(The question that’s asked is based on our opening Scripture text)….. But first let me interject an “all things” personal insight…. I AM A TOOTH… that’s not all I am, but that is a component of me… I AM A TOE, again that is not all I am, but that is a component of me….also, I AM A HIP (of course I also think I’m hip) but again, that’s not all I am, but it is a component of me…..Believe me, when I broke my toe, injured my hip, and had an abscessed tooth, all of me was all about those things. 

When God deals with the sum total of me, He takes all that is me into consideration, the events and experiences of my past, my present and the future He intends for me. He considers all the maze that is me as He works and plans to bring me into compatibility with His plans.   

So, here’s the scripture I open with….Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”. 

How we view life depends on where you’re looking….Thepsychologist says: Look Within!...The opportunist says: Look Around!....  The optimist says: Look Ahead!....The pessimist says: Look Out!....God says: Look Up !

This scripture text in Romans has served as a spiritual gyroscope, giving balance and hope to many believers. If you take it separate from the verses around it, there is still a great well spring of belief for a positive outcome in all the situations we find ourselves in as we live out our daily lives. 

God does not just show up one day after you have gone through all your mess, and decide that we can turn this around. God was there at the beginning, He will be there at the end, and He is there at every point in between. There is no point where He is not…. 

He never forgets the critical places where we missed it, but He is constantly re-calculating the path so we can still arrive at our destiny. 

While we were at Virginia Beach, I had my GPS up and running and giving me directions to a location I wanted to get to. At a couple of intersections I deliberately went the wrong way to see what Google would do. As soon as I made the wrong turn, Google had recalculated my direction to get me there…. That’s what God the Holy Spirit is doing right now for you…. You missed it, but He has already come up with a new route to get you there…. Don’t give up, just listen for new instructions from Holy Spirit…..

Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Your free spirit. (He can restore your joy by bringing you into what He originally intended and allow you to celebrate that original purpose, no matter where you have ended up in your journey)                                                                                                                                                     Romans 1:20 “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are seen”…. We refer to this as calling the things that are not as though they were…. What we see was once invisible, until He made it visible… So we look at what was once invisible that we can now see, and we believe for things that are still invisible…. 

I am recalling today, when Winnie and I were first married…. We were on Merrit Parkway, coming out from Meriden Connecticut, and stopped to see some model homes, set up on the side of the highway. One home caught our eye. It was an A-frame Ranch with a large front area with fireplace, then a wing in back with 3 bedroom, family room, kitchen, dining area and laundry room. We walked through the model home with stars in our eyes…. Then, we got a folder with the plans and picture of the finished house and put it in our hope chest. This would be our future home, though we had no clue how we could ever afford it. Nine years later, we were asked to pastor our first congregation in that exact same home. The large, A-frame front area seated about 100 people and the full basement became the children’s area. It was located in an exclusive community of Doctors and Lawyers, which we could never have afforded, it was the first home in the neighborhood, on the highway, near the off ramp of the expressway… ( commit your way unto the Lord and He will bring it to pass)     

Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Our soul is our conscious state of being… so David is saying that God is restoring his awareness of Himself in relationship to His God. That God is taking him from self-consciousness to God consciousness… to be “God inside minded”

If you view your life with God consciousness, then no matter what happens, it is a good season for beginning something or ending something…. It is a good season for planting or for harvesting…. It’s a good season for holding on or letting go!!

How do you pray when you don’t know how to pray?                                                                                                           Romans 8:26 tells us that there will come times when “We know not what we should pray for as we should”.                                                                     Without Holy Spirit, helping us who is our “paracletos”, we are short sited and lean towards the feelings and desires of the self life…. Because of this, it is often impossible for us to separate our current experiences and circumstances from the way in which God is bringing us to His desired outcome. So we get focused on the circumstances, and we miss the way God uses to get us to His will and his intentions for those situations.

