As a prophetic ministry I see the use of my gifting is to help those to whom I minister in realigning themselves with The Lord. The main problem I run into while trying to do this comes up when I confront them over a contaminated relationship they have developed with an authority figure. They will do anything for the authority figure, from mowing their lawn to carrying their Bible; they will even dress a certain way or give of their resources to please the authority figure. They’ll clean the church, lockup after everyone is gone, lead prayer meetings and serve at the altar. However, this does not make them a loyal follower of Christ; it makes them a loyal follower of the authority figure! Their commitment to The Lord is often times bankrupt! Their understanding of sound doctrine is usually whatever the authority figure says. They don’t understand what it means to be spirit-led in prayer, giving or ministry to others. They will defend the authority figure even if it means denying Christ’s teachings concerning honesty, morality, or integrity.

My experience is that when you try to wean them away from the authority figure, all hell breaks loose! Not only do they manifest and attack you, the authority figure comes after you with a vengeance. This is the main problem with church today! Contaminated relationships with authority are the source of carnality within the church.

Paul confronts this in 1 Corinthians 3:1-15…

“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Some years ago a true prophet spoke a word over my life which confused me to no end. It was a good word, but seemed unrealistic to me. On my way home from the meeting, I asked The Lord if this was a true prophetic word or if this brother had erred in his calling. Why? Because, at that time, I had so many words over my life that I was still trying to work out, the last thing I needed was another word that seemed to demand a lot more faith than I was working under. It didn’t seem to be a realistic word from The Lord; after all, the word tells us He does not overcommit us, but gives to us according to our ability. This word was greater than any ability I had, or could see myself having in the future.

That is when He spoke to me concerning the purpose of prophecy! He told me that He had called me to be a voice behind many voices, meaning I would father many into ministry; the words that were being spoken over my life were creating a foundation of direction for those that would extend the ministry that I was called to, into several generations. When He spoke this to me, I clearly saw the purpose of prophecy being spoken over a leader’s life. Through my minds eye I saw Him speaking a word over Abraham, King David, and many others too numerous to mention; words that are still being worked out in our lives today.

I have a friend that has his roots fastened deep in the Christian faith. The foundation of faith extends over several generations within his family. His parents, grandparents and their friends sowed into his life the integrity and morality which compose the foundation of a true believer. Because of this, he leads a very consistent life in these areas. I have known him for over 25 years. If I was to hear a message he preached 25 years ago, it would not differ in any way from when he preaches it today! Whatever he builds goes from strength to strength! Why? Because of his single-minded lifestyle rooted deep in the true Christian life.

One day I was talking to his father, prior to his crossing over, and he was sharing with me his disappointment in his own life. He told me of the things which The Lord had showed him he was to accomplish, and how he felt he had let The Lord down. Then he said to me, “at least my sons are doing it!” These words awoke the gift within me, and I put my hand on his shoulder and began to speak. I heard myself say “they are you, and you are them. You did what you had to do in building a godly foundation in their lives for the word spoken over you not to return void, but to accomplish what it was sent to perform.” The Lord said through me to him, “you have not failed; you’re right on course. It is the way I meant it to be!”

You may not be like my friend; you may be like me: a first-generation believer. Not only are we first-generation believers; we come from dysfunctional families. We have the task of building a foundation of Christian integrity and morality for our children (natural and spiritual) and their children to build upon. So don’t grow weary in well doing, nor disregard a prophetic word you have been given! He might be speaking to the unborn child still in your loins, or even in your children’s loins. Live your life in a godly way always remembering you are storing up an inheritance for your children’s children!

The road to true discipleship is called obedience. The vehicle one drives to become a disciple is called discipline. We know we have become mature disciples when we can say no to instant gratification. The hardest person for one to say no to in many areas, is himself! True Disciples of Christ know how to deny themselves! It is impossible to master your destiny until you have mastered your own desires. The bible declares that we should be able to ‘swear to our own hurt and change not.’

