Straight Talk From The Pastor

 

I Decided To Open My Mouth

Daniel 10:12

Then (the Angel) said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.

When Daniel sought miraculous things from God, he obtained them.

Angels were on assignment to bring him his answer and to minister to his needs – And that was under the Old Covenant! How much more can we expect the attention of Heaven when we engage with God to receive, now that Jesus has paid the price once and for all for every single area of our lives that has ever fallen short of God’s standard.

Like Adam and his wife Eve when they lost one of their son, they experience a time of great devastation, but Eve realized that God had appointed for them “another seed”. Maybe we failed in the past, or experienced massive disappointment; Thanks be unto God, it has been revealed to us, that God has appointed for us another opportunity and another breakthrough.

It’s time to let mercy rewrite your story, and let Grace give you more than you deserve. The past is behind you, and you are not tied to it. As we set our minds to break the cycle of sameness that has frustrated our lives and we insist on seeing the manifestations of the things that haven’t worked yet; there are a few things that we have to do in imitation of Daniel, to unlock the promise of God over our lives.

Notice that Daniel SET his heart to receive his answer. He wasn’t waiting for his answer to show up before he made a decision that he was going to have it. He SET HIS HEART before there was any sign of the answer showing up.

Once you lose the fear of failure, and set your faith by making a decision to receive, you activate the unseen forces of Heaven, which come together to bring your manifestation. Your decision is the door into reality. Conversely there will be no manifestation until you set your mind to expect something, because you have determined that you will have it THIS YEAR!

Whatever it is that you have set your mind to receive, start to SPEAK IT. The angel said to Daniel this astonishing thing, “I have come because of your words.”

Do you really believe that your words are heard in Heaven?

From now on you must live in the consciousness that the angels are activated by your words. With that in place you will start to release only words that you want to see become flesh in your life.

Christmas reminds us that God is able to make the word into a living reality. Jesus took on flesh and dwelt among us. In the same way, the Word that you believe will become your reality. In fact we will all be able to tell what you have been believing by looking at your life.

Don’t start saying, “It’s just not happening!” You don’t want those words to become your reality. If you really can’t bring yourself to say, “It’s working for me now,” when you still can’t see anything; at least learn to say nothing and hold your silence! Don’t speak against your own advancement, speak the Word! Whoever will give voice to the Word will get the angels to move.

What is it that you want to happen in 2015? Give voice to it!

There is a saying that people living in the country use to say, “The closed mouth will not get fed”. You must decide to open your mouth – and speak.

So yes, you have God’s permission to walk with a little swagger, or appear to be a little bombastic. Have that millionaire bounce even as you confess it with nothing showing in your account. If you’re not willing to look a little crazy, you’re not ready to receive a miracle.

You can tell when someone is sure about where they are going: success has a rhythm and a pace. It has a posture and a mindset and a language. Everything in your life has to be calibrated towards what you want, because you are releasing your faith for victory in your life.

This year is going to be well if you make it so, by releasing words of success and getting that determination to see what you believe for.

Release words every day; “This year my body is going to cooperate! This year I am buying my house! This year I am coming from the background into the forefront, and I am first in line!”

You are a spiritual authority in the Earth. Send your Words into that situation. You don’t even have to be there, because the realm of the spirit knows no distance. Your word will prevail.

“This year my children will be saved. This year I am out of debt. This year I have the friends I need! This year I will meet my mate. This year I will give birth to a healthy, beautiful child”

Start with the highest thing you can hope for, and your ability to set your mind and keep it set, speaking out boldly the end from the beginning because God can do exceedingly, abundantly above all that you could ask or imagine. If heaven is to assist you,

You Must Decide To Open Your Mouth

Building You Future

James 3:2

If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.

We can tell how perfect you are based on the words you speak. The words that are in your life control your whole body. Speaking comes before action every time.

In the gospel of John (6:63), Jesus teaches us on the anatomy of words. He lets us know that words or contain a spiritual element and words also produce what they are directed towards, (spirit and life).

