We started out our Bible study reading  Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Pastor Don pointed out that the difficult aspect of faith is that the objects of faith are invisible at the time that you do the hoping and believing for them. They are not in the realm of our circumstances so they must be made out of things invisible.

Pastor Don then said, “Every great person of faith has had a moment of Faith Insanity.” While they were believing in faith for something, those around them thought they looked, acted, sounded crazy or all of the above. They are aspiring to something that does not seem reasonable or logical.

Faith Insanity is believing that the promise and testimony of the heart of God shall come to pass in the face of contrary circumstances. It will look insane to people around you and at times even in your self estimation.

We need to tell ourselves, “This is my moment, I am holding by faith.”

To see an example of this in the Bible we looked to Gideon’s life in Judges 6.

At the time of Gideon, Israel did not have a king. God led the people through prophets and judges, and made them leaders over the nation of Israel each time Israel needed help.  At this time, the Midianites were attacking Israel, and they stole the produce of the land, the crops and the animals. The people of Israel were suffering greatly.

Judges 6:6 So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Once the people of Israel realized that they needed God, God was able to send a prophet to the land and deliver them.

Judges 6:11 Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.

The Angel of the LORD is a theophany (pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus), the Word of God came in a fleshly body, to Gideon, as Messenger of God. Gideon at this time was trying to thresh wheat in a winepress, in a not-so-brave attempt to hide from the Midianites.

Judges 6:12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

This is an example of God calling into existence what isn’t. Gideon was not a mighty man of valor at this time, in fact he was hiding in a winepress to thresh wheat.

Judges 6:13  Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?” But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

How often have we asked the same question. How come when good happens God does not get the credit, but when bad happens, we blame God? It was not God who did the harming, it was the fact that the people were not obeying God that permitted the Midianites to come in and conquer them. The people of Israel were doing their own thing, in their own power. It wasn’t until things got bad that they cried out to God.

Judges 6:14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

Might???? Still Gideon is hiding, not exactly mighty, but God is calling it forth – and reminds Gideon that God is the one sending Him. God is building up Gideon, telling him YOU SHALL SAVE Israel. Gideon did not say that he is a mighty man of valor and capable.

Judges 6:15 So he said to Him, “Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” What Gideon doesn’t realize is that being the weakest and least makes him the perfect candidate to be used by God. God likes using the foolish and weak for His tasks because then they cannot convince themselves that it is by their own might, credit must go to God.

Judges 6:16-17 And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man. Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.”

Show me a sign, the people always want a sign.

Judges 6:18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

God is good, He waited for Gideon’s offering and accepted the offering. Gideon then fears because he had seen the Angel of the Lord face to face – but the LORD assures him that he will not die. Gideon builds an altar to the LORD, and calls it “The LORD IS PEACE.”

God tells Gideon to tear down the pagan idol of baal that his father has put up and to offer to God a burnt offering using the wood of the idol.

Judges 6:27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon is not a mighty man of faith yet, but he did what God asked him to do, even if he did it at night out of fear. Yet, the idol was torn down. He did obey God. He kept God’s word even with shaky faith. God will honor shaky faith.

Judges 6:28-31 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of baal, torn down, and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it. But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down.”

Joash showed good reasoning here.

Judges 6:32-33 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let baal plead against him because he has torn down his altar. Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and camped in the valley of Jezreel. (Megiddo)

Standing on the edge of the mound (perhaps 1,500 feet up) looking down at the Jezreel valley.

Judges 6:34-35 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abizerites gathered behind him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

Someone in our Bible study pointed out that this was very rare, that the tribes all came when summoned. They gathered in one accord.

Then Pastor Don told us that Gideon is going to lay out a fleece, twice, and God will answer Gideon. But Pastor Don pointed out that, as believers, we are not to lay out fleeces. Satan, the liar, will often come and answer our “fleece” the way we state we want it answered, but that does not mean that it is God who is giving the ok for our question. We have been given the Holy Spirit within us to guide us on our path, as believers we have no need for fleece.

Judges 6:36-40 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said, look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

Now we do not need signs. When the Priests and Levites asked Jesus for a sign he said in Matthew 12:39-40 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The people in the Old Testament were trained to look for signs, for they did not have the Holy Spirit in them the way we do. God controls the environment and circumstances. But once we became born again fleece time is over.

Gideon had doubt and unbelief. As born again believers, we trust God for everything, trust God and your only need is to learn how to listen. A Spirit filled believer will ask how we know this, and say we heard it from God. If we don’t trust what we are hearing from our spirit, then we are in doubt and unbelief. We can seek others who are stronger in faith to help us discern if what we think we heard from God is really from God.

God never leaves or forsakes us, so we do not need an external sign. The devil speaks through external signs as good as God can speak through external signs. God may honor the fleece of a baby Christian, and God will engineer it to keep the baby Christian safe, but God wants us to get our information from His Spirit. He wants us to grow beyond the need for a fleece. Circumstances on the outside are subject to witchcraft.

We need to see the help of the Holy Spirit, if we are in doubt, ask another strong believer to pray with you to find out if you are hearing correctly. So often we feel that God hasn’t spoken about our situation, but He has spoken, we either do not hear it, or we do not like what He said and choose to pretend we haven’t heard it. God may be telling you to sell your house, but you don’t want to. The truth is that you can debate what God is telling you and keep digging yourself into a pit, or you can choose to obey and trust God. Resign yourself to a moment of Faith Insanity.

If God speaks to you and you listen to pressure from people outside of yourself to do it your way, God gets silent, and you will be permitted to be fooled. God will let you learn a lesson from your bad choices.

Look at your situation and ask the Spirit of the Lord to tell you what to do. Know that the answer is coming, and it is just waiting for you to be listening.

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. God permitted Gideon to lay out fleeces to build Gideon’s faith because Gideon was going to be required to have a moment of Faith Insanity. But with us, God wants us to trust Him and listen to the Spirit of God.

