Focus

​   When you choose to praise God in the midst of a storm, the storm loses its power and authority over you. When you focus on the storm you become part of it. It is obvious that this nation is in a storm right now, and our tenancy as humans is to try to identify and focus on all the problems. Like the disciples, we are very good at identifying the wind and the waves and all the reasons why things are bad, but there is so little focus on the one who is always good. 

   It amazes me that any one of the twelve disciples would have been trying to kill each other any given day before their encounter with Jesus because of the enormous differences in their backgrounds. Yet when Jesus, the REAL presence of God stepped on the scene, something became more important than their differences. When true prospect comes, we realize we were all made in his imagine, and we stop trying to make others in our image.

   There is aligning force that takes place when you get your focus right. This is why Jesus was able to calm the storm. He was able to release peace from the abundance of peace that came from his relationship with his Father. Many of us see parts of our world seemingly spinning out of control around us, and yet, all we can release is more fear and anxiety because that is all we have in our hearts. Ultimately, this is because our focus is on the problems and not the answer. You can only release what you have. This is what Jesus meant when he said “If your eye is single, your whole body will be filled with light.”

   I will not be impressed with the Devil’s work, because I have a book that says that he and his works were defeated 2000 years ago on a tree. He can’t undo that. The devil can make a lot of noise, and trick us into co-laboring with him by getting us to focus on him and the problems he is causing, but he can’t undo the Cross. Hate might be basking in the spot light we are currently giving it, but that doesn’t mean that it has defeated us or the blood of Christ. It just means it is a good lier, and we as a people are still falling for it.

   Jesus said before he left that all authority had been handed back to him, but then he passed it on to us. When Jesus was here, he said he was the light of the world, but when he left he said you are the light of the world. The question is are you acting as light, or acting as darkness? We can only release what we are aware of, and we will become like what we behold. The enemy would like us to become more aware and focused on darkness rather than light so we will reproduce more darkness. I am not talking about being in denial about the problem, I am talking about becoming consumed by the answer. It is the love and presence of our daddy in heaven that is the answer.

   I am not saying there are not things that need to change. What I am saying is when you try to change yourself and those around you in response to darkness, you usually end up with more darkness. When we respond to darkness with our own reasoning, it usually ends up in finger pointing. We become “experts” in knowing what is wrong with the world and how to fix it. The best the the flesh can produce is more flesh, and flesh is always carnal. Our response needs to be based off of his greatness and light. The only way we are going to produce the fruits of the spirit is by abiding in him.  Jesus said apart from me you will produce nothing.

   True peace and love grows from surrender to God and his goodness. Anyone with this surrender won’t be beating others down with their expertise, because surrender doesn’t produce pride or a know-it-all attitude. Surrender to God produces a humble attitude that washes the feet of those who are cursing you. Jeaus said bless those who curse you! Could you image what it would look like if that attitude caught on in the political realm of this country? Even if just the Christians would begin to live this way, the results would be unmeasurable.

   My prayer is as that the people of God, we would learn to know who God really is. We show so often by the fruit of our lives that we don’t know Him or his ways, or the Covenant that we now live in. When we begin to be light, it will pave the way for our nation to come into light.

God is NOW!

I have a friend at my Bible school that was born with one leg shorter than the other. One of my other classmates prayed for her, and while he prayed, her leg grew out instantly.

There is a word that has been in my heart for a while now, and it is God is NOW! There are many of you who have turned sour on God because of your past experiences with religion. You were shown an imperfect view of him, and you have judged him because some actions and teachings of those who claim to be his followers, and have not given him a second chance.

I discovered these three categories that people in the church sometimes fall into that hurts the image of God. (As a disclaimer, I know that some are going to miss understand at first, don’t worry, I know about Rev 1:4,8, just hang with me..) Do not feel condemned by these! Just about all of us, including myself, have spent time in each one of these areas. My point is not to make anyone feel bad, but to point out some traps that we can fall into that will cause us to miss God when he is right in front of us.

