Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

Excessive personal debt is taking a huge toll in this country and the world.

The U.S. national debt hit a new high of $28 trillion dollars as of March. That’s 28 followed by 12 zeroes! In 1990 we owed 54% of everything the country brought in (or it’s GDP)                                                                                           But in 2021, our country now owes 130% of its GDP, or 30% more than it takes in through every stream of revenue.

The interest we pay (that’s all of us) on the National Debt is 570 billion dollars per year. That’s 570 billion that isn’t coming back into the economy for the American people on top of all that is being paid to the flood of illegals coming across our borders every day, because one party doesn’t want the wall.

It’s a debt which every American has to pay through every dollar we spend. That breaks down to $67,000 debt, owed by every man, woman and child when you get up every morning .  

This country owes a debt it cannot pay and it is a generational curse that every U.S. citizen must live with. But as Christians, we believe God will have the last say….

Well, I want to say, “Hallelujah, we are blessed beyond the curse! When king Balak commanded Balaam to curse the Jewish people, He told the king, “How can I curse what God has blessed”!! Somebody give me a Hallelujah! 

Herbert Hoover said…Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt… But God said we are blessed beyond the curse!

Josh Billings said..You should always live within your income, even if you have to borrow to do so. – But God said we are blessed beyond the curse!

Bill Vaughn said… Economists report that a college education adds many thousands of dollars to a man’s lifetime income – which he then spends sending his children to college. But God said we are blessed beyond the curse

Sam Ewing said…Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair. But God said we are blessed beyond the curse...

Debt is one of the major causes of stress unless you’re a politician who is spending other people’s money…. (there’s no stress in that)

Debt is the major cause of lost time at work, lost sleep, lost hair, physical problems, obesity and divorce.

When the Lord was promising to make Israel a powerful nation, He spoke in terms of borrowing and lending as a gauge which would represent the strength and weakness of the nation.

Deuteronomy 15:6 says, “For the LORD your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.”                  Once again, the Lord is emphasizing that excessive borrowing will weaken people and nations, because the lender has power over the borrower. The Jewish people have thrived in their nation, by strict adherence to the principles taught in the Torah.  If the Jewish nation had waited to understand the ramifications of God’s principles, they would not have obeyed. But they obeyed even though they didn’t totally understand all that was involved in the kingdom principles God gave them. You might say that we need to obey God’s requirements of stewardship, until understanding comes, not if we understand

1 Corinthians 7:23 simply says, “God has purchased you at a high price. Do not be enslaved by the world.”

Debt is very spiritual.. because it’s about who and what controls you as a follower of Jesus Christ. Satan seeks to get control of anyone who desires to follow the Lord Jesus. And He is very successful at this deception!

The root cause of financial debt, is discontentment. Discontent is the mother of greed and covetousness. Discontent is the source of non-violent crimes and crimes which lead to violence and murder. 

Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., says, “our society is marked by "inextinguishable discontent." Our quest is to get what is bigger and better and what is next. We want a better job with better pay and a better boss. We want better relationships and a better car and a better backhand in tennis or a longer drive in golf. And, we have a propensity to live endlessly for the next thing - the next weekend, the next vacation, the next purchase, and the next experience. We are never satisfied, never content, and envious of those who have what we have not been able to getor accumulate”.                                                           At the age of thirty-two Doug McKnight was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Over the coming years it would cost him his career, his mobility, and eventually his life. Because of MS, he couldn't feed himself or walk; he battled depression and fear. But through it all, Doug never lost his sense of gratitude to God. Evidence of this was seen in his prayer list. Friends in his congregation asked him to compile a list of requests so they could intercede for him. His response included eighteen blessings for which to be grateful and six concerns for which to be prayerful. His blessings outweighed his needs by three times. Doug McKnight discovered that what he had in Christ was greater than whatever else he didn’t have in life, and that was his source of contentment.

Paul, the apostle, wrote, Philippians 4:11 "I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in. v12 I know both how to have little, and I know how to abound: 

everywhere and in all things I am instructed both how to be full and how to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. v13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.".

Paul is saying that true contentment is not found in what he has or where he is, but it is found in WHOSE HE IS!.... WHOSE HE IS!!

A man once went to a minister for counseling. He was experiencing a financial collapse. "I've lost everything," he moaned. All that I worked so hard for and poured my energy, time and money into is gone. All that I had hoped to build for the future is up in smoke. The minister said, "I'm so sorry to hear that you've lost your faith.' "No," the man corrected him, "I didn’t say that I lost my faith.""Well, then the minister said, I'm sad to hear that you've lost your character." "I didn't say that I lost my character," the man corrected him. So the minister said, “Well then, I'm sorry to hear that you've lost your salvation."

"That's not what I said," the man objected. "I haven't lost my salvation." Well, let’s see. The minister said…."You have your faith, you have your character, and you still have your salvation. Seems to me, that you've lost none of the things that really matter." Yes, it’s about Whose I Am!!

John Stott wrote, "Contentment is the true secret of inward peace. It remembers the stark truth that we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. Life, in fact, is a pilgrimage from one moment of nakedness to another. So we should travel light and live simply. Our enemy is not possessions, but excess. Our battle cry is not “I must have everything!' but 'what I have at this moment is enough for this moment!' I can get to anywhere my God needs me to be, from righthere”.

Contentment comes when we can honestly say with the apostle Paul, Philippians 4:12-13 "I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret [of being content] - whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. 

A short-term missionary met a leper he would never forget on a mission trip, on the island of Tobago. On the final day, he was leading worship in a leper colony. He asked if anyone had a favorite song. When he did, this woman turned around, and he saw the most disfigured face he'd ever seen. She had no ears and no nose. Her lips were gone. But she raised a hand with the fingers gone, and asked, "Could we sing 'Count Your Many Blessings'?"

The missionary started the song but couldn't finish, he got so choked up. His associate later commented, "I suppose you'll never be able to sing that song again." he answered, "No, I'll sing it again. Just never the same way I ever sang it before I met her."

This kind of contentment isn't natural. We're not born with it. It is a fruit of the spirit which is learned through surrender to the one who is the prince of peace and the ruler of our heart.

May I ask you a question? Where is your contentment located? What is the one thing separating you from contentment? How do you fill in the blank: "I will be happy when this or that happens" When I am healed. When I am promoted. When I am married. When I am single. When I am rich. How would you finish the statement?

We can become so busy with somewhere else, and what we don’t have, that we don’t fully cherish where we are and what we do have.

Now, with your answer firmly in mind, answer this. If your ship never comes in, if your dream never comes true, if the situation never changes, could you be happy? If not, then you are living in the gripof discontentment.

Contentment isn't just about denying our feelings about wanting and desiring what we don’t have, but instead it is freedom from being controlled by those feelings. Contentment isn't pretending things are right when they are not, but instead it displays the peace that comes from knowing that God is bigger than any problems and that he works them all out for our good. 

Constantly trying to scratch our itches with one thing or another is like cotton candy. It's sweet for a moment and dissolves an instant later. 

Contentment is always an inside job. It has everything to do with what is going on inside you, not what is going on outside. It’s about what you’re attached to. That connection is found in a soul satisfying relationship with our Heavenly Father that cares for us and promises to meet us where we are.

Contentment is a matter of the will

If we fail to surrender our will, we shall forever be discontent. Our freedom will be suffocated. We will be in bondage to our desires. Our relationships will be poisoned. Potential blessings will be sacrificed. Our peace will be destroyed, and we will be robbed of joy, we will be miserable, and we willtarnish our witness. We dishonor God if we proclaim a Savior who satisfies and then we live in discontent.

Contentment comes from letting go of the past

Philippians 3:13 "Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But this one thing I do: forgetting what is behind, I am reaching forward to what is ahead". We cannot hope to ever gain contentment while holding on to past failures and mistakes – the mistakes of others or our own. There's a difference between ignoring past wrongs and forgetting them. Forgetting means that we work through the process of forgiving others and allowing God's forgiveness to cover us. 

We need to let go of such statements that begin with "I should have," “I could have”, "If only I had." True forgiveness requires that we see the wrongs clearly, articulate them, release them to God, and then walk away from them. This process may take some time and some learning by application, butwithout it we will never have a contented heart.

Tim Vanderveen from Spring Lake, Michigan was a great student at Hope College, Holland, Michigan. Tall, broad shouldered, curly hair, and a smile as broad as life. In the early 90s after graduating from college, he took a job at Johnson Controls. He climbed the ladder of success about as quickly as anyone can.

And on a rawboned, wind-whipped November afternoon, Tim called his good friend and former professor, Tim Brown. Professor Brown said, "Hey, Tim, how you doing?"

A weak, trembling voice said, "I'm not doing so good."

Professor Brown said, "What's up with you?"

Tim said, "I'm in the hospital in Grand Rapids. I got the flu or something. My folks are out of the country."

Professor Brown said, "I'm going to be in Grand Rapids later today. Maybe I can stop by and see you. Would that be okay?"

Tim said, "I'd appreciate that so much."

By the time Professor Brown visited Tim, the doctors had already been there. It wasn't the flu. It was leukemia. And that began a three-year, arduous battle that he would lose - or win, maybe.

Three years later, at Spectrum Hospital, room 5225, Professor Brown walked into Tim's room. His mother was sitting in the corner crying. You can't blame her. Tim is being assisted with breathing. He has lost a lot of weight and His hair was falling out. The professor got up close to the bed and said, "Hi, Tim, how’s it going buddy."

Tim said, "Hi, Professor."

There was a long, awkward pause. Professor Brown had been a pastor for twenty years and still didn't know what to say.

Tim broke the silence, with a voice that was just a whisper, he said "I've learned something."

So the professor said, "Tell me, partner, what have you learned?"

Tim said, "I've learned that life is not like a VCR."

So the professor said, "I’m sorry Tim, I don't get it. What do you mean?"

Tim said, "It's not like a VCR; you can't fast forward through the bad parts."

There’s a Long pause, as the professor is thinking to himself what Tim has just said.

Then Tim interrupts the silence again to say, "But I have learned that Jesus Christ is in every frame, and every event, and right now that's enough for me."

Hebrews 11.6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Hey, the devil can’t kill a true Christian, all he can do is promote us to the next level, of eternal life….                

If you have Jesus, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You come to understand that you have everything you need. I said last week, If you have Jesus, you’ve hit the biggest lottery of all time…. 

One day an old man wrote a letter to God....and he tied the letter to a tree outside a church. The minister saw it tied there and took down the letter.

It read "Please God, I'm a poor man, I need you tosend me $100,000 so I can pay my debts and live peacefully".

Being a compassionate man, the minister took donations around town for the old man and raised $5,000. He tracked down the old man and handed him the envelope marked "From God"…

The next day, the old man came back and tied another letter to the tree.

The minister took down the letter and read it excitedly.

It said "Dear God, thank you for sending me the money. Next time, please send it to me directly because the minister can't be trusted. Lord, can you believe he took $95,000 of my money!" (I think that’s called discontent!)

Psalm 89:18 All we are and all we have, we owe to God, the Holy God of Israel, our King! 

We owe a Debt of forgiveness

We owe a Debt of praise

We owe a Debt of witnessing.. If you do not confess me before men, I will not confess you before my Father in heaven….. but aren’t you glad it also says ‘He ever lives to make intercession for us before the throne of God.”

We owe a debt of love…Jesus gave the ultimate gift of love for us…

We owe a debt to the one who provided finances, a home, a job, health and life to enjoy it all, and eternal life with Him beyond all of that. 

Wow, we owe an eternal debt, and our eternity has already begun the moment we made Him our savior and lord!                                                               

Can leukemia infect your salvation? Can bankruptcy impoverish your prayer life? Can what happens in your world, steal your joy? A hurricanemay take your earthly house, but will it touch your heavenly home?

When I come into a relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ, I understand that it is now all about WHOSE I AM, not what I have or don’t have.

Paul the apostle said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. 

Our chief aim and goal as children of God, is to please God….Those who know God want to please God .. like Enoch in the Old Testament "who had this testimony, that he pleased God". Do you have that testimony? When Enoch walked into a room, they said, "There is a man who is pleasing God. There's a man of God who is living for the Glory of God." What do people say about you when you walk into a room?

I don't know about you .. but I want it said about me what was said about Enoch, "before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

Let me bring this to a close with a promise from God, which is about being free of discontentmentand becoming debt free, and free from the bondage of too much debt. When I say bondage, I’m not saying don’t buy that car, or that home, but I’m talking debt that is beyond your ability to pay…. That’s bondage. 

John 8:35 “A slave (one who is in bondage) is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever. v36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”.

Now I want to get to what the Lord spoke to me about debt when I began to develop this message. 

God told the Jewish people that when they loaned money to a fellow Jew, they were not to charge interest on the agreed term of payback. HoweverHe said something else, which is really amazing and it sounds a lot like John 8:35, because it’s about becoming debt free, or at least being able to pay your debt without being in bondage to it! Look at it with me…. 

Deuteronomy 15:1 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the Lord’s release”.

IT IS CALLED THE LORD’S RELEASE! God wanted His people to be debt free so much that He provided a covenant of release from debt!

First, this is God saying, “It’s all mine anyway, you don’t own anything, it’s all on loan from Me”… I have loaned you the house, the car, the money, your children, your spouse, your job… etc…

Look at this….Luke 12:17 “And a certain manthought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my increase? v18 And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns, and build greater and there will I bestow all my increase and my goods. (He’s not thinking of God here) v19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years, take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. v20But God (everyone say But God) said unto him, you fool, this night your soul shall be required of you. Then whose shall those things be, which you have provided? v21 So also are those that lay up treasure for themselves, and are not rich toward God”.
What a question, and it is one that demands an answer…. THEN WHOSE SHALL THOSE THINGS BE?

Deuteronomy calls it the Lord’s release, John says He who the Son sets free is free indeed!!

The Holy Spirit has told me to believe this day, that God will perform the Release of The Lord… in your life and for your family. 

I believe there is a special anointing in this place, that comes by the infallible word of God to His people. We are not called to be slaves to the world system, that would affect our place of Sonship, since it gives us a divided heart. 

So I’m going to obey God today and speak the RELEASE OF THE LORD, over your debt and your bondage to it….

Galatians 5:1. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage (or slavery).”

Nahum 1:13 For I will now break their yoke from your neck and tear away your shackles.”

Isaiah 10:27 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.”

God is establishing covenant with our finances, that your debt be cancelled and the yoke and the bondage on you or your family being broken and destroyed. I want everyone to come and stand here with me. This is the RELEASE OF THE LORD! Our dollar bills still say “In God we trust” on them, even though there are forces that want to remove that statement at their own peril. We enter into this covenant of the RELEASE OF THE LORD today.

Prayer…..Lord Jesus, You taught us to pray “forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” Lord, You said that as we give, it would be given unto us full measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. You said, in Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. We receive Your financial favor, which You bring to set us free. Jesus, You said that if we would ask for our daily bread, or provision, You would give it and it would be more than enough. 

We declare, according to Your word that It is time for a reset. It’s time for a Jubilee. It’s time for debts to be cancelled. It is time for financial freedom.Thank you lord, for financial healing and recovery. Thank you for freedom from the stress, the pressure, and the bondage of debt. Thank You that He whom the Son sets free is FREE INDEED! In Jesus Name!!!

                                        God is sovereign, and the sovereignty of God means that He is self-contained, complete in Himself, and has need of nothing apart from Himself. There is nothing that happens which is beyond His influence, or His authority. There is nothing that He is not aware of. He has no limits and there is no measure to His power. He is the ultimate source of all power, authority, and everything that exists.  

Colossians 1:16 “God created all things and holds all things together, both in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible”.

Revelation 21:6 “God is above all things and before all things. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is immortal, and He is present everywhere so that everyone can know Him”.

Having said all that, how amazing is it that the sovereign God decided He would empty Himself and become as you and me, in a flesh body, being tempted with all manner of things we are tempted and tested by, so that He could accomplish our salvation and show us what He can do through the same human form as we have, with the same spirit that is available to us. But even greater in my mind is the fact that God made himself subject to Mary and Joseph, subject to earthly authority, subject to those who would condemn Him, scourge Him, and crucify Him, when He had the power to call legions of angels to destroy them all… But He became subject to man so that Satan’s power could be broken, and believers could have access to His power and authority to expand His kingdom in the earth and reconcile the world unto Himself.

GOD MADE HIMSELF SUBJECT TO MAN…. So that mankind could return to the relationship which He had with Adam and Eve before the fall…. The age of innocence, of righteousness and Godliness….

One of the most incredible statements in the entire bible is found in 

Isaiah 45:11 “Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask Me of things to come and concerning the work of My hands, command ye me”. COMMAND YE ME!!!

What a statement…. That the sovereign God, who is self-contained, complete in Himself, and has need of nothing apart from Himself, would say to inferior beings such as us, “COMMAND ME”…..  

As I try to wrap my head around that, I must also search out it’s meaning and how that would possibly operate in our lives, and at the same time not violate the sovereignty of God!

I believe we can get good insight on this, from a scripture found in

Hebrews 6:13 “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 

v16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie..”

When God says “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then He is bound by the truth He has sworn by”….

To violate one word that He has sworn by Himself that He would do, would compromise His sovereignty. Basically, He would have to resign as God. 

If you swear to someone that you would do something, and you swear it by your reputation, your family name, and Your track record of faithfulness, righteousness and perfection…. And you break your promise and fail to fulfill your vow… Your word is no good and should not be trusted.

