War Over The Word

When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. (Mark 4:17)

While sitting in church today I heard voices from the depths of hell discussing how they would bring down the church. "We must not let them take root because they'll bear fruit. We cannot let them water the Word because they will take root and bear fruit. We need to choke them with cares because if they take root they will bear fruit." The discussion was clear. Persecution comes to those who receive the Word. Trouble comes the minute we receive a prophetic word. As soon as God's Word comes forth to call forth destiny spiritual warfare begins. Jesus said, "As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them." (Mark 4:15) There will be a war over the Word God has spoken to you. There is always a battle to replace the seed of God's Truth with lies and deception. This is the battle we see in God's church. The devil is good at getting his message of half truths into the ears of those who are poor students of God's Word. Jesus wants us to contend for Truth. He is the Spirit of Truth. He is the Word. As soon as Jesus steps into the atmosphere of a church it is impregnated for miracles, healing, signs and wonders but most importantly Truth because it is what brings freedom to every captive. It is Truth that opens the prison door and releases keys to the kingdom. It is this message that this war is really about. "Because of the Word persecution comes..."

For years I heard the parable of the sower as a lesson in prosperity. How foolish! Jesus specifically told us. “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you." (Mark 4:11) What is this secret? It is the secret of how we must protect God's Word when it is sown in our hearts and in the hearts of others. The seed brings multiplication into God's kingdom. Unfortunately, the greed and covetousness in men's hearts have twisted this scripture to get people to sow more money into their ministries. The irony of this parable is that it warns against these two things..."the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." (Mark 4:19) The very thing that Jesus warned about is the very trap that ministers are falling into. The Truth in this parable has been choked out of their hearts and they have fallen into deception. Please understand that God does multiply provision thus the fish and loaves. However, this parable is not about that, "Because of the Word." It doesn't say money. It says "Word!" I heard this from some dear Pastors I know, "We impart who we are not what we know." This is a true saying. God wants us to multiply who we are.

Dear brothers and sisters, above all else we must contend for Truth. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) We cannot even enter the Kingdom of God without Truth! Hell is bent on stealing the Word from our hearts. We must water the seeds of God's Word in His presence. We must also put on the shoes of the gospel of peace. Before I got up and gave this word to the church my husband saw the altar full of shoes They were shoes of peace. If we don't walk in peace, the cares of life will choke out the Word. If we chase after the riches of this world and lust after the things of the flesh; God's Word will be choked out of our hearts. If we don't stay put and allow God's Word to take root, we will not bear fruit. We become fruitless trees. There is a quality control room in heaven. God will inspect the fruit in our lives! 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory,that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:5-8) Jesus teaches us how we can become fruitful. Remaining in His presence is key to bearing fruit. We cannot unplug ourselves from God when we leave church and plug back in whenever we feel like it. We should always walk in the Spirit. 

We must meditate on what God reveals to us.

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

Not only should we meditate on His Word but delight in his laws. We become like a tree that is always bearing fruit in whatever season we are in. A person planted in God's Word is someone who will always yield fruit. He tells us not to walk with the wicked or stand with sinners or sit in the company of mockers. Do you notice the progression? We cannot walk with those who aren't walking with God. If you notice the true key to prosperity is in obeying God's Word! You cannot give your money and expect prosperity if you aren't walking in obedience!

The Word of God cannot bear fruit if we become like James says, "Hearers only and not doers." If we hear the Word of God and leave church without practicing what we hear, we will not take root or bear fruit. It is NOT ENOUGH to go to church only. God expects us to be good stewards of what He gives us. Honestly, some of us don't even crack our bibles all week let alone contend for the Word of God in our hearts. Watching your favorite preacher or YouTube video does not qualify for bible reading. Reading someone else's devotional also does not qualify. God wants to speak to us! 

We must become intercessors over the prophecies declared over us, the promises in God's Word, and the rhema spoken to our hearts. Church is NOT a place to learn bible stories. It is a place where we should receive truth for transformation. We must contend for this truth, "Revival always will lead us back to God's Word." We must protect the SEED! We cannot allow others to modify it to suit their needs and selfish desires or use it to manipulate others. This is WRONG. God is looking for a harvest and those will bring multiplication to His kingdom. Truth equals freedom! Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12)

I declare freedom over all those who receive this message. May you contend for God's Word and war over the Word God has given you. May it take root and bear fruit. May you multiply and become a fruit bearing tree! In Jesus name!

