Shame is a powerful weapon of the enemy. I was part of a group a few evenings ago in which four or five believers were prayed for and received deliverance. In nearly every case, a spirit of shame was one of the tormentors in the life of those being ministered to.   Guilt is the sense or the feeling that I have done something wrong. Shame is the sense or feeling that there is something wrong with me that ultimately makes me unlovable and unacceptable.

Many of us carry a sense of shame from our childhood where we too often heard phrases such as: Shame on you!   What is the matter with you? What’s wrong with you? You little piece of trash! Etc. If we hear those kinds of words often enough we begin to feel as if something is broken and defective that makes us unacceptable. We also feel that the defectiveness is unalterable. Our self-image plummets and we are unable to carry a sense of goodness, worth, or acceptability around with us. The devil loves to move into those wounds and reinforce them with internal whispers of rejection, condemnation, and accusation.

When we carry shame or a sense of unworthiness we tend to believe that if anyone really knew us they wouldn’t love us. Authenticity and transparency are too risky for that individual who is always anticipating the next experience of rejection. On a spiritual level, those of us who carry shame doubt that even God can love us. We doubt his blessings and we doubt that he pays much attention to our prayers. As a result, we live with little expectation of good things coming our way and pray more with vague hope than with faith.

One of the women we ministered to this week asked for prayer because she didn’t feel welcome in the presence of God and believed that her prayers were not being heard. She had a checkered past and felt in her heart that her past failures disqualified her for the blessings and the privileges of the kingdom. The shame she carried from past mistakes was being reinforced daily by demons that had been assigned to her. After we cast our several demons (one being the spirit of shame, another rejection, and so forth) she said there was an instant shift in her heart. Before she felt that all she could do was stand outside the throne room of God and peek around the corner from time to time. After shame was driven out, she felt herself standing directly before the throne and being fully accepted by the Father.

She, of course, already knew what the Bible says about her forgiveness and the Father’s total acceptance of her but shame kept her from receiving that truth in her heart. If we don’t believe in our hearts that God loves us, delights in us, and quickly forgives our past failures we will never live up to the destiny God has ordained for us in Christ. What we believe about God’s response to our failings is very important.

Two apostles denied directly Christ on the night of his arrest. Judas denied him by betraying his location to the High Priest and Peter denied him verbally three times to witnesses who asked if he had been with Jesus. Both were overcome with shame. Both wept bitterly. One believed God would never release him from his failure and so he hung himself. The other clung to the little band of believers and the Lord in spite of his shame about what he had done. He returned to the Lord with some reason to hope that he would be forgiven because he had seen the love of the Father expressed in Jesus for the past three years.

God is not interested in shaming his children. Of course, he wants us to take responsibility for our failures, confess them, and then align our hearts with his, but then he wants to forgive our failures and forget them. Before his conversion, the apostle Paul made a career if blaspheming Jesus and arresting his followers, He put some to death. In his letter to the Roman church, Paul says confidently “those who trust in Jesus will never be put to shame” (Rom.10:11). I believe Paul leaned on that truth from time to time when Satan would remind him of his past. Paul also tells us that love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor13). Since God is love, he keeps no record of the failings in our lives that produced our shame and sent Jesus to heal broken hearts that have been shattered by shame. When God looks at us, he doesn’t see past failings; he sees future potential. He doesn’t see us as broken, defective unchangeable human beings but rather as born-again new creations in Christ.

The heart of God is revealed in Peter’s life in such clear ways. Other than Judas, Peter was the only apostle who directly denied his relationship with Jesus – not once but three times. And yet, less than two months later, the Holy Spirit chose Peter to deliver the very first gospel message on the day of Pentecost to launch the church of Jesus on the earth. He was enabled by the Spirit to preach that sermon to the same people before whom he had denied Christ. Jesus came to take away our shame and grant each of us a place of purpose and honor in the kingdom. Shame has no place in the kingdom because in Christ we are all loved, all worthy, and all significant. Any whisper to the contrary is a lie.

For those of us who struggle with a lingering sense of shame and unworthiness, we must choose daily to agree with God and say what he says about us while we reject the lies and taunts of the enemy. Remember….”Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom.8:1); “Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb.10:14); and… “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6). If you are in Christ, there is no shame. When the whispers come call them lies. Let the enemy know who you are in Christ and send him on his way. In Jesus, you have no past – not even yesterday – and you are glorious! Be blessed today.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were writtenall the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. Psalm 13:15-16

Do you think much about your destiny in Christ? In the scripture above, David tells us that God ordained the days of our lives before we were born and, most likely, before the foundations of the earth were ever laid. The apostle Paul declares that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works that have been prepared ahead of time for us to perform (Eph.2:10). Those thoughts spell out the concept of destiny – a future already laid out for you by your Father.

