Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
I am The Lord that Healeth thee.: by Andrea Leyerle
I am The Lord that Healeth thee.: by Andrea Leyerle
Posted on January 3, 2011 by Pastor Len and Friends
I am The Lord that Healeth thee.
This morning I was encouraged in my heart to write to you all and testify of the goodness of God concerning physical healing. I have personally been healed supernaturally, by the grace and goodness of God, in my physical body. I am continuing to trust God for healing in my physical body. Not only for Him to heal me physically, but also to move in power more and more in these last days and to heal the sick in our churches and families.
Before I was saved, I had terrible digestive trouble. I would have periods of time, weeks, or months at a time where I could hardly eat and when I did, I would be resigned to home in bed or in the bathroom for hours at a time. There were times when I would eat at a restaurant and immediately have to leave friends and spend the rest of the night at home in bed or bathroom. This went on for at least 5 years. The last episode I had sent me to hospital to have GI examined, only to be told they couldn’t find anything wrong. Then came the opportunity for salvation. When I finally surrendered my life to Christ. Oh what a glorious day, I will never forget it. Immediately, all the guilt, shame, confusion, and failure left my heart and mind and I was instantly transformed into joy, peace, and a lightness that only can come from God. Oh what assurance can be felt when God takes all the wrongs you have done and others have done against you and throws them into the bottom of the sea!!
The day I answered God’s altar call, He also healed me of my “stomach sickness.” I have been right every day since, and it’s been 13 years of walking with The Lord. The very next day in my new life I was “regular” and normal in my digestion!!! Now this was not something I was praying for, asking for, nobody prayed specifically for my stomach; the altar workers didn’t even know anything about my sickness. When I was praying and received new life in Christ, my indigestion was the furthest thing from my mind! I KNEW my life was in shambles and “my way” got me absolutely nothing. I can say it’s easy to turn your life over when the Lord shows you what a mess you’ve made of it. God and God alone worked this miracle of healing in my physical body and He gets all the glory for this healing!
Fast forward now to the time right before we were ready to move to Louisiana for Carl to attend Bible College at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. We both felt the call and were busy making preparations. I had started to have very painful times of the month. For about 6 months, every month, I was in such pain I would be doubled over, in tears. I found myself doing “Lamaze” type breathing when the pain would come on. This lasted continually for three days out of the month and would come on at random. Sharp terrible pain. Well I went to the Dr. and was prescribed muscle relaxers and pain killers to take. These medications did not help me at all; the pain was exactly the same. I was given an X-Ray and it was found that I had fibroids in my uterus. Fibroids which grow significantly during pregnancy, may have to be removed, and increased my chances of having to have a hysterectomy by 33%. This was very disappointing news considering Carl and I desired to have more children.
We made it to Baton Rouge, LA, and started attending church at Family Worship Center. I answered and altar call for physical healing and what took place next was the miracle working power of God. I was moved in faith, praying and telling The Lord, “Your eyes are on the sparrow, I know You know about this and You can fix this and I need YOU to heal my uterus, Lord!” Well as I was standing in the crowd, I heard a voice saying, “You’ve been healed, you can go your way.” I immediately opened my eyes and looked around, and finally told my husband that I didn’t think I needed anyone to lay hands on me because I think the Lord just told me I’ve been healed and I went and sat in my seat! Now my expression wasn’t of joy and elation; more like deer in the headlights and a quiet submission to the voice I heard. Throughout the rest of the service, at certain times, I felt a hot sensation in different parts of my lower abdomen. I sat in amazement, eyes big as saucers, believing God was doing the healing. I now have normal times of the month!!! And Carl and I have a daughter named Evangeline Susanne meaning, “One who brings the Good News in Purity.”
One other time, I was experiencing a migraine headache. I was home with 2 little babies and could not open my eyes because the pain was so severe. I told my daughter, Lois, who might have been 5 at the time, that mommy had a headache. Well, she laid her little head on my shoulder and hugged me and prayed, “God, I love my mommy. And I know you love her, too. Please heal all her boo-boo’s in Jesus’ Name. Amen.” And you know what happened next? YES! The Lord took away my migraine headache! He took it away, instantly!
I want you all to know that God can and certainly does minister healing today. Ask Him right NOW for the need you have in your body. Ask and keep on asking! I know He is able and willing to heal the sick and afflicted, and He can heal you, too, right NOW, right where you sit! To GOD be the glory, great things He has done!
Look what the Lord has done!!!”: by Angie Paxton
Look what the Lord has done!!!”: by Angie Paxton
Posted on September 25, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends
Look what the Lord has done!!!”
