FAILURE IN SUCCESS

Judges 8:22-35

At the moment of Israel's triumph, Gideon stumbled. He told the people, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." The Israelites took the gold from the bodies of the dead enemies and Gideon melted it and fashioned it into an idol. The Bible calls this idol an ephod, a word that refers to a ceremonial breastplate. Gideon probably depicted the Lord God as a warrior with an ephod of gold, of which could have easily been mistaken for himself.

Either way, God does not allow Himself to be represented by an idol. This idol was an offense against God and a trap for the people. After Gideon's death, the Israelites again worshiped the pagan god Baal. They forgot the Lord God who rescued them from their enemies.

The story of Gideon has a great beginning, but a tragic ending. This is an instructive lesson for us all. As the apostle Paul tells us, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" (1 Cor. 10:12).

If we fail the Success Test we must go back to God. We can ask Him to help us learn the lessons of our failure in success and to strengthen us for another effort. The God of second chances is able to accomplish His purpose through us even if we have failed Him many times before.

THE DEAD SEED

John 12:24-26 (KJV)
“24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”...
Love being where Jesus is, He has always gone where the pain hurts the most; He is a savior, a healer, anointed to set the captive free, and setting at liberty those who are bruised. He goes to the inside of things, where the issues press the reason and the cause.
It takes a special kind of person to take the journey He has taken; it cost our lives, what could have been becomes the exchange of another. This is the death Father God honors and it is the seed that duplicates and multiplies His culture.

FINDING OUR LIFE

2 Corinthians 4:11-12 (KJV)
“11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you.”
We do not lose our lives for our sake and not even for the sake of others; we lose our lives for Jesus’ sake.  “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). Consequently, other’s benefit from it and so do we; it is in this we find our lives.

PRINCE OF PEACE

John 20:20-23 (KJV)
“20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 
23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”
It takes great peace to hold people accountable to their sins until they are dealt with and no longer have control. Peace in the process possesses confidence and understanding. “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:5). The lack of understanding increases the strength sin has over us. Proper care is informed and has the vision to transform; this is why nurses must be trained. So, Jesus breathes on them, He imparts to them by the Holy Ghost the ability to prophetically see into people; see when their sins must be retained, this is holding them accountable until the healing process is completed. Remitting is only in order if the sin has been dealt with and overcome. We never release a patient until they are ready. Delivered, healed, and made whole. Do we really have the peace Jesus had with people? When we become more in control of our actions and reactions we become carriers of His peace; we carry hope to the hopeless. When we are there, somehow they know things can get better. We carry an anointing (His understanding and presence) that breaks the yoke.

WORSHIP STUDIO

Revelation 15:2-4 (KJV)
^“2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
³  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
⁴  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.”

Korg, Yamaha, Taylor, Gibson, Alvarez, etc… do not have anything on these harps of God. These lyrics say something needing to be said. Music, song, grounded in the Word and Spirit; sea of Glass (The Word) mingled with Fire (The Spirit) brings about an eternal harmony that cannot be matched, duplicated, or designed by hearts of flesh.

FEED A MIRACLE

Mark 5:21-43
A miracle is “an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause” (Dictionary.com). The supernatural invades the natural and increases faith and validates the believing. Maintaining hope is to accommodate miracles by moving forward with gratefulness as we spend what it has given. We are not to become myopic to the supernatural power of God when it is released; we are to persist towards the benefits miracles give. Feed it, care for it, strengthen it, we must revel in the life it brings.

THE FOREST OF LIFE

Genesis 5:24 (KJV)
“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
Are we in the woods with Him, or, are we just in the woods? The woods were here before we got here and God was here before the woods. If a person is not careful they could easily get lost in the woods. But then again, it would not matter if we are walking with God whether we are walking in these woods are not. Enoch did not have the Torah; all he had was history, present culture, and God.

OBLIGATE

Matthew 4:18-19 (KJV)
“18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
I have been hearing the word “obligate” in my thoughts for a long time now. Here is what it means: As a verb obligate means to compel, constrain, or oblige morally or legally; as an adjective it is to be compelled, bound, or restricted.
Simple as this, Jesus obligated them boys. His call for them to follow Him obligated them and Himself. They were obligated to follow and Jesus was obligated to teach them to catch men. The end result, they did catch men.

WHAT ARE WE AFTER?

