Its My Cup, But I Dont Drink It Alone

Luke 22:42

If you could choose how you were going to die what would you choose?  Would it be a sudden accident, drowning, an airplane that descends suddenly and crashes into the side of a mountain, cancer, or quietly in your sleep?  Most of us would choose the latter.  The truth, however, is that most of us don’t get to choose how or when we will die.  Jesus did, and He chose a cross. 

What was it like for Jesus on the Way to the Cross?  What became important to Jesus as the countdown to His crucifixion neared its end?  As the time for His suffering draws closer we are given a closer look at the emotions that He was going through.  In Matthew we are told, "He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” -  Matt. 26:37-38

This is a side of Jesus that his disciples are not used to seeing, and neither are we.  We like to see Jesus as a confident man who confronts the truth and faces down his challengers with the boldness of God’s Holy Spirit.  Myself, I like to picture Jesus walking down the Via Del La Rosa with that determined Clint Eastwood essence like in the Spaghetti Westerns. NO FEAR!  A model of toughness and determination.

But that is not the Jesus we see here! Instead we find another side of Jesus, a man who is Vulnerable and somewhat afraid. Certainly not the picture of a superhero that we like to imagine, is it? If I were writing the story I might even employee what is called “Dramatic License,” and edit this portion of the story out.  I would instead have Jesus coming into Jerusalem riding on a Big black stallion, facing the cross with a confidence in His eyes that brought fear to His enemies, but then it would be a work of fiction and the truth is always more powerful.

Why was Jesus so troubled?  First, Jesus fully comprehended what was about to happen to Him.  Look at what Jesus says to His followers, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me..." – Matthew 26:21 

Jesus knew that Judas was about to sell Him out for money.  On the Mount of Olives Jesus told them, "During this very night, ALL of you will reject me..." Matthew 26:31

He knew that they would all turn and run like cowards leaving Him to face His suffering and death alone.

And in case you think somehow that Jesus just wandered into His fate, not knowing what was ahead, consider these words, "You know that the day after tomorrow is the day of the Passover Feast. On that day the Son of Man will be given to his enemies to be crucified." - Matthew 26:1-2

Jesus not only knew that he was going to die soon, He knew exactly how He was going to suffer.  Crucifixion was the cruelest form of torture known to man at that time, it was death by suffocation.  Crucifixion was designed to produce the greatest degree of shame, inflicting its victims with the maximum amount of pain, and for the longest possible period of time. Jesus knew exactly what was about to happen to Him.

Second, Jesus understood exactly what was at stake.  Jesus understood that this was more than just a physical struggle, it was a spiritual struggle. In his death, he would be taking on the guilt and sin of all humanity: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” - Isaiah 53:5-6

Here is how author Max Lucado portrays the circumstances surrounding Jesus death: “History records it as a battle of the Jews against Jesus. It wasn’t.... It was a battle of God against Satan. AND JESUS KNEW IT. He knew that before the war was over, he would be taken captive. He knew that before victory would come defeat. He knew that before the throne would come the cup. He knew that before the light of Sunday would come the blackness of Friday... AND HE IS AFRAID."

We don’t like to think of Jesus being afraid, but He was.  He could not have been fully human without knowing what it meant to be afraid, especially of His own death. But knowing that leads us to ask the question that helps us deal with our fear of dying:  How Did Jesus deal with His Fear?

First, Jesus sought out the encouragement of His friends.  He asked them, “Stay here with me.” Jesus knew that this was going to be hard, and He realized that He needed some help and encouragement to face it.  I recently faced a challenge of faith, usually I find it hard to ask for help, I try to do as much as I can on my own, but I knew that I couldn’t face this on my own so I asked my friends to pray.  The struggle is not over for me, but the fear I felt has subsided remarkably and has been replaced by hope.  How?  The numerous responses that I had to my request for prayer encouraged my faith. 

Second, Jesus submerged Himself in prayer, He prayed so hard that the Word says that He sweat blood. This was not a “Foxhole Prayer,” prayer was something that was a part of Jesus’ daily life, it was a habit that had been developed over a lifetime. Prayer for Jesus’ was His plan “A” and His foremost coping skill, it was how He stayed connected to the Father. In the moment of His deepest need He hit His knees!

