Stir it Up!

2 Timothy 1:6 “Wherefore I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God that is in you by the putting on of my hands”.

We used to have a coffee shop in our town called Stir it Up. I would order a big cup of hot cappuccino with a little cream on top, then give it a good stir. How awesome it tasted! In 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul talks about “the gift of God”, which is in every Spirit filled believer. The Greek word for gift is charisma, or our word for grace. Like Paul, I’m reminding you today of something so key to living a powerful life: this gift or grace on the inside of you needs to be stirred up. You need to regularly add fresh fuel to the fire.

Stir up the gift of grace on the inside of you. Don’t let it stay inactive or dormant. When you’re facing issues in life, stir up the grace of God and His promises that are hidden in your heart and speak out loud, “yes and amen”. The next verse goes on to say, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. When stirred, grace reminds you of who you are. When stirred, grace reminds you what God has called you to do. When stirred, grace prompts you to action in agreement with His Word. So...stir it up!!

The Tooth Be Told

Isaiah 41:15 “Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff.”

Mentioned 56 times, the Bible has some interesting things to say about teeth. Scripture often uses teeth symbolically, to refer to the power of individuals, or regarding human rage (as in the “gnashing of teeth”). Let’s take a look at the use of the word teeth in Isaiah 41:15...

God says that “I will make you”, meaning that He will release extreme power through you from the inside out. Make you what? “A new sharp threshing instrument”. Threshing instruments were ancient boards that had sharp protruding fragments built in that looked like teeth, and used to pass over large sheaves of wheat to separate the grain from the chaff. “Having teeth”. What for? How does this relate to us today?

The “teeth” is the Word of God in your mouth. It’s a double edged sword, to thresh every mountain and obstacle in your way and beat them small. By the power of God’s word problems, hindrances, limitations, lack, and delays will blow away like chaff in the wind. This year, let the “tooth be told”, the truth of God’s Word be told to every mountain that stands in your way. Don’t climb every mountain, thresh every mountain!

Can You Give Me an Amen?

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him, Amen, unto the glory of God by us”.

This is one of those verses you could chew on for a year and still get more from it. It’s that rich and that full. One thing I remember so vividly about Pastor Demola is that after he would share something from the Word, he would follow up with a quick, “Can you give me an Amen?” I loved it, especially when I found out what “Amen” means. It means so be it.

In 2 Corinthians 1:20 it says “for ALL the promises of God IN HIM are yes…” I could stop right there. Healing is a promise. Prosperity is a promise. Peace is a promise. The good life is a promise. There are literally thousands of promises in the Word of God, AND in Him they are all “yes”, and in Him they are all “amen”.

It’s one thing to know the promises of God, but it’s another thing to know they are a “yes” for you personally. Then after you know that they are a “yes” for you and receive it, You need to add your “amen”…so be it!. If you got that then you’re probably jumping and dancing wherever you are right now! Why? The promise of victory over that impossible situation is a yes for you. The promise of restoration for your family is a yes for you. The promise of being healed of that “incurable” disease is a yes for you. The promise of a hundredfold return of every financial seed you’ve sown is a yes for you. Now add your amen!

A Rich House

Psalm 112:3 “Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever”

Two days ago I was looking for someone’s home, and I got a little lost. As I continued to drive I saw this huge, and I mean huge, house. Like I said, huge. It really got my attention, that’s how extraordinary it was.

In Psalm 112 it speaks about the man who is so blessed that it rubs off on his children. It says his seed or his offspring is blessed upon the earth. In verse 3, it goes on to say that “wealth and riches are in his house”. Now is that something you might be interested in? Would you like to have this promise fulfilled? I think you would. Here’s how.

In the same verse it says that “his righteousness endures forever “. That’s right standing with God. That’s the gift that you received at salvation in 2 Corinthians 5:21. You’re already righteous if you’re born again. And it “endures forever”, that means it never changes and never diminishes.

That, my friend, is one of the keys to wealth and riches in your house, knowing who you are and what belongs to you. You’re already wealthy and rich. Today, no matter what things might look like in your house financially, decree and declare what Psalm 112 says about you, I am righteous, therefore I have a rich house, me and my children, forever amen.

No Vacancy

1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no man despise your youth”.

I remember our first vacation with my wife and family. For some reason, we decided that we would just drive to the beach, on July 4th weekend, and find a hotel when we got there. All we saw at each hotel was “No Vacancy”. We ended up going from one town to another and finally found a room.

