Let it be to me, according to Your Word

One of my favorites verses in the Bible is:
Luke 1:37, which tells us:
For with God nothing will be impossible

There are also verses that correspond with this telling us that what is impossible with man is not impossible with God. HALLELUJAH!!!!

Interestingly enough, the verse in Luke was written in the passage where Jesus' birth was announced to His Mom, Mary, then straight away in the next verse, Mary said:
"Behold, the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word."

That passage has always been a reminder to me that God's Word to us should always bring that response from our heart. The posture of our heart should always be...let it be to me according to Your Word, Lord.

Over in Romans 10:8-10 tells us:
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

This is not just a "formula" to bring us to salvation, it's a spiritual principle that is to be used throughout our lives. When we see the Word of God that speaks to our heart, with the heart we believe what He says, and with our mouth confession is made agreeing with God's Word what He's provided for us in His Word.

I think it's interesting that even before Jesus was born, THAT IS HOW His Mom received Him, by believing in her heart and decreeing with her mouth, and it was done unto Her....according to God's Word.

I LOVE how God works! LOL

Father, HELP US to understand the power of Your Word in our heart and in our mouths. Help us to BELIEVE what You say and help us to AGREE with you with our mouths so it can be conceived into our own lives. In Jesus' Name.

Lifehouse's Everything Skit

This clip is about 5 minutes long and really worth your time to watch. Very moving.




Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Father, thank You for Your faitfulness towards us! HELP US NOT to be entangled with ANY yoke of bondage, and help us to walk in holiness, unto You. In Jesus' Name.

God's Call to Holiness

This "Original" portrait of Dr. Murray courtesy of Debbie Fortnum, Andrew Murray's Great, Great, Great, Great Granddaughter, was retrieved from THIS site.

Today I am sharing an excerpt of one of Mr. Murray's Books entitled: "The Believers Secret of Holiness." It was formerly published under the title: "Holy in Christ."

Andrew Murray was born in South Africa in 1828. After receiving his education in Scotland and Holland, he returned to that land and spent many years there as both pastor and missionary. He was a staunch advocate of biblical Christianity. He is best known for his many devotional books.

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God's Call to Holiness

15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (I Peter. 1:15, 16)

The call of God is the manifestation in time of His purpose in eternity: "Whom he predestinated, them he also called." Believers are "the called according to his purpose." In His call He reveals to us what His thoughts and His will concerning us are, and what the life is to which He invites us. In His call He makes clear to us what the hope of our calling is; as we spiritually apprehend and enter into this, our life on earth will be the reflection of His purpose for us in eternity.

Scripture uses more than one word to indicate the object or aim of our calling, but none more frequently than what Peter speaks of here -- God has called us to be holy as He is holy. Paul addresses believers twice as "called to be saints (holy)" (Romans 1:7; I Corinthians 1:2). "God hath not called us," he says, "unto uncleanness, but unto holiness" (I Thessalonians 4:7). When he writes, "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly," he adds, "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it" (I Thessalonaians 5:24). The calling itself is spoken of as "a holy calling." The eternal purpose, of which the calling is the outcome, is also continually connected with holiness as its aim. "He hath chosen us in him...that we should be holy and without blame" (Ephesians 1:4). "God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification" (II Thesselonians 2:13). "Elect according to the foreknowledge of the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit" (I Peter 1:2). The call is the unveiling of the purpose that the Father from eternity had set His heart upon: that we should be holy.

Without a doubt, to know aright what God has called us to is of infinite importance. To misunderstand here could be fatal. That God calls you to salvation or to happiness, to receive pardon or to obtain heaven, you may have heard. But have you ever noticed that all these were subordinate to His main purpose? It was to "salvation through sanctification," it was to holiness first and foremost, as the element in which salvation and heaven are to be found. The complaints of many Christians as to lack of joy and strength, as to failure and lack of growth, are due to this -- the place God gave holiness in His call they have not given to it in their response. God and they have never yet come to an agreement on this.

No wonder that Paul, in the chapter in which he had spoken to the Ephesians about being "chosen to be holy," prays for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God to be given to each believer, that he might know "the hope of his calling" (1:17,18). Let all of us who now see to what we are called pray this prayer and ask God to show us that, just as He who hath called us is himself holy, so we are to be. Our calling, before and above everything else, is to holiness. Let us ask Him to show us what holiness is, His first and then ours; to show us how He has set His heart upon that as the one thing He wants to see in us, as being His own image and likeness; to show us too the unutterable blessedness and glory of sharing with Christ in His holiness. Oh, that God by His Spirit would teach us all that this calling means! We can easily conceive what a mighty influence it would exert.

"Like as he which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy." This call of God shows us the true motive behind His command: "Be ye holy, for I am holy." It is as if God said, "Holiness is my blessedness and my glory: without this you cannot see me or enjoy me; there is nothing higher to be conceived; I invite you to share with me in it; I invite you to likeness to myself. Does this attract you and move you deeply -- the hope of being partakers of my holiness? I have nothing better to offer -- I offer you myself: 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" Shall we not cry earnestly to God to show us the glory of His holiness, that our souls may be made willing to give everything in response to this wondrous call?

His call also shows the nature of true holiness. "Like as he is holy, so be ye also holy." To be holy is to be Godlike, to have a disposition, a will, a character like God. The thought almost looks like blasphemy until we listen again, "He hath chosen us in Christ to be holy." In Christ the holiness of God appeared in human life: in Christ's example, in His mind and Spirit, we have the holiness of the Invisible One translated into the forms of human life and conduct. To be Christlike is to be Godlike; to be Christlike is to be holy as God is holy.

The call equally reveals the power of holiness. "There is none holy but the Lord"; there is no holiness but what He has, or rather what He is and gives. The quality is not something we do or attain: it is the communication of the divine life, the inbreathing of the divine nature, the power of the divine presence resting on us. And our power to become holy is to be found in the call of God: the Holy One calls us to himself that He may make us holy in possessing himself. He not only says "I am holy," but "I am the Lord, who makes holy." Because the call comes from the God of infinite power and love, we may have the confidence: we can be holy.

The call no less reveals the standard of holiness. "Like the Holy One who called you, be ye yourselves also holy." There is to one standard for God and another for man. The nature of light is the same, whether we see it in the sun or in a candle; the nature of holiness remains unchanged, whether it be God or man in whom it dwells. The Lord Jesus could say nothing less than, "Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." When God calls us to holiness, He calls us to himself and His own life. The more carefully we listen to the voice, and let it sink into our hearts, the more will all human standards fall away and only the words be heard, Holy, as I am holy.

