A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 13
FISH ARE CAUGHT – THEN CLEANED

“This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh does lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and they are CONTRARY the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would.” (Galatians 5:16-17)

Did you notice in this scripture that Paul was not led to say, “become holy and you will be able to walk with God?” He said to make the decision to walk with God (first) and then your desire to sin will fade! Why did the Lord make it like that? Because when we surrender our will and choose to walk with Him, then He can help us with the problems of our flesh. If we tried to clean ourselves up “before” we abandoned our will – we would not be able to do it. Our flesh is so strong that it is going to take “an act of God” to change the way we think and live. This order is crucial for the disciple who is determined to follow and abide with Christ in the holy of holies. Do we understand what it means to walk in His Spirit? Since understanding the meaning of words does not necessarily prove that we are “living” what we know, allow me to ask this another way; have you made the decision to walk in His Spirit? Is it your highest goal to constantly know Him more intimately? After all of this time are you finally ready to stop going half-way, and prepared to go all the way? Let us go on as we keep this thought close to our heart.

I want to let you in on a little secret. Most people are not worried about the subject we are talking about. In fact, this has always been a very un-popular topic and always will be until Jesus comes. Why? Because we want to do whatever we want without God interrupting us! I’m not talking about our will power to not rob a bank, because to be honest we do not have the courage for that anyway. We can brag all day long about how we have advanced in our holiness and how our self-discipline keeps us from being a criminal. Give me a break! The bad things you are not doing now are things you probably would not do if you were lost! I’m talking about the sin of not having control over your flesh to do things like gossip, lust, pride, hate and selfishness. I’m talking about surrendering your will so that you will not be envious, or a backstabbing hypocrite. Many Christians have become so spoiled, calloused and hard-hearted from the pleasures of sin, they avoid anything that would have a chance to convict them. They do NOT want to be broken by God or anyone else. They do NOT want to hear the truth about how they need to control their flesh and they do NOT want to spend time in prayer so that God can begin to do miracles and change the things they are concerned about. They flip through the TV and radio channels and if they hear something about the coming apocalypse or a fascinating prophecy about angels and UFO’s or how some world leader is the anti-christ, they will listen to every word. But if they tune in to someone talking about how the flesh must die in order to walk holy with God – they turn it off. The same is true with many churches that teach how God’s main idea and purpose for your life is to keep you fat and happy. They have three services on Sunday and are continually building bigger sanctuaries. The small assemblies that do not have the unlimited resources or the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, but instead teach people the basic fundamentals about how to draw near to God and follow His voice, only have a handful that show up for evangelism and prayer. Why? It is obvious the masses have developed an appetite for sensational entertainment and presenting “just” the Word of God does not generate enough excitement anymore.

So where is all this leading? Well, to begin with, someone forgot when they were making church invitations, that the flesh was not welcome. Since most Christians are led by their un-renewed mind in all of the other daily activities, they do not blink an eye at trying to organize and control the church with their intelligence, talents and degrees in business administration. I am not saying we are not to do the best we can, but rather I am declaring that God’s true church will be led by GOD! If you are a person that knows the presence of God and you cannot feel Him in your church – there is something horribly wrong! I personally believe that God absolutely recognizes the motives and spiritual “condition” of those who are ministry leaders. If these leaders do not seek God’s direction and are not walking holy and the congregation is also not praying for God to bring the fire of His conviction and power of His Gospel, the church has become no more than a moose lodge. We sing, “Light the fire again” and how we need to pray this until we sense His passion rising within us so that our flame does not turn into ashes.

Sin has always been very strong on the earth as it is not anything new to declare the world is wicked. Those who are walking in God’s Spirit are few and far between because many have fallen into a conceited arrogance that thinks, I have my ticket and that’s all I’m concerned about. Many Christians will not say it but in their heart they are thinking; if you do not have your ticket to heaven that is your problem for being so hard-headed (and maybe God never sent you an invitation anyway). For those who are not concerned about the lost enough to actually witness and testify, I wonder why they go to church at all. Maybe they think that if they give some money – someone else will do it! Maybe they want to be seen going to church so that everyone will think they are respectable people of integrity. Allow me to take my liberty for a few moments and ask you today, why do you think God has reserved a place for you around His throne after you die? Because I live a good life and I am a good person. I hate to break this to you but there are lost sinners that live a whole lot “better” than you and I. Morals and religious good deeds are good but not good enough to help out-weigh our lack of spiritual intimacy with God. He only cares about how much we love Him because most of what we do is connected with us trying to earn His favor. If we are only living a dry, cold religious life that has no passion, no love for others, no interest in His Word and no desire to spend time in the “secret place” with God – we have either backslidden to the North Pole or we need to be born-again. Selah.

What about you dear one, why do you feel secure in your salvation? Because I believe God is who He says He is. Well, this may come as a shock but Satan and every demon feels the same way. When Satan was Lucifer, He played a significant leadership role right in front of God’s throne and witnessed the majesty and wonders of heaven with his own eyes. All of the Bible stories you have read about, he not only knows, but has a first-hand account of each one. He knows God is the Almighty because he has known God and seen everything God has done! He was standing there when God created the world! He was standing there when Jesus was dying on the cross! It is not enough to know about what God has done or to know that He is the one and only true God. The question is whether or not He is YOUR LORD! If you are saved this hour it is because you have surrendered your will and allowed Christ to renew your mind and transform your spirit. You are saved today because you received His blood sacrifice as the payment for your sins and by faith are allowing Him to change you into His image. Until mental knowledge becomes quickened into spiritual revelation – you are just being religious. Salvation is not fire insurance. Receiving Christ is being convicted by God’s Word and this guilt breaks our heart and causes us to “hate” how we have hurt the Lord and who we have been. This brokenness leads us to open the door of our heart and to welcome Jesus to come in and take over our life. The Christian life is Him becoming our Master and us serving Him and loving Him more than anything in this life.

I realize that we now find ourselves at the end of the age where the world is so evil, dark and harsh. It reminds me of being out in the country, in the summer when night-time comes and the lightning bugs come out. You can barely see them as their lights are like little specks among the vast density of darkness. Is your light being seen by all those around you? Could I ask anyone who knows you about your zeal to witness the gospel whenever you have the chance? Would all who know you declare that you are passionate about your love for God? Do people come to you in private and talk with you about their soul? Why not? Selah.

A deception cannot be seen or recognized in the mortal world because truth can only be seen with spiritual eyes that are empowered by the Holy Spirit. (God is absolute truth and all truth has come from Him.) The natural eyes allow the mind to perceive and the “view” of thought will depend on whether it has been renewed by God or not. When the natural mind is dictated by the carnal nature, the end result is a distorted mentality that is influenced by wickedness. Sadly, this dark spirit of selfish rebellion also runs rampant in the church of Jesus Christ because Christians have turned away from living holy. To cast down the strong will of the un-renewed mind is not an easy task, and most humans avoid it all cost. This delusion has many names but the most popular is called “lukewarmness” and it is slowly draining the life out of God’s people. It is subtle and its tactics include lying, misleading, trickery, fraud and witchcraft with the intention to steal and destroy the relationship between God and His children. We must remember that Satan has a huge advantage in spiritual warfare because our flesh is always a willing candidate to cooperate with his schemes. Our carnality never needs to meditate or consider the dangers of obeying the devil, in fact we were born into this default nature and it just seems like “old times” when we allow our original nature to control our thoughts. “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:24)

The above paragraph seems very sad and not uplifting, however there is a spiritual accountability to know truth and act on it. Most Christians would agree that carnality has spread like a plague and that many Christians have become infected with it, but just to “know it” is not enough. Usually when there is a widespread problem, we find two different camps on the subject – those who are a part of the problem and the ones that have been delivered from it or at least are trying to escape. If we can agree that an abandonment of sanctification has blanketed the Christian world, it is the time for us to take an inventory of OUR heart and decide which camp we are in. If we are living in our flesh during the week and trying to run the church with our old nature, we have created and developed a “secular” assembly! Holiness starts at home and spreads outward! We pray, study, develop and worship when we are alone, and then we demonstrate our relationship with God to others. Church is the locker room – the game is our life! May we be extremely careful to NOT become so arrogant that we think we have done all we need to do! Denial is deception. Mmmm.

The enemy is trying to influence the masses with a false sense of security so it is wise to take a personal inventory of where we are and what we are doing. As it is a crucial part of the change process to be transparent with our own conscience, repentance is not only seeing where we need to change – but it is asking God to forgive us with the determination to not do it again! Allow me to ask, if we are not spiritually growing, learning, progressing and developing in His presence – then just exactly what are we doing? Are you awake? Are you listening? Some simple facts worth considering; if we are not growing stronger with more maturity, wisdom and love, we have become stagnant and have become “sick” with heart disease. It is a hereditary illness called willful “sin”. If we are not learning how to live in victory over our flesh so that we can be overcomer for His glory, we are playing a religious game that has no spiritual significance or value; in fact we have become an ENEMY to His cause! If we are not progressing forward we are sliding backward. A tree that has life will grow and mature so it can eventually bear fruit. Trees that do not bear fruit are cut down and thrown into the fire. If we are not developing a bond of love with God, a deep personal relationship of knowing His mind and will where we discern His heart and OBEY His voice, we are being deceived as to what our calling and purpose of life is all about. Selah.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 12
THE AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY

When we hear the phrase, “The age of accountability” we immediately think of a child that is growing into an understanding of right and wrong. This is true in one sense of meaning but in another context we can use the same idea to refer to a time in our life when we look in the mirror and realize that we can no longer live in denial. It is a fantasy to believe that we can just float down the river while ignoring the voice of God and yet presume that God is pleased and all is well. Wherever we heard that idea and embraced its validity, we need to examine it thoroughly and make sure that we are building our foundation on eternal truth. It is worth the time spent in study to find exactly what God is saying because our eternity depends on it. Now wait a minute brother, when you are saved you are guaranteed eternal security and it does not matter what you do or do not do because our salvation is based on faith and not on works! This is a very good argument to use if you are trying to justify living the way you want, but maybe there is a lack of spiritual understanding about what this really means. How in the world can we NOT believe that when God said to do something – He meant it! Our lack of reverence for His Word has caused the modern church world to go sound asleep and along with its slumber the power and “demonstrations” of His Spirit have dried up! It is true, there are miracles happening around the world because of faith and God is honoring His Word just like He always has, but He is offended at His people who refuse to live holy and have ignored His pleas to pray and be holy. He is angry at the attitude of those who call themselves Christians yet who live like the lost. Those who continue to ignore His call to draw near to Him are running the risk of having their conscience seared and their hearts hardened by His judgment. We can see in His Word (though we do not like study these passages) that He has a temper and when His anger reaches a certain point there is devastating consequences.