In 1 Timothy 4, Paul the Apostle is writing to Timothy, a young pastor in Ephesus. Timothy was one of the youngest ministers in a whole city of pastors. Apparently there seemed to be an issue with their respect for Timothy as a fellow pastor due to his age.

I love the way Paul addressed him. Instead of writing to all the other pastors and saying, “I want you to respect my son in the faith, Timothy!”, he said, “Hey Timothy, don’t you allow them to get into your head”. He said, “You’re in control of how you respond to their actions”. He said, “LET no man despise your youth”. This signifies that Timothy had control over what he allowed to take up space in his thought life. He refused to LET them rent space in his mind.

Are there negative words that others have spoken trying to take up space in your mind? That’s your opportunity to allow God’s grace, his unmerited favor, to empower you. Don’t LET anyone or anything rent a room in your thoughts! Think about it, no one or nothing should have that kind of power in your thought life. Simply declare, no vacancy, all rooms are occupied by grace! Amen!

Do vs. Done

John 19:30 “When Jesus had received the sour wine He said, It is finished, and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

There’s a big difference between something that you need to do and something that is already done. At dinnertime the other day, I looked in our pantry and I saw a jar of spaghetti sauce, a box of pasta, and I saw the sausage in the refrigerator. And I said to myself, “should I make the pasta or order from a local restaurant”? Well, you guessed it, I ordered out…the food was already cooked…done. It’s so much easier when something is done, completed, finished.

That’s the difference the cross made. It took us from do, do, do to done, done, done. The promises of God are yes, and amen. You don’t have to DO anything, it’s already done. Your healing is already done. Your forgiveness is already done. Your victory is already DONE!

If you could just see life through DONE rather than DO, it would make a huge difference. It takes all the pressure off, it takes all the self-effort out, it gives you a confidence because you already know the outcome. Today, see whatever you’re dealing with as Done not Do. It’ll change everything. Stay blessed. You know why? It’s DONE!

Our Alarm System

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 ESV

I'm so glad God blessed us with built in "alarms". We have negative emotions that tell us that something is wrong with our thinking. We have symptoms when there is something wrong with our body. We even have godly spouses, friends and parents to show us things we are too stubborn to receive from God on our own!

But there's one more thing that may not be so obvious. It's a "condemnation meter". It looks like a fuel gauge on your dashboard, but it works in reverse. When the needle is on "Empty", that's good. According to Romans 8:1, God says there is NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. If you're born again, you have received the gift of NO condemnation.

When you give place to condemnation, the needle begins to move away from "E" and guilt and fear set in. If you give place to guilt and fear, the needle moves again and destructive habits set in. Condemnation is now at dangerous levels! The answer, resist all condemning thoughts, accusations and lies with the truth of God's Word. Warning! Resist ALL condemnation.

Weapon of Mass Instruction

Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge“

I was reading the other day about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), such as chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons that can do significant harm and damage on a large scale. Mass means large, massive, profuse, overwhelming. But there’s something even more powerful and effective in the spiritual world called “weapon of mass instruction”.

Hosea 4:6 says that God’s people are destroyed for a lack of one thing…knowledge. Knowledge of God’s Word is the most powerful and destructive weapon in the spiritual realm. That’s precisely why the enemy will do anything and everything to try and stop you from gaining revelation knowledge. Mark 4:15 says that Satan comes immediately to steal the Word. Why? Because he knows it’s a weapon of mass, large, huge, effective proportions.

God’s Word is the only offensive weapon that we have. It destroys every work of the enemy. It tears down strongholds of thoughts. It is sent to heal cancers. With it you rebuke every attack. God’s Word is a weapon of mass instruction that will cause you to win in every battle, in every contest, in every challenge. So the answer to any destruction or problem is instruction, the knowledge of God’s Word. Make a decision this year to give God’s Word first place and final authority in every area of your life. Then watch the supernatural changes manifest as never before.

A Change of Diet in 2019

Joshua 5:12 “and the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of Canaan that year”.

After I returned from Winter Break at Charis Bible College a few weeks ago, I saw a friend of mine and they looked so different. I asked, “What are you doing that you look so different?” They explained about their special diet, listing their change of foods and eating habits.