We all have a problem with the “Do as I say not as I do” type of leadership….And certainly if someone is GOD, they could be that kind of being, I mean what could anyone do about it….. If our parents tell us to make our bed or pick up our room, but they don’t do what they’re telling us to do, it lacks a lot of credibility. 

If they tell us to put sunscreen on when they’re not, or eat a nutritious meal when they’re not, it’s not very convincing. It’s about something called “mirror actions,” where children arehard-wired to act just like their parents do, after all, children want to be Just Like Us, from walking and talking to emulating behaviors and worldviews. They are greatly influenced by what we do and say….

One guy says that when he was growing up, his dad told them they should treat him like a god...so they pretty much ignored him until they were sick, hurt, or broke or generally needed something.

God puts it all on the line when He says He will do something…by laying His own reputation as God on the line….How much more could He do to show us His love, concern and compassion, than become one of us and struggle as we struggle, weep as we weep, bleed as we bleed, and experience weariness, weakness, pain, and suffering….. To care enough to place himself in subjection to the injustice, unfairness, cruelty, greed, prejudice, and judgmentalism that mankind must deal with…. I would believe a God like that, and I trust His word and His intentions.    

So now, we come back to this amazing statement God makes…when he tells those He created…. “Command Ye Me”….                                                                                                     Our God is a God of integrity, who will always back up what He says and He will authorize those who act on it to be able to perform it, because He has bound Himself to His word.

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he could lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said it, and shall He not do it? or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good?”

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of turning”.

Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”.

One verse of the old hymn, “Standing on the promises”… says                        “Standing on the promises that cannot fail,

When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,

By the living Word of God I shall prevail,

I’m Standing on the promises of God”.

Those words are about Commanding God, by standing steadfast and unmovable as we take Him at His word. 

Elijah activated it and the dead were raised, oil and meal were multiplied and a three and a half year famine ended in a deluge of rain….

Gideon commanded the sun and moon to stand still until the battle was won and it obeyed him…. 

Moses was told by God that He would be with his mouth and plagues came upon Egypt while the land of Goshen was protected…water flowed from a rock like a river, manna from heaven fed one million and a half people, the Red Sea opened so they could walk across, not one person was feeble or sickly, and even their garments did not wear out for 40 years in the desert journey. 

People were raised from the dead, all manner of sickness was healed and every human condition was cured, Satan was bound and demons were cast out. The impossible was made possible because the God of the impossible said it would be so!!!

When Jesus showed up, for Lazarus, he was already dead. The sister of Lazarus had called on Jesus when Lazarus was just sick. When he got there Martha said, “If you had been here, Lord, Lazarus would not have died”… She had faith for the past, (all the what if’s) but she didn’t have the same faith for what God could do in the future. But what if God wanted to do it another way, than you had it in your mind or your plans for Him to do. You looked at it as a failure, God was planning something better and much greater.                                                                                                         When Elijah was by the brook, he could have gotten bogged down in the “What ifs.” He was shut off from everyone, he could have felt like a failure, or that he had missed God, but the most powerful days of his ministry were just beyond the brook….God had something better!

David spoke the “I wills, instead of the “What if’s”…                                 in Psalm 138:2 “I will bow down toward Your holy temple and I will praise Your name for Your love and Your faithfulness, for You have exalted Your name and Your wordabove all things”.

There is nothing that is not subject to His name and His word!

He is the great God, the mighty God, the Creator God. We can see His wisdom and His power manifested throughout creation. The heavens declare His glory; the oceans manifest His power; the mountains reveal His strength; the snowflakes illustrate His wisdom. All these marvels of creation demonstrate to us God’s greatness. But it is His Name and His Word that make Him available to us….. Through His name and His Word He does for us what nothing else can do….He makes Himself completely available to us.

John 14:12 Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you . . . I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it”

When my mom had her country store, before the days of credit cards, she would maintain a ledger book recording the activities of each customer’s account and the amount owed on time. She knew her customers well and how much they earned. A customer would at times send others to the shop with a list to make purchases and bring back materials needed for their home or business. Those sent in the customer’s stead (their children or workers) would be able to receive the goods “in the name of” the account owner. But, if they tried to purchase things different than what my mom knew the customer normally bought, the purchase would be denied until she could verify it.

Coming to God in Jesus’ name and the list of things He said he would do, is similar to those old financial transactions. Jesus is the holder of the account, and we are welcome to come to the Father in Jesus’ name to receive what we need. The Father willingly grants our requests because of the authorization of Jesus. Of course, if we are asking for things that are contrary to the character or will of Christ, then we cannot expect to receive those things. So we are encouraged to remain in the will of God and seek what it is He is looking for in our lives.                                                             I heard a guy say that God finally answer his prayers about winning the $15 million dollar lottery. The answer was no.

God is not promising to be our personal vending machine, but when we come with “Not my will but thine be done”…. He will not turn us away and will always have an open ear!

The other day I saw someone shaking and kicking a vending machine because what they wanted wasn’t coming out. This guy wanted to have it his way, but it wasn’t happening. He wasdefinitely not approaching with a “not my will but thine be done” attitude. Hey, folks even try to use the word of God to get their own way, but quoting the word won’t get it for you, unless your heart and spirit are submitted and your motive is to glorify God and exalt the Lord! I know folks that try to convince God that it’s for His good that they win the lottery. They’ll give to the church, help good causes and give to the needy, but where were they when God kept them healthy, protected them and their family from destruction and gave them chance after chance… They didn’t realize they had won the lottery every day…..

A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. So he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES."

When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note: " If I don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. Jesus said “LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION."

If You’re not praying in faith, you’re only wishing…..Perhaps we need to ask ourselves if we are like the church that was praying for Peter to get out of jail, and when God opened the prison, the church was shocked that he was knocking at the door. That’s called wishful praying. We know we should pray, but we’re praying our wishes instead of the word of God. God said HIS WORD WOULD NOT RETURN VOID, BUT WOULD ACCOMPLISH ALL IT WAS SENT FORTH TO DO!

The word of God is not a magic wand we use….There are no magic formulas. KAZAAM IS NOT THE SAME AS AMEN! When we pray “in Jesus’ name,” we pray according to the will of God; we pray for what will honor and glorify Jesus. God will provide the means necessary to accomplish His objectives, as He equips us to be His servants and His messengers of transformation. Ultimately, God receives all the glory and praise for what is done while we wait in the wings for the next assignment .

If I arrived home some evening, walked into the living room, turned on the light switch and nothing happened, I would know immediately that there was something wrong that was causing the electricity not to work as it should. Either I haven’t paid the bill, there’s a burned out circuit or a burned out bulb. But it would be ridiculous for me to say that electricity was a failure, or that I was never intended to have light in the house. I don’t pass judgment on electricity simply on the basis of my personal experience. But I begin the process of elimination until I discover what was preventing the light from coming on. 

Jeremiah 29:12 “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. v13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. v14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity…”

If our experience is not corresponding to what the Bible says, then there is something wrong, not with the Bible, but with our experience. So when I come to a promise in the Word of God that is not being fulfilled in my life, I begin to ask the Lord, “How can this become real to me?”                     John 15:16 reinforces this conviction: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.”

How’s your fruit? What have you done with what you’ve been given? Barrenness is a curse and it can and must be broken just like any curse. Have you hidden your light, have you failed to give when God stirred you to give, or commanded you to tithe. (if you don’t tithe the bible says that the destroyer is having his way with you) Are you standing for Christ when others are backing down. Are you expanding the kingdom, or hiding in a corner.

God says, He appointed us to bear fruit, and if we are bearing fruit….using what He has given you… whatever you ask of the Father in His name, He will give it!

Prayer is not preparation for what we do, it is what we do! Jesus told us to pray continually, to seek his guidance continually, to listen to His voice within our spirit continually…It is not just speaking to God but allowing God to speak back to us, with instruction, and revelation which connects the past, present and the future….of God’s intentions.

IN JESUS NAME is not just a religious phrase, or just a christianeze term we use. It is exercising the power of attorney. It is a legal term which allows someone to fully represent someone else in any transaction which they might do in their absence. 

A military person will give power of attorney to their spouse, so they may represent them and do whatever they might do if they were present, in their name. When Jesus said “whatever you ask of the Father in My name, that He may give it to you.” He was giving each believer, who truly seeks to represent Him and do His will, the power of attorney.

Fully authorized, empowered, and anointed in His stead….

John 14:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. v8 And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: v9 in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; v10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; v11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned. 

v12 I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. v13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. v14 He will glorify Me by taking what is Mine and revealing it to you. v15 Everything that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and reveal it to you”.

Webster describes an advocate as… one who pleads the cause of another….one who defends or maintains the cause of another…. one who supports or promotes the interests of another…. Jesus says that’s what the Holy Spirit is for us…

Ron Dunn says that Several years ago he took his three children to the county fair with his brother and his family. Pretty soon he realized that what the kids were most interested in was the rides, so he bought a roll of tickets. He would stand at the entrance of every ride and he would give a ticket to each child. He wasstanding at the entrance to the tilt-a-whirl, and he had given out about four tickets, when a girl came up who wasn’t with their family and she was holding out her hand for a ticket! Ron says that he wasn’t about to give her one of those tickets. Then his son said, “Dad, she’s my friend. I told her you would give her a ticket.” Right then Ron says, he tore off a ticket and gave it to that girl — in his son’s name. The girl really had no right to the ticket, but because HIS SON HAD ASKED HIM TO DO IT, hedid.

Ron says, That day he was reminded that he could go to hisheavenly Father and ask for the desires of his heart in the name of Jesus. And because of what Jesus is and what He did at Calvary, God answers. God never hears me because of what I have done or because of what I am; it’s always because of Jesus. And the Father will move heaven and earth in order to honor the name of His Son.

Each day, we are faced with the decision to walk according to God’s purpose for our life or according to our own purposes.The only reason the Christian life does not work in many people’s lives is because they are trying to pull God into their will. We follow God when He goes where we want to go, but then we sit and pout with a ugly face when God does not. People are disappointed with God because they think they will be fulfilled outside of His plan. When we go outside God’s will to find what we want, we have to stay outside His will to keep it. That can all turn around, the moment we repent and come into “Not my will but thine be done.”

God loves us and He is crazy about us, and when we take one step towards him, he takes a hundred towards us. The father of the prodigal saw him afar off and ran to meet him. That’s what our Lord is doing right now. He has watched far off and sees us coming. He is running in our direction with the robe, the shoes and the fatted calf….He’s been waiting to bless you beyond your wildest dreams!

Take that first step and see for yourself! He’s been calling you back home to Himself. Nothing is worth being far off from Him. He’s drawing you closer. Don’t let anything stand between, run into the arms of his forgiveness and mercy. Feel the embrace of God upon your soul. You can make it happen today….He’s waiting to heal you, show you the way and turn it around….

What a powerful statement the prophet makes in                                                Hosea 2:15 “Our God will transform the Valley of Achor (or trouble) into a door of hope”.

When men try to fix it, by leaving God out, they just mess it up….   On the cover of one edition of Time Magazine, titled “America’s Forever War” it said “One of thousands training for a war that started before he was born”… In October, 1940, Presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt promised, (quote) “I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” (We know how that turned out) Kennedy promised us Camelot, and proposed an alternative to war, and move away from Eisenhower’s battle centered approach.He chose to negotiate with foreign enemies which made him seem weak especially after the “Bay of Pigs” fluke, while the nightmare of Vietnam was escalating. Then Lyndon Johnson promised,(quote) “We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves” (We know how that turned out) This information comes from the book, “No Matter How Thin You Slice It, It’s Still Baloney” Our trust in politicians to keep their campaign promises has been so undermined, that we have a saying, “If their lips are moving, then they are lying”.

It bothers us greatly when someone we love and trust fails to keep  promises that go much deeper than “pinky promises”…. like the one that says. “I promise to love you in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, and to keep myself ever and only for you, till death do us part.” That’s not a “pinky promise”….When those kinds of promises are broken, it leaves a trail of grief and pain.Lives are scarred and generations are affected.                                                                                                             There was one family who were leaving on a long trip and they trusted someone with their rare and valuable family treasures, which that person promised to keep safe for their return. They were stunned and greatly distressed to return and find that they had sold it all and disappeared with the cash. We’re hurt when people fail to keep promises about things that are important to us.

Trust and hope become the casualties of broken promises…and lawyers and psychologists make a fortune … The question is asked, “How many Psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer… “Only one, but the bulb must really WANT to change”. How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb? Answer… “How many can you afford”? Q: How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb? Answer… “We don’t know because they haven’t decided which denomination should be allowed to do it.”

I think it’s amazing that we trust the government to send us a 1,400.00 stimulus check that ended up costing all of us 1.9 trillion dollars, but we have doubts about God who gave His only Son to be rejected, abused, beaten and crucified, to redeem us and set us free! The tragedy is that folks are constantly doubting and sayingno to the promises of God, while they say yes to the multitude ofthings that bring them only heartbreak, destruction, turmoil, pain and suffering.

Healthy Boundaries become the victim when trust is violated. Doubt and unbelief bring confusion into our spirit. Hope and trust are crushed. The first cousin of doubt is logic, Fear is it’s brother, Worry is it’s nephew, and shame is it’s uncle.

Jackie Robinson was the first black person to play major league baseball. Many resented that he was upsetting baseball’s color barrier, he faced jeering crowds in every stadium. Opposing players would stomp on his feet and push and kick him. While playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he made an error. The fans began to ridicule him and call him every kind of name. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans jeered. Then, shortstop Pee Wee Reese came over and stood next to him. He put his arm around Jackie Robinson and faced the crowd with his feet planted. The fans grew quiet. Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career because he was at the point of quitting. When you constantly criticize others, it’s not just you they don’t like, even worse, they stop liking themselves… and that has    a domino effect.                                                                                                     David said in Psalm 119:90 “Your word Oh Lord, is eternal, Your faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Paul stated in Acts 13:26 “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled His promise to us, our children (and their children) in that He raised up Jesus, as it also is written” …                                                                                                              The people of Paul’s day had been let down before, by politicians, by religious leaders, by their friends and the community… but when Jesus appeared following the resurrection… hope, faith and trust were restored and a spiritual healing began to take place and belief was renewed that God would prevail when everything and everyone in life had let them down! Hope was reborn, and if there is hope, anything is possible!

Paul is assuring us that GOD IS SOVEREIGNLY MOVING IN ALL OF HISTORY ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE, IN ORDER TO FULFILL HIS PROMISES. 

God set key people in key places at critical times…. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, the prophets, the patriarchs, Paul, the disciples and on into our very day. It was not so much, their choice of God, but God’s choice of them, that is significant. He chose a rebellious nation to be stewards of His covenant which He passed down to us. Scripture says that “God carried them in His arms and nursed them in the wilderness.” He chose America, with all it’s greed, it’s pride and it’s short comings, to be a leader of nations, because it’s foundation was rooted in the Judeo/ Christian faith.                                                                                                                                     I believe Ezekiel 19:2 was a prophecy that included America “What a lioness was your mother (England) among lions! She crouched in a pride of young lions. Her cubs grew large. She reared one of her cubs to maturity, a robust young lion. He learned to hunt. He preyed upon men. The nations sounded the alarm”. America’s God ordained mission was to share the Christian faith with all who had lost faith, hope and trust in the God of the bible.                                                                                                          He is choosing His instruments to be His voice and His demonstration to each generation….

It’s more than history, it is His Story!

Proverbs 16:33 We make our own decisions, but the LORD alone determines what happens.

Another version says “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD”.

Still another version says “People cast lots to learn God's will, but the LORD determines every outcome”.

For 450 years God never forgot His promise… For 400 years of Egyptian captivity, for forty years journeying to the promised land, and for ten years conquering enemies in Canaan, He never forgot. And that should remind us that the distance with God is always worth the difference!

It should also remind us that…. 

We need to hold onto the vision and trust the process God is using to bring it to pass….

Habakkuk 2:3 says “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come to pass, it will not tarry” (it will be right on time).                                                                         When it looks like no way…. You can shout “YES WAY”…. When you ask “Can it ever be”… You can shout “It shall come to pass”…. When Satan whispers it’s not possible… You can shout “All things are possible”….                                                       At a weekly home Bible study, the leader asked an elderly gentleman, to open the meeting with prayer. He was praying in a quite, soft voice. Another man, straining to hear, shouted, “I can’t hear you!” The man praying replied back, “Carl, I wasn’t talking to you.” There are always other voices trying to get our attention, but there is only one voice that truly matters… and that voice is telling us in…

Luke 18:27 “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”  The same power that cancelled the grip of sin in our lives, can also break the patterns which sin has woven into our lives…the old song says “He breaks the power of cancelled sin and sets the captives free!!!

Is it possible that God could ever make a mountain so big that He could not move it? Is it possible that He could ever make a river so wide, He could not cross it? Is it possible that God could ever make a wall so high that He could not get over it or through it?

Having done all to stand, stand therefore and see the glory of the Lord!!!

Excuses are the biggest destroyers of Divine opportunity. Because once commitment is made, the will must be surrendered and it must bow, before any significant life change is ever made. Excuses are always “Me” centered, not God centered, and not what’s best for you!

