Berith - Messages Archives

Mastering Money Matters

2010-06-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks Pastor Rick has been reviewing a series of questions from the people here at Berith about this Mastering Money Matters Series.

Questions have ranged from how to tithe, to paying down high interest loans.

Pastor Rick has taken us step by step through these questions, and even unearthed the motivations behind them. The last few weeks have been amazing, full of insight, and revelation about our attitudes towards money.

To get all of the details, please see the Audio team and order a copy of the messages from the series. This Q&A is one you do not want to miss.

Mastering Money Matters pt.11

2010-05-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

Handling Money Wisely

As we continue in this series, today we'll discuss handling money wisely. There are specific things we need to do be rich. We are abundantly blessed, but perhaps the disconnect is your finances aren’t being handled wisely.

In earlier messages, we talked about being an Earnest Earner, and learning there is a blessing and dignity in work. Then we explored how to be a Shrewd Spender, one who enjoys the fruits of their labor while guarding against materialism. Last week we learned about being Dutiful Debtors, only using credit strategically, and always repaying and trying to avoid debt.

1. I must walk the line between sowing and hoarding. Find the balance. Saving is putting aside money for an appropriate goal. Hoarding is stockpiling money beyond reason for no good purpose.

Pastor illustrated this definition using two fictitious couples: The “Wise Wilsons,” a family who plans and saves for vacation, relying on cash and a pre-established budget. The “Stressed Smiths” on the other hand, financed their vacation using credit cards and very little savings. On average, purchases made on credit cards cost at least 1/3 more because of interest fees.

Refer to the following Scriptures for Biblical examples on how to strike the balance between saving and hoarding:
Proverb 21:20
Proverb 11:24 – righteous people give
Proverb 8:1-5; 17-20
Proverb 11:4
1 Corinthians 1:30

Wisdom builds the house; understanding keeps the house standing; and knowledge fills the cupboards of the house.

Ask the Lord to teach you, help you define what is enough. Know and stay within your limits.

Savings goals:
1. Establish an emergency fund of $1,000 and do not touch it. Allow it to grow into a cushion account of no less than six months total household expenses. Keep this fund liquid in a money market account, for example.
2. Establish a project account – money you stock away for major repairs to your house or car. A certificate of deposit (CD) is appropriate.
3. Open a wealth builder account, such as an IRA.

A savvy saver = one who builds, preserves, and invests with wisdom; to shrewdly understand, canny wisdom.

Mastering Money Matters - pt. 9

2010-04-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

Handling Money Wisely

As we continue in this series, I pray and believe that you are gaining insight and revelation, and most importantly, rearranging your thinking about money. We have made the following tools available to help you in this process: 1) a Spending Record intended to track your monthly spending; and 2) a Money Meanings survey intended to gauge what money means to you. Last Wednesday in Covenant Circles, we identified four predominant attitudes tied to money: freedom, security, power, or notions of love. This survey is an important tool to understanding why and how your emotion is tied to money. Your emotional reaction to money is how money moves into God’s territory – all of these responses to money (love, freedom, power or security) are what God is to His children.

1. I am not supposed to spend everything that comes into my hands. Some money is intended to bless others, including your Man of God and the ministry. The world tells things will make you happy and give you the status you feel you need.
Proverb 27:23, 24 –Being diligent or paying attention to your finances is a promise to be blessed. Why? Because riches aren’t forever.
Philippians 4:10-13, 19 – Paul advised us that balance is key. Not to be too full or too hungry, but in just the right balance in giving and receiving. Why should you change when you have too much? Or too little? Abundance is meant to carry you for something else. God intends you to be full and empty at the same time! If you live in the balance, it doesn’t matter if you have little or a ton.
1 Timothy 6:6-8; 17-19 – God intends for you to enjoy the fruits of your labor, and spread the rest. But not every dollar that comes to you is intended for you. It is very difficult to help others when you’re broke yourself! You have to have it first before you can give it, which should be motivation enough to have more. Having a willing heart to give is what comes after.
Ecclesiastes 5:10; 18-20 -- A wise man doesn’t spend his days worrying about the future, but rather enjoys the fruit of his labor. There has to be more to it than just your blessing, but to bless others.
Luke 12:15 – Jesus warned us take care not to be greedy. Your life does not consist of the status or material things you have.

A shrewd (wise, sharp, artful, one who pays attention to detail) spender is one who enjoys the fruit of their labor but guards against materialism.

Our job is to earn a giving, not a living! Our work (labor) is to fulfill a purpose, to work out what God has put in you.

Mastering Money Matters

2010-03-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

The condition of everyone’s heart is different. However one thing is true; financial decisions are spiritual decisions.

1. God rewards me according to my faithfulness.
1 Corinthians 4:2 – “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” –

Luke 19:11-24 – in this parable, Jesus teaches us that He is a rewarder of faith – to any degree in which He finds it! Like many of us, the servants questioned why the nobleman took back that which he had given to the wicked servant and gave it to the servant who had the most. It isn’t fair that the servant who had the most (ten cities) be given ten more pounds

How are we doing? The congregation received a brief survey intended to gauge where we stand against the national averages shared last week. Questions included: Are finances a source of stress in your home? Are you living paycheck to paycheck? Are you behind in your mortgage? Do you tithe? Do you give offerings? The good news is in most areas we fared better than the national average – but there is opportunity for growth.

2. For results, I must mix the Word with my faith.
Mark 4:19, 20 – the “cares of this word” prevent the Word from taking root in the heart.

Some examples of the “care of this world” are found in the Scriptures below:
• Luke 10:41 – there is a time and place for hustle and bustle. Instead of worshipping with Jesus, Martha complained about all the work she had to do.
• Luke 12:17 – hoarding or thinking security lies in possessions (stuff and things).
• Luke 14:15-24 – daily life chokes the Word. This involves putting other things such as your family, job, or social life before Christ.
• Luke 21:34 – over indulging in drugs, drink, or raucous living can choke the Word.
• Proverb 23:4 – chasing money as a path to happiness will choke the Word. Allow God to bring your desires to you.

3. God’s covenant is my security.
1 Timothy 6:9, 10 – those that strive to be rich instead of allowing God to provide fall into “temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts…”
1 Corinthians 6:9 – keep yourself pure, avoiding temptations.

Mastering Money Matters - pt. 2

2010-02-23T07:37:00.000-08:00

Man’s Economy vs. God’s Economy

Our decisions about money are spiritual decisions. Our relationship with money determines who (or what) has your heart. Matters concerning money are the only place in the Bible where God challenges us to prove Him. Many people when it comes to finances (children of God included) see themselves as a victim or a slave – you are neither!

1. I must choose between man’s or God’s economy. Don’t ever give away your power of choice, because it is God-given. Matthew 6:19-21 tells us that where we place our treasure is where we can find our heart.

2. A Side-by-side comparison. Let’s conduct a Consumer Reports exercise of sorts to see where you are:
STEP 1: Who is the master? Who is running the show? The Scriptures noted below highlight the difference.
Man’s economy – Money is the master.
• Proverb 23 4, 5; 27:20
God’s economy – God is the Master.
• Jeremiah 31; Romans 5:8

STEP 2: What are the values?
Man’s economy – The pursuit of pleasure, possessions, and influence are the values. People often try to medicate themselves with those three lusts of the flesh.
• 1 John 2:16
God’s economy – The difference is receiving God’s gift vs. being driven to succeed, and you are ready and willing to share
• 1 Timothy 6:19; 9

STEP 3: What is the purpose of wealth?
Man’s economy – Independence – the feeling of “look at what I did” is the purpose. To boost your own sense of worth in your or other’s eyes.
• Deuteronomy 8:10 – 17
God’s economy – Developing a relationship with, and a dependence upon God is the purpose in order to establish and fulfill God’s plans.
• Deuteronomy 8:18

STEP 4: What is success?
Man’s economy – Feeling as if “nothing can touch me” is the definition of success.
• Proverb 18:11; Psalm 49:6
God’s economy – The desire to please God is the definition of success.
• Luke 16:10-12

STEP 5: What are the prospects? In other words, where will the end? What’s the destiny?
Man’s economy –Death and destruction are the only end.
• 1 John 2:15
God’s economy – Eternally, increasing rewards are the destiny.
• Mark 10:17-31

Mastering Money Matters - pt.1

2010-02-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

We know Pastor is a big movie buff. So in perfect form, we opened this new series with a classic film clip from the 1987 movie, Wall Street, which was used to illustrate the world’s promotion of greed. From the outset please know that children of God must not fear or be intimated by the world’s economies (stock market, taxes) because God provides to those who are loyal to Him. This series will address the first layer of any money problem – it is a heart and faith subject.

Begin dealing with man’s economy versus God’s economy. Bottom line, man’s economy is greed. God’s is loyalty. You need to know there is a fight over what you believe about money. What you believe will determine who you serve, and the level of peace or stress in your life. Your money decisions are spiritual decisions. What you do with your money proves who you are, and who you will become.

Matthew 6:24; 6:21 – Jesus makes it clear that no one can serve two masters or that it is a choice of either/or. A person cannot be divided to have two allegiances. Remember God gave you the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 28) not a promise to give you wealth. Most people fall into the trap trying to live in both economies. The truth is; a person is a slave to greed until they allow God to perform heart surgery. God has to deliver us from greed.
Proverb 16:25 – you are not obligated to make one single move until God makes His way known to you.

“Greed” defined: Greed is an excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what is necessary.

The first step is to locate where you are

Be honest with yourself.

Go Huge!

2010-02-01T22:27:00.000-08:00

Giving God What He Desires Most
With God there is nothing but success, victory, and triumph. He has made us more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. Today we won’t discuss how to become a Christian, but rather the practical manner in which Christians should live as children of God to benefit from all that God has laid up for us. The blessing of God is a flow that you’re automatically under when you are in the right position. Just because God has given us favor doesn’t mean we’ll ever experience it!

To “Go Huge” is to go all the way, live or die – to put both feet squarely in! To receive God’s best you must give Him what He desires most.

1. Too many believers aren’t experiencing God’s best/fulfillment. God’s best is intended for everyone! James 1:6-8 warns us against divided loyalty between the God and the world – one foot in and one foot out. You cannot have one foot in emotion and the other in faith. You cannot walk by what you can see and walk by faith.

2. To receive God’s best; I must give Him what He desires most. What God wants most is 100% loyalty to Him.
Matthew 22:15-22 – The Pharisees’ attempt to flatter Jesus by asking Him if they should pay taxes, which at the time was a hot-button issue that if found guilty of violating, could result in death. To answer the wicked Pharisees, Jesus asked for a coin and was given a Roman denarius (used for paying taxes) and not the Jewish shekel which was used to worship God in the temple. Jesus pointed to the image and remarked, “‘Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’” Who or what are those “things that are God’s”? Genesis 1 tells us that we are created in the “image and likeness” of God and He has given us His name. We are those things that are God’s! This is relational, not religious.

3. God wants me to make Him the center of my life. Psalm 34:8-10 implores us to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” In the days this was written, eating food was very risky! No refrigeration, no health inspectors – tasting something unknown could result in instant death! By tasting, you are all in! There is no going back once you taste! See that the Lord is good.

Search the Scriptures below for more examples of those who “went huge.” None of whom were super saints, more holy, or any better than you. The difference is they were wiser and made smart decisions.

Luke 5:16-26
Matthew 5
Mark 10
Luke 19:1-10

The Ultimate Hook Up: Pt. 2

2010-01-27T22:12:00.000-08:00

The favor of God isn’t an accessory, but rather an aspect or byproduct of your relationship with God that will forever change the life of the person who understands. When everyone and everything is against you, know that as a child of God you are a member of His household and He is for you. God opens and closes doors no person can (Psalm 5:11, 12), not of our strength, but by God’s shield. It could be daunting to receive the favor of God but it doesn’t change God’s plan – you must be convinced. Favor is a force! You can strengthen it for protection.

There is no Scriptural foundation that God is somehow out to get you or punish you. As a parent in the natural, you’d be locked up if you committed violent acts against your children. Why then, do we blame God, our Heavenly Father, for the evil that comes against us?

1. Like hearing the Word of God produces faith, being covenant with God produces favor.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” -- Romans 10:17 Faith won’t be there automatically! See clearly: faith comes by putting yourself in the right position and environment where you can hear the Word. Knowledge and understanding comes by reading, but not faith. When you are in covenant with God (entered by faith), favor is the result. (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12)
“For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” – Psalm 30:5
Even if you have torched your entire life to the ground – allow God to build it back up! Live by His favor. Faith and favor are parallel. Your faith will have to grow to meet the favor demand.

2. Increase in favor like you can faith. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 – in this verse, “grows” means “non-stop increasing.” Jesus was in submission to his parents, which God gave as overseers. If you wish to increase the force-field of favor, increase your faith.
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” -- Luke 2:52.

3. How to make a claim on God’s favor:
Scriptural examples -- Luke 15; 5:5-17
• Know God’s will.
• Forget the odds.
• Go huge.

From Zero to Hero!

2010-01-11T19:46:00.000-08:00

Last week we started the year coming out of the gate by affirming we were Born to Win! Even though everyone has blown it at one time or another, we press forward in learning to see ourselves as God sees us. You have to raise your thoughts higher (Isaiah 55:8). This week, we go from Zero to Hero!

1. God thinks about me.
Imagine that? Jeremiah 20:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil to give you a future and a hope.” God has plans to give you the future you hoped for; don’t let anyone tell you different. He has given us “hope” Biblically defined as “expectation,” in other words; something has already been done for us. Think of expectation like this: You’d look pretty silly waiting for a bus standing on a street corner without a posted bus stop. No, you wait at the appropriated bus stop expecting a bus to arrive because the scheduled stop has already been pre-determined!
The realization of how God sees us was overwhelming to David, too. As we read in Psalm 8:3-6, “…what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels [God], and You have crowned him with glory and honor…” Reading this, how can you consider yourself a zero? The Hebrew definition of “angels” in this verse is “Elohim” or God. The Biblical translators had a hard time wrapping their minds around the fact that God sees man as little “g” gods and translated the word incorrectly. In truth, our position is higher than that of angels. (Psalm 82:6) Angels are servants, here to serve us and deliver messages. They are not to be worshipped (John 10:34).

2. God has a plan for me. You are a hero!
“Hero” defined: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent (we are children of God), endowed with great strength and ability (Romans 8:37), illustrious warrior; one that shows great courage. God sees you as an overcomer.

3. I need to see myself how God sees me. (Romans 12:2)
1 Corinthians 26-29; John 15:16; 1 John 5:1-4
All throughout the Bible are found people who the world would otherwise consider throwaways. Lest you think heroes of the Bible were perfect, here are a few examples: Rahab was a prostitute, yet she single-handedly saved the Nation of Israel with one act of bravery (Joshua 2). Moses was a murderer; Abraham distrusted God and disrespected his wife. David was a cocky boy. Peter was a failed fisherman who doubted. Paul was an executioner who killed in the “name of God.” God saw potential is every one of these flawed people, and their names are forever linked as those who were mighty in the faith.

Born to Win!

2010-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Born to Win!

In spite of all the significant occurrences of the past decade, all the uncertainty, calamity, and adversity, for example, Y2K, crumbling governments, worldwide economic crisis, wars and terrorism – the world has survived, but the people of God have overcome. God knows we need new beginnings. That’s why we wake up to a fresh start each day.

Romans 8:37-- “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
This is good news! A conqueror is the last one standing, but one who is “more than a conqueror” is the one who holds all the spoils! You’d better be clear where you stand when adversity strikes and set your focus straight like never before. All your thoughts, words and actions need to line up with this truth.

1. Jesus tells us about the troubles in the world, so we won’t be scared.
Fear comes as an indication of a void, emptiness, or that something isn’t quite right.
John 16:33 -- “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.”
The word “but” is bold to separate the above verse into two. Jesus guaranteed that we would face trials. BUT is on one side where there is fear, but on the other side of BUT is victory.

2. Be brave in every situation.
Jesus tells us in John 16:33 that He has deprived the world and any trial or tribulation of the power to harm us, therefore we are to be brave and courageous in every situation we face. Romans 8:37 ought to give us courage. You’re not fighting your battles alone. God has gone through everything first.
James 1:2-4 – “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
Why are you wearing fear on your face? Courage is not the absence of fear; it is walking through in spite of it! When you choose to be in Christ, you show the world the way out. Know by faith that in the problem your faith will produce so thoroughly that you will be complete, lacking nothing.
1 John 3:8 – “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy (break up, dissolve, melt or put off) the works of the devil.”

3. Our confidence comes from knowing that we win!
Failure is what you pass on the way to success. Don’t let fear be a stop post.
1 John 5:1, 4 – “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God… For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.”
Micah 7:8 – “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise.”
Proverb 24:16 – “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.”

Start declaring that you can take on ANYTHING the enemy dishes out. The battle is not yours! All you need is a will to rise. When you are in Christ, He gives you the will to get up!

Family Ties

2009-12-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks Pastor Rick has been teaching a topic entitled Family ties. These messages have been a lead up to an exciting new phase of ministry for Berith called Covenant Circles.

In Covenant Circles (C.C.), we will exercise our faith more for discipleship and kingdom increase in a small group setting.

Acts 6:1 – believers do the work, how else will we grow?
Acts 2:46, 47 – “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house (translated from the Greek: every house), they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Looking to the example the first church established, we see:

They were diligent to meet consistently.
Their meetings were centered around the Word.
Their meetings were marked by unity.
Their meetings included times of powerful prayer.
Their meetings celebrated God.
Their meetings were welcoming.
Their meeting attracted people and increased God’s kingdom.

Ephesians 4:11-16 – We are all called to different ministry gifts. Stay in your “own lane” for everyone’s prosperity!

Covenant Circles [an outflow of the Berith Christian Fellowship Vision] are to provide a consistent small group environment where participants’ lives are changed by growing in Christ, caring for one another, and impacting our community with God’s love.

Engaging the members in saint-to-saint ministry is the key.
There are more than 100 references to one another in the New Covenant. Here are a few we should adopt immediately:

1. Be kind, prefer one another -- Romans 12:10
2. Edify one another -- Romans 14:19
3. Receive one another (take to oneself or admit one to friendship) -- Romans 15:7
4. Care for one another -- 1 Corinthians 12:25
5. Serve one another -- Galatians 5:13
6. Be kind, forgive one another (rescue, pardon) -- Ephesians 4:32
7. Stop lying to one another (attempting to deceive) -- Colossians 3:9
8. Admonish one another (warn, put in the mind) -- Colossians 3:16
9. Confess and pray for one another -- James 5:16
10. Use hospitality to one another (welcome, appreciate) -- 1 Peter 4:9
11. Submit to one another (be humble) -- 1 Peter 5:5

We are called to reach as many people as possible through Christ, in balance with not overlooking any need. Discipleship only takes place when people get real with themselves and their circumstance.

You Are What You Think

2009-10-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

We all understand that you are what you eat physically. If you want to gain weight or lose weight, you eat accordingly. If you want to raise your blood pressure or lower it, you eat accordingly. And if you want to increase your energy levels or decrease them, you eat accordingly. It is the same for our minds and how we think. And this week Pastor Rick shared a message with us entitled "You Are What You Think".

One of the first points Pastor Rick communicated to all of those in attendance was that you've got to resolve and resign yourself to the fact that you are always blessed. Always. As Christians God has promised to exalt you and to provide for you in every way imaginable.

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7

Too many believers ask fruity questions. How will this ever happen for me? How is this going to work out? Why is this not going my way? And remember, these are the cries of believers...those who claim they know the Bible and are following the teachings of Jesus. Well to regular people listening, it is obvious that these "believers" do not really believe the Word of God. Moreover, the spiritual forces that are against all of God's children hear this doubt and unbelief too. And since the spirit world knows the rules that God has implemented for all to adhere to, this sends alerts that those crying are not living by the benefits of being in God's family. Whoa!

And when the enemy recognizes that you don't know you have all authority, you open yourself wide for attack and allow all kinds of problems to come your way.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8

He can't devour those who are living life according to God's Word. Why not? Because God promised to protect you. God said he would work all things together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). And if you love Him, you would do what he commands you to do...so you can continually propser!

Don't cause a curse to come into your life because of disobedience and unbelief. Proverbs 26:2 says that if you do not cause it, a curse will not come upon you. Additionally, those who have put their lives in God's hands through their faith in Jesus Christ have already been redeemed from the curse of the law and have God's protection and help while living here on earth.

God said you are blessed! Start thinking and living like it.

.

Security in Uncertain Times

2009-10-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that in our lifetime so many of worlds banks, brokerage houses, and even countries would essentially vanish. Who would have ever imagined that America's auto giants would be on the verge of extinction. As Pastor Rick taught a message entitled, Security in Uncertain Times, we were shown how the Word of God not only speaks to these realities we are living out today, but we were also reminded of how Gods Word has been consistent and yes...still here!

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come." 2 Timothy 3:1

It is obvious we are living in perilous times, but some may say what about the last days. Gloom and doom prophecies about the last days have been spoken about for centuries. Well Pastor Rick pointed out that the "last days" are a period of time. And in any period of time (i.e. the Ice Age, Stone Age, etc.) there are "times" that come within that period of time. Therefore we see that today we are experiencing the "perilous times" where all kinds of violence, greed, hate, and people trusting themselves more than trusting God. Pastor Rick reminded us that you'll always succeed trusting God, not man.

"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Psalm 118:8.

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:6

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3

As the message continued Pastor Rick showed us an easy way to identify if we are "really" trusting God or not. "What you talk about reveals who you trust." If your conversations go to the stock markets this, or the housing market that, then your focus may not be in the right place. If when you find out you are getting laid off, you words are aligned with fear, doubt, and concern, then you may not be fully trusting God. Remember, if we keep our mind focused on God's Words, He will keep us in "perfect peace".

"...For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things." Matthew 12:34-35

We need to guard what we allow to get into our hearts. We need to watch what we see, what we hear, what we read. So when you examine yourself and realize that your heart is not full of as much good treasure as you need, change your heart by changing what you let into your eyes and ears. If you find that you must read the newspaper (which has no good news in it) read Gods Word instead. If you find yourself watching any news program that focuses the bulk of their broadcast on the negative, you need to change the channel, put in a DVD or CD of truth from the Bible.

God's Word is full of great insights into life. He reminds us to "...give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." Proverbs 4:20-23.

Jesus told us in John 8:31-32, that if we stay in His Word, we'd be His disciples, and the truth that we'd come to know, that truth will make us free. Trust God by staying in His Word and you'll have security in uncertain times.

Silence the Shame

2009-10-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

This week we came into the service to celebrate our Pastor on the 6th Annual Pastor Appreciation Day. This is a day that the members of Berith set aside to tangibly show our love for our awesome Pastor and Man of God that God himself has sent to us.

And like a hand goes with a glove, Pastor Rick's message was a great reminder to all of us about how God has given all believers an example to follow. The message instructed us to not be ashamed of honoring our Pastor. We went through numerous scriptures that illustrated the fact that when people took care of the prophets and God's anointed leaders, their lives were blessed. Not the lives of the prophets...the lives of the people who took care of the prophets.

At Berith we have seen a man who God has put in our lives to help us fully understand the Bible and how we should live our lives accordingly. He and his family have been an example for husbands, wives, and singles. And when the world takes time out to celebrate accomplishment in theater, film, and athletics, we should never be ashamed to celebrate the lives of God's leaders in our lives.

In Ephesians 4:8-11 the Bible says that Jesus gave "gifts to men" and some of them were apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Well can truly say that God has done just that for all of us here at Berith. We have a good gift in Pastor Rick.

.

Keys: Part 16

2009-09-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks Pastor Rick had been teaching about "Keeping the Peace" from our series Keys to the Good Life. Well this week he continued in the series with a message entitled, "Be Loyal". We may think we are loyal to a friend, a spouse, or even to God...but are we really? Maybe you are committed, and calling it loyalty? If you think about it, there is no "loyalty" in commitment, but there is plenty of "commitment" wrapped up in loyalty.

In Matthew 5:10-12, Jesus says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Pastor Rick pointed out that God blesses those attacked for their loyalty to him. Meaning that when you are living right before God's eyes, not our eyes, but before God's eyes, he promises to bless you. "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness". Now this passage, "persecuted for righteousness sake", is speaking about those people that are targeted because they stand out for being the friends of God. Those who choose to live life in conjunction with God's instruction.