The call shows us the path of holiness. The calling of God is one of mighty efficacy, an effectual calling. Listen to Him and with divine power the call will work what it offers. He calls the things that are not as though they were. His call gives life to the dead and holiness to those whom He has made alive. He calls us to listen as He speaks of His holiness, and of ours like His. He calls us to himself, to study, to fear, to love, to claim His holiness. He calls us to Christ, in whom divine holiness became human holiness, to see and admire, to desire and accept what is all for us. He calls us to the indwelling and the teaching of the Spirit of holiness, to yield ourselves that He may bring home to us and breathe within us what is ours in Christ. Believer, listen to God calling you to holiness; come and learn what His holiness is, and what yours is and what it must be.

Be silent and listen. When God called Abraham, he answered, "Here am I." When God called Moses from the bush, he answered. "Here am I." and he hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. God is calling you to himself the Holy One that He may make you holy. Let your whole soul answer, "Here am I, Lord! Speak, Lord! Show yourself, Lord!" You will hear a voice coming out of the great eternity, from the council chamber of redemption, and as you catch its distant whisper, it will be, "Be holy, I am holy," You will hear a voice from Paradise, the Creator making the seventh day holy for man whom He had created, and saying, "Be holy." You will hear the voice from Sinai, amid thunderings and lightnings, and still it is, "Be holy, as I am holy." You will hear a voice from Calvary, and there above all it is, "Be holy, for I am holy."

Child of God, have you ever heard this call from God? Must we not confess that happiness has been to us more than holiness, salvation more than sanctification? But it is not too late to redeem the error. Listen to the voice that calls, draw nigh, and find out what holiness is, or rather, find out and know Him the Holy One. If the first approach to Him fills us with shame and confusion, makes us fear and shrink back, let us still listen to the voice and call, "Be holy, as I am holy." "Faithful is he which calleth, who also will do it." All our fears and questions will be met by this One who has revealed His holiness with one purpose in view: that we might share it with Him. As we yield ourselves in deep stillness of soul to listen to the holy voice that calls us, it will waken within us new desire and strong faith, and the most precious of all promises will be to us this word of divine command: "Be holy, for I am holy."

Prayer

O Lord, the only Holy One, you have called us to be holy, even as you are holy! Lord, how can we unless you reveal to us your holiness? Show us how you are holy, how holy you are, what your holiness is, that we may know how we are to be holy and how holy we are to be. And when the sight of you only shows us the more how unholy we are, teach us that you make those partakers of your own holiness who come to you for it.
O God, we come to yu, the Holy One. It is in knowing and finding and having yourself that the soul finds holiness. We come to beseech you to burn into your heart that the one object of your calling us and of our coming to your is holiness. You would have us to be like yourself, partakers of your holiness. If ever our heart fears that this is too high to attain or rests content with a salvation less than holiness, Blessed God, let us hear your voice calling again, "Be holy, I am holy." Let that call be our motive and our strength, because faithful is He that calleth, who also will do it. Let that call mark our standard and our path. Let our life be such as you are able to make it.
Holy Father, I bow in lowly worship and silence before you. Let your voice sound in the depths of my heart, calling me, "Be holy, as I am holy." Amen.

Thankful!

Psalm 100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Ezra 3:11
With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD : "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever." And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

Psalm 69:30
I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

We all have much to be thankful for, do we not?
I thank God that we are celebrating in a FREE country, our FREE salvation, and our FREE blessings from Father God.
I thank God that GREATER is He that lives inside us than he that lives in the world.
I thank God that everything that He has begun in each of us, He will continue until the Day He comes for us.
I thank God that He's given us the GIFT of Jesus' to redeem us, to protect and keep us and to carry us through all of our days on this earth.
I thank God for the blessings of my family, children and grandchildren and my husband.
I thank God for the river of life that He's placed in us as Believers.
I thank God that we have overcoming power through the Blood of Jesus and His Word.
I thank God that we can be IN CHRIST, and that He is our hope of glory.
I thank God that everything He said we were we are.
I thank God that everything He said we could do, we can.
I thank God that everything He's provided for us through the finished work of Jesus is OURS for both NOW and for eternity.
I thank God that HE HELPS US to be and do all He's planned for us on this earth, as we look to Him.
I thank God for His Love towards us and that His compassion is ever FOR US, and leads and guides us along the WAY that He's provided for us.
I thank God that He HELPS US to follow Him all the days of our lives, and that He's called us to holiness and He will HELP US to walk in the old paths where the good ways are.
I thank God that He is faithful to all generations.
I thank God that He and HIS WORD is trustworthy, we can depend upon them for all the days of our lives.
I thank God that we are the Apple of His eye, and we can hide ourselves in the Secret Place of the Most High and Abide in the Shadow of the Almighty, all the days of our lives.
I thank God for the breath and good health He's given me and my family.
I thank God for the Blessing of walking in the Kingdom of Light for all the days of my life, and that it will guide me HOME in His good time.
In Jesus' Name.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Want your prayers answered?

John 16:23, 24
23 "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.
24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Matthew 7:7
7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find' knock, and it will be opened to you.

John 15:16
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, and whatever you ask the
Father in My name He may give you.

I John 5:14, 15
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

These are only a FEW of the passages that speaks about prayer and HOW to pray.
I speak with Jesus a LOT, but I do not pray to HIM....we've been given instruction to pray to the FATHER in the NAME OF JESUS, and if you will notice these are instructions that have been given to us by Jesus Himself....they are written in red, represented by His own words.

I thank YOU Father, that we have GREAT power in coming to You and submitting ourselves to You. Thank You for the power of Your Word that we can bring to You. Your Word IS YOUR WILL. Thank You Lord for having such great compassion upon us to SHOW US and HELP US to know HOW to approach you in great confidence. Help us to remember Your instructions so that we can come boldly before Your throne of Grace and make our petitions of You. Thank You for hearing and answering our prayers. In Jesus' Name.

God's Word Prospers Where It's Sent

Isaiah 55:11
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void (empty, without fruit), but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I send it.