Graham Cooke says this about our destiny. “We have two relationships with God: who we are in the present, and who He says we are in the future. Jesus occupies the space between those two identities as He stands in the gap, interceding for us before the throne (Heb.7:25). We are so much more beautiful than we know, and more powerful than we realize. Often when we are solely preoccupied with the present, we can lose sight of where we are going and who we are becoming. We get caught up with negatives, burdened by our sense of lack…We need people to remind us of our true identity. We need our companions to speak into our future destiny. Someone needs to see the treasure and not just the earthen vessel” (Graham Cooke, Coming Into Alignment, p.20-21).

Having a sense of our destiny, the plans that God has for our life, keeps us going in dark times or in times that simply seem meaningless. David knew his destiny after Samuel poured oil on his head and told him that someday he would rule over Israel. He needed the assurance that God had a destiny for him during the years that David and his men were living in caves in the desert while being pursued by Saul. One of the profound blessings of a prophetic word over your life is a sense of destiny that gives the present meaning and direction. Those believers who don’t accept the ministry of prophetic words miss out on the blessing.

Remember the words of Jeremiah to Israel when everything looked hopeless. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer.29:11). Through his prophet, God declared that Israel still had a destiny that He had ordained. The reason it is so important to know that we have a God-ordained destiny is that we can also know that he watches over that destiny to make it a reality.

When we talk about “destiny” we are not talking about a Calvinistic predestination that will occur no matter what we do. Our destiny, like the other promises of God, is contingent on our cooperation. God prepares good works for us in advance (Eph.2:10). When we get to that place in our journey, we still have to make a decision whether to step into our destiny or avoid it. It’s like taking a trip that has been marked out by God. He tells us that he has laid out an amazing and beautiful journey for us and all we need to do is to follow his road signs. Everyday we will come to a fork in the road. There we will find a sign that says, “God’s way.”

There will also be other signs that might say, “My way” or “The World’s Way” or “The Way of the Flesh.” We then must choose which road to take. God has pre-destined a beautiful, fruitful, exciting journey and has marked it for us. However, with our free will, we may choose a different road and miss that part of our destiny. The good news is that we can also choose to return to God’s way and re-enter our destiny. Knowing that God has laid out a unique road for each of us should motivate us to stay on the road marked “God’s Way. ” That way must be found by the leading of the Spirit. As long as we engage with the Father in fulfilling our destiny, he will watch over it and us to see that it is accomplished.

God will surprise us at times with our destiny. Moses was 80 years old when God surprised him by speaking from a burning bush. Some of us are very young and are still trying to get a sense of our destiny or the things God has called us to do. Prayer, a prophetic word, open doors of opportunity, and an awareness of our spiritual gifts are often clues to our future because we are gifted to accomplish his unique purposes for us. Some of us are older and wonder if God has anything else for us. Remember that God has established a destiny for us every day or our lives.

When you are in your teens or your twenties you think about how many years you have lived because as you get older, more doors of opportunity are opened to you – a driver’s license, the ability to vote, etc. Once you crack the sixty-mark you start thinking about how many more years of quality life you have left. I have had a number of prophetic words spoken over me that are consistent but have not yet manifested in my life. One day I was wondering if they would ever manifest because the years are rapidly slipping by. God simply spoke to me and told me not to think about my age because he determines my age, not a calendar. He is watching over my destiny and will bring it all to pass as long as I continue to run the race.

If you don’t think about your destiny in Christ, you should. Walking in that destiny is the key to fulfillment and fruitfulness. It is a key to security, knowing that you are doing what God made you to do and that every event in your life has purpose as it propels you or prepares you for the rest of your destiny. Maybe you were even destined to read this blog today! Be blessed in Him.

If you have embraced spiritual warfare then one of your favorite verses has to be, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Ja. 4:7). Sometimes, it really helps to break down verses that are very familiar to us and re-examine them in some depth. So…lets do that with this particular verse.

The Greek word anthisteme is translated resist. It really is a stronger word than that. It means to be hostile toward something or someone, to withstand, and to set yourself against. Resist implies pushing back but this word is more of a mindset of determined hostility that we are to maintain against the enemy. John’s phrase that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil has that flavor. We are to be just as determined.

Too many believers have a casual or compromising attitude toward Satan and toward sin. Too many try to live with one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world. But as soldiers of Christ, compromise with the enemy is unacceptable. James might read, “Maintain a hostile attitude toward Satan and constantly set yourself against him and he will flee.

Satan is not so much a proper noun as a description. The word translated as Satan is diabalos and literally means slanderer, accuser, or the one who opposes you. One way we resist the devil is to reject his slander and accusations that he brings against us and against others. That happens first in our own minds when he brings accusation and condemnation to our minds in an attempt to create insecurity in our relationship with the Father. He accuses us of being such miserable individuals that even God can’t love us and constantly works to draw us back under the enslaving idea that we must always earn God’s love and favor rather than joyfully living by grace. We also set ourselves against the slanderer when we refuse to be his instruments of accusation and slander against others. Gossip is a serious sin in scripture because it makes us one of Satan’s great tools to spread his slander, accusation, and condemnation against others. Rarely are we more aligned with Satan than when we gossip.

