How to Love....!!!

Imagine the night before Jesus’ crucifixion. He has communion with His disciples and washes their feet. He reveals that Judas is the one who will betray Him. He tells the disciples that He is leaving and they can’t come. Then, He speaks these words:
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35)
By virtue of the fact that this would be, in part, His final words to the disciples, they had to be very important. And notice that what He said to them was in the form of a command, not a suggestion.
I am sure that everyone reading this letter has read or heard this passage many times. But in reality, most do not think that this is something they can actually do. It’s a goal that they may strive to reach with gritted teeth, but usually with little success.
It begs the question—would Jesus give His disciples a command He knew they couldn’t keep? The answer is obviously no, so why is it so hard for us today to love other people? Could it be this simple—we can’t give what we don’t have?
The majority of churches are teaching that God’s love for us is conditional. They are misrepresenting His love, and it is one of the main reasons that we as Christians are so judgmental and harsh toward other people. Consciously or not, we tend to treat people the way we believe God is treating us.
We must understand that God does not love us because we are lovely. He does not love us because we read the Bible, go to church, pay our tithes, or do our best to keep the command to love others as He loved us. The truth is that He loves us without conditions. That’s huge!
there are some churches that all they preach is the message of evangelism, which is good. They make you feel like you have to pay God back for saving you by leading others to Jesus. It becomes such a part of you that you begin to say this: “The sole purpose for our existence here on this earth is to lead somebody else to Jesus.”
grasp this—“If evangelism is the sole purpose for your existence, then what about Adam and Eve? They had no one to lead to the Lord, no Sunday school class to teach, no one to pray for, and no physical need of any kind.” The answer can be found in Revelation 4:11—
Thou artworthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
The original purpose of all creation was to give God pleasure. And that is still God’s purpose. Adam and Eve were created for fellowship with God. He wanted someone to love and for them to voluntarily love Him back.
God’s purpose for creating human beings was all about relationship. But religion has succeeded at turning us from “human beings” into “human doings.” When that becomes the focus, we begin to tie God’s love for us to something that we do for Him. I did! But that was never His plan.
Over the years, I have prayed for thousands of people. The vast majority of those who come forward begin by telling me about their spiritual lives: “I’ve been praying, fasting, reading the Bible, and attending church, but I’m still not healed.” They don’t realize it, but they just told me why they weren’t healed. They’re pointing to what they are doing instead of what Jesus has done.
The same is true about our relationship with the Lord and with other people. We have come to believe that God loves us and acts on our behalf based on our performance. Therefore, we hold others to the same standard—our love for them is in direct proportion to their works, or how they treat us.
Romans 5:8 says,
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God’s love has never been or ever will be conditional. He loved you at your worst, and most Christian churches would agree with that initially. They believe you are saved by grace through faith, no matter your history, but that is often where grace stops and religion starts. And religion always puts the emphasis on the external.
Once you’re saved, religion says you must live holy, and the evidence of your holiness will likely be judged by the standards of your church: Do you dress the right way, do you say the right things, are you leading people to Jesus, and most important, are you tithing—just to give a few examples.
That is not how God sees us. God looks on the heart. First Samuel 16:6-7 says this:
And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Samuel was going to choose Eliab to replace King Saul because of the outward appearances. But God was not looking on the outside. The church today is judging believers in the same way. You might carouse in secret on Saturday night, but as long as you come to church the next morning well kempt and well dressed with a check in your hand, you’re accepted because you have the appearance of holiness.
Under the New Covenant, God is still concerned about your actions and behavior. It’s not okay to lie, to steal, to commit adultery, or any other sin. However, He knows that those are nothing more than the byproduct of a relationship—or the lack of one—with Him. So, He is focused on your heart.
As long as you believe God is judging you according to your performance, you will never fully receive His love. Love is a decision, and God decided to love you even though you didn’t deserve it. There is nothing you can do to earn it or deserve it, so just receive it as a free gift.
When you understand how much God loves you, it becomes easy to love others. And when you love others as He has loved you, your behavior will change toward them. If you loved your mate the way that Christ loves you—unconditionally—you would never commit adultery. If you loved your neighbor as Christ loves you, you would never steal from them or bear false witness against them.
How does the world know that we are disciples of Christ? John 13:35 says, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Did you know that the first-century church evangelized the known world in thirty years? They didn’t have television, the internet, smart phones, or texting. But they loved one another, and that love was so evident; it attracted people like honey attracts bees.
A Pharisee who was a lawyer asked Jesus this question: “Which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus answered this in Matthew 22:37-40.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The Pharisees wanted Jesus to name the most important “Thou shalt not,” and instead, Jesus spoke “Thou shalt.” Many believers are still living under the Old Testament Law mentality. They are trying to earn the love of a God who already made the decision to love them unconditionally.
Once you begin to understand how much God loves you, love will flow out of you toward others like rivers of living water.