1Cortinthians 1:22-25
“22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.”
Signs and wonders is what the Jews were after; great wisdom and intellect is what the Greeks were after. These two things are what most people are after today. Nonetheless, the scripture tells us that Jesus is both the power and the wisdom of God: “But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).
It is not a revival of signs and wonders we need, nor is it a revival that will tickle the intellect. We need a revival that will elevate Jesus in all that He is, who He is, why He is, and where He is.
The simple truth that we are lost and undone without His love and what He did for us on the cross of Calvary is the kind of revival we need.
Consequently, we need to ask ourselves; what are we after? We must be after Jesus, and this “after” must get a hold of us so deeply that everything else we are interested in takes second place to Jesus; especially, when His power and wisdom is released by His manifest presence.

EMANUEL

Deuteronomy 31:8 (KJV) “And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”

When the presence of God’s glory filled the tent Moses left Joshua in there to stay and soak as he stepped out to address the people (Exodus 33:10-11). Joshua ministered to Moses on the mountain as he received instructions concerning the tabernacle and the Ten Commandments from God (Exodus 24:13). Joshua had been exposed to the glory of God’s presence directly and indirectly. He had been in the heat of the battle with sword in hand as they held Moses’s arms high; he knew what it meant for the LORD God to be with him both in struggle and in stillness from harms way.

Yet, Moses tells him this as he transfers his leadership. No matter how much we have encountered in God’s presence; still yet, we need to be reminded God is with us.  

REGENERATION

Titus 3:4-7 (KJV)
“4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Regeneration: New birth – New life – this is an act of the Holy Ghost in our lives. He gives us the gift of faith that we may encounter the new birth or new life in Jesus Christ. This working of the Holy Ghost is the kindness and love of God to our hearts from His.
When we allow this work to take place or we come into agreement with it, we are justified by grace and become recipients of the eternal life of God. Regenerated, given back to us through Christ what has been taken from us through sin; the curse is reversed in regeneration.

Psalm 147:11 (KJV)
“The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.”

It is in the fear of the LORD we acknowledge His mercy and value its worth.

DISPOSITION

1 Peter 3:8-9 (KJV)
“8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”
One of the greatest ways to receive a blessing is to be one. This begins by being agreeable or to come into one mind with others. Pitiful in this scripture means to be sympathetic or tender hearted. We are to be courteous; when we do so, love is at work.
This simply boils down to having a mind to be a blessing having no intentions of evil but good. This is the disposition of our heavenly Father. Jeremiah 29:11 testifies to this, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
No matter how much opposition we may run into, this should be our disposition and position towards others as believers.

GOOD NEWS IS GLAD TIDINGS

Luke 8:1 (KJV)
“And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him”
The center of the gospel being the life of Christ; would mean in this text, the good news in the gospel is being lived out. Therefore, what would be this good news of the Kingdom of God? It is the transformation of exchanging human culture for the culture of heaven. “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matthew 12:28).
The gospel being lived out presents God’s Kingdom as another way to live, another way to think, and another way of being; consequently, the exchange of fallen culture to the Kingdom of God is a direct manifestation of the gospel being lived out.
When the message we preach lines up with the message we live it breaks the power of sin and shame off the people we present our message to. Devils lose their domination and control as the Kingdom of God comes in the power of the Father’s Love.
Therefore, the good news of the gospel becomes the goods of the Kingdom of God.

DEAD OR ALIVE

Romans 14:7-9 (KJV)
"7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living."
Jesus is our LORD on this side of life and He will be LORD on the other side of death. He died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord of those who live in Him and those who die in Him. We are not alone in this life and we will not be alone when we die.

Romans 13:14 (KJV)
“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”

Even ugly people look good wearing Jesus. It becomes a beautiful situation.

STINKING THINKING

Ephesians 4:27 (KJV)
“Neither give place to the devil.”
Stinking thinking is assuming things that are not so and creating scenarios that do not exist, and is allowing the devil to play house in our minds. “…He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).
Jesus said the devil has come to steal, kill, and destroy. First, he stills it; once he has it he kills it, because his goal is to ultimately destroy it. He is a murderer; his goal is to assassinate the church and as many individuals as he can.
Jesus has come that we might have life and to have it more abundantly. Jesus is for real about this, He wants us to live and He wants us to live abundant lives.
Giving place to the devil is allowing him to convince us of things not so. Giving place for Jesus is to believe things can be better and does not have to end. Jesus is a savior, deliverer, healer, Holy Ghost baptizer; He is the Bread of life, living water, light in the darkness, the way, truth and life. It is best to focus on what we know is true.
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

2 Corinthians 5:10-11 (KJV)
"10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences."
The fear of the LORD is essential and necessary - we cannot know God as we should without it and we sure cannot translate the terror of the LORD to others without it.

