Archive for August 3, 2014
Staying Positive In A Negative World – Article by Andrew Wommack Ministries
If you haven’t noticed that we live in a negative world, you just haven’t been paying attention.
These negative influences have been especially evident during the last few months of the presidential campaign. Each party has spent millions painting a picture of the worst possible scenarios for Americans if their opponent is elected. Not nearly as much has been spent expressing hope.
Add in things like sickness, the loss of a job, or marriage problems, and you can see where, over time, the pressures of the world, if allowed, can steal the love and joy from your life.
In Matthew 24:12, Jesus said this: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” He said this would be a characteristic of the end times. Jesus was saying that the negative things going on around us—not necessarily in us—would cause the love of many to grow cold.
The word “waxed” used in that scripture is really significant. It goes back to the way candles are made. A wick is dipped into hot wax and then taken out and allowed to cool for a few seconds, leaving a thin layer of wax. The process is repeated hundreds of times until the wick is buried deep within the wax.
The same is true with the heart. If we take our eyes off Jesus and focus on the evil of this world and our circumstances, then, little by little, the layers of negativity harden around our hearts, and the love for God and others waxes cold.
So, how do we stay positive in a negative world? Let me start by using this verse from Joshua 1:9— Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Here, the Lord was speaking to Joshua, who was taking over for Moses—a hard act to follow. He told Joshua to be strong and of good courage and not to be afraid or dismayed. These are opposing forces. If you are afraid and dismayed, then you are not strong and of good courage. They counteract each other. So, you’ve got to do two things and resist two things.
The word dismay means “to fill with dread or apprehension; daunt” (American Heritage Dictionary [AHD]). Can you say you have fought apprehension (“to anticipate with anxiety,” [AHD]) about the future? Have the problems facing you or the nation seemed daunting (intimidating or discouraging [AHD])? If so, you have been dismayed.
The Lord doesn’t automatically do these things for you—He flows through you. If you get discouraged or dismayed, you stop the process. It says in Ephesians 3:20, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
The phrase “according to” means in proportion to or to the degree of the power that is working in you. God flows through people. If you become discouraged, you stop the flow of God’s power.
Here’s another example. In 1 Samuel, we read the story of a terrible situation that David was facing. His father-in-law, Saul, was trying to kill him. He had been running for his life every day for thirteen years. His possessions had been burned, his wives and all of the wives and children of his men had been taken, and his own men wanted to stone him. Not a great environment! Yet it says in 1 Samuel 30:6, And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
Things looked bleak. David was in a situation where everything in the natural said “Be discouraged and dismayed,” but David encouraged himself in the Lord. Do you know how he did it? He took the Word and began to encourage himself, and it was only a matter of hours until all God had promised him came to pass and he became king. If he had given in at that last minute, he would have lost.
I see a lot of people today who stand for a period of time and then quit. It’s like there are limits on how long they’re going to believe God. You might be thinking, Well, how long am I supposed to stand? The answer is simple. You stand on the Word of God and His promises until you’re encouraged and it works. DON’T QUIT!
Peter is a good example of what happens when we take our eyes off Jesus and His Word. Matthew 14:28-30 says, And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
As soon as Peter got his eyes off Jesus and looked at the stormy sea, he began to sink. Think about that—he couldn’t have walked on the water if the sea had been perfectly calm. All that really happened was his focus changed. Instead of focusing on the promise of Jesus—His command to come—Peter focused on the circumstances, and that is why he began to sink.
If you can maintain your focus on Jesus and His Word in the midst of a storm, you can walk on the water of circumstance. When the doctor says you have cancer, your boss tells you you’re being laid off, or your spouse says they’re leaving, you can still stay positive. It will take a deliberate effort, but it is absolutely crucial.
You need to recognize that satan is using the evil and negative things of this world to discourage you, even if they are not your personal problems. You can get discouraged watching politics, reading the newspaper, and listening to the news. If you don’t resist this, it will cause you to be discouraged and dismayed, and worst of all, your love for God to grow cold (Matt. 24:12).
The Bible says in Isaiah 26:3 that the Lord will “keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed” upon Him because he trusts in Him. Our peace is linked directly to what we think. We are plugged into this world like no group of Christians has ever been—reading, listening, and watching the same ungodliness as the world and then wondering why we get the same results. It’s simple—garbage in, garbage out.
