Prophetic Message: End Time Principles For This Season

During the early morning hours, I recently had a vision of God's hand repositioning me back into my place in God's army. I saw His hand move me like a chess piece. I believe He will be doing this with many people in this season. Those who resist Him will be replaced. He is the Grand Master of Chess. He is the one who moves all the pieces. He has a strategy and we must remember that the devil always plays into God's hand. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) 

There are a few Kingdom principles that are going to play out in this next season.

First, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. (Matthew 19:30) Those who were last to be picked will be first in this next season. They will be the forerunners of a new move and break out of the confinements of the old wineskins (mindsets) that have kept the church stuck. They will be the unlikely Peters who abandoned their posts in discouragement because of the church's systemic failures but whose comeback will signal revival and reformation.  

I also see that the following end time principles being played out in this very important time in World History as churches worldwide have closed their doors. The second principle is the wisdom in knowing how to get your own oil from God. I do believe that staying on fire or lit for God has a lot to do with knowing how to go to God as your resource for His presence. If you have become "church" dependent you are in a dangerous place. It is foolish to depend on others to feed you, keep you motivated, and close to Jesus especially in this season. As leaders, it is imperative that we teach God's people how to go to God for themselves as their resource and teach them how to trim their lamp so they can be those who will endure to the end.
"But he who endures to the end shall be saved." (Matthew 24:13)

"And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps, are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’" (Matthew 25:8-9)

The third end time principle: To those who have more shall be given.
"For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away." (Matthew 25:29) Those who have the resources, talents, finances, spiritual gifts and etc to advance God's Kingdom will be given more in abundance if they step into their position. Those who squander their time, resources, talents, finances, spiritual gifts on mundane things will experience lack until they prioritize seeking God's Kingdom first and His righteousness. In this parable, the wicked steward hid his talent out of fear. If fear is keeping you from speaking out, doing good, standing up for righteousness, and advancing God's Kingdom; please understand that God considers this wicked. Why you may ask? Fear is the opposite of faith. Without faith, we cannot please Him. We must move out of what's comfortable (safe) and take Kingdom risks (faith) to accomplish what we are called to do. Especially at this time!
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6) 

Fourth, end time principle:
His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." (Matthew 25:23)
Being faithful over small God-given tasks in this season will also be rewarded greatly. In this parable, God rewarded those who took on the simple tasks of helping the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner, healing the sick, and other acts of kindness. This too will be marks of revival. Going into the highway and byways to invite all those who have been marginalized (a person or group treated as insignificant or as outcasts) will be a sign to the world that love is the answer to this world who has fallen into chaos and violence. 

To summarize, we must not be discouraged by what's going on because we understand that all things work together for good. Turn off the news and read the Good News. We win! Don't be shocked by those who God uses to bring revival and reformation. God uses who He wills. Learn to go to God for your resource. This is imperative if you are going to endure to the end. This is the wrong time to hide in fear. Please know the season you are in and don't squander God's resources and your time on mundane things and tasks. Finally, don't minimize being faithful in small things like community outreach, feeding the poor, visiting the prisoner, healing the sick, and talking to strangers about Jesus. God is impressed by faith motivated by love. Love is the answer to chaos, rebellion, and violence. It is not a time to take sides! It is time to make our lives a sermon that speaks the truth in love! 

Surviving Trials 101

"Do you feel that God abandoned you?" Are you angry at what you feel is injustice? Do you feel like life dealt you a bad hand? Are you struggling in your walk with God?

If this is the case then I am going to share with you ten keys to surviving a trial.  First, you must know that God is on your side!  Jesus came to give you life and life more abundantly. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. John 10:10 Secondly, you must know that whatever problem life has dealt us we are never without a choice. We are made in such a way that we can survive most anything and turn any situation around if we would only have faith. Our past or present circumstances do not have to determine our future.

Empty Pews? Roadblocks to Breakthrough!

It is no secret that over the past few years church attendance has dropped dramatically. As the economy has soured so has the attitudes of many Christians. Once promised great wealth and success more Christians are finding themselves on the brink of despair as they struggle to survive. The reality is that for years they have been sold on the idea that all they had to do is give faithfully and their worries would be the thing of the past. Some of them were sold on the idea through prophecy and when things started to fall apart at home they felt betrayed by leadership. Completely unprepared to suffer through hardship because of what they were taught more Christians are throwing in the towel and giving up on church altogether.