I think of the original Superman television series with George Reeves. Each week as the series began, our favorite super hero would confidently posture himself, legs spread, fists on his hips, chest pushed forward, while he stared down the barrel of a gun.  As the bullets bounced off his chest, Superman would smile, with no thought of retreat.  Then something strange would happen that defied any explanation. It just didn’t fit the opening scene! Once the rounds were spent, the bad guy, in desperation, would hurl the gun at Superman, and (are you ready) the caped super hero would duck!!!  Superman, the invincible, the man who was fearless in the face of oncoming bullets, would cower to avoid being hit by an empty gun!

Just like Superman, how often do we cower and duck at things that shouldn’t intimidate us at all. It’s like Samson, who could rip off the gates of the city and carry them up a mountain, but he was putty in the hands of Delilah…. I remember in the Marvel comics, the man of steel could fly so fast, he could go back or forward in time…..Did you realize you are a time traveler…. When I read verse 28, I am made aware that God created us as time travelers….. While the most brilliant minds have sought to invent a means to travel back and forth in time, God has already accomplished this brilliant feat, by His Spirit in us. 

We are able to revisit the past and salvage and redeem it according to                                                                                 

Ephesians 5:16 “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil”.

Colossians 4:5 “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without Christ, redeeming the time”.

In both of these scriptures, the Greek word for Redeem here means“To change the point of origin”…. “To rescue from loss”…. “To ransom the past”…. “To complete what is unfinished”… “To set free from the affects of the past”….

The “all things work together”…. Of Romans 8:28, gives us the concept that present opportunity is connected to actions of the past So that what has been done is not lost, but can be redeemed, as we connect with what God desired and intended in the first place.                          

Jesus said I am the “Alpha and Omega”, the “Beginning and the end”….                                                                                         He said that He is not only the answer, but He is the way to the answer, when we don’t know which way to go…If Jesus  was there at the beginning of all of our experiences, and all things are possible with Him, that tells me that just because something happened, it’s not a done deal…. Cast in concrete, or unchangeable….

Here’s an amazing scripture…..John 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which You have given me: for You loved me before the foundation of the world”.t

This tells me that if Jesus was and is in our past, we can join Him there and take care of some unfinished business. It tells me that if Jesus is in our future, then we can know what the future holds…..and banish fear and doubt….

Here’s a case in point…..Abraham was a time traveler, just like you are….. He was called by God to look at the stars and the sand and then he was told that his decedents would be in the multitudes, God named him “The father of many nations” when he had no children, and his wife Sarah was barren. (His present situation did not determine his future outcome)

In Exodus 2:10, Moses did some time travel at a burning bush. He had been second in line to the throne of Egypt, lived in luxury and splendor, and had whatever he desired. Now he was in exile from the place he had grown up in…. blacklisted, and living in the desert. God shows up and shows him the future…. He is going to deliver the Hebrews out of Egypt, and he is going to confront the most powerful person on earth, the Pharaoh and lead them into the promised land. (His present situation did not determine his future)

How about Genesis 16:11.. Hagar, the concubine of Abraham was pregnant and gave birth to a son. Sarah was barren, and in her jealousy she sends Hagar out into the desert (get out of my sight) Hagar and her son are about to die in the wilderness, when God allows her to do some time travelling and shows her the future of her unborn son, gives him a name, rescues her and sends her back to Abraham. (Her present situation did not determine her future) Sometimes your future and your destiny is attached to who and what you’re connected to….

Certainly in these three cases “All things” were considered as God worked out the details of their lives….

I said last week that we want restoration without demolition taking place first…. I remember there was a church that voted to build a new building on the site of their old building which was much too small. But they wanted to keep the old building while they built the new building! They wanted restoration without demolition….

In our lives, we want to see change and at the same time we want things to stay the same as they are….

We think, “if all things work together for good”….. then why did this have to happen?…. Why did I have to go through that?

If we go to Romans 8:26, we find this… “The Spirit “helps” our infirmities… (I know you’re used to seeing Holy Spirit as a Dove, but remember that He is the third God person in the Trinity, He’s not the bird king….. So anyway, the Greek word for “Helps” is “soon-an-tee-lam-ban'-om-ahee” which means (to complete what is incomplete, to take hold together with us, in other words…in it to win it ) So, The Spirit helps our “infirmities”                                                                      this word in the Greek is “as-then'-i-ah” (…feebleness of body or mind, weakness, barrenness, disease, lacking in knowledge or power, moral or physical frailty)

God can use whatever you have been through and wherever you are, to get you to where He intended for you all along….. Holy Spirit is the first responder in all of our desires and longings towards God and His plans for us…..

