In Luke chap. 5, Jesus got in into Simon's boat and asked him to put out a little from the land so that He could teach the multitudes. In vs. 4, "when He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, 'Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down the net." (Simon acted in faith & obedience, what if he hadn't? he would have missed the Lord's blessing!) vs. 6 "and when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink."
Of themselves they could do nothing, but when they obeyed the Lord and acted out in faith they were blessed! We must realize that of ourselves we can do nothing, it is only because of Him that we can do anything! Think about it, we can't even breathe unless He gives us breathe or the air to breathe. The fishermen went from having nothing to overflowing blessings! In Malachi 3:10 is a good example about overflowing blessings, it is talking about tithing, if we tithe, how God will bless us. I use this as an example because it is talking about obedience also. Simon acted in obedience and he and the other fisherman were so blessed that the "boats" could not contain all the fish, and was so heavy that the boats started to sink. They were weighed down with blessings! In Malachi 3:10, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me on this, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it."
Bottom line, when we obey the Lord, He will bless us! If you feel like you are down to nothing, then God is up to something!! He will take that nothing and overflow you with blessings!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Get hungry for God-message I preached 5/27/08
Actually the message is a message the Lord gave me a few years ago and I preached and when I was praying about what to speak on, He brought this message to my mind. Of course, it was not the exact same message, because the Holy Spirit moves like He wants to move, to minister to each one for that day. The Lord said, "Tell my people to get hungry". He showed me a poverty stricken villiage, where there was no food and the people were so hungry, and would do just about anything to get food. All they could think about was getting something to eat. That is how we need to be with the Lord, so hungry for Him. Desperate just like those people were. We need to be so hungry and desperate for the Lord, that is all we can think about! (Jesus I need you, I need more of you! I have to have more of you!!) He is the bread of life, He is available to all who hunger. Now, the enemy doesn't want us to get hungry, because he is afraid of how we will be. he will send distractions of all kinds to get our attention off the Lord. (when you have a person on fire for the Lord and so hungry for Him, it's no telling what will happen, and what the Lord will do!!)
If we want to see God move in power in our lives, WE NEED TO GET HUNGRY. We need to get DESPERATE for Him. We need to make Him our main concern, not the things of the world. He needs to be our concern, not us. His will, not ours. His desires, not ours. As we hunger more and more for Him, we want more and more of Him and we want Him to live and us to die (to self). If we truly want to see revival come, we need to get hungry, we need to get desperate. Nothing moves the heart of God than people who are desperate for Him. If we want more of the Lord in our lives, then we must hunger after Him. Matthew 5:6
How hungry are you? Are you seeking after Him with "all" your heart? Are you doing everything possible to get more of Him in your life?
We need to seek His face and not just His hand. The blessings He gives us are wonderful don't get me wrong, but we need to not just seek his blessings, so we can feel good. We need to seek his face, so we get to know Him better and better, so we can have that intimate relationship with Him. The Lord is not just pouring out His Spirit so we can have fun, yes, it is fun and more wonderful than anything out there imaginable, however, He is doing all this to change us and make us more like Him because He has a work for us. He has a work for everyone of us, no matter who you are, He has a plan that only we can accomplish, if we will allow Him to do the work in us. Time is short, the kingdom of God is at hand. We must stop playing games and allow the Lord to do a work in us and to use us.
