Today I’d like to crank you up, and help you to come into a better place in the LORD.  It is written in Proverbs 4:5-7:
Pro 4:5  Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Pro 4:6  Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
Pro 4:7  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Continue Reading »

As we end another year and prepare to start a new one, I’d like to take this time to ask you to review your past year and your walk with the LORD.  You know, if your walk with Him hasn’t been what it should be, this is a good time to change that.  And if it IS on track, it’s a good time to make it even better.  The LORD is always happy to spend more time with you, and it’s the best investment you can make with your time, one that will pay everlasting benefits. Continue Reading »

History has a nasty way of repeating itself.  Every great nation that has risen, has also fallen sooner or later, and there is a reason for that: they forgot from whence they came, and took on other customs, peoples, and religions.  And it can be no different for America.  It seems we have forgotten what we were made of and where we came from, and little by little, America has changed so dramatically under the current leadership that it is no longer bears much resemblance to what it was just a few short years ago.  And this isn’t just about America, it is about other places, too. Continue Reading »

Most of you know I teach on a wide range of subjects.  But when it comes right down to it, HEALING is my real gift and calling.  Yes, other things are important, like faith or obedience, but the LORD has people who He has called to specialize in those areas.  There are those who teach faith almost exclusively, some teach on the blessings, or holiness, and the LORD has put a special anointing on those people to teach in those particular areas.  It seems we all have a certain area of anointing, but none of us operate in all the gifts all the time, except Christ Jesus of Nazareth.  Time and time again, I’m drawn back to healing.  Why?  Because there are so many sick people out there, and it isn’t the LORD’S will we be sick, any more than it is the LORD’S will we be living in sin.  The LORD has revealed much to me about healing over the years, for the purpose of showing people the love of God for them. Continue Reading »

There is a magazine which has a cartoon character on the cover, whose motto is, “WHAT-ME WORRY?” Maybe you remember it.  I remember reading that when I was a little boy, but somehow, growing up changed all that.  My Mom was a world-champion worrier, and though I said I’d never end up like that, guess what?  I did.  Guess it runs in the family.  In fact, it runs in a LOT of families.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go back to those worry-free days of childhood again?  Well, we can’t go back to childhood, but we CAN be worry-free.  Yes, you read that right, WORRY-FREE! Continue Reading »

“The Edge of Forgiveness” is kind of an odd topic, but that’s what the LORD gave me to write about today.  Is it possible to be on the “EDGE” of forgiveness?  Sure, and that’s a dangerous place to be, just like it’s dangerous to stand close to the edge of a cliff. Continue Reading »

No matter where you were born, or when, there’s just something inside you that wants to succeed.   Whether you realize it or not, even your basic instinct to survive tells you that you weren’t created to fail.  A person can face seemingly impossible circumstances, and yet, in the vast majority of times, they will survive, somehow, someway.  Many count that up to “luck”, but it isn’t luck at all; it’s how you were created, purposely by God. Continue Reading »

Life is full of disappointments, and to say it isn’t would be a lie. But to say having faith in God brings disappointments would be the greatest lie of all. Last night I received a text message from a person who has been “confessing the scriptures and believing for months” and is convinced Jesus won’t heal them.  To say they are disappointed would be an understatement.  Now if Jesus healed all who came to Him back then, and the Bible says in Hebrews 13:8,  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and for ever, and He doesn’t heal the one who asks today, there must be a reason.  But are we willing to face that reason head-on and do something about it? That’s the $64,000 question. Continue Reading »

My last article was about “Stay The Course”, and I’d like to expand somewhat on it today.  Some people think that confessing the Word of God over your life daily is just too much trouble, and though they may do it for a while, many get weary of it and stop.  Back in 1993 I was dealing with terminal cancer, and immediately started using the Word of God against the cancer and stayed with it, and the cancer left my body.  So, did I quit confessing the Word?  Nope, I stayed with it, and still do so yet today 22 years later.  When will it be “enough” and I can quit doing it?  When I die, perhaps.

Why is it some seem to get immediate or quick relief, while others just keep struggling on?  I really don’t have a “thus saith the LORD” answer, BUT, twenty two years has taught me a thing or two, both from my own experience, and from that of others:  you don’t give up speaking the Word of God EVER!  Some have confessed to me that they were faithful confessing the Word for a while.  That “for a while” differs from person to person, perhaps a day or two, or a week or two, or a month or two, or a year or two.  But “for a while” doesn’t get the job done, for the most part.  Just like spraying for bugs “for a while”, you think you’ve beat them, but just when you stop spraying, one day in the not-so-distant future, you see one, then another, and then pretty soon, they’re all back with all their extended family.  So it is when you stop confessing God’s Word.

You may “coast” for a while with seemingly no ill effects, but while you’re “coasting”, the enemy is building their attack against you, and you may find yourself up to your armpits in alligators, so to speak, and wonder, “How did THAT happen?” I’ll tell you how it happened: while you were holding up your shield of faith, hiding behind it, you failed to yank those fiery darts out of your shield and start hurling them back at the enemy.  Therefore, the enemy decided he was safe in mounting another attack on you, for you were not giving him any opposition whatsoever, and he called in his buddies to join the party against you.  Now he’s winning and you’re fighting for your life again, wondering, “Why is God letting this happen to me?”

