Have you ever been home alone and heard a noise? “What was that?” Your mind freaks out and you imagine so many things. Or perhaps you had a pain in your body you’ve never felt before. Your mind says, “Perhaps it’s a heart attack!” or “Maybe you’re having a stroke!” You immediately play out scenarios in your imagination of who would find you.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always had a very vivid imagination. I used to imagine things and make myself cry it was so real! Proverbs 23:7a says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” So in a nutshell, we are what we think.

Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” So basically, what we think on becomes the seed that produces our future. Wow! Some of us need to pray for crop failure!

Psalm 19:14, David prayed a most powerful and beautiful prayer that we should pray each day. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” It was a battle even for a king and we are kings and priests before the Lord. If all we have is a basketful of rotten apples, we can’t give out good ones. We must first dump the basket and replace them with good lest the bad ones corrupt the good ones and we have nothing to give out at all.

Father, will You please scrub my mind so that it will be clean again? Sometimes my mind gets carried away and I think the craziest things. I know they’re not right, but they’re still there. You said that we are to ‘cast down vain imaginations and every lofty thought that exalts itself against the power of Christ’, so I will do that today. When I dwell on wrong thoughts, I’m giving them more power than they’re due. So I will think on Jesus, the words He spoke, the price He paid, the grace He gives and I will praise You for victory over every thought that’s contrary to Your Word. It’s in Jesus’ name who set me free that I pray this. Amen

Did you know that faith is designed to grow? It is! The problem with most Christians today is that they don’t grow their faith, so when something comes along in their life when they really need it, their faith is too small to support anything. You can’t climb a sapling, it will fall over. But you can climb an oak tree, it is big enough to support you!

Matthew 17:20, the disciples had just asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast out the demon out of the child and he said, “You were not able to make the demon go out, because your faith is too small. Believe me when I tell you, if your faith is only as big as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. You will be able to do anything.”

There are two things I want to show you in this verse; seed and say. If faith is a seed, then we plant that seed by saying. Just as Jesus spoke and it was done, we were also designed to do the same. Depending on our words, our seed grows or dies. If we continue speaking what the Word says, we are agreeing with God that He is faithful to keep His Word.

Seeds can sit in the packet all year long, but you won’t eat the fruit of it unless you plant it in the ground and allow it to grow. It’s the same with the Word of God. It sits in the Bible waiting for you to read it, believe it and speak it. Seed, time and harvest. Be steadfast in what  you’re hoping for and in due season, you will reap if you faint not.

Father, thank You for Your Word. It’s living, powerful and active, but we must believe that what You say is true. We must come into agreement with it and consider not the symptoms, the balance in our checkbook, the absence of a job. We must only consider that You are our provider, protector, healer, strong tower and faithful shepherd. Help us to grow our faith everyday so that when we lay hands on the sick, they WILL recover because we’ve taken the time to grow our faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen

About 15 years ago at the church we attended, I had a stalker. This man would watch for an opening, then come up to me and try to touch me. It always made me feel dirty, slimy, like whatever demonic spirit was on him was trying to get on me. It went on until I mentioned it to Walt, then he became my look-out guy. When I was ministering to someone, Walt would be right there. When I’d come off the platform, Walt would take my arm and say, “Just come with me, keep walking,” and I knew this man was coming my way.

This man came into a women’s bathroom we was cleaning after church. Thankfully Walt was there and told him to leave and not come back in and that he had no business being in there. The man challenged Walt, telling him that he had no business being there either, but Walt reminded him that since he was the building supervisor and was cleaning between services, he had every right to be in there and with authority, cast him out.

In Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas were telling people about Jesus and a woman began to follow them saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” It says that she did this for several days and it annoyed Paul. Why? I mean, she was telling the truth, right? But Paul recognized the spirit behind it and he finally confronted it and told it to leave. Note, he didn’t tell HER to leave, he told the spirit to leave. It did, and her masters who had gained much profit from her ability to ‘see’ things, were very put out and had them imprisoned.

The really cool thing was, not only was this woman set free, but when Paul and Silas were put in prison, the jailer and his family were also saved. We just never know how God is going to use certain events in our lives, do we. I came away knowing that the Holy Spirit came to help me discern motives and see things in the spirit realm that I hadn’t seen before. He not only causes us to know things, but to confront things, not to embarrass the person, but so they can be free.

Father, thank You for setting me free so that I can help others be free as well. Thank You for being my strong tower, my constant companion, that Your angels surround me night and day, keeping me in all my ways. May I always be sensitive, compassionate and full of love, but also on guard, watching and listening to Your still small voice. It’s in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Jesus had just fed this crowd with a little boys fish and chips luncheon. They had seen the disciples leave by boat to cross the sea, but Jesus wasn’t in the boat with them.