I’m telling you, unless you have a deliberate plan to encourage yourself in the Lord, you aren’t going to be encouraged. It is not normal to be encouraged; it’s normal to be discouraged. It’s abnormal to be strong and of good courage, but it is certainly doable. God’s Word will tell you exactly how to do it.
If there was ever a time that encouragement was needed, it’s now!
Covenant Reaches Children – By Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. (Genesis 17:7)
O Lord, Thou hast made a covenant with me, Thy servant, in Christ Jesus my Lord; and now, I beseech Thee, let my children be included in its gracious provisions. Permit me to believe this promise as made to me as well as to Abraham. I know that my children are born in sin and shapen in iniquity, even as those of other men; therefore, I ask nothing on the ground of their birth, for well I know that "that which is born of the flesh is flesh" and nothing more. Lord, make them to be born under Thy covenant of grace by Thy Holy Spirit!
I pray for my descendants throughout all generations. Be Thou their God as Thou art mine. My highest honor is that Thou hast permitted me to serve Thee; may my offspring serve Thee in all years to come. O God of Abraham, be the God of his Isaac! O God of Hannah, accept her Samuel!
If, Lord, Thou hast favored me in my family, I pray Thee remember other households of Thy people which remain unblest. Be the God of all the families of Israel. Let not one of those who fear Thy name be tried with a godless and wicked household, for Thy Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
OUR DEBT WAS PAID – Andrew Wommack Ministries
Luke 16:17 "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail."
The jot was not only one of the smallest letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but also one of the most insignificant, being sometimes deleted at the writer’s pleasure. The tittle was only a mark or a point on a line that helped distinguish one letter from another. The tittle corresponds to our period or apostrophe. The point that Jesus is making is that even the tiniest detail of the law would not pass away.
Christ fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law. The law was ordained to life, but no one could keep it. So, God Himself became flesh. He did what no sinful flesh had ever done. He kept the law thereby winning the life of God as the prize for keeping the law. This granted Him eternal life but before He could give it to us, we still had a debt that had to be paid. This is similar to someone receiving the death penalty for some hideous crime, then some billionaire leaves his whole estate to him. It would do the condemned man no good. But if that same billionaire could somehow take that man’s place and die for him, then he could go free and enjoy his new wealth. That’s what Jesus did for us. He took our sins and gave us His righteousness.
Jesus did much more than just obtain eternal life for us, He also paid all the wages of our sins (Rom. 6:23). God literally placed the condemnation, or judgment, that was against us upon His own Son. Jesus’ perfect flesh was condemned so our defiled flesh could go free. What a trade! Since Jesus bore our sentence (condemnation), we don’t have to bear it. The debt has already been paid.
COMFORT IN ETERNITY – Andrew Wommack Ministries
Luke 16:22 "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;"
LUKE 16:19-31
This story clearly teaches that there is life after death. It shows that there is no "soul sleep" where our souls are awaiting the resurrection of our bodies, but we go into a conscious eternity immediately. It also shows that there are only two destinations possible after death. We either go to a place of torment for the wicked or a place of blessing for the righteous. There is no "limbo" or "purgatory" and there is no second chance, illustrating the finality of our eternal destiny once we die.
Abraham’s bosom is a symbolic term designating a place of comfort for the righteous dead. It was located in the heart of the earth, in the same region as hell, where the ungodly dead go. The rich man’s body was in the grave and yet this scripture speaks of him lifting up his eyes and seeing Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom. Our soul mirrors our physical shape so closely that it is recognizable. It is probable that one’s soulish body is an exact duplicate of their physical body.
Part of this man’s torment was from the flames. However, he was also tormented by the thought of his loved ones’ lives on earth and their eternal destiny. Surely his helplessness to warn them would make his misery worse.
Also, the fact that he could see Lazarus and Abraham in a place of total blessing and comfort would keep him from ever adjusting to his situation.
In the light of Jesus’ words, we can see that hell will be much more than just a place of physical torment. Those who are consigned to that place will also be tormented with the thoughts of what could have been if they had trusted Jesus. The greatest witness that anyone could ever receive is the witness from God’s Word. The gospel is the "power of God unto salvation".
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Free From Burdens 