Get Out of The Boat!

Matthew 14:26-30

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

‘Come,’ is another way of saying, ‘you can do it, it’s your turn, start, jump, quit making excuses, break free of your fears and live your faith.’

So many of Gods people live beneath their potential, they live what we’ll call the ‘safe life.’ But occasionally you run into someone who heard Jesus say “come,’ and they went over the edge of the comfortable and predictable safe zone and they’re walking with Jesus supernaturally.

So many times, we sit back in our comfortable safe places and talk about everything we would do for God if He ever called us, not realizing that He already has – He has called all of us to come. What do you do when Jesus says come? You and I most likely will never get out of a boat and walk on top of water as Peter did. We may never, during our lifetime, be in the situation or the circumstances that Peter was in, in the middle of a life-threatening storm and physically in the presence of eye witnesses walked on top of the water. The truth, most of us have no desire to walk on the water when there is a perfectly good boat anywhere nearby. But while we may never physically leave the safety of a perfectly good boat and leap out onto a raging sea, there will be times in our lives as we follow Christ that we will be challenged to duplicate that same reckless faith and abandon that Peter had when he let go of everything so he could hold onto a word from the Lord – Come!

There is going to be a point in your faith journey, a time when you must choose the high road or the low road, if you choose the higher road it means you will must let go of the safety and comfort of what you know, and step out in faith. It takes faith just to ride out the storm. It takes faith to keep your sanity when all hell is breaking loose against your family, your finances, your health, and your ministry.

Some people are quick to criticize those other disciples as being fearful and faithless, but not me. I know how it feels to be in a storm, and I know how much faith it takes just to stay in the boat and ride it out. It takes faith to keep praising, to keep trusting, to keep tithing, and keep sowing, and keep confessing when you can’t see or feel any relief. I know what it’s like when you can’t see anything but storm clouds and rough waters, when all you can do is just hold on and ride it out. No, I’m not going to condemn them, they made it thru the storm, they made it to the other side, and that’s something to shout about!

I know I'm going to make it through the storm I'm in now, sometimes it feels like I’m not, sometimes it might look like I’m not, and the devil wants me to think that I’m not, but I am going to make it to the other side. I got news for the devil and the naysayers, this ain’t my first storm! I been through a few, and I’m still here. I've gotten wet, I've been nearly drown, but I'm still here! So, I’m telling the Lord, I’m still gonna love you, I’m still gonna serve you, I’m still gonna praise my way through the storm! Hallelujah, my God is calling me to come!

No, I will not criticize them, but I have one thing to say about those other disciples, they missed the opportunity to take the high road. You see they were brought to a place where they could choose a greater glory. They missed the testimony of a water walker. Their testimony was, “We made it, we survived, we rode out the storm.”

On the other hand, when Peter began to testify, his testimony was much different from the other disciples. Yes, he was in the boat with all the rest, and yes, he feared for his life like all the other disciples. But when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water something happened on the inside of Peter, faith told him, you can do that, if Jesus can do it, you can too. Something inside of Peter said: If the teacher can do it, so can the students. All he needed was a word from the Master, and then Jesus said, “Come.”

All you need is a word from the Master. There may be a thousand voices telling you that you can’t do it, and a thousand reasons why you can’t do it. You’re not educated enough, you're not old enough, you're too old, you’re from the wrong side of town, you don’t have enough money, you don’t have any experience. But if you have a word from God, you can do the impossible. You can go where they said you could never go, and you can do what they said you can never do, and you can be what they said you could never be, and you can have what they said you could never have (Philippians 4:13).

“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” – Matthew 9:23

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” – I John 4:4

Peter had a word – ‘Come.’ That’s all he had, but that’s all he needed. No doubt the disciples argued with him and told him, it was impossible and begged him to stay in the boat and stay on the same faith level that they were on, but Peter had heard the voice of the Lord calling, come.

Everyone in the boat had the same opportunity Peter had to walk on the water, the circumstances were the same, Jesus was the same, the word was the same, but hey chose to hold on to the boat. Peter chose to step out on the Word. When Peter stepped out on the word of Jesus, he stepped into a fresh anointing, a new anointing. He stepped into a supernatural water walking anointing, He began moving and walking and operating in the same realm and the same anointing that Jesus was functioning in.

Jesus didn’t force Peter to get out of the boat, Jesus didn’t threaten Peter. Jesus didn’t condemn the other disciples for not walking on the water. Jesus simply came to them all in a way that presented an opportunity for them to move to another level in their faith. He created an avenue for them to step from one realm of anointing to another, he called them to a higher experience, and a higher manifestation of his power in their lives. But only one took that step.

That step separated Peter from the rest of the disciples. That step drew a line between the doers and the watchers, between the boat sitters and the water walkers. I prophesy and I declare to you that there is a new stirring in the spirit, and many who have been comfortable and satisfied in the boat of mediocrity and religious expectation and traditions of man are getting uncomfortable. The Spirit is calling, Come!

