It’s normal to hesitate when you don’t know for sure what to do, but when you know that you know, then it becomes easier, even if it’s something very difficult to do that you don’t really want to have to deal with. It’s almost like dealing with someone with an addiction; you know that person needs help, but they don’t want it, and you don’t want to be the one to force that change. That’s the kind of difficulty I’m comparing it to. Continue Reading »

 

With so much bad stuff going on in the world today, it is more important than ever before that we be led by the Holy Spirit of God.  The Apostle Paul wrote a lot about that, and we need to pay attention, because there is another spirit out there leading people, and it is NOT the Holy Spirit. Continue Reading »

 

One thing we can see very plainly today is the disorder of things.  Governments are out of order, societies are out of order, families are out of order, and it seems the order of the day is chaos.  And yet there is order in heaven, for God is the God of order, not confusion.

Maybe there’s not much any of us can do on an individual basis about our government being out of order, other than pray God’s will be done.  Society has gone bonkers. I saw a comment on Facebook how the prior generation had Wonder Woman, and today’s generation wonders what a woman is. We’re in a mess, for sure.  Everything is out of order, even the pay phones of yesterday.

The Bible, however, is not confused about the order of things. Heaven has order, and once in the past, that order was challenged.  God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit being ONE, were in charge in heaven.  But number two, that being Lucifer, wanted to be number One in heaven, and somehow managed to deceive a third of the angels in heaven into backing him to take over the Throne.

While we may think that confusion began here on earth, it really originated in heaven with Lucifer.  And while we think divorce originated on earth because of the hard hearts of mankind, the first divorce took place in heaven, when God kicked Lucifer out of heaven, and put him on the earth.  Now apparently, Lucifer (or Satan as he is known) thought he was in charge of all the earth, and God put Adam in the Garden of Eden, and then created Eve from one on Adam’s ribs, and gave them dominion over all the earth.

We can read about that in Genesis 1:26-28,

 26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

 27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

 28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

 

I’m sure Satan wasn’t too happy about being put out of office.  We know by reading in Genesis chapter three that Lucifer, the serpent, came to Eve to reestablish his rulership over the earth.  Now we don’t know how long Adam and Eve were in charge, but I’d wager it wasn’t long at all after they showed up in the Garden that the serpent came calling. We can pick that up in Genesis 3:1-19. You’ll notice a pattern of order by the LORD here:

1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 

 2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

 3  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.

 4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

 5  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.

 6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 

 7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 

 8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 

 9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

 10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

 11  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

 12  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

 13  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

 14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

 15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

 16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 

 17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

 18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 

 19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

            You’ll notice in verse 9 that God called ADAM.  He didn’t call Eve or the Serpent.  The chain of command is God, Adam, Eve, Serpent, IN THAT ORDER.  So in verse 13, after talking to Adam, God called upon Eve.  Then Eve pointed the finger at the serpent, and he didn’t have a leg to stand on.  The order of how God operates was established on earth that day in the Garden.  God did not put Eve in charge.  He put Adam in charge.  And today, women have a real problem with that.  But don’t blame the man.  God put the man in charge. If you want to blame someone, blame God. Good luck with that one….

And right down to the time of the disciples, we read in Ephesians 5:21-33, the Apostle Paul went about to put the families of believers in Godly order.

 21  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

 22  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

 23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

 24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

 25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

 26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

 27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

 28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

 29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

 30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

 31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

 32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

 33  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband

            You can read it there for yourself, argue with God’s order if you will, but it will stand forever.

Even today a certain religion venerates Mary as the Mother of God, and millions pray to her daily, instead of praying as the Bible states, to the FATHER in the name of the Son.  Nowhere does the Bible tell us to pray to Mary, and that spirit seeks to overturn the order the heavenly Father placed upon us, which is the very same spirit that Lucifer had that got him kicked out of heaven.  FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, then the husband/father of the family, then the wife, then the children, IN THAT ORDER.