The Greek word pheugo is the word translated as flee. It means to run away, disappear quickly, vanish, or avoid. I like the idea that when I fully understand that Satan is my enemy, maintain a hostile attitude toward him, and when I refuse to place the accusation game then he or his representatives will quickly disappear. In fact, after a while they will avoid you because you torment them instead of them tormenting you.

I need to add that in the context of James 4, a very important phrase precedes this directive to resist the devil. James says first, “Submit yourselves, then, to God” (Ja.4:7). Submit (hypotasso) carries the meaning of willing subjection and submission. It means to submit control, yield to the authority of another, to stand in the ranks, or to be aligned with someone or something. It is the same concept as “taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

In both the Old and New Testament, a consistent theme is found that declares that God raises up those who humble themselves before him and opposes those who are proud. Submitting ourselves to God is humbling ourselves before him. God promotes those who are humble before him because the humble will use the gifts, power and authority he gives them as he directs rather than for their own purposes. Satan flees from those who have authority in the Kingdom and the humble are given authority. Being humble is not being timid or weak. It is simply being submitted to the Lordship of Jesus.   The more submitted we are in every part of our lives, the more standing we have in the kingdom and the more authority we are granted in the spiritual realm. Then when we maintain a hostile attitude toward the enemy and stand against him he will certainly flee and will often avoid us altogether.

James bookends his statement about resisting Satan with the phrase, “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (Ja.4:8). The progression, then, is to submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near. When we are doing God’s work, which is destroying the works of the devil just as Jesus did, then God will certainly draw near. When God draws near, Satan disappears. The more time we spend in the presence of God, the less often the enemy will come around. No demon wants to be in the presence of the Most High and Holy God.

Today…remember that the devil is not your friend. He is a sworn enemy of God bent on destroying God’s children. Maintain a hostile mindset toward this enemy and everything he represents. Do nothing that brings you into agreement with him. Submit every part of your day to Jesus and every part of who you are. Draw near to God throughout your day and then watch the devil run. Be blessed.

Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16:12

In Matthew 16, Jesus had a familiar encounter with Pharisees and the Sadducees who were demanding a sign from him to confirm his authority as a prophet and, perhaps, as the Messiah. After the encounter, he and the twelve shoved off in a boat for another location. Somewhere on their short voyage the disciples discovered that no one had brought bread. As they discovered their dilemma, Jesus said, “Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

The twelve thought he was somehow discussing their dilemma and the fact that they had pushed off on a journey without provisions. After some discussion, they discerned that he had not been talking about the properties of a great loaf of bread but rather he had been talking about the teaching of the religious leaders of Israel. Their teaching was a well-developed theology of rules and laws for serving God. It was legalism in its fullest sense. It defined every aspect of the believer’s life and declared what was and was not acceptable to God.

I really like what Graham Cooke says about this in his little book, Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior. He says, “Part of His (Jesus) ministry was to take a stand against religiosity in church leadership. ‘Woe’ is a primary exclamation of grief and also denunciation. In Matthew 23:13-29, He used it on eight occasions. He called church leaders hypocrites, blind men, blind guides, and whited sepulchers. His foremost accusation was that they shut off the Kingdom of Heaven from people because they had no experience of it themselves.

In mentoring the disciples, He was developing a church leadership that could carry the message and lifestyle of the kingdom in themselves. He taught them how to believe God, how to move in the supernatural, how to have power over the enemy, and how to love people and release them into a lifestyle of blessing and favor…

He stood against a religious system that had captured people in a legalistic environment that prevented them from being loved fully by God. When the system defines the experience we can have with God, then we have no freedom. Jesus came to set us free from an organized religious experience that teaches us how to think, speak and act before God. It is the role of the Holy Spirit to renew our minds, not for man to program them. Jesus came to overthrow a system that does not allow us the joy of exposure to his fullness, anointing, and glory” (p.133-134).

The power of the Kingdom of God cannot flourish in a legalistic system of rules and regulations that place God in a well-defined box. Does that mean that “anything goes?” Of course not. Paul gives some healthy and biblical boundaries for the expression of the things of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12-14. However, he does not restrict their expression but only regulates them so that their expression always reflects love. It also does not mean that those individuals who want a greater experience of Jesus through his Spirit are to ignore the rules of the house set by its leaders. A great deal of harm has been done by well-meaning people who have gone off to a conference on miracles and decided to come home and “blow the roof off” their conservative congregation. Submission to leadership is an important principle in the kingdom. Finding a greater expression of the Kingdom may mean going to another environment where it is welcomed rather than “trying to shake things up” where you are. Encouraging leadership to be more open is one thing, rebelling against their boundaries us another.

We often think of legalism in terms of churches that do not accept the full ministry of the Holy Spirit but that is not always the case. There are non-charismatic churches that are full of grace but have not yet come into the miraculous measures of the Holy Spirit. They are open but have not yet arrived. There are also “charismatic” churches that are just as guilty of legalism as cessationsist churches. Some of those churches have strictly defined dress codes, hairstyles, prohibitions on makeup, and so forth that regulate the life of believers. Legalism can creep into any theology like leaven in a loaf of bread and change the very nature of faith and freedom.

