Dealing With Temptation (Andrew Wommack)

Everyone faces temptation. But the truth is, very few people deal with it effectively. That shouldn’t be the case, and it doesn’t have to be the case for believers. There are some very simple and effective ways of dealing with temptation that you should know, and if you’ll put them into practice, I guarantee, you’ll come out the winner.

It has been said, “Fail to plan and you’re planning to fail.” That statement could not be truer when it’s applied to temptation. I don’t know anyone who gets up in the morning and prays to fail when faced with temptation, but I know many people who get up each morning and fail to plan for what the Bible says we will all certainly face. So, first and most important, you must be prepared. That’s so simple, you have to have someone’s help to misunderstand. But, we must have had a lot of help because very few people have taken the time or made the effort to prepare.

Second Chronicles 12:14 says it this way,

“And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.”

This was speaking of Rehoboam, the king of Judah and the son of Solomon. He started off as a good king who was seeking the Lord. But just like many people today, he wasn’t prepared for what would inevitably come his way. When Satan throws temptation your way, if you’re not already prepared, it’s too late. You’ll probably lose the fight.

Jesus prepared Himself. He spent thirty years getting ready for His encounter with the devil, and He started preparing early. At the age of twelve, He was asking questions of the doctors of the Law and astounding them with His answers. He had obviously spent many hours reading and studying the Scriptures. I’m sure that study continued all His life, but even Jesus needed more.

Before He was tempted by Satan face to face, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit at His baptism by John in the Jordan River. Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, full of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is an absolute necessity for overcoming temptation. There are many Christians who received the Holy Spirit years ago and haven’t been full of the Holy Spirit a day since. It’s not about what happened to us long ago; we have to stay full of the Holy Spirit. One way of doing that is to speak in tongues on a regular basis. Jude 1:20-21 says,

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Praying in tongues builds us up on our most holy faith. How many times have you needed your most holy faith to take you through a certain trial, and yet you haven’t used this gift of the Holy Spirit? Verse 21 also says we keep ourselves in the love of God when we speak in tongues. Have you ever asked the Lord to pour out His love on you? I imagine you have, but this doesn’t say to pray that way; it says we are to keep ourselves in the love of God. We do that by speaking in tongues. We don’t ask God for that which He’s already given, we simply stir up the love that has already been commended toward us, by speaking in tongues. This is a powerful gift. Isaiah 28:11-12 says,

“For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.”

Do you ever need rest or refreshing? I guarantee that you do, and this verse says speaking in tongues is the way to get it. We have a tremendously powerful gift available to us through the Holy Spirit, but few people take advantage of it. Instead, we ask God to do what He told us to do. We need to use this gift of speaking in tongues to stir ourselves up, or we risk sinking to the bottom.

You must also know who you are. Matthew 4 and Luke 4 record the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. One of the most amazing aspects of those temptations was that Satan began two of the three temptations with the words, “If thou be the Son of God.” Many people have missed this point. The real temptation was Satan’s attempt to get Jesus to doubt who He was. That’s the same way he attacked Adam and Eve. The serpent told Eve that if she would eat the forbidden fruit, she would be like God (Gen. 3:5). The truth was that she was already like God, but she didn’t know it. The first Adam sinned, because he didn’t know who he really was. The second Adam, Jesus, didn’t sin, because He did know who he was. Knowing your true identity in Christ is one of the greatest defenses you can possibly have against temptation.

Jesus had just heard His Father speak to Him in an audible voice saying,

“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).

There was also a visible sign from God when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the shape of a dove. Jesus had to anchor His faith in who His Father said He was. But immediately, Satan came to Him saying,

“If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matt. 4:3).

The real temptation was never about turning stones into bread. It was Satan’s attempt to manipulate Jesus into doubting His Father’s Word and doing something to prove who He was. Satan was trying to find and exploit any insecurity in Jesus.

When you were a kid, I’m sure someone at some time dared you to do something stupid. The real issue wasn’t whether or not you could do it but whether you were “afraid” to do it. And sad to say, many of us took the dare and did something that hurt us or shamed us just to prove that we weren’t. All we really succeeded in proving was that we feared their disapproval so much that we weren’t willing to do what was right. The truly fearless response would have been to walk away, secure in who we were, earning their respect through character rather than performance.