Many of Gods people are beginning to realize that they weren’t created for the confines, restrictions, and the limitations of a powerless religion. In other words, you’re discovering your destiny, you are discovering your purpose and you are discovering the God’s power can resides in you. You are discovering that you are not chickens, you’re eagles.

You can choose to live on the lower plane as a chicken, but your eagle spirit will never be satisfied. Some reading this message and you can’t figure it out, you’re uncomfortable, you’re uneasy, edgy, and irritable. You go to church, but you leave feeling like something’s still missing, and you want to blame it on the Pastor, or the praise and worship team, or the teacher or the evangelist. But the truth is, it’s not their fault, a different job, a different wife, or a different church, or more money, isn’t going to fix it.

The problem is that your spirit has heard the Master say come, your spirit wants to break free, but your flesh is trying to hold you in captivity. It’s the anointing that is calling you, and it’s the anointing that is pulling at you. It’s that same anointing that pulled Peter out of that boat. It’s that same word that called Peter to a life in the supernatural.

You can talk about the Peter that started to sink, that was rebuked by Jesus, that denied he even knew Jesus if you want to dwell on the negative. But I prefer to talk about the Peter that walked on the water, cast out devils, healed the sick and raised the dead and preached the inauguration of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost and 3,000 souls were saved. I want to talk about the man who let go of everything to take hold of one word from God.

At some point you must make a choice: Are you going to live by what man created, your status, your reputation, or are you going to live by what created man? The Word of God. He stepped out into nothing and with a word he created everything. All you need is a word from Him to create your opportunity to walk in the supernatural power of the Holy Ghost - and he spoke it through Peter, the one who took a single word from Jesus and became forever known as a water walker - here's your word: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." - Acts 2:38

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” – Hebrews 11:3

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” – Revelation 22:17

Don’t just sit there, get out of your boat and follow Peter into a new anointing! Don’t be afraid, the Lord is ready to take your hand.

Resurrection Settles Your Dilemma

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” – John 11:25

I love that Easter is in the Spring, because Spring is a perfect illustration of resurrection. In the Spring, so many things that were thought to be dead, come to life again.

For generations the coming of the messiah his death and resurrection had been foretold by the prophets. Each succeeding generation wondered, if they would be the ones to see these prophecies fulfilled. But our faith today does not look to the future for its fulfillment, but rather stands on the solid ground of Christ’s resurrection and declares with Jesus Christ, “It is Finished.”

There is nothing to be added, nothing left undone, all that is required now is for us to believe in the finished work and partake in the benefits.

Everything about Jesus had the mark of resurrection about it. When he raised up Jairus daughter, when he healed the man with the withered hand, when he delivered the demoniac, when he opened the eyes of the blind, caused deaf ears to hear. Resurrection was Jesus’ life and ministry: restoration, healing, deliverance, forgiveness, it all boils down to one word – Resurrection! Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

The very foundation of the Christian Faith is the resurrection:

“Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” – 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

There is a passage in the Old Testament that I believe is a picture of the resurrection:

Numbers 17:

“There was a division and contention over the right to the priesthood, so God said that he would choose the one, and he would make his choice known in such a way that it would put an end to the dispute and confusion. 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod. 3 And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. 4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5 And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. 

8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. 10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.”

You might be asking right now, ‘What is the point?’ God caused life to enter what appeared to be dead. An old dry rod was brought to life, and .the dilemma of murmuring was settled.

Resurrection is the final Word! That’s good news today, because it doesn’t matter what the devil has done, what the doctor has said, what the circumstances in your life are saying to you, even if everything you can see and feel may speak of death – God has the final word and that word is ‘Resurrection!’

Resurrection can settle your dilemma: Yes, sin kills, drugs kill, adultery kills, lust and perversion kill, pornography kills, disease kills, But Jesus did not merely resurrect from the dead, He is the resurrection and the life!

“because I live, ye shall live also.” – John 14:9

Because Jesus lives your marriage can be resurrected! Because Jesus lives your faith can be resurrected! Because Jesus lives your dreams can be resurrected, your health can be resurrected, your finances can be resurrected, and I know this to be a fact, because Jesus lives your ministry can be resurrected!

I don’t care what the devil might be trying to convince you of today, or what circumstances may be shouting at you, but I know this, one word from God settles the matter and that word is Resurrection!

Friend, just ask him right now, cry out to Him, call on the name of Jesus right now. Ask Him to let His resurrecting power flow through your life right now. If you have sin in your life, repent! Call upon the name of Jesus and be resurrected.

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” – Acts 2:38

Let the resurrecting power of the Holy Ghost come and fill you and bring life to what appears to be dead, let Jesus settle your dilemma!

