Time to Get M.A.D.

I Samuel 11:1-11

Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.”

2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, “On this condition I will make a covenant with you, that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel.”

3 Then the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Hold off for seven days, that we may send messengers to all the territory of Israel. And then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.”

4 So the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told the news in the hearing of the people. And all the people lifted up their voices and wept.  5 Now there was Saul, coming behind the herd from the field; and Saul said, “What troubles the people, that they weep?” And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.  6 Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused.  7 So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen.”

And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.  8 When he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.  9 And they said to the messengers who came, “Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have help.’” Then the messengers came and reported it to the men of Jabesh, and they were glad.  10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do with us whatever seems good to you.”

11 So it was, on the next day, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and killed Ammonites until the heat of the day. And it happened that those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together

In this passage of scripture one could liken Saul to a radical believer, or a “Radical Christian.”  He was “radical” because his actions were extremist, they were far beyond what was considered “normal,” they were what some might call “over the top,” and others probably would have said his actions were “crazy."

If there has ever been a time in the history of our nation that we needed some “Radical Christians,” it’s now!  We need some preachers who are not afraid to be labeled “extremists” because they are anointed and continue to preach standards and refuse to go along with the mainstream trends of the church!  We need some worship leaders who are “over the top” and are tired of entertainment that does not promote God’s presence!  We need believers that are called “crazy” because of their zeal to live a holy life and walk daily in the power of the Holy Ghost.  We need believers that are so radical that the devil knows their name!

There are all kind of radicals in the world: People do all kinds of radical things, extreme things, and even crazy things.  There are radical sports fans, politicians, religious extremists like ISIS and the Westboro Baptist church, racists, and extreme environmentalists.  Everywhere you look there are all kinds of radicals.  We have become accustomed to seeing people in the secular world doing all kinds of crazy, extreme, over the top things, but we are not used to seeing “radical Christians.”

Saul was a man who became radical, he was the king of Israel, and he was anointed by God.  Pay special attention to that word "anointed."  The anointing sets you apart from everyone else.  The anointing places the power of God on your live.  The anointing changes a person: it encourages boldness, it produces fearlessness, it makes us more assertive, and the anointing confronts error.

In our text all the people were crying, they were sad because of the threats from their enemy, but what made the others sad, made Saul angry.  He was angry at the enemy, angry at the willingness of the people to compromise with the enemy just to avoid a fight.  But Saul was not just an angry man, he was an anointed man.  There is something that the enemy will always take notice of:  A radical, angry, and anointed child of the living God!

In this age of compromise, this day of backing up and backing down, this era of diluting the gospel and going along to get along with everybody and everything, so many in the church have lost the fire of God and have settled for a, “form of godliness that denies the power thereof.”

But this to me because I can tell you what I have seen in the young men of my church, God is raising up ab army of “Radical Christians.” The Lord is anointing an army of ministers who are going to be more than just echoes of political correctness, more than just pew warmers, and more than just singers in the choir.  This army is the radical, extreme, crazy, and over the top Jesus freaks who are going to shake up the church world!

 In fact he is raising up some people, who like Saul, are angry at the enemy.  They are M.A.D. – Motivated Against the Devil.  They are angry at the devil, angry at the spirit of compromise in the church, angry at the spirit that rejects the cross and the blood of Jesus, and angry at the “Ecclesiastical Pimps” that stand in pulpits Sunday after Sunday and label everyone saved regardless of how they live just to get a paycheck!

There has been a spirit of passivity in too many churches for too long now, they have become very comfortable and casual in our attitude toward sin.  There has been a seeker friendly mentality and attitude to make everybody comfortable and happy.  An attitude that we must get rid of anything that would offend the seeker.

The cross, the altar, the blood, speaking in tongues, emotional responses to the Spirit, messages that mention hell or condemns sin, and sinful lifestyles.  All this must be removed, we have got to make the sinner comfortable.

