The question begs to be asked of each of us every day of our lives…. ”are there areas of our lives, where we are living as though the victory Jesus accomplished, is still undecided”? Areas where we speak, and act as though the Lord has not already won the battle?
There’s an old saying that "If one person calls you a horse's rear-end, ignore it. If two people call you a horse's rear-end, look in the mirror. If three people call you a horse's rear-end, it’s time to buy a saddle”.
"To talk to some Christians, you would think it made no difference that Jesus has declared….”It is finished”!!!! That means “He has done everything He needed to do, now it’s up to us to bring it into our lifestyle package. I must believe like the runner who prayed, “Lord, if you’ll help be pick them up, then I’ll do my best to lay them down”
Colossians 2:10 When you come to Christ, His victory, comes to you, too. His power extends over everything. v11 Entering into this fullness is not something you have to figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of keeping a long list of do’s and don’ts. No, you're already an insider – you’re not brought in through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. v12 If it's an initiation ritual you're after, you've already been initiated by submitting to Christ. Baptism into Christ was a burial of your old life. Death is overcome, for God was raising you from the dead as he did Christ. v13 When you were in your old life, you were incapable of responding to God but He brought you into His new life, right along with Christ!
Think of it! All sins are forgiven, v14 the slate is now wiped clean, the guilt and condemnation is canceled and nailed to the Cross of Jesus. v15 He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their stolen authority at the Cross and caused the triumph to be shown openly, for all to behold their defeat. v16 So don't put up with anyone pressuring or putting you in bondage over clean or unclean food, religious rituals, or holy days. v17 All those things are mere shadows of what was to come, because the substance is in Christ. v18 Don't tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions through trances or states of conciousness. They're a lot of hot air. v19 They're completely out of touch with the source of life, Jesus Christ, who puts us together and makes us whole, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We grow up healthy in God, as he nourishes us. v20 So, then, if you have put all of these pretentious and infantile things behind you in Christ, why do you let yourselves be continue to be bullied and controlled by it”?
So then, what is it that causes us to continue to struggle and strive so much if the battle is over and we have won…. Is it, that something in us is not really convinced that it is already accomplished, finished and done with, or that we haven’t really processed the reality of it yet? Sometimes we can know a thing and yet not really know a thing…..
A pet store delivery truck was going down the road, and he stoppedand everyone jumped out and run to the back of the truck, grabbeda 2x4 and started beating on the side of the truck. Somebody asked the driver, "What in the world are you doing?" As he continued to beat the truck, he said, “The truck scales are just ahead and this is only a two-ton truck and I'm carrying four tons of parrots. So I have to beat on the truck, to keep two tons of parrots in the air all the time." (sometimes while we’re trying to have faith for things in our lives, it seems that all we’re doing is moving problems around from one place to another, trying to keep it all from landing and settling in one place at one time….and why is it that we approach prayer in the mighty name of Jesus, as only a temporary fix, instead of a solution that is done and over with, finalized and accomplished in the victory of Christ!!!) Could it be that deep down we’re not sure that God really meant what He said? John 8:31-32 “ Jesus said unto them, "You are truly my disciples if you live as I tell you to, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." What is it that really keeps us from pressing in to the point that we are open and receptive to see the finished work of Christ take up residence in us?!!!! I believe that, often, it is because we might be afraid of what we might have to give up in order to get it.
It’s like the woman who was talking to her friend about her fear that was keeping her from getting a good night’s rest….she said, “Every time I lay down on my bed I get this terrible fear that there is something under the bed. She had been going to a therapist for months, and spending hundreds of dollars, but her brother set her free in a few minutes….and saved her lots of money…., he just cut the legs off the bed!”….. Jesus has cut the legs off of fear so it doesn’t have a leg to stand on!!!
Sometimes we are afraid of what will happen if we really give God control of our life. And what we’re saying is, "I don't want anybodycontrolling me." Who are we kidding? We're being controlled all the time. We're controlled by the opinions of other people. We're controlled by hurts we can't forget. We’re controlled by our baggage, our habits, hang-ups, other people’s agendas, or even our own ego! (come on, it’s amen or oh me)
During a terrible flood, the water got so high, neighbors were gathering on the roofs of their houses. They watched as things were floating by, a couch floated by, lawn furniture floated by in the current. A small car owned by one of the neighbors came floating by next! Then they noticed something strange, they saw a hat float by, but after it got about 20 feet past the house, it turned and started floating back upstream against the current. Then it got about 20 feet on the opposite side of the house and reversed direction again. They watched it with amazement, as it did this seven or eight times and someone said, that is the most amazing thing, what in the world is it?“ One of the ladies said, “Oh, that’s just my husband Raymond. He said he was going to mow the lawn today, come hell or high water.”
