"The Battlefield Of The Mind"

"The greatest battles have not been fought on the ground, in the air, or in the sea, its between our ears" Our minds are the bullseye of the enemies target. Whether we win or loose this war is all up to what we allow in our minds. Its critical that we choose to think on the right thoughts. There are so many believers that are not aware that they do not have to accept every thought that runs on the screen of their mind. I have heard it put this way... When a thought comes that doesent agree with the word, change the thought just like you would change the channel of your television. Wrong thinking, leads to wrong believing, thus leading to wrong speaking, producing wrong living. We will never rise above the level of our own thinking. As we think in our hearts, so shall we be(Prov 23:7) In talking about warfare and the pullling down of strongholds, The Lord speaks through the mouth of Paul commanding us to cast down every imagination and to bring every thought into captivity(2 Cor 10:4,5) How do we take a thought captive? We take thoughts captive with something greater than a thought. What is greater than a thought? WORDS! The bible says something powerful & profound in the book of Proverbs. When our mind thinks evil, PLACE YOUR HAND UPON YOUR MOUTH(Prov 30:32) This is simply stating that our thoughts become are words. There is an awesome qoute that goes "We cannot keep the birds from flying around our heads, but we can KEEP them from building a nest in our hair" We cannot keep a thought from coming, but WE CAN prevent them from PROGRESSING! How? Speak the word at that thought, until it comes into captivity and gets placed under the obedience of Christ, HAVING a READINESS!!!!!!!!!!!! This is never a one time deal, its a daily thing. It becomes easier as we practice the principles and precepts birthed and breeded from him at the end of the blog. There is a saying that goes Thoughts will come and persist in staying, but thoughts not put in word or action will be still born". The Lord spoke that the enemy is like a hobo riding upon the train of our thoughts, waiting for that entry way into our lives. A thought that we refuse to take captive, is a thought that the advasary can cash in and than enter in. Remember in past blogs, the Lord decreed and declared himself to be "the specialist" Well, hes also "the great strategist" God spoke through the mouth of Paul telling us not to be IGNORANT of the enemies devices, lest he get an advantage(2 Cor 2:11) He again speaks through Paul saying Put on the whole armor of God that we may stand against the WILES of the devil(Eph 6:11) In Bugs Bunny there was a character that always set up traps to get the roadrunner. The interesting thing is each one of these schemes backfired and he fell into his own trap. The coyote's name was WILE E Coyote!!! How amazing! Number one Recognize. There is a statement made that goes "The devils success is dependant upon our ignorance" Awareness is half the work on our behalfs. We've taled about in recent blogs how satan works through the element of suprise. Dont be suprised over the amount of thoughts that shoot through your mind like bullets firing from a gun. Purpose that your going to get on the offensive now that you understand by regognizing its the enemy. Number two, Reject. I have heard it put by the Lord this way, We must allow each thought that enters our mind to chechout at the registration desk of the word of God. If the thought doesent align or agree, REJECT it! The Lord said it this way through James, RESIST the DEVIL AND HE SHALL FLEE(Jms 4:7) We dont just resist satan but his wiles as well! Number three, Replace. We must find the scripture that relates to the area under attack in our thoughts. The Lord said through Isiah His THOUGHTS are HIGHER than OURS(Isiah 55:8) Find the higher thought in the word and replace! Number four, Renew. God said through the mouth of Paul Be not conformed to this word but be ye tranformed by the RENEWING of our minds(Rom 12:2) Once we have practiced the other three principles and precepts, we have to do it over and over and over and over. As we do, the Lord said we will become renewed thus being transformed! God said through the mouth of Peter, GIRT UP THE LOINS OF YOUR MINDS(1 Peter 1:13) Think about it, loins are the reproductive parts of our bodies. What do they have to do with our mind? Thoughts reproduce and as they multiply they began to build a STRONGHOLD! A strongholds begin by just one thought we refused to place into captivity. Whose responsibility is it? OURS! God provides a list to test our thoughts in the fourth chapter of the book of Phillipians. Whatever things are lovely, honest just pure and of a good report, THINK ON THESE THINGS(Phil 4:8) A pilot never flies until they have went over the checklist for the plane. Likewise we must never allow thought to remian in our minds unless its passed the checklist test of Phillipians chapter four and verse number eight!!!!!!!! WIN THE BATTLE OF THE MIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The Spirit Of Heaviness"