If you have said “I can’t”, or “There’s no way”… or “I’m not able”…. Be sure to add “YET”….. (say this with me)

I can’t, yet…. There’s no way, yet…. I’m not able, yet…..

It is not a question of “are you able?” But the real question is “Are you available?”

Romans 8:27 says “He searches the heart”….. If you’re a hypocrite that is not good news, but if you are a sincere Christian, nothing is more comfortable than that God searches the heart, and you understand why the scripture says that before we call He will answer…. Because He searches the heart….

It’s easy for us to misunderstand the situation but God does not…..For He not only understands the matters of our heart, but He understands the multitude of emotions and forces that shake us and move us… Because He’s been there in the skin we wear! He was misunderstood, betrayed, abandoned, treated unjustly, and had his reputation ruined, and his closest friends turn against him…

Speaking of how easy it is to be misunderstood…..A woman was trying hard to get the catsup to come out of the bottle. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her four-year-old daughter to answer the phone. She answered the phone and it was the pastor and the little darling said, Mommy can’t come to the phone right now. The pastor asked the girl, “are you there by yourself”…. The girl said, “No, my mom is here but she has been hitting the bottle."                       (Only God could understand and search out the meaning of that!)

I want you to notice something else, In Romans 8:27 it says “He knows what is the mind of the Spirit in us”… You must understand that our spirit is designed to hear what the mind of the spirit in us is…. The intellect and the soul, are designed to take care of the things of man…. But the spirit is designed to take care of the things of God (thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven)

I don’t need Holy Spirit to tell me when to brush my teeth, when to eat, when to pay my bills or when to go to the bathroom…. These things are the things of man…..

Holy Spirit will teach me the things of heaven that God is bringing into the earth…..My spirit will bear witness with His Spirit…. That means I can hear the mind of the Spirit, so that I can come into agreement with the Spirit of God….

I said this last week, Let me say it again…. The natural man takes matter and makes energy, coal, wood or gas to heat and cool his home, fuel to operate his car, food that his body turns into energy or physical strength….

But Holy Spirit working within our Spirit, teaches and guides us into a supernatural process, where we pray, believe, confess the word, and by the energy of faith we see physical substance come into being. Marriages are restored, bodies are healed, resources are released, income is provided, and circumstances are changed!

In ourselves we may fail, but when we tap into the mind of the Spirit, and the Divine energy, which is communicating with our redeemed spirit, His mind, His desires, His plans and intentions never fail…. We just need to get on board!!!

It is then that “All things work together for the good of them who are the called according to His purposes”!

The words “work together” are synergeō in the original text…. Which means to be in harmony with, to have shared resources, to have common desires, to act as one….. Since God cannot fail, when we are in synergeo with Him, we may experience some circumstances and situations that are definitely not what we would have chosen, but we will not fail!

And what is synergeo? It is what happens when you put two or more things together to form something brand new that neither one could form separately. 

It’s what happens when my wife goes into the kitchen and makes a big pot of Sweet Baby Stew. She puts in the potatoes, the carrots, the celery, the onions, the cabbage, the spices, the meat, and a few other secret ingredients I know nothing about. What comes out is the best stew I’ve ever had. Now left to myself I would never sit and eat some of those things separately. But in the Sweet Baby Stew they combine with all those other ingredi­ents to produce a tummy filled with delight. That’s synergy–the combination of many elements to produce a positive result.

