JOURNAL - 5

[FAITH]

                  JOURNAL - 5

Our attitude toward the Word determines the place that God holds in our daily life. The Word should always be the Father speaking to us.

The Word takes on personality; it becomes Christ Himself. Our contact with the Master, then, is through His Word.

We become Christlike in the measure that the Word prevails in us. The Word is Christ revealed.

The Word is always NOW. It is His Word to me today. It is His voice. It becomes a Living thing in my heart as I lovingly act upon it.

His Word makes our ministry limitless. It is the mind of the Father. It is the Will of the Father.

The Word is the Father speaking -- it is always in the present tense.  Jeremiah 15:16 - "Thy words were found, and I did eat them. Thy words were unto me a joy and rejoicing of my heart." Job 23:12 - "I have treasured up the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."

Hebrews 7:22 - "by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant."  Jesus is the surety of the New Covenant. The New Covenant is the Word, and He is the surety of the Word.

The Word takes the place of the unseen Jesus. Meditation in the Word is like a visit with Jesus. Jesus said in John 8:31 "Abide in My Word." The Word gets into your blood, into your system and becomes a part o you.

We are to be sowers of the Word.  If we irrigate it with prayer and faith, it is bound to bring forth a harvest.

Unconsciously we walk by sight. The senses take the reality away from the Word, but as the spirit gains the ascendency over the senses, the Word once more has its place.

He said, "I watch over my Word." He will watch over the Word you preach and teach.  the Word of Christ becomes a Living thing in your lips.

Disease is of the devil. You are suffering the results of refusing to take your place in Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:3 - "And you are yet carnal."  That means they live in the senses; they are ruled by the senses; and they are guided by the senses. Paul says they are walking after the manner of men, or as "mere men" of the world.  There has been no change, no growth, no development in their spiritual life whatever. They are treating the Word as though it is a common book. They belong to the A-Class of hitch-hikers. Their faith is always weak. You will see them going to the altar year after year but they never get anything -- they have become habitual spiritual cripples. Satan rules them through the senses. They are afraid to meet the Lord. They lightly esteem the Word of God.

We have to begin to step out of our comfort zone because we can't grow in our comfort zone.

Prodical son -- The father tells the older brother you have been in church this whole time, you have had access to the anointing, you have had access to the Holy Spirit, you have had access to Heavenly places all the time. You have sat in the Father's house and you have been lazy with the presence of God, you have been lazy with the anointing of God and your vision is beginning to blur in the house of God -- vision -- reaching the hurting, reaching the broken, discipling new believers.

Minister to the Lord -- not for the Lord -  to get into the presence.

Evangelical Sermons - sometimes because of the limited theology they preach, and their lack of understanding of the role of the born-again Believer in advancing God's Kingdom, they are unfruitful in implementing the launching of God's calling on an individual's life.

If we are not burning with the fire of God, then we are burning with the fire of this world.  Do you hear the sound of the rooster?  Are you denying Him?

You know the answer they need -- give it to them.  Take our Christianity to another level -- baptism, be submerged in the lifestyle of Christ, willing to take persecution for your beliefs in the suffering of Christ -- be baptized in Jesus.

2 Peter 1:4 - "By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire."

Problem:  We can't cast out things that entertain us. 

Affirmation:  I'm not going to let trees and rocks glorify Him if I can glorify Him.

Your key to the prison the devil has put you in is a shout of praise.  You have put wi-fi in your prison cell.  You have laid out carpet in your prison cell.  I-phones have become portals to the kingdom of darkness.  People aren't throwing their life away -- they are scrolling their life away.  The devil has turned our brains into zombies.  Your reality is the result of what you have spoken. God doesn't want you to camp out at the river.

Stop crying -- your attitude is dictating your circumstances.

God died as us, not for us.  Out of the side of Adam came His bride.  Out of the side of Jesus came His bride.  Jesus says GET-UP (widows son at Nain).  Right place at the right time to get your blessing.

Satan starts off as a snake in Genesis and ends up as a dragon in Revelation because the people of God have been feeding it.

Jesus says:  "Let me out of this box -- let me out of this religious thing.”