We see the Lord moving so powerful in other countries, because the people are so hungry. They don't have all the luxuries that we have in the US, in alot of places all they have is Jesus and all they have is the hope that Jesus will change their situation, no matter what it is. They will walk miles through bad weather through the jungle to get to meetings. They are willing to do whatever it takes to get there. They are willing to lay everything aside. Oh, that we would have this same mindset. Jesus forgive us, for putting so many meaningless things ahead of you. In revivals past, meetings went to all hours of the night, people had to go to work the next day, but they didn't care. They were so hungry, they were willing to pay the cost. They said, "Lord I need you" more than anything else, I need you! I have to have you, I won't be denied, or let anything get in my way! We need not let the things of the world side-track us from the things of God. Lord help us! We need to make the Lord our main focus, we need to be more concerned about what He cares about. Last time I preached this similar message I offended people, because I stepped on some toes. So if I step on your toes, I'm sorry, but I must speak the truth. One thing that grieves my heart, is that people are in such a hurry to leave church services and get out of the presence of God. If we would just wait on the Holy Spirit and allow Him to have full control and when He starts moving, and the glory falls, then we need to stand in His glory (linger in his glory, in His presence). We get in a hurry to go home, or get distracted by other things and don't go to the meetings at all. We come up with excuses, such as I need to go get some lunch, or I'm too tired to go, or I have to much laundry, etc. Come on now, you know I'm right, I've done these same things myself. So many times we miss out on awesome encounters with God because we are too busy being busy or because we are in such a hurry and don't allow time to soak in His presence. He has so much more He wants to give us and do in us, if we would allow Him. Let me ask you, where's your heart at? Where's your focus at? Is it on the Lord or things of the world? (I know most of us have other responsibilities like jobs or kids or something, and we must take care of those things, but we must still keep our focus on Jesus!) Sometimes, we must lay everything aside , some things can wait, but will God wait? If He wants to do a work in you now, and we are too busy doing things that are meaningless, then He might pass us by and use another person instead of us. It is a privelege to be used of God for His purposes, and it is very humbling, because we know it is not because of us, it's all about Him, we are just a willing vessell.
I don't know about you, but I'm hungry, but I can still be more hungry, I pray Lord make me more hungry for you, I want to know you more and more, I want to have that intimate relationship with you and I want to see and live in the supernatural and see your glory!
If we want more of the Lord, if we want to see revival, we must get hungry and desperate! A quote for Rick Joyner's book, "World Aflame" says, "Deep spiritual awakenings begin with desperate people, and that holy desperation seems to be a prerequisite for revival"
We need to keep ourselves stirred up and sometimes we get weary of doing this, but we must keep ourselves on fire for God and hungry for His presence. We need not allow ourselves get weary! Galatians 6:9 We must keep pressing in until we capture the heart of God! Here is a good quote from the book "God Catcher's by Tommy Tenney, "Don't get weary in your waiting. You are too close and too far along to back out now. Don't stop-maybe this is what it looks like right before the heavens break and He emerges through the matrix of time to manifest His glory among us. If you are waiting on a promise from God, fan the flames of your desperation and put it on display. Make that nagging call to heaven and tell Him, "Daddy I want you!" Forget your dignity so you can have an encounter with His deity. Your desperation can cut through every obstacle and objection. Once the Father hears a true cry of desperation from His children, He rushes to meet them in their pain with such speed and violence that the "closet door" of His veiled hiding place is ripped in half and left behind. The most desperate and heartsick among us will instanstly embrace this message because it speaks to the pain and frustration of their "addiction" for God's presence." Hallejuah! Let's be addicted to His presence!!
In conclusion, just keep pressing in and don't grow weary and ask the Lord to give you more hunger for Him, cry out to Him in your desperation, put Him first in your life and don't put Him in a box of how and when He can move, allow Him to mess up your routines and say, "not my way Lord, but your way!" because your ways are so much higher than my ways! Linger in His presence and allow Him to change you from glory to glory!
If we want to see God move in power in our lives, WE NEED TO GET HUNGRY. We need to get DESPERATE for Him. We need to make Him our main concern, not the things of the world. He needs to be our concern, not us. His will, not ours. His desires, not ours. As we hunger more and more for Him, we want more and more of Him and we want Him to live and us to die (to self). If we truly want to see revival come, we need to get hungry, we need to get desperate. Nothing moves the heart of God than people who are desperate for Him. If we want more of the Lord in our lives, then we must hunger after Him. Matthew 5:6
How hungry are you? Are you seeking after Him with "all" your heart? Are you doing everything possible to get more of Him in your life?
We need to seek His face and not just His hand. The blessings He gives us are wonderful don't get me wrong, but we need to not just seek his blessings, so we can feel good. We need to seek his face, so we get to know Him better and better, so we can have that intimate relationship with Him. The Lord is not just pouring out His Spirit so we can have fun, yes, it is fun and more wonderful than anything out there imaginable, however, He is doing all this to change us and make us more like Him because He has a work for us. He has a work for everyone of us, no matter who you are, He has a plan that only we can accomplish, if we will allow Him to do the work in us. Time is short, the kingdom of God is at hand. We must stop playing games and allow the Lord to do a work in us and to use us.
