The Anatomy of A Backslider

Jeremiah 3:1-7

1 “They say, ‘If a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, May he return to her again?’  Would not that land be greatly polluted?  But you have played the harlot with many lovers; yet return to Me,” says the Lord.

2 “Lift up your eyes to the desolate heights and see: Where have you not lain with men?  By the road you have sat for them like an Arabian in the wilderness; and you have polluted the land with your harlotries and your wickedness.  3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain.  You have had a harlot’s forehead; you refuse to be ashamed.  4 Will you not from this time cry to Me, ‘My Father, You are the guide of my youth?  5 Will He remain angry forever?  Will He keep it to the end?’  Behold, you have spoken and done evil things, as you were able.”

6 The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.  7 And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me,’ but she did not return.  And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

There has been much debate between people in the church over the subject that the Lord has laid on my heart to write about today, but I am not here to debate with anyone, I will let the Word speak on this matter and allow God to help me correctly divide its truth.  Today my subject is the Anatomy of a Backslider.

Backslide (Wikipedia)

Backsliding, also known as falling away, is a term used within Christianity to describe a process by which an individual who has converted to Christianity and then reverts to pre-conversion habits and/or lapses or falls back into sin, when a person turns from God to pursue their own desires.

I was amazed to find that Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines the word backslide as: To fall off; to apostatize; to turn gradually from the faith and practice from Christianity.

Backsliding is defined as: The act of apostatizing from faith or practice; a falling insensibly from religion into sin or idolatry

When people are considering leaving the church and they are looking for a reason to get out you will start to see some distinct characteristics in their lives. The funny thing about it is, they do not seem to be able to control it, subconsciously they do not realize they are doing it because they have already drifted far away from the presence of the Holy Ghost.

THEY COMMIT SPIRITUAL ADULTERY

Jeremiah 3:1 (NLT) “If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land.  But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?” says the Lord.

To understand this verse you must go back and look at Jeremiah 2:2-3 (NKJV):

“Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.  Israel was holiness to the Lord, the firstfruits of His increase.  All that devour him will offend; disaster will come upon them,” says the Lord.’”

At one time everything was great between God and Israel, but somewhere along the way they abandoned holiness and they began to flirt with the world and committed spiritual adultery.  It didn’t happen overnight, it was a gradual process, but one step at a time they walked away from God.

If you think you can backslide overnight, you have some serious scriptural misunderstandings because if you can walk away from God and His Church overnight I do not believe you were ever really saved!  For those who truly love God it is a gradual process.  Yes they love the Lord, but something in the world catches their eye.  Someone or something entices them away bit by bit.  They give up praying for their lust, they give up reading the Word for their lust, they give up fellowship for their lust, and then they give up their relationship with the Lord for their lust.  We must guard our hearts from seeking the desires of the flesh, we must strengthen and feed our spirits, or like the Apostle James says, “We are dragged away and enticed by our own evil desires.”

Look at verse 13 in Jeremiah 2 – “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water”

Christians are the bride of Christ.  In II Corinthians 11:2 the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians that the Lord was jealous over them with a Godly jealousy because he wanted to present them to Christ as chaste virgins. But the problem was that they were flirting with the world. And unfortunately, if you look around in many churches today, that same problem still exists. People in the church want to be saved sinners, they want to be “carnal Christians,” and Jesus told the church of Laodicea that this idea makes Him sick and He was about to vomit them up.

THEY BECOME INSENSITIVE TO THE HOLY GHOST

Jeremiah 3:2-5

Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.

Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

(MSG: WARNING EXPLICIT CONTENT)

“Look around at the hills.  Where have you not had sex?  You’ve camped out like hunters stalking deer.  You’ve solicited many lover-gods, like a streetwalking whore chasing after other gods.  And so the rain has stopped.  No more rain from the skies!  But it doesn’t even faze you. Brazen as whores, you carry on as if you’ve done nothing wrong.  Then you have the nerve to call out, ‘My father!  You took care of me when I was a child. Why not now?  Are you going to keep up your anger nonstop?’  That’s your line. Meanwhile you keep sinning nonstop.”