Allow us to be reminded of just a few examples of what happened when individuals intentionally disobeyed God’s warnings. We can begin with Adam and Eve and how they did NOT believe that God meant what He said. Remember Lot’s wife that was told specifically “to not look back” and the servant Uriah that tried to catch the Ark of the Covenant when the oxen stumbled while it was on the wagon being transported. God had made it clear – do not touch it! The book of Leviticus is a clear instruction manual concerning the punishments for disobeying God’s laws and for example we find a story in chapter 24 about a young man who got into a fight with another man and cursed and blasphemed the Name of the Lord. They arrested him and incarcerated him until they heard from The Lord about what to do about it. The Lord spoke unto Moses to have all the people stone him – and they did. We could keep going with familiar names like King David, Samson, Ananias and Sapphira, Korah, Nadab, Abihu and Miriam just to name a few. The point is there are consequences to disobedience and the lack of fear and respect for God’s Word will result in His perfect judgment. This reverential fear of believing that Father is very serious about how we live seems to be sliding into a more relaxed view of no respect for Him at all. The image of God’s character has been deliberately softened in order to make people feel good. This distorted thinking has brought so much leniency and comfort into the concept of the Christian life and has created a rotten stinking attitude that believes the lie that God will “tolerate” our sins of disrespect, arrogance, rebellion, apathy, and willful disobedience.

It is true that God has done all the work and has given us an opportunity to be saved. He created us, gave us a sound mind, sent Jesus to die for us and used His blood as a ransom for our sin because of His great love for us. All of this is true and had nothing to do with how wonderful we think we are. However, within the fabric of this grace filled invitation, the blood covenant established a “contract” between God and those who would embrace Him by faith and accept His offer to become a part of His family. This is an agreement between a holy perfect God that cannot fail and will always be true to His Word. His promises, (like His character) is filled with His Omnipotence, His Omniscience and His divine authority to be Omnipresent. What could we possibly bring to the negotiating table in our weakness, frailty and sinful nature? All we could ever offer (and all that He has ever wanted) is our obedience. And may I say with sadness that our heart (will) is the most difficult possession to surrender. It is one thing to NOT understand this revelation but what about when we live KNOWING our responsibility and still refuse to fulfill our covenant obligation? Grace is unmerited favor that forgives us when we stumble but what about our continual willful rebellion? If we live our life with our eyes wide open and realize spiritually what we need to do and knowingly reject His instructions – where does this leave us in our covenant agreement? Is God obligated to save us whether we abide and take His covenant seriously or not? What good would a covenant be if it did not matter what was done or if the promises were kept? In fact, if God was going to save us no matter how we acted in this life, why did Jesus pay such a price and why was God’s Word filled with His commands, demands and requirements given to us? Has the salvation message been watered down to the point where we have lost our reverential fear for what He really meant? Salvation is free in the context that He provided it for us but that did not mean it is cheap because it will cost us EVERYTHING we have, all that we are and all we can do. When God has our heart – He has ALL of us!

Have we come to the place where we really do not believe Him anymore? When He says not to do something why do we think He is kidding? Do we actually think He sweeps all of our sins under the rug and pretends not to care or notice? If you were to ask the average Christian a series of questions about their behavior and it was promised to be completely confidential, you would discover not only some revolting, shocking lifestyles but more importantly they would admit that they are totally aware of how wrong they are. Many people in today’s more modern trend of religious interpretation believe they can dabble in sin and still be alright in the eyes of a compassionate God. Yes, it’s probably not going to be preached on Sunday morning but we can smoke, drink beer, be a glutton, have lustful thoughts and watch dirty movies and by His grace die and go to heaven. If you disagree we can go back and see what Jesus said to the crowd that was ready to stone the woman caught in adultery. The point is; there are spiritual levels in God and as Christians we are to be progressing and growing stronger in our desire to know Him more and to obey His will. If we are content with only His promise of heaven, then we may not be saved at all or we are walking on a dangerous course that will include Him intervening with His own way of dealing with our attitude. Whatever the situation you can be assured that we will never live in the holy of holies with a life filled with carnality – and the lower levels of being with God may only be tolerated by Him for a season. Someone needs to spread the word – there are no cabins in the corner of glory! My question is that if being in the presence of God Almighty is the greatest experience in the universe why would anyone not want to be there now? Are you ready for this? Because they have never been there! Selah.

Have you noticed that when you indulge in your favorite sin that you feel a mixture of relief and regret. It is not that we really love to sin, but we love the feelings that sin gives us and we must admit that our favorites are very powerful and controlling. Some may say, well, just stop doing it and that sounds wonderful, but for those who have been or are now prisoners to addictive idols it must be recognized that it will take more than a whim to cast them out. Do not misunderstand me; if you are ready to discard the things that are taking you away from God, He is ready to deliver you. But like we said before, if He takes away the desire to partake in our favorite sin – do not go searching for it! Let it go and praise The Lord that He gave you a beautiful miracle and it was all for the purpose of drawing you closer to Him so that He could saturate you with His presence.

Here is another scenario that is “huge” and many people have a problem with. Let’s say that you have an issue with lust. It is a secret sin that you are confident that no one knows about. You notice certain individuals and you fantasize about them as your mind is constantly on alert for a new fantasy. Your mind loves to think about lustful scenarios and you are drawn to watching videos, movies or television shows that stirs your flesh or you enjoy reading books and magazines that are laced with erotica. You seldom feel that maybe you are addicted to sexual stimulation like others are addicted to drugs and that possibly your appetite to satisfy your sexual cravings is similar to the powerful attractions to food, gossip, jealousy, pride or the love of money but of course you would never admit it. You have built your own little imaginary world and have learned how to control it. Most of the time you live content and satisfied as your old nature encourages you and approves of how you manage your affairs. This allows you to only feel conviction when The Holy Spirit gets too close to your heavily guarded secrets. It is alarming to think of the amount of God’s people who struggle with a world of habits and enticements and yet most things go unnoticed. It is true that we can live with one foot in sin and the other foot in God as it is commonly called backsliding. Can backsliders be saved? I would have to say yes, but only God knows the details. If we die in a backslidden state, I would need to accept the truth of God’s mercy and believe His judgments are just. The key would be that in order to be delivered and restored from a life of willful sin we would have needed to be born-again. If we have been truly saved by His blood and fall away from His presence, He will respond to us in order to restore our union with Him. As to whether we can fall completely from His grace or how long He will extend His longsuffering until the situation becomes critical – only He will decide. I believe what The Lord is trying to convey in our discussion is that no matter how well we hide our failures and secrets, we are not getting away with anything. Just because we can function in a lukewarm existence does not mean that we are sliding under the radar of God’s perfect awareness. These favorite sins that we feel is more important than living in God’s glory is literally “draining” us of our spiritual anointing to do God’s will. Our “idol” is preventing us from hearing His voice and all of the blessings that He would love to give us. Do you REALLY believe this? Are you totally convinced in your heart this is true? Many times we are so deceived that the only one that cannot recognize that something is wrong with us – is us. When sin rules in our heart, we cannot be filled with His Spirit which includes living in His peace, love, faith and wisdom. We want every blessing we can get our hands on but we are not willing to believe that our sin is preventing us from having them. And worse than that, we have proven over and over that we are not willing to surrender our lifestyle in order to live in the “secret place” with God. Our spirit is literally suffering in misery as our fellowship is broken with the Father all because of our love for a carnal pleasure. Many times this could be the reason that all of the doors we try to open are locked. How can we see what is happening if we are blindfolded? We must take the first step to allow God to break our destructive cycle of bondage. Satan tries to convince us that our destiny is to remain in this cycle of bondage and condemnation, while Jesus desires that we sincerely REPENT, receive His joy and keep moving forward. The revolving door of sin can be stopped today but only you can decide to take up your cross and follow Him. Our attitude about sin must come to the place where we become literally “sick” about it. We must become nauseated at how wicked we can be at times or we will NEVER stop! Our favorite sin must become revolting to us, it must become offensive to us when it comes to tempt and entice us. Today is the day to become bold and aggressive toward our flesh in order to let Christ take control and establish our new way of thinking. If we are serious about deliverance, we will cry out to God with our broken and contrite heart and plead with Him to come and help us overcome our flesh. This is not just an adjustment or painting over the rust. This is a 180 degree turn that means turning around and beginning again in the complete opposite direction. Selah

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 11
BETRAYING OUR CONSCIENCE

“Abstain from evil (shrink from it and keep aloof from it) in whatever form or whatever kind it may be. And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through (separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God); and may your spirit, soul and body be preserved sound and complete (and found) blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (The Messiah). Faithful is He who is CALLING you (to Himself) and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it (fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you).” (I Thessalonians 5:22-24 AMP)

A possible you, is someone that has a vision of living a holy life and who desires to become what they believe. It is the transforming “you” that runs swiftly and jumps higher in God’s Spirit because you are not weighted down with carnality. A possible you is the child of God that has cleaned, ironed and prepared their wedding gown by purifying their heart and has let go of everything that can distract them from their groom, King Jesus. “There is something in the universe which is the very opposite of God; it is the self. The activity of the self is the source of all the evil nature as well as all the evil deeds of man. The loss of the selfhood in the soul increases the purity of the soul! In fact, the soul’s purity is increased in proportion to the loss of self.” (Jeanne Guyon – Experiencing the depths of Jesus Christ) This writer is saying that we must decrease our carnality in order to gain more of God’s Spirit. When we try to push Him away in order to make room for our idols, He can take a hint that He is not our highest priority. When we entertain sin, we intentionally choose the temporal over the eternal and “willfully” offend Him. This possible you (hopefully) is beginning to see a glimpse of what it means to abandon our old nature so that God can do the “impossible” within our spirit!

It is exciting to walk with God! When we finally decide that we will follow Him “all the way” there is a peace and joy that floods our soul that cannot be compared. The concept that Jesus used in Mathew 18: 3-4, when He referred to being like a little child was living with an “innocent conscience”. A small child has not yet been infected with the filth and dark influences of the imagination. They walk in love and trust and the happiness that comes from a pure heart and mind. “And He said, verily I say unto you, except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mathew 18:3-4) To receive Christ as our Lord and have a personal, intimate relationship with Him is all about keeping our heart clean and holy before Him. Staying “prayed up” with confessing and repenting of our sin produces a spiritual freedom and a joyful state of mind that reminds me of like when we were kids riding our bicycle down the road on a sunny day without a care in the world. Before I go any further with these mental images of cozy, “feel good” emotional stories, allow me to include that unfortunately when we grow up (as you well know), life is not always filled that aura of bliss. I am not trying to be a party crasher but only being honest about the harsh reality in which we live. It is wonderful to live the abundant life, holding hands with Jesus while singing Amazing Grace, however we must also remember the enemy has his spies that continually observe us and through their binoculars they report how we are living, our spiritual development, and how close we are becoming with God. It would be foolish for us to disregard the validity of the devils devices and to not believe that he sets traps and launches ambush attacks against God’s front-line warriors. It is vital that we realize how much of our internal torment comes from being offended and to be one step ahead in trying to prevent it from happening. If our “soft spot” is being susceptible to having hurt feelings, we can be sure our “feelings” are going to be a main target. Remember when we research the word offense, we find the idea of a snare trap that has been set to CAPTURE the one who is unaware. Selah. Satan has many different tactics and strategies he can use against us but he has learned over the millenniums that he has a higher rate of success when capitalizing on our weaknesses and this includes harassing, accusing and instigating.

