There are many wonderful events I can recall from the childhood I spent in the rural areas of my early development. Actually, we lived so far back in the woods we did not experience the sunrise until noon! Anyway, what I was trying to share with you was the country school phenomenon known as the “Science Fair.” I know you have probably heard of Science Fairs before, but I am quite sure those were worlds away from the dark and sinister, completely humorous event we called, “The Science Fair.”

You could count of the usual six-dozen, Baking Soda and Sprite spewing Volcanoes, and of course the stillborn collection of farm animals exhibited in one-gallon glass containers filled with formaldehyde. And who could forget the twenty-one stages of an unborn chicken, from the egg to the chick, displayed in actual form through the visual enhancement of a Gerber Baby Food Jar! See what I mean! Our Science Fair was a little different. What I remember the most about it, beyond the wild array of subjects and objects was this; you were graded and awarded on presentation, not on quality of content!

How is your presentation coming? You know, that whole - Worship as a lifestyle - thing? Let me help you understand something about the way your worship is graded. You will be awarded on presentation, not quality of content!

Romans 12:1, gives us the requirement, “Present you bodies a living sacrifice, holy and accept able to God, which is your reasonable service.” I want you to know that you have been given a 100%, failsafe, proven beyond all doubt, formula for success when it comes to your presentation of worship to God. All He is asking for is who you are! The only way you can fail to receive the “First Prize” in your worship to God is to withhold who you are from Him.

Look at this incredible scene with me from John 4. In the heat of the day, around noon, Jesus sits alone by a well. A woman comes to the well and Jesus first statement to her was a request, “Give me a drink.” We learn later in the text that she is an outcast breed, coming to the well ay an odd time to avoid social confrontation, because she is a five-time divorcee, and is currently in a relationship that has no requirements attached to it. Now hear Jesus opening request, “Give me a drink.” Jesus is not interested in what she is. He is not concerned with what she has done. There is no qualifier to determine the level of her worthiness. Jesus wants who she is! He is asking her to make a presentation to Him of who she is!

You can hear her shock, “Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus reply is simple, “I really want to give you drink of everlasting life.” The woman observes, “You have nothing to draw the water with.” Jesus looks at her and makes it clear, “You are the vessel I will use and what I give you will be a well of living water, springing up from within.”

What God wants in a Presentation of Worship is you, as you are, where you are!

Graduation Gifts

I only have one child left in High School so my requirements to that institution are diminishing. Except, at this time of year when Graduation Ceremonies take place. As a Pastor I am still a bit old fashioned in that I like to watch the High School Graduates in our church walk across the stage and receive their Diploma. I think maybe I get a little humor at their expense when I hear their name called to make their grand exit from High School by allowing myself this one thought, “You have no idea what you are in for!”

This year I was privileged to enjoy that thought six times in the various ceremonies we attended. But there was one that left an indelible impression on me. One particular ceremony allowed me to witness the Love of God in a tangible manner.

One of the young Graduates in our church was adopted at birth by a loving family that has served God with their lives. The child was raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and given a life of security and advancement. Recently the young teen expressed a desire to meet her “birth” Mother. Her parents allowed the process to unfold at its own pace.

When my wife and I arrived to sit with the family at the Graduation Ceremony we were introduced to the Graduate’s “birth” Mother. I thought how incredible it was for the parents to extend this invitation to a woman they had met through paperwork only, eighteen years ago. We extended the proper greetings and then took our seat. I was moved by the compassion this family was living out before me.

As the ceremony progressed, the “birth” Mother was overcome with emotion and was visibly shaken. It was then I saw the Love of God. The parents moved from their seats to put their arms around the “birth” Mother and sit with her the rest of the ceremony. As they consoled her with their love I could sense the presence of God smiling in adoration of the scene, and the hearts of the Godly parents whose only motivation was the same on that day as it was eighteen years ago; thankfulness and gratitude for the gift of life and love they had experienced in the child they were given.

The night went on with dinner and festivities but as I write these words today I am still moved by the gifts we each hold, that we never give. Who could you reach out to in love today? Who could you extend the gift of forgiveness to right now with a simple phone call? Which relative could receive a letter of apology from you today and be set free from years of anguish? We all have gifts to give, why not release them today?

The events of the coming week would be a whirlwind of activity and emotion. There must a been a foreboding sense of the impending dread that was carrying the group around Jesus as they left the city of Jericho to begin the sixty mile walk to Jerusalem. In His parables and teachings, Jesus had tried to convey to the group the nature of His purpose on the earth. Over the past three years Jesus had constantly painted the landscape of the Disciples’ minds with the clear and distinct calling he was here to fulfill. When Jesus openly tells His followers, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” the directive is candidly proclaimed. He is here to die, so the world may live in Him.

Blind Bartemaeus cries out to Jesus as He walks out of Jericho for the last time. Jesus opens the eyes of the blind man. Destiny is pushing Jesus to Jerusalem, yet He stops to heal the blind. How significant is it that Bartemaeus will be able to see the proceedings over the next week? Is this act of divine intervention a sign that points us to pay close attention to what is about to take place?

Jesus arrives at Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem, and spends an evening at the home of Lazarus where Mary anoints Him with expensive oil in preparation for His death. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem; The Last Supper; Washing the Disciples feet; Judas the Betrayer identified; The Arrest in Gethsemane; Jesus’ Trial before the High Priest; Peter’s Denial; Pilate’s Court; and finally, The Crucifixion.

Throughout all of the tragedy and triumph recorded in the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, there is one figure that is always present and receives more than one scriptural reference. Her name is Mary. We find her in John 20:1; making her way to the last place she could accompany Jesus, the tomb. The scripture makes the distinction, “while it was still dark!” What possesses a person to visit the graveyard while it is still dark? There are times in our lives when personal faith will not permit us to wait any longer without conclusive evidence. Even if the timing is not right, in spite of the natural barriers and preconceived notions of acceptable methods, faith pushes you into extraordinary actions. Even if it means going to the place of death in the cloak of night! It is possible that the unyielding presence of your determined spirit that will not sit quietly within you any longer is the supernatural expectation of what God has already done that you are not aware of!

