It was in the news on Saturday, this was in the early 80’s, that a man was arrested, bathing naked in the city fountain. Well, I didn’t see the news about it, so as folks came into the church, several people said to me, “Well I’m glad to see you got your clothes on, pastor. I was really confused, and finally someone said “Didn’t you see the news? They said that someone was arrested, bathing naked in the city fountain. When they took him downtown to book him, he said his name was Reverend Charles Elliott.
Well, I thought that this bit of personal humor would fit themessage today,
So, I titled this message, “Put Your Clothes On”....
I don’t care what your personal preference is in how you dress, Paul is pretty specific about how we should be dressing our spirit, in our homes and as we get ready to head out each day into the public....This is the universal dress code for all believers in Christ...Our scripture text is...
2 Corinthians 5:1 “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. v2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, v3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
v4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. v5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come”.
I want to focus on verse 3 for a moment... “When we are clothed we will not be found naked”. The word naked here, is about being vulnerable, exposed and susceptible. Paul is telling the Corinthian church that if their Spirit is not dressed properly they will be vulnerable to the wiles and deceptions of the devil...and susceptible to his lies.
Paul also writes to the Colossian church, much the same thoughts.... Colossians 3:12 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”.
He says, “Clothe your Spirit with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”.
Now that’s a good looking wardrobe! It’s a wardrobe that will speak well and testify of the Lord that we serve.
This isn’t going to just happen without an effort.... We have to choose these items from our wardrobe all day long, all week long, all month long and all year long!
I used to have a nightmare all the time, that I would show up at school, and everyone was dressed up, and I was in my underwear.... Or I would be on the stage singing in my underwear.... I think it came from reverse Psychology, because when my mom found out I could sing, she would take my sister and myself to every talent showshe could get to so that we could perform. To help us with our nerves, she would tell us to picture everyone in their underwear, and we were the only ones dressed up! But somehow, in my dreams, it got reversed! They were all dressed and I was in my underwear!
The implication from Colossians and Corinthians, is that this is a daily practice, just like we put on our own clothes, and get dressed every day, likewise we need to be putting on these spiritual clothes as well.
So let’s look in the closet and select some clothes to get our spirit dressed up in.....I want us to check out each article of clothing Paul tells us we should be wearing....
He says 1. Let’s put on Compassion.... Jesus was wearing compassion, when He healed a leper in
Mark 1:41 “Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
Before Jesus fed the 5000, he was moved with compassion....
Jesus said, Mark 8:2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat”.
Compassion literally means to put yourself in the place of another.... Jesus put himself in the place of the leper, and those who had nothing to eat... He asked himself, “What would I need if I were in their place”, and then took their place....
That was His mission, to take our place.... with all the suffering, all the pain, the addictions, and all the things that we are vulnerable to.... But the difference is that He had the answer, the solution, the way, the truth and the life, to bring us to His righteousness, His wholeness, and His victory.
Compassion put Christ in our place, our situation, our struggle, and when that happens, we can go free.... Now, I walk with him out of the tomb, I receive new life through His resurrection, I triumph over principalities and powers and rulers of wickedness in high places.... I receive victory over death hell and the grave.... Wow, Compassion is such a powerful force in our lives! I heard (this story) from a pastor who works with the down-and-out in Chicago: He said “A prostitute came to me in wretched condition, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter to men– at two years old!… She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in an entire night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story… I had no idea what to say to this woman. He said, At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. He said he would never forget the look of pure, shock that crossed her face. “Church!” she cried, “Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They would just make me feel worse.” What struck me about this pastor’s story is that women was much like the prostitute who rantoward Jesus, but this woman was running away from His church.
Are we compassionate? Do we put ourselves in the place of others so that they can find their rightful place in Christ
Certainly we must say that something is missing.... The churchneeds to put on compassion...
2. We put on kindness..... This is the desire to improve someone’s self esteem, self worth, value, and belief so that they can be a better person, regardless of who, or where they are, or what circumstances they are in. Theologian and philosopher Janet Soskice. Examinedthe etymology of the word kindness. She found that “In the common language, the words ‘kind’ and ‘kin’ were the same—to say that Christ is ‘our kinde Lord’ is not just to say that Christ is tender and gentle, although that may be implied, but to say that he is our kind or our kinfolk.
Kindness means giving up the right to judge others. Alexander Maclaren wrote, ”Kindness makes a person attractive. If you would win the world, melt it with kindness, do not try to hammer it into shape”. Kindness sees potential, and possibilities that defy natural reason or even logic..... Kindness doesn’t always succeed, but it always offers others the opportunity to improve their lives and to succeed.... Are we putting on kindness every day?....
3. Paul says, We put on Humility.. Humility is about how you identify with the society, the culture, or the community around you. Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, v4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. V5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: v6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; 7 “Rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. V8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross”!
John Newton wrote, "I am persuaded that humility is the highest attainment in the family of Christ and the brightest evidence that He is indeed our Master." Didn’t Jesus say that to have authority, we must be willing to come under authority?.....
Are we putting on humility?
4. We Put On Gentleness....Often the bible uses the word meekness for gentleness, but it is never about weakness. The word self-control is also a description of gentleness. Women just swoon, when they find a man who has put on gentleness! Gentleness is power and might restrained and channeled by mercy and grace. An alligator has a deadly and powerful bite, but it will allow it’s hatchlings to run into it’s mouth and find safety in those same powerful jaws! Jesus gave us the perfect picture of gentleness: “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey” What a description of restrained power!..... John the Baptist vocalized gentleness in his own situation, when he referred to Jesus and said “He must increase and I must decrease.”. We can be gentle in relationships but still firm in convictions. We must ask God for strength in holding to His truths but still be gentle in handling the feelings and hearts of others....no matter what your love language is, there’s room for gentleness.
Are we putting on gentleness?
5. Paul says that we are to put on Patience. Someone said, “Persistence is our strength and patience is the source of our power.” Water may look passive, but it carved out the Grand Canyon, it levels mountains, and can sweep away anything in it’spath in a flood.
Another word for patience is faithfulness. To stand firm against adversity without quitting. It means enduring opposition. To rest in the knowledge that God has everything under His control and He is moving our life in line with his timing and His plan. Luke 18:8 When the Son of Man comes, will he find faithfulness on the earth?”
Peace is a manifestation of patience, and it’s hard to find peace without it. Perhaps instead of asking God for peace, we should ask Him for patience which is the path way of peace.
Are we putting on Patience?
6. We put on forgiveness......We don’t put on forgiveness because they deserve it.... We don’t deserve it.... We forgive because we have been forgiven... WE ARE THE FORGIVEN! And that makes us forgiving! Jesus really rubbed it in when Peter was asking him about it....
Matthew 18:21-22 “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?”—Jesus responded, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but until seventy times seven” In Peter’s mind, it was about someone deserving forgiveness and Jesus was telling him that it was never about deserving it, so Jesus took that out of the equation!
