Want a Blessing? Fight a Giant!

Numbers 13:25-33

25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. 26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
31 But the men that went up with him said, we be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, the land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

II Corinthians 1:3-4

3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

As humans, most of us, tend to desire the “better things” in life. We see fancy houses, expensive cars, hand crafted furniture, and we want them. We see guys with big muscles, or women with fancy shoes or purses and we want to look like them. There is nothing inherently wrong with the desire to have these things. I don’t believe that God intends for his children to live in impoverished conditions. We are, after all, children of the King, not spiritual hobos. The problem isn’t that we desire these things, it’s that we are not willing to make the sacrifices that are necessary to acquire them. 

A Doctor don’t just wake up one day with medical degree, professional athletes weren’t born hitting a baseball 700 ft. or dunking basketballs behind their backs, and business men aren’t just handed fortune 500 companies as soon as they finish business school.  These people had to go through struggles to get where they are. 

Yes, I do believe in faith, but contrary to what that TV evangelist tells you, the Word of God says that faith without works is dead.  God blesses people all the time, but most of the time those blessings come from hard work, sacrifice, and faithfulness during the tougher times.

Many believers have been deceived into thinking that just because they are saved and are now part of God’s family, He is supposed to give them everything they desire without any effort, without any work, without battling difficulties, or without any discipline on their part.  The truth of the matter is that the blessings and promises of God cost what they cost, and the Lord never slashes prices.  If you’re not faithful in the small things, His word is clear, you’ll not be blessed with an increase of the bigger things.  To receive your inheritance, first you must be a faithful and obedient child.

Yes, God wants to prosper you and bless you, but sometimes you’re going to have to go through something.  Sometimes you must struggle and sometimes you must fight an enemy that’s between you and your inheritance.

Joseph had to face a pit, slavery, and a prison to become a great leader and save his people. David had to face Goliath, Saul, and the consequences of his own failures to become a man after God’s own heart. Elijah had to face the prophets of Baal, Ahab, Jezebel and depression to become a great prophet. Samson had to face his own humanity and the consequences of his prideful living to bring the greatest glory to God. And Jesus had to face a cross and the grave. So why do we, so much of the time, think it unusual that we face difficulties.

There is something in the struggle that is necessary for us to become what God has ordained us to be. God left giants in the promise land on purpose for several reasons, and He allows us to struggle with our own giants for the same reasons.

First, God allows giants in our lives because He knows that we need to learn how to fight.  When I was a boy we lived in a house in north Mississippi and we had no running water, I had to carry water in jugs from a well at my grandmother’s house to ours.  My uncles, who were just a few years older than me, would push me down take my jugs and pour them out and make me start over, just to be mean.  My daddy seen what they were doing, but he wouldn’t intervene and stop them.  He knew I had to learn to stick up for myself. Most of the time I would just cry and refill the jugs, but one day I had finally had enough of being pushed around. I got mad enough to fight back and I knocked my uncle upside the head. On that day he cried, and he never messed with me again.  

The devil is always messing with God’s people. God knows that we need to learn how to stand and fight. The Word tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but that they are mighty, and that they bring down the strongholds. They destroy our enemies attempts to build strongholds in our lives, but we must strengthen our faith by reading the Word and prayer. Struggles drive us to the Word and our knees. The Lord allows us to struggle, and often tears are shed, but if we don’t learn how to fight, the blessings that wait for us may never come.

Second, giants distinguish the difference between the talkers and the walkers.  It’s one thing to confess the promises of God, to “name it and claim it,” but it’s an entirely different thing to put on your armor, strap on your sword and go toe to toe with an enemy that’s standing in the way of your promises.  Your struggles qualify you for your reward.  

David heard them speak of a reward, but he knew the reward was only for the person who would fight and kill Goliath, so he decided to face the giant. The odds appeared to be stacked against him. Goliath was bigger than David, more experienced than David, and probably stronger than David, but David didn’t care. David realized that he wanted to receive the reward.

I Samuel 17:25 (KJV emphasis added) “And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel(No more taxes).”

The giant had great strength, great armour, and great size. The giant mocked David. David knew, however, that he came armed for the fight with something that no weapon formed could prevail against, “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts…”

Through our struggles we should come to understand that the fight, the spiritual warfare, the praying, the waiting patiently and the enduring is as important as the blessing or reward.  While we often are looking only at the reward, God is looking at the development that is taking place through the struggle.  Faith is always forged in the fires of adversity. We learn through the struggle to call upon the name that is above every name – Jesus! He is our provider, He is our deliver, He is the Strong Tower to whom the righteous run unto and are comforted, He is the rock on which we stand, and He is the rewarded of those who diligently seek Him!

Third, the Lord knows that our struggles produce thankfulness.  When we moved back to Mississippi nearly 14 years ago, we had no idea what going to be in store for us 4 months later.  After surviving our first hurricane, Katrina, without a scratch to us or damage to our home when so many had lost everything, I wasn’t asking the Lord why he allowed us to go through that storm, I was thanking Him for protecting us.  

When you know that you had to fight for what you have, you appreciate it more.  You won’t let anyone take it from you.  Struggles test your level of commitment.  The only way to truly gauge your level of gratitude is through the struggle.

