Inspired Word October 24, 2007

INSPIRED WORD

October 24, 2007

SENSE / SCRIPTURE

I have a great sense that some who have gone through the Life in the Spirit seminar may feel a little overwhelmed, especially with all that you feel you have been asked to do. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you, and help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of justice.” (Isaiah 41: 10) Then from Luke 12: 1 – 11: “ Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to His disciples saying: ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. I tell you, whoever acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns Me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

SCRIPTURE

In line with those readings, I just felt inspired to share Psalm 146 which is titled ‘ Trust in God Alone': Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Put not your trust in princes, in man, in whom where is no salvation. When his Spirit departs he returns to his earth; on that day his plans perish. Happy he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord, his God. (verses 1 – 5)

SCRIPTURE

As soon as we began the song and it talked about being transformed and renewed – “Let my heart be changed and renewed” – this Scripture just really came to me from Romans 12: 1 – 2: I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

PRAYER

As we pray these songs to the Lord, as we praise Him and speak to Him of love, the anointing of the Holy Spirit comes upon us and that Spirit of anointing is with us now. Lord, we are Your children, help us just to open our hearts now to Your love, to let Your love touch our minds and renew them; to touch those deep places that need to be strengthened or healed. O Jesus, we love You! O Jesus, we love You! O Jesus, O Jesus, we love You!

TEACHING / EXHORTATION

I am reminded of the story of the ten Lepers whom Jesus met on the road. He healed them all but only one came back to praise and thank Him. God has done amazing things in the past two weeks in this church and in our lives. He has done miracles, He has done healings and He has changed hearts, minds, and lives. How many of us have come back to say thank you to Him? Have we proclaimed His name in our homes, in our families, in our workplaces? Have we acknowledged what He did or have we hid it under bushel baskets because we were embarrassed for this was some part of our life that didn't fit in with the rest of our life? So we don't tell anybody about it, except maybe at church or to a close friend. Is that really thanking God for the miracles He has done, and the changes He has brought? His unfailing love doesn't judge; He doesn't beat us up or give us a guilt trip. His unfailing love says, “Anytime, anywhere, anyplace, I am here! I am ready to receive that thanks, and I want to rejoice with you and be happy with you.” So for a moment, I would like each person to think of one thing that they are truly thankful for that God has changed in their lives, little or big. So right now tell Him “thank You” in your hearts. Identify the miracles for which you are thankful.

TEACHING

Through His grace, His mercy, and His love, we are the body of Christ; together and individually. When we praise Him, we recognize His Presence in our world, in our hearts, His power, His might, His grace, His gentleness, and His love. When we praise Him, we join with the angels and saints, as they say at Mass, singing to the Lamb of God, “Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!” Your voices are joining with the angels and saints – that is so awesome!

THANKSGIVING / SCRIPTURE / SENSE / PRAYER (ALL OF THE HEADINGS ???)

First thing I want to do is thank God for my legs. I have been very sick. My legs healed much faster than they were expected to and I know it is because of the prayers of this fellowship and the mighty Hand of God upon my life. Tonight it was like the days of Elijah. A couple of other things that were said tonight really led me to Malachi 4. Two verses in here really spoke to me and I wanted to share them. Verse 2: “But to you who fear My name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.” Then verse 5: Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” I believe that is something God wants to do, not only here, not just in the city or the nation, but across this world - to turn the hearts. I want to pray about that – “Father, thank You so much for Your promise, Your promise of about being a stall fattened calf, Lord God; also to be a Father, a Father to those who are fatherless, and a husband to the widows. We thank You so much that You are causing us to understand what it means to be fathers and what it means to be children whose hearts are turned to their fathers. We ask that You hurry and complete that work in Jesus' holy name. Alleluia!”

IMAGE

During the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in the last year or two, the image I had was a butterfly. As we were praying over Marcella, I saw the butterfly inside – that her womb was like a cocoon. She is offering this child inside of her, who is designed by God, a chance at life, whether it is life on this earth or life with Him in Heaven. That is truly a gift.

TEACHING / EXHORTATION

…..the journey, and we saw him progress as he went around his laps and he got better and stronger and more confident. The seminar that you have been in is not some late night “infomercial” where you have been conned into something that you get and then you don't know what to with it. You have begun to become well equipped, but if you take that bicycle and all of the gear and hang it up in the garage and you never use it, then the journey is not any different than when you entered. You have to get on the bicycle! As you know from all of the cartoons, anytime someone becomes really good at something, they become a threat and the enemy finds ways to put up detour signs, roadblocks, and all kinds of things. Do they do that to the stragglers in the back of the race? Why bother! But to the ones who are pushing forward, the detours are put in your path. That is why it is so important to keep strong, stay focused and be prepared. All of our problems, all of our troubles, and all the distractions and roadblocks are not going to go away. But we have someone to help us navigate, we have a community, we have places to draw strength, and we need to rely on all of them. Do not think that we are so strong that we can go on the journey by ourselves, alone. Be prepared and draw from the sources of strength!

CONFIRMATION

I want to make it known that we didn't know that Margie was going to say what she did and I didn't know that I was going to have this Scripture. This is how the Holy Spirit puts this all together every Wednesday night. But this is to confirm what Margie has said: Philippians 1: 3- 6, 9- 11: I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. This is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

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