The Holy Spirit - The Power of God

The Holy Spirit of God, Who is the power of God, is living in me right now, today, and because He is in me, there is nothing else that has power over me. The only power that anything else has over me is what I give it. Satan, sin, sickness, disease, poverty, lack, death, want, defeat, failure, doubt, unbelief, hatred, fear have no power over me. Why? Jesus defeated them and God’s Word of victory is my confession.

What does have power over me? Jesus Christ, righteousness, life, health, healing, love, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness, temperance, patience, abundance, victory, success, prosperity, belief, faith---these are the things that have power over me now. You might say, well, it sure doesn’t look like they have power over me. Who said anything about how it looks? That is what the Word of God says. And the Word of God is what we govern our lives by. Right! Continue to confess that this is what has power over you, even in the face of totally contradictory circumstances. That is the time when you and I need to be confessing the Truth of God’s Word and not what the circumstances look like.

Satan likes nothing better than to hear us speaking and agreeing with the situations that he has put out his best efforts to bring about in this natural world. But remember that we are not of this world, but of the world of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are simply on assignment here as ambassadors to carry out what we have been called to do. And during the time of our “stay” here on this earth, we have a headquarters and a commander in Heaven Who is directing our footsteps if we will let Him.

What most of us have failed to realize is that we can have “days of Heaven” here on this earth if we will heed the instructions of the Word of God that He has given to us for our time here. Heaven can begin here now for you and me, even in the midst of this earth’s sin and its consequences. That is the Good News of the Bible. And that is the Good News that we are to be telling to others. But they will not believe us if we are not living any better than they are.

As my grandmother used to say: The proof of the pudding is in the eating. In other words, don’t tell me how good your pudding is. Let me taste it and see if you are telling the truth. The same is true of what we as Christians tell others. They look at our lives as examples of what we tell them. And if we are having the same struggles as they are when troubles come, then they say that we are no better off than they are. So why should they serve a God who is not doing anything for you?

The Word of God tells us that we are to be of good cheer for Jesus has overcome the world for us. That means that He has overcome anything that can come against you. In the book of James, we are told to count it all joy when things come to tempt us. Why? Because we have already won the victory before the trial even comes. And why is that? Because Jesus has paid the price for our victory against satan and all the demons and any assignment or works that they would put against us to pressure us into caving in and giving up.

The Holy Spirit, Who is the Life of God, lives in us, constantly, continually (if we allow) restoring life to our situations. We take the Word of God and create a sanctuary in which the Holy Spirit can dwell and actively release His life in all areas of our lives----a continual flow of life, if we allow it and make a place for Him and His life to operate. Say this with me: “Holy Spirit, I make a sanctuary for You in my life, a place for you to dwell and release Your power in me, for me, and from me for others. Lord, I make a quality decision to dwell in Your Word and to make Your Word final authority in my life. Be the Director and Conductor of my life today. I yield myself to You that I will say only what You tell me to say and do only what You tell me to do.”

If we allow Him, there’s a constant, 24-7 flow of God’s life in you and me, continually fixing, restoring, keeping us tuned up, keeping us in line with the laws of His Kingdom.

We don’t need anything to interrupt God’s life flow----worry, unforgiveness, strife, care, anxiety, offense, doubt, unbelief, fear, lust, etc. These are all death things sent to clog our spiritual arteries. We need free flow of life. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all these impurities (anything that does not pertain to life) 24-7 if we allow. We are especially living in the times when we need a continual cleansing of the life flow of the Blood of Jesus. As He reveals a potential clog, let Him remove the plaque so that it does not become a buildup in our spiritual arteries. This type of daily cleansing prevents major spiritual heart surgery at a later time in life.

As we remember Mark 11:22-25, we see that the key to victory, the key to living with prayers answered, the key to living a life of abundance here on this earth is walking in love and forgiveness. Let’s purpose to do that today and every day of our life here on this earth. Yes, it is possible. There are those who have done it before us. And Jesus is our ultimate example.

John 14,15,16,17

This is the word that the Lord has me confessing over myself. Believe it and receive it for yourself. It will transform your life.

John 14:12-17, 22-24, 26-27, 30-31
I steadfastly believe in You Jesus and I myself will be able to do the things that You do and I will do even greater things than these, because you have gone to the Father. And You will grant whatever I ask in Your Name so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in You Jesus, His Son. Jesus, thank You that You will grant, do for me, whatever I shall ask in Your Name. I really love You, and I will keep, obey Your commands.

