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Thank you Peter, for this powerful message.

Consuming Fire

Deuteronomy 9:1-5 Consuming Fire and Righteousness

“Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’  Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Deuteronomy 9:1-5

When my husband read this today, two things jumped out at me.

One was 'he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God.' 

It reminded me that no evil can stand up against my God. I do not need to fear because He goes before me.

Now with that said, we cannot expect God to go before us as this consuming fire if we have not been spending time in His Word, in prayer, in listening and inquiring of Him. God does expect us to seek Him and His wisdom in all things. So if you went running into something just because it was bothering 'you' and you haven't been to church/fellowship, have not been in His Word, you have not been praying according to His Word and you have not been listening to the Spirit but listening to your flesh or the world......or maybe you go to church for show or because it's a habit but you don't do anything with what you are learning, you leave it at the door.......don't be surprised when you feel the 'fire', when you don't see the Lord doing what you think He should.

It is very important that we know our Father, we know His ways and we KNOW that His Word is His protection over us; it is not to harm us.  We want His fire to go before us, He makes the path.

I fought this for a long time. I did not want to change my ways because I felt God was never there for me, especially in my childhood/teen years. The only way I knew God was from people that had 'religion' and from 'men' that abused me. So it was a journey for me to even be able to call God my Father.  

I'm so thankful He is a patient God, wanting none to perish. I'm grateful for those that were praying for me and loving me even at my dirtiest. And I rejoice that I can now call Him my Father and I know His love for me.

I know that as I obey Him when things come up all I have to do is pray, listen and then obey because then -- that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God – will go before me and give me the victory.

The second thing in this passage is - “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart..

When the Consuming Fire has gone before you and destroyed the resistance, the evil before you – do NOT take credit for it. Be careful that you don’t say, ‘well I did this and that, yes I heard God but “I” did it. Watch out for pride that says ‘I’m so upright and righteous that all this took place’. NO it is always God and His righteousness that defeats the enemy.  It is because of the wickedness that God moves through them and makes a path for us. He is fulfilling His promises.

So when you know, hear and obey God; you see Him going forward as the Consuming Fire, erasing your debt; healing your body; giving you the money to pay your mortgage; blessing  you on your job; opening doors of opportunity that people said would never happen……..don’t take any credit for it !

Give God all the glory, honor and praise!

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There Is A Work To Be Done

The Wrestling Match

In the last couple of years, the Lord has really been moving in this body of believers to become pure and holy before Him. There is a work to be done that requires us to be willing and obedient to leave behind anything from our past including separating emotional ties with it. For most people that is a difficult thing to do, but if we will simply trust Him to help us, we will complete the work that is set before us and finish the race capturing the prize our King longs to give us!

Jacob was a man that loved God and honored Him. Unfortunately, he was given a name that he heard every day and that name meant: supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler. That is how Jacob lived his life at times. Let’s take one instance to illustrate the point I wish to convey. Jacob tricked his father into believing he was his brother Esau and as a result swindled Esau out of his birthright. The choice he made in that moment caused him to live in fear of his brother for a good portion of his life and make choices rooted in fear.

Now the time has come that he must face his brother and he doesn't know what to do, so he seeks God for an answer. Go to Genesis 32 to read about this. Verse 7 tells us that Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. In Verse 12 God assured him that he would prevail. Now with God telling him that, it would seem like he could relax and listen to how God wanted to go about restoring their relationship. But Jacob is really no different than most of us.

Being motivated by fear, Jacob decides to come up with his own plan on how to soften Esau’s heart before he faces him. Isn't that like our flesh? We tend to take things into our own hands instead of taking time to listen to God’s solution for our problems.

Jacob ends up in a Wrestling Match with God because he was too stubborn to listen and change. God ultimately had to put him in a position in order for him to listen and quit fighting Him. God was not his enemy, but just like Jacob that’s how many people view Him.

 Jacob’s mindset of what had been spoken over him daily had to be changed in order for God to get through to him. Once he realized that, released the fear and listened to God, God gave him a new name, Israel….one that spoke blessing over him the rest of his life.

Oh…the end of this story goes…God restored Israel’s relationship with his brother Esau.

 If only he would have listened in the first place and trusted God completely, he could have saved himself so much heartache.

So…Are you wrestling with God about something? It’s time to repent, release it and move forward as God shows you.

 He has your solution. Seek Him and when He answers you…do it!

         

          

Listen to the Holy Spirit and Pray

I feel really impressed to encourage two things. 

The first is to listen to the Holy Spirit.  I want to re-iterate John 16:13-15.  

The second thing that I would like to encourage is to change our desires to be the same as His.  

Read the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.  

These two things go hand in hand. 

In order to know what God wants, one must listen to the Holy Spirit.  If one is listening to the Holy Spirit, then their desires will start to line up with His.  Let’s shift out focus away from ourselves so that we do not get in the way of what God wants to do.

I have said before, and the same applies now, I need to apply what is written in this piece just as much as anyone else.  With the times that are coming, it is time to be quiet and listen to what God is trying to speak to us through the Holy Spirit.  God is well aware of what we need, and He does not need us wasting prayer time pleading for ourselves.  

Matthew 6:31-32 says “Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things doe the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”

On the Day of Pentecost, God left His Holy Spirit on the Earth to help us.  The purpose of the Holy Spirit is defined in John 16:13.  

“He will guide you into all truth.” 