Reflecting Holiness

Isaiah 40:3-5

3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Many believers assume that God will do what He wants to do regardless of our participation. There is truth to that assumption, God’s purpose and desire will ultimately be fulfilled, but we can either hinder or assist God in bringing those purposes to pass. However, if we refuse to participate, we will miss the glory of God, be guilty of holding back the revelation of his glory, and the manifestation of His power will pass us by. God wants to do a new thing in our churches today, He has called us to participate, the only question that remains is will we know it?

Isaiah 43:18-19

18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?

God wants to manifest his power and reveal His glory in the earth, and God’s primary instrument of choice for this revelation is the church:

Ephesians 3:10

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

The Church is the venue for the display of God’s glory and power! David Knew the heart of God, David desired Gods power and glory to be manifested in the earth.

Psalm 63:1-2

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

This passage of Scripture shows us that to bring in the glory, we must experience the glory in the sanctuary. We must come before him in surrender to His holiness and allow Him to purify us. God will only trust a holy anointing to holy lives. When God was preparing to manifest His glory to the children of Israel, He required them to sanctify themselves, He required them to be holy.

Exodus 19:10-11

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

Joshua 3:5

And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

Here in Isaiah we see this process of preparation for the power and the glory of God. The valley is exalted, and the mountains and hills made low. This tells us, we must evaluate life from Gods perspective not our own, we must align our lives with His Word. That which has been ignored and neglected must be raised to its rightful place, and that which is magnified and glorified and exalted in pride and in self nature, must be brought down. The crooked places must be made straight. This way is to be made in the desert.

Crooked = bent, dishonest, fraudulent, deceitful, polluted, criminal.

Straight = Free from curves, bends, angles, Unmixed, having the elements in order.

Desert= Sterility

Isaiah 62:10

Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

We were created for glory and God desires to manifest His divine power and glory through the church. There is the demand on the people of God to prepare the way of the Lord, to make the way of Jesus clear, and to lift people onto the highway of Holiness We have all been called to gather out the stones – those things that are offensive to the Holy Ghost and that hinder the work of God in the church. It is our responsibility as the church, to lift up a standard, and to distinguish clearly our connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. How you live matters! How you talk matters! What you wear matters! What you listen to matters! Holiness matters!

We are called to be a reflection of the God we say we love, and by doing so, His presence in us will overflow from us as springs of living water to a world that thirsts for something more than this life can offer them.

If we want to know if we are preparing the way for His glory or hindering the manifestation of His glory and power that the world needs, take a moment to see your reflection against the Word of God. Read it, meditate on it, and allow the Holy Ghost to show you the image that you portray to others. What do you see? The image of Jesus, or a reflection of the world around you? Now, make adjustments as needed, and "prepare ye the way of the Lord.”

I Am Not a Quitter!

Ezekiel 37:3 – “And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.”

All through the history there have been great revivals that have had tremendous impact on their communities. States and even nations have been transformed as the result of God sending Revival. But no Revival has ever equaled the depth and the width of the revival of Ezekiel 37. An entire valley of the dead was raised in one day.

The reason I want to draw your attention to this mighty revival, is to show you the resurrection power when the wind of the Holy Ghost begins to blow. This is essential for believers to understand and see because: God does not change. He is no respecter of persons, race, or nation. It doesn’t matter if your rich or poor, educated or uneducated, black or white, young or old. The same Holy Ghost, the same power, that blew through that valley of the shadow of death and produced the greatest revival in history, is the same Holy Ghost and power available to the church today.

Psalm 85:6 David asked the question, “Wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee.”

That seems like a very appropriate question for the day and the hour in which we live. Sin is running rampant, and much of the church has grown cold and lazy and indifferent. At times I find myself wondering as I look around at the perversion of this generation, can God do anything in the midst of this?

Of course, I know the answer is yes, He can, and He will. How? By the same mighty wind that blew through that valley of dry bones, the same power that blew through the upper room on the day of Pentecost and set upon each head as tongues of fire. Yes, he can, by the Power of the Holy Ghost! 

Only the breath of God gives life to the dead. It started with Adam as God breathed life into His lungs, we see it again in Ezekiel 37, it was the breath of God that formed the words that called Lazarus from the grave, and it was the breath of God that blew into a room and filled 120 with the power of the Holy Ghost and gave them the power to spread the message of eternal life to the world.

Your church may have the most beautiful building, it may have the most talented singers, the most educated preachers, central heat and air, and padded pews, but if you don’t have the power of the Holy Ghost it’s just a dressed-up corpse. It’s the Anointing that destroys the yoke of sin!