Judges 7:1-2 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.” God then tells Gideon to reduce the number of men who will go against the Midianites, which to common sense seems sheer insanity. God first tells Gideon to let anyone who is fearful go home – and out of 22,000, only 10,000 remained. Still too many people. God brings the people down to the water, and Judges 7:5-6 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; and likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. God selects the 300 to go against the armies of the Midianites.

After the two fleece that Gideon laid out, to his credit he did not lay out another fleece, he just did what God told him to do with the men. Had Gideon laid out another fleece, God might very well have moved to use another person. At some point God will not use us if we are not willing to yield to His Will. He wants us to grow up in our faith, to move beyond the fleece.

This is the first moment of Gideon’s Faith Insanity. What general going against a large force of the enemy reduces the number of men to 300? Most generals would put all men in battle hoping that sheer numbers will impact the enemy, and those who are fearful will either gain courage and valor or die, but they would be used. Instead God told Gideon to send all but 300 away.

Once Gideon passed this first moment of Faith Insanity, God then moved him to the next one. Judges 7:7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place. I will clue you in that God did cause Gideon to win – but you have to read it for yourself to see how (she says smiling) it is rather unusual.

But every step that we step out into Faith Insanity solidifies our faith. After the initial big step, the next step seems easier. Others will look at what Gideon did and say, “He’s totally nuts!!!” But when things get tough you sometimes have to do things differently. A moment of insanity comes as a test from God. It is God saying that He has given us enough information to stand in faith. And then God will show up.

We have to look at where God has brought us in the past, and then we can use that to give us the courage to take the next step forward into faith. David remembered the bear and the lion that God delivered him from – so the next Faith Insanity step was slaying a giant. It was another step in the faith progression for David. During the 17 years when David was running for his life from Saul, he remembered his past victories, and knew that he would be alright because God’s got it.

God gave us all a gift of faith on two levels. 1. He gives us the ability to have faith and 2. He gives us the first step ability to wield our faith.

Man is without excuse, for within us is the ability to have faith and believe in God. Man is hardwired to believe in God. Part of Him goes in search of God. An atheist, because of a problem with his faith, never works up faith and never believes.

Atheists have a problem with their logic – they fight so hard against the existence of God, but the mere fact that they have to fight against God gives God reality in their minds. Why fight against something that isn’t there? You have to believe in the existence of anything you deny. If you are denying something you are establishing the fact that its existence is possible.

Some try to dismiss God by pointing out that if He was God, it would be a perfect world. That argument points out their narcissism, for they are basically saying that the world isn’t perfect for THEM.

Hebrews 11 shows us the testimonies of many people who believed God in faith. Pastor Don asked us to start listing people from the Bible who believed God and what was their first moment of Insane Faith. Here is a partial list:

Abraham – started on a journey not knowing where he was going.
Samson – after he lost his sight he trusted God to use him in a big way.
Peter – stepped out of the boat
Noah – began to build an ark on dry ground with no sign of rain in sight, took 100 years to do
Samson – using a jaw of a donkey to defeat the Philistines
Jehosephat – surrounded on all sides by the “ites”, sends out singers to win battle
Rahab – hid spies
Elijah – when he covered altar with water and asked fire of God to come down
Job – Did not cease believing God in the face of so many disasters
Children of Israel in Egypt – applying blood to their doors
Moses – stand between doom and the Red Sea – the sea parts
Stephen – stands in faith, even though stoned to death
Ruth – Ruth left her paganism and embraced the faith of her mother-in-law
Esther – If I live, I live, If I die, I die
Saul/Paul – stayed the course
Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego – refuse to worship idol even when outcome was burning furnace.
The Centurion with the sick servant – Jesus commented on his faith
4 men lowering paralyzed man down for healing –
Woman with issue of blood – if I can just touch the hem of his garment.
Thief on the cross – throwing himself at Jesus’ mercy
Then there are historical people like Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther.
Joseph not casting Mary aside when he found out she was pregnant.

The test of our faith is what do we do when we seem to be attacked by the circumstances of this world? Do we trust God, or do we alter our course. Do we have faith in the face of death?

Pastor Don encouraged us to remember our difficult situations that God helped us through in the past. To hold onto the truth of the Bible, The Word and our testimony. Most of us miss our great blessing because we let go of our faith too soon. God still can lift us up, but it may delay our blessing.

Let’s all step out in insane faith, trusting that God will see us through what He has promised He would do.

Have a blessed day.

Heather

If you want, you can read Part One before reading this post.

How do we get born again?

John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We are born of God, and this is available to AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, and those who receive Him become Children of God. Being a Child of God is not inherited (Heather’s note: God has no grandkids – all who come to Him must choose to come to Him.) God permits us to become His children. God’s only qualification is to look into our hearts and say, “I receive you.” God in His wisdom can see far enough into the future to see our failures and successes. He knows us.

He knew us before we were born. He know who would reject Him. Yet God is fair, and He lets the rejection be played out – lets us make the choice. It is like going to a basketball game of a team that never loses who is playing the worst team of the league – you know that the stronger team will win, but you still let the game be played out.

Because God permits the evil to exist here on earth, it lets us recognize the good much better. It gives us wisdom, and lets us choose the place where we need to be. (Heather’s note, sort of like the field with the wheat and the tares – they both grow up together, but only one produces fruit. Pastor Don once talked about strength training – that we build our spiritual muscles by resisting evil.)

Some people go to churches where they are not challenged, but we need someone to come alongside us to help us grow up, to rub against us in ways that challenge us to learn the art of graciousness and forgiveness, to teach us the truth, even when the truth hurts.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The word “glory” is difficult to define. The concordance talks about a heaviness of God. Whenever God showed up with His Glory, people fell down. An example is when Solomon dedicated the Temple, and the priests fell down and could not get up. There is a weightiness to God’s Glory. You cannot separate the Glory of God from the Grace and Power of God. God is full of Grace and Truth. And the Word became flesh. Through Jesus we saw God’s glory, power, grace, ability, and presence. Somehow today we get the idea that God will show up without His Glory, Grace, Truth, Ability, and Power. Jesus can’t do that, He cannot be separated from these, and He loves us. Jesus’ Glory is His Grace, Power, Ability, and Power. The people missed it. The Glory of the Lord fell when everyone in the upper room was in one accord, and everyone was happy.

