Why wait?

Patience is not waiting. Patience is how you act while you wait.  God makes us wait to get us ready to receive what He has for us.    

How to get free

Jesus came to set us free, not to make us sorry.  Grace invites us to be set free.  Then, truth sets us free.  We can fulfill the command of God by falling in love with Him.  

Romans 5:8

2 Cor. 5:14

John 3:17

1 John 5:12 

Satan tries to get us to doubt God's Word.  Don't doubt God and sin.  We lose our innocence and become cynical and experience shame.  

Genesis 3:1-7

We can't fulfill God's law by striving for it.  We must focus on our heart.  Not the externals.  Instead of trying to get God's approve.  We must accept God's love for us.  

1 Samuel 16:7

1 John 5:3

John 14:15

John 5:39-40

How are you going to approach God?  Religion is doing more to get to God.  Grace is receiving what God has done for us already.   

 

Genesis 2:16-17

I have a dream!

 A man without a dream is at the mercy of a man with a dream.  

What went wrong?

 Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God to make them happy. 

Miracles for the impossible

Matthew 19:26

Easy-to-Read Version

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “This is something that people cannot do. But God can do anything.”

1. We must remind ourselves who our God is.  

Don't base the answer to your prayers on your character, but God's character.  

 

 2 Chronicles 20:2-4

Easy-to-Read Version

2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “There is a large army coming against you from Edom. They are coming from the other side of the Dead Sea...

3 Jehoshaphat became afraid, and he decided to ask the Lord what to do. He announced a time of fasting for everyone in Judah. 

4 The people of Judah came together to ask the Lord for help. They came from out of all the towns of Judah to ask for the Lord’s help.

 

2. We must remind ourselves what God has done for us and others in the past.  

 

2 Chronicles 20:7

Easy-to-Read Version

(Jehoshaphat prayed) You are our God! You forced the people living in this land to leave. You did this in front of your people Israel. You gave this land to the descendants of Abraham forever. Abraham was your friend.

3. In faith, we ask God to do it again.  

2 Chronicles 20:12

Easy-to-Read Version

12 Our God, punish those people. We don’t have the strength to stop this large army that is coming against us. We don’t know what to do! We are looking to you for help.

Weapons of Mass Distraction

These words from the ancient prophet, Habakkuk, sound like they could have been written today.

Habakkuk 1:2-4  ESV

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 

3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 

4 So the law is paralyzed,     and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous;     so justice goes forth perverted.

Habakkuk was watching the wrong news. Then, Habakkuk took his mind off the news, and put them on God.

Habakkuk 2:1-3 ESV

2 I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he (God) will say to me,     and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

2 And the Lord answered me:

“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 

3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it;     it will surely come; it will not delay.

We must turn the world's volume down to hear the voice of the Lord.  We are facing Satan's weapons of mass distraction.

We must tune in the voice of the Lord.  The Bible is the voice of the Lord in print.  We must tune in God's Word. Let's tune out worldly voices and tune in the voice of God. God's answer is on its way!  

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Exodus 17:9-11 ESV

9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

Lifted hands are a symbol of praise and worship. The angelic realm win in our realm when we praise. It did in the passage above.

Read 1 Samuel 16:13-18. David played music to cause the demon spirit to flee from King Saul. We know David was big in praise and worship. He wrote much of the Psalms which is praise and worship. David defeated the demon in King Saul by his praise and worship songs.

Keep praise and worship on as much as possible, and keep praise and worship on your lips.

Psalm 149:6 NKJV 6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand.

The Spirit Empowered Life

1.  We are baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit when we are saved. 

 

1 Corinthians 12:13

ESV

13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body...and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

 

2. When we are baptized by water, we are making a public declaration of our faith.  

 

Acts 2:41

ESV

41 So those who received his word were (water) baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

 

3. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we are filled by Him. We are enabled to live a Holy Spirit empowered life.

Acts 8:5

ESV

5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 

12 But when they believed (salvation) Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were (water) baptized, both men and women.  

14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 

15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 

16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 

17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit (baptized in the Holy Spirit).

 

1 John 5:7-9

ESV

7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit (baptism) and the water (baptism) and the blood (salvation); and these three agree. 

 

Ezekiel 47:3-5

ESV

 

3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep (salvation). 

4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. (water baptism) 

5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through (Holy Spirit baptism).  

 

When we are saved, it is just the beginning.  When we are water baptized, we can fill the current because our feet are still on the ground.  When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, He is in control. We are swimming.

 

Lord Jesus, please save me from me. I surrender my life to you.  Holy Spirit please come into my heart and take over.  

The Trump Card

 

I know that President Trump is a seriously flawed individual just like the rest of us.  

But didn’t God say in 1 Samuel 2:30 …“I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disgraced.”?  

Hasn’t President Trump tried to honor God although he is seriously flawed?   Didn’t he help the Church to have a voice again?

Didn’t he move Israel’s embassy to Jerusalem? Didn’t he created jobs for all of us including minorities?  

Didn’t he appointed prolife judges to protect the unborn?  Isn’t he getting us out of our wars? 

Isn’t the 1 Samuel passage a promise of God to President Trump and to the rest of us flawed individuals? 

In Daniel 4:25, the scriptures said ^… you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

Because of these two verses, it doesn’t make any sense to me that God would be replacing Trump as President at this time because he has attempted to side with God to the best of his ability.  Because of these verses, I don’t think that God is through with President Trump. 