Excuses are like arm pits, everyone has them and if you’re not careful they really start to stink!                                                                                                                                                 George Washington Carver, said that ninety-nine percent of failure comes from people who make excuses.                                                                         Henry Ford’s motto was….If YOU think you can’t, then you’re right!!

He also said, If YOU think you can, you’re right too!!                                                                                 Walter Wintel said “If you think you’re beaten, you are, If you don’t think you’ll win, then you won’t. If you think that you’ll lose you’ve already lost. For out in the world we soon find, that success will begin in your own state of mind”.                                                                                                   A young man came up to his pastor after the service, and said “Man, this Christian living is really hard!” The Pastor surprised him when he said, “No, son. It’s not hard, it’s impossible.” We cannot do it in our power, but in the strength and power that comes from the Lord, we can and will.                                                                                                                                                                   1 Corinthians 3:7 “So then neither is he that plants is anything, nor he who waters, for it is God that gives the increase”.

So, we cling to every promise, God has given us, because every promise is anointed and embedded with overcoming power that will take us through it, get us over it, around it, under it or cause it like the walls of Jericho to crumble before us!!

Your loved one can be saved. Your trouble can be overcome. Your confusion can be answered. Your heartbreak can be healed. Your mountain can be moved, Your strength can be renewed, Your body can be healed, Your second chance will come, and Your promise from God will be fulfilled…. Don’t you let go…. Hold on… The battle is the Lords!!

Live as if God will do what He has promised!                                                                           Joshua 1:9 He promised to be with you wherever you go…

Psalm 37:4 He promised that though you may stumble, you will not fall,

for He would uphold you with his hand. -

.Proverbs 3:6 He promised to make the crooked way straight before you.

Isaiah 30:21 He promised that Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you would hear his voice saying “This is the way; walk ye in it.” 

Isaiah 58:11 He promised that He would guide you always, and satisfy your needs and strengthen and establish you.                                                                                   Isaiah 54:10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed,

yet his faithfulness will not be shaken nor his covenant of peace be removed,”

Listen, they didn’t move the great stone from the entrance of the tomb, but God did. He didn’t just move the stone to let Jesus out, but to allow us to come in and see that death is not the final word.                             He got up to show that Failure is not the final word…                              The impossible situation is not the final word!!

He will not be imprisoned in the grave of the impossible, He got up, so the impossible could now be possible….and the unbelievable could be the new reality….

Joe Louis, one of the best boxer of all time, had a spotless record of 27–0 going into his fight with the German Max Schmeling. It was 1936, when Nazi-ism was at its height, and Germany was the face of evil. So, the fight between the American and the German took place at a sold-out Yankee Stadium.

Everyone expected Louis to win. But twelve rounds into a fifteen-round bout, Schmeling knocked Louis to the mat. Louis remained there—out cold. The hero had fallen. This was not a fight just between two men. It had been a battle between democracy and fascism. Right and wrong. Good versus evil.

And it appeared that evil had won. It was reported that, throughout the country, people cried when they heard the news of Joe Louis’ defeat. All across the country that night when the news came that Joe was knocked out, people wept in despair. But Louis got up, and refused to stay down in defeat!

A second fight was scheduled between Lewis and Schmeling. The location was the same: a sold-out Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. But this time, in just under a minute, Schmeling went down for the third and final time. Louis had won the match with a knockout. Schmeling didn’t know it but before the fight had begun, he had lost to an inspired Lewis whose faith had been restored and hope had been rekindle…. Lewis showed us that you can lose without being a loser and fail without being a failure….

God has scheduled your come back, and this time it’s going to be different… This time the sick are healed, the dead are raised, the lost are found, the provision will come, the finances come through, the barriers come down, victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat!

BECAUSE JESUS GOT UP, YOU ARE ABOUT TO GET UP ALSO!!

The stone was rolled away so all could see that evil had lost and the victory was theirs because Jesus had defeated death, hell and the grave

He got up so we could follow Him into an upper room where the church was endued with a dimension of power that was not of this earth. You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me….

That power was for the work place, for the family room, for the neighborhood and for living an overcoming life everywhere they went.                                                         It’s not how much of the Holy Spirit you have but how much of you the Holy Spirit has!!.....If your Holy Ghost only makes you jump around, shake, feel good, and get goose bumps. That isn’t the Holy Ghost, that’s ADHD! The Holy Ghost of the scripture makes you repent, forgive, let go of your sin, draw closer to God, give your tithe, honor your commitments, and change your life. The Holy Spirit will make you cry out for more!!!

He got up so we could know the same spirit that raised Him from the dead, present and living in us!

He got up so we could be the instruments through which spiritual gifts could be given to our world. 

If following Jesus does not compel me to love God more and lovepeople better, then I am no more than a 21st century Pharisee!                                          If following Jesus is not a constant process of asking myself “What would Jesus do” in every situation, then I am only fooling myself.

Christianity is not about what happens in the church building, it’s about what happens where the rubber meets the road. When we have opposition, where things didn’t go the way we planned, when we just lost a family member, or when we just got our health report….                                                                                    Believe me, it will be worth it all, Jesus said to the disciples what He says to us today… Follow me….There was no turning back…..If you look at the road behind Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection, you will find all kinds of things that were left behind…

— there were fishing nets left behind

— there were boats that were left behind

— there were family members and friends left behind

— there was a family business and occupations left behind

— there was money and worldly opportunity left behind

— there were sins and old life patterns left behind

— there were sinful partners and relationships who had to be left behind

— there was ego and selfishness and self-centeredness left behind

— there were personal ambitions and desires left behind

Paul said, “I count it all as dung, that I may follow Christ!!

If they were going to follow Jesus, there would be no place for these…. What have we left behind for Jesus?

Are there some things we no longer do because we are following Jesus? Are there dreams we no longer pursue because we are now following Jesus? Are there people and activities we can no longerbe involved with because we are following Jesus?

Are there still things which we SHOULD be leaving behind, as wefollow Jesus?

Jesus got up so we could receive His nature and character, which we know as the fruit of the Spirit, which come to grow us up and mature us in the image of Christ. 

He got up so we could raise up many others who would follow Him through our example in word and deed.

He got up so we could one day welcome Him back, as we shed these earthly trappings once and for all and put on glorified, new bodies, in His resurrection likeness.

He got up so we could enjoy the heaven He went to prepare for us, then come back to a new heaven and earth to reign and rule with Him for all the ages of eternity…Whatever you have to leave behind, it will be worth it compared to all that you will gain by following Christ…

I close with the prayer of Paul….Ephesians 3:16 “I pray that according to His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, v17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in His love, v18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, v19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—and be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. v20 Now unto Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, v21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen”.                                                                                                                     (One Song says) It will be worth it all when we see Jesus, life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase. So bravely run the race, till we see Christ….

Jesus observed Passover with the disciples on Wednesday, and announced that He was the fulfillment of the Passover. He was crucified on Thursday morning, then taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb on Thursday night before sundown, because it was during preparations for Passover which started at sunset on our Thursday, which is the official Jewish Friday. Jesus was placed in the tomb on Good Friday because the Jewish religious leaders (the Sanhedrin) wanted Him out of the way as the 7 days of Passover were fulfilled….

Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. v9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts”.

Don’t do your stuff, and then ask God to bless it, how about asking Him first, what He will bless, then you’ll know the blessing is assured….

Too often, my ways are not God’s ways, neither are my thoughts His thoughts…But I have come to the conclusion that God takes His job as God, very seriously and so should I…

You see, if I had my way, and I were one of the disciples in Jesusday, I would have been Peter…. Pulling out the sword and saying, “OK, you think you’re so bad, Bring it”…. I would have cut more off than the ear of that servant of the high priest who issued the order to arrest Jesus for trial….                                                                                                                 I mean, this Jesus was a manlike no man I had ever heard of… As Peter, I would have watched His miracles, His incredible feats of walking on water (since Peter was in the water with Him), raising the dead, cleansing lepers, opening blind eyes, raising the dead…. I would have felt that the world couldn’t lose such a man as this in the midst of all the neediness and suffering everywhere I looked.                                                               I would have tried to get a militia together and rescue Jesus, I would have kept Him from the whipping post, the terrible ordeal of carrying the cross up Golgotha’s hill, the cross He would be so cruelly crucified on.                    I would have gotten Him down from that cross, before He uttered those words, to the thief, to John and his mother, to the soldiers, as well as the final words, to everyone, “It is finished”!

I would have robbed the world of Easter In my attempts to keep Jesus from all the suffering which He chose to go through….Iwould have brought temporary relief and created long term loss and chaos…

Yes, in order to save all of these from persecution and hardship, I would have altered the future of all Christianity…..                                                                Of course, if I were God, I would have probably put your nose on top of your head like a snorkel, and webbing in your hands and feet so you could swim better, and some eyes in back of your head to see behind you, and 4 arms to do several things at once….and that’s just to mention a few things…. Man, We would look pretty weird, if I had the chance to be God!                                                                                                          I can’t fathom it, but the breaking and pouring out of passion week was a supreme display of God’s love… We have known love to drive people to do some very powerful and sacrificial things.

As A teenager, Arthur Hinkley, lifted a farm tractor with his bare hands. He wasn’t a weight lifter, he wasn’t that big, but his best friend, eighteen-year-old Lloyd, was pinned under the tractor. Arthur heard Lloyd screaming for help and Arthur somehow lifted the tractor enough for Lloyd to wriggle outfrom underneath. His love for his best friend somehow enabled him to do what would normally be impossible.                                                                                                                There is the story of a priest who offered his life in place of a teenage boy in Nazi Germany. His offer was accepted and the priest took his place and died to save the boy’s life.                                                                                                                                   And I add the story of a young soldier who had been condemned to death by Oliver Cromwell. He was to be shot at the ringing of the curfew bell. His fiancée climbed the bell tower and tied herself to the clapper of the giant bell so that it could not ring. When the bell did not ring, soldiers went to investigate and found the girl battered and bleeding from being bashed against the sides of the bell. Cromwell was so impressed by her love for the young man that he was given a pardon. Greater love has no man, than this, that he would lay down His life for a friend…. 

And believe me, my friend, If I had my way, I would be Captain Grabber! I would always want to grab you out, out of all yourstruggles and stop all your pain. I would have tried to grabJoseph from prison in Egypt, Daniel from the lion’s den in Babylon, Esther from the Persian hit man, Hayman…. and grabbed Paul away from persecuting Christians…. But God had a greater plan, And I would have sacrificed the future of the Jewish nation, and prevented the greatest evangelist from an encounter with Christ that would open the gospel of redemption to the gentile world! I would be out of line. I would be cheating you and cheating the world out of so much good. 

Because God knows where you’re at and He has a plan for your comeback. He wants to display His power when the chips are down and everyone sees you as the underdog…                                                                             Psalm 30:11 “Lord you have turned my mourning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. You have turned my sorrow into joy. No longer am I sad and filled with regret. You have taken away my disappointment and surrounded me with Your goodness”.

He knows the amazing outcome which will come forth from this hardship. And if I were to be able to spare you from all your difficulties, and hard places, I would leave you weak, and vulnerable and stripped of the personal strength and wisdom those places brought into your life. I would be saving you from your own personal Easter victory and triumph….As you begin to rise above the forces that tried to push you down! 

I heard of a child who was anxiously waiting for eggs to hatch in an incubator, and one day she came home from school and one of the eggs was moving and she heard a tapping on the inside, so in her eagerness she broke the shell to let the chick out, and in doing so, it died. She didn’t realize that the process of pecking it’s way out of the hard shell, increased the blood flow to its whole body…and helped its heart to get stronger…. that the process of pecking its way out of the shell, strengthened its neck muscles and other muscles so it could be healthy.

This is what Job said in Job 23:9 “When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him. 10Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth (from the test and the trial) as purified gold”.

If you stand at Easter and look back at all the Good Fridays that you have risen above , it declares to everyone that it’s never to late to be what you might have been or all you were meant to be!!

I want the gold without the heat that purifies it and gives it value. The heat that removes the impurities and things that diminish it, and cheapen it. You stand there stronger, wiser and more confident…

Kent Keith, a sophomore struggling in college, wrote the words that are often attributed to Mother Theresa…. “People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway. If you are honest and truthful, people may cheat you;

Be honest and truthful anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build it anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. For, You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway.

So instead of trying to save you from it, I’m helping you rise above it, that you might be true to yourself. I’m kneeling before the Father and I’m asking Him to give you strength. To give you hope. I’m asking Him to protect you and to move you when the time is right. I'm asking Him to help you stay prayerful and discerning. I'm asking Him how I can best love you, and be a help to you.  I’m believing He’s going to use your life in powerful and beautiful ways.  Ways that will leave your heart grateful and humbly thankful for this road you’ve been on.” I pray this way because it may be Friday, but I know and believe your personal Easter Sunday is on it’s way…..

Without Good Friday, there would be no Easter and the one thing that stood unshakable between these two was the promise… John 2:19 - 

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this (my body) and in three days I will raise it up”. No matter how bad it looks, there’s a promise God has given you…..On Thursday evening and Friday, Things looked bad, really bad, for all those who were there at the beginnings of a great world wide movement, and the leader they gave up everything for !

On Friday The Disciples faith was so weak most of them were afraid to show their faces in public, and Peter even cursed and denied Christ. Well, too often, we too live somewhere between what is said and not meant, and what is meant but not said…..

On Friday morning, Pilate delivered Jesus over to the Romans soldiers, who took turns beating, whipping and scourging him unmercifully. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, they pulled out his beard, and put a crown of thorns on his head and mocked Him by shouting “Here’s the King of the Jews”…..meaning, (who’s gonnasave you now, you foolish people who believed in Him)                                                                                                       On Friday they made Him carry His own cross through the streets of Jerusalem and the people who lined the sides of the road would strike Him, curse Him and spit on Him.                                                                                On Friday they nailed him to the cross like a common Criminal. But it was not nails that held Him there, it was His devotion to the Father and His love for you and me…                                                                                                                                                                On Friday all of this so overwhelmed the Son of God that as the weight of all that was happening weighed downon Him, Jesus cried out “My God my God why have you forsaken me!” (have you ever felt that way?)                                                              On Friday they took Jesus off the cross and laid him in a borrowed tomb and all the Hopes and dreams of his disciples were with him.

And on Friday, the prince of Darkness, threw a party in Hell, and every demon celebrated what had taken millenniums to accomplish. They had finally succeeded in stopping God’s plan for the redemption of mankind. Mankind would now remain in the clutches of evil and the curse, with no way out! But what a difference a few days can make….

David got it….He said, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, Your rod of discipline and Your staff of guidance, they comfort me, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over” 

That’s another way of saying “It may be Friday, but Sunday’s on it’s way”

Oh Yes, I love the way Isaiah puts it….                                                              Isaiah 61:3 “He has appointed unto (has covenant with) those that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”. That is your appointment with God in your journey through all that Friday throws at you until the fulfilled promise of Easter Sun.

Well, on Sunday, God’s heavenly reset button was activated, and the devil’s party was rudely interrupted… (Don’t you love it when Big Red’s party of hate, jealousy, greed, power, unforgiveness, sickness, hopelessness and strife are interrupted and shut down!!!)Fist Pump!!!

The pastor’s very sheltered and protected college-age daughter came running to him in tears. “Dad, you gave me some terrible financial advice!” Surprised, he said “I did? Exactly what bad advice was that?”. “You told me to put all my money in that big reputable bank, and now that big bank is in big trouble. "Well, you must be mistaken”, her dad said, “That’s one of the largest and most stable banks in the state.” “Well, I thought so too dad,” she said between tears. “But then they just returned one of my checks with a note that said, ‘Insufficient Funds’.”                                      Well aren’t you glad that the Lord will always have enough Easter to cover all your Fridays, it will always be sufficient and more than enough.Our lack or our insufficiency can never be the measure of His worth!                                              My friends, today, you can beat truth up, you can trample it in the streets, you can try to gag it, humiliate it, deprive it, and bury it, but just when you think truth is defeated, it will rise and expose every lie and deceptionthat comes against it!!!

Paul wrote about this in the second chapter of Philippians when he said…, Philippians 2:9 “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”

On Sunday, when the resurrected Jesus appeared to His Disciples their faith was strengthened and they would never be the same again. On Friday they were afraid of their own shadows, but on Sunday their faith was renewed and reset and they became men and women of faith, trust, and courage.

God has put you, and you alone in charge of painting your reality… There may be a red light at your intersection which requires that you stop for a certain season, or you may be at a yellow light, which is telling you to proceed with caution, but please know, that every red light eventually turns green when you get it right!

It’s been 2000 years and Friday still tries to cast its shadows across the land. Shadows of fear, hopelessness, and defeat. And sometimes it catches us when our guard is down, but even though the battle is still raging ,the victory is won ….Do what you can do, and expect God to do what you CAN’T DO!

John 10:10 tells us “The thief comes only to kill, steal and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”

The shadows of Friday are still evident! Families are being divided, marriages under fire, kids on drugs, divorce is on the horizon, it looks hopeless, how can it ever change, But your personal Easter is coming!                                   Friday casts it’s shadow and Sickness drags on, weary in body and mind, healing is delayed, it’s one thing after the other, most of your phone numbers are some kind of doctor, pharmacy or hospital…. But your personal Easter coming!

Yes, we see can still see Friday’s shadows! Finances are stretched, mortgage is due, grocery prices have gone up, the cupboards are nearly empty, with the virus lurking outside your door, it doesn’t help matters…. But your personal Easter is coming!

