Praying In Faith

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Prayer without faith will not do us any good. It's not prayer in and of itself that accomplishes anything. It is the prayer of faith. Many people nowadays have gotten the idea that by many words they will be heard. But here is what Jesus said about that.

Matt 6:7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

You see it is the pagans who were the ones that thought they were being heard because of their many words.

But it is not many words that gets the job done. It is faith.

Elijah the prophet had his famous showdown with the prophets of Baal in 1 kings 18. They had a contest. They both built altars, put a sacrifice on it, and said the God who answers by fire is the true God. The prophets of Baal began to call on Baal. They went about it for hours. They went on so much so that Elijah began to mock them . He said "yell a little louder maybe your god is sleeping."

1 Kings 18:27 "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened."


But the bottom line is they went on like this all day long, until they even began to cut themselves. When it came Elijah's turn, he poured buckets of water on the wood and with one simple prayer, fire from heaven consumed the sacrifice.

This tells you again: It is not the amount of words that will gain us what we seek but it is the simple prayer of faith that was based on knowing the will of God.

God's desire is His word.

Prayer without faith wont work, just like faith without prayer will not work. Prayer is like the key to the lock and faith is the hand that turns it.

James 1:5-8 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Anything is possible for him who believes. Oh let us rest in his Word. We have an awesome God who is good for His Word. Thank God for is faithfulness and his goodness today. We have a God who wants to heal you; a God that wants to provide for you; a God that wants to comfort you and give you peace; a God that wants to save you. Trust Him. Trust Him today.

Blessings!

Pray According To the Word

We saw yesterday that our prayers partner with God to release His power on the earth. Today I want to look at praying according to the word.

The prayer ministry of the church is God telling the church what he wants to do, so the church can then pray it out, and God moves. Therefore:

God wants us to know his will before we pray.

Like we said yesterday, there are different kinds of prayer. The prayer of dedication and guidance is different from the prayer of petition. In the prayer of dedication and guidance it is appropriate to pray " If it be your will" like Jesus prayed in Gethsemane. He was dedicating himself to do what God wanted. When we are looking for guidance on something, it is appropriate to pray "If it be your will."

But in the prayer of petition, God wants us to know what His will is. God's will is His Word. This is probably the most important thing in petionary prayer: To know God's will in prayer. God is wanting us to know his will before we ask.

But a lot of people are confused about what God's will is, and so they don't really pray focused and ask for specifics. But God wants us to ask for specifics based on His word. Let's look at this very carefully.

1 John 5:13-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him.

If the scriptures don't promise the things we are desiring, then we don't have any ground to really expect the answer, but God wants us to have confidence when we pray.
Now this is a very important scripture but I think one in which there is much misunderstanding. First of all, according to this scripture

1. God wants us to have confidence.
The word confidence means "with faith". He wants us to approach Him with a confident expectation. On the other hand, here is how many interpret this scripture

"Yeah ---but it says if "according to his will." So then we must pray "if its in your will".

Instead of praying with confidence, people add"if it be your will" in asking God for things, but then we confuse two different kinds of prayer. The prayer of dedication to the will of God, and the prayer of petition. But this scripture is talking about the prayer of petition. But because people mix this up, they look at this scripture and say .

“We can just pray about anything at all. And the only thing that God will answer is the prayer that is in alignment with his sovereign plan.”

But that is not what that scripture is saying at all! That's like throwing a handful of darts at one time at the target and then saying that the ones that land we know that was part of God's plan. No.This scripture is not saying that at all. It is encouraging us to be confident when we go to God.

But if we pray, “If it be thy will” for something that clearly is the will of God in scripture, then we are introducing doubt into our prayer. Doubt is the opposite of faith, and as we will see in our next point, faith is an essential component of answered prayer.

God wants us to be confident in prayer.
Why? Because we KNOW what God's will is. Now the word translated "will" they could very well have been translated his "desire". So in other words, if we ask anything according to His desire, we know that he hears us.

Now what I am telling you is that we as believers do not have to be clueless as to what God desires. He wants to show us.

Eph 5:10 and find out what pleases the Lord.

There's a story of Smith Wigglesworth, the pentecostal minister. Smith Wigglesworth was going to pray for this sick woman and he took two other ministers with him. When they went to pray, He says that the minister prayed "all around the world" Meaning he was praying for missionaries and orphans etc., but not for the healing. Now the doctor had said that that this lady would never regain consciousness and would die, so finally this minister said, "Now Lord here is this lady she is going to die. Now I pray that you would comfort the husband in his hour of bereavement. And give him grace for this dark hour." Wigglesworth just said "Stop him Lord, stop him, he's charging the atmosphere with unbelief!" Wiggles worth took out a whole bottle of oil and poured it out on the lady and said "Lord heal her now"and she was healed.

Now Wigglesworth did not pray "if it be thy will" Because he believed that healing was God's desire according to the Word of God. "If it be thy will" would have just injected more unbelief .

You see it is God's desire that we know his desires.

And if we know his desires, then when we frame our petition in light of His desires, we can have confidence about that prayer being answered. Not because it fits into some fatalistic plan but because it fits in accordance with His desires.

Rom 12:1-2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I'll say it again, God wants you to know what His desires are. Some times we would be better off not praying until we were sure what the will of God was.

Did you know that you can pray and receive things that it wasn't God's desire for you to have?
Did you know that God did not desire Israel to have a King but they received one because they asked for it. So knowing God's word before we pray is so key because faith is key in prayers.

For instance , we don't have to pray "if it be thy will" with regards to unsaved people. Why, because we know that it is God's will that none should perish according to 2 Pet 3 :9. Because of that we can pray with confidence regarding our petition.

Suppose you borrowed some money from a bank. But you had a potential need for $1000 more coming up. So you go to the banker and say, "Listen, can I borrow another 1000 for 90 days. And the banker says "ok you got it" But you say, "No I don't need the money right now. I may need it soon if this need comes up." Your banker says, "Okay you are approved. Just come get it when you are ready."

Now you have your bankers word that you are approved. Now suppose you go home and get all anxious and say, "I hope the banker lends me the money." That would be silly, because it was already promised to you, you were preapproved. But you are going to have to act on his word in order to get the money. You are going to have to go to the bank, fill out the paperwork etc.

Just like when we pray for something that we know is God's desire. We can't say, "maybe God is not going to do it. What's taking so long?" No, we have to stand and believe and act on God's promise to see it manifested.

Oh, God wants you to have confidence in his Word. Treasure up his word. Heaven and earth will pass away but His word remains forever. It is a solid rock. His promises are backed up by heaven itself. You can go boldly now with confidence before the throne of God.

Blessings!

Prayer Changes Things

Prayer is spiritual technology that God has given his people to see things changed here on earth. We will only pray as much as we value prayer. The fact is that God has a will that he seeks accomplished on the earth. The more we understand the principles of prayer, the better we will be able to enter into the kind of prayer that will bring dramatic changes.

James 5:16 The fervent prayer of a righteous man avail much.

We need to understand from this scripture that there is prayer that avails much, and that there is prayer that is does not avail much. So the first thing I want us to see is that not all prayer is effective prayer. Well what makes a prayer effective or ineffective?

Prayer is only as effective to the degree that it is in accordance with the
biblical principles of prayer.

