Text: Galatians 5
GALATIANS 5 -

After Paul discusses the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21, he begins to describe the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in a believer’s life.

In Galatians 5:22 and 23, he writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.…”

  Just as Paul previously described the works of the flesh, now he tells us what the Holy Spirit wants to produce in us — and what a contrast there is between the flesh and the Spirit!

The flesh produces “works” — from the Greek word ergos, which implies hard work or hard labor.

Life dominated by the flesh is filled with excess, imbalance, unhealthy extremes, laziness, self-abuse, hatred, strife, bitterness, irresponsibility, and neglect.

The flesh still cries out to be in charge, screaming demanding to have its own way.

A ife dominated by the Holy Spirit is filled with benefits and blessings!

The word “fruit” is from the Greek word karpos, which describes the fruit of plants, the fruit of trees, or the fruit of one’s body, such as a person’s children or offspring.

Regardless of whether it is a plant, an animal, or a human, all fruit is produced from some kind of seed.

If there is no seed, there is no fruit — and the kind of seed that is sown determines the fruit that will be produced (Genesis 1:11,12).

Apples always produce apples; oranges always produce oranges; dogs always produce dogs; cats always produce cats; humans always produce humans.

The seed determines the fruit.

The moment you received Jesus as your Savior by faith, God sowed His Spirit and Word into your heart like a seed, and you were spiritually born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23).

Just like apples always produce apples and oranges always produce oranges, God’s seed inside you immediately began to produce God!

The seed determines the fruit.

Does a vinedresser worry that his grapevines might produce oranges?

No!!

He knows that grapevines only produce grapes.

Does the owner of an orange grove run to the orchard to see if his trees produced watermelons? He knows his trees will produce oranges because orange trees only produce oranges.

If you to grow watermelons, you have to plant watermelon seeds. Once those watermelon seeds are in the ground, you will eventually get watermelons.

The same principle holds true in the spiritual realm.

To get what you want, you have to plant the right seed because seed always produces fruit after its kind.

  So if God has sown His Spirit and His Word into your heart, you have every right to expect divine fruit to be produced inside you!

The fruit that the Spirit produces is wonderful, godly fruit, overflowing with blessings and life.

Once they partake of the love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance that is evident in your life, people will want to be around you.

When the New Testament was being written, there were four primary Greek words to describe the concept of “love”: 1) eros, 2) stergo, 3) phileo, and 4) agape.

These four words conveyed four very different types of love.  

The first word for “love” in the list given above is the Greek word eros, which is the Greek term for sexual love and where we get the word erotic.
In Greek culture, this word referred to sensual, carnal impulses to satisfy or gratify the sexual desires of the flesh.

It shares a common root with the word erao, which means to ask, to beg, or to demand.

Eros is not a giving type of love, but a sexual demand. It is not a love that seeks to give or to please someone else, but a carnal love that seeks the fulfillment of its own desires.

This word never appears once in the New Testament, not even in the context of sex in marriage.

Even in Greek culture, the word eros represented a carnal, raw, base, low-level craving, yearning, ache, or appetite for sexual fulfillment.

This type of “love” is based on the flesh desire and  is not close to anything God has for us and is never included in New Testament language.

In the New Testament, regardless of whether the context is friendship, brotherhood, or romance, all believers are urged to continually operate from the perspective of agape love, which is a love more focused on giving than it is on receiving.

Because the word eros primarily describes a self-satisfying, self-gratifying, self-seeking, self-pleasing type of sexual appetite found mainly among unbelievers or those who are focused on themselves, it is not the type of love that believers should aspire to in their marital lives.


The second word for “love” mentioned in the list above is the Greek word stergo. The word stergo primarily pictures the love that exists between parents and children or the love that exists between members of a family. One scholar has noted that on occasion, the word stergo portrayed the love of a nation for its ruler or even the love of a dog for its master. The idea of the word stergo is that of devotion.

Although the word stergo does appear in the New Testament, it is very rarely used.

2 Timothy 3:3, where the King James Version translates it “without natural affection.”

This suggests a time that will develop in the last days when strong family ties and devotion to one’s family will deteriorate.

By using this word in a negative sense, the apostle Paul warns that one of the principal signs of the last times will be the deterioration of the family and of traditional family values.

The third word for “love” is the Greek word phileo, which describes affection — such as the affection felt between a boyfriend and girlfriend or the affection shared between two friends.

It carries the idea of two or more people who feel compatible, well-matched, well-suited, and complementary to each other.

Although this word describes the attributes of friendship, it is not representative of the highest form of love, which is agape.

Other words derived from the word phileo are numerous. Here are a few of them:

 
 philadelphia: a compound of phileo and adelphos, the Greek word for a brother. When these two words are compounded together, it means brotherly love.

philodonos: a compound of phileo and edone, the Greek word for pleasure. When compounded together, it means one who is a lover of pleasure.

philoxenos: a compound of phileo and xenos, the Greek word for strangers or foreigners. When compounded together in this form, it carries the idea of one who loves to be hospitable.

philoxenia: similar to the word above, which means one who loves strangers. However, the word philoxenia places more emphasis on love for the person in need of hospitality.

philanthropia: a compound of phileo and anthropos, the Greek word for mankind. Compounded together, it means one who loves or who is kind to mankind.

philarguros: a compound of phileo and arguros, which is the Greek word for silver. Compounded together, it means one who is covetous or one who loves money.

philosophia: a compound of phileo and sophos, which is the famous Greek word for wisdom. When these two words are compounded together into one, it becomes the word philosophy, which is a love of wisdom.


The fourth word for “love” is the word chiefly used in the New Testament to depict the love of God.

This is the Greek word agape — and it is this word that Paul uses in Galatians 5:22 when he writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.…”

This is what I call high-level love, for there is no higher, finer, or more excellent love than agape love.

In fact, the word agape is so filled with deep emotion and meaning that it is one of the most difficult words to translate in the New Testament.

Trying to explain this word has baffled translators for centuries.

Agape occurs when an individual sees, recognizes, understands, and appreciates the value of an object or a person, causing the viewer to behold this object or person in great esteem, awe, admiration, wonder, and sincere appreciation.

This respect is awakened in the heart of the observer for the object or person he is beholding that he is compelled to love it.

In fact, his love for that person or object is so strong that it is irresistible.

The best example of agape is found in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

In the phrase, “For God so loved the world,” the word “love” is the word agape.

This means when God looked upon the human race, He stood in awe of mankind, even though man was lost in sin.

God admired man; He wondered at man; He held mankind in the highest appreciation.

Even though we were held captive by Satan at that moment, God looked upon the world and saw His own image in man.

The human race was so precious to God and He loved us so deeply that His heart was stirred to reach out and do something to save him. In other words, God’s love drove Him to action.

Agape is a love that loves so profoundly that it knows no limits or boundaries in how far, wide, high, and deep it will go to show that love to its recipient.

If necessary, agape love will even sacrifice itself for the sake of that object or person it so deeply cherishes.

Agape is the highest form of love — a self-sacrificial type of love that moves the lover to action.

 
    Eros is a self-seeking love.

    Stergo is limited only to one’s family.

    Phileo is based on mutual satisfaction and can feel disappointed.

Agape is a love that has no strings attached.

It isn’t looking for what it can get, but for what it can give.

Its awe of the one who is loved is so deep that it is compelled to shower love upon that object or person regardless of the response.

This is the profound love God has for us.

He loved us while we were still lost in sin with no ability to love Him back.

God simply loved us without any thought or expectation of receiving love in return.

When you love with such a pure love that you expect nothing back in return, it is impossible for you to feel hurt or be let down by the response of the you love.

You don’t love them for the purpose of getting something in return; you shower them with love simply because you love them.

1 John 3:16

This plainly means that we are to love and appreciate each other just as fully and freely as God loves us.

The Father loved us to the point of self-sacrifice.

Jesus’ agape drove Him to lay down His life for us.

In the same way, we are to agape our brothers and sisters to such a high extent that we would be willing to lay down our lives for them.

If we are truly operating in agape and they don’t respond, it won’t offend or hurt us. We are not looking for what others can do for us; we are simply focused on how to love others with no strings attached.

The way other people respond to us has no effect on our desire to show them agape love.

1 John 3:18

The word “love” is again the word agape, which tells us that when agape is at work, it is a force so strong that it demonstrates itself with deeds and actions.
It is a love that does something, just as God loved us and then did something to save us from our lost and sinful condition.

1 Cor. 13

Matthew 5:43-48

Romans 2:4

Text: Luke 17:1, 2 King 5, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:26, 1 Cor. 13, Proverbs 12:10, 18:19, Hebrews 12:15, Matthew 24:12, 2 Cor. 12:10
Luke 17:1 - offense will come. 

One scholar notes that it could be translated, “It is simply unthinkable that you would allow yourself to dream that you could live this life without an opportunity to become offended.…”

  But what is an offense? 

The word “offense” comes from the Greek word skandalon, from which we get the word scandal. 

The word skandalon originally described the small piece of wood that was used to keep the door of an animal trap propped open. 

A piece of food was placed inside the trap to lure the animal inside. 

When the animal entered the trap and accidentally bumped the skandalon, or the small piece of wood, the skandalon collapsed, causing the trap door to slam shut and the animal to be caught inside with no way to escape.

An offense usually occurs when you see, hear, or experience a behavior that is so different from what you expected that it causes you to falter, totter, and wobble in your soul. 

You are so stunned by what you have witnessed or by a failed expectation that you lose your footing emotionally. 

Before you know it, you are dumbfounded and flabbergasted about something. Then your shock turns into disbelief; your disbelief into disappointment; and your disappointment into offense.

Matthew 24:12 - lawless living causes love to wither. 

Recognize the root: Understand that bitterness and deep resentment act as traps meant to steal your peace.

Everyone will be carry offense. 

Offense makes it hard to have compassion. 

Offense means they have control over you. 

Proverbs 10:12

2 Kings 5 - Naaman 

Proverbs 18:19 - 

“It is easier to conquer a strong city
than to win back a friend whom you’ve offended.
Their walls go up, making it nearly impossible to win them back.” 

- didn’t get recognized. 
- they didn’t reach out to me. 
- you saw me doing that and didn’t offer to help me. 
- you took their side. 
- you didn’t share my feelings. 

Offense comes when we judge other people’s actions through the lens of our own insecurity. 

The devil don’t cause the offense he will inflame it.

Progression of Offense:

- Offense 

- Hurt

- Bitterness

- Resentment and division 
- Offense is the beginning of division.

- You know it’s turned to bitterness when you start telling others. 

- You feel the pain even when they are not around.  

- If you take the offense you will take it with you. 

Hebrews 12:15 - Bitterness spreads  

Know your capacity. If you go past your capacity it becomes an emergency. 

Guard your mind: Reject negative thoughts, defensiveness, and a victim mentality by focusing on God's perspective. 

2 Corinthians 2:10

Ephesians 4:26

1. Expect offense to come. 
2. Choose forgiveness quickly. -   
   1. Release the debt or hurt you feel the other person owes you through active, intentional choice.
   2. Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:26
3. Forgiveness closes the door on bitterness. 
4. Love is the greatest defense against offense. 
   1. 1 Cor. 13

• If you want to guard your heart from offense, you have to guard your thoughts and words.

- Illustration: count to 10 

• We need others to get on our side.  - venting on social media. 

Text:
INTRODUCTION
critic - person who judges, evaluates, or analyzes the value, worth, or quality of something.

TO DETERMINE THE WORTH OF VALUE OF SOMETHING.

- illustration - pawn shop

A critical spirit is a habitual, negative attitude of fault-finding, harsh judging, and tearing others down rather than building them up.

What the Bible Says

Rooted in Pride: A critical spirit often stems from self-righteousness and pride, where a person feels superior to others or assumes they know another's hidden motives.

Contrasted with Love: Scripture teaches that love "does not keep a record of wrongs" (1 Corinthians 13:5), but a critical spirit constantly logs failures.

Warning Against Hypocrisy: In Matthew 7:1–5, Jesus warns against judging others harshly while ignoring one's own major faults (the "log" in your own eye).

Destructive Speech: Ephesians 4:29 commands believers to let no "corrupting talk" come from their mouths, but only what is good for building others up and giving grace.

Difference Between Criticism and Discernment

Discernment is rooted in humility and Scripture; it seeks truth, restoration, and growth.

A critical spirit is rooted in personal irritation or pride; it seeks to condemn, elevate self, and cause damage.



Consumer Christianity produces people who are highly critical but minimally sacrificial.