But I feel a stirring in my spirit and I have an assignment from the Holy Ghost to tell the church: Something is about to change!  There's someone sitting in your church, somebody that you never really noticed, and that you never suspected and an anointing that is getting ready to fall on them. God is getting ready to put His mantle on them.  They are going to stand up under the anointing of the Holy Ghost and become like an Elijah to this generation.  They are not going to be seduced by this adulterous spirit of idolatry and witchcraft that has hypnotized the church, and they're going to call Gods people to repentance.  They are not going to soft soap sin, or sugar coat the word of God.  They are going to declare that there is a difference between the clean and the unclean, the vile and the pure, the right and the wrong, righteousness and sin.  They are not going to be concerned about fitting in, about being popular with men, they are going to be clothed with the zeal of God, and their only concern is going to be to pleasing Him.

I have to throw this in here because the Holy Ghost just put in on my heart.  I heard someone proclaim recently regarding homosexuals, lesbians, fornicators, Muslims, etc., that we are all on a “journey” and that they are just at different places in their “journey” and we have to give everybody time to become who they are supposed to be.  The message he was conveying is that we are all on the same “journey” we are just at different places along that “journey.”

Let me tell you what the Word of God says about the “journey”: Along this “journey” called life there are only two roads, the Broad way, “which seemeth right unto man,” which leads to destruction, and the narrow way that leads to eternal life and “few there be that find it.”  What I am about to say is not real popular these days, but I must say it regardless:  If you have not confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, if you have not been washed in the blood of the Lamb, if you have not repented and been “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sin (Acts 2:38),” then you are not saved.  You are lost, you are on the wrong road and you need to make a U-turn.  If you are a sinner and you have not been redeemed by the blood of Jesus then you are on the wrong road, and it doesn't matter how far you journey down that wrong road it will never become the right road, the only way to get right with God is a course correction.

If you do not receive Jesus as your personal savior and forsake your sins, you will be eternally lost. I know that's not popular but it's the truth, and I say it because I love you.  God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

There is an anointing that is being stirred up right now in some people that God has called.  I want to warn you though, when it happens and you start standing up and declaring the non-filtered Word of God, some sleepy, sloppy, lazy, passive, and indifferent pew potatoes aren't going to recognize the anointing, they are just going to accuse us of being angry.

The only way the church will ever come together, be united for the purpose that the Lord has called us to, “to destroy the works of the devil,” is if someone gets sick and tired, if someone gets fed up with accepting compromise to avoid a fight, and if someone gets angry!

I want to end this “screed,” by saying just one more thing, it’s about time some of you got M.A.D.!

It's Time To Recognize The Anointing

Luke 4:18-19

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Contained in this passage of scripture are two very powerful spiritual truths.  First we can see that Jesus knew exactly what He had come to earth to accomplish, He knew what it was that He was supposed to do.  And second, we can see that Jesus was aware that He had been empowered with a supernatural power through the infilling of the Holy Spirit called the “anointing.”

I believe that it is the will of God that every believer would be consciously aware of this anointing and that every one of us could say: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”  The concept that the Spirit of Christ dwells within each of us is not simply an idea, an expression, or a figure of speech, it is a tangible reality. The power of God is manifested and resting upon the life of every believer who desires it and is surrendered to God’s will.

We can see from the story of Samson in the book of Judges that when the anointing would come upon Samson, he was very aware of it.  He had a conscious understanding, an awareness that a supernatural power was upon him.  Samson knew when this power was on him and he knew when it wasn't.  When the anointing, this power, was upon him he was unstoppable he operated in a supernatural realm.  But without it, he was limited by the weaknesses of his flesh just like any other man.

Samson’s anointing was just a shadow, a type of the anointing that was going to come upon Jesus Christ and His covenant children through the power of the Holy Ghost.  It is my purpose today to help believers everywhere realize that this anointing was not just for Samson, it wasn’t just upon Jesus, nor is it just for pastors, prophets, apostles, evangelists and teachers, it's for every blood bought, Spirit filled child of God.  I believe it is the desire of our Lord that every believer could say with the same authority as Jesus did, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me."

The anointing is the divine enablement and supernatural ability to carry on the ministry of Jesus.

Acts 10:38

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with Him.”

Jesus was our example.  The Word tells us that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave lives in us.  We can claim with authority, that if we have been baptized in the Holy Ghost, then we are anointed with power to go about doing good and healing all who are oppressed of the devil for God is with us!  The Spirit of the Lord is upon us and we are anointed!

