A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 53
FINDING MY PLACE IN THIS WORLD

Here we are at the last week of the year. Many of us have experienced some hurtful events and also have received blessings and miracles. There is much talk going around about this being a significant year in prophecy and about the Lord’s return. Many of you include fasting as a way to begin the New Year which is a wonderful opportunity to invite Jesus to cleanse and bring a fresh sensitivity into our mind and heart. My question today is; do we really want any more of Him than we have now? Do we really want to do anything more than we already are? Are we tired and just want to be left alone? Or do we finally want to “get it right” before Jesus comes back? The answers to these questions will decide what kind of year this coming year will be to us. If we stay the same, this will just be another year however, let us realize that if we want to be “all we can be” it will depend on how much we are willing to be transformed by His Spirit. Some of us that have been laboring in His fields for a long time are pretty beat-up and banged-up but we also know what He is speaking in this hour and our responsibility to follow and obey.

People have weaknesses. It is time to realize that not only is there a VICIOUS CYCLE going on within other people’s lives – there is one going on IN US! And where there is a sinful habit there is always a CROSSROAD MOMENT. It is not negative to examine our weaknesses – it is actually wise. How can we overcome the problems that are binding us if we choose not to deal with them? This is the place of decision that “cycles” on a regular basis and we are routinely faced with the choice to continue going in the same old direction or change course. These places can be everything from times when we became sick from overeating to saying something we wish we could retract. They can be sexual addictions, anger issues, depression, pride, financial or marital problems or anything that wages a war against us. Anytime someone can push our buttons and cause us to lose control or any type of bondage or oppression that can distract us from accomplishing our divine blueprint – we have a problem! Because we are weak and very vulnerable to temptation these crossroad moments is where we secretly decide if we are going to obey the red light of discipline – or the green light of not caring. It begins with a powerful craving to satisfy our flesh and ends with us accepting or rejecting its offer. When we give in to the desire and indulge until we are exhausted, our senses are submerged in a temporary feeling of ecstasy and euphoria. This emotional “dream state” usually dissolves into emotions of sadness, regret, depression and guilt only minutes after we have fulfilled our pleasure. The agony of guilt remains until the satisfaction wears off and the desire returns – then the process starts all over again. Our flesh knows what it wants and can easily over-power conviction if we do not allow our thinking to be transformed. We do not need a psychiatrist to tell us that our problems started when we experienced certain feelings when we were young. Actually, it does not really matter WHY we have come to this point because we need to stop blaming the past about why we are the way we are. We can sit around and talk until Jesus comes back about why we are weak and fail but will it help us change? Has it helped us so far? Selah. It is not the past that is holding us hostage it is our inability to realize that our decisions impact our future!

This is not just a modification – it must be a lifestyle change. In the Old Testament, Israel would demonstrate good behavior “for a while” and then drift back into their old ways of sin. God would become angry and punish them for their lack of faith and obedience and then they would straighten up for a while. What a sobering example of how we are today as the devil knows our weaknesses and patiently waits for the perfect chance to stick out his leg and trip us. Then, there we are down on the floor trying to blame everyone else for our failure when actually it is our own lack of immaturity. Saints, it is time that we understand what areas that are “hot spots” against us and to pray for greater discernment so that we might recognize the ambush before we get entangled in it! It is time we stop beating ourselves up and going round and round in discouragement because agony is a miserable place to live in and is NOT the abundant life that Jesus said we could have. The crossroad moment is when our strongest desires or fears are breathing down our neck and we must choose to change or remain the same. Yes, the road is very hard and is filled with difficulty and we all have a target on our back because we are chosen by God to overcome the very things we are talking about! You have the choice today to make a declaration that you will give your heart to God’s plan or you can remain comfortable and coast the rest of your life in neutral. Neither God nor the devil is going to force you to serve them – it your choice. Selah.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR OUR LIFE
PART 52
IMMANUEL

Well, here we are again at Christmas and may I say that we have had some difficult trials and times of sadness but all in all this has truly been a year of blessing. I am so grateful our heavenly Father sent His Son Jesus to live on this earth and eventually SACRIFICE His life for our sins with His blood. It was the highest sacrifice and the ONLY ransom that had the power to redeem us and open the doors not only to heaven – but also allows us to walk in His presence NOW! God’s grace is amazing and has extended His invitation for anyone to become a child of the King of Kings. So, why do I feel a check in my spirit when I see Santa Clause? Because I am looking at an image of someone that appears to be trying steal God’s glory and take away the attention that the incarnation and resurrection deserves. Now brother, there is no reason why we cannot have BOTH! The other day I was driving down the road and saw Santa and all the reindeer right beside a nativity scene, and I thought nothing of it! I am sorry, but this bothers me and I believe it has everything to do with God’s Spirit and my spirit within me. There is only one God that has the divine abilities that NO OTHER god has – yet I cannot help but think it is no coincidence that an imaginative character would arrive at the winter solstice and claim to have super-natural powers that is equal to Jesus Christ. To be weary of such a popular entity should not seem strange neither should it be judged as being silly within the Christian world – I am afraid that is not the case. Many in the Christian faith justify this story as something that is crucially important to the development of the young and innocent imaginative mind. To be honest, I can tolerate the Christmas traditions because my human nature just like everyone else enjoys the ideas and concepts of magic and fantasy – but is there anything wrong with wondering how Jesus really feels about all of this?

I admit there is a world of topics to talk about that are more, let us say…peaceful and I am sure – less controversial. It is true that most people stand rather strong in their traditions and it is no secret that any drastic change in the way things are done would no doubt bring a negative response from those who disagree. But likewise, I would hope we have also come such a distance in our spiritual journey that it would be a shame to compromise with the world just because we like the warm fuzzy feelings of “anything” or any type of ritual or celebration that would be offensive to the Lord. I would be the first person to confess how the season of Christmas brings emotions that are sentimental and are difficult to explain, and I certainly do not want everyone I know to dismiss me as an old, grumpy and senile fanatic. I love the thought of the Father sending His only Son Jesus to the earth, but I am just trying to untangle all of the other holiday “symbols” that has tried to weave itself into the cloth of reverence toward God and goodwill toward men. I would never want to offend anyone and I want to be the first to admit that I have in the past actually opposed Christians that were trying to avoid being associated with the pagan connections with Christmas along with the negative chaos affiliated with commercialism. May I also add that I was not very loving in my approach to this situation neither was I, let’s see…filled with Godly wisdom and maturity. I remember when I was a younger man; I worked with a Christian fellow that decided to lead his young family away from the traditions of Christmas. He had been heavily influenced through the teachings of his church and had trusted their doctrines and spiritual leadership about not embracing certain holidays. I think what really irritated us was that he would openly describe the scenario of his Christmas mornings without a tree or presents and how his small children would cry. We all thought this was a type of “abuse” and would strongly criticize and accuse him with everything from being in a cult to having mental problems. So, I have seen persecution (and participated in it) and have witnessed the anger against a person that makes a decision to swim “upstream” against what the masses believe. This makes me consider that with such strong emotions that are expressed about such a trivial topic as putting up a tree and decorating it with silver and gold, how will people react when we are faced with following or rejecting the ideas and temptations associated with the anti-christ?

We all make choices each day that are connected to our world-views. In order to be led by the Holy Spirit and follow God’s specific blueprint for our destiny, we must stay constantly focused and extremely sensitive to being side-tracked. I believe compromise is something we must on “full alert” with in order to stay pure in the holiness of divine truth. I cannot think of anytime when compromise should be accepted as each of us has the personal responsibility to seek out our own salvation with fear and trembling. We have been called to be a light and as we have mentioned before, the light from a “lighthouse” is not sporadic but constantly faithful. We are a “never failing” source of truth to voice His gospel and if pressed into a corner, we just need to boldly confess that it is wrong for us to participate in something we feel is not God’s will. I can safely say that we will all have the “opportunity” if we live long enough to stand before the world and proclaim our allegiance. I realize that no one is “forcing” us to celebrate holidays any particular way but I am only suggesting that it is wisdom to consider the social issues that are being discussed all around us and how that possibly in the near future our legal system will require all people to accept certain views whether they agree or not. My point is that with a small amount of compromise here and there or making special considerations at certain times, we can become vulnerable to a “weakening” or a breakdown of the standards and absolutes of our convictions. I realize we are not perfect, but I know that Jesus would never consider a small amount of leaven into His life. What I am trying to discover, is why we would.