The first is a group that worships God in the past. They take a move of God from the past, and use it to create a formula, so they can try to continually replicate the good ol days. They think that all change is of the devil, and God couldn’t possible do things in a new way.

Understand that God will never change the Bible or its message, which would be wrong change. But there is a right kind of change that God uses to reach different people groups.

The problem is this first group creates man-made traditions, boundaries and doctrines that are meant to “protect” the anointing, but actually end up replacing the Holy Spirits leadership. There are many denominations today that began as Spirit led/filled groups, but because they tried to put God in the small box of their understanding, they are now dry and dying.

The second group worships God of the future. This group is always putting God in a far off, unrelatable place that will happen someday. They think that all we are trying to do now is survive. We have to suffer, grope for hope, be miserable and fearful, but one day it will all be okay. We will all understand in the great by and by!

This group keeps praying that God would hurry up and return because they are convinced that the evil present in the world is overpowering the church. They feel hopeless and fearful when they see the world events because they don’t understand who lives on the inside of them.

The third group is kind of a counterfeit, but they don’t know it. They claim to believe that God is not only in the past and future, but he is present now, but the fruit of their lives and thoughts do not show it. They will pray for you to be healed, but there is no shock or disappointment when nothing happens.

This third group is like a vacuum cleaner salesmen who comes and throws dirt on your floor, and says “this vacuum will sweep that up perfectly” but then walks away and doesn’t demonstrate it. When sickness, financial problems, or any other hardship comes against them they react exactly how the rest of the world reacts, with fear, stress and worry.

This may be the most harmful group. While the people who look to the past, and the people who look to the future do not do much to prove that God exists, they also don’t do much to disprove it. This third group that claims God does still do miracles now, but they cannot demonstrate it, confirming the doubts of the world that Christians are just crazy people hoping in fantasies. I have to confess this has been my story for much of my life, but I am no longer satisfied with it.

God is God of the now! Yes, he existed and did great things in the past, and there is much value in reviewing those things. Yes, he is in the future, and he is preparing a glorious dwelling for those who will accept him. But you can’t have a relationship with a memory from your past, or a story about what is going to happen in the future.

Those things are important, but they are abstract, and you cannot connect with them on a daily level. If you were lost and dying of thirst in a desert, would the water someone gave you two years ago, or the water someone would have given you two years in the future help you now? 

Jesus set the example of what the Christian life is suppose to look like. He, as the express image of the Father (Heb 1:3), took great concern for people’s needs, not just in the future, but in the present. He calmed their storms, healed all their diseases, fed them, and embraced them. Those who walked with him he instructed daily, giving insight into the heart of the father.

His example was always meant to be the “normal Christian life.” It is a life of demonstrating the power and love of God, setting people free of bondage, sickness, and oppression. He reminded of the past. He spoke about the future. But he brought the (present) presence of God where ever he went. In fact, he said the works he did in the present confirmed what he said about the future was true (John 10:37,38).

Jesus said in John 14 that he would not leave us as orphans. An orphan belonged to someone in the past, and may belong to someone in the future, but they are currently called orphans because they have no one to care for them now. The word orphan in the Greek means: parentless, comfortless, fatherless. Jesus said that he would pray to the father and he would send a helper (his Holy Spirit) to abide with us. The word “abide” means: not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, kept, continually.

This is God the Fathers heart for all mankind. He desires to be with you right now where you are. Psalms 46 says, God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

I thought it was funny it said a “very” present help, so I looked up the word very in Hebrew, and it means: exceedingly, abundantly, much, force. He is exceedingly, abundantly present for you. He isn’t hiding in the past and he isn’t just waiting for you in the future. He is present with you now.