The Fridays of our lives are different for everyone….our situations and circumstances are unique so our Friday seasons are unique as well. One size doesn’t fit all….I’m glad the person who named the Walkie Talkie, didn’t name a lot of other things…. Stamps would be “lickysticky”… Defibrillators would be “Hearty Starty”….Bumble Bees would be “Fuzzy buzzies”… Pregnancy tests would be “Maybe Baby”….Forks would be “Stabby Grabby”… Socks would be “Heaty Feety”… Hippoes would be “Floaty bloaties”… and nightmares would be “Screamy Dreamies”…

Here’s what some children wrote about their Friday seasons…Maybe you can relate…. Stephen. Age 8 wrote, “I would like to go to heaven someday because I know my brother won't be there”. Arnold. Age 8 wrote, “I know God loves everybody but He must have never met my sister”. Alexander. Age 10 wrote, “Please say a prayer for our Little League team. We really need God's help or a new pitcher”. Carla. Age 10 wrote, Dear Pastor, I liked your sermon on Sunday. Especially when it was finished”.

Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters (of adversity), I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not drown you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned and the flames will not consume you”.

We can be confident, because God came up with our solution long before the devil came up with our problem! So, take back your power!!

OK, let’s look at some benefits as we push through our “Friday” experiences toward our Easter Reality… (and there are many more I could list)

Adversity brings us into an intensified learning zone of life..

When wolves show up, sheep get closer to the Shepherd

It reveals the true character of our friends.

It forces us to discover our weaknesses.

It brings humility into our lives with ourselves and others.

It brings appreciation for what we do have.

It reveals immaturity and flaws in our character.

It helps us redefine and reset our goals and dreams.

Good Friday closed with three powerful words of hope and expectation for everyone feeling those Friday shadows being cast upon them… Those words are “ IT IS FINISHED”!!! The Philipino people would *……say “Mabuhay” which means “Life long and live well” or Make your life count!  “Christ died and lived again, so that we can do more than just live and then die!”Because the grave couldn’t hold Him, It won’t be able to hold those who trust in Him….

So If you don’t know how to get to the other side, He does!!!

We live our lives on this side of “It is finished”….which is the pre-curser to Easter victory! It is finished, is just another way of saying “it may be Friday, but Easter Sunday is now our reality”…..and it’s enough!

Charles Wesley wrote, “Oh for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace! He breaks the power of cancelled sin, He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the sinner clean, His blood avails for me.”

Step into Your Easter Reality…..It truly is our bridge over troubled water

Be Seated In The Glory

Sitting is a position of rest, where you put your entire weight on what you’re sitting on or in… in this case. We are being told here to put our full weight in the glory. When you sit on a plane, lifting your feet doesn’t lighten the load, you’re still putting your full weight on the plane….

Ephesians 2:6 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in heavenly realms (of glory) in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, which He demonstrates by His kindness (chréstos… patient goodness, excellence, uprightness of character)  unto us in Christ Jesus”.                                                                                              I read that in the Azusa Street Revival, the glory would come in like a cloud and the children would play hide and seek in the cloud of His glory.

(that’s how prevalent it was) In the glory there is a demonstration of the fullness of all God has provided. His fullness is in the glory, and just as there is no sickness, poverty, defeat and failure in heaven, where His glory fills everything… so it is that when He invites us to sit in heavenly places, He is inviting us into a fullness of health, financial provision, living with excellence, and success that cannot be experienced outside of His glory!

The secular does not supersede the sacred. It’s not a choice, either or… Israel’s daily experience involved the glory of God as part of their 24/7…in the wilderness…  One did not exclude the other….but their secular life was lived out in the abiding glory of God….  

Three guys decided to splurge and rent a master suite on the 75thfloor of a skyscraper, what a view of the entire area. They went sight seeing and got back to the skyscraper, only to find that the elevator was out. Bill said, let’s break the monotony by doing something to take our minds off of the climb. I’ll tell jokes for the first 25 floors, Jim, you lead us in singing, the next 25 floors, and Bob, you’re good at stories for the next 25… So they get to the 51stfloor and Bob says I’m going to start out with a real sad story…. We left the door key in the car….. Many have missed the glory,and continue to struggle, because they have been using the stairs when they could have been taking the spiritual elevator of His glory into all that God has available…. 

I pray that no one will live their entire life without sitting down and resting in the glory…..

Think of it, fullness of peace, confidence, assurance, and all we have need of, in the glory of His presence….free from worry in a world that has gone insane… free from the pressure cooker while we’re in the world but not of the world. It’s the kind of living which makes a crucial discovery, found in Isaiah 6:1 “I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory.”

We see what we are looking for! Which is why last week, my message was “Watch for the Glory”…. 

God is inviting us into a place near Him, that overwhelms any and every thing that is outside and apart from Him. God told Jeremiah in chapter 39:13 “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart”. That’s a promise! Jesus came from the realms of glory and became a man outside of the glory, so that we might enter the glory which He has entered into in our behalf, to make it possible for us to have access to all the supernatural realm which He now dwells in.

Ephesians 4:10 "He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. 12 to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”.

This is not something you struggle and wrestle your way into. You see some folks in a tremendous struggle as they wrestle and fight to get past their habits, their patterns, and their addictions, to get into the glory… But this is something that is about letting go, yielding, and falling into it. It is at the end of ourselves that we let go and fall into the fullness of Himself. 

I must come to the place that I surrender, that I let go, and I just free fall into Him. 

I fall out of my anger, resentment, and unforgiveness, and I fall into His mercy, grace, kindness and mercy. I let go of my pride, my self-reliance, my own self-centered ways, and I fall into His embrace, His acceptance, eternal plan and destiny. I let go of my hurt, my brokenness, my failures and flaws, and fall into His completeness, His Agape love, and the place He has already gone before and prepared for me….

The demoniac of Gadara encountered the Lord’s glory and fell out of the Devil’s grip, and into the peace of God that passes understanding, and scripture tells us He came into his right mind…. Before, he was naked, tormented, and only dead people could stand him (he lived in the cemetery) but once he was touched by the glory, he was dressed up, thinking right, and restored to his family and friends. God’s glory invades the battleground of the mind and will…..to set up kingdom thinking!

Ephesians 1:17 Paul prayed an interesting prayer v17 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him. v18 I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, and the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints”            We are heirs of the glory…it’s our preordained inheritance in Christ….

Our Father God, is the Father of Glory, and He is unlimited, past finding out, He has no beginning and He has no end, He is timeless, and measureless. There is no place where His glory is not present….. His glory is being demonstrated right where you are no matter where you are. You simply need to fall into it, surrender, and yield yourself to it….

To be seated in heavenly places, means that we, who are in Christ,do not belong to the world system, but we are now part of another dimension, where God rules, and we are not only His children by new birth but all that is part of us, is now under the influence of His glory. You could say that in Christ, your life is now GLORIOUS! A glorious life is not a perfect life it’s a real life wrapped in the goodness of God. God is good all the time!! You have been given an invitation, by the father of glory, to live in the glory! I might go so far as to say, it is your mandate, your imperative, if you are to live the full life which He has provided….

Colossians 1:13 “For He has delivered us from the power of darkness, and HAS TRANSLATED US INTO THE KINGDOM OF HIS DEAR SON". (The kingdom of His glory)                                                                                                                                                                    This is very important, if you are to live a life of victory that God intends for you. It’s about your Perspective. This means, for the believer who receives it, that we are not Praying from the Ground up/ or the earth up into the heavens, or up somewhere, where God is….Up is now down!!!!                                                We are Praying FROM HEAVENLY PLACES in Christ JESUS, far above the Prince of the Power of the Air… The eagle and the hawk, don’t attack their prey from below, they get up on high (thousands of feet) and come down at tremendous speed, and they never know what hit them. When you take your place in the heights, above Satan’s principalities and powers… He doesn’t know what hit him!!! He’s not prepared for that, because He thinks He’s over the earth, but God is telling us that He has given us a place above Satan’s kingdom….  

Revelation 1:6 “And He has made (established and empowered) us as kings and priests unto God and His Father. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen”. We operate out of His glory and His dominion… This is His authority, rulership, and power over all…. Every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the rightful ruler…. It’s your time to be seated….

In Philippians 3:20, Paul even says that "OUR CONVERSATION IS IN HEAVEN." (Our language is the word of God) We speak revelation, wisdom from above, we receive the mind of Christ, whereby, we are given insight, understanding and knowledge the world doesn’t have access to. That is where believers are to live….

1 John 5:4-5 "WHATSOEVER IS BORN OF GOD OVERCOMESTHE WORLD: AND THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH. WHO IS HETHAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD, BUT HE THAT BELIEVETH THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD?"

John is saying, stop struggling to get there, and surrender to it, fall into it, yield to it, because that’s where God birthed you into!!!

Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, didn’t have to earn their positions in the English royalty…. They were born into it! That’s how kingdoms work. We are birthed into God’s kingdom. You don’t have to work for it, you are seated there, as a birthright from God Himself! So He tells you… “Be seated in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus”….

(Have everyone, stand, now, when I say, “Be seated”…. I want everyone to be seated)   Now was that so hard? You simply surrendered, yielded, and let yourself fall into your seat! A great and remarkable change will come into our lives as we sit down in heavenly places. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, you have full access to God’s love, power, peace, hope, and provision. You’re seated at the table, and instead of fighting to be special, you yield to it, and it is glorious!!!

That’s what God is telling us about the glory realms of the Kingdom…. Colossians 3:1-2 "If you are now risen with Christ, then seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. SET YOUR AFFECTION ON THINGS ABOVE, NOT ON THINGS ON THE EARTH." 

A guy went to his minister and told him, he was depressed and all but giving up hope… His wife left him, took the kids, the house and the car. Emptied out the bank account, and his business had failed as well. The pastor said, “Get alone with God and open your bible, then put your finger on any place on the open page and do what it says”… Well he hadn’t seen the guy for 6 months and when he did, the man was happy, and looked great….Hethanked the minister for his advice and told him that it had changed his life and turned everything around… The minister couldn’t remember what he told him, so the man reminded him, and said when I opened my bible, I put my finger on chapter 11, now everything is great!!!! I don’t advocate chapter 11 except as a last recourse, but every believer has access to the power of redemption and forgiveness which puts you on the path to a brand new start!

Let me read the words of Heather Holman… She says… “I’ve spent all my life trying to be somebody special. Maybe one day, I thought, I’ll receive that exclusive invitation to sit with powerful, important, beautiful, wealthy, or high-achieving people. I fantasized about those exclusive tables and the day my new life would begin. This would be a famous and glamorous life, one where I was truly special. I exhausted myself and battled feelings of jealousy, loneliness, insecurity, depression, and anxiety. One hot July day as I sat outside reading my Bible, my invitation arrived. I was reading Ephesians 2:6—a verse I had read thousands of times before and could quote by heart. But this time, a single word changed my entire life. I read, “And [God] raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.. I felt something I had never experienced before: I was already seated at the table I’d been longing for. The sense of belonging, security, and love overwhelmed me. I understood I could stop fighting for a seat—that I could stop waiting for my glamorous life to begin. It was already happening. Suddenly, it didn’t matter where I was or what I was doing. I could be cleaning toilets and also be seated with Jesus. I could be driving my old burgundy minivan in my ordinary neighborhood and feel content. I could hear news of others’ successes and rejoice with them because we were already together at a royal table. This meant I could stop striving and comparing my achievements to other people’s. God had specific instructions for me that didn’t look the same as my neighbors’. So I could finally take my eyes off myself—abandoning all the jealousy and comparison—and instead worship this amazing Savior who has provided a place for me”.

You see, the Father has told us to sit in heavenly places, the word sit, is “ye-chav” which actually means a dwelling place, or to take up residence in heavenly places. That heavenly places is where we now live!

Psalms‬

(Everyone stand up once again, and when I say, “Be seated”…this time the word will be “Ye-chav” OK, everyone, “YE-CHAV”…(like clearing your throat) Which means “Take up residence in Heavenly places”!!!

What happened to Jesus, has happened to you!                                              Ephesians 4:8 “When He ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave supernatural gifts unto men." The gift of faith is God faith…. The gift of knowledge is God knowledge…. The gift of wisdom is God wisdom… The gift of discernment is God insights….

Our new life history began when Jesus rose from the grave and ascended on high! Jesus rose and sat down, (Ye-chav) outside of time, outside of sickness, outside of death and the curse, and He has brought us with Him, to a place at the right hand of God the Father of Glory, the place of His favor!

Have a “Throne Room Attitude”… In the heavenly places, you have the favor of God….This is not something you can arrive at, it is who you already are in Christ! When you sit down, you are atrest in Christ, and God makes all your enemies your footstool.When you rest, the Holy Spirit’s promptings in your spirit will become clearer to you. Rest is not inactivity—it is Spirit-directed and spirit led activity. We are the temple or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, and scripture calls us His temple. The Outer Court can be a busy place, with a lot of activity, while in the Holy of Holies, there can be perfect quietness, and peace. So, we can do all the things that our life demands of us, while within our spirit, spiritual activity is happening.

Elijah knew how to rest in the glory…. One time the bible says that while he was sleeping the army of the king surrounded his home and when the servant arose, he saw an army surrounding them, and ran to wake up Elijah. Elijah calmed the servant down by saying there are more with us than against us. Then he prayed that God would open the eyes of the servant, and when He did, he saw what Elijah was seeing, the army of the king who had come to capture him, was surrounded by an angel army which smote them, and the rest, Elijah marched back to the king as his captives… You can rest, in the glory, no matter how it looks!

Ephesians 6:18 “Pray (communicate) in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, that you may stay (spiritually) alert…. How important to have a “throne roomattitude”: To sit down and let God defeat your enemies. The battle is the Lord’s. He will make your enemies your footstool.

Jesus puts position before provision. Before Jesus miraculously multiplied the loaves and fishes, He told the multitudes to sit down and rest first. We need to actively sit down in the secret place of the Most High—David tells us that Our Good Shepherd tells us rest in green pastures, then notice what follows… He restores our soul, He leads in paths of righteousness or leads me to do the right thing…I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, with no fear, for He comforts me….He prepares a table in the presence of my enemies…. He anoints my head with oil… My cup is filled to overflow….Goodness and mercy take up residence with me… I am in his presence, His glory, His goodness, forever!!!

The prodigal son had everything that he could ever want, but he had not positioned himself to receive it. He went through a lot of unnecessary heart ache, lack and hardships. But when the prodigal came to himself, he ran and simply fell into the waiting arms of his father and was restored. Immediately, a royal robe was placed on him, a crown on his head, a signet ring or authority was put on his finger, and special shoes on his feet which everyone could see was about his new position…

I strongly feel Holy Spirit, calling us to sit down in our God given position, and receive the robe, the ring, and the shoes, that havebeen ours along. When we come into the right position, we will receive the provision available to us in His glory !!! It’s time to get dressed up, for some supernatural visitations in the Father’s house!

Lord God, put the shoes on our feet that we might walk in the glory, put the ring on our finger that we may rule and reign in the Father, put the robe on us that we may walk in your authority, and receive the glorious inheritance which belongs to all your children….God is moving us from the battlefield to the throne room… from the hand to hand fighting to the scepter of authority and rulership…. 

Scripture says we shall reign in life as kings and priests unto God…..  Closing song….

The Person You Were Meant To be….                                                                          

Someone said, “It bothers me that with all the hacking going on, someone could steal my identity and use it to make thousands of dollars behind my back. But it mostly bothers me because I currently have this identity and I can't figure out how to do that...                                                                               

It can be easy to look at the future with rose-colored glasses, after all, everything is better in the future. You have a deeper relationship with God in the future. You are a better spouse in the future. You’re a better parent in the future. And that can all be true and more! However, these things do not just happen. There are layers of decisions, delayed gratification, and necessary experiences, that undergird every effort which leads to success.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    A man went for a consultation to get the results of his wife's tests. The nurse on duty tells him: "I'm terribly sorry sir,but there was a bit of a problem with your wife’s test results. You see, your wife's tests were sent in along with another lady with the same last name, to the lab. The results came back, but they got mixed up, and we don't know which one is which. The results may either be 'bad' or they may be 'worse'!" "What *……do you mean?" asked the old man anxiously. "Well one woman has Alzheimer's and the other one has Covid! - we don't know who is who” "So what do I do now?" the worried manasks. "Well, your doctor recommends that your wife keep her mask on, then drop her off in the middle of town. If she finds her way home - you better not get anywhere near her!"  (The vows did say “I take you for better or worse”)                       

So we must ask ourselves the question, “Are we making decisions that are pushing us towards what we want out of life, or are our choices pushing us away? It’s like the frogs that wereput in warm water which was then gradually turned up little by little in temperature until their goose was cooked…(you didn’t know frogs had a goose, did you?)                                           If the frogs had known where they would end up, they would have jumped out quick and not tolerated it. Because it was not the path which would take them where they wanted to go…                                                                            Speaking of gradually turning up the heat till your goose is cooked…..                                                               

The party in power is once again wanting to take gender titles out of our vernacular… No more men or women’s bathrooms…. Men that identify as women can now compete in women’s sports…. People are identifying as animals and even the animals are getting confused! God doesn’t care what is or is not on the bathroom door… He made women to be women and men to be men! Jesus cast dumb spirits out of people, and He would have his hands full today, because I’m seeing dumb spirits working everywhere!!!

