Freedom From Bondage - Part 1

Hebrews 2:14
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Jesus took on a flesh and blood body. He entered into the body that was placed in Mary’s womb by God the Father speaking the Word and creating that body just as He created the body of Adam. Jesus was the Word that was spoken into Mary’s womb because He is called the Word of God in John 1:1-4

Jesus did this in order to destroy
DESTROY: Make of no effect, paralyze, render completely incapacitated, render inoperative or powerless, break the power,
him who had the power, vigor, strength of death (that is the devil).

Along with rendering the devil powerless, Jesus also was manifested to loosen, undo, dissolve, destroy the works of the devil
1 John 3:8
The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done].

and stripped the devil’s workers (principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, wicked spirits in heavenly places) of their authority
Col. 2:15
[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].

Jesus did all the above in order to (Heb. 2:15) deliver (release, redeem, set at liberty, set free) those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to (dominated by) bondage.

We need not fear death because of what Jesus has done.
We see in the following two scriptures that:
Death is swallowed up of life.
Jesus Christ has abolished (rendered powerless) death.
These two scriptures don’t mean that we won’t die physically (be separated from our physical bodies) but that the authority of death over our bodies to dictate when we die has been broken. For the child of God, the power of the devil to determine our physical death is over. He does not have the authority to expel us from our earthly body. When the Lord says that it is time to leave, we sit down, say goodbye to our loved ones and leave our physical body.

2 Cor. 5:4
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Mortal (From Webster’s 1828 Dictionary and Strong’s Concordance): Subject to death, destined to die, destructive to life, liable to die.

2 Tim. 1:10
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

Immortality (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary and Strong’s Concordance): The quality of never ceasing to live or exist; exemption from death and annihilation; life destined to endure without end; undecaying in essence or continuance; incorruptible; unending existence
The word abolish here is the same Greek word as the word destroy in Hebrews 2:14,15. The word is katargeo. So Jesus abolished (rendered powerless) death and destroyed (rendered powerless) the devil who had the power of death.

The word means to be (render) entirely idle (useless), abolish, cease, cumber, deliver, destroy, do away, become (make) of no (none, without) effect, fail, loose, bring (come) to nought, put away (down), vanish away, make void.

The Image of God

When we accept what Jesus did for us as our Savior and Redeemer and are born again, we are new creations and our spirits are once again free to live the life of God. We are new creations in Christ Jesus. Old things have passed away; behold, all is new. We are created in the image of God.

What does all this mean? Because of Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience to God, they doomed the whole human race to disconnect from the life, the anointing of God Almighty. Jesus came; He took our place on the cross as our substitute and paid the penalty for sin and all its consequences of sickness and disease, poverty, lack, depression, worry, anxiety, failure and defeat. Because He took our place and the consequences of sin, we are now free of all these things. Jesus stepped up and took the judgment meant for us and the consequent incarceration in hell. Now we are free. But we are not free if we don’t know about that freedom. It’s like a prisoner who has committed a crime and must serve his sentence for that crime once he is judged guilty. And, lo and behold, someone steps up and says: I’ll serve his sentence and pay the penalty of his crime. That would take a pretty big person to do that, wouldn’t it—someone who is willing to give up his freedom and be put in bondage for that person, even when he knows that person is guilty. But Jesus was foreordained to do this before the foundation of the world, before mankind was ever created. But you as a prisoner will never walk free if no one tells you that you are free. That is our job as born-again believers. We are to tell those who are bound that someone named Jesus has paid the price for their freedom. They can walk out of their jail cell of sin any time into the freedom of Jesus and His righteousness.

All that being stated, what does it mean to be made in the image of God? God thinks; He speaks what He thinks; what He speaks, creates. That’s the way you and I are created. Only there is one problem with this whole process. People are thinking and speaking and creating the wrong things for themselves because they have been trained to think and speak and create the way the world system, which is under satan, is set up. Just as we must go and tell people they are free, we must teach them how to embrace a new system of thinking, speaking and creating.

It is very simple: Satan has taught the human race to think what they see, what they feel, what they hear in this world because satan is the God of this world system. God’s system is to think, speak and create from His Word. Let me give you an example. You feel a lump in your body. If you are still thinking under satan’s system, you will ponder that thing, feel it, think about it. Oh, I wonder if??????????? That is taking that which is on the outside and taking it inside you and creating an image in your mind and heart of lump. But God’s system works this way. You take the Word of healing inside you and meditate on it until you create an image on the inside of you of healing and health that comes from the inside out to the outside and creates health, lump dissolved. What is on the inside of you will come out. And satan knows that. He knows how God’s kingdom operates. So, satan tries to use his system of senses from the outside of you, based on what you see, what you feel, what you hear outside you and get you to internalize it in your mind and in your heart and he has got you. Why? Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. That is a law. It works for both the sinner and the saint, for both good and bad. Regardless of whether you agree with this law or not, it still works the same way for everyone all the time. And what God wants you to do is to use His system which takes what He is and how He works (information gotten from His Word) and internalize that in your mind and in your heart. Then what comes out of your mouth, what you speak is health, and not disease. And health is what you will have.

Satan’s system comes from the OUTSIDE world into you, you ponder it and you create. God’s system comes from His Word INSIDE you, you ponder it and you create. Both work. Both create images. And images produce our words that we speak. Why? Because you and I were created to operate the way God operates. The images inside you create your life, whether it is for good or bad. We speak from images. I’ll prove that to you. When I say cat, there is an image that immediately comes to you, based on what you have in your mind. When I say cat, I think of a black and white cat named Roxanne, our cat. You thought something else, didn’t you, based upon what is in your mind.

I challenge you to take the next month of November and purpose in your mind and heart to think only what the Word says. Keep the Word of God ever before you. Every time you even start to think something contrary to the Word, grab your Bible and speak scripture verses. Particularly speak verses that address your situation, whatever it may be. This exercise is not for you to do, just because you want relief from your situation. Rather, it is for one purpose only—to create a different image inside you. Images produce. This is not for you to try to strive to improve your situation. It is for you to change the image on the inside of you, nothing else. And watch what happens by the end of the month. Remember, what is going on around you and in your life on the outside is a result of the images you have inside you.

Explosion!

Explosion! What do you think of when I say that word? Dynamite, big demolition of something, fire, debris, power released, big, big, big.

God has a word for explosion; it is called dunamis power. It’s the power of God that ignites a fire in us which produces an explosion of God’s power in our situation.

What are you facing today? Let God put to work His dunamis power on your behalf. It requires our cooperation with Him as the expert. He knows what He is doing. He has been working with this power eternally because it is God Himself, the very essence of His being. It is His ability released on our behalf. That ability is always there for us. What we have to do is to know how to allow the Lord to do what He does best. He loves to perform on our behalf.

Well, just how do we tap into this power? What is our part? And do we have a part?

Our part is to believe, to trust, to have confidence in God’s ability and His desire to perform His ability on our behalf. It’s called faith. Faith is a word for confidence. When you and I have confidence in something or someone, we act on that confidence. For example, you have confidence that when you get into your car and turn the key, the car will start and you can drive it to your destination. When you sit on a chair, you do so because you have confidence that it will hold you and not break. When you turn the stove on, you expect it to cook your food. When you turn the television on, you expect to see a picture. I could go on and on in the natural, but I think you get the idea.

God’s realm is the same way where faith is concerned. If we have confidence in the way He works His kingdom, we will act on that confidence. You have confidence that when you read the word that you are healed, you are healed. You have confidence that when you read the word that you are born again by accepting Jesus into your life, you are born again. You have confidence that when you read the word that God desires that you prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers, you are prosperous and healthy.