Jesus is no longer physically among us, but His Spirit is, the Holy Ghost is, the power is, and the anointing is!  Now we are His body, we are His hands and feet, we are His voice, and we are anointed to carry on His work.  We are anointed to preach the gospel, to cast out devils, to heal the sick, to deliver those in darkness, and to set the captives free.

The anointing is Heavens power, it's like Holy Ghost electricity and just like natural electricity you can't see it with your natural eyes, but when it touches you, you will know it.  The anointing is the burden-removing, yoke destroying power of God.

Isaiah 10:27

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.”

There is a lot of needless things we bare as believers because we do not seek the anointing.  The sad truth is that a large majority of the body of Christ have never discovered the power that is available to them through the anointing.  Too many believers are living weak, inferior, anemic spiritual lives because they refuse to tap into the power of the Holy Ghost. 

Because of this they are always looking for someone else to bless them, someone else to encourage them, or someone else lift them up when the power is right at the tip of their tongue.  All they need to do is surrender their life to God and ask for more of His presence in their life.

Too many of God’s people live their lives as a professional patient: always in need, always struggling, always hurting, and always suffering.  God wants to give them the power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost and transform them from a patient into a doctor.  To bring them to a place where they are functioning by the anointing, to a place where they are operating in the anointing and are able to inject others with the power of God that will save them and heal them and deliver them.

Acts 3:1-8

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; 3 who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have, give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

Peter and John looked at this poor crippled beggar sitting at the temple gate asking alms from any who would pass by.  Here was a poor unfortunate soul who lived dependent upon the generosity and the surplus of others.  He was a taker, always reaching out, always in need.  Everyday someone would pick him up and carry him to his spot outside the beautiful gate of the temple where he would sit and beg for alms.

What I love about this story is that is shows the character of Peter and John after they had been filled with the Holy Ghost.  Remember what they had said to Jesus when Jesus asked them to feed the crowd, “Send them away so they can find something to eat.”  In other words, “they’re not our problem.  Look how the Holy Ghost has changed their perspective:  They saw a future for this man beyond what he could see.  He couldn't see anything different in his future other than to sit and to beg every day for the rest of his life.  When Peter and John saw him, they were moved with the compassion of Jesus.  Compassion and pity are two different things.  Pity may look and feel sorry, pity may even demonstrate itself in tears, but compassion is demonstrated in action and changes the situation.

Peter and John saw this poor man and they saw a future for him, and they were moved with compassion.  When they told him to look upon them, it was because they were anointed with the Holy Ghost and they understood that they had the capacity to change this man’s situation.

I wish more believers understood how much power is available to us through the anointing of the Holy Ghost.  We are walking around with the same Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, living on the inside of us.  The supernatural miracle working power of God is in us.  One of the devils greatest fears is that we will recognize who we are and what we have and what we can do.

Peter and John knew this supernatural power was in them.  And they also knew that they had the ability to transfer and to release that power to others.  Silver and gold have I none but such as I have I give to thee.  There's the key: Such as I have.  In other words, “I know what I have.”  Just like Samson was aware of his anointing, just like Jesus was aware of His, Peter and John were consciously aware that they had in their possession a power greater than themselves.

Such as I have…give I thee.  I present to you, I offer to you, I release, I transfer, I give to you.  And Peter took him by the right hand and lifted him up.  Peter was pulling him into his destiny.  Pulling him out of his past, pulling him out of all his guilt and shame, pulling him out of his emptiness and helplessness, pulling him out of his brokenness and pulling him up into wholeness, up into joy, and up into fullness of life.

Was it God’s will to heal this man and make him whole?  We know it was.  Why didn't it happen prior to this day?  Because no one had passed his way with the knowledge that they possessed the power to change this man’s situation.

I'm telling you, it is the will of God to heal the sick, to deliver the bound, and to set the captives free.  It is Gods will, Jesus paid the price, the power of God is available, but nothing is going to happen until we realize that we are the carriers and the conduits of the power of God and it’s time we start laying our hands on the sick, lifting them up in Jesus’ name, and casting out devils.

