Should We Be Afraid Of God Striking Us Every Seven Years?

The number seven is God's number for completion and perfection.   Today I want to take you into a study of the number seven that takes you even deeper into it's meaning in the Bible.

Genesis 1:1-2  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.…

In Genesis 1:1  We see the earth void, without form, darkness covered the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering the waters

What we see is an earth that is lifeless, void, dark, not a good piece of real estate at all.  So then God begins the seven days of creation.  Why?  To take that which is void and dark, and without form and to bring it into a place of perfection.   On the 7th day God rested from His work and said it was good.
GOD USES THE NUMBER 7 OFTEN WHEN HE IS TAKING SOMETHING FROM WORTHLESS TO PERFECTION.  

In the book of Kings chapter 5 vs 14 we see that Naaman has leprosy and he is asking the prophet to cure him.  What is he told?  He is told to go and wash in the Jordan river 7 times.   Here again we see the number seven bringing his skin to perfection, cleansed of the leprosy.  What was Naaman's condition?   He had an incurable disease.   His life was devastated, destroyed, wasted with sickness...He is told to wash seven times.   He eventually obeys the prophet and washes, but he is NOT CLEANSED until the seventh time coming up out of the water.    Had he only washed six times he would have went away just as sad and sick as he came.     Here again God used the number seven to bring something from a place in which it was of no use, to bring it to the place of perfection.

The place in the Bible in which the number seven is used the most is the Book of Revelation.    Here we see 7 years of tribulation, 7 churches, 7 angels to the churches, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 thunders...so let's look at what is going on in this book of the Bible.    In the Book of  Revelation the earth has reached the point of God's wrath, and God's judgment just like it did in the days of Noah.   So the use of the number 7 here indicates that the actions that God is taking is going to bring everything to a place of perfection and completeness.  So, we see that the tribulation period  is followed by the 1000 year millennial reign of Christ, a perfect and complete period of time in which Christ will rule and reign the earth.

So once again we see that God uses 7 when he is taking something from destruction and worthlessness to a place of perfection!

There is a lot of talk about God sending his judgments to his people in 7 years spans.   See we see the 7's at work here again.  Is this anything to fear or dread?   No, but rather it is time to rejoice, because most often God uses 7 to bring something to perfection and completion.   Like when we spank our child, we only do so because we love them.   When we ground our children or take their toys away, we are not trying to destroy them but to save them.  It is the same way with God.  If His judgments are coming in seven year periods that means he is going to use whatever tragedies that come our way to eventually bring us to a place of perfection and completion.  Trust the Lord, his judgments and his mercies are just.

Proverbs 3:11-12 11My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His reproof, 12For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

What is the Cure for Exhaustion?

EXHAUSTION should be  a four letter word.   Exhaustion comes to steal, kill and destroy.  We have to have the mentality that exhaustion is the enemy to our life, to our productivity, to our peace of mind, to our joy.

Exhaustion allows you to live life but it does not allow you to ENJOY it.

 When the Bible talks about exhaustion ordinarily the word used is weary, or heavy laden.    Jesus' cure for exhaustion?   REST!  

First we must understand that exhaustion is more than just a lack of sleep.  If exhaustion has over run your life it will remain even if you begin getting full nights of sleep.  Lethargy, exhaustion, a lack of energy and drive are matters of the heart, mind, soul and spirit and is more than just a physical condition.  Getting more sleep will HELP the problem, but this cannot solve it.

 When Jesus is talking about REST he is talking about more than just a good nights sleep.

 Once we begin to understand that exhaustion isn't just a physical state of being we will begin to understand what an enemy exhaustion is to our soul.

Jesus said we overcome it by taking his yoke upon us...
The Psalmist said, "Truly I find my rest in God.."
We are given this admonition, that the LORD must build our house...

Psalm 127:1-2  “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.  In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

God gives us strength and rest.  He does so by His Spirit.  When we are too busy to spend time waiting upon the LORD, we will face exhaustion no matter how much or how little we actually accomplish.  He renews, refills, revitalizes, restores and refreshes.   Yes, it takes faith to spend time waiting upon HIM, but what better way to express and live your faith than to take some of your time which is precious and wait upon the LORD?