In God’s realm, we tap into His power with a decision first, a choice that what He has stated in His Word is true for us. Life itself is one big series of choices that put us where we are this very day. Choice—everybody today is concerned that they have the freedom to make their own choices. Jesus gave us freedom to make choices for good or bad in our lives. God made that possible for us. He won’t step in and stop us from making bad choices; neither will He force us to make good choices. That’s what is so wonderful about His love. His love gives each one of us the freedom to make choices every day. Sometimes making the right choice is difficult because it causes our flesh to submit, to be quiet and do what God says. But oh the rewards of those right choices. You might say that they are out of this world. Purpose to make the right choice on purpose.

Secondly, we tap into God’s power, after we have made the right choice, by speaking with our mouth the right words, based on God’s Word. Right speaking follows right thinking. So, by first making right choices, which produce right thinking, we can do right speaking. What does God’s Word say about your situation? That is what you speak and not what the situation may dictate you speak. You also speak to your mountain, your situation and command it to be cast into the sea or to leave your presence. It has no right to lord it over you when you are full of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Right thinking and right speaking produce right results.

Today find out what the Word of God says about your circumstances, your situation, take your stand and don’t deviate from that stand. Having done all to stand, stand, therefore, until you see the Word performed in your life on this earth as it has already been done in heaven.

Love Has A Name

Love has a name and His name is Jesus.
Have you ever stopped and pondered all that Jesus in the form of Love (God—God is Love.) Himself did for you and me and accomplished for our freedom?

Love came. Love showed us the Father. Love healed. Love had compassion on people who called on Him. Love agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane for you and me and sweat great drops of blood as He resisted the temptation to allow His mind to dominate Him. In that Garden He defeated satan’s control of man’s mind forever. Love took the stripes of the Roman scourge for you and me for our healing and health. Love went to the cross and voluntarily laid Himself on it so that He could suffer as our substitute for sin and sickness and disease. Love went to hell and took our place and defeated satan and all his cohorts forever. And most importantly, Love rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father. And that is the place where you and I are seated. Love redeemed us and set us free. Somebody shout! If that isn’t enough to make you shout, your wood is wet. And there isn’t any way of igniting it.

Let’s take a closer look, and not take for granted, what Jesus as Love Himself has done for us.

Love came and Love showed us the Father.
The Father sent His word and healed us and set us free from destructions, the pit that satan had laid to ensnare us. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested—that He might loosen, undo, dissolve, destroy the works of the devil. Before the foundation of the world, Jesus was foreordained to come and set us free. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus, Love Himself, has made provision for everything. He said: Have I been so long with you and you have not seen the Father? He said that everything the Father told Him to do, He did and He said.

Love had compassion on people who called on Him. Jesus healed the sick. He raised the dead. He made provision for people’s needs wherever He went. The people thronged to Him because they sensed His concern and His compassion for them. They knew He was helping people who believed in Him.

Love agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane. Adam failed in the Garden of Eden. Jesus succeeded in the Garden of Gethsemane. And He in essence set into motion the getting back of a position in the Garden of Eden, the place of The Blessing of the Father and the opportunity for Life Himself once again to be a part of people’s lives.

Love took stripes and went to the cross for our release from sin, sickness and disease and poverty and stress and care and anxiety and worry. He became sin that we might become righteous. He took on sickness and disease and pain that we could go free of those earthly challenges to our bodies. He became poor that we through His poverty might have abundance. He did it all for us. What a Savior! What a Lord! Don’t you love Him today with all your heart? He loves you with all His heart. He is so watchful over you and me to protect us and to take care of us.

Love went to hell and defeated satan and all his principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness and wicked spirits in heavenly places. Jesus took care of all of that for you and me. We don’t have to fight the devil anymore. Jesus defeated him forever. What we have to do is to enforce that defeat. We are an army of occupation. The battle has already been won. What we are doing is enforcing the peace. Our fight is the good fight of faith. Our fight is to stay in faith—to believe God and His Word as true in our lives forever, regardless of what we may encounter or face in this world.

Love rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father, far above all principality and power in victory. That is where we are seated right now, far above all principality and power because it says in Ephesians that we are seated with Him. Love has redeemed us from satan and all of his works. Therefore, we are free and have the opportunity to walk in that freedom daily. Let’s purpose to do just that.

Confessions From The Epistles

Today we are going to confess and meditate scripture. Take these scriptures and confess and meditate them day and night. They will change your life. All these scriptures are taken from the Amplified Bible. Personalize these scriptures with your name and first person I, me, my.

Ephes. 1:17-23
[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,
18By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),
19And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,
20Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],
21Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.
22And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church],
23Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself].

Ephes. 3:14-21
For this reason [seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name].
16May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].
17May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,
18That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];
19[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
20Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—
21To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it).

Philip. 1:9-11
And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment],
10So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble].
11May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), to the honor and praise of God [that His glory may be both manifested and recognized].

Col. 1:9-14
For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make [special] request for you, [asking] that you may be filled with the full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things—
10That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition].
11[We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy,
12Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God's holy people) in the Light.
13[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins.

Ephes. 2:10
For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

Philip. 1:6
And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

God's Thoughts

Let’s look again today at thoughts.

In Philippians 4:6-8 we are told that we are not to fret or have any anxiety about anything BUT in everything, regardless of the circumstances or the situation or how critical we think that things are, make a definite request of God with thanksgiving, make your wants known to Him. Let Him know what you want.

Why do we do it with thanksgiving? Because what we are asking for, God has already made provision for us before we ever ask. Jesus has already taken care of everything for us. He has purchased healing and health for us; He has redeemed us from the power of the enemy; He has given us prosperity in our spirit, soul and body, in our relationships, in our pocketbooks. What else do we need? It is already a done deal, accomplished, finished. What we have to do is to appropriate it to our lives. And how do we do that? With our mouths. We accept a gift with our mouths by saying thank you. Isn’t that what we do when someone gives us a gift?

When we ask God to take care of a situation for us and thank Him that He has, His peace which passes our earthly understanding, keeps and guards our hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus, from being anxious.

We are given very specific instructions on what to think on in v. 8 of Philippians 4. Think on things which are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of a good report. This is our checklist to check off when we are thinking on something. Does it pass the test of this list? If it doesn’t, stop thinking about it. How do you stop thinking about something that is contrary to this list? Open your mouth and fill it full of the Word of God. You cannot think on something contrary to what you are speaking. Speak the Word of God and overcome those negative, anxious thoughts. Just say, “NO!”

2 Corinthians 10:5 gives us further instructions.
Cast down imaginations (those things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God), and bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. In other words, every thought that goes contrary to the Word of God, bring it into captivity to the Anointed One and to His anointing. The anointing will cast out, take care of that contrary thought.

In Hebrews 4:12 we see that the Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

So, what conclusions can we draw from these scriptures and the scriptures yesterday? The conclusion is this: The Word of God will give you the ability to think God’s thoughts, to think the way He thinks and consequently do things the way He does them. So, stay in the Word of God, thinking on it day and night so that you can be an overcomer in this life right here and now in the midst of any contrary situation that comes your way. It will pass right on by if you don’t reach out with your thoughts and grab it to you. Draw nigh to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you with his contrary thoughts. You have the mind of Christ and you hold the thoughts, feelings and intents of His heart.

Have a pleasant thought day!!!!!!!!!!!

A Penny For Your Thoughts

When I was a girl, people used to say: “A penny for your thoughts.” Little did they or I know then just how valuable thoughts are. Thoughts determine our whole life and future as they become words out of our mouths if we think those thoughts long enough. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as we think in our hearts, so are we. In other words, whatever we think on, we become. That is not speaking of having a thought just one time. That is speaking of the same thought that we have over and over in our minds until it lodges in our hearts and produces words which produce actions which produce whatever it is we have been thinking. As we all know, that can produce good or bad results in our lives, depending on what we have been thinking.