There was a survey I heard recently that said that around eighty percent of people under around twenty five have never seen anything real in the church. (And we wonder why they are leaving so fast!) This is a terrible tragedy! For a long time I believed that it was better, and took more faith to believe in God without seeing any proof of his existence. Now I see that this mindset has become a wall that has kept people from seeking God they way he desires.

Aimee Semple McPherson, an amazing revivalist, grew up in a Christian home. But when she got older and realized that the miracles talked about in the Bible were not being demonstrated in the church in her day, she decided to become an atheist. She believed, either the entire Bible was true, or none of it was true.

Finally one night she said God, if there even is a God, reveal yourself to me. Do you know it takes more faith to pray a prayer like that than most churches demonstrate?

It takes much less faith to live with form without power (2 Tim 3:5) and just sweep every question about why God doesn’t heal or speak today under a rug of a man-made doctrine. It takes great faith to pursue something real from God that is more than just a story or an argument! I think God delighted in Aimee’s honest request. Not only did he revealed himself to her when she perused him, but he made her one of the greatest evangelist of all time.

So why do most churches not see manifestations of God’s presence? Why isn’t God confirming his word in churches they way he did in Mark 16:20? There are many reasons. But these three traps play a big part in occupying the church to keep them from asking the questions they need to be asking. I will give you hope that miracles are still happening in the world today. Since I have been at Bible school, there have been some amazing miracles here. God is rising up a generation that is no longer satisfied with the stories of past revivals.

Many of you have never really know God as God of the now. The good news is he is looking for people who will ask the honest question, “Where is God?” and then genuinely pursue the answer. One other thing to consider is that this cannot be a half hearted pursuit. Jeremiah 29:13 says, And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. You cannot add God to your list of god’s and expect him to benefit you. He wants your all of your heart, not just the scraps that are left over.

If you are tired of settling for just stories of God’s greatness, begin to study the life of Jesus and the apostles in Acts, who were the Biblical examples of what life should look like in the Kingdom that Jesus brought. Read books about past revivalist like God’s Generals by Robert Liardon, and study what revelations they received that led them into the miraculous.

Find people who are experiencing miracles and listen to what they have to say. Above all, don’t let your past experiences, and those of others, to become more authoritative to you than what God’s Word says.

Broken Communications

The Bible is a spiritual book. It is written to you Spirit, not your head. You will never be able to understand or fulfill the commands and calls of God with your nature mind. People have gone crazy and fallen into terrible deceptions through trying to understand the Bible with their head alone. This is what happened with the Jews and many other people through history, and is still happening today. I am not talking about a brainless, thoughtless gospel. There is a place for us to use our minds, but we are to renew them to think like Jesus thought.

A major part of that renewal is learning to hear and listen to the Holy Spirit. If you are not daily led by the Spirit of God and cannot discern his specific voice, it only takes one misguided sermon, one misunderstood scripture, or one well meaning friend with bad advice, to turn you from fighting for God, to fighting for the enemy. What was the difference between Saul, and Paul? Saul had the word of God, but not the Spirit to lead him. He tried to guess what God wanted from him based off his carnal knowledge of the Word, and ended up bring great harm to the Church. Paul on the other hand still had the Word, but also had the Spirit, and the Spirit led his actions daily.

God spoke clearly to me that this is the reason the body of Christ is so torn apart. The best military strategy in the world can be broken if the communication between the commanders is stopped, or if the enemy broadcasts false messages posing to be allies. Without communication and leadership, the allies are likely to destroy each other with friendly fire and lose the battle even though they were the stronger force. The worst part is, they will do it under the belief that they are fighting against the enemy.

God didn’t leave us to figure out his battle plans with our carnal intellect. He gave us the Holy Spirit as our helper and field commander. It is imperative that we get tuned into his frequency and hear his voice clearly so that we know what he is doing, and so we don’t end up fighting him the way the Jews often did. Though the disciples were fully trained by Jesus, he told them not to leave the city until they had received the Spirit. The knowledge they had learned from Jesus was not enough! They need the Spirit to help them to live as Jesus had asked them to, and we do also.