Satan was daring Jesus—”If You’re really the Son of God, if what You heard from the Father in an audible voice is really true, then prove it, and turn this stone into bread.” Turning a stone into bread would not have been sin. It would have been sin if Jesus had doubted the words of His heavenly Father declaring who He was by placing more faith in what a miracle could say about Him. You must know who you are if you want to overcome temptation. No matter what form Satan’s temptations may take, they are all directed at causing us to doubt who we are.

It’s also important to understand that all temptation is rooted in selfishness. In fact, our selfishness is really Satan’s beachhead. Jesus stripped him of his power two thousand years ago, so the only thing he can really do is deceive us through our own selfish desires. The Bible tells us exactly what they are in 1 John 2:16,

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

And in James 1:14 we read,

“But every many is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”

Satan is not limitless; deception is his only weapon. All he can do is try to deceive us into thinking that God really can’t or won’t fulfill our lives. Every single temptation of the enemy is packaged in the form of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life. But they’re all designed to entice us and cause us to doubt that God will meet our needs. Selfishness is always the favorite playground of the devil, and when selfishness rules in our lives, we open the door to his deceptive schemes.

You can’t be tempted unless you have first thought about it. All temptation is linked to what you think on. Therefore, control your thoughts, and you will control temptation. This is a simple but profound truth. It’s the reason most people fall into temptation. It’s like a woman who doesn’t want to get pregnant but continues to have sexual relations without any contraception. Sooner or later, she will get pregnant. Think on the wrong things long enough, and sooner or later you will fall into sin when tempted.

Philippians 4:8 says this,

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Temptation will come, but it’s hard for the devil to deceive you when your mind is stayed on those things. Satan can only work with what you give him, so don’t give him any space in your mind. You’ll be able to avoid many of the temptations you face if you will put this into practice.

The Word is powerful—use it. Jesus countered every temptation of the devil with the Word. Think about it, Jesus was the Word, and everything He said would have been Scripture and more than sufficient to rebuke the devil. Yet He would say, “It is written” then He quoted God’s Word. If it was important for Jesus to quote the Word, it’s even more important for us to do the same. We must know God’s Word to effectively overcome temptation. That goes back to being prepared; you can’t quote scripture you haven’t learned, and there isn’t any power in what you don’t know or understand.

Wonderful News Healing Crusade (August 11-14th 2009 – ALL WELCOME)

Wonderful News Healing Crusade
Wonderful News Healing Crusade

Your Debt Is Wiped Out (T L Osborn)

Your Debt Is Wiped Out

Jesus assumed our guilt when He suffered the
full penalty of our sins, in our name, in our place in His death for us on the cross. The entire debt against the one who believes on Christ is wiped out. Such a person shall never have to face God’s judgment for sin. Jesus said, I say emphatically that anyone who believes in God who sent me has eternal life. And will never be damned [or condemned or judged] for his or her sins, but has already passed out of death into life. John 5:24LB

There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus-Romans 8:1

for who shall accuse those whom God has chosen? God himself declares them not guilty! Can anyone, then, condemn them?…Jesus Christ is the one who died [for them]…who then can separate us from the love of Christ? Rom.8:33-35TEV As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.Psa.103:12 God is love.1Jo.4:8

God’s love never gives up on us.

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,2Peter 3:9 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but would have everlasting life.John 3:16 The gospel [the good news] is the power of God to everyone who believes.Romans 1:16 If any one is in Christ, that person is a new creature. Old things are passed away; all things are become new. 2Co.5:17

You can be a product of GOD’S LOVE-PLAN.

Only Believe

Fear not, little flock, from the cross to the throne,
From death into life He went for His own;
All power in earth, all power above,
Is given to Him for the flock of His love.

Refrain

Only believe, only believe;
All things are possible, only believe,
Only believe, only believe;
All things are possible, only believe.

Fear not, little flock, He goeth ahead,
Your Shepherd selecteth the path you must tread;
The waters of Marah He’ll sweeten for thee,
He drank all the bitter in Gethsemane.

Refrain

Fear not, little flock, whatever your lot,
He enters all rooms, “the doors being shut,”
He never forsakes; He never is gone,
So count on His presence in darkness and dawn.

Refrain

Get off the Fence!