JESUS IS ENOUGH !

Would God send His only Son to bear our sin, becoming sin itself, and then judge Him without mercy for that sin if His sacrifice wasn’t enough? No! Yet, many Christians act as though it wasn’t enough and continue to believe God is withholding His blessing because of their sin. It’s time to learn the truth.
Over the years I have ministered to thousands of people directly who just won’t let the Bible get in the way of their theology. Religious traditions and widely-accepted teaching have become the basis of their beliefs, rather than the Bible. The results are obvious: Their relationship with Christ is profiting them little or at the very least less than God intended.
These are people who have accepted Jesus as their Savior. Yet, they can’t get healed, they’re unhappy, depressed, fearful, and full of unbelief. That shouldn’t be! As you read, I encourage you to allow the Bible, God’s Word, to get right in the middle of your theology.
Let me start by making this radical statement. If you’re conscious of sin, then you truly don’t understand the grace of your salvation through Jesus. It sounds radical, but it’s true. That is totally different than the way most people think. I’m not saying this to hurt anybody, because I understand; I struggle with the same thing.
It’s different than what most of us have been told. But this is what God’s Word declares. God is not imputing, or laying to our account, our sin.
Second Corinthians 5:19 says,
“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation,” (emphasis mine).
Sin consciousness has been ground into us. Grace is not the way of the world. Your employer doesn’t hire you by grace and promise to pay no matter what you do; they have expectations of performance. In marriage, spouses don’t always love each other unconditionally. Even in most Christian families, children are either rewarded or punished based on their performance.
In this earth almost everything is based on performance, and because it is, it always forces us to focus on our weaknesses. That performance mentality then transfers into religion where we’re taught to focus on our sin. However, where God is concerned, it’s just the opposite. In fact, sin isn’t even an issue with God. Why? Because our sin is not being imputed, or charged, to our account. It’s being charged to Jesus’ account, and He already paid the bill.
I know a lot of churches that would throw me out for saying that, but it’s what the Bible teaches. It’s time to let the Bible get in the way of wrong theology. Hebrews is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I wish I had space to put the whole book into context because it has a lot to say about how God dealt with sin.
Hebrews 9:11-12 says,
“But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us,” (emphasis mine).
If words mean anything, think about these words: Jesus entered in once! Do you know what once means in the Greek? It means once. It means He doesn’t do it over and over again. Every time you sin, the Lord doesn’t have to wait until you repent and then get that sin under the blood.
Most Christians believe that when you’re born again, you get your sins forgiven up to that point. Then, every time you sin after becoming a Christian, you’ve got to run to the Lord with that sin and confess and repent, or you could be lost. If not lost and on your way to hell, then at the very least, God would not fellowship with you, and He certainly wouldn’t answer your prayers.
If that were true, then everybody would be on their way to hell. There isn’t a person on this earth who doesn’t have either a known or an unknown unconfessed sin. Or, if sin just means the loss of relationship with God and unanswered prayers, then God wouldn’t have a single person qualified to receive an answer to prayer or fellowship with Him. Was Jesus enough or not?
This is a huge issue. It’s the reason many believe God isn’t healing them or prospering them. They say out of one side of their mouths that He loves them and sacrificed His Son, Jesus, for their salvation, and then out of the other side, they say that He is still judging them for sin. Those are incompatible!
Hebrews 9: 13-15 goes on to say,
“For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance,” (underlines mine).
It isn’t God who is condemning us when we sin; it’s our own consciences. We haven’t purged our consciences with the truth of what Jesus has done with sin. Satan knows that and is using it to condemn us and destroy our faith and confidence in God by reminding us we don’t deserve God’s blessing.
Praise God, He isn’t giving you what you deserve; He is giving you what Jesus deserves. Jesus paid for sin one time, past, present, and even the sins you will commit in the future. How can that be, you ask? I don’t know exactly, but let me tell you this, Jesus only died one time for our sins two thousand years ago, so you better hope He can forgive your sins before you commit them.
Hebrews 9:25-28 says,
“Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many,” (emphasis mine).
God knows the end from the beginning and He knew all the sins of the whole world. Jesus paid for all those committed before His sacrifice and for all that had not yet been committed. He made the payment once and it will never be made again. The price for sin, all sin, has been paid!
We have received an eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:15) that cannot be taken away. Your inheritance is not temporary; it’s eternal. You aren’t disinherited and you don’t lose the benefits of being part of the family because of sin.
To understand this, you have to see yourself as God sees you. In your born-again spirit, you are as clean and holy and pure as Jesus is. Religion has you looking at your flesh. It has you searching the soulish realm of thoughts, attitudes, and feelings. But that is not what God is looking at. He is looking at your spirit, the part of you that’s become a new creation.
Second Corinthians 5:17 says,
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
And in John 4:24 we read,
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
What part of you is new? It’s not the flesh and it’s not the soul; it’s your born-again spirit. When you go to God in prayer and say “O God, I’m so ungodly and so unworthy, please forgive me, please answer my prayer,” you are not in the spirit; you are in the flesh. Your spirit is righteous, holy, and pure. Sin does not affect your spirit.
Am I saying sin is okay? Absolutely not! When you sin, you give Satan an open door to the soul, your mind and emotions, as well as opportunity to destroy your physical body. It’s just stupid to open yourself up to the devil.
Some of you may still be thinking, Well, I know God died once for all men, but His sacrifice still must be applied whenever we sin. Let’s allow God’s Word to get in the way of this wrong theology again.
Hebrews 10:10-12, 14 says,