Fourth, the Giants flush out the grasshoppers in the crowd, because when the giants show up, grasshoppers begin to speak up.  Grasshoppers usually blend into their environment, but giants uncover them.  Grasshoppers don’t eat grapes and you will never have faith with the spiritual mind and appetite of a grasshopper.  This generation of the children of Israel forfeited their inheritance because they would not fight

How many of Gods people today are willing to forfeit their destiny and their promise because they refuse to stand up against the enemy and fight for it.  When the heat of the fires of life approach and the enemy is breathing down their necks, they bail out, back down, lay down their swords and surrender.  If everything is going smooth, they’re right there with the rest of the army, but when the real fight comes, they cave in to discouragement, fear and doubt.

If you are willing to admit it today, what you are today in God has been forged in the fires of adversity, your growth has most likely been due to overcoming the enemy’s attempts to bring you down. You are what you are in Christ because of what you had to fight for, what you have had to fight against, and the struggles you have overcome.

A caterpillar must go through the process of metamorphosis to change from an earthbound creature into a beautiful butterfly, but this process involves struggle and to cut the struggle short would rob it of its destiny.

A baby chick in the egg must go through growth inside of the egg until it begins to outgrow the egg, then it must peck its way out.  It is the struggle that give the chick strength and prepares it for life outside the egg.  To cut the struggle short would weaken it, if not kill the chick entirely.  It is only through the struggle that it gains the strength it needs to survive and thrive in the brutal world of its new environment.

Last, the best reason for God to allow us our struggles is that it qualifies us to help others who have similar struggles. When you have had to struggle through something, you can help somebody else.  When you have stood your ground, when you have fought the good fight and conquered your giants, you are qualified to help someone else conquer theirs.

The devil wants to make it all about you, he wants to give you tunnel vision so that you’ll focus all your attention on the struggle, but God wants you to see that the devil may have sent it to take you out, but God is going to use it to take you up, and when you get up you’ll be qualified to help someone else get up.  Through your struggles, if you stand and fight, God will bring you to a place of greater influence and make you a blessing to your brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Tell yourself right now: I may be going through a fight, but God’s growing me through this fight.  I may be facing giants, but God us bigger than my fears.  I’m developing more compassion, more patience, more endurance, and some long suffering.  I’m getting a spiritual workout, but I’m gaining spiritual power.  I am acquiring the ability to put myself in someone else’s shoes, to see where others are and to feel what they feel, so I can speak a word in season to them.  

Yes, I’m struggling right now, but don’t pity me, because there’s something in this fight that I need to become what God has ordained for me.  I would have no testimony with this test and no victory without a fight.

Just Stand!

Exodus 14:13-14 (KJV)

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

¹⁴ The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

After the Israelites had been in bondage for over 400 hundred years the Lord sent them a deliverer named Moses.  Now we find them on their way out of the Egyptian kingdom and at the edge of the Red Sea.  God has visited nine plagues upon the Egyptians and so the Pharaoh told the children of Israel to get out, he agreed to set them free.  And with them they took much of the wealth of Egypt in the form of gold, silver, and precious jewels.

But now, after having had some time to reconsider, the Pharaoh begins to have second thoughts.  He decides that letting them go was a mistake and he pursues after them with six hundred of his chosen chariots.

After 400 years in bondage the children of Israel came out of Egypt thinking:

• That their bondage was over

• That they would never again feel the sting of the whip up on their backs.

• That they would never again suffer the oppression of slavery

But Pharaoh didn't want it to end, he wanted them back under his control.

My pastor revealed a truth to me from the word of God regarding the story of the Israelites deliverance from Egypt.  He showed me that Egypt represents sin, the Israelites going through the Red Sea represents baptism, and the presence of God in the cloud and the pillar of fire represent the Holy Spirit’s presence to guide and lead us until we receive the promises of God that we have hoped for.  

What an insight and encouragement this has been to me from God’s Word.  God has a plan for my life! My friends I want you to understand today, God has a plan for your life as well.  He wants to free you from the bondage of your sin, to wash you in the waters of baptism, and to give you power for living and reaching the end by blessing you with His presence through the baptism of the Holy Ghost!

I have experienced enough in life to understand another spiritual truth: the devil doesn't let go of his former subjects so easily?  The devil doesn't like giving up his territory.  Once you are freed from the chains of sin he will continue you to pursue you. The enemy wants to put you back into your chains, by any means necessary.

I am not writing today to tickle your ears, my purpose is to speak into the lives of those who are being pursued by Satan, to declare to you today that God is going to put an end to Satan’s work in your lives. God gave me this word, to create and establish, that today is the end. I am telling you that the Lord has told me, many of you are going to reach the end.

I don't know what it is in your life that has been trying to destroy you, but you know, and God is completely aware of your situation.  I don't know if it’s physical, spiritual, emotional, or financial, but here's what God says about it.

Nahum 1:7-9

7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. 8 But with an overflowing flood He will make an utter end of its place, and darkness will pursue His enemies. 9 What do you conspire against the Lord?  He will make an utter end of it.  Affliction will not rise up a second time.