I pray, every day I pray and it is a habit for me, but I have to say I’ve never sweated blood.  When I found out that I was potentially facing one of the worst fears of my life, honestly at first I did a lot more crying than praying.  But I reached a point when I had to say enough is enough, stop feeling sorry for yourself and get connected to God, the only source that can help you now.  And I prayed, I prayed like I haven’t prayed in a very long time.  I stood up and faced the fear and I shouted it down in the name of Jesus and I cursed the devil for trying to lie to me.  And as I prayed the Lord began to replace my fear with faith and I quoted Jesus’ words, “Not my will, but Thy will…”

Again, this is not the way we would portray a hero -- and yet that is how we see Jesus. Vulnerable, uncertain, afraid -- "Father, won’t you please get me out of here!" No covering up, no faking it for the camera -- what we see in Jesus is total honesty! He shares what is really on his heart!

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard…” - Hebrews 5:7

Third, Jesus humbly submitted Himself to the will of the Father.  Jesus was open and honest to His Father, asking for a reprieve, asking if they could find any other way to accomplish this task. And yet, what was Jesus response?  “Not My will, But Thy will be done."

"He knows what it’s like to beg God to change his mind and to hear God say so gently, but firmly, "No." For that is what God says to Jesus. And Jesus ACCEPTS the answer." – Max Lucado

Finally, Jesus received the comfort and strength that He needed from God.  “Then an angel from heaven appeared to him to strengthen him. - Luke 22:43

Praise God!  How amazingly simple is that? No fanfare, no deep theological explanation, just a simple phrase -- an angel came to strengthen Jesus, to hold Him up in His time of need, to encourage His spirit and to help Him in this time of uncertainty. And because of its simplicity, I can almost picture in my mind this scene of Jesus, in obvious distress, lying prostrate on the ground, and an angel simply coming up behind Jesus and laying his hands on his shoulder and with this soft and gentle touch it reminded Him "you’re not alone!"

As I sat in that room waiting for the doctors to come in, I prayed.  I wanted them to come in and tell me all the tests were normal you’re going to be okay.  But instead what I received from the doctors was less than good news, but as I prayed what I received from God was remarkable.  I felt the Holy Spirit of the living God come into that room with me and remind me, “You’re not alone…I am with you always even to the ends of the earth…If I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am you may be also…I am the resurrection and the life, he who lives believing in me will never die.”

God’s comfort meant everything to me that day.  My struggle is not over, but I know that I do not labor in vain and I am not alone.  I am not sure what tomorrow may bring, but I can face it with the help of a God who loved me enough to go to the cross even though he didn’t have to.  So I know that I can face my trials with Him holding me up.

What Is the Cry of Your Heart?

 

Mark 10:46-52

46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”  So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.  The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

It says in this passage of the NT that Jesus Came to Jericho, and then immediately it transitions to Him leaving the city with His disciples. This is a good illustration to show us that if we do not prepare ourselves for his coming, He will come and go, and we will forfeit the opportunity to be touched by His presence and we’ll receive nothing.

Only one man in this story was desperate enough to reveal his true condition, He was willing to let down the walls that kept him from God’s blessing and admit his true emptiness.  He was beyond caring what anyone thought of him, what they might whisper behind his back, and he was prepared to endure their persecution for admitting that he had a need.

Bartimaeus “heard” the crowd.  Praise God!  The Lord always gives us something to work with.  He was blind and could not see, but he could hear, he couldn’t see but he still had a voice, and so he worked with what God gave him.

“When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout”

Bartimaeus had come to the point of desperation and he was willing to admit he was powerless, it had cultivated within him a spirit of desperation.  His shouts for mercy were cries of desperation for deliverance.

Meanwhile all the “good” followers of Jesus told him to shut up, after all he was a beggar and they were the true followers, but he was desperate and he wouldn’t be kept from his blessing and so he shouted even louder.  It was his shouts for mercy that stopped Jesus in his tracks.

Interestingly enough, those who had told him to shut up, now said, “Cheer up, on your feet, He’s calling you.”  Does it ever amaze you, it does me, how quickly people can change their tune when it will make them look more spiritual?  If they had had any concern for Bartimaeus they would have taken him to the Lord to begin with instead of trying to silence him.

“And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.”