Jesus said if you were lukewarm he would vomit you out his mouth.

Elijah said if Baal is god serve him, if Jehovah is God serve Him!

God said: I set before you life and death, choose life.

Get off the fence!

Important Church Update (Sunday 7th June)

Our next service is 3-5pm on Sunday 14th June.

Our monthly theme for our preaching and teaching for June is “Hope” and Benjamin is continuing his series by giving us 7 ways we can build up our hope so we have a strong hope and are eagerly excited for the future God has for us.  The message on the 7th June was a powerful message about how we need the three pigments of a right view of God, a right view of man and a right view of our destiny so the Lord can paint a great picture of our future in our mind.  During the week, Ben is going to summarize the message and put it on the blog.

We do not put our address on the web for security reasons, but if you contact us we will be more than happy to give you directions and answer any questions you have.  We will be worshipping the Lord and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us as we do in any cell meeting.

We will be resuming meetings in the Fulwell Cross Library in August of this year, and in the summer are having a “Wonderful News” Gospel Crusade.  Watch this space for further details, or if you cannot wait, please feel free to email us: info@treeoflifechurch.org.uk

You Have A Destiny (Andrew Wommack)

Dear Benjamin,

You were not created by accident. You are not a mistake. Your presence on this earth at this time in history was preordained. The way you look, the talents and gifts you possess, and the personality you have been given is all part of God’s plan.

He made you the way you are for a very specific purpose, and no one can ever replace you. But, if you are ever going to fulfill that purpose—your destiny—it begins with believing that you have one and that you must cooperate with God to bring it to pass.

Psalm 139:16 says, “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

Jeremiah 1:5 reads, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

And in Galatians 1:15, the Apostle Paul writes, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace.”

I know that many believers never let the Bible get in the way of what they believe. But these three verses, and there are many more, should be enough to convince any skeptic. They are written proof that God knew you even before you were born and that He has a very specific plan for your life that no one else can fulfill. He has a destiny designed just for you.

The word destiny is defined in the America Heritage Dictionary as “the inevitable or necessary fate to which a particular person is destined. A predetermined course of events.”

However, I believe that definition is wrong. It implies that your destiny cannot be avoided or prevented. That is not scriptural and therefore just not true. It’s true that your destiny is preordained, but it is not inevitable.

Whenever I teach this, it always brings up questions about the sovereignty of God. There are some who teach the sovereignty of God in a way that leads one to believe everything happens for a reason and that God is behind it all. If this is true, then you have to be prepared to blame God for every evil and bad thing that happens on the earth. That means every catastrophe, every war, every murder, every rape, or anything else you can name must be God’s will. If that were true, then God has not done a good job of running the world.

I believe this teaching is the worst heresy in the body of Christ today. And it’s very destructive because it takes away the will to resist evil. You need to live with a sense of destiny. It’s important not to go through life doing your own thing and then asking God to bless it. It’s the reason so many believers are experiencing a lack of success, of fulfillment and satisfaction.

There is a power and an anointing that only comes when you are fulfilling God’s plan for your life. Every person has a preordained plan for their life, but God is not going to make it come to pass. God will speak to you, and He will woo you. He wants to reveal His plan for you more than you want to know it, but it’s incumbent upon you to find out what it is. As long as you are asking God to reveal His purpose while you are on your way to doing something else, you’ll never learn what it is.

Jeremiah 29:13 says, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” When you finally reach the point where you can no longer live without knowing His will, I guarantee you’ll find it. However, it doesn’t happen without your pursuit. Deuteronomy 30:19 makes it very clear that God has given you the power and the freedom to make your own choices: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” God does not force His will or His plan upon anyone.

So, is He sovereign? Yes, if the correct definition for sovereign is used. Sovereign means supreme in power or rank. We all would agree with this definition, but I totally disagree with the way religion today uses “sovereign.” God does not make His will for our lives come to pass. We have to submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7). We have responsibility.

The best example of this is in the Great Commission: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16). The Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

You would have to have help to misunderstand these scriptures. It’s not God’s will for people to perish, and yet they do because His will is not automatic. Maybe the person who was called to preach didn’t obey, or maybe the one hearing the message rejected it. In either case, God’s will did not come to pass. Your destiny will not come to pass automatically either.