One thing is lucid; what Mary was about to experience will clearly define the difference between listening to what Jesus had said, and living out in real time the words He had given them. Let me bring it right to where we are on this Easter Sunday. Jesus had outlined the details of His death, burial, and resurrection; the events we would come to know as Easter. The reality is this; until Mary had witnessed “Easter” for herself, until she had seen “Easter” with her own eyes, the revelation could not have been complete.

Mary is not prepared for what she finds at the last location of her faith. Her reaction reveals her expectations. Mary fully anticipated finding everything as she left it three days earlier. When she gets through the darkness to the tomb she saw the stone that sealed the tomb was gone. Her immediate response was to run to Peter and John and let them know the depth of the travesty. Listen to her words, “they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have laid Him.” Let me ask you the question I would ask Mary, “Who is they?” Why do we always have some unnamed, unidentified force that becomes the scapegoat for the areas of God that we cannot explain? “They” is always known to us personally, but always referred to in a broader, ambiguous term when we share our calamities with others. There are some things about God that you will never learn in a group setting. Easter will never be real to you until it becomes a personal experience that you embrace in a singular fashion. You may walk with Jesus all the way from Jericho to Jerusalem. You may hear Him describe all that He is and will be. You may witness in person the crucifixion of Jesus and accompany his broken body all the way to the burial. But until you press through the darkness of your personal doubt, to the finality of completely trusting God with what you cannot reconcile, you have not really seen Jesus. Mary has a hunger for Jesus that is born of her deliverance from who she was, and the person she was made through her relationship with Jesus Christ.

When Peter and John join the scene they instantly run to the tomb and survey the setting. They notice the linen grave clothes that wrapped the body of Jesus, and the handkerchief that covered His head neatly folded. John 20:8 states that when John saw this setting he believed. Consider that Mary’s desperate attempt to solicit help in locating Jesus actually became the catalyst that birthed John’s personal conversion to the revelation of the resurrection. Peter and John, satisfied with what they had found, and it’s effect on them, turned and went back to their own homes. They had seen enough. They were satisfied. They were resolved with the experience.
But Mary could not leave. She is still standing at the tomb after the other disciples are gone. As she cries the scriptures states, “she stooped down and looked into the tomb.” How many times have you remained after everyone else has gone home with his or her spiritual experience? Did you think you were crazy when everyone else went home happy, and you still were hungry for more of God? Has your broken heart driven you to your knees with the weight of being unfulfilled? When Mary fell to her knees she saw something inside the empty tomb. There were two angels sitting at each end of the tomb. Mary is seeing directly into the supernatural realm. Peter did not see the angels! John, even with his conversion did not see the angels. Both of these men had returned to their homes satisfied with the experiences they had received.

Look into the area of your despair. What you thought was just an empty tomb of tragedy is the arena God has chosen to invite you to the supernatural. I know Jesus is not in the tomb, Mary! But the tomb is not empty. There are two supernatural witnesses waiting to reveal the heart of God to you.

What transpires next is the bridge between believing and knowing. The angels ask Mary a question that seems harsh and uncaring from a natural standpoint. They want to know why she is crying. From her perspective it is blatantly obvious, “they have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” But from the angels vantage point the question was justified. Mary saw the tragedy, the angels saw the triumph!

There must have been something in Mary’s spirit that was stirred by the setting of what she was witnessing. Have you ever sensed something significant was happening around you? Do you know how it feels when you think someone is behind you, or following you? Mary turns from the angels question and is face to face with Jesus. It is possible that the restless feeling you are experiencing could be the presence of something supernatural. Turn around and look. Turn from what you have been focused on, and embrace what you are sensing.

Face to face with Jesus, Mary hears the same question the angels had asked her. Mary responds in the same manner as before. Then Jesus speaks one word to her. He calls her name, “Mary!” When Jesus speaks her name, suddenly everything is clear. She knows it is Jesus. She now understands the process of the prior week. Mary sees Easter for the first time herself. I think it is interesting that the key word, or divine phrase that is used to bring Mary into the supernatural revelation of Jesus Christ is her own name. When God speaks your name will you be able to accept it as divine? Are you so intent on hearing something else as your personal sign from God that He has already called you name over and over and yet because it was just your name, you didn’t recognize it as divine?

Today! Right now! This moment! Listen for the sound of your name being spoken by the Holy Spirit. Until you’ve seen Easter for yourself, it is nothing more to you that an annual reminder of your personal loss and tragedy. Look into what you think is just emptiness, there is a supernatural invitation waiting for your to embrace.

After the scripture gives us the account of the three battles these Mighty Men have fought, 2 Samuel 23:13 reveals the uniting of their individual victories “And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.” The three battles were not the breakthrough. Those encounters were merely qualifiers for the breakthrough. The Hebrew word Rephaim means “giant”. Such was the dedication of these mighty men that they were prepared to risk their lives in the Valley of Giants to fulfill the desire of their King. That level of loyalty is not casually achieved. The breakthrough you are destined for is not your normal church variety experience. You were disqualified from that long ago. No, this breakthrough is about the desire of your King and the spiritual impartation of sacrificial worship.

Matthew 18:19 promises, “…if two or three agree as touching any one thing…” When these three Mighty Men bring their individual victories together they produce a spiritual force of unity that stirs the longing of David for a drink from the well of Bethlehem. God is moving with passion and power to draw from a source of divine strength and refreshing. When you and I come together to satisfy God’s desires there is no greater gift of worship to our King! Our pasts become our bond that holds us together for our King’s purpose. We know where He found us. We know the agony of abandonment. We cannot forget the first night we spent in the cave. Hebrews 10:32-33 speaks of our transformation in this journey, “But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, while you were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, while you became companions of them that were so used.”

2 Samuel 23:14-15 details the place where the Mighty Men found David, “And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” the word “hold” in this text comes from the Hebrew word meaning “trap or prey”. David was caught in a trap. Breakthrough always comes out of being caught in a trap. If you had other options you would not need a breakthrough.

