By Every Word

Lord

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Nov 162010

Would you go to a lawyer for legal advice who didn’t understand the difference between interpreting the “spirit of the law” and the “letter of the law”?

Would you let someone cut your hair whose experience is primarily their 4 year old child’s?

What about having a health diagnosis made by a Doctor… of Veterinary Medicine?

Of course these are all ridiculous questions- the answers are fairly obvious. The point of these questions is not to say one needs a specific education from a particular university to be chosen, but that we want those associated with a certain field of study… to have studied! We want someone who has a passion for what they believe in, a passion for their purpose.

Most would agree with the above statements… but when it comes to being citizens of the kingdom of God, the country we associate our self with, whose King we say we follow… many times it doesn’t seem we understand God’s laws nor his word. I say this because of those who, I dare say, say Jesus is their Lord but they don’t do what He says.

Remember Lord comes from the word Adon- where we get Adonai which means Owner. So if He owns you, why do we still disobey His commandments. I’m afraid in today’s theology of many peoples we have made grace a religion. I have heard it said of those “I’m no longer under the law, I am under grace.” And this is a scripture that is wonderful to us… but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted by many and is used as a weapon against God’s laws in order to break God’s commandments. Many have set in their minds that they cannot obey God’s laws and so they live as if grace covers any sins they continue to commit and live in… because after all, their not under the law any more. Paul said “God Forbid” that we may break God’s laws just because we’ve been grace. We’ve been given grace so we can be once again in the kingdom of God, be in right positioning with the kingdom, right standing with the King because of the blood of Jesus.

Will a judge pardon someone for theft so that he can now break into as many banks as he wants to without fear of consequence? No. If he was pardoned it meant he was released from the judgment that was due for his crimes, so that he can be a part of society again. He was deserving of punishment according to the law but he was pardoned by grace given from the judge. This is what Jesus did for us.

Ask yourself this… if grace is given to cover every sin you could ever commit going forward… then what is the purpose of repentance anymore? If you are on your way to heaven no matter what you do, because of grace, what is the need for repentance?

God gave us grace, ability, to keep His laws again- Not sacrificial law, because that was the works that Paul was speaking of that cannot save, but ability to keep God’s laws- which never change.

Not Kingdom

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Nov 012010

A pastor of a mega church has come out and said “Being gay is not a choice.” He claims his wife has known about this secret for a long time and he is now breaking it to his kids and church.

http://freakoutnation.com/2010/10/30/megachurch-pastor-comes-out-being-gay-is-not-a-choice/

You can go to the above link to see the pastors personal views on this.

Me personally? I have no opinion on the matter because my opinion doesn’t matter. I represent the kingdom of God and if I will to remain in His kingdom, I will only reflect His values and His laws. To go against His word is to go against the word of the King. So let’s see what the king has to say about this…

Leviticus 18:22
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
KJV

Leviticus 20:13
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
KJV

Romans 1^26.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:²⁷. 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.
KJV

Jude 1:7
⁷. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
KJV

I must be obedient to God’s word and to His commandments. The kingdom of Heaven is a country with a government. Jesus is the King of that government, and the decree of a king is law. So I must adhere to His laws. See in religion you can vote and allow someone to be ordained a gay bishop… but not in the kingdom of God. You can commit adultery and be in a religion, but not in the kingdom of God. Citizens of the kingdom of God must hold to God’s word and not the compromise of man. I know this is becoming unpopular today but we’re going to have to make a choice of whom we serve. There isn’t any “wishy-washiness” in the kingdom of God.

Unfortunately there are many denominations covered under the umbrella term of “Christianity”, but there is only one “Kingdom of God”.

Let me make one more thing clear- it is horrid to label degrees of sin. There isn’t any degree- the bible says if you commit one of these you have committed them all. So if you tell… what we like to call a “white lie”, you have disobeyed God’s word. If you commit a homosexual act, you have disobeyed God’s word. If you take something that is not yours, you have disobeyed God’s word. Disobeying God’s word is an act of unrighteousness, which means to be unaligned with the kingdom, to not be in right standing, to not be in right positioning. You cut off interaction between you and the home government, Heaven. You distance yourself from the King and ultimately sever your relationship with the King and the influence of the kingdom of God in your life… no matter what commandment or law you break.

