Are You Free?

Recently I re-posted a “story” on Facebook that I’ve shared in the past. It was an encouragement to people who are still struggling with various bondages through the week or weekend yet show up in church on Sunday. The invitation was “It doesn’t matter what you struggle with, you can sit with me.”

Some have questioned me saying. “Aren’t you giving them permission to stay in sin by saying that?

My answer is this:

No, we should welcome anyone to attend our churches with the thought in mind that Jesus loves us too much to allow us to remain as we are.  When we are loving and accepting toward people not yet living for Jesus, God by His spirit will begin to work in their lives till they surrender. Our love and acceptance will make them open to Jesus.  Then we need to be ready to disciple them.

Some of you know that I am in the process of working to relaunch our recovery ministry called Free Indeed --RM. It’s often referred to as a recovery ministry because that’s language the world understands. However, those of you who really know me, you know that I am not a proponent of getting caught in what I call “the cycle of recovery.”

What do I mean by that?  After a season in “recovery mode” we must shift to “discipleship mode” to become strong followers of Jesus Christ. The “RM” in our name Free Indeed RM stands for Restoration Ministry. I believe in the power of God to restore and transform lives. We don’t have to live the rest of our lives claiming the title “addict,” Once a person is born again, according to 2 Corinthians 5:17, they are now a new Christian. They have a new identity of son/daughter of God. I am not a “recovering” anything. I am delivered. To God be the glory!

Look what it says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NKJV)

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such WERE some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.  (emphasis mine)

Do you see that? “Such WERE some of you.” Once you surrender to Jesus and He sets you free, you no longer have to live under your old identity of fearful, depressed, crackhead, dope head, alcoholic, addict…whatever had you bound you can be free of when you cry out to Jesus.

You might say, but I am so ashamed. Look at this verse. “Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 NAS)

So, the big question is… how do we move forward to walk in freedom and a new identity?

Getting Out of a Defeated Place

1.   If it's not been easy, don't be ashamed.  Memorize the Romans 8:1 verse above.

 

2.   It's time to rise up from the ashes. Ask God to help you start moving forward. Find a church/bible study group to encourage you. Come to Free Indeed when we get started.

3. God doesn't need our perfection; He needs our brokenness. There is hope beyond where you are.

Where we have been and where we are is not where we're headed!

4. PUSH - Pray Until Something Happens – Don’t give up!

 

5. Determine to know God's direction. 

·         Don't be vague. Vague people never accomplish anything because they have no direction or plan. 

·         Ask yourself this question - In order to be empowered by the H.S. am I willing to go forward with God regardless of what it may cost? (Reputation, Family, Job, Friends, Hobby,- TV, Sports, Music) 

·         It might require that we come clean about a secret sin in our life.   You see, as long as you hide, you'll never be totally free.  The power of the bondage is n the secret of it. Once it’s “out” it no longer has control over you.

6.  Forget the past – Stop looking back. Allow for changes. Ask God to help you forgive others and yourself.

 

7. Establish an accountability relationship. Find someone… a counselor, pastor, friend who will help you move forward in truth.

 

8.  Allow the Holy Spirit to empower you! 

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord." (Zecheriah 4:6 NKJV)

• Might represents Man force, sometimes refers to an accumulation of things/wealth. 
•  Power represents  man’s expertise, intellectualism. 
• Spirit represents the Breath of God 

 There is so much more I could share. This is already long enough. Allow me to close with these thoughts.

What God touches is set in order. 

What God touches is made whole and complete. 

 What God touches is truly delivered and set free.

Till next time, keep your chin up and keep pressing on!

Moving Forward in Life

This article was originally written in 2017. For the past few days, I've been thinking it needs to be shared again. Whoever needs this now, I hope this encourages you in some way.

Change…. That is a word that most of us don’t like to hear.  Even when change is for the good, it can sometimes be difficult, even scary.  But change is one of those inevitable pieces of life. We all experience it one time or another.  I heard this statement from an inmate one time: “When the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than the pain of change, you will change.” That is a power packed statement.

 Change will take courage. The definition of courage is “Fearlessness when facing change or a difficult situation, following difficult instructions.”

One of the biggest hindrances to change for many people is that they are stuck in their past or even in a present dilemma.  Think about this. If you drive down the road in your car looking in the rearview mirror the whole time, what is going to happen? Obviously, you will crash. Well, it’s the same thing in life. If we keep looking back, we’re going to crash into various obstacles in life. So, what is the answer to this fear of change? The bible gives us several answers.

 in Philippians 3:13,14 it says,

¹³Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Emphasis added) 

The first step in moving forward is to stop looking backwards all the time. Take your hurts, your questions, your fears…. Everything and give them to the God.  His Son, Jesus Christ took all your pains on himself when He died on the cross.

Let’s quickly look at a few other hindrances to moving forward that the bible mentions.