How many times have you faced situations and circumstances and problems in your life and wished you could just put an end to it and move on?  How many times have you wished you could just say the end, and it would be over with?  How many times have you looked at the mountains and the giants you’ve faced and heard the enemy whisper, “You’ll never be free, I’m going to keep coming at you.”

The devil is a liar and he wants you to buy into his lies:

• He wants you to just accept it as normal

• He wants you to think it'll be easier on you if you just learn to live with it.

There's something about us that when our normal is interrupted there is an immediate resistance and we fight against it. But when the situation or problem is persistent, we tend to lose our fight and accept our condition, our situation, our problem as the new normal.

Today I want to stir up the fighter in you. I want to wake up the anointing in you. I want this word to stir up a rebellion in you against everything that is contrary to the Word of God in your life. I don't care how long your addiction or struggle has plagued you, or how long you have suffered in your heart, body, or mind, if it is contrary to the Word of God, it’s not normal!

You may have learned how to coexist with it. You may have your nitroglycerin tablets, your insulin, your Lortabs, your Xanax, and your Nicotine gum.  All these things may help you cope with your lions and your giants, but it’s not normal.

Cancer, diabetes, and heart trouble are not normal! Drug addiction and alcoholism are not normal! Divorce is not normal! I’m going to get myself in trouble with this one, but I don’t’ care – Homosexuality is not normal! Strife and division in your church are not normal! Struggling to pay your bills and living under a burden of debt is not normal!

There may be a history of cancer or diabetes in your family, and the doctors may tell you it's in your DNA, but it’s not normal because you have a new bloodline and a new DNA…

II Corinthians 5:17  “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new”

You may look at your family tree and see alcoholics, drug addicts and wife beaters, but it’s not normal you have a new family tree. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches!  There may be homosexuals or lesbians in your family, but it’s not normal! I’m not concerned with being politically correct this morning, I'm trying to save someone from Hell, I’m trying to start an uprising against the lies of the enemy, and I’m coming against anything and everything that is less than God's will for our lives.

Listen to me friends, I love you and I need you to hear my heart in what I am saying today – you will never experience a change until you recognize abnormality, until you identify those things which are out-of-order in your life and you fight against it.  And you will never fight against what is abnormal and out-of-order until you are convinced of God’s normal and God's divine order for your life.

Sickness cannot be normal when Jesus was beaten to heal us from it! Poverty and lack cannot be normal for children of the King of kings! Fighting and arguing can't be normal in marriage, if our marriages are supposed to be mirror images of our relationship to Jesus! Living under a yoke of fear and worry can't be normal because the Bible says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind!”

I don't know who I'm talking to, but somebody is making up your mind right now, that the devil has pushed you around long enough, and now you're the one who's going to do the pushing. I hear the spirit saying, “Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

I began writing today with this word in my spirit, God told me to prophesy and tell His people, “It’s not over, it’s not ending, it’s not finished, it’s only the beginning – when God is in it, all things are new!” The Lord spoke to my spirit today and told me to speak that He is getting ready to put a period at the end of a long hard battle.  He said to tell you to quit looking for those old familiar enemies, because you're not going to see them anymore.  

Jesus is going to drown your enemies today! Sickness and disease are going down! Addictions and bondages are going down! Depression is going down! Marriage problems are going down! Worry and stress are going down!

You might be asking yourself, “What do I have to do?”

Here's what God says for you to do…

“Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord that He will show you today, for the Egyptians which you have seen today you shall see them again no more forever.”

In other words, God is saying, just stand over there and watch. Watch the Lord work, and while you're praising Him, He will take care of business.

There are some things God expects and requires us to do. He requires us to read His Word and understand His will. He requires us to believe His Word and confess His Word as truth.  But when you have done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, you’ve fasted, you’ve confessed the Word, you’ve rebuked the devil, you’ve pled the blood of Jesus, and you’ve called on the name of Jesus, then you stand!

That’s when Jesus says, ‘I'll take it from here! You stretch out the rod, I'll divide the Red Sea. You walk around the walls and shout, I'll knock them down. You stand on my words, I'll rebuke the cancer. You prophesy to the wind, I'll make the dry bones live again. You surrender to my will, I’ll break the yoke of addiction. You sow your seed, I'll bring the harvest. You stand still and praise me, I'll loose your chains and open the prison doors.’

Ephesians 6:13 “Therefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore...”

Today is your day to look from the shore and see your enemy removed from your life forever!

Stay Focused

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

A train is a mighty moving force. They are powerful, productive, useful, and beneficial to those they serve. But for all their power and unstoppable moving force, they can be rendered totally useless in a moments time. Not by attacking the massive train itself, but by attacking the mechanism that keeps the train going in the direction it is programmed to travel. You can only stop the mighty train by derailing it. When a train is derailed, lives are lost and millions of dollars of inventory and equipment are destroyed.

This is exactly the danger we face as believers, that of being derailed, detracted, or distracted from the path that the Lord has set us upon. The Word says that the steps of the righteous are ordered of the Lord. If you are a righteous man or woman you are not where you are, doing what you doing by chance. If you are living obediently you are exactly where God wants you.

We don’t always see this, or believe this, or even receive this truth especially in times of struggle, but it is the truth none-the-less. You may not be where you want to be, you may not be where you dreamed that you’d be, or where some other well intending person told you that you would be, but if you are an obedient child of God, you’re exactly where He called you to be. Don’t let how you feel about your circumstances derail you from God’s plan.