Even on a personal level, we can begin to judge other believers on the basis of them worshipping God or serving him in ways contrary to our own preferences. Some of our preferences can morph into “laws” that define how God works in people and churches. There is a place for testing spirits and judging prophecies etc. but that testing must be led by the Spirit not produced by flesh or our intellect. Before declaring that God does not work in certain ways or accept certain things we need to be very careful and diligently seek the Lord.

Acts 15 is a perfect example.   The Jerusalem church came together to decide whether God was actually accepting the Gentiles and working among them. Fifteen hundred years of religion and tradition had planted deep convictions that only Jews or Gentiles that had converted to Judaism and all of its laws were acceptable to God. But God had been doing crazy things among the Gentiles who had not been circumcised, did not keep the Sabbath, and who ignored the feast days. Peter himself had to give an account of why he even entered into the home of Gentiles and why he then baptized them. The feeling in the Jerusalem church was that “God doesn’t work that way.” But, he did… and after seeking the mind of the Spirit on the matter, the leaders of the church determined that God had accepted the Gentiles without them coming under the traditions of the Jews.

Legalism, the leaven of the Pharisees, quenches the Spirit whether in churches or in our own hearts. It is actually the default setting for our fallen nature trying to work our way to heaven so we all have to guard against it. We would do well to ask the Spirit, on a regular basis, to highlight areas where we are slipping into a religious or legalistic mode because it is hard to recognize. A critical or judgmental spirit in us is a sure sign that we are slipping in that direction. For all of us then who want to enjoy the fullness of God, we need to guard against that leaven. Be blessed today. Enjoy your freedom in Christ and let others do so as well.

Over the years, I have discovered that anyone who begins to press into the power of God will garner his or her share of criticism and suspicion. Most believers like a tame God and a Holy Spirit who always colors inside the lines. We want God to act in predictable ways so that we can order our lives based on past performance and so that God makes no unexpected demands on our faith or obedience.

When you begin to press into the power of God, things can get unpredictable. That makes you unpredictable and a source of discomfort to all those who don’t want God “acting up.” Miracles put a demand on our faith. First of all, the demand is expressed in terms of whether we believe that God is a God of present-day miracles or not. The second demand that miracles make is expressed in terms of whether we have faith to join God in those miracles or not.

Living with an expectation of miracles or, at least a hope for miracles, is both exciting and challenging. It is exciting when we see God move. It brings the Bible to life and our faith is confirmed experientially. If we have seen God move in response to our prayers or declarations, we feel affirmed and are excited by that partnership. The challenge comes when we don’t see God move as we expected. Then the questions flood in. Why was our friend not healed? Why did we see no deliverance when we were certain a demonic presence was infecting the person to whom we ministered? Why is the man we’ve been praying for still unemployed? Why is our son or daughter still addicted when we have done all the right things? When we don’t see the manifestation of God, we can struggle with our own faith, our own sense of “being okay” with God, and our own understanding of how God works.

Believe me, life was easier when I was a cessationist. When I believed that God no longer moved in miracles and that he essentially did whatever he wanted to do regardless of my input, life was easier. Live a decent life, go to church, pray for the children in war-torn Africa, give a little to missions, serve a little, then die and trust Jesus to take you to heaven. I felt little responsibility for God’s purposes on the earth and I never had to struggle with the theological questions surrounding the miracles of God. When I believed that God only spoke through the Bible, I never had to struggle with discerning his voice from my own or the enemy’s voice.

When you start pressing in to the power of God and asking others to do so with you, you get push back. Suddenly God is not so predictable. Suddenly, men and women have to wrestle with questions of faith and their view of God that were never unearthed before. Suddenly, they become responsible for most of what God wants to do on the earth. Suddenly, you are asking them to step into unfamiliar territory. They push back…at least emotionally. Often that push back will come in the form of criticism, suspicion, and even accusation. The enemy will fuel that criticism, trying to discourage your walk into greater realms of the Kingdom.

You will most likely be told you are being deceived; that you are spiritually arrogant; that you are rejecting sound teaching; or that you are causing division in your congregation. Friends may distance themselves from you and leadership may offer you fewer opportunities to serve. All of that may create self-doubt for you personally and cause you to question the direction you are moving. If it helps, remember that Jesus was accused of the same things – even being in league with Beelzebub.

Without exploring everything attached to this, I want you to consider what to do with the criticism. I like what Stephen Mansfield has to say about this and I hope it will be hopeful to you. Let me quote from Stephen’s blog.

One of the maxims that has helped me is from the great missionary/statesman E. Stanley Jones. He said, “My critics are the unpaid guardians of my soul.” Now, these weren’t easy words for me to hear. Jones wanted me to look fully into what my critics and my enemies said about me to see if there was any truth. Then, he wanted me to get busy changing what needed to be changed—based on the hurtful words of people who wanted to hurt me.

 When I heard Jones’ words, I decided to try. I wanted so badly to be an exceptional man. I began listening to what people said to me. Sometimes, they were angry. Sometimes, I heard that veiled criticism we pick up in the humor of friends. There were also the side comments from people I hardly knew. Once in a while there was kind, direct, hard-hitting correction from someone who wanted to help me.

