Numbers 32:1-5 – “Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”  NKJV

The Reubenites were the kind of people who really did not want to cross the Jordan.  The reason for coming out of Egypt was to cross the Jordan and go into Canaan, the Place of Promise.  There was a very large contingent coming out of Egypt. 

They were blood-bought, baptized in the Red Sea and now after wandering in the Wilderness for forty years and on the brink of breakthrough they said, “Don’t make us cross the Jordan, we want to stay where we are.”  In a very real sense, they were saying, “What we have become fits very nicely into what we have already possessed, and we don’t want any more.”  It is easy to sit in church and say: “What we have become fits nicely into what we have already possessed.  We have ‘x’ number of herds and flocks, and it fits nicely, so we are satisfied.”

Let me take you back a bit to the Lion King Movie where Mufasa the King said to Simba from the clouds, “You Are More Than What You Have Become.”  It is easy to get in a state of mind where what we see fits into what we are able to accommodate, and we do not want to move.  It is saying, “Don’t Make Us Go Over the Jordan.”  But if we grasp the Word of God, we realize that we Are more than what we have become, and God is not finished molding us yet.  We need to remember Who we are and Whose we are and realize that we truly Are more than what we have become. 

Let me caution you and state this was not about Reuben stealing Glory from God. It was about Reuben stealing the Glory of Jacob.  It was about Reuben wanting a Glory that was not his to have.  We find that in the local church.  It is not about someone wanting the Pastor’s job or the Elder’s job.  It is about, “What’s in it for me?”  It is about Recognition and Comfort.  Believers, we are not here for what is in it for us, we are in it for what is in it for Him!

Reuben wants to experience something beyond his measure.  You will never be happier than when you abide in the measure God has granted you.  If your measure is to have no authority, no leadership, no responsibility in the House you will be far happier if you abide there than if you press into a measure, you have not been called to receive.  Remember the disciples in the boat had ‘heard the word’ and as a result, they got blisters on their hands struggling against the waves and the wind but they had heard God.  It was as they persisted in What they heard that He came to them in the night and brought victory. 

If you observe the weather, you will not launch out into the deep. Anybody can run in good weather.  The only way you launch out into the unknown is by knowing that you know that you know that God has directed your steps.  Don’t quit!  Do you understand why you get turbulence where two rivers run together?  That is the place where the vision and intent of River ‘A’ and River ‘B’ come together.  If you are not careful in life you will get DI-VISION not VISION. Turbulence can create DI-VISION but out of that confluence where the two become one there is quiet power. 

We need to be willing to Cross over into the Place of Promise taking with us that which we have learned in deliverance from bondage, baptism in our Red Sea, learning in the wilderness, and enter into the Place of Promise and Possess the Land.  God gives a Warning, sends His Word, and prepares the Way.  Will we be people who are Obedient and then eat the good of the land?

God, bless you richly as you enjoy this day in Him!

Matthew 14:22 – “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.”  NKJV

There is one word I want to focus on and address some questions that arise out of that word.  It says, “Jesus MADE the disciple get in the boat and go before Him…”  Let me ask the obvious questions: 

• Did Jesus Make the Disciples Get in the Boat?
• Was Jesus in the Boat?
• Would it suggest that there can be a time, in the work of God, where we can be led by the Lord and made to follow a Word He has given when He IS NOT in the boat?

Back to question one.  “Did He make them get in the boat?”  I urge you to read verses 23-34as you consider the question.  Often, we associate the presence of Jesus with the settling or solving of our circumstances.  His presence does bring Peace, but we dare not miss the point that Jesus Was Not in the boat and there was a storm.  On another occasion, He was asleep in the boat and there was a storm so clearly, the storms of life come when He is and when He is not in the boat with us. 

Adversity is not proportional to the amount Jesus is in the boat.  It is a much deeper issue it is the realm of faith.  If we have heard the word of the Lord and we are going to consistently apply that word to our lives, we must do so regardless of whether we feel He is in the boat or not.  Please read, Mark 6:45-51 and if it does not intrigue and raise questions you are not reading it deeply enough.

