Friday, February 27, 2015

The enemy of Our Faith



Our greatest threat is not Islam, politicians, or Hollywood. Our greatest threat comes from those among us who either dumb down the Christian experience by eliminating the supernatural reality of the living Christ of God, or offer solutions that do not recognize the power of Him who overcame death.
            If there is one thing we do not need more of are the best ideas of the natural man (carnal believer) for overcoming the enemy of our souls. The religious world is full of the wisdom of man and the doctrines of demons. Under the guise of theological insight, we have been bombarded with stuff that is meant to help humanity understand and overcome evil. In reality, it has had little effect on the believer’s ability to lead a solid and fruitful life.
            What is needed is a Biblical appreciation of the enemy’s goals, a grasp of his determination, and a picture of his tactics and devices. This must culminate in a clear presentation of his defeat and what that defeat means, in practical terms, to those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In and through Christ we must declare his status as a defeated enemy. Without this knowledge, you will never recognize the enemy’s trickery, let alone overcome it. He is the father of lies that often come wrapped in truth.
           We must discern the spirits. We must take the time to learn God’s Word and discover the sense and awareness of the Spirit of the Lord. Becoming sensitive to God is our foundation and the most powerful way to begin to stand for all Jesus sealed for us when He rose from the dead. The trickery of the enemy is subtle to the natural mind, but appears as darkness to the spiritually minded. Remember, the enemy is defeated, so his power lies in deception, he knows us well, as we discover in the Book of Job. The enemy sees, hears, understands, and follows the work of the Lord in our hearts. This is his advantage over those who live by the letter of the Word (Religion) rather than by the Spirit of the Lord quickening the written Word. If he can see what is going on in the spirit realm and we cannot, he has a decided advantage, his trickery will only work on those who are "not" actively practicing The Presence of The Lord and pursuing life in the Holy Spirit. It is there that our minds are renewed, and we are taught to discern the difference between the merely good and the moving s of The Spirit of the Lord. For the written Word, apart from the Spirit of the Lord, is the law that kills. Just as the Scripture tells us, we are “…able ministers of a new agreement, which is spiritual, not literal. The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6).

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Help us to Pray


Rom 8:26 (AMP)  So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.
 

I don’t think that I am the only one who tries to think through problems. I don’t think I am the only one who tries to determine what others need according to my own logical way of thinking. But when I do try to determine how to pray, and I am sometimes wrong in my determination, I end up just polluting the spiritual atmosphere with fleshy words based on finite ability to discern the things of the spirit realm. The five senses will never understand the Spirit. The mind of a million people is still foolishness to God. He can see, hear, and understand in every realm, while we are largely limited to the realms that are examined by the five senses.
No wonder the Scriptures say that “God’s ‘nonsense’ is still wiser than the ‘wisdom’ of human beings” (1 Cor. 1:25). It is imperative that we allow the Lord, who sees all, hears all, and understands all things, to have His way when we pray. It is the fastest, most direct route to the will of God. Let’s pray His will. When we don’t know His will let the posture of our spirit be toward heaven in an attitude of worship that sees Him enthroned in our lives and the Spirit will begin to be released deep within us before the very throne of God.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Seeking



Scripture tells us that seeking knowledge for its own sake
only leaves us with fat heads (see 1 Cor. 8:1)..
This is not what will renew our minds. But the heart that seeks
to please the Father and treasures the relationship with Him
above all will not only receive revelation that renews the mind,
but will pursue the purpose of that revelation and partner with
God to see His will done.
The main principle behind the process of renewing our
minds is that we become like that which we behold. We are not
renewing our minds to have good thoughts; we are seeking to
see Him as He is so we can become like Him. When we become like
Him, we will do the things He is doing and say what He is saying.
Beholding Jesus is not intellectual; it is spiritual. It does not
inform you; it transforms you. It is not an idea; it is an experience.
It is not something you can have if you only read about it
or study it. We can only behold Jesus by having a living
encounter with Him. It is tragic that many believers understand
that “sharing your testimony” of meeting Jesus merely means
telling the story of how you got saved. Although that is glorious,
our first meeting with Jesus was simply the doorway to a life of
meeting Him, hearing His voice, feeling His love, and becoming
like Him through the working of His indwelling Spirit. We can
have a testimony every day of personally experiencing God’s
supernatural work in and around us.

My prayer for you is that you will have as many testimonies of

God’s power and work in your life as May Habakkuk’s prayer
be birthed in your heart:
“Lord, I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds,
O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known…”
(Hab. 3:2, NIV).