The notations in my Bible says this:

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Kingdom Dynamics
God's Word, Evangelism, and Expansion, THE WORD OF GOD.
Evangelism (the spreading of the Good News) and expansion (the enlarging of life's potential under God) both multiply by the "seed" of God's Word. Jesus described the Word as "seed" also (Luke 8:11), the source of all saving life and growth possibilities transmitted from the Father to mankind. All increase of life within His love comes by His Word, as human response gives place for His blessing. When received, God's word of promise will never be barren. The power in His Word will always fulfill the promise of His Word. We never need wonder how faith is developed or how fruitfulness is realized. Faith comes by "hearing" God's Word (Romans 10:17), that is, by receiving it wholeheartedly and humbly. Fruitfulness is the guaranteed by-product -- whether for the salvation of a lost soul or the provision of a disciple's need -- God's Word cannot be barren or fruitless; His own life-power is within it!

Scripture Reference: James 1:23-25 and II Timothy 2:15

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Father, thank You for HELPING US
to look to and to trust Your Word. Thank You for the provision of Your Word!! It powerful and active and is able to perform everything that You designed it to. In Jesus' Name

Got a Mess You Can't Fix?

Remember over in Psalm 51 God tells us:
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

satan hates every one of us so. I don't even want to acknowledge him with proper grammar, to capitalize the "s" in his name. There's NOTHING proper about him. LOL

he knows that if he can create shame within us, and put distance between us and the Lord, he's got a strong hold. he's not a "creator", but he can steal what is not his and pervert it and attempt to destroy any confidence we have in God and His Word.

he will YELL in our face every threat that he knows will bring fear to our heart and soul....hummmm, remember when the giant put fear into the army of God, and David knew that GOD could bring down that bag of wind? LOL I LOVE being reminded of that story. Here the soldiers that had been trained in battle were shaking in their boots, and this snot nosed kid came along that had seen God HELP HIM before and David had enough of God's insight and was led by His Spirit to deliver Israels army from the threats Goliath was breathing down their necks.

Goliath HAD set the battle in order....but David came along and SET THE BATTLE IN ORDER.
In one of the Kings, God told Jehoshaphat to set the battle in order.
That's what we've all got to do....and the first place we start is with us....just making sure that things are right between us and God. Right? Then binding up satan and dealing with him and his cohorts, and then giving "it" to God and lend ourselves to His Spirit to be led by Him.

That then brings confidence to our own heart that we can come boldly before the Lord with our petitions and lay it all (whatever "it" is) before the Lord upon His altar and allow God to deal with what ONLY HE CAN. You know, we can try to put a flesh hand to things we see in front of us, but our flesh hand will not bring the results that ONLY God can.

I've seen God time after time.....unfortunately sometimes after I'd laid my own hands to situations and seen what a sorry mess I'd made of things.... God would step right in, at my invitation, and do what ONLY HE COULD. Without my input, without any suggestion from me, just me crying out to Him with a humble heart asking Him to HELP ME. LOL LOL

OH GOD, HELP US!!!!

I ask You Lord, to HELP US. Help us to look to You, the author and finisher of our faith. HELP US to submit not only our hearts, but our LIVES to You and Your DELIVERANCE and SAFE KEEPING. HELP US to trust you with not only every small thing that comes our way, but with every BIG thing that is presented to us. God we choose not to have fear, it is a spirit. You told us that in Timothy, that You'd not given us a "spirit of fear". We choose to TRUST YOU with ALL OF IT. Your ear is not deaf and Your arm is not short. LOL LOL Oh Father, I humble my heart before You and put myself upon Your altar, I am yours, and only YOU can fix any mess that the devil wants to use against me, in Jesus' Name.

HOPE

Hosea 2:14, 15 tells us:
14 “ Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope;
She shall sing there,
As in the days of her youth,
As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

The notations in my Bible give some light on the word HOPE

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The Hebrew word for HOPE in this passage is tiqvah (teek-vuh) In the Strongs Exhaustive Concordance it is #8615:
Hope; expectation; something yearned for and anticipated eagerly; something for which one waits. Tiqvah comes from the verb qavah, meaning "to wait for" or "to look hopefully" in a particular direction. It's original meaning was "to stretch like a rope" Tiqvah occurs 33 times in the Bible. In Joshua 2:18, 21, it is translated "line" or "cord"; Rahab was instructed to tie a scarlet tiqvah (cord or rope) in her window as her hope for rescue. God Himself is the hope of the godly (Psalm 71:5). Here God's blessing on His land will transform the Valley of Achor ("trouble") into the "door of hope."

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Father, I thank You for HELPING US to keep our HOPE in You, Lord. Help us to keep our eyes on YOU, to look hopefully to You. I ask You to bring us and keep us in places that remind us that there is nothing going on around us that is out of your ever watching eye towards us, and that YOU alone are the ONE that will RESCUE us out of any and all traps laid by hell. Thank You for the promise of Your Word and that truly, our HOPE is in You. In the Name of Jesus.

Squatting Privilages? NO!

This piece of art work is painted by Ron DiCianni.

We are all approached with difficult situations.....but we're not to accept them. They may be laced with facts, they may be diagnosed and in black and white, they may be the FACTS surrounding part of our lives, but they are not the truth according to God's Word. God's Word says something else and is always BIGGER than any devil from hell and the adversity that it tries to bring. satan would have any of us to believe otherwise.

If we will only set out mouths in agreement with God's Word, bind up the attack from he_ll according to the Word of God, and not "sign" for it with our mouths....it will help us to escape from the snare of the fowler.
If I don't sign for a UPS package, the driver will not leave it with me. If I do not "sign" for ANY package from hell then it cannot be delivered to me. It may be staring at me in my face and screaming at me and trying to intimidate me, causing me sorrow and pain in my spirit, soul or body, causing fear, grief and UNBELIEF, etc etc etc.....but what I've GOT TO DO is to speak to that giant in front of me and tell it that it's NOT MINE, I do not accept it and that it has to go back to he_ll where it came from. I've got to take the Word of God and use it against that giant and it WILL hit it's mark - and WHEN it's taken DOWN, then take the Sword of the Spirit and cut of it's head.

The Word of God says that death and life are in the power of the tongue.

I'm given opportunities to be ill, to be depressed, to walk in defeat, to have calamity, grief and sorrow to come to my life, and if I set myself in agreement with any or all of it, it WILL INDEED come to STAY and if I sign for it with my tongue I'm camping out with it. BUT I WILL NOT, in the Name of Jesus. God has a better way for us. He is FOR us, not against us.