The words you live under lead you either into fear, defeat, victim mindset and self condemnation, or into peace, self esteem, confidence and faith. If you want to find pleasure in where you end up in life, you first have to choose the words that will take you to such a destination.

Notice as you read on in James, that he likens the tongue to the rudder of a ship, determining its course. The winds do not have the final say where the ship ends up – the rudder does.

There are all kinds of winds. In the sea of life you will be tossed to and fro by the different seasons, but you can still set your rudder. An illness, getting fired, someone dying; they are not what is going to turn your life’s course unless you get in agreement with their discouraging prognosis for how your life will end up.

Scripture is replete with teachings on about the words that shape our lives, for instance in 1 Peter 1:23, we are told that our new birth is a results of, “Having Been Born Again, Not Of Corruptible Seed But Incorruptible, Through The Word Of God Which Lives And Abides Forever”. The word of God is call seed to your future. Question; what do you do with seed? You must sow seed. If you don’t sow seed, you will not reap a harvest. One of the most damaging things we often see, is people speaking against their own advancement. We can sow the seed for our advancement while we are in the church among the company of believers by what we say, especially in an environment where we are asked to repeat or make confessions over our lives. Then we take the seed out of the ground at home by talking about what will never happened for us.

The words of your mouth pilot you to your destination. If you want a life that is worth living, you must never give up your right to choose the words you live under.

Bad experiences don’t control you. In fact challenges are an opportunity for you to get better as a person. But the words you believe and speak will direct your life.

In the passage, the writer mentions the tongue because it is what produces and issues forth our words – so literally it is our words that pilot us to certain destinations.

 One other truth about the matter how life in the kingdom of God is designed to bring about manifestation. It is a revelation that I got from what Jesus teaches in discipline of prayer. In Luke 17: 21, here Jesus teaches us that the entire “Kingdom of God” is within us — All of heavens resources are already inside of you when you accept Jesus.

 So If The Kingdom Of God Is Within Us….It wont be about us looking upward for heaven to come down to us, it will be about us pushing out the heaven that God has placed in my heart by speaking words of faith, whether in prayer or confession.

 WOW.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  Marvelous are Your works,And that my soul knows very well.

Without His Presence, What’s The Point…

Ex 33:15-16   NLT

15 Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. 16 How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”

When Moses was bringing the Israelites up into the Promised Land, God was so frustrated with the people and their stiff-necked, stubborn ways, that He didn’t even want to be associated with them anymore. He made an offer to Moses that they should go into the land and enjoy all the good things that God had prepared for them, but God Himself was not volunteering to go with them, in case He got so mad with them that He killed them.

Many Christians today would be very content to take God up on that offer. Just as long as they would have the things that they are praying for – the house, the car, the better job, physical healing, and of course, and the man or woman of their dream!

Even when it comes to the Church many attend on a weekly basis, they are not even bothered whether or not the presence of God is really there. Instead, their concern is, “Did the service meet my need?”

When sermon titles like, “How to beat stress” , Seven keys to the abundant life”, are so popular and common, it’s clear that the church is trying to package God to make Him appear acceptable to men, rather than lifting people to God’s level.  They try to make God likable to men, when the plan of God is to raise us up and make us just like Him.

How can people prescribe what they need to be taught and where they need to get to, when they don’t even understand fully where they are right now? Yet week by week there is an emphasis on what goes over well and what is intellectually pleasing in the church experience. It is all about looking nice and feeling nice, but there is no power. Church has become a glorified social club where we learn about God. But it’s one thing to know about a person and a totally different thing to experience that person.

If you can predict week by week what is going to take place in Church, then your Christian experience is far too natural; when all the time you and I were born again to live from our spirit, not from our soul. If we are going to have Bible authenticity, we have to move away from churches that are merely giant classrooms. We have to get to the place where, like Moses, we yearn for Him, and we feel that without His presence there is simply no point trying to move on.