Forgiveness may not lead to reconciliation between you and that person. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting or ignoring abuse or destructive behavior.... It’s about releasing that person from ‘your wrath’ and giving it over to God’s better way and better plan.
Forgiveness is about taking the thorns of that offence they caused,out of your own heart and knowing that Jesus already took all of that with the crown of thorns that He wore, so you don’t have to.Those thorns of offence were met with forgiveness...”Father forgive them for they know not what they do”....
Are we putting on forgiveness?
So we save the best for last....
7. Paul says put on Love, which makes the entire wardrobe work! None of it really works without love, love coordinated everything.... I remind you that it says in Colossians 3:14 “And over all of these put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”.
Galatians 5:13-14 “but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” What would change in our lives if we really started using this wardrobe for clothing our spirit so the world can see? These spiritual garments were made available to us because we are chosen of God to wear them. Being chosen means we have a new, higher purpose, and mission in life, than we had before He chose us. Being chosen means we have been set apart for His purposes.... Winnie and I both have toothbrushes. Hers has been set apart for her use and mine has been set apart for mine. I don’t use hers, UCK, UCK, UCK! And she doesn’t use mine... UCK, UCK, UCK.... There are some things we don’t share.... That’s what Holy means. Set aside for God’s purposes. If you are holy, you are set apart....
So every time you pray to be more Holy, you’re really asking God to set you apart in greater measure for His purpose and use.... Winnie and I have joined the gym. I looked at myself in the mirror and asked “Where did it go?” One of the things they do at the gym is isolate the muscle groups so there is a machine for working on muscles in different parts the body. But it all strengthens and improves the same body. When you’re hurting, from the workout, is not when you build muscles, you’re building muscles when you’re resting.... When love is the hardest, rest, yes rest in Him, in His love, and you’ll build up your love ability....
Love keeps it all working together, while improving our effectiveness in each area that God has made available for us to obey.
1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a loud sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. v2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing (or I am ineffective). Of all the things God is sending us out in this world to do, let’s not forget that the greatest thing we can do, is show His love by clothing ourselves in the garments He has provided.... We are chosen by God. We are holy, and set apart for His purpose and made righteous in Jesus Christ. We are deeply and eternally loved. So we throw off the old selfish wardrobe, and clothe ourselves with new garments, which are fashioned from the fabric of love..... and we walk in love.... Closing prayer.... “Lord, we open ourselves to the fullness of Your wisdom and guidance. We receive the knowledge we need at this time in our lives that we might serve You and serve those around us. Our greatest desire is that we may bring glory to Your great Name. Forgive us for the times we have taken Your presence for granted on our path to growth and development. Make us more aware of the One who made all things and holds all things together. Help us to become children again. No matter what has happened, I know that beginning today, it can be different. Give me an understanding heart, that I may see the precious lives that you treasure all around me. Lord we cry out in behalf of the people, around us, that their eyes may be open to Your truth so they might receive Your mercy and forgiveness. Help us, that as we walk in love, You would shine through us to dispel the darkness, so that all can come into Your transforming light. Father, You are able to bring forth every kind of good fruit and bring our loved ones, friends and neighbors into the peace of mind and spirit, they so long for. Bring our cities to revival and restoration. May we be strengthened with Your glorious power so we have the endurance and patience we need, to enabled us to share in the inheritance that belongs to all Your people. Shine through us and may Your light never dim. Christ with me, before me, behind me, in me, beneath me, and above me. Christ on my right, on my left, when I lie down, and when I rise up. To Him be all the glory, In Jesus Name…
You can shout, dance, talk in tongues and fall out under the power, but you haven’t even gotten started until you see correctly, what God has given you, so you can receive it. In the opening scripture today, Jesus is training the disciples to see the invisible and hear the inaudible, so it could be received and understood on their worse days and in their worse circumstances... Mark 8:17 As the disciples were talking, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? v18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? v19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. v20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” v21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand? (can’t you see it with your spirit)” He had told the disciples to give the people something to eat, when they were low on money and supplies and the folks probably hadn’t eaten in more than a day. They were learning that when Jesus says to do something, then everything moves from the realm of the impossible to the possible, simply because He said it! 1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man can not receive the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Scripture tells us that Elisha the prophet was told by God to go to the home of a Shunamite woman in Zaraphat in the midst of famine, and she would take care of him. He got there with a picture God gave him, of enough provision to last through the famine that was upon the land. But what he found, did not line up with what God had let him see in his spirit! She told him she only had enough to fix a little cake for her and her son and then they were going to die. Well Elisha had a choice....Hecould believe what his eyes saw or he could believe what God had shown his spirit. Have you been there.... (maybe you are there).. Because Elisha chose to believe what God had shown him in the spirit, the oil and meal were multiplied and lasted for them and all the neighbors for the remaining length of the famine, (over 3 years)!!
The woman didn’t see it, but she teamed up with the one who did see it, and she got the benefit of it!!
Let me lay another one on you..... When the little woman, in Matthew 9:18-26, who had a blood disease for twelve years, and had spent all her money trying to get help, but only grew worse, then she heard about Jesus.... inside of her spirit, she got a picture of herself touching Jesus, and being made completely whole. It says that she pushed and shoved her way through the crowd, until she got close enough to touch the hem of His garment, and immediately she was made whole.
She saw it, so she got it! Jesus said “Your faith (what you saw in your spirit) has made you whole”.... Once you see it, you’ll be willing to push through all the negativity, all the doubt, all the physical things that are contrary to it, and get to what He said was yours!!! God is constantly wanting to show us stuff, but we are so into our heads that we don’t have eyes to see it.... I came to tell someone: There’s a miracle waiting for you and God has been trying to show it to you, but your head gets in the way....
Elisha passed by many Houses where no doubt there were great needs present, but they didn’t get the miracle because they did not receive what God had already shown the Prophet and it belonged to whoever opened to receive it. One of the greatest gifts you have as a child of God is Perception, (perception is not just sight) I’m sure many people saw Elisha pass by their houses and maybe even said hello to him. But is more than sight ( It is the ability to see deeper, to see beyond the surface, to grasp with the understanding that something in the supernatural is taking place). To See with thespirit and not just with the head. The single purpose of a rubber band, is it’s ability to stretch. Without that ability, it would not and could not fulfill it’s purpose. We’re designed for the same purpose... if we don’t let God stretch us, we will never see the wonderous things He’s waiting to show us, and we will never accomplish the amazing things He has created us for.... Tell someone, “it’s time to stretch into your purpose.” (I think I hear some groans)
Could you talk to your head for a moment....and tell it.. “Could you get out of my way, I’m trying to see something”. Tell your neighbor: “You’ve got to get your head out of the way, God wants to show you something”. Perspective is not just about your situation, or circumstances, or how it looks, how it feels, or how it behaves... it’s really about WHERE WE ARE in our walk with the Lord and where He fits in those circumstances..