Jesus told us in Matthew 6 and Luke 12 that we are to take no thought of our life, what we shall wear, eat or drink, for our Heavenly Father cares for us. He told us that we are to seek God’s Kingdom first and all these things shall be supplied to us, added to us. We are not to be anxious or have fear that our Father will not take care of us. It is our Father’s delight and pleasure to give us His Kingdom. And what is His Kingdom? His Kingdom is everything He has and is. As we think His thoughts, we walk in what He has.

It is interesting to me that my Bible has these headings over both passages in Matthew and Luke, “The Teaching About Anxiety,” “Anxiety and God’s Kingdom.” That tells me that it is critical that I get rid of anxiety, cares, dread, concerns and anxious moments concerning my life. And the reason for letting go of those things is that my Heavenly Father takes care of every little detail of my life.

Let’s look at Matthew 6:22-32.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

What Jesus is saying in this passage is that we are to take no anxious thought in our lives. We are not to get into anxiety over what is going to happen to us or our loved ones because our Heavenly Father knows what we need and has already made provision for that need ahead of time. What happens to all of us is that we tend to start heading toward panicville when what we perceive as the time frame for that need to be met has seemingly come and gone as far as we are concerned. But here is where trust, faith comes in. Every one of us must continually picture our Heavenly Father taking care of us. The reason we tend to be anxious is that we are looking at things from our earthly standpoint. And I have discovered in my own life that anxiety is produced when I don’t have it in my ability to do anything about it myself. That, of course, is a wonderful place to be because our Father delights in doing what looks like the impossible for us. He also delights in doing the possible as well. We sometimes forget about that. Let’s think on the good things of God today and focus on His care for us.

Have Another Meal of the Word of God

God’s Word is food for our spirit man to grow and mature. Just as our body needs physical food, so also our spirit needs spiritual food. I have found that when I am challenged in my life when circumstances don’t line up the way they should, I need to spend more time feeding on the Word. Why? Because the Word absorbs that anxiety and care that we otherwise may indulge ourselves in. When we are full of the Word of God, whatever comes our way, the Word rises up in us to address the situation.

The Word of God is alive; the Word of God is breathing with God’s life; the Word of God is living because it is His Word to us as His children. It is what gives life to our mortal bodies; it is what gives life to our finances; it is what gives life to our marriages; it is what gives life to our children. God’s Word is life to us who will take it in and eat it. And how do we eat it? We study it, meditate it, confess it, ponder it, think on it instead of other things which cross our minds.

The enemy of our life, the devil, will see to it that we have plenty of opportunity to think the opposite of God’s Word. He is sending fiery darts all the time. What we do with those fiery darts determines how our life goes. I woke up this morning with thoughts of things contrary to the Word of God. What we must realize is that those are only thoughts sent our way to see what we will do with them. If we start to ponder them, then we have accepted them as part of our lives and if we continue to ponder them, they will become a part of us.

God’s thoughts bring life (His thoughts come from His Word.). Satan’s thoughts bring death and destruction. Remember that Jesus said in John 10:10 that the thief, meaning the devil, comes to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus said that He came that we might have and enjoy life, have it in abundance, to the full, until it overflows. I continue to ask you this question: Are you overflowing yet? If not, have another meal of the Word of God. Indulge yourself.

Today, let’s each one of us make a fresh commitment to be hearers and doers of the Word of God and not respond to the opposite word that comes from the circumstances around us.

Jeremiah 15:16
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.

Jeremiah 1:12
Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
Hasten: be quick to watch over

God’s Word is our very life. We must keep it ever before our eyes and ears and in our mouth. His Word is God Himself written down on paper, the way He thinks and operates. It is the breath of His life breathed into us. It is the map for our journey here on earth. It is the guidebook, the manual for living.

Psalm 103

We’re going to look at Psalm 103:1-5 today. As far as I am concerned, these 5 verses are a summary of what our Lord does for us every day, all the time, 24-7.

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and remember all his benefits:
He forgives all my iniquities.
He heals all my diseases.
He redeems my life from destruction.
He crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies.
He satisfies my mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's, strong and powerful and soaring like the eagle’s.

What does it mean to bless the Lord? The word for bless here is barak, to kneel, an act of adoration. Magnify Him, exalt Him and praise Him for Who He is. Thank Him for what He does and Who He is.

And we see here that our soul (mind, will, emotions) and ALL that is within us is to kneel and adore Him, to praise His holy name. His name is the Great I AM. He is all names---healer, provider, shepherd, Almighty God, Lord, Love, Life, peace, banner, the God Who is everywhere, the God Who is more than enough. Are these enough reasons for starters for all of us to kneel down and adore Him? But most of all He is Love. He loves us and adores us and cares for us affectionately and mightily. He is our abba.

He forgives ALL our iniquities.
Everything we would ever do from the sin of anxiety to the most heinous crime to the most perverse sin, He forgives. How can He do that? Because in Isaiah 53:5 we are told that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and that He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities. The Father can forgive you and me because Jesus took on Himself all that you would ever do wrong or fail to do right. As I sit here typing this, it is overwhelming to me that God loves me so much, He sent His only Son that I would not have to suffer the punishment for what I had done. And the way I received that pardon was to accept what His Son Jesus did for me.

He heals ALL my diseases.
The same thing applies for my diseases that applies for my sins. Jesus bore them all for me. Therefore, I am free of all sicknesses and diseases. Isaiah 53:4,5 tell me that Jesus bore my sicknesses and diseases and pains in His body and allowed stripes to be laid on His back so that I would be healed, made whole. Many people discount this scripture by saying that it is a spiritual healing Isaiah was talking about and not physical. Of course, it was spiritual. True physical healing comes out of your spirit. First, you must know, believe, have faith in your inner man (spirit) for it to affect your outer man (body).

He redeems our life from destruction.
He ransomed you; He purchased you; He literally bought you back from satan with His blood. He bought you back from death, from the pit or place that satan had scooped out for you to entrap you, to ensnare you forever. What a Savior! What a Redeemer! Take a few minutes right here and thank Him. We were doomed for destruction and Jesus came and scooped us out of the pit that satan had scooped out for us. That’s good news.

He crowns us with lovingkindnesses and tender mercies.
He encircles us, He surrounds us totally with Himself Who is Love. He has us covered from every angle and direction from the onslaught of the enemy. His Love is our protection. His mercy is to keep us from harm. In His Love is kindness, favor, mercy, compassion, tenderness.

He satisfies our mouth with good things so that our youth is renewed.
He satisfies, fills to satisfaction, fills to the full our mouth with good things. What are those good things? Philippians 4:8 has the answer. What we think on is what comes out of our mouths in abundance (Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.) So we think on things which are true, honest (worthy of reverence and honorable), just, pure, lovely, of a good report. Actually, what that boils down to is that what we think and speak is to be the Word of God. And out of that thinking and speaking comes renewed youth. Everyone is looking for the fountain of youth. You hold it in your hand when you hold your Bible, the Word of the Living, Loving God.

I speak these verses frequently but in typing this Pearls of Wisdom this day, I realize just how much my Lord has done for me. Why don’t we spend the rest of our lives pondering all that He has done. And everything else will fall into line with that thinking, pondering and speaking.

Stay Steadfast

What about me Lord? Have you asked yourself that question when you see other people getting results and getting answers to their prayers?

When do I see the results of my faithfulness, my confession of the Word, my dedication to prayer and the Spirit of God? If we have to ask God that question, then we will not see results. Would you like to know why? I’m glad you asked me why. It is because that means that we don’t believe we have it yet, that we don’t believe we have what we are confessing. We are calling those things that be not as though they were, but we are not really "seeing" them as a finished work in our lives. Until we see what we are praying and confessing as a finished work already in the spirit, we will not see it in the physical realm. Ask God for His eyesight. Things are always completed in the spirit realm before they are accomplished in the natural earthly realm.

