HOW WOULD YOUR RATE YOUR WALK WITH GOD? GOOD, BETTER OR THE BEST? The Complete Article! Part 1-3

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Have you ever been to Home Depot, gone to the paint aisle and saw that the paint brushes and rollers are displayed in the good, better or best categories?  Well, that is what I want to talk about today.  We as people have those same categories in our spiritual walk with God.  Let us dive in…

The Good

Let’s buy “the good.”  In painting, when I buy the “good brand” it is for quick and easy jobs when I am not as worried about the quality.  I want a nice job, but if I am only painting one board or just a trim piece on the wall, I buy the good brand.  Most likely I will throw that brush away when I am done.  It not worth the time to clean and store it.

When we approach God on the “good basis,” we begin to live our lives on what is good and bad or what is right and wrong.  We feel if we are good enough or do enough good works we can earn our way to heaven.  Many people believe if they are good enough, give enough and if they do more good than bad, then, of course, they will go to heaven!  They scored over 60% on the good vs bad report card.  They believe they were a good spouse, raised their kids right, gave to charities and occasionally went to church on most important days.  

All religions are based on the good vs bad concept.  If you believe the right way and perform religious sacraments or traditions along with living a good life, you will have a chance to get into Heaven.  Even if you come up short, there are those who teach there is a place (limbo/purgatory) where you can go and pay off your debt or shortcomings and then get to go be with God.  Unfortunately, these are all false teachings!  Like my good paint brush, although it had a purpose and did a good job, in the end, it was throw away.  But you do not have to stay here just doing good and hoping you will be with God in Heaven.  You can repent and go on to be “the better”…

The Better

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9 (NJKV)

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, (good works, religious duty etc.) then Christ died in vain.”(for nothing)  Galatians 2:21 (NKJV)   *(paratheses mine)

 

Then there is the “better brush”.  Now, these are the real deal, better quality and have a long life… Spiritually, these are the ones who have left the false doctrines of religion and humanity and found the need for Jesus and salvation of the cross.  These people have accepted their need for Jesus and have asked Him into their lives.

We call these better ones because they are born again, repented from their sins and their dead works and found Jesus at Calvary’s cross.  They are real and have eternal life with Jesus.  They go to church, read their Bible, serve their church and lead others to Christ and make disciples.  They know there is nothing they can do to earn salvation, not good works or any deeds of their own.  They accepted the only way to eternity with God is the fact that they are sinners and Jesus died to pay for their sins at the cross.  They then rest in that fact.

But the better have a problem, and I believe it is epidemic in the church of Jesus Christ today.  You see, even though they are the better brush, they have not moved on to the “BEST”!  Yes, they have said the salvation prayer and are saved and they go to church and serve God but…..so many have stopped here.  If they get real honest, and you asked if they hear the voice of God in their lives or if they sense or know God is present in their life, They would say: “no”! 

To them, God is mysterious and lives in the cosmos.  Yes, they have the right doctrines and can quote good verses, but God is at a distance to them.  

There are also some who get worked up at worship time at church and whip up a strong emotional reaction to the music and counterfeit the presence of God with emotionalism and weeping.

But in reality, when the music is done and the church service is over, God is at a distance and very quiet to them.  So they rationalize and believe this is true for everyone and they become satisfied with their weekly local church services and with their Christian culture and friends.

I have heard the sayings:

The best is the enemy of the good. Voltaire

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best. St. Jerome

So as St Jerome said let’s go on to our best…

The Best

I  bet I have your attention now!  You might be saying what is better than being saved?  For so many of us when we received salvation we heard the invitation go something like this.  Repent from your sins and dead works and come and receive salvation so you can go to heaven!  Who wants to go to heaven?  Then you said yes, and then walked the aisle/raised your hand and then said the salvation prayer.

Please understand, I am not questioning your salvation here.  I am saying there is a higher ground after salvation, after getting saved, reading your Bible, going to church, and then waiting for that day you will go to heaven!  There is a “best” level, and I will show you in scripture what I am talking about.

So many people today will say they “believe” in God even those regularly attending churches.  Therein lies the problem…  We only believe, hope, or even wish there is something out there.  We may go as far as to doctrinally believe and stand on the fact that Jesus died on the cross 2000 years ago, and even go along with all the creed of our faith.  We go to church in hopes of getting nearer to our Creator and Savior, but at the end of the day if we are truly honest with ourselves we still say:  God is somewhere out in the cosmos.  I have good news for you.  You do not have to stay there with the masses.  There is the “best” and I will show you how to get there.

Now, this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent.   John 17:3 (AMP)

Do you see this here?  The Bible gives us the definition of eternal life.  It is not saying a prayer and then one day, when you die, you get to go to heaven.  That is only a benefit to what I am showing you.  It is the logical conclusion to this.

ETERNAL LIFE IS … THEY MAY KNOW YOU!  

The Greek/English lexicon states it this way:  BDAG defines γινώσκω this way.  “This verb is variously nuanced in contexts relating to familiarity acquired through experience or association with pers. or thing.”  The important point to note is that it is a knowing that is relational and growing.  It is not some fact we accept, but the kind of knowledge that is gained through experience and, if the context allows it, through intimacy.

God does not want us to “believe” in him but to know Him.  It is personal and intimate as in relational.  Jesus put it this way:  John 10:14-16:  I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so, I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.   And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Jesus is talking about an intimate personal relationship with Him.  He also talks about His relationship with the Father.  Jesus then tops it off with “they will hear My voice.  Not some doctrines and creeds and hoping someone is out there.  He wants us to come into a close intimate relationship with Him.  Now let look at what the Apostle Paul says about this subject:

Philippians 3:10: that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

Paul states the very same revelation as the Apostle John and Jesus does.  Have you ever, noticed that in the Bible you will never read anyone asking someone to come follow and say a prayer so you can get your sins forgiven and go to heaven?  It is nowhere.  I am not saying it is wrong, that is how I got saved in church.  But I am saying there is so much more!

When many get saved we are told to go to church, read and learn your Bible and then get involved in church.  (Nothing wrong with these practices), except, they replace the best with the better.  We spend the rest of our lives learning theology, studying and learning Bible verses and seeing who can be more doctrinally sound and proficient.  Paul states the opposite in Philippians 3; all these religious stuff was rubbish and a waste compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

7But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain[b] to the resurrection from the dead.

