Power of Knowing Your Enemy  

Key Scripture: “I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.”  Matthew 5:44, The Message

Power Point: Love your enemies? That’s our battle plan to defeat the enemy? You've got to be kidding. I thought I could explain to the devil how bad things were for me and he would just apologize and stop attacking me. Actually no where in scripture can I find the words ,”Just talk to the devil. Tell him your sad story. Explain to him how bad things are and he will have mercy on you and stop his attacks.” If you’ve found that one, would you let me know?

One very important thing I have learned in my life, in fact, probably one of the top three things is this:  The enemy is not that person you are dealing with; The Enemy is the enemy!

Did you ever wonder why God says, “Bless your enemies?” That was really a hard one for me until He spoke that truth about the enemy into my life.

If the Enemy is indeed the “enemy", then he is trying to “steal, kill and destroy” from everyone he meets.  If that’s the case, then the person you are having the most problems with is a person who is losing their battle with him. That’s why God says, “Bless them.  Pray for grace in their lives so that THEY can defeat the enemy.”  If they are continually angry, or mean, or vindictive, or maybe just get on your last nerve, guess who’s in charge of their life? My prayer for my “enemies” is that God will send His Holy Spirit to them to bless them and lead them to an encounter with Him.” I’m so thankful for the corrective lenses that Papa God has given me to see them from His perspective.  Everything looks different from heavenly places.   Everything is different when you sit beside Him on the mercy seat. You pray with Mercy, from mercy, for mercy.

God does the work, and their lives are changed from that encounter. And so is yours.You no longer see people as an enemy. You KNOW that you KNOW that you KNOW that The Enemy is the enemy.

Your job is to withstand and resist the ENEMY, not that person. You may need to “withdraw” from them for a time and raise fervent prayers on their behalf, but you are never told to withstand and resist a person.  In Romans 14:19 Paul says, “Let us therefore, (because of Holy Spirit in us), pursue the things that make for peace and the things by which one may edify one another.” The ultimate outcome? God is glorified, and people see Jesus. Come on! Let’s try His strategy. I know it sounds crazy, but it just might work!

Power Talk: I will love my enemies.  I will bless them and not curse them. I will love my enemies. I will bless them and not curse them. I will…

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Power of Stepping OUT!

Key Scripture:  “With men this is impossible but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26

“Lord, if it’s You, command me to come to You on the water.  COME! Matthew 14:28,29

Power Point: About ten years or so ago, my prayer partner, extraordinaire, Julie and I really began to dip our toes in the water of the kingdom of God. We had begun to see and believe many of the things I share with you. Our hearts burned so brightly to be able to bring healing to others and so we began to do everything we could to make that happen. We read everything we could get our hands on and went everywhere we could to see people who had learned how to bring the kingdom of God here. One of our first big events was a conference held by Charisma magazine. It was amazing.  We had been placed on the prayer team and we were in that prayer room every minute we could manage. People were being healed as others prayed for them. It was an electric atmosphere that charged our hearts, and changed them forever.

When we returned home, I called my friend Rebekah.   She is a pastor’s wife and their family had been totally devastated for two years by her diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. I had spent many wonderful hours with her over the previous year, just introducing her to Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God (the little that I knew!) I called her a few days after we had gotten home, and in my excitement I shared every thing that had happened.  Suddenly, I realized there was dead silence on the other end of the phone. “What do you think we should do?” I asked. “Pray”, she responded.  I was at her house in 20 minutes.  First I had to call Julie and Donna and tell them to “PRAY!"

This is the funny part. I had no idea what I was doing. I grabbed my “Handbook for Healing” by Frances and Charles Hunter and took off in my car. When I arrived, I sat in the driveway, thumbing frantically through the book, trying to find out how to heal people of Fibromyalgia. As it happened of course, I didn’t need the book. I put on some music, sat with her on the floor and took her hands in mine. That’s pretty much all I did. She began to shake, I began to worry. I asked her what was happening and she said, “It’s going out the same way it came in.” And it did. She has never had another symptom.

He said, “Come!” I came. He did what He had wanted to do all along. And I got to watch!  I still get to watch. I love partnering with Holy Spirit, He does all the work and I just show up, reach out, and touch!

Power Talk:  When Jesus says, “Come!” I’m going! I don’t care if I get a little wet.  Why don’t you come too?  Come on!