 You are so bored in church -- you are so casual.  Now is the time to praise God like you've never praised -- we begin to shout -- we begin to cry out to God -- we say that it is time for the Lion to get out of its cage and let him fight His enemies.

We want God to birth something in us but there is no room for Him -- we are so full of the spirit of this age.  We are so full of idols.  God is a jealous all-consuming fire that wants all of you.

Romans 2:13 - "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified."

Jeremiah 20:9 - "But if I say, "I will not mention his word or speak any more in His name," His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."

Too many people in the church are hanging on to what God is saying to let go of.  They say "Why aren't you anointing me -- why aren't you blessing me."

The anointing of God only falls on fire, on sacrifice.  Where is your fire?

He is a God that can save you, change you, deliver you -- we have to tell people that.  He died as our sin.  Revival is a lifestyle we walk in.

There is a real price between your asking and receiving.

Every time I lift my hands there is something happening in the supernatural realm.  God has never been validated by numbers.  God is validated by obedience.  Abide without spot or wrinkle.

Worship - Obedience mixed with sacrifice, Re: Abraham & Isaac.  Praise is a war cry.  Praise envokes the armies of God -- used when we need a breakthrough.  God comes down and makes war with His enemies.

How can we sleep through our pain and dysfunction?  My life is not about me anymore it is about the invisible image of God.

The antichrist spirit in the church today doesn't challenge, convict or put demands on people.  Apathy has gripped the American church -- over indulged in complacency and casualness.  The moment you get casual you loose holiness.  Religion gives you just a piece of God to satisfy.

Mephibosheth - Jesus fix my paralyzed condition.  Bring me into the Kings table.  We want the answer to every issue of mankind and we don't deliver others from themselves. 

The tomb is empty and God has invited you in that you might die with Christ.  You are not going to find Christ in a dead church.  Don't look for the living amongst the dead. 

God is looking for people that literally cannot live their lives without me giving them what I have.

I can't fight the kingdom of darkness if the kingdom of darkness is my entertainment.

Question to ask myself:  Am I living by the standard of the most lukewarm person I know or am I living by the standard of Jesus.

The measuring stick that we use to measure our lives is called Jesus.  We aren't comparing ourselves to some other church or denomination.

God says -- "go pour out so I can fill you."

It's not just saying a prayer -- it's dying -- receiving Jesus will cost you everything.

Where does it say grace covers sin?  -- Blood covers sin, by grace we are saved.

Some of the people that followed Jesus were only fans and not real followers.

Whose image is on the coin - Caesar's image is on the coin.

God's image is on us.  We have been made in the image of God --because -- "My image is on you -- your life belongs to Me."   God is calling us to give our breath back to Him, to give our job to Him, to give our hands to Him, to give our feet to Him.  Give your mouth to Him. That's is why we have to open our mouth in praise.

Colossians 1:27 - "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Affirmation:  Since Christ is in me, my potential is everything that is in Christ.

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God designed the human soul to be passionate, abandoned and committed.  If we have nothing to die for, then we really have nothing to live for. God intended our souls to be captured, consumed and enthralled with Jesus. True Christianity sparks a flame in the human spirit.  It ignites the heart with holy fervency for Jesus.

There are dimensions of pleasure and fulfillment that can never be experienced until we say a passionate, abandoned yes to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  Unbelievers need to see Christians who have taken up their crosses, turned their backs to the world and given their all to the Christ who gave everything to them.

The Holy Spirit must quicken the knowledge of God's passionate love for us and make it alive in our hearts (we continually meditate on this love as we go throughout the day)-- only then can we give love (give love back to God and give love to others) with the God kind of love.  The God kind of love must pulsate at the core of all our ministry, whether it be teaching others how to be saved, ministering to the sick, or discipling new Christians. 

Why are we Christians loling around passively in our own little comfort zones, tuning out the Holy Spirit, neglecting the place of prayer and the Word of God?  Why are we ignoring God's promptings to reach out to the lost and needy?  Why do we compromise and backslide?  What are we doing?