The devil is very subtle and deceptive, we are warned to be sober and vigilant toward our adversary:

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

And we are told to equip ourselves with the protection that we need against the devil’s attacks:

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Wiles are the cunning strategies employed in manipulating or persuading someone to do what one wants. Seldom does our enemy launch full scale frontal attacks against us. An obvious attack would be quickly recognized, causing us to see our own weakness and need, and would send us to our knees in prayer to seek God’s protection by calling on the mighty name of Jesus.

Instead the tactic of Satan is to use subtility, deception, and more often than not, simple distractions to derail us. Things that in themselves are not really wrong, but they are distractions that draw our attention, dull our focus, and weaken our unity with God’s purpose. Like the mighty locomotive, when you become derailed or distracted, you become powerless, you lose your momentum and eventually if it is not corrected you will crash.

Solomon 2:15, “It is the little foxes that spoil the vines.”

It is almost unbelievable, but the truth is in the times when we should be the most settled and the most established and set upon the things of God, is the times that we are the most vulnerable to sneak attacks from the devil. In I Co 10:12 the Apostle Paul warns us, “wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

Satan wants to break your stride, destroy your momentum, and side track you.  When your distracted you are divided, and when you become divided, you are disabled. The devil knows he can’t stop God, and he can’t change the purpose and the destiny that God has for your life, so his only hope is to get you distracted.

When our focus becomes divided or blurred, we lose supernatural energy, God can only empower us for what we are focused on. You cannot focus on multiple things, simultaneously. To focus means to draw the attention, to concentrate on. Distract means to draw someone’s attention away from, to draw apart, or to preoccupy. Distractions are things in your peripheral vision that are not in line with your calling and purpose and can detract you from focusing on the path that God has called you to walk.

These distractions are placed strategically by the devil with the knowledge that in order to clearly see them, we must sacrifice the clarity of our God given purpose. No one focuses on two directions at the same time – you can’t look two ways at once.

Aesop's fable of the “Tortoise and the Hare,” is a perfect analogy for what I am trying to convey.  The hare was a lean mean running machine. The tortoise was a short fat legged bulky creature with a heavy shell on his back. The tortoise was tired of hearing the hare bragging all the time so he finally said, even you can be beaten, so the challenge was on.

The whole forest showed up to watch the tortoise be humiliated by the long-legged hare. On your mark, get set, go! They’re off, like lightning the lean hare leaped into the lead. The hare ran ahead a way, then decided since he was so fast and tortoise so slow, he would take 40 winks, so he did. Then waking up he saw tortoise still way behind. Breathing a sigh of relief, the hare decided he might as well have breakfast too, and off he went to munch some cabbage he had noticed in a nearby field. A carrot here, some cabbage there, a nap here and 40 winks there – all of the sudden he wakes up to see tortoise nearing the finish line. The hare raced like a bolt of lightning, but it just wasn’t enough as the tortoise stretched out his neck and won the race by a nose.

Some would say that the tortoise won because he just kept plodding away, slow and easy. There is some truth in that theory, but what really gave the victory to the tortoise, was the hares over confidence and inability to disregard distractions. The hare had all the advantages, and he had all the strengths, and that was his downfall, the hare believed himself to be so strong enough and fast enough, that he could entertain distractions and still win the race.

That is the genius of using the tactic of distraction, the devil uses your strengths against you. The fact that you feel yourself strong enough to entertain distractions and still win the race – but you can’t. Those who focus, finish, but those who become distracted are derailed. The Apostle Paul warns against overconfidence in our own strength:

Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

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

This folktale is usually viewed as though you are either the slow, steady, purposeful, and undistracted tortoise, or the fast, overconfident, undisciplined, and easily distracted hare. But I feel today that the Lord would have us understand this story in a different light. Like the Hare, we have all the advantages, we have been redeemed by the blood, we have the indwelling power of the Holy Ghost, we have the Word of God, and the name of Jesus. We have the power and the privilege of prayer. Because of these advantages, we should move through life in a very purposeful, disciplined, and focused manner like the tortoise.

Friends, let us realize that we have everything we need to fight the good fight of faith, to run the race marked before us, and win. But a truth just as real as this is, we will never finish the race victoriously if we allow ourselves to become distracted. It is imperative that we maintain our focus and press toward the mark. It is not impossible for us, for many have already accomplished what we strive for and are examples, witnesses for us to see and follow:

Hebrews 12:1, 2

12 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight (distraction), and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;

Satan’s goal is to distract and derail us from God’s purpose, and to rob you of the crown that God has laid up for you. But the Lord desires that we focus and finish.

Philippians 3:13-19 (emphasis added)

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16 Never-the-less, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. 17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18 For many walk (but they became distracted), of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

The Missing Gift

It’s Christmas Day, 2018, one more Christmas Eve has passed, in our family the gifts that were laid under the tree are already opened, and for many others they are too, or shortly will be. Friends, I want to ask you this morning, did you get what you wanted? Did you get what you needed? Did you get what you asked for? Was there a gift that was missing?