And trouble ultimately comes because righteous living produces conviction. For example, have you ever been in a situation where you came into a room and there were friends or people doing something wrong, but as soon as you showed up, they stopped, tried to hide it, or play it off? Why? Because of righteous living. They saw you coming and they were convicted by your good conduct, and it shined the light on their less than excellent conduct. Now that doesn't mean they are condemned (as in going to hell), it simply means that we recognize that we are not doing our best, when better shows up. In college, when they post grades outside the classroom, you may have thought you were doing really good by getting an "A", but you may have been convicted to do better when you saw the "A+" that one of your classmates received.

So being obedient to Christ no matter what comes, is loyalty, and it always brings blessings! So if you follow Jesus, you will obey his words, and obeying his words leads you to living a life that is pleasing to God. And if you please God, you will be blessed, and if you are blessed, you will be living the good life that God wants for us all.

Keys: Part 12

2009-09-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Keep the Peace

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9

1. True peace only comes from Jesus Christ.
John 14:27 is specific in stating that Christ left us His peace. He also tells us two very important things that we must live by – 1) do not let your heart be troubled, and 2) don’t be afraid. Stop allowing people, places, and circumstances to trouble you. Fear stems from trouble so do not allow it in your life. Worry is a sin! Jesus backs up this claim in John 16:33. Look into a believer’s life and you should see cheer because of what the Lord has done and provided. There is no negotiation or compromise in peacemaking. God can’t make peace come to you; He gave you the power to choose. In Christ you have peace and in the world you have tribulations. So the root is, either you’re in Christ, or you’re living in the world. Put pressure down.
A peace beyond understanding. This peace will guard your mind (Philippians 4:7).

A believer’s responsibility in governance:
Be a responsible citizen, trusting God to take care of you (Romans 13:1-5). Represent where you are from (God’s Kingdom). As an ambassador for Christ, your position is not unlike earthly ambassadors. Our armed offices, acting as our protectors, should be ministers of God. Good people, born again, spirit-filled believers are supposed to bear arms as ministers of God. Non-believers should be afraid because Christians don’t bare the “sword” in vain. The government is under your thumb. Read the first line of the constitution, you are in control. Ultimately, the enemy comes to pervert this system.
1 Peter 2:13-15 – Submit yourself of your own volition (will) to government leaders for the Lord’s sake, and in doing so, you silence the ignorant. God’s ordinance is against evil. Don’t use your freedom as a “cover” to do wrong. Last week’s message dealt with questions about evil leaders. What about them? Maintain your righteousness and use the law not rebellion, to eradicate evil. You are not in the position to judge corruption. Justice exists, but it comes from ordination. History shows us that the sword comes down on evil.

Learn to balance obligations to government and to God. (Acts 4:19, 20; and 5:29) Jesus paid his taxes, so what leg do you have to stand on if you shirk your responsibilities? If you serve God all the time and in every way He tells you to, you therefore serve the government, too.
1 Timothy 2:1-4- -- Pray for all authority. Our leaders’ personal business is between God, their family, and their own conscience. Spiritual leaders are to restore and pray in God’s authority and power for situations to come out the way they’ve prayed.

2. Making peace is easier said than done. It’s not impossible. Peace is a condition of the heart, and has nothing to do with circumstance or situations (Matthew 5:43-48).

Keys: Part 11

2009-08-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Keep the Peace

You will never rise above the level of what you believe. In order to receive, you have to believe. You have to believe in your heart, not in your head. Believing is doing. It is what you do that allows God to do what He can do. You do what you believe. Hearing and doing the Word will allow you to be blessed. Whatever you expose yourself to the most is what you become like. If you sow, it is impossible to prevent the harvest from coming – you just may not be reaping it. A double-minded person won’t receive anything from God.

The good life is meant for every person on this planet, but you have to believe it in order to receive it. If you are led by the spirit, you will seek out God. God keeps His Word. He will bring it to pass. You have to believe, not think, because by believing you will do it. What you see has absolutely no bearing on whether you are an heir of God. You need to feed your faith, not your doubt.

Peacemakers are hard, not soft (Matthew 5:9). There are three distinct categories of peace – the peace of God, peace from God and peace with God. You need the peace of God to be a peacemaker. True peace only comes from Jesus Christ (John 14:27). It is your responsibility to not be afraid. Jesus armed us with His very own peace. You have to change your life. The world will try to press you, but Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33). As you walk in peace, you will get more understanding. God’s peace is beyond understanding (Philippians 4:7)

There are situations where it is not possible to live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18). Defend yourself, but don’t start trouble. Leave the vengeance to God. Be a responsible citizen, trusting God to take care of you (Romans 13:1-5). If you stand for Christ, you will be a responsible citizen.

Keys: Part 10

2009-08-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Keys to The Good Life
Part 10
Keep the Peace

Conditions do not hamper God. Why let what you see determine what you feel when God has already made His plans for you known? If you operate by what you see, you forfeit what you don’t see! Go ahead and receive this good news!

We’ve covered seven keys up to this point. These keys access: the Kingdom of Heaven; comfort; sastisfaction/being filled beyond capacity; mercy; and [the need to] be One with God.
The key we’ll discuss today is your reputation, the gift of being called a child of God.

Contrasting Matthew 5:9, reads, “Cursed are the troublemakers for they shall be called the sons of Satan.” Many believers are too soft, not against other believers, but against the world. Jesus told us not to conform to the world. Peacemakers aren’t soft. Some would actually accuse peacemakers of not being very “Christ-like” because they don’t allow folks to have their own way. Stop compromising with the world!

1. True peace only comes from Jesus Christ.
You must first have peace in your own life before you can become a peacemaker. Deal with the fear in your life (John 14:27). Conquer the challenges you face (John 16:33). Living in the midst of conflict, how can anyone be soft? Jesus laid his life down, it wasn’t taken. Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.

A peace beyond understanding (Philippians 4:4 7). This passage references distinctly the peace of God. In prayer, talk with God about a specific request and offer thanksgiving. Don't wait until after you receive your request to thank Him. God gave you peace to guard and protect your heart as well as your mind. This peace is beyond your realm of understanding or comprehension. Not understanding doesn’t prevent you from flowing in it! We may not know how a car works, but still love driving it! Humble yourself under the mighty Hand of God. There are instances where it’s not possible to live peaceably with all people (Romans 12:18). But inasmuch as it depends on you, be in peace with all.

Jesus’ teaching and claims require a decision. You could come to God in various ways, but you won’t know Him as Daddy. You have been called to a relationship, not religion.

Defend yourself, but don’t start trouble. Christians are not doormats. You have a right to protect yourself; your body belongs to the Lord and was bought with a price.

Leave the vengeance/retaliation/retribution to God. If God taught this in the Old Covenant, how much more so will He strive to protect His own in the New Covenant? Don’t stand in the way of the Lord’s wrath (Romans 12:18-20). Your back is covered!

Your job is to submit yourself to order because all power is ordained by God. Every soul is to be in submission to governmental power. We’ll discuss this in further depth next week.

Keys: Part 7

2009-07-28T21:52:00.000-07:00

We continue with the message “Keys to the Good Life.” We have covered six keys to the good life. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Don’t play God. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4). Be real. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Stop insisting on your own way. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled, i.e. saturated (Matthew 5:6). Satisfy yourself with God. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7). Have mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). Come clean and stay clean.

God blesses those who resolve conflicts (Matthew 5:9). “Peacemakers” are people who actively work for unity. They negotiate differences, resolve strife and reconcile relationships. Peacemakers are hard. They are not avoiders and they do not compromise. Peacemakers do not gossip or slander others, they do not lie, they do not do evil and they hunt for peace (Psalm 34:12-14).

True peace only comes from Jesus Christ (John 14:27). You will never find peace on earth. Jesus came to give a sword, not peace. The sword is there to protect us (Romans 13:1). All authority is from God. Authority is power. Evil only knows force. The force should be in the hands of the righteous.

Peace from God came so that we can have peace with God in order to enjoy the peace of God. “Peace from God” is Jesus Christ. To have “peace with God,” it has to be on his terms. The “peace of God” is beyond our understanding. It has to come in our spirit. You cannot compromise and have peace (Colossians 3:15). To “rule” means to not compromise. We have the peace of God, if we use it.

For those who are in Christ, the weapons that the enemy forms against them will not prosper (1 John 3:8). It is impossible to live life without opposition. Peacemaking is learning to fight the good fight of faith against everything that comes against us. Faith is living out the Word of God (1 John 5:1; 4).

Keys: Part 6

2009-07-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

Keys to the Good Life
Come Clean!

So far in this study, we’ve received five keys to enjoying life. For review:
First key: Don’t play God. Become poor in spirit, in other words, God blesses those who know they have no righteousness of their own to offer God.
Second key: Be real. You realize you’re powerless without Christ, or as Jesus said, “mourn.”
Third key: Stop insisting on your own way.
Fourth key: Satisfy yourself in God; make God your treasure. God blesses those who crave to be right with Him. They aren’t just satisfied with themselves.
Fifth key: Have mercy. God blesses those who are caring, and have a heart. You have to give in order to receive. God lives in forgiveness.
These keys unlock the fortunes of God. Jesus said it this way, “…blessed are those poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” Now, and in the time to come.

Question on forgiveness from the congregation: “How do you know when you’ve truly forgiven someone? I understand that I can will to remember no more, however is it ever appropriate to discuss the offense with others?” My answer is No. The Bible says to go to the person directly. If they don’t come clean, take someone else to testify. The next step is to approach church leadership for assistance. The final recourse is to treat that person as if they aren’t born again. You know you’ve forgiven someone when you decide to forgive them.

Key number six: Come clean and stay clean (Matthew 5:8). Think refreshing. Blessed are the pure in heart because they will see God.
God blesses those who are sincerely devoted to Christ.
Pure in heart = a single minded commitment to God which purifies thoughts and motives to produce a person of purity, honesty, and integrity. It’s an attitude. If you are zeroed in on God, everything else falls away and you mind won’t be divided. Only God can purify your thoughts and motives. Pure is the opposite of contaminated. This attitude allows God, with the person’s cooperation and obedience, to keep out undisciplined and evil affections and lusts.
Psalm 51:10 – you cannot clean your own heart. A person’s heart is vile.
Jeremiah 17:9, 10
Proverb 17:3 – Metal like silver or gold must first be purified; then what comes forth is something useful. The Lord purifies the heart with His judgment. Don’t be afraid of God’s proving and testing by fire; it will cleanse and purify you. The enemy wants to con and deceive you through your heart.
Psalm 19:14 –But if you want to see God as your redeemer, stop playing! Only then will God demonstrate Himself to you. Faith is acting on what you believe. Your actions declare your faith.
2 Corinthians 5:17, 18 – this passage is a fulfillment of the Old Covenant. Christ came to lead people back to God.
Ezekiel 36:26 – Why should God take away your heart if it’s so clean? The first thing God does is a heart transplant. Cursed are the corrupt in heart for they can’t stand to see God.
Proverb 19:3
Ephesians 2:10; 2:8 – How are we made a new creation? As an act of faith. Grace is God’s ability and builds the tunnel of faith through which you can now go through to be saved.
We must keep our purity to stay close to God.
There are two types of clean in the Bible: The outward, physical, ceremonial washing. The other is inward cleaning.
John 15:3 – Jesus’ followers were washed because they allowed the Word into their heart. They were truly purified. We are called to walk with Christ, but we are walking in dirt and must “wash our feet.”
1 John 1:9; 2:1 – Confess your sins.

Celebrate Life!

2009-07-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

Celebrate Life!
Pastor Robert L. Thomas, Jr.

As Pastor Rick enjoys a well deserved family vacation, Pastor Robert L. Thomas, Jr. of Vine Life Christian Church (aka “Pastor Bob”) blessed us with this message. He opened by asking the congregation to share with one another what their “guilty pleasures” are. All G-rated, some private enjoyments included eating a tub of ice cream or an entire box of popsicles, shoe shopping, watching the same television program twice, or attending a concert on a Sunday afternoon instead of attending service.

John 10:10 – The thief comes only to kill, steal, and to destroy life from you. Jesus came so that we may enjoy life to overflowing. It’s ok to enjoy life’s “guilty pleasures.” I pose this question to you: Are you enjoying your life? One of the things the enemy tries to do is to steal dreams, ambitions, goals, and joy. If you find yourself unable to enjoy life, then someone has stolen your “mojo!” The one thing most valuable to a child of God is the joy of the Lord, which gives you the power to enjoy life. It is the power you need to enjoy life. In life when you fall, you get right back up. Your relationship with God isn’t about crossing all the “t’s” and dotting all the “i’s.” If you fall down, brush yourself off and get back up again, and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same. Don’t forget about the grace and mercy of God.

Ecclesiastes 3:13, 22 – Enjoying the fruits of your labor is your portion in its proper perspective! I ask again, are you enjoying your life? Enjoy the children in your life. Give thanks for your job, many people aren’t working. Stop hating on people trying to enjoy their life. Start enjoying your portion. In order to get more, you must work with what you already have. Be faithful.

Matthew 6:26 – Consider the birds. Our Heavenly Father takes of the birds, how much more so will He care for you? The enemy wouldn’t come for you if you and your life weren’t valuable.

2 Corinthians 4:3, 7 – Get your shine on! Let your light be seen by all. The joy of your life is the cure for your condition.

Keys: Part 5

2009-06-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

Keys to the Good Life
Part 5
Have Mercy

We continue with the series Keys to the Good Life. We have to use the keys altogether. We must use all of them. The only way to live in and retain the good life is from the inside out. The good life comes to you – it will come to those who attract it. The good life will find you when it sees you are a suitable place for it to live.

To review, God blesses those who are poor in spirit. Don’t play God. We have to reject self-reliance and recognize that we don’t control everything. God blesses those who mourn. We have to know that it is hopeless by ourselves. But, God promises that we will be comforted. We have to be real. God blesses those who are meek, i.e., those who are humble and who trust him. Meekness means that we have to give up getting our own way. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. He promises that you will be saturated.

God blesses those who are caring, i.e., thoughtful, kind and gentle (Matthew 5:7). “Merciful” means to have compassion or to suffer with. Mercy is strictly a covenant term. It means: I will withhold what you deserve, i.e. death and punishment. You don’t have what you haven’t received.

The only way to show mercy is to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1, 2). We are supposed to show mercy to other people unto God. God’s forgiveness always comes after the execution of the penalty. No one gets away with anything (Galatians 3:24, 25). Everyone is unto the law until they come to Christ.

We have to forgive by faith, looking at Christ (Ephesians 4:32). We have to forgive others the way God forgave us. It is useless not to forgive someone who God forgives (John 8:1-11). We ought to show the same mercy to others that God has shown us (Colossians 3:13). How does God forgive us? He sees Christ in us. We also have to do it for other people. God also totally and completely forgives us. We have to do the same for others. We have to exercise our will to not remember anymore. Because I am forgiven, I should extend the same mercy to others (Proverb 11:17).

Keys: Part 4

2009-06-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

Keys to the Good Life
Part 4
Satisfy Yourself with God

What does the good life look like? Is it houses, cars, yachts, clothes, or vacations? How about health, peace with God, prosperity or purpose? Most don’t’ have the first clue of what the good life really is. The only way you’re going to live the good life is by being part of the Family of God and receiving the keys legitimately. In this message, we’ve covered 3 parts of those who are blessed:
1. stop playing God;
2. be real and mourn the state of your true condition
3. are meek, submitting to God

Try satisfying yourself in God. God can’t make the good life happen for you until you completely trust Him. Only then can God become 100% obligated to what happens to you.

1. God blesses those who crave to be right with Him. Craving will become more focused.
“Hunger and thirst” = the awareness of the craving to be right with God, and to do right by Him.
To be “filled” is to be saturated. Every person on the face of this planet was born with the craving to know God. You cannot ignore the senses of hunger or thirst and live. Consequently, those who live by ignoring God cannot survive. These physical warning sensors were given to preserve your life. If you’ve ever been truly hungry, you cannot turn it off! The senses of hunger or thirst occur several times every single day. Same thing spiritually; you don’t eat only once. People who don’t know they’re hungry or thirsty -- physically or spiritually -- are sick.
Psalm 42:1, 2 – there are those “religiously minded” who attempt to stay close to God by filling up on the equivalent of water. The relationship is what God seeks, not what He can provide or what He has. You can only be satisfied by having Him. God’s righteousness (exchange for Law, commandment, or Word) is for your protection against the thief trying to destroy you. God must be faithful to His Word. How can you blame God when He gave you choice? Looking at the reverse of Matthew 5:6: “Cursed are those full of self-righteousness, for they are wasting their energy.”

2. Satisfaction comes from knowing the difference between physical and spiritual cravings. Knowing the difference will cause you to be satisfied.
Isaiah 55: 1-3 – the Bible is clear, you can only deceive yourself. God wants to know if you will own up to the truth. God wants to know why you choose to spend money eating “junk food” or the equivalent of empty calories.
Matthew 4:4 – Jesus tells us that man cannot live by eating alone. A good meal is not what you need right now. Have you made the Word of God your priority? Use your hunger and thirst to be saturated with the Word. The Word of God always produces faith, which comes by hearing. Faith always produces all of God’s provision (Hebrews 6:11), spirit, soul and body.

3. God only expects us to believe in Jesus. Christ needs your loyalty, allegiance and dedication as theonly objective.
John 6:26-29, 35 – the disciples sought Jesus after He fed the masses with fish and bread. But their objective was wrong. Jesus warned them against seeking Him not because they believed He was the Son of God, but for the stuff He could provide. Are you seeking Jesus’ presence or His presents?

Keys to the Good Life Pt. 1

2009-05-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

Keys to the Good Life
Part 1
Don’t Play God

Before we start, consider this illustration: on a key ring are many different keys based on the doors they access. It would be foolish to only choose one key to gain access, right? The keys on this ring are meant to be together as one. Keys to the good life are meant to be taken as a whole; they aren’t multiple choice or up to you to pick and choose. Like the key illustration, God intends you to be an owner and to have full access to all.

The world has this completely wrong. The good life does not come externally or made up of your surroundings. They keys to the good life start from within and shows up on the outside. Cutting corners and faking it won’t work. “Keys to the good life” was the first [lesson] Jesus taught in His public ministry.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

1. God blesses those who know that they have no righteousness of their own.
“poor in spirit” = is a person who:
1) has a deep, internal awareness that they cannot please God on their own;
2) rejects self-confidence and self-reliance; and
3) is willing to depend on God’s grace and mercy.
Proverb 14:12 – To live the good life, you need to be ready to do and say what the world says is strange. Man’s fallen nature wants to be God.

2. Accept that we don’t control everything (Romans 7:15-25)
If we don’t:
· We become frustrated (v.21)
· We become worn out/overcome (v.23)
· We give up/fail or become totally defeated. The enemy has to convince you to lose.
Other areas you cannot control include addictions, pain, frustration, disappointment, or trying to control other people through manipulation, guilt, intimation or feart.

3. Totally and humbly depend on God for all that He has.

Matthew 11:28-30
2 Corinthians 12:9

.

Power to Succeed Pt.14

2009-05-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

Power to Succeed in Hard Times
Part 14

We’ve traveled a long way in this series without theme music! Run DMCs’ “Hard Times” was prophetic before its time.

2 Corinthians 9:6 – No one likes hard times. You’re supposed to succeed in hard times, but you have to know how. “Hope” in the Bible is expectation. Your giving is connected to what is coming (vs. 8) and enables all God’s grace abound toward you. There is no promise in God that is yet to be fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 1:20). Imagine if you stepped into your God-given role and demonstrated the power within yourself! Hold fast to your confession, your hope and do no waver (Hebrews 10:23). Remain steadfast and when the clouds clear, all will see that you stayed the course. Your mind and body will always be off course until you (the inner man) gain control of your mind. Your prosperity and health will only be up to the level of your mind and mouth. What is spoken from the abundance of your heart will be manifested in life. Your health comes from the inside out (3 John 2). God loves a cheerful giver – you have anticipation and expectation.

Put your money where your mouth is! People who have a problem with giving are experiencing a heart problem. Money has a hold of your heart

Hope in God allows you to give like never before. Hope gives you the power to make it.
Modes of giving:
· Strategically – giving with a promise (plan) in mind.
· Spontaneously – unplanned giving. Giving when the “spirit moves you” is careless, reckless, and haphazard. When you give this way, guess what you’ll get in return? Cares, wrecks, and hazards!
· Sacrificially – giving beyond what you initially planned to. When you give according to God’s plan, you’re obligating Him. Abraham was prepared to give sacrificially, proving nothing came between him and God.
When you give God your best, you can receive God’s best. In doing so, you demonstrate faithfulness and loyalty. It says you can be trusted. Do not allow convenience (otherwise known as the flesh) be your requirement for obedience.
Luke 6:38 – Nothing happens until you go first. You will not get back what you gave – you always receive more. If it’s not more than you can deal with, it didn’t come from God!

Power to Succeed P.12

2009-04-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hope in God allows you to give like never before. God has already given us all things to enjoy, and He has given them to us in abundance. It’s there for you. No one is stopping you from receiving what God has already given you...but you.

Any challenge cannot affect your expectation, as long as your expectation comes from the God of hope and not man. With man it won’t work, but with God everything is possible (Psalm 146:5 NKJV). This hope in God allows you to give like never before. It is impossible to worship two masters. You choose which one you serve. You get to choose who you are bound to.
Money makes a poor God. It will never love you back. You can do things with it, but it will never do anything for you. God tells us to choose Him. Jesus sold all that He had to get you (Matthew 13:45-46). You can’t buy your way into the kingdom of heaven. Since Jesus sold all that He had to get you, how can you ever have a problem giving all that you have, at any given time, when He directs you? The calling card for God is giving. The calling card for Satan is taking.

The only attitude to have about giving is worship (or understanding). You must give from a heart of worship. A true giver will come to an attitude of worship, and will get past the attitudes of duty, obligation, pride and guilt. To be a true giver is to understand that God owns you and to understand all that you have is because of God. Jesus sold all to give you all. This means that all of your needs and desires are met. In addition to God owning us, He gives us everything.
Jesus is our example to follow (Mark 8:34). He gave all that He had to get you so that through His poverty, you could come up. He gave up His life for you alone. He wants you to give up your so-called rights to yourself. God owns all title and rights to you because you were bought with a price. God wants you to receive the abundant life He came to offer, so you have to stop holding tight to everything you have. You have to release it like Jesus did.

You need to have something in order to get something. However, you cannot hold on to what you have, otherwise you will lose it. You didn’t make yourself. You were made by God. In God’s system, you have to give in order to receive. If you don’t have something, you will never change until someone comes along and gives you something. Once you are given something, you cannot use it all yourself, you have to use some of it to plant a seed. The only way you can receive more from God is to give. As you pour out your life, you will be able to receive more of the Lord. This is an act of obedience, faith and trust that allows God to perform His Word towards you. You can never exhaust God. Once you begin to cooperate with God’s system, then God can make you into exactly who He wants you to be.

How do you have to learn to give? The first mode of giving is to give strategically. This means you give with a plan in mind. God has a system for giving (Malachi 3:7-12). You cannot give an offering until you tithe. The tithe is your opportunity to get closer to God. You prove the depth of your love with your offering. God will not forget your labor of love. To give strategically is to give according to God’s plan.

Giving opens up all grace to you (2 Corinthians 9:6). When you begin to tithe, things will open up for you. Opportunities will come and God will raise up people in order to use their power, talents and influence on your behalf. Your faith, obedience and active love toward God will obligate Him to show you grace. God loves a cheerful giver!

Power to Succeed Pt. 11

2009-04-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

God guaranteed fulfillment of every one of His promises by cutting a covenant for you. If the covenant was with you, you would likely break it. Christ is the fulfillment of the promise. A promise with God is a guarantee, not a maybe or a might. Knowing this might cause you to fix your mind, change your mouth, talk a little differently! If you are so confident and sure that Christ died for you, how can you not also receive that we have been given all things?

God gives an abundance of all things for our enjoyment (Romans 8:28, 31, and 5:5; 1 Timothy 6:17; 1 Corinthians 3:21). Unless and until you allow God to straighten your perspective on money, you (rich or poor) will have money issues. If God gave you all things richly to enjoy, why would you ever be slow to give? God gave first! God wants you to learn to depend on Him above everything else. Can you name one thing not covered under “all”? God gave you His Word to protect you, because without it, you won’t make it! Drawing close to Him means you take everything He offers.

