The title of today’s episode is: LIBERTY IN CHRIST
Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
The people of Galatia tried to get the Gentiles to be circumcised like the Jews were under the law. They tried to teach the new converts the law. Paul told them that they were trying to go back to bondage. The law was a heavy yoke that no man could keep.
Jesus removed the burden of the law when he died for all of our sins. When we accept what Christ did on the cross, we are set free from the heavy yoke of sin.
Romans 6:3-6 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Jesus broke the power that sin has over us, when we surrender to him. Jesus died for our sins and set us free. We no longer have to carry the heavy weight of sin or the heavy weight of the law. We are given a chance at a new life.
What do we do with that new life? We must go out and tell the world how Jesus set us free. We are to walk in the freedom of a life that is not entangled any longer in sin. Freedom is what Jesus gave us. How we chose to use that freedom is our gift to God.
James 1:22-25 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
If we hear the word and do not do it we are missing the point completely. But if we look into the perfect law of liberty and walk in that liberty we will be blessed.
Proverbs 13:15 Good understanding giveth favour: But the way of transgressors is hard.
The reason that the way of the sinner or transgressor is hard is that they are under bondage. They are shackled or yoked to whatever their sin may be that they are trapped in.
God doesn’t tell us to not do certain things because he wants to keep us from having fun. He understands all the ways we pay for that sin in this life, not to mention the life to come. God doesn’t want to be a dictator and force us to bow down to him and his will. He gives us free will, he will never force us to choose him. But he desires for us to choose to bow to him and his will.
There is a Spirit of bondage on the body of Christ, it is a spirit of religion. Far too long we have held onto our denominational ideas. Jesus died to set us free, he didn’t mean for us to be bound up in religion. We are free in Jesus, and we are to walk in the love of Christ. But we are to hold the line when it comes to sin.
The word of God is very specific about sin and about how we are to walk. He is the only one who can set the captive free. Jesus is the one that gives us freedom.
We can count on the Lord to fulfill all of our petitions, as long as we pray according to his will. There is divine timing for everything. We often talk about how God said to stand still and see his salvation. It is like the children of Israel that I keep going back to, they were trapped, when God told them to stand still and see his salvation. But when the sea parted, they had something to do. They had to move forward.
If they had not moved when the God gave them the answer, they would have been overtaken by the enemy. They would not have seen God destroy their enemy. But as soon as the water parted, they crossed on dry land. God not only made a way of escape, but he knew that their carts and wagons would get stuck easily in mud, so he made the seabed dry.
Psalm 20:5-6 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions. 6 Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
God is there to save us out of our troubles. But often there are things we need to do. We need to be ready to move, when God says move. God sometimes will ask things of us that will make a huge impact on our future.
Think about the story of Elisha. The king of Syria had a servant named, Naaman. He had leprosy and he travelled a long distance to Elisha. But Elisha didn’t come out and anoint him with oil. He didn’t pray for hours over him. Elisha sent his servant to tell him to go and wash in the Jordan River, seven times.
2 Kgs 5:10-12 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
Sometimes, we get the answer we are seeking from God. But if it doesn’t come in the form we thought, we can get into our emotions and miss it. God was trying to remove some of his arrogance by making him humble himself and wash in the dirty river.
He almost missed his miracle because he didn’t want to wash in that river. Often God doesn’t ask great big things of us. He will ask small things. But he still expects our obedience.
2 Kgs 5:13-14 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Naaman was excited and returned to Elisha to give him gifts. But Elisha refused and sent him on his way. What if Naaman had not listened to his servant? What if he had not dipped in the river? He would not have been made whole. Sometimes we have to set aside our ideas about how God will move and just stand still and let him move.
I love the point the servant makes to him, if he had asked something difficult for you to do, would you not do it? How many times do we do this to God? He leads us to do something, and we complain, because it doesn’t fit into our box of what we think he would ask of us.
Our faith walk is all about timing. Witnessing to the lost is all about timing, God’s timing. That is why we need to be led by the Spirit. God will sometimes tell us to wait. But when he says move, we need to not hesitate.
When going for a walk with my dog, Scout has been trained that when I say Hold, he will most of the time sit at my feet and wait. All the time, he looks up at me to give the command. When I say Ok…go, he knows it means to run across the road to the other side. He never hesitates to run when I say OK..go. Although I have a harness and leash on him, for his protection, it is easier when he is obedient.
