Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘The Living Word’ Category

Living Word Walking in You

Posted in The Living Word, tagged , , , on February 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: John 1:1-12

It happens so often that when I preach, some of you think of others. But I am not talking about those other people out there. We are basically concerned with us. Do you know why? If we fail, the world fails! We are holding up the whole world. God said (in 2 Thessalonians 2:7), “He that letteth will let, until out of the midst the devil comes forth!” Oh, you did not know that this is what this scripture actually says? Look it up in the Greek and you will see that this is the proper translation. “He (the Holy Spirit) that letteth will let, until out of the midst he (the antichrist)…is revealed!”

So it is the Holy Spirit that is holding us up and we are holding up the whole world. Believe you me, brethren, if we were not here, hell would have broken loose already. God said in Malachi 4:6b, “…lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

Do you realize that the greatest blessing that God has given us is the Word of God? Yes! The greatest blessing on earth is the Word of God; and the Word of God was revealed by speech, by written word, by a man. Hallelujah! And the “living Word” walked among us (John 1:1-12). Amen! As you meditate on God and release yourself in the Spirit, that “living Word” walks in you.

So then, God reveals Himself by His Word. Now, if you were the devil, where would you hit? This is warfare, now. Try to put yourself in the place of the devil. I hope you will never be in that place, but try to think about it. Where would you attack first? The Word! Yes! You would attack the Word; and if God makes a Bible, you would make another bible. Some time ago, I was sitting down listening to a man just reading the Bible over the radio. All of a sudden I realized that he had left out one whole big piece. Why? Because the devil hit the Word! He was reading from an alien translation!

Sooner or later there is going to be a head-on clash between the Word of God and the word of the devil. If you become the word of God (if you become what God wants you to be), you become the walking, talking, living word of God. So what is going to happen then? The devil will have to attack you. The devil will have to attack you. In past years and in past dispensations the brethren were murdered. God allowed them to be killed. God allowed them to die. God allowed it to this point in time and He still allows it. The Psalmist said, “Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price… Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people. My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me. For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger (Psalm 44:11-12, 14-16).” Amen!

This has been happening in every dispensation coming down through time. But in every dispensation God taught us something – He taught us VICTORY!

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 2003, pg. 6-7)

Thought for today: Meditate on God today and release yourself in the Spirit so that the “living Word” may walk in you.

Read Full Post »

Faith in the Word of God

Posted in Spiritual Warfare, The Living Word, tagged , , , , , on August 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: Acts 13:1-12

For every word that God has given you, there is a word that the devil gives to stop it. Consider why you do not function according to the Word of God as you ought to. The reason is that the devil always gives a counter word, which disturbs the faith that you should have in the Word of God.

The Word that God gives you is spirit and life and that spirit and life must come through you to work power and deliverance out there. Spirit and life! Power and deliverance! Every Word of God is powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, bringing down the kingdoms of the devil and the imaginations of man. This is the power of the Word of God! If you allow the other word to counteract you, then you have allowed a barrier to stop the Word of God from going through you. Therefore, your first weapon is “…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ref. Ephesians 6:17).

Let me tell you a little story. Gideon went out to fight the Midianites, because God told him, “You are a mighty man of valor—you can do it” (Judges 6:12).  Gideon did not believe he was any man of valor (his knees were knocking), but God said, “…thou mighty man of valor.” So he went and called up all his men. Thirty thousand men came to follow him and yet, he was so afraid. Remember now, God gives you a word (“Go out and fight!”), but the devil brings fear upon you so that you are so afraid that God has to give you another word just to bolster you.

We see this when God sent Gideon down to listen to what the Midianites were saying (Judges 7:9-15). God gave one of the Midianites a dream and Gideon overheard the man telling another man his dream of how this little barley cake rolled down off the hill and smashed their tent. When he heard that, another man said, “You know who that barley cake is? It is Gideon. It is that Gideon!”

In other words, God had to set a trap to make Gideon believe. Brethren, if you do not believe God, who are you going to believe? If you believe God, no power on earth can stop you—because faith creates the spirit of power! 

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). When you feel the faith of God, it lifts you off the floor; it energizes your body and your soul; and you know you have won. It is the amount of God’s energy and power that you will allow to flow through you. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” 

It is saying, “Forgive one another…for Christ’s sake.” Why does it say,  “…for Christ’s sake?” It is because Christ cannot move through you if you have unforgiveness in you. Unforgiveness blocks the flow of the power of Christ. 