First off, Mary isn’t in heaven. She’s dead and buried awaiting the resurrection, like every other one who has died.  Secondly, God the Father is in charge, not Mary.

Why am I writing this?  Because I’ve been hearing too many times “Happy wife, happy life.”  God didn’t say that, the spirit of antichrist says it.  And that’s why so many families are miserable and out of order, because they’re out of GOD’S ORDER!  Will it be easy for those husbands/fathers who have rolled over in order to please their wives and keep the peace to put things in God’s order?  Nope! But men, it has to happen.  You don’t want GOD to have to do it for you.

Our time on this earth is short and getting shorter by the day. Jesus preached the Kingdom of God, not the Queendom of Mary.  We’d better get busy and put things in order now or we will never step foot in the Kingdom of God.  Not MY opinion, mind you, but “IT IS WRITTEN…”

It’s being taught in some circles that we’re all equal in the sight of God.  Well, we may be equal in the sight of God, but every family has a boss, and it’s the Father, just as there is an order in heaven.  Just in case you think that nobody should be the boss, go to Walmart and tell them everyone is an indian, and nobody is chief.  You’ll learn about order.  Same with serving in the Armed Forces.  Someone is in charge, and if you mess with that chain of command, things just don’t work right.  Deep inside, whether you like what I’ve said or not, you know I’m right, because I’m telling you what God said, not what Jerry said. The LORD is the God of order, and if we’re His kids, then we’d better submit ourselves to that order. Amen?

 

There is a group of people I deal with that seems to gravitate toward the Old Testament and not so much toward the New.  And they’re very sincere in their beliefs, and adhere to them.  So today I’d like to just scratch the surface of “old versus new”.  You can’t cover a lot in just a few pages, nor do I intend to, but just enough to show you a difference between how God was
“then”, and how He is “now”.  And before you say “God never changes”, like that particular group says, then maybe we’d better reconsider that.  Or, HAS He changed? Continue Reading »

 

Few things affect our lives as much as what is in our heart and what comes out of our mouth.  Jesus said unto the disciples in Matthew 15:16-18 a very revealing thing:

16  And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

 17  Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

 18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

            Lots of religious people think we must observe to do this or that, or must eat according to a certain diet, while they fail to understand what REALLY shapes their life.  In this passage, Jesus warned us to beware of what is in our heart, because it will come out of our mouth and defile us.

Back in the days when Jesus was ministering on earth, the Jews had contrived all kinds of “doctrines of men” that affected the daily lives of all their followers, and yet, they were not commanded to be observed by God.  And so it is yet today, there are so many thousands of doctrines of men that endure, yet Jesus had said in Matthew 15:8, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

            In other words, what they were doing was a complete waste of their time, because God wasn’t in it.  I find that to be just as true today as it was back then.  We see churches going to great expense to have the best coffee bar, or the best light show, or something spectacular to draw crowds, and yet God is not in it.  Why?  Because it’s an extension of “doctrines of men”, just in another form.  What we REALLY need to do is address the issues of our heart and change them to surrender to God.

I recently saw an article on facebook from some church inviting people who were living in adultery or some other sin, or doing drugs, or shacking up, to come to church.  And that’s a good thing.  But they weren’t calling those people to repent and turn away from their sins.  The very heart of salvation is for a person to be sorry enough for their sins to TURN AWAY from them, and to receive Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life.  It isn’t “come to church and continue living in sin, because we have grace”.

It is written in Proverbs 18:21, Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

            Now, keep in mind, that which is in our heart is what eventually comes out of our mouth.  In other words, death and life lurk in our heart, and try as we may, we cannot forever hide what is in our heart, it has to come out and be revealed.  So when a person is still in the world, living like the world, going to church, refusing to repent of their sins, they are abiding in death, and even if they “talk the talk” of being born again, their heart will eventually betray them.

On the other hand, if one repents from sin and turns from it, and gets to studying God’s Word, it is like a seed planted.  No seed sprouts to a fully grown plant instantly, it is a growing process.  And as that seed grows in the heart, it displaces worldly thoughts, and a conversion starts taking place.  Things of the world become not so appealing, then they eventually become distasteful altogether, and as the heart changes, so does what you say changes.