Thank You, Jesus, that You have given me another Comforter Who is also my Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby and that He will remain with me forever. Holy Spirit, You are the Spirit of Truth and I know and recognize You for You live with me constantly and will be in me forever.

I thank You, Jesus, that you will reveal Yourself, that you will make Yourself real to me. I love You, Jesus; I will keep Your Word, obey Your teaching and the Father will love me and You and the Father will come to me and make Your home with me. You will make me Your special dwelling place. The teaching which I hear and pay attention to is from the Father Who sent You, Jesus.

Thank You, Father, for sending the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, to represent Jesus, to act on His behalf. Holy Spirit, thank You for teaching me all things and causing me to remember, to recall all that Jesus has told me. Thank You for giving me Your peace, Jesus. I receive it. I do not allow myself to be agitated or disturbed or to become fearful and unsettled. Instead, I yield to You Holy Spirit and the peace that You carry.

Because I am just like Jesus, because He is in me by His Spirit, satan has nothing in common with me; there is nothing in me that belongs to him and he has no power over me. Also, just like Jesus, I do only what the Father has instructed me to do. I act on His orders, fully agreeing with them.

John15:1-5,7-16
Jesus is the True Vine and I am the branch that He cleanses with His Word so that I can bear more fruit. I dwell, I live in Jesus and He dwells, He lives in me. I am vitally united with Jesus. His words remain in me and continue to live in my heart. Because of that, I can ask whatever I will and it shall be done for me. Because I produce much fruit, I prove myself to be a true follower of Jesus and my Father is honored and glorified.

Jesus has loved me just as the Father has loved Him. I abide in His love. I keep His commandments; I continue to obey His instructions. I abide in His love and live in it, just as He abides in His Father’s love and lives in it. Jesus’ joy and delight is in me so that my joy and gladness may be full and complete and overflowing. I love others as Jesus has loved me.

Jesus has made known to me everything that He has heard from the Father; He has revealed to me everything that He has learned from the Father. He has chosen me and He has appointed me; He has planted me that I might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, that my fruit may be lasting, remain, so that whatever I ask the Father in Jesus’ name, He may give it to me.

John 16: 1,7,13-15, 27,33
Jesus has told me all these things so that I may not be offended and taken unaware and be caused to stumble and falter. The Holy Spirit, my Comforter, is in close fellowship with me. He is the Spirit of Truth and He guides me into all the Truth. He announces and declares to me the things that are to come, that will happen in the future. He takes of the things that are Jesus’ and reveals, declares, discloses, transmits them to me.

My dear Heavenly Father Himself tenderly loves me because I have loved Jesus and have believed that He came out of the Father. In Jesus I have perfect peace and confidence.


John 17:13. 15, 17, 19, 21-26
Jesus’ joy is made full and complete and perfect in me. I experience His delight fulfilled in myself. His enjoyment is perfected in my own soul. His gladness is within me, filling my heart.

Because Jesus has asked, I am kept and protected from the evil one.

I am sanctified, purified, separated for Jesus; I am made holy by His Truth, His Word of Truth. For my sake, Jesus was sanctified in the Truth.

We are all one just as the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father and we all are one in them, so that the world may believe and be convinced that the Father sent Jesus. Jesus has given to me the glory and honor which the Father has given Him, that we may be one even as they are one.

Jesus is in me and the Father is in Jesus so that we may become one, perfectly united, that the world may know and definitely recognize that the Father sent Jesus and that the Father has loved me even as He has loved Jesus. The Father has entrusted me to Jesus as His gift.

Jesus desires that I may be with Him where He is so that I may see His glory, which the Father has given Him. The glory is the Father’s love gift to Jesus. The Father loved Jesus before the foundation of the earth. Jesus has made the Father known to me and revealed His character, His very Being, and He will continue to make the Father known, that the love wherewith the Father has loved Jesus may be in me, felt in my heart and that Jesus is in me.

God's Word Tidbits

Today, I have tidbits, morsels of thoughts to meditate concerning God’s Word. Take these and chew on them all day.

Lord, Your Word sustains me with joy, peace, love because it is a container of You.

Your Word restores my soul, my health, my strength, my life, __________. (Fill in the blank with whatever you know His Word is restoring in your life.)

Your Word has no limit.

Your Word is my constant companion and guide.

Your Word gives me understanding.

I keep Your Word and it makes me wise.

I’m always thinking of Your Word and it gives me insight.

Your Word is like a treasure chest, full of jewels of great value.

Your Word is my heart’s delight.

Your Word causes me to live.

Your Word is my hope.

Your Word brings me discernment.

Your Word is wonderful.

Your Word is medicine, healing, health to all my flesh.