If you have ever watched an episode of the TV documentary show “COPS” then you will have a pretty good understanding of what Jeremiah is saying to describe the backslidden state of Israel.  I have learned from watching that prostitutes seem to have absolutely zero shame about what they are doing. They are in a state of moral degradation and they refuse to be ashamed

It is the same with the backslider, sin makes you insensitive to the Spirit of the Lord.  The sin that used to bring them shame has become normal and they no longer feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit. They are now in danger of being lost forever:

Romans 1:21-28 KJV

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;”

When someone who claims to be born again begins doing the things which they once renounced, they are on their way to a backslidden state.

THEY BECOME SPIRITUAL HYPOCRITES

When a child of God begins flirting with Satan, they still have a lot of “holy talk,” but they have usually abandoned their “holy walk.”  And the fact is that usually they were doing all of the evil they could get away with right up to the day they walked out on God.

Luke 6:46 - And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

They are still talking about holiness, but their morals are getting looser and looser.  In church they dress and act as if nothing has changed, but outside of church they are dressing like the world, talking like the world, listening to the world’s music, and the truth is that they are beginning to fit into the pattern of the world more than they fit the description of a child of God.  They take vacations away from home and compromise nearly every standard of holiness that they pretend to uphold when at home.  Spiritual talk and worldly walk are good clues that a person is on their way to becoming a backslider.

THEY BECOME SPIRITUALLY OBSTINATE

Jeremiah 3:7 - And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

The word obstinate means “Stubborn or unyielding to reason”

It is a tragic fact that, sadly, that there have been many who were saved that have died in a backslidden state while the Man of God stood by their death bed begging them to repent.  But they stubbornly breathe their last breath refusing to return to the Lord and admit their sin and in doing so they fulfill the proverb, “The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways.”

Backsliding doesn’t happen overnight. It may take months perhaps years for a person to backslide from the Lord. It begins with a little compromise, then it becomes full blown rebellion.  I know, because I derived the “Anatomy of a Backslider” through an autopsy of my own past.  I have lived the life of a backslider, I know the progression that takes place in the heart and mind of a saint who turns back to their vomit.  I was blessed in that the Lord sent someone into my life that prodded me back into the church and I repented.  If I had died while in that backslidden state, I am convinced I would be in hell today.  God’s word clearly says that no drunkard will inherit the Kingdom of God.  Praise God for mercy and grace.

Please do not be foolish enough to think that the Lord will continue to allow you to live in willful sin without repercussion.  Your time may be running out, return to your Father and ask for His mercy and grace before it’s too late.  It is my prayer that every prodigal would come to their senses and return to the Father's house.

No Matter What

Habakkuk 3:17-18

“Although the FIG tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall fail, the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

Have you ever been there? Have you ever been in a situation like Habakkuk? He is describing a time when nothing is going right, nothing good is happening, in fact just the opposite, everything going on is causing him pain and suffering.

The truth is, most of us, have experienced times in our lives like these. Life comes with problems built in. No one walks through life without trouble, without hardships, or without pain. All of us will have our heart broken at least once or twice. Many will be lied on and despised.

Just look in the Bible and you will see what I'm talking about. David was called a man after ‘God’s own heart.’ He was a great warrior and the King of Israel, and a worshipper. But that did not exempt David from pain. If you study David’s life, you will see a man who endured much pain.

Job was a righteous man, but he endured more grief and pain than would seem humanly possible. Joseph, Daniel, the prophets: I could go on and on, but I believe the point is clear – sometimes life hurts.

Sometimes you're in the pit, sometimes a den of lions, and sometimes you're in the fire. One day you’re on the Mountain calling fire down from heaven, and then the next thing you know, you're in the cave hoping Jezebel doesn't find you. Times of suffering come to us all. Many times, it’s just because we're in the world, but there are also attacks upon us that are demonic in nature, attacks straight out of hell.

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

I have said all of this to lead up to this fact: there will be times in your life when praise just doesn’t make sense. When in our natural minds, we have no reason to praise, it is absolutely, humanly impossible for us to reason that praise is the appropriate response to our dilemma. Praise just isn’t logical.

Habakkuk was doing something that, when viewed from a fleshly perspective, made no sense. He was standing during chaos, loss, emptiness, confusion, and disappointment. But instead of allowing his circumstances to control his relationship with God, he did something that sent shock waves through hell and applause through heaven.