If you continue to only listen to your pastor’s point of view on any subject in the bible you will only reflect your pastor’s point of view. We must all read, study and meditate on God’s word until we understand His precepts and then can reflect the culture of the kingdom of Heaven in our own lives because… after all… culture is natural. You must know God’s word for yourself and have a relationship with God yourself. No one is a citizen of the kingdom of Heaven by association- only by divine emancipation- by acknowledging Jesus as your Lord, Adon, Adonai, your Owner. And if He is our Lord, our Owner… then we’ll do what the King says.

Let us pray for this pastor, his congregation and our nation.

-For the Kingdom

Impacting Earth

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Oct 282010

Colony • a group of people sent to a new land in order to influence and impact the settlement with the culture and ways of the parent country from which it was sent and is subject to.

Are you demonstrating the ways of Heaven in your life? Can people see you and know you’re from another country?

Numbers 15:16
There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.
NASB (Emphasis Added)

What laws do we live under? The laws of God? Or do we overrule God’s laws with man’s ways.

If you’ve kept up with our video lessons, you will know we have been studying on the “purpose of prayer”. I haven’t been able to do another video yet on prayer because the Lord has really been speaking to me about obedience. Without obedience we drift into sin because we violate God’s laws and our prayers cannot be heard because of iniquity.

There is a dangerous teaching that must be addressed and only those who really want to be citizens of His kingdom will hear instruction. Jesus said “If ye love me… keep my commandments.” The question is… why are we not?

Because of grace?… ahhh but grace is misunderstood. We define grace as if it is the opposite of law.

Romans 6:15
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
KJV

The problem lies with our misunderstanding of law. See there are two laws. There is sacrificial law which was abolished with the coming of Jesus and there is the laws of God which never change. The law said we should die because of sin but God gave us grace from the condemnation we were born under so that we could live.

Live how? If we are under grace why can we not just rob all the banks, covet our neighbors things and take what we want, commit adultery and kill anyone we don’t like? …after all we’re not under the law we’re under grace… Does that make sense? No.

Grace in the Greek comes from the word “charis” where we get “charismatic” which is ability.

So what has He given us ability to do? To walk in newness of life, to be forgiven, to become a holy vessel unto Him.

He did not give us grace so that we can… continue in sin perpetually without consequence. Where did we get this definition? A judge grants you mercy not so that you can do whatever you want, but so you can be given the ability again to fulfill the law. You cannot decide to become a legal law abiding citizen when you’re still a convict. You have to come before the judge and plead.

Thanks be to God Who gave us grace, not to make a mockery of His kingdom, but to be out from under the law, the judgment we deserved, in order to be able to continue in His grace forgiven for the old and being obedient to His commandments.

I have a video I will be shooting this week and will have it online shortly afterward. I pray His knowledge will bring revelation to your spirit and awaken His purpose in you. The Lord is calling His people to return to Him, to return to His ways, His laws, His commandments and experience the full weight of His kingdom in our lives.

-For the Kingdom

Ham’s Sin

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Oct 152010

I hope this short lesson will help those with a passion for studying God’s word identify some techniques I use when studying. Let’s look at this.

Noah had 3 sons- Shem, Ham and Japheth. In chapter 9 of Genesis, Ham had committed a sin. This sin caused Noah to be so angry that one of Ham’s seeds, Canaan, was cursed… the entire lineage of people from the seed of Canaan. What was Ham’s sin?

Genesis 9: 18-29
18. And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
20. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
24. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
KJV

First off, in verse 18 there is something significant.
“18. And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.”

Noah had three sons and Noah’s three sons each had children. So what made Ham’s seed significant enough to mention. A quick look at chapter 10 will reveal that this was not Ham’s only son…

Genesis 10:6
6. And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
KJV

We never want to just read over something so quickly in the bible and disregard anything as just “flavor text” or filler- everything written actually means something. So why if Ham had 4 sons is Canaan mentioned in verse 18? Why is this seed significant?

