Declare your Future

Declare your Future

The creative power of words

Its one thing to believe you are blessed but when you say it

That’s when the blessings come looking for you

The scripture says let the redeemed of the Lord say so

Believing is good

Desiring is good

Thinking is good

But eventually you have to declare it

That’s how you give life to your faith

God didn’t just think things into existence

He had it in his heart

But nothing came in existence

until he spoke them

His words set things in motion

We are created in His image and likeness

We are designed the same way

We are spirit beings

You can believe big things

You can have faith

You can have big dreams

But then what?

What’s the problem

Nothing happens until you speak it

Until you declare it

When you say

I’m coming out of debt

I’m the head and not the tail

God s favor surrounds me like a shield

Then

Opportunities will find you

Good grades will come your way

Promotions will overtake you

It’s good to believe that you are healthy

Its good to believe that you will overcome this illness

That’s good

But you must declare it

That’s when faith is activated

When you declare

I will live and not die

With long live will the Lord satisfy me

Making declarations every day

Will help you live the life you were intended

Declare it every day before you leave the house

Say it

Things shave shifted in my favor

God is about to show me something I have never seen

When you begin to talk like that

Angels go to work on your behalf

They are opening new doors on your behalf

They begin arranging things in your favor

All of us are hoping or believing for something today

But are you giving life to your faith

by speaking it out today

Psalm 91:2-7

 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him.

For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.

He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.

Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.

I will declare

And he will do

The psalmist went around declaring it

And God became his strength

If you are bold enough to declare it

Then God says

I’m bold enough to do it

Have you ever declared

that your dreams are coming to pass

have you ever said

I will pay off my house

I will start my own business

I will loose this weight I will

I will get my degree

I will see my family restored

Whatever God has put in your heart

it has to get into your conversation

we must begin to talk like its going to happen

talk like its already in the way

We cannot speak

IF its going to happen

but WHEN it WILL happen

I had a friend many years ago

Who worked for me

Who was believing for a child

They had tried for years

But one day

They began to speak as if they were pregnant

In fact

He would say things like

Well when my wife gets pregnant

I won’t be able to work the same hours

This went on for many years

Some of our friends

Thought they were deluded

Kind of crazy

They were getting too old

And this talk went on for so long

That most people

Didn’t even want to be around them

This went on for years

After about 9 years of declaring

They got pregnant

And a year and half later

They had another child

They spoke about it for so long

It became a very part of them

The faith became so real

Until

It was manifested in the natural

When we were looking to purchase this building

We didn’t just think about it

And pray about it

Those were important

But we didn’t stop there

We began to declare it

I cannot tell you how many days

We would come here and drive around this building

Or get out and walk this property

Declaring it as ours for the glory of the Lord

It became a part of our daily discussions

We didn’t worry about all the finances

and the difficulties

But in the midst of the trials

we kept declaring it

We said of the Lord

You are bigger than any obstacle

We know that if you are before us

Who can be against us

we declared it and God did it

What are you saying of the Lord today?

What are you declaring in your life?

Most of us are declaring the reality of our life

Pastor

My problems are very severe

My marriage is so messed up it can never be healed

I made so many mistakes my life is a mess

I got us in big financial trouble, and we’ll never get out of it

No, NO NO

Stop what you are saying

don’t talk about how big your problem is

Talk about how big your God is

When you say of the Lord

You are my healer

My way maker

My restorer

My vindicator

My supplier

My dream giver

My stronghold

My victory

That’s when God will show up

Are you declaring victory over your life

Your family

& your career

When you get up in the morning

You need to make some declarations

My children will fulfill their destiny

Our family is healthy and prosperous

We are debt free

And we have great favor

When you declare favor over your life

God will make things happen

That should have never happened

Now I know to many of you

This sounds foolish

And than God for that

Because if I were making sense to you right now

I would be really concerned

Because I am not speaking about natural things

I am not here to give you 3 steps to feeling euphoric

I’m here to day to give you truth

And the scripture says that the truth will what?

It will set you free

We are not free

This society is not free

We are bound up

Bound up in our troubles

In our circumstances

We are all bound up in things

and our lives are not as happy and prosperous

as they were meant to be

God is here this morning to give us a truth

One that can

If you will take hold of it today

It can revolutionize your life

1Co 2:14-15

 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are

foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

You in your natural man

In your natural hearing

In your natural vision

In your natural sense of smell

In your natural sense of touch

You can NEVER understand the things of the Spirit of God

Listen to that carefully

Because too many of the Church is deceived today

We are all looking at our Christianity through the eyes of

The natural man

We get emotional

We are moved emotionally

We have lost the ability to discern the Spiritual intention

Of everything happening in our lives

When things to wrong in your life

What do you do?