Sometimes you have to plunge in and not look back, set your course and move forward, come hell or high water! There are some decisions you don’t have to keep making. Once you’ve made them, it’s done, it’s decided. I will be faithful to my wife, I will put God first in my choices and decisions, I will treat my body as the temple of God, I will treat others as I would want to be treated….onceyou make these decisions, you don’t have to keep making them, they’re now just a part of who you are.
Don’t clutter your life, your mind and spirit with a lot of undecided, unresolved issues, that’s what keeps you awake at night. Make your choice, make up your mind, and move forward! You’ll sleep better and you’ll get it behind you, so you won’t keep running into it.
I see this in Joshua 24:15, he stood before the people and said…“ If it seems evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve….but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”.
Not just when everything is great, and my roses have no thorns, but when hurricane Irma seems to have a personal grudge against me, and no one understands…..
We all need to find a quite place on a regular basis, and soak in the 23rd Psalm, and let ourselves be saturated with it’s truth… It speaks to our spirit…..as deep is calling unto deep….
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. v2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters. v3 He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. v4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for You are with me; Your rod and You staff they comfort me. v5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing. v6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the very presence of the LORD forever”.
We can shout amid the turbulence, strife and fear that arises…“The Lord is my shepherd. I am satisfied with Him!! I do not want. I am satisfied with Him!! He makes me to lie down in plenty, peace and fullness. I am satisfied with Him!!!!” I look at what is and then declare what He said it could be!!! If there’s a way to do it, He’ll get it done!!!
But sometimes in life we confuse the decision-making phase with the problem-solving phase. Some of you remember back in 1963 when John F. Kennedy announced publicly, "We're going to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade." That was the decision. Had all the problems been solved when he made that decision? No!
If you're a good manager you know you never confuse decision making with problem solving. Kennedy said, "We're going to do it, and full resources will be made available to accomplish it" then it was NASA's problem to figure out the details. They didn’t have to make the decision, they needed to make it happen.
The more things that leadership has to make happen, the less will be the quality, and the number of vision filled decisions that get made….
If you have ever bought a house, You make the decision, but then you have to get financing, insurance coverage, the closing, then pack boxes, arrange moving trucks, fill out change of address cards, and all the rest. The details get handled after the decision is made.
At the age of 12, I made the personal decision to give the Lord control of my life. Since then, I have been sending out change of address cards to my past, saying, ”The future has moved me again, and left no forwarding address”!!! My past shoudn’t limit my future…I don't do those things anymore, I don’t live there anymore, that's not the new me, that's the old me, my shepherd and I have a new address."
Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns”.
In World War II, the Marines had a definite strategy they used in the Pacific arena, when they went to retake it from the Japanese. They used the same strategy on every island and it worked every time. First, they would get a fix on the island that had been taken by the Japanese,
and they would start bombing it. That was called the softening-up period. Some of you are in the softening-up period right now, and all kinds of explosions are going off in your life. Your life begins to look like a battlefield…You finally come to a point where you say, "Yes, I need help beyond myself." It's softening up your pride. It’s softening up places where you are locked into toxic choices. It’s softening up places where you got in a rut and don’t know how to get out. After the softening up phase, the Marines would come in and establish a beach head, maybe only twenty yards deep and two hundred yards wide but they would just get a presence on the island. Had they completely liberated the island when they established the beach head? No, they had just set up a perimeter – but from there they began to fight the battles. Sometimes it would go back and forth, but once they established a beach head, total liberation of the island was inevitable. In the history of WW II, once the Marines had landed and established a beach head they never lost an island. It was just a matter of time that the island would be set free.
When you take the step of letting go, what happens is that the Holy Spirit has set up a beach head in your life as you welcome God to come into the situation and begin the process of setting you free.
Romans 8:19 calls it the earnest expectation of the creature awaiting the full manifestation of the sons of God.
2 Corinthians 5:5 calls it the earnest down payment of the Spirit.
Does that mean everything in your life is perfect? Absolutely not. It means that God has established a beach head and for the rest of your life He's going to be liberating your mind, your emotions, your soulish desires, and freeing your spirit so He can rule and reign in your life…, once you’ve made the decision, all the resources you’ll ever need have been made available in Christ…victory is inevitable if you don’t give up!!!! . We just to stay committed and focused in agreement with God’s solution.