Of course we know that our holidays are not what they seem, yet that does not seem to stop us from joining in. Many of the tiny details that have been passed along for centuries are traditions that have come directly from the witchcraft of pagans and heathens in connection with idol worship. With our appetite and endless infatuation for anything that appeals to our carnal imagination, it seems to make no difference what we do as long as we hide behind the justification that we are not really bowing down to idols. Subtle sins are like snare traps, very similar to watching television programs that offer just a few repulsive nasty words or just a small amount of erotica, nudity and lust. Satan has not been unleashing the floodgates of sin upon the masses all at once, but for the last 60 years he has slowly been serving the coolaid one glass at a time. Those who hate the taste of sin can eventually acquire a tolerance to it when given small amounts every day. Selah. Social issues that years ago would have not even been discussed as an acceptable option have now become embraced as valid reasons for the numerous practices and lifestyles. The New World Order preaches their poison and the authorities are forced to follow the lies that has now turned God’s laws upside down! “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20) Allow me to ask you a question: would you rather be simple minded and left alone to believe the stories and fables you have been told, or would it be better if you conducted theological research and found that much of what you trusted as innocent – was actually dangerous? Let’s look at it like this: what if you were a scientist that studied the chemical compounds of processed food and how they affect the body and let’s say that you adored a certain snack that you ate several times a day. In your research you discovered that this particular treat caused a gradual shutdown of your organs and produced an aggressive growing cancer. Would you be sad that you stumbled across this knowledge that can now save your life or would you wish that you had never found the problem so you could have enjoyed your snacks? “The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.” (Proverbs 3:35)

All over the world we can see how folk legends and traditions have become a “sacred” part of certain cultures and each society accordingly will strongly defend them. Whoever coined the phrase, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” was not thinking about the consequences or dangers that is connected many times with things that are cute and seemingly harmless. Allow me to say that bombs made in the shapes of teddy bears do not lessen the unpleasant reality that “cute” can destroy! I believe when it comes to our pagan traditions that we can clearly see the connection between the love for children and our vulnerable emotions. The enemy knows that he could never persuade the masses to participate in a world-wide holiday with something that did not include our most valuable treasure – our children. He uses the innocent child, the needy, desperate, heart wrenching emotions of thinking about a child that does not have a store bought trinket. The concept of Santa is that he loves the little children so much that He has dedicated his entire life to making them happy with gifts. So, we charge upon the retail world in a furious “call to battle” against the crowds and go in debt as we try to make them happy in the name of how can I “wow” you with more materialism. Somehow all of this evolved from Jesus being born in a manger and dying on a cross to save the souls of a lost and dying world. “For certain men are false apostles [spurious, counterfeits], deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles [special messengers] of Christ. And it is no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (II Corinthians 11:13-14)

Satan influences the imagination of humans with giving away fancy bottles of “snake oil” that has no warning labels of ingredients or dangerous side-effects. The highest commandment within the kingdom of darkness is that every human can freely think, speak and act however they want without any consequences or remorse. Satan’s idea is simple: If he can teach that imitational freedom is the most perfect social and political way of thought, then humans can be excused for their personal falsehoods and deceptions without condemnation or consequences. After all, the idea behind tolerance is that I am accepting you for who you are and what you believe so you must respect what I do also and together our compromise can establish a beautiful unity. This break-down of God’s absolute truth is not an accident! The modern thought of social psychology is to relax and accept the agnostic way of thinking that everyone is all a part of a divine acceptance. Of course the agnostic embraces the law of secular humanism because one gives legal authority to enable the other to exist. This is what is being taught today to the young people of this world. It is up to the Christian to step forward and proclaim there is no place for pantheist lies and the deception of heresy when it comes to deceiving our upcoming generation. Would it really be that disappointing to a child if they were told the truth about the difference between a fable and reality from the beginning? To embrace and teach a “make believe” story to the young and naïve about how a human figure can perform such great and magical miracles that directly affect every human on the planet is wrong. We can argue that we are only joking, kidding, telling white lies or whatever justifies our intentional falsifications but it is a lie. Here is a short list of what is actually being taught as real events concerning the image of Santa Clause and the symbol of the Christmas tree.

1. Santa can transform his body (and solid inanimate objects) into any shape or form in order to enter through walls or any solid barrier.

2. Santa has the magical power to disappear and become invisible.

3. Santa has the magical power to fly and work at a supernatural speed. He has unlimited resources and unlimited power.

4. Santa has the super-natural ability to be omnipresent. This means he shares the divine power with God to know every person on earth, where they live and to remember each deed whether good or bad all at the same time – every second. This constant observation and recording of individual good works and trespasses is a direct insult to the idea that God is THE “all knowing” judge that punishes sin and rewards obedience. In this position, Santa becomes a god or idol just like all of the other gods of the world.

5. Santa has the power to know the hidden desires of every person on earth. The Bible teaches that God is the only one who is omniscient by discerning the thoughts, motives and intents of the conscience of everyone that has ever lived or will ever live.

6. The North Pole, which is the permanent magical dwelling of Santa, represents God living in the eternal super-natural kingdom of heaven. The elves that have special powers are servants of Santa and are representative of the angels who were created to serve God day and night and who have powers to accomplish God’s work. The sleigh and reindeer are a type of the white horse that Christ will ride when he appears in the air. The gifts in the sleigh represent the rewards and crowns that will be given to the remnant “saints” when Christ returns. Santa comes in the night when everyone is asleep, just as Christ has said that he will return when everyone least expects – as a thief in the night. His hair is white and so is the Lord’s. Santa has a list of deeds and God has the book of life.

7. Santa is portrayed as having the authority to give animals the magical ability to talk and fly. But, God is the only one that has ever empowered animals to speak in a human voice or communicate with them using telepathy.

8. The spiritual idea of giving gifts comes from the Father giving life to man and of course Jesus coming to the world, then man responding back with worship. Our Christmas example of giving came from the kings that brought treasures for Jesus and left them with Mary and Joseph as a form of respect and worship for the promised Messiah. Exchanging presents in this day and age has become a distorted act of generosity and has become uncomfortable. The true idea of giving is to be a blessing for those who are truly needy and this is what Christians are to follow every day of the year – not just a holiday. In what way does the concept of our modern gift exchange program cause us to truly worship God? It doesn’t! We just like to give and receive presents because it is exciting!

9. The Christmas tree combines the ancient traditions (B.C.) with the 1700 year old Santa Clause holiday. “Thus says the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers that it move not”. (Jeremiah 10:2-4) Sounds like a Christmas tree, so why do we do it? Because we love it!

10. The foundation of our responsibility as followers of Christ is to teach the gospel and how to trust this good news. Yet Christians proclaim even to their own children how to have faith that SANTA is real, that he will appear each year and that he can be depended on to always bring good blessings. When the child is finally told this entire story was a lie, Christian parents then proceed to tell another story about the God figure that is similar but this time it REALLY is true! We are told from birth that Santa NEVER fails but in real life we discover that we do not always get what we ask for and sometimes we experience suffering and failure. These negative discouragements and disappointments are conveniently never associated with Santa. However, in the harsh reality of trying to find who is to blame, the concept of Jesus can be thought of as “less reliable” especially with a non-Christian atmosphere. What a terrible situation. Santa ends up being a hero and Jesus becomes portrayed as being the bad guy. And we wonder where these twisted ideas came from and what a confusing view this brings to love and trust.

It seems that everyone can accept the baby Jesus because he is so small and not a threat to our lifestyle. Even non-Christians are not spiritually threatened with a nativity scene. When Jesus is shown as a baby, adults immediately feel they have power and control over Him with nothing to fear. However, the crowd quietly wanders away when they meet Him as an adult with all of the authority of heaven and earth demanding for everyone to surrender their life to Him. Immanuel.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR OUR LIFE
PART 51
LOVE CANNOT COMPROMISE

It is amazing how drastic worldviews can change in one generation. In our busy daily lives we hardly seem to take the time to consider the larger concept of life because we are so distracted with the “little foxes”. It is common but not excused to be so focused on what we are doing than what we need to be remembering. Selah. For example, the church world is generous when it comes to helping children in need but many times forgetting the little ones running around under their feet. Yes, there have been Sunday schools and children’s programs and even many Christian schools but it has NOT been enough. This is not being critical considering what is at stake. The entire future of demonstrating God’s truth on earth depends on the actions of each generation to preserve it. Of course the Lord is watching over His Kingdom but when one generation goes to sleep and fails in their responsibilities to pass on to their children God’s divine reality, the entire culture suffers loss and becomes more distorted. As children absorb knowledge they begin to process this information as a type of “laying a foundation” of their own personal worldviews. For those who seek God’s truth, the renewed mind is continually being developed and shaped into powerful convictions that solidify values such as integrity, love and honor. However, for those whose conscience is being bombarded with the philosophies of the world – the flood of darkness has no intention of taking prisoners.

Many are saying that molding children’s thinking by forcing them to adopt someone else’s interpretations of truth is wrong even if it is the religious views of parents and church. In rare cases this may have a valid argument but when it comes to God’s absolute truth we must TEACH what we KNOW is right and be determined to NOT compromise! Yes, brother but all truth is relative. Oh really? If we trace where this type of foolish thinking originated we may not be as excited to endorse it as reliable. Satan is the author of confusion and the father of all lies. He knows all about absolute truth and his mission is NOT complicated; it is to prevent God’s wisdom from transforming the minds of the “earthlings.” The devil realizes that since humans are born with a rebellious nature against God, we are automatically gullible to philosophical opinions. The flesh nature is weak minded and vulnerable to deception which makes the devil’s mission much easier and sadly has done a fairly good job of keeping God’s truth “top secret.” But, praise God! I want to share a simple and beautiful revelation with you today; God’s Kingdom IS advancing because it CANNOT be stopped! Selah. The kingdom of sin and darkness CANNOT prevent the seeker who becomes determined to love and know God from accomplishing God’s will! Amen!

I believe there have been some breakdowns in the general church-world over the last one hundred years and I also feel in my heart there are strange spirits that are operating in some of our major denominations today. Do not misunderstand me, there are pockets of remnant disciples scattered out over the earth but generally speaking many churches have become more politically minded than Christ centered. In this light, there is a huge representation of socially acceptable religion and a very small remnant that is standing for God’s divine reality and this is something the true disciples need to comprehend. The last hour church will not be known for its SIZE but for its passion to reflect the love of Jesus and embrace His Word! So when did the church begin to lose its purpose and identity? Well, that is a good question and it might make more sense to confess that the church actually has NEVER been the spiritual force in the world like it should have been. Yes, religion has always been in the headlines while God’s people have been in their prayer closets! While the religious world has been busy looking respectful to the community, many of its families were spiritually starving. As the generations of children developed in their minds what they observed from the lethargic church and compromising parents, leaders, and mentors, it molded an undesirable view of God and deteriorated the entire idea of absolute truth. I personally believe the modern version of the religious system took a heavy hit in the 1960’s and 70’s because the enemy brought out the many different types and “calibers” of humanism with a more aggressive demonic intensity against the family and society. Could much of this have been stopped by Christians? Absolutely! Can we stop it now? We can make a huge difference by becoming determined to ACT and SAY exactly what He is speaking to us!

