Have you ever done something that seemed so right and yet you wondered why you never did it before? Or, how could I forget that?
A few weeks back I posted on Facebook about some struggles I was going thru, to me they were
spiritual attacks and I was frustrated... now that is an understatement.
When I finished my rant, I said that we have victory in Jesus. And that is so true, but I didn't come back and tell you of the victory I had in Jesus and how it came about.
When I posted on FB my rant about being tired of giving into sin, of feeding my flesh, etc., many, many of you posted words of encouragement, help, prayers, One of the notes told of how she would walk around repeating "No temptation has seized you except what common to man...etc".
1 Corinthians 10:13
At first I passed on over that but during my afternoon driving job I started doing that. I was quoting verses that I only remembered part of them, some only a single word. "He has given me a sound mind"2 Timothy 1:7; Peace of God transcend all"Philippians 4:7; "I have the mind of Christ"1Corinthians 2:16. I had more the next day. It was the Word. It hit me after an hour or so, I was feeling peace and no turmoil. WOW! I kept at it. That evening I started writing down verses on small pieces of paper and carried them with me in the car. It was working, praise God.
Now it's ok to say Well, Duh, Troy...didn't you know that? Yes, but like so many of us I did not use the Sword of the Spirit, the Word. I was doing battle with my fleshly, carnal weapons, but when I
started doing battle in the heavenlies with the Sword of the Spirit everything changed.
Where does sin start? In the mind James 1:14,15. Joyce Meyer has a teaching series called WHERE THE MIND GOES THE MAN FOLLOWS. At first I disagreed with that, then it hit me,
Proverbs 23:7 (KJV) "For as he (man) thinketh in his heart (mind), so is he..."
The battleground for satan is our mind. Sin is first conceived in the mind. Nobody just suddenly sins. That is why our weapons cannot be carnal instead they must be spiritual.
Use the Sword of the Spirit against satan and his lies. Take that Sword out of the scabbard and do battle against our enemy by using the Word. The Word is "sharper than any two edged sword..."
Hebrew 4:12
VICTORY IS IN JESUS !!!!
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Thursday, March 3, 2016
Friday, January 1, 2016
Saturday, December 13, 2014
RUNNING FROM A TYPHOON AND GOD'S PLAN
Recently the Lord brought back an incident that happened while I was on active duty in the Navy. We were going to sail from the Philippine Islands to San Francisco harbor. We upped anchor and left Subic Bay and headed north through the Luzon straits and then in to the South Pacific. This was an area where some US Navy ships had been sunk by tropical storms/typhoons in WWII. We had the course set for San Francisco harbor but we were also trying to avoid a Typhoon. We were forced off our course, forced to leave our set course so as to be on the outer edge of the the typhoon. For several hours ( sure seemed longer ) we were tossed around like a cork by the wind and ocean waves, and we were a large vessel. Eventually, we left the typhoon behind and with the help of the technology we had, ie, compass and radio weather broadcasts, we were able to come back to our original course and sailed on to the good ol' USA.
The Lord showed me that He has a plan for me, and for each of us, but the devil tries to get us off course. He buffets us and tosses us around so as to confuse and discourage us.
While we trust in the Lord and put ourselves in his care he will see us through. However, sometimes we allow the devil to keep us distracted and confused about what the Lord wants us to do.
Pay attention to your compass, The Bible, and to the weather forecasts, the Holy Spirit, and you can stay on course.
Recently the Lord brought back an incident that happened while I was on active duty in the Navy. We were going to sail from the Philippine Islands to San Francisco harbor. We upped anchor and left Subic Bay and headed north through the Luzon straits and then in to the South Pacific. This was an area where some US Navy ships had been sunk by tropical storms/typhoons in WWII. We had the course set for San Francisco harbor but we were also trying to avoid a Typhoon. We were forced off our course, forced to leave our set course so as to be on the outer edge of the the typhoon. For several hours ( sure seemed longer ) we were tossed around like a cork by the wind and ocean waves, and we were a large vessel. Eventually, we left the typhoon behind and with the help of the technology we had, ie, compass and radio weather broadcasts, we were able to come back to our original course and sailed on to the good ol' USA.
The Lord showed me that He has a plan for me, and for each of us, but the devil tries to get us off course. He buffets us and tosses us around so as to confuse and discourage us.
