Christ-follower, Husband, Dad, Pastor

power

September 23, 2014

Be a Temple Not a Prison

Heavenly Father has given supernatural life to His children. Since you are a Christ-follower who has “tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:5 NASB), live in that power and resurrection life. The supernatural life of God is in you.

Don’t let anyone or anything intimidate you. You are not second, third, or fourth class; you are not inferior to anyone. “Anyone who believes in Christ is a new creation. The old is gone! The new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIRV) Overcoming supernatural life resides inside of you. Let the Lord boost and embolden you into a new dimension. You have been questioning whether you have anything to give to anyone. Why? Why are you tentative and diffident? You have God in you; let Him out.

For God’s “heredity” within us will always conquer the world outside us. In fact, this faith of ours is the only way in which the world has been conquered. For who could ever be said to conquer the world, in the true sense, except the man who really believes that Jesus is God’s Son? (1 John 5:4-5 PHILLIPS)

You may have little by material standards, but God’s riches inside of you are just what the world around you needs. God uses the outflow of His supernatural life from within you to achieve His purpose on earth. Even the super-rich need a Savior. Let God out; let His love pour over the person next to you. Open up and let Him out.

God has given us the task of telling everyone what He is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ Himself now: Become friends with God; He’s already a friend with you. (2 Corinthians 5:19a-21 MSG)

Are you living in intimate friendship with God? You can. God has allowed others to be His friend and He doesn’t show favoritism. You can be like God’s friend Abraham who was uniquely position to intercede for others (Genesis 18). Your relationship with God links you to supernatural resources.
Appetite and weight: Weight and appetite can fluctuate differently right here discount levitra for different persons with depression. Put simply, only a small calcium generic tadalafil 5mg can neutralize lots of acid. The cost levitra 20 mg savings are past directly on to buyers. This medicine offered a great opportune through its significant versions and yummy levitra online usa flavors.
The kingdom of darkness doesn’t want you living as God’s friend; the enemy is scared you will recognize your association to the overcoming life of God. Don’t let the enemy deceive you in living beneath what God intends for you. Don’t surrender the supernatural.

You are to be a temple for the Holy Spirit – not a prison. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV) Don’t keep Him bond; loose Him. Don’t be a prison for the Holy Spirit. It’s past time you let Him out. Don’t let yourself become a box of limitation. God is bigger than your box. Let Him show up; let Him out. “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God!” (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a NIV)

Dinner preparations stalled when a little girl burst into the kitchen and asked, “Mommy, Jesus is in your heart. Isn’t that right?” Her mother nodded as her daughter continued, “Jesus is really big, a whole bigger than anyone – isn’t that right, Mommy?” Mom sustained her nod for a moment longer, but suddenly halted when her daughter asked, “Mommy, If He is so big and He is in you, why can’t I see Him?”

September 13, 2014

Mighty Power Within

God designed His people to be channels, pathways of delivery, garden hoses – for His love, grace, healing, deliverance, gifts, peace, hope. Paul announced, “Now all glory to God, who is able, THROUGH HIS MIGHTY POWER AT WORK WITHIN US, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20 NLT) The Lord of the universe wants to exert His mighty power within us. Are you willing to become a garden hose for Jesus?

A garden hose can be an effective tool in the hands of a gardener, but a garden hose is ineffective without access to water.  A garden hose not connected to a water source can’t do much. Without water following through the hose, the hose can never fulfill its purpose for existence. A garden hose is designed to be a channel, a pathway of delivery.

A hose without water is hollow and purposeless. Without association to water, the hose is still a hose, but the world around the hose it scarcely benefited. Plants and flowers are offered little aid. Grass withers. Children can’t play in the sprinkler. Water balloons aren’t wet. Outdoor windows aren’t cleaned. Buckets remain empty. Cars aren’t washed.

A Christ-follower is God’s hose meant to be filled with God’s super-abundance. In fact, God’s power is at work in and through our lives. The power within is resurrection power, power that raised Christ from the dead and enthroned Him in the heavenlies. The power within is supernatural, beyond the limits of what we could ever pray or describe or imagine. The power within is greater than any force of the enemy. Working within us is the infinite strength of God.

“It is neither talent, nor power, nor gifts that do the work of God, but it is that which lies within the power of the humblest; it is the simple, earnest life hid with Christ in God.” (F.W. Robertson)

Jesus Christ Himself is the infinite power within. “The Christ you have to deal with is not a weak person outside you, but a tremendous power inside you. He was ‘weak’ enough to be crucified, yes, but he lives now by the power of God. I am weak as he was weak, but I am strong enough to deal with you for I share his life by the power of God.” (2 Corinthians 13:3-4 Phillips)

Are you ready for God to use you? The power within is not limited to preachers or evangelists. No, God’s power is at work in every believer surrendered to His Lordship. I recall my dad’s admonishment, “Be a garden hose, a PVC pipe, a channel for God’s healing power. You don’t have to be fine china to be used by God. In fact, the Lord delights in using styrofoam cups, ordinary people just like us.” God wants to use you. God wants to use me.