He said, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

Habakkuk had decided, “I'm going to praise my God even when it makes no sense.”

I may be going through a season of pain, but I can still praise Him in my pain. You may be walking through the fire of divorce, or family turmoil, but you can still shout. You may be crying yourself to sleep at night over the prodigals in your life, but amid your cries, you can still sing hallelujah!

I have decided to be illogical, I may look like a fool to those around me, but I'm not going to let my emotions take over. I'm not going to go into deep depression. I'm not going to get angry at God and accuse Him of not loving me, and not caring about me.

I'm going to do what David did: I'm going to encourage myself in the Lord. Then I'm going to get my praise on. I'm going to put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. I'm going to open my mouth and praise God. 

No matter what, I'm going to give Him the praise that’s due His name!

There is No Alternative to Holiness

I was reading the story of Noah again this week, and like never before it struck me that, like Noah, we live in the midst of a perverse generation.  A generation that calls evil good and good evil.  A generation that fines a Christian baker $135,000 in Oregon for refusing to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding, and then glorifies musicians for canceling concerts in venues where the states have decided that men should use “Men’s” restrooms and women should use “women’s” restrooms.  It’s like I woke up one day and found myself in an alternate universe.

The truth is however; this hasn’t come upon us suddenly, we’ve just been passively allowing it to happen.  And if the Church continues to allow "cultural norms" to infiltrate our lives, it is my opinion that it won't be long before our women look like Ellen DeGeneres and our men look like Bruce Jenner.

Proverbs 30:11-13

11 There is a generation that curses its father,

And does not bless its mother.

12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,

Yet is not washed from its filthiness.

13 There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes!

And their eyelids are lifted up.

But really for a student of the God’s Word, none of this should come as a shock:

II Timothy 3:1-5

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

God has called us to be separate, different, and distinct from the world!

Romans 12:1, 2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Philippians 2:15

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”

Peter wrote that Noah was a preacher of righteousness, God chose Noah to build the ark for that reason, and when the flood came, Noah and his family rose above the destructive waters and were saved.  Noah built the ark, but God chose the material (gopher wood) that Noah used and God gave Noah the instructions (pitch it from within and without) on how to build it.

God has likewise given us the material to build a life that will allow us to rise above the destructive forces of evil that are destroying our world today.  He has given us His Word.  It is up to us to build upon what He has given us.  To pitch our lives with His Word from within and from without.  To pitch means to seal.

There are some things we need to seal in: character, integrity, dignity, holiness, compassion, and forgiveness.  These things must be an inside job.  And there are some things that we need to seal out: Fear, doubt, anger, unforgiveness, and bitterness, things that stir up the carnal man, and the works of the flesh.  We’re in the world but not of the world.  We need God’s word to seal us, to pitch us from within and without so that we rise above the destructive waters in the ark of His protection.  I don’t care how good a swimmer you are; you can’t swim across an ocean of sewage without getting some of the waste in your mouth.

Genesis 7:18 - “And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth;”

There is no doubt about it, the waters of sin, and ungodliness, and perversion are increasing greatly upon the earth, but listen to the last part of that verse: “and the ark went upon the face of the waters.”

That means the ark rode over the top of the waters of destruction.  It is still true today that those who live righteously, and holy, and separated lives unto God, are going to rise to the top.  The darker it gets the brighter our light shines, the higher the waters of sin rise, the higher we will rise.  Greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world.

Like Noah, we must be willing to be thought foolish for the sake of the gospel.  It must have seemed foolish for Noah to be building an ark when it had never even rained upon the earth.  They made fun of him, but he kept on building.  He didn’t compromise, he didn’t deviate from God’s plan, and he didn’t let his culture and their criticism interfere with his commitment to God’s plan, because Noah knew the rain was coming.

We must look a lot like Noah prophesying to the world of a coming judgement, that Jesus is coming back, that only those who have been washed in the blood of the lamb, and who have turned their back on sin can enter into heaven.  But, like Noah, our message must be pure, our message must be powerful, and our message must be plain.

I Corinthians 14:8 - “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?”

Our message must be consistent!  Like Noah, we must be disciplined, motivated, and encouraged by the Word of God.  We must be holy, "for without holiness no man shall see God." - Hebrews 12:14. Holiness is not just an internal state of change; it's a lifestyle that says, "I belong to God."  We must become the pure and spotless bride of Jesus.  We must allow His Word and the Holy Ghost to pitch us from within and without.  We are building for future generations.  We must be willing to work without immediate reward.  We must finish the race!