Bible reading:

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

Luke 9:23-26

I once had a friend who owned a cockatoo which used to live in his prayer room. This friend was an Intercessor, and would pray in the spirit quite often. The cockatoo learnt to mimic him praying in the spirit and worshiping the lord. One day I dropped in to see my friend and nobody answered when I knocked on the door. However, I could hear someone praying; I went around the back, let myself into the house, and made my way to his prayer room. There I found the cockatoo marching backward and forward on his perch, praying in the spirit and breaking occasionally to sing hallelujah; then he would jump right back into prayer. As I watched him, The Lord said to me, “He is not a voice; he is only an echo!” This cockatoo represents most believers in today’s church.

It’s not enough to be praying repetitively and speaking the word everyday, or trying to worship The Lord by singing a popular song. The word has to leave your mind and get into your heart! It has to minister to you before you can minister to others. It has to become flesh (your way of life) in order for the song that you are singing to minister to The Lord! I have met a lot of people that draw the word like a gunslinger draws his six gun; others use their beautiful voice, a gift meant to minister to The Lord and His people, to become a popular artist rather than an anointed psalmist. They sell their knowledge of the word and their gifts to the highest bidder to support their lascivious lifestyle.

Don’t be an echo; be a voice! Make your life count!

Scripture reading:

This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.

Joshua 1:8 AMP

A fully trained professional soldier is well cared for with the basic things of life. The only way he can become extra wealthy in worldly assets is to compromise his profession, selling his talents to the highest bidder; then he is called a mercenary! His loyalty belongs to no individual; he fights for money, not to protect and serve! The Apostle Paul, speaking to his spiritual son Timothy, says this in 2 Timothy 2:3-4…

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”

When the bible speaks concerning the doctrine of Balaam it is referring to a ministry that sold himself out for gain. This doctrine was denounced by The Lord Jesus and the apostles; they stood firmly against it. Why? Because this doctrine is the cornerstone of what is commonly called ‘sloppy grace’. True grace can never be sloppy; it is revered by all those that have actually been forgiven by it. Grace only becomes sloppy when it is contaminated by those looking to merchandise it for self gain.

In saying this, I have nothing against the prosperity message. We need bread Fred, doe Joe, money honey, to do the works He has called us to do. God will prosper a genuine ministry! However, not everything that comes into the offering plate or every business opportunity should be considered personal income of the minister. I have known ministries that will work a few hours on Sunday and just a couple everyday for the rest of the week. They take a very generous wage and spend their remaining time doing business deals, playing golf, fishing, hunting and sleeping. They use their position to generate personal wealth, and not wealth for the kingdom. Jesus was so angered by this that He sat down, wove a whip, and then proceeded to drive all those that did this out of the temple!

The type of heart The Lord is looking for in the saints is revealed in Paul’s words when he says in Colossians 1:9-14…

“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Let’s live worthy of Him!

Scripture reading:

For it is impossible [to restore and bring again to repentance] those who have been once for all enlightened, who have consciously tasted the heavenly gift and have become sharers of the Holy Spirit, And have felt how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and world to come, If they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance–[it is impossible] to bring them back to repentance, for (because, while, as long as) they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh [as far as they are concerned] and are holding [Him] up to contempt and shame and public disgrace.

Hebrews 6:4-6 AMP

When we are born, our soul is a huge blank hard-drive that needs to be programmed to interact with its creator. We will spend the rest of our lives recording and storing events, conversations, smells, tastes and feelings. This is done through our five senses: touch, taste, smell, hearing and seeing. This hard-drive then becomes our personal data bank from which we draw information to make the decisions that control our destiny. This vital data flows from two spiritual sources: one we call light, and the other darkness. The source of darkness is Lucifer: the god of this world system; and the source of light is Yahweh: the God of eternity. Our entire education was meant to come from the realm of light, maturing us so we could fellowship and converse with Yahweh: the all-knowing omnipotent, omnipresent God. He is our creator!