Your Word is fair.

Your Word gives me light.

My steps are guided by Your Word.

Your Word is always true.

Your Word never changes.

Your Word stands forever.

Those who love Your Word have great peace.

You can add your own thoughts to the list and ponder them all day. God’s Word will change the way you think and cause you to go beyond saying----God can do it for me; God is able to do it for me; TO, God has done it for me. It will stop your wondering because as long as you are wondering you are not in faith.

Tongue, Eyes, Ears, Things

Today we are going to speak and meditate these scriptures on our tongue, our eyes and ears and things. They are all connected. Follow the scriptures in progression and you will see a pattern for living. God has given you a tongue to speak good things. He has given you ears to hear what He is saying and what He has said in His Word. He has given you eyes to behold His Word and to get understanding of His Word. And as you study the scripture on things, you see how things are ours but we don’t have to strive for them. They come as a result of being in His Presence where all the things originate. He loves to give to you as His child. Allow Him to do so today. Receive with gratitude and love.

Isaiah 50:4,5
The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, of one who is taught, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary; He wakes me morning by morning; He wakens mine ear to hear as the learned, as one who is taught.
The Lord God has opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

Psalm. 119:18
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law (word).

Prov. 4:20-22
I pay attention to Your Word.
I incline, consent and submit my ear to your Word.
I keep Your Word before my eyes.
I keep Your Word in the center of my heart.
For Your Word is life to me who has found it and health and healing, medicine to all my flesh.

1 Corinthians 2:9,10
Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. But He has revealed them to us by His Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:12 and John 16:13
We have received His Spirit, The Holy Spirit, which is of God, the Spirit of Truth, Who will guide us into all the Truth, that we might know (realize, comprehend, appreciate) the things
(gifts of divine favor and blessing)
John 1:16 AMP For out of His fullness (abundance) we have received one grace
after another, and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor
upon favor and gift heaped upon gift.)
freely and lavishly given to us.
2 Peter 1:3,4
His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and
godliness through the knowledge of Him Who has called us to His Glory (His
Presence, His anointing, His Spirit manifested here on earth) and His virtue
(excellence);
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by
these we might be partakers of His divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world.

Hebrews 1:3
…upholding all things by the Word of His power….(As you read this verse and those around it, you see that God upholds everything by the Word of His power.)

Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (things).

So, Matthew 6:33, 24-32
Seek first the Kingdom of God-------His way of doing things
and His righteousness--------His way of being right.
and all these things shall be added unto you.

You cannot serve God and trust in stuff, things, in the world, being uneasy, worrying, anxious about your life, what you wear, what you eat, what you drink. Your Heavenly Father knows you need these things. He’ll take care of it.

You Are God's Garden

I was ironing yesterday and the Lord spoke to me and said: You are responsible for tending and taking care of your garden.

We are God’s garden. He is the one who watches over the seed that we sow in the garden of our hearts. In Jeremiah 1:12 we see in the Amplified Bible that it is stated this way: Then said the Lord to me, You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it. In the KJV it states that the Lord will hasten (be quick to watch over) His word to perform it.

The Lord causes the seed of the Word to grow in the garden of our hearts like He causes the natural seed to grow in the natural ground. But it is our responsibility to plant the seed. And whatever seed we plant is what we will harvest. If we plant the seed of the Word of God for our particular situation, then that is what will grow. If we plant grumbling and complaining and criticism, then that will grow. What is your home like? It is a result of what you have been planting.

As the seed of God’s Word grows, we water it with our praise and worship of God. Watch that seed grow and love every drop of praise that falls on it. And, of course, it must be fertilized with the Love of God. Love in great portions causes that seed to grow. You can never over fertilize with that kind of growing food. The more of God’s Love that you allow to flow out of you, the greater the plant grows. And, of course, the sonshine of Jesus Christ Himself produces the crop.

One of the things we forget in the garden is that we have to harvest the crop once it has grown to full-grown maturity. And the harvest is not to be picked green. Too often, people get so excited when they see the Word working that they step in before the fruit is completely ripe, completely mature. Have you ever eaten green fruit? It is bitter and not very good, but oh, when it is ripe, it is sweet and juicy fruit.

I’ll give you an example of picking a crop before it is ripe. You have been believing God for your healing. You have been speaking the healing scriptures. You have been watering with praise. The symptoms are leaving. You are feeling better. It looks really good. Then you decide that since you feel so good, you will stop taking your medicine. And it is not quite time yet to do that. You have just picked green fruit. How do you know when the fruit of the Word that you have planted is ripe? The Holy Spirit will tell you. You will know inside you that it is ripe, that it is a done deal.

