Persistence Wins

When we experience long periods of fighting the same spiritual battles we can struggle to determine if we are making a difference. I have heard many stories about people receiving deliverance or a blessing at the very end of a long period of prayer by others. Scriptures speak of this.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Paul encourages us to not give in. He says in the end we win. We will reap the reward of our persistence if we just do not give up. If you wonder if your prayers matter, just think about this. It is likely that the last time you received some amazing blessing that somewhere God had someone on their knees praying for you. They may not have know it, and you may not have known it, but God did. He responded and you received the blessing. If you are in this situation, fight back. Pray a blessing on someone you know or on an unknown person. The enemy will give up because you will be heard and he will tire of losing ground.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. Thank You for Your kingdom. Forgive us when we grow weary. Strengthen us and lift us up. Help us to remember others in their times of need. Send us Your healing, deliverance, and overwhelming provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Fighting Back

Today in the early hours I woke up, a little groggy. It was not yet time to get up. As I rolled over to go back to sleep my mind began to fill with many thoughts. Many of them were thoughts of doubt and unbelief about events and needs in the lives of me and my family, and other things that did not exalt God. I prayed and asked God to take them away so I could return to sleep. It occurred to me to fight back. I began to think the name of Jesus, to imagine a lit path of light where only the ground was illuminated through the darkness, and also at times was saying His name out loud with other positive statements about God from scripture.

Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

This scripture says that at the name of Jesus everything must surrender.

Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

This scripture shows us that the words God speaks to us, both in prayer and in scripture, light the way that we should go and make it possible for us to walk safely.

As I spoke the name of Jesus and other scriptures and thought about the lighted path, those bad thoughts fled from me and I went to sleep peacefully.

There are times when I have forgotten these simple truths and been overwhelmed, my mind over run by the doubt and unbelief thrown at me by the enemy. Perhaps you have had this same experience. We do not have to live that way nor are we meant to live that way. We can fight back. And if we do and don’t give up, we will win because God is on our side.

Prayer
Father, we exalt and praise You above all others. We thank You for Your Son Jesus and for You giving Him a name above every name. We need Your kingdom in our hearts, minds, and lives. Forgive us when we give in to the darkness. Come today and bring light to the darkness in us. Show us Your ways and Your path. Send today Your deliverance, healing, and abundant provision. In Jesus (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Doing Good

As believers we are involved in spiritual warfare everyday. It is possible that even unbelievers are. but we are for sure. The scriptures point to several ways in which this is true.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Paul tells us that we should not weary in well doing because we will reap a reward. We will be victorious if we just do good. He follows this up saying that we should therefore do good to all, especially other believers. He offers a similar message in his letter to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Here Paul speaks of sacrifices. Sacrifice in the Old Testament was performed and when it was God showed up. There was no fire on the alter. God would show up and set the sacrifice on fire. This is clearly a reference to God showing up, and He shows up when we do good.

We literally defeat the enemy to some degree every time we do good for someone. Today, let’s help someone, and defeat the enemy just a little more!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You are our King. We need Your kingdom on the earth a desperate way. There is much darkness and oppression around us. But You are the Light that set men free. You alone can defeat the enemy in a way that is absolute. Forgive us when we do not do good and give aid to the enemy. Lift us up. We praise Your name above all names. Send today Your healing, deliverance, and overwhelming provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Say And Do

Growing up I heard many phrases that my parents used that today we call cliches. Yet, they seemed to live by them. “Your word is your bond” was one of the ones my father taught me all the time. He grew up during the depression and learned the hard way that people did not always do what they said. His folks lost their home to a wealthy person who claimed to help them out when they could not pay back some money owed. That story stuck with me, and I thought that all people stuck by their word. The scriptures speak of this as well.

James 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

James was saying, amongst other things, that we should either say we will or will not do or agree to something. If we say one thing and do another, then our words become meaningless. One of the problems with that is we use our words to pray. If our prayers are meaningless, then it will be difficult to defeat our enemy. James talks about the power of the words.

