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By Mavis duCille

Scripture reading: Galatians 2:20

We learned in school that living things breathe, living things grow, living things feed. So, if you are not feeding, if you are not breathing, if you are not growing, you are not alive. We are supposed to be further along this year from where we were last year. It is good, as we move on, to take an inventory every once in a while of where you are in the LORD.

There are just a couple of words that I would like to share with you. I have been thinking about Paul’s life, and some things that he said. He was one of the law, he came up under the law. It always amuses me how he uses the law to bring us into Christ. A few verses that have been speaking to me much are in Romans 7:19-20. From verse 18, he says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” He explains verse 18 in verse 19, “For when I do good, evil is present with me.” He explains what that means in verse 20, “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” He was making a separation there, between the things that he would do and where they originate, and the things that he would not do and how he would attain to them.

He says, in verse 22, “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members,” WORKING IN MY MEMBERS, “warring against the law of my mind…” Are you familiar with that war? So, we understand that when we are to do good and we can’t do it, when we do the wrong thing, the question that I want to ask you is, why? In his mind, Paul wants to do one thing, but there is another law bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which is in his members. So, in the Word we find that what the Lord has laid down for us is “here a little, there a little…” (Isaiah 28:10), and right through the Word, we can put the “here a little” together with the “there a little” and come up fully with what the Lord intends for us.

So, Paul came to the conclusion that with his mind he serves the Lord – the law of God, but in his flesh, the law of sin and death. So, because we have that war going on in our being, we have to have the Word riveted in us and we have to have an abundance of the spirit of grace working in us.

But in Galatians 2:20 he said something very interesting. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” It is a conclusion to which he came. He said, nevertheless. He made no more excuses for the things that he would do and he did not, and the things that he did and he should not. So many times we hear people make excuses, “I am human,” or, “It is in my family.” He realized that from the earlier scripture, but he knew he was in trouble if he did not get rid of the flesh and the carnal life and rise to the life to which we are called in Jesus.

You see, overcoming is the greatest part of our walk in the Lord. If we are not overcoming, we are dying. And the experiences that we have through overcoming, and the victories, come through testing. “When we are tried, we shall come forth as pure gold” (Job 23:10).

So, as we look back at the things that used to bother us, cast us down, make us feel as losers – as we give way to the Spirit of Christ rising in us, day after day, we can say, “We are crucified… Nevertheless, the life I now live, I live by the grace of God.” Amen.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, October 2007, pg. 3-4)

Thought for today: Overcoming is the greatest part of our walk in the Lord. If we are not overcoming, we are dying.

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Scripture reading: Ephesians 4:11-13

When I think of God, I cannot think of Him as a man, as a person. All I can think of is a BIG being, filling the whole space, and filling us. But I can think of Jesus as a man. Do you see how God is good for us? He gave us Someone Whom we can relate to. Now, if Jesus is a person, if Jesus is a man, you must approach Him as a person. I’ll never forget what happened when I prayed the first time, asked Jesus to come into my life and felt the quickening. That means that His blood had touched me; it touched my mind and touched my consciousness. Before that, I was not conscious of God, but now I am conscious of His presence.

The next thing that happened to me was that I said, “Jesus, why don’t You come and talk to me?” Now, I am not telling you to say that, because the devil might come and talk to you and you could believe that it was Jesus. That is, however, not supposed to be. The devil is not supposed to be able to talk to you and you believe it is Jesus. Do you know why? The Christ in you will not be happy. Amen. But the relationship between you and Jesus Christ must be such that you know that Jesus is a man, you speak to Him as a resurrected man, and you deal with Him and expect Him to respond to you as a man would respond to you. What kind of doctrine is that? That you would expect Jesus to respond to you as a man would respond to you?

You see, we have made a step backward. Let me tell you why. We were going upward to believe that God has a five-fold ministry in the heavenlies, in the spirit. Jesus Christ is in the five-fold ministry or the left hand, in the natural, among us. But what I have noticed is that we have started not to believe in the five-fold ministry any more. We have started to believe in our abilities to do.