They evaluate sermons.
Analyze worship.
Compare churches.
Debate styles.

People want to you change until getting rid of them is the change that is required.

People want you to get rid of somethings in your life until the thing that needs to be gotten rid of, is them.  

Michal criticizing David for dancing.

Martha criticized Mary.

Luke 18:9-14 -- Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I am not like other men-extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

The Pharisee in the Luke 18 was an example of what Jesus saw in nearly all the Pharisees at that time. They were self-righteous, egotistical and their identity was in their position and power over others.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were the two main sects in the Jewish community.

Denominations of our day.

The Pharisees and Sadducees have a long, bloody and violent history in battling each other, but they found a common enemy in Jesus. Even though they were the religious leaders and the teachers and believed in the coming of the Messiah, the Pharisees couldn't see who Jesus was. They even accused him of being of Satan (Matthew 12).

Because of their character and actions, the word "pharisee" has come to mean "a sanctimonious, self-righteous, or hypocritical person." People outside the church would probably say that describes most church people.

Hypocritical - means saying you have certain moral standards, beliefs, or feelings while acting in a way that goes against them.
Contradictory Behavior: Doing or saying one thing in public while doing the opposite in private.

False Virtue: Faking a publicly approved attitude or moral stance to gain praise or avoid blame.
Unfair Rules: Criticizing others for actions or habits that the person themselves commits.
This may not seem like a fair assessment, but perception is reality to the person with the perspective.

It only takes one self-righteous person to turn off someone you are trying to win to God, and that self-righteous person could be you if you are not careful.

In Matthew 23, Jesus described the true nature of the Pharisees to the disciples and warned them to not act like they do. What were they like?

They dictated to people how they were supposed to act but didn't practice what they preached.

They put conditions on people that were impossible to meet.

They made sure to wear the finest clothing and be seen in all the right places.

They loved to be praised in public and to be recognized for who they were.

Sometimes that makes him hard to spot, but eventually motives shine through.

We should always be watchful for the Pharisee in us so that we can put him in his place.

That's why the Apostle Paul told us we had to die daily (I Corinthians 15:31).

We should pray that the Lord would humble us daily and let us see if we are becoming like the Pharisees. Jesus said that the Pharisees had become an obstacle for people who were seeking the kingdom of God. There are Pharisees in the church doing the same thing today.

God will humble you, but people will humiliate you.

People love to see when "the mighty have fallen".

Despite any pain and embarrassment it might bring, being humbled is something we should ask God to do for us.



Proverbs 3:12 tells us that the Lord corrects those he loves. God will correct us in order to humble us, and we would be wise to accept His correction.

God will let you go through some things to see what that other person might be dealing with.

What will it take for you to walk a mile in his shoes and come to understand?

Why do you we have to understand at all?

Why can't we just accept, love and show compassion.

Matthew 7:2 says, "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

What Is the Curse and Consequence of a Critical Spirit?

Romans 14:10-13 tells us not to tear down fellow believers through criticism or judgment, because this can pose a stumbling block and cause serious damage to their faith.

Among God’s warnings in Scripture, there are none more serious than the Matthew 18:6 warning to not become a stumbling block to His followers.

Have you ever noticed: We tend to judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions?

We should be content to judge only ourselves and seek to bring our own lives in alignment with God’s Word

1 Cor. 11:31

Destructive criticism is different from constructive feedback.

The only criticism that is ever constructive is that which speaks the truth in love, to build up or edify another person for his or her good and for God’s glory.


What are some characteristics of constructive or healthy feedback?

It is descriptive rather than evaluative, reducing the need for others to react defensively.
It is specific rather than general; as a rule, the more specific we are, the more helpful we are.
It is directed toward behavior that the receiver can control or do something about.
It is well timed. Trust needs to be established, but generally the sooner the better.
It is solicited rather than imposed. Feedback is most appreciated when it is requested.
It is checked with the receiver in order to insure clear, factual or accurate communication.
It takes into account the needs of the giver and receiver of the feedback – truth spoken in love.
It is always expressed face-to-face and never as gossip behind another person’s back.

A critical spirit dwells on the negative, looks for flaws rather than positive qualities in others.

They are constantly complaining or criticizing and usually upset with something or somebody.

They often have little control over their tongue, their temper and have tendencies for gossip, slander, strife and malice.

These are some of the sins spoken of by Paul in Romans 1:29-32.

Do you know anyone who has a critical spirit?

You would probably refer to this poisonous character quality by saying something like:

“I’m just being discerning,” or “I’m just being honest,” or “Get real, I’m just telling it like it is.”

Do you get stuck in your negative feelings, thinking about how bad or wrong something or someone was?

Do you say things like: “I can’t believe he did that ”

Or: “She is so messy.” Or: “Look at her clothes! I wonder how much money she spends on her buying clothes.”

Sometimes the negativity of our hearts finds its way to the tongue, and other times it just stays in our hearts. Either way, the root sin of a critical spirit is the same.

A critical spirit can be very detrimental and damaging to a person’s personal faith or even their heath.

Over time, if left unchecked, it prevents us from seeing, appreciating and enjoying all that’s truly good in the world – all that God is actively doing.  

The critical person comes to expect, even to hope, that everything will have something wrong with it.

Taken to the extreme, a critical person can assume the role of the “devil’s advocate.”
One’s very identity can be marked by this “need” for negativity. But critical people aren’t just hurting themselves; they are also negatively affecting others as well.

Understanding the Behavior

Highly critical and judgmental individuals will often scrutinize everything and everyone around them, pointing out flaws and focusing on the negative.

This behavior can stem from a variety of psychological, emotional, and environmental factors:

Insecurity and Low Self-Esteem: Criticism of others may act as a defense mechanism. By pointing out flaws in others, they may feel a temporary boost in self-worth, masking their insecurities.

Perfectionism: Some individuals hold themselves and others to unattainably high standards. Their harsh judgments may reflect their internal struggle to achieve perfection.

Past Trauma or Negative Experiences: Those who have experienced criticism, neglect, or harsh environments may internalize these patterns, perpetuating them in their relationships.

Cognitive Distortions: Negative thinking patterns, such as black-and-white thinking or catastrophizing, may fuel their focus on flaws and problems.



If u can't praise Him in times of famine - u will just complain at the feast.

Text: 1 Kings 18, 1 Peter 5:8, Proverbs 26:18-19, 1 Samuel 18:25-27, 2 Cor. 10:3-5, 1 Thessalonians 5:23
INTRODUCTION

There’s a dark world after us.  

The enemy roams around seeking whom he may devour. - 1 Peter 5:8

Be sober - free from illusion.

YOUR adversary

Devour - overwhelm

He is looking for a place of influence where he can get into overwhelm you.        

The world makes it no secret that there is an enemy that is out to kill us.

The church wants to hide the fact that there is a Holy Ghost that can break the bondage.

When you expose the enemy he will begin to stir up We are not ignorance of the enemy’s tactics.  

He comes to steal kill and destroy.

He will keep wearing at you until he wears you down.

Satan is patient.

Proverbs 26:18-19
 
Jezebel

Not a female spirit

Men are more susceptible to be rebellion. Adam - rebelled.

Women are more susceptible to be deceive. Eve - deceived.

When a man is hard and stubborn and rebellious it will open the door for the wife to be deceived.
 
1 Kings 21 - Jezebel controlled Naboth.

The entire purpose was to institute Baal worship into the nation of Israel.

She works through confusion
 
She works through humiliation

In biblical warfare, it was not uncommon for an army to emasculate an enemy in order to cause fear in the rest of the army.

1 Samuel 18:25-27

The idea was to humiliate them so that there was no confidence to rise up against the enemy.

This spirit creates a soul tie that makes you feel like you have to have the person in your life.

It needs you to need them or the spirit. When you rise up and understand you are the beloved of God and you don’t need that person and cut them off, look out.

This spirit kills.

She thrives in dysfunctional relationships.  Manipulates family members.

You determine you will not give her another inch.

It kill families.

 It kills friendships.

 It kills relationships.

It kills marriages.

It’s purpose is to control until you lose the will to go on.

This spirit seeks to attack the leader.

After the mess is made you cant fine it.

It will always hide behind, “God told me.” or something spiritual.

It will always push another agenda against the vision of God.

There is no room for a coward in the kingdom

I want you to be wise of the devils tactics and not be ignorant of his devices.


You are not fighting people, you are dealing with a spirit.

2 Cor. 10:3-5

DEAL WITH JEZEBEL IN YOU BEFORE YOU TRY TO DEAL WITH IT IN SOMEONE ELSES LIFE.

If there is no one in your life who can address you, then you are in danger.

PRACTICAL WAYS OF DEALING WITH JEZEBEL

Prayer and humility. You can not fight pride with pride.

Confront those being controlled. Matthew 18

Don't resort to her tactics.

Take authority over the situation.

Be careful when people repent because they are caught.

Do not ask Jezebel to do anything for you.

Do not receive her curses.

You know you are healing when you don't have to repeat what a person did to you.

Plead the blood.  Speak blessing when the curses are spoken.

When people fire arrows at you, you can decided to receive them or not.

If you have been a victim and see the spirit, her children are just like her. Be careful not to become like her.

Understanding

Understanding we are three part beings - mind, spirit, soul

According to the Bible, human beings are three part beings: spirit, soul, and body.

1 Thessalonians 5:23

The Three Parts of Man

Body: The physical, visible part of a person. It interacts with the physical world through our five senses.

Soul: The inner psychological makeup of a person. It consists of the mind (thinking and reasoning), the will (making choices), and the emotions (feeling). It serves as the personality and the medium between our body and spirit.

Spirit: The innermost part of a person. It is the organ used to contact, perceive, and commune with God and the spiritual realm.

Manipulation would take place in the soul of a man.  

How does this spirit work?  

The three main psychological components often used to categorize manipulation tactics are known by the acronym FOG, which stands for

Fear - Manipulators use threats, anger, or intimidation to make you afraid of the consequences if you do not comply with their wishes.

Obligation - They make you feel a heavy sense of duty, convincing you that you must do things for them regardless of your own needs or boundaries.

Guilt/Shame - They blame you for their feelings or situation, making you feel responsible when you try to say "no" or stand up for yourself.

- Intimidation - mocking, talking down.
- Domination - you feel powerless to deal with her.

What are they seeking?

Control - they want you to have awareness of what is happening to you.  

Approval

Validation

Attention

Common Behavioral Signs

Deeper into the FOG idea, psychologists often point to three prominent behaviors that signal manipulation in relationships:

Gaslighting: Denying your reality, twisting facts, or making you doubt your own memory and sanity.

Love Bombing: Showering a person with excessive affection, flattery, and attention early on to establish quick control and emotional dependency.

The Silent Treatment: Withholding communication and affection to punish you or force submission. Communicating only on their terms.

Shifting Blame: Refusing to take accountability and turning every argument around so that you feel like the problem. Using a person's conscience or sense of responsibility against them to force compliance.

Projection: Accusing the other person of the manipulator's own hidden feelings, faults, or toxic behaviors.

Playing the Victim: Flipping the script during a disagreement to portray oneself as the wronged party and avoid taking responsibility.

Text: Malachi 3:8-10, Gen. 14:20, Galatians 6:7, Proverbs 3:9, 2 Cor. 9:7, Mark 4:15

Malachi 3

TITHING IS NOT WHAT WE HAVE TO DO. TITHING IS WHAT WE GET TO DO.

It unlocks the blessings of God from Heaven - Malachi 3

When we tithe we build HIS kingdom.

Tithing is tied to worship.

Genesis 14:20 - it was a picture of honor.

Melchizedek was a type of Christ.

So when we tithe we are honoring Christ.

Abraham tithed, before it was part of the law.

Galatians 6:7

The Lord promises to bless the faithful giver. Why? Because he proves that he can be faithful so the Lord blessed his faithfulness.

First Fruits - Proverbs 3:9

Many people evaluate the quality of their stewardship based on their budgeting discipline and debt levels.

Good stewards live on a budget and are wise in their use of debt.

Being a wise steward of a great king actually means bringing increase to that ruler’s kingdom, just as the five-talent steward in Jesus’ parable did.

It ultimately won’t be about money.

It will be about souls.

It will be about lives impacted.

Money matters because poor stewards of all God has entrusted to them don’t bring increase to their Lord’s kingdom.

WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE THINGS COMPETING FOR OUR RESOURCES.

TO MANY PEOPLE EAT THE SEED.  