The Word (Logos) had the same Glory, as God has, the same Glory as was manifested in Jesus of Nazareth, and the same Glory that Jesus has when He was risen and goes back to the Glory at the right Hand of the Father.  When people saw Jesus of Nazareth (the Word made flesh) they beheld the Glory.

Now Jesus is with the Lord (ascended to Heaven) as before. John, in Revelation, beheld Jesus (the Lamb) and could not look at Him. John fell at Jesus’ feet when he beheld the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords shining so brightly that when the New Heaven and the New Earth comes, we will not need a sun – for Jesus and God will provide the light.

Most people view Jesus as Jesus the meek and lowly. Yes He was meek, humble,  but He also wielded incredible power. When He told the soldiers who came to arrest Him, “I Am He,” they fell down, they could not stand. Jesus was full of Grace, Power, Might and yet was humble.

His Mission

The Image of God as God revealed Himself to us as Jesus, with a strong, dynamic personality. We cannot reduce Jesus to just meek and humble, He also was strong and had power and might.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Immanuel means, God WITH us. The Son of God, born as GOD WITH US, the Word made flesh is with us.

Isaiah 7:15-16 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.

Jesus will learn as a child the difference between good and evil, ethics and morality. Pastor Don reminded us that as a baby Jesus wet His diaper, cried, and had to learn as He grew toward His mission. Yet in all things He chose the good. He worked alongside Joseph as a carpenter, helped His mother, etc. He was fully human/fully divine.

What Was His Mission?

Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

Not everyone has the revelation of the Word made Flesh. Pastor Don asked us who the world thinks Jesus is. Some say He is a prophet, a good teacher, a nice person, a good man. Many think that Jesus is in the same category as Buddha and Muhammad, one of many gods. Not everyone realizes He is the Savior of the World, the Way, the Truth, the Life.

Isaiah 53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.  The pictures of Jesus that are put out today with the flowing hair and beautiful face are not the way Jesus looked. There was no beauty that we should desire Him. He was the LOGOS, THE WORD MADE FLESH. Don’t fall for charisma.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. When people looked at Jesus, they did not see a movie star. He did not outwardly look like a king – much like David did not look like kingly material but King Saul had the outward appearance of a king – but not the inner requirements of kingship. People did not esteem Jesus.

Isaiah 53:4  Surely He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

So many say that the Jews killed Jesus, or the Romans killed Jesus, but it was we who killed Him because He willingly laid down His life for our sins.

Isaiah 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisements for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

Notice it is OUR transgressions, OUR iniquities, chastisements for OUR peace. And by His stripes WE are healed.

Isaiah 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. ALL, not some, not a few, but US ALL.

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

So often we say we want to be like Christ, but not like Christ in this verse. When we get accused falsely, or hurt by someone we do not want to silently take it. We want to get back at the person who hurt us, but to be like Christ we need to keep our mouth shut.

Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. No one spoke up for him, Peter denied Him. Do we speak up for Him today?

Isaiah 53:9 And they made His grave with the wicked–But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Joseph of Arimathea provided the garden tomb for Jesus, a rich man’s tomb, for it had a garden. We saw that there were deep wells in the garden area so that the plants would grow. It was not a poor person’s grave. Yet he died between two thieves on the cross. Below are a few pictures from our Israel trip of the Garden tomb.

You can see the plants around the tomb, this was a garden. Our guide showed us the wells that collected the water to keep the plants alive.

Here we were waiting to enter the tomb.

The tomb is empty!!!!

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed. He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. Jesus died for us. He knew this plan when He was the Word (Logos). When we sin, we grieve Jesus. For that reason, we try to live lives without sin, for our sins grieve Him. He died for them on the cross.

We finished up by reading Isaiah 53:11-12 together Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death. And He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

What was Jesus’ mission? He was the Man, the Word of God. His mission was to take sin off the planet, and to eternally deposit it into the sea of forgetfulness, as far as the east is from the west. Jesus put on a man suit, and went to the cross for our sins. His mission didn’t stop at the cross. He continues to grieve because we continue to sin and destroy the Covenant. At the Day of the Lord, sin will be put to an end.

Jesus’ mission is to take sin from the Earth, to give forgiveness to those who receive Him into their lives.

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD and the day of vengence of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

Jesus’ Glory is all of the above and more, and as God’s Children, we are part of that glory. He is proud of each and everyone of us. His love is special for us. Look for Jesus in everything we do. Jesus completed His purpose, and as many as receive Him are the Children of God.

Have a blessed night,

Heather

Pastor Don felt that it was important to review the basics of who Jesus is and what His mission was. As time goes on we are going to talk a bit about signs and wonders and laying out of fleeces, these are confirmations to the flesh, but as Christians God confirms to us through our Spirit.

Pastor Don pointed out that sometimes we are out of touch with God. We forget the mission or original instructions that Jesus had on earth. The prophetic word spoken by the prophets points out what His life was supposed to be. The people were expecting a different kind of savior, but the words of prophesy clearly spelled out what Jesus’ mission was.

We have to be able to articulate what we believe and know that what confirms our walk of faith is truly based on Him, what the Gospels say about Him. We need to know the Man and His mission.

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There are many bosses, who is it that we are following? The Greek word for “word” is LOGOS. In the first verse when “Word” is mentioned it is not in the sense of a word that we speak or read, it is WORD AS A BEING, a person, or personality. This “Word” is describing an essence or a person of the Godhead whose title is THE WORD, and this was before Jesus of Nazareth was born in the human flesh. Before He came in the flesh, He was part of the Godhead known as THE WORD.

In Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, we see this part of the Godhead is described as a messenger of God (The Message of God), for He was not yet born in the flesh.