When we look at Ezekiel 37 we see the awesome power of God resurrecting, healing, and restoring. We see the power of the Holy Ghost putting broken things back together again. We see hope coming into hopeless situations. We become witnesses to the truth that there is no problem, there is no situation, there are no circumstances – regardless of how hopeless they appear, that can’t be reversed by the power of God.

The Word tells us that with God all things are possible, and all things are possible to them that believe. Brothers and Sisters listen to what I am trying to tell you this morning, the power of God to heal, to restore, and make new, is greater than the devil’s power to kill, steal, and destroy. Jesus said: “The thief comes to steal to kill and to destroy, but I am come that they might have life and that more abundantly.” – John 10:10

My purpose today is to prophesy to God’s people today – Dry bones are going to live again! It doesn’t matter what the devil has done, or how bad the situation or condition is, God is greater! There’s no sickness that He can’t heal, there is no chain that He cannot break, there’s no addiction He can’t deliver you from, and there’s no sin he can’t save you from. Don’t give up hope because, there’s no relationship, no marriage that He cannot restore. There’s no pit that God can’t pull you out of.

David said: “He lifted me up out of a horrible pit, he set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.”

Don’t give up!

As Ezekiel looks at this valley of bones, they were broken, and they were scattered. They represent all the brokenness, all the fears, all the hopelessness and confusion, all the sickness and diseases of humanity. And he sums it all up under one category – ‘they were very dry.’ The category of Dry means they needed the presence and the power of Gods Spirit.

I’m talking to somebody right now who needs God’s presence and power to touch your life. Somebody receiving this word today is suffering from the condition of ‘dry bone syndrome.’ I don’t know who you are, but I know you’re receiving the words God has given me today, I know that in many ways it seems that everything is going good in your life, but there is at least one or more area of your life that is dry and causing you a great deal of pain and discomfort. There is some area of your life that you need the power of God to flow and bring restoration, healing, and deliverance. You need the resurrection power of God to bring life into that ‘dry bone condition.’

God did not give me this word to analyze or criticize, but to prophesy. I prophesy to those dry broken places, I release the power of God into your valley, and I want you to understand, the dry bone specialist is a mere shout or cry away – cry out to him now, God help me!

You don’t have to remain in the valley, you may be lost, sick, broken, confused, oppressed, bound, afflicted, but the dry bone specialist, Jesus, is on call today and he won’t just to diagnose your problem, He will deliver and set you free! Jesus didn’t come just to medicate you so you could live with the mess, he came to get you out of the mess. Jesus is the healer, He is the miracle worker, He is the baptizer in the mighty Holy Ghost and power.

It doesn’t matter if you’re lukewarm, dry, or cold, and have never known the Lord. It doesn’t matter if you’re a backslider and you have walked away from the Lord, or if you’re a faithful singer, attendee, tithe payer – right now you’re dry, no joy, no peace, no fire, no passion, no anointing. The answer is the same: Jesus loves you and he wants to send the power of the Holy Ghost into your life. He wants to heal you everywhere you hurt, He wants to restore your joy, your peace, and he wants to send that same Holy Ghost that came through that valley into your life right now.

We all have broken places, in our lives, we have all suffered loss in some way, we have all went through dry places, dark places, painful and confusing places. We have all had attacks on our joy, our peace, our minds, our bodies, our emotions. And in those places, you must decide, I am not going to quit! No matter what you are going through you must decide, I am not going to quit!.

I’m not going to quit going to church, quit praising, quit hoping, quit expecting – you must be a fighter! These are your options: You can either be a quitter and let life, let the devil, let hell beat you up and break your bones and leave you out to dry. Or you can be a fighter and throw back your head, square your shoulders, look the devil in the eye and tell him, I am not giving up!

The three Hebrew boys could have easily quit when they were thrown into a fiery furnace, Joseph could have easily quit when he was betrayed by his brothers, falsely accused by Potipher’s wife, and thrown into prison. Paul and Silas could have easily quit, they could have given up on God and their ministry. They could have been angry at God, angry at people, and fallen into self-pity. But instead of midnight being their quitting place became the turning point.

I want to tell you, there is a wind blowing, there is a fire falling, there is a resurrection power, resurrection life blowing in today. If you’ll just tell the devil right now - I ain’t a quitter!

Make the decision right now, I’m not going to quit, and make room for the power of God to come into your life. There’s no power that can resist the power of God. I don’t care what you’ve done or what the devils done, or how bad it looks or how bad it feels. God will raise it from the dead if he needs to. He’s the God of the resurrection!

Revival is his business and He’ll Revive your: Health, Joy, Peace, Marriage, Dream, Mind, Emotions, or Finances. “And they stood upon their feet an exceeding great army.”

God is raising up a mighty army right now.

How Deep Are Your Roots?

Ephesians 3:17-21, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus …”

Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

I woke up this morning feeling a bit sorry for myself concerning the ongoing struggle I am having with my health. As I do each morning when I wake up, I started to pray. But my prayer was not the usual prayer of thanksgiving, I was not glorifying or praising the name of Jesus, I was complaining about my circumstances.