After my 5th heart attack, My heart doctor, Doctor Boroughs’ did my annual work up from 2000 to 2010 and the results kept getting better and better... I know I’ve told you this before, but what I haven’t told you, is that about the 3rd year into all of it, while I was in prayer, in a vision, I was taken to heaven, where an angel escorted me to a huge warehouse that was so immense, I couldn’t begin to tell you it’s size. He opened a huge sliding door and took me in. (I’ve since heard others testify that they had this experience too) Inside there were shelves from floor, up to infinity, with body parts on these shelves. Every body part that anyone might ever need. The angel said these are waiting to be claimed, and many have never been claimed, because the people never took what was already theirs. Well, I saw all the hearts that were there, and was told one was mine. I claimed it, and shortly after, the doctor released me, and actually told me I had a new heart, without any scars or imperfections!
There’s a revelation waiting in your spirit to stretch you, but you’ll never get it with your head you have got to get it with your spirit. Have you ever felt like you’re on the verge of a revelation? On the verge of something from God that could totally change your life? Well, that’s because you ARE! And it’s something that has the power to shift you to another dimension, another level in your faith, another level in your anointing another level in your finances, another level in your ministry? And God wants you to see it, it’s right there, you’re always, right on the threshold of it!
Like the little woman with the blood disease, knowing you’rethat close to something life changing, can have a very powerful effect on you, it can make you very aggressive in your faith, some might even call it pushy.... Tell your neighbor: “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m close to something big and I’m not going to miss it”.You know in your spirit that you’re on the verge of a breakthrough, you know by the spirit that you’re on the edge of a miracle, you’re standing on the brink of a revelation that is going to stretch you and you don’t want to miss it, this time”.
That’s right, I don’t want the miracle to pass by my house and not even recognize it, I don’t want the glory to pass by me, and be too in my head, to see it. I don’t want the power of God to beright in front of me but be too focused on my problems to recognize the manifestation of power that I’ve been praying and believing for. I don’t want to miss it!
Whatever it is, let it go.....When Lazarus died, Martha was so busy grieving that she almost missed it....she said (if only You had been here, Lord) don’t live your life in what could have been..... Judas was so busy being disappointed that Jesus wasn’t doing it His way, that over 30 pieces of silver, he missed it....Thescribes and pharisees and Sadducees were so busy with their religious tradition, that they missed it.... Pilate was so busy fearing, and pleasing people, that he missed it.... The rich young ruler was so busy with money and houses and lands, that he missed it.... Someone has said, “When the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than the pain to change....ChangeWill Come!!”
When the healing waters are moving, get in.... When Jesus is passing by, grab on to Him... When Elisha comes with a word for you, get out of your head and start moving from your spirit, in obedience!
You may have missed it before, but here it comes again, get ready, get ready, get ready!!! Jesus of Nazareth passes by, stretch out your withered arm. The blind receive their sight, the deaf begin to hear, when Jesus of Nazareth passes by!
I may have missed it before, but I’m preparing my spirit, I’m watching now, I’m listening now, And by the grace of God I’m not going to miss it again!
There are many things that are lined up with one aim, to make you miss the time of your visitation... I think of Naaman, who contracted leprosy, the story is in II Kings 5:5 “Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy..... V8 Elisha the man of God said “Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” v9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. v10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the (muddy) Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” v11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. v12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” (I want it my way) So he turned and went off in a rage. v13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” v14 So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy”.
Someone say “He almost missed it because of pride.” He couldn’t see beyond his own head, and it almost cost him his deliverance and his miracle!! Pride will cost you more than you’re ever willing to pay! It will keep you from your miracle!
Isaiah 45:15 “Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel” Sometimes God hides his anointing in a shepherd boy on the back side of the desert, sometimes in a Gideon hiding out behind the wine press.... Sometimes in a Joseph, who makes you envious because he has what you wish you had.... Sometimes God puts his anointing in a stick, like Moses’ rod, and you wish you had a stick like that, but you fail to use the gift you have.... And sometimes he takes a nobody from nowhere, that no oneever expected to do anything or go anywhere, and he puts his anointing down on the inside of them and uses them to change the world, because they saw something, others couldn’t see.
Many times when God hides Himself, there is a revelation for you taking place, if you will see it....what you need to see hasusually been right in front of you...We may be waiting for something, to come, when we already have what God can use..... The little woman already had the oil and the meal, but she needed to see something in the spirit! Her miracle was already in the house! What’s that in your hand Moses? (it’s just a rod, Lord) Stretch it out and I’ll challenge all the powers of Egypt, divide the red sea, smite the rock and bring forth water out of it. What’s that in your hand David? (it’s just a slingshot,Lord) let me help you with it and we’ll kill every Goliath giantthat raises up his ugly head. What’s that in your hand Samson? It’s just a jawbone, Butwhen the Lord is in it, it will kill a 1000 philistines and bring down the gates of the city. We often picture Samson as another Arnold Schwartzenegger, but he was just a normal sized man, that the power of God came upon, to accomplish great things!
God will use the last one that we might think, so He gets all the glory! The less you feel worthy, the more He gets the glory! (don’t shout me down) You don’t need more faith, you need to use what you’ve got, You don’t need more power you need to use what you’ve got. You don’t need more money you need to learn how to use what you’ve got. You don’t need more authority you need to use what you’ve got. What you need is a revelation: With the revelation to see what is already there comes the ability to put it to use. When you came to this earth: Everything that you needed to fulfill your destiny was put inside of you. What you need is a revelation of what’s in the house, what’s in your hand, what’s in your spirit. Put your hand on your head and say: “Lord, help me get my head out of the way, so I can see what You have given me, open my spiritual eyes”.
“I must inject something here about sight. Jesus referred in (1 John 2:16) to, “your eye causing you to sin…” It is one of the boldest phrases from the mouth of Jesus, appearing three times in the gospels. Our eyes not only lead us into sinful behaviors, but also cause us to take in sinful images. Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the window of the soul,if therefore your eye be clear and undivided, your whole body shall be full of light”. We may think of our eyes as neutral or innocent receptors, but they are not. Eyes have inherent appetites and desires. Sinful eyes roving aimlessly and unchecked, end up as instruments for sin. 1 John 2:16 Jesus also used the phrase “the lust of the eyes, because even in the eyes of those who are redeemed, our flesh can belustful, covetous, never satisfied, even susceptible to the attractions of wealth, sex, power, and violence. We have all known of good, righteous people who have fallen prey. It can cause a state of constant dissatisfaction with what you have, or who you are, or where you are. Always wanting what others have, and never content with ourselves.... Our eyes are to serve as guardians of our hearts. When they fail, they leave the heart exposed and unguarded. As one Puritan said, there are no means to guard the heart, if we leave our eyes unshielded and without boundaries.
