Again I bring all my friends this powerful message from my Pastor last weekend.
May God bless ALL the works of your hands and may ech of you be blessed, healed and strengthened by this word.
Amen
Doug Kirk
Chaplain
Halls of Montezuma, Marine Corps Engineer Association,All Marine Corps, I Corps Marines
Let me tell you about a newsletter I received this week from a ministry.
In it is the story of Jim and his father. Jim’s father had been an alcoholic for thirty years. Jim, his wife, and his mother had continued to pray for his father, but with no apparent result. Jim’s father refused to admit he had a problem with alcohol and refused to hear anything about God. The newsletter says that one day Jim, the son, heard this minister speak about the power that is released when we begin to praise God for everything in our lives instead of pleading with Him to change it. So Jim went to his wife and said, “Honey, let us thank God for dad’s alcoholism and praise the Lord that it is part of His wonderful plan for dad’s life.��
Do you see anything wrong with this so far? Let me keep going.
The author goes on to say that to praise God is to express our acceptance of something God is permitting to happen, so to praise God for difficult situations like sickness or disaster means, literally, that we accept it’s happening as part of God’s plan to reveal His perfect love to us.
Okay. Come on. Do you see the problem with this? It just keeps getting worse. In fact, he goes on to say, “The very fact that we praise God and not some unknown fate also means that we are accepting the fact that God is responsible for what is happening and will always make it work for our good.��
I’m turning myself loose on that. I got so mad reading this stuff. Really – is that supposed to encourage you? So, let’s thank God for the cancer. Let’s thank Him that it’s His perfect will for our lives and that He’s demonstrating His love for us. I mean, if God be against me, who can be for me, right? No!
Let’s look at a scripture they quoted – Romans 8:28. It says, “IN all things.�� We don’t thank Him FOR all things. That’s the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard in my life. The Bible says, “Do not be deceived.�� God is good all the time. He’s only good. The Bible says every good and perfect gift comes from God. He doesn’t change. In fact, that’s how you recognize what to resist. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy – not God. We don’t thank God for bad things. But this is the kind of stuff that’s out there. This is what religious leaders are teaching.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The Bible does say we shouldn’t be anxious for anything. So, there is a principle of praising God and thanking God, but we don’t want to thank Him for what the devil is doing. Acts 10:38 says Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. The devil oppresses, not God. This stuff makes me mad.
So, I have to talk to you about faith. Because we need faith to know that this stuff is wrong when we hear it. We need faith to know that God is good, and we need faith to receive the promises. Now, you say you already know about faith, and maybe you do. But, maybe you don’t. Let’s check it out. Let’s see if faith is producing for you. Let me see the fruit. See, we can get really religious about anything – even faith – but we need to step back and take a look at ourselves and see if we’re progressing or if we’re just letting things happen to us. We need a faith check-up.
So, let’s review. We know from Hebrews 2 that all things were given to man when he was created. We need to understand that if either God or Satan wants to operate in the world, they need men to do so. God can’t move in the earth realm until a man, or woman, comes into agreement with heaven. So, if you want your circumstances to change, you have to loose heaven and bind the enemy. That’s how it works.
And, in order to loose heaven and bind the enemy, you have to know how to tell the difference between the two. How? Romans 12:2 says that as we renew our minds to what God says is righteous, we’re able to discern the will of God and reject those things that aren’t righteous. Then we can come into agreement with heaven.
So let’s talk about this agreement stuff. Where does it happen? In our hearts. Mark 11:22 says our hearts have to be persuaded. Abraham was fully persuaded. The picture on the inside of him saw that baby. His heart saw the baby. The agreement between heaven and earth happens in our hearts. It’s a picture. When you close your eyes you should see what heaven says is righteous. If you close your eyes and see yourself as sick, you’re not in faith. The woman with the issue of blood was in agreement. She saw herself healed if she could just touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. She had the picture.
Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the substance of things hoped for. That hope is a picture. If you have the wrong picture – or no picture – you are limiting God. You are limiting yourself. The Bible says He can do immeasurably more than all you can ask or think. He wouldn’t have said that unless He wanted you to think bigger. See, some of us have learned to cope with dysfunction so long that we think it’s normal. That’s why people write these goofy newsletters – they think it’s normal. No, it’s NOT normal! We have a thought problem, a picture problem, a faith problem.
Remember Abram? He had the wrong picture. Lot had taken the best land. Abram had no children. He focused on the wrong picture. Then God told Him to lift up his eyes – to look at all the land he saw, and that he would take possession of it. He told him to count the stars – that’s how many descendants he would have. He had to change his picture. He had to change his perception of who he was. He needed a new picture of who he was as far as God was concerned – a new picture of what God had promised.
We all know it’s easy to get comfortable. It’s easy to put up with dysfunction and just getting by when it takes effort to change. It’s easy to say your husband will never change, or that it’s okay that you have to coast the car downhill a little every time to get it started, or that you’ll just keep looking forward to Friday’s at 5:00. And, if you want to live that way, that’s fine, but the world is smarter than that. They’re not going to want what you have if that’s how you’re living.
And they’re supposed to want what we have. They’re supposed to look at us and see God. So in order to make changes – in order to be the change agent – we have to do some work. The Bible says that we groan inwardly as in childbirth. What does that mean? It means that you’re going to have to birth everything you want to enjoy from the Kingdom. You have to birth heaven into the natural realm. You have to birth the picture of your faith.
What if you don’t know what the picture looks like? James 1:22 tells us to get the proper picture from God’s Word. Look in the Word to find out who you really are. Because you can’t just decide to have faith. Your heart isn’t designed that way. It’s already been trained by failure and disappointment. It has to be trained again. It has to be trained to produce the right pictures. Only the Word of God can do that.
So, give yourself a faith check-up and, if your picture isn’t where it should be, make some changes.
Meditate on the Word of God. Learn how the Kingdom of God operates. Set yourself in agreement with the Word. Even if you don’t have a clue about how your life can change – keep the picture in there. Know the promises because promises produce pictures.
Then listen to and read stories of victory like Amy’s at http://freefallmediagroup.net/www.am...ine.com/?p=237
For me personally, this is one of the best testimonies I’ve ever had in my ministry. It’s one of the greatest stories I’ve ever heard of someone who changed their picture. I hope it helps you change yours.