Isn’t amazing that when you are trapped, back against the wall, with no way out, that your prayers are for fellowship and not deliverance? David does not ask for Angelic intervention. He just wants a drink from the well by the gate in Bethlehem. Why is his request so specific? Why not just water from any stream or well? Because the well (source of refreshing) by the gate (fellowship gathering place) in Bethlehem (House of Bread) holds the memory of better days with the fellowship of the people he is called to. There is no water like that found in the House of Bread; drank with those you love! David remembered the times he had spent in that meeting place and longed for that fellowship again. Your King is thirsty to fellowship with humanity in the original pattern He created in the Garden of Eden. You have been separated, called, and qualified to fulfill the desire of your King! This is why you are here now. What you have been through would have destroyed most people. But you are a Mighty Man of God! This is why you were sustained when others died. You have the indomitable spirit of a man who has valued the vision God has given him against all odds and preserved it! You have the stubborn resolve of a man who has lost the ability to quit! And, you have the invincible will of a man who knows the generation provision he is responsible for securing!

Twenty miles deep into enemy territory, 2 Samuel 23:16 reveals, “And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.” I know what you are thinking? After all that-he poured it out! What was the point? Look closer, beyond the involuntary memory of offense. David poured it out unto the Lord as a worship offering. That act reveals the heart of your King. Any fool could have simply drunk the water. What David did was to secure the rescue and victory of every man with him by offering worship unto God with a gift that was priceless. The breakthrough was complete. The risk was worth the reward. The three battles on the road to breakthrough were complete. Now the breakthrough was finished and the result was worship warfare that led to the victory of David over his enemies.

Now you know why. Now you can see the entire picture. Your heart will want to make everyone see that you finally get it. You won’t have time for that. There is another battle ahead and you are a Mighty Man. This is what you were born for. Touch the ground where the water was poured. Feel the dampness, then rise up and walk away. Your work is done here. Sleep well for tomorrow another battle begins. Breakthrough is your lifestyle, you were created for it!

The third and final battle on your journey to personal breakthrough is, The Battle of The Harvest. In this journey of personal triumph you have already determined your dreams are worth any price you must pay to fulfill them. You have also traded your ability to quit, to become a weapon in God’s hand. Both of these involved a result whose only affect was upon you. This third and final battle on the road to breakthrough will not be about you at all. John 15:13 gives us context to understand this battle, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

This third Mighty Man we find in 2 Samuel 23:11-12 reveals what we must face, “And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory.” Shammah means “Astonishment”. He is a distant grandson of Esau. Shammah also means “ruin, or desolation”. Shammah is the spiritual picture is of a man who was a wreck in his natural self. Of course, that is why he is numbered with the Mighty Men in the first place. Shammah represents those of us who are always amazed that this whole “faith” thing actually works.

BIBLE HISTORY TELLS US THIS AREA WHERE WE FIND SHAMMAH WAS AN ENTIRE PLAIN OF HARVEST THAT SUPPORTED ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN THE REGION. IT WAS THE GENERATIONAL PROVISION FOR EVERYONE!

This battle is about your willingness to stand up for the generational provision of those dependent upon your calling, anointing and positioning. You must become the man of Ezekiel 22:30, “And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” The entire landscape will has become dependent upon you next decision. You have been strategically positioned in this setting for a battle in which the reward of victory has more weight than just an evening celebration for a day of victory. What you will do next carries generational weight. Your children will be affected by the actions you take now. Their children will suffer the consequence of fear or enjoy the prosperity of provision; depending upon your fortitude and tenacity in this moment. My friend the Philistines are upon us. The enemy has come to claim the harvest of your toil. Satan has been waiting to for you to plow the field; sow the seed; remove the weeds and tares; keep out the devourers; generate the fruit. Why is it that the greatest battle is always over the harvest? If the harvest doesn’t matter, why does Satan want it so badly? John 4:35 shows us the importance of this harvest, “Do you not say there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

There is an organized effort under way to steal the heritage and provision of your children. 2 Samuel 23 reveals, “And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentils…” Your enemy, the Devil, has a militant structure arrayed in a show of force. The entire parade of horrible is to seduce you with fear. I can hear everyone telling you, “It’s just beans! It’s only a pea patch. It’s not worth dying over. Let the enemy have it!” But those people do not know what you have already defeated to stand here in the bean field! They can’t comprehend the personal price you have paid to be trusted with a generation blessing of provision. Tomorrow’s lack for your children, is today’s decision to let the enemy have your harvest. You have done the work. You have prayed the prayers. It was your desire that has made this region flourish. Your commitment to your position of authority and purpose has made this ground produce a bumper crop of blessing. Let me ask you again, “If it’s just beans, why is there an entire military division stationed here against you?” This third battle to your breakthrough is to answer the question, “Can you be trusted with the generational passage of God’s provision?”

Why does a spouse put twenty years into a marriage and then run away when their harvest is being fought? What makes a Pastor plant seeds, pull weeds, water the field with his own tears, and then flee adversity at the point of harvest? This picture is seen in 2 Samuel 23, “…and the people fled from the Philistines. But he (Shammah) stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines…” This is the moment of your destiny. You were called to do one thing-Stand up to the enemy! Esther realized it when she said, “For such a time as this I have come to the Kingdom.” Notice where Shammah positions himself, “…in the midst of the ground…” He goes to the middle of the field. You have to get off the sidelines this time! You must find the middle of the ground and get there now! You must make the enemy come to the heart of the matter in this third battle on your personal journey to breakthrough! No more skirmishes on the outer edges of commitment! Get deep enough in this field so that you can’t get out when the enemy comes in like a flood! What you will find is, “The Lord will raise up a standard against him!”

There is one final fertilization for this field of beans that was going to settle the generational passage of God’s provision once and for all. This ground was going to have one final watering from the blood of the enemy to break the generational robbery of provision that had been transpiring at every seasonal harvest. As you stand your ground in this harvest season, the blood of your enemies will run down the rows of this harvest field to break the spirit of poverty and lack off of the descendents God has placed in your charge. It is not just beans; it is the prosperity of generation to come who will glorify God and sing of His provision from generation to generation.