Nope! I'm not pitching a tent and dwelling THERE! I'm dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High.
I'm made an overcomer by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND THE WORD OF MY TESTIMONY!
GREATER is HE on the inside of me than he that is standing in front of me screaming at me.
I RUN to the tower GOD MADE FOR US, and hide myself in HIM.
I'm a daughter of THE MOST HIGH, and He knows how to protect me...and I run to Him.
I take the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, which is the Word of God and it ALWAYS makes it's mark.
God said that His Word will NOT return void, but that it would always accomplish what it was sent to do.

We are all walking through a land full of giants, but if they know what is good for them, they'll not come to MY HOME or YOUR HOME. The Body of Christ MUST rise up to be the warriors we've ALL been called to be. The battle isn't even ours...it's the Lord's....we just make use of what He's left us with. His Word, The Blood of His Son, and the Name of Jesus. He's given us the weapons of warfare. (Ephesians 6)

There may be symptoms, situations, snares of any kind, but not by my invitation. I will not give them squatting privileges.

I choose not to agree with a thief (John 10:10) he's not a creator, he just steals what's not his and perverts it. But I will agree with the GREAT and MIGHT GOD, Creator of Heaven and Earth, author and finisher of my faith, and with HIS HELP I will always AGREE WITH HIM!!! In Jesus' Name. We will sing of YOUR LOVE FOREVER, of Your power and might FOREVER, of the victories You give us FOREVER!

Father, HELP US to come running to You. Help us to recognize the devil when he comes our way, even with a whisper in our ear and to pull him down with Your Word. HELP US to be the warriors that You've intended us to be. HELP US to RUN TO YOU and YOUR high tower, and make use of Your Word, The Blood of Your Son, and His Name. HELP US to not give the devil any squatting privileges, in Jesus' Name.

Seeking God?

In the Psalms we're told that we lift up our hearts with our hands before God.

Jeremiah 29:11-14
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
14. I will be found by you, says the Lord

This is one of my favorite passages....so full of hope and promise, isn't it? The notations in my Bible has this to say about it as well....

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KINGDOM DYNAMICS
Seeking God and Spiritual Warfare, Faith's Warfare.
Throughout Scripture we find repeated references to God's people seeking after Him. Implied in these passages is a quest for God that includes a level of intensity beyond what might be termed ordinary prayer. The word "search" along with the phrase "with all your heart" suggests an earnestness that borders on desperation. The word "search" (Hebrew 'darash') suggests a "following after," or close pursuit of a desired objective; it also implies a diligence in the searching process. In II Chronicles 15:2, Azariah promises the Lord will be with His people if they "seek" (darash) after Him - another indicator of God's emphasis on intensity and diligence in prayer

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In the New Testament we see that Paul tells us that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man avails much. James 5:16

John tells us in I John 5:14,15
14Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

We have to seek Him, seek out His Word to understand His character, to KNOW what His will is. We have His will and testament left to us....His Word. Jesus is the executor of that will to us - He bought and paid for it with His own Blood, the New Covenant to us.

In the Gospels where the life of Jesus was noted, He told us repeatedly that if we've seen Him we've seen the Father, because He did nothing but what the Father led Him to do or say.

The life of Jesus is a marvelous display of WHO Father God is, and what His character is like and His heart towards humanity.

I invite you to SEEK Him.
There's a passage in Matthew 7:7,8 that tells us to:
7. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

The red lettering indicates that these are the words of Jesus.
He paid too big a price for us NOT to take advantage of such an offer, didn't He?

Father, I ask You to HELP US, come to You boldly. Help us to SEEK You in Your Word, and through prayer. Help us to have confidence in who You say You are, and what You say You can and want to do. Thank You for making Yourself known to us this day and for the rest of our lives. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus.

God's Faithfulness

While thinking of God's faithfulness to us, I tried to think of an image that would symbolize it.....and about everything good to any of us, it would be the cross, wouldn't it? The finished work of Jesus.

Not many weeks ago, God brought to me a Scripture in Jeremiah 31:17 that says
17And there is hope for your future, says the Lord; your children shall come back to their own boarders.

At the time, I did not know what the Lord was making reference to, but I quickly agreed with Him and began making confession of that Scripture over all of our children and grandchildren....not knowing what and who He was speaking about.

Over the last week, there has been some most tragic happenings in our home that God took into His own hands and turned around completely by His Spirit, for His Glory. We are to be thankful - always, before the Lord, but there are just some things that are deserving ONLY of giving thanks on our bellies, before Him. That's where I've been. There will not be enough time even in eternity to give Him all the praise that is in my heart.

God always knows how to prepare our hearts, and to get our mouths in agreement with Him and to make a difference with what HE knows lays ahead of us. We need always to be sensitive to Him and His voice, and follow His leading, and to trust and rely on Him to be the Deliverer He tells us He is. Thank God.

He really Is our GREAT and MIGHTY God!

Father, THANK YOU for HELPING US to trust in You, in Your Word and HELP US to be led by YOUR Spirit. God it is YOU alone that will make a difference in our lives. You ARE our GREAT and MIGHTY GOD, You're to be trusted, because You are Trustworthy and Faithful to all generations. It is You alone that we're to put our trust in, and Help us to LEAN ON YOU, walk with You, talk with You, follow You on into eternity with You. In Jesus' Name.

First Things First

First things First


During my years of walking with the Lord, He has taught me many wonderful things. He has taught me about faith and righteousness, healing and prosperity. He has taught me so many vital truths from His Word for which I am very grateful. And He’s teaching me more every day. Yet, if you were to ask me to name the most important principle of Christian living that I’ve learned, I could answer you without hesitation.


It is the secret of maintaining a living connection with God. Staying in daily communion with Him is, without question, the No. 1 priority of the Christian life. It is the key that opens every door to this life and the next.

If we don’t really know God, it doesn’t matter how much information we have about Him. We can be full of faith knowledge. We can understand how it comes, what it does and how to release it. We can study about love until we have memorized every love scripture in the Bible. We can know the steps to healing and prosperity backward and forward. But, we won’t have the momentum to put those things into action unless we spend time with God and maintain a living connection with Him.