TRANSLATE AND PERMEATE

1 Peter 1:13-16 (KJV)
“13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
The grace teaching and enabling us is at the point of revelation; the revelation of Jesus Christ. A life time of relational encounters brings this to us. These encounters become cause and effect on our conduct of being and living. This is how His presence translates and permeates us.

TAKING SHAPE

Genesis 1:4 (KJV)
“And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”
How did the light get all mixed up into that darkness? In the beginning the earth was without form, it was void, and darkness was all up in it. Catch this, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and in collaboration God said, “Let there be light.” In other words, as the Spirit was moving God spoke into it.
Wow, what a correlation with us. Our lives too are full of darkness; we are empty with no shape or definition. It is not until the Spirit moves upon us and in that moving the Father’s heart speaks to us, this is when light gets all mixed up into our darkness.
It is then the Father draws out the light. God begins to call forth the light out of the darkness; He separates the light from the darkness. This brings definition to our lives and things begin to take shape from that point on.
His light must first appear and get all mixed up into our darkness so He can make sense of why the darkness was there in the first place. It is understanding why our darkness exist that we are able to heal and be delivered from it. Salvation takes shape in the revelation of Christ Jesus.

WAR OF THE PARADIGMS

Matthew 11:12 (KJV)
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
The violence here is the art of inward struggle; it is war. This is where we learn to side against ourselves for the sake of truth. The Kingdom of God takes rule over the kingdom of self. It is so easy to see things as we are opposed to how things really are. God’s kingdom is not of this world. Nonetheless, we cannot go anywhere. Jesus prayed the Father would not take us out of here; but rather also, He prayed the Father would keep us from the evil of this world as His Kingdom takes our heart. His will is for His Kingdom to become our culture of reason and understanding.

REVIVAL

Here is how revival looks: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place” (2 Chronicles 7:14-15).
Revival looks like deliverance and healing as evidenced in Habakkuk 3:1-3 (KJV) “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy. God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.”  
As a child I always wondered where God came from and as a child I read this scripture; at that moment I thought Teman was some distant planet in the universe. As I grew into adulthood and studied the Scripture in more depth, I came to find where Teman was. Teman was the mountain pass God brought the children of Israel through to Mount Sinai (the mountain of His presence).
Revival is a mountain pass bringing us to the mountain of God’s presence. It is the presence of God that transforms people’s hearts and minds. It is not some message that belittles people’s inabilities to see their state as a sinner.  God did not call us to beat up on people; He has called us to lead them to the mountain of His presence.
We may ask, “Where does God come from? Where is God coming from? He comes from the place of healing us and our land. God wants to heal what is broken and dysfunctional.
Revival takes place when we move from praying for revival to being revival; turning from our wicked ways depriving us of His presence.  Open our eyes and ears that we may act out the prayer that is made in this place.

PERFECT LOVE

1 John 4:16-18 (KJV)
^“16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
¹⁷  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
¹⁸  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

Father God is all up in here. I fear Him, and because I do, I have boldness with no fear. Ultimate respect for God produces fear free atmosphere and culture; it produces a boldness that is fearless to the bone.

His presence is so full of acceptance disapproval is never interpreted to be rejection; He is all up in here. This strengthens my respect for Him – He is Daddy. I grow discipline when I accept His discipline. He can hurt me and I receive it as medicine; my heart can dance with Him because I know He will never let me go. This is perfect love.

I was homeless at sixteen. I would place the Bible on my chest and drift into sleep crying Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, etc…In this I became convinced He loved me – fearless – I knew He was with me no matter what.

I fear Daddy too much to be afraid. He has convinced me if my fear for Him supersedes the fear of man and the fear of judgment; then, the fear of being over taken that I cannot take hold of Him cannot work in my mind or heart. He is all up in here – He is Daddy. This is perfect love.

CHOICES

Jude 1:6-7 (KJV)
“6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Leaving our first principle and rule becomes damaging for us and for those around us. Consequence for this choice is fatal. Cut this out and throw it away would be cutting out our chance. Where is the positive in this? We do have a choice. Jesus is present. Opportunity awaits us in Christ.