Tag Archives: spiritual growth

The Forbiddings Pt. 5

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I had to take a brief break from our spiritual discussion on the believer’s authority in Christ due to my writing and pastoring schedule this week, but tonight before I launch into another marathon book edit session I am going to publish the next portion of our discussion.

Here are the last installments to refresh your memory:

Pt. 1

Pt. 2

Pt. 3

Pt. 4

Sunset Prayer

I meditated on the first part of this  message (part 4) for about a week and then in another time of prayer God began to speak to me again about “forbiddings.”

HE said to me, “ My people were not meant to be on the defensive against the enemy all their lives. My people were meant to walk in authority according to Matthew 28:18-20 and Matthew 16 and Luke 10. “But the enemy has raised up “forbiddings” against them. These are called the gates of Hell. They are those areas in people’s lives and relationships where the enemy has built walls and strongholds that the people cannot seem to break through.”

“Just like the enemy has been shut out of certain victories by the prayers of my people so the people have been shut out of certain victories because of the spiritual power the enemy has exerted in areas of their lives. But I have said that ‘the gates of Hell would not prevail against my church’, and I have said ‘the weapons of my people are spiritual and mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.’ The problem is my people are trying to use carnal weapons to tear down spiritual power and that will never work to do anything other than exhaust them. The forbiddings the enemy has built against my people are going to come down but only when my people begin dealing with them using their spiritual weapons.”

Is there any area of your life that you are struggling with? Does it seem like you cannot get victory in that area no matter what you try? Have you been to the doctor and the psychiatrist?  Have you been to therapy and have you tried meds? Have you sought out human counsellors and found they don’t work?  Have you tried confrontation or have you attempted to run away only to find none of those things work? Then its time to  try the spiritual weapons.

In your estimation what spiritual weapons do you possess?

The Forbiddings Pt. 4

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We have been discussing over the last several days the nature of the Christian’s authority. Today we continue that discussion in “The Forbiddings Pt. 4”  but if you have missed any of the previous parts of our discussion they can be found in the underlined links below:

Pt. 1

Pt. 2

Pt. 3

Sunset Prayer

Now here we are at today’s discussion on authority:

So far we have established that, it is vitally important in the days ahead to come to know and understand what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the churches.

A few weeks ago the Lord began to speak to me in my prayer time and he said, “My people have raised up forbiddings against the enemy in this land. Some have taken up their authority in prayer and they have begun to raise up walls of power in the spirit realm that are shutting the devil out of territory he has controlled for many generations in this land. The enemy has been free to exercise authority in this region for many years because my people did not know they through prayer had the authority to change anything. They did not understand that prayer was more than a wish list but that it was a powerful tool that through persistent use by praying over things again and again they could begin to deal with issues in the spirit realm. Now because of the prayers of some of my people I have raised up forbiddings against the enemy and he is  forbidden or shut out of those areas. He is angry. He has not been forbidden anything for many years in this land and he will not take this lying down. He cannot undo the forbiddings. He cannot unlock the doors my people have locked against him through prayer. But he my people can unlock them. Knowing that he will attack the people in hopes of getting them to unlock the doors and let him back in through frustration or weariness. If my people will not hide behind me during this time they will be greatly tempted to just give in and give up and then they will lose all the ground they have begun to gain.”

Can I ask you this morning. Have you begun pursing God in new ways recently? Have you begun to try to follow God more obediently and are things in life making that journey very difficult? Are you being tempted sometimes to just give up and go back to the way things were. Are you finding yourself saying. “Life was easier when I wasn’t so crazy for God?”

Then you are one of the people being tempted by the Devil. The question is What are you going to do about it?

The Forbiddings Pt. 3

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Over the last few days we have begun discussing the authority believers in Christ have. We are continuing that discussion today. But before we do if you have missed the opening Scripture section or the beginning of our discussion they can be found at

Opening Scriptures

or

Discussion Pt. 1

Sunset Prayer

For many years one of my lead pastor’s chief prayers has been that the body of Christ would come to be like the men of Issachar who understood their days and knew what to do in them. The truth is,that unless we gain an understanding of what is going on in the Heavenly realms, those realms not seen with the eye, we will never truly understand our days or know what to do in them.

Now I know many of us are very nervous about getting too deep into the spiritual realm. Most of us are far more comfortable with the things we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell but the sense of the Spirit and an understanding of what He can reveal is going to be far more important in the days ahead than any news broadcast on BBC or CNN or any other news agency. Being able to key into the Spirit of God and His voice is far more important than being able to discern things with our ears or eyes.

The enemy is setting things up a powerful delusion in the world that is geared to confuse the natural senses even of believers

Paul the apostle said it this way to his protégés among the Thessalonians,

1Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessnessa is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

5Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.”- 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11

It is not our eyes or our natural senses we will be able to trust but the voice of the Spirit and that alone. His voice is found in His Word first but also in His direct commands to our hearts that are framed from Scripture. Jesus said it this way.