When we think about how life is woven together and what makes sense, we begin to notice that as complicated as the world may seem, the basic fundamentals of life are quite simple. God’s ways are precise and strict yet filled with love and forgiveness. Since humans are so simple-minded, we are faced with the hard facts that most people think like a child and act like a child. Children do not like discipline and rebellion hates to be told what to do. Concerning the carnal nature, we can say with confidence that resisting authority is always “in season.” In this way of thinking, it does not really take a lot of effort for the enemy of our soul to drive a huge “wedge” between us and God’s truth – he just needs to influence and whisper his ideas here and there to keep the fires of insubordination burning. In God’s way of thinking, He sends His Son to restore our relationship with Him and gives us a wonderful instruction manual for us to live by. His covenant explains that all we have is His and all that He has is ours. We follow His blueprint in obedience and in turn we are given the awesome opportunity and gracious blessing of Him sitting on the throne of our heart and leading our life as our Lord. Simple right? I wish I could tell you our journey is one big exciting adventure where we all ride into the sunset, BUT our road does have a few potholes and times of suffering and disappointment. This is why our conversations are so loaded with talk about trusting God! You see, faith is very dangerous to the dark kingdom which is why the liberals have been influenced so strongly to abolish and discredit the Bible. The devil has realized that if the concept of “absolute truth” can be removed from the list of “possible theories” – the floodgates of heresy can control the minds, hearts and souls of the world. Seeing this military strategy to damn the entire world to an everlasting hell SHOULD BE a sobering wake-up call for God’s people to arise and enter into spiritual warfare. When love grows cold, the burdens for souls fade away and the Bible turns into a center piece for a coffee table instead of a passionate lifestyle. This is where the infection originated; the generations were not taught how to pray or what was at stake because they only believed what they witnessed! What good have all of the millions of church services been to the world when the Christians act just like the lost? What are we accomplishing with all of our labors within the church when our most precious treasure (the children) is being taught that the Bible is a joke? When church members do not live the Christian life and allow sin to desensitize their soul, the children run out the backdoor and play with demons because they do not know the difference! The masses have been asleep so long now they don’t even remember what they were supposed to do.

Allow me to present a quote from A.W. Tozer. “If Christianity is to receive rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the last half century is to recover from the injuries she has suffered, there must appear a new type of leader. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. Another kind of spiritual leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard His voice from the Throne. When they come (and I pray to God there will be many), they will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear.” A nation founded by pilgrims who came here to worship the God of the Bible freely without interference and persecution from ruling elites and those opposed to Christianity’s influence on the culture, has now come to the proverbial fork in the road. After years of attempting to balance traditional Americana with political correctness, those pushing the new “my way or the highway” definition of “tolerance” has decided that accommodating our differences of opinion is defeat. Irrefutable history documents that the Bible and its teachings were the biggest influence on those that founded the most free and prosperous nation in human history. Yet nowadays if you believe that same Bible is true you will either silence your beliefs, or you will be silenced. The church is facing a strong uprising against what is true and the battle which lies ahead is NOT for the faint hearted. We are entering into a time when our government believes it has the power to FORCE a Christian to accept the dictates of its system agenda. The sad truth is most American Christians would prefer to leave people in their sin provided they are left alone. In God’s blueprint, that is total disobedience to the Gospel and exactly the reason why the culture is at this point in the first place. However, the message of Christmas is that God was not content to leave the world drowning in its sins, so He gave us His Son born humbly in a manger to become “God with us.” The carols are filled with anointed truth but most do not know what they are singing. Back to that proverbial fork in the road. One sign says “liberty” and the other sign says “political correctness.” Every true remnant disciple of Jesus Christ will have to choose one or the other. We can no longer have both, and the truth is we really never could. It was always going to end this way, we just didn’t want to believe it.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 50
WE WORSHIP HIM BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM

The number 50 represents the year of jubilee! Jubilee means that every 50th year all debts were automatically cancelled and every loan and obligation was paid in full. I hope that reading these collections of thoughts this year has blessed and reminded you that Jesus HAS already paid our sin debt, and when we are “released” from the bondage of sin, we are FREE to experience the joys and excitement of a rewarding spiritual life. My new book is about the “lifestyle” of worship and living in the awareness of His presence and these are areas where I need to grow stronger and more mature! FREEDOM to enjoy His abundant life is the heart of our praise to Him because we are forever grateful for His love and are filled with a burning desire to express our love and worship to His glorious Name! Go ahead, jump, sing, dance, clap and run around shouting praises to our God! He is worthy of all honor and adoration! He is exalted; He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! The stones will NOT cry out because – WE WILL WORSHIP HIM! “Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 7:12)

It is exciting to think that worship will be the “center” of all activity in heaven! For those who look forward to living with Jesus for all eternity, it would seem that praising Him would be a constant state of mind but much of the time it is not. Why? It is simple, because most of the time, He is NOT on our mind. How can we change this? By changing the way we think. But how do we do this? It is a most difficult task to re-structure and allow God to re-wire our brain and will come down to laying a new foundation where our “house” can be built; this bed-rock is God and it all hinges on us being willing to abandon our will. The “amount” of our heart we surrender will measure how filled we can be with His presence. Since we are already “living” in the Spirit realm it would only make sense that we would be starting the celebration early by worshipping Him as a lifestyle. When you examine your life today, what percentage of your heart do you feel you have given to the Lord? Selah. God’s ultimate plan is for us to empty ourselves out so that He can fill us with His Spirit until we are “overflowing.”

Worship is not an act that we do to prove how spiritual we are to everyone else – it is an honest, sincere appreciation of our love for God while developing a deeper spiritual awareness. It is a discerning attitude of the heart that expresses our passion and love for Christ beyond words by literally “living” for Him at all times. There are many questions related to what we do and why we do them but the answers are always found within our intentions. We worship Christ because we love Him above all things which leads us to confidently say that a person will not truly express their worship outwardly until they have fallen in love with Him inwardly. In this light, we can say that we can and must be consumed by Him from the inside out. When Christ is found seated on the throne of our heart as Lord and Master of our life, and then He alone will be the focus and adoration of our deepest spiritual intimacy.

When we draw from the wells of our soul, we tap into the deepest most “personal” resources of our being. Within each human conscience there are rooms and closets of secret compartments which hold thoughts that many times are never revealed or exposed. It is in these chambers of our mind that we come to terms with what we believe is true and allow our trust and love to be developed. It is in these hallowed halls of intimacy that God desires to have access and to bring His penetrating light of truth. Our heavenly Father does have an agenda and that is to literally possess us. If we can ever become determined to harness our free-will and allow Him to set-up His Kingdom within us, He can freely take control and complete His will through us. This can only happen when we become tenacious to please Him and become saturated with love for Him. The definition of tenacious is; “Steady persistence in a course of action, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles or discouragement. Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” “Lord, give us passion to become tenacious for you!” If the church would sincerely pray to become a Jesus fanatic, burdened for souls, tenacious, on fire, filled with the Holy Spirit, driven by love, seeking wisdom, to have the eyes of our heart to be opened, willing to surrender our will and serious about becoming a true disciple for Christ – we would NOT even recognize this NEW empowered church! This is a picture of the overcoming remnant warriors that will NOT fall asleep in this last hour because they love God more than their flesh!

In closing, I want to compare the attitudes of two different Bible characters which reveal the difference of intentions in the ones who truly love and worship God for who He is, and those who just want a one way ticket to heaven. If we love God with all of our mind and strength, nothing can keep us from worshipping Him. If we are just using His grace as a free reservation for Heaven’s eternal luxurious playground – nothing will inspire us to adore Him. These two passages expose the human conscience and identify why some people never think about worshipping God and others who will never stop. Let us turn to Luke chapter 18 and pick up on the story of the rich young ruler. We have heard about this all of our life and how this young man became depressed when Jesus explained what was required to follow Him. I want us to listen carefully; “And a certain ruler asked Him [Jesus], saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18) It is easy to read over this and not discern exactly what this man was asking. Sadly, it seems “eternal life” is what the masses have always been interested in and the easy version of salvation has given the “broad way” crowd just enough false security to believe that all we need to do is just understand the story of Calvary and everything will be alright. We see at the end of this meeting that Jesus perceived the pride in this man’s heart and became blunt with the divine reality of true discipleship. When this highly successful businessman weighed the cost against the scale of his love for materialism and comfortable living, he decided that the price was too expensive and that he was not willing to yield his will. Tragically, this is very common attitude among the millions that are also stumbling through life in a state of rebellion and selfishness. How often do we stop and give God praise and gratitude for what He has given and all the wonderful blessings He has for us if we will obey Him? Allow me to say, we will NOT enjoy spiritual fulfillment while living in the bondage of arrogance. Selah. Of course, we can settle for a socially acceptable religious façade – but this is NOT God’s blueprint for our destiny or how to dwell within a genuine lifestyle of worship.

