becomes a place of spiritual jurisdiction and influence with the power and authority of God to rule and reign in the territory. Apostolic believers understand the responsibility to reach that territory and possess a different orientation of ministry because they fully discern the overall scope of the local church. Places of Spiritual Jurisdiction
Assigned places of spiritual jurisdiction are called “metrons,” a Greek word for measure. The understanding of metrons is vital to every believer because it is the believers who are “sent” out (from the Greek words apo and stello) from the local church to occupy these territories. The apostolic dimension of a local governing church activates and empowers every believer as a sent-one to invade and occupy God-given metrons. Let’s examine an important scri pture and some key Greek words to study this out:
“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring (judging) themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure (metron) of the rule (kanon) which God hath distributed to us, a measure (metron) to reach even unto you” (2 Corinthians 10:12-13).
This is a revealing scri pture. The Greek word “metron” means a portioned-off measure, determined extent, measure, or limit. The Greek word “kanon” means a rule or line, a fixed space within limits where one’s power of influence is confined, an assigned province, one’s sphere of activity, or limit of authority or jurisdiction. A metron is clearly defined as a measured-out boundary. It can be likened to a fenced in area (kanon) of authority or an assigned territory. This same area (metron) would also be known as a place of spiritual jurisdiction and influence assigned to a local church, person, ministry, apostolic team, etc., by the Holy Spirit.
So a metron is a target area, a place where one has an assigned scope of ministry and spiritual influence, a marked-off territory, a place of focused spiritual and natural activity, a place with marked-off boundaries, a territory with specific limits of assignment and responsibilities known as kanon, or place of spiritual jurisdiction. Simply stated, your metron is your place of ministry assignment and responsibility. You will be the most effective in ministry when you are planted in your assigned sphere, or metron.
Not only does the Holy Spirit assign a metron (ministry assignments) within specific territories for churches and apostolic believers (sent-ones) to occupy, He also gives ample grace to back up those assignments. Grace is the power to advance beyond our own abilities. Remember, “unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure (metron) of the gift of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7).
Again, this is a very important verse because we see that God gives us grace amply sufficient for our territory, or place of our assignment. Grace, favor, and everything we need to be successful in ministry is given to us to accomplish our task when we are within our metron. So when things are hard in ministry, remember that when God assigns you a ministry task or a ministry territory, He also provides everything necessary to be successful in accomplishing your mission in your assigned metron.
The harder the territory, the more grace given. It doesn’t make any difference how hard the area or the task at hand is. You will find grace sufficient when you draw near to God. Much difficulty, much grace. Much hardship, much grace. Much sin, much grace. So how do we obtain this grace? The answer is through faith and prayer. scri pture declares, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
Paradigm Shiftings
With the apostolic reformation, there will be at least four specific paradigm changes taking place within local churches. A paradigm is a model or pattern in which we function.
Perhaps one of the most profound changes is a breaking free from the one-man-only paradigm. This paradigm requires the church to use all its marketing efforts and resources to draw people to a building where they are taught by only one ascension gift. The apostolic model will bring a sending dimension to the local church.
The second change has a powerful impact on the goal of evangelism, taking it from just getting a decision for Christ to raising disciples of Christ.
Third, there will be a major shift in the Church from an inward-focus only to an outward-focus of ministry. Not only will the local church be a place where people gather together to worship and find refreshing, it will also be the place where God reveals apostolic strategies and goals; a place where believers are commissioned and released into ministry.
Finally, various apostolic teams will be built, activated and sent out into the surrounding city and into the nations of the world.
A true apostolic paradigm is one that gathers, teaches, equips, assigns, targets, builds, shapes, raises disciples, and deploys teams. Today, thousands of churches have no apostolic structure in place to move people beyond a teaching- or pastoring-only structure into one that sends believers into the harvest fields. This is changing now in the 21st century apostolic reformation. Emerging apostolic leaders are embracing these mighty truths as they equip the believers to fulfill the Great Commission.
© by Jonas Clark
A true apostolic ministry paradigm is one that gathers, teaches, equips, assigns, targets, builds, shapes, raises disciples, and deploys teams. Today, thousands of churches have no apostolic structure in place to move people beyond a teaching- or pastoring-only structure into apostolic ministry.
Spiritual Jurisdiction - the right, power, or authority to exercise dominion.
The apostolic dimension activates and empowers every believer to occupy their assigned places of spiritual authority.