But God has not changed His mind about what He has promised and He has made a covenant of restoration with His people in all the places we may have missed it, because He says what He means and He means what He says, and He will do it!

And the good news today is, God Is Still Saying “I Will Restore”

Deuteronomy 30:3 “God, your God, will restore everything you lost, He'll have compassion on you, He'll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where your inheritance was scattered. v4 No matter how far away you end up, God, your God, will get you out of there v5 and bring you back to your possession. It will be yours again. He will give you a good life and make you more numerous than before. v6 God, your God, will soften your heart and your children's hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live. 

v7 God, your God, will set Himself against your enemies who hated you and were out to get you. v8 And you will make a new start, listening obediently to God, keeping all his word that He has given you. v9 God, your God, will outdo Himself in making things go well for you. You'll have babies, see increase in every area, and enjoy an all-around good life. Yes, God will take joy in you again, making things go well for you just as he enjoyed doing it for so many before you. v10 So, listen obediently to God, your God, and keep the principles and covenants written in His Book of wisdom. You must return to God, your God, totally, heart and soul, and mind, holding nothing back. v11 For, this word that I'm giving you today is not out of your reach”.

The book of Job tells us that “… the LORD restored Job’sfortunes. In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before!” God gave Job a double portion of all he’d lost, restored his marriage and many of his relationships, gave him a new housefull of children and allowed him to live happily to a ripe old age.

But I want us to notice that it wasn’t until after Job lost everything but his nagging wife, that Chapter 42 takes place….

Job 1:21 Job says, “The LORD gave me what I had, and it is the LORD’S to take away. Praise the name of the LORD!” He totally believed God would cause him to become what he was always meant to be!                                                                                              Despite his suffering, he trusted God’s will for his life and continued to praise Him. As a result, not only did Job’s faith soar, but his life did as well. The reset button was pressed and Job began to make a come back! Job’s story is there to tell us that no matter how bad it looks, how far down a person has gone, How much they missed it, God will turn it around!

Winnie enjoys doing cross word puzzles, where they give you words and names or even phrases that are scrambled within the puzzle and you have to find them and identify them.  

We used to do picture puzzles together, and put all the pieces together to match the picture on the box that it came in. I discovered that everyone has a different method…. Some folks start with the corners, others with the edges, and some pick out the horse, or house or a person and start there. But the real point is that when you buy the puzzle, you trust that the company that made it, has put in all the pieces that you need to do what they said you could do, in the box or in the book. So if we can trust a company to provide everything we need to finish the puzzle, once we begin, How much more can we trust God to provide all the pieces of this puzzle called life, that He has promised us…..And when we miss it or mess it up, He knows how it is supposed to all fit together!

When I start a picture puzzle, I am given a picture on the cover, of what the finished picture will look like. God has given us a picture in His word of what a life that is lived for Him, and puts Him first will look like. It is up to us to put those pieces in place and watch it happen! 

It’s important that I believe what God has told me in His word, more than I believe everything around me in this natural world….

That’s what Paul was talking about when he said….

Philippians 3:13 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, v14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

No matter how far off course and how far away from the picture God has given us, we have gotten ourselves to, we can get back on track, and back to His original intention for us. The prodigal was in the pig pen, Peter was cursing and denying Jesus by the enemy’s camp fire, all the disciples but one abandoned Jesus during His trial and crucifixion, Come on, we’ve all had places where we totally missed it, but…                                                                                “It’s never too late to be what you were meant to be.”

When I was a kid, Charles Atlas was a big marketing deal for weight equipment. In the commercials, you would always see this skinny kid, that everyone was bullying and making fun of, come to the place that he had had enough. He would stand in front of the mirror, and shout out, “I’m not going to take it any more”! So he gets a weight set and starts eating right and shows up on the beach and finds the guys who were bullying and taunting him, and confronts them with his new hulked up, fabulous body. Charles Atlas was a real guy, and it was his real story! Everyone at some level, could relate to his experience!

When we get to the place that we can say, “I’m not going to take it any more”! We are willing to do all the things that we didn’t do before, to confront the devil, our inner circle, our own selves, and become the person we were always meant to be!

We must find a balance between our public and our private lifeif we are going to escape the horns of the bull. A few questions are in line here… Does a person's private life affect their public life? Of course it does. Can a person continually make poor decisions in private matters and be expected to make good ones in public matters? The chances are slim to none…. How do we live when no one is watching? What do we listen to? What are we watching? What are we looking at on the internet? How do we treat our family behind closed doors? Here’s a question for all of us. Would we live the way we’re living right now if we knew that all our family and friends could see it all?

Reputation and Character are two different things. Look at them as twins on a seesaw….Reputation is what other people think about us. Character is who we really are.                                                                                                                                                            In Luke 8:17 we read, “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”

But the big question before us today is, “At the end of our life, will we be the person we were meant to be”?

Johnny Hamer played Danny Thomas’ son, Rusty, on “Make Room for Daddy” for 11 years. After the show ended, John was never able to transition into new roles in Hollywood. He became type cast and could never find other work as an actor, so, he became bitter about that the rest of his life. In 1990, feeling he had no options, he shot himself. When your identity is based on the wrong things, it can take you to a dead end street. Johnny got stuck in a place that was only meant to be temporary.

Scripture tells us that if we want to become the person we are meant to be – who God intended us to be, we must become likethe prototype which He gave us as our pattern, which is Jesus Christ. The more we spend time with Him, the more we become like Him…                            

One of my favorite descriptions of Christ is in Hebrews 1:9, He “loved righteousness and hated wickedness.” In His humanity He loved equity, fairness, justice, and upright dealings with others, and at the same time He hated wickedness.                                                                                                 

Romans 8:29 “God has “predestined [His people] to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.” 

2 Corinthians 3:18 "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory”

The constant challenge is to look more like Him tomorrow, than you do right now today.

A big problem in our country, which has led us down the socialist path, is that we allow our leaders to separate theirprivate lives from their public lives. The poll numbers bear this out. Polls show that Americans believe as long as leaders aredoing a good job with the economy and continuing the social issues that they endorse politically, then half of the American people do not care what they do behind closed doors. "Give me mine, and you can go do whatever you want," is what they are saying. "You're an all right guy if you just scratch my backwhere it itches”. “I don't care what you do in your personal life,Just keep giving me what I want."(Gimme, Gimme, my name is Jimmy)

Scripture doesn’t agree with that….. The bible says that “a little yeast will leaven the whole loaf”. You can’t keep yeast from spreading through all the dough, it won’t stop until it spreads everywhere….it will show up in the whole loaf! In the same way, what is done in private will spread out into our public lives eventually…..

Numbers 32:23 puts it this way, “Be sure your sins will find you out”…        

1 Corinthians 11:31 Now if we judge ourselves properly, we shall not come under judgment. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.…”                                                                                      

1 Timothy 4:8 Paul says we need to “train ourselves.” In the Greek the words “Train yourself” is (gymnazo). It’s where we get our English word gymnasium. The word literally meant, “to exercise naked,” which was the way ancient Greek male athletes usually did. In this passage the word is used spiritually, to make the point that Christians need to train themselves, fully exposed to the truth! Not covering anything up, or hiding anything.                                                                                                  The other day someone was complaining that he was feeling more and more powerless every day. He had no sway with his wife. His daughter pretty much ignored anything he asked her to do. His job was not going all that well. And he was just feeling a little discouraged with life –and powerless.

Imagine what a group of Jewish fishermen living underoppressive Roman rule in 1st century Palestine felt like when it came to having power over their own lives. So, Jesus tells these guys who are living far below the people God meant for them to be, up on the side of a mountain. These are not remarkable guys –they are fishermen at the bottom rung of society, they have no political connections, No connections to the religious hierarchy. They’re everyday people just trying to make a living. Yet, Jesus blows their ever loving minds as He looks at them and tells them: You are the light of the world! Then He tells them they are the salt of the earth. Something folks can’t live without, Salt, and Light!

The purpose of light is to illuminate, to drive back the darkness, and to put the spotlight on things of value, things that are profitable, eternal, but mostly on Christ . Jesus was telling them not to hide who they were in Christ, but let it shine! The purpose of salt is to be tasted, to influence everything it is around, to prevent decay, to purify, and to keep the water from evaporating, in this case, the water of life and vitality for life. 

Jesus was telling them what they were going to be, not what they had been, but what they could be….See, the real power of this narrative, is that Jesus was actually talking to every believer, regardless of their situation or who they saw themselves to be….He became the constant North Star in their identity….“Follow Me and I will make you”….

The Kendrick brothers released a film called “Overcomer”. It’s a story about a small-town, high school basketball coach who’s got an up and coming team. They are all looking forward to winning next year’s championship. But then the town’s biggest employer relocates and takes with it pretty much all of Coach Harrison’s team. He ends up coaching the school’s cross country team that has one member – and she’s an asthmatic girl being raised by her grandmother. He also gets a 10% pay cut. Coach Harrison is feeling pretty bummed out and powerless.The coach joins his pastor to make some hospital visits. At the hospital, he happens to engage with a patient and shares his frustration with life. The patient is also a Christian and challenges the coach with this question: “Who are you?” The coach replies, “I’m a basketball coach.” “But you’ve pretty much lost you team now,” says the patient. The coach answers, “Well, I’m a history teacher too.” “But you could lose your job, then who would you be?” “Well, I’m a husband and a father.” “Yes, but life is not always predictable and certain. And if it happened that you were to lose your wife and children, then what would you be?” The coach paused for a moment to consider his answer and then said, “Well, I’m a Christian.” The patient pointed out to him how far down the list he had placed his Christianity as part of his identity. It leaves us with the conclusion…”When you find your true identity, it will change your entire perspective….It’s a great movie and you all should see it. When the coach found his true identity, it affected everyone around him. That little conversation was the most powerful part of the movie script for me. Because it caused me to ask myself, “Who am I? Where do I find my identity?” If we look to other people, or our job, or some other factor for our identity, that will change as people come in and out of our lives, won’t it? It’s vitally important where we find our identity.

It all starts with MAKE A COMMITMENT…When you make a commitment, you build hope, and when you keep it, you build trust.         

James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The process that takes place is Decide, Commit, Succeed. I put decide first, because if you commit to the wrong things, it is only an exercise in frustration….But with that in mind, Unless commitment is made, there are only promises, but there is no contract that binds you to success… without commitment we live in the transitional zone of indecision....                                                                    James1:6 For those that wavers (without commitment) are like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. v7 Let not that person think that they shall receive anything from the Lord. 8 For a double minded person is unstable in all their ways.

Each Day Have A Time Of Self-reflection…Daniel maintained his identity throughout his exile by going three times a day and bareing  himself before the Lord in prayer. Don’t let things accumulate and get piled on top of one another…or you willprocrastinate and keep putting it off. Self reflection is a date you have with yourself. It is a getting to know you better time. Checking your status with God (is He first), are you being true to the truth (is truth being crowded out), it’s a time to check your character (are you being true to yourself and your goals), examine your relationships (are you considering the needs of others)… It’s a time to stop avoiding the actions you know you need to take.

Trust God That He Will Do What He Said…. Matthew 6:4…”Your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly” He sees your sacrifice, your secret giving, the choice you made to take a different path, the times you gave up something, or you refused to compromise…. Not everything will happen quickly, it’s a process, and God is building line upon line and precept upon precept. The Father has placed the evidence and the substance of what you’re hoping for within you, and He’s using your faith, your commitment, and your obedience to bring it into the earth. Too many want God to do something to them, but God is wanting to do something through them…..

Do what is Right, not what is easy, no matter what everyone else is doing….What if Noah had only done what was easy, and what about Abraham, or Joseph, or Moses, or Jesus… Being righteous is about doing the right thing as He has revealed it to you in the moment you’re in, which has come through the training you have let Him bring you through. It’s just another word for obedience. Remember, no one else is going to stand before Him in your place, You will stand all by yourself. And on that day it will all be open, if we haven’t taken times of honest self-reflection, and began to establish the right priorities in your life.                                                                                       

1 Corinthians 3:10 “But let each one build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even as one who barely escaped through the flames”.

How much better to deal with it now, to make the right choices beginning now, than to wait till it’s too late to make a difference, too late to get it right… Amen!

We’re sharing communion together today, Jesus said that it was a time of commitment, a time of self-reflection, a time of trust in His finished work, and a time of doing the right thing, He said “do this in remembrance of Me”…..If something is out of order in your life, if your priorities are out of whack, if there is hidden sin, Jesus tells us as we come to communion, settle it between you and God before your receive the communion emblems, then go ahead and take them! We call and He answers!

We may just be jumping into the deep end of the pool today, so put your water wings on! Let me share some things the Holy Spirit was speaking to me as I was praying and preparing this message for today….                                                                                          Eternity is not just a time frame, it is eternal in the sense that it is a measure of supernatural exceptionalism and Divine intention, not just a quantity of time….                                                                                             The original Hebrew word for Eternity is `Olam’… which states that Eternity is a state of timelessness….so it’s not about time since time is done away with…. It is a state of being, that is timeless…. Eternal is another way of saying without limits.

We are not going to be eternal…. We are eternal beings, who have an eternal gift that transcends the corruption which is part of this dimension of time and space. We have been given an eternal language which is the word of God, we pray it, declare it and think it…. We have been given eternal faith, for as Paul said, “We live by the faith of the Son of God”….We have been given eternal fruit which is demonstrated by a new nature…. And We have received eternal gifts which operate by the Holy Spirit….                                                                                        Think about this…. When Jesus showed himself to the disciples in His eternal resurrection body, He told them, “Handle me and see”…. He was giving them a mandate to handle eternal things.  Jesus was and is the eternal word made flesh which we are called to handle on a daily basis. He was declaring that He was bringing that which was timeless and limitless, into the dimension of time….(Did I lose anyone)

He had put on flesh, but being eternal, corruption, was subject to Him. Therefore, the corruption of leprosy, blindness, deafness, epilepsy, even death, were subject to His eternal, timeless, limitless presence.

We are no longer just a physical body, but being eternal beings means that we through faith may transcend corruption,(are you with me) Paul says, “This corruption shall put on incorruption” …. That will happen in the event of death or the rapture, but in a very real way it has already happened….as we get the revelation of the eternal in the now!

Paul goes on to say, “We have passed from death unto life”…. When we understand that we are now eternal beings, we can understand how we can serve notice that corruption has lost its power over us, when we get this revelation.

In the Welsh revival of 1904, which touched the nations, a young man named Evan Roberts, had an experience with the Lord, that was so transformative that all who knew him, said he became a different person. where before he was so limited to his past, and all the things that convinced him he could never do much. But after his transformative epiphany, the limits were taken off of his belief system, and he could see all of Wales turning to Christ and the world beyond being shaken by the Holy Spirit! And oh, the wonderous work which the Holy Spirit did!

As we enter the realms of the eternal in God’s presence, He brings us to places where the veil between this dimension and the eternal, timeless, limitless one, is so thin, that all which is there begins to pour fourth into this dimension where the corruption of sin, sickness, and all the layers of depravity piled on one another have separated us from God’s eternal truth.

Everywhere Jesus went, the eternal state of His presence, overwhelmed the effects of man’s fallen condition as they opened to His eternal reality

Jesus said to us, “I have overcome the world, and you shall overcome also in my name.” 

John 17:16 “Father, They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. v17 Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth. v18 As You have sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. v19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. v20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for those also which shall believe on Me through their word; 

v21 That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that You have sent Me. v22 And the glory which You gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are One: v23 I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as You have loved Me”.

The eternal part of you, which is who you really are, is greater than the corruption in the world. Again, scripture puts it this way… 

1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

You are a new (eternal) creature in Christ, old things have passed away, behold all things are become new.

When a fugitive is running from the law, he may move to a different area, take a new identity, and even have plastic surgery, but what catches him is that there is always some baggage from the past, habits that he brings with him, that will always do him in!!!

In 1782, a monument was erected which was part of a sepulcher in a church graveyard, located in the city of Hanover England.The individual buried there put an arrogant inscription on the plaque. It said, “This sepulcher, was purchased with the specific condition that it shall not be permitted to be opened for all eternity.” Well God certainly has a sense of humor, because the seed of a Beech tree, fell at the edge of the grave, and grew into a huge tree, with the monument and open sepulcher lodged in it’s branches for all the world to see and to read!!

Mankind with all his pomp and power cannot stop or even resist that which is eternal!!! God says it, that establishes it, believe it or not!

How great it is that the word “Eternal” means forever new, free of corruption, free from the limitations of the past…. The actual work of grace that makes it possible, is a God thing. Lazarus didn’t need to have faith to come out of the grave, but the eternal clashed with corruption and the eternal won. The dead have no faith that they can operate in, but once he was brought to life, it was up to Lazarus, what he did with that life.                                                                                                            The Apostle Paul wrote – “Therefore, be imitators (copy the behavior and actions)of God as dearly loved children.” ( Ephesians 5:1)

This goes far beyond an individual changing… it is far more than that, it is the great exchange. It is not just new and improved….You have received the capacity for something that never existed before in the earth. It is a change that comes forth from your new nature!