If you struggle with Romans 8:28, the alternative is Fate,Chance, Kismet, Ying and Yang, some vague higher power, The impersonal forces of nature, Kay sara, sa ra, mind over matter, or whatever else….                                                              

Even the Buddhist can only go so far with Zen…..A Western woman was in India, studying with her teacher. She was riding with another woman friend in a rickshaw, when they were attacked by a man on the street. In the end, the attacker only succeeded in frightening the women, but the woman was quite upset by the event and told her teacher about the incident. She asked him what she should have done: “what would have been the appropriate, Buddhist response?” The teacher said very simply, “You should have entered your inner Zen place of peace and tranquility, then with great compassion whacked the attacker over the head with your umbrella as hard as you could.”                                     (So much for your inner place of peace and tranquility)

Faith is not pretending, it is believing….It is acting, speaking and behaving like it has happened until it does. It is believing that God has done it, simply because He said He would…..                                                                                                                                              The Bible never asks us to pretend that tragedy isn’t tragedy or to pretend that our pain isn’t real. The point is, we are lifted up higher to see the active involvement of God all through our lives in every challenge we faced.                                                                                      Is Paul saying, “Whatever happens is good in itself"? No.

Is he saying that suffering and evil and tragedy are good? No.

Is he saying everything will work the way we thought it should if we just have enough faith? No.

Is he saying that we will understand why God allowed that tragedy to come? No.                                                                                                                                               Sometimes we are guilty oftrying to explain the unexplainable.

Suppose I have an accident and wreck my car. (this is just an illustration, I’m not confessing this, and I declare that I am accident free, and hazard free) But sup­pose when I take this (non-existent wrecked car) into the body shop, the man says, “Friend, you haven’t had an accident. Your car has just been rearranged.” So I turn and look at the cracked grille, the crumpled fender, the twisted bumper, and the shattered windshield. Then I say, “Buddy, you’re crazy. This car isn’t rearranged. This car is wrecked.”

You see, the auto body man, isn’t seeing the wreck, he is seeing the restoration and when I release the car to him, he is already writing up and estimate to determine the parts and cost of returning it to it’s restored condition. He hands me the estimate so I can see what he is going to do to return my car to it’s original state!

What, is Paul saying here in Romans? He is making a declaration about the unexplainable mysteries of life, a declaration that reads, “Quiet. God is at work here.” How? We’re not always sure. To what end? That He may bring Good, and not evil into your life. Because we must come to the place that weunderstand that God’s values and our values and God’s timing is not my timing, in the many twists and turns of life.                                                                                So, does that include the worst that happens to us? Yes.                                                                                                                Does that include the things that hurt us deeply? Yes.

Does that include the times when we are heartbroken? Yes.

Does that include the times when we sin? Yes.

Does that include the times when we doubt God? Yes.

Does that include the times when we curse him to his face? Yes.

He is always at work to bring His good outcome into our lives.Whew, that’s a relief to see!

The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy, but He has come that you may have life and that more abundantly!

God is at work in our life right now. And Yes, we are all rough, uncut, unpolished in some places, and God is patiently doing His work in us. So see the mess and we make a good confession based on the best outcome when restoration is completed in us.

And here is the bottom line, that good thing which He is bringing us to, is what we will look like, speak like, and we will act like as we look more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:29 “For whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that    He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.

Let’s make a good Confession of the best outcome concerning the message today, Amen?!….

Lord Jesus, may I come to understand, that blessings are everywhere, if I will choose to look for them. May I know that my attitude will affect the outcomes which I expect and that challenges are often gifts that You have sent to me in disguise. May I trust that most things will get better and improve with time, because I will not be the person then, that I am right now. Because of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in me, I can trust that my instincts & gut feelings have value, and are an extension of Your stirrings within me. Your word gives me assurance that a positive attitude based on Your character of mercy, grace and love, will always cause everything to go smoother because You are working things out for my good and Your glory, every moment in my life. May I come to See that you have placed me in Your body with skills & talents that You can use, to be a positive influence on many people. May I come to value each moment of every day because each is a blessing to be enjoyed and treasured. Lord, may I value each person as unique & important to You. Thank you that each moment of my life has meaning and purpose, far beyond what I can see and understand at any given time. May my spirit be open and accepting, of those things which I might not otherwise understand or accept. Renew my spirit with each opportunity and the challenges that expand my skills and awareness and open up areas and abilities in me as I move through each new experience. I seek to walk in Your blessing and favor as I move into the future You have chosen for me. Allow me see and grasp the possibilities which arise each day. I greet whatever awaits with vibrant faith and inner joy. I realize that at times I must forsake the comfortable and familiar, in my quest for the best, for you have made my life, an adventure of discovery and you have gone before me to prepare all my tomorrows with the blessing of new places, new things, new friends, new opportunities, and new challenges..

