Tag Archive for: spiritual

Overcoming Drug Addiction

Are you enslaved or troubled by habitual use of various narcotic, stimulant, or mind-influencing drugs (including alcohol)? Do you have symptoms of physical, emotional, or mental addiction? You may not have a sickness, but a sin problem that causes enslavement and sickness.

Jesus Christ has done something about your problem. He came to liberate you from such problems and enable you to gain self-control, a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23).

What Scripture Says

Everything is permissible for me — but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me — but I will not be mastered by anything” (I Corinthians 6:12).

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

The Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him, and He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power, He gives orders to evil spirits and they come out (Luke 4:18-21, 36).

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15).

He who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work (I John 3:8).

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love (Galatians 5:1, 13).

What Can You Do?

Take seriously the bondage in which you are involved. God cares about you and has a solution.

Your real problem is not an incurable illness, but sin. And Jesus came to deal with sin (I Corinthians 5:11). You need to be spiritually reborn and baptized with the Holy Spirit. You need to change your life patterns. You also may need help for deliverance from drugs and healing.

Be bold. Take a fearless inventory of your life. Ask for help from your family, Christian friends, a local pastor, The 700 Club (call 800-759-0700), or another Christian ministry that cares. Or call Teen Challenge or a local drug hotline.

It is said that it takes thirty-one days to break a habit. Drug addiction is a “life dominating” problem, so radical changes must be made regarding associates, social atmosphere, places frequented, etc. Replacement, not abstention, is the key.

You need to keep busy and occupy your mind with new things (Philippians 4:8,9). Learn to yield yourself to Christ rather than to drugs, old friends, self-pity, guilt, fear, etc.

How to be Spiritually Reborn

God has a plan for your salvation. Call on the Lord to save you mind, body and soul (I John 1:9). Receive Him as your Savior and Lord (John 1:12). Believe Him. He said He would not turn anyone away. He loves you and gave His life for you (John 3:16,17).

How you can know you are forgiven:

The Bible, God's Word says:

You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and you have done nothing on your own (Ephesians 2:8).

For those who put their faith in Jesus: He gave them the right to be the children of God… God Himself was the one who made them His children (John 1:12-13).

The Role of the Holy Spirit

Once you become a Christian, you can have God's power available through the Holy Spirit. You will be able to live as God intended (Ezekiel 36:27). The Holy Spirit empowers you to help others (Acts 1:8), He aids and teaches you (John 14:26; I Corinthians 2:13), and guides you into truth (John 16:13) and in life (Acts 10:19; 13:2; 16:6).

You may want to ask someone already baptized with the Holy Spirit to pray with you. Just as you asked the Lord to forgive your sins, believing He would, ask Him now to baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). He promised to do so, so take Him at His Word that He does what you ask. Thank and praise Him for being a God who does as He promises.

Tell someone else what you've done. Other Christians and the church will rejoice with you and help you. The angels rejoice with you. God rejoices with you.

As You Pray

Thank God for His love, concern, and power to save and deliver. Renounce the drugs, old friends, and hangouts connected with your drug problem. Yield yourself to Jesus. Thank Him for coming into your heart and filling you with the Holy Spirit. Take Him at His word and thank Him for delivering you from drugs.

The Shocking Truths About Porn

Sex is godly; porn is not.

I am not an alien writing to expose the shocking truth about porn; I know what I am talking about. You have suffered from it, and I did, or maybe you are still struggling with it. There is HOPE! What do I mean by sex is godly, and porn is not? Sex is a GOD idea, and he designed it as a means to serve intimacy with couples of covenant, the married people, and for the multiplication of God's love from one generation to another. Porn is the devil's means to pervert all that is holy, pure, and powerful.

For every sound truth doctrine, there is a demonic doctrine to match. Spiritual warfare is about that, creating an opposite doctrine to a godly one. Jesus said about the devil that he is a liar and the father of liars, and he kills humans with a lie. Many things in my life died and got twisted because of demonic lies: my identity, dreams, personality, relationship with the Lord, and every other thing that God meant to be GOOD for me. The devil can't create; he is not a creator, but he can appear as an Angel of light to deceive, to push you away from the truth. You never know if it is a lie because it sounds LIGHT, kind thought, pleasant experience, freedom of choice, acceptance of the rejected, etc. The devil doesn't only present his thoughts as “life-giving” but he raises prophets of the dark to change the wordings of sin to draw you and hook you for example it is not the killing of infants, it is abortion; it is not homosexuality but gay, and the word in Arabic for homosexuality means twisted but was also changed to same-sex attraction; also sex before marriage is not adultery but making love and on. Why do you think the devil invested strongly in changing the wording of all those words? Because it works. “He appears as an Angel of light.”

I was introduced to porn when I was a teenager. I was pure like a white snowball until my friend from school exposed me to it through the internet. The internet at that time was primitive but it was there and at my house. I remember going through trauma when my friend introduced me to porn websites. I forgave him a long time ago!