What a tragedy it would have been for Noah to build on this ark for 85- 90 years then quit, and say it isn’t worth it, or I don’t believe its coming.  It wouldn’t have mattered how great his start was, because finishing is all that really counts.

Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul and the Lord Jesus:

2 Timothy 4:7-8(KJV)
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Matthew 24:13 - “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

There is no reward for those who do not finish, salvation is not promised to those who do not endure. There are too many who teach the non-sense that you can live a life separate from holiness and then enter the Kingdom of God, no you cannot! Scripture is clear, without holiness no man shall see God. If this thought of living how you want to, do what you feel like, having no spiritual discipline in your life is true, then why would the Apostle Paul make it clear, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” I Corinthians 9:27

Just a Shout Away From Transformation

Mark 10:46-52 (KJV)

⁶ And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.

⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.

⁴⁸ And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.

⁴⁹ And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.

⁵⁰ And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.

⁵² And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

This passage of scripture begins by telling us that Jesus Came to Jericho, and then immediately it transitions to Him leaving the city with His disciples. What a marvelous truth is revealed here for those that pay attention to detail; what a wonderful way for the lord to illustrate to us the importance of preparing ourselves for His coming. Just like Jesus di in this passage, He will come quickly He says in the book of Revelations, and if we are not prepared for it 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.

It say,” And when he heard that it was Jesus.” He was blind and couldn’t see, but he could hear! Praise God!  The Lord always gives provides us a path to His presence, He always makes a way in the wilderness for us to find Him. Jesu 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.

Bartimaeus had come to the point of desperation and he was willing to admit he was powerless. His condition 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, nothing was going to stand in his way, and so he shouted even louder. It was his shouts for mercy that stopped Jesus in his tracks.

 “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 when their eyes are opened, God calls on them to change! There is an obligation for those that say they love God to obey His Word.

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 determination to be different, and he made a declaration of his desire 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.

If you are trapped in a life of spiritual blindness, you must be willing to admit that you live in spiritual poverty, and you must be willing to fulfill your obligation to God to repent of your sin before He begins the process of true change in your life.

So many are trapped in spiritual blindness because they are not willing to surrender to God.

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 in His tracks?

Then your healing is just a shout away from you!

Shepherd's Blog: My Faith is Fireproof!

Shepherd's Blog: My Faith is Fireproof!: Dan 3:2-30 This morning, as I was praying, the Lord directed my attention to this passage of scripture in the book of Daniel.  It didn...

My Faith is Fireproof!

Dan 3:2-30

This morning, as I was praying, the Lord directed my attention to this passage of scripture in the book of Daniel.  It didn’t take much convincing for me to turn and read it, since it has always been one of my favorite stories from the OT. 

I have been going through a trial with my health. I won’t bore you with the details, but I have been struggling to understand it, and honestly I’m feeling a bit defeated.  As I read this passage I felt the Lord speaking to me through the Holy Spirit, “Hold on child, something good is coming out of this.  It may seem like you’re in the fire 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.  

The Holy Spirit showed me that it is a miracle that I made it this far. By all rights I should have never come this far.  I should have died of a drug overdose.  There have been times that I had more than enough drugs and alcohol in my body to kill me, 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 led 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. 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 showed me today, and I want to share with someone who may be going through some similar struggles and feeling defeated, that you ought to be praising Him that you made it to the fire because some have died at the door.

These three mighty warriors that died 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. Family and ‘friends’ 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). I chose to pursue a season of sin, and it nearly, killed me. But here I am, alive and serving God again and filled with the Holy Ghost! I shouldn’t be complaining, I should be praising Him that I made it to the fire and didn’t die at the door!

I nearly 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!

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. 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! I declare it the might name of Jesus! I plead the blood of Jesus over you right now!

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! We are closer than ever 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 in 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 a sucker punch, and it knocks the wind out of us, then 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. 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. We must remember, Jesus goes with us into the fire!

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 Ghost filled, tongue talking, devil stomping child of the Most High God and the fires of this world 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, it hurt me 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.