Let us observe another individual as we turn the page forward to Luke chapter 19 and look closely at a man by the name of Zacchaeus. The Bible says this man was also wealthy and a leader in his community, but notice closely what he was seeking when Jesus came into his neighborhood; “And HE SOUGHT TO SEE JESUS WHO HE WAS; and could not for the pressing crowd, because he was little of stature.” (Luke 19: 3) Do you see the difference? The rich young ruler wanted to know the guaranteed way to get to heaven but this man only wanted to know the person of Jesus! These are the ones that will worship Jesus in Spirit and truth! They will be filled with the presence of God and will freely run and shout the praises of God because they have a clear conscience and a clean heart! These represent the holy, without a spot and wrinkle bride of Christ that He is soon coming back for! The disciple that has “dropped their nets” and laid down their will at the feet of Christ has a “new song” in their spirit and a love and compassion that is bursting to be poured out. These are the ones that are carrying their cross while singing “Victory in Jesus my Savior forever!” There is no army or power in the universe that can hold back their praise to the lamb that was slain! There is no problem so devastating that they cannot sing, “It is well with my soul.” There will never be a night so dark that they cannot release the light of Christ even as a candle that can be seen for miles. Whether in abundance or lack, on top of the mountain or in the valley of the shadow of death, there will be a song of triumph on their lips and the oil of gladness within their soul! All of this not evident because they have accomplished great deeds in this world, gathered empires of wealth and power, or have been recognized and respected in the halls of man’s admiration but because “They KNOW whom they have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep that which they have committed unto Him against that day.” There is an old saying that declares; “whatever is in the well will come up in the bucket” and it is with heartfelt passion and perseverance that I humbly proclaim the truth of God in saying that if we are truly the sheep of His pasture, the expression of worship will flow out of our bellies as rivers of living water that will rise as a sweet fragrance of our endless love NOT just for all that He can do – but for who He is. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him MUST worship Him in spirit and truth.” (John 4: 23-24)

“Dear Father, I am humbled in your presence. I choose to pour out my heart to you until I am empty of myself. Please fill me with your holiness, your wisdom and empower me to WALK as a representative for your Kingdom. The more I learn about you, the more I realize I know nothing. I have not been the best I can be. My mouth has spewed negativity and I have been an enemy to your cross. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me. I plead with you to not just remodel me but re-build me and renew me from the inside out. Wash me with your blood. Amen.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 49
YOU AND GOD IS A MAJORITY

The more we venture out of our cave and look around in this great big world, the more we will run into people that are hurting. Yes, there are many who are blessed and have led sheltered lives, but if we really try to look closer into other people’s situations we will notice that many have not had it so easy. Allow me say before we go any further that it is much more comfortable to live in isolation and just focus on our own needs and desires than it is to be concerned about the problems of others. It is the old idea of “out of sight – out of mind” that allows us to be free from the thoughts and worries of dysfunctional circumstances. It is amazing how us NOT knowing about suffering (whether intentionally or not) reduces our prayers into a “bless me” confession and reduces the big picture of the world’s needs into a tiny peep-hole that we seldom visit. This is a part of the church’s weakness in that it becomes so focused on the “feel good” parts that it forgets about the needy and hurting. Jesus was always more sensitive to the needs of the wounded than blending in with the political and social agendas of the imposter church.

I was thinking the other day about people like Mother Teresa that abandoned her life so that she could help others. She evidently started out with a burden and a compassionate heart and the more she became involved the more it became apparent that she had found her calling. To her, helping and giving became a revelation within her soul and I believe this should be the attitude of a true disciple of Christ. In Mark 12:43-44 we are reminded of the poor widow that gave two cents into the treasury while many of the wealthy were donating large amounts of money. “And He [Jesus] called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in ALL that she had, even all her living.” When we think of a person’s gift or calling, we usually have ideas like a profession or something we are good at and for some this may very well be the case, but allow me to say that it seems only a few ever find it or for that matter even seek for it and even if they do know it they want to control it their way. The “normal” way of thinking is to give God His portion but our true spiritual calling is to drop our nets and give Him ALL that we have.

Have you ever been at work and watched how people act and listen to what they say with the intention of trying to imagine where they are and how they got there? I have been in rooms filled with people that seemed downcast and some were outspoken about how much they hate what they are doing and where they are in general. Many people act as if they are entangled in a miserable existence like a prisoner that cannot find a way “out” of their circumstances. This helpless feeling of failure infects the conscience and the mind with emotional negativity that haunts the soul like a dark cloud of depression. If anyone has ever been there, it seems as if you are in a deep hole and you are looking up to the sky but cannot figure out how to climb out. Allow me to say, there is no hole so deep that God cannot reach you! There is no island so remote that He cannot hear your cries! There is no place so dark that God’s light cannot find you and rescue you! The God of all creation wants you to be filled with His joy but it all depends on your perception of reality. The three Hebrew children were in the fiery furnace BUT SO WAS GOD! Remember this; it is never WHERE you are that makes or breaks you – it is who you are WITH! You and God is a majority and nothing can stop you from His love and your victory!

I have been to the valley of despair; it is the most miserable place anyone could ever be. I do not enjoy anything about it and though I have never seen or felt a literal hell – I would cast my vote that depression is earth’s version of it. Have you ever noticed how discouragement paralyzes and encouragement motivates? I know what it is like to suffer emotionally and to be consumed with the torture that comes from being offended, hurt, neglected, backstabbed, deceived, not appreciated and disappointed. I realize that many have had it much worse than me and my problems have been small compared to others that have suffered a great deal nonetheless this life is filled with troubles and most of them is more than we can handle on our own. In these times of discouragement, the last thing we desire to do is to praise God, but allow me to say that praising Him is EXACTLY what we need to do when we are in these valleys of despair. At times we all wrestle with different demons and trials that cause torment within our mind and soul as they are either targeting us as victims or taunting us with our own mistakes. And while we are walking over these hot coals of pity it usually does not make us feel any better to hear the old saying, “it is not the crisis but our reaction” however, beyond the blinding pain there is a divine truth in that statement which actually holds the key that can unlock the door to our healing. Jesus stands on the other side of this door and if we can stop crying long enough and let Him in, then hopefully we can take baby steps of faith and allow Him to fix what is broken. But it seems you are taking the misery lightly and implying that the pain is not real. I am not saying the pain is imaginary or just in your head because I realize it is very real, but I would be wrong to not mention how much of it can be cast down and replaced with joy? Easy for you to say but how can words heal a human being? The greatest mystery has been unveiled and given to whosoever can invite and receive Jesus into their heart. He is THE WORD that saves the lost and His authoritive truth is much more than ink and paper. When we ingest His Word into our life by life His power is released within us to create whatever miracle we need! The good news is that when we make the conscious effort to look BEYOND the misery just for a moment, we will see within our spirit a light at the end of the tunnel which is the hand of a merciful God reaching out to us in compassion. His love can open our spiritual eyes so that we can realize how crucial it is to let go of this realm and embrace the Savior of our soul. As recipients of His patience and longsuffering we focus on the one who created us and humbly reach out and trust Him and worship His glorious beauty. When He holds us in His arms of grace we are overwhelmed in His perfect peace and strengthened with His counsel. “Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness: He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.” (Psalm 112: 4)

I realize there are chemical imbalances and psychological disorders in these fragile temples and times when we are genuinely attacked and wounded but strong soldiers cannot curl up in a fetal position in the foxhole and pull the blanket over their head. Pity parties are where the weak in faith and fearful tie a handkerchief to their machine gun and begin to wave it to the world as a message of surrender. But allow me to ask; how can battles be won when we give up on our trust and confidence in God? There is so much work for us to do in these last hours, so many souls that are watching us, so many young ones that need Jesus, so much of God’s Word that needs to be spoken. The only surrender we should ever yield to is – “not my will but thy will O God.” Giving up is not the nature of Jesus because He never bailed out on His road to Calvary! People are depending on us, they need our prayers, our time, our help and our encouragement. Yes, there will be hard times when we are punched right in the mouth and there will be seasons when we have done everything we know to do and still feel like we have failed. But in these dry and windy places that feel like the Mohave Desert we must become desperately serious about shutting ourselves in the secret place of our prayer closet and be determined to not come out until our mind is renewed and our spirit has been refreshed. After a season of mourning and grieving and feeling sorry for ourselves there must also be a time to arise, wash our face and put our armor back on and return to the battlefield in the confidence that God wants to work through us and be seen in us for HIS glory!

How many will discover the revelation of seeing themselves in the telescope of the “big picture” instead of focusing in the microscope of self? People who believe that everything revolves around them, who are self-centered and are always only concerned about their feelings usually have a pocket full of tickets to ride the roller coaster of disappointment and negativity. At times I have been one of these people and it is amazing how I could not see how self-centered I could be. Serving the god of “self” is a sin of idolatry. We all need not just a revelation of Jesus Christ but a revelation of our own heart. Selah. First we must desire to see the reality within our conscience, second we must be willing to deal with it and third we must be ready to pay the price to be transformed. It is unpopular to acknowledge but many times our frustrations are the result of not cooperating with God’s intervention. One of the best ways to snap out of depression is to get up and go somewhere with the intent of helping someone. Pull yourself away from the mirror long enough to see how others are living and your problems will begin to fade. Walk through a children’s cancer ward at a hospital or read foxes book of martyr’s and all of a sudden you may think your life is not really as bad as you thought it was. Go out and buy some cards and send them to those you know with no hidden motives. Donate food to a God’s pantry or buy a needy child a toy and give it to them in the name of the Lord or give a donation to the Bible league so that people around the world can know Jesus. I encourage you to simply take a pen and paper, and write down as many of your blessings you can think of and within no time at all you will see yourself in the divine reality the way God see’s you!