You try and figure out what happened

Then you try and fix the problem

That is exactly what society is doing today

Every time we have a new tragedy in this country

Men with good intentions

Rise up and try to implement new laws to stop that tragedy from happening again

In our lives

We say

I will change

I will not act that way again

I am sorry

And you may be

But until you discern the Spiritual Realm

And what is actually happening

You cannot overcome the problem

The first problem we have is we talk about our problems

We glorify our problems

We want to make our problems the center of attention

My back is bothering me

My boss is a jerk

My car is about to die

My wife is a nag

My husband is lazy

The Spiritual man hears these things

And realizes the problem

It is --- what is spoken

We are created to create

What are we creating

We are creating our future each day

I love young children

They have such an ability to see things

Clearly

Because they have yet to be tainted by life

Daddy I’m going to be a doctor

Well daddy is an unemployed hog catcher from

No mansville Florida

And he cannot see that as a possibility

So what does he do

He dashes her dreams with his reality

And not the Spiritual Truth

Mommy I’m going to marry a wonderful man

Who will take great care of me and we will have 3 kids

And 2 dogs and we will be best friends

The problem is Mommy didn’t have that

She met a man who promised her the world and delivered her hell instead

So she hears her daughters dreams filtered through her pain

And dashes her dreams with her reality

We do it all the time

I will be out of debt

Then we go and complain that gas prices are so high

Or milk costs – whatever it costs

Our thinking has been polluted

And so our speech has been polluted

And therefore our life has been polluted

Its time we line up our speech

with what the scripture says

when we do this

We unlock the heavenlies

Listen

I’m in another dimension today

You need to move out of the natural dimension

That your in

and get on over into the spiritual dimension

because that side is much more real

Nobody can stop you when you are in the right dimension

Ask Jonah

You can get on a boat and try to run

But it won’t work

Because if you were meant to do something

Then God will send a huge fish your way

But one way or another

You will

Eventually end up in Nineva

See as Christians

Once we realize that we work in another dimension

No body can stop us

No one can judge us

He that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

Your past has no bearing on your future

Your destiny has nothing to do with your past

Your past actions cannot hinder your future progress

WHY

Because you are in another dimension

And the world cannot judge you

1Co 12:1 

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

This means you can be saved and be ignorant

Uninformed

Unwilling to do what you know you should

The tragedy of being ignorant is that you don’t have to be

The words that you speak are very important

Now here is the catch to all this

This works in the positive as well as in the negative

If you are always saying ‘I m so unlucky

I never get any good breaks

You are moving towards more bad breaks

If you say ‘my back has been bad for a long time

You are moving towards more sickness and pain

If you say

My life is a mess I don’t think  I’ll ever be happy again

You are moving towards more discouragement and unhappiness

If you will change what you are saying

You will change what you are seeing

The scripture says

Romans 4:17 (KJV) 

(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Call the things that are not as if they were already were

What we usually do is just the opposite

We call the things that are as if they will always be that way

We describe the situation

The gas prices are so high

I can’t see how we can make it

We are just calling in more lack

Man my boss is driving me crazy

You are calling in more struggles and problems

Don’t use your words to describe the situation

Use them to change the situation

If you want to know what you are going to be like in 5 years

Listen to what you are saying today

For me

5 years from now

I’m going to be stronger & wiser

I will preach better messages than I ever did

Don’t say amen to that

I will be better looking and

Healthier than ever

Pastor mike

When you get old

Your hearing goes

Your legs get tired

Your eyes get weak

Too many people are speaking what the circumstances

Are showing

And not what faith says

When you change what you speak

You change your destiny

Listen

in spite of what has been

Going through your family line

You are a new creation

You have new blood running through your veins

Your youth is being renewed

You are prophesying your future

Beauty for ashes

Joy for morning

New beginnings are in my future

The best of my life is before me

Moving away from self pity and

Moving towards God goodness in a new way

We should make positive declarations over our lives every day

Whatever you want to see changed

Declare it daily

For instance

If you struggle with self esteem

Listen

Declare this instead

I am confident

I am valuable

I have royal blood flowing through me

I am one of a kind

I have favor on my life

I am a child of the most high God

You declare that

And you will go out with a new attitude

If you struggle with past mistakes

Proclaim this

I am forgiven

I am redeemed

I am wearing a robe of righteousness

God is pleased with me

God not only loves me

He likes me

The scripture says

Let the weak say I’m strong

It doesn’t say

Let the weak talk about our weakness

no you cannot talk defeat and expect to have success

you cant talk sickness

and expect to have health

you cant speak lack

and expect to have abundance

In a tough time

When someone asks how your doing

Don’t get into a litany of all the bad things that have happened

Dog hates me

Washing machine broke

Gold fish died

Lost my job

Car is broke

By the end of all that

Both of you will end up depressed

Instead begin to change your words

How are you doing

I am blessed

I am healthy

My life is getting better every day

What you consistently talk about

You are moving towards

Pro 6:2  You are snared with the words of thy mouth……………….

Most of us have spent years saying negative things over our lives

I’ll never get out of debt

My marriage is a mess

Ill never break this addiction

No you have to send your words out in a positive direction

Every day declare that your dreams are coming to pass

Its not enough to just believe it

Nothing happens until you speak

When you say of the Lord

The Lord will do it

I am blessed

I am prosperous

I am strong

I am healthy

I am talented

I am creative

I am confident

I am secure

I am disciplined

I am focused

I am attractive

I am well liked

I have a good personality

The right people are in my future

The right opportunities are heading my way

I will accomplish my dreams

I will overcome every obstacle

This is  my year

Things have shifted in my favor

God is about to show me something I have never seen

It is bigger and better than I ever imagined

I am the redeemed of the Lord

And I declare it today

Die to Live

Mark 11:7-11

Then they brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their robes on it, and He sat on it.