Surrender

Power of Surrender

Key Scripture; “Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him…Fix your attention on God, you’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you...God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12, 1,2 The Message

Power Point: Okay, we’ve all been there. It was a powerful meeting. The music was wonderful, the sermon tore right at your heart and convicted you of things you hadn’t even thought of doing yet. And then they play, “I Surrender All”. Here come the tears, and here come the vows to do better and to give everything to Him. Everything. Right. And you really mean it at the time; until the cold light of morning. You sit down and open your Bible and the first thing the ladies see is ‘Wives submit to your husbands as unto the Lord.” WHAT? Hold on, I’m certainly not submitting to that guy. Have you seen how ____ he can be at times? I am so much more spiritual than he is Lord. Anything but that! And guys? “Live with your wife in an understanding way.” Lord, we all know that is impossible! She is WAY past understanding.

Get the picture? Yes, Lord, I surrender all. Except that. And that. Oh, my goodness, certainly not that! Lord you couldn’t expect me to give up THAT, it would be very uncomfortable. I know you don’t want me to be uncomfortable.

You want me to give up my right to be right? Argh! You want me to walk in faith not fear? You want me to step out into the unknown and follow you without a road map and clear directions?

Okay, see the bad thing is God heard your vows to surrender “all”. And He immediately starts working from that perspective. And believe it or not, He is not at all concerned with your comfort. In fact, getting you OUT of your comfort zone is one of His greatest pleasures. Trust me on this one. After years of long drawn out tugs-of war over my surrendered items, I always lost in the end. And after my surrender, I always knew I would have been much better off if I had given in earlier.

You already know what the next thing is He’s working on to free you from. How about just saying “yes”? He knows exactly how to bring out the best in you, and grow you up at the same time. Give it a try.

Oh, and by the way, the next time they start singing “I surrender all”. I suggest you zip your lip!

Power Talk: Papa God, I really do want transformation in my life. I know there are so many ways that I am conformed to this world. So, I will yield up the next thing you ask of me, with joy, and expect you to set me free from myself, and all that pertains to the old man in me. I am a new creation. I intend to live like it.

Always or Never

Power of Always or Never

Key Scripture: “I urge (you) to iron out your differences and make up. God doesn’t want His children holding grudges.” Philippians 4:1 The Message

“You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly.” Ephesians 4:3,4, The Message

Power Point: At my house, there are just two PEOPLE, my daughter Stefanie and myself. We are accompanied by SIX POODLES. Yep. Six! Actually the poodles allow us to live here as long as we provide cuddles, cushions and beef liver. I digress.

A while ago, Stefanie and I found ourselves in the middle of a conversation that went something like this: “Mom, you ALWAYS…”To which I responded, ”Stefanie you NEVER…. One day we started thinking about what we were saying. Always? Never? The truth is that nobody does something “ALL the time or “Never” NOT does something, but it sure puts a cramp in your thought life toward them when you are thinking that way. So-short story long-we decided that we would never (whoops,) I mean STOP, using those two words with each other. And actually we do pretty well at it. In the hands of the flesh, "always' and "never" can be lethal to a relationship. When the Spirit gets involved “ALL things work together for good.” and” I will NEVER leave you or forsake you” are pretty good places to hang your hat.

Once, when Stefanie was out of town, I found some sort of mess in the kitchen. I thought to myself, “Well, she ALWAYS does that. She should be more careful!” Then, to my GREAT chagrin, I realized that I was the only “SHE” there. Really embarrassing! But it taught me a lesson. I hadn’t realized how important it was to me to blame someone else. Thankfully, I’m learning that it’s a whole lot better to take ownership for my slip-ups right from the “get-go”. It saves a lot of emotional energy.

So are you ready to remove “always” and “never” from your vocabulary? The person who lives with you will be very happy. And you know what? The person you see in the mirror every day will be happier too.

Power Talk: I will always think twice before I use the word “always” in a sentence with “you”. I will never lock someone into a negative position by using the word “never” concerning them. I ALWAYS walk in the Spirit and I am NEVER led by the flesh. Help Holy Spirit!

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Honor

Power of Honor

Key Scripture: ‘God’s wisdom is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.” James 3:17, The Message

Hono“Watch the way you talk! “ Ephesians 4:29, The Message

Power Point: When my children were little we taught them the importance of saying, “Please” and “Thank You”. Living in the south, we also stressed “Yes Sir”, or “No Ma’am”. We were teaching them to be respectful of other people, especially those in authority over them. It has served them well.

If you watch TV programs or political news updates today, I think you would agree that there are very few words of respect. As we launch the country into election mode, I dread the onslaught of disrespectful and dishonoring commercials and sound bites. What happened? How did we lose that ability to separate the person from what he has said or done, and still treat them with respect?

