Pursue Your Enemies

Leviticus 26:7 & 8--KJV--And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8--And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

Note: Pursue your enemies also appears in Joshua 10:19 and Psalm 18:37

     I get a daily devotional every morning in my e-mail and this was today's topic. It immediately struck a chord with me because I have been putting in some prayer hours lately. I have seen some changes and I have faced some challenges. It seems like the enemy, satan, just doesn't want to leave me alone. You might say that he's after me. He can't have me and he has his hands full trying to handle me.

     Then when the devotion concerning this verse hit my e-mail this morning it struck me in a positive way. Yes, I know the devil gets after you and hounds you to no end. So why not turn the tables on him and give him more than just a taste of his own medicine.

     That's what this verse talks about. The devil is the cause of all of the bad things that happen to us. He is the main source of inspiration for all of the evil that goes on in this world. This verse promises that if we will pursue our enemy (the devil) he will fall before us by the sword (the Word of God Ephesians 6:17).

     The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit. When we pray in line with the Word of God it unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit against the forces of evil. When you begin praying in the strength and the integrity of the Word of God the power of your prayers becomes and unstoppable force.

     All that is left to do is the obvious. Let's Pray. This is just one example.

     Ephesians 6;12--For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we bind the powers of these forces of darkness and spiritual wickedness in this world. We set ourselves in battle against these forces that are deceiving many. We bind these forces in Jesus' name and demand that they loose their hold over our unsaved loved ones and our city, Savannah, Ga. We demand you, devil, to loose those souls that you are keeping from coming to Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit convict the sinners stronger and stronger. Father we pray that the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ would shine into those sin darkened souls and help them to realize their need for You. Stay after them Holy Spirit until they make Jesus Christ their Lord. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.

   

   

Start Your Day Rejoicing

     We used to worship with a song with these words, Rejoice for the steps of a righteous man are ordered of God. That was taken from Psalm 37:23 which says--The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way.

     What we need to understand is that each day brings a new trial. And each new trial is not meant to destroy us. Each new trial we face is an opportunity for God to prove us as one of His children whom He delights in. And each new trial we face is an opportunity for God to prove to us and the world that He is indeed Lord God Almighty.

     Daniel in the lion's den didn't prove how mean the king or the people were as much as it proved Daniel's faith in God. The end result was that Daniel proved God's word to be greater than anything that the king would put him through.

     The same could be said of the three Hebrew children. The fiery furnace was designed to destroy them. Instead it exalted the Lord God Almighty and God's men were promoted.

     So face this day and every other day with a sense of joy that whatever comes your way, God is going to prove you as His child and prove to the world that His Word is true.

     Let's rejoice and enjoy what God has ordained this day to bring to us.

Me: This is All I've Got Jesus: That's All I Need

The sixth chapter of John tells the story of the feeding of the 5,000. Here's some things about the story that I think we all can relate to.

1.  Jesus and the disciples saw the crowd coming up the mountain they were on. How many times have you seen something coming in your life that you didn't know how to face? Maybe you didn't even know if you could face it. Perhaps, you wished that it would go around you and camp in someone else's yard. Yet, you know that something was coming that you had to face.

2. Jesus asked Philip, "Where are we going to buy the bread to feed all of these people?" Jesus already knew what He was going to do. Why didn't He just tell Philip and the rest, "Hey, guys. Just relax. I've got this miracle well in hand. Just do what I tell you and you're going to see a miracle."  Instead, he asked a question that challenged Philip's ability to solve the problem. Philip answered, "Looky here, Jesus. All we have in the treasury is 200 pennies and that's not enough."
   
     Jesus knew how much they had in the treasury just like He already knew what He was going to do. His challenge to the disciples was to think. He asked them to take a full stock of their inventory and their ability and come up with a real solution.

     In our walk with Jesus Christ, we have got to expect that He will bring us to the same challenging moments. He'll remain silent while we think and re-think our plans to solve a problem. We need to understand that it is times like these that God is training us to rely on Him. He's not picking on us. He's not trying to make us look stupid. BUT, He is trying to get us to learn how to rely on Him.

REMEMBER:  JESUS ALREADY HAD IT FIGURED OUT

3. Andrew told Him about a boy that had five loaves and two fishes.

    a. Andrew was not just sitting and waiting for the problem to get bigger. He had been out among            the folks, making friends and loving on people. During this time, he met a little friend who had a        lunch with him.

    b. It wasn't until AFTER Andrew brought the news to Jesus about his find that Jesus began to give         orders on how to meet this tremendous need.

     The worst thing in the world to do is just what most of us have been trained to do. When we see a problem coming our way, we stop everything we're doing and begin worrying about how to fix it. The problem is not a challenge to us. It is another opportunity for God to display His ability to meet our needs.

     Andrew kept ministering. No, he wasn't preaching. No, he wasn't leading worship. He was going through the crowd and looking for an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus. This crowd was hungrier for a relationship with Jesus Christ than they were for food. If they had come for food they would have waited until Jesus had already put the hamburgers on the grill. 

     The people you live with, live around, work with, and worship with are all looking for something more than just their meals. They don't spend hours and hours eating. Well, most of them don't. But they will spend hours and hours talking about something that interests them. AND, if that interest can be channeled into a conversation about Jesus Christ, you have fed and satisfied a soul.

4.  Jesus did NOT tell them what He was going to do. If He had, they might have had a reason to just stare at Him like He was the biggest idiot on the planet. And, Jesus, knowing their limited faith and comprehension didn't want to take the time to listen to their arguments. He just wanted to get down to the business of feeding these people and showing the disciples the glory of God. And when He deals with us, He deals with us the same way. If He DID tell you how He was going to meet your need, you would spend a lot of time trying to tell Him how impossible it was. God's smart enough to know when to shut up. He loves us just that much.

5.  An important key to witness God working a miracle in your life is to be obedient when you have no clue as to what God is up to. We are called to be disciples, or students. We are to listen, obey and learn. It is when we obey without question the things that God has asked us to do that it will begin to dawn on us what the Master is up to. When we become argumentative, rebellious or obedient because we sware up and down we HAVE to do it, we lose sight of God's ability to meed our needs.

6.  Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and passed it out. He did the same with the fish. In solving our problems, the answer comes quicker when we seek the blessings of God, allow Him to break us when it is necessary, and minister to others as is needed. Remember that AS we are blessing others, God is sending others to us to bless us in return. And His promise is that it will be good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over that men will give to us.

7.  The greatest point to remember about this lesson is the title to this blog. When we say to God, "This is all I've got" He'll answer, "That's all I need." 

Jesus Broke the Law

     John chapter eleven tells of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. Dying is not unusual. Ever since Adam defaulted the world to satan, death has been the normal, every day occurrence in the world. Paul said in Romans eight that there was the "law of sin and death". Death was something everybody accepted and expected.

     Lazarus got sick. Martha knew that people died from this sickness so she sent for Jesus to come and heal her brother before he died from it. She believed that Jesus had the power to keep this horrible nightmare called death from taking her brother captive.

     Jesus knew it, too. That's why He stayed where he was for a couple of days. He knew when Lazarus died. He told His disciples that He was glad that He wasn't there to heal Lazarus of the sickness. He had previously told them that the sickness was for the glory of God and that through the sickness they were going to believe in Him stronger than ever before.

     It's important to note that God brings us through some hard things for the same reason. There are things that hurt us, things intended on destroying our faith, things that just don't look right or feel right but Jesus is Lord of them all. Hallelujah!

     When He got to the grave site, Jesus broke the law in front of everybody. Not only did Jesus break the law of death, but in raising Lazarus from the dead many of the chief priests in Jerusalem broke the law also and believed that Jesus was the Messiah.

     In Luke seventeen, Jesus met ten lepers. Leprosy was a slow and ugly death that was inescapable. Once a person was chained by the grip of leprosy the law said they were forced to live outside of the city in leper colonies. The law said they couldn't touch anyone. They were no longer allowed to share fellowship with their families. They could only talk at a safe distance while they watched their loved ones body parts disappear in ugly festering sores.

     The law of leprosy was death. Jesus broke that law and told the ten to go and show themselves to the priests so that they could be declared clean and healthy. Jesus broke the law and fellowship was restored with their families and friends.

     Just the law of sin is the same way. Under the curse of sin, fellowship with loved ones is broken. Happy and peaceful lives seem to be forbidden to those under the grips of sin. Everywhere they turn, joy eludes them on every side. Riches might come but loving relationships slip away from them.

     Jesus breaks that law and restores lives in a way that no other can.

     However, there is a worse law than sickness and death. In John the fourth chapter, Jesus came to a well in Samaria. Samaria was considered unclean and it's inhabitants were considered unclean.

     He met a woman at a well there. This woman had been married five times and was now living with a man. More than likely, the social law of the day would have considered this woman more unclean than most of the women of the town.

     Even though her past spoke volumes of "ungodliness" to the people she was around, Jesus saw something inside of her that only He could see. Deep inside this woman was an ability to follow hard after God that nobody else in that town had. This is obvious by the directness of Jesus' activity with this woman.

     He reasoned with her about 'thirst'. Being the Master that He is, He bantered with her until her curiosity about this 'thirst' subject was at it's peak. Jesus saw that her real thirst was not for men as she would think or as we would suppose by reading the story. Jesus saw that her real thirst was a strong ability to follow hard after God.

     Jesus again broke the law by calling this thirsty woman into the ministry. It's obvious that her reputation around the village of Samaria was such that when she announced 'Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?' the men of the city came to see this Jesus. They were so amazed at Jesus' words that they asked Him to stay a couple of days and feed their hungry souls. Jesus broke the law and did. He broke the law again and led them into a deeper relationship with the Father.

     Many of us allow ourselves to be judged, convicted and considered outcasts by today's religious society. Our pasts do not necessarily 'measure up' to their supposed prerequisites for ministry. But, still there is a calling and a burning down inside of us that we were born with. Just like the woman at the well, there is a God-sensitivity we were born with that we are aching to answer. But, because of the 'laws' of religious piety we are considered common and unclean.

     In the light of this law breaking Jesus, let us reflect on several God-facts. Abraham lied twice about his wife. Moses had a speech impediment, anger issues and murdered a man. Jacob was a deceiver. King David was an adulterer and a murderer. Saul of Tarsus persecuted, imprisoned and killed Christians before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Noah had a drinking problem.

     God saves us and calls us to minister regardless of our background. John Newton was an avid atheist. In 1745, he became a slave trader. But, in 1748, God grabbed his heart and he later wrote the greatest hymn known to mankind, Amazing Grace. Can you imagine that? What qualifications did he have that God would dare move John Newton to write a song that has been America's go-to hymn for almost 300 years?

     His qualifications are the same as yours and mine. There is something God saw in him that nobody else did. He had a desire to follow hard after God. Sin had buried it way down inside of him. But when Jesus came into his life, He broke every imaginable, religious law and said, "Follow me."

     Just like the woman at the well and John Newton, you and I have gone through things that even we hope nobody will ever have to go through. But, God will use our hurts and disappointments to shape us into His instrument of glory. Man might not ever ordain us into "their" ministry just like Jesus was never "one of the priests". But, God will break those religious laws. He'll throw them aside just like last week's left over beans and use us to reach the lost if we'll run after him. Phil 3:12-14

Never Thirst Again Part 2, Prelude to Danger

     Pursuant to my previous blog, let me caution my readers. It is dangerous to press in to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. Psalm 1 says that the person who meditates on the Word day and night is like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water, the Holy Spirit.

     The Psalm goes on to say that this Holy Word combined with the Holy Spirit in a person will bring forth a change. Instead of just being an ordinary limbs and leaves thingy, he will be transformed into a prosperous, fruit-bearing tree that will never wither. But that's not the danger.

     Instead of being like all of the other ordinary trees, this Word man Spirit drinker will morph. He will no longer be content to be like the other trees. The insides of him will begin to compel him to spread out his limbs and branches so he can produce more. As the demand grows, his roots will go deeper into the soil to quench his thirsting heart. His roots will get bigger and begin to soak up more Spirit water to feed the hunger of his fruit producing limbs. But that is not the danger.

     Instead of just bearing his fruit, with power and joy he will encourage more of the 'just trees' to drink deeply of that living water. More trees will experience the joy of 'never thirsting' as they, too begin to grow, sink down deeper roots and produce bigger and better fruit. But that is not the danger.

     Let me say at this point, there is no danger to a God-tree if it grows because of the Word and the Water of the Holy Spirit. That is what the God-tree was meant to do----drink deeply and produce abundantly.

     The danger is not to the God-tree but to the pure out ol' devil and his demons. As the God-tree produces food, others are fed and more are encouraged to do the same. Lives change and in turn become fruit producing God-trees sucking in the Holy Spirit. Others see the glorious change that goes on in the life of the God-tree, imitate it's actions and in turn stop being just normal.

     As for me, if it's going to cause the devil ANY grief at all, I'm going to drink deeper and more often than I have been. I want to put that disgusting slime ball out of business in my life, my home, my children, my church and the town God sent me to live in.

     So let me go on record as saying that I want to go on a God adventure that would make James Bond and his antics look like a cartoon. I have already begun prayer walking around my neighborhood as well as the streets of Savannah. What for? Well, why not? You gotta pray somewhere. I may as well walk through demon infested streets pleading the blood of Jesus over the powers of hell that run rampant.The idea is to trip some of them to where they turn loose of their sinful prey and I get a chance to win them to Jesus Christ.

     Let's drink up and stay thirsty my friend.

Never Thirst Again

John 4:14--NIV--But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up into eternal life.

John 7:38--NIV--Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.

     According to Jesus, there should never be a statement like, "I can't wait to get to church tonight because I really need a blessing." Or, "I sure hope everyone is in one accord tonight because the church sure does need a breakthrough. We've been going through a real dry spell."

     He was talking about the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in these two verses. Jesus left His throne in Heaven, toiled among mortal man, had people talk down on Him, was beaten more than any human being had ever been beaten, hung on a cross for six hours until God said it was enough just to shed His blood to clean us up for the Holy Spirit to live in us. He said that the Holy Spirit would fill us so full that we would never thirst again. He said that the Holy Spirit was supposed to be like an artesian well springing up within us.

     Then why do we come to church so dry and thirsty? Why do we hope that the worship leader can pep us up? Why do we hope that the preacher gets on fire today? If that is our thought while we are getting ready to go to church then we're not ready to go to church yet. We're not ready to go to church until the power of the Holy Spirit is coursing through us. On top of that, we're not ready to face the day or the day's problems until the Holy Spirit is bubbling up inside of us. THAT is the way Jesus said the Holy Spirit was gonna be. If that's not the way it is in our lives then it is not Jesus' fault or the Holy Spirit's fault.
   
   Never thirst again. Give Him praise and flow in His power throughout the day. It will build up your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and His power will begin to grow inside of you. Your faith in Him and the Word of God will blossom. Souls will be saved, people will be healed because of the increase of the Presence of God that will begin abounding in your church.

     So what do you have to lose?

   

 
   

Speak to the Problem and Talk Smack to the Devil

     In Matthew 8:26, Jesus said two separate things. To set the stage, Jesus and the disciples were in a boat and going across the Sea of Galilee. While Jesus slept a storm came up. The four men that were fishermen by trade gave their authoritative statement about their immediate conditions. They woke Jesus up and rebuked Him for sleeping while they were drowning. Well, that's what it looked like to the fishermen, anyway.

     If somebody wakes you up out of a good sound sleep, you would do just what Jesus did. He rebuked the rebuker. He asked them "Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith?" Then He turned to the winds and the sea and rebuked them and there was a great calm.

     First things first. Jesus spoke to the ones that were casting doubt on the integrity of the Word of God. On the other side of the lake, He plainly told them to get in the boat and go to the other side. He did NOT say let's get in the boat so we can all die together. Peter and the disciples were clearly trying to convince Jesus of something that He, the Word made flesh, had not ordained. Jesus' words ordered their safe passage whether a storm was going to come up or not.

     The next thing is that Jesus spoke to the problem, the winds and the sea. We shouldn't find that surprising. In Matthew 21, Jesus spoke to a fig tree and it dried up over night. The disciples were astonished and He said that they could SPEAK to a mountain and it would obey them. Jesus said that it only took a little bit of faith to do that.

     Oh, really? Some times that's about all I've got. But you know what? Jesus said that He would honor my little faith. He will honor anyone's little faith. The problem is, we are so convinced that the circumstances that we face are immovable objects that we cower in fear of disaster just like the disciples did.

     Paul said this in Romans 8. In verse 18 he was talking about sufferings. In verse 28, he talks about God working things together for our good. Then in verse 31 he says, "What shall we then say to these things?" Paul was on to something. He immediately states equivocally that if God was for us then nobody could be against us.

     Well, what do we say? We say whatever the Word of God says about our situation. This is where you'll have to do your homework because I don't have enough room to list all of the promises of God. But if the need is financial, say "My needs are met according to His riches in glory". If it's sickness, say to the sickness, "By His stripes I am healed". If it's unsaved children, say, "The fruit of my body is blessed". 

     God will never, never, never go back on His word. Isaiah 55:11 tells us that God's Word will not return void but it would accomplish what He said it would. When He said His Word would not return, that must mean that somebody sent it out. That's me and you. God made the promise and I'm going to agree that His Word is true no matter what it looks like.

     When God said, "Let there be light" there was nothing around to make the sun and stars out of. But, by golly, it appeared out of nowhere pretty quick. We can always put our faith in the Word of God. It's going to happen like He said.

     Speak the Word of God to whatever problem you are facing now. God said His Word would not return empty. Sometimes He might have to organize a few things before He gets it to you. 

     Sometimes it might seem like it will NEVER come. That's where the devil comes in. He'll be the first one to tell you that you're going to die without the Word of God coming to pass. He will tell you and show you every excuse in the world why God CAN'T do what He promised.

     This is why I titled this blog---Speak to the Problem and Talk Smack to the Devil. He cannot keep God's promises from you forever and God will NEVER let His Word return void. So open your head, your heart and your mouth and start your problems on their way to being solved.

I've Hoisted My Anchor and Set Sail For A New Destination

Please note. The extended definitions of the Greek words are in parenthesis.

John 1:12--KJV--But as many as received Him, to them gave He power (power of choice, the liberty to do as one pleases) to become (to come into existence, to begin to be) the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name;
     13--Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
     14--And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory (opinion, judgement, majesty, splendor), the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

     The more I delve into the Word of God, the more it delves into me. The more I seek the face of God, the more He calls me to hoist anchor and launch out into the deep. The more I pray and study the more I since an excitement in my spirit about the greater things of God.
     I find myself getting so bored and disgruntled with the way most people "have church". It's the same thing Sunday after Sunday. You can count on the same amount of songs taking the same amount of time and there is obviously going to be a sermon of some sort and possibly some type of altar call. And, if you're very, very, lucky and everybody and everything works out just right God MIGHT get a chance to move. To say the least it is boring to the max.
     Look at it from God's point of view. I cannot begin to elaborate how much He loved us by sending His Son to bring us into a strong and endearing relationship with Himself. He wants to talk to us, to walk with us, heal our sick, save our lost, bring homes together and much more. Yet, we cannot find enough time in our busy schedules to allow Him to work. We are much too busy telling Him that we've got to control it all. Our church services are built around what WE think God should be doing.
     In verse 12, those of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Savior have the power of choice to become a child of the Living God. I am convinced that God meant for the big turn around in our lives to be just the beginning and not a stopping point. Yet most of the Christians in this world have a nominal relationship with Him that is not very far from where we were when we first got saved.
     I firmly believe that we, as individuals have the 'power of choice and the liberty' to become closer acquainted with our Heavenly Father instead of remaining a nominal Christian. I believe that God never intended for His children to 'just barely make it in' and then stop. In John 14:12, Jesus told His disciples that they would do the same things that He did and then went on to say that they would do even greater things. From that statement alone we can deduce that God expected His children to grow up to be strongly anointed world-changers and not just mediocre pew-sitters.
     In my last blog I challenged my readers to stay before God until the light came on and God began to reveal Himself to us. In verse fourteen we find that those who spent time and fellowship with Jesus began to see His glory. They began to see what God's opinion about a Christian life was. They began to see that God wanted to manifest His goodness and His majesty and His splendor among His people.
      I want to see what God has in store for His people. His Word says that there is life-changing, sickness-healing, devil-destroying power in store for those that follow Him. I personally don't know of any church around Savannah that continuously has services where the glory of God is the normal. However, I won't let that stop my quest for what the Word of God tells me is the 'normal' for a child of God.
     I've hoisted my anchor and I have set sail for God's normal. Come sail with me.