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” Luke 24:49 NLT

The Holy Spirit is the one who tells us what the Father is doing so that we will work with the Father and not against him.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. John 16:12-14 NKJV

How can we over look the importance of this scripture? If we really believe that Jesus was telling the truth when he said this, shouldn’t hearing his voice be our top priority in life? Let me ask you, if the body of Christ was really hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit daily, do you really think the Church would be so divided? Do you really think that pastors would be suffering so much attack from their own congregations? Paul said in Ephesians 4:3 that there is unity in the Spirit. The Spirit is never divided.

Right now in the Church, we have many self appointed generals who are giving it their best guess as to what is right and bombing anyone they disagree with. I don’t doubt that they have zeal for Lord, but they have the wrong orders. Like Saul (who became Paul), they are doing their best to destroy anything in that conflicts with them. This is what Paul said of the Jews.

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Romans 10:2-3 NKJV

Jesus said God is Spirit, and he must be worshipped in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). The Jews had the truth in the Word, but they didn’t have the Spirit, so the truth they had did not profit them. Jesus said it is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing (John 6:63). Without the Spirit opening our minds to true meaning of scripture, and revealing the deep things of God, we are just carnal minded.

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:7-8 NIV

The carnal mind is, and always will be an enemy of God and those who truly follow him. It is a rogue soldier that answers to no authority, and will seek to destroy everything it doesn’t understand. It is impossible to follow God with properly when your mind is carnal. Jesus said,

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 NKJV

The Holy Spirit is predictable in that he is always good, he always acts in love and brings glory to God, and he is always true to the Word (although not always our understanding of the Word). But he is very unpredictable in his methods of doing things. All through the Bible, it seems that God always acted in unexpected ways to see if his people’s hearts were in the right place. He sent shepherd boys, slaves, and those who were least in their family to be kings and leaders. He sent his Son to be born in a stable. He sent uneducated fishermen to the educate Jews, and he sent the educated Jew to the uneducated gentiles. Jesus rarely did a miracle the same way twice, and new forms of miracles popped up throughout the New Testament.

Why the madness? It is because God never wanted us to fall into the pit of tradition. No one will ever be able to stand before God, and say, “I would have known you if you had came the way I expected.” There is no excuse, and no one will put God in a box. I have found through the Bible, and through personal experience, that God will often speak through what you despise or look down on the most. If you look down on people with tattoos, or people that are old fashion, or even your enemies, guess who might be carrying God’s Word for you? If you are proud in your knowledge, God might send someone who just got saved with a word for you. This is why the proud will always have trouble hearing from him. He doesn’t want us to follow our expectations, he wants us to follow the presence the way Israel did in the desert. Only those who follow the Spirit and hear his voice will be able to keep up with what he is doing. The Jews could not understand Jesus because he spoke the words of the Spirit, so they killed in the name of the God they thought they served.

To avoid making the same mistake, we need to be slow to judge and make sure we are not speaking against God own. Especially those who are anointed for ministry. We also need to evaluate ourselves to see if we are acting in the Spirit or in the flesh. There are many ways to do this but one easy way is to compare yourself to the attitudes of Jesus, the disciples of Acts, and other examples of scripture such as this one.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are  done in the meekness of wisdom… But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:13, 17-18 NKJV

I have made this passage a mirror for my actions. When I want to do something, I check myself with this scripture. I ask myself, “is this thought I have of, ‘the wisdom that is from above, ‘ or is it something I came up with to nail someone?” This is how scripture helps us discern the voice of the Lord.

Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God is a sword that pierces even to the division of soul and Spirit. In other words, it helps you divide the things that come from you from the things that come from the Spirit of God. We need to be able to hear the Spirit, but we need the Bibles help. We need both the Spirit and the truth to be complete.