I got in the habit of writing down the core of each bit of criticism I received, and then I would write what today they would call an action statement from it. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression. It wasn’t as though I was constantly criticized. I also hadn’t descended into some type of self-abuse that had me addicted to the pain of harsh words. Instead, I had simply come to accept three possibilities for any harsh words said about me. First, they weren’t true and needed to be discarded. Second, they weren’t true but needed to be addressed. Third, they had some truth in them that could help me be a better man. The benefits of thinking like this changed my life.

Hearing criticism is hard but sometimes God speaks to us even though our enemies. If we are to move in the greater things of the kingdom we must guard our hearts and humble ourselves before the Lord. Consider Stephen’s approach and the wise sayings of Proverbs. “Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning” (Pr.9:8-9).   If you chafe at criticism, you might also consider Proverbs 3:11-12, 10:17, 12:1, 13:8, 15:12, 15:32; 27:6).

Don’t worry, if you are doing anything noteworthy in the Kingdom of God, criticism will come your way. View it as a tool God will use to deepen your character and guard your heart. Discard what is unjust and receive what the Holy Spirit confirms. Like a ship sailing across vast waters being pushed by winds and currents, our path will need constant correction. Welcome it, even if you don’t enjoy it. It will bear great fruit in your life. Be blessed today.

I am convinced more and more that prayer should not be our effort to persuade God to fulfill a desire of our heart but rather should be our effort to discover what God’s will is for any situation and, having aligned our hearts with his purposes, to then pray God’s will over the situation. Secondly, we must give up the notion that all prayers of faith are answered instantly. Sometimes they are, but that must not become our standard for prayer. There must be an element of endurance in many, and maybe most, prayers.

Jesus said, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Mt.21:22). Believing is an ongoing, continuous kind of verb. Jesus told us, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Mt.7:7-8). In the original language, the verb tenses for ask, seek, and knock should actually be translated, “keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking.” Somehow, in our microwave culture of instant gratification we feel like one or two really good prayers should be sufficient to get God to see things our way. When we ask, believing, we may have to continue to believe for a very long time. I listen to Christians every week who are angry with God or feel abandoned because they haven’t experienced their “answer to prayer” after praying for a few weeks or several months.

David was anointed by Samuel and promised the throne of Israel some 14 years before that promise came to pass and for most of those 14 years he was being hunted by Saul. Abraham and Sarah prayed for a child for decades before Isaac was born. Even after God told Elijah that it was going to rain, Elijah had to pray seven times before seeing any trace of a cloud. Daniel, who was highly esteemed in heaven, had to fast a pray for twenty-one days just to get some understanding of a dream. Faith for prayer needs to be faith that endures. We give up and count God as faithless too many times because the quality of endurance is not yet built into our character. Let me quote a few New Testament scriptures to underline my point:

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Rom.15:4, emphasis added)

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (Ja. 1:2-4, emphasis added)

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. (Rev.14:12, emphasis added)

There are numerous other verses that also call us to endurance. You must endure only if your deliverance takes a while in coming. Whether we recognize it or not, we live our lives in the midst of spiritual battle. The enemy tempts us and sows discouragement. He blinds us to what God has done in our lives and tells us that the proof of God’s love is totally contingent on us getting the one thing that we are pushing for while he opposes the answer to that prayer.   Our part is to fight and to fight in faith with prayer – sometimes for a very long while.

I like what Graham Cooke says about this. “We have to fight to receive in warfare. Too many people are willing to give up and just receive whatever they can get; a spiritual warrior contends to get the blessing God has for him. If we throw away our confidence, there is no breakthrough. The enemy knows this better than anyone which is why he constantly works to undermine the confidence of Christians…He (God) prolongs some situations in order to develop us at a much deeper level. It takes time to go deep…If the training is easy, then the player is weak” (Graham Cooke, Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior, p. 74-75).

Here is a hard truth. God is more concerned about building our character than answering our prayers. He will do both, but character gets his priority. Our challenge is to endure and continue to seek God’s will for our situation while we continue to pray with confidence. When endurance has done its work in our character then the answer to our prayer will come. God measures things by growth, not by time. When we have grown we move ahead. The time it takes is not the issue with God but the growth. We can fight him or we can join him. We can accuse him of being faithless and uncaring or we can ask him what he wants us to learn in any situation so that we may learn, grow, and then move ahead.

What have you given up on that requires endurance? You can always begin to ask again with a greater will to endure, knowing that God is always faithful – but on his timetable. God’s ways are revealed in creation. Diamonds are created when time and pressure work together. It is the same in our own lives. Be blessed today and choose to endure.