There are several things going on in my life right now and I feel that I am trying to juggle my emotions while desiring to make good decisions. I have been stressed and concerned about my future, ministry direction; my dad’s failing health, finances, retirement, job interviews, and just an overall sense of pressure. I have been asking God to implement these new teachings about my lack of sensitivity (like taking care of my body) into MY life and I can honestly say I do feel a deep change within me physically, mentally and spiritually with much more change needed. However, this has also put me on the “radar” with the enemy as a person of interest and may I say that if you have taken a step toward God lately you are in the same boat with me. We hear about those who have a target on them, and I believe there is truth to this. I was alone at home the other day and spent the afternoon typing new music, chording songs and practicing with the guitar. It had been a great day with the Lord and I even enjoyed going outside to shovel snow. I started a wonderful meal so that I could have it ready when Cheryl came home from work and was just putting it on the table when she stepped in. Without going into the details of our “conversation” all I will say is that it did not take 2 minutes until I became so upset with something she said that I completely lost focus of what was happening. She made a comment that hit me wrong and instead of recognizing how my carnal mind was reacting – I allowed my “feelings” to take over. The pleasant atmosphere was disappearing fast but I would not stop, in fact I increased my intensity until I ruined the entire situation. So, there I sat with a beautiful meal wasted and the rest of the evening filled with hurt feelings, sadness and regret. Oh sure I recognized what happened but it was AFTER the damage was done. I am NOT blaming this on the devil but only trying to say that he despises us and if he can “bait us” us into following our carnality – he will! Satan hates to see God’s people live a life of enjoyment and to be saturated with God’s goodness. He abhors seeing God’s children especially husbands and wives that love each other in Christ to have a happy and blessed marriage. He hates to see a sincere church follow God’s vision, unite together and focus their passion on fulfilling the Lord’s great commission. The devil does not want us to develop agape love or to freely give to anyone or anything connected with obeying God’s voice. He does not want us to have a ministry that is focused, empowered and anointed by God to do The Lord’s work that will bring glory to the Name of Jesus Christ. Of course Satan is trying to stop all of this just as hard as he can because he wants to destroy, steal, kill, deceive, discourage and ruin anyone that has anything to do with The Father. It is crucial when we are walking with God and trying to follow His ways, to be aware of our weaknesses and the times when we are vulnerable to manifesting and embracing the attributes of our old nature. Just because we are saved and filled with God’s Spirit does not mean we are untouchable or not susceptible to being tempted. Our free-will always presents the choice to demonstrate the character of Christ or to unleash the beast that roams just outside the fence of our heart. We just need to face the reality that within the fence that is trying to keep our carnal nature “out” of our decision making process, if we look carefully we will see a gate and that means we can allow our old nature to come in whenever we choose to open it.

I have always appreciated the late David Wilkerson and his teachings. I received this other day and want to close with his comments about secret willful sin. “Most Christians are relieved to know they are not included in Paul’s list of damning offenses: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Many sincere believers make every effort not to turn His grace into a “license” and yet they realize their walk doesn’t measure up to His holy standard. As they read verse 11, they feel the piercing arrow of truth: “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God”. Suddenly, they remember a besetting lust they have never been able to shake. They think, “Wait a minute—I’ve been delivered and sanctified. So why can’t I quit this habit? I’m not truly free!” Maybe you have returned to an old lust recently. Perhaps you have visited a pornography site on the Internet or become involved in adultery or homosexual sin. Or perhaps you have stolen goods from your employer, or you are sneaking a drink on the way home from work. Whatever your habit is, you know you are not free in that one area. Do not be surprised if you start to feel the way David did. “I remembered God, and was troubled . . . my spirit was overwhelmed” (Psalm 77:3). Whenever the Lord sees one of His children wrestling with some lust or bondage, He moves in quickly to bring us back to a path of obedience, peace and rest. How does He do this? He brings about conditions in our lives that FORCE us to face our sin! Often this means taking us down into the depths, as God did with Jonah. He allows us to feel His rebuke and to be swallowed up by our circumstances. Yet it was while in the darkest depths that Jonah cried out to God. And the Lord responded to His servant’s cries quickly, restoring to him His blessings and will!” Do not feel condemned dear one, but if there is conviction, praise God for His longsuffering! Conviction comes to the sinful heart that realizes they have offended the holiness of God. Selah.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 10
(USE ME) – NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show you great and mighty things which you have never known.” (Jeremiah 33:3)
How many times will it need to be repeated until we catch hold of the revelation that we can have as much of God as we want? And how many tears will we shed from the sadness of knowing that we obviously do not want very much of Him? How often we find ourselves being so overwhelmed with problems, worries and stress that we are just too exhausted to invest time with God, and much of the time we are guilty of basing our feelings for Him on how our life is going for that day? Selah. Could this be why people do not consistently pray or worship God, because they are generally not happy about the way their life has been – or is headed? Maybe some are angry, hurt and damaged on the inside and in their frustration they turn to things that pleasure them, and that gives them temporary comfort. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever been sad on the inside but did not know how to deal with these powerful emotions or had anyone you could trust and share them with? Maybe the bitterness and wounds from life’s disappointments are so heavy in your soul that it is difficult for you to envision ever having hope and joy again. Allow me to say, these attacks on our heart are real and not a figment of your imagination or mine. Aside from the relentless accusations of the devil and him laughing at us, or the painful consequences of our bad decisions, we have been designed to FEEL our discouragement and suffer our grief for a reason. And that is to learn from our experiences and grow more wise and stronger as we gain spiritual maturity. “Success is not measured by what a person accomplishes, but the courage with which they have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” (Charles Lindbergh). It is our choice to overcome or keep going in circles.

You see, in this fallen world, we are vulnerable to physical and emotional affliction and there is nothing wrong or sinful with going through these experiences. We are not robots that cannot feel the rejection of this world and we are not immune to knowing the loneliness of isolation or the agony of being betrayed. Many of us have been through severe trials and tribulations, yet let us not forget that Christ in His infinite wisdom and His own sufferings can “relate” to anything we have gone through. Plus, since He has lived in a flesh body, He knows all about the capacity to experience physical, and mental trauma. We are a “work in progress” and our life is a continual classroom dedicated to learning who God is and who we are in Him. Within this education from the Master of the universe, should be a quest for absolute truth and as we seek His will, we discover that He loves us with an eternal covenant that includes knowing our heart and having compassion for us as we walk through our trials. Some may ask; how can the God of all things have the time to care about the circumstances that have hurt us? Does He know the way I feel and have a highly detailed plan for helping me overcome these afflictions that are holding me? Absolutely my dear one, this is why He said, “I Am that I Am.” He is all things to all people as His merciful and compassionate love is the greatest power in the universe that has no beginning or end.

Would you DIE for someone that you did not care about? The most beautiful story ever told is that Jesus died for you which proves He must have loved you more than anything in the world. Selah. He listens to your every thought, every word and sees every tear. He has never taken His eyes from you nor has He ever been distracted or too busy to listen to your concerns. More than anything He wants us to abandon our will and come to Him with all that we are, so that He can perform a work in us that will revitalize and renew our life. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE with Him and the most wonderful revelation that can be realized is that He desires to live in us! Is there any greater love, miracle or gift that can be dreamed or known? “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” (Isaiah 58:11)

When we collect negative impressions and attitudes, our life becomes like a spiritual fortress that is built exclusively to torture us and disengage us from Christ. If this “free-falling continues, it is common to follow isolation and depression into even lower levels of sadness and frustration. Have you ever been there? If you have experienced times in the dry hot desert and have crawled out of it, you KNOW the power of God’s grace and His compassion to leave the ninety nine, and rescue the one. Have you ever cried out to Him in desperation? Have you ever fallen across your bed and wept as your brokenness and repentance released the floodgates in your spirit? There are times when we are devastated by things that happen to us and then there are other times when we have failed and are haunted by the conviction of God’s Spirit that we were wrong. In these times we may face spiritual warfare and resistance from our carnal mind because the old nature is stubborn and hates to yield control. While in this place of decision, it is the best choice to fall on our face before God and follow our spirit to the alter of God’s mercy. We will never have His peace until we deal with our issues and the longer we carry them the heavier they become. Being clay is all about being pliable. The potter cannot mold a vessel that is hardened. The only choice is to break the vessel and make it soft so that it can be re-shaped and transformed into the image of the potter’s vision. Within this process of suffering is the opportunity to walk away insulted or embrace humility. Meekness is not pity or gloom but rather realizing that a power much higher than our own is at work deep within us. Yielding our will sounds so simple, yet it is the most difficult journey we will ever follow.

In the times of difficulty we must recognize some very important facts and then cling to them with all of our might. You must know that God has never forsaken you and never will! Just because you are walking through what seems to be the valley of the shadow of death, does not mean He is not there. In fact, His Word promises that He is with us every step, comforting us with His presence. If we have allowed Him to purify our heart, we will be able to spiritually see and can rest assured that we are in His hands of love. He is faithful! He is with you whether you feel Him or not and He is protecting and watching over you. Just because you cannot sense anything happening, it does not mean He is busy working on something on the other side of the world. Even if He is upset with you, that does not mean He does not still love you and it does not mean that He has forsaken you. He is still there with you but maybe He is just patiently waiting to see what your next move will be. He is always waiting for us to sincerely reach out to Him.

You may be beating yourself up and thinking this may be one of the worst times of your life but be encouraged there is actually some very good news. Have you ever really considered Romans 8:28 as a word directly to you and your problems? Listen to this again, “And we know that ALL things work together for GOOD to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” I realize this is one of the most used scriptures in the Bible but it never loses its power. Many times we do not receive the nourishment from God’s banquet table because we allow familiarity to steal our blessings. Since God is working behind the scenes to make things work out for us, it seems the only problem is that we are not demonstrating enough patience with Him. Maybe He is trying to show you something very special that you would not have seen any other way. It has been said the majority of great things which have been done in the earth, have been accomplished by those going through difficult times. Selah. Mature Christians are to be like steel when it is “tempered” with heat to make them strong in experience and wisdom, yet covered with velvet as they present God’s image with compassion, humility and sensitivity. However, we can spend all of our time trying to figure out why things happen instead of praying that we might know Him more intimately and thus learn how to trust Him. Learning this truth about how to have confidence in Him and the endless commitment of God’s love is a revelation of His unfailing covenant to be with us – even to the end of the world.

