Holy Ghost Hellium

God gave me a message this morning that I believe many, including myself, need to hear. For some this word is going to shift you to another season. For some this prophecy is going to bring resurrection power! I am putting the word He gave me out there this morning and whether you receive it or not is your part, mine is to speak it. I pray right now in the mighty name of Jesus, that you would make this declaration: “I will hear your words Lord, I will receive your word, and I will believe you!”

God said prophesy to His people and declare that today is your day of restitution and a time of restoration. “Restitution” means to get back that which has been wrongfully taken from you, and “Restore” means to put it back in its proper place and in its proper order.

In John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief comes but for to steal to kill and to destroy, but I am come that they might have life and that more abundantly.”

Many of you love the Lord with all your heart and you wouldn't think of ever turning your back on the Lord. You're doing your best to serve him and please him. You never planned for it to happen and you didn't think it would ever happen to you, but somehow somewhere in the course of life and the daily grind your joy has come up missing. A thief has entered your house and taken something from you. You don’t know how he got in, but you been robbed! Your Joy is missing and you don’t know what happened to it!

The truth is it happens to most of us at some point in time. Even David the great psalmist, prophet and king, who understood more about praise and worship and the presence of God than almost anyone living, one day found that the joy had come up missing. But David knew the source of his joy and that is why he cried out to God in Psalms 51:12, “restore unto to me the joy of my salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

The devil knows that joy is a tremendous source of power to the believer. The Word of God declares in Nehemiah 8:10, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

I want to say it this way this morning: Joy is “bounce back power!” It’s “get back up power!” Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times and riseth again.” He gets back up. As long as you have the joy of the Lord no matter how hard the devil hits you, you will bounce back and be stronger than ever. let me say it another way, the joy of lord makes you unsinkable!

Secondly the Joy of the Lord is “take you through power!” It doesn't matter what you have to go through in life, the joy of the Lord will give you the ability to keep walking, to keep pushing, to keep praying, to keep praising, to keep sowing, and to keep going. We all have to go through stuff sometimes. In fact, I was just telling a young couple in my church last night, if the devil isn’t trying to put you through the wringer, you might need to reevaluate your spiritual life because the Word says clearly in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”

But what I am really thankful for is that the joy of the Lord is also, “take you over power!” It is the joy of the Lord that gives wings to your faith and enables you to rise above the storms, the trials, and the attacks. The Joy of the Lord is Holy Ghost Helium, it's the internal substance that gives us lifting power. The joy of the Lord, the result of the indwelling power of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, gives us the power to break the gravitational pull that wants to drag us down into worry, fear, depression, and discouragement.

According to Genesis 49:22 Joseph was able to overcome every wall and every adversity because he was planted by a well. Joseph was continually drawing from the supply of the Joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is vivacious, it's alive, and it's contagious. If anything should distinguish us from the world it should be the joy of the Lord. When we can go through the same tests, the same trials, and the same hardships as the world and they're tripping out, flipping out, and freaking out, but we’re chilling out, because of the supernatural supply of power that the joy of the Lord has supplied us with, they're going to want what we have.

Some of you have been going through all kinds of difficulties, hardships, trials, and just plain old attacks from hell. It seems like you get victory in one area then you're attacked in another. It feels like you're in a continual cycle of warfare, like you're caught in the spin cycle in the washer and you can't turn it off. Here's the reason why. The devil wants to wear you out. Daniel 7:25 says, “he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High.”

Some of you have been going through all kinds of battles all kinds of tests and trials and storms and your joy has been under attack. If you’re honest about it, the devil has hit you hard, and not just in one area but in multiple areas. The truth is, sometimes his aim is pretty good and this time it was a good hit. I mean the devil hit you where it hurt, you felt it and it stunned you. 

The Devil's been after your strength, he's been after your “bounce back power”, after your “go through power,” and he’s after your “take you over power.” He's been trying to steal your Holy Ghost Helium, but I prophesy right now in the name of Jesus, today you're getting it back! 

Square up your shoulders and look the devil in the eye and shout I’m taking back my joy! In the mighty name of Jesus, I’m taking back what you stole from me! It’s restitution time you no good thief! It’s restoration time you stinking liar! I choose to believe my God, and He told me it’s mine and you can’t have it!

Declare right now in the name of Jesus, I'm getting my joy back! Come on and shout, I'm getting my wings back! I'm getting the pep back in my step, the fire back in my furnace, and the power back in my punch! I'm getting back my Holy Ghost Helium!

You hit me hard devil and I went down but that was the last round! You landed a few good shots in that last round, but the fight ain't over! I'm up again and greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world. I got my fight back, I got my joy back, I got my bounce back power back, and now I'm ready to put you under my feet.