Thank You in Jesus name, 

Amen

In the story of the Prodigal Son, which is really about the Prodigal’s belief system, the Father’s belief system and the other son’s belief system who stayed at home. In all three cases, even though each one is described quite differently, they have one thing in common with us today…. Their belief systemcaused them to see and do the things they did…. 

What we feel, What we think, What we do, How we act, and how we respond to people and things, all flow out of our belief system…. Until you act on what you say you believe, you actually don’t believe it!

So if our belief system is flawed and faulty, then whatever we build upon the foundation of that flawed system of beliefs, will be flawed.

If our belief system is solid in its principals and values then we will be standing when those around us are crumbling and coming unglued….

I read one statement which put it this way… “Belief systems are the stories we tell ourselves to define our personal sense of Reality.  Every human being has a belief system that they utilize, and it is through this process that we interact with the world around us”. (repeat)

These systemic beliefs evolve into who we are and are at the heart of the conversations we are constantly having with ourselves….     

All the conversations you have with yourself about everything in your life and your experiences are continually re-examining thebuilding blocks which construct your belief system….   

As we live our lives and process all the information that comes through our experiences and also the knowledge imparted to us by the experiences of others, we are trying to make sense of it all at some level. 

As we have these ongoing conversations with ourselves, we are actually forming our own sense of reality. Because in the final analysis, our perception is our reality…..

Our belief system helps or hinders us in receiving all that God has planned for us to have. 

The bible says that when the prodigal son was a great way off, the father ran to meet and embrace him….                                       

This shouts something into my spirit…

The father had prayed, he had believed, he had pleaded with heaven…. And this act of the father as he looked out at the road leading home and scanned the distant horizon….he was watching for his wayward son to appear…. Because when he was done processing everything that had happened in his belief system, there were unshakable concepts that were stronger and deeper than his experiences at the moment.                        *…..The fact that he went out and looked down the road expecting to see his prodigal every day… meant that he never stopped believing, and as he continued steadfast in his belief he was attracting what he was receiving by faith every single day of his life…

Faith believes and then begins to receive what it can not see…..

Hebrews says that Faith is the belief in the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen……

You can see this principle all through the bible….

Act 10:43  …..through His name whoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins.

Mark 11:24  Therefore I say unto you, What things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them.

Matthew 21:22  And all whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.

See it Church….. it’s clear in all of these verses….. Believe and receive…. Believe and receive…. Believe and receive!

The proof of believing is receiving before you see it….

As a young man, I remember that my pastor was teaching on evangelism and he gave us an example to use in leading someone to receive Christ. He selected one of the folks in the class and told them that he wanted to give them $20.00 and asked them if they would be willing to take it. He then laid it on the table and said, at this moment the money is yours. Do you believe that this $20.00 is now yours? They would say yes, I believe it is. Then the pastor would say, well why don’t you go ahead and receive what I have given you, that you said was yours, even though it’s still on the table. You believe it, but you haven’t yet received it. With that, the person would reach out and take the twenty and put it in their pocket. 

They couldn’t receive it until they believed it was theirs!

I bought Winnie a Sebring convertible while she was in Virginia Beach for 6 weeks to help Karen after her surgery. When she got back, I told her to try out the car, she did and loved it, then handed me back the key. I said “It’s yours”… she said “Wow, my own set of keys, when do we have to turn it back in’… I said it’s yours… She said “you mean this is my set of keys for the rental car”?... I said, “No, this is your car”! Then she started jumping and yelling and hugging me, because there came a moment when she received it, and it became hers!!!!