Many people spread their robes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields.

Then those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!

And He went into Jerusalem and into the temple complex. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

This could change the way you look at Christianity

This is an announcement of the Messiah

It went directly to the Temple

Showing he was king lord and messiah over the temple

The next day

He acted out what God would eventually do

He was not cleansing the temple as we traditionally believe

But He was acting out destruction not cleansing

We prefer cleansing over destruction

But to God destruction is cleansing

We’ve modernized His movement so much we forgot

That one day there would be destruction

He had the right to do what He did

Because He was saying He was Messiah

He said

He would raise it up again

Heaven and earth will be destroyed but we will get a new heaven and a new earth

God is in the process now of destroying religion and rebuilding it

He comes in and surprises them –

At first they are saying hosanna – hosanna

He will free us

Amen

He will free us from all our worldly enemies

But He surprises them

He comes to free us from all our worldliness

They believe He was come to be King over the earthly kingdom

Prove to the world that they were right

Religion likes exclusiveness

Calvinism is the dominant foundation of religion today

It is an exclusive theory

Is says this:

There are some people God has chosen to live forever and there are some He has chosen to burn in hell

All men are predestined

When they evangelize – they are looking for the predestined ones

The others don’t matter – they will be eternally in hell

They rule major religion today

And guess what?

They are all chosen – of course

And exclusiveness

And we are looking for others that are it too

Makes us feel exclusive

Because if you try to get a Calvinist to pray

They believe everything is already chosen

It is all fate

The Sovereign will of God

Then all murder –etc is God’s will

We know that is not true

So God does not do what He always wants to have done

Because it is dependent on man following through

That is why time is like it is – God waits – for those who will

The religious leaders at that time

All thought they were it – they were exclusive –

and that Jesus was coming to prove them right

He said this temple will fall and be raised up in 3 days

He took down one and raised up another

God’s plan is bigger than us – or any one or any group

He comes in and reverses the roles

They were expecting Him to burst into the temple and speak on the tyranny of Rome

And how they should rise up against their enemies

But instead He said YOU have made my Fathers house a den of thieves

Call them the robbers not us

Something is wrong here

They felt He was accusing them

He reversed the roles

We today are caught in a role reversal

At that time  they fought it

Because they did not want to here the truth

They thought they had it

They were the good guys

But the King came and said

You are the problem

And He did it in the temple so there was no missing it

He reversed it

They are not the problem

They don’t belong to me

How can those who do not belong to God be a problem to God?

It’s my people that are the problem

They claim they are mine

They make high claims

But they don’t live right  

He shocks them

And if Jesus were to walk in her today

What would you expect Him to say?

O you guys are great

Thanks for taking a few days a year to visit my temple

And get together with my people

Thanks for giving so much to the kingdom – please stop – you are giving

Way too much of your time and energy to the kingdom

Why don’t you take a break – maybe go on vacation

Ill shake the money tree for you –

No

Instead – just as He said then

It would be repeated –

My house has become a den of thieves and robbers

You rob me of what is mine

If nothing else

We rob each other of faith

Some of you

Being so excited

Tell another Christian of your excitement

And they will proceed to rob you

Our churches are filled with people who

Listen to those outside – ‘who tell us the presence of God don’t exist

The Power of God don’t exist

We cannot listen to those who would rob us blind

We would be just like them ---

Place yourself in their position

Jesus came and they were like wow

He is great – He is come to free us

Yea – His first few sermons were great

But what is this He is doing now?

He is turning against US –

We are not the enemy

Its those who are not with us that are the problem

We better get rid of this guy

This message He is preaching will only hurt us

We are no different – we hate to be told that we are the problem

If you ever done any counseling you will understand

Problems always involve 2 people

And as soon as you get to telling the problem –

O BOY –

When you tell him his problem I’m ok with that

But start telling me mine and

WATCH OUT

I’ll turn on you so fast –

You won’t know what happened

Things changed

 from Hosanna to crucifixion

They didn’t like what Jesus had to say

They were saying

“He made us the bad guys”

And He was right

They were bad

They sought a way to kill him

And we are the same

If we were there

We too would be plotting his demise

One day we are crowing Him messiah

The next day giving Him a crown of thorns

So here is Jesus

standing before Pilate

A condemned man

But he knew one thing

He knew that everything is about to change

He took on role reversal

And soon

Things would be reversed once again

But this time

For eternity  

He knew what He was about to endure is temporary

But what He was accomplishing would change things forever

It was permanent

We need to understand this role reversal

What we are going through today is only temporary

And soon we will be on the receiving side of all the blessings

God has for us – for all eternity

That’s how God did it

Those judging me now – will soon be judged forever

The roles will be reversed

Everything in the Bible shows role reversal – its all going to reverse

The criminal was soon to be the judge forever

And the judge will be the condemned

The dead will live again

Those who try and save their life will loose it

Everything is going to reverse

We make the same mistake

If you want to be great (forever)