This I believe is one of the big strongmen in the bible that attempts to attack believers. The bible talks about twelve strongmen. In the event that sounds strange, checkout the book of Ephesians. It says we wrestle not against flesh & blood but against principilaties & powers, rulers of darkness in this world and SPIRITUAL WICKENEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES. This verse is very cleary describing in detail the rank in Satans Kingdom. In other words these are "the big boys" The Lord has placed upon my heart to talk about the one that I think that people that especially are on fire for God and love him with all their heart soul mind and strength can accounter. First lets talk about a group of individuals in the word that faced it. Elijah, in just one day of his life called fire down from heaven consuming the 450 prophets of baal, he prayed for rain in the midst of the drought, and outran the chariot. This was indeed one power packed day at the ranch! However we read just a few verses later that Jezebel SENDS A MESSAGE saying that she planned to kill him. The spirit of heaviness griped him to the point of where he wanted the Lord to take his very own life. Lets pause a second just to say often when there has been a great victory is when words will flow attempting you to get down and downcast. Be careful who you share your victories with, Jesus said we must be caustious not to "cast pearls before swine"(Matt 7:6) In the synoptic gospels we'll often find him telling the people "Tell no man of this" There is a time to speak and a time to be silent(Ecc 3:7) No matter what people or preachers say DONT LET GO of what the Lord has quickened to your hearts that hes going to do. You + God = Majority! Another one is David. He was a man after Gods own heart. He had defeated Goliath as a young teenage boy, than assembled a 600 men army that was virtously unconquerable. Than we read in the 69th psalm his battles with "the spirit of heaviness." I sink deep into the mire, where there is no standing, Iam come into deep waters where they overflow me, Iam weary of my crying and my throat is dried(Psalm 69:2,3) I dont think any of us need to have taken any counseling coarses to see heaviness all over David like a lampshade! Thirdly, theres Job. Job curse the day he was born(Job 3:3) Hmm sounds like heaviness to me lol What can we do as blood bought born again believers to combat this conquering sprit? Number one, SELF ESTEEM. Now when I mention that Iam not talking about tooting our own horns. I am simply stating that we must SEE ourselves AS HE SEES us IN HIM! Remeber when Adam & Eve were in the Garden? Satan comes all up in there as that subtle serphent saying If you eat of it, you'll be LIKE GOD. HELLO They already were!!! God had created them in his own image and likeness. This what the devil does, get us fosused on a different image of who we are! The book of James says that Gods word is like a mirror and if we LOOK AWAY from it WE WILL FORGET WHAT MANNER OF PERSON WE ARE(Jms 1:23,24) We gotta be like God says it, that settles it! You and I are already complete in him! There is a line in the movie Jerry Mcguire where Tom Cruise says "You complete me" HOGWASH lol People dont "complete" us, they compliment us! Its very important that we all understand that. We do not NEED anyonelse telling us who we are or what we can do. The bible says that you are fearfully & wonderfully made and his thoughts about you are more than the sand upon the shore(Psalm 139) Danger of Discouragement. In an earlier bog we talked about the importance of encouragement, especially being able to do it to our ownselves. The reason why its dangerous to remain in discouragement is because it can become a "gateway" to the spirit of heaviness. Samual the prophet was told by God after saul messed up How long will you mourn over Saul, fill your horn with oil and go(1 Sam 16:1,2) Obviously at this time, the prophet was mightily discouraged, but we see clearly that god was not going to allow him to stay in that state. He WILL NOT let us either. Recall what I said in the past, Jesus is the "specialist" He turns scars to stars, lemons to lemonades, and ashes to beauty! Every dissappointment can turn to a reappoinment. Its all in if we let him do it. You see, Samual could've just like stayed there and would'nt been a cotten-picken thing the lord could've done. Why? Its always are choice! When we let ourselves stay in discouragement all were really doing is delaying the new that God wants to do. God moves in an atmosphere of faith and expectantcy. In the event you find yourself in that condition watch your confession. Its the very thing that can keep us cripped in the circumstance. Death and life is in the power of our tounge(Prov 18:21) Christ is the HighPriest of our confession(Heb 3:1) When we begin to use our words to change not describe the miracle working power of God gets involved! You'll soon see things different with pertinent perspective. Number Three, COMPARISON. This is like a biggie in our society. When we begin to compare ourselves to anyonelse were suspetable to the spirit of heaviness. The bible says comparing ourselves among ourselves is not wise(2 Cor 10:12) Comparison quickly can lead to covetousness. Our God is no repector of persons(Acts 10:34, Rom 2:11) Before we recieve what someonelse has, we must be willing to do