Psalm 146:5 – Concentrate on and walk by faith – don’t think about things that are coming to distract you from your faith –allow God to manifest all things in your life.

1. Hope in God allows you to give like never before. And not just money. Hope also gives you the power of endurance to make it [to the end]. You can’t be His offspring if you aren’t a giver. Our Heavenly Father gave us freely all things, and once born again, we are born after His nature.
By this statement, I know that you have given before. What the Spirit of God is talking about is how you do it, not the measure of what you do. Increase the power of what you do and add to it. Why lose when it’s not an option?

As long as the earth remains, there will be seed, time, and harvest. The enemy has tricked many into thinking giving doesn’t work because you can’t see it working. Everything you plant works in secret – for your benefit! Many get excited when a little bud starts to show. Let it grow! If you cut the blade off, you won’t reap the harvest. This isn’t delayed gratification, it is for harvest satisfaction. Don’t settle for temporary gain and forego future abundance.

A question for next week: Have we been good, faithful stewards over what God has given us?

Power to Succeed Pt.9

2009-04-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today, we continue with the message “Power to Succeed in Hard Times.” To review, hope is an expectation based on what has already been accomplished. The hope of God is guaranteed to come to pass if we persevere. Without hope there is nothing for out faith to give substance to. God’s hope makes you able to see what cannot be seen. The things that we cannot see are more real than the things we can see. Hope in God will allow you to hear the Word like never before. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Hope in God will allow you to obey the Word like never before. Hope in God will allow you to pray like never before. You must believe in your own prayer. You ought to have confidence in your prayer above anyone else’s.

Hope in God allows you to sow (give) like never before (Psalm 146:5). Are we showing ourselves committed to what God has given us to handle? We were designed serve – that’s a blessing (Matthew 6:24). People think they don’t serve. Satan knows that we are going to serve. Service comes out of the heart. We get to choose who we will serve.

You cannot serve two masters. In Matthew 6:24, “mammon” is defined as a spirit or a demon – it is the god over everything money rules over. It is also the personified version of riches and wealth or the pursuit of riches and wealth, a.k.a. greed. Money makes a poor God. God says that we cannot serve Him and that that idol “mammon.” Whoever you serve is your master. Whoever your master is determines what you will receive. If you chase pleasure possessions and prestige, you will have nothing. If you serve God, all things are available to you.

God set up the system for giving. In order for us to increase, we have to give away. If we are left to ourselves, we will hoard what we have. The power to succeed in hard times is in our hands.

In the Bible, prosperity equals giving. When you give, you are more like God. You are never more like God than when you give. It is an awesome privilege and supremely powerful to give. If you want God in your life, you have to give. Once you give, it doesn’t stop there. By giving, you start things in motion that will not stop. Your giving cannot go back the way it came.

Power to Succeed Pt.7

2009-03-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

In Romans 8:28, the Word says: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” This is the source of our power to succeed in hard times – all things work together for our good. Every challenge is an opportunity. The bigger the challenge is then the bigger the reward. Everything the enemy mounts up against us works for us. Our challenges work for us as we obey God all the way through.

You will not be disappointed or ashamed by going with God and His hope. You should be expecting how God will get you out your situation. You compound your problem when you try to go with your own selfish ambitions. God upfront has already proved to us that it is going to work out for us because He has poured out His love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:31-32).

God richly gives us all things so that we can enjoy it. This is about relationship, not religion. A relationship with God is not about having a slave mentality. If you think that you have to get something from God, then you are in the slave category. When you understand that you have a right to everything that God has then you are in the children category.

Remember, God is on your side. He did not spare His Son at the very beginning before you ever thought about Him. He gave His very best upfront. The enemy came to steal, kill and destroy, but God came to give us life and to give it more abundantly (John 10:10). God cannot do anything to you as His child but good. He proved that by pouring out His wrath on His own Son. God is on your side. He chose to be with you.

Hope allows us to see things that cannot be seen (Romans 8:24-25). If you hope for things that are seen, that’s not real hope. If you hope for things that aren’t seen, you will with patience and endurance wait for them. Hope also gives you the power of endurance – this means that you are able to make it. You win. The world cannot control you by the things you hear, see and feel because you can see something beyond it. You can see the true God and His Word beyond what is heard, seen and felt. More importantly, with that hope that sees things that cannot be seen, you will have the endurance to make it.

How do you use this power? Hope allows you to hear the Word of God like never before. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Faith doesn’t come by reading, fasting, praying, etc. Those things should be done, but faith only comes by hearing because God designed it that way. The primary means by which God reaches people is by hearing, which means someone has to be speaking. To increase your faith, you need to hear the Word on a regular basis. You need to have a steady diet of the Word in your life. You are spirit. You wouldn’t starve your body, so why would you starve your spirit?

In hard times, you have to pay the cost. You have to exert energy to hear the Word. You have to block out every distraction in order to hear the Word. You also have to guard the Word that you have already heard because the enemy will come to immediately steal it. If you are going to get the Word, you have to be a worshiper. You also have to honor the one who delivers you the Word. Otherwise, the Word you get will be diminished in your estimation.

Hope gives us the power to hear, give, obey, praise and pray like never before. If you cannot take the power of hope in this message and begin to hear, give, obey, praise and pray like never before, then you aren’t in a hard spot. If you are in a hard spot, then you will do something with the power of hope. You must know that God is yours because He gave himself to you (Psalm 146:5). God is faithful. He is a covenant-keeping God. He cannot change. He is our hope.

Hope in God will allow you to hear the Word like never before. Everyone’s problem comes from disobeying the Word. Hope and expectation in God will give you the sight and endurance to obey God like never before. Every word of God is good for His children. If you hear God’s Word and do it, then when the storm comes by you won’t feel it (Luke 6:46). If you don’t do it, when the storm comes your house will fall. If you really want to get power in your life, then answer the question asked in Luke 6:46.

.

Power to Succeed Pt.6

2009-03-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Faith makes the impossible possible. But without hope, you won’t have faith. We began this series with the reminder that every challenge is an opportunity. God backs up His promise with the confirmation that this hope (faith) will not let you down or embarrass you. We found in Romans 8:31, 32 that God is on our side. With that declaration, we know that God has already given us His best when we were born again. At day one of salvation, we started out with the highest gift of all! The first thing we established in hope is that you can see the promise of God. You have a different set of vision receptors that operate through the spirit. Spiritually, you can do all sorts of things that your body can’t do. The second thing we found out about is hope is that it gives us the endurance to make it. Failure is not an option. The enemy can’t defeat you; he just seduces you to throw in the towel. Hope manifests itself as zeal. Nothing by any means can stop you. Everything meant to take you out will work for you.

For the first part of this series we talked about the premise of hope. Now we’ll switch gears to learn how this hope will allow you to succeed, hear, obey, pray, give, and praise like you’ve never done before!

Our new foundation Scriptures:
Psalm 146:5 –“Happy” is not an emotional state in this text. The “God of Jacob” term calls upon God’s character, a covenant term defining God as helper and our expectation.
Hebrews 10:23 – grab on and don’t let go! You do not receive back what you sow. Expect a bountiful return.

1. Hope in God allows you to hear the Word like never before. The reason this is so important is because everything God has ever done started with hearing the Word. We live by every single Word of God. Too many Christians live by their favorite words of God. The worst case is that people have some of the Word and go without the rest of it. It’s better that to have heard all or none of the Word.

Romans 10:17 – Everything you believe you first heard. Faith in God won’t come by reading, praying, fasting, or by someone laying hands on you. Faith comes by hearing. You feed your face on the daily; feed your faith!
1 John 5:4 – Faith can only bring to pass what you hope (expect) for.

2. Now you know why you must treasure (prize) hearing God’s Word.
Luke 10:38-42

You must exert energy to hear the Word. You’ve got to tune out all the distractions around you. You’d arrange your whole life around getting the Word. Luke 5:5.

You must protect God’s Word you hear. Mark 4:15.

You must honor the one who delivers the Word to you.

.

Power to Succeed Pt.5

2009-03-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

The power to succeed in hard times is hope. Without hope, faith is useless. Hope drives faith, and faith changes everything. Satan is attempting to strip people of their hope in order to knock out their faith. Every challenge is an opportunity for promotion. When you are at your end, you stand at the threshold of an opportunity. Impossibilities are opportunities to show how what can’t be done can be done.

God’s Word is the source of hope. Everything works together for the good of those who obey God (Romans 8:28). The promise of “all things work together” is backed up by God’s statement that the hope will not disappoint. Hope does not disappoint because the love of God was poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).

God is on our side, so no one can beat us (Romans 8:31-32). God already gave us His best when we were born again. This hope will not leave you embarrassed. God chose to be on our side. He says that He is for us. We received the impossible up front because the Righteous died for us. How, then, will God not also freely give us all things? In hard times, we ought to look for how God will work it out.

Hope gives us supernatural power. It comes from the power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. Hope enables us to do things supernaturally that we could not otherwise do.

The power of hope is that you can see things that are not there (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Hope changes the way you see. You see with the spirit. The things that we see in the natural are meant to block us. The way we get around this is looking at what we can’t see. You will go down looking at what you can see – it is an illusion to keep you trapped.

Hope also gives us the endurance to make it (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). The enemy seduces people to quit. We have to chain him up. We have dominion. We have to partake of our inheritance. We don’t have endurance in and of ourselves, but God gives us hope. The only way we don’t make it is if we give up. We shouldn’t call it over until we win (Galatians 6:9).

To love God, you can’t sit at home – you have to do what He commands (Hebrews 10:36). Without hope there is nothing for faith to give substance to (Hebrews 11:1). If we are fully persuaded, we talk of what we know (Hebrews 11:8, 11-14). Jesus’ joy was seeing what He could not see (Hebrews 11:2).

The power of hope enables you to obey God out of your situation. While you are obeying, God has already done something. All things work together for your good while you are obeying God. When you obey God, you aren’t doing it, God is. Grace gives us the power to obey. God makes the way of escape – don’t fight Him, obey Him (1 Corinthians 10:13). The promises of God are not a menu, they are an inheritance.

Salvation is for hope (1 Thessalonians 5:7-8). This will guard your thoughts from facts. It will protect you and will give you the endurance to make it out, and you will be rewarded. We faint in our minds – this hope will keep us from the seduction to give up.

Paul learned in difficult times that he could more than make it with Christ who makes him who he is – this is the power of hard times (Philippians 4:11-13). The key is being with the one who makes us who we are. We are not alone.

We live in the presence of God. To remind ourselves that we are not alone is to live in the presence of God. God knows what you expect by the name you choose to call Him, i.e. Wonderful, Emmanuel, the Counselor, the Everlasting Father, the Might God, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the Alpha and Omega, etc.

The power of hope is to learn that you will more than make it!

.

Power to Succeed Pt.4

2009-03-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

Most of what God equips us with operates in adversity. You don’t need help when everything is going well. “Salvation” (from the Greek translation means deliverance, healing, preservation) is about God’s provision to you to overcome anything that comes against you. In the face of hard times all around, the Spirit of God reminds us in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good to a specific group of people; those who are called and answer, and that love and obey God. This is an inclusive call of hope to everyone no matter what you’re facing. As a child of God, you need to know that with God you won’t be embarrassed, and you will learn to see every challenge in life as an opportunity (Romans 5:5). When you come to the end of your situation – whatever it is – count it all joy knowing that all things will work together for your good. Only you can define what “all things” are.

Last week, we left off understanding that God’s hope changes the way a person sees (Romans 8:24, 25). You can never allow your or anyone else’s experiences determine what your hope could or should be. Unfortunately family members stop potential and dreams through misplaced fear, just because they haven’t seen it accomplished before. God will not do what eye has seen or ear has heard so stop looking in the possibility bucket! The God-type of hope is NOT seen. If the power has been ignited, then you won’t see your seed. It’s been planted. Farmers don’t plant seed and dig it up to see if it’s working! (2 Corinthians 4:17, 18; 11). Paul’s “light affliction” included beatings, prison, shipwrecks, and abandonment, all of which he wrote off as temporary. Think of how bad Joseph had it! He was beaten, sold into slavery by his own brothers, and thrown into prison. Yet, he rose to run all of Egypt. It was all part of God’s plan. Who cares what people think of your situation? What Paul and Joseph went through pales in comparison to just about anything you’re going through.

Hope gives you the endurance to make it. Not to go 10 miles and give up short of the finish line. When you think endurance, think power; the ability to go all the way to the finish line (Romans 8:25). Why are you looking longingly at superficial things when you have the power to see what others can’t see? No one can waive something at you to drain your power! The control and power are in your hands.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3; Hebrews 12:2 – your hope is Christ, a living hope. Look at Jesus through the Word as our example of endurance.

.

Power to Succeed Pt.3

2009-02-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

As believers, it is our job to follow instructions. If you cannot follow instructions, the enemy will take you out. The enemy’s whole goal is to take you out, but he can’t just do it, you have to open the door. If you deviate, the enemy will ultimately get you. You need to find some direction to follow every single day. If you choose convenience over following instructions, the enemy will own you. That’s why God’s Word says that we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV). If you do what you want to do and do not follow instructions, everything won’t work together for your good.

We need to pay acute attention to God, the Word of God, the Spirit of God and whatever is going on around us. God will make it work out for your good. You have to stop struggling. Struggling is anti-God. You should be content with such things as you have. You have salvation, you are born-again, you are filled with the Spirit and you have a loaded and ready mouth. God is on your side. He said that He will never leave you or forsake you. God can’t play on your team if you are struggling. Let God do whatever He wants to do. There is no hope or power in struggling.

God wants more than abundantly to show you that you will not be ashamed (Hebrews 6:19-20). Jesus is our hope. You have this hope as an anchor to your soul, so how can you not be excited and have a zest for life? You have to activate the power that has been given to you.

Hope changes the way that you see (Romans 8:28). Hope drives faith. This power to succeed in hard times changes the way you see. Hope is power. Without the hope, there is no faith. Hope changes the way a person goes about making choices and decisions because they are not looking with their natural eyes in order to make these choices and decisions. Your senses are not there to tell you how to live. We walk by faith and not by sight.

We ought to be eager about the things of God (Romans 8:24-25). Only by putting God first will you ever see the things that you desire manifest in your life. Get eager about God! All you have to do is be expectant. You have to imagine and meditate on God’s Word for hope to be conceived. If you can see the hope, it is not real, Bible hope. For you to have the hope that drives faith, you can’t see it. Hoping for what you can see is a lower level of hope. Hoping for what you cannot see brings out excitement and perseverance.

Hope will make you hear the Word differently, obey the Word differently, pray differently, and praise differently because you will have excitement and endurance to do whatever is necessary. It kills the whining and the complaining because you get real hope – the power to succeed no matter what.

Hope is the power to open up your eyes. Abraham hoped in God against the hope that his eyes could give him (Romans 4:18-19). This is the hope that is the power God has given us to succeed in hard times.

.

Power to Succeed Pt.2

2009-02-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

The pressure that is attempting to mount upon you can have the effect of causing other weaknesses to appear. We established last week that every challenge in life is an opportunity! Even with all that’s going on around you, you alone will determine which it will be. Challenge or opportunity. Light always destroys darkness. The bigger the challenge; the bigger the opportunity. With God on your side, how can you lose?

Our foundation Scripture: Romans 8:28 – gives us the source of hope. We know that all things work together for our good. This power we’re talking about is hope. The enemy is crafty and knows faith is driven by hope; so if hope is eliminated, faith is nullified. You can’t hope too big for God. Your greatest expectation won’t exhaust God! Impossibilities are possibilities waiting to be shown.
Romans 5:5 – this hope doesn’t disappoint, nor will you come up short or be embarrassed. God provokes us to have hope by all His promises and result in those lives around us. How do you know God is on your side? God has deliberately chosen His loyalties.
Romans 8:31, 32 – God is on our side, not the other way around. Religion tells us we have to try to get on God’s side, but how can we who are finite approach an infinite God? He chose us. If you stay on His side, failure is not an option. When you don’t see a way out, ask yourself: am I born again? You receive Christ up front, at the very beginning.

Anticipate how God will deliver you. Your sight is critical. God is our helper, we have nothing to fear. We’re to cease from our own labor to enter into God’s rest (Hebrews 3, 4). God chose to do this for us. He gave Himself to us. If God is our help, then we’d better declare it!
Hebrews 6:13; Galatians 3:16, 17, 29 – God’s Word is to us because the promise was made to Abraham and his seed (Christ), and to us as His heirs! This guarantees it! God’s will is more abundant than your desperation. We are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. Realize that you didn’t add anything to this game. We have a strong, warm, comforting confidence through our Covenant with God. He’s on your side. Knowing this, you now have to change the way you think.

Power to Succeed Pt.1

2009-02-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

The Bible says that all those who live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. There is no victory without overcoming. Today, we will discuss how the power to succeed in hard times is yours. You cannot overcome unless something comes at you. You are who God called you to be. You can do everything He says you can do – whether or not you believe it.

We are facing challenging times. The economic pressure is forcing all of the weaknesses in the foundation of people’s lives to be exposed. Nevertheless, we should be excited because this is a time for truth, power and majesty. We have the power to succeed in hard times. We are talking about the power to dominate in hard times. God said that the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just.

Every challenge in life is an opportunity. Anything in your way – any obstacle – is an opportunity. People who don’t view challenges as opportunities are already defeated. You can’t view a challenge as a problem. Challenges are meant to be met and overcome. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. When you face whatever you face, you must keep the word of God in mind. The way that you do this is you store the Word of God in your heart, so that you can always keep it in mind.

God’s Word says in Romans 8:28 (NKJV): “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” We have to start to “know” some things. We must know that “all things work together for good.” This verse is referring to bad things, i.e. challenges, working together for our good. “Knowing” means we have confidence. Confidence brings peace.

When you are at your end that is when good stuff starts to happen – and good can become great. When you are at your end, you are being challenged, but it is an opportunity. The bigger the challenge is, the harder it falls. God is not afraid of anything – not even death (1 Thessalonians 4:13). The Word says that we should not grieve when people die, even as people who have no hope. We have hope, even in death.

When you come to the end of yourself, you need to evaluate whether you take note of it or whether you try to explain it away, i.e. bury your head in the sand. Most people try to convince themselves they have an answer. They don’t accept the truth that it is over. The battle might be over, but not the war. A war is made up of many battles. You ought to win the battles so that you can win the war.

God works all things together for our good – that includes ugly things. You can’t bury your head in the sand. You have to focus on the things that God has worked together for your good over and over again. You should not have regrets. God will turn it for your good.

God is not a sentimental God. He is a fair God. You can never use your experience to invalidate the Word of God. Romans 8:28 does not say that God works everything out for everybody. He rewards those who pay the cost. This verse applies to a specific category of people: “to those who love God”. Who loves God? Everyone who loves God is known. There is an acid test to determine those who love God. Jesus states in John 14:15: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” You have to learn God’s commands, put them in your heart and be able to recall them, so that you can do them. Simply stated, you obey God’s Word. This is the acid test.

If we fail the test, God’s Word tells us that if we confess ours sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The Word also says that God will not remember our sins. This does not give us license to sin. But, if we do go back to sin, there is still hope because Jesus is our advocate. You prove that you love God by keeping His Word. You can’t bury your head in the sand. You must address it. We have to obey God’s Word to live with Him. When you don’t obey His Word, you have to get right back and obey. Confess your sins to God – that’s when you start being in a love relationship with God.

There is another category of people in Romans 8:28: “to those who are called according to His purpose”. The call of God is stated in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You have to put yourself in the category – if you believe in Him, you will have everlasting life. Everyone is called, but only a few people answer. We determine whether we are in this group or not. Another translation of “to those who are called according to His plan” is “to those who God deliberately chose for His plan”. In other words, God deliberately chose you for His plan, so He called.

We obey God because He deliberately chose us for His plan. He calls us because He needs us for His plan, and if we come He will work everything together for our good. What Satan means to kill you, God will redeem for His glory. God knows our heart’s desire. He will cause our heart’s desire to come to pass (Romans 12:1). In hard times, you have to remember that God is working everything together for your good as long as you obey Him.

Don’t let it be too late for you. God is calling you right now. Pick it up. God is deliberately calling you right now because He has plans for you. Hope is the power to succeed in hard times. Hope drives your faith. Without hope, nothing happens. Hope does not disappoint (Romans 5:5). You will not be embarrassed. Your business is to love God and He will work everything together for your good.

.

Hoping Pt 5

2009-02-02T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hoping When it Seems Hopeless
Part 5

You have been given a supernatural hope by God through Christ to use when everything around you looks hopeless, so that God can bring it to pass. Dig into the Word of God and make the decision to live out the fullness of your salvation. God wants to do something never seen before through you (1 Corinthians 2:9, 10). You have to believe that He who promised is able to perform. Starting this very day, we will learn how to expand hope and God in your life.

Being filled to your level of hunger and thirst is a spiritual principle. There are "hunger stimulants" to increase your hope:
 Exposure – just like smelling bread in a bakery – exposure will increase your appetite for the Word.
 Focus – whatever you concentrate on will develop an acquired taste.
 Reflection/memory – remember how God brought you out of a previous situation.

Get your hopes up! It’s an act of your own will to hope greater. You cannot separate hope from belief. How can you believe for something without an expectation for it to come to pass? Without hope there is no faith. Mark 9:23 lets us know that the size of hope is determined only by ourselves. Your hope causes your faith to birth what you can’t see. But you first have to get over yourself. Hope can mean faith because they are so closely associated (Hebrews 10:23). Hold fast to your hope because it’s going to be some kind of bumpy ride! Why hold on? Because God is faithful.

1. You might have to modify your requirements for hope. God hears you! But God doesn’t move for sincerity; He moves for faith.
John 20:24-29 – Thank you, Thomas! We are blessed because of Thomas’ sensory criteria for hope in Jesus’ resurrection. No longer in the Kingdom of God can we only rely on our senses. You can believe without physical evidence.
Romans 8:24, 25 – The new criteria for hope – you will have follow brother Abraham and learn to hope beyond the obvious. If you can figure it out, you aren’t in hope. If you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, get off the tracks! You’re about to get run over!

2. People’s expectations are shaped by:
 the authority to which they submit. The Spirit of God revealed: people’s fears are crystal clear. It is their hopes that are fuzzy. Your hope needs to be crystal clear. Define where, when, how.
 what they are exposed to repeatedly – using your imagination is how to elevate your hope. Don’t spend time with ungodly people. Get away from toxic environments.
 their environment – be separate! Don’t stay on the ground with turkeys – they can’t fly!
 their experiences – the most powerful thing that will shape your expectation.

Hoping Pt.4

2009-01-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

Hoping When it Seems Hopeless
Part 4

Hope is made for situations that seem hopeless. We started this series with a choice to make related to the type of life we want to live: a) live in a religious box, or b) live an abundant, relevant life full of power, faith and freshness. God wants to do things that have never been seen before. Christ came for the purpose of drawing people to Himself not just for this time, but for all eternity.

You can have anything with God as long as you understand three principles that must be personally appropriated:
1. You must be fully persuaded (convinced);
2. Realize that every promise of God is accessed and received by faith;
3. You will only be filled to the level of your hunger and thirst. You can increase your hunger and thirst through exposure, fixation, and remembering and reflection. Why the comparisons to food? Because every physical principle comes from the spiritual side. Get your hopes up!
We left off last week with the knowledge that you can increase your capacity to hope.

Joshua 1:8 – God’s instructions to Joshua on bringing the Israelites into the fulfillment of His promise. God had a plan, and He allowed Joshua to see it. “Meditate” translates to the word “imagine.” The only way you can keep up with God is to imagine! Children are masters at imagination. Every promise of God is guaranteed, the only doubt lies with a person. Those of you observing to “do all” must push aside those that doubt! If you’re hoping for something you can see, then you’re way off course.

Mark 9:23 -- You have the ability or power to increase your hope. God makes the way known, but it won’t happen automatically. If you can believe, all things are possible for you. The key and subject is you, and He wants to know if you can. “Can” has to do with ability. There is a hundredfold return out there for you if you focus your ability to believe.

Do not allow the experience of others to define your hope. Experience is the number one criteria for the source of hope. Most of you have allowed others to define your hope in the life you live, including the job you have, the type of car you drive, how you eat, and even who your friends are. Let your hope be a beast!