Prayer:  Dear Heavenly Father, don't allow another generation of easily offended Christians who lust for money, power, position, and pleasure to be birthed. Please fill us with a more intimate knowledge of Your Son's splendor and loveliness before You bring a multitude of new believers for us to train and equip to advance Your Kingdom.

We must persevere until we are "strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man" (Ephesians 3:16).  We will be restless until we become prisoners of God. As captives of His divine purpose for our life we will lead others unto passion for Jesus and their ability to advance God's Kingdom throughout the earth.

We will never possess true purity without inward affection for Jesus.  External disciplines and standards of holiness without devotion for Jesus have very little real power or life in them.  A person named Jesus -- not rules and regulations -- guards our souls.  Affection for Him creates a hindrance to the added temptations plaguing our souls.

FLAMING HEART FOR CHRIST  When we are "sowing to the Spirit" - (Galatians 6:8), we are exposing ourselves to the presence of God whether we feel it or not.  As focusing upon the Holy Spirit becomes the habit of our souls, we receive the wonderful anointing spoken of in Hebrews, "who makes His...ministers a flame of fire" (Hebrews 1:7).  The flaming heart of Christ ignites our hearts -- Fire begets fire. The holy flame is relentless and consuming.  It will ignite a focused soul, even though it may be barren, and release deep emotions of hunger for Jesus.

"He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).  Increase in our revelation of God comes before decrease in our bondage of darkness. Trying to decrease in sin when Jesus has not first increased in us is difficult and ineffective. Once the knowledge of Christ's finished work on the cross is made real to our spirits it has a sanctifying impact on our imagination and emotions.

 

Baptism is not a symbolic act but it is a prophetic act.  Prophetic acts like prophetic declarations release God's power to bring about change in our lives.  In the case of baptism, being submerged under water is the act of dying with Christ to the world but being pulled up out of the water is equally as important as it brings power to live in Christ!

"Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death...so we too might walk in newness of life...that our old self was crucified with Him...Even so consider yourself to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:4-11)

We entered the baptismal tank with a cross and we exited with a crown!  Sinning is no longer an option in our lives.

We are Saints, holy believers, and Christians, which means when the Father looks at us, He sees the image of the Son He loves.

John 15:5 - "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."  Do you ever feel that no matter what you do, you should be doing something more?  The truth is that no matter what we do it will never be enough, and that is why God sent His Son.  He is not only enough, He is more than enough!  Our goal should be to increase in understanding of our inheritance in Christ and our Right Standing with God and avoid doing things in order to try to obtain from God what He gives us freely by His grace.  Let us always do what we do for God to show our love for Him, and never to buy His love for us. Enter the rest of God, and refuse to live under the pressure of constantly feeling that you need to earn approval in order to be acceptable to God.

Luke 17:21 - "...for indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you."  God doesn't want you to be conscious of the lack in your natural circumstances.  He doesn't want you to live by how much you earn or how much you have in the bank,  God wants you to be conscious of the abundance of resources in His Kingdom.  Jesus said that "the Kingdom of God is within you."  this means that the Kingdom of God is not some physical place.  It is within you and it is where the abundance of resources is.  So if you want to experience abundance in your life, be conscious first of the Christ-life inside you.  Then what is inside you will become a reality on the outside because His Kingdom is within you!

Colossians 1:26,27 - "the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them, God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."  Pride is the deification of self. To say "Oh, I'm no saint." is acceptable to human pride, but it is unconscious blasphemy against God.  It literally means that you defy God to make you a saint. "I am much too weak and hopeless." Humility before men may be unconscious blasphemy before God. Why are you not a saint? It is either that you do not want to be a saint, or that you do not believe God can make you one.  The disciple of Christ is one who has crucified self-interest and pride and self-sufficiency.

Exodus 12:13 - "The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you..."  It is the blood of Jesus alone that delivers you.  If you think that it is because of your faith, then you will always be wondering "Do I have enough faith?" When God sees that you see that it is the blood alone that saves, He calls that faith in the blood, and every plague will pass over you!  Every time you think that your deliverance depends partly on God and partly on you, you will not have a settled peace in your heart.  But when you know that it is the blood alone that saves, you will have an unshakable peace.