What does it mean to wait upon HIM?    Look at it this way if you go to see the doctor you will spend a long time waiting upon HIM, and then you will get to see the doctor.   We know what it means to wait, but we usually don't realize we must wait upon the LORD.  His presence doesn't always come as soon as we address HIM.  Sometimes we have to wait, to tarry, to seek the LORD until He comes and reigns down HIS presence upon us.   Talking to God falls short of taking on HIS yoke and finding HIS rest.  Oh, He hears us when we talk, but we do not find that place of rest until his Spirit rest upon us, and often we must wait for HIS presence to come.

Isiah 40:28Have you not known? have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength.

30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

God's rest is the cure for exhaustion.  Will you take His yoke upon you.   It may take some precious time waiting upon him but we need the rest He has to offer just as much if not more than we need to see the doctor when we are sick.  Everything in this earth is passing away, and only those things we did for the Kingdom of God will last.  Imagine standing before Him and hearing, 'well done' because we took from our precious time and patiently waited upon the Lord.   

Mercy Is Falling!

James 2:13  12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

I know we are living in the days when the prophets are crying out, "Judgment, judgment"  But we must realize that mercy triumphs over judgment!   God desires to give us mercy, we just have to believe that he will reward us if we cry out to him in our day of trouble.  Even in the days of Noah, when God was grieved He made man because of violence and wickedness one man found mercy and favor in the eyes of God.    Live in such a way during these days that you find the favor and mercy of God!


For the past few days I have been hearing the Lord saying Mercy is Falling!  Whatever mistakes you have made in the past it is time to cry out to the Lord for his mercy.  I see a reversal coming.   This is a time when God is going to move some people past their limitations, past their circumstances, past the reasons why they are 'stuck' in one place in life.  Seek the Lord while HE may be found, call upon him while He is near.


Someone may say, "With all that is happening in the world today how can you say that God is extending mercy in this hour?"   God will give mercy to anyone that cries out for it because we are still in the dispensation of grace.  God has not shut the door to salvation!  God has not stopped blessing  those who call upon his name and walk upright before him.  He will have mercy upon whom He has mercy!

17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." 18So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

Does that mean everyone will receive mercy in this season?   No, we are in a time when the judgment of God is falling upon those who have disobeyed the voice and word of God, but those who cry out to him in this hour will receive mercy and a reversal of things that have tried to hinder their life.

Those that have not been able to run a successful business are going to find the door open and a business working for them.  Churches that have been striving to get over a bad reputation in their community are going to find a turn around coming as they begin to move forward into the will of God.  People that got their life started off at a disadvantage because they made some big mistakes when they were young are going to find doors opening and situations coming up to reverse their circumstances for the better.

While many in this time are turning away from God, there is coming a special blessing, a gift of overwhelming mercy to those who turn to him.  Get ready for your life to change!

This is the Season of New Beginnings!

There has been a lot of speculation about September and what this month will hold for the United States and for the nation of Israel.   Let me be clear that September is not an ending but a beginning.    We have NOT come to the end yet.  And in the Spiritual matters this season is also a time of beginning for many.   There are angels that are being released and mantles and calling that have been held back just for this season.     Also there are demons that have been held back that have also been released for this season, so we are going to see an increase of darkness, but because God is commissioning people to go forth in their calling in this hour we will also see an increase in those who are walking in signs, wonders and miracles.

I know many people are crippled with fear in this day because of the reports of the days, events, festivals, political agendas, and court decisions and stock market woes that are laid out before us but I am saying to you today to not think of this season as an ending, but think of it more as a beginning.

For God will do a new work in this season!  Behold it springs forth!  It is coming forth by His power through the hands of his children.   For God is doing a  new thing in this season, I hear the Lord saying, "Behold, I make all things new."

If you have been fearing change try to see the things that are happening today as an opportunity to share the hope that is within you.

You Have A Purpose! You Are a Witness!

Acts 1:8  And ye shall be witness after the Holy Ghost has come upon you.

We see examples in the Word of God times when cities, nations, even the whole world had reached the point of God's judgment.   Noah built a boat because God he was righteous in the eyes of God and with it God saved him and his household.  Yet during the centuries that it took for him to build that boat he was a witness to his generation.  You see before God brings judgment He always brings about a witness to those who are wicked to warn them.   A city, nation or the planet is ripe for judgment when they kill or mock God's warnings, persecute his prophets or blaspheme His holy name     Noah preached and warned for several centuries but no one but his family would listen.  They  mocked and ridiculed.  They treated him with contempt.  They mocked God and would not believe.  They refused to prepare themself or to get ready for judgment.  They treated his boat and  his warnings as if it were some big joke.