The devil made a big mistake when he tried to destroy me. Yes, he hit me hard, he knocked me down, and he very nearly succeeded in destroying me, but he left me breathing. He should have killed me when he had the chance, but he left me breathing. And I had enough breath to crawl back to the Father’s house. I still had enough breath to cry out for His mercy and grace! I still had enough breath to shout His name and praise Him! I still had enough breath to access the power of God one more time, and that was all I needed for God to turn my life around.

Somebody needs to know today, the Lord told me that this is your time for a turn around. This is your time for a divine reversal. Your joy is going to catapult you into victory today! Your joy is going to catapult you over your enemies today! Your joy is giving you the power to blast through any adversity.

Nothing But The Blood

Leviticus 14:14-18

And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: [15] And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: [16] And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord : [17] And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: [18] And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord.

All week long I been struggling through some changes in my life, changes that were forced upon me by the circumstances of my secular career, and I have been praying for God to help me through this struggle. As I spent time in prayer, the Holy Spirit has been impressing on me the importance and the power of the blood of Jesus.

I sense, this morning, that the Holy Spirit is trying to send a strong advance notice to the church to get back to the blood, not only in our thinking but also in our speaking and in our living.

Rahab, the harlot, saved herself and her entire family from destruction when she hung a scarlet thread from her window: that scarlet thread represents the blood. The children of Israel saved their household from the death angel when they applied the blood of the lamb to the top and the sides of their door posts.

This Scripture I have chosen this week deals with the cleansing of those infected with leprosy. Leprosy in the Old Testament(OT) was a type for sin. What this text shows us is that the leper was not considered clean until the blood was applied, then after the leper was pronounced clean by the application of the blood, then the priest would apply the oil right on top of the blood: The oil was only applied where the blood was present.

Oil in the OT, is a type of the Holy Spirit. The importance of that to you and I is this: The Holy Spirit answers to the blood, witnesses to the blood, honors the blood, testifies to the blood, and He waits for the blood. In other words: The Holy Spirit only comes where the blood has been applied.

First it's the blood and then it's the oil. Without the blood there is no salvation, no justification, no sanctification, and no deliverance! Without the blood there is no oil, no anointing, no power, and no authority! Without the blood there is no peace and no joy. Without the blood, there is no protection!

Why is the Holy Spirit trying so hard to bring the Church back to the blood? Because there is no Pentecost without a Passover!

Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin. When we are baptized for the remission of sin, we are baptized in essence in the blood, we are buried in the death of Jesus so that we can be raised in the power of the Holy Ghost! Cleansed by the blood and anointed by the oil! I’ll say it again, there is no Pentecost without a Passover! There is no fire, without Blood!

Acts 2:1-4

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

I want to speak boldly what I think many sometimes forget, you've got to go to Calvary before you can get to the upper room. The pathway to power of the Holy Ghost is soaked in the blood of Jesus. If you want to walk in power like the Lion, you must first be covered in the blood of the lamb.

I know we’re all modern today and we’ve got access to the libraries of the world at our finger tips. We’ve got the Bible on our tablets, our iPads, and iPhones. We can study the Hebrew and the Greek meaning of bible words right from our cell phones We are in a hear it all, see it all and know it all Generation. But for all our technology and for all our intelligence and know how, I am concerned that we have lost something.

Our elders didn’t have access to all the modern conveniences and technology we have today, but they had something we have lost in our modern high tech church age: they understood the importance of living under the blood of Jesus. Those old timers would do something they would call pleading the blood, some churches still practice this.

They might not have understood it, but the act of pleading is a legal term. It was an answer to a judgment. The judge would say: You have been charged with such and such a crime, how do you plead? That means that the Judge was asking: What is your defense to this and the accused would answer I plead guilty, or I plead the fifth.

Well that legal proceeding carries over into the Spirit realm: When the devil comes around saying you have been accused of such and such, and the he reminds you have that you have sinned and come short of the glory of God. How do you plead? That is when you look the devil in the eye and you square your shoulders back and you say, “I plead the Blood!”

Thank you Sister Joann for introducing me that song we sing in choir! Man I feel the Holy Ghost right now! I plead, I plead the Blood! The blood is my defense! I will overcome this trial by the blood of the Lamb and my testimony that I have been born again, washed in the blood, and anointed with the oil of the Holy Ghost! I no longer have to answer for myself, the blood speaks for me!

It doesn’t matter how muscular a body is, how fit it appears, how attractive it becomes: without the blood, the body is dead! I'm going to be bold and tell you today: I don't care how big or how beautiful your church may be, without the blood it's dead. You may have beautiful singing, you may have great enthusiasm and you may even have educated preachers, but if you don't have the blood you're nothing but a pretty corpse. Just like a dead body dressed up by the undertaker to look good for a funeral, without the blood, you're dead!