The Lord has…
The Lord has delivered me & given me victory…
1 Samuel 17:37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
The Lord has stood by me and has strengthen me, when others have forsook me…
2 Timothy 4:16-17 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me…the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me…
Acts 23:11 …the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul…
The Lord has saved me…
John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Titus 3:4-6 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
The Lord has given me favour…
Genesis 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
1 Samuel 2:26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.
Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
The Lord has given me Grace & Mercy…
Genesis 19:19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life…
2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace…
Titus 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Lamentations 3:22-24 It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The Lord has given to you, so ye give to others…
1 Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
As we have had the Lord give us gifts, let us minister those gifts to others. The world really does need to see Jesus in us…
There is so much more the Lord has done. What has He done for you…
Let’s pass them onto others…
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Come Out!: by Wayne Voss
Come Out!: by Wayne Voss
Posted on January 28, 2011 by Pastor Len and Friends
Come Out!
“Come out from among them and be ye separate” If you get in a mud hole after being washed clean you are not going to make the mud hole clean but the opposite will happen every time even with good intentions.
“Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers (not limited to the world alone but includes the worldly church of Cain and Saul): for what fellowship has Righteousness (The Righteousness of Faith in the Cross for Salvation AND Sanctification) with unrighteousness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has he who believes with an infidel? And what agreement has the Temple of God with idols? (which includes law and church dogma) For you are the Temple of the Living God: as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (All of which hinges on the next statement) Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing (refers to Christians avoiding all unholy contact with a vain and polluted world which would also include the worldly church and what makes the worldly church worldly is their failure to embrace the Cross for Sanctification, they have a form of godliness but have denied the power there of which again is the Cross 1 Cor. 1:18) ; and I will receive you” (at the same time, it means if the person disobeys these injunctions the Lord will not receive us) And I will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” II Cor. 6:14-18
Too often people wish to keep one foot in the world or one foot in a worldly religious system or a worldly church, even with the good motives of affecting family and friends. But the only way one can truly affect them is to come out, which makes the bold statement that you have indeed been changed by the message of the Cross and can no longer stay were there is compromise of the Truth.
If a person has been washed clean and changed through the message of the Cross but they are determined to stay in their old religion, rest assured it will ultimately affect them again and more often even in a greater way. If you get in a mud hole after being washed clean you are not going to make the mud hole clean but the opposite will happen every time even with good intentions.
Haggai 2:12-14. “If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his shirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, SHALL IT BE HOLY? And the Priests answered and said, NO. (13) Then said Haggai. If one who is unclean be a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. (14) Then answered Haggai, and said, SO IS THIS PEOPLE, and SO IS THIS NATION before Me, saith the Lord.”
Brother Swaggarts note: Haggai 2:12-14 proclaims the truth that the sacrifices, however Holy in themselves, cannot sanctify disobedience and self will. That which is Holy cannot sanctify what is profane; but that which is unclean defiles that which is Holy. The presence of Evil destroys Holiness, but the Presence of God EXCLUDES Evil…. Mine: Meaning a separation must take place and one must detach from the sinking ship of this world and its religious system and launch out to anchor ones soul to the Cross alone or you will be dragged down with the world and it religious systems.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Good Works: by Len Paxton
Good Works: by Len Paxton
Posted on September 18, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends
Ephesians 2:8-10 (King James Version) 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
This verse taken in context, tells us that we are justified, sanctified, and saved by the finished work of Christ upon the Cross.
When we receive what Christ did for us at Calvary, we become “born-again”. Every born-again believer is the very workmanship of Christ.
When our faith is properly placed in the Cross then we are assured of the help of the Holy Spirit as He conforms us into the image of Jesus. The focus of this passage is not our doing, rather the emphasis is on “Created in Christ Jesus”.
We are told in this verse that we should walk in good works. Good works do not produce faith. But, proper faith will always produce proper works. So, the believer, walking in good works birthed of the Holy Spirit in the believers heart, is proof of that believers properly placed faith in the finished work of Christ upon the Cross. [See James 2: 14-26]
Good works never produces righteousness. Good works (works that God wants to perform through us) in the heart and life of the believer is the outflow of righteousness.
I heard Jimmy Swaggart put it this way, “My faith properly placed in the finished work of Christ upon the Cross will result in the help of the Holy Spirit in my life. Proper faith will produce proper works but proper works will never produce proper faith.” (from teaching at prayer meeting in Baton Rouge.)
