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!

Experience over Sound Doctrine

I've noticed a trend in the church today. A trend that has had dire consequences to those who have chosen to move away from the elementary teachings of Christ. Many have fallen away from the truth. In an effort to become relevant the church has changed and removed any terminology that they may consider offensive or non accepting. Some  have gone as far as accept sinful practices in efforts to boost membership and come off less judgmental but at what price? In churches that have chosen to share or spin a more positive gospel have blossomed over the years leaving a remnant of churches who refuse to water down anything to struggle in the shadow of these megachurches. In all honesty there is no way of knowing what the these Christians are doing behind closed doors. There is no accountability or close personal relationships in these megachurches. Some are like attending a Christian concert. More and more the cross diminishes in the flood lights and smoke machines as masses are taken up with the new superstars of Christendom.

Even in prophetic circles the words given are only positive rarely exposing areas that God wants to deal with or bring conviction. Meetings have been given over to experience rather than biblical sound doctrine. Widely accepted practices that are not in the bible are rarely questioned. Instead of hearing about what was preached about from God's Word many Christians come back from their meetings boasting from their latest experience. Sadly, we have become experience oriented instead of biblical oriented. What I mean is that we have exalted experience over soundness of God's Word. This imbalance  is what James talks about. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. Deception comes when we stay out of God's Word and forget that our purpose is to become like Him.

We need to become like Him so the world may want Him. The truth is people want Jesus not us. Our flesh is a joke. We can only hide our awful attitudes and motives for so long before someone notices that we aren't like Jesus at all. Our marriage, family and finances are more of a witness to this world than raising the dead. The gifts of the spirit are awesome but without the character of Christ we will be left pleading with God like the people in Matthew 7:21-23 Lord, Lord didn't we in your name? God is more interested in us being more like Him than ministering for him. We are the ones who want to minister for Him. After all, who doesn't want to be the next Christian superstar for Jesus? What if God called you to total obscurity would you still minister for Him? Would you be content working a regular job and just ministering for Jesus in the market place?

I'm afraid we have enticed the masses and set up schools for ministry just so people can think that one day they too can have a mega ministry and never have to worry about their finances again. It has become a lucrative business. The truth is, most Christians don't even know their bible or what they are supposed to be doing with their lives. Some sell all they have, just to do what they could have done back at home, with time spent with the Holy Spirit. I think deep inside we want somebody to approve us so we can feel credible and legitimate but a piece of paper will never do that. It is the power of God that makes us credible to this world but not without the character to back it up.

The other day I was crying out to God and saying, "I just want to know your heart and mind." While time spent in worship brings revelation of who God is; I also need the correction of the bible to keep me rooted and grounded. Think of a balloon. The things of the spirit are like the balloon and character like the string that keeps it from floating away. God's hand has to firmly keep us from getting into absurd nonsense that has nothing to do with God's mission or purpose. If the manifestation has no exhortation, edification or comfort it has no place in the meetings. Drunkenness in the Holy Spirit should be accompanied with boldness to preach and do something for God not so you can have a laughing party. If you haven't noticed Jesus spent most of His time teaching and preaching as compared to walking in power. Without proper teaching God's church can get into error. We have the Corinthian church as a prime example of people who walked in power but had issues with sin, had meetings that were totally out of order and favored spiritual gifts over love.

One last thing, a real move of God will never steer you away from the bible. Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." How did He fulfill it? By obeying it in love. Love is our ultimate act of obedience. There is a reason the love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 is in the middle of 12 and 14. Love and God's Word must be in the center of any spiritual gift we practice or any church meeting we have.  Real revival must always move us towards God's Word. In the most beautiful revival ever recorded in biblical history and eight year old discovers this key in the following passage. Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. ¹² Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” 2 Kings 22:11-13 Revival never moves away from God's word.

Jesus walked in revival and he never toned down his message, never tried to become relevant, he never went to bible college, or got the approval of men. He lived to love. His life matched His message and the power He walked in was proof that God had sent him. In order to walk like Him we must also take heed to message, method, character, and motive. Revival is sustained in this way.  Beware of any so called movement that encourages you to move away from Christ's teachings or biblical foundational truths. It will never end well. I don't care what kind of results you think you are getting, how many people you think you are helping or how many people are attending. These are not indicators of God's approval on your ministry. The cross of Christ and the call to deny ourselves must never cease from church teachings. To do so will only breed Christians who are fleshly and full of self. Self is the most hideous attributes of humanity. You can never love others if you are full of self. It's root of every kind of sin. It is up to us to pick up the cross everyday as we look to Him the author and finisher of our faith. Amen.

Jaziz Gutierrez
http://www.loverevivalrevolution.com

Honoring In Our Giving

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” Matthew 10:40-42

Many of us may think that this scripture is about rank when actually it is about honor and love. Many people have given up on tithing or giving because of the obvious abuses in the church but what we don't realize is that we are getting ripped off. God rewards honor and love. If you notice Jesus said, "Anyone who welcomes you, welcomes me." We need to see that honoring people, honors the Lord. He doesn't even overlook anything as small as a glass of water. He wants us to recognize those who He has sent into our lives even if they aren't your big name preachers. We so often honor people who are "well known" in church but ignore the usher and look down upon those less "gifted." I have been in ministry many years and have found this type of partiality grieving to God. We will pile on the money on the name brand preacher but won't give a thought to a single parent or someone who is struggling in the body of Christ. Let's face it, ministry has become a business instead of a place of equipping, imparting and loving people into the maturity of Christ.

If you notice in the book of Acts  "All the believers were of one  heart and of one mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need." Acts 4:32-32-34

It's time that the body of Christ moves past selfish motives, agendas and business models. We want God's powerful grace but if you read the above scripture you will see that they were of one heart and one mind. It was a place of unity, love and giving. We need to stop treating people that come to bless our ministries with so much disdain. That's Jesus playing your music, straightening your chairs, taking up your offerings, feeding the hungry and sacrificing their time to do the will of our Father. There are people that go to our churches everyday that are hungry, sick and facing homelessness. We think that because we give our left over change in the offering that we are fulfilling our duty. That's not love my friend. That's religion. We need to stop being so preoccupied with wanting to be blessed that we seek out to be the blessing. This is true Christianity and the heart of our Father. For God so loved that He gave...

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Is the bible divinely inspired or is it idolatry? My answer to Michael Dowd.

Question: What are your thoughts on this? I am curious, in the bible does it say that it was divinely inspired?

Answer: Yes. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)