Apostles understand how critical is the way we perceive our cities in this hour. Apostles understand that churches are not placed in a city by chance; they are strategically positioned by the wisdom of God. Apostles also understand that the authority and grace to occupy a territory comes from God. As such, one role of the apostle is to reveal to believers a deeper perspective of the local church as a place of spiritual jurisdiction.
When an apostle builds a local church it becomes a place of spiritual jurisdiction and influence with the power and authority of God to rule and reign in the territory. Apostolic believers understand the responsibility to reach that territory and possess a different orientation of ministry because they fully discern the overall scope of the local church. Places of Spiritual Jurisdiction
Assigned places of spiritual jurisdiction are called “metrons,” a Greek word for measure. The understanding of metrons is vital to every believer because it is the believers who are “sent” out (from the Greek words apo and stello) from the local church to occupy these territories. The apostolic dimension of a local governing church activates and empowers every believer as a sent-one to invade and occupy God-given metrons. Let’s examine an important scri pture and some key Greek words to study this out:
“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring (judging) themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure (metron) of the rule (kanon) which God hath distributed to us, a measure (metron) to reach even unto you” (2 Corinthians 10:12-13).
This is a revealing scri pture. The Greek word “metron” means a portioned-off measure, determined extent, measure, or limit. The Greek word “kanon” means a rule or line, a fixed space within limits where one’s power of influence is confined, an assigned province, one’s sphere of activity, or limit of authority or jurisdiction. A metron is clearly defined as a measured-out boundary. It can be likened to a fenced in area (kanon) of authority or an assigned territory. This same area (metron) would also be known as a place of spiritual jurisdiction and influence assigned to a local church, person, ministry, apostolic team, etc., by the Holy Spirit.
So a metron is a target area, a place where one has an assigned scope of ministry and spiritual influence, a marked-off territory, a place of focused spiritual and natural activity, a place with marked-off boundaries, a territory with specific limits of assignment and responsibilities known as kanon, or place of spiritual jurisdiction. Simply stated, your metron is your place of ministry assignment and responsibility. You will be the most effective in ministry when you are planted in your assigned sphere, or metron.
Not only does the Holy Spirit assign a metron (ministry assignments) within specific territories for churches and apostolic believers (sent-ones) to occupy, He also gives ample grace to back up those assignments. Grace is the power to advance beyond our own abilities. Remember, “unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure (metron) of the gift of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7).
Again, this is a very important verse because we see that God gives us grace amply sufficient for our territory, or place of our assignment. Grace, favor, and everything we need to be successful in ministry is given to us to accomplish our task when we are within our metron. So when things are hard in ministry, remember that when God assigns you a ministry task or a ministry territory, He also provides everything necessary to be successful in accomplishing your mission in your assigned metron.
The harder the territory, the more grace given. It doesn’t make any difference how hard the area or the task at hand is. You will find grace sufficient when you draw near to God. Much difficulty, much grace. Much hardship, much grace. Much sin, much grace. So how do we obtain this grace? The answer is through faith and prayer. scri pture declares, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
Paradigm Shiftings
With the apostolic reformation, there will be at least four specific paradigm changes taking place within local churches. A paradigm is a model or pattern in which we function.
Perhaps one of the most profound changes is a breaking free from the one-man-only paradigm. This paradigm requires the church to use all its marketing efforts and resources to draw people to a building where they are taught by only one ascension gift. The apostolic model will bring a sending dimension to the local church.
The second change has a powerful impact on the goal of evangelism, taking it from just getting a decision for Christ to raising disciples of Christ.
Third, there will be a major shift in the Church from an inward-focus only to an outward-focus of ministry. Not only will the local church be a place where people gather together to worship and find refreshing, it will also be the place where God reveals apostolic strategies and goals; a place where believers are commissioned and released into ministry.
Finally, various apostolic teams will be built, activated and sent out into the surrounding city and into the nations of the world.
A true apostolic paradigm is one that gathers, teaches, equips, assigns, targets, builds, shapes, raises disciples, and deploys teams. Today, thousands of churches have no apostolic structure in place to move people beyond a teaching- or pastoring-only structure into one that sends believers into the harvest fields. This is changing now in the 21st century apostolic reformation. Emerging apostolic leaders are embracing these mighty truths as they equip the believers to fulfill the Great Commission.