So, moving on, Look with me at 2 Kings 4:8-10 “Now it happened one day that Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a great and well-to-do woman, and she persuaded him to eat some food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he would turn in there to eat some food. V9 And she said to her husband, “Look now, I know that this is a holy man of God, who passes by us regularly. Please, v10 let us make a small upper room on the wall; and let us put a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; soit will be, whenever he comes to us, he can rest there.” Let’s look underneath the story and see the deeper story.... It says that this woman had seen the man of God pass her by on a regular basis. She determined that she was going to stop him. Sometimes we miss our miracle because it shows up as the commonplace, the not so exciting things, the hum drum stuff. Basically this woman said to her husband (next time I’ll be ready, next time I’ll be watching, next time I’ll be listening, next time I’m going to be looking with the eyes of my spirit. Next time he passes by, I’m going to make room for the anointing that he carries”. I can hear this woman say at a deeper level: “I missed it the last time, but the last time was the last time I’ll miss this. I refuse to let him pass me by one more time, this time I’m going to make some room for what he wants to impart to me in the spirit. I’m going to clear the clutter out of my life and create an environment, where the man of God, the Word of God, and the anointing can come and rest. Excuse all the commotion neighbor, but I’ve got to make some room, I’ve got to move some things around I’ve got to get my priorities straightened out, there’s some things out of order in my life that have to go. There’s some patterns and priorities that I have to throw out, some stuffI have to get rid of, and there’s some friends I’ve got to cut loose that are holding me back. This woman was referred to as great, because her spiritual eyes were opened and she recognized the authority of the Word of God and the presence of the anointing of Godand oh, she pursued the anointing, she would settle for nothing less! Every time we come to church we should be looking for where God is moving, we should be pulling on the anointing and pulling on The Word of God. Never mind, how sister crooked eye, looked at you... or how Mr. crass and crude spoke to you, You’re pushing all that aside to get to the hem of His garment! You want the manifest presence of God..... When it was time for Elijah to ascend into heaven he asked his faithful servant what he desired from him: Elisha said I want a double portion anointing, (a double portion of the spirit that is on you) Elijah said you have asked a hard thing, but if you see me when I go it shall be so, but if you get distracted, you won't get it. In other words Elijah was saying: This is all about spiritual perception, if you’re not able to see it, then you won’t receive it. You’ve got to see it to receive it!
As the whirlwind of fire and fiery chariot and horses separated the two of them, Elijah went up into the heavens and the bible said (Elisha saw it). The bible was making specific reference to the fact that Elisha had stepped over into that spiritual dimension where he saw into the spirit realm. Then Elijah's mantle fell to the earth, and Elisha picked it up and started walking in a double portion of the anointing that was on Elijah. There are so many of God’s people who are living on crumbs, they are like the beggar who ate the crumbs that fell from the king’s table. Mephibosheth the cripple, was overwhelmed when King David brought him to his table, because he didn’t realize the benefits of being Jonathan’s son, whom David loved. David gave orders that from that time forward, he would always eat at the king’s table. Didn’t you get the invitation? It comes, not because you’re worthy, but because you’re the kings friend, and He wants to have fellowship with you, and have you stay in His presence. Just as David provided houses and lands and servants for Mephibosheth, the king has provided for you, when you couldn’t see it or wrap your head around it....But if you fail to see it in the spirit, you’ll never enjoy it.
Regardless of what is seen with the natural eyes, what is perceived by the spirit to be true, is the ruling and determining factor.
The picture you have on the inside of you, determines the world around you. Little Johnny was talking to the pastor at Sunday lunch, and said , “I heard you say today that our bodies came from the dust.”“That's right, Johnny, I did,” he said..“And I heard you say that when we die, our bodies go back to dust.” “Yes, I'm glad you were listening,” the pastor replies. “Why do you ask?”“Well you better come over to our house right away and take a look, 'cause there's a lot of people either comin' or goin'!”There’s dust everywhere! What you see determines your world!
The first wilderness generation of Israel that arrived at Canaan, looked at the giants in their promised land, and theysaw and perceived themselves to be grasshoppers. Their perception of themselves made them losers, and kept them from entering into all that God had said was theirs. It made them outsiders of the promise instead of heirs of the promise. They died in the wilderness without ever receiving the promise that belonged to them, and they missed out on all that had already been given to them. They had a warped perception of God, so they couldn’t see clearly, who they were. So many stay in abusive situations, being abused sexually, verbally, and emotionally. Why ?Because their self- image tells them they don’t deserve anything better, they see themselves as unworthy of a good and honest and faithful relationship. So they go from one bad relationship to another allowing themselves to be put down and used and abused. The incorrect picture they have on the inside of them, isdetermining the world around them. And there are so many young men, that are smart and talented and good looking that end up in prison, or overdosed in the morgue, because somewhere down the line it was pounded into their minds that they would never escape their drug culture, or alcohol culture, toxic family situation, or the abuse that happened to them...Their scars, and hurts have carved out the picture they have on the inside of them, that is determining the world around them. It’s like a loop that keeps on playing in their minds. I’m here today to change your perception. If you have been born again then you ARE SOMEBODY in God, and I want to introduce you to the real you. Yes, you still have struggles, and you have flaws and secrets.... But know this, more than you know anything else.... You are an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ... You are a Child of God, not a step-child....You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.....You are the redeemed and qualified of the Lord.....You are a new creature......You are the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrower, above only and not beneath...You are the apple of his eye..... You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.... You are saved Sanctified, andjustified.....You are a partaker of his divine nature... You are the healed, and delivered.....You are an Over comer......You are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus......
I want you to join me around the front of the room today, and believe with me, that Jesus is passing by, and this is your moment, to get the right picture down inside of your spirit...I’mbelieving God with you for a divine revelation (not of who God is) But who you are in Christ, and what you have been given. Would you say with me, “Lord, Let me see the real me that you see me to be, not the me this world tells me I am”. Now, tell someone around you, “If you can see it you can have it”.
Let’s pray this prayer together.....
“Today I encounter the Living Lord who is my healer and my deliverer. He sustains me, He raises me up, He encourages and empowers me to receive His promised and completed healing and deliverance in His mighty name. In Jesus name, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I serve notice on sickness, infirmity, and disease, and I release health, breakthrough, freedom, and peace in my life and family. In the name of Jesus, I command fear, anxiety, back injury, insomnia, depression, hypertension, muscle andnerve pain, diabetes, and cancer to leave and not return, for GREATER is HE that is in me than he that is in the world. God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind, and by Jesus' stripes I am now and will continue to be healed.
In Jesus’ name, I declare and decree prosperity and abundance in my health, my home, my family, and my finances. I declare and decree overwhelming peace, with nothing broken, nothing missing and nothing lost. In FAITH, I thank You Lord, for all that has been done and finished for my healing, deliverance, and protection through the blood and the Cross of my redemption.
Like the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, I see myself, whole, delivered, and free. NOW, RIGHT NOW, I RECEIVE, BELIEVE, and DECREE that this WORK in me has been PAID IN FULL, FINISHED AND DONE. GOD SAID IT, I TRUST HIM, I BELIEVE HIM AND NOW I’M GOING TO WALK IT OUT!. THIS IS MY TIME, THIS IS MY LIFE CHANGING ENCOUNTER” In JESUS’ name, Amen.