“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 1:19-20 NLT)

Years ago, Richard C. Halverson (former Senate Chaplain) wrote: “You don’t need a five-foot pipeline to irrigate a garden. You can do it with a quarter inch hose…assuming adequate source – a connection between it and the hose – and an uncluttered channel. The only ability God requires is your availability! The resources are His and they are unlimited. God pours His resources through human channels willing to be used.”

Have you ever told a young child that “please” or “thank you” are magic words? Most of us have said something like that when are trying to train good manners and respectful habits. In God’s economy, the magic words, needed to release us as God’s garden hoses, are not “please” or “thank you.” The magic words are “Yes, Lord.” The words that bring the release we need and the release that the world around us needs are “Yes, Lord.” We can experience His power when we surrender in obedience to Him. Say it aloud. Let your ears hear your your confession. “Yes, Lord.” God’s power is within.

August 30, 2013

HOLD ON

Don’t let go of what God has spoken to your heart. Hold on to God’s promise. Hold on to your vision from God. Don’t surrender your dream just yet – God isn’t finished! Don’t capitulate to the bombardment of noisy negatives.When God reveals His will, His plans, and His purpose to you, hold on to His promise. God does speak and prompt and reveal things to come, but we need to hold on.

Don’t live in a fantasy world, but don’t let go of what God has spoken to you. You can’t just wait and do nothing. You need to do what is required of you in your life – in your work life, in your family life, in your financial life, in every obligation of your daily life. But, don’t give up on the vision God has given you for your life. Don’t let go of what God has revealed to you.


Hold on. I am sure that it was difficult for Mary to understand how she could possibly give birth to the Messiah, but the angel encouraged her, “For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment” (Luke 1:37 AMP).” Mary trusted the word and humbly accepted the assignment. When Mary sought out her cousin, Elizabeth spoke over Mary, “She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled!” (Luke 1:35 HCSB) At just the right moment in history, in the “fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4), Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ. Mary got to see what God revealed fulfilled.

Don’t quit; don’t you want to see what God revealed to you about your life fulfilled?

I do. I am still holding on for a fresh move of the Lord where I live. I am crying out for revival in my generation, awakening in my time, renewal in my area. I am inviting Holy Spirit outpouring that will make it hard to go to hell from Huntsville, Madison, and the Tennessee Valley. I was part of a group fervently praying this morning. We closed out early corporate prayer today singing the song “Holding On” by Generation Unleashed (Bryan Bettis © 2010 City Bible Music). You can find it online if you are interested. The chorus declares, “Holding on; Standing strong upon Your word. Holding on; All Your promises are sure.” Hold on!

The impact of this is so much that they dong find their real-world partner less stimulating than the visuals going through his mind. female viagra online seanamic.com Born in 1945 and raised in southern California, Ed seanamic.com viagra in india Hardy had a lifelong interest in becoming a tattoo artist. About one in seven sales are to women. canadian viagra no prescription There is nothing, which is more embarrassing than a man who cannot have an erection or one who cannot sustain an erection cialis pills online for long. Don’t you realize that there is so much more than just your life at stake? The dream that God deposited within you will bring blessing far beyond your own life. Hold on. The vision for your life will impact the people around you.

Your family will be blessed by your faithfulness to the end. Noah trusted the revelation God gave and prepared for a flood despite huge persecution. Noah’s family was saved because he didn’t grow faint halfway through the project and give up.  Let’s learn from Noah’s example! “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (Galatians 6:9 NASB). Hold on.

Joseph went through many years of rejection, mistreatment, slavery, scandal, lies, and prison – BUT he held on to the dream God had given to him as a teenager. Joseph’s persistence open the way for the salvation of his entire family – even the brothers that had so horribly mistreated him. Thirteen plus years of delay and denial surely were not easy for Joseph to endure, but the story wasn’t finished.

It only took the Lord ONE day to move Joseph from an Egyptian prison to a royal palace, from overlooked victim to  overseeing Prime Minister. In one day, total transformation occurred. Hold on. When the time of fulfillment arrives – look out! It doesn’t have to take long! It may take a while before you see everything lining up in place, but it really only takes the Lord a moment to change a life.

What God has spoken concerning your life is worth the struggle or delay. God will do what He desires. Even if your battle has been going on for a long, long time, don’t give up. Don’t let go; hold on.

