Berith. This Week's Message

Power to Succeed Pt.7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Power to Succeed Pt.6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Power to Succeed Pt.5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Power to Succeed Pt.4

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

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

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

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

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

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Power to Succeed Pt.3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Power to Succeed Pt.2

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

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

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

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

Power to Succeed Pt.1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Hoping Pt 5

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

Hoping When it Seems Hopeless
Part 5

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

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

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

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

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

Hoping Pt.4

2009-01-27T23:09:00.001-08:00

Hoping When it Seems Hopeless
Part 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hoping Pt.3

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

Hoping When It Seems Hopeless
Pt. 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hoping Pt.2

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

Hoping When it Seems Hopeless
Pt. 2

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

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

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

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

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

Hoping Pt.1

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

Hoping When It Seems Hopeless

Pt.1

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

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

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

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

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

There's Only Now: Part 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There's Only Now: Part 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is Only Now: Part 9

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

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

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

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

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

There's Only Now: Part 8

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

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

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

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

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

There is Only Now: Part 7

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

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

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

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

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

There’s Only Now: Part 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is Only Now: Part 5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There's Only Now: Part 4

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

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

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

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

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

There's Only Now: Part 3

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

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

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

The benefits of setting and having right priorities:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pastor Appreciation Day

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

Pastor Appreciation Day
Pastor Robert L. Thomas, Jr.

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

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

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

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

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

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

There's Only Now: Part 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There's Only Now: Part 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be Connected

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

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

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

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

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