John 6:22-26 MSG-The next day the crowd that was left behind realized that there had been only one boat, and that Jesus had not gotten into it with his disciples. They had seen them go off without him. By now boats from Tiberias had pulled up near where they had eaten the bread blessed by the Master. So when the crowd realized he was gone and wasn’t coming back, they piled into the Tiberias boats and headed for Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

When they found him back across the sea, they said, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

 Jesus answered, “You’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free. Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last.”

What I saw in this describes so many of us today. We’re not following Christ to be like Him, we’re following Christ because of what He can do for us. He wanted them to know the love of God and all they wanted was another free fish dinner.

We need to be hungry for Jesus, not hungry for what He can give us or do for us. If Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith and without faith it’s impossible to please God, than we’d better be studying the author. If God is love, why aren’t we practicing love? If this is the most important of all the commandments, why aren’t we loving.

The other morning after listening to a minister on t.v., I posted this on Facebook; Reflex, any automatic, unthinking, often habitual response to external circumstances. Your reflex or knee jerk response, often tells what is in your heart.

Let’s apply this to love, shall we? Not mans love, but God’s love. What is in our heart? What is your reflex when someone says something bad about you? What’s your reflex when things go very wrong in the world? Are you so rooted and grounded in Love that it doesn’t affect you? When you see a need, does Love prompt you to give? When someone cuts you off in traffic, does Love well up in your heart toward that other driver? Love is the last thing I think about in that arena!

Father, I’ve failed in my love walk so many times! I’m pretty sure that most of the time, others don’t see You when they look at me. Forgive me for having wrong motives and hidden agendas. Fill me with Your love so that I am full to overflow.  As I draw close to You, may all that is in me be changed until I reflect You in all I do, in all I say, in all that I am. I don’t want to be close to You so I can get stuff that I need, I want to be full of Your Love so that I can BE all You need me to be. It’s in Jesus’ name. Amen

Jeremiah 1:9-10 ERV;  Then the Lord reached out with his hand and touched my mouth. He said to me, “Jeremiah, I am putting my words in your mouth.  Today I have put you in charge of nations and kingdoms. You will pull up and tear down. You will destroy and overthrow. You will build up and plant.”

Today, I’d like to continue by showing you that God was not just talking about Jeremiah. Let’s look at Genesis 1:28, God blessed them and said to them, “Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

So from the very beginning, Gods intentions were for us to rule and reign over every living thing. How do we do that? What was the one thing God used to create? His Words. Now, go back up and read what God said to Jeremiah. He didn’t set him up with a throne to rule in the natural, He set him up with His Word and put him in charge of nations and kingdoms.

Wait! Take a moment and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal His purpose to you. II Corinthians 10:4-5 GW says, “The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans. Rather, they are powerful weapons from God. With them we destroy people’s defenses, that is, their arguments and all their intellectual arrogance that oppose the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ.”

Could it be that the reason we exist is to take territories in the spirit realm? Could it be that most of this is done in the secret place, our prayer closet? Out of sight and sound of human ear? Where we take His Word which is in us to tear down and pull up, to destroy and overthrow, build up and plant? Victory’s won in this arena affect the outcome of peace in our community and the overthrow of fear, doubt and unbelief.

Father, You have surely placed Your Word in our heart that we might know You and the power of Your might. You did not place us here as powerless, wimpy sons and daughters, but as mighty soldiers in a battle we cannot see with mighty weapons that pull down strongholds. Put a watch guard on our lips and keep us from speaking what we see in the natural. Help us to say what You say and go where You tell us to go. We don’t need to understand, we will trust in You and be doers, not just hearers. It’s in Jesus name and for Your glory. Amen

Jeremiah 1:4-8 ERV; The Lord’s message came to me:

 Then I said, “But, Lord God, I don’t know how to speak. I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I am only a boy.’ You must go everywhere I send you and say everything I tell you to say.  Don’t be afraid of anyone.  I am with you, and I will protect you.” This message is from the Lord.

As I was reading this, I heard the word, ‘purpose’.  This word is defined; the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.  My dear friend, when God created you, He did it with purpose in mind. Just as every cell, tendon, muscle and organ has a function in the body, so do you. This purpose doesn’t hinge on age or social status. When God says, “It’s time!” It’s time!