Whatever God is calling you to do, it is not based on your natural talents and abilities. I am not saying that there is no connection between those natural gifts and God’s plan for your life. However, many times God will call a person to do what they seem totally unqualified for. He will call you to do the very thing you can’t do.

If you would have told me at eighteen years of age that God was calling me to be a minister, looking at my natural abilities, I would have said no way, no way, no way. But you know what? Looking back, I can see that everything in my life was pointing toward exactly what I am doing now. God has a destiny for you, and He wants to reveal it. But He is not going to run you down. He is not going to steamroll you or force it upon you.

That reminds me of Romans 12:1, which says you are to present yourself as a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice is a volunteer. If God were to force your destiny upon you, it wouldn’t be a sacrifice; it would be slavery. For whatever reason, many believers have been sidetracked. When I teach on this subject at churches or conferences and ask how many know that they know what their destinies are, few ever raise their hands. When I ask those to stand who would like prayer regarding this, it’s usually eighty to ninety percent of the audience. This is not what the Lord intended. Regardless of where you find yourself today, God is so awesome that He can plot a course from right where you are to where He planned for you to be.

It’s like a GPS navigator. When you go the wrong way, it says “Recalculating,” and in an instant, it has a new route planned to get you to your destination. It doesn’t matter how old you are or what has happened in your past; it’s never too late to recalculate. Just believe that you have a destiny, and determine in your heart that you will not take another step in life until you know what it is. Then, just start doing what God is telling you to do. He won’t necessarily give you the entire picture, but He will give you the next step.

As you take that step, you will find that there is an automatic anointing that comes to help you accomplish it. It would be unjust for God to call you do to something and then ask you to do it in your own strength. Everything God asks you to do is supernatural. He will always lead you to do something that is beyond your own natural ability so you will have to be dependent on Him. If it’s not supernatural, it’s superficial! God wants your life to be supernatural!

Help Needed For Wonderful News Crusade

In no particular order, we need the following things for our Wonderful News Healing Crusade from 11-14th August 2009.

1. A worship leader

As anyone who knows me knows, I cannot lead worship and have very little musical talent.  Due to the fact we are in a library we are not allowed any amplification equipment.  We can have an acoustic guitar and we have access to a piano on the last two nights, so if you know someone who can lead for us that would be wonderful.  We need someone who is an individual (a band would be too loud), can play three or four songs that are upbeat, Biblically based (not begging and whining songs!) and who is a person full of faith and the Holy Spirit.  Please believe God with us that we will find someone.

2. Ushers.

We have a couple already, but we ideally want 4.  Again, people full of faith and the Holy Spirit.   Willing to greet people, be positive, and take names and addresses of people who are saved and healed for follow up.  Someone who is willing and able to lead someone to the Lord, lead someone into the baptism in the Holy Spirit and lay hands on the sick would be a bonus.  In the church we are teaching on healing and ministering healing throughout July on Sunday afternoons, so we would expect our ushers to attend a couple of services in July at least.

3. We need people to attend.

People are drawn to crowds, so if you are reading this, then think about making your way to Essex in August and come and join with us.  You will hear some great preaching (if I do say so myself) and see some great miracles (because God honours His Word!) and will be blessed.  If you need accomodation, don’t worry, we will sort that for you.

4. A Banner.

I want a 3′ x 7′ banner to put up outside so people walking past will know about our meetings.  I am going to price some up in the next week.  If you know companies that make excellent banners at good value, then please let me know!

5. Tracts.  We are submitting our plans to the printers and designers next week.  Please pray for wisdom for them that they produce something truly eye catching and anointed.

6. Bibles.  Thankfully a charity looks like it is going to be donating us 20 Bibles.  Please pray this goes smoothly.

7. 4 sermons.  Please pray for wisdom and revelation for me so I preach the Word of God and not tradition, with boldness and with humility and grace.

8. People help hand out leaflets.  Door-to-door and in the streets of Ilford and Barkingside and possibly Romford and Barking too.  If you can help for a few hours one evening or on Saturday, please let us know.

9. Advertising.   My goal is to advertise in the local paper and on local radio.  I would also like to advertise on Premier radio.  Please pray that I will be able to get through to the decision makers easily and get eye catching adverts in all these places.  Also, some money to get these adverts out would be lovely!