Then, why would God be taking President Trump and the rest of us through all this tribulation?  

I think it is in answer to our prayers in the spring when we prayed 2 Chronicles 7:14. God speaking “if my who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land”. When the pandemic hit last spring, didn’t we humble ourselves and pray and seek God’s help? 

In Matthew 24:12-14, didn’t Jesus predict “…because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold… “&” this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”  

Didn’t lawlessness increase after the pandemic hit, and after we humbled ourselves and prayed?  Is the second part of this passage about to happen?”   Are we about to see a worldwide revival?

Doesn’t God love long shots?  Didn’t He take Israel to the Red Sea and hedge them North and South by mountains?  Then, Israel’s enemies pursued them from the left, and Israel was hopeless.  Didn’t He make a way through the Red Sea when there wasn’t a way? 

Didn’t God tell Gideon to reduce his troops from 32,000 to 300 to defeat the mighty Midianite army?  What about the young shepherd boy David facing the mighty giant with no sword?  Why does God love long shots?

It’s because He is wanting to manifest His presence throughout the entire earth, and create a platform for His Gospel to be preached just like Jesus predicted.  Could it be that the tribulation that we are in right now is in answer to our prayers in the spring to humble ourselves and seek God’s face?

This is not a time to be discouraged, but to be encouraged. Could it the that Satan is attempting to circumvent a worldwide revival, and the spiritual war is being felt in the natural world? 

This is not a time to be discourage.  Isn’t God still on His throne?  Doesn’t God always keep His Word?  If God is for us who can be against us? 

It’s time to Christian up and take up the whole armor of God for we are not warring against flesh and blood, but the unseen in the spirit world.  We must stand our ground by keeping God’s Word and His praise in our mouths and pray that Jesus be magnified to all mankind.  Let’s stand still, and see God’s salvation.                    

What made Lucifer Satan?

We all worship something.  

 

Worship is our response to what we value most.  

 

Who was the first worshipper? Lucifer.

 

There were three (head) angels mentioned by name in the Bible.  

1. Michael responds to prayer.  (Daniel 10:13)

2. Gabriel delivers the Word of God.  (Luke 1:19)

3. Lucifer lead heaven's Worship of God.  (Isaiah 14:11-14)

 

Lucifer lead the worship of God in heaven.   

 

Lucifer had the ability to produce the sound of string, percussion, and wind instruments within his body.  (Isaiah 14:11, Ezekiel 28:13).

 

Don't underestimate the power of music.  There is a spiritual anointing in all music either from God or Satan.  Be careful what you listen too. 

Lucifer traded His position as worship leader in heaven in attempt to share God's throne.  (Isaiah 14:12-14)  This got him kicked out of heaven.  (Ezekiel 28:14-17, Luke 10:18). A third of the angels followed Lucifer.  (Revelation 12:4).   

 

In addition to being kicked out of heaven, God took his name Lucifer from him (which means light-bringer), and God renamed him devil which means tempter or Satan which means accuser.

 

It appears that Lucifer got kicked out of heaven in between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.  

 

God had created the heavens and the earth, but something had made it formless and void.     

 

When Lucifer was kicked out of heaven onto the earth it made the earth a wasteland.  

 

The Genesis 1 account is actually a recreation of the earth that was destroyed in Lucifer's rebellion.

 

Notice in Ezekiel 28:13 Lucifer was already in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. 

 

How did God make mankind through Adam and Eve? To create means to form something out of nothing.  God created the universe out of nothing.  

 

To make something, means to form something out of something that already exist.  

 

God made our spirits from His own Spirit, but He made our bodies from the ground.  (Genesis 1:26, Genesis 2:17)

 

God wanted there to be a relationship between what He made and what He made it from.  

 

Like there will always be a relationship with a tree and the ground.  Our bodies need the produce of the ground to survive.

 

Our spirits need God Himself to survive because we were made from Him. God created Eve because Adam was lonely.  God created mankind because He was lonely.  

 

God wants to be loved.  He desired to be worshipped.   (John 4:23)

 

God made us to be His worship leaders.  

 

He made within our bodies the abilities of the three musical instrument groups, too.  

 

God made our bodies with vocal chords with are the string instruments.  

 

God made our lungs to blow wind instrument.  

 

Lastly, he made our hands to clap which are our percussion instruments.

 

Our bodies were made for worship. All three musical instruments are within us, too!        

 

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/made-for-worship1

Are you committed?

Most people fail not because of a lack of desire, but a lack of commitment.  Vince Lombardi

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,

    and he will make straight your paths.  

 

Do we trust God fully with everything?  Have you gone in?  God despises lukewarmnest.  

 

A fully committed heart unlocks the promise of God.

  

 

2 Chronicles 16:9 NIV

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...  

 

 

God's going to strengthen someone today.  Why not you?

 

Trust means to cling and refuse to let go.  We can all cling to God and His Word. God's Word has the power for it's own fulfillment.  

We try to think our way through our problems.   There are some things that we will never understand this side of heaven.

  

Our faith in God must sustain the weight of our reality.  

  

How to get God's attention

Mark 12:30 ESV 

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

 

 

1. We worship God by expressing our heart and soul (affections) to God.  

2.  We worship God by focusing our mind (attention) on God.

3.  We worship God by using our strength (abilities) for God.   

 

God doesn't answer prayer based upon who you are, but who He is.

 

God is attracted to people who authentically worship Him.

 

John 4:23

ESV

...the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

 

2 Chronicles 16:9

ESV

9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him...