Be a servant now

Root problem – we want it all now

Popular, loved, accepted, self esteem, all now

But if we have it now

We loose it forever

Even Jesus didn’t take it all now

He came and took on the form of a servant

He understood – role reversal

We must follow that pattern now

He was obedient

So he would be worshipped forever

If we go through role reversal now

We will have what we desire forever

What we want here – we sacrifice for eternity

Want to be exalted

Humble yourself

But we want to rule now

So we not rule later

Want to be first

Be last now

Need a major move of God

And it requires us to put God first

The problem is we are first

Want to be someone in eternity

Die to self now

Want to be debt free in the kingdom

Forgive everyone their debts

Forgive those that trespassed against us

Luke 12:16-19

Then He told them a parable: "A rich man's land was very productive.

He thought to himself, 'What should I do, since I don't have anywhere to store my crops?

I will do this,' he said. 'I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods there.

Then I'll say to myself, "You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself."'

OOPS – he missed the role reversal –

Remember the rich man and lazarus-

Luke 16:25 

"But Abraham said to him, 'Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.

What is the lesson there?

you had it easy in this life and he had it tough

Now look –

You got it tough and he got it easy

If you choose

Its your choice

to take life easy now

You will not find it easy in eternity

We must be willing to be obedient

Sacrifice – take persecution -

And do all that God has left us here to do

We can’t take life easy and accomplish what God wants us to do

You took it easy when Peter was crucified upside down

You took it easy when my servants suffered and died in the Sudan

Forever is a long time folks

This man made a mistake

He thought he was going to take it easy

But his soul was required of Him

We are to work now

And retire later

The meek shall inherit the world

Not the manipulators

The meek are those that accept the role God has given us in this life

Bible says

Moses was meek

Why?

Because he didn’t really want to be the deliver  - but he accepted the role and embraced it

Moses knew about role reversal

Moses was blessed

When Jesus went to the mount of transfiguration

now and for all eternity

We may not like what God has told us to do

We have to stop playing dumb

We know

We just don’t like what we are hearing

The proud will be brought low

And the humble will be raised up

Board President or custodian

It really doesn’t matter if

you are not following the pattern

That God has laid out for your life

Don’t love the world

Become a stranger in this world

Take persecution

Don’t try and be popular

Be willing to be not liked or even loved here

My life is to sacrifice for the cause of Christ

To raise a standard

And speak the truth

Like saying

We are the robbers

It’s not what people wanted to hear

So they reversed their role and crucified the king

And they may do it to you too

But that is our calling

Buy now pay later-

That is Christianity

Whatever we desire to have here in this life

We will pay for in the life to come

It’s not so sovereign that you cant choose not to do it

Come tomorrow – you may forget this message

And try to be liked by the world around you

Not very many are willing to be hated for the cause of Christ

But God is looking for a people

who will be willing to stand out from the crowd

and be different

Because time is closing in on us

Church,

God is dealing with us first

Before he can deal with the rebellious nation around us

This is an excerpt from a recent sermon the Lord gave to me about Eternity:  I feel compelled to share this with as many as possible.  You can find the entire sermon in audio or video here: www.shore.sermon.tv

Then I saw was this vastness of the universe. I heard the Lord, He said, "All the scientists in the world will agree that the universe is expanding constantly." And I said, "Yes, Lord. The universe is expanding constantly." And then he went into show me the way eternity really is. I know I didn't get an entire glimpse of all of what's available to us, but he began to share with me the wonderful things that he has waiting for us.

Scripture says this, "Eye has not seen, neither has ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him." We can't imagine. We can't see it. We can't feel it. We can't understand it. But God has prepared something wonderful for us that is beyond our comprehension. It's beyond the ability for us to even really conceive of.

He said, "In heaven, there is no hell. And in hell, there is no heaven." I never heard it quite like that. I said, "There's no hell in heaven. There's no sadness, no sickness, no disease." We sang the song this morning, "No weeping, no crying, no pain, no suffering." We know all that. I know you believe that, but what do you really believe eternity is all about?

Most of us have the sense, as I did, that we will be giving God praise in eternity forevermore. I know we will be, but I think the impression that we had of eternity, to be honest, from my perspective, was kind of boring. I'm just being honest with you. In my flesh, I'm going, "I don't want to sit around all day just singing songs and praising God." Maybe it will be that exciting. I don't know, but there was just part of me that was kind of – that was troublesome to me. Wasn't it? Be honest with you. Didn't that ever trouble you a little bit? You ever go, "I don't know if I could do that all day every day."

And he said, "I never said that." I said, "What do you mean? It's right there in your word." he said, "No, read it again." And I read the scripture and it says the 24 elders and the beasts around the throne are praising God. And the heavenly hosts are joining in praise, but it's the elders, the 24, the beasts, and all them that are around the throne that are giving praise to God forever more.