We see the Lord moving so powerful in other countries, because the people are so hungry. They don't have all the luxuries that we have in the US, in alot of places all they have is Jesus and all they have is the hope that Jesus will change their situation, no matter what it is. They will walk miles through bad weather through the jungle to get to meetings. They are willing to do whatever it takes to get there. They are willing to lay everything aside. Oh, that we would have this same mindset. Jesus forgive us, for putting so many meaningless things ahead of you. In revivals past, meetings went to all hours of the night, people had to go to work the next day, but they didn't care. They were so hungry, they were willing to pay the cost. They said, "Lord I need you" more than anything else, I need you! I have to have you, I won't be denied, or let anything get in my way! We need not let the things of the world side-track us from the things of God. Lord help us! We need to make the Lord our main focus, we need to be more concerned about what He cares about. Last time I preached this similar message I offended people, because I stepped on some toes. So if I step on your toes, I'm sorry, but I must speak the truth. One thing that grieves my heart, is that people are in such a hurry to leave church services and get out of the presence of God. If we would just wait on the Holy Spirit and allow Him to have full control and when He starts moving, and the glory falls, then we need to stand in His glory (linger in his glory, in His presence). We get in a hurry to go home, or get distracted by other things and don't go to the meetings at all. We come up with excuses, such as I need to go get some lunch, or I'm too tired to go, or I have to much laundry, etc. Come on now, you know I'm right, I've done these same things myself. So many times we miss out on awesome encounters with God because we are too busy being busy or because we are in such a hurry and don't allow time to soak in His presence. He has so much more He wants to give us and do in us, if we would allow Him. Let me ask you, where's your heart at? Where's your focus at? Is it on the Lord or things of the world? (I know most of us have other responsibilities like jobs or kids or something, and we must take care of those things, but we must still keep our focus on Jesus!) Sometimes, we must lay everything aside , some things can wait, but will God wait? If He wants to do a work in you now, and we are too busy doing things that are meaningless, then He might pass us by and use another person instead of us. It is a privelege to be used of God for His purposes, and it is very humbling, because we know it is not because of us, it's all about Him, we are just a willing vessell.
I don't know about you, but I'm hungry, but I can still be more hungry, I pray Lord make me more hungry for you, I want to know you more and more, I want to have that intimate relationship with you and I want to see and live in the supernatural and see your glory!
If we want more of the Lord, if we want to see revival, we must get hungry and desperate! A quote for Rick Joyner's book, "World Aflame" says, "Deep spiritual awakenings begin with desperate people, and that holy desperation seems to be a prerequisite for revival"
We need to keep ourselves stirred up and sometimes we get weary of doing this, but we must keep ourselves on fire for God and hungry for His presence. We need not allow ourselves get weary! Galatians 6:9 We must keep pressing in until we capture the heart of God! Here is a good quote from the book "God Catcher's by Tommy Tenney, "Don't get weary in your waiting. You are too close and too far along to back out now. Don't stop-maybe this is what it looks like right before the heavens break and He emerges through the matrix of time to manifest His glory among us. If you are waiting on a promise from God, fan the flames of your desperation and put it on display. Make that nagging call to heaven and tell Him, "Daddy I want you!" Forget your dignity so you can have an encounter with His deity. Your desperation can cut through every obstacle and objection. Once the Father hears a true cry of desperation from His children, He rushes to meet them in their pain with such speed and violence that the "closet door" of His veiled hiding place is ripped in half and left behind. The most desperate and heartsick among us will instanstly embrace this message because it speaks to the pain and frustration of their "addiction" for God's presence." Hallejuah! Let's be addicted to His presence!!
In conclusion, just keep pressing in and don't grow weary and ask the Lord to give you more hunger for Him, cry out to Him in your desperation, put Him first in your life and don't put Him in a box of how and when He can move, allow Him to mess up your routines and say, "not my way Lord, but your way!" because your ways are so much higher than my ways! Linger in His presence and allow Him to change you from glory to glory!
