“The Enemy Within”

The Enemy Within

What an awesome season we are in. God has blessed, revealed, and confirmed in these past few weeks. The purpose for this church has widened in scope. God is positioning us to change more than just ourselves, and our community.

There are people everywhere in need of the faith, love, and prayers that we embrace. Doubt and fear is a cloud of darkness. It hides the revelation we love. The story of Jesus. That is the light of the world.

“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” Ro. 13:12 KJV

I want to share some thoughts titled, “The Enemy Within”

There are four areas in our life that we have to deal with. You might say they are enemies to the plan and purpose of God. If you remember from last week, God has already given us the promises we need to be successful in our walk with Christ.

Just as He gave the children of Israel the promised land, we have to take our promises just as they had to take the land.

They fought a physical enemy. We are fighting something different. There are 4 areas of our life we must conquer. I will deal with 2 today.

The mind, and the will. Buckle your seat belts

Let’s begin with an attitude adjustment!!

Philippians 2:5-8 KJV

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Verse 5 from the Amp reads, “Have this same attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus [look to Him as your example in selfless humility],”

Humility has been lacking in Kingdom authority in this day and time. You can’t even begin to embrace the promises of God until you break before Him, and know it is not about you. It is all about Him.

The 1^st area of our life we must deal with is our mind.

Romans 7:21-25

21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,

23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Romans 7:21-23 Message

21“It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. 22 I truly delight in God’s commands,

23 but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.”

Our minds and our thoughts. There is a war going on for our thoughts.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16

14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.

16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Verse 16 AMPC

For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.

The second issue we must deal with is our will.

Joshua gave a charge to the children of Israel when the land had been taken.

Joshua 24:14-15

14 “Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Believing the promise is only the beginning. You then have to disregard all the reasons why you can’t, and then choose to do what He said you can do.

Choose to believe and receive, or choose to walk away.

Here is a familiar word from David

Psalms 143:8-10 NASB

8 Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.

10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

We have to be taught to do His will. Prayer, study, counsel.

Let me close with this admonition from Hebrews.

Hebrews 13:20-21 NASB

20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,

21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Strengthen (complete, perfect) and make you what you ought to be.

What will you choose? Your thoughts, or your will. Imperfect and lacking.

Choose you this day!!! #wewill #inHisname

“It Either is, or it Ain’t”

It Either is, or it Ain’t

Our thoughts and prayers are always on this ministry, and the people who are faithful to continue with us in obedience to God’s Word, and our work in this community.

I mentioned last week that God was speaking to multiple people. It seems to be a common message of entering a new season for Amazing Life Church. I am excited to see God confirming His word, and challenging us to get ready to embrace His greatness.

Our faith and confidence in the Father must remain strong. Our prayers for wisdom and understanding must be consistent.

Holy Father knows that I will never embrace cookie cutter religion. I am not interested in following the popular movement. Being religiously correct.

I am however, very interested in stepping out of the boat. Climbing the mountain. Casting the net. I am interested in stopping to help the one who has been beaten and left for dead. “Beaten down with life, alcohol, drugs, failure and disappointment.” I am interested in becoming more like Jesus. Embracing His fulness, and I am very interested in challenging you to do the same.

I come to you in His name to share some thoughts titled,“It Either is, or it Ain’t”

For your information. I googled, “How many promises are in the Bible?” Several sites came up and I chose Bible Gateway. It responded with 5467 Divine promises. “Promise number one”

Hebrews 6:13-18

13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,

14 saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”

15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

16 For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,

18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

Hebrews 6:18 AMPC

This was so that, by two unchangeable things His promise and His oath in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled to Him for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before us.

God has laid the foundation for our life and its purpose. The foundation to build upon has an eternal cornerstone. A chief cornerstone. All the weight of our life. Our destiny, our success, our ministry, our everything is built upon Jesus. “His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension.” Himself declaring, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

God said to Abraham, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”

In verse 17 God said He would do the same for the heirs of the promise, In verse 18 Father defines such, as those who have taken refuge in Him.

Deuteronomy 1:6-8

6 “The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

7 Turn and set your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negev and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.

8 See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them.’

The word Horeb from the Hebrew means, desert. It comes from a root word which means, to be waste, lay waste, make desolate, be desolate, be in ruins.

God said you have stayed long enough.

Why the urgency?

Preach conforming to your surroundings.

No blessings there.

The blessing is in the promise.

You may have to go through the desert, but don’t stay too long.

You have to get up and leave the ruins, and take what God has promised. God gives, and we have to take it.