Knowing that Jesus suffered on the cross because He loved us, allows us to “see” the lies of our adversary and with spiritual sensitivity, we can finally make the right decisions and get on the right path to do God’s will. By faith we believe His “wrecking ball’ will tear down our old nature and that He is REBUILDING a new heart and mind that is determined to follow Him in life and in death! “Man’s mighty burden is his obligation to God. It includes an instant and lifelong duty to love God with every power of mind and soul, to obey Him perfectly, and to worship Him acceptably.” (A.W. Tozer) Included in this quest to be saturated with His glorious presence is the fact that He will help us in “whatever area” we need to be an overcomer in. We have been discussing lately about the power of our food cravings as an illustration of how our mind leads and controls our body. If we can change our mind (which is God’s specialty) we can change the way we live! For another example, if we have a problem with cursing, (which by the way is not the best witness we can present), we can ask God to remind us BEFORE we curse and to put an alarm on our mind and tongue to stop us before it too late. It is a much better approach to be aware of our weaknesses compared to “confessing” AFTER we sin. What many fail to realize is that once our witness is compromised we may never have an opportunity to share Christ with that person again because the enemy will never allow them to forget that day when we “went off”. I realize things happen that aggravate us and there are times when we flat out fail – but this does not excuse or lessen the damage when we demonstrate a lack of self-control.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 9
(MOLD ME) – REFLECTING THE IMAGE OF WHOM?

“Hardly any other sin is more hateful to God than idolatry for it is at the bottom a libel on His character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is, (in itself a monstrous sin) and substitutes for the true God one made after its own likeness.” (A.W. Tozer)

Just like with drugs, alcohol, cursing, stealing, gossip or sex addiction we realize there is a VICIOUS CYCLE and where there is a negative habit or repetition we are routinely faced with the choice to continue going in the same old direction or to change course. With food addiction, the place of decision is when we are hungry as we begin to focus on what we would like to eat next. This is when the body raises its awareness and becomes the aggressive predator that desires to be satisfied. Because we are weak and very vulnerable to temptation, this crossroad moment is where we secretly decide (on an hourly basis) if we are going to obey the red light of discipline or the green light of not caring. It begins with temptation that comes from a passionate craving and ends with us accepting or rejecting its offer. When we give in to the desire and indulge until we are content, our senses are submerged in a temporary feeling of ecstasy, satisfaction and euphoria. This emotional “dream state” sometimes will drift into emotions of sadness, regret, depression and guilt only minutes after we have become mesmerized with pleasure – “IF” we allow our conscience to haunt us. This prison of condemnation can become so powerful that some may fall into the pattern of regurgitating the food or another symptom of the many different types of eating disorders that are connected with this tragic pattern of dysfunction. This agony of regret usually remains until the satisfaction wears off and the hunger returns – then the process starts all over again. To others the feeling of guilt have not been recognized or acknowledged because they have never cared. As a Christian, the concept behind caring comes from the responsibility of not only being aware of how we are reacting to God, but also being aware of our temple and protecting it from all forms of sin. We are to watch carefully what comes INTO our body and mind along with what comes OUT of it (like what we do and say). Is it wrong to eat? Of course not. We are not talking about eating to enjoy what God has provided but rather the danger of turning food into a an idol. Do you agree that God wants to have an input into every area of our life so that He can lead us and guide us into what is best for us? Then, all of our decisions (food included) should be brought before Him as a submission of our will to follow Him and gratefulness for what He has provided. There is no such thing as an insignificant sin. Selah.

The other night I came home late from a meeting and was hungry. My wife had fixed a delicious meal and I sat down to have dinner. Since I have been praying for awareness in my food intake, it crossed my mind that I should be careful not to go over-board and allow my flesh to go out of control. The meal tasted so good and I fell into the old habit of eating fast. I finally decided to stop as I was sensing that I had already gone too far. I knew within five minutes that I had blown it and was feeling very full. I had not eaten that much all day and now I felt as if my stomach was being painfully stretched. I fell into guilt because I knew better and was upset at myself because I failed to do what I know. I just flat out betrayed my own convictions and had no excuse for my weak display of discipline. I did not get away with this misstep because I did not sleep well, and got up 2 times in the middle of the night with acid reflux. For those of you that have experienced this problem, you know how uncomfortable that can be. I was reminded that night of how serious this is and how determined I need to be with my prayers. I need to not only pray – but obey! We notice in James chapter two that it is vain to talk all day about doing something and then end up actually not doing it at all. “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” Our flesh knows what it likes and our hunger (or any desire) can easily over-power our convictions if we do not allow our thinking to be transformed, like when God whispers for us to help someone and instead we just walk past them and say “be blessed my friend”.

We do not need a psychiatrist to tell us that our problems may have started when we were a child or maybe after we experienced a traumatic event as an adult. Why we do things is not as important as inviting God to come into our life to heal us. We all deal with our difficulties in different ways because our minds have a built-in feature called “survival mode”. Yes, it is the same nature that cried and had a fit when we did not get that toy and the same arrogance that took for granted what we did receive. We build walls and fortresses to keep others out of our business and use the security of these barriers as a safe place to throw pity parties. Will we ever stop blaming our past as an excuse for who we are? Selah. Jesus is ready to help us learn how to arrange our life into the beautiful state of joy, peace and freedom where He sits on the throne of our heart and rules our mind but He is waiting for us to ask Him. When Christ controls our “house” our flesh will become a servant to HIS truth and wisdom. Even if we write a book about our dysfunctional past it would not necessarily in itself cause us to break the agonizing cycle of addiction or conquer the bondage of being a slave to sin. We must take the initiative to ALLOW Him to be our Lord! Selah. Most people are aware of their situation but they just do not care and have agreed with the forces of darkness that this is the way it’s going to be. ABSORBING this revelation of spiritual truth will unveil that it is not the past that holds us hostage, but rather our inability to realize that in our blindness and deception we have always held the key to our own prison cell.

Can God’s power really help me overcome my problems? Well, of course and we all need His power to “help” us every day. But as we have said before, we cannot sit on the couch with a huge bag of potato chips and expect Him to “zap” us with a new sculpted, beach body! In this particular situation, it is more like He offers us the “WILLPOWER” to make our own decision to be transformed. He can ENCOURAGE us and INSPIRE us to be the best we can be but we must have the vision and desire to put on our track shoes and begin to run. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us (attacking, surrounding, harassing) and let us RUN with patience the race that is before us. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” (Hebrews 12:1,12,13) Until the passion to be free from our eating issues (or whatever) becomes greater than living “incarcerated” to sin – there is no hope for victory. Selah. Do we want to be a stronger and more committed Christian? Oh yes brother! Well, allow me to say that until we gain control over our flesh, we cannot be the spiritual person He has called us to be! The place of standing our ground against the desires of our flesh is not AFTER we have just consumed everything on the table because when we are full, we do not even want to think about food for a while let alone resisting it. It is when we are hungry, BEFORE we put a bite into our mouth and of course this is when we must not lose focus. We do not enjoy waiting for our food when we are hungry, HOWEVER this is the perfect time to call a timeout and listen to the “coach’s” game plan. This “pause” is the opportunity to think about what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. Most of the time we are blinded by the power of our desires and are focused on consuming. What if we made the decision to drink a full glass of water before we started and then only declared to eat one portion of the meal? We need to start somewhere and I believe this would be a positive act to establish. I know it sounds crazy, but there is nothing wrong with leaving the table still hungry. We are definitely not used to it, but it is a fact that our mind does not automatically receive the message from the stomach that it is full. Many times especially if we are a fast eater, we are still swallowing down food before the stomach can contact the brain with the warnings to stop eating. This is how we become “overly” filled and unfortunately this stretching to capacity is what causes our stomach (and the rest of us) to grow larger and larger. This bad habit is the culprit that is responsible for expanding the stomach a little more each time and in turn it takes a little more to satisfy the next time we eat. Generally speaking, if this process is not changed we will discover a very unpleasant result of becoming not necessarily bolder but definitely bigger! Another idea would be to select a certain size bowl, and only eat what you can fit into that bowl. This limitation or “ration” would allow you to simply and visibly limit the quantity of your consumption. If this is done with diligence, there will come a time when our self-control can allow us to do away with the bowl and enjoy the sensible amount like a normal person.

So, how long will I need to pray about my problems? Ah, there it is. The flesh is always thinking ahead. Our old nature associates every “punishment” or restriction with a specific sentence of discipline – and is always looking for the day of release. I am glad you asked this question because it is a very important part of our spiritual strategy to defeat our carnal nature. We have spoken many times about how religion is not the same as Christianity and this is true in many ways. The Lord is not impressed or pleased with anything done in the name of religion because it is usually associated with the works of the flesh. True Christianity is a spiritual life that is dedicated to abiding in the personal relationship, obedience and loving intimacy of God’s presence. This lifestyle is commonly called “walking in The Spirit” and means that we obey as we are led and controlled by the Holy Spirit which is in perfect unity with God’s plan. This relationship involves the sincere, “constant” communication between our mind and spirit with God and when we are living in His perfect will, this Holy Communion is the highest form of joy in all eternity. This concept comes from the great design of our maker that rescued us from an eternal separation because of sin and restored our fellowship through the blood of Jesus Christ. Our New Covenant includes the truth of our identification with Him and the responsibility for us to live holy as representatives of His Kingdom. Now, allow me to say, that in order to fulfill this vision we must be aware of His presence at all times. Amen. When we step away from His presence for just a moment, the shadows of darkness begin to fall upon us. When we allow ourselves to be distracted for just an hour, we have already started to backslide into error. Yes, it is true that we cannot be perfect but the question wanted to know how long we will need to pray in order to keep our carnality under control and my answer is every second! One of the most important deeds that we can demonstrate is found in one of the shortest passages in God’s Word. “Pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17) What does this mean? How can we pray out loud everywhere we go and how can we concentrate on our work while we are trying to talk to God? This message from God is so compact that if we are not careful we will skip right over it, yet it has the unlimited power and potential to change the world a hundred times over. We will always return to awareness whenever we talk about His presence. Praying without ceasing is living in the quiet awareness that God is listening and God is speaking. Selah. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is STAYED on Thee; because he trust in Thee. Trust in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting STRENGTH.” (Isaiah 26: 3-4) Let us be reminded of the dangers of creating our own concept of the way God is, what He expects, and how we are to live. If our imaginations and interpretations of God’s divine reality are not TRUE, then we are worshipping, obeying and living for someone else! Selah. God is THE creator and He has designed the way things are! It is our honor and privilege to know Him and follow His instructions, and we can do things the hard way through our own strength, or the best way through His Spirit! Prayer is the best way to succeed in ANY situation whether we are interceding for others, facing adversity, or asking for help in trying to deal with our flesh! “Lord, crush my lust for fattening foods that are filled with grease, salt and sugars. Cause me to be nauseated about my attitude toward ALL sin that offends, hurts, and disappoints You. Come do Your work in me, in Jesus Name, amen.”