Speaking of eating habits, can you imagine what it would have been like to eat the same food every day for 40 years? That’s what happened to the children of Israel, before they came into the promised land of Canaan. The manna in Canaan represents “just enough” provision for each day. This is survival. Thank God for His provision, but He wants better for His children.

When they entered the land of Canaan, they began to eat fruit. The fruit was already there. The fruit represents “more than enough”. That’s the difference between a miracle and the blessing. A miracle is for crisis. Thank God for miracles, but the blessing is for every day. It’s a way of believing. It’s believing in God’s commanded blessing on His children because of the cross of Christ. In 2019, choose God’s diet. Choose more than enough! Let’s eat!

Death, Taxes and the New England Patriots

Hebrews 13:5 Amplified “He (God) Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. (I will) not, (I will) not, (I will) not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let (you) down...(assuredly not)!”

Super Bowl Sunday, an American football tradition, is finally here. Get the Velveeta ready, hold your nose to your Zenith (they still make those?), and watch the New England Patriots take the Super Bowl field for the ninth time. Please repeat after me, “Tom Brady is getting old!” Yet at 41, he keeps getting better like a fine wine. Quoting the familiar phrase, “You can count on two things in life: death and taxes”, sports media has added a third…the New England Patriots.

In Hebrews 13:5, God says five times (the number of grace), “I will not, I will not, I will not…I will not, assuredly not leave you, fail you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support, or let you down”. Hallelujah! Do you get the picture? He will not ever, no never leave you nor forsake you. God is more of a sure thing, more unchanging than anything. So, stay secure in His Word, His nature and His love.

Get the chips and salsa ready, God loves you and so do we! Enjoy

Six-Star Dining in 2019

Joshua 5:12 “And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna anymore; but they did eat of the fruit of Canaan that year”.

Consumer-ratings for restaurants have become increasingly popular over the years, thanks to sites such as Yelp and social media. However, critics say that though they have empowered regular people to post non-expert reviews, the reviews can be falsified or faked. Some prefer a more reliable, expert review as found in the Forbes Travel Guide. Nevertheless, it’s the “five stars” that everyone is searching for! Five represents the best in quality, excellence and atmosphere.

Joshua 5 records that the children of Israel had been in the wilderness for 40 years and now they had finally come into Canaan. Hallelujah! In the wilderness, they had “just enough” manna for each day. We could call this a five-star rating. But a new day had arrived - they would eat manna no more. That year, God took them to a new level of dining, the “more than enough” fruit of Canaan. This is a six-star experience, over the top, off the scale!

In 2019, “just enough” is over and” more than enough” is here! Your table is reserved. You have entered into your six-star life. Six-star health. Six-star finances. Six-stars in your family, your career, your ministry. You’re eating the fruit of Canaan this year. Bon Appetit my friends!

Breaking Point by Natalie Fortunato

Mark 2:22 "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins." (New Living Translation)

Something happened to me in 2018 that changed my life forever...I came to my breaking point. I had been living by the Old Testament (all about what I do) and New Testament (all about what Jesus did) at the same time. I was putting old wine into new wineskins. I was constantly frustrated. Something had to give..."New wine calls for new wineskins".

Then it happened, I turned in my old wineskin of self-effort and sin consciousness for a new wineskin - the pure, unforced rhythms of God's goodness and grace. A life where the Word is more real than my senses. A life of faith in the finished work of the cross.

As you enter into 2019, consider these powerful words, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30 The Message). After all, “no one puts new wine into old wineskins”.

In His Presence are Presents

Did you know that every day is Christmas when you are in Christ? I love Christmastime! When I was a kid, my parents would pile the Christmas presents, it seemed like, all the way to the ceiling. We would be excited for weeks waiting for Christmas morning. Then the time would come to open up our presents, and then in a blink of an eye it was over. Opening them was so much fun, we would look around and wonder, are there any more? No, we had opened them all…until the stocking gifts after Sunday mass, ahhh!

Psalm 23:1 says, “The Lord is (present tense) your shepherd. A shepherd provides for his sheep, feeds them, and protects them, every day, all day. Because Jesus IS your Good Shepherd you don’t want for anything . You don’t lack wisdom, direction, provision - anything. In His presence are His presents, Hallelujah! Jesus IS with you, He is our Emmanuel, God with us. He is present with you providing presents. Now, right at this moment, just meditating on Jesus, faith is released out of your spirit, the faith of Jesus. Let your heart be encouraged with the reality that Jesus IS with you.