His garment was a symbol of his past, of the lifestyle that he had lived in this garment, the life of a blind beggar. It represented his restrictions, his limitations and the impossibilities of the infirmed life that he had been stuck in and it was symbolic of the mentality that had held him captive and led to his desperately determined actions.  This robe said, “I am blind therefore I am helpless, I am unable to do anything for myself, to provide anything for myself, I am a beggar, my life and my existence are determined by the generosity of those who can see.”

I wonder, how many are spiritually blind to the things of God and are spiritual beggars in God’s Kingdom.  How many in the Church know nothing of the spirit of revelation, and truth made alive within their spirits through the Holy Ghost.  Too many of God’s people choose to live like beggars and settle for receiving everything second hand.  They are blind by choice.  Why?  Because to have their eyes opened comes with the obligation to change!

Bartimaeus knew that to receive his sight would end his right to beg, he would now have to work and provide for himself, and he publicly made that decision.  Jesus called him beyond his condition and convinced him of a fuller life. His faith gave him spiritual sight and he began to see himself whole.  He threw off the bondage of his past and he rose and came to Jesus.  He chose to be changed, he made a determined to be different, and he made a declaration to be healed.  He was leaving the position that defined him as Hopeless, he was leaving the condition that defined him as a beggar, and he was stepping into the unknown.

Every phase of growth in our spiritual lives requires us to step into the unknown, like Capt. Kirk, we have to go where we’ve never not gone before, to leave the comfort zone for the opportunity to receive a greater blessing.

As the children of Israel prepared to cross the Jordan into their inheritance, they were told to leave a space between them and the ark so they could see which way to go because they had never passed that way before. So many are missing what God wants for them:

Because they are not willing to trust Him, if they cannot see or make sense of what He is asking, they refuse to follow.

Because they are not willing to throw off the robes of their past, Jesus said you can’t put new wine into old wineskins, we have to be willing to let go of the old to receive the new.  As Elijah’s mantle fell to the ground Elisha took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.  What was he doing? He was removing the old to make room for the new.

Because they are not willing to admit that they live in spiritual poverty.

Because they are not willing to change. 

True healing can only take place when we are desperate enough to shout to the Lord, loud enough to stop Him in His tracks, admit our desperate need for His touch, and then once we are at His feet we throw off the past and allow the presence of the Holy Ghost to bring real change and to remove the scales from our eyes.  Do you want Jesus to stand still where you are?  Are you willing to do what it takes to get him to stop Him in His tracks?

Then your healing is just a shout away from you!

Alive and Shaking

I look back at my life and all the stupid things that I have done and I realize that I shouldn’t be here.  I know that it is only by the grace of a loving God that I am still alive.  So many others I have associated with in the past are gone and dead or in prison.  Accidents, drugs, suicides, or other circumstances have taken the lives of many who have walked the same path that I was on for so long.  Some of you reading this right now know that if it wasn’t for God you too would have died or would have been the one spending your life in prison.

Acts 27:10

10 saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.”

Paul tells them not to sail:  How many can say that they always listen to wise counsel?  I could have saved myself a lot of the grief I have been through if I had just listened to those who tried to teach me in my life.

Acts 27:11

11 Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. 

Sounds like the men that were with Paul were a lot like me, they didn’t listen either and they sailed right into the biggest storm of their lives

Acts 27:18-20

18 And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship.  19 On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.  20 Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

They tried get rid of all the excessive weight they had taken on board by throwing it into the sea.  Let me tell you from experience, there’s nothing like a violent storm to cause you to start rethinking your priorities.

Regardless of all their efforts the ship was still destroyed, but they made it to land, barely, on the broken pieces of the ship.

Years ago after deciding I was going to live life on my terms, do things my way, plot my own course and ignore the way that I had been brought up to follow, I found my life wrecked in the seas of sin.  Laying in a hospital bed with a broken back from a motorcycle accident, addicted to drugs and alcohol, no job, no home, and no hope, but then came Jesus.  Just like the day Lazarus lay dead in the tomb and all around everyone was hopeless and in despair, but then came Jesus!  God’s grace can reach us in the darkest tomb, in our moment of hopelessness and bring us back from the storm not matter how much wreckage we have caused, He can bring us ashore.  Thank you Jesus! 