© by Jonas Clark
10/13/2008
Peter Dunn at Glenn Kennedy's Home
Hey everyone I know this is sort notice but Peter Dunn from Australia will be speaking at Glenn Kennedy's home tonight. I have had the immense pleaure of getting to know Peter and he is an awesome man of God!!! If you can make it tonight it would be well worth it. Start time is 7:00
For more information give us a call
For more information give us a call
9/29/2008
UNLOCKING PROPHETIC IMAGINATIONS
Prophetic imaginations create theories, what ifs, innovations and views of possibilities. They help us come up with new ways to solve problems and succeed in life and ministry.
Prophetic imagination inspires one to act, to try something different or to dream of better things.
Prophetic imagination has no boundaries and is never hindered by a lack of education.
With it you can enter the past and the future. What a wonderful tool to manifest the Kingdom of God in your life. After the fall man did not lose his ability to use imagination, the imagination, however, became corrupted. It could now see both good and evil. The good news is that you can cast down vain imaginations and redirect your imagination to think, create and bring forth God’s purpose for your life.
All creativity and innovation comes through prophetic imagination. Think about this, all things visible were created first in the realm of the unseen, the prophetic imagination. God created you with the ability to dream and to do great things. He continues to have high expectations. He expects you to multiply, produce, increase, subdue and take dominion of this world (Genesis 1:27). Imagine that.
As a born-again believer you are part of a royal priesthood, a priesthood of kings. Have you ever heard it said that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Who are these kings and rulers? The answer is you and I, born-again believers. God created you with the ability to change the world starting with your world. Nothing can stand in your way. Believe today and use your prophetic imagination to change your circumstances and order your life for Christ in a brand new way.
TREASURES WITHIN
The power of prophetic imagination is part of your human design. You were created with the ability to be led by the Spirit of God in your inner man and created with the capacity to see all things possible within your redeemed imagination. Creation and the ability to bring forth is part of the nature of God who created all things from an image He saw and brought into being. God created you spirit, soul and body. scri pture declares, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
Before you can unlock prophetic imaginations within, you need to understand your spirit design. As a born-again believer you are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body. Your body is not you. Your body is only the house your spirit lives in. Before you were born again your spirit man was separated from the life of God, it was dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1). But when you repented of your sins and asked Jesus to come into your heart your spirit man came alive. Like we said in the opening chapter of this book you became a “new creature in Christ Jesus, old things are passed away behold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now you have the ability to see God’s Word working in your life. You can now image “all things possible to him that believeth.” That’s the power of prophetic imagination.
scripture declares, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matthew 12:35). The Greek word for treasure is thesaurus. Twenty years ago the word thesaurus would not have impacted me like it does today. As a writer I often use a thesaurus to help me. Writers use a thesaurus as a tool to aid them to be more concise and de scri ptive. A thesaurus is an index, a storehouse and a place for word processing. Used appropriately, it enables the skilled wordsmith to paint a full picture through the proper use of words. Jesus said that a good man has a good thesaurus, treasure. Your treasure is the repository of truth in your born-again spirit. It is the dwelling place of “all things possible,” the prophetic imagination. It is the storehouse of your dreams, imaginations and the blueprint of your future.
A good man’s treasure has tremendous value. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field” (Matthew 13:44). Jesus taught His disciples the value of the Kingdom of God. As born-again believers we have access to the Kingdom of God through our born again spirits. The Kingdom of God is not a place “out there” somewhere on the other side of the planet Pluto. The Kingdom of heaven for the Christian is all around him or her in another realm Jesus called the Kingdom.
Jesus also said the “Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Today many call the Kingdom of God the realm of the Spirit. In that Kingdom realm there is abundance, peace and fullness of joy. Again, Jesus said, “The good man out of the good treasure (thesaurus) of the heart bringeth forth good things.” Notice that treasure and heart live in the same location. Where you find one you always find the other. Your treasure is the birthplace of dreams, imaginations, and all things hoped for. It is the repository of all the elements that make up your future. From the treasure of the heart a good man will bring forth good things. Imagine the possibilities of all things possible to him that believeth.
YOUR VIRTUAL WORLD
Through prophetic imagination you can design your own virtual world. Gustav Klimt was a famous Austrian Art Nouveau painter. His painting “Portrait of a Lady in Red” sold at Christie’s auction house for $4 million dollars in 2001. He said, “Anyone who wants to know something about me ought to look carefully at my pictures.” God could surely say the same, “Anyone who wants to know more about Me should look at My pictures.” His grandeur is seen from mountaintop to mountaintop and from shining sea to shining sea.
