These Signs Shall Follow

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 

What does it mean to “Believe” or to have faith?  Faith is the believer’s ability to see what cannot be seen with the natural eye, to hear that which cannot be heard with the natural ear, and to taste what cannot be tasted with the tongue.  Faith is a supernatural manifestation of God’s power that is birthed in the human heart when Gods Word is heard, received, accepted, and acted on – Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit that is only available to those who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit through baptism and repentance. (see Acts 2:38 & I Corinthians 12:7-11)

It was faith that enabled Elijah to hear the sound of an abundance of rain when no rain had fallen from the sky in over three years, and it was faith that sustained a widow woman through the famine, her meal barrel wasted not and the cruse of oil did not fail until the Lord sent rain according to the word of the Lord by Elijah.

Faith is not a generic mental assent to the truthfulness of the word of God, anyone can say, “I believe in the strength of that bridge to support the weight of my car,” but it’s not faith until you are driving across it.

Mark 16:15-18 (NKJV)

15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[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.”

We had an incredible move of the Holy Spirit in my home church services last Sunday, it is not really that unusual at our church, but it got me questioning why we don’t see more of God’s power manifested in the lives of those who claim to be believers in many of the churches that I visit?

I believe that the answer lies in a misinterpretation of what Jesus meant when he said, “Those who believe.” In other words, many churches today have a distorted definition of “those who believe.”

The Church in America has raised a generation of “Christians” who attend church on Sunday, when it’s convenient, but are not “Believers.” They are intellectually in agreement with the Bible, but they do not have the power, and subsequently the faith, that comes from the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost. They have become those that Paul warned Timothy to avoid, people who would arise in the Body of Christ having a form of godliness, but denying its power.

But from Jesus perspective believers are more than a financial base of supporters that mentally assent to the principles of the Church, they are “doers of the Word,”and that is why He said. “17 And these signs will follow those who believe:”

He didn’t say that these signs would accompany some believers and not others.  Jesus’ statement was emphatic, “These signs will follow…”

James 2:18-20

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!  20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

The Apostle James tells us that even the demons believe that there is one God, they know in their minds that God is a reality and it makes them tremble with fear, but devils don’t do any righteous works of faith.  The plague that has infected and weakened the Church of Jesus Christ is that of calling the agreement of the mind “faith,” and it is not!

According to the Word of God, faith has corresponding works, and without works it is dead.  That means that a true believer is not just someone who listens to the preaching of the Word and agrees that it is good, they change their life to conform to what they hear, they are a “doer.”

To agree that tithing is a biblical principle, that transcends both Old and New Covenants, does not make you a believer, it just makes you an assenter, and you can agree and not be a doer, but the minute you act in faith and trust God by giving, even when giving seems impossible – like when the widow used all she had left to make a cake for the prophet, you have become a biblical believer.  The same is true with praying, to agree to the great need of prayer in your life does not make you a praying person, but when you make the time to get into the presence of God on your knees, when you commune with God by faith in prayer, your life will see a change and “these signs” will begin to be manifested in your life.

To agree to Jesus words does not give you power over demons.  To agree to liberty of the Spirit to worship the Lord by praising, clapping the hands, shouting, dancing, does not make you a liberated worshipper.  To agree to Jesus words concerning self-denial and taking up the cross brings us no closer to resurrection power, we must be doers.  Believers are Doers. And Doers are Seers.

The reason so many churches don’t see more of the power and the glory of God, is because we have mistakenly accepted mental assent, an agreement of the mind for believing.  Many people say they believe God’s Word, but if they are not living by its principles, then they don’t really believe, they just agree.  When we really believe the Word of God, and the resulting faith leads us to repentance and obedience, we will begin to see the power of God manifested in our lives, not just on Sunday, but every day.  

The Word Says, Repent not Tolerate!

Text: John 7:14 – 38 (Suggested reading)

Jesus often acted in a manner that was inconsistent with the traditions of men during His life on this earth.  He challenged the man-made traditions of His day.  Much of the Mosaic laws in the OT had been perverted and tradition ruled, instead of God's Word.  Jesus, in this instance and many others, chose not to comply with the weak religious traditions and formalities of the Pharisees.  In the scripture passage above Jesus was attending the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.  He used this opportunity to teach. 