Of course it is vital to be well taught, but we don’t just come to church to listen to an instructor. There have to be times when the pastor gets right out of the way and the Holy Ghost takes control. There must be a part of the service where the worship isn’t coming out of the instruments, but out of the depths of our hearts. There must be room for the prophet of the house to speak to the people, not about what they think they need, but from the heart of God.

People who have a shallow church experience, and who never go far in coming to a knowledge of God Himself, are always shocked, when trouble comes, at how little power they have in their lives. All the time that things are going well, they look the same as Christians who pursue the presence and power of God, but when the evil day comes, as it inevitably does, all of a sudden they are gone. Their faith rested on the wisdom of men rather than on the power of God. When they used to build ships out of wood, they stretched ropes around the entire ship to hold it together in a storm. These ropes were called “helps”. The reason for this was because they understood that once you get out onto the sea, you cannot be merely hoping that you will make it. You have to make the vessel with the storm in mind.

The Holy Ghost is our Helper and He is the one who makes us like the wind, never predictable and never stuck. We go through the same challenges, but we come out totally differently, because when what we say we believe is tested, we can pray and hear from God; we can use sword of the spirit, which is the word of God and see the supernatural hand of God take over as power is released in our situation.

If the church is to become distinguished and strong in this generation, we have to have both the Word and the Spirit. We have to be able to paint the person of Jesus so clearly in the minds and hearts of the hearers, until Jesus leaps out of the book while we are preaching and heals someone’s body right there in the middle of the sermon. We have to have been with Him to the point where we know Him so well that we can release Him to be God in our midst.

Like Moses, if His presence go not with us, “What’s the Point”?

Will You Becoming A Runner?

A few weeks ago I taught from the theme, “God Included You”.  Sometimes in preaching and teaching we don’t have time to point out all we need to because usually there is so much more pertaining to the matter. In that message I emphasized that “It Is The Nature Of God To Always Meet The Needs In Which The Times Demand. God is not nervous about the decadence and the perils of our times…..He is looking for vessels to anoint that will rise to the occasion. He always works through leaders that have consecrated themselves to His service, our assignment is to receive vision and articulate it to people connected to us, thus our times can be redeemed and society can be blessed. I would like to refer to such people as “Runners”

Habakkuk 2:2

Write the vision and make in plain on tablets, so that he may run who reads it.

When a man or woman receives a vision from Heaven of what God wants accomplished on the Earth, his or her first move is often to look for money to facilitate it.

But the greatest resource that a vision can have is not money; it is people – people who are passionate about the Kingdom Of God; people who understand that their lives are strategic to God’s eternal purpose, and who declare, “This is what I want to spend my whole life on.”

Above all else a vision requires people who will run with it. The main reason why any vision doesn’t get off the ground is because it lacks runners.

The runners are those who take hold of the vision and practicalize it. It will require a great company of giftings and multifaceted wisdom to bring the GHCF vision to its fullest expression.

Not only that, but we are called to be runners with a defined race We are not to be aimless, as one beating the air, but those who run with focus and discipline, so that we can win the prize. Winning is the reward of those who run consistently within their lane, and who will say, “Leave that segment of the race to me. I have it covered.”

When a person starts to run, it demands an explanation. When you start to run, others will begin to run alongside you, simply because you are running. Your influence for the Kingdom will immediately be increased.

A runner experiences a shift in every part of his being: his metabolism, his focus, his mindset and what is important to him, all will change. Nothing remains the same. Under the anointing, he is turned into another man. Every Christian should at least one time, experience the anointing coming upon him to the degree that he is shocked at himself and at what God will do through him.

It’s time to go into the enemy’s camp and to discover ourselves and what God will do with our lives, once we give ourselves over to Him. Maybe you don’t believe you have the strength or the time to do what God called you to do. Become part of the company of runners who gather under this vision and let the Holy Ghost come upon you.

A company of runners will have multiplied strength. Even an ox tied to a donkey will pull harder, even though the donkey isn’t actually yoked up. There will be a synergy, that will give us the ability to change a generation. As we march as one, each of us will become giants, and our God will be glorified.