When Moses came upon the burning bush the VOICE told him to take off his shoes for he was on holy ground. The Angel of the Lord spoke to Him. God was revealed as I AM THAT I AM. This is how the VOICE, the Angel of the Lord describes himself. It shows that He is there for eternity, without beginning or end. Has always been there and always will be. Jesus also in the Garden of Gethesemene, when asked if He was Jesus of Nazareth, replied, “I AM HE,” at those words the people drew back and fell to the ground. John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

Abraham was outside his tent and meets up with the I AM. He sees the Angel of the Lord, the Message of the Lord, and tells Abraham that Sarah was going to have a baby – he knew because it was He who makes it happen. Sarah was inside the tent laughing within herself, and God hears her laugh, not the laughter of belief like Abraham’s laugh. Abraham was laughing with delight. The Lord heard Sarah’s laugh and told her he did, she denied it, but He knew for He is God and knows.

Jacob wrestles with the Angel of the Lord, who renames Jacob to Isaac, and then tells Jacob that he is going to bless him. This is THE WORD OF GOD.

Whatever the Word of God speaks is truth, He is not under any man or being. What He speaks into existence comes into existence.

In Genesis 1 it says and God SAID. Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…. The US shows the plurality of the Godhead, God, the Word, and there is also the Holy Spirit hovering. As a human we can speak things into existence because we are made in God’s image.

There is great ability in the Word of God. Romans 4:17 ….God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

He speaks those things into existence. God is faith, God is love. God speaks into existence what did not exist before. God can control the circumstances about what He has spoken. No matter how effective we are, we do not have enough faith or wisdom to control all.

Logos, Word of God has the ability to control, the wisdom to see, and brings it to pass in the proper season for our lives. In the spiritual the real man can mess up faith with unbelief, and that can sabotage the plan of God.

God will work all the pieces together, even if we do not see His working with our eyes. Sometimes we think we can come up with a better plan than God, like Sarah did by having Abraham lay with Hagar, but that was not God’s plan.

Our relationship with God is to trust His ability to bring it to pass in its proper season. He has all the pieces of the puzzle. We do not have His far-reaching vision, we see our circumstances.

We cannot listen to anyone who speaks against what God has told us He will do. Do not stray from the Path God has for us. Dominion and authority was given to man in the Garden, we were to dominate our selves and our environment.

Anything or anyone that tells us what to do or controls our behavior is what we place in the role of God in our lives. Adam and Eve accepted satan’s suggestions, made him the god of their lives and lost their dominion over the earth to satan. Like Jesus did, we have to say, “Get thee behind me satan.”

Because we have the ability to speak into existence we need to take a moment of pause before we speak. If we have spoken something in faith, we have to make sure we keep speaking in faith, not killing faith by doubt and unbelief. If something is not in existence now, say “I used to do this….but now…” Speak the truth of God, not the circumstances.

In Verse 4 it talks about life (and the life was the light of men)- what kind of life – it is the Zoe kind of life. Before God we were dead, but now we live because we have the Word of God in our lives. To be dead is to be absent from the presence of God. To live is to be present with God. We need to have an awareness that we can get into the presence of God. Our spirit is changed because of God, and we need to know we can get into the presence of God at any time. The Word dwells in us – but for the Word to be useful, we have to have some word in us. The more Word in us, the more alive we are, the more discerning, capable, confidant, and separated from the old man of the flesh. God’s Word does not return void. The Word refreshes us, strengthens us, and builds up life in us. Zoe, the God kind of life. Anything outside of Zoe is just existence.

Jesus is the Word, and He gives us life – Zoe. We have to get to the place where we don’t conceive of God as way over there, for the further away God is in our minds, the more we are dead. We want God inside (once we are saved, He is inside, but will not force Himself on us, so we can push Him away and He will honor that). The truth is He is always there, but we refuse to recognize this in our pride.

We have the mistaken idea that we can have a secret and private life without God, or so we thought – but that is death. God knows what we do and think, even if no one on earth does. When we put God far away from us, it is easier to do evil. The closer we are to God, the harder it is to do evil, for our conscience will not permit it.

Once there is more Zoe life in you, and you realize that God sees everything, we have a sense of speaking life, being alive to God and we do the things of God without shame. When we try to cover up things in our lives we are dead. Remember how happy a two year old can be ripping off their clothes. They know no shame because they are alive to God. Adam and Eve covered up once they gave in to satan’s suggestions.

Verse 5 says, And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

God is good. Pastor Don pointed out that when he counsels people it often takes them awhile to get comfortable with confessing their sins, for they often assume God is going to condemn them. But God is into repentance, not condemnation. Darkness cannot handle even a little bit of light, for it takes the tiniest bit of light to dispel the darkness. We can only understand this when we get close to it.

Pastor Don gave an example of a person who has an algebra book, but keeps the book in their trunk. They cannot learn algebra until they actually take the book out of the trunk, use the book and apply the problems. If it is just an idea in the trunk, the person will never understand algebra. It is the same with God’s light. We can know about His light, but it is only when we let it into ourselves that change occurs. Once light comes into the darkness, darkness goes away.

Pastor Don gave a definition of mental illness – To keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

If we keep trying to solve our problems in our own strength and they don’t get solved, we need to come out of the darkness and into the light. We need to get a good concept of God-good, satan-bad. We can’t stay in the darkness and get a revelation of light.

Some know the basics about God, but refuse to step from the darkness and go into the light – they prefer the darkness.

John 1:6-7 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.

John was not the Light (Jesus), he was there to bear witness to the Light.

John 1:8-9 He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

This light is available to every one.

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He is powerful – created the world, but the world did not recognize Him.

John 1:11 He came to His own and His own did not receive Him. This refers to the Jewish people.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

As His children, we are given a right and privilege and this is extended to AS MANY as RECEIVED Him – Jews and Gentiles.

The WORD OF GOD came to earth as MAN, and His light banished the darkness.

The Church is divided because of a translation of verse 12. The King James version says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

The King James says “power” the New King James says “right.”

As time and archeological discoveries occur, sometimes the meanings of certain words change. In 1611 when King James translated the Bible he translated and made the word “power” apply to two different words:

1. (power) Dunamis ( 1411)- miraculous power, ability, abundance, meaning, might, strength, wonderful work.

2.(right) Exousia (1849) - force, capacity, competency, freedom, mastery, authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right strength.