I have to post a warning here: Rough road ahead, buckle your seat belts.

There's no such thing as a Christian without the blood. Jesus said: “Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you.”

Many churches today don’t talk about the blood, they don’t sing about the blood, and they don’t preach about the blood. Because it’s too offensive. But this gospel that I preach is a bloody gospel! Calvary was bloody, the cross was bloody, Jesus blood poured out of his body, Jesus carried his own blood into the holy place and offered it upon the mercy seat in heaven. God accepted Jesus blood as an offering for our sin.

And it is by and because of that same blood that we are saved today. We are washed by that blood, sanctified by that blood, justified by that blood, redeemed by that blood, protected by that blood, and delivered by that blood! Our consciences are cleansed by that blood and we are healed by that blood!

I love that old song that pronounces as it is sung:

“Come ye sinners lost and lonely Jesus blood can make you clean, for he saved the worst among you when he saved a wretch like me. And I know, yes I know, Jesus blood can make the vilest sinner clean. And I know, yes I know, Jesus blood can make the vilest sinner clean.

I really am not trying to be mean or hurt anyone’s feelings, but I feel in my spirit this morning that this message could be the difference between heaven and hell for someone. You may quit smoking and drinking. You may dress up and carry a Bible and sing on perfect pitch, you may look good, smell good, and feel good, but if you haven't been to Calvary you're lost. If you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior and you have not had your sins washed away by His blood, then you are lost and if you die that way you will go to hell.

God is going to hold us preachers responsible that don't tell the truth. The most important thing in your life is not a new car, a new house, a new wife, or a new self-esteem. The most important thing is your soul.

The reason why many of our churches today are lifeless and powerless is because they are anemic, they have a blood deficiency. That’s why they have to resort to lighting, and mood setting, and pageantry, and smoke and mirrors, and Holly wood theatrics. Because they have no power. And the reason they have no power is because there is no blood. There's no blood in their preaching, there's no blood in their singing, and there is no blood in their testimony!

If you want to see the power of God in the church again talk about the blood, sing about the blood, testify about the blood, preach about the blood, look for the blood. That’s what the Holy Spirit is looking for. That’s the question the Holy Spirit is asking every church: Where is the blood?

Just as surely as the death angel passed through Egypt and death came to every house where the blood was not applied. Death, spiritual death, is passing through the land today and the only safe place is under the blood. Death is coming to every house that is not under the blood, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a white house, or a black house. It doesn’t matter how religious that house is. It doesn't matter what kind of house it is: school house, crack house, penthouse, or church house: the only house that is safe is the house that is under the blood.

The Lazarus Life

John 11:1-44 – The Story of Lazarus’s Resurrection

I love the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Lazarus’s resurrection is so powerful because it reminds us of what I have heard my pastor say recently, “it's not over till God says it's over.” It reminds us that God can do anything, that he works in the darkest situations, and that man's impossibilities are God's opportunities. I also love this story because it teaches us that God is not glorified by our sin or sickness and disease, but by our deliverance, healing, and salvation.

In this passage of the book of John, word comes to Jesus that his friend Lazarus is sick, but Jesus waits two days to respond. How long He waited to go to Bethany is inconsequential, it could just as easily have been twelve years like the woman with the issue of blood, or thirty-eight years like the man at the Pool of Bethesda. The point I am trying to make is that it doesn't matter how long, how wrong, or how strong your circumstances seem to be, it’s all the same to Jesus. The same power that heals a headache, can drive cancer out of your body and the same power that helps people stop smoking, can cast out demons.

God told me to write and tell someone today, “your case is not too hard for Jesus.” It may be too hard for you, it may be too hard for your family, for all the skeptics, the lawyers, the drug counselors or the doctors, but Jesus will take your case!

Another thing that this story shows us is that it's never too late. Never give up, and never quit! Never quit praying, never quit confessing, never quit repenting, never quit praising God, and never quit believing. You're closer than you think, your miracle is on the way. Jesus has received the message, that you are sick, that you need His help, He's on the way!

This story also shows us that sometimes God delays answering our prayers. Why? So that He alone gets the glory. Lazarus represents a hopeless cause, an irreversible situation, and a condition that is beyond repair. Hope, from all natural evidence, is dead and buried. The stone being rolled over the opening of the tomb spoke of a situation that was beyond redemption and nothing was ever going to change. But then came Jesus! When there was no hope, God showed up, showed out, and there is no doubt that His power is absolute!

I feel the Holy Ghost stirring in me this morning and I am overwhelmed as He reminds me that the story of Lazarus didn’t end at the tomb. The whole message of this story is one of redemption, resurrection, deliverance, and of healing. I am reminded this morning that I am living example of a “Lazarus Life!”