What about you? What pictures are you painting in your life? Many are dreaming about one life while living another. If you are unhappy with your life there is a way to change your circumstances. I want to encourage you to dream again and envision yourself achieving something great. You can master plan your life by imagining something new and fresh then setting sensible goals for attainment. I can’t stress this enough, imagination without specific goals for achievement is vain fantasy. Go ahead, dream again. scri pture declares, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Be specific and biblical with goal setting by writing your prophetic imagination down, making it plain so you can run toward your destiny.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
God created you with a unique ability to see prophetic possibilities. We call that seeing capacity imagination.
Prophetic imagination inspires one to act, to try something different or to dream of better things.
Prophetic imaginations create theories, what ifs, innovations and views of possibilities. They help us come up with new ways to solve problems and succeed in life and ministry.
Your treasure is the repository of truth in your born-again spirit. It is the dwelling place of “all things possible,” the prophetic imagination. It is the storehouse of your dreams, imaginations and the blueprint of your future.
Prophetic imagination inspires one to act, to try something different or to dream of better things.
Prophetic imagination has no boundaries and is never hindered by a lack of education.
With it you can enter the past and the future. What a wonderful tool to manifest the Kingdom of God in your life. After the fall man did not lose his ability to use imagination, the imagination, however, became corrupted. It could now see both good and evil. The good news is that you can cast down vain imaginations and redirect your imagination to think, create and bring forth God’s purpose for your life.
All creativity and innovation comes through prophetic imagination. Think about this, all things visible were created first in the realm of the unseen, the prophetic imagination. God created you with the ability to dream and to do great things. He continues to have high expectations. He expects you to multiply, produce, increase, subdue and take dominion of this world (Genesis 1:27). Imagine that.
As a born-again believer you are part of a royal priesthood, a priesthood of kings. Have you ever heard it said that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Who are these kings and rulers? The answer is you and I, born-again believers. God created you with the ability to change the world starting with your world. Nothing can stand in your way. Believe today and use your prophetic imagination to change your circumstances and order your life for Christ in a brand new way.
TREASURES WITHIN
The power of prophetic imagination is part of your human design. You were created with the ability to be led by the Spirit of God in your inner man and created with the capacity to see all things possible within your redeemed imagination. Creation and the ability to bring forth is part of the nature of God who created all things from an image He saw and brought into being. God created you spirit, soul and body. scri pture declares, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
Before you can unlock prophetic imaginations within, you need to understand your spirit design. As a born-again believer you are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body. Your body is not you. Your body is only the house your spirit lives in. Before you were born again your spirit man was separated from the life of God, it was dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1). But when you repented of your sins and asked Jesus to come into your heart your spirit man came alive. Like we said in the opening chapter of this book you became a “new creature in Christ Jesus, old things are passed away behold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now you have the ability to see God’s Word working in your life. You can now image “all things possible to him that believeth.” That’s the power of prophetic imagination.
scripture declares, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matthew 12:35). The Greek word for treasure is thesaurus. Twenty years ago the word thesaurus would not have impacted me like it does today. As a writer I often use a thesaurus to help me. Writers use a thesaurus as a tool to aid them to be more concise and de scri ptive. A thesaurus is an index, a storehouse and a place for word processing. Used appropriately, it enables the skilled wordsmith to paint a full picture through the proper use of words. Jesus said that a good man has a good thesaurus, treasure. Your treasure is the repository of truth in your born-again spirit. It is the dwelling place of “all things possible,” the prophetic imagination. It is the storehouse of your dreams, imaginations and the blueprint of your future.
A good man’s treasure has tremendous value. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, the which when a man hath found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field” (Matthew 13:44). Jesus taught His disciples the value of the Kingdom of God. As born-again believers we have access to the Kingdom of God through our born again spirits. The Kingdom of God is not a place “out there” somewhere on the other side of the planet Pluto. The Kingdom of heaven for the Christian is all around him or her in another realm Jesus called the Kingdom.
Jesus also said the “Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Today many call the Kingdom of God the realm of the Spirit. In that Kingdom realm there is abundance, peace and fullness of joy. Again, Jesus said, “The good man out of the good treasure (thesaurus) of the heart bringeth forth good things.” Notice that treasure and heart live in the same location. Where you find one you always find the other. Your treasure is the birthplace of dreams, imaginations, and all things hoped for. It is the repository of all the elements that make up your future. From the treasure of the heart a good man will bring forth good things. Imagine the possibilities of all things possible to him that believeth.