There are two things God instructed young Jeremiah; 1. Go everywhere I send you. 2. Say everything I tell you to say.  He didn’t say, ‘First finish school, go to bible school, be ordained and then I’ll come back when I feel you’re ready.’ What I see here is just two qualifications, the ability to listen and obey. I hope you’re seeing this. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with education, but that’s not what qualifies you. If you’re not spending time knowing God, you’re just plain on the wrong path.

What are you afraid of? Remember the last thing in these verses that God spoke? “Don’t be afraid of anyone.  I am with you, and I will protect you.” You see, when God is with you and you’re doing what He asks of you, there’s nothing to fear because He is with you and that’s enough. That’s a promise you can bank on. Regardless of what place you find yourself, what you face, even if you stand before kings, God will give you the words to speak and they will always hit their mark.  Even if that place is in your bedroom, speaking into the atmosphere.

Father, this morning I want to thank You for the purpose you have for me. You have placed Your words in my mouth and as I speak them out, You always back me up. I thank You for opening deaf ears, ears that have lost their sensitivity to Your voice, those who have become ‘comfortable’ where they are, who refuse to move. You have purpose for me.  I am neither too young nor too old, neither am I unqualified. All I need is Your voice in my ear, telling me, “This is the way, walk here. Say this!” It’s all for Your glory.  Let Your Kingdom in us be established in Jesus’ name. Amen

I personally do not watch the news, but I get snippets of what’s going on when I get on the internet or listen to people talk about it. Why don’t I watch the news you ask? Because I never saw Jesus focus on what was happening around him, he merely did what the Father sent him to do; love.

When the disciples asked, he told them what would happen in days to come, but it was only to prepare them, not to cause them to fear. The things I see ‘Christians’ posting today are both critical and judgmental and I think that’s a shame. While you’re casting judgements, God is looking for those who will stand in the gap and pray. To intercede for the lost, that they may find the one who can deliver them from the fear they face.

I John 4:17-18 GW says, “God’s love has reached its goal in us. So we look ahead with confidence to the day of judgment. While we are in this world, we are exactly like him with regard to love.  No fear exists where his love is. Rather, perfect love gets rid of fear, because fear involves punishment. The person who lives in fear doesn’t have perfect love.”

It’s our job as Christians to be love, so much so that there is no fear in us or around us. Fear brings torment, but perfect love casts out fear. Take a long look at yourself and be honest, what do you speak? Where is your focus? Are you instilling fear or oozing love? Our purpose isn’t to state the obvious, ours is to give ourselves to the Word and prayer. Not praying out of fear but for love of the lost.

The more you read the Word and find time to satisfy your soul in His presence, the more people will be drawn to the peace and love in you. The things we speak should build up and edify each other, not tear down and fixate on world events. There is One who knows all and He said to go out and make disciples, heal the sick, raise the dead. If more Christians would be doers of the Word and not just hearers, perhaps we’d be carriers of love instead of fear.

Father, today as I go my way and do what I must do, may Your love ooze from my pores and permeate everyone I come in contact with. May Your peace overwhelm me and melt away the fear of those who don’t know You. Most of all, may I make disciples for Your Kingdom and Your glory. Use me to spread Your love like a blanket, putting out the flames of hatred and fear. I am only one, but if You are for me, who can be against me. It’s in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

I was recently contacted by a friend who said my email had been hacked. Someone had recently hacked her bank account so she wanted to be sure I had sent it before she opened it. I quickly went in and changed the password on my account.  I felt bad for all the people who had received bogus emails from me to check out the latest weight loss program. Friends, let me just clue you in. I’m never going to share weight loss secrets with you because I simply don’t have them!

Well, there are life lessons in everything we go through and this morning, I’d like to share what the Lord showed me: “My children have let their guard down and have allowed the enemy to hack into their identity. He’s lied to them, stolen from them and they’re so busy trying to straighten out the havoc he’s created, they’ve allowed his lies to hold captive the blessings I’ve intended for them to live in.”

Well, that sure got my attention! Imagine what would have happened to Jesus in the wilderness if he’d of gone in not knowing who He was and what He was entitled to? When Satan showed up, Jesus would have been stumped. But because He knew the Word, had it engraved on His heart, His identity was intact. Basically, He had invested in Word Lock, where it safe guarded His identity from the evil hacker.

Revelation 1:5b-6 says this; Jesus is the one who loves us and has made us free from our sins with his blood sacrifice.  He made us his kingdom and priests who serve God his Father. To Jesus be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

We are his kingdom, the place he dwells and his priests who serve God his Father. What a beautiful look at our identity. Don’t let ANYONE hack that! Know who you are! Know your purpose. Know your rights and privileges. Then when the hacker comes to steal, kill and destroy, you can stand against him and speak the truth to him. It’s the truth that sets you free.