There was a time in my life where my life, spiritually speaking, was in the tomb. I was dead and buried. I had given up hope of ever experiencing God’s presence again. People who knew me had written me off as gone. Hope was dead and buried in my life and the stone had been rolled over the opening of the tomb. But a praying woman sent word to Jesus, “your friend is sick.” She never gave up hope, she kept calling to the master: come Jesus Clayton needs your help. And Jesus came, He ordered the devil to move the stone, and I heard Him call to me, “I love you, I’ve been waiting for you: Clayton, come forth!”

I had become reprobate, I was killing myself with drugs and alcohol, I had betrayed the Lord, my wife, my family, and my brothers and sisters in Christ. I no longer deserved to be called His friend, but there He was, in the midst of a situation that was hopeless, calling my name, and praise God I heard his voice and I moved toward His presence. Today I am fully restored, saved, baptized in Jesus’ name, and filled with the Holy Ghost. Today, by the grace of a loving God whose name is Jesus, I am a living example of the power of His resurrection!

I was reminded this week how blessed we are to have a God, who is a God of resurrections. One of the men I used to pastor stopped by my place of employment to see me. I didn’t even recognize him when he first walked up to me because his face was very disfigured. It wasn’t until he laughed at something I said that I knew who it was. Then he began telling me a story that left me in tears. He had tried to kill himself with a shotgun, and had blown half his face off. I couldn’t believe it, this was a man I never seen unhappy, always joking, always upbeat, I would have never believed he would have been suffering from such a hopeless despair that he would feel like giving up. He said he moved the gun at the last moment as he said the Lord had whispered to him to stop.

He then began to tell me that the Lord had worked through all this to give him a stronger relationship to Jesus than he has ever had. He recently was baptized and recommitted his life to the Lord. He is living the "Lazarus Life." We talked for a while and as he walked away to leave we were both in tears. He knew me before my failure, and he knew of my return to the Lord. He told me we were both just listening to the wrong voice.

And that is the message God gave me to speak to you today: Listen to the right voice. The devil may be telling you that there is no hope, no chance, and no way out. Don’t listen! Jesus is standing beside you, just like the thief on the cross next to him on Calvary, just like Lazarus laying dead in that tomb, in the midst of your despair he’s calling you name. Go toward His voice and His presence and experience the joy of resurrection, and the life restoring power of the "Lazarus life!"

Empty Me, Of Me

2 Kings 4:1-7

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

It has been my experience that nothing attracts the attention of the Lord like emptiness. In school, I learned that a law of nature states nothing remains empty; it must be filled, and it will be filled. This fact makes clear to me this morning three critical points regarding emptiness:

1. Emptiness is a choice
2. We will all eventually be filled with something
3. What we are filled with is up to us.

Since nothing can remain empty by nature, we must realize that the condition of emptiness is intentional. By a deliberate act of our wills, we must choose to be emptied.

In our story, we are not told what substances the borrowed vessels contained before emptying, but we know they had to be emptied to be filled with the oil. We are likewise not told what condition the containers were found in when they were borrowed. The Jars may have been dirty, cast aside, and forgotten; they may have been imperfect, cracked, or broken. Regardless of the condition the jars were found in, irrespective of what purpose the jars had served before, for them to be used as a blessing, they needed to be emptied of all unnecessary material and made available before the jars could be filled with the oil.

Like the borrowed vessels, we may have things that need to be emptied from our lives. We may be imperfect, broken even, but we must be emptied of all the unnecessary junk in our hearts and made available for God's use before the anointing can be poured into our hearts. We must be emptied of everything that is of no use to God, anything that will hinder the anointing from manifesting in our bodies so that we can be a blessing to others. Let me put it this way: We have to die; we must crucify the "old man" so that the life of Jesus can be manifest in our bodies.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

The attitude and disposition of the heart place our lives before God as hopeless, helpless, and powerless. It is a life wholly given up to God. It is a life that God sustains. The only life that God can sustain is a life that is surrendered to Him. The branch draws its life from the vine when it ceases to live for itself and lives to bring glory and honor to the vine.

Against Israel's enemy, God chose what seemed like a very foolish weapon: A Clay Pot and a Candle.

Judges 7:16

And he –Gideon divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.

No swords, spears, knives, or even shields. Just a trumpet, a clay pot, and a candle.

Judges 7:20

And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

What was it that made the pitcher valuable to God's purpose? Not their beauty, not their particular shape or design, not what they had done in the past, not whose house they had come from, or because they were made of silver, brass, or Gold, but what made them useful for God's purpose is the same thing that makes us valuable to him today:

1. They were Available
2. They were Fillable (Empty)
3. They were Breakable.

We are too often only available for what we want, too full of what we like, and too proud to be broken.