The Word portrays everything we will ever need as already being accomplished in our lives. It’s a done deal. It’s a finished work. That is what Jesus said on the cross. It is finished. And that statement is for you and me, every one of us. Whatever you need has already been provided for you by your Heavenly Father. Whatever you need is not taking God by surprise. He already saw anything that you will ever need from the day you were born until you go home to be with Him. He is called Jehovah-Jireh, the God Who sees and makes provision. Let’s dwell on that. Let’s focus on that. Let’s meditate on that instead of frenetically trying to make something happen. Let’s see it as already done, a done deal.

In Philippians 4:19 we are told that God shall supply all our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We can take that to our spiritual bank and deposit it. What is your need? Your God shall supply all your need. How? According to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Do you think that He has enough riches, enough glory, enough creative power to supply your need, whatever it is. And that glory, that power is by Christ Jesus, the Anointed One and His anointing.

Like any Father, our Father in Heaven enjoys taking care of us. He loves to lavish abundance upon us, abundance in every area of our lives. Remember that Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came to this earth so that we may have and enjoy life, have it in abundance, to the full, until it overflows. That is His goal. We can depend on that happening in our lives. He will take care of us.

Once again today, I had to cast the whole of my cares upon Him so that He could care for me. I don’t care how big the obstacle may be that is in your way, speak to that mountain and command it to be removed and then watch God do what He loves to do best. He is watchful to carry out His Word. That is why He gave us His Word—so that He can carry it out for us. But He needs our cooperation in order to perform His Word on our behalf. Our cooperation is in letting go of worry over the situation and allowing Him full control. What a wonderful way to live! We have someone who takes care of everything.

He has us covered.

He is ready and waiting to take care of it all. Cast it on Him.

Repeat after me:
My God is supplying me with all that I need. He is supplying my healing. He is supplying my finances. He is taking care of my children. He is working on my marriage. He is favoring me on the job. He is taking care of my future. It is all in His hands. I purpose to place my life in His hands and leave it there. I cast the whole of my cares, all my anxieties, worries and concerns on Him for He cares for me. He loves me and has everything under His control. I don’t have to be in control because it is His job to be in charge of my life. Thank You, Father, for taking care of me and my family. I love to be cared for by You. Thank You, Father, for watching over my children and my husband/wife. Thank You, Father, for watching over me. I’m so glad you are in charge. I can finally relax. There is peace in my life because I know you are working on my behalf. You are making provision for my breakthrough, my turnaround, my healing, my finances, my life.

Walls Are Coming Down

Lunch with a beautiful woman of God and a discussion with a dear friend led me to this very late Pearls of Wisdom today.

God is doing a work in all of us, going deep into parts of our hearts and souls that have been barricaded behind a very protective barrier. And those of us who allow this heart surgery will reap tremendous benefits. It sometimes hurts to admit what we truly are like and what has been hidden so deeply in our inner man that even we ourselves do not recognize that which is revealed by the ever-loving hand of the tender Father. Less of me and more of Him has been our cry and He is hearing our cry and doing great and wonderful things in us who will allow Him to do so. What an awesome God of Love we serve! His Love is such a gentle scalpel, removing that which allows satan to get a handle on us. It is painless as we allow Him to do His work. It is extremely painful if we resist His gentle removal of that which is detrimental to our walk with Him and the intimate relationship we desire as His children.

As we meditate on God’s Word, He, by the power of His Spirit, reveals that which needs excising. Remember Hebrews 4:12:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

That is the job of the Word of God: discerning the thoughts and intents of our hearts, piercing to the very core of that which causes us undue difficulties and stress in our lives. It is called lack of trust and being filled with fear. At the very center of our life’s difficulties is a sense of not being able to totally let go of our own efforts and our own works and let God handle it, even when it looks like He is not doing what we want Him to do or even worse, if it looks like He is not doing anything. We say: What are you doing, God? Don’t You realize the seriousness of this situation? Don’t you see the need to do something about it immediately or things are going to be in a worse mess than they already are? Questions, questions, questions. Why this? Why that? What about this? What about that?

And then there are those who absolutely shut their ears to any advice or counsel of the Lord (which comes through people, yes, people, and sometimes people we don’t want to hear it from). Their rationale runs something like this: God, You can’t possibly mean me. They don’t know me. They don’t know what is going on. I don’t believe that is You, God. I think they are trying to run my life. They are putting me in a box. They are confining me. They are telling me to do things that are contrary to what I want to do.

What it all comes down to, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, is that in order to be in Christ (The Anointed One and His anointing), we are going to have to be willing to let go of that which hinders the anointing and embrace the cleansing, purifying power of the Word of God, spoken through man sometimes, embrace the work of the Holy Spirit to remove sin from our lives. Oh, yes, call it what it is: sin. Yes, we are righteous, and we are righteousness conscious. We are not sin conscious. But when God reveals something in us that He wants to deal with, let Him. It is quick and pure and powerful and freeing. We don’t have to dwell on it forever. He reveals it; He cleanses it; it is gone; it never existed before. When satan comes along and tells you that you are bitter or critical or judgmental, or manipulative or controlling or lusting or whatever may be your challenge, tell him that you don’t know who he is talking about. That never happened. That CD has been trashed and a new one is playing. The title of the new CD is called loving, kind, compassionate, righteous, trusting, and faith-filled.

Romans 8:2 tells us that the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. We are called new creations. We are called God’s children. We are new people. Don’t listen to the lies of the devil. Listen to the truth of God’s Word.

You are destined for greatness in the Kingdom of God. See yourself fulfilling every part of that destiny with dignity and fullness of the power and anointing of God Almighty, your Father Who loves you dearly and deeply.

The Point of Victory

When everything else fails, God is still there!

Have you ever come to a place in your life where you feel like a failure, where you feel like it works for everyone else but you? If you are in that place right now, I have good news for you. Most people have been there at one time or another, whether they ever admit it or not. What is the point of your wanting to give up? What is the point of your wanting to let go? That is the point of your breakthrough. That is the point of your victory. That is the point of your turnaround. Don’t let go now. Don’t give up now. You are almost there.

This is the time to keep the word steadily before your eyes and in your ears, continually, day and night, to offset those thoughts of giving up, of throwing in the towel. Why do you think those thoughts are coming your way? They are coming at you because you are on the brink of your breakthrough; you are at the point of your victory. Victory is always available to us as God’s children. It is just a matter of believing it is ours and seizing it for ourselves. And I know that the time of your greatest pressure is the time you least want to grab hold and not let go. But do it anyway. You’ll like the results. They are so sweet!

Once again, we are reminded of Joshua 1:8. We are to meditate God’s Word day and night and not let it depart from our mouths. Then we shall have good success and deal wisely.

Ask the Spirit of God for wisdom for today to take care of your day. Ask Him for direction, for understanding of what you are to do. Ask Him for scripture to meditate on today for your turnaround. He is the director of your life. He is the One Who has the answer for the challenges for the day. He is the One Who leads us and guides us.

Are you tired and weary? You know why you are tired and weary. You are trying to keep things held together by your own efforts. Let God take care of it. I know that is sometimes not as easy as it is said. But do it anyway, on purpose. Let go of the frenetic fretting and worrying about what to do and am I doing what is right and is God pleased with me and how do I get from A to B. Sometimes we are just too tied up in attempting to reach the solution for the problem that we forget that we are serving the solution maker, Who dwells in us 24-7. I believe that our solution is held off many times because we just can’t seem to let go of the “I do it myself, daddy” syndrome. Today let’s just take one day and do nothing but praise and worship the Lord and not ponder the situation. Just for one day, try it. I think you will be interested to see what begins to happen. Try it; you’ll enjoy it.