We see the same thing with Jeremiah who was known as the weeping prophet.  The time of Israels judgment had arrived, and they would soon be carried off to Babylon to serve as slaves.  The false prophets were all saying, "peace, and victory."  They convinced the people they had no need to repent because God was already pleased with their behavior, but the truth was their action and attitudes had grieved God and they were on the brink of war and tragedy.   The King through Jeremiah in prison, beat him up, mocked him, they all hated Jeremiah because he spoke the truth, yet Jeremiah was a witness to his generation.

In the world we live in today you may think that no one wants to hear the truth.  That they may mock you or ridicule you for speaking and holding to the Bible.  Yet, God is with us, and we are his witnesses.  Just as men and woman stood up to speak the truth when their societies were on the brink of judgment and they were witnesses to their generation, so must we stand up and be a witness.  Don't let yourself be deceived into thinking that we should be quiet and not speak the Word of the Lord.  Maybe people around you do not want to hear it, yet, God loves them enough to speak it.  They crucified our Lord, and we will be persecuted too.   Stand up and be a  witness, so this world will know that God tried to reach them before the judgments of God began to fall.

Your Life Will Change!

Hey!   I hear the Lord saying, "SOMETIMES OUR SEASON DOESN'T CHANGE UNTIL WE CHANGE!"   Yes, everything comes in it's proper season but seasons depend on the proper SOWING.    And also the proper GROUND.   Our hearts are the ground.  When our hearts are hard and bitter we miss our harvest.   When our hearts are shallow and uncommitted we miss our harvest.  When our hearts are heavy and weighed down with loads of sorrows and cares we miss our harvest.  To get our season of harvest to come we must first hear the Word, do the Word and patiently continue in the Word until our harvest season comes.

I see someone today and you are sitting in your house all the time saying, "I wish my luck would change,  I wish my life would change.  I wish something good would happen.  I wish my life would get some breaks."   But you are bitter, stewing over the past and upset over what your family members have done.  There is no room left in your heart for the Word because bitterness resides there.  You eat the bread of bitterness everyday and it steals your harvest.  Pain doesn't have to lead to bitterness anymore than an open wound on our body has to get infected.   We must learn to give our pain and anger to God and forgive and allow him to heal us.

I also see someone that is afraid of making commitments.   You are running from responsibility.  Jesus said if we lay down our life we will find it again.  Letting go of your own life, your own dreams, your own freedom, and yielding your life to the will of God will set you free.  It takes faith to believe that greater commitment that takes away your time and choices will in the end give you greater happiness and peace.   The way is narrow and the path is straight on the road to heaven.   The more you hang on to your life, the easier it is to miss that road.

I also see someone that is full of worry, cares, fears, anxiety, problems and hardships that you can't seem to get a handle on.   If you could load all your problems up it would be enough to weigh half of the people in the world down.   Our commitments to God is like the rose of our garden and the problems we face in this life is like the thorns.   If the thorns in your flower garden out do the roses, you have nothing but a garden of weeds and thorns.  There will always be problems in this life, but you must concentrate on the rose, put your mind on Christ.  Magnify the Rose of Sharon and the thorns won't seem so consuming.

Bitterness, fear of commitments and magnifying your worries and cares are the weeds and thorns that will spoil your life.  Lord, lead me to the cross, help me lay down my life, cleanse my heart of all bitterness and sin, let me put my mind on YOU and keep my heart in perfect peace.  amen.

Does Favor With God Mean We Will Prosper?

Favor with God and prosperity are not the same thing.  The definition of prosperity:  The state of being prosperous.   Synonyms:  success, profitability, affluence, wealth opulence, luxury, the good life...and yet we know that Jeremiah pleased the Lord.   None of his words fell to the ground, he walked and talked with God.   He was a true prophet in the midst of many false prophets of his day.   Yet, Jeremiah was imprisoned, hated, ridiculed, he stood alone, he was a person who predicted doom and gloom.  They slapped his face, they hated his words.    If he had favor with God and open doors to minister to the King himself, than why didn't he prosper?  Was something wrong with his doctrine?   There was nothing wrong with his doctrine, he was speaking the true Word of God.  