Look at verse 22
“22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.”

In this verse Ham is, again, identified specifically as the father of Canaan. So we need to dig a little deeper with this text at this point and find out what is going on here. What does this verse mean by “saw the nakedness of his father“? By reading verses 20-21,

20. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

-we could easily assume this was talking about Noah being naked and move on- but that would not explain the anger of his father and the cursing of an entire seed. There is something missing…

Well something we often overlook, especially those of us who live in the western world, is that when a man and a woman get married they become one flesh. They are no longer two, but one the bible says. So we overlook the fact that Noah had three sons and therefore had to have a wife to bear him these children. Sometimes you may see on an announcement about, or a letter to a married couple- addressed as “Mr. and Mrs. John Doe”. We know because they are married that this includes John Doe’s wife even though her name is not mentioned. When in verse 21 it says “and he was uncovered within his tent” this is referring to Noah’s wife.

Now back to verse 22- what does “saw the nakedness of his father” mean? Well a quick trip through the book of Leviticus will open up revelation to us on this…

Leviticus 20:11
11. And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
KJV

Whoa! Now Noah’s anger is definitely understandable! Now let’s seal this fact.

25. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

I like the term used in the NASB which helps us to really understand who Canaan’s brethren are.

25. So he said, Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.
NASB

Well we know that Ham is Canaan’s father, so who are Canaan’s brothers? well… read on…

26. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Wait a minute… Canaan shall be the servant of Shem and Japheth- so Shem and Japheth are his brothers… but that’s Ham’s brothers. So how can Canaan have the same brothers as his father? Only if Canaan’s mother is the mother of Shem and Japheth.

And there you have it. Canaan was a seed that was not supposed to be. The land should have been inhabited by the three sons of Noah, but because of Ham’s sin a fourth was added that would cause much issue for Abraham’s seed that was unnecessary. The promised land was the land of Canaan, that Abraham was sent into, which is where the descendants of Canaan dwelt. Canaan’s curse was so important to identify, that Abraham gave important instruction to his son Isaac not to take a wife of the children of Canaan- as did Isaac give instruction of this to Jacob. Esau in his rebellion to his father, took wives of this lineage from Canaan through Ishmael.

It never pays to break God’s laws- it only makes things harder. God has given us specific instruction about life- and it’s all for our good. He is the manufacturer of all creation and knows what is best for His design.

Praise God for His instruction, I will delight myself in His laws and in Him will I trust and obey!

-For the Kingdom!

It Is Good

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Oct 072010

Genesis 1:1-2
1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
KJV

Genesis 1:9-12
9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
KJV

In these few short verses we see the beginning of creation by God. We see God’s intentions for the earth and His creation. But something that I notice that is comforting to my spirit… when God starts a work in something He doesn’t quit until “it is good”. His desire is to conform us to the image of His son, Jesus. Anything the Lord has under His responsibility, He takes care of it and nurtures it, until “it is good”.

But if we resist, if we reject, if we disobey- then we’re not His, and we’re like the mulberry tree that didn’t bear fruit… and we all know what He said to the mulberry tree- “Be withered away.”

-For The Kingdom!

Order Gives Fulfillment

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Sep 202010

Alright, so here is a very well known scripture- but one we must remind our self of constantly.

1 Corinthians 14:40
Let all things be done decently and in order.
KJV

How many successful businesses do you know of that are in complete disorder when it comes to their bookkeeping, inventory, staffing, tax filing or other important areas. I’m not talking about “John’s Peaches” on the side of some random road. I’m talking about a proven business that has went through the ups and downs of the market and has sustained profitable results through these trying times. Probably zero or very few… and of the few they are most likely borderline bankrupt. It just doesn’t happen.