Jesus was watching them struggle and resisted the temptation to get involved at the first sign of struggle.  He did not come to them until the 4^th watch of the night so there was a period of time that Jesus let the disciples struggle and the situation intensified.  They were in the middle of the lake straining on the oars and going nowhere.  It was a hard situation.  Jesus could see them straining. 

How often do we get religious and say that straining at the oars is unspiritual?  I suggest there is a time to strain on the oars and a time to break a sweat in labor.  In every sovereign move of God, there is a time to labor.  We must be committed to straining at the oars no matter what others are doing in other places or God is doing elsewhere.  WHY?  Because, Jesus said, “Get in the boat and go to the other side.” 

The simple question is: “Are we committed to the Word of the Lord that has come into our spirits, even when it seems that Jesus IS NOT in the boat?”  Even when the winds are contrary, and our hands are getting blisters from rowing?  Even when we have done all we know to do, and nothing is getting better?  Are we determined to obey His directive to “Get in the boat and go to the other side?” 

That is what faith’s all about!  (Note John 6:16-21 for a wonderful reality.)  Three or four miles is a very long way to row, especially when the wind is against you and the water is rough with the current trying to push you back and the waves about to capsize your boat.  Jesus showed up and they thought He was a ghost.  What I want you to get is He Did Come to Them!  He comes out of the darkness to the boat, and they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately they were on the other side.  I like that!  In the midst of struggling, straining, striving WHEN they allowed Him to get in the boat Victory Came!

Why Would God Allow This?  Why should we be made to get into a boat, when Jesus knows full well that we are going out in the middle of the lake where a storm is going to force us to struggle and strain?  Why would He put us in that position?  Why would He allow them to encounter a situation where all their hard work seemed totally in vain and was coming to nothing? 

Here is a truth you much catch.  If you stop rowing you go backward, so their labors were holding them in place and moving them slightly forward almost imperceptibly, but it was producing something good.  If you stop rowing the wind wins and the waves defeat you.  There is a time in the experience of every believer when God will allow us to struggle.  If you are in the middle of the lake and you know you heard God, but all hell is breaking out against you and defeat seems imminent what is the point?  It conveys to you a certain confidence and establishes a commitment to OBEY in Faith.  It enables us to realize that Christ in Us enables us to do all things and nothing is impossible with God. 

Anybody can run with the weather, but Jesus wants His disciples to be those who will obey regardless of the obstacles and opposition.  It is a choice, but it should be no choice.  We should determine that we are going to OBEY regardless.  It is saying, “I’m in this for the duration.”  It is saying, “I don’t see you, can’t feel you, and there is little evidence you are here, but YOU SAID IT and I commit to doing it.”

We will consider this area just a little more but for now, God bless you richly as you enjoy this day in Him!

Matthew 7:7-8 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  NKJV

This passage reveals the desire of God to answer prayer and is a mild rebuke for not praying.  There are many passages in the Bible about prayer, answered prayer and explanations why our prayers are not answered.  It is not as simple as saying, “If you do not get what you requested, it was not God’s will.”  That might be true, and it might not be much more involved than that simplistic interpretation. 

It has been observed that Jesus did not teach on ‘unanswered prayers.’  Why not?  The simplest explanation – HE DID NOT HAVE ANY!  He is our example and if we follow His example and pattern, we will find fewer incidences of Unanswered Prayers in our own lives.

If we take that stance, we should also take the stance that God’s Will is always done which would negate the need for or purpose of prayer.  That, in my view, would be completely opposite of the teachings of Scripture.  I believe that prayer is a command, has a purpose, and is effective in securing answers from God. But what about those times when we do not receive answers to our prayers.