Do we see the same thing with Noah?   Yes.  He preached to his generation for years and was ridiculed, mocked and scorned.  They thought him a crazy old man.    Was he doing something wrong?   Was he a better carpenter than a preacher?  He seemed successful in building a boat,  but couldn't get anyone but his family to heed the warnings of God.     Imagine the trauma of surviving on a boat with your family and the animals and a flood comes and wipes out the rest of humanity.   We have seen some harsh natural disasters in our day, but nothing compared to that.  It must have been traumatizing.   You would never get over it.  You would talk about it the rest of your life.   There must have been great sorrow emerging from the boat knowing that all of humanity was gone except for your family.   What a different world it must have been after the flood for them all.   loo

The point is that sometimes favor with God is connected to suffering and hardships instead of success, profitability, affluence, wealth, opulence and luxury, the good life...When we begin to try to find prosperity instead of trying to find the favor of the Lord we will find that we are like the rich young ruler.   Today we are going to look at the decision he made.

Luke 18: 18And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19And Jesus said unto him, Why call me good? none is good, except one, that is, God.

20You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and your mother.

21And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

22Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet you lack one thing: sell all that you have, and distribute unto the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

23And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

24And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hard it is for those that have riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

25For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

First of all this man had it going on.  He was rich, young and a ruler.   Isn't that the American dream.  He certainly was prosperous in all things.  And yet, he knew in his heart that he was still lacking something.  The thing that he lacked was favor with God.    We see that he called Jesus good.  And Jesus responded by saying there is none good but God.   This man was a good man, and built his life and his religion on that goodness.    Jesus directed him to the 10 commandments.  His response?   He said, "All of these I have kept since my youth."   Wow.  Can anyone of us really say we have kept the 10 commandments of God since our youth?   This man really was a good man.  God had given him prosperity, and yet he was still lacking.   Prosperity and the favor of God are not the same thing.  If we do not realize this than we will continually be frustrated in our service to God.  There are men preaching today that if you please God and He favors you than you will prosper in all that you do.   While God does bring prosperity through his Word we must understand that first of all his Word brings persecution and often suffering.  And if we suffer with Him, we will reign with him.   It is possible to be a good person, keep the 10 commandments, prosper through them, yet NOT have the favor of God.   Jesus told him there is still one thing you lack...What was his lack?   He wasn't willing to suffer in his obedience to God.   He wasn't willing to obey God if it meant losing everything.  He was only willing to obey God if it brought him wealth and prosperity.  

I do not want prosperity without God's favor.   My desire is to be obedient to his will, and that transcends prosperity.  Prosperity is such a shallow goal in life.  Paul said, "I want to know HIM and the POWER of His resurrection."  Peter didn't see himself worthy to suffer in the same measure as Christ.  He asked to be crucified upside down, because we felt unworthy to have the honor to suffer in the same manor as Jesus suffered.   We are so sold out on prosperity in our thinking in these last days that we have forgotten what an honor it is to suffer for the Lord.  For is we suffer with him we will reign with him.  The rich, young, ruler had money, youth and was a leader, and he kept the 10 commandments yet he did not have eternal life because he was unwilling to suffer for the sake of righteousness.   Where is our hearts today?  Do you crave prosperity, or do you desire above all to be like Jesus?  

Is Judas Among US?

Today we are going to look at Judas and how he lost favor with God.   He like the other disciples left all to follow Jesus.  He healed the sick, preached the kingdom, cast out devils.  He experienced the glory of God and yet he eventually betrayed Jesus.   Some might speculate that this was his role in history, that he had no choice.  Jesus had twelve disciples and each of them were tried, tested and tempted.  Anyone of them could have betrayed Jesus, but Judas was the one that failed the tests.  Yes is was written that one of them would betray him, but no where does those prophecies specify that it had to be Judas.   Jesus even looked at Peter and rebuked him and told him he was of the devil, he called him Satan!  He told Peter he had his mind on worldly things and not on the things of God.  Thomas had his doubts, and had to see Jesus and touch him before he would believe.  Even John the beloved felt the need to ask Jesus, "Is It I Lord?"  when they were told that one would betray the master.   All of them felt the pressure to betray Jesus because the enemy was pushing on all of them, but Judas was the one that failed the test.   What do we see in the life of Judas?  We must be careful not to be like him, or we may find ourselves failing our test as well.

John 12: 4Then said one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him,

5Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

6This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bore what was put therein.