There are many great teachings out there on how to be led by the Spirit and I encourage you to search them out. I have heard it wisely said that as long as you can live without hearing the voice of God, you will. Until you hunger for the voice of God to the point that you can’t live without it, you will live without it. The purpose of this post was to show with scripture that hearing God’s voice and being led by his Spirit was not meant to be optional. I hope this has stirred some hunger in you!

New Testament Life Scripture Montage Part III

                                                                                                                                      The power of God in you

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Corinthians 3:16 NKJV

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11 NKJV

                                                                                                         God confirms his true word with signs of his character

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name (Jesus) they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;  they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they
will recover.” Mark 16:17-18 NKJV

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them  and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. Mark 16:20 NKJV

And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8 NKJV

Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. Acts 3:6-8 NKJV

So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:18, 24-24, 29-31 NKJV

If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” John 10:37-38 NKJV

Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. Acts 14:3 NKJV

                                                                                           Greater works than Jesus will we do because he sent his Spirit

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus) , the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12 NKJV

And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Acts 5:12, 15-16 NKJV

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Acts 19:11-12 NKJV

                                                                                             Barnabas and Paul confirmed by the confirming works

But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. Acts 15:5-6, 12 NKJV

                                                                                                         Not in the wisdom of man, but in power

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. I Corinthians 2:4-5 NKJV

having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! II Timothy 3:5 NKJV

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; I Corinthians 3:16, 18-19 NKJV

Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. I Corinthians 4:18-20 NKJV

                                                                                                     Power comes from awareness of God’s power in you

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;  nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21 NKJV

that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Philemon 1:6 NKJV

…because as He is, so are we in this world. I John 4:17 NKJV

…we have the mind of Christ. I Corinthians 2:16 NKJV

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I John 2:20 NKJV

and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:6 NKJV

New Testament Life Scripture Montage

      I believe the Bible can speak for itself, so I created this montage that gives the ten thousand feet overview of scripture, and hits on many questions that are going around in this age about religion and Christianity. If you are not entirely familiar with the New testament teachings, or have had some questions about what Christianity is all about, this may be helpful to you. It may also be a helpful list of scriptures for witnessing.

     Though this is just scratching the surface, there are some key verses in here that everyone needs to meditate on. I do suggest that as you study these,  you go read them in their full context so you are not confused. Like it or not all these statements are in the Bible and are due our attention. If there are any questions, feel free to comment or private message me and I would be glad to help as I can. It is kind of long so I am going to have to break it up into three parts. Here is part I!

Truth of the Word of God

knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. II Peter 1:20-21 NKJV

…For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. Psalms 138:2 NKJV

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Luke 21:33 NKJV

God’s will toward man

“Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord . Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. Ezekiel 18:23 NLT

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2 Peter 3:9 NLT

And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him (Jesus), because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. ” Luke 9:52-56 NKJV

“Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord , who has mercy on you. If any nation comes to fight you, it is not because I sent them. Whoever attacks you will go down in defeat. Isaiah 54:9-10, 15 NLT

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will  be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Luke 2:11-14 NKJV

Do not be like the world

The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. Isaiah 8:11-13 NLT

The Lord himself came to save us from sin

The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him. He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion. Isaiah 59:15-17 NLT

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Zephaniah 3:17 NLT

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1-5 NKJV

Salvation is only in Jesus

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12 NKJV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6 NKJV

Nor is there salvation in any other (than Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 NKJV

It is God’s goodness that draws us to true relationship

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4 NKJV

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great. Psalms 18:35 NKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement), 2 Corinthians 1:3 AMP

We all have sinned

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. I John 1:8-10 NKJV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 NKJV

Forgiveness through accepting Christ

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:9-13 NKJV

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:18-19 NKJV

Condemnation for loving the world instead of accepting Christ

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the  Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:12-15 NKJV

Salvation is by grace

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT

Accepted into God’s family

And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. Galatians 3:29 NLT

FEAR NOT!