We don’t want to be like the kamikaze pilot who went on 40 missions – he was very involved but he was never committed!!!! He never made that final ultimate, point of no return trip!
Ephesians 3:9 “That all men might see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hidden in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: v10 ForHis intention is that the principalities and powers in heavenly places might know the manifold wisdom of God through His church, v11 According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, v12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him”.
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE SIZE OF YOUR FAITH ,BUT IT’S ABOUT THE SIZE OF YOUR GOD! It’s not about your power, but God’s authority that backs you up! Your faith doesn’t have to be “perfect” to get results
An ad appeared in the lost-and-found section of the newspaper….
It said "$50.00 Reward for Lost Dog. Three legs. He is blind in one eye, He’s missing his right ear, his tail is broken and he was accidentally neutered. He Answers to the name of ‘Lucky.”
Well, thank God, we’re not “Lucky”… Christians aren’t lucky, we’re the recipients of the good fortune which comes through the blessing of surrender to God and His will for our lives. (tell someone, you aren’t lucky, you’re the recipient of God’s good fortune)
So, let’s answer to the name He calls us!.... He calls us blessed, justified, free from the law of sin and death, joint-heir with Christ, new creature in Christ, chosen, holy, and blameless, seated in the heavenly places, God’s workmanship, complete in Christ, friend of God, beloved of God, blessed with every spiritual blessing….winners, not losers….OH MY!!!!
Colossians 2:9&10 says, "For in CHRIST dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And we are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."
There is embodied in us through the work of Christ, the, the mind of Christ, the faith of God, the authority of God, the love of God. We have in us the very life of God, because we are in Christ Jesus.
Deuteronomy 28:1 If you listen obediently to what your God is saying, and heartily obey what He speaks to you today, Your God, will place you on high, and give you favor above those around you. v2 All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of your God.
v3 You shall be blessed in the city, and blessed in the country. v4 God's blessing shall be on your children, the crops of your land,and even the animals of your household. v5 God's blessing shall be upon your food pantry and your table v6 You shall be blessedin your coming in, and blessed in your going out. v7 God will resolve the conflict among you and give you peace. v8 God will order a blessing on your storehouse and your workplace. He will bless you in the place that He is giving you. v9 God will develop and fashion you as a people separated to Himself, just as He promised, if you obey what He says and live the way He has shown you”.
There’s no luck here, this is all about God’s successful outcome in your life and guaranteed blessings!
MAKE A QUALITY COMMITMENT TO ACCEPT ALL THAT THE LORD’S SACRIFICE HAS MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THE PURCHASING POWER OF HIS OWN BLOOD, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
ACCEPT GOD’S WAY AS YOUR NEW STANDARD FOR LIVING.
ACCEPT GOD’S WILL AS YOUR OWN GOAL FOR YOURLIFE. Say it with me…. “Your will be done, in earth as it is in heaven”
ACCEPT GOD’S POWER AS THE SOURCE OF YOURSTRENGTH. Years ago, before smart phones and Google maps, a delivery truck was taking a special shipment to the Visitors Bureau in California… and he got hopelessly lost. The driver stopped at a gas station and asked for directions. Now ordinarily this wouldn't have been unusual. People get lost all the time, I'm sure you get lost every once in a while. What made this incident so odd was that - in the back of the truck were 50,000new maps of the area from a map company. The truck driver got lost - even though his truck had 50,000 maps INSIDE of it… maps that could have easily helped him find his way to his destination had he only used what he was delivering in his truck. Our bible, which is available on our smart phones, and everywhere on the internet, can be the map to help us find our way, if we will just access what is so available to all of us!
GET CONNECTED to folks who have your back and folks who are busy building bridges instead of walls!!!....
Also, Prayer in faith believing, is the way you plug into God’s power.
PRAYER AND OUR CONFESSION TAPS INTO WHATEVER GOD CAN DO!
The Lord’s Prayer is not WHAT we should pray, it is an example of HOW we should pray…..
Notice that the Lord’s prayer or the “Our Father”… contains all the steps we need and forms an acrostic which spells out the word “Recover”….
(R) I realize that I’m not the source and He is!
(E) I earnestly believe that God has already released what I need.