Unfortunately, for many ministries more and more people have become aware of the ongoing exploitation of God's faithful.  Promises of breakthrough for a price. The endless dangling of monetary gain if we are to invest just once more in this eternal lottery. One day we will hit the big time but what happens when it never comes. My friends we have bought into the Capitalistic gospel instead of how life really works.  See life really works like this: You work hard, get an education and develop your talents.  For many of us financial principles were never taught to us except for giving our tithe into a basket. You do realize of course that many people become wealthy that never give into a church basket but become successful through hard work and entrepreneurship. Like Jesus said for the children of this world are in their generation are wiser than the children of light. Luke 16:8
Don't get me wrong God blesses givers but you must be willing to get a secular education to get a good job now or days. Most companies won't even look at you if you don't have a bachelors degree. There are more people with less education occupying your basic jobs and because of the shortage, companies have set the bar real high. This is not a mystery or problem that can be solved by throwing money into a basket. I thought I would tell you the truth.  Most people in ministry now or days have to work regular jobs. The economy has changed the rules of the game. So don't sit back and hope that things are going to change real soon because it may be years and in the meantime your family will be lacking or you will have to become more overbearing to get people to tithe in your congregation who have their own families to think about. Which brings me to my next point.

Christians want to receive all kinds of ministry but they don't want to be a blessing to those who are working hard to keep the lights on. Things aren't free you know. I know many legit ministers who can't pay their bills but still make it their job to feed the homeless, reach the broken and do missions work. I thought it would only be fair to present both sides. Yes, there may be ministries who exploit people but there are people out there who are genuinely are working in God's harvest fields and who are good ground. If you don't sow your seed in good ground don't be surprised if your field is empty and your pockets. Obedience is key to breakthrough not just giving. Back to my original subject.

Not only are more people becoming aware of the financial exploitation in Christendom but they are also experiencing the lack of genuine care that leadership has for them. They know they are just dollar signs sitting on the pew because as soon as they are gone they are forgotten. No phone calls or how are you doing. No prayer going up just a barrage of gossip behind their backs. I know this to be true because I have sat behind closed doors in many leadership meetings to witness this spiritual cannibalism. Honestly, I can tell you that I have received more hate e-mails from Pastors than sinners. Their reason for telling me off was I decided to exercise my free will and attend another church. I didn't find feasting on the flesh of other Christians very appetizing that is why I left. Let's be honest, sheep can bite and leave real wounds in people. As long as we keep ignoring these things and pretend they are not happening we will never make the necessary changes to make things right. I will be the first to admit that I got quite tired from the nonsense and took a break from church life because of the above issues.

For the first time in 30 years I joined the unchurched and really got to process my Christianity.  I got to rub shoulders with those who have left the church establishment years ago. Many of the people out there got tired of trying to fit in to the church cliques, or were too offended to come back after they got wounded or even lost their way and backslid. A huge percentage of the people out there never find their way back because people forget about them as soon as they leave the church. They are no longer relevant or fueling the machine. They are castaways on the island of isolation. There the devil gets his way, keeping them out of reach of rescue while they lose hope in God. Have we forgotten the heart of Jesus in this matter? Where is the one?

If spiritual child abandonment and rejection was a crime there would be many people in church in jail.  Our own hurt in leadership sometimes causes us to hurt others and continue the cycle in our own ministries. We don't talk about it but when we get offended instead of going to that person in love we write them off.  The truth is people just want to experience the unconditional love of God from His people. What they really want is to know is that they will be cared about even if they don't give, go to your church or believe differently than you do. They want to know that the relationship they have with you isn't about your ministry or their service to your personal dream. People are looking for genuine transparent relationships outside of the four walls who aren't afraid of intimacy in God. When we make our ministries more about others instead of making it about ourselves we will see church attendance grow again. People know when your motive is only to recruit them and make them part of your team. Love has to be the purpose and motive behind everything we do. So don't blame people for leaving your ministry when clearly you were the reason they left. Then on the other hand...