If we do not learn from our trials then our distress has been a waste. Selah. Crisis situations are opportunities to put our faith and patience to work! How can we be defeated when God is for us and working constantly on our behalf? He was even involved in the middle of Job’s trial. Maybe the reason we struggle is because we are fighting Him for the steering wheel. If we let Him drive I believe we would be more likely to enjoy the ride, don’t you? Is there such a thing as counting it all joy when the blacksmith is holding us to the fire and shaping us with His hammer? I’m not saying it is easy but actually, yes. If we KNOW that God is making us into what He has called us to be – we can count it all joy! We may suffer trauma, turmoil or even persecution and no doubt it is all uncomfortable but we must eventually get back up and dust ourselves off in order to get back into the race. Remember when the blacksmith is finished with his piece he does not throw it in the corner and forget about it. He has worked hard to produce his vision because he intends to use it for his specific purpose. God knew you and planned you before the foundation of the world and has been taking care of all the fine details to bring you to this place and has every intention to use you NOW more than ever before! He is trying day and night to polish you and challenge you to be a strong and effective instrument to accomplish His purposes. Sure, the world is falling apart because of sin but that is exactly why we cannot afford to throw in the towel. Do not allow unforgiveness, bitterness or being offended to render you powerless. “No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.” (Mark 3:27) YOU ARE the strong man and whenever you become discouraged, your pity binds you and holds you captive to the enemy that desires to control your mind and life! True healing is all about forgiveness, letting go, turning the page and continuing to move forward. To remain wounded and bitter is to be plagued with the ongoing torture of emotional and spiritual infection. It is time to advance to the next level of maturity and let the wounds turn to scars (from the inside out) that remind us how God is our “Jehovah Rapha.” The deeper the pain the more valuable the lesson and as you learn from the trials, allow them to build your character and wisdom so you can teach from your experiences. Step back and see that life is all about becoming what Jesus died for us to be and how effective we can be used to help others do the same. God would love to use us if we could only stop thinking about ourselves! Ask for wisdom, Watch for His unseen hand and listen intently for His still small whisper. “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction.” (Proverbs 3:11)

“Father, we ask you to help us to the next level. We believe that a touch from your Spirit can open the eyes of our heart and rekindle our fire for you. If these two things are not changed – neither will we! RADICAL love comes from radical prayer! We do not need a face-lift – we need a total REBUILD! It is all about your love and your anointing because without it we are powerless. Energize us, motivate us, IGNITE us so that we might IGNITE others to seek your face and engage into being a Jesus fanatic! In your holy Name we ask, amen.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 48
BEING SAVED FROM OURSELVES

Do you have a burden for souls? When you are in a huge crowd of people, do you ever wonder about the lost and how many do not know Christ? Have you ever thought about the amount of people in the world that do not know Jesus? When we were little children, we sang songs and confessed in Sunday school about how we were going to let, “this little light of mine” shine so that everyone would be able to “see” Christ in our life. We have been taught that our life can be used by God as a “witness” to minister His gospel to all who are lost. And we know that the heart of evangelism is all about spreading His Word and that through His conviction He knocks on the hearts door of the “whosoever wills” with a loving invitation to accept Him. I can honestly say that I have failed many times to represent the Lord with my best behavior. I have had some success throughout the years and on certain occasions I believe the Lord did use me however; I know there is also much room for improvement. Even beyond the witnessing, I am looking deeper into my life and trying to see the bigger picture of where I am and what I am doing. I have found a wonderful little church that is excited and on fire for Jesus and I thank the Lord for guiding me there. I am starting to get involved and it feels good since I have been taking a break from church for the last few years. I opened the service the other night and felt the Lord was saying that many people are hurting and worried so I took a few moments to just encourage the body and prayed a blessing over them. I have been thinking this week about my blessings and it occurred to me that it does not take much to get me upset. When I think I am having a crisis, many times it matters very little and this causes me to wonder how I would react to something very serious like the economy collapsing or a crisis of this magnitude. I have written many messages and songs throughout the years that contain God’s truth – I just need to walk what I know and allow these messages to penetrate and saturate my own heart and soul.

Praise the Lord, Ignite church has seen 26 people accept Christ over the last 4 months and this is awesome! Most of the time when we think about evangelism, we are faced with the reality that many people are just not interested, so it is amazing to hear about God drawing people by HIS power! People tell me all the time that in the place where they work, the co-workers run away whenever someone mentions the name “Jesus”. You would think that as difficult that life is, the world would be running “toward” the God that has the solution to every problem and the answer to every question. Of course I am concerned because this burden reaches into much of my family, my wife’s family and those we are acquainted with. My first thoughts are that I am failing as a representative of God’s Kingdom and this makes me feel sad because the most effective deed I can do (prayer) is the very thing I struggle with! I am aware that in the end of the age there will be many that will suffer a terrible consequence for their rejection of Jesus as their Lord but just how much responsibility will we have because we failed to pray? Have you ever wondered how all of these people will ever hear the gospel? Most of them have probably heard it before and are living on the thin ice of mercy and we can also agree that the doors of opportunity will only be open as the Lord allows. But, the sobering facts about those we care deeply about is that as they close as their conscience the tenderness of their heart becomes more clouded and spiritually desensitized. Christ will not force Himself upon those who do not want Him and only He knows the amount of times He will offer His salvation to an individual. His Word is the POWER unto salvation but He calls everyone to make the decision TODAY. Each day that passes without being transformed, the heart “sets-up” and grows harder like concrete or glue and becomes more calloused with sin. Each hour without Jesus, a person falls deeper into the dark abyss and it will take a longer “lifeline” to reach them. Selah. Does this mean that a more fervent intercession is required for an older person? Maybe, because an older person becomes so molded in their ways and defiant, they are more likely to dismiss the idea of being changed and spiritually “transformed.” It is God’s perfect justice and judgment that manages His grace as His foreknowledge allows Him to know the ones that will never respond to His love.

Have you ever thought that the human brain is so independent and the will is so strong that it is a HUGE miracle when anyone is saved? Only God’s power could cause a spirit to be transformed and a mind to be renewed (re-programmed). I have heard people say that it is offensive for anyone to probe or ask another person about their spirituality. They say that what we believe is a private matter and that it is no one’s business what another person believes. I am sure that if I took a survey this view would be a common response but what are we to do with this? We are from another dimension – this world is not our home. We now have an agenda and that is to be used as a constant missionary within the framework of divine appointments. Our mind is to be focused on the job at hand and out heart is to be submissive to God’s instructions. We do not have time to be a hypocrite or friends with the world’s system. We cannot be what Jesus died for us to be and entangled with the distractions of this life at the same time. We only have a certain amount of time and only one life to accomplish our mission. For some reason we have been convinced that we can be an “under-cover” agent for God and not reveal our identity until we are in heaven. This is NOT the way it works! Allow me to say and hopefully encourage everyone within the sound of my voice; if you were planning on doing something – the time is NOW! If you cannot afford it – sell whatever it takes to finance it! If you are afraid – pray and fast until you become filled with Holy Ghost boldness! If you are overwhelmed with excuses to not step out by faith and accomplish your mission – seek God’s face until you are saturated with the revelation of His direct command for your life! If you KNOW what you have been called to do and are NOT doing it – you are in disobedience and God is not happy with you. If you do not know what he has called you to do, it means that you are not interested enough to find out. This means God is still disappointed in you and is waiting patiently for you to get your act together. Of course we do not have the time! Our lives are packed with all of the things we want instead of what God wants. In order to become a disciple we must drop what we are doing and “follow” Him. Why do you think He made sure to record Him “calling” His disciples? So that we could see the concept of sacrifice and the seriousness of commitment! We have every intention of doing everything we want first – and in the end we try to squeeze something in for God. The tragic deception is how the masses believe that God will overlook our wrong priorities. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (I John 2:15-16)

I realize this is a very hard subject but I am also a firm believer in opening our eyes and heart to the truth. We have mentioned before about how we all want to think that everyone goes to heaven because it gives us peace (whether it is true or not). The true reality is that only a small percentage of people are truly born again and that the majority will spend eternity without God. I am not trying to be negative but I must include that God’s true salvation also does not spread like a contagious disease but rather is usually a very small, personal experience that happens to only a few here and there. We notice that in the world today, the Muslim religion seems to be growing rapidly but this has nothing to do with God’s plan of redemption. The Muslim idol is a false deity that is from Satan and is growing because of the multitudes of blind and ignorant humans. The God of heaven loves everyone and desires to save the lost, but very strong demonic deception continues to keep the masses in bondage to the devils lies. I was on vacation recently and as we were passing through a small town in Alabama, I saw where a church youth group was having a car-wash and a man was standing on the side of the road preaching and pointing to His Bible. This was to communicate that God and His Word is the only way to eternal life and that Christ died that we might be saved. I believe those saints that become “overwhelmed” with the burden for souls feel that if they do not do “something” they will explode. These are the ones who might write everyone they know a personal letter about why Jesus came to earth. Or they may actually gather the courage and go out on a corner and preach a message. Some try to communicate God’s truth through music or art or writing books because an attribute of being saved is the burden to give others the cure that can heal them. If there was a pandemic and you had the cure but just continued to mingle among the sick without helping them, it would be like you were getting some sort of twisted pleasure from seeing them suffer. I am convinced the reason why we are not more effective as evangelists is because we do NOT have our priorities where they need to be. I promise you that if anyone was seriously dedicated to being used as a sower of the seed – the results would be miraculous. I personally have had “small” seasons of soul-winning in my life and I can testify that it was amazing. The reason I say small is because the enemy has always attacked me very violently and derailed me every time I seem to develop some evangelistic momentum. I remember years ago, I was interceding and being anointed to witness to several people at work and one man that was an agnostic was actually beginning to respond with questions. I could sense in the Holy Spirit that the Lord was convicting Him and I was very excited with what was happening. The next day I was injured in an accident at work and was out for about a month. During this time he drifted back into his defiance and showed no interest at all after I returned to work. I also remember another story that had a happier ending with me talking to young man over the course of a couple of weeks. This man was so under conviction that he was having dreams and was noticeably shaken with God’s power until we ended up sitting in his car one day and I led him to the Lord. He was weeping and laughing at the same time and I was convinced this was a genuine conversion. I remember coming home that afternoon and falling on my face with overwhelming joy from what I had experienced. It is so inspiring to actually be a part of God’s plan and to literally see the mercy and grace of God intervene into someone’s life. It was very soon after this that the devil attacked him and he was fired and I lost contact with him. Satan hates the intercessors and will pull out the “big guns” to try and stop evangelism. Praise God, let it be known that the Lord will step in and make a way for His Word to NOT return void and will defend, protect, guard, and provide whatever is necessary to accomplish His will! Amen! I am sure that many of you have been used in leading others to Christ and can relate to I am saying about the intense battles and joyous victories.

