Hosanna (Paul Baloche)

My favourite worship songs are the ones that are sung to Jesus and are all about Jesus. This one has such a powerful chorus. Enjoy! Ben

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Run Through Romans (5.2-5)

2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

You see, when we know that we are righteous and that we have peace with God we have full access to the grace of God.  That means we can stand no matter what is going on around us.  Does it really matter who or what declares war on you when God is at peace with you?  You can rejoice no matter what happens because you know that God is at peace with you.

You might have done something selfish and stupid today, but God is at peace with you.  So rejoice!

3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

Not only can we stand no matter what happens, we can rejoice in tribulations.  What does this mean?  It means that when you know God is at peace with you, you can declare war on any situation or circumstance.

I remember a long time ago, when I was a little child about seven or eight, I was in the supermarket and I was causing trouble.  I had escaped my mother’s careful eye and I was peeling the oranges around the fruit section and having a right giggle.

This lady, I don’t remember if she worked in the shop or not, decided to tell me off.  In fact, she decided to try and put me over her knee and smack my backside.

I was very cheeky to her but I was actually very nervous, especially when she got a hold of me.  She was twisting my wrist and was about to smack me one when my mother came around the counter.  She yelled at this lady “don’t you mess with my son”, and the lady dropped me immediately.  Suddenly I felt safe again, and started making rude gestures at the lady who simply backed off.

Now my behaviour was wrong, and my mother dealt with it, but the point is this: I wasn’t that ladies’ son and she could not declare war on me because I was at peace with my mother.

You are at peace with God – so glory in tribulation.  People calling you names for being a Christian.  Get excited – what are they really going to do to you in eternity?  Nothing, because you are going to stand before God on judgment day and you have peace with God.  Gives you a chance to preach the gospel to them.

Sickness comes on your body and attacks it.  Glory because God is the Healer and you are at peace with Him.  Bills stacking up, glory because God supplies all your needs and you are at peace with Him.

What your tribulation – your troubles – do is work patience.  Patience in the New Testament simply means consistency.  Anyone can praise God for healing when they are well.  But patient people praise God for healing them no matter what their body feels like, and people like that don’t stay sick for long.  Patient people thank God for His provision before they see it, and see it they will.  There is such a joy in being consistent before the Lord.

4And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

This patience – the power of being consistent in praising God – always leads to experience.  You will experience your healing if you consistently praise God for your healing.  You will experience your freedom and deliverance if you consistently praise God for deliverance.

These verses are not about being patient in suffering, patient in barely scraping by.  That is a lie.  These verses are about being patient (consistent) in praising and glorifying God and thanking God and then experiencing what you are thanking God for.

These experiences then bring hope.  Hope is your imagination.  When you see one healing, you start to dream of other people being healed.  When you receive enough provision to meet your needs, you start hoping for the money to start meeting other’s needs.

Hope means you are a positive person.   When you know you are at peace with God you are positive.  Any trouble in your life just makes you consistently praise and thank God for helping you because you know you are at peace with Him and He is your ally and He will help you.  Your praise brings experience as you see your deliverance happen and then you are a hopeful person.

5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

When you have hope you are never ashamed.  No matter what you go through, you know that you are going through and not camping there.  And that means you are not ashamed.  It is no shame because your righteousness is based on the Lord and not your actions or your experiences.

And the other reason we are not ashamed: God has put His love in our heart.  Notice that this is present tense again: God’s love IS shed abroad in our heart.  Do you know that the full love of God is in your heart right now if you are born again?

There used to be a song sung in some churches: “More love, more power, more of you in my life.”  It has a nice tune, I grant that, but it is completely incorrect Biblically speaking.  If you are born again, the love of God is shed abroad in your heart.  If you are born again, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is inside you.  If you are born again, the Lord lives inside you.

How can you ever have more love, more power and more of God in your life?  It is nonsense.   It would be like if you gave me the keys to your car and I kept wandering around you begging you for the very keys you had already given me.  How would you answer a request like that?  You would be very confused.

I don’t think God is confused, but asking for things you already have is ridiculous.  You have the love of God inside you.

If someone near you is making you want to act unloving, don’t beg God to give you more love for that person.  It is a nonsense prayer – and if you have ever prayed like that (I have!) you will know it simply does not work!