The people there were amazed by His teachings because Jesus had no “formal” training from the scripture.  Jesus responded by pointing out that His teachings were not His own, they came from the one who had sent Him.  He pointed out to them that Moses had given them the Law, which Moses had received from God, and that none of them were obeying it.  Over the centuries, the traditions of the Pharisees had replaced the law, and what they were left with was what amounted to a religion that was based in tradition, not the principles of God's Word.  What they were left with was a dead religion that could not save anyone.  Paul warns believers against this in the book of Colossians:

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” – Colossians 2:7-9

Yet today, in much of Christianity, we see churches leaving the teachings of the Word and following after teachings that are based in the “spiritual forces of this world.”  Many today believe that they are serving God when they really serve traditions that are wholly satanic in nature. For example: "Judge not, lest ye be judged," has come to mean that we can no longer bring the sins of others into the light of God's holiness, and call them sin. Many in the Church today, have developed a live and let live theology, in the name of the satanic secular humanistic philosophy called “tolerance.” Today the worst thing you can be labeled, in the mind of the world and many Christians, is “intolerant.” Jesus never taught that! Jesus taught us that before we judge others, we need to take care of our own sin first. Jesus said, “First remove the plank from your own eye, then you will be able to remove the splinter from your brother’s.”

The Word of God does not teach tolerance, it teaches holiness and repentance. As Christians we need to be more concerned about what God thinks of our lifestyles, and not concerned at all about how intolerant we are perceived by the world around us. Tolerance won’t get you to Heaven, tolerance won’t save you from Hell, Only the blood of Jesus that washes us from all sin can save us, only holiness can keep us!

“These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgences.”  - Colossians 2:22, 23

Jesus uses this opportunity to direct them to a source of power that can not only save them, but would overflow from them and become a source of life for others, “Whoever believes in me, as scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

The church of Jesus Christ needs to stop seeking “political correctness” and get back to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Not everything that society approves of is beneficial, not everything man teaches is correct, in fact many of the things commonly accepted today are not “okay” with God.

This past week I watched a video of Phil Robertson, from Duck Dynasty, speaking at a church in California.  One of the first things he told them was, “I love you.”  Then he went on to tell them that all of us have sinned and need God’s help to cleanse us.  He didn’t say, “I’m okay, you’re okay.”  He told them, “I was a sinner who needed Jesus and so are all of you.” 

And for taking this stance the media and those who do not want to be reminded that they are drinking stagnant water, when a source of living, life giving water is available, jumped all over him to the point of what I would consider persecution.  But Phil’s in good company, they did the same thing to Jesus when He told them they were sinners, “at this they tried to seize Him…the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest Him.” – John 7:30, 32

Many have developed their own version of the church and their own form of religion.  A religion that cannot save them because it lacks the ability to rescue them from the very thing that is bringing about their own death.  Romans 3:23 makes it clear that, “all have sinned and have fallen short,” of the life that God has commanded us to live, and then in Romans 6:23 the Word tells us that because of this we have all earned death.  But the good news is that there is also a gift available to us if we believe and obey the teachings of Christ, eternal life.

In the OT Jeremiah, the prophet, warns of trying to imitate the living water, "For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me--the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”

A religion that does not address the true condition of man’s heart, cannot provide the life-giving power of Christ, they are meager imitations.  Our source of hope, our source of power to resist sin, and our only true source of life can only be found in Christ.

Blessed Are The Desperate

Mark 2:1-5

And again, he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.

2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

Mark 5:25-34

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, who touched me?

32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

In these passages are the stories of two very desperate people. In the first passage is the story of a man that had been born paralyzed, and in the second passage is a story of a woman who had been dealing with a medical condition, for which the doctors had no cure, for many years. There is absolutely no doubt these people were desperate.

 People become desperate when they reach a point where all hope of resolving their situation on their own is gone, and they are forced to seek a solution outside of themselves. At this point they are willing to try just about anything. They no longer care what anyone thinks or says, they are willing to be ridiculed if it brings them peace. They will go where they never thought they would go, they won’t let anything get in their way, they’re desperate and they are ready to take desperate measures.

Desperation is the condition that exists when a recognized need is present and we have no way of meeting it on our own.

There is one unmistakable truth that I have learned over my many years of being involves in ministry: God’s people, including myself, are needy - every single one of us. Many however, are stubborn, and so few are willing to acknowledge their need.

