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Posts Tagged ‘Righteousness’

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Scripture reading: Psalm 1

We understand that there is a different level of righteousness at this time. God is saying that at this time He is calling a righteous people and He is calling a people to come out of sinning and into righteousness. No man, no woman who continues to behave in a way of self-motivation is of God. Did you hear me? No one who continues to move in self-motivation is of God. The average American woman is a woman who loves to rule her husband. It’s unfortunate for me to say this in a world-wide sense and let the people in the world know that is how we Americans are. The average American woman is taught to have her own way, to have her own bank account, to have her own business going. She does not go in accordance with the scriptural description of a “Proverbs 31 woman.” But we are calling to the average “son of God” woman: turn from the natural trait of your generation, turn to God and do God’s work rather than that of your generation or your nation. There are others all over the world who have the same kind of a concept, not just American women. Men and women, stop doing your own thing. If you want to do what you want to do, you must realize that you are not doing what God wants you to do. Then, somebody, after he goes and does his own thing, gives a good tithe or a good offering to the church. God doesn’t care for your offering. God wants your soul. When He gets your soul, He gets everything.

1 John 5:18 says, “We know…” We who? We who are in Christ and believe God. “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not (does not continue in sin); but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself (continues to keep himself), and that wicked one toucheth him not. 19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”

Some of us take advice from worldly friends. However, Psalm 1 warns us against doing so. Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

Brethren, we are talking about sin and righteousness. We are the children of God, bought and paid for by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, the energy and life of God Almighty from heaven. We are admonished of God to live under the righteousness of God so that we are not caught up by the sin of the world and of the children of the devil. Please, brethren, I plead with you: Change course! Change course! For I know that some of the people who are reading this article are people who have their own way. In everything that you are going to do, ask God, “Lord God, is this my way or is it Yours? Do You want me to do it this way?”

In 2 Corinthians 6:14, it says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers…” You say, “We are not yoked together with unbelievers.” Yet unbelievers give us advice. Friends who are unbelievers will say that you cannot do so and so and so and give you advice contrary to God. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness…” What fellowship hath the voice of God inside of the soul of man with unrighteousness? Or, the voice of the devil coming from others? And what communion hath light with darkness? Light cannot have communion with darkness. You, the children of light, cannot accept the word of darkness from friends and others (some Christians give the wrong advice, too). They pick up advice from somewhere, a little piece of darkness from here and a little piece of darkness there; but what communion hath light with darkness? Verse 15, “And what concord (con with accord) hath Christ with Belial?…” Baal, Baalism, which is worship of idols, worship of another god. “Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel (an infidel, an unbeliever)?”

Now, sometimes it is hard for us to believe that our own children are unbelievers, but sometimes our children are unbelievers. Their only deliverance is for us to walk in righteousness. Do you hear me? Anytime you turn to God and begin to walk according to that covenant that God has given you, walking it in righteousness – look at your children and you will see that it has an effect upon them. The devil cannot stand your righteousness and whenever you speak a word, it rebukes Satan from your own children if you are in righteousness. If you are not in righteousness and you speak a word, it does not rebuke Satan from your children. Therefore, your children are dependent upon you for life. If you think that you can save them by giving your time and your attention to them, you are making a very sad, sad mistake. Your time and attention to God will save them more than anything else.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, September, 2009)

Thought for today: We are admonished of God to live under the righteousness of God so that we are not caught up by the sin of the world and of the children of the devil.

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Scripture reading: Matthew 5:6

I remember one time listening to the devil, and thinking it was God. How does that happen? How could you listen to the devil and think that it is God? Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever heard the devil and thought that it was God speaking to you? Well, God showed me that what happens is that when you have something wrong inside of you, wrong concepts, wrong desires, wrong thoughts, the devil can speak to you and you will accept it. You have got to be wrong. Let me show you a scripture where God says He will protect you from that. Turn with me to the gospel according to our Brother John 7:17, “If any man will…” The King James says “will” but it means “desires.” “If any man [desires to] do his (God’s) will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” Look at that verse again. If you have a godly desire, if you have a heart-felt desire, if you have a heavenly desire to know anything and question in your heart, “God, is this You, or is this something else?” the Bible says that God’s responsibility is to make you know. God has a responsibility to you, and when He says “you,” He doesn’t care who you are. He doesn’t care how many sins you have fallen into. He doesn’t care what your condition is. If you will cry out to God, “I want to know, Lord,” and the reason that you are wanting to know is that you might serve God, this desire of yours throws the responsibility back on God. Do you understand that?

Let me show you another verse where God must move toward you in righteousness. Turn to Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Meaning to say, there is no doubt, there is no maybe. It doesn’t say may be filled, it doesn’t say it might happen. It says it SHALL happen. Hallelujah. It says, “…for they shall be filled.” So, if you want to be filled, what do you do? You get hungry. I want you to notice it very carefully that there are certain things that God must do according to His Word and that there are certain conditions under which God will do these things. One of these conditions is the condition of hunger. God MUST fill you if you hunger and thirst after righteousness. There are some people who say, “Well, I’ve been calling to God, I’ve been praying to God, I’ve been crying to God for such a long time and God does not answer me.” It couldn’t be true. Something is wrong about your calling, something is wrong about your praying, something is wrong about your hunger. You probably wanted to make yourself great or whatever. Examine yourself! If you ask for something and you don’t get it, examine yourself. Don’t examine God, for God has already laid down the condition. He said, “If you are hungry.” This is one place where hunger becomes a blessing. He said, “Blessed are the hungry for they shall be filled.” For God will fill them. It is God’s desire, God’s plan to fill them. So, you do not have to fear as far as that is concerned.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, December 12, 2004)

Thought for today: If you want to be filled, get hungry. God MUST fill you if you hunger and thirst after righteousness.

