PARTNERING WITH EDUCATION

 

Education has a very important impact on our society. On average a young person goes to school about 30 hours a week, it consumes the most important growth of young person.

God’s plan is to cause the systems and gods of this world to become the Kingdoms of our Lord and Christ. An intricate part of the fabric of our neighborhoods is influenced by what goes on in our schools five days a week. We must partner with them in order to bring God’s plan to light.

Education plays a huge role in ending poverty in our neighborhoods.  Changing the economy in our neighborhoods has a direct correlation to our education system and our stewardship of the finances that are going into our public schools.

The best way to discover what is going on in your local schools is to become involved. There are many ways to do this beginning with prayer, attending board of education meetings, open forum meetings within the school district where your neighborhood is and attending school events.

As God begins to reveal what areas of the education system are not conformed to His will and plan you can find avenues of change through the City Government.

Everything is subject to change when we invite the Presence of God into our city, we can build an altar to the Lord in our schools through prayer and commitment to give voice what God is speaking to us about this system.

Over the past decade Christians for the most part, have pulled their children out of public schools and built their own Christian schools instituting a Christian based education. Though very understandable, what results from this is a void of light and revelation in the midst of the darkness that now surrounds our public education. Many of the places where education has taken a strong humanistic foundation there is no contending or refuting this system because for the most part the Christians have left the battle field. They have retreated into their own world created by themselves. Now we must find another field where we can reignite the battle and create a place of change.

We may not have children in the public schools but it still has a direct effect on us and we are no longer in a position of power because we retreated, we have lost our authority. In order to regain that place of authority we must now go back and serve them in whatever capacity we can.

The power of a vision is only as good as the manifested witness is in the earth. If we touch our city we can touch the world. This principle is the very cornerstone of the Kingdom, Jesus Christ. He came to the earth to manifest and witness to us in the natural the Love of a Father who sent His only Son to die for us so that we could have everlasting life. This powerful witness is undeniable and can’t be resisted or ever removed in the earth. The City is a similar witness, it signifies to the body of Christ how to commune with the Lord night and day. The model of prayer and communion with the Father was made a witness by David and his son Solomon who built the tabernacle. Having a place in the earth for all to see and understand was a witness of God’s dwelling among men. God tabernacles with men in the meeting place. Jesus brought us to a new covenant and God moved from a building to dwell on the inside of us. The City witnesses how we can commune with the Living God dwelling on the inside of us through the context of worship and prayer. This strategy of God gives the city, the nation and the globe a powerful pattern for not only personal devotion but a place to gather all denominations, tribes and tongues, all walks of life and all seven mountains of influence a place to come and tabernacle in a corporate anointing to partner in God’s strategy for our city, nation and global mandates.

Building this City reality is my number one assignment. Partnering with me in the assignment is a calling in and of itself. I believe just as God raised up Cyrus to build the city of God, there are those in the city, nation and around the globe who bear witness with the reality that God’s Government operates in the context of night and day worship and prayer. The atmosphere of a City can manifest God’s prophetic word and ministry to help sustain His plans in the earth. Prayer supports and undergirds the plan of God in a city, state or nation. When we partner with what God reveals to us as His plan in prayer He will release more of His plan to us. Coming together in a corporate way will release revelation, prophecy and vision. This is how the disciples gathered in the upper room as the Lord instructed them. The Holy Spirit came and released such vision and insight they were overflowing with revelation and as they gave utterance to it (in prayer and worship) men from the surrounding nations heard it and gave God glory.  ( you can read more about this in Acts 1 and 2)

It is not possible to build the city of God in the earth without first building it in the hearts of the people. This labor must first be done in prayer before it can move out into the City and build altars to the Lord throughout the city. An altar to the Lord is a meeting place where we dedicate the land, the ministry the works going forth in the region to the Lord. We declare Jesus is Lord that the earth, the city , the ministry belongs to Him and He is Lord over it all. In this way we are declaring to all the powers, principalities and dominions of evil that Jesus Christ is in authority and they are not. Even though in principal it is true Jesus Christ is Lord but just as we must confess His Lordship over our lives personally we must also confess His Lordship over our city. The Lord Jesus gave us His delegated authority so we must declare it and confirm it with our ministry to Him in that place. We build an altar to the Lord, we worship Him by placing Him as Lord and declaring who He is in that place. We welcome the ministry of the Holy Spirit and we drive all evil out by declaring they must go in Jesus name. Depending on the place, the works that have been going forth and many other factors it could take some time to establish that altar as open communion to the Lord where His Presence abides continually.