Let’s go to an account which Jesus gives us that is found in 

Mark 9:14 “And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and scribes questioning and disputing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw Jesus returning from the holy mount, His face and person yet glistening], they were greatly amazed and ran up to Him [and] greeted Him. 16 And He asked them, what are you questioning and discussing with them? 17 And one of the throng replied to Him, Teacher, I brought my son to You, for he has a dumb spirit.

18 And wherever it lays hold of him [so as to make him its own], it dashes him down and convulses him, and he foams [at the mouth] and grinds his teeth, and he [falls into a motionless stupor and] is wasting away. And I asked Your disciples to drive it out, and they were not able [to do it]. 19 And He answered them, O unbelieving generation! How long shall I [have to do] with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to Me. 20 So they brought [the boy] to Him, and when the spirit saw Him, at once it completely convulsed the boy, and he fell to the ground and kept rolling about, foaming [at the mouth]. 

21 And [Jesus] asked his father, How long has he had this? And he answered, From the time he was a little boy. 22 And it has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, do have pity on us and help us. 23 And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? all things are possible to him who believes! 24 At once the father of the boy gave [an eager, piercing, inarticulate] cry with tears, and he said, Lord, I believe! help my unbelief! 25 But when Jesus noticed that a crowd [of people] came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, You dumb and deaf spirit, I charge you to come out of him and never go into him again. 

26 And after giving a [hoarse, clamoring, fear-stricken] shriek of anguish and convulsing him terribly, it came out; and the boy lay [pale and motionless] like a corpse, so that many of them said, He is dead. 27 But Jesus took [a strong grip of] his hand and began lifting him up, and he stood. 28 And when He had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, Whycould not we drive it out? 29 And He replied to them, this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting”. 

Notice that the man with the afflicted child said “I believe but help my unbelief”…. He was addressing the problem many have and that was about the things that keep believers from receiving… that great distance between I believe, but why can’t I receive? (Somebody is about to receive their answer today!!!)

I heard someone say, “you can’t have restoration, until you first have demolition”…..

We want things to change without having to experience change…..

Often God has to demolish things in our core belief system, before restoration and regeneration can take place…. 

Now in this case Jesus inserts Himself directly into that gap…. But doesn’t leave it there… notice that he also gives us the solution for victory when a miracle is not immediate, such as this afflicted young man received…. *…..He says that we can overcome the gap between believing and receiving with prayer and fasting!

Prayer and fasting closes the gap!                                                                                          

If it doesn’t come immediately, it doesn’t mean that it’s not still yours, It means that you’re experiencing THE GAP!

it means you’re going to have to get serious about it and like Jacob when he wrestled with the angel….We too must declare “I will not be denied” !!!

Daniel faced the same situation, and after praying and fasting 21 days and nights, the angel Gabriel broke through with the answer and let Daniel know that he had been heard from the first day that he began to pray, (It was his from day one) but there was intense warfare in the heavenlies which had to be won, to deliver the answer to him!

It was his from the moment he believed, but spiritual warfare was involved in order to close the gap, from believing to receiving!! 

Can I suggest something….. we should spend time in our prayer and fasting sessions, allowing Holy Spirit to demolish anything in our belief system that might be keeping us from receiving. 

In Daniel 10, we are told that Daniel spent 21 days fasting and praying, and we see these words in

Daniel 10:8, “Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength”.  

Daniel spent time examining his belief system and checking if there was anything which might hinder him from receiving the answer he needed and getting it out of the way. We used to sing a hymn that said “Keep the way clean, let nothing between”….

I am reminded of the scripture which tells us that when the Israelites went into the land of promise, they brought grapes out of the land, so large that one bunch took two men to carry it. They could have had the grapes in a month, but because of a belief system that was defective, it took 40 years. They were in charge of their gap.                                 Take charge of your gap….

Grapes represent blessings…. (throw grapes)…

There was another problem they had with their belief system that kept them in fear of possessing the land, in spite of the abundance of grapes.

They said that when they saw the giants they were like grasshoppers in their eyes…. We see this in….

Amos 2:9 “….the Amorites, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and strong as the oaks…... 