A badge on a uniform shows your authority and jurisdiction which is Exousia, but that does not give you the power to wield your authority.

When we receive Christ we come out of darkness, as he is the light, and we gain His power (Dunamis). With that dunamis then we can wield the authority Christ has given us.

If you receive authority you have to know how to control it, before you get power. If you are given the authority to hang from a bar for five minutes, it does not mean that you can hang from that bar for five minutes – you need to power and strength to be able to do so.

We can receive blessings and permission to use authority, but to use authority power has to step in.

The reason that the translation of this scripture has caused dissention is that those who see it as right (Exousia) believe that once saved we have all the power that we need, there is no more power to be gained. But they do not realize that right does not give them the power (Dunamis) to execute the authority of Christ.

Denominational people who do not believe in the gifts of the spirit speak of authority and right. The disciples had the authority from Christ, but were sent to the upper room to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit., Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

The word “Power” in Luke 24:49 is Dunamis. When Jesus ascended the disciples were born again and had authority, but no dunamis. They had to go to Jerusalem and await the Holy Spirit.

The church messed up on this. Acts 1:5 For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirt not many days from now.  Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Again, this is Dunamis power. And this power would come to the disciples via the Holy Spirit.

John 20:21-23 When He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

The disciples were given the authority (still hiding out from the authorities in fear), but it wasn’t until Acts, in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit endued them with Power from on High. They came into agreement in the Upper Room and the fire of the Holy Spirit came, and the disciples were changed. No longer did they hide out in fear, but they became bold.

Pastor Don then went on with the basics about how do we get born again. I will continue this tomorrow so the post is not too long. He has pointed out that it is often good to review foundations of faith so that when questioned we can clearly answer other’s concerns.

Hoping you have a blessed night,

Heather

Our church supports missionaries in other countries, one of which is India – not the India where many missionaries go, but deep into the interior of India where there are not so many missionaries. The Pastor we deal the most with is Pastor Abraham who has many churches in India. Pastor Abraham taught another pastor, Pastor Paulas, who has already started three Living Word Chapel churches in India. Before last Wednesday’s Bible study we prayed for Pastor Paulas. Because today is Independence Day, I think it is fitting to pray for religious freedom around the world. Let me share with you what we learned recently happened to Pastor Paulas’ church.

45-50 Shaq (sp?) youth attacked one of Pastor Paulas’ churches. The members had gathered to do a prayer meeting. They were not evangelizing, it was just the members meeting to pray. In India evangelizing is against the law. The members were attacked during their prayers. Mr. T. XaXa was dragged out of the meeting and beaten, taken to the police station. The attackers were beating people with hockey sticks, and then dragged Mr. XaXa to the police station. We are praying for his release and healing for his body.

Pastor Abraham’s churches have also suffered similar problems. Last year 19 members were beaten, dragged out and of those 19, 9 were arrested. The people were taken out into the street, beaten and trees and logs were rolled over them. Many were hurt to the point where they couldnt’ work, the 9 were kept in jail for six months before they could be bailed out. We were able to send money to bail the members out, and ultimately the charges were declared false, but the people were beaten, and those who perpetrated the abuse to the church members went free – no charges were brought against them.

The police in India will not press charges against the attackers. In the previous situation the activists had lodged a complaint four days before the attack on the 19 members, so this was premeditated. Jobs are hard to come by for the ones who are Christians.

The activists in India do not tolerate religious freedom, and this is not reported by our media and the press. The government of India says that there is freedom to choose religion, but the government is not enforcing freedom of religion, and do not press charges for those who attack Christians. Justice is not served in these cases.

So pray for India, pray for all countries where religious freedom is not permitted. Pray for our country. 

Right now at church we have a prayer time chart up for a prayer movement for July 7, 2007 – 7/7/07 to pray, each of us are signing up for a fifteen minute slot. Perhaps on that day you can join your prayers with ours, praying freedom for our country, praying wisdom for our leaders, praying for a move of God in our World.

Hoping you have a blessed Independence Day. I will be typing up my notes from the Wednesday Bible study and posting it as soon as I can, but it may be much later today. I guarantee it is a study that will bless your socks off.

Have a wonderful day, I get to go to a birthday party for Pastor Don’s mom who is 90 years old/young today. She is a pleasure to visit and talk with, for her experiences are so varied. She was the daughter of a pastor, married a pastor and now has two sons who are pastors. God is always with her. At one point she directed a choir of many different churches that performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and many other places around the country. I love learning about her and her life.

Blessings to  you and yours,

Heather

Pastor Emmanuel Eyim-Danquah,
Christian Restoration Ministries Intl.
19255 NE 3rd Avenue
Miami, Fl. 33169

(305) 655-1923  

***********************************************************************

Pastor Danquah preached a powerful message two Sundays ago. What was funny is that on the way to church I was pointing out to my husband that sometimes I wish a visiting pastor would not preach always on prosperity, but rather on one’s spiritual path in life and how we can serve God better. Pastor Danquah did just that and it moved me profoundly.

Judges 3:31 After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.

Judges 5:6 In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, and the travelers walked along the byways.

Pastor Danquah reminded us that every minute, every day, every hour, every month, and every year should be used to the maximum for God’s greatness. God already wired us for greatness before we were born. Our future is not an option, but we have a choice to follow God’s plan or our flesh. Before God created us, He had the finished product in mind. When we are great in God, all other things fall into place.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

No matter how things seem in our circumstances, God is able to turn them around and put us on the path of greatness. People do not realize that we are wired to be great, if we lack knowledge about what is planned for us it makes it hard to reach what God has planned for us.

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Moses prayed this prayer to God, and it should be our prayer also. Young people don’t think that their days are numbered. Maximize every moment, day, hour, minute and second. Don’t waste your day on you.

If you wasted years in your past, now that you are born again, God wants you to use your future years to His glory. God will help you to make the remaining years great before you die.

Congress can never save America, it is us who will be the salt of the nation by the light given to us by God. God shows His power through us. God is raising Christians to take authority in the world. Don’t underestimate what God can do through us.