He said, "I created you to be with me. I created you special. And my desire is to spend eternity with you." As God began to unfold this vision of what eternity was, I was starting to just – the excitement inside of me was just building more, and more, and more. When it was done, I was like, "Okay, I'm ready." I mean it. I really was. I'm saying, "I'm ready."

As much as I love being here, as much as I love pasturing, as much as I love all the things that I do and the things that God has laid on my heart, I felt and I meant it and I mean it, I was ready to go. Eternity is that awesome. So we're going to talk a little bit about the glimpse into eternity. For all eternity, we'll be with God. Philippians says this, Philippians 3:20-21. It says, "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself."

John 14:1-3 says this, "Let not your hearts be trouble. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would've told you. But I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am, you may be also."

So the Lord took me on a little journey in the spirit of eternity. This is what I saw. The vastness of the universe laid out before us, almost like a painting like I've never seen before, some of the most beautiful paintings that you could ever think of or imagine, so real, three-dimensional, I was looking out and could literally see galaxies all over. I said, "Lord, that's so wonderful." And he says, "They're yours."

I said, "What?" He said, "The galaxies are yours." I said, "But Lord –" And then immediately I was like here on Earth. I'm here and I remembered all the trips that I've taken and all the places that I've seen, and he says, "You, my son, have seen some of the creation here on the Earth. You've seen the majesty of my glory." He said, "There are many who live a whole life and never get to see some of the things that you've experienced, but there is so much more."

And I began to think, "You're right." I mean there are people who go through all of life and never see the Seven Wonders of the World, who never get to experience the awe of the Arctic or the amazing sites of the high mountaintops of the Himalayas. People have never even experienced some of the beauty here in our own county, the Grand Canyon, the Dakotas, the Rio Grande River, the Great Mississippi, and around the world, the Nile.

Some of us have never seen the freshness, the beauty of African and South America in its untouched wilderness. Some of us have never experienced the depths of the ocean, only a small few. And then what about just the outer realms of the Earth? What about seeing the Earth from above? Only a select handful or more have ever had that pleasure of seeing the Earth from the atmosphere above or placing their foot on another piece of soil other than the Earth, like the moon.

So we go through all of life only experiencing small little portions of the grandeur of our amazing God. Some of us drive by the areas where we live. We live in a beautiful place. I mean as much as we take it for granted, when you drive just down this road here or in Old Saybrook around 154 and you make that loop around and you see the majesty, the beauty of the ocean and the waves crashing and the sunsets, amazing sunsets.

We take it all for granted, most of us. But the splendor of God goes far beyond what we've ever seen. Some of us – I believe all of us have the desire to explore. I do. I believe that all of us inside have the desire to explore. We want to know more. You know what if you've ever seen a scary movie. I don't like them, but if you've ever seen one – I can remember when I was younger and I did see some of them. It's like why are you going in that room? Why are you opening that door? You know there's something bad behind the door. The music is playing. It can't be good. But curiosity, we've got to go in that door. You know? Have you checked the children?

We have this natural curiosity to go running where we know we shouldn't be or to go running to something that – when there's an accident or when there's something, people are running to see it. We have a natural born curiosity. That's the way we are. So, I believe that inside of all of us is the nature of an explorer. Like I said, I'm sharing with you as it's being downloaded to me and God was showing himself as the creator of the majestic universe that we have no clue about how beautiful it really is.

As explorers inside of us, it's been tamed over the years. The older we get, we kind of tame our exploration, our desire for exploration. Well, I guess I'll never get to go there. We live with it because we can maybe see it on DVD.

We've tamed our desires to explore, but it's still there. It's inside of us, and I know inside of you, just like me, is the desire to know what's it really like when we step into eternity. What's it really like when we cross that threshold, our eyes close here, and we open there? What's it really like?

I know some pretty tenacious people who have gone on to be with the Lord. I would think that if there is any way that they can get back here to tell us how awesome it is, some of these people, they'd find a way. Some of these people, they would convince God or something. You think they've got that ability. God said that when people get here, they're not even thinking about what was here because the splendor, the majesty that's spread out before them is so marvelous, so beautiful, so enticing that they're drawn.            

And the love and the peace that they have about those who have been left behind covers them, saturates them that they move on into this new place, into this new realm with the excitement of a new explorer, like a child. Wow. I've got some new marvels. Wow. I get to look at these – just the excitement. We are here and we go through the natural processes of grieving and difficulties. And even as years go by, we still think and we remember our loved ones.

We always say, "I wonder how they're doing. I wonder what it's like." You know some of us will even toss of a few of, "Hey, if you're looking out over me." We do that. We know we can't talk to the dead, but we're human. We toss it up anyhow, "If you're listening." God loves us so much. Here is what eternity is all about.

He said, "The moment you step into my presence, those of you who have accepted me and are still written in the Lamb's book of life, you're immediately, immediately welcomed. And all that is mine is yours." The Lord says, "All that is mine is yours." It's just as it is here on Earth, but it's so hard for us to grab just by faith. Here, it's laid out before us for the taking, for the going.