The question may be asked, Pastor what are you looking for in those calling themselves member of this fellowship? The answer will be, “Will you be a runner? Not a lone runner, remaining independent and self-directed; but a member of a company of runners, flowing as a team and allowing God to maximize your impact”.

Let God’s purposes become your driving force as you run your set race.

That is the Greater Harvest that I see.

Still Yes

Genesis 17:1; 10-12

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty…. 10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

When God came to Abram in Genesis 17, it wasn’t for the first time. Abram had received the promise of God when he was seventy five years old, but as of yet he had no son. Like so many of us, Abram tried to fulfill God promise by human manipulation, he and his wife pull Hagar into their anguish of unbelief, and the rest is history.

Yet Romans chapter 4 reports that Abraham didn’t stagger at the promise of God; that he was strong in faith. So what happened?

Genesis 17 was a turning point for Abram, because God revealed Himself to him as El-Shaddai.

Like many languages, Hebrew has gender attached to words. The name “El-Shaddai” literally means “The Many Breasted One”. The image is of a child nursing at her mother’s breast; of nourishment, comfort, security and rich supply.

Up to that point Abraham had only met the God of power, (ADONIA – The Sovereign Lord ) the one who was ready to speak to his sense of purpose, to stretch him to maximize his potential and draw out his greatness.

Yet, however much had been prophesied over him, he didn’t have the ability to lay hold of it because he lacked a sense of reassurance. He knew he didn’t deserve the fulfillment of such a great promise. He knew that God had seen how he had treated his wife with Abimelech and Pharaoh. He knew God had seen him with Hagar. How could he have confidence in God now?

And then God showed him His private affection and exclusive loyalty. Abram understood for the first time that God would do things for him that he did not deserve and the promises of God was not based on human reasoning nor human perfection. God assured Abram that He would do for him what no one else would do.

God let him know, “This isn’t a casual relationship. I will go to the death for you and there is nothing you can do to run me away.”

Right then Abram and his family were circumcised. A cut was made in a place so private that only the most intimate can see. Since God would give Him everything, Abram did not withhold anything in return.

What is it that has taken you 24 years? You have come up with plan B because of the passage of time, and now you feel you are too old. Hope has all but died.

You can have all that He is. He sees you where no one else sees you and He refuses to hold your sin against you. What can you lose by letting God deal with you most private issue, weaknesses and insecurities, it is call “Wholeness”, that is why Jesus died, to bring us into our fullness. The beauty of the gospel message is that when it is presented correctly, you will see that it deals with every area of shame.

I often tell people that if you are really serious about experiencing your “Yes”, in your dealings with El-Shaddai, put your worst foot forward. He can’t be impressed or disappointed. He already know what you need, you must admit what you need. He will help you with your weaknesses.

His answer to you is “Still Yes”.

 

So, You Want To Know About Giving

There Is No Getting Away From It; The Kingdom Of God Is Operated By Tithes And Offerings.

One thing that surprises many people who come to our ministry for the first time is how we don’t manipulate, threaten, or beg during offering times.

They are literally amazed that we only receive one offering in our service, and we show people we trust them to hear from God by not put any pressure on them whatsoever to give.

However, people are distrustful of the system that God has set up because of greedy flamboyant men and women who have exploited the teachings of sowing and reaping for personal gain.

Most people can give you a version of some type of exploitation they have seen, or heard about as it relates to ministries not being good stewards of the monies they receive from well-meaning givers. Sometimes it seems that these trusted leaders have no qualms about inventing new names for offerings to persuade people to give more.

Something is wrong here! While I see in the Word that the gospel will cause us to prosper in every area of our lives, there surely is a limit to how many cars a single individual can drive! It seems that the work of the ministry is far from their minds, and they have forgotten the weight of the commission Jesus gave to us all.

However, just because we have witnessed these things, does that mean we should stop engaging in the dynamic spiritual principles of sowing and reaping and of seedtime and harvest?