GOD TOLD YOU TO SOW IT, BUT YOU DECIDED TO BLOW IT.

WHEN WE EAT WHAT WE WERE SUPPOSE TO SOW, WE EAT THE HARVEST.

WHEN YOU SOW BOUNTIFULLY, YOU WILL REAP BOUNTIFULLY.

2 Corinthians 9:7

"Whatever you sow is your seed; whatever you keep is your harvest". - Mike Murdock

Where we mess up is thinking we are owners and not stewards.

It’s important that we give God 100% not just 10%.

Sowing and Reaping

Mark 4:15

When you sow, the enemy will immediately come to take the seed.


Proverbs 11:25

Psalms 50:10-12

Text: Malachi 3, Luke 6:38, Luke 16, Matthew 6:3, Proverbs 11:25, 19:17, Psalms 50:10-12

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/stress-report.pdf

https://pas.duke.edu/concerns/emotional/stress/money-related-stress/

A 2014 survey of 3,068 adults by the Harris Poll research firm revealed that 72 percent of Americans reported feeling stressed about money at least some of the time during the past month.

Twenty-two percent said they experienced extreme stress about money during the previous month.

Several years ago, a banking organization’s study revealed that 76 percent of America’s households are living paycheck to paycheck.
Half of us have saved up less than a three-month cushion of living expenses.

Nearly a quarter of all Americans have no savings at all.

A stunning number of us are one or two missed paychecks away from a full-on crisis.

“However, the costs of unwise stewardship extend far beyond just the realm of our finances. Long-term financial stress, it turns out, can seriously affect your health. It’s been linked to migraines, cardiovascular diseases, work absenteeism, insomnia, and mental health problems including depression and other mood disorders. It raises your risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes. It can predispose you to unhealthy addictive behaviors as you try to “self-medicate” to feel relief from the pain of stress. All that destruction and misery resulting from an entirely preventable problem.

Tragically, these statistics don’t distinguish between followers of Christ and everyone else. And in my experience as a pastor, believers are just as likely to be suffering in these ways. That means this epidemic is swallowing up an incredible amount of money, time, and emotional energy that could have been directed at advancing the work of God’s kingdom.
All of this unhappiness and suffering is rooted in poor stewardship, which in turn is rooted ultimately in a failure to recognize that all we have belongs to God. And when you don’t know in your deepest knower that you and everything you have really is the Lord’s, it’s very hard to put Him first in our lives. Now, there’s an Old Testament term for having something other than God first in your life.” - from articles listed above and Beyond Blessed by Robert Morris

Tithe - one tenth.

The nation of Israel was ruled by God mediated His rule through 24 courses of priest.

They mediated the rule of God through the Law of Moses to the people.

The people were required to give a tithe tax to take care of those priests and the levites that served with them.

It wasn’t necessarily money. It could have been good, oil, grain, fruit.

There was a second tithe that was used to fund the feasts and festivals and other temple events.

There was a third tax that was received and distributed to the poor.

Divided out overs the year, each Jew would pay 23.3% tax.

They would be required to leave the corners of their fields when the harvested the field. This would be for the poor.

If you dropped a bale of hay off the wagon you had to leave it for the needy.

You could say the average Israelite would give roughly 24-25%.

That was taxation that was never free will giving.

Malachi 3

Free will giving in the Old Testament was whatever you wanted to give.

Review last week

Taxation was fixed amount.

Freewill giving was whatever you wanted to bring based on the heart of the giver.
The idea is that the tenth is the starting point.

Luke 6:38 - whatever you give will be given back to you.

Luke 16 - use your money for the gospel being spread.

Tithe was never free will in the Old Testament. It was the way that the nation of Israel or people of God was funded.

The Jews in the times of Jesus had a very difficult time with them tax part because the taxes were going into the hands of the Romans.  

Tax collectors were the scum of the earth. They were Jews who represented Rome in like a franchise set up.  

They would collect the tax for Rome.

Rome would give them an amount to collect and anything above that amount they could keep.  

They made a lot of money off of doing it this way.  

Zaccheus and Matthew

The money went to idolatry and the evil pagan worship Rome.
 
Jews didn’t like to pay their taxes.

When Jesus said render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, they didn’t like it.

Sow and Reap.

The Lord promises to bless the faithful giver. Why? Because he proves that he can be faithful so the Lord blessed his faithfulness.

Matthew 6:21

Prosperity should lead to cheerful generosity not selfish greed.

You are starting to think that, “Well, he just wants my money.”
NO! I want you blessed!!!

Proverbs 11:25

Proverbs 19:17
I HAVE REGRETTED THINGS I HAVE BOUGHT BEFORE, BUT NEVER SOMETHING I HAVE GIVEN AWAY.

Illustration: apples

How many of the apples belong to God?

ALL OF THEM!!!!

YOU ARE NOT AN OWNER, BUT A STEWARD.

IF WE THINK WE GIVE GOD 10% WE MISS IT.  WE GIVE GOD 100%!

THAT’S GOD’S MONEY.

THOSE ARE GOD’S KIDS.

THATS GOD’S HOUSE.

WE ARE SIMPLY STEWARDING IT.  WE THINK IT’S OURS.  ITS NOT OUR’S. IT’S GOD’S.

WE ARE ALREADY STEWARDS, BUT WHAT KIND?

Oxford English Dictionary’s definitions of steward is “a person employed to manage another’s property.”

Psalms 50:10-12

Many people evaluate the quality of their stewardship based on their budgeting discipline and debt levels.

Good stewards live on a budget and are wise in their use of debt.

Being a wise steward of a great king actually means bringing increase to that ruler’s kingdom, just as the five-talent steward in Jesus’ parable did.

It ultimately won’t be about money.

It will be about souls.

It will be about lives impacted.
Money matters because poor stewards of all God has entrusted to them don’t bring increase to their Lord’s kingdom.

WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE THINGS COMPETING FOR OUR RESOURCES.

TO MANY PEOPLE EAT THE SEED.  

GOD TOLD YOU TO SOW IT, BUT YOU DECIDED TO BLOW IT.

WHEN WE EAT WHAT WE WERE SUPPOSE TO SOW, WE EAT THE HARVEST.

WHEN YOU SOW BOUNTIFULLY, YOU WILL REAP BOUNTIFULLY.

TITHING IS NOT WHAT WE HAVE TO DO. TITHING IS WHAT WE GET TO DO.

It unlocks the blessings of God from Heaven - Malachi 3

When we tithe we build HIS kingdom.

Tithing is tied to worship.

Genesis 14:20 - it was a picture of honor.

Melchizedek was a type of Christ.

So when we tithe we are honoring Christ.

Abraham tithed, before it was part of the law.


1. Tithing Is Not Required for Salvation

2. Tithing Shows Your Love For God - where your treasure is

3. Tithing Grows Your Trust In God

4. Tithing vs Offering

Text: Exodus 25:1-9, 35:4-9, 36:1-7, Gen. 14:20, Gen. 28:20-22, Leviticus 27:30-34, Numbers 18, Deut. 14:22

God built the tabernacle as a physical, yet portable dwelling place where He could meet with His people. It gave the people a physical place to meet with God. The first meeting place was portable meaning that they could move it from place to place as they traveled.
Contrary to traditional church opinion, I believe that God wants to meet with His people. He
wanted to provide a place where His people could come and draw near to Him.

Exodus 25:1-2
- offering - Trumah - ter-oo-mah - a present, to offer, contribute.
- willingly - to volunteer as a solider, to present spontaneously, to give freely.
- take - accept, receive.
God’s will, God’s bill - He mad provision for the vision.

The items they were to bring were items they were instructed to take with them when they left Egypt. Everything they needed to build the the Tabernacle was provided for them when they left Egypt.

Exodus 35:4-9
Exodus 35:22

They brought offerings because they were aware in their hearts of God’s mercy. This was a
change of heart from the selfishness we have seen up to this point.

Pharaoh ordered them to build buildings for him in Egypt. They weren’t excited about it and He even called them lazy and refused to provide them the supplies they needed.

There was a shift from self-centered living to extravagant worship.

I believe it was because they found something they could believe in that glorified God. Exodus 35:31-33God provided, He just needed them to be willing to move it and be the vessels He used to get it to where it needed to go.

Exodus 36:1

Bezalel - beh-zuh-el
Aholiab - ah-ho-li-ab

He gave wisdom and skill to those he appointed and anointed to labor in building the tent.
Exodus 36:2

The people gave so much that they had to be instructed to stop bring their offerings.

Tithing was in put in place until Deuteronomy 14:22, yet they people same the vision and gave to the need.

Genesis 14:20

TEXT: 1 John 2:15
BACKGROUND 

v.15
These words may be rephrased as “stop loving the world.” 

John’s readers were acting in a way that was inconsistent with the relationship with Christ. 

“World” here is the morally evil system opposed to all that God is and holds dear. 

In this sense, the “world” is the satanic system opposing Christ’s kingdom on this earth.

v.16 
Lust of the flesh refers to desires of sinful sensual pleasure. 

The lust of the eyes refers to covetousness or materialism. 

The pride of life refers to being proud about one’s position in this world.

So many people look at their future through the lenses of their past sin or mistakes. 

Most believers never come into the full revelation of whether are in Christ. 

The spirit of Beloved Identity is the opposite of the spirit of abandonment. 

We have separated people, with our words, from the love of God that they walk in a spirit of abandonment that doesn’t exist. 

The American western culture church has been more of the problem than the answer. 

We know less about who we are and who He has called us to be than any other generation in the history of the church. 

Romans 8:15

I can’t think rightly about others until I see myself rightly as the beloved of God.

Scripture was intended to be a love letter to use. 

God never intended to give us a book.  

Man divided it. 

He wanted to give us a letter and man made it a textbook. 

Now, we try to use it as a text book instead of a letter.

A letter reveals the heart of writer regarding the reader. 

It is not a textbook to educate you about who He is. 

Proverbs 4:7

Understanding the revelation of who we really are.  

Shame is not a tool that God uses. 

James 1:17 - “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…..”

 Shame and anxiety and discouragement and depression are not of God. If you are experiencing those things, bind them in Jesus name. 

The American gospel is rooted in shame. 

Romans 8:31 

When you know that He is for you and not against you, correction becomes an honor.

John 5:38

Proverbs 9:10

There are no degrees of righteousness. 

You either have Christ’s righteousness or your righteousness. 

Isaiah 64:6 

TEXT: John 6:22-70
Untraditional message. 

Jesus is the Bread of Life. 

Jesus had just fed more than five thousand people with five loaves and two small fish (John 6:1–14). 

When the people went looking for Him the next day, they were following their stomachs more than their hearts. 

Jesus saw beyond their desire for another free meal. 

He knew that they weren’t interested in following Him for who He was, but for what He could do (v. 26).

Seeing Jesus merely as a source of earthly blessings is never a good reason to follow Him. 

That’s because while we can buy a loaf of bread at the store, only Jesus can meet our deepest need—our spiritual need for a Savior, for purpose, for daily guidance, for love. 

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (v. 35). 

The hunger and thirst He satisfies goes much deeper than the physical hunger that can be satisfied by bread and fish.

He came to give us life and life more abundantly. 

He came to see and save that which was lost. 

He didn’t leave us lost, He came to save us and give us purpose.

He is the greatest gift. Some many reject the gift or receive the gift and put it in closet.  

Not everyone in your life was sent by God.

Some people you're helping are actually blocking your blessings.  

1. The Unrepentant 

Stop trying to help someone who refuses to change.

If they won't turn from their sin, your support doesn't help them, it hardens them. 

It’s like building a ladder for someone who has no intention of climbing.

They’re not looking for freedom they're looking for comfort in the pit. 

Proverbs 26:11 says, “as a dog returns to its vomit so a fool repeats his foolishness.”

That's not harsh. It’s real. God wants you to recognize patterns not just personalities.  

Many people have had truth, grace and chances to grow but still choose rebellion.

God's not asking you to keep stepping in. He might be asking you to step back. 

Sometimes pain is the only thing to get someone's attention and your constant rescue is blocking their wake up call.

Don't confuse being their lifeline with blocking their lesson.  

1. The Manipulative

Some people don't want help they want control. 

If you're not careful their crisis becomes your captivity. 

These are the ones who twist your kindness into obligation.  

They guilt trip you, gaslight you, make you feel like saying no is unChristian. 
Manipulation is not ministry. 

Jesus never allowed Himself to be controlled by people's emotions or expectations.

In fact in Luke 4, when the crowd tried to keep Him from leaving because they were mad He walked away because His assignment wasn't based on pressure it was based on purpose.