John 14:12 – Jesus said the very things He did, we could do also. If you don’t, He can! God wants to do exceedingly, abundantly above all. So don’t do it your way. How can you have a righteous expectation if you aren’t obedient? People have called convenience obedience and haven’t seen a hundredfold return.

Hoping Pt.3

2009-01-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

Hoping When It Seems Hopeless
Pt. 3

As children of God, we have hope (Ephesians 2:11). God is the God of hope (Roman 15:13). People who are unsaved can have hope if they receive Jesus Christ. There is no hope for the world. There is only hope for unbelievers through Jesus Christ. Our expectations as believers belong to God, not man. We have to put our trust in God alone. Every believer has an eternal, i.e. constant and abiding, hope. Our confession of faith is the source of our hope.

To review, we must ask ourselves what kind of life we want to live – religious or relevant? A religious life is following rules and regulations. A relevant life is having an intimate relationship with God. When you live a relevant life, you allow God to lead you in everything. Jesus Christ came so that we could have a relationship with Him. He came to free us from religion.

We hope through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). God wants to do in us something He has never done before (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). We need to be focused on the Holy Spirit today. God is never satisfied with the status quo. All the promises of God are accessed by faith (Galatians 3:26-29). We have to allow God to fully persuade us. Abraham against natural hope believed in the hope of God. Our faith has to match the level of our desire. A person will never be filled above the level of their hunger and thirst. Often, people will desire, but they are not hungry or thirsty.

Without hope, God can’t bring those things that have never been seen before into existence. Get your hopes up so that the power of God can flow through you! The Holy Spirit has been assigned by God to be our assistant. How often do we let the Holy Spirit work in our lives? We have not been called to a religious life. We’ve been called to supernatural living.

We can never live above the level of our expectations. Get your hopes up and trust God (Ephesians 3:14-21). Faith activates every promise of God. Faith is invaluable. You can’t put all the money in the world up against faith. Money doesn’t work in the spirit realm, only faith works in the spirit realm.

You cannot hope without faith or faith without hope. Most people don’t think that they can “be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3: 19). However, the Bible states that we are the temple of the living God. We can’t think or ask for something that we don’t expect. Every day we have to get our hopes up. “Him who is able” has to be in us, then He can do “exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3: 20) The power that is in us is the supernatural resurrection power of Christ.

God can’t live somewhere that He is not happy. Faith can only produce what is expected. It gives substance to hope. Hope is the engine; it sets the parameters of what you will see. Faith and hope can never be separated – they are built into each other. Get your hopes up and don’t ever take them down. Dream big because God is big! If there is any problem-solving to do, then it will be done by the Holy Spirit. Our piece is to get our hopes up. God can give us the hope because He has the substance. God gives us what we can’t see. God works with our weaknesses.

You can increase your capacity to hope (Joshua 1:8). This means that we are unlimited. You can increase your capacity to hope by meditating on the Word. Another word for meditate is imagine. Without imagination, we can’t hope. Meditation is the source of hope. We “observe to do according to all that is written” in the Word by allowing the power of God to work through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We “make our way prosperous” by our loyal obedience to God.

You have to pay the cost in order to get paid. We have to work for that which we can’t earn. We have to be engaged in God’s will and purpose. God gave us the power, so we have to use it. He gave us the power to hope, to desire and to imagine. It’s going to happen by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we can’t worry, fret or be anxious about it. The power is not of us but with us. It is according to the power that works in us that it happens.

You control your hope. No one is qualified to define your hope for you, not even God, which is why He gave us an imagination. “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23)

Hoping Pt.2

2009-01-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Hoping When it Seems Hopeless
Pt. 2

There’s no use in hoping unless it seems there is no hope. Hope is like peace; it doesn’t operate when everything is going well. While the world is in chaos, there is always hope (not hype) with the people of God, those who have allowed themselves to be adopted by Almighty God. The purpose of this message is to alert the Children of God to the choice they’ve made to live on a higher level.

1. Decide (make up your mind once and for all) what kind of life you’re going to live. God won’t and can’t make this decision for you; you are made in His image and likeness and have free will. Will you decide to live the overcoming life that Christ came to offer all of us? Deuteronomy 28 outlined clearly the choice God gave us, along with the answer! It’s up to you.
Romans 15:13 – Will you choose to live religiously? Settling for the religious is the very thing Jesus came to deliver us from. Or will you live a relevant, purposeful life? This is not an impossible equation! Jesus is our example to show us how to live this life. We are who the Covenant says we are, and can do what the Covenant says we can do because God keeps His Covenant. You can no longer be satisfied with your life.
Philippians 1:4; 2, 12, 13 – God has a life for you beyond your wildest dreams. This takes confidence to expect that what God has begun, He will also finish for His good pleasure! It’s not about you! You are not to work for, but rather to work out the salvation by faith (fear and trembling) God has already planted inside you. Our time in here is “practice time.” Coming to service and spending time alone with God is practice. Going out into the world is “Game Time.” Be excited about practice – this is where you need to show up –on time – to be equipped with all you the potential you need to overcome the world.

2. God wants to do something never seen before. God has plans for you, it doesn’t matter if you know about them or not! Behind the scenes, He has a gift, a plan, and a purpose for you beyond what you can even hope or expect for. And while the manifestation will bless you, it will also bless others and give them hope as well.
1 Corinthians 2:9, 10 – Our answer already exists; it’s prepared and done, waiting for you to release your faith to go get it. Religious thinking tells us to wait for the “sweet by and by” but this is not scriptural. Proverbs tells us deliberately that hope deferred makes the heart sick.
• You must be fully persuaded. Romans 4:21
• It isn’t going to be automatic. Galatians 3:13, 14
• You’ll only be filled to the level of your hunger and thirst. Matthew 5:6

How to increase your hunger and thirst (both of which are a sign of good health):
Ask yourself this question: Where are you frustrated or disappointed in life?

• Exposure. Colossians 1:23; 1:5, 6. Being exposed to the Word.
• Focus. Psalm 1:1-3. You’ll be biased on whatever you choose to focus on.
• Reflection. Psalm 42:5, 6, 11. Remembering what God has done will build an expectation of what God will do again.

Hoping Pt.1

2009-01-04T23:00:00.000-08:00

Hoping When It Seems Hopeless

Pt.1

We must hope when it seems impossible. Your senses will tell you it seems hopeless. When it comes to pleasing God and reaching your destiny, you must forget sight. As believers, we walk by faith and not by sight. Every born-again believer was given the measure of faith (Romans 12:3). We have the faith of God, not our own faith (Mark 11: 22). This gift – the faith of God – cannot be taken from you by the enemy. Instead, the enemy tries to inactivate people’s faith – by killing their hope. Without hope, faith is useless (Hebrews 11:1). If you kill hope, it is as though you have killed faith because faith operates on hope. The enemy mounts everything up against you to make it seem hopeless. But, as long as God is alive, there is always hope. God can’t die. So, you must start hoping when it seems hopeless.

God calls Himself the “God of hope.” (Romans 15:13) Hope is eternal and it will never die. This should give us an expectation. Joy and peace only comes with hope. As long as you live by faith, you will be filled with joy and peace because the God of hope activates your faith. You must raise your expectations. You must be convinced that you do not walk alone – everything you do, God is in. God didn’t bring you here just to go this far. The enemy knows that you will reap in due if you don’t quit, which is why he wants to kill your hope. If you walk by faith and not by sight, then you will have a fruitful and prosperous life. The closer you draw to God, the sooner this will happen.

You have to decide today what kind of life you will live – a religious life or a relevant life. Religion puts God in a box. A relevant life is a life that God uses. Living a relevant life means you allow God to lead you. Christ came to earth to get us out of religion. He came to call us into relationship with Himself. When we get involved with God working in our lives, it brings excitement, freshness and adventure into our lives. You can experience the full salvation of God – the full salvation of God is deliverance, preservation, safety healing and soundness. We don’t need these in heaven, but we need them here on earth. You must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling – this means walking by faith and not by sight.

In 2009, you have to hope like you never have before. God wants to do something through you have never seen before (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). You don’t know what God has planned for you. If you trust your life completely to God, then He is completely responsible for what happens to you.

How can you see things in your life you have never seen before? First, you have to be fully persuaded. This is something you permit to be done with you. Abraham against hope believed in hope (Romans 4:17-21). He didn’t consider what he could see. He hoped in what he couldn’t see. Abraham was strong in faith and gave glory to God. Nothing is too hard for God. If God promised it, we have to hope. God fully persuaded Abraham. Let God fully persuade you. Second, it is not automatic (Galatians 3:13-14). Everything you are going to get from God comes by faith. Faith without action is dead. Faith makes the things you can’t see real. Ask God: Am I being conformed to the world? What is important to You, God? This is walking by faith. If you walk by faith, God will make it happen (Psalm 37:4). Third, you will only be filled to the level of your hunger and thirst (Matthew 5:6). You have to raise your hope so that God can show you His power by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:20). If God can bring life from death, can anything be too hard for God?

There's Only Now: Part 11

2008-12-21T15:56:00.000-08:00

With everything that is going on in the world around us, this message is for now. We must remember – There is only now. Don’t allow distractions to make you ineffective now. God is always talking to us about what we should be doing presently. We are not to presume on tomorrow. We should maximize the present. We have to remember that we will have to answer to God for the decisions that we make. This helps us to see whether what we are doing now is a waste or not. We should have reverential fear of God. We want to give a good account to God when the time comes, so we must examine our lives and ask ourselves: What will last? God tells us what will last. God’s wisdom and His counsel are eternal (Proverbs 19:21 NKJV). Therefore, we should try to get God’s wisdom and counsel in all that we do so that we can build our lives on a rock, which is the Lord Himself.

First, we have to examine our thoughts. We must renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2). With respect to your thoughts, you must ask: Will they last? Are they in line with God’s counsel? If they are not, then you have the power to bring them in line with God’s counsel. Second, we have to examine our words or conversation. Are you talking about things that will last or about things that are inconsequential, temporary and subject to change? Conversation is fuel for thoughts. Everything must build upon that which will last. With all of the chaos in the world, God’s word is still eternally established. We have to learn to line our lives up with what is eternal. Third, we must examine our time (Romans 13: 11-14). The only thing that matters is right now – we must get this because it enables God to be in control right now. If we really trust God in everything, then He is responsible for everything that happens to us. This is the eternal truth. Satan tries to get us out of the present. God does not have a moment ago or a tomorrow. He is eternal. Once we are in Christ, we also are eternal. Our lives are nothing but a vapor (James 4:14). What are we doing with the short time that we have here? Fourth, we must ask if what we are doing with our money is going to last. People in the world are fearful now about what they think won’t happen in the future about their money. Believers must look to God. You must be diligent and get before God and ask Him whether you are on target with your money, as well as your thoughts, conversation and time. You have to ask God whether you are near anything that will last. If you mess up now, it will cost you everything. If you win right now, you win forever. Wake up, don’t act dead and God will give you understanding. Depend on God and you will maximize what is happening right now.

Jesus cautioned us in Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” With God as your help, will you take an honest look at where you are heavily invested? For example, the tithe belongs unto the Lord. If you tithe, then your heart is with the Lord. However, if you are socking your money away for retirement, then your heart is in retirement. This is presuming on tomorrow. God tells us not to worry about tomorrow. God is faithful. He will cause you to be blessed. David said in Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” A shepherd leads the sheep. David said that God was his shepherd because he followed God. We don’t need to understand it and it doesn’t need to make sense. We just need to walk by faith and not by sight. God will never tell you to do the same thing over and over again because that’s not faith. He will lead you in ways that you don’t understand.

You cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24). However, you need money to serve God. Money is a tool God gives us to fulfill His plan. It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Giving is the only way we can fulfill God’s plan for us. God will work everything together for your good when you put Him first. If you put Him first, there is no way you can come up short. We are soldiers for Christ. We are in a fight. There is nothing you can do to save yourself.

There is trouble today, so don’t worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:33-34). Take care of today. Overcome today with God’s grace and mercy that is only available to you right now, which will set you up for whatever may come. You are preparing for the future by living correctly now. If something is first in your life, then it touches everything in you life and everything in your life is arranged around it. If you would establish your life around God, then God would work your life out. Worry brings confusion and destruction. Worry is pride. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. We need to embrace the Word with all our heart and ask the Lord to help us. Those who are established in God know that if they love Him then God will work everything together for their good. There is only now. What you do right now will determine your deliverance or not.

In His Word, God tells us to wake up so that we won’t be dead (Romans 13:11). Your deliverance is nearer than when you started. If you wake up, you will be out. Sin isn’t worth it. We are in a war. You need to operate on the Word right now because there is a war going on. You have to “put on the armour of light.” (Romans 13:12) Understanding will come after you take the step of faith. We must conducts ourselves honestly (Romans 13:13). When you give up getting your own way, you cease from sin (Romans 13:14). Until you give up getting your own way, you are still a sinner. God will give you the desires of your heart, but you have to give up getting your own way so that He can bring it to pass. Suffering is the only way you can be promoted. Jesus was given the name above all names because He did thing’s God’s way.

God sent Jesus to save us from ourselves. If you give up getting your own way, you will be blessed. If seeking first the kingdom of God is your first priority then your life will show it – specifically, your thoughts, conversation, time and money. God is trying to take care of you, but He can’t if you are trying to get it your own way. This is a word of liberation. The truth always delivers. God tells us not to be anxious because He wants to take care of us (Philippians 4:6).

There's Only Now: Part 10

2008-12-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

There is only now in which you can live. There is nothing to sweat, if you walk with the Lord. Don’t waste energy sweating. God didn’t mention sweating in the Bible until after the fall of man. Christ is the last Adam and He has restored us into the place of the first Adam before he fell. Adam was in fellowship with God until he was deceived, and fell away from God. As long as we are with God, we have nothing to sweat. So, stop sweating!

God gave His truth in order the make people free. We should receive His Word with meekness, knowing that it will make us free. God knows what He is doing. It is important for us to realize that the world doesn’t have anything. The children of God should not envy sinner. We are here for the purpose of leading sinners out of the world.

God knows all things. He knows the end from the beginning. Jesus chose us, we didn’t choose Him. He calls us friend because He has told us everything that God told Him to tell us. We, as Christians, should stop looking to the world for answers. We have the truth of the Word of God. We should not be compromising with the world, but we should take up our rightful position. The children of God should stop looking and start doing. When we start doing, we can watch God work out everything for our good, command blessings to come upon us, add things to us and make things come to pass. The only prosperity the world has to offer is money. God has made known everything necessary for His people to walk out in righteousness, i.e. to live in God’s true prosperity.

We are not to presume on tomorrow or look to the future. We must maximize the grace and mercy that is available to us now in order to live life more abundantly as Christ came to offer it. God says in His Word that this life we have is nothing but a vapor. He said this to give us perspective to major on now because faith is now. God has already caused everything to be and laid it up for us – we just have to follow it.

When we have the proper perspective, then we can set up the proper priorities. Priorities are meant to be guardrails in our lives to get us to our destination. They help guide us and lead the way. Jesus set the priority for the children of God: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV) Jesus tells us to give up our lust for power and lofty positions, and our ambitions, and it will be added to us. We have to remember that we will have to give an answer to God. God knows that holding us accountable is the key to getting us to our destination. We have to buy into accountability – this is called humility.

The world is crying out for people of integrity. We, as children of God, should stand up and take our rightful position. We can’t be scared of the truth. We must be in fear and awe of God. The world wants what we have. We are supposed to be bold. We can’t be lazy. There is only now that God will show himself to us, but only if we tighten up our walk of faith. If you want to go higher, you have to step up your walk of faith. You have to change. There is no promotion without overcoming.

Only God’s counsel will stand (Proverbs 19:21). Our plans won’t last. We can know God’s will. He says what His will is in His Word. Also, the Spirit of God reveals His will to us (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). The will of God is to be known because it is meant to be done. We must major in the Spirit of God right now. We have to stop acting like we don’t hear God. We have to stop acting like we are deaf. We can only do this by the Spirit. We have to stop denying God. Don’t take for granted the mercy and grace of God. He has given us the breath of life in order to find Him.

We have to examine certain areas in our life and in each area ask: What will last? We have to run this question through our thoughts. We have to ask ourselves whether every thought is established on the Word of God. We have to run this question through our words or conversation. Our words frame our lives. A confession of faith is always a response to what God has said and promised. As children of God, we are not to declare what the situation is or deny that the situation exists. God commands us to ignore the situation. In Hebrews 13:5-6, God tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us, so that we may boldly say “The Lord is my helper.” God is always talking to us now. In these verses, God deals with our thinking first and then tells us how to make a confession of faith. People in the world can do stuff to us, unless we boldly declare the truth for ourselves in our circumstances. It is only a confession of faith because there is something there contradicting it. To ignore something means that it is there. We have to call things that don’t exist. We can only do this God’s way. God is begging to show Himself faithful to us, but if we don’t give ourselves over to Him it won’t ever happen.

Lastly, in terms of our time, we have to ask: What will last? God wants our time. We have to make sure that we are spending our time in ways that will last. If you make a plan without the Lord, you are acting in darkness (Romans 13:11-14). Everything we do should be in consultation with God.

There is Only Now: Part 9

2008-12-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

Through this series we’ve learned that there is only this moment in time. “Now” is present and the only space and time in which we can think, speak, or act. As we’ve gone through this series, we’ve come to understand that this is God’s perspective for us to adopt. God is outside of time. God is the same now as He was our yesterday or our tomorrow. So how are we, who are inside of time, able to draw close to Almighty God who is outside of time? By living our lives in the present and taking on things as God leads. It is critical that we adopt this mindset. God has laid up gifts and surprises for you every day, but are you allowing Him to bring it to you, trying to get it on your own, or foregoing them altogether? It should amaze you that all of your promises from the Word are in the present. You can’t do anything about yesterday or tomorrow, so you’ve got to take care of now.

The enemy can’t touch anything God has in store for you, the best he can do is move you away from the gift. James chapter 1 advises us against having a double mind. We must ask in faith in order to receive. From this point forward, your walk must be circumspect (set with boundaries for your protection). If you are moved, then you can’t receive anything. God wants to show Himself strong through our circumstances. Our weakness gives rise to affliction, and outwardly, these aren’t good times. The good news is God delivers us out of darkness ALL the time! We have a hope – an expected end (time’s up) – to this chaos. When time is up, we’ll have a manifestation – the harvest is coming in. The peace of God works in persecution, affliction, and adversity, not in good times. People are afraid of the dark because it is the unknown. There are no experts! Only God knows, and He’s looking for the righteous. His Word is a lamp to our feet, and illuminates the darkness so we can find our direction. But you first have to know where you are before you’ll know where you’re going.

Our foundation text for this series is found in Matthew 6:33, 34. Priority trumps everything. You can’t have split priorities; there is only one – to seek God first. God then tells you in what order all the other priorities ought to be in.

1. Remember, you’ll have to answer to God. This isn’t punishment, retribution, or a threat, it’s the truth. You need to be in that bubble of protection called now where God can protect you and keep you in perfect peace.
Proverb 23:17; 19:21
Ask yourself: What will last? Consult the Word to set up proper priorities.
Areas to examine:
Thoughts – 2 Corinthians 10:5. Start by holding God’s Word (meditating) in your mind day and night.
Conversation – Proverb 12:14; 13:2; Romans 4: 17– Prosperity begins on the inside! Start with your mouth and the words that come out of it. Christians are no different in this respect. Stop lying! We must hold ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ accountable. Use tact! Looking to our example, Abraham, we must begin calling things which are not as though they are.

There's Only Now: Part 8

2008-11-26T18:41:00.001-08:00

This is our bubble of protection – there is only now and now is a blessing. Do not let your past steal your present joy. This is a commandment from God. He tells us not to let our hearts be troubled (John 14:27 NKJV). God also tells us not presume on tomorrow. This perspective – God’s perspective – allows us to construct proper priorities. People are in jeopardy of destroying their future because they are freaking out about tomorrow. This is a tactic of the enemy. Because we have a now, we can reign over Satan, sin and death. As we walk by faith, God leads us. The enemy tries to get us to abort our now by deceiving us to thinking only about ourselves. Without proper priorities, no one can win. God knows everything. He is preparing us for what is going to happen right now.

To have proper priorities means that you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33, 34) If you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then you will never have to worry. You need to stop worrying about tomorrow. Worry, dread and fear about tomorrow is how Satan keeps people immobilized and out of the will of God.

Remember, you’ll have to answer to God. This focus gives us the ability to set up proper priorities. If you seek the counsel of God that always stands, then you will make plans that always succeed (Proverbs 19:21). We will be tempted but God as given us the grace to do whatever we need to do (Proverbs 23:17-18). Every day we encounter we are to be in the fear of the Lord. If you stay in the fear of the Lord all day long, your hope will come to pass and it will not be in vain.

Ask yourself: What will last? (Matthew 7:24) The love of the world will not last, but the counsel of God and the wisdom of God last forever. Some areas to examine when you ask yourself this question include your thoughts and conversation. Ask yourself: Are my thoughts the will of God? We don’t have to worry about the carnal things if we are not living in them (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Our thoughts need to line up with the Word of God. You should meditate on the Word day and night. We don’t war in the flesh. Our senses are there as warning mechanisms to protect us so that we know when to release our faith. How are you talking? On the judgment day, you will have to give an answer for your words that are contrary to the Word of God (Matthew 12:34). Paul was a truthful, honest and authentic believer (2 Corinthians 4:8). He called things that were not as though they were. Similarly, because we believe, we should say so.

There's Only Now: Part 8

2008-11-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

There is Only Now: Part 7

2008-11-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

This is a message of deliverance, and deliverance always brings power. You are not hindered by the past or your future. Never lose focus that there is only now. Because you are a conqueror and have already won through Christ Jesus.

Through this series, we are gaining God’s proper perspective that we’re not to presume on the future nor be held back by something in the past, but rather come to understand that our time as we know it is nothing but a vapor. This life is a rehearsal for living an eternity. You don’t have mercy for tomorrow. The Bible teaches that mercy is new each day, so you’re only going to get the mercy you need for the time you’re in. The past can’t be an anchor, you have to live now. Anyone truly in Christ has no regrets – you aren’t permitted! So just appreciate and be content with such things as you have because God said He would never leave nor forsake you. Proper priorities come from a Godly perspective. You can’t call something a priority if it lives in a box. We are called to only one priority, and that is to seek God first.

Matthew 6:33, 34; Proverbs 19:21 – Remember that you always have to answer to God.
The only thing that will last is God’s wisdom and counsel.

To set these proper priorities, ask yourself: What’s going to last?
Ø Are my thoughts in line with what is eternal? (Proverbs 24:9, 23:7, 4:23; and Corinthians 10:3-5) Dealing with your thoughts is the first place to begin in setting your priorities. If you think down thoughts, you will be a pessimist. If you think positively, you will be an optimist. God gave you mighty weapons through Him to pull down the strongholds in your mind. A stronghold is anything contrary to God’s Word. You have the power to pull down those strongholds, to use the weapons of God to destroy the fortresses that the enemy has erected in your mind to dominate the way you think.
Romans 8:1 – Add a period after “…in Christ Jesus.” Strike all other text that follows. If you’re not free from condemnation, you cannot be expected to walk in and fulfill Christ’s liberty. Get out of your spiritual hospital bed! Because of Christ’s paying our price, we are free! Think on the Word; there won’t be room for ungodly thoughts.

There’s Only Now: Part 6

2008-11-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

A priority touches everything in your life. Whatever you are seeking or chasing is your priority. Everyone’s priorities are known by what they say and do. How does one set proper priorities? The answer is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We need to check our priorities every day. People are being distracted out of the truth that there is only now because of their fear. People are fearful of what does not exist; they fear nothing. We should allow God to instruct us how to set up our lives. If we establish proper priorities, we won’t be shipwrecked and distracted. Remember, you will have to answer to God. You don’t want to be ashamed giving your answer to God. Anyone who is not bold before God will raise suspicions. If you have right priorities, you will be bold before God.