In Luke 8, the woman came and grabbed the hem of Jesus’ garment. He said, “Hey! Energy came out of Me.” Yes! He said, “I feel virtue (“dunamis” in the Greek; power) drawn out of Me.” Do you understand? We are talking about the raw power of God. It can only work through you if your passages are clean. Without this, you can speak the Word of God from now until next year at this time and not a straw will move! It says in Acts 19 that the sons of Sceva tried to help a man who needed deliverance. They said, “In the Name of Jesus I rebuke you.” It says that the demons jumped on them, tore them, and they fled naked. Paul said, “I rebuke you in the Name of Jesus,” and it says in Acts 13:11 that the sorcerer Elymas went blind “immediately.” The deaf heard! The sick were healed! Immediately! It was because Paul had kept his gun clean.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, January 1997, pg. 10-13)

Thought for today: Do not listen to the word that the devil brings you. Believe the Word that God has spoken to you so that you can function in God as you ought to.

Read Full Post »

The Written Word

Posted in The Living Word, tagged , , , on August 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: II Timothy 3:10-17

The Word of God is explicit, direct, and without ambiguity. It is the life of the believer and a chart and compass to those who would walk in truth. Without it, the church would be confused by the voice of many spirits and men and would lose her way in a maze of lights not knowing which beam to follow.

There are basic principles of belief which are vital to the believer, which will, under the vigorous testing which follows the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior, be the very life-blood of the Christian and the determining factor as to whether he or she will overcome or fail. The most important basic principles are:

(1) The Bible is written by God and is the Word of God.

(2) There are no mistakes in the Bible.

(3) The truth of the Word is contained in its meaning and not in human interpretation of what the Word means.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16).

“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter 1:21).

These tenets are like the foundation of a very large building which must be laid deep down in the heart of the believer so that when the storms come, the winds blow and the billows roar, he will stand and not fall. So many mighty men have fallen and are falling. The reason is that their building was not founded on the Word of God, but in most cases on what they thought about the Word of God. We have to understand that thoughts about a thing are not necessarily the truth about the thing.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1993, pg. 13-14)

Thought for today: As we read our Bibles, let us remember that the foundation of the Word of God must be firmly established in our hearts so that we would be able to withstand the storms of life.

Read Full Post »

Life and Death – the Power of the Tongue

Posted in The Living Word, tagged , , , , , , on August 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: Matthew 12:22-37

Words can carry both life and death. This is so because we are not just dealing with natural things. A person who can get angry and wish another dead will have many evil spirits taking his word and going forth to accomplish that which was spoken. We live in a spiritual realm and no word falls to the ground. The spirits of God will obey every word of Christ that comes out of your mouth or your thoughts, but the spirits of the devil will also obey every evil thought and every evil word. As matured Christians we have learned not to speak any negative words or harbor any negative thoughts. Negative thoughts will come and we will see a thing to be totally negative, but we are the balancing force in the world and we are expected to reprove the darkness wherever we see it.

If you can see a negative thing about a person and not have the love and compassion to earnestly pray for that person, then it is the devil that showed you and not God. God will never show anyone anything about anybody unless he knows your love for that person. If He shows you, it means that you are being recruited to pray for that person.

The battle in the realms of the spirit goes back and forth upon these principles. If a man is guilty, then devils claim him, but another can drive that devil from him by the power that God gives us. Therefore, if we deride the guilty, we encourage the devils that have a claim on him to exercise their claim. Many times we see one continuously oppressed of devils and we might feel in our hearts, “It serves him right.” We have unwittingly joined the forces of the devil which are oppressing him and have failed God in the rescue effort which he needs.

We have a word that is like a flashing sword of light when it strikes evil spirits. This means that Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is Himself the Logos, has given us the rhema (or, the word of command) to use as one uses a gun or a sword.

Once I was attacked by what seemed to be a prince of darkness. His power was so great that when he held me, I could not physically move my hands, head, or tongue. At that moment, Jesus appeared to me and gave me instructions. I obeyed and my tongue was released to speak the word of rebuke. When I did so, the thing was thrown from me by the power of God. The rhema, therefore, was the command I spoke, but without Christ, the Logos, my words would be ineffective. Jesus Christ said, …the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63). This simply means that when Jesus speaks, spirits go forth from Him to do His bidding and from what we have learned, we are being brought into that same realm where we speak with the voice and authority of God.

The power of the spoken word should, however, be understood by the believer. When we abide in the Spirit, a certain authority goes along with the words we speak. We have seen it in action and the only way we can describe it is that it comes like a ray of light flashing from the believer to the enemy. In the case of the creative force, it is like a spirit that goes forth and creates the object spoken into being. This same force from God works in the preaching of the Word. If the person who delivers the Word is speaking with the authority of the Spirit, then the hearers must be blessed and lifted up towards Christ. All of God’s activity in the Church moves the believer towards becoming more and more like Christ; the spoken word is a creative force which not only attracts the spirits of heaven to us, but buoys us up into the heavenlies. The spoken word drives away the spiritual forces of the enemy and not even evil men can stand being around anyone who speaks the Word of God. Yes, we do overcome the enemy by the word of our mouth and the Blood of the Lamb.