There are different Kinds of Prayer that have different rules. For instance there is the prayer of praise and worship. The prayer of dedication to his will, the prayers of petition, the prayer of confession. The prayer of agreement etc. Each of these kinds of prayers have different biblical principles. If we try to mix them up its like playing baseball with football rules. This brings confusion and ineffectiveness. One of the enemy's greatest ploys is to get our prayer life confused because he knows that effective prayer will destroy his kingdom and release the power of God on the earth.

Let's look at the Prayer of Petition, which is basically asking God to do things. The first thing we need to understand is that prayer is essential to the work God has for us to do in the earth.

The Bible says unless the Lord builds a house the laborers labor in vain. Now notice the labor is important. The laborers need to labor. But ultimately God has to build what he wants. God has to move in order to make our labors effective. So it is a partnership between us and God. We have to get over the fatalistic mindset that history is a one sided proposition. No, history is a cooperative effort between God and man. And because of this he has ordained prayer.


GOD WORKS WITH MAN IN ORDER TO SEE THINGS DONE ON THE EARTH.
James 4:2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.

Here in this scripture James says something very interesting. He says that they had not. because they asked not. The implication is that, had they asked they would have received something. But because they didn't ask, they did not receive. This shows you how important it is that we ask God for things. You see many people have this idea that they should not ask God for anything, that we just need to be content with whatever happens in this life. Some have a very fatalistic view of God, but that is not the picture of God that is presented in the scriptures. No, the picture we have of God is that he is intimately related to our world. That he can intervene and change things on the earth.

God is an intervener in the affairs of the earth.

Dan 9:1-3 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom- 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

Here we have an amazing example of someone seeing the future of Israel. Daniel understood that the Israelite captivity was going to be seventy years, and yet in spite of this knowledge, he throws himself towards the Lord and begins to intercede. Why did he do this? Because Daniel knew something: that our prayers are part of the answer, that our prayers actually can change things.

So from this we must realize that :

There is a whole sphere of God's activity that he limits to our prayers.

John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.


You see God wants to answer your prayers. It is important that we really believe this and have an incentive to come before God in prayer. We will only pray as much as we value the effectiveness of it.

A lot of men for instance, think that prayer is for sissies because they are so self reliant and they don't want to be seen as dependent on someone. But prayer is a work. Prayer is not easy. Prayer takes time and effort but results in a partnership with God.

The church is like a pipe. Though the water tank may be large, the water flow is limited to the diameter of the pipe. If you want to increase the flow, you have to widen the pipe. It is the same way with the church. If we want to se the increase of God moving on the earth, we have to widen the pipe of prayer. You see, we can't make God more powerful, but we can restrict his power in our circumstances. Therefore the church should pray big prayers and make big requests.


God has called us to partner with him here on the earth. The Churches role is be a conduit of God's will on the earth. How important do you see your role in seeing things change for the better in your life? In the life of the church? In the city? You are instrumental. God has chosen you to be one that will stand in the gap for many. You can change history with your prayers! Will you trust and believe and begin to press in ?

Be A Gospel Communicator

A Gospel Communicator takes into account the advantages of having personal relationships and power in his witness but goes a little further because:

1 Cor 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

2 Cor 4:4'..The light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,

Rom 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes

A Gospel communicator realizes that the gospel itself has the power to win its own hearing, and create its own platform of relevance. It is what the Holy Spirit uses to convict the world.

A gospel communicator also takes into account the shortness of life, the hope of heaven , the reality of hell, and the responsibility of human decision to realize that there is an urgency.

The gospel communicator understands that:

As many people as possible, should hear as soon as possible,
as clearly as possible.

Since the gospel message and the work of the Holy spirit are sufficient to produce real conversions, effective communication of the gospel often does take place in a context that is totally lacking in demonstration and relational ship. Therefore priority is given to the persuasive proclamation of the gospel .

This is why I believe it is so important to equip the church for the work of evangelism in tools , strategies, and effective communication so that we can boldly take the initiative with all who will listen, with spiritual sensitivity and skill.

The gospel communicator knows that while having a context of relationship may be ideal, the truth is that it is not a theological or practical necessity because of the power of the Word and the Spirit itself.

Tracts are legitimate if handed out with a prayer and a smile. Radio can be used to great effect. Big Crusades like Billy Graham have been used mightily of God.

The Gospel Communicator realizes that the emphasis on sharing the gospel only in the context of relationship can easily be interpreted to mean that no initiative need to be taken to verbalize the good news unless a relationship exists.

The claim that everything we do is evangelism is often a cover up for a witness that is so vague that nothing we do is evangelism. Second, this reasoning limits whom can be shared with to the relationships we might easily have. Therefore, the majority of potential believers will be excluded.

Evangelism is nothing if it is not done. The gospel is powerless to change lives if left untold.


A young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. The first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men, who passed the time playing cards and gambling. Before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him.So it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do.

"Well," said the chaplain, "you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right to the barracks as you have. It makes them mad to hear you pray, and the Lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don't provoke them."

For weeks after the chaplain did not see the young man again, but one day he met him, and asked

"By the way, did you take my advice?"

"I did, for two or three nights."

"How did it work?"

"Well," said the young man, "I felt like a whipped hound and the third night I got out of bed, knelt down and prayed."

"Well,"asked the chaplain, "How did that work?"The young soldier answered:

"We have a prayer meeting there now every night, and three have been converted, and we are praying for the rest."

Oh, friends, I am so tired of weak Christianity. Let us be out and out for Christ; let us give no uncertain sound. If the world wants to call us fools, let them to it. It is only a little while; the crowning day is coming. --DL Moody

Thank God for the privilege we have of confessing Christ.
Will you be a communicator of the gospel? Do you realize that there are more people that need to hear the gospel than you have the time (or access) to develop relationship with? Will you ask God how to be strategic in sharing with as many as you can, as clearly as you can, as soon as you can? Be willing to be trained in methods and strategies so you can be an effective AND a sensitive witness!

Blessings!

Evangelism Means SHARING The Good News

According to Bible Help online.
Less than 7% of those living today are born-again Christians.
About 50% of the world’s population still does not even know who Jesus Christ is.
Approximately 75% of the world’s population does not have a clear understanding of the gospel.

What does it mean to become a gospel communicator. First of all we need to see that definitions are important.

EVANGELISM MEANS "GOOD NEWS (GOSPEL)TELLING".

If we have this life saving message what do we do with it? Well the word "evangelism" is a compound word from 2 Greek words:
Eu- meaning good and
Angel-messenger
The word "evangelize" literally means "Good Message Telling"

The word evangelize is a verb. It is something to be done. It is the communication of a message. Unfortunately in the last twenty years, much has been taught that has actually served to dilute this definition. Why is "good news telling" the essence of evangelism? Why is becoming a communicator of the gospel so important? First because

THE GOSPEL IS GREATER THAN SIGNS AND WONDERS
There has been a movement in recent years which I call the "Power Evangelism Movement." These folks feel that signs and wonders were an integral part of the message itself, because they see Jesus and the apostles healing and doing miracles in the context of their ministry. Now while signs and wonders are powerful and a good aid in presenting the gospel itself, we must be careful. Let's look at a biblical example:

Acts 14: 8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. 11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." 18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

Here we see that efforts to minister through spiritual gifts and healing many times did accompany proclamation. Secondly, that without a clear presentation of the gospel, in this case, the healing had the effect of, not bringing people to saving faith, but bringing people into idolatry! It was only the proclamation of the gospel message that turned it around.

