Doug Addison just posted this on 25 Feb, titled 'March Forward: Get Ready to Advance!' When we entered into March, the expectation is heightened up because it seemed like we have entered into another time zone. The set time zone, the time for action zone. The spiritual atmosphere also seemed to have changed in this month. He said in his earlier post that March is a time of breakthrough. We have pressed past the times of pruning, alignment, increased resistance and attacks in January, February and we have finally made it into March! Praise the Lord! This is a highlight of his recent post.
This year, the month of March is going to be a turning point spiritually. On the last Yom Kippur, (September 23, 2015) I heard God say that 24 weeks from that day there would be a big shifting happen. You can read more about it in my 2016 Prophetic Forecast. We are currently in a time of pruning and preparation.
So often it is common for things to look the opposite from what we thought would happen. We should not expect or make room for this in our lives, instead we need to take authority and battle it. There is a fight of faith involved. But the battle belongs to the Lord. Over the past few weeks, several demons and attacks assigned to harass us were revealed. We continue to break these things as they are being exposed.
I have been asked, “How is it possible for the enemy to attack us when we are under the Blood of Jesus?” This is a great question. There are a few reasons. I sometimes get attacked even though I battle daily over myself and others. We are in a time that evil is increasing and we as Christians need to be advancing in the anointing to overcome these things. Most Christians are operating in older ways of doing spiritual warfare that worked 10 years ago, but they need to be updated to survive what is happening right now.
Yes, we have the Word of God, the word of our testimony, the Name and the Blood of Jesus. And they are all powerful to destroy the attacks of Satan. But if you are seeing a continual attack on your finances, chronic sickness or anything contrary to God’s Word, then you need a strategy from Heaven to overcome.
Recently as I was listening to the sermons, Pastor Prince was also talking about spiritual warfare. Pastor said to resist the devil and he will flee from us. How do we resist the devil? By standing in the faith that we are justified by Jesus' blood. The devil has no power over us. He is a defeated foe. That's why he is seeking those whom he can devour. Those with a guilty conscience or fear in their hearts. He cannot take us down, if not why would he be roaring like a lion? God has put a hedge around us and the devil cannot take our lives. He is not almighty and powerful. All he can do is to deceive us into giving up our authority and power, get us into condemnation and fear.
Pastor also said that the testing or trials or challenges is only for a season, a short while. There is one evil day compared to many good days. We are told to stand on the evil day. An evil day could be more than 24 hours. A time of testing for a week or a month but don't give up because victory already belongs to us. We don't even have to fight for God is fighting our battles. We just need to stand until the battle is over. The devil can only try to deceive you by putting symptoms on your body to make you think you are sick. But put on the whole armour of God and use the sword of the spirit against him. Pray in tongues, speak the word of God.
And thank God that the trial is only for a season because there is an end date. God will not allow the enemy to attack us indefinitely. There is a time limit to his attacks. Because he does not have the resources to sustain an attack. We don't have to fight him, all we have to do is to outlast him by standing in the faith. He will try to wear us down with those recurring symptoms but don't be fooled by him. Don't surrender to his attacks no matter how fierce the battlefield seems. You already have the victory in Christ and you know there is a time limit to his attempts. Sooner or later he will have to back off.
Yesterday when I saw Pastor Joel's devotional, I felt like God is showing us another strategy. In the Bible, when God’s people were going into battle, many times they sent the worshipers out in front of the warriors. When you choose to be thankful and bless the Lord in the midst of your battle, you are making a way for Him to move in your life. Start today by thanking Him for His goodness. Magnify your God; don't magnify your problems. Give Him thanks and make the way for victory!
Friday, March 4, 2016
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
RIGHTEOUSNESS IN CHRIST
Yesterday I woke up with this verse in mind. Romans 5:17 'For if by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.' Those words abundance of grace and gift of righteousness left a deep impression in my heart.
I felt that I got to keep hearing the word of grace preached by Pastor Prince, in order to fight the good fight of faith and reign in life. And so I binged on his sermons and the more I heard the word of grace, the more hungry I was for this word. It was like times of refreshing and I found rest hearing the word. In fact, hearing the word being preached, just like receiving, is probably the most passive thing one can ever do. It's unlike praying in tongues or taking communion or declaring the promises of God.
Yet, it is the will of God that through the foolishness of preaching that we receive from Him. Many a times, it is when we are doing nothing about our situation, just by listening to the word of grace that God works in our situation. Miraculously, without us knowing at times. When we hear the word of God, our bodies and lives are being sozoed by the power of God. When we rest, God goes to work on our behalf. When we work, God rests.
The effect of hearing the word is like water washing my dusty feet. Oftentimes we feel that we have no need to keep hearing the word on Jesus' finished work, our righteousness in Christ because we have heard it so many times. We think we know it all. But Pastor always says law is natural, grace is supernatural. You can listen to ten sermons about grace and one about the law, and you are back to relying on your own flesh. That's why we have to keep hearing the word because faith comes by hearing the word of grace.