If you are offended with church and leadership you are not in a good place. You will not grow in your walk watching YouTube videos from your favorite preachers. I know that because I tried it. I was literally drying up on the vine. We must stay in fellowship with other believers and find ways to stay on fire. We need to leave the comfort of our offended walls and remember that there is people out there who need Jesus. We will be accountable for burying the talents God gave us. We will be responsible for the oil God gave us and we will stand before him for ignoring the plight of humanity. Matthew 25 We all get hurt and we need to remember that if anyone had the right to stay away from humanity it was God but instead he came to lay down His life for us fully knowing how barbaric we were and that he would have to die for us. He was betrayed, rejected, humiliated, gossiped about, hated and all He did was love people. Then to add insult to injury only weeks after everyone is singing his praises they were shouting, "Crucify Him!" Thank God he didn't throw in the towel because His love towards those haters really paid off. I was one of them how about you? Yes love is risky but it can have huge payoffs...just ask Jesus.

One more thing...don't just brush this off. If you were an insensitive jerk go to that person and make it right. You might as well face them now because I highly doubt our Father is going to let us get away with avoiding them in heaven if we go there that is. We Christians are so good at preaching forgiveness of sins but trying to get a Christian to say they are sorry well...it is like pulling teeth. Go ahead, you have nothing to lose than to call all the people you are hurt with or send them an e-mail and love them expecting nothing in return. Jesus said, Love your enemies... I mean those other Christians. It will help you move on and possibly get that breakthrough you have been needing. Not because of giving but because of your obedience to LOVE. Unforgiveness and offense are sometimes the biggest roadblocks in our walk with God keeping us from the very thing we are crying out for BREAKTHROUGH! The next time you see the basket put your heart in there and give it to someone who needs Him.

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. ⁶ For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:5-6

If you find this article helpful or would like to leave a comment or visit our website:
Jaziz Gutierrez
http://www.loverevivalrevolution.com
Facebook: School Of Impartation and Living

Why People Burn Out On Ministry

    I was looking today for a way to become fully ordained outside of making payments to an organization. I have worked in church for the last five years as a lay minister or assistant pastor. I ran across this website for burned out Pastors and started reading these sad stories. Wow. I think that many of us have gotten ministry confused with the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not the kingdom of men. Many ministries are just part of the machine that builds the kingdoms of men. This is what sucks the life out of the pastor and congregation. God’s kingdom is not a place here on earth. It is a place in men’s hearts where God has set up His throne and is made Lord over our lives.

    Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”   The Kingdom is within our reach all of the time.  Also, we can see from scripture that the Kingdom is demonstrated in power, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:7-8 Therefore, God’s Kingdom is mobile and transferable.

The problem here is that our eyes come off of doing the above and the focus shifts to building projects, raising money, programs, advertising instead of protecting the presence of God in our lives. We stop seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness first. We get careless with our salvation because now we stop being concerned about our standards and allowing things to slip by us by making small compromises in our faith.  Holiness gets thrown to the wayside as we focus more on service, recognition and position in church.  Our passion to be right with God gets diminished in light of people’s admiration of our gifts and talents.  The next thing we know, our Christian example has become a mockery before the world. This should not be.

     The ministry is not really the problem it is our heart. More specifically the attitudes and motives of our hearts that have been polluted by our need to be recognized and admired. The gospel message becomes laced with covetousness and greed.  It is our ill financial planning that causes many ministers to start to manipulate people from the pulpit. The next thing you know you are threatening people by telling them that God will curse them if they do not give. This is legalism and extortion my friends. Especially if you feel like you are entitled to indulge yourself on the hard earned money of God's people. We are not entitled to anything! You will not find anywhere in Jesus ministry where he demanded a salary from his followers.  On the other hand if you have the means and are withholding  money from God's harvesters then you will have to explain why you built bigger barns instead of sending people into the harvest fields of souls. Jesus was not hung up on titles. He made his life and ministry about serving others. He went about setting people free, healing them and forgiving them.  He did not sit at an office taking calls. He demonstrated the kingdom and lived his life as an example.

     "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken"; "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame." Hebrews 12:1-2 If you have found any of the above wrong attitudes and motives in your heart I encourage to repent and come back to the true ministry of Christ. If you are under a ministry that is has lost its way I encourage you to build His Kingdom instead of building men's kingdoms. May the Lord guide you by the Spirit of Truth and help you find the true ministry of Christ. 