Let’s set some records straight. As people on assignment, we should not have to apologize for anything we do when it aligns with the Word of God, including taking offerings, because we are born again, and we want the fullness of what God has for us as believers.

What many people don’t realize is it is spiritually illegal for a pastor to receive tithes and offerings from people he does not feed.  So a pastor who merely shares some thoughts, or gets everyone excited and shouting, without giving them anything from the Word to build their lives with, is an abuse of spiritual law. It is the responsibility of the pastor to nourish and feed the people God has entrusted to Him before He can think of taking an offering.

On the flip side, when a believer receives spiritually, you should reciprocate with the natural. It is equally wrong for the people of God to receive spiritual enrichment and fail to make a contribution;  to be closed and unresponsive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to release an offering, this too is an abuse of spiritual law.

When people don’t understand the significance of their spiritual connection, they fail to close the loop with tithes and offerings.

If you are in the right ministry, you will receive spiritual food when you show up. That’s an indication that THIS is the man or woman of God who God has sent to you. That is your cue to sow into that anointing that is feeding you. That is the seed which will bring your supernatural increase.

Ministry Costs Money, but we never resort to gimmicks and emotional manipulation. Consequently we don’t promise special privileges to the person who gives more, and we don’t invite people to flaunt their generosity for all to see by making it public knowledge in the service. These are tools for the manipulator. However, divine prosperity is a closed loop. You can only tap into it through releasing what’s in your hand. Harvest will only respond to seed and you can’t pray past giving.

We recognize that people’s money and resources are precious and their offering is a gift from God Himself. We have respect for people’s walk with God and their ability to act responsibly towards the purposes of God. Their finances can’t be abused. I learned very early in ministry not to ask people to give any specific amount, since that is between them and God.

We expect people to be sensitive to what God is prompting them to do, and to give freely and willingly so that the work of the gospel can prosper.

When we get people to understand why they give a contribution, and the pastor to understand that he must not prostitute God’s people for money, we can then achieve balance. The needs of the gospel will be met, and the people of God will prosper and increase as they are supposed to.

You can’t keep someone broke who gives according to the principles of the Kingdom!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Attractive Life Is Built One Day At A Time

Genesis 11:6c

Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

 Many people are no longer in touch with the dream they once had in life.

Yet others go on to fulfill their dreams despite setbacks, discouragements and impossibilities.

So many start out with great ideas, but find themselves limited when they take instruction from their circumstances rather than from their dream. They act in accordance with what is, rather than what could be. Real vision is the ability to go beyond what is and to bring about what should be.

Most people live small lives because they accept what is. You have to have more faith in what you see on the inside than what you see on the outside and the Word of God shows us that man is so powerful that, if he is focused and single minded, he can bring it about.

The different between dreamers and successful people is the discipline of execution. If you talk more than you do, you will never have a different reality. It is action that distinguishes those who have and those who talk about it.

If you have a vision of becoming debt free, you will have to start taking note of your spending and balance your check book. If you want to have an attractive Life, you will have to stop eating junk food and start working out.

Every dream has appropriate behavior that goes with it. It won’t matter how much you pray, or take authority over the devil, if you won’t act in line with your dream, even in the face of circumstances that are radically different, you will never realize it.

If you have no vision of an excellent future you will return to what you know. Familiarity will keep you average. Not many of us start out excellent, but if you are willing to entertain lofty ideas and come away from what is familiar, you can break the cycle of sameness in your family and go further in life than anyone before you ever has.

What do you want to become? It’s not too late to dream again and bury the regrets and disappointments of the past. God will cause new determination and excitement to rise in you as you let God envision you again. If you are willing to be focused and to act, you can move into the greatest and most fulfilling season of your life.

Man is an amazing being, we are the only creatures with the ability to step back from ourselves and observe ourselves. A dog or a horse can’t do that, they don’t have the ability to change their circumstances, we can live one way for 5 years and then totally differently for the next 5 years, since we are in control of what we choose to absorb, we can chose the words we wish to live under.

The word of God is living and powerful, chose life.

