Month: June 2022

Numbers 13:30 (NLT)
But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT)

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Nothing works until you believe the promise. This is what we learn from the verses above. When you get an unshakable word from God, don’t let go.  You see, real faith keeps on believing even when things appear impossible or fail to go your way.  The greatest enemy of our faith is fear and we must be on guard against it at all times. 

The command is to be of good courage and “good courage” means to live without fear dominating your life. I believe that has God instructed us not only to call people to be born again but to challenge the body of Christ to, by the grace of God, lay hold of life and that more abundantly.  We mustn’t think we can pet or tolerate the demons that whisper doubt and unbelief. You may think it will go away or is simply a result of our humanity but the fear, the phobia or weakness that you tolerate today will one day destroy your faith. Folks, if there is a fear in your life, it is not a disgrace.  But stand up today in the name of Jesus and say fear will not rule or dominate me and fear will not steal from me God’s best.  This stance will place you in what I call the faith minority. 

Few people understand mountain possessing faith.  When you share it with them some folks will look out the window or at the ceiling. They will clear their throat or pat their foot until you go on to something else.  We must remember that not everyone is tuned for God’s best.  But I am willing to be in the minority, because the faith minority becomes the majority.  If you have mountain possessing faith, you will be a faith leader like Caleb who always had a good report. You will be able to look at the impossible situations and giants that stand before you and say with confidence, “We are well able to possess the land.”  You can be convinced because you believe the promises of our God who never fails. The God who says to you today, “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV) 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.

I believe in this year to come we must call not only this church, but our city and nation to prayer. Folks, it is time to pray for this nation like never before. I believe in righteous candidates and righteous leadership but you cannot war against spiritual wickedness through politics alone. There are things in this nation that can only be broken through faith, humble prayer and calling upon the name of God. According to the verse above, this action on our part will bring healing to our land which is in desperate need of a touch from God.

God called us to prayer, daily prayer, when it was not happening. Many have started since then and it has fallen by the wayside. God called us to 24 hour a day prayer and we are approaching over 722,000 prayer requests that have been received. Try to embrace the magnitude of this my friend, it is a huge undertaking, but God did it and it’s influencing our city.

I once received a report from Brother Dave Wilkerson. He was saying that crime was down in, of all places, New York City and no one could figure it out. It wasn’t a mystery to him though because he knew that his church was praying. There was a similar report that came out in the Fort Worth Star Telegram saying that crime in the city of Fort Worth was down, the lowest rate in over 20 years. And while I know that other churches are praying, there is one thing I know personally and that is that this church, for over 10 years, has been crying out to God for our city.

Let us never forget that the same power that got us here is the same power that will keep us here. It is not time to back up or let up but I believe God is calling us to get a new grip on this thing, our calling at Calvary Cathedral International. I want you to know that we are a people of destiny. A people called to humble, powerful, nation changing prayer that will be heard in heaven, bring forgiveness of sin and healing to our land.

One night I was walking and praying for a minister friend of mine who was going through a very difficult time. A record breaking snow storm had come to their city and the weight of snow on the metal building where they worshiped caused the roof to cave in. One of the many problems that arose out of that situation was the lack of sufficient insurance to cover the damages. I as lifted my friend up to God he spoke to my heart and I would like to share His wisdom with you today.

When faced with difficult situations we have to remember the basic character of the forces at work in our lives. God is the giver, Satan is the thief, and the Holy Spirit is the restorer. Let me add one thing to this list, the victory you seek is a choice, it is a faith choice.

This is not the power of positive thinking though I do respect that far more than negative thinking. This is the power of faith believing. Now you know that there are some people that still have that old world theology and think that God is sometimes righteous, sometimes a con artist up in the sky who is just following you, waiting for you to make a mistake. They think He gives you things just so He can take them away or He withholds what you need to teach you a lesson. God has a terrible reputation in many parts of religious community because they really don’t understand the truth about him.

If anybody ever had a chance to change their theology, I have had mine time and time again. But since I received the revelation of who I am as a born again, Spirit filled believer in 1952, I have never strayed away from that and I assure you, there have been many opportunities to do so. You know, some people believe something until it doesn’t work temporarily, or until something goes wrong and then they change their doctrine. But I pray that this becomes the bedrock of the faith of your heart. The revelation that God is not only a good God, but He is a giver.

I don’t know why it is but we always want to see somebody else change. We want to see our boss change, our husband or wife change, we may even want our neighbors to change. But I have discovered that when I find myself desiring change in others the first step in witnessing that change depends on me.

Change begins with the one who wants to see change. If I wait for others to change I might be waiting until hell freezes over. But when I begin to change, when I begin to love, forgive, when I begin to soften, whatever adjustments need to be made, then I will see the things around me begin to be affected. The secret is to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what part you have in the process of change and many times it involves love and forgiveness on our part. Proverbs 28:13 says, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” And I will tell you, there is no one who knows how to give you mercy like God.

I have counseled with couples who say they have never said I’m sorry or acknowledged being wrong throughout their entire marriage. Repentance is so important. This is especially true in the healing of relationships. It is an opportunity to see the power of God move on your behalf when you make the decision to walk in love, when you choose to do things His way. The best advertisement for Jesus is when people see a changed life. You can hit them in the head with a 15 pound Bible and get no response, but when people see a change in your conversation, a softening in your attitude, when people see Jesus in you then it will draw them.

Supernatural change is the result of allowing God to move in you first which will release His power in your situation. So the next time you desire to see change take place in another ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and to let change begin in you.