One of the greatest feelings in life is going to work or your place of business and fulfilling a needed duty for which you receive compensation in the form of green paper. That little green paper is earned for providing a service or skill that benefited others. When at work most of us enjoy that feeling of doing something important while earning those monetary notes- But there is also something we may not realize or be constantly aware of while doing our jobs that is a reward in and of itself, and that is the order of our environment. We often don’t give much thought at work about where to find a pen, pad of paper, find a proper place to work on a laptop, or other trivial necessity. We need a pen, it’s in the desk- need a pad of paper, on the left side of the desk… For some reason it just isn’t as smooth at home all the time. I don’t know how many times I have found myself yelling to my wife in desperation “Where’s a pen!?! I need a pen !?! …oh thanks… Where something to write on?!?”

I cannot always control where things are in the house, as there is usually more than one hand on them in any given day, but something far more important I can control is my time. God is a God of order and we being His creation in His image should realize we need to act in like manner. If we’re His children, why do we think we can go without having order in our life and expect successful results? I mean… He’s GOD! He does everything decently and in order. He does everything in proper time. Even Jesus came “when the time had fully come”.

Just so there is no confusion, I am not talking about scheduling every minute of a service down to the final 2 minute warning with prayer before the buzzer and we all leave and go eat chicken. No, no, no- that’s programming God out of our service and that’s another writing for another day.

But God does expect us to make the best use of our time as His citizens.

Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
KJV

Judging from this scripture, I have so much time on earth while I am in this body. I know I have purpose to fulfill and I need to be about my work and getting things done. I don’t have a “heavenly slot machine” by which I can win life tokens for extra years, I don’t have a pause button for life, and God doesn’t plan on rewinding what has passed just so I can get a do-over for time wasted. So I have to do the best with what I have. But how many times do we come home from our orderly jobs, with our tightly knit agendas that use every ounce of time to its fullest, only to sit down on the couch and think about all the things we need to get done but become tired just thinking about it? Uncompleted tasks, projects, potential ideas keep piling up… but the only thing we succeed at is FAILING TO ACT! Sometimes we try, but we start one thing only to get scatter brained while thinking about the other things we need to do… and we often go to bed thinking “I just can’t get caught up around here.”

Well remember who you are- you were made in His image AND in His likeness. It is not natural for you to be disorderly. You cannot run a company like this, so why do you think you can get positive results in your life without order? I had someone recently tell me “I just can’t find time to read… I’m too busy” The reason we can’t find time to read is the same reason we can’t find time to pray, we don’t make time. We have to appoint times and bring order to our life. Prayer is the most important thing a citizen of the kingdom can do each day… yet it is often neglected… and we wonder where is God and why can I not get anything done. Because your life is out of order.

King David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant to his place and decided to have it brought on a cart, which was not the way God had told them to transport it. When the ark began to fall, Uzza tried to stop it and touched the ark and he died. After a few months of leaving the ark at Obededom’s, David acted differently in his approach to this task…

1 Chronicles 15: 12-13
12) And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.
13) For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.
KJV

Sometimes God will allow affliction to come on you, because it’s the only way to get His stubborn children in line with His plan. So prayer is a daily necessity in bringing complete satisfactory order to our day. Notice I did not say just “order” but “satisfactory order”. That’s because you may get results because of a well structured plan, but you’ll be missing a key component to your personal satisfaction and any results can only be sustained temporarily with a “no prayer agenda”. And yes, you need to assign times for prayer. I love God with all my heart and have seen great and mighty things, but I have yet to have the Holy Spirit in the form of a cloud pick me up out of my bed, float me out of my room to a solitary place, wake me up gently and say “Please pray…” I have times He gets my attention but the majority of the time it is a discipline… and one we definitely need to work on.

So make time be what you want it to be, grab a hold of it and bring order to it. Assign tasks to your morning and evening and you will see great rewarding results and feel accomplished at the end of the day. I am convinced that the primary reason for this feeling of accomplishment is because you are in right standing with the kingdom and in the King’s favor when you dominate your life. (Genesis 1:26). You’re acting just like your Daddy… in Heaven.