What do you do then? Follow the Scripture: glory in your tribulation.  Notice the Bible says glory IN your tribulation, not glory FOR your tribulation.  Don’t thank God that there is someone you find difficult to love in your life, thank God that the love of God IS in your heart.  Your glory will bring patience: you will be someone who is consistency praising God.

Then your patient and consistent praising of God and thanking Him for the love that He has already put in your heart will become your experience.  You will start to feel the love that you know is inside you.  That will bring about hope.  That is how you deal with trouble in your life.


Kenneth Hagin Prophetic Word (1980)

You are right on the verge, right on the verge of the greatest move and manifestation of the Spirit of God that this world has ever seen.

You’re right on the edge of it; and like on standing on the creek bank about to jump in. And if you’ll give the more earnest heed unto the things which you have heard, not only those things that you’ve heard about faith and those things that you’ve heard about healing, but also those things which you have heard about the Holy Spirit, and the things that you’ve heard about angels, and the things that you’ve heard about Divine Visitation, (for remember that it was prophesied of Joel of old that in the last days, saith the Lord, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, and upon My hand maidens will I pour out My Spirit, and they will prophecy), so not only will it be that the young men will prophecy, but the young women will prophecy, and the anointing and the out-flow of the Spirit of God shall be great and amazing in those days — for there shall be a visitation of angels.

Be not afraid, but yet take heed even in these areas, for Satan himself has at times come as an angel of light. But examine things in the light of the scriptures and walk in the light of the Word of God. And sometimes the angel will give you direction, and even in your finances, and the direction that would save you life, as in the case of the shipwreck of Paul, and direction concerning ministry, as the salvation of Cornelius and his household, and Philip as the angel spoke to him to go down to Gaza and the Ethiopian was converted. And so in these days there shall come a mighty manifestation of the Spirit, and the work that God intended should be done in these last days shall be accomplished. For the time is short and things must be speeded up.

And you’ll learn much faster spiritual things then those of yesteryear. And you’ll develop much faster and it’ll be said of some they just virtually matured overnight. And they shall go forth to speak in the name of the Lord, because they understood the principle of faith.

They’ll understand the principles of the Kingdom. And they’ll understand the laws of God. And they’ll operate and minister in that area. And nothing will be hid from them. And though there are some who stand here now and have operated in a measure in those areas in times passed, and because they’ve let these things slip, they themselves in ministry and in life have slipped. And they shall be restored.

Yea, they shall even be restored this night. And the manifestation shall come and the glory of the Lord shall rest upon it and rest upon thee. And His glory shall be seen round about and the cloud of God will come and fill the house. And, yea, it will seem as though the whole building is filled with smoke, because you see, the glory of God shall be in manifestation. And great, great shall be the noise thereof and praise and adoration that shall go up from His people. And it shall be noised abroad. And men from afar shall here it. And men from afar shall here of it. And men from afar shall come to behold it. For the Lord shall be in manifestation in those days in all ways that He ever manifested Himself, both in the Old Covenant and in the New Covenant, plus the multiplying of the Spirit in the power of God of these days.

For men, as men grow more wicked and more wicked, and as Satan, because he knows his time is short, and, all of his cohorts and evil spirits go about as never before to devour, so the power of God, the glory of God, shall be increased and shall be multiplied. And it will flow like a mighty river, flow like a mighty river. Yea, the Spirit of God will flow like a mighty river.

And many, not only hundreds, not only thousands, but millions will be swept into the flow of that river, and shall flow forth in praised and glory. For the glory, for the glory of the Lord is in manifestation. The glory of the Lord will be seen of the face of the saints. The glory of God shall shine forth until men will walk in a place of business and people will fall on their knees and cry out to God though be said nothing. And women will walk into a place of business and people will fall and their knees and cry out to God though she opened not her mouth . For the glory of God will shine through. Yea, the glory of God will shine through.

Yea, the glory of God will shine through. For the manifestation of His power, and the manifestation of His glory, is reserved until this hour! And if it could be told, if it could be told in a way that you could see it, even with the eyes of your spirit, if it could be displayed at this moment before you in a tangible form that you could see with your physical eye, it would be very difficult for you to believe that which shall shortly come to pass. It would be very difficult for you to accept it.