Another quote by Jimmy Swaggart: “Imputed righteousness produces acts of righteousness”. (from “The Priesthood: A Type of Christ” tape 2)
Romans 8:29 tells us that every believer is predestinated to be conformed into the image of Christ. This can only be done by the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
Good works, acceptable to God, will flow from our hearts and lives, when we place our faith in Jesus sacrifice on the Cross. It is all about Jesus and not about us. It is about Grace and Faith. And Grace and Faith produce…
PASSING THROUGH THE GATES OF BETRAYAL: by Carter Conlon
PASSING THROUGH THE GATES OF BETRAYAL: by Carter Conlon
Posted on November 20, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends
PASSING THROUGH THE GATES OF BETRAYAL
by Carter Conlon
Many people have suffered betrayal as a Christian. This often causes them to live in a place of defeat where God cannot pour into them his full provision. As you read this message I believe there is going to be deliverance for you. Deliverance will mean not living behind gates of betrayal, where the devil would want to keep you.
BETRAYAL CAN HAVE A PURPOSE IN YOUR LIFE
Psalm 105:16-22: Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom. To fully grasp how God can have a purpose through betrayal, let us take a look at the life of Joseph. He was the man whom God would one day use to supply provision for others, including his own family. God had a plan to preserve the lives of his own people which ultimately involved moving them to another place. To do this he sent a severe famine throughout the land. Before God would bring about this time of great provision through Joseph, he was first called to walk a very difficultpath. We read in verse 18, God took Joseph on a journey that literally brought pain to his feet. In other words, God allowed hard times to come into Joseph’s life to prepare him for what was ahead. For God’s provision to flow through you to others it may mean taking journeys in life that you and I would rather not take and places we would rather not go. Some of you have had to walk a very hard path, and you’ve had these conflicts in your mind: “God, I thought this was going to be a walk of blessing. I thought it was going to be one of constant provision and joy. I’ve had this impression, but I seem to be called to walk in such a difficult place, enduring hardship when others around me appear to be on an easier journey.”
DREAMS THAT GOD GIVES
Remember when you were a child and your feet hit the ground with wonderful expectations of life? You lived in anticipation of what was going to happen every day. Joseph was like this in his early years when he had a dream in his heart. In Genesis 37, it says he dreamed God loved him and he would one day be in a highly favored position. God also has an incredible purpose concerning your life, something only you can do, and the moment you come to him, he begins to let you know what it is. It may not be grand in the sight of man, but it’s grand in the sight of God. He looks down upon you with favor, and empowers you, fulfilling the purpose that has been assigned to your life. God gives you the desire, and then fulfills that desire.
BETRAYED BY FAMILY
As a teenager, Joseph, knew he had been favored by God. Even though his life, he could not have known it would include being betrayed by his family. In much the same way when you were a young Christian, you set out on this journey with an incredible sense of the favor of God on your life. You loved everyone and everyone loved you. Wrong! Joseph’s father had said to him, “Go and see how your brothers are doing,” so he headed down the road that day in childlike obedience. But when Joseph met up with his brothers they laid hold of him, and in a moment of jealousy sold him into slavery to passing traders. These traders took Joseph bound with chains
into Egypt. Joseph endured things that would stop most people in their tracks. This betrayal by his family was the beginning of a journey that would result in many years of suffering. I don’t know if there’s any deeper betrayal than that which comes from those whom you thought loved you, those you became vulnerable with. Some of you have known this pain, even when you came to Christ and thought everything was going to be different.
BETRAYED BY EVERYONE AROUND HIM
After several years in Egypt and faithful service to a man called Potiphar, Joseph was again betrayed. Potiphar’s wife could not gain Joseph’s affections so she decided to cause him great harm by slandering his character to her husband. This man knew Joseph would not have acted with any impropriety, but still he chose to believe this evil report and had Joseph imprisoned. While in jail Joseph is betrayed once again by a fellow inmate. This man promised to help Joseph when he was in a position to do so, but immediately after his release he forgot all about Joseph. I don’t know about you, but after thirteen years of this, I might be inclined to pack it in, find a cabin somewhere and just give up.
THE DOORWAY OF SUFFERING
The New Testament tells us that suffering is, in measure, a doorway to a depth of Christ that you cannot know in any other way. Through suffering, God can bring you into some of the darkest prisons to minister to people in their suffering; to give them true hope and not just theories and pat scriptural answers. Look at Paul and Silas. We want to sing about their victory, the earthquake that opened prison doors, and the jailer and his family being saved. We forget that the precursor to the prison doors opening were stripes laid on their backs, false accusations, public beatings and humiliation. Paul said in Philippians 3:10: That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death. Paul knew suffering was a doorway to fellowship with Christ.