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified,” (emphasis mine).
This is not talking about your physical body or your soul; it’s talking about your born-again spirit. Your spirit is identical to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is sinless! Your soul and your body can be defiled by sin, but your spirit never can; it’s sealed forever.
Maturity in the Christian life isn’t about trying to grow your spirit up; it’s trying to educate, or renew, your mind to what you already have in your spirit. Your spirit is already perfect! You already have the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, and the rest. Your spirit is always happy, always rejoicing, and always healthy.
God loves you even though you’ve messed up, even though you aren’t perfect. He loves you not because of your performance but because of Jesus’ sacrifice. If you can ever get a revelation of what I am teaching, it will change the way you see God forever.
Self-condemnation will come to an end and your faith will explode if you can just ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes of understanding on this issue. It’s called The War Is Over.

How To Be Happy

Everyone longs for happiness, but few possess it. The pursuit of it is universal and timeless. Generations ago, the writers of the United States Declaration of Independence recognized that longing. In it they wrote that every man is endued by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, one of which is the pursuit of happiness.
For most people, however, happiness is elusive. To make it even more elusive, many Christians have been told that holiness and happiness just don’t go together. That’s because in the church, there has been an emphasis placed on Jesus as a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.
Isaiah 53:5 says,
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
However, that is not the whole story. The same Bible that says Jesus suffered also says He was anointed with the oil of gladness above everyone else and that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
“Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Heb. 1:9).
“Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh. 8:10).
No joy—no strength. This is one of the reasons we have a lot of weak Christians.
So, is true happiness obtainable? And if so, how do we get it?
First, let me say there are many scriptures that command us to rejoice and be glad (Ps. 32:11, 40:16, 68:3, 70:4, to list a few). Some specifically command rejoicing in the midst of trouble (Ps. 34:1, Matt. 5:12, and John 16:33). The people of Israel were even punished because they didn’t serve the Lord with joyfulness and gladness of heart for the abundance of all the things the Lord had done.

“Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee” (Deut. 28:47-48).
So, if joy was a command and people were punished for not rejoicing, then happiness is something we can control. Otherwise, the Lord would have been unjust in commanding us to do it.
Today people think happiness is a result, instead of a choice. They believe that if they didn’t have any problems and if they had an abundance of good things, happiness would be the inevitable result. That’s not true.
Happiness isn’t a state of being; it’s a state of mind. A person can be happy when everyone and everything around them is in turmoil. They can be content no matter what the financial or physical conditions might be. True happiness and contentment isn’t dependent upon circumstances.
Take Paul as an example. The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Philippians while he was in prison in Rome. He had been in prison for two years in Israel, one year in transit to Rome and an undisclosed amount of time in Rome. He was facing possible execution.
Yet, his letter to the Philippians is the happiest letter of any he wrote. He mentioned rejoicing seventeen times in this short letter. How could this be? What was Paul’s secret? The book of Philippians gives us the keys Paul used to obtain such success.
In Philippians 4:11 Paul said,
“I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
Notice that contentment is something the Apostle Paul learned. It didn’t come naturally or without effort. None of us came out of the womb reading and writing; we had to learn through years of effort. Likewise, contentment, which is a major component of happiness, has to be learned. It doesn’t come on us like a seizure, and we don’t catch it like a cold. It is an acquired trait.
How do we acquire happiness? First, we need to deal with what’s on the inside. Most people take a different approach. They want to deal with the outside. They pray for their problems to be solved and that only good things and good people will come their way. Let me give you a clue: That ain’t going to happen!
As long as we are in this world, we will have problems (John 16:33). And if we are living for God, we will have persecutions (2 Tim. 3:12). If you never bump into the devil, it’s because you’re going in the same direction. When you turn around and start swimming upstream, you will always encounter resistance. People and circumstance might start working against you.
You can’t always control what goes on outside, but you can totally control what goes on inside when faced with that resistance. When you understand that, you will have discovered one of the greatest keys to happiness. In addition, you will be on your way to eliminating grief in your life.
let me tell you a secret, do you know that selfishness really is at the root of all our grief. I know that’s a hard pill to swallow for many. But that’s because we live in a society that has learned to blame circumstances and other people, rather than taking personal responsibility.
For example, Proverbs 13:10 makes it very clear that the way others treat us is not the root of contentions; it’s our pride:
^{“Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”}
If we weren’t so in love with ourselves, so prideful and self-centered, we wouldn’t be so sensitive to all the things that rub self the wrong way. It really comes down to our love of self.
One of the most liberating things in the world is to love someone else more than your self. And when the one you love more is God, you will rejoice when He is glorified, even if that happens through your suffering.
That’s what Paul did. In Philippians, chapter 1, the Apostle Paul was trying to comfort the Philippians. These were special people to Paul, and he was special to them. In Philippians 4:15-16, Paul said the Philippians were the only church that ever gave to him after he left their area. They did this not only once, but they did it twice and would have partnered with him more if they had known where he was.
He wanted to assure them that everything was all right with him. How did he do that? He told them that all his suffering had furthered the kingdom of God.
In Philippians 1:12-18 Paul says,

“But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”
That says volumes! Paul loved God and the furtherance of His kingdom more than he loved himself. If the kingdom of God was better off because of Paul’s imprisonment, then it was all worth it. What a great attitude. We would do well to adopt it.
When God and others are more important to you than yourself, then you are well on your way to happiness. But if you are all wrapped up in yourself, you make a very small package. And therein lies the number one obstacle to contentment and happiness.
Most people are addicted to self like addicts are to drugs. They are never satisfied. And this self-centered dissatisfaction is Satan’s greatest open door for temptation. He used self-interest to temp Adam and Eve, even though they lived in a perfect world without a single problem.
“But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:3-5).
Even Jesus’ disciples weren’t satisfied with Him. Despite all they had seen Him do, they still wanted more outward proof of who He was.
“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us” (John 14:8).