YOUR VIRTUAL WORLD
Through prophetic imagination you can design your own virtual world. Gustav Klimt was a famous Austrian Art Nouveau painter. His painting “Portrait of a Lady in Red” sold at Christie’s auction house for $4 million dollars in 2001. He said, “Anyone who wants to know something about me ought to look carefully at my pictures.” God could surely say the same, “Anyone who wants to know more about Me should look at My pictures.” His grandeur is seen from mountaintop to mountaintop and from shining sea to shining sea.
What about you? What pictures are you painting in your life? Many are dreaming about one life while living another. If you are unhappy with your life there is a way to change your circumstances. I want to encourage you to dream again and envision yourself achieving something great. You can master plan your life by imagining something new and fresh then setting sensible goals for attainment. I can’t stress this enough, imagination without specific goals for achievement is vain fantasy. Go ahead, dream again. scri pture declares, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Be specific and biblical with goal setting by writing your prophetic imagination down, making it plain so you can run toward your destiny.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
God created you with a unique ability to see prophetic possibilities. We call that seeing capacity imagination.
Prophetic imagination inspires one to act, to try something different or to dream of better things.
Prophetic imaginations create theories, what ifs, innovations and views of possibilities. They help us come up with new ways to solve problems and succeed in life and ministry.
Your treasure is the repository of truth in your born-again spirit. It is the dwelling place of “all things possible,” the prophetic imagination. It is the storehouse of your dreams, imaginations and the blueprint of your future.
VISIONS AND DREAMS
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os Hillman
Monday, September 29 2008
"In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions; your old men will dream dreams." Acts 2:17
"I need to meet with you," said the man from England during a break at a conference overseas. We walked outside to have a coffee break and sat down. "God wants you to know that He removed your finances in order to reserve His reward for you in Heaven. He has done you a great service."
I was shocked. I'd never met this gentleman before. How would he have known I had lost a half million dollars in the previous few years, virtually all of my financial net worth, to some unusual calamities? We shared for the next several minutes.
That week, during our lunch and dinner times, I had been enjoying wonderful, juicy oranges from this island in the Mediterranean Sea. It came time for the gentleman and I to conclude our coffee break. We bowed in prayer. As we prayed, the man began to describe a picture he was seeing in his mind.
"I see a picture of a large orange tree. The tree is full of large, ripened oranges. They are beginning to fall to the ground. You are the tree!"
Again, I looked at the man with shock and amazement, and now tears in my eyes.
"You are the third person in three years that has had a similar vision during a prayer time like this. The first two people were also strangers to me."
I went back into the meeting rejoicing that God could be so personal in my life. He used a servant who had gone through similar trials to supernaturally speak a word of encouragement in a way that I would know it was God who was speaking.
There are times when God supernaturally speaks into our lives. He does this to demonstrate His power, His love, and His intimacy with us. Do not be surprised if God sends one of His messengers to speak into your life when you need it most. Be open to how God might want to speak into your life today. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers (Psalm 1:3).
by Os Hillman
Monday, September 29 2008
"In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions; your old men will dream dreams." Acts 2:17
"I need to meet with you," said the man from England during a break at a conference overseas. We walked outside to have a coffee break and sat down. "God wants you to know that He removed your finances in order to reserve His reward for you in Heaven. He has done you a great service."
I was shocked. I'd never met this gentleman before. How would he have known I had lost a half million dollars in the previous few years, virtually all of my financial net worth, to some unusual calamities? We shared for the next several minutes.
That week, during our lunch and dinner times, I had been enjoying wonderful, juicy oranges from this island in the Mediterranean Sea. It came time for the gentleman and I to conclude our coffee break. We bowed in prayer. As we prayed, the man began to describe a picture he was seeing in his mind.
"I see a picture of a large orange tree. The tree is full of large, ripened oranges. They are beginning to fall to the ground. You are the tree!"
Again, I looked at the man with shock and amazement, and now tears in my eyes.
"You are the third person in three years that has had a similar vision during a prayer time like this. The first two people were also strangers to me."
I went back into the meeting rejoicing that God could be so personal in my life. He used a servant who had gone through similar trials to supernaturally speak a word of encouragement in a way that I would know it was God who was speaking.