Just because someone is loud about their needs doesn't mean you're called to meet them.

If helping them cost you your peace your purpose or your identity it's not help it's a trap.  

1. The Divisive 

God won't bless what divides His people.

Helping someone who sow division is helping the enemy.

These are the gossipers, the drama magnets, the ones who smile in church but tear others down in secret.

Titus 3:10 says, “warn a divisive person once, then warn them a second time. After that have nothing to do with them.”  

That's not cold. That’s commanded.

When you attempt to help someone who stirs up strife you're not just caught in the middle, you become part of the mess and eventually their conflict becomes your consequence. 

Protect your peace. Protect your calling.
 
God isn't asking you to fix what He's trying to separate.

1. The Drainer

Some people don't want to grow.

They just want to take. 

Your constant helping is making you spiritually dry. 

You pray for them, listen to them, carry their weight but nothing ever changes.

Why?

They're not looking for transformation. They’re looking for a host, someone to do it for them. 

Even Jesus had boundaries. 

He ministered to the multitude but He recharged alone 

Luke 5:16 says, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

If the Son of God needed distance so do you. 

It's not selfish to protect you. 

It's spiritual warfare because it drained spirit can't discern clearly and burnout is one of the enemy’s favorite traps. Helping isn’t holy when it empties you and enable them 

1. The God Replacers.  

If someone looks to you instead of God,  stop helping.

You’re not their Savior. 

 It starts slowly. 

They ask for prayer, advice or support.

However, overtime they rely more on you than on God.

The truth is, every time you rush to fix it, you’re standing in a place only God belongs.
 
In Act 14 when people try to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods, they tore their clothes and shouted, “We're just humans like you.” 

They knew the danger of letting people elevate them instead of the One who sent them.
 
You can guide, you can pray but you cannot be someone source. 

That role is sacred.

If they keep turning to you instead of turning to God, your help has become a hindrance.

1. The Willfully Disobedient 

If they know what God said and still choose rebellion, don't partner with it.

These people are the ones who say, “yeah I know what the Bible says, but they don't need a lifeline. 

They need a wake up call.

2 Thessalonians 3:14 says, “take note of those who do not obey our instruction. Do not associate with them so they may feel ashamed.” 

That's not rejection. 

That's redirection through consequence.

If someone is actively walking against God's word and you keep supporting them, you're not helping them walk toward freedom, you're just making the road to destruction feel comfortable. 
Love them, yes, but don't walk with them if they're walking away from God.

1. The Assignment Blocker 

Some people aren't part of your calling. They are a distraction from it. 

They might not be toxic, they might not be rebellious, but they're not aligned.

If you're not careful, your compassion will keep you in a place God told you to leave.

In Genesis 12 God told Abram, “leave your country, your people, and your father's household”, but Abram brought Lot with him and it wasn't until Lot left that God gave him the full vision for his future. 

Sometimes the wrong people aren't evil, they're just extra weight. 

Don't confuse loyalty with obedience. 

When God says go you don't need everyone's permission, just His direction.

some of the people you're trying to help God is trying to remove.

The question isn't “are they worth saving?” 

The question is are, “you willing to obey even if it looks like walking away.” 

You walking away maybe what it takes for them to truly depend upon the Savior. 

Helping them might feel holy but disobedience, even with good intentions, is still disobedience


            ***** the above was borrowed and paraphrased from video: posted https://youtu.be/L2KrZxO9vt0 *****


Which side of the situation are you on?

No matter where you are in this season, “RUN TO JESUS.”

He is the Author and Finisher of our faith!!!!



Yahweh Nissi

"The Lord My Banner”

1. When God is your banner, He will sustain you. 

You might feel like you're not going to make it, but God promises to provide you with what you need.

It may not be what you want, but it will be what you need to be obedient to Him.

1. When God is your banner, His purpose will prevail. 

If your circumstance is causing you to lose faith, "fix your eyes on Jesus" (Heb. 12:2) and His purpose, and you will be able to stand strong.

3. When God is your banner, He is always with you. 

God promises to walk with you through every situation. You are never alone.

If you're in a battle right now, remember that Jesus is your banner who brings hope and purpose.




Ro’eh Tzon 

“Shepherd of a flock”

the Hebrew word we translate as "shepherd" is roch tzon (pronounced "ro-ch tone”)

What is a "good shepherd"?

Jesus once described himself as a "good shepherd" who would lay down his life to protect his sheep-something I always understood in theory but missed the significance of because of where I grew up.

See, in most western countries, sheep are kept safe inside fenced-off fields with food and water—so they don't really need a shepherd.

But even today in Israel, there are very few fences, so sheep often wander through the desert where they can be attacked by any number of predators. 

So, when Jesus says He is "the good shepherd," we should be reminded that no matter what situation we face, He will be with us, holding us close to His heart and lovingly caring for us.
Are you going through a rough season right now? 

If so, have confidence that Jesus is your good companion through it all. And He wants you to rely on Him for everything you need to get through this season.
Don't give up hope!

"I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me."
- John 10:14



Yahweh Tsidkenu

God, My Righteousness 

Proverbs 15:9-10

"The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day" - Proverbs 4:18

The Hebrew word we translate as righteousness is pronounced "Yah-weh Tsid-kay-new"), which means to help someone in need. 

Tsedagah is about showing concern for the poor through charity and generosity. 

It's about serving the least, the last, and the lost. 

This is how we have a life that continues to shine brighter like the dawn—by serving people in need around us.



God is your "shield?

If you're feeling shaken, fearful, or anxious today, then pray you would find strength, hope, and encouragement in knowing that God is your shield.

“But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.” - Psalm 3:3



One of God's names in the Bible is Migdal-Oz (pronounced "mig-dawl ohze"), which means "Strong Tower" or "Fortress." 

The idea is that God is the foundation of a believer's life.

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, i whom I find protection" - Psalm 18:2.

To David, this mountain represented God because it was a physical place where he found refuge and protection in a time of desperate spiritual and emotional need.

How many people need a tangible reminder that God is theirstrong tower, their refuge, and their safe place today.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. - Psalm 18:2



One of Jesus in Hebrew is Emmanuel, which literally means "I AM with you always.”
 When you look deeper into the root of this Hebrew word, you discover that it doesn't just mean that Jesus is just visiting with you. It means He is actually dwelling with you!

This name means that Jesus is always, always with you because He never leaves you or forsakes you.

It means He is the Lord of your past, He is the Lord of your present moment right here and now, and He is the Lord of your future too.

Louie Giglio says, we "start with Jesus, stay with Jesus, and end with Jesus" because He is with us always!

And they shall name Him Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us. - Matthew 1:23

Yahweh Shalom - Lord of Peace
TEXT: Genesis 16:1-13
Wouldn’t it be great that when we come to Christ all of our problems, stresses and fear went away?

C.S. Lewis said, “Life with God is not immunity from difficulties, but peace in the mist of them.”

The result of settled faith is perfect peace. 

We have to come to the point of recognizing our own utter sinfulness and our deep need of a redeemer before we can find peace. 

Only when we are at peace with God can we have peace with others. 

Only when our mind is settled in God can we tolerate the changing circumstances that often come with life.

The word “peace” comes from the Greek word eirene, the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word shalom, which expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, or tranquility in the soul that is unaffected by outward circumstances or pressures. 

The word eirene (pronounced e-rainy) strongly suggests the rule of order in place of chaos. 

When a person is dominated by eirene (“peace”), he has a calm, inner stability that results in the ability to conduct himself peacefully, even in the midst of circumstances that would normally be very nerve-racking, traumatic, or upsetting.

The Hebrew counterpart, the word shalom, indicates that this dominating peace ultimately gives rise to overcomer in one’s soul. 

Rather than allowing the difficulties and pressures of life to break him, a person who is possessed by eirene (“peace”) is whole, complete, orderly, stable, and positioned for blessing.

Isaiah 26:3-4 

The title Jehovah Shalom occurs only once in the Bible, in Judges 6:24: “Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace”. 
The book of Judges describes a difficult time in the history of Israel. 
Lacking both unity and faithful leadership, the nation had fallen into a vicious cycle of apostasy and idol worship. 
Because of their idolatry, God gave them over to their enemies until they repented. 
Deliverance followed, but it didn’t take long until they found themselves returning to apostasy.
Israel was oppressed by the Midianites, who left them hiding in caves, little to no food, little to no livestock and few tools. 
With uncertainty in their hearts, they cried to God for help. 
He reminded them that their disobedience caused their troubles, but He also sent them Gideon.
Gideon, it has to be said, was perplexed as to why such ill had befallen his people. 
He never doubted that God had delivered them from Egyptian slavery, but where was God when they needed Him most? 
Why such tragedy and suffering? 
Was He still with them? 
Although the Lord then commissioned Gideon to save Israel, he felt weak, frail, and incapable. 
However, his uncertainty and fear were dispelled by God’s promise, “I will be with you” (Judges 6:16). 
To confirm the identity of his supernatural visitor, Gideon asked for a sign. 
Witnessing the food he prepared for the angel miraculously consumed by fire, Gideon was filled with even greater fear.  
He had seen the Angel of the Lord face to face! 
The immediate divine response was this: “Peace be to you. Do not fear, you shall not die” (Judges 6:23). 
As a result of these words, Gideon’s heart was infused with confidence and courage. 
He experienced peace in the truest sense. 
Building an altar to the Lord, he called it, “Jehovah-Shalom”, or “The Lord is Peace”. Come what may, he could now confront the enemy and undertake great exploits for God. His encounter with the God of Peace had taught him that he was not alone.
“Prince of Peace” - Isaiah 9:6. 
During His ministry, the Lord Jesus brought life to the dead, healing to the diseased, liberty to the captive, and peace to the brokenhearted. 
“peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20), 
thereby making reconciliation possible for every sinner, He spoke to His disciples, saying, 
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27). 
After rising victoriously from the dead, Jesus’s very first words to His fearful followers were a repetition of “Peace be with you” (John 20:19,21).
Our world craves peace, but they can’t seem to find it. 

TEXT: Exodus 3:14-15, 4:1-5, 10-15
PSALM 34:1-2
The name Yahweh occurs more than 6,200 times in the Old Testament. It is the personal name of God. 
It appears in every book but Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs.
As time went on, it spoken aloud only by priests worshiping in the Jerusalem temple. 
After the destruction of the temple in AD 70, the name was not pronounced at all. 
Adonay was substituted for Yahweh whenever it appeared in the biblical text. 
Because of this, the correct pronunciation of this name was eventually lost. 
English editions of the Bible usually translate Adonay as “Lord” and Yahweh as“LORD.” Yahweh is the name that is most closely linked to God’s redeeming acts in the history of his chosen people. 
YHWH - (no vowels) - in Hebrew this word means, “He will be.”
When Moses asked God His name, God responded, “I Am Who I Am.”
God does not change, He simply IS.
Yahweh was too sacred to say out loud.
They replaced it in your Bible with “LORD”
Adon is a Hebrew word that means “lord” in the sense of an owner, master, or superior. 
It is frequently used as a term of respect and always refers to people. Adonay (a-do-NAI) is the plural form of adon and always refers to God as Lord or Master. 
In the Old Testament it is rendered as “Lord” (distinct from “LORD,” the rendering for the Hebrew name Yahweh). 
Psalm 9:10 - He is a relational being Who wants us to know Him and He wants know us.
He is enough. 
Jesus is Lord of lords - Revelation 19:16
He is all we need. 
He is enough. 
 John 8:48-58 
John 1 
John 13:19