When all is said and done, it’s not what we know that counts; it’s what we actually do. And without vital, continual union with God, we won’t be spiritually strong enough to do what we know to do! As Philippians 2:12-13 says:

Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ). [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight (The Amplified Bible).

It’s amazing how many Christians don’t realize that. They rush around trying to do things in their own strength. They run from one good thing to the next, trying to serve the Lord. But because they don’t maintain a living connection with God, they end up tired, frustrated and defeated.

They are like Martha on the day Jesus ministered in her home. Instead of sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to Him teach the Word as her sister, Mary, was doing,
Luke l0:40-42 says:

But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving; and she came up to Him and said, Lord, is it nothing to You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me [to lend a hand and do her part along with me]! But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; there is need of only one.... Mary has chosen the good portion
[that which is to her advantage], which shall not be taken away from her (AMP).

An Awesome Privilege
As you can see from Mary’s example, there is nothing complicated about establishing a living connection with Jesus. Even the newest believer can do it. Abiding with God is simply fellowshiping with Him. It’s staying in touch with Him. It’s talking to Him and listening to Him. It’s setting aside the distractions and demands of life and taking the time to commune with Him in His Word and in prayer.

Some people say, “Well, I’d like to do that, but my schedule just won’t permit it.”

Actually, I don’t believe they would say that if they realized what an awesome privilege it is to fellowship with Almighty God. If they had a genuine revelation of the fact that the Creator of the entire universe has made Himself available to personally meet with them every day, they would change their schedules. They would find some way to make time for Him.

Think about what an amazing opportunity it is to personally commune with God. Adam and Eve had that opportunity in the Garden of Eden. God would come and walk with them in the cool of the day. But then they sinned and lost their ability to have that kind of contact with God. They died spiritually, so they were unable to respond to Him as they once had done.

When God came calling for them, instead of standing righteous and unashamed in His presence, they ran and hid because they were full of shame and condemnation.

What a loss! What a tragedy that was!

Because of their sin, for 4,000 years afterward, mankind was locked out of the presence of God. Even the Israelites—God’s special people—were unable to fellowship freely with Him. When they needed divine help or healing, they had to go to the priest. And though the priest had the anointing of God on him, even he couldn’t go boldly into God’s presence whenever he wanted. Only the high priest could go behind the thick veil of the temple into the holy of holies where the presence of God dwelt. And he could only go there once a year with great precaution and always with the blood of an animal to atone for his sin as well as for the sins of the people.

But, hallelujah, when Jesus went to the cross for us all that changed! He paid the price for our sins. He shed His own blood not just to atone for sin, but to remit it. His sacrifice of Himself for us restores man’s lost fellowship with God when we choose Him as our Lord and Savior.

Now, as born-again believers, we “have full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19, AMP). God is accessible to us once again. He has made us new creations and put His own Spirit inside us so that we ourselves can be temples of the living God. He has given us His righteousness so that instead of hiding from the presence of God, we can “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”
(Hebrews 4:16).

My, what a privileged people we are! We can commune with Him any time of the day or night.

God has flung open to us the door of fellowship. He has said, “I’m here for you. Just draw near to Me and I’ll draw near to you. I’ll give you the wisdom you need. I’ll strengthen you and equip you and help you in every area of your life.”

Yet how many Christians are daily taking advantage of this wonderful privilege? Too few. They’re too busy with the affairs of life to take the time for Him.

“Well, Gloria,” you might say, “considering how much we have to do these days, that’s understandable.”

Is it? Think about it from another perspective for a moment, and I think you’ll change your mind.

Suppose you wake up one morning, walk into your kitchen and Jesus is sitting at the table. “Well, Jesus!” you would say with surprise. “I’m thrilled You came by. I’ve really been wanting to see You. I have some serious problems and I need Your help. I wish I had time to talk to You about them right now, but I have to run. I’m having lunch downtown and I have to take care of some business. Maybe we’ll have time to talk awhile when I come home tonight.”

When you arrive home, your son has a Little League game, so you rush out the door saying, “I’m sorry, Jesus. I have to go to the game right now. We’ll spend a few minutes together before I go to bed tonight, OK?”

But when you return from the Little League game, you are so tired. You think, I just need to watch a little television to relax. Then you fall asleep in front of the television, while Jesus continues to sit and wait for you at your kitchen table. Finally, the day has slipped completely away, and you have missed your opportunity to be with Him.

Of course, you probably think you would never do such a thing. If Jesus physically came to your house, you’d stop everything just to be with Him. Yet, when you understand how real the spirit realm is, when you fully realize that His precious Holy Spirit is right there inside you, waiting for you day after day, you’ll see that it’s just as foolish to neglect your daily fellowship with Him in the Word and in prayer as it would be to leave Jesus sitting alone at your kitchen table.

It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit will give you a deeper revelation of that truth and He will strengthen you in your commitment to put first things first and make a living connection with Jesus every day. I know from experience, it will forever change your life.
Victory
(This article was excerpted from Gloria Copeland’s book To Know Him.)

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Father, I ask YOU to HELP US, to be hungry and thirsty after our time with You. Help us to desire to be with You as we would a long cool drink when parched, and be as jealous for it as You are. Lord, Help us to PUT YOUR FIRST in our lives, for all of our days. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus.

Enough Time?

I've heard folks say that they don't have time to spend before the Lord, to make Him first in their lives...including myself, from time to time. But, God has given us just enough time to do everything He's called us to do. Including having a relationship with Him.

While listening to a person the other day about the "difficulty" having a "relationship" with the Lord. You know, getting before Him, spending time with Him, and listening to Him. Blah, Blah, Blah......and some say they'd have to quit their jobs to have a relationship with God. Well, we have a relationship with our spouses and children and don't have to quit our "jobs" for that.

I began to see that we give the devil so much of our time. What we put our eyes, hands, ears and feet to....if it's BEFORE we put any of our time before the Lord, it makes them FIRST in our life, not the Lord.

Matthew 6:33 tells us that we're to seek first the Kingdom of God and His Rightousness and all we have need of will be ours.

Time is of the essence.

Father, I ask You to HELP US to put You first in our lives, and to KNOW when we are not. Show us all how simple it is, Lord. In Jesus' Name.

The Job For All of Us

Mark 16:14-18 says:
14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Father, I ask You to HELP US to be DOERS of Your Word. To make a difference in our world with all You have created. Help us to learn to listen to our hearts and obey what we hear, and to be moved with Your compassion, in Jesus' Name.