God made His wisdom available and He showed us how it will come out first (Proverbs 19:21 NKJV). If you follow God’s instruction, you will be fine. The covenant is God’s counsel and His will is that we not be ignorant. God told us that we win up front. Those who hear God’s Word and do it are building on God’s covenant. God promised that if we do what is right now then tomorrow is coming with blessings. In obeying God, there is temporary pain but a very long time of blessing. Hang up your schemes, but hold in to your desire. God doesn’t need our help. He is love and love does not seek its own. You need to fire yourself, cease from your own works and enter into God’s rest. We tell God with our actions whether we trust Him and believe Him.

Everyone is spending their lives on something. What are you investing your life in? You could be investing it in the wrong area. Ask yourself: Soul, what will last? You ask your soul this question because you have to live eternally and you have to give an answer to God. God can only be found in the now. Things that will not last are the love of the world and the things in it (1 John 2:16-17). We need to stay away from the love of these things. God will give these things to us when we make Him our priority.

We should build our lives on God’s counsel (Proverbs 8:23). If you want what you want, then get wisdom. We should not go for the promise of gold, silver and rubies, but we should go for God’s wisdom now (Proverbs 8:10-11). If we pick up God’s wisdom, we are strong (Proverbs 8:14). God loves those who love Him (Proverbs 8:17). This is a choice. We need to get in love. At the beginning of every endeavor you should seek wisdom diligently. Don’t take the money up front, get paid! (Proverbs 8:18-21). What good is riches and honor without righteousness? God is the doer, not us. The price that we pay is our heart. God wants to bless us according to His riches and glory, not according to our need.

One area that we should examine is our thoughts. Ask yourself: Is what I am thinking wisdom or is it my way? Is what I am thinking going to last? Foolishness is going about your life like there is no God (Proverbs 24:9). People accused Paul of living in the flesh because he did not live religiously (2 Corinthians 10:1). Though we walk in the flesh, we don’t war against the flesh; we get our minds right. We have to have the mind of Christ. We have to bring everything into God’s counsel. We have our senses to tell us how to walk by faith. We need senses to tell us how to live.

There is Only Now: Part 5

2008-11-03T21:37:00.000-08:00

There is only now in which a person has an opportunity to do or decide anything. All we have is right now. As you spend time in the Word, it will become overwhelming clear that God speaks to you in the “now.” We are dealing with this subject because of the situations you’re facing right now. God isn’t caught by surprise by anything – He knows everything you will face even before you’re conscious of it. How much of what you fear actually comes to pass anyway? God has not given us the spirit of fear, but His spirit of love and power. Fear is from the enemy, and begins as doubt, grows into unbelief, and before you know it, you’re losing health, sleep, hair, and faith.

Proverb 27:1 – Our commandment is not to brag about tomorrow. God lives in perpetural “now.”
James 4:13, 14 – Our affliction is but a moment. Every day thank the Lord for salvation. God is training us to live eternally, starting now. People who don’t learn to obey God will have a rough go when the “vapor” is gone and they stand before God.

Luke 12:16-21; Matthew 6:33, 34 – "Self" is a problem, and must be your old ways. You cannot go in two directions. You can’t live then and live now. And if you’re in fear, you’re living in then.

1. Seeking God first means constantly depending on God. Dependence is not knowing a Bible verse, or only turning to God when you’re in trouble, when it’s convenient or on Sundays. You are a soldier and should never relinquish your weapons.

2. If it’s a priority, it touches every thing else in your life. There is but one instruction in the Word.

Ephesians 5:21-25 – You submit yourself to others if you love God. This extends to our spouses, bosses, and everyone we come in contact with. If you are unruly and think you can act any way, you can’t profess to love God, too!

There's Only Now: Part 4

2008-10-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

The fight is not over until you say it is over. We cannot say it’s over until we win. It’s time to have the mind of Christ. You must say to yourself: Do not give in! Do not give up! It’s not over until I win! People give up because they buy into the lie the enemy is giving them. It’s not over until you say it is over.

If you are in Christ, then you are a soldier of Christ (2 Timothy 2:3). This means you are not a complainer, whiner, etc. We are not supposed to be entangled in the affairs of this world. Faith is now (Hebrews 11:1). You can’t operate in faith except for right now. People get scared of what doesn’t exist. Jesus told us to be bold and not fearful.

To be successful, we have to see things from God’s perspective (Proverbs 27:1). You can’t spend today worrying about tomorrow or regretting yesterday. God is your helper. Therefore, you should not fear what man can do to me (Hebrews 13:5-6). If you live in the now, nothing can touch you; you are protected. Tomorrow can’t be your focus, you have to live in the now. You can’t be covetous. You can’t let your unmet desires mess with you. If you are covetous, you can’t appreciate anything. You can’t live in the now if you are covetous. We have to content with such things that we have.

God only deals with you in the now. You cannot bank on tomorrow because it may not come. Everything you see now is subject to change, if you order your life now. Getting God’s perspective is about now. When I set right priorities, then I can define my own successes. When you are covetous, you letting other people define your success. You have to make sure everything is lined up right now and that will take care of tomorrow (Luke 12:16-21). The only way you can rich toward God is to load up with Him. It’s all Him, only Him and nothing but Him.

There's Only Now: Part 3

2008-10-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

This is the only opportunity you have to do something or act. Yesterday is gone, the future isn’t promised. We are inside of time; God is not. When we began this series, we learned that we are not to presume tomorrow. When we have God’s perspective, we will have the mind of God, understand what is really important, to see things properly, and set proper priorities.

God tells us what eternal life is in John 17:3. “Knowing” in the Biblical sense is to experience intimately. Proverb 27:1 tells us we don’t know what tomorrow holds! If you follow and obey God, you don’t have to worry about anything because He is obligated to you and what happens to you. When you deviate, you assume responsibility for yourself. There is a rational, validatable reason that God can’t lie! Luke 12:16-21 – God must want us to be rich toward Him.

The benefits of setting and having right priorities:

You can determine success for yourself. This is freedom! No one has a right to determine success for you or can control you.
You can enjoy success at any time.

Matt 6:33, 34 – In this passage, God is speaking directly to our circumstances today. Faith is now, and keeps you in your right position, dependent on God. Fear drives us to obsess about tomorrow and keeps us from focusing on the present. If you do what God tells you to do, all things you desire will be added to you now. The only way you will get to know God is to experience life on His terms. Seek God first (priority) and stop scheming and conniving up your own plans. God wants you to know Him as intimately as He knows you.

Definition of “priority” – whatever you seek, pursue, or chase is your priority and runs throughout your entire life. Seeking God’s kingdom is to go to His territory, to get on His domain, and seeking righteousness is to align yourself with how the kingdom runs.

Mark 10:20- if you are into possessions, this passage is for you. Separate yourself from your stuff. God wants you to know Him.

Luke 10:38-42 – worry and anxiousness is sin. Martha lacked in setting right priority by burdening herself with busyness.

Psalm 27:4 – David was a man after God’s heart, setting his priority on God first.

Philippians 3:13 – Paul attested to not knowing all things, but the one thing he did know was to forget what happened in the past, both victories and failures, and pressing now through toward what lies ahead. You can’t say one thing and live contrary to your words – it causes stress.

Ephesians 5:22-25; 6:5, 6 - Your prioritywill run throughout all aspects of your life. If your priority is family first, then your husband or wife is first - not work, friends, or other distractions. All that you do should be done unto God. When you have priority stress will disappear. Adopt the mind of God, live for eternal purposes.

Pastor Appreciation Day

2008-10-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Pastor Appreciation Day
Pastor Robert L. Thomas, Jr.

This Sunday, Berith celebrated its 5th Annual “Pastor Appreciation Day.” In honor of his tireless contributions, Pastor Rick was able to enjoy his special day from his seat, and enjoyed the message delivered by associate pastor “Pastor Bob” of Vine Life Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California.

If you’ve never heard Pastor Bob teach before, you have missed an engaging, enlightening, and very lively delivery of God’s Word. How to explain? For starters, Pastor Bob set the tone of his message through music; referencing both Beyonce and Fred Hammond!

Fun aside, Pastor Bob was there to remind the congregation of the awesome ministry gift the city of Oakland, and Berith Christian Fellowship in particular, has in its midst. We’re to remember that celebrating our Pastor isn’t just a one-day occasion. Receiving a precious gift should not be taken for granted, nor is a gift defined only as something tangible with monetary value. Every day we are alive is a gift, but we must remember that each day brings its own set of challenges. We are also to realize that we are in spiritual warfare here in the natural. John 10:10 advises us that the enemy is here only to kill and destroy.

Pastor Bob posed an intriguing question. Why is it that most people agree with the special reverence the pope receives as ministry gift, but disagree with extending that same level of reverence to any other ministry gift? Why is our Pastor any different? Pastor Rick loves each and every one of his sheep, and has laid his life bare for all of us.

So, the question is, how can you take your reverence a little higher for your ministry gift? Pastor Bob offered a few ways:

*Show up. Mentally and physically. Show your beautiful face! Attend service regularly; come out for the events hosted by the church and bring a friend!
*Sow your time. Become involved in the ministry (1 Timothy 5-17).
*Remember Pastor Rick loves you. As the overshepherd, Pastor Rick has accountability for each and every one of us. Our Pastor has dedicated our children, blessed our families and interceded for us when we were sick or in trial. Remember that Pastor Rick needs our encouragement, too.

There's Only Now: Part 2

2008-10-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

There’s only now to act. Yesterday does not exist now. Tomorrow does not exist until it comes. As we see from God’s Word, there is no guarantee that tomorrow is coming. Therefore, we need to think, speak and act from the frame of reference that there is only now. God’s Word tells us that there is only now (Proverbs 27:1; Matthew 6:34). God’s mercy is new everyday. You have to be in the now because that is the only way you can be in faith and it is the only place you can access God. If you have the right perspective – the mind of God – then you can have proper priorities. When you have God’s perspective, then you can start setting your life up.

Having the mind of God helps you to prioritize. No one can do everything. You have to know when to say “no.” This is especially important given that we live in hostile territory – the enemy’s world. You cannot have the right priorities if you don’t know how to say “no.” You have to take your cues from God in order to be the best person God calls you to be. If you don’t have the mind of God, you cannot see right and, therefore, you cannot have right priorities. Having the mind of Christ helps us to see right and helps us to have right priorities. There are only two choices you can make – right or wrong. God set it up this way for our benefit. He always tells us what is right.

There are only two sets of priorities. The first set is society’s priorities. In 1 John 2:15-17, God points out society’s priorities. The first thing God says is “Do not” for our protection. He gives us the buffer up front. The third word in these verses is “love.” That is the real issue – Where is your affection? Where is your priority? God tells us “do not love the world.” Our assignment is to be in the world to get saved and rescue the captives. God has equipped us to be in the world and win, but we are not to love the world. The “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” is pleasure, possessions and prestige, respectively. There is no joy, peace, happiness, contentment, fulfillment or satisfaction in this world. In these scriptures, “lust” is contradicted with “love.” Love is a commitment and dedicated attitude. Love is life. Lust, on the other hand, is convenient and it is all about emotions. Lust is death. If you believe that lust is love, then you will lust after the wrong things and call it love. Lust leads to regret.

If we make society’s priorities our priorities, then we will surely die. People are deceived into believing that pleasure, possessions and prestige is the end. God says that these are a means to enjoying life and fulfilling God’s will and purpose for us. We have God’s blessings at our disposal (Genesis 12; Galatians 3). The blessings of Abraham are for whoever is in Christ. God will give you pleasure, possessions and prestige if it is not your goal because they will kill you (John 10:10). The only way to get these things is to forget them. God tells us to cease from our own works (Hebrews 4:10). We are supposed to receive by God’s grace, not by our own works.

The second set is God’s priorities. Having God’s priorities is not about religion, it is about relationship (John 17:3). We should make it our priority to know God. Let God bring it to you because you are pursuing Him. Eternal life is that we know God and Jesus Christ. This means pleasure, possessions and prestige aren’t a god.

Proper priorities will determine success (Matthew 6:31-34). If you don’t determine your priorities, then you are letting other people control you. If you are chasing pleasure, possessions and prestige, you are letting others control you. When you are not living in line with your priorities, it produces stress. When you are living in line with your priorities, it produces peace.

Don’t take the simplicity of Christ or the wisdom of God for granted. Simplicity is worth everything. You build your house on a rock by hearing what the Lord says and following it (Matthew 7:24). It is unnecessary for your house to fall because you have heard the simplicity of the Word of God. We cannot think that we will be immune. The covenant of God is like an umbrella – it makes us insusceptible to attack. God is faithful to those who hear His Word and obey Him – that can be anybody.

There is only now. If we hear and obey God now, He will set us up for what is to come. God knows that we have needs. His response is for us to have right priorities, not to chase pleasure, possessions and prestige. God is telling us that the answer is proper priorities. God’s remedy is to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” This scripture does not say seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness – it says make this first. Your life should be built on a rock so that it won’t fall. God tells us to seek Him first – this means that He is obligated. He shows Himself strong when we walk by faith.

There's Only Now: Part 1

2008-10-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

There is only now to do something. There is only now to act. You can’t do anything in the past or the future. This is good news! God is not in the past or the future. He is outside of time. Don’t let the past kill you now. Forget about the future. Focus on the now. Because we, as Christians, are never going to die, we need to forget about tomorrow. There is only hope because there is only now. As long as there is a now, we are good. If there isn’t a now, we are lost. Our hope is not in man. Our hope is in God, “so that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Don’t presume on tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1; Matthew 6:34). This means don’t make plans on tomorrow. The definition of “presume” is “to undertake with unwarranted boldness,” “to take for granted or assume,” and “to undertake without right or permission.” God gave us support for our boldness (Hebrews 13:6). If you presume, you will be in fear. There is no such thing as yesterday or tomorrow. The only proof you have of yesterday is what you reap today. If we make God our helper, that’s the only way we can be absolutely sure. We have to receive this, operate by it and see what God does.

We should live with Godly perspective. If God doesn’t think about yesterday or tomorrow, then we shouldn’t (James 4:13-16). This life is for one thing – to make sure that we are ready for eternity. Your time has eternal repercussions, so you must make it count. You should follow the God of all wisdom, who knows the beginning from the end. God doesn’t want us building on sand. He wants us building on a rock. By living in the now, God prepares you for whatever will come because God knows all.

If you ask “What will I do?” and you proceed to act according to your plan, then that is arrogance and it is satanic. You should ask “Lord, what shall I do?” Self should not be in conversation with God. True prosperity comes from your relationship with God. Seek God’s presence, not His presents, and you will be rich.

You shouldn’t talk to your soul (Matthew 11:29). You should speak the Word of God and you should consult God. To be rich toward God, you have to know Him. You have to be intimate with Him and have a relationship with Him. If you are full of yourself, God can’t get in. Whatever can’t be corrupted, can’t die (1 Peter 1:23). To be rich in God, you have to be in God’s Word.

Focus on your relationship with God. The best way to spend now is to focus on your relationship with God. Prayer is fellowship with God (1 Peter 4:7; Ephesians 5:14-17). You have to give up your plans and be in the now with God (Proverbs 16:25). If God establishes it, nothing can pull it down. We have to be rich in God and not be in our plan (Proverbs 16:25). We have to build our life on a sure foundation, which is our relationship with God.

Be Connected

2008-09-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

At the heart of every person is the need to be connected. Without connections, nothing of importance has ever been accomplished. God made His desire for us to be connected from the very beginning, connecting us with Him through His image and likeness for the purpose of fellowship and being connected. God created the family for us. Breaking these God-given connections is the means by which the enemy has been able to destroy people.

1. You were born to be part of something greater than yourself. Think of how many things have been created to fulfill our need for connection, most of which serve only as distractions from what God intends. God created His family for every single person. You have a need to contribute as well – it’s abnormal to just receive – yet this is what society tells us we need.

Galatians 3:26 – “Son” by definition means you are part of the family.
John 1:12 – becoming a part of a family isn’t automatic. You become a member of the family not at conception, but when a parent assumes responsibility for the child – when there is reception. Everything we do is a shadow of God’s kingdom.
Ephesians 2:19 – any person can come to God and be granted the legal right to become a child of God through adoption. Once you come through Christ, you are no different from the saints, a member of God’s household. Religion (man’s way) tells us that a saint is a position, voted in (or out) based on works! If God met your need to be part of something larger than yourself, specifically God’s family, then why would you allow someone to convince you not to be connected to the Body of Christ?

2. God supplies nearly all you need through His family. I say “nearly” because some things are outside the family that will come to family by legal right. But realize that you can’t have the benefits of being part of a family under your own terms. We’ve learned that another name for a family is the Body. Just like jewelry is an enhancement to the Body, it isn’t part of the Body, or a necessity.
Ephesians 4:11-16 – The work of the leader is to equip and edify the Body for order, design, and purpose. God instructs to look at the fruit of the leader to discern for ourselves if that person is truly a leader and following God’s purpose. Any gift that God has given won’t be afraid of your questions, poking or prodding! We are all knit together to supply other parts of the Body. Being a producing member of the Body is your protection and your guarantee of provision. Just as in the physical body, not every member plays the same part; you shouldn’t mistake the child for the parents. No matter how long you live, a child can never close the gap that should exist between children and parents.
1 Peter 5:1 – Ministry gifts were given by God to men to answer the needs of, provide oversight, and to serve as an example to the people of God. No one can make it alone. Don’t use the excuse of being burned by church once as a reason for not finding another church Body to be part of!

It's for You

2008-09-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

You are called by God – answer! Believers should look like, act like and live like Jesus did in the world (John 17:18 NKJV). All believers have been called to preach the Word. It is important for believers to know where the call comes from. First, the call to preach comes from God (Matthew 28:18-20). God is calling believers to preach His Word. You have all the authority and power to answer the call because God is with us always, all the time.

Second, the call to preach comes from the unsaved (Acts 16:9). There are people in the world who want to get out of the condition they are in – they want to be delivered, they are looking for truth and they are looking for answers. This is who believers should spend time with preaching the Word. “Preaching” is simply telling your story. Don’t try to pick the fruit that is not ripe. You should pick the fruit that is ripe or ready to receive your testimony.

Third, the call to preach comes straight from hell (Luke 16:19-31). The Word says come now and don’t delay. In torment, the rich man who was in hell recognized the beggar who was carried into Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man cried for mercy for himself and his family – but it was too late. People who are not saved are taking a huge gamble on tomorrow. They risk eternal blessing by thinking they have the next day or the next year. Believers will have to answer to the Lord for their failure to answer the call. The question that comes from God is: What have you done with what you’ve heard? This is the power by which people get saved.

All believers are called to preach (Romans 1:14). Believers should not be ashamed to preach the Gospel of Christ because it is the power of God. The rich man knew the power of the Gospel of Christ. Believers have the power of God in us right now. We have the power of God in our mouths. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation. Salvation is healing, deliverance, preservation, safety and soundness. This is the cure for all of the woes in the world right now. We who are saved have the power of God in our mouths now to cure any and every woe in the world right now. Everyone needs salvation. Salvation has to do with us being delivered now, as well as in the time to come. Salvation is the power to change people’s lives right now.

The Gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation to everyone. You are to testify that what God did for you, He can do for anyone else. Your job is to open your mouth and let the power of God some out, and once you do that, people will get help because they will receive the power of God in them for salvation. Every single believer is called, anointed and appointed to preach. Believers should be telling people that if God did it for me, He can do it for you. Your job is to open your mouth and let the power of God come out, and then people will receive the power of God in them for salvation and deliverance.

It is the body of Christ’s job to preach to the world (Acts 8:1-4). It is the ministry gift’s job to teach the Word. If believers do not answer the call to preach, people will not know that there is more to life than what they know, and they will not know that they can live by faith and not by sight. A believer telling his or her story to the unsaved is what peaks people’s interest and provokes their curiosity. It makes people think that what God did for you He can do for them too.

God’s plan for salvation cannot happen without us (Romans 10:13-15). The people in hell are counting on us to save their loved ones. If you are in Christ, you will be about making life better for those around you. You are not called to give sermons; you are called to tell your story. You do not get people saved; they are saved by the Holy Spirit. Your call is to preach your own personal story. Your story gives the Holy Spirit something to work with. You are the message; you don’t have the message.

God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:20). God has given us the Word of reconciliation, so we have to leave the judging of sin in others alone. The Bible says that “we are ambassadors for Christ.” This means that we represent Christ, but we don’t do it on our own power. Christ makes the way for us. God is using the Christ in us to reconcile the world back to Him. Your message has nothing to do with sin -- it has to do with healing, deliverance, preservation, safety and soundness.

Who do you say that Jesus is? Believers represent God based on who we say Jesus is. We have to operate like we are the only Christ that people in the world are going to see. Is God in trouble? Are we representing God falsely or correctly? In other words, as ambassadors for Christ, we have to assume that we are the only God people can see in their lives because then it is on us to demonstrate God’s power to all who see.

God is not the problem; Satan is the problem (Acts 10:38). Believers are here to make life better for people in the world. You are equipped just like Jesus. You have the same power as Jesus. The Holy Spirit is in you with the power to make life better for people. The answer is the power of God in you, which is your story. In order for believers to answer the call, we must have God firmly established in our lives. We must sanctify God in our hearts (1 Peter 3:15). Believers are the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13-14) We make people hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. Believers are the message (Acts 1:8). We are the light of the world, and light destroys darkness.

Sitting Pretty

2008-09-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

What comes to mind when you hear the term “sitting pretty?” Someone described sitting pretty is being in the “catbird seat.” Essentially, we are seated in a position in which we could literally go no higher. Ephesians 2:4-6 tells us we have been made alive together through Christ, raised up together into a vaulted, highly exalted position. We weren’t given a choice; God doesn’t ask our opinion about it!

1. Being in Christ is a position of advantage and favor. If God has placed you in this position, you must realize that you’re not sitting there along, or on your own merit, because you did something to deserve it. If you accept this reality, it will change the way you operate, think, speak, and act, and move you toward operating in the Word. Advantage is having the upper hand, but favor is only from God. “Favor” defined is God exercising His divine, holy power in our hearts so that we can live like Him (the life of God). The moment you enter a relationship with Christ, we are at the table of position and favor!
Ephesians 1:19-23 – Jesus’ resurrection power is present and in us. What is the connotation of Jesus’ being “far above all things?” When Jesus was sat at the right hand of God in the seat of authority and power – we were sat there, too! God sees us seated together with Christ in heavenly places, it doesn’t matter what limitations we see! The biggest obstacle to this position lays in our own acceptance.
Revelations 3:20 – This passage is often directed toward sinners. Reading further, we actually see the call is directed to the churches. Jesus seeks intimacy with us, as joint heirs.

2. Christ frees us to glorify God [by the way He walked and lived]. Get busy receiving and accepting this rightful position! We are no longer in bondage to the conditions around us. As ambassadors for Christ we are able to walk freely and unencumbered, able to glorify God so that others can see and be drawn from darkness into light.
Romans 6:4 – We are supposed to live and walk in the newness of life just as Christ did.
Exodus 33:1-3; Numbers 13:26 – God wanted the people free to worship Him. Throw off the victim mentality! God told the children of Israel up front that there were inhabitants in the land. But he also said not to worry; He would take care of all.

3. Exchange your focus and attitude for God’s.
Psalm 1:1-3 – start looking down on your conditions – not in a condescending way, but set above and triumphant over any challenge.
1 John 2:6 – Too many people claim to be Christians but never come to know Him.

Take Your Break

2008-08-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Take Your Break

Are you ready to take your break? It was never God’s design for us to sweat (literally and figuratively). Your employment ought to be a reflection of the purpose God has for you. And if your job is manual labor, God’s grace will be more than sufficient for you and you won’t toil.

Hebrews 4:9-11 – This passage tells us that the one who walks in God’s grace discontinues his own labor. As a believer of God’s Word and one who walks by faith, you’ll understand that the rest of God is available to you today. Our work to enter God’s rest isn’t physical; but rather we are to make an earnest effort toward stopping our own works. The Bible tells us we must be diligent in ceasing from our own schemes, plans, and efforts. Our Biblical example of disobedience is found in Exodus 33. Unbelief and doubt prevented the Children of Israel from entering the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Caleb entered, the others perished.

The rest of God is not just stopping your work. A lot of believers are frustrated and are laboring because they’re out of place not doing what God would have them to do. God tells us up front that He will make the way. If you’re unhappy, ask yourself why you’re working the job you’re working?