We can never truly satisfy self. We just have to deny it. We have to die to self and place God and others ahead of self. That’s easier said than done, but once we die to ourselves, happiness is just around the corner.
Second, we need to deal with what’s outside, our circumstances. Paul gave great insight into how to do that in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, which says,

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Paul said his affliction was only light. He didn’t say that because he didn’t have problems. You can read a list of his “light afflictions” in 2 Corinthians 11:23-30. The list includes beatings with whips and rods, prison, shipwreck, hunger and thirst because of his mission work, and many more. So, how can we speak about our heavy load when Paul called all his problems, which were much worse than anything we have suffered, just light afflictions?
You see, it’s not your problems that are the problem; it’s the way you see your problems and the value you place on them that makes them a problem. Paul said all his afflictions were but for a moment. That was saying they were short-lived compared to eternity. Paul put everything into the perspective of eternity.
Regardless of how bad things are in this life, we have such a wonderful eternity promised to each of us that all our troubles pale in comparison.
Romans 8:18 says,
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Our future is so bright, we have to squint to look at it. All the sufferings of this life are short and insignificant compared to eternity and all the pleasures the Lord has in store for us. Keeping this in mind will shrink our problems down to a manageable size.
Paul also said in 2 Corinthians 4:18 that he didn’t look at the temporary things of earth but that he was focused on the eternal things of heaven. If we are only looking for happiness in this life, then we are going to be miserable (1 Cor. 15:19). Our true happiness lies in Jesus and our future with Him. If we are in faith, we can have joy unspeakable and full of glory now, in this life (1 Pet. 1:8). It’s our anchor in eternity that keeps our hearts from being troubled (John 14:1-3).
I believe this is absolutely essential for every Christian to understand. I LOVE YOU..SEE YOU @ THE TOP

Don’t Settle For Less—Receive God’s Best

 

I need to point out two very important things in that title: You have to learn how to RECEIVE God’s BEST.
The main reason we aren’t receiving His best is because we are willing to settle for less. Very few are committed to God’s best. We have been influenced more by the world than by God’s Word and “dumbed down” to accept far less than what God has provided. As long as you can live with less than God’s best, you will. That is a powerful truth.
You have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired before you will aggressively pursue God’s best. You have to have a holy dissatisfaction with mediocrity before you can experience all that God has for you. It doesn’t happen accidentally or automatically. If you don’t pursue it, you won’t get it.
Everything in our fallen world naturally goes from good to bad. Things don’t get better without effort. We have to seek to find, knock to get the door opened, and ask before we receive (Matt. 7:7). We must raise our sights and aim higher. Most people are shooting at nothing and hitting it every time.
Jeremiah 29:11 says,
“I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end [hope and a future, New International Version]”.
When the Lord spoke to Jeremiah to write these words, Israel was devastated. The city of Jerusalem had been destroyed, and many people had been taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. Thoughts of peace were probably the last thing on their minds.
But Jeremiah went on to say in verses 12-13,
“Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
I’ve had people tell me they prayed and believed God but that nothing happened. These scriptures promise otherwise. So, who’s right? I choose to believe God is true. The key is, we have to seek with ALL our hearts. That’s the missing element. We have to reach a point where we won’t live with anything less than God’s best.
That attitude is missing in the lives of far too many Christians. The bar of expectations, even within the church, has been lowered in regards to healing, finances, and more. There is such a fear that someone might be disappointed and, therefore, condemned that many ministers have been teaching people to settle for less and avoid the disappointment.
I am not trying to condemn anyone. We have all been raised in and influenced by an ungodly culture. And nobody learns how to receive God’s best overnight. It’s a process, but we need to begin moving in that direction. I haven’t arrived there either, but I have left and am on my way. God has far more for all of us than we are experiencing.