James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

James was saying that Elijah had all the same faults as us. Yet, when he prayed, his words meant something. It is because our words and actions define us. In fact, the words take on meaning by our actions. The most important message here is that Elijah trusted God and knew that as a man he, Elijah, had faults. Lastly, God gives us an example about our words.

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

God always makes what He says come to pass. If He says something He does it. If we say something and do not do it, it becomes difficult for us to believe that God would be any different.

Today, let’s pray and ask God to help us do what we say, and that what we say and do are in line with His ways.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are worthy to be praised. We so want to see Your kingdom in this earth. Sometimes we say one thing but do something else. Please forgive us when we do not do what we say. We know that people count on us to do what we say. We know it causes harm when we don’t do something we said we would do. Please help us to keep our word. Please send today Your healing, deliverance, and overwhelming provision that all men might know that You alone are God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Preparing For Reign

Last night my wife and I watched yet again one of our favorite movies, “Facing the Giants” which was a low budget highly successful Christian movie. As always it moved me. There are many great point in the movie, but two I would like to address here. The first is when the older gentleman that prayed for the students everyday approached the coach with a message from God. His final words were about two farmers that prayed for a much needed rain (not reign), but only one prepared his fields for it. He then asked the coach where he thought God sent the rain, and which sort of man the coach was. I have changed the word from “rain” to “reign” in the title of this writing because I believe it applies. Revival struck the school in the movie because they were prepared for the rain of reign.

We then watched the features at the end of the film. The making of the film was an amazing story. God was moving on Alex Kindrick to create such films. He wanted to point out that we all have giants in our lives, but with God they can be overcome. There are many stories about giants as a source of opposition in scripture. Most likely think of David and Goliath. However, long before David, there is a story of giants that applies here.

Numbers 13:1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
3 And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.
17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:
18 And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;

Moses sent the men as God had commanded to scout out the land. They found it to be very fruitful, with grape clusters so big it took two men to carry one! But there were two different reports that came back.

Numbers 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Caleb (and Joshua) wanted to go take on the people, the giants, and possess the land. But the other men said the giants were too big. In saying this they were supporting the giants over God. It was like saying God was not big enough, and it scared the people. Then came a different response.

Numbers 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
11 And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?

Joshua stood up and said God is with us, do not rebel against Him. The people stood up to stone them. God showed up and was displeased. God set things right.

I tell this story because it turns out that in the making of “Facing the Giants”, Alex was prepared to leave his church. He felt the call from God to promote the kingdom, but that the church he was at did not do that type of thing. The pastor decided they would do the movie. The entire church prayed, the movie was done with only five professionals and the rest were volunteers. The movie cost $100,000 to make and grossed $10,000,000. More importantly it has touched and continues to touch thousands of lives. They prepared for reign. Let me now tell you another story.

A couple years ago a friend of mine went to church every day and prayed for revival in the churches sanctuary. God did a miracle and gave him and another of my friends many songs, day after day. Though he did not consider himself a song writer at the time, God was sending the reign. Unfortunately this story does not have a similar ending to date. Instead of using what God was providing to bring revival, the church leaders black balled my friend by name and would not allow the songs they had created to be played. And, as you may have guessed, no revival. So why tell these stories and what can be learned from this?

In the story from Numbers 13-14 we see that some speak for God and some speak for the giants. It is important to never give up, to realize that God will always defeat the giants. Perhaps the question we should all ask ourselves is, who do we speak for – God or the giants?

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are worthy of praise. We love and exalt You above the giants in our lives. At some point we all give in and/or speak for the giants. Please forgive us when we do. We want to promote Your kingdom. We want You to rain your reign on us and this world. Please send us You abundant healing, deliverance, and provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

In His Name

When we pray, it is common for us to end our prayer with something like, “in the name of Jesus” or in some way mentioning the name of the Lord. There are many scriptures that talk about the name of Jesus, but I have wondered about this idea.

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I have wondered what this meant to those that heard this originally may have thought. In verse nine Paul says God gave Him a name above every name. Why would this matter and what would the original readers of this letter thought of this comment? If they were Jewish, they would have had many examples from David and others in the scriptures they had at that time.