what that person did! Heres a story I heard to illustrate that point. There was a group of ladies that hungout. They were like the best of friends. Always going out to dinner, movies and shopping. all of them were nearly unseperable. These ladies were overweight. One of them decided that she was going to get disciplined and determined and begun loosing weight. Instead of inspiring the other ladies to be like "Hey girl you got the plan, tell us how its done!" They were offended and upset. There were no more phone calls, invitations or shopping trips. They had completely disconnected themselves. Why? It was through comparison. It seemed easier for them to rot out from the cancer of envy and jealousy. In the beginning of this blog, we mention twelve strongmen. Jealousy is another one(Num 5:14) According to Prov 6:34 it leads to rage and ultimately death. How many murders just like cain and abel have been committed by it? You might be like I never would ever do such a thing. Hey, no one grew up as a little child with the dream of being a killer! Even if someone would'nt physically murder, people still do it with their deep rooted hatred toward another. God says thats the same as MURDER!(1 John 3:15) Finally, Goals. Before you say anything goals are good, but they are not a God! I have seen many people suffer with I would like to call "destination disease." You hear, when I get married, when my kids are grown up, when i have more money, when I get a new house. the list can be endless. You see how it can lead to heaviness? We need to allow the Lord to slap us with the "spirit of chill" lol How bout it? Now we said earlier that we need to write the vision and make it clear right? The bible says Without a vision, the people perish(Prov 29:18) Preperation leads to opportunity. The the thing is we can get so "caught up" in it that we refuse to enjoy where we are "in the process" to where were going. Beethoven was a a skilled piano player, John Ghrisin is an awesome author, Pavorotti was an excellant italian tenor. None of them were FOOTBALL PLAYERS! God said through the mouth of Paul "This ONE thing I do(Phil 3:13) The term "jack of all trades" will lead a person down the pathway of poverty. This is the reason the BOC needs eachother! We all bring something unique and special to the table. God spoke through the mouth of Paul saying If whole body was the eye, where would be the hearing?(1 Cor 12:17) Be on the offensive, practice these principles. They WILL produce the POWER to be free from "the spirit of heaviness."

"The Privledge Of Pressure"

I know that could sound funny. How could pressure be a privledge? Its because its the pressure of the caterpillar inside the cacoon that converts it into a butterfly. Instead of looking at it as an obstacle, view it as an OPPORTUNITY! It reveals to the enemy that were rooted and grounded, settled and establised! The book of Hebrews makes this incredible statement "If any man DRAWS BACK, my soul shall NOT HAVE ANY PLEASURE in him(Heb 10:38) What are these times of being tempted to draw back? PRESSURE! Did you know that times of pressure, is a chance for us to give God pleasure? The bible says that we were created for his PLEASURE(Rev 4:11) Being under it enables us to do the very thing that we were created for before the foundations of the world. Lets look at the bibles parade of men that were under pressure. The three Hebrews were cast into the fiery furnace for their unwillingness to bend or bow to the golden image, Danial was told very clearly that praying to his God openly was an absolute nono and warrented a trip to the lions den, Jesus was considered a liar, lunatic, and inssurrectionist to dangerous to live, The apostle Paul was stoned shipwrecked and slandered repeatedly, Abraham was told by God to offer his only son on mt moriah after waiting twenty five years for the promise. In each of these instances they all made the right choice that brought about the right result. We always know that just like those hebrews, when were in the flaming fire of pressure, God shows up himself as that mighty fourth man! God said through the mouth of the prophet Isiah We shall WALK through the FIRE and the FLAME SHALL NOT kindle upon us(Isiah 43:2) However just like these men, its always our choice. Are we going to be a champion for the cause of Christ, orare we going to cruble like a cookie dipped in tea? Jesus said LET not your heart be TROUBLED(aka PRESSURED) Dont let the prssure on the outside get to the inside! Make a quality decision that you WILL not be one of those that SHRINK back(Heb 10:39) Lets endure hardness asGOOD SOLDIER of Jesus Christ(2 Tim 2:3) When its going down, be like "ITS TRENCH TIME" Shine dont wine, be POWERFUL not pitiful. There is a saying that goes " "The teapot sings its loudest when its up to its neck in hot water" When a goldsmith takes the gold out of the fire they rub finger over the top and it litterally sings. The greatest temptation is not sexual social or substance, its GIVING UP! Jesus tells two parables within just six chapters to pound that point. The first is the parable of a friend going to his friends at midnight asking for bread. midnight can be said to be the highest hour of maximized super-sized