Father, thank you for teaching me how to speak and what to beware of. Thank you that Your Word is alive and powerful in me, hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You. Thank you for sheltering me in the shadow of Your wings where no harm will come near me or mine. I know You go before me and make my crooked paths straight. May Your Word be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

How many have ever said this to their children or had it spoken to you as a child? It could have been a crying child who won’t verbalize what’s wrong, or perhaps a reminder to say ‘please’ or ‘thank you’, but the message was clear. There’s a time for tears but there’s a time to just use your words.

The most troubling thing is that although there is so much emphasis in the bible on the tongue, we still don’t take our words seriously. We have a tendency to pick up the language of our surroundings. I could always tell who my girls were hanging around with because they would begin to talk like them. If you listen, you can even pick up on this in your own life. We speak what we hear and than we wonder why our lives are such a mess.

Psalm 139:4 NASB says; “Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all.” Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” We were created in the image and likeness of God and He my friends, is a speaking Spirit. He spoke and it came to pass. No waste in anything He said. Every word had purpose. Do yours? Ezekiel 12:25; “For I the Lord will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord God.’”

I hear it all the time; ‘You’re killing me!’ ‘It’s to die for!’ People putting words out there and thinking there’s nothing wrong with it. Really? You’re training yourself not believe what you speak is valuable, so now when you need a miracle and speak the Word over your situation, you wonder why your body isn’t responding. Seriously? Your body doesn’t believe you! YOU don’t believe you. We talk for the sake of talking but there’s no value in our words.  Mark 11:23 NLT, “I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.” It’s a pity, really. We were made to be like our Father, but we refuse to spend time in His Word to find out what that means. Remember, you become like who you hang around with.

I’ll hang with You, Father. I’ll feed on Your Word and worship in Your tabernacle, which is me! I’m a carrier of Your Spirit and I don’t want anything I say to grieve You. I’m not perfect by any means, but it isn’t me that makes me perfect, it’s You. So today, put a watch guard on my mouth and cause me to choose my words wisely. To believe that what I say will come to pass just like Your Word teaches me. I want to be more and more like You and that means expecting that what I say will bear fruit. I don’t ‘kinda’ believe it, I believe it wholly with everything in me. As you spoke to Jeremiah (1:12), may you speak to me; Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.” Amen

On Tuesday morning while praying, the word ‘First Responders’ came out of my spirit and I’ve been thinking about that ever since. I found that a First Responder is someone designated or trained to respond to an emergency. Then I remembered reading an article years ago that there are two types of people; those who respond quickly, jumping in to do what needs to be done and those who freeze in fear.

I’m a responder. I’m quick to access a situation and jump into ‘life saving mode’. A very long time ago, I was able to save a friends daughter from drowning while her mom froze, not knowing what to do. Another time, I dislodged a hard candy from a friends son’s throat as he began to turn blue. Doing the practical while using the name of Jesus each time. I’ve never considered myself a hero, I simply react to emergency instead of freezing in fear.

So when the Lord spoke these words to me as I and several others had gathered to pray, I felt He was showing me something significant. These were those who could see and respond to what was happening in the realm of the supernatural. They’ve been trained by the Holy Spirit how to respond, what to do, what to say, how to make every minute count not for their purpose, but for His.  Sometimes we see things happen in the natural we have no power over, still we respond or freeze.  But what if what we don’t see can stop what we do see? What if we changed our strategy and focused our efforts on obedience in prayer instead of what’s in front of our face. Would we change from fear to faith? Would we become ‘First Responders’?

II Corinthians 10:4-6 ERV says; The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.  We are ready to punish anyone there who does not obey, but first we want you to be fully obedient.

Do you see this? This isn’t talking about arguing with someone over something we don’t agree with. This isn’t talking about lashing out at political parties or petitioning at city hall, this is about destroying the enemy’s strongholds through prayer. Being fully obedient to do what the Lord has commanded us all to do, pray. We can cover more territory, overcome more demonic forces who are corrupting our children, our bodies and our nations by prayer than any other way ever.

Today, I leave you with these very blunt instructions from Paul found in I Thessalonians 5:16-23;

Always be full of joy.  Never stop praying.  Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus.  Don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit.  Don’t treat prophecy like something that is not important.  But test everything. Keep what is good, and stay away from everything that is evil. We pray that God himself, the God of peace, will make you pure—belonging only to him. We pray that your whole self—spirit, soul, and body—will be kept safe and be blameless when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. Amen