As I continued to whine, these two verses from the book of Ephesians and Isaiah began to flood my mind. And then I felt the Lord speak and He asked me, “How deep are your roots?”

“Do you believe that my grace is enough, and that the power of the Holy Ghost that lives in you is enough, even if I do not heal you?”

“Don’t you know that even the most tattered tree, as long as it is living, no mattered how scarred or damaged, still bears fruit?”

I want to be fruitful. I want my life to bring glory to God. I desire His anointing and I know that it comes from being rooted and grounded in His love. I realized He was showing me that my strength comes from true prayer and worship and not whining, whining does not bring glory to Jesus.

All of us want to bear fruit, but if we do not stay connected to the tap root, Jesus, there can be no fruit. An artificial plant looks good to the eye, perhaps even better in some cases than the real thing. But the difference is that the real is not perfect, is always growing and changing. Sometimes it is beautiful and in full blossom, other times the weather has it looking tattered and weary, but it is still connected to the root, and has the potential to bear fruit – artificial plants look good but that’s about all they are, is good looking.

I do not want to be an artificial Christian! I was at one time in my life an artificial Christian. I looked good, talked right, and had all the appearance of being real, but there was no real fruit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, in my life. A living plant will sooner or later bear fruit or die and the same goes for the believer.

The only way that I am going to experience the high places in God is to be rooted and grounded in the Love of Jesus. How can I praise and worship if there are no roots of love and reverence of the Lord? How can I pray if I have no roots of believing that God answers prayer? God was scolding me, “Where are your roots man of God, what makes you who you are?!”

And my answer was immediate, Jesus! Jesus is my taproot! And the Holy Ghost is the life giving source that flows in me, from Him, and to others!

My roots are found in Acts chapter two and the Day of Pentecost. Speaking in tongues through the baptism in the Holy Ghost. I have repented of my past sin, I have been born again, I have been washed in the water in the Name of Jesus, I am filled with the Holy Ghost, and the fruit that I bare:

I Corinthians 12:7-10

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues…”

Mark 16:17-18

“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

If I want to soar into the future and reach the heights in God’s power and anointing, I must be well rooted and grounded. I must be on a firm foundation, and the only firm foundation, the rock on which I must stand, is the Word of God. All of it, not just the parts that I like.

Someday the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy is going to fall. Scientists travel yearly to measure the building’s slow descent. They report that the 179-foot tower moves about one-twentieth of an inch a year and is now 17 feet out of plumb. They further estimate that by the year 2020 the 810-year old tower will have leaned too far and will collapse. The word "Pisa" means "marshy land," which gives some clue as to why the tower began to lean even before it was completed, and the fact that it’s foundation is only 10 feet deep.

We must have a firm foundation. Without a foundation, our church and our lives will fall into ruin just as surely as the man who built his house upon the sand lost it all when the floods came and carried him away. Friends we need to be rooted, because the floods are coming. The devil will not cease to attack you in every way possible.

If we are going to stand against the flood, then we must be rooted and grounded in Jesus. As Pentecostals, we have some roots that we must stay connected to or we will lose the anointing and blessing of God. What are the roots of our faith?

The number one root is Jesus! He is the taproot from which every other root grows. He is our anchor in the time of a storm. His word and His spirit are the lifeblood of the church. His blood is our salvation. Without Jesus we nothing more than an artificial, dead, man-made religion with no power, no anointing and no life.

Another one of our roots is worshipping from the heart with lifted hands in praise and surrender to God. When we come to church and lift our voice in praise to God and lift our hands in praise to Him, it’s because we love him, reverence him, and desire to let Jesus know just how much we appreciate all that He has done and is doing for us. We lift our hands as a sign that we are trying to reach up to one who is higher than we are, and it is also a signal that we have surrendered to him.

If we don’t lift our hands, maybe we have quit trying to reach higher and we have begun to sink lower instead. If we don’t lift our hands, it could be a sign that we haven’t really surrendered our will to His will. If we can’t sing praises, even when we don’t feel like singing, then maybe it’s a sign that we don’t really love him.

Another root of Pentecostalism is Holiness and that includes holy living. God’s holy people don’t smoke Camels; they ride them. God’s holy people don’t cuss, and they don’t drink. Holiness people don’t look at trash on the Internet, and they don’t dress to please their flesh and be fashionable, they dress to be modest and please God.

Pentecostals don’t just read the Word of God and question all these things, we believe the Word of God and we obey it to the best of our ability, living it day by day as best we can. Believing in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and living a holy life are not Pentecostal doctrines, they are biblical doctrines that Pentecostals believe and live by.