God has control of our situations, too. But he expects us to Hold and wait on Him. He expects us to listen for his command of OK. We should be ready to run with whatever we have been given to do when God says Go. Scout never complains about me telling him OK…go. He never questioned why I decided to go at that particular moment. He is just obedient.
The body of Christ is in a hold pattern right now, the church is at a Red Sea moment. God is telling us to stand still and see his salvation. But soon it will be go time and we will have to run into the fields to harvest souls. God is in control, it doesn’t matter how scary things appear. He will protect his people from the enemy.
Psalm 20:7-8 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. 8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
The enemy will be brought down, but we are risen and stand upright. Why are we standing upright? We are ready to run when the Lord says to move. It is important that we know his voice. We will only listen to his command and not the command of the enemy.
I Sam15:1-3 Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Saul took an army and went against Amalek. But he didn’t obey the word of the Lord. He saved the king and some of the animals. After God telling him that they were not to spare anything, not even the animals.
I Sam 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
I Sam 15:22-24 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
When Samuel the prophet questioned King Saul, he said he didn’t destroy them because he feared the people. How many times do people today disobey God because they fear man above God. We need to pray and search ourselves to make sure that we are strong enough to stand before men and refuse to not put their opinion above God.
It was at that moment that he lost the anointing to be King. God ripped it from his hand. He sat in the seat for a long time after that, but the anointing was gone and he could not any longer operate the way God chose him too.
We too can lose our anointing if we allow people to stand in our way. We have to know that we hear God’s voice and most of all be obedient to His voice. Samuel told Saul it is better to obey God than to sacrifice.
It is time for us to search our lives and ask, “Am I being obedient to the voice of God? Do I follow his word?”
I will leave you this with verse:
Psalm 128:1 Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.
The title of today’s episode is: NAVIGATING LIFE’S SEA
Christians often use the analogy of their life being like a ship on the sea. There is an old song about how Jesus is the pilot of our ship. It says that we will not sail the stormy seas any longer in life without Jesus leading the way. He will see us safely to the shore again.
The storms of life can often come and like a ship we can be blown off course. In the days of wooden ships and iron men, this often happened. There was someone on board that could find where the boat was and could plot a correct course. They would use the stars, sun and their navigational tools to plot the direction of the boat.
We have similar devices in our vehicles today called GPS. I am old enough to remember when GPS was a new idea for cars. The devices would miscalculate and people blindly listening to the device would end up in the river or over a hillside. This is what happens when what we are listening to is not accurate. Many religious ideas are like the faulty GPS they are not accurate and people end up off the road they intended to be travelling.
The most important people on the old wooden ships were people who understood how to navigate. Making a mistake in plotting ones course could lead to many extra days or weeks at sea. That could mean the difference in life or death for the crew.
As children of God, we have the best navigator or plotter of our course. The Spirit of God is our guide. If we allow ourselves to hear him, above the roaring of the storms of life, He will never let us go wrong. It is when we let the storm get louder than our navigator that we get into trouble.
Many things in life can go wrong, devastating storms can blow into your life unannounced. They seem to spin your boat and your life out of control. It is in the hardest times that we need to pay the closest attention to our navigator. God will give us direction if we pray for his help and guidance.
If we find ourselves a little off course, we can plot our way back on course and steer our ship in that direction. No one without the means of modern computer satellite navigation ever kept a ship on course perfectly. This is why we can come to Jesus and ask for guidance and course correction.
Heb. 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
God gives us opportunity for guidance and to change our course for the better. The first time we come to God we are full of sin and severely off course. This is one of those lost at sea kind of moments. Your destination is hell and the one in charge of plotting your course is satan.
We come to our senses and get a new navigator. But along the voyage, things happen and we can get slightly off course. We are human and God has forgiveness if we ask him. Then He will help us get our ship back on course.
Years ago, I came across a quote that says, “A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not why ships are built.” This is to encourage people to step outside their comfort zone. It is possible to go through life with minimum stress, pain and trouble. But we have to not care about anything. We have to not love anyone or anything. It means that we live a life free of any type of passion. It means we merely exist. That is not a life, that is a sad existence.
We are meant to go out into life, showing God’s love and compassion. We are supposed to set our destination and plot our course with many stops along the way. There are many places that we can visit and gain passion and enthusiasm for our life and faith walk. Many things we can pick up along the way that will strengthen us and make us who we were meant to be all along.