How To Receive and Keep Your Healing and Other Blessings.... A science teacher was grading a science test at home that she had given to her elementary-school class and was looking at some of the answers. The subject was “The Human Body,” and the first question was: “Name one of the major functions of the skin.” One child wrote: “One major function of the skin, is to keep people who look at you from throwing up, skin covers a lot of gross looking things”.... That’s a lot like the grace and mercy of God... It covers a lot of gross looking things!!!
So then, let’s get started with Luke chapter 4....Jesus stood up in the temple, took the scrolls and here, He is reading from Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy....
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”…
Park the car right here for a moment please, but leave the motor running!
Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in Isaiah, and repeated it here in the gospel of Luke, to let those who were listening know, that this prophecy was about Him. Then He made it clear in John’s gospel, that the Spirit which anointed Him, was going to take what was on Him, and put it on every believer who received Holy Spirit into their lives.
John 16:13 “When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew (Aw-saw) (to perform, accomplish or demonstrate) it (in and through) you”.
Jesus told us that Holy Spirit would perform and accomplish to us and through us, liberty to the captives, healing to the sick, freedom to the oppressed of the devil, and the favor of the Lord!
This is a transfer, from Jesus to us... When someone had Covid, they had to be Isolated or quarantined so everyone around them wouldn’t catch it and spread it to others.
Listen, Satan wants to isolate everyone who catches John 16:13, because he knows if we get it, it will start to spread to everyone around us and it will be unstoppable!
That’s why scripture says “the disciples went everywhere spreading John 16:13, (the Aw-saw) and turned the city upside down” Let me tell you, you won’t have to drag people into church, if we get this, because we’ll be doing John 6:13 and they’ll want to come and see it and get it for themselves!
Let’s look at how to increase your faith and anointing for these things. Jesus said in John 6:63 “The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” So, First....Get full of the Word of God.... That’s every believer’s first priority.....The Word is anointed and Spirit breathed. If you want to see people saved, fill up on scriptures about people getting saved. If you want to see captives set free, fill up on scriptures about captives being set free. If you want to see the sick healed, fill up on scriptures about the sick getting healed. If you want to see the oppressed of the devil set free, fill up on scriptures about deliverance. (Faith comes through and by the Word of God)
Everyone say with me....”I will believe God’s word, more than my current situation, my feelings, or my own thinking and reasoning...”
Philippians 2:5 “I will Let this mind be in me, which was also in Christ Jesus”
As a believer, your Spirit will receive a transfer of the anointing embedded in the Word, which will cause those very things which are declared, to begin to happen in your Christian walk. If the Devil hits you, the Word should come forth from you, instead of that other blankety, blank stuff!
The word of God will retrain your brain from all the stinkythinking which we’ve all been programed with all of our lives. Every believer’s brain is begging for the Word so it can be whole and healthy. The Word is referred to as fire, because there are some things in us that need to be consumed, that are nothing but brain trash....CONSUME US, WORD OF GOD!
The Word is referred to as water because you can’t go without water for much more than 3 days without systemic body failure. Water is also a cleanser, and we need a good cleansing with the heavenly cleanser. WORD OF GOD, CLEANSE US!
The Word is referred to as God breathed, because there are things that are depriving us of the heavenly atmosphere. May God breathe upon us mightily once again. BREATHE ON US WORD OF GOD!!
When you get your healing, your freedom, your deliverance, if you don’t stay in the word, and keep fueling your faith and your confidence, you will find that the enemy will come and sow doubt, fear, and carnal thinking to steal it from you and make sure you’re worse off than you were before. I see it all the time.
Stay free, by staying in the word, staying in prayer, and stayfilled with the Spirit! You were born free by the spirit, stay free in the word!
Your Spirit man needs to feed on the Word just as much if not more so, than your physical man needs nourishment. What you feed will grow and develop and what you starve, will wither and die, or at least be sickly and unwell. You can’t be victorious,separate from the word of God and you can’t be strong spiritually if you’re not full of the word. Consume the word, devour the word....People should know you’re full of it!!
Genesis tells us that Spirit was breathed into man by the very breath of God. God Himself "breathed into (man's) nostrils the breath (The RU-WACH) of life and He became a living soul or PSYCHE, a conscious being, capable of knowledge, reasoning, emotions, and inter-relations". Notice that the spirit came first, because it came forth out of God, who is self-existant, and then came the soul, and these made the body alive. God created the order in which man was to function and we only function well and whole in God’s order.
1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man (body and soul) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually (of the Spirit) discerned”.
When the body rules, sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing are in control. When the soul rules, emotions, intellect, and self willare in control, and rebellion against God is the norm. When the Spirit rules, there is harmony with God’s plan, purpose and intentions, because the spirit is in God’s image and likeness.
Many people are physically well, but their spirit is diseased, deformed, stunted, or totally subjected, because the wrong ruler is in control! Body and soul will constantly pull your Spirit away from what God wants you to have because they are all about themselves. Several years ago at a Promise Keepers conference, Dennis Rainey placed animal traps on stage. They were big ones too. Bear traps and even an African safari large animal trap that took two men to open. There were a dozen or so traps, and he set them all across the stage. Then Dennis had a father blindfold his teen-age son, the father walked to the other side of the stage and Dennis called the son to come to him. The men in the audience gasped, but before the boy could take one step, the Father called out, “Wait! I’m going to walk with you, I’ll keep you from stepping in the traps.” So this Dad took his son’s hand and “led” him through the difficult maze of traps. This is what having your spirit filled with the word is about. You escape the traps that have been set for you to fall into.
Because many are in a state of confusion about the importance of the connection between the Spirit and the soul and the bodywe have an entire society that struggles to stay healthy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually....while doctors are getting rich!
We are not a body, we LIVE IN a body. (someone said, “as long as we have a body we are never homeless”) Pinch someone and tell them, that’s not really you.....We are not a soul, we HAVE A soul. We ARE A SPIRIT that has a soul, which lives in a body. This body is the earth vehicle which we have each been given, so that we can operate in and have authority in this physical realm, which by the way, God designed to be a very spiritual place! God had to have a body, (Jesus) in order to operate in the earth realm, because He gave it to Adam, who failed. He needed to win it all back in a physical body. This realm was given to man as a spirit being, who could interact with God the Spirit, in a body. That spirit is designed to behealthy, prosperous, wise, fully equipped, eternal, and operate with dominion in the earth realm.
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself (God’s Spirit) bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children (having the image) of God.” Your spirit knows, whither your soulish self acknowledges it or not,Holy Spirit is there pressing against your own spirit and constantly bringing up the important subject, of your being created in the image of God. Holy Spirit is a master of communication, and He’s speaking to you again this morning about who you really are.
We hold the key that opens the veil which allows the Spirit’s promptings to enter our physical reality. We must intentionally give attention to these inner spiritual messages, images, spiritual urgings and red flags.
Hebrews 5:14 “But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, (who have developed in spiritual principles) even those who by reason of use,have their senses (faculties) exercised (through obedience and self-denial) to discern both good and evil”. We may refer to it as conscience, a moral gyroscope, an inner compass, core values, a sense of duty, inner promptings, scruples, gut feelings, or an inner voice. But for believers, we fine tune those senses by the Word of God!