There are times when God supernaturally speaks into our lives. He does this to demonstrate His power, His love, and His intimacy with us. Do not be surprised if God sends one of His messengers to speak into your life when you need it most. Be open to how God might want to speak into your life today. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers (Psalm 1:3).
9/24/2008
GOD'S MESSENGERS
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1
by Os Hillman
Wednesday, September 24 2008
"Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets." Amos 3:7
"You are called to free workplace believers from the Esau life." Those were the words spoken to me years ago by someone God sent into my life. I had been in the midst of trying to understand some catastrophic events that shook my world. Years later, I was able to see that God gave this person supernatural insight that revealed God's calling on my life.
God still uses His prophets today to reveal His plans in the lives of His people. I have seen this Scripture proved over and over in the lives of people. It is as though God sends out His "scouts" to inform His servants what is ahead for them. Sometimes He does this because He knows the event will require such changes in that person's life and so He wants to assure them of His love. I have experienced the Lord using me in this way in the life of other individuals. God did this in the life of Moses. He came to Moses at the burning bush to reveal His purposes for the people of Israel and His call on Moses to free them. Has God placed individuals in your life to speak His plans for you? Are your eyes and ears spiritually sensitive so that you will know who are messengers of God? Elisha had a servant who could not see or hear with spiritual eyes and ears until Elisha prayed they would be opened. Then the servant could see the great army of God protecting them (see 2 Kings 6:17). Pray that you might see and hear with the Spirit. He may desire to reveal His purposes and plans through another individual.
by Os Hillman
Wednesday, September 24 2008
"Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets." Amos 3:7
"You are called to free workplace believers from the Esau life." Those were the words spoken to me years ago by someone God sent into my life. I had been in the midst of trying to understand some catastrophic events that shook my world. Years later, I was able to see that God gave this person supernatural insight that revealed God's calling on my life.
God still uses His prophets today to reveal His plans in the lives of His people. I have seen this Scripture proved over and over in the lives of people. It is as though God sends out His "scouts" to inform His servants what is ahead for them. Sometimes He does this because He knows the event will require such changes in that person's life and so He wants to assure them of His love. I have experienced the Lord using me in this way in the life of other individuals. God did this in the life of Moses. He came to Moses at the burning bush to reveal His purposes for the people of Israel and His call on Moses to free them. Has God placed individuals in your life to speak His plans for you? Are your eyes and ears spiritually sensitive so that you will know who are messengers of God? Elisha had a servant who could not see or hear with spiritual eyes and ears until Elisha prayed they would be opened. Then the servant could see the great army of God protecting them (see 2 Kings 6:17). Pray that you might see and hear with the Spirit. He may desire to reveal His purposes and plans through another individual.
HOW YOU THINK AFFECTS YOUR LIFE
As you become skillful at “casting down every imagination and high thing that exalts itself against the Word of God” you will experience more peace and a greater focus toward purpose within your life.
An evil imagination is a death wound formed in the soul that has its roots in the fallen corrupted nature of man.
God created your mind for thinking. Your mind is like a critically thinking super computer designed to draw on information for the purpose of coming to a rightful determination. It will continually search out bits of data from life experience, prior knowledge, even assumptions to extrapolate a conclusion. To extrapolate means to use information as the starting point to gain knowledge, draw inferences and make decisions about something unknown. There are thoughts that suppose something and are nothing more than random bits of information without merit, proof, witness, or substance. Thoughts like that have no real value and are unsystematic. The most dangerous thoughts, however, are those that lead to a particular belief.
The source of thoughts, your thoughts, needs to be discerned. Are they real or imagined? Good or bad, right or wrong? Was Hamlet on to something when he echoed Montaigne who said, “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so?” Can your thoughts make things so? Do they deserve your attention? Should they be reflected on and acted out?
Only the mature understand the wisdom of parsed judgment until they can assemble all the necessary facts and come to a rightful conclusion. These champions of the kingdom know how to think. Like precision time pieces that carry the unfaltering sounds of tick-tock they examine each systematic movement of the big hand until finally clarity forms within their minds. Then and only then do they move the small hand forward and enter the next hour.
How you think affects your life. The Apostle Paul taught his students not to think like flawed gentiles. The gentiles were outside the covenant blessings of God until salvation. Paul used them as an example. He said that Christ’ disciples should not walk like they do in the “vanity of their minds,” in different words, banned imaginations. “How does one walk in the vanity of their minds,” you ask? By trying to live out vain imaginations.