1. God’s rest is a place of guaranteed success (or victory). What does this definition mean to you?
Matthew 11:28-30 – Jesus is The Rest. He is the fulfillment of all of God’s Word. Bottom line, entering God’s rest is coming to know the living Christ in your life. The stronger leads the way once you’re yoked together. Jesus tells us his yoke is easy, so why are so many believers struggling with a hard life? They’ve been deceived into believing something else, foregoing the yoke of Christ to work their own way out. Peace is intertwined with rest. The spiritual side of ending our own works means all religious, ceremonial, and ritualistic works to be righteous with God must cease. Christ is the righteousness of God, and in Him we are made righteous. How can we add to or take away from this? We are made in Christ’s likeness and image, and therefore more than conquerors (Hebrews 1:1-3; Galatians 3:29; Romans 8:17).

2. Unbelief is what stops a person from entering. Unbelief is disobedience, rebellion and stubbornness – a conscious turning away from your known truth. Entertaining doubt leads to unbelief. Doubt becomes foolishness when you entertain it and allow your present, problematic, challenging, adverse situations to overshadow the true certainty of God’s promises to you.
Hebrews 3:12-14 – We are not “partakers of God” because we say we are. The rest of God is not automatic. An evil heart of unbelief turns back from the truth. Exhort one another! Close ranks and bear one another up. Some of you will prevent all of you from going where God intends all of us to go! Procrastination is the enemy’s tool.

Sometimes you have to fire yourself! Write down all your activities (friends, clubs, associations) and ask the Lord from your heart what you should be doing. Allow God to reveal to you what you should be doing each step of the way. God gives us the grace and mercy to meet our obligations. Once you get a taste of rest, you won’t go back to working! You get the reward of your inheritance. Hebrews 11:6 (Berith’s hallmark Scripture) tells us that God rewards our faith. Stop watching your brothers and sisters in Christ drown in their own fruitless efforts! Lift one another up.

3. Living by faith guarantees that we enter.

Take It To Heart

2008-08-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

In this message, we discussed taking it to heart. It is an opportunity for us to give ourselves a spiritual check-up. In the Bible, the heart is where your mind meets your spirit. Here’s the critical question: Are you a drifter or are you a person of purpose?

In 2 Corinthians 13:5, you are told to “examine yourselves “as to whether you are in the faith.” You examine yourself to determine if you are in faith not. You are not in faith just because you say that you are in faith. You have to test yourself and pass the test.

If you are born again, then Christ is in you. The question is: Do you know that? If you do, then you are called to live by faith not by your five senses, not by what you perceive and not by what comes through your mind. In other words, you live by God’s Word and by your relationship with Him. That’s what “are [you] in the faith” means. If you are in Christ, there should be fruit in your life that reflects that you are in Christ.

You have to examine yourself to determine whether you are in Christ because the risk is that you will be “disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5). God doesn’t disqualify us. You must test yourself to determine if you are disqualified. This is something that God leaves to us on the honor system.

Some people have the attitude that once they work everything out in their lives then they will serve God. God doesn’t work that way. If you are doing everything you know to do and things still aren’t working out, that’s not right. That’s not God’s way. God works with those who obey Him. It’s false religion to expect God to do everything for us. When you are walking in the will of God, things are supposed to work out. You can’t always blame the enemy for things going wrong. That’s why it’s important for you to “consider your ways.” (Haggai 1:5-7) “Consider your ways” literally means lay your heart on this or consider what you are doing. This is where your mind meets your spirit. Putting off the work of God in order to take care of you will lead to poverty and lack. You are not intended to take care of yourself. You are intended to depend on God because God, the Father, takes care of His children.

How do you check or test yourself? How do you know if you are drifting or staying on course? For this test, you have to look at yourself in the mirror, and the mirror you are looking into is God, through His Word (James 1:22-25). The “perfect law of liberty” is another word for mirror or the Word. If you stay with God, look in the mirror He has made and continue in His Word, then you will do some work. The only person you can deceive is yourself, which is why you have to look in the mirror. Being a hearer of the Word and not a doer means you are deceiving yourself. If you are doer of the Word, you will be blessed. What you do is spiritual. If something is truly spiritual, then the natural cannot contain it. It’s impossible because the spirit is more real than the natural. Every problem that a person has comes from him/her slipping into thinking that the natural is more real than the spiritual. That’s why it is so important for you to test yourself to see if you are doing the work God gave us through His Word. If you become a doer, there will be no more frustration and you will be blessed.

The parable told in Luke 15:11-32 is commonly called “The Prodigal Son.” As you will see, it is more appropriately called “The Prodigal Father.” Prodigal means lavish or not stingy – that’s what the father is. In this story, you are either one of the two sons and the father is God.

The younger son saw blessings as something owed to him (Luke 15:11-12). He didn’t want to wait for his father to die to receive his inheritance. The younger son demanded his inheritance and his father complied by dividing it between his two sons. The younger son had a sense of entitlement, he wanted immediate gratification and he thought blessing were due to him. Do you think that blessings are due you? The younger son didn’t want anything to interfere with his plan. In other words, he didn’t want home in his house (Luke 15:13). He wanted to be his own master (God). This is called idolatry. He did not want his father to look at him doing what he was about to do.

You can leave far from Jesus with your heart (Matthew 15:8). The only thing the younger son wanted was immediate gratification. He was coveting. He wanted the seen over the unseen, and he gave no thought to the future. He wasted his inheritance by loose living. You cannot reap what you eat (Luke 15:14). Because of his greed, the younger son gave no thought to the future and he suffered for it. God expects for you to sow out of what He has blessed you with because tomorrow is coming. The younger son became a slave by enslaving himself (Luke 15:15-16).

In the midst of his dire situation, the younger son considered his ways (Luke 15:17-18), meaning he took it to heart. He went back to the mirror. He said that he sinned against “heaven” (God) and his father. In other words, he repented. This is where you want to be. You want to hear God call you “son,” not servant. A son implies an inheritance. Religion keeps people out of their inheritance. The younger son humbled himself. He “rose.” (Luke 15:20) In other words, he was a doer of the Word. He repented, turned around and changed his actions. The younger son had his mind on eternity (Luke 15:21). It is God’s goodness that causes us to repent. The younger son received the best robe, a ring and sandals for his feet. He was clothed in the garments of righteousness (Luke 15:22). The fatted calf was an offering for his sin (Luke 15:23).

Separation from God is death. The younger son got his heart’s desire. The Father will not chase people in rebellion. Both sons had everything as long as they were with their father. Neither of them loved their father. They didn’t take it to heart. Are you foolish in the face of God’s love? Obedience only happens when it comes from the heart. When we totally trust ourselves to God, He is totally responsible for us (Luke 15:24).

As God Is, So Are We

2008-08-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

Even though there is growing upheaval in the world, believers should not act like everyone else in the world. As believers, our lives should reflect the statement from 1 John 4:17 (NKJV), “as He is, so are we in this world.” We should not be conditioned to this world. God doesn’t promise fair, but the world doesn’t have a chance against believers. God set everything up so that we know the end from the beginning. As God is, so are we! This is why Jesus came. This is why Jesus called us His body. As the head goes, so goes the body. The body of Christ shouldn’t be paralyzed because as the head goes, so goes the body.

The Bible is God’s Word to believers. It is a covenant between God and His children. A covenant defines your inheritance. It tells you what you can do, what you should do and what you shouldn’t do. A covenant also tells you who you are. As believers, we should declare: “I am who God says I am. I can do what God says I can do. My inheritance is everything He says it is.” If we try to amend any of these truths, then we are not with God. That’s what religion does. If I am humble in spirit and lowly in heart, then as He is, so am I. People lie, cheat, steal, etc. because they don’t believe they are like God. Believers are as God is and, therefore, should act that way “in this world.” Religion tells people to act a certain way so that they can be like God, which doesn’t work because it’s backward. God is, so as He is, so are we. This is not about faith. It’s practical. It’s about how we live.

God made us in His image and likeness. We are a reflection of Him. If we say that we abide in Him (1 John 2:6), then we should act like it. We should walk just like He did. God left us an example to follow – Jesus. God identified Himself with us so that we could be just like Him. This is the acid test between religion and the truth. Jesus told us to be like Him, which means that we should do as He did. Anything contrary to this is a lie. It is very critical what believers hear (receive) because it will impact how we walk with God (Colossians 2:6). We can never rise above what we hear in our walk with God. The image that we have of Christ is crucial. Do we have a religious or biblical idea of Christ? What image are we giving the world of Christ? We are the only Christ people in the world are going to see. God will unlock blessings for us if we unlock them for someone else. The darker it becomes in the world, the brighter Christians should be.

If we are in Christ, we are not human (2 Corinthians 5:17). Man has nothing to do with this. We are supernatural. God gave us His power to become His children. This has nothing to do with the mind, the intellect, philosophy, etc. We are a “new creation.” We are born of God, not the flesh.

We live here, but we’re not from here (Romans12:1, 2; Galatians 2:20). If we live like we are from here, then we are subject to what “here” gives us. Ambassadors are not subject to the laws of the country where they reside; they are subject to the laws of the country where they come from. Ambassadors have “diplomatic immunity” from the laws of where they reside. Jesus lived by the laws of where He was from -- His source, which is God. Likewise, believers are not subject to the laws of this world because we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have diplomatic immunity. The government doesn’t determine our living, God does. God’s Word should be the first and final authority in a believer’s life.

We have an example to follow (Matthew 10:24, 25; John 4:34; 8:29). We have to make it up in our minds that it is enough for us to be like Jesus. God gave us instructions to fulfill; therefore we should be about pleasing Him. If we dare to do those things that please God, he will never leave us alone. We are to live by the divine rights and privileges that are eternal and supernatural (Ephesians 2:19). We are not servants (slaves). Jesus called us His “friends” (John 15: 15), so we should adjust ourselves to Him. God dealt with us mentally, spiritually and physically. We don’t have anything to worry about (Ephesians 6:10-11; Psalm 91). We have to ask ourselves what image we are projecting to the world of who Christ is.

Totally obey the Lord, and He’ll be totally responsible for what happens to you (Ephesians 5:1, 2; Matthew 6:31-33). Our obedience is the sacrifice. We should depend on God to tell us what we should be doing. Jesus did what He did because He loved the Father. Loving God enables us to walk in love (Ephesians 5:12). If we love God, we are going to love people. Trust the Lord because safety comes from the Lord (Proverbs 21:30-31). As He is, so are we because greater is He who is in us than He who is in the word (1 John 4:1-4).

It’s All Relationship

2008-07-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

It's All About Relationship, Not Religion

Anyone can see that we are currently facing uncertain times. With everything that is going on in the world, it is clear that we are living in the last days. There is, however, a remedy for these uncertain times. For God's children, these are good times because it is an opportunity for us to be a light to the world. Believers should be like a laser standing out in a dark day. As times become darker, people will literally die of fear, but not the children of God. Believers should walk boldly and courageously because we have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Without faith in God, society is lost. People are nervous today because they cannot figure what is going on in the world. Jesus never said that we would be able to save the world. Nicodemus was a religious leader who represents the arrogance and pride that is prevalent in today's society (John 3:1 NKJV). Nicodemus thought that Jesus would be impressed by the fact that he recognized that Jesus was the Son of God. However, Jesus responded to Nicodemus that unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. In other words, Jesus told Nicodemus that he would have to start from the beginning. Being "born" implies relationship, so having a lot of knowledge will not help you. Jesus was basically telling Nicodemus that he really didn't know anything.

The only true answer to the woes of the world is to become an adopted child of the King, Jesus Christ. Because society is separated from God, it is trapped in darkness. The Bible describes those who are separated from God the "sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 2:1-3) The phrase "sons of disobedience" implies a relationship, but not a relationship with God. The only people who are designed to go through tribulation are those who don't receive Jesus Christ. Those who are not in God's covenant are trapped in a world that is under the control of the enemy. We children of God are liberators for them. Those who are in the world are cut off from God because Satan has a leasehold on this world. Those who walk according to the course of this world are Satan's children. We believers used to walk according to the course of this world before God gave us life. Before we were born again, we were slaves to pleasure (sensuality), possessions (greed) and prestige (pride and arrogance) (Titus 3:3).

The enemy uses lies to try to keep people lost (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The world is passing away right before our eyes. The body of Christ should stand out because we are building on eternal things. We believers should be gleaming as a beacon of light to those who are lost. The enemy uses lies to keep people cut off from God, which is why deception is running rampant in today's society. People today do not know about the gospel because the god of this world, Satan, has deceived them. If you want to walk with God, you have to focus on the things of God (Romans 8:5). You have to be spiritually-minded. If you are carnally-minded, it will lead to death (Romans 6:16). If we obey God, He is responsible for what happens to us. This is what covenant means. People mistake God's goodness and mercy for being directly blessed by God. In reality, God's goodness and mercy is supposed to lead a person to repentance (Romans 2:4).

The number one thing Satan uses to deceive people is religion. Being accepted by God has nothing to do with what we do (Matthew 7:21-23). Eternal life is that we may know Jesus Christ (John 17:3). We have to give our time and submit ourselves in order to have relationship with God. People in the world are work-minded (pride-minded), which is the result of Satan's deception. The real "work" is having a relationship with Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:29-30). It is all about relationship, not religion. The "light" works, not religion. The light is Jesus Christ in us. We believers should let our light shine so people in the world can know our Father in heaven.

Behind the Scenes

2008-07-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

God has made preparation for us.

Many things are uncertain in today’s world. It seems that everyone is facing serious challenges of one sort or another. The Bible describes the world in which we find ourselves today as “perilous times.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV). As believers, we cannot be scared or intimidated by the uncertain times in which we live today. We must be courageous! Courageous people are not immune from fear. In the face of fear, courageous people laugh because the Bible says that perfect love casts our fear (1 John 4:18). In John 16:33, Jesus tells us to “be of good cheer” because He has overcome the world. This means that we should be courageous, not cowardly, because this is a time of spoils for those who are in Christ.

If we are scared or fearful, then we are being disobedient because it is our covenant right to have peace. Jesus told us to not let our hearts be troubled and He gave us His peace before He left (John 14:1, 27). The peace Jesus left for us is different from the peace the world has to offer. “Peace” in the Bible means wholeness and nothing lacking. Peace operates in the face of adversity. When we rest on what Jesus has done, then we can have the peace that He left for us.

You may not see it, but God has already worked out all of your problems. It helps us to not be afraid when we know that God has already worked everything out for us. The Bible says that on the seventh day God finished His work and He rested (Genesis 2:2). God has already provided the solutions for all of our problems. However, we can’t sit around waiting for God to do something to solve our problems. God is specifically looking for people of faith so that He can show Himself strong. When God sees someone of faith, He will show Himself publicly so that people know that He is still there (Psalm 77:14).

God’s footsteps are hidden (Psalm 77:19). In Psalm 77:19, “known” means to know by seeing. In the world, to see it is to believe it. As Christians, we shouldn’t have to see it to believe it because we should know it by revelation from God. To be victorious in these “perilous times,” we must understand that God has already made a way for us (Proverbs 30:18-19; 1 Corinthians 2:9). Psalm 37:23 says that “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” In this context, “ordered” means established beforehand. In other words, God has already taken care of our problems so all we need to do is walk by faith. The enemy will do everything in his power to prevent us from walking by faith. That is why we have to understand that we are soldiers in Christ’s army who are called to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12).

The things God has prepared for us are unseen and unknowable on our own.

God leads us by His chosen ministers (Psalm 77:20; Hebrews 6:11, 12). Christians need someone to guide, protect and supply them so God provides a person to fulfill this role. God sent Jesus to show us Himself and His Word. Jesus was the visible image of the unseen God.

We believers are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Once we come to Christ, God makes us new. God has ordered our steps so that we can do good works. No one, however, makes it alone (1 Corinthians 2:9-10), which is why God send us His chosen to show us how to live. Pastor Rick is the ministry gift sent by God to show us how to live as believers. He has been given anointing and authority from God to show us how to live (Hebrews 13:17). God’s chosen are there to show us the way (Ephesians 4:11-12). As Christians, we are called to imitate our ministry gift (Hebrews 6:11, 12).

Free to Live Right

2008-07-06T00:08:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year when Americans celebrate their independence. There is a lot of talk going around about freedom, but much pain, chaos, and confusion has been caused in the name of freedom. Why? The reason is, freedom cannot be demanded or legislated. The problem is the lack of the understanding of true freedom. Whenever you don’t understand the purpose you are prone to abuse it. Today we will talk about being free to live right. Thank God you don’t need a government, army or country to ensure your freedom!

1. When we come to Christ, we find freedom. The gospel of John 8:31, 32 tells us the truth shall deliver us, guaranteed. We find freedom when we come to Christ – but notice I didn’t say we’d be free.
Galatians 5:1 -- a more literal translation from Greek is this: for freedom, Christ has made us free. Fight to stay in the freedom Christ has given you.

There are two types of freedom:
False = doing whatever you like is false freedom. The reality of this is the highest and worst form of bondage – you are your worst taskmaster!
Galatians 5: 19 – lists the myriad ways you can be enticed to slavery of the flesh. Bondage to pleasure, strife, or anger leads to sin. There is no greater pleasure than being “drunk” with the Holy Spirit.

True = the ability to do what’s right. It’s freedom from the Law and freedom to please and live in the inheritance of God. True freedom is less about what you’re free to do, and more about what you’re free not to do. Believers are in an environment of slaves who don’t know they’re in bondage. You can release a career criminal from prison, but that doesn’t mean they know how to live free.

2. The key to truly being free is choosing whom you’ll serve.
Romans 6:16 – it is a principle that you’re always going to serve someone. You are not in righteousness if you are in Christ and still serving sin. Anything the Father acquires belongs to the son (note: the Covenant of David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel). We are the children of God by adoption through Jesus Christ.
Matthew 11:28, 29 – you must take the yoke upon yourself – God can’t make you do it!

3. You know that you’re truly free when you’re: not a stumbling block to others (Romans 14:13-19), and you build others up (Romans 15:1-3). Christ did not please Himself and was able to love all by serving One (the Father). We are to serve one another thorough God’s love (agape). Serve God and trust His life in you to serve others. Do not use your liberty to do what you want. Do not go back again into the yoke of bondage. Follow Christ’s example. Do everything unto the Lord and not to men (Colossians 3:23).
Today you are free to do what previously was impossible: live selflessly following Christ’s example.

Prayers : Part 29

2008-06-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today, we concluded our study of the prayer of faith (Mark 11:24). We also finished the entire series with a discussion of the prayer of thanksgiving.

You Must Line Your Life Up With Your Faith.

The teaching we receive is a very important component of lining up our lives with our faith. All churches do not necessarily provide the right teaching. The traditions, philosophies and religions of the day cause people to teach things that are not in line with what God would have us do. It does matter what you are taught. In the body of Christ, the teaching must be in line with the Word of God. Wrong teaching can destroy a life, but right teaching will make your life all that it should be. Teaching makes all the difference in this world and the next.

Teaching is different from preaching. Preaching is for the world and is intended to inspire and encourage people. Everyone is called to preach according to the Word. You may not realize it, but you preach all the time. When you tell your friend about a new movie you think they should see, you are preaching. It is by preaching that you reach the world, but teaching is what makes all the difference in a person’s life. Everyone is called to preach, but not everyone is called to teach. Ministry gifts are called to teach. In the body of Christ, teaching is the key because if you are taught right, then you will be able to preach right. You have to be taught before anything will happen in your life. Once you are taught correctly, then you can preach to others what God has done in your life.

Jesus spent the vast majority of his time teaching. He sent his disciples to preach. Preaching will get you to take a step, such as coming to Christ, but it won’t change your life. In the Bible, scribes, i.e. religious people, read what was written in the Word of God, but they had no power or authority because they knew nothing about what they read (Matthew 7:28-29). Anyone who is under the anointing must teach as Jesus taught because only instruction changes the quality of a person’s life. Teaching is not meant to convince but it is meant to instruct those who are ready to go. When Jesus taught, the people were “astonished” both at the fact that they were being taught and at Jesus’ teaching. As a result, they remembered Jesus’ teaching and they had something they could talk about with others. Jesus often used parables as a way of teaching (Matthew 13:53-54). Parables are not simply stories. They have a point and are universal. Jesus would teach, often using parables, and then He would leave. Jesus’ teachings would stick with the people because Jesus had power and authority. Jesus knew of what He spoke, so He could make what He said relevant to the people in their time and space.

Once you are in Christ, you don’t need preaching, you need teaching (Luke 4:31-37). You need to be fed the Word of God. Good teaching will always bless you if you receive it. When Jesus taught, the people would follow-up with questions. There can’t be real teaching with questions and answers. As a disciple, you are supposed to ask questions. One person’s question can benefit the entire group. As believers, we ought to seek out good teaching. However, we must judge the teaching by its fruit (Luke 4:32).

In the body of Christ, we should be taught the uncompromising, complete Word of God. God’s power comes through His Word, not through the anointing. Therefore, the teaching we receive must be in harmony with God’s Word. The Word of God is profitable for teaching, correction, instruction and training in how to live in right relationship with God (2 Timothy 3:16). We are created for good work, but we need sound teaching to get there (2 Timothy 3:17). Like Jesus, it is the pastor’s job to get the Word of God out to the people (2 Timothy 4:2-4). Once we receive God’s Word, it is our job as disciples to edify, exhort and comfort one another (1 Corinthians 14:5-6). If the teaching you hear is not in line with the Word of God, you should not receive it because if you have a misconception about God, you cannot be in right-standing with Him. When we live in right relationship with God, we have access to all of God’s inheritance. That is why it is so important that we receive teaching that is in line with the Word of God.

The Prayer of Thanksgiving

The prayer of thanksgiving is one of the only prayers you can offer to Jesus. The prayer of thanksgiving is thanking God for what He has done. It is only giving credit to God for the things that are from Him. We should thank God “in everything,” but we should not thank God for everything because God is not responsible for everything (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; John 10:10).

There are two primary benefits to the prayer of thanksgiving. The first benefit is gratitude. Gratitude is thanking God for everything He’s done. We must be grateful for and content with what we have (Hebrews 13:5-6). Only if you learn to be grateful now can you can boldly declare, “The Lord is my helper. He is working for me. He will never leave me or forsake me. He will never turn his back on me. I have no reason to fear what man can do to me.”

Second, the prayer of thanksgiving causes you to put words in your mouth so that you are talking the solution rather than the problem. Expressing gratitude is the same thing as calling things that do not exist as though they do exist (Romans 4:17). If you start praising God for taking away the pain in your body or for curing the disease in your body, then you will be talking the solution instead of the problem. You must understand that the answers you seek already exist. All of your needs are already met. The Bible says that all of the promises of God are “yes” and “amen.” (2 Corinthians 1:20) In other words, when we go to God with His promises, all He can say is “yes” and “amen.” God has completely equipped us spiritually, mentally and physically for righteousness. Once we truly understand this, we will be more thankful.

Prayers : Part 28

2008-06-22T22:53:00.000-07:00

There is only one reason to pray: that is to get answers. We’ve been studying and drawing out through the Scriptures that faith makes prayer work, not the other way around. Once we were born again and came to Christ, God gave all of us the same measure of faith. It is up to us to increase, utilize, and build up that faith. Prayer is the greatest way to build up your faith.

The prayer of faith is a lifestyle, a way of living. In talking about the prayer of faith, Jesus lets us know what the prayer of faith is in Mark 11:24. Living with Christ is not an accessory. The prayer is the transaction, not the manifestation. The prayer of faith works the same way as going to the store without enough money. The payment/currency is the faith for what you want to receive. You won’t go to the store until you have enough to make your purchase – the prayer of faith works the same way. If you don’t believe that you have received your desire at the moment you’ve prayed, then the request is too big for you. If you have prayed and believed you have received, how do you know you have enough faith for your prayer? You'll know because you won't need physical evidence to convince yourself that you have it.

John 20:24-29 -- The account of “Doubting Thomas.” Thomas requested physical evidence and three conditions before he would believe Jesus had risen. This illustration is to highlight that you must line your life up with your faith. You will never get anywhere trusting the five physical senses the enemy has been granted legal right (from us) to manipulate, deceive, and twist. As long as you want to live in the natural (trusting your senses) you’re going to be defeated. You’re on God’s territory when walking by faith, and are guaranteed success. In Christ, you will become immune to negative reports.