They got distracted from the blessings, because of the giants…. (throw grapes) 

They needed to change their giant belief system to a blessing belief system…(throw some more grapes)….                    The reason there are giants is because “It is not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord”….

What are the giants in your belief system that are keeping you from the grapes of blessing (throw grapes)

KILL THEM…. DEMOLISH THEM…. You will own the grapes they want to keep from you!

Giants are not there to kill you, they are there to grow you up…. They will make you a bigger, stronger believer. Feel yourself growing with each giant you demolish! 

*God has chosen my destiny, now I choose, MY THOUGHTS, MY WORDS, MY GOALS, WHAT I CHOOSE TO SEE,             AND HOW I CHOOSE TO ACT as I close the gap to my destiny!

Don’t live in someone else’s destiny…. Live in your own destiny, not what your giants choose…. Don’t live with Misery because you don’t have confidence in what God has chosen for you and what you dreamed and hoped for! 

Every one of us have an incredible super power….. That super power is our belief system, which causes us to hope when it looks like there is no hope, to believe when we see nothing happening, to dream, to imagine, to create, to have faith in the God of every destiny!

You can’t be fully who you are designed to be, with a faulty belief system….

The messages of your childhood, become the belief system of your adulthood… So it is important to edit the messages of our past….

When God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve each evening, He was constructing their belief system so that they could fulfill their mission in the garden, and then take on the world. 

When God asked them “Where are you” after they had disobeyed Him…. COME ON, HE KNEW WHERE THEY WERE….. What He was really asking was “HOW DID YOU GET TO WHERE YOU ARE”?..... 

What voice have you listened to that has poluted your self-image, that is not My voice!

Isn’t it amazing how God can tell us something a hundred times…. And Satan can say something once, and fear, unbelief, confusion, division, accusations, and intimidation drown out the voice of God….. Suddenly, our belief system becomes compromised and we can’t seem to receive!!!

For the hundredth time Mrs. Persecuted and threatened, called her pastor because her husband was threatening to kill her. Pastor Good Intentions would pray with her, quote her some scriptures, and tell her that the Lord would watch over her. Yes Pastor, she said, He certainly has watched over me, but I’m calling because He’s on his way over to your house, and says he’s going to kill you…."Well, now," said the pastor, "The Lord has been speaking to me about taking a church in Alaska and I’m on my way out the door now." That’s pastor (do as I say not as I do) 

When the woman in John 8:11, was dragged naked, before Jesus by the Pharisees, who were going to stone her for adultery… They said, the law said that she should die, They knew it and Jesus knew it (Jesus knew the law)…. But did you notice in the story that Jesus didn’t get something to cover her nakedness…. He did something more important…. He covered her shame, her guilt, her condemnation, and her poor self image, which had twisted her belief system….. by saying, “NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU, GO AND SIN NO MORE”…..God says you are lovable, valuable, forgivable, changeable and never alone. It was up to the woman to cover here nakedness, not someone else….

Jesus knew that if he dealt with her at the level of her belief system, she would not continue to do what she did!!!!

We were shaped and formed by the voice of God….. AND GOD SAID!!!!  We are not created to have our minds, our souls and our spirits bombarded by all these other contrary voices! 

I believe in the big bang theory…. GOD SPOKE AND BANG, IT HAPPENED!

So we treasure His voice, we honor His voice, we desire His voice, and we shut the door on those things which compete with His voice in our lives!!!!

You can’t say “No” to Him and call Him Lord at the same time…..Where is place your heart calls home…. Where is your love center, the magnetic north on your hearts compass?

Mark 12:30  “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the greatest commandment.”

Because we are physical beings, our bodies often gravitate to the pleasure centers of our experience…. If we are not careful, these pleasure centers can compromise our belief system…. The more you return to your pleasure centers, the 

Deeper they control your time, your energy, and your resources…. 

We are the most vulnerable when we are hungry (Eve saw the apple that it was good to eat) When we are lonely, when we are tired, (the disciples fell asleep the night Jesus was betrayed) when we are bored, (David watched Beth Sheba bathing from the roof top) and we can be vulnerable when we are anxious or depressed….