Free From Sin and Sickness

You know, on yesterdays post, in Andre' Crouch's testimony, before he played and sang the song he did, he said that he'd been sick unto death and had learned about Jesus being his Healer, not just his Savior.

I've come across this article entitled "Free From Sin and Sickness." This is what I'm sharing with you today.

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Free From Sin and Sickness!

“…Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” (Matthew 8:17)

When Jesus bore away our sins, He also bore away our diseases. The Cross pronounced a complete cure for the ills of mankind.

The Church of Jesus Christ has been made just as free from sickness as it has been made free from sin. A Christian may continue to sin after he has been born again, but he does not have to. Sin shall no longer lord it over him unless he allows it (Romans 6:14).

A Christian may continue to be sick after he has been born again, but he does not have to. He has been redeemed from sickness. The price has been paid for his healing. Sickness can no longer exert dominion over him unless he allows it.

Most believers have only known a part of their redemption. Their faith will operate to the degree of their knowledge of God’s Word. They would have begun to live in divine health long ago if they had realized that healing belonged to them.

As you accept the fact that as surely as Jesus bore your sins, He also bore away your disease, weakness and pain, your days of sickness will be over.

The light of the Word of God will destroy Satan’s grip in your life in the area of physical suffering. The truth makes you free from his dominion when you realize that your healing has already been purchased by the sacrifice of Jesus.

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).

All of Isaiah 53 is about the substitution of Jesus for man. It says, “Surely he hath borne our griefs.” Young’s Analytical Concordance says choli, translated griefs, means “sickness, weakness and pain.”

Surely He has borne your sickness, weakness and pain! Jesus bore sin and sickness in order for you to go free. Verse 6 tells us, “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Verse 10: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief….” (According to Dr. Young, the word grief means to “make sick” and should be translated, “He has made Him sick.”)
It could not be God’s will for you to be sick with the sickness that Jesus suffered for you.

Because God loved the world, He engineered the substitution of His only begotten Son to redeem man from the curse of Satan. Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

Jesus was willing to take the curse in His own spirit, soul and body so that you would not have to continue under Satan’s dominion.

There was no sickness before man became one with Satan. Sin is the root from which sickness came. As sin is the manifestation of spiritual death in the heart of man, sickness is the manifestation of spiritual death in the body of man.

Not only did Jesus pay the price for the new birth of your spirit and the healing of your body, He also bore the chastisement of your peace. Satan has no right to torment you mentally. You have been redeemed from fear, mental anxiety, depression or anything that keeps your mind from enjoying peace. You don’t have to rely on a tranquilizer. Jesus has already paid the price for you to be whole in your mind and enjoy peace. So don’t allow Satan to steal your peace.
Total Redemption

Jesus came to destroy all the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). He did not destroy sin only to leave sickness in dominion. Partial redemption from Satan’s power would not have pleased God nor would it have fulfilled His plan for His family.

He redeemed the whole man—righteousness for his nature, peace for his mind and healing for his body. Redemption left nothing in force that came upon man because of sin. Jesus completely destroyed the works of the devil in the lives of men.

First Corinthians 6:20 says, “For ye are bought with a price.” A great price! “Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” There should not be any sickness in the Body of Christ. When one who is sick comes into our midst, the healing power of God should flow so that he receives healing.

In the book of Leviticus, Israel used a scapegoat. The priest laid hands on a real goat, put the sins of the people on him and sent him to the wilderness—totally away from the people. That’s what Jesus did with your sickness and disease! He bore them away from you!

So stand up in the Name of Jesus and command sickness and disease to go from you. Refuse to allow them in your body. Command them to depart from you—out of your very presence, out of your home and your family.
Salvation Covers It All

The English word salvation does not communicate what the original Greek word sozo really means. Salvation is not just the new birth of your spirit. It is also peace for your mind and healing for your body. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words says salvation denotes “deliverance, preservation; material and temporal deliverance from danger and apprehension.”

Mark 16:15-16 says, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” The gospel is the good news of what Jesus did in His substitutionary sacrifice at the cross.

“By whose stripes ye were healed” is not a promise. It is a fact. It has already taken place. Jesus bore sickness away from you, and by His stripes you were healed.

There is no sin so great that Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary will not cancel it and wipe it away—as though sin had never been.

The power of God cleanses and changes one who partakes of the gift of salvation until there is no trace of the old man or his sins. When you are born again, you become a new man, a new creature. Your new spirit is created in the righteousness of God.

There is no disease so devastating to the human body that the same sacrifice at Calvary will not cancel it and wipe it away—and heal that body as though sickness had never been!

The gospel is the good news of what Jesus did for every person in His substitutionary sacrifice at the cross. He bore your sins, so you do not have to bear them. Now you can be forgiven! He did that for every sinner. He bore your diseases, so you do not have to bear them. You can be healed now! He did that for every sick man! He bore your pains. He did that for every sufferer. That is what the gospel is—good news of what Jesus did for all.

Jesus commanded that this good news be preached to every creature because everyone who hears it and believes it will be saved and healed now.

As the Body of Christ, we do not have to tolerate sickness any longer. Jesus paid the price for our redemption from all the curse of the law. Let’s receive our freedom now!

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This article was authored by Gloria Copeland and was retrieved from:
http://www.kcm.org/real/index.php?p=healing_roadblocks_01

Through It All - Andre Crouch

When my husband and I were just married we saw a concert that Mr. Crouch put on - on the grounds of a church in Southern California. On special occasions we would visit his fathers church, which was ALWAYS a blessing. Now Andre' is a minister himself, not only of music, but pastors.

When I saw this link at a board I frequent, it blessed me. Reminded me of the faithfulness of God...and how important it is for us to be steadfast and to always depend upon His Word. Hallelujah!!!!

Thank You Lord, that You HELP US to depend upon Your Word! FOREVER! In Jesus' Name.

Now This is the Confidence we have in Him...

I John 5:14, 15
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Doesn't God's Word bring encouragement and Great Hope???? Thank God.

We've been told that we ask anything according to His will He hears us....His Word IS HIS WILL. He also told us that if He heard us, that we'd have the petitions we asked of Him.

We have His will and testament in book form. All we have to do is to read it, believe it and make use of it in prayer. All we need to do is to renew our minds to His Word (Romans 12:1,2) God, help us to remember that faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God.

