Here is a challenge: take the next week or so and read through the book of Galatians. This book is completely awesome because Paul teaches us how to live a life of liberty or freedom.
Folks, God has provided but many of us still are struggling for what He has already provided. Self effort is not going to attain anything. Christianity is a relationship with God; He knows you and you know Him, based on faith or trust in Him
Here is a link to a commentary by one of my favorite Bible teachers, David Guzik
Galatians
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Still Trying To Be God?
Wherever you are in your walk as a human being, God Himself would love to reveal Himself to you. You may be a Christian who is surrounded with the 'things' of God; church, bibles, Christian friends, Christian books and various paraphernalia but you really don't know Him. Or, you may be an occultist or pagan who is attempting to manipulate the spiritual realm for your own well being. You have your beliefs, practices and paraphernalia. You may be sincere in your attempt to pursue Truth.
Folks, we inherited a real tendency to hide. Adam fell from his relationship with God (Genesis 3) and he immediately responded by hiding from God. God pursued Adam after he disobeyed still desiring the relationship. However, Adam played the blame game attributing his condition to Eve and insinuating that God Himself was at fault. Adam was afraid and hid.
How are you hiding? Probably by attempting to control your life. Your life was given to you by your Creator and He has a plan for your life. His plan, not ours. He also plans to provide for you as you walk with Him. He desires for you to reveal yourself to Him as you are. Completely naked. That way you have no need to hide from Him in fear. You will overcome the fear and hiding from Him as He reveals Himself to you. You will not need to fear Him, or anything for that matter, because of who He is. He will become your God, fully accepting of who you are, as you are but desires to fill you with His Spirit in order to transform you into the image of Jesus Christ.
Here I am, some 20+ years into my walk with Him and I am not the same person that I was. My wife today stated that I am not a fearful person. Do you know what? I'm not. Before I knew God or rather am known by God, I was literally tormented by anxiety, worry and fear. Today I have confidence in Him. God is who He says He is. He reveals Himself through His word, the Bible. His word is Truth. And folks, you can place your trust in Him. He is faithful.
So, wherever you are, I would challenge you to reveal yourself to Him. Go to Him as you truly are. He will release you from whatever binds you; anger, fear, shame etc He wants you to be free.
Folks, we inherited a real tendency to hide. Adam fell from his relationship with God (Genesis 3) and he immediately responded by hiding from God. God pursued Adam after he disobeyed still desiring the relationship. However, Adam played the blame game attributing his condition to Eve and insinuating that God Himself was at fault. Adam was afraid and hid.
How are you hiding? Probably by attempting to control your life. Your life was given to you by your Creator and He has a plan for your life. His plan, not ours. He also plans to provide for you as you walk with Him. He desires for you to reveal yourself to Him as you are. Completely naked. That way you have no need to hide from Him in fear. You will overcome the fear and hiding from Him as He reveals Himself to you. You will not need to fear Him, or anything for that matter, because of who He is. He will become your God, fully accepting of who you are, as you are but desires to fill you with His Spirit in order to transform you into the image of Jesus Christ.
Here I am, some 20+ years into my walk with Him and I am not the same person that I was. My wife today stated that I am not a fearful person. Do you know what? I'm not. Before I knew God or rather am known by God, I was literally tormented by anxiety, worry and fear. Today I have confidence in Him. God is who He says He is. He reveals Himself through His word, the Bible. His word is Truth. And folks, you can place your trust in Him. He is faithful.
So, wherever you are, I would challenge you to reveal yourself to Him. Go to Him as you truly are. He will release you from whatever binds you; anger, fear, shame etc He wants you to be free.
All Things
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness ...
2 Peter 1:3
Notice that Peter is not telling us that everything we have need of pertaining to life and godliness will be given to us. No, he says everything we need to live an abundant, fulfilled life — and everything we need to live like Christ has already been given to us.
This is radical because many of us don’t have this understanding. We think we’re still pursuing some key, and if we can find it, then we’ll be able to unlock the secret of life. We’re looking for the combination on the padlock of godliness. But Peter says something wonderful when he says God has already given us all things — not most things, not a bunch of things — but all things that pertain to life and godliness.
When my son Benjamin was born, although he wasn’t all that he will be one day, everything he needed was already packed in his little body. His job, then, was not to find additional body parts to add to himself. His job was simply to grow.
‘That’s obvious,’ you say. But a whole bunch of Christians do what I did for some years in my walk — they read, search and look for what’s missing in their faith instead of simply taking God’s Word at face value which says His divine power has given us everything we need for godliness and all we need for abundant life.
Knowing this can save us a bunch of time and a lot of money. For instead of searching bookstores and infomercials to find the seven secrets of effective people, or the way to ‘awaken the giant within’, we can simply grow in the knowledge that we’ve already been given everything we need to live abundantly and godly.
by Jon Courson
2 Peter 1:3
Notice that Peter is not telling us that everything we have need of pertaining to life and godliness will be given to us. No, he says everything we need to live an abundant, fulfilled life — and everything we need to live like Christ has already been given to us.