What do we see of Judas here?   We see that his mind was on money.   He not only held the money bag, but sometimes helped himself to what was in it.   He felt like this ointment was wasted on Jesus.  He was hungry for the money, and had his mind on this instead of on the will of God.  We see this today in our churches.  Decisions are made for money instead of the will of God.   Men are hungry for money so that mostly what they talk about from the pulpit.   Men want to prosper so they water down sin, and promote a self-help gospel to tickle the ear of the wealthy because they are greedy for gain.  They have gone after the way of Baalam, and Judas and went after the love of money.  

Jude 1 11Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

12These are spots in your love feasts, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about by winds; trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

13Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

True religion is laying down  your life just as Jesus laid down his life, for if we suffer with him, we will also reign with him, but these men like Judas are greedy for gain and teach that godliness is a means to gain, which is a perverted gospel.  

1 Timothy 6:3If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

4He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting over questions and disputes of words, out of which comes envy, strife, railings, evil suspicions,

5Perverse wranglings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw yourself.

6But godliness with contentment is great gain.

7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

8And having food and clothing let us be with these things content.

9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which plunge men into destruction and perdition.

10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Notice vs. 4 is talking about doting over questions and disputes of words...this is the false teaching of today that places a greater emphasis on the words of your mouth instead of the condition of your heart!    Yes, we must confess with our mouth, but words from our mouth that come for a heart full of sin and greed are not pleasing to God.   We have people today that are confessing the blessings of God, yet they are not doing the will of God, and they have been taught that confession is all that is necessary to please God and find his favor.   True devotion to God will cause you to lay down your life, it will cause your confession to be OF CHRIST.   People are teaching today that our confession should be of the things we WANT and NEED.   They have gone the way of Balaam and Judas, thinking that godliness is a means to gain.   Let's look at verse 5 again:  

5Perverse wranglings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw yourself.

We must withdraw ourselves from people who put our focus on money, material wealth, and a gospel of gain.   They will betray Christ for gain, wealth and money.  They will follow what the people want to hear instead of following the Word of God.   When the opinions of society change, they too will change because their goal was gain all along and not Godliness.  

 People have talked about Judas have political agendas and other conspiracy theories as to why he betrayed Jesus.  The simple truth is that every time he is mentioned in the Bible, money is also mentioned, his focus was always on money, and getting more of it and helping himself to it.   Do not be deceived, if someone is begging you for more money so that they can 'spread the gospel' and they are living in a mansion and driving an expensive car, paying for maids, servants and body guards, and have several recreation houses on the beech front,  this person like Judas is dipping into the pot and helping themselves.    Judas betrayed Jesus for 40 pieces of silver because that is where his mind always was, it was always about the money for Judas.   Where is your mind today?  Where is your focus.  If your mind is gravitating towards money, and how to get it or spend it or what you want to do with it you stand at a risk of being like those who have betrayed Jesus.  Stop, drop and pray.   It is time to repent.  We took nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it.   

Here Is the Key to The Kingdom

Yesterday we talked about how the  thirst of the Samaritan woman drew God's favor to her life.    Today we are going to talk about the woman who lost her coins, and swept the house until she found them.  This is a parable, but Jesus is teaching us about the keys to the Kingdom of God if we would listen.

8“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins^a and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

When we return to God in repentance it is the same to God as when we lose a coin and then find it again.   Have you ever lost a large sum of money?  We search through all our clothes, our furniture, our laundry, our car.   It is a bad feeling to lose money that you really needed and couldn't afford to lose, but what a relief when you find it again.     When we repent we are found by God.   We are considered lost until we  repent, so the key is repentance.   We saw yesterday that thirst will cause God to seek us out and the truth is most people are thirsty in some way or another.  And God is continually searching for us, but He does not consider us to be found until we repent.  Our thirst may cause Christ to seek after us, but until we repent we are still just as lost as ever.  The Samaritan woman was thirsty and Jesus addressed that thirst and then he addressed her sin.  Praying is not enough.  We must repent.   Going to church is not enough to find God's favor, we must repent.   God is not impressed with our prayer, he is moved by our repentance.   Anyone can pray, but only someone that is surrendered to God will repent and allow God to change their heart.   

What does your life say about you?  Everyday I humble myself and repent before God for in repentance and humility you will find rest.  God's favor rest upon those that are truly repentant before Him.  

How Thirsty are You?

We are going to look at the actions and lives of some of the people in the Bible that found the favor of God upon their lives.   First we are going to look at the woman at the well.  

What we see in this woman was that Jesus knew that she was a person that was thirsty.  Thirsty for more, thirsty for the truth.  Thirsty for life.  Thirsty for hope...She was thirsty.   No matter what our living condition, or the amount of sin we have committed or the poverty or reputation that we have in this life God is drawn to those who are thirsty.  

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

What was her hunger going to do for her?  It was going to make her receptive of the message and the gift that God has to offer.   Just because we are unsatisfied does not mean we are thirsty.   

A Samaritan Woman Meets Her Messiah

4 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria.

First of all this woman was a Samaritan.  Just like today where some people are more popular or honored because of where they are born or what family they belong to it was that way in the days of Jesus.   A woman from Samaria would make her from a despised unimportant country.  You see when a heart is hungry for God, God will be drawn to that person no matter what their race, or their birth place because what does God see?  He sees that hunger and thirst that is on the inside and this draws God to us.    The Bible says he needed to go through Samaria, but as far as what was recorded this woman was the only person in Samaria that Jesus interacted with.  He went all that way because here was this woman and she had a thirst, the kind that only God could fill.  

9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

We see that this woman knew the rules of relationships, and she knew that her status was beneath theirs in life, this is what caused her to be so surprised when Jesus spoke to her that day.   When he was willing to drink water from her cup that was His way of saying, "I do not see you as beneath or below me, I will drink water from the same cup you drink from."   Think about seeing a stranger on the road.  Would you be willing to drink water from the same cup that they drink?   Would you be willing to drink after someone that you knew was not clean, and yet Jesus knew all about this woman and he was willing to share her cup.   Jesus did not lower himself to her position, but he elevated her status to His status.  When we are thirsty we not only draw God to us, but he will lift us up to his position...

And not only this but Jesus addressed her inner needs.  We are living in a generation with great inner needs.  Pains, hurts, disappointments and broken promises and dreams.   Jesus did walk all the way to Samaria just to get a cold drink of water.  He came because there was a thirsty woman, who had a great inner need, and he did not over look that need.   Her hunger and thirst for the things of God drew Jesus into Samaria.

Are you ready to hunger and thirst for God?   This woman had been with several men going from relationship to relationship.  She found nothing in any of these relationships to satisfy that hunger and thirst she had within, the need to be loved and cherished, the need to be held and honored, the things she could only find through the inner working of the Spirit of God inside.    When we go from relationship to relationship only to be disappointed again and again Jesus is letting us know what it is that we need.

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The Spirit of God dwelling inside of you is that Spring of Living Water and it is the only thing that can satisfy that dry thirst within.  It is the only thing that can heal the pain and make your life whole.   Ask God to fill you with His Spirit everyday, do not delay, let God have His way.  

Four Things that Will Hinder Our Walk With God

We can dig down into God's Word, but God wants to use His Word to dig down inside of us.  We can go deep in the Word, but God wants to go deep in us.   We can find a nugget of truth in the Word and hidden treasures, but God is seeing hidden treasures inside of us today.   Just because you are going deep in the Word does not mean that God is going deep inside your heart.   He only goes into our heart as we begin to apply the Word.   Knowledge of His Word puffs up, but practice of His Word builds up and causes us to walk in the love that He has chosen us to walk in.  

What keeps us from applying His Word to our lives?   Self-deception.  

1.  Good intentions.   When I explain the Word to someone and they say, "I know."  " I am"  " I plan to do that when God's timing is here."

This is nothing more than self deception.  What did  both Jesus and John say?  They said, "Repent for the Kingdom is at hand."  When you are stepping out in faith to do a work for God timing is important, but where sin is involved the only perfect time to come out of it is today.

Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

2.   Self Justification.   When I explain the Word to someone and they say, "I know what I am doing is wrong, but right now this is where I am at and God knows my heart."   Just because it would be hard and we would pay a price to come out of sin does not give us the right to justify our actions.   Be careful because the enemy has deceiving and seducing spirits.   Just because you 'feel' that God has accepted you sin because of your circumstances does not mean that is true.  Our feelings and our understanding can be easily darkened and deceived.  