There are people just like this crippled beggar all around us, and even though God wants them well and whole they will die lost, sick and afflicted if we don't recognize that, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon us and He has anointed us.”

Then Came Jesus

Matthew 8:1-3

“When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

Jesus had just finished his Sermon on the Mount. His words were spoken with an authority and power that none had known before.  It had been a long time since a prophet had entered the land of Israel and spoke the oracles of God with such power.  John the Baptist had come preaching but even his powerful preaching could not compare with the power behind the words that Jesus spoke.

I have often wondered what it must have felt like to have been there to hear Jesus speak.  What power and anointing there must have been in His voice!  This was God in the flesh, not just a mortal man.  I believe that the closest we can come to that experience is when we hear the Word of the Lord preached and taught under the anointing of the Holy Ghost.

I think that it is a shame that many people today do not regard the preaching of the Word as important as they should.  I often wonder how many miracles people miss out on because they aren’t close enough to see them, how many blessings they miss because they aren’t hungry enough for them, or how much anointing they’ve lost because they didn’t give place to the leading of the Holy Ghost.

As he descended from the mountain to enter into the city of Jerusalem, the crowds pressed into hear and see what he would do next. Would he perform some great miracle?  Would He heal a sick body, or maybe even raise someone from the dead?

When the Holy Ghost is moving and people are being healed, set free from sin, delivered from the oppressing powers of hell, being saved by the Blood of the Lamb, and the Word of God is preached with the anointing power of God upon it, you won’t have to beg people to come. They will come just to see the fire burn.

As he walked along there came a leper and fell at his feet with a humble spirit, seeking to be healed and cleansed.  From a natural perspective, there was no hope for the leper.  He was trapped in a prison of rotting flesh and was slowly dying. No doctor, no priest, or any power on earth could release him from this death sentence.

But then came Jesus!  Oh how I love that phrase!  When all things seem impossible and all hope seems lost, I have learned to lean upon that phrase, “Then came Jesus.”  The disciples were out in the middle of the sea in a raging storm, then came Jesus!  There was a woman with an issue of blood, then came Jesus!  Three Hebrew children were thrown into a fiery furnace, but then came Jesus!  Lazarus was dead and buried in a tomb for days, but then came Jesus!  I was lost, had thrown my calling aside, most everyone had written me off, but then came Jesus!  He can do what no one else can.  He is your answer, not some man.

The leper was unclean! According to the Law of Moses he could never enter the gates of Jerusalem for it was the Holy City, dedicated to God. That leper had to get to Jesus before he entered the gates and so he came as fast as he could. With every step he took, faith would grow a little stronger! With every step hope grew stronger!  Hope – that little 4-letter word that carries such a powerful meaning.

Hopelessness is a terrible empty feeling.  And hopelessness is what those who are held captive by the chains of sin face every day.  There is no hope for a better life, no hope for eternal life, or for deliverance from the bonds of sin that have trapped them to their lifestyles.

The Alcoholic is taught that he will always be an alcoholic!  The drug addict is taught that he will always be a drug addict!  The thief is taught that he will always be a thief!  All the world can do is attempt to control how much alcohol, drugs, or criminal activity that people do. The world does not have the power to set men free from anything!

But then came Jesus – there’s that little phrase again!  Jesus can set them free, and Jesus will set them free!

When that leper, representing the absolutely hopeless condition of the sin-sick soul, came to Jesus and fell down before him, and worshipped the Lord, and confessed that Jesus was the only one who could set him free, and cast himself upon the mercy of Christ, he was showing us just what it takes to be set completely free from all the bondages of sin that hold us back.

You can’t whip the devil on your own, but Jesus has already conquered him! You can’t defeat all the powers of darkness in your own power, but Jesus’ blood has already beaten them once and for all.

We must cast aside everything that holds us back. Cast aside your pride! Cast aside your own abilities! Cast aside your hopelessness! Cast aside the teaching that you can’t be delivered that has been given by the world! Cast aside every little weight and every sin that so easily drags you down and then worship the Lord Jesus Christ!

I believe that Jesus not only has all power in Heaven and in Earth to set you free once and for all but I also believe that it is his perfect will do to just that!  Jesus looked back at that leper and said, “I will, be thou clean!”  