I feel the Holy Ghost just washing over me right now!  Someone reading this ought to lift your hands to God right now and say, I’m coming ashore!  In the name of Jesus you’re going to make it!  You may be broken, but you’re going to make it! You may be wounded, but keep paddling!  You may be bleeding and crying, but keep swimming!  You may not understand what you’re going through, you might be confused and feeling rejected, but hold on, Jesus is coming!

I know I’m still not everything God wants me to be, I still struggling with some things, I still wrestle with anger and forgiveness, I still slip up and say things I shouldn’t, I know I’m not where I should be by now, but I’m moving in the right direction.  I still stir up the water around me once in a while, but it’s just because I don’t want to drown.

Acts 27:44

44 and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land.

They all escaped safe to land: We need to lift up our hands right now and thank God that we made it through the storm!  It should have killed us, but we made it.  For a lot us, it was our own making, our choices brought it on, we had everything we needed to avoid it, but we ignored the forecast, we disregarded the obvious signs and the advice of wiser men, but God had mercy on us and we made it. We should have drowned, we shouldn’t be here, our poor choices should have destroyed us, but by the grace and the loving hand of God, we made it through the storm!

Hey Satan!  Guess what? I’m still here and I’m coming to tear your kingdom down!

Acts 28:1-6

Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.  2 And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.  3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.  4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”  5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.  6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him

There are people that are watching, that have known me for years and they probably don’t expect me to make it.  They are waiting for the serpent to latch on and kill me, they may even rejoice when they see me going through hardships and trials, keep watching!

The people on the shore were watching for Paul to swell up and fall out dead, they had seen it happen before.  He should have swollen or fallen down suddenly, but he did not!

Medical science says I should be dead or paralyzed, every natural circumstance says I shouldn’t have made it, it should have killed me, maybe I should be in a mental institution or still strung out on drugs, mad at God and mad at the world, but I’m back in church and I’m living for my Lord!

I want to tell somebody today, just keep swimming, and keep fighting the storm!  It don’t matter what men say, it don’t matter what the doctor says, it don’ matter what the financial experts say, God will have the final say if you stay the course!  Keep swimming!  This is no place to throw your hands up and sink to the bottom, just keep swimming and when God gets through blessing you, you won’t even look like you’ve been through a storm.

I can hear your doubt, “but you don’t understand, I’m going through hell with this marriage, with this job, this sickness, this financial struggle.”

Oh Lord I feel the Holy Ghost, you should be shouting right now!  You just spoke the words of your victory, “You’re going through!”  You just prophetically spoke your own victory!

David said, “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

Remember, you’re not the only one who has ever walked through the fire.  The bible tells us about three young Hebrew boys who walked through the fire, and when they came out the other side the only evidence that they had been through the fire was they were liberated from their bondage. Bondage is the things that the enemy puts on us, and in the fire they get burned off!

They came out of the fire unharmed, their clothes were not burnt, their hair was not singed, and there was not even the smell of smoke on them.  It should have killed them: Some have tried to say that God just took the heat out of the fire, well somebody should have told the soldiers that threw them in about that, because the bible says it killed them.  I’m telling you that God doesn’t always take the heat out of the fire, but he will walk with you through it.

I shouldn’t be here right now, if the devil had his way I’d be strung out on drugs, or in a mental institution or in some hospital room, or prison, but I’m here today and I’m telling you, If you’ll keep your faith in God, God is going to bring you ashore.

I’m working on my testimony, so that sometimes means that I’m in the middle of a test.

Now back to Paul, the Word says, that Paul shook off the beast. It wasn’t’ a gentle wave of his hand, he didn’t gently coax it and say, “Please get off of me, please remove your fangs from my skin.”  No! He shook it off into the fire!

There are some things that you can just pray about and ask God to take away, but there are some things that you must become violent, and aggressive against.  “: The Kingdom of God is at hand and the violent take it by force.”

Some things you have to shake loose, you must shake like your life depends on it, because it does!

Shake your fear loose, shake your depression loose, shake your addiction loose, shake that spirit of hopelessness and suicide loose, shake that spirit of lust and perversion loose, shake your sickness and shake your dead powerless religion loose.