Acts 15 talks about doing the will of God and reaching out among the Gentiles, who are called by God’s name. Pastor Danquah then asked us if we are serving our generation or are we just taking up space. God wants us to maximize the moment for His grace to spread.

In the days of Shamgar the Philistines were oppressing Israel. the people could not travel on the highway, if they wanted to get to Jerusalem they had to go far off the roads on difficult terrain. Shamgar took his time to maximize the moment. He had an oxgoad and used that to kill six hundred Philistines. He took what was in hand and maximized it to do the battle.

When God speaks to you about what He sees for you in the future, He is not seeing the problems, He sees where He is about to place you. God overlooks the present situation (which will be taken care of by the Lord), and He sees our future. We don’t need to worry about future problems, He has already taken care of the problems.

God can make you great regardless of where you are now or what you are going through. God will make a way. Shamgar used the bone of an ox to kill Philistines.

There are four principles for Maximizing the Moment.

1. Use what you have.
2. Start where you are.
3. Do all you can.
4. Leave all the results to God.

Some want to have big money before they start a business, or have everything in place before they begin an endeavor, but that does not happen.

God only gives PROVISION FOR THE VISION.

As long as you are comfortable about the situation and your capacity to handle it in your own power, you are not seeing a miracle of God. Step out of your comfort zone and see the miracles of God. God wants us to do more, to do what He has told us because we are trusting Him.

What is a maximizer? It is a person who possesses strength of character enables us to keep believing, planning and working to experience the full potential in the face of less than optimal conditions. Negative conditions do not mean that it is not the will of God. We will face negative conditions, but don’t give up. Don’t say it is over until it is over. Keep going. Keep trying. Keep moving, planning, and thinking in the face of less. There is God who always shows up.

Peter was a maximizer. He stepped out of the boat. And Jesus was there.

God will always show up when we walk on the water of life. When God speaks and gives us a command we can choose to do it or not.

The characteristics of a Maximizer

1. A maximizer discovers untapped potential and favor that will bring the willingness of someone to use his influence to help you. It is not feelings.

2. A maximizer learns how to keep dreams alive in spite of discouragement. God says do this, don’t get discouraged, don’t throw in the towel, keep your self up in the face of discouragement. The devil wants to kill our dreams. The Spirit of the Lord is resurrecting your vision today. Is anything too hard for God? No, nothing.

3. A maximizer reaches the breaking point but doesn’t break or pass out. If conditions don’t break you, they will make you stronger. Keep believing, planning and thinking.

4. A maximizer chooses to rise above the moment.

5. A maximizer doesn’t look to losers to counsel them in their affairs. If we cling to losers we will go nowhere. Seek mentors who are ahead of you. Don’t be complacent with what you have, there is more for you. There is more than enough in the system of God for His people. Look for people ahead of you and learn from them. Don’t use failure as a crutch, see it as something to learn from and move ahead. A maximizer never follows a parked car. Seek people who can help you find strategies for success and greatness. If your friends have no vision move towards people who have vision. If God has someone mentor you, stay with them.

Pray for a pastor who is a maximizer who will take you to new levels. The pastor is the shepherd, and the church members are like sheep. In Church you can worship and that will have a great impact on your belief. The shepherd is more farsighted about our life than we are. Sheep do not tell the shepherd where to graze. It is important not to hop from church to church.

Dynamics of Victorious Living

Victorious living is the state in life where obstacles, barriers, and adversaries have been defeated and overcome. Where we understand we are a maximizer and we will conquer.

1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes he world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Notice – it does not say WHOsoever, it says WHATsoever. (Heather’s note, I never noticed that before.

1. If you are born of God you are an overcomer. 1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Our faith gives us victory to overcome the world. Let our faith rise up and believe that God is able to do everything He says He will do.

2. God says your dreams and your visions will occur. Your ministry gives you vision, and you put it into effect.

Put your trust in God, not in a person, for people will disappoint you. Place your confidence in God, only God can help you.

Pastor Danquah talked about one of his churches in Africa. He mentioned that he brought Pastor Don to the church to meet the members. He did not know that while he was away one of the people who he grew up in the Church stole 2/3 of his members away from him, spreading lies. Pastor Danquah did not give up his vision or stop working with the people and he is now prosperous. It did not go so well for the person who stole the members for what he had done was not of God.

If someone gives you favor, take advantage of it, to bring about your vision.

If your dream is given to you by God, you will accomplish the dream. If it is a selfish dream, it may not be given to you by God.

Be a maximizer when difficulties come your way. Know that God will work things out.

The Promises of a Victorious Life

1. The promise of a blessing does not exempt us from troubles and challenges.

Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

When something comes against you, remember that God will deliver you. Notice, the verse does not say A FEW afflictions, it says MANY. When we are going through our many afflictions we have to remember that God will deliver us from them all, not SOME, but ALL. We need to set our troubles aside for God. The world will come against you, so we need to arm ourselves with the full armor of God. The world will fight us and bring troubles and afflictions, BUT THE LORD STILL DELIVERS US FROM THEM ALL. He gives us deliverance, encouragement, to rise up over the challenges as a maximizer. If God is for you, who can be against you?

2. God gives us major breakthroughs.

Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Challenges are a part of life, but with God’s help we can be MORE THAN conquerors.

3. Don’t be afraid to step out, God has overcome the World.

John 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

God will never bring you to a situation that is beyond your ability. If you are going through a trial, God makes a way for you to escape. Pressure moments can cause you panic and cause you to retreat from life. Go to God for strength, wisdom, direction and He will give you the ability. He has put His Spirit in us to guide us.

2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

4. Because of the testimony of Scripture we know that God fights for us, God always shows up.

Three young Hebrew boys refused to bow down to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, and they were cast into the fire for standing in faith and refusing to bow down. When they were cast into the fire, Nebuchadnezzar saw four people walking in the fire, one like the Son of God. When the boys were brought out of the fire there was no smell of smoke on their clothes, only one thing was burned, the ropes that bound them, neither they nor their clothes burnt. Only the bonds that held them were burned away.

