“The Drought is Over!”

“The Drought is Over!” These are the words I heard in my spirit on November 28^th, 2010. In the midst of an extraordinary and challenging season the Holy Spirit has given us clarity. As I am writing this letter to you, my spirit is leaping within me over God’s awesome Word to our church and His Body. Who cares what the prophets of the land are saying? I want to know what God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and earth is saying. I am reminded daily by the Lord of the following verse:

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

 He (God Almighty) will have the last word! I am sure in your heart you are saying Amen! Even though we might not see the complete manifestation of this Word yet, I believe there are some steps of faith we can take to move us in the right direction. Here are three of them:

 Step 1- Repent! Get rid of the doubt, fear, frustration and anger you have felt about the economy, your family, your marriage, and your life in general. Repentance will always lead to refreshing.

Acts 3:[19] “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord”

 Step 2- Rejoice! This is faith in action. Praise is the manifestation of your faith! By the way, groaning, whining and complaining are too. According to James 3, our tongues are like a rudder on a ship or a harness on a horse. Is your mouth leading you in the direction you want to go?

Habakkuk 3:[17] Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— [18] Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

 Step 3- Release! This is the second message I received from the Lord in December. He said for me to tell His people to, “Release the Increase!” Give, sow, and bless at a new level. Increase has already been determined by God for you. Read Psalm 115:14-15. Another verse that I believe goes right along with this Word is found in Proverbs. It tells us as we release, it will bring increase.

Proverbs 11:24 (NCV) Some people give much but get back even more.  Others don’t give what they should and end up poor.

I encourage you today, to take the first step. Miracles are about to be released! Glory!

“The Drought is Over!”

2011

Are you ready for 2011? If you are, what did you do to get ready? Will this be another year of taking whatever comes, with no real goals and no real plans? What are you believing for? These are tough questions to ask, but they are extremely necessary if we really want to move in a more faith filled direction.
To be clear, I am not talking about making resolutions. Those always tend to look more like positive suggestions after 30 days. I am talking about goals, real goals with a time frame to them. In our leadership seminars, we teach that goals are smart:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-Intensive
Most people do not struggle with any part of this process, except the last one: time-intensity. Time is our greatest commodity. We all get the same amount. Once it is gone, it is gone for good unless you believe in quantum physics and time travel. So, when you sit down to reflect on this year and what you would like to do in this next year put some time limits on those resolutions.
Here is on of mine: Read thru entire Bible in the first 90 days of 2011.
Happy New Year!

A warning from God!

Greetings in the victorious name of Jesus Christ! I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you a warning I received from the Lord in the first part of October. The Lord spoke to me that His people are releasing their faith in their giving, but are then stopping their harvest with their words and actions after they give. The process of sowing and reaping is two-fold. The first part is the gift or seed that we sow, the second part is the faith that causes the return or the harvest. Your seed is what God multiplies, your faith is what God uses to do it. He then showed me that if we begin to speak contrary to His Word after we have sown or given, that we stop His angels from carrying out His will for harvest or increase in our lives. The angels do what God says to do. Here is a great bible reference for this:

Psalm 103:20-22 “Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word. Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You ministers of His, who do His pleasure. Bless the LORD, all His works, In all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!”

This verse clearly tells us that angels are carrying out what God’s Word has declared for you. In fact Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 14 tells us: Are not the angels all ministering spirits (servants) sent out in the service [of God for the assistance] of those who are to inherit salvation? (Amp)

When these verses were revealed to me, what I saw in the Spirit was heart breaking. I saw people giving, and the angels responding to their faith in God’s Word. The angels immediately went to work causing favor to come to the giver, until the giver began to speak contrary to God’s Word. At that moment the angels ceased bringing favorable opportunities or preferential treatment. It was a sad moment, because many opportunities for increase were lost. I really believe that God showed this to me for you. He is challenging all of us to not allow the negative, defeating words of financial circumstances around us to undermine our faith in His Word. Let all of us say what God says! The angels are ready to go to work! Amen!

Prayer for Debt Elimination

Several years ago, the Lord laid a special prayer on my heart for debt elimination. I trust it blesses you as much as it has blessed Sharon and I. Put you personal info in the spaces provided, and be sure to pray this prayer regularly.
Father, according to Hebrew 4:16, I come boldly to your throne of grace to obtain mercy, and grace in this time of need. Jesus told us in John 16:23, that we could ask you anything in His name, and that you would give us what we ask. Father, I am asking you to provide (amount of debt), above and beyond our regular income, to (spouse, if you have one) and I personally to pay off our debts. You said in Romans 13:8, that we are to owe no man anything but to love. We owe these debts and ask you to help us to pay off our debts. In Elisha’s Day according to II Kings 4:1-7, you helped a woman that owed her creditors. You did this by supernatural provision. I ask you to provide for this need according to Phillippians 4:19, where You said you would provide according to your riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Since Your word declares that you will provide, I thank You that these debts are paid, and I rejoice in Your faithfulness to your Word. In Jesus name. Amen

Should We Ask God to Kill People?