What Paul states here is:  He was a religious superman!  He had all the right genes, the right upbringing, the right schooling and was at the top of all the religious people he knew.  He was religiously superior in every way known to man.  But it was rubbish in comparison to him getting to know our Lord and Savior intimately.  In the church, we do the opposite.  We pray the prayer and accept  Jesus, then we try to become religious superman at the expense of our personal relationship with Jesus.

A great many people need to lose their religion and find Jesus Christ as Paul did!

Do you wonder what Jesus thinks of this?  How does He feel about this mentality?

Revelation 2: 2-4;  “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars, and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

The church in Ephesus was the great church of the New Testament. It had Timothy as the pastor and traditions say that the Apostle John and Mary (the mother of Jesus) attended there at one time.  But even having all the right stuff going for it, Jesus says they did all the right things except in continuing a close and personal relationship with Him.  The other stuff became more important.

 My life experience!

On June 10, 1985, after 6 months of recovery from a drug and alcohol addiction that started when I was 9 and lasted for 11 years, I ended up homeless but sober.  At my rehabilitation center 6 months earlier I was told the only hope I had to remain sober was to find God!  I was an atheist and a hater of God if He happened to really exist.

In spite of that, I wanted to get sober and not die from the addiction. So I did as I was told: to pray and seek God as if He was gold and silver.  I have to say, I did seek God with all my heart for 6 months.  Then finally on June 10, as I was fighting the battle of my addiction and trying everything not to let fear and self-pity take over and go use as the devil was tempting me to do, I found Jesus!  I cried out to the Lord: “I hate this invisibility stuff, If you really exist and want me to stay sober please help me, I can not do this on my own!!!  Jesus appeared to me.

The best description I can come up with is the way we picture Paul on the road to Damascus in Act 9.  I sat and talked to Jesus for a while and He relieved me of my addiction and the demons that possessed me.  Since that very day, I have had a personal relationship with Jesus.  He saved me from my addictions and demonic possession even before I prayed for Salvation and eternal life with God.  He has always been personal to me and I can hear His voice very often when I need Him or He is directing me in my ministry.  Today, I have been sober for over 33 years and have been a Christian for over 30 years.

Just recently I was serving with Samaritan’s Purse in North Carolina, helping those who were suffering from the devastation brought by hurricane Florence.  I was with a friend of mine on a day off at the beach and I went to change my clothes to go swimming in the ocean.  I came back from changing and went to go swimming and right before I dove into the waves, I heard a voice say: Dennis you forgot your keys.  It startled me because it was so loud, but it was definitely Spiritual and from the Lord.  So I got out of the water and went to check my clothes.

I had forgotten our rental keys to the car in the public bathroom.  I ran and checked and they were still there on the sink.  If the Lord had not spoken to me we very possibly would have been stranded and been in a world of hurt.  We were an hour away from our base and three hours away from the rental car business.  He speaks to me a lot and I love the relationship I have with the Lord.

So when people ask me; “if I believe in God?” I always say: “NO! I do not just believe in Him, I know him personally and we have an intimate relationship with each other. 

I pray you will pursue a personal relationship with Him.  He is not playing spiritual hide and goes seek with you.  He is waiting for you to make the first move.  If you do not know this, let me share this principle.

God does not determine how close a relationship you have, YOU DO!

 James 4:8  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 

 

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RememberIng ALL Our Benefits From God! Do You Know You Had Them?

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Remembering Our Benefits (Blessing)

As I was reading one of my devotionals today, it was about my favorite Psalm, not the 23, but Psalm 103.  This Psalm is my favorite because it is a constant reminder to me, of what Jesus purchased for us at the cross.  It is what I call; my benefits package.

I remember when I use to have a regular job and when I started with a company.  They went over the benefits package, I would be receiving while employed in their company.  This was always wonderful to know.  I had health and dental insurance, 2 weeks vacation a year etc.  These were wonderful but what if I stayed ignorant or did not use them?  That would be very foolish!  If I got sick and went to the hospital, and then paid for it myself when I had insurance to cover it. This would not be wise.

BUT, so many Christians today are doing this very thing!

So this Thanksgiving, I want to give you something to be grateful for and also to remind you of your benefits when you became a child of God.

 

Psalm 103:

  • He forgives all your sins.
  • He heals all your diseases! (please read this one over and over)
  • He redeems your life from destruction.
  • He crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.
  • He satisfies your mouth with good things, so your youth is renewed like eagles.
  • He executes righteousness and judgment for you.
  • He set you free.
  • He makes His ways known to you.  
  • He gives you His grace and mercy in times of need. 
This alone should make you want to get up and give thanks and praise this Thanksgiving?
Also not only thank the Lord for these wonderful benefit… Use them in your daily walk and confess them over your life in times of need.

Remembering All Your God Given Benefits (Did You Even Know You Had A God’s Benefit Package To You?)

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Remembering Our Benefits (Blessing)

As I was reading one of my devotionals today, it was about my favorite Psalm, not the 23, but Psalm 103.  This Psalm is my favorite because it is a constant reminder to me, of what Jesus purchased for us at the cross.  It is what I call; my benefits package.

I remember when I use to have a regular job and when I started with a company.  They went over the benefits package, I would be receiving while employed in their company.  This was always wonderful to know.  I had health and dental insurance, 2 weeks vacation a year etc.  These were wonderful but what if I stayed ignorant or did not use them?  That would be very foolish!  If I got sick and went to the hospital, and then paid for it myself, when I had insurance to cover it. This would not be wise.

BUT, so many Christians today are doing this very thing!

So this Thanksgiving, I want to give you something to be grateful for and also to remind you of your benefits when you became a child of God.Psalm 103:

  • He forgives all your sins.
  • He heals all your diseases! (please read this one over and over)
  • He redeems your life from destruction.
  • He crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.
  • He satisfies your mouth with good things, so your youth is renewed like eagles.
  • He executes righteousness and judgment for you.
  • He set you free.
  • He makes His ways known to you.  
  • He gives you His grace and mercy in times of need. 
This alone should make you want to get up and give thanks and praise this Thanksgiving?
Also not only thank the Lord for these wonderful benefit… Use them in your daily walk and confess them over your life in times of need.