Thank You Father for HELPING US to believe You. Help us to believe Your Word, Your Promises, to us. Help us to renew our minds to Your Word, and to be transformed by it. Thank You that there is a seed of faith that You have put inside of us all, and thank You for helping us to cause that seed to grow, with Your Word. Help us to remember that You instructed us to come boldly before the Throne of Grace to You. Help us to remember that all we need to do is to ask, seek, and knock and to have GREAT CONFIDENCE in Your Word, in Jesus' Name.

The Easy - Open Book Test

I Peter 3:8-12 says:
8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;
9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
10 For

"He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
11 Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

Doesn't God have a good idea? For those of us that LOVE life and want to see Good Days for our lives....and showing us HOW to have them. :)

I'm remembering a place over in Jeremiah 29:11 that tells us:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Oh Father, HELP US to hear and listen to Your instructions for our lives. Your burden is really light for us all. Help us to hide your Word in our hearts so we can be delivered from every trap that satan would try to lay for us, and so we will not sin against you. Help us to follow You and the paths YOU have FOR us. Thank You that Your thoughts really ARE of peace and not evil, and that Your love is shown to us every day of our lives. In Jesus' Name.

Peter Pan's "Following The Leader."

Remember Peter Pan's Following the Leader. That sweet little clip with cartoon characters that were innocently following their leader with determination, and resolve that they would do their job successfully, come what may.

Well, Father, I say that we have the "childlike" faith to do the same, to follow our "Leader" the Maker of Heaven and Earth and all that fills them with the resolve that we will do the "job" we've been given, come what may. We will be "Led" by Your Spirit through our own spirit, and we will listen and do, all that you have designed for us to do with the VICTORY that you've made provision for, in Jesus' Name.

Man: An Eternal Spirit

I read a book entitled "You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God" authored by Kenneth E. Hagin, about 30 years ago and have recently purchased another for our children to read. I wanted to bring another excerpt from it today entitled "Man: An Eternal Spirit" Yummy!

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Man: An Eternal Spirit

Genesis 1:26, 27
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:….So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.

Man is a spirit being. He is made in the likeness of God. Jesus said that God is a Spirit (John 4:24). So man must of necessity be a spirit.

Man is a spirit, he has a soul, and he lives in a physical body (I Thessalonians 5:2).

When the physical body of man is dead and in the grave, the spirit lives on. That part of man is eternal. Spirits can never die, and man is a spirit. Paul is speaking of physical death here:

Philippians 1:23, 24
23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.
Paul is going to live. Whether in the body or out of the body, he is still going to live. If he abides, or lives in the flesh he can teach the church at Philippi and be a blessing to them. That would be more needful for them. It would be far better for Paul himself, however, to depart and be with Christ. Paul was actually saying, “I am going to live in the body or I am going to depart and be with Christ.”

Who is going to depart?

“I” am going to depart. Paul was not talking about his body. His body was not going to depart. Paul is talking about the inward man, the spirit man, who lives inside the body.

People sometimes ask, “Will we know one another in Heaven?”

I always quickly ask, “Do you know who is going to be there. If you know one another down here, you will know one another there. You are the one who is here, and you will be the one who is there.

“I am going to depart,” Paul says, “and be with Christ which is far better.” I like that! If he had just said it was better, that would have been good. But he said, “It is far better!”

Some false cults teach that when a man dies he is dead like a dog is dead when it dies. No, man is not. Man is more than a body. He is a spirit, he has a soul, and he lives in a body. Others say that when man dies he is in “soul sleep.” The Bible does not teach that. Some say the spirit does depart all right – but it comes back as a cow, a dog, or as someone else. Reincarnation is unscriptural and unbiblical. Stay with the Word of God and it will solve all your problems along this line. Paul said, “I am going to depart. I am going to be with the Lord, which is far better.”

Paul preached the same truths and taught the same facts to all the churches. Here he uses different words to teach the same blessed truth to the church at Corinth.

II Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

There is an inward man. And there is an outward man. The outward man is not the real you. The outward man is only the house in which you live. The inward man is the real you. The inward man never grows older. He is renewed day by day. The inward man is a spirit man.

What is our spirit? Keep in mind our introductory texts. Romans 8:14 says, “…as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Then verse 16 gives us a little insight into how the Spirit of God leads us: “The Spirit itself (Himself) beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” In other words, the Spirit of God bears witness with the spirit of man. Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord…” According to these scriptures God will guide us through our spirits; therefore, we must find out what our spirit is.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Nicodemus, being natural, could only think naturally. So he said, “…How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” (vs. 4)

Jesus was not talking about a physical birth. He said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (vs. 6). He was talking about a spiritual birth.

The part of man that is born again is his spirit. Man’s spirit receives eternal life – the life of God, and the nature of God. It is man’s spirit that is made a new creature in Christ.

Paul calls man’s spirit “the inward man.” Peter calls man’s spirit “the hidden man of the heart.”

I Peter 3:4
4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

In many places when the Bible speaks of the heart, it is speaking of the spirit. This is the real man. It will help you in your believing and in your faith to think like that.

In the New Testament, wherever the word heart is used, substitute the word spirit and you will get a clearer picture of what the Bible is talking about. It is the spirit of man that is born again.

II Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

This is talking about the inward man. It couldn’t be talking about the outward man. When you are born again and become a new creature, you do not get a new body. The outward man is just like it was before. If you were bald before you were born again, you are still bald afterwards. If you had brown eyes before, you still have brown eyes. The outward man does not change. God does not do anything with the outward man. You find out what God wants you to do with the outward man from the Bible – and then you do it.) God does something with the inward man. He makes the man on the inside a new man in Christ, a new creature – a new creation.

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Father, I ask You to HELP US to know who and what we are so we can BE all we need to be while we're here on assignment in this Earth. In Jesus' Name.

The Lamp of the Lord

I read a book entitled "You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God" authored by Kenneth E. Hagin, about 30 years ago and have recently purchased another for our children to read. I wanted to bring another excerpt from it today entitled "The Lamp of the Lord" Yummy!

The Lamp of the Lord

Romans 8:14
For as many as are led by the Sirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Romans 8:16
The Spirit itself (Himself) beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

Children of God can expect to be led by the Spirit of God.