There are Seven Mountains of Influence where the altars of God are built that can transform the city. This Seven Mountain mandate was given to three men Loren Cunningham, Bill Bright and Francis Shaffer back in 1975. The Lord visited all three of them with the same vision of global evangelism. (You can read more about this here http://godsgovernment.org/seven-mountain-mandate/) This ministry vision I believe gives a track to partner with the Lord and His Messengers in any city, state or nation. Each mountain has God’s specific strategy to build His Kingdom and transform society with the Gospel that leads to an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord. Prayer is God’s Government to bring and establish His will in the earth. It takes communion with the Lord and those who are willing to bring that witness by doing the work. We pray for laborers to go forth into the harvest and that is where those we partner with are needed, they do the work of the Lord in those mountains. It takes both prayer and the work in the field to build God’s kingdom. No assignment from the Lord is fully done without those who support the work with finances, resources and prayer. Just as you support a missionary who goes overseas to preach the gospel the significant part of that ministry is the work of prayer, it is in our communion with the Lord we get the Plan of God, the strategy and how to implement it. The missions movement and the prayer movement must work together to bring forth God’s plan for His Kingdom in the nations of the earth. If missionaries go without prayer they will not have God’s government and authority to establish the Kingdom it takes both, God has a pattern and He continually makes it impossible to fulfill His will without the partnering together. This is how He brings unity in the body of Christ.

‎“When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. We have refused to be instruments of love in the hands of God to give the poor a piece of bread, to offer them a dress with which to ward off the cold. It has happened because we did not recognize Christ when, once more, He appeared under the guise of pain, identified with a man numb from the cold, dying of hunger, when He came in a lonely human being, in a lost child in search of a home.”
Mother Theresa

 

Dream 042413

I was mentoring many women – we were all in a house or a part of a house where our lives were lived out in front of each other and my life was part of the mentoring – how I lived day to day behind closed doors was mentoring these women. There were some that had left the mentoring and now were returning and it made my heart so glad to have them back into the house – one in particular was Asian – my heart is so tender towards Asians and I warmly embraced their return.

The owner of the house was a woman and she had a son who she included in all her dealings. She took me and her son to a rich man’s house. She wanted to swim in his pool. She didn’t have permission to swim in his pool but because he continually watched her she felt she had a right to swim in his pool – his watching her had ulterior motives I felt and he wanted to put her in a compromising position to gain some kind of authority over her.

The pool was lovely much nicer than anything we had experienced the son and I went with her but I knew that it was wrong to go into that man’s pool. The dilemma to follow her leadership while doing something I knew was inappropriate caused me must turmoil. I followed her to the pool I watched her swim in the pool so I was considered a part of the deed. Even though I was not swimming I could feel that being on the property uninvited was just as wrong – the son didn’t swim either – we listened as the man spoke to our leader – he was not angry but was glad she had come into his pool to swim – the dialogue was strange.

The woman felt empowered because she “could” swim in the pool feeling it was her right and I couldn’t discern how she came to that conclusion when I knew that she was in someone else’s home and pool.

As we left I knew we were being watched and we were headed to another wealthy home.

As I pondered this dream I thought about the “women’s” movement and how often the women’s movement believes their “right” is to walk in a man’s anointing but in actuality that is not our place. I believe in this hour that God is raising up women to take their place that this is a warning, we are not to “swim” in another man’s anointing but to actually “swim” in our own anointing given to us through Christ Jesus. It’s easy to see that as our gifts and callings emerge that we walk in wisdom and powerful gifts but there is place where we could leave what is ours and take an “entitlement” attitude to what is not ours and in that position we will lose our authority.  I think the dream speaks of wealth because that must be the enticement, the desire to show our success by way of wealth is a huge trap of the gods of this world. Jesus was tempted this way and I believe women will also be tempted this way.

As we engage in some of the most exciting ministry women have ever embarked on we must be careful to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, never be ashamed of Jesus Christ or the gospel and be wise to the ways of the world, seeking to please the Lord in all that we do. Our relationship with Him will reveal true mentoring behind closed doors, how we live at home in our marriage and family, in our hiddeness.

And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it. (Habakkuk 2:2)

He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (2 Samuel 7:13)

 I.                   BUILDING A HOUSE OF HOPE

 “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:19)

 The plan for building a House of Hope is not a formula, it is in God’s heart, it is His plan. He desires to bless the city.

God’s way of building is to bless and serve the community, city, state or nation.

To discover the plan of God, how to build the House of Hope in our neighborhood we must seek Him first, we must find what is on His heart for our community.

Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. (Psalm 127:1)
We must build the House of Hope according to HIS plan and He must lead us in building it. The plan, the strategy to be a blessing is in the Heart of the Lord for every city.

His heart is to guard and protect, not just build a ministry. He restores and protects. It is our position to be a watchman, to pray and partner with the Lord and build a wall of intercession in our city.

 The House of Hope is first and foremost a place of prayer and intercession to invite the Lord’s Presence in our community. He is the one that has the ministry for the people. He is the One who has what our community needs. His Love, His truth, His vision for their lives is what brings hope and restoration, what builds eternally.

We aren’t building a ministry we are building hope in hearts of God’s beloved.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever. (Psalm 9:18)

For I hope in You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God (Psalm 38:15)

But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the LORD their God. (Psalm 146:5)

`For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, `plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

 We must find the need and fill it. Be a blessing and serve the community!

And there He makes the hungry to dwell, So that they may establish an inhabited city, (Psalm 107:36)

 Feeding the Hungry is a priority to God.

Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants, And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace; (Psalm 144:12)

We must minister to the youth. They are the priority in our House of Hope. We are building the next generation of leaders. Intervening on their behalf. The youth are the ones God wants to fill with the fullness.

“They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them. (Isaiah 65:23)

 By reaching the youth we can bring restoration to the family. Our hope is to restore the family to their purpose, the vision and dream of Gods’ heart for their life. It is filled with hope and an expected end.

 `For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, `plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

 `And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’ (Zechariah 8:5)

 The vision is a neighborhood, a city where the streets are safe and the children can grow and prosper in peace and safety

 II.                VISION FOR THE CITY

 ”Thus says the LORD, `I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’ (Zechariah 8:3)

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, `Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. (Zechariah 8:4)

`And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.’ (Zechariah 8:5)

1. The vision for the City is in the Heart of God so we must seek Him. Prayer and worship will give us the time in His Presence to hear His heart. We must spend time every day seeking the Lord to hear His heart. His vision and His plan for the city is what we want to build.

`Therefore thus says the LORD, “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”‘ (Zechariah 1:16)

 

“Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the LORD. (Zechariah 2:10)

It will always be God’s plan to the end of the ages to tabernacle with men. Our purpose here on earth as we wait for His return is to build His habitation, the place where He will dwell with us.
In that place of dwelling is safety and protection. This is why it is important to follow God’s plan we want His protection. No man can protect us from evil unless that man is following God, we have many great ideas and plans to end crime, violence, drug and human trafficking, abortion and poverty in our cities but only God can do that through us, we must have His vision and His plan to build a habitation where He will inhabit with His presence and bring transformation to a city where He will inhabit and dwell.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”(Acts 1:8)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35)

“The law of the Lord is perfect…the testimony of the Lord is pure” (Psalm 19:7)

You shall not add to the word which I command you neither shall you diminish from it (Deuteronomy 4:2)

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; (Revelation 22:18)

and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. (Revelation 22:19)

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (2 Timothy 3:16)

 I.                THE WORD OF GOD  IS THE AUTHORITY OF GOD

 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)

 Whatever I command thee thou shalt speak…behold I have put my words in thy mouth (Jeremiah 1:7,9)

 God spoke the world into existence. His words have the power to create, to make something out of nothing.

He spoke and the universe sprang forth

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth (Psalm 33:6)

In the beginning was God and the word was with God and was God, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us…(John 1:1-14)

 The word is God breathed, God, inspired from God and all about God. He breathed it into being and it is His breath that fills it and brings it to pass.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, (Hebrews 1:1)

has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:2)

 Only God can make Himself known. He is a God who desires to reveal Himself to us. He takes pleasure in making Himself known to us. He seeks us out, He searches for us to draw us near to Him to make Himself known to us. He wants us to know Him!

The natural man struggles to understand God because you need God to know God.

 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. (Luke 10:21)

 The Word of God is Breathed on by God so that when we read it that Breath is alive and the Word is alive. It is alive and active with the creative power in it to cause it to come to pass. That same power that Breathed into Adam is breathed into the Word and that is why each and every time we read it that Breath brings life to us and converts us, transforms us as we believe and receive it. There is nothing more powerful!

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

The Word of God is inspired by God through the Holy Spirit moving on men the word came forth.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20)

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:21)

 II.              JESUS BEARS WITNESS OF THE WORD OF GOD

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)

….the Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35)

Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” (Luke 24:44)

His entire ministry was based on the scripture, He is the fulfillment of it. He bore testimony and gave authenticity to the Old Testament.