Friday, February 6, 2015

Behind the Veil, The Most Holy Place

You are expecting to hear the voice of the Father from
within the veil. Your heart is open and your ear is tuned to
Him who has much to say to mankind. You will not be
satisfied merely to look on as He beckons a nation of
priests to enter the veil.
And He is beckoning. He is calling a priesthood to
Himself, a priesthood in which you can participate. Far
beyond the voice of the prophet, deep in the heart of God,
is His desire for you to be like Jesus. By your lifestyle,
your voice and your ministry, you point to the Lord Jesus,
seated with the Father within the veil.
Beyond the clamor and bustle of today’s prophecy rises
the crescendo of the sound of a trumpet, as part of an
orchestra tuning before a great concert. You are part of this
priesthood. You are in key and tuned to Him. Together
with His Church, you are producing a new sound in the
earth. This is not like the old sound. It is brand new, and it
calls you to put an end to your busyness, to your many
activities, and to listen to the voice of the Lord. Only then
will your activities become His activities, producing gold
and silver rather than the wood, hay and stubble of a
stubborn church system interested in building only her own
kingdom.
You are expecting to hear from the Lord. You are
expecting to hear the secrets of the Most Holy Place,
because they are for those who fear Him. He will show
them His covenant. His secret is not for the proud or the
self-assured. It is not for show or for profit; it is for Him
and Him alone. It is through Him and Him alone. It is in
Him and Him alone. And His invitation is extended to you.
Allow yourself to respond to this invitation and discover
its wonderful depths.
But there is a new sound in the earth. Slow down. No,
stop! Listen! As a breeze lightly brushes a meadow in
autumn, ushering in a distinct change in the weather, so the
Spirit of the Lord is brushing the Church. He is gaining her
attention, gaining your attention. Quietly does He convince
her, convince you, deep within, that a distinct change is at
hand.
Don’t be misled by the lightness of the breeze, for its
gentleness is deceptive; it ushers in the greatest spiritual
upheaval of all time. The prophetic weather vane has
turned. The Holy Spirit is blowing into the Holiest Place of
all, ever drawing His people in, ever drawing you to a
Place where there is no duality, no distraction, no
competition. But there, within the veil, is He alone, ever
calling you, “Come up hither.”
You are beginning a journey, one that you have never
traveled before. It is without question the most thrilling,
yet most dangerous pilgrimage of all, for it will surely cost
you your life as you know it. Standing at the torn veil,
your heart burning for Him, peering into the age to come,
you realize that you are on the threshold of His Day.
The baggage of religious trappings must be dropped at
the rent veil, for as you enter, you enter alone: You may
bring no credentials, no titles, no gifts. Only His Light
covers your nakedness and His Presence gives you strength.
For this is His Domain, this is His Territory. Man
participates in this realm only in response to a God who
needs not his counsel, his strength or his wit. He can do it
all on His own. He chooses to work through you only
because He loves you so totally.
The Wind of the Spirit turns your heart toward God’s
eternal purposes, revealing that we are between two days.
The imperfect is giving way to the perfect; the child is
giving way to the man; the partial is giving way to fullness;
dimness is giving way to unapproachable light as His glory
shines in the face of Jesus Christ. You are about to know as
you are known. Faith and hope, attributes of future
anticipation, are giving way to love, the present fulfillment
of yesterday’s dream and tomorrow’s hope. Today is the
day of salvation, the unveiling of the New Covenant in all
its fullness.
The Holy Spirit continues to stir. You begin to discover
your ministry within the veil and His permanent station on
the Mercy Seat, from which you are invited to rule and
reign with Him. As He comes again, He returns not as a
sin-bearer, but as He who reveals and administrates the
fullness of the New Covenant to hungry and expectant
hearts.
Finally, but most preciously, the Spirit lays open your
heart and you hear the rapturous word of the Lord: “When
we see Him, we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as
He is.” Salvation is beginning to manifest; you are about to
see Jesus as never before. In all His holiness, all His
convincing splendor, you will see Him. In the twinkling of
an eye, when you see Him, you are changed, you are like
Him. For the King, whom you serve, is suddenly coming to
His Temple.
This is one time man cannot fake an experience with
God. This One proceeds from His throne, flowing, gushing
forth from the Most Holy Place like a mighty river. It is
neither man initiated nor man-completed. This does not
smell of the sweat of humanity because man has no part but
to be there and let God be God, literally, totally and
without reservation.
The sound of your shouts, rebukes and demonizing
warfare quiet as you move within the veil. There, all man’s
spiritual battles are consumed by the awesome reality of
His final victory. As you take your seat with Jesus, you are
stunned at the revelation of the defeated enemy. Instead of
the shout of war, there is the shout of a conqueror, the
shout of worship and a song of intimacy welling up in your
heart. Who can but praise the Lord? Who can but
acknowledge His might?
You are expecting to hear from the Lord. His promise is
firm. He fulfills it without a hint of regret. Rather, to bring
it about is the joy of His heart. All who hear, all who
respond, will be seated with Him within the veil. I know
you will and the fulfillment of your heart’s desire. I know
you are one of these people.
Your heart gives you away.