Galatians 2:20

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Phillippians 3:10

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

The cross is the key to receiving the anointing. The power of the Holy Ghost can only come to those who have wholly entered into a surrendered life at the foot of the cross. Before we can have the power of the resurrection, we must first crucify our flesh – the "old man" must die. We can only know the power of Christ's resurrection by sharing in the "fellowship of His suffering."

The cross is not just for sin but also for self. Yes, Jesus' death and substitutionary sacrifice were to deliver us from the power of sin. Still, the cross was not a substitutional act - "one died for all, so all must die.' We must all experience in ourselves the weight of the cross. The cross is God's death sentence not only toward sin but upon the "self-life." The "self-life" keeps us from experiencing the Power of God. The power that comes through the baptism of the Holy Ghost comes only to those willing to bear in their body the death of the Lord Jesus so that the life of Jesus can be manifested in the place of the "self-life."

Jesus said that he was the vine, and we are the branches. Only as the branch gives up its own life can it be sustained and empowered by the life of the vine to produce the fruits of righteousness that glorify God and lead to life. The fruits of the "self-life" can only produce self-righteousness, which seeks to exalt "self" and eventually leads to death.

When we quit trying, start trusting, quit wrestling, and start nestling, we will experience the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost. Jacob did not prevail over the angel in his strength but in his weakness. Just as Jacob was broken, the cross empties us of "self" so that even though we may be imperfect, broken vessels, God can fill us and use us for His glory.

Effectual Prayer

Exodus 17:8-13

8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12 But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

When I was a young man I would sit and watch the TV show “Hee Haw” with my grandfather, he loved that show. I remember they always had this one skit where a bunch of old drunks would sit around and commiserate their bad luck in life. They had a theme song they would sing before and after they told you had bad their life had gotten. It went like this:

Gloom, despair, and agony on me

Deep dark depression, excessive misery

If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all

Gloom despair and agony on me

Have you ever been in a situation where it seems like life has thrown everything your way except the kitchen sink, and then bam, here comes the kitchen sink? And it begins to feel like the theme song from that old “Hee Haw” skit, is the theme song for your life? Have you ever felt as if there was a target painted on your back, or that you had one of those signs that says, “Hey! Kick me.”

Have you ever felt like your problems weren’t just your average every day, normal life’s problems? Well then, let me Introduce you to the spiritual realm. You have just entered the place where every battle is won or lost. The reality is that we are always in a battle, and the reality is, that it is a spiritual battle. The enemy is always at work trying to draw you away from God, trying to destroy your families, and to steal your health, your peace, and your joy. Ultimately his goal is to kill you. That’s what Jesus said in John 10:10 - Says – “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.” (NLT)

The thing is, he often gets by with it. The enemy is effective at his work, because he is a master at getting you to focus on the natural. The devil knows that if he can get you to expend all your energy on fighting and struggling and warring in the flesh, that you are already defeated. Spiritual battles can never be won by natural means.

Spiritual battles can never be won on physical grounds with physical weapons. Spiritual battles must be fought with spiritual weapons. That’s why the Apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 6:12 – “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (KJV)

Our battle is Spiritual. Your enemy is not your neighbor, he’s not that person that makes your life miserable, he’s not the IRS, the DMV, the DHS, or the DEA. Your enemy is not drugs, alcohol, nicotine, video games, the TV, pornography, the internet, fornication, or adultery. And your enemy is not sickness, disease, poverty, or hunger. Yes, all these things may be manifest against us, but they are just masks the enemy wears, but your enemy and mine, is the DEVIL!

The good news is: We Have been given Spiritual weapons to fight this battle.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 – “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (KJV)

In Exodus 17:8-13 Joshua and the children of Israel are in a very real physical confrontation. The Amalekites are not imaginary, that are a real enemy that hated the Children of God and wanted to destroy them. This symbolizes how the enemy uses the natural (The visible, and tangible) things to war against us.

No doctor will examine a person and diagnose them with alcoholism and say to them, “It’s a demon.” No, because they can only see the natural. But we know that disease may manifest itself in the natural, but its roots are spiritual. That’s why sickness is healed spiritually through faith in the stripes that Jesus bore, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sickness and disease came with the fall. Sin and Sickness are the double curse. But the blood and the stripes are the double cure: The blood for our sins, and the stripes for our Sicknesses.

Moses said: “I will stand on top of the hill.” The hill represents prayer. Prayer is represented by a hill for two reasons: First because real prayer is hard work, and second because the mountain represents a higher realm that is far above the natural.

The rod of God in my hand. What is the significance of the rod of God? First it represents the Word of God. Prayer receives its intensity and power through the Word of God. To pray with power, you must pray the Word. Second, the rod represents the authority we have as the children of God. When Moses hands were raised with the rod of God the children of Israel prevailed, but when his hands and the rod began to fall Amalek prevailed.