You see, the cares of your situation choke out the results of the Word of God working (Parable of the Sower). We are to cast the whole of our cares upon Him. 1 Peter 5:7 Repeat after me: I cast the whole of my care, all my anxieties, all my worries, all my concerns once and for all on You Lord for I know that You care about me and watch over me. I know that you watch over Your Word to perform it on my behalf. I am a believer and not a doubter. I am full of faith and not full of fear. As Your child, I am more than a conqueror, through Christ Jesus. I am an overcomer in this world. I speak to my mountain (problem) and I command it to be cast into the sea, to be removed. I call those things that be not in this natural, physical world as though they were visible to me right now. I call them out of the spiritual realm into this earthly realm. I thank You, Lord, that you have only good things for me, and I refuse to think on, ponder, consider anything else. Like Abraham in Romans 4, I do not weaken in faith in the face of this problem. No unbelief or distrust makes me waver, stagger, or doubtingly question Your promise in Your Word to me. I grow strong and am empowered by faith as I give praise and glory to You, God. I am fully satisfied, fully assured, fully convinced, fully persuaded, that God, You are able and mighty to keep Your Word to me and to do what You have promised. I thank you and praise you for taking care of this situation, this problem for me. Thank you for the answer. Thank you for the solution.

I serve, You, Lord, with joyfulness of mind and heart in gratitude for the abundance of all with which You have blessed me. I am happy in my faith and rejoice and am glad-hearted continually. (Deut. 28:47 and 1 Thes. 5:16) (All scriptures taken from the Amplified Bible.)

The Blessing

Today we are going to bless one another and our family and homes using the pure Word of God. First we start by blessing the Lord; remember bless means to empower to prosper, to succeed.
Psalm 103:1-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, I bless Your his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and remember all his benefits:
He forgives all my iniquities;
He heals all my diseases;
He redeems, rescues my life from destruction, sets me at liberty in a safe place;
He crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
He satisfies my mouth with good things; so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's, strong and powerful and soaring like the eagles.

Psalm 92:11-15 Amplified Bible
I as the uncompromisingly righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful.
I shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon, majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible.
Planted in the house of the Lord, I shall flourish in the courts of my God.
Growing in grace, I shall still bring forth fruit in old age.
I shall be full of sap, of spiritual vitality and rich in the verdure, the vigorous flourishing growing condition, of trust, love, and contentment.
I am a living memorial to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Deut. 28:1-15 Amplified Bible
I will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord my God, being watchful to do all His commandments which He commands me this day, the Lord my God will set me high above all the nations of the earth.
And all these blessings shall come upon me and overtake me if I heed the voice of the Lord my God.
Blessed shall I be in the city and blessed shall I be in the field (my job).
Blessed shall be the fruit of my body and the fruit of my ground (my pocketbook) and the fruit of my beasts (my paycheck), the increase of my cattle (my savings account and investments) and the young of my flock (my savings account and investments).
Blessed shall be my basket and my kneading trough (what I eat and drink).
Blessed shall I be when I come in and blessed shall I be when I go out.
The Lord shall cause my enemies who rise up against me to be defeated before my face; they shall come out against me one way and flee before me seven ways.
The Lord shall command the blessing upon me in my storehouse (savings and investments and pocketbook) and in all that I undertake. And He will bless me in the land which the Lord my God gives me.
The Lord will establish me as …holy to Himself, as He has sworn to me, if I keep the commandments of the Lord my God and walk in His ways.
And all people of the earth shall see that I am called by the name and in the presence of the Lord….
And the Lord shall make me have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of my body, of my livestock (pocketbook, savings, investments), and of my ground (pocketbook, savings, investments) in the land which the Lord swore to my fathers to give me.
The Lord shall open to me His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of my land in its season and to bless all the work of my hands; and I shall lend to many nations, but I shall not borrow.
And the Lord shall make me the head, and not the tail; and I shall be above only, and I shall not be beneath, if I heed the commandments of the Lord my God which He commands me this day and am watchful to do them.
And I shall not turn aside from any of the words which He commands me this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
[Emphasis added in all of the above scriptures for clarification in today’s world.]

What Is In Your Hand?

Perhaps the Lord is calling you to do something today or asking you to say something and you are saying to Him: Who am I? What do I have? Well, you are in good company because a very distinguished man in the Bible said those very words to God when He called him to do a task. His name was Moses and we know what great exploits he did for God when he finally said Yes to God.

In Exodus 3 and 4 Moses said unto God: Who am I? And God’s answer to him was not to tell him who he was but to tell Moses that He, God, would be with him. When Moses asked God who he was to tell the Israelites had sent him, Moses was to answer: I AM has sent me. My name is I AM THAT I AM, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

When Moses was still in doubt as to his ability to do what God was asking him to do, God asked him: What is that in thine hand? And Moses answered, a rod. And God showed Moses that the rod was all he needed to go and do what the Lord God was asking him to do.

You see, when the Lord asks us to do something, He never asks without equipping us for the task. And we of all people have all that it takes. He has given us His name. He has given us His blood. He has given us His Word. He has given us the Holy Spirit. And it is not in our own strength or self-efforts that we will do great things for the Lord God. It is through His power, His ability, His strength that we will accomplish whatever we have been called to do. And when He calls, it is usually to do something that our own ability is too weak or limited to do. Then the Lord gets all the honor and praise that is due to Him.

Let’s look at what I AM is. He is saying that I AM whatever you need to do whatever you are asked to do. I am your all sufficiency. In Philippians 2:13, a scripture we used recently in another Pearls of Wisdom, we are told: For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (KJV) It is God Who works in you, the One Who created everything, is in you to work the work. It is the unlimited, unstoppable, unchangeable, One Who is in you.

Paul, in 2 Corinthians 9:8 when he was talking about being a cheerful giver in relation to finances, said that God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work. Grace is God’s ability extended to you to do what you cannot do. Abound means more than enough. And we see that word twice in this verse. The Lord God wanted to get something over to us here. God’s ability abounds toward us and we will abound in every good work because we have all sufficiency. Sufficiency means possessing all that you need. This scripture can apply to more than giving finances. It can apply to whatever you are doing. And in whatever you are doing, the Lord doesn’t know addition; He only knows multiplication and increase. Everything He touches is blessed beyond measure. He is in you so that everything and everyone you come in contact with is blessed beyond measure. We must get rid of this little insignificant me attitude and realize Who lives in us, the Greater One, God Himself, to do what we can’t do. Yes, the Greater One lives in us.

And then let’s talk about what is in our hand---the rod. Sometimes the rod is the reference for the Word of God. When God speaks, people listen. Why? Because of the power they recognize. With God’s Word in your mouth, people will listen because they will recognize the power that is coming forth from you. They may not admit that they are listening and may not want to listen, but the power of the Word of God commands attention. I can tell you that there is one group that listens—the devil and all his demons. They know what Jesus the Word did to them. And they will do all that they can to convince you that the Word has little if any power where you are concerned, so why would you have any power from the Word where anyone else is concerned. Well, Jesus was the Word made flesh. Enough said on that subject.

Listen to your Lord, listen to what He says and go and do the work. Yes, you. With the Word of God in your mouth, the name of Jesus on your lips (I AM), the blood of Jesus as your protection and the Holy Spirit as your guide, go forth and do great exploits for the Lord. Moses did. You can.

There's Healing In The Word of God

There’s healing in the Word of God.

When I say the word healing here, I am talking about healing and wholeness in every area of your life. God is not a partial or half God. Everything He does, He does completely. He doesn’t leave one part missing and supply another. Whatever He is involved in, is complete in every aspect. So, if you are God’s child, then you should be walking and living in wholeness in every area of your life, with nothing missing and nothing broken. That is the definition of God’s peace.