(C) I choose to commit my life and my stuff into His care
(O) I openly confess and declare my decision according to His word
(V) I reserve time with God so I can know my shepherd and Lord
*….Chuck Swindoll once got a letter from a lady who didn't get married until she was 30. She said she never worried about getting married, she just trusted God with her future. However, she said that every night she hung a pair of men's pants on the end of her bed and prayed this prayer… “Father in Heaven hear my prayer, and grant it if You can. I've hung some trousers on the end of the bed, would You please fill them with a man?”
Well, I’m not promoting this as a “how to get your man” program, but I thought it was humorous….
But, I believe this is your time to recover what Satan has stolen from you, what the deceiver has delayed in coming to you, and what he’s blocked from getting to you that God says is yours!!!!
When Jesus shouted from the cross…”it is finished”….He made it possible for us to get plugged into all the power we will ever need. It’s waiting to be released and it’s all available through faith in Christ….
Matthew 17:20 “And Jesus said unto them, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, be removed to yonder place; and it shall be removed and nothing shall be impossible unto you”.
Sometimes the entire mountain moves, and sometimes it’s moved a truck load at a time….but it will move!
When pilots fly planes, they either FLY by “Instrument Flight Rules”, or by “Visual Flight Rules”….Every pilot is flying by one or the other. Visual Flight Rules are fine as long as you can see everything, if it's clear weather and you don’t have a lot of air traffic.. All professional pilots fly instrumentation, but a lot of amateurs fly visually. The FAA reports that a lot of small plane crashes could have been prevented if the person in the cockpit had simply picked up the microphone and told the tower, "I need help, except that the thing about deception, is that you don’t know you’re deceived." (An example is John Kennedy Jr. who perished needlessly because he could not fly instrumentation when he could no longer see the horizon)….
You may have made it pretty well, so far in life, flying visually But one day, if you fly enough, you're going to eventually hit bad weather and the storm will have you flying in the dark. (it’s an inevitable part of life that you're going to have some bad weather). You're going to hit some places where you can’t judge by what you see, cloudy areas where you can flip upside down and you don't even know which direction you're going.
It’s then you have to call the control tower and say, "I need to switch over to Instrumentation " and you submit yourself to the settings, which the control tower gives you fly by. We all come to that point where you've got to pick up the microphone and switch to God’s directions, His plan and His ways… or take a chance on blind luck!!!!....BAD OPTION!!!
Ask someone….Is your name “lucky” or is your name “blessed”…..?
Luck is a maybe, thing…. Blessing is a guarantee from a God who cannot ever lie, for He not only speaks truth, He is truth!!!!
When you’re flying with Trinity airlines….you’re gonna be glad you did!!!
Let us Pray together….“Heavenly Father, today, we expect this to be the greatest day of our life. We thank you, Lord, for the favor which will flow through us today, for this is a day when you will be glorified by what we think, say and do. Lord, we thank You for freedom in speaking and being a mouthpiece for You, for fearless confidence, for cheerful courage, and for boldness with supernatural assurance.
We command stolen blessings to be restored in Jesus name. We have angels assigned to minister and strengthen us in the things that God has called us to do and that go before us to protect and to guard us and bring us to the place that God has prepared. Aswe seek after God and His will, we are of good cheer for the Lord has overcome the world and given us His victory. We have been made more than conquerors in Christ.
He enables us to come forth victorious and be raised to a higherplace as we receive full understanding of our rights, privileges, and authority in Jesus. The lord sets us on a path of ever increasing success so that the latter days of our life are much greater than any previous time. We now leave the past behind as the Lord brings us into the wider place of His abundance. Wewalk in happiness, peace, Divine favor and good fortune. Ourfamilies are blessed and anointed and our possessions are secure,because the limits have been taken off in God’s covenant of fullness.
We declare that we were healed 2000 years ago, when you were crucified and Your word says we are the healed in Jesus’ name. We boldly declare that we are made whole, spirit, soul and body, for the power of sickness, infirmity, disease or deformity is no longer given any permission to be in our body and it no longer has any place, in Jesus’ name!
We declare that the Lord sustains us, even in our old age. He gives energy, vitality, health and rescues us from feebleness and calamity. We now receive His ability, power and anointing, that we may be established in the place of His covenant design and plan. We cancel premature death and receive the full number of our days and the ability to pass on wealth and honor as an inheritance for the next generation. Lord, may You be honored and glorified as all these things come to pass, in Jesus’ Name, AMEN!!!!