You will receive a fulfillment from the victory of this third and final battle that will have no equal in your life. For now you have reached a place where your personal needs have become subconsciously unnecessary. You have crossed from the self-serving life you lives into a selfless sacrifice of personal will for the good of those God has entrusted to you. You have finally come to understand the weight of the generation blessing you have been chosen to bestow. Now you will understand Proverbs 17:6, “Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” You have conqueror the Philistines. More importantly, you have defeated you own pride and arrogance to serve the greater good of generations to come.
The three battles to breakthrough; The Battle of Dreams; The Battle of Covenant; and The Battle of Harvest, all have to do gaining the strength and faith to fulfill the desire of our King! YOU HAVE FOUGHT THE THREE BATTLES TO BREAKTHROUGH! NOW IT IS TIME FOR BREAKTHROUGH!

The second battle on your journey to breakthrough is The Battle of Covenant. 2 Samuel 23:9-10 continues the saga of the Mighty Men, “And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.” Eleazar in the Hebrew text meant “God has helped.” His lineage was in the genealogy of the first priest Aaron, and Abinadab’s son who cared for the Ark of the Covenant. He was also related to the priest who rebuilt and dedicated the restored walls of Jerusalem in time of Ezra. Eleazar was a son of Dodo, who was an Ahohite. The Hebrew word ‘Dodo’ means ‘loving’ and ‘Ahohite’ comes from a Hebrew word meaning ‘brotherhood’. The spiritual picture is of a man who loved his brothers. This second battle on your road to breakthrough will be a deliverance from disconnection! You have a long history of being among those who handle the sacred presence of God.

You can trace your spiritual roots among those found in Ephesians 4:11-12, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” Every oracle God exalts will know the heights of Heaven’s hand, and depths of despair’s death grip. This is the mechanism God uses to forge the connection of covenant ministry. Out of the paradox posed by the inconsistency of flawed humans heralding the divine we embrace Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” You are not the message-just the messenger! 1 Corinthians 1:21 places you as a Court Jester in the Kingdom of Heaven, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” It is no wonder we are taught that humor is the mask of pain.

This second battle will force you to break the isolation you shroud the fear of rejection inside of. You must stand with the man God has connected you with. It was never your choice. You were forced, kicking and screaming through a maze of indiscernible events that alienated you from the associations you selected, into a cave of misfits whose only common bond was a man named David who had been selected by God. Now, here you stand, in the heat of a battle you did not start. Now, here you are, standing beside a taunting fugitive who is openly defying the present system of secular thought to declare Jehovah is God. This battle on your journey to breakthrough is about your deliverance from disconnection. You do not get to choose you spiritual connections in this earth. God through his providence uses pain and despair as the glue to bind hearts and wills together for His purpose in the earth.

Eleazar had the pedigree to openly dispute his current assignment. He could sketch his family tree as a mighty oak of God’s preferred selection. His people were the anointed handlers of God presence and the protocols that protected it! What in the world was he doing here? Haven’t you asked yourself that a thousand times? How did I get here? You couldn’t recreate the process if you tried. You are living the axiom, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” You are here because you are a Mighty Man. You didn’t find the cave, the cave found you. Your steps were ordered by God. Your walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death was an ordered mission. Isaiah 55:9 gives us God’s explanation in His own words, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Trust the process. Most people will run, or disconnect when the battle engages. But you have been called to stand with your spiritual connection in the face of adversity.

All of this had to be going through Eleazar’s mind on the battlefield that day when David screamed insults at the Philistines until they attacked. The scripture makes this distinction in reference to the timing of this event, “and the men of Israel were gone away.” It was at this point that Eleazar, “arose.” This is your season to rise up! It is no secret that you were initially connected to this setting by the divinely imposed limitation of the options before you, until you had no other choice. But now you are given a second personal battle on the road to your breakthrough, The Battle of Covenant. Your choice to stay this time will be solely up to you. This decision will be compounded by the fact that everyone else has decided this battle is not worth the risk. The Men of Israel have voted to leave David. Those men are still breaking the covenant of connection when the stigma of being with David becomes more than bargained for. I find that those who have been forgiven the most are among the most self-righteous. And, among the first to disconnect because they have no trust in themselves or others.

If you are ever going to conqueror the demon of disconnection you must arise to stand in the heat of a battle, beside a man God has connected you with, with a reckless abandon to the cause of the King! Eleazar, “arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword.” Two words stand out in this text; weary and clave. Tired and stuck. Exhausted and inexplicably joined. Have you ever been too tired to continue, but too stuck to let go? Why couldn’t you just leave like everybody else has? It’s easy! Just walk away. No one will think worse of you. It is totally understandable. This fight is unfair anyway! You didn’t start the conflict. All of these legitimate reasons can’t erase the nagging memory of your past failures. The emptiness you have experienced from the times you have quit in the past. Somehow this time, as long as David is fighting, you have to continue. Forgive me if my motion seems mechanized. Please try to overlook the visible weariness I am exhibiting. But this time I am past quitting. I won’t run. Call me crazy, but after all I have been through, I would rather die fighting than to live running! Yes I am weary, but I will not quit!

Have you ever wondered how he knew the sword was stuck to his hand? There is only one fool proof manner in which to test the release theory-you have to try to let it go! The word “clave” in this scripture literally means to become joined to, as a part of. I think it is utterly fascinating that he word “cave” is found in “clave” but that’s another sermon. There is a unique transformation that takes place when you settle the issue of disconnection and refused to be severed from covenant. You discover that which you held onto, has now begun to hold onto you. Letting go is no longer an option. What you had embraced has now embraced you so strongly that there is no longer you and it. You have become one with the covenant. This is the moment when you have fought and won the second battle on the journey to breakthrough. How can you know this? There is no more quit in you. The option of letting the sword go has been replaced with a mental awareness that you are now the sword. You have become the weapon in God’s hand. You are not using God, He is using you!

