L i f e

Rick Joyner

Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures,

and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."

And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves,

with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind;

and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:20-21).

The Lord said that His people were worth "more than many sparrows" (see Matthew 10:31), so sparrows are obviously worth something to Him. When He created the beasts He "saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:25). The creation is precious to the Lord, which is why we see in Revelation 11:18 that when the Lord's great wrath comes at the end, one reason is "to destroy those who destroy the earth." Christians should be the most devoted conservationists of all, counting precious what our wonderful Creator has given us to enjoy on the earth. Life, in all of its forms, must be esteemed and protected. However, this must not be confused with the idolatrous worship of the creation in place of the Creator.

Are You Experiencing the Spirit Filled Life?

Campus Crusade for Christ

What words would you use to describe your current experience as a Christian?

Growing. Frustrated. Disappointing. Fulfilled. Forgiven. Stuck. Struggling. Joyful. Defeated. Exciting. Up and down. Empty. Discouraged. Duty. Intimate. Mediocre. Painful. Dynamic. Guilty. Vital. So-so. Others?

Do you desire more? Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37, 38). What did Jesus mean? John, the biblical author, went on to explain, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:39).

Jesus promised that God’s Holy Spirit would satisfy the thirst, or deepest longings, of all who believe in Jesus Christ. However, many Christians do not understand the Holy Spirit or how to experience Him in their daily lives.

The following principles will help you understand and enjoy God’s Spirit.

Stir Up the Power

"Greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears....I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you.... For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:4,6-7)

There are times when you know what God has called you to do, but you just don't feel you have the inner resources you need to do it. Somehow you've simply run dry. You know the Word says that "out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). But, during those times, you can't even find the creek bank, much less the river.

The Word of God tells us how to handle those situations through a clear command: "Stir up the gift inside you." 

Rivers Of Living Water

Several countries in Southeast Asia celebrate the regional new year with a water festival. Traditionally, people sprinkle each other with water as a sign of respect and blessing, but many people intensify it with wild, joyful, boisterous dousing of anybody and everybody with water. Walk or drive down the streets during those days and you might be accosted with garden hoses, water cannons, water pistols, or even bowls and cups filled with water. It is raucous. It is fun. It is vivid. Everyone knows it is out with the old, in with the new.

Water was a key feature of the ancient Jewish festival called the Feast of Tabernacles. For the first seven days of the festival, with trumpets blowing, a priest would take water from the Pool of Siloam and carry it through the streets in a golden vessel, eventually delivering it to the altar in the temple.

Jesus was in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles, when, on the climactic day of the festival, he stood up and shouted out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:37–38). The Gospel of John then has this explanation: “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (John 7:39).

Are You Experiencing the Spirit Filled Life?

What words would you use to describe your current experience as a Christian?

Growing. Frustrated. Disappointing. Fulfilled. Forgiven. Stuck. Struggling. Joyful. Defeated. Exciting. Up and down. Empty. Discouraged. Duty. Intimate. Mediocre. Painful. Dynamic. Guilty. Vital. So-so. Others?

Do you desire more? Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37, 38). What did Jesus mean? John, the biblical author, went on to explain, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:39).

Jesus promised that God’s Holy Spirit would satisfy the thirst, or deepest longings, of all who believe in Jesus Christ. However, many Christians do not understand the Holy Spirit or how to experience Him in their daily lives.

Thirsty

Written by Julene Uganecz

If your life feels dry you may not be experiencing a life equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Come and experience the Spirit-filed Life.  

“Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”  (John 4:14a)

In my early years of mothering, I found myself in the middle of Borneo, Indonesia.  My husband flew floatplanes there, and our children and I spent long days in our hot humid home. On one particular morning, our well’s water pump sprung a leak. The pump was damaged, so I had to shut down the pump and turn off the pipes to our well.

The laundry in the machine sat wet, the kids came in dirty needing to bathe, and ants began to nibble on the dirty dishes. Wet wipes became my best friend. If you’ve ever been temporarily without water you know how inconvenient it is.  For people who struggle to find clean water at all, it is a matter of life and death.

Temperature Check

Written by Gail Morris

Do you feel far away from God today? We would love to pray for you.  

“So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)

When the heat is on in Texas, the temperatures can run over 100 degrees outside. We joke that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. (I’ve tried. It’s slow, but it works.) During these scorching days water from the cold tap runs lukewarm. There are times when my relationship with God seems the same. Not because of Him, but because of me.

I meander in and out of His Word. I skip a day or more of one-on-one prayer time. I get caught up in the bustle of daily life and forget where my focus should be–on Him.

Becoming God's Voice for Breakthrough

Debbie Przybylski, Intercessors Arise

“As God’s representative on the earth, He has given us the authority to speak for Him. When we speak under the leading of the Holy Spirit, we speak as His voice on the earth. During strategic times, the Lord will prompt us to pray prayers that will bring breakthrough.” --Barbara Wentroble

When we look around us we hear so many voices. There are so many voices we can listen to every day. There are many words we can speak every day, both good and positive or negative and evil. God’s voice can appear small to us when mixed with all the satanic and evil voices all around us. There are false voices in the media, in the school system, in talk show hosts, and even in the church. We must be able to discern truth from error and the true from the false every day. In the end times we must learn to drown out the other voices and know God’s voice and speak it.