Our adversary is more clever than we think! It is true, we are not to be paranoid all the time but it is wise to use discernment as an asset to staying in God’s presence. This acknowledgment of the devil’s sneakiness and ability to roam around the earth causing trouble is not meant to glorify Satan, but to understand his strategy so that we will not be deceived. For example, instead of taking away the things we love, he actually wants us to be “consumed” by them. Instead of making us poor, it is not beyond his power to help us become wealthy and be so absorbed in the pleasures of this life that we never even think about God. The devil is a relentless influence that desires for us to fall into the attitude of taking everything in our life for granted. Walking in carnality that dominates our mind and will is the evidence of a mediocre, lukewarm existence that has no passion, motivation or sympathy for anything or anyone. It is the mentality and spirituality of being spiritually neutral and sadly this is where many people live. When most people hear about God their attitude is they can take Him or leave Him – it really does not matter. If we take a closer look at the condition of our world, we will discover the average person does not realize they have been caught in this delusional spider web of darkness. Soaking in the negative information that the world spews out continually can shape and harden a heart until a protective wall is built in the name of self-preservation. This is actually a false sense of security whose roots run deep in the abundance of selfishness which is the opposite of a Godly nature. Most people take for granted they will have plenty of time to pray before they die.

So, for us who know about praying for the lost and the gift of salvation, allow me to ask a simple question; do you believe one person can pray another person into the Kingdom? And if this is true, just how much prayer and what kind of praying would it take to do it? I am sitting here tonight with my eyes welling up with tears because I honestly believe that nothing is impossible with prayer. What about you, do you think your prayers could be used to save souls? I know I have said this before, but if I REALLY believed that my prayers would play a part in the salvation of a loved one – then I need to do it! And if I choose not to become diligent in this task then I have failed at much more in life than I realize! When will I stop being concerned about so many things that mean very little while ignoring my highest obligations?

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR OUR LIFE
PART 47
JESUS LOVES TO TRANSFORM

I was listening to a sports show the other day and they were interviewing a coach that was talking about how talented and strong his team was. They had been playing some weaker teams and dominating them, but at the end of his comments he mentioned something that I thought was very interesting. He said what they needed was some adversity to wake them up! He concluded that so far, the season had been too easy and he was worried they would become complacent with all of the prosperity and relaxation. He said they needed a real challenge by playing a more difficult opponent that would “push them” into playing with more passion. I thought about this and how it relates to our Christian journey. It seems when things are going good, we naturally slide into a lackadaisical attitude where we forget about being on guard and begin daydreaming about the pleasures of the flesh. Have you ever noticed that when you are going through a dark valley you are more serious about prayer and spending time with God? It is true that He wants to bless us in the good times but is also willing to pick us up after we have been run over by a truck because He loves to see us “learn” from our experiences as we go deeper in our relationship with Him. He is concerned much more about how close we are to Him in the Spirit realm than what we want in the natural realm. We just cannot seem to comprehend that our carnality is NOT our best friend neither does it have our best interest in mind. I admit it is difficult to live a disciplined life, but discipline is a pillar within the foundation and character of God. He loves it when we have exhausted our resources, our strength, our connections and how smart we think we are because that is when we fall on Him in total faith and release our deepest love.

When Lucifer became filled with the sin of pride as the beautiful, leader of the angels in heaven, God was disappointed that he rebelled and had to be cast out. I’m sure He was sad that His creation had turned corrupt however God is so AWESOME and perfect, He was still able to incorporate the idea of a negative influence. The story of Lucifer sounds like a fictitious parable but it actually happened. Satan actually has very little power because he can only do what God allows him to do. He uses cheap sales pitches to deceive the masses that do not know any better but the spiritual “reality” is that He is being used to accomplish God’s work in the earth! I am not saying the enemy does not use temptation to deceive the world but he is actually only persuading the carnal nature of man to continue in their default lifestyle of sin. “And we know that ALL things work together for the good to those who love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) This means that even when man takes the bait and falls on his face in failure that God can still use whatever pieces are left of a shattered life and use it for His glory! Amen! For example, if a person falls into a terrible drug addiction, overdoses and by a miracle escapes dying, it has been known for people like this to become a very powerful voice against drugs and can help many turn away from these destructive lifestyles. Of course we reminded of the Apostle Paul when before he became a Christian he was a fierce opponent of Christianity and actually had many innocent people killed. When he received Christ into his heart, he turned into one of the strongest representatives of God’s Kingdom and led many to salvation. When humans do not have the knowledge of divine truth, their views can be persuaded – and it is within these deceptions that mankind destroys himself and those around him. It is obvious that many are caught in the spider web of confusion not because they are “possessed” but rather are being mentally and emotionally “swayed” by the lack of holy knowledge. My question today is how can we break their trance and be used to make a difference in the destiny of people? Can our prayers of faith generate enough power to change them?

I believe that God has always desired for His people to pray even in the Old Testament. I believe God listens to prayer and that faith moves Him to do miracles. Not necessarily that prayers of faith actually change God’s mind about the way He has decided to do things but it is commonly believed that faith is “finding” the mind of God and praying according to HIS will. We do NOT believe that God just makes decisions on the fly because He has seen the paths and situation in every life from before they were born. God PLANS are connected to His omniscience which means He knows everything past and future. He knows what He wants to see happen – and how it is actually going to happen. May we agree that many times these are NOT the same? Selah. It may be true how Adam and Eve lost the closeness of their relationship with Father but where does it say that He stopped intervening in their lives? When Jesus rose from the dead He restored authority to the believers and filled them with His power and presence but He also included our free-will. Father desires that we grow strong and aggressive toward the devil, to crush his head and destroy his influence and I am sure He wants this – but the question of the hour is, do we believe we can do this and do we really want to?

Here is another example of how things do not always turn out the way our heavenly Father plans. The Lord gives the miracle of life and a special baby boy grows up as a cute, normal child and becomes a man. God watches Him throughout his life and desires to get his attention but he hangs around the wrong crowd and eventually joins a gang. God knows that one day he will be filled with rage, buy a gun, become involved with terrible crimes and eventually be killed. Now, we all know that for him to be possessed or influenced with evil was NOT God’s predestined path. The Lord did not lead this man, help him or bless him to become a gangster, but because of someone NOT intervening in prayer – plus the reality of this man’s carnal free-will, the outcome was tragic. It is true that Father allowed it and could have stopped it, but in many cases He obviously leaves much of this world’s spiritual developments to the power of intercession. If SOMEONE had taken the time to fervently pray for him instead of just confirming how bad the situation was, I believe that God would have performed miracles and divine appointments and that particular destiny would have been changed. How can I say that? Because we have learned that God reacts with our faith and the principals of His truth. Father listens to our intercessions and His power intervenes with super-natural manifestations! Was there someone in this man’s network of friends and family that could have stood in the gap for him? Was there a Christian in that network that was just so busy with their own cares that they did not pay attention to God’s calling? Maybe the Lord was trying to give someone a burden for this young man but their selfish comfort zone protected them from His still small voice. In this situation who is more guilty; the lost gangster who did not stop to listen to the voice of God or the saint that did not assume his responsibility or respond to the voice of God concerning the man? Selah.

Now brother, we all know that God has a perfect plan and that everything is progressing accordingly to His will! Well, I in no way intend to be disrespectful to God in any way or to you in your views, but there may be some problems in our theology. I believe that God is sovereign and there are “certain” things that are written in stone and nothing can stop them. However, I am not convinced that everything goes according to the desires, dreams, visions and plans of God. He KNOWS the FUTURE of everything but sometimes people make bad choices and do not follow His perfect will. I believe some things are predestined and some things are left up to our choice and only He knows why and how much! For the most part, He waits for our prayers so that He can intervene and change situations. Father is Omnipotent and Omniscient which means He is the LORD and has authority over all things. His foreknowledge of the future reveals that He is never surprised but it does not imply He is not disappointed with our decisions. Remember He grew angry at the world’s inhabitants in the days of Noah and destroyed much of His creation (and even regretted that He had made them). I am sure He was also sad at having to do that, but He knew that humanity had drifted out of control and was at the point of no return. He does not enjoy bringing judgment no more than we enjoy spanking our children but our actions always cause His reaction whether good or bad. Selah. Can we pray and increase the level of God’s presence in His churches? Yes. Can we pray for lost souls and be used in divine appointments to lead others to Christ? Yes. Can our investment of time in intercession make a difference in the lives of those in our network? Yes! Can our prayers for those for who sick and going through crisis help them experience victory? Yes! Can our prayers cause us to become filled with the nature and character of God? Yes! Do these questions stir us or convict us at all? “Father we fall before you and repent. We cry out to you and ask for your mercy. We have sinned with our selfishness and pride. We have sinned with our laziness and rebellion. We have loved our flesh so much and become numb to caring about others. Please, Oh God, melt our hardness and cause us to become tender and sensitive to you and your people. If we do not love you or others enough to pray, then how can we call ourselves a Christian? The more we seek you the more we will find you. May we not be able to sleep at night until we have made things right with you. Chastise us, awaken us, and do whatever it takes to get our attention about surrendering ALL to you. It is in your holy precious name we pray, amen.”

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 46
A SATISFIED YOU vs. A POSSIBLE YOU

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may KNOW what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” (Ephesians 1:17-18)

So who is this “possible person” I am searching for? Can I identify him or her? Can I see or know who this unique individual is and what he or she will become? We have asked these questions all year and hopefully we are closer to the answer than when we started. Only you can realize the difference between the “satisfied you” and the “possible you” because you are the one that can decide whom you will serve. Only you can choose vision of your destiny and act on it! If we allow our will to be in control we will never accomplish God’s plan. We may do many things but He will not be impressed or pleased. Only you can stop your will from controlling your mind and only you can take a serious look at God’s blueprints for you future and begin to dig the foundation of your new life!