10. A Follow Up Plan.  I want to be able to hand out Andrew Wommack literature to everyone who attends, and some clear teaching literature to everyone who is born again or healed or baptised in the Holy Spirit.  I want to have a clear plan for collecting addresses and details of people who have their lives changed.  I am not looking to steal sheep from other churches in the slighest, but when people come, are born again and have their lifes changed, I want to be able to pastor them and help feed them and help them renew their minds over time.

11. Boldness.  Please pray we will have boldness to keep faithful to the Lord and His plan throughout the entire event.

Thanks in advance for your prayers and so on.  If you are praying for us, add a comment to this post and let us know.  We need encouragement too!

Blessings,

Benjamin

Yongii Cho Quotes…

David Yongii Cho is the pastor of the world’s largest church.  Here are some wonderful quotes to build you up spiritually…

To Grow Out You Must Grow In

Growing in means the development of inner resources. When you build a tall building, the crucial aspect that determines success is the building’s foundation. To build high, you must dig deep.

A building’s foundation is not tested until the exact stress for which its foundation was designed comes to bear upon it. The foundation’s strength is then tested and the soundness of its construction is most crucial at this time.

Changing Your Attitude

The first place that God needs to work is in your heart. The heart is the major battle ground.

John 14:1-4 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

Prov 4:20-23 “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

How does one become successful as spiritual leader, as a businessman, or in any other profession? You first must change your heart attitude. How can you change your heart attitude? You must inspect your vision. If you have the wrong vision or if your vision is too small for the ability God has granted you, your heart attitude is also going to be wrong and you’ll find yourself discouraged, bewildered, and depressed.

Some cover up their failures by using catch phrases that sound spiritual. God wants us to grow and to grow in a big way. Being satisfied with smallness may reveal a lack of spiritual insight of God’s kingdom purposes. Or perhaps it is a lack of compassion for a world that doesn’t know the Lord or for believers that are struggling. How else can we serve God and help others unless we ourselves are successful. This is no time to be satisfied with the status quo in your life. This is the time that God will work in your heart for great growth both spiritually and materially. Don’t be fearful when you consider the possibility that God has great things for you. God has called you for special purpose. You must work on your heart to find His purpose for your life.

A Man’s Vision Will Also Limited His Behavior.

We can never be any more than we dream of being. As we set our eyes on God’s holy word and develop a deep fellowship with the Holy Spirit, our vision is changed. How can you change your vision? You can’t, but the Holy spirit can and will.

I had to be delivered from the concept that the Holy Spirit was just an experience and come to the realization that the Holy Spirit was a real, divine person.

As I began to wait upon him and talk to him, he then became very real to me and began to change my vision. In fact, as we set our gaze upon the Holy Spirit, he takes the brush of faith, dips into the ink of the Word of God and draws beautiful pictures upon the canvas of our hearts. After he gives us a new picture to strive for, we find a new internal motivation.

…there is no obstacle that can discourage a man who’s been given a vision by the Holy Spirit. One of the main obstacles to overcome is the opinion of those who say, “It’s impossible. It has never been done before.” What is their problem? They have never seen what God has shown you. Once God has granted you a vision, then you must learn to spend time dreaming over that vision.

Visions and Dreams

This is the essence of my philosophy. It covers all of the principles of congregational growth work. I call it “visions and dreams.” As I travel throughout the world, I’ve seen evidences of the fact that the application of vision and dreams really works in changing one’s heart attitude.

Most men I’ve seen are satisfied with the status quo. They have congregations of 30 to 50 members and since most tithed, they could live comfortably without expanding. So their congregations become exclusive little clubs. When this happens, the desire for growth will not develop.

Expand Your Vision

Sometimes our actions limit our vision. At times we find ourselves in a situation where we have to choose the level of money we’re going to spend for something. Perhaps you’re visiting a place and need to stay in a hotel. What kind of a room should you stay in? Does God really want us to stay in a nice place? Does he want us to stay in spartan surroundings so as to conserve money? This a difficult question, which only you can you answer. Yet sometimes, I’ve found that people don’t believe God for great things, especially when it comes to themselves. This may come from a sense of inferiority, or a false humility or spirituality.

