It's All About Jesus!

After a few weeks of holding my breath, yesterday I was handed the key to our building! (exhales) Now, I've got to get insurance,utilities of various types,and of course nearly everything else that will be needed. I've put up an add on Craigslist of Southeast Missouri soliciting donations of office furniture,partitions,and used carpeting. My partner and I are planning to talk with some of the local ministers to let them know what we're trying to get going,we definitely could use some help! Our mission is to bless as many people as possible with the services we plan to offer, but I think that it's going to be just as much of a blessing to those who decide to help us. I've inquired around at a few of the local help agencies and apparently there isn't any sort of open drug or alcohol abuse support group meetings currently being held anywhere. It occurred to me what a great opportunity it would be for us to pursue, and also for many people in the church to act as mentors! The one "saying" that's been going through my mind is...

"All that's necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand idly by and do nothing"

In the last fifty years or so the church has lost so much precious ground! I don't feel like there's anyone who doesn't know that! I also know that church's do lots of great work in this country and all over the world but unfortunately here in the United States they're perceived by many as hypocritical and judgmental. So much of the work done by church's happens outside the country while the spiritual needs of our own go unmet. Sure, we have sanctuaries everywhere but I'm afraid we're following in the footsteps of Europe where the majority of the church's are empty, empty because they had a "high on the mountaintop" attitude,because they tried to keep Jesus all to themselves and away from the masses,because in the end, despite the gilded rituals and dry dogma they really didn't have much left to offer anyway.

The Dead Sea

It reminds me of the Jordan river, it flows from the sea of Galilee which is full of life into the Dead sea that isn't,because it's incredibly salty and there's no outlet. The Spirit of The Lord is like electricity, it won't flow through a connection that's not connected, or through a people who won't reach out for those whom The Father loves and wants so desperately to reach.

Like many of you I've felt overwhelmed by the size of the powers and principalities that we're at war against. Of all the weapons that have been formed against me personally in my life, I feel that the one's that have done the most damage are hopelessness and discouragement. I found these verses in 2 Kings that have given me hope and encouragement, and emboldened me to walk even more so in faith...

¹⁵And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

¹⁶And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

¹⁷And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

Elisha wasn't alone or outnumbered,and neither are we! When we come together as the body of Christ it's no contest!

And that's definitely what it's all about, reaching people for Christ! Introducing the people of a fallen world to a risen Savior! Through the compassion and understanding we can express through this ministry we know the victory has already been won, that hearts can be touched and strongholds of the enemy can be brought down.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say...."SO"

Okay, "SO" what am I blathering about now? This had better be important...or at least be interesting! well, I've certainly thrown down the gauntlet to myself...SO, here goes!

Saying "SO", let the redeemed say it, to all of the things which our enemy in this life seeks to bring against us. to all of the sickness, or lack of any sort we perceive in our lives! for we have as our possession the "great pearl," that wondrous work done on our behalf at Calvary, even now! we posses it, and we shall live in the spirit and the fruit of it, denying any other "perceived" real need, selling all that we own to possess that one "pearl of great value!"

I like to try to keep things simple, "SO" what am I saying here? If what was done for us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross is'nt enough to give us un-ending joy...then we should ask ourselves, "do I really believe it?," maybe I just didn't "get it" because if we did, I think we might realize more of the fruit of the spirit in our lives! We spend so much time focused on what we lack, or perhaps on what we want God to do for us, but how do we feel about what he's already done? IS IT ENOUGH? I would submit to you that it is, so much more than just "enough"...then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou are! Is that the song of your soul? or do you see God as some sort of "metaphysical messenger boy" who will satisfy your wandering desires you submit to him "in faith" brothers/sisters, we simply cannot expect God to bless us abundantly in our lives or hear our prayers when our attitude is "well,what have you done for me lately,or here's my list of stuff" instead of living in the joy of what he's already done! It has to be "enough" if it's not, then we have missed it, the greatest expression of love ever revealed to man, the single source of ALL power for living in victory over sin, the one true catalyst thats needed to put into action all of the wonderful things that God wants to bring into our lives. It's more that just an "attitude of gratitude" it's an undivided focus on Him that brings blessings to us! We're told to seek first the kingdom of heaven, and that the kingdom of heaven is within us, IT CAN BE,and IT MUST BE! "what must we do to be saved?" only believe, like a little child, trusting only in Him, who has plans not to harm us,but to prosper us and lift us up,drawing us unto Himself. We are called to be His diciples, to go out into the world and proclaim His truth! but friend, what sort of example are we showing to the world of what it means to have a relationship with Christ? We face a world dominated by our enemy, "SO"... we're playing without home court advantage, if we're going to be successful we must have the Baptism of the Spirit to put our enemy under our foot and show the world what it means to be "in Christ," and the wonder of our Lord's love! Lord, keep me from being a lukewarm Christian, defeated by this world,powerless against sin and the enemy, when all I have to do is say "SO"