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Heb.6:1-2)

In Hebrews 6, the writer provides a list of what he considers to be elementary teachings or doctrines about Christ. He does not mean to say that they are unimportant but rather that they are foundational. He indicates that he wants to move on from these foundational teachings to other important teachings related to Jesus, but nevertheless, these foundational teachings must be in place before other doctrines and teachings can stand.
We are probably familiar with teachings on repentance, faith, baptism, the resurrection and eternal judgment. But notice two things: the writer says “baptisms” rather than “baptism” and he lists the “laying on of hands” as a foundational doctrine of Christ and, by extension, of the church. We can talk about “baptisms” at a later time but for now lets consider “the laying on of hands.” How many sermons have you heard on that topic? Many of us have probably never heard a sermon or a teaching on that even though it is listed as a foundational doctrine of the church.

I was scanning a book recently written by Sam Soleyn entitled, Elementary Doctrines. His chapter on the laying on of hands caught my attention. Since this is a neglected or ignored topic in many churches, I thought I would try to summarize some of Sam’s thoughts and add a few of my own. First of all, let me list the ways in which this practice was expressed in the New Testament church. Most often, we saw Jesus and his follower lay hands on people for healing. Secondly, we see it practiced for the impartation of spiritual gifts. Thirdly, it was used to confirm gifts and callings, and, finally, it was used to commission and send forth individuals on missions for the church.

Ultimately, the laying on of hands was practiced whenever power and or authority were expressed in healing or whenever power and authority were imparted to members of the church by leaders in the church. The laying on of hands is about directing power and authority. Sam makes an interesting observation related to the neglect or absence of this teaching in most churches. He says that since the practice is related to conveying power and authority, churches whose theology does not embrace present day power and the authority of the believer have no need for this practice.

Secondly, he points out that most churches have a democratic view of the church rather than a theocratic view. In western cultures, we have been taught for centuries that government has its authority based on the consent of the people. The people decide who will be their leaders by voting. Authority flows from the bottom to the top so to speak. In many churches, the same view has been applied to the structure of the church where congregations vote to accept pastors or to install deacons or elders. In an odd way, it’s as if God receives his right to govern through the consent of the people. Pastors then take on the feel of a priest who represents the people before God.

However, the New Testament model is that pastors, prophets, teachers, etc. represent God before the people. Authority and power flows from the top down. When that is true, the laying on of hands conveys that power and authority through the leading of the Holy Spirit. God directs healing, releases a spiritual gift, or sets someone in leadership by directing those who are already Spirit-filled and already walk in some authority to impart or conform that power and authority by laying hands on them. In one sense, laying hands on someone is symbolic but, in the spirit realm, something real and tangible is released from one person to another.

For instance, Paul tells Timothy, “Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you” (1 Tim. 4:14). He also warned Timothy, “Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin” (1 Tim.5:22).   From these scriptures we see that some spiritual gift was imparted to Timothy when a group of elders laid hands on him at the direction of the Holy Spirit that came as a prophetic word.

Secondly, he instructs Timothy to be careful about whom he lays hands on. The implication is that Timothy was imparting a spiritual gift or was imparting authority to someone to lead in some capacity in the church. Either way, Timothy was not to be too free in giving gifts or authority. The person to whom it was imparted needed to have the character to carry the weight of the gift or the leadership. Timothy was told that if he were careless in imparting these things and if those things were abused, he would share some responsibility in that.

Remember then, the laying on of hands is related to power and authority and is most often given by God to those who carry his message as a confirmation that they truly represent him. Jesus preached the Kingdom of God and then demonstrated it – often by healing or deliverance through the laying on of hands. His followers did the same and we are to do likewise. Jesus said, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:17-18, emphasis added). It was assumed that all believers would preach the gospel, either to one or to many, and that with the preaching of the gospel there would be a demonstration of power. That power would often be conveyed through the laying on of hands.

There was also a need for confirming those who were called to lead in a congregation or that were being sent on a mission. Hands were laid on them as a confirmation that these men and women were authentic representatives of the church and the Lord. I also believe that gifts and spiritual authority were imparted (such as to Timothy) that enabled them to fulfill the call that God had placed on their lives.

The laying on of hands is a great foundational doctrine that should still be practiced in every church today. It requires a belief that the Kingdom is a matter power and not just words. It requires a belief that God still directs his church through a clear leading of the Spirit and that prayers, declarations, and setting people in leadership roles have spiritual realities related to them rather than being words that only express sentiment. It takes a clear view of the Kingdom in which God delegates authority through his leaders rather than through boards or voting blocks.

Today’s blog was just food for thought. I hope it gave you something to think about and a little insight into the practice of laying on hands. Be blessed.

I am certain you woke up last night wondering how much all the water in the oceans of the world weighs. I was actually sitting on a beach yesterday morning and that question popped into my mind. To my surprise, I found that people have figured that out. Let me give you the short version. There are approximately 315 cubic miles of water that cover the face of the earth. Within one cubic mile, there are 4,168,18,825 cubic meters of water each weighing approximately 2,206 pounds. Multiply that by 315 cubic miles and you get about 1.5 quintillion tons of water on the face of the earth. That is 1.5 followed by 18 zeros. That is immense and unfathomable.