It was about a month or so ago that a New Jersey teacher wrote a prayer saying that their favorite celebrities had been taken by God, and that they wanted God to know that the Governor of New Jersey was their favorite and God could take them out too. These comments that were posted on the internet have created quite a ruckus. These comments have been taken by the media as, “God if you murder the Governor it would be alright with me.”

The prayer that the afore-mentioned teacher wrote is circulating all over the internet now in emails, and in postings on Facebook, and Twitter. Except now, people are changing the end of the prayer, and putting whoever they dislike as God’s assignment to take out. If you don’t like James Dobson or George Bush Jr. put their names in to be taken out, or if you don’t like President Obama or Pelosi or Reed put their names at the end. This is such a huge mistake, and here is why:

First of all, God isn’t working for us as our personal hitman. I will admit that I have had a few people I thought of asking Him to take out, but what am I going to do if I am on their list? Jesus Christ told James and John that they were way off base when they asked to call fire out of heaven to destroy Christ’s opposers (Luke 9:54). They even reminded Him that Elijah did it in the Book of Kings, so why shouldn’t they? What did Jesus say to them? He rebuked them. Why? Because His kingdom is built on love and forgiveness, not on anger and vengeance. He even said His disciples would be known by their love, not by their ability to wipe out anyone that disagrees with them. Besides, what happens when you get mad at yourself the next time?

Secondly, we shouldn’t pray for things that we don’t want to really see happen. It undermines our faith. It is kind of like this line of reasoning. I believe in Santa Clause. I believe in the Tooth Fairy. I believe in the Easter Bunny. I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior. When we find out the first three are not true, does it encourage our faith or undermine it? Jesus told us to be careful what we hear (Mark 4), but He also warned us that every vain and idle word we speak will be brought before His judgement. We should be very careful what we say about others! Amen! Thank you Richard that was awesome! (I am encouraging myself here.) There is no doubt that these are extraordinary day that we live in. Many people are angry, and frustrated on all kinds of levels. There is no doubt about that. But hate, vitriol, and death wishes have no place in the Christian’s life, even if it was just a jk. So, let’s stop the nonsense, and be followers of Christ.

Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you. And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we also do for you. May He make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen. (I Thessalonians 3:11-13)

The Code for Ministry

Pastor Steven Furtick  came up with what he calls a Code for Ministry. I found his ideas to be both thoughtful and inspiring, and wanted to share them with you. Here they are:

1)    We are faith-filled, big thinking, bet-the-farm risk takers. We’ll never insult God with small thinking and safe living.

2)    We are all about the “capital C” Church! The local church is the hope of the world and we know we can accomplish infinitely more together than apart.

3)    We are spiritual contributors not spiritual consumers. The church does not exist for us. We are the church and we exist for the world.

4)    We give up things we love for things we love even more. It’s an honor to sacrifice for Christ and His church.

5)    We wholeheartedly reject the label mega-church. We are a micro-church with a mega-vision.

6)    We will do anything short of sin to reach people who don’t know Christ. To reach people no one is reaching, we’ll have to do things no one is doing.

7)    We will lead the way with irrational generosity. We truly believe it is more blessed to give than to receive.

8)    We will laugh hard, loud and often. Nothing is more fun than serving God with people you love!

9)    We will be known for what we are for, not what we’re against. There are already enough jerks in the world.

-More next week

Who Am I? (Part One)

Who am I? Seems like a strange question, or at least like I am trying to play some kind of game with you. Would it surprise you that Jesus asked this question? He did! He asked His disciples to tell Him who men said He was, and then He asked them to tell Him who He was to them. (Matthew 16:13-19) Do you think Jesus was having an identity crisis? I don’t think so, but I believe He was trying to locate the disciples faith in Him. Not for His sake but for their sake.

Our perception of Christ can limit His ability in our lives. Our perceptions do not diminish His power in any way, but they can definitely diminish our ability to receive from Him. In Marks’ gospel, Jesus told the disciples that there would be signs following believers. We can also say that there would be no signs following unbelievers, couldn’t we? (Mark 16) If you don’t He saves, or heals, or delivers, or loves, etc… then you will hamper His ability to effect your life. Even though He has the capability to, and the desire to do it.

In the Book of Psalms it tells us that the Israelites limited the Holy One. (Psalm 78:41) In Marks’ gospel it tells us that Jesus Christ could not do any mighty works in His own hometown, except that He healed a few minor ailments. (Mark 6:5) Our understanding, and belief about who Jesus is, will be consequential to how we allow or permit God to be God in our lives. When Christ Jesus asks you this question, “Who am I?” What will be your response?

