Tag: Freedom

Faith Works By Love

 

 
  • For years the faith movement has been telling people that “faith works by love”. It’s true, that’s how faith works, but they misunderstood “by love”, telling us that faith only works when we love.

    If we don’t love people, forgive people, help people, serve people, show compassion on people, help people, live for people then our faith won’t work, we will stay sick, stay poor, stay in defeat and that’s that.

    So we responded. We made our love confessions, we strained to feel good feelings for people who annoyed us, we made ourselves human doormats, we became our pastor’s armour bearers serving them to the detriment of our own families. In the name of love, we strained to the point we became unbearable to live with. Then we stayed poor, stayed sick, stayed in defeat and rather than receiving God’s grace and healing and prosperity and victory we wailed our lack of love, we condemned our unforgiveness, we beat ourselves up for not loving enough, not feeling enough love and not doing enough – no matter how much we did do and how much we sacrificed.

    The truth (which will set you free as you read this): the love that empowers our faith is not our feeble, human, limited, pathetic, self-obsessed, impure, roller coaster feeling of love; not that which we squeeze out of our hearts and then kick the dog the next moment because our heart now hurts so bad. It’s not even our love at all: it’s HIS LOVE.

    Faith doesn’t work because you have earned enough brownie points loving people. It works when you realize that no matter what you have done, no matter what you have felt, no matter what you have felt, no matter how half-hearted you have been, no matter how much you hurt inside: GOD STILL LOVES YOU.

    His love is unending, unconditional, undeserved. It is not a still, logical, passive love: GOD IS LOVE. He is alive with love for you, He is buzzing, sparking, zapping with love for you. He made you because He needed a vessel to love with all the love inside Him. He redeemed you through Christ and His death and resurrection just so He could pour that love inside you and love you from the inside out.

    God is eternal, and every moment of that eternity is crammed with His love for you. God is infinite – and every iota of that space is exploding with the heat of a million suns with love for you. It’s not love based on your goodness, your strength, your joy, your ability to do. It’s love that comes straight from His nature, His heart, His being. The core of God is love for you.

    God is all-powerful and every ounce of His infinite strength is for you not against you. God can think a million thoughts at once, and all of them are thoughts on how to prosper you, how to get you through, how to make your life heaven on earth. His whole nature is love.

    When you realize the depths of His love for you, and when you grasp that He will never let you go, never let you down, never do or think anything that is not for your highest. When you realize that Christianity is not your utmost for His highest, but His utmost for your Highest; when you find out that you are not a sinner in the hand of an angry God, but a child of a loving Father. When you find out that the faith-life isn’t about your love for Him, but His love for you: then FAITH WORKS.

    Why wouldn’t He heal me when He adores me? Why wouldn’t I get the promotion at work? HE ADORES ME. HE LOVES ME. He wants me to have good things to enjoy. He wants to supply my needs according to His riches in glory. He is awesome to me. He can’t stop thinking about me.

    Of course I am going to walk in victory because He loves me. Passionately. Always. Not based on what I do, but based on what He has done.

    That’s why faith works by love: it’s easy to believe good things are going to happen to me the more I realize and grasp and meditate on His love for me.

The Mandate for a Grace Filled, Guilt Free, New Testament Church

Arthur’s messages during our Restoring Leaders conference have really challenged me and lifted my thinking.  He is possibly the single most powerful Bible teacher in our generation (yes, I know I have said something superlative there and I have considered my thoughts and words carefully).

Something he said several times was this: we have to take a stand.  And that is so true.  It’s all right claiming that we are a grace church, and that we are a church that take the New Covenant and the complete work of Christ seriously, but then when it comes to worship we sing “I’m so hungry, so desperate, I’m going to the enemy’s camp, I surrender all” when it’s nothing to do with “I” but with “HIM”.  This Sunday I determined to only select songs that would be appropriate in heaven – that led to me rejecting a huge number of songs.  Well over 80% of what is written today is about us, about begging God, and about “warring with the enemy”.

That is not the worship of heaven and it should not be the worship of the redeemed either.

Then we have the offering and we beg and plead for money and make prosperity something you have to “DO” to be prosperous, when prosperity is rooted in the redemptive work NOT IN OUR ACTIONS!