Seeing gay activities and lesbians and straight sex was too much for me. It never crossed my mind that there is something like that and that we have the potential to taste those experiences. I felt the shattering of my innocence! I was not transitioned into the subject of sex in my life but was introduced to it instantly and in the most unclean ways. The enemy knows about the power of trauma and how it creates a landing strip for slavery, addictions, and the demonic. I went into denial at first for some time, and after a while, I was drawn to start navigating porn websites on my own at night when everyone in my family slept.

You can't feed a beast without unleashing it to go for a hunt. As I kept feeding myself uncleanness ritually and regularly, I felt the craving and the groaning to be in the experiences I was watching. I wanted all my senses to endure that. So I moved from porn (the doctrine feeding) to boldness (the practice). Real-life fornication was never as ideal and good as the websites. So you become hooked on two realities, and you become addicted to online porn and your ongoing real-life attempts to match the professional porn stars, and you never make it. So you spiral down into disappointments and addictions to the deceiving lying web of porn.

I am not going to teach the spiritual aspects of what happens when you enter into dark unclean covenants with others. You can study the Bible and learn more about that. Nor will I mention why porn hooks us at the psychological level; you can research that too.

Porn and dishonoring your body and the one who made it is all about the spirit of rebellion.

Everything that is not a God covenant is rebellion because God is a God of Covenant. Breaking laws at your job has nothing to do with your detest of your job because they don't honor you or pay you enough, etc it is about the spirit of rebellion finding reasoning and an argument to make sense of it and birth itself. Everything man does is a hidden rebellion at its core. Sex “making love” outside of the marriage covenant is rebellion. You see, it is not just about the devil but also about your untamed rebellious nature. They both work together. Even if there is NO DEVIL feeding it and awakening it with deception, your rebellion will find a way one day to awaken itself.

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.” Romans 1:21-26

“And worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.” Rebellion is all about self-worship, and the only way to be free from yourself is to fall in love with Jesus and worship him.

The more you grow in his love and worship, all the unclean byproducts of the spirit of rebellion lose their grip on you and fade away. Don't focus on your deliverance; put all your energy and frustration into loving Jesus and worshiping him. This is how you subdue rebellion and shatter self-worship!

Thank you, Jesus, because you found a way out of my porn addiction and adultery by drawing me to a life journey of ongoing ecstatic worship of your glorious love for me. Amen!

For those who are still going through it, I humbly advise you: FIX YOUR WORSHIP, NOT YOUR DESIRES.

God bless you
Tony Francis

Blessed Assurance: The Power of God’s Covenant & Spiritual Warfare

Blessed Assurance: The Power of God’s Covenant & Spiritual Warfare
Blessed Assurance: The Power of God’s Covenant & Spiritual Warfare

How to strengthen yourself in the spiritual battle on your journey to manifest the promises that God has made to you in Christ Jesus, as exemplified in Genesis 15.

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Decades of Peace

Once you carve a realm, it is yours forever! I think this is fair enough as a reward for your sufferings, pains, struggles, battles, fights, and victories. In the systems of this life, once a student passes a year successfully, he is promoted to higher levels of testing until the completion of the whole realm of education. Once a year is finalized successfully you have the authority and right not to retake it but to advance instead. You don't need to go through that year again, thus you redeem your time because you conquered that level and now new realms are opening up to you. This applies to every educational year when marked successful. Then comes the last year at school and after that, you have carved and conquered the whole educational realm to move to specialization and then career life.

I have gone through it all, I have no more fear of going back to school again or university. It is not even on my radar anymore plus I am now a seasoned businessman and I advanced way far from my education and learning. I will never go back to school this I know!

The same thing applies spiritually when you carve certain realms successfully with the Lord. The enemies you saw you will see no more, the challenges you went through you will go through no more, and the pain you felt is now replaced with joy, fulfillment, and ownership! Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of your faith, he is the Alpha and Omega, and he starts and finishes cycles and seasons in our lives and takes us from glory to glory. How do I know that the pain and the season you are going through will come to an end? It is because I know Jesus is the finisher!

Why am I telling you this? Because I went through a long season of health issues and chronic inflammation and pains with lots of medical care and in those moments, almost 5 years, I felt I was stuck forever, that did not seem to be breaking. I understand how hopeless we can get when it is intense and LONG (emphasis on LONG). Yet not only did the Lord spare me and come through to me and end my suffering but also he promised me divine health all the days of my life. You are talking to someone who will know sickness no more, I will age but never get old. I paid the price, I stood by faith for a long time for my health and thus I will have decades of peace and youth in my health. I carved the realm of health and energy with the Lord and it was a very tough battle yet it is worth the cost. Let me clarify one thing for you please, you don't need to battle in your health to carve a realm of healing because Jesus Christ made you the HEALED OF THE LORD by his stripes and this is your portion in him. Yet what I am trying to tell you is that the enemy fights us in our prophetic promises and blessings.