Creation and Marriage                                         Matthew 19:5

The Flood and Noah’s Ark                                   Luke 17: 26,27

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah          Luke 17:28-29

The destruction of Tyre and Sidon                      Matthew 11:21-22

Circumcision                                                        John 7:22

The Passover                                                        Matthew 26:2

The Law                                                                 John 7:19

The Commandments                                            Matthew 19:7-9

The Jewish Law of Divorce                                 Matthew 19:7-9

The Burning Bush                                                  Mark 12:26

Jonah and the Whale                                            Matthew 12:40

Ninevah Repenting                                               Matthew 12:41

The Glory of Solomon                                         Matthew 6:29

The Wisdom of Solomon                                     Matthew 12:42

The Feast of Tabernacles                                     John 7

David eating the Shewbread                                Matthew 12:3

The priests profaning the Sabbath                       Matthew 12:5

The heavens shut up in Elijah’s day                    Luke 4:25

The story of Naaman the leper                             Luke 4:27

The brazen serpent                                               John 3:14-15

The murder of Abel and Zacharias                      Matthew 23:35

The mission of the Messiah                                 Luke 4:16-21

The mission of John the Baptist                          Matthew 17: 10-13

The mission of Elijah                                             Matthew 17: 10-13

Daniel and His prophecy                                      Matthew 24:15

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

The word of God is the Truth. No man can make up God or create God. If a man could create God than He is not God. No one has ever revealed a God like the One true God from the Scriptures. We don’t worship what we understand fully, God has not been fully understood, there are parts of God we do not know and this is what causes us to worship Him. He is greater than all our knowing, He is infinite with no beginning and no end.

Knowing God what little we do know as we study Him in the scripture changes us causes us to become like Him. We are fully converted and changed as the power of the Word which reveals God and His love for us, changes us. Only the Word of God has the power to change the heart of man. There is no greater power than the power of God’s word to transform a life, to raise it from the dead and darkened state of sin and bring it into newness of life. The power of Christ the Living Word transforms us.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

 The word is active and alive on the inside of us bringing change and transformation.

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

The bible is not merely God’s word when Man hears and understands it. It is God speaking, whether man is listening or not. The bible declares itself to be the Word of God.

III.            THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WORD ALWAYS AGREE

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20)

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:21)

The inspiration of the Word of God came by way of the Holy Spirit. The ministry of the Holy Spirit always works with the Word of God. The two are always in agreement and work together. You can’t have one without the other. Even in the beginning the Holy Spirit hovered over the earth before God spoke the world into existence. The Spirit of God and God’s Word worked together to form the world.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)

 The Spirit and The Word will always agree.

Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. (Proverbs 1:23)

The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. (Isaiah 40:7)The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

“As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.” (Isaiah 59:21)

So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6)

Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. (Matthew 22:29)

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. (Mark 16:20)

For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:12)

For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. (John 3:34)

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (John 14:26)

“Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; (Acts 1:16)

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)

And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. (Acts 6:10)

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. (Acts 10:44)

that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: (Acts 10:37)how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38)

And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. (Acts 11:15)

Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, “John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.‘ (Acts 11:16)

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. (Acts 13:4)And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. (Acts 13:5)

And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. (Acts 15:7)So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, (Acts 15:8)

Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. (Acts 16:6)

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. (Acts 18:25)

So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, (Acts 28:25)

For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient– (Romans 15:18) in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. (Romans 15:19)

These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:13)

for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, (1 Corinthians 12:8)

by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, (2 Corinthians 6:7)

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13)

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (Ephesians 6:17)

For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. (1 Thessalonians 1:5)

And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, (1 Thessalonians 1:6)

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)

how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, (Hebrews 2:3)God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? (Hebrews 2:4)

To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven–things which angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:12)

for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. (1 John 5:7)

If we don’t have love we are just a clanging symbol but if our love does not warn about evil and protect then our love is not God’s love. He hates sin; it separates Him from His beloved.

Jesus took the place of a servant. His leadership was to serve and He told the disciples just as I am so will you be to the world.

 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:13-17)

 Rejection is not love! We can’t reject someone and say we love them. When we see someone bound in sin it should provoke love not rejection. Our response to the bound up and broken, the ones trapped in sin and overcome by evil should provoke a heart of yearning to see their freedom, not to reject them. We can’t wink at sin, we must be resolute in acknowledging its destruction to man, our attack is against the enemy of God and we must uncover evil at every opportunity.

But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. (1John 3:8)

The word destroy is the Greek word Luo (3089 grk) which means to loose any person tied or fastened to, to loose one bound, to release from bounds, to free, dissolve anything bound, tied, to do away with, to deprive of authority, to declare unlawful, to destroy, to overthrow, to do away with.