No – I am taking my stand.  This Sunday.  If I lose 1/2 the church, then that is what will happen, but Tree of Life Church is a New Testament Church.  We are not going back to the law.  I have already dealt with a lot of this in the series I did on Witchcraft in the Church, but I am going back to this ground and staking a claim.  The foundation of our church is God’s grace as found in the complete redemptive work of Jesus.

No more do to be.  No more heavy burdens.  No more guilt, no more fear, no more shame.  No more condemnation.  No more law – law was our master until grace set us free.

That nagging, doubting, harsh voice inside you – IT’S NOT GOD!  He loves you.  He adores you.  He only has thoughts to prosper you.  He isn’t angry at you, and he isn’t mad at you, and He isn’t out to get you.  

When people say it’s greasy grace: GOOD!  We need to slide in, we couldn’t even walk in through the door of works, none of us could!

When people try and make you feel ashamed because you preach and believe grace and that the law is over, let them know: you are NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL!

I’ll let you know how it goes.  I believe it will go awesome because God is initiating it, and God is in it. And our church are a bunch that just want to know His Word so they can know Him better.

 

 

The Naked devil

Angels and Demons – Tree of Life Church London

One of the greatest dangers for the charismatic church at the end of the age is an obsession with the devil – that the church magnifies the devil and minimizes God and His greatness.

In this powerful and Biblical message, Benjamin shares what the devil really is and who we really are and what spiritual warfare really is. This message will deal with some of the charismatic traditions that steal our freedom in Christ and our victory.

Chris Tomlin Amazing Grace My Chains are gone with Lyrics

Beautiful hymn of worship from Chris Tomlin for you to enjoy this Sunday. Blessings, Ben

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Chris Tomlin Amazing Grace My Chains …“, posted with vodpod

Romans 1.1

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

I am going to daily post a sequential verse of Romans and make commentary on it.  I hope you enjoy.  Please feel free to make comments as per the blog system, regards.

The gospel is the Greek word euaggelion which means good news or happy news. There is no Hebrew equivalent because the Old Testament does not bring good news, only the news that Jesus Christ has completely paid the price for your sin, that you are not under law but under grace, that you are completely free from sin, sickness and poverty is good news.

Paul was separated to the gospel. What are you separated unto? Paul was utterly devoted to the gospel – anything that got in the way of the gospel Paul just did not pay attention to. Think about that – if anything in your life does not increase the gospel in your life: does not increase the amount of good news that is in your heart, then just ignore it. Turn that TV programme off, distance yourself from that person, and throw that religious book in the bin. If it is not making you glad, what is your fascination with it?

Get separated unto the gospel. Whatever it takes get it. Because what you are separated to, what you fill your heart with will produce in your life. You are what you think, so think the gospel.

Glory and freedom,

Benjamin

Be Thankful!

I have just loaded a sermon where I am preaching on the need to be thankful to our church website.

You can access the sermon here.

If you enjoyed the sermon, or even if you didn’t, feel free to put your comments here.

Glory and freedom,

Benjamin

How To Minister Healing (by Curry Blake)

How To Minister Healing

——————————————————————————–

1. Determine Problem
a. Get name or
b. Symptom(s)
c. Find out what the people can not do.

2. If no name (can’t be diagnosed “known through”):
a. Attack (cast out, evict) the spirit of infirmity.

3. If more than 2 problems (names or symptoms):
a. Attack (cast out, evict) the spirit of infirmity.

4. If problems started with a traumatic experience:
a. Attack (cast out, evict) the spirit of infirmity.

5. Once the problem is determined:
a. Declare the problem has no right to remain.
b. Declare the person is free in the Name of Jesus.
c. Deliver LIFE (virtue/power) by the method you choose: – Laying on of hands – Prayer cloth – Words – An action to be obeyed
d. Tell the spirit/problem what you want it to do.
e. Tell the body what you want it to do: “Be healed.” “System” function, etc.
f. Tell the person to do what they could not do. 1. Keep working with them until they can do what they could not do before.
g. Have them testify of any changes.

We Died To Our Old Nature (Kenneth Hagin)

We Died to Our Old Nature

By Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.(2 Cor. 5:17)

When we were born again, we died to our old nature. We died to our diseases. And we rose in the fullness of life, free from our sins and diseases.