Now that most of the giving and receiving of gifts has passed and we can settle down and enjoy the day. Maybe now we can take a minute to stop and reflect upon a gift that was missing in all the planned chaos?

Often times we see the Fireworks lighting up the night, people celebrating in the spirit of the holidays, people rushing around trying to make time for just one more little get together, and one more little “cup of cheer” before the night was done. We call it the “holiday spirit,” but it certainly isn’t the true “Spirit of Christmas”. Why? Because from my observation, Jesus was nowhere in it.

Finally the kids that were hyped in anticipation begin to wear down, it's time to go home and settle down for a good night’s sleep – unless you were up all night working the assembly line. Exhausted, most finally crashed into bed, closed their eyes, took a deep breath and tried to remember, “What have I left out? Is there something I forgot? Is there someone I failed to think about? I certainly don’t want to offend anyone. They will never forgive me and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

What gift could they have possibly missed? I know how it is, some of you spent more than you had planned to, and more than you could really afford. There always seems to be just one more person that you needed to add to your list. There’s just one more thing that you forgot to pick up. Some of the famous last words at Christmas time are, “just one more little item and I’ll be done.” It’s always those last little items that wind up breaking the bank account and sending the credit card balance to its limits.

But with all of the money that’s been spent trying to show how much we love and care for those around us, and with all the presents that have wrapped and unwrapped, there is no doubt in my mind this morning that most of the world has left out a few very important gifts. First there is a gift that has been given, but was never accepted. Secondly, there is a gift that should have been given, but wasn’t!

What is that gift that was not accepted?

Isaiah 9:6, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

I’m so glad that I am a Christian this morning. I’m so glad that Christmas means more to me than just tinsel, garland, gifts and parties. Christmas exists because in time eternal, from everlasting to everlasting, there was one pinpoint of time upon which God focused all of His love.

Jesus lives in eternity, without time limitations and restrictions. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end. He chose to robe himself in flesh, to become a man for one brief moment of eternity, because He loved you and I so much. God could have just let us go. He could have said, “they chose to rebel, I don’t need them, just forget the whole thing.” But because of His great love, His mercy and His grace, Jesus chose not to forget man whom He had created.

Galatians 4:4-5, "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

The Greatest Gift that mankind could ever receive is the Gift of redemption from sin, purchased by the blood of God’s only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet, that is the one gift that most of the world will not accept.

As far as the gift that most people have failed to give, let me say it this way. In all of their worry and concern about offending someone by not giving them a gift or sending them a Christmas Card, it is amazing that very few people consider that they failed to give the most important gift of all – the gift of their lives to Jesus!

Jesus wants a gift from each of us this morning. He wants us to give him all of our burdens. He wants us to give him all of our doubts and fears. He wants us to give him all of our sin. He wants us to give him praise and glory for what He has done, and because He is God. He wants us to give him our hearts and lives in service. That’s only reasonable because He bought and paid for your life with His own blood.

The simple points of this message are:

First, make sure that you open and accept the most precious gift you can ever receive, given to you by God, who robed in flesh to become that baby in the manger, the one who grew up sinless and died on the cross for you. His name is Jesus! Open your heart and accept Him as your Savior, repent and be baptized in Jesus' name for the remission of your sin, and receive the Holy Ghost! Take hold this morning of eternal life and the blessings that Jesus has in store for you.

Second, make sure that you don’t leave out the most important gift of all that you can give to the One who is the most important person on your list. Give your heart and life to Jesus. That’s what Christmas is really all about.

It’s not just that a baby was born in a manger. Babies have been born in adverse circumstances on countless occasions and not one of them has had the impact of this one baby in Bethlehem. It’s not just that Jesus grew up and found favor with men and with God. There have been a lot of people through history who could be described in that manner. It’s because Jesus gave His life on the cross for us all, dying there for your sins and mine, and then rising again the third day so that we could have eternal life. That’s the true gift of Christmas.

Have you accepted that gift? Have you surrendered your life to Jesus? Don’t allow this Christmas Day to pass without receiving and giving the greatest gifts of all.

Saved by Grace

Genesis 6:5-8

5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

We live in world that grows increasingly darker with each passing day. There is no denying this fact, if you read the Word of God, and hold to godly standards. There is no sense in trying to whitewash it, or convince ourselves that it's just a little bump in the road, a little turbulence, and everything is going to smooth out. We need to be honest and face the facts.

We are in the times the Bible speaks about. In Isaiah the prophet speaks about a people that pull sin like a cart with a rope. And he describes them as a generation that has no shame and don’t even blush when they sin. He says that this generation will call evil good, and good evil. Isaiah says that they put light for darkness and darkness for light – notice how the liberals call themselves 'enlightened.' The truth is that their souls are dark and they no longer even fear God.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

I know this is sounding really bleak, and depressing and that is intentional because it is the plain simple unvarnished truth - these are dark, evil, times, and I feel mandated by God to truthfully and accurately present to your minds the reality of the times we are in.

I feel like there are very few today that are really speaking accurately and truthfully concerning the conditions and the atmosphere of these times. The majority of the voices that we are hearing today are not speaking accurately or truthfully. Jeremiah 6:14, the weeping prophet spoke of these 'marshmallow' men of God;

“They have healed the also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.”

Jeremiah said, “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest everyone dealeth falsely.”