pressure. The dude in his home was like TROUBLE(aka pressure) me not the doors our shut and my kids are in bed, Icannot rise and give thee yet because of his IMPORTUNITY, HE WILL RISE AND GIVE THEE(Luke 11:7,8) The word "importunity means "not giving up" Than seven chapters later we see the account of the parable of the window woman and unjust judge. this judge feare not God or had he any regard for man. It looked utterly useless and her denial looked certain. However she continued to plead her case shamelessly fearlessly and with great intensity. She applied pressure to her pressure! The unjust judge granted her request because of her continual coming(Luke 18:6) God lists the unbelieving right along in the list of whoremongering, liars and adulters(Rev 21:8) What does this mean? When pressure comes there is a spy in the sky watching and observing litterally bragging upon us! He did that to satan about Job. Have you considered my servant Job?(Job 2:3) Unfortunately Job let the pressure to produce a crack through his fears and words. The cool thing is that God totally turned the captivity giving him DOUBLE for the trouble(aka pressure) Perhaps the pressure has produced some cracks. Remember what the Lord spoke to my spirit Iam the "specialist" He completely specializes in supernatural turnarounds. Heavens mop is simply huge and can clean up any spill. Its much stronger than bounty or tide! There is one better thing than the cleaning of a mess and thats not being in one to begin with. Finally three things to do under pressure. Number one Choose! Make a quality decisions like these other dudes that you WONT cave or crack. No amount of pressure can impact or influence our choice! God said out of the mouth of Moses I have set before you life and death, CHOOSE life(Deut 30:19) God later said again out of the mouth of Josua CHOOSE THIS DAY(Josua 24:15) We must not get wrapped up in Tommorrows choice! Jesus said Take therefore no thought about Tommorrow(Matt 6:34) What we decide Today will determine Tommorrow!!! number two, Commit! One of the coolest ways to do that is to get yourself communion elements before the Lord and consecrate it. Psalm 37:5 COMMIT thy WAYS to him, Prov 16:3 says COMMIT thy thoughts to Him. Number three, Connection. Get in contact with people in the Lord that will affirm not assult the fact that your coming out. we all need and Elijah or an Apostle Paul. The butler & and baker were paramount connections in the lives of Joesephs future. The bible says the companion of the wise, SHALL BE WISE(Prov 13:20) We become like what were around. When we spend to much time around the beehive, were bound to be stung, if were in the barbershop long enough, we'll end up with a haircut. partner up with ministries that ae feeding your faith and starving your doubts, and showing you your deliverence from the fire! Ladies and gents, the pressure is indeed our greatest privledge

Triumphing Through Fiery Trials

In a recent blog we discussed "faith under fire" Our faith is the most valuable and precious thing that we have going for us. It stands to reason that the enemy is all about getting it shipwrecked in our lives. Think about what the bible says "In the last days MANY shall DEPART from the FAITH(1 Tim 4:1) We cannot depart from something that we were not first in. Now notice the phrase "last days" These are in deed the times that we are currently in the midst of. Its a day like never ever before to be sober and vigilant! In the "faith under fire" blog we discussed a number of things that our faith is to do. Faith is not suprised, faith speaks, faith rejoices, and faith is persistent! The Lord has ministered to me a few more that will enable him to turn trial to triumph in our lives. Number one, Excercise authority. Jesus said that ALL power(Aka AUTHORITY) has been given unto me in Heaven and in Earth, GO YE THEREFORE(Matt 28:18,19) Lets zero in on the phrase "Go ye therefore" To give you a picture of what hes saying in this verse, consider a track meet involving long distance runners. The first runner goes a certain distance, than passes the baton to the next one. When Jesus made this statement there was a "passing of the baton" to the body of Christ! Its now up to us to excercise appropriate and apply this authority daily. Think about a police officer, hes just a man. He doesent have any power to stop a car traveling in the middle of a road within himself. His authority comes from the government backing him up who gave him that authority. Were able to tell the devil, trials and tests to "talk to the hand" not because of WHO we are, but by WHOSE we are and the authority it represents! You see we represent HIM on this earth. The bible says that were Christs ambassadors(2 Cor 5:20) The boc is like the very representation of Jesus Christ! The thing is through many people when they get into the midst of a fiery trial, the last thing they do is excercise their authority. They ask God why? They feel bad for themselves wallowing in self pity. We must remember that a pity party is one party that no one will show up for! Unless we use our authority, we'll loose our authority! No onelse can excercise it for us. Its like we have to be ready to dance with the devil in the pale