What power there was in those words! Instantly the prison bars of leprosy were broken!  Instantly, that leper was a leper no more! Instantly he was made whole!  He may have been told, “Once a leper, always a leper,” but Jesus set him free!

Jesus doesn’t deliver halfway! If we aren’t completely delivered it’s because we are holding something back ourselves! We can’t expect Jesus to set us completely free if we aren’t completely surrendered and committed to him.   All too often we come to the Lord seeking deliverance, but all we want is just enough deliverance to make life tolerable again. We don’t want to commit fully so we just take what Jesus will give and go back to doing what we want to again.

It’s so wonderful that Jesus is full of grace, mercy and love, so much so that he will reach out and touch us sometimes, even when we really don’t mean what we say! But he knows the heart, and if we will fully surrender, then he will fully deliver!

I’m not saying that every Christian who has a problem in some area of their life is lost. I’m not saying that they won’t make Heaven their home. What I am saying is that, until they are fully committed to serving the Lord, placing him first in their lives, they will never know what it is like to be completely delivered and fully walking in victory!

What do you need from the Lord right now?

Healing?  Jesus says I will - Isaiah 53:5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Rest?  Jesus says I will - Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Deliverance?  Jesus says I will - Isaiah 46:4, "And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you."

Encouragement?  Jesus says I will - Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Salvation?  Jesus says I will - John 3:16-17, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

Cleansing? – Jesus says through the Apostle Paul, I will - 1 Corinthians 6:11, "… but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

Wisdom? – Jesus says, I will - James 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

Faith? – Jesus says I will - Romans 12:3, "For I say… to every man that is among you… God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

Power? – Jesus says I will - Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you..."

Guidance? – Jesus says I will - John 16:13, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth..."

Jesus says I will meet your need but don’t just focus on the miracle, focus on the Miracle Worker and give it all to me.  The leper was in a prison that he didn’t choose and didn’t want but one that he could not get out of, but Jesus had the key.

What do you need from the Lord right now?

Are you willing to cast yourself at his feet in total surrender?

If you are willing, then Jesus will give you the desires of your heart!

Set Us On Fire!

Proverbs 30:15-16 (KJV)

"The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough."

Hebrews 12:29

 "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. "

This verse in Hebrews means that our God is never finished. He never reaches a point where He says you're holy, spiritual, disciplined, or cleansed and purified enough. God's fire is never finished in your life. God's will and purpose for our lives go far beyond just touching us; He wants to consume our lives with His holy fire.

Hebrews 1:7

"And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angel's spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire."

God has not just called us to be ministers on fire, but he has called and anointed us to be ministers of His holy fire.

1 Peter 4:10

"As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

Ministers and stewards are the same thing; their purpose is to manage or oversee the goods of another; they are responsible for distributing what has been placed in their care to meet the needs of those they serve.

God has given us the blessing of the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, and in doing so, He has made us stewards and ministers of His fire. He has placed His holy fire in each of us and thus has "Set us on fire," but we are not just to be on fire for him; we must become distribution centers from which his fire is released and poured out as a blessing on those He has chosen for us to minister to.

God and fire are inseparable. Fire has always been a symbol of God's divine presence and power. There is a three-fold operation of the fire of God concerning our lives: The fire of God to you, the fire of God in you, and the fire of God through you.

I am a diabetic, and I am supposed to take four shots of insulin each day, and if I do, my life is manageable. But if all I do is open the door of the refrigerator and see the vile of insulin in the door, or if I pick up the vile of insulin and touch it for a few seconds, then put it back and shut the door, my life slowly becomes a wreck, and I quickly become a burden to my family instead of a blessing. I have to inject the insulin into my body, or it does me no good, and I am no good to anyone else.

Anyone can see the fire, but it's not the fire you see that changes your life; it's the fire you receive. We can read about the power of God in His Word and go to church and see the transformational power of the Holy Ghost service after service. Still, it is not until you open your heart to the inward sanctifying, cleansing, and purging fire of God's presence that your life changes, and you become a vessel fit to carry the anointing.