But as you walk with the Lord, as you prepare your heart, as you feed upon His word, as you listen to what the Spirit of God says, your heart shall be prepared, and your mind will be changed until you will flow in the supernatural as naturally as a bird flies through the air. And you’ll flow in the super natural as naturally as a fish will swim in the water. And you’ll flow in the supernatural as naturally as you breathe the very air. You’ll not be conscious of your faith.

You’ll not be conscious of what’s going on around you. But rather, you’ll be conscious of the flow of the Spirit God. And He will manifest Himself. And He will accomplish that which He desires. For you see, these are the last days, and this is the end time. And what is done must be done quickly. And it will be done. And the hearts of many will be cause to rejoice. So rejoice. Rejoice. Be glad and praise the Lord and prepare your hearts. And let Him prepare you for that which He has prepared for you.

And so walk in it. You shall walk in it. And you shall run. And you shall fly, literally, spiritually speaking. And you shall enjoy the fullness of that which is provided for you.

Ed Dufresne Preaching on the Holy Ghost.

http://archives.whbtc.org/includes/showMovie.php?link=71

Ed Dufresne is a great Word of Faith preacher who has a powerful and clear prophetic anointing.  This will build up your faith quickly!

Enjoy.

Ben

Quotes on Holiness

“Why are we not more holy?” asked John Wesley, addressing his preachers. “Chiefly because we are enthusiasts, looking for the end without the means.”
John Wesley

“An unholy church! It is useless to the world, and of no esteem among men. It is an abomination, hell’s laughter, heaven’s abhorrence. The worst evils which have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church.”
C.H. Spurgeon

“In the New Testament church it says they were all amazed – and now in our churches everybody wants to be amused.”
Leonard Ravenhill

“The men that have been the most heroic for God have had the greatest devotional lives.”
Leonard Ravenhill

“God’s purpose, then, is to create a holy people in Christ.This he has done in principle, by dealing with sin on the cross and thus already achieving reconciliation. This he is doing in practice, by refashioning their lives according to the pattern of the perfect life, that of Christ (see 3:10). This he will do in the future, when that work is complete and the church enjoys fully that which at present it awaits in hope. The present process, which begins with the patient Christian living and ends with the resurrection itself, will result in Christians being presented without shame or fear before God, as glad subjects before their king.” – N.T. Wright Colossians and Philemon Commentary–page 83″
N T Wright

“Lastly – are not the Church in their present state, a standing, public, perpetual denial of the gospel? Do they not stand out before the world, as a living, unanswerable contradiction of the gospel; and do more to harden sinners and lead them into a spirit of caviling and infidelity, than all the efforts of professed infidels from the beginning of the world to the present day?”
Charles Finney

“First we practice sin, then defend it, then boast of it.”
Thomas Manton

“God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.”
Andrew Murray

“The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Saviour from Hell rather than a Saviour from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of Fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness.”
A.W. Pink

“Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.”
C.H. Spurgeon

“An idle life and a holy heart is a contradiction.”
Thomas Brooks

“There’s only one proof of the Holy Ghost in your life and that’s a holy life”
Leonard Ravenhill

“The question isn’t were you challenged. The question is were you changed”
Leonard Ravenhill

“A servant of God has but one Master”
George Mueller

“If Jesus ever commanded us to do something that He was unable to equip us to accomplish, He would be a liar. And if we make our own inability a stumbling block or an excuse not to be obedient, it means that we are telling God that there is something which He has not yet taken into account.”
Oswald Chambers

“It is an undoubted truth that every doctrine that comes from God, leads to God; and that which doth not tend to promote holiness is not of God.”
George Whitefield

“It is because of the hasty and superficial conversation with God that the sense of sin is so weak and that no motives have power to help you to hate and flee from sin as you should.”
A.W. Tozer

“Christians don’t tell lies they just go to church and sing them”
A.W. Tozer

“Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable sinning is not biblical grace. God’s grace never encourages us to live in sin, on the contrary, it empowers us to say no to sin and yes to truth.”
Randy Alcorn

“It is perilously easy to have amazing sympathy with God’s truth and remain in sin.”
Oswald Chambers

“The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions.”
A. W. Tozer

“Christian men and women, self-renunciation is the cardinal ethic of the Christian Church.”
Dr. Charles Inwood

“Tell me in the light of the cross, isn’t it a scandal that you and I live today as we do.”
Alan Redpath

“There is nothing destroyed by sanctification but that which would destroy us.”
William Jenkyn