ARE YOU WILLING TO GO THROUGH SUFFERING
Matthew 20:20 — Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. James and John answered, “We are able to drink of this cup.” How quickly we answer God, and run to the altar, not understanding what we are asking for. Jesus said to James and John, “You want to sit with me where I am. Are you then able to endure rejection, betrayal, and wrath that you do not deserve without losing heart and focus? Are you able to drink the cup I have to drink to get to that place? Are you willing to be baptized with the same baptism I’m baptized with? Are you willing to walk in the will of God, and allow God’s plan for your life to be fulfilled? Can you follow me even if it means pain, sorrow, misunderstanding, being scorned and even death? Are you willing to let me be your source of life and supply to others?” Jesus could ask this because He was a man who would be betrayed. He was betrayed by Judas. He was betrayed by countless hundreds, maybe even thousands; some of whom he may have even fed on the mountaintops. This crowd stood before him and said, “Away with him, give us a murderer, give us a thief— away with this Christ—crucify him.” Jesus went to the cross and suffered the wrath of God, the wrath we deserved. So the question remains, “Are you able to drink the cup I have had to drink?”
PROVING OF YOUR FAITH
The enemy’s plan while Joseph was imprisoned was to keep him behind the gates of betrayal for all of his days; to have him believe he should merely endure people and look out only for himself. Yet these trials were permitted in Joseph’s life to increase his faith and trust in God. God’s plan for his people was to flow through Joseph with incredible provision. Unfortunately, there are many people in the Body of Christ who have never come close to fulfilling what God has for their lives. Could this be you? Instead of growing in faith you sit behind the gates of betrayal not willing to trust people or be vulnerable again. You don’t like people, loving people is no longer an option. You can’t come under leadership, because leadership at some point betrayed you, whether it was your father, mother, guardian, or a boss. You vowed never to trust leadership again. You cannot come under authority, you cannot walk in a ministry, or in unity with anyone else. You are living exactly where the devil wants you to be. You might have heard sermons like these before, occasionally gone to the altar, and asked God to help you forgive. You might have had momentary relief, but you were not really free the way you thought you were going to be. You might be discouraged, but don’t despair. God will not allow you to go through a trial without His power and aid. 1Corinthians 10:13: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.Every person who has been used in any considerable measure in God’s kingdom has had to go through betrayal. You see it throughout the scriptures. Jesus Christ was betrayed. John the Baptist, Isaiah, and Jeremiah were all betrayed. Look throughout history and you will find all great men and women who were used of God went through the gates of betrayal. You will not know the fullness of what God wants for you if you cannot get through these same gates.
JOSEPH’S JOURNEY THROUGH THE GATES OF BETRAYAL
Once Joseph was released from prison, he was placed in a position where he had the keys to great provision, even for those who had wounded him. People are going to come to you because you are in Christ, sitting in a place where there is abundant provision. Hungry people that once wounded you, people in your neighborhood, on your job, in your family, will seek you out and you are going to have to deal with this. When Joseph’s brothers first appeared before him, the memory of their betrayal came flooding back. Genesis 42:7: Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them and made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly to them. The best Joseph could do at this time was to speak roughly to them. Sometimes that’s just where you are. You can’t speak civilly to people who have hurt you. You try to cover it with some Christian words, but there is a roughness in your speech. It’s not defeat. This was just the beginning of God bringing Joseph through the gates of betrayal, and he will do the same for you. Joseph’s brothers stood before him and claimed to be honest men. When Joseph asked, “Who are you?” they replied that they were all one man’s sons and true men. Yet here they were standing before the man they had once betrayed. When somebody has betrayed you and they are unwilling to admit their fault, they stand before you in self-righteousness. This might be one of the most galling moments you have to go through as a Christian. God had already revealed to Joseph there would be a famine for seven years. He knew there was no hope of his brothers and family ever surviving, yet it was within his power to provide for them. He must have had a battle in his mind. If you have the provision of God, why should you give it to those who have betrayed you? They were not even willing to admit who they were—betrayers! Joseph placed them all in prison for three days. This might have made him feel good at the time. You might also feel a sense of justification when you keep people in a prison of unforgiveness for days on end. But the scripture says in Matthew 18:28: But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
MERCY TRIUMPHS OVER JUDGEMENT
I can’t help but wonder what was going on in Joseph’s heart the three days his brothers were in prison. Maybe the Lord reminded Joseph of the mercy he had been shown when he was in jail. So on the third day Joseph said to his brothers, this do and live, for I fear God…go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses. This is about as merciful as Joseph could get; he told them, “Just go. Here’s your corn – just leave.” You might think by this action Joseph had forgiven all the debt, but he still had a way to go. In Genesis 42:22-24, Joseph hears the brothers talking in their distress, as Reuben exclaims, Did I not tell you, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required. And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. And he turned himself about from them, and wept. Joseph battled in his heart; he saw his brothers were only concerned about the present trouble they were in. He hears no true sorrow for what they had done to him. You see, for Joseph, it was no longer about the fact they betrayed him; rather, it was the fact that they were not dealing truthfully with the deception of their own hearts.