Start today, get a pad of paper and assign what you will do each day. It doesn’t have to be perfect- AND don’t just “think” what you want to do because that’s why we’re doing this exercise in the first place. Your mental agenda has a way of rescheduling indefinitely. So WRITE IT DOWN, and you can adjust as needed after a few days. An example would be…

6:00AM: Wake up / Pray
6:30AM: Get Ready
7:00AM: Leave for Work – School – Etc
–Blah–Blah–Blah–
6:00PM Arrive Home – Relax
6:30PM: Cook
7:00PM: Exercise – Shower
8:00PM: Read Book
8:30PM: Study Bible
9:00PM: Free Time

This is just an example and time durations for certain things will vary but- TRY IT! Write it down, commit to it, and follow through for 21 days so it becomes a habit. If you don’t like it, you can always go back to procrastinating- it will welcome you with slothful arms.

But kingdom citizens are not lazy, they ACT, and their diligence brings reward.

For The Kingdom!

Purpose of Prayer – Lesson 2

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Sep 062010

Continuing with the study on the purpose of prayer, we dive into scripture that will bring understanding to God’s purpose for mankind for communication through prayer. This lesson will help you to begin understanding, why should we pray?

It’s Your Mentality

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Aug 242010

Proverbs 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
KJV

We must be careful what to call things in life. What we call something determines how we respond to it. When an emergency vehicle comes down the street, we move over in our cars and let them through, why? Because we know there is an emergency, whether a fire or a medical emergency, and they are trying to get to the scene in order to help- so we call those vehicles emergency vehicles. We respond to them because of what we know them as and we move so they can get through. We don’t do this for any other car.

Depending on the person and the need, cotton may be responded to differently. For one person, their mind being on designing, they may make clothing out of it. For another person, their mind being on mechanical work, they may grab it and think “shop towel”.

We must be careful in what we call things in life, because it determines outcome. If the doctor says “You are sick and you’ll be dead in six months.” If we make ready our will, tell everyone goodbye, get comfortable in a place to pass away, and give up fighting all together- then they’ll die. Their mind has determined this is the end. But if that person fires up and says “I shall not die!” and they start making future plans, pray unto God claiming His word for healing, exercising, and believing this is not the end- then they have activated their faith and they will live! They have chose to believe God’s word more than the doctor’s report.

Let’s look at Jesus and what He did. Lazarus was sick unto death, they said, and they sent word to Jesus. Jesus’ reply, “This sickness is not unto death.” Then Lazarus died and they sent word to Jesus. Jesus responds, “He is not dead, but asleep.” See if He called it death then that’s the end, but if he’s only asleep then all you have to do is wake him up. The disciples didn’t understand and so He told them “Lazarus is dead.” But He did this to teach us something. What we call a thing determines how we respond to it. So you know the rest of the story. Another time Jesus did the same thing with a young girl. He goes into the house and says “She’s not dead but only sleeping, child arise.” THIS IS POWERFUL!

Our mentality has to change about our situations. Another good example is in the beginning when God created the earth. The bible says the earth was dark and without form. You don’t see God say “Man, it’s so dark…” He just spoke what He desired of the situation, “Let there be light.”

As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. So when your boss or co-workers come against you at work, your normal reaction may be “Oh no, trouble!” But stop this cycle there! Remind yourself of who you are! Say this and claim it…

I am not from this place, but was placed in this place for a purpose! My Father in heaven sent me to do a work and has called me according to His purpose. No weapon formed against me can prosper. I was made in the image of my Creator and given power and dominion over the earth in His like manner over all creation. I am never alone and He always hears me, because I am His child and a citizen of His kingdom. The kingdom is in me and is never desolate of ideas, never bankrupt, never breached. I overcome every obstacle put before me, because my God can never let me be destroyed, for His namesake. Nothing is trouble unto me, but rather and opportunity. Every trial is an opportunity for my increase. Every battle has been allowed by God for my growth and my strengthening in Him. I will not fear for I trust in my deliverer, my shield, my buckler, the LORD! He is the Owner over all the earth! I will praise His name in the midst of any circumstance because through Him, I am guaranteed to win!