If you see that the enemy seems to be gaining ground in your life, the first thing you need to do is ask the questions: First, How’s my prayer life?  Second, How’s my Word life? I mean a serious prayer life, not a now I lay me down to sleep prayer life. And I mean serious Word life. Not just reading a few verses before bed time, I’m talking about a steady consistent flow of the Word of God pouring out of your mouth. 

Jesus defeated the devil with “It is written,” and then He vocalized what was written. If you don’t read it, you can repeat it, and you will end up defeated! It is not what is written that defeats the devil in your life, it’s what is written that lives in your heart and fills your mouth that defeats the devil. The sword of the spirit that defeats the devil is the word of God spoken with authority from a believing heart.

On praying ground everyone is equal. The greatest calling of God is not apostle, prophet, evangelist, preacher, or teacher but prayer warrior! It is prayer that creates the other five. It is through prayer that we put on and activate and hold in place every piece of the armor of God.

There is no such thing as a victorious Christian life without prayer. It is by and through prayer that we wage war. It is through prayer that we receive our provisions for the battle, and through prayer that we receive power for the battle. It is in the prayer closet that the Christian is dressed for the battle.

Before David defeated Goliath publicly he had already conquered the lion and the bear privately, this is symbolic of the prayer battle. All public victory owes its accomplishment to private prayer. Your spiritual life can be easily diagnosed by your prayer life; your prayer life is the thermometer of your spiritual life.

The real battle is Spiritual and the greatest weapon in that battle is Prayer: But it is not just any prayer that secures the hope and the help of the almighty God.

James 5:16 – “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

EFFECTUAL means: "powerful"), full of power to achieve results. FERVENT means” to be hot, to boil" speaks of "fervency" of spirit.

It may be labeled by some as “old fashioned,” but I’m not embarrassed to say that I still believe in Holiness, I still believe in purity in word, in deed, and thought, in mind, and I still believe that Holiness is as holiness does. I still believe that holy men and women of God should dress holy, act holy, and talk holy. I shouldn’t have to know your church affiliation to know you’re a Christian, I should be able to tell it by the life you lead and the company you keep.

It’s not any old prayer that secures the victory, it’s the powerful, intense prayer of the righteous.

A man of prayer once said: "As a painted fire is no fire, a dead man no man, so a cold prayer is no prayer. In a painted fire there is no heat, in a dead man there is no life; so in a cold prayer there is no power, no devotion, and no blessing. Cold prayers are as arrows without heads, as swords without edges, as birds without wings; they pierce not, they cut not, they fly not up to heaven. Cold prayers do always freeze before they get to heaven.”

E. M. Bounds said:

“God can, and does, tolerate many things in the way of infirmity and error in His children. He can, and will pardon sin when the penitent prays, but two things are intolerable to Him - insincerity and luke- warmness. Lack of heart and lack of heat are two things He hates.”

When Moses hands dropped the enemy gained the advantage. When your hands drop, Satan gains the advantage. Look at your own life, and ask yourself this question, Have I lost ground? If the answer is yes, then examine your prayer. This is where the real battle is and this is where it is won or lost. It has been said, “He stands tallest who kneels the most.”

I love this story in the bible because it shows us the power of prayer and the inner workings of prayer. Note that when Moses hands dropped, the enemy gained the advantage. That tells me that no matter how powerful or how anointed a man or woman may be, we need help. Moses Hands got Heavy: That means he grew tired under the burden, under the weight of the need, that means he felt the weight of the burden. If you have ever been under a real prayer burden, then you know exactly what that feels like.

There is such thing as a prayer burden that weighs on you, and presses upon you. Let me add, this is never a bad thing, the burden of the lord is a blessing, it’s an honor to get under the load of prayer, but it can get heavy. We were never meant to carry the load alone. Aaron and Hur became Moses helpers in Prayer. If we are going to win the battles that we are fighting we can’t do it alone: We are fellow laborers, and we are comrades, and we are partners, we are an army!

I believe today this is the message that God wanted me to bring to you. We are in a battle, the battle is not Imaginary, and the real battle is spiritual so we must fight it in the Spirit with spiritual weapons, but we cannot win alone: We need each other.

Every prayer prayed by every person is an integral part of the victory that we win. I Just feel today that there are some that have felt like you have been up on that mountain alone, and you’ve been trying to hold off the hordes of hell all alone. I just feel like somebody today needs to feel the strength of this message. And I feel like somebody needs to be reminded: You are important. I need you, the body of Christ needs your prayers. We are not complete without you. We are comrades, co-workers and fellow laborers together for the Kingdom of God, and for His Glory!