Reagan called it the “Trickle down effect”.... Whatever happens at the center always spreads out to everything else. Jesus compared it to yeast that spreads throughout the entire loaf of dough.... If you’re full of the word, there’s no room for it to spread. Matthew 16:26: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and neglects (training) his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for (not training) his soul?"
This is a self evident truth, it is as apparent as the sunrise or sunset. This is not rocket science. These things are self evident. If you’re looking, no one has to tell you that the sun is rising! Darkness is leaving and light is coming! It’s like asking someone if they are a Christian. If they are, it will be self evident. I have seen so many folks who received Christ as their savior, but never retrained their soul, so the soul continued to run the show and convince them to focus on their career, to leave the church, and their faith, leaving them spiritually shipwrecked and physically needy. Everything gets out of God’s order.
Matthew 6:22 that says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes (your perspective) is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.”
If you seek happiness for happiness sake, you will never find it, because it is the bi-product of a positive view of life, a good conscience and healthy life values. God has already decided that we are highly blessed, anointed and with authority in the earth. That’s in the spirit, but the soul and body has to be trained and convinced that it is who we are.
Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Now, that’s how God sees us Spiritually... Redeemed, healed, spirit filled, filled with wisdom and knowledge, anointed and FREE AT LAST, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, FREE AT LAST!!! No matter how it looks or feels in the moment, WE WIN!
I believe your job, your neighborhood, your community, your home, your car, your friends, etc. are all blessed by you being there, if your Spirit is in alignment, and your soul and body are trained, to operate in harmony with God’s will, plan, purpose and intentions....
But if the soulish man is not subdued, ruled over, and trained, then it is, “HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT”....It’s not Good morning God, it’s good God it’s morning!!
Now notice Ephesians 1:4 “According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
God decided that we were chosen, holy, without blame, and loved with Agape love, before the world was formed. Because God thought it, and God said it, it was so. So now we have to rule our soul, and train it, so that our soul will not contradict what God has decided, and stop blocking it in negative, toxic messages to our body and our emotions.
Ephesians 1:8 “God has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, (the ability to do the right thing) 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself, (since the foundation of the world)
So we see here that we were designed and fashioned to be filled with all wisdom and the ability to do the right thing, and know the mystery of His will...You have the ability to always do the right thing because Holy Spirit, who is in you, always knows the right thing....
Put your hand on your chest, and say “Thank you Holy Spirit, that I can know the right thing to do, because you are hererevealing the right thing through my spirit, with understanding”
Ephesians 1:11 In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all thingsaccording to the counsel of His will.”
It says, You Have already obtained it....Now based on that, we can say... ”The Best Is Yet To Come”.....
Listen to me, please. Before the world was formed, God saw you, loved you, had a plan for your life, adopted you, and gave you an inheritance. If your daddy was a billionaire, and you were 3 weeks old. You might be crying and complaining about a diaper rash, and needing your bottle, and needing a nap. It’s all you can see in life, but you are the heir of a billion dollars, even though you don’t understand it yet. You’re going to grow up, and one day you can get your head around it, but it’s still true before you can even understand it..
Say with me, “I am an Heir, and joint Heir with Christ” ..... Don’t let your soulish self, talk you out of receiving and keeping your inheritance. It’s yours!!
Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”.
Notice it says that the word of God puts up a barrier between the soul and spirit, so that the soul doesn’t pull down the spirit, but the Spirit trains the soul, and the physical body, (joints and marrow) so that our intentions are transformed.... 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify (set you apart for Himself) completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The anointing for all you need in life is activated by worship... giving Him the honor and reverence which He is due. Giving accolades and revelings in His presence. Getting overwhelmed by His very majesty and splendor of His eternal omniscience. When you enter His presence with praise and worship, He enters your circumstances with power!
He so longs for mankind to know Him....His will, His intentions, His pleasure, His plan, His love, His power, His provision... Wow! When we touch the heart of God, we move the hand of God...
The anointing is activated through prayer, or intimacy with Him. Oh how much He wants us to access a new level of intimacy with Him. Where you talk together about everything through out the day. And you let Him into your deepest inner conversations, where no one else is allowed to enter.
You will never spend another lonely day in your life. You’ll never be bored again. You’ll never lack something to do. Your schedule will be so full of His appointments, His stuff..... you could be the only one on a deserted island and still be busy for Him!!
Living His life through our spirit isn’t something we’re used tobecause our spirit is so used to competing with our soul and body for every decision and every action.
When our thoughts, feelings, and intentions of our soul are directed by our spirit, we find it easier and easier to release the things God has already planned into our lives.... Health, joy, prosperity, and fullness of life. When we exercise our spirit by praying the Word of God, the Word releases the full life and health of the spirit through us.
I started this message with “How to receive and keep your healing”....
How many can see, that receiving and keeping your healing, and your emotional and mental health, has a lot to do with retraining your soul and keeping your spirit in charge of your total well being.... Our Spirit is ready for a demonstration of liberty to the captives, healing to the sick, freedom to the oppressed of the devil, and the favor of the Lord!
God said it was yours, don’t let your soul or your flesh talk you out of it!
The more we train our soul, the more healing, gifts and blessings we will see in our lives....and the more our flesh will surrender.
It’s already yours, don’t let your intellect, emotions, sensory faculties, social self, will, and desires of the flesh, talk you out of it. Receive your inheritance. It’s waiting for you.
In 1829 a man named George Wilson was arrested for robbery and murder in a US mail heist. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. Some friends intervened on his behalf and were able to obtain his pardon from President Andrew Jackson. But when told of this, Wilson refused it saying he wanted to die. Well, the sheriff didn’t know what to do, how do you execute a man who is officially pardoned? An appeal was made to the President who turned the matter over to the US Supreme court. Chief Justice John Marshall gave this ruling: A pardon is a piece of paper, the value of which depends on its acceptance by the person implicated. Anyone under the sentence of death would hardly be expected to refuse a pardon, but if it’s refused, to that person it is no longer a pardon. Thus, George Wilson was executed while his signed pardon lay on the sheriff’s desk!
It's all ours, but only if we are willing to receive it.... So receive that promise which God gave you today!
My message title, as we head into the 4th of July, is ... *.....Pre-conditioned for Victory... I believe this country was predestined to be the center for the spread of Christianity to the world. But someone had to fight for the transition, from the old form of government, which would allow for the freedoms which could make that possible. The new information that made that possible is called the Constitution of the United States of America. When I’m reading a story, I like to know the author, and some history about them, but I also like to cheat and look at the end to see how it turns out, then it’s easier to handle all the drama that is part of the story. When you know the outcome, it’s easier to walk through the plot, and make it through the good times and the bad times.