I was reading a sermon by a Methodist minister once. In his sermon, he shared the following story:
  “I was in bondage to tobacco. I was in a large city at a Methodist conference and wanted a cigarette. So I went into the back alley and smoked a cigarette.
[If any of the brethren had seen him, they would have taken his ordination papers away from him.] Afterwards, I felt so condemned.

“I said to the Lord, ‘Lord, I’ve done my best. I know that I don’t need that and I shouldn’t be bound by anything. And yet, I’m under bondage. I’ve prayed and fasted sometimes as long as two weeks and I still go right back to it.’

“Then I heard the Lord say, ‘That’s the problem. You’ve tried to do it yourself. Don’t you know that I delivered you from all bondage at Calvary?’ I said, ‘Yes, that’s right. You did. Thank You, Lord. I’m delivered!'”

From that day on, he never wanted another cigarette. You see, he accepted God’s deliverance and was set free!

In the area of healing, many people are struggling and trying to be healed. They don’t realize that Jesus already delivered them from all sickness and disease at Calvary and that all they have to do is accept it and thank God for it.

Confession Thank You, Father, for delivering me from sickness and disease at Calvary. I accept it and thank You for it!

(Taken by permission from RHEMA Bible Church , aka Kenneth Hagin Ministries , Tulsa , OK , USA.  www.rhema.org )

Satan Defeated (E. W. Kenyon)

Satan Defeated!

by E.W. Kenyon

Few of us have ever recognized the fact that the Scriptures teach that Satan is defeated as far as the believer is concerned.

He was not conquered by the believer; he was conquered by Christ for the believer in His Substitutionary Work.

The Victory Christ wrought belongs to the believer, because we were identified with Christ in His Substitutionary Work. Right there in the presence of all the hosts of darkness, Jesus conquered the Prince of Darkness.

Rotherham’s Translation is graphic: “He paralyzed the death-dealing power of Satan.”

He paralyzed him. He broke him. Now this is what I want you to notice: This was an Eternal victory. Satan was Eternally broken, Eternally conquered.

Did you notice how Peter puts it? I Peter 5:8,”He goes about like a roaring lion,” and he says, “Whom withstand steadfast in your faith.”

Our combat has been fought and won. There isn’t any battle for you to fight except the battle of faith. You are to fight the good fight of faith. What does that mean?

You are to win all your victories with Words.

You are to learn the words of this Wonderful Book, and with Words, you will conquer the enemy.

You see, your combat is not against flesh and blood, as the Spirit tells us in Ephesians 6:12, but it is against the defeated principalities and powers.

These principalities and powers have all been conquered. Their defeat is spoken of in Hebrews 9:12 as an Eternal redemption from them.

You are Eternally set free. They are eternally defeated,whipped,conquered. You get your liberty by remembering these words and then acting accordingly.

Can’t you see what it means? That Satan knows he is whipped but he doesn’t want you to know it. He wants to keep you in ignorance of it.

Who Is Qualified to Lay Hands on the Sick? (Kenneth E Hagin)

Who Is Qualified To Lay Hands on the Sick

By Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin

…They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Mark 16:18

We’ve looked at this scripture before in explaining that not all healings are instantaneous. Now let’s look at the previous verse, Mark 16:17. “And these signs shall follow THEM THAT BELIEVE….”

These signs, such as laying hands on the sick, shall follow believers. Who shall lay hands on the sick?

Believers shall lay hands on the sick.

You see, laying on of hands is more than a sign. It is also a New Testament doctrine. It’s one of the fundamental principles of the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 6:1 and 2 says, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands….”

The doctrine of laying on of hands belongs to the whole Church. Any believer has the right to lay hands on the sick in the Name of Jesus.

In 1963, I was preaching at a meeting in Tulsa, and a young Baptist couple came up to me. The wife said to me, “We’re so glad we came.

We’ve learned so much. You spoke about the laying on of hands a few nights ago. Well, my husband started mowing the lawn yesterday. I heard the lawnmower running, but I realized it wasn’t moving.

“So I ran out and looked. My husband was lying in the middle of the front yard, flat on his face. The lawnmower had run up against the house and was still running. Ordinarily, I would have panicked and gone wild, but instead, I rushed out there and laid hands on him.”

The Bible says that believers, not just preachers, shall lay hands on the sick. I am a believer. I can lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.