Pastor revisits the question from the congregation about turning your back on old friends whose lives contradict a “Christian” lifestyle. We don’t judge or condemn people outside the Body of Christ. Christ has no hang-ups, so as you develop in Christ, you won’t have hang-ups either. Jesus did not say our mission is to convert people or “make” disciples. Jesus called 12 and it was their decision to follow Him. But not all who were called decided to follow Jesus (Luke 9:57-62). If you are the Body of Christ, you’re not supposed to cut people off and turn your back on them, but that does not mean they won’t turn their back on you. Just by living for Christ and becoming a new creation, their conscious may be convicted and they’ll turn from you.

.

Prayers : Part 27

2008-06-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

This week we continued our study of the prayer of faith, also called petition prayer (Mark 11:24). When you pray the prayer of faith, you must believe that you “receive them” – the thing that you desire – at the moment you pray. The part of Mark 11:24 that says “and you will have them” has nothing to do with believers. Once we pray, our faith is the substance of the things we are expecting and the proof of what we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). It is God’s responsibility to take care of the manifestation.

Last week, we started to discuss the topic of associations. As believers, we severely underestimate the impact that associations have in our lives. The associations of every member of the body of Christ impact the entire body (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). Our responsibility as believers is to strengthen one another in faith and provoke one another to love within the church. If even just one member of the body of Christ is living a lifestyle of sin, it impacts the entire body because “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” (1 Corinthians 5:6). Leaven is the same as sin. The whole body should have the same mind as God regarding sin – that it’s deadly. To spare the entire body, and the person who is living a lifestyle of sin, the person should be put out from the body (1 Corinthians 5:7-11). However, we should only judge sin within the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). As Christians, it is not our job to judge sinners who are in the world. Our job is to approach people who are in the world in order to bring them into the body of Christ. God will work on people outside of the church and He will have us (believers) bring them into the church when they are ready.

The body of Christ cannot get cozy with sin in the world or in the church. Believers should seek to restore people within the body of Christ who are living a lifestyle of sin. If a person within the body Christ is involved in sin, we should go to that person one on one to restore him to the body (Matthew 18:15-17). If the person doesn’t respond, then we should bring two or three other believers to restore him. If that doesn’t work, we should consult the pastor or other leadership in the church so that they can try to restore the person. If none of these approaches is successful, the Bible says that the body of Christ should treat the person as a sinner and eject him from the church (1 Corinthians 5:7-11).

The members of the body of Christ cannot take a laissez-faire attitude with sin because it hurts both the people who are involved in sin and the entire body of Christ. As new creations in Christ, we should not do the same things we did when we were in the world because the dominion and power of sin over our lives has been broken. As believers, we have to walk circumspectly so that we can please the Father. We must reject sin. To do that, we must submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). We can’t trust in our own strength or rely on our own minds to overcome sin. God overcomes sin for us, but we have to receive His grace. There is a whole new life to live in Christ, but we can’t live that new life if we are going in the wrong direction.

Last week, a member of Berith asked: Should I be friends with people who are involved in a lifestyle of sin? Pastor Rick responded that the answer depends on whether the friend is a believer or not (Matthew 9:10-13). If the friend is a member of the body of Christ, the person should tell the friend that their friendship has to end because of the friend’s sinful lifestyle. If the friend is not a member of the body of Christ, the person should talk to the friend for the purpose of sharing God’s Word and bringing the friend into the body of Christ. Jesus sat down with sinners, they were drawn to him, and he didn’t shun them (1 Corinthians 9:19). We, as believers, should be so free that we can go to people in the world, regardless of who they are, and minister to them. We cannot have hang-ups or a bone to pick with people in the world. We only become free when we declare war on the sin within us. Once we are free from sin, we can reach out to people who are in the world in order to bring them into the body of Christ.

Prayers : Part 26

2008-06-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

We continue in our discussion of the prayer of faith (petition prayer).

Know your inheritance. So there is no lack of confidence.
Faith is your proof. When you have a desire and you pray, you are to believe that you receive. Belief is an incomplete answer. You need to think, talk, and act as if what you prayed is so. Your faith must match the level of your desire. You cannot live under false pretenses or under illusions.
You must line your life up with your faith.

Our associations will influence what we say, speak, and what we do. This is a principle: Spend time with the wrong crowd and you will lose, but if you spend time with successful (peaceful, rich, wise) people, your chances of success (peace, wealth, wisdom) will increase! Who are you spending time with? Just as one drop of red dye will spoil clear water, we also must watch our associations closely. Stay clean.

1 Corinthians 5:6 – a bit of leaven will change the entire composition of the bread. None of us makes it alone. We are to hold one another accountable. Do not be conformed to the world – be unique.

Question from the congregation: Can you please explain how the friends you select will fit into your having a prayerful, Godly lifestyle and how you cut off people but still pray for them if their lifestyle (fornication, homosexuality) is going on? Should I be friends with them?

Pastor’s response: Pray about your friends and who you have in your life. Don’t select your friends; allow God to choose your acquaintances. In order to answer these questions accurately, I need to know if these people are believers or claim to be born again? Do not get comfortable or cozy with [the notion of] your friends sinning either inside or outside of church. The judgment of the Lord starts in the house of God, not the world. You’ll know the tree by its fruit.

After a certain amount of time, your conduct should change. Get the sin out so you can be a new, clean, sanctified person. Preserve what God has done. Confess your sin before God.

Matthew 9:10-13 – Jesus took His disciples with Him to minister to the tax collectors and sinners to prepare them for the work after His departure. Jesus preferred righteousness over sacrifice. Sinners know they’re sinning; it’s the religious folk that think they’re right. Jesus instructed believers to harvest those that are ready, not to pluck and ripen those that aren’t.

Prayers : Part 25

2008-06-03T12:54:00.000-07:00

We continued our study of the prayer of faith, also known as petition prayer. Remember, the prayer of faith only works for you and you alone, not for anyone else. That’s because the prayer of faith is an individual prayer between a believer and God. What makes the prayer of faith work? Faith makes it work. Prayer does not make faith work. You can’t get faith by praying. If you aren’t getting answers to your prayers, don’t blame God. The problem could be that you have a hole in your faith.

Believe That You Receive Now!

The hallmark scripture for the prayer of faith is Mark 11:24: “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” As we have already learned, the key to the prayer of faith is that you must believe at the moment you pray that you receive the “things” you desire. If you do this, the consequence will be that “you will have them.” Stated another way, for a believer, to pray it is to have it. It’s that simple!

Know Your Inheritance.

A key step in the prayer of faith is that you must know your inheritance. To know your inheritance, you have to study the Word of God because it contains all of the promises that we are entitled to as believers in Jesus Christ. You can go boldly to the throne of grace when you understand your inheritance from the Word because you know how to pray in line with the will of God.

Faith is Your Proof.

Once you pray the prayer of faith, believing that you receive at the moment you pray, all you need is faith because it is your proof that you have it. The only difference between having the proof (faith) and having the thing itself is time. Here’s a practical example of how this works. Let’s say Pastor Rick is setting up an office in his home. He needs furniture for his office so he goes to the store to buy it. At the store, Pastor Rick pays for the furniture and he gets a receipt. He’s told that his furniture will be delivered to his home in the future. Immediately, Pastor Rick gets excited! Why is he excited? Because he has his receipt, which means he knows that his furniture is coming! He doesn’t focus on what he can see right now because he has his receipt. So, Pastor Rick goes home and prepares his office by getting rid of his old things to make room for his new furniture. In other words, he acts like he knows that his furniture will show up by preparing for its arrival.

It works the same way with faith. In spiritual realm, your faith is your receipt. It is your proof that you have the thing for which you prayed. If you know something is coming, you have your line your life up for what is coming. You have to do something! Because he believed that his new furniture was already there, Pastor Rick started getting rid of his old things right away in preparation for his new furniture showing up. You have to act the same way with your faith after you pray the prayer of faith. Because your faith is your proof, you have to prepare for the “thing” that is going to manifest in your life. You must act like you know that thing will manifest itself because your faith is your receipt. You have to move out the old to make room for the new. The awesome thing about God is that, while you prepare, the “thing” will show up!

Line Your Life Up With Your Faith

Lining up your life with faith requires that you keep guard over your thoughts. As 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 exhorts us to do: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Your mind is the determining factor for how far you will go in life so you must measure your thoughts against the Word of God. If your thoughts aren’t right, then you must bring them into the captivity of Jesus Christ. To do this, you must talk the Word (Psalms 1:1-3). You must meditate on the Word. As Joshua 1:8 says “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.” You can’t live your life by what you see and hear in the natural.

You cannot complain while you wait for the thing you prayed for to manifest. You have to speak the Word. For example, you have to speak Matthew 19:26, “With God all things are possible!” Nothing is more powerful in your life than your words. Hebrews 10:22-23 says “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” When you have God’s teaching in you, you will be fully assured. Having a true heart means having a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water. To hold fast to your confession of faith means that you don’t confess doubt or change because of the circumstances, but you hold fast to your faith in God. You also can’t waiver because when you waiver, you cause a hole in your faith. Instead, you have to exercise the faith that you have so that your faith can increase.

You also have to carefully watch your associations in order to line your life up with your faith. Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” The people you associate with will have an impact on you, whether negatively or positively. Proverbs 13:20 says “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.” If you a sharp and you associate with someone who is dull, you will become dull. It only takes a little bit of bad to contaminate something that is good, as 1 Corinthian 5:6 says “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” Associations are either supporting you in what you need to do or they are preventing you from doing what you need to do. The people you associate with should build you up and vice versa. God told us to be witnesses to people. Are you obeying God in your associations? To be serious about lining your life up with your faith, you must be serious about your associations.

Prayers : Part 23

2008-05-20T21:32:00.000-07:00

We continue in our study of the prayer of faith. Prayer was given as a means to an end so God can supply and bring His covenant to existence on earth. We found out that we should be confident in Him through our prayer. We ought to know what to pray, addressing our situations with faith. Believe when you pray that you receive (Mark 11:24). Believing that you receive is a lifestyle. You have to forego looking at illusions. Our example last week was of the pilot flying by the instrument panel and not by what he or she sees. Trusting the five senses will inevitably lead a pilot (and us) to crash and burn.

Anonymous question from the congregation: …I know that God will never give more than I can bear… I am a young adult with two children. I work full-time and go to school also… I’m starting to feel overwhelmed with school and work, and I prayed for an answer as to whether or not to quit my job and attend school full time and believe that God will make a way for me. How will I know when I receive my answer as to what choice I should make?

Pastor’s answer: First of all, be sure to listen to this Prayer series in its entirety. We have to build our lives on the infallible Word of God, however we will put fault into it if we don’t establish ourselves. Get the Word of God in you. Know (experience) the Word. Satan knows the Word better than most believers, so be certain you know the Word exactly, not adding or taking away from it. I’m assuming the question is based on 1 Corinthians 10:13. I submit the choice is rooted in temptation.
1 Corinthians 10:13 – God doesn’t tempt people. With the temptation, God makes the way to escape so you can bear it. God has made the preparation and is in it with you. God will keep stuff off of you above what you can’t bear.
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-3; James 1:13, 14 – Satan will always question the Word. Eve thought she knew the Word, but added her own spin to what God decreed.
I am unclear on what specifically the person asking the above question prayed for. First of all, you have to make the choice. God will give you wisdom if you pray for it. You can’t run your life looking for a sign. Answers don’t come right out of the sky. A Pastor’s job is to teach you to search the Scriptures for your own answers. How else will you learn God for yourself? The only way you will know is by the peace of God in your spirit (Colossians 3:15). You go by faith, not by what you can figure out (Philippians 4:7), and the peace will remove uncertainty. Life is sweet when you receive your plan from God! If you are serious about a life with God, a victorious, overcoming life, you need to quit everything in your mind right now. Repent from doing your own plan. From now on, ask God what you should be doing. A lot of you have stuff stealing your time, your intention, your money, and your energy. Jesus says we are to take His yoke and allow Him to show the way. He has made the preparations and the way of deliverance. Lining your life up with your faith is a life of priorities and begins with the Head: God, your man of God, your family.
Hebrews 4:9 – those that love and follow Him won’t get fatigued or overwhelmed operating in God’s rest.
John 10; Hebrews 6 -- if you have some other plan, you’re ripping yourself off. If you are sick, overwhelmed, disappointed, or short on time, fire yourself from all activities that do not put God first. Lay it all before Him so that He can build your life.

Prayers : Part 22

2008-05-12T22:33:00.000-07:00

Prayer that God Always Answers
Part 22

Prayer is our lifeline, it is our supply. Faith is a lifestyle – you need the life to back up faith, otherwise there is a hole to allow the enemy access to steal and destroy. We continue in our discussion on the prayer of faith. Mark 11:24 is simple and to the point. Jesus said whatever thing you desire (KJV) is yours if you ask.

It is necessary to know your inheritance to ask for what you want. Your inheritance covers every aspect of provision you have in your life: spiritually, mentally, and physically. You have to believe that you receive your desire and that your prayer has accomplished a transaction. Your job of holding on to the confidence (faith) is a lifestyle.
Faith is your proof. (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is your substance, materiality, and evidence of what you can’t see but expect from God.

Today we will talk about lining your life up with your faith. How you act in the natural ought to be revealed in the spiritual. Faith people don’t deny what is around them – they ignore it and meet it with their faith (2 Corinthians 4:18). Shortsightedness will prevent you from seeing anything eternal.
There is more than meets the eye than to rely on your five senses. Everything you see, feel, taste, or smell is a lie and an attempt to remove you from your faith if it has not been ordered or ordained by God.

The word “illusion” defined – 1) an erroneous perception of reality. 2) An erroneous concept of belief. 3) The condition of being deceived by a false perception or belief. 4) Something such as a fantastic plan or desire that causes an erroneous belief or perception. You can count on a counterfeit to come your way when you pray the prayer of faith. It is the enemy’s tactic because every lie has some twist of truth. Pilots are trained to ignore every impulse and illusion and learn to fly by instrument flight regulations (IFR) and not to trust their natural senses. Mistakes are costly.

To line your life up with your faith, you must address your thoughts, words/conversation, associations, and teaching.
Thoughts (2 Corinthians 10) –– measure your thoughts against the Word of God to see if it contradicts your faith. Speak the Word (Psalm 1:1-3). What does the Word say?
Words (Proverb 18:21) – what you have been speaking is the sum total of what you are living. Ask for what you have faith for.

Prayers : Part 21

2008-05-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Today, we continued our discussion of the prayer of faith, also known as petition prayer. A hole in your faith can keep you from getting answers to your prayers. One hole that you could have in your faith is failing to line up your life with your faith.

The Power of Faith is Authority

The power of faith is not our own beliefs or knowledge. In Matthew 8: 5-13, the centurion captured the attention of Jesus because he knew authority. He put his faith on display by telling God what he could believe for. He declared the answer before it manifested. In other words, the centurion flowed in God’s authority. Because he did this, his servant was immediately healed.

Lining up your life with your faith is about being under authority.

Like the centurion, we are called to flow in God’s authority (John 14: 23). If we do this, God will make it come to pass (Psalms 37: 5). There is only one authority, which is God. People who claim their own authority are outside of the realm of God (Matthew 8: 10-12). We can’t pursue our own plans. We must pursue God’s plans. Obedience to God is the only way to come under His authority. “In the name of Jesus” is about authority (2 Timothy 3: 1-5). There is power in the name of Jesus because His name is authority. You should only base your life on something that has power in it.

We either flow in God’s authority, like the centurion, or we don’t. There are no steps to take and no formula to follow. You are either in faith or you are not. Think of faith as being a staff, i.e. a cane or a pole. Envision your entire body resting on the pole in your abdomen (feet off the ground) – this is faith. God is the pole. The pole is either going to hold you or it’s not. The power of faith is God’s authority over any other authority. Authority comes from God. Authority is the power of faith. So, if I am in faith, then I am in God’s authority.

How do faith people talk? They don’t lie about their circumstances. A true confession of faith is about meeting your circumstances with faith. For example, if you are sick and someone asks you how you are doing, you should say: “I am having a challenge right now, but I believe that God has healed me and I have the victory!”

We have the resurrection power of Jesus inside of us. However, it only works if we use it (2 Corinthians 4: 7-18). Whoever is going to have the last say is whoever you put your faith in. Will you put your faith in God or man? As people of faith, we should let God have the last say.

Our mouth is a major key to our faith. If you believe, you have to talk in line with your faith. When you are experiencing trouble, you have to confess your faith in God. You should praise God in the face of your difficulties. If you are in faith, you will talk as if the things you see are an illusion unless they line up with your faith. It is when things look the bleakest that they will turn in your favor, but only if you live a lifestyle of faith.

Prayers : Part 20

2008-04-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

Your situation will dictate what you need to pray. Once you identify that, you release your faith using a specific type of prayer. We continue our discussion on the prayer of faith, otherwise known as petition prayer. We have been meditating on Mark 11:24.

We talked about the necessity of knowing your inheritance. What things can you ask for? Everything necessary in order for you to live life more abundantly. Faith is your proof of evidence (Hebrews 11:1). If you are expecting it, faith means you have it. There is a phenomenal God-faith lifestyle that goes along with this. The biggest hole in exercising this type of faith is the misunderstanding that you can tack the prayer of faith onto specific requests. No, this prayer is not a gimmick. Living out this lifestyle means it runs through every aspect of your being.

Matthew 8:5-13 – Would you be ok with just asking for Jesus’ word and not have Him present? The centurion had faith that most of us don’t have. Because the soldier understood authority (v.9), he knew power had been granted for a service. When you speak, it is an action. The centurion was acting in line with his inheritance. Don’t work your faith, just be in faith.

Line your lifestyle up with your faith.

Question from the congregation: If you know you need help in the physical realm and took [that request] to the throne, asking while you believed, and believed you received, are you supposed to take action by going to the Body? What do you say when somebody asks, “Are you ok?” Do you do anything?

Pastor Rick's Answer: If you really believed you received, you wouldn’t have any follow up questions about it. You’d be excited from that point on. If faith is action and you believed you received, you won’t go to anybody – you went to the Source! Never put a face and/or a name to your answer. Remember our words are part of our lifestyle. Quit lying if you don’t feel well! If you reply, “I’m blessed,” then your face should agree. This mindset stops you from reaching out to your brothers and sisters in Christ.

When you cease from your own works, God will begin to work with and for you.

Prayers : Part 19

2008-04-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

Today, we continue our discussion of the prayer of faith, also known as petition prayer. Prayer is one the most specific ways that God reveals himself to us or, stated another way, for us to come into the knowledge of God. God has one purpose for prayer – for Him to answer. However, the enemy works overtime to keep us deceived into not receiving from God. God intends that we receive whatever it is we ask for when we pray, which is why the enemy works hard to warp people’s perceptions so that they stay away from the prayer of faith.

You must believe that you receive when you pray.

The prayer of faith springs from Mark 11:24. When you pray the prayer faith, you are not simply asking God for something, you are making a demand upon God for something in the face of a hostile enemy. When you pray the prayer of faith, you must believe that you receive what you “demand” from God at the very moment you pray. Believe is the same thing as faith in the bible. We must make faith a verb in the context of the Word. What must you believe (or faith)? That you receive at that moment the desires you are praying about. You cannot believe that you receive from God before you pray. You cannot believe that you receive from God after you pray. If you do, your prayers won’t be effective. You have to believe that you receive what you pray for by faith when you pray.

How do you know whether you are in faith when you pray? The first test is you only ask once for your petition (Matthew 6:5-8). Praying over and over is proof that you that you did not receive when you prayed. You should never be tempted to ask again if you received when you prayed. The second test is that you should act like you already have what you requested from God. You should be bold, confident and, most importantly, excited! If you are truly a faith person, you don’t get excited when the thing you prayed for manifests in the physical realm. Faith is acting on what you believe (James 2:17). Therefore, your excitement comes from receiving your request when you prayed. In other words, if received by faith when you prayed, you don’t talk about what you don’t have. You are excited because you already have it.

Faith is all-important in our relationship with God.

In Hebrews 11:1, hope is the same as expectation. Therefore, faith is the substance or materiality of things expected. Why are things expected? They are expected because God has already provided. Faith also is the proof or the evidence of things not seen. You have to “see” by faith. This means you see what is in the spiritual realm and ignore what is in the physical realm. You cannot reject your faith because if you do, then the thing that you prayed for won’t manifest in the physical realm. Before what you prayed for shows up in the physical realm, you have to be prepared for people asking if you are going to be a faith person. You have to be ready for people asking you questions like, “Where is that thing you prayed for?” You cannot get distracted by other people’s questions. To walk by faith, you have to be blind to everything except God. There is power in faith because we are putting our confidence in God to produce the things that we request from Him.

Faith needs to be more real than the things we request.

Living a lifestyle of faith means that you don’t waste your time explaining yourself to other people, you don’t worry about other people’s opinions and you don’t try to fit in. You must have faith as your substance or evidence. God makes affliction work for you when you become a believer, but only if you look at the things which are not seen (2 Corinthians 4: 8, 17-18). Faith works for us as long as we are not conformed to the world (Romans 12:2). You must ignore the facts in light of the truth of the Word of God. Faith should be more real than the things we see. The promises of God are “eternal.” The time while we wait works for us. Faith is what keeps a person going, not things.

Prayers : Part 18

2008-04-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

We continue our discussion on the prayer of faith, otherwise known as the petition prayer. This is the most commonly thought-of prayer as well as the most personal prayer. It is a straightforward endeavor between you and your Heavenly Father. There are no strings attached or mystery to this prayer. However, the enemy will try to confuse the clarity. What we face on a daily basis will to determine what we need to pray.

Mark 11:24 – play close attention to God’s Word because it is a writing to its people. Anyone can become a child of God, but until you are born again, you cannot expect to receive from the Word and have it personally relevant to your life. Jesus is talking directly to you.

Mark 9:23 -- Keep faith as your proof (evidence). Just like baking a cake, you have to use the right ingredient in the right order to obtain the right result! Everybody can faith their way through situations. Faith springs out of thinking, but faith and thinking are not the same thing.

“Miracle” is a word for power that you and I don’t have in and of ourselves. Bottom line: a miracle is unbelievable power manifested that is beyond us. Jesus is not the only person that walked on water. Peter walked on water, stepping out on faith. In the boat he used his rational mind to step out on faith. But he became distracted and the faith drained out of him. The truth is, if you can faith, all things are possible to you! You will put yourself in the position of sinking or swimming based on the power of God within you.

Hebrews 11:1 -- Bible faith is defined as action based on what a person believes. Faith and belief are not the same. Faith corresponds to what you believe.

James 2:14-22; Proverb 13:12; 19 – our works spring out of our faith. Using the analogy of an empty chair – you have no evidence just by looking at a chair that it will support your weight. It is not until you “experience” or sit in the chair that you know (experience) that the chair will support you.

Prayers : Part 17

2008-04-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today, we continued to address the prayer of faith, also known as petition prayer. The prayer of faith is the most commonly thought of and the most straight-forward prayer. Unfortunately, some people believe that prayer is a gamble. Nothing could be further from the truth. When we pray the way God wants us to pray, we are guaranteed to get answers to our prayers. When we pray the way God wants us to pray, our complaining about, blaming and criticizing other people in our lives will disappear. The Bible tells us exactly how to pray the prayer of faith:

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Mark 11:24

The first step in the prayer of faith is to identify what you want.

To guarantee that our desires, i.e. whatever we have a strong affection for, will not be ones that God has a problem with, we must know our inheritance. The Bible tells us what our inheritance is as believers in Jesus Christ. Therefore, to know our inheritance, we must devote time to the Word of God. In order for us to become “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season,” we must spend time consistently studying and meditating on the Word of God (Psalm 1:1-3).

The second step in the prayer of faith is to believe that you have your request.

In Mark 11:24, Jesus tells us to believe that we receive whatever we desire at the moment we pray. This is crucial to getting our prayers answered. We receive at the moment we pray, not after that moment. Do not believe that you will receive it because it won’t work. We must believe that we receive it now when we pray. The spirit must take place first. God told us to take care of the spiritual things and He will take care of the physical things.

Every time people received from God in the Bible, Jesus emphasized that it was their faith that did it, not His faith (Matthew 9:27-20). In the Bible, “believe” and “faith” are synonymous. In order for us to see our desires manifest in the physical world, we have to believe (or faith) it in the spiritual. We know that we can’t drive our car without the key. Similarly, we can’t make our prayers work without faith. Faith is the key that unlocks all of the answers to our prayers. Faith is active. The Bible says that “faith without works is dead.” (James 2:14-26) We have to put action to what we claim we believe. So, at the moment we pray the prayer of faith, we have to be in action that we have it.