That health storm came against me because the Lord marked me for youth, divine health, and high energy because I am called for ministry and for special things in the Lord, like coming and going and flying to places, etc. The storm you are in now can tell you what blessing is waiting for you. Satan fights you with the opposite spirit always. Another battle was on my identity all my life, why? Because God called me to father nations and on. I hope those little examples from my life are helping my point to be clarified.

In the battle, you are going through now, not only God will give you the victory but also the REALM of it. You will also have the authority to be able to minister to others in this very thing. Your ceiling will be the threshold for others by way of impartation. Don't you love it that the Lord kept us in the bible stories of messed up fathers to learn from them and avoid their mistakes? Not only that but in Christ, we are connected to the redemptive blessings side of those forefathers. We receive their inheritances and grace over our lives multiplied. Oh, I pray you will understand what I am communicating with you here!

We read in the bible on and on how peace was established between two parties or nations after their war and they lived in peace for decades. You can expect a long satisfying peace after this or that struggle, battle, or war.

For me, I will live in decades of peace in my health, and identity. Halleluiah! What about you?

God bless you
Tony Francis

If you need more encouragement around this, feel free to watch this powerful short prophetic word on YouTube by Patricia King titled “Your War is Ending”. Watch Now

How does Presenting Our Bodies as a Living Sacrifice relate to Self-Control, Food Addictions, and the Fruits of the Spirit?

In the book of Romans, chapter 12, verse 1, Paul urges Christians to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This means that we should offer our entire being, including our physical bodies, to God as an act of worship. It is a call to surrender our desires, ambitions, and goals to God and to live according to His will.

I recently had a “light bulb moment” when I read 1 Corinthians 9:27, where Paul talks about disciplining our bodies. He says, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” Here, Paul emphasizes the importance of self-control and discipline in the Christian life. He recognizes that our bodies have natural desires and tendencies that can lead us astray, so we must intentionally control our thoughts, actions, and behaviors.

Disciplining our bodies involves making intentional choices that honor God and promote our spiritual growth. This may include fasting, prayer, exercise, and avoiding sinful behaviors. It requires us to be mindful of our thoughts and actions and make choices that align with God's will.

Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice and disciplining our bodies are both crucial aspects of the Christian life. They require us to surrender our desires to God and intentionally live in a way that honors Him. By doing so, we can grow in our faith and become more like Christ.

When it comes to food addictions and self-control, presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice and disciplining our bodies take on particular significance. Food addictions can be incredibly challenging to overcome and can have a significant impact on our physical and emotional health. However, by surrendering our desires to God and making intentional choices to honor Him, we can develop the self-control necessary to overcome these addictions.

In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul talks about the fruits of the Spirit, which include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. By cultivating these fruits in our lives, we can develop the self-control necessary to overcome food addictions and other challenges. This requires us to be intentional about our choices and seek God's guidance and strength.

We can receive help in this area through the support of our friends, support groups like Warrior Girlfriends, and talented health and spiritual coaches like Cynthia Ray and Jill Janiec. They share their knowledge, wisdom, and God-given expertise, as well as spiritual guidance, with us, along with their own inspiring communities!

Ultimately, presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice and disciplining our bodies is about living a life that honors God in all areas, including our physical health. By doing so, we can experience the fullness of the abundant life that Christ offers us and become more like Him in every way.

I am praying for your success in this area as we all support each other in this journey!

Overcoming Fear: A Christian Woman’s Journey to Trusting in God

As a Christian woman, fear can be a constant battle. We are bombarded with messages of fear from the media, our peers, and even our own thoughts. Fear can be paralyzing, causing us to doubt ourselves and our faith. However, as believers, we have the power to overcome fear through our relationship with God.

One of the most common fears that Christian women face is the fear of not being enough. We may feel like we are not good enough mothers, wives, friends, or even Christians. This fear can lead to feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. However, we must remember that our worth is not based on our performance or accomplishments. Our worth comes from being a child of God, and He loves us unconditionally.

Another fear that Christian women face is the fear of the unknown. We may worry about the future and what it holds for us and our loved ones. However, we must trust in God's plan for our lives. He knows the plans He has for us, and they are plans for good and not for harm (Jeremiah 29:11). We must have faith that God will guide us through any challenges that come our way.

Fear can also manifest itself in our relationships with others. We may fear rejection or judgment from others, causing us to hold back and not fully engage in our relationships. However, we must remember that God calls us to love one another and to build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We must trust in God's love for us and allow that love to overflow into our relationships with others.

Finally, as Christian women, we may fear the spiritual battles that we face. We may feel like we are not equipped to handle the attacks of the enemy. However, we must remember that we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We can put on the armor of God and stand firm against the enemy's schemes (Ephesians 6:10-18).

In conclusion, fear is a common struggle for Christian women. However, we must remember that we have the power to overcome fear through our relationship with God. We must trust in His love for us, His plan for our lives, and His power within us. With God by our side, we can face any fear and come out victorious.