27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than allc ; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30

What has to change in your life so that you can hear the voice of the Shepherd more clearly in the days to come?

The Forbiddings Pt. 2

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We started yesterday with our discussion on Spiritual Authority. If you missed the beginning you can find it

Here:

Now let’s move on to today’s discussion

Whether we realize it or not the church is in a very great battle in our time. I am not talking about the things that are going on in our culture or in the governments of the world. The battle goes much deeper than that into a spiritual place that we cannot see with our eyes or hear with our ears. The true battle of the church is not to change laws or fight against Presidents or Kings. The true battle of the church is not fought on a picket line or even in a soup kitchen although many of us are called by God to do these.

The battle of the church is fought in the spiritual unseen realm. We only ever truly engage in it when we pray. In the end as Paul said “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers which are unseen in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6). Prayer is the chief weapon of the Christian and always shall be. For it is in prayer that we connect to the power of the Spirit of God and wring the power of God’s blessing into our lives to make our natural work resonate with supernatural power.

On a level from 1-10 1 being not at all and 10 being excellent how would you rate your prayer life at the moment? What would it take to move that number up two increments?

Sunset Prayer

The Forbiddings Pt. 1

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“The Forbiddings” is the most recent sermon I shared at Cornerstone Church. It speaks specifically to situations that our church faces and generally of the authority all Christians possess. As you read it you will find that this sermon is less expository in nature and more directly prophetic than most of my sermon work but I felt it important to share…

Opening Scriptures:

” Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

“7 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:17-20

on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hadesc will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will bed bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will bee loosed in heaven.”  20Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. Matthew 16: 18-20

We are going to be talking about our authority as believers!

An Ear To Heaven

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“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Rev 2:17

There are many voices speaking in the world these days. Some cry peace and safety. Others cry murder and mayhem. The truth is both voices are probably half right. This world has always, since, the fall been a mixture of peace and murder…safety and mayhem. Even the Tribulation will have a mixture of the two things albeit increasingly heavy on the murder and mayhem side.

I know many brothers and sisters in the faith who are glued to the world news sources hoping to figure out what is coming when. I can’t say I blame them. I do a fair amount of world news watching and comparative Scripture study to find the prophetic match-ups myself. I think there is a certain amount of wisdom in keeping one ear to the ground, so to speak. However, if one ear is to the ground the other needs to be kept keenly tuned to the sound of Heaven. You see an ear to the ground can only tell us how things are.  In the days ahead we won’t need to listen very hard to figure out how things are. What we will need to listen for is how God wants us to be in the midst of how things are and what God wants to do in the midst of how things are. You see our role as the people of God is to hear the voice of God, the commands of God and to come into agreement with them. Sometimes that will require us to sacrifice. Sometimes agreement will call us to take up our authority. And always it will cause us to hope.

Pastor Wrinkles: Unintended Consequences Pt. 6

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Today we shall finish up our discussion regarding the fall of mankind into sin. We have spent the last posts talking about some of the things we lost in the fall. If you would like to chime in on any or all of those discussions they can be found,

HERE

HERE

HERE

HERE

AND HERE

The fall was truly devastating for our race but there is a solution…

It is true, we lost so much in the fall and most days we don’t even stop to realize that it didn’t have to be this way. Friend:

If you have ever felt like you have no purpose in living and life is just an empty shell not worth living.” It’s because you have lost your sense of significance in the fall;

If you are ever afraid that you won’t be able to provide for yourself or your family. That is because you have lost your sufficiency in the fall;

If you ever feel like your life doesn’t matter and the world would be better off without you. It’s because you lost your security your sense of belonging in the fall;

If you feel like you are less than enough and disappointed in how you have turned out. It is because you have lost your assurance in the fall;

If you feel powerless and like the world is about to swallow you whole it’s because you have lost your authority in the fall;

If you feel like you are on a hamster wheel and all your work is nothing more than trying to knock down a mountain with a toothpick, it is because you lost your rest in the fall;

And if you feel like your world is a war zone it is because you are under the influence of the fall!

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Our race gained nothing good by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In fact, whatever knowledge or ability we gained in those moments has done nothing  but destroy us. I am glad that the bible does not end with the book of Genesis. The Fall of Man, the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not the end of the Bible. It is the beginning. While our story starts in darkness the rest of the Bible is about God working in our history to fix the mess that Adam and Eve made and bringing us back into the light.

You may be reading today feeling insignificant, insufficient, insecure, not sure of anything, ashamed, guilty, feeling weak and hopeless, tired, weary and at war with the world. All  of that is perfectly natural. Life has become all of those things for all of us. It is the human condition; BUT GOD has provided an answer. He made Adam, and Adam failed in the Garden, but God has solved the problem of the Fall. The Bible tells us that God clothed himself in flesh and became a man named Jesus and the Bible tells us that Jesus is a second Adam.