I was reminded of fundamental truths about righteousness. It was like God taking me higher in the paths of righteousness. My conscience is satisfied because someone paid the price on my behalf. Jesus has taken the full brunt of God's wrath at the cross. He has become the payment for my sins and hence I can receive His righteousness as mine. God no longer judges me or imputes sin to me, not that I no longer sin but when I fail, I know that the payment has been made by Jesus.
I can have no more fearful expectation of God's judgement, of bad things happening to me because Jesus took all the bad things on Himself and gave me all the blessings He deserved. So now I can have a confident expectation of good things because Jesus paid it all for me. I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I am His beloved, a pearl of great price. If God did not withhold His only beloved Son, how would He not along with Jesus freely give us all things?
So often it is usually the case for things to look the opposite from what we thought would happen. When God releases a certain word in our lives, the enemy will always try to create circumstances contrary to that word. That's why there is a fight of faith. We should not expect or make room for such adverse situations, instead we need to take authority over it. If not, we will have a fearful expectation of what attacks are coming up next and how we should brace ourselves for impact. The key to overcoming these storms is to keep our eyes on Jesus and His finished work. Have a fresh revelation of what Christ has done for us on the cross and you will exclaim: how can I not walk in God's favour and blessings after what Christ has done!
Sometimes we disqualify ourselves by how we see ourselves. God sees us through Jesus, spotless and without blemish. And if God doesn't see and impute sin to me, why should I be conscious of my sins? Am I saying that the blood of Jesus is not effective or powerful enough to take away all my sins once and for all? Self-righteousness isn't just about pride but also about guilt and condemnation. We are often harder on ourselves than we think. The reason why we get disappointed is that we still place confidence on our own flesh, so when we fail, we feel guilty for not trusting God.
That's why the Holy Spirit was given to convict believers of our righteousness in Christ. It is during times like when we have failed, that we look to Jesus and say 'I am the righteousness of God in Christ.' No matter what it is, tell yourself that God has forgiven me and forgotten so this sin is no more and God still sees me righteous in Christ. Then forgive yourself and let it go, move on.
I felt that I got to keep hearing the word of grace preached by Pastor Prince, in order to fight the good fight of faith and reign in life. And so I binged on his sermons and the more I heard the word of grace, the more hungry I was for this word. It was like times of refreshing and I found rest hearing the word. In fact, hearing the word being preached, just like receiving, is probably the most passive thing one can ever do. It's unlike praying in tongues or taking communion or declaring the promises of God.
Yet, it is the will of God that through the foolishness of preaching that we receive from Him. Many a times, it is when we are doing nothing about our situation, just by listening to the word of grace that God works in our situation. Miraculously, without us knowing at times. When we hear the word of God, our bodies and lives are being sozoed by the power of God. When we rest, God goes to work on our behalf. When we work, God rests.
The effect of hearing the word is like water washing my dusty feet. Oftentimes we feel that we have no need to keep hearing the word on Jesus' finished work, our righteousness in Christ because we have heard it so many times. We think we know it all. But Pastor always says law is natural, grace is supernatural. You can listen to ten sermons about grace and one about the law, and you are back to relying on your own flesh. That's why we have to keep hearing the word because faith comes by hearing the word of grace.
I was reminded of fundamental truths about righteousness. It was like God taking me higher in the paths of righteousness. My conscience is satisfied because someone paid the price on my behalf. Jesus has taken the full brunt of God's wrath at the cross. He has become the payment for my sins and hence I can receive His righteousness as mine. God no longer judges me or imputes sin to me, not that I no longer sin but when I fail, I know that the payment has been made by Jesus.
I can have no more fearful expectation of God's judgement, of bad things happening to me because Jesus took all the bad things on Himself and gave me all the blessings He deserved. So now I can have a confident expectation of good things because Jesus paid it all for me. I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I am His beloved, a pearl of great price. If God did not withhold His only beloved Son, how would He not along with Jesus freely give us all things?
So often it is usually the case for things to look the opposite from what we thought would happen. When God releases a certain word in our lives, the enemy will always try to create circumstances contrary to that word. That's why there is a fight of faith. We should not expect or make room for such adverse situations, instead we need to take authority over it. If not, we will have a fearful expectation of what attacks are coming up next and how we should brace ourselves for impact. The key to overcoming these storms is to keep our eyes on Jesus and His finished work. Have a fresh revelation of what Christ has done for us on the cross and you will exclaim: how can I not walk in God's favour and blessings after what Christ has done!
Sometimes we disqualify ourselves by how we see ourselves. God sees us through Jesus, spotless and without blemish. And if God doesn't see and impute sin to me, why should I be conscious of my sins? Am I saying that the blood of Jesus is not effective or powerful enough to take away all my sins once and for all? Self-righteousness isn't just about pride but also about guilt and condemnation. We are often harder on ourselves than we think. The reason why we get disappointed is that we still place confidence on our own flesh, so when we fail, we feel guilty for not trusting God.