If we choose to not step out in faith, we will never be able to see the world. We will never reach our purpose in life. I often think about the story of Peter walking on the water. It can be found in Matthew Chapter 14. Peter had a zest for life and a deep faith in Jesus.
He stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. Until he didn’t. He allowed a storm to get his faith off track for a second. But when he found his faith sinking as fast as he was, he cried out to Jesus, and he lifted him back up. When Peter was safely in the boat, he was forever changed. That experience made him stronger spiritually, because it increased his faith. He also had the experience of the miracle of walking on the water.
He gained experience and faith, because he was brave enough to step out of the boat. He was able to navigate what life threw at him because his faith was reinforced that Jesus would always be there in the middle of the storm to lift him up.
The other eleven in the boat had to learn of Jesus’ ability to lift them up in a crisis in other ways. They didn’t get the experience of walking on the water. The safety of the boat was too important. They were afraid, because Jesus walking on the water in the middle of a storm scared them, they thought he was a spirit. He told them to not be afraid. But they reacted with fear.
There are times that we are afraid to take the next step. But Jesus is there with his hand stretched forth. Bidding people to come to him. Taking that first step out of the boat is the hardest, until we find that Jesus is there and has placed a firm foundation under our feet.
I want to encourage you today to be strong in your faith. Always check your compass and make sure you are staying on the plotted course. When storms come that shake you to the core of your being, remember that Jesus is in the storm walking on the water. He will not allow you to sink very far, before he pulls you back up.
Matt 14:28-32 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
Notice, Peter understood he was sinking and the storm was trying to destroy him. In that moment he cried out to Jesus for help. Jesus was there to lift him up. He is there to lift us up too.
There are some storms on our horizon. The clouds of spiritual battle are forming in the atmosphere. The only way we are going to survive the coming storms is to hold on to Jesus. He is the protector of his people and he will not allow the enemy to overtake us. We have to be bold as lions and stand strong. Jesus will not allow his children to be overtaken. Our faith is the anchor that keeps our boat tied to Jesus. I pray, something I have said today will help you to plot your course and navigate your way safely home.
Life sometimes sends us things that leave us wondering what to do next. Nothing makes sense, we are left with more questions than answers. As children of God, we normally dig deep and seek God for our answers. There is a peace knowing that God will give us what we need to take the next breath. He will help us to take every step.
But people in the world who do not know Jesus often turn to psychics, mystics, gurus and people that are involved in spiritual things that are not of God. The trouble with seeking any answers from anyone other than God himself is that He is the only one who understands and knows the real answers.
Psychics, mystics, witches all these people get their information from a monitoring spirit that sees what you do and reports to the psychics etc. These people that see in the spirit realm are talked to by demons. We can’t find answers in psychics or philosophies of man.
As children of God, we can hear from God. He will speak to us. Most people will never hear an audible voice. But they learn to know his still small voice that is inside.
Everyone’s walk is different. We all face different things in life. This is why everyone needs to seek God’s face for themselves. We never want to be found in the position of Saul.
I Samuel Chapter 28.
Saul had been disobedient to the Lord. God ripped his authority away as king. He still was sitting in the seat temporarily, but God’s blessing and guidance had been taken away. In the absence of God people will seek help other places.
Saul went to a witch in order to talk to Samuel the prophet that had died. He however didn’t talk to Samuel, he talked to a spirit or a demon pretending to be Samuel.
The spirit told him the truth. These spirits will often tell you the truth at first to lure you into a false sense of belief. Once you have faith in what they are telling you they have you trapped and will lead you astray.
Saul became afraid of being killed by his enemy that he begged his armorbearer to kill him. He refused so Saul killed himself to keep from being killed by his enemy. Saul’s downward spiral began with his disobedience to God. There is never a reason to seek help outside of Jesus.
When I feel like I don’t know what to do, I go to prayer. We can find peace to face the hardest things in life when we pray. It is in difficult times that I find the words of Jesus comforting.
Matt 7:7-11 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
We need to ask God, he will not be shocked by our questions. He knows our heart and that we have questions. If we seek answers we will find them. He knows what we have need of before we ask, but he wants us to ask. He wants us to depend on him.
In the middle of our darkest night, he is our lighthouse. Jesus can shine a light of hope in the middle of the darkest night. Jesus can hold us steady in the middle of the storms of life.
Exodus 14:13-14 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
This occurred right before God split the Red Sea. The people had a great fear of them. They felt trapped not knowing what to do. We often feel that way in life, trapped and unable to make a move in any direction. But God understands our fear and will make a way where there seemed to be no way. Even if he has to part a sea to do it. The enemy will not overtake God children as long as we look to him and have faith.