Moving Day

Revelation 4:1

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, (Come up hither), and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”

I am a firm believer that God is calling many of His people to move to a higher place: a higher relationship with Him, a higher ministry for Him, a higher prayer life, a higher revelation of His power in our lives. God is calling us to a higher walk of faith. God is always calling us to a higher place…God is calling us to go from the prophecy to the promise.

Exodus 40:37 - But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.

Numbers 9:19 - And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.

Numbers 9:22 - Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.

I believe that God worked this way to teach the children of Israel how to get from the prophecy to the promise, from the unseen to the reality, or from faith to sight. It was to teach them that on the journey their provision and their guidance and their protection was all dependent upon His presence.

One of the most important lessons it taught them was never get too comfortable. Intentionally God would vary the time that they would stay in a place, to teach them that no matter how comfortable or convenient a place it was, it was not the promise. God did not tell them when He was going to move, He did not send advance notice because he wanted them to stay in a condition of readiness.

One of the greatest battles we fight is that of the familiar. No matter how dry and desolate some places we are in or periods we experience are, if we stay there too long we get used to it, familiar with it, comfortable with it and we stop looking for the Spirit of God to move. Once it becomes comfortable to us, we resist anything that threatens our comfort Zone. But we cannot allow this to happen, we must be ready for the move at all times.

Moving is one of the most interesting things because in the moving process there is something called an ordered chaos. Everything is chaotic, everything is moved out of its place, the familiar routine is replaced by what seems to be confusion and disorder. Nothing is convenient, everything you want seems to be the hardest thing to get to. When you start to move, you begin to realize all the things you have accumulated over the years, all the unnecessary junk, makes moving that much more difficult. Moving becomes a time of shifting and sifting, when you lighten your load. Moving time is when you separate the useful from the useless and the valuable from the worthless. A lot of what you accumulate at one place you don’t need at the next place.

This is a Spiritual truth we learn from moving in the natural: As we move from one level to another there are things that we will leave behind. I don’t know about you but there are some things I am ready to leave behind. I’m ready to leave behind some doubts, fears, discouragements, and disappointments. I’m ready to leave behind some enemies that I’ve been fighting. I’m ready to leave behind some traditions that have no power. I’m ready to leave behind some excess baggage that’s been slowing me down.

Many times moving is difficult because you are leaving the familiar, the comfortable, the normal and you are entering the unknown.

Hebrews 11:8 - By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

God is looking for some people that will follow him into the unknown.

Isaiah 42:16-19 - And I will bring (the blind) by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have (not known): I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.

18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’S servant?

Are you ready to move on? Are you ready to let go and let God? Are you ready to go into the unknown? Are you ready to obey even when it doesn’t make sense, to obey when it looks foolish, to obey and go when every natural instinct says stop?

It is said that the African impala can jump 10 feet into the air and cover the distance of 30 feet in a single stride, but this great animal can be imprisoned for the span of its life behind a 3-foot wall, because it will not jump if it can’t see where it’s feet are going to land. It refuses to go into the unknown.

This is what it means in Isaiah when it says to be blind, it means to trust God. To be able to jump when I can’t see where my feet are going to land. To, by faith, move into the unknown.

There are some things that are not going to happen until we make the transition into the unknown, or we could just call it the faith dimension. One of the greatest motivations that I have for moving to the next level is I am more afraid of staying where I am, and missing the moving of God’s presence, than I am of moving into the unknown.

This next level that God is calling you to is going to take a faith step into the unknown.

Know Him, And Do Exploits

Daniel 11:30-32

“30 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.

31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.”

I am pretty sure that most of you who read my blog entries how come to understand that if you are looking for someone to tickle your ears or pet your flesh and make excuses for living a life that is contrary to God’s Word, my blog is not the place and I am not that person. God did not rescue me from sin and disgrace and fill me with his Holy Ghost so that I could pat people on the back and wave at them on their way to hell. The truth I try to proclaim made be a medicine that’s hard to swallow at times, but if you take it in and digest it, if you can keep it down, then I believe it may just deliver you from the destruction.

My spirit is stirred within me tonight, agitated even, by all the non-sense I see being passed off as the “gospel.” It is becoming increasingly popular to be like the world when God has called us out from among the world and commanded us to be separate. Dress any way you want, watch anything you want, play any video game you want, gamble all night Saturday then drag in on Sunday morning and wonder why the service is dry, why they don't experience the presence of God!

Some are going to come to me and ask, “Why are you saying these things? This is a matter between individuals and God, and it's none of your business.”

But the Word says it's the responsibility of the preachers, the prophets, to put a difference between the clean and unclean, the holy and the profane. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I have studied the young people in my church closely as they worship God, and I can tell you: there is an entire generation whose hearts are crying out for someone to draw a line, to establish the boundaries of truth, and not move them back and forth to accommodate the social climate.