Why Should You Ever Teach Your Baby To Walk? Full Article

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Part I : Scroll down to Part II

Why should I teach my baby to walk or even to eat solid foods, IT IS JUST TOO DARN DANGEROUS! They could fall or choke to death.  I prefer they just crawl their entire life and drink milk from bottles, it just so much safer for them!  What if they learn to walk and then they fall or he/she climbs the monkey bars and then breaks his/her neck?  What if I teach them to eat solid food and they choke to death or they end up with digestion issues?  

We would want to lock up parents who thought like that.  Put them in a mental institution or take their children from them!  These parents would be completely illogical!  But we take this very same mindset and bring it into our churches and we believe we are being logical.  What am I talking about?  Well, let’s dive in and find out.

The Holy Spirit brought this idea to me this recently.  I was sitting in a church which puts a lot of importance into bringing in new people. To be fair, I do understand their stance on this.  This church has lots of babies (new) believers and unchurched people coming into their sanctuary on a regular basis.  I want to say this because I want to be fair to them, I do understand their mindset.  However, there are way too many churches who coddle their congregations with this soft-sell approach who do not regularly have or are not courting new people the majority of the time.  They only want to be seeker-friendly and they also want to play it safe by not offending the people who come or seem to be to spiritually weird.

First: Giving

As I said, If you use my analogy above about parents who will not teach their children to walk and eat solid food because of the dangers, then you would have to list them as unfit parents!  But in the spiritual realm, we have too many leaders who practice such things when it comes to spiritual gifts and leading their people to be mature and strong Christians.  For time sake, I only want to use two examples while expounding this idea.  However, leaders with this over cautious mindset are across the board when it comes to spirituality in the church.

While sitting in church recently, the Holy Spirit brought this idea to my mind when the pastor said;  “… we have boxes on the wall and if you would like to give they are there.”  He went on to say; “we do not talk of money because it is too offensive for some.”  So “give” if you are moved.

When we read in the New Testament about giving money, we do not read about giving a 10% tithe as in the Old Testament Malachi 3.  Rather, I believe the Apostle Paul, while writing in the New Testament in 2 Cor. 9:7, wants us to be good and cheerful givers. I believe they teach giving in the same vein as the sowing of seeds.  There is a lot of teaching on this but for sake of space, I will not go into depth on this.  If we look at our finances from God’s perspective, we can see God looks at the money the same as a farmer looks at seeds.  When a farmer gets seeds, he plants them and they yield a crop.  What if after the crop is harvested, he eats all the food and the seeds from the harvest?  Then the next year, they will not have any seed for a new crop.  They will starve.