I wish I could tell you that we are just going through a rough patch, that it’ll be over soon, but if I am going to be a true to God’s Word, to speak truthfully and accurately to you, then I can't tell you that, because I would be lying. The truth is, all the evil we have seen and experienced up until now has been just a trembling, just contractions, just the birth pains of what is coming.

Brother Clayton, why would you say such things? We read your posts to be encouraged. We read you to receive a ‘bless me word.’ We want to read how everything is turning around and how our society is suddenly going to wake up and be good again. We want you to say that Jesus loves everybody, that He is not mad at anyone, He doesn't judge anybody, and that everyone is saved already, but they Just don't know it yet.

We want to hear how Grace is this great big blanket that covers all of our sins, past, present, and future, so it doesn't matter what we do, because it's already covered. We want to hear that the Holy Ghost never convicts us of sin anymore, all he does now is convince us how righteous we are. Well, if that's what you want to hear, you got the wrong preacher and you clicked on the wrong link, because I'm glad the Holy Ghost is still convicting the sinner of their sins.

Grace is not just a giant blanket for sin, grace is the divine gift of God working through my humanity to give me power over sin. Grace is not a life preserver that that I wear to keep me from drowning so I can swim in a sea of sin and still call myself saved. Grace delivers me from the sea of sin. I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, drowning from the poor choices I had made, but Jesus the master of the sea heard my despairing cry and lifted me and now I am saved.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature old things are passed away, behold all things are become new....”

I might make somebody angry with this post today, I might knock over somebody's sacred cow, but I'm going to say it anyway. I am not a sinner saved by grace. There's a beautiful song that says, “I'm Just a sinner saved by Grace.” That’s not biblical! It's may beautiful, it may make me emotional, but it's not biblical! I can't be a sinner, and be saved by Grace. I can't be both. Because salvation is not just about saving me from the sea of sin that I'm floating in – the work of The Holy Ghost has made me a new creature, He took the sin nature out of me and made me His dwelling place.

If it is still natural for you to sin, if you still have an appetite for the lusts of the flesh, then you haven’t been born again. I am sorry if that offends you, but you just haven’t. When you’re born again, you get a new nature, and that new nature has no appetite and no desire for sin. That doesn't mean that we are not tempted by sin, or that we do not stumble from time to time, but sin is not our occupation anymore. If you are born again, it is not sin that controls you, it is the Holy Ghost.

I'm not a sinner, I was a sinner I had the nature of sin in me. But I have a new nature, and for me to call myself a sinner now, is to deny the power of the blood that was shed to set me free from the law of sin and death, and to deny the transforming power of the Holy Ghost who has taken residence in my soul.

We are in the world, but we are not of the world. Friendship with the world is enmity with God, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Come out from among them and be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you. And will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord.

In our text God said: I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. Now listen to the words of Jesus:

And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. [27] They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.… Luke 17:26-27.

This is what is happening in the world today; it is no surprise, it is Jesus’ words being fulfilled. And I’ll be honest with you, if that was all the word said, I would be completely overwhelmed and cast down without hope. But I want us to go back to Genesis. There is a word here we need to hear.

Genesis 7:19-24

[19] And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. [20] Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. [21] And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: [22] All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land , died. [23] And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive , and they that were with him in the ark. [24] And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

That doesn’t sound very encouraging, but this is the encouraging part...

Genesis 7:17-18

[17] And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. [18] And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

This is the word that we need in this hour; we don’t need someone deceiving us with smooth, sweet, silky, flowery words of how great everything is, we need to know and hear the truth: it is bad, it’s getting worse, Jesus said it would. But Just like Noah and his family inside of that Ark, (they were safe,) they were protected; and those who have their hope in Jesus Christ, are Just like Noah. Just like Noah was hid inside of that ark, and rose above the waters that drowned everyone else, those that are hidden in Christ times will rise above these dark times.

Colossians 3:1-3

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

As the flood waters rose; as destruction came on every living thing upon the earth; the ark rode on top of the waters. The waters increased and bare up the ark, and the ark went upon the face of the waters. The waters increased and bare up the ark. Which means that, that which was destruction to one was salvation to the other. And the worse it got around them, the higher they went.

That’s the word the Holy Spirit gave me for his followers today: ‘The darker it gets, the more our light should shine.’ As the world sinks deeper and deeper in the sea of sin, we must rise above it, we must maintain holiness. We cannot let our standards descend so low that we blend into the sea of sin, or we may drown.

Positioned for Transition

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? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Remember: To call to mind, to be thought of, to hold in the mind, or to make a memorial. The latter is the one that I feel God is warning against in these verses. In other words, don’t enshrine something as so important or so big, that you cannot move past it. Why? Because we worship what we have enshrined.

The Lord asks in this passage, “shall ye not know it?”

I feel the Holy Ghost saying to His people today that He wants to do something new, something better, something greater, and more magnificent than we’ve ever seen or experienced before, but if we’re still worshipping at the enshrined memory of the past, we’re going to miss it.

When God says, "Remember not,” He is saying: don’t let enshrined memories of the past keep you from moving forward. Don’t misunderstand me, God doesn’t want us to forget the good things of the past, all the miracles we have seen, or the lessons that we have learned, that’s not what I am saying at all. We are to be thankful for the wonders that God has performed in our lives, but we must not become a prisoner of the past, good or bad.