Wrestling with God

Have you been wrestling with God? Struggling, not necessarily with His Word, but perhaps with His timing. I love the story in Genesis 32 that tells us about Jacob wrestling with God. Though it is difficult for us to understand transformation can only happen through struggle. Now I know we would like it much better if God would just tap us on the head and “Bam!” we would change. No work on our part, just God.
Truthfully, I have to say that Christ extends His grace to us at no cost to us, but what we do with that grace costs us everything. His ways our not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9) Transformation is a battle. The catipillar struggles desperately to get out of its cocoon. It builds its own constraints, morphs in those constraints, and then fights for its’ life to get out of those constraints. And nobody can help it get out, or it will end up deformed or dead. You may find yourself today right in the middle of one of these processes. Let me give you a few words of encouragement, you must continue to persevere. Quitting is not an option. When the process is done you will be more Christ-like. The beauty and might of what you truly can be, can only be released through transformation. Your new name of promise can only come to you as you stay in the wrestling match. Don’t give up!

Words from the Ashes

Have you ever felt like Job from the scriptures? Honestly, I would have to admit that I have. Job had some very tough circumstances. Death in his immediate family, friends that wanted to judge him, a wife that had given up, and physical and financial ruin. I am not real sure we can distinguish from his story which was the worst thing he was going through. Every aspect of his life was in chaos. Except one dimension, his faith in God.

We might not be able to identify with all of Job’s pain that he experienced, but we can definitely identify with aspects of it. Life can be tough, of this we all have no doubt. What can we learn from this great man who suffered so much and ended up sitting in ashes, scrapping his diseased skin with a piece of pottery? His words from the ashes can teach us a powerful lesson. he said this in Job 2:10  …“Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.  Now, it would seem at first glance that Job is saying God came down specifically to destroy his life. But, I can see something far more profound in his statement.

God is a good God. He didn’t sin. We did. I am not speaking specifically, but generally as humanity. But, you realize, we could specifically about the sins you have committed, but we won’t go there. The same God that offers blessings for obedience, also has decreed curses for disobedience. We may not like it, but that’s the way it is. Allow me to illustrate. God has established a law of gravity. It is a universal law. We would expect the law of gravity to have its effect 100% of the time, unless another law, the law of lift, is in operation. So we could reason from this thought and say, if God made the law gravity, then a person who jumps off a building was killed by God, right? Wrong, indirectly God’s law was involved but He didn’t drag the person to the top of the building and throw them off, they made that decision. Did God have foreknowledge that His very laws could destroy as well as heal, absolutely!

Job tells you and I from the ashes to stop blaming God! He created the laws, and enforces the laws, but He does not choose how we apply those laws. We do that. I, as well as others, have said in the midst of difficulty and tragedy, “God why didn’t you stop this. Why did you let this happen?” Our human nature is so amazing. We just have trouble accepting any responsibility for our actions, or the actions of others. We say cliche’ things like, “God is in control”, but I wonder if that is what we really want. Do we want God to control every thing in our lives? I doubt it. It reminds of when I hear people talk about government programs. Those who benefit always think it is a great idea, and those who pay for it think it stinks and it is unconstitutional. We should say, “God your in control! But don’t tell me how to live, and please make sure if I do anything wrong it doesn’t hurt me.”

Job says, “Shall we only accept the good that God offers, or shall we accept the bad that comes, as well, when we act contrary to His Word?” In all this Job did not sin in what he said. May I, not accuse God of something that is a result of this sinful world , the sinful men that live in it, and my sinful human nature. Amen!

How we should look at Benny Hinn’s Divorce

On Feb. 1st, Benny Hinn’s wife filed for divorce in the California courts. I am sure over the next couple of months we will here more and more about this in the media. How should we as Christian’s deal with this news. Many of us already deal with the ridicule our friends, family, and colleagues give us about our pentecostal beliefs and our views on healing. This, I am sure will open the door to more ridicule. So, here are my thoughts:

1. Pray for Benny and his wife and their children. God’s will is marriage for life. That doesn’t sound right, but you know what I mean. lol

2. Don’t defend their choices. Whatever is going on in their marriage is unknown to you and I. It is better for us to keep quiet about things we know nothing about.

3. Don’t judge. I was thinking about the news, several years ago, of when Charles Stanley’s wife left him. Dr. Stanley, in my opinion is a rock solid believer. Yet, his wife decided to leave him. He tried everything to get his wife back, but she wanted out. What could he do? He eventually had to let her go. If you listened to his remarks during that time, you know how difficult this was on him. He even offered to resign as the pastor. We have no way of knowing what is going on in this situation. There could be other factors involved, but we don’t know them first hand, so don’t gossip!!!!

4. Write a letter of encouragement to Dr. Hinn. I am sure he could use it

5. Listen to your spirit. If you are uneasy in your spirit about Benny Hinn and his ministry then pray for clarity, and obey God. If you beleive you should stop listening to his messages, and supporting him, then stop. But, do it because you believe the Lord has lead you that direction.

6. Avoid joking, sarcasm, and outright attacks against Benny Hinn. They are not funny, and are extremely inappropriate.

7. Pray! We either grow strong through these difficulties, or we grow weak by giving into them. My suggestion, Pray!

Reaching Up and reaching Out!