The children of Israel never realized the promise under the leadership of Moses. Joshua took His place and did two very important things to claim the promise of God.

Joshua 11:23

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Thus the land had rest from war.

He took it all. The second is very important, and relevant to us today.

Joshua 12:7

Now these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated beyond the Jordan toward the west, from Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even as far as Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir; and Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their divisions,

It goes on to list all the kings by name and territory.

Joshua 12:24

the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.

To realize the promises of God, you will have to believe they are yours. You will have to remove every obstacle that hinders you from receiving them.

Colossians 2:8-15

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

“It Either is, or it Ain’t”

#wewill #inHisname

“Calling for Maturity”

Calling for Maturity

I want to share some thoughts titled, “Calling for Maturity”

“God is calling for the saints to scripturally position themselves. He is not winking at Spiritual ignorance and religious traditions. He is calling for the maturity of the saints.”

1 Corinthians 14:20 KJV

Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

1 Corinthians 14:20 AMP

Brothers and sisters, do not be children [immature, childlike] in your thinking; be infants in [matters of] evil [completely innocent and inexperienced], but in your minds be mature [adults].

Ephesians 4:9-16 KJV

9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:15 TLB

Instead, we will lovingly follow the truth at all times—speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly—and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the Head of his body, the Church.

AMPC

Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

The phrase speak the truth comes from a Greek with a very broad meaning. It means, “to speak the truth, teach the truth, profess the truth. To be true in doctrine and in your profession of faith.”

Love is from the Greek agape, and it means brotherly love, affection, goodwill, and benevolence.

Nothing in this passage tells us to use it to attack, judge and condemn. Nothing in this passage gives us the right to tell anyone anything beyond the story of Jesus. It is a command for us to personally know, speak, live, and declare the Gospel of our Lord.

Pulpit commentary says this of verse 15. “Truth is the element in which we live, move, and have our being. Being consistent in truth is the backbone of Christian ministry. Truth must be inseparably married to love.”

This passage ends with an exhortation. “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”

Hebrews 5:11-14 KJV

11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.

12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

12-13 Amplified

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers [because of the time you have had to learn these truths], you actually need someone to teach you again the elementary principles of God’s word [from the beginning], and you have come to be continually in need of milk, not solid food.

13 For everyone who lives on milk is [doctrinally inexperienced and] unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a spiritual infant.

#wewill #inHisname

“What Difference Does it Make”

What Difference Does it Make

Establishing on a firm foundation of love and grace, the Biblical principles that will strengthen and encourage those who hear. The same principles that move us beyond these walls, and with great authority, impact our community.

You might say this is the mission statement that I have used to form the words I share each week. Hoping and praying that purpose will take our thoughts and dreams forward in the plan of God.

I want to share some thoughts titled, “What Difference Does it Make?”

Balak, king of Moab. Feared Israel.

Numbers 23:19-21 KJV

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.

AMPC

19 God is not a man, that He should tell or act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance or compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?

20 You see, I have received His command to bless Israel. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse or qualify it.

21 [God] has not beheld iniquity in Jacob [for he is forgiven], neither has He seen mischief or perverseness in Israel [for the same reason]. The Lord their God is with Israel, and the shout of praise to their King is among the people.

David wrote in Psalms 138:7, KJV. “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.”

(The enemy can not touch the blessed of God.)

Psalm 102 does not have a confirmed author but some Believe it was written by David after his trouble with Absalom. The header says this. “Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion. A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.”

Psalms 102:24-28 KJV

24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.

25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:

27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

28 The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee. We Are Blessed

Hebrews 1:10-12 KJV

10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

(God is eternally the same!)

Hebrews 13:8 KJV

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Hebrews 13:20-21 KJV

20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

James 1:16-17

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

James 1:17 AMP

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].

He never changes. He never moves from His purpose. Revival, awakening, a move of God is not about where we are. If God moves in, Dallas, Pensacola, Canada, Kentucky, California, The Colonies.

Azusa Street, and on and on. “What Difference Does it Make?” (If God did it anywhere, He will do it here.)

(The enemy can not touch the blessed of God.)

1 John 4:4 AMP

Little children (believers, dear ones), you are of God and you belong to Him and have [already] overcome them [the agents of the antichrist]; because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind].

What difference does it make where we are at. God is the same. He simply needs us, needs you to say yes.

Yes to His love and grace. Yes to the call in your heart. Yes to the dream you have. Yes to His kingdom authority. Yes to the blood He shed for you.

#wewill #inHisname