Sometimes situations in our lives makes it seem like we are cast into the fire, but God airconditions the fire for us. In the midst of the fires of our lives we can have joy unspeakable, unsurpassed power, and a peace that passes all understanding. Greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world.

Don’t be like the Children of Israel when Goliath tried to frighten them, speaking boastful words. People who know their God, do not give credence to the boastful words of the enemy. David looked at Goliath with the eyes of the Spirit. David maximized the moment, taking those smooth stones at hand. In the natural David was small and the giant big. But, through the eyes of God, David saw himself as big and the problem of the giant as small. David fought and won against Goliath.

5. In any situation of trial the maximizer will see how Great God is, and how God will cause the problems to disappear.

The people in the Bible are no different from us, they just knew their God, and because they knew and trusted God they could do great exploits.

When God says something to you, don’t figure out how it is going to be done. Start where you are and do what you can with what you have on hand. We can trust that when God gives us something to do, He will give us the grace to complete it.

The pressure of the moment can cause you to be traumatized. Don’t let it spill out onto other people, go to God for help. Share with Jesus. Psalm 34:18 The righteous cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

A pressure moment can cause you to be victimized, to blame others. It is at that time that it is important to go to God, and spend time with Him. In a pressure moment we have a choice -to make the most out of life’s challenges or succumb. 1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world –our faith.

Don’t underestimate God, if He says that He will do something, He will make it happen.

Remember your ATTITUDE DETERMINES YOUR ALTITUDE. When you face a challenge compose yourself, see why people ar behaving like they are, control your flesh and take the problem to Jesus. He will help you out of the trial. Don’t let the pressure cause paralysis. Don’t give up for your miracle is on the way. If God is for you, who can be against you?

Pastor Danquah prophesied that there was going to be a paradigm shift for Living Word Chapel, that God was going to bring the church to a new level. The favor of God will fall on our church. This favor will spread to the rest of the congregation. People are going to be coming in droves to the church. For God is shifting the blessing. Pastor Danquah is waiting to hear testimonies of how God is touching lives at Living Word Chapel.

I can’t wait to hear how God is touching your life.

Have a blessed day,

Heather

Last Sunday Pastor Don pointed out that there are prerequisites for what God has promised in covenant. There are false teachings in the Church today, teachings that are based on truth with a lie thrown in. Satan is a liar and he is a smart liar. He will tell us partial truths to pull us off of God’s plan for our lives and to get us to think wrongly. When we accept the lie we are no longer in obedience to God.

For example some people use the fact that God’s love is unconditional to think that they can do anything they want, sin, and not obey God because His love is unconditional. It is true that His love is unconditional, but that does not mean that God does not permit us to face repercussions for our sins. He will love us, much like a parent loves their child, but will still correct the child. The love of the parent does not diminish, but the child will not like the correction. There is a fruit to sin, and if we persist in sinning there will be repercussions – God will love us, but we will have the repercussions for our sins. And, while God loves us unconditionally, His blessings are conditional..

God is good, He is righteous, has a sweet anointing, but that does not mean that He will bless you if you are disobedient. His blessings are based on conditions, and the conditions are based on obedience to God, to fully living within His Word.

For example, a person cannot claim prosperity from God and then take the money and gamble it away at Mohegan Sun, for even if you won – another person lost, and it is ill gotten gain. And worse, if you walked in with money and lost it, you are throwing away your blessing. God cannot honor that. We are seeing that gambling makes slaves of people – there are 17 million members of Gamblers Anonymous. God is for creating liberty in our lives, not bondage.

The end of prohibition created a lot of alcoholics. People began to drink more and more. Alcohol for the alcoholics is also a bondage.

Just because society says an activity is OK doesn’t mean that it is OK. If we accept evil into our lives it paves the way for new evils. We are in the midst of cultural warfare.

As a kid Pastor Don grew up in the Bronx, and he never in his wildest imagination thought that there would have to be metal detectors in his school because of all the weapons kids today would try to smuggle into the school.

There are certain limits that we don’t think about, and all of a sudden we find ourselves where we never thought we would be. Today our society wants us to tolerate and accept anything and everything. Where we went wrong was accepting the first thing.

Pastor Don gave an illustration using the praise teams’ equipment. He pretended to be satan (meaning anything culturally shady) and walked up to our music minister, Joy, and asked her if he could borrow the microphone for a few minutes. She said, “No.” He said, “It is only for a few minutes.” Then he went on to point out how INTOLERANT, BIASED, PREJUDICED she was because she would not let him borrow the microphone for a few minutes. So she relents.

He then asks, “Can I keep the microphone for a few weeks.” Pointing out that you let me have it for a few minutes, and nothing bad happened, what is a few weeks. Uses those emotionally charged words again about intolerance, prejudice, etc. She relents and gives permission. Then he moves to the keyboard, which goes nicely with the microphone, and after all nothing happened when you loaned me the microphone, so what about the piano. Moved to the drums, etc, until he had in his possession and use all the instruments in the stage. Then refused to let her use them because she was not politically correct.

Where our society went wrong was when they gave in to the first demand – had they held on to the values mentioned in the Bible, our society would not have gone into the downward spiral it has been going in. If we let cultural values move us, then we move further and further away from the truth of God.

Everyone today is doing their own thing, violent crimes are increasing. Violent crimes among women are on the rise. Today the focus is on individual faith. People are deciding, “What is the moral code for ME.” But that moves us further and further away from God. The Church has to ask, “What will we tolerate and accept?” We are, as a society being asked to tolerate more and more unacceptable behavior.

Where do we draw the line? Permitting one form of sexual immorality leads to another group demanding that their form of sexual immorality is acceptable. Remember, that the hand that rocks the cradle determines the next generation.

To determine what the next generation will be like we have to be sure of our position of faith, be sure what is morally acceptable and ethically correct. What you believe and do not believe will determine if you decide something is godly or ungodly. We want to hold to what the Word of God says is morally acceptable.

Politicians and political forces are attempting to re-write values. We have to make sure of what we believe and make sure that we line up with the truth of God. We have to know for sure what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable. Because it is a battle, Pastor Don then brought us to Ephesians 6 and the whole armor of God.