Our country is facing some hard situations. The only way America will survive is to look to Jesus. Now more than ever before we need to press in and focus on prayer. It is true, Prayer changes things.
I want to share two verses with you today.
Psalm 138:3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
2 Cor. 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
When we walk by faith, it is not always easy, because we are used to making decisions by what we see, our instincts. Faith is trusting that God will take care of it all even when things do not appear to be going the right way.
The title of today’s episode is: A Solid Foundation Of Authority
When Jesus walked this earth, once he started his ministry, he walked with power and authority. When he was baptized by John and the spirit ascended like a dove and they heard God speak, that is when Jesus was given His authority.
Matt 3:16-17 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
There is a Jewish custom, that when the son is believed to be mature enough to make good decisions, his father will stand before their congregation. He will tell the people that the son now has authority to speak for the father. This is what happened on the day that Jesus was baptized. (God gave him his authority) He then started his ministry. We receive the power of God when we get the Holy Ghost. We will gain authority as we learn to walk by faith.
The first miracle that Jesus ever did was turn water to wine at a wedding. Before Jesus ascended into heaven he told the disciples, now ye are the body. We are the broken body of Christ. He told them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the father. (In other words, wait for their authority and power to be witnesses to the world.) This was when they were empowered to carry out the great commission, to win souls.
Acts 1:4-5 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
For the sake of time I am going to skip to Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
He said we would receive power. God’s power (the Holy Ghost) lives within us. When we become born again, we receive the Holy Ghost. When this happens, we now have power and authority.
Adam was given dominion over all the earth. Then through sin that authority was taken from him. Satan deceived him out of his authority. Jesus died to save us from the sin curse in every way. This included restoring the authority to his body of believers.
This is why I keep telling you to watch what you say, there is power in your words. Granted, most of us are not walking in all the authority that the Holy Ghost gives us. But God is raising up his body to walk in the authority and power of His Spirit.
I love how the Bible works together like a big puzzle. The more understanding we get the more we can see the big picture of God and his amazing love for mankind. Wine in the word represents the Holy Ghost. He told them to go and wait for the promise of the father. The Holy Ghost is sometimes referred to as new wine.
The first miracle of his ministry was to turn water into wine. Follow me now, up to this point the disciples had been baptized with water. John preached repent and be baptized. Now God sent them to tarry until they received the power that Jesus carried while he was on earth. They collectively were the body of Christ. Their obedience of repent and be baptized made them candidates to receive his spirit on the day of Pentecost. God turned their water into new wine.
Our entire journey is about learning to walk in the authority that God gave to his body. God is no respecter of persons. He loves all his children the same, and want to give us good gifts. But he like the Jewish father is waiting for us to grow up. Too much authority given to someone that is not ready to handle it, will cause greater harm than it does good.
I fully believe, we have been living beneath our privileges as children of the most high God. Most churches say that miracles have ceased. The things that the disciples did in the bible were for that time to further the gospel. What if along the way, we stopped believing? What if we lack the faith to see these things take place? Ministers make light of miracles, because God didn’t use them to perform any of them. Because these men didn’t walk in the authority that God gave them and it became habit.
For those of you that are over fifty, think about how church was when you were a child. Has it changed compared to today? When I was a little girl, I travelled with my grandparents all over the east coast of the US. I have seen deaf ears opened, broken bones healed. I have seen large gashes grow together after a group of people prayed. I watched a woman walk into church each night for a week. She was bowed at the waist. She could not stand straight because of a back trauma. She had been that way for several years. One night, after preaching, my grandpa felt God leading him to pray for her. He asked her if she believed that was her night to receive her miracle. He said yes. He prayed for her along with the congregation, God moved and I watched that woman walk back and forth across the front of the altar. Each trip she made she walked a little straighter until she was standing fully upright. I know God’s power is real. I know that we as a body of believers have not seen anything yet.
I have longed for the days of miracles, signs and wonders. When my dad was a child, he witness a dead woman being brought back to life. He has seen many miracles traveling with his parents. God will give us the power and authority if we seek him. But we have to be willing to yield to him.