2 Timothy 1:7 - "For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  This power that we have been given is not just the power to overcome -- it is the power to become who we are.  The key to overcoming fear is to become who you are called to be in Christ (God's purpose for your life).

Matthew 21:43 - "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it." - The surrendering of our lives will bring greater fulfillment than if we selfishly hang on to our small perspective and our limited experience. For when we surrender our lives and rediscover our calling in Christ, we are actually given the opportunity to participate in the expansion of the Kingdom of God and all the blessing and favor that goes with it.

John 15:4 - "Abide in Me"  We keep God at arm's length, there is none of the serenity of the life hid with Christ in God about us.  With Jesus the inner abiding was unsullied; He was at home with God wherever His body was placed. He never chose His own circumstances.  Begin to abide now.  In the initial stages it is a continual effort until it becomes so much the law of life that you abide in Him unconsciously.  In any circumstance you can be sure of abiding in Him as in a prayer meeting.  Determine to abide in Jesus wherever you are placed.

Affirmation: The Word works in me because I am a believer.  At this moment I humble myself under the mighty hand of God.  I cast all my care over on Him.  At this moment forward I refuse to worry.  Instead, I will pray, I will use my faith and believe, and He'll exalt me over the problem and over the devil.  For I belong to Jesus and He cares for me. 

Proverbs 4:7 - "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding."  If you really want to get the understanding and wisdom of God, you'll have to do more than casually read the Scriptures a few minutes a day. You'll have to feed on them night and day. You'll have to get rid of the rubbish you're feeding into your consciousness by being unreasonably committed to the Word of God.  Do whatever it takes to totally saturate yourself with the Word of God (particularly the scriptures that have to do with your identity in Christ) . If you're going to make it through to victory, you're going to have to put yourself in training.  Be unreasonably committed.  Get understanding -- get wisdom.

Joshua 1:9 - "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."  Those Believers who are pursuing their calling in Christ have to be risk takers -- getting into deep water is scary because there's a possibility that you could drown.  Getting into the water is scary because it's cold. But getting in is the only way you will learn to swim. You can't learn hanging on the edge.  Getting to the next level of God's purpose for your life works the same way; you will have to step out of what feels secure. Our destiny is waiting on the other side. We can't let fear keep us from moving forward doing what we have been created to do.

Romans 8:33 - "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?  It is God who justifies."  The book of Job tells us that Satan came to God's throne and complained about Job. (Job 1:6-12) God's throne is the most holy place. So why did God allow Satan to come before Him in the most holy place? Because of Adam's sin, He had the right to take Adam's place and come before God. So, what happened to Job cannot happen to us.  Job longed for a mediator, but he had none. (Job 9:33).  Today we have Jesus as our Mediator, mediating the New Covenant between God and man.  However, since the devil cannot come before God any more, he comes to you on earth and accuses you in your conscience. Satan cannot come before God to accuse you because it is God who justifies you through the terms of the New Covenant. Jesus' holy blood has given you perfect  standing in the presence of God!

Romans 10:17 - "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing, by the word of God."  Jesus said, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:29). Blessed means "empowered."  so, according to Jesus, you'll have more power if you'll believe before seeing a physical manifestation.  For you to believe something you don't see with your physical eyes, you have to turn inward.  You have to activate your spirit being. When you do that the part of you that is like God rises up and gets stronger. Keep standing on the Word, first and foremost. The everyday kind of faith you use for living -- doesn't come from moving in the gifts of the Spirit. It doesn't come from seeing Jesus or having special visitations and experiences with God. It comes by hearing and hearing and hearing the Word of God.

Luke 14:26 - "If any man come to me and hate not...he cannot be My disciple."  There is a difference between devotion to a Person and devotion to principles or to a cause.  Our Lord never proclaimed a cause; He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. Men pour themselves into creeds, and God has to blast them out of their prejudices before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ. To be a disciple is to be a devoted love-slave of the Lord Jesus.  Many who call themselves Christian are not devoted to Jesus Christ. No man on earth has this passionate love to the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has imparted it to him. We may admire Him, we may respect Him and reverence Him, but we cannot love Him. The only Lover of the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and He shed abroad the very love of God in our hearts.