You see, without knowledge there can be no true faith or repentance.
Therefore theological priority must go to the proclamation of the message!
The issue is one of balance. The pursuit of signs and wonders in the ministry should be commended. On the other hand, signs and wonders do not have the same saving power as the gospel and there has been much in the way of excess and imbalance in the body of Christ.

THE GOSPEL IS GREATER THAN FRIENDSHIP
A lady had been pursuing evangelistic ministry on campus. She had been contacting women through a letter of introduction and inviting them to meet with her to discuss the gospel. She them visited the ones who expressed an interest. One afternoon she was criticized by a Christian who told her that because she had no personal relationship with the women she was contacting, that she was doing more harm than good. Her criticism was that she was not the right person to be doing this. The evangelist said, "well, will you do it?" When the critic hesitated, the evangelist said "well I guess I like the way I do it better than the way you don't ."

There has been another big movement of the last 20 years in the church called "Relational evangelism" which basically states that in order to share the message of Christ with someone we first have to befriend them and then "earn the right to be heard" by our lifestyles.

Being a loving, good Christian in front of non believers is very important but it is not evangelism.
First of all, according to our definition, evangelism is good news telling. If good news telling has not occurred , evangelism by definition has not taken place.

David Wells, advocate of this relational model has written: "The preaching of the gospel is not , then, a matter of simply blitzing the air waves, or of impersonally distributing tracts. Christian salvation cannot be legitimately offered when it is severed from the life view in which it finds its context and meaning. And this framework cannot be reduced to brief slogans, isolated biblical texts, or snappy bumper stickers" (emphasis mine)

What about the testimonies of those who have been saved through scraps of Bible that they found on the floor. Thank God that the lady that first presented me with the gospel at a bus stop, didn't read David Wells and shrink back in intimidation. Thank God that Aimee Semple McPherson didn't consider her pioneer religious broadcasting to be "blitzing the airwaves ' and an impersonal waste of time, for many were saved through it.

Demeaning these types of legitimate evangelism with terms like "impersonal, blitzing, severed from life, isolated biblical texts" is just rhetoric. But unfortunately it has had the effect, in my opinion, of keeping the church from taking a comprehensive stance towards the initiation of sharing the gospel.

People have described strategies and tools that communicate the gospel as "stilted" "canned" "by rote" implying that one who stoops to this is unspiritual, uncreative. This is just rhetoric and is not true.

True, some people have seen instances of potential believers offended because of a well meaning but a poorly practiced non relational method. Just because people may have had a bad experience with a zealous but insensitive witness does not make sharing without a relationship wrong.

Another supposition of the "relational" school is that boldness and sensitivity are mutually exclusive.
James Jancey says: Just buttonholing a stranger, witnessing to him and pressing for a decision will likely do more harm than good. Most responsible people react negatively ...to this kind of assault.

So now personal witnessing has become a "buttonholing" and an "assault". Again thank God for those who haven't taken that view and have been willing to take the initiative and refuse to be labeled a button holer.

Now don't get me wrong. I believe that the most effective type of evangelism is the one that is done through personal relationships. It gives a natural bridge through friendship which makes people more receptive to the message and even easier to disciple later on. Secondly, there isn't a big rush, there is time to cultivate trust and consistency, and because of these, there can be sensitivity to the felt needs of the potential believer as well. I think this is great and should be pursued whenever we can but, more people need to hear than we have time to develop friendship and relationship with. If we limit our sharing to those we have time to do this with, our sharing will be limited.


Although our relationships and signs and wonders are powerful aids in evangelism, and should be embraced whenever possible, without the gospel being understood, people cannot be saved.
Therefore, our positive relational presence or deeds are not evangelism. It is more like pre-evangelism.

Our holiness of character is a command for Christians. It should be a springboard for everything we do. God can use the testimony of our character to influence others about Christ. Of course this is very important because our lives can, and should be, a credible testimony for God--but it isn't evangelism per se.

Samuel Shoemaker said: " I cannot by my being good, tell men of Jesus atoning death and resurrection, nor of my faith in his divinity. The emphasis is too much on me, and too little on Him. Our lives must be made as consistent as we can make them with our faith; but our faith, if we are Christians, is vastly greater than our lives. That is why the "word" of witness is so important. "

Making Disciples: Teach Them To Obey

Matt 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Yesterday, we looked at baptism as part of making disciples. Today, let's look at the third imperative: "teach them to obey...." Why did Jesus spell this out? Was it because He knew we could so easily call him Lord but hedge on the obedience part? Three truths will focus on the importance of obedience.

1. REPENTANCE IS A KEY PART OF THE GOSPEL
Jesus, Peter and Paul's Gospel
Jesus-Matt 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Peter-Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
Paul-Acts 20:21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

As we saw with baptism, repentance is also a key part of the gospel itself. Jesus, Peter and Paul all included repentance as a cornerstone of their preaching. Why?--because one cannot grab a hold of Jesus without turning from the direction they were going in.

2. JESUS IS SAVIOR AND LORD
It is a lie that you can split the offices of Jesus. But Jesus will not be savior to those to whom he is not Lord. How do I know that? We sing "what a friend we have in Jesus" but who did Jesus call friend?

John 15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.
John 14:23-24 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching."

We can't say we love Jesus on one hand, and then on the other live a lifestyle that is not marked by obedience to him. I say we can't, but the fact is that people try to do this every day. Do you think from these scriptures that those that live that way have a right to expect friendship with God? --a right to expect heaven? ---a right to be secure in their salvation?

Obedience is at the very root of friendship with Him. Simply believing that Jesus died for our sins is not enough. A faith that does not lead to obedience to Christ is no faith at all.
We cannot and must not separate Jesus as Savior, from Jesus as Lord.

Why does the world look at the church as weak, irrelevant, hypocritical and blind? Is it completely attributable to the spiritual blindness that the Bible says unbelievers are in, or is there some validity to the criticism? Well, present day surveys show that the behavior of those that profess to believe in Jesus differs little from the behavior of the world. This should not be, and is probably one of the biggest hindrances to our witness to the world. Our witness should be so compelling.

The devil's first lie to Adam and Eve, was that sin has no consequences. It is his biggest ploy to get people to believe that if they just have an intellectual belief in Jesus that they are okay.

Let's not reduce our faith to mere belief. Part of following after Christ is a willing commitment. Faith cannot be divorced from commitment.

3. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CONVERT AND A DISCIPLE
“oh well you know. you cannot expect every convert to be a disciple.”

I myself was taught this in the early days of my faith. But here is my challenge to you: Find me a non-disciple convert in the Bible. I mean find someone who is a convert and who is not living for Christ. You will not find it, because it is not in the book. There is no such thing as a convert who does not live for Christ. If there is no living for Christ, then no conversion has taken place! I'm not saying that Christians are perfect--they can sin, just that a convert does not lead a lifestyle of sin.

Warnings:
Luke 6:46-47 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?

Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) This is as direct a refutation of a non-committal Christianity I can imagine, and it comes from the Lord’s lips. Jesus’ calls to discipleship were always absolute and total. As a matter of fact, he even discouraged what looked to be eager volunteers for service.