During this current 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! I’m ready 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. I have found that my faith is fireproof! 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!

The Window Seat Disaster

Acts 20:7-12 (KJV)

“And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

8 And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.

9 And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.

10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.

11 When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.

12 And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”

When I am writing these messages, I try to be as positive as I can be and to speak a word that will encourage people in their faith and lift them up and help them to place themselves in a position so they can receive all the promises of God.  Sometimes in order to receive the blessings God wants for us, we have to be corrected so that we can make some adjustments.

I have a strong feeling that this word may be critical for someone.  I don’t know who you are, but what you do with this word is going to either open a door to blessing, or it’s going to open a door of opportunity for your enemy to prosper instead.

My goal in writing this is that anyone who reads it and finds that they have been sitting in the window, sleeping, will awake and move off the window sill before they fall.

In a spiritual sense there are many in the church today, like this young man, that are sitting in this most dangerous place.

We could assume any number of reasons that he finds himself in this place

* The place was crowded and there was no place to sit

* It was hot and stuffy and he wanted some fresh air

But I tend to believe that he had begun to become disinterested in what was taking place inside, the preacher was long-winded and so he had lost his desire for the things of God, the Word of God was no longer exciting to him and he had stopped being entertained and so he drifted farther and farther away from the presence of the Spirit and Word.

The window is the Place where you can be inside and still see what’s going on outside.  In this context then the window represents that condition of drawing back.

Hebrews 10:39

“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

Today in our churches there is a very obvious “draw back” spirit.  It is the spirit that wants all the blessings of God, healing, miracles, prosperity, but without making a commitment.  If it’s the blessing line they’re first to the front, but if it’s the commitment line, the dedication line, or the consecration line, for some strange reason their bladder goes to acting up, or they have to step out and make a phone call.

This is the spiritual condition that I want to call the “Window Seat”

From the window seat it appears that you have a spectacular view.  The People who are in the window seat can see all the problems in the church.  They can hear every sour note, see how everything should be done, they know right away what kind of praise we should have, they know when the preacher preaches a dud, and they can see all the weaknesses and faults of others.

You still have a great view of all the things that you left outside from the “Window Seat.”  The things that the Lord brought you out of come back into view.  You know what I’m talking about, habits that you had shut the door on, the things that were killing you, hurting your marriage, sins that were causing division in your family and turning your children from God, all of a sudden they become visible again, and from the window seat they don’t appear to be as bad as you remember.  The window seat is a very dangerous place to be, and there are so many that are deceived into believing that they can look at those things and it won’t affect them.  They believe they can stare at it as long as they don’t touch it.

I’m strong I won’t fall out of the window.  It doesn’t kill you to look, right?

It all starts with a flirtatious thought, “Man wouldn’t a cold beer taste really good right now?  Wouldn’t it be fun to smoke just one more joint, or maybe watch one of those dirty movies, just one more time?  Of course I would never do that they think to themselves, I’m just window shopping, just taking a peek, just having a moment of imagination.

Another word that we equate with the word window is “opportunity” and we are told in scripture not to give opportunity to the devil.

Eutychus never intended to fall out of the window.

Hebrews 2:3

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him;”

Why did Eutychus fall to his death?

He neglected his passion for the things of God

He was more out than he was in

At midnight he fell from his window seat: all through the scripture midnight is a very critical time:

It was midnight when the death angel passed through Egypt and smote the first born

It was midnight when the cry was made that woke the sleeping virgins

It was midnight when Paul and Silas turned the corner and turned their pain into praise.

“Midnight” is where your situation can go either way, “Midnight” speaks of decision time.

The “window seat” is very uncomfortable at first.  When we first begin to turn our thoughts back on the things of the world we feel shame, we think, “How could I even be thinking about those things.” 

But the more you allow yourself to think about it the more comfortable, it becomes, then without any warning you’re falling.  You’re falling back into that lust, back into those old associations, falling back into your old ways of talking, back into desires that you thought were dead, back into those flirtatious ways, falling back into the habits that the Lord delivered you from.

I am speaking to those who have known the goodness of the Lord, but for one reason or another you have found yourself in the window seat and now you’re more out than you are in.  Please come back inside, get out of the window before you fall and find yourself dead on the street.  There may not be a Paul to bring you back in.