Like the guy who was watching a football game with a friend. He said, I’ll bet you $1,000 on the Red Skins. In that particular game, no one was betting on the Red Skins, because Joe Theismann wasjust starting his winning streak, so the friend says, “you’re on, I’ll take your money from you”. Sure enough the Red Skins won. What the friend didn’t know was that it was a replay of the game, and the guy was willing to bet $1,000 on Redskins, because he hadalready seen the outcome of the game. (The back of God’sbook says we win) Our victory is assured before the battle begins. Jesus said “Before you call I will answer and before you cry out, I will hear”....Jesus bet his life on our victory, because He already won our victory and handed it to us! It’s like watching a replay! Mark 4:38, we read the disciples’ words “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Fear and unbelief will pre-condition us for failure, or at least it will diminish our ability to reach our potential. What happens is that fear, doubt and unbelief will bring us under the law of condemnation and death to our hopes and dreams, and will bring us under the power of the destroyer.
Your doctor will tell you that if daddy had cancer you are pre-conditioned to get it too. Your grandpa had heart trouble, so you are pre-conditioned to get it too. Your mamma was crazy, so you’re going to be crazy too! Life wants to put labels on us and itcan either destroy us, or make us stronger, wiser and more determined! And a lot is determined by whither we walk in the natural mind, or if we fill our minds with the thoughts of Christ and what He promised we could have. The curse that came into this world through the fall when Satan entered the garden, has no place for mercy, peace, grace or favor....It is without love, joy, and hope. Satan wants us to think.... We’re not good enough, We’re not talented enough, We’re not knowledgeable enough, you’re not qualified, so, why try, it hasn’t happened so why do you think it will ever happen? You’re bailing out the boat and more water keeps coming in to replace what you bailed out. Stop letting your fear do the talking. Jesus didn’t help them bail out the boat, He focused on overcoming and rebuking the storm. Stop the storm and nobody has to bail.
Jesus was pre-conditioned to overwhelm the storm, instead of allowing the storm to overwhelm him. Matthew gives us a principle to use in pre-conditioning our mind for victory..... When Jesus said “Oh ye of little faith, He was teaching the disciples to get rid of the bucket,because as they received new information, it would change how they dealt with the storm.
They were only conditioned to ride out the storm and hope for the best, but Jesus took everything up a notch...He was transforming their minds. Matthew 6:33 “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’. This scripture pre-conditions us to know that... No matter how low we are. He can pick us up. No matter how dirty we are. He can clean us up.
No matter how broken we are. He can bind us up .
No matter how financially broke you are. He can bring us out.
No matter how far we are. He can bring us back.
No matter how sad we are. He can cheer us up.
No matter how empty we are. He can fill us up.
No matter how lost we are. He can connect us back to the Father !
We don’t have to get stuck on that page, we can turn the page....What if while you were crunching numbers in the budget, and seeing more red ink than black, and while you were struggling with where the money was going to come from, and how the gas bill, the electric bill, the water bill, the groceries, and the house payment were ever going to be paid.. You declare, “I have put the Lord first, so all these things shall be added unto me”....!
The Truth will change your perspective....Jesus said “If you know the truth, it will set you free”.... But Truth will do you no good if you don’t give action to it! How about, while you were struggling with victory over heart problems, back or joint problems, muscle cramps and pains, head aches, stomach trouble, cancer, tumors, skin disorders, blood disorders, and various infirmities and other physical conditions.... Or maybe it’s problems in the family, in relationships, on the job, legal issues, court dates, juggling schedules, and trying to keep your sanity... You declare, “I have put the Lord first, so this victory shall be added unto me”....!.
You declare truth, “I have been preconditioned for victory”....! Look at it again....Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”. Stop wrestling with what’s already yours.... Someone say“AHA!!”
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”.
God wants to pre-conditioned us for that moment when He honors His word and comes through and makes a way where there is no way, no matter how it may look in the natural. A basket ball player will shoot thousands of free throw shots, to prepare for the moment in the game when the game is down to 2 points and he is standing on the free throw line....and it’s sink or swim.
A Quarterback will throw a football countless times, from every possible direction, standing and running, long and short, to prepare for that moment when it is the final inning, and the last play of the game, and the team is 6 points behind with the clock ticking.
A professional golfer will hit sand trap shots, shots from the woods, from high grass, and from every conceivable hazard he may encounter, so that when he’s 3 shots down and it’s all on the line, his preconditioning comes through and allows him to not only finish well, but to win!
We also are being preconditioned to come through at the last moment, when the odds are against us and the pressure is on!
We know He is with us, so....It’s not about what happens to us, it’s how we respond to it. So having done all, we can stand, because we know how great our Lord is. We know that we are being trained to reign in life, so we continue bring into subjection the enemy that is within ourselves!
Without preconditioning your mind, your body, and your spirit, you will not make it to the other side, and if you make it, it will be “when the saints come dragging in, instead of when they come marching in”!!!
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”.
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will”.
Our God tells us that He has a plan already in place that will assure victory in whatever we’re facing. A plan is already in place that will give us hope AND a future.
The more we listen, the more He speaks. The closer we get, the better we hear.
It’s the same way in EVERY relationship!!! Friendships fail because nobody is listening. Marriages fail because no one is listening, relationships and careers fail because no one is paying attention.
In the 12th Chapter of Genesis, God gave Abraham (the Father of Faith) 3 commands that would pre-condition him for a transformed life.
(1) Get out of your lesser place, you’re not where you’re supposed to be. Get out from under the world’s pre-conditioning that you have come under.
(2) Leave your in-laws and outlaws and nosy-laws and cousin cheap-as, aunt poor-as, uncle lazy-as and brother lying-as. (that’s not king James) But, it’s time to have new influences in your life, Abraham!
(3) Leave behind what you have learned and inherited, which binds you to this world’s anti-God system, leave your status quo, and your pre-conceived thinking behind, that is not of God. Leave your stinking thinking and get a check-up from the neck-up, and I will show you a new way of living. It’s time to break the old mold!
Abraham was being pre-conditioned by the world to fail, but allowed God to pre-condition Him to reach his potential.
He didn’t just go to another place, He went to another level and another REALM. THE REALM OF THE SUPERNATURAL!
I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter His courts with praise. I will say this is the new day the Lord has made.....
You were spiritually born again and you made Jesus Lord of your life, through your belief and confession. DON’T STOP NOW!
Like Abraham, get out of that old place and old thinking and receive new information so you can enter the level he has always had prepared for you and given unto you, before you got there.
The new motor homes are built for people who want to experience the great outdoors without leaving the house. They want something different as long as they can take all the same things with them. They want something new without changing anything....
You’re moving to a new level and a new realm. You understand that God has a plan for your life. You know things have to change.You don’t know exactly how to accomplish everything, and often, you struggle between your new life and your old life. You’re letting go of some things but struggling with other things....Butyou’re doing the drill, you’re going through your stuff, and you’re sorting things out. You are preconditioning yourself for victory.....and you now have two piles, the old pile of what wasand the new pile that is how it’s going to be. (That’s a big step right there) BUT DON’T STOP THERE!