The universal principle found in the book of Genesis 8:22 of “seed, time, and harvest” is applied to almost every living thing on this planet.  In the New Testament, it is also used to teach about money issues.  Most people during the Biblical time period were an agriculturally minded society (we, for the most part, are a technology–minded society).  They understood completely when Jesus and the writers of the Bible talked about seeds, time and harvest.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8:  But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increased the fruits of your righteousness,
The above verse is one of many teachings on sowing seed in the Bible, but here Paul is specifically talking about finances.  I know that sowing is also used to teach about our time and resources.
When Church Leaders refuse to teach their congregations these Biblical principles, they instead teach poverty mentality in the kingdom of God.  The scriptures are clear: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.  That is what is happening in the kingdom of God here on Earth now.  Unless you adhere to these Biblical principles, you will normally want to sow to the flesh.  And as we know the flesh says; “the more I keep, the more I have!”  So giving is completely unnatural, the Spirit of God living within you is what allows us to sow Biblically, it is a SUPERNATURAL event!
So today, many believers are struggling because they have not been taught Biblical Finances with their money.  Pastors think they are being safe but instead, they cripple their congregations and the ministries within their church.  I know!  My ministry struggles for lack of finances.  Like most of us, I also still struggle with a lot of these principles.  However, because I went to Charis Bible College where I learned sound Biblical financial principles concerning money, I am moving in the proper direction.  But I admit, I am still a work in progress.  I know pastors do not want to take a chance on offending their congregants with Biblical financial giving because even in my early Christian walk I went to many churches who played it safe or only taught giving by the Law.
Second: Praying in Tongues
The second area of playing it safe can be illustrated through the concept of praying in tongues.  Recently, I applied to be a prayer minister at a church.   When I mentioned that I graduated from Charis Bible college, I was asked not to pray in tongues while in the prayer line because it might concern or upset people.  I agreed, but only because after serving many years as a prayer minister with a major ministry, I learned that I can only use my prayer language when the person receiving the prayer requests it or I am waiting and praying to myself to build myself up.  So that was OK by me!  However, this did show me the heart and misunderstanding in many of our churches.  The big question is WHY!
If you have been Baptized in the Spirit,  you will know that all spiritual gifts and power are locked inside the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” and released through the speaking of tongues.  As I mentioned earlier I was saved in a church that did not believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the speaking of tongues as a private language, nor in the “Gift of Tongues, which is a gift to the church.
I spent 18 years frustrated having no power to perform my duties as a youth pastor.  Let me prove my point:  If you do not have the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” have you ever read the Book of Acts or the Gospels and wished you could operate as the Apostles did in the first century?  I know what you are feeling.  I did that for 18 years as a youth pastor, watching children get sick and or die and not being able to do a thing but offer some half-hearted sorry prayer of unbelief.  God’s Will, will be done! (how pathetic I was).
I know the difference today!  I have seen so many moves of the Spirit and healings since I finally believed the Bible rather than the man-made doctrines I was taught.  These are doctrines that go against the very word of God.  In one example; I saw two women who were important in my life receive news that they had stage 3 breast cancer.  I was asked to pray the prayer of faith for them and they were both healed.  I can’t tell you the thrill when I saw them later and asked how their treatment was going.  They both told me they did not need treatment because their cancer disappeared after I prayed for them.  I believe both women would have died if I had not prayed for them.  Both of them were unbelievers at the time and defeated in their sickness.  They are both alive today.
Another instance occurred when I received a call from a friend who had a seriously sick baby.  I was asked to drive them to the doctor due to bad weather.  As I drove them I began praying in tongues.  When we got there I asked the parents if I could lay hands on the baby and pray. As I commanded healing in the baby, we all agreed for healing.  As I finished I had a “Word of Knowledge” but at the moment I did not realize it.  I said: When you see the doctor.  He will say to you; “Why are you bringing a healthy baby to be treated?”   I left them as they went into the doctor’s office and then went to wait at a coffee house.  I was very surprised when I received a call just a few minutes later from the parents to pick them up.  When I got back the parents were overjoyed.  What I said as they left the car came true.  By the time they reached the doctor, the cough and serious congestion I had witnessed on the drive there was gone!  The doctor asked why did you bring me a baby who is not sick!  Who knows the outcome if we did not lay hands on the baby and pray for healing into his body.
One more example, not to glorify me or my ministry in any way but to glorify God and to show you, if you were like me and ignorant of the gifts in the Bible. I can’t begin to tell how frustrating it was for those 18 years when I was powerless.  During those years, I watched my own daughter get sick and other friends some of whom got sick and died.  All I could do was sit there and worry and offer some faithless prayers of “please God if it’s your Will, do something!”
For a final example, I would like to share with you about a time when I was on a prayer line in Kansas City with a major ministry.  As I was praying for people, two women came for prayer.  But before they came to me the Holy Spirit spoke up and asked me: “Do you want to see how Jesus healed the Servant of the Centurion in the Gospels?”  I said yes!  However, I did not have a clue what was coming next!  Then two elderly ladies came to me and asked if I could pray for their sister who was in an ICU unit in a Kansas City Hospital and was expected to die!  I immediately knew what the Holy Spirit was referring to!  My faith skyrocketed because of the question the Holy Spirit asked me!  Before we prayed, I told the ladies what the Holy Spirit asked me!  Then both ladies, who were both women of faith, were immediately built up in faith as I was.  We all prayed for this lady in the hospital and they left.
The next  Monday, when I return to the phone prayer line where I also worked for the ministry, I was asked if I was in Kansas City over the weekend with the ministry?  I said yes!  I was informed by a praise report from a call originating in Kansas City that the lady in the hospital immediately got healed before she even knew she had been prayed for.  She then she sat up and signed herself out of the hospital completely healed and recovered.  Her sister later shared that they went to receive prayer for her at the gospel truth rally.  What a joyous reunion they must have had!
Start Here For Part II
Third, This Is A Bonus: Myself
I was originally was not going to include this but as I was meditating on this, God reminded me of the blessing that having the Baptism of the Holy Spirit meant to me.
Previously I was talking about healing for others; the ladies with breast cancer, the seriously sick baby and the elderly women in the hospital, all of whom were all healed by the prayer of a Spirit-filled person.  But what of my own personal life?  Did being baptized mean anything to me or my ministry?  As I was meditating on this, God reminded me of the blessings I have received in my own life and ministry, the blessing I received from the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Did I also receive blessings, you bet!  As a new Christian in my early twenties, I used to get sick a lot.  I got the flu once a year, a cold and sore throat at least two to three times a year and with other ailments to boot!”  I suffered from a serious intestinal issue for almost 11 years that made life nearly unbearable.  I was also 60 lbs overweight.  I was  5’7 and weighed 230 lbs.  I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and was short of breath constantly.  Furthermore, I was told I had only 3 more years to live, all this at the age of 38.  I was sure I was going to have either a heart attack or stroke at an early age.  I suffered from this stuff for years.  Then I woke up!
I realized that everything that came to kill, steal or destroy me was from the devil! – John 10:10, and I knew that I should never accept anything from him.  I used to believe being sick was part of life!   Everybody gets sick, right?  Well, that was before I got Spirit-filled.
After I got diagnosed with only 3 years to live.  I woke up.  Began changing my life in the physical realm by eating right and working out.  I am now almost 56 years old and life has dramatically changed.  After working in the physical realm I also learned about being getting healthy in the spiritual realm.  I learned to pray in tongues, and then to resist the lie and the first signs of sickness when it first shows its nasty head. (ex: a runny nose, nausea by flu etc.).
To sum it up I lost over 50 lbs of fat and put on some solid muscle.  I have not had the flu since 2010, (that’s 8yrs and never had a flu shot), and that I remember was on a flight to Guatemala.  I hardly ever get a cold or any sickness anymore.  My point is this: I used to get sick and lived sick all the time.  Now after the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the truth in the Word, I have gotten rid of 85% of everything I used to get before.  This is not natural.  As a young man I used to be sick all the time but today I am 56 years old and being an older man I should be dealing with more health issues.  But I am not. I am stronger and in better health at 56 than I was at 30.  To top it off I did not have that heart attack or stroke and they did not have to bury me at 40 years old.
Here is another benefit I received after being Baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Prior to my Baptism, as a Youth Pastor and a preacher, it took me weeks to learn my lessons and prepare to preach.  It was hard to study and get my 3 point sermons in order.  I was completely dead when I preached.  I used to put myself to sleep in the church when I was preaching.  I was that boring.
Now, although I do still prepare and get some notes in order, I can preach an hour or more and not even look at my notes.  I just touch the pulpit and invite the Holy Spirit to teach and I offer my body to him as a living sacrifice and He goes to town.  There are times I began to preach and the Holy Spirit asked if He could change the subject.  When He did, what a ride it was!  I taught on things I had no real understanding on or had even given much study.
Then back to what I shared earlier: the healings. These were only a few examples and special things I remember.  I prayed for over 3 years on the phone lines and traveled for 2 years praying for people with this big ministry around the country.  I heard many praise reports of when I prayed, the answers came.  I don’t know how many lives God touched because I allowed Him to work through me.  I opened my heart to allow His Word to change not only me but countless others also.  I stopped playing it safe!  Yes, just like my analogy earlier of the mother who refuses to teach their children to walk or eat solid food because of the dangers, I could have also played it safe.  I could have preached nice little sermonettes every week but I did not!  I dared to believe!  The rewards have been immeasurable.

So when your preachers tell you that the baptism happen when you got saved! Do not believe it! When they say the book of Act is only a history book of the church and those things you read passed away with the Apostles. They have not. The book of Act was the birth of the Church age and in 2018 you are still living in the Church age and on Chapter 2018 of the Book of Acts.