God took a picture of the new you, from the inside out, and He’s showing it to you through the inspired, God breathed word, which has transforming power. These days people are flooding the internet with selfies… but our selfies fall short of the true picture of us that God sees.                                          I am showing you a picture your heavenly Father took of you today… You are a lot, lot, lot more than you see yourself to be. The eternal you, has been brought into miraculous existence, through a supernatural act of God. You didn’t just get a little body work and a paint job, you got a systemic make over. “Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new”….

Your eternal being has been created as a new life form, in the earth (scripture says you are a new creation)…. This new creation has come, to break the limits off, and launch you into a transformed mind, (let this mind be in you which was also in Christ).. a transformed message (He whom the Son sets free is free indeed) and a transformed mission (He overcame so I shall overcome also In His name)

Our lives here on earth, are a battle of the will. The nature we feed and strengthen constantly will win. And the winner determines to what extent, God is able to work through us to accomplish His plan and intentions in this brief span of time we are given to leave a Divine imprint and impact before we move on to our eternal reward. 

This battle of the wills has already been won and we are joint heirs, which means that we now have access to the benefits and rewards. It is now up to us to simply receive what He has already provided and live it out and apply it in our daily choices and decisions.

An important theological term here, is imputation. It means that someone has made themselves responsible for my debt and that if I cannot pay my eternal indebtedness, sufficient funds will be taken from their spiritual account and transferred into mine.                                                   (SO WHY NOT TAKE IT ALL!)…TAKE, TAKE, TAKE IT ALL…..                My spiritual debt is transferred into their account, and their spiritual assets are transferred into mine. God has cosigned for us, to guarantee that what I need to maintain my New creation status is made available to me from His account. When I can’t, He can. My limitations draw out from His eternal unlimitedness. My shortcomings and failings have access to His bountiful, endlesssupply. 

How many are familiar with the “foot dipped in oil” prophecy which was spoken by Moses over one of the tribes of Israel?                                               Deuteronomy 33:24 “And of Asher the Lord said, “Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil”. 

Feet dipped in oil, is about receiving the promise and not only realizing it yourself and making an eternal influence at the present time in your circle of influence, but leaving an impact on future generations so that they might walk in it as well. Eternal things don’t end with you, they last well beyond yourself. They continue to leave an impact or imprint and have an influence long after you have left the scene. In other words you leave a footprint through the eternal covenant anointing which you choose to walk in…. Look at Colossians…. (it’s a little lengthy, but)

Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are eternal, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your affections and desires on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you have died (to these corruptible things), and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death those corruptible things, which are of the earth: fornication, uncleanness, sinful passions, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 10 and put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created you,                                                 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. 12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the path to perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.                                                                                                                               All of that began with the words “Seek those things which are eternal”, which simply means, that which is like Christ, and imitates Christ, which comes into us by the workings of the Holy Spirit.

The word superlative or it’s derivative… SUPERNAL comes to my mind. It means coming forth from heaven, being of exceptional quality, having excellence, that which is supernatural….

I want to identify some Supernal and eternal qualities, which make it very apparent that a person has moved over into and is operating from the eternal state of New creation living….

So, How about joy…. You would think that a lemon sucking face, a down in the mouth, woe is me countenance, is one of the fruit of the spirit to a lot of Christians. Let’s leave the lemon sucking out of the fruit of the spirit, it doesn’t belong!!!

Any old sinner can be joyful when everything is coming up thornless roses, you just won the lottery, you just got a promotion, your horse just won the Preakness and paid 100 to one…. But eternal joy is not limited to those things are any of the superficial stimulus…. It comes from a higher place and it’simpact goes much deeper. That’s when you find out if your feet are dipped in eternal oil!

Joy is a key indicator that God’s Spirit is ruling and reigning in us. Peter calls Joy the companion of faith. Joy is a statement that you have decided to not be a victim and you have chosen to be an overcomer.    Joy is not stolen from you, it is starved out, strangled and stagnated.   Joy is like anything spiritual in our lives, the more we walk it out, the more it grows and becomes who we are, not just what we do.                                                                        John 15:11 “I have spoken these things to you so that My (eternal) joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” The Greek word here means to fill to the individual capacity, or to cram full with joy…. If your joy is absent, it means that you’re not sure who you are in Christ. A lack of joy, is a lack of spiritual confidence and understanding.                                                           Luke 10:20 “Don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written (eternally) in heaven.” That’s a constant and that is our confidence, and that is our greatest source of JOY!

The next quality which shows that we are walking in the eternal, new creation state of being, is peace! Eternal peace is knowing that our heavenly father is doing His best work in every area of our life, and that is something we will never be able to get our heads around!        Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. v7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.  

An older Jewish man was on the operating table, waiting to havesome very serious surgery. He had insisted that his son-in-law, who was a renown surgeon, perform the operation. As he was about to get the anesthesia he asked to speak to his son-in-law…The surgeon asked him what he wanted and he said “Don’t be nervous my boy, do your best and just remember, if it doesn’t go well, if something happens to me, your mother-in-law is going to live with you and your wife for the rest of her life.” (This guy had peace that his son-in-law was going to do his very best!)Well, he had temporary peace, but that wasn’t eternal peace!

Eternal peace thrives and reigns in the eye of the storm. It will be the Divine umpire and guardian of your heart and mind. It is not the absence of trouble, adversity, toxic people, or the storms of life, but it is the presence of our Lord that steadies us and establishes our eternal sense of well being.                      

Luke 2:14  The angels declared on the advent of Christ’s birth,“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

God is telling us that one of the evidences of His eternal peace is Good will towards all men… Isn’t it odd that the peacemaker who came from heaven to bring good tidings of great joy to all people, was constantly attacked, harassed and opposed. Peace makers have always had to endure this kind of behavior. But we must always see the evil one who is behind this, and not those who are His victims. Peace makers must learn the constant power of forgiveness. And it makes it much easier when you see those who oppose you as victims instead of villains!

The great peace maker Himself, hung on the cross, as He was battered and bruised and bleeding at the hands of the very onesHe came to bring good will to…. But listen to what He is saying….                                      “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”     Forgiveness is the peacemaker’s most powerful tool. Peace makers can continue in their mission of “Good will toward men” As long as they don’t let themselves become the victims and they stay close to the one who purchased our eternal victory… and won for us “Peace that surpasses all understanding”….

I want to consider one more indicator that God’s eternal Spirit is ruling and reigning in us….

That is Compassion…. Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and scatteredlike sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 14:14 When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.

Matthew 20:34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

The verse in Colossians 3:15 which told us to let the peace of God rule in our hearts, also translates the word “peace” in the original Greek which it was spoken in, as “compassion”….

Just a word of caution here. Those with the ministry of compassion, need to be accountable to others, because they feel so deeply and they operate so intensely from the heart. Because of this, they can easily be used, taken advantage of, and played by the players. So they need someone with discernment and insight to protect them from the users and the takers and the insincere. This is a word to the wise….

Compassion is a powerful force, which threatens the enemy’s kingdom. It sees beyond what others see, and sees what is possible, what can be, for it sees what God sees is possible. It sees people who feel invisible, because of their fears, their insecurities, and lack of skills or abilities. It sees beyond the failure, and flaws. The mistakes and bad choices. And it releases the power of faith, hope and restorative love. 

Hebrews 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”.

We see in Jesus’ ministry that eternal compassion was released as a healing, restoring, transformative force. Physical and spiritual change came as bodies were freed of affliction, disease, and infirmity. And lives were changed as Satan was defeated and commanded to flee!                                You see, compassion, puts itself in another persons shoes, it puts itself in their place. It does not stand far off and judge the situation, but it comes close enough to actually feel what they might feel. Jesus touched the untouchable lepers, He got close to sinners, and He got angry at what made the sick unwell, unhealthy, limited and imprisoned! 

Compassion can be a tool which God uses to release revival and transformation….When compassion is in the prayer room, count on it, heaven and earth are being shaken!

So guard your eternal joy, your eternal peace and eternal compassion…..We’ve looked at a few things, but there is so much more to the scriptural picture God is showing you of yourself. There’s a whole album of amazing things God has put together about your new creation life. After all, it is your picture He is showing you in His eternal word….                                                                                                                   Ephesians 4:21 “When you heard about Christ and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 and be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new creation, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”.                                                  Prayer……Lord, I thank you for each new day, that you allow me to live. Days filled with fresh mercy, grace and power for every need I will ever experience. Thank you that I have been made a new creation and a joint heir with unlimited possibilities ahead in the future. Thank You for Your cleansing, purifying spirit that makes all things new and sets me free from the limitations of the past. Your truth has now become my new reality. 

Lord, Fill me with Your joy, Your peace and Your compassion, so that I may impact my world for Your glory. Lord Jesus, I declare new beginnings in my home, my family, my life and circle of influence. Thank you for a new start, and a new path for my life. Help me to show others the picture you have of them, so they can become the new creation you have already made possible for them. Let my words and my actions help them and encourage them to believe and receive.                                            Lord, I ask You for wisdom, discernment, and revelation as I move forward and come into closer relationship with You. Remind me that You are in control, not me. Let me be filled with praise and thanksgiving, as I walk in love, mercy and forgiveness. I praise You in the storms and I praise You in the joys, for I believe that all things will truly work together for good as I love you, and stay in Your word, and seek Your face. In Jesus’ name, amen!

So receive it, enter into it, release it, pass through the veil, the thin place, there is an unlimited supply of the eternal oil available, so that your feet may be dipped in oil that will leave an imprint on generations to come. Pass into the unlimited supply, the timeless dimension, that is available for you this moment…. In Jesus Nam  

A spring is a point where underground streams, which flow below the surface of everything, suddenly bursts forth and provides the weary traveler a refreshing drink. The ground may be parched on the surface, and it may be hot and dry, but right there, waiting for the right place to burst forth, is the supply of reinvigorating and refreshing water which is needed.                                                                                                                    Isaiah 41:17&18 “The poor and needy search for water, but there is none. Their tongues are parched with thirst but I the LORD have answered them. I the God of Israel, have not forsaken them. v18 I will make rivers flow from the high placesand springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into springs”.

Lance Armstrong became the US Amateur Cycling champion at 20 and by 25 was one of the best professional cyclists in the world. That same year he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He was given a 40 percent chance to live. He had two surgeries including brain surgery but by 1998 his cancer went into remission. Not only did he survive cancer he went on to win seven straight Tour de France races. He also founded the    LiveStrong Foundation that has raised over 325 million dollars for cancer research.

Isaiah tells us that in all of life, we can find ourselves in places where we may be spiritually dry, with little that we can see which might bring relief to the situation we find ourselves in. But he draws our attention away from our circumstances or the hand we’ve been dealt, and calls us to look to the source of those underground springs, for our source is the high places.

Revelation 22:1 ”Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

All the forces which may come against you combined, cannot touch or in any way affect the source of that river, which is ever flowing, with an abundant supply, and it is usually out of sight, until it bursts forth in the most unlikely places in our lives.                                                                           The Boston Red Sox won the very first World Series and won four more by 1918. However, they did not win another world championship for 86 years.                                                                                                                     In 2004, the Sox played their hated rival, the New York Yankees, in the American League Championship series. The Red Sox began the series by losing the first three games. No team in Major League Baseball history had ever comeback from a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series. Yet, the Sox won four straight games to win the series and then won four straight against the St. Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series in 86 years.

Well, Israel had not had a win in 400 years of captivity in Egypt, and now they are in a desert wilderness…

Numbers 20:2 “Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. v4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” v6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. v7 The Lord said to Moses, v8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

First, notice that they had found themselves in a place where there were no resources to meet their needs. They began to speak the wrong things and try to find something or someone to blame for their situation. But God told them to speak to the very thing that seemed to be trying to destroy them, and IT WOULD RELEASE WHAT IT WAS THEY NEEDED for the time and season they were in. 

The water was there, waiting to be released, but because it was hidden behind what they were complaining about, they failed to discern that it was up to them to release it, and let it flow. 

God said “SPEAK TO IT”…. “RELEASE IT” and it shall obey you….

I want you to see something important about this account we are given to learn from… 1 Corinthians 10:3 “They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that went with them, and that rock was Christ.

The Father wants us to see here, that their source was not the rock that brought forth the water but it was and is Christ, the fulfillment of the word of covenant. You get a picture here, of so much water gushing forth that it formed a river and the river followed them on their journey so that they would never lack water again!

Isn’t that what Jesus told the woman at the well who had come to draw water for her family’s needs…But God had a divine appointment scheduled for her….

John 4:13 “Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water flowing up into eternal life.”

When I was a boy of around 10, my mom had opened a country store which was located on the main highway. It had no running water and the restroom facility, was an outhouse in back of the store. It was my job each day after school, to go to the spring, which was about half a mile from across the highway, then across the train tracks, and a stretch of barren ground to the small pool where the water flowed up from an underground spring. I would carry those buckets to the store, where folks could us a dipper and get a refreshing drink of spring water.

I say that because it was my job to be the water bringer every day. And on hot summer days, that spring water was greatly appreciated, and mom would put ice in it from her ice delivery, to keep it cool and refreshing. 

Folks are thirsty, like the woman at the well, they need someone to bring water into their dry, barren places, until they learn how to draw it for themselves.

Jesus told the disciples at the wedding of Cana of Galilee to fill the pots with water and bring them in to where the feast was. They brought the pots full of water, and Jesus did a miracle! 

Those who are water bringers, will never cease to see miracles, signs and wonders. We can be water bringers because in every place of life we can provide the containers with which God canpour it out…

John 7:38 “Whoever believes in Me, 'Streams of living water will flow out from within him.” This is what Jesus promised. Another version says it this way….                                           

John 7:38 “He that believes on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”…

The Samaritan woman shows us that there are no exceptions to who God can uses as water bringers….This nameless woman from an obscure village, brought the living water to her entire area. Jesus ended up spending two days there, instead of just passing through, because He found a container to pour into, that would in turn pour into others. 

The woman wasn’t responsible for the results, she was responsible for pouring out the water. When she was willing, Jesus showed up! Be a water bringer and watch Jesus show up!!!

When you’re willing to be a water bringer, God will make sure there are plenty of drinkers who will seek you out….

Isaiah 35:1-7 “The wilderness and the parched land (places which have not received the truth) shall be glad for them, and the desert (to toil and bring forth nothing) shall rejoice and blossom as the rose, even with rejoicing and singing. The glory of Lebanon (mountains that pierce the heavens) shall been given unto it, the honor of Carmel (fruitful and plentiful places) and Sharon (the fertile valley) they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the honor of our God. Make firm the feeble hands, (in praise and service) and strengthen the week knees (in prayer and repentance). The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert and the dry place shall become a pool, and upon the thirsty ground shall be springs of waters”. HOW POWERFUL IS THAT!

We receive from wells we did not dig, so we can give to those who do not have…. We all benefit by working together. We all benefit from the labor of people we do not know.                                                                        A man walks out to the street and catches a taxi just going by. He gets into the taxi, and the cabbie says, "Perfect timing. You're just like Frank."…."Who, asked the passenger?"                                                                    "Oh, Frank,... he's a guy who did everything right all the time. Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happened like that to Frank every single time." Well, said the Passenger: "There are always a few clouds over everybody."…. "Nope, Not Frank…. He was a terrific athlete. He could have won the Grand-Slam at tennis. He could golf with the pros. He sang like an opera baritone, and danced like a Broadway star. And you should have heard him play the piano! He was an amazing guy." "Sounds like he was something really special." Said the passenger…    "Oh,  believe me, there's more. He had a memory like a computer. He remembered everybody's birthday. He knew all about wine, which foods to order, and which fork to eat them with. And he could fix anything. Not like me, I change a fuse, and the whole street blacks out. But Frank, oh, he could do everything right." "Wow, that’s quite a guy." The passenger replied… “Oh, and Frank really knew how to treat a woman and make her feel good. He would never answer her back, even if she was in the wrong; and his clothing was always immaculate, shoes highly polished too. He was the perfect man! He never made a mistake. No one could ever measure up to Frank."…. So, said the passenger, "This Frank is really an amazing fellow. How did you meet him?" …Oh, said the cabbie,actually, I never actually met Frank. He died, and I married his bloody, impossible to please widow..." (lighten up, it’s a joke!)                                                                                                                       Water bringers may give and receive nothing in return for all their effort. But hey, We pay taxes to build roads we’ll never drive upon. We pay for schools we do not attend. We to build bridges we may never cross. My taxes pay the salaries of firemen and policemen I hope to NEVER have need of.

However, I know that someone else’s taxes helped pay for the roads I DO drive on, the bridges I DO cross, The schools I Did attend and the police and fire department that is keeping me safe and secure. I know that My taxes alone would never pay for all the benefits of the society that I live in and benefit from. That’s what community is supposed to be.. That’s what water bringers do, they bring water they may never get to the chance drinkthemselves….                                                                            A minister was standing on the side of the road, holding a sign that said, "The end is near! Turn around before it's too late!" A man drove up to the minister in his car, rolled down his window, and said, "Leave us alone, you religious nut!" He rolled the window back up and drove off in anger as he disappeared over the cliff.Another driver came up and yelled at the minister…. Leave us alone, I know I’m going to hell, but I’ll have plenty of company, as he drove off and disappeared over the cliff.  

The minister was shocked, he looked at his sign which said, “The end is near, turn around before it’s too late, and thought to himself, "I knew It should have only said 'The Bridge is Out'."

You may serve and meet the needs of others who may never serve you or meet your needs, but in the bigger picture of everything, someone else will serve you and meet your needs as well. It’s how the water bringer’s ministry works. 