Christians ought to be walking in supernatural healing. They ought to be walking in financial prosperity. Most, however, are just as sick and broke as their unsaved neighbors. You will never receive God’s best until you become completely dissatisfied with second best—mediocrity.
One of these days, we are all going to stand before God. And when we do, we will know all things even as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12). In an instant, we are going to know what we could have had while on this earth. We will understand that the same power that raised Christ from the dead was resident within us all along (Eph. 1:18-20).
We will discover that we didn’t have to be sick, that we didn’t have to live broke, and that we didn’t have to be depressed and discouraged. We will realize that love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance were living inside us the whole time (Gal. 5:22-23).
We don’t have to limp into heaven, crying, “Praise God, we made it.” We can live a life of victory now. Jesus died to deliver us from this present evil world (Gal. 1:4), not just the one to come.
Moses lived under an inferior covenant compared to ours (2 Cor. 3:7-11). Jesus said John the Baptist was greater than Moses, yet the least New Testament saint is greater than John (Matt. 11:11). Therefore, if Moses was still strong at 120 with good eyesight (Deut. 34:7), why would we settle for less?
Unless you’re willing to stand and fight the fight of faith, you will be overcome by this world. If you don’t stir yourself up, you will settle to the bottom. The world isn’t going to encourage you toward God’s best, and most Christians aren’t either.
Sadly, religion is one of the strongest weapons Satan has to discourage people from believing for something more. Many churches believe that God doesn’t perform miracles today or, worse, that God is the one who wills for our lives to be in such a mess to break us. He sovereignly controls everything. That is not true.
We also have to recognize that it’s all about receiving what God has already done and not about getting God to do something He has yet to do. We don’t need God to heal us; by His stripes, we were healed (1 Pet. 2:24). That miraculous healing power is already IN us. We don’t need God to move; we need to believe what He has already done and learn how to receive.
I encourage you to begin receiving God’s best.

THE GUARANTEE

One of the leading evangelists of our day has been quoted as saying that he believes only fifteen percent of professing Christians are truly born again. That’s a startling statement! I’m not sure that’s accurate, but I certainly believe that many, if not a majority, of those who call themselves Christians are not truly saved.
You can tell that by the values they hold and the lives they live. This means that millions of people who profess to be saved aren’t. The following certainly confirms it.

BARNA RESEARCH SURVEY

MOST “CHRISTIANS” CONFUSED ABOUT SALVATION

The results of a recent survey indicated that most protestant Christians don’t understand—or believe—their own theology about salvation. The Barna Research Group asked 6,242 adults nationwide, “Can a good person earn their way to heaven?” The percentage of those responding “yes” were as follows:

Assembly of God 22%

Baptist 38%

Presbyterian 52%

Lutheran 54%

Episcopalian 58%

Methodist 59%

Roman Catholic 82%

How can this be?
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).
If there isn’t a clear presentation of true salvation, then there won’t be faith to receive it. Unfortunately, many “Christian” churches today are presenting church membership and holy living as the way to salvation.
They preach that there is a God but that the way to have a relationship with Him is through being a good person. In that respect, they are not much different than any other religion. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. It doesn’t matter how good you may be. Who wants to be the best sinner that ever went to hell? The Bible teaches:

“ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, emphasis mine).
The glory of God that this verse is speaking of is Jesus. You may be good compared to me or some other person. But compared to Jesus,
“There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10).
The Bible teaches that no one can have a relationship with God by just being good. We are all doomed under sin so that we can all have salvation through Jesus (Gal. 3:22).
True Christianity differs from all other religions on the face of the earth in one very specific way: We are the only religion with a Savior. Others teach there is a God and that we are accountable to Him, but they believe we save ourselves by good works. Even the Jews and Muslims believe God is the God of Abraham, but reject Jesus as their Savior.
All other religions place the burden of salvation on the back of the individual. They teach that through acts of self-denial and holiness, you earn your place in heaven. But true Christianity puts the burden of salvation on Jesus. Our only part is to believe and receive, or doubt and do without.
If a Buddhist, a Muslim, and a Christian all stood before the Lord, how would they respond to this question, “What makes you worthy to enter heaven”? The Buddhist and Muslim would certainly try to convince the Lord of their holiness by their worthy accomplishments. That’s precisely the logic behind terrorist’s suicide bombers. They are told that if they kill the infidels, they will be granted entrance to heaven and given a harem of women for eternity.
But a true Christian wouldn’t point to any good deed they have done, and they certainly wouldn’t expect that killing others would earn them favor with God. Instead, they would point to Jesus and say, “I have no virtue of my own to make me worthy. All my faith is in Jesus, my Savior, and what He did for me.”
It’s always about how we view Jesus. Every religion of the world recognizes Jesus. They have to. There is more physical evidence that Jesus lived than that any of the Caesars lived. And Jesus’ example of love and turning the other cheek has never been equaled by any other religious leader.
The Muslims and the Jews say Jesus was a prophet, a good man. They commend His teachings, but they reject Him as God and Savior. Amazingly, many who call themselves “Christians” have a similar view of Jesus. They admit He’s a wonderful example, but they don’t believe He is God, and they don’t believe He is the only way to the Father.
But that is totally illogical. Either Jesus is who He said He was, or He was a deceiver. There can be no middle. You can’t admire His teachings and actions and then reject His claim to be the Son of God sent to save the world.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
Jesus didn’t claim to be “a” truth, “a” way, and “a” life; He left no other options for having a relationship with God the Father than through Him. He also said,
“All men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23).
Jesus made Himself equal with God and said that if we didn’t honor Him as such, then we weren’t honoring God the Father. No one can receive God’s salvation who doesn’t recognize Jesus as God and the only way to the Father. His own claims leave no room to accept Him as good and then not as God.
There was an instance in Scripture where a rich young man came running and threw himself down at Jesus’ feet. He certainly respected Jesus and recognized Him as being a religious leader. But despite his outward pretense, Jesus could tell he wasn’t ready to make a real commitment to Him. The young man said,
“Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:17-18).
Jesus was saying that the only one who is truly good is God. So this person either needed to accept Jesus as God or quit calling Him good. What was the young man’s response? In verse 20 he said,
“Master...”
The rich young ruler dropped the word “good” when addressing Jesus. He was not willing to make Jesus God. He was willing to identify with Jesus and proclaim His goodness, but he was not willing to make Him God.
This young man went on to proclaim his own goodness as the basis of his relationship with the Lord. He said he had kept all the commandments from the time of his youth. The truth is that no one has kept all the Law and lived a sinless life.
We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). This man was deceived because he compared himself with others (2 Cor. 10:12). Compared to others, he may have been holy, but he was a sinner in need of a Savior, and he didn’t know it.
The story continues,
“Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 10:21).
Notice that this verse says Jesus loved this young man. Jesus didn’t tell this man to sell all he had and give to the poor because He didn’t want him to be a disciple. He loved him. And because Jesus loved him, He had to break the deception that he could earn his salvation.
He needed a Savior but didn’t know it. He had lived such a good life that he thought he would be accepted by God for all his goodness. He said he had kept all the commandments of God, but he hadn’t. He had deceived himself into believing it, but Jesus knew better.
Jesus told this young man to sell whatever he had and give it to the poor. He had never told this to anyone else who wanted to follow Him, so why did he do this? He did it because He knew what his god was.
The very first commandment says,
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3).
Jesus was showing this young man that he had broken the very first commandment. He trusted his money and what it could do for him more than he trusted God. Jesus loved him and wanted to bring him to salvation, but He would not lower the bar, and the young man went away sorrowful (Mark 10:22). There is no other way to the Father but through Jesus.
you can order for messages on CDs and mp3 format, call: 08161681221