I have been saved by the Blood of Christ, I have been baptized in water!  And after 18 years of being saved (a born-again believer), a preacher shared what I am sharing with you and I got baptized in the Holy Spirit and I speak in tongues.  I have seen the miraculous happen, people healed and delivered.  I can hear the voice of the Lord like never before and I have felt His power flow through me.  This because I was obedient to His Word which allowed me to lay hands on the sick and tormented.

My first 18 years as a youth pastor and a preacher in a Baptist Church,  I have seen nothing happen!  NOTHING EVER!

I will finish this off with a quote from my Pastor:

I might not see results everytime I pray but I have seen enough results when I pray, that I will never  
stop praying!
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The Devil Is Attacking At The Door!

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2 Samuel 5:17  “When  the Philistines (the enemy) heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him” 

The moment we receive anything from the Lord worth fighting for, the Devil comes seeking to destroy us. When the enemy confronts us at the threshold of any work for God, we should accept it as evidence of our salvation, and claim double the blessing, victory, and power. Power is developed through resistance. (from Steams in the Desert)

This week was a tense week at DSI Ministries.  As we were celebrating the moving in at Hands In Action in Villa Hermosa Guatemala, Maria went to buy tortillas at a tienda.  While walking, two men attacked her and robbed her.  She sustained only slight injuries (praise the Lord).  They robbed her of her telephone and our house keys. 

If you remember, over a year ago when we laid the first row of blocks at Hands in Action in Villa Hermosa, our home in Vista Hermosa was attacked by drive-by shootings.  This forced us to move 2 hours away to Poptune until Casa Hands In Action was finished.  The Devil does not want us to begin a new work in a new community.

Even though we do not enjoy persecution, as this devotional and the Word of God confirms, when God is about to do a great move, the devil attacks.  So we rejoice in that we are believing we are going to see some great moves of God this year in Villa Hermosa.  If we posed no threat to the kingdom of darkness, the devil would not have been attacking every move we make in the community.  So join us as a partner to reap a harvest in the very poor community of Villa Hermosa.  We still need ten more partners at $25 or more a month to make this happen.  Please bless the people of Villa Hermosa.

So please do not ignore this message, we need your help to transform another community for Jesus Christ.  We also need at least $1000 to get everything set up.  Please go to our donation page and make your best donation as God leads you.

Written by Dennis Stauffer

Edited by Gary Green (Omega House)

 

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How Are Those New Years Resolutions Working Out?

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This blog does not start out with a Bible verse. The other night, I was eating Chinese food and the Holy Spirit told me He had a message for me in the fortune cookie. I know it sounds weird!  But after reading it, it meant a lot to me and I began to meditate on this and how this ministry has gone the past several years.  Here is what the fortune cookie said:

“A mighty oak in the forest is nothing more than a “nut” who held its ground”

It is New Years and it is the time everyone is making New Year’s resolutions.  They are looking for new ways to make a new start to a new year.  There is nothing wrong with that, except I have noticed that many do not keep their resolutions.  In three months they have lost interest and they quit the gym, or their diet or whatever else their resolution may have been.

Unfortunately, I see this same mentality affecting the church.  Many of us are looking for a new church, a new ministry that will change our lives with a “fresh new move of God.”  So many are thinking of leaving their spouses and families in hopes of an exciting new lease on life.  This list can go on and on!

The Answer

 For many of us, looking for the next new thing is not the answer! God often tells us to go to this church, work in this ministry, give and be a partner to a ministry or even to work on our marriage, our character or on our jobs etc.
I have found when God calls us to something, we believe that because God said it, it will be an easy task.  I have learned the hard way that it is often the furthest thing from the truth.  God is also interested in our personal growth as a child of God.  He is for us, assisting us to accomplish the task He assigned.  So the assignment is not always meant to be easy.

The problem is this, and I am referring back to the fortune cookie. We are living in a microwave-minded society.  If it does not work out in our specific time frame or it becomes extremely difficult or challenging, we completely lose interest and con ourselves into thinking, “this is not of God.” 

Many of us do not have a “stick-to-it” attitude.  We have a tendency to quit when it does not go as we planned and move on to the next great idea.  We then develop a habit of repeating this cycle again and again. This is where so many of our problems begin.  While we are searching for the next new thing, we believe God changed His mind or forgot what He told us to do.  God is not like us!  God does not change His mind.  If He calls you to do it, He means for you to accomplish it, no matter how difficult it may become or how long it takes.

Let Move On To The Bible

The scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, give us examples of lives of people whom God called to do a specific task or perform a specific purpose for God.  We will find that these people, who are called by God, will go through many difficult and very trying times.

Joseph is a wonderful example of this.  After He had his dream, which happened to be his call in life, his brothers hated him even more than they already did, to the extent they wanted to kill him.  He later was sold as a slave, then was accused of rape and then sentenced to prison.  Then many years later, he achieved what God had destined him to do.  In today’s Christian Church, no one would ever look at a man going through all that Joseph did (including being charged as a sexual offender) and believe this was God’s call and/or will for his life.  Many would believe that this man totally missed God or was completely deceived!
Then there was Moses.  He was born then saved and raised in Pharaoh’s household.  He then tried to achieve his call through his own effort, he murdered a man and was then exiled into the desert for 40 years.  After that, he was called again by God to rescue his people.  He succeeds in doing this, but only to spend the next 40 years in the desert with a  bunch of rebellious and stiff-necked people.  These Israelites were so stubborn, they lost their opportunity to enter into the promise-land.  After all this, God also refuses to let Moses enter into the promise-land because of his own disobedience.  Joshua then takes a new generation of Israelites into the promise-land only to find a new set of problems and challenges in his own calling to take this land.
These examples go on throughout the Scriptures.  When God calls us to a task or to a certain life, He does not change His mind, ever.  I personally learned this in my own life and in the ministry.  God called me to Guatemala and to start DSI Ministries and Hands in Action. For the past 9 years, it has been a very steep mountain to climb.  It has been the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life.  For the most part, I feel as though I have seen more failure and disappointment, just as Joseph must have felt in his own calling.
However, there is one thing, I have done right during this long and arduous process: “I am a nut who holds his ground:”  I do not quit on God.  The one thing that keeps me going is God’s complete faithfulness to me and His ministry.  He called and He is also faithful to help me and encourage me to stay the course.
Philippians 1:6: being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

I heard so many times in Bible College and from other great ministers who completed their course:

“There is only one thing that can defeat you:  “If You choose to Quit!”