Kathyrn Kullman said that walking in authority and power will cost you something, it will cost you everything. We have to surrender all to Jesus. God didn’t lose the ability to bind up people’s wounds and healing their brokenness. We can believe that he will keep our soul from hell. But can’t believe that he has the power to heal. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Before you start questioning what I am saying, there are times that God doesn’t heal. We all come to a point in life where we are at the end of our journey. God gives us the ultimate healing at that point. He reaches down and closes our eyes in death and we are at peace, safely in his arms.
While we have life left to live, it is not his will that we do it living beneath our privilege. We just need to learn how to surrender to the Spirit of God within us and allow him to give us the miracles that we wish to see.
We walk by faith and not by sight. We speak things that are not as though they were already in front of us. This is what it means to be a believer. We do not give up, but expect God to do what he has promised.
I know that was a lot to pack into ten minutes. I hope my points were clear. If you have any questions, email me at: angela@godfocus.net. Pray about what I have said, ask God to know him in a deeper way. He will not withhold any good thing from those that love him. Those that wish to walk into the deeper things of God.
The title of today’s episode is: BUILDING ON A SOLID FOUNDATION
I have been working on writing a bible study of things I wish I had been told as a new Christian. There are some basic things in the bible that are the anchor points to the whole book. It is in those anchor points that we find the truth of our foundation.
Often we hear people speaking about being rooted and grounded in the gospel. We hear, you need to stand on the firm foundation. But to the person that was not raised in church some of our phrases may not mean much to them until they learn more of the word.
As believers we need to make sure, now more than ever, that we are on that firm foundation. There are many out there trying to deceive God’s people with feel good cupcake doctrines. The truth is often like a large antibiotic pill, hard to swallow, but good for your body. Sometimes, we don’t want to read or know the truth, because learning it will mean we have to measure up in some way. We may have to give up something that our flesh wants to hold onto.
Matthew Chapter Seven will give us some insight into a solid foundation.
Matt 7:24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
I have heard people preach about how we need to build on a firm foundation. But in this chapter of Matthew there are a few foundational points or anchors that they usually skip over and tell people to stand on the word of God.
Jesus said whosoever heareth these saying and does them is like a wise man that builds on rock. Just in chapter seven alone he tells us not to judge one another. He tells us to take the log out of our eye before trying to get the splinter out of our brother’s eye. We have no right to judge, we all have fallen short.
We are not to keep witnessing to someone that wants to argue with us. Every thing we say they want to turn it and argue with us. This is what he meant in verse 6, cast not your pearls or jewels of wisdom before people that don’t want to learn but want to argue. Ask and seek, God will give us the answers we need.
He teaches us to do unto others as we would want someone to do to us. We are to keep to the strait gate, because that is a narrow way. Few find the narrow path, it takes faith in the word of God and being obedient to find the narrow way.
Jesus warns of false prophets which come in sheep’ clothing. This would reinforce what I said the other day, there has to be real prophets, in order for their to be false ones.
We are to be like good trees and bring forth good fruit. Which is something to be shared. Gal. 5:22 lists this good fruit, Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance.
These are a few of the sayings that we are to do, so that we are building on a solid foundation.
Matt 7:25 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and sat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
If we build our lives on the foundation of God’s word, when the trials of life or rain, floods and winds beat upon our lives, we will not fall. Because we have anchored our lives to the rock or solid foundation, which is Jesus.
Matt 7:26-27 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
It stands to reason that the foolish man that doesn’t build on the words of Christ would judge others, not walk in love by showing the fruit of the spirit. Because without the firm foundation, they would not develop the fruit of the spirit.
They would seek the broad path, maybe a feel good all roads lead to heaven message to ease their conscience. But one that is not biblically solid. They do not treat others they way they wish to be treated.
Many will hear the words spoken in the Bible, but they will not heed. They will go their own way and follow the desires of their flesh. Their choices are often the wind, rain and flood that comes against their house. But because they do not have anything to give their lives substance and stability, their house falls because there is nothing solid on which their belief system was built.
Matt 7:28-29 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Jesus walked in authority and power because the spirit of God lived within Him.
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
If Jesus had not ascended the Holy Ghost could not have been sent to the church. But because he ascended, he sent that same spirit that was in Jesus back to the body of believers. Now we can walk in the power and authority of the Holy Ghost. Because we have that firm foundation. We are building our lives on what is written in the word of God.
Our faith comes from every word written in the book, from Genesis to Revelations. It is all relevant and necessary. I often encourage you to read the word. It is our source of information and our firm foundation.
Tomorrow, we are doing a deeper dive into the solid foundation of our authority.