SPEAKING THE WORD OF GOD OVER YOUR FINANCES
TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 9:5-15
MALACHI 3:10 - TEST GOD 
In the early nineteenth century, private citizens, fueled by the fires of Christian revivalism, organized to both proclaim the gospel and relieve the needy. They met the needs of thousands. Because this giving stemmed from a Christian worldview, they gave not only generously but carefully. As Christians, they recognized humanity’s sinfulness and thus discouraged indiscriminate giving that failed to distinguish between the truly needy and the fraudulent. However, as the nineteenth century “progressed,” views of humanity began to change, and approaches to charity changed with them. A preeminent example of this worldview was articulated by Horace Greeley, the Universalist publisher of the New York Tribune.
Greeley believed everyone was basically good and, thus, he had no reservations about indiscriminate giving. Furthermore, he recommended the redistribution of wealth so that all would receive an equal share. Though his newspaper did much to change public opinion, Greeley was only the beginning. With an increasing confidence in humanity, charity became secularized. Citizens idolized the state, relying upon it for sustenance. By the end of the nineteenth century, the new direction was clear and chilling:
We ought, therefore, to regard the Nation as the Church, its rulers as ministers of Christ, its whole body as a Christian brotherhood . . . its progressive development, especially in raising the weak, as the fullest service rendered on earth to God, the nearest thing as yet within our reach to the kingdom of heaven.
It is hard to overemphasize the practical effect of this change of outlook. In this new era, private charitable giving was actually discouraged so as not to crowd out government involvement. However, it was the federal response to the Great Depression—the New Deal—and the Great Society legislation that sealed the change in the United States.
President Franklin Roosevelt responded decisively to the Great Depression. His arguably necessary policies were a mixture of federal regulations (e.g., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) and social reform (e.g., Social Security legislation). From temporary jobs to cheap electricity, Americans expected Uncle Sam to provide relief. One young congressman who drank deeply from the well of the New Deal was Lyndon Johnson. He represented Texas in the House of Representatives beginning in 1937 and became known as Roosevelt’s protégé. When Johnson became president in 1963, he brokered his own New Deal, which he dubbed the “Great Society.” It was a federalized effort to battle social ills. As one sympathetic author wrote, it was a plan hatched with “the best of intentions.”
There is much to commend Johnson’s work. The Civil Rights Act, for example, is part of his legacy. However, Johnson’s crusade to help the poor did not work. His policies failed, statistically, and they severed that vital relationship between charity and discernment. As Marvin Olasky, author of The Tragedy of American Compassion, argued, “The War on Poverty of the 1960s was a disaster not so much because of its new programs but because of their emphasis on entitlement rather than need.” This misplaced emphasis continues. A truly “great society” will embrace wise, private, charitable giving. Such giving is, after all, personal, effective and, at least in the United States, increasingly popular. With the failures of public sector welfare, one can hope that charity finds its way back to the Church and the private sector once again. - Kairos Journal 

WANT TO HAVE WHAT WE CAN SEE, BUT ITS TOUGH TO TRUST FOR GOD PROMISES WHEN WE CAN’T SEE THEM!
1 CORINTHIANS 16 
SUPPORT THOSE WHO WERE SPREADING THE GOSPEL AND TO HELP THE NEEDY
THERE IS NO LAW THAT TELLS YOU YOU HAVE TO GIVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT. 
UNDER GRACE - IT’S AN INDIVIDUAL MATTER. 
YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO SHARE WHAT GOD HAS BLESSED YOU WITH
IF YOU FOCUS ON HIM YOU WILL KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO GIVE
TITHING - GENEROUS GIVING 
OLD TESTAMENT - TITHE - 1/10
 - FESTIVAL TITHE - a tenth of ones income to celebrate once a year
 - LEVITICAL TITHE - ONE MOST PASTOR PROMOTE - LEVIS OWNED NOTHING - DIDN’T TAKE A SALARY - HAD NO LAND - BRING THE FAT TO THE LORD - 
COOK IT DOWN AND THE LEVITE WOULD GET A 1/4 - JEWISH, LANDOWNERS, WHAT CAME OFF THAT LAND
LEVI
 - CHARITY TITHE - EVERY THIRD YEAR 23.3%
2 CORINTHIAN 8 - 9 - CHEERFUL GIVER 
The primary reason that Paul addressed this topic here was that false teachers in Corinth were questioning Paul’s motives for ministry. Evidently they were suggesting that Paul was pocketing contributions earmarked for the poor believers in Jerusalem. Consequently the Corinthians, despite their announced willingness to help, had not donated to the cause.
First, who should give? All believers can and should contribute to the cause of Christ. The church at Macedonia was notoriously poor, yet they asked for the privilege of being allowed to give (8:4) out of “their deep poverty” (8:2).
In what spirit should we give? We ought to give willingly (8:12; 9:2) and cheerfully, “not grudgingly or of necessity” (9:7). It is a privilege to share in the work of God. Moreover, it is the appropriate response to God’s “indescribable gift,” His own Son (9:15).
How much should we give? Nowhere does the New Testament give us a specified percentage or amount. Paul simply exhorts each of the members of the Corinthian church to give “as he purposes in his heart” (9:7). Ideally, our gifts would be “generous” (9:5) and given with “liberality” (9:11). 
The overall message of this passage suggests sacrificial giving. Again, by way of example, the Macedonians, like the poor widow praised by Christ in Luke 21:1–4, gave not merely their “leftovers,” but more than they could afford (8:3).
How should monetary gifts be handled? Paul took special care to explain that the Corinthians’ contributions would be handled with integrity by Titus (8:16–20, 23) and another unnamed brother (8:22). These were men of the highest character. They were trustworthy and above reproach in the handling of money. We should entrust our church finances to men of this caliber.
Why is giving so important? In Paul’s words, it tests the sincerity of our love for God and others (8:7, 8). To paraphrase the words of Christ (Matt. 6:19–21), how we handle material wealth is a barometer of our spiritual health.
What will be the results of our giving? We should not give primarily to get, but Paul makes it clear that giving does lead to abundance. Cheerful givers experience God’s love in a special way (9:7). They enjoy the spiritual blessing of participating in a rich harvest of righteousness (9:10).
- THE LAW MADE TITHING A RULE 
- THE CROSS RETURNED TO AN ACT OF WORSHIP 
- YOU ARE NOT CURSED BECAUSE YOU DON’T TITHE
- CHRIST REMOVED THE CURSE 
UNDER THE NEW COVENANT WE DON’T TITHE TO AVOID THE CURSE 
WE TITHE BECAUSE IN CHRIST WE AERE EXCEEDINGLY AND ABUNDANTLY BLESSED
WE LIVE UNDER GRACE - PAUL ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT GENEROSITY NOT TITHING
MANY MEASURE FAITHFULNESS AND SPIRITUALITY BY THE AMOUNT YOU GIVE INSTEAD OF THE ATTITUDE BY WHICH YOU GIVE. 
GOD ISN’T AFTER YOUR MONEY. 
HE’S AFTER YOUR HEART AND OBEDIENCE. 
“IT IS MANIPULATION THAT WOULD CAUSE YOU TO GIVE OUT OF EMOTIONS IN THE MOMENT EXPECTING SOMETHING OF GOD VS THE HOLY SPIRIT MOVING ON YOUR HEART FROM A PLACE OF GENEROSITY.
TITHING ISN’T GENEROSITY. IT IS OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD
TITHING IS NOT A HAVE TO IT’S A GET TO. 
 IN GRACE TEN PERCENT IS THE FLOOR NOT THE CEILING
THE OFFERING COMES TO THE STOREHOUSE WHERE YOU ARE FED
IF YOU TRUST THIS HOUSE TO DEDICATE YOUR BABIES, MARRY YOU, COUNSEL
IF YOU DON’T TRUST YOUR CHURCH, FIND A CHURCH YOU TRUST TO GIVE YOUR MONEY TO TO DO WHAT YOU BELIEVE SCRIPTURE SAYS THE CHURCH SHOULD DO. 
GIVE IT WITH A CHEERFUL HEART. 
IF YOU NEVER GIVE YOU WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE THE JOY OF SEEING THE FRUIT OF THE HARVEST. 
WHY I GIVE

1. IT PROVIDES FOR GOD’S HOUSE 
2. IT TELLS GOD I TRUST HIM
3. IT CREATES MARGIN IN MY LIFE FOR GOD TO FILL 
4. IT REMINDS ME THAT I AM NOT MY SOURCE
5. IT CONNECTS MY MONEY TO A KINGDOM PURPOSE
6. IT GIVES ME ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE
7. IT TRANSFORMS MY MONEY INTO A SEED
8. IT BREAKS GREED OFF OF MY LIFE 

PHIL 4:19 
GEN 12:2
1 TIM 6:10 
MATTHEW 25:14-30
PROVERBS 13:11
These declaration are not magic words that will automatically solve all of our financial problems. 
They are a reminder of the truth of God's word and a way for us to align our hearts with His will.
We still need to get up and go to work, make wise financial decisions, and trust in God's provision. 
We can open ourselves up to these blessings is through the act of giving. 
When we give, whether it be our time, our resources, or our talents, we are showing God that we trust Him to provide for us and that we are willing to be a blessing to others.
Making a dedication and commitment to give, whether through tithing or other means, is not just about giving money to the church, it's about recognizing that God is our source and that everything we have comes from Him. 
When we give, we are saying, "God, I trust that you will provide for me and that I don't have to hold on to my resources tightly. I am willing to bless others with what you've given me.”

SPEAKING THE WORD OF GOD OVER THE SEASON YOU ARE IN 
HOLDING ON TO PROMISE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROCESS
TEXT: GALATIANS 4:21 - 31
KINGDOM MAN 
FREE WOMAN VS SLAVE GIRL(BONDWOMAN) 
HAGGAR - REPRESENTS THE LAW - ISHAMEL - SELF EFFORT 
SARAH - FREE WOMAN - ISAAC - SON OF PROMISE 
GEN. 17:1 - ABRHAM - EXALTED FATHER - WAS CHILDLESS
ABRAHAM - FATHER OF MULTITUDES OR MANY NATIONS. 
GOD BEGAN TO CALL HIM WHAT HE WOULD BECOME EVEN WHEN THERE WAS NO FRUIT OF WHAT GOD SAID WAS TRUE ABOUT HIM. 
What you think about yourself that isn’t true according to what He says about isn’t who you are. 
WE DON’T KNOW THE WORD SO WE LISTEN TO WHAT THE ENEMYT SAYS ABOUT US. 
WHEN WE KNOW THE WORD, WE CAN SPEAK THAT OVER OURSELVES AND NOT GIVE VOCIE TO THE ENEMY. 
HOLD ON THE THE PROMISE.
Sarah can’t have a child though she is married to Abraham, father of many nations.  
She begins to come up with her own plan according to what she could do  -  self effort. 
Abraham is going to spend time with Sarah’s handmaid. - slave girl - Haggar.
Make the plan happen in our own efforts. 

Too many people are trying to force the hand of God and make promises come to pass without walking in the process because they don’t like the process and want to pass over the process and go straight to promise. 
OR they listen to “words” that were never from God or were never for them. 
“blab it and grab it.”
They don’t recognize the season they are in.  
They want to lay on the couch while they should be going to battle. 
David - 2 Samuel 11:1 
know the season you are in. 
are you in a season of process or promise?

SPEAKING THE WORD OF GOD OVER YOUR FAMILY
TEXT: PSALM 127-128
It’s not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. We must be both spiritually and emotionally healthy for our families. 
Battles that we refuse to confront our children will be force to overcome. 
Proverbs 18
20 Sharing words of wisdom is satisfying to your inner being. It encourages you to know
that you’ve changed someone else’s life.
21 Your words are so powerful that they will kill or give life, 
and the talkative person will reap the consequences.
22 When a man finds a wife, he has found a treasure!
For she is the gift of God to bring him joy and pleasure.
But the one who divorces a good woman
loses what is good from his house.
To choose an adulteress is both stupid and ungodly. - 

Proverbs 13:22  

• The servant of God who is not anxious about riches, takes the best method of providing for his children. - Matthew Henry 
• A good man leaves an inheritance of prayers, a godly life, a good name, a wonderful example, and many cherished memories, and in some cases, houses, lands, and wealth for his children. In contrast, the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Psalm 127 - 128

• Stop chasing success for your children. Let the Lord order them steps. Raise them to be righteous and their steps will be ordered by the Lord. 
• God will open doors no man can close and close doors no man can open. 
• Guard your home. Be careful you and what you let in. 
• The choice of arrows as a metaphor is appropriate to the analogy of multiple children, but it also underscores the thought that the growth of the next generation is vital to the future well-being of both city and society.
• An olive tree had several uses for its wood, leaves and oil, but it also symbolized well-being and splendor.
• An olive branch will continue to produce shoots even after cut down. 

