The News Behind The News
My title comes from the story that took place on December 17, in 1903, after the Wright brothers were successful in getting their ''flying machine'' off the ground, they telegraphed the message to their sister Katherine: ''We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.'' Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, ''How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.'' Theeditor totally missed the big news—that man had actually flown,in a heavier than air flying machine! It’s no different with Christmas. People get so involved in all the many things that are associated with Christmas, that they forget the big news is that Jesus Christ, God's miracle Son was born. It was no different in the days ofJesus’ actual birth. Back then, taxes were the big news. In the crowded town of Bethlehem, among all the hustle and bustle,very quietly, in a cow barn, the real story of the ages was taking place. As it was then, so it is now, people miss the big news of Christmas.
Iran, China, Russia, the coming 2022 congressional election, and the Supreme Court decision on Roe vs. Wade, are being pushed as the big story, but Jesus outshines them all.....
I need to address something here, as I begin, that we need to be very tuned in to as we move through this season. At a time when we celebrate the birth of the savior of the world, the king of kings, and lord of lords, behind the greatest story ever told, there is another story developing. We are living in a world where ourgovernment wants to legislate death.... I’m talking about the fact that during this Christmas season, it has been once again handed to the Supreme Court of this nation, the task of making the decision of either reversing the legalization of Roe Vs. Wade in this country or continuing to refuse the right to life to millions of unborn children. Deuteronomy 30:19 “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life ordeath, blessings or curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live v20 so that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life (It’s very source), and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give you....”
Just like the people of Deuteronomy, our nation once again is choosing life or death. The implication here is that if we fail to choose life, then our life will be shortened and God’s blessing would no longer be upon our land.
We need to be doing some serious faith prayers and declarations over the nation’s Supreme Court as they make their deliberations.And I am told that the issue hangs possibly on one swing vote from one Supreme Court Justice who could go either way.
God is the source of life, and our constitution was not written in order to justify the killing of unborn babies, it was written to guarantee all men, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I am told, that if we had not killed millions of unborn babies, we would have enough doctors, scientists, engineers, conservative politicians, apostles, evangelists, pastors, prophets, and teachers to radically change the world we all live in for the better.....
I want us to take a moment and decree life, when death is wanting to continue to haunt and stalk every child in the womb....A decree must come from a higher power and in this case our decree comes from the constitution and the word of God.
DECREE..... We decree according to the Constitution of America, and God’s own word, that all human beings have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our decree is based on the truth that every child is a precious and a sacred giftfrom God.
The sanctity of every human life must be protected, cherished, and defended. We declare that according to God’s word, each person is ‘wonderfully made and a baby in the womb, is a reflection of the majesty of God’s creation. We take our place as the voice of the voiceless, born or unborn, who are made in the holy image of God.
We will pray, declare, decree and speak into the rights of the unborn until we see Roe Verses Wade overturned. Until that day comes, we declare according to God’s word, that a hedge of protection be over and around all unborn Children so they might live and fulfill God’s plan for them. In the name of Jesus, according to God’s holy word.
If it were left up to the liberal thinkers of our day, Mary would have been sent to an abortion clinic, since she was having a baby out of wedlock, which back then was justification for a woman to be stoned to death if her fiancé so desired it.
Luke 1:26: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27: to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28: And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." At that instant, as the words came forth, “The Lord is with you”, the seed of God went into Mary to perform a miracle) God is with you right now friend.... a miracle is with you and in you right now, because the Lord is with you. Emmanuel means “God is with you”, in the same way that Gabriel spoke it to Mary. It’s the name that declares “a miracle is in you”.
Luke 1:29: “But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30: The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31: And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus”.
Gabriel said “and now”...... the moment the angel spoke it, in the now, Mary was pregnant!
The moment the Holy Spirit quickens the Word of God in you... you become pregnant in your spirit, and something supernatural begins to grow in you, but you must declare it... nurture it and feed it....
I found out something.... Conception begins the moment the egg is fertilized in the fallopian tube, forming a one cell entity called a zygote. The zygote gets 23 chromosomes from the mother and 23 from the father. Which in this case is God! These chromosomes determine the baby's sex, and basically who it will be to a large extent. This child is still in the fallopian tube and it’slife is pretty much determined biologically.
Listen, what God told you, what He promised you, may still be in the fallopian tube, it may still be just a zygote, but all the ingredients that constitute the full manifestation, are already in you!!!
The zygote travels down the fallopian tube toward the uterus. At the same time, it will begin dividing to form a cluster of cells resembling a tiny raspberry called a Morula. The rapidly dividing ball of cells — now known as a blastocyst — has begun to burrow into the uterine lining (endometrium).