Those who work with children, may not get much back personally from it, but God makes sure that when we cast our bread upon the water, it will come back to us in many ways!

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:6 “I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. v7 So it’s not all about the one who plants nor the one who waters, but it’s about God, who makes all things grow. v8 He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to theirown faithfulness”.…

We drink from wells we did not dig, and we are warmed by fires we did not kindle”. We all benefit from those who came before us, and our goal is to benefit from all who came before us so that we can then benefit all who will come after us.” “If we have seen any degree of success, it is because we stand on the shoulders of GIANTS…                                      For thousands of years, wells were always COMMUNITY property. It was only recently in a historic sense, that people began to dig their own private wells and refuse to share them with others. We are told that Abraham shared his wells, and Jacob shared his wells….

Water bringers don’t always get to decide who will rejoice because they were faithful at their task. Jesus said sometimes one sows and another reaps but we all rejoice together in the harvest…

DL Moody, the great evangelist, was led to Christ at age 17, by his Sunday School teacher. Because of that one water bringer,Moody went on to win millions world wide to Christ and bring them the living water.                                                Smith Wigglesworth said, “In me is working a power stronger that every other power. The life that is in me is a thousand times bigger than I appear on the outside”. He was led to Christ at the Methodist church in his hometown of Yorkshire, England at the age of eight. Think of the reward that children’s worker will receive. Wigglesworth, raised more people from the dead than any minister on record. Cancers, tumors, and all types of illnesses were healed and millions were brought to Christ by this water bringer. Wigglesworth prophesied that there is coming a move of God, greater than has ever been seen on this planet. And it'll be a combination of healing and miracles and the teaching of the Word. He gave that prophecy in the mid forties… That’s in my lifetime!

Let me close this message with the account in Genesis 21, beginning in verse 14, where Abraham sent Hagar away into the wilderness. “She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.  Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob. God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”  Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water”.

Now the story goes on to say that Hagar called the well, “God who sees me.” You see, as Hagar wandered in the wilderness, tired, dry, weary, and possibly suffering from sun stroke…. What she didn’t know is that there was an underground supply of water she couldn’t see, but God had put it there. God had to show here that He had already put it there before she started out. And when she reached the place where she couldn’t go on any more. At that very spot, God put a well, where the water under neath was flowing up to supply her need! WELL HALLELUJAH!

Can you see it church, can you receive it….. As you’re moving through your journey, and you feel all alone, you feel that there is no one that can meet your need, and you feel that you have nothing available to help you make it and reach your dream, your goal, your promise…. God knew exactly where you would be this moment in your life and long before you got there….. He put a well!

You’ve got to hear it again….. Isaiah 41:17&18 “The poor and needy search for water, but there is none. Their tongues are parched with thirst but I the LORD have answered them. I the God of Israel, have not forsaken them. v18 I will make rivers flow from the high places and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into springs”.

There are hidden springs which God has strategically placed along your journey so that you can boldly say… “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in Glory in Christ Jesus.”

Give yourself to Him, and He will give Himself to you. He can do far more with what you have than you can! He fed 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves and 2 fish…. What can He do for you?

He fed 2.4 million people in the wilderness with manna from heaven, and on another occasion with so many quail theycouldn’t take another bite!..... What can He do for you?

He told us that He prepares a banquet table before us in the presence of our enemies, He anoints our head with oil, our cup runs over in the valley of the shadows….. So, what has He got for you?

When you’re going through your ordinary, every day life and suddenly you get sideswiped by a crises, you need to know that God has put a hidden spring there flowing up from a hidden supply, in His perfect timing. 

You’ve heard the siren of an ambulance, a multitude of times, but this time it’s headed for your house…. The telephone rings and you answer, then right after you say "hello," the caller tells you the news, that one of the most cherished people in the world to you is gone. There wasn't even time to say a final goodbye.                                                                          The truth is, when trauma walks right up and tries to pull the rug out from under you, there’s an underground river that has been tracking your every movement, and it will flow up and provide a deep refreshing drink, of unshakeable peace, safety, security, healing, fresh vitality and renewed hope, just when you need it most!

God has gone public with your victory…..Colossians 2:15“Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it”.

The Devil knows you’re coming, and He also knows God has gone ahead of you, to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus…. Your God is well supplied, His timing is perfect, His sovereignty is absolute, His power is undisputed, His plan will not fail concerning you, and that is also true of ever place on which your foot shall tread, He had given it to you!

When you were born, God breathed victory into you…. Before you were born, He knew you intimately…. Yesterday, He took care of your tomorrow…. And tomorrow, He knew where you would be and what you needed when you arrived. 

The Father loves to do come back stories, and the Bible is filled with some phenomenal comebacks. Joseph who went from the pit to the palace, becoming the Prime Minister of Egypt. King David’s comeback after his fall into sin. Job would certainly qualify as one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Peter would be at the top of the list, after denying knowing the Lord, yet God allowed him to come back and preach the very first sermon on the opening day of the church, the Day of Pentecost. But none of them would qualify as THE WORLD’S GREATEST COMEBACK.

That’s right. The world’s greatest comeback is still in the future. It’s going to be when Jesus returns for His own. If we believe in the risen Lord and have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, He’s coming back for us. We will reign with Him for all eternity.                                                          Friend it’s like the old song says…. 
“It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. Life’s trials will seem so small, when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face, all trials will erase. So bravely run the race, till we see Christ!”

He’s coming for those who are looking for His appearing!!!Keep watching, keep filling up your vessel, keep pouring out, and get ready for underground rivers to burst forth in all the places of your life!

My message today, for this Valentine Day Sunday, Is titled…                                                “Let Love Lead The Way” And the rest of mytitle is, “It’s a Way Of Life”….But if we don’t understand it, then how can we live it out!? Today I want to share real stories about real people as they let love lead the way in their everyday situations. 

But first my Valentine Joke for today……Grandpa John was celebrating his 100th birthday and everybody complimented him on how athletic and well-preserved he appeared. "Gentlemen, I will tell you the secret of my success," he told them with a cheerful voice ."I have been out in the open air, nearly every day for some 75 years now." Everyone was impressed and asked how he managed to keep up his rigorous fitness program. "Well, he said, you see my wife and I were married 75 years ago. And on our wedding night, we made a solemn pledge to one another. Whenever we had a fight, the one who was proved wrong would have to go out and take a 5 milerun."                                                                                                                 (Let’s all read it together) John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”                                                                                                           If it was a popularity contest, John 3:16 would win hands down. John 3:16 is the most famous verse in the Bible. It is by far, the most well-known passage in Scripture, and rightfully so… John 3:16 perfectly summarizes the central message of the Bible. It has been called the little Bible. It is the gospel in a nutshell. In a real sense, if you edited down the Bible to this one verse, you would still have enough gospel to save the world.                                                  

John 3:16 is not just about the fact that God loves you… It is really about HOW GOD LOVES YOU!

Some years ago, as many of you know, Gary Chapman wrote abestseller titled “The Five Love Languages”. Chapman argues that people communicate love differently, that each person has a natural and distinct way in which he or she gives and/or receives love.                                               Each one expresses itself differently, as Physical affection, verbal expression, acts of service, providing, giving gifts, opening opportunities, and spending time are just some of the common love languages that we all have.

There are folks that clearly love one another, but yet they don’t FEEL loved, because they don’t understand the “HOW” of each others love…. He gives love by slaving at a job which he hates. She receives love by how much time he spends with her. So, he feels unloved because she doesn’t appreciate his efforts at providing for her. She feels unloved because he doesn’t spend more quality time with her. They love one another, but they are not speaking the same love language and how each one loves.

My point here is that this could be the thing that causes many folks to struggle with the love of God….                                                                                      We misunderstand God’s love, because we don’t know GOD’S LOVE LANGUAGE, so we can’t comprehend the “HOW” of His love!                              The truth of God’s love is hidden within the nature of God Himself.

Whether we realize it or not, we may have humanized God to the point that He ceases to truly be the God of John 3:16 to us.                                                                 You see, this verse not only tells us that God is love, but that He loves the WHOLE WORLD! And our humanness has difficulty getting our heads around that! Sobecause our humanness can’t grasp that, we fail to transcend our limited boundaries… As little Bobbie said… “Lord, how can you love the whole world, I have a hard time just loving my sister, Judy”…..

First John 4:8 says, “God is love.” That means He is the beginning and the end of love… He is the highest height and the deepest depth of love. He is the length and the breadth of love. He was love before there was an object of that love. So, Love created the heaven and the earth Love created every creature that was made. Every sunrise and sunset, every night and every day are the product of love. Love created Adam and Eve then breathed itself into them so they could operate in that love. Listen, the spark of life in every human being who ever lived, was an expression of His love!

If it has anything to do with God, it has everything to do with love.                            Mercy is God’s forgiving love. Grace is God’s undeserving love. Peace is God’s comforting love. The will of God is about experiencing the love of a surrendered, submitted heart.Providence is God’s inescapable love. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s tested, tried and proven love.Sanctification is about being set apart for His love. Heaven is God’s elevating, intimate, all embracing love. Eternity is God’s unending forever love.

We tend to humanize God’s love and send it through our own limited, narrow lens of love. Scripture is clear, that God loves Israel, but Orthodox Jews, misread it, So they concluded that God lovedonly Israel. John 3:16 absolutely must have blown Nicodemus awayto think that God loves the very people who are the enemies of Israel. How can Jesus be Messiah when He loves the enemies of the Jews. We still struggle with the fact that He loves our enemies just as much as He loves us. That He gave His life for the guy that cussed us out, and threatened to rearrange our face!                  And yet there it is…. “God so loved the world”!!!

Romans 5:7-8 says: “For rarely will anyone choose to die for a righteous person—though it might be that for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”                                     God loves the whole world. He can’t help Himself!! It’s imbedded in the nature of God!

“God so loves the world, is a remarkable statement, not only in terms of how big the world is, but also how bad the world is. Think about that in personal terms. There are people who love and respect you, but if they knew certain things about you, they might change their minds about you. We all have our flaws and our places that might not do well in the spotlight. God knows everything about you there is to know, yet God loves you totally and completely!!.                                                                                                                       This should be the true source of our self-esteem and our confidence. God loves us. 

Martin Luther said it well: God does not love us because we are valuable; we are valuable because God loves us.                                                                                  You may have heard the story about the woman who wrote a sweet loving letter to her ex-fiancé that went something like this:  Dearest Jimmy, No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you! I am yours forever, Signed, Your one and only Marie. P.S. Congratulations on winning the state lottery”.

If you don’t know how God loves then you will misunderstand that love, and fail to fully appreciate it…. John’s statement does not simply say God loved the world. 

It says, “God SO LOVED the world.” That little Greek word “so”(Hoo-to) means “ After this manner.” Our English translations obscures this term somewhat, and we read it as “God loved the world so much,” but it is actually speaking of how God loved us, not just how much God loves us. The message of the text is “This is HOW GOD loves the world.”

God’s love language is that He loves (the kosmos) unconditionally….                      At a comparative religions conference, the wise and the scholarly were in a spirited debate about what is unique about Christianity. Someone suggested what made Christianity unique from other religions was the incarnation, the idea that God took human form in Jesus, but someone suggested that other faiths believe that God appears in human form.” Another scholar said that it was the resurrection. But another scholar said that other religions have people returning from the dead.                                Then, C.S. Lewis walked into the room, and sat down and during a lull, in the debate, he asked, “what’s is all this rumpus about?” “We’re debating what’s unique about Christianity” they told him….“Oh, that’s easy,” Lewis told them. “It’s grace”. “Christianity uniquely claims God’s love comesat a great cost, but it’s free of charge, no strings attached. No other religion makes that claim.

Philip Yancey once wrote: “There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less.”  We simply and freely receive that love….                    

How does God love, He loves SACRIFICIALLY. He pours out that love by giving, by serving, and by sacrificing, which is the character of true love.                                                             Here it is again, just 24 words which reveal so much….“For God so loved the world, that He gave (the ultimate gift) His only Son.”                                                                                                      How many know, we would think of it as bad manners to give a gift to someone and leave the price tag on it, (unless you’re Minnie Pearl) but this is exactly what God did when He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ. God wanted us to know what it cost Him to love us and purchase our salvation. So He left the price tag on the FREE GIFT of His love!                                                       

When I went to the auto dealership to get a car. They weighed my debt against my income, and decided how much I could spend for a car. There were some folks who were so wealthy that the price didn’t even enter into their purchase. They just picked up the phone and got whatever they desired. So, can you imagine if you wanted to buy the most expensive car, or an incredible house, or a yacht and all you had to do is tell them to put it on someone’s bill who was a billionaire! Just put it on the tab. 

When our sins are added up, all our failures, and every bad decision we’ve ever made, and it’s compared to our righteousness, our holiness or our worthiness, there is a huge short fall. But He did something incredible. He added up the total righteousness, the holiness, the worthiness of Christ and against that, He wrote these words, "Transferred to the account of Charles Elliott." That’s mercy.  That’s grace, that’s the miracle of sacrificial love. Before I did anything, He provided it, I simply receive it, and live it out and give it out to others. 

How does God love, He gives without measure.

A couple who were in love were talking and the girl said “Sweety pie, if you had 3 cars, would you give me 2”. Swooning, he said “Aww, baby doll, you know I would. She said, “Sweety pie, if you had 2 houses, would you give me one.”… He said “Aww, baby doll, you know I would”. She said, “Sweety pie, if you had 10,000 dollars, would you give it to me”. He said, “Now, baby, I really have to think about that one, you see, I HAVE 10,000 dollars!” 

The Father was willing to give His ONLY SON!  That’s what John 3:16 tells us. When you give to someone out of your abundance that is one thing; but when you give all you’ve got, that is quite another. If you had several vehicles it might be seen as a noble thing thatyou gave one of them to a family who had none. But if you were to give them the only vehicle you had that would be without measure…. God didn’t have a back-up. God didn’t have a spare. But He loved us so much that He was willing to give us the only one He had.

How does God love, He Loves Personally… This is not some abstract concept. It isn’t just a philosophical theory or a theological narrative. God’s love was made manifest in this world through the person of Jesus Christ the only Son of the Father. Jesus Christ came into this world to reveal to us the love of God in a personal way, in human form.                                                                                                                           A little child was trying to quote John 3:16 in the King James Version, which says, “his only begotten Son.” But the child misquoted it and said instead, “His only forgotten Son.”                                                                                                 It was one of those slips of the tongue that carried more truth than we would care to admit. Because for the majority of the people in the world today, Jesus Christ is truly forgotten. His life is forgotten. His love is forgotten. His sacrifice is forgotten. It is our mission as Christians – as God’s ambassadors – to help them to rememberHow God loves!!!.

More than fifty years ago, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, a young sociology professor assigned his class the project of interviewing 200 city youths residing in Ghetto districts. Then he asked them to predict their future. Students predicted that ninety percent would serve time in prison. Twenty-five years later the same professor contacted each student and asked them to track down the original boys and discover what had happened. One hundred eighty were located and only four had ever been in jail. Why were their predictions so far off?                                                                      Looking for common factors, over 100 of the boys mentioned the strong influence of a teacher they all had in common. They then located the teacher, a seventy-year-old Sheila O’Rourke, in a Memphis nursting home. Puzzled by the interest in her, she could only exclaim, “All I ever did was love them all as if they were the only one.”                                                                                                       John 3:16 declares what every human heart—whether it understands it or not—wants to hear and needs to hear… GOD LOVES YOU! In fact, as Saint Augustine said, God loves all of us as if there was only one of us to love.     Oh my, Helpus to love more like you love, Lord!

How does God love, He makes Himself accessible…. He touched the untouchables, the outcast, the leper, the up and outer and the down and outer, it didn’t matter. (Covid wouldn’t have kept Him away)

I came across the story of Joe, who was a hopeless alcoholic. Joewas miraculously converted in a street outreach mission. He entered the mission as a derelict and dirty win-o for whom there was little future. But in Christ, everything changed.                                                                                      Joe became the most caring person at the mission. He spent his days there, doing whatever needed to be done. Whether it was cleaning up vomit left by some alcoholic, or scrubbing toilets after men had left them filthy, Joe did it all with a heart of gratitude. He could be counted on to feed any man who wandered in off the streets, get them cleaned up and tucked into bed when they were too drunk to take care of themselves.                                                                                                              One evening, after the mission speaker delivered his evangelistic message to the usual crowd of homeless drunks and derelicts, one of them came down to the altar and knelt to pray. Hecried out for God to help him change. The repentant drunk kept shouting, “Oh God, make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe!” The minister leaned over and said, “Friend, wouldn’t it be better if you prayed ‘make me like Jesus?”                                After thinking about it for a few moments, the man looked up with a puzzled expression and asked, “Is He like Joe?” Wow!

Oh, how God loves us! He sends you sunrises every morning and flowers every spring. If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. Whenever you want to talk, He’s there to listen. He knows what you need before you need it. He can live anywhere in the universe, and yet He chose your heart. He has entered into our world and He longs to enter into the nitty gritty of our lives.