Ephesians 6:10-11 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Remember that satan will use all of his wiles to pull us away from God. Pastor Don asked us if we ever wake up in the morning in a great mood and then something dark seems to drop on us from out of the blue and our mood becomes nasty. Or if you have been driving along the road and a stray thought comes into your mind to drive into a telephone pole. The devil will put thoughts into our mind, and we have to discern where these thoughts come from. Are they thoughts from God or thoughts from satan. Not all thoughts that cross our mind come from us or come from God. Satan is the master of tiny little thoughts that pull us just a little bit away from the truth, and then over time that little way becomes much larger.

Have you ever listened to that little voice that keeps you from coming to church? Satan will give you many excuses, for he knows that if you come to church you will get better, and feel better.

We fight against change, not wanting to change our lives, to get out of our comfort zone. We want things to stay the same. (Heather’s note, one time Pastor Don defined insanity as keeping on doing the same thing the same way and expecting it to produce a change when it hasn’t changed in the past.)

In the last days we are going to see many more attacks from the enemy, for he knows his time is short.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The first heaven is the air we breathe, the second heaven is from the top of our head and upward towards the third heaven. It is in the second heaven that satan has dominion. (Heather’s note, air waves, TV waves, etc are in this second heaven.) Adam and Eve gave dominion to satan by their listening to him and disobeying God. Whenever we listen and obey anything other than God we are in disobedience. When we listen to hate, we produce hate, if we listen to love of God, we produce love of God. What is it that we make an idol in our lives? Is it porn, the computer, hanging out with friends, our body, the shopping network, bad temper - whatever we put in the most important place in our lives is what becomes our idol.

People of faith throw off the devil, who wants to be our god. We do not want his ethics or morals. We want to let the Word guide us, and accept faith as a lifestyle, permitting God to direct our steps, even if we don’t know where God is taking us.

Come back to God. If we have listened to words that got us in trouble, if we have sinned, not obeyed God, do not run from God, run to God. The battle is not of the flesh and blood. We get caught into thinking that the problem is other people, but it isn’t. It is the forces behind the others, in the heavenlies, that is causing them to do what they do. When we wake up and get right with God, then we do not react to circumstances but we act as God directs us to act.

So often we act without thinking and then ask ourselves, “Why did we do this?” We need to walk the Walk, and learn to discern the spirits in the world, and then we will not let those lying spirits in the heavenlies cause us to take wrong steps. When we get a thought or plan an action, discern, is it of God or is it a spirit sending a wrong message to us?

If you know a person who is ruled by ungodly thoughts, who will not bring out the best in us, unless directed by God to be in their lives, stay away from them. Find someone you can get together with in the Word, and who can lead you in a godly direction.

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The day of the Lord is fast approaching, and we need to have the whole armor. Each piece is important and if there is one missing, we leave ourselves open to satan. Notice that the Word says that we are to “STAND.” Not run, not turn around. (Heather’s note, you will see that the whole armor of God covers the front of the person, if they turn around, their backs are exposed. If we stand or advance, then Jesus has our backs.)

Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.

No matter how the test is going, STAND. The Church is missing the evil, we don’t do real battle against the cultural war. Our standards are being changed, we are trying to go with the flow. We are getting caught up in certain sexual sins such as homosexuality, and not making much ado about adultery or divorce. What is at stake is not the individual sin, but SEXUAL PURITY.  We allow ourselves to get off course, to stray a bit, and then when we look around and realize how far we have gone from God’s truth. We find ourselves where we don’t want to be.

Pastor Don pointed out that we can see the change even in the music. In the 50′s it was “Baby I love you.” In the 60′s it was “I love everybody and sleep with everybody, sex, drugs, and rock and roll.” This thinking criss crosses into all music. And now people look at us and tell us that we didn’t stop promiscuity in the 50′s, so what is so wrong with the way sex is viewed in the 60′s, so why not same sex in the 80′s? Now in 2000 there is perversion on every level and people are now trying to make it legal to have sex with children. Where is it going to stop?

We are losing the cultural war. The New York State Assembly passed a bill for same sex marriage, urged on by Eliott Spitzer. We were not given a chance to vote on it, the majority of New York State residents would not vote yes to this. We are now praying that the New York State Senate will not pass the bill.

What is happening is that politicians today are trying to unseat God, they are making themselves the heads of a political theocracy, and trying to legislate morality. If Christians protest, if they state that they do not agree, they are branded as “YOU PEOPLE are intolerant, closed minded and bigoted.” (Heather’s note, tolerance has taken on a new definition – that Christians are not to be tolerated for their beliefs, but all are supposed to accept as true and right anything anyone else but what a Christian believes, and if you don’t then you are branded intolerant. But those who accuse Christians of being intolerant are not tolerant towards Christians – it is a double standard.)

Ephesians 6:15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

The truth is that an immoral society breeds more problems without solutions than a moral society. How does one shod our feet, we do it thorough prayer, having fellowship with other believers, and having time in the Word. In the 50′s and 60′s the problems we face today would be unimaginable. We sought peace and love in our own power, not realizing that true peace comes from Christ.

Ephesians 6:16 above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (Heather’s note, they are fiery darts, not atom bombs. Many times it is the little annoyances that get to us, not the major concerns). But we use our shield of faith in Christ Jesus to help us get through all of our problems. We cannot do it alone. We protect ourself with the Word of God, the positive word of faith. When a person speaks a word of doubt and unbelief, say, “My Bible says….” Don’t accept any words spoken over you that do not agree with the Word of God.

Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God;  We need to remember that we are God’s child and He cares. The helmet of salvation protects our thoughts and the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God The best time to remember you are saved is when you are sinning, for that will stop you from doing what you are doing.

Ephesians 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. How often do we pray? ALWAYS. And with all types of praise, supplication for all saints, not just the ones we like today, but ALL saints.

We do not give up no matter our circumstances. Remember that God loves us. He is crazy about us, and will keep loving us unconditionally, but his promises are conditional.

Have a great Sunday!

Heather