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Scripture reading: Romans 4:5

I wonder how many of you realize that in order for you to overcome the spirits in your life, you have to take two steps. First, you have to believe for faith is the substance of everything you hope for (Hebrews 11:6). Then, you have to speak the word. Do you realize that many of us have problems because we speak the wrong things? You are in trouble, somebody is bothering you, you have a distress, you let certain words come out of your mouth, and the devils crowd around. The moment the words come out, the devils take them as a command, and they can do things in your name that you never intended to do. You must learn to speak the positive word! It is looking dark, it is looking hopeless, but you speak the word, and say, “I shall live and not die. I shall overcome this thing.” Keep speaking it every day. “I shall overcome this thing.” You fall down flat on your face, “I am going to overcome this thing! By the grace of God, by the Blood of Jesus Christ.” The moment you speak the words, God sends His angels to be with you. The next time you will have a better chance, you will find the strength to do it. Amen.

I am talking about 50 years of learning. Fifty-odd years of learning from God. I am giving it to you free. One day, I put my finger on the welding iron. I smelled the flesh burning even before I realized that my finger was on the iron. I grabbed the finger and said, “In the name of Jesus, it shall not hurt me!” I don’t know where the words came from. I didn’t contemplate it before, but I just said it. And no pain! I got happy, and bold, and wanted to show my wife, Mavis, the finger burnt. I didn’t want the finger to be healed right away, I wanted to show her! So I ran inside with the burnt finger, and said, “Look here!” I was ashamed. No burnt finger at all! I am talking about the power of creation that God has put in every little one of you. Don’t go around thinking, “Lord, how sinful I am, how poor I am.” Don’t think about that! God knows that! Begin to speak the Word of life and life will come forth. Amen.

When you have an infirmity, get before the mirror in the mornings and say, “By the grace of God, this infirmity shall be healed. I shall overcome.” You must overcome it. Do you know why? Because you are speaking what God wants. God doesn’t want you to be sick. God doesn’t want you to have infirmities. God wants you to be well, God wants you to be happy. Amen! Don’t you understand? Because you believe God, He said, He will count it for righteousness (Romans 4:5). You try your best, but you are not righteous. But God says, if you believe Him, He will count you just like a righteous person. He will do everything for you like He would do for a righteous person. Can you understand? Look at all these men – Abraham, David… God said David was a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). A man after God’s own heart going out and committing adultery and murder? But he was a man after God’s own heart. His heart was belonging to God. The devil took hold of his flesh. He didn’t have Jesus, so don’t believe I am telling you that you can do that. He didn’t have Jesus. But then, even those of us who have Jesus and fail, God is still saying to us, “All power is given unto me, in heaven and on earth. Now, you go preach the gospel” (Matthew 28:18-19).

Do you understand what that means? It means that if you turn your mind to believing God, the things that you believe will come to pass and it will make you righteous. Oh, yes! We believe God that we are going to be perfected while we are alive in this flesh. That’s what I believe in God. I believe God that I can stay ten minutes without sin. Do you think that you could do that? Stay ten minutes without sin? If I can stay ten minutes without sin, then I can stay twenty. And if I can stay twenty, I can stay an hour. And if I can stay an hour, then I can stay a day without sin. He will keep them in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him (Isaiah 26:3). So then, it means that we sin with our minds. The body only manifests what is in the mind. We sin, therefore, with our minds. So, God is saying that if you keep God in your heart, in your mind, you will be free from sin.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, September 8, 2002, pg. 11-13)

Thought for today: You must learn to speak the positive word! It is looking dark, it is looking hopeless, but you speak the word, and say, “I shall live and not die. I shall overcome this thing.”

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Scripture reading: Hebrews 12:1-2

I have noticed that some of us go to God in prayer and say, “Oh, God, I’m so poor and needy. Lord, God, such and such a person did me so and so. Oh, God, they talk about me. They do this and that and the other.” You are complaining to God everything that God knows already! What God wants to know is what you want to do about that!

So you go to God and say, “Father, You and I have a blood covenant and I want to see righteousness come forth in me!” Oh, God is so glad to hear that! He is going to give you every opportunity to be righteous. That means He will let the trouble come down on you. He will let the devil loose on you. Yes! He said, “All right, you are strong enough.” Let the devil loose on you, sit down and watch how you handle the devil. Amen.

Hebrews 12:1 says that the brethren who have gone on before are a cloud of witnesses watching us and seeing how we run the race. What does that mean? That means that there are certain things happening to you because God wants to find somebody who He can let those things happen to in order to give an object lesson to those who have gone on before who did not overcome! Let me give you an example: you have a temptation to drink. Some of you hide it, of course. You have a temptation to drink and every now and then you go take a little sip. The angel of God is watching you. He wants you to overcome that spirit because it is a spirit that is coming and taking you. Yes. He wants you to overcome that spirit because Tom Stokes (or whoever) who is in heaven did not overcome the spirit. I know mighty men of God, who never overcame the spirit of drinking. For example, Brother Allen. I knew him personally. I worked with him, and he couldn’t stop drinking. The man was one of the most powerful men you have ever seen. He would come in and command the devils out of people! They brought to him a mad man, chained, and he just commanded the devil out of him. It was because God gave him the gift and he practiced, he knew what he was doing. God would not take the gift away from him. He had the faith yet; God gave him the faith. He should have used it on his own behalf.

Brethren, use the faith you have been given to overcome the spirits in your life. You see, first, you have to believe. But then, you have to go forward. You say, “I am going to do it. I am going to let God have His way.”

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, September 8, 2002, pg. 11)

Thought for today: Go to God and say, “Father, You and I have a blood covenant and I want to see righteousness come forth in me!”

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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.

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