In the old days, boys didn’t swim with girls, men didn’t wear short pants, believers didn’t go to school dances, ladies didn’t cut their hair, wear makeup, or dress like men – they were Cover Girls for the Book of Acts Church.. In Those days, men looked like men and left wearing ‘Buns’ to women.

Most people today, even Pentecostals call that kind of thing legalism. But it was not legalism that drove them to live a holy life, it was a desire to be more like Jesus. It wasn’t earning righteousness; it was the fruit of already being made righteous by the Blood of Christ! And God expects nothing less from His people today. Holiness never changes, it never goes out of style with God, and God’s people don’t conform their standards to fit society’s ‘norms.’

I’m not trying to put you under condemnation to some dress code or man-made rules of holiness. I’m trying to get you to understand that the more of the Love of God we have in us, and the closer we get to Jesus, the more we will want to be like him. That’s why we desire to live holy lives; not to show how righteous we are and how much more holy we are than the next person.

It’s not a question of “giving up” anything of this life. It’s a desire to gain something far greater in its place. We want to gain being as close to Jesus and as much like Jesus as we can because our love grows for him, and we are rooted in it. Those who refuse to change to be more like Jesus simply don’t have a relationship with Jesus, they don’t have enough of the love of Jesus in their heart, and their roots are in their flesh.

When Jesus comes in, darkness goes out, and as the darkness goes out, all the desire to do the deeds of darkness goes with it:

1 John 1:6-7,

"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

“A holy life will make the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they just shine.” –

D.L. Moody.

We can’t scratch around in the dirt and filth of this world. We must mount up on wings of eagles, run and not be weary of well doing, and ever reach for the mark of the high calling in God through our “taproot’, Jesus Christ.

When we choose to stay connected to our Pentecostal heritage and the roots of our faith we will have the identity in Christ that we need, and we will have the power of God and the anointing of God upon our church, but we must realize that we will also become almost socially unacceptable.

When the church emerged from the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost, they were accused of being drunk. The world does not understand the “tongues of fire” given by the Holy Ghost, neither does it understand the “power of the anointing” of the Holy Ghost; and whatever the world doesn’t understand, it is afraid of.

We want to reach our community, and the world, for Jesus Christ. We want to win the youth, the children and their parents to Christ. Sometimes it’s a tug of war between holding on to our roots and doing things to grab their attention. We must never leave our roots.

I thank God for the roots of Pentecostalism. I thank God for the presence and the power of the Holy Ghost in my life that has saved me from drugs and alcohol and has kept me firmly on a foundation that cannot be shaken. I thank God for roots that I will teach my grandchildren so that by power of the Holy Ghost, they will never have to experience that kind of life!

Only one thing can bring people to their knees before the Cross of Christ and that thing is not our programs or our entertainment; it is the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost that speaks directly into their heart to convict them of sin and draw them to Jesus.

Take a Deeper Breath

Many of you reading this are most likely familiar with Acts Chapter 2:1-4. In this passage of scripture as 120 expectant hearts were praying, a sound came from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind , and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Then, there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This is when the Church of The Lord Jesus Christ was empowered with supernatural power from on high. The power of the Holy Spirit came on them, and in them. Well this power and this anointing that came upon them sent them directly into the line of fire. And extreme spiritual warfare began to break out against them. This infant Church was thrust into the heat of the battle, they experienced great persecution. When reading the book of Acts, by the time we get to chapter four, they have been beaten up pretty good.

Let me stop here and take a moment to tell some of my friends that read this, you are the reason the Lord gave me this word this morning. You, like the book of Acts Church, have been beaten up pretty good lately. You’ve taken some hard knocks and you’ve had the breath knocked out of you. But I am prophesying to you “A New Chapter” Don’t quit, don’t give up. Don’t throw in the towel, there’s a fresh wind that’s about to blow into your life.

Now let’s look at this early Church and let’s see how they responded to their spiritual warfare. The Word says, “they lifted up their voice to God with one accord.”

Notice the common thread between Acts 2 and Acts 4, they lifted up their voice with “one accord.” They had a common goal, and they sought the power of the Holy Ghost to solve their dilemma. And looked what happened again, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”

They got a second wind. That same wind that blew into that upper room in Acts 2, was blowing again In Acts 4.

There is a phrase that we have become familiar with especially as relates to a runner in a race, ‘they’re getting their second wind.’ It is often experienced by a runner who has run until they have reached the point of exhaustion. Typically, just before they catch that second wind most runners feel like their lungs are about to explode, and every muscle in their bodies are on fire, telling them to give up. Then, all of a sudden out of nowhere and without any explanation for it, comes a sudden revitalization and energy and strength to keep running. It appears to some to be almost supernatural. And in many cases, this ‘second wind’ propels the runner into the winner's circle.