Forsaking God - In other words, preferring your own way.  So many of us think we know what’s best for our life. But who would know better than God Himself, the Creator of the universe who knows everything? Take the risk to step out and trust God with your whole life.  In Matthew 6:33 it says: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  If we put God first in our lives, He will meet all of our needs.

Fear of man - Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.”  We will never take risks or try new things as long as we fear what others will think of us. One way to help fight this is to remember the following statement: “I am not responsible for anyone else’s actions or reactions except my own.” Besides, if someone is truly your friend, they will encourage you to move forward and be happy with you for the changes in your life. 

Worldliness - This could be a lengthy subject, but for now let’s simply say that if let the ways of the world influence us, it will choke out the truth of God’s Word.  See Mark 4:18, 19 and 1 John 2:15.

Misplaced confidence - Relying on anything or anyone other than God for your needs.  It is only in a relationship with the Lord that we can have all of our needs met.  Remember the scripture quoted earlier from Matthew 6:33? Put God first in your life.

 Self-sufficiency – This is when we think we don’t need anyone. WE think we can do it ourselves and refuse to ask for help.  But Proverbs 3: 5,6 says; “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Another scripture that talks about self-sufficiency is Rev. 3:16-20 where the Laodicean Church thought they had it all together more than anyone else but didn’t realize they were spiritually blind.

Neglect of the "little things" – I once read a statement that said. “We stumble over pebbles not rocks.”  We often tend to overlook what we think are the little things. But then these little things pile up into a big mountain and next thing we know we’re totally overwhelmed. So, don’t let little things go unchecked in your life.  Ask someone you trust who you know will be truthful with you to be an accountability partner to help you monitor your progress.

Finally, our last point is…

Not counting the cost – It makes a made-up mind to decide we’re moving forward with our lives no matter what.  We need to be aware that not everyone is going to like the changes in our life.  Family, friends, co-workers may not understand. Some may try to put fear in you, some will threaten you by saying they won’t be your friends anymore.  Reality is there will be a cost to change. The people you surround yourself with may have to change; priorities will have to change, etc.  But with God on our side, we can overcome anything as Roman 8: 31-39 declares,

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  ³⁶As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." ³⁷Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That’s all for now my friend. Take the risk and step into a new season in your life!

 

 

 

 

 

What Is the Real Deception?

Many of us have seen all the videos and posts on Facebook and YouTube about Mark Driscoll confronting Jim Lindell at the Stronger Men's Conference for using provocative worldly stunts to draw a crowd in.

 This morning, I listened to a few bible teachers, and it came down to this: The issue is not really Mark’s confrontation or Jim making him step down. The real issue is deception that is infiltrating the church. I have said this before, the greater deception isn’t the stunts. Yes, they’re unnecessary and evil. But it is false teachings, new age practices, and control sneaking into doctrines, and preaching. Some even elevate experiences and the prophetic above scripture. More on this later.

 Here are quotes from two pastors:

“We have chosen to use mass entertainment and carnal needs to try to draw people to the gospel. We’re really reaping what we've sown. We are bringing the world into the church and then wondering why worldly things are happening. We are bringing in compromise when we are using carnal means…” (Jeremiah J.)

 “Another pastor friend put it this way, “When you begin to use gimmicks to get people into the church each gimmick must be bigger and grander than the one before. Before you know it, you're spending more money on gimmicks than evangelism and going down a dangerous path of worldliness... just to get people in the building.”

The major missing element at this event was repentance. It is also missing from many churches these days. True awakening and revival come are birthed where there has been sincere, heartfelt breaking and repentance before the Lord.

 OK, back to the deception concern. Let’s look at a couple of scriptural warnings.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. (Galatians 6:7 NKJV)

 One who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house; One who speaks lies shall not maintain his position before me. (Psalm 101:7 NASB)

 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2Timothy 3:1-5 NIV)

You might say where is God's love in all of this? God is love. He wants to set us free of all bondage, hurt and deception in our lives. It is because of His love that He doesn't want us to remain as we are. He wants us to become more like him. You know, be holy as H is holy. (1 Peter 1:15,16 NKJV) Check out Romans 2:4 (NASB) - Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

It all boils down the to this… it is time for the Church to wake up, to get back to being holy without fear of people being offended. We must rise up to be the God’s remnant in the land.

Lastly, if you would like to hear this presented in a way that is probably better than what I just said, watch a podcast by Pastors Mike Signorelli and Jeremiah Johnson. It might sound harsh at first but hear them out. They cover more than just the conference event. Jeremiah’s audio gets glitched a few times, just hang on to hear the powerful quote from the late David Wilkerson that he shares. Mike suggested that Jeremiah do a stand-alone video about the quote. We’ll see. I love you … Let’s become the “Bride with combat boots on.” Loving others enough to fight for the truth, fight to see the manifest presence of God in our lives and churches.

Here is the link:  https://www.youtube.com/live/HgLp5pi6ktk?si=HDy6ptRCf4X28TDH