A YEARNING FOR RECONCILIATION
Despite the struggle of his heart there was a growing yearning for reconciliation in Joseph. You see this in Genesis 43:30, And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. Joseph yearned for reconciliation with his brothers but wasn’t sure if he could be vulnerable with them. A desire to be reconciled with people who have hurt you is clear evidence you are moving through the gates of betrayal. You know Joseph is now passing through into the victory God had originally intended for him as he opens himself up to his brothers. Genesis 45:1-5, Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud. God does not always call you to go back to past hurts with a big smile on your face. There are real emotions involved. When you go back to someone who hurt you, it may involve a lot of tears. Joseph was now willing to do it. He had come to the point of understanding God’s plan and therefore wept aloud, saying, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
THE GATES OF HELL CANNOT PREVAIL
When you finally get to this point in your life as Joseph did, you understand God has been in control all along. Everything he allowed in your life was for a divine purpose and this purpose was to be a source of provision for others. You are called to walk with him, to drink the cup that he drank. God loves you, even though in your hurt you may have drawn back from Him. Jesus said, “You are my church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against you.” It’s time for you not to let wounds and hurts stop you from what God has for your life, and the provision that he is going to flow through you. The gates of hell cannot prevail! That means they can’t hold you back if you have a heart for truth. If you have a heart for God, and if you want to go on with Christ, then no gate can ever stop you. Hallelujah!
IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO ARISE
I want to challenge you with everything that is in me becauseof the lateness of the hour we live in. The famine is already here, and people are starving. It’s time for you to arise; the gate is open, but you have to make the choice to walk through it. Joseph did and was blessed on the other side. David also made the choice and he too was blessed. In Psalm 23, he wrote Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death… He did not remain in the valley but walked through it to the other side. David realized the revelation of the promises and provision of God in his life came when he walked through the valley. Therefore he could say, God’s provision of Goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I shared the life of Joseph in this message to show that with God there is a process involved in moving through the gates of betrayal. You no longer have to live behind those invisible bars of past betrayals. You will be vulnerable once again. Will you get hurt? Probably! But will you get through it? Absolutely! The end result of this victory will be even greater provision from God. God will give you fresh insight into his Word; he’ll give you boldness and words of knowledge and faith in troubled times. You will stand in the midst of adversity and be a testimony for the living God.
“Accusers of the Brethren” by Mrs. Angie Paxton
“Accusers of the Brethren” by Mrs. Angie Paxton
Posted on September 16, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends
“Accusers of the Brethren” by Angie Paxton
“Accusers of the Brethren”
In the last days there is going to be more and more accusations of the brethren. One day he will be cast out, but until then he will keep bringing charges against you. The charges may be true charges. Maybe you did things in the past that was a sin against God and he is bringing those things up. The charges also can be made up and total lies. Most of the time they are a mixture of both. Like Eve in the garden. Satan likes to mix a little truth with a lot of lies.
Revelation 12:10(Amplified Bible)
…for the accuser of our brethren, he who keeps bringing before our God charges against them day and night, has been cast out!
In the last days there will be troublemakers, slanders, and those who callous and inhuman. They are relentless and will not let a truce come and they will continue to accuse and make accusations to those of God.
Timothy 3:3-5(Amplified Bible)
3[They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good.
4[They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God.
5 For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].
This is a hard one for me, because at the end it says from such people turn away and some of those people happen to be family members. Sometimes our own family will be the very ones who will bring up our past sins and accuse us. If they have not truly given their lives to the living God, they will not understand God’s forgiveness. How God casts our sins away and remember them no more. (Repentance!)
Isaiah 43:25(King James Version)
25I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Psalm 103:12(King James Version)As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
These people who are doing the accusations have become a law unto themselves.
Romans 2:14-15(King James Version) For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
What are we to do when accusations come?
First we must examine ourselves. Have we sinned? Have we repented? Have we received what Jesus did for us at the Cross? Have we turned from our sin? (this is done only as we place our faith in what Jesus did and we will receive the help of the Holy Spirit to turn away)
We need to be void of offense toward God and toward men.
Acts 24:16(Amplified Bible)
16 Therefore I always exercise and discipline myself [mortifying my body, deadening my carnal affections, bodily appetites, and worldly desires, endeavoring in all respects] to have a clear (unshaken, blameless) conscience, void of offense toward God and toward men.
We need to have a good conscience. (this is not done with works or by anything that we can do ourselves)
Acts 23:1and Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
Matthew Henry’s commentary “Let us therefore take heed that we give him no cause of accusation against us; and that, when we have sinned, we presently go in before the Lord, and accuse and condemn ourselves, and commit our cause to Christ as our Advocate.”
Jesus is our Advocate and we must come to him to have a clear conscience.
We can be over comers. Here is how:
Revelation 12:11(Amplified Bible) And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing].