Some scientists believe this phenomenon they call “the second wind” to be the result of the body finding the proper balance of oxygen to counteract the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles. Others claim it is due to endorphin production. While others believe it to be purely psychological. Regardless of the cause of it, there is no disputing the fact that it occurs, and this phenomenon has come to be used as a metaphor for new energy, and new strength, at the point of exhaustion.

I felt the Lord say to me this morning to prophesy that he is sending a second wind, a new and fresh anointing to those who have been battling some very difficult opposition from the enemy of your souls. The Lord showed me today that many of his people have reached the point of exhaustion. He said that a spirit like that of a constrictor, a python has attacked many believers, and that Spirit is sent by the devil to squeeze the breath out of God's people.

From Genesis to Revelation the enemy is identified as a serpent. Jesus said that we would tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. The devil is a serpent, this morning the Lord gave me a vision of a large snake squeezing the breath out of many in the Church. Pythons can grow up to 30 feet in length and weigh up to 300 pounds, and the Python does not kill its prey with venom, it kills them by constricting and squeezing the breath out of them. The serpent literally suffocates the victim. It squeezes the life out of them.

I feel that the Lord was showing me this morning that many of his children have been under attack and you feel like your breath is being squeezed out of you. The Word tells us that in the last days the devil will speak great words against the Most High, and he will wear out the saints of the Most High (Daniel 7: 25). Wear out mean to afflict, to harass, to exhaust, to push to fainting or weariness, to put under continuous pressure or strain.

Friends I know that many of you have been under attack. It's been continuous, non-stop, unrelenting, and it’s been one thing after another. You've been under pressure, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Every time you get the victory in one area, the devil hits you from another side. I know because I have been experiencing it as well.

What is happening? The enemy is trying to drive God’s people to the point of exhaustion. He’s trying to wear us out, to squeeze the life and breath out of the Church. Breath is life, it is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. If you have no life in you, if you’re not filled with the Holy Ghost, you're no threat to the devil.

The valley of dry bones was no threat to anyone. But when the wind, when the breath of God, the Holy Ghost began to blow, “they came to life and stood up on their feet--a vast army.”

One hundred and twenty discouraged followers of Jesus in an upper room in Jerusalem were no threat to the devil. But suddenly, a rushing mighty wind of God began to blow and filled them all with the Holy Ghost and commission them with tongues of fire and they turned the known world upside down.

300 foxes were no threat to the Philistines until Samson put them in pairs and tied them tail-to-tail and set a Fire Brand between their tails. Then they were weapons of mass destruction. They burned up the corn, the vineyards, and the olive trees.

That's what the devil is afraid of, the fire of God. The devil is not afraid of our programs, our singing, our preaching, our church attendance, our talent, or our knowledge of the Bible. But what gives the devil nightmares and sends shockwaves through hell is a church on fire. A church that is alive. When the church is on fire, when everything we do is driven by the wind of God, everything changes.

When the wind blew in the book of Exodus it divided the Red Sea for the children of Israel to cross over, and it was a wind that closed that same sea on Pharaoh and all his army. It was a wind from God that brought the rain that ended a three-and-a-half-year drought. It was the wind of God that turned the valley of dry bones into a mighty army. And it was the wind of God that blew through that upper room on the day of Pentecost and turned a bunch of broken-hearted disciples into the greatest force for God the earth had ever seen and gave birth to the New Testament Church.

Then in our reading it tells us; many of the same disciples were gathered together in prayer. Because of their faith, and because of their boldness and testimony of Jesus Christ, they had been persecuted. In fact they had been threatened and commanded not to preach or teach anymore in the name of Jesus. But they left rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for his namesake. Then instead of gathering together and complaining and comparing their wounds, they prayed.

Essentially what they said was: God we need more power, we need another dose. That’s where Acts 4:39 –40, come into the picture:

“And now Lord behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants, that would all boldness they may speak thy word. By stretching forth thy hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy Holy Child Jesus. And when they prayed the place was shaken where they were and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness.”

They got a second wind, a refilling, a fresh anointing, a fresh fire, a fresh baptism. Then in chapter 5:12, we read:

“And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.”

I know by the Spirit I'm talking to some people today who are tired, worn out, many of you are at the point of exhaustion. You feel like you've had the breath knocked out of you. Some of you feel like you're running on empty, you love God but that python spirit has been squeezing the breath out of you. You’re having a difficult time understanding what is happening.

The python counts on you struggling and fighting aimlessly, because when you kick and scream, you exert energy and you exhale breath and he just tightens his grip. But I am exposing the devil today and that spirit is being broken right now. And right now, God is sending a second wind. That’s why you’re reading this right now, God is sending a second wind, a fresh wind into your life. You're going to breathe again!

Never has Church needed a fresh outpouring of the Holy Ghost, a Pentecost anointing. A second wind from heaven. A fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. The great need of the church is a fresh anointing, a fresh fire from heaven.