Psalms 61:5 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.
6 Thou wilt prolong the king’s life: and his years as many generations.
7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

David said he received the heritage (the inheritance) of those that fear God’s name. In verse eight David says he will sing praises to His name, and that somehow this makes it possible for David to live (perform his vows). Two points here. Singing praises to God’s name must be a weapon of spiritual warfare because it results in our ability to live. Secondly, Jesus was not born yet, but there is the concept of the name of God being important. The word “name” in Hebrew indicates position. David was speaking about praising the position of God, because that is what a name does for us. It gives us the position of the person. David does this in yet another psalm.

Psalms 83:13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.
14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;
15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Lord.
17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth.

In this passage David is asking that his enemies be destroyed in a mighty way so that all men may know that the one and only one that has the position of being the Self Existent (Eternal) One is the most high over everything in the world. Again, this is before Jesus.

When Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians, this was the frame of mind it was falling on in those readers. They understood the idea of “in the name of” referring to position. It is a phrase that calls upon the authority. And when Paul said there was a name above every name, it was His Jewish name Yeshua, which means Jehovah is salvation or wholeness. When we pray or say something in the name of Jesus, we are saying that we are speaking for the King, the Self Existent Eternal One who is wholeness. That is the power of what we are saying when we battle our enemy in prayer and praise.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High God. Thank You for defeating and destroying our enemies. Please forgive us when we do not use Your name to produce Your kingdom in the earth. Please help us to be better representatives of Your kingdom. We ask that You bring Your kingdom in our lives today with healing, deliverance, and abundant provision that all men may know that you alone are God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Distraction, Deception, Diversion, Destruction

A key to winning in most competitions is to get the opposition to do what you want them to do. This could not be more true than in spiritual warfare. Many believers today try to better understand and defend themselves against this by staying active in their churches. Seems like a good thing, right? In many ways that is true. It is stated often in scripture that it is good for believers to be together.

Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Now let’s return to my original premise. A key to winning is to get the opposition to do what you want them to do. This is what the serpent did in the garden to Eve. He distracted her with a foolish question, he deceived her with a lie about not dying and about being like God, he diverted her attention with the attractiveness of fruit that must surely result in good taste, and then destroyed her and Adam’s perfect life when they ate, pushing death into the world. Clearly our enemy is good at this. There is another scripture that indicates part of his plan at the end of time (where I believe we are presently). It speaks of this same pattern of distraction, deception, diversion, and destruction.

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Here Daniel is speaking about the beast at the end of time. It says he wears out the saints. How? By changing the times and laws. The word “times” here actually means “sacred festivals” as it is translated in the New Living Translation. So the beast at the end of time changes essentially the holidays – the Feasts of the Lord.

Today is Shavuot which is the feast fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread during the Passover season. It is also the day in the upper room that God sent the Holy Spirit recorded in Acts 2. However, we see many believers celebrating Pentecost fifty days after Easter, neither of which are on the same dates as the Feasts of the Lord. This raises some interesting questions. If the beast at the end of time changes the sacred festivals, and they are now changed, how did that happen? If the sacred festivals were important in that they tell God’s story of redemption and salvation for man, giving God the glory, then what story is being told by these new holidays and who is getting the glory, really? If the method of winning is to get your opposition to do what you want them to do, and the beast at the end of time is our opposition, and the four stages I mentioned are correct (distraction, deception, diversion, and destruction), which stage are we now in?

All very interesting questions, worthy of investigation, don’t you agree?

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High. Thank You for all You do for us, and for Your eternal markers in the creation of Your handiwork and our salvation. Please forgive us when we get off track and follow a path other than the one You have set with Your feasts, Your signs in the heavens, and Your Holy Spirit. We thank You for this day many Years ago when You sent us Your Holy Spirit, and we celebrate that day today. Please send us today Your healing, deliverance, and overwhelming provision.