“Christ will be master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. If your life is unholy, then your heart is unchanged, and you are an unsaved person. The Saviour will sanctify His people, renew them, give them a hatred of sin, and a love of holiness. The grace that does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves His people, not IN their sins, but FROM their sins. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.”
Charles Spurgeon

“We are not to be isolated but insulated, moving in the midst of evil but untouched by it.”
Vance Havner

“Jesus Christ has undertaken by His redemption to put in me a heart so pure that God can see nothing to censure.”
Oswald Chambers

“There is no shortcut to holiness; it must be the business of our whole lives.”
William Wilberforce

“It is not great talents or great learning or great preachers that God needs, but men great in holiness.”
E. M. Bounds

“Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.”
Blaise Pascal

“If the presence of God is in the church, the church will draw the world in.
If the presence of God is not in the church, the world will draw the church out.”
Charles Finney

“The way to preserve the peace of the church is to preserve its purity.”
Matthew Henry

“Repentance, to be of any avail, must work a change of heart and conduct.”
Theodore Ledyard Cuyler

“Some people do not like to hear much of repentance; but I think it is so necessary that if I should die in the pulpit, I would desire to die preaching repentance, and if out of the pulpit I would desire to die practicing it.”
Matthew Henry

“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish for spiritual things then it is sin for you, however, innocent it may be in itself.”
Suzanna Wesley

“Cowards never won heaven. Do not claim that you are begotten of God and have His royal blood running in your veins unless you can prove your lineage by this heroic spirit: to dare to be holy in spite of men and devils.”
William Gurnall

“Sin is never an accident. It’s always intentional.”
Ray Greenley

“Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sins. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of Fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness.”
A.W. Pink

“God has one destined end for mankind – holiness! His one aim is the production of saints. God is not an eternal blessing- machine for men. He did not come to save men out of pity. He came to save men because He had created them to be holy.”
Oswald Chambers

“No man should desire to be happy who is not at the same time holy. He should spend his efforts in seeking to know and do the will of God, leaving to Christ the matter of how happy he should be.”
A. W. Tozer

“You knew one thing about a man who was carrying a cross out of the city… you knew he wasn’t coming back.”
A.W. Tozer

“Don’t presume upon the mercy of God and so encourage yourself in sin.”
Jonathan Edwards

“Entertainment is the devils substitute for joy, and when you get satisfaction out of that dumb thing, your joy will diminish.”
Leonard Ravenhill

“The pure, mere love of God is that alone from which sinners are justly to expect that no sin will pass unpunished, but that His love will visit them with every calamity and distress that can help to break and purify the bestial heart of man and awaken in him true repentance and conversion to God. It is love alone in the holy Deity that will allow no peace to the wicked, nor ever cease its judgments till every sinner is forced to confess that it is good for him that he has been in trouble, and thankfully own that not the wrath but the love of God has plucked out that right eye, cut off that right band, which he ought to have done but would not do for himself and his own salvation.”
William Law (1686-1761)

“Whatever call a man may pretend to have, if he has not been called to holiness, he certainly has not been called to the ministry.”
Charles H. Spurgeon

“Many Christians have what we might call a “cultural holiness”. They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them. As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christians are more or less holy. But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like Himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.”
Jerry Bridges

“Introspection can easily become the tool of Satan, who is called the accuser. One of his chief weapons is discouragement. He knows that if he can make us discouraged and dispirited we will not fight the battle for holiness.”
Jerry Bridges

“The breaking of a man in the hand of God is the making of a man of God”
Brother Mak

“Every man is as holy as he really wants to be.”
A. W. Tozer

“Any objection to the carryings on of our present gold-calf Christianity is met with the triumphant reply, “But we are winning them!” And winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world’s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love for God? To total committal to Christ? Of course the answer to all these questions is no.”
A.W. Tozer

A Place Called “There” (Andrew Wommack)

A Place Called There, by Andrew Wommack

The Bible says,

“Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are” (James 5:17).

Yet he was mightily used of God. This reference is talking about the time Elijah became so despondent that he asked God to kill him (1 Kin. 19:4).

Elijah wasn’t perfect; yet he called fire down from heaven three times; he was the first person to raise someone from the dead; he caused the greatest revival in history up to that point; his word started and ended a three-year drought; he multiplied food miraculously; and he is one of only two men who never died—he was caught up alive into heaven. There is a lot we can learn from a man like this, both positive and negative.