If you find this article helpful or would like to leave a comment or visit our website:
Jaziz Gutierrez
http://www.loverevivalrevolution.com
Facebook: School Of Impartation and Living

Trampling Unbelief In The Gate

Prophetic Word:
For years men and women who have sat in the gate of influence in the church have kept back the move of God! They have questioned my ability to open the windows of heaven over them and refused to believe the Word of the Lord through His servants. As a result the people of God have starved behind four walls. They have fearfully stayed within the walls of containment and mediocrity. For years they have missed out on the harvest which also holds prosperity for God's people. In this next season unbelief  will be trampled down in the gate and the outcasts of society or the unknown, unsung heroes will lead the way into plundering the enemy's camp! They will realize that all that the people of God have needed was just outside the walls all along! This new discovery will cause a movement that the church has not seen in a long time. Their hunger will drive them to follow those whose testimonies declare victory in the most dire of circumstances. No one will be able to stop this forward motion and those who doubted will not partake of the plunder.  I will cause my people to move into enemy territory and the footsteps of a few will sound like many. They will learn to share with one another the things that I give them. Great boldness and courage will be the mark of these End Time Saints! They will not fear what the enemy can do because I will walk with them in even a greater dimension. They will no longer consider the weakness of the flesh but the strength of their God!

2 Kings 7: 3-4 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also.

In this next season it will be the outcasts that will lead the way out of containment and famine. It will not be the church superstars but the unknown men and women who have spent time like Esther preparing themselves in the oil of My presence not considering their weaknesses; boldly moving towards the promises of God. They will see no other option than to plunder the enemy's camp. Have you ever felt like these lepers in this passage. Like no matter which way you go there is no positive outcome to your circumstance. There they were sitting at the gate of indecision, going hungry when they come to the conclusion that doing nothing will get them no where. Then they come up with a dangerous proposition. "Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die." Their solution was to go to the enemy's camp. I don't know about you but if I'm going hungry my first thought would not be to go and raid the enemy's camp. Yet they took the risk of going anyways.

2 Kings 7:5-6 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. ⁶ For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!”
Earlier in the chapter Elisha had prophesied about the turnaround of events that were about to take place and a guard had mocked him. He was trampled underfoot for not believing the Word of the Lord by the people who were running to their new found provision.

Like all prophetic words in order to activate them one must step out in faith to receive them.  It's going to require that we take some risks. We can not allow ourselves to be immobilized by fear or indecision. We must step out into the realm of faith to gain access to God's blessing. If God give us something and we don't act on it someone else will. In this next move, God will use whoever is bold enough to believe Him! He does care about degrees or ordinations or the approval of men. His kingdom is not run that way. He will take two loaves and five fish to feed the masses. He will use what little you have and bring multiplication to much needed provision if you will just be concerned with feeding God's sheep who are faint from following Him. God will even use your own brokenness to pour you out and distribute you that you might become bread to the hungry. Don't count yourself out. The four lepers didn't. All they knew was that they were hungry and knew they had nothing to lose. Some of us need to stop making excuses and consider not the weakness of the flesh but the strength of our God. It's time to plunder the enemy's camp!

When the word of the Lord comes to a church it can be the greatest blessing or greatest danger because just like this city that was under captivity and famine; the word always brings two choices…to believe or not to believe…to act or not to act.

    The prophetic promise that came to bring a breakthrough can be stopped through unbelief. What if they would have hesitated, procrastinated in believing? Unbelief is disobedience to the Word of the Lord to your life. Be bold and step over into your time of fulfillment!

     Miracles are always released by acting upon faith.  Jesus said, “Come” and Peter got out of the boat.  Jesus said, stretch out your hand and the withered hand was healed.  Go wash in the pool of Siloam and the man did and he could see. Pick up your mat and the man got up.  The point is there has to be a corresponding action to the word of the Lord in faith for a miracle. So the city had a choice to believe the word of the Lord or continue in famine and accept their captivity.

          
My friends there is a gate that everyone stands at daily and we are the gatekeepers. Let's look at the gate.

     Psalm 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
         Keep watch over the door of my lips.

    
Proverbs 21:22-23 A wise man scales the city of the mighty, 
      And brings down the trusted stronghold. 
       ²³ Whoever guards his mouth and tongue 
      Keeps his soul from troubles.

In the old times keeping the gates guarded was important part of keeping the city fortified. It may seem that our gate is very small compared to the size of that city; but in the book of James it gives this perspective.

James 3:3-5 "Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. ⁴ Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. ⁵ Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.: We will either boast in the greatness of our God or talk about the greatness of our circumstances.

Faith will not consider the circumstance it is experiencing, the personal limitation its dealing with or the physical condition its facing. It will believe contrary to what is sees.