Zero tolerance means that if I take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves…..

Temptation is not a sin, but when we give our energy to it, it becomes physical substance….

One man told his girlfriend…. You've really brought religion into my life. The woman was shocked at this news, and said Really? How is that so, dear? The man said “Until I met you, I never believed in Hell”…. OOPS! She would have said it but he said it first!

Many folks are afraid of the word commitment today…. They see it as a loss of freedom, or a way to give others permission to control your life. But The word commitment in Hebrew is GAWLAL (LIKE A GROWL)…. It means “to roll” .. we say, “You’re on a roll”..

You’re committed, you’re in the groove, “you’re down with it”!                      

Psalm 37:3 “Commit your way unto the Lord and live right! v4 Do what the Lord wants, and He will give you your heart’s desire. v5 Let the Lord lead you and trust Him to help. v6 Then it will be as clear as the noonday sun

that you chose the right path”. 

God is the ultimate example of commitment. He doesn’t know how to quit on love, and He has planted that spirit deep within each one of us, if we will let His voice be heard….                                                                                 

Many have misunderstood Love as a feeling, it is not a feeling, it is a commitment….

(GAWLAL) Love doesn’t whisper,    IT ROARS!

When you make a declaration of your commitment to all the wafflers, the vacillators, and the flip floppers, they’ll get a look of shock on their faces, their eye brows will go up, and they’ll leave you alone!

Joshua 24:15 Joshua stood before the entire nation and declared…. “Choose this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Stop comparing yourself with others….

God is blessing you, according to you…. Comparison makes us more than or less than, better than or worse than….    No!!! God deals with you as YOU. Remember when the Israelites compared themselves to the inhabitants of the land, they were grasshoppers…. 

The miracle of the multiplication of the oil and meal, began by the prophet asking the question …. “What do you have?”

And God said give me that and we’ll change history!!!

Be where you are, not where you are not…. Answer the question “WHAT DO YOU HAVE” AND SEE WHAT CAN BE POSSIBLE WITH WHAT YOU HAVE RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!

Déjà vu means, I feel that I am doing something or seeing something that I have experienced before….                                                                                        So how about Deja stew: The feeling that this is made from the pot roast my mom served the week before.

Deja Phew: the feeling I've smelled this before.

Deja moo: The feeling I've drank this bad, outdated milk before. 

Deja zoo: The feeling that I have, met these monkeys at a party before…. 

DUH-ja-DUH: The feeling that I should have known better than to do this again… 

But I believe it’s just as important to have Vu ja De moments as well as De ja Vu experiences…..

Vu ja De, means that we can be able to see everyday things in a new way. To view what you already have from a different perspective, with new eye sight….We can experience marriage relationships in a new way with Vu ja De…. We can have constant Vu ja De moments in the Word of God, in prayer, in times together with our friends and our family and church relationships…..

We’re talking about our belief system…. And what better place than right there, to have some Vu ja De…. And not take for granted or assume that things are just the way they are…..But we can choose for it to be better…

Speaking of our belief system, Who you are and the place you are to have in life, should begin with God, not people or circumstances.

Our beginning is Spiritual and we were created for spiritual things, not just material things….

God created us to flourish by Eternal things, not temporal, material things….

We take physical matter and turn it into energy….to power our cars, to fly our planes, to cool our homes, to nourish our bodies and to make a living in a material world….That’s how we have spent most of our lives….

But God uses energy and turns it  into matter…. He gives us an entirely new paradigm for our belief system…         He spoke and the universe of matter appeared, He touched and blind eyes opened, the dead were raised, the sick were healed, storms were calmed, and bread and wine were multiplied. 

Insert this into your belief system….Scripture says that we are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ… You have a vote in the matter. A joint heir is a full participant in the matter. The Bible is the will and testament of God, and He has made us the executors of His will…. To make sure that His wishes and desires are carried out here, through us in the earth. 

God’s message should be our message, since we have been given the privilege of being the voice of God in the earth….

His energy is in this room and it is in us, and He is right here to cause matter to appear by the energy of His Spirit!!!!