The Bible gives little background on Elijah. It wasn’t his pedigree or education that brought him into a position of influence and power. Elijah was nobody until he received a word from God. It was the revelation God gave him that put him into a position of leadership.

Likewise, anyone who is born again, or baptized in the Holy Spirit, or has a good relationship with the Lord, has a revelation from God too. Just as Elijah’s revelation from God put him into a position of influence, anyone who has a revelation of God has the potential to influence others also. The only difference is that Elijah knew what he had and was bold enough to speak.

Many of us have been intimidated by the ungodly. We aren’t boldly speaking the truth we have from the Lord. What if Elijah hadn’t spoken that prophecy to King Ahab? The drought may have occurred anyway, but Elijah wouldn’t have been able to use it to affect the nation. The people would have dismissed the drought as a natural occurrence.

Elijah was bold enough to speak before there was any proof that what he was saying would come to pass. That took faith and great courage.

When the drought came as promised, Elijah became the most sought after man in the nation:

“As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not” (1 Kin. 18:10).

If we would speak forth the truths God has shown us, just like Elijah, the truths we speak would ultimately prevail.

Elijah didn’t have all the answers or know what would happen next when he spoke the prophecy to King Ahab (1 Kin. 17:1). Ahab had forbidden worship of the true God, instituting Baal worship. He killed the prophets of the Lord, and Elijah was putting himself in harm’s way by obeying the Lord.

It wasn’t until after Elijah delivered the word of the Lord, that God spoke to him about how He would protect and sustain him.

First Kings 17:2-4 says,

“And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.”

One of the great lessons we can learn here is that God doesn’t reveal His complete plan immediately. He reveals His will to us one step at a time. After we obey the first step, He shows us the next. Why should the Lord show us step two or ten if we haven’t obeyed step one? That would just make us more accountable. So, don’t try to figure out the next step until you have acted on what you know to do now. That’s a powerful truth.

The Lord told Elijah to go to the Brook Cherith. He had already commanded the ravens to bring Elijah bread and meat “THERE” every morning and evening. This was miraculous! What a provision during a terrible time!

But notice this: The Lord didn’t send Elijah’s provision to where he was. A quarterback doesn’t throw the football to where the receiver is, but where the receiver is going. Elijah’s miracle wasn’t where he was but where the Lord was sending him. That’s awesome!

Each of us has a place called “THERE,” where the blessings of the Lord are waiting. The Lord never fails to provide, but people often fail to receive because they aren’t all “THERE.” If Elijah had not gone to his place called “THERE,” his disobedience would not have stopped God’s faithfulness; however, he would not have received the provision; it was over “THERE,” by the Brook Cherith.

This is exactly what is happening to many of us. The Lord has placed something on our hearts to say or do. But, if we haven’t obeyed, we aren’t in our place of “THERE.” We aren’t seeing God’s provision, because we aren’t in that place of obedience.

I’ve heard many people say the Lord told them to attend Charis Bible College. But they just can’t see how it could happen. They want to see the Lord’s provision before they go “THERE.” That’s not how it works.

Some of you are not seeing God’s provision because you aren’t doing what He has told you to do. This doesn’t mean the Lord is punishing you. If Elijah hadn’t gone “THERE,” he would have lost his provision. The Lord has provision for you too, but it’s “THERE.”

This place called “THERE” changes. God changed the place and method of Elijah’s provision:

“And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee” (1 Kin. 17:8-9).

You can’t just seek the Lord once, hear His voice, step out in faith, and then stop listening. The Lord brings us into His perfect will step by step. Elijah moved when the Lord told him to move.

This led Elijah to the city of Zarephath where he asked a widow to give him the last of her food. It looked like he was taking from this woman, but he was actually giving to her. Instead of this being her last meal before dying, the Lord multiplied this woman’s supplies, which kept her, her son, and Elijah alive for about three years (1 Kin. 17:15-16). What a great miracle!

That wasn’t all the widow received. Her faithfulness in giving caused her son to be raised from the dead (1 Kin. 17:17-23). She had been operating in faith every day. She would use the last bit of oil and meal for Elijah and then find that there was always enough to make a cake for herself and her son. This was a great faith builder, which I’m sure figured into the miracle of her son.