What I understand is, God always honors us. Therefore, His Spirit in us is always honoring of someone else. Remember yesterday when you spoke harshly to that person, or you said something that really hurt their feelings? I would imagine that you felt a twinge of regret from Holy Spirit in you. Maybe today would be a good day to ask Him to show you how to “honor” at all times. If we want to BE honored, we have to SOW honor. Hmm!

Power Talk: I honor Jesus when I honor others through Him. I honor Papa God when I honor Jesus and Holy Spirit. I honor others by seeing them as He sees them and then making sure that each word I speak to them is helpful, each word a “gift”.

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Power UP!

The Power of POWER!

Key Scripture: “He climbed a mountain and invited those he wanted with Him. They climbed together. The plan was that they would be with him, and he would send them out to proclaim the Word and give them authority to banish demons.” Mark 3:15, The Message

“And the disciples went everywhere preaching, the Master working right with them, validating the Message with indisputable evidence.” Mark 16:20, The Message.

Power Point: Okay guys, let’s get “Powered UP!” When Jesus sends out His disciples He says to them, “Go preach, go heal, and cast out the devil.” He says it again and again. There are two words for power in the New Testament. You may be familiar with “dunamis” power. That’s the explosive miracle working power of Holy Spirit in us. Then there is the “exousia” power of Holy Spirit. That is the power that gives you the capacity, and the authority to act out the “dunamis”, through the power

Of THE NAME, (that destroys chaos). “Exousia” is the privilege and the right to use the ability He has given you.

Do you need a few miracles in your life today? Guess what, YOU have the ability and the privilege and the power of Holy Spirit to make it happen. Not so sure? Well, Jesus’ assignment was to walk in the Anointing power, (the dunamis power: energy, GREAT force, GREAT ability and strength) of the Holy Spirit and do good, and heal all who were oppressed by the devil. (That’s Acts 10:38). Why? Because God was with Him, and for us. And guess what Beloved? He is WITH you, and IN you, and FOR you to anoint you to do the work of the kingdom. Stop selling yourself short. This is your assignment. And you have the same power, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living in YOU!. He’s excited about the “greater works” you have ahead of you. He’s thrilled that you don’t have to live “under the circumstances” any more. He’s over the moon because He knows He has left you with the Power, Power, Power: the Power of His Name, the Power of His blood, and the Power of Holy Spirit.

Sometimes I’ve received gifts and tucked them away and forgotten them. Then one day, I’ll remember and go and take them out and “receive” them again. Have you tucked away the gift of the power of Holy Spirit until a later time? Well, today’s the day to unwrap it. RUN do not walk to where you left it and Power UP! Come on!

Power Talk: I am with Him, He is for me, He is in me, and I have power, power, power. I refuse to live “under the circumstances” anymore. I’m taking that “exousia” and releasing the “dunamis”. Let’s GO Holy Spirit! I Love Your Anointing, that equips me with the power to do good, and heal all who are oppressed by the devil, because You are with me. “There is power, power, wonder working power…

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Keeping On

Power of Keeping On

Key Scripture: “Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in His Triumph in Christ Jesus and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” II Corinthians 2:14

Power Point: There are times when the attacks and the pressures of the enemy are so powerful. You’ve prayed, you’ve stood on the Word, but the battle remains.

I’ve got a word for you today. Keep on Keeping ON! The intensity of the battle simply means you’re close to a breakthrough and satan knows it and doesn’t like it. Because the battle remains does NOT mean you’re not doing the right thing. It doesn’t mean you don’t have enough faith or you’re not worthy of the victory. It means it’s time to keep on keeping on. Check your gear. Got your sword and shield? Are you standing in your spot under Papa God’s arm where you can see from His point of view? Are you standing on the promises? Are you guarding your heart? Are you capturing your thoughts? Well then. Keep on keeping on.

Is your problem physical? Keep on keeping on.

Is it emotional? Keep on keeping on.

Is it financial? Keep on keeping on.

Is it a relationship? Keep on keeping on.

As you continue, as you persevere, God has promised a royal victory parade for you. It is called a “triumph”. You WILL be marching in HIS triumph. Visualize that if you can. In biblical times the victor would march all the captives in a parade through his city. The warriors who had fought and won got to march right behind the Captain of the Army. There were certain spices that were burned to accompany the parade. To the captives they meant death; to the victors they were a fragrance of life.

Keep on doing what you know to do. Keep on being who you know you are.

Keep on believing God is Who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do.

What’s that I smell? Smells like victory to me! Keep on keeping on.

Power Talk: I can smell the sweet smell of success. I am getting my boots shined up to march in His Triumph. I will not give up, give out, or give in. God is on my side and by my side. Victory is assured; Jesus is Lord!

I am SO blessed by your comments.