It's not what we say about God that changes lives; it's the quantity and quality of the presence and character of God that is manifested through us that changes lives. Let me say it another way: You must be infected before infecting someone else. You can talk about a virus or disease and how contagious it is, but unless you're infected by it, there is no danger of the person hearing you being infected. It's the same with the fire of God. We can talk about the Holy Ghost and power, but until His presence consumes us, no one around us will be consumed.

I Corinthians 2:4-5

"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

The fire of God wants to come into your life and make you a minister of fire.

Isaiah 4:4-5

"When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. 5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defense."

First, God shows the fire to you: It's beautiful to see somebody on fire for God. It draws you and creates a hunger, but even if you don't see it in an earthen vessel near you, you can see it in the Word of God.

Second, if you allow it, God places the fire in you: Purging, cleansing, and sanctifying. God's Holy Spirit is living in you and burning up all the clutter and the excesses, the selfishness and the sin, your habits, addictions, and attitudes.

And then, as God takes control of your will, you become a minister of Jesus Christ to others as He manifests the fire through you. You become that cleansed and purified vessel through which the fire can flow to others.

There are a lot of people who don't mind being touched by the fire, as long as it's containable, as long as they can determine its heat and intensity. But God will never be satisfied to simply touch you; He wants to consume you: Body, mind, soul, and spirit – God wants it all!

The most remarkable illustration of this truth in God's Word is the story in Judges 15. Sampson catches 300 foxes and sends them out by two into the Philistine's fields; the kicker is they have a fire between their tails. Those foxes were motivated. At the risk of offending some animal activist, I am sure the fire did not simply give off a pleasant glow as they ran through the Philistine's fields; those foxes were on fire.

The fire changed those foxes because the fire consumed those foxes. When the fire hit their flesh, the foxes had a mission: go into the world and spread the fire. The fire changed them and I am confident they were never the same again.

If there was ever a time when the church needed a fresh fire, it's today. We are surrounded by the most significant mission field of all time, but the Philistines are trying to claim it for themselves. It's time for us to be set on fire and set loose in the mission fields around us; it's time for the fire to hit our flesh and consume us with a passion to spread the fire until the fire of a Holy God touches all our world.

Cross Over Or Die In The Desert

Joshua 3:9-17

“So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.”  10 And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites:  11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan.  12 Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe.  13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.”

14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,  15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest),  16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho.  17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.”

Moses had died and now Joshua is in charge.  Israel is at a very critical point, spiritually speaking, but they have been here before.  It is one of those moments when a choice has to be made.  Are they going move forward in faith, or let fear continue to dictate their future?  This is where they will either experience another breakdown or where you finally have your breakthrough. 

We all have to come to this place.  God has planted the seeds of hope in our lives, some of those seeds will come to fruition through faith, sadly however, many never see the light of day.  In each of our lives there is going to be a place that we will come to, a Jordan River, where we must decide if the hope that God has planted in our hearts is going to live or to become a victim of another spiritual abortion.  It is one thing to have a promise, a dream, but unless we move forward in faith and take possession of that promise all it will ever be is a dream.  Every dreamer will come to this place, it is here that dreamers either go over or go under.

An entire generation’s hope died at this place because they let go of their dream. At the edge of your Jordan there are only two choices, cross over into your promise, or settle down on this side of the river and give up your dream.

Your “Jordan” is a place that is God ordained for you.  It is a place of impossibility, a place of weakness, a place of helplessness, a place where all self-effort must die, and a place where we come face to face with our flesh.  You may face your Jordan during a time of sickness, a time of great financial difficulty, or a time of family turmoil.

God is not the author of sickness, disease, poverty, and hardship, but as we face these trials we come to an end of ourselves, and we can trust God and go over in faith, or struggle in our own strength and be buried in the desert of doubt. 

“Jordan” is a dividing line, it is the place where we are forced to decide whether or not we going to trust in the living God, or trust in the arm of the flesh and self-efforts.

Jacob wrestled all night with the angel of the Lord, during that wrestling match Jacob came face to face with his flesh.  He was forced to “come to himself” and to see himself as he really was: he was a deceiver, a manipulator, and a usurper.  Jacob’s cry, “I won’t let you go till you bless me,” was a cry to be delivered from self.  He was in essence saying, “Don’t leave me like this, I can’t live like this anymore, and I’m sick of my carnal self.”