(Philippians 2:5) “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”. In this exhortation the apostle Paul is telling the people of God, “Let—the very thinking of Jesus—be your thinking also. It’s now about “How does the Lord see this problem, how does he approach this situation”? How would He sort all of this out. His mindset is the one we all are to seek and activate now.”
Say this with me.....”Father God, as I surrender to You, move me to the next level, so that I can achieve my potential in the new realm that I am moving into! I choose to accept the mind of Christ that I have been given! I choose to see things as You see them so that I may walk in the realm of what I presentlysee as impossible. I accept, receive and put on the Mind of Christ”!!
If I get a new credit card, I have to ACTIVATE it with updatedinformation, or it is useless to me. I have to activate the mind of Christ in my mind and spirit. Credit cards have limits, but God’s promises are only limited by our ability to receive it. Let this mind be in you which was in Christ, is saying to us..... “Take the limits off!”
With increasing UNDERSTANDING comes increasing POWER!
With increasing POWER comes increasing AUTHORITY! With increasing AUTHORITY comes increasing MANIFESTATIONS!
What was ruling you, you are now ruling over. Wholeness, joy and eternal hope now reign in your life.
We can’t remain who we were and enter into the abundance of the Kingdom of God.. IT’S TIME TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH of stinking thinking! Of wasted time worrying, of sleepless nights and unprofitable actions and habits. Make way for a new way of thinking....
The Kingdom of God isn’t coming, it is already here. It’s flooding our being right now. We can live and operate in the kingdom because the kingdom has already become available to us.
1st Corinthians 3:18 “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”.
Each day there are so many who are stepping through into the next level of the life God has for them. To see into the spiritual, is to walk in the supernatural. To have the mind of Christ, we must leave limited thinking, small vision, fearful living, and a doubtful mind behind us. (Abraham had to leave that place of faulty thinking and limited living to enter the promised land, long before there was a promised land.)
We have to see and know God’s ways before we can WALK IN God’s ways. That’s about practice, practice, practice. Isaiah made it clear... His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts, for even as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts”..... God said His ways were HIGHER, He didn’t say they were impossible to see and know!The mind of Christ is the ability to discern things of the Spirit as Jesus did. It is about thinking as Jesus did, in our relationships, and our places of influence and responsibilities. To pray, “thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,” is to pray that we, will also be an irresistible force in the earth by the presence of God. Make up your mind that you will not be limited by anything that has happened to you in the past! You’re stepping through to the new thing. They hurt you....move on... They lied about you... move on....You were treated unjustly....move on....
Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will”.
Romans is telling us that as we surrender our thinking and our feelings, we become pre-conditioned for Transformation. The word translated “transformed” is the word from which we get the English word “metamorphosis”. This is an inner change, which has observable outward manifestations.
Metamorphosis is actually beyond our understanding. We can only state plainly that a caterpillar will become a butterfly, we cannot explain why or how. It is the work of God. The caterpillar simply yields himself to the process. Likewise, we yield ourselves to God so that the work of transformation may have its way in us.
The OUTSIDE expresses and manifests what is on the INSIDE. It is the outflow of new promptings because we have a new sourcewhich pre-conditions us for the mind of Christ.
Why have some Christians transformed quite drastically, and rapidly, and others take a longer time or some never.
God started creation in a vacuum. But now His plan is that we give Him something to work with. He wants to partner with us. Our minds cannot be empty of the truth of His Word or He has nothing to honor, to bless or to fulfill. If we don’t choose what goes into our minds, Satan will choose for us! The bible says that in the last days, they were ever learning, but never coming into the knowledge of the truth.
Our spiritual well-being is a reflection of the ratio between the amount of time you spend in God’s Word and listening to Histruth, and the amount of time you are bombarded with the messages from the world through television, the internet and our environment. Is it more Google and gossip and grumbling, than the good news Gospel!
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we are ready to punish every act of disobedience, once our obedience is complete.”
There is great freedom, release and effectiveness that comes when we allow our minds to be pre-conditioned by the mind of Christ.
Let’s say that a friend agreed to meet you for dinner. You looked forward to it and changed your tight schedule to fit them in. You got to the restaurant early and waited. It was getting late, in fact, your friend did not show up at all.
You got upset, that’s another way of saying you got mad. You could not get them on the phone. No news, no phone calls, no message, nothing. You left the place steaming. You resolved to not speak to them even if they did call. “They are always like that” you tell yourself.
A few days go by and you get an “AAHA” moment. You meet their friend on the street and you find out that they were involved in an accident on the way to the restaurant and they were in the hospital.
At that instant, all your anger and toxic thinking just vaporized. Not only that, sympathy and compassion filled your heart in its place.
Can you see how our feelings can change instantly with new knowledge, information and understanding? There was a transformation of the mind with the new information and new actions were the results... now you want to go visit them in the hospital and see how you can help. All the old feelings of anger and toxic thinking are gone....The old is gone and something new and better took it’s place.
Yielding to the new information, has activated the new thinkingand then action took place to support it. Fill your mind with the truth of God’s Word. Read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it and hear it as often as you can.
The old information will be replaced by new ways of thinking and acting....Here’s the process....
With each revelation of new information comes new thinking.
With increasing UNDERSTANDING comes increasing POWER!
With increasing POWER comes increasing AUTHORITY! With increasing AUTHORITY comes increasing MANIFESTATIONS or results!
What was ruling you, you are now ruling over. We are what wethink! We have what we activate. We can achieve what weactivate. We can become what we activate....So what are you activating? I pray that we will all have many “Aha” moments this coming week! As new information is about to be activated... to the glory of God!
In Christ, we truly are being Pre-conditioned for victory..... Our prayer today.....”Lord Jesus, when the winds of change are blowing strongly in my direction and nothing seems to be going according to plan, I know that You are protecting me from the very things, I thought were best for me, and You are making all things work together for my good. You have done it in the past and I know You will do it for me now. I will not allow the fear of change to consume me because my Faith in You is a strong tower and puts new boundaries in my life.
Lord my mind is set upon You, my eternal Rock. I know You will do what Yousay You will do, and I can anchor my faith in Your Word. Open the eyes of my spirit, Lord, so that I may be able to recognize the plans of the enemy and overturn it with Your higher plan. Nothing in this world escapes Your sight. You are the God that sees, that hears and will deliver me. I activate divine wisdom within me so that I will not be a slave to my flesh or be swayed by the carnal mind.
I choose long term spiritual well-being over instant gratification. I look forward to the victories and blessings that are ahead. And I declare and decree that all the changes in my life will push, mold, and shape me into a better person daily, as I leave my burdens at the foot of the cross and rise in obedience to You.
Lord, open my spirit to hear what Your Spirit is saying, as I allow You to operate in and through me. Father, today I activate the Holy Spirit as I become still in Your presence and receive discernment in all that I do. Rise up in me Lord, and take full and complete control of every aspect of my life. In Jesus name, amen”.
It has been well said that one thing is certain in life, and that is change... May we let go and move on into the changes which will continue to transform us, and allow us to go deeper and further into the transformed life He has waiting for all of us!