You know Jesus would have failed most evangelism classes nowadays. When he had people come up to him that seemed like willing followers. Jesus told them.
"Anyone who puts his hand to plow and looks back is not worthy of me."
Another guy came to Jesus and said "you know I want to follow you, but let me go home and wait till my Father dies and take care of that" Jesus said "let the spiritually dead bury the dead. You go and preach the kingdom of God."
Jesus said things like, "eat my blood, love me more than your family." Not exactly user friendly language. Did Jesus say you can be a convert and not be a disciple? No, Jesus did not give any room for that.

Have you bought into the lie that you can be a convert and not a disciple?

God loves each one of us so much. So much so that he sent His son to die for us so that he could make us into sons, and transform us into his likeness. We cannot be transformed, if we do not embrace a lifestyle of repentance and acknowledge Jesus as Lord and choose a lifestyle of submission. Only as we submit can we be changed.

Repentance is a cornerstone of discipleship. Are we walking as repentant people? Do our lives reflect this? Jesus is Lord. The question is, are we going to submit to His Lordship? I encourage you think about the blood that he shed for you. It is because of His sacrifice that we are called to surrender completely to Him. You can trust Him. Have you bought into the lie that you can be a convert and not a disciple?

Making Disciples: Baptism

Matt 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

We focused last week on "going". Today, I want to go a bit deeper into the Great Commission and look at another aspect of making disciples- baptism.

What is a disciple?A disciple is a learner

According to the Bible, the word translated "disciple" literally means - a learner. A learner implies a continuous growth in learning from Jesus. It's important to know what a disciple is so that we know what we are aiming at.

Picture a large manufacturing plant in your town or city that produces shoes. The management has invested great sums of money and many man-hours into the plant to produce the finest shoes possible. Money has been spent on salaries for the employees, machinery for shoe making, and materials from which the shoes are to be made. The plant is now in operation with hundreds of workers scurrying to and fro. Machines are running full blast, and activity is at a maximum.
One day the president asks the production manager, “How many shoes have we produced so far?”
“None,” the manager answers.
“None?” the president exclaims. “How long have we been in operation?”
“Two years.”
“Two years? And still no shoes?”
“That’s right,” the manager says, “No shoes, but we are really busy. In fact, we have been so busy that we are all nearly tired out. We’ve been very active at our jobs.”
The management would probably be very concerned, fire somebody, try to find out what the problem was.

If we now put a cross on top of that building and transform it into the church on the corner—we find much activity going on. Men and women are working hard. The budget is higher this year than ever before. The objective, however, is to produce disciples. Has all that money and man-hour in your church gone into the production of disciples for Jesus Christ?
God does not want us to just spin our wheels. He wants us to be focused on our goal.

Part of that process is baptism. I don't want to spend time on the technicalities of baptism, but only to highlight some aspects of it. Let's look at:

Matthew 3: 5 People from Jerusalem and from every section of Judea and from all over the Jordan Valley went out to the wilderness to hear him preach. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he denounced them. "You brood of snakes!" he exclaimed. "Who warned you to flee God's coming judgment? Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God. Don't just say, `We're safe--we're the descendants of Abraham.' That proves nothing. God can change these stones here into children of Abraham. Even now the ax of God's judgment is poised, ready to sever your roots. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. "I baptize with water those who turn from their sins and turn to God

We see here in this example that when people went out to hear John the Baptist, they were convicted of their sins and they were told to repent of their sins. And it says that when they confessed their sins then John baptized them in the river Jordan. In other words, only after they confessed their sins, were they baptized. That means that baptism itself implies repentance.

What is repentance? It is a change of mind about sin that leads to a decided about face.

Baptism was so connected with repentance, that when the religious leaders of the day came out, John rejected them and called them a bunch of snakes. He said to first bring forth fruits of repentance. In other words, prove that you have turned from your sin.

Not too many years ago newspapers carried the story of Al Johnson, a Kansas man who came to faith in Jesus Christ. What made his story remarkable was not his conversion, but the fact that as a result of his newfound faith in Christ, he confessed to a bank robbery he had participated in when he was nineteen years old. Because the statute of limitations on the case had run out, Johnson could not be prosecuted for the offense. Still, he believed his relationship with Christ demanded a confession. And he even voluntarily repaid his share of the stolen money!

Al Johnson proved his repentance with his deeds not just with words. How important this is and how far it would go in being a testimony to the world.

I say all this to make an important point. Baptism is not just some ritual. If you go into the water an unrepentant sinner. The only thing that the water is going to do is make you a very wet unrepentant sinner. It is not going to change your heart.

Baptism is given as a symbol and ceremony to those who have already turned their hearts to God and away from sin.

We need to recapture this in our day. If we are going to make disciples and take the last command of Jesus Christ seriously, then we are going to have to bring people to the end of themselves. Baptism signifies a clean break with a life of sin.

One of the most powerful things about baptism is that it is a declaration to the world and to oneself that you have made a definite break with it and a definite committal of your life to Jesus Christ.

It's like a marriage ceremony. You don't get married and then decide if you are making a life long commitment to your spouse. Hopefully, you decide to make a clean break with other romantic relationships before you get married. Do you see that both marriage ceremony and baptisms are public professions of a commitment that has already occurred?

You see a lot of people want to just date Jesus. What do I mean by that? They want to be with Jesus but they don't really want to commit their lives to him. But baptism is a very definite committal of one's life to Jesus Christ. And we dare not water that down, or sugar coat that, as unpopular as that may be.

This committed attitude in Baptism was happening in the first Century church, and I'll tell you, it was a cause of a lot of persecution and trouble. You see it is a well known fact that in the Middle East you may have an intellectual belief in Jesus--that is acceptable, but when you get baptized and commit to Jesus as Lord of your life, that is when people start getting disowned by friends and family , persecuted, sometimes even killed. Nevertheless, baptism is the first command of discipleship.

I want to encourage you: If you have not been baptized yet. Make a clean break with sin and the world and be baptized. No matter, if your father and mother disown you, Christ will be with you always to the end of the age. He will give your strength. He will take you through. He will deliver you. Praise the name of Jesus . He is faithful and true.

Being Clear on The Gospel

Yesterday we said that we need to keep the main thing the main thing when sharing the gospel. Three more reasons why it's important to be clear on the gospel:

1. A Clear Gospel is what the Holy Spirit Uses.
Jesus said regarding the Holy Spirit:

John 16:8-9When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment

The word "convict" is a term that implies guilt. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of its guilt and sense of responsibility towards God as the gospel is communicated. The Holy Spirit cuts through all the superficial symptoms and gets to the root of the problem, which is an attitude of active rebellion, or passive indifference towards Jesus Christ.

The gospel shows that sin can be forgiven, that righteousness can be attained, and therefore judgment can be prevented. This is exactly what the Holy Spirit is trying to convict the hearts of unbelievers of. How can he do it without the message?

Rom 10:14-15 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

One afternoon, I was with a team doing the "Prayer Table" Ministry. We were handing out tracts, when suddenly a big gust of wind came and scattered a whole pile of them. We scrambled to collect the tracts from the sidewalk. We knew we didn't get them all. One of the team members said, "Don't worry, let's pray that the others are not wasted." That evening, I had a message from a store owner in the area. She said one of the tracts blew into her store while she was sweeping. She tried to sweep it out, but for some reason it was as if it was glued to the floor. Finally, she picked it up in frustration. But the words "Prayer Changes Things" caught her eye. She began to read it. She called to ask for prayer. After a short time of sharing, she prayed to receive Christ right there on the phone. The Lord showed me that the power is in the message itself. Have confidence in the gospel.