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 8
(MELT ME) – DISCIPLINE: THE BITTER MEDICINE

“Victory begins with the name of Jesus on our lips; but it will not be consummated until the nature of Jesus is in our heart” (Francis Frangipane)
It seems that in today’s world, food has become a serious issue and many have gone into denial about how important it is to them. We live in a blessed nation where we can just go to the refrigerator or cabinet and choose between many different types of delicious foods anytime we want and as much as we want. Fifty years ago, the Western world was blindsided by a dark presence with the message of “freedom” to do whatever feels good. The “free love” worldview was not about the love of God, but rather promoted the love of self. This was a very powerful influence that was released at a strategic time in this nation in particular, as the older generation was still reeling from the depression and WWII. In the sixties the country was emotionally vulnerable with Vietnam, racial equality and several devastating political assassinations and these traumas created a perfect opportunity to unleash a social rebellion that poured gas on the fires of humanism. The drug and sexual revolution gave many young people a fresh “vision” that took carnality to new heights. They felt the older generation had failed and now planned to create a new world while discarding moral and spiritual restraints in order to express whatever felt good. This is an example of the carnal nature we talk about today and is a poster child of an un-renewed mind. It is the “default” nature and character of the beast and has the potential to deceive and control every one of us if we are not filled with the Spirit of God. This is the same nature that tells us we can think and do whatever feels good and gorge ourselves with every pleasure we can get our hands on – because we are free and everything is going to be alright! This evil, generic liberty is the destructive independence that is opposite from God’s freedom and is actually the freedom FROM serving Almighty God and that is why the world embraces this message of anti-christ with such enthusiasm. As we eat to our constant fulfillment, it hardly crosses our mind but there are millions of starving people around the world. With us being bombarded with food advertisements and being surrounded by restaurants and food stores, you would think that we would pray more for those who are hungry. Most of us do not have a clue what it would be like to miss a meal because we never have – and in this light, we could say with all honesty that we are very spoiled and take much of our blessings for granted. For some, I believe food has become like a drug and being satisfied constantly keeps them in a state of euphoria. It is a fact that when our stomachs are empty we can think more clearly and have more energy, while on the other hand, being “filled” makes us sluggish and sleepy. Imagine that, the enemy knows all about the weaknesses of humans and he provides a daily, endless buffet to keep everyone walking around in a self-indulged stupor. Combine that with the recommended daily allowances of television where the family is mesmerized to the voices and images that are designed to tempt the flesh and you have a realm that is occupied by hypnotized zombies. This is the type of spiritual warfare that Satan is NOT afraid of! It is the individual who recognizes the devils devices and allows their mind to be renewed in Christ that causes Satan to tremble. These are the prayers, confessions, acts of love and holiness that breaks down the gates of hell!

Controlling our diet is not rocket science even though it may seem very complex and uncomfortable to our mind and body. I was recently reminded from someone who made a comment about the war between the spirit and flesh, that they were not able to fight the flesh in their own power – and I definitely agree. This is a perfect example of why so many diets and exercise programs fail. We may think that our “controlling” nature calls the shots for our physical body but in reality it is a “spiritual” problem. This is why it is crucial to ask God to please come and help because without His super-natural intervention we are embarrassingly weak against this powerful adversary. “Have not I commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with you wherever you go”. (Joshua 1:9) There are two choices with food that will decide whether or not we are serious about physical change. 1. The first choice is to not worry about how much you eat, what you eat or how large and out of shape you become. This attitude can be dangerous and potentially life threatening and the destruction of our self-esteem alone can alter our happiness, opportunities and general lifestyle. This decision to do nothing is actually our default nature making the choice to remain a hostage to the merry-go-round of our psychological agony. Being held as a P.O.W. to food reveals not only our lack of mental and physical control but actually exposes a deeper weakness that is found in our spiritual character. Sadly, it is common to find people who will buy a book about how to draw nearer to God without ever considering a renewal of their mind and this is a perfect example of putting the cart before the horse. Many churches are teaching the Bible stories but are not tying in the parallels of practical “everyday life” truth that relates to the war between our flesh and spirit. It is no secret that people get excited about being blessed or going to heaven but will not even show up at prayer meetings. Selah. 2. The second choice is coming to the point where the bondage is broken and we are set free. However, before we can celebrate victory, several factors must change within our mind and heart. We must have a serious, true desire about changing (not a whim), we must see the “need” to change, and in our determination we must be willing to sacrifice beyond the pain in order to gain the victory for God and our ourselves. If you avoid the word “sacrifice” like the plague, you will never be an overcomer for God! Tape this to your bathroom mirror – “Losing weight and getting in shape is not a sprint – it is a marathon.”

I was recently thinking about the daily grind of being led around by the nose of my appetite and a vision came to me. (To many it may sound silly but sometimes we need anything we can find that might help give us an edge.) Pretend there was a king that was the ruler of a castle and he had a problem with food consumption. He was very overweight and in his frustration and depression from being obese he ordered guards to be placed at the entrances of the kitchen and pantry to help restrict his access to food. What he failed to realize is that when he came to the doorways each guard would stand aside and without saying a word they would allow the king to walk in and take whatever he desired. The king realized that no matter how much he talked about losing weight and all the healthy programs he could become involved with, no one could tell him NO which left him in complete control of his choices. He finally realized the war was in his own mind and only his own will was ultimately responsible for his decisions. You guessed it – we are the king! If we want food, who in the world is going to stop us? The same is true with any of our carnal cravings. Our resolution games are only blowing smoke of false promises and disappointments because until we spiritually dress for battle and go to the front lines of combat; we are already defeated. Our mind/will IS the king of our temple and our mental decisions guide the body like the reins and bridles guide a horse which is why we must tear down the images we have built and replace them with a brand new vision. We must decide if our flesh is going to control us or is Jesus going to be our Master. God knows there will never be a CHANGE in our person until we change the way we think. God, the devil and our imagination can influence us but generally speaking in the end – we choose exactly who we want to be. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1)

You and I as Christians are supposed to be dead to sin and alive to God – that’s what Jesus did! That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day because the more you play “footsie” with it, the more chances it has to whisper in your ear. We want to keep our little black book that has all of our idols phone numbers in it so we can call them when we feel the “urge” to indulge. This could include a hidden stash of booze, pot or drugs, the devil’s music, pornographic books, erotic websites or DVD’s, prostitutes, massage parlors or any fornication including the occasional adulterous affair, stealing, cheating or any type of deceptive secret sin that you refuse to let go of. God is saying today that He knows what you love because He can perfectly see your heart and He wants all of us to develop a “repulsion” to anything that is an abomination to His holiness. The only way to step into this level of sanctification is to LIVE in His holy of holies. Not just visit every now and then – but to DWELL there every minute of every day. It is time to demonstrate our knowledge of this very clear principal of divine truth that declares whoever you choose to serve – you automatically become their servant. In this light, the so-called freedom to do whatever we want is disguised as being our own independent person but after the mask is removed we discover that we are a SLAVE to our flesh which is actually not a freedom after all. It may be a good time to have a meeting between yourself to decide once and for all who is going to be your God. “Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness.” (Romans 6:16)

So brother, I understand what you are saying but how can we put all of this together into a workable, understandable, plan of action? I am so glad you asked! We must come back to basics of our salvation and one of the “pillars” is faith. Faith is not as easy to comprehend as many people may presume and we will never become so “smart” that we stop going down the path to Hebrews 11:1. One of the key words in this passage is “HOPE” because it is the desire of the imagination that something better is waiting for us. The assurance that hope gives us, motivates us to action which is why we practice our convictions. You see, if we did not believe that something good was coming, we would not waste our time trying to prepare! We would come to the conclusion there is no chance that circumstances will change for the better. Listen carefully, belief without action is just knowledge. Faith must become “activated” (made alive) to the point in our heart that we KNOW without a doubt, that we will receive EVEN when we cannot see anything with our eyes. We can comprehend the present situation and realize that things need to change in our flesh, but faith stands up and says my spiritual eyes have been opened and now I can SEE IT – and I KNOW I will receive it!

If we do not care about change even though we realize in our flesh that we need to, we could care less about faith because we have made up our mind that we will not sacrifice or pay the price that it will take to succeed. Our refusal to have faith is the result of us not caring about ourselves, those around us or God Himself. So to paraphrase Hebrews 11”1, we could say it something like this, “Now faith is being so sure that what we hoped for is coming, that we are now completely convinced that what we cannot see with our fleshly eyes – does exist in the spirit realm! You see, we seek the face of God about who He wants us to be and that leaves us with an idea of what we need to deal with and work on. Then we begin to pray constantly with an awareness that He is trying to use every opportunity He can to include in our transformation process. When we are filled with the strength of His peace, we can begin to yield our will to God and take control of our flesh. This in turn allows us to “focus” on His Word and His voice as He begins to lead us. Only in the life of those who have abandoned their old nature can Christ become the Lord of the temple. Everyone is laying the foundation and building a house of some kind in some way, and each person who lives has no choice whether or not to build – only what they build. Selah. “Heavenly Father, May we be awakened to the seriousness of allowing our flesh to control us. We repent for our arrogance in thinking that we are more spiritual than we really are. We fall on our face and cry out for your mercy and forgiveness. Thank you for your endless love, amen.”

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 7
(BREAK ME) – EVERYONE IS WAITING ON YOU

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is truly ready, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)
I have personally experienced the stress and disappointment of unwanted weight gain. When I was a child, I was very skinny and really could have cared less about food. I could go all day on a tuna fish sandwich and some Kool-Aid. My parents were always worried that I would experience malnutrition so they tried everything they could think of to get food inside of me like putting raw eggs into milkshakes. (By the way, I have heard the experts agree that parents should not worry about children that do not have strong appetites, because it is believed they will eat when they get hungry). Nevertheless, I was “forced” to clean my plate and I sometimes wonder if this may have contributed to my adult dysfunction of cleaning my plate whether I am hungry or not. Whatever the case, unfortunately since I have grown up, the hunger switch has been flipped into overdrive and now I am trying to turn it off. (And for the record, I also am not the skinny kid I was.) As a matter of fact, I became “alarmed” looking at our Florida vacation pictures when we visited my Uncle Carl a few years ago. I looked more like a barrel with arms. I have tried pills, and dabbled with diets but they do not last because it is trying to fight a spiritual problem in the flesh. I just love food – any kind of food, especially the buttered, smothered, greasy kind topped off with dessert. But it is time to face the hard facts; this lifestyle of eating rich foods, along with a slowing metabolism from growing older, unfortunately puts everything in the “visual” perspective.