First off, God is not letting it happen to you.  YOU ARE!  God has given you His Word to win the battle with, but He won’t make you use it.   Remember something, my friend, no war has ever been won with a good “DEFENSE”.  Wars are won by going on the offense, and if you’re going to “overcome”, then you won’t do it hiding behind a shield, or being spiritually lazy.  God will stand by sadly and watch you go down with your ship if you fail to use the resources He has given you.  Oh, He won’t be happy about you losing, but hey, He gave you everything you need to win, what are YOU going to do with it?

Nobody wants to hear that, but if I’m going to really help you, I must always tell you the truth.  God cannot lie, He cannot deny His Word, nor will He ever leave or forsake you.  BUT…He expects YOU to do YOUR part, and use His Word to change your thinking, your speech, and your actions.  God will NOT “possess” your mouth and make you speak His Words.  No, He gives you the opportunity to overcome, just like the Lord Jesus overcame, and sits by His heavenly Father.  And if YOU want that badly enough, you will do likewise.

Last night at a meeting I overheard a friend talking about “his diabetes” and it saddened me.  Before I could speak out, another told him, “You don’t have diabetes, Jesus bore all your sicknesses and diseases”. But the man replied, “Yes, BUT….” But WHAT? Either Jesus did so, or He didn’t, which is it?  The truth is, He did, but is it that man’s truth, or is it just truth for “someone else”?  That man evidently had given up confessing his healing, so it wasn’t manifest for him.  Yet, another with the same condition can stay on the Word, and be delivered from his condition, while others who give up, are not.
What then is the problem?  Is it the Word of God?  No, the problem is failure to stay with the Word until you prevail.  How long does that take? Till you prevail.

That’s where many fail.  They fail to enter the race to WIN.  Many enter races, all enter hoping to win, but ultimately the winner will be the one who trained hard and ran no matter how tired they were or how sore they got.  They entered to WIN, period.  There was no other option, no “almost won” or second place for them.  For them, “second place” is first place LOSER.  And that’s the way I feel, too.  I’m going to win, or it isn’t worth the bother.

I’m training winners.  There is no “second place”: either you enter the Kingdom of God, or you don’t.  I’ll do everything in my power to help you win, to help you overcome everything that stands between you and victory, to teach you from God’s Word, pray for you, encourage you, exhort and correct you, BUT I CAN’T RUN YOUR RACE FOR YOU!  That’s YOUR job.

Everybody says, “I just want to hear about Jesus.” No you don’t!  You need to know your enemy if you’re going to win.  The devil is relentless; he never calls in sick, never takes a vacation or a day off.  He is bent on your destruction, and while you are “resting in Jesus”, he is mounting his next attack on you.  That means you cannot let your guard down for even a second if you don’t want to be blindsided.  Worshipping and praising God, giving Him thanks, and confessing the Word of God is your most powerful weapon, and the devil has no defense against it whatsoever.  As long as you are using your weapon, you win.  Set it down though, and before long you’ll wish you hadn’t.

Whether you’re fighting for your health, or your finances, or your family, or whatever, the strategy remains the same, DON’T GIVE UP!   Keep at it however long it takes until you win.  God will back His Word, but it’s up to YOU to use it, and not sparingly.  That brings me to the “sowing and reaping” part.  A farmer doesn’t go out in the middle of his field and plant one seed and realistically expect an overabundant harvest, does he?  No, he sows GOOD SEED abundantly and expects an abundant harvest.  Too many preachers use “sowing and reaping” tactics to “fleece their flocks” out of their money, while doing nothing to prepare them to be overcomers for the Kingdom of God.  This isn’t about you “getting rich”.  This is about you becoming a better servant of Christ Jesus so you may hear the words “Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your LORD!”  That’s what it means to overcome.

But by diligently using the Word of God as the center of your life, you also partake of the “benefits” that you are admonished not to forget about in Psalm 103:2-3.  You can be disease free, whole, forgiven of all your sin, and actually experience the peace and joy of the LORD in your life, right here, right now in the present time.  That’s why it’s called “the present”.  God’s Word is His gift to you, so that you may have life, and have it more abundantly. But it won’t happen like berries falling off the tree on you.  You will have to put your diligent effort into it.  But hey, isn’t the Kingdom of God worth it?  All the overcomers will be there, and you’re cordially invited, that is, if you don’t give up.

God says we need to have a vision for our life, and where there is no vision, the people perish.  Well, I have a vision; and that is that everyone I minister healing to is healed.  Are all of them healed?  No, because they have no vision to see themselves healed.  When the Lord Jesus walked through villages teaching the multitudes, He healed the sick, but yet in his own village, He could do no mighty work there.  Let’s read about it and why it was that way. Continue Reading »