As many of us make plans to make New Year resolutions, I encourage you to look back on your life and see if you have completed what God called you to do.  Did you, or did you walk away from His call?  Remember, God does not change His mind and if He called you to do it, it means He called you to finish it.  He does not change His mind!   Get alone with God and let him speak to you.  If you need to repent, do it!  Then ask him; “How can I finish what You called me to do?”   He will answer if you are truly serious in your repentance.  Written by Dennis Stauffer

 

What was He Doing For 30 Years?

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What was He Doing For 30 Years?

Except for a few isolated scripture passages in the Bible, there is very little written about the first 30 years of Jesus’ life.  His earliest years are shrouded in mystery.  What was He doing?  Why didn’t Jesus become more active in miracles much sooner than he did, and why didn’t He help more people?  What was the purpose of this quiet time, and why did He wait so long?
 
Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
 

Jesus was being human!  This fact has been totally overlooked throughout church history.  I once asked Jesus this question in my quiet time and this was His answer; “I was being you!”

Think of that.  Jesus spent 30 years of His 33-year ministry just being human.  There were no miracles, nothing supernatural.  The God of this universe spent the majority of His time on Earth experiencing what it was to be human.  He was not a casual observer.  Jesus was not sitting far away looking down through a microscope.  He was experiencing being human as a real person would, just like you and I do on a daily basis.

Jesus knows what it is like to be a child making friends in school.  He experienced playing ball on the playground falling down and skinning His knees.  He knows what it is like to grow up in a poor small town in Israel feeling all the joys and pains of life.  Jesus watched His baby brothers and sisters being born and He also felt the hurt of seeing people pass away, just like His own father: Joseph.  Jesus also watched His school friends grew up, fall in love with each other and get married to start families.
 
Jesus also experienced everyday life with all its pressures, it’s boredom and it’s excitement.  He has also experienced the evil of this life, watching a Roman army take control of Israel and all the cruelty that comes with an invasion of His country.  Jesus watched and experienced, as we all do, the cruel and evil things we do to each other.
 
Today, I want you to think of this:  The second greatest ministry Jesus had,  short of dying on the cross and paying for humanities sins, was the time Jesus spent just being human.  Thirty years being human with all its wonders and all its pain. 
 
So today, having your sins washed away, we can boldly enter into His presence and speak to Him about anything we face in life because He already experienced it.  Jesus and God the Father knows the pain and heartache we face.  He is not only our God and Savior, He is our Brother and High Priest who can sympathize with all our weakness and pains.  There is nothing we face today that Jesus does not understand.  Jesus knows the temptation of everything we face and experience.

The Tree of Life: Living Supernaturally In This Natural World

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 The Tree of Life   

As Christians, we receive our Salvation through grace.  However, it often seems that as soon as we are saved we return to the old ways and old style of living our life.  We act as if we are not aware of the fact that as born-again Christians we are not to live life as unbelievers do.  I want to point out here I am not talking about sin, rather I am talking about a different mindset.  I am talking about how we are to operate and think in a different manner than the unsaved do.  How do we live an abundant life and live on a different level than those who do not walk with God?  How do we live at the “Tree of Life” and also live in the Kingdom of God?

John 3:5-7: Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 18:36:  Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

John 17:16:  They (Christians) are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

Jesus tells us unless we are “born-again,” we can not enter into the Kingdom of God.  So, before anyone can move into these Heavenly realms they must receive salvation at the cross of Jesus and acknowledge his/her sins, give up on all “dead works of religion” and repent.  Salvation is free for the taking but we first must see the need for Jesus.

Remember, a “Born-Again believer” has been spiritually transported into a new world, a new way of doing things (let me reiterate, I am not talking about sin here – I am talking about a different mindset, a different way of thinking).  A current stumbling block in this new thinking pattern is how the Church presents salvation.  The invitation is often; come and receive Jesus and one day you can go to heaven.  The act of receiving Jesus is only our ticket to heaven, a free pass.  This is true, but unfortunately going to heaven is only a byproduct of receiving salvation.  Salvation is:

 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)  and then learning how to live in the kingdom that Jesus was talking about. 

Recent statistics – based on research polls, share some very unsettling facts; we as Christians are not much different from those who are non-Christians, especially in the areas of divorce rates, credit card debt, teenager problems, sex addictions and other addictions.  I personally believe that if we compare a good morally unsaved person with a Christian, we will find that there is not much difference between the two.  I think unsaved people look at us and see no difference or no benefit in being a Christian.  Because of this perceived lack of difference, I believe the progress in evangelism has been thwarted.  Especially when non-saved individuals see Christians striving to be more like the world, seeking after the world’s riches and all the lures this world has to offer.  Rather, the world should be looking at us and envying what we have in the church.

These are sad facts and they are problematic.  How can we remedy this?

Let’s move to the solution

God is the creator of the universe, He created it all.  Not only does He know how to create but He also knows how things work and how they are to be maintained.  God created our bodies, He created our marriages, our health, our spirit and He gives us direction on how to keep these creations in perfect working order.  So as we enter into this new life, remember we are new creations, the old has passed away.

2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

John 17:16: They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

So what does this mean?  When we put these verses together what does it mean to be a new creation while the old things have passed away?  What does it mean that believers are not of this world?

Does it just mean that we are now saved and are waiting to die while living as good as we can on this planet?   I do not believe this can be true; that this is all there is to a saved life.

Let me explain; by saying the old things have passed away and all things are new, I believe Jesus is talking about how we live and view our new life.  What are the old things?  Our sin natures, our sinful attitudes, how we lived our lives and how we conducted ourselves.  As a “Believer” our view of life has been changed, what we viewed as normal in the past is now changed.  We have new and better promises based on a New Covenant.  If you are not aware what is in the New Covenant nor how we are to live within this New Covenant, you will not be aware of all your benefits as a child of God.

Hosea 4:6: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge…

John 10:10: The thief (Satan, religion) comes to kill, steal and destroy…

When we understand these two verses, then we can understand how Satan and or religion can come in and destroy our lives.