WEBSTER'S DEF. OF DESPERATE: feeling, showing, or involving a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad, as to be impossible to deal with:

Contrary to the world’s view, desperation is not a bad thing. Our enemy, the devil, has deceived many into thinking that the last thing we want to be is desperate. Desperation is viewed by the world as a sign of weakness. We see it as a failure to ask for help. But from God’s perspective, desperate people are those who are willing to acknowledge that there are some circumstances that only God can rescue us from, and so we need Him. There are many promises contained in the pages of His Word that only come to those who are desperate.

I believe the will of God is that every one of us should reach some measure of desperation. I believe His message to us all is that we have been examined by the great physician and diagnosed, “wanting.”

When I see in the pages of His Word the life that is available to us, and then I see in my own life, in other believer’s lives and in the church, the low level of spiritual life and the absence of spiritual power, it creates a sense of emptiness in me, a recognition that we are many times falling short of the glory that has been prepared for us. It stirs in me a sense of desperation.

 I am desperate this morning because I recognize the need for spiritual power to reach the lost, to heal the sick, and to help set free those in bondage. I am desperate for more Him, because I know that only He can give me what I’m lacking. I think this very desperation is what the Apostle Paul was feeling when he wrote, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and [f]the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 [g]in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” – Philippians 3:10

I love the way it is worded in J.B. Phillip’s translation - “God has given me that genuine righteousness which comes from faith in Christ. How changed are my ambitions! Now I long to know Christ and the power shown by his resurrection: now I long to share his sufferings, even to die as he died, so that I may perhaps attain as he did, the resurrection from the dead.”

Paul was desperate for more of God! I have learned from scripture, and from observation, this spiritual reality: only the desperate will receive their blessing from God. Why? Because they absolutely will not be kept from the presence of their healer by physical boundaries!

The desperate are willing to rip off a roof to obtain an audience with the Lord, they will push their way through a crowd just to touch the hem of His garment, they won’t be offended (even the dogs eat the crumbs), and they will not be silenced. How about you, are you desperate enough today to shout out in the crowd, “Son of David have mercy on me!”

Desperate people happily let go of their dignity for an opportunity to be touched by deity.

Don't Die At The Door

Daniel 3:16-25

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

I couldn’t sleep tonight, so after tossing and turning for a while I decided to get out of bed and write this week’s message. As I was sitting on the couch trying to decide what to write, the Lord directed my attention to this passage in the book of Daniel.  Honestly, it didn’t take much prodding since it has always been one of my favorite stories from the OT and I have been going through a bit of a testing myself recently.  I have been going through something lately that I just can’t explain. I won’t bore you with the details, but I have been struggling with feeling like the enemy has turned the furnace up to full blast, and I was beginning to feel heat exhaustion setting in.  As I read this passage in Daniel this morning the Lord began whispering in my ear, “Hold on, something good is coming out of this.  It may seem like you’re going through the fire right now, but what I want you to do is praise me that you made it to the fire.”

God reminded me that not everybody makes it to the fire, some died at the door of the furnace.  In this story three of the king’s mightiest warriors died at the door. It is a miracle that I made it this far, I should have died of a drug overdose.  There have been times that I had enough drugs and alcohol in my body to kill and elephant, but God pulled me through it and brought me to the fire.

I should have been in prison for some of the things that I’ve done.  There are people there right now that are less guilty than me, but God still brought me to the fire. I should have died on that road in Meridian Mississippi when I hit head on with a minivan on my motorcycle at 40 mph.  The police officers said no one should have survived that collision.   It’s a miracle that I made it this far, by all rights I shouldn’t be here, but God delivered me and brought me to this fire.  The Lord has been merciful to me, time and time again. I been through worse, and this too shall pass!

God was telling me this morning, and I want to share with someone who may be going through some similar struggles and feeling defeated, that you ought to be praising Him that you made it to the fire because some have died at the door.

These three mighty warriors that died, may represent the three most popular kids in school, the three most likely to succeed, the three greatest athletes, or the three smartest in their class.  Of all the people, by all exterior appearances they should have made it, but they died at the door.

On the other hand, no one ever expected me to make it, many had written me off as hopeless.  I was a disgraced pastor who, after standing in pulpits and preaching to others, decided to become familiar with the taste of my own vomit (Proverbs 26:11), but here I am alive, serving God again and filled with the Holy Ghost and yet complaining when I should be praising Him that I made it to the fire and didn’t die at the door.