Proverbs 22:6
Aaronic blessing found in Numbers 6:22-27 to speak over your children:
The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Bible blessings to pray over your children:
Philippians 1:9-11 “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”
2 Thessalonians 3:16 “May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.”
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

SPEAKING THE WORD OF GOD OVER YOUR HEALTH
TEXT: PROVERBS 4:20-22
Several terms in the Bible fit under this heading of sickness including 
(1) “afflicted” (kakoucheo) 
- Heb. 11:37; (thlibo) 
- 2 Cor. 4:8
(2) “weaknesses” (astenos) 
- Rom. 8:26
- 2 Cor. 12:5, 9, 10 
(3) “sickness” (asteneo) 
- Matt. 10:8
- 2 Tim. 4:20
- James 5:14; 
(4) “trouble” (thlipsis) 
- 1 Cor. 7:28
- 2 Cor. 1:4
(5) “hardship” (kakopatheo)
Suffering may therefore be:
- spiritual (having to do with the soul and sin) 
- physical (having to do with the body and sickness) 
- mental (having to do with the mind and anguish)
the beginning on sickness - the Garden of Eden
The source of sickness - 

• God Himself is sometimes the direct cause of suffering in the lives of people - Exodus 15:26.
• 
  
  • 
    
    • 
      
      • The Lord not only made the blind to see; He also made the seeing blind (Mark 10:46-52; John 9:3; Acts 9:8-18; 13:8-12). To attribute all suffering to the devil is simply a distortion of the Word of God.
• Satan is sometimes the source of human affliction - Job’s suffering (in conjunction with God’s will).
• 
  
  • 
    
    • 
      
      • Luke 13:10-17
      • Jesus’ ministry as including “healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). Scripture warns believers to be alert for such attacks (1 Pet. 5:8-9).
• Sometimes individuals themselves are responsible.
• 
  
  • 
    
    • 
      
      • (a) directly—because of personal decisions and diets, etc.
      • (b) indirectly—because of the consequences of the universal Fall in Eden and the curse, which the earth is under. 
      • Sometimes the “cares of the world” and the “cares of life” are enough to instill suffering into human beings.

There is more than one type of healing available to humanity
1. Natural Healing - This “built-in” ability for the body to heal itself of many infirmities and is a grace-gift from a compassionate God. Praise Him for the provision of physical restoration.
2. Medicinal Healing - God has also blessed the minds of men and women with an abundant amount of knowledge that has produced medicine designed to bring healing (James 1:17). 

• Relief from suffering through legitimate means and faith in God for healing can work together without contradiction.
• Jesus Himself said that the sick need a physician (Luke 5:31).
• He healed a woman with an issue of blood who had sought the help of doctors (Luke 8:43). If seeing a doctor was a sin, Jesus would have told this woman that.
• Paul told the young pastor, Timothy to, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Tim. 5:23).

3. Divine Healing - a supernatural intervention of God where there is no other explanation except that the compassionate, sovereignty of an Almighty God chooses at times to give humanity a taste of what He will ultimately complete in the re-creation of glorified bodies.

• There is no scriptural basis for healing on demand, where a manipulated God responds to commands to follow a specific formula. 
• Contrary to the popular opinion of some, God is not in heaven like a genie in a bottle that we just command to do what we want. We are here on earth to worship and glorify Him in preparation for what we will do for eternity.
• The cross of Christ made provision for both sin and suffering. However, the distinction between the two deserves attention:
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  • 
    
    • Sin is never beneficial; suffering may be. 
    • Sin is never according to the will of God; suffering may be. 
    • Forgiveness for sins occurs immediately; suffering may endure until death. 
    • Faith is necessary for salvation; sometimes healing comes without faith. 
    • A person may make it to heaven without healing, but no one can enter into glory with sin.

DECLARATION 

• I believe the Word above my thoughts and feelings. His Word is truth! (Proverbs 4:20-22)

• I will be led by the Spirit and eat what is healthy and life-giving for my physical body. 

• I have a spirit of self-control, and I am in control of the foods I eat every day. (Galatians 5:22-23, 25; 1 Corinthians 6:12)

• I speak life, strength, health, energy and longevity to my body. 

• Regardless of how I’m feeling I believe that I am strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 

• I will not declare sickness. I will not speak disease. I will not speak malfunction in my body of any kind. 

• I rebuke fatigue or any other attack on my body. I receive the life, strength and energy of God!(Ephesians 6:10; James 4:7)

• I am strong and healthy. 

• I will exercise, and I will take time to strengthen my body. I do this so I can be a blessing to those around me and have the energy to serve the Lord in every way He asks. 

• I am increasing in endurance, and I purpose to make exercise a regular part of my daily life. (1 Timothy 4:8)

• I have supernatural knowledge about how to take care of my body. I am led by the Spirit of God about how to approach whole-life health. I do not let the world dictate how I care for my body, but I seek the Lord in making decisions. (Romans 8:14)

• God has said to me that with long life He will satisfy me, so I declare now in the Name of Jesus that I will live long and strong on the earth. 

• Jesus is the Name above all names. His Name is above every sickness and disease, and every sickness and disease must bow to His Name. 

• I speak the Name of Jesus over every part of my body today.

• I am strong in Jesus’ Name. 

• I am healed in Jesus’ Name. 

• Weakness, pain, tiredness and weariness must leave my body in the name of Jesus.

15 Healing Scriptures to Declare

Proverbs 4:20-22
Isaiah 53:5
Acts 3:16
Psalm 30:2
Psalm 103:2-3
Jeremiah 33:6
Deuteronomy 7:15
Jeremiah 17:14
Exodus 15:26
Exodus 23:25
Psalm 107:20*
Matthew 8:17*
Psalm 118:17*
Jeremiah 30:17qqqqq
Isaiah 57:19

SPEAKING THE WORD OF GOD OVER YOUR LIFE 
PHILEMON 1:6
What kind of things do you say about yourself? 
Do you speak well of yourself, or are you hyper-critical of yourself?
Has your mouth become your greatest enemy?
Are you aligning your mouth with the Word of God?
The Word of God is clear about you. BUT, you must activate what the Word says. 
“effectual” is the Greek word energeo. 
It is where we get the word energy.
In this verse, the word energeo carries the idea of something that has suddenly become energized or activated. 
Paul’s words could actually be rendered, “That the communication of your faith may become energized and activated.…”
“The word “acknowledging” in this verse holds the answer to the questions above. 
This word is from the Greek word epignosis, which describes a well-instructed, intensive, deep knowledge of the facts.
The word epignosis is a pictures a person who knows his facts like a professional. This is a person so sure of his information that when he speaks, he does so with confidence and boldness. 
He has no reason to be ashamed or to fear that others may accuse him of being incorrect because he is well instructed and has an intensive, deep knowledge of the facts.
KNOW who you are in Jesus Christ.
KNOW what Jesus has purchased in your redemption.
KNOW every good thing that God has placed in you by Jesus Christ.
KNOW that all these truths that is so concrete and so unshakable that you are immovable in what you think and believe.
example: a salesman confident in what he sales. 
Too many people know the truth, but never walk in freedom because they never align their mouth with the truth. 
HEBREWS 4:12-13
PROVERBS 18
What we speak, whether positive or negative, will have consequences. 

What we declare will bear fruit. 

James reminds us that our tongues are powerful—and that what we speak out of our mouths has power to direct our lives. (James 3:3-5)

“Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” (Ps 119:89)

How to Turn a Scripture into a Prophetic Declaration

A scripture is prophetic when it speaks of the Father’s intention and purpose for our lives personally. 

Here are some ways to turn a Bible verse into a spoken profession of faith:

1. Choose a Bible verse that:

• God has spoken to you through, or

• Has prophetic significance to you and/or relates to something God has spoken about you)

• You would like to apply by faith to a particular situation you are facing right now, or to your overall life and ministry calling

Declaring God’s word is powerful, whether or not it has been given to you through prophetic means.

Memorise the scripture or write it out and use it to speak from.

‘Blessed is the one… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.’ (Psalm 1:1-2)
Bold declarations are powerful in times of warfare or when breakthrough is needed. 

We don’t have to speak loudly in order for a declaration to be effective. 

The Hebrew word ‘to meditate’ also means ‘to mutter’—to speak aloud to oneself—and this can even be done under our breath or quietly.


EXAMPLE:
Prophetic Declaration Based on Joshua 1

‘This is a new day. I am entering into the ‘Promised Land.’ I am entering into the plans and purposes of God for my life. Now, I am entering into my inheritance and receiving God’s promises, each and every one.
Nothing can stand in my way and no enemy will prevail against me, for God is with me. He will never leave me or forsake me.
I am strong and courageous; I am not fearful or discouraged. I feed on the Word of God, keeping God’s Word in my heart! And, I obey it.
Now, I have success in that which God has called me to.”

Type your new text here.

Text: 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22
“It is not possible to be spiritually mature while being emotionally immature!” 
  - Pete Scazzero 

Unprocessed emotions don’t die the get buried alive. 

They come out in triggers.


The Bible presents a progressive spiritual reality: the spiritual old has passed away with Christ, but the fleshly old remains active, requiring believers to actively "put off" its sinful ways and "put on" the new person through faith, understanding that the "old man" is a person's life under sin's dominion, not just sin itself. 

The "old has passed away" in 2 Corinthians 5:17 refers to a new spiritual standing and creation in Christ, while Paul's command to "put off the old man" in Ephesians 4:22 is a practical instruction to stop practicing the habits and characteristics associated with a life dominated by sin. 

In the immediate context, Paul is exhorting each believer to put on his or her new human nature.

Our New Nature—The term “new nature” refers to the spiritual transformation that occurs within people when they believe in Christ as Savior. 

New does not mean renewed, renovated, reformed, or rehabilitated. 

It means completely and distinctly new, with a new family, a new set of values, new motivations, and a whole new life. 

The old man is still present in the new life and expresses himself in sinful deeds such as lying (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9). 

The new man, to be visible, must be put on, as one would put on a new suit of clothes (Col. 3:10). 

In other words, the new nature must be cultivated or nurtured by spiritual decisiveness to grow in Christ. We must not revert to putting on the old suit of the former life; rather, we must continue to grow in this new life (Eph. 5:8).

The Spiritual Reality: The Old Has Passed

A New Creation:  In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul states, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!". 

This signifies a fundamental change: believers have a new standing before God through Christ, becoming a "new man" or "new creation”.

Ephesians 4:17-22

v.17 - futility - perverse - morally bankrupt. 

v.18 - alienated - shut out.

- ignorance -


Eight Traits of a "christian" that walks like the world: (walk in emptiness)
 
1. Darkened Understanding. 

2. Alienated (shut out) from God. 

3. Ignorant of God's Way. 

4. Hardened Heart. 

5. Unfeeling State. ( from the Greek word meaning, " to have ceased to care.")

6. Lustful - filthy and having no shame. 

7. Unclean. - physically and morally unclean to the point of being demonic

8. Greedy - never satisfied and always desiring to have more and more. 

Those that will not die to the flesh will be tossed to and fro by the things of the world. They will allow the world to control them.  

Some will deny things because they are still listening to the flesh. 

That's why the fruit in their life produces worldiness and not godliness. 


Seven Blessings of Walking With the Lord:

1. Maturity--no longer children (Eph. 4:14) 

2. Established in the faith--no longer of doubtful mind or tossed to and fro like the waves (Eph. 4:14; Jas. 1:5-8) 

3. Rooted and grounded in truth--no longer carried about by winds of doctrine (Eph. 4:14; Jn. 8:32-36 Eph. 3:17; Col. 2:6-7 2Pet. 1:12) 