  When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. Ro. 5:13-18 NLT

The Devil may have gotten Adam to destroy the world but,

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work 1 John 3:8

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You may be here today feeling like your life has no purpose. Jesus can give that to you.

You may be here today and your life is falling apart and you can’t fix it. Jesus can provide what you need to get back on track.

You may be here today feeling alone and unwanted. Jesus can put you in a forever family.

You may be here today feeling ashamed because of the life you have lived. Jesus can forgive you and clean your conscience.

You may be here today feeling powerless to do anything about your circumstances. Jesus can give you back your authority to live the life He always intended.

You may be here today tired and weary from life’s hardships. Jesus can refresh you with His presence.

You may be here today feeling like you are at war with yourself and the world. Jesus can give you peace.

Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work. Jesus came to restore what the fall of man took away.

But if that is so you might ask why doesn’t everyone experience this restoration. Because it is based on each person’s faith in the son of God which leads people to give their lives to Jesus Christ and to declare Him Lord. Paul the Apostle said it this way,

“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”d that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

So if you need any of the things listed above pray with me now and let Jesus do the work that needs to be done.

Sunset Prayer

Pray: Jesus, I know God sent you to Earth to deal with the consequences of the fall. I admit I have allowed sin to affect my life and now I am broken by this evil power. Please forgive me for letting sin into my life and please forgive me for sinning. Jesus come and set me free from the power of the fall and fix my life. You are my Lord. You alone are my God from this point forward and I believe God has raised you from the dead and because of that you have the power to hear this prayer and help me. Thank you Lord for doing that and saving me from myself and sin. Amen.

Pastor Wrinkles: Unintended Consequences Pt. 3

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Today we continue our discussion about the Fall of mankind from the stand point of Genesis chapters 2 and 3.

If you missed our previous discussions you can catch them

Here

and Here

Here is today’s discussion topic

 As we stated yesterday, in the fall we lost our Assurance but we also lost our “Authority”

Psalm 8  explains how we were meant to be when it says,

What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?[c]

5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e] and crowned them[f] with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their[g] feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea,  all that swim the paths of the seas.

But the writer to the Hebrews states the obvious truth,

What are mere mortals that you should think about them,

or a son of mana that you should care for him?

7Yet you made them only a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.b

8You gave them authority over all things.”c

Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority.

You see God intended that the Earth would be under our authority. But it is not! We lost control at the fall and now we are at the mercy of the Earth. Anyone who has ever lived through an earthquake or a tornado knows that truth. Controlling the fish of the sea?… just talk to all the people who have lived through being half-eaten by sharks this summer. Ask them how much control over the fish of the sea they feel they have.

We lost our authority at the fall and from that point to this we have been desperately trying to get back what God intended to be ours.

How does Psalm 8 make you feel in light of the knowledge  that we have lost authority?

Pastor Wrinkles: Unintended Consequences Pt. 1

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The crucifix at Kylemore Abbey

The crucifix at Kylemore Abbey

I was given the honor of preaching the sermon at Cornerstone Church last Sunday. Here for your perusal is the first excerpt from my notes…

As I begin I have to give credit where credit is due to my lead pastor Barry Risto for helping me with this sermon. He may not know he helped me, but up until last week I had several directions that were gnawing at the edges of my mind for this sermon.  No matter how I tried though, I could not settle on any of them until Pastor began to preach his sermon. He spoke about some of the things humanity lost in the fall of mankind, when Adam and Even ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He preached using the letter “S” and explained that when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden something changed in the human race. We lost certain things we were meant to have because we became at that moment changed and controlled by the power of sin. In the fall we lost our “significance” our “sufficiency” and our “security”.

As my pastor preached the Holy Spirit began taking me down rabbit trails and out of that came this sermon “Unintended Consequences”. As Pastor preached using the letter “S” last week to describe what was lost in the fall, this week I am going to describe the fall of man from the stand point of “A.A.R.P.”

We don’t spend much time thinking about the fall from grace that happened in the Garden of Eden. Few people, maybe none of us, really understand just how much fell apart in those moments when Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Some people don’t even realize we have lost anything at all. They consider the world a thing of beauty that is getting better and better, but the truth is, that mind-set denies reality and shows no understanding of what sin has done to mankind, to our world and to the very fabric of reality itself.

When Adam and Eve sinned they let the power of sin into the world and as Pastor Risto taught last week at the moment of their disobedience to God they lost their significance, their sufficiency and their security. But they lost even more.  I guess we need to start by letting the story tell itself.

The Bible tells us that at the very beginning of the world, God made one man and one woman who were to become the father and mother of all mankind. I believe this is actually how it happened. Call me crazy. Call me a red-neck. Call me gullible or whatever else you want. This is what the Bible teaches, so I think this is what actually happened. Anyway, God put the man and the woman in a place called the Garden of Eden and then the Bible goes on to tell the story this way

Genesis. 2:15- 3:19

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”… Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame… Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

What do you think Adam and Eve hoped to gain in disobeying God?