I have never thought that much about what I put in my mouth because I’ve never really “needed” to worry about it. A few years ago had a small heart blockage problem and they installed a stint in my artery, and of course they pleaded with me to start eating healthy. However, making a life-changing decision comes from the free-will part of our being and the problem is that most of the time we do not really want to do it. After we eat we might remind ourselves that we need to do better but after the meal wears off and we become hungry again we seem to forget all about the sacrifice and return to allow our cravings to lead us. I have also noticed that our nature usually does not worry about changing our bad habits until something bad happens. We do not seem to get “serious” until the doctor sits us down and delivers a diagnosis that scares us into a state of panic. THEN, we are all “gung ho” about buying a treadmill and watching the food labels. I realize the human body does deteriorate over time and I am not trying to say that we can live to be 150 and look like we are 20, but I am saying there is wisdom concerning how we look and feel – IF we will follow God’s voice. It only makes common sense; the reason we gain is because we eat rich delicacies and we eat too much! If our craving levels were to be turned down, our clothing sizes would also go down. If we could “break-up” this love affair with unhealthy food and realize we are being used and “abused” we could become emotionally and physically stronger or “whole”. Many will say, “Asking God to help me is just too easy” but what are we disputing, God’s power or God’s love for us? Are we thinking that He does not care about things like this? If wrong eating practices are going to cause us health issues (and they do), then it is very important to our quality of living! I would rather PREVENT diseases rather than ask people to pray for me AFTER I am disabled! How can we be strong for Him and work in His harvest fields if I am bedridden with diabetes? No one ever said the Christian life was easy but like everything else that is God’s will – it will be worth it! “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:” (Isaiah 59:1 KJV) “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: Is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)

Being led by God is probably the most thought about and talked about theme in the Christian life, but what exactly do we think this means? Could it not include what we eat and how much we consume? The weakness of our flesh and areas where we are suffering defeat are issues that He wants to help us with but He can only act when we stop fighting against Him. Many times our problems are the consequence of our “pet sins” and it is impossible to remove the problem while embracing the cause. Selah. We must realize these so-called dysfunctions can be used as agents of control and manipulation against us that hold us in captivity. In many cases of addictions and health issues that actually can be helped and healed, many people will never find relief from the consequence as the cause helps them manipulate others. In even more severe situations some might “embrace” their problems because it gives them a monthly check and to be healed would shut off the false security of their financial support. So it is easy to see the dangers of becoming attached to destructive behaviors and in the light of asking others to pray, we must admit that if individuals do not desire to change their thinking and way of living, (whatever the problem may be) then what is the next step?

Let it be established that if we do not see the battle between our flesh and God’s Spirit as an all-out WAR, we will not have the enthusiasm or courage it is going to take to win. Much of our problems and disorders come from the habit of not really considering what we are doing. Try this if you dare: buy a package of whatever you would consider to be your strongest temptation such as a certain candy, cake or super-fattening delicacy. Take it home and in a place of privacy as you close the door behind you, stare at it and seriously think about how you have allowed it to influence, persuade and tempt you over the years. Take it out of the package and tear it apart. Talk to it and declare IN FAITH that you are now taking the steering wheel of your body and that it does no longer dictate your direction! Within the principals of Theophostic counseling is the practice of pulling up an empty chair and inviting Jesus to sit down and be a part of the session. Since He is already watching, it is a way to acknowledge His presence and establish an awareness within our faith that He loves to be “actively” included in our therapy. This is a powerful addition to your private session with an example of food that symbolizes your battle of temptation. Can you see how you can bring “whatever” you are in a battle with to the table, and go through this declaration with Jesus sitting beside you? (It is only silly to the ones who live in a low level of love and concern for others.) Our declaration would be something like this as we speak directly to the object: I confess this day, with Jesus as my witness, that I am asking Him to help me to resist you. I believe in my heart, that He will give me the strength to not allow you to tempt me anymore. I will no longer lust after you because my craving for you is now BROKEN in the Name of Jesus! I love Him more than I love anything else, and choose to allow Him to make me into what He died for me to be. My Father is filling me with self-control and aligning my life into His perfect will and I will walk in HIS Spirit – NOT after the desires of my flesh from this day forward. Amen! After declaring your victory speech, make sure you throw it away as an act of authority, control, your will-power and closure. Do not regret your decision but rather begin to praise God for the awesome work He is doing in you. Feel the liberty to use your imagination to custom design your own private, face to face confessions between you, Jesus and ANY other idol that is trying to keep you in bondage as a slave. How can we proclaim to the world with confidence how God delivers, renews and transforms if we have not experienced it ourselves?

It would be a good thing if we were not driven by hunger but rather was focused on things like enjoying the time we are spending with the ones we are with. I have been guilty of fantasizing about the food while sadly not paying much attention to those who were with me. It is terrible to only be concentrated on the food and not appreciate the relationships we have with those around us. When we are in a food “trance” we may be missing the beauty of the surroundings and atmosphere along with not having a spiritual sensitivity to the needs of others. Eating is not to be a Neanderthal, lust filled affair but rather a blessing that has been given by God for our nourishment and strength. A great idea is to only put food on your plate that you really enjoy. (You do not need to load a spoonful of everything just because it is sitting in front of you.) Try an experiment; when you have dipped out your food, sit down and look at it very carefully. Many people are guilty of “mindless” eating. They do not think about what they are putting in their mouth but are just ready to devour it until they are stuffed. Take small bites and chew it like you are enjoying it – not like you are a wild animal. This will allow you to focus on your favorites and the brain will have plenty of time to blow the internal alarm to stop before you have crossed the point of no return. Also, do not convince yourself that you need to eat everything on your plate or on the table just so it will not go to waste. If you are in a restaurant and you must save it, take a leftover box home with you and eat it later. I have been guilty of going to a buffet and thinking that I must eat my “money’s worth” in order to feel that I have done something smart and frugal. Do not fall into the habit of seeing how much you can eat as a game of trying to take advantage of the situation or get something for nothing. Also, if you are weighing yourself everyday remember that we all fluctuate throughout the day with fluid retention etc…and this can become discouraging. It is much more rewarding to peek at the scales once per week to reduce anxiety and depression.

Eating beyond the point of satisfaction into the stage of needing oxygen can be a habit that is sometimes linked to a psychological need and desire to be fulfilled in other areas of life. Selah. Many people that are “unsatisfied” in other areas of life can easily turn to eating as a comforting fix and a temporary relief from the torment of personal disappointment. This is only one example of how humans try to emotionally heal themselves by wearing a mask to cover and deny their weaknesses and failures instead of dealing with reality. It seems the mind and body has a “self-preservation” gear that can be engaged to help ease the pain, and a life filled with denial does not help correct the root cause. Everyone is not the same and does not have issues in the same areas but most of us do struggle with something. People that are overweight and have problems with overeating might be strong in other areas while thin people who do not even think about food might be tormented with something else. But be encouraged! You have the power of heaven and earth on your side because God is watching you and trying to get your attention so that He can show you the way! “There hath no temptation taken you but such is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but with the temptation will also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (I Corinthians 10:13) He is saying that even while we are struggling, He will figure out a game plan and come up with a solution that will make sure that we overcome. Let us pray for an EXTRA measure of faith as we remember that it is not God’s will that we stand alone and face the challenges of life all by ourselves…we definitely NEED His help.

When awareness becomes the core of our lifestyle it will include our thoughts, our emotions, what we say, how we act, our attitude, our love and forgiveness, and how we treat our temples which includes our diet. If we are not living for God, we are living for the enemy and to live completely dependent upon our own strength might be a noble idea in the eyes of the world, but in the light of spiritual reality – it is a sad illusion. We are designed to be a light holder, not the light – because we are only as “bright” as the measure of God within us. Father God is the creator and master of all things and we are to serve Him – not ourselves. Those who have been spiritually redeemed have been “bought” with a price, and we are no longer our own. We do not guide ourselves but rather we follow HIS plan and purpose for our lives. Our responsibility is to be aware of what is going on all around us including what is going into our mouth (and for what comes out of it for that matter). The revelation of our Christian life is “listening” to His voice, confessing His will, and doing what He says. You see, we never rise above our confessions. A negative confession will lower us to the level of that confession. It is what we confess with our lips that really leads us and controls us. Our confession has the power to “imprison us” if it is negative, or set us free if it is positive. Until we receive our manifestation or destination we must say to all who inquire that we are STANDING on the promises of the Word of God! Every time we confess our doubts and fears we are confirming our trust in the impossible and denying the authority and power of God to create the substance of things hoped for! “Thou art SNARED with the words of thy mouth; thou art taken CAPTIVE with the words of thy lips.” (Proverbs 6:2) Being His disciple is not just walking around with a knowledge of Biblical history, but rather it is ABIDING in His Spirit with an ear to hear His voice while seeking every opportunity by faith to do His will. The fruits and attributes of His character are not performed from a sense of duty or memorization, but rather define a spontaneous, sincere demonstration from a heart that is actively ENGAGED in the awakened state of His divine reality. Selah.

What a great idea; praying over our food! When we pray over our food we usually thank Him for providing, for those who prepared it and we ask Him to bless it which can include making it pure and unspoiled, free of disease and bacteria and to help with digestion, absorption and to receive its strength. Have you ever thought about including the petition of helping you not to overeat? Those who have had their stomach stapled or had gastric by-pass surgery, lose weight because they can only eat very little. What if we skipped the surgery and just ate small portions at every meal? What if we used a certain sized container or maybe a smaller sized plate and stopped when we only ate that portion? Do you believe that drinking a full glass of water before meals could help us not be as hungry? What if we could get into the habit of eating slower so that our stomach would have time to tell the brain that we do not want any more food? The world wants to sell us all kinds of expensive exercise equipment and diet foods that are low in calories but they cannot sell motivation or discipline! What if I told you that you can pray for a special anointing of inspiration to change your eating lifestyle? Would you agree that even though we already know that we can be whatever God has called us to be, we are usually rebellious and do exactly what WE want based on the way our will decides? “For as he “thinks” in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) Where the mind goes – the man follows, which is the reason why we need renewal. If we are curious as to what level we have advanced in our spiritual life, we can examine the amount that God controls our mind and this will measure how spiritual we are.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 6
OUR ONGOING “RELATIONSHIP” WITH TEMPTATION

It has been said that everyone must choose one of two pains: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. As we live our day by day routines and develop our habits whether good or bad, every so often we find ourselves at special places called “crossroads”. These are “life-points” or places of decision where we stand in the middle of an intersection and meditate on the choice of direction we will take for the course of our life. We can freely choose through our God given free-will to remain the same or make a change. There are many reactions to these milestone places as some try to avoid them; some are overwhelmed and others do not even recognize them. Nevertheless, a few are aware of the stirring within the soul and understand that a successful life requires a constant evaluation that includes development, progression, and transformation. God never created a vessel to drift on the sea without a specific direction because He personally has drawn a map for each individual that includes a purpose. Only when we embrace the revelation of this divine truth, will we be able to see God’s wonderful plan for our life. If we remain stubborn and determined to live independently with our carnal rebellion in control of our mind – we will die a miserable failure. The ONLY eternal life of reward and joy will be for those who followed and obeyed the voice of the Father.

You know, speaking of God making a detailed plan of our life, I just want to say that I believe He is actually “excited” about you and I. He obviously has put a lot of time and faith into our destiny and that explains why He keeps such a close eye on us. Do you not watch over your children and are you not proud when they accomplish certain things and are we not sad and disappointed when they make bad choices and suffer failure? There is no doubt that just like you and I are willing to help our children in any way we can, God is even more ready to reach out with whatever we need to complete our mission. He is very aware that we live in a body of flesh that demands total control of our mind and emotions. He also realizes that Satan and his demons are focusing on those who are dedicated to living for God. In this light, He is compassionate and sympathetic to our struggles and trials that we face each day and this is exactly why He is trying to relay the message to us that He will help us if we are serious about change! If we really want to be transformed from being carnal to being spiritual, He is ready to intervene. He can do miracles that we have never dreamed of like taking away desires and reminding us of our promises. For example if we ask Him to please speak to our heart and remind us when we come face to face with temptation that He will empower us with wisdom and discipline to conquer our flesh – He will do it! He also realizes that we are only “blowing smoke” if we come to the point of sin and ignore His attempt to get our attention. He is longing for His children to set their face as flint and become totally committed to “overcoming” their weaknesses for the love for God and His glory. It is with these holy vessels of honor that He can fill and overflow with the power of His anointing to touch others as a witness and testimony of His love.