Shake it off for your family, shake for your health, shake for your mind, and shake for your ministry

But shaking is not all there is to it, you need to be close to the fire. There are a lot of people who shake, they go through the motions of being a Christian, but they do not have the fire.  In fact many think that we’re old fashioned and out touch with reality if we talk about the Holy Ghost and fire, but I still believe that the only thing that can destroy the devils power is the fire of God.

We still serve a God that answers by Fire.  Paul shook that viper off into the Fire.  You need to ask yourself, are you living close enough to the fire?  Is there fire in your church?  Is there fire in your home? It’s time to turn up the heat!  I don’t have time to try and fit in, I’m fighting for my life.  I’m fighting for my destiny, I’m fighting for my ministry, I’m fighting for my children and my grandchildren. 

I know what it feels like to be ship wrecked, and I know what it feels like to be bitten by the serpent, but I also know what it feels like to shake that snake off into the fire.

I want to say to someone right now, you know it could have killed you, you know if the devil had his way you’d be dead, you know if some people had been able to carry out their intentions you would have drowned, but you’re still here, and you’re still here because God has a plan for your life, and a destiny and it’s not too late to fulfill it.

I pray you keep swimming.  God Bless.

He Never Promised Victory Without Fighting

Numbers 13:25-33

At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

II Corinthians 1:3-4

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

All of us have a tendency to see the “better things” in life and desire to have them, and there is nothing wrong with that.  I don’t believe that God intends for his people to live in impoverished conditions, after all we are children of the King, not spiritual hobos.  We see fancy houses, expensive cars, hand crafted furniture, guys with big muscles, women with fancy shoes or purses and we want them.  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. 

Doctors didn’t just wake up one day with medical degrees, 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.  All of 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 have to struggle and sometimes you have to fight an enemy that’s between you and your inheritance. There is something in the struggle that is necessary for you to become what God has ordained you 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 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 the water in jugs from my grandmother’s well.  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 wouldn’t intervene and stop them.  He knew I had to learn to stick up for myself.  Usually I would just cry, but one day I got mad enough that I hauled off and punched my uncle upside the head, that day he cried, and he never messed with me again.  The devil is always messing with God’s people and God knows that we need to learn how to fight, so He 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. 

I Samuel 17:25 (NLT) “Have you seen the giant?” the men asked. “He comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!”

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.

Third, our struggles produces thankfulness.  When we moved back to Mississippi 10 years ago this month we had no idea for what going to be in store for us 4 months later.  After surviving our first hurricane that August when so many others did not, I wasn’t asking the Lord why he allowed us to go through that storm, I was thanking Him for protecting us and our home.  In December a tornado came through Columbia, MS. People had lost their cars, their homes, and some had lost their lives, but everyone who survived wasn’t concerned that their property was gone, they were thankful that their lives had been spared.  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 environments 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.  As long as 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 has to 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 has to 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 through 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 may be 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.

Stir It Up!

II Timothy 1:6 – “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”

I want to start this word by stating this fact: The single most important experience that a person can have in their life is to meet Jesus, to have their sins forgiven, to become a child of God, to be redeemed by the blood of the lamb and have theirs name written down in the book of life and to know that Christ lives in their heart. That is the single most important thing that can happen to a human being.

It doesn’t matter whether you are “good” or how much of your time and money you give, you must be born again!  Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Once you’ve been born again, the second most important thing that can happen in your life is to Baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus believed the Baptism of the Holy Ghost to be so important that he commanded his disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they had received it. (Acts 1:8)

Acts 2:1 - When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Why is this Holy Ghost so important?  Because the Holy Ghost is the power of God, filling the human vessel, allowing us to live lives that reflect the image of His Son (Romans 8:29), so that we might become His witnesses and advance the Kingdom of God.  The Holy Ghost is God’s supernatural way of equipping us to fulfill the great commission and to carry on the ministry of Jesus.

What was the ministry of Jesus?  “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.  He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the captive free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’” (Luke 4:14-19) Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, to comfort the sick, to reach out to those in need, establish the Kingdom of God and to destroy the works of Satan.

I John 3:8 – “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Jesus ministry has never changed and we have been commissioned and anointed to continue his ministry in the earth.  If you read the book of Acts you will discover that is an account of the NT church in her infancy, it is the record of how the Holy Ghost operates through yielded vessels.  The book of Acts is the pattern for the church.