Let me suggest, without going into great detail, several reasons that we might not get an answer to our prayers or receive the petition we have presented before God.  It is difficult to reconcile unanswered prayer with the passage above where Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you…”  He did not say, “Ask and if God wants to, He will grant your petition.”  It simply said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…”  Therefore, if we ask and it is not given, WHY?

Let me take several, not in any particular order and hopefully it will encourage you, inspire you, and instruct you so that you can pray more efficiently and effectively.  What are some reasons for Unanswered Prayer?

• Asking Amiss.   James 4:3 – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”  WRONG MOTIVE! God will never share His Glory and will not participate in our pursuit of carnal purposes.  He is all about the Kingdom of God, Righteousness, and Redemption.  If we are asking selfishly, we are asking amiss and we will find frequently that those prayers are not answered in the affirmative.
• Double-Mindedness.  James 1:2-8 deals with the need for wisdom but can be expanded far beyond simply praying for wisdom and guidance, it tells us that if we are double-minded we are unstable and cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord.  A spring does not produce sweet and bitter water and a tree does not produce good and bad fruit.  If we live with one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world, we have guaranteed that our prayers will go unanswered.
• Wrong Timing.  Ecclesiastes 3 speaks specifically to this reality that there is a time for everything, and we may be asking for something that is perfectly in God’s plan for our lives, but the timing is wrong, and God will not grant our petitions prematurely for that would likely short-circuit His purposes. 

Maybe there is something we do not see that He is teaching us before we reach that time.  I am not saying that God puts sickness on anyone, HE DOES NOT! Remember Israel in the Wilderness?  They kept circling the mountain and spent 40 years in the wilderness as God was teaching them and bringing them to His perfect timing.  I have no doubt that Moses and Israel prayed for the Promised Land but until God’s timing, He did not grant that petition.

• Unspecified Generalized Prayers.  Philippians 4:6 instructs us about prayer we are told to ‘make our requests known unto God’.)  Make Known requires specificity.  It is more than praying bless me and expecting God to answer specific desires that are undeclared.  If you pray generalized prayers, how will you know when or if they are answered?
• Doubt. Mark 11:23 is an incredible passage regarding Faith Praying and Banishing Doubt.  Jesus begins by saying, “Have faith in God.”  Then, He opens a door that few ever walk through spiritually.  He tells us to ‘speak to things including mountains’ believing that what we have declared is a factual and literal reality without doubt.  Jesus says if we do that, we will have what we said or prayed.  But if we say or pray in doubt, we negate the Promise and Pollute the Prayer.
• Feelings of Unworthiness.   So many passages identify that Nothing we can be earned and everything we receive from God is based on His Grace, Mercy, and Love, not our deserving or earning.  In the natural, if we do not feel worthy, we tend to hesitate to make a request of others.  In the realm of the spirit, we do the same thing.  What we must understand is that we will never be good enough, holy enough, or righteous enough.  It is not our worthiness but His that is the basis for our petitions. Our feelings of unworthiness may prevent us from asking or cause us to ask with no expectation or faith.
• Failure to Ask.  The Text Verse – If we Do Not Ask, we will not receive but if we Do Ask, we will receive.  1 John 5:14-15 is an incredibly powerful directive that we should take to heart.  “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 

Let me conclude with the following emphasis:  If we Ask Anything according to God’s WillHE HEARS US!  If He hears us, We Receive the Promise.  So, if we know biblically that something is God’s declared will is we can and should Ask with complete confidence that He will hear that prayer and if He listens to it, He will grant our petition. 

Therefore, if you are not getting answers to your prayers consider those possibilities I have listed and examine yourself to see if you are failing in any of those areas and ask God to help you correct them.  My list is not exhaustive.  My heart tells me that the way to answered prayer is to FIRST – Seek God with a whole heart and Submit to Him totally.  I John 4:14-15 is one of my go-to passages in life.  “¹⁴ 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.”

God, bless you richly as you pursue His Purposes in this life.