God wants to produce the most wonderful garden of your life. Continue to plant the good seed of His Word and watch what He produces---days of heaven on earth for you and for your family. His Word is so pregnant with His abundant life. I want everything He has for me. How about you?

Cleansed Through The Word

Jesus said in John 15:3 Now you are clean, cleansed through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Prior to this scripture, Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit bringing to remembrance everything Jesus had told His disciples. Likewise, the Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance those things we have seen and heard of the Word, that we may be clean, stay clean. Jesus said that He was leaving us with His peace (We talked about His peace earlier.) We learned that when we have His peace, we do not let our hearts be troubled or agitated or disturbed. We do not become fearful.

He went on to say that satan was coming after Him and satan had no claim over Him; nothing in Jesus belonged to satan and satan had no power over Him.

Then Jesus said that He did only what the Father told Him to do and that He, Jesus, was the true vine and His Father was the husbandman or vinedresser. The next statement Jesus made has been so misinterpreted by the religious world. He said that every branch in Him that bore fruit, the Father purged, cleansed, pruned so that it could bear more and richer fruit. Many people have taught it this way: See, that means that God sends trials and tests to prune us and get rid of all the junk in us. Well, Jesus knew that men would try to misinterpret this passage, so in the very next verse, He says that you are cleansed, pruned, purged BY THE WORD.

Why is it that we want to be cleansed by the Word? It is for the very thing that Jesus said about Himself: Satan comes and he finds nothing in me that belongs to him; he has no power over me. What gives satan power over us? Fear, doubt, unbelief, worry, anxiety, care, fretting, etc. Those are the things that the word of God will cleanse us of and prune away from us. What are the things that so easily beset you today? Get in the Word of God and stay there until that unnecessary branch is pruned away.

In Ephesians 5:25, 26 and 27 Paul writes of Jesus: He loved the Church (that’s us) and gave Himself up for her so that He might sanctify her (set her apart for Himself) having cleansed her by the washing of the water of the Word. Why? So that He might present us, His Church, to Himself as a church full of the glory, without spot or wrinkle or blemish, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. Once again we see here that the cleansing is by the Word of God.

We want to free of anything, any hooks that satan might find in us to snare us and trap us into his ways of fruitlessness, fear, depression, sickness, poverty, lack and utter misery (which is really his aim toward God’s people).

It all comes back to the Word, doesn’t it—every time! And the Word produces faith, which keeps us close with our Heavenly Father and produces His results. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). Anything that is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23). Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Why? We who come to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Heb. 11:6) Once again, I remind you of Prov. 4:20-23. We are to pay attention to God’s Word, keeping it before our eyes and going in our ears and in the middle of our hearts for it is our very life. And then we must once again remind ourselves. Faith works by love. Faith without love is nothing, merely a chattering of words and a useless exercise. Faith without works is dead. What is the works we are talking about? Love!!!!!!!! (Gal.5:6) In Christ Jesus, the only thing that counts for anything is faith which is working through God’s love. Faith is expressed through God’s love. Faith gets its energy from God’s love. Faith becomes active, is activated through God’s love.

As we are cleansed through God’s Word of those things that are hindrances to faith and to love, let us stand fast, then, in the liberty that God has provided us, to give us freedom from the ensnarements of satan, his entrapments and yokes of bondage to fear. (Gal. 5:1) And then when he comes to overtake us, he finds nothing in us that he can hook.

The Peace of God

Jesus said: Let not your heart be troubled. Be not afraid. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, give I unto you.

Did you notice that He said, “My peace”? His peace is different than the human peace you inherited from the world. His peace is not dependent upon circumstances or situations. His peace comes directly from Him and settles the issue before it ever comes up. So, it is settled that before you ever encounter a challenge or a hardship, that God’s peace will govern you and take you through to the other side.

Peace from Jesus is stability that makes you firm and causes you to stand tall in the face of the storm and speak to the storm: Peace, be still. Jesus did that very thing when His disciples were fearful and thought they were going to die in the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Remember, these men were fishermen on that sea, so this storm must have been especially ferocious. But you must realize that they were on their way to the other side to deliver a man. And Jesus had specifically spoken to them that they were going to the other side. He still speaks: We are going to the other side. But when the storm of circumstances comes up, we must speak to that storm and command it to be still so that we can go over to the other side to accomplish our assignment of what the Lord has commanded for us. You see, He has made a command and we must make a command to accomplish His command.

Remember in the Old Testament we are told to speak to our soul—Be still, my soul. What is our soul? It is our mind, will and emotions.