That's why the Holy Spirit was given to convict believers of our righteousness in Christ. It is during times like when we have failed, that we look to Jesus and say 'I am the righteousness of God in Christ.' No matter what it is, tell yourself that God has forgiven me and forgotten so this sin is no more and God still sees me righteous in Christ. Then forgive yourself and let it go, move on.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
OUT OF THE COCOON
I read this word by Lonnie Mackley posted on 25 Feb and I felt it totally described what I had been through for the past few years. I believe this too will bless those who have been through a season of wilderness like me.
Being in the wilderness can sometimes be hard because you have to spend a lot of time disconnected from most of the rest of the world. You may feel like your life is going nowhere, and that everyone else is passing you by in their lives by having kids, buying homes, going forward with their careers, paying taxes, and all the other normal trappings of the world. You may wonder if you are just wasting your time, or just kidding yourself about what is happening in your life.
But remember this, that what you are doing right now is the most important job in the whole world. You are letting God grow you up so that He can flow through you with His power for healing and casting out of evil spirits. Very soon, this world is going to need God's power more than ever, and God just needs some mature and safe people to flow through; namely "You". What could you do in the world which is more important than that?
You are not the only one in history that has gone through this arduous process. There are many others who did their tours of duty in the University of the Holy Spirit to get prepared for God's great call on their lives, including Moses, Joseph, Paul, Jacob, and David. And they all did great things for God that helped and saved many people. This is the last great harvest of souls in the earth, with so many lost, needy, and fearful people that need God’s help through you. God needs safe and solid field workers to send out to help them.
Like the caterpillar that has to go into a cocoon for a while to be transformed, so you are going through this spiritual transformation to be ready for this last great harvest of souls in the earth. Especially as these perilous times come upon us, people will be looking for the real God, and for real answers to their problems. Who is God supposed to use, if not you? All the patriarchs were just normal people like you, yep just like you, no different.
Someday soon, you will be let out of your cocoon and you will be transformed like the butterfly, and God will show you off as His beautiful work of transformation. He will flow through you in power because He can trust you now. You will be joined to the other wilderness Christians who are coming out of their wilderness time. You are not alone my friend, there are many others going through what you are, you just don't see them right now.
So, as your spirit groans to be free from this lonely existence, just remember that God is doing a complete work in you, and like the butterfly, you can only be let out of your cocoon when your transformation is complete so that you are fully formed and healthy. What harmful habits are safe to take out of the wilderness with you? The answer is none. Don't worry; like Job, all that you have lost or sacrificed will be returned manifold, and you will forever be God's trophy of transformation and grace. So hang in there, because the Lord is still with you!
Being in the wilderness can sometimes be hard because you have to spend a lot of time disconnected from most of the rest of the world. You may feel like your life is going nowhere, and that everyone else is passing you by in their lives by having kids, buying homes, going forward with their careers, paying taxes, and all the other normal trappings of the world. You may wonder if you are just wasting your time, or just kidding yourself about what is happening in your life.
But remember this, that what you are doing right now is the most important job in the whole world. You are letting God grow you up so that He can flow through you with His power for healing and casting out of evil spirits. Very soon, this world is going to need God's power more than ever, and God just needs some mature and safe people to flow through; namely "You". What could you do in the world which is more important than that?
You are not the only one in history that has gone through this arduous process. There are many others who did their tours of duty in the University of the Holy Spirit to get prepared for God's great call on their lives, including Moses, Joseph, Paul, Jacob, and David. And they all did great things for God that helped and saved many people. This is the last great harvest of souls in the earth, with so many lost, needy, and fearful people that need God’s help through you. God needs safe and solid field workers to send out to help them.
Like the caterpillar that has to go into a cocoon for a while to be transformed, so you are going through this spiritual transformation to be ready for this last great harvest of souls in the earth. Especially as these perilous times come upon us, people will be looking for the real God, and for real answers to their problems. Who is God supposed to use, if not you? All the patriarchs were just normal people like you, yep just like you, no different.
Someday soon, you will be let out of your cocoon and you will be transformed like the butterfly, and God will show you off as His beautiful work of transformation. He will flow through you in power because He can trust you now. You will be joined to the other wilderness Christians who are coming out of their wilderness time. You are not alone my friend, there are many others going through what you are, you just don't see them right now.
So, as your spirit groans to be free from this lonely existence, just remember that God is doing a complete work in you, and like the butterfly, you can only be let out of your cocoon when your transformation is complete so that you are fully formed and healthy. What harmful habits are safe to take out of the wilderness with you? The answer is none. Don't worry; like Job, all that you have lost or sacrificed will be returned manifold, and you will forever be God's trophy of transformation and grace. So hang in there, because the Lord is still with you!
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