However, Lucifer is an arc-angel who was removed from fellowship with Yahweh. Why? Because his nature was contaminated by a corrupt communication called flattery. Flattery is a counterfeit of praise that produces a virus known as pride, with an outworking called rebellion; this is the source of all contention. Once Lucifer’s presence caused contention, this demanded his removal from heaven for the sake of peace. He now seeks to inject the same virus into our belief system that will also separate us from our creator.

The Apostle Paul spent most of his time teaching those that made a decision to reconcile their life to the Light. They did this by accepting Jesus as their doorway back to fellowship with Yahweh and forsaking the teachings of darkness. This is made clear when Paul gives his testimony before king Agrippa in Acts 26:12-18,

“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’”

This should be the purpose of every true minister of the gospel.

I woke up this morning with an impression in my spirit of a person whispering into another’s ear. As he whispered, I watched the different effects of the conversation on the listener through his facial expressions. First there was amazement, then sorrow, then anger which grew into fury. I lay there amazed how something so small as a whisper could affect a person so greatly. Then I remembered this scripture in Isaiah 54:17…

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn.”

The bible calls the tongue a weapon; a small weapon, yet a very dangerous one. In trying to develop a deeper realm of fellowship with The Lord, the thing I found that I had to do, in order to become more attractive to Him, was to harness my tongue.

In studying relationships with The Lord, I discovered that out of the seventy He had the twelve; out of the twelve He had the three; and out of the three He had the one. As I considered the life of Peter, one of the three, I found that he displayed the greatest love towards The Lord; yet the one that laid his head in His bosom was John, and the one to whom He entrusted His mother at the cross, was John. It was not Peter’s commitment that separated him from intimacy with The Lord; it was his tongue!

There are very few people that have ever wounded me greatly; the sad thing is they’ve always been the ones that I trusted enough to speak my heart with. As I’ve enhanced my relationship with The Lord, He’s been teaching me one thing: to guard my mouth! And I have developed a rule which I try to live by: “Never say something behind someone’s back that you have not said to their face.” You will soon find out who your true friends are, and to whom you can entrust your life. Rule your tongue and who you listen to; your life will be a lot less complicated!

Scripture reading:

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.

James 3:1-12

We are never any bigger than the mindset we live in. To enlarge our dwelling place we must enlarge our mindset. I have a friend who declares that most people are so narrow-minded, they can see through a keyhole with both eyes. I think that is a very true statement; especially when it comes to the knowledge of the spiritual realm. Once we become followers of Christ, the spirit realm should become our home. Why? Because God is Spirit, and those that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Nevertheless, so many people that call themselves Disciples of Christ are scared breathless of the spirit realm. To understand the writings of men like the apostle Paul, who was truly a spirit dominated being that received all of his revelation from the spirit realm, it is essential for the student of the new covenant to change his mindset from the carnal (or natural) realm, and become spiritually minded. The main thrust of our ministry over the next five years, will be not only to move in the spirit and demonstrate the power contained in that realm through crusades; but we will also show others how to live in the spirit realm, teaching a school of the spirit in every city we go to.

Scripture reading:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:5-8

When attempting to pull someone out of a negative situation, you will need to be supercharged with a whole lot of Holy Ghost power and have a lot of compassion towards those you are trying to rescue! Why? Because there will be times when you will not only have to deal aggressively with the spirit holding them captive; you will have to deal with them also. Why? Because of a co-dependency the spirit has built into them! This co-dependency will make them very confused as you challenge things they once believed to be truth. And as these so called ‘truths’ are undermined, they will seem to be fighting against you rather than with you at times. If you don’t have a strong compassion for them, you will be tempted to walk away and leave them in their situation. So, in trying to rescue them, you will find yourself fighting them as well as the spirit which took them captive. His intention will be to try and latch hold of you, and pull you into the same negative place he has them; that is what he does. As a matter of fact, that is probably how he took them captive.