So, in other words, we are to speak to our mind. Mind, you are renewed with the Word of God and you are still. You are quietly sure of what to do.

We are to speak to our emotions. Emotions, you are not in charge here. You will not tell me what to do. You will not fear or get upset and be doubtful. Fruit of the spirit, you are in charge over my emotions. The first three fruit mentioned in the book of Galatians are love, joy, peace. Isn’t that interesting that three of the most powerful emotions parallel three of the most powerful fruit! And there is peace in the list. There is a sense of wholeness, of stability, of firmness, of assurance with peace. Peace accompanies faith because faith is assurance, confidence in God and His taking care of the situation for us.

We are to speak to our will and tell it that it conforms to God’s will. And what is God’s will and how do we find it for our present circumstances? His will is His Word and, of course, we find His will for our present set of circumstances by searching His Word for instructions. There will always be instructions for you in His Word. And we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and tell us what to do. What an unbeatable combination—the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Together they are the power twins of victory. How sweet it is to walk in the spirit and to have the confidence that comes from the Word of God.

But let me tell you something. This is not an automatic thing that the Spirit of God and the Word of God are just somehow going to transmit to you by an action of “whoosh” and they are there. Yes, they are there all the time for us, but we ourselves must learn what is in the Word of God and Who the Holy Spirit is. This is a daily action on our part so that when the storm comes, we are ready. We don’t have to scramble to figure out how to get through this mess that has descended upon us.

Every day, we are to fellowship with the Lord by His Holy Spirit and spend time “eating” His Word and learning the ways of His Kingdom here on earth. His Kingdom has principles just like the earthly laws. If we don’t know those principles, how can we operate in them. For example, if you don’t know the speed limit for the road on which you are traveling, how can you obey that law? The same is true of God’s Word: if you don’t know the law, the principle, how can you enjoy the benefits of it and walk in it. And if you don’t know the Holy Spirit and what He wants to do for you, how can you have the assurance of putting Him in charge when trouble comes.
After this teaching, we end with the scripture we started with (and now it should mean something to you). Let not your hearts be troubled. My peace I leave with you. An action on your part (let not) produces an action on God’s part (My peace). The peace of God is there for all of us. All we have to do is to receive it. Start today learning how to do that, from His Word and from His Spirit.

The Spirit of Truth

John 14:16-17 Amplified Bible
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—
17The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.

John 16:13-14
But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].
14He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.

The Holy Spirit, Who is called the Spirit of Truth, lives in us and will remain with us forever if we allow Him to do so. He is a gentleman and will not force Himself on us. We must invite Him into our lives and ask Him to guide us, to direct us every day in the perfect will of God.

The Holy Spirit of Truth is the One Who makes God’s Word come alive. The Spirit of Truth brings life to the Word of Truth and causes it to produce results in our lives. Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life. We see in the scripture that God calls His Word Truth. The Truth of God’s Word takes priority over any earthly fact, because earthly facts are subject to change; they are temporal, temporary. But God’s Word is eternal, not subject to change. So what do we do with God’s Word? We take His Word and apply it to the temporary, changeable situations and cause them to conform to the Truth. And what is the Truth? You are healed; you are healthy; you are blessed; you are full of divine life; you are prosperous; you are strong; your children are blessed; you are victorious. And I could go on. If it is in the Word of God, then that is who you are.

Do you see here why God hates lies? Lies bring the father of lies, the devil, on the scene in your life and shut down the Truth, which is what the Word is, which is what God is. The Holy Spirit of Truth is shut down by lies and cannot operate. You see, God always has reasons for hating sin. The reason He hates sin is that it shuts Him out of your life and He cannot do what He loves to do, take care of you, watch over you and give you life more abundantly.

John in 2 John 4 and 3 John 4 said that he had great joy, that he rejoiced, to find his children walking in the Truth. It also gives God great joy to find His children walking in the Truth. Truth releases God to be in our lives. The Word, which is Truth, gives God the opportunity to do for us what He says He will do.

We see in the scriptures in John 14 and John 16 that the Holy Spirit of Truth guides us into all Truth. It is our job to know the Holy Spirit as our intimate Friend and Guide. We must believe what He says: He will guide us into all Truth; He will teach us the Truth so that we can live victoriously in this earth and be examples to others and make them hungry for what we have. If we live like the world, who wants what we have! But if we live above the same type of situations and circumstances they face and come through in victory, they want to know what the difference is between them and us. What is it that we have? We must make them hungry for the Truth that we have and that we operate in.