Mark 16:17-18 - And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost are the defining characteristics of the NT church. To put it more simply, the Church acted just like Jesus; they healed the sick, they cast out devils, and they performed signs and wonders. How?  Through the Power of the Holy Spirit!

There are a lot of things that are lacking in our lives today, but of all the things that we need, it is a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit.  We need an invasion of the Holy Ghost.  We need God to storm our services, we need a divine interruption to “our” agendas, and we need the Holy Ghost to show up like He did on the day of Pentecost and fill God’s people with power from above, power to be His witnesses!  We need a sudden, undeniable, supernatural stirring of the Holy Ghost! 

We need to pray like they did in acts 4:29-31, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.  And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

Come on Lord, stir us up!  We need an invasion of your Holy Ghost today!  Something that originates from heaven, something that will shake us up, something that will wake us up, something that will stir us up, and set us on fire! 

We need a divine interruption of our speaking by His doing.  You can be saved right now, you can be set free right now, you can be healed right now, you can be delivered right now, and you can get your miracle, or your breakthrough right now!  Everything you need is breath of God away, but it can only come to you through the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost.

I started with Paul’s words to Timothy, but he might as well been speaking to us.  If there’s one thing we’re missing in many of our lives today, it is the vitality, the life, the fire, the power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost.

We can look at the world, we can try and blame the government, we can claim religious persecution or the atmosphere of our society, but the truth is that we have no one to blame but ourselves.  We are the keepers of our flame.  Every person is responsible to stir up the gift, the flame that is in them and it is our job to keep the fire burning.  We have to stir up the gift!

There is an anointing in you, a fire in you, it may be low, and it may seem like just a flicker, you may think it has gone out, but if you’ll begin to stir the embers a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit will begin to blow again and the fire will burn.

We can’t afford to let the fire go out, it’s too close to midnight, too close to the end and the bridegroom is drawing closer.  There are people who are falling asleep all around us, still singing the same songs, still saying amen and hallelujah, but the fire has gone out!  It’s time for us to stir up the gift that is in us, time to wake up our calling, time to wake up our destiny, to stir up that anointing and wake up that fire!

I’ve worked on some pretty high performance engines in my secular job, some that give you goose bumps just listening to the sound of them roar and you can tell that their power is intimidating to every other car on the road, but one thing is true about every one of them; if the battery is dead, you’re dead in the water.

It doesn’t matter how much destiny is in you, or how many gifts or callings are in you, unless they are activated by the Holy Spirit, they’re dead.

I doesn’t matter how many God given dreams you have, or how many prophecies you have been spoken over your life, they are not going to come to fruition without the stirring of the Holy Ghost.  When we allow the fire to be stirred in us, we can activate the flame in others and then we become a threat to hell.

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Dancing In The Fire

Dan 3:2-30

I woke up this morning and the Lord directed my attention to this passage of scripture in the book of Daniel.  I have to admit, it didn’t take much prodding on the Lord’s end since it has always been one of my favorite stories from the OT.  I’m going to confess to you that I have been going through something lately that I just can’t explain, nor will I share in detail about it, but I have been struggling to overcome it and feeling a bit defeated at times.  As I read this story the Lord kept whispering in my ear, “Hold on son, something good is coming out of this.  It may seem like you’re going through the greatest fire of your life right now, but what you ought to be doing is praising me that you made it to the fire.”

He reminded me that there are others who never even made it to the fire, many have simply died at the door of the furnace.  In this story three of the king’s mightiest warriors died at the door.  It is a miracle that I made it this far, by all rights I should have never made it this far.  I should have died of a drug overdose.  There have been times that I had enough drugs and alcohol in my body to kill and elephant, but God pulled me through it and brought me to the fire.

By all rights I should have been in prison for some of the things that I’ve done.  There are people who are there right now that are less guilty than me, but God still brought me to the fire.

I should have died that night on that road in Meridian Mississippi when I hit head on with a minivan on my motorcycle at 40 mph.  The police officers said no one should have survived that collision.   It’s a miracle that I made it this far, by all rights I shouldn’t be here, but God delivered me and brought me to this fire.  The Lord has been merciful to me time and time again. 