  On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:35-41 NKJV).

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Jesus wanted the disciples to calm the storm, but they were still more mindful of the natural than of the power of God. Jesus had given them a word to cross over to the other side. He did not tell them to attempt to cross over and drown halfway. I don’t believe Jesus was unaware of the storm; he simply was giving them a chance to stand on the word he had given to them. How many times do we cry out for God to take some problem away when he has empowered us to take authority over it ourselves?

Notice the difference between the one who calmed the storm from the ones who feared the storm. Jesus had total peace, enough to sleep through a raging storm, while the disciples had only fear. True faith will always be accompanied by the peace of heaven.

Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “…For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” When Jesus said, “Peace, be still“, He was speaking out of the abundance of his heart. The disciples, out of the abundance of their heart, said, “…we are perishing.” The disciples could not release peace, because they did not have peace. You can’t give what you don’t have.

What the disciples did have was fear; fear is faith in the enemy. (Note: When I talk about fear in this lesson, I am talking about fear that we cling to. It is natural to be afraid, but it is what you do with it that matters. Any fear that does not draw you towards God is empowering the enemy.) When you release fear into a bad situation you are empowering it to continue. You are in a sense coming into agreement with the enemy that “this” circumstance is going to cause real damage, and there is nothing that can be done about it. The only authority Satan has over a born again believer is the authority they surrender to him. The disciples had more faith in the storm to kill them than they had in the one who kept them.

Bill Johnson once said, “You only have authority over the storm you can sleep through.” Fear is the by-product of faith in the destroyer. Peace is the by-product of faith in your savior.
You can find out really quick where your faith is by measuring your peace.

Another thing Bill Johnson likes to say is, on earth, peace is always the absence of something: war, sound, movement. In the kingdom, peace is the presences of someone. Jesus is the “Prince of Peace”. He carries peace in his nature.

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way (II Thessalonians 3:16 NKJV).

The more aware we become of the presence of God in our lives, the more our peace is multiplied.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (II Peter 1:2 NKJV).

The disciples failed to be aware of the presence of the one who is “Peace.”

Becoming more aware of the presence of the one you carry will increase your faith. Mark says,

And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.  For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened (Mark 6:51-52 NKJV).

What you consider (what you meditate on), will determine what you are sensitive to. In Mark 6, we see the disciples still struggling with the same fear as two chapters prior because they considered not the miracle of the loaves. They failed to meditate on the supernatural miracles of they had witnessed, and because of that, they still considered the wind and waves more powerful than the one who made the wind and the waves.

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you… (Romans 8:11 NLT).

As temples of the Spirit of God, we must not make the same mistake as the disciples. The truth that you know and are consciously aware of will set you free, but it is possible to carry truth and not reap the benefits. The key is your focus. Your focus, what you meditate on, will determine what you are aware of. If you wait until you are in the storm to try to prepare your mind, you will fail. Just as a soldier must prepare at training camp to be aware of the plan, aware of his ability, and aware of his allies before he ever goes to battle, we must know what we have before we get there. The courage of the unprepared soldier will melt in the heat of battle because he is unaware of the tools around him that can bring victory, because the battle will seem hopeless. Hope is the driving force for victory and we have the greatest hope of all; but the hope we are not aware of will not do us any good. We must be aware of great hope we have living inside of us before we step out onto the battle field.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil (Hebrews 6:19 NKJV).

Ask Holy Spirit today to reveal his prospective to you. If you are lacking peace, what is your faith in: the enemy’s power to destroy, or your savior’s power to save? If your faith is lacking, what are you most aware of: on the wind and waves, or the one who created the wind and waves and lives in you? If you find yourself more aware of the enemy’s threats than you are of your savior’s presence, what have you been thinking/meditating on: the miraculous power of the one who calls you his own, or the natural world that is here today and gone tomorrow? Let Holy Spirit lead you as you learn to carry his presences and release his peace into the earth!