In a lot of so called “Christian” denominations today, it’s like grace gone wild. Grace was never meant to destroy the requirements of the law for living holy and separate from the world. Grace came to deliver us from the consequences of sin and to empower us to conquer sin and live holy by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Many preachers today want you to believe that Grace and the law war against each other. It's almost as though they put Moses and Jesus in the ring and say now may the best man win. The Bible says: the law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Why is it that there is such a war against the law in the church today? I'll tell you why: Because the law deals with absolutes and the law defines right and wrong. Romans 3:20 says that by the law came the knowledge of sin. The law establishes boundaries.

The condition of our country today: the riots, the lawlessness, the violence, the rebellion, and the contempt that many have toward the law today is just a direct reflection of a lukewarm, self-ruled, self- centered “Laodicean” church that says: we don’t need any laws, we don't have any restrictions, there are no absolutes - it's all about Grace and we do what we want to do.

There are no absolutes therefore there are no consequences for wrong actions because grace has destroyed the law so there is nothing to tell us what is wrong or hold us accountable.

In Daniel 11:30-32 the prophet is talking about an adversary not only to the children of God, but also to God himself. This adversary hates the people of God and hates God's sanctuary. The enemy is set to defile the sanctuary of God. To bring in the abominable: The Bible even calls it “The Abomination of desolation.” Daniel prophesied that they will bring in sin and set it up in the place where God is supposed to be honored and truth is supposed to flow.

This adversary, this demonic spirit, will carry away many weak, carnal, fleshly, and material minded Christians. This Spirit will capture them not with great overwhelming irresistible strength and power but with flattery. Satan will appeal to their flesh and their fleshly appetites and desires.

And those who at one time were lovers of truth and strong preachers of holiness, and sanctification, and separation from sin, are going to do wickedly against the very law, the very truth, and the covenant that they once defended. And they shall join forces to pollute and defile and profane the house of God. Bringing all kinds of wickedness and uncleanness and perversion into the sanctuary. And they shall take away the daily sacrifice. In other words, they shall despise the crucified life, the very life that Jesus lived and commands His disciples to live.

Some may say that I am painting a pretty bleak picture, let me tell you something: the picture is bleak, these are dark times and it's going to get worse before it’s over. John 9:4 Jesus said: “work while it is day because the night cometh when no man can work.”

Isaiah 60:2 – “For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people.”

That's happening right now, the Bible tells it full strength, it will be dark, and gross darkness will come upon the people. Everyone is looking for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, but what if the temple that the beast invades and the throne that he sits upon is the very heart of people who once called themselves Christians.  Paul says, “know ye no that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit?”

And what if the daily sacrifice is that ceases isn’t that of bulls and goats, but the sacrificing of our flesh daily to follow him. What if the things being allowed in the church today, homosexual preachers, half-naked men and women, and many more violations of God’s holiness, are the abomination of desolation?

But I love the word of God. Our God is awesome! After all the evil that is proclaimed, it’s like God stands to the side and says, “Take your best-shot devil, but the last shot’s mine.”

The announcer gives you blow-by-blow coverage of all the damage that the devil does, then Jesus leans back and with one-shot and knocks the devil out cold and shows you that he is still the champ!

Now if the Holy Ghost will help me, I want to bring you to the heart of this message. This is really what the Holy Spirit burned in my heart, everything else was just to bring us to this point. “But!” That one little word changes the whole picture. Now that you've heard everything else, understand that what is coming next will eclipse the rest. It is a word that tells me, what is coming next is greater, more powerful, and more significant than everything that preceded it. So here after all the bad report is that one little game changer, the word “but.”

Regardless of the darkness, regardless of the evil the wickedness, the violence, the lawlessness, the corruption. God still has a people! The devil is trying to manipulate us and intimidate and back the Church into a comer. He's trying to emasculate the church and strip us of our spiritual power, to make spiritual wimps, and make us spiritually impotent and powerless.”

“But!”

But there is a people! There is a people who do know their God! There is a people that aren't selling out! There is a people who aren’t compromising and snuggling up to the spirit of worldliness, who are not sleeping with this harlot spirit, and they are not laying their head in the lap of Delilah! There is a people that do know their God and the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits!

I Believe I'm writing to some of those people right now, I believe I’m talking to some people who know God. We know how to get a hold of God. We have a relationship with him He knows our voice and we know His.

This world is a dark place and getting worse all the time: The only safe place there is, is in Jesus! He is our deliverer, and He is our captain.

Do you know him? I mean know him, do you walk together, talk together, fellowship, commune with each other. My advice to you today is: Get to know Him, because if you know him, you won't be deceived, if you know him you won't get carried away with flatteries, and fleshly desires.

And if you know him: instead of backing up, hiding out, and quieting down you'll be standing up and shouting out, and you'll be walking in the power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost and you will be strong and do exploits.