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

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

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

I could have died at the door, I should have died in that wreck, I should have died of a drug overdose, by all right I should be in prison, and I could have lost my wife and family, but God had his hand on me and I made it to the fire.  I wasn’t serving him but he was keeping his hand on me. He sent his angels to deliver me.  I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t the strongest one, I wasn’t the smartest one, I wasn’t the most popular one, I wasn’t the one expected to make it, but I made it, and there’s no other explanation but God.

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

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

I know some of you are going through the greatest fire of your life.  It could be a financial fire, may be you’re struggling with sickness, maybe your marriage is in trouble, or perhaps you’re struggling with addiction.  God can bring you out of your fire!

I know right now that sounds like insanity, because there is no visible tangible physical evidence of anything good in this fire.  But I declare to you by the authority of God’s Word, and in the name of Jesus, something good is going to come out of this!   You are going to make it, and you are not going to burn up in the fire!

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

The king chose his three best men, they were his “special forces.”  The strongest most powerful weapons he had at his disposal so as to guarantee God’s servants would perish in the fire. These three men of God had challenged his authority and he was going to show them who they were dealing with.

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

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

I know we’re supposed to be people of faith I don’t want to be negative, but how many would just be honest enough to tell the truth and say, “I been knocked to the mat a time or two?”  Come on and just admit it, since you started your walk with Christ you have fallen down a time or maybe two. The fact is sometimes Satan hits us with sucker punch and it knocks the wind out of us and we find ourselves lying on the ground asking, “What happened?”

These three Hebrew men found themselves lying on the ground bound in the midst of the fire. But I’m so glad the story doesn’t end there, because it says that wicked king looked into the furnace and he was astonished.  What he expected to see was three men lying on the ground turning into crispy critters, but instead he saw them up on their feet, they were freed from what bound them and they were walking around in the fire praising God and the king saw a fourth man who it says, “looked like the Son of God.”  They were not alone, and neither are we.

Recently Satan may have thought he had me, he may have thought because he hurt me and made me cry it was over.  My enemy saw me go into the fire, and took pleasure in it and thought I’d never make it, that I’d be burnt up in the fire.  He may have believed that alcohol and drugs would kill me, but let me tell you something devil, I’m still here!  I am a born again, Holy Spirit filled child of the Most High God and your fire can’t touch me!

Yeah I may have taken a stroll through hell, but I’m still here!  Satan hit me hard, and I went down and it hurt and I cried for a while, but I’m still here!  And I have a news flash for the devil - I’m up again, I’m on my feet again, and I been set free from my chains.  I got my joy back, I got my peace back, I got my dance back, and I got my praise back.

While I been in this fire, I’ve been working on my praise, I’ve been working on my shout, I’ve been working on my dance, and I’m getting ready to praise like I’ve never praised before, to shout and dance like I’ve never danced before. Because now I know, that the God I serve keeps me from evil and from the traps that the devil sets for me.  Now I understand that my God can walk right into the middle of my fiery trial, right into the middle of the hell I’m going through, and he can lift me up and he can liberate me in the middle of my pain, in the middle of my grief and in the middle of the darkest hour of my life.  Praise God!

Don't Let His Presence Pass You By

 

Mark 10:46-52 (NKJV)

46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” 50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. 51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you? The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

I’m going to start by stating with authority that someone reading this word is about to be transformed.  You have the opportunity to receive your sight, your eyes are going to be opened to see the life that God has predestined for you, Satan has been deceiving you and you’ve been unable to picture what the unfettered power of the Holy Ghost can do in and through you, but if you receive it, God’s about to bless you with an incredible vision. 

It’s time for you to get angry, downright mad at Satan, to stand up in faith and to go after your inheritance in Christ. You do not have to be a victim of your circumstances, you don’t have to let your circumstances define you. You’ve have worn your circumstances like chains, you’ve let them hold you in bondage and keep you from the abundant life that Jesus came to give.  It’s time to break the chains!

Blind Bartimaeus represents those trapped in the darkness of sin.  Before we met Jesus we were foul, unclean, polluted by sin, and yet we were so important to God that he sent his only son to die for us.