Peace is one of the marks of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom. 14:17). Although we are not talking about the Kingdom of God today, it is necessary here to speak several things about God’s Kingdom, since we are talking about the word of our King. In Matthew 6:33 we are told to seek first the Kingdom of God (God’s way of doing and saying things) and all these earthly things will be added unto us. When we are seeking God’s Kingdom, we are seeking to learn how to live successfully in His Kingdom while here on this earth, how to speak and act to be a part of His Kingdom. There are principles and laws of operation in God’s Kingdom. When we know those principles and laws, we must learn how to operate in them. I see two reasons for failure in God’s people: (1) Lack of knowledge and (2) if we know what to do, inability to put into practice what we know.

The remedy in all cases is to get to know the Word of God through study, meditation, confession, listening to accurate teachers and preachers of the Word of God. When we know the Word of our King, we know how He thinks and how He wants us to think and act. When we think and act like Jesus, we will be walking in consistent victory and see consistent results in our lives and those around us. Yes, it is possible to think and act like Jesus. That’s why God gave us His Word, which is impregnated with His power, His life and His ability.

In Mark 4:26 we hear Jesus saying that the Kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed into the ground. This whole chapter of Mark is about the Word as seed and actually gives us the principles to live successfully here on this earth. This chapter contains the parable of the sower and Jesus said that if we understand this parable, we understand all parables. This teaching is the foundation of living in God’s Kingdom. It is the foundation for faith. It is God’s way of doing things---seed, time and harvest.

In John 6:63, Jesus tells us that the words that He speaks to us are spirit and life. What life? These words are His life, His eternal life, His very vibrant, pulsating, energizing life. God’s Word is pregnant with His very heartbeat, His very creative force, which created all things and keeps them operating. Yes, that is the life that is in you right now as a born-again child of God and that life is in God’s Word. Every time you speak God’s Word, you are sending forth the life of God on your behalf or on the behalf of someone else.

Once again, I must remind you of Proverbs 4: 20-23. God’s Word is life to us and health, healing, medicine to all our flesh. But there are several conditions to His Word becoming a part of us, becoming our very life, becoming our health. We must pay attention to His Word; we must hear His Word continually (incline); we must keep His Word ever before our eyes (let it not depart from); and we are to keep our hearts at all costs.

What does it mean to keep our hearts? It means that we are not to allow anything contrary to the Word of God to be a part of us—no offense, no worry, no care, no anxiety, no doubt, no unbelief, no fear. Because, you see, if we allow these things to be a part of us, they contaminate faith; they dilute the faith of the Word.

Yes, it is possible to live without fear and worry and offense lodging in our hearts. The solution: WORD, WORD, WORD, WORD, WORD, WORD, WORD, WORD!!!!!!!

Thoughts of worry and concern and fear will come—they are from the devil. Cast them down and don’t let them become a part of your heart. As long as we are on this earth, thoughts will come. That is the devil’s and all of his demons’ job—to contaminate the Word of God, if they can. Don’t allow it! It is a stand, a fixed position we must take 24-7. In the beginning of the stand, it is tough and seems like an uphill climb, but it does get easier as we continue to put the Word in our eyes, ears, and mouth over and over and over. It is a not a works program. It is a work of the Word of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, transforming us into His image and likeness. Keep the Word ever before you.

Peanut Butter or Glue?

Peanut butter or glue? That is the choice I am giving you today. Is that an odd question? Yes, I thought it was when the Lord posed it to me this morning as the topic for our Pearls of Wisdom. I, of course, thought He was headed in the direction of glue--you know, He is what holds everything together, and peanut butter would not be very much of an adhesive. No, that is not the choice. The choice is peanut butter because we are not talking about adhesiveness. The Lord wants to talk to us today about strength in us. Peanuts and peanut butter is one of the best things you can eat for quick energy and strength. God wants to be the peanut butter in your life.

In Philippians 2:13 in the Amplified Bible we read this (and I am personalizing it for confession): Not in my own strength, for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in me, energizing and creating in me the power and desire both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

You know what is so wonderful about this promise of God to us? He says that He is the strength at work in us. He is the One Who is giving us energy to do what He has called us to do. He is the One Who is creating in us the power necessary to do His will and bring Him pleasure. He is the One Who is creating the desire in us not only to will to do something for Him, but also to do the work it takes to complete the task for His pleasure, for His satisfaction and as a delight to Him. Did you ever stop to think that God gets delight out of seeing you accomplish what you are called and destined to do? Yes, He has such delight and pleasure in seeing His child accomplish a task, just as you are so proud of your child when they have accomplished something. What a wonderful Father we have! He is so good to us.

And what about Ephesians 6:10 in the Amplified Bible (again personalizing it for confession).
I am strong in the Lord.
I am empowered through my union with Him.
I draw my strength from Him, that strength which His boundless might provides.

Wow! What a confession!
I AM STRONG IN THE LORD. You and I must know where our strength comes from.
I AM EMPOWERED THROUGH MY UNION WITH HIM. Where does our power come from? From being one with God, our Father, with Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer and the Holy Spirit, our ever-present companion, helper, guide, comforter, intercessor, friend. Remember in the book of John in chapter 17. when Jesus was talking to His disciples, He said that He was also talking about those of us to come. And here is what He said in verses 20-23 (Amplified Bible):
Neither for these alone do I pray [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching.
That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me.
I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one [even] as We are one;
I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me. And in verse 26, Jesus makes another strong statement concerning the Father’s love---that the love wherewith He has loved Jesus may be in us and He in us.

Do you see what you have? You have the very life and being, the very essence, the very nature of God Himself in you as a born-again child of God. You have all the strength you need; you have all the love you need. You have all the life you need. In John 10:10, Jesus said that He had come so that we could have and enjoy life, have it in abundance, to the full, until it overflows. When you and I learn to let go of our own puny self-efforts to survive in this world and have the confidence to lean on, rely on, and trust God’s ability in us to take care of us, then we will have peace and be at rest, even in the midst of the most difficult situation.

Dreams, Desires, Destiny

When you were born into this earth, God had a plan for you; He had a destiny planned for you. The seed of that plan was placed in you. When you accepted Jesus as your Savior, He came into your spirit to dwell by the power of the Holy Spirit. Ever since that point in time, the Holy Spirit has been working in you to fulfill God’s destiny for you. The Word of God gives you knowledge, understanding, wisdom of God’s plan for you and causes that seed of your destiny to grow until it becomes a fully mature plant. This is the way God wanted it to be. The problem has been that people have tried to do their own thing or they couldn’t figure out what God’s plan was for them or once they knew the plan, they didn’t know how to implement His plan for their lives.

Today we are going to look at scripture and help you to get started on that path God has chosen for you and to keep on it until it is totally fulfilled.

There are two basic keys to finding God’s plan and fulfilling it. Once you are born again, study, meditate and speak the Word concerning God’s destiny for you, and pray much in the spirit. When you pray in the spirit, you are praying out God’s perfect will and He will show you in the natural what to do and how to do it.

Here are scriptures to meditate on and here is the way to speak them:

Psalm 37:3-5 (AMP,KJV)
I trust in the Lord and I do good; so shall I dwell in the land of my destiny and feed surely on God’s faithfulness to me to fulfill my destiny; truly I shall be fed with His Word.
I delight myself in the Lord and He will give me the desires of my heart. He is the One Who will place the desires in my heart, give me His desires for me.
I commit my way, my life, my destiny to the Lord; I roll all the care of fulfilling my destiny upon the Lord; I trust in Him; I rely on Him; I am confident in Him and He will bring it to pass.

Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP, KJV, NLT)
The Lord says to me: I know the thoughts I think toward you; I know the thoughts and plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you an expected end, to give you hope in your final outcome, your future.
Therefore, I place my future in your hands, Lord, for an expected outcome. Thank You, for helping me to fulfill the destiny You have for me.