There are so many wonderful promises of God in His Word, and as we study and learn of them, and get them down into our heart, well, you may find yourself in a situation, and without even thinking about it, God’s Word will come gushing out.  And when we believe God’s Word in our heart, and speak it with our mouth, things start changing.  Like I said, it’s a process, a seed growing.

For those suffering sickness, there are many healing scriptures, and any one of them has the power to bring forth healing and health.  But if we continue declaring, “I’m sick”, then what we’re doing is looking for a crop of healing, while digging up the healing seeds and discarding them, and planting sickness seeds with our words.  And those sickness seeds come from the heart, and they bring forth after their own kind, because a seed of any kind can only do that.

Corn seeds cannot bring forth watermelons, and watermelon seeds cannot bring forth green beans.  It is written in Genesis 1:11-12,

11  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 

 12  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

            And so our heart brings forth seed after what is in it.  If the world is in our heart, we will speak as the world speaks.  If God is in our heart, we will speak as He speaks.  And that fruit of that which we speak will manifest and remain, be it death or life for us.  Why?  Because God made it so at the creation.  So don’t think you’re going to continue putting the world in your heart and get God out of your mouth, because it just isn’t going to happen.  When the chips are down, you’ll say what’s in your heart, be it death or life.

So what’s the cure?  Put GOD in your heart in abundance, and the words of your mouth will be of God.  And when that happens, things have to change.  They don’t have any choice.  The junk the devil tries to put on you won’t be able to stick for long, but will shrivel up and fall off, and only the Word of God will remain.  So there you have it.  As it is written in Proverbs 18:21, Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

If you love life, then speak life.  If you love death, then just keep on speaking death.  Sooner or later, it will catch up to you.  It always does.  But let me tell you, LIFE IS BETTER.  Therefore, put the seed of God’s Word in you, so that seed may bring forth after its own kind and bring you life!

 

So often when people need healing, they get the mistaken idea that it is something that they need to talk God into doing for them.  And some even try to “bargain” with God, that if He heals them, they will do such-and-such to give Him glory. And when nothing happens, then of course the “religious” people will tell them, “Maybe it isn’t God’s will to heal you…”  or perhaps, “You must have sin in your life, therefore God cannot (or will not) heal you.”  I tell you, there is no end of reasons people get talked out of their healing.  And NONE of them are aligned with the Word of God. Continue Reading »

 

When I read about all the healings that Christ Jesus did, I have to ask myself a question:  Which came first, the healing, or the believing? Continue Reading »

            Years ago I bought a nice Lincoln, and drove it for about a year, and I took real good care of it, often waxing it each week.  My wife and I were at her mother’s house in Joplin, Mo, when a fellow minister came to see me.  We had never met before.  I was in Mom’s driveway detailing the Lincoln when this ratty, smoking car drove up.  I remember it had a vinyl roof that had partly detached and was flapping in the wind.  The driver stopped and turned the car off, and it smoked, chugged, backfired a couple times and finally died.  It was almost funny.  Continue Reading »

 

Having been in the healing ministry for nearly 29 years now, I’ve heard every imaginable excuse why people can’t be healed.  Sometimes I think people really DON’T want to be healed, but just say they do.  Maybe they like the sympathy and attention they get.  But not me, I like being healed and healthy.  That’s not to say I haven’t had attacks down through the years, but like it is written in Luke 6:17-19, HE HEALED THEM ALL.  EVERY ONE OF THEM. Continue Reading »

 

There’s an old saying; if you have two dogs, and you only feed one of them, which one will be stronger?  The answer is, the one you feed.  Well, you as a person are a three-part being: spirit, soul, and body.  You ARE a spirit, and that spirit lives in a physical body, and your soul is your mind, will, and emotions.  Depending which one of those parts, spirit or body gets fed best, will determine what goes on with your soul.
Continue Reading »