The Importance of Faith In the Life of the Christian Believer

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

What Is Faith?
Faith is a strong feeling of trust in someone or something
For the Christian believer, faith is belief and trust in one God
According to Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”

Faith is so critical and important in our lives, as Christians, that it occurs or mentioned 100 times in the Bible – 28 times in the Old Testament and 72 times in the New Testament.

“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).
The world or creation itself was founded in faith when God made the following decrees;
• “Let there be light” – (Genesis 1:3)
• “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let divide the waters from the waters” – (Genesis 1:6)
• “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered unto one place, and let the dry land appear” – (Genesis 1:9)
• “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yield fruit according to its kind” – (Genesis 1:11)
• The decree continues until the creation of man when God said “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” –(Genesis 1:26)

Faith is very crucial in the life of the Christian believer for the following reasons:

1) As Christian Believers, We Live By Faith
Romans 1:17 says “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written: the just shall live by faith”.

Also in Galatians 2:20 Apostle Paul tells us that “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”.

Our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, His Son, has been made right. God declared us to be righteous because of our faith in Christ “from faith to faith”
By faithfully trusting in God by our belief in Christ, we are saved and find life not only in this world but eternally.

2) As Christian Believers, We Are Firm In The Faith
Romans 11:20 says “Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high minded but fear”.
2 Corinthians 1:24 puts it thus, “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy, for by faith ye stand”.

Due to faithlessness, the Jews who are the natural branches of the tree were broken off. The Gentile believers have been grafted into the tree like a wild olive shoot. Both the Jews and Gentiles now share the tree’s nourishment based on faith in God. No one can rest on heritage or culture for salvation. The Gentiles should not feel superior to the Jews because if God had not rejected the Jews, as it were, the Gentiles probably would not have had a chance.

3) As Christian Believers, We Combat The Good Fight
1 Timothy 6:12 says “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called and has professed good profession before many witnesses”.

As Christian believers, we must have an active faith, obeying God with courage and doing what we know is right.
It is time for action on your part. What are you waiting for? – Get going, don’t wait!

4) As Christian Believers, We Walk By Faith
2 Corinthians 5:7 says “For we walk by Faith, not by sight”.

5) As Christian Believers, We Win By Faith
In 1 John 5:4 where we took our text, we are told that we can overcome whatever challenge life throws on our way, as long as we have faith and trust in God.
It says “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith”.

6) As Christian Believers, We Are Justified By Faith
Romans 5:1 puts it thus, “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Peace with God means that we have been reconciled with Him. There is no more hostility between us and God, no sin blocking our relationship with Him. Peace with God is made possible by Jesus paying the price for our sins through His death on the cross.

7) As Christian Believers, We Please God By Faith
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”.

God wants us to have a personal dynamic relationship with Him, and not just a mere knowledge of His existence. After all the demons and witches know that God exists, that does not stop them from doing evil. Those who seek Him diligently will find that they have intimate relationship with Him. When you tell others about the gospel, please encourage them to be honest and diligent in their search for truth and faith in God.

8) As Christians Believers, We Grow In Faith
1 Thessalonian 1:3 says “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God, and our Father”.

Like the Thessalonians who stood firm in the face of persecution, Apostle Paul is admonishing us to also do the work of God produced by faith, labour prompted by love, and endurance inspired by hope. These characteristics are the hall marks of an effective Christian believer.

9) As Christian Believers. We Die In Faith
“These all died in faith, not having received the promise, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers, and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).

This world is not our home and cannot live here forever. Many people, especially of the Old Testament, died without receiving all that God promised. However, a good number of them never lost their vision of heaven.
Many of us become frustrated, and defeated when our needs, wants or expectations, are not immediately met on giving our lives to Christ, and therefore want to quit. If you are one of such people, please be patient, take courage from heroes of faith who lived and died without seeing the fruit of their faith on earth and yet, continued to believe (Hebrews 11:36-39).

Some Heroes of Faith Who Did Not See The Fruit Of Their Faith On Earth
Abel and Enoch (Hebrews 11:4-5)
Noah and Abraham (Hebrews 11:7-8)
Sarah and Isaac (Hebrews 11:11, 20)
Jacob and Joseph (Hebrews 11:21-22)
Moses and Rahab (Hebrews 11:23,31)
Boaz (Ruth 2:15-16)

Some Heroes of Faith Who Persevered And Saw The Fruit Of Faith

Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the Prophets (Hebrews 11:32-33)

How To Grow In Faith Through Jesus Christ
“That we henceforth be no children, tossed to and fro , and caused about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14).
1) Growing In Faith Begins With The New Birth Through The Word Of God
1 Peter 2:2 says “As new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”.

One thing common to all children is that they want to grow up – like their big brothers and sisters or their parents. Similarly, when we are born again, we become spiritual new babies, if healthy, we will yearn to grow. The need for milk is a natural instinct for a baby, and it signals the desire for nourishment that will lead to growth. In the same way, since we see the need for God’s word and begin to find nourishment with Christ, our spiritual appetite will increase and we will start to mature. How strong is your desire for God’s word?