Matthew Henry
By the blood of the Lamb, as the meritorious cause. Christ by dying destroyed him that hath the power of death, that is, the devil. [2.] By the word of their testimony, as the great instrument of war, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,—by a resolute powerful preaching of the everlasting gospel, which is mighty, through God, to pull down strongholds,—and by their courage and patience in sufferings; they loved not their lives unto the death, when the love of life stood in competition with their loyalty to Christ; they loved not their lives so well but they could give them up to death, could lay them down in Christ’s cause; their love to their own lives was overcome by stronger affections of another nature; and this their courage and zeal helped to confound their enemies, to convince many of the spectators, to confirm the souls of the faithful, and so contributed greatly to this victory.
Acts 26:1-29 This is an example of an over comer. Please read. Paul was accused, told his testimony of God’s saving grace. He almost made King Agrippa a believer in the process. Sometimes our testimony will bring others to Christ and that is one thing that Satan does not like.
1 Peter 3:16-17(Amplified Bible)
[And see to it that] your conscience is entirely clear (unimpaired), so that, when you are falsely accused as evildoers, those who threaten you abusively and revile your right behavior in Christ may come to be ashamed [of slandering your good lives].
17 For [it is] better to suffer [unjustly] for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than to suffer [justly] for doing wrong.
Matthew Henry’s commentary, “A good conversation in Christ is a holy life, according to the doctrine and example of Christ. “Look well to your conscience, and to your conversation; and then, though men speak evil of you, and falsely accuse you as evildoers, you will clear yourselves, and bring them to shame.
The most conscientious persons cannot escape the censures and slanders of evil men; they will speak evil of them, as of evildoers, and charge them with crimes which their very souls abhor: Christ and his apostles were so used…
…but thinking themselves at liberty to say and do what they please,” Ps. 12:4.
Psalm 12:4(Amplified Bible)
4 Those who say, With our tongues we prevail; our lips are our own [to command at our will]–who is lord and master over us?
There is so much that could be said, but the main thing is we go to God for forgiveness, repent, turn from our sins and turn to God, then let our Advocate Jesus fight the accusers.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
“THE TIME IS NOW”: By Loren Larson
“THE TIME IS NOW”: By Loren Larson
Posted on January 26, 2011 by Pastor Len and Friends
“THE TIME IS NOW” By Loren Larson
Mark 2:5 – “When Jesus saw their Faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, your sins be forgiven you.”
The Narrative
The story in Mark, Chapter Two, of the paralyzed man or the man with the palsy, is well-known to students of the Bible. Four men, seeing their friend’s desperate state, make a concentrated effort to bring him to Christ. They believed that if they could just get that man into the Presence of Christ, that he would be healed. As they approached the place where Jesus was staying, they realized that the crowd was so large and so intense, that they would never be able to get their friend to Him. So, in desperation, they went absolutely radical! They lifted their friend up on the roof of the place where Jesus was. Then they hauled him across the roof until they knew they were above the place where Jesus stood. They then reached down and tore off the roof, letting their friend down into the midst of the Presence of the King of kings. The Bible says that when Jesus saw their Faith, He forgave and healed the man and sent him home whole. Might I suggest to you that right now is a time in which radical Faith must be utilized in order to get the “paralyzed” to Jesus!
Let’s Get Radical
The term radical is often used to describe those who are off balance and out-of-touch with reality. They are those who believe to the hurt of others; they are those who destroy others to promote their beliefs. While this is certainly true in some cases, there is a sense where radical can be a good thing. The term radical merely indicates something “characterized by departure from tradition; something innovative or progressive.” May I suggest that it is time to step it up a notch, in regard to our faith! It’s time to get radical about getting people to Jesus! Our time is short! There are three specific areas I would like to cover in which every Believer can break from the norm; that is, something to get radical about and with. The goal is simple. Let’s get as many people to Jesus as we can. It’s time to tear the roof off the house!
Radical Faith
I believe we are entering into a time of Harvest that is unprecedented. I believe that our Ministry here at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries will play a significant role in the gathering of that Harvest. I believe that God has placed me here, so that I can fulfill the Call of my life to present the Gospel from the many platforms I have been given! I must believe that these things are so! You must know and understand the moment in which we live. You must believe it is the time of Harvest! You must be a part of those who are bringing in the Harvest through the proclamation of the Cross! You must realize the vital part that you play in all that God has prepared. Believe for the souls of the lost and the opening up of the eyes of those in the church who are spiritually blind to the truth of the Cross. This belief must be passionate. It must drive you, even consume you! Believe that you are here and that God has placed you for “such a time as this!”