I never knew you
Jesus said "I never knew you"
Matthew 7:21-22
Not everyone who says their a christian really is one, they may even do the works of a christian, but are they truly "His"? They may be trying to be a christian without Christ. How can that be?? These people may just be "religious"! vs. 23 Jesus says "I never knew you". That means no, not at anytime. I never knew you. To truly know someone you have to spend time with that person and have a personal relationship with that person. So Jesus is saying I never had a personal relationship with you. Verse 23 says, "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" Lawlessness means: without law, not regulated by law. Not restrained by law, unruly, licentious. SYN. (see anarchy)
To me that is saying, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness (you who try to do things your own way, not followimg God's way, unruly and not restrained by God's laws.) Trying to conform Christianity according to how you want it to be, not submitting to the Lord. How can you be a christian without Christ?? Duh! However, that is what some people are trying to do. It is really sad, we must pray for these people so that on the day of judgement, they won't have a rude awakening. I had often thought about this verse, and thought to myself, "How can these people do all these things in the name of the Lord, if they were not truly His?" I discovered, my friend, that is "religion" it is not having a "relationship". The sad thing is, some people would rather have religion, than to to truly have a relationship with Jesus. They are missing out on so much, if they only knew! That is why it is our job as disciples of Jesus to tell them the good news!
Matthew 7:21-22
Not everyone who says their a christian really is one, they may even do the works of a christian, but are they truly "His"? They may be trying to be a christian without Christ. How can that be?? These people may just be "religious"! vs. 23 Jesus says "I never knew you". That means no, not at anytime. I never knew you. To truly know someone you have to spend time with that person and have a personal relationship with that person. So Jesus is saying I never had a personal relationship with you. Verse 23 says, "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" Lawlessness means: without law, not regulated by law. Not restrained by law, unruly, licentious. SYN. (see anarchy)
To me that is saying, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness (you who try to do things your own way, not followimg God's way, unruly and not restrained by God's laws.) Trying to conform Christianity according to how you want it to be, not submitting to the Lord. How can you be a christian without Christ?? Duh! However, that is what some people are trying to do. It is really sad, we must pray for these people so that on the day of judgement, they won't have a rude awakening. I had often thought about this verse, and thought to myself, "How can these people do all these things in the name of the Lord, if they were not truly His?" I discovered, my friend, that is "religion" it is not having a "relationship". The sad thing is, some people would rather have religion, than to to truly have a relationship with Jesus. They are missing out on so much, if they only knew! That is why it is our job as disciples of Jesus to tell them the good news!
We are like plants in the Lord
I have this plant, a big beautiful plant, that we have had for years. This plant was at my mother-in-laws funeral, so it is special. Well this past winter, it got left out in the cold and got frost bit and looked like it would die (it was bad) it looked like it had no life left in it. It was brown and all the leaves fell off and it looked dead for a long time. When it got warm, my husband said we should throw this plant away it looked dead and has made no progress. I said, "No, let's put it in the son and water it and let's see if it will come back to life. For a couple of weeks it still looked the same, but I kept watering it and made sure it was in the sun. I hadn't paid much attention to it lately, and then yesterday I noticed it had alot of green to it, (it looked like all weeds), so I plucked the weeds out and there were several shoots of green from the plant. Today, there were more shoots and it is truly coming back to life! I was out in the yard this morning with my husband and I told him to look at the plant, I told him, "see, I told you, if we put the plant in the sun and water it, it might come back to life. That is when I got this revelation, that we are like plants in the Lord. We are tender plants that need tending to, in order to grow. Even if we get frost bitten by life (problems and situations) the Lord can revive us, if we want Him too, and do what is necessary to be revived. We like the plant, need to be in the Son (Jesus), and we need to be watered (with the Word) to be able to grow. Without sun and water the plant could not live, also, without being in Jesus and in the Word, we cannot truly live, and it will result in spiritual death. Weeds tried to crowd out this plant and eventually the weeds would have taken over and killed the plant, if the weeds were not plucked out. We also need to keep the weeds in our lives plucked out. Weeds are anything that keeps you from growing in the Lord. It can be selfishness, pride, anger, being critical, judgemental, strife, greediness, gossiping, foolish talking, filling our minds with unclean things, liking to argue with people, and the list goes on. These are things that can hinder on walk with the Lord, and if we don't pluck these weeds out, it can take over our lives and choke out our lives. We need to have the fruit of the spirit, not the flesh (Gal. 5:22)
"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." Galatians 6: 8
We can be revived like my plant was, by doing the same things I did for my plant, but in the spiritual. Get in the SON, water yourself in the Word to grow and be refreshed, and pluck out the weeds in your life (get rid of anything that would hinder your spiritual growth!) and just like the plant you can have NEW LIFE!!
"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." Galatians 6: 8
We can be revived like my plant was, by doing the same things I did for my plant, but in the spiritual. Get in the SON, water yourself in the Word to grow and be refreshed, and pluck out the weeds in your life (get rid of anything that would hinder your spiritual growth!) and just like the plant you can have NEW LIFE!!