When the battle is over, only David and Eleazar are standing in a sea of dead, defeated enemies. A spiritual transformation has taken place somewhere in the heat of the battle. Eleazar has been delivered from disconnection. He no longer thinks of quitting as an alternative to covenant. He has faced his own demons of isolation and disconnection. He has stared into the face of weariness and found a supernatural strength. He now understands, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Eleazar has won the second battle on the road to breakthrough, and so have you! Quitting is no longer in you spiritual DNA. You are now the weapon in God’s hand.

I was thinking about the various sounds we associate with certain subjects. Pictionary for instance is supposed to resemble a drunken brawl in a country tavern when you play it. Have you ever played the game Pictionary? What a wonderful exercise in humiliation for the sake of defeating your competition by discerning the hieroglyphics of your teammates. One of the clues you can use in compensating for your lack of artistic skill is a move where you grab your ear in an effort to get someone to scream, “sounds like!” Then, you draw another picture that is more indistinguishable that the first picture you drew. Everyone screams to their loudest capacity what they believe you are trying to communicate. Of course it is hilarious, and it is a great tool to get people out of their shells, but the sheer volume of the sound the game invokes is the amazing phenomenon to me!

This got me to thinking about the sound of spiritual warfare and the daily battles we face in maintaining an overcoming lifestyle. It seems we are constantly pushing toward a breakthrough. No matter how significant our last victory, the celebration is short lived in the face of the impending assault the enemy of our souls unleashes next. This is why 1 Peter 5:8 commands us to, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…” Satan is on a search and destroy mission. One of his strategies is to hide in the noise of confusion. 1 Corinthians 14:8 declares, “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” We are locked in a spiritual conflict that requires an audible clarity for direction and purpose.

1 Corinthians 2:14 defines the process as spiritual for us, “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.” You and I were born into this conflict. Job 14:1 tells us, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.” What is the first sound a newborn makes? They all cry. We identify the first signs of life by the screams and sounds of crying. The first natural response a supernatural being can utter is a cry! 1 Timothy 6:12 states we were chosen to, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called…” 1 Corinthians 9:26-27gives us Paul’s insight on this innate conflict, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection…” He correlates mastering the battle with maintaining control over fleshly impulses. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 makes the rules of engagement clearly understood, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…” and if that wasn’t enough, 2 Timothy 2:4 narrows the field to our actions by saying, “No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” I want to talk to you today about three battles to your breakthrough.

First let me qualify who is chosen for these three battles. You must be a Mighty Man of God. Mighty men of God are born out of personal distress, discontent, debt, and delusion. You and I, if we are greatly used of God in this generation will fight our most fierce battles within ourselves, rising above the mistakes we grow out of in our quest to answer the supernatural call we were born with. 1 Samuel 22:1-2 paints a vivid picture of David’s Mighty Men, “David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.” These were the men who would become David’s inner circle of warriors, instrumental in protecting David and ushering him to the throne of Israel. No leader in spiritual warfare can be trusted in the heat of the battle when he has the unstained attire of the untested! Yes! Your mistakes and scars are the identifying marks of your ability to stand in the day of adversity. Wear the shroud of misunderstanding with a confidence that dispels the question, “can you stand the battle?” When I am in the troughs of spiritual warfare I want someone beside me who can identify the mortal struggle we face for immortality!


The first battle you will face in winning your breakthrough is The Battle of the Dream. You will have to determine the value of your vision. Value is not the sum of costs, it is the price paid by those who will to possess. Your vision is not valued by what you have in it. Your vision is valued by what you will pay to keep it! What are you willing to personally expend to keep your dream alive!

2 Samuel 23:8 relays the account of the first of three mighty men, “These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.” The name Adino in the original Hebrew meant: “His Ornament”. Tahkemonite meant, “one who possesses insight and practical wisdom.” Adino had a dream that he could connect with David and regardless of his past, together they could establish God’s Will in the earth. He was the ornament of intuitive skill. He was the golden boy of the region. The answer man! Then life brought him a series of events that landed him in the Cave of Adullam. No one could have been more out of place in this rag-tag army of misfits. That’s what we all think until our only refuge is the unspoken acceptance of the broken and bruised.

YOU HAD A VISION OF A LIFE THAT WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE AGONY YOU HAD LIVED. YOU WERE A DECORATIVE DISCOVERY FOR DISPLAY. YOU KNEW THE JOY OF A CELEBRATED POSITION. BUT THEN TROUBLE FOUND YOU AND YOU HAD TO LIVE THE FEAR & DREAD OF THE UNCONTROLLABLE.

When I read 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,” I am amazed that this scripture is describing me. Why? Because I know me, and the days that I feel chosen, royal, or holy are far outweighed by the reality of the inner conflict of my daily life. But the truth from God’s vantage point is that He has declared this as our inheritance. He signifies His acceptance of us by noting that we were called out of darkness. When your dream has been completely engulfed by the darkness of failure, intentional or unintentional, it is only then that you can determine what the value of that vision really is. What are willing to spend to recover and possess the dream of your vision?

The first battle to your breakthrough is the personal resolve you exert to place the highest value on your dreams and visions. You give those up and you will be an empty, soulless shell, existing in the quiet torture of apathetic acceptance, among the community of the unfulfilled. Pay the price to value your dreams and visions above all else. Listen among the crushing sound of eight hundred advancing warriors to the quiet solitude of your lonely existence. Raise up your spear! Make a declaration of value for the ground you stand on! No ground is worth living on if you are not willing to die standing on it to protect it! Adino did just that and God wrought a great victory by using him to kill all eight hundred of his advancing enemies at once. Your breakthrough must be worth the battle. You have nothing to go back to from the life you were expelled from. You are a Mighty Man, raise your spear and signal the enemies of your soul that death is the ultimate price you will pay to give birth to your dreams and visions. This is your battle for the dreams God has given you. How much are they worth? Only you can say. Raise your spear!

“The Tapestry”

Your life is the weaving of God’s purpose,

one thread at a time,

The hands of God weave the thread,

and select the color line.

Some days like thread are course and dark,

some days are fine and bright,

All are chosen in providence,

displayed in His true light.