I believe that God is sending a second wind right now. You’re not going under your going over. You're not going to be defeated you're going to be victorious. Today we're putting that serpent under our feet where he belongs.

My Friends, it’s not a sin to run out of breath. We have all been there. But the sin is in believing that you can keep on in your own strength, in your own self-effort, and you neglect the presence and the power of God. You just keep on trudging along in the strength of the flesh. I don’t care who you are, how spiritual you are, or how anointed you are. You will at some point in time run out of gas, you will hit the wall; you will need a second wind. And the good news is that the same Holy Spirit that filled that upper room in Acts 2, was the same Holy Spirit that filled the room in Acts Ch 4, and He is the same Holy Spirit that wants to fill the room where you are right now.

Praise God! Right there wherever you are, just lift your hands and begin to breathe. Something's breaking right now. The anointing is destroying the enemy's grip right now. There is a fresh anointing coming your way, that second wind, the breath of God. Open up to His outpouring right now and take a deeper breath.

Your Blood is Enough

American Christianity is far less bloody than it used to be.

Songs like “There’s Power in the Blood,” “Nothing but the Blood,” and “Are You Washed in the Blood?” are still sung in some places, but it is becoming a rarity in American churches. And even more rare, new songs or praise choruses focused on blood of Jesus. The Cross, yes; redemption, yes; but blood, very rarely. Modern preachers are eager to speak of life, but hesitant to speak of the blood.

And this is not only a Protestant phenomenon. Roman Catholics—centered as they are on the Eucharist—often seem to go out of their way to speak of the “real presence” of Jesus in the elements, without going so far as to mention that this presence is believed to be that of his body and blood, as well as soul and divinity. Even Catholic communion hymns, I’m told, prefer terms like “the Cup” to “the Blood.”

In my opinion, this is the result of the lingering sting of liberal Christianity’s hostility toward what they perceive as a “slaughterhouse religion.” Some of it is the result of an age that fears blood but doesn’t know why. Some of it is the result of our ignorance, as we think that “blood” is just another metaphor, one we can easily replace.

This modern, bloodless Christianity leaves a huge void. The lack of emphasis on blood of Jesus in Evangelical Protestant churches at least partially explains why followers of “mainstream” Christianity, who otherwise would have nothing to do with Roman Catholic imagery, found themselves openly weeping in movie theaters as they viewed The Passion of the Christ? Did they, perhaps, need to remember that “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” (Is. 53:5)?

Embarrassment over the bloodiness of Christianity often results in blood atonement being presented in discipleship of believers in an attenuated, abstract sort of way. Less and less often do ordinary believers hum to themselves songs about the blood of Jesus. Less and less often do small children memorize Scripture passages about the blood of Christ. And rarely do you hear this younger generation plead the blood of Jesus over their lives and the lives of their family members like the elders of old, and that in my assessment, is sad.

We assume that we first convince unbelievers to follow Jesus—and then we explicate the meaning of his blood, when we think they’re ready for this specialized theological knowledge. But how do we address consciences indicted by the ancient Accuser of Eden—some of them tortured by the knowledge that they have shed innocent blood themselves—without pointing them to the only means of conquering him, “the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:10–11)? A young preacher in our church recently pointed out, “the blood comes before the testimony.”

We assume that we teach young Christians how to live, to abstain from sexual immorality and greed and worldliness, before we move to something as seemingly arcane as blood sacrifice. And yet, Scripture assumes that personal morality is built on the knowledge that we were bought “with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

We assume that we build “community” in our churches before we address something as raw and potentially alienating as the shedding of blood. And yet, the community we share—bearing with all of one another’s faults and transcending our petty ethnic and cultural prejudices—comes only through the recognition that we share a common condemnation as sinners, but, as we will still confess to our Christ in the heavenly places, “you were slain, and with your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). Shared life is based on shared blood!

Even the vampires in the popular fiction novels of today’s culture know that. That’s what makes a bloodless Christianity ignorantly ironic. They believe they’re more in tune with unbelievers around them, but unbelievers all around them are talking constantly about blood, from pharmaceutical advertisements to horror films, from vampire romance novels to AIDS and DNA testing.

The nineteenth- and twentieth-century revivalist tradition gave the Church a valued psalter of “blood medleys.” We should never be embarrassed by our emphasis—in song, in public prayer, in evangelism, in discipleship, and in preaching—on the blood of Jesus. As a song I sing in choir states, “Your blood is a rescue for the sin stained life, your blood is healing for the hopeless and broken – Your blood is enough, Jesus it’s enough” And it is enough. Without the blood, we are all dead in our sins, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” – Hebrews 9:22

There is power—wonder-working power—in the blood. Our culture already sees that. They’re simply looking in the wrong veins.