According to Isaiah 46;10,11 (AMP), Lord, You say that You declare the end and the result from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying that Your counsel shall stand, and that You will do all Your pleasure and purpose. Since You are in me, I declare the end and result for my life from the beginning. Yes, You, Lord, have spoken and You will bring it to pass; You have purposed and You will do it.

Thank You, Lord, that according to Psalm 138:8 and Psalm 139:1-5 (NLT) You will work out Your plans for my life—for Your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. O Lord, You have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You both precede and follow me. You place Your hand of blessing on my head.

Thank You, Lord, for your wonderful plan for my life. Show me where I have gone off the path and bring me back on. If I am on the right path, keep me there and I will follow You to fulfill what You have for me. I am so thankful, so grateful for Your guidance, for Your leading me. You are my good Shepherd and I follow You always. My life is in Your hands. My destiny is in Your hands. Show me how to accomplish that destiny. Lord, I am excited about what we are going to accomplish in this earth. I know that we will have fun while we are doing it. Keep me on the right path and show me Your ways. O Lord, I praise You for what You are doing in my life. It is so good to be Your child and to be alive in You.

Faith For Healing

We are going to pick up on the last scripture we discussed yesterday---JEREMMIAH 30:17:
For I will restore health unto you….

This is God’s promise regarding health. He will restore you, bring recovery from disease, revive you, renew your health and soundness, return to you the health you have lost, return to you your health which has been taken from you and unjustly detained.

You see, no one has a right to take your health from you and put sickness and disease upon your body. Absolutely no one has that right. Only God has the right to give you health, health, health, health, health, all the days of your life. PSALM 107:20 He sent His Word and healed you and delivered you from destruction. PROVERBS 4:22 God’s Word is life to those that find it and health, medicine to all their flesh.

Since God’s Word is medicine, let me ask you a question? When the doctor prescribes a medicine for you, do you take it according to directions and for as long as it is recommended? Of course you do.

Then why don’t you take God’s Word as prescribed? Look at the prescription for taking God’s medicine. PROVERBS 4:20,21 Pay attention to God’s Word; incline your ear to His Word; let His Word not depart from your eyes; keep His Word in the center of your heart. JOSHUA 1:8 This book of the law (God’s Word) shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate on it day and night. Why? So that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous and then you shall have good success.

It seems to me that we are to take God’s Word day and night, forever, looking at it by reading it, hearing it by confessing it and hearing preachers and teachers teaching and preaching it, and putting it in our hearts, into our spirits, by meditating on it.

And what does meditating mean? Thinking about it, dreaming about it, picturing yourself doing it, pondering it, thinking about it all the time. Someone said recently that worry is imagination out of control. Why not turn that around and say that meditation is total immersion in God’s Word, to the point that one is carefree and worry free, no longer out of control, but perfectly calm and undisturbed. Remember that PROVERBS 14:30 says that our calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of our body….

And as you meditate, think on God’s Word day and night, His Word becomes a part of you and gets in your spirit and is no longer just knowledge in your head but reality to your heart. Then you know that you know that you are healed and no one can take that reality away from you.

People have asked me: How do you know when you have faith? You will know you have faith when you don’t have to ask if you have faith, when you don’t have to ask if it is working in you, when you don’t say you’re waiting for the manifestation. As far as faith is concerned, you have it, even when the symptoms are still raging in your body and the doctor’s report is a bad one. Faith is calm in the face of contrary evidence. Faith doesn’t have to work up a positive answer and speak the scriptures like a machine gun to keep from being fearful.

Keep staying in the Word day and night and being faithful to God and His Word. Don’t give up. Keep on doing what the Word tells you to do. And it just happens: One day you wake up and know you have it. It is worth the victory.

Contained in God’s Word is the ability, the life, the energy of God to heal your physical body. He is your strength, your life, your health. And His Word is the container of His life, given to us to bring about health and then keep us healthy. God’s Word is full of His life, full of His power, full of His strength, full of Love Himself Who is Life.

SAY THIS: I AM THE HEALED OF THE LORD, WALKING IN HIS DIVINE HEALTH FOREVER.

Restoration

God has you and me on His mind all the time, and restoration for us to Him as His children is His passion. Jesus came for that very purpose—to restore all that had been lost, to reinstate position and authority, to place back in the family of love and acceptance, to bring back the joy and absolute contentment of being One with God the Father, with Jesus the Son and with the Holy Spirit.

In the 1828 Webster’s dictionary, the words restoration and restore have some very interesting meanings, which would describe what God has done for us. Let’s look at these definitions.

The act of replacing in a former state
Renewal, revival, re-establishment
Recovery, renewal of health and soundness
Recovery from a lapse or bad state
To return to a person, as a specific thing which he has lost, or which has been taken from him and unjustly detained
To replace, to return, as a person or thing to a former place
To bring back
To bring back or recover from lapse, degeneracy, declension or ruin to its former state
Declension is a leaning back or down, a falling or declining towards a worse state, a tendency towards a less degree of excellence or perfection
To heal, to cure, to recover from disease
To make restitution or satisfaction for a thing taken, by returning something else, or something of different value
To repair, to rebuild
To revive, to bring back to life
To renew or re-establish after interruption
To recover or renew

We can conclude even from these secular definitions of restore that that is exactly what God has done for us. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God’s plan of restoration was already in place. He said in Genesis 3:15 that satan’s authority, which he had just gotten by deception would be tread underfoot. To bruise the head means to break the lordship of a ruler. When Jesus came, that is exactly what He did—He stood in man’s place, as man’s substitute, and took back everything the devil had illegally gotten by deception, everything he had stolen from mankind. And once again, man has the authority as God’s child to walk in a place of victory all the time, a place of peace and joy all the time, a place of confident assurance all the time, having dominion over all the earth. The life of God has been brought back; that which has been taken and unjustly detained has been given back. He has given us His very life; we are partakers of His very nature; He is living in us. We have His life; we have His power; we have his authority. We have it all.

We have the promise in Joel 2:21-27 that God will restore the years that have been stolen from us (by poor health, by lack of finances, by wayward children, by stressful marriages). He will restore.

And do you know what is wonderful? He tells us in Psalm 23 that He restores our soul. Now that is an area that needs restoring big time. Our minds, our wills and our emotions need to be restored with the Word of God.

And for those with need of healing and health, there is a very specific scripture to feed on. In Jeremiah 30:17 we read these words: For I will restore health unto you….

God has made provision to bring us back to life while we are here on this earth, not only in our spirits, but also in our bodies, in our homes, in our finances; in other words, He has brought life to us totally---wholeness, soundness in everything that concerns us. The Holy Spirit has been sent, and the Word is here to bring God’s life back into us again. We are new creations in Christ.

Love Is Not Passive

God is love and God, Love, is not passive. God is full of action. He is an active God. Even so, we as His children are not to be passive when it comes to pursuing Him on one hand and resisting the devil on the other. We are to passionately pursue God, and we are to aggressively resist the devil and all of his operations. The devil is a ruthless enemy whose whole goal is to wipe us out if he can. And he succeeds because of ignorance of our authority and dominion over him, because of our doubt and unbelief that God will prevail for us, because of a sense of unworthiness in some cases and because of fear that whatever we do won’t work for us.

We as God’s children have all power, all authority, all of God’s might, ability over all the power of the enemy. Jesus told us in Luke 10:19: I give to you power (My authority, My capability, My ability, My permission, liberty, freedom to exercise might) to tread (walk all over the devil and the territory he has stolen from you and claim what belongs to you) on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing (no nothing, not in the least) shall hurt or harm you. This authority over all the power of the enemy is ours. It has been given to us.