Paul said, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind; Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:17-18). Remember the meeting between the fallacious serpent in the Garden of Eden and Eve? As already said, she looked, she took, she ate, and she gave to her husband and he also partook. This scri pture teaches the power of toying with deceptive words and imaginations. Fallen mankind, walking out the vanity within their minds, searches for ways to fulfill sensual, fleshly, lustful passions, and when they find them those passions pull on their carnal nature.
WHAT’S IN YOU?
Satan’s activities are still the same today, thousands of years later. He looks through ancient eyes for something in you to work with. Something small, perhaps a seed, something hidden from the sunlight, or something buried deep within. It could be pride, rejection or lust. It could be bitterness, unforgiveness, even the love of money. Again, he has nothing to web except what’s already in you. Jesus said, “For the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). What about you? When that old dragon draws near can he find anything in you to anvil? To win the war against your mind you must, “Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Carnal thoughts and pondered vain imaginations give the enemy opportunity to attack you.
Peter also wrote about the dangers of vain words, thoughts and imaginations. “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought into bondage” (2 Peter 2:18-19). Did you get that? Carnal passion, stirred by the lusts of the flesh and vanity within the mind is designed to overtake you and bring you to the timbered stocks. That’s why Paul said to avoid the vanity within the mind. Vain thoughts are enticements toward further carnality and conceiving sin. Like walking in cold sunlight they pull on the old man, that carnal nature that needs daily crucifixion. Is he dead in your life?
An evil imagination is a death wound formed in the soul that has its roots in the fallen corrupted nature of man. It is a different way of walking, outside your design. Like an addiction, vain imaginations can grab you and pull at your soul beckoning the reapers to come. Spoken greed, for example, draws on the blackened sinful nature of man. So, too, lust that pants for the forbidden. Lust is fabricated first within the imagination then onto the flesh looking for its harvest. When pondered it’s like a narcotic to the most addicted of junkies.
What did Peter mean “they are servants of corruption?” Bondage! That’s right, slavery trenched deep within their souls. Those taken captive through cultivated sinful imaginations become slaves fettered to their own carnality. Paul’s warning “don’t think like that” is significant. “How can one be overcome by an imagination,” you query? As mentioned before, by brooding evil thoughts within the mind, imaging them and acting them out. That’s what happened to Eve. She considered what the serpent said, she pondered the outcome, and she partook of the forbidden thereby giving birth to sin.
Futile imaginations obscure vision and corrupt judgment. scri pture says, “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:18). Your understanding can only be darkened when you are carried away by carnal thoughts and hollow imaginations. You must avoid them at all cost because they separate you from the good life of Christ and blind spiritual understanding.
All of us must avoid carnal thoughts and vain imaginations and cast them down as they occur, even those that come from others. As you become skillful at “casting down every imagination and high thing that exalts itself against the Word of God” you will experience more peace and a greater focus toward purpose within your life.
It seems we have come full circle once again in our pursuit of winning the battles against the mind. The bottom line is the mind must be renewed. Some try to get the Holy Spirit to grapple with their minds. The problem with that is you must be involved in the process by making every effort to renew your mind yourself. Give the Holy Spirit something to work with. Make the effort by studying to “show yourself approved.” Epictetus said, “No great thing is created suddenly.” So meditate on the Word daily. It will impart life, truth and grace for living into your soul.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
To extrapolate means to use information as the starting point to draw inferences or conclusions about something unknown.
There are thoughts that suppose something and are nothing more than random bits of information without merit, proof, witness, or substance.
Satan’s activities are still the same today. He looks for something in you to work with. It could be pride, rebellion or lust. It’s significant to remember that he has nothing to work with except what’s already in you.
An evil imagination is a death wound formed in the soul that has its roots in the fallen corrupted nature of man.
God created your mind for thinking. Your mind is like a critically thinking super computer designed to draw on information for the purpose of coming to a rightful determination. It will continually search out bits of data from life experience, prior knowledge, even assumptions to extrapolate a conclusion. To extrapolate means to use information as the starting point to gain knowledge, draw inferences and make decisions about something unknown. There are thoughts that suppose something and are nothing more than random bits of information without merit, proof, witness, or substance. Thoughts like that have no real value and are unsystematic. The most dangerous thoughts, however, are those that lead to a particular belief.
The source of thoughts, your thoughts, needs to be discerned. Are they real or imagined? Good or bad, right or wrong? Was Hamlet on to something when he echoed Montaigne who said, “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so?” Can your thoughts make things so? Do they deserve your attention? Should they be reflected on and acted out?