moon light! Recall what we said be more persistent than the enemy. Jesus said the thief cometh to steal, kill, and destroy(John 10:10) Oh yeah, make no mistake about it, satan is like "mission minded" and goal oriented. We must be willing to endure by our excercising this mighty authority until hes G.O.N.E.! The bible says Submit yourself therefore unto God, RESIST the devil and HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU(Jms 4:7) YOU is the undertood subject of the whole verse. Always be ready for a counter attack. Jesus in the midst of the advasary's assualt said IT IS WRITTEN! The best defense is a good offense. Number two, Examination. Its tough for the Lord to get us out of something that we have placed ourselves in! The children of Isreal were delivered from Egypt in one day, but it took forty years to get egypt OUT of them. The Lord said to me one time "Brian most of the trials you've been in have been "self inflicted" Is that true of you? When we sow bad seed, we cannot always pray for a crop failure! The law of seedtime and harvest is more powerful than gravity and lift. We must be willing to "check ourselves before we WRECK ourselves" Do a chekup from the neck up. Ask yourself before God the hard questions. How bout our words, actions, & deeds? Refuse to be the next contestent on the blame game. There is one person that we can never ever get away from and thats you and its me! If we want a change, we have to make a change. Its been said before "Gods more into changing us before the circumstance." Lets be like David Search me o God and see if there be any wicked thing in me(Psalm 139:23,24) Third, Enter into joy. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is a feeling, joy is a force! Joy is not going to come upon us like ripe cherries falling from a tree. It has to be entered into. God said through the mouth of the apostle James COUNT it all joy when you encounter tests and trials, for the trying of our faith worketh patience, let patience have its perfect work that you'll be perfect and entire lacking nonething(Jms 1:2-4) The word count means to consider. In other words theres nonething joyful about a fiery trial thats like hey "YAY" look at me, Iam in a trial! Right? The thing is its our counting it joy that causes a caterpolting out of the trial. The bible says we must stand in "THE EVIL DAY"(Eph 6:13) The evil day can be described as a trial. It takes strength to stand strong. The bible says the joy of the Lord IS OUR STRENGTH!(Neh 8:10) "Its NOT about what were going through, its ALL about where hes taking us too." The next one is Encouragement. The bible exorts us to ENCOURAGE one another daily(Heb 3:13) Heb 10:25 declares ENCOURAGE one another EVEN MORE AS THE DAY APPROACHES. What day? The great and terrible day of the Lord. Great for those that know the Lord, terrible for those that don't. How powerful can words of encouragement be? Heavyweight boxer Muhummad Ali litterally paid for a dude to simply speak over him words of encouragement. He said himself that it was paramount to his success. Please listen, its imperative to ours too! The apostle Paul himself sought for the encouragement of Titus while in Troas(2 Cor 2:12,13) In other words, we'll never outgrow the need of a heavy dose of encouragement. There will be times you will have to be your own. This happened in the life of David in Ziklag. While he and his men of war were out to battle, the amelekites came in and totally ramsacked the city. They burned the homes, stole the possessions and kidnapped wives and children. It was single handily the worst day of Davids life. To make matters worse his own men that he had taken under his wing marshalling them into a mighty army turned agaist him. Is this true of you? People you thought were for you and on your side, turning on you. What did David do? The most powerful thing that any of us can do, HE ENCOURAGED HIMSELF IN THE LORD HIS GOD(1 Sam 30:6) That flap of flesh hiding behind the enamal fense in our mouth was given to build not break! The bible says BUILDING YOURSELVES up on your most holy faith(Jude 20) Not long ago the Lord said Brian, Im the "SPECIALIST" In other words, I specialize in turning trial to triumph, darkness to day, and ashes to beauty! It just hinges upon us cooperating with him in being a doer of these principles and not a hearer only! As we do these things we WILL TRIUMPH THROGH FIERY TRIALS

"The Process"

In an earlier blog we discussed the working of miracles. There are miracles that are instaneous and than there are others that are gradual. Notice what the word says "the WORKING of miracles. Sometimes after we have prayed the prayer of faith or acted in obedience on Gods word there is that process of working thats involved. Think about Joeseph, a dude given a dream that one day his family and many others would bow down to him as a leader. After recieving that dream, he had no clue what was to be up ahead. He did'nt realize that it was going to take thirteen and a half years before it was accomplished. Let me pause to say this... God is the great "dream weaver" Dont ever givup or givein on your dream! Hes doing things behind the scenes where were unable to see and feel. God is doing the most when we