Faith or Fear?
During these times of troubles in our economy, are we living in fear or faith? Do we believe that God can do what He says He can do? In Phillipians 4:19 it says, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ jesus". In Matthew chap. 6, it talks about God taking care of the birds of the air by feeding them and that we are so much more valuable than them and He will take care of us also. In vs. 30 it tells us to not worry about what we shall eat, what we shall drink and about what we shall wear, "for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." Vs. 31, " But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Key word "seek first the kingdom". If we are not worrying and full of fear then we can seek first His kingdom and put our trust and faith in Him. The word says that He will take care of us, if we believe! We must believe that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. We serve a God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) We must live in faith and not fear. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind." 1 Timothy 1:7. When we are walking in fear, we don't usually have a sound mind, it definetly is not a peaceful mind. In 1 John 4: 18 it says "fear involves torment". Think about it, it is so true. Fear will cause worry and play games with your mind. When we are wrapped up in fear, we are worrying about the circumstances around us and not trusting God to deliver us and take care of us, we are not acting in faith. It can be very difficult to do when everything around is falling apart but we must put fear behind us and have faith that God will take care of us, like He said He would, if we will trust Him.
What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." I like what the Living Bible says, "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see." Faith is believing, no matter what the circumstances look like!
Are we walking in faith or fear? If we are walking in fear, then we need to cast those thoughts down (1 cor. 10:5) and renew our mind with faith filled thoughts (God's word), because "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17
Keep this in mind, Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
Faith or fear? You choose! " But the just shall live by faith" Habakkuk 1:4
What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." I like what the Living Bible says, "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see." Faith is believing, no matter what the circumstances look like!
Are we walking in faith or fear? If we are walking in fear, then we need to cast those thoughts down (1 cor. 10:5) and renew our mind with faith filled thoughts (God's word), because "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17
Keep this in mind, Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
Faith or fear? You choose! " But the just shall live by faith" Habakkuk 1:4
Friday, November 7, 2008
"Judge not, that you be not judged"
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother,'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Matt. 7:1-4
People are so quick to judge, especially christians, and this should not be so! The Word clearly talks about judging. Why are people so quick to judge a brother or sister? The Pharisees were also quick to judge Jesus. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want to be compared to a Pharisee. But are we acting like Pharisee's when we are judging our brothers and sisters. Before we are so quick to judge we need to look in the mirror and get the plank out of our eye! The Word says that, "for with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." My brothers and sisters we need to be careful!!
We need to leave the judging to the Lord because He is the great judge. Do you not realize that when you judge another person that you may be causing damage to them? You may even be causing a stumbling block to them with the Lord? This is not the works of the Lord! Romans 14: 13 says, "Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way." As a christians we need to walk in love NOT judgement. If you feel like something needs to be addressed with a brother or sister, first, you need to pray about it and ask the Lord for wisdom and knowledge about the situation, you also need to make sure your motives are right and ask yourself, "am I doing this in love?" or am I'm I trying to make myself look better?
I will leave you with this thought, "are we acting like Jesus or a pharisee?" In Matthew 9: 13 "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice." Are we showing mercy and love or are we trying to sacrifice our brothers and sisters?
People are so quick to judge, especially christians, and this should not be so! The Word clearly talks about judging. Why are people so quick to judge a brother or sister? The Pharisees were also quick to judge Jesus. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want to be compared to a Pharisee. But are we acting like Pharisee's when we are judging our brothers and sisters. Before we are so quick to judge we need to look in the mirror and get the plank out of our eye! The Word says that, "for with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." My brothers and sisters we need to be careful!!
We need to leave the judging to the Lord because He is the great judge. Do you not realize that when you judge another person that you may be causing damage to them? You may even be causing a stumbling block to them with the Lord? This is not the works of the Lord! Romans 14: 13 says, "Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way." As a christians we need to walk in love NOT judgement. If you feel like something needs to be addressed with a brother or sister, first, you need to pray about it and ask the Lord for wisdom and knowledge about the situation, you also need to make sure your motives are right and ask yourself, "am I doing this in love?" or am I'm I trying to make myself look better?
I will leave you with this thought, "are we acting like Jesus or a pharisee?" In Matthew 9: 13 "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice." Are we showing mercy and love or are we trying to sacrifice our brothers and sisters?
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