Rom 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Another reason for clarity is that


2. A Clear Gospel Produces Clear Believers

A survey by the Barna Research Group suggests widespread confusion about the gospel - even among churchgoers who feel responsible to spread the gospel. Almost half of the respondents (46 percent) say they have a personal responsibility to explain their beliefs to others. Most of those “evangelizers” (81 percent) believe that the Bible is accurate in all its teachings and that Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected (94 percent). But 48 percent of the evangelizers also believe that “if people are generally good, or do enough good things for others...they will earn places in heaven." There is plenty of reason for churches to worry if nearly one-half of their people who believe in evangelism also believe in salvation by works,” says George Barna, president of the Barna Research Group. “The central message of Protestantism is in salvation by faith alone in Christ, yet (many) Protestant evangelizers seem to be preaching a different message.”

If we are not clear about our gospel, we might have people that still think they can earn there way to God and miss the whole purpose of the cross altogether.

If people come to Christ on the pretext that now their life is going to be easy, when trouble or persecution comes, there they go. They say, "Hey, I did not bargain for this."

We need to be clear on our gospel so that people would truly embrace Jesus, not just as savior from sin, but as savior from our own good works. Otherwise, we will have very confused people in the church. God is not the author of confusion.

3. A Clear Gospel Creates Its Own Relevance
Though the temptation is to talk about how God can improve people's lives, and marriages, we must realize that the needs people have in these areas are always a result of their greatest need not being met, which is addressed by the gospel.

In other words the source of a person's lack of purpose, interpersonal problems, or self image, etc, etc. is a result of his alienation from his Creator.

People are experts in avoiding the central issue. The religious person thinks that he can get to God on his own. The non religious person feels like he doesn't even need to try.

How do we convince people that their felt needs are actually a result of this deeper issue? By being faithful to explain the gospel pointing out that the cross of Christ speaks to the core of the problem.

Ray Comfort gives a great illustration:
Two men are seated in a plane. The first is given a parachute and told to put is on as it would improve his flight. He’s a little skeptical at first because he can’t see how wearing a parachute in a plane could possibly improve the flight. After a time he decides to experiment and see if the claim is true. As he puts it on he notices the weight of it upon his shoulders and he finds that he has difficulty in sitting upright. However, he consoles himself with the fact that he was told the parachute would improve the flight. So, he decides to give the thing a little time. As he waits he notices that some of the other passengers are laughing at him, because he’s wearing a parachute in a plane. He begins to feel somewhat humiliated. As they begin to point and laugh at him and he can stand it no longer, he slinks in his seat, unstraps the parachute, and throws it to the floor. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart, because, as far as he was concerned, he was told an outright lie. The second man is given a parachute, but listen to what he’s told. He’s told to put it on because at any moment he’d be jumping 25,000 feet out of the plane. He gratefully puts the parachute on; he doesn’t notice the weight of it upon his shoulders, nor that he can’t sit upright. His mind is consumed with the thought of what would happen to him if he jumped without that parachute

You see the first passenger is like the person who hears the compromised gospel. "Things go better with Jesus" and then he finds out things are not going better. He receives persecution and trials. Disgustedly, he throws it off. The second passenger is like the man who understands the true gospel: "Jesus died for sins" He understands that he had needs to be forgiven of , without which he was as good as dead. This person embraces the gospel not so much because it improves his flight but because it's going to improve his jump! The gospel provides its own platform of relevance once we describe it fully and explain sin clearly.

The Holy Spirit uses the message. God was pleased to use the foolishness of preaching to save some. The gospel is the power of God unto the salvation of all who will believe. People have gotten saved through tracts, people have gotten saved through scraps of the Bible on the floor. The power is in the seed, not in you! Be sowers of the seed. Get your eyes of yourself and keep them on the gospel and the Holy Spirit's power to convince.

Don't worry about being relevant. The gospel is relevant. I just want to encourage you today. If you understand the gospel, you have the greatest news of all time. You do not have to fear what man will say to you. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Yes, people may not want to hear it, but give people the opportunity to tell you that. Have confidence in the power of the gospel to create its own platform of relevance. Give a reason for the hope that you have.

Do you know the facts of the gospel well enough to communicate them clearly? Are you willing to get close enough to make a difference? Have you been so focused on being relevant that you have delayed or avoided bringing up the gospel?

Blessings!

The Gospel: Keep the Main thing, the Main thing

1 Cor 15:1-5 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

In this scripture the Apostle Paul says that the thing of first importance that he passed on was that Christ died for sins and was raised on the third day. That is the core of the core of the gospel. Two things we see from this ...

JESUS DEATH MAKES POSSIBLE THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN
JESUS' RESURRECTION MAKES POSSIBLE A NEW LIFE IN THE SPIRIT

Of course in this day and age we have become so removed from a Judeo Christian culture, that most people would look at you as crazy to suggest that they had anything to be forgiven of, or that they needed a new life.

Because we sense this of non believers, many times in the church we have fallen into the trap of Accommodation. What do I mean by accommodation?

Accommodation: the trap of selling Jesus as something else than Savior from sin.
For instance our message becomes "Jesus will give you a better marriage. Christianity will give you peace. Life goes better with Jesus. He will give you fulfillment" Etc. Etc. But the truth is found what we saw in 1 Cor. 15 Christ died for sins and was raised for your life.

The main topic of this passage is Jesus Christ and salvation. It says by this gospel you are saved. You see many people don't think that being "saved" is their need. They think they need better coping mechanisms or they need more fulfillment. That all may be true, but the message of the gospel is a lot more than that. It implies that there was a total lost ness in sin--that people before Christ were in danger of being punished for sin and in need of forgiveness.

It is so easy to fall into accommodation, because so often we find that unbelievers see no need for forgiveness . They have no sense of being lost. They are quite happy in fact. But we must resist this temptation and make as much effort as we can not to treat the symptom but to cure the disease.

Suppose you are on an ocean liner ten miles out to sea. It is a clear day and you are walking on the deck when you see a man struggling in the water 30 yards away. He seems to be frantically swimming in the same direction as the boat. As you look more closely, you see to your great surprise that he is doing quite well. He is even keeping speed with the boat. He waves at you and smiles. "Where are you going?" you ask. "To Hawaii," he replies with great confidence. "You will never make it," you scream. "It's over 2,000 miles from here. Why don't you come aboard?" "No, I've made it this far," he assures you, "and I'm sure I'll see you there." Your arguing is fruitless, but you have an idea and you return to your cabin. You come back with a map of the world, your position marked on it. You put it in a bottle and throw it to the swimmer. "Here, look at this and you'll see how far you have to go," you tell him. "You'll drown. There's no chance you'll ever make it." "I'd like to prove I can make it myself," he retorts. "1 don't need a boat ride. I can swim it. It's not that far." Upon further encouragement, he takes the map out and while treading water notes, "Boy, it's a lot farther than I thought, but I can make it, I think." The hours pass and, to your relief, the swimmer begins to look exhausted. His strokes are less assured. You call to him, "Are you ready to ride? Please grab on to this life preserver and I'll pull you aboard. " Now you will see if he really understands that Hawaii is beyond his range and that he would eventually drown in the insane pursuit of trying to swim the Pacific. You are delighted when he begins to swim toward the life preserver. He grabs hold, and you drag him aboard.
There are two kinds of unbelievers. The first is the one that has no concern about God at all. The second is the kind that thinks he can make it to God okay by himself. This type is illustrated by the swimmer. The swimmer had to be instructed about the futility of his plan to reach Hawaii by himself. He needed to be persuaded of the danger he was in. and even then he was not willing to stop until he was utterly exhausted.