Stacking Up The Wins

Believers are like everyone else – we are human. Humans are imperfect. Believers are imperfect. For me, trying to think about how to go for long periods of time without making mistakes is challenging. I have talked with many believers that struggle with different things in their lives. This morning as I was thinking about life, of how precious each moment is. If you read yesterday’s post, you can understand why I am thinking about each moment. We all have those times when something magnificent happens, and we remember them well. It is this thinking about the moments of victory that made me realize something. God does work in stages, and will give us what we need to get on track.

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Isaiah was telling those that had erred that God would rebuild them. God gives us what we need to get on the path to victory. He is all about helping His people learn to follow him more closely. He is there to fight our battles for us. We need only take the time to listen, to learn, and then to do. Every moment counts.

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

If we want to be victorious in our spiritual battles, we need only spend some time with our Father. If we do this daily, we will prepare ourselves for the battle. If you are struggling today, don’t think about the whole day. Think about the next five minuted. Then the next five, and the next five, and so on. Even if you only win for five minutes, that is a win. When we stack these up, day after day, we will live more victorious days, and more victorious lives.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are worthy to receive our praise. You alone are worthy to receive the honor of our words. You alone deserve our whole hearted commitment to You and Your ways. Please forgive us when we stumble. Please help us to win these moments. Send us to day the victory, the deliverance, the healing, and the abundant provision we need today. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

When The Battle Rages

As believers there are times when spiritual warfare can seem more real to us. There can be tough times when we or someone we know and care about needs healing, deliverance, provision, heartache, and more. And we are thankful in those times that our God stands and delivers us. This morning as I was considering this it occurred to me that the battle is really raging everyday.

In the “good times” we may think that there is no battle. However, that is not what the scriptures seem to say. Jesus spoke about this at different times in different ways.

John 10:7Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

In this passage, amongst other things, Jesus was saying that He is the Shepherd. There is a thief that comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Our adversary is on a mission to do just that to us. Does it seem likely that he would ever take the day off? Jesus, being the Shepherd, fights him off many times without us even knowing it. And notice those that claim to help that are not the Shepherd run away, but He never does.

Matthew 6: 25 Therefore 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?
26 Behold 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?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, 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.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Here Jesus is telling us that God cares for everything. He takes care of the birds, so certainly He would care for us. If God is taking care of all our needs, then certainly He would be there to fight our daily battles. Even when we are not aware that there is an enemy attacking, God fights him off for us.

One last point. Just because we may be experiencing the “good times”, it does not mean that all other believers are. In our good times we can pray for others. There are many around the world that need our prayers for their deliverance. There are many in our own cities and towns. Like God, we can be involved in the battle everyday for our fellow believers. Today, let’s pray for each other, and watch our God move!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You are the Most High King. Forgive us our mistakes. We ask today that You reach out to those that in the tough times of raging battle. Touch the lives of those with cancer and other diseases today Father. Heal them in a way that You alone get the glory and the praise. Send today Your healing, deliverance, and abundant provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Intent Of The Heart

For those of us that have been believers for any length of time, we know that there are days when we do not get everything right. We live in a challenging world. There are many things that can distract us, even from serving God as we know we should. This is the challenge of living, the challenge of being a believer waiting in earnest for Jesus to return. Paul wrote of his desire to be with God rather than being on the earth.

Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

Paul wanted to be with the Lord, but stayed here to help others win their battles spiritually. We need each other to make it. That was part of Paul’s message here. We can help each other to win battles. Paul talked about this in his second letter to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

This quote from Paul’s letter is used often to say that when we die we are immediately with God. But I think there is another meaning. When we overcome sin in our life, when we beat those temptation, we are absent from the flesh and walking in the Spirit in God’s ways. God is always with us, but when we walk in His ways we are with Him.

We will not always get things right. But we can always want to get them right. If we spend time with God, He will help us get our hearts right. He is always with us, always on our side.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as our King. We want to do Your will. Help us to get it right, and please forgive us when we do not. Please help all those struggling today to see You in their lives. Touch our hearts and create them clean in us. Please send today Your healing, deliverance, and abundant provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.