Another translation of Proverbs 20:27 reads, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord….” Had this verse been written today it might have read, “The spirit of man is the light bulb of the Lord.” What it means is this: God will enlighten us – He will guide us – through our spirits.

Many times, however, we seek guidance by means other than the way God said. When we do, we get into trouble. We sometimes judge how God is leading by what our physical senses tell us. But nowhere does God say that God will guide us through our physical senses. Too often we look at things from a mental standpoint and endeavor to reason out things. But nowhere does the Bible say God will guide us through our mentality. The Bible does not say that the body of man is the candle of the Lord, nor that the mind of man is the candle of the Lord.

God will guide us – He will enlighten us – through our spirits.

Now before we can understand how God does lead us and guide us through our spirits, we have to understand the nature of man. We have to understand that man is a spirit, that he has a soul, and that he lives in a body.

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Father, HELP US to know how to be led by YOU through our own spirits, in Jesus' Name.

Difference Between Spirit and Soul?

I read a book entitled "You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God" authored by Kenneth E. Hagin, about 30 years ago and have recently purchased another for our children to read. I wanted to bring an excerpt from it today entitled "What Is the Difference Between Spirit and Soul?" Yummy!

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Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit...

The spirit and the soul are not the same.

Many years ago, back in the early '50's, I began an intensive study on this subject. I got books from the leading Bible schools and seminaries, both Pentecostal and denominational, to see what they taught on the subject of man. Non satisfied me. None were actually scriptural. They were only scriptural, as the Bible says "in part." I asked leading Bible scholars and ministers across the nation. You would recognize some of their names if I mentioned them. I even heard someone ask one of today's most well-known ministers, "What is the difference between the spirit and the soul?" He looked startled and said, "I thought they were the same." That was the answer I got from most of the ministers I asked.

Yet how could they be the same? Paul, by the Spirit of God, said they can be divided by the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). If you can divide them, they cannot be the same.

Only the Word of God can divide the spirit and the soul, however. The reason we have not been able to distinguish between them is that we have not dug deeply enough into the Word. Years ago, in the western part of the United States, they had what we call "the gold rush." People rushed out West. They were gong to get rich in a hurry. Most panned a little gold out of creeks. Some found a few nuggets lying on the ground. But if you really wanted to strike it rich, you had to dig or it. The same is true in spiritual matters: You can skim along on the surface of the Bible and pan out a little gold here and there - and even find a nugget occasionally. But if you really want to strike it rich, you have to dig down deep into the Word of God.

For 15 years I studied carefully, burning the midnight oil. If there was anything I desired to know it was the difference between the spirit and the soul. Eventually, I went through this process of elimination. I wrote it down like this: With my body I contact the physical realm. (That goes without argument.) With my spirit I contact the spiritual realm. That left only one other part of me that made contact with any other realm. I knew then that it had to be with my soul that I contacted the intellectual or soulish realm (which included the emotions and the intellect). So I wrote: With my soul I contact the intellectual ream. Here is a scripture that helped me:

I Corinthians 14:14
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

The Amplified translation reads, "For if I pray in an (unknown) tongue, my spirit (by the Holy Spirit within me) prays, but my mind is unproductive...."

Our understanding, our natural human mentality, is a part of our soul.

Notice what Paul said. "My spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful." He did not say, "When I pray in an unknown tongue my soul prays." He did not say, "When I pray in tongues, I pray out of my intellect, or out of my mind." He said in effect, "I am not praying out of my soul when I pray in tongues; I am praying out of my spirit, my heart, my innermost being." Do you remember what Jesus said?

John 7:37-39
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, OUT OF HIS BELLY will flow rivers of living water."
39 BUT THIS HE SPAKE OF THE SPIRIT, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

As a result of receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, 'out of the belly shall flow rivers of living water." Another translation reads, "out of the innermost being will flow rivers of living water."

A Full Gospel pastor's daughter was six years old when she and some of the children were off by themselves one night at a revival. Some of these youngster were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues. This little six year old, holding her stomach, ran up to her mother, saying, "Momma, Momma, that came right out of my belly."

She was being scriptural. She was speaking in tongues from her belly - her spirit, her innermost being. That's where tongues come from - the Holy Spirit who resides in your spirit gives your spirit the utterance and you speak it out.

Consider these scriptures together now. "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the INWARD PARTS OF THE BELLY....OUT OF HIS BELLY shall flow rivers of living water..."

All the leading I have ever received have come from out of my spirit. And most of them have come while I was praying in other tongues. You can understand why. Your spirit is active when you are praying in tongues.

One reason the church world as a whole has failed so miserably is that it has done so much of just one kind of praying -- praying with the understanding, or mental praying. Christians have endeavored to fight spiritual battles with mental abilities.

I have learned this through these many, many years. In every crisis of life I have learned to look to my spirit inside me. I have learned to pray in other tongues. While I am praying in other tongues, guidance comes up from inside me. This is because my spirit is active. My body is not active, my mind (my soul) is not active, but my spirit is active, and it is through my spirit that God is going to guide me.

Sometimes I interpret what I am praying in tongues, and through the interpretation I receive light and guidance (I Corinthians 14:13). But most o the time, that is not so. Most of the time, just while I am praying in tongues, from somewhere way down inside, I can sense something rise up in me. It begins to take shape and form. I cannot tell anyone mentally how I know it, because my understanding has nothing to do with it. But I know on the inside of me what to do.

I follow that. I listen to my spirit. Because the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.

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Father, I ask You to HELP US to know the difference between our soul and our spirit. Help us to know WHERE you speak to us and how to hear and listen to you, in Jesus' Name.

Unfortunately, We Can't judge Christianity by "Christians"....

We can't necessarily judge Christianity by "Christians"...the only way we can judge Christianity is by the life of Christ, and His Word.

If we look to people, they will fail us, and we are not to pattern our lives from "human", just JESUS.

Romans 13:14 tells us:
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.

Ephesians 4:24 says:
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Colossians 3:8-11
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Romans 8:12-14
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

We're instructed in Romans 12:1,2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.


Father, HELP US to walk like You, talk like You and move and have our being IN YOU by putting on Your Son, Jesus. Help us to make Your Word final authority in our lives, and not to make excuses for the flesh and the lusts that come out of it. Help us to learn to be LED by YOUR SPIRIT. Help us not to lean on ANYONES arm of flesh, but to look to Your Son, the author and finisher of our faith. Thank You for HELPING US. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen