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Friday, February 26, 2016

Every Life Faces Adversity. Where do we get our Assurance?


None of us escapes the uncertainty of trouble and challenge. 

Genesis 22:14  on the mountain it will be provided
Jesus said, In this world you will have trouble.....
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33       


Where do we get our assurance? 

Where do we get our ability to weather adversity without losing hope?
  
Where do we find strength to stand in the tremendous generosity of Jesus and help the Church? 


In this world there is always bad news.  But I have GOOD NEWS!  
Jesus overcame the world and all it's bad news.



My heart was struck with Recent knowledge of so many divorces – among believers that I shared so much joy with.



It seems the Saints spend a great deal of energy divorcing each other.
If we spend our time energy and efforts divorcing, deriding, tearing down 
When are we building up in love, encouragement, strength and comfort in the Spirit? 
 
We've turned speaking the truth in love to speaking the truth about each other from flesh minded small minded vision.   We serve a great God who is abundant in wonder and Love.

TRUTH -  shaped by the Father in Heaven’s word and welcome
The truth is we have an adversary.  That adversary is an accuser of the Saints.  He steals, kills and destroys everything from the good, good Father of Lights. 

Stripped and defeated but alive and still roaming the world, he is enraged by his own undoing and the end of his free roaming destruction that is now in sight.

The battles we wage are for the souls of men. But they are discovered, initiated, directed, empowered, encouraged, fulfilled by the Spirit of the Lord.  
We serve a King who is Alpha and Omega.  He Begins all things and he will End all things.  



The edifices of hay wood and stubble built every day for the glory of man will not stand the tests of consuming fire.  



 

The state of the church – appears to be mostly about just existing, 

Getting by, surviving,   

The church is made of of living stones.  Each stone make the people.  Each church family is simply a collection of stones ordered by the Spirit for works of love and service to Jesus. 
So, if you and I are surviving.  If the majority of believers are simply trying to put a life together.  Then what makes us think the church, full of living stones who express a living Kingdom, is any further advanced than the stones in the house? 

What would you say to an Army possessing every weapon required, all resources to overcome, incredible energy for victory, and a miracle working God who makes strategy in perfection of the work of Jesus?

Signs, Wonders, Miracles 
In the O.T. the Ax heads floats.  In the N.T. common believers raise the dead and pray and cancer goes away.
What would you tell them? If you could get the ear of the Saints for a moment.  Total real listening moment?  




 I would tell them to Follow Jesus, Walk in the Spirit, Go with the Gospel and Disciple everyone in the teaching of Jesus through obedience. 


  

 

 

Some don’t want to fight.  They just want to survive.

I don't want to survive.  I want to come alive!
 Enduring becomes the battle cry of a survival mindset.
I have news.  OVERCOMING is the battle cry of the servants of Jesus.


Survival is an unacceptable state of the union for my beliefs, love, and knowledge of Jesus the OVERCOMER.



We are living sacrifices – we are going up in smoke on his alter of love and grace.
Make some Smoke! 
Fan into flame the gifts of God in you!
Make some smoke!


 
We are dead.  We died with him that we might truly live.
 We are empowered, equipped, victorious servants of a God who gets things done!  


Contrasts

Enduring                                                                   Overcoming
Make our lives comfortable                         Make King of Kings comfortable
Eliminate problems                                       Overcome the world
Gain strength to make it through                Gain faith for miracle breakthrough
Surrender to what life throws at you          Surrender to the King of Glory 
Stay the course                                               Listen for the creative Spirit wisdom
Hold on to what you've got                           Freely give as you have been given

·     

     Bill McCartney – Promise Keepers – Coach of Colorado Buffalos
·         First 3 seasons as head coach he won 3-4 games.
·         He lived his faith out in front – was highly criticized – but he believed in his mission.
·         He won the National Championship - Colorado won its first national championship in 1990 under the direction of head coach Bill McCartney, who lead the team from 1982 to 1994.
·         They plaid football with purpose – vision.  He built a family in purpose.  They dreamed big. They faced every adversity.  They overcame and became National Footfall Champions. 


  Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
I Tim 6:12 


What brings the overcoming victory of Jesus to center stage in our lives  -  Walking in our Mission by faith in obedience– not problems, troubles, challenges.



Taking a stand – You’ve got to know what you are battling FOR!
12But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.


God needs a man, a woman to take a stand.  To believe Him.  Then he can bring about a great victory. 


This Gospel, this Kingdom of Jesus is going to bring the Way the Truth and Life to everything.


Uganda -  I see friends in my minds eye – I see the church and all that it needs – I see the simple and practical hope that a few simple things could do for them.  
Breaks me up and shakes me up. Calls me to prayer and faith and the heart of Jesus for overcoming victory.



In Gods Economy of purpose – people are judged by “Well done.  Good and Faithful Servant."
Well done means there’s a piece of the purpose of God that can be well done or left undone.  
Let's be the people that get it done with God -  A great victory is at hand.


THE ARMOR of GOD -  Ephesians 6:10f   The church needs to stand.  To take a stand and make a stand. 
You and I need to stand. 
Not in these models of hate, tearing down, jealousy, envy, in fighting, divorce after divorce. 
We need to stand in TRUTH.  In
Righteousness, Faith, and
Receive Salvation


This Kingdom we are part of is 
Righteousness
Peace
Joy 
in the power of the Holy Spirit.  


2016  

Look forward, eyes filled with Abundance, Boundless, Victorious vision in Jesus.  

  Get a copy of my Prophetic Review 2016 - Salvation's Mountain Erupting with Open Doors, Shifts and Invitation.  
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com

Thanks for Reading!   


I love your comments. Ideas and thoughts.  
Please share em.
Re-shares are great. thank U.

Here are some other blogs posts that may interest you. 

1.http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2015/01/7-things-enemy-devil-doesnt-want-you-to.html
 



The dialogue is awesome.  Thank you. Testimonies?  Share em with me.   Re-Shares lov em.  Thank you!
With much love in Jesus

You can do this thing!  He's got you. 



Jeff Reynolds   ---

Brother Jeff

www.jeffreynoldsministies.com
 



Friday, February 19, 2016

Coming Back from Falling. 5 Critical Steps

Disappointing Jesus is painful. 


When we fall the pain is clear and the disappointment and grief clearly present. 
There is no need to stumble or fall in such a way as to be devoured!


Because we've
Stumbled
Sinned
Fallen Short
Missed the Mark
Trespassed
Failed
IMMEDIATE choices and actions are needed. 


Walking in the Spirit requires intentional steps. 
Walking by faith and not by sight requires focused attention. 

We are engaged in a battle in which God's blessings and Kingdom fill up our lives and overflow onto the world.   A displacement is required; more of the Spirit and Word deeply abiding in us and flowing like a river inside and out to the world. 


We are fighting a roaring lion. 
He is prowling and looking for someone to devour. 

Walking with Jesus is never passive.  When we fall it requires immediate action. 


1. First identify which enemy are you fighting? 

The World?  - the fallen order of things.  Strongholds and spiritual traps seek to bring you and I into captivity. (2 Cor 10:3-5)  It can be a process getting free from deep sins that revolve around our community/family relationships or identities.  Partying.  Pornography. Sexual sins.  Homosexuality.  So many of the sins we break free from are rooted in a culture or system that keeps us coming back and enslaves us.  Good News.  Jesus defeats every captivity.  He took captivity itself captive to rescue us!  (Ephesians 4:10)

The Flesh?  Desire, Deceit and Despair   The flesh when fed even a little encouragement awakens and delivers temptations that flow from our fallen and broken desires.  Sow to the Spirit and you won't feed the flesh.  Build a disciplined life (1 Tim 1:7) filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:17) and the Word of Christ (Col 3:14) dwelling richly in you.   

The Devil?  The whole array of fallen angelic beings that prowl about looking to put out the flame of your first love, worship and service to the King of Kings.  These wars typically come in a Mind Battle.  Thoughts dropping into your mind that are untypical or out there.  Simply resist the devil and he will flee.  (James4:7)

Though all three relate and can be avenues for the enemy to entrap us and tempt us, they each carry their own particular means of seeking to pull us into sin.  


There is no need to stumble or fall in such a way as to be devoured!


2. Second  - Remember when you first came to Christ? 

Do what you did at first.
Remember, you had a good grasp on the fact that you were a sinner walking around with filthy rags and ashes?   Jesus forgave us.  You and I confessed our sins and were forgiven.  He will do the same today.  
RUN BACK to HIM.
The Mercy of God overwhelms the sins of our lives forever.  Grace pours in and starts healing.....
When we repent. 
When we agree with God.
When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.   Just like we did at first.  

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.  I John 2:1


3. Know this, your enemy will try and kick you when you are down. 
The prowling lion, our enemy Satan, will seek to keep you in that state of disappointment and self righteousness as long as possible.  If he can trap you into thinking you are unworthy of the grace of Christ or to focus on your accomplishments outside of grace and first love dependence, he will.  Somehow we forget we are saved by grace.  We start thinking we are now righteous of our own accomplishments in spiritual pursuits.  The Enemy will try and lead you here when you are hurting from a fall.  He will show up to instill some religion and appeal to your flesh.  The only appeal is to the grace of God and the Blood of Jesus. 

We all feel it.  The disappointment in ourselves that we have seen him and known him and we stumble into our old ways or sins.  We deplore ourselves and beat ourselves up.  We wallow around not wanting to approach Jesus and get free and forgiven again.  All because we feel we "should be further along than this".  Or we say to ourselves "we are not worthy of Christ because we've fallen again".  The Old man carries religion quite well. The flesh loves to put on religion instead of the Blood of Christ.  It suits our self - righteousness better.
Paul called out the religion in the Galatians when we asked them if now they no longer needed the Spirit to walk with Christ. 

 

This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  Galatians 3:3



4. Make a point of getting "over yourself" and step quickly into grace and freedom.
Imagine how Peter felt after he denied Jesus.  All those amazing things experienced and he ends up denying three times his most intimate friend on earth.  That friend being the Son of God.  When we walk with Jesus we see ourselves over and over in the view of his majesty, holiness and power.  At certain points along the journey we really see ourselves again from the vantage point of our old man and it hurts.   

We are saved by grace through faith.  That doesn't change along the way.  Don't ever forget you are saved by GRACE.  

See this is an opportunity for healing, new life and deeper love. 
The fact that we feel remorse or guilt is an affirmation that we have seen him and known him.  We demonstrate the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Be grateful that he is after you in love and calling you back to the WAY. 

He leads us back to Jesus.  He convicts the world of sin.  
He reminds us of all Jesus said.  John 14:12-16


5.  Restore an atmosphere of Word and Spirit all around and in you.  
Paul calls us to "let the word of Christ dwell richly in us"  (Col 3:16) and to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:17-18).  The result of these two things moving in greater and greater measure in and through us is....
wisdom 
psalms,
hymns,
spiritual songs, 
singing with gratitude in your heart,
songs from the Spirit,
making music from your heart. 


Restore the praise, Word, and fellowship that is yours in Christ immediately.  
Step past your feelings and into a faith filled grace filled response to the Lord.  Confess your sin.  Ask the Spirit to cleanse you and free you.  Surrender to Jesus again.   

 

2016  

Look forward, eyes filled with Abundance, Boundless, Victorious vision in Jesus.  

  Get a copy of my Prophetic Review 2016 - Salvation's Mountain Erupting with Open Doors, Shifts and Invitation.  
www.jeffreynoldsministries.com

Thanks for Reading!   


I love your comments. Ideas and thoughts.  
Please share em.
Re-shares are great. thank U.

Here are some other blogs posts that may interest you. 

1.http://jeffreynoldsonedesire.blogspot.com/2015/01/7-things-enemy-devil-doesnt-want-you-to.html
 



The dialogue is awesome.  Thank you. Testimonies?  Share em with me.   Re-Shares lov em.  Thank you!
With much love in Jesus

You can do this thing!  He's got you. 



Jeff Reynolds   ---

Brother Jeff

www.jeffreynoldsministies.com