3 John 2 – “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”  NASB

I have no problem with the KJV translating it ‘wish’ but I would remind everyone that the apostles were not ‘wish-ers’ they were ‘pray-ers’.  They earnestly contended for the faith and practiced the ‘effectual fervent prayer’ of the righteous.  They were taught by the Greatest Prayer Warrior of all time, Jesus.  They Prayed and Prayed with Faith and confidence in the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Promises of God.  I call this the Top Prayer of John and it dealt with three specific areas – Soul, Health, and Prosperity. 

It would probably be beneficial for us to consider a bit of history as we pursue this truth.  In the Dark Ages, just about everything important to the Gospel was wiped out by the religious hierarchy.  No longer did salvation come by grace through faith, the organized church dispensed it. That is worse than horrendous it is heretical. 

I am convinced that most who read what I am writing believe and understand that the core of the Gospel is the Atonement.  However, in Martin Luther’s day, if you were to ask a congregation how many knew they were saved or that they had been made the righteousness of God, not one hand would go up.  The Atonement had been erased from their consciousness.  Restoration of that truth began with Martin Luther, but it was hundreds of years before it became commonly believed. What you and I take for granted took a very long time to be Restored.  

Until the turn of the last century, the Atonement was viewed as one-dimensional.  But revivals in Galena, Kansas, and in the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles God began to Restore more and more to the Church.  Spiritual Gifts began to come back into many churches and lives and the understanding or belief that the Atonement not only included our Salvation but also our Healing through the Stripes of Jesus. 

I believe that is why and how John could pray as he did, for he was praying a basic premise of the Atonement and his prayer was for the powerful dual promise of the Gospel – Salvation, and Healing.  Healing both physically and spiritually.  Someone said, “Salvation” gets you in the family, and “Healing” makes you fit for the fight. But, what about the “Prosperity” part? 

Imagine the difficulty that Martin Luther had in attempting to get people to realize that the Church had no power to save them.  The move at the turn of the last century has endured the scorn and attack of the organized church, that embraced the message of Salvation by Grace through Faith but could not receive the second aspect of the work of Christ in the Atonement. 

Virtually all the church believes in the Atonement for Salvation, but a much smaller percentage believes that the Gifts of the Spirit are for today.  We have been on this restoration process for over 100 years, similar to Martin Luther’s plight in Grace.  We are told that we have Salvation for Jesus, who knew no sin became sin for us.  We are also told that we have Healing because He bore, in his body, the stripes for our healing as per both Isaiah and Peter’s writings.  But, what about that third leg?

2 Corinthians 8 is important in our consideration of this third leg.  Jesus was righteous and He became sin that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.  Jesus was well, and He endured the stripes taking on our infirmities so that we could be well (whole).  He was rich and He became poor so that we could be made rich.  This is not a secondary part of the Gospel it is part of what God is restoring to the Church.  I truly believe that the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous so that we can fund the Harvest of these last days!  Jesus bore our sins for us, bore our sickness for us, and bore our poverty so that we could be set free and have His abundant life. 

Anytime God Restores something to the Church there is opposition from without and within and there are abuses to that truth.  Our objective should be to ‘Seek His Face’ and allow the Holy Spirit to help us ‘rightly divide the Word of God’ and receive all He has.  Let’s have the whole loaf, not a few slices.  When revival comes, there is always trouble with the Old Crowd who resist change and fear moving into uncharted waters.  Flesh and Tradition die-hard and slow deaths. 

I encourage everyone to become diligent students of God’s word and just because you never saw it before does not mean that it is not real.  Allow the Holy Spirit to ‘guide you into all truth’ and never become complacent or settled in the idea that you have All Truth.  None of us have all the truth or understanding of the truth, we know in part! As we grow and mature in Him our understanding broadens and we can move from glory to glory and grace to grace. 

If the Word of God does not verify and confirm it, do not incorporate it into your life.  However, do not assume that because you have been taught that something is not for today and fail to carefully examine the entire Bible.  Learn to Listen to the Spirit of God and search the scriptures daily to find the truth.  God Promised that He would lead us into all truth.