The Blessed Atonement

No Christian should deny that through the Holy Spirit we are empowered to live holy lives or that we are given the victory over sin and death based on the atoning blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If healing was not meant to be practiced today just as it was in the early church why doesn't it say so in Gods word? In the book of Isaiah chapter 53:5 it says "That by his stripes we are healed" That seems present tense to me. We claim that Jesus is our redeemer and yet place different conditions upon His willingness or to heal our sicknesses and diseases. We profess our faith in Him and place our eternal souls in His care, shouldn't it also make sense to trust him right now? We have a tendency to place our own limitations on God for various reasons. We ask Gods forgiveness and receive it through our faith and acceptance of Christ's sacrificial work on our behalf. We must also come before Him in the same faith seeking providence for any need in our lives especially our healing. God is just as willing to heal us as he is to forgive us. We have no question or reluctance to praise God for His gift of "divine health" which is freely given to us. When we see our "divine healing" as being unavailable or somehow dependent on a new or distinct choice by God we disqualify ourselves from it. Our acceptance of the gift of healing is just as much based in our faith as is our salvation. There is no salvation without repentance and no true repentance without "re-birth" or change in our hearts. Accepting Christ as our savior means we acknowledge our need of redemption and that we have forsaken any other means than Christ to accomplish it. Do we trust too much when we say "You Jesus Christ are my only savior and I will have no other than you" Why should trusting in God for our healing be any different? Proverbs 3:5-8 says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes;fear the Lord,and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel,and marrow to thy bones." I think it's critical to understand from this verse what it means by "directing our paths." We have no basis for limiting how God see's fit to provide our needs, sometimes that can mean hearing Him tell us to go see a doctor.
I earnestly desire that the world would catch sight of the greatness of our Lord! In order for that to be accomplished we must first sink so that He might rise, sit down before he can stand up! We are utterly dependent on His grace which enables us to be justified to cry out to Him"Abba Father" and know that he hears. Knowing also that He is the perfect father who is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. That in seeking first the kingdom of heaven we will find that all good things are added unto us. Not only does He provide for our daily needs, he provides us with divine healing,health and life! With the faith of a little child and a simple promise "I will never leave you,nor forsake you" all of our walls fall down. We are the bottleneck preventing God from blessing our lives through His Spirit. If we find ourselves in the position of attempting to explain why our ministries aren't accompanied by "signs and wonders" Let us not be so insolent toward God as to attribute it to His will...but to our shortcomings

What are these "shortcomings" that prevent us from experiencing the blessings of God?

Pride: It's very difficult for God to bless us if we think we "are" God, or if we try to put ourselves in his place in our lives. Believing that we are in control or that we can handle "the world" doesn't work. Pride is often a cover up for our insecurities which are based in our awareness of the "poor effect" of our worldly remedies. We have great difficulty defending our continued reliance on them or in putting them aside in favor of Gods ways. We should never let our "spiritual pride" limit the way's that God can "love on us." Money isn't evil,but the love of it is! Medicine's aren't evil either,but the love of them is just as evil. There's a balance to be struck and a legalistic attitude to be avoided. God truly can use any circumstances to bless us, it's amazing to me that God would provide our redemption through Christ and include in that atonement our healing. But also love us so much that He would be willing to use medicine's and give doctors wisdom to heal us as well. It's difficult to understand the love that is represented by Jesus' coming to earth from glory to lay down His life for us. Even more difficult for me is to hold onto my pride knowing it.

Unforgiveness: In Matthews gospel it gives us the example of how our unforgiveness compels God to anger. "And his master was angry,and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due him." Who or what are our torturers? Sickness and disease? Anxiety and worry? Depression and condemnation? addictions? These are but a few of our "demons." Holding unforgiveness in our hearts prevents Gods spirit from moving when we ask. We need to be motivated by our desire to know God, asking God to change us and being compelled to forgive everyone in our lives who has wronged us. Mark 6:12-13 says "So they went out and preached that people should repent, and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them."

Fear: The primary tool our enemy uses to keep us in bondage. It's closely related to mis-trust often rising out of our relationship with our earthly father. Each of us will face thousands of decisions in our lives, it's the choice of where we invest our trust that will determine who is the "sponsor" of our thought's. Our hearts and minds are a battlefield, Christ understood this perfectly. Thats why He made such a point of stressing that we should sanctify our hearts and gaurd our thought's, and most importantly...Fear not!

unbelief: Jesus encountered unbelief when He came to Nazereth. There was an atmosphere of unbelief based in the familiarity they had with who they thought Jesus was, we have the same problem today. We believe in our power and control, we see ourselves as our own gods in many ways. In our hearts we know the definite limits of our facade and in our mis-understanding of God we project those limits onto Him.