feel the least! Why? Because faith pleases him and so does passionate persistence. We see another instance of a gradual miracle in the life of the noblemans son. He did'nt recieve the manifestation until seven days afterwards(John 4:52) Abraham the Father of our faith, it was twenty five years before the materialization of the promise seed named Issac. We must be in it for the "long hall" Even when were in those seasons where quit looks good. The Lord just ministered to me today this saying hes like "son many times people want the promise without the process". However its the process that sphegetti turns to solid steel, and were standing ramrod straight trusting God with every fiber of our being. Especially in the face of wayward words, idle thoughts, and contrary circumstances. This is indeed a most excellant sacrifice! Let him have your dreams and desires. He promised as we delight ourselves in him, he'll give us the desires of our hearts(Psalm 37:4) A day is like a thousand years to God. Hes the Iam of "the suddenlies" What you've been waiting to recieve for a long time, can come about in a very short period of time! You might be thinking I've messed up and made wrong choices and decisions, there is no way my dream can come to pass. Look at Sampson, his desire after screwing up so bad was to get enough strength to shake the pillars down upon the phillistines. The bible said that in his ending more was slew than his entire life(Judges 16:30) You might be thinking I dont know the right people. God can connect us to the right people. God supernaturally put a baker and butler in the pathway of Joeseph. A baker puts things together and butlers open doors! Jesus said Iam the DOOR(John 10:9) Christ is our heavely butler and Hes saying I'll open up the doors that NO MAN can SHUT(Rev 3:7) Dare to dream! Forget the naysayers, the doubters and haters! You and God are a majority. He said that HE shall bring to completion what he hath begun(Phil 1:6) There is only one way the dream and desire can be stunted and stopped, that person is YOU. You'll be tempted especially when you have taken a strong stand over a period of time. The bible commands us in the book of James to have the PATIENCE of Job(Jms 5:11) The word patience is synonomous with the word perservearence. Its NOT the idea of sitting around twirling thumbs waiting for something to happen. Its just refusing to be moved by anything and anyone! 2 Cor 5:7 says we walk by faith and NOT BY SIGHT(or the five physical senses) The bible says Having DONE ALL TO STAND, STAND THEREFORE(Eph 6:13,14) Maybe your like thinking and feeling that way right now. God I've done everything that you asked me to do....When? Listen, when were willing to stand forever, we wont be standing very long! Keep standing!!!! Hes the Lord of the harvest(Matt 9:38, Luke 10:2) We must not try to do his part. Lets just do ours! The Lord birthed and breeded an incredible quote from the mouth of Pastor Charles Stanley "Obey God and let the consequences UP TO HIM" Praise the LORD! He has already promised that it will be EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE CAN ASK OR THINK(Eph 3:20) Lets COMMIT our ways to him, He will bring them to PASS(Psalm 37:5) Sir Winston Churchill said "The nose of a bulldog is slanted back so that it can bite and breathe at the same time without turning loose." Hangon to those dreams and desires with bulldog grip, guts, and grits! Our God is a REWARDER of those that DELIGENTLY SEEK HIM(Heb 11:6) Jesus said SEEK HIM FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO THEE(Matt 6:33) Let me give you one last admonition write your dream and desire on paper. The bible says that the vision is for an appointed time, WRITE THE VISION and make it clear so HE THAT SEES WILL RUN WITH IT(Hab 2:2,3) This is talking about the great "dreamweaver" himself!! When its written down, it stays in front of us thus feeding that confident expectancy. In closing there is a perfect picture of the power of this found in the Old Testement. In Genesis chapter thirty, we find Jacob working for a man by the name of Laban. We remember that Jacob before his wrestling match with God changed his name and destiny meant deciever. Well he reaped what he had sown in his deception of his faither when working fir even a bigger one than hisself! Let me just add We do indeed REAP WHAT we SOW(Gal 6:7) Jacob finally after working foir him to recieve his wife for twenty long years was ready for a change. He made a deal with Laban. He said I'll take all the spotted sheep. Laban figuered that he had just been given the deal of a lifetime! There were no spotted sheep in existence. However it wasent over yet, Jacob placed them IN FRONT of a tree with spots. What was kept in fron of them came upon them! This is a spiritual principle. Let me ask, What are you placing in front of you? God has given us "two sets" of eyes. Theres the natural windows called our spiritual eyes and than there is our set of spiritual eyes. This is the reason Elisha prayed for the spiritual eyesight of his servant be opened(2 Kings 6:17) during a time of war. Its so important what were looking at and listening to. Allow Him to be your dreamwaever today and PREVAIL in "the process!"

