Standing Before God

We confess what Jesus has promised us. We pray over what Jesus has promised us. We have authority and we have confession.

It says in Ephesians that we are to stand. I see two meanings to this. One is that we are standing on the promises that God has given us and we are looking for Him to grant them to us. We know that we have the petitions we have asked because we are living according to the requirements for the promises to be fulfilled.

We are not experiencing the answer, but we are assured of it because of the Word of God.

There is another aspect to standing. We are to stand in the presence of God. Jeremiah, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah and others talk about this. It is in the presence of the Lord that we get the authority to rule. It is in the presence of the Lord we are able to minister to the sheep we have been given. It is in the presence of the Lord we are given the ability to minister. It is in the presence of the Lord we are given the words to minister.

John 6:21 Jesus in the boat. How do we get Him in our boat? It really is not Him getting in our boat but us getting in Jesus' boat. And we do that by going before God and standing in His presence.

How do we stand? Heb 4:16 We can come boldly. What I see from standing is that we are there to receive not to ask.

I see standing as being in God's presence with the assurance of the promise from His Word. Yet we do not experience the fulfillment here on earth yet. We are standing when we stand firm between the promise in heaven and the chaos on earth. Faith brings the answer to earth. Assurance in God's faithfulness.

Do we believe God is a man of His word? Or is God just an old man that really isn't actively involved in the day to day issues of life? God is a God of His Word, and we can ask and receive in Jesus name! John 14:14

We are living in a disconnect between what we say we believe and how we really live. How we live is the true way of our belief.

To change from a wishy washy life to a life of faith takes time with God.

Sucker Punch

The guy with the white hair had won a decision. This all happened after the fight was over.

When the Bible talks about fighting it means what it says. Many would sanitize Christianity. Yet we have a foe that does not play by the rules.

Luke 12:35 "Be dressed in readyness, and keep your lamps lit." NASB
"Keep your loins girded and your lamps burning." Amp

Jeremiah 16:16

Jeremiah 16:16

"Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen, declares the lord, and they will fish for them and afterwords I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks."

Let us be hunters and fishermen for the kingdom of light. There is a reward for reaping the harvest. To be a hunter you must know your gun. And to be a fisherman you must know your gear. But how do we learn?

Go and learn  Matthew 9:13 There is learning from doing. Then there is learning from studying.  Most of the porblems or resistance in sharing the gospel are from a lack of experience not knowledge.

Yes, study the Bible. But go.

Pray and go daily.

Scott

Con the World

John 4:14

John 4:14 "But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

There are many issues here:
Whoever
drinks
Jesus gives water
thirst
well
springing
eternal life

Whoever: Salvation is not for the few but for whoever will accept the water from Jesus. John 3:16 whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. 2 Peter 3:9 God does not want any to perish but for all to come to eternal life.
Isaiah 55:1 "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and mild without money and without cost." Salvation is free for whoever wills. It will change your life.

Jesus is offering water and it is the one who drinks that will benefit. Drinking is taking into our being and being sustained by it. When Jesus gives us a word we are sustained by it as we believe. Drinking is believing in the words of Jesus. Drinking is being sustained by the words of Jesus believing in them even when the circumstances of life are such that we could doubt the words of Jesus. But we reject the circustances and believe Jesus. Not that we hide our head in the sand and refuse to deal with current situations. But to believe is to not accept the current situation but to look to Jesus to fulfill His promise to us.
Be ready to receive the water from Jesus by having our heart ready. A soft heart ready to recieve the word and not a hard heart, which rejects the word of God.

Jessu gives water. This water is the word of God. It sustains us spiritually day by day. We need some each day. But are we willing to spend time with Jesus to receive water? Do we neglect Jesus and instead stay busy with our many details.

Thirst is desires. God's word will satisfy our desires. Even in the midst of acute need, the word of God will reach into our very soul the center of our being our spirit and satisfy us. We can be content in the midst of the trials of the world with the wrod of God. We have hope with the word. We have healing with the word. We have faith with the word. We have life with the word. We have eternal life with the word. Our thirst is quenched when we have Jesus. He is the word. Let us have soft hearts so the word will not run off the top of the soil but penatrate within.

As the deer pants for water so my soul pants for God Psalm 42:1.
Isaiah 49:10

Well. As we hide the word of God in our hearts we have a well of this water within. And it can be drawn upon in times of dryness.

Springing. The water in the well will spring up as the Holy Spirit moves in us. As we believe in the life giving power of the Word of God. We will have an abundance because of the word in our well. We have an abundance because Jesus gives us an abundant life.

Eternal life. Eternal life is knowing God. Jn 17:3 Eternal life starts at salvation not when we get to heaven. Eternal life happens when we are believing in the word of God given to us by Jesus. Eternal life is living in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not eating, drinking, or words. The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy and power. The kingdom of God brings people to salvation because of the word of God is the power of God for salvation. Jesus started preaching the same way John the Baptist did. Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

Creation Prayer

The Lord's prayer talks of creation prayer. Matthew 6:10 "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

When we pray what God desires, we can pray into existence the things He desires. Such as a Christian fellowship where none existed before. Another example is to pray provision for a needy family.

Jesus only prayed as the Father led. We can pray as the Holy Spirit leads and as the Bible directs.

Some reject this type of prayer because of past abuse. Should we reject salvation because someone preached the gospel for personal gain? Of course not.



Isaiah 42:9 "Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."

Romans 4:17,21 "(as it is written, "A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU") in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. "

There is power in prayer!

Sermon Recomendation

A very good sermon:

What it means to pray through by CH Clendennen.
http://media.sermonindex.net/5/SID5103.mp3