It’s time for a new thing. God said: Behold I will do a new thing! We are quickly approaching the end of 2018, very soon we will be starting a new year. This morning I am feeling a stirring in my spirit about 2019. Some changes have taken place in my ministry in 2018, and I just feel the Holy Ghost telling me this morning that I am positioned for transition. I don't pretend that I know everything God has in store for me, but I do understand that the word "transition" implies movement. Not movement in a physical sense, I don’t see myself going anywhere geographically speaking. I am going to be in the same city, at the same church, being fed by the same shepherd – of that I am absolutely certain. God wants to do something new in me spiritually, and I feel this message is not just for me, but for the people of God.

Let me be even more specific: "Transition” speaks of movement, progress, of forward motion. Transition is always about leaving one place to go to another. Elisha couldn't get to Bethel without leaving Gilgal, and he Couldn't get to Jericho without leaving Bethel. Transition means, leaving some things behind, it requires participation, and it does not happen by accident. Transition is a choice to co-operate and move with the Holy spirit.

Transition has three main components: First, we must let go of the old. Second, we must trust that God is faithful. Thirdly, we have to take hold of the new.

Why is transition so hard? Because most of the time the Holy Spirit doesn't tell us exactly where we are going. He just speaks into our spirit that our environment is getting ready to change. Then we must decide if we want what God has prepared for us, or are we going to settle for the comfortable and familiar.

That was Elijah's role in Elisha's transition: Elijah was playing the devil's advocate. In other words-Elijah was speaking as the devil would, to try and discourage someone from receiving Gods best (see I Kings 19:19-21; 2 Kings 2). Elijah wanted Elisha to receive his mantle. He had poured into his life for over 10 years. But He knew Elisha had to want it enough to transition. in other words; He had to want it enough to let go of and leave the comfortable and the familiar to go after the unseen, and the unknown.

Transition is a difficult place many times because It is an in between place. It is the squeezing place. It's the place where you have left where you were, where you were adjusted, where you knew what to expect, where you had a pretty good handle on everything, and now you don't have a handle on anything. It is the place where faith is tested. It is the place where you are tempted to grumble and complain and start looking back to the old familiar comfort zone. It's the place where you either breakthrough or you break down.

Transition is a necessary place because it is the proving ground, it is where you prove to God by your actions and your attitude that you are more interested in following him than being comfortable. I think one of the most exciting and inspiring things that I learned from the story of Elijah and Elisha was Elisha went beyond his mentor, he pushed for more, he had developed his own spiritual appetite. Elisha wasn’t satisfied with the same things that Elijah had, he didn’t want a replication of the past, Elisha wanted more, he wanted double.

Elisha not only wanted what he had seen and experienced with Elijah, He wanted more, he wanted what he had never seen and never experienced. I believe that, that’s the way it should be. I want what God has for me through my pastor and mentor, and then I want my own. Because when I get ready to go, and it’s time for me to pass this mantle, it won't be another man of God’s mantle I'm passing, it will be mine.

I'm talking today about being positioned for transition. I've been talking about being positioned for transition because one of the most important ways to position ourselves for transition is to know what to expect: In other words; to know what transition looks like and feels like. The Holy spirit is giving as a sense of what to expect as we transition.

Positioning ourselves for transition begins by deciding that if there is more, I want it. If there is something better, I want it. If there is a better way, I want to learn it. If there is a greater anointing, Lord pour it on me, I want it.

I am positioned for something greater, and even if it means I have to go through the wilderness to get there, I am ready to let go of the past, I am trusting that God is faithful, and I am ready to move forward into a greater anointing.

Heaven, We Have a Problem!

II Kings 2:19-22

And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.

20 And he said, bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.

21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.

22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

In the passage in II Kings, the men of the city come to Elisha the prophet and they tell him in essence, “We have a problem. From the outside everything looks pretty good, but we have a problem.”

I'm just going to get straight to it this morning - some of you have a problem!  How long are you going to keep going around the same mountain, fighting the same battles, struggling with the same addictions, wrestling with the same fleshly lusts and desires, falling down at the same place, and giving in to the same temptations again and again, before you are willing to admit you have a problem?

If you can’t look at a pretty woman without lust rising up in your heart you have a problem!  If you can’t see somebody else blessed without becoming jealous, critical, and envious, then you have a problem!  If every time things don’t go your way you get drunk, or high,  or run to the fridge and gorge yourself, you have a problem!  If you still get angry and resentful and hold a grudge every time somebody says something about you or disagrees with you, you’ve got a problem!  If you can’t keep your gossiping tongue off your brothers, sisters, and pastor, then you have a problem!

My question for you today is: How long are you going to put up with attitudes, addictions, hang-ups, and lusts of the flesh that are self-destructive, and in absolute disagreement with the Word of God before you call on the only name that can release you from your chains? You need to cry out to Jesus and say, "Heaven, we have a problem! “Help me Jesus, I have a problem!”

The only problem that cannot be overcome in Jesus’ name, is the one you will not admit to having. The first major step to a turnaround and a breakthrough is admitting, like the men in the text, that you have a problem.