 

August 27, 2013

Prayer Changes Things

Prayer is the God-designed method for obtaining what we need and for accomplishing God’s purposes – in an area, in a church, in a family, and even into the smallest details of our personal lives. Prayer is powerful in the face of every situation – problems, joys, conflicts, conversations, victories, and defeats. Prayer changes people’s destinies. We never realize fully the dramatic changes God orchestrates in response to persistent prayer.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16b NIV)

We desperately need resources which only God can give and which only prayer releases. Prayer unlocks heaven’s treasure chest of abundance. Far too often we neglect prayer to our detriment. We miss out on the rewards following faithful prayer. In the classic work How to Pray, R.A. Torrey encourages constant, persistent, overcoming prayer. On pages 26-30, he highlights four broad areas where prayer accomplishes much:

1) Prayer promotes our spiritual growth as almost nothing else, indeed as nothing else but Bible study; and true prayer and true Bible study go hand in hand.

2) Prayer brings power into our work. If we wish power for any work to which God calls us, be it preaching, teaching, personal work, or the rearing of our children, we can get it by earnest prayer.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome- cysts in viagra prescription buy ovaries are removed. The effect remains 4 to 6 hours that is significant for the person to have a satisfactory time with levitra samples your partner. When it comes to Sildenafil Citrate it does need a special care and learningworksca.org viagra 25 mg attention. Unlike levitra australia Atkinson’t case, Smith was charged with conspiracy count crime and will be released from the jail by January next year.
3) Prayer avails for the conversion of others. There are few converted in this world unless in connection with some one’s prayers. Prayer often avails where everything else fails.

4) Prayer brings blessings to the church. The devil hates the church and seeks in every way to block its progress; now by false doctrine, again by division, again by inward corruption of life. But by prayer, a clear way can be made through everything. Prayer will root out heresy, allay misunderstanding, sweep away jealousies and animosities, obliterate immoralities, and bring in the full tide of God’s reviving grace.

Prayer changes things. Prayer connects us to things we need, but more importantly, prayer connects us with our Heavenly Father (oh, and He wants to meet with us!). Ultimately, prayer is really not focused on getting things from God; prayer focuses us to get with God. Have you connected with God today? Heaven Father is waiting. Let’s pray!

January 27, 2013

3 Points to Expand Your Perspective

Perspective too often is limited by our personal experience.

In 2011, I traveled with a Valley Fellowship mission team to the Amazon. We connected with George and Idelma Gonzales and the Amazon Expeditions crew for a variety of ministry in Columbia, Peru, and Brazil.

I enjoyed teaching the God’ Word in three languages at Escuela Biblica, Umarirazu, Brazil. In one of the sessions, I shared of the Battle of the Longest Day (Joshua 10). I am still laughing about how long it took to translate “hailstones” to people who have never experienced frozen precipitation of any kind! Unbelief was ALL over their faces until I made the statement, “It was a miracle from God!” Immediately their expressions changed as if they were thinking, “Oh, okay, it was miracle.” The students at the Bible School didn’t have first-hand knowledge of hail, but apparently they did have first-hand experience with God’s power.

A group stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon and paused. An artist thought – “What a beautiful scene to paint!” A prayer warrior meditated – “What a wonderful example of God’s creative handiwork!” A rancher mused – “What an awful place to lose a cow!” What is your Grand Canyon perspective?

The Message paraphrase of Romans 12:3 has advice for all of us: “The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us.” I am pondering my own perspective today as I meditate Numbers chapter 13. Three things ringing in spirit are:

#1 Nothing is too difficult for Almighty God.

Sovereign Lord, you made the earth and the sky by your great power and might; nothing is too difficult for you.  Jeremiah 32:17 GNT

#2  He’s the boss; I’m His servant.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”  Luke 9:23 NIV

#3  I am not a grasshopper; God empowers me to do His will so I can do what He tells me to do.

To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.  Numbers 13:33 HCSB

January 18, 2013

7 Points to Ponder (seven word summary of Acts)

A precise perusal of the Book of Acts portrays people participating with the Holy Spirit. I’ve put pen to paper and pigeonholed seven particulars from their personal pursuits:

#1 PRAYER:  Disciples pray – packed in one place, privately on roof tops, during imprisonment, with fasting, for boldness and guidance – and God answers!

#2 POWER:  Christ-exalting phenomena are publicized – lame pace, phony liars die, prison doors open, tongues speak, demons flee, dead rise.

#3 PARTNERSHIP:  Property, cooperation, and community are politely portioned and shared together in love.

#4 PRAISE:  Worship proceeds in the upper room, despite threats, after salvation, after Spirit Baptism, after healing, after miracle deliverance, after torture, and even for the privilege of suffering for Christ.

#5 PERSECUTION:  Persecution is both a path for Holy Spirit ministry and a product of Holy Spirit engagement.

#6 PREACHING:  The Spirit-inspired public proclamations of Peter and Paul are published.

#7 PROSELYTISM:  For pattern’s sake, I employed a posh word for the prolific addition of people into God’s family. Holy Spirit ministry prompted thousands and thousands into the kingdom.

Praise the Lord who provides, protects, preserves, and promotes! I propose a painstaking probe of my provocative phrases. I promise – pondering and picking up on these points propels positive progress.

© 2024 - PastorGreg.org