Romans 4:18-22 Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” ¹⁹ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, ²¹ and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. ²² And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

    
Ecclesiastes 11:4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

Scripture: 2 Kings 7: 19-20 Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, “Now look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” 
And he had said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” ²⁰ And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

      

    What is the word that stands at the gate of your mouth? 

Mark 11:23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. By his confession of unbelief he slammed the windows of heaven shut over his life. Understand if you choose not to believe it will not keep others from receiving. Will we trample underfoot the words of unbelief or stay in a fortified city of famine and captivity? Who’s the gatekeeper in your life?  Is it your friends, your kids, your unbelief, your spouse, your circumstances or your own confession? Trample underfoot unbelief by confessing, agreeing and acting in faith with God’s promises.

Scripture: 2 Kings 4:8-37

Has your prophetic dream died?

    The Shunammite woman received her prophetic promise because she made place for the Lord in her life through inviting the man of God to stay with her. Prophetic destiny is birthed in the place where we have made room for God and it is sustained by intimacy. Sometimes it seems that we don’t even ask for a word from God or a dream when all of the sudden it seems that dream has died. The woman was wise in being a doorkeeper and saying, “It is well.”  Elisha did not allow Gehazi to speak to anyone on to restore the promise so that no one could speak into the situation.

    If we allow ourselves to go back into the bedchamber and put our eyes to God’s eyes, our mouth to His mouth, and allow his hands to be our hands we will see our promise came back to life again.  It will only happen in a place of intimacy and prayer.

2 Kings 7:5-6 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. ⁶ For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!”

Earlier in the chapter Elisha had prophesied about the turnaround of events that were about to take place and a guard had mocked him. He was trampled underfoot for not believing the Word of the Lord by the people who were running to their new found provision.

Like all prophetic words in order to activate them one must step out in faith to receive them.  It's going to require that we take some risks. We cannot allow ourselves to be immobilized by fear or indecision. We must step out into the realm of faith to gain access to God's blessing. If God give us something and we don't act on it someone else will. In this next move, God will use whoever is bold enough to believe Him! He does care about degrees or ordinations or the approval of men. His kingdom is not run that way. He will take two loaves and five fish to feed the masses. He will use what little you have and bring multiplication to much needed provision if you will just be concerned with feeding God's sheep who are faint from following Him. God will even use your own brokenness to pour you out and distribute you that you might become bread to the hungry. Don't count yourself out. The four lepers didn't. All they knew was that they were hungry and knew they had nothing to lose. Some of us need to stop making excuses and consider not the weakness of the flesh but the strength of our God. It's time to plunder the enemy's camp!

If you find this article helpful or would like to leave a comment or visit our website:
Jaziz Gutierrez
http://www.loverevivalrevolution.com
Facebook: School Of Impartation and Living

Prophecy: Cold Hearts In Days Ahead

Jesus prophesied long ago "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold."
Matthew 14:11-12

      It will be that many will turn away from sound doctrine, follow false teachings and will fall into deception. The increase of sin in the church and poor example that they see in leadership will so disappoint real believers that some will walk away. They will start to question what is real because it will be hard to tell what if God and what is not. Many will grow cold in their faith and love towards God. We are seeing this now in record numbers. However Jesus said, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved!" In other words it is not a guarantee that you will make through unless you decide now that you will guard your heart will all diligence and endure the testing that is coming ahead. We will have to keep our hearts from offense, keep ourselves connected to God and be sensitive to the Spirit of Truth. My friends, we have no time to spend on frivolous activities for in the coming days ahead perilous times will come and we need to prepare now so that we may have the endurance to overcome. Endurance comes with resistance and training. Don't be dismayed that you are being resisted now because that is what is going to build your spiritual muscle. These circumstances may feel heavy but Jesus is helping you carry the weight until you can lift it yourself in prayer. In this season it will become very important that we pray for one another and strengthen each other. There is no room for petty strife, vain arguments and false accusations. We will need to stand together AS ONE!