Now, if you have a pastor in your midst, immediately you would have rejected the five-fold ministry, because the five-fold ministry doesn’t have any pastor in it. Those who occupy the place of the shepherd would be too busy shepherding to be able to be fooling around and doing anything else. There is a problem that I see and I don’t know if it is as if you have forgotten, or if you want to be like another church or something, but I don’t see the function of the five-fold ministry. I don’t see the function of the prophet in your midst. As a matter of fact, if the prophet should function, you probably wouldn’t believe it. I don’t see the function of the evangelist. I don’t see anybody evangelizing anything. If the evangelists had the spirit of the evangelist, they would be praying and God would be sending people into your fellowships. Amen. “But why should I leave my church over there with my pastor and come to your gathering with the same function?”

I don’t see the function of the five-fold ministry. You don’t function in the five-fold ministry anymore. I don’t know if you understand what I am talking about. Every ministry of these five-fold has branches in the church among the people. In other words, Christ is working in you. Amen. As Christ is working in you and among you, He will give one a vision; He will give another a dream; He will give somebody something to uplift the brethren. But if I dream that you become a dog and start barking and bite up everybody in the place, what profit is that to everybody? God is telling us to run for our lives, the dog is coming. Don’t you understand? The ministration of the Spirit is to profit withal. If the Spirit of the prophet is in you, you will find that as you begin to function, there will be many more that will be functioning and together it will bring life and not death.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, December 2007, pg. 9-10)

Thought for today: Let us believe in the five-fold ministry that God has in the Earth and not in our abilities to do.

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Scripture reading: Hebrews 6:3-20

Let us look at Hebrews 6:3-6, “And this will we do, if God permit. 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”

What are we saying? I am going to put it in short words for you. If you reject the Holy Ghost, you are lost. If the Holy Ghost ever leaves you, you are finished. The Holy Ghost will never leave you unless you are totally condemned to hell. Have you ever seen anybody who was baptized with the Holy Ghost backslide? Yes, you have. We see them all the time. Well, the Holy Ghost will not leave him, unless he gets to the stage where he has totally, categorically, deliberately rejected God. If the Holy Ghost lifts from him, he will be an atheist and he will be happy, glad, free and no problem anymore. He is already in hell. Do we see the Word of God?

Verse 6 says, “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Verse 9, “But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.” In other words, we lay down principles and thoughts of what can happen, BUT we don’t expect it to happen to you. I don’t expect one person reading this article to come under the category of one who would reject the Holy Ghost, reject Jesus Christ, turn your back on Him and be lost.

Verse 10, “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” This is such a marvelous God that we serve, that He is not going to allow you to go to hell. He will kill you before you go to hell. Isn’t He a wonderful God? Tell me now. Isn’t He a wonderful God? He is a God Who would rather let your body perish and your soul live, than to allow you to go down into hell. This is the confidence that you have in God, isn’t it? So, why do you not understand God when you see some of us dying? God will destroy the body that the soul may live. You have made a commitment. You have made a covenant. You are part of God’s Body and He said, “If your right hand offend you, cut it off” (Matthew 5:30). Yes, if a person is going to lose his life spiritually and go to hell, I would rather see him dead, see her dead. Whoever it is, I would rather see them dead and with the Lord than see them go into hell. Is that your consciousness, too? Praise be to God.

Verse 18, “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, December 2007, pg. 9)

Thought for today: He is a God Who would rather let your body perish and your soul live, than to allow you to go down into hell.

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Scripture reading: Romans 6:23

Do you believe in the doctrines in Hebrews 6:1-2? They are so simple and so basic that you must believe in them. If you don’t, go repent, get them and make sure you have them stored in your heart, because these are your basic foundation. You are going to be called to stand upon them in the midst of battle. You must get the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment right. You must know that everything you do, EVERYTHING you do will appear in the judgment. Every thought you had will appear in the judgment. You get forgiveness of sins if you pray to Jesus and ask Him for forgiveness. Now, can you pray about something that you did deliberately? Yes, you can, but you mustn’t do it again. In other words, you are supposed to be changed.

Do you know that a Christian doesn’t sin and a sinner doesn’t do righteousness? That sounds rough, doesn’t it? I am just quoting our Brother John. You have to decide whether John is right or wrong, whether he was in the Spirit when he wrote that. “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin” (1 John 3:9). Now, the key word here is commit.