River of Life

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about being intimate with the Father, about being in His Presence.
Jesus, while He was here on this earth, spent hours away with His Father, in order to sustain Himself. He was our example.

In our modern world, the busyness of the age, whether in personal life or work life or ministry, tries to take over our lives and we must stand against that thief of our time with the One Who loves us more than His life. He proved that by laying down His life for us.

In John 7:37-39 Jesus spoke to us and He said that if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink and he that believes on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. He spoke this concerning the Holy Spirit. Are you thirsting, longing for the Lord’s presence? Come to Him and drink in, take a big drink of, His Presence. And how do we do that? Sit or lie quietly and focus on Him as you have worship songs playing in the background; focus on His Word and read it; pray in the spirit. We are not talking here about prayers of petition. We are talking about listening to the Father and letting Him pour into us and us pour into Him. We’re talking about drinking of the water of the Holy Spirit.

In this passage, Jesus didn’t say river; He said rivers. In Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel was shown the River of God, the River of Life, first to the ankle, then to the knees, then to the loins and then waters to swim in. And in verse 9, we see that wherever the river goes, every living thing that swims in it shall live; everything shall live wherever the river goes because there’s healing in the waters. The Lord is talking about Himself, His Spirit. How deep have you gone in God? And how deep do you want to go? And why haven’t you done it yet? What is holding you back?

In Revelation John saw the River of Life proceeding out of the Throne of God. What Ezekiel saw in chapter 47 was what John saw. Life comes from God and it is symbolized in these passages as water. The Holy Spirit is the life of God. Stir yourself up in the Holy Spirit by praying in tongues, praying in the spirit and the River will flow.

Receive the river of God today; tap into the river of God; let the Holy Ghost flow on and through you in gushing overflowing rivers. Wherever those rivers of living water flow, healing comes, miracles happen, the dead are raised, the people receive Jesus.

Get yourself flowing in the River of God. Keep drinking of the water of the Holy Spirit. Swim in the River of Life. Move with the River of Life. Let the river flow.

Fear Not, Part 3

Yesterday we ended our study with a discussion of being whole in every part of our lives. God wants us to enjoy our lives to the max, and we cannot do that if we are always dreading and fearing and worrying about everything. God is our Heavenly Father Who wants us to lean entirely on Him and cast the whole of our cares upon Him for He cares for us with great love.

In Matthew 10:31, Jesus told us: Fear ye not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows.

You are very valuable to the Lord. He paid the ultimate price for your well being in every area of your life when He laid down His life that you might live eternally. He saw your face when He was struggling in the Garden of Gethsemane and when He hung on the cross as your substitute, bearing your sins and sickness and disease. Can you see the value of that love for you? Let’s go back to where we started several days ago with 1 John 4:18---There is no fear in love….

The opposite of fear is faith. Fear is actually faith or confidence in what the devil can do. Faith is confidence in what God has done already for you. You see, the interesting thing about fear is that the devil and all his demons have been stripped of their power by Jesus and the only power they have is what we give them with our worry and fretting and doubt and unbelief.

I find it very interesting that we are the ones with the power, cowering under the burdens of whatever the world and our flesh and Satan put on us. Here we are as the giants cowering in fear from a little imp. Do you want to know why we cower in such fear? It is because satan has a way of blowing up into huge proportions whatever it is that has come against us until it looks like a huge mountain.

And I will grant to you that it seems pretty intense at times. That is when we must remember who is in us. Greater is He Who is in us than he who is in the world. Faith is putting our entire confidence in that Greater One instead of trying to figure out what we are going to do to get out of the problem or to rectify the situation. We must leave it in the hands of the Lord and follow His directions. That is really what trust is all about.

Your own natural children, when they were little, trusted you to take care of them. They didn’t spend all day every day trying to figure out how you were going to take care of them. They didn’t even give it a thought. They were too busy playing and enjoying themselves. Well, that is the way our Heavenly Father wants us to be. We are to be too busy enjoying life to even consider what we are going to do. Daddy will figure it out. I know that sounds like I am oversimplifying life, but haven’t we as adults complicated life by our intellects, by pondering what to do. The Word of God tells us to lean on, trust in and have confidence in the Lord, to cast the whole of our care upon Him because He cares for us with a deep love.

Instead of focusing on the problem, which brings a sense of dread and fear, we must focus on Jesus Who brings peace, joy, and faith to take care of whatever comes against you and me.
Psalm 27:1 states: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

There will always be challenges in life and situations to overcome. But we must also focus on the fact that God is always with us; He never leaves us nor forsakes us; He is our Heavenly Father and He has the power, the ability to take care of every situation we ever encounter and make us victorious and successful every time. It all hinges on our letting Him do it.