Allow me to be practical with you for a moment. Let’s say that you have a problem with overeating and this indulgence has caused you to health issues. You are sad about what this has done to your appearance and you realize it is a problem but it has not worried you enough to do something about it. This is simply because you love to eat and you are not ready to change the way you are. But let’s suppose that one day you become so frustrated and depressed that you fall across your bed and pour out your heart to God in a flood of emotions and you cry out to Him in desperation to please help you. As you lie there in the quiet, you hear His still small voice say, if you really mean it – I will take away your dysfunctional desire for food. You arise from your bed and go sit on the couch trying to figure out what just happened. You go through your day and realize that you have not been hungry. It is close to bedtime and you still are not really hungry but instead of being happy, you begin to worry that something is wrong. Instead of just drinking a glass of water and going to sleep, you force yourself to eat a sandwich, chips and coke. The next day, you rationalize your thoughts and proceed to eat again at the times when normal people eat. (We must remember that our old nature will be super-sensitive to food and the enemy will realize this). Your mind will notice all the commercials and pictures of the foods you love. Friends at work will offer you food or your company will bring out free donuts as you automatically eat it – then regret it. You will begin to feel the tug of war within your mind as you try to stand strong against the temptation to compromise, then you decide that you deserve a “reward” for not eating the whole bag of cookies. After a few days your appetite is stimulated again and you are right back to the same old addictive habits. Allow me to ask, did this person really want Jesus to help them or was their “experience” with Him just an emotional pity-party of frustration? Can you see how fierce and aggressive our body “demands” pleasure and how powerful and controlling it has become through the years? I want to encourage you today by saying that God will move heaven and earth to help you because He loves you so much – but you must listen closely and follow His instructions perfectly or it WILL NOT WORK! Trust Him – trust Him! Even when you are struggling and suffering – He promises that He will be there for you to comfort you and fill you with HIS strength and peace. Test Him and try Him! He never fails! If you are faithful to Him – He will be faithful to you! Selah.

Let us pray a simple and practical prayer right now. If you are not ready to commit – do not turn away but at least read with me through this prayer. You can continue to ask God for more courage and urgency so that when you do come to your crossroad, you will have the faith to make your request known. “Father, I come to you right now knowing that You are ALL powerful and that I am very weak in my flesh. You know my heart, my thoughts, desires, cravings and all of my past struggles and failures, yet you are still excited about my “possibility” to change. I have thought about it, waged war over it and finally have come to this life-point where I am serious about having a new attitude about food. Open the eyes of my mind to see food differently. Allow me to perceive food as something I need to live – not something that I live for. Please remove my extreme cravings and when I do eat, remind me that I only need what is sufficient. Take away my lust for the rich delicacies and the indulgences that are harmful to my body. Take away the desire to over-eat into gluttony and all the sins that are associated with it. As I resist this desire may my discernment become more sensitive and may I grow stronger until I have defeated this weakness and solidified this change as a permanent transformation victory. Come be my Lord, In Jesus Name, amen.”

Now, for those of you that were serious about this prayer, you can expect to experience some strange things happening to you. Do not become upset or worried if you go for a while without being hungry. We are so used to eating on a regular basis and we love to snack all through the day and night, that we hardly give our stomach the chance to be empty. Just relax and enjoy this journey because the process is just beginning and it will take a while before you see results. Do not become discouraged and do not allow the devil or your old nature to argue with your new agreement with God. Hold tightly to your faith and rest in His promises to help you with whatever you need. The only one that can disrupt the change process is you! It will not be God’s fault if you give up and quit. Selah.

I had not originally intended to continue with this particular subject of over-eating and the consequences of being over-weight and out of shape but I sense this is a problem that affects many in the body of Christ and is an important issue when dealing with the transformation of our BODY, MIND and SPIRIT. How can we expect to be filled and led of the Holy Spirit if we have our flesh dominating us? Would you agree that until we allow Christ to be our Lord “completely” we will not enjoy the success of walking under His control? There is only room for one King upon the throne of our conscience and the old nature is fighting as hard as he can to sit there. Casting down our flesh is the only way we can keep our old nature in the graveyard where he belongs. This is not going to happen automatically which is the reason for us to learn these practical truths together. In this light, I will continue with the leading of the Holy Spirit as I rely on His wisdom and anointing.

I admit that in my life I have never really thought about holding back with what I desired to eat. I was very thin and a picky eater as a youth but when I became an adult for some reason I thought more was better. I developed a strong habit of eating until there was nothing left and if I wanted 4 pieces of cake I would not hesitate to satisfy my craving. Now that I am older and my metabolism is changing I realize that with many years of “abuse” I am now seriously addicted to food. When I was young I had no guilt and when I took my shirt off I still had a youthful body and more importantly I felt good. Now as I think more about food than I ever have, I see flabby muscles and a pot belly along with less energy and of course all of this contributes to low self-esteem and confidence. Have you ever experienced a vicious cycle of strong passion, consumption, satisfaction and then condemnation after you are satisfied? There is something wrong when we are not only dreaming about what to eat but when we have nightmares of guilt after we eat. Maybe we are bored and eat because it is something to do – or maybe our temptation to eat is increased because food is so accessible. If this is contributing to the problem, we must embrace what we are trying to avoid; self – discipline. I want to pause for a moment and let us meditate on a very beautiful and powerful scripture that will edify and uplift our heart and spirit. More than just discussing the areas that God desires to change us, it is just as important that we PRAY for one another as we work through our struggles. One of the most powerful ministries of the body of Christ is prayer and our love and concern for each other should be the result of our love for God. It is my prayer that God will strengthen you and inspire you to continue growing in your intimacy with the Father. Likewise, many of you are praying for me that God will minister this Word into my heart so that I will continue in the journey that He has called me to do. In Colossians, 1: 9-11 we find a prayer of encouragement for those who have set their focus on becoming all they can be in Christ. As Paul, under the anointing of God’s Spirit inspires this group of people, we can use this edification as a “confession” for ourselves and for each other in the same spirit of love and faith. Put your name in the places where “you” is mentioned and be inspired as this Word refreshes and stimulates your heart. “For this reason we also, from the day we heard it (your passion for God), have not ceased to pray and make special request for YOU, (asking) that YOU be filled with the (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in ALL spiritual wisdom (in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things. That YOU may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God (with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition.) We pray that YOU may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, (to exercise) every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy. Why does Paul mention joy? Because joy enables us to enjoy our journey and have strength that keeps us going even when our trials becomes difficult. We will never experience the joy that Jesus intended for us to have if we wait until every circumstance is perfect. Joy is not just a “feeling” it is KNOWING in our heart that God is with us in the calm and in the storm. Selah.

The reason why we have such a difficult time resisting temptation is because we refuse to let go of its hand. We want to take a pill and wake up 40 pounds lighter, or depend on some theory that will change us into a holier person but in the end it will come down to our determination. I know a sister that has recently asked the Lord to awaken her at 5:30 each morning so she can pray and confess scriptures. Without an alarm clock, her eyes pop open miraculously at 5:30 each morning. No doubt He will always do His part – but we must accept the reality of self-discipline.

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 5
IS IT WELL WITH OUR SOUL?

“A possible you” is all about changing from who you are now to the person God longs for you to be. It is definitely “possible” but it will not come without a price. You have already been purchased with the blood of Christ which is the most valuable ransom eternity has ever known. This was done that we might have the possibility to develop into the image of the one who created us. The question remains with whether or not we will “allow” God to break us, melt us, mold us and use us within the specifications of the journey He has selected for us. Yes, it is true that if we refuse to invite God into our private life, He will never be our Lord. You see the idea behind praying for God to help us is not just asking for things. To many, prayer is making a “grocery list” of items that we want and then hoping that God would fill our request out of His desire to make us happy – this is not a realistic view of intercession. We pray because we love Him and know that to be pleasing to Him, we must become transparent. Our highest honor is bow before Him and our most worthy motive should be to know Him deeper in the power of His resurrection. Some of His children have already been in this spiritual evolution for many years and have made wonderful progress while others are just starting to see the personal “map” that God has drawn for their destiny – (and by the way have discovered they have a long way to go). And then there are those that have been a Christian for a long time and have absorbed volumes of religious knowledge but have never really come into the revelation of what transformation means. As we have said before, it is EASY to accept what Christ has done for us without ever yielding our will to Him, but to become one with Him calls for the emptying of one’s self so that we can be filled with His nature – and this is the “possibility” we are talking about.

I know that God is speaking to me about personal change and I am convinced by the witness of His Spirit that as Jesus is preparing to return, He is trying to relay this message to all of His children. I was sitting around tonight watching some show about Alaska state troopers and I could hardly concentrate on what was happening because I am meditating in my spirit about what God wants to do within His disciples. Once again I have come into my office to write and empty my heart with what I feel He is trying to communicate to those who love Him and who desire to follow His Word. I believe He is attempting to reveal to ALL of us His will – not only about “things” that are going on around us but about who He is, because if we can know Him more intimately, we will know what He wants us to do. And if we can know what He wants, we will at least find ourselves in the crossroad of decision to obey or walk away. Maybe this is the very reason why people do not want to go deeper in their relationship with Him is because they are afraid of what He will ask them to do. I have said many times that it is much easier to visit God at church than to be constantly aware of our responsibility to accomplish His commands. Sadly there are many who are convinced they have already done everything necessary to fulfill their commitment for eternal life and that has given them a false sense of security. Could it be that eternal life will still be given to the religious spectators who praised the Father for His mighty deeds but refused Christ to be their personal Lord?

Since change is what we are focused on, allow me to say again that God is ready and willing to help any of us with whatever is preventing our spiritual success. This success is the fulfilling of what He has called us to do and to become. He will not be satisfied with a half-hearted, lukewarm attitude that allows the flesh to control our life and no matter how much we cry on the shoulder of His grace, we must grow up and become accountable. I realize that God is filled with mercy and compassion but He will not betray His own integrity just because we memorize confessions or use our weakness as an excuse. We must support what we really believe with action which is the demonstration of faith. This means that whatever weakness or dysfunction is causing us to stumble, we must be willing to lay it on the alter and watch it burn to a crisp. Until we are ready to sacrifice these “idols” that bring us great fleshly satisfaction we will live our life at the gates and in the outer courts of His presence. It has never been acceptable to bring idols into God’s camp and this idolatry is seen by God to be an abomination and a direct enemy to His holiness. We love to hear about God’s understanding and forgiveness but we back away from hearing about how strict and uncompromising He is! The only place for anything that competes for God’s attention is the smoldering pile of burning rubbish. Selah.