2) As Children, We are Fed With Milk
“For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe” (Hebrews 5:13)

Commitment to Christ moves people out of their comfort zones or positions. You cannot grow as a Christian if you remain in the same position instead of applying what you have learned to your situation and teaching others. As a new born Christian, stop your old ways of doing things, fellowship with the brethren and imbibe the new culture in Christ. In this way, you will be able to understand the high-priestly role of Christ.

3) As Adults, We Are Fed With Solid Food
“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14).

Your spiritual growth determines your capacity to feast on deeper knowledge of God (solid food). More often than not, we want God;s banquet before we are spiritually capable of digesting it. As we grow in the Lord and put into practice what we have learned, our capacity to understand will also grow.

4) Many Remain Eternal Christians
Hebrews 5:12-14 tells us “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”.

In order for us to grow from baby Christians to adult or mature Christians, we must learn discernment. We must train our consciences, minds, senses and our bodies to distinguish between good and evil. Can you recognise temptation before you? Can you tell the difference between correct text of Scripture and a mistaken one?

5) We Should All Grow And Become Adults
Ephesians 4:13-14 admonishes us to walk in unity.
Working together, the church can express the fullness of Christ – Ephesians 3:19
Christ is the Truth – John 14:6
The Holy Spirit who guides the church is the Spirit of Truth – John 16:13
Satan, by contrast, is the father of lies – John 8:44

As followers of Christ, we must be committed to the truth. This means that our words should be honest and our actions should reflect Christ’s integrity as well. We should realise that speaking the truth in love is not always easy, convenient or pleasant. However, this is very necessary if the church is going to do Christ’s work on earth. Remember that YOU are the church.

6) The Lord Looks After Our Growth
Ephesians 4:11-13 says “And He gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors, and some Teachers. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”.

The Holy Spirit has given every Christian a special gift for building up the church. Now that we have these gifts, it is imperative we use them. If you know what your gifts are, please look fo opportunity to serve the Lord and use them. If you do not know, ask God to show you, perhaps with the help of your Pastor or other Christian friends. The enormous responsibility the church has includes preaching, teaching, evangelising, healing, giving, nurturing, administering, building, etc. God has called us as members of His body to perform this responsibility. Together we can obey God more fully than anyone alone. Working together, in unity, the church can express the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 3:19).

7) The Word Is The Best Way Of Generating Our Growth In Faith
Acts 20:32 puts it this way “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified”.

Like he prayed for the Ephesians in this passage, Apostle Paul is also praying for and commending you and I to God and His Word that the more we know Christ (our model), through the word, the more we will be like Christ. Study Jesus in the Gospel to see what He was like on earth. Personal knowledge of Christ through the Word will greatly change our lives. How much of His Word do you know? How much of Him are you willing to learn?

Until you invite Jesus Christ into your life (being born again) God’s continued presence can never abide with you. Today, accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. Ask Him to have mercy on you and forgive your sins and become the Master and Ruler of your soul, henceforth.
If you have backslid, retrace your steps back to Him right now and rededicate your life to God. However, if you have a living relationship with God, then tell others about Him – how much He loves us, He is our Savior, Redeemer and He died for our sins in order that we might not have to face the punishment that we rightly deserve. He is coming back the second time to take with Him all those who believe and accept Him, by faith, into their lives to live with Him eternally.
Congratulations if you have just accepted Jesus Christ into your life. Now look for a Bible believing church in your neighborhood to attend and you will be taught and grow in the Word of God.

God Bless You.       

#PathofLife

Changing the Culture of the Spheres of Influence through the Beatitudes

Changing the Culture of the Spheres of Influence through the Beatitudes y Lilian Schmid – Strategist and Prayer Coordinator for The Prayer Strategy Spheres of Influence International 

Introduction

How can we use Jesus’ Command to “love one another” (John 13:33-34) change the 21st century culture which is affected by sin: every sphere of influence in our society has been corrupted and affected by the ungodly activities which are operating to destroy humanity. Modern life has become multi-faceted and hectic with the following spheres/domains dominating and competing for ours and our families' time, money, affections and ambitions. These spheres or domains are:

  • Business and Finance
  • Government and the Military
  • Law and Justice
  • Faith and Philosophy
  • Creative Arts
  • Education
  • Charity and Not for Profit Welfare
  • Health and Science
  • Media and Entertainment
  • Sport and Recreation

In the Old Testament God promised to mend that which had been lost in the Fall by reinstituting peace on earth. Through Ezekiel, the Lord looked forward to such restoration for his people:

“And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and multiply them, and I will put my Temple among them forever. I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Ezek 37:26-27).

Peace will come by God’s effort. The result will be material blessing and, most importantly, a mended relationship between people and God. The prophet Isaiah brought a message similar to that of Ezekiel: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns” (Isa 52:7).  God’s peace is integrally related to his salvation, to the restoration of his reign on earth. When God saves, he will restore his kingdom so that those who live under his rightful rule will experience the fullness of his peace.