How important that we keep the main thing the main thing. Why is it so important that we keep the main thing the main thing?

The Gospel reflects God's character
Rom 3:25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Talking about the core of the gospel that Jesus died for sins says some very heavy things. First of all, the cross reveals God's holiness. The cross reveals that the forgiveness of sin was not a cheap thing. God is a holy and just God that holds all creation accountable to Him. All this is implied in the cross. The scripture in Romans says that through the shedding of Jesus blood, God demonstrated His own righteousness. He couldn't let past sins go as if it was nothing. That would have been like an unjust judge letting a murder go with a slap on the wrist. No, he had to deal with the offenses.

The gospel is a testimony of His love. Jesus was made a propitiation. That word literally means mercy seat. The cross is where people can come and find the mercy of God. What great love is this that a Holy God would commit his most precious Son to be butchered upon a cross. What love is this to offer us a new life by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes the cross is where God's justice and his mercy have met together. We dare not muddy this.

Keep the main thing, the main thing, that people can see God for who He is.

Sharing the Gospel :Let Compassion Swallow Your Fears

1 Cor 2:1-3 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.

Many people feel inadequate to share the gospel. but if you have fear about sharing , you're in good company. The apostle Paul listed four qualifications that he had for preaching the gospel. He had no eloquence, weakness, fear, and much trembling. Do you qualify?

I remember the first time I ever was going to share my faith. I had been given some tracts to hand out. I approached a group of girls sitting together in Central Park. My palms became sweaty. My breath shortened. As I approached, my hands trembled. When I opened my mouth, something unintelligible crept out, as I practically threw the tract at them and broke out in a dead run!

Look, we all have to start somewhere. But if you truly see the sacrifice that Jesus has made for souls--if you truly understand the awesome sacrifice of Jesus--if you truly understand the predicament of those without Christ, you will let your compassion swallow your fears. Love consumes fear.

A woman may be terrified of fire, but if her children are in a burning building, she will run right in to save them. Though she is afraid of the fire, her perfect love for her children drives out fear.

Courage is not the absence of fear but it is acting in spite of it.

As we realize the urgency of the task, our fears are consumed. Mark McCloskey gives a great illustration.

The story is told of an apprentice demon, soon to be sent to earth on his first mission, who is preparing for a last-minute strategy session with his master. The young demon is a fast learner. He has realized that the unbelieving world is already in his master's power and that it would be a poor use of his time and resources to focus his schemes on the lost. Rather, his strategy is to focus on neutralizing the Christians in their evangelistic work. "They could do the most harm" he reasons, "so I must keep them from the destructive work, modeled so well by Paul 2,000 years ago, of 'opening the eyes of the unbelieving that they might turn to God from Satan’ ” (Acts 26:18). He shudders at the thought of Paul's success.

The demon then shares his strategy with his master. "I'll try to convince Christians that there is no such thing as sin," he says. "Then they will stop sharing the good news. The answer will soon become irrelevant if I eliminate the question. "

"This is only a part of my plan," says Satan, "but it cannot be the focus, for most of our enemies realize the reality of sin. Even those in our power sometimes, in rare moments of clear thinking, realize sin's destructiveness. You'll confuse some of the enemy, but not all of them on this."

"Well then, I'll convince the church that there is no hell, that even if there is sin, there are no eternal consequences."

"Good thinking," replies Satan. "You will confuse some with this, but still, the prospect of judgment is so ingrained in men, even those in our power, that this will not neutralize the enemy. Most will see through the deception."

The young demon thinks for a moment, and then a look of triumph floods his face. "I've got it! I'll convince them that there is no hurry. They can have their doctrines of sin, heaven and hell. I'll just help them rationalize away their lack of conviction on these matters by whispering in their ears, 'There is no hurry; don't inconvenience yourself. Save it for later.' They are all so prone to be concerned with their own cares and problems anyway, that they will buy right into it."

"You have done well," says Satan. "You will see great success in neutralizing the enemy with this strategy."

Understand, many of us have fallen victim to the prevailing wind of the culture of convenience. Convenience is great. Microwave popcorn is awesome. So is directory assistance and elevators and ATM's. I use them all, but the convenience factor does not relate to evangelism. As a matter of fact, they are like oil and water.

We must not let the culture rob of us of the conviction to go and tell and break out of our comfort zones. Our role as ambassadors is to move, persuade and convince; yes, to beg and beseech. The great evangelist George Whitfield once said, "If God did not give me souls, I believe I would die."
Let's ask ourselves "When was the last time I exhibited such intense concern over the soul of a nonbeliever?" Could it be that we fail to move men because we are not greatly moved ourselves? Could it be that people do not listen because they see no intense concern on our part? If you don't speak the good news, who will?

Imagine you are in walking next to a railroad track and all of a sudden you see some toddlers playing in a sandbox. Only problem is the sandbox is square on the tracks. Suddenly, you see a large locomotive bearing down on them about 30 seconds away. Suppose you run over to that sandbox to pull those kids to safety, and then you see them having such a great time. You say “no bother, they are having a delightful time” and you just walk away. Ludicrous, you say?

But we do the same thing when we think that because unbelievers are having a good time, that we should not disturb them with the gospel! Thank God that the person that share with me at a bus stop, did not let the fact that I was a "happy" non believer, stop her from sharing.

We need compassion to swallow our fears. We need to commit to being salt and light where we are and be a mouthpiece for Jesus---even if people seem not to want it. Let's proclaim the power of Jesus to save, heal and deliver this year to everyone we can, as clearly as we can, as soon as we can.

Your Words Have Power

We have been sharing on speaking our faith. Today, I want to conclude with the fact that our words have power. Like we said before, getting our tongues to align with the Word is one of our biggest challenges. Praise God that we have the Lord's help.

Mark 11:12-14 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.

In the story we see that Jesus spoke to a fig tree. Jesus spoke to things. He spoke to the waves, He spoke to winds. That sounds strange, but it is true. Jesus walked in and understood the power of words. Let's see what happened to this tree that Jesus spoke to.

Mark 11:20-24 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.

Notice how many times Jesus mentions the word "say" in some form. He mentions it three times at least. Now why is that? Jesus saw that faith and words are inextricably linked. Faith gives way to speaking.

2 Cor 4:13-15 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,

We have the same spirit of faith. We have the same spirit of faith as who? We have the spirit of faith that was in Moses when he crossed the Red Sea--that was in Abraham when he left everything to follow God, that was in David when he fought Goliath, that was in Joshua when he conquered the promised land--that was on Daniel when the lions mouths were closed. We have the same spirit faith. That same spirit of faith will make you speak!!

I believed therefore I have spoken. We believe therefore we speak. You can't separate believing from speaking.