If you have not noticed yet, this message is about personal transformation. Let us realize that a library of inspirational books would not scratch the surface about this topic. It is no secret that the spirit of slumber can contaminate our soul and frequently invites guest into our life such as laziness, lethargy, a hard heart and a general attitude of I don’t care. Why is this? I believe it is worth the time to look in the mirror and notice a serious habit that we just seem to “naturally” develop and that is our love for security. We work all day and tolerate many things that we do not enjoy which causes us much stress and anxiety. Then, what do we all look forward to doing when our day is finished? We long to go to our cozy little house, pull the shades, lock the doors and enjoy the comfort and safety of our “refuge.” Brother, are you implying that this might be a bad thing? Not unless it causes us to develop a shortage of love. How so? If we allow our mind to retreat into a world of private isolation, we can subconsciously learn to avoid contact with others. These feelings can grow stronger until we actually enjoy being with ourselves more than being with others which in turn causes us to NOT think about people or care about them. When we stop for a moment and consider the negative results of such a lifestyle, we know this is a direct reason why we do not PRAY like we should. Prayer is a result of love. The more we love the more we pray! A wonderful first step toward personal transformation would be to ask God to give us a burden for souls and a stronger love for others than we have for ourselves. Selah.

If you are serious about change, it would be wise to search within your past to find certain events that has greatly influenced your direction. If your life is not going like you know it should, you can trace your steps until you find where you drifted away from your destiny. For example, negative comments that were said by others may have been seeds that produced discouragement and these distorted thoughts became absorbed and accepted into your state of being. In more severe cases we know that rejection for any reason can affect the way we think and have a major impact on our personality and decisions. Being abused is another huge wound that can distort our mind and cause us to live in a “matrix” world that is filled with lies, fear, distrust, anxiety, depression and anger just to name a few. You must not only “see” that this is a major reason why you are the way you are because people usually know “why” they are struggling, but it is the determination to go through God’s “rehab” program of forgiveness and restoration that seems like climbing a mountain that has no peak! You may be disappointed about HOW the Lord has “molded” you and are struggling with the idea of forgiveness. Maybe a lack of confidence or a lack of understanding has cost you dearly and now you wish you could go back and do things differently while the devil harasses you about it being too late. Have you ever felt condemned because of something you have done in your past that keeps haunting you and beating you down with shame? Allow me to say that whatever is hindering you from living in God’s perfect peace and FREEDOM is a weapon of condemnation from Satan to keep the strongman in bondage! If he can keep you in the darkness of intimidation, he can prevent the miracle of God’s healing power being manifested in you and likewise ruin your potential of becoming a victorious overcomer. Remember, the Lord’s truth is the most powerful light in the universe that is trying to get your attention so that He can teach you His Word. Understanding His covenant promises will “unlock” spiritual doors to a new reality of power and liberty that He intended for you to walk in. However, in order to change the way you are from this time forward, you must see the “satisfied you” as the way you USED to be and embrace the “possible you” as the way you CAN be! Amen!

The Lord wants to challenge us! He loves to provoke us because it makes us THINK! How can we progress if we do not meditate? How can we evolve without becoming saturated with His wisdom? Here are three distinct developmental phases of life that we can learn and implement in order to achieve our goals. The first part is what I will call the “satisfied you” and is everything about you that makes up how, why and who you are now. This current, “real time” you, is the result of all that you have done whether good or bad, how you have interpreted it, how you have formed your views and has become a perfect snapshot of your state of being. The second part of this triangle is the “possible you.” This is something you may have dreamed about or possibly something you have never seen or thought about before. You see, some people live from day to day and are completely content to allow the “default system” to mold them into whatever and guide them wherever. This manifestation of a dormant soul has not been pre-destined for mediocrity but has been placed in neutral by the “will” as a choice. Dwelling in the proverbial “comfort zone” is an easy place to live which includes lots of pleasure and relaxation but not much thinking, just enough work to get by, and of course intentional distraction. The “satisfied you” chooses to live in a self-induced coma because it is a wonderful way to play hide and seek with accountability, responsibility and destiny. However, beyond all the game playing there is a hidden revelation of hope. We can stay a caterpillar all of our life and eat and sleep for 90 years WITHOUT becoming what Christ died for us to be, OR we can go through the larvae stage of transformation and develop into a new creation that soars into the heavenlies. We already have the green light from the creator to spread our wings, but until we are “ignited” with His passion and inspired with His faith – we will be like an airplane that is too heavy with doubt and fear to lift off the ground! The third part is the most difficult part. It is the decision whether or not you actually want to change. If you do – you must become determined to see yourself the way God sees you. We must make a holy VOW to God and ourselves that we will do whatever it takes to allow His supernatural transformation to become a divine reality within us. If you have decided to follow Jesus from the inside out – then prepare your life to be turned upside down. Selah.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 45
GOD INVITES BUT DOES NOT FORCE!

The Lord is very interested in us. He created us and everyone knows that whatever you create, you watch it, protect it and are proud of it. God listens to every word we say and knows every thought we have. He would love to help us change but He is waiting patiently for us to come to the point that we call on Him to help us. However, it is MORE than just saying words…it is meaning it with our heart. We must be completely focused in faith and ready to surrender our will to His will. Change is God’s specialty but if we are not serious, He is not deceived. He loves us so much that He cannot compromise. Go before Him with a broken and contrite heart and He will flood your heart with His power and wisdom. Is God or your flesh in control? There is literal misery living with the internal conflict of regret. Anger and resentment toward our own decisions we have made can torment our conscience and directly affect how we think about our future. Discouragement can become so heavy that it can convince us that we cannot become anything more than what we already are. This self-image of low esteem is related to depression and hopelessness and has no place in the life of the believer. We all have times of feeling down but this is usually the result of taking our eyes from Christ and looking at the stormy waves and wind. Remember, when John kept his eyes on Jesus he walked on the water but when he allowed fear to overwhelm him, he began to sink. It is crucially important that we stop living in denial and ask God for the courage to lay ALL of our cards on the table. Taking a personal inventory of our heart is a great place to start because it reveals what you have and what you need. Examining our conscience is like taking inventory and launching a strategy proposal so that we know where we are and where we need to be? Instead of living with our head in the sand and allowing our negative emotions to control our destiny, it is time to push “satisfied-self” off the throne and invite Christ to be our Lord and King. This is not easy, in fact it will take our entire life to learn and develop into this way of living. Harvesting has to do as much with planting words as it does a crop in the fields, and if we allow heaviness and sadness to be planted in the rich soil of our conscience, we can be sure that if we water them with doubt and negative confession, a huge crop of oppression will flourish. These dark clouds can block the beautiful rays of light from God’s Son and deceive us into thinking that we are a failure or that our labor is nor desired or appreciated. Satisfied-self is always ready to give up and forget about trying to persevere because it is an extension of the old carnal nature and it has every intention to dominate our thought life until we become determined to do something about it. Until the vision and desire of the possible self becomes stronger than the “established” satisfied self – we will stay the same! You will never be the person you desire to be unless you can “see” the possible you with the eyes of your spirit. Selah.

The most important aspect of the metamorphous process is to make certain that the individual you see is the person God has called you to be. Freewill has been given to each man and woman but as Christians this does not mean we can become whatever WE want to be. When we were redeemed with the blood of Jesus, this meant that we were literally purchased from the eternal legalities of spiritual law. In other words we were all doomed because of the curse of the fall to be hopelessly destined to everlasting punishment and separation from God. Within this purchase agreement there is a covenant vow that declares that everything God has is ours and all that we have is His. We have no problem dancing and shouting about inheriting the riches of heaven but become selective when it comes to surrendering our most loved possession. And what exactly is that? I thought you would never ask – our will. We want to enjoy unlimited natural and spiritual blessings while still clinging to the freedom to do whatever we want. This is not going to work! He is not blind nor deceived to our game playing. Since He bought us and that means He now owns us. We can play around all we want but the true reality is that He wants our intentions, motives, desires, energy, dreams, plans, hopes, visions, and decisions which sums up in one word; our heart. Until we “see” this divine revelation we will always think that we are in charge of our own destiny and that we can do anything in our own strength and courage. This is a twisted view of the successful life. The truth is that we must see exactly what God has designed for us to be and with His anointing and intervention He will bless our labor and faith in order to accomplish HIS will in our life for HIS glory! Getting all the pieces arranged correctly is crucial when it comes to being truly blessed and victorious.

“IF my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14)

This has been a popular verse for many years and is one of the strongest and clearest encouragements for the body of Christ when it comes to repentance and prayer. It has mostly been used in the context of God’s children being re-dedicated back to God so that He can deliver them from the hardships and difficulties resulting from sin. However, I do not believe it would be wrong to allow this verse to also be used as a meditation and confession about walking with Him as lifestyle. Instead of thinking exclusively about God bringing restoration and blessings to a nation as a whole, we could pray that God would align our will with His will so that His purpose can be manifested IN US personally! I realize that trying to understand the hidden mysteries of how God operates behind the scenes will take more than just “surface mining.” I also believe that we can see and hear many things with our spiritual eyes and ears – IF they are open. As always, He is willing to bend over backwards to help us, but He is “limited” by what we allow Him to do. Yes, I know it sounds disrespectful and blasphemous, but I am convinced we can prevent God from accomplishing His desires in us.