Jesus entered the world as the one who would fulfil the mission of the Suffering Servant, thus bringing divine peace. Even before Jesus was born, one of his relatives proclaimed what God was about to do: “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79)

How the Beatitudes will Bring Change to the Spheres of Influence in Our Society

“The beatitudes reveal to us eight qualities that bring God's blessing: meekness and mercy, poorness in spirit and purity of heart, mourning and hunger, peacemaking and persecution. Jesus highlighted these to offer both encouragement and instruction on living distinctly as his followers in a world with values much different from God's. As we study these qualities and integrate them into our lives, we will receive the blessing Jesus promised to his followers then and now”.
(The Beatitudes: Developing Spiritual Character by John R.W. Stott)

Looking at the Beatitudes as a kind of ladder, an ascent, we can discover some amazing things about spirituality and its fundamental relationship to the world. The Beatitudes have intense significance in a world where many Christians want to change others and the world from the top down, through forced conformity rather than genuine conversion. The Beatitudes are the essence, the lifeblood and beating heart of authentic, ancient and living Christianity. They are (from Mt 5:3-10):

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The Beatitudes express the idea that peace comes from peacemakers who are characterised by their poverty of spirit, their ability to mourn for the world, their lack of attachments or clinging to personal rights, their hunger for the healing of the world, their extreme mercy extended even towards their worst enemies, and their purity of heart. Peacemakers, according to Christ, are the instruments who bring peace to the world because they exemplify these characteristics. Change comes from the inside and moves towards the external. Peacemakers are persecuted because they present a challenge to authority which compels from the outside but cannot penetrate the interior.

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount begins by talking about the kingdom of heaven. A kingdom has a king, subjects, a place, and the ways of the king and his kingdom. It is where this particular king is reigning. So when Jesus teaches, He is not just advocating rules or giving advice. He is talking about a place or, more accurately, a realm where the ruler is God. And what is God’s kingdom like? What is God like as a king? Who are His subjects? And what are the ways of God? You can see that Jesus speaks about all these things in the Beatitudes. We learn about who the subjects of this kingdom are: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, etc. The true King of this universe is the One who gives the kingdom, who comforts, gives the earth to His children, and so on. Jesus is telling them about the wonder and goodness of living under the reign of God. The creator of this universe is the king of every sphere of influence, Jesus is the author of these spheres and we are the witnesses to bring real changes into them by proclaiming God’s kingdom on each one of them.

How the Kingdom will manifest its Power in the Spheres

First of all Jesus is speaking about the kingdom as a present and future reality. We can truly possess the kingdom of heaven here and now on the earth. We can enjoy the truth of this at least to some extent. The people of the kingdom are blessed. The word “blessed” always implies that the one doing the blessing is God. To be blessed is to be favoured or honoured by God. “Blessed” is a passive term. The one who is blessed is receiving from God His notice and favour. We can bring blessing to others that we meet within our sphere of influence.

So who are those who are blessed in the kingdom of heaven? And why are they blessed? In looking over the Beatitudes, we are immediately struck that Jesus is saying the unexpected, to say the least! The qualities of the blessed on Jesus’ teaching are not at all what we think of when we consider those we believe to be blessed.

To be blessed is to have value as human beings from our (Government), to have good health (Health and Science), to be secure and protected (Law and Justice), have great success in one’s endeavours (Business), creative and artistic (Arts), athletic (Sport and Recreation), freedom of speech and ideas (Faith and Philosophy), rich in Knowledge (Education), helping others in need to live (Charity and Not For Profit Welfare), spreading Christian values through technology (Media). These are the qualities we tend to associate with being blessed.

Jesus brings a new dimension to human life through the Sermon on the Mount. In the Beatitudes he teaches us the quality of life that we are hungry for. Every sphere of influence needs these kingdom qualities to be proclaimed in them. The qualities He includes are actually what we would normally consider indications of someone not being blessed! The person who we naturally think is blessed is favoured to have the kingdom of heaven now and a future fullness in comfort, inheritance, satisfaction, mercy, etc. The blessing then that these people receive is not to be poor in spirit, mourning, or meek. Rather, the presence of these qualities is thought to be a sign that the person is not cursed, but actually blessed. Paradoxically in Jesus teaching one can be called blessed when they are poor in spirit because being poor in spirit is a sign that she/he is looking for the very thing God the King is giving: His kingdom. You can see that there is a connection in the message of Jesus between the person who is blessed and why they are blessed, where every person who is a witness to Christ in the Marketplace can bring a blessing to these domains or spheres.

God our King desires indeed to bless us, to bless our families, our church, our work. Through our mission we can transform our society by applying the teaching of the Beatitudes through each one of us. We can be a part of bringing the reality of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. To understand that to be blessed here and now is to find we are being made ready to receive all these things forever.