There is, however, what I would call, a backup, provided of God in the person of the angels that are constantly guarding us:

“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”  (Hebrews 1:14)

Angels of God are appointed around every believer to minister for him. We are partners with God, but can only do a certain part of the work (that which pertains to the physical). The angels, however, are appointed of God to do the spiritual. Therefore, when we speak that which pleases God, His spirits act on our behalf. The place of function between man and God as one unit is described in the Word as the lampstand in the Tabernacle of Moses. It is depicted as one of the seven churches as well as one of the seven works of grace that will bring us into perfection (the Man Child Church). In Solomon’s Temple the lampstand was multiplied to ten and was made much larger than the one in Moses’ tabernacle. This shows that there would be a mighty increase in the ministry of God and man working together as well as that the magnitude of light in the Holy Place would be increased ten-fold.

The power of God in the Church has increased immensely, but because of the overspreading of iniquity and abominations, it is not very apparent to us. Nevertheless, we should understand that without this great power it would be impossible for us to even survive the present onslaught of Satan and his hosts.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1993, pg. 11-13)

Thought for today: The spiritual world is waiting to hear our words and thoughts so that they can carry out their purposes – whether good or bad.

Read Full Post »

The Power of the Spoken Word

Posted in The Living Word, tagged , , , , , on August 9, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: John 16:20-27

Ask, and Ye Shall Receive…

The first lesson I received in the power of the spoken word occurred one day when Jesus Christ came into my room during those memorable seven months in which He taught me the Bible personally. We had the usual appointment for four o’clock in the afternoon and I was in a little early, waiting upon Him. Suddenly He was there and His mood and attitude was upbeat. This means that I was lifted up in heavenly places the moment he appeared. He said, “Ask me for anything you desire and you shall have it.”

Immediately, my mind was thrown into a whirl and I could not think of anything to ask for. At first, I thought that, “Here is God; I need to ask Him for something I think He would want me to ask for.” At the same time I found myself thinking that maybe the Scripture had some translation error, which said you should ask for anything you desire. He said, “No, you ask for something that you desire, not what you think God wants you to desire.” I said, “Lord, give me a healing; let me see someone healed.”

I got His word and ran out of the room seeking for a sick person. I found a woman who was given up by the doctors to die shortly. I prayed a little prayer and spoke the word of healing to her, whereupon she got up and was totally healed. The one thing I will never forget is when she saw me inquiring from her husband if she was really sick. She laughed at me and said, “You don’t believe, do you?” It seemed to be too easy to be real.

What does it mean to ask in the name of Jesus? Unfortunately, the carnal person believes that it is by saying the words, “In the name of Jesus,” that it makes it so, but this is far from the truth. All through the Bible, we notice that the word name depicts nature. In Matthew 1:21 the angel said to Joseph:

“Thou shalt call his name Jesus (Iesous in the Greek, from Yeshua, in the Hebrew, meaning Savior); for he shall save his people from their sins.” 

A name always had a meaning. In Africa and India they would never think of naming a child by the name of a devil unless that child was specifically given to that devil. Names carry meanings and the nature of that meaning generally comes forth in the child. In the developed world, we find that some children are called names like Damian which, of course, means demon. If I were given such a name, then as soon as I become conscious of it, I would change it.

Jacob was a supplanter because that was the meaning of his name. He cheated his brother out of his birthright and robbed him of his blessing, but when he met God at Penuel, God wrestled with him all night and literally knocked the devil out of him. That night his name was changed to Israel, Prince of God, because his nature was changed.

When, therefore, we are told to ask in the name of Jesus, we are being told that we must ask as Christ Himself asks—we must ask in His nature. The angels of God that attend to us and do for us the works of God that we cannot do, can only obey the voice of God. When they hear us speak in the voice of Christ, they immediately obey, whether it be to the moving of mountains or of straws.

Whenever the believer is in the Spirit, he or she speaks with the voice of God. We know it is the voice of God (“It is God”) when:

(1) Our spirits bear witness with the spirit that speaks; and,

(2) It agrees with the written Word and the Spirit of God (which is in the Word).

In John 14:16, our Lord told us that He would ask the Father and that He would send us another Comforter.  In John 16:25-26 we are being told by our Lord that there is a day, a set time, when He will not pray to the Father for us: 25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father. 26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you.

In the next verse, He gave the reason: 27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

This is indeed a profound statement. Jesus Christ is actually saying that we will have the power to ask and receive as He did; that we will have an open line with the Father.

The hope and life of the church is all centered upon this one point of time, this day of the Lord. In this day, the spoken word will come to its full power. God has created both life and death in the power of the tongue.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1993, pg. 9-11)

Thought for today: God longs to answer the prayers of His people. Ask in the nature of His Son and the whole heaven will move to fulfill your request.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »