Your past can be at peace

Matthew 4:24 (KJV) “And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.”

Today I want to talk to you about torments. Some years ago I read a headline that said, “The thorns we reap are often from the tree we did not plant.” A whole lot of people are tormented by something that happened in the past. Often the torment was not of their own doings. Jesus delivers people from such torments.

The word “torment” refers to torturing pains in the mind and in the memory that hold a person in their grip like an eagle’s claw. The word “torment” also means being kept in prison by things that haunt a person, mental anguish, mental harassment, and mental pain. These torments can come from war memories, drug flashbacks, from a rape experience, from abuses, from frightening experiences, from molestation, from near accidents, etc. Torments can come from embarrassing deeds of your parents and from sinful deeds by other family members. Many in the Bible had to overcome embarrassing torments. Continue reading Deliverance From Torments

The rewards and blessings of God come after the overcoming

1 John 5:4-5 (KJV) “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

I want to talk with you today about overcoming weaknesses, especially the things that trouble people. We are living in perilous times, and it is in the best interest of believers to come to grips with all their weaknesses and get victory over them. We need to give weaknesses special attention. The word “weakness” refers to being without strength, feeble, unable to gain victory over problems and sickness. The word “overcometh” means to conquer, to get the victory, to prevail. In this lesson I want to mention a few of our weaknesses as Christians and encourage all the saints to be overcomers. If your weaknesses are leaving you out in the cold, you need to do something about them. Continue reading Overcoming Weaknesses, Pt. 1

The six principles of building from Nehemiah 3

Nehemiah came on the scene approximately 90 years after Zerubbabel brought the first group of exiles out of Babylon. During those years the temple had been rebuilt and worship was re-established. Hostile forces were many, and the city and the temple was left unprotected. Nehemiah’s commission from the Lord and from the king was to rebuild the walls. Building requires vision and planning. The vision God gives must be completed regardless of the cost and sacrifice and opposition that may be encountered. Building requires cooperation, concentration and determination.

Nehemiah means “the comfort of God” or “the consolations of God.” It is taken from a word meaning “to breathe strongly”, “to console.” It is also taken from the word “Jah”, one of the Lord’s names. Putting it all together Nehemiah’s name means, “the consoling breath of the Spirit of God.” Nehemiah became a type of the Holy Spirit in His ministry as one who restores, rebuilds, revives, and protects.

Rebuilding requires research, careful planning, and communication.

Communication comes after the research and the survey of what needs to be done. When Nehemiah had all the facts, he called an assembly. He informed the people, “We are in distress and in reproach.” (Neh. 2:17) Then he says, “Come and let us build.” The people were informed of God’s hand upon Nehemiah for this specific task. He was calling for full cooperation and unity. One of the greatest menaces to revival and rebuilding is the refusal to cooperate with the vision God gave. Nehemiah was able to inspire faith, because the people said, “Let us arise and build.” Impossibilities now became possibilities. He pointed the people away from fear to “Yes, we can.” Sanballat and his friends began to laugh and ridicule and accuse. This is a predictable method of Satanic opposition. Nehemiah told the opposition, “We will build; God will help us.” Nehemiah avoided the fear and the anxiety and the failure syndromes. Continue reading We Will Arise and Build

We need to let God arise and let His presence do its work among the people of God

The occasion for this Psalm is seen in 2 Samuel 6:1-12, the moving of the Ark from the house of Obed-Edom to Jerusalem. The first attempt ended in failure. They had used a new cart and oxen. When the Ark swayed, Uzzah tried to steady it, and he died as a result. “David was afraid of the Lord that day.” From the account in 1 Chronicles 15:1-29 David found God’s “due order,” i.e. His instructions, for moving the Ark. David discovered that the Levites were to bear the Ark. It was the responsibility of these Levite ministers to carry the presence of the Lord. Continue reading Let God Arise (Psalm 68)

If your weaknesses are leaving you out in the cold, you need to do something about them.

In part one Pastor George highlighted several weaknesses that need to be dealt with in the believer’s life. These weaknesses must be overcome in order to be successful as a Christian. In part two Pastor George continues to talk about specific areas that need to be examined.

Overcoming impossibility thinking

Luke 1:37, 49-50 (KJV) “For with God nothing shall be impossible…For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.”

The angel Gabriel told Mary that with God nothing is impossible. Mary accepted that word.  Later when she was pregnant with Jesus, she told her cousin that God’s mercy is on His people from generation to generation. The weakness here is failing to see that God’s mercy works for the New Testament saints, too. Continue reading Overcoming Weaknesses, Pt. 2

Overcoming Things That Vex

2 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV) “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
(NIV) “The weapons that we fight with are not the weapons of the world, on the contrary, they have Divine power to demolish strongholds.”

Warfare refers to our military service or the expedition that the Lord sends us on.  It refers to ministry service, apostleship.  The great commission is “the sending out” … (Mark 16:15-18) The weapons God has given us are not void of Divine power.  Any evil force that comes against the saints will fall under the power of the weapons God has given to us.  Jesus redeemed us and gave us freedom and the power to maintain that freedom. Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn, this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me saith the Lord.”  Satan has no weapon that can prosper against the saints.  He does not want the Christian to know that he has been defeated. Continue reading Warfare & Vexation

Are you in a wilderness? The wilderness is happy to have you.

Isaiah 35:1 (KJV) “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.”

I want to talk to you about coming out of your wilderness experience. Jeremiah 31:2 talks about a people who found grace in the wilderness. The wilderness speaks of many things. It is a place where cattle are driven for pasturing. It is a solitary place. It symbolizes a life that is barren, dry and lonely. It symbolizes a wasted life, fruitless and death-oriented. The wilderness also speaks of a place of testing and of proving. The wilderness determines whether God or the flesh is going to rule your life. God wants to know what is in your heart. The wilderness is a place for training and teaching. “Will I, or will I not, hear and obey the voice of the Lord?” Continue reading Coming Out of Your Wilderness