No single day or colored thread,

can by itself be shown,

Only time reveals completely,

what God has always known.

Judgments passed on partial views,

by those who fear God’s work,

Expose the broken heart they bear,

and weave in threads of hurt.

Words of praise and encouragement,

are colors of true faith,

That He who has begun your work,

will finish it one day.

And on that day when weavings cease,

and colors meld into,

The worlds will witness God’s completion,

your tapestry in view.
Copyright 2008 Greg Manuel

I found this in some old notes of mine today. I didn’t write it originally and I do not know where it originated, but it is powerful to say the least. It blessed me today when I read it:
The next time you feel like GOD can’t use you, just remember…

Noah was a drunk,

Abraham was too old,

Isaac was a daydreamer,

Jacob was a liar,

Leah was ugly,

Joseph was abused,

Moses had a stuttering problem,

Gideon was afraid,

Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer,

Rahab was a prostitute,

Jeremiah and Timothy were too young,

David had an affair and was a murderer,

Elijah was suicidal,

Isaiah preached naked,

Jonah ran from God,

Naomi was a widow,

Job went bankrupt,

John the Baptist ate bugs,

Peter denied Christ,

The Disciples fell asleep while praying,

Martha worried about everything,

The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once,

Zaccheus was too small,

Paul was too religious,

Timothy had an ulcer,

AND Lazarus was dead!

…no more excuses now. God can use you to your full potential. Besides you aren’t the message, you are just the messenger.

I would like to invite you to be my special guest at an event that has been titled, “Pastor’s Tree Growth Watching Year.” I know you will want to make your plans to be involved in this exciting event from the start to the very end. The event will begin on March 10, 2008, and continue twenty-four hours each day until March 10, 2009. The purpose of this wonderful event is to watch a tree grow! Don’t miss it! This concept is really too ridiculous to spend too much more time on but let’s linger a moment more as we apply it to our real lives.

No one devotes 24/7 to watching anything grow, but we all expect growth to be evident overnight. When my children were under thirteen they wanted to be accepted as a bonafied PG13 person when it comes to enjoying a movie! All of them demanded to be considered an adult when it comes to ordering off of the restaurant menu. Then if that was not enough, there is that seventeen-year-old man who lives at my home who has already forgotten more that I have the ability to learn! Where did these beings come from? Did aliens replace my children? Just yesterday they were completely dependent on me to take care of them. The audacity of this group to grow without attending my “Tree Growth Watching Year” seminar!

Let patience have her perfect work! Give it some time! Let life unfold one day at a time without ripping the bark off of everything God plants in your life. You do not have to understand why something has to be the way it is to enjoy the benefits of what that something brings you. If you contemplate too long about why ice cream melts, you will miss the sheer joy of how it tastes!
Patience is working in you at the pace God has determined you need. Patience is bringing you up under what you believe with sure steps and determined planning. When the work of patience is perfect in your life you will be securely sheltered under the covering of your faith in God. Only God devotes 24/7 to watching something grow. That something He is watching is you!

Change

Are you afraid of change? Maybe the more important question is this, “Are you aware that everything around has already changed?” You and I are in a constant state of change, and it is out of our control.

Peter Drucker, an expert on management wrote: 'Every few hundred years throughout western history, a sharp transformation has occurred. In a matter of a decade, society altogether rearranges itself—its worldview, its basic values, its society and political structures, its arts, its key institutions. Fifty years later, a new world exists. And the people born into that world cannot even imagine the world in which their grandparents lived and into which their parents were born. Our age is such a period of transformation, signaled by the introduction of the knowledge society.'

What are you doing personally to grow? What have you learned to do this year that you did not know how to do last year? Routine is the slow death of growth. I am not suggesting that all routines are debilitating. But, I am asking you to consider that the mindless cycle of our repetitive mediocrity is a destructive path that diminishes our desire to grow. In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul says it this way, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Consider this statistic, “According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.” Turn the television off! Invest at least part of those four hours per day into personal growth. Look at the disparity between television viewing and Bible reading, “According to the Barna Research Group, those who read the Bible regularly spend about 52 minutes a week in the scriptures.” That’s twenty-eight hours per week watching TV, compared to less than one hour per week reading the Bible.

Is it possible the reason you and I are continuing the same cycle of unsustainable growth because we are so out of balance regarding secular and Godly input into our lives? We used to tell our children when they were small, “Trash in-trash out!” I think the same is true for all of us “big” people today. We are the product of what we are consuming; spiritually, emotionally, physically, psychologically, ect. We must grow. 1 Peter 2:1-2 reminds us to, “lay aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” You and I are the result of our personal desires-plain and simple. The problem with that is the inability to change we are nurturing in our society.

Change is inevitable! The climate is changing in an irreversible manner! Some call it Global Warming in an effort to sell Carbon Credits; we know it as Biblical prophecy. Technology is doubling every two years now, and is expected to double every seventy-eight minutes in less than ten years. You must change to grow! Why not start to today by seeking God for His intended growth for your life.

Let me leave you with this passage from The Message Bible in Hebrews 6:1-3, “So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on "salvation by self-help" and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we'll stay true to all that. But there's so much more. Let's get on with it!”

The Warfare of Worship

The picture was grainy and distorted, and of course black and white. The event we were witnessing was of such magnitude that as small boy I remember the air in our living room was heavy with a sense of providence. July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon; I was six years old. The wonder of the experience was all I knew. In the mind of this child there was no reference to understand the significance this had in a national political system out of control, and an international arms race that clearly viewed the original moonwalk as a leg up!


I read the story of a boy who was completing a homework assignment on how World War II began. He came to his Father and asked, “Dad, who started World War II?” the Father replied, “It was the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.” The boy’s Mother overheard the conversation and was appalled that her son was given such a right wing, simplistic explanation. She said in a louder than usual voice, “You know very well that was no the starting point of World War II! And furthermore I would appreciate you not filling our son’s head with a distortion of the truth. Everyone who embraces the big picture knows the Communist element left over from World War I orchestrated the entire second world was.” The boy raised his hand; when both parents were silent he said, “I see how the whole thing started; two people in the same world saw the same thing differently and believed the other was wrong.” Ouch!