I said, "But what could there be, God? What excitement? What will I be doing? Will I be kneeling at the feet of the throne all day? I'm embarrassed, God. I'm sorry. I just can't picture me doing that all day." And just as I spoke that for the second time because I talked about it earlier, it's like a whole other room opened. What was that picture and that view, that three-dimensional view of the universe, I was in the midst of all of it?

Everywhere I looked, to ever side of me, beneath me, above me, all of it, and I was like hovering in the midst of eternity. And he said, "Whatever direction you decide to go, go. As you think, there you'll be. As you desire, there is will be." I said, "Lord, what's there?" He goes, "You can't imagine. You can't comprehend until you see with your spirit because we're spirit now. Our bodies are different. We're spirit. Go and explore."

And I just felt myself just letting go just a little, and I saw this bright light. It was just like a – I can't explain it. It was like have you ever looked in the night sky and you see the North Star, but it was like a hundred times the brightness of the North Star. There is was. My mind was just saying, "I wonder what that is." And as soon as I spoke it, it was like there I was.

I know this is going to blow some religious minds, so there are some things I'm going to share and there are some things I'll withhold. But as I got there and looked around, there were all kinds of creations of God, living beings. There were sights and beauties. I saw a waterfall in the spirit. [Sigh]

Did you ever see the sun come through the clouds? As a young kid, I remember someone once telling me that when you see that, that's the spirit of God pulling somebody up into heaven. So I used to think of that and this waterfall was like coming out of the sky. It was so high that you couldn't see the top of it. It was beyond your vision and it looked like just a little pin, way, way up there. Then as it came down, it got wider and wider and wider and wider and wider until I was standing nearly in front of it and I couldn't see the right end nor the left end of it.

It was this gorgeous waterfall and the water was bluish green and it was crystal. You could almost see through it. I was so overwhelmed. I said I want to go back where I was. And there I was, back standing where I felt comfortable. I wasn't uncomfortable in a fearful way being where I was, but I was so overwhelmed. Every sense that I had was overwhelmed, of feeling, emotion, everything you could think of was overwhelmed, smell, sound. And it was all beautiful. None of it was loud or sharp. It was mellow and it was beautiful.

And to the eye, it was so appealing. It was so beautiful. I can't explain it. It was gorgeous. I'm saying, "Lord, this is so beautiful. I don't want to go home. I don't want to go home. This is beautiful here." He said, "That's one of so many." And then he said this. He says, "Just as your scientists have known about the expansion of the universe," he goes, "because my spirit has revealed unto man some things." He goes, "The reason why the universe is expanding like it is, from the first person who stepped into eternity until the last one that will, no one will ever be able to see all that I've created."

Eternity is expanding and no matter how far you go or in what direction you go to look, no matter how many years you spend in eternity with God, you're never going to take it all in. It's constantly expanding. It's like an amusement park that has no end. I don't know what other way to put it. I can't grasp it in my mind. I love amusement parks, all the rides and it was like a greater joy than that. It just kept going.

You know every year, at least they used to years ago, they would add a new ride, like a Superman ride out over the water at Busch Gardens. Ooh, now you go out over the water dangling your feet and then the Batman ride. So you would be like, "I've got to go this year because they added a new ride." In eternity, it's like every moment that you could think of, there's something new being added.

We have no desire to sleep nor no need to sleep. We have no desires to rest, but yet we could. Our spiritual body that we inhabit has power beyond….. It's like – what's the guy? Oh, hallelujah. What's that new show there where the guys got the suit on, the red suit? You know the first one they did the movie about, the red suit with the gold and he flew – Ironman.

It was like your body felt like Ironman. I'm not kidding. I don't know what Ironman feels like, but that's all I can relate it to. It's like if I wanted to go, it was like I could [whoosh] I can go. It's like if I wanted to see, it's like there it was. You know he had the computer in the mask? Our spiritual body, if you want to call it, I don't know what else to call it. The thing that we inhabit is so powerful and you don't feel things like that. You don't feel anything that could be even slightly imagined as pain. You don't feel it.

You have a sense of touch. You have a sense of reality, but when you see the glory of God and the glory of God fills all of eternity. The glory of God lights everything. And all the stars in the universe and all the other things are kind of like dim in comparison to the glory of God. I said, "Lord, but what about the Earth? What about the Earth? We live here. What are we going to do? How do I live the rest of my life knowing what's waiting there is so amazing?"

I couldn't even get the final part of that word out of my mouth before it was like the answer was flooding my mind. He was like, "I've shown you these things so you'll be motivated to let the people know that my love and my glory goes beyond what you could think, hope or imagine." He said, "I have planned things for you that are so good, that are so beautiful, there's nothing ever, ever that you have to be fearful about for the rest of all of eternity."

Immediately, he brought me to Revelation 21. He said, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new Earth. For the first heaven and the first Earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God like a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne of God saying, 'Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people. God himself will be with them as their God, and I will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain because the former things have passed away.'"