What God is doing in these last days will cost BILLIONS if not TRILLIONS and He wants His Body to know Him in salvation, walk in health, and healing, and reap the harvest and receive the wealth of the wicked so that we can have the funds for the harvest.  Yes, God can supernaturally drop it in our hands and He can enable us to have a new idea, new opportunity, or new contact that will bring wealth to us.  That wealth is not for us to lavish on ourselves but to finance the Harvest. 

I pray that the Lord help each of us embrace the Full Atonement and not only experience the New Birth, but to become open to His Healing Touch, and His desire to put in our hands the Wealth of the Wicked for His Kingdom and Purposes.  I pray with John that you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 

God, bless you richly as you enjoy this day in Him!

Yesterday we discussed a little about the “Full Atonement of Jesus” and today I’d like to venture a little further into those often, uncharted waters.  My singular desire is to inspire us to press into God more and be open to whatever God desires to do in our midst.  I have encountered a philosophy in ministry that severely limits God in today’s world.  I believe that we, believers, are to be agents of change in our world impacting them with the message and person of Jesus and thereby bringing into reality the Lord’s Prayer of Matthew 6, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

We all know or have known some who were diagnosed with ‘incurable diseases’ and felt powerless in the presence of that killer.  The only Hope is the Stripes Jesus bore in His body for our healing as is referenced in Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter 2:24.

I am confident that part of what God desires to ‘restore’to the Church is the miraculous as well as effectively restoring the guidance of the Church to the Holy Spirit.  I am not speaking of some legislative thing but a supernatural thing where the Holy Spirit guides our steps in the church as well as in our lives.  When that happens, it will get the attention of the world and will be severely opposed by some in various religious circles.  Every new move of God is opposed by those of the previous move and those following God in the new revival are often branded as heretics and called people of wildfire to be avoided.

God is, transforming minds so that we no longer categorically reject things we thought were of a bygone era but recognize the sovereignty of God and the authority of His word.  We will see the dismantling of man-made traditions and sacred cows of religion being offered on the altar of sacrifice.  We have the most highly educated and well-trained technological world that has ever been and that is visible in the church as well. 

What God is about to do and promised to do in the Last Days cannot be accomplished by education and technology alone.  It will be supernatural and that will cause many to be incredibly uncomfortable because our safe spaces and comfort zones will be shredded.

In the world, today the movers and shakers in the world of finance teach that Joe Average can become wealthy and make a lot of money.  They teach that success can be the experience of anyone willing to take the risk, put in the labor, and persevere.  In too much of the Church, there is the idea that only a few can have wealth.  Yes, some push the idea of prosperity out of bounds in both the world of worldly finance and in the church, but the idea of prosperity is a biblical truth. 

One thing the Hebrews had that too often we lack and a truth that has been stolen or lost in much of the church is the truth that In Christ there is no sense of lack.  What brought about the Doctrine of Insufficiency? One reality that I have learned is that anything that man cannot reproduce he will seek to disprove, deny, or discredit. 

The Commission of Jesus to His Disciples in Luke 9:1-6 seems to have led to a misunderstanding and misinterpretation in the church that we are to go with nothing and go unprepared financially.  Jesus did give that commission but if we consider the big picture and the whole context that followed and the Commission that followed we realize that Jesus was not advocating lack but trust. Consider Luke 22:35-36 – “And He said to them, ” When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.” 36 And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.”  

Do you hear the LORD?  He is basically saying, “The last time, you went out to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, but now you are going to the wilderness of the heathen and when you go there you must have money and possessions.  You will have to pay your own way to win them. Therefore, do some commerce and get the finances and then go!”  The first commission was a teaching session and an exercise in trust, this time the Marching Orders are to go into ALL THE WORLD and that world is a Hostile World.