 So when the Holy Spirit tells us to do something, we need to recognize that He is telling us to do it because that is what God does and/or what God wants from us.  One can never go wrong listening to the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit can be consulted about any situation.  If you had a friend that you could ask about anything:  finances, relationships, health, and they always had the correct answer, would you value that person’s relationship?  What lengths would you go to maintain communication with that person?  Well, the Holly Spirit is that friend, and just like any other friend, you need to spend time with him to get to know Him and learn to communicate with Him.  The more time you spend with the Holly Spirit, the more He will teach about you God and the easier it will be to communicate.

One of the most wonderful things that the Holy Spirit can do is telling us how to pray.  I think that it is safe to say that most people do not consult the Holy Spirit when they pray.  Most prayer revolves around what the individual person would like to see happen, and I seriously doubt that the desires of one’s flesh lines up with the desires of God.  What I would encourage everyone, as well as myself, is to learn how to communicate with the Holy Spirit so that he can tell you what the Father wants.  When we are confident in what the Father wants, the focus of our prayer will change.  Instead of praying for the things that God has already promised us, we can start praying for the things that God wants to come to pass.

The past few years have been a time to learn to communicate with the Holly Spirit and to get to know who God is and what His will is.  This time will eventually come to an end.  Those that did not use this time wisely will not be ready for battle and will be susceptible to being fooled by the enemy.  Their use will be limited respective to their knowledge of God’s will.  The entertainment of this world is keeping people from communicating with the Holy Spirit and gaining knowledge of God.  This is Satan’s attempt to gain an advantage in the battle against truth.  The important thing to remember is that we have the victory and Satan knows it.

Character

True test of character 

 What happens when someone says something to try and discredit you? What happens when people spread rumors and lies about you? Also what if these lies, if believed, have serious consequences, like loosing your job or a relationship? What is your reaction to that?



I can say when that has happened to me, I've wanted to rush to my own defense!
Although that seems like a justified and logical thing to do, that action can bury you in a deeper mess.

As a Christian I believe all the answers on how to deal with difficult situations are in the Bible. In this case I have always looked at King David. In David’s youth, King Saul grew extremely jealous of David. King Saul let that jealousy and bitterness grow in his heart to the point where he tried pinning David to a wall with his spear!! Now the logical thing to do would be to pick up the spear and throw it back. So that’s what made David’s reaction to the whole situation very curious. Instead of taking the “logical” course of action he did just the opposite, he refused to touch King Saul. Even though he would have been justified in defending himself, David chose to let God to handle the situation. He chose to trust in God no matter how bad the situation got and he didn't try splitting the kingdom when he left.

You may think “We have to be bold when facing situations, we can’t just run from our problems!” I don’t suggest you run from your problems, I suggest you trust God. Because anyone can stand up to someone if given the proper motivation, but it takes true boldness to trust God to work on your behalf.

Ask God how to handle the situation, He will always answer and give you a plan of action. Never act out of fear or pride, that is a fools course of action. King David was delivered from Saul and given the kingdom in his youth. Then in David’s old age Absalom threatened to take that kingdom from him. David determined not to throw a single spear, he could have easily quelled that rebellion, but he did not. Once more he left it in God’s hands, and once more God delivered him. David didn't let pride or fear handle the situation, but rather he humbled himself and fully relied on God, even though it was an extremely hard thing to do.

So humble yourself and trust in the Lord. You will not be disappointed or put to shame.

                           

We Can Be Just Like Jesus

Just like Jesus

The Bible tells us that we can be just like Jesus. 

1 John 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

One of my favorite verses is

Gen 1:26  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.

I was made to be like Jesus so I could function the same way He did.  What Jesus did is what I should be doing. 

John 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 

John 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 

John 17:20-23  “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

If we are supposed to glorify God we must be like Jesus.  Jesus glorified His Father by openly showing the world His Father.  

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Mind Renewal

Mind Renewal

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

For the most part, a lot of people would like to believe the decisions they make pose no real threat to their well being.  

The Bible says otherwise in Proverbs 14:12.  

How we view things in life determines how we make our decisions.  If we make bad financial decisions, how do we view money?  Is money something we are a slave to or should we have command over it?  Whether it is finances, relationships, work, or health every Christian needs to have their mind renewed to what the Bible says about these topics.  



Of course, those are just a handful of topics I mentioned and the Bible addresses every issue one needs to know to live a full and successful life. 

If given a choice, people do not want to live in misery.  Jesus said, in John 10:10, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 



 Jesus did not come to give us a life of misery.  He came so we may have life and have it more abundantly.

 In order to have that life, our decisions have to line up with God’s Word.  We need to see, think and act like Jesus and the only way to do that is meditate on His Word.  This is beyond just saying what would Jesus do and coming up with something that isn’t even scriptural.  We need to have our minds renewed to His Word.  When our minds are renewed to His Word we can see what Jesus would see.  We can think like Jesus would think and we can act like Jesus would act.  Does this sound impossible?  It really isn’t.  

The Bible says in Psalm 1:2-3 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 

 Note what it says here, “His law doth he meditate day and night” and “whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”.  

That law the Bible is speaking about is God’s Word.  If I were to meditate on God’s Word it means I would ponder, imagine, speak, study, talk, utter, converse with myself, declare, muse, pray, speak, and talk with God in prayer about it. This process literally changes your mind to think like Jesus.  

If you know anything about the Bible, Jesus never made bad decisions.  It is time that we start mediating on God’s Word in areas that are holding us in captivity.  For example, if you are having trouble forgiving others, meditate on Matthew 6:14 because if you forgive people their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  And also Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  After some time, your thoughts will turn to forgiving whoever wronged you so you won’t live in bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness.  That decision will free you from a life of bondage.  

We all need to make right decisions but in order to do that we need to renew our minds with the Word of God.