When you are facing your challenges, Psalm 16:11 says, “In His presence is fullness of joy”. Fullness here means completeness, wholeness, abundance. John 1:16 says “of His fullness we have all received grace for grace”. That’s grace replacing the grace that was there before it! In His presence you release this fullness. In His presence there are presents! Enjoy Christ in Christmas. Enjoy family. Enjoy!

No More Law School

Galatians 4:24 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ”.

I commend the students who, after four years of college, go on to law school. I mean, four years of studying, taking exam after exam, studying some more, and late nights is a lot of work. Yet they are determined go back and do it again at a whole nutha’ level!

So, now let’s talk about a different kind of “law school”. One of my favorite books in the Bible is Galatians. In this book the apostle Paul addresses Christians who welcome the good news of Jesus Christ when Paul is present, but after he leaves their city, others come right behind him and mix the good news of grace with the Jewish law, and they welcome that too.

Paul was strong in combating this mixture. He said in Galatians 3:1, “O foolish Galatians who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth”. He explains to them in Galatians 4:24 that, yes, the law has a purpose, it was “our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ”. Then goes on to say in verse 25, “but after that faith is come we are no longer under a schoolmaster”. In other words, we are no longer under the law, we are no longer in “law school”.

A schoolmaster here means a servant to care for children until they become a mature son.As Christians, we are no longer servants but sons.We are not under the law but under grace.You can’t be under both law and grace.He exhorts us to beware of leaven, “a little leaven leaves the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9).Beware of mixture that focuses on what you must do and not putting the focus on what Jesus has done.No more law school folks.School’s out!Enjoy your endless grace summer!

Bad News Sold as Good News

Matthew 6:15 “If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins”

This is not good news. This is bad news that is intended to make us shake in our boots. It links God’s forgiveness to our own. It’s not grace, it is law. It’s something you must give to get. Why did the Lord preach law? Because some people will never value the gift of grace until the law has been allowed to do its condemning work. Some need to hear the bad news before they will appreciate the good news.

Romans 10:4, says “Now Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to all who trust in Him”. Maybe you’ve heard that God won’t forgive you if you have unforgiveness in your heart. Under the law that Jesus preached that was true. But the law keeping covenant was FULFILLED at the cross! In Acts 26:1, after the cross, He said forgiveness is a gift to be received! At the cross verbs became nouns! It is finished, you are forgiven. Now that’s the good news!

The Accepting Church

Romans 15:7 NIV - “Accept one another, as Christ accepted you”.

Divine acceptance will change the world! But before it does, it must first change the church. The problem with a “mixed” grace message (mixing grace with the law or a works based message) is that it makes the children of God fearful of their Heavenly Father. It paints a frown on the face of love. Can you imagine God the Father frowning at Jesus? Of course not. Neither is He frowning at you.

In the old covenant they prayed for the day when the Lord would make His face shine upon them, be gracious to them, and give them peace. The awesome news is, we are living in that day, right now. He is looking you in the face and beaming with a galaxy sized smile. You are the apple of His eye. He rejoices over you with singing. When we get a hold of this, it will transform us into the “accepting church”.

Freedom is found in the Fathers acceptance, when you know that you are your Daddy’s delight. When you know that He loves you and accepts you, unconditionally. You are accepted in the Beloved. People who know that they are accepted, are more apt to accept others. Be free! “Accept one another, as Christ accepted you”.

The Grace Invitation

Revelation 3:5 “I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."

Before the foundation of the world, every person’s name was written in the Book of Life. On the cross, Jesus carefully counted the sin of all mankind to Himself, once and for all. Therefore, God is not counting sin against us. Instead, God is extending an invitation to all mankind to receive the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross on their behalf. To receive Him as their Savior and forgiveness for their sin.

What is your name? Did Jesus die on the cross for your sin? Yes. Then your name is written in the Book of Life. What about the names of your relatives? Did Jesus die on the cross for their sin? Yes. Even though they may not be born again yet? Absolutely. Then their names are also written in the Book of Life. If unsaved people got their name written in the Book of Life when they got born again, then Jesus would need to die on the cross all over again for them.