The title of today’s episode : TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS
We often talk about sticking to the old paths. We are taught to respect the elders of the church. The word shows us to honor those who have served God for a long time, because they can be a great help in our spiritual walk. We can glean all sorts of encouragement and wisdom from them and the old paths. But the true old path is the one found in the word of God and not in man’s ideas and doctrines.
I Cor.11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
Paul said follow me as I follow Christ. Do not take advice from someone who doesn’t follow Christ. This is why we need to know Christ and the word of God for ourselves. This is how we discern what path to take.
In Mark Chapter 7, Jesus teaches the lesson of inner purity. A group of Pharisees came along and saw that some of the disciples were eating bread without washing their hands. They were all up in arms that the disciples were not holding the traditions of the elders.
To the Pharisees that was the most important thing, the appearance of holding to the traditions of the elders. These rules of how to live had been handed down from generation to generation. They were all created to keep them from defying the original ten commandments given to Moses. But over time even their rules watered down the original ten commandments.
Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
Many are like the Pharisees today, they are caught up in traditions of the elders. Things created by man to show everyone how holy they are, or in our case what a good Christian. They were not even concerned with what God thought, they had a form of godliness, but kept man’s traditions. They prayed to be seen of men, so that they thought highly of them.
Mark 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Jesus reminded them of the scripture found in Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
We want to have a genuine fear of God. That deep respect that shows him that we honor him as our heavenly father. We don’t want to appear to have the respect for God that man’s doctrines have tried to create.
Mark 7:7-9 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
They rejected the commandment of God in order to keep their traditions. How many denominations are that way today? They would fight and die for their denomination before they would admit that they may be holding onto a tradition of the elders.
God wants unity in his body. This is a subject I cannot get away from lately. We cannot be so stuck in our “traditions of the elders” that we miss the move of God. It is time we ask God to search us and remove any man-made ideas from our belief system. I don’t want to walk in traditions of men. Man cannot save me. I don’t want to be aligning with a denomination, when aligning with God’s word is all we need.
I hope this doesn’t come across as being judgmental. The last thing I want to do is to sit in the judgement seat. That is not my job. But I see things that trouble my heart and my spirit.
I always search my heart first, when I come across something that I feel like God is giving me. I ask God to search me and help me see if I am stuck in man’s traditions. I have been guilty of going through the motions, so to speak, at worship service. We are human and sometimes things are on our mind so heavily that we cannot focus on God. Having an off day is different than being caught up in man’s ideas.
When we worship, is it just something we do? Do we give it all we have, in surrender to God? Are we going through the motions? “We have always sang three songs and then had two testimonies before the preacher speaks” What if God wants to mix things up, what if he wants you to sing the same song twice or have four songs and no testimonies. Some people would flip out about how things are not in order. What if we came together and just focused on God? What would happen? We may realize that God doesn’t fit into a box. He needs freedom to move people’s hearts. He cannot draw people to him, if people are focusing on traditions of men.
I really want you to get what I am saying, it comes down to us giving it all to God. We say we surrender all, but do we? Are we hungry for the preaching and teaching of his word? Is it life and bread to our soul? Is the message a feel-good cupcake that will not sustain us when the troubles of life come our way?
Jesus explained to the Pharisees that it wasn’t what someone ate that defiled them, but what come out of them. At another encounter with the Pharisees Jesus told them it was what was in the heart that counted.
Matthew 12:33-34 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Whatever we have in our hearts will come out. If we carry bitterness and other things, at the right moment it will come out. Just like evil things, wicked imaginations. They too will come out of man, if it is within him.
Matt 12:35 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.
This is why it is so very important to hide the word of God within our hearts. This is why we pray for forgiveness and forgive others. We want to do everything we can do to have a pure heart. This is not works, this is by prayer and yielding to God.
He wants our hearts, he doesn’t want our traditions of going through the motions. He doesn’t want our lip service that we use to show man “what a good Christian I am.” It is time the body of Christ unite and yield to our head which is Jesus Christ.
When Jesus returns for his bride, I don’t want him to look at me and say, “I know you did a lot of religious things in my name. I know you gave me lip service, but your heart was far from me. Depart from me, I really don’t know you.”
We all want to hear him say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into rest. You walked in my love and discipled many, you didn’t give me lip service, but you gave me your heart. You didn’t walk in the traditions of men, but as my servant.”
I have to ask, are you walking in the traditions of the elders? Are you just going through the motions and giving God lip service? I pray you surrender all, to him and walking in the power of His love.