The next sleep-disturbing question that popped into my mind was how many species of animals live in the ocean which led to the question of how many inhabit the entire earth. The answer iseight million, seven hundred thousand species! (Give or take 1.3 million.) That is a new,estimated total number of species on Earth—the most precise calculation ever offered—with 6.5million species found on land and 2.2 million dwelling in the ocean depths. Remember, that isnot the number of animals but the number of species. The new study, published yesterday in the open access journal PLoS Biology, says a staggering 86% of all species on land and 91% of those in the seas have yet to be discovered, described and catalogued. (I have no idea how they determine how many exist that have not been discovered). But again, that is an immense number and not only is the number staggering but the variety of shape, size, physiology, color, etc. is even more staggering. And we have not even discussed the number of plant species nor the innumerable stars and galaxies spinning through space.

What struck me as I looked over an ocean of water that could swallow up anything that challenged it was the immensity of the God who created it all and the courage it took for men to venture out on what seems to be an infinite horizon in tiny boats to face the unknown and see what was on the other side. Both the sea and men who would face it are a revelation of God.

Speaking of that, Paul states, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Rom.1:20). The creation reveals the creator. The ocean – vast, mysterious, abundant with life, powerful, refreshing, its depths still unknown – speak of our God. Man, made in his image, ventured out on that vastness with courage and a searching heart. That also marks our creator who searches all things and faced Roman torture with immense courage for our sake.

And that God lives in you. Peter says that we are partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). The word translated as “partakers” means participants or partners. What God has possessed for eternity he is sharing with you right now. His Spirit resides in you – the same Spirit that brooded over the waters of creation and brought order to the chaos. Jesus also dwells in your heart. He is the Word of God and he is the one through whom, for whom, and by whom all these things were created.

Satan labors to make us feel small and insignificant. The smaller we see ourselves the less we will ever attempt for the kingdom of God. The smaller we see ourselves, the less likely it is that we will ever venture out on an ocean of possibilities in the name of Jesus. But the same God who spoke 1.5 quintillion tons of ocean water into existence is the God who has searched for you, found you, and made you his child. How can you be small or insignificant when that God lives in you and is making you into the image of his Son? How can you be small or insignificant when that God has ordained a destiny for you, gifted you, and created angels to minister on your behalf? How can you be small and insignificant when the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work within you?

When we were children we dreamed of performing great exploits – storming castles, slaying dragons, stepping out on the surface of Mars, playing music no one had ever heard, painting pictures that stopped people in their tracks, and winning the game with last minute heroics. God put those dreams in us. He is amazing and heroic and he has made us to be the same in Christ. For many of us, the devil came and stole those dreams but the dream of doing something great and even heroic for the Kingdom of God still exists in heaven. Reclaim it. Ask the Lord to show it to you. Push out across an open sea once more with cannons blazing because that is who you are and that is who you are because that is who He is. Know who you are and be great for God today! And remember, the devil is a liar!

Sometimes you have books on your shelves because they are great reads and you plan to read them from cover to cover again some day. At other times, you have books that you read once and now they function as reference books. Those books have sections you refer to for reminders or for re-sharpening your thoughts in certain areas of life or faith. One of those books for me is Deliverance from Evil Spirits by Francis MacNutt. He takes a little more academic approach to the subject than most books on deliverance but it is worth the read theologically and practically. He is a former Catholic priest so his perspectives are interesting in that regard but he teaches and ministers healing and deliverance to churches around the world and across the board.

I like what he has to say about evangelism. “The Gospel is not meant merely to teach doctrine, but necessarily includes the power to free, save and to heal. After preaching in thirty countries, I believe that peoples of every culture are willing to hear the message of Christ’s salvation. Whenever we preach that God, in love, sent his son, Jesus Christ, to free the human race from sin and evil, people will respond eagerly. In the days when I taught homiletics in seminary, I thought the preacher’s problem was to figure out how to make the Gospel relevant to the needs of contemporary people. Now, I realize the Gospel is in itself relevant, that it does appeal. But I was not preaching the Gospel fully because I did not fully understand the need for power to heal and free people from evil spirits…Only when we are able to free the oppressed and heal those suffering from the curse of sickness can we really preach Christ’s basic message: The Kingdom of God is at hand and the kingdom of Satan is being destroyed” (p. 66).

I myself have come to believe that a partial gospel is no gospel at all. Biblically, salvation is not just the forgiveness of sin but is closer to the idea of Shalom or peace in the Hebrew language. Shalom includes everything needed for a blessed life: absence of conflict, flourishing relationships, health, prosperity, protection, a sound mind…and more. Jesus promised his followers an “abundant life.” That carries the flavor of Shalom and abundance is more that just the forgiveness of sins. If my sins are forgiven but I am still oppressed and tormented by demons or suffering at the hands of some debilitating disease then the abundant life seems fairly impoverished.

Often we point to the glory of someone enduring sickness or disability while still maintaining their love for God and still praising Him as a purifying and sanctifying grace from heaven. I agree that their ability to endure and praise is a grace from God but we need to be careful not to declare that the sickness or disability itself is a grace or a gift from God.