While we trust in the Lord and put ourselves in his care he will see us through. However, sometimes we allow the devil to keep us distracted and confused about what the Lord wants us to do.
Pay attention to your compass, The Bible, and to the weather forecasts, the Holy Spirit, and you can stay on course.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
WAITING IN EXPECTATION
This morning as I was praying and reading I turned to Psalm 5. It spoke clearly to me. I was praying, sighing, and crying out to God. See what it spoke:
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."
Now I am WAITING IN EXPECTATION. He heard me and He is moving on my behalf.
"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."
Now I am WAITING IN EXPECTATION. He heard me and He is moving on my behalf.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
THOSE CLAY POTS
The pots. Six pots, set off to the side. I wonder if we have ever really thought about the pots? Here's Jesus at a wedding. His disciples are there. His mother is there, and as the wedding progresses, they've run out of wine.
One thing we have to know is that in this time period,, to run out of wine during a wedding celebration was a major insult to all the guests. It would heap dishonor on the host, and more than likely the host was a friend of Jesus because...well, Jesus was invited, and you don't invite just anybody to a wedding. So here's Jesus and his friends, and it becomes clear to Mary that they have run out of wine.
Mary, on faith goes to Jesus. "They've run out of wine..." Jesus puts her off. "It's not my time." but Mary, her faith in what Jesus can do never wavering, looks to the servants and says, "Do whatever He tells you." And what does Jesus Say? "Take those pots, and fill them with water."
Take THOSE pots? But what were those pots? If you're like me, you think they were pitchers just like you would normally think you would put wine into. Ahh, but that's not what it says. It says, "Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification..." Those pots would have been large, maybe even about 30-40 gallon pots.The Jewish custom of purification. That means those pots are there for the Jews to wash themselves, to purify themselves in order to be clean enough to share a meal.
Notice. Jesus did not say, 'Take them and wash them with Dawn detergent and then go out and fill them with water.' In fact, He doesn't even mention washing them out first. He just says, 'Take them and fill them with water.'
What does this mean to us today>? It's simple. We are not required to get our act together and then go to God. We are those dirty pots (see 2 Corinthians 4:7), yes, we are those dirt pots - full of filth of our lives, even the filth of our own attempts to wash our sinfulness away with our religions, our rules and our rituals (un-biblical).
Those rituals can never save you. Even if you live by the rule you are still unclean. You still need to wash and to be washed. And then Jesus comes along and without requiring you to get clean first, He points to you and says, 'Fill that one with my water.' The living water that He refers to later on. 'Fill her with my water. Fill him with my water.'
And then, as if that's not enough, He tells the servants to take some of what has come out of those pots to the head waiter who will judge the wine, the fruit that comes from these dirty, filthy, stinking pots. Think about that. All these people have washed themselves in these pots, and now these servants are going to take what they know was dirty water only minutes before to the ultimate judge to seek his approval to share it with the others. Those servants had to be fearful for their very lives!
Isn't this just like you and me? We are those pots, once filthy and dirty, but now not only filled with the living water, but filled with the wine of a new life. And the fruit that has come out of us is now taken to the ultimate Judge. Does the Judge take one sip and spit it out in horror at our filth? No...you know the end of the story. He praises the bridegroom for saving the best wine for last.
Jesus is the new wine. He is the best, and He wants to fill you right now. Not when you get your act cleaned up, not when you've gotten yourself presentable (by your own standards). Right now. He is standing here calling you to be filled with His new wine. The question is: Will you let Him do it, will you do whatever He says, or are you still going to try to do it on your own? It's your choice.
Later on I want to talk about those servants doing their daily routine and what they got to be a part of.
Be filled!
With you on this journey He has set us on.
Troy
One thing we have to know is that in this time period,, to run out of wine during a wedding celebration was a major insult to all the guests. It would heap dishonor on the host, and more than likely the host was a friend of Jesus because...well, Jesus was invited, and you don't invite just anybody to a wedding. So here's Jesus and his friends, and it becomes clear to Mary that they have run out of wine.
Mary, on faith goes to Jesus. "They've run out of wine..." Jesus puts her off. "It's not my time." but Mary, her faith in what Jesus can do never wavering, looks to the servants and says, "Do whatever He tells you." And what does Jesus Say? "Take those pots, and fill them with water."