That week I spent much time teaching the leaders to begin to expand their vision and dreams. As amazing as it sounds, it seems that our heavenly Father allows his representatives on earth to limit his activity through a lack of vision. I believe the same thing applies to prayer. God voluntarily limits Himself by our prayers. He can do anything, but He chooses to limit the scope of His authority by vesting it in us.

So here is how it works. Our heart attitude is changed by catching a fresh vision from the Holy Spirit. Once the vision is imparted, we must dwell upon it and dream about it until the vision comes into reality.

The Language of the Holy Spirit

Rom 4:16-18 “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed– God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”

Abraham was a man who was not willing to stay in the status quo. He was able to leave the known and enter into a new place, the one shown to him by God. If Abraham looked only upon the circumstances he would not have listened to God. He would have stayed in Haran. Abraham possessed the quality of obedience which caused him to move forward despite every obstacle. He went through difficult times, when everything he did seemed to fail. Abraham was first obedient to God as evidenced by his leaving the known and being willing to enter into the unknown. Although he believed that God could do what he promised, Abraham had to “see” the promise come to pass in his spirit before he could actually set foot upon it. He first saw the reality in the dreams and by Holy Spirit-given vision. Cho believes that vision comes after a person has proven themselves to be obedient. Then once the vision comes, a person needs to dream about the fulfillment to the vision. That process of dreaming, thinking, and meditating about the vision, he calls incubation. We should incubate on the vision until it becomes reality–until God calls those things which are not as though they were.

God is Interested in Our Success

We must always remember that God is more interested in our success and church growth than we are. After all, it is his church. Our problem is that our hearts have not had the proper attitude because our vision has not been correct. We have not have the proper vision because we have not entered into a deep and loving fellowship with the Holy Spirit. All vision is revealed to us by God through the Holy Spirit.

What is our goal? Is it growth of God’s kingdom? Are we looking for increased numbers? Are we looking for increased spiritual maturity in people? If so, that we can be assured in our spirits that this is certainly God’s will.

Remember, you can listen to this talk or read a book on spiritual growth yet never see a change in yourself or the situation you find yourself in. Why? Perhaps it’s because your heart has not really changed. Nothing much will happen unless there’s been a heart change.

We are Spirit Beings

We are essentially spiritual beings, using intellect and emotion, all housed in a physical body. Our spirits are revived at the new birth, but they need nourishment and development. The Holy Spirit has been given to us as the comforter to lead us and guide us. He has the mind of God, even for your church. Once you receive his direction and vision, you change your heart attitude from failure to success. Now you begin to be motivated by a greater force than you have never known and you will begin to see results as you follow proper church growth principles.

You Need Vision

The greatest hindrance to the fulfillment of God’s desire to see growth is a lack of vision within the leadership. “It can’t happen here. This is too hard a field.” These negative statements must be put out of our vocabulary, once and for all. We are to begin using the language of the Holy Spirit and building a new success consciousness in the minds of all our people.

This kind of negative talk kills vision. Once you get a vision from God go with it. Put to death any negative statements. Of course, your vision must not contradict the Word of God and it must be in His will.

I’ve found that the safest course is to take counsel with those in leadership above you. They have been given by God to guard you from getting out of his will. Any true vision of God will stand the test of being brought before leadership. Even if those above you don’t understand or comprehend the vision God has given you, they’ll recognize that the Holy Spirit has indeed planted something within your spirit. you see, efficient is implanted spiritually and its communicated spiritually. You don’t have to fear that your explanation will not convey the divine nature of what you’ve received. Our spirits are commended to another’s spirit by the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes a failure to take counsel indicates a lack of trust in God. God works through leadership not in spite of leadership. Leadership is not an obstacle to get around. Fear that the leadership which God has entrusted to care for your soul will prevent you from walking out your vision is a terrible deception of the Enemy.

People can be deceived in regard to vision. This isn’t meant to discourage you, but vision is so powerful a tool from God that the Enemy can use false or distorted vision to get believers out of God’s will.

Have an Attitude of Success

To motivate others to succeed, we must have an attitude of success not only in our speaking but also in our lives. Many congregations have a non-growth attitude because the leader does not possess a high enough self esteem. This is a key in leadership.

The reason for your poor self-image may be one of the following: poor appearance, education, discipline, family status, ability, and health. This list is far from exhaustive but representative of the excuses given for poor self image.