That was moment was Jacob’s Jordan.

What does it take to get across Jordan?

The first step we must take to cross our Jordan must be sanctification: “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

Anything that would offend the spirit of God in our lives can keep us from crossing our Jordan.  So many have started across Jordan but because of some inordinate affection, some hidden sin, some secret self- love, they have come up short and were swallowed up by waves of despair, guilt, and condemnation.

“Circumcise the children of Israel again”

The application for us is that we must die to our flesh daily, we must never reach the place of deceiving ourselves that we have conquered the self-life, and we must be vigilant and quick to take the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and cut away that which is of the flesh.

We forfeit a vast amount of God’s power when we allow our lives to become cluttered with things of the flesh.  The shortage and the failure is not on Gods part, He is ready, He is willing, and He is able.  But we must clear the way and open up the channel for the power of God through sanctification.

Secondly, we must have a vision of something greater.  No one will let go of what they have unless they have caught a vision of something greater.

Moses had a vision of something greater, Joshua had a vision of something greater, Joseph had a vision of something greater, Jesus had a vision of something greater!

Hebrews 12:2

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Third, in order to cross our Jordan we must be totally dependent upon God.  This where we are holding onto the ark, the ark represents the presence, the power, and the glory of God, we must understand that we cannot cross in our own power.

For years I struggled with the same issues.  Why?  I was depending on my own strength to overcome the obstacles and the sin in my life.  It wasn’t until I came to understand that I was powerless to overcome my sin nature in my own knowledge or my own strength, and I admitted that I was powerless and I needed God to deliver me, that I was finally set free.  Now I walk in a power that is not of my own making, but comes from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in my life.

“And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.”

Fourth, in order to cross the Jordan, we must have bare feet.  Bare feet means that we have no personal agenda; all of our dreams must have at their core the glory of God and the promotion of His Kingdom.  If it is selfish in nature it is not from God, and it will be swept away by the raging currents of the Jordan.

Before God commissioned Moses to bring his people out of bondage, he first ordered him to take off his shoes, and when Joshua came into the presence of the captain of the lord of hosts, he took off his shoes.  The removal of the shoe in the Bible is more than just an act of respect or reverence, it shows a transfer of ownership.  By removing your shoes you are signifying the relinquishment of property rights.  You are saying to God, “My life is no longer mine to do with what I want from this point forward I belong to you.”

In order to see our dream come to fruition, we must surrender everything that we have, everything that we are, and everything that we will ever be to God.

Fifth, we have to get our feet wet.

It wasn’t until the priest’s feet were dipped in the water that the waters began to recede.  Nothing happened until they stepped in and got their feet wet.  They had to have enough vision of the promise, and enough faith in God to get them off the bank into the water.  Then as they stepped out in faith the waters fled before them.

One of our biggest problems is that we want to see victory before we ever get into the fight.  We want to see the end before we are willing to begin.  The promises of God are activated through faith, and most of the time, God operates on a need to know basis.  The Lord usually will only give you what you need to know to get you started, then as you move out in faith He reveals more and more with each step forward.

Sixth, we have to trust God’s timing:

Joshua 3:4

“Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: don’t come near to it, that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way heretofore.”

This is one of the greatest tests of all, and 2,000 cubits sometimes feels like a hundred years.  God’s timing is critical, in Gods timing we have the full measure of Gods power working for us, in Gods timing things and people are perfectly positioned, Gods timing usually doesn’t make sense from a natural perspective.

It didn’t make sense to try and cross this river at flood stage, this season of the year the Jordan always floods.  Didn’t God know this?  Remember this Jericho is on the other side and Jericho Is ripe for conquest.

Joshua 2:9-11

“And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.”

God knows when things are in position, to delay would allow Jericho to regain their courage.  It may not look like the time, or feel like the time, or sound like the time, but God knows what we don’t know, He has inside information, so when he says do it, you can be sure his power will be available to bring it to pass.  And if we are willing and obedient we will eat the good of the land. 

If we are willing to walk in faith, we will cross the Jordan.