This is radical because many of us don’t have this understanding. We think we’re still pursuing some key, and if we can find it, then we’ll be able to unlock the secret of life. We’re looking for the combination on the padlock of godliness. But Peter says something wonderful when he says God has already given us all things — not most things, not a bunch of things — but all things that pertain to life and godliness.
When my son Benjamin was born, although he wasn’t all that he will be one day, everything he needed was already packed in his little body. His job, then, was not to find additional body parts to add to himself. His job was simply to grow.
‘That’s obvious,’ you say. But a whole bunch of Christians do what I did for some years in my walk — they read, search and look for what’s missing in their faith instead of simply taking God’s Word at face value which says His divine power has given us everything we need for godliness and all we need for abundant life.
Knowing this can save us a bunch of time and a lot of money. For instead of searching bookstores and infomercials to find the seven secrets of effective people, or the way to ‘awaken the giant within’, we can simply grow in the knowledge that we’ve already been given everything we need to live abundantly and godly.
by Jon Courson
Monday, November 2, 2009
How Deliverance Ministries Lead People To Bondage
by Bob DeWaay
The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. (2Timothy 2:24-26)
In 1977 I was in a ministry that specialized in inner healing and deliverance. People came to us from all over the country seeking release from hearing voices, addictions, emotional trauma due to past hurts and abuses, and many other forms of spiritual bondage. At the time our ministry was considered “cutting edge” in the world of spiritual warfare. Ours was a Christian community where people could come and live with other Christians to find healing.
About that time a woman from another state came to stay at our ministry center for a few days to receive prayer and deliverance. She had grown up in a family that was deeply involved in the occult and had been named after a Greek goddess. When she called us she was trying to get out of her occult bondage and was being attacked by evil spirits who did not want to let her go. They manifested themselves through her taunting us and making hissing sounds. We soon found out that the demons that tormented her were powerful and had no intention of leaving. Two of us took on the responsibility of ministering to her. After we had led her in some prayers, confronted some of the demons, and demanded them to leave in Jesus’ name, she found some relief.
The most dramatic event in our ministry to her came after one of our Tuesday night meetings. After most people had left she stayed for more prayer. Before we even got to her, she was taken over by a violent evil spirit. Her countenance changed, her voice altered, her face contorted and her hands became like claws. She let out a loud scream and charged at me, intending to gouge my face with her fingernails. As she screamed and raced across the room, I and the other man who had been ministering to her stood our ground and said, “Stop! in the name of Jesus.” When she got two feet from us she hit what seemed like an invisible wall and fell to the floor whimpering. We prayed with her and asked God to set her free.
We had encountered many cases of demonic manifestations in our ministry, but this was the most dramatic. As I look back on this incident now, what is most significant is not what happened that night, but what happened the next day. The next day she felt much better and asked to talk to us before leaving for home. She told me, “Bob, Satan is very scared of you. You have much power and authority.” What that statement and the event that led to it meant to me then was very different from how I understand it now. The difference is due to the “warfare” worldview I held then and the “providential” worldview I hold now. The way we interpret events is determined by our worldview. In this article I will discuss exorcism from the perspective of each of these worldviews.
Read more...
The Fraud of Deliverance Ministries
The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. (2Timothy 2:24-26)
In 1977 I was in a ministry that specialized in inner healing and deliverance. People came to us from all over the country seeking release from hearing voices, addictions, emotional trauma due to past hurts and abuses, and many other forms of spiritual bondage. At the time our ministry was considered “cutting edge” in the world of spiritual warfare. Ours was a Christian community where people could come and live with other Christians to find healing.
About that time a woman from another state came to stay at our ministry center for a few days to receive prayer and deliverance. She had grown up in a family that was deeply involved in the occult and had been named after a Greek goddess. When she called us she was trying to get out of her occult bondage and was being attacked by evil spirits who did not want to let her go. They manifested themselves through her taunting us and making hissing sounds. We soon found out that the demons that tormented her were powerful and had no intention of leaving. Two of us took on the responsibility of ministering to her. After we had led her in some prayers, confronted some of the demons, and demanded them to leave in Jesus’ name, she found some relief.
The most dramatic event in our ministry to her came after one of our Tuesday night meetings. After most people had left she stayed for more prayer. Before we even got to her, she was taken over by a violent evil spirit. Her countenance changed, her voice altered, her face contorted and her hands became like claws. She let out a loud scream and charged at me, intending to gouge my face with her fingernails. As she screamed and raced across the room, I and the other man who had been ministering to her stood our ground and said, “Stop! in the name of Jesus.” When she got two feet from us she hit what seemed like an invisible wall and fell to the floor whimpering. We prayed with her and asked God to set her free.
We had encountered many cases of demonic manifestations in our ministry, but this was the most dramatic. As I look back on this incident now, what is most significant is not what happened that night, but what happened the next day. The next day she felt much better and asked to talk to us before leaving for home. She told me, “Bob, Satan is very scared of you. You have much power and authority.” What that statement and the event that led to it meant to me then was very different from how I understand it now. The difference is due to the “warfare” worldview I held then and the “providential” worldview I hold now. The way we interpret events is determined by our worldview. In this article I will discuss exorcism from the perspective of each of these worldviews.
Read more...
The Fraud of Deliverance Ministries
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