I could have lost my wife and family, but God had his hand on me and I made it to the fire.  I wasn’t serving him but he was keeping his hand on me. He sent his angels to deliver me.  I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t the strongest one, I wasn’t the smartest one, I wasn’t the most popular one, I wasn’t the one expected to make it, but I made it, I made it because I called upon the name that is above every name, I cried out to Jesus!

The fact that you are going through this struggle shouldn’t concern you, if God brought you to the fire, He is going to bring you through the fire.  He didn’t bring you this far to leave you now.  The fact that you are in the furnace now is proof that you are coming out. Your miracle started at the door, if God wasn’t going to bring you out, you would have died at the door.  You would have never made it to the fire.  Tell the devil right now, “In the mighty name of Jesus, I’m coming out!

I know God gave me this word to encourage me today, but also to share with you and some of you are going through struggles in your life right now, you are going through the fire, you’re feeling the heat, the fire is real, and your pain is real, but Jesus is bigger than your fire.

I know right now, there is no visible tangible physical evidence of anything good in this fire, but I prophecy to you by the authority of God’s Word, and in the Name of Jesus - something good is going to come out of this!   You are going to make it, and you are not going to burn up in the fire!

You’re not going to come out crawling on your hands and your knees, beat down, broken down, busted, or disgusted with no clothes, no money, no peace, no joy, with your eye brows singed off, and smelling like smoke.  Listen to me!  Satan is a liar, when you come out of this fire you’re coming out blessed, you’re coming out healed, and you’re coming out delivered by the powerful hand of God, in the name and through the shed blood of Jesus!

The king chose his three best men, they were his “special forces.”  The strongest most powerful weapons he had at his disposal, to guarantee God’s servants would perish in the fire. Right now, it may feel to you as though your struggle is on a different level, it may feel like the enemy is stronger than ever before and you feel like you can’t hold on much longer, but Satan wouldn’t be bringing out his best if you weren’t a threat to him. The fact that he is bringing out his “special forces” to attack you and me, tells me that we must be a threat to him, and that we’re getting close to our destiny, close to walking in our purpose, and we’re getting ready to step into a greater anointing than we’ve ever had in our life, and so the enemy of our souls is trying to intimidate us and back us down.

The thing that brings Satan the greatest grief is to see the children of God walking and living in their liberty, expressing themselves in joy and peace, and worshiping and praising God without constraint, without fear or reservation.  So, he sends things our way to back us up, to quiet our praise, to get us all tangled up in fear, anxiety, and worry. Because he knows the power of our praise.

Recently Satan may have thought he had me, he may have thought because he hurt me and made me cry it was over.  My enemy saw me go into the fire, and took pleasure in it and thought I’d never make it, that I’d be burnt up in the fire.  The devil hit me hard, and I went down and it hurt and I cried for a while, but I’m still here! I have a news flash for you devil - I’m up again, I got my joy back, I got my peace back, I got my praise back, and I'm dancing in the fire!

Conduits of Conviction

Acts 1:8

“...and you will receive power when the Holy Ghost has come upon you to be my witnesses…”

Contrary to the lies of secular humanism, God is not a distant God. He has made His presence known to mankind and has been involved in their lives since the creation of the world. Before the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, God walked and talked with Adam face to face daily. In Exodus, he appeared and spoke to Moses in a burning bush. The Lord manifested himself as a pillar of fire and a cloud in the wilderness, and He was in the flames with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In fact, God created man to be a vessel of His presence and then breathed that presence into man and brought Adam to life. It was sin that drove God’s presence and power from us.

When Adam sinned the privilege of God’s presence was taken from us. The very breath of God, the power of God, the gift of eternal life forfeited by Adam’s sin. But God promised man that one day that privilege would be restored. Ezekiel prophesied that one day the winds would blow and give life back to dry bones. Then God robed himself in flesh and dwelt among us, His name is Jesus. He came and he died willingly, but He rose from the dead and destroyed the power of sin and death. For all that repent, and are baptized in Jesus’ name, He gave the gift of His presence and His power. For all those who believe on His name, he gave the right to be called the sons of God. To everyone who would receive and obey, He baptizes in the Holy Ghost and lives in them, giving them the power over sin and death.