The next step is taking your problem to the right place.  I believe in AA and other 12-step programs.  They save lives when the person following the steps understands that the only power that can change our situation is the power of God.  But recovery programs are just Band-Aids applied to the surface if you don’t go spiritually deep enough and deal only with the fruit, but not the root.  The only power that can change the root is the power of God.

These men in II Kings took their problem to the right place.  You have to know where to go when you have a problem. You don’t take your car to the dentist to get it fixed, you don’t ask a plumber to fix your teeth, and you don’t want a preacher operating on your brain.  They may all be nice people, but you have to go to the right person when you have a problem or the problem just gets worse. 

You may have some good friends that will pray with you when you ask, but I don’t care how good a friend they are, you are not going to get the deliverance you need sounding out your problems to people who are struggling with the same problems you are.

David said: when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to that rock that is (higher) than I.  When you’re in a fight, in a struggle wrestling with an Issue, whether it’s spiritual, financial, emotional, or sexual, whether it’s an addiction or a bondage or a habit.  You better go to someone that is higher than you, someone who has that under their feet, someone who is not wallowing in the same mess, you need someone who can show you what it looks like to be free. You need Jesus!

They said to the prophet: This place is pretty, we like the neighborhood. It is a nice place, we like the view, and from all outward appearances, everything looks good.  But the water is naught, the water is cursed, it carries some kind of poison in it and it is making the ground barren.  In other words: It’s killing our future.  It was not killing the men, the women, or even the trees, it was killing the fruit.

We need some men in our country who are concerned with more than pretty, we need some men who desire purity and power, and that more concerned about being good, than just looking good.  We need men who cry to God, “We have a problem!”

The Word says that the water was causing the women to miscarry.  That means nothing was being carried to full term.  Nothing was being birthed.  I’m writing today to some of God’s people that have let something into your heart and it has poisoned your lifestream.  You’ve become unproductive, your life has become barren, you have no joy, no peace, you have no passion for life, and you’re full of bitterness and anger and resentment and unforgiveness.  You’ve let envy, jealousy, and strife creep into your heart, and now even when something good is initiated, it ends up drying up and dying because your lifestream is poisoned.

Proverbs 4:23 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (KJV)

"Above all else, guard your affections. For they influence everything else in your life." (TLB)

Until you get that poison out of your heart your life is going to be barren, you will poison every relationship, every endeavor will be fruitless, and you will make people miserable.  You will poison your ministry, and everything you say and do will carry the toxin of the poison in your heart, and no one will want to be around you.

The biggest problem that most people have is that they want to blame everybody else.  We want to blame it on the preacher, the boss, the wife, the husband, the rebellious kids, all those hypocrites in the church, or the devil.  We want to blame it on our environment, where we were born, what we didn’t have, or what we couldn’t do.  The truth is that we all have things we could complain about, but there can be no change or deliverance until we admit, the problem is me.

There is an old spiritual that says, “It’s not my brother or my sister but it’s me O lord, standing in the need of prayer.”

These men said: Everything around us is not the problem, it’s in the stream, it’s the bitter waters that are cursing the ground and we are losing our future: no babies are being born, no fruit is being produced in our lives.  These men made a decision that day to fight for their future and to fight for their destiny. 

One of the devil’s greatest fears is that you will become who you are destined to be and do what you are destined to do.  You have a divine D.N.A. that was put in you when you were born again. Every time the devil looks at you, he sees your potential.  The devil believes in you more than you believe in yourself and he is afraid of that seed you carry, that potential to become what God has ordained you to become, and he wants to kill the seed before it’s ever born.  Satan is a dream killer! He wants to destroy your future!

The men of the city said in essence, “This is not right and we do not accept it.  It is not normal and we are not satisfied just to be in a pretty place and watch our destiny being stripped away from us.  We have a problem, but we’re going to the problem solver.”

They decided their future was worth fighting for!

I wonder how many reading this believe that your future is worth fighting for?  How many are willing to fight for your children to be delivered from the hand of the enemy, and fight for the destiny of your grandchildren?  Fight for your marriage, fight for your health, fight for your ministry, fight for your God-given destiny?

I’m trying to tell you, if you want it you are going to have to fight for it.  The devil ain’t going to sit back and watch you waltz into your destiny without a fight.  Those children, grandchildren, future prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers, and evangelists are not going to walk into their callings without somebody fighting for them.

There are so many today who have lost their fight, lost their fire, and lost their passion.  They’ve settled down, and they’re satisfied just to know they're saved and not going to hell. All dressed up on Sundays, looking apostolic, maintaining the standards of the church, "having a form of godliness, but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:5). They don’t care about anybody else.  They’ve become barren, unproductive, sterile, and unable to reproduce.  No spiritual births, no power to heal the sick or cast out devils or deliver the bound and the oppressed.

We need in the church of Jesus Christ, both men, and women, believers who are willing to stand up and say:  We are not satisfied with pretty, we don’t want to just be politically correct, we don’t want to draw a crowd just to watch them wither and die on the branch because the water is bitter.  We need believers who will come to Jesus and say, "Heaven, we have a problem!"

Come and heal our land, Jesus, come heal the bitter waters of our hearts through the purifying power of your Word.