You see there is something to giving a voice to what we believe. Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart so speaks the man. That means that whatever you are full of, will come out of your mouth.

Some think that by chanting words often enough that things are going to change. That's not what I am talking about. No it's not just about words, it's about faith. But faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So sometimes it takes time just to speak the Word until it drops the six inches to our hearts. Then, we believe with our hearts deeply enough so that when we speak it is not just words. That is why it is so important to meditate and speak the Word continually, that faith may take root in our hearts.

Christianity is a speaking religion.
In the beginning, the Bible says, the earth was without form and the Holy Spirit hovered over it and then God said something. God spoke and he said, "let there be light." Those words caused reality to change. That is the way God operates: He speaks it, and it comes to pass. It doesn't always happen right away. It might be generations away, but it happens.

Eph 5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children

We are children of God, we are supposed to operate the same way. If we are going to be imitators of God, we need to believe and speak.

God wants you to use your words in a positive way to develop faith and strength in your spirit. Don't talk to God about how big your mountains are. Start telling the mountains about how big your God is!

Learn to turn your situation around by turning your mouth around.

Notice that Abram's name was changed to Abraham , "Father of many nations", before he had any children at all. God called him that. Don't you know that this had an effect on him? Peter was called, The Rock, before he had denied Jesus three times. But Jesus called him that by faith, as he believed for his future, and he became the Rock!

Confession comes before the manifestation

Mark 11:24...believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.

So the believing and the saying comes before we see it. Now some of us don't want to say it before we see it. We want to see it first, but that is not the way it works.

Jesus said that if you believe and say it first, then you will have what you say.

Never speak failure. Never speak defeat. No matter how hard it gets, continue to speak the promises of God.

The Lord has put us on this earth to speak His promise. As we speak, God wants us to be very bold. Learn how to use your words to change things: to bring peace, blessings and defeat the enemy. If we get a hold of your lips and begin to agree with what God's word says we are, what we have, and what we can do, we will be unstoppable!

Blessings!

Hold Fast to Your Confession

Heb 4:14 let us hold fast our confession.

The book of Hebrews tells us to hold fast to our confession. What does confession mean? The word "confession" in the original Greek is "homo logeo", which means, saying the same thing as. The writer of Hebrews wants us to say the same thing as God. Let us hold fast to saying the same thing as God.

Most of the time when we hear the word confession , we think of confessing sins. But that is only one type of confession. Confession also has a positive side. Confession means declaring the positive things of our faith.

Walking By Sight or by Faith?

Sometimes we have a problem confessing what God says because we are more concentrated on facts, circumstances and feelings. We get hung up talking about what we see or what we feel. When you talk all the time about what you see or what you feel, you miss talking faith.

Some people say "Well I just call it the way I see it." Well, if you are just going by what you see, that's walking by sight. But the Bible says...

2 Cor 5:7 We live by faith, not by sight.

The Bible contrasts the life of faith with the life of sight. The life of sight is based on what it can see. The life of sight goes by circumstances, but the life of faith goes above circumstances to truth.

Facts are different from the truth. What do I mean by that? Facts can change. But the truth never changes. Facts are just a present indicator of the current reality, but it is not a permanent reality. For instance, it may be a fact that it is 30 degrees outside right now, but that fact will change come summertime. But the truth of God never changes.

Many people are just so focused on facts, that they lose sight of the truth. They are so focused on their empty bank account , that they lose sight of "God will supply all my needs." Many are so focused on present symptoms that they refuse to talk about what God has done for them for their healing.

I am not advocating being in denial but encourage you to.....

Speak truth more than you speak facts

For instance, even though you hurt you can say, I call my body healed. "Yeah but its not.", you might say. But that's why you are calling it healed. If you just go around saying "I hurt" all day long, then your faith will be more in your hurt than your healing, and you are setting yourself up to stay in that place of hurt.

It's the same thing with our finances or any other promise of God. We should declare the promise in spite of what we see. Begin to talk faith.

The fact is that you will never rise above your own confession. No matter what you are believing God for. You need to agree with the Word and begin to declare it, before you see it.

Rom 4:17 the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were

God is the one that calls things that are not as if they were. We should be the same way.

But often we have the habit of speaking negatively. "Nothing good ever happens to me." "I'll never be successful" "I don't have what it takes. "I can't do it." "Ill never get out of this mess." "I can't I can't " As long as you keep saying "can't", you wont.

For years no one thought it possible to break the four minute mile. Everyone was saying, "It's impossible, it's impossible". Then one day, a man named Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile and the amazing thing was, that very soon after, many people had broken it. This shows that it was not so much a physical barrier, but it was a barrier about what they were believing and declaring.

Joel 3:10 Let the weak say, 'I am strong!'

When you are weak we are tempted to say, "I am weak." You might pray a wonderful prayer but you can undo it through unbelieving words. Your words will negate the prayers. No, let the weak say I am strong.

Wrong confessions can short circuit your faith

Wrong confessions can cause you to doubt and become double minded in what you are believing God for, but speaking the truth can change things.

Now does this mean its just mind over matter? No, it means that we need to start somewhere. You just have to start declaring the word right where you are until you start to believe it---until it drops down to your heart.

That means that in the face of pain and an open sore, you confess that by His stripes you are healed. You hold fast to your confession.

In the face of every need, you confess that the Lord is your shepherd and you shall not be in want.

Our words will either help us or trip us up. It's what we confess with our lips that dominates our inner being.

If you keep talking about how weak you are, should you be surprised that you are walking in weakness? If you keep talking about how poor you are, should you be surprised about walking in poverty?

Oh I want to encourage you today. God loves each one of you so much and has such a great inheritance for you. He wants you to stop being a mouthpiece for the enemy. Stop talking inability. Stop talking fear. Start talking that we have a Big God.. Start confessing that your God will provide for all your needs according to His glorious riches. Start confessing that by His stripes you are healed. Activate your faith through your words.

Will you learn to be an expert at speaking truth rather than just reporting the facts?

Speaking Faith

We talked about developing faith, and yesterday about keeping the faith from being stolen by doubt and persecution. Today I'd like to talk about speaking faith. What do I mean by speaking faith?

Speaking faith is agreeing with the Word of God with your "MOUTH"!

Why is it so important to have our faith released by our mouths?

Daniel's Definition of Faith: Believing , Declaring and Acting on the Word.

This is one of the most significant things in developing our faith. Faith is not faith unless it is acted upon. And one of the key ways that we can put feet to our faith is by speaking or declaring our faith with our mouths.

The first thing I want you to see today is that :

YOUR TONGUE CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOU
James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

If you don't control your tongue, your religion is useless. Are words really that important? Yes they are, because your tongue can determine the outcome.

I heard the story of a professional pitcher named Lima, who used to pitch for the Astros. He had a great first season. And then they built a new stadium for the team, where the left field wall was a whole lot closer than the old stadium. Lima said "I'll never be able to pitch in here." And the next season was absolutely dismal for him.

What was the thing that turned around his career from being so great, to begin so dismal. He said he would never be able to pitch in that place and he got what he said.

We can't speak words of failure and defeat and expect to live lives of victory. We will reap what we sow. We need to be people that speak the promises of God with our mouths. But unfortunately we tend to say things like.