You get together and say, “Brother, let us rob the bank tomorrow.” You lay out your plans to rob the bank and execute the robbery. You are NOT born of God. If you were working on the roof of a bank and the roof gave way, you fell into the vault, picked up a few coins and put them in your pocket, then you might be able to go and repent, and say, “Lord, forgive me.” But what I am saying is that he that is born of God, that is a son of God, cannot deliberately, willfully sin. No one that is born of God can willfully sin. NO ONE that is born of God can continue in sin. You can fall into sin, but you cannot continue in it. If a person is continuing in sin, he needs repentance from the beginning. He has to go back and repent from some dead works.

There is a judgment on sin. The judgment on sin is already pronounced, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Now if you believe that, you will not sin. Unfortunately, we sin both in thoughts and in deeds.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, December 2007, pg. 8-9)

Thought for today: You must know that everything you do, EVERYTHING you do will appear in the judgment.

“Laying on of Hands”

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Scripture reading: Matthew 8:5-10

Let us look at the principle of “laying on of hands” today. For context, we are going to read Hebrews 6:1-2, “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. 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.”

“Laying on of hands.” What is that? I didn’t know that the laying on of hands was a foundation doctrine. You know, some people love to touch everybody. “Laying on of hands” is a basic foundation doctrine. WHY? Because that which is in me can be imparted to you by my laying hands on you, and contacting heaven OR hell.

I remember one day a man was preaching. He got so excited that he started shouting. Then he ran down and slapped his hand on my head. I didn’t get rid of the headache all day. It was difficult for me to shake that headache. I am not a person to have a headache but as the guy put his hand on my head, my head began to split; I had a headache all day. We had to go home and pray and fight to get away from the thing that that man put on me, because it was something on him. Believe me, brethren, you can be wide open. Amen.

I have seen a homosexual teacher teach children, and several of them grow up and become homosexuals. He never told them to; he just imparted it to them. You can lay hands physically; you can lay hands spiritually. I can lay hands on you without touching you. The Lord God Almighty is saying that the church must be aware of the power of imparting the things of God from one to another. God wants that same mind that is in Christ Jesus to be in you also (Philippians 2:5).

The centurion came to Jesus and said, “My servant is sick and is dying at home.” Jesus said, “I will come with you.” But he corrected Jesus. Did you hear me? He corrected Jesus. He said, “For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it” (Matthew 8:9). He understood Jesus more than the disciples. He said, “You don’t have to come to my house, just speak the word. Just speak the word and it is done.”

We speak carelessly sometimes. Lord, forgive us, have mercy upon us, as a church, as a body, as a people. We speak careless things at times. Is it the same mouth that you used to speak a careless joke, or a careless thought, that you expect to use to speak righteousness and power? When you are ready to speak, nothing but noise will come out of your mouth.

God is saying that there is a position; now, we are still in the Outer Court. We haven’t gone into the real deep things of God yet. The laying on of hands is a basic Outer Court doctrine that every son of God must learn and know. Lay your hands on your children and bless them. Oh, yes. If you curse them, they are cursed. If you bless them, they are blessed. If you put a curse upon one, the child will have to fight a long time to get rid of that which has been put upon him, maybe by his parents, maybe his friends or sometimes it could be by an acquaintance.

For instance, a curse can be put upon a child by calling him a certain name. I will give you a name, for instance, Damon. Do you know someone called Damon? It is another way of saying that you are a demon [Strong’s Concordance #G1142 – a dæmon or supernatural spirit (of a bad nature):—devil.] If you call a person Damon, you are calling him a demon. He has to fight hard to get away.

What I am saying is that the mouth that speaketh righteousness cannot just get up and speak sin. And there are mouths that speak sin that cannot just get up and speak righteousness. The reason it works is because we are working with a body of spirits, both good spirits and evil spirits. Anything you say, they hold you to it. Did you know that? Anything you say, they hold you to it. You just keep on repeating God, the words of God and good and wonderful things, and evil ones will keep away from you. God bless you.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, December 2007, pg. 7-8)

Thought for today: The mouth that speaks righteousness cannot just get up and speak sin. And mouths that speak sin cannot just get up and speak righteousness.