The title of today’s episode is: OVERCOMING WEAKNESS AND DISCOURAGMENT
We often come under the attack of discouragement. The enemy will try to distract us with spiritual discouragement. The google definition of discouragement is 1. a loss of confidence or enthusiasm; dispiritedness. 2. an attempt to prevent something by showing disapproval or creating difficulties; deterrent.
The enemy is out to try to get us to lose confidence in God. He will do all he can to destroy the enthusiasm of our faith walk. He will create difficulties to deter our progress. We often call them trials. As we grow in our faith walk, the enemy comes to a point where he knows he cannot stop us. Since he cannot stop us, he switches tactics to putting stumbling blocks in our way.
If we allow ourselves to become discouraged, we are not walking in the joy of the Lord. Which means we are walking in a time of weakness. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Without Joy we do not have strength. This is why depression and discouragement are two of Satan most used tools.
When the enemy tries to strip us of our joy by causing depression and discouragement, he wants to make us weak. If we are weak, we will not have the energy to press on and do God’s will. We will not be able to fight the good fight of faith against the spiritual attacks of the enemy.
Look at David at Ziklag: 1 Samuel 30—David had been at war and when he returned home to Ziklag the city had been burned to the ground and all of the soldiers families had been taken captive. The attack of their enemy was so distressing that David’s soldiers were talking about stoning him.
He felt discouraged for a moment, but then he realized that he had to encourage himself in the Lord.
I Sam 30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
We can encourage ourselves too, by remembering all the times God delivered us. It is good to think of all the times things looked hopeless and God came through for us personally. It can be encouraging to read scriptures about how God helped others in his word. We cannot be too proud to reach out to someone we can trust for prayer.
There is no shame in having weak moments. We are human and will allow our emotions to take control from time to time. But even though we have fallen into discouragement, we have to be like David and pick ourselves up.
II Cor 12:9 — And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
One thing that is often hard to admit is when we are feeling weak. We think we have to have be strong and not show weakness. But we can find strength in our weakness. When we admit we are weak to God, He will come along side of us with the strength we need. As we learn to push through the attacks of the enemy and give God the glory we will find strength. We will be able to take the next step, walking in God’s strength.
Galatians 6:9 – And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.
There are times when we are battle-weary and discouraged. We can rise above it, and we will reap a harvest for all of our faithfulness. The key is that we cannot allow the enemy to get us so bogged down that we can’t move forward.
Isaiah 41:10 – Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
We have nothing to fear because God is with us. We have no reason to be stressed or discouraged because he will give us strength to pick ourselves up and press on in faith.
People go to the gym to gain physical strength. They push themselves to lift a little more weight than they did the day before. This consistency gives them muscle strength. We can gain spiritual strength by exercising our faith. We can find the determination to keep going. In pressing on, we will find that God gives us the strength we need.
THE TITLE OF TODAY’S EPISODE IS, “IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY”
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Jesus said there would be days like this; there will days when nothing seems to go right. Some days it seems like the whole world is coming down around your ears. There will be times that it seems like you are alone in the world. There are two ways to react to adversity. That would be with or without faith.
In the face of adversity one without faith is prone to panic. This is because without Jesus one must rely on one’s own powers to overcome. This often leads to lies and deception in order to manipulate those involved. Bullying is another popular tactic. Or they will offer some lavish reward for giving in. The big problem there is that a person often does not have the lavish reward or that once its given, you find out that reward is a white elephant.
The Devil promised Adam and Eve that their eyes would be opened. What Adam and Eve understood was that they had betrayed God and therefore could expect sorrow and shame.
You see in the face of the adversary himself, Adam and Eve reacted without faith. They trusted Satan’s tale that God did not have their best interest at heart when he denied them the Tree of Knowledge. As a result, we live in a cursed and broken world where bad things happen.
Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
So, It will be that way until Jesus returns and makes all things new. We can expect floods, hurricanes, sickness and any other trouble that comes. That’s just the way things are. I also think that we give too much credit to Satan, as though he could create a storm that brings a flood, that spreads disease and so on. I know that some issues are a result of a spiritual battle. I also know that Satan would like to take credit for having as much power and glory as we will give him.
To react with faith is a little more work. Reacting with faith means that we believe Jesus will help us. When the storm comes, we seek shelter, (in the Rock of salvation.). When the flood waters rise we reach out for Jesus. Faith is an action word. We must be dynamic in our reaction with faith. With faith we find the way to use what resources that have been given us by God. In fact, if we believe God we will expect resources to be provided. As he promised, no matter what the circumstances.