Brother God can do anything and everything – He is God! How dare you even mention the possibility that there may be something He cannot do if He wants to do it! He is the creator of all things and His sovereignty gives Him the authority to decide all things and makes Him in total control! Well, it is not my intention to take anything away from the glory and splendor of God’s majesty, but truth has the power to set people free from their ignorance and the bondages that result from the lack of knowledge. Take this verse for example; It begins with a very important word, “IF”. Just this first word indicates that it is the decision of the people that will depend on whether God intervenes a little, some or not at all. We must be in agreement that God always wants to forgive and bless, but He does not “make” people repent! In this light, we must also agree that God does not always see His will accomplished every time in everyone. I understand how unusual this sounds but there are times when He is disappointed and saddened about the choices people make. You can go through the entire Bible and see the numerous situations where individuals made the wrong choices and suffered the consequences of disobedience. God was with them, trying to warn them and help them, but their free-will gave them the power to control their destiny. So why am I saying all this? I am trying to put the spotlight on the fact that everything that happens is not necessarily God’s fault, but rather WE have direct responsibility when it comes to running and winning the race of life. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily beset (harass, tempt, attack, afflict, trouble, oppress, plague, torment) us, and let us RUN with patience the RACE that is set before us.” (Hebrews: 12:1) It is NOT God’s desire that we partake in sin and allow our life to become so entangled with carnality that we cannot run. Likewise, it is not God’s fault that we finish our life in disappointment, sadness and failure. You see, the miracle we are looking for is within our own heart. We just need to understand how it can be manifested through God’s power and for His glory. In this light it may be possible that we are holding back our own victory with refusing to let go of our favorite sin.

Sometimes we think about our spiritual life and do a quick summary of how we are doing and usually we come up with a general clean bill of health. Of course our flesh is often the doctor in charge and his opinions are of course biased according to his own convictions. This old nature is a happy go lucky type that never sees the harm in doing anything as long as it gives pleasure to the body. Instead of being disappointed at being deceived, the flesh is actually content with it because it simply means that it does not have to worry or stress over reality. In fact the flesh is so determined to avoid reality that it cannot stand to be anywhere that is quiet. Why? Because when it is quiet the old nature is afraid that we will hear God’s voice and that we might be drawn to His presence. If this is given a chance to evolve, the heart just might reach out by faith and accept the love of God which will destroy the stronghold of the old nature and replace him with a new Lord and Master of the soul. It is clear why the flesh loves to live in the darkness and saturate itself in the chaos of noise and distraction. The truth is that most of the time we are not doing well within our heart and we have issues that need to be dealt with. Only when we become serious with our relationship with God and have a passion to become more pure will we ever come closer to His flame.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR OUR LIFE
PART 44
FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

As the armies of the world gather to make war against Christ in the name of Satan, Jesus has no other choice than to crush them with His power and purify what sin has ruined. Allow me to ask, could the widespread infection of corruption have been held in check if Christians had taken prayer seriously? I believe so. There is a huge difference between God predetermining the fate of the world and knowing how the world would eventually “choose” their destiny. Selah. Since God is the ultimate authority and has the power to change anything, I believe we could agree that prayers of faith are designed to unite WITH the will of God as He said He was willing that none perish! When people are convicted by the Holy Spirit through prayer and God’s Word, they are candidates for change and when people change – situations and circumstances change. In other words, if the world was saturated with prayer, God could pour out His super-natural miracles and bring healing into the world, but since there is just a tiny amount of prayer, the world has turned into a savage monster and will be destroyed. Could we have at least made a difference in our network? Absolutely! Great news! It is not too late to re-dedicate our life to prayer life and follow Jesus more intensely – and hopefully more souls will be rescued before it is too late.

You see, God is the ultimate ruler of heaven and earth but He operates through human agents. Most all of the blessings, opportunities or “doors” that are crucially important for us to receive in our faith visions are controlled by those in authority over certain portals. We have experienced the reality of how certain windows can open and how others are locked as the world’s resources are managed within the limitations of God’s will. For example, everyone realizes the Kingdom of God requires huge amounts of finances because there is so much to do and everything is very expensive. And how many times have God’s people had a burden for a project and (as they became convinced of God’s instructions) devoted themselves to serious prayer and fasting and PRAISE GOD someone donates exactly what they need! How did these strangers find out about the situation and what convicted them to release such a huge blessing? You guessed it – Prayer.

Much of the church is asleep which makes them responsible that the wicked has become the dominant majority? It is the church’s fault that our government operates with the devil! We can talk all day about what people used to do and what they used to be but the truth is that Christians did NOT stand up for what was right and as sin took over THEIR life it became easy to wink at sin everywhere! When Christian families compromise God’s truth, the demonic forces grow into a rebellion whose agenda is to destroy the human race. Many Christians have become lukewarm and allowed the thief to bind them and ransack their homes, families, churches and nation! The masses rebelled against God and refused to sacrifice their sinful pleasures. Playing footsy with Satan has opened the floodgates of hell upon this country and ultimately upon the world. It was not God’s perfect will, but once again He is coming back to clean up the mess. Amen!

What can we do? There is HOPE! We can begin today to convert our fears into faith! I hear people all around me every day murmuring and criticizing in anger about hating where they work, the government, the economy and so on, but if all of that energy was transformed into fervent prayer, it would have the potential for changing the way things are – to the way they should be! If each Christian would develop a prayer journal for their personal network of associations, the world would be a different place! Do you really believe that? Who cares enough about people, neighbors, family, the government, the churches, pastors, missionaries, and all those in need that they will spend their evenings in the secret place with God instead of being entertained? If you knew that your prayers could really change other people’s lives – would you do it? The problem is that in order to pray, a person must allow themselves to undergo a total self-examination of their own heart and life. They must empty themselves of the carnality and allow God’s light of LOVE to flood their soul. It is much easier to shake your fist in disgust at the failures of the world than to close your mouth and put on the prayer garment of humility and compassion. The mind must be renewed through the wisdom of truth of God’s Word and then with repentance the heart can be filled with the power and confidence of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is a very serious approach to God’s throne and only with holy sincerity can we connect with His presence. No doubt that is why there is way more talking about prayer than actually praying. How many will pay the high price of intercession? Love is the foundation for praying which is why praying has dried up like a river bed in the desert. Our love, respect and trust has drained out of our hope container and the lethargic attitude of “I don’t care anymore” is spreading like a plague! This dangerous feeling of depression can bleed over from our emotions into our spirit and cause us to backslide away from God. The intention from Satan is to amplify disappointment and hopelessness in the heart of the saint for the purpose of causing lukewarmness. What will it take to get our “caring” level up to where it is supposed to be? Yes once again – prayer.

Here is a key point; no one has ever been forced to sin which means that sin is preventable. It is not God’s will for anyone to sin. As we see in the Old Testament how that God brought severe punishment for disobedience and Jesus in the New Testament emphasized very sternly to “go and sin no more”. Every time we make a wrong turn from God’s will we have wasted an opportunity to be used for His service. He can help salvage our heart from the wreckage of our disobedience and with our repentance and His miracle power He can make all things work together for the good. However, our rebellion will not always be excused without consequences. God’s perfect will does not make room for our fleshly attitudes or personality dysfunctions because we have been commanded to allow Christ to “possess” us completely. Yes, we will completely blow it from time to time but even though our destiny is altered, we can still learn from our experiences and become more determined to succeed. But, brother everyone sins, plus I am not being intentionally perverted with filth. Well, good for you! You may be avoiding the “committing” of sin but how are you doing in the “omitting” department? The sins of omission are where most Christians are failing because they are “not doing” what the Lord is telling them TO DO! Selah. Just because we are not going to the bar every night or robbing a bank, does not necessarily mean we are living as a faithful and obedient disciple of Jesus! The problem is that most people do not know what God’s perfect will is for their life. Many children are not raised in homes where the parents stay on their knees and pray all the time. Thus, they are usually NOT trained in the Word of God or guided by the Holy Spirit as they seek their place in this world. Their lack of knowledge and the failure to understand wisdom definitely damages their chances of finding God’s perfect will which is another perfect example why it is so important for parents to be real Christians (not just religious) and to help spiritually “guide” their children. Am I talking about living in a monastery and praying all day within a dark dungeon? Well, sometimes I think that would help, but since we need to function within society on a daily basis we need to “manage” our walk with God and not excuse our responsibility to follow Him as a lifestyle!

We do not need to be a scholar as we observe the natural world and the spiritual world to come to the conclusion that God’s realm is highly superior by a long-shot! I am a believer that prayer has always been a direct opportunity to listen and speak to our heavenly Father with the purpose of accomplishing His instructions. Since God is perfect – everything He thinks, says and does is perfect and that is always His “perfect” will. When He does not intervene, things become distorted and confused which I realize is our LACK of prayers that are connected with this revelation. Well, now brother are you trying to say the fate of many is in the hands of a few people praying? In all humility that is exactly what I am saying. I know that most people want to “hitch a ride” on a fast rapture train to heaven but they need to be careful about the intentions of their heart. If people had the Agape love of the Father it seems to me they would want to stay and help others find their way to the train station. Selah. The commitment to intercede is not a special gift that only a handful of people have but it is a divine requirement for ALL of those who call themselves a disciple of Christ! Many say they are looking forward to His appearing but may be shocked when they realize that He was very disappointed in their laziness and lack of caring. He may be more interested in why they ignored His commands to pray than the golden ticket they are waving. Selah. When God’s people pray, miracles change the course of circumstances and when they do not pray, people and situations will suffer. The point of our conversation is accountability; everything is conditional and involved in the benefit of prayer or the suffering from the lack of it! Repenting of our sin may not be the only trespasses we will answer for – it may be explaining why we did not “invest” much more of our time in the meditation of prayer pleading with God to stimulate our LOVE. Well, brother, doesn’t God do what He wants to do whether anyone cares or prays? It is true that God is sovereign in His holiness and He is perfectly free to do whatever He wants but this does not nullify the validity of how we have been given the responsibility to love and intercede. “Father, please awaken us we are desperately needy for you. Break our hearts, humble us, and give us a burden for souls. We cry out for you to provoke us and convict us to pray, in your holy name we ask, amen.”