Elijah went on to call fire down from heaven and consume a sacrifice in the sight of all of the people of Israel (1 Kin. 18:36-38). The people who saw it cried out, “The Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the God.” They killed all the prophets of Baal, and the whole nation turned to the Lord.

That same day, Elijah prayed and ended the drought by a great rain storm (1 Kin. 18:41-45). He was so pumped, he outran Ahab’s chariot in a twenty-mile race after Ahab had a head start. Elijah was excited!

Here is a very important lesson: After great victories come great temptations. This is primarily because we lose our sense of humility and dependence upon God (1 Kin. 19:4). Elijah had successfully defied the king, his armies, his prophets, and all the people in the nation. But the next day, a note from a woman caused him to run in terror (1 Kin. 19:2-3).

The Lord appeared to Elijah and asked, “What are you doing HERE, Elijah?” (1 Kin. 19:9). Elijah wasn’t “THERE” anymore. His place called “THERE” was back in Samaria. People were now worshiping the true God, but Elijah had run away in fear, leaving the people without a leader.

This resulted in the Lord replacing Elijah with Elisha. Elijah’s ministry fell short of what it could have been. The Lord actually spoke to Elijah in an audible voice. He told him to do three things, one of which was to anoint Elisha to replace him (1 Kin. 19:15-16). Elijah anointed Elisha (1 Kin. 19:19), but didn’t do the other two things. That means Elijah failed in two-thirds of the things the Lord told him to do. That’s amazing.

You might think this meant Elijah was washed up and was never used of God again. That’s not the case. Elijah went on to prophesy (1 Kin. 21:17-24), and he called the fire of God down two more times (2 Kin. 1:9-12). And most impressive of all, Elijah never died; he was caught up into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kin. 2:11).

This man, who failed miserably, still walked so closely with God that he never died. This speaks volumes to us. The Lord has never had anyone working for Him yet who was qualified. He uses us in spite of what we do, and not because of what we do. If we will hold on to our faith, we can still experience wonderful things from the Lord even after failing BIG TIME. What powerful truths.

Does God Have Faith? (Joe McIntyre)

One controversial aspect of the modern Faith movement is the idea that we can exercise the “God-kind of faith.” This phrase is taken from Mark 11:22 in which Jesus says, “have faith in God.” Many scholars tell us that it literally means, “have the faith of God.” Many Faith Teachers have said that we are to have, therefore, the “God-kind of faith.” This would be the kind of faith that Jesus exercised when He commanded the fig tree to wither up from the roots and it did. (See Mk. 11:12-14; 20-23).

In the parallel passage in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea’ it will be done”(Mt. 21:21). In the context, Jesus is discussing the cursing of the fig tree and the disciple’s ability to duplicate Jesus’ behavior. He assures them that they can even command a mountain to be removed and cast into the sea. He describes this ability as “faith in God” or “the faith of God’ depending on which reading of the original Greek we deem correct.

In a respected commentary on Mark’s gospel, Joseph Addison Alexander mentions that in Jesus’ teaching the disciples about faith, He found it necessary to address their failures. “For such deficiency of faith, i.e., of confidence in the divine power to effect such changes, or at least in the divine grant to themselves of a derivative authority to do the same. Have (more emphatic than in English, and denoting rather to retain or hold fast) faith in God, literally, of God, a Greek idiom, in which the genitive denotes the object, and which has sometimes been retained in the translation as it is here in the margin of the English Bible.” (The Gospel According to Mark, Thornapple Commentaries, Joseph Addison Alexander, p. 310).

Many who have been critical of this idea of ‘having the faith of God’ rightly point out that God is the object of our faith and the primary meaning of the Greek word for faith is trust in something or someone. “So,” they reason, “faith isn’t something God has, it’s something we have in God.”

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon gives as its first meaning for pistis (the Greek word for faith) “conviction of the truth of anything, belief; In the N. T. of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust… when it relates to God, pistis is the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ.”

Thayer’s definition expresses what most people mean when they say that faith is something that we have toward God, not something that God has or exercises. Most Christians would be in agreement that this is the primary meaning of the concept of faith and the Greek word pistis.

But is this the only valid usage of the word in the New Testament? Does pistis ever have another meaning in the Scripture which is related but not identical? Let’s investigate a little further.