Radical Prayer
Give yourself over to times of prayer. You should be praying for the gathering of the Harvest. Pray that those who minister the Message of the Cross will find greater platforms and have a heavier anointing to deliver this Message. Pray for God to raise up laborers for this Harvest. Pray for the opportunities of the Gospel message to bring forth results for the Kingdom. Pray for the health, and protection of those who are presenting this Message. Dedicate yourself to times of prayer. Organize groups to gather and pray for the Harvest and the laborers. Be consistent! Don’t stop! Bombard Heaven with your request for souls. Lord, “give us the heathen for our inheritance!”
Radical Giving
The Gospel can only go as far as the dollar can take it! Here at Jimmy Swaggart Ministries we are stretching our Faith farther than ever before. My family and I have dedicated more funds to the Work of God than we ever have before. The Ministry has been granted open doors and we must walk through them. I know that being placed here makes me responsible to do my part, to the fullest extent that I am able. We are increasing our giving, by Faith, and the Lord is meeting our every need! Our goal is souls! Are others worth it? Do you want someone else to meet the Jesus you know? Then it’s time to get radical with your finances! The opportunity is here! What will we do with it?
In the Darkness of Night: by T. Atkins
In the Darkness of Night: by T. Atkins
Posted on January 26, 2011 by Pastor Len and Friends
In the Darkness of Night
As most children do, I grew up with a healthy fear of the dark. It was typical for me, especially as a very young child, to request my father to stay with me at bedtime until I fell asleep. His presence was comforting and it would be a short while before I would give in to my exhaustion. But there were times when I would wake up in the middle of the night to an empty room and it would take all I had to muster up the courage to venture out into that hallway to seek the bedroom of my parents.
Although it doesn’t terrify me as it used to, the dark can still cause me to walk a little faster towards a car or a house. And I still scramble just as fast as my kids for a flashlight when there is a blackout. But I don’t do these things necessarily out of fear. I walk to a car or a house a little faster because there are times when we should be cautious and careful. I scramble to find the flashlight in a shadowy house because I don’t care to stub a toe or bruise a shin.
But… there are times in the darkness of night when I do tremble. These are the times when the enemy of my soul attacks. Have you ever noticed that? Have you woken up to Satan’s attack on your mind? Maybe for years or months you’ve not desired alcohol, but he wakes you up desperate for a drink. Maybe you’re struggling to keep your faith in Christ for deliverance from addiction to pornography but are awoken to images you cannot erase from your mind. Maybe you don’t know how you’re going to feed your family, and although you’ve put your trust in the Lord for provision and have gone to bed with the Lord’s peace in your heart – Satan wakes you up with feelings of hopelessness. Or maybe you wake up feeling so alone and unloved that you cannot see any Light at all.
Satan makes it his business to know your weaknesses. He sure knows mine. He knows that for most of my life he held me in bondage with doubts and fears that would haunt my nights and wake me up almost paralyzed in terror. He knows that one of the hardest things for me to accept was that God the Father loved me, that He knew my name, that I was actually included in the “whosoever will” that Christ died for.
When I finally came to accept that Christ died for me, too… He set me free from the bondage of hopelessness, terror and depression. I found peace. I found joy. I found that I could trust in Him no matter what the situation looked like. So now when I am drifting off to sleep and suddenly feel a very real presence that brings those old feelings of terror that make me tremble, I cling to the Promises of God. I remind myself and the enemy who I am in Christ – a child of The Most High God. I call out to the One who saved me and set me free.
For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27
I hope and pray that if you are enduring attacks from the enemy that this has ministered to your heart and that you will be encouraged to know those midnight battles have already been won for you at the Cross of Calvary.
“Ignorant on Purpose” by Mrs. Angie Paxton
“Ignorant on Purpose” by Mrs. Angie Paxton
Posted on September 16, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends
“Ignorant on Purpose” by Angie Paxton
“Ignorant on Purpose”
Many will not come to God on purpose.
Romans 10:3(King James Version)
3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Romans 10:3(Holman Christian Standard Bible)
3 Because they disregarded the righteousness from God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.
It is hard to persuade men to believe what they are not willing to find true. They do not know because they do not care to know.
They were ignorant on purpose. They expected to be justified by their own works, as if thy could satisfy God’s justice.
They went around to establish their own righteousness – a righteousness of their own working out, by the merit of their works, they thought they needed not to beholden to the merit of Christ.
They would not submit to God’s righteousness. In true faith, there is need of a great deal of submission. Unbelief is a non-submission to the righteousness of God.
They have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God on purpose. They went about to establish their own way to right standing with God. They tried to establish their own righteousness.
Many attempt to establish righteousness by other methods than faith in Christ & the Cross.
Many who have come to God will try to stay justified & sanctified by self effort.
Galatians 3:3(King James Version)
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
(Are they foolish on purpose?)