Be Free From Worry In A Jobless Market

     After a year of looking for work and watching my resources dwindle to dangerous levels I was again up late looking for the newest posting on Craigslist.  Knowing that my time is also running out, I cried out in my heart, “God there has to be some better way than this relentless job search.” Now I hate to admit this but I haven’t really been making God part of my job search.  I pray that He will provide but have wondered if the reason that I’m not making any progress may be because I haven’t been giving enough money or haven’t been sowing to the right ministry. Let’s face it, when there is no income and you are only living off your savings it isn’t easy to give. You keep hearing those voices in your head about tithing but at this point 10 % of zero is zero. What can you give when there is nothing coming in?  If you have those same thoughts tormenting you and making you feel like you have done something wrong then you need to keep reading.  As I sat there at the computer a beautiful thing happened; I heard the Lord speak to me, “Seek first my kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you…” Curious about what “all these things” might mean; I decided to reread the passage in Matthew just in case I missed something.  In the past whenever I read this scripture I felt like I was being corrected by my lack of faith and exhorted not to worry. This time my eyes were opened to see this passage in a whole new light.  

Passage: Matthew 6:25-27
 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

     What really struck me in this scripture was that God has us to observe how birds neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns YET He takes care of them.  Are we not more value than a bird? Of course we are. These birds aren’t sowing and they aren’t reaping but God takes care of them anyway.  Can we change anything by worrying?  This passage also has us consider the value and love God has for us.  This passage isn’t so much about correction as it is about God’s care for even the smallest things in the earth.  God’s priorities are not confused. He knows what He needs to take care of and we are first in line for the basic necessities in life.

Let’s read on further:
Matthew 6:28-30 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
    
     Again, Jesus is giving another example of how even the wisest King could not do a better job than He can.  When it comes to taking care of us our Father knows what we need before we ask.  If he can care for something that has no eternal value which is here today and gone tomorrow; then don’t we have more value than a fading flower?  His statement, “O you of little faith” is Jesus’ way of saying, “Hello, you are more important than a bird or flower.  Why can’t you believe that I love you and stop sweating the small stuff?”
 
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

     Listen, if God could sacrificially give us His only Son than the things we need are really not out of God’s ability to provide for us.  He desires to bless us as His children.  For those of us who have been traumatized by cheap parental figures in our lives this may be difficult for us to embrace.  If you had absent or flaky people in your life it can become easy for us to compare God to a negligent parent. He is not.  God’s Kingdom is not run the way we run earthly corporations in which we step on other people to get to the top.  We are not CEO’s disposing of people to get to our goals nor do we use people to get what we want to provide for our families. We also do not need to become workaholics or revolve our world around making money to be successful.  That’s how heathens run their lives but those principles will never work in God’s kingdom.  Jesus gives us two important keys to success that will get rid of worry and stress in a hurry.  Let’s read this following passage with fresh eyes:   

Matthew 6:31-34 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

      Number one: Seek the kingdom of God; which means that you seek God first.  I used to get this confused with ministry. What I found out is that ministry sometimes is not God’s kingdom its men’s personal empires built for themselves.  God’s kingdom is not a place here on earth. It is a place in men’s hearts where God has set up His throne and is made Lord over our lives.

Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”   The Kingdom is within our reach all of the time.  Also, we can see from scripture that the Kingdom is demonstrated in power, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:7-8

     Therefore, God’s Kingdom is mobile and transferable.  People enter it every time they believe on God and receive what He has for them. They can only enter it if they are humble and simple like a child to believe in what is unseen.  Honestly, the moment I started to shift my focus to making money instead of seeking God first things dried up like water in the desert sun.  I know the moment I focus on helping others enter into a relationship with Christ and sharing with them all He has purchased for them on the cross…I will once again be seeking His kingdom first.  So here I am sharing with you what He gave me. This does not mean that I have given up on my job search it just means that I have gotten my priorities in order again.

     Number two: Seek His righteousness. Well, first of all when we are speaking of God’s righteousness it is a far cry from our own.  Let’s face it, we can compare ourselves to the best Christian in church but it will pale in comparison to the righteousness that is in Christ Jesus.  We can claim to be righteous in Christ but the scripture is clearly asking us to seek His righteousness.  Jesus is not asking us to seek as if we have already attained it.  I think many times after being in church for a long time we stop being concerned about our standards and allowing things to slip by us by making small compromises in our faith.  Holiness gets thrown to the wayside as we focus more on service, recognition and position in church.  Our passion to be right with God gets diminished in light of people’s admiration of our gifts and talents.  The next thing we know, our Christian example has become a mockery before the world. This should not be.