Illness, pain, tragedy, birth defects, and demons are not from God. They are a result of sin, which has never been God’s will. They are a result of a distorted universe that was also twisted by Adam’s sin. Adam’s sin and the resulting curse was the work of Satan. John tell us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and so we see Jesus break the power of sin, restore our relationship with the Father, heal the sick, remedy disabilities, raise the dead and drive away demons.

Jesus and his followers always preached the kingdom and then demonstrated it or they demonstrated the kingdom and then preached it. They always did both. Power without forgiveness will simply send a healthy man to hell while forgiveness without power leaves a saved man tormented. Paul tried only persuasive words (making the Gospel relevant) when he preached on Mars Hill in Athens. If you check Acts 17, the results were very disappointing. Then he moved on to Corinth where he later confessed, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (I Cor. 2:1-5).

After Mars Hill, Paul reconsidered his strategy and determined that the simple message of grace and forgiveness coupled with a demonstration of God’s grace through power was the way to go. After all, that had been the strategy of Jesus in his own ministry as well as the one he commanded when he sent out the twelve and the seventy-two to preach, heal, and cast out demons. We would do well to follow that pattern whether we are preaching to thousands or to one. Even Paul had to be reminded.

I need reminders to keep it simple and stay on point. I need reminders to pray for boldness to share the gospel but also for an anointing to demonstrate power not just for me but for my church and the church universal. You really can’t improve on Jesus. That’s why I like to look back at books I have often looked at before because the yellow highlighted sections call me back to things I need to be reminded of. I encourage you to go back and look at the yellow highlights and notes scribbled in the margins as well. Blessings today in all you do.

We often talk about the power of words. God spoke and his very words carried the power to create a universe – something out of nothing. He also declares that when his words go forth they always fulfill his purpose. We are made in his image and although that image has been diminished by sin our words still have power. “The tongue has the power of life and death…” (Prov.18:21)

Jesus challenges us. He came as a man, not as God, and by his words the lame walked, the blind gained their sight, the deaf heard, the mute spoke, the dead were raised, and demons were dismissed. Jesus spoke and heaven empowered his words – usually blessings but at least one fig tree felt the sting of a curse and died. Then Jesus said that those who believed in him would do the things that he had done and, in fact, would do even greater things. Our words also carry authority and direct power in the spiritual realm.

In one sense, we have no power and authority other than that which comes from Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Some would say that our words have no power or authority at all unless Jesus agrees with what we say each time we say it. If we command demons then it is really Jesus who is standing next to us and commanding. That picture is like a little boy who sees a bully suddenly run away thinking that he has intimidated the bully when, in fact, big brother had just walked up behind him and the bully was actually afraid of him not the little brother.   There is some truth in that view. We operate in the authority of Jesus not our own, but we carry His authority to be exercised at our discretion.

Just before healing the lame man, Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6). Notice that Peter did not say, “I’ll pray and ask Jesus to see whether he will choose to heal you or not.” He said. “What I have, I give you.” What he had or possessed was power and authority to heal. It was delegated by Jesus and empowered by heaven but that power was released at Peter’s discretion. The words of a believer have power because we have delegated authority and are released at our discretion. Sometimes we get a direct word from the Lord to speak something but most of the time we are using our own discretion.

Because of that, James warns that our mouths should be sources of blessings and not curses because our words matter. Jesus tells us to bless even our enemies and Paul commands the church to bless those who persecute us…bless and not curse. God’s people should be constant sources of blessings because blessings release good into the world and the world certainly needs more good.

Think about it. By your words today, you can release health, peace, prosperity, life and healing into a world of darkness. You can direct the very blessings of heaven by your words and at your discretion. I like what John Ortberg has to say about blessing as he quotes
Dallas Willard. “ There are two great words in the Bible…that describe the postures of our soul toward other people. One is to bless. The other is to curse. We are people with wills and in every encounter with other people we will what is good for them or we fail to do so: we will what is bad. We cannot help ourselves. Blessing is not just a word. Blessing is the projection of good into the life of another. We must think it, and feel it, and will it” (Ortberg, Soul Keeping, p.153).

Ortberg goes on to say that true blessing is done by the soul. True blessing that carries weight and authority is not a phrase thrown out when someone sneezes – God bless you! It is something that comes from deep within us with heart and conviction. Then we release the power of heaven for blessing. The power to bless is to be stewarded like the King’s money. It is to be used for the good of people with intentionality not just tossed around in the streets for anyone to pickup. True blessing is an expression of God’s grace which every soul on earth craves.

Blessing can be conveyed not just with words but even with actions and gestures. You know when you have been loved and you know when you have been rejected. You know when you have been affirmed and you know when you have been disrespected. In other words, you know when you have been blessed and cursed by someone else’s soul. Dallas Willard said that we are so sensitive to words and actions because our souls were made to be blessed and cannot survive without it. Broken people reflect broken souls and broken hearts. Jesus made us vessels of blessing to facilitate the healing of both. Lets remember who we are today and what one of our primary directives for living is…bless and not curse. Make a decision today to speak some kind of blessing today into the life of every person you meet and when you say it, mean it. And for starters, let me bless you….

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)