You may be a millionaire, you may live in a mansion, but if you don’t know Jesus, you are no different than a homeless beggar, or someone who is a slave to alcohol and drugs. Without Jesus everyone is in the same condition: blind, lost and polluted by sin. There is only one cure for rich and poor alike, the blood of Jesus.

However, Bartimaeus also represents another group of people, not in the world but in the church. Those who are in the body of Christ, who love God, who I believe are saved, but they are living a limited life.  You are living like beggars, living with the mindset that you are not worthy, that if you could just get the crumbs from the masters table you would be satisfied, you are living in spiritual blindness. You are blind to your inheritance in Christ, unaware that being worthy has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Jesus. Our righteousness is in him, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – II Corinthians 5:21

Jesus didn’t come to give us crumbs, He came to give us life and that more abundantly (John 10:10): many have gone to great lengths for eternal life, but fail to experience abundant life right here, right now.

The road represents the place where the business of life is going on.  And Jesus is coming toward you on the road and He carries with Him, the anointing that brings peace, joy, abundant life, and God’s favor.  Too many of God’s children are like Bartimaeus, stuck on the side of the road begging.  People who love God and yet they are willing to live a substandard life. 

Too many of Gods people are saved but they’re living on crumbs, just getting by, trying to hang on and hold out till Jesus comes, saved but living defeated lives.  You are discouraged, anxious, fearful, worried, and stressed out.  You have no peace, no joy, and your life is a life of want and not abundance.  Jesus didn’t come to bring us a “crumby” life, a life of just getting by, of just surviving, or of just holding on by a thread.  He came to give us abundant life, unlimited life, and a life of Joy unspeakable and full of glory.  He came to give us peace like a river and power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.

He came not only to heal your sicknesses, he said he put his power in you to lay your hands on the sick and they will recover.

One day Blind Bartimaeus the beggar heard Jesus was coming and he decided that day he wanted abundant life.  He decided he was tired of begging, tired of living on crumbs, tired of being in want, always in need, always in lack, always coming up short, and just barely surviving.

What happened to Bartimaeus that delivered him from the place of living the life of a beggar, with no vision, no dreams, no passion, no hope of better days, just getting by living on crumbs?

You say Jesus healed him: Yes, but before healing came, something else happened in him. First he recognized he had a need and acknowledged his deficiency.  Second, He became desperate for a change, desperate for abundant life, desperate for vision, and he wanted deliverance from a life of impotency, from a powerless life. Third, he recognized that Jesus was the only one who could deliver him, who could open his eyes and bring him into a life of vision, a life of power and abundance.  And finally he gave everything to get Jesus attention.

A lot of people want what Jesus has but they’re not willing to pay for it. No you can’t buy a miracle, you can’t buy Gods presence or power with money.  But it’s not free, it will cost you something: It will cost you your pride, it will cost you your preconceived religious ideas and traditions, it will cost you your old way of doing business, and you’ll have to do what the Holy Spirit tells you to do.  It will cost you time.  It will cost you your old associations, you’ll have to run with a different group of people.  It may even cost you your reputation among men, as you may be criticized and persecuted, you may be labeled fanatical.

That’s why there are still a lot of blind beggars in the church today, they would rather be blind than pay the price to be healed.  They would rather live on crumbs from someone else’s table than to pay the price to receive personal revelation and the abundant presence and power of Jesus in their lives.  I’m not in a position to criticize: I used to be one of those people.  I would blindly follow and be led around by someone else, living off crumbs because I wasn’t willing to pay the price for personal revelation and have the power of God in my life.  It’s not sin that is keeping most Christians from the abundant life, its self.

Bartimaeus robe represents his old life, the life of “self”.  As he came to Jesus he cast away his robe. He put off the “self” life to receive abundant life.  The only way for you and I to receive the abundant life that Christ came for us to have, is to let the cross deliver us from ourselves.

As Easter is upon us I want to speak to those still begging and remind you: The only way to resurrection power is through the cross.  The abundant life that God offers can only be manifested in us to the degree that the cross has exercised its power over “self” in our life.

Listen to what I am saying!  Your miracle, healing, deliverance, and your spiritual breakthrough are in his presence.  There is peace, joy, and restoration in his presence.  Just lift your hands right now and begin to call on his name.  Don’t watch it pass you by!  Cry out to Jesus and get His attention, don’t let His presence pass you by.