What began the spiritual conflict that we live out each in this natural world is undisputed. Jesus said it Himself, “I beheld Satan fall from Heaven as lightening.” Lucifer said, “I will…” and God said, “You will not!” The entire theatre of spiritual conflict we know as good and evil started out of worship. What once was only known in terms of adoration, with the fall of Lucifer now had a new dimension of warfare. Can you really grasp the gravity of this single concept; spiritual warfare was the result of an alternate worship desire. You can even hear the battle lines being redrawn as God gives Moses the first commandment, “You shall no other gods before me!” Let me say it again; spiritual warfare was birthed from Lucifer redirecting the motive and intent of worship.


When you worship you wage warfare! Your voice, your heart, your mind, your very life existence is the most powerful weapon known to man and angels. All of your conflicts are won or lost out of your worship, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or financial. Spiritual warfare, and the attacks you face on a daily basis originate from a solitary decision that only you can make; who are you going to worship? After all of the conferences have been attended; when every book has been read; upon completing the seminar workshop, there will still be only one question left that only you can answer. Which side of the spiritual conflict are you on? There are those who worship God, and then there is everyone else. Worship is warfare. Choose to win eternal life! Worship the Lord your God and Him only!

Laws Of Nature

God has set in place certain boundaries that are governed by an intricate array of precedents we know as the “Laws of Nature.” These standards are built on a succession of the passage by all elements and matter between lesser and greater laws. For instance, the law of gravity demands that an airplane remain on the ground due to its mass weight. But, that law becomes a lesser rule when the law of lift releases the formula of thrust, which supercedes the law of gravity.

Thrust is the force, which moves an aircraft through the air. Thrust is generated by the engines of the airplane through the reaction of accelerating a mass of gas. The gas is accelerated to the rear and the engine and aircraft is accelerated in the opposite direction. This law can be used to explain the generation of lift by a wing and the production of thrust by a jet engine, which allows the airplane to fly. (This is the basic Thrust Equation: F = mdot e * Ve - mdot 0 * V0 + (pe - p0) * Ae - Isn’t the web a wonderful source of information that allows me to impress you with my ability to research.) All of nature hangs in a delicate balance of its ascending and descending laws.
We live for the most part in a state of conflict with nature, especially those who have been born again through the gift of Salvation. At the point of our spiritual birth we receive an opening in our spirits that allows us to go beyond our natural boundaries. Our new spiritual nature supercedes the human nature we were physically born with through a phenomenon we have come to know as the supernatural. So, if nature is built on laws, and those laws bind us, where does the supernatural fit into this entire picture? Simply, the last law of nature is the opening gateway of the supernatural. Joshua 10:1-15 gives a distinct picture of just what I am trying to show you; I think you just might be able to relate to it.

As soon as word began to spread across the Israelites Promised Land regarding the conquest of Jericho and Ai, two things began to happen simultaneously. The people of Gibeon began the process of positioning themselves with God’s people, while the five Amorite Kings began to strategize an attack against Gibeon, and ultimately against Israel. You can always expect the same two reactions when you begin to possess your promise, allies and enemies.

Nature has a law that dictates the biggest, strongest, smartest, most fortified army will win the conflict we know as war. I’m sure this is what the five Amorite Kings were counting on. Their self-serving alliance had all the right components except one; they were fighting against God’s promise. When nature’s laws pass to one another the affairs of your human existence, there is always one final resting place for their last allegiance, that is the supernatural intervention of God’s promise in your life.

When the supernatural is enacted, every opposing force of nature transcends the origin of its purpose to become the ally of God, whom He commands with the voice of His will. God is not afraid of your nature. When God begins to reveal His promise in your life, the natural elements that were your enemy will transform into your allies and position you for the victory God has destined for you. Nature and all of its governing standards may seem to be the end of your purposed faith, but nature has one last law that it must obey. The last law of nature is to conform to the supernatural will of God for your life.

The elements that make up our environment are here specifically for humanity and it’s existence. Life as we know it is a complex sphere of cycles that work together. Plants and foliage breath in the carbon monoxide we exhale to produce the oxygen we need to breath. But for that process to happen a single seed produces fruit and additional seed for planting. But without condensation and evaporation creating a moisture allocation and recovery system that enables the earth to drink, the seed could not facilitate the plant that generates the oxygen we need to breath. All things work together. Remember, nature is governed by laws that ascend and descend in superiority within each other. But, the last law of nature is to give place to the supernatural.

God determines the course of your process. That process is the mechanism that allows you to possess the promise that God has given you. When it seems like all of nature is against you, those very elements could be the sign of God’s movement to you. Matthew 14:22-34, allows us to look at such a setting.

Jesus makes His disciples go before Him to the other side of the sea while He sends the multitude away, and spends some time in solitude for prayer. The disciples, to the best of their obedience are in the middle of their passage. They are doing what they were commanded, but storms have surrounded them and they are now being tossed by the sea. Have you ever felt like you were doing everything you knew to do, to the best of your ability, and yet it seemed like the storms of life were taking you under? Maybe you felt like the laws of nature were working to destroy you? The reality of your situation is; you only see a limited portion of what is really transpiring.

Psalms 18:1-15, David states his position; surrounded by the sorrows of death, confronted by the snares of death, compassed by Hell’s sorrow, fearful by the floods of the ungodly. In his distress he called upon the Lord, and cried unto God, and God heard his cry. Watch how David describes God response to his cry of distress. “The earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, smoke went up from His nostrils, and a devouring fire from His mouth. The Lord thundered from Heaven and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire.” Be honest, if you saw all of this, coming in your direction would you be inclined to run?