However, Revelation 3:5 speaks of names being blotted out from the Book of Life. What does that mean? Let me explain it this way. God has extended an invitation to all mankind to receive Jesus as their Savior the same as a couple would extend an invitation to someone for their wedding. They prepare a guest list then send out the invitations. With the invitation comes a request for a response, an RSVP. For those that accept the invitation their names remain on the list. For those who decline, their name is removed (blotted out).

God has written the name of every person in the Book of Life. He extends an invitation for salvation. For those that accept, even up to the very second before their death, their names remain written in the Book of Life. Sadly, for those who decline and leave this earth without having accepted Jesus, their names are blotted out. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says that it would please God if “all would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth”.

How does a person receive God’s invitation? Through us! We have the privilege of sharing with every person we meet that God has already accepted them, that God sent His only Son to die on the cross for them because of His intense love for them. We get to tell them that God has their name is written in the Book of Life, and an open invitation is waiting for them to accept Jesus as their Savior and spend eternity with Him. We get to extend the “Grace Invitation”.

No Assembly Required

Colossians 2:10 “And you are complete in Him”.

Have you ever bought something that said “assembly not required”, but when you opened the package you found a list of 15 steps? I recently had to put something together, and I was trying to follow the instructions, but before you know it, I had more parts than instructions. I had to go back and figure out where I missed it. It was supposed to be easy… after all, “no assembly required”.

Colossians 2:10 says that when you were born again you were made complete “IN HIM”. All things are become new. What we need to fully understand is that in our born again spirit we are whole, complete, healthy, rich, secure, and every other promise that’s included the good news of the Gospel. As we renew our minds we realize we don’t have to fix ourselves or try and get something from God, there’s no assembly required.

We simply need to believe who we already are through the finished work of Jesus on the Christ! We are a complete child of God, we are “just men made perfect”, Hebrews 12:23. “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ” Ephesians 1:3.

As born again believers, we are complete in Him. No assembly required. No more chasing down what’s already yours. The blessings of God are chasing YOU. Stop! Receive! Rest! Enjoy!

Spirit = Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:17 “But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit” 

Did you know that the instant you were born again, your spirit became identical to the Holy Spirit!  That truth literally changed my whole life and identity.  Here’s something interesting…did you know that identical twins have the exact same DNA.  From birth they are 100% genetically identical.  Because they develop from the same fertilized egg they are exactly the same.  You have the DNA of God.  What’s true of the Holy Spirit is also true of your born again spirit, because they are “ONE”. 

Because there aren’t capital letters in the Greek text of the Bible, translators decided from the context of a passage whether to render it “Spirit” or “spirit”. In 1 Corinthians 6: 17, the word “one” in the Greek is the word Heis, which means “alike” or “agreement” or “one to the exclusion of others”.  In other words, your born again spirit is identical to the Holy Spirit.  That’s awesome!?!  You are wall-to-wall Holy Ghost.  You’re full of the power of God. 

Now, all you need to do is renew your minds to this powerful truth. Find out who He is and you will find out who you are. As He is, so are you, in this world (1 John 4:17).  Look into the mirror of the Word of God and see what it says about you.  Meditate day and night on the Word and see your life transform from the inside out! 

You've Already Got It!

Philemon 6 "That the communication of your faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus" 

You've already got it!  Everything that you will ever need for this life has already been provided for you. Your healing has already been provided.  Your deliverance has already been provided.  Financial prosperity has already been provided.  You’ve already got it! 

Where is it?  It's IN CHRIST JESUS!  Philemon 6 say's that if you're in Christ, then every good thing is already in you, in your spirit!  It's like a water well, and the pump is activated by "acknowledging every good thing that's already in you”.  In Christ Jesus you are now living from the inside out, not the outside in.  Peace is in you.  Joy is in you.  More than enough is in you.  Start declaring it.  Why?  Because you’ve already got it!

One definition of faith is - a positive response to what Grace has already provided!  God didn't provide healing the day you got sick, HE provided it over 2000 years ago.  God didn't provide finances the day you got that bill in the mail.  He provided it over 2000 years ago!  God didn't provide deliverance the day you fell into bondage or addiction.  He provided it over 2000 years ago!  

If you’re born again, every good thing is already in you, you've already got it!  All that you need is not “out there” somewhere, or in your future, you don’t have to go get it from God.  Simply release the healing that is already in your born again spirit.  Release the finances that are already in you through the finished work on the cross.  Release the peace that is already in you, a fruit of the Spirit.  Halleluiah!  Whatever you need, you’ve already got it.  It is finished!