In the exercise of faith that Jesus was teaching about in Mark 11, it was not only faith toward God that He was advocating. Based on a living faith in God, Jesus was saying to his disciples that they needed to also exercise faith in the word of command. They were to speak to an obstacle (a fig tree or a mountain) and command something to happen to that obstacle. Jesus said “if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘be removed and be cast into the sea’, it will be done.”(Mt. 21:21).

In the parallel passage in Mark it says, “whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes [pisteuo- verb form of pistis] that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

The exercise of faith in this passage is not only faith toward God, but the word faith is used in a secondary sense, faith in the words that are commanded. “if you believe those things you say, you will have whatever you say.”

Jesus again expresses this same idea in Luke’s gospel. “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’ and it would obey you”(Lk.17:6). Jesus is talking about releasing faith, not in God as the object of our faith, but in the words that we speak. Certainly this presupposes that we have faith in God and are moving in obedience to the Holy Spirit. It is our faith in God that emboldens us to exercise this faith in our words.

My point is that the word faith, though primarily used in Scripture to describe our trust toward God, is also used to describe the confidence we have in the words we speak in what is known as the “command” of faith. This is the primary way, although not the only way, that Jesus ministered to the sick and oppressed. “Arise and walk,” “Daughter, I say unto you, ‘arise,’ “etc.

Scholars refer to this usage of the word pistis or faith as the “word of power.” For example, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Vol. 1, p.600) in its article on pistis says, “The picture of faith moving mountains (Mk. 11:23) and uprooting the fig tree (Lk. 17:6) confirm the word of power that is able to transform the created order. The instructions to the disciples in Mk. 11:24 f. show the connection in the teaching between the promise that rests upon the word of power and supplication. The supplication is the prerequisite of the word of power.”

In other words, faith toward God in prayer (supplication) precedes the release of the command of faith (the word of power). But both of these concepts (supplication and the word of power) are described by the one word: faith. (pistis in Greek).

So, does God have faith? Well, we might ask does God speak words which He expects to change things? Did God create the universe by speaking words that He expected to “transform the created order”? Is it a valid usage of the word “faith” to describe the power released in words, whether human or divine, sent for to change or transform the created order? I believe it is. Is it appropriate to call this having “the God-kind of faith”? I think so.

In fact, on of the most respected Greek scholars coined this phrase to describe what Jesus was talking about in Mark 11:22. Hank Hanegraaff refers to this man, A.T. Robertson, as “almost universally accepted as the final word on Greek grammar.” (Christianity In Crisis, p. 90).

So what does A.T. Robertson say about the phrase ‘have faith in God’ in Mk. 11:22? Robertson says, “in Mark 11:22… we rightly translate ‘have faith in God, though the genitive [the Greek case] does not mean ‘in’, but only the God kind of faith.” (A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, p. 500). This most universally accepted Greek scholar tells us that the “God kind of faith” is the true meaning of Mark 11:22!

God speaks things into existence. When He declares something, He believes it will come to pass.

Psalms 33:9
9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

We are created in His image and likeness. As we submit to Him and seek to do His will, He authorizes us to speak on His behalf and with His authority.

We have the God kind of faith.

Kenneth Hagin Prophecy from 1983

 “In this move that is about to come and even you’re in the edge of it right now. It will not be altogether something new that you’ve never seen. I’ll be a combination of everything you’re seen put together and then a little bit more…And a revival of the supernatural…in the realm of the seen realm. Men will see the glory of God, a cloud will hang over certain congregations, even the church building for days at a time. And everybody that passes by, sinner and saint alike will say, “Well what in the world is that? I’ve never seen anything like that. Ha ha…

And there will be in other places, in other places the fire of the Spirit that will actually become literal…But the fire will actually come into manifestation. And there will be people, sinners as well as saints that will see fire over the heads of the people.