Galatians 3:3(New Century Version)
3 You began your life in Christ by the Spirit. Now are you trying to make it complete by your own power? That is foolish.
Matthew Henry: And thus they had begun well; but now they were turning to the law, and expected to be advanced to higher degrees of perfection by adding the observance of it to faith in Christ, in order to their justification,…
Do you think by self effort you can achieve righteousness or sanctification? You started by faith, do you think you can work your way to God or come to maturity?
People want to go their own way. They do not want to submit unto God and His righteousness.
Many are on purpose being ignorant of God’s way. They judge their own rigtheousness by the world’s standard. They judge their right way of living by the world. But the standard is the word of God. The only way one can be righteous is by Christ and Him crucified.
But people will not come to this truth on purpose.
John 3:19-20(King James Version)
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
They do not want their deeds exposed. Their deeds are so full of self effort that if they admit to the truth, they will be condemned. This goes for the saved and the unsaved.
Are you trying to come to God by your self effort? Are you trying to make yourself perfect by your self effort?
You can not add anything to faith in Christ. You must walk daily with your faith placed in what Jesus did, not in what you are doing.
Do not be ignorant on purpose!!!!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Downward Slide Of God’s People: By Loren Larson
The Downward Slide Of God’s People: By Loren Larson
Posted on September 15, 2010 by Pastor Len and Friends
Hosea 1:2 – “The beginning of the Word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto you a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land has committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.”
Great Similarities
As the Fall Semester of 2001 at WEBC&S began, I found myself teaching on the Book of Hosea. As I studied this great Minor Prophet, the equivalents of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the United States of America seemed to come to life before me. As the horrific events of 9/11 (September 11, 2001) took place, the parallels seemed to be even more clear. I will always believe that God uses events such as 9/11 to get His People back on the right road. However, even though there was a slight turn to God during this time, the Nation of America has continued to turn its back on God. It is evidenced by droughts, famines, the insane acts of men dominated by sin, a dominant theme of homosexuality, pedophilia, and the latest financial woes. All of these, and more, are signs to a nation that they are traveling in a wrong direction. Hosea ministered to the Northern Kingdom in the last years of its existence. God grew weary of the rebellion, the sin, but most of all the Covenant violations. God’s People, at the end, couldn’t tell the difference between the One True God, Jehovah, and the Phoenician fertility god, Baal. I dare say, the Nation and God’s People in America are in pretty much the same shape as the Northern Kingdom of Israel was right before its collapse and defeat.
The Story Of Hosea’s Children
Hosea was told to take a wife that would be unfaithful to him. This he did, in obedience to God’s Word. The children and the names given to them that would come forth from this union depicted the attitude and the actions that God enacted against His People as they continued to commit Spiritual Adultery against Him. The purpose of this little article is to awaken the reader to the truth that God will not abide sin forever. His Love and Compassion, so immense in its Scope and its Mercy, does have its limits. God goes much farther with the wicked than man realizes, but there is a cutoff. This is a place where God’s Holiness removes Him from an adulterous rebellious people or nation.
Jezreel
The name of Hosea’s first child was Jezreel. It literally means “to scatter” or “to sow.” In this name God was warning Israel that He had just about had enough of their idolatry. He was about to scatter to the four winds the Nation that He Himself had called out of Egypt and formed. Their embracing of Jeroboam’s “golden calves” started an advance with “other gods” that never ceased until God did scatter them through the agency of the Assyrians. Are we, as a Nation, any better today? Are you, as a person, trusting exclusively in the Finished Work of Christ or have you embraced the religious “golden calves” of today’s American Church? God will “scatter” the life, the people, and the nation that remains idolatrous before Him.
Lo-Ruhamah
The second child, a girl, was named Lo-Ruhamah. The name literally means “no more pity,” “no more mercy.” God protects all of His People from much of the consequences that sin can create. He deals with most behind the curtain of Forgiveness and Restoration, a place where not even those close to us realize our failures or defeats. They are hidden, for the most part, from the eyes of others! However, if Deliverance is not obtained from the power of sin in the way that God offers it, the consequences of sin will take its toll. God allows this, all the while desiring that the individual adulterous people. If the pain of being scattered and brought under the power of sin is not enough to turn a person, a people, or a nation, God will ultimately turn away from those who have turned away from Him.
The Answer
I would not leave the reader in despair. There is an answer for the individual, for the Church, and for our Nation. Let us individually and as a whole turn from the idols of religion, the foolishness and emptiness of a world in which we have made ourselves god, and turn in Repentance with all of our hearts to the Lord. Let us look exclusively, entirely, and singularly to the Finished Work of Christ for forgiveness and strength. Let us cry out to God for one more great outpouring of His Spirit upon our lives. “If My People, who are called by My Name will humble themselves, and pray. . . .” His Promise remains True!
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