There are only two spiritual powers in the earth: The Power of God, and the power of the devil.  There is nothing in between.  We are in a struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, love and hate.  The Word of God makes it very clear that a person cannot serve two masters.  You are either in God’s Kingdom or you are in the devil’s kingdom, there is no middle ground.  You cannot claim you live in Gods kingdom and derive your pleasure and your enjoyment from the devil’s. (I Corinthians 10:21; I John 1:6; Ephesians 5:11)

As a child of God, you have a divine call on your life: First, you are called to be the “salt of the earth.” Salt has healing properties, it preserves, it seasons, and it creates a thirst.  The manifestation of The Holy Spirit in you, causes your life to be a conduit of healing and comfort, a seasoning and preserving influence, and it makes your life exciting and joyous.

Second, you are called to be the “Light of the world.” The Holy Spirit causes your life to be a beacon in the night. Through the power of the Holy Ghost your life, your words, your attitude, become a light to those who are in darkness. Now is not the time for indifference! Now is not the time to stand by and watch as the enemy of God destroys the lives of people all around you!

The enemy’s best friend is the lukewarm Christian, they’re a false representation of Jesus, and they drive people away from Christ rather than draw them to him. Why? Because God’s presence cannot dwell with sin. Just as with Adam in the garden, unrepentant sinfulness drives His presence from our lives. Without His presence, we cannot be salt and light. Without the Holy Ghost, we do not have the power to be His witnesses. There is nothing Satan desires more than to see the power of God stripped from His children. Nothing excites the devil more than seeing God’s people perverted in the pursuit of the flesh, and clothed in an attitude of indifference.

On the contrary, however; there is nothing that the devil fears more than to see God’s people filled with the Holy Ghost and on fire for Jesus. God wants to set your life on fire! He wants to fill you with power to be His witnesses! He wants to send you into fields that are ripe for harvest, as a conduit of His power, and to demonstrate through your testimony that He can set the captive free and destroy the chains of resentment, addiction, perversion, and hate. God wants you to become a conduit of conviction to those whose lives have been destroyed by the corruption of this world, as you live a holy life and, through the power of the Holy Ghost, become an example of His redeeming power that drives the heart of men into His presence. The Holy Ghost gives us the power to be a testimony of God’s transforming power and a living example of how His love sets men free.

In the Eye of the Storm

Luke 8:22-25

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.  “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.  In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this?  He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

 In this passage is the promise of God’s presence, “Let us go,” Jesus said.  In another passage of scripture Jesus had told them He would never leave them or forsake them.  In fact He promised them that he would go with them to the very ends of the earth.  And so they hopped in the boat with eagerly, and willingly.  They pushed out from the shore with Jesus in the boat, their fellowship was sweet.  It was all good, the weather was calm, the skies were blue, and the fellowship would have been incredible (After all they were with Jesus).  Everything seemed to be perfect for a day of smooth sailing.  Then Jesus decided to take a nap.

This is just like it is with us when everything is going good in our lives.  The Holy Spirit never sleeps, but it is possible for His presence to become so unimportant to us, we all face the danger of treating the privilege of being sprit filled lightly, and if we are not careful the power of His presence can become dormant in our lives.  I know because it has happened to me.

Notice that it is when we forget the importance of having His presence with us and the storms come, fear replaces power and becomes the overwhelming influence on us.  One of the first lessons we need to learn is that storms are a part of life and we are not going to get through this life, without having to ride out some storms.  For those who do not have the privilege of His presence fear is the natural response, its human nature.  But to those who are filled with the Holy Ghost, should respond to storms with a supernatural manifestation of God's presence, and faith should replace fear.  This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith: But there is no faith without the Holy Ghost.

How do we keep His presence fresh in our lives?  We have got to be in the Word daily.  It is one thing to admire the Word of God, to appreciate the Word of God, and even mentally assent to its validity, but it is another thing entirely when the Word of God is the only thing that stands between you and destruction.

Isaiah 53:1 - Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

In every situation there are two reports, man’s report and God’s report.

For far too many so called "believers" the Word doesn’t become important until it’s a matter of life or death. When you’re faced with losing your home, or your marriage is on the rocks.  Storms come to everyone, no one is exempt from the storm.  The Word says that it rains on the just and the unjust alike.  The only question is how will you face them?  Everything depends on your attitude toward the Word of God.  Jesus said, “My mother and my brethren are they who hear the Word and do it.”

