Inspired Word April 5, 2006

INSPIRED WORD

APRIL 5, 2006

SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 6:10-12: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against the flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

SCRIPTURE / TEACHING / PRAYER

Psalm 34:15-18: “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” When Michael was talking, I kept thinking about that song, titled “The Battle Belongs To The Lord.” I know how much Michael likes that song. There is one line in that song which is a verse in the Bible. It says, “When the enemy comes like a flood the Lord will lift up the standard.” (Isaiah 59:19) But most of us have learned that verse wrong. We have learned it this way: When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will lift up the standard. But that is not really how it is written. If you look at the Hebrew way it is written, there should be a comma in the verse, but the comma is not in there. But it should read: “When the enemy comes in , like a flood the Lord will lift up the standard.” It turns that Scripture around. We tend to think that the enemy is coming in like a flood and we are going to drown. That is not how that Scripture is written. The Scripture in Psalm 34 is talking about the Lord wiping out the memory even of our enemies. He saves those who are crushed in spirit. He is near to the brokenhearted. He is indescribable and incomparable. He is the One Who hung the stars in the heavens and named each of them and He is on our side. Earlier today as I was praying and praising Him, and I just kept thinking how amazing our Lord is; He is so big and yet so good. In my prayers, my thoughts were: “Lord, You call me Your beloved. You say that I ravish Your heart; that is what the Scripture says. You say that I am a co-laborer; You say that I am a co-heir with Christ. You said that You weren't ashamed to call me one of Your brethren. Yet it isn't anything to do with what I have done; it is because of Who He is. That is enough. We don't have to worry about what we can do or what we can't do, because it is of Who He is. So, Lord, I just ask that You would help us to turn this telescope around that we look through most of the time, where we magnify our problems, so that we would see You and that You, Lord, would be magnified in our sight. You would give us eternal perspective; You would put things in proper order; You would bring things into alignment of the true reality of heaven and earth. We would realize that greater is He Who is in us, than he who is in the world. We would step up with strength and boldness and stand in the place that You have given us. Lord, we lift You up and we glorify You; we magnify You; we recognize Your greatness; we recognize Your goodness and majesty and Your splendor; we recognize Your awesomeness and that You love us with an everlasting love. You have called us and drawn us with loving kindness; Your mercy is new every morning. Lord, You are good! We can rest and stand in that. Lord, we love You and You love us! There is none like You in the heavens and on the earth. Lord, give us eyes to see, so that the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened; and we would understand the knowledge of Who You are and the depths of Your love. Lord, I ask for all of us here, increase our vision, enlarge our hearts, open the eyes of our hearts – our spiritual eyes – and our ears so that we can hear. God, capture us with Your love, so that we can rest in the assurance that You love us with an everlasting love. That is the only thing that overwhelms us – not this world nor the things of it. You love us and care about us; You engrave our names on the palm of Your hand. Lord, we love You and thank You!

PRAYER / EXHORTATION

Lord, help Your servants to proclaim Your message with all boldness. Help Your servants to proclaim Your message with all boldness by stretching out Your hand to heal, and work miracles and marvels, to the name of Your holy servant Jesus. And as they prayed, the house where they were assembled rocked. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the Word of God boldly. Lord, Your people are here in this place and we are praying for Your Holy Spirit to rock our very lives. Lord, there are people in this place that need to be more bold. If you want to be prayed with for the gift of boldness, come up here, stand up here. If you are praying for boldness, you don't have it; so you are going to have to push and say, “God, I need the gift of boldness now.” We are going to pray for it now. Close your eyes and focus on Jesus. Spirit of God, come, and take away timidity. Give us pure dedication to the Gospels of Jesus Christ. Help us to be bold proclaimers of that Gospel! We want to be people filled with Your Holy Spirit!

SCRIPTURE / EXHORTATION / PRAYER

Psalm 66:1-3: “Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His Name; give to Him glorious praise. Say to God, 'How awesome are Your deeds!'” Right now, say to God: “How awesome You are, Lord God!” Praise the Lord! Make a joyful noise to God, all of you; make a joyful noise to God! This is why I am reminding you now, to stand and claim the gift of God. God's gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, love and self-control. Praise You, Lord Jesus! Glory to You, Lord Jesus! Send down upon us Your boldness, Lord! Send down Your power! You are the God of might; the God of strength; You are the God Who empowers us! Lord Jesus, by the power of Your Blood, send down Your Spirit!

PRAYER

There are people here who need to be healed, either physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally. If you are one of those people, come up here to receive the healing of God. Let us pray over those people who are standing right now. Lord Jesus, we proclaim Your Might and Your Majesty! Father, we proclaim Your tremendous love! Lord, You said, “Greater works than I, will you do when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” (John 14:12) Lord, the Holy Spirit is here; He is here; He resides right here in the hearts of Your people and His Presence is in this assembly! So pray over these people who are standing right now. Lord, we pray for the healing that each of them need.

SHARING / IMAGE / PRAYER

.......on my heart from the very first night of this seminar. The very first night, Laura said that often times we don't realize, when we are standing in the garden, that we are about one step away from the desert. From the time she had said that, I have had an image that has lasted with me. But first I want to share with you that my entire life, I think, has been spent in the garden. I hardly knew what the desert looked like. Right before this seminar started, I started walking in a desert with my family. God showed me an image that night of the Manna. I have spent all my life being thankful for - being thankful for my family's health, being thankful for the provisions of financial security for my family, and being thankful for friends. I have always been thankful for something. In the desert, Jesus was teaching me a new lesson. I have become thankful for the Presence of God sustaining me. I have gone back to that Scripture of the Manna and how God provided that Manna everyday. I had become used to this abundance that was in my life. God taught me about the Manna and about searching for Him every day, and asking for His Presence every day. But the desert is not void of miracles; just because we are in the desert, it doesn't mean there no miracles are happening. He has been showing me the things that have been going on in my desert. Even as I have had friends who have been going through their own desert, they have been wounded healers, walking with me. That image of the Manna is that in the desert, we learn to be thankful purely for God's love and His abiding and manifest Presence. I thank You, Lord God, that months ago, You put on the hearts of this seminar team, the topics and the speakers who would be with me during my first desert.

SENSE / SCRIPTURE

I think the Lord wants us to know tonight, that whether you have been here for all five weeks of this seminar walking with the Lord in the desert or you were just here for one night, you were here because the Lord called you to be here. We can't say that enough! So if you were here for one night, then you were here to hear what God had to say to you for that one night. If you were here for all five weeks, then God wanted you here for all five weeks. He has put this Scripture on my heart and it is one that we have shared here many times. But I think He wants us to close with this Scripture because He has done so many powerful things and He wants us to leave here knowing in our hearts just who we are with Him. In Isaiah 43:1-4; 10 - 13: “ Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; in the rivers, you shall not drown. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned; the flames shall not consume you. For I am the Lord, Your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in return for you. Because you are precious in My eyes, and glorious, and because I love you. You are my witnesses, says the Lord, My servants whom I have chosen to know and believe in Me and to understand that it is I. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me there shall me none. It is I; I the Lord; there is no savior but Me. It is I Who foretold, I Who saved; I made it known, not any other strange god among you; you are My witnesses, says the Lord. I am God, yes, from eternity I am He.” This is the God Who is walking with us in the desert of our lives. This is the God Who made the streams and the fields and the deserts. This is the God Who put the stars in the sky for us to see This is the God Who says that I have called you by name and you are Mine. He also says that He gave Egypt as a ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in return for us because we are precious in His eyes and He loves us. That is what He wants us to take with us tonight.

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