But I do want you to note here that in the very next verse, Jesus said that we were not to rejoice in this authority (because it is ours without question—it is a given right), but rather, we were to rejoice that our names are written in heaven. That is our source of rejoicing. The other is just an automatic right as far as God is concerned. Rejoice because you are God’s child. Your name is written as part of the household. And the reason you rejoice in that Truth is that it gives you all the privileges of the household, which includes authority and power over your enemy. It comes with the package. It is a done deal.

Let’s look also at a very familiar word that Jesus spoke in Matthew 11:11 and 12. Among men born of women, there had not risen one greater than John the Baptist. But in the kingdom of heaven, he that is least is greater than John. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is gotten by force, seized by force as a precious pearl, a precious jewel to be held close, to be held like you hold the fortress that you take. It is sought with great zeal and intensity.

What was Jesus saying here? He was saying that of those born of physical birth, there was no one greater human on this earth than John, but of those born of the spiritual birth of God, those who have seized from the enemy for themselves the Kingdom of heaven, the least one is greater than one born of human birth. We who have taken what God has given to us, we who have taken back from the enemy personally what God has given to all of mankind through Jesus, the least one is greater. Why? Because of the power of God that is now resident in that person because he has accepted what Jesus did for him and Who Jesus is in Him and what the Holy Spirit is doing for Him right now. WE ARE FULL OF POWER! There is nothing the enemy satan can do to stop us. Oh, if we will only grasp that Truth to our hearts and receive it in our minds. Greater is He Who is in us than he who is in the world. The Greater One lives in us, and He expects us to take what belongs to us. He has already given it all to us. What we have to do is to stand our ground and not allow the devil to steal what belongs to us. We must become aggressive against the devil and not only take what belongs to us but keep it once we get it. We are the enforcers of what has already been given to us.

We worship our Lord and adore Him with an ardent zeal as the great love of our life. We bow down before Him and bask in His Presence, bathe ourselves in His love for us. That is our joy. But we are also a people of power and authority over all the power of the enemy. It is a right which we must exercise to keep what God has given to us. We must be active in our pursuit of God and active in our resistance of the enemy. I find it interesting that Jesus used the word “violent” to describe how we as people of His kingdom are to pursue what is ours. There is certainly a lot of wrong violence in our society today, violence which comes from the devil’s realm. But the violence that Jesus was talking about was an aggressive standing of our ground where our rights are concerned as God’s children.

Today, purpose that you will receive every privilege God has given you as His child.

According To Thy Word

We are going to confess some scriptures today regarding God’s Word. Take these scriptures and make them a part of you; they will become life to all your flesh. Yesterday as I was studying God’s Word, He quickened unto me that there are many statements in His Word concerning what will happen in us and for us if we say: According to Thy Word. All of them are faith builders for our minds to be renewed. You know Proverbs 14:30 says that a calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body. Also 2 Tim. 1:7 tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound, calm mind and discipline and self-control. Proverbs 4:20 tells us that God’s Word is life to us. Just from these 3 scriptures, we see that God’s Word will bring calmness, power, love, and life to us, to our minds and hearts. So let’s get started.

The Lord told us through the Psalmist in Psalm 138:2 that He has magnified His Word above all His name.

Psalm 119:89: God’s Word is forever settled in Heaven (for me).

Psalm 119:151,160 and John 17:17: God’s Word is Truth, is true from the beginning. (That means God’s Word is true for my life.)

Jeremiah 15:16 we speak: God’s Word is to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.

We start with Mary in Luke 1:38 who said: Be it unto me according to Thy Word.

Psalm 119:9: I cleanse my way by taking heed and keeping watch on myself according to Your Word, conforming my life to it.

Psalm 119:25,107,154
Quicken, revive, stimulate, renew, give me life, redeem me according to Your Word.

Psalm 119:28
Strengthen me according to Your Word.

Psalm 119:116
Uphold me according to Your Word.

Psalm 119:133
Establish my steps and direct them by means of Your word.

Psalm 119:41
Let Your mercy, lovingkindness, and salvation come to me according to Your Word.

Psalm 119:170
Deliver me according to Your Word.

Psalm 119:58
Be merciful to me according to Your Word.

Psalm 119:169
Give me understanding according to Your Word.

Today, meditate on these scriptures. We see that we have strength, understanding, mercy, salvation, lovingkindness, direction, life, reviving according to God’s Word. He upholds us according to His Word. He upholds all things by the Word of His Power (Heb. 1:3). You and I have all we need with God’s Word. And we say today: BE IT UNTO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD!!

The Law vs The Holy Spirit & Faith

Today we are going to STUDY and DO CONFESSION based upon 2 Timothy 1:7-15, Galatians 3:22-27 and Romans 8:2:17 (KJV and Amplified Bible).

God has not given us a spirit of fear but He has given us a spirit of power, of love, of a sound mind, that is a mind which is a calm, well-balanced, and disciplined mind and one which exercises self-control.

God has delivered us, called us to a calling which is holy and leads to holiness, a life of consecration and holiness. He did this because of or according to His grace and purpose, both of which were actually given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

It is that purpose and grace which God has now disclosed, made known, made real to us by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, Who annulled death and made it of no effect and brought life, immortality, to light through the gospel.

All mankind were sinners, shut up and imprisoned by sin so that the inheritance, the blessing which was promised through faith in Christ Jesus, might be given, released, delivered, committed to those who believe, adhere to, trust in, rely on Christ Jesus.

Before faith came, we were perpetually guarded, kept in custody in preparation for faith that was destined to be revealed, unveiled, disclosed.

That law served as a trainer, a guardian, a guide to Christ, to lead until Christ came, that we might be justified, declared in right standing with God by faith. BUT NOW that faith has come, we no longer are under a guardian or trainer (the law of what to do, with its specific rules and regulations) but we are under the real thing, faith.

In Christ Jesus, we are all sons of God through faith and have put on, clothed ourselves with Christ (The Anointed One and His anointing). We have clothed ourselves with the armor of God, which comes from within (Romans 13:12). We have put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18). We have put on, clothed ourselves as ones picked by God as His own chosen representatives who are purified and well beloved by God Himself, with behavior marked by v. 12-25 of Colossians 3. In other words, we have stopped doing what our flesh dictates and started allowing the Holy Spirit of God to totally take charge of our lives, allowing Him free access to conform us to His image of beauty and love.

Therefore, the law of our new life, our new being is faith; the law of our old life was THE LAW. THE LAW leads to death and FAITH leads to life.

The power of the law was weakened by the flesh, which is the entire selfish, self-centered nature of our being without the Holy Spirit, in other words, sin. God subdued, overcame, deprived sin of its power over all who accept Jesus Christ. How? Jesus took on flesh and blood and offered Himself up for sin (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Our lives are not governed by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh. Our lives are controlled by the Holy Spirit. We set our minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit. And the mind of the Holy Spirit is life and peace now and forever. We are living the life of the Spirit because the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us and directs and controls us.

The Holy Spirit dwells in us and our spirits are alive because of His righteousness (His right way of doing things which gives us the right to come before Him without shame or guilt) that He imputes (gives) to us and our bodies are given life through the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are habitually putting to death, making extinct, deadening the evil deeds prompted by our bodies and we are truly, really and genuinely living the life of God as His children, His anointed ones.

We are led by the Holy Spirit of God and we are His children.

The Spirit which we have now received is not a spirit of bondage to fear (Hebrews 2:14-15 and 2 Timothy 1:7), but we have received the Holy Spirit Who is a Spirit of adoption, a Spirit producing sonship----we can cry or proclaim God is our Daddy, our Papa. He’s our Father. The Holy Spirit assures us, testifies to us, witnesses to us that we are children of God. We are heirs of God. We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

We are children of God, if we have accepted what Jesus has done for us as our substitute on the cross and received forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation to our Father. We have access to all that Heaven offers and have a life of freedom while we are here on this earth.