"Faith Under Fire"

Not long ago the Lord spoke this to my spirit. Hes like Brian Dont fight your faith, use your faith to fight and your fights will always be good" God said through the mouth of Paul Fight the good fight of faith(1 Tim 6:12) Notice, he doesent say that we wont be in afight, it says that the fight will be good if we use our faith to fight! There are only two things in the bible that word PRECIOUS is attatched too. The fist is the blood of Jesus and the other is faith. Faith is the most precious thing that we've got going on this people planet. Without it we cannot please God, we cannot be saved, and were unable to recieve all thats been made available on the pantry of Heaven. This is what the enemy is after! Its not so much us,but our Faith. I want you to seperate youself from your faith. In other words when the fiery trial comes, dont take it personally. Its just faith under fire. The bible says the trials of our faith are more precious than gold(1 Peter 1:7) Our faith is like daily on the witness stand. The devil realizes & recognizes his defeat is found in our faith in God! The Lord has ministered to me a number of things faith can do in our life causing to shine like golden day. First, faith is not suprised. The bible says in 1Peter 4:12 Be not suprised by the fiery trial thats come to test the quality of your faith as through some strange thing is happening. Satan often tries to work through the element of suprise. Remember D day during the second world war? The Japanese had a suprise attack and it worked like a charm. Who can ever forget Americas new day of imfamy Sepetember 11, 2001? It was a suprise attack upon our nations very own soil. Faith is prepared, Faith looks ahead, faith equips itself with the full armor lifting up that sensational shield that quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one. No matter what fiery trial thats come, dont forget its agenda is to shipwreck your faith. Jesus told the dsciples BEFORE they were ever in the midst of the storm "Get to the otherside"(Mark 4:35) In other words faith in God was going to get them through and out of the storm. Jesus is the word So another way to say faith in God, is saying faith in his words. We said in a past blog, were commanded to ATTEND to his words(Prov 4:20) Storms and trials have a voice. Jesus answered the fig tree. Right? Faith has our answer to the trial! Second Faith speaks. Our words are always important, but they are like especially when in the midst of a fiery trial. The woman with the issue of blood is an excellant example and illustration. Here she was, with this condition that was regarded in the very same category as leprocy. This meant that when anyone came in contact with her, immediately they would have to scream UNCLEAN UNCLEAN. Can someone say spotlight? Next, she was a woman and in that day unfortunately were considered lower and inferior. Third, there was this enormous crowd that stood between her and her miracle. How many you know, the enemy doesent pace himself lol He very much so enjoys "pouring it on" It says two very significant things, she heard and she said. The bible says that When she heard of Jesus, she came behind the press and SAID If I may touch the hem of his garment, I SHALL BE MADE WHOLE(Mark 5:27,28) This is faith speaking! Notice faith does not DENY, IT RELIES! She did'nt go around saying she did'nt have an issue of blood, but she SPOKE the answer to it! It was her faith in Jesus ability that she had HEARD. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God(Rom 10:17) Was her saying intrecal & critical in her recieving? The answer is a resounding YES! Number three, Faith REJOICES. 1 Peter 1:6 says through now for a season you be in trial, REJOICE exeedingly. Zero in on the word season lol Hey, its come to pass, not to stay. However its all about are response in the middle of it. The Children of Isreal were camped right next to the promieland. It should've been just an eleven day journey, but it turned into forty years! What happened? It was in their reaction to their surroundings. Can we prolong our stay? Scripture is crystal clear we can. How do we rejoice? Phil 4:4 rejoice and AGAIN I say rejoice. In other words we rejoice by choice! Eleanor Rossevelt once said "No one can make me feel inferior without my consent" No trial can prevent our praise and our rejoice choice lol Please listen, its an act of will not feelings and emotions. There was a jewish Dr. by the name of Victor Frankel. He was captured by the nazis during the holocost. They shaved off all his hair and placed upon his arm a tatoo for poloitical prisoners. After it mercilessly ended, He was asked how he endured such inhumane treatment? He simply responded "Everything can be taken from a man, except ones right to CHOOSE." How powerful is that! The bible says when we faint in the day of battle our strength is small(Prov 24:10) Its