 We have to be so careful that in our zeal to “not be religious” that we don’t enter into a “false grace” message. It really takes the work of the Holy Spirit to bring forth truth, light and LOVE with conviction, righteousness and justice.

 ¹⁶ Do not listen to the words of the prophets…they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the LORD. ¹⁷ They continually say to those who despise Me, “The LORD has said,  ‘You shall have peace’  and…they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’”…²¹ I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. ²² But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way… (Jer. 23:16-22)

 ¹⁰ They have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace… (Ezek. 13:10)

¹ Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, ² speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, ³ forbidding to marry… (1 Tim. 4:1-3)

(Mt. 24:9-13; 2 Tim. 3:1-7; 2 Pet. 2:1-3)

 ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [Jesus’ second coming] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin [Antichrist] is revealed… (2 Thes. 2:3)

 ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables… (2 Tim. 4:3-4)

 We need a clear definition of LOVE. It is so much more than an emotion! The Love the Father had for us caused Him to give what He treasured most, His only begotten Son. He gave His own for us. The Love Jesus had took Him through death, His love demonstrated on the cross, in the grave and now seated at the right hand of the Father. All the way from heaven He came for LOVE. He came to destroy the works of the devil.

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (1 John 3:10)

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (1 John 3:11)

Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. (1 John 3:12)

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. (1 John 3:13)

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. (1 John 3:14)

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. (1 John 3:15)

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (1 John 3:16)

His message of LOVE is our message of LOVE. If we don’t have LOVE we have nothing to give, all our programs, our gifts and talents, our ideas, plans and strategies to reach the lost, to bring them to Jesus have no weight in heaven or hell unless we LOVE.

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (1 John 3:10)

The word righteousness  is the Greek word dikaiosune  it means in a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting it also means showing what God approves passing just judgment on others, whether expressed in words or shown by the manner of dealing with them

 If we ‘pass judgment’ on others we must do this in love, with a trembling heart that it could be us, we are no different or better but by the grace of God in our lives, His mercy and forgiveness. It is not us up to us to judge man but we do judge sin, we discern it and we express God’s heart towards sin. We don’t approve of sin but we separate the sin from the sinner who we love unconditionally just as God Loves.

 ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”(Luke 7:46-48)

Forgiveness is such a powerful work of the ministry of Jesus. He gave us that same power. When we love someone in bondage we are extending to them God’s mercy and forgiveness. It’s an open invitation to come; the welcoming arms of Jesus are without condition, just come! His love will never manifest rejection but He will manifest correction as He brings judgment on sin. He will expose the work of the devil; He will bring light to wrong thinking and religious ways that bound up people from experiencing truth.

We must be so careful not to mix up what the Grace of God truly is, it is the power of God to take us where we could not go in and of ourselves.

¹¹The grace of God…has appeared to all men, ¹²teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly… (Titus 2:11-12)

Grace doesn’t wink at sin but teaches us to how we can live right before God. We want to love God the way He wants us to love Him.

¹⁵If you love Me, keep My commandments…¹⁶He [Father] will give you another Helper…²³If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word…We will come to him [God’s presence] (Jn. 14:15-23)

He wants first place in our lives!

³⁰You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. (Mk. 12:30)

In Him we have grace to resist sin, if we don’t abide in Him and in His word that grace is not activated on the inside to help us resist sin.

 ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
¹³And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin…
 (Rom. 6:12-13a)

 We present ourselves to God and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us, guide us and show us where we are missing the mark.

 ¹³But present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (Rom. 6:13b)

Presenting ourselves to God means seeking to know, love, and please God in a personal and wholehearted way. It means cultivating His presence in our life and abiding in Christ (Jn. 15:5) and includes fellowshipping with the indwelling Spirit.

 The Holy Spirit will always reveal the word of God, Jesus. This is His ministry in the earth to reveal Jesus to us, who He is and what He desires in our lives.

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (John 16:13)

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. (John 16:14)

We must know truth, resist darkness, and pursue God. We pursue loving God and people as we resist sin, Satan, and sin-provoking circumstances in the context of knowing who we are in Christ and the truth about God’s heart. We have to do all three.

Some people resist sin and pursue God without knowing who they are in Christ. Some people run hard after God without loving and ministering to people or resisting sin. Others are very good at ministering to people without pursuing God or resisting sin. Some people are only ministering to people and building relationships and they do the work of missions but without pursuing God and resisting sin which leads to spiritual burnout. It takes all three to lead a balanced life in God and stand before Him blameless to the end.

He is coming for a bride who is spotless, blameless to the end.

Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.(1Peter 2:4)