There’ll be people driving down the street or down the highway and they’ll see fire on top of the buildings, and they’ll come and say, “What does this means?” But you see the Lord will use signs of His presence to bring people in the last days, into the fullness of his Spirit, and into full salvation.” Excerpt from Word of Knowledge of What the Holy Ghost is saying, Kenneth Hagin Prayer seminar 4/28/1983

Jesus Loves the Poor (Ulf Ekman)

Two Sundays ago, I preached a sermon about how Jesus loves the poor and the weak in an altogether special way. I believe that is so. When He came here to earth He identified Himself with us all in our poverty, but He looked upon those who had great need in their lives in a very special way. Throughout His entire life, He showed that. He had pity on those who were wounded and very much the worse for wear. He was sent to the broken-hearted, to heal them and to preach the good news to the poor.
In Isaiah 58, the Lord shows us a route, which is both to a true fast that is pleasing to Him and one which is for our healing. This is what it says from verses 6-8: “
Here is a way that breaks with today’s materialism and hedonism. Of course, I believe that the Lord wants and is able to bless His people and that He can do it in abundance. There is a risk, however, and it is an incredibly big one, and there are many examples to prove it, that that way of thinking can lead to full-on selfishness if it is not balanced by what the Bible says elsewhere. There is also a difference between poverty and simplicity. Simplicity is self-imposed and a sign of abstemiousness and self-control and it often makes life easier to live because much requires more and “things take time” (as Peter Halldorf is wont to say).

Poverty is a scourge and the enemy of mankind. The statistics for how many succumb to poverty, starvation and related diseases are hair-raising. And neither can we close our eyes to the fact that there are structural reasons for poverty and that great injustice exists where the rich become richer and the poor poorer. These are truly not facts that ought to be kidnapped by the far left and made use of in their manifestos. Neither is it only the left who have the capacity for empathy or to solve the problem of poverty. But against that, there is the risk of having a totally individualistic worldview – secular or Christian – and then these problems get brushed aside.
God loves the poor and he who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker (Proverbs 14:31). He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, says Proverbs 19:17

Fighting Fear (Ulf Ekman)

Without having an open mind you never get anywhere in life. Then most things remain closed and inaccessible. You do not pray, you do not seek, you do not knock and nothing seems to be open. Then suddenly, unexpectedly, everything seems to be a threat, unpleasant or unpleasing.

But then, it is not possible to have an open mind unless you deal with various kinds of fear and phobia in your life. Fear is perhaps one of humankind’s greatest enemies. It holds us in its grip and hinders us from growing into the real potentiality God has for us. Faith, confidence, trust always means taking risks. Things can go wrong. You can miss it. Fear of taking risks is something you have to deal with. No risk – no growth, no open doors, no adventures.

I remember when I stood in the queue outside the American Embassy in 1981 waiting to get a study visa so I could travel to the USA with my family and do a year at Bible school there. Behind me stood someone I knew who was talking the whole time about how impossible it was because I did not have any approval on paper from any school there. So, I might as well go home. If I had done that, dejectedly left the embassy and gone home, I would have missed out on a 25-year long adventure. I did not get a study visa, just a normal tourist visa. But we had prayed and knew that the Lord was exhorting us to go. So we sold our house, took our children and went anyway.

On the plane, my head was spinning and I could see myself going back again without having even gone in – totally crushed. Then I made a decision again, and I held fast to the word from God and the Bible verse He gave me. There was some to-ing and fro-ing at customs in New York, and they sent us to an official in another department. I showed him an ordinary letter I had received from a pastor, which in quite vague and general terms was welcoming us to visit his church some time. And suddenly, the official changed his mind and gave us a 6-month visa, there and then. We were in.

At one of the first meetings I visited there was an elderly couple who were preaching together – the man in a loud suit and white shoes, the woman in a pink dress with unbelievable bows on. I was so critical, Swedish as I was. And immediately I felt the Lord correcting me and showing me how biased, negative, narrow-minded and through-and-through Swedish I was being. I wanted to have it just the way I liked it. There and then I knew I had to change and so I decided to have an open mind and to be led neither by fear nor by prejudice. I have benefited a lot from that ever since.

A year in a totally different and truly faith-filled atmosphere, very much characterised by the activity of the Spirit and His word really did the trick in my life. It created in me an atmosphere of positive faith, a counterbalance against the negativisms I was previously used to. Now, I have of course not been totally perfect in keeping to that (Phew!), but anyway, it has been an enormous help for me in revealing the resistance, suspicion and negativism in my own life over the years. It has also continued to open many doors, develop new acquaintances and uncover hidden treasure in areas I would otherwise normally have avoided and gone past. It has truly made life richer and more fun, having an open and positive mindset. It does not mean that you do not have clear principles or are able to and do draw boundaries, since there are such things which are objectively right or wrong. But it does mean that one’s first reaction to something is not always negative, suspicious or condemnatory. So much more fun!