God does not want His soldiers to run around looking like a mile of a bombed-out runway or a fugitive from The Goodwill Store.  You are representing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  I am not suggesting lavish living, but I am suggesting that we take pains in how we appear before the world and be presentable, clean, not unkempt, and unwashed.  No, your suit or tie won’t anoint you and you do not have to wear them but don’t go ragged and dirty either.  Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves but most of all Go in the Name of the LORD and EXPECT Him to go with you!

I have more to discuss and hopefully, you will join me next time as we dig a little deeper in the Truth of the Atonement.  I know that some are saying, “Roy, you haven’t talked about the Atonement yet.”  BUT I have and you have not connected the dots yet, but hopefully we will. 

So, until next time, Go with God, and He Will Go with you! 

I feel compelled to challenge you! I am concerned that the Christian Church of today does not believe in the “Full Atonement” of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Let me venture further out on that limb and suggest there are some that do not fully believe in the Atonement.  Hopefully, I am wrong but it appears certain that there are those who hold a concept in their minds but do not embrace that truth or reality in their hearts.

Some years ago, the Holy Spirit began challenging me regarding the ‘Traditional Mindset’ and began to nudge me toward embracing things I had not yet seen or experienced in God.  That has been a richly rewarding journey and a terrifying and difficult one at the same time. 

One of the problems when we answer the call of God to move beyond our comfort zone and venture into the unknown, is we are introduced to trouble as we have never encountered.  I know personally, that the costs are seldom fully appreciated at the time we embark on the journey.  We are exposed to the wrath of hell and religiousness in a most disturbing way.  Although there is ‘nothing new under the sun’ there are things ‘new’ to us.  When we venture out into those uncharted waters (uncharted in our experience) we realize a new dependence on God.

We are living in ‘Troubled Times’ and in the midst of ‘Times of Trouble,’ God has promised to bring about Full Restoration to the Church.  That is exciting, will be difficult, but incredibly rewarding if we persist and pursue Him and His purposes.  I hope you will be stirred to venture a little deeper into the things of God and move outside your spiritual comfort zone.

Acts 3:19-21 – “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”  NASB

If we take the Bible as the inerrant and infallible Word of God (I do) and resist the temptation to make scriptures mean what we want them to mean, we will find some challenging passages in the Bible.  This is one of those for it says that our Lord Jesus would be ‘held in heaven’ or “whom heaven must receive UNTIL…”  Until What? The Restoration of All Things which God spoke by the mouth of His prophets from ancient time! 

Let me ask a probing question, “Is there anything that the Church had but is not experiencing or practicing today?”  I believe that the fulfillment of this passage of scripture and to facilitate the return of Jesus is why we have the ministries of Ephesians Four listed.  God wants us ‘equipped’ for service and ministry so that we can walk in His Restoration and reap His Harvest of these last days. 

There are wonderful things coming to the church but difficult times will also come. We will have times and rejoicing and weeping but God is building His Church and will keep His word fully.  I contend that the issue is not IF God will bring about Restoration but WHAT our position and participation will be.  Will we embrace what He is doing, or will we resist and label it heresy, apostasy, or something else and fail to ‘discern our times’ and miss the visitation of God?  I pray not!

Hoping to quell your concern about whether I’m drifting into a heretical place, let me say that RESTORATION is a “time of change.”  It is a resurgence, in my mind, of the gifts and power of God.  It is a return to the church local and universal being run by the Holy Spirit not boards, committees, or denominational headquarters.  It is a return to God being the Lord of the Church in reality and truth. 

The Holy Spirit is preparing His Body for the “New Wine” and in the process, will destroy the “Old Wineskins”. Much of today’s church is experiencing the Isaiah 61ministry or effect.  God is shaking that which can be shaken and is pruning the trees so that which is rigid, inflexible, and dry is pliable, flexible, moldable, and filled with the Oil of the Spirit of God.  We are seeing and will see a resurgence of the Anointing of God which breaks all yokes and the Harvest is going to be reaped in these last days. We are God’s instruments to effect change in our world and help bring about the reality of the Prayer of Matthew 6 which we call the Lord’s Prayer. 