It just shook me. He said, "I'm creating a new Earth." A new Earth, and he gave me the dimensions of the cubits of 1500 by 1800 by – and it's all in the Bible. It's all written there, but I never saw it this way. He says, "And I'm creating a new Earth. It's called the New Jerusalem. And it has height and depth and width and length." It's kind of like the Jetson's. No, it's better than that. It's like the movie The Fifth Element. You know where he's in the taxi and he's like vroom, vroom, going up or down and people and things are going across.

It's like we're in this amazing place on Earth and all of the saved people can fit in this place. But we have the ability to just expand, think with a thought, and here are, off somewhere in the universe in a split second. Love in eternity, there's no ending. I sense inside of me – I don't know how to tell you.

There's something inside of all of us if we're really honest with ourselves. There's something inside of all of us that at times, with certain people and certain places, we get thoughts that we shouldn't have. Our mind goes to places. Do you know what I'm trying to say? Whether it's envious or anger or momentary displeasure or lustful thinking, I don't care what thought a human gets, there's no thoughts like that there.

Your thoughts are crystal clear and pure, pure! When you see a person, you see the wholeness, the beauty, the creation of God inside that person, the depths that God created that person to. You know them the moment you see them. I can't explain it. You recognize. I saw no one I love and I said, "God –" He knew it. I didn't even have to speak it. He said, "Some things are not for now." Some things are not for now. Hallelujah.

But there in eternity, some people say where do we go? We go to heaven. You go to Abraham's bosom. You go here. You wait there. You do this. Listen. It's so simple. There is no time when we step into eternity. We don't sense time at all in any way, in any shape, in any form. You don't sense time. As I'm talking, as I'm looking, as I'm – I had no comprehension nor any desire to even think of time. It was not even a consideration.

Every feeling, if you can call it that, because it's like there are no negatives, but they're all positive. It's like all the feedback, maybe that's a better word, all the feedback that I was receiving from everything around me was all positive. It was like things were alive. Like that waterfall, it's like the waterfall was alive, like the elements that composed what looked like the water, I don't even know if it was water, it was like it was alive.

He created us as a special creation...........................................

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness .........................

A Friend

A man that has friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24 KJV)

This scripture like all scripture has more than one meaning. It has the natural meaning; that man can have a friend who is closer to him than a brother, and the spiritual meaning; that Jesus is our brother who sticks closer to us than any other.

This is a unique scripture that gives me great peace. I have a brother, I'm blessed I have a brother.
Unfortunately he's younger, in better shape & more intelligent than I am. He is amazing and cool and loves me tremendously and would do anything for me. Because I've experienced this love in my life and because I have seen it and felt it and have lived it, this scripture has even greater meaning to me.

If an earthly man who sees my faults and my shortcomings; an earthly man who I have hurt and letdown. If an earthly man still cares about me and loves me to the degree that I know my brother does, how much more does God love me? The God who created me, gave me a purpose and desires to spend eternity with Him.

That is what is so exciting about the Christian life. We have a chance to live life here for 60, 70, 80 or more years, then, if we choose Jesus, we get to live in eternity with Him.

As a friend, Jesus looks to fulfill the desires of our heart. Now this eternity thing is cool. Some Christians have this idea that we will be hanging out around the throne of God for eternity, worshiping God. The reality is, God created eternity for us.

Eternity is actually an amazing place that will take us all of eternity to explore and enjoy.  Our friend has set into motion a series of events that will bless us into and beyond eternity.

A friend is precious - a friend is a blessing, as heirs of eternity, we are blessed beyond what we could ever imagine to have a friend like Jesus. He never brings up the past, never reminds us of our failures, instead, He works all things for our good.  Amazing!

Hunger for Worship

Hunger

I wonder how many Christians attend Sunday services with real expectation of experiencing the manifest presence of God?  There are so many different aspects to service, but I am convinced that the base element of a great worship service is found in the response to worship by the congregants. 

With the wide variety of worship styles and music we have available today, added to the different expectations of people, what we need is an understanding of worship from a spiritual perspective. 

The first response to worship from most Christians is usually a purely fleshly response. It usually starts out something like this; "I feel that today's worship was...." or "I think that the worship was..."

I can think of nothing more frustrating as a pastor who has taught on worship, led worship, preached on worship and lives a worshipful expression each time we gather.  Of course, I need to deny my frustrations and give it all to God, realizing that for most, the revelation of worship is still veiled.

If we can somehow take a trip back to the Old Testament times and live with the tribes of Israel for a while.  If we could take this trip and still retain the knowledge of the wonderful expressions of worship we have available to us today, thanks to technology and modern instrumentation, we should emerge with a true revelation of worship.  

It was never about how well a song was performed, or how loud or soft the music may be, but instead, it was about the connection of the individual to presence of God.  Worship that is heart driven, heart motivated and heart delivered, will always touch the throne of God, will always draw men to enter into the presence of God.  Lost in the presence of God, not because of perfectly executed or sung songs, but because of a hungry heart for the presence of God.

If we come hungry, I mean really hungry, whatever is laid before you you will partake, and be grateful.  Hunger takes imperfect music, voices, and tempo and after eating and digesting, the release is gratitude and gratefulness, thankfulness and heart of praise and worship.  