Now believe that and walk in it!

For The Kingdom!

I’m Doing Great…

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Aug 122010

I went into a restroom today and ran into a young guy who had a walking stick with him. He was completely blind. He had some hearing devices attached to his ears which were fairly large in size. I know technology has made huge advances in hearing equipment and the sizes of them have become incredibly small. My own grandfather is deaf without his, and even his is not noticeable unless looking directly into his ear canal. So I was aware that this guy’s hearing was severely impaired.

As I went to wash my hands I said “How are you?”

His reply “I’m doing great!”

…wow

I couldn’t help but think about the times I had complained in my mind about trivial bothers… Makes me think to myself- “Shut up with your complaining!”

This guy- who cannot see the colors of the sun, the flowers, the bright and dark greens of plants, the blue skies and white clouds, nor hear without all this equipment attached to his ears- yet he can still reply “I’m doing great!” with enthusiasm- what do I have to complain about. How blessed so many of us are that take for granted our senses.

I began to pray “Lord, if I pray for him, will You heal him?” Now I know God’s will is for him to be healed- but sometimes in the moment I can lack the faith to commit. The enemy will plant a thousand “What Ifs”. The Ifs don’t matter, for faith is believing God’s word, laws and promises regardless of circumstances. The evidence of the unseen hope is in God’s word. But before I could finish this thought, he had left.

I will see him again soon. Will those who read this do something for me, right now? Pray for this young man’s eyes and ears to be opened. Pray the Lord will heal him when I see him again and I pray for him… or before then is great too!

How am I? I’m doing great!

The Lord’s Prayer 09

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Aug 102010

Luke 11:4
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
KJV

Now let’s get a couple of things clear first. When you enter into prayer you need to be prepared to enter His courts before you begin your petitions. Remember this scripture…

Psalm 66:18
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
KJV

We don’t need anything to hinder us in our prayers- so we must make sure to take prayer seriously. Now we’re not doing this for show or to be religious by any means. We take this seriously because we are showing the sincerity of our hearts. Roy Porter, a good pastor friend of mine, said something in a message recently that I really liked. He spoke about Abraham building altars everywhere he went to pray. He said prayer should take time and have a commitment made to it.

I started thinking about this. When Abraham got ready to pray, it wasn’t just jump in the car and talk along the way, though I do this sometimes and that’s fine- he had to prepare. It took something from him to pray. It took a commitment. He had to lug rocks into one place and build them up to form an altar. Most of us after all that work would think “Man, I’m tired- time for a glass of tea.” But it was part of the process- to carry rocks into one place, form them into an altar, then to make petition to God. He was showing him he was serious about what he was doing. Now I’m not saying to get out in your yard and start piling rocks together, but at least prepare yourself to be presentable before the Holy God before entering into prayer. We’re His children, but even children have to show respect and honor their fathers. How much more honor is our Father in heaven deserve from His earthly children?

So we love Him by showing Him the honor He deserves in our preparation for prayer. Reminding Him of His word which shows we understand the foundation of His word that we stand on.

‘Lord, you said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me“– so Lord remember thy word “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) So Lord as I prepare myself to enter into your presence prepare me with your forgiveness- so that you can hear me according to your word.’

Now we are showing God we are serious about our requests and petitions and about Who He is. Do you think this sounds too heavy? Unreasonable? Look at the priests of the time during the Ark of the Covenant. They had to tie a rope around the priest’s leg before entering the Vail where the Ark was. If they had sin upon them, they would drop dead. They had bells on the bottom of their robes and if the bells quit ringing, they would yank them out with the rope and ask the next priest if he was ready to go in. Still want to be in ministry? Has this changed today? Well, many of us have prayed, or been singing in service, or trying to worship and God had pulled our rope as soon as we entered the door. We’re clapping, singing, even shouting but no presence of God. Has your rope been pulled? Prepare to enter His presence and don’t take it lightly. God honors those whose heart is sincere and who has shown up to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Wow, I’m going to have to continue on this part tomorrow…

For The Kingdom!

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