This process is called implantation. When implantation occurs, the Morula begins to create it’s own invironment, and starts influencing the body of the woman who is it’s host or mother. The mother’s body starts to change inside and out to accommodate the human being that is now implanted anddeveloping within her...
James 1:21 Uses the process of implanting, in referring to God’s word.....”Therefore, get rid of all moral corruption and every practice of evil, and humbly accept the word implanted in you, which can save your soul. v22 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only”.
How many can see the spiritual parallels that are evident here.....As the word is implanted in us, we allow the word to begin creating a spiritual environment to accommodate the spiritual things of the kingdom, that are developing in us. We allow God’s word to begin to influence our thinking, our actions, and ourenvironment to line up with the things of the spirit.
As an example, tithing is a very spiritual exercise, and implants blessing into our finances and rebukes the destroyer from our lives. It becomes a force that injects God’s blessing into every area of our personal and family life in ways that have a domino effect which influences many other areas in our circle of life.
So, getting back to the word spiritual. It’s one of those words we use all the time, but did you know there’s no word for spiritual in the Hebrew language? Hebrew is the language of the first three forths of the Bible, or what we call the Old Testament. Look up the word spiritual in Genesis to Malachi which is the Bible used by Jesus. You’ll find It’s not there. Why? Because in a Hebrew worldview, all of life is sacred and spiritual.
Even when you get to the New Testament, the word spiritual is mostly a term which is used by the apostle Paul. In the writings of Paul it means... “all that is animated by the Holy Spirit.” And as far as Paul is concerned, every facet of our life should be spiritual. That’s why Paul says “all things work together for the good of those who love God and His purpose, or intentions toward us”.....
I think if you could ask Jesus about His spiritual life, He would have looked at you very confused. My guess is He would have asked, “What do you mean by My spiritual life? All of My life is spiritual”.
Jesus didn’t buy into the sacred vs. secular thinking. Not one bit. To Him, the God He called Father is as close as the air against our skin. To Him, life is a seamless, integrated, holistic experience where the sacred is all around us. As it was for Jesus, so let it be for us, God wants to be involved in every square inch of our lives, because everything is spiritual to our God.
The word Spiritual in the Greek is “pnuematikos” It’s from the root word pneuma, where we get the word pneumatic, which is a driving force. It is a driving, empowering presence in us to do what God calls to do as we “occupy until He comes” back to thisEarth.
We can see spiritual examples in all creation around us. My wife loves to watch the Pelicans as they skim the water and dive for fish. But I found out something very spiritual about Pelicans. Since medieval times, legend has it that when a pelican’s chick has been bitten by a snake, it will strike its chest with its beak until it bleeds and then it will let the chick drink it’s blood which contains the antidote to the snakevenom. How spiritual is that!
If this is done by the pelican for it’s chicks, imagine all that God does and will do for us. We are his children, His most precious treasure, and He has shed His own blood so that we might receive the antidote to sin and death.
When the serpents of this life reach out and bite us. They inject their poison of doubt, worry, fear, and unbelief, into us but they cannot overcome the Blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God that washes away the sin of the world and the sting of death. Don'tpanic if the serpent surprises you and gets in a bite, just make sure that the Lamb's Blood is flowing through your veins.”
In Genesis 2:15-17 God told Adam, that “if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He would surely die.” God didn’t say that He would kill him! The moment they ate in disobedience, their bodies began to die, but most important, their relationship which they enjoyed before with God died! A separation, the wedge of sin came between them. When Karen was little, she would open the doors under the sink, where all the cleansers were kept. And I would tell her, “honey, if you drink the Drano, you will die!”.... I didn’t say I would kill her, I just told her of the consequences of those actions!
So they tried to hide their disobedience from God, which lets us know that they had some messed up theology. It was a mix, like a lot of folks today which messes them up. Then God teases them and says “Where are you”... It’s like when the kids were little we would play hide and seek, and I would see their head sticking out from behind the couch and I would still say, “Where are you?,but I could see them all along.....
The thing is that Satan told them that if they ate the fruit, they would get what they already had, but didn’t understand what that was. They already had eternal life, because death hadn’t happened yet. And they had all knowledge, because God told them to name everything and that’s the name it would have and besides, God was there to tell them everything.
If we would get our theology right, Satan wouldn’t stand a chance, because we would be enjoying everything we have been given in Christ!
Take a quantum leap forward from the garden and take another look at Mary, which is another name for “second chance for mankind”..... As a matter of fact, one of the meanings for the name of this young virgin, is “The hoped for one”.... (We know that’s true for Alan anyway)
Mary was the most popular girls name until 1946 when Linda took first place away from her.
In those days, a 13 year old was already promised by her dad to someone or espoused to them. Whoever offered the best dowery, of sheep, goats, or camels, or money.... got the girl. In this case, Joseph was an older man who had a solid business as a carpenter, which her father Heli felt was a good bargain and he probably built them a house as part of the deal.