If we desire to be in the presence more than we desire to be "pleased" by certain music, or "touched" by certain songs, then that hunger will translate into a wonderful feast in the presence of a Holy God.  

Worship is so much more than many Christians can understand. It is not often understood by the mind or approved of by emotions. Worship is a sacrifice, a yielding of one's own ideas and expectations.  Worship is grasping the opportunity to be in the presence of God, and lifting a sacrifice of thanks for that opportunity, regardless of the vehicle, music or voice, that helped in your "transportation" into the presence of God.

Before I had a revelation of worship, I would find it hard to understand how anyone could be moved into the presence of God when, for instance, someone with a terrible voice sang with all their heart. My flesh would cringe.  

I remember the evening that my eyes were opened.  As this young man sang, and his voice cracked, and missed notes, suddenly I saw the wickedness of my heart and I broke down, cried and experienced one of the greatest moments of my life. That night, worship took on a new meaning.  

I could now, enter into the presence of God in the midst of  a Christian rap concert or a choir of angelic singers.  The vehicle no longer mattered, all that mattered was that I could - I could worship, I could choose to worship and be grateful for that exact moment.  It is another opportunity afforded me by God to come into His presence.  

I no longer look for specific worship styles, not that I do not have my own favorites, but if God chooses to enjoy and inhabit our praise, whenever the opportunity arises, in whatever venue, I will accept that invitation and be grateful.  

Lost in the presence of God, all music takes on a different form. I'm not sure if its because of angels joining in the chorus or if its because the spirit realm is so fulfilling.  Today, I prepare for worship by checking my heart, I force out every thought other than God, I eliminate any distractions by closing my eyes if necessary and I choose to not listen with my emotions.  I am training my spirit to control my mind will and emotions as I yield my body to the desire of the spirit.  I come hungry, I come starving for God.  I must have His presence - We could live 1000 years and still never experience all of Him.  

2013

2013 - sounds to me like something out of a sci-fi movie. Sometimes its hard to believe so many years have passed by.

Over the past 30 years, I have experienced many changes, not just personally but as a church leader.  The expectations of the 80's and 90's slowly faded and a new reality has taken hold.

Christianity today looks the same as it always has, however, the acceptance of Christianity and the perception of the Evangelical Community has shifted dramatically. 

Over the past 2 decades we have seen countless programs geared to attract people back to church and to Christianity. Some have been successful and others no so.  But although there have been pockets of growth, the church as a whole has been apathetic.  Clearly, it was not man's plans that would usher in the new revival. 

Today we are seeing an increased anxiety level among all age groups. Fear of what the future holds as well as all the hype about the changes in the earth's atmospheric conditions is weighing heavy on the minds of many.  Fear mongering by unscrupulous marketers of apocalyptic materials have caused a flood of questions especially among the youth of our nation.

So many of our teen and young adult generation are seeing an unprecedented weak economy and jobs market.  The future looks bleak, and any hope for a life, at least equal to the baby-boomer parents who raised them is illusive.

This, my friends, is the hopelessness the enemy has planned to use for destruction of our youth. But  our God is not taken by surprise.  He has a plan to use this time of fear to bring eternal hope to the world.

Where else can America turn for answers except to the church?  It is the church, the Body of Christ, which has been in preparation for the coming wave of salvation's soon to flood the doors of a church near you. This may sound foolish or impractically hopeless, but faith tells me, what seems foolish to the world is a sign of a soon coming boon to the church. 

Over the recent few months, I have noticed that the Holy Spirit has been talking to leaders all across this nation. The messages all have a familiar ring. Stay the course, the Great Grace of God is about to be poured out on this country.

Our Hope is in Christ, and Him alone.  His church is in rigorous training for the battle of souls which lies ahead.  This will be the battle of our lives, but the draw of the Holy Spirit on the heart of man will be unmistakable.  No plan of man can do what God has arranged for this season.

The political and social events unfolding around the world could not be manufactured or orchestrated by any man or group of men. What we are seeing before our eyes is the result of thousands of years of heavenly battles about to be played out right before our very eyes.  The heavens are about to declare the glory of the Lord in a way like never before.

The churches that are ready, that can handle the influx of people and the barrage of Spiritual questions will be the ones which will grow in the fashion of the New Testament churches we have all only read about. 

In the 1970's we saw a sovereign move of God, the Jesus Movement, where many of today's Pastors and leaders were drawn by God and transformed overnight.  I anticipate this next move of God to dwarf that movement as a precursor to the unfolding of the events written about in the Book of The Revelation.

The excitement I have is is hard to explain. What I share today, I do in humble awe of the amazing Grace of God's plan for mankind.  I am once again  reminded that God chose to use me, with all my flaws and with all my shortcomings.  I know only one thing, God is Good.  He gave me more opportunities to walk the right road than I deserved.  He was the only one who did not give up on me. The only one who loved me and continued to love me until I was healed, whole and walking in righteousness. 

My life is not my own, it is His to do with as He pleases.  I only pray I can be used one more day to touch another life for Christ.

Be ready my friends, the time of abundance is at hand. It is not dependent on us, or our abilities or talents, it is all about Him.......