Fear Not, Part 2

Have you been doing your confession?

If you haven’t, print it off and get started.

One thing I want to say here before we go any further. Confession is not an “end-all” for everything just to go great the first time you speak. Confession of God’s Word is just to get you into agreement with God, for where there is no agreement, there can be no results. Results come as you continue to speak His Word and begin to see things the way He sees them. It is a process that usually takes some time, for you see, you didn’t get where you are overnight in your believing.

Most of us have had our believing system molded in us since we were children. Our outside environment of the people who surround us influences us. What we hear on television influences us. What we read influences us. So, what am I saying here? How much do you want to think like God thinks? How much do you want to be in agreement with God? How much do you want your deliverance?

I have come to the point in my life where I very rarely watch television or read anything other than God’s Word or a book about His Word. Even if I watch a television program on the Home and Garden channel or some other program, I shield my ears during some of their commercials. My husband and I go to sleep with teaching and scripture CD’s. I listen to uplifting CD’s when I am driving. Praise and worship music CD’s are playing in the house to fill the atmosphere with God’s presence.

What I am saying to you is that this is a lifestyle and not a passing moment of confessing a few scriptures. I ask you again: How desperate are you for your deliverance, for your breakthrough, for your freedom into the place that God has reserved for you? Many people are born, live and die and never achieve the place of freedom in God’s Kingdom while they are here on this earth. I want to be one of those people who live to the fullest everything God has for me--His abundance of life in the overflow in every part of my life.

We quoted Luke 8:50 yesterday where Jesus told the ruler of the synagogue to fear not, believe only. In verse 48, He said to the woman with the issue of blood: Be of good comfort; your faith has made you whole.

You see, faith will make you whole. What does whole mean in this verse? In Strong’s Concordance we see that it is the word “sozo” which means to save, deliver or protect, heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.

If you were to look in a regular dictionary, whole means that everything is one--no fragments or breaks or pieces. Jesus makes you whole in every part of your life—spirit, soul (mind, will, emotions), and body, socially and financially. Start confessing that you are whole in every part of your life.

Let’s finish our study on “fear not” tomorrow

Fear Not, Part 1

What is it today that you are fearing?

Let us look at God’s Word to help you overcome these fears, for 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

We need to speak this scripture over ourselves all the time. Let’s use sickness and disease as an example. Here is the way to do it.

Let’s make our confession:
God has not given me a spirit of fear of sickness and disease but He has given me His Spirit of power of health. He has given me His Spirit of love. His love is perfect and casts out all fear of sickness and disease according to 1 John 4:18 which says: There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear; because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. I am made perfect in love, because Jesus Who is Love dwells in me with His perfect Love. Since perfect Love casts out fear, then fear of sickness and disease is cast out and divine health takes its place. And He has given me His Spirit of a sound mind. I have the mind of Christ according to 1 Corinthians 2:16. I take hold of His thoughts of divine health, of divine love and of divine power. I believe I receive divine health in my body NOW because Mark 11:22-24 tells me that the God-kind of faith speaks to the situation and commands it to be removed. I don’t doubt in my heart but I believe that those things which I say shall come to pass. I shall have whatsoever I say. I am praying right now and I believe that whatever things I desire, when I pray, I believe that I receive them. Divine health, I believe I receive you NOW.

A note here on desire: Many people are afraid that they will pray the wrong thing because they don’t know if it is God’s desire for them. God’s desire is what He says in His Word. His Word tells us that Jesus came and bore our sickness and disease that we might be made whole (Isaiah 53:4,5 and 1 Peter 2:24). God’s Word tells us that He sent His Word and healed us and delivered us from destruction (Psalm 107:20). His Word tells us that the Holy Spirit Who is the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in us and quickens (gives life) to our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11).

In Luke 8:50 when the ruler of the synagogue was given bad news, Jesus told him to fear not but believe only. Bad news is not of greater value than the good news of God’s Word. The word of bad news has to bow its knee to the good news of God’s Word. And every little demon who is behind the bad news has to bow its knee to the name of Jesus and flee.

We will speak more about this tomorrow.

The Word and Time

Have you ever heard the expression: God is never too early and He is never too late. He is right on time. Or have you said it yourself?

This may shock you, but that is a religious expression we humans have come up with to explain our lack of faith for something. It covers the time span, just in case the "manifestation" does not come when we say we are expecting it.