Another thing that Cho is saying is that personal appearance is important. When he meets ambassadors of the world’s leading nations, one of the common traits they seem to possess is general good looks. They may not be young or handsome, but they seem to be in good shape. After all, are they not representing their particular country? Should they not try to present their best image? Yet, the kingdom of God also has ambassadors. They represent the king of kings and the Lord of the Lords. It is Cho’s opinion that a leader can change his self image by watching his diet and doing the best that he can with what God has given him. Are you doing the best with what God has given you–as Messiah’s ambassador? Are you presenting an image that other should follow? If not, it’s never too late to change. Once you start feeling good about yourself, you will find others will feel better about you too. People will first look at you before they listen to you. What they see affects how they hear.

Another important concept is learning. Success for people spend their whole lives aboard this is not limited by formal education. He has called us to a life of continual improvement. Educate yourself understand what you’re asking and go out and prove yourself.

Have Discipline

A lack of discipline is another reason why people have a poor self image. I’ve had appointments with leaders who show up one to 2 hours late. Traffic, business pressures and unexpected circumstances are poor excuses for tardiness. Make your plans with the provision for the unexpected.

Sin

Sin is one of the chief causes of poor self image. It is therefore, imperative for every person who God wishes to use in the building of his congregation to live a holy life. What you watch and dwell upon will affect what you become. If there is sin in your life, confess that sin quickly to God, repenting from it and asking for his Grace to live morally clean. Little success leads to great victories and soon you will find your self image has changed. God is a loving and forgiving God. If he expects you to forgive your brother, why should he not forgive you?

Change is Possible

I don’t care how low your family station is, God can change your self image. Remember that Yeshua was born into a very poor family circumstance and He is a son of God. As you get a fresh vision of God’s will for your life and ministry, you can overcome all of society’s barriers and succeed. Abilities may differ but success is for all. Our problem begins when we compare ourselves with other people. Some of you haven’t succeeded in school or in the job market and as a result you have poor self image. The way to overcome these past obstacles is to compare ourselves with the goal that God has set before us. He never leads us to do anything that He has not given us the grace and the strength to accomplish successfully.

Don’t judge yourself too harshly or too quickly. Even Einstein failed over and over again before he had success. Just because you’ve failed doesn’t mean you are a failure.

All successful ministries and leaders that I know have made mistakes. Making a mistake doesn’t mean you’re God’s mistake. Learn valuable lessons from your mistakes.

Health and Handicaps

You must cooperate with God in keeping your body fit. Exercise regularly, watch what you eat, rest as much as possible. Stress is one the greatest problems to keeping healthy. Oftentimes leaders collapse from exhaustion. Learn the secret of trusting other people. Realize that the kingdom of God works by others combining with one another. Trust other people. Trust that you don’t have to do everything yourself.

Maybe you have a handicap–a physical or mental limitation. We should take any handicaps that we have and turn them into assets. Believe God for your healing and restoration, yet move forward. Don’t wait for your healing to move forward.

Our Associations

Watch out for the type of people to associate with. Are they negative? Do they negatively affect our self image? By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be set free from the disabling effects of negative people and surroundings. Read the Word of God. Find out what God says about yourself. If God did not believe we were of value, He would not have sent His son to die for us. We are called to special works. We have great value in the Lord. We’re able to do all that God has called us to do, by his Grace.

Pray and Do

Sometimes we pray that God would do something and then we stand back to see what God does. This is a great mistake. God will work through us. He works through you and me. This is why our personal resources are of utmost importance. What would we be like if we had the success we’re believing for? The answer to that question is very important. Our character is now being prepared for revival. We are being tested and we are finding grace to overcome the test. Why? Because God wants to use us.

Wonderful News Healing Crusade

It is my absolute pleasure to announce that Tree of Life Church is going to hold a “Wonderful News” Healing Crusade in Ilford, Essex from August 11-14th 2009 (Tuesday – Friday).  We are believing God for the same miracles we see whenever we preach the Word of God with boldness and confidence and we have no doubt we will see healings, miracles and salvations throughout the crusade because we know our God.

We will need a number of things to ensure this crusade is effective and will make a list in the next few days and publish it here.  Right now, your prayers for success and the growth of the kingdom to develop and expand.
Blessings,

Benjamin