4. Freedom from deception--able to discern truth from error (Eph. 4:14; 2Tim. 2:15; Heb. 5:11-14 Jn. 8:32-36) 

5. The ability to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15; Rom. 15:14; Col. 3:16) 

6. Constant growth in spiritual things (Eph. 4:15; 1Pet. 2:2; 2Pet. 3:18) 

7. Harmony with all others in Christ (Eph. 4:16; 2Cor. 1:10; 2Cor. 13:11)

Text: MARK 3:1-6
STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND 
We say we want revival and for God to move and all the Pentecostal things but are we willing to do what it takes for him to move 
God is restoring back to man what was lost. 
The religious people were mad that a man that was sick was healed. 
Religious people can get along better with bound people than they can with free people. 
Jesus cast the devil out of the man living in the grave yard. 
They got mad and told Jesus he had to leave. 
They get mad when other people get free. 
When you get serious about Jesus putting your life back together there will be people that like the bound you better than the free you and they will come after you. 
They went after Lazarus. They were already plotting to kill Jesus but it wouldn’t do any good to kill the miracle worker and the miracle still be walking around. 
They like the broken you better because they could intimidate the broken you better than the delivered you. 
We measure our freedom by other people. 
I may not be free but I am not as bad as them. 
Jesus calls him out. 
They were ok with my disfunction. People like you when you are behind them or under them. 
People want you to get up and talk about how unworthy you are better than they like you to get up and talk about how you are anointed to get up and preach. They call you arrogant. 
Don’t just read what has been expressed. See what is implied. 
Right hand was wither. Right handed people - their strength. 
This was his strength and he was broken in the thing that was suppose to be his great strength. 
When those things that everyone looks at about us are broken we want to hide it or ignore it because it is embarrassing. 
You have several areas of your life that are doing well, but if that one area that you are suppose to be strongest is failing, you fell like you are failing at everything. 
When one of my kids would get hurt and they would come to me to look at it. 
They will always scream, “dont touch it.” 
I have to touch it in order to help it. 
We have areas that God is wanting to touch but we have to let Him touch it. It may burn a little but it will make it better. 
Taking the band aid off my arm so it could heal. It has to be exposed in order to heal.
I wanted to keep it on there to protect it, but what I thought was protecting it was actually stopping it from healing. 
A dog hit by a car fighting you when you are trying to help it. 
You expose it. It is not His heart to hurt you more, but there may be pain in the healing. 
It will never heal as long as it is covered up. 
Jesus will find that one area. He wants all of you healed. 
Law of Restoration - had to give back five fold. 
God never puts a principle on people that He isn’t willing to live out Himself. 
We don’t restore what was lost, we have to restore back more than was lost. 
God wants to restore back to you what the devil took away five hold. Even if you gave it away God wants to restore it. 
Psalms 69:4 says, “I will restore that which I didn’t even take from you.” 
There is a comfort in low expectations. 
If you think you were something before you got bound by that thing wait until you see what God restores back to you. 
The greatest enemy to you walking in total freedom is partial freedom. 
I am not where I want to be, but thank God I am not where I use to be. 
I am not free yet, but thank God I am not as bound as I use to be. 
NO! God wants His children to walk in total freedom. 
I do not want to fall short of anything that God has called me to do. 
If I do great things for the kingdom, but miss the fullness of what He has called me to do I have failed Him. 
I can’t fix my weakness, but all I have to do is stretch it out and let Him touch it. 
He is still in the healing business. 
He is still in the restoration business. 

Guidelines of work group and confidentiality……
- September 2, 2025
- Tuesday or Thursday nights - 8:30pm - 10:00pm

- Led by staff 
- 4-6 people - male/male / female/female  students 

- sign up will begin August 17th

- divide up - preference and/or age groups

Text: II Kings 5:1-14
DONT HIDE WHAT GOD WANTS TO HEAL

Too many things in our lives we call issues but they are really bondages. 

Sin – Issue                            Issue – Sin

Not every issue is a sin.  We need to deal with sin. 

Well, it’s just the way I am. No, it is sin. You haven’t dealt with the flesh. 

We think just because we haven’t given in to something in two week we are free from it. 

Freedom is not the length of time between sin cycle. Freedom is a lifestyle that is a result of daily dying to self and daily waking with Yahweh. 

Just because you are not doing it right now doesn’t mean you are free from it. Free right now but in three weeks when you let your guard down and think YOU are doing good, the sin will work its way back up and bind you back up. 

We think we are free if we haven’t done it in three weeks or three months.

Naaman – he was as great as the world could make him. 

Syria defeated Israel. 

Naaman was the purpose of the victory. 

BUT he was a leper. 

The outside doesn’t matter if the inside is dirty. 

What is under the surface?

He would wrap himself up so no one would know what was going on under the surface. 

Leprosy was a sign of God’s displeasure of sin that had been committed. 

Started with the flesh. 

Goes to the ligaments. 

Then goes to the tendons.

Ultimately if not dealt with, DEATH. 

The law was that if someone developed leprosy they would have to be moved out of the city.

If a clean person came close to them they would have to yell, “Unclean! Unclean! Unclean!”

Naaman wasn’t in Israel. He was in Syria and that wasn’t the law in Syria. He wasn’t under the covenant. 

He was allowed to stay in the city as long as he kept his issue covered up. 

We live in a time that we do not live in a covenant relationship with God so we call our sin an issue and cover it up. 

You don’t have an issue, you have sin and it may take time but it will come out and you will die if you don’t deal with it. 

It is a flesh issue. DEAL WITH IT!

Society has told us that it is ok to have an issue as long as we keep it covered up with stuff and don’t expose our issue. 

He was honorable in the eyes of “his” master not in the eyes of “THE” Master. 

We can please people and miss pleasing God. 

He was mighty on the outside but dying on the inside. 

BUT, he was a leper. 

I have this or that. 

I can do this or that. 

BUT, your flesh is killing you. 

You can wrap it up in anything you want to BUT, it is still dying and rotting flesh. 

The spirit will live forever, but the flesh will die. WHICH will you follow?

Nothing you can do on the outside will ever override what is going on on the inside. 

You cannot stay before God and impress Him with anything on the outside. 

God is still looking for purity. 

How does God see you, not how do your friends see you? 

Sports, friends, popularity, etc may be your God can call you cool, but God is God! What does He call you?

Who you are is not defined by what is seen but by what is unseen. 

You may look like you have it all together, BUT what is underneath?

What slips in to your mind at 1:00 in the morning when you are alone?

What temptation would get you if you ever had the opportunity and no one would ever find out?

Who you are on Sunday is not who you really are. 

Who you are is what is seen when you get home and take the covers off. 

We will not get to stand before God with the covers on. 

Society tells us to cover it up and never admit what is underneath. 

Well, everyone has rotting flesh, that’s just how it is. NO IT IS NOT!!

If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. 

Romans 12:1 – be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!

He was as great as the world could make him, but he was dying!!!!!




THE GIRL

This girl was captured out of a land of covenant and brought into a land of idolatry. 

Generation of Israelites before her had operated in disobedience. 

She was a prisoner of war. 

Our generation may be in bondage and idolatry because the generation before us chose to disobey. 

Maybe you don’t have what you think you have. 

Parents have big houses, cars, boats and jobs while their kids cut themselves and cry themselves to sleep. 

If you are cutting yourself and always thinking about suicide, who cares what kind of car or clothes you have. 

She is suffering the consequences of someone else’s obedience. 

Maybe they give you nice clothes or cars but do they teach you the Word and to live?

Some of you are in bondage because someone that should have protected you and love you hurt you and abused you. 

***This girl did nothing wrong but she wasn’t in the situation she should have been in because somebody wouldn’t listen.

The situation you are in may not be the best. It may not be what you want. You may think you can never work with the situation. You may feel in bondage. 

MAKE THE MOST OF THE SITUATION YOU ARE IN.

We have people that dust their Bibles off get dressed up and come to church, get mad when the service goes longer than it should and then the wonder they aren’t on fire for God. 

Don’t blame the pastor when you are not in love with God. 

Where was her daddy? Why wasn’t he there fighting for her?

Some of you have never had anyone fight for you. Restoration is here. The devil will not get you without a fight. 

There is a covenant in this house. Blood on the door post kind of covenant. The devil better go somewhere else. He is not going to steal a generation of people. 

This little girl could have been the product of a generation that chose to live in idolatry.

Israel is a picture of the church. 

This little girl did not let the idolatry of a generation before her influence who she would follow. 

The enemy came to Israel’s territory seeking healing but He wanted the healing on His own terms, not according to the Healer. 

Imagine the boldness it took for this little girl to speak to Naaman. 

She had no control over her situation. 

You may find yourself in a land of idolatry and the condition may not be your fault but what will you make of it. 

She had no control over Naaman’s response. 

This little girl may have felt unimportant, but to Naaman she was the avenue to His healing.  

You may feel unimportant and that nobody cares if you live right or not, but to these around you watch your life, your testimony could be the encouragement they need to not seek the Restorer. 

She had a heart for people and to serve.

She totally trusted in God. 

She had a commitment to God. 

Psalm 23:5 – He will prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies.

Just do what God says to do. 

Stop trying to do it your way. 

Text: Revelation 8:1-13
v. 1 - This silence is broken only by a heavenly offering and “the prayers of all the saints” (vv. 3, 4). It is an eerie silence before the storm as all of heaven awaits the coming judgment.
v. 2 - The sounding of a trumpet had more than one significance in the OT. 
It was used:
- to gather the Lord’s people (see Num. 10:7, 8)
- to assemble the Lord’s army (see Num. 10:9)
- to announce a new king (see 1 Kin. 1:34–39)
- to proclaim the Year of Jubilee (see Lev. 25:9). 
In this context, the sounding of trumpets indicates a declaration of war.
The seven angels who stand before God are likely “the angels of the seven churches” (1:20). 
The prayers of God’s saints seem to have a part in the judgment of God. 
The censer is a firepan used for burning incense. 
The golden altar reflects the splendor of the heavenly throne room (4:2, 3). 
Incense here may be fragrance of the perfections who of Christ is that accompanies the prayers of all the saints.
first four seals, the angels sound the first four trumpets in rapid succession.
The effects of the trumpet judgments on earth are far more devastating than the seal judgments. 
A third of all trees and grass; a third of the sea, the living creatures in the sea, and the ships on the sea; a third of all rivers and springs of water; and apparently a third of all daylight and moonlight are affected by the trumpet judgments. 
The first four judgments seem designed to reverse in part the original creation of God. 
Food is destroyed; distribution of goods is crippled; water supply is severely limited; production is cut drastically.
Wormwood is a plant found in the Middle East, known for its bitter taste. 
Here and other place (see Lam. 3:19) the term is figurative for bitterness. 
Normally wormwood is not poisonous, but the plague of the third trumpet involves effects far more potent than the taste of this bitter plant: many men die from the water. Rapid pollution of a third of the world’s drinking water would set off a chaotic crisis.
absinthe - bitter herb. 
name of a female. 
David - Psalm 46 
streams and rivers. 
leviathan - twisting spirit 
John 4 and 7 - rivers of living water. 
poisons the life that is suppose to flow from you. 
Deut. 29:18 
spirit of bitterness

• 
  
  • if I own a home and you are renting that home from me, even if I have the keys and the title and the deed, I cant just come and kick the door in. I can’t enter that home unless you invite me in. 
  • Psalm 115:16 - The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to man  it is we who extol the LORD, both now and forevermore. Praise the LORD. 

The enemy works hard to distract us with problems from the divine purpose God has for us. 
We begin to think in size of the problem or what they did to us instead of the purpose and the destiny God has for us and that just because we walked through that doesn’t mean God has changed His mind about you. 
We allow what happens to us to control the temperature around us instead allowing the Holy Spirit flowing through us to be the thermostat that changes the environment around us. 
None of us live just for ourselves.  
When we compromise and say no to the purpose of God in our life, not only does it effect me, it effects the generations after me. I rob them of what God is trying to for them through me. 
Most of us will never fulfill the purpose of God for our lives because we allow bitterness to take root and poison us and everything around us. 
There are things that are dependent upon you walking in freedom. 
How many of walk in generational bondage because our parents and grandparents refused to die to their flesh. 

James 3:1-5

1. She starts small. 
2. The wrong thing repeated over and over and over. It spreads bitterness everywhere. 
3. She hinders the blessing of the Lord. 
4. Spread rumors.

fresh water and sewage can’t flow from the same place. 
Never take up somebody else’s offense. 
poisons the flow of God in your life.

THE FIRST SIX SEALS
Text: Revelation 7:1-17
Rev. 6:17 - who will withstand. 
NO ONE!
Revelation 7 stands between the sixth and seventh seal judgments. Keep this in mind as we look at this chapter.
1-8 - God’s servants will be able to endure or “stand” because of God’s protective seal. 
Perhaps this is why the great multitude is later portrayed as “standing” before the throne in 7:9
The seal does not exempt believers from physical persecution or suffering but does protect them from spiritual defeat and enables them to remain loyal to Christ. 
Those who are not sealed, on the other hand, will be deceived by evil forces and will suffer God’s wrath.
There may be occasional cease-fires and periods of recuperation, but we will always be in a spiritual struggle this side of heaven. 
Just when you think life is rolling along nicely, the enemy launches another attack. 
For this reason, we must first recognize our war-zone situation and learn to stand strong in resisting the devil’s attacks. 
We must also boldly follow the lead of the Spirit in launching attacks against the forces of darkness. 
Above all, we must arm ourselves with the gospel of peace and the Word of God and make sure we fight like Christ. 
We see in Revelation 12:11 that believers triumph over Satan through reliance upon Christ’s atoning sacrifice, through maintaining their witness, and through a willingness to suffer. 
This is part of what it means to fight like our Lord. 

1. God will judge a wicked world.

- 1 Pet. 3:18–20
- 2 Pet. 2:5–10

1. There is a difference between human persecution and divine judgment.
2. God promises spiritual protection over his people.