Let us go to the book of Joshua and be reminded of the seriousness that God is trying to relay to us about purity and how there is no room for any other “thing” in our heart that tries to share His glory. Being a disciple is abandoning and setting our heart free to follow Him with the “single vision” of love. In Joshua chapter seven, we find that Joshua and his army have just defeated Jericho with the super-natural intervention of God’s power. They were given instructions to gather ALL the spoils and bring them into the treasury of the Lord. (This is an example of how God wants us to view our treasures of highest value as being dedicated to His service and not our own control). The people obeyed the orders from God except a man named Achan who stole some of the spoil and buried it in his tent. God became very angry at this act of rebellion, deception and theft. In fact, His anger burned against the entire nation of Israel. While this was going on, Joshua sent a few of his scouts to spy on a land called Ai. The spy’s returned and told Joshua that he would not need to send but a couple thousand of warriors because there were only a few who dwelled in Ai. To the surprise of everyone, the small group of soldiers from Ai chased the three thousand warriors and killed thirty six men before they could escape. The people cried in fear and Joshua fell on his face to beg God to show him what happened to their favor with the Lord. God spoke and said that someone had taken some of the spoil from Jericho and that now the entire nation was cursed. They went through a process and discovered that Achan was guilty of “loving” a material possession more than he respected God’s command. Achan admitted that he coveted the gold and silver and told them he buried it under his tent. Joshua sent his messengers to dig up the treasures and lay it before all the people. Listen to what happened in verses 24 and 25, “And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, and the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them to the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him and those with him with stones, and afterward burned their bodies with fire.” Do you actually believe that you can have secret idols, habits, desires and indulgences that are wrong in God’s sight, and not be experiencing closed doors, failures, depression, anger, hatred, disappointments, frustrations, and the misery that goes along with having a distance in your soul with Him? Do we want our carnal comfort zones caressed or do we want the truth? If we love ourselves more than we love God – we are idolaters and are cursed!

I know we all want to be in control but we are the temple of the Holy Ghost – we do not “own it”. Our life has been given to us for a purpose and that calling was NOT to do whatever we want! It is time that we raised our expectations to His standards because He is not going to “skip over” holiness and sanctification. You see God is not telling us to “try” harder, He is telling us to “die” harder! We only need a one step program and that is to embrace the revelation that we have been called OUT of darkness into His marvelous light! This message of His divine reality will only be manifested when we decide to sell out completely for Him. This means holding nothing back because the amount of return depends on the investment! Would you like to be totally possessed with God? Do you see yourself as being seated in heavenly places? The heart that is completely yielded to His Word will spend time at each level within God’s tabernacle that portrays the level of their love and devotion to Him and eventually will come to perfect rest and peace in the holy of holies. This surrendering and abandoning of our nature is exactly what Jesus is saying in this hour to His beautiful bride so that we can become adorned for the grandest wedding of all eternity. Can you hear His voice today? Can you hear Him calling you away, to let go of the world and embrace His instructions and to seek Him with all of your strength and mind? “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering’s, saying, Alleluia for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His WIFE HAS MADE HERSELF READY. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.” (Revelation 19:6-8) Did you see that? His wife has MADE herself ready! That my friend – is the Word of the Lord to His people in this hour! Changing our life is more than just cleaning the spots and ironing the wrinkles, it is embracing His commands to reach out to the hungry and homeless with God’s love. It is using our resources to help finance God’s work and not worrying about 30 years from now. It is stopping OUR plans to hoard up everything we can get our hands on and start allowing God to pull our fingers away from our idols that we love and hold onto so strongly. It is time to ask God to renew our mind and give us love and mercy for those we have a hard time with. Let us ask Him each morning to cleanse our heart and to see situations the way He sees them. Let us forgive and pray for those who need Christ. It is the hour to walk in His peace and His anointing to think, say and do what is right! Amen!

A POSSIBLE YOU
FINDING GOD’S DESTINY FOR YOUR LIFE
PART 4
GOD SEES, GOD HEARS, GOD KNOWS

Hard, sculptured physical bodies do not just fall out of the sky…they are developed! Six-pack abs and the healthy glow from good nutrition and exercise takes much more than just browsing through a fitness magazine. The human body is unique yet generally the same when it comes to muscle, blood, digestion etc. and most people have all the same components (with certain exceptions), putting us on common ground when it comes to potential. That is a key word! All of us can “develop” whatever we focus on and even things we are not naturally gifted in we can definitely learn and improve. In the subject of physical condition, people that have no desire to take care of their bodies have made the choice to not put forth any effort! They may complain, but are not interested enough to do something about it and certainly have no vision to change. Without exercise and eating healthy, the body will naturally grow flabby; lose muscle tone, most likely become overweight and this enhances the deterioration of organ function, imbalanced hormones, sluggish blood flow, weak heart and so on until sickness and disease develops. Being lazy and lethargic is a result of our flesh being in control. Being filled with God’s Spirit is being controlled by HIS will. Many have been active throughout the centuries because everyday survival was associated with “manual labor” but as technology has progressed, our “automated” lifestyle has also in some ways been a set-back to our overall health. No matter how many reasons we can list about why we are out of shape, plump and ill, many times have no one to blame but our ourselves and the lazy choices we have willingly made. If we “sugar-coat” our excuses, we will never be inspired to transform our life.

Our new born-again spirit operates with very similar principals like that of the flesh except in a different realm. The flesh functions in a natural world of corruption and death where things break and everything has an expiration date. The spirit functions in the light of holiness, faith, love, humility and is eternally based and devoted to God and His Word. Our individual spirit does not care about the difficulty of labor, the cost of sacrifice or the limitations of time when it comes to serving God. The remnant has a new transformed spirit within them and is likewise designed to “exercise” and grow stronger every day in this higher dimension. Just as the body begins with five-pound weights and gradually increases endurance, our spirit also learns with knowledge and experience to grow more wise and sensitive each day. Unfortunately, the most devastating parallel between these two subjects is that most Christians do NOT have a passion to “work-out” and advance their own salvation either – just like the “couch potato” people. As some start out with a small amount of exercise and then refuse to go no further, the same is true with many Christians that choose NOT to read, study, witness or pray because it is uncomfortable, difficult and sacrificial. Many just want the security of knowing they have a seat in heaven because they need to make sure they have all their bases covered. The evidence of carnality is revealed when they do not want it to cost them anything! They do the same thing with house and auto insurance, pensions and retirement accounts, as again they just want the assurance of being protected.

Have you ever thought that maybe some people have a misconception about the divine plan of spiritual development that God offers? For His people to assume that just because you walk the aisle of a church you are approved for heaven, could possibly lead many to think the work is finished. When Jesus spoke from the cross and said, “It is finished”, He meant that His sacrifice was now sufficient to restore the spiritual relationship between God and humans to “whosoever” would choose to follow Him. He was not implying that becoming an heir to His Kingdom was ONLY based on a one time confession and “nothing” else. It is false teaching that has given the wrong impression about salvation because in order to convince people to join the churches and become tithe paying members, many times the concept of salvation is made to sound like a walk in the park. If you notice, the salvation message usually is focused on what Christ went through on the cross, but not much about what the Father requires from us! People love anything “free” and to imply that all we need to do is “believe” sounds very appealing for those who desire to secure their seat in the next life. When Jesus communicated His gospel, He was very direct and challenged people to sell their possessions and follow Him. This does not sound like a free-ride. This honest approach caused individuals to weigh the cost and make difficult choices that some accepted and others rejected. When Jesus spoke of abandoning our will and turning away from the love of this world, it was NOT a religious game, but rather a strong dose of divine reality. This is why many teachers do not reveal the big picture of salvation now – they do NOT want to scare people away before they even get started! However, isn’t it better to explain what God expects from us, rather than deceive someone into thinking they are saved with just an emotional experience?

Words without action are like buckets with holes in them. Most people only desire a very small portion of God and most already have all they want! It is not difficult to see why many so-called Christians embrace the new, popular religious lifestyle because it has the external “appearance” of holiness (without the internal transformation process.) People want GAIN with no PAIN! – but it will NOT happen!” Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like unto whited (painted) sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” (Mathew 23:27) People may escape the sacrifice and suffering of true discipleship but the time will come when their “talk and no walk” will evaporate and be exposed. God is not impressed with this deceptive mockery and will judge this “all show and no substance circus parade” with swift and pure discipline. It is probable for those who seem to be first in this world of outward display – to be last in the eyes of God’s perfect justice. His will for our spiritual growth is seen in the type and shadow of the natural development of a baby, toddler, and pre-school and so on, all the way to becoming an adult. As the human mind and body grows mature in knowledge and experience, our spirit also has the heavenly blueprint to become seasoned in faith and the possibility to demonstrate all the spiritual fruits and attributes of Jesus Christ. The concept is for our lives to become a reflection of the one who made us in the image of Himself. We cannot “out smart” God or manipulate His Word to give us His blessings. Acting religious is not enough to persuade God to “squeeze” us into heaven! Yes, there is a holy covenant between God and those who are saved and this blood relationship is the strongest bond in the universe. However, it is not susceptible to fraud, bribery, deception, or foolish mockery! He gives everything He has to His children and in return they give Him all of their heart. The hidden secrets and questions are already answered…God sees, God hears, God knows.

“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass (mirror): For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” (James 1:21-25)

One of the most popular political signs that people have held over the centuries is, “WE NEED CHANGE”. Those who put their hope in the governments of men actually believe that new programs and laws can create a better system without ever considering the condition of the world is measured according to how much Jesus dwells in the human soul. Selah. How can the masses be so blind to believe that government structure, global unity and human intelligence can bring peace on earth and fulfill their hearts desires? I am saying with all humility and reverence for God’s truth that the only thing that can change the world is to change our condition! It is very true, we do need change but it is the great need to change from the “inside out” that is the highest order of transformation. This type of spiritual, permanent change comes when an individual allows God to melt them and completely RE-CREATE them. A human being cannot change anyone else – and to be honest, a person has all they can possibly handle with surrendering their own will. God’s plan is based on the idea of allowing Him to do a deep work in us first – and then we will be so filled with His presence that others will reach out to the love of God that is in us! It seems those who cry the loudest about how everything needs to be changed, have never embraced the revelation of a personal evolution. Before we spend our energy and passion to change everyone and everything else, may we allow God to change us first! Actually, we may discover that signs are not effective or necessary because walking in HIS light speaks louder than words and can super-naturally open the spiritual eyes of those who cannot see.

There is a huge difference between “WE NEED CHANGE” and “I NEED TO CHANGE”! Selah. Instead of being discouraged, disappointed, sad and depressed because things are not changing, there is exciting great news! I am going to release the greatest secret of all time about how to see and experience change; PRAYER! Now brother, I thought you had some exciting mystery that had the power to alter circumstances and situations. Praise His Holy Name – I do! God “promised” in II Chronicles 7:14, that if anyone is really serious about change, they can fall on their knees in faith and see as much transformation as they are willing to pray for! Ask Him now to help you change…these are the words He has been waiting to hear.