According to Hebrews 11:1 NOW faith is.....
According to Mark 11:22-24 the faith of God, the God-kind of faith, says to the situation: Be removed, be gone and he who says that shall have what he says. What is the ingredient here for success? He shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass. We also see in these verses that when we pray, whatsoever things we desire, believe that we receive them and we shall have them.

So, how do we get to this place of believing? What do we do? Rom. 11:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing--hearing what? The Word of God. And what kind of hearing is that? It is not the hearing with the physical ear, although that is how the Word enters our spiritual ears or the inside of us, our spirit man. Our physical ears hear the word preached, whether by a preacher standing in a pulpit or by our speaking the Word of God to ourselves. Our physical ears hear the actual word spoken and as we hear, our spiritual man tunes into God's Word and hears what the Word is speaking to Him. And our spirits thrive and produce God's Word to change and rearrange things here on this earth according to the Truth of God and His Word. God loves to hear His language and we love to speak His language. He has a language--His Word--and His language has a voice in this earth. It is called the voice of faith.

Let me say something about speaking the Word of God to ourselves. Some people think that confessing the Word of God is just a routine--a somewhat "I've got to do it to have success" thing. That is not what confessing the Word of God is all about. Confessing the Word of God is spending time with your wonderful Father, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit, speaking His language, His Word to Him, an intimate time of fellowship over His Word. Some of the best times I have had with the Lord is when I am confessing His Word and realizing the life that is going forth from that word on behalf of the situation over which I am speaking it. What an honor! What a privilege it is to speak forth the Word of God and sense in your spirit that it is changing things. Don't ever take for granted that wonderful communication with Father God of the honor of speaking His Word.

God has no time frame as we here on earth do. He is eternal. He lives in an eternal, timeless place. He is always now. He is not yesterday. He is not tomorrow. He is NOW! Actually, we are now people. One second ago is no longer now. Now is where you are in this present moment. My finite human brain cannot comprehend that it is complete Now, but my spirit man can understand. When you speak the word, now it is. It is not going to be. It is now. That is what faith is all about. It is believing that the God of the now has come on the scene for you and you can totally entrust matters into His hands, not waiting for the manifestation but knowing that He has taken charge and there is nothing to be concerned about any longer. That is true faith. It is trusting God that what you have spoken of His Word is accomplished. It is finished.

Seed

We are going to talk about seed today.

Everything in God works by seed. He sowed the seed of His Word and the earth was created; you and I were created when He breathed the breath of life (which is His Word) into us. He told us that as long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest will remain. There is seedtime and harvest and then there is sowing and reaping. We are the ones who sow and reap by the words of our mouths (which should be filled with God's Word and not man's word). God causes the seed to grow (seed - time) and brings the seed to ripeness for the harvest. But the harvest will sit in the field of our hearts if we don't deliberately, on purpose, speak forth God's Word and believe that it will do in our lives personally what He says it will do.

Let's look at some scriptures--some involving natural things but which can be applied to the spiritual as well. God's natural world is a mirror in some ways of the spiritual world. The challenge with the natural world is that it got messed up by sin.

Deut. 28:4 Blessed shall be the fruit of my body....
Ps. 37:26 ...his seed (the seed of the righteous) is blessed.
Prov. 11:21 ...the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.
Isa. 44:3 I will pour My spirit on your seed.
Deut. 30:19 I choose life that both I and my seed may live.

From these scriptures which actually refer to our children, we can also see that God will bless seed, pour His Spirit on seed and as we choose Him Who is Life, the seed of our words, backed by His Word will live. Every thought, every word, every action is a seed that you and I plant every day. Thank God for the blood of Jesus when we plant the wrong seed. His blood cleanses and washes away all that is not of Him, when we repent and ask Him to cleanse us.

The phrase "in Christ" is so significant because if we be Christ's, then we are Abraham's seed and all God promised him is ours. So meditate scriptures that refer to "in Christ" or "in whom" or "in Him." They will cause you to know who you are and what authority you have in this world. The meekest people I know are those who know their authority in Christ. They are confident and their confidence produces love and assurance to others wherever they go.

I leave you with these scriptures regarding Truth and the Word. God's Word is Truth and is the seed we are to sow in this life.

Eph. 4:21 ...all Truth is in Jesus, embodied and personified in Him.
Eph. 4:15 Let my life lovingly express Truth in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly....
Rom. 3:3
What if some did not believe and were without fault? Does their lack of faith and their faithlessness nullify and make ineffective and void the faithfulness of God and His fidelity to His Word?
Isa. 55:11,12
So shall My Word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out with joy and be led forth by your Leader, the Lord Himself, and His Word, with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing and the trees of the field shall clap their hands.