Jesus didn’t come into the world in order to rebuke you, He came to rescue you. He didn’t come to criticize you, He came to cleanse you. He didn’t come to punish you, He came to pardon you. He didn’t come to destroy you, He came to deliver you.                                                                                                  How does God love….We can expect God to keep His word. He is faithful and just. When He says He will allow us to pay the penalty for sin, He will. When He says He will forgive our sin, He will! He will keep His word in each case, but make no mistake about it.  God is love, but He is also Holy and Righteous.  Unresolved, unrepented sin demands a penalty. We can choose or refuse this great gift of His love. We can choose freedom over bondage, we can choose forgiveness over unforgiveness, we can choose sin over righteousness, we can choose heaven over hell – we can choose God over Satan –                                                                                                                       *…….The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:13  “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love”                                                                                         

June 25th, 1967, The Beatles first sang the song “All You Need is Love.”  The BBC had commissioned The Beatles to write a song for the United Kingdom's contribution on the first live global television link. The Beatles were asked to come up with a song containing a simple message to be understood by all nationalities. It was to be a clear message saying to all the world, that love is everything. It was seen by an audience of over 400 million people, in 25 countries. 

Let me compare each of us to a filter which God’s love must flow through. If the filter is clogged with sin, unforgiveness, anger, guilt, unworthiness, bitterness and shame, then love will be unable to flow fully and freely. Repentance before God unclogs our filter so that we can begin to love who God loves, how God loves. John 3:16 is the answer for marriages, broken relationships, how to do life, and it is the answer for Washington DC, and governments world wide. It’s the greatest peace accord for mankind. Would you turn to someone and tell them, “Clean your filter, it may be clogged up”

Jesus Qualified how we are to love, when He said in Matthew 22:37, “‘You shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

That’s, how the Lord says a Christian loves!                                                                     Gregory Cole writes….”The love I need more than anything is Your love. Without Your love, no other love will ever be sufficient. And with it, every other love becomes richer and truer and more life-giving than it could have been otherwise. We have learned all our best loves from You: the love of faithful friends, of spouses, of parents and siblings and children.            Love that commits. Love that sacrifices. Love that lays down its life. You authored each of these loves, taught us how to recognize them and long for them and give them away. Our best efforts at Valentine’s Day are just a fraction of the wholeness of love. So, today, let everything I see remind me of Your love. Let today be a day for Real love. Big love. Your love”. 

Pastor’s Prayer…. Lord, as we conclude today, we want to take this moment to check our filter. If there are things that may be clogging it up, sin, unforgiveness, bitterness, guilt and other things that we need to let you clean out, allow the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit free us to love in greater measure. Lord Jesus, help us all toremember and embrace the overwhelming love You have for us, all of us, as though there were only one of us. You know that those days when we struggle to love, and when we may feel so limited in our love, is when Your special love is what we need the most. I know You hear the desires of our hearts when it comes to earthly relationships, but in Your love, we can feel fulfillment, joy and purpose every day of the year. Help us to always remember that no matter what…. Your love is enough for every level of relationshipwe enter into. Thank You for capturing our hearts and transforming our every day lives into mountaintop moments thatinspire us to choose Your higher love over and over again. Bless our married love, our family love, our friendship love and our love for all those You love, that it may live out through us, and look more and more like You.   –In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

My message today is “Once More” Is Calling Your Name                              Prayer…. “Lord you are here in the midst of us, to help us to organize our internal world so we can influence our external world. Teach us the importance of spending undistracted time alone with you, to soak in Your presence and once again to hear your voice speaking into our inner being. We ask you to renew our purpose and rediscover Your plan for us in each situation and experience and we bring you afresh, into the center of our lives. Jesus, we give you the glory and all the honor, in Your mighty name, Amen.                                                                                                      When’s the last time you tried to eat just one of anything that is your favorite food? I’m talking about your favorite brand or flavor of potato chips… just one chip, one Krispy cream doughnut. (I don’t thing that is going to happen)                                                                                                     I remember once we took the family on a ski trip. I had never gone skiing before, but one time down the slopes and I immediately wanted “once more”…. That once more turned into a 10 hour day of skiing and let me tell you I was wiped out, but “Once more” kept calling my name….I just couldn’t get enough, and I was on the slopes doing it again the next day, and it felt sooooo Good, to be that overwhelmed by “ONCE MORE”!!!  

I am taking as my foundational scripture for this message, the16th chapter of Judges and I want to read the 27th and the 28 verses.
"Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and upon the roof about three thousand men and women beheld while Samson was made sport. And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray, and strengthen me, I pray, once more, O Lord”

Many people might say, “My life has turned out to be nothing like I thought it was going to be. I had such aspirations; I believed that all things were possible in Christ. I truly wanted to glorify God in the earth. But now when I look in the Bible and then look at my life, it seems as if I fall so far short of what I am supposed to be.”                                                  You see, there is a weakness in each of our hearts, just as there was in the hearts of those in Samson’s day. It is this inability to believe beyond what we can see with our natural eyes and register with our 5 senses and it can open the door to discouragement and disillusionment.                                          It is in these times that we must fall into the arms of our covenant God, who keeps covenant and wants to get us addicted on His goodness, His faithfulness, His grace, His mercy and love! I challenge you today, that no matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, there’s a “once more” waiting to enter your life and take you places you never thought possible 

Haggai 2:6–7 “For thus says the Lord of hosts; Yet ONCE MORE,just a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts” If you seek me with all your heart you shall find me!!!!                                                    From my experience, it should probably more correctly say, If you seek me, I WILL FIND YOU, says the Lord!!!!

Haggai is staking everything on the fact that God said what He meant and He meant what He said! “The time has come that “Once More” I will fill you with My glory,” says the Lord. The word glory in the Hebrew text means “the weightiness of His presence, the honor and esteem of God, His majesty, His abundance and His sufficiency. The Lord will fill us with what we could never have achieved on our own. It does not come from human effort but rather from yielding yourself to be a recipient and a container of the glory of God. His glory precedes Him and is with Him.                                                                                                     Isaiah 52:12 “For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your REREWARD”. I want you to notice this word “REREWARD”…. In Isaiah’s day, when a ruler had a procession and all of his subjects line the thoroughfare to see him when he appears. He will send his rereward, or his glory before him. Folks will see a sampling of his riches and his abundance, his servants and staff, his power and his might, His royal guard, and then they see the ruler himself. You need to see this, Our Lord is on his way, He’s sending His rereward before Him, and He possesses all the resources of this earth, and He will endow us with all that we need to build, restore and fill this last temple period with Hismanifested presence, His majesty, His splendor, power, and glory.

Samson had experienced the majesty and authority of Jehovah and the “Once More” inside of Samson, could not be silenced by the entire Philistine nation, which had gathered to celebrate his final defeat….. They could not silence the force of his heart’s cry as he shouted out from the depths of his spirit….. once more, O Lord!!!!! It’s the cry that got God’s attention and brought a “once more” to Samson, and deliverance to an entire nation of people….

I was inspired by the story of Trey Wood, who was born with only one arm. ….Most people assumed that his handicap would prevent him from participating in a sport like football, which he loved so much. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Trey decided to prove the experts wrong. Not only did he master the game of football in High school, he received an athletic scholarship to Sam Houston State University. He went beyond expectations and earned a starting position as a defensive back. One of his responsibilities was to knock down passes when the football was thrown in his area. Another one-armed young man named Dawuan Miller also had a dream to play football. In spite of his disability he, too, earned a scholarship and became the starting defensive back for Boise State University. Both players made first team. Both excelled at their positions. Despite lacking an arm, Wood broke the career record for Sam Houston State with eleven blocked kicks. Dawuan silenced the doubters by using his one arm to intercept two passes in playoff games.

On September 16, 1995, Sam Houston State, played Boise State in football. For the first time in the history of the sport, two colleges played a game with one-armed defensive backs starting for each team. Few will remember the score of the game, but no one who was there will forget how two one-armed players’ gutsy performances overshadowed the rest of the talent on the field. Each of these two football players did more with one arm than most people do with two. When people with limited ability, apply themselves, they can accomplish incredible feats. You can do amazing things in spite of any limitation you may experience, if you will dare to believe it!

George Elliot…said "It's never too late to be what you might have been."  

--Inventor Thomas Edison…..said "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." 

When Dr. Seuss wrote his first children's book, it was rejected by 27 publishers. By the time of death in 1991, his books had sold more than 200 million copies in 15 languages. Since his death another 22 million of his books have been sold. What if he had quit after his 26th rejection from a publisher? But he tried once more…

When Gideon cried out “Where is the lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob….it was in a time when the Philistines had overrun his fields, and his possessions, and they were having to sneak around by night, just to reap some of their own crops, and avoid the enemy at their door. Knowing the glowing stories of God’s miraculous intervention over their enemies in the past… Gideon was putting a demand on God’s integrity and faithfulness by saying, “Once More Lord”…..It was a covenant man calling upon a covenant God!!!!  And his cry ascended to the God who hears, the God who Sees… the God who Knows…and the God who Remembers covenant!

Samson wanted God’s power, but in his lifetime, he had also wanted what the world had to offer… The Godly women who lived lives which honored God and were true to His word, were just not Samson’s cup of tea! While he hated the Philistines, he loved the philistine women…. Amazingly, God still continued to use Him, because of His covenant upon Samson. But covenant is a two waystreet and it takes two in agreement, and there came a point when the ramifications of his disobedience caught up with him, and the harvest of his sin came home to roost! With his eyes poked out, chains on his hands and feet, and stripped in shame before his captors, Samson remembered what it felt like to experience God’s power, and be in covenant! A cry came forth from the deepest depth of his being, “Once more Lord, Let me feel Your presence, Your grace and redemptive mercy, once more”!!!! Oh, my, He always hears that cry!

How much power does Satan have….. The answer is… “As much as we give him”!!!!... There are countless numbers of folks, who were brought up in church, they were once committed to serving God and inspiring others, but something happened, and the deceiver has ways of pushing and forcing it down and trying to shut it up….but it will not be silent! We can deny it and make other things our priority, but it will *…..continue to call out….It’s a callto know the Spirit’s stirring once more, “let me feel your cleansing, your love, your majesty “once more”! Use me once more, Lord stir me once more by your Spirit!

Three friends met on the street. One looked depressed and almost on the verge of tears. The others said, "Hey, how come you look like the whole world caved in?" The unhappy friend said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars." "That's not bad, said the friends" "Hold on, I'm just getting started. Two weeks ago, a cousin I never knew kicked the bucket and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear." "I'd like that problem, said the friends" Oh, there’s more, said the unhappy friend…"Last week my grandfather passed away and I inherited almost a quarter of a million." "Then how come you look so despondent, they asked"...."This week ……..nothing!"

Alexandra the Great fell into deep depression, and when asked why, he said “I have nothing left to conqueror”…..

We have entered the feel good era of Christianity…. Commitment has been replaced by fun and entertainment. Preaching has been replaced by feel good illustrations and seeker friendly sermons. Holiness has given way to happy hour. We get more excited about a shopping trip than we do about a revival meeting. We wink at sin and cringe at the holy demands of God. We have lost our fire, our power and our desire for the pursuit of God. We would rather play than pray. We would rather have our ears tickled than our hearts set fire by the Word of God. We would rather be entertained than challenged. We would rather stay like we are than become more like He is.

You can see it in our homes. You can see it in our communities. You can see it in our streets. You can see it in our entertainment. And, most devastating of all, so often you can see it in our churches! That’s why our nation is in the shape it is in today. We have been weighed and found wanting! Don’t bother me, I just want to feel good!!

Thank God, there is still hope! Thank God there is a Holy stirring among the youth of this nation. And our hope springs from passionate men and women of God who are crying out day and night….once more, Lord, once more!!!

Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”

God is listening for the cry of Repentance – Genuine repentance is the only hope our nation has for survival. God calls on all of us, to “turn” to Him “with all our heart”. He calls on us, to “rend” our “hearts” and not our “garments”. God isn’t looking for mere external displays of religion; He is looking for a heart change. He is looking for a people who are broken and who are willing to become true followers. He is looking for a people who will be sorrowful “with fasting, and with weeping, and with brokenness before Him”) This is the kind of people God will bless, and restore and use…ONCE MORE!

God is Listening For A Cry Of Restoration … Restoration is messy business…. Mark is a contractor and he can attest to that. It looks like a total mess, before it looks better. Things are ripped out and taken to the bare framework. Junk is piled everywhere before the cleaning up begins and the rebuilding starts. God calls His people back to a place of closeness and holiness. But first comes the place of brokenness and emptying out…then the restoration begins! God is calling on all the people, from the oldest to the youngest, to come back to Him. He calls for those occupied and consumed by the matters of this life to put Him first again, a place where He is our first priority.. He’s calling on the spiritual leaders of the people to come back to Him in an intense relationship, that is much more than the Pastor’s job or the deacon’s role, or the going through the motion of doing church.                                            God wants His people to seek His face ONCE MORE. He wants them to get hungry for Him ONCE MORE. 

I don’t believe I’m wrong, but according to the dispensational covenant, this world will experience one more earth shaking, purifying revival and reformation before the Lord comes. I believe we are in the processional that comes as an indication that the King Himself is near. The Father still has a remnant of people who love Him more than they love their self indulgences. I believe that God is going to purify His church and bring us to a place of repentance and revival “ONCE MORE”!!

When He does, there will be no doubt as to Who is in control. There will be no doubt about Who is to be worshiped and glorified. Even the enemies of the church will have to acknowledge that God walks among His people. There will be no doubt about Who is doing the work. Let the cry arise to heavenand be lifted before His throne, for the Lord to visit us once again and shake everything that can be shaken!

In the game of Chess, a checkmate, means that you have no more moves left to make. You are blocked on every side, with no escape and nowhere to turn. Checkmates in life, can be ...An incurable illness...A broken relationship...A wayward son or daughter...Financial ruin......A past that is destroying your future. Satan was crying “checkmate” as they took the bleeding, torn body of Jesus down from the cross and placed it in the tomb…. But the King always has one more move that the devil has not considered.

As we journey forward, we will continually experience checkmates in our personal and corporate lives. Dark times of seeming defeat, but we must always remember that behind every circumstance there is a supernatural power at work, and the King, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will always have one more move to make!

No matter how desperate your situation--it may even look like you have lost everything--but THE KING HAS ONE MORE MOVE up His sleeve. How do I know this? How can I be so confident to declare this to you? I know because our King has a well-documented history of last moves. 

Seas don’t just split open to allow people to pass through on dry ground, all by themselves. ...Water doesn't just spring forth from a rock on its own. ...Food enough for millions of people, doesn't just accumulate on the ground every night as a random event. ...An old man holding up his arms does not determine the outcome of a war. ...Thick city walls don't just fall down flat when people blow horns. ...Men thrown into furnaces and lion’s dens do not just walk out without a scratch of smell of smoke… ...A jar of oil doesn't just keep refilling itself. ...Actual dead men don't just walk out of their graves except in a fictional TV series. ...Wading into a dirty river doesn't cure leprosy. ...The blind don't see, or the deaf hear, or the cripples walk just because someone touches them or puts mud in their eyes. ...Threatening storms don't just stop because someone talks to them....Shackles don't just miraculously fall off on their own and prison doors unlock themselves and burst open.

Haggai 2:23 In that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you...and I will make you as a signet: for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts”
A signet is a sign of the authority of God. God was saying, “I will make you a sign to this generation, for I have chosen you—even in your captivity and despair.” Before we called out, it was not our choice but His! We are God’s secret weapon, that He puts into play just when Satan thinks he has won total victory. He is calling us to be ambassadors of the kingdom in this last generation. God is calling His whole church— in every place, and out of every denomination. Nothing is over until God says it’s over!
The choice we have is whether or not we will hear His voice and respond to it. Either we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life—that He can bring us into freedom and do the miraculous through our lives, or not!
God is about to produce the Greatest Show On Earth!....Remember, the Lord has promised: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former”...A greater glory, once more visited upon His church! Once more, He will pour out the oil and fill every vessel… Once more we will enter into the promised land covenant…. Once more, we will see souls saved and set free, families restored, and God’s people set ablaze for Him…..Once more!!!

God heard Samson’s cry and He hears yours. He longs to do more in your life than you have ever envisioned. Because now the voice of God has come once again, calling you to rebuild. He is calling you into a freedom and ability that can come only from Him. I implore you today in Christ’s name to step out of all bondage and captivity—whatever it is in your life that has convinced you that God will never use you. Leave that place behind! As you respond to His voice, the Lord will strengthen you, give you His Word, fill you with His Spirit, and cause you to be a demonstration of His resurrection life in this generation! Your “once more” is calling…..Let’s answer the call!

Prayer….. Father, I make myself available to you so that my life can continue to be transformed through faith in Christ and the power of Your Word, that renews of my mind. Give me knowledge in my inner being that will cause me to truly be alive in You. Lord, I know transformation will not happen instantly, so give me the patience and strength to wait upon You, as You continue this process within me. You have clearly stated, that as I behold Your glory, I am being changed into Your image from glory to glory, even as by Your Spirit, Lord Jesus. I declare that transformation in my life has begun. Your love, peace, patience, and power will shine through me so that others will see You within me, wherever I go. I worship You and lift my “once more” to You Lord, as You flow through me and empower me to live the life I was intended to live for Your glory. Lord I open my spirit to you to do Your supernatural work in me. Let my heart be changed as You make me new, and mold me into who I am truly meant to be… In Jesus Name, amen…

If He has ever done a miracle, a wonder, an over the top, supernatural thing for anyone, anywhere, then He will do it for you…                           He is no respecter of persons and what He’s done for others He’ll do for you!!