We had a car but it wouldn’t start. Doesn’t that sound like a familiar situation to many of us? My husband checked the battery to make sure there was power there. Yes, there was plenty! He then checked the starter and replaced it with a new one but when he turned the key, no power was getting to the starter. He examined the cables. He discovered that the negative cable was not grounded to the frame. It reminds me of many of us. Just as the car had no power to start when the cable wasn’t attached right, we can have lots of good things in our Christian life but if we are not grounded in the Word of God and speaking it out, the power of God can’t flow freely through our lives.

The battery of our life needs the Word of God to empower us to be and do all that God intends.

As His representatives on earth, we must learn to be His voice and speak clearly with His authority. But do we really know how powerful God’s voice is? Do we realize that we can become God’s voice for breakthrough?

God’s Mouthpiece

We are the voice of the Lord on the earth as we positively declare his will through our prayers. God many times is waiting for something to be done on earth, but He needs someone to pray his will. We become God’s voice on the earth for breakthrough by praying His will as we listen and obey. He wants us to be His mouthpiece on the earth. We can accomplish great things as His mouthpiece. Heaven responds to our prayers -- God listens and acts on our behalf -- good things happen in the spirit realm when we learn the secret of positive confession.

The atmosphere changes -- we change -- our life changes.

Think of what Jeremiah accomplished after he became God’s mouthpiece. He was called to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:9-10). That’s a powerful calling. Through our prayers we can do the same. We need the Lord to touch our lips and put His Words in our mouth. So often we can have negative words flowing from our mouths rather than positive words that confess God’s truth. But God’s Spirit wants to flow through us as rivers of living water (John 7:38). We must believe this, and as the days darken we must learn to be His voice and speak His truth!

If ever there was a need for being God’s voice on earth, it is now. God’s voice is powerful and accomplishes great things. Let’s look at some Scriptures to put into perspective how mighty our God is. Psalm 29:3-9 says:

“The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, 'Glory!'"

One of the things that the voice of the Lord does in these verses is to break (shabar). This means “to burst, to break into pieces (like a wild bear); to destroy, to perish (such as kingdoms, a city, or a people); to cause to break forth, to open (the womb)”. The broken places need repairing. Nations are in turmoil, evil is rampant, people are discouraged and frightened. We can stand in the gap and bring healing to the earth as we are God’s voice of hope and life. We can help destroy the works of evil and rebuild, repair, and restore through our prayers. Kingdom people know how to pray in His Kingdom. We read in Isaiah 58:12:

“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Positive Confession

When we pray with positive confession, we pray with expectancy and faith. It’s easy to be negative when you are going through a difficult time in your life. I know that I am tempted to complain during those times. It is so easy to talk about the problems. During testing times like this, we must especially watch our speech. As we go against our feelings and positively confess God’s truth and praise His name, our hearts change. Our mindset changes and confusion, discouragement, and anxiety flee.

But we first must trust God and His character. We must trust His Word and not our feelings. He will carry us through. Faith is expecting what I pray will happen. We do not just believe God can do something, but that he will do something. Positive confession is bold and confident in it’s praying. Once we know Gods heart, we boldly pray it and then we walk in faith that it will be so, even when the answer is not there yet and even when difficulties are all around us.

Positive confession is confidence in God and acting on that confidence. We must pray with confidence that God will answer our prayers according to His wisdom and goodness. We must trust that He knows what is best for us. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” It’s so easy for us to lean on our own understanding instead of boldly leaning on God and His Word. Faith acts on God’s Word, His truth. Look at the example of Abraham in Heb. 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Abraham went by faith. His life was a positive confession of God’s promise.

In declarative prayer that positively confesses God’s truth, we expect God to answer us. We pray with assurance when we know we are asking in His will. When we have the assurance that a promise is from God’s Word for us, we can pray it confidently and claim it authoritatively. We don’t just believe but we say exactly what we believe.
We hold firmly to the faith we profess -- “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess” (Hebrews 4:14).
We confess with confidence -- “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:6)
We confess with our mouth -- “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:10).

For our faith to be effective, we must positively confess it. It will never be mine, until I say so. We may have to pray many times. Elijah had to pray 7 times for rain. Jesus had to pray 3 times in the Garden of Gethsemane. We are encouraged to keep on asking and keep on seeking in Matthew 7:7. We have to keep on until we have the assurance from God and then we begin giving thanks.

What are you facing in your life today where you need to practice positive confession of God’s truth? Are you standing upon His promises and practicing declarative prayer? Are you leaning upon your own understanding or are you boldly leaning upon God’s Word? Are you God’s mouthpiece in a world that desperately needs to hear His voice?

Let’s pray with an attitude of expectant faith. Let’s pray that we will be God’s mouthpiece on earth today in our prayers and actions.

“When we are really praying in faith, our attitude will be one of expectancy rather than wish or desire. Faith means that we’ve moved beyond believing that God can do something to believing that He will do something when we ask.” --Jonathon Graf

Together in the Harvest,

Debbie Przybylski

Intercessors Arise International

deb@intercessorsarise.org

http:www.intercessorsarise.org

http://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/becoming-god-s-voice-for-breakthrough.html