1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

3.  Hardened heart and understanding.   When I explain the Word to someone and they say to me, "I see that word for word in the Bible, but I don't believe that way."    When we begin to dismiss the Bible and refuse to submit to it's authority we open the door for every type of deception to take us captive.  Have you ever had a child that you told them over and over that their behavior was going to land them in trouble, and they treated your warning as if that was YOUR opinion and they had a right to ignore it?  A child like this is going to be in trouble with the authorities very soon.  Does that mean that you are always right?  NO.  But you love that child and if that child chooses to ignore you completely and dismiss your words they will get into trouble.   Maybe you don't understand all of God's Word.  Maybe you think part of the Bible doesn't apply for today, is that any reason to ignore all of God's Word and Wisdom.   If we do this we are on the path of destruction.  God loves us and gave His Word to us to be a guide to help us through life.  A light unto my path.   Just because parts of it are hard for you to understand does not mean that you should push it under the bus and ignore all the good that God gave to us in His Word the Holy Bible.   We as parents make mistakes, but God's Word is without mistake.   Our understanding cannot grasp it, only faith can unlock it's mysteries.

Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

4.  When we begin to emphasize our works, our relationship with God begins to falter.  All around the World and all through out history men and woman have 'done works' for God.  Works are a byproduct of our faith, because faith without works is dead, but works were never meant to be the focal point of our religious duties.  When the work becomes more important than our relationship to God we begin to falter in our character.   The world is full of people today both Christian and non-christian who glorify the works they do instead of glorifying God.  People who put religious practice above relationship with God are mean-spirited, and they do not walk in true holiness and love.  They have an outward appearance of religion but they do not have the inner work of the Spirit in their lives.  It was religious people that crucified Jesus and religious people are still killing today in the 'name of God'    Jesus said to them:

Matthew 12: 32-34 33"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34"You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35"The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.

If we want God to dig down deep in us we must lay aside the sin and the weight that easily besets us.  If we want God to find treasures in our hearts we must open our heart to him and accept his Word at face value and let it mold our hearts.    We want to dig down deep into God's Word and we should, but when we let the Word dig down deep into us we will find that he makes all things new.

When The Enemy Tries To Delay

Since about the year 2012 the enemy has done all he can to deffer the hope of the children of God.  The Bible plainly says that hope deferred makes the heart sick.   What does the word deferred mean?  It means to delay, to put off to a later time, to postpone, to hold off.   The enemy cannot stop you from receiving all that you have  hoped for, but he can defer it, delay it, put it off to a later time, postpone it.    What happens when the enemy defers our hope?  It makes our heart sick.

I'm talking to some people who have had your hope deferred the past 2 to 3 years, and it has made your heart sick.  The enemy has done all he can to halt, delay, denounce and destroy your dreams.  Since 2012 our personal assets has increased by 10 fold.   The churches finances has increased by 10 fold.  The amount of work we accomplish for the Lord has increased 10 fold.  The amount of workers in our church has increased 10 fold.  I do not have time to tell you all the ways in which the Lord has blessed us the past 3 years.  The enemy has used every person that he could to try to hinder, stop and delay our work in the Lord, and yet in spite of that God has given to us an overwhelming increase.

What do you do when the enemy comes to defer your hope?  When he comes to delay your dreams?   That is when you dig in your heels and determine to march forward anyway.   Has someone criticized you and spoken against your name?  Move forward anyway, there is a 10 fold increase up ahead.   Has someone betrayed you?  Lied about you and cheated you?  Move forward anyway there is a 10 fold increase up ahead.   Has someone taken the good things that you did for them and despised them?  Keep moving forward, there is a 10 fold increase up ahead.    In the midst of adversity over the past three years,  we continued to move forward and sow our seed and harvest our increase.  It was not a 90 fold increase, but it was a true miracle of God.    Our income has  increased 10 fold.  Not a 10 percent increase I truly mean a 10 fold increase.   The outreach of our church has increased 10 fold.   Our personal assets has increased 10 fold.   Our church assets has increased 10 fold.  The number of workers in our church has increased 10 fold.    Think about having 10 times the income you have now in three years time, this is what has happened to us since 2012, everything has increased by 10 fold.


The past 3 years the enemy has touched the lives of many people with hardships and delays and deferred hope, and he has also tried this with us, and yet in the midst of the enemies attack God has increased us on all sides both in the ministry and personally by 10 fold.  What must you do?  You must keep moving forward.  When the wind blows and the storms rise, keep moving forward.  When the drought comes and the heat burns, keep moving forward.  When your friends betray you and you are attacked on every hand, just keep moving forward.   10 fold increase will come to those who stand in the midst of the enemies delays and press forward anyway.