The lesson Jesus would have us all learn is, the Word works, but you have to work it.  The disciples had seen Jesus, the living Word, heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils.  But this day Jesus wanted them to learn how to work the Word for themselves.  To do the work the Word is to live beyond the dictates of circumstances, to work the Word is to act like you believe God’s report instead of man’s report.  To act like you believe that God told the truth even when it looks like He didn’t(God always tells the truth, but sometimes our circumstances cause us to doubt Him).  

Working the word does not mean that we ignore the circumstances, it just means that we looks beyond them and see His promises.  Even if it looks like everything in the world is against us we simply claim the promises of His Word and live as though we have already received them (The substance of things hoped for).

Let us go over to the other side.  If they had been working the Word, when the storm came they would have just lifted their hands and their voices to praise God and claimed His promise that they were going to the other side.  Jesus said we’re going over and it’s settled, so the storm can either get out of the way, or we’ll just go through it, but one things settled: We’re going to the other side because He said so. 

Today we need to practice His presence, to stir up His Word in our hearts, we need to read the Word, to confess the Word, and to praise God in our storms according to His Word.

Jesus arose and rebuked the wind and raging water and they ceased and there was a great calm.  And then He asked them, “Where is your faith?”  What Jesus was saying was: I told you we were going over to the other side, you had everything you needed to deal with anything that got in your way.  You had the privilege of my presence and you had my Word. If you had really believed me you would have rebuked that storm yourself.

How about you, where is your faith?  Is it in the fair weather?  Is it in a man-made boat?  Is it in your own abilities to navigate the storm?  Is it in other people?  Or is it in God?

Those who believe the Word are peculiar to the world, while the world is crying about going under we are praising about going over. Our destination is determined, but we must be determined to reach our destination.  Let us go over to the other side.

Learning to Lean

One of my favorite songs that we sung in my home church when I was a kid was Learning to lean. “Learning to lean, I’m learning to lean, learning to lean on Jesus. Finding more power than I ever dreamed, I’m learning to lean on Jesus.

Hebrews 11:21 – “By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.”

I loved that verse because it puts Jacobs life into perspective. Early in his life Jacob had been a liar, a cheater, and a usurper. Jacob would do anything to get what he wanted. He was a self-made man. He cheated Esau, his brother, out of Esau’s birthright, and then he deceived his father and got the blessing of the firstborn son.

But one night Jacob had an encounter with and angel of the Lord, and he wrestled with him all night long till the break of day. At one point during the match the angel said let me go, but Jacob said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.”

Somewhere during that wrestling match Jacob came face to face with the wicked and corrupt man he had become and he realized that he couldn’t fix himself. When Jacob refused to let go without a blessing, the angel of the lord put forth his hand and touched the hollow of Jacobs thigh and threw it out of joint, and the sinew or muscle of his thigh shrank. From that day on, Jacob leaned to the side the Lord had touched. That day he received a new name, He was no longer called Jacob the liar, heel grabber, and deceiver - his name was called Israel: Prince who hath power with God.

Israel’s power was not in his standing, it was not in his wrestling, his blessing, his power, his strength, and his transformation – came through his leaning. When he learned to lean, he found the power of God.

I know it doesn’t make sense because it goes against every human principle of warfare, but the strength and the power of the child of God is found in weakness.

II Corinthians 12:9 – “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

It is my opinion, taken from my own experiences, that the greatest battle we will ever fight, is not with the devil, and it’s not even with sin – it’s with self. Our fight is with the spirit of pride that makes us feel strong and independent. Pride is a killer!

Pride will whisper in your ear, “You can do it! You don’t need to wait on God. You don’t need to pray. You don’t need anyone’s help, they’ll just hold you back. You don’t need to read the Bible. Anointing, anointing, who needs anointing, you’ve got talent!”

Pride will tell you that you can stand on your own, your smart enough to make the right choices, you don’t need a preacher telling you how to live.

I Corinthians 10:12 – “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

The strongest believer, the most anointed and effective believer, is the one who has learned the secret and the necessity and the joy of leaning on Jesus.

As believers, we are all leaning, the only question is: which way are we leaning? When you believe that you are strong enough to stay saved even though you don’t pray or read the word of God, when you believe that you can make it without the fellowship of your brothers and sisters in Christ, or when you start letting little things slip in that are offensive to the Holy Ghost – you are leaning in the wrong direction.