Jesus is telling us about His kingdom. We see that God greatly desires to bless His people in a full and complete way. God is not going to give sparingly – just some comfort, or a small inheritance. And what God is doing in His people now, when He is blessing them, is that He is making them able more and more to hope in, receive, long for, the very riches He is giving. If we are in Christ we are a new creation: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Co 5:17).

So as blessed people:

  • Let us be rich in God’s Kingdom who is the provider of all richness in this wor Colossians 3:16
  • Let us be comforted to be free, Jesus gave us freedom the moment he gave his life on the cross. Galatians 3:1-14
  • Let us inherit the earth because we are sons and daughter of God’s Kingdom. Psalm 2:7
  • Let us be righteous and let God’s light shine through us. Matthew 5:14
  • Let us receive mercy and grace, and be merciful to others Matthew 8:14-17
  • Let us have Jesus’ heart and receive His unconditional love to love others as He loved us. John 3:16
  • Let us be peacemakers and bring unity across the body. John 13:35
  • Let us handle persecution with perseverance; then we may understand the fullness of God’s mercy and grace. John 25:20

Amen.

King of Kings

Success. Depending on who you ask, success means different things. To most people success means money or fame. To me success is reading the bible from cover to cover. I want to be spiritually wise and really know God. I want to uncover all the lies within the world. I want to know the truth. I know I’m a sinner however, I will try not to sin as much as I can. The world is full of sinful things. Music, Celebrities, Books, etc. I may only be 13 years old (almost 14 on July 23) but I will never understand atheists. Satan shows himself out in the open in today’s society, you can either choose to accept it and try to escape it or ignore it and be blinded by wickedness. 

Death. Most people are afraid of death, you see, the christian man should not fear death. If you really believed and cared for Christ, you would know that he has created the heavens for us followers of Christ. On Judgement Day, you either make it to heaven or you don't. It’s that simple. Jesus will judge on the day of Judgement, It’s his duty after all, he is the one who died for all of our sins. Although he will be judging(John 5:22), he would not be the reason if you go to Hell. God gave us all a choice. Nomatter where you come from or where you live, God gave us two options. Believe Jesus Christ died for our sins or perish in the eternal flames of Hell (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). Knowing this I now laugh in the face of death, I will never fear death and to be honest, I don’t care if I die, I know I will be united with Christ for eternity.

My Future. As a Christian I want to pursue my dreams while being able to still follow Christ. Maybe when I get older I can be a Pastor. The last thing I want to do is depart from Christ. I would give up everything before I flee from Christ. I, however, am still a normal kid, and I have a lot to learn. When I grow old and it’s time for me to retire, I pray that I will have enough to support myself and my family. I don’t need much. I want to own a ranch in a rural area. I will teach my kids about Jesus, and make sure they feel comfortable talking to me. Teenagers often get pressured to do sinful activities. I will teach my kids to be modest and grateful for whatever they get. Being a Christian means to be Christ-Like. Now I know it’s impossible to be as great as Jesus, however you can choose not to willingly sin. All I ask of my kids is to have faith in Jesus and follow the Ten-Commandments. There’s even a chance that this won't happen, Jesus might come back before I get old to take all believers, and defeat Satan once and for all. Doing so will end his reign of terror and end sin!

Following Christ. Would you rather take a long and bumpy road to glory or a short and easy road to damnation. The funny thing is, once you turn to Jesus, you realize how horrible the world is. Puppets of Satan WILL try to throw you off track. In these times, you must pray. Jesus hears all prayers and is willing to help. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Pray before you fall too deep into sin. If you follow the short road to damnation, to you sin will be normal and the world seems perfect. Until Death. God laughs at those who mock him. When a sinner who doesn’t follow Christ dies they will suffer forever, there’s no smooth-talking out of it. The question everyone needs to be asking is “Are you in the will of God?” Will Jesus say “Depart from me, I never knew you” or will he welcome you with open arms into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Some may be asking “How can I make sure that I am a follower of Christ and make it to Heaven?” This question is fairly easy to answer. There are only two steps to make sure Jesus knows you. The first step is to ACTUALLY believe with all of your heart that Jesus is King and he died for our sins. The last and harder step is to keep the Ten-Commandments. That's it. Remember, God wouldn’t do anything to hurt you and everything you do in his name will make your life better. Jesus I pray that whoever reads this, even if I don’t publish this, will get their eyes opened and the holy spirit will enter them, I hope reading this might make them a real child of God.

Pushing Forth Your Transformation

As many of you know by now that seeing in the spirit is one of God's ways to help us renew our minds, give us direction, and connect to the reality of spiritual substances and beings. The devil uses God's ways too in order for him to be effective in spiritual warfare! That's why your mind is the battlefield and the battleground for both realms, the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness. God wants to wage war too with your way of thinking and how you see things in the eyes of implanted doctrines in you. God wants you to be conformed into the image of his glorious Son Jesus Christ and the enemy wants you to be like him. Your identity is at war!