Is the Light on?

John 1:4--KJV--In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Verse 9--KJV--That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
   
     These two verses speak to the fact that Jesus came to open up man's understanding. He didn't come to build churches although churches have been built to worship Him in. He came to enlighten each and every man, woman, boy and girl who would listen to Him. He came to give individuals of any age Godly wisdom and understanding on how to live above the trials that surrounded them. He came to show them how to get out of their ruts. He came to heal an individual's hurts. He came to be our best Friend and to walk with us every day.
     The wisest thing we can do is to re-evaluate our relationship with Jesus Christ. Are we doing only what we have been taught? Are we doing what Grandma used to do so it must be OK? Are we as good as the other church members? Are we doing the same things that the other churches are doing?
     If we read the New Testament we will find that people that hung around Jesus, talked to Jesus, had fellowship with Jesus and listened to what He had to say changed the known world. By their prayers and actions a God-revolution took place that changed lives for the good.
     There is a good reason that the God-revolution has lost it's fire and zeal. We have become complacent with being told how to act and how to worship as a Christian. We are taught theory. We worship with the latest tunes. And we only spend a few moments in prayer.
     Power and life-changing anointing very seldom come from church membership. It comes from a  one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. We should determine in our hearts to stay before Him until our light comes on and then follow that light. Not only will we change but we will have the power to change those around us.
   

The Dismantler

John 1:1-5​

 In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

All things were created through Him,

and apart from Him not one thing was created

that has been created.

Life was in Him,

and that life was the light of men.

That light shines in the darkness,

yet the darkness did not overcome it.

    Several years ago, I enclosed a two car garage and made four different rooms out of it. I specifically built it with screws instead of nails. You see, I had this wild, wild hope that one day all of the children would be out and gone and I could dismantle the middle walls and make a two car man cave out of it. That was my intention and one of these days it just might happen. Just might, let me repeat. However, the fact remains that I CAN take apart with ease a thing that I created.

     In the exact same way but more powerfully, Jesus, the Word of God (See John 1:1 and Revelation 19:13) created EVERYTHING. The devil is a created thing (emphasis on thing). He was created by the Word of God. Therefore, if and whenever the Word of God so desired, He could take apart His creation at His will. Indeed in Revelation 20:10 this same devil that seeks to destroy all of mankind will himself be "cast into the lake of fire and brimstone" never to torment anyone again.

     God has already sealed his doom and set a time to do it. God will dismantle him, all of his evil powers and those that serve him. Hallelujah what a thought!

     But, let's understand this truth. The very same one who will dismantle this sinful creation lives and abides within us. In Luke 10:19, Jesus gave us power over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means harm us. Does that ring anything inside of you?

     When we get saved, we invite the Dismantler into our hearts. There abides within us a "Greater than he" (1 John 4:4). There is no---"Will Jesus ever come down?" to take care of business. Rather it is "Will we allow Jesus to rise up within us?" to take care of business.

     Every Christian is already connected to the Power of Creation. It is up to us to spend time in His presence for that creation power to dominate us and our futures. Notice that I didn't say that we need to go to church. And I didn't say we need to be preached to. And I didn't say we need to sing worship songs.

     Let me say this as sweetly as I can and I'll accept no argument to the contrary. We have been churched to death. We have been preached to death. And we have been worshipped to death.

Are there some good churches? Has there been some good preaching? Has there been some good worshiping? Yes.

     But has the Dismantler, the Power of Creation come alive within His people? Not on any large scale. I believe that there ARE pockets of believers throughout the world that kick the devil's butt around and don't take no for an answer.

     The power of God does not increase because we go to church, listen to preaching or sing worship songs along with everybody else. The Dismantler, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Creation Power comes alive within us when we, as individuals, spend more time with Him than we do our problems and our distractions. When it's one on one Jesus shows us what He's really like. When it's one on one, we begin to see Jesus in His glory and power. When it's one on one, the gigantic problems we face and see in the news become pitifully small and the answer grows bigger than we can contain.

     Don't let the devil continue to take you apart. Spend some quality time with the Dismantler and enjoy the rest of your life.