Scripture says:

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

Galatians 6:1 KJV

The word there “meekness” is read “gentleness” in other translations, and this is not a good word to use in this situation. I would substitute the word submission! Why? Because the bible also teaches that the violent shall take heaven by force, and this verse is relevant in this situation. We don’t use violence towards God’s kingdom; only a fool would do that. However, we do use violence against the predators of Gods kingdom!

Who are these predators? They are Spiritual forces of wickedness. This is what scripture calls them when it says we don’t fight against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places. The high places are composed of the first, or even second heaven. And that is where we use a display of violent prayer to set the captive free. We never use violence concerning the third heaven where God dwells.

To understand this, let’s look at Moses. The bible calls Moses the meekest man on the whole earth, but he was also portrayed as the most authoritative man on earth. His meekness, or gentleness, was towards the third heaven! This is apparent when we study his interaction with The Lord and the heavenly host on the positive side. He is very submissive, or gentle, in his communication with them. True humility is when you become submissive to another person that you realize has more authority or wisdom than you do. However, when Moses is dealing with the negative side, or those that want to submit to the power of the negative side, we see him very authoritative in his dealings, even somewhat scary. This is also true with King David, Gideon, Abraham, Samson, and actually everyone that was used greatly by God!

Some translations refer to rescuers as being maturely spiritual, as opposed to just being spiritual. The mark of a mature person is the ability to control motivating passions, like love, hate, compassion, anger, sensual drive, or various appetites. For example, a soldier can use every bit of violence he can muster up against an enemy. Then within the blink of an eye, he can show extreme compassion to the person he is protecting. He is in control of his emotions.

In conclusion: Walk in humility with God, showing all reverence and submission to Him and His word, because both are one, and cannot be separated. But, at the same time, walk soberly in the presence of the evil one, being ready to move into war at his threat of attack towards you or those you protect. In saying all this I’m trying to build depth into the simple phrase ‘Love God, hate the devil!’

Scripture reading:
1 Peter 5:6-11
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

There are many good teachings on faith: God’s faith, our faith, the gift of faith, and the fruit of faith. There are also great teachings on the counterfeits of faith, such as faith versus mental ascent, or faith, foolishness, or presumption! However, I want to talk about the cornerstone of the faith message: faith towards God. Faith towards God is one of the six teachings that make up the foundational doctrine of Christ as found in Hebrews 6:1-2. Understanding this teaching is where our journey into the supernatural begins. This is because whoever comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. In other words, you can’t connect with him until you believe He exists!

Romans 12:3 tells us that God has given to everyone of us the measure of faith. That simply means He has given us the ability to believe. Mankind has used this ability to develop great faith within them; we see this faith at work every day. Let me give you some examples: If you have ever planted a garden, you have exercised great faith. You dig up the ground, and buy seeds to plant there that in no way resemble the fruit or vegetable you are believing to harvest. You could cut the seed in half and put it under a microscope and you wouldn’t find anything resembling an apple, orange, carrot, tomato, or pumpkin in there anywhere, yet you plant them into the ground and water them expecting to get a harvest of fruits and vegetables. Magic? No, faith! Faith developed in the integrity of nature. Or think about the next time you catch a plane that will be flying at over 30,000 feet in the air, and traveling at speeds of up to 650 MPH. Again, magic? No, faith! Faith in the integrity of man’s ability to create. We use great faith everyday; what we lack is faith towards God, and His integrity!

How do we develop faith towards God? Glad you asked!

The next time you are feeling sick and it’s not life threatening, instead of releasing faith in your local doctor, do what the bible tells you to do; call the elders of your church and get them to pray the prayer of faith over you. When you do this you are beginning to exercise faith towards God. The next time you ask The Lord to watch over someone you love, and you start to worry about them, go stand in front of a mirror and say to the first person you see “Stop it, stop worrying; The lords got this!” Afterward, go about your daily duties. What you are doing when you practice these things is redirecting that measure of faith which The Lord invested into you back towards Him! And once you have achieved this you will be able to reinvest your faith into acquiring some of His faith. Then you will be able to change the natural world around you into a supernatural world!

Scripture reading:

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”

Mark 11:22-24