I use a takeoff on the catchphrase of the NFL’s Monday Night Football, “Are you ready for some Restoration?”  Are you ready for the shaking that is coming and the outpouring of God’s Spirit on mankind and the resulting harvest of souls?  God is about to do a work in our day that even if someone told many, they would not believe, but soon they will see. 

“May the Lord bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you, be gracious unto you, and give you peace!” 

Ephesians 2:11-22 – “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ” Uncircumcision” by the so-called ” Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands — 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 17 AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”   NASB

Much is said regarding legal and illegal aliens in this country at this time and rightfully so.  It means something to be a citizen of a country, any country, and especially this great country the United States of America. 

I was born into my citizenship as were my parents, and their parents, before them, etc.  We’ve been here a long time and are proud Americans as well as proud Texans.  But that is not my point in this message. 

At one time, we were all strangers or aliens (not to the earth) but to the Kingdom of God.  We were on the outside looking in.  We had no claim to the covenants or promises of God because of sin, but now we have been afforded the opportunity to have “legal citizenship” in the Family of God through the Blood of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on the Cross.  He broke down the barrier that separated us and provided us a door of entry into the Kingdom. 

Today, if we have accepted the Finished Work of Jesus Christ, repented of our sins, and now following Him we are Citizens of the Kingdom of God!  We are being built, fitted, framed, and assembled together into a growing holy temple in the Lord.  We are being formed into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. 

As a citizen, you have the right to petition. You can come boldly before the Throne of Grace and ask what you will of the Father in the Name of the Son and fully believe that He will not only give you audience but listen to your petition.  Once you have traversed this thing, we call Life and your travails on earth are over you will have access to that Heavenly Kingdom for Eternity, that where He is you can be also.  So, rejoice in the fact that You are a Citizen!  A Citizen of The Kingdom of God!  You are in that Kingdom legally and enjoy all its provisions and protections! 

Bless you, as you enter your day living in His kingdom!

Proverbs 16:1-9 – “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives. 3 Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established.  4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. 5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished. 6 By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.  7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.  8 Better is a little with righteousness Than great income with injustice.  9 The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” NASB

Solomon was deemed the wisest man on earth during his day and this bit of counsel is incredibly powerful if received.  Wisdom is valuable only if it is heeded, appropriated, and applied to one’s life.  If it is not then it’s just more words and becomes nothing more than theory to the hearer.  Listen to what the wise man says here and consider how you can apply it to our own life:

• Man makes his plans, but the true answer is from God.  

We all dream, we all have goals either written or in our minds.  We all have a more or less mapped-out strategy and idea of how we are going to reach those goals, but ultimately it is God who has the plan.  Therefore, if we are to truly be where we should be, and that God is the One in whom we should seek not our plans.

• Man justifies himself, but God knows the true motives and heart. 

We, most of the time, will attempt to find some justification, excuse, or reason for our actions, but God truly knows all and sees the end from the beginning.  Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

• If we commit (dedicate) our works to the Lord, He will establish His plans for our lives, and we will walk into the fullness of what He has designed and desired for us.

• God is truly Lord of all, even those who will not acknowledge His Lordship at this time.  

There will come a day when every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.

• Pride is abominable to God and will receive a just reward. 

He will judge everyone in love and truth, the good, obedient, and evil.

• The way to peace is following and pleasing the Lord for when our ways please Him he puts a muzzle on our enemies.

• Money is not the answer to all our problems, following God in righteousness is.

• Do not allow your mind to map out your life you don’t know the end from the beginning. 

Instead, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and He will direct your path, your steps, and guide you into the ABUNDANT LIFE He has not only designed for us but promised to us.

Consider these things and allow the Holy Spirit to show you how to take the wisdom of this passage and apply it to your lives daily and I can promise you, your life will be richer and much more rewarding as a result. 

Blessings as you begin this new day He has made and rejoice in it!