It is time for you and I to recognize the last law of nature. What we see in the natural elements could be indicators of God’s protection and deliverance moving to us. Those disciples in the middle of a storm tossed sea did not know Jesus was on His way to them, walking of the water. Consider this; was nature simply giving place to a higher law when Jesus came walking in the water? It is possible that what the disciples were experiencing in the storm was nature moving to grant entrance to the supernatural! Your storm could be the sign of God’s intervention! The rain could be the voice of God preparing to speak to your situation. Jeremiah 10:13 states, “When He utters His voice there is a multitude of waters in the heavens!”

You are not the victim of nature’s whims! You are the Righteousness of God in Christ! You are Joint Heirs with Christ! You have been raised up to sit with Christ together in Heavenly places. Stop fretting the storm! It’s just the signal of the supernatural approaching! God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of love, and of power, and of a sound mind.

The last law of nature is the conforming of all elements to the entrance of the supernatural. Rest in it!

God's Open-Heart Surgery

The heart is an amazing mechanism. It is the central core of what makes our bodies function. The heart is defined as a muscle that pumps the blood through a serious of various sized veins and arteries allowing it to service the entire body. There are internal organs you can function without. But, nothing in your body can survive without blood, and blood cannot flow without being pumped through a distribution system that is powered by a heart.

When it became necessary for my Father to undergo heart surgery several years ago it was amazing to me what was involved in replacing a valve, and bypassing several arteries that were no longer functional. The doctors were extremely kind in trying to explain the process in simple terms that we could understand. I think the one thing that remains more clear to me than anything else the doctors said was this, “This is a very serious, possibly fatal task. Anytime you open the heart, best case scenario, you are risking everything.” There was no question in our minds as to the seriousness of the operation. Because his heart would have to be completely stopped there was no guarantee that the doctors could actually get a sustained heart rhythm started again. The risks were enormous but without it my Father had a 100% prognosis of eminent death. Some decisions become so desperate that the risks are outweighed by the fact that there are no other options.

In a spiritual sense, as we seek to understand the structure and functions of the Body of Christ, I believe the central mechanism, or the heart, is in fact worship. Worship is the single action that sustains on a continual basis all other endeavors of the Christian walk and life. The first commandment given to Moses in Exodus 20 determines the priority of worship, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Worship is the heart of our spiritual quest to know and understand God. The term idolatry exists solely as the all-encompassing alternative to worshipping anything other than God!

At the risk of being stereotyped and labeled I want to open the heart of worship. Some decisions become so desperate that the risks are outweighed by the fact that there are no other options. I believe worship is that important and stands alone in a list of what must be engaged for our spiritual life. There is something vitally wrong with Christianity and to correct it we need spiritual open-heart surgery.

We are given the surgical tools we need in Hebrews 4:12. ” the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Let’s allow the word of God to cut away and by-pass everything that is congesting our spiritual heart.
Psalms 27:4 gives us the primary heart of worship, “One thing have I desired of the Lord…that I may dwell in the House of the Lord…to behold His beauty. This is the heart of worship.

The Power Tool Of Faith

Power tools are wonderful inventions of ingenuity and productivity. I mean really, what can you compare to the incredible sensation of overpowering an object with a motorized device of mass destruction? One thing that has always puzzled me about power tools is the overwhelming desire I always have to use them in a manner for which they were not designed. Who taught me this? I don’t know, maybe it’s just a “man-thing” or something.

Have you ever noticed the warning labels on various power tools? One of the things most common sentences warning labels on power tools share is a line that reads something like, “Please follow manufacturer’s guidelines. Failure to do so may result in serious injury.” As long as you understand the limits of its use, the power tool can increase your productivity. If you give in to that insatiable need to explore the outer limits of power tool pandemonium, and actually attempt to trim the hedges with your trusty skill, well if I say anymore you’ll know whom I’m talking about!

I believe your faith should be approached in the same manner. Follow the guidelines God has set forth in His “Manufacturer’s Manual” and you can enjoy the fruit of a life lived in Him. Go outside of those boundaries and you can experience doubt, disillusionment, discouragement and depression.

There is a very interesting setting in the book of Mark, chapter 9, where a man is brought to Jesus who is demon possessed. When Jesus asked the father how long this situation had existed the man reply was, “Since he was a child and very often the spirit throws him into fire.” There is no question that fire is used to describe God many times in the scripture. We also know according to I Peter 1:7, that our faith is to be tried by fire. The element of fire, when used according to God purpose in your life, will work the divinely intended function. But, someone is always taking a Godly element and misusing it! That someone is the enemy of your soul and he wants you to blame God for things you do not understand, or explain.

Why was the evil spirit often throwing the man into the fire? I can hear the cynical voice of humanism, “Well that spirit is just trying the man’s faith with fire.” As absurd as that seems, I find that some people are often throwing themselves in to whatever fire they come across. Remember the childhood adage we were taught, “You play with fire and you will get burned.”
The fires of faith will find you. You need not seek opportunity to test your faith. Your faith will produce it’s own examination. It seems to me that the fires of faith always flare up out of that deep conviction you have lived by for the Glory of God! If you’re not in the fire now then take a long slow breath and enjoy the reprieve. The fires of faith will find you soon enough!

Daniel 3:1-30, shares the account of three Hebrew boys who refused to violate a life long principle of worship. Their stand, by decree of the King got them a one-way ticket to a fiery furnace. You understand of course, the necessity of a return ticket was negated by the elements of the accommodations. Listen to me! You were never expected by Satan to make it this far. He thought once he got you into the fire that would be enough. What he can never grasp is this; the thing he imagined to destroy you is the very thing God designed to strengthen you! Let circumstance beyond your control cast you into what should consume you with a one-way ticket! God won’t let your stand for Him be your downfall. God will not watch you from a distance to see if your faith is strong. When the servant of the King looked into the fiery furnace he discovered there were four in the fire!

The fires of faith will contain you for a season, but not consume you. The fires of faith that purify you will be to hot for your enemies to handle. The fires of faith will affect you, but not infect you! The fires of faith will create an arena for you to receive a supernatural visitation that will be seen by many. The fires of faith will burn, but you will not smell like smoke! The fires of faith will forge you into a minister of flaming fire by the very nature of their heat! That’s why they are made; it says so in the Manufacturer’s Manual. (Psalms 104:4)