Take THOSE pots? But what were those pots? If you're like me, you think they were pitchers just like you would normally think you would put wine into. Ahh, but that's not what it says. It says, "Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification..." Those pots would have been large, maybe even about 30-40 gallon pots.The Jewish custom of purification. That means those pots are there for the Jews to wash themselves, to purify themselves in order to be clean enough to share a meal.
Notice. Jesus did not say, 'Take them and wash them with Dawn detergent and then go out and fill them with water.' In fact, He doesn't even mention washing them out first. He just says, 'Take them and fill them with water.'
What does this mean to us today>? It's simple. We are not required to get our act together and then go to God. We are those dirty pots (see 2 Corinthians 4:7), yes, we are those dirt pots - full of filth of our lives, even the filth of our own attempts to wash our sinfulness away with our religions, our rules and our rituals (un-biblical).
Those rituals can never save you. Even if you live by the rule you are still unclean. You still need to wash and to be washed. And then Jesus comes along and without requiring you to get clean first, He points to you and says, 'Fill that one with my water.' The living water that He refers to later on. 'Fill her with my water. Fill him with my water.'
And then, as if that's not enough, He tells the servants to take some of what has come out of those pots to the head waiter who will judge the wine, the fruit that comes from these dirty, filthy, stinking pots. Think about that. All these people have washed themselves in these pots, and now these servants are going to take what they know was dirty water only minutes before to the ultimate judge to seek his approval to share it with the others. Those servants had to be fearful for their very lives!
Isn't this just like you and me? We are those pots, once filthy and dirty, but now not only filled with the living water, but filled with the wine of a new life. And the fruit that has come out of us is now taken to the ultimate Judge. Does the Judge take one sip and spit it out in horror at our filth? No...you know the end of the story. He praises the bridegroom for saving the best wine for last.
Jesus is the new wine. He is the best, and He wants to fill you right now. Not when you get your act cleaned up, not when you've gotten yourself presentable (by your own standards). Right now. He is standing here calling you to be filled with His new wine. The question is: Will you let Him do it, will you do whatever He says, or are you still going to try to do it on your own? It's your choice.
Later on I want to talk about those servants doing their daily routine and what they got to be a part of.
Be filled!
With you on this journey He has set us on.
Troy
Monday, February 24, 2014
DIN'T LET THE DEVIL KEEP YOU IN BONDAGE
Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done - and the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, debt, fear, hatred, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, pornography, etc.), whatever it is, you need to know that God saw the whole thing. He has seen our whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that your are forgiven. He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you. The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness, He not only forgives you, but He forgets.
Remember that is is by God's Grace and Mercy that we are saved.
Remember that is is by God's Grace and Mercy that we are saved.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
WORSHIP
So, I believe that we have established that Praise is different from Worship. They are two different things. Praise is something we do as an outward expression. Worship is something that goes on in our hearts and is not necessarily displayed outwardly. However, it can be, through the expression of words, song, bowing down, etc...that lead us into His presence. To quote David Wilkerson again, "...worship cannot be learned! It is a spontaneous outbreak, the act of a heart overwhelmed by a revelation of God's glory and His incredible love."
I'm going to wind up this posting on Praise and Worship. However, I know that this will be an ongoing series of revelation in my life. I'm going to share some thoughts and quotes here and believe that the Lord will confirm the revelation in your heart as He has in mine.
I am of the opinion that we should separate the phrase Praise and Worship from any musical connotation. While music is an awesome gift from God and a wonderful way to express our love for Him, Praise and Worship are not musical terms.
Pastor Jack Hayford, shared how the song, "Majesty" came into being. I copied this from his site, www.jackhayford.org. "So powerfully did the sense of Christ Jesus royalty, dignity, and majesty fill my heart; I seemed to feel something new of what it meant to be His! The accomplished triumph of His Cross has not only unlocked us from the chains of our own bondage and restored us to fellowship with the Father, but He has unfolded to us a life of authority over sin and hell and raised us to partnership with Him in His Throne - now! He is fully worthy. "Majesty" is also a statement of the fact that our worship, when begotten in spirit and in truth, can align us with His Throne in such a way that His Kingdom and authority flows to us - to overflow us, free us, and channel through us."
So much more in my file that could be shared but let me add two more things here. Look at the choruses of these Worship songs.
"WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR HOLINESS" by Wayne and Cathy Perrin. "The reason I live is to worship you."
"COME LET US WORSHIP AND BOW DOWN" by Dave Doherty. "Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God and Maker. For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hands."
"HERE I AM TO WORSHIP" by Chris Tomlin. "Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me."
I end with this from a friend and fellow pastor. Using the illustration of our triune being and the Tabernacle or Temple, showing the Seven Steps to Worship.
FLESH - Symbolic of the Outer Court
*Door - Flesh enters through the Door - Jesus
*Altar - Recognizing the Blood sacrifice for our sins
*Fire Laver - The Holy Ghost, washing of water by the Word.
SOUL - Symbolic of the Holy Place or Inner Court
*Show Bread - The Word or Jesus revealed
*Candlestick - Anointing, fresh oil daily, and wicks trimmed, the revealed Word illuminated
*Alter of Incense - Our Praise is a sweet savor unto God
SPIRIT - Enters the Holy of Holies
*Worship - God is light, total transparency of ourselves
I encourage you to consider these verses on Worship. Romans 12:1; Genesis 24:25-27; John 4:23-25.
With this I encourage you to do your own study of Praise and Worship. Let the Holy Spirit reveal to you what it is that He wants you to glean. But more than that, Praise Him at all times and in all places and Worship Him in your inner most being.
This study has been fun, encouraging, uplifting, enlightening, and has brought about within me a strong desire to Praise and Worship our awesome, powerful, loving, etc., Heavenly Father.
Your fellow traveler on this Journey.
Troy
I'm going to wind up this posting on Praise and Worship. However, I know that this will be an ongoing series of revelation in my life. I'm going to share some thoughts and quotes here and believe that the Lord will confirm the revelation in your heart as He has in mine.
I am of the opinion that we should separate the phrase Praise and Worship from any musical connotation. While music is an awesome gift from God and a wonderful way to express our love for Him, Praise and Worship are not musical terms.
Pastor Jack Hayford, shared how the song, "Majesty" came into being. I copied this from his site, www.jackhayford.org. "So powerfully did the sense of Christ Jesus royalty, dignity, and majesty fill my heart; I seemed to feel something new of what it meant to be His! The accomplished triumph of His Cross has not only unlocked us from the chains of our own bondage and restored us to fellowship with the Father, but He has unfolded to us a life of authority over sin and hell and raised us to partnership with Him in His Throne - now! He is fully worthy. "Majesty" is also a statement of the fact that our worship, when begotten in spirit and in truth, can align us with His Throne in such a way that His Kingdom and authority flows to us - to overflow us, free us, and channel through us."
So much more in my file that could be shared but let me add two more things here. Look at the choruses of these Worship songs.
"WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR HOLINESS" by Wayne and Cathy Perrin. "The reason I live is to worship you."
"COME LET US WORSHIP AND BOW DOWN" by Dave Doherty. "Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God and Maker. For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hands."
"HERE I AM TO WORSHIP" by Chris Tomlin. "Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me."
I end with this from a friend and fellow pastor. Using the illustration of our triune being and the Tabernacle or Temple, showing the Seven Steps to Worship.
FLESH - Symbolic of the Outer Court
*Door - Flesh enters through the Door - Jesus
*Altar - Recognizing the Blood sacrifice for our sins
*Fire Laver - The Holy Ghost, washing of water by the Word.
SOUL - Symbolic of the Holy Place or Inner Court
*Show Bread - The Word or Jesus revealed
*Candlestick - Anointing, fresh oil daily, and wicks trimmed, the revealed Word illuminated
*Alter of Incense - Our Praise is a sweet savor unto God
SPIRIT - Enters the Holy of Holies
*Worship - God is light, total transparency of ourselves
I encourage you to consider these verses on Worship. Romans 12:1; Genesis 24:25-27; John 4:23-25.
With this I encourage you to do your own study of Praise and Worship. Let the Holy Spirit reveal to you what it is that He wants you to glean. But more than that, Praise Him at all times and in all places and Worship Him in your inner most being.
This study has been fun, encouraging, uplifting, enlightening, and has brought about within me a strong desire to Praise and Worship our awesome, powerful, loving, etc., Heavenly Father.
Your fellow traveler on this Journey.
Troy
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