"I never do anything right."
"I am such an idiot. I am so fat. I am so ugly. I always get a raw deal, etc. "

You know, many of us have been trained to put ourselves down, but we need to learn to use our words to activate our faith and see God move in response.

James 3:2 If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

How is he able to be perfect? By keeping his whole body in check. How does he keep his body in check? By never being at fault in what he says. There is so much power in the use of our tongue.

James 3:3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

You can control or steer your whole body if you control your mouths. If you have a massive animal, you put a bit in its mouth. No matter how big and strong he is you can turn that animal around. A huge ship can be turned by small rudders.

The tongue is the same way. You can bless or you can curse with your tongue. Your tongue has the power to steer your whole life for the positive or for the negative. So if you want to turn your life around, get a hold of your tongue and it will steer your life.

People have tended to underestimate the power of words. But the Bible says

Prov 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death,

Even the world has gotten a hold of this. One doctor had his patients say every day "Every day in every way I am getting better and better." As they did so, he saw a tremendous increase in positive results. The body and the mind are so intimately connected.

Words are powerful to build or destroy. If we simply began to agree with what the Word says about every circumstance , we would begin to rise up and begin to walk in the truth. You are a new creation. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world!

Take control of your life by taking control of your words. Will you begin to speak the promises of God instead of the negative circumstances and feelings?

Keeping The Faith

Yesterday, we talked about developing your own faith. We saw the story of this woman who had this bleeding disorder that did three things to receive her healing from Jesus. She heard about Jesus. She spoke her faith. She acted on her faith and received from God.

Today I'd like to talk about keeping the faith. What do I mean by keeping the faith?Keeping the faith is what you need to do between "Amen" and "There it is!"In other words keeping the faith is what we need to do between asking God and receiving from God.

Sometimes the answer to our prayers doesn't come as quickly as the woman with the bleeding disorder. Sometimes there is a significant gap of time between first believing and then receiving. There also is another complication. ....

Unfortunately, we also have an enemy who tries to destroy our faith. You see there is a being, his name is Satan, and it is his desire to destroy your faith. Today, I want to look at how he tries to destroy our faith and what we can do to keep our faith.

Let's look at the famous parable of the sower.

Mark 4:3-8"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."

This parable is so important. Jesus said if you can't understand this parable, how will you understand any parable? Now this parable is especially good for illustrating how faith comes and what needs to be guarded in order to keep faith. The good news is that Jesus himself interprets this parable for us. Which we will see.

The first thing I want to encourage you to do is!
MAKE UP YOUR MIND TO BELIEVE NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES!

Let's look at Jesus interpretation of the parable.

Mark 4:13-15 And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.

Here is the beginning of Jesus interpretation of the parable. I want to draw your attention to two things. First that the seed is the Word. Second that Satan comes immediately to try to steal the word that is sown in the heart of the people.

Nowadays it is very fashionable to make jokes about Satan--that he is just a fictional character, or that he is just some little gremlin with horns and a red cape. "Intelligent people don't believe in an actual devil." If you believe that the Bible is what it says it is and that is the inspired word of God, then you have no choice but to acknowledge the existence of Satan and Jesus speaks of him regularly.

Now in the parable of the sower, Jesus himself gives the typical pattern for what happens after the word of God is sown. Remember, The seed is the word of God.First, Jesus says that immediately Satan comes to snatch the seed that was sown in their hearts.Why does he do it? Well, it only takes reading the end of the parable to find out. What God is looking for is fruitfulness. God produces fruit with that seed. So Satan's goal is to keep God from getting the fruit that he wants.

Now everybody knows that no farmer sows a seed without an expectation of a harvest. If you are planting apple seeds it is because you want an apple tree so that you can have some apples. If you are planting grapes, It is because you want a vineyard with some grapes. You are looking for fruit, and similarly, God is looking for fruit from His word. The fruit is people that are flourishing in God by being all that God has called them to be.

The seed of God's word is the basis for faith. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So you have heard the promises of Jesus, but immediately the enemy comes to try to snatch that seed away from you. The enemy wants to make you give up on the promise. Why, because if he can get the promise, he can get your faith. If he can get your faith, then the word will be of no effect. Because as we saw last week, faith is what releases God's power.

No Word---No Faith
No Faith---No Fruit

Well, how does he snatch it? By causing you to doubt the promise!

For instance, perhaps you are tired of fighting for your marriage. You are fed up with your spouse. You think that he doesn't love you any more, so why fight for his love. You are ready to throw in the towel.

For this situation and others, you have a promise of God, but the enemy tries to steal the word that was sown. What does that mean? It means that before faith can even have a chance to germinate, he tries to snatch the promise from your heart by causing you to disbelieve it.

Make up Your mind. Believe you are going to see it.
Heb 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

The word for "reward" there is literally "pay of wages". It literally means payday. Payday is coming. If you will not cast away your faith, payday is coming. Are you going to quit? "No, I am believing I am going to see the goodness of God. It says a payday is coming!"

What dream or promise are you being tempted to doubt because it has taken awhile? Keep the Word in your heart! Don't let the enemy cause you doubt. "It is written, it is written, it is written!"

Blessings

Developing Bold Faith

It seems that there is so much misunderstanding of faith even in the Christian world. Faith is the most important thing we can understand. The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God, but many of us, when it comes to the topic of faith, feel woefully inadequate. We say, "I don't have enough faith to see anything happen."

I want to encourage you to develop a bold faith by looking at the example of a woman who was healed of a bleeding disorder by Jesus.

Mark 5:24-29 And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well." And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

I love this story because it seems that if anybody had reason to feel inadequate it was this woman. She had this terrible disease. She could not get healed by the doctors. She was penniless. She was "unclean" according to the Jewish religion, and had no right to be on the street according to the Rabbis, but she went based on what she had heard. She stepped out to receive something from Jesus.

The first thing I want you to see from this story is...
I. SHE HEARD ABOUT JESUS AND WANTED SOMETHING!
Notice this woman had been through a lot. She had this terrible condition that had bankrupted her, and she still was no better. This problem was consuming her life, but in verse 27, it says that she heard about Jesus and her hearing about Jesus caused her to be very bold and go to Him. Faith begins by hearing something.

Rom 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

There is something that is so basic to the life of faith and that is hearing the truth. That is why it is so important to get into the Bible. Some people say, "Oh yeah, the Bible, I read that book about ten years ago.", then they put it on the shelf as if to say "Been there, done that."

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God . The more word we have in our hearts, the more faith we can exercise. The more faith we exercise, the more we will see God move on our behalf.

Whenever we begin to talk about faith, many times we feel ashamed and we think. "Yeah I really should believe God more. My faith is so weak." I want to encourage you today. Every single one of us has been granted a measure of faith.

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

So every one has some measure of faith The problem is not how much faith do you have,
but are you using the faith that you already have?

Faith is like a muscle. You have to develop it. You have to exercise it. Your faith will never go beyond what you understand to be His will for you. His Word is faith food. If you want to know what you can expect from God, you need to get into His Word.

There is a form of spirituality that has crept into the church which says that since everything that happens is God's will, we should just be content with whatever lot we have in this life. We really have no right to expect anything more. This is simply not true.

God is a rewarder of those that earnestly seek Him. Heb 11:6

There is a certain viewpoint that wants to make you believe that you are selfish for wanting God to do something for you. They say "oh that it is just American religion that woul