Mark 9:23 says “all things are possible to him that believeth.” You have to believe that nothing is impossible. God doesn’t move for emotion or hope – He moves for faith. Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith and hope are two completely different things. Hope changes your attitude. Hope is the target identifier – our covenant gives us hope. You don’t know what to do with faith without hope. Hope targets, but faith brings what we hope for into manifestation.

We must cooperate with the supernatural laws that God put into place. In the spirit realm, what God has done is already done. Faith is the evidence that we have whatever we pray for right now. Faith is the proof of what we cannot see that already exists in the spirit realm. Once the thing we asked God for manifests itself in the physical realm, we no longer need our faith for that thing.

To have answered prayer, we must act on what God has already provided for us. The ball is in our court!

Prayers : Part 16

2008-03-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

God gave prayer for one reason: to answer us. There are no “ifs,” “buts,” or “maybes.” When we ask, we are to receive. Prayer not a game of chance, it is guaranteed with God. Hebrews 4:15, 16 tells us that if we come boldly to God’s throne, we will receive both mercy (covenant, defined = I withhold from you the destruction you earned and deserve), and grace (covenant, defined = I give you all you do deserve).

Therefore, think of prayer in this way: if you can’t receive any negatives but all the positives are added to you, it is impossible for you to lose! We should be displaying His answers, not to show off, but to please Him.

Today, we’ll address the most commonly known of the prayers, but it’s also the one prayer that tends to trip people up. People tend to use the prayer of faith by their means, and when they get their results, try to pin the lack on God. There are spiritual laws in place that must be observed.

The prayer of faith (otherwise known as petition prayer)
This prayer is you, one on one alone with God. It is all about relationship. The first thing you have to do according to this prayer is:

Identify what you want. This is a desire such that your joy is not full if you do not have it. If spend time with Christ and are in a relationship with Him, you will change and therefore your desires will be in line with His. Know your inheritance if you plan make a demand on it. An inheritance is legally yours; you just haven’t come into it yet! Don’t let misguided people distract you.
Meditate on the following Scriptures:
John 16:23, 24; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3; 1 John 5:14, 15

The second part is to:
Believe you have your request. Don’t pray until you believe, and the exact moment you pray: believe. You cannot believe before you pray. Why would it help now if your belief was 10 minutes ago? Mark 11:24 does not say, “believe that you will have the request,” but rather “believe that you receive...” Faith and God is in the now.

Matthew 9:27 – Jesus credits a believer’s faith for what God is able to perform. Not His works or the tools or methods used to perform miracles.

Resurrection Sunday

2008-03-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

Jesus' Resurrection Guarantees our Inheritance

Today, Pastor Rick discussed how important the resurrection power of Jesus Christ is in our lives every day.

The resurrection power of Jesus Christ is alive today. It is an everyday present reality for people in Christ because it works in us. The resurrection power of Jesus Christ should be operating in our lives all of the time.

Unfortunately, Christians struggle with this power because of what is in their minds. We have to let go of traditions, customs and the like to receive the truth so that the truth can manifest in our lives. The resurrection power only happens as we believe and receive. The resurrection power works all the time, but only where faith is present. It flows through us, as Christians, because we believe in the Lord.

Jesus guarantees us an inheritance by his resurrection. One of the purposes for the resurrection is for us to get an inheritance. The resurrection is about use getting our inheritance. Jesus suffered and died to give us our inheritance. The same glory that God gave Jesus, Jesus gave to us. There is no waiting – we live in the inheritance now.

The resurrection is about us getting our inheritance now. Jesus is alive today enforcing His will. He is at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf and enforcing His will. We have to change our minds and free ourselves so that we can receive the inheritance that Jesus died for us to have. No one can do it for us. How we see Jesus, whatever we say about Jesus, determines how He is on our lives.

Jesus did everything for our sake, so our faith must be in Him (Hebrews 2:9-10). All things are for Christ and belong to Him. Everything was made for Him and by Him here on earth. Jesus died, pardoned and paid it all so that He could bring all things for us. Jesus did this so that He could make “many sons to glory.” When we were born into the world, we received the spirit of bondage again to fear. When we received Christ, we received the spirit of adoption and we became legal members of the family of God (Romans 8:15-17).

God chose us – He adopted us – to be a Father to us and to be our Provider. Jesus’ inheritance, and thus our inheritance, is peace, joy, prosperity, healing, forgiveness of all our sins and so much more. Whether we knew we had an inheritance or not, we still have it because Jesus died for us to have it. We are “joint heirs” with Jesus Christ (John 14:12-14; John 16:23-24).

This means that we have the authority to receive the inheritance together with Jesus Christ. If we say we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, we have to live like Him and pray like Him. Unfortunately, people limit God and try to put Him in a box. We have to get rid of the things in our mind that keep us from receiving our inheritance. We have to let Jesus be who He is and not put Him in a box (John 20:16, 17). Jesus Christ lives in me, He chose me and he adopted me by the Spirit of God to give me all that He is – this is why we have to learn how to pray the way that God always answers.

God has an expectation that we would take His inheritance and look like Jesus Christ. We receive Christ’s power in order to be witnesses to Him throughout the world.
There is no power in tradition but there is power in Jesus Christ. The prayer of faith tells us how to pray like Jesus, which is part of our inheritance.

Prayers : Part 14

2008-03-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

The prayer of faith or petition prayer

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

Mark 11:24

The prayer of faith or petition prayer is the cure for a lack of anything in our lives. When Jesus was alive, the disciples went directly to Him to get the answers they needed or desired. As Christians, we pray to God in Jesus’ name to get answers that we need or desire (John 16: 23-24).

Sometimes, however, we pray and our prayers go unanswered. Unanswered prayer may be a sign that we aren’t putting faith into our prayers. The prayer of faith or petition prayer will not work without faith. Faith is like a “spiritual currency.” God only can move when we give Him the “spiritual currency” of our faith. He is waiting for our faith so that He can provide the answers to our prayers. Oftentimes, the only reason we don’t have what we have asked God for is a lack of faith. That’s why it is essential that we have faith in hand to receive whatever we are asking for when we pray.

We must have faith to accompany the requests that we make of God. People often think they don’t have enough faith, but we all have a measure of faith. You have to use the measure of faith that you have and build your faith from there. You can start building your faith by using the faith that you have on lesser things or things that aren’t as important, such as faith for a parking space, for example.

When you strengthen your faith for the little things, you can build upon that and use your faith for more substantial things. Before you know it, you will have the faith to move mountains!

.

Prayers : Part 13

2008-03-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

This week Pastor Rick continued on in this series entitled "Prayers That God Always Answers". Pastor helped to further illustrate how we have been praying for the wrong things. He read a question from an individual that pointed out how a spouse was not changing, even after they have prayed continually for them.

Pastor Rick used this as an opportunity to continue to teach on the prayer of intercession. He further made it clear that in our walk with God, and our lives in general, we allow our "buts" to get in the way of doing what is right. Our "buts" are our excuses. "I know I should (pray, be patient, or be kind), but I (don't, can't wait, or give them a piece of my mind). We can see how these actions are contrary to God's Word, and how they do not get us the positive results out of life that we are all seeking.

Instead, we need to grasp the Word of God and change the way we conduct ourselves. As an alternative to using the "but" we should use, "so I do". We are guaranteed to see victory in areas of our lives we had previously seen defeat. Especially when we make sure that the "so I do" is in agreement with God's Word. For example, "I know I should (pray, be patient, or be kind), so I do!"

Change the way you speak. Change the way you pray. Change the way you live your life. God wants nothing but the best for you.

.

Prayers : Part 12

2008-02-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

Today, we continued our discussion of intercessory prayer (1 Timothy 2:1-4; James 5:16).

What is Prayer?
God wants to answer our prayers. The reason God told us to pray is so that we can get answers to our prayers. He wants us to be bold, confident and effective in prayer -- all the time, not sometimes. We must learn how to pray God’s way. When we pray God’s way, He finds us. We must pray in a way that enables us to access all the blessings that God has stored up for us. Prayer is us marrying our voice to the Word. We move angels with our voice (Psalm 103:20). Prayer is given to us as a weapon to move things here on earth.

Prayer is Now!
Everything has to be now in the context of prayer (Hebrews 4:15-16). It is not about the past or the future. When we are praying to God, it always has to be in the now. We have to be in the now all the time. The time of need is now. When we need something now, we should come boldly to the throne of grace. Our words have to be in the now. As a result, we must say, “I believe I am healed.” We must pray in the present – leaving our faith in the now. Faith is our evidence. Being thankful to God now is an expression of our faith.

The Prayer of Intercession
The prayer of intercession is praying on behalf of another person or group of people. Jesus is the true and the last “High Priest,” who intercedes on our behalf and represents us before God (Hebrews 4:15 - “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet with sin.”) When we intercede for others through prayer, we are functioning as God’s mouthpiece on behalf of others. We are the ones with the legal authority to invite God into the earth realm – this is exactly what we achieve through intercessory prayer. Humility in prayer is saying what God says. We do not pray our will for other people, but God’s will for other people. If we want to live a good life, we have to pray for others.

We Must Pray for Those in Authority
All authority comes from God. Authority is for the purpose of defending righteousness. God protects authority and authority protects righteousness. We guarantee our success by standing for righteousness. Authority is a shield to those who are righteous and a sword to those who are unrighteous. Therefore, even if we do not agree with those who are in authority, we have to pray for those in authority for the sake of righteousness.

Prayers : Part 11

2008-02-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

Prayer that God Always Answers
Part 11

God wants us to be bold and confident in prayer. In prayer, like in the natural, you must have the right tools for the right job, but those tools won’t be useful to you unless you use them in the right way. Jesus opened up and made accessible to us the victory to overcome any and every obstacle we could possibly face in life (Hebrews 4:15, 16). We’ve learned how to pray, but knowing what to pray is an altogether different subject. It is very important to note that we walk by faith, but in doing so, you must be aware of what is around you. God never called us to live in denial. In the Body of Christ many of us choose not to see or to ignore challenges. Watch the blind spots in your life – see things for what they are without fear because God is with you. Today we will continue discussing the prayer of intercession – praying on behalf of another person or other people.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 – God doesn’t just want people saved; He wants them to come into the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is meant for here and now, and prayer is part of this. We must stop thinking “what’s in it for me?” and begin thinking about what will please God. Intercession is so important because believers have the God-given legal right to invite and involve God in to the earth realm. Your power is in your intercession. Move out of the way and allow God to come through. Get into God’s rest. Your prayer is releasing everything that has already been done, so why don’t you see it manifested in your life? You must call it to be.

Matthew 9:37, 38 – Stop plucking weeds and reap the harvest. If it doesn’t come, it’s not the right time – leave it alone. God’s harvest is in our domain, on our land. He allows us to be laborers. Are we really praying? We read in Psalm 103:20 that angels who excel in strength move for the voice of God’s Word, which is why Satan comes immediately to pluck out God’s Word (Mark 4:15). The enemy wants to know if it’s rooted in you or not. Will you use it? Be more aggressive in prayer. Move and God will move with you.

An example of intercession with understanding:
Ephesians 1:15-20 – Paul is asking specifically for others and made a confession. You are not going to be seated, you are.

The highest means of intercession:
Romans 8:26 – The highest means of intercession is allowing the Spirit of God to pray to and through your spirit; the evidence of which is speaking in tongues. You control it; it does not “take over” you. Don’t think that your intercession will always sound like regular prayer time. You may start singing, or be led to have emotions that aren’t your own – like laughing with tears in your eyes! Fight the good fight of faith and destroy complacency.

You are armed for battle, but you won’t see victory until you move. Faith makes prayer grow, prayer doesn’t make faith grow. God has placed his treasure in our earthen vessels. Shake yourself up, try interceding. Remember God! You are not where you used to be, but you also are not where you are going, either! You might have to get radical in your faith –to get violent and take it back! (Matthew 11:12). God chose you, called you friend, and made Himself One with you!

Prayers : Part 10

2008-02-10T12:54:00.000-08:00

This week Pastor Rick continued on in the series "Prayer God Always Answers". In this segment Pastor Rick illustrates how Christians have historically been praying incorrectly, thus hindering the effectiveness of their prayers. We have all heard, or may have even said, "If it be your will God...". Well, today Pastor Rick makes it clear why this is not the way to pray.

To listen to more of these audio excerpts from Sunday Messages visit our audio video archives. You can also join us live on Sunday Mornings @ 10 am and Wednesday Bible Study @ 7pm

Both services are held at 3245 Sheffield Ave. in Oakland, CA 94602.

Get Directions
To obtain directions and a map specific to your location, click here .

Prayer : Part 9

2008-02-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

This week Pastor Rick was amazing.

Prayers : Part 8

2008-01-27T16:29:00.000-08:00

Prayer that God Always Answers
Part 8

Hebrews 4:15-16
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Knowing how to pray is not difficult. All we must do is follow Jesus example and obey God's Word. Jesus simply said to ask the Father in his name, and He will give it to you. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be full (John 16:24).

God cares about us. He cares about us praying. So we need to make certain that when we pray, we pray rightly. Moreover, we should be praying for others and getting answers to their prayers. One of our goals should be to have those people seeking us out to receive prayer, come to know the Lord for themselves so that they can receive Jesus Christ to allow them to take part in the relationship God desires they have with Him.

So far in this series we have identified two different types of prayer (prayer of commitment and prayer of binding and loosing), and today will continue on with understanding "what should we pray?". God never stated that you don't know how to pray...he did however say, you do not know "what" to pray for.

Pastor further went on to begin to introduce the benefits of the prayer of agreement.

Matthew 18:19-20

Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

Being in agreement means the parties involved must work at defining all of the details of their request. It is work and it takes time. Pastor gave two great examples of how we are often not in agreement, even when we agree. He gave a vivid illustration about a husband and wife deciding to get into "agreement" about a new house. They both agree that it would be great, and they pray together. However, they failed to get into the details. The husband is believing for an ultra modern high rise in the Four Seasons San Francisco, while the wife is believing for a bungalow in a suburban cul- de- sac. No agreement.

Being in agreement is in the details, and it takes work, but there are rewards for your labor. If you missed the message be sure to pick up a CD at service on Sunday.

Prayers : Part 7

2008-01-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

Prayer that God Always Answers
Part 7

Today, we will get into the “nuts and bolts” of prayer. Up to this point in the series we focused on learning how to pray. We are supposed to be confident in prayer. We are to come boldly before the very seat of power, and as a child, you don’t bow and scrape (Hebrews 4:15, 16). Grace and mercy are covenant terms:
“Mercy” means withholding the punishment and judgment that is owed to you and that you rightly deserve. “Grace” is God giving everything that you both do and do not deserve because you are in covenant. Today, we will learn what to pray.

1. Your situation is going to determine what you should pray (or how you walk by faith). Different situations require different types of prayer. Ephesians 6: -- is rightfully using and applying the knowledge of the Word of God.

Ø Prayer of commitment – start with the root of the problem or fear, then cast (or commit) it completely to the Father, thank Him for freeing you, and do not take it back. It’s not a matter of will God, but rather will you? God gave you the right to choose.
1 Peter 5:6, 7 – How do we “cast all our cares”? Stop worrying and start praying (Philippians 4:6, 7).

Ø Prayer of binding and loosing –this is the prayer of walking in authority, of binding fear and insecurities over things which we have been given authority over.
Matthew 18:18; 16:19 – Jesus left us with the right and authority to bind on earth what will be bound in heaven. We are not at the mercy of our enemies.
Luke 10:17 -- we have been given authority over Satan, his demons and anything in his kingdom. This includes fear, doubt, unbelief and spiritual things.

If what you are waiting for falls into either of these two areas, review this message. Does worry keep you awake at night? Pray the prayer of commitment. Start rolling (casting) these things to the Lord. Other things you have been waiting for God to take, are yours to take authority over.

Prayers : Part 6

2008-01-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

"And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full ."

John 16:23,24

Confusion enters when some of us look to the past or the Old Covenant to emulate prayer. We are in the New Covenant, a new relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The Covenants are two parts of one plan, one relationship with God and is a fulfillment of what was before. Answering your questions builds the foundation that we need to understand prayer.

1. Prayer is us connecting with the Father. Relationships in the natural are developed and built upon how we ask and receive. You know communication is lacking when there are no answers. How else will you know God? I submit to you that you know God to the level you receive answers. The “how to” of prayer is found in our series text John 16:23, 24. God is not a respecter of persons, so we should confidently know, just as the disciples did, that whatever we ask we receive (1 John 5:14, 15).

What is prayer?
Philippians 4:6 – Don’t worry about anything. You’re probably worrying about an area you haven’t prayed about. Stop worrying and start praying. Prayer is a category in which you will find many different types and forms prayer. There is no ritual to prayer. However, there are forms of prayer meant to be used together (and not in any specific order):

Prayer of confession – “Prayer” in Philippians 4:6 is translated from the Greek as “oration,” “oratory,” or giving voice to God’s Word. By verbalizing (speaking) your specific request, you know you’ve made your requests known to God. “Rhema” is speaking the Word full of faith and with such conviction and authority that it is as if God Himself is speaking. Quoting is not confession, but to get to rhema, you must start quoting.

Romans 4:17; 2 Corinthians 4:13 – God calls things as though they were – not are. As a child of God, you must begin calling things that do not exist in your life as though they already were.
Ephesians 3:14-17 -- There is no need to insert the Father’s name every other word, either. God knows you’re talking to Him – you wouldn’t do this when speaking with someone in the natural.

Prayer is not one specific thing. Like sports, prayer is a category in which you can find various types, situations, equipment, rules, and arenas in which prayer is used. The prayers of supplication, petition, thanksgiving, intercession, agreement, and confession are some examples.

John 16:23, 26 -- Jesus is not the intermediary or “message boy” of prayer. Think of prayer in terms of access to a computer or account. The User Name: Father; the Passcode: Jesus, the Christ. After Jesus ascended to Heaven, he gave us the permanent authority to communicate directly with the Father in Jesus’ name.

Prayers : Part 5

2008-01-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

"And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full ."

John 16:23,24

We’re laying and establishing a sure foundation about prayer so that you as a member of the Body of Christ can receive answers (and isn’t that the whole point?). We first learned that you must be taught to pray. Christ’s attitude about prayer in John 16:23, 24 tells us that we shall receive what we ask the Father for. Knowing we have the petitions of our heart leads to boldness in prayer (1 John 5:14, 15).

1. Prayer is us connecting with the Father. Why does it seem so many beg or are weak and unsure when they pray? Change your mindset! Begging and groveling is not humility. Previously we covered:

In what position should we pray? (part 3) Standing, sitting, laying face down; it doesn’t matter.
Where should we pray? (part 3) Everywhere. Location doesn’t matter.
When should we pray? (part 4) Diligently (Romans 12:12). Start and never stop.

This week we will explore:

How long should we pray? Jesus didn’t give us a time reference specifically, but He did admonish us not to use “vain repetitions” (Matthew 6:7). Asking again and again and over and over will not work. The prayer of Thanksgiving is the only prayer we are to pray continually. Otherwise, ask once in confidence and trust that God hears you the first time. The answer is: pray as long as it takes, but petition once.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Remove the commas. “Rejoice always pray without ceasing in everything give thanks…”

Luke 18:1-8 – We are to always pray and not faint (give up) as a way of connecting with the Father. Remember that faith makes prayer work. Jesus’ point is that answers shouldn’t take long (v. 8).

Daniel 10:10-13 – God is the same today as in the Old Covenant. Inspiration can be found in Daniel’s account which highlights that to get answers, you must speak. God’s angel came for Daniel’s words. There is no such thing as a “silent prayer” or “silent petition.” Michael, one of the most powerful angels, came to help Daniel after hearing his prayer on the first day. Start standing against principalities.

Psalm 103:20 – Did you know that we almost have more power than angels? They are to minister to and work for us. We are behind enemy lines and prayer keeps in right standing with God, the Father. But we can help the angels out – they are battling the forces of darkness for us. Choose not to wait! God will avenge us speedily (Luke 18:8).

Prayers : Part 4

2008-01-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

"And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full ."

John 16:23,24

Artificial prayers are not pleasing to God. Last week we learned that God is looking for the true worshippers – those who worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus said that truth delivers people (John 8). Through this series, I am looking for people to be free to pray.

Doing anything “just because” or because it’s “tradition” typically means there is no understanding behind it. As Jesus said, tradition and ceremony will strip the power right out of prayer. Doing things to fit in or for the sake of doing them, will water down and dilute God in the minds of people. Jesus dealt with this principle of going with tradition to appease people in Matthew 15:1-9.

There is a lot of tradition around prayer. When someone is asked to pray in public, have you ever noticed the change in the tone of voice? Or all of a sudden they begin to use Old English? God isn’t impressed by waxing eloquent! I bring this up because prayer is so powerful that we cannot allow the enemy to insert tradition into it. We are to come boldly, reverently, confidently to His throne. Boldness is absent where doubt lingers. Knowing God’s answer (His will) before you pray will give you the confidence to pray.

Prayer is us connecting with the Father.
Take the formality and ritual out of prayer. Talk with the Father which will make prayer alive instead of a ritual.

Matthew 16:23, 24; Matthew 6:5 –Where ever you lose relationship, you fall into tradition. Christ called us to relationship to deliver us from tradition and religion.

When you stop praying, you lose focus on the relationship. Never forget that you are the child and God is the Father. Don’t allow yourself to think that God is a bad parent by using “vain repetitions”! God is anticipating your prayers – He wants to hear from you so He can answer you! Prayer keeps you in right relationship with the Father; it is our lifeline to the Kingdom. Do you think you can ever ask for anything that God cannot handle? Are you asking in the way God has asked that we come? You must pray believing. Just because you can form the words and say them doesn’t mean you believe them.

When should we pray?
Psalm 55: 16, 17 – In this passage, we are given spaces of time, not specific times of the day. Here is my advice: release yourself from the bondage to pray at a specific time. It doesn’t matter when you call God – just call! Just start praying and don’t stop. Do not allow your circumstance to determine when you pray. Pray to change your circumstance!

Romans 12: 12; Hebrews 11:6 – Pray diligently. Pray all the time. Prayer is connection, not just to ask for stuff all the time. Just talk with the Father – tell Him how good He is! There is no greater disciple than grace. Man loves religion because it tells you the Do’s and Don’ts. Just be about pleasing God. Faith makes prayer work, not the other way around.

Daniel 6:10 – Daniel was diligent in prayer and his account shows us the power of prayer. Don’t cave in, be a witness to your friends and the world.

Prayers : Part 1

2007-12-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

"And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full ."

John 16:23,24

We are starting a new series. We will know how to pray prayer that God always answers. God delights in the prayer of the upright!

1. You can always pray so you know that God hears and answers you. God expects you to be confident in prayer. Don't pray to Jesus. Ask the Father in Jesus' name. The will of God for us is that we ask and receive (see John 16:23,24)

Ask yourself: "If I'm not confident in prayer, or if I'm not seeing answers to prayer, am I praying correctly?" God is not broken but your prayer might be.
(See 1 John 3:22, Matt. 21:22, Mark 11:24, 1 John 5:14,15)

2. Destroy these three major seeds of doubt:
(Doubt is a faith killer. Faith makes prayer work. Prayer works by faith.)
"...if it is God's will." -- God has made His will known. People say that to give themselves a loophole. Why would you pray it if you don't know God's will? The will of God is all throughout the Word of god. The Spirit of God knows the will of God. We have received the Spirit of God. Before you go to God in prayer, you ought to know the answer.
(See 1 Cor 2:9-12, Rom 12:1,2, Eph 5:14-17, 1 Thess 4:1-3, John 15:7)

"If God wants me to have it, He'll give it to me."--God doesn't desire to see one person perish, but he gave us choice. God will do any and everything He spoke in His Word that was a promise or a Law, but He has to have permission. He waits for an invitation. Prayer is His invitation. God has already given us all good things. Prayer is your access, how to get it from the spiritual to the natural. Prayer is our supply behind enemy lines. Prayer keeps us in right and perfect relationship with God.
(See 2 Peter 1:2,3, Eph 1:3, John 10:10)

God has the ability and the power to do anything He wants. But He will not. God did not create robots, He created children. He won't forfeit His integrity.