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:15-17

That's why the word of God commands us to TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST, wow every thought man, that's lots of work. Yes, it may be lots of work but because it is critical and dangerous we need to stay alert. Why? Because if you allow the thief to just come in for one time only, you will regret your whole life later. One moment of apathy can cause you a lifetime of sorrow and regret. That's why not everyone will be a hero of faith because not everyone wants to live the life of heroes. What if David the shepherd spared the bear and the lion once? NO MORE FLOCK, end of his business. Take captive every thought for God's sake because what you will tolerate, you are sleeping with and you will bear its fruits, good or bad.

Seeing visions in your mind is so powerful, God knows that and so does the enemy. Man's fall started by seeing and meditating on the wrong vision. Eve SAW that the fruit of the forbidden tree was so delicious and appealing. Job made a covenant with his eyes not to fornicate in his mind with a virgin by looking at her and lusting over her. Visions are a gateway of access for life or death, for light or darkness, for blessing or curse. You choose, I choose, we choose!

Seeing visions can be a detailed topic and can cover many categories. I only want to target in this devotion the powerful tool of inner visions that I call the scenarios of the mind and how to master those and subdue them for the glory of the Lord. I want you to be seasoned in this, be aware of it, and learn the ways of the Spirit. Your life is about to change right now!

I opened up to the concept of the importance of inner scenarios through this experience and that many of them happen because of a spiritual trigger in the spiritual realm.

One day after a Church meeting, my brother in the Lord and I decided to go visit another brother to have lunch with him and spend the day at his place. That brother we were going to visit that day was always welcoming and we never heard him say no to us, always welcoming. My friend was driving the car heading to that place and I was sitting next to him and on that day I was wearing an earring. As soon as we were close to his place, my mind drifted to a mind scenario for seconds, some call it daydreaming. I saw this man we were going to visit that day looking at me and rejecting me and saying you're not welcome here because you are wearing an earring, that was it! I felt that this played scenario in my mind meant something but didn't know what was it all about, plus it was my first encounter with this understanding. I didn't tell my driving friend anything but in less than a minute, my friend's phone rang and it was the man calling him and rejecting our visit last minute. No!!! We were almost there. So we head back to our homes!

Let me unpack to you what happened here and I know your own scenarios will start making sense from now on. In that daydream, my spirit man was picking from the Holy Spirit a prophetic revelation for something to come which is the rejection of our visit. My weak mind and sometimes carnal was picking on truth in the spirit realm and translated this into my mind in the form of a scenario trying to tell me something. It was like a story but the main FOCUS AND HIGHLIGHT was “the man rejecting me” and of course, the earring in the scenario had nothing to do with it and that man didn't see me wearing an earring plus he is not like that. So the focus in this scenario was on the feeling of rejection of the visit. It is important to always follow Holy Spirit in our spiritual encounters and sense the focus and the highlight whether in our visions, dreams, bible reading, etc! From that day on, I started watching and paying attention to my daydreams because many of those happen in my mind because there is a spiritual trigger behind them in the spirit realm from God or the devil, and myself. It is important not to make every daydream important but be sensitive and master it with the Lord because that will change your life. It is a very powerful tool when there is really something playing.

Now that you know about this, I want to teach you how to push forth your transformation by going back into the spirit realm, in your mind, with Holy Spirit and altering the scenarios played. In my case, that daydream was forth telling me that our visit will not occur that day, so the type of this daydream was forth-telling and I can do nothing about it, just pick up the revelation and reveal it maybe. Other scenarios are an invitation for you to be Christlike or a sinner and they happen a LOT, every day.

For example, if the devil played in your mind a scenario that you will be crippled with chronic pain and showed you yourself as a patient in a hospital, with a pale face, surrounded by doctors and suffering pain and hopelessness, of course, if you are mature enough you know this is not God's will for you and you follow Holy Spirit on how to respond, capture the thought, reject and fight it. One of the ways of fighting back is PUSHING FORTH YOUR TRANSFORMATION by going back to that given sick scenario and MASTER it and changing it for your glory. This is binding the devil and plundering him. For instance, you can tell Holy Spirit, Lord let's go back to that scenario and shift it for my benefit, change the curse to a blessing. Here you follow the Lord, wait on him, and allow the creativity of the Holy Spirit to shift this to your blessing. Without talking, gently SEE how Holy Spirit alters this scenario for you, the Lord may replace the scene with the enemy stricken in the bed of affliction instead of you and you are watching and mocking him, or you may see yourself in that same hospital room doing a check-up and you hear in this scenario the doctor telling you wow you have a vibrant health and he has never seen someone like you before.

Let the Holy Spirit turn what was meant for evil to be for your good. Push forth from your spirit man the glorious transformation you want to see, and be INTENTIONAL by adding faith to it. It is awesome to pray God's promises, like “By his stripes, I am healed” but it is more powerful to SEE THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING. See the promise, live the promise!

I pray this teaches you something today about the supernatural realm.

God bless you

Tony Francis