 

 

 

If You Can Believe It, You Can See It.

2 Cor 4:13

And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak”,

The question for so many believers may well be, how do I get to journey from my present station in life to where I desire to be in the near or distance future. How do I get to the place wherein   The Holy Spirit will showcase my gifts and bring me from obscurity to stand before people of influence? Will the glory of God ever cause me to Shine in all my endeavors and help me move from glory to glory?

Contrary to what many well meaning Christians will tell you, these are not selfish and ungodly aspirations. Actually many in the body of Christ aim far too low in their personal goals and dreams.

I learnt that God is my source. And I learnt to obey His Word by calling things that are not as though they are. The spirit of faith is that if we have the courage to believe what God has instructed, then we need to speak His word and trust the power of God to bring manifestation.

The Word of God is the great leveler. It doesn’t take heed to where you came from, or what education you had. It doesn’t ask for outstanding talent or great wisdom – only for enough to do this: to take it and make it your own and then shape your future with it as you speak it over your life as if your very existence depended on it.

Take the Word that represents your dream and speak it over your life today and every day. Don’t let up. Don’t give up. Call those things that are not as though they are. Every man will eventually stand in the midst of His confession and will see what He believe

 Why Not Start Here:

Today the Lord is causing every area of my life to experience a supernatural resurrection and fresh vitality. My God is breathing life again into everything I touch and bringing me incredible increase and influence.

I declare that I am being promoted to another level as I yield right now to the greater One Who dwells on the inside of me .

I am infused with fresh resolve and energy for the battles I am facing. I am strengthened by the knowledge that my battles are neither lost nor hopelessly desperate.  I declare that today I perceive that God is still orchestrating many intangibles behind the scenes to cause me to triumph despite set backs and discouragement.

I declare that the Lord wins every battle for me, especially those that have been going on for a while. I am experiencing unlimited “suddenlies” in every arena of life:  Suddenly healing; suddenly increase; suddenly restoration; suddenly favour; suddenly promotion; suddenly dreams coming alive again; suddenly end of litigation and suddenly Open Doors!

AMEN!

1 Sam 14:6-8

6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised;  it may be that the Lord will work for us.  For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”  7 So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.” 8Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them.

1 Sam 14:8  Webster

8Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over to these men, and we will discover ourselves to them.

Let’s See What God Will Do?

If you read further in the chapter, you will see that as Jonathan and his armorbearer took action and went to the enemy’s camp, God sent a localized earthquake and destroyed their enemies….

Maybe they told you, you can’t own that kind of house,

Or you can’t have that kind of job,

Or you will not get healthy.

Or your ministry will never reach the men in your community.

Doors that seem closed from a distance – will open by the time you get there – if God sent you over there. Move toward it, and see what God will do?

Very few people live their lives; most people simply exist from day to day, letting life happen to them.

The truth is that we will never find our reason to be here on planet earth until we connect with the purpose of God in our lives. But living life just like everyone else, with our minds fixed on the world’s way of doing things will not enable us to make a significant mark on our generation.

Unbelievers “toil and spin” (Matthew 6:27-29). In a godless system where every individual is on his own in making his life work, worry is the driving force and manipulation of people and events to personal advantage is the order of the day.

Any Christian who chooses to live that way, just like everyone else, will have to become good at duplicity: one face for Church and one for getting what they need from the world. One face for being nice to people on  Sunday and another for dealing with the toughness of the world.

The world’s system will never crown you champion without putting skeletons in your closet, and then it will use those skeletons to exert leverage over you.

The Kingdom of God works by sowing and reaping and trusting God for your harvest while you sow your life as a seed into His purposes. And the blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow to it.

Which way is it going to be in your life?

I encourage you to let God love you. He will never reject you and He does not condemn you. His love brings out the best in you, so yield to Him today and trust Him to take care of you as you operate His system. No one can do you like Jesus and He will never mismanage your life!

Come, let us move toward the things that God is showing us, and there we will discover ourselves

Praying For You As Always.