Read Hosea 4:6 carefully; My people are destroyed!  God is letting us know that as God’s people, we can be destroyed (although not lose our salvation).  Satan can and will destroy a Christian’s life when they lack the knowledge or they have rejected the knowledge in God’s Salvation.  This happens when a Christian has accepted Jesus as Savior and now believes he/she is going to heaven without believing or understanding there is more than just going to church, bible reading and acting as good as they can.

What I am simply saying is that we Christians are not of this world, we do not have to participate in the things that the world has to offer!  We should not think we are just average or even normal people any longer.  We are covenant people who have inherited a covenant with God.  We do not have to participate in sickness, disease, financial problems or fear that pertains to the world.  We can live on a plane that is far higher than this world has to offer.  That is what I believe Jesus was talking about when he said; “they are not of this world.”  He was saying we are in this world but we do not have to be part of this world.

I see so many Christians living in fear.  Christians are watching the same evening news that tells of all the upcoming epidemics, the collapse of the financial world and how violence is overtaking our nation as non-believers are, without understanding or realizing we are different.  As born-again believers we get caught up in groupthink, thinking we are all the same, the same as non-believers!  NO, we are not!  As Christians, we live under the protection of the New Covenant and we have different promises altogether than those non-believers who do not live under the New Covenant.

When we say “we are saved” or “we have received Salvation” most average Christian’s believe that Jesus died on the cross and forgave their sins, but they stop there, not believing or understanding anymore.  

However, when we read and understand what the meanings are for saved and salvation in the Greek language, we find a whole different meaning.

sótéria (salvation): deliverance, salvation

Definition; welfare, prosperity, deliverance, preservation, salvation, safety.

sózó (saved): to save

Definition: I save, heal, preserve, rescue.

So when a Christian says: I have received Salvation, they are literally saying I have received God’s Welfare, His prosperity, His deliverance, His preservation, His salvation, His safety,

When you say, I am saved; you are saying I am saved, I am healed, I am preserved, I am rescued.

These words are all-inclusive and they are all yours when you say I am saved!

These promises are already yours the moment you receive Jesus.  You are in His family and as the adopting parent, God makes Himself responsible, just as a loving human father does who takes care of his children.

As an adopting father myself, when I took on my wife’s children in Guatemala I became responsible to love them, accept them, and to make sure they are taken care of medically.  I am also responsible to make sure they have the proper provisions to live; shelter, clothing, and food.  I am their father, and God our adopting Father is no different.  He takes His Fatherhood seriously.

God shall supply provision:

Philippians 4:19  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.(NKJV)

God healed you:

Psalms 103:3: Who forgives all your iniquities (sins), Who heals all your diseases,

So if you believe God has forgiven all your sins as in this verse, notice it also states He heals all your diseases.

Here is a quick example from the Word of God of a young man, who although lived in this world also lived above this world in God’s kingdom promises.

Let us look at David versus Goliath.  How could this teenage kid kill an oversized monster, (over 9 foot tall), who also was a seasoned warrior in battle?  This is not normal!  We could write it off as a miracle of God, God’s sovereign hand at work, but if we study it closer we will learn it was not.  This was a boy who knew His covenant and his destiny, he did not kill Goliath accidentally.

If we write this off as a sovereign act of God, why didn’t Saul or another man kill Goliath?  Why didn’t God move on His own behalf like we read so many times in the Old Testament and kill Goliath Himself?  He did not do either!

So what was different about David?  What made this young boy so different than King Saul or any mighty warrior in his army?  If we read carefully we will notice that when David heard Goliath’s big mouth, his response was very unusual;

1 Samuel 17: 36: Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.”

If you look deeper into this scripture, when David called Goliath an uncircumcised Philistine, he was saying this ungodly person who has no covenant with God, is no match for those who have a covenant with God!  David was referring to the Old Testament Covenant that Israel had with God. David was stating this fact, we are in this world but we are not of this world and or limited by the natural law that governs a person who has no covenant. 

David in the natural was no match for Goliath!  He had no chance as a NORMAL man but he was not normal, he had a covenant with God and he knew it and knew how to apply it.  The results were supernatural.  We are no longer natural, we are born again and are supernatural in our spirits.  There is another thing to understand, King Saul and all the members of his army also had the same covenant with God but because of natural circumstances (Goliath’s size and demeanor), they were more aware of their circumstances than they were aware of God promises and covenant with them.

So they were about to perish due to their lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6) or their unbelief that hindered them.  They saw themselves as normal men but David saw himself in the light of God’s Word and how God saw him.

David had yet another advantage, a special Word from God, that he would be victorious over Goliath.  This gave him an advantage over every man in Saul’s army.  He had a Rhema Word (a personal word) from the mouth of God!  If you remember scripture, in a previous chapter David was anointed by Samuel the prophet, as the next King of Israel.  So God personally told David, he would be the successor to King Saul, in other words – the next king.  When David faced Goliath it was a battle to the death!  Because David was to become the next king of Israel and he had not yet fulfilled that destiny, David knew he would not die in the battle.  So if one person had to die, Goliath with all his size, his might and his armor would draw the unlucky straw.

Goliath was going to die because of God’s Word to David!  David could not die in this battle as God is never wrong!  So David in faith, not only used his Old Testament Covenant but he also used his Rhema word or promise from God, then stood and acted in faith.  He knew he was not going to die that day and the victory was his before the fight even started.  That is how we can apply the covenant of God.  Or, if we choose, we can follow King Saul and his men – this of course, would be how not to follow the covenant.  We can learn from both in this history lesson.

David went on to kill Goliath and then later went on to be the greatest natural king that Israel ever had.  If David never took the time to study and stand in faith based on God’s Word to him in the covenant and to him personally (Rhema Word), David would have never have made it to the destiny God planned for him.

So today are you going to be like David or be like the majority who, like King Saul and his army, lived like those without a covenant and therefore missed their destiny.  If we look carefully, we can see the correlation to those then and those who live in the church today.  Only the very few (Billy Graham, DL Moody etc.) make it to what God calls them to be and change the world.  The rest live like King Saul and his army.  They live in fear and never do what God calls them to do.  It was Saul’s job to kill Goliath but God needed to send a boy who knew how to live in God’s promise.