People start leaning in the wrong direction, when they begin to allow self to be in charge: my way, my plans, my feelings, and my understanding. You know what I’m talking about: “I don’t see anything wrong with it, it looks all right to me, it’s just country music it’s not that evil rock and roll stuff. I just don’t want to go to church today. I’m all right, I’m not backslid or anything like that I just want to hang out at the house and chill. Give me a break preacher: I’m not going to the bar, I’m not going to the crack-house, I’m not looking for a prostitute, I just want to hang out at the house watch the tube and relax.”

It was exactly that same attitude that got David in such a mess: David was at the wrong place at the wrong time, it was the time of year for Kings to go forth and fight their battles, but David stayed home, he leaned the wrong direction.

The Bible says that, “Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom.”

Sodom was known to be a wicked and sinful city, but Lot leaned toward Sodom. He wasn’t in Sodom, he wasn’t a partaker of Sodom’s sins, but he was close enough to hear the sounds of Sodom, close enough to see the business of Sodom, close enough that eventually the dirty off color jokes didn’t offend him anymore, close enough that their immorality and vulgarity didn’t offend him anymore. Eventually, Lot has moved his family into town.

They are now living in an environment that is given to perversion. They are no longer on the outskirts of town, they are not just passerby’s or occasional visitors, they are no longer on the outside looking in, they are permanent residents of sin city.

Romans 12:2 – “And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds.”

This means don’t allow the outside pressure to shape your life, don’t make adjustments to accommodate the mindsets attitudes and appetites of this world: standards of holiness do not change because the patterns of this world have changed!

The bible says: Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them.

James 4:4 The friendship of the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

There is continual pressure on the child of God to relax, tone down, become tolerant and flexible toward the spirit of worldliness, ungodliness, and perversion in our nation and this world. The standard of morality in this nation has fallen so low that there is no moral compass to point us to true north. The line between right and wrong has been erased and from a world view it is nearly impossible to discern the difference between good and evil.

Let’s not be spiritual ostriches that bury our heads in the sand and pretend that because we ignore it, the problem does not exist. Our nation is leaning away from God, society is leaning away from God, but what concerns me most is that the church is leaning toward Sodom, toward tolerance of sin and compromise to avoid conflict.

To avoid conflict, to gain acceptance, to fit in, many of our pulpits have sold out, even many of our churches that once held the Word of God as the only standard for a life acceptable to God, have been infected by the spirit of compromise, and no longer sound a clear warning against sin. Their message has become diluted, and polluted, their pulpits are for sell to the highest bidder.

Genesis 19:16 – “And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.”

In other words, Lot was leaning in the wrong direction, but the Lord being merciful unto Lot, the angels took hold of their hands and pulled) them out of the city.

I know should get on with my message, but I just can’t go on without taking a minute to thank God for pulling me out. I was leaning in the wrong direction, stuck in sin and Jesus pulled me out! He pulled me out of drug addiction, out of alcoholism, and out of selfishness. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus, for pulling me out! I was sinking in Quicksand, the harder I fought to get out, the deeper I went and the worse it got, then God in love and mercy reached down his hand and pulled me out.

Lot lost everything: He lost every temporal blessing that he had in Sodom, he lost his two sons in law, he lost his wife, and finally he lost his two daughters to the spirit of lust and corruption and perversion of Sodom. And it all started with a lean in the wrong direction.

I know this is a long one, and I’m almost done but I must make this point, it is perhaps the saddest part of the whole story. Through Abraham’s bold intercession the mercy of God had determined that judgment of Sodom could be avoided if he only Ten righteous were found there. Supposing that Lot had the power of a Godly life that had influenced his family toward God, they only needed four more people to overturn the verdict of destruction.

But the sad truth is: Not only were there not four others to be found, Lot’s life was so unstable, and so empty of conviction that his son-in-law’s thought he was making a joke about the coming judgment. Lot’s wife loved Sodom so much that her heart never left, and when her eyes turned to where she had invested her heart, she became a pillar of salt and died. And it all started with a lean in the wrong direction.

As I end this week’s entry, I only have one question for you child of God: which way are you leaning?

I know by the Spirit of God, someone who is reading this, your life has begun to lean in the wrong direction. It may not be any big thing right now, you might even say, I haven’t sinned. But your leaning the wrong way:

Song of Solomon 2:15 – “It’s the little foxes that spoil the vines.”

Don’t follow Lots example, don’t let the little things add up until it’s beyond repair. Repent, and start right now, leaning on Jesus.