Psa 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psa 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Jesus leaves nothing to chance. He is with us consistently.
Matt 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Matt 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
With those kinds of promises it should be easy to react with faith. With faith we can rise above the floodwaters. You may not have that kind of faith that walks on the water but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have. The same God that walked with Adam, went with David into battle and walked with Moses lives inside (us) the believer!
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
With Faith we can avoid the snares of the enemy.
1Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common toman: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Ultimately, reacting with faith is believing Gods promises and looking for the next step. Then actually taking that step while trusting God with the outcome. He is able to keep us, if we mess up.
Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
We need to have faith during the times of trial. In the face of adversity we can have confidence, because Jesus holds us in the hollow of his hand.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
What have we to fear? What would hinder our faith? Reacting to any situation with fear is contrary to our promises. We don’t rely on the things of this world to see us through. We don’t need to because we have Jesus.
The next time we find ourselves facing adversity, we need to remember to look to Jesus. He will be there waiting to meet us in our faith.
The title of today’s episode is: SEARCHING THE HEART
King David’s writing is my go-to for encouragement. The Psalms are full of his humanity and humility. He was not perfect; he made a lot of mistakes like we all do. But what he lacked in making good decisions he made up for in heart. He had a heart of worship.
Some believe your works will save you and they go about doing good. They work in soup kitchens and raise money for homeless shelters. It is nice to do all sorts of things like this, some are called to that work by God. Others are called to work in nursing homes to take care of our elders. But no good deed will save you.
We have access to God’s spirit and rebirth only through and by the blood of Jesus. But that doesn’t mean that once we are born again that we can sit down and do nothing until Jesus comes. He will lead us to our calling. We are created for a purpose; we must walk in our purpose. We are all supposed to go out and lead the lost to Christ.
Psalms 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
David asked God to search his heart. This is something we need to do from time to time. Because things happen over time that we hang on to and don’t even realize it. We can develop envy, jealousy, hurt feelings or offense and bitterness. Often, we do not even realize that we are holding onto offense.
All of these things can get in the way of us being fully effective in our callings. It is good to take inventory from time to time and ask God to search our hearts. Tell him to expose any root of bitterness, hate, jealousy. The Proverbs are full of what happens when we are not wise in our faith walk.
Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
One example of the root of bitterness is the story of Cain and Abel. If Cain had not let bitterness take root in him. Then it would not have festered and turned into hate and then to murder of his own brother.
Cain had several opportunities to turn from his bitterness. God wanted Cain to surrender to him. Cain believed that God loved Abel more, because he accepted his offering. God loved Cain as much as he did Abel. He blessed Abel for his faithfulness. He would have blessed Cain too if he had surrendered to God. But instead, he held onto offense until it became bitterness. Many carry things for a long time until they don’t even realize they are jealous, envious, bitter or are carrying hate. Sometimes we carry the heaviness so long it becomes a part of us.
This is why we have to look diligently and search our lives to make sure we are not carrying things we were not designed to carry. Think of it this way. The maximum capacity of weight you can carry is one hundred pounds. If you are carrying forty pounds of bitterness and thirty pounds of jealousy you only have thirty pounds of capacity left to carry everything else, joy, responsibilities of everyday life, your family obligations and last but not least your calling of God. If we can get rid of the bitterness and jealousy, that leaves more room to carry the good things.
There are things that God wishes to give us, but our hands are not open to receive. Our hands are full of all these things we need to release. Many need to release man’s religion to make room for God’s plan and relationship. We need to ask God to empty our lives of anything that is not pleasing to Him. So he can fill us up to capacity with his love and light.
Sickness can be caused by lots of things. Sometimes, however, it is caused by the physical manifestation of what is inside; our pain and bitterness. These emotions can be powerful and will make us sick if we cannot learn to let go.
Bitterness ties us to a situation like being unforgiving keeps us chained to a situation. Being bitter and angry can have long term effects on our health. When God tells us to put away bitterness, anger and unforgiveness, it is for our good.
This is where we have to ask God to give us the strength and power to lay down what is potentially harming us. I often pray “Empty me of me and fill me with more of you.” As we walk in the fruit of the spirit and not in our flesh we will find true freedom. If we can learn to search our hearts.
GOD FOCUS--Psalm 34:3 O magnify the Lord with me.... 