- Ephesians 1:11-14

1. Believers are called to a life of spiritual warfare.

Our praise is our weapon 
By some counts, there are over twenty hymns in Revelation. Here are some:
1:5–6,4:8–11, 5:9–14, 7:10–12, 11:15–18, 12:10–12, 14:3, 15:3–4, 16:5–7, 19:1–8
In every case, these expressions of worship are directed toward either God or Jesus Christ (or both). 
They are sung by John, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, other angels, the people of God, heavenly voices, or all created beings. 
They are spoken, sung, or shouted, and are often accompanied by falling down, crying out, and playing instruments. 
They take various forms: doxology, acclamation, amen, victory hymn, thanksgiving, and praise. 
They bring attention to attributes (e.g., holiness, glory, power, strength, wisdom) and actions (creating, being slain, bringing salvation, judging, rewarding, defeating evil, the arrival of the wedding of the Lamb) of God and the Lamb. 
Since music played a vital role in the emperor cult, it is no surprise that Revelation uses music to honor God and the Lamb, while also shaping and strengthening the allegiance of the worshipers.

THE THRONE AND THE RAPTURE
Text: Revelation 4:1-11
Something happens to the church between chapters 3 and 4 of Revelation. 
The word “church” occurs 19 times in chapters 1–3, then not again until chapter 22. 
Where did we go? 
We’ve been “beamed up” or “caught up.” The word we use is rapture, and, yes, the rapture is a concept that is in the Bible.
1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
So far, we have focused on “the things which you have seen” (chapter 1) 
and 
“the things which are” (chapters 2 and 3). 
Now it is time to turn our attention to “the things which will take place after this.”
There is much debate as to when these things will take place. We can settle on the fact that they will take place. 
THEME OF REV. 4 

• God is firmly seated on his throne as the sovereign Ruler of the universe. 
• God’s eternal greatness stands in contrast to the temporary, counterfeit powers of earthly pagan rulers. 
• God alone is worthy of worship as the holy, powerful, eternal Creator. 
• The chief activity of heaven is worship.

Isaiah 6:1-3
Seven Spirits - Isaiah 11:2
“What we see is a perfect picture of praise. It begins with who God is—holy and worthy—then moves to what He has done. He has created all things flawlessly. For just a hint at the brilliance of creation, tap on a hard surface. Now think of the molecular makeup that it took in both your hand and within that surface to make a hard tap happen. The combination of intelligence, creativity, and power necessary to go from nothing to who we are and the world we live in is mind-blowing.
What are these things that are hovering around the throne? 
If you have studied Old Testament prophecy at all, then there is likely something pinging in the back of your mind 
Ezekiel was down by the River Chebar when he encountered the creatures described here in Revelation:
Ezekiel 14:7-10
WORSHIP WILL BE THE GRAND THEME OF HEAVEN - The church’s earthly struggles of Revelation 2–3 now give way to the heavenly reality of Revelation 4–5.
Our deepest needs are met when we adjust our life to God, not the other way around.
When worship loses its God-centeredness, it loses its power to transform. 
We do well when we follow the heavenly pattern of making our worship God-centered.
Worship changes when we see our situations and circumstances through the lens of who He is instead of looking at God through then lens of what we are going through. 


Elders - angels or raptured saints 

Lukewarm Church
Revelation 3:14-22

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  • Do not be deceived by the “good”, God has called us to much more than what is comfortable. We need to be refined and through the refining, we can see the truth and be imitators of Christ
  • What do we see Jesus doing in scripture? Miracles!
  • 
    
    • Miracles were mostly to help others believe

Miracles of Jesus in Scripture 

Healings
Healing of a man with leprosy - Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16	-Touched -Faith/Ask
Healing of a centurion's servant - Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10	-Willing -Faith/Ask
Healing of Peter's mother-in-law - Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39	-Willing -Touched -Faith/Ask -Rebuked (Luke Only)
Healing of a paralytic - Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26	-Faith/Ask -Willing
Healing of a woman with bleeding - Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48	-Faith -Touched
Healing of two blind men - Matthew 9:27-31	-Faith/Ask -Willing
Healing of a mute, demon-possessed man - Matthew 9:32-34	-Once demon left, was healed -Willing
Healing of a man with a withered hand - Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 6:6-11	-Willing -Obedience
Healing of a deaf and mute man - Mark 7:31-37	-Faith -Touched -Willing
Healing of a blind man at Bethsaida - Mark 8:22-26	-Faith -Touched -Willing
Healing of a man born blind - John 9:1-12	-Faith -Touched -Willing
Healing of a woman crippled 18 years - Luke 13:10-17	-Willing -Touched
Healing of a man with dropsy - Luke 14:1-6	-Willing
Healing of ten lepers - Luke 17:11-19	-Faith/Asked -Willing
Healing of a servant's severed ear - Luke 22:50-51	-Willing -Touched

Exorcisms
Exorcism in Capernaum - Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:31-37	-Authority -Willing -Rebuke -Fearful of Jesus
Healing of demon-possessed blind and mute man - Matthew 12:22-23; Luke 11:14	-Faith -Willing
Healing of a demon-possessed boy - Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 9:37-43	-Faith/Asked -Willing -Rebuke -Prayer (Fasting) -Fearful of Jesus
Exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac - Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39	-Willing -Authority -Fearful of Jesus

Control Over Nature
Water into wine - John 2:1-11	-Faith/Ask -Willing
First miraculous catch of fish - Luke 5:1-11	-Willing
Calming the storm - Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25	-Willing -Rebuked
Walking on water - Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:16-21	-Faith/Asked -Willing
Feeding of the 5,000 - Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14	-Willing -Compassion
Feeding of the 4,000 - Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-10	-Willing -Compassion
Cursing of the fig tree - Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14, 20-25	-Lesson on Faith
Second miraculous catch of fish - John 21:1-14	-Willing

Resurrections
Raising of Jairus's daughter - Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56	-Faith/Asked -Willing -Touched
Raising of the widow's son - Luke 7:11-17	-Compassion -Willing -Touched
Raising of Lazarus - John 11:1-44	-Faith/Asked -Willing -Comassion

• 30 Miracles
• 
  
  • 30 times God was willing
  • 17 times faith or them asking took place
  • 10 times He touched them
  • 4 times he rebuked, never the individual
  • 4 times he did it through compassion, not from them asking
  • 
    
• If miracles were to help others believe, then why do we pursue them more than God?
• Jesus only gets angry with the religious people, the hypocrites, the false prophets, believers. Rebuking was not the most common practice but Revelation 3:19 says he rebukes those that he loves and chastens them. Referencing believers
• If authority comes from Jesus then we should imitate Jesus (Matt 10:1;Luke9:1-2)
• We are instructed to ASK in Jesus name, so that God may be glorified, not ourselves (John 14:12-4)
• Peter, Paul and Barnabas reject receiving the glory from the miracles
• We receive power from the Holy Spirit to be witnesses (Act 1:8)
• We are given power but also love and self discipline (2 Tim 1:7)
• No matter what miracle or good deed you perform, it is pointless unless you are seeking God’s will. (Matt 7:21-23)
• Be cautious not to be deceived (1 John 4:1)
• Revelation 3:20-22
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  • He is knocking, are you going to open?

PHILADELPHIA   - THE FAITHFUL CHURCH
Text: Revelation 3:7-13
Ephesus - lost first love 
Smyrna - persecuted church 
Pergamus - compromising church 
Thyatira - corrupt church 
Sardis - dead church 
Philadelphia - the faithful church 
In Philadelphia there was also a “synagogue of Satan,” full of people who claimed to be Jews, but who lied (pseudontai in Greek): because they rejected Jesus their Messiah.
Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” 
A powerful earthquake nearly leveled the city in AD 17, so hearing these words of encouragement from Christ would have greatly helped them. 
To be made into “pillar[s]” of the temple (v. 12) would give them security in the world shaking around them.
“Pillars of the community” - not shaken. Dealt with what was thrown at them with integrity nand grace.  

• Jesus has sovereign control over who gets into the kingdom of God. 
• Jesus’s acceptance of his people cannot be reversed by the world’s rejection of them. 
• God’s true people will be publicly identified and vindicated in the end. 
• Christ will protect his people from spiritual attack even though they may suffer physical persecution. 
• The greatest eternal reward possible is a permanent place in the presence of God.

Keys - represent authority!
There are many points of application in this message for the contemporary church, but two stand out.

1. 
   
   1. Success in our faith journey is determined not by our power or prestige in the eyes of the world but by our willingness to persevere in simple obedience to Jesus. 

There are many churches and Christians who will identify with and be encouraged by this message. They feel weak and powerless in the eyes of the world and even in the eyes of other Christians and churches. But Jesus’s words in verse 8 can resonate powerfully with them: he knows they have little strength, yet they have obeyed! How many boast of great strength and yet substitute many things religious for simple obedience. And Jesus, not the world or even its religious leaders, determines who gets into the kingdom. Jesus’s words to the apostle Paul come to mind: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

1. 
   
   1. God’s people are not exempt from physical suffering/persecution but will be protected spiritually from demonic assault. 

There is a big difference between God’s wrath (condemnation or judgment), which believers will never experience, and persecution at the hands of pagan powers, which believers have experienced and will continue to experience. The Christians in Philadelphia were persevering in the midst of such persecution, including ejection from the local synagogue. The great Christian hope has never been removal from trouble but is resurrection from the dead. The book of Revelation as a whole makes little sense if we say that Christians will never experience suffering and persecution. We need to abandon the “exemption theology” made popular by end-time novels in favor of “endurance theology” made clear by Jesus himself.
Christians will face separation from society. 
We must be careful to not developing a victim mentality or a persecution complex and thus pursue “unnecessary separation.” 
These believers were not excluding others or withdrawing from public witness, but were being excluded “against their will on account of their witness.”
v.8 - “a door having been opened in your sight.” 
This open door is likely an invitation to come into the fullness of God’s kingdom of joy and power in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17; Rev. 4:1). 
Or it may refer to an open door of opportunity to give witness to others of God’s power and grace.
Every door is a decision.
In the Bible, doors are metaphors for the choices we make every day. We discover early on in life that we can walk through some doors and not others. But we need to make a decision each time we see a door.
My destiny will be shaped by which doors I walk past and which doors I walk through.
These doors, whether you walk through them or walk past them, will shape your life. The tough part is knowing the right door. Every door will cost you some time. Some will cost you money. You can't walk through every door.
It's also difficult to get back on the right path if you go through the wrong door. God lays out the consequences of our decisions in Deuteronomy 30:15:"Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster" (Deuteronomy 30:15 NLT). It's critical that we learn discernment because the consequences of poor decisions can be so glaring.
A door may represent different things.
Sometimes a door represents an opportunity from God. You want to open those doors—even if there is opposition. Opportunity plus opposition equals God's will. When God opens a door, it's the right door. It doesn't mean the door will be problem-free, though.
Other times doors are a distraction from others. It may appear to be a good door, but it keeps you from taking the opportunities God has for you.
Doors can also be traps from Satan. Any time we look at our future from our own perspective—rather than God's—we're stepping through a trapdoor. We must be careful to look at our future from God's view.
If an open door is truly from God, it will not contradict what God has already said in his Word.
God will never tell you something different from his Word. And if a door presents you an opportunity to do something contrary to the Bible, it's not a door from God. God's Word is true today and forever. Jesus says in Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear"(NLT). No matter how exciting a door looks, it'll be a disaster if it's contrary to God's Word.
Sometimes God shuts a door for my protection.
People often believe a shut door is a problem.Maybe you lose a job, or a relationship ends. You're devastated. But you come to find out that God shut the door for your protection.

Think about Noah. When he had done everything God had told him to do and all the animals and all of his family were on the ark, the Bible says: "Then the LORD shut the door behind Noah"(Genesis 7:16 GNT).

God wanted to protect Noah from the flood. He wants to protect you, too. Maybe God wants to shut a door for a new ministry assignment because he knows you're not the right fit for it.
God will open doors for me if I open doors for others.
God wants you to learn to be generous. The Bible says in Proverbs 11:25, "Be generous, and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped"(GNT).
My life has been blessed when others opened doors for me, particularly when I was young. Now I look for ways to open doors for others. I've found the more doors I open for others, the more God opens doors for me.
Note that it takes “little power” to keep (obey) God’s word and not deny his name. Imagine what having great power would look like!
Just because it is God’s will doesn’t meant it is going to happen. 
What destroyed you in the pasted will not effect your future.