Only the mature understand the wisdom of parsed judgment until they can assemble all the necessary facts and come to a rightful conclusion. These champions of the kingdom know how to think. Like precision time pieces that carry the unfaltering sounds of tick-tock they examine each systematic movement of the big hand until finally clarity forms within their minds. Then and only then do they move the small hand forward and enter the next hour.
How you think affects your life. The Apostle Paul taught his students not to think like flawed gentiles. The gentiles were outside the covenant blessings of God until salvation. Paul used them as an example. He said that Christ’ disciples should not walk like they do in the “vanity of their minds,” in different words, banned imaginations. “How does one walk in the vanity of their minds,” you ask? By trying to live out vain imaginations.
Paul said, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind; Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:17-18). Remember the meeting between the fallacious serpent in the Garden of Eden and Eve? As already said, she looked, she took, she ate, and she gave to her husband and he also partook. This scri pture teaches the power of toying with deceptive words and imaginations. Fallen mankind, walking out the vanity within their minds, searches for ways to fulfill sensual, fleshly, lustful passions, and when they find them those passions pull on their carnal nature.
WHAT’S IN YOU?
Satan’s activities are still the same today, thousands of years later. He looks through ancient eyes for something in you to work with. Something small, perhaps a seed, something hidden from the sunlight, or something buried deep within. It could be pride, rejection or lust. It could be bitterness, unforgiveness, even the love of money. Again, he has nothing to web except what’s already in you. Jesus said, “For the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). What about you? When that old dragon draws near can he find anything in you to anvil? To win the war against your mind you must, “Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Carnal thoughts and pondered vain imaginations give the enemy opportunity to attack you.
Peter also wrote about the dangers of vain words, thoughts and imaginations. “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought into bondage” (2 Peter 2:18-19). Did you get that? Carnal passion, stirred by the lusts of the flesh and vanity within the mind is designed to overtake you and bring you to the timbered stocks. That’s why Paul said to avoid the vanity within the mind. Vain thoughts are enticements toward further carnality and conceiving sin. Like walking in cold sunlight they pull on the old man, that carnal nature that needs daily crucifixion. Is he dead in your life?
An evil imagination is a death wound formed in the soul that has its roots in the fallen corrupted nature of man. It is a different way of walking, outside your design. Like an addiction, vain imaginations can grab you and pull at your soul beckoning the reapers to come. Spoken greed, for example, draws on the blackened sinful nature of man. So, too, lust that pants for the forbidden. Lust is fabricated first within the imagination then onto the flesh looking for its harvest. When pondered it’s like a narcotic to the most addicted of junkies.
What did Peter mean “they are servants of corruption?” Bondage! That’s right, slavery trenched deep within their souls. Those taken captive through cultivated sinful imaginations become slaves fettered to their own carnality. Paul’s warning “don’t think like that” is significant. “How can one be overcome by an imagination,” you query? As mentioned before, by brooding evil thoughts within the mind, imaging them and acting them out. That’s what happened to Eve. She considered what the serpent said, she pondered the outcome, and she partook of the forbidden thereby giving birth to sin.
Futile imaginations obscure vision and corrupt judgment. scri pture says, “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:18). Your understanding can only be darkened when you are carried away by carnal thoughts and hollow imaginations. You must avoid them at all cost because they separate you from the good life of Christ and blind spiritual understanding.
All of us must avoid carnal thoughts and vain imaginations and cast them down as they occur, even those that come from others. As you become skillful at “casting down every imagination and high thing that exalts itself against the Word of God” you will experience more peace and a greater focus toward purpose within your life.
It seems we have come full circle once again in our pursuit of winning the battles against the mind. The bottom line is the mind must be renewed. Some try to get the Holy Spirit to grapple with their minds. The problem with that is you must be involved in the process by making every effort to renew your mind yourself. Give the Holy Spirit something to work with. Make the effort by studying to “show yourself approved.” Epictetus said, “No great thing is created suddenly.” So meditate on the Word daily. It will impart life, truth and grace for living into your soul.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
To extrapolate means to use information as the starting point to draw inferences or conclusions about something unknown.
There are thoughts that suppose something and are nothing more than random bits of information without merit, proof, witness, or substance.
Satan’s activities are still the same today. He looks for something in you to work with. It could be pride, rebellion or lust. It’s significant to remember that he has nothing to work with except what’s already in you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