not the time to WHINE, ITS THE TIME TO SHINE! The final one, Faith is persistent! An awesome quote goes Nonething can take the place of persistence, talent will not, nonething is more common that unsuccesful men with talent. Education will not, the world is full of educated diralects. Determination and PERSISTENCE are alone important" A sign that I remeber hung on the cuboard of my third grade class. It read Determination overcomes ALL obstacles. Persistence & determination are like identical twins. Persistence says "Tough times dont last, but tough people do!" Persistence says " I WILL NOT QUIT, and I refuse to be defeated! Persistence is Noah building the ark in the midst of a completely godless generation, persistence is Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, persistence is the three hebrews refusing to bend and bow to the golden image, persistence is Jesus for the joy that was "set before him" enduring the cross for you and I. show the enemy that you have much more persistence than him. We find the persistence of satan, when Jesus tells Peter "Behold satan DESIRES to sift you as wheat(Luke 22:31) Pay particular attention the word desire. This is a total indicater of persistence! The best answer to pressure, IS PRESSURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The Weakest Link"

In the last blog we talked about how easy it is even when strong in spirit to slip into the flesh. Peter recieved the revelation that Jesus was the Christ, and than a few verses later we see Peter rebuking Jesus telling him that he would'nt have to go to the cross. Jesus goes on to nickname him Satan. Peter had very clearly gotten into the flesh. We talked about the fact that the flesh is "the weakest link" I stated that we find our "weak link" in the account of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. When satan tempted Jesus the very first time it was in turning the stone into bread. Why? It was because at this moment it was Jesus highest point of vulnerability. Our "weak link" will be found in our vulnerability. The enemy will not hit a person where their strong, but where they are weak. Hes a total coward and plays by no rules. He's going to hit where it counts. We must be ready! When this all went down in the life of Jesus, he was PREPARED! Men shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God(Matt 4:4) Where did Jesus get that? It was from the book of Deuteronomy. My point is Jesus was prepared for very moments like this because of time in the word! Expierence will not defeat the devil, only the word of the living God will defeat the devil! If expierence could make any dent in the devil, Jesus could've very easily used his own. This temptation happened just moments after he was baptized is the Jordan river and the dove descends upon him and the voice of the Father audibly heard by everyone said "This is my beloved son in whom Iam well pleased". It was his time in that book that enabled and empowered him to resist by the power of the spoken word! I want you to understand "the flesh" does not rule you, you RULE it! "Christianity is not a life of attainment, but its a life of RESISTENCE" Without the resistence of air planes can't fly, without the resistence of water ships can't sail, and without the resistence of gravity men can't walk! Every single one of us has a flesh. Its the biggest enemy there is to faith! Its bigger than the devil, because were able in the authority of Jesus name and power of his word to cast him under our feet! However we cannot cast out the flesh, it must be crucified. In more future blogs were going to talk about how this very thing is done. Before we close this blog, lets identify the flesh. What exactly is "the flesh" Is it fornication or adultry? Is it swearing murmuring or backbiting? Is it eating an extra pieace of pie or bowl of icecream? NO! These are all WORKS of the flesh. When we attempt to go after these things its like were attacking the symptom and not the SOURCE. The book of Galations gives us a list of the "works" of the flesh. now the works of THE FLESH are manifest which are these: Adultry, fornication, uncleaness, lasciviousness, Idolotry, withcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkeness, and revellings(Gal 5:19-21) A good way to put it is these are fruits of a greater root. The bible defines the flesh as a MINDSET. Its a erroneous way of thinking. Every thought is followed by an action, every belief is followed by a behavior. The eigth chapter of the book of Romans makes this crystal clear. For they that are after the things of the FLESH, DO MIND the things of the flesh, to be CARNALLY(fleshly) minded is DEATH(Rom 8:5,6) We find here that it indeed is a house of thoughts, its a systematic system. Where does it lead DEATH. We will describe later in descriptive detail how to "strive for mastery" thus gaining and granting over it victory in the name of Jesus!