Why did God choose this 13 year old who was a virgin... still a kid!
Because she was available to God. Mary’s first words were “Do unto me according to thy word”....
She was saying “God use me, however you will, whenever you will, where ever you will”....That will get God’s attention every time!!
He’s still looking for that kind of folks to work miracles through today!
Listen, if you were 13, and had never been with a man in that way, and you are just told that you’re pregnant, your first question will not be should I go with swaddling clothes or disposable diapers....Is it a boy or a girl?.....should I name the baby after my father according to custom.... No.... none of that mattered at the moment.... Your first question is “How can this be”.....which means, This doesn’t’ make any sense!
How can Zechariah and Elizabeth be having a child because,they're too old and she’s barren... How could Abraham and Sarah be having a child because they were too old and she too was barren.....
How’s this going to happen.....Well, you better listen to Gabriel’s answer.. “The Holy Spirit is going to come upon you”.....
We don’t have to make Christmas special, magical, spiritual or super natural.... That’s the Holy Spirit’s Job.... We only need to be available! Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord!
John 14:17 “For he [the Holy Spirit] dwells with you and shall be in you”.....You do as He tells you and then get out of the way, because the next thing that’s coming out of your mouth is “How can this be”!!!
I was sick but now I’m healed.... I was poor but now I’m rich.... I was blind now I see.... I was lame but now I walk.... I was dead but now I live....
The best thing we can do is what Isaiah said.... “Here am I, send me, use me, Here I am”!!!
I’m here to tell you..... The news behind the news is.... it wasn’t supposed to happen, It should have been bad news, It shouldn’thave been possible, but He’s the same yesterday, for Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah. He’s the same today, for this pastor who received a new heart with no scars, and He’s the same forever, for all who will make themselves available to the miracle working power of the blood of the lamb, that holds the cure and that breaks the power of the curse.
Now in spite of all this supernatural, miracle stuff going on, angel choirs singing, Gabriel showing up.... wagging tongues wag, pointing fingers point, and Mary and Joseph are put in a tight spot. Mary is stigmatized by the community for being single and pregnant... Joseph is being encouraged to put her away....which means either stone her or get rid of her.... But even in all of this, when the pressure is on, and the cards are all on the table.... They are able to hear from God and keep their spirits open to him....
Listen to me..... sometimes your hardest time is just before your break-through... just before the manifestation of your miracle... All hell is breaking loose around you and it seems that everything is the opposite of what you’re believing for, and what God has spoken goes against common reasoning.... That’s when you press in even harder.....get over into fasting along with praying and use the two edged sword.... God said it shall be, and every other voice is a liar....
All things are still possible if we will believe and say “here I am”
I believe we need to declare and decree some miracles in this place..... All things are still possible no matter what the circumstances look like....
Let’s get in position for some supernatural manifestations..... In 2 Chronicles 36:22 God used the son of Esther, King Cyrus, to send forth the decree, that the Jewishpeople would be released from Babylonian captivity, and be given everything they needed to return home and restore the city and rebuild the temple....
It says “But in the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to make this proclamation throughout his kingdom, putting it into writing: “All the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the Lord God of heaven, and he has instructed me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah. All among you who are the Lord’s people return to Israel for this task, and the Lord be with you.”
There’s a spirit of liberty and freedom here this morning, to release you into your miracle....
Where does our right to declare and decree come from?.....
You are God’s family through Christ. . .you are the child of the King. . .and empowered by His blood and His Word to make decrees.
God wants you to be an agent for change here on planet earth. . .yes, to even make decrees that will alter the course of things as we know it. We have a mandate to occupy until He comes. A decree is not just what we say, it is a decision to do somethingthat will activate spiritual things in the natural world around us....by making yourself available to Him....
Are you ready? Then, Let’s Decree!......
Today I decree that I shall receive sudden answers to prayer. Ideclare that the Holy Spirit that is on me and in me is releasingmiracles at this very moment. I declare that I am entering aseason when things that have taken years and months will manifest in hours and days, even at the sound of my voice.
I prophesy that I am supplied with daily supply and provision! Ibreak the power of every hindrance and blockage from the enemy in Jesus’ Name! I bind the power of every attack that would come to defeat my faith and confidence. I bind weariness of mind and I release hope, fresh inspiration and renewed zeal.
I declare a season of open doors, successes, blessings, favor, promises manifested, opportunity, and increase resting with andupon me! I declare an end to decrease in every area and I call forth answers, break through, creative ideas, and divine connections. Let it be loosed and break forth on every side beginning now! In the name of the King of kings and Lord of Lords, Amen!
Now, let’s spend some time praising Him for it, if you believe it!!!!