     What is righteousness exactly?  Righteousness is being right with God.  It is not only about adhering to a moral conduct but is more about our relationship with God being right.  I don’t know why we do this but many of us wait until we are in death’s door to correct relational grievances that were caused by us or the other parties involved.  The relationship isn’t right because we might have caused the offense or been offended.  What is of utmost importance is reaching out to the wounded through our own wounds and letting all that hurt go.  Now we are in right standing again in that relationship.  This is the same with God.  Righteousness is the process of keeping our relationship right by keeping our heart from offense and or hurting God through disobedience.  As we seek His Kingdom, His righteousness first, then we will be able to say goodbye to the dry spell in our finances, relationships and every other area that we cannot get breakthrough in.  We need to remember that God cares for us more than a fading flower.

Matthew 12:19-21
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;
And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

Running the Race Like An Olympian

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

In reading this passage this morning one thing comes to mind, “Strict Training!” When I read this word this morning I thought about Olympic training. There is a lot of sacrifice that goes into Olympic training. There is the discipline of the body. Getting up early for training to practice the same moves over and over again until perfection is achieved. Then there is developing a winning mindset that no obstacle is too big to overcome the current pressures to quit in the midst of hardship. Finally, having a heart of a winner involves the integrity to run the race fairly and according to the rules of the game. When our heart, mind and body are in agreement great things can be achieved!

How much greater things can we do for God when it is His Strength, Grace, and Power that helps us in our hardships! There is only one thing that can hold us back from becoming Olympians in the faith; “Lack of discipline.” If we are to compete or run this race we must go into strict training. What does this mean? It means hours in the word becoming skillful in the use of our sword, getting up early to pray being strengthened in the Spirit and spending intimate time with the Father being bathed in His Presence. Most of us know this and are ok with this. However, we have failed to do is to discipline the other parts of us like our body, mind, and heart.

Some of us have a difficult time disciplining our body in the areas of fasting. In other words we can pray but we can’t give up a meal. Can you imagine an Olympian being out of shape from eating too much! How about a runner who smokes? Do you think he could win if he ate pizzas at night and watched TV instead of trained his body? Yet, we allow ourselves to be undisciplined in the way we eat, our lack of exercise and our time in front of the TV. Sometimes we only give God a five minute prayer and watch hours of TV without realizing it. You will never become an Olympian for God if this is your lifestyle. I’m just going to preach to myself here too and keep it real. What good would it do you if you were a great preacher and died of a heart attack because of the way you eat? Jesus would probably ask you why you went home so early when he had so much for you to do. Just because we are not under the Judaic laws of eating doesn’t mean we throw out all wisdom in our eating. When Jesus said, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat,” it didn’t give us a license to eat whatever we wanted without any consequences to our health. Acts 11:7 This particular scripture is actually God’s dealings with Peter on accepting the Gentiles that He would later make clean through the blood of Jesus.

I used to think that God abolished the dietary laws of the bible in this scripture but I have seen the wisdom in those laws in modern science. When God commanded the Jews not to eat shellfish, shrimp and things that crawled on the bottom of the ocean; I thought it was legalism. Now I know that science has found that shrimp causes high cholesterol and that shellfish are filters for the ocean. More people are killed by being poisoned by these sea creatures. He also commands us not to eat bottom feeding fish. Where does all the pollution of our oceans end up? In the bottom of the ocean where those fish eat. We continually read about the unleavened bread. Yet we eat leavened bread all day long. This is yeast. Yeast causes all kinds of sickness in our bodies. Yeast is an organism that spreads in the body and causes fatigue, infections, weight gain, mental confusion and other symptoms that are confused for diseases. A little leaven (yeast) leavens the whole lump. I believe that this is not only a spiritual thing comparing yeast to sin but a principle that was based on the nature of yeast in our bodies. I don’t know why I’m writing about this but some of you may be asking God for a healing. Most of us need to go back to biblical dietary laws to stop recurring sickness. Amen, that’s for me. We can’t run to God every time we eat a gallon of ice cream and cookies so he can heal us of sugar diabetes if we are not going to get rid of our destructive eating behaviors. We are Olympians remember? Once in awhile a treat is ok but not while you are in training.

Finally, Paul says he makes his body a slave. If we don’t start making our bodies slaves in a disciplined fashion we will end up slaves to sickness, weight and lethargy. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m even convicting myself. I hope you all receive this with the love I meant behind it all. Let us search out the scriptures regarding these dietary matters and I’m sure we will find the wisdom of God for our everyday living.

For dietary laws: You can read Leviticus 11

Exodus 12:20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”