How to Hear the Voice of God

First let me clear this up. It is a God given birth right to hear the voice of God. If you have been born again or birthed into the kingdom of God through His Spirit you should be able to hear His voice. "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John 10:4-5)

There two things I would like to point out about this scripture. First, that when we come under the leadership of our shepherd we hear His voice. Secondly, we should be able to distinguish the voice of a stranger. In my house, my husband developed a special whistle that the children can hear in a crowd. When they hear it they come to him because it is a distinguished call. The voice of God also has a distinguished sound and we will cover that later but first let's go over some important facts. God has always spoken to humanity. God will even speak to people who don't know Him like He did to Abraham. Remember Abraham didn't know who God was until He spoke to him calling him out of his country and declaring his destiny! 

God spoke to Moses through a burning bush giving him a mandate to return to his people to deliver them out of slavery. God spoke to Joshua giving him strategic commands to take territories for His God. He spoke to Joseph in a dream, and though it took many years to fulfill what God had spoken, he held on to the promises of God. He spoke to Gideon though he was hiding and gave him the courage to take his nation back from foreign invasion. He spoke to Deborah and gave her the wisdom to counsel her nation. That was the Old Testament. Aren't we under a better covenant?  

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.  (Hebrews 9:6)

I find it interesting that we always claim to have a relationship with God yet we find it hard to believe He will speak to us. How is it possible to have a relationship with anyone and not talk to them? I want to challenge you to make friends and not talk to them. They will not be your friends for very long! I want you to know that Jesus considers you a friend, if you have given your heart and life to Him. 

"No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15) 

Jesus is letting us know that we have access because of relationship therefore, we can hear the voice of God. I know some of you might be worried that you might be listening to the wrong voice but Jesus said, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." (John 16:13) The Holy Spirit is in charge of making sure you don't get off track. As long as your heart does not get filled with pride you will not get deceived.

Now, I will say that it does take practice to distinguish God's voice from your own thoughts and the devil's. The place that God speaks the most is to your thoughts. This can become a problem if you have a very active thought life competing with God. Having control over your thoughts will be the most important task you will have to learn as a Christian. This task involves learning to "cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5) 

Primarily you will have to become somewhat of tennis player. A thought comes into your mind that is lustful in nature you will have to hit that thought back to where it came from. Perhaps you start going over something that made you angry then you need to hit that back where it came from. Perhaps you are busy planning your day and God wants to interrupt you then you will have to learn to set aside your thoughts for His.

The devil's primary objective in this whole subject is to keep you distracted. Tragically, he has succeeded in many ways through media and entertainment. Most of the time, you will see people with headphones in their ears unable to hear you. If they can't hear you they won't hear God because their minds are not on Him. I heard this from a Pastor and it is true. Leave a man alone in a quiet place and he will hear God. I noticed that in my life God likes to speak to me as soon as I wake up. If I get too busy He will interrupt my sleep or give me a dream. Let us always make time for our friend so can instruct us.

Here is a good exercise if you are truly wanting to hear God. Get alone with a notepad and write down the thoughts that come to your mind. Make three columns. List them as my voice, God's voice and the devil's voice. Your voice is normally filled with ideas, plans and opinions. God's voice is more like a gentle nudge, revealing the heart, the past, present and future. The devil's voice is tempting, trying to instill fear, doubt and distraction. Use the Word of God to filter these voices. Think about how God has spoken to his people throughout the ages. The devil uses the same tactics. "Did God say?" His main goal is to try to get you to second guess what God is saying to you and what the Word of God says. 

Another thing you can do is to practice keeping your thoughts quiet so God can speak. You must rid yourself of all opinions, bias, judgments on any matter or person. When someone is standing in front of me, my main objective is to turn off my thoughts or opinions on what I think may be happening in that person's life. There is nothing worse than getting a word from someone and it is mixed in with their own soul. That means they allowed their own opinions to mix in with what God wanted to say. OK, that is more advanced and will have to be covered later. Quieting your mind will be your greatest challenge. However, the greatest reward will to be hear God accurately! Learn to practice being in God's presence, being quiet and listening. We do far too much talking and not enough listening. Let us learn to wait in expectant faith to hear what He will say. He is always wanting to speak to us.

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