So when you hear of the next flu season coming, the next economic downturn, or the doctor’s bad report, tell yourself – I am in this world but I am not of this world.  I will not take part in this.  I am healed in the name of Jesus and no pestilence can harm me (Psalm 91).  When the economy is failing, remind yourself that God is your supply and not this economy and definitely not your job.  Grab hold of your promises in the New Covenant, find those scriptures and stand on them, act on them and know that you are blessed and highly favored of God.  Remember the Spirit realm is the parent of this physical world and not vice-versa.  When you act on the things of the Spirit world, you change the reality of this world.  That was the secret of David and all the great men of the Bible.

 

The Book Of Revelation: Living The Last Days In The American Laodicean Church? Part III

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V15. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

Let us continue with the popular hot and cold verse.  Jesus said He wished they were either hot (zealous) or cold.  Hot water is good for cleaning one’s self (purifying), hot water also makes for nourishing food and drinks – our (nourishment).  Coldwater is refreshing and can wake someone up (repentance).  However, what good is lukewarm water?  It is not good for much.  It is nasty to drink, most people like it cold or hot.  There is one thing it is good for; to sit in and relax.  It puts you to sleep, it is comfortable and makes you not want to do anything but lay back and coast.  The feeling that work is over and it is time to relax.

Many people feel that since Jesus paid for it all then all we have to do is go with it and not make waves.  After all, nobody wants to be a fanatic!  Are you following me here?  That is the lukewarm church, it is comfortable and it wants to relax and not to get too stressed out. We want comfortably air-conditioned churches.  We like on time and orderly services that are on a schedule.  We want in and out.  We want messages that do not convict or challenge us.  We want messages that pump us up.  We do not want to be challenged or to have our faith stretched in any way.

Again the problems with lukewarm churches are that they are neither hot nor cold.  It is not so cold, that the churches can be criticized and look bad, and they actually are warm enough to look legitimate on the outside.  However, it is a counterfeit for the genuine hot church.  It looks real, people are going to church, and they know all the right lingo that is associated with the Bible and church.  To the outsider, they look the part, and with all its glitz it looks blessed.  But from Jesus’s perspective, it is a scam.  They are hot enough not to be considered a cold religion but not hot enough to change the world they live in, as we can read in the Book of Acts.

Why do so many Christians today read the Books of Acts and ask this question: Why do we not resemble that church today?  The fundamentalist’s believers, came up with a doctrine to cover that: The days of Apostles, Prophets and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit has passed. We can not expect to see God work the same way as then.  It was just only for a short time until we got the Bible.

I want you to know there is not one Bible doctrine to support that idea except for some bad texts of the Bible misquoted and misinterpreted.  Any Christian who is honest can sit down and read the Book of Acts and know without a doubt that we in America do not resemble that first century Church at all.  They were legit and the real deal.  So now take a moment and compare them with us.

Once again, let us look at most Fundamental Church Doctrines: they tell us that Salvation is nothing more than excepting Jesus as Savior and one day you will go to heaven.  In the meantime, they teach come to church, read your Bible, learn your denominational doctrine and live a good life and when you do sin, confession and rededicate your life to Christ.  They have canceled out any of what Jesus told us to do in the Great Commission. They simply erased anything that is supernatural in the believer’s life.  Let us read Jesus’s words:

Mark 16: 17-18: And these signs will follow those who believe (believers not only Apostles) : In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[b] 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.”

These are some remarkable things JESUS commanded his believers to do! Does your church exercise these commands? 

We do not believe in any of what Jesus told us to do in the Great Commission.  They have reduced Salvation to a prayer to go to heaven or a “free ticket.”  In the  Greek, the word for “salvation and saved” are Soteria and Sozo, which means: i.e., acceptance, deliverance, provision, prosperity, and healing, to make whole.  Where is the faith in that teaching that excludes this?

Where is the life of faith in that teaching that excludes all these wonderful benefits God blesses us with? If you reread the Great Commission, you will see that Jesus is teaching the believers that they will have power over spiritual demons, they will speak in tongues, that there is supernatural protection for their lives and then last he tells us to heal the sick not pray for the sick!

Where is living a supernatural life in going to church once a week and then living the rest of the week for ourselves? These churches then condemn any ministers or ministries, who do preach these articles of living in faith.

On the other side of the coin, The Charismatic or Spirit-Filled Churches,  who do believe in faith and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are those who made the supernatural life into living a selfish and greedy life, full of materialism and pride. A lot of services are reduced to nothing more than cheerleading sessions with no real supernatural results. I heard a preacher once say those who believe in healing are always sick, those who preach prosperity are broke and so one. So many preach it but never take the time to learn how to operate with the Holy Spirit and operate in the gifts.

 I believe for most are Christians in America, we want a comfortable form of Christianity and like a mention in the last article, we want it safe for the whole family. We want to sit in a warm bubble bath of Christianity, so we can relax and unwind from a hard and evil world and wait for Jesus to return. 

The lukewarm church is like an actor/actress playing a part in a movie.  As we watch a movie, they can bring the character to life.  They draw out our emotions and we believe it is so real that as we watch the movie we may cry or get angry depending on the movie.  However, at the end of the movie the person on the screen is not the real person and what you just watched is not reality.

I think this is the way the Lord looks at this current Laodicean church.  It looks so real, so moving, it can stir up emotions and get us angry but at the end, it produces no real lasting effects on our surroundings nor does it impact the world around us.  I would like to finish with this comparison:

How can 120 people who gathered in the Upper Room and received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit change a whole Roman Empire and we can have 120 churches in one city and not make an impact on that city?

Do you see what I mean?  I will continue this with the next verse in the next blog: Do we lose our Salvation?

16. “So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

Does Anyone Want To Get Loaded?

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Are you feeling down and thinking things are not going your way? Do you feeling like you want to go get loaded this morning?   I did this morning and the Lord encouraged me with this verse. Let me invite you to get loaded with me but not like you think.

Psalm 68:19. Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah (NKJV)

 

Just like his mercies and grace are renewed each morning, so are our His blessing and benefits, He loads us with them daily. Praise God.

What are your blessings and benefits of Salvation?  Adoption in the family of